《War Games》Chapter 2. The Fall
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The elevator dinged open, and the trio set out of the elevator. They found themselves on the terrace of the building. It was mostly empty with a few vents here and there, and, at the perimeter of the building, were rails.
"Follow me." Said Mable as she walked towards the edge.
Xander followed behind Mable very closely, but Sam was lagging behind them. Sam was having doubts. He noticed the strange smile that Mable had when she heard they were scared of higher and also heard very clearly when she said, "good." He would be stupid if he didn't suspect something, but Sam basically had no choice but to follow her.
He didn't know where there were or how to get back, and if he believed in what she said, he couldn't go back. He looked around, and he saw other buildings. Some were taller than the one he was one, and others a little bit shorter. None of them looked familiar.
Sam sighed and started to walk to where Mable and Xander were standing.
"We're this high up and standing on top of a building. Don't you feel something missing?" Mable asked Xander, who shook his head as he had absolutely no clue what she was talking about. "It's the wind. Even though we're this high up, there's no wind. That's because Origin exists by itself. If you get on one of the taller buildings and look around, you'll notice that, when you look far enough away, you'll see nothing. No more land, no more roads. Just empty darkness. But you don't have to worry too much, if you start walking in one direction and you get far enough away, you'll just end up on the other side of the city, instead of falling into nothingness."
When Mable noticed that Sam had caught up to them, she walked right next to the rails and pointed to something right below the building. "Look over there."
Sam knew that something was definitely going to happen but he just thought about all of the other ways that Mable could have killed them and just followed Xander to stand right next to the rail.
On the ground, far below, was a target. With red and white stripes, it was very easy to notice as it was very large with a diameter of around fifty feet.
Just as Sam and Xander were trying to figure out what it was for, they both felt a strong shove on their backs. As they were both already leaning over the rails, it was not surprising that they fell over the edge.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Xander started to scream. He was starting to contemplate his life choices. Had he been wrong to believe in a magical adventure. He, also, thought back to when fictional characters were approaching their deaths, they had a smile on their face. He definitely didn't have a smile on his. He had always wanted to end his life with a bang, but he didn't realize that the bang would be his own body being blown to pieces by gravity. As he ran out of air, he stopped streaming and waited for the inevitable to come. 'Maybe I should try to aim for the center,' he thought to himself sadly.
Sam, on the other hand, half expected this to happen. He just thought that the woman had no real reason to kill them and even if she did, she could have done it far earlier, when they were still back in their rooms. Sure, they would have resisted, but she could have easily killed them if she had even the most simple weapon. It would have been bloody, but Sam was pretty sure that the "Splat" they were going to make, would be far worse.
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They both started to fall faster and faster as their velocity increased. In a few seconds, they would land and it would not be pretty. Xander, in the back of his mind, still believed that there was hope that could survive. Mable said that magic was real and even if she did push them off of the building in the first place, maybe she could launch a levitation spell or something like that? Or maybe this was a test and to pass it, they had to use their warlord powers to fly!
Xander, filled with determination, started to focus. He needed to believe that he could fly. He closed his eyes and pictured himself slowing down. He, then, pictured himself completely stopping and floating right above the floor, just a few inches off the ground.
As Sam was slightly heavier than Xander, he landed down first. With his feet first, he hit the ground and within a millisecond, almost all of the bones in his body broke. His organs ruptured and Sam, unable to handle all of the pain, went unconscious.
Xander followed Sam and right before he hit the ground he noticed that he landed a few feet from the target. Xander was, also, knocked unconscious.
Mable, from the top of the building, watched all of this happen. She looked at their bodies for a few more seconds, and then, she turned around and headed for the elevator. She waited for the doors to open and stepped in. As the elevator doors were closing, she chose the first floor and the elevator started to move.
After a few seconds, Mable stepped out of the elevator and left the building. She walked towards the area where the big target lay. She found the two bodies of Xander and Sam and waited.
A few seconds after their bodies hit the ground, the blood, which had flowed onto the floor through their months and other parts of their bodies, started to move. Not outward, but the other direction, towards where Sam's and Xander's bodies lay. Everything flowed back in. The bones, which had been broken in the fall, started to get pieced back to the way they were. Popping sounds and cracking noises were heard as the bones were reconnected. Their organs slowly started to go back to their shapes and they started to work again. Even the clothes that Sam and Xander had started to stitch together.
By the time Mable had arrived, Sam and Xander were returned to the way they were before they landed on the ground.
Mable waited for Sam and Xander to wake up. After around a full minute of waiting, Sam and Xander both woke up at the same time. As soon as Sam became conscious, he used his hands to feel all of his body, and as soon as Xander was awake, he got up and looked at himself.
"I'm still alive. I'm still alive!" Xander exclaimed.
"Ahem," Mable cleared her throat to get the attention of both Xander and Sam. "Before you two start yelling at me, I just want to say that there is a reason that I did that. It's to make you understand that everything happening is real and it's better to do it in Origin where no one could get hurt than someplace else, where you both could die. "
"Couldn't you have, like cut an arm or some? Or given us some warning?" asked Sam.
"Well then, you could suspect that it's a dream or I'm staging it somehow and if I told you I was going to shove you off of a building, would you willingly jump off.
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Sam had to admit that she had a point. He did believe that this was happening now with one hundred percent clarity.
Xander was feeling a bit confused about what to believe. He believed Mable before, but now he didn't really want to believe the woman that shoved him off of a building. In the end, he concluded that it was easier to just trust in the magic that brought him back to life.
"What are we going to do now?" Asked Xander.
"I'm going to show you the library and then the way to your world. Then the two of you will go to your world and start your lives as warlords." Replied Mable. "Tell me when you're ready, so we can start walking."
"I'm ready," replied Xander, excitedly.
Sam took a few deep breaths and got up. He felt a little light headed, but it was quickly going away. "I'm also ready."
"Then follow me." Said Mable, as she started to walk.
After following Mable for a few minutes, Sam had a few questions that he wanted to ask Mable. "Who built all of these buildings?"
"Warlords from a long time ago. We don't exactly know why they started but we know that they have been around for almost a century." Replied Mable as she was walking.
"What are the buildings used for?" Asked Sam.
"Well, most of them are empty, but some of them have warlords staying in them. If two warlords from different worlds want to meet, the only way is by coming to Origin."
"How many warlords are there?" asked Xander, who was curious to know how many people were just like him.
"That number always changes with new warlords coming here almost every day and existing warlords dying either in their worlds or in the War Games, but there are usually around twenty thousand warlords with seven thousand different worlds." Replied Mable.
"Doesn't that mean that worlds that have three or more warlords are stronger than the ones with either one or two?" Asked Xander. He thought that it would be unfair for warlords that have to go against a numerical disadvantage.
"Not really, warlords are naturally stronger than other people but the more warlords there are for a world, the more spread out that power is. For example, a new warlord who came alone would be strong enough to equally fight the two of you, if you are only considering the strength," replied Mable.
Sam thought to himself that it was fair. Larger groups of warlords had an advantage if not considering just strength but that certainly came with a cost. It would be harder for the group of warlords to agree on stuff together and they had a higher chance of fighting within themselves.
A few minutes later, they reached the library. As they got closer and closer to it, Xander saw more and more people. They were wearing all sorts of clothes, from armor to dresses and suits.
The library itself didn't look special. It was made of reflective glass on the outside like all the other buildings and looked to be about two stories tall. Above its walls, was a sign that said library.
Mable opened the door and led the way inside. Other than the people inside, the library would fit in at any place in the world. It had rows of books and a few tables in which people sat reading.
"This is where you'll find everything that you'll ever need to know. From the early history of humans to the modern age, you'll find all inventions and innovations. Need to know how to farm better? Or do you want to know how to build nuclear bombs? It's all in here." Said Mable.
"Wow," replied Sam, clearly surprised about the magnitude of information that was in this library.
"You'll also find warlords and War Games stuff here. Might want to go through that before your first War Game," said Mable. "This is also the most popular part of the city as you can't take the books back to your world."
She took them to a different part of the library, where a door was. She opened it and went inside. Sam and Xander followed her inside and there was a large stone that was the size of the ceiling.
"This is the world teleport stone or the W.T.S. for short. Don't touch it because if you do, you will be taken to your world." Mable said as she saw Xander reaching up to touch the stone. "I need to say a few important things before you go. First about the War Games, if you get enough influence and followers in your world, you will be put into the War Games. If you don't qualify by two years, you'll still be in the war games. Second, in order to return to Origin, you need to think about the city for two whole minutes without thinking about anything else. It takes a few tires the first time you do it. Third, unless your world's power is as obvious as mine, you're probably not going to find out what it is for a while. As it is made when you first enter the world, no one else is going to know what it is either. Fourth, when you touch the stone, you'll be taken into a part of the world where the population is not very dense and you, each, get enough of the local currency to get by for a few months. Use both wisely. And lastly, good luck."
Mable shook hands with Xander first and then Sam, then she left the room. After she left, Sam and Xander stared at each other.
"Let's get this party started." Said Xander as he hovered his hands above the stone.
Sam hesitated and looked at Mable, he asked, "Wouldn't it be better to stay here for a while, ready all the books, and then go?"
Mable replied, "You don't know anything about where you're going. If you spend a long time learning everything here, then go to your world to find that it's all useless, that's sad and depressing. So just go now and you can come back at any time."
Sam, satisfied, followed Xander's actions and together they put their hands on the stone at the same time. As soon as their hands touched the stone, they were gone.
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