AU: Player's Game

Context: While being targeted by the rest of the players around him, them being bribed by the Gamemasters to make him lose, they get thrown into Murder Mystery. Sabre gets quite the surprise :>

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[Sabre's POV]

I try to steel my nerves as I wait in the small chamber, being prepared to be teleported to the next game.

"You remember the strategy we came up with, right?" Light asks me. Everyone is gathered in the lab, worried for my safety.

"Y-Yeah, find somewhere safe to hide and wait there or switch between spots until the time runs out." I respond, trying not to seem too scared. "I have a few ideas for a couple of the different maps."

"Good. Be careful Sabre."

"It'd be dumb not to be in Murder Mystery."

I look up at the board above the door in the middle of the room, counting down the seconds until the game starts. I then look around at the other seven players. A few of them glare at me through the glass, but they mostly just talk to each other using the lobby's chat system.

They don't know that I know what they're planning.

Professor Red had looked through the gamemasters' communications, and it was found out that they made deals with the rest of the players in this game with me to try to make sure I lose. Bribes of power and money, shallow things that people like them would never turn down, even if it was like a Faustian bargain. Everything would go back to the gamemasters in the end, and they'd all still be puppets of them.

The gamemasters don't want me to win the games again, like I did to earn my freedom last time. They want to keep me as one of their players, because they hate losing anything. And I know they'll do anything in their power to get what they want. But I'm not going to go down without a fight for my properly earned freedom.

A buzzer sounds, and in an instant I'm warped to another place. No lightning necessary.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I start running, figuring out where I am as I go. It's the carnival map, my personal favorite place before I left this messed up world. I know where I can hide, and start heading there as the timer ticks down to the moment roles are selected.

I finally get up to the top of the roller coaster build, thankfully nobody following me. I crouch into a small space in the wooden frame, hidden from everyone's view... hopefully. They won't see me as long as they don't come up here.

"Okay, I'm in a safe spot." I let the others know using my earpiece.

"Did you see anyone after you?" The Orange Leader asks.

"No. They were all in a group and didn't notice me slip away." I quickly peer past the wooden fencing and glance below. "They must think I'm still somewhere at the entrance, because they're looking there."

"Meanwhile, you seem to be two hundred fifty blocks away and... over a hundred blocks in the air-?" The Professor says, confused.

"I'm sitting at the top of a roller coaster on the other side of the area."

"Ah. That explains it."

"So, how does this stupid game work again?" Time asks.

"We're currently in the grace period. After that time runs out, people are randomly assigned roles. One murderer, one detective, and the rest are innocents." I explain. "Innocents are just normal people with no advantages, sheriff has a bow to shoot, and the murderer has a sword they use to 'kill' the other players. Game ends when the time runs out, the detective or someone that picks up the bow after the detective is killed shoots the murderer, or if the murderer gets everybody."

"What a morbid game..." I hear M mumble.

"Yeah. And my chances are that the other players are gonna team up with each other to get me, no matter what roles they get. So I just gotta hide up here and use the roller coaster to move my spot in case they get too close."

"Could anything else happen? Any way you could defend yourself?"

"Well, the only way I could defend myself is either getting the detective role and the bow, which would mean if someone rushes at me I'd better hope they're the murderer, because if the detective shoots an innocent they're out of the game. The only other way would be if-"

A ding sounds, and suddenly, an iron blade falls into my hands. I stare at it in awe for a moment.

I look at the screen on my wrist, and it displays my health, my inventory, and red words flash onto the screen quickly explaining my role.

"...Sabre? You still there?" Light asks. "What happened?"

I smile and laugh to myself.

"Oh, these guys are screwed."

"Why? What happened, Sabre?"

"I just got the sword."

I can hear everyone fall silent on the other end of the connection. Previously whispering to each other to try and figure out a weakness in the gamemasters' defense, the other Leaders stop talking.

I come out of my hiding spot and crouch behind the railing of the rollercoaster's structure.

"Professor, now's a perfect time to test if that camera works, cuz you guys are gonna want to watch this." I say.

"Uh... alright then." He responds.

After a few seconds the earpiece beeps, and I hear a small whirring as something activates, and I feel as the small device hidden in my blindfold that's connected to the earpiece comes to life.

"Oh, it's working perfectly." Professor Red responds. "Wow, that's high up. Be careful."

"Oh I will. Hey Light?" I say, getting Light's attention. "Ever wonder why I've always had such a good throwing arm?"

Before he can respond, I find a good target and hurl the sword through the air. It zips through the sky before finally hitting its mark, one of the other players that was just standing there in the center of the carnival. They yelp, before quickly falling and disappearing, a hologram of their body laying on the ground replacing them.

The sword reappears in my hands as I hear my friends through the earpiece, gasping in surprise and marveling at my fairly awesome throw. I quickly crouch back into my hiding spot as the other players below look around confusedly.

"Since when could you throw that far?!" M exclaims.

"That was one of the greatest throws I've ever seen." I hear the Orange Leader say.

"Just one of the things I learned while I was here." I chuckle.

"Is this why people there keep calling you 'Snipe'?" The Yellow Leader asks.

"Eh, that and a few other similar situations." I shrug. "I'm just really good at ranged combat, I guess."

I smile as I see another perfect opportunity below, someone standing on top of one of the stands, I think trying to get a better look around.

I ready my blade and pull my arm back, ready to win this.