I raced toward 30th—the man who exposed me.

  He ran faster. All of a sudden, a blue glow emanated from a block up ahead. That man—I could see him light up.

  “Man, the gods really favor you, huh?” My eyes narrowed as I aimed the God Arm. “Let’s see how far that favor goes.”

  The God Arm hummed. The path under me bucked again, and I adjusted mid-stride, timing my aim with every breath. A few more seconds and he would escape.

  I pulled the trigger and the weapon clicked. The bolt flew through the air and struck him in the back.

  The flash was violent—his body twisted, spasmed, and spun forward. A scream tore from his lungs. I ran faster, boosting my speed with flickers.

  I didn’t care how it looked. I crashed into him and drove his head into the jump pad. The pad activated with a heavy whoomp, the air warping as its energy surged. The momentum flung both of us forward—his limp form plunging beside me like a ragdoll caught in a storm.

  I twisted mid-air, one hand gripping the rifle, the other bracing for the landing. My back slammed into a rising block, then I ricocheted off and landed hard on the stone.

  I skidded. Sparks flew under my metal hand. My knees buckled—but I was up again in a flash, feet pounding, eyes locked on the shifting path ahead.

  Behind me, the 30th groaned. He wasn’t out of commission yet. He tried to crawl.

  Any other man would forget him and run on. I went back for him. His eyes went wide moments before my foot rocked his chin.

  “Your luck’s run out!” I declared.

  I got behind him while he was sprawled on the track and did as I told him I would. His pathetic cry echoed over the sound of his sensitive flesh tearing.

  “STOP!!!”

  The sudden cry surprised me. I stood up and looked over my shoulder, 30th’s exposed, bloody intestinal flesh in my metal grip.

  “Let go of him!” that old man—9th in the line-up—said.

  Behind 9th, the chaos of the arena–the rising and falling blocks and pillars–raged on. Even still, he had time to be concerned for 30th.

  “I’m surprised by how deep your sympathy goes,” I said, my words trailing off. I looked to the side, where blocks were falling.

  “What did you do to him?!” the old man yelled, shaking in his boots.

  I shifted a bit so that he could see what I was holding on to–he almost spewed his stomach contents.

  I shrugged. “Exactly what I said I would do.”

  I tossed 30th into the abyss and stayed quiet up until his pathetic screams were swallowed by the void.

  Ninth went pale, crooked teeth chattering. “What’s wrong with you?!”

  “Our wounds will heal. But the terror will be eternal.”

  “That’s madness!”

  I approached him with Flicker Steps. “That’s reality when I’m here,” I said.

  Geezer’s fear overwhelming him, the air around him changed. I swung New Arm and delivered an uppercut that boomed into a Divine Smite.

  “You’ve been asking for it, too.”

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  The announcer went off—

  [Divine Smite!]

  —and 9th went flying into the sky like a rocket, golden winds trailing behind him. He was as good as done.

  There were participants running toward me. There were still a few ahead of me. The God Arm had three shots left after all the shooting I did. I had to make sure the last few shots were worthwhile.

  I turned on my heels and resumed my sprint right before this portion of the track went crazy.

  Just like before, I was caught in the mess of rising matter, the yells of the other participants bouncing around me.

  I zigzagged across the unstable terrain, weaving through the bumping chaos. It was as miserable as before. I flicker-stepped left, then right, then launched myself onto a block mid-rise and used it to vault higher.

  There!

  A jump pad glowed on a high central ridge, just ahead. A block began rising beneath it like a podium from hell, and I raced to intercept.

  My eyes then locked onto another block a little bit further ahead–it was just like the block that Muscles had taken.

  I slammed a foot down on the edge of a lifting block, used it as a springboard, and launched myself straight onto the panel.

  Air screamed past me as the pad activated, hurling me like a rock fired from a slingshot. I was going straight for the floating block.

  And then something struck me in the side and exploded.

  I spun midair, body twisted by the blast—lightning crackling across my ribs, nerves screaming for the second before the regen took over. The floating block I’d aimed for blurred past my vision as gravity took over. I was no longer flying—I was falling, helplessly, breath still knocked out of me. I crashed shoulder-first onto one of the narrow blocks in the main path below. The impact slammed the wind from my lungs again. I should’ve activated my Levels again, but something was weird about that damage–it was like it short-circuited me.

  Was it a special attack? Someone has a special attack that can do that?

  Right as I groaned, the track bucked. Light escaped from the segments between the blocks. My heart raced. Blocks peeled off, falling away, reminding me of the void waiting to swallow us up. My legs dropped first. I clawed at the edge with my one hand, feet scrabbling uselessly against stone that was no longer there.

  And then—

  A hand caught my wrist.

  My momentum jerked to a halt, nearly wrenching my shoulder from its socket. I gasped, head snapping up.

  The redhead.

  She was lying flat on the edge of the crumbling platform, half her body hanging off to grab me. Muscles flexed in her arms as she strained to keep hold.

  “Hey!” I yelled. “Let me fall!”

  Her teeth were clenched. “Don’t say that now, idiot! Just hurry up and pull yourself up!”

  Because of the regen, she had no open wounds, but there were bloodstains across her brow. She had been surviving just as hard as I was. Her eyes too–they weren’t trying to hide anything this time.

  “Are you hard of hearing?” she growled, bracing herself as the platform beneath her groaned. “Use that fancy arm of yours!”

  I snapped out of it and swung New Arm up, grabbing onto the edge.

  “Finally,” she said with a strained chuckle.

  I grunted and dug my metal fingers into the edge. The plating hummed under strain as I pulled myself up inch by inch. My feet found no grip, only void, but Redhead braced harder, her fingers drawing blood.

  I lifted my body, New Arm doing a lot of the work. My eyes passed the edge, and I saw past Redhead.

  Pretty Boy stood a short distance away, balanced perfectly on a floating block like he was born for dramatics. Hair still perfect. Face calm. And in his hand—an attack cube, glowing with that all-too-familiar light.

  “No,” I muttered.

  Our eyes met. I’d saved him earlier. He’d looked grateful—hell, he was grateful. We’d had a moment. Wasn’t much, but it was something–a moment of appreciation.

  No more moments would come.

  “Hey! You have to let me go,” I barked.

  Pretty Boy raised his arm, flicked the cube once like a coin, and threw.

  It hit the spot right in front of me before Redhead could react.

  The panel beneath me flared white—an unnatural force crackled across the air. The detonation came a heartbeat later, blasting everything apart in a concussive roar. I felt Redhead’s grip slip. I held on tighter.

  Didn’t matter.

  The ground beneath us fell apart like a tower of blocks. Once more, my body and mind were rocked.

  I registered her hand–it was still wrapped around my fingers. I followed her arm to her wide eyes and her moving lips–

  “Sorry.”

  –right before darkness swallowed both of us up.

  …

  ..

  .

  Pretty Boy… Guess our camaraderie is over.