“Emma?!”. She hesitantly turned around to face me, it was her-it was Emma….

Her eyes opened wide the second she saw me, she made a run for it. She shoved away all the contestants in her way as she sprinted away. 

I forgot everything and charged after her through the open path she made. She recklessly tried to continue going around the crowd but got dropped hard by a guy who looked our age. He wasn’t bulky or really tall, but for some reason he reminded me of Harry, it was just the way he looked at us. 

“Don’t touch me!” he yelled looking down at Emma. 

She jumped up and attempted to run again but the guy brought his hand up and punched Emma right across the jaw, throwing her down even harder than the first time. 

Blood was gushing out her nose, and the guy stared at me, he probably expected me to do something. Screw that.

Emma pushed herself up, but no, she wasn’t going anywhere. 

Adrenaline rushed through me as I made my way over to her, Emma was still on her knees at this point, so I bent down to her level and glared at her. How is she here…why is she here! 

The dude who punched her walked away, he didn’t give a damn about what was happening, good, nothing could interfere now. Emma got up slowly and faced me. “Before you start, just know I have nothing to say to you”. 

Every part of me wanted to smack her harder than the other guy did, “Nothing to say? You ditched all of us and left us alone to die! You stayed with us for a year living off us like the god damn coward you are, and as soon as you got the chance you walked out!”. 

“I did what I had to do, besides, I told you it wouldn’t work. Sorry about Jason though”. 

I lost it, my hand uncontrollably sprung out pushing Emma hard, her legs crossed up throwing her down for the third time. “Don’t say his name!”. 

The announcements began playing again, “Ladies and Gentlemen, our first 2 fighters have finally made their way to face each other. You know what that means, Fight 1 of this year’s Cryptic Clash! In the red corner, we got-”. 

Emma started talking again, “Cause I was right? Don’t blame me for what happened, that’s on you”. 

“I got hit by the wave to get here, that means you got hit by it just like me to get here. Being a coward got you exactly where I am!”. 

Smirking, she got up. “ I got hit by the wave? How bout you dig deeper Leo, don’t rely only on assumptions”. 

She turned around and then started to walk off, just like last time.

“How the heck can you just walk away again after everything!?” I shouted.

She gave me one final bland look and then vanished into the crowd of people. Damn it…damn it!

Someone suddenly tapped my shoulder, I spun around immediately before yelling, “The heck is it!”. 

 “Maxwell, come on, th-they need you to get um, ready. Follow me pleas-please”. It was the same guy I met at the entrance, they were calling me already?! I completely forgot I would have to even fight. Emma made me forget about the tournament and everything!

“Wait, I barely know what the heck is going on, I’m not ready, can you let me watch the first fight at least?”. 

“The f-first match is done,” he said. 

Done? I looked back at the window, in the arena, I could see a pool of blood, there was a guy standing over it. It was the guy who dropped Emma, but he was just here, how did he already win? I was horrified, how was I supposed to win any fight with people like this around? 

The same man walked over back towards the elevator I came in from, “I-in here please” he yelled over all the noise. 

I couldn’t do this, a one on one fight I was dead. There was nothing I could do against anyone, absolutely nothing. 

Suddenly I felt my wrist get tight, it was one of the guards, he began dragging me through the crowd and again, I got thrown back hard into the elevator. 

“Wait!” I yelled. It didn’t matter, the elevator shut down right away and began moving. “Damn it!”. 

The entire experience felt like a roller coaster, one I wanted to get the heck out of. How was I already in another life or death situation, why was everything going so wrong…From the moment that wave came, this living hell just doesn’t end!

The gates opened up even faster than last time with an automated voice greeting me.  “Welcome Leo Maxwell, please proceed and choose 2 accessories to accompany you in battle”. 

I sighed, Accessories? 

I walked outside to find myself in another box-shaped room with a massive screen on the left wall. The heck was this now? 

“Options are listed, please proceed and choose 2 accessories to accompany you in battle”. 

 The screen had a dozen weapons and accessories listed with descriptions for each of them, 

“Can I choose whatever I want?” I asked out loud. 

“Options are listed, please proceed and choose 2 accessories to accompany you in battle”. 

“How? I don’t get it, I don’t get anything!”. 

“Please be more specific with your question”. 

Question? “Wait, can I ask you anything about this place?”. 

“Please be more specific with your question”. 

Wait this was perfect, “Alright, what exactly is this place?”. 

“Cryptic Clash, a competitive tournament to the death consisting of 6 rounds, the goal is to win all the rounds to take back what you previously lost”. 

I already knew all that, “Ok, how did I get in this tournament?”. 

“All contestants were randomly selected”. 

Randomly selected? So were Harry and Toby not selected? 

“Did you guys find me in another country?”. 

“All contestants were people 50 km in range”. 

Then how? Parasites attacked the entire province. Did the wave just randomly bring me 50 km in range of these guys? How the heck could the wave do that though? 

“How long have I been in range for you guys to select me?”. 

“Leo Maxwell, according to your records, you have been in a 50 km radius for approximately 6 years”. 

6 years???