Prompt

The Dark Brotherhood is in need of agents and members who are strong, not weak. With the recent rise of The Collective, it has become clear to the Dark Council that agents who conspire for our downfall operate from within our ranks. Effective immediately, all must undergo the Seven Levels of Hell as a true test of loyalty to the Brotherhood, for we must purge The Collective scum.

You are whisked away from your Clan's territory to the Dark Ascent on Arx, where you are informed by the simulation administrator the test will be administered in four phases, with some breaks provided in-between. You are warned that failure in the simulation will have repercussions on your physical body for failure to prove your loyalty and worth to the Brotherhood. The first phase consists of the both the First and Second levels of Hell. As you take your place in the state-of-the-art simulation pod and the chamber seals, a thin purple gas begins to fill the air and your eyelids get heavy for a moment before closing.

Welcome, to the Second Level of Hell: The Test Of Strength

You have no weapons or armor, and none of your equipment; just rags for clothing.

You exit from a small hole in the floor, entering into another room with similar markings as the last; four walls around you, each bearing a bunch of simple white tiles that all have a small black diamond in the middle. As you stand, the hole behind you seals. The room you're in is 20-meters wide by 20-meters long, and is only 5-meters tall. On the wall in front of you, several tiles slide to the side to reveal a doorway-sized entryway. A moment later more than a dozen men and women similarly unarmed are forced into the room, with a single message played over the intercom.

"The last person standing wins."

Your objective is to write, as creatively and witty as possible, a fiction depicting how your main or alternative character (the one you choose will be used for all Seven Levels of Hell competitions) escapes this situation. The room is not all black and white, and anyone can be persuaded..

Use your imagination, this is a creativity building fiction!

Fiction Rules

• Entries must be a minimum of 500 words with no maximum using the prompt above (x1 CoI will be awarded for every 500 words written - minus the title, ID line, repeated prompts, etc.)
• Adult content is allowed and will not be penalized if included, but any entries containing content above a "PG-13" level should not publish their entries (uncheck "Publish Entry" in the submission page).
• Entries must be submitted in .pdf, .doc, or .txt format using the submission box on the Brotherhood website.
  • No GoogleDoc links, please download as a .pdf using "File" -> "Download as" "PDF Document (.pdf)" and submit through the website.
• If you were a participant in the first Phase 1 competition, the snapshot used in that competition will be used to grade this one. Your snapshot can be changed for Phase 2 and Phase 3.

Scoring

Each participant in a sub-competition will earn a point towards the overall fiction series, with placements 1-5 earning bonus points for placement. Entries will be graded according to the Voice Fiction Rubric.

• First Place: 6 points (5 bonus points!)
• Second Place: 5 points (4 bonus points!)
• Third Place: 4 points (3 bonus points!)
• Fourth Place: 3 points (2 bonus points!)
• Fifth Place: 2 points (1 bonus point!)
• Every placement/participant beyond 5th: 1 point