It’s been a while, hasn't it? Sorry, I have a Sweet Desire chapter almost done so stay tuned for that!

And I have an idea what to write for the next GO chapter so hopefully it won't be a terribly long wait.

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GAME OVER

Chapter 35 [The Ring]

~~~~~

The sun hung high in the sky by the time the car’s engine was turned off. Adam was prompted to leave the safety of the car walls when Captain Mau exited and gestured for everyone to do the same. Though only Barney and Ross were in the car he had ridden in, Adam saw Jin exit the second car and hurry over to the three of them.

“Where are we?” Adam looked around, there was a large expanse of grass, just like it was at the AHD, but then he saw something peculiar. Small islands floating sporadically in a black inky mass, like a blackened lake, or like an void pool, the pools of dark liquid found in the end. Adam inched closer, “Is this a void pool?”

“Step away unless you want to die, we are currently at the edge of Rekrium territory. We are standing before the Ring that keeps us all here.”

Adam’s eye’s widened and he took several steps back. The Ring? This was no blackened lake or even a void pool, this was directly the void. An empty abyss where no one returned from. All the floating islands were just that, floating, unstable masses of land. Any one of them could fall if unbalanced.

The Ring surrounds all of Rekrium due to the curse that keeps Rekrium isolated from the world.

Adam took several steps back  and looked back at the Captain.

“The problem that I’ve gathered with you Adam, is you act purely by your gut alone. Plenty of times I have done the same, however, you lack what I have. Knowing when to follow orders and when to rely on gut...this goes for your friends too, but more so you than them.”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Adam bowed his head.

“You’re test is simple, doing what your friends should have done around a traitor or possible traitor.”

“What is that?”

Captain Mau frowned and shook her head, “Stall, apprehend, or defeat said foe, or go for help.”

Adam’s eyes widened, he could understand that, but the problem he had now was that there was no “traitorous” friend or foe to do anything against.”

Jess signaled and the few AHD soldiers that had come surrounded Adam leaving the only open space as the void. They kept their distance however and allowed Adam plenty of room.

“Ross, despite your promotion, I am not a fool to believe you knew absolutely nothing of what two of your roommates were conspiring. This will be enough punishment for you, you will play the role of traitor and shall fight Adam.”

“Wh-what!?” Adam hissed.

“B-but I can’t fight! I’m just an engineer in train—I’m just an engineer!”

“But you still had basic training in combat and swordplay, you should hold out just fine against Adam,” Captain Mau dismissed.

“Captain, with all do respect, Barney or I cou—“

“Need I remind you, the two of you have already been punished, stay out of this. This no longer concerns you,” Captain Mau barked.

“I can’t raise a sword to a friend! Let alone another human being!” Adam tossed down his sword.

Captain Mau turned to face Adam and gave him a long, hard stare, “You will or you will forifet your status as an AHD soldier.”

“Th-then I’ll for—“

“Adam!” Ross yelled, his tailed stood on end, “Pick up your sword! You are not quitting you idiot!” Ross looked at Barney, “Barney, let me…borrow your sword.”

“Sures things pal,” Barney pulled his sword out of his inventory and Ross accepted it with a quiet thanks.

“But Ross, what if you get hurt?” Adam frowned as Ross approached him.

“Just pick up your sword, dammit, and pretend you are sparring with Tyler or something!”

“That’s different! I can’t even hurt or kill him even if I wanted to, not to mention I can’t even hit him once! I can’t raise a sword to you…that just isn’t right—,” Ross charged with eyes squeezed tightly closed as he swung at Adam.

“You’re not quitting! Pick up your sword, weren’t you the one who said that no matter the obstacles in your way you wouldn’t give up? That you would prove even a dumb Human rank like yourself could be like a Player? Quit being a prissy baby and fight me!”

Ross swung again and Adam stumbled backwards to avoid the blow, “Do…do you really think I’m dumb?”

Ross grumbled, “Always you idiot.”

Adam watch Ross step back, allowing room for Adam to grab his sword. Even with all his sharp edges, Ross was secretly just a fluffy, soft squirrel with a big round heart.

Adam grinned a big grin, “I’ll get you back for that…traitor.”

“Hmph.”

~~~~~

“Adam, your test is simple, disarm, immobilize your opponent, or last 15 minutes for ‘help’ to arrive, if you can do that, you pass.”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

“Ross, you will play the role of a traitor, if you disarm, or immobilize Adam you win,” Ross nodded in response and gritted his teeth, “You two are not to leave the borders formed by myself and the other AHD soldiers.”

“What about the Ring? No one is standing there.”

“Start!”

“Huh—what—,” Adam yelped as Ross came in swinging his sword at Adam’s side. Adam clumsily sidestepped the swing and narrowly avoided pain.

With his sword, Adam raised it into a defensive position…he wouldn’t attack Ross. Even if this was a pretend situation, he couldn’t raise a sword to another human like himself…The whole reason he joined the AHD was so that he could protect humans, people like him, people like Ross, it didn’t matter. He would last the 15 minutes without attacking, Adam was determined to do that.

Ross swung and Adam blocked with his blade. He angle his sword downward which caused Ross’ sword to slide into the ground. Adam leapt back and brought up his sword in defense.

“Aren’t you going to attack?” Captain Mau called out.

“No! And you can’t make me! I will last the 15 minutes without attacking!”

“Don’t get to cocky!” Ross hissed, Ross aimed low at Adam’s legs and Adam leapt back. Ross gave him no chance to rest as he came in with another blow, this time a kick. The kick landed squarely in Adam’s gut and he stumbled back clutching his stomach.

“Oof, that was good,” Adam grinned.

It went on like this, see, Ross wasn’t a terrible fighter. Though his brains definitely outmatched his brawn, Ross could hold his own against someone of Adam’s level. Someone at Jin’s level was a different matter.

Ross would attack and Adam would block or dodge, of course, the only one getting the beating was Adam. With a few cuts on his leg and a large bruise forming under his shirt on his stomach, Adam was having a hard time keeping pace.

“T-Time!” Adam called.

“8 minutes and 12 seconds!” Jin called out.

Adam bit his bottom lip and held up his sword once more, he could keep going.

“Don’t slack Ross, this is a serious fight, fight Adam even if it kills him, that is what a real traitor would do,” Captain Mau commanded.

Ross cast his eyes away, “S-sorry.”

“S’all good,” suddenly, Adam had an idea on how to keep the time going. Adam looked behind him, Captain Mau said they couldn’t go past the border created by herself and the others…but there was no border at the Ring.

Adam turned and ran, “A-Adam! Where are you going?” Ross yelled, Ross chased after him.

Adam neared the edge of the ring and saw the first floating mass of land. He leapt and landed on the dirt, the floating island shook and bobbed up and down, when it settled Adam turned around to see Ross had stopped at the edge of the ring.

“Adam! What are you—,“ Captain Mau raised a hand and silenced Jin’s outburst.

“I’ll allow it, proceed,” She watched with keen interest and nodded only to herself, as if confirming something.

“Adam, get back here.”

“No, I’ll last these 15 minutes, and you will either have to stand there or come get me!” Adam turned around and made another running start and took another leap of faith. The next island he landed on hardly moved and seemed more stable than the first. Adam began to wonder how far the ring stretched and what was on the other side—but that wasn’t the concern right now. He just needed to live long enough to pass the test.

~~~~~

“Tyler,” Seto knocked on the dorm that once housed both Ty and Tyler. His knock went unanswered, so he tried again, “Tyler, open up or I’ll open the door for myself.”

A few moments passed before the door slid open, “Seto…what a pleasant surprise, come in, come in. Don’t mind the mess…” Tyler stepped aside and allowed Seto to walk in. He never really realized how small these rooms were, even though they were larger than the lower ranked AHD members, they were still smaller in comparison to the cave he called a home.

The room was brightly lit by the florescent light that was attached to the center of the ceiling, to the left was a bed pushed far against the far left corner. The blankets were tucked in neatly and the drawers next to the next bed were clean. There wasn’t a mess. To the right was another bed pushed into the far right corner. The blankets were piled messily on the floor, clothing was strewn everywhere. Above the bed was a poster of Ty swinging his spear and Tyler swing his sword. They were back to back.

“I see you are like Adam,” Seto gestured to the poster.

Tyler snorted and bent to pick up some of the trash strewn on his side, “It’s just a memory, nothing more.”

Seto stood quietly as he watched Tyler lazily stuff his clothing into his bedside drawers.

“What is it you want Seto? If this were a cliché, you would be here to apologize, but you are you, and I know you wouldn’t actually mean it.”

“I’m not sorry for killing that Ender—“

“Ty, his name was Ty.”

“I’m not sorry for killing him, so if you expect me to be, then you are mistaken.

“So what? You here to label me a traitor? You here to see if I am an Ender? You here to see how a guy like me was fooled for 650 years about the species of my best friend who I shared a dorm with all that time? You here to laugh—oh wait. You can’t laugh, so Seto, why the nether are you here?” Tyler turned on his heel and glared at Seto. Seto didn’t move and he didn’t flinch which only caused Tyler to laugh emptily. He flopped onto his bed and buried his head into his hands as he hunched over his knees.

“You heartless son of a—you don’t even understand because of your fucking curse. If you want to know…I never knew. For all 650 years I never knew what Ty was, I was clueless and I was the closest person to him, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about him. He was my friend and I refuse to believe that his species changed that, I refuse to believe that he didn’t think the same of me! I refuse!”

Tyler hiccupped, “Why couldn’t you arrest him, detain him…you didn’t have to kill him you…” Tyler went silent.

Seto didn’t know the answer to that question. It had something to do with his hate for the Enders, but that was all he felt he ever knew.

“Is this about Jason? Are you here because you want to know exactly how it feels to lose someone close?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you think I will tell you, after what you did…you…” Tyler stopped himself.

“Did you know he was in love…you probably don’t even know what that feels like. But Ty was in love, I’m sure of it. He always referred to the girl as m’lady, it was funny whenever I heard it. I thought it was a corny nickname.”

Tyler looked over at Seto, “Of course, maybe I was mistaken, maybe the girl he referred to was just the one he worked for…but you can’t fake devotion like his. Regardless of if he was in love or just devotedly loyal, both feelings carry the same core. Affection…do you want to know what that is Seto? I bet you do, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

“I should leave.”

“Am I making you uncomfortable? Do you feel an uneasy restlessness?” Tyler glared, “Command block_Bedrock location 573, 466, -1003.” A block of bedrock appeared in front of the door, “Don’t even think of teleporting away you coward, you are going to stand there and listen to what I have to say—you don’t just come and leave without listening you bastard.”

“Tyler, listen—“

“Affection is something you have for another person, you want to be by their side, you want to help them, it may not be love, it could be the affection you have for a friend. But regardless you want to support them.”

Seto quietly thought to himself, he’s known Jason for nearly his whole life. He worked beside him and his father, he mentored Jason in a sense, he protected Jason’s secrets and has helped him despite suspicious motives…did this mean he had affection for him? Was he protective?

“If you want to know what the feeling of loss feels like, and don’t take this the wrong way Seto, but, go take a sword and stab yourself through the chest! Because that is exactly what loss feels like. Oh, but don’t worry! You won’t die, now get out!”

Seto teleported away, but he found himself in Jason’s lab. Why had he ended up here of all places? He couldn’t understand.

~~~~~

“Time!” Adam called.

“14 minutes and 53 seconds!” Jin answered.

“Yes!” Adam cheered, he jumped and pumped his fist into the air in excitement. The floating island underneath him bobbed up and down.

Ross huffed, “Being a squirrel…does not mean…I’m naturally fast…” Ross gasped for air, “You have good stamina though.”

“Thanks, it’s like the only thing I’m good at,” Adam laughed.

“Adam you have proven your dedication and have passed the test, the two of you should return immediately,” Captain Mau shouted from the distance.

“Yes ma’am!”

Adam jumped ahead, he was surprised to find that these floating islands weren’t as unstable as he thought. He wondered if anyone had tried to cross to the other side.

“Hey Ross, thanks for looking out for me, I owe you!” Adam shouted to Ross who was leaping after him from behind.

“I hate hypocrites,” Ross grumbled.

Adam snickered, “Still, thank you,” Adam took one last jump and landed on stable ground.

Jin and Barney ran up to Adam as he landed, “That was reckless! What if the ground broke underneath you! You could’ve fallen into the void!” Jin panicked.

“Hey don’t worry, everything is—“

“Help!”

Adam spun around to the sound of Ross’s voice. Ross was frozen in fear as the floating island beneath him began to shake. He was still a good five or so jumps away.

“Ross!” Barney yelled he took a step but Adam held up his arm and stopped him.

“Ross! Jump, come on you—“

“I-I can’t! I-I can’t move,” Ross panicked. Adam watched as the corners of the island crumbled and Ross crouched down and held on to the grass as the island slowly began to sink.

“Captain Mau! Ross is trapped!” Jin yelled. Captain Mau was occupied with sending someone to fetch the cars so when she heard Jin and turned around her eyes widened.

“Stay calm and stay put—“ she was interrupted as the island shuddered and sunk further and Ross yelled for help.

Adam broke into a run. This was his fault! He was the one who ran out into the Ring, he was the one who dragged Ross over there. If he had just fought back, Ross wouldn’t be in danger.

Adam pumped his arms and legs faster and he willed himself to make it in time.

“Adam!”

“Adams!”

“Dammit! Follow orders and stay put!” Captain Mau ran after Adam. Jin and Barney began to follow but halted the moment Captain Mau raised her voice, “Don’t move dammit!”

Adam took a daring leap onto the first available island and kept running before leaping for the next, “Ross hold on!”

He wanted to be a hero, just like Ty was to him. It didn’t matter to him if Ty was a traitor, an Ender, or a Human. Ty was his hero, and he was other people’s hero. If people had listened then Ty could still be alive, he wasn’t bad, he was just dedicated and loyal.

Adam kept running, he nearly stumbled as the island he landed didn’t bob up like the others. He scrapped his fingers in the dirt and pushed off as the island crumbled and sank into the darkness.

Adam wanted to be a hero, he wanted to protect people. That was why he couldn’t fight Ross, even in a mock battle.

This was his fault for being stubborn, but this was his mess.

“Ross!” Adam yelled as he landed on the island just in from of Ross. Ross looked up at Adam who was at least two blocks above him. The island he was trembling on was holding up despite it slowly sinking into the void.

Adam ignored the yells for him to return and he crouched down and reached out with one hand to Ross, “Grab on!” He stretched his fingers out and Ross hesitantly grabbed on just as the island broke away and crumbled from underneath Ross.

Adam bit down on his tongue as he held onto Ross as he dangled just a finger widths from the gaping darkness of the void.

He strained against the weight, sure he was getting stronger, sure all the training was making him better, but he was still no Player. He didn’t have the added boost of strength or speed, he was just a Human with average human traits. Never had he wished he had it all like they did until now, if he was stronger he could pull Ross up with ease.

The island he was on began to groan and crack, “A-Adam, hurry!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll save you!”

Adam pushed himself up and began pulling Ross up with him. The island sank lower. Come on! You can’t even save one person—one friend! Worthless! You don’t deserve to be in the AHD, you don’t deserve this second chance if you can’t save one friend!”

Adam grunted and yelled before he pulled Ross up even more.

Ross reached out with his free hand and grabbed hold of the ledge. Together, they worked to get Ross up, “Don’t stop,” Adam said.

Adam pulled Ross up on his feet even though his legs trembled, “Go!” Adam pushed and Ross ran and jumped to the next island. Ross looked back with grateful eyes.

“Adam, let’s go!”

Adam nodded and ran after Ross. At the last minute his feet landed on the edge of the island and gave out from underneath him. Adam yelled with his arms flailing to reach out ahead of him. He missed his chance to jump.

The last thing Adam saw was Ross turning around in fear as Adam’s jaw slammed into the edge of the island Ross was on. He slipped in between the islands and disappeared into the darkness as his consciousness faded.

~~~~~

I liked this chapter and hopefully you guys do too!

Theories?

Or just tell me your favorite part of the book so far and what you're looking forward to!

Tell me your favorite character, tell me what was the saddest part of the book so far if you want.

It’s been awhile so I want to know more about what makes this book worth it and interesting for you guys, that way I can stay motivated.

CATtheDrawer