Rebel's POV
I rang the doorbell of the huge, radish-shaped mansion. I still couldn't believe Todd actually modeled his house after a vegetable. What a dork.
Of course, I couldn't say that to his face anymore. He's all powerful, or whatever. The Supreme Radish.
I was asked—no, more like ordered—to come meet with Todd in his mansion on account of some "strange occurrence". I hoped he was talking about the breach in the force field at the arena, not the letters I sent. I tried to be as inconspicuous with those as possible, but if he knew about those, I was toast. I could easily lie about the force field. The letters, on the other hand, are a different story.
The door opened, and I was staring into the mechanical red eyes of a Radish Robot—or bot, as most people call them. They're hideous, faceless creatures of iron and coal that act on the will of their supreme overlord. They hover a foot off the ground thanks to science that I don't understand, and can move fairly quickly. Their job is to roam the streets with laser blasters, arresting anyone who steps out of line.
I felt a red light wash over me as the bot I was staring at scanned me. "Rebel: Victor of the first Radish Games. The Supreme Radish will see you now. Follow me."
They also apparently work as butlers in Tood's mansion. I wonder what else they do for him, I thought with a smirk.
The bot walked me through the lobby area, which was just a huge empty room made entirely of gold. There were two large, open staircases on either side of the room leading to a balcony that overlooked the lobby. I couldn't see what was on the balcony, because we walked underneath it, through a big fancy doorway, and into another equally huge and poorly designed room.
Todd was sitting on—I couldn't believe how pretentious he was—a throne made of diamonds at the other end of the room. This room was also empty except for the throne and two rows of pillars made of polished andesite on either side of the room.
"Rebel! Long time no see! How have you been?!" Todd called from across the room, standing up from his throne.
"Why did you call me here, Tood?" I asked, cutting right to the chase as I walked towards him.
Todd frowned. "When did we stop being friends?"
"As soon as you sat on that throne," I answered. "Which is really ugly, by the way."
Todd finally reached me in the center of the room, and looked offended at my statement. Contrary to what I was expecting, he wore simple clothes: black jeans, a black hoodie, and sneakers. He had messy black hair that almost came down to his brown eyes, abnormally small ears, and a slightly crooked mouth that I'd find cute on any other guy.
"Will you design me a prettier throne?" he asked with a smile.
I rolled my eyes. "Would you just tell me why I'm here?"
Todd's smile faded. "My Radish Robots discovered a breach in the force field right in front of Infinity's death."
I shuddered at the mention of my best friend, but composed myself. "Okay?"
"I'm wondering if you had anything to do with it."
I raised an eyebrow. "You really think I'm capable of breaching your force fields?" I scoffed. "Yeah, right. I barely even passed science class in high school."
Todd's mouth twitched. "Infinity was your best friend, was she not? We have footage of her devastating departure for the Games. You broke down, something I've never seen you do before. Wouldn't it make sense for you to try to get your best friend out of the Games?"
I didn't change my expression of disbelief. "It would. But I didn't. I haven't even been watching the Games."
Todd's mouth twitched again. We had a stare-off, his gaze trying to penetrate my veil of lies while I stared back at him with no emotion.
My watch beeped, breaking the silence. I looked at it, then back at Todd.
"Sorry, I have to go. I'm late for my date."
Without seeing if it was okay or not, I turned around and marched out of the mansion.
***
Todd's POV
Date? Rebel doesn't go on dates.
I waited until she was out the door. Then I gestured towards my Radish Robots.
"Follow her."
***
Naomi's POV
I looked up at the dark building as I approached. There were no windows in the abandoned warehouse, and there was a huge garage door that took up most of one wall.
Why would she want to meet me in here? I wondered as I walked towards the warehouse. The garage door was a shiny metal, so I could see my reflection in it in the dim light of the flickering street lamp.
I wear blue jeans and a light blue hoodie, and I have blonde hair in a neat French braid that goes just past my shoulders. I have light blue eyes and a small mouth. Not that I care about my looks. I never really see anyone besides my sister.
Anyway, I stopped looking at my reflection and walked inside the warehouse through the smaller iron door that was next to the garage door.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the stench. It was an oily, metallic smell that I could almost taste, making me shudder. I wondered what they used to do with this warehouse that made it smell like that.
The second thing I noticed was that there was only one single light on, in the center of the huge room. That made the edges of the room submerged in darkness. From what I could tell, the warehouse was just one big empty room.
"Uh...hello?" I called. My voice echoed across the metallic walls.
There was no reply. I walked towards the center of the room, glancing around warily. Could this have been a trap of some kind? I instinctively put a hand on my bow that was slung over my back.
Sure enough, I heard rapid movement behind me. I whirled around while notching an arrow in my bow and fired.
The thing that was charging towards me slid under my arrow and kicked my shins, causing me to fall over. I tumbled onto whatever was attacking me, and the thing kicked me in the stomach, forcing me off of it.
As I scrambled to my feet I caught a glimpse of my attacker. It was a girl about the same age as me, but I couldn't make out any of her physical features because she was rushing at me again.
I tried to notch an arrow, but she was too quick. She swung at my face with her fist, but I managed to dodge it. I wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat, so I attempted to hit her in the face with my bow. The girl simply grabbed the grip of the bow, but I was still holding onto the string.
In the few seconds that we were standing so close, I noticed the girl had dark skin and deep brown eyes. She was wearing a black T-shirt and ripped jeans, and wore her black hair in a ponytail. She also looked angry.
The girl tried to pull the bow away from me, stretching out the string. I used that force to pull my fists forward and punched her in the face twice, hard, causing her to let go of the bow. Instinct taking over, I swiftly notched an arrow and aimed it at her heart with the intent to kill, not caring who she was. She was bending over slightly and holding her hand to her nose. I could see blood, but I didn't care. I released the arrow.
A split second after I did, another body came rushing in from the side and swiped my arrow out of the air with a knife. The figure then turned to me and—with a second's hesitation—charged. I discerned this newcomer was a boy wearing black sweatpants and a hoodie with his hood up, but that was all I could make out before he reached me and my instinct took over again.
He swiped at me with his knife, but I easily dodged it. It was like he wasn't even aiming for me, since the blade barely came near my hand. I retrieved another arrow from my quiver and was about to notch it when he swung his knife at my bow, forcing me to drop it.
I decided to try using my arrow as a weapon and thrusted it towards his neck. He jerked his head back while bringing his knife up to block it, and his hood fell down to reveal another dark-skinned face. Jet black bangs came down to his dark blue eyes. His hair was very messy in general, which matched his sloppy clothing style.
The boy surprised me by kicking me in the stomach. I doubled over, then fell to my knees, expecting a kick in the face. But none came, and after I was done reeling, I looked up.
The boy had walked over to the girl, who was still holding her face in pain. He seemed concerned.
I looked at the ground, where my bow still lay.
***
Rebel's POV
I walked through the streets of the city with my head down as always. I was late to my meeting. They would all probably be there by now.
Hopefully they get along.
I could hear the constant whir of the bot following me, but at a distance. Obviously Todd had sent it after me. My excuse to leave wasn't exactly believable. Dates? Ha.
I turned down an alleyway, knowing the bot wouldn't follow me into it because that would be too suspicious. I then climbed up the ladder on the side of a building and jumped onto the roof.
I leapt across the rooftops for awhile, knowing the bots knew where I was. That was the goal.
In the distance I could see the arena, where the sixth Games were taking place. I felt sorry for all the poor souls that had to go through it.
I ran to the edge of the building I was on and jumped down the gap between it and the next building. I then slipped through the gap under a chainlink fence and hid behind a dumpster.
The whirring of the bot flew by overhead, but didn't stop. I smiled. They could never stay on my trail for long.
I wiped sweat off my forehead and began to run towards the warehouse.
***
Glitch's POV
"Are you alright?" I asked, walking over to the girl that was holding her face.
The girl didn't respond. She looked about the same age as me, same as the attacking girl. I had walked into the rendezvous warehouse when I had seen two girls fighting, and one about to kill the other. Naturally, I decided it would be a good idea to stop them.
Neither of the two girls are the messenger of the letter, so I have no idea what they're doing in my rendezvous point. I figured I should ask who they are.
"What's your name?" I asked the girl that was still holding her injured nose. I stepped closer to her and sheathed my knife, trying to show my friendliness.
Apparently her name is "Punch Glitch In The Face", because that's exactly what she did. I stumbled backwards, holding my eye.
"Okay, rude," I muttered, and unsheathed my knife again. The girl charged at me, and I stepped forward and jabbed at her.
She sidestepped and punched my wrist, sending the knife flying out of my hands. My eyes widened, and I began stepping backwards and dodging
as the girl punched and kicked at me.
I tried to catch her fist with my hands, but she was too strong and pushed me backwards. I fell on my rear and she loomed over me, ready to strike.
Before she did, however, an arrow struck her in the shoulder. She yelped in pain and glared in the direction of the shooter, which was the other girl. Without another look at me, she yanked the arrow out of her shoulder and charged at her.
Before she reached the girl, I heard a pop and a hissing sound, and a thick black smoke began to fill the room. I stood up, coughing. The smoke didn't make the mechanical smell of the warehouse any better. I could hear the other two girls coughing as well, but couldn't see anything because of the smoke.
"Would you three stop fighting? God, you're acting like you won the Games or something," an unfamiliar male voice rang out through the thick smoke.
I was confused. Although the voice was unfamiliar, there was something in it I recognized, a hint of familiarity and even relatability.
The smoke began to clear, and I saw the figure of a boy around my age with a buzz cut. "Oh wait," he continued. "You did."
I was confused. Had I just been fighting two other Victors of the Games?
"And so did I," the boy said, his figure cutting through the dissipating smoke. He was wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeved red shirt, and a brown tool belt across his waist. He had short black hair, black eyes, and tan skin.
Realization dawned on me. Speaking was Leo, Victor of the fourth Radish Games. I had just been battling Naomi and Choco, Victors of the third and second Games, respectively. And I'm the Victor of the fifth Games.
"Rebel called us here for a reason," Leo continued. "And you guys are fighting like we're back in the arena. I thought we all decided we hated the Games, and that we weren't going to act like that ever again."
I sighed internally. He was right. I hated the Games; I hated the fact that I won the Games; I hated Todd for making us do the Games. After I won I swore I would never kill another soul. But all that fighting just brought the instinct to kill back out of me.
"We should be making peace with each other, not war," Leo finished.
"Spoken like a true diplomat," I said. "Just like your old man, huh?"
"Shut up," Leo growled. "At least I'm capable of making peace. Unlike somebody, who just claims they are." He gestured to Naomi.
Naomi looked offended. "I made peace during my Games and you know it."
"Is that why you won? Because you made peace?" Leo asked intensely. He began to storm towards her. "Is that why twenty other kids just like us ended up dead, and you came out on top? Huh?" He was up in her face now, glaring at her.
Naomi glared back, unwavering. "I did what I had to."
"This is getting interesting," Choco interrupted with a grin. "Anyone got popcorn?"
Naomi and Leo ignored her and continued their stare down.
"Leo," I spoke up. "Let go of the grenade."
Leo looked down at his left hand, which was clutching a small orb that he had taken from his tool belt. He closed his eyes and put it back in his belt, then stalked away from Naomi.
"Where'd you get the smoke bomb, anyway?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Made it," Leo replied. "Along with several other types of weapons. I call them nukes."
"Sick," Choco said. I nodded in agreement.
"Okay. Now that we're all friendly again, does anyone know why the hell we're here?" Leo asked.
"Language," Naomi piped up.
"Did you just say 'language'?" Choco asked.
"Rebel didn't specify anything in her letter. Honestly, I thought it was just gonna be me and her here," I answered Leo's question.
Leo wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Really though, why are we here?" Naomi asked.
"Because," a female voice called from above, causing us all to flinch. "I need help."
A figure dropped down from above and landed in the shadows. She stood up and walked into the light so we could see her. She wore a zipped-up purple athletic jacket and black leggings. She had black hair that flowed just past her shoulders, pale skin, and—perhaps the most interesting thing about her—deep purple eyes.
"We're gonna take down the Supreme Radish," Rebel said.
~~~~~~~~~~
I was gonna wait till Leo read the prologue to publish this but he's ded so rip
Anyway I think this book is interesting. Maybe. Possibly. I don't know. What do you guys think?
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!
~Radishologist