Chương 24: The Aftermath: Rebirth and Redemption
After so long… after so much blood had been spilt. Just like waking up from a bad dream…The death games had finally come to an end.
"So, your saying…I don't have to die?"
Play pal Pen replies "I did say if either team was to be defeated then that would be the team that loses, didn't i?"
Cayafaz protests "That doesn't make any sense! Is that even allowed?! He changed his tracksuit mid game and it was only even the top half. Is he really a member of the team?"
"Well yes, he is, he changed the part that carries the team logo, didn't he? So, that's the part that counts"
"I can't believe this…"
"Cayafaz, why can't you just be happy that none of you lost your souls? I mean Edward stepped up and took on an opponent none of you would have been able to beat even if you all ganged up on her and you know it. So, rather than complain, why not celebrate? Or… could there be a reason behind all your questioning? Something else you're not saying perhaps?
"Tsk! Damn clown, I'm only asking because you never told us anything about switching teams, makes me feel stupid for having wasted time trying to kill him. That's all!"
"I said a team would be defeated and you would be on opposing sides, never said you couldn't join the other teams. Edward on the other hand didn't let that st CV c, km mm q dadd 11dqfq1qop him from coming to your rescue, he even planned to give up his life after he saved all of yours. The boy should be praised"
Maya steps out "I agree, we owe you big time Edward"
Ethan follows saying "Yeah, thanks. Hope there aren't any hard feelings"
"No, you just did what you had to do to stay alive. I can't blame you"
Isabel isn't doesn't join the others to sing Edward's praise, instead she asks the clown some questions
"What about the suits abilities? You never said anything about the. Yet Cheshire and Edward were able to use them"
"I don't know what you mean, why should I have to hold your hands to guide you through the death games, its your lives and your games, not mine. Cheshire read the instructions because she found them on the letter located in the pocket inside your tracksuit on your chest as you will all see if you check now"
They all check their track suits and to their surprise, inside them on the left pocket is a hard to notice dark blue line that when opened up is a pocket, and inside it is a letter
"I see" Cayafaz gives a simple response, disappointed with the fact he didn't notice the letter earlier on.
"What about Edward? He definitely didn't know about the letter so how was he able to use the suit? And so easily?"
"That's simple, Edward was able to command the power of the suit because of his focus and intense rage. The suit responded to Edwards wishes and desires and awakened, that power was what he was now able to use to beat Cheshire and he wasn't even using the suit at full power"
"He wasn't fighting at full power!?" Maya screams
"No, it may have looked that way but that is because he was at the maximum performance of only the second state of the suit, usually you go through stage 1 to 3 but Edward, you skipped stage one and entered 2 directly and were able to handle it wonderfully. If you and Cheshire had gone stage three against each other the fight would have been much, much better. But we take what we can get"
Isabel falls and lays down on the grass with her arms wide open, laughing as she looks at the void "Wow…I don't believe it…It was that easy? Just responding to their desires?"
"Precisely!"
"Wow, now I feel stupid" She sits up with her hand on her forehead and a smile on her face and asks
"What were their desires? Edward and Cheshire"
"Well Cheshire's desire we're pretty simple. Her suit responded to her lust for battle and thirst for strength. The kind of power that naturally becomes self-destructive. She was likely to go on a killing spree after and if she killed you"
"Luckily she didn't" Cayafaz says to the clown with an annoyed look on his face. Ethan can feel the tension and quickly cuts into it by asking a question
"And Edward? What was his desire?"
"The suit, in Edward's case. Responded to his desire to save everyone, to protect everyone. To become everyone's salvation, a feeling triggered by your former cell mate's death no doubt"
Maya drops on her knees and starts to cry "So… despite the fact we tried to kill you, despite the fact we were of no use to you and got in your way, despite the fact I was too weak to do anything on my own… you still wanted to save us? Edward…" She covers her mouth with her right hand "You're to good a person to exist… I'm so sorry I couldn't save William. Please forgive me"
Edward goes down on one knee, takes her hand and holds it to his chest "You don't need to blame yourself for anything, you did all you could, and if you are going to blame yourself the fault is just as much mine as it is yours. Chin up, at least were all here and no one else died. The fact that no one else is dead is a good thing"
Chuckles. With a wide smile on his face "Will would have wanted that"
Play pal starts fake crying, pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket he blows his nose and says
"Your all like a family of my own design. Id say his soul should rest in peace but… let's not kid ourselves, look at where he died after all. His soul is definitely in turmoil somewhere in hell"
"Well don't you worry about that, we plan to get revenge for our friend's death" Ethan says boldly
"Oh really? And how do you plan to do that? Edward already killed the person responsible for his death. So, who are the rest of you going for?"
Isabel puts her hands in her pocket and walks forward, she stops as she stands next to Maya "Isn't that obvious? Were going to go for the man responsible for the death games to begin with. He is the real reason why our friend died"
"Oooh, now I'm excited. Alright then, go for it!"
"You sure that's a good idea clown? I mean you did give us some crazy powerful suits which even have another level of power we weren't and aren't even aware of. The suits aren't exactly rocket science to use, if we wanted to…we could jump you and kill you"
Cayafaz says feeling pleased with himself acting all cocky. The clown lets him have his moment for a few seconds. Laughing with Cayafaz for a while before finally, he stops
"I assure you, they aren't that easy to control. A selfish desire like that? Is better off being acted upon in the damnation tracksuits. If your desires can't match the power of the suit It won't respond, but that's me killing your plan, this is me humoring it. You see even if you all activated the power of your suits…In fact, even if all two hundred contestants from both Salvation and Damnation had the third stage level of power. You all working together, all two hundred of you? wouldn't even be enough to make me sweat, much less leave a scratch on me, but if everyone of you can. Then I'm more than willing to let you all give it a try, id beat you all in just a matter of ten seconds"
"Tsk! Damn it" Cayafaz backs away from him with the thought in his mind "He has to be bluffing! He has to be… He can't really be that powerful, can he? Is he really unmatched? I fucking hate this!"
The clown adjusts his clothes, walks towards Edward with his hands open. A mic attached to a chord drops from the sky. He grabs a hold of Edwards hand and walks him towards the center of the field.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting your M.V.P and winner of the Death-games for team Salvation! Eddddwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaarrrrd! Hope you enjoyed the games as much as I did. Thank you for coming and goodbye"
The stadium lights get turned off and most of the people occupying the stadium leave… Most people. Others stay behind, and the ones who do are the ones who know what's coming next
"Now" Suddenly the clown says "To deal with the…Defects"
Letting go of Edward's hand. He throws the mic into the ground and walks a few more steps into the other side of the field, he calls out the others who survived on team damnation to gather together. As he approaches them, he cracks his fingers on his left hand one at a time and cracks his thumb on his jaw
"Unfortunately. As I had told you all at the beginning of these games, your death was inevitable. People die, people live, people win, people lose"
Everyone starts mumbling in fear
"The price paid for your loss I'm afraid, is your life. Now please, don't run" He raises his left hand
"It's harder to make your suffering brief and painless if you do" The other half of the field their standing on start to shake and breaks apart
"But then again. You were already condemned, so maybe you should suffer? *smiles* Just a little bit"
Out of the ground now torn apart come the chimera from the pit. The chimeras leap out from the darkness and land on all the scattered parts of the field that hover over nothing. The things that come out of it are so abnormal they can't be described. They have an indescribable nature. Some people are so afraid of death by those monsters decide it is best to kill themselves. Some jump off the field and others die from shock on the spot. It doesn't stop the chimera from going to town on them. They still feast off their dead bodies despite the outcome and the others who jumped were no better off. They only jumped into the chimera's nest
Others who don't kill themselves or jump off try to attack the chimera with everything they have and every weapon they can find. But it doesn't change anything, the skin of the chimera is to thick for any weapon to damage it or even scratch it. others who discovered this on time quickly change tactics and try to come up with a different solution
As the clown controls the chimera, tearing them apart and ripping into the survivors of Damnation the clown says
"If you want to survive this slaughter you all better activate the power of your suits. If you don't none of you will survive this!"
Someone from the crowd screams out "How do we do that?"
"I don't know. It's your suit, your power. Do you not have the talent and capacity to figure it out? Are you all just sheep?" The onslaught continues
"Well if that is the case then you deserved to be slaughtered like the lamb you are! Did I not tell you Cayafaz? They lack the capability to achieve the power Cheshire and Edward possessed, they can't do It because they are so full of fear. Today the damned and condemned are wiped out, with their deaths let there be no more, no more of their memories, no more of their existence, no more of the power of damnation"
The slits in his pupils turn to a streak that floods and expand in his eyes. He spreads out his fingers as wide as he can. The chimera in that instant suddenly get more violent killing and eating everyone until finally no one is left. No blood splatter, no bone, no organ, not even a piece of clothing is left behind. After the chimera eat their fill they fuse and become one. After their fusion they become a black lion with wings hovering over their back but not attached to their bodies. It roars as loud as it can then poses dramatically and roars again. The chimera left as quickly as it came and vanished into the darkness. The clown, pleased with himself and his execution, literally pats himself on the back and tells himself he's done a job well done
"Well, now that the games are over, you guys should rest, relax, enjoy yourself and take a breather"
Edward nods his head in agreement "He's right. All of us besides Isabel and Cayafaz took on some major injuries"
Maya chuckling sheepishly "I never thought id say this but…I can't wait to be locked up. I really just want to lay down on those cold prison bars and sleep. It's been a long day of fighting"
Ethan replies to Maya's statement with a joke chanting "Lock us up! Lock us up! Lock us up!" The others laugh in response to the joke. Cheerfully, they all hold each other by the hands and prepare to go take a ferry man. The clown clears throat
"Actually, ill stop you there. You guys actually fought for two days… Not one"
"Are you…Are you serious? Two days?!" Edward screams with panic in his voice
"Now that you mention it…that fatigues hitting me harder than it did before" says Isabel
"Yes, that's only natural. Secondly, you aren't going back to your cells. You will be staying somewhere else. Now before you all panic and get the wrong idea I'm trying to say that thanks to Edwards efforts you are champions and so must live like such. Although 27 people did survive the death games on salvations side, your all closer to him than anyone. So, you all get the same treatment"
He snaps his fingers and calls for his assistant "Chloe!"
Out of nowhere. As fast as the speed of light, she appears standing right beside him "Yes sir!"
"Use your ability. Show them where they'll be staying now"
"Understood sir!"
She turns and faces them, raises up her right hand "Now, I'd like for all of you to focus on my right palm" She waves her hand left, then right, then left, then right, then left. Suddenly…everything gets dark, but just as soon as the darkness came, its lifted and the others find themselves standing inside what looks like a spacious, fully furnished, luxurious, and stunning house with classical modern décor and white paint mixed with cream terracotta.
"This is where you all will be living from now on. Now I know what your all thinking but don't worry, this isn't a trick and I guarantee everything here is real, is safe and is not poisonous. This may be hell but we know how to make you think you're in heaven"
The others are so excited by the new home. Ethan hugs a chair with puppy dog eyes and drools all over himself with tears streaming down his face, Isabel laughs at Ethan while he does this and pets him on the back gently, Cayafaz finds the fridge and consumes every single edible he can, and as for Maya, she looks for a bedroom in the house for her to sleep in but she gets more than she expected when she finds that there are five bedrooms and a bathroom in each one. She goes down on her knees and cries as she hugs and kisses the toilet. Edward just stares at everything with his eyes wide open. So, overwhelmed by this he just leans on the glass dining table behind him
The clown approaches him, pulls up a chair from the dining set behind him, takes a seat next to Edward and asks
"Aren't you gonna explore the place?"
"I would but…I'm just trying to take this all in first… you know, I never appreciated the life I had been living every day. The normal one with the routine of eating, sleeping, schooling. But seeing this… it just makes-…" The clown cuts him off before he can finish
"Makes you wonder how you could feel so grateful to see something as normal as this right? In hell of all places"
"Wow… for the first time… I get to feel normal"
"To bad it won't last long, there's one abnormal thing also built in under the house. A training room"
"A training room, Why, would we need that?"
Clown exhales softly "Well… I might as well. Gather around everyone! I have something I have to inform you about" The whole houses attention is drawn to his voice and convene at the dining area
"Since you did win the death games and are my personal favorite play things, I feel its best you know this before anyone and everyone else. Edwards performance in the death games was so amazing that it even caught the attention of the lord of the south. He was so entertained that he has declared that three months from now another death games will begin, a second running of the games called, catch me if you can"
Everyone gasps in shock
"A-Another…De-Dea-Death Games?" Ethan stammers "I knew it. Huh, I knew it. nothing good comes without a price"
"I assure you it isn't like that!"
Isabel raises a brow at the clown "Really? We just lost our friend in the last games? And you want us to enter into another one in just three months? Just three months to heal and mourn our dead friend…What makes you think this game won't be like the last one"
"Because for this game you have been given a choice. Its an invitation to participate in the games or not. As champions of the last games, the lord of the south thought you should have the honor of deciding weather or not you should accept the invitation and participate in the death games or just decline the offer and watch"
Cayafaz sliding down the wall with a look of hopelessness on his face and pain in his voice "So- we get to pick our poison. It's pretty obvious what we are going to choose though so why even ask us?"
"Because I know you won't be able to turn down the offer once you hear the prize"
"Which is?" Asks Ethan
"The winners of catch me if you can, win their freedom. In the first game a friend of yours died and was your only loss… but in the next games all of you could…no, all of you would die. A piece of me was hoping you wouldn't agree to it but now that you know you can win you freedom I'm sure you will consider the invitation"
Isabel chokes on air and coughs for a time. After she coughs for a bit "Are you serious…we get our freedom. Don't toy with our emotions clown, don't give us hope where there is none"
"I'm not. You really will be free but wining the game is impossible"
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