The Watcher-Prime: New Order

Chapter 3: Challenge

Grian materialized in the center of the arena, fists clenched. Up until the last second, he had thought that he and Pearl's plan had gone perfectly. Jaw clenched, Grian sighed,

"Challenge accepted."

A few admins began to boo, and several stood up, craning their necks to get a better look at the Prime Admin. Grian whisked his fingers, summoning whisps of golden mists in foggy orbs. He planned to get this over with as quickly as possible. Normally he tried to keep things as painless as possible. This time such restraint had escaped him. Grian looked up, ready to throw. 

Dream froze, and then vanished. The crowd murmured in confusion. Did he forfeit? Grian frowned. He wasn't sure what the protocol was in scenarios like this. Grian glanced at Pearl - Notch knew, she knew more about rules than he did.

The Prime Admin released the orbs, dropping his gaurd. A moment later something hard hit him in the back and Grian was sent sprawling forward. Grian's jaw scraped the floor, and something warm trickled down his chin. There were shouts and cries of surprise from the audience. No one got the best of Prime 2. Instinctively, Grian threw up a golden wall.

The thin golden sheen shot up, molding around Grian's sprawled shape and lengthening into a tall pillar. Just how high the pillar towered no one could tell. The admins assigned to guard West Tower reported it disappearing into the clouds. One admin tried to blow the clouds away, yet the height of the tower remained unclear.

Grian quickly found his bearings and sent the forcefield. The golden wall of magic knocked Pearl, Gem, Scar, and Dream from the platform.

Grian brushed his forehead to ensure his hood was still on right. It was. Then the prime admin was on his feet, facing his challenger. Furious thoughts whirled through his head. No challenger had ever made contact with him before.

"How long have you been a Watcher!?" Dream yelled. Grian hissed, annoyed. Pearl looked ready to throw hands.

"I'm no Watcher." Grian spoke finally.

"You have purple eyes and purple magic."

"I also have white eyes and gold magic." Grian shrugged.

"Yet you hide."

"I do not hide." Grian blanched.

"You fight me from beneath a hood. You don't even have an identity, yet we all bow to your commands. How can we know you don't work against us?"

Grian went silent. Then, he laughed. The Prime doubled over in laughter, wiping a tear from his eyes.

"This is not - this is not a funny matter! You're on the verge of being overthrown!" Dream cried.

You do have a habit of laughing in the wrong scenarios, Pearl transmitted dryly.

"By who?" Grian laughed, "Notforned, Notfound, whoever you are - you were dead. I literally resurrected you in a battle that effectively destroyed the Watchers for a few thousand years. How can you not know my allegiance to you?" Grian grinned. Dream could, of course, see the Prime's mouth move and he didn't look incredibly pleased.

"You are a Watcher."

"What I am is your Prime Admin. A Higher Power. Your leader. Like it or not, you do as I see fit. Even if I didn't hold this position, you would owe me. You know how a life debt works." Grian sighed. He didn't like talking as a Prime. Every word he spoke diminished his scary-super-secret aura.

"And how do we know that wasn't an act? That the Watchers didn't betray you or something so you switched sides at the last moment? Or better yet - that the whole thing wasn't a projection? That the watchers aren't still out there?"