The stadium fell silent as he entered and made his way towards the center. Men, women, and children from all over the world came and watched as the fate of Earth would be determined shortly. 

Our world was invaded by an unknown force of beings. The aliens, which are called the Cortas, are stronger than any other human being on Earth. The Cortas flourish well in conditions that humans deemed “unlivable”. The land they walk upon in their planet is made of ash and flames- a world we would die on. The Cortas’ plan is to blow up Earth to clear out the human species, so they can expand their colony unto our planet. After years of studying the Cortas, experts found out that Cortas love games and bribes, so it would be nearly impossible for them to refuse such a deal. Because of this, humans gathered leaders from all over the world to formulate a plan. Once they made the plan, they came forth to the Cortas to propose our decisions. An easy game that determines if we live or not. 

The Shell Game. A game that everyone knows how to play. It is very simple; someone has 3 cups in front of them, along with a tiny rock. The player shows the rock to Player 2 and puts it under one of the cups in front of them. Then the cups are scrambled randomly and quickly. After they are done being scrambled, Player 2 must decide which cup the rock is in. If Player 2 guesses correctly, they win, but if they don’t, Player 1 wins. 

The game was being streamed all over the world. Flying drones filmed the event and projected it into the sky for everyone to see. The stadium held a total of 1 billion people, a third of the 3 billion people inhabiting Earth. When the population hit 10 billion 300 years ago, Earth couldn’t sustain itself and it became hazardous with the number of people. The population dropped drastically as humans began dying from the pollution of the world.

He shuffled his way to the small table in the stadium and sat down. The drones and mobiles soared in the sky above them watching and filming the game.  The kingdom of Cortas was gathered on one side of the room, and the humans on the other. The tension was terrifying. 

His name was Kennedy Bellatrix. He won world records for his memorization skills and intelligence. Scientists and World leaders picked the most suitable man they could find, and it was him. He went through days of intense training and simulations to prepare for the game, and he was now ready. 

The Cortas who was participating in the game entered from the other tunnel on the other side of the stadium, and hovered towards the table to meet with Kennedy. The Cortas don’t particularly walk but glide across the floor beneath them. Kennedy took several deep breaths and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them and nodding his head to the creature in front of him to let him know he was ready. The creature gave a terrifying smirk, flashing his mouth with thousands of sharp and curved teeth. 

He pulled the cups and rock out from behind his back and placed them in front of Kennedy. The three cups were placed in a straight line on the metal table that was between them. He clutched the rock between two of his claws and reached his hand out the sky, showing the audience the rock. He looked up at the flying drones and revealed the rock to them. The scene was being projected in the sky so everyone in the stadium could get a clear view of it. He slowly lowered his hand and picked up the middle cup.   He put the rock down and placed the cup over the rock. He pointed to the cup that it was in and lifted it one more time to prove that it was in fact still under there. He gave a nod of approval to Kennedy who in return did the same. The game has begun.

A countdown began in the sky from 5 to 1.

5…. 4…. 3…. 2…. 1….

The stadium was so silent, all you could hear was the deep breaths of everyone in distress. 

The Cortas slowly reached his hands forward and placed them on the left two cups, he began scrambling the cups in random order. He had 30 seconds to scramble them and then Kennedy must guess which cup had the rock. 

Middle, Right, Middle, Left, Left, Right, Middle, Right, Left. Middle, Middle Right. 

The creature moved the cups steadily. Everybody in the stadium knew exactly where the cup with the rock was located. 

The countdown was at 10 seconds. Kennedy fixated his eyes on the cup and was ready to win. 

9...8..

The Cortas laughed.

7...6…

Suddenly, the speed picked up and his hands moved faster and faster with no acceleration. The movement of his hands was unhuman-like. Nobody was able to keep track of where his hands were going as it all became a blur. Kennedy’s mouth hung open and his eyes grew blank. 

3...2...1…

The creature didn’t take his eyes off of Kennedy’s face. He stopped jumbling the cups and they landed in the position as they were before; a perfectly straight line. He took his hands away from the table and crossed them against his body. Quiet whimpers echoed through the stadium. The humans began hugging each other and wiping the tears from their eyes.

It was Kennedy’s turn to guess which cup it was. He stared at the cups for several seconds, looked at the Cortas, and looked back down at the cups. He shook his head and struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. 

“I…” His voice trailed off, “I don’t know..” His eyes became glassy and his face was red. He took several deep breaths, “The right.” It was barely a whisper. 

The creature revealed his crooked smile once more and slowly lifted up the right cup. 

There was nothing under it.

Screams began in the crowd as the humans realized what had happened. The creature put the cup back down and lifted up the middle cup that hid the rock underneath. 

Panic and terror filled the stadium as the humans got up and rushed out of the stadium, running for their lives. They began jumping over railings, stampeding over others, shoving their way through. 

The kingdom of the Cortas let out a loud screech that rang through the humans’ ears and everyone stopped to place their hands over their ears. The Cortas flew up into the sky and towards the crowd of people. 

Flames, explosions, and smoke sifted through the air. It was unbearable to breathe. Humans began falling to the ground, dead. 

It has been 50 years since the population of the human race was wiped clean. Not one human was left behind, as the Earth is now rubble and ash. The air is thick with smoke and hard to see. The Cortas population has now flourished, as they now plan to overthrow even more planets.