Round 7: The Price We Paid
Bloodshed.
For those who wanted to avoid it, they would be disappointed.
If anyone craved it, their desires were granted.
The group inside the maze of the garden found themselves shocked to discover
Big Sister, whom they had believed to be their friend and ally, had another identity as
Mikasa Ackerman. In a bloody rampage, this traitor ended the lives of many players. She killed
Susan, Chrom, Hurly, Wander, and Guy Noir.
Shiki Tohno broke into the reapers' game and attempted to stop the battle between Mikasa, Chandra, and the others, only to watch Mikasa's inevitable death.
Mikasa was the first traitor to perish.
She wasn't the last either.
Teresa, desperate to avenge Ash and save her remaining companion Jenny, challenged
Ryu Keiko. Their battle ended up being to the death;
both of them died.
The players within the game weren't the only ones facing challenges either...
...
...Meanwhile, with the afterlife group...
The group of players who found themselves dead were tasked with locating a young man named Joshua who--according to the reapers--had broken into the world of the game and was working together with the
demon who had been causing problems for their game. Minato single handedly captured Joshua and
chose to deliver him to the reapers along with Marie. When they arrived back inside the room from which they had come, Konishi was there to greet them.
"Excellent work, my reaper recruits. I can hardly believe you've actually managed to do it. I suppose I underestimated your strength."
She stepped forward and took Joshua from them, shaking him hard to wake him up.
"Time to talk, intruder."
Josh grunted and opened his eyes, glaring at Konishi.
"N-Ngh, you and the other reapers are fools, Konishi. I'm not the one who is assisting the demon. I'm on your side, although I don't expect you to believe it without proof. If all of you are so very desperate for proof, I guess I have no choice but to give it. I want to speak with The Conductor. He will be able to tell you that I'm not the intruder. Let me talk to John..."
Konishi blinked in surprise, wondering how he knew her name or even about The Conductor.
"Actually, I was planning on calling him. He was the one who wanted us to hunt for you in the first place."
Joshua's eyes widened.
"He called you? But that can't be... he... knows about me. He knows what I'm doing. He wouldn't attack his ally; it doesn't make sense..."
The young man shot a look over to the others, almost begging for help.
"Minato, Marie, please..."
Konishi shrugged.
"I honestly don't believe a word you're saying right now. You're likely just making up some story in order to escape, but I'll play along; I'll tell him to come here."
...
"No need."
A new voice rung out in the room, a new, yet familiar voice. Although, those of the afterlife wouldn't recognize the voice. After all, they hadn't been around to catch a glimpse of The Conductor when he murdered Uzuki and Kariya earlier on.
The man stepped out in full view of the others.
"I thought I'd pop in for a surprise visit to see how you were coming along with what I asked of you, Miss Konishi. It appears you were quite successful. Before the boy fills anyone's heads with more lies, I'll ask you to hand him over to me."
"John!" Joshua hissed, glaring at the man.
"What the hell are you doing!? Let me go! you know fully well I'm not the intruder who broke into this game in order to make an opening for that demon to cause so much destruction. Why would I do such a thing to my own game. You know very well who I am."
"Of course I do, boy."
John's hand suddenly morphed into a rock-hard, glowing red fist. With his first, John punched Joshua so hard in the face blood began to drip from his nose.
Joshua groaned.
"If you know who I am, then why are you doing this?"
The man smirked.
"Well, since my plan is coming together quite nicely I feel there really is no reason to hide what exactly is going on anymore. I'm sure everyone has been confused for quite some time. Why don't I just lay all the cards out on the table?" he said with a smirk.
"You're not responsible for letting the demon invade the game." He gripped onto Joshua's chin, forcing the young man to look at him.
"I am."
He chuckled.
"Don't look so surprised either. You picked me as your second in command, to be your Conductor, but I only ever accepted for one reason. I need your power. Every reaper knows that the true creator of the game, The Composer--you--will lose his power to the person who kills him. But you've been impossible to kill in the past. I've even looked into other multiverses were people like Neku Sakuraba have attempted to kill you and have failed. However, after a long time of searching I've finally found a way. There is a demon out there... an arch demon named Akibahara who intends to rule the multiverse. I told him that I want the power of The Composer for myself, so he promised to help me get it in exchange for me helping him when I obtained the power. The Composer has the power to raise the dead. So, as pay for his help, I will raise an army of the dead to fight on his side."
"I allowed the demon into this game so he could search for your weakness, Joshua. I knew it would take some time though, and I didn't want anyone to find out what I was up to while this demon was searching or his search could've been halted. So I recruited a few players from the reapers' game to help me distract the players and reapers by slowly killing off their allies. It's a shame that Ryu Keiko and Mikasa Ackerman have been discovered, however, there are still two more traitors who have yet to be discovered and are still helping me. But anyhow, enough time has passed. Akibahara has told me the secret of how to kill you and I intend to do it, Composer," he said, gripping Joshua by the throat.
Joshua glared daggers at the man.
"The other players will try to stop you. You're ruining their reapers' game and I doubt they'll take kindly to it."
John chuckled again.
"They can try if they would like, but I'm far too powerful to stop now. Akibahara has granted me more power in order to accomplish this task. All of you are doomed."
Joshua struggled in attempt to pull away from the man.
"What do you even need power like that for? Where you came from as a human, you were The Beast, the most powerful being in the world."
John grumbled.
"And yet I was still killed by that fool, Cole Macgrath. All I wanted was for the world to be full of conduits--superhumans--and for the average humans to die. But Cole killed me instead of embracing what could have been. With your powers, I shall raise all of the dead superhumans Cole caused to die along with me. Together, we will create a new era where the living will bow before the dead! Now, witness my power!"
John lifted a hand, creating a black hole in the ceiling above the group. Before anyone could move or say anything else, John grabbed Joshua and jumped through the black hole. As for the others, the hole began to swallow them all..
...Meanwhile, with reaper's game group...
The group was quiet, trying to cope with the
mindf*ck troubles they had faced earlier.
Asha and Crono moved forward to examine the body of Mikasa, finding a red pin--the mark of a traitor--on her body along with a note.
The note reads:
My name is John White. I am what is called The Conductor, or second in command, of the Reapers' Game. The first in charge is known as The Composer. He is the most powerful reaper in existence and is the one with the power to bring others back to life. But we'll get back to him later. As I'm sure you all know, you've been chosen to take part in this game. However, before the game starts, I have gathered you all here together because each and every one of you has agreed to work undercover for me, slowly gaining the trust of the other players and killing them off. I intend to corrupt this game--with the help of a demon friend of mine--while the traitors distract the other reapers and players. Nobody else will know what is going on. And my reason for corrupting the game is this: to weaken and kill the Composer. The one who kills the composer gains his powers. With his powers, I will bring all of you back to life as thanks for helping me with no strings attached. I won't be like this pompous man who thinks you must be judged by playing some game in order to come back to life. I'll revive you for helping me. And I'll give you anything else you could desire in return for helping me as well. It's time we of the afterlife took more power for ourselves
After reading the note, the players glanced down at the palms of their hands.
Thirty seconds remained on their clocks until they were to be erased...
Their battle with Mikasa had cost them all of their time.
The end had come.
If any of the players were had friends or people they cared about, they hugged them and waited, watching their clocks count down toward zero...
...5...4...3...2...1...
The players were surprised.
Each and every one of their clocks were stopped as if something had paused the reapers' game altogether. Looking up, they could then see that a strange, black hole had appeared in the sky. Before they could question it, the hole began to suck everyone inside of it like a vacuum cleaner drawing in dirt.
The group blacked out.
When they awoke, they found themselves in a giant, rundown city they didn't recognize at all. They appeared right next to a big
Hospital building. Even those who had previously been in the afterlife (Minato, Marie, Pyrrha, Jodie, Elizabeth, and The Joker) were bag with the players.
A sense of dread filled the group.
John was responsible for bringing them to this place. It had nothing to do with the reapers.
Tomorrow, the new afterlife group and the city will be updated! For now, please feel free to interact with each other and enter the hospital!
