March 11th, 2016; 5:59 am: Milena Seble
The faces of the dead flash on the screen.
Addilyn Devella
Dawn Everhart
Valentina Daley
Kol cocks his head to the side, glancing at Mort for approval.
Mort nods. "What are your plans for the others?" he asks.
"We put them to a test," says Zahra. "We gave the first person to stumble upon them a suitcase with the money and a photo of the remaining contestants. If the money is picked, the winner will go home. If the people are picked, we'll set them all free."
Mort gets up from his chair upon hearing this. "No, my dear Aces; this cannot happen. Why would you even think to end the entire game like this?"
Arcana steps up to talk. "It's a question of morality. The contestants are forced to choose between their own personal desires and their humanity. By picking the suitcase full of money..."
"...yes, Arcana," Mort replies tiredly, "I get the idea and I think it's very clever, but you're forgetting an essential fact—the fact that people have been murdered here and evidence everywhere points to us."
"That is not true, Mort," Emerson explains, standing beside Arcana. "They're being watched when they leave, and they won't get the chance to say anything under the threat of death. Besides, we've gone through ways of removing the evidence."
Mort shakes his head repeatedly, sinking back down into his chair. His wrinkles crease even further than usual as he runs his hand through his hair in anxiety. "Not good enough. These people have been changed by the events of last night, do you understand? There's no saying of what they might do. We aren't safe until we finish them all off and hide all the evidence." As he says this, he opens a drawer, pulls out a pistol, and gets up.
He walks towards the door but is obstructed before he can reach the handle. Arcana gets there first and uses herself as a human barricade, blocking his path, her violet irises brimming with disapproval.
Zahra joins her, face alight with determination, and Kol walks up to join the group, expression serious for the first time in a while. Emerson remains frozen on the spot, eyes flitting between the two parties.
"You are really testing my patience, Aces," Mort says testily. "Now, get out of the way so we can finish off this event the way it was supposed to be."
"No," Zahra says firmly. "We won't let you."
"Mort, it's not what we promised them," says Arcana, stepping forward slightly and reaching out to him.
"This is not what I told you to do."
Emerson casts one last desperate look at Mort's stern face, takes a deep breath, and joins the barricade. "I'm sorry," they whisper to Mort. Then, seeming to find their voice, they say more loudly than before, "You're not going to do anything."
The five of them engage in a staredown, four Aces against the Joker. The long moment of silence is shattered when Mort sighs and breaks the gaze. "The four of you," he says quietly, "go settle this right now."
The Aces cast him one last glance before pushing the doors open.
~~~
"Alas, the night is finally over. As much as we're sure you'd love to stay, the time has come for the night to end. Congratulations," says Emerson, "on surviving the night."
The four Aces smile and shake hands with the victor(s), and the night of hell finally seems like it's come to an end. That is, until Mort enters the room with his designer suit and Gucci bag filled with money.
"I can't let you leave," the old hag says sternly.
The Aces gasp in shock.
"You know too much, now I keel you"
He pulls a shiny designer pistol out of his designer bag, and everyone stares at the gun with the fear that an innocent child would have when around a smol bean gone aggro.
"Please Mr Morty, let them go. We promised them a happy ending."
"NO!" he screms. "I AM THE VILLAIN THAT THIS STORY NEEDS, AND I KEEL YOU."
Kol starts bawling because he knows he's gonna Dy, all the while Emerson is doing something sensible lyke Mort drop the gun pls.
"Put down the gun you old hag. You've gone crasi and you Ar gonna give yourself a Dreadful heart attack if you keep waving it around like that," Emerson said with the Bass of a Carl.
Meanwhile, the guest(s) is/are looking at this whole scene, wide-eyed, thinking that maybe they're high on something (three cans of coke and ADHD obvs).
"Maaan, I do not get payed enough to be here," Arcana says with the ultimate salt of an ocean.
Meanwhile, Kol is still bawling like a baby, with Zahra comforting him like the loyal ho she is. But don't get the wrong idea, they are NOT a ship. Nope.
"I keel you all," Mort says with one final screm before firing random bullets all over the damn place.
DED
:'(
Fin
THE TASK
Congratulations to all of you who remain in the competition and have found yourself in the Semifinals task, All In. In this task, you will either write Task A, or Task B, depending on what your player has chosen last task.
Task A: If you chose the people
Because your tribute has chosen to save the people, the Aces will not kill anyone. Those remaining will be "spared" from their wrath. However, just as the competitors are about to leave, Mort will try to make sure that there are no survivors. He will draw a gun and threaten to kill the remaining players. The Aces will try to talk him down, they will argue, and things will escalate. One Ace will tackle him to the ground and they will wrestle with the gun for a few minutes, giving you time to escape. Random shots will be fired, potentially killing any of the remaining competitors. Eventually, Mort will regain control of the gun. With him firing at any moving target, it will be a chaos of stray bullets and some may fall while others are able to escape.
Your job is to write the chaos. Any part of it.
Task B: If you chose the million dollars
Because your tribute has chosen the million dollars, they are to witness every competitor—besides them—die. All competitors will be executed by the Aces and your tribute will be made to watch before they are allowed to leave the casino. As soon as every competitor is dead, the Aces will congratulate your character on winning. However, before you are able to leave, Mort will try to prevent you from escaping. He will pull a gun on your tribute and once again, the Aces will try to talk him down. An argument will stir and things will get really nasty, really fast. You will be asked to leave while you can as the four of them try to tear the gun from Mort. Your character escapes but as soon as they are out of the casino, four gunshots are heard from within.
Your job is to write any part of this. You can write their escape, you can write their reaction to the executions, you can write their reactions right after they hear the four gunshots, you can write them pleading with Mort for their life— it's up to you.
SLOT MACHINES: Screen shattered. Anyway, you're literally running for your life. Why would you want to use the slot machines?
BYES: 2 byes will be given, with the remaining competitors going up for votes.
WORD LIMIT: None
DEADLINE: Sunday, June 12th, 1 PM BST
YOU ARE READING
Author Games: Ace of Spades
Action"People would do anything for money, wouldn't they? They'd risk their loved ones, their humanity, and even their lives for a minute chance of gaining wealth." Aging multi-billionaire gambler, Marty Mort, with a mental state slowly deteriorating and...
