Enter The First Stage!

Team Shadow Liege had finished their preparations for the First Stage. Though it was still only the second day since they arrived in the town of Aíma Malliá, Shade had decided that they had gathered enough information to make it past the First Stage.

"So, is everyone ready?" Asked Tristan as he adjusted a black hat over his blood-red hair.

"Yeah, let's hope that we can win this and move onto the Second Stage..!" Replied Celia.

"My only problem is these hats... Why do we have to wear them again..?" Questioned Arora.

Shade then sheathed his sword across his back before responding. He too was wearing a black hat.

"According to Celia, the First Stage has to deal with red hair. Since we're unsure what part the red hair will play in the stage, we should keep our hair hidden in case it's a game like, capture the flag or capture the one with the red hair in this case."

"And while I think this is a good plan, we all look ridiculous! I mean, we're wearing these cool clothes and then there's this hideous hat that just makes us look stupid!" Murmured Tristan.

"This is a death game. We're not trying to make a fashion statement."

"I know but still..."

A few seconds later, Arora opened the door as they all left the motel. Their next stop was the First Stage which was located directly North at the edge of the town. As they walked, Arora brought up a disturbing topic which she had heard about earlier.

"By the way, did you guys hear about the two players that were found dead last night?"

"Oh, yeah! I heard about it too. Two dead players were found in an alleyway late last night. But the weird part is that their heads were missing!" Exclaimed Tristan. "Have you heard about it, Shade?"

Shade didn't respond immediately. Instead, he kept walking a few seconds before he spoke.

"Does it matter? This is a survival game. That's just the beginning of many deaths."

"Shade's right!" Supported Celia. "We're only seeing a few deaths now because there are still a lot of softies in the game. But when we get to the later stages, trust me when I say that this kind of thing will be the new normal."

Arora pondered upon Celia's words. She knew that Celia was right. The only reason there weren't many murders so far was because there were still many people in the game who were afraid of killing, just like herself.

Arora was still trying her best to work on her fear of taking another person's life. It was wrong and nothing could make her believe otherwise. However, she knew that if she wished to survive then she would have to kill other players. She was determined to kill if she had to but it didn't make her like the act any better.

"I also heard that they're calling the guy that killed those players, the Head Reaper!" Continued Tristan. "No one knows his true identity as yet, so I think we should all refrain from going out at night if possible."

"Okay, guys. Enough of this! As your beautiful team captain, I say we focus on the stage before us! We want to avoid losing at all costs!" Proclaimed Celia.

Everyone agreed. They needed to remain focused. As the old man had told them, every stage was a competition between players. If a player were to lose at a stage, then they would be eliminated. Losing was not an option.

A few minutes later, they had all arrived at the location where the First Stage was to be held. A massive metallic door stood before them with a few other players waiting on the outside.

Just then, Celia spotted a few familiar faces that almost made her squeal. It was her former team that had abandoned her.

"Celia, is something wrong?" Asked Arora.

"It's them! My former backstabbing teammates!"

They then looked forward to see a total of five players approaching them. At the helm of the five players was a muscular man with black hair and brown eyes. He grinned at Celia as he came closer.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Celia! Nice hat you got there!" He greeted sarcastically.

"Paul, you backstabbing bastard! You have quite the audacity to confront me after what you and your friends did to me!"

"It was necessary. I need a team of mature adults, Celia. Having a snobby little teenager with us would only slow us down. But I see that you've found a new team. And they're all kids like yourself too! You should be thanking us for betraying you so that you could join up with a pathetic bunch like yourself!"

"It's not cool that you betrayed her just because you think she's too young! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Defended Arora.

Paul and his team then began laughing at Arora's remark. It was quite evident that they were all a bunch of troublesome fools.

"How naïve!" Began a red-haired female player on Paul's team. "You believe that we care about weaklings? Children will only hold us back. We dispose of whatever weakens our team!"

"Pfft- More like a bunch of cowards if you ask me!" Supported Tristan.

"Huh? What did you just say to us, kid?" Asked Paul in an offended tone.

"You heard him! You all abandoned me and left me for dead when I was genuinely trying to keep all of us alive! I was almost killed before Shade saved me... I try to act like the incident never bothered me but I was truly terrified that I could have lost my life... You're all a bunch of cowards!" Argued Celia.

For once, Celia didn't sound jovial nor enthusiastic. They could clearly hear the pain that was present in her voice. She had been hurt by the betrayal of her teammates after trying so hard to keep them alive.

"I dare you! Say that again, you bítch!" Shouted Paul, doubling his fists.

"It was so hard... I did everything I could to get us through the forest..! I killed hoards of monsters, sacrificed sleep to keep watch at night, and provided the money needed for our team to purchase the correct equipment! But you all threw me aside like garbage! You're all disgusting cowards!!"

Fueled with rage, Paul brought back his hand and aimed for a devastating punch towards Celia's head. However, to his surprise, Shade came from behind to easily catch his punch mid-swing.

"What the hell?!" Exclaimed Paul as he turned to look at Shade.

Shade gazed coldly into the eyes of Paul with a clear intent to kill. If he dared to move as much as a finger, Shade would not hesitate to end his life.

Paul could feel the pressure that Shade exerted. His cold stare and iron grip were almost enough to send him running.

"Back off or I'll kill you. I'm already in a bad mood," calmly warned Shade. "No one makes my teammates cry, yet even lays a finger on them. They're all special to me. Go do that crap with someone else if you value your lives."

Paul had been intimidated by Shade. He didn't want to show it but he backed away from Celia for his own safety.

"Damn it..! You're lucky I don't want to start a fight right before the stage starts! You better hope you're tiny team doesn't meet us when it begins! Remember our team name, Death Trap! You got that?!"

Team Death Trap and a few other teams then marched off through the large metal doors which were now open. Shade then went to follow but he was stopped by Celia.

"Shade, wait..."

"What is it?"

In truth, Celia was shocked that Shade had defended her. She had viewed him as the type to only care for himself. The fact that he had defended her showed that he had a heart too, though it seemed quite small.

"I just wanted to say thanks... I didn't expect you to defend me there..."

"I don't need your gratitude. What we need is to get through this stage so let's get going before the doors close again."

Tristan and Arora also agreed as they quickly followed. No one knew what exactly the First Stage would bring. However, if one thing was certain, it was that it would surely be a deathmatch.

As they walked through the doors, a blue light similar to the one that had transported them to the first town engulfed their bodies. The next second, they had been teleported onto a stage with solver metallic walls, iron floors, and an iron roof. The stage also stretched 100ft across, divided into two separate halves.

They all then lifted their heads to see their opponents standing a few feet ahead of them. Shade gave a slight smirk when he saw who they were.

The announcer then came forward on a small platform above their heads as he prepared to announce the rules of the game they were about to play.

"Players! Welcome to the First Stage of Survival Zer0! For the 15th match, we will have Team Shadow Liege versus Team Death Trap!"