Alice in Borderland: New York

Pain (3): Aftermath

The night had passed since the 3 of hearts. They were too shocked to talk about it... Jake felt weird, as he thought about the situation. He... Almost died... His heart stopped... But, more importantly, the people who made that game... They knew they were going to play together, and they took advantage of that... Jake did not sleep a lot, and woke up at dawn, tortured by his nightmares. Judging from the bags around Teddy's eyes, it seemed he had had trouble sleeping as well.

"Jake, I thought about something after the 3 of hearts." Teddy announced.
"Sure, tell me." Jake replied.
"Well, heart games will be specifically made to destroy friendships and torture the players. And, since we have a 1 in 4 chance of playing one of those.... Let's stop playing together."
"I understand you point, Teddy, but... Are you sure? What if I end up in another diamonds or you end up in a spades?" Jake argued.
"We'll carry walkie-talkies in case you need help for a diamonds. For a spades, don't worry. I'm not too bad at those."
"By the way, Teddy. We should try to get as much visa days as possible. I want for us to be able to spend 2 weeks without playing any game. To just leave calmly, even if it is just for half a month" Jake stated.

Teddy, nodded, and the day went on. Teddy tried teaching Jake how to cook, which was relatively successful, and they just spent time together, enjoying their day. At dusk, Jake went on his motorcycle, and drove towards the only place that was lit up nearby, a bar. There, there were 3 other people gathered: A black-hair tan woman named Maya, a white-hair woman named Karen, and a brown hair man in a suit that introduced himself as Asher. As they entered the bar, the screen lit up, announcing the rules:

"Game: Bar fight
Difficulty: Ace of spades
Rules: Knock the Batman out before the end of the 15 minutes time limit. "

Jake let out a sigh of disappointment. A low game would bring him almost no visa at all. And most importantly... Why would the Ace of Spades come up now and not during the 6 of diamonds? Angry, he entered the bar, noticing a big bald man wearing brass knuckles.

"Ah, you come alone! You should be warned, I was a professional boxer before arriving here! You are no match for me! I will crush you to death" The bald man said, with a sadistic smile.

Jake sighed... An arrogant person... He was so used to this he did not even care anymore. An ace... He hoped to have at least a bit more difficulty with the other games...

The big guy tried to attack Jake with an uppercut. "Too slow." Jake thought to himself, before swiftly dodging the punch and punching the guy in the throat. The bald man let out a scream of surprise, or at least he tried to, but was unable due to his throat being almost crushed by Jake's powerful punch. Jake took a bottle of wine that was left in the bar, smashing it on the guy's head at full force. The man crumpled onto the floor, very clearly KO'ed.

"GAME CLEAR" The voice announced.

Jake then turned back to the entrance of the bar, grabbing his visa and his Ace of spades card, before calmly leaving the place, with everyone watching him go in complete shock.

He returned to the casino, only 15 minutes after having left for the first time, and spoke to Teddy.

"The Ace of spades. What irony. Well, anyways, I guess I'll have to play another game tomorrow. I hope it will be a little more difficult this time, or else, I'll gonna get bored to death." Jake said, nonchalantly.

Little did he know... He would regret those words in less than 24 hours.