The silhouette on the screen started speaking.
"Well, well, well. How is everyone?"
Now I'm sure some of you are wondering why you're here, and others don't, so I'll get started.
"The 28 of you have either died or had near-death experiences, only to come back stronger than ever.
I wish to see that in action. Only the best walk free," he said, voice slightly amused.
"So please, everybody, form a group of two. There should be at least 14 teams when the clock hits zero.
You have 15 minutes."
As I listened, I eyed everyone in the room. Some looked like misfits, the kind you'd see in the darkest pits of Nightfall City.
And then there was me and Fenix.
I turned to him.
"Hey, wanna tag-team for this?" I asked.
He looked at me, thinking. I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was.
This wasn't gonna be a team match. It was a versus.
Guess I wasn't fighting him today.
I said, "Never mind," before he could respond and went off looking for a new partner.
Tried a few guys, none stuck. Then finally, I met a guy named Mr. Khan.
He wore this snazzy suit like he just stepped out of a guru commercial, ready to tell you about his new book and a hundred things that never happened in his life that'll change yours.
But from another angle, he looked like he had the power to back up whatever arrogance was about to leave his mouth.
"Well, I see you're in need of a partner," he said.
To which I replied, "Indeed, my good sir," sarcastically. But not.
"Well, allow me to lay the cards on the table. Something most people have been avoiding for a while now.
I am endowed with the arcane gift of chaotic misalignment, a harbinger of minor calamities and master of temporal disruptions so petty, yet persistent, they bend fortune itself into an exasperated sigh."
"Ahh, I see…" I said, quite taken aback by the overuse of words just to describe bad luck.
"I see why they avoid you," I added.
"Yes... it deepens me. Sadly," he replied.
"Well, I guess as much as luck is important, I do need a partner. So maybe it's luck that we met."
"Or maybe unluck," he muttered.
I looked around for Fenix to see if he'd found a partner. He seemed to be talking to some guy that looked like a magic knight adventurer or something.
I walked back toward Mr. Khan. Didn't think much of it.
Twelve minutes later...
"Well, well, well. Everyone. It seems we've successfully gathered you all into teams.
Or should I say opponents.
You see, we've got this drug that's been hitting the streets of Nightfall and Hellsky City. Apparently, people have been surpassing their limits without going neon. They've managed to retain their minds, thanks to this… Nightmare Fuel.
Anyway, you'll be going into separate rooms, and our scientists will inject you with this Nightmare Fuel. Maybe those who finish their matches will get to watch the others. And the ones who lose? I guess we'll just say a couple folks went neon on a random Monday at a random location.
Unfortunately, they were beyond any saving," he said, like he was reciting a news headline.
You could feel the tension in the air. The regret. There were a couple sobbing in a corner.
"Don't worry, baby. It'll all be okay," one said. "Remember what the scientist lady said. It's just an experiment. We'll be home with our girl soon."
Some laughed.
Me? I just looked at Fenix. He was looking at me.
Like it was my fault we were here.
It was.
We had some time to talk before everyone was led out.
"So you just had to hand me over," he said. "Did you forget that I told you you were part of my plan? I need your help soon."
I said, "Help with what? You haven't explained shit."
He sighed and sat me down on the floor, then started explaining what he called Nightmare's Eve.
"A long time ago, way before us, the world got wrecked. Not by war or nukes or whatever. By these things. Heartless Ones. Not even alive. Just walking voids. Looked human at first, but they weren't. They'd get close, then boom. Town's gone. Sucked the warmth right out of people. Literally. Thirty years of that. Everyone terrified."
"Then this guy Josh shows up. Yeah, that Josh, from the spellsongs. Not just a wizard, but like the last real hope. He figures out magic can hurt them. Starts a resistance. Trains people to survive."
"But the real threat? The Man With a Billion Lives. Creepy bastard. He worked for the Heartless Ones' boss. Could see the future. All of them. Shift reality. Make nightmares real. Bend the world like paper."
"But Josh didn't fight him with brute force. He talked to him. Offered redemption. And it almost worked. They made a deal. Temporary truce."
"In the final battle, Josh tricked their leader, Kezdak, with this cursed basket of nachos. Don't laugh. And used it to trap the Heartless Ones in another dimension. But before Kezdak went down, he swore they'd return one day. Doom prophecy and all that."
"And the Man With a Billion Lives? Before he died, he told Josh to take his blood. Said someone in the future might need his power."
Oddly enough, he said I have those powers. The powers of illusions.
I sat there in deep thought. Then I asked:
"How?"
"How what?" he said.
"How were you gonna get me to join this crusade of yours? You seem pretty broke. I don't do shit for free. So what was the big idea? You thought I'd be like, 'Oh no!'"
I put my hands to my face like a shocked little kid.
Fenix started to stutter, but I cut him off.
"Told you. After we leave this place, let's talk."
He said, "Okay."
That's when a bunch of people in astronaut suits came in and started leading everyone out.
Mr. Khan turned and winked at me before leaving.
I winked back. Then did it to Fenix.
Then we left.