Warcross (Warcross #1)(80)
My hands clench into fists. “Well, you can take that generous offer,” I say in a low voice as I move toward him, “and shove it up your virtual ass.”
He leans close to me. “Everyone always thinks they’re so brave.”
And when I look down, I notice with horror that the arm of my suit, originally bright white like my teammates’, is turning black. Plates of dark armor clip into place around my wrist, then cover my forearms, then creep up to my shoulders. They line my chest and neck, my waist and legs. I choke out a gasp and step away from him, as if this will stop it. But in this moment, I no longer look like an Architect. I look like his hunter, dressed entirely in black.
“Get away from me,” I snarl. “Before I kill you.”
“It is you,” he replies, “who came to me.”
His words just make me angrier. “I’m going to give you one more chance to turn yourself in. It’ll make life easier for everyone.”
He just watches me, his silent calm unnerving. Finally, he starts to turn away. “You’re going to regret this,” he says. Then, before I can shout anything else at him, he vanishes. So does the scarlet cavern.
Suddenly, I’m thrust back into the game. The roar of the audience abruptly returns, followed by the announcer’s shocked voice and the jumble of my teammates’ voices all ringing in my ears. I look frantically down, expecting to see myself still encased in black armor that resembles Zero’s—but it’s gone, as if it were all a hallucination. My white game suit is intact again.
“Emi? Ems!” Asher shouts. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Forget her—” comes Hammie’s voice, frantic. “She’s out. I’m going for the Artifact now!”
I realize I am floating, frozen, trapped inside a set of ruins with only a small eyehole through which I can see the rest of the game unfolding. Asher is trying in vain to fend off three Cloud Knights. He’s going to lose his Artifact. I try to ram myself through my underwater cage, but I can’t—and then I realize it’s because I have no more oxygen left. My reserves are red. That’s what Hammie had meant. I’m dead, struck out of the round until I can regenerate. What had happened?
“I don’t believe it!” the announcer is shouting now. “After their incredible first win, the Phoenix Riders may be disqualified early this year if they don’t do something soon—”
Hammie appears at the last second, flickering into view like a phantom in the water. She lunges for the Cloud Knights’ Artifact before they can register her presence, right at the same time as the Knights lunge for Asher’s. Both teams seize the other’s Artifact at almost the exact same time. The crowd screams.
A few seconds pass before the final score appears in our views.
“The Phoenix Riders manage to hang on to victory by a millisecond!” the announcer shouts.
As the world vanishes around me and the real world—the arena and the screaming crowds—comes back into view, I see Asher roll out of his station in a furious mood. His face is twisted in anger. He’s glaring at me. So are my other teammates. I look up at the enormous holograms in the stadium that are replaying segments of the game, only to see myself, ignoring the others and sabotaging their moves. Boos are mixed in with the cheers in the crowd. Some are shouting for a replay, that we hadn’t won this round at all.
“What the hell happened?” Asher demands as he approaches me. “That was the most embarrassing, shameful display I’ve ever seen from a pro player. You tried to throw that game on purpose.”
What can I say? Zero’s figure is still hovering in my mind, ominous and silent. “I’m sorry,” I start to say, “I—”
Asher turns his head in disgust. “We’ll talk back at the dorms.” From the corner of my eye, I see Roshan shake his head at me in confusion, while Hammie looks away in disappointment. We had won, but it didn’t look like it at all. My gaze goes to Ren, who’s watching me. The edge of his lips tilts ever so slightly. My jaw tightens. He knows.
Suddenly, the holograms in the arena change. The crowd goes still for a moment. I go still. My teammates all pause in unison.
Then, everyone bursts into gasps and shouts. As they do, I can only find enough strength to stare in stunned silence at the grainy screenshot that is now publicly broadcast to everyone in the arena, and probably to everyone watching this game. Everyone in the world. I don’t know who had taken it, or how. But somehow, I know Zero is involved. This is the beginning of his attack on me.
The holograms display a giant photo of me stepping out of Hideo’s home at night, of him leaning in to kiss me, of his hand still holding on to mine. It’s unmistakable.
The news is out.
25
PHOENIX RIDER SNAGS HEARTTHROB BILLIONAIRE!
HIDEO TANAKA PLAYS HIS WILD CARD
WILD CARD GETS BILLIONAIRE BOYFRIEND
EXCLUSIVE: 1ST LEAKED PHOTOS OF HIDEO AND EMIKA
When we arrive at the dorms, I go straight to my room without saying a word to anyone. I’m too afraid to look at my phone. I’ve already turned off my messages. Even so, it was impossible not to catch a glimpse of the headlines screaming by on marquees near the Tokyo Dome, broadcasting the news to the public. Now I curl up on my bed, my heart pounding from the onslaught. From how grainy the shot looked, it must have been taken with some insanely high-powered camera lens, from some remote hill.