Avatar Auction (Avatar series #1)

by Sunyoung Lee

  Gascon? He will die? No way, I won’t allow it. I can’t lose any more friends. They already have Cooper. Not Gascon. I clutch Moon’s hand before it gives me another slap.

  “I came back.” I stand up with an assist from him. He takes me to the end of the vessel. He’s there, lying on the floor, closing his eyes with swollen cheeks. Cine seemed to whack his face several times. What a rude boy.

  “General, he doesn’t wake up. I did everything I can but he’s not moving at all…” says Cine with his teary eyes.

  “That’s not how to bring the soul back.” I push him away gently and carry Gascon on my back. “Follow me. We must get out of the vessel first.”

  “General,” Moon calls me just before my boot steps on the exit door. “There’s one more person whose soul is lost. And he was not there a second ago.”

  I turn back to the opposite side of the long vessel and find a sleeping king. Zeus.

  Yeah, I missed you. “Leave,” I tell Cine and Moon, handing Gascon over. BTTs don’t ride TT vessels as they time travel themselves. That he is riding in the vessel means something.

  “Find any other senior soldier. He will know how to bring him back. Don’t wait for me, okay?” I push them to the exit when an icy voice penetrates into my eardrum.

  “No one can leave.”

  I turn back to find him looking down at me.

  “He, he teleported!” says Cine, amazed.

  “He’s a BTT. Is he Zeus?” says Moon curiously.

  I sway my hand behind my back to signal them to leave now.

  “Didn’t you hear him? He said no one can leave.”

  I turn back at Bacchus holding Cine’s shoulders with both hands. He yearns, laying his chin on Cine’s head. “I almost fell in sleep because it’s too slow. So I went to a controlling room and accelerated.”

  “Then some souls began separating from their bodies,” Ares says as he appears next to him. “Don’t worry. We put most of them back into their cases except for this old soldier.” He’s holding Gascon with one hand as if holding a paper folder. I clench my teeth at his insolence.

  Zeus appears in the middle of them. “And I have his soul here, in this bottle.”

  “So it was true,” Moon says, looking at the small bottle Zeus is holding. “I thought it was just an expression that a soul gets lost between timelines. But a soul actually can be separated from the body.”

  He looks literally bewitched at the beautiful thing in the bottle, which looks like folded wings of angels. “It’s like a butterfly. A silver butterfly. He’s trying to fly,” says Moon, stepping forward to see into the bottle closer. Oh, boy. He’s totally brainless to approach Zeus himself!

  “We want his soul back,” says Cine. “He’s a good man! Playing with a man’s soul, do you call yourself adults?”

  I feel dizzier at the boy’s thoughtless bravery. What a nerve! What kind of brothers are you?

  “You’re right. He’s a good man,” says Zeus, turning to me stunned. Huh? What is he saying? “And every one of you thinks so, right?” he says, looking at each of us. “That’s why I chose him.”

  He clenches his fist and slowly opens his palm where a crystal clear ball is being created. He brings the bottle near to it and watches the ball absorb it as an ovum sucks up a sperm. “It’s hollow now but, it will fill with ice to freeze the bottle and the soul in it, unless you win over us.”

  He grins and throws the ice ball up to the ceiling. I look up, afraid that it will drop and be broken. But it floats in midair looking down at us. The silver butterfly which was sitting on the bottom tries to fly up as the bottom of the bottle is frozen.

  “We are playing a game. It’s a popular sport in our district. We call it Avatar Triathlon,” says Zeus.

  “A gumball machine?” Moon says, looking at the raffle machine appearing in the center.

  “It contains sports from all timelines. Each pair will choose and play a fair game.”

  Fair? I wrinkle at his word. Bacchus has teamed up with Cine. Ares, the biggest man, will be Moon’s fighter as mine becomes Zeus automatically.

  “We will go first.” Bacchus says gently, “partner, want to do the raffle?”

  He is not drunk now. Very rare. Cine nods and marches to the raffle machine. I step out stretching my arm. “Wait a minute, it can’t be fair!”

  “Who said he will play himself?” Zeus says. “Didn’t I say it’s Avatar Triathlon? We are only commanders.”

  Then where’s avatars?

  “You can choose your avatar after picking out your sport,” he answers, reading my thought. “Soldier, turn the raffle.”

  Cine nods at me as if I don’t need to worry. I swallow and watch a red ball with tiny yellow stars falling onto his palm. I notice it’s a flag of China.

  Zeus takes the ball from him and throws the ball onto the ceiling.

  The next second I find myself standing on rocks under bamboo trees. It’s an arena, says my instinct.

  “Welcome the next participants of Avatar Triathlon. BTT versus NTT. Our favorite victims. Who will lose and keep his avatar?” rings a familiar voice among screams of countless spectators who are looking down at us. I look up to check his face with my own eyes. A handsome man with a mean dimple is looking down at us from his golden terrace.

  It’s him. Justice Judge Noir. We stepped in his courtroom where only sinners enter and never come back.

  “You know the rule, gentlemen,” says Noir.

  The rule. Winning is not winning in his courtroom.

  “Cine!” I call him to warn about the rule but, just at that moment he turns to me, Zeus clutches my shoulder as if he’s going to break it. And I am instantly transferred to audience seats surrounded by crazy men and women who are making animal sounds at Noir’s announcement “First round is Kung Fu!”

  I have to tell him. I have to tell him about his rule.

  “You have to entertain him!” I shout out of my throat but it’s no use. He’s already taken out of the arena.

  “He will come back after choosing his avatar,” says Zeus next to me. He’s crossing his arms, leaning back comfortably on his sofa. But I cannot relax myself. My heart keeps pounding as I imagine the worst things to happen to the boys.

  “Worst thing can happen in this sport is only losing your avatar,” says Zeus.

  He doesn’t sound like he’s lying but, I still feel something’s going very wrong. Noir isn’t a person who will judge merely a game.

  “Do you think it’s an ordinary game? You don’t know how many benefits we earn from this event. Avatar Triathlon is an excellent means of raising an avatar’s value.”

  “Will they fight with robots? Is that what you mean by avatars?”

  He snorts. “We are not interested in robot avatars. We want real people with colorful emotions and senses.”

  I narrow my eyes as I cannot believe the words “colorful emotions” came out from his mouth. You say that, ice man? Anyway, I’ll know how the avatars work once the game begins. Just then, I hear people yell so loudly that it paralyzes my ears and then I see Cine walking out to the arena in kung fu uniform. I search to find his avatar but, there’s nothing.

  “Oh, poor boy, he was not able to bring any avatar,” Judge Noir says, sitting on a large golden chair that shines but, cannot glow brighter than his black clothes decorated with jewel buttons. “A thunder of applaud, please!”

  While people are sending thunderclaps, I promptly turn to Zeus. “What does he mean? Should he fight himself? Why doesn’t he have an avatar?”

  “Of course not. NTTs are not even allowed to know about avatars. But an alternative is his friend and he must be someone who already knows about avatars.”

  Anyone in NTTs’ district is not allowed to know about avatars. I didn’t even imagine it until I was called here. Then there’s no one on earth he can bring up, except me. I stand up without delay and look around to find the shortest way to go down to Cine.

  “You can’t. You cannot be your
teammate’s avatar. It’s against the rules.”

  “Against the rules? We learned about this game just a while ago and you talk about rules!” I bark at his face. I expect him to attack me right away to punish a rude NTT but, he only grins as if he understands my fury. A kind Zeus makes me even more fretful.

  “I told you we will lead a fair game, remember?” he says after turning back to the arena. I turn my head and check to see that Bacchus has appeared in the middle of the arena, drinking his wine and waving his hand to the audience. I sink onto my sofa with relief. What drunken Bacchus can do is only hissing crazy words.

  He keeps drinking and drinking even while Judge Noir announces the beginning of the game. He throws the empty bottle onto the floor.

  “I don’t know how to do kung fu,” he says, then smirks. “But drunken Bacchus can do it.”

  “Don’t give me a lot of crap,” says Moon, “I saw many people like you in dad’s bar. You can’t actually move a single finger…” He can’t finish his words as Bacchus’s fist is severely shoved into his stomach. He was so fast that even I didn’t notice him moving a single foot. Of course not. He teleported! BTT versus NTT can’t be fair! I see Cine fly a few meters up and about to fall onto the rocks.

  “Oh, no,” I actually spit it out. His backbone will be shattered! But Bacchus stands in the position where he would be falling down, and kicks the boy to the opposite side of the arena. Then he kicks him back to the right, not allowing him to drop steeply onto the floor. Just falling onto the rocks looks rather tender than Bacchus’s spring kicks. I did not think he was this elastic.

  Bacchus repeats soccer-in-the-midair twice more and finally teleports in the middle to knee kick his face down until Cine’s body hits the rocky ground. Around the point where he’s collapsed is largely cracked as if a meteor crashed. I spew out rough breathings and shake my fists with a shock how the man could destroy the young man’s body in this short moment. Is he dead or alive? I cannot tell. His body is utterly numb and his eyes only expose the white part. Every bone in his body must be fractured and split. His backbone, fingers, and even his nose are so completely destroyed that he does not look like himself anymore. He won’t be able to sit on a chair, again, for his whole life. Horrible. It’s horrible. But what really makes me enraged are the people around me. They must be descendants of Satan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be clapping and laughing at this scene. I was being ruled by those devils. My whole life was being controlled by these morons.

  Bacchus stoops closely to Cine scrutinizing his demolished face.

  “You didn’t know how to kung fu, either! If you had told me earlier, I’d have lent you some of my wine collections…” BTTs burst out once more at his words so loud that Bacchus has to hold his finger to his lips to make them quiet. He kneels with one leg and stands up, lifting Cine above his head with one hand.

  “Judge Noir, declare the winner!” says Bacchus, shining his eyes with expectation. However, Noir seems to be unsatisfied, twitching his lips on the right and sitting loosely on his chair like a lazy king.

  “You can’t win. You made it too quick that left no entertainment for me and the audience. The winner is the boy if I have to choose. I liked his bluff in the beginning.”

  Bacchus immediately drops Cine back down to the stone floor, with disappointment then teleports out of the arena. People scream congratulating the winner while I am left empty with the unbelievable verdict. We won the first round. He received a victory. He will be safe!

  “Welcome, fighters,” says Noir as Ares and Moon stand on his terrace. “Please give me some fun. Don’t end up like him so easily,” he says, looking down at Cine whose mouth keeps releasing blood. Moon looks fired up, like a flint, at his brother’s miserable form.

  Don’t cry, Moon. Don’t show them your tears. Don’t let the insanities tease your sorrow.

  “You pick the ball,” says Moon. I smile at his powerful voice. Good. That’s it Ares walks to the gumball raffle machine that stands between them. A white ball with a red spot falls onto his palm. Japan. He hands it over to Judge. He stands up and comes out to the terrace. He throws the ball above the arena and in less than a second, it changes the form for a place to play a new sport. Cine’s gone as well.

  “Second round’s Sumo,” Noir exclaims and turns back to his seat, flying his jacket. He stops and holds Moon’s hand tightly before he goes down.

  “You must beat him up for the sake of your brother.” Screen shows Moon’s face sending an intense look at the Noir’s grin. “Good. Some anger will trigger the beast in you. You must thank me.” Moon heaves his hand and walks down.

  I feel the thirst waiting for the second round to begin. Moon will definitely appear himself in a sumo costume. There’s no one on the earth who will volunteer for him. I hope sumo is the gentler sport compared to kung fu but, still everything will be fine. How critically they get wounded, I can bring them to the almighty doctor I know. In an instance, someone holds my shoulder. I start, worrying if he was paying attention to my thoughts.

  “We should get ready for the last round,” says Zeus.

  I almost forgot, next was my turn with this ice man.

  CHAPTER 23

  “Where is Cine?” I ask him once we arrive in a waiting room with an opulent set of furniture and strength-training machines.

  “In any room,” says Zeus, sitting on a sofa.

  “Is he being cured?”

  “It’s up to Avatar Auction. Some buyers will find the face interesting.”

  I narrow my eyes at his words. What is he talking about? Auction? Buyer? He’s a winner! I pause as I realize the trick.

  “Winner’s avatar is taken.” I look at him to confirm my idea.

  “Not exactly. It’s only a show to raise the value of you, cockroaches.”

  Show? To raise our value before selling us to the Avatar Auction? Not a slave auction? What is an avatar?

  “An avatar’s born to serve NTTs. It is a vehicle to help you time travel without riding TT transportations. If you ride in a BTT’s body, you don’t need to have TT symptoms. No losing a leg or soul between timelines.”

  “But why do you sell us out there? We are NTTs. We can’t time travel.”

  “Originally. But things changed after years. BTTs want to have avatars also, to become totally different personalities whether NTTs or BTTs.”

  To become totally different personalities?

  “Ares, Bacchus and other Generals around me are examples. You thought they were new but they were men your already knew. They were called Loring and Romanov before they met me.”

  Loring and Romanov. Those I thought resigned after Zeus took a leadership among Generals. They were always with me just with changed feature and name.

  “Sit and take your time to arrange your thoughts. I’m willing to answer every question. I feel good today as I’m about to sell you out, finally, King cockroach.”

  Sell me out? As an avatar? So was that his purpose? He didn’t need to drag the boys in then!

  Just then, we hear thunderous claps from outside. The second round must be ended by now.

  “Do you have more questions before we start the game?” says Zeus sweetly. I think I want to tear his face up.

  “Then my face will be recovered in a second and your value as an avatar will rocket up. They love avatars with unique experiences. That’s why we make the sinners participate in the Avatar Triathlon. It’s an honor to them to fight BTTs, you understand?”

  I send him a glare instead of answering him. He contends with my stare for a while before turning his eyes to a door. “Enter.”

  As the door opens up there I see someone who melts my anger down at once. I even feel lucky to see him for the last time before I am being sold in that Avatar Auction.

  “General Ares made soldier Moon win successfully,” reports Cooper.

  I am not surprised to hear that. How boring of a performance Moon showed, Judge Noir might proclaim his victory. All he did was acting.
That sadist dimple. I clench my teeth, thinking of the man who calls himself Justice Judge. Where’s justice? Where’s fairness? STT hasn’t yearned for it. But there’s still a good thing in this disaster field. Cooper. He’s there without a scar on his face. I even want to compliment him for making the right choice. He surrendered and minimized the odds to be sold in the Avatar Auction. Ares was right. Zeus might care for him as long as Cooper manages to maintain his attitude. That one, to Gascon, was really mean but Zeus likes it mean. Let them be the one for Cooper’s sake.

  We will win over them as they planned and will be able to secure Gascon’s soul. I don’t think they will sell the sick soldier in the auction. There is no one who wants to experience pains after riding in a sick man’s body. Or the opposite? Will they be weird enough to desire aching? No, no, just see the bright side. I’m happy enough to check Cooper’s fine. That’s most important to me.

  I am rather glad visualizing me winning over Zeus. His hatred toward me was obvious from the beginning. In the last he even invaded into my dream. The hunter who appeared in my latest dream must be his avatar. He bought Amelia to sell her out to Auction. That was Avatar Auction. Finally, I know everything. And now, I have the valid reason to end his life with every evil inside me.

  “Are you done with meditation? He looks quite ready, isn’t he, Cooper?”

  I smile at him confidently and think my next words clearly.

  I’m not going to the fucking Auction. I’ll die here after I bring you nearly to death. I will give you pain that you wish you would die.

  I don’t need to hide my thought anymore. Let it reach him and let him feel the fear. Even an ounce of it will be enough.

  I will teach you martial arts are stronger than your genes. I will show you how I trained myself to conquer your freezing gene.

  Yes… I know. I may not be able to kill you… But I promise you.

  I will show you hell.

  CHAPTER 24

  I hear the earsplitting noise as we step on the terrace of Judge Noir. Screens show us facing each other. The audience seems to know that this will be a big match. I’m not a humorous guy but, I know the show. I will present them the biggest show they will ever experience. I am ready to end my life in the thrill and fun. It’s definitely not the way I lived my life. This will be a bloody battle.