The Reconfiguring

Ch. 16: Intervene? Or Invincible?

"FIRST! YOU THINK THE WORST IS A BROKEN HEART

WHAT'S GONNA KILL YOU IS THE SECOND PART

AND THE THIRD, IS WHEN YOUR WORLD SPLITS DOWN THE MIDDLE

AND FOURTH! YOU'RE GONNA THINK THAT YOU FIXED YOURSELF

FIFTH- YOU SEE THEM OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE

AND THE SIXTH, IS WHEN YOU ADMIT, YOU MAY HAVE FUCKED UP A LITTLE"

"Quiet down, Phig. I know my song is amazing, but these walls aren't entirely soundproof. You just broke about three laws by doing that," Danny calls back sheepishly. 

"Oh, sorry," Phig says, continuing to lip sync and dance his weird, interpretive moves.

Dan hears the thumping and stifles a laugh. He opens the door just a crack and sees Phig dancing. "Phig, I regret to inform you of this, but you might just be a bit worse of a dancer than me."

"Is that bad?"

"That's the worst thing he could've said in that situation," Danny said from outside the door. 

Dan whispers- "And also, it's time to go. Drown that potion and drown it fast. Grand should be on his way."

Phig's eyes widen and he nods. He drowns the potion in one swig, and then in great reluctance paused the music and puts everything far under the bed so it can't be touched by a foot or hand that goes under the bed. You can't be too cautious.

"Well, let's go," Dan says, pushing open the door fully. 

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The Arena is just as packed, if not more, than the day before. Was it really only a day ago? It felt like ages. Phig scanned the crowd as Dan and Danny led him to the Victims' Podium. He felt a slight reassuring squeeze from- he glanced behind him quickly- Danny. Then he walked on his own into the podium. He kept scanning the crowd, and finally he found who he was looking for. Don had a hood pulled low over her face, but Phig could still see her weirdly vibrant hazel eyes. He stared into them long and hard, and her blink meant she got the message.

Phig had received and drank the potion. 

Grand came out of his door with a big fake smile plastered on his face. He waved and blew a kiss to the crowd before grabbing the megaphone.

"We are gathered here today to see how this Intervene will stand against the odds of Entertainment!" Grand begins. The crowd erupts in cheers and whistles.

Grand smiles and continues. "This young man volunteered to Intervene for a young boy to live. Phiganon here has the highest honor out of all of us."

'And of course, the ones with the highest honor have to die. Except you,' Phig thought, without moving  a muscle.

"Now, let's get on with it, shall we? I know you all have a busy days planned for you."

Another eruption of the crowd and Grand picks up a fork.

'Am I immune to uncomfortableness? Or pain? How long does this potion last? How long will I last? Am I going to make it?'

'Will I always be there for Don?'

Thoughts run amock in Phig's head as Grand pokes him and then stabs him with a fork. It left no mark,  but Phig could feel the uncomfortableness of it.

'Oh no. What now?'

Grand then skipped straight to the butcher's knife and slowly dragged it across Phig's skin.

'This is familiar. I know this.'

Phig got lost in his past. Right after his dad died, Phig had resorted to the 'fool's' way of cutting himself. It was foolish of him. In the end, it didn't help at all. Then he lost himself in becoming the best Draft sorter of all time, and the cutting stopped. 

Phig still had the scars. 

Phig didn't even realize when Grand had picked up the pistol and was aiming it at his left shoulder. When he did finally snap to, his heart started pounding. He was insanely afraid of guns. 

'I can do this.'

Grand shot. 

The crowd was silent.

Phig didn't move.

'I'm the Man Who Can't Be Moved. And I just made Danny proud with another reference.' Phig almost smiled. 'NO. They'll think you're insane.'

Phig must've been lost in his thoughts of his past for longer than he remembered, because Grand had gone through all of his torture devices. As a last resort, he picked up the fork again and poke him very slowly and dragged it slowly across his skin.

After all that, Phig couldn't take it anymore. He had to laugh.

"Ha!" 

No one spoke. No one moved. But Don stood up and yelled "GO!"

Despite not knowing Don for very long, Phig understood. The potion was about to wear off and the not-Dan-and-Danny Burlies were coming for him. Without even being grabbed, he jumped onto the crusher thing and pulled the lever. The top part of the crusher slowly rose up, and then crashed down.

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Author's Note-

It's lightning here and it's SO BEAUTIFUL. I can't just leave this here so we're going to see another update tonight. MY THUMBS HURT FROM TYPING ALL OF THIS ON MY PHONE. The next part will be the best (maybe?) Guys, I have a question and PLEASE ANSWER. Don't leave me hangin'. THAT WAS A SONG REFERENCE AND IF YOU ARE A STORMER YOU GOT THAT AND IF YOU ARE IN THE SCRIPT FAMILY YOU'VE GOTTEN ALL OF THOSE REFERENCES, TOO. Okay, answer this. Which part is your favorite so far? You can describe a scene. Mine is when Phig is introduced to music and Dan and Danny. Pretty recent, I know, but I'm a huge fangirl and music lover.

-Kagiemd