(this goes after UnDeath/Giligans post)
They never saw it coming.
Arsy would have made it if it hadn't been for the rock. There was nothing he could do now. Their aim was just too good. It didn't matter to Arsy, at least Elro was dead. He took comfort in that. Shaken after their combat, He got up and dusted himself off. The wounds had almost disappeared, leaving faint scares on his chest. He couldn't stand to look at Elro's body any longer, He'd have to begin the long climb out. He knew from the moment that the game began that one of them had to die. "How could I have been so foolish" he thought. Pressing the button with two essences was absurd. He had time to think, the 200 ft climb up the craters treacherous side would take a while. He remembered the arena the button had transported them to. The place seemed to have no walls, smoke filled the air from the faceless spectators. "Lung cancer, great" he thought as he climbed, He was 10 ft up. Elro's face had been stern. As he reached for the next hand hold he wondered if Elro had been as scared as he was. He didn't look it, no Elro looked calm and collected. No one could fake that.
He slipped, sliding down the cliff face at break-neck speed. "S**T" he thought, "Survive mortal combat to die like this." His right hand scraped the side of the cliff until he grabbed the small ledge. The violent force of the abrupt stop nearly pulling his arm out of its socket. The pain was intense; he began to climb.
Arsy had landed the first blow, his sword scrapping off the skin from Elro's shoulder stopped short of the neck by his shield. The thunk of the sword hitting the wooden shield spark cheers from the crowd. Arsy was never able to make out just who was watching. He was 1/3 up the cliff face now. The blood on his scraped hand had congealed. Elro reacted quickly, 3 quick slices left blood erupting from Arsy's chest. He cast away the sword and shield as he fell to his knees. "It'll be over soon" he had thought. Elro lifted his sword preparing for the final blow, the crowd cheered the would-be victor. The sword was raised above his head . . .Elro was dead before he hit the ground.
Arsy was 3/4's of the way up the steep cliff. He had taken to a tripod like climbing approach, leaving his injured arm to dangle at his side, His thoughts and memories were painful, but the emotional toll distracted him from his shoulder as he climbed. "It was a gun shot, no, an energy beam, no . . ." he couldn't wrap his mind around what had hit Elro. He Never stopped to check, he had begun to run. He Jumped over the ropes, past the spectators to the walls he couldn't see. The spectators only silently murmured. He never heard the silence. . . He burst through the double doors, he had never seen them through the mysterious darkness surrounding the arena. He never heard the silence. His heart racing he ran to the only safety he knew, outside. Down the dark corridor he saw salvation. Light shown through the cracks between the frame and the door just down the hall. An earthquake, a giant gap formed between him and the door. "Someone doesn't want me out of here" he said aloud. His voice, felt like warmth, comforting him. Behind him only darkness and murmuring. It was getting closer. What ever got Elro was going to get him if he didn't jump. The darkness closing in, the murmur intensified. He jumped, extending his arms to the ledge on the other side. His hand was knocked away from the ledge, A rock had been thrown from the darkness. The fall seemed to go forever, he watched as the light above him faded farther and farther as he fell down the endless pit.
That's the last he remembered. It didn't make sense to him now, how he had woken up next to Elro's body in the crater. It didn't matter, the button was happy now that only one essence lived. He was nearly there, He emerged over the top of the cliff face, expecting to see the city that he called home. In front of him was Satan. "A10" He said "The button . . .b-but you should be dead!" "Welcome to hell." A10 pushed him back down the cliff. As he fell the meaning of the events unfolded in his mind, put there by the rushing of the cold air. Elro had never died.
Elro's sword pierced Arsy's skull, ending his last confused Hallucinations.
The button was pleased.
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If you don't get it Elro and Arsy had to go through mortal combat to please Undeath's cleaning button because the button can't be pressed while two essences are alive.
If you still don't get it, congrats you passed the sanity test 
Rehabilitated IC developer