Penalty Card!!

It screamed at him. Take me, take me, kiss me, I'm yours. I'm death. And Mark flipped it over and it was death.

There, in clean black type, precisely, clearly and very irrevocably printed was a black skull, and under it the word Poison.

Tears welled in Mark's eyes as he took the green tablet from its little box set within the board. His playmates felt a twinge of pity for him, but more so an overwhelming sense of relief; Mark had got it, not them, not this time, maybe next, but not this time. Mark... well, it was all part of the game. You accepted the risks when you played it made it fun. And it was fun, wasn't it?

Mark got up and walked slowly over to his mother, his chin puckering and lips trembling as he unsuccessfully tried not to cry. Another kid moved quietly to take his place. The game continued without a pause.

As the poison took effect, he was openly sobbing into his mother's thigh while she phoned for the Squad.

"How will I tell his father?"

Almost embarrased, she turned to the mother next to her. "He always was a poor loser," she said.

and.........

Something white and very fast chewed past Jon's ear and buried itself into the wall. His skin crawled. Aproto-mech! There were better ways to die. A shift, a blur, and he was gone.

It was so simple. There was I in front of him. Jon stabilised and became sharp. I was gloating. I was safe.

"Hey 3, you like my little pet, very cute, knows lots of treeks, ees very cheep." He laughed, head tilted back and face wrinkled into a dozen troughs

Fool.

"Hello I" said Jon.

Krisnos he was fast! Jon moved his frame of reference fractionally, only a microsecond before I whirled, dived, rolled and fired in one fluid movement that made full use of the fact that his spinal column had been removed and replaced by flexible plastic. Jon felt the blast suck at his hair as the panel behind him shrank to golf-ball size.

"Hard luck I" said 3.

His first shot converted the imploder into alumnoferrous dust and reduced 1's hands into smoking, blackened stumps.

Shot two removed the legs.

And shot three........

Jon placed the muzzle on I's neck. And I laughed.