1 day remaining

  “It’s time,” Buck said, a stern expression on his green face.

  John and Truffle sat together at The Outback Sleep Shack’s bar, watching with bated breath as the countdown, which had appeared on the menu screens, ticked over to 12:00.

  The final celebration had gone on late into the morning and the two of them had staggered to bed, sleeping in as long as they could. Buck had made them coffee and breakfast, thankfully the healing effects of the shack’s bed seemed to extend to hangover.

  With a plan set in motion, each party in their alliance had returned to their respective places to mentally prepare for this moment. Supposedly there was an upgrade which would conjoin their spaces, but it was locked until the second round.

  It’s finally time.

  Welcome contestants, to the final stage of round one.

  The familiar voice rang out inside John’s mind, he moved to look at Truffle but his body was frozen in position. He couldn’t even blink.

  That voice, it’s been so long, he thought as the voice of Chairman Tanlan rang out in a deep, threatening rumble through his brain.

  All across the different time zones of Earth, in the various countries which have been used as staging grounds, you have fought in a most entertaining way. I can now tell you that the initial 752 million humans who chose to participate in this season’s Battle Royale, have been whittled down to just over ten million.

  That will likely change in the next twenty-four Earthen hours.

  Soon you will be transported to the nearest torii gate as it rises from the ground. The countries you are in will cease to exist and their remnants will create the final battle grounds of round one. All remaining mobs will also be transported here and it’s sure to be very entertaining for our viewers watching back home.

  If you manage to successfully meet the requirements and enter the gates, the next round will be quite different from this one. You’ll be competing in a story-based round. Isn’t that exciting? You might even be able to meet your favourite contestants from the recap shows. Though of course, ultimately there can only be one winner.

  His voice sounded different from the first time, like he’d been spending time with A.J and finally learnt a little showmanship. John found the whole charade sickening to listen to.

  Before the mass transportation begins, let me first remind you of the requirements that must be met in order to successfully pass through the torii gate. Firstly, you must acquire four cards and add them to your soul decks. That is all. Do this one thing and you will be able to safely pass through the gate.

  However, if you fail to complete these requirements you will not be able to enter the gate and will perish along with the final battle zone once the timer runs out.

  I can assure you that it will not be a pleasant experience so do your best to make this as entertaining as possible. From the next round onwards, sponsorship will be available and you won’t want to miss out on that, let me assure you.

  Now, without further ado, let the final event begin.

  Get out there and CULL THE MASSES!

  Time stood still for a single moment after Chairman Tanlan’s speech had finished and Buck dashed towards John with speed unbecoming of a creature of his stature and build.

  Pressing his cold blooded, scaley lips into John’s ear he whispered something and patted him on the shoulder. Unable to respond, John stood their motionless and silent, but he understood the dinosaur’s words perfectly.

  His heartbeat quickened and anger began to bubble up inside of him. Then, the world was encompassed in a bright purple light. All he could see was purple. There was no feeling of motion, no feeling of anything at all. Just a never-ending purple flooding his vision, encompassing his entire being.

  He blinked.

  The scorching midday sun beamed down from above, causing his eyes to water. How can it be dark? It’s midday, he thought as he attempted to lift his hand to his eyes to shield them from the spotlights flooding the area with unnaturally bright light, but found that he was still paralysed and rooted to the spot.

  Taking a moment to look around, he realised that wherever he was, it was a place that couldn’t have existed before the apocalypse. The ground was bright red and barren and John was pretty sure it was from the outback. However, the area was populated with broken, slanted, out of place buildings and monuments.

  Half buried skyscrapers peaked out of the sands, slanted and crumbling. Upended cars and trucks littered the outskirts of the area, stacked and forming a kind of ring as if they were in an arena. The Sydney opera house sat slap bang in the middle of the Mad Max esq arena, it was split in two, peeling away from the columns which made up the sides of a torii gate.

  It stood, reaching so high up it dwarfed John. A purple portal glowed and shimmered, fluttering like a pool of jelly. It was the goal and it was right there, barely two hundred feet from him.

  Atop the torii gate, on the crossbar, was a timer. It hadn’t begun counting down yet and was stuck at the time 12:00. John knew, he didn’t know how he knew, but he knew, that the moment the chaos began the clock would begin ticking down to the end.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  As he stood there, unmoving, groups of people, mobs and more buildings began warping into the space. The gas station where he and Truffle had found the old bike and side car teleported in, landing with a crash from about twenty feet up. As it landed, the roof caved in and John wondered if they were populating the area with cover to make it more interesting to watch. A straight up slugfest in the middle of a boring desert didn’t hold the same visual appeal as this did.

  Truffle warped in next to him, followed by the members of The Orphans of The Apocalypse. In front of him a group of knife wielding koalas appeared, their psychotic, fangy smiles stuck on their faces in the frozen time zone.

  A few lone contestants who John didn’t recognise appeared to the side of the gas station, they looked scared and confused. Then a large group of men in soldier’s attire warped in just behind them, they all held AK-47’s and some of them still wore those Russian winter hats with the ear flaps.

  Are they Russian armed forces? John wondered, shit, we might be in for one hell of a fight if they come for us.

  The group looked hardened, they all had sunken eyes, malnourished, gaunt faces and the kind of look about them that just screamed: professional killer. If John could have gulped he would have. He faintly recognised them for somewhere but he wasn’t sure where.

  Welcome back folks, and might I say what an honour it is to be announcing the final battle in this year’s first round of Battle Royale Earth. Hasn’t this season been magnificent? So much death, tragedy, destruction. Humans sure are violent little bastards aren’t they? I can’t wait to see what they do next. You contestants might not know this, but I can now tell you that this has been the most widely watched opening round in the history of Battle Royale. So, as you die horribly, which most of you will, you can be proud of what you’ve achieved for the IPSC.

  A.J’s voice rang out across the still-forming battlefield. Unlike Chairman Tanlan’s announcements, this one was both in John’s head and external, as if it was also coming through invisible loudspeakers what were set up somewhere within the battle zone itself.

  Our illustrious chairman has already explained the rules, so there’s no need to go over all that again. Instead, I’ve been asked to comment on the goings on as they happen, like one of those sports commentators’ you Earthlings love so much.

  Don’t worry thought contestants, for the most part my commentary will be heard exclusively by the lovely folks sitting at home, just like it has been in most every major fight of the season so far. I wouldn’t want to distract you from your killing.

  In fact, the only reason you’re hearing me now is because I have a few little announcements to make before the final battle kicks off. Oh I’m just so excited to see which of you lovely contestants make it through to the next round.

  Before we get there though, let me tell you about the field of play. Some of the more eagle eyed among you may have noticed a large ring of motor vehicles surrounding this place. That marks the edge of the map, on the other side of those stacked vehicles lies certain death. And by that I mean, literally nothing at all. If you try to get there you’ll fall off the edge of the map and be immediately disqualified.

  You can also enter the many buildings that have been dropped here, so make sure you use them to their full effect. There are lots of card types out there and the ISPC wanted to give a fair chance to all of you. How magnanimous! But be warned, the mobs can get inside too.

  And whilst we’re on the subject of the mobs, let me tell you, this place is positively swarming with those pesky little critters. You contestants certainly managed to take out a lot of them over the past ten days, but obviously you weren’t trying hard enough if there are this many left. Just look at their attention starved eyes and sad little smiles.

  That being said, the ONLY mobs in the arena with you are the ones that were created for the Australian battle ground. No more have been made and we haven’t used any from outside of this place. So hopefully that advantage will help the more diligent of you to survive this whole ordeal.

  Finally, and this a big one, all party and alliance interfaces will be switched off for the remainder of this round. That means any pre-existing groups are stuck with each other until the next one. It also means, no partying up or allying yourselves with any contestants you might meet in the next twelve hours.

  Well, not officially at least. Even IPSC can’t control verbal agreements, but just remember that nothing you say from now on will be backed by the system.

  That is all, folks.

  So, shall we begin?

  The final battle of round one will commence in…

  THREE.

  John mentally hovered over his revolvers, he saw that both the group of koala mobs and the Russian soldiers were staring at him. Something was about to happen and he wasn’t about to go out in the first minute.

  TWO.

  Testing the full boundaries of the frozen debuff which kept him and everyone else stuck in place, John attempted to access the system messaging tab in his newly upgraded interface.

  To his complete and utter surprise, it worked. He quickly sent a message into the group chat. Thankfully, to send a message one need only think it. It was faster than speaking aloud, though it took more concentration. Their group chat conversation took place in less than a few seconds.

  John Doe: Listen up, that group of Russians next to gas station have been staring me out this entire time. I think they’re gonna pull something. Agnes, get ready to put down some serious suppressive fire. Everyone else, sprint as fast as you can to that Hungry Jacks on our left.

  Beverly_Jones: What the fuck is a Hungry Jacks?

  A.S.S Kicker: Understood, deary. I’ll destroy those motherfuckers before they even get a chance to shit their pants.

  Truffle: Jesus Granny, since when do you talk like that? You sound like one of those original gangsters I’ve been hearing so much about.

  A.S.S Kicker: Sorry, deary. It’s harder to filter my thoughts than it is my words. I’m still getting used to this fucking piece of shit messaging system.

  John Doe: Get ready to run, the countdown will end any moment now.

  Truffle: Do you recognise those Russians? I think they were on a recap show. The one with budget Batman.

  Thinking back, John did remember that segment of the recap. It was the one where the weirdo in the cape jumped into the middle of a militia and executed their leader, taking control. At the time he’d assumed that was happening in another country, but there were plenty of Australian cities he didn’t get the chance to visit during this round.

  There are so many stories going on in this place that have nothing to do with me. I’ll never get to know about them all.

  John closed the chat; the final number was about to come any moment now. A.J was taking his time for the dramatics, but once he was done being a pompous ass it was going to kick off in a big way.

  ONE!

  Go, go, go, oh and before I forget, CULL THE MASSES!

  The world unfroze and all and a bullet pierced John’s shoulder.