Authors: Terry Schott
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Okay,” Brandon entered the room and dropped down onto the couch beside Trew. “I think it’s go time. Let’s get me hooked up and into the Game.”
Trew looked at Brandon curiously. “Seriously? The feeds are about to come back on?”
The boy they had come to know as Brandon had taken on a very businesslike air. Some of his old mannerisms had begun to show through this young body in the past three days, and it was clear that he wasn’t kidding around.
“I can feel something,” he said. “My best guess is that the time is close.”
Trew reached for his phone on the table and sent a broadcast message to Danielle’s team, instructing them to make their way to the command centre. “Do you want me to come with you?” he asked as he stood up.
Brandon shook his head and walked to the door, opening it and waiting for Trew to join him. “No need to come with me. I’m not a frightened child who needs an adult’s hand as I make my way into the Game for the first time.” They began to walk towards the elevator. “You need to get to the Command Centre. It’s gonna be crazy for the first few hours while everyone tries to piece together what’s going on with all the players of interest. Ten years have passed inside the Game since fans were able to view it. They’ll be shocked and surprised at the changes that have occurred.”
“Viewership will swell,” Trew said.
Brandon laughed and entered the elevator as the door opened. “That’s an understatement. I would guess that every pair of eyes on Tygon will be watching the Game. You will have the one thing I dreamed of for years... total focus on the Game.”
Trew’s hand hovered over the elevator button as the implications of Brandon’s statement sunk in. “That’s what you wanted all along, wasn’t it?” he asked.
Brandon looked both old and young as he winked at Trew knowingly. “It’s definitely part of the master plan, young man,” he said. “Double your money if you guess which channel almost everyone will be watching when they tune back in.”
Trew didn’t need to answer. He knew as well as Brandon did that the world would be tuning in to watch Danni.
===
Shane looked back and forth between Danielle and the old man. They all knew how he would respond, but it was obvious from the look on his face that he wasn’t pleased about it.
Finally his eyes became calm, his posture relaxed, and he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “All right,” he said. “I’ll restore things to how they were before. Things were getting boring this way, anyhow.”
“That’s a good lad,” the old man said. He stood up on the stump and clapped his hands three times slowly. “Doing the right thing is never easy, especially for you, Shane.”
Shane smiled. He raised his hand as if to snap his fingers, then paused and cocked his head as if a thought had just occurred to him. “I must insist on one condition.”
The old man chuckled. “There will be no conditions; you’re in no position to make bargains.”
Shane lowered his hand to his chest, wiping it smoothly against the breast of his shirt. “I’ve stated I will comply. If you won’t agree to my condition, then you can end the Game right now and the blame for it will fall on your shoulders, not mine.”
The old man pursed his lips in annoyance; he knew Shane was right. By agreeing to restore power, Shane would not technically be to blame if the Game ended. Both the old man and Shane understood the ramifications for causing the Game to end, and neither wanted to be blamed for causing that to happen from a universal perspective. “So you take defeat and manage to slide in a small victory before you concede?” the old man said. “Name your condition, and I will consider it.”
“It’s a small demand,” Shane said, “and it will be simple for you both to agree to.”
“What is it?” Danielle asked.
“Neither of you can reveal what I’ve done.”
The old man laughed, slapping his knee with one hand and waving the index finger of his other in Shane’s direction. “That is clever! Absolutely brilliant, boy!” he sat back down and laughed loudly again.
“I’m glad you like it,” Shane said.
“It’s not really that big of a deal,” Danielle couldn’t understand why Shane had asked for something so trivial and the old man thought it was so clever.
“So you agree to my condition?” Shane smiled sweetly.
“Yes.”
“I do too,” the old man said.
Shane nodded and snapped his fingers and announced, “Then it’s done.”
“Just like that?” Danielle asked.
“Just like that.”
Danielle shook her head. “I’ve travelled this world on foot for seven years to find you.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that already,” Shane said.
“Faced countless dangers.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Taken lives, and saved others.”
“All right.”
“I can’t remember the number of times I almost died trying to find you.”
“Eight,” the old man offered helpfully.
Danielle ignored him. “And now, after we finally find you, a short conversation is all it takes to persuade you to reverse what is likely the most devastating event in the last hundred years?”
“Thank you,” Shane nodded.
“I expected more.”
“What more could you have wanted?” Shane asked. “You got what you came for.”
“I expected a fight.”
Shane looked at the old man and shook his head. “Why do they always want to fight?”
“She did sacrifice considerable time and effort,” the old man said.
“Fine,” Shane sighed and untucked his shirt. “Since it’s your birthday. Show me what you got.”
“This isn’t a joke,” Danielle said. “If we fight, I intend to kill you.”
“I understand.”
“You’re underestimating me, Shane.”
“Likely,” Shane rolled his head from side to side and then nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, pumpkin.”
Danielle returned his nod and slowly reached behind her back.
===
“It’s live!” Michelle yelled. The command centre erupted into loud cheers and celebration.
Trew gazed at the main viewer and immediately saw Danni. “Quiet down and let’s figure this out as quickly as we can!” he shouted.
The room became quiet and all attention centred on the viewscreen.
“What’s she doing?” someone asked.
“Who’s that?” another voice inquired. “Standing across from her?”
“It looks as if she’s going to fight him.”
“Who is it?” Michelle looked at Trew.
Before Trew could guess, they heard Danni speak. “You’re underestimating me, Shane.”
“Oh, no,” Lilith said.
“Likely,” Shane rolled his head from side to side and then he nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, pumpkin.”
No one moved in the Command Centre as Danni slowly reached behind her back.
===
Brandon lay on the table and smiled confidently. The static on the viewscreen in his room had just disappeared, and clear images were being received from inside the Game. He saw Danielle standing across from Shane and he chuckled. It looked like fans would return to viewing the Game with a bang.
“Are you ready?” the doctor asked. Only Trew, Cooper, and Sylvia knew who he really was, but the doctor and nurses guessed that he must be someone important to get a private luxury room like this.
Brandon watched the scene in the Game unfold for a moment, then he looked at the doctor. “Yes, I’m ready to get in there, Doc,” he said.
The doctor nodded and began to lower the mask over Brandon’s face. Before he settled it into place, Brandon spoke one more time.
“Please deliver a message to Trew for me once I’m in?” he asked.
“Of course,” the doctor said.
“Tell him to keep a very close eye on Melissa.”
“I’ll tell him.”
Brandon smiled. “Then let’s play,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“We are halfway through day seven of the blackout and there’s nothing new for us to report. Despite the outpouring of positive thoughts and intentions being focused by most of the adult population, Game feeds are still down. People are not giving up, however, as efforts across the planet increase in the hopes of... One moment please, I’m getting new information here...
“The feeds are coming back up! I repeat, the Game feeds are coming online all over the world at this very instant!
“I’m sure no one is watching me any longer...Barry? Can we stop transmission, please? I want to see Danielle’s feed immediately!”
Lisa Rohansen - reporting day seven of the Game Blackout on Tygon.
Danielle - 70
As I slowly reach for the first of four knives sheathed behind my back, my primary thought is that I likely shouldn’t be doing this.
I got what I came for; there’s no real purpose in fighting one of the most powerful beings on the planet. The odds are good that he will kill me, but for some reason I don’t seem to care at this moment.
I’ve gone through so much, travelled such a long distance, and seen horrible painful things that are all because of this creature’s actions. Thousands of thoughts rush through my mind in the brief seconds that it takes to put my hand on the handle of the throwing knife, but one thought is foremost in my brain: Seventy years is good enough. Let’s see if I can make this monster pay for some of the crimes he’s committed over the millennia.
I see him smirk and my mind is made up; my hand grips the throwing knife comfortably, and quicker than most eyes could follow, I pull the blade from its sheath and whip it forward as hard as I can. No more time for thought... there is only action.
My first blade streaks in a straight line towards his left side. He begins moving to the right, but my next blade is already sailing in that direction, cutting off escape. Quicker than thought he begins to prepare himself to rush towards me, but my third blade is now in the air and halfway towards him following the straight path, making an advance to me impossible.
With knives flying at him from all directions, there is only one way he can go, and he launches himself upwards like a lightning bolt leaving the ground.
He gets three feet into the air before I close the distance and intercept him. I have become fast, and my arm encircles his neck as I begin to turn and twist it in a way that will break his spine as close to instantly as exists in this fast-paced dance. With my other hand I begin to plunge my fourth knife straight towards his exposed eye, just in case he manages to break my wrenching grip.
Shane grunts in surprise as all three knives whistle by below us and we drop to the ground with heavy force. His neck is strong, and instead of resisting my attempt to bend his neck and break it, he allows his body to move with the motion which reduces the force exerted and allows him to break my grip. I grin as my knife continues on course for his exposed eye, but my triumph fades as he gently bats the blade away to the side with the momentum of his right hand.
I land on top of him as we hit the ground with a heavy thud, both of us still and panting from the exertion that has taken place in the span of less than five seconds.
He shoves me with a powerful heave of his arms and I am sent rolling a few feet away from him. I stop my spinning and spring up to stand on my feet in a battle stance, knife at the ready to either defend or attack as required by his next move.
His smile is broad and it looks like he’s genuinely pleased with me. “Is that it?” he asks. “I would imagine the first rush was the best you can do. I have to admit that it was a wonderful attempt, Danni. To see that calibre of skill from a mortal... hell, I’ve rarely seen that kind of skill and speed from most Timeless, and they have centuries to perfect their skills. Bravo, Danni, bravo
!
”
I stand there, uncertain how to proceed. It was my best attack, and now that I’ve had a chance to gauge his abilities, I don’t think I want to try again. He seems to be giving me an out, so I decide to take it.
“That’s the best I could do,” I say. “I wish it’d been good enough to end your miserable life, Shane, but I guess that will have to be accomplished by someone better than me.” I stay in my defensive pose, ready in case he decides to strike, but he doesn’t.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” he says. “I’ve been at this Game for thousands of years. I hate to admit this, but if you had trailed me into some dark alley and somehow managed to avoid me detecting you, I think that move could have very well ended my life. I am sincerely and deeply impressed with your skills.”
“Thanks.” I look at the old man; he’s watching us with a bored look on his face. “So now what?” I ask him.
The old man stands up and hops down from the stump. He nods at Shane and uses his hand to make the outline of a rectangle in the air. It immediately begins to shimmer and fill with the familiar white light of a portal. “Now it’s time to go home, girl,” he says.
“Just like that?” I say.
“Yes,” he nods solemnly. “Sometimes things happen in life ‘just like that.’ This is one of those times.”
I look at Shane. “I hope to never see you again,” I say.
He smiles and raises one eyebrow. “If you do your job right, then perhaps we won’t need to meet again.”
I open my mouth to ask him what he means, but he smirks and summons a doorway of his own. He quickly turns and disappears through it.
I look at the old man, and he motions to the doorway with his arm. “Let’s go, Danni,” he says. “You’ve been on the road long enough. It’s time to go home.”
I nod and enter the doorway, feeling its hot rush of speed as, in an instant, we travel the distance that it took seven long years for us to walk.