"A game? What are you talking about?" Arnold stammered, his voice barely a whisper, fear making him tremble uncontrollably.
"Look, we don't have time for games!" Gyro snapped, his voice tight with barely suppressed rage, fists clenching at his sides. "We're busy. We have lives. So let us go, damn it!"
In response, the dollface-masked figure moved with shocking speed. A brutal punch landed in Gyro's gut, followed by a stinging slap across his face. Gyro doubled over, groaning in pain.
"You don't get to decide a damn thing," the dollface figure hissed, their voice dripping with cold menace, cracking her knuckles. "We are your law now. You follow our rules."
Gyro roared in anger, a primal scream of defiance that echoed in the confined space.
"Everything is set, Arbiter of Light!" the dollface-masked figure announced, their tone shifting to a manic cheerfulness.
"Excellent," the ghostface figure replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "Prepare for our introduction." He calmly positioned himself in front of the smartphone, the dollface figure adjusting the camera angle with practiced ease.
"Alright, test! Test! We're live!" the dollface figure exclaimed, clapping their hands together with childlike glee.
The ghostface figure stepped into the frame, his presence radiating an unsettling calm. "A pleasant evening, Metropolis, and to the world," he began, his voice smooth and cultured. "I am the advocate and executor of justice: the Arbiter of Light." He offered a polite bow to the viewers, a gesture of mocking respect.
"And the babe right here? That's me! Angel of Light! My role in all this? His fucking assistant, of course!" the dollface figure chimed in, their voice dripping with sarcasm.
"With that," the ghostface figure intoned, his eyes glinting behind the mask, "let the game begin!"
"Let the game begin!" the dollface figure echoed, their voices blending into a chilling symphony of madness.
"So, as you all know," the Angel of Light began, her voice dripping with feigned sweetness, "there was a case in Metropolis a few years back where two teenage scumbags raped a young woman. The trauma and humiliation they inflicted drove her to suicide. And those two pieces of shit got away with it, only serving a measly two years due to them being juveniles." Her voice hardened with disgust. "That's fucked up, right? But here's the kicker. Those two degenerates are involved in another rape case, trying to hide out here in Metropolis!"
"And that," the Arbiter of Light added, his voice a chilling counterpoint to the Angel's manic energy, "is our clue for our first-ever contestants in our inaugural game! Can you all guess who these lucky individuals might be? Comment your answers down below!"
The Angel of Light let out a high-pitched, unsettling chuckle.
"Could you read some of the comments, Angel of Light?" the Arbiter of Light requested, his tone measured.
"Of course, here ya go!" the Angel of Light replied, clapping her hands together with exaggerated enthusiasm. " 'Seems like a Fritzl type of monster, bruh?' Commented by DJ423. Are they correct, Arbiter?" She tilted her head, feigning innocence.
"Correct in their assessment of character, but their answer is incorrect," the Arbiter of Light replied, his voice devoid of humor.
" 'Two years ago? Isn't that the case of that North Carolina girl who got brutally assaulted by two teenagers? I think their names were Arnold Whatsofuckingever and Gyro Whatsofuckingever, right? Anyways, I'm kinda curious about this "game". ' " the Angel of Light read, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Commented by Ishowslow. Are they correct?" she asked expectantly.
The Arbiter of Light clapped his hands together, the sound echoing in the confined space. "Correct! We have Arnold Wall and Gyro Kennedy as our honorable, or perhaps not so honorable, participants for our first-ever game tonight!" he announced, his voice taking on a theatrical flair.
"And now, let us present to you all, Arnold Wall and Gyro Kennedy!" they announced in unison, their voices laced with theatrical flair. With a flourish, they ripped back a tattered curtain, revealing the two captives, bound tightly to their respective chairs.
"Damn it, help us, please! They kidnapped us!" Arnold Wall shouted, his voice cracking with desperation.
"Son of a bitches! Let us go, now!" Gyro roared, his face contorted with fury.
"And who gave you the right to speak?" the Angel of Light hissed, her voice a chilling whisper. "As I said earlier, we are your law now. You follow our rules. Understand?"
The two men visibly flinched, their defiance momentarily extinguished.
The comment section exploded with a torrent of vitriol:
"Wow, this is the real deal?"
"Fuck those rapists!"
"Yeah, incinerate them alive!"
"Go fuck yourselves up!"
"People who disregard others for their own pleasure should just fucking drop dead!"
"Do you two see these comments?" the Angel of Light purred, her voice laced with wicked delight. "Wow, they're really looking forward to your downfall! Looks like no one's gonna help your sorry asses." She let out a sinister laugh, her eyes glinting behind the dollface mask.
"Alright, now that all the introductions are complete, let's proceed to the introduction of our series!" the Arbiter of Light continued, his voice regaining its smooth, chilling cadence. "As I stated earlier, we are advocates and executors of justice. We plan to start a series of games with these scumbags as our honorable participants. You will soon discover the consequences of their actions. This series will be called… 'Judgement Game.'" He gestured towards the Angel of Light, passing her the spotlight.
"We didn't agree to any of this shit!" Arnold wailed, his voice raw with fear and anger.
"And we didn't ask for your permission, did we?" the Arbiter of Light replied, his voice a cutting blade.
"Goddamn it, fuck you!" Gyro spat, his face red with impotent rage. The two masked figures ignored him, their attention focused on the livestream.
"I'll explain the mechanics of the game these two are about to play tonight!" the Angel of Light announced, her voice brimming with sadistic glee. "It's a game called 'Pop the Balloon.' Simple, right? But we've added a little twist to make things a bit more… interesting! After all… you two got away with justice so easily. Giving you a bit of a hard time shouldn't be a problem." Her voice dripped with chilling sarcasm.
"So, the rules are simple! Each of you will have a total of twenty-five balloons. We'll spin this number roulette, with numbers one through ten, to determine how many balloons should be popped from the two of you! Now, to decide whose balloons get popped, that's up to you! It's going to be your fucking choice. That means you're about to send each other spiraling into your own downfalls!" the Angel of Light cackled.
"And how does the game end?" the Arbiter of Light added, his voice a low, menacing growl. "The one who has all of their balloons popped in the end will be the loser, and the other will be the winner. And the consequence for losing… is death!" He clapped his hands once, the sound sharp and final.
"See those collars around your necks? The loser's collar is set to automatically explode once the game is over! So, whatever you do, you won't escape this game! There's no escaping in here!" the Angel of Light finished, her voice a chilling whisper.
—TO BE CONTINUED—