Thirst Games

The Thirst Games

By: @ChessNerd1320

Prologue

It was a solemn day in Paradise, which is rather abnormal for a place that is usually so vibrant and happy. Today was the day of the reaping, where twenty people would be selected for the Thirst Games, an event in which those twenty will fight for their lives. Only one will survive. Now, usually, death is not possible in Paradise, but for the twenty unlucky citizens, that will change. For some, today is a day to rejoice, because they have gotten tired of the same things happening every day in this peaceful place. The Thirst Games provides a look back into what the real world is like, the land of KOTL. Today is not a day of peace, but a day of war.

Chapter One - Oof

The people of Paradise began the walk over to the city square, where the twenty contestants would be chosen. A young man named Oof, a player from KOTL that was recently killed in "The Bad KOTL" and came to Paradise, was one of them. This would be his first Thirst Games, and he wasn't happy about it. 

"Knowing my luck, I'll be the first one chosen," Oof thought, sighing loudly.

He arrives quickly at the center of Cloud City, where the Mayor will RNG the tributes. There was already a large crowd at the city square, so he had to push his way toward the front.

"Out of the way, you dunce!"

"Clot, move to the side or I'll gouge out your eyes with a stick."

At the front of the square stands the Mayor on a large podium, with a list of names in one hand.

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE! QUIET DOWN."

The crowd quiets to a hush and looks toward the Mayor, waiting in anticipation.

"Today is the day of the 69th Thirst Games. Those of you who are chosen will bring honor to yourselves fighting against the others," the Mayor says. "I will now read out the names of the tributes."

Oof starts walking toward the podium, sighing.

"Oof. Toxic. Tomato. Pin. CN. Nubby. Type. Quach. Togepi. Auk. Austin. Oka. Eryxc. Felis. Ethan. Hip. Rick. Angel. Jeb. Oromis. That is all."

The twenty of them reach the podium, some groaning, some crying, and others smiling wide. The one called 'Tomato' sips tea from a small teacup. Oof just sighs again, knowing that this had been his fate all along. To die in the arena. The Mayor waves her arms and the twenty contestants disappear.

Chapter Two - Togepi

The twenty tributes materialize on small platforms positioned in a large circle, the same as every year. In the middle of the platforms sits a large, gold goose statue with all sorts of weapons, armor, and survival supplies sitting around it. Above the statue was a hologram with the number '60' shown to everyone. As they watched, it ticked down to 59. Then 58. 

Togepi looked around, surveying the competition. On his left was Eryxc, someone that Togepi knew would be defeated early on. On the right was a more difficult opponent, Auk. 

"I should avoid him, he's one of the most dangerous people out here. Maybe I should run away? Depends on what is behind me, I guess," Togepi thinks.

Quickly turning around, he sees a forest that encircles this entire area, making it the only place to run other than the statue. The timer ticks down to 20 as all the tributes continue to glance around them.

At 10, Togepi made up his mind. He would run for the left toward the forest, getting far away from the others.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

A loud voice cries out from a speaker, "GO! Let the 69th Thirst Games begin!"

Togepi darts to the left towards the forest, but Eryxc steps in his way.

Togepi groans, "Please step aside, I'd rather not hurt you."

"Hurt ME?" Eryxc laughs. "I've been trained in twenty-seven different martial arts, achieving the highest rank in all of them, fought two hundred and thirty martial arts experts and defeated them all, I've saved the world fourteen times with my amazing fighting skills. I can make bombs out of household items, guns out of-"

"Shut up." Togepi leans forward and snaps eryxc's neck, then runs off to the forest.

Chapter Three - Hip

"GO!"

Hip, one of the more aggressive tributes for this year's Thirst Games, immediately took off for the statue and the loot surrounding it. Around half of the contestants were charging at the statue, but not all of them would live. After a short run, he reached the statue first and quickly searched for weapons that he could use.

"I must find the most obscure and random weapon in this pile," he mutters. "Sword, no. Ax, no. Spear, maybe. Seriously, where are all the pole weapons in this place?" 

By now, everyone else has reached the statue and most have grabbed some sort of weapon. Hip yelled in frustration, then quickly grabbed a spear. The closest tribute was Toxic, one of the most pacifist tributes there was, and he was facing away from Hip.

"The perfect opportunity to show off my skill with pole weapons," Hip thought, with a wide grin on his face.

He quietly moved toward Toxic, who grabbed a sword and what looked to be a loaf of bread. Knowing that victory was near, Hip lunged forward, attempting to stab Toxic in the heart after doing a few loops and turns with his spear (to show off his pole weapon skills, obviously). Toxic was caught off guard and couldn't do a thing. He fell to the ground, gasping for breath, but there was nothing he could do to save himself. 

Breathing quickly, Toxic spoke his final words. "I should've said LFA......."

Hip raised his spear in triumph and looked around at the other tributes. "JOIN MY KOTL, OR YOU'RE NEXT!"

Most of the tributes nodded, or said, "I will."

However, there were two that remained defiant. Ethan and CN. 

Hip yelled, "So, you have chosen death?"

Both Ethan and CN loudly shout and charge toward Hip, swords pointed at his heart.

Chapter Four - CN

CN runs toward Hip, sword drawn and pointed at his heart. By his side was Ethan, the other player that did not submit to Hip. As they got closer, Hip lunged at Ethan, attempting to stab him in the leg. Ethan quickly stepped to the side, and CN took the opportunity to slice at Hip. 

"You fools, you can never defeat me and my trusty polearm!" shouts Hip. "Although, I wish I had a better weapon. A bardiche would be nice."

Hip raises his arm in the air to block the sword, knowing that his arm is too strong to be damaged by something as measly as a sword!

Sadly, this sword was made out of metal, which meant it chopped his arm clean off. CN chuckled and sliced again, this time aiming for the neck. Hip, who looked somewhat worried for the first time, stepped back. 

"I'll give you one last chance to join my KOTL, otherwise I'll have to kill you." said Hip.

CN laughed again and retorted, "You and what army?" He then settled into a fighting stance and ran toward Hip once again.

At this point, Ethan had rejoined the fight and was moving toward Hip. Hip, being the great fighter he was, threw his only weapon at Ethan's heart. Surprisingly, this actually caught Ethan off-guard and worked. Ethan fell to the ground as CN unleashed a flurry of slashes at Hip in a fit of rage.

"I have one last thing to say to you, Hip. !yfyab."

Hip, having no weapon and only one arm, was completely overwhelmed by the attacks. He died a bloody death, and his last words were: "Hey, nice job killing me. I think you're the perfect candidate to join my KOTL. Check it out at MKOTL on the chess.com forums. You heard me, that's MKOTL. We have guns with tons of attachments, all sorts of weapons, and much, much more! Join now at MKOTL." 

By the time Hip had died, another tribute, HTP, had pulled the spear out of Ethan's heart to use for himself. Ethan held on a bit longer, but also quickly died. Spears to the heart usually do that.

Four cannon shots sounded, signaling that there were only 16 contestants left. Only three people were left at the cornucopia, those being CN, HTP, and Quach. They stared each other down, none wanting to be the one to make the first move. 

Suddenly, CN fell forward onto the ground, an arrow sticking out of the back of his neck.

He unleashed a string of curses, including a rant about how LFA was a terrible mechanic before dying. HTP and Quach looked in horror, then looked into the forest to see Auk holding a bow in his hand.

Chapter Five - Tomato

It was night now, and no more deaths had occurred. Tomato had ran deep into the forest, stumbling upon a large tree that he had quickly climbed up. From the statue, he had only been able to grab a dagger and one bottle of water (reusable, of course). He sipped from the bottle of the water and looked around him. As far as he could see, there was nothing but trees, trees, and look over there! More trees!

"I guess I'll stay here for the night. Those fools, those absolute buffoons, they can never find me here!" Tomato thought to himself. 

At that moment, there was some rustling in the bushes off to the left. He slowly turned toward the bushes but saw nothing. The second he looked away, more rustling. Tomato decided to climb down and investigate, since having a fellow tribute nearby would not be very cool.

As he walked over, something darted out of the bush and ran straight at him, yelling something that sounded suspiciously like "HEHE!"

Tomato stepped back in surprise, then settled into a fighting stance. The figure ran closer, and at this distance it became apparent that the attacker was none other than Oka. 

"I've got you now! Hehe!" said Oka, who then tried to decapitate Tomato with a small hand axe.

"This is so sad," Tomato whispered as he jumped backward. "You're no match for me, fool."

He then rushed forward, pretending to throw his dagger but actually stabbing Oka in the head. Oka attempted to block, but couldn't block the full attack and ended up getting sliced in the face. Looking afraid, Oka dropped his axe and ran off into the forest, away from Tomato.

Tomato was about to chase after him, but was startled by a cannon shot. In the sky was the face of eryxc.

"What's going on? This isn't normal," muttered Tomato.

Another cannon shot sounded, and Toxic's face appeared.

Three more cannons fired in quick succession, showing the faces of Hip, Ethan, and CN.

The voice that announced the start of the games spoke again. "Five down. Fourteen to go. Only one will stand at the end of the... THIRST GAMES!"

Chapter Six - Oka

Oka sprinted away from Tomato, his face bleeding from the large cut given to him by Tomato's dagger. After a short while, he slowed down, not hearing any footsteps chasing after him. Looking around him, Oka noticed that he had reached the edge of the forest. In front of him was a small river, with surprisingly still water. Nobody seemed to be in the area, so he walked over to the river.

However, before he could reach it, there was a shout from behind him. Oof was sprinting toward him with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Oka, who was weaponless, started to run away toward the river, hoping to cross it before Oof could catch him. Sadly, as soon as he reached the river, it started flowing quickly, making it impossible to cross. 

"There's nowhere to hide, you dunce," Oof said in a very evil tone. 

"Why would I need to hide from a fool like you? Hehe," retorted Oka.

"Well.... YOUR FACE!" 

Oof walked over to Oka and slashed at his head. Oka swiftly ducked, then tried to kick him in the knee. He blocked with his shield, but was knocked backward. Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, Oka leaped forward and tackled Oof, throwing him to the ground. 

When they landed, Oka pummeled Oof in the face. "You're done for, weakling. Hehe!"

Oof did his best to block all the shots with his shield, but he got hit quite a few times before heaving Oka off of him with his legs.

"That was nothing, you clot. I'm not even trying yet," Oof said.

Oof threw his sword at Oka's heart, hoping to end the fight right then and there. Oka sidestepped, then ran over to grab the sword. While he was distracted, Oof rammed into Oka with his shield, but that knocked him even closer to the sword.

"HAHA! Take that, fool!"

Oka grabbed the sword and shakily stood up, then walked over to Oof.

"I'm not done yet," whispered Oka.

He lunged forward and stabbed Oof in the stomach with all of his might. Oof moved his shield to block the attack, but he was too slow. The sword drove into his stomach, with some very tasty blood and guts flying everywhere. Oof fell backward onto the ground, not moving.

"Even with a sword and a shield, you couldn't beat me! Hehe!" yelled Oka, confident in his victory. He turned around and started walking back to the forest, cleaning off the sword. Right before he reached it, Oka felt his neck being snapped from behind. He died on the spot.

His last words were, "Hehe!"

Oof grabbed his sword back in triumph and walked away, but turned around and said, "You should've aimed for the head."

Chapter Seven - Oof 2: electric boogaloo

Oof was dying. It was a slow process, but he was definitely dying. The stab wound in his stomach was causing him to bleed everywhere, Oof wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

He sat down and closed his eyes, content with what he had done. 

THUMP

Cautiously, Oof opened his eyes. In front of him was a bagel attached to a white parachute, presumably sent by a sponsor because of how well he had done. It was probably Squarespace, they love doing stuff like that. Or was it NordVPN?

Anyway, Oof grabbed the bagel and whispered, "Could this be... is this a BAGEL OF REJUVENATION?"

"Yes, fool, now eat it," said the voices in his head.

Oof stuffed the bagel in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Instantly, he felt better than he ever had before. All of his injuries were gone, and at the moment he felt almost... invincible.

"YES, FOOLS! I'M STILL ALIVE! YOU CLOTS ARE ALL GONNA DIE PAINFUL DEATHS WHEN I FIND YOU!" shouted Oof to nobody in particular.

Oof looked around him, to see if there were any victims nearby. Hmm, some forest over there, more forest, a volcano rising out of the ground, more forest-

"Wait... What's that?"

"Tributes, if you look to the east, you might notice a volcano rising out of the ground. This volcano is going to KILL most of you, which is very sad," announced that annoying voice that kept speaking.

Oof screamed, "HSUDHOUIASYUWIHENWUIODBNOHSD!"

Chapter Eight - Quach

Quach watched in silence from atop a tree as the volcano rose near the other side of the forest. It was a small volcano, but nothing to be trifled with.

"Volcanos, so loud and annoying. I'd prefer something more... subtle, like some acid rain," commented Quach. "This would be the perfect time for a nice, calm game of Gomoku, but that Mayor wouldn't let me bring it. Dreadful person, she is."

Almost finished rising, the volcano began to puff out steam, ready to erupt. From his perch in the tree, Quach observed other tributes running away, some yelling, some screaming. He calmly pulled out his bow, then shot three arrows, at Oromis, Austin, and Felis. All three arrows hit their mark, and within a matter of seconds the number of tributes had gone from 14 to 11. 

In the distance, the volcano spewed lava over the entire area nearby, frying several tributes. Angel, Jeb, and Type were all burnt to a crisp before they could even move.

Quach slowly climbed down out of his tree, as lava seeped closer.

Thinking to himself, he jogged away from the lava, not seeming to even notice it. "What is this, amateur hour? I would never get caught by something as simple as that. I am an intellectual, at least give me a challenge."

The lava seemed to stop in a place after a while, then slowly disappeared. As far as he could tell, nobody else had died.

A voice shouted from above him, "In only one hour, six more tributes have been eliminated! How exciting! For all the viewers at home, here are the final eight. Oof. Pin. Auk. Nubby. Tomato. Quach. Togepi. Rick. That's it, folks!"

Quach smiled. "Victory is near, and so is my Gomoku set."

To be continued

coming soon, folks

already did

lemme change the name real quick lol

Alright

Here are the contestants

1. Togepi

2. Auk

3. Oof

4. CN

5. Tomato

6. Pin

7. Nubby

8. Austin

9. Type

10. Jeb

11. Angel

12. Rick

13. Eryxc

14. Felis

15. Ethan

16. Oka

17. Oromis

18. Hip

19. Toxic

And a special guest...

20. @long_quach (who will go by 'Quach' for the story)

Chapter 9: HTP

Pin washed the burns on his head, the clearing around him silent except for the sound of the water. Between the exploding volcano and the random acid rain that came directly afterwards, he hadn’t had any time to catch a break until now. 

Seven people. Only seven people stood between him and victory. The 69th winner of the Thirst Games… that had a good ring to it. 

Throughout the whole game, Pin had a very simple strategy. Whenever getting into a confrontation, there was some nonzero chance of losing and dying, he reasoned. Therefore, one should strive to decrease the number of confrontations entered as much as possible. 

So far, it had worked. Everyone else had bludgeoned each other into oblivion, and all the while he simply stood there in the shadows, picking up the things others left behind. The odds were in his favor, potentially. 

The young boy dried his hair, put his shirt back on, and gathered his supplies. He was just about ready to leave before he suddenly heard the crunching of leaves nearby. 

He whirled to see none other than Tomato there, nonchalantly sipping some tea from a pristine teacup. 

“Tomato. I should have known it was you,” HTP muttered in stereotypical fashion. 

“HTP. How’s it been, man?” Tomato whispered back. 

“I’m fine, but you look better. Where on earth did you get that?” HTP asked, gesturing towards Tomato’s silverware. 

“I honestly have no idea,” Tomato responded from the other side of the clearing. 

The two of them stared each other down for a little longer. For a few moments, there was nothing but the two of them in all of existence. 

“I get the feeling that you’re not here to offer me an alliance, Tomato,” HTP said, finally breaking the silence.

“What gave it away?” Tomato asked softly. 

“Aside from the fact that you’ve been staring down for the past thirty seconds, I can literally see the dagger you’re slipping out. I was the original trickster, friend. You can’t fool me.” 

With no reason to hide it now, Tomato pulled out his dagger. In the other hand, he drew his sword from his sheath. HTP pulled out his shield and a spear in response. 

At the same moment, the two of them charged at each other. No battle cry, no fanfare. Just a good-old fashioned fight to the death. 

Tomato swung his sword quickly at HTP’s side, the latter just barely being able to block it in time. Pin jabbed with his spear only for Tomato to perfectly deflect it with his dagger and give the pole of it a quick karate chop, causing the thing to snap in two. 

HTP awkwardly stumbled back, holding his shield up while also trying to get a trident out of his bag. Tomato just watched, amused. 

Once the weapon was in his hand, Pin went forward again, pretending to attack with the trident while actually trying to bash with his shield. Tomato didn’t fall for the trick, sidestepping the attack and slicing with his sword. HTP clumsily blocked with his trident, but the much heavier weapon was a lot more difficult to maneuver. 

Tomato lunged forward, his dagger aimed at Pin’s heart. Pin barely managed to block it with his shield, the blade digging into the wood. 

The duo stood there, temporarily at a deadlock, looking into each other’s eyes. 

“You can’t beat me, Pin. You’re strong, but you can’t beat me.” 

“I’ve had enough of losing!” HTP screamed back in response to the whisper. “You hear me? I’m not losing here!”

Pin quickly kicked his leg out and knocked Tomato off his feet, who apparently hadn’t been suspecting this attack. HTP jabbed the trident straight down towards Tomato’s chest, the weight of the thing working his favor now. 

Tomato tried to roll out of the way, but this time, he wasn’t fast enough. The weapon pierced his shoulder and stuck itself into him. 

He almost looked serene as HTP savagely jammed the weapon deeper into Tomato, murder in the former’s eyes. Tomato would have shrugged indifferently at these actions, but he could not with only one shoulder. 

Pin leaned in close, staring at Tomato for one final time. “I’ll see you on the other side.” 

In a movement so fast that it could only be described as a blur, Tomato jammed his dagger straight into HTP’s heart. Completely shocked, Pin stumbled backwards before falling into the small pool he’d been washing himself with. 

He did not come out. 

Tomato removed the trident carefully and bandaged himself quickly while a cannon boomed in the distance. Six left to go.

Chapter 10: Tomato REVAMPED

Tomato couldn’t feel the pain from his wound, but he felt himself getting weaker. He felt the loss of blood that Pin had taken from him, and that hurt in a way even people immune to pain could still feel. 

It was fine, though. He was more than capable of surviving this. All he needed was a safe place to rest, eat, and heal. So long as he didn’t run into any other people, he should be fine. 

Suddenly, an arrow found its mark in Tomato’s knee. His vision started to go a bit fuzzy, but that was definitely the outline of a human being with a bow somewhere in those dark trees ahead of him. 

Tomato dove behind a tree and clumsily unwrapped his emergency bagel, only managing to get a single bite out of it before another arrow pierced it. 

“That’s a poison arrow, so I recommend that you don’t eat any more of that bagel, you intellectual peon,” Quach gloated from behind cover. 

Tomato paused for a bit, examining his food. “You’re not bluffing,” he whispered. 

“I don’t have a need to bluff. I’m so much smarter than you, you wouldn’t even be able to understand it.” 

“That… doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Exactly!”

“Can you just leave me alone, please? I’m politely requesting you to leave me alone.” Tomato wasn’t usually one to basically beg, but it was a dire juncture he’d found himself in. Desperate times called for desperate measures. 

Quach nocked an arrow and shot it. 

The projectile soared past Tomato, missing him by a vast distance before finding its mark somewhere behind him. 

Togepi collapsed on the ground, the arrow perfectly buried in his chest. 

“I barely got any screen time,” he managed to protest before collapsing. 

“Sure, Tomato. Working with you would be the best thing that I could do,” Quach agreed amicably. “I’m quite glad that you’ve proposed this, actually. I calculate that my odds of winning have went up from 93% to 97%. Now, if only we-” 

Before Quach could decide on a plan of action, his head was brutally removed from his body. There behind him stood auk, a sword in his hand. 

“Hey, auk,” Tomato greeted weakly. “I kind of get the feeling that you’re not here to offer me an alliance.” 

“It’s nothing personal, Tomato,” Auk grimly said. “It’s just business.” 

“I won’t just let you kill me,” Tomato whisphered, drawing his sword. 

In a quick move, Auk rushed forward and disarmed Tomato with a flick of his sword. If Tomato were healthy, he would have undoubtedly been able to counter this move, but sadly, he was not. 

Auk kicked Tomato down and stabbed him in the heart. 

“Now this… this is so, so sad.” With his final words spoken, Tomato passed away. 

Three cannon shots boomed. Oof, Auk, Nubby, Rick. Four tributes left.

Chapter 11: Nubby

Nubby was not enjoying these Thirst Games, that was for certain. 

He wasn’t cut out for all this brutal fighting. He had lived a peaceful life, and a peaceful afterlife. Others had spent countless lives preparing for battle. He had spent his time living rather than bringing death on others. 

Yet somehow, against all odds, here he was, still alive. Only three opponents stood between him and getting out of here alive. 

Of course, that didn’t mean he was in good shape. He’d been starving and thirsty throughout most of his time in the arena. There had been various cuts and bruises he’d sustained from panicking running. There seemed to be no sponsors rooting for his success. He didn’t even have any sort of weapon besides the makeshift branch he’d used as a walking stick. 

But he had to count his blessings. He’d never even seen anyone since the bloodbath. He’d quickly found shelter during the disasters that wrecked several other people. If he picked his spots carefully, maybe he even had a chance of winning. 

Nubby considered his remaining opponents carefully. Auk was the major threat present. He was a veteran of the old KOTLs, and could probably take anyone else in a straight fight and win. He had to be accounted for. 

Then there was Rick. Rick was an interesting one. Nubby didn’t quite know the extent of his abilities, but it was unlikely that he made it to the final four through sheer luck. He’d have to have an eye kept on him. 

And then there was Oof. Oof was a real wild card. It was a miracle to Nubby that Oof had even managed to get this far. Fate must be conspiring somehow to keep him alive. Nubby could fight Oof, but he could not fight fate. 

Suddenly, the Mayor’s voice sounded throughout the entire arena. Nubby looked up and listened. 

“Well done on getting this far, you four,” she declared. “Getting this far is always an accomplishment.” 

“We’re having a feast. Come to the center of the arena to dine on the most lavish food you can imagine, meaning mostly a lot of different types of bagels. You don’t have to come, but I can assure you that you’ll be on a back foot if you do not.” 

Nubby considered not attending before immediately discarding the idea. He needed the food. The odds were high that he would die, but he didn't have a choice. 

OOO

Nubby walked about. The Golden Goose statue stood, completely empty. He’d once heard a story of a person who tried to hide in the statue in order to gain a tactical advantage. Completely silly, but he checked it anyway, and nobody was there. 

When the Mayor had called it a “feast”, she had been absolutely right. Roast turkey, gravy, cooked goose. Nubby had stuffed as many bagels as possible into an empty bag he’d conveniently found. 

Something was wrong. Nubby sensed it in a split second. The air wasn’t the right temperature. Perhaps some grass had been disturbed, or the tiniest of sounds had reached his ears. 

He dove forward and rolled, and it was a good thing he did that, because auk’s sword was just stabbing its way through the space Nubby had previously been occupying. If Nubby had even stopped just to turn and see what was happening, he would have been dead. 

Auk began to chase after Nubby, so Nubby ran away from Auk. However, Auk was still able to maintain a sprint faster than Nubby, and Nubby was aware that if he kept trying to flee, he’d get stabbed. 

Nubby pulled out a bagel and took a massive bite of it just as Auk successfully stabbed at him. 

The sword bounced off, dealing no damage, the bagel’s temporary invincibility keeping Nubby alive. 

Nubby tried to go on the offensive, slashing at Auk. However, it was clear that the latter had a great deal of practice with swords, parrying the attacks with ease while eating a bagel of his own. 

“So, what now?” Auk asked. “Are we to be two immortal beings locked in an epic battle until the trumpets-” 

“YAHHHH!!!!” 

Oof abruptly charged towards Auk and attempted to snap his neck with his bare hands. He actually managed to get his hands around the neck and twist, only to be stopped by the effects of Auk’s own bagel. 

Auk went to work, chopping and slicing and killing Oof rapidly, until the poor boy was nothing more than an extremely mutilated corpse. 

Unfortunately, by the time Auk turned to look around, Nubby was gone. He may not have been a fighter, but he was certainly a fast runner. 

Auk sighed. Three people left, and he now had access to the entire feast for himself. It would be enough. It would have to be enough.

Chapter 12: Rick

Rick was truly losing it. 

Not the Thirst Games, no. He was winning the Thirst Games. At the very least, he’d get third place, which was pretty impressive for someone who nobody knew. 

No, Rick was losing his sanity. He’d heard the seventeen cannon shots boom, seen the seventeen faces in the sky. 

Yet somehow, Rick swore that he’d seen the dead tributes among him. They were always lurking behind trees and bushes, always just out of sight, just out of reach. Rick had never hallucinated before, but he had to be undergoing that now. It was the only logical explanation. Right? Right. 

He hadn’t gone to the feast. Now, he was sincerely regretting it. He was actually starving, now. Starving, feverish, and unequipped. He needed something to happen. A miracle. Anything. 

A capsule dropped down next to Rick. He desperately opened it up, barely registering the sight of the bagel before it went down his throat. 

The healing effects worked rapidly, until Rick was suddenly fully healthy once more. Wounds that he didn’t remember suffering from knitted themselves closed, the pounding headache faded, and strength returned to his muscles. 

Rick flexed his muscles and slashed his sword through the air. He was doing all right, now. He might actually stand a-

Footsteps. Off to the right. 

Rick turned. “Come on out! I won’t hurt you, I promise.” 

Nothing happened. Rick continued to stare out into seemingly empty space for about a minute. 

Was he still going insane, even after eating the bagel? How did the bagel contend with mental injuries? 

Just as Rick concluded that he was hearing things, somebody stepped out. 

“Hello,” Nubby greeted politely. 

“Nubby! Thank goodness I found you,” Rick replied enthusiastically. “Come on, now. We’re going to have to work together if we want to take down Auk.” 

Rick was going to work with him? This was better than could have been expected. 

“Ok.” Nubby made his way over to Rick. “What’s the game plan?” 

“Here, come with me.” Rick turned his back and began to walk, and Nubby trotted to catch up. “We’ll go to the center and destroy Auk’s food source. Then, once he’s been starved and weakened, we’ll double-team him and win.” 

“Sounds like a good plan.” Nubby looked away and pulled something out of his bag, and Rick took his opportunity, stabbing Nubby straight through. 

Or he would have, if the weapon hadn’t bounced right off his skin. 

Nubby whirled to look at Rick, the bagel he’d pulled out of his bag in his hand and an expression of betrayal on his face. 

“How could you?” he asked. 

“En garde!” Rick shouted, going in for another attack. 

It turned out that Rick also not especially talented at fighting with the sword. He and Nubby were equally matched as they battled back and forth across the area. 

Eventually, it happened. Nubby cut deep into Rick’s neck right as Rick stabbed Nubby directly in the stomach, and the both of them collapsed. 

And then the both of them pulled out bagels, swallowing them desperately, the food bringing them back from the brink of death. 

Nubby lunged forward, his sword forgotten in a moment of irrationality as he grabbed Rick’s head and shoved it under the water of the nearby pond. 

Rick struggled and fought, but Nubby had gotten the upper hand. Rick could not escape his fate. 

Rick looked down towards the bottom of the lake, and to his horror found a bloated, unrecognizable human corpse at the bottom. Whoever it was, it actually looked fresh and recent. It was no hallucination - that he was absolutely sure of. In his final death throes, addled and with water filling his lungs, he was certain that he wasn’t hallucinating. 

Rick finally stopped fighting, going limp. Nubby held him there for a minute more before finally deciding it was safe and dumping the corpse into the water. 

A cannon boomed in the distance. 

Nubby felt like he was choking. He’d just taken another life. Rick was dead. 

He looked under the water into the pool, out of some morbid curiosity, but there was nobody there. No corpse. Nothing.

The cannon boomed. What happened?

Nubby stumbled away, tears running down his cheeks. He didn’t have time to figure anything out. He’d run away. He just had to. 

And then there was two.

Chapter 13

Nubby observed the world behind him, slowly decaying. Reality itself was being erased behind him gradually, becoming a mute void. 

He’d heard tales of this happening in previous Thirst Games, yes, but he’d never witnessed it with his own eyes, and boy, did it look confusing. What even was this? How did the Mayor have this much power? 

He shook his head before sprinting towards the middle of the arena. He was being forced to go there, anyway. Might as well get there quickly, before auk did, and try to get in a superior position. 

And so, Nubby made his way through the arena towards the center, the golden goose statue still standing tall and proud. 

He burst into the clearing and noticed several things going on at the same time. 

First off, there was Auk, having entered the other side of the clearing a hundred feet or so away. Secondly, the golden goose statue between them seemed to have been restocked with all manner of weaponry, armor, and supplies. 

Most surprising of all, however, were the eighteen human beings standing. And it wasn’t as though they were just standing around, oh no. They stood together in neat, orderly fashion, three rows of six, and they all looked absolutely horrible. 

“Hey, you two! Did you miss me?” Eryxc asked, her neck sickeningly twisted ninety degrees to the side.

“None of you joined my KOTL! What on earth are you waiting for?” Hip asked, several deep gashes standing brazen on his body. 

“I didn’t get any lines before, and this is my first one,” Ethan said bitterly, not even looking at the arrow that had impaled him. 

“What are we even doing here?” Tomato whispered. 

“We’re standing in rows,” Pin replied. He vomited a great amount of pond water onto the ground. 

While this conversation had been taking place between all these people, Nubby and Auk had snapped back to their senses and were now rushing towards the goose statue and the resources within. 

Rick pointed at Nubby. “He killed me. I want my revenge.” 

“Auk killed me. I guess I’d like to kill him,” Tomato admitted. 

“Hey, maybe that’s what we’re supposed to be doing!” Pin realized. “Rather than being comic relief, we should be a terrorizing force attacking the final two tributes!” 

Nobody else seemed to have any problems with this, and so the eighteen dead raced forward, hungry for just a little more blood and death. 

Auk and Nubby raced ahead, grabbing whatever they could at the bottom of the statue before immediately being surrounded by the fallen tributes. With no other place to go, the both of them began to climb. 

Nubby tried to shoot an arrow at Auk, but it flew wide and randomly hit Quach down below, who intellectually complained about. Auk charged in, and Nubby barely pulled out his sword to parry it. 

It was more sword fighting, but this was the hardest fight of Nubby’s life. Although technically, he’d only been in one fight so far, but still. Auk was a strong and tough opponent, constantly pushing Nubby back. Nubby fought harder than he’d ever fought in his life, but it was still not enough. He was still dancing to Auk’s tune. 

Nubby got backed up to the edge of the statue. Everyone gathered below him, sensing a kill about to happen. He felt the lightness in his bag and knew that there were no bagels left in there. 

He took a gamble and lunged to the side. Auk predicted the move and kicked at Nubby, causing the latter to trip and fall right onto one of the wings of the Goose. 

It impaled him straight through, and now Nubby knew that he was truly screwed, slowly bleeding out. 

Auk made his way over to Nubby slowly and carefully before reaching him and raising his sword for the killing blow. He was never one for dramatic final words, that Auk. 

Nubby desperately kicked out at Auk. The wing of the Goose torn through his skin, shredding his body, and he screamed in pain. 

But it worked. Somehow, thanks to dumb luck, it work. Auk’s sword missed, and he went plunging off the statue into the hungry crowd. 

Nubby just lay there, unable to move, just wishing that Auk would die. Auk was surely dead, right? 

No. He was not dead. It seemed as though Auk had some bagels of his own, and was fighting off eighteen people at the same time through the benefit that it brought. 

They all attacked Auk, but they made no progress. So, too, did Auk attack them, to no effect. The dead tributes all suffered fatal wounds at his hands, but you can’t kill something that’s already dead. 

Auk tried to push through the crowd and escape. He could not. Auk tried to climb back onto the Goose statue. The other tributes grabbed hold of him and dragged him down. 

It now became a desperate battle for survival, Auk rapidly running out of bagels while Nubby ran rapidly out of blood. 

It got to the point where Nubby could not keep his eyes open. He could not stay awake. He had lost too much blood, suffered too many wounds. His vision was entirely consumed by blackness, his breathing slowing and his heart fading. 

A cannon boomed in the faraway distance. Who was that cannon for? Him? Auk? Did it even matter anymore? 

The Mayor shouted in excitement her declaration, although to Nubby, it sounded like the faintest of whispers. 

“And the winner of the 69th Thirst Games is…”

I don't expect to finish this by the deadline, I'll just add to it once and a while

cool

Sounds good, then.

Make pin die first

Mr. Oof, I think there’s a very high chance that YOU die first.

nah

because of YOU

Are you capable of reading, good sir? CN just confirmed that you’re not going to die. How can I be responsible for something that didn’t even happen? 

My money’s on eryxc now.

hmm

hereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee is the prologue

Hooray!

&%^&^&^

I'm going to start Chapter One right now because I have nothing to do 

waiting for what