Announcement No. 9

[LadyMakaze†]

For the tenth day in a row, the loudspeakers planted across SOTF island squealed to life, signifying another day of living hell for those who had managed to live through the nearly two weeks the Survival of the Fittest program had undergone, as well as another announcement from the notorious orchestrator of the program himself: Mr. Danya.

"Good morning, everybody! Or at least, those of you who are still alive. I'd like to start off announcement number nine by telling you all that I absolutely, positively, couldn't be any prouder of you! What you've done over the last day has far exceeded my expectations! First off, I believe a congratulations is in order for Ms. Angelina Kaige who has claimed the spot as our island's top killer for the second day in a row! She's been a busy little beaver and I must say, has gone about slaughtering the competition quite cleverly. First of all, she eliminated both Jill Gatling and Martyn Ferdinand in a two-for-one with a grenade explosion at the warehouse. She was even indirectly responsible for the death of Hannah Juett, who fell off the warehouse roof as a result of the explosion! She then proceeded to eliminate Clare Shephard, who was standing around like a fool after the explosion. That wasn't all the drama for the warehouse though, oh no! Congratulations Jeremy Torres on kill numero uno, Eh-Sun Choi! The few remaining pacifists here should take a page out of Jeremy's book and realize that it's not too late to start killing until the final student is dead!"

"At the bathroom facility, Kaige racked up another one in the form of Dorian Greywood. Such a tragic ending for a tragic young man... first used and dumped on national television, then he gets riddled with bullets!" At the retort, Danya let out a fake sob, followed by a sniffle, "Truly, utterly, pitifully tragic indeed. Meanwhile, at the lighthouse, Adam Dodd was busy eliminating Dorian's lover, Peri Barclay from the rest of the competition. You know, Mr. Dodd, for someone who seems to spend every single second of his pathetic existence cursing me and this game, you're doing a top-notch job of taking out the competition. You're a true inspiration to the fellow players of this game, may they all step up and brutally slaughter the remaining competition along with you! The next death was simply pitiful. While both Elijah Rice and the beautiful Miss Clemence teamed up in an attempt to slaughter the crew hiding out at the hospital, it was an abysmal failure. In fact, it was so bad that Takara Asano deemed it necessary to take her OWN life."

"Eight down, but it doesn't end there! After putting us through a fight that looked more like it belonged in a samurai movie, Cody Jenson eliminated the resident ditz, Elsie Darroch. Yet again Angelina Kaige stepped up to the plate with another two-fer in the forms of Scott Jameson and Micheal Suarez. Shortly after, everyone's favorite psycho ballerina Clemence broke away from her failure of a partner, and Ryan Torres felt her wrath. Meanwhile, in a true statement to the question of whether or not you could kill your best friend, Drew Lynn seemed to have no qualms about eliminating Toby Valerik from the game. Our own little hockey phenom, Mr. Sidney Crosby, scored the next kill on our list, spraying Nevera Aero's brain matter across the warehouse right in front of Jeremy Torres. Let that be a lesson to those of you who still believe you can protect others from the game. It's going to run its course, rather you like it or not, and eventually every one of you will feel it full-force."

"Finally, death #15 and the final death on our little list is that of terrorist Elijah Rice, who was young Mr. Dodd's second kill for the day. You hear that, Kaige? You got sloppy on that last one. Though I must say, it was a fun show. Very fun, indeed. So, Adam Dodd, after the feat you've accomplished, I suppose you're ready for that one-way ticket back to the good ole' U.S. of A, am I right? I'm sure you all remember the deal, whoever eliminates a terrorist from the game is guaranteed a nifty little get-out-of-jail-free card, so, congratulations Adam Dodd! Head on over to the helicopter crash site to receive your prize, which is... I'm sure you've guessed it... nothing at all."

A loud percussion-like sound echoed out from the loudspeakers as Danya snickered into the microphone.

"But hey, look on the bright side. Something good came out of the ordeal. You got laid. Maybe now you can stop fantasizing about me, you fool." A brief silence occurred after the comment, but Danya almost immediately began talking again, "Ah, teen angst. I love it so. Well now, moving right along... if you've all been keeping track of the remaining students like good little puppets, I'm sure you've come to notice something. That's right, children, those of you still alive have made it into the final ten. So, let's spice things up a bit. This part is a little thing I'd like to call endgame. Today, six more areas will become danger zones. Those areas are the Bathroom Facility, the Makeshift Hospital, the Lighthouse, the Small House, the School Building and, you guessed it, the Warehouse. In twenty minutes there will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Make me proud, little warriors, finish this round with gusto!"

***

After taking a moment to turn off the broadcasting equipment he made the morning announcements on, Danya smiled to himself and kicked back in the large cushioned leather chair he had been relaxing in. Today was going to be a good day. The way things had been going the past two days, negotiations with the U.S. were completely unneccessary. The children were doing a fantastic job of killing one another on their own accord.

"S-sir?"

The nasal and high-pitched sound of Dorian's voice threw Danya out of his reverie, causing the man to lean forward in his chair and raise an eyebrow.

"We've received messages from the United States, sir. They're... they're willing to negotiate for the safe return of the children."

A smile crept across the lips of Mr. Danya as he watched Dorian in a mildly amused manner. It was all falling into place, all going perfectly. The U.S., who had always had a strict policy of "not negotiating with terrorists" was suddenly changing it's tune.

"Oh? Well then, negotiate away."

Nodding solemnly, Dorian slid a recording of the message addressed to Danya by the United States into the antique-looking VCR that sat atop a retro-looking television in the announcement room. Mr. Danya couldn't help but look on with sheer glee as the President of the United States himself appeared on the television screen, his almost defeated-sounding voice ringing out through the television's speakers.

"Attention Mr. Danya, the United States of America had agreed to call off all military forces if you will return the children safe--"