Crown Game - 2

As the lizard girl, Anaak sat onto the throne, the first round of the crown game came to a conclusion.

There was some discourse among the team members of the winning team and Shibisu argued with the test administrator about the rules; subject to whether the switching of people who wore the crown within a team was allowed.

Such things were obviously stretching the rules a bit too thin and so it was denied.

"The lizard girl is on the throne now! It's our chance!" Zarhan yelled from the side, screaming right into Winston's ears.

Winston scowled at him and shook his head.

"No. Now is not the time." He said.

"Why? Although her weapon can extend, she clearly won't be able to fight as freely now." Hearing his words, Winston glared at the one seated on the throne. More specifically, he glared at her weapon.

"You don't understand. We should still wait."

Yes. We must wait. A smirk made it's way onto his face. Only then can I steal the crown and digest the potions.

"We're gonna have to go into the field at some point." Amon said, fidgeting nervously.

Winston nodded at his words.

For some reason, amid the tests, Winston as the most intellectually sane had been tactically deemed to be the leader of their group, or at least the one whose opinion held the most weight.

Winston smiled at them. "And that we will." He glanced again at the weapon, and then his eyes drifted to the crown atop her head.

"We shall steal the crown right under everyone's eyes. For that, we must wait." As Winston understood it, the true might of the weapon had not been unleashed as of yet. Although he felt that in the hands of a stronger being it might prove to be stronger, it stood to reason that Winston was cautious. It was better to be as such, than to suffer the consequences after underestimating the other party's capabilities.

For Winston, overestimating his competition was considered better than underestimating them.

"Then! The second round will begin shortly. Press your buzzers by the time I count down from 5!" Lero ro's announcement rang out, echoing in the hall and in the cells.

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

As the countdown continued, none of their participants rose to press the buzzer. Winston, Amon and Zarhan calmly observed the hall, looking for the teams that would be participating.

"2!"

"1!"

Tiiiiiiiiiii!

A sharp alarm rang out and the doors opened up for the next batch of teams.

Four teams walked up into the arena, each containing people more eccentric than the other.

One of them has a single red eye atop a stone like head, the other had bat like wings on his back. One of them slept in a full bed mattress and the other had two sets of arms.

Amon and Zarhan moved closer to the gate where Winston was standing, opting to get a better look at the game.

At first, there was some discord among the participating teams as they contemplated whether they were to simply attack without plan or collude together for the taking down of Shibisu's team.

Team up? Heh. Yeah right. Winston guffawed in his heart, lampooning together as he did so. In a game such as this, where the stakes were the ascendancy to the next floor and where life and death were on the line, no one was willing to trust each other. It was basic common sense.

One wouldn't want to share their worldly riches with others, no matter how much in need the other person was. And when the need becomes universal, the ground that one stands on becomes a battlefield.

There is no rest for the wicked. There is only the next battlefield in the tower, that much was already clear to Winston, to someone who had not entered the tower a day ago and someone that had yet to figure out the intricacies that went along with climbing it.

As expected, two of the three teams that participated began to fight among themselves, while the other two swarmed the two fighting members of the winning team, Hatz and Shibisu.

Shibisu got the team with the sleeping man, making things a bit easier for him as he wasn't facing a three versus one situation. For Hatz, it was still manageable because of the gap in strength and skill.

"Sub par at best." Zarhan muttered from the side. Both Winston and Amon glanced at him from the corner of their eyes.

Zarhan's eyes were deeply riveted to the fights going on, intently scanning each and every single participant.

"Just two people are troublesome here." He whispered to himself again, yet it was still heard by the other two. His grip on his spear tightened.

In the arena, Shibisu was quickly overwhelmed by the two members of the opposing team and was then saved by Hatz who had taken care of his own opponents.

However, something peculiar happened very quickly.

The sleeping man who was enveloped by the mattress began to get up, propping up his chest and sitting with the throne on front.

Then, he gently held out his hand in front of him.

Winston's eyes widened in shock and expectation. Without delay, he tapped his ring finger and thumb together twice in succession, activating his spirit vision.

Immediately, his vision was filled by waves that existed everywhere.

In the hand of the sleeping man, a bright ball of light began to gather. And then, with a glorious speed, the light rushed towards Anaak who was sleeping quietly on the throne.

Shaaaaaa!

Whooo!

The light enveloped the tiny figure of Anaak, or was at least supposed to. The green lizard jumped atop the throne, the crown still adorned on her head.

As she landed, she tried to glare at the perpetrator.

Only to be met with another attack right there.

Shaaaa!

This one hit her head on, enveloping her without any room to escape.

"Anaak!" Shibisu yelled as he ran towards the throne, following behind the two members of the opposing team who were vying for the crown.

The lady and the guy with the horn jumped to attack Anaak who had emerged from the attack mostly unharmed.

"A wave controller?" Amon said quizically, which prompted Zarhan to nod.

Wave controller? Winston mused. Contemplating for a bit, he linked the term 'Wave controller' with the term 'shinsu user' he had heard before. He was not sure if they were quite the same, however, since the sleeping man had used the waves around him, Shinsu, Winston felt that they might largely be the same, albeit having some differences; hence, the need for having different descriptions.

"If they manage to snatch the crown we'll have a harder time competing for it." Amon quipped.

Winston narrowed his eyes, deciding not to comment on a topic he was not sure if he had sufficient information on.

Back in the arena, a soft voice echoed.

"Unlike you, I can use Shinsu to attack, meaning I don't have the limitation of distance when facing you." The man said. "Give up. There is no competition. I can attack the throne from anywhere." He declared with a voice high and mighty, yet laced with a lazy undertone.

Anaak clicked her tongue, a glare marring her child like face. At the moment, she seemed more like an acolyte of rage than anything else that could be useful for her description.

"Attack the throne from anywhere you said?" She quipped. Then, she twirled the gigantic green hook in her hand into the air.

Winston turned off his spirit vision, feeling the glow of the weapon getting brighter still.

"Ignition." She whispered, her voice reaching the ears of every regular present somehow, blossoming a strange sense of foreboding in their hearts.

"An ignition weapon!?" Zarhan screamed, holding the railing in front of him, almost wanting to jump out of the cage.

"Ignition weapon?" Amon inquired, never having heard to the term. Winston cheered inside his heart at Amon's question. Alas, they would not get the time for a discussion.

Just as they were wondering, the situation in the arena changed drastically.

The weapon in her hand, which had stood at a mere 3 meters in length before extended to a staggering 50 meters, towering over everyone like a gigantic behemoth.

Anaak held a crazy smile on her face, her lips stretched from ear to ear with teeth fully showing, appearing incredibly psychopathic.

She swung her weapon, slamming it right into the ground where the sleeping man had previously say.

"What the hell?!" Zarhan yelled.

Amon stood flabbergasted at the display, his eyes widened to the extreme. Winston himself did not fare any better.

How the hell am I gonna steal the crown from that. His eyes narrowed and his lips turned a bit dry. Sweat appeared on his forehead at the relentless barrage of attacks that was being thrown in the ring.

Anaak with her gigantic weapon slammed in into the ground over and over, trying to hit the man covered in the bed mattress.

The man in bed, strangely floated into the air, flying about everywhere dodging her attacks desperately.

Even a single one could be fatal. His expression was a mixture of anxiety, surprise and concentration.

Then, Anaak's green weapon again underwent a change.

The gigantic hook which had been flailing around in the air split itself into dozens of other whip like extensions, each seemingly with a mind of its own.

It felt as if a living creature was writhing from the ground up, wanting to kill, destroy and swallow any living thing it could possibly get it's feeling tentacles on.

The weapon like an instrument of destruction tore through the air, rushing straight at the three other people remaining in the battlefield. Anaak laughed like a deranged fairybook beast, descended from the unknown beyond to purge the world from all life.

The thing can split?! Winston looked on, getting increasingly shocked from the battle.

At that moment, even Zarhan who exclaimed at the battle since arrival was quieted down, opting to simply observe.

Amon nervously watched, unwilling to make a comment upon seeing the concentrated gazes that his other two teammates had on the battlefield.

However, just when it felt as if it was the end for the other team, something clicked.

Anaak stopped, the weapon automatically retracting itself into the previous 3 meter hook.

She turned towards one of the cages abruptly, simply staring at the air as if bewitched.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the team rushed out, reaching back to their own cage.

By the rules, return to their respective cage meant elimination from the crown game.

"Way to go!" Shibisu cheered, looking at the figure of Anaak who stood at the top of the throne still.

However, just as he was doing so, Anaak who had been quiet leapt from the throne towards a cage.

Boom!

Unknowingly, relief washed over Winston as he remembered the rules.

Leaving the throne for any reason whatsoever means elimination from the crown game for the team!

~~~

A/N: Tell me your thoughts!