Season 11.5

Episode 27

The policeman woke up to a rock hitting his forehead, and he yelped from the pain. The policeman reached to rub his injury, but found his hands tied behind his back. He reached to undo his position, but realized his whole body was encased in chains. The policeman looked up.

A pair of bright white eyes greeted his confusion, and the policeman pushed back his growing fear. The eyes glowed a silver light, but any sign of human warmth and comfort was discarded. The eyes instead held flickers of madness, and the man carefully observed his captor.

"If you move too much, you'll bleed to death before I can kill you." Zane said flatly. "I would find it a real nuisance if I'm not the one to butcher you alive, so I suggest you live."

The man nodded hesitantly, and remained silent as Zane dragged him across the forest floor. Eventually, Zane reached the outskirts of the town. Bright white and red lights flashed in the dark night sky, and a pair of medics ran over to him.

Zane loosened the chains and dropped the man, watching the medics take him up. The medics gave him a thanks, but Zane showed the same facial expression he had given the policeman. The medic almost dropped the cart, but ran off to attend to the policeman.

Two Yulta guards stood in the background, and the two approached him, watching as the medics drove off.

"Follow me." One of the men said, and Zane stared coldly at him.

"Don't presume you have authority over me. Understood?" Zane said, his fingers twitching on his blade. The guard nodded, and turned towards the hotel. The second guard held a tablet, and dressed in total black, but wore glasses, and had light brown hair.

"How did I do?" Zane asked, not bothering to look the man beside him in the eye. The guard with the tablet cleared his throat, shaking off the anxiety he felt, and spoke.

"The leader boards have been posted. Out of the 11,567  island participants, only 16 remain." The guard said.

Zane glanced at him in distaste. "I know. I'm wondering, how many casualties did I inflict, and who has the most?"

The guard shivered, readjusting his glasses. "Well, according to the leader board." The guard swiped tabs on his tablet. "We currently hold first place with 528 casualties!"  He said excitedly.

"I suppose that makes sense, since most opponents would have trampled one another in the race to leave the door. I'm assuming casualty amounts don't transfer, correct?" Zane asked.

"Right!" The guard stammered.

"What a bother. I wished there were more victims." Zane sighed, fiddling with the knife. The knife still had some traces of blood, and the guard saw Zane's ecstatic expression over it. Zane, noticing the guard's uncomfortable look, smiled darkly at him. The guard jumped back briefly.

"Anyways." Zane spoke. "Who holds second?"

"Maga, the winner from the last tournament currently holds second. He might be an opponent to watch out for, as he has around 467 casualties."

"What weapons does he use?" Zane asked.

"Based on what we've seen so far, he wields two katanas." The guard said.

Zane kept silent for a few minutes, processing this information.

If I'm going to win, then I'll need more information about this guy. In that case, I'll watch his moves via live stream. Zane thought.

"Did that policeman make it in?" Zane asked abruptly. The guard looked at him confused.

"Policeman?" He echoed. Zane sighed.

"The guy I dragged through half the forest." The guard jumped in realization.

"Oh, him! He did make it in, and he ranks 16th in the leader board. Throughout the preliminaries, he didn't fight anyone except for you, so that places him at the bottom. The   fighter goes by the name of Zeke, and wields two handguns. Based on your fight, however, it seems he has some solid armor." The guard said.

"He seems like an easy opponent, but definitely has some skills. But moving on, I want to address the problem." Zane said, halting in his walk. The two guards both paused, bracing themselves for another terrorizing facial expression.

Yet instead, the two found the most peculiar emotion on this top Yulta member -- fear.

"Why is the Sensei of the ninja, and his partner here?" Zane asked, hearing his voice laced with fear.

The guard with glasses scratched his head. "It's an odd appearance for us too, and it's throwing the top Yulta members haywire too. I don't understand the importance of them, but no one really knows why."

Zane nodded slowly, and the two finally hit the hotel. The guards escorted Zane inside, and Zane walked over to the elevator. The elevator took him to the hall, and Zane opened the doors. Inside, Juliet sat on a couch, staring at him.

"Congratulations!" Juliet said, waving around a flag. "You did so well during the preliminaries! 528 victims on the line, that must've been re~ally fun!" Juliet said, jumping around the room. Kenya sat in the corner, nodding in agreement, and Trystan gave him a thumbs up. Gavin silently nodded at Zane, playing on a DSI.

Zane moved to the opposite side of Juliet, and sat on a chair.

"Nice work." Zane looked up to see Kenya, who held a cup of soda. She passed a cup to him, and Zane took it, watching the soda swirl and fizzle.

He watched the reflection of himself, and froze the cup. Kenya paused, and Juliet did the same. Trystan, who was posting on Instagram, turned off his phone and glanced at Zane, and Gavin lowered his DSI.

"Why were they there?" Zane said, not bothering to look up. Everyone in the room swallowed their surprise - for it was the first time they heard Zane speak without a dark tone. Rather, he spoke with a question laced with conflicting emotions.

Zane heard his own confused voice, and didn't bother hiding it.

"No clue." Juliet said aloud, her joking tone gone. Trystan dropped his phone at her tone, and it shattered to pieces. Surprisingly, Trystan didn't even bother.

"There was no reason for them to suspect you, yet they're here." Kenya said. She looked at Zane. "Also, Muskrat gave us an overview about your situation, so we're equally puzzled." Kenya said.

Zane set the cup on the table. "I think I'm going to bed." He said. The others nodded and quickly left the room, Trystan leaving his broken phone over the floor.

Juliet looked at him before she left, and flashed him a simple smile. She closed the door, and Zane turned off the lights.

Zane looked at the couches, and sat on one of them. He clutched the comforter, bracing himself.

Why, were, they there!? Zane thought. Tears rolled out his eyes, dropping on the floor, and a wave of ice burst from his feet. The moonlight reflected the frozen room, glittering like shards.

Zane wiped away his tears, then closed his eyes.

Maybe I should just leave the tournament. He thought to himself. Zane chuckled.

But I can't. I want to fight. I want to hear their screams and cries, the agony twisted upon their faces. He equally thought.

Besides, even if I did leave, nothing would be solved. I LOVE doing this, but I hate how much conflict it causes within me. By siding with the ninja, I lose myself. By sliding with Yulta, I lose the ninja. Why can't I just separate the two?

Zane looked up at the moonlight.

Why can't you let me be who I am?