Female voice
[Congratulations!]
[Your world has been chosen as the arena for the new "Death Games" between worlds! In the next few Earth minutes, guests from other worlds will begin arriving!]
Pause
[The last surviving member of one of the participating races will receive immortality and the ability to travel across universes!]
Pause
[Attention! The human race from planet Earth has been connected to the universal "Language of Montana.]
Pause
[The new "Death Games" begin! We wish all participants… to die the most horrific death!]
The voice was soft, even pleasant—like a young girl reading an advertisement.
But as soon as it faded, the entire class, including me, instinctively grabbed their heads. A loud buzzing filled my skull. This wasn't a normal announcement over the loudspeaker. It felt like it was inside everyone's head. But how was that even possible?
A moment later, a sharp thunder roared. This wasn't just a sound in our heads anymore.
Everything went silent for a couple of seconds.
And then it began.
Lightning lashed from the sky. A hurricane wind started howling. It grew dark outside in an instant. Everything plunged into chaos. The electricity cut out, and in that same second, the first explosions roared outside. The city was ablaze.
Suddenly, screams came from the other building, right across from ours. Everyone froze.
Right before our eyes, a student flew out of one of the windows of the neighboring building and crashed to the ground. Something fell with him, tearing apart his already lifeless body in seconds.
Another window shattered. Another student fell out. Then another. And another. One by one, bodies plummeted from the windows.
We were on the third floor. In an instant, panic and screams swept through the entire floor. Everyone rushed out of the classrooms and ran downstairs. At that moment, an earthquake began. But it didn't stop anyone.
Everyone was in a panic. Several students fell. A stampede started. Some were pushed off the stairs, tumbling straight to the first floor, smashing against the concrete edges of the steps. Instincts took over. Panic turned into frenzy. The survival instinct must have kicked in. The walls and floors were smeared with the blood of students crushed by the crowd. Lifeless bodies lay scattered across the stairs.
Outside, the explosions and screams of people didn't stop. Despite it all, I managed to make it outside. And I saw…
Unknown creatures, like giant rats but covered in long, stone-like spines, were slaughtering people without mercy. Severed limbs were everywhere. The ground was soaked in blood.
I froze in place. Horror gripped every inch of my body. My legs wouldn't move. My heart wanted to leap out of my chest. All I felt was cold sweat and primal fear.
Suddenly, I noticed one of those creatures charging straight at me and a few guys standing nearby. I had to dodge, but not rush. Thoughts flashed in an instant. My critical thinking, which I was always praised for, must have kicked in.
We all stood frozen. When the creature got close enough and lunged at us, I rolled to the side. In a second, it decapitated the guy next to me and tore the others apart in the next few moments.
I glanced around and ran toward the gym. I didn't make it far before another monster lunged at me. I managed to dodge, since they moved about as fast as regular people. I fell to the ground and tried to get up, putting my hand down. But… I didn't have a palm.
The pain wasn't too bad. Probably because of the adrenaline. I stumbled into an empty locker room and shut the door. I hid inside one of the lockers. I pulled out my phone and tried to check social media, but there was no signal.
A couple of minutes later, I started coming to my senses. The screams in the school had stopped, but the general noise and chaos still lingered. My missing palm started to make itself known. The pain grew stronger. But I tried not to make a sound.
I sat… sat… and kept sitting. The bleeding didn't stop. I felt worse and worse. It was harder to think clearly. I had no strength to move.
Just a week ago, I turned 18. One more month, and I would've graduated. Was this really how it would end? Why did this happen? Why now? Why me? It hurts.
Should I give up? Would it be rational to go outside now? Or would it be rational to just stay here? Both paths lead to death. I shouldn't close my eyes. I shouldn't give up. I shouldn't… I gave up. I closed my eyes.
...
I came to. It felt like I'd been yanked out of the deepest phase of sleep.
I was still in that small, cramped locker. But now the door was open. A tall man stood in front of me. He wore a cloak and hood. I couldn't make out his face. But I could clearly see the sword. A long, black sword he held in his hands.
— What, you want to kill me? Go ahead, end my suffering, — I let out a hysterical laugh.
It's been two years since I last felt like this. This feeling of hopelessness.
Only this time, I couldn't protect myself, not the people I cared about.
He didn't answer.
He raised the sword. Swung. And… plunged it straight into my head.
But strangely, I didn't die. I could feel it all. And it wasn't pain. It was strength. Like life itself had been planted inside me, as weird as that sounds.
The black sword turned half fiery, glowing faintly with the same light.
The only thing that crossed my mind at that moment: I want that sword so damn bad.
The sword pulsed with unimaginable power. Like it didn't take my life but gave me one instead.
— Now let's see what you're capable of.
That was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
...
I woke up. Still in the same locker. The sword that had been plunged into my head was now in my hands. In the palm that was missing. I felt no pain. No exhaustion, no emptiness, not even fear.
All I felt was pure strength and lightness.
I stood up and climbed out of the locker. The first thing I noticed was that I was taller. It was obvious, since my height used to be below average. You can't help but notice changes like that.
I stepped outside. The school courtyard was filled with mutilated corpses of students and teachers. Including… my friends.
Suddenly, from the gym roof behind me, one of those monsters lunged. I didn't even realize how I dodged.
I'd always been pretty agile, but this was… reflexes? Reaction? Instinct? Probably all at once.
It jumped at me again. While it was in the air, I reacted, swung the sword… and sliced it in half. It all happened in a second.
For the first time in my life, I finally felt real power. One thing I knew for sure: I wouldn't let anyone take this power from me. And I'd use it to the fullest.