Matthew Praetus - ToR Round 1

From the shadows stepped forward a black haired youngster, who couldn’t have been older than 13, with their arms folded and a shade of cyan in their eyes that sent chills down Praetus’s spine. Praetus didn’t like the idea of hurting children, but he had such a cause that he forced images of the child gaging inside his head.
“She’s quite young isn’t sh- ACK!” Praetus’s question was cut short with the end of a blade to his throat.
“I AM A BOY! And for such a stupid comment, I shall banish you to the fiery pits of Hell!” The boy yelled, one blade holding the scientist in place, and the other prepared to punch holes in his body like a bag of air.
“Now now boys, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and I do insist that you call your idea of ‘Hell’ ‘The Pit’; how do you know what it’s like, eh?” Death calmly imposed. “Now, let’s make this more...spectacular.” He clicked his fingers, and with no trace of logic or reason, the walls ceased to be within feet of the competitors and appeared to be within miles of them. Pillars of seemingly carved stone rose out of the floor, all shaped like people suffering. All from the plague Praetus had brought about. “Just so you remember what you are fighting for. Think of it like an incentive. Don’t worry, he can’t see what you can.” The impossibility of this place never ceased to amaze Praetus. Both competitors walked back from each other a reasonable distance apart. They turned to each other.
“Tatsuya, any words you would like to give to your...worthy adversary?” Death didn’t seem to be taking any of this seriously. Unnerving.
“Just surrender now and let me kill you; it would save me effort and all of us time,” he bit back at Praetus. Death burst out with a terrifying laugh.
“Sound words, but I’m sure Praetus here will decline your offer. Anything to say back, Matthew?”
After a brief pause of reflection, be replied softly. “...Tatsuya, have the lives of others ever weighed on your shoulder?” The boy was taken aback, but he answered back.
“...No. I don’t need others. I-“
“Can you imagine having millions of people’s lives weighing you down on everything you do?” Tatsuya stumbled, but brewed a violent temper.
“Why does this matter? Let us fight –“
“I have a reason to live again. I have to save all those lives. Why do you need to go back? For yourself? Can’t you see that –“
“Go.” Death whispered. The word echoed through the room, and Tatsuya instantly leapt forward. He ran at incredible speed, and he almost seemed inhuman to Praetus. The scientist instantly ran to a nearby pillar and hid behind it. Someone running at you with blades is pretty scary the first time.
“Come out and fight, you coward!” Tatsuya shouted. His footsteps were getting louder. I can’t fight him from so close, he thought, but I can’t just keep running either. And with that, he ran.
He started darting round different pillars, trying to get a view of the swordsman chasing him. The pillars were like a maze, with no distinct exit. Candles were floating at undefined points in the air, which was a creepy distraction from the near death situation. His eyes scanned every space and pillar, in a desperate attempt to not get ambushed. They darted left and right, but nothing appeared.
Then he saw him. He had slowed down to a walk, looking around for the disappearing scientist. Praetus aimed his plastic weapon, pointed it at Tatsuya, and pulled the trigger.
He pulled it too late. Tatsuya had seen him, and instantly darted upwards. The darts hit the floor, splattering their toxins across the floor. The boy had disappeared, and all of the stone statues had started weeping. This was insane, Praetus thought. The swordsman had vanished, and the inanimate objects around him were weeping. He heard some tapping, and looked up just in time to see the blast of energy hurtle towards him. He plummeted to the ground as a powerful pulse of energy crushed several of his ribs.
“ARGH! How?!” Praetus  screamed, as his organs felt compressed into a smaller space than his body.
“You are weak, so unfortunately, you will die as the pulse destroys you from the inside.” Goodbye.” Tatsuya calmly informed as he landed above Praetus with a heavy thump. The scientist could feel this soul sigh in defeat.
No... it can’t...end...like this! His conscious shouted at him. His spirit wasn’t broken, but his body was. He felt that there was nothing more that he could do.
Tatsuya had raised his arm to launch another attack. But it stopped as a tentacle launched itself from the daemonic arm, plugging the hole that was Tatsuya’s mouth. The boy gagged as his throat was blocked by the tentacle, and he fell onto his back with a similar weight to an elephant. Praetus looked onwards in horror as the boy squirmed for a few seconds, spasming as he panicked, then it stopped, like a wire being cut. And then he was still. After a few seconds, the tentacle retracted, into the very short tendril it was originally. Praetus was in shock of what he just saw. He managed to push himself up, and he stood over the body. His young expressionless face engraved yet another nightmare into his mind. He crouched over the body and whispered into its ear:
“I’m so sorry.”
As he said that, a door way opened in one of the walls, which had closed in again as he got up. Praetus looked at the door blankly, and walked towards it. It’s for the best, he said, as he walked through the doorway.
It’s for the best.<b>