Contestant 5 – Jonathan Doe – The Average Man
I don’t know why William, the “man” behind High Octane, came to me and wanted me to compete in his competition of death. He said something about me reminding him of a great man. I’m just a normal man who’s trying to survive in this tough world. The only good things I got are a wonderful wife and two kids. I can barely drive because I can’t afford a car. Maybe my job interests him, but then again, all I do is go around and fix the plumbing and electrical systems in people’s houses.
Despite not having a car or any car mechanic skills at all, he brought me to a car junkyard that has the cars of all his past contestants. He gave me a bunch of workers who I could command to make my own car. He also gave me a bunch of metal that he said was from his favorite contestant. I saw him take it from a pile of parts with a weird flaming head thing that looks like it was from an ice cream truck. The metal itself is weirdly warm. William added that I shouldn’t carry anything holy with me during the competition because it wouldn’t help me anyway. Since he said that, I’m bringing my rosary that I always carry around.
With what I found, I made a car with machine guns on the side, a compartment to fit a variety of missiles, a vent in the back that lets me release oil and mines, and finally a cannon in the front that I got from a tank. My car will stick itself in the ground with spikes when I fire the cannon, so the recoil shouldn’t be a problem. After making my vehicle, I test drove it for a few days before I was hurried off to William’s competition. He has my wife and kids, so he can “keep them safe” while I fight in his competition. I don’t trust him, but I guess I have no choice but to compete and win then wish for…something. I don’t know yet.
I hope I don’t fight the real last winners of the competition. They really helped fix up the world in some way. I don’t know why I’m so thankful for them or what they did, but I know for a fact that they did something great for us. Right now I’m waiting inside my cage in William’s blimp. I’m here in case something happens to my wife and kids. You never know with the kinds of people that willingly fight in this competition. The kinds of people that show up are the usual bunch with normal people with big dreams mixed in with the crazy ones. These all might as well be crazy people and I might be the craziest for being here even though I don’t have much of a choice.
The blimp takes off once everyone is in. William’s face is shown on the four monitors in the blimp. I’ll never get used to seeing his burned smiling face. I swear there’s something wrong with the vehicle he made for me. Does the special metal he gave me have anything to do with it? It’s way too warm here. The only part of me that feels comfortable is my pocket that holds my rosary. I take it out and hold it in my hand. The feeling is starting to go away. So, there is something demonic about this vehicle. I gotta get rid of it when this is over.
William says, “Welcome to High Octane. You should already know the rules going into this, so I’ll keep this short. Survive against your foes and the last winner and you will obtain your heart’s desire. Good luck.”
The cage below us releases us into-my hometown?! When did this become a Killing Zone?! Now I know why William is holding my family, but he can’t be doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Give a man his own personal car, protect his family, and make him compete in a tournament to wish for anything he wants. I’ll have to keep that thought off to the side for now as I’ve just landed in the middle of traffic. Civilians are speeding to try to get out of the city as people fighting begins breaking out.
Three people are already dead because of the fall and another two are eliminated with innocent people dying as a result of the crossfire. I’m just trying to avoid as much fighting as possible. I honestly don’t want to kill anyone, but I will if I have to. Another four people kill each other while two groups of people are fighting it out. More innocent lives are lost as a result, but the ending of the fight leaves one more person left. Their vehicle is on fire and I have him in my sights. He tries drives away but one of the drivers survived and blows himself up along with the last contestant. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.
The sirens go off in the city as an announcement is made. “I hope you still have some fight left in you because the winner of the last High Octane is here to test your mettle! Welcome back, Avery Young and Oliver Ross!”
I’m speeding through the traffic to find a safe spot for us to fight. I can see the winners coming up behind me, but they seem different. They have this weird white that radiates off them. I’m hoping that they’re copies and nothing more. Even though they should be fighting me, they haven’t fired a single shot even though I’m in their sights. Maybe part of purity isn’t allowing them to fight or something. I can barely tell because I’m driving through parks and alleyways at high speeds. Okay, now I’ve finally made it to the football stadium. Since it’s empty, this should be a great place to fight. I deploy my oil and mines to make them slide and slip. Since they’re out of control, I unload my machine guns and missiles at them for several direct shots.
They’ve just deployed their vehicles special ability, so now I’m facing two drivers. This doesn’t affect my strategy as I switch over to fast homing missiles that take out Avery’s car in a few shots. Oliver’s car stops all of the sudden for some reason. Maybe losing his wife took all of the fight out of his clone. Whatever the case is, he’s a sitting duck for my cannon and I take him out in one shot.
The sirens go off in the city signaling my victory. I’m glad I managed to win without having to kill anyone. William descends in his helicopter with my wife and kids. They’re the first ones to get out. I get out my car to go to them-…he didn’t. He did. He just killed my wife and kids. Shot them all in the head with one of his guard’s pistols.
“You fucking piece of shit!” I yell at him.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Doe? You won the competition and I’ve just freed you from the people that keep you shackled to this ridiculous idea of love. You know how much of a joke life can be. I know that you live a miserable life and kept telling yourself it was worth it as long as you kept your family safe and followed God’s ways. You and I know that’s all a bunch of bullshit to keep your true self hidden. You’re free to do whatever you want! Wish for all the wealth in the world! Wish for control of everyone in it. Wish for it all to end. The choice is yours.”
“…I’m not going to play your game, William. I’m not the person you think I am. I’m just your average Joe.”
“But your average Joe can change the world in one wish as my contest has proven.”
“You’re right, so I wish that your contest never existed and by that, I mean that everything that has ever happened because of it is erased. This includes the thought of it entering your mind in the first place.”
“What? Think about all the good that it’s done. My contest is a necessary evil to create great men like you.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘necessary evil’. My heart’s desire is final.”
“There’s no way I’m granting that wish.”
Light starts breaking out of William’s body. It looks like he’s bound to grant the wish of the winner no matter what William wills.
“It looks like you don’t have a choice.”
“No! This can’t be happening. Damn you!”
William explodes into light as it engulfs everything.
My phone’s alarm rings as a new day starts. My beautiful wife is still sleeping along with my wonderful kids. I give them a kiss on the head and grab my rosary before I go out to work. Today looks like another perfect day and I’m going to make the most of it.
The End
What's a high paced action story without Dragonforce?
No comments:
Post a Comment