5 days until the Last Ordeal
I’ll spare you from having to go through the shouting match that followed 101's words. Nothing really changed. It didn’t change whether or not we should get involved; if we decided not to fight, the Last Ordeal would just destroy the planet and we’d die anyway. There was the possibility that 101 was lying, but if so, why would it tell us how bleak the odds were? Occam's Razor said that the situation was exactly as awful as it looked.
I went home, buried my face in my cat’s fur for a while, and went to bed without eating dinner. The next day, things got worse. The text from Marie immediately filled me with dread:
Front of school. Need backup. Chris.
I dropped everything and ran out to the front of the school. There were students around, but none of them were paying any attention to Chris or Marie. If it was a normal fight, it would have drawn a crowd, but both of them had their weapons out. so the conflict passed into the realm of the supernatural, and therefore the invisible.
"Leave me ALONE!" Chris shouted, swinging a battleaxe at Marie's shield. It held, but each hit knocked her back through brute force.
"Laura's DEAD!" Marie yelled back, swinging her shield's bladed edge at Chris as he backstepped out of range. "Your shitty excuses don't matter anymore! Either you're helping us, or you're complicit!"
Neither of them were holding back. Someone was going to get hurt, or worse, if I didn't interfere. I summoned my spear and flipped it around to use it as a blunt instrument. Properly armed, I rushed in, putting myself between Chris and Marie.
"People are dying? Great! Sounds like a great reason NOT to get involved!" Chris yelled.
"Both of you, shut up!" I cut in. "Are you out of your minds? Put those things away before you-"
I was interrupted when a swift kick from Chris caught me in the stomach, pushing the air out of me. I fell backwards, and Marie closed into melee again. As I gasped for breath, the two of them kept fighting as if I wasn't there. Chris pressed the advantage, bringing his axe down at Marie again and again.
"I never ASKED to be a part of this shit!" Chris's attacks hit harder as his anger swelled. "If you're going to get yourselves killed, do it on your own time! All I want is for all of you to LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Each of those last three words was punctuated with a massive swing. The second one hit so hard that Marie's defense faltered, her shield knocked aside. The third caught her in the chest.
I screamed. Marie opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was blood. Chris dropped the axe, which remained in the wound for a moment before falling to the ground. His hands were shaking.
"W... Why wouldn't you just..." I didn't wait for him to finish that sentence. I couldn't see Chris as a person anymore. He was just a monster.
I roared wordlessly as I charged, heedless of my own safety. I didn't care about myself. All I wanted was to hurt him. I wanted to beat him within an inch of his life. When he blocked a strike with his forearm, I wanted to hear it break. I wanted to see his blood. If I had kept up the assault, I might have killed him.
What stopped me was his eyes. Through my haze of fury, I happened to see the terror on his face. He was afraid, both of me and of himself. I would have given anything not to care. I hated myself for hesitating at the sight. All it took was a moment's hesitation for him to break away and flee.
I gave chase, but I quickly lost him. I wasn't thinking straight, and all it took him was a couple sharp turns to shake my pursuit. Eventually, my legs gave out under me and I collapsed. I screamed until my throat was raw. Nobody answered.
