It is I, Terrence Anathema, once again, for my third round of this here tournament, the eleventh round in total, and second round of phase two. And once again, I can scarcely believe my eyes: Our first contestant today is one Kai Ling, moving on to his second round of this tournament after having a very intimate knife party with the departed Kaden Crowley in an elevator in an underground car park; and, to my surprise and amusement, our second contestant is Alicia Owly, who I am acquainted with from my previous round of narration. I know what she can do, and I think I should have to place my proverbial bets on her for this round. Our arena for today is the car park outside the library where Alicia and Jordan fought, and from what I can tell Alicia has been sat outside the library since the end of her last round (and, as an aside, Jordan has regained his composure and is continuing his Joyce studies inside with the book Alicia left with him). Since Kai's last round was also in a car park, this could be anyone's game, really.
Our players have readied themselves and are now beginning their fight. However, I find myself being tapped on the shoulder, and when I turn I see Archangard standing behind me.
"Hey there, Terrence. How are we tonight?" he asks me, and I nod to show that I am doing okay.
"Been a while, man. I am not surprised to find you here, for I knew you would survive Hella's heart-stop attack after you left the arena."
"Ah, yes, that. I took a good long sabbatical after that, and now I'm back to normal, I think. And speaking of, how is she doing in this tournament?"
"She killed your slender man," I tell him, and see a hint of a smile cross Arkngard's face.
"Not surprising. I wish her well, so do be sure to let her know that when next you see her." He gets up to leave me to this round of narration, but hesitates and turns back to face me after a second. "Oh, right, nearly forgot. The reason I came here is to let you know that I've been hanging around the Fear Mythos Discord server, and the higher-ups of this tournament, those whose power is beyond yours or mine, have slated you to die after this round." As he says this, a look of horror creeps onto my face, and he continues: "However, I can save you, if you'd like. And I can tell that you would like me to; that's quite the face you've got on right now," he says and lets out a reassuring little laugh.
"Yes, my face betrays my desire; I would quite like that," I say in reply.
"Not so fast, man. I will save your life if you really want me to, however my doing so will come with a grim revelation, and if you're unequipped to handle its ramifications, you might quickly come to regret your choice, and it will be for nothing." He pauses, allowing me to ponder my predicament.
As I think on my situation, I turn again to view the arena. I can see Kai has managed to steal Alicia's gun and is firing wildly at her. He never did have all that good aim, I recall from reading about his last fight. Alicia looks to be under cover of a car, lying in wait for Kai to approach. I am going to officially make my prediction that she will be the one who wins this fight.
With that, I turn back to Archangard, still somewhat uncertain about my choice. "Can you maybe give to me a hint as to what this revelation will be?"
"I suppose so. Have you read my dear colleague Magreat's blog The Blog Without a Face?"
I can't say I saw that coming. "I have, yeah, but, God, it's been years. So the big twist of that blog is the big twist of my life, I take it?" Arkngard nods. "Well, I actually have been considering that possibility for some time now. In fact, my writing Autumn of Black Leaves kind of solidified that thought in my mind, made me believe that it was pretty much guaranteed."
"Then get ready, and we'll be off in just a moment." He gets his phone out and starts typing away on the screen. After a bit he speaks again: "It looks like the fight is over, so when you're ready, announce the results and we'll be off."
I turn back to the arena one last time. Kai is on the ground, still breathing, but not moving. Alicia has retrieved her gun, now empty, and walks back towards the library. Therefore, I declare for the second time, ladies, gentlemen, theydies, that Alicia Owly is the winner of this round.
With that, Archangard presses one final button on his phone, causing the world around us to fade to black for a moment. He seems to have teleported the both of us to a far away place, away from the Fear Mythos higher-ups' grasp. I can't describe the place we're now in, because I can't risk them finding me. I turn again to face Arkngard, then recoil in horror.
"Something's changed, that's not your face. It's mine! It's mine!"
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