Chapter 15

I saw black ashes on the ground where Rona was. I was anguished, I lost such a great friend. I dropped to the floor, feeling depressed. 'Oh, Rona. Although we haven't been friends for an hour, she was a great friend. Although she is a klutz, she is as radiance like a sun. Why did she have to die?'

"Oh...Rona." I sobbed. Isaac patted my shoulder to comfort me.

All of a sudden, someone stood before us. We looked up, and Rona was in front of us.

I immediately stood up and checked her body to see any sign of injuries. "You alright, Rona? No injuries? No pain?"

"Rona is super strong. Rona is as fit as a fiddle." Rona grinned.

Isaac exclaimed. "What happened? I thought the flames burnt you."

"I dodged!" Rona started dancing some weird dance.

"Then... Whose ashes are those?" I asked.

"If my memory served me right, I think someone was standing beside Rona." Isaac turned towards Rona.

"Hmm...? I don't know." Rona hummed.

"Ouiii..." Isaac and I backed away from Rona.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Someone wailed and slammed the wall, "Where's the exit? Give me the exit. I can't take it anymore!"

Beep.

The floor he was standing on disappeared, and he fell right into Monica's mouth.

"There's your exit." Mr. James said.

"Ouiii...More like entrance." I said. "Doesn't Monica ever get full?"

"With that size, she probably could eat the entire stadium," Isaac said sarcastically.

Beep.

"Hmm? Woah!" The floor I was standing on disappeared. Luckily, Rona caught me in time, or else I'll be Monica's next food. "Thanks, Rona." Isaac quickly assisted Rona.

As I was dangling off the box, I felt like something icky was wrapping around my leg. 'Eww... Why do I feel something icky on my leg?'

"Hey, Isaac, Rona. Is there something on my leg?"

Isaac moved to the side and had a disgusted look. "...Yup. Monica's tongue. It's ermm... there."

"What! How long is Monica's tongue?! Hey! Monica! Would it kill you not to eat for just a second?" I screamed.

"Aww... Monica likes you." Rona smiled.

"Sadly, I have to reject her." I tried kicking her tongue off, but it won't budge.

'Ouii... This reminds me of my first dream.'

Isaac looked away. "G-G-Guys...? Ermm...T-The..."

"Isaac. Less talking, more pulling." I scolded Isaac.

"B-Ball! Coming towards us." Isaac shouted.

"Oui?" I looked to my side and saw the fireball charging towards us. "Oh crap! Pull me up, guys. Hurry! I got an idea." I looked down at Monica and said. "And don't let go, Monica! I got something you've never tasted before."

Monica roared.

Isaac and Rona pulled me back up, and Monica's tongue let go of my leg.

"Oh, no. You don't." I grabbed Monica's tongue.

"What are you doing? The ball is coming!" Isaac screamed at me.

"I know. I know. Trust me, okay? Help me grab the tongue."

"Eww... No. You nuts?" Isaac shook his head.

"Stop being such a wuss and grab it already!" I exploded. Rona and Isaac quickly grabbed and pulled the tongue. We used every last bit of our energy to pull Monica's tongue into the box.

The fireball got closer, and Monica wailed. The tongue tried to break free by excreting more saliva, but we held on firmly, not letting the tongue slipped away.

"Come on, move faster, ball!" I gritted my teeth.

"I think I'm going to puke." Isaac whined.

The fireball rolled over Monica's tongue, and we fell backwards. The fire began to spread from her tongue to Monica's entire body. Monica screamed in agony. "Waaahhhhhh!" The sprinkles were activated, but the fire was too deadly that it burnt Monica alive within minutes. The fire was so big and strong that we could feel the heat on the ground, too, even though we were so high up. After the fire was put out, we looked down and saw nothing but charcoal.

The rolling ball was put to a stop, and we threw the tip of Monica's tongue to the side.

"I'm covered with saliva thanks to someone." Isaac wiped the saliva off him.

"You should be grateful there's no poison in it." I smelled the saliva on my hand and nearly puked from its stench.

After I wiped the saliva off me, I stared at the pitch-black charcoal. "That's what happens when you get too greedy?"

"This was your plan? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kinda pity Monica." Isaac said.

"No. I thought the fire would only burn a part of her tongue off. Not her. I just wanted her to taste her own medicine." I quickly clarified.

"Never underestimate a woman's vengefulness," Isaac mumbled.

"Monica, dead?" Rona felt sad.

"Ya. Llyne killed her." Isaac pointed a finger at me.

I slapped Isaac. "Err...Rona. Well, you see. I didn't plan to burn her as a whole -"

"That was so cool!" Rona swirled around.

"Ya. Cool... Wait. What?" I was confused by Rona.

"Big fire! Sparkles! So exciting!" Rona started dancing again.

"Oh! Monica! Our lovely mascot!" Mr. James dropped down to his knees, crying. He glared at us. "How could you do that to baby Monica? She was just 5 years old."

"5? That huge thing is only 5 years old?" Isaac couldn't believe his words.

"Oh... Just you wait...I'll kill you three." Mr. James hissed at us.

"What did I do?" Isaac acted innocent.

"You're an accomplice, you fool." I smacked Isaac's back.

The crowd looked at each other and cheered.

Mr. James stood back up and continued. "What a jaw-dropping performance. This is the best throughout history. Give a round of applause to our remaining bunnies in the cage."

"Two-faced" Isaac spat.

The crowd went wild, cheering for us. Their energy was blasting everywhere, making the whole box shake. Rona grabbed onto me. "Are we idols now?"

"Does she still think we are in a concert?" Isaac patted my shoulder.

"Maybe," I replied.

"You know, I can't believe they are cheering for us even though you killed their mascot."

"We. We. And it was an accident. Blame her creator for making her so flammable." I corrected Isaac.

Isaac shrugged.

"Unfortunately, due to the loss of our adorable mascot, Monica, we shall cease the game. Please do come back 2 days later for the next game. As always, please do rate and leave some comments on what you think of today's game in the comment section in front of you." The blue screen appeared in front of everyone in the stadium.

"Once you are done, you may proceed to the exit behind you. Don't forget, I'm your beloved emcee, Mr. Single-who-is-still-waiting-for-a-partner. I hope everyone will have a pleasant day ahead. Good luck and goodbye." Mr. James blew a flying kiss.

Bzz. Bzz.

He disappeared into thin air.

"He was a hologram this entire time? He looked so real. I wonder how they do that." Isaac startled.

The translucent white wall appeared. The brute men came out from the wall and, one by one, dragged us back into the tunnel.

"Are we going to be stuck here for another 2 days?" I laid on the ground.

"Don't you lambs dare cause any trouble or I'll mince y'all." The menacing man threatens us by breaking a huge stone in front of us.

I elbowed Rona and Isaac. "You think he was a Monica fan?"

"If he is, you better be extra careful. He probably won't just mince you." Isaac warned.

Rona moved closer and said. "Aren't you happy? He'll give you special treatment."

"Ouiii... That's what I'm afraid of."

"Isaac, how many of us left?" I asked.

"Let me count." Isaac poked his head up and counted. "55."

"Almost half of us wiped out."

"Well, this is the first game. It's not shocking."

After just 45 minutes of dodging and running, my whole body feels so tired.

"I'm so tired. I wonder why. My stamina wasn't this bad." I yawned.

"'Cause we had to run for 45 minutes without stopping. Moreover, we had a fireball and a monster that was more than ready to kill us. If that doesn't make you tired, I don't know what will."

"If you say so. I'll go to sleep. Tell me if they made some kind of announcement."

"Goodnight, Llyne. Have a good sleep."

"Thanks, Rona."

I shifted my body to lie on my right and placed my hand under my head. "Sigh." I wondered when I could go back to my old life. 'I wonder how Iz is holding up. She's probably be shocked if she found out I went missing. And mom... I have the strangest feeling that she isn't dead yet and I'll meet her soon. I'm usually right about it, but how could that be? I thought I saw her lying on her bed, but did I actually see her? Her room was dark and I couldn't see anything...Oui...Ma...'

I slowly closed my eyes and let the tiredness drift me to sleep.