Deathgame

[Jimbo san]

Yes, I've had just enough time to write another story. For your delectation I present to you - Deathgame!
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[Logon = “Deathgame�]
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<Welcome to Death Game>

The place – Foyer of the “Intermax International� corporation HQ.
The time – 12.30 am GMT.

The foyer was lavishly decorated, furnished with a plethora of comfortable seats and several famous paintings. Small tables supported valuable objets’ d’art, the value of which would be in the hundreds of thousands of Credits. The main hallway had shiny black linoleum on the floor and the pillars were concrete encased in marble for a more luxurious finish.

Trinitygirl101 walked into the foyer. She was about five foot six and she had black hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes encased in a pair of wrap-around black sunglasses. She wore a tight fitting black leather catsuit and carried an M16 assault rifle. She also carried two pistols, one on a belt holster on one of her hips, the other on the opposite. They were chrome-plated Desert Eagles, well maintained and fully loaded. She looked around, and seeing nobody else had arrived yet, disappeared into the shadows.

Then came Haxxorman. He was six feet tall and muscular, dark skinned with a shaven head, brown eyes and a gold ring through his right eyebrow. He wore a long black leather trenchcoat over a tight black T-shirt and black trousers. He wielded two MP5 submachine guns, one in either hand. Under his trenchcoat he had concealed two Beretta 9mm handguns. His black boots made a light “crunch, crunch� sound as he moved cautiously across the hall. Sensing that somebody was near he fled to cover.

W00tdude looked around nervously and licked his dry lips as he arrived. He was quite short, about five feet tall, and had wiry blonde hair that stuck out in every direction. He wore a tight black jumper and black trousers over his skinny frame. He carried an Israeli Military Industries Uzi 9mm, with which he kept fidgeting. He wore a bandoleer on his chest with five extra magazines for the Uzi, and he had a switchblade in a hidden compartment on the side of his right boot.

Ninjalord strutted in and saw W00tdude flee into the maze of pillars and he sighed. He began to wish that he hadn’t brought him, as he really wasn’t getting into the spirit of things at all. The mask of the black ninja costume he was wearing obscured his features. The goggles he wore on his forehead had thermal sensors built in. He pushed them down and onto his eyes and scanned the area. He was picking up heat patterns. He pushed them back up and smiled, unsheathing the two katana swords he kept sheathed on his back. At his hip he kept a fully loaded Ingrams Mac 10 machine pistol. He went to follow the nearest heat pattern, that of W00tdude.

Reaperman192 walked into the foyer. He was the last, as always. He sighed and ran a hand through his short black spiky hair. He pulled a pair of black sunglasses out of his black sleeveless shirt’s pocket and put them on, concealing his brown eyes. He reached behind his back and pulled the Spaz-12 semi-automatic shotgun out of the holster. Ensuring that he made no sound, he crept across the foyer until he was behind a table, where he waited for one of the others to make the first move.

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Screamed W00tdude as he ran down the hallway, dodging between the pillars, trying to evade Ninjalord.

He reached the end of the hall and slammed into an elevator, pounding on the button. No response. He hammered again. No response. The third time he hit the button, he had to duck as one of Ninjalord’s katanas flew over his head, sizzling through the air, and buried itself several inches into the elevator door. Then he figured that the elevator must be just another part of the scenery, and since he was cornered he prepared to fight. He raised his Uzi and fired at Ninjalord as he approached. The rapid stammering of the Uzi was counterpointed by the little tinkling sound of brass bullet cases bouncing as they hit the floor. Ninjalord dived to the right and a large marble tile shattered and fell off the pillar just beside him. W00tdude kept his aim on Ninjalord, who was engulfed by chunks of shattered masonry flying off the walls beside him. A bullet knocked a chunk of marble off a pillar and it shot into the air and sliced Ninjalord’s face as it passed him, cutting his cheek. W00tdude ran out of bullets in the magazine and ducked as Ninjalord swung at him. As he rose he dropped the Uzi and landed a barrage of blows on Ninjalord’s stomach, his fists blurring with speed. But somehow Ninjalord was even faster, his hand moving so fast that in one instant it had moved from being on the hilt of his sword to gripping W00tdude’s hand very hard. He spun and threw W00tdude over his shoulder and he landed heavily on the floor.

Trinitygirl101 had heard the scream. She headed towards it, staying in the shadows. She clutched her M16 nervously as she turned around a pillar. In front of her, just by the elevator, was W00tdude. A katana had been stuck through his forehead and he was the centre of a slowly spreading circle of blood. Another katana was buried about three inches into the steel door of the elevator. She sighed and bent down, closing the eyes of the corpse.

<Status update – 1 contestant down: W00tdude>
<4 contestants remain>
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Reaperman192 had her in his sights. He shifted his grasp on the shotgun with sweaty fingers and increased the pressure on the trigger. He fired and an enormous “BOOM� resonated through the hall. As the cordite smoke cleared he saw no sign of her, just a smoking crater on the far wall. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned slowly and saw her. She hit him hard in the face and he flew backwards, skidding across the floor until he struck a wall. He roared and pumped the shotgun, the fat shell skittering across the floor. He fired again and she leapt to one side and avoided it, moving faster than the eye could follow. She took refuge behind a pillar and stuck her gun round the corner, firing blind on automatic. Reaperman192 leapt up and out of the way of the shower of bullets and they shattered the tiles on the wall. He moved behind a pillar as well. Another volley of bullets from Trinitygirl101 disintegrated a chunk of the corner of the pillar he was using as cover. She pulled the magazine out and slapped a fresh one in. She moved out cautiously, confident in her ability to be both silent and almost invisible. The blow she received to the back of the head came as a great surprise, and she shot forward and smashed into the wall face first. The tiles on the wall cracked and she slid to the floor leaving behind a sticky trail of blood. She turned to face him and he pumped the shotgun and shot her in the stomach. She convulsed and slumped to the floor. Satisfied, Reaperman192 stalked off to find other victims.

[Status report]
<Status update – 1 contestant down: W00tdude>
<4 contestants remain>
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Haxxorman walked through an aisle of desks. Ninjalord was silently moving up from behind him, Mac-10 at the ready. He stopped and took careful aim down the sights, getting Haxxorman’s head square in the centre. A loud “BOOM� erupted from his right and his Mac-10 flew into the air. He screamed as his shattered right hand spurted blood in arcing jets around him. However, as the gun began to fall, he leapt up and caught it in his left hand as Haxxorman turned. He leapt to one side and narrowly avoided another shot from Reaperman192 before spraying his machine pistol wildly at Haxxorman. Haxxorman leapt over a table and somersaulted while firing both MP5 submachine guns. One he had aimed at Ninjalord, the other at Reaperman192. Ninjalord narrowly evaded the hail of bullets from Haxxorman but his concentration had been ruined and the next shot from Reaperman192 burst Ninjalord’s head, chunks of gore falling to the floor as a jet of blood sprayed from the ruptured jugular. The decapitated corpse collapsed heavily to the floor.

<Status update – 2 contestants down: W00tdude, Ninjalord>
<3 contestants remain>
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Haxxorman cast his empty submachine guns aside and drew his Berettas. He saw Reaperman192 try to get out from behind a desk and blazed at him. The desk splintered under the rain of bullets. Reaperman192 stuck his shotgun over the top of the desk and fired blind. A pillar beside Haxxorman burst open, leaving a two inch thick crater in the concrete and showering him with dust. Reaperman192 withdrew the shotgun and pumped it again. Haxxorman waited for him to make another move. Nothing. He walked over, curious. The space behind the desk had six empty shotgun shells lying on the floor, but there was no sign of Reaperman192. A tiny bead of sweat, shimmering in the artificial lighting like a diamond, hit the floor and splashed. Haxxorman looked up and saw Reaperman192 standing on the ceiling. Reaperman192 dived downwards, firing his shotgun as he fell. Haxxorman side-stepped the shot and a section of linoleum burst, making a small hole. He aimed upwards and fired. Reaperman192 could not dodge as well in mid air and bullet after bullet sheared through his flesh. In the four seconds this had all taken, a crater had been made in the floor and Reaperman192 had been shot thirty times in the chest. His corpse lay in a pool of blood, still clutching the now empty shotgun.

<Status update – 3 contestants down: W00tdude, Ninjalord, Reaperman192>
<2 contestants remain>
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Haxxorman walked into the main entrance part of the foyer. Here he met Trinitygirl101. She inclined her head as a mark of respect and he reciprocated. She had been winded badly by Reaperman192, but he had neglected to check whether she was dead, and she had been wearing the latest ultra-thin ceramic chest plate under her catsuit. It had stopped the pellets, but she had still taken the force of the blow. She knew she had at least a couple of cracked ribs, and she had been forced to remove the ceramic plate as it had been badly dented. She drew her Desert Eagles and they both fired at the same time. They dived through the air, him going right, her going left. The only sounds in the foyer were the cracking noise of guns going off, the supersonic zip of the bullets flying though the air and the sound of shattering masonry and splintering furniture. They both rolled behind cover and reloaded. She was faster and fired a volley at his cover. The thick bullets tore through the desk and missed Haxxorman by millimetres. He responded with thirty rounds from his two pistols, riddling the pillar she was hiding behind with bullets and shattering a plant pot. She burst out of cover while he was reloading and leapt over the desk. She twisted whilst in the air and fired at him. He rolled to one side and narrowly dodged the bullets. From a lying down position he rolled backwards and turned the end of it into a backward somersault that put him on his feet. He realised that he had left one of the Berettas behind. She landed and fired. He took cover behind a pillar, slapping another clip into the gun. He leapt out from his cover, aiming at where she had taken cover only to be greeted by gunfire from behind. He whirled, his black trenchcoat billowing. He dived forward and fired. She started running to her right. He kept tracking her with his gun whilst in mid-air, each shot only just missing her head. One of the bullets scraped her shoulder and she turned and fired and he landed heavily on the floor, skidding for a while before coming to a stop. She walked over to his motionless body. She contemplated it dispassionately as she stood amongst the destruction and carnage around her. A hand snaked out and grabbed her left ankle. Haxxorman pulled with all his might and she fell to the ground, dropping her handguns. He pulled himself to his feet. She scrambled up and saw that he was unharmed. She screamed, angry at being tricked by him and struck a volley of blows at him. He blocked them easily before striking her with a blow that sent her across the hall, where she hit the elevator door with a clang, denting it. She slid to the floor by W00tdude’s feet, groaning. He walked up to her, holding his Beretta in his right hand, ready to finish her off. In one fluid movement she pulled the switchblade out of W00tdude’s boot, opened it and threw it at Haxxorman in a matter of seconds. He had not been prepared for this, and he looked down at the knife buried to the hilt in the left side of his chest. A small trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth and dripped off his chin onto the linoleum. He raised his gun and fired twice. She had not been prepared for that. She gasped as she clutched the two sucking chest wounds she had been dealt, and she gurgled as her lungs filled with blood. Haxxorman collapsed, first to his knees, then face down onto the cold floor. Trinitygirl101 died not long after, her lifeless corpse sat up with its back still against the now blood splattered and dented elevator door.

<Status update – 5 contestants down: W00tdude, Ninjalord, Reaperman192, Haxxorman, Trinitygirl101>
<No contestants remain>
<Result = Draw>
[Log off = “Deathgame�]
<Logging off…>
<Logging off…>
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{EPILOGUE}

‘God, you are such an asshole John!’ said Kimberley.

‘Look, you wanted to see what it was like. It’s not my problem if you don’t like it!’ he retorted.

She was genuinely unimpressed. Stuck in that corpse, with two chest wounds, she really did feel as if she had been suffocating. She shivered. The Ethernet was too real for her sometimes.

‘And as for you guys, I’ve seen cheating in my time, but nothing quite like that. Mike, you were on the fucking ceiling, for Christ’s sake!’ John growled to the others.

The other three, Mike, Foley and Josh murmured a collective ‘sorry’, and promised never to do it again while all crossing their fingers behind their backs.

Then John brightened up again and said, ‘Come on, I’ll get the first round in.’

The others, cheered by this news, did not need to be asked twice and they all filed out of the Ethernet cafe and across the road into the pub.
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Comments, critiques, general ranting; all would be very much appreciated.