War of Praisers

Chapter 2:

12 out of 30 proceeded from the first and 7 out of 12 proceeded into the third trial. Carina was eliminated in the second. The second was the black forest trial, we are let out in a dark, thick forest and have to battle any Automation and Animal that we come across. One of the major differences in that trail was that we had to battle the nature of the forest as well as the Automations. Such as quicksand, forest fires, unexpected lightning strikes from the sky and mutated animals.

At this moment I am standing in the B-room. Hopefully they will take a trail I know of. The last two trials have been entirely new for me. They have changed my suit before directly after the choosing for trail three. This suit seems to be thinner than the other one, giving me a hint that this trial may contain water. My gloves have finger holes and padding on the palm and the orange linings on the suit almost seem to glow in the shadows of my form. The ankle high shoes have been changed into knee high ones, more flexible than the other ones. My dark hair is tightly tucked into the white helmet and material with thin clear glass covering the top half of my face. I press the small circular button on the temple of the helmet ant the glass retracts into the helmet.

A low voice indicates I have ten seconds. I stand ready. Lets get this over with.

The door opens and I step out and am momentary blinded by the sun. My sight adjusts and I spot land not far away from where I stand. I almost loose my balance as the ship I am on rocks to the side. I am on one of the three pirate styled wooden ships. As soon as I spot movement on one of the other ships I run from the cabin I just walked out of and to the mast and start to climb. The higher I go I notice that the ships are almost touching they're so close, the tips of the ships almost touching the other, forming a triangle of water in the middle. The rope next to my face strains from weight, coming from below is a fellow Combatant. His determined expression almost scares me, a big grey gun is strapped to his back giving him passage to use both of his hands. I try to climb faster to the top, though he is catching up quickly. Hold on. Where's my gun? Where did he get his from? My mind started to yell at me of how unfair that is, but unfairness has nothing to do with it. I will get my chance. All of a sudden a firm hand grips my booted ankle and pulls be down, though I don't loose my grip. I kick him in the face with my boot and he lets go of my ankle. He jumps and swings his fist to my side, I pull myself up so that my legs are doing the splits above my head. He mimics my move and swings his leg into my arms holding me up. The force causes me to loose my grip on the rope I was holding. My stomach drops for a second as I feel myself fall for just only a second before I manage to grip another rope. My shoulder almost feels as if it was pulled out of its sockets. With gritted teeth I swing back and forth and smack into the Mizzenmast making me grunt from the impact. I squint back up and observe that he has unstrapped the gun from his back and was aiming it at me. But due to me swinging back and forth he cant get a clear shot. Many red laser fly past me but none actually hit me, though some are very close. I swing my legs back and forth to swing higher. I let go on the highest point and jump to the other ships mast and rigging. I only glimpse at the water for a second ad I fly over it. My eyes shut as I land in the rigging and hold my grip on a rope. I look back to the other ship and see the Combatants look of surprise but it quickly turns into a scowl. Then his scowl turns into a smirk and gives me a respectful and defeated salute. Which I return with a playful one. Mike then begins to climb down from the mast.

I slide down the rope with the help of the padding on my gloves. Landing with a light thump on the wooden flooring I crouch and run to the side of the rail for cover. If Mike was here that means the other 5 Combatants were here too. Leaning against the rail out of site I spot a hidden gun behind a barrel. Just as I was about to run to it I hear some splashing sounds coming from behind. I peek over the edge to see a petite form climb from the water to the ladder on the ship. I don't duck in time for her not to see me and she spots me with her crystal blue eyes and she quickens her pace up the ladder. Slipping on the wet floor I run to the gun. Just as I grab it and turn back towards the girl she jumps from the railing. The red laser hits her in the shoulder and she falls to the ground unconscious. The shot from the laser makes her glow a slight red to indicate that she was out. Sorry Sharlet.

Movement indicated my engrossment to the other ship of three combatants fighting, one of them being Mike. Three there, one gone and me, that makes five. A figure on the third ship drags my attention to another male Combatant. Six. So where's number seven? That's when I see her jump from the tip of the ship onto mine, her dark red hair blowing in the wind. She tucks and rolls as she lands. Her eyes instantly land on me as she makes her way across the slippery deck. Her eyes, due to the evolution are pink, is not uncommon these days as well as otange, yellow and purple. Though still, my green eyes are still seen as rare. I follow suit with her attack and approach her without slipping. She bends back and kicks me in the jaw at the same time as I punch her but hit her leg that kicked me. Flipping backwards she doesn't land as planned because of the punch in the leg and she face plants. I take that chance to knee her but she jumps back and my knee hits the deck instead. Sharp pain spreads through my knee, bringing tears to my eyes. I flip with one arm towards the rail as she tries to kick me once again. Pushing off the rail I summersault over her backwards and land behind her and strike her in the spine. Making her collapse from her nerves. Once on her hands and knees I take out the gun from my holster on my waist. Though she rolls out of the way just in time for the laser to mark the wood. I try to grab her but she jumps overboard. Out of instinct I shoot and it hits her leg and she goes limp. I only hear the sound of her lifeless body hit the water. I panic for a second thinking that she'll drown, but then I remember that the Keepers are watching and that they will collect her before she actually drowns.

Now there are maximum five of us left. I crouch back down from the rail and try to find the rest of the Combatants while pulling off my helmet, relieving my head of the pressure. I spot Mike in the water near the ladder on the opposite ship bolding on to his bleeding shoulder while with the other he's holding on the ladder to stay afloat. On the other ship there are the other two Combatants he was fighting not long ago. For four it is game over and Mike and I are still in. That's six. Still so sign of number seven. Barrett, that's who's missing. I notice Mike made it on the ship. But I don't want to shoot him. I need someone else instead of Barrett who I just can't seem to find. The thought of being in this arena with someone else I can't find scares me. Mikes big figure comes out from behind a barrel. As he sees me he gives me a shrug with one shoulder, he doesn't know either.

Just as the sky flashes red, indicating the end of the game, Mike falls to the ground unconscious and glowing.