Games

Hello.

Greetings.

It is I, Franklin James here to tell you about the shenanigans I had to experience. So I woke up one fine morning and opened my fridge. The first thing I did was to chuck the carton of apple juice down the trash before heading down to bake bread. You know, managing the cashier and baking at the same time is such a hassle. I really need to get an employee one day.

It was about the middle of the day when a bunch of cops entered the shop.

"Welcome," I greeted them from the counter.

They were observing the place, so I asked them, "Would you guys like some doughnuts? I don't serve coffee here, but I got some decent doughnuts."

"We received some reports on an incident that happened around this area," One of the policemen told me. "Several civilians mentioned hearing gunshots late at night."

"Guns? I think I heard them too," I told him. "I was in the middle of closing up when those gunshots really shocked me."

The police officer nodded and said, "Let us know if you know anything else."

"'Kay," I waved them off.

They left. Luckily there weren't that many customers at the time.

"Were you always this polite?"

I jumped. I turned back, saying, "Geez, can't you make a normal entrance for once? Just walk through the front door if you want to talk to me."

I glanced back. The pedestrians outside had slowed to a halt. I turned back to face the man in a brown suit. "I'm guessing you don't want to be interrupted this time?"

"I'm here to explain the rules of the game," He stated.

I shrugged, sitting on the countertop. "Continue."

"As previously mentioned, each Elemental participating will be assigned a human to defend. Each human will possess an item that they will keep on them at all times. A participant is eliminated if the human dies or if that item is broken. The last one standing will be the winner, and the human that wins will become the Elemental of Magic."

"Could I have the full list of participants?" I requested.

"First, are you willing to participate?" He asked.

"I guess so," I shrugged. "Sounds fun at least."

"The participants are you, Fire. Earth. Dark. Light. Space. Nature. Elementals that have decided to sit out are Water, Air and myself, Time."

I scratched my chin. "That's a weird cast. Air is understandable, but I didn't expect Water of all people to just opt out."

"The games will begin tomorrow," Time told me.

"So... which human do I have to protect?"

Time lifted a picture of a girl that looked familiar for all the wrong reasons. He said to me, "The girl you rescued yesterday. Mevis Maze."

I held the picture in my hand.

The picture went up in flames. I shrugged. "Well, I'm most certainly gonna lose, but let everyone know I'm looking for a clean match."

Time vanished, and everything returned to normal. I hopped off the counter table and ran a few thoughts through my head. The other Elementals must be starved for some sort of entertainment. They could also just want a chance to beat me up.

Still, that girl I was supposed to be teamed up with... She's basically gone.

It would probably be for the best if I found her as soon as possible. But then again, the competition only starts tomorrow, and I've got a bakery to r-

Oh, it starts tomorrow.

"Sorry, but because of some urgent matters, I'll be closing up early today," I announced. "Feel free to take as many as you want. It's free."

After chasing all my customers out, I started making my way around town. I turned into flames and appeared at the top of a nearby building to hopefully get a better look. Unfortunately, it didn't prove too useful as I couldn't single out a human from a crowd of other humans. I mean, who knows where a girl who had been shot twice just the night before carrying an empty backpack would hide?

After looking around and asking around a little bit, I concluded that she was probably hiding out at some sketchy place for the night.

It just so happens that I know the sketchiest place of them all.

It was an alleyway that is easy to miss. Down that alley, there is a door the same colour and texture as the walls. It's easy to miss, but I've been there a couple of times. Maybe more.

I knocked on the door, producing a metal clang.

A segment opened. A man looked through it, his eyes staring directly at me. "Password."

"Nine-five-six-one-twenty-eleven," I answered.

The man slammed the eye gap shut. I waited as the door opened with a loud creak. I walked in, saying to the man, "Thank you."

I left him a tip and was free to step in.

Where do fugitives hide? Here. It's a place where all sorts of illegal stuff happen.

"Ah, the baker!" Someone called out.

I was at a club. The lights were bright and the music was loud. In front of me, accompanied by two bodyguards, was the boss of the establishment. He patted my shoulder with a wide grin on his face. "Glad to see you here! What brings you here today?"

"Well, I am searching for someone," I replied with a smile of my own. "Perhaps a young girl who is injured came here last night?"

"You should know we keep all of our client's information a secret," The boss laughed.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. But you could call this a 'personal request', eh?"

The bodyguards stepped up. The boss signalled them to back off, the same cheery look on his face. "Well, let's not get hasty boys!"

He slung an arm around my shoulder and steered me away from the bodyguards. He whispered to me, "I'm taking a big enough risk taking care of that freak you left here! I don't want you to get involved with my business any further."

"I need the location of this girl," I told him. "Just this girl."

The boss glanced around before whispering, "If I tell you, will you take that freak away? I don't want her to be in my building any longer."

"No can do," I patted his back. "But even if you don't tell me, I can search the entire place and find this girl anyways. So let's make things simpler, okay?"

He sighed. "Fifth basement. Room seven."

I patted his back before hugging him. "Thank you."

I made my way over to the elevator. There were buttons leading all the way down to the tenth basement. My finger drifted over to the tenth basement momentarily before I pressed the fifth basement instead. After some walking, I found the room.

Knock, knock, knock.

No response.

"Hello, I'm the baker that saved you last night," I called. "Here to discuss some important matters with you."