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Six bullets, four players. They all sit at a rounded table, a revolver placed in the very middle waiting to be used.
The four men looked around each other, finding nothing but darkness surrounding them apart from the dimly lit table they were sitting at.
The four men were confused about where they are or what they’re doing here, after all the last thing each of them remember is the fact that they were fighting a pretty powerful enemy before blacking out.
Even though the room was dead quiet, none of them dared to speak. Although the room was just the four of them, they felt weird stares at the back of their heads, almost as if they were being watched.
And they were. They don’t know that just yet.
Kai and Jay looked at each other in a panicked state but before either of them could muster a sentence out, a mysterious voice emerged from the speakers that seemed to be surrounding every corner of the room they were in. The voice of the man was unrecognisable to the four of them, sending chills down their spines. The man himself had a sort of distorted voice which added onto the creepiness of this whole situation. This was not their ordinary bad guy and it was clear.
“Welcome to my game, Ninja.”
The distorted voice spoke with a tint of smugness clearly audible, almost as if he was making fun of their current state they were in. It was very much a funny thing to the man, how easily the ninja could be captured in seconds with a single distraction.
“You must be wondering where you are, but that does not matter at this moment. You were brought here after my villeins managed to capture you… Oh such poor souls, aren’t you?”
The mysterious man chuckled through the speakers, seemingly making Kai grumble under his breath in annoyance. Cole looked around the room to carefully inspect his team member’s expressions, especially Jay’s — Just to make sure none of them were about to go berserk about this.
“Haha, anyway… You’re going to play a game you cannot refuse. Welcome to ‘Russian Roulette’! Now, I'm going to explain the rules in a second, you probably are still confused on what’s happening, right?”
Although the man stopped speaking, it was clear he was smiling behind the microphone like the evil itself. Cole used this moment to silently study the expressions of his friends all while making sure he stays calm himself, although they are in a dangerous situation it would not be very smart to show off their fear to their capturer. Before Cole could form a second thought, he was interrupted by the distorted voice blasting through the speakers again.
“As you see, there is a revolver in front of you in the middle with six bullets. Each round, more bullets will be given to you until the very last of you remains.”
The distorted voice now switched from smugness to sternness, almost as if he meant everything he was saying. Cole looked around the room with a shaky breath, seemingly looking for an exit. There was no door to the room, meaning no escape.
“You will take turns with each bullet. The bullets will be randomly loaded inside the revolver by my underling, you shall not be aware of when the bullet is alive or blank.”
Hearing all of this made Cole feel lightheaded. He was about to play a game of Russian Roulette with his friends and as a matter of fact he might not even survive this to begin with. This sick man captured the four of them and will make sure there will be no traces left of them. His thoughts wandered off to Lloyd and Nya, the only ones who fought off the capturers. The black haired man can only hope they will find them in time before anything bad happens.
“If you look at the bullets next to the revolver, you will see four blue bullets and two red ones. The blue ones indicate that they are blank and will not go off, meanwhile the red ones will end your life.”
Hearing the man say that with no remorse made Cole’s face sour in disgust. At the corner of his eye, he saw Kai abruptly stand up with anger, although quickly interrupted by the mysterious man’s underlings forcing him to sit back down and pointing a gun at his head, Kai had no choice but to comply with an annoyed sigh.
“You either point the revolver at yourself or at a different person. If it doesn’t go off, worry not! The game is constructed carefully, at least one of you will take a hit in each round.”
The man laughed maniacally behind the microphone. Cole looked around his friends before a guard came up to the table and loaded the revolver carefully, making sure the four players didn’t witness the order the bullets were placed in before spinning the cylinder and placing it back down in the middle of the table.
“Go clockwise, starting from Jay. Goodluck!~”
Cole’s expression soured even more as the man’s voice faded, the speakers emitting a loud pitch before completely turning off. He looked in front of him where Jay was seated, noticing how the other’s hand was shaking as he reached out for the revolver. His grip landed on the handgun, slowly picking it up to make sure it didn't go off by itself, although he was careful — His quavering hands did not help in this situation. Jay slowly raised the revolver and pointed it at himself, a clear, shaky breath escaping his lips. It was clear he was hesitant about pressing the trigger, of course it took a lot of courage to even attempt this in the first place.
“I don’t know if I can do this..”
The lightning ninja mumbled, his lip shaking from fear. Cole understood, it took a lot for someone to just end it all, especially in a game like this.
“If you’re unsure, you can point it at me.”
Cole stifled, although certainty lingered in his tone. He was willing to let the others take his life if it meant they lived. Jay looked at Cole almost as if he was crazy, before pulling the trigger on himself.
Click.
The bullet was blank.
Jay sighed in relief, placing the revolver back down in the middle of the table. Next up was Kai, who was contemplating even picking up the handgun in the first place. Although he put up a confident persona, Cole could see through the facade he put on. He could tell the fire ninja was scared of making the wrong choice, fairly enough — Cole was too. Kai picked up the revolver before spinning the cylinder again, unsure whether to point it at himself or someone around.
With a sigh, the fire ninja pointed the gun at Zane. He knew Zane could be rebuilt, he can not physically die, at least not for the time being. Even if Zane did shut off, all of his memory cards were located on his back, which was out of reach by the bullets.
“Zane, trust me on this.”
Although the nindroid was surprised at first, he nodded with understanding before preparing himself for the impact. Kai couldn't bring himself to do it, the fact he was about to possibly kill one of his friends was so scary to him. The brown haired man closed his eyes before pulling the trigger, not wanting to look at the impact in case it went off.
Bang!
The bullet was alive.
It penetrated through Zane's head, and although he was a nindroid and the scene wasn't that graphic, it was still very difficult to look at. Cole winced at the noise of the bullet going off, watching how the other two reacted. Jay was visibly shaken up and on the verge of tears, meanwhile Kai made an attempt to cover up the sadness on his face with a strong facade. Zane's lifeless body fell limp onto the table, the thud being enough to make Cole jump from fear. It was his turn now, he hated the fact he actually had to do this.
He watched as Kai placed down the handgun in the middle of the table, debating if he should pick it up or not. The guards behind him noticed his behaviour and pointed a gun at him, signalling he should play the game or there will be worse consequences than just him dying.
With a shaky breath, he picked up the revolver and spun the cylinder, looking around the room, swallowing his saliva before hesitantly pointing it at Kai. The fire ninja was confused for a split moment, Jay just watching in pure shock.
“I'm… I'm sure this is a blank one, Kai.”
The earth ninja stuttered, his mouth seemingly dry from the amount of anxiety he was feeling at the moment. He could see the hesitation in Kai's expression soften before swallowing.
“As long as you guys live… I don't care if I die.”
Cole felt lightheaded as his friend said that, his certainty that this was a blank bullet fading away within seconds. His hand travelled up to his temples, seemingly holding his head in place so he won't lose balance.
“Do it, Cole. Don't make this any harder than it is already.”
Kai voiced, preparing for the impact to hit him. Although at this point Cole was really hesitant at pulling the trigger, he was debating whether he should point it at himself instead. From his shaky hands, while in an attempt to point it at himself — His finger slipped.
…
Bang!
Cole watched in horror as Kai's blood trickled down his head onto the round table, before falling limp onto the floor. He killed Kai. He actually just killed him. He couldn't believe it. The earth elemental looked over to Jay who was just as shaken up as he was, a shaky breath escaping his mouth, he was too pained to mutter out a sentence, being attentive as to how Jay stood up from his chair, his eyes full of tears threatening to spill as each second passed.
“You killed him, Cole! You…”
The lightning ninja trailed off, evidently too upset to talk. Before he could whisper out another sentence, the distorted voice from the speakers emerged.
“One on one!”
The man cracked up, clearly amused where the situation was going. Undeniably, this situation was not going to end with just the two of them.
“Let’s make this more… Interesting, shall we?”
As the voice echoed through the empty room from the speakers, other lights in the room turned on revealing the fact there were spectators from the top watching them play this twisted, sick game.
The blinding lights made it impossible to look up at all the people enjoying this crazy show. Cole shifted his eyes over to his best friend who was evidently crying at this rate, a soft sigh escaping his lips.
“Jay, it’s going to be okay — Trust me! Lloyd and Nya will come soon and — And put an end to this!”
Cole’s voice echoed through the room, feeling slightly lightheaded from the whole situation. The sight of his friends’ corpses made his stomach churn in sickness, just the sight of Kai’s state on the floor and Zane undeniably shut off and damaged was enough for Cole. There has to be a way out of this… Right?
The next three rounds were blank bullets, each of them pointing the revolver at their heads to no avail. A thick tension surrounded the two friends as they fought for their life as the last bullet popped out of the handgun’s cylinder — The round was over. Cole looked up at Jay with a relieved sigh, watching as the lightning ninja tugged on his sleeves out of anxiety. It was a common sight as that was one of Jay’s habits during tough situations that Cole managed to learn overtime. He wanted to comfort him, to tell him everything will be alright — But as time passes and there is no sight of Lloyd nor Nya, that hope slowly fades with each second. Before the younger boy could form a second thought, the man on the speakers spoke up again and a new set of six bullets were placed on the table. Five blanks, one alive.
“No one will save you, ninja. You can only save yourself by winning the game.”
The distorted voice faded away with a chuckle. Cole watched as the guards loaded up the revolver, catching a glimpse as to how the bullets were loaded in. On the other hand, Jay was freaking out. It was either him or Jay — There seemed to be no way out of this, after all.
The next three rounds went by normally with all three bullets being blank ones, the tension rising with each bullet popping out of the cylinder. The two friends didn’t utter a single word since the second round started, both of them too afraid it would be their last word to each other. On the fourth bullet, Cole picked up the revolver and spun the cylinder with a soft sigh, staring off at the handgun before aiming it at his head. He knew it was a blank one, it wouldn’t do anything to him. With the knowledge of which bullet is which, he managed to play safe knowing that the last bullet was the only alive one and the fact that it would be his turn when that happened. Cole pressed the trigger on the revolver, feeling how dry his mouth is from the pure anxiety.
Click.
The blue bullet popped out of the cylinder, hearing a relieved sigh coming from his friend. The fifth turn was Jay’s – The earth elemental watched as the other picked up the revolver and spun the cylinder, making sure Jay was looking at him before mumbling out a short sentence.
“It’s a blank one.”
Although Jay was a bit dubious, he decided to trust Cole and go with it. After all, they were best friends and the black haired male wouldn’t lie to him, right? Jay carefully pressed on the trigger, closing his eyes.
Click.
The bullet was blank.
The lightning elemental placed down the revolver in the middle of the table, a slow realisation coming to his senses. That meant the last bullet was alive, and Cole was the one that was going to take care of it. The younger boy watched as the blue ninja’s eyes widened, picking up the handgun from the table and spinning the cylinder.
“Cole, you aren’t going to…?”
He heard Jay speak up, an uncertainty in his tone audible. Cole knew what he had to do. He wasn’t going to kill his best friend, that would already be too much for him.
“Don’t worry, Jay. Take care of the others for me, please?”
Cole said as he pointed the handgun to his head, swallowing his saliva before cutting Jay off.
“Cole, don’t do this —”
“You’ll always be my best friend, Jay.”
“Cole, wait —!”
Bang!
The revolver went off, tears filling the lightning elemental’s eyes instantly. Cole’s vision blurred, feeling the impact in his head before falling limp onto the table, bleeding out. He could see Jay rushing up to his side before his vision blackened, his journey ends here.
“Congratulations!”
The loud, distorted voice emitted from the speakers, startling Jay as he was still processing Cole’s death.
“Jay Walker, you have won Ninjago’s Russian Roulette game. Please proceed to the guard to your right and you will be set free.”
Jay sobbed, seeing all three of his friends’ corpses around the room. He walked over to the armed guard and in a flash of a second, the lightning elemental grabbed onto the guard’s gun.
The other guards were alert, and pointed their guns at Jay, urging him to let go of the gun. The blue ninja refused to do so, and soon enough — His vision went blurry as he got shot from different directions. Jay fell limp to the floor from the impact as he was very sensible about what the guards were doing — Silently inspecting Jay before leaving him to bleed out. Before the lightning elemental completely blacked out, the distorted voice emerged from the speakers.
“Guess there’s no winner this time! That was it, ladies and gentlemen. Please leave suggestions on who you want to see in the game next!”