King of the World

Regroup: Part One

“Well, that’s that!” Queen Kate said. “I hope you all learned something. King won’t be so merciful next time. As for our viewers, keep watching; we’re in the home stretch now. Top one hundred! From now on, the players are on their own. It’s an all-out brawl. Stay tuned!” 

All the knights and Queen Kate waved at the camera as it shut off. Jasper’s reflection staring back at him. “Woof, that was…wow. I honestly don’t know what to say,” Lance said.

“Do you think it’s true?” Jasper asked. “That they cheated? Even if they did, no one deserves what they got. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Hmm, you think they were innocent? That King made a mistake?”

“Hell yeah, I do! The guy isn’t a god! Even if he was, no god is perfect. But this…this is insane! You saw the look on their faces! They were scared. They pleaded for their lives. I know a good *********** when I see one—a skill I picked up back home. None of them were lying. The King murdered them!”

Lance stayed silent as he got up and paced the room. Thinking. He was doing it for so long that Jasper honestly thought he had forgotten about him. “Lance?”

Lance stopped and looked Jasper dead in the eyes. “I need to be alone for a while. Can we meet up later?” Then he continued pacing. 

“Um, sure. I need to go check up on some people anyway. Later,” Jasper said, closing Lance’s door behind him. “Okay, let’s go; first stops, Josh.”

When the elevator opened, the first person Jasper saw was Franklin. Jasper was about to say hi but then saw that Franklin was praying. He opened his eyes and saw Jasper staring at him.

“Well, long time no see,” Franklin said. Forcing a smile. “Glad to see you’re still alive.”

“Same here. I would ask if you’re alright but–“

“I’m fine,” Franklin interrupted. “Don’t worry about me. I was sending those poor souls off. They didn’t deserve that. Even if they cheated.”

“I didn’t figure you for the religious type. I’m sure they would’ve appreciated it,” Jasper smirked.

“Probably. Probably not. Doesn’t matter. **** this competition. We’re getting out of here. Somehow. Some way. I’ve been thinking…”

“Uh-oh.”

“Shut up,” Franklin laughed. “*******. What I was saying was I’ve been thinking about a way out. They would’ve to have brought us here somehow. I guess first we need to find out where here is. Let’s hold a team meeting. From here on out, King of the World doesn’t matter. This whole competition was rigged from the start. I’ll go get Josh. Car’s not in her room. Hold on a sec.” Franklin walked over to Josh’s door and knocked. After a few moments, Josh opened the door and stepped out. It had been clear he had been crying. 

“Hey,” Josh said, sitting next to the wall. “Hell of a show, huh?”

“You can say that again,” Jasper said, sitting next to him.

“Is your, um, lady friend coming out too?” Franklin asked.

Josh’s face turned red. “No, probably not.”

“What are you guys doing out here?” Jasmine asked, poking her head out of Josh’s room.

“Having a team meeting. Wanna join?” Franklin asked, 

“Let me get dressed first. You guys can start,” Jasmine said, shutting the door.

“Don’t say anything,” Josh warned. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a smile spreading across Jasper’s face. 

“Looks like someone’s been having a good time,” Jasper said under his breath. 

“I’ll kill you,” Josh said.

“Okay, okay, let’s pull it together,” Franklin said, sitting in front of them. “First, I think we should go over what’s happened so far. I’ll go first. My first game was called The Mirror Game. We had to work in teams of two. One team would do something in the other room, and we would have to recreate it. Every part of it. Even the smallest detail had to be mirrored. If someone scratched their nose or if someone had thrown up, no matter what it was, we had to do it. My partner did something that the other team couldn’t, and we won.”

“What was it?” Josh asked.

“I really don’t want to say it. It’s gross. Anyway, the other team couldn’t do it. I guess it’s important to mention that the other team was all girls. Use your imagination. My second game was Tag. I was it. The room was pitch black. I couldn’t see a **** thing. My partner had a small lighter. I-I couldn’t get close to him. They knew what happened to me and used it so I wouldn’t get close to him. I could always see it. I knew where he was, but I couldn’t get close. So, I closed my eyes and charged. I tackled the guy and won.”

“What did happen to you? I mean, I know you were in a fire, but that’s about it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Jasper said.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll tell you,” Franklin said. He sighed then began.