The Arena
Gamma looked up to the light. The thin layers of what would be called his eyelids sliding back and forth to adjust the harsh hue to a more favourable dull yellow. It was what his species was created to do. They we're adapted to life in any environment, from stark desert plains to lush and dangerous jungles all the way to harsh frozen arctic lands. This harsh light beaming into the Arena was nothing compared to his home planet's unending sun. In fact, it was refreshing on his damp, green skin.
He smiled his toothy smile. The sharp fangs that compromised the front of his extendable maw were extremely sharp and nearly unbreakable. He had once used them to tear through the armour of a hover tank that had challenged him. The pilot stood no chance by the time Gamma had torn his way in through the thick hull. The quick flash of his acidicly charged plasma blades quickly ended the screams of the alien pilot.
A single step forward, closer to the center of the vast area that was known as the Arena. A massive gladiator pit, warriors from every dimension were taken and transported here for the chance of a lifetime. For within these impenetrable walls lied a vast and single-minded being. A being of unlimited power that had created the reality of physics and had chosen him to participate in the Arena. It had chosen every single entity that had passed through these gates. Each one picked for its immense skill, unfathomed savagery, unstoppable power, unending intellect, and relentless bravery. Each one given the chance to fight, each one having to beat the odds and slowly advance through the ranks to become the champion of the Arena. For all those who fought in the Arena knew one thing. The champion, upon true testing and the unshakeable knowing that He or She was the strongest warrior to step foot in the arena, upon the satisfaction of the being of power, only then would they be able to take the tiniest fraction of that beings power for their own use. Whether it was for taking over their universe, destroying their enemies, reuniting lost ones with new lives, or just creating a world they would want, it would be enough power to do anything their heart desired.
He took another step, the tiny pores along his skin taking in every vibration through the air as if it was sound to an ear. They spelled out the world for him, like a snake slithering its way through a forest of grass to strike upon a toad. His green eyes showed him the place he was. Everything had its usual yellow tint, as his species naturally saw a yellow hue on everything. Other warriors from other dimensions were lining the walls along the rough corridor. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they waited for their chance to enter the Arena and fight for the ultimate power.
Another step, he felt his excitement rising. He was an Aleen, an extremely rare and extremely powerful warrior. Humanoid in form, Aleens sported a massive tail that ended in two overlaid spikes to counterweight its shaped body. A large, three-taloned foot smacked onto the smooth floor, his large heel blade making it look like he had female high-heels on. The blades end protruded slightly into the floor, making a loud clicking sound each time he stepped. Reverse-kneed legs supported his green-skinned frame. Thick, criss-crossing armour bands flowed across his knees, calves, all around his large tail, and chest protected him from the blows of his opponents. The left side had a small circular plate-like piece on it as well, showing his species iconic Warrior insignia. Many years he had trained to earned it, and this day, he would prove whether or not he was worthy of wearing it.
He was a step away from the gate, his breathing increasing to a crescendo. A single chance he was given and he would fight his damnedest to keep it. He raised his three-fingered left hand, the twin pieces of carapace that slid out from his wrist reached to a foot from the skins contact point. They were his natural weapons, but he had something much more deadly in his arsenal. He raised his other hand, which was holding a circular device with a dark green clamp. He placed the device upon his wrist, taking his time to make sure it fit perfectly into place. A luminous neon green orb was centered on the plate, and he saw the reflection of his face on it. A quick twist of his wrist, and the clamps closed tightly onto his arm, perfectly shaped for just him.
Repeating his movements with the other arm, unhindered by the circular device, he prepped himself both mentally and physically for passing through the bright blue energy wall which was his gate. The gate flowed like water, swirling and twisting like a current in turmoil. His muscles flexed under his skin in anticipation, moving in waves to relax themselves and limber up. His mind focused, remembering each movement required to perform his complicated close combat maneuvers. He was trained, ready, and now, he was being called upon to test his skill in the greatest challenge ever.
The devices, once clamped to his body, started to rotate slowly. With a mental thought, they spun suddenly in forward, then reverse, like spinning wheels of a motor vehicle. He was satisfied, and with a final mental thought, his plasma blades flared into life. Nearly four feet long, they were weightless blades made entirely of energized acid, similar to the acidic liquid that flowed through his veins. They shone a bright green colour, daring those foolish enough to touch them. They dripped small drops of the acid from their tips, making both a cool looking effect and an intimidating pit in the floor.
Finally, he was ready. He looked up at the gate, retracted his blades with a thought, and nodded his head. Suddenly, the gate glowed brightly, and he dived through the imposing portal without a second thought. A second in space time, his body having no form or reason, his particles only moving thanks to the magnitude of his jump, before suddenly reforming onto the harsh metallic floor of the arena. He rolled along the ground once, before sliding to a stop on two feet, and standing up proudly. He heard the last bit of the announcer's voice as it echoed through the massive area. Its metallic voice explained everything that happened, giving descriptions on everything that happened.
For the Arena was naught just a test of strength, but also a place of entertainment. Thousands upon thousands of entities, all from their own dimensions and times, watched and cheered for their favourite warrior. It is both an honour and a privilege to be in the arena, and the thirst for glory further pulled those invited to it towards the final goal. Fame, immortality, and the proof that they are the strongest being in existence, is the goal of all who enter it. And Gamma was one of them.
He ignited his blades again, twirling them around himself with mental commands to his weapons. Warfare was a deadly art form, and he had mastered it. The voice boomed across the barren hexagonal grid that formed the floor of the arena. "-om the Astevia sector, in his realm, welcome Gamma, the Aleen sentinel!" He saw the awaiting crowd break out in hysterical cheering seconds before he heard it. It buffeted him like a shockwave, coming from all angles, but he did not flinch. Instead, he swung his arms up to cover his face with his forearm, then swung them out and roared, his normally cocky voice replaced with the savageness of an angered tyrannosaurus of Terra.
The crowd broke down again, cheering even louder at his defiance to his opponent. He did not know, who his opponent would be, but he was ready for it, whatever it was. The huge arena was hexagonal in shape, with smaller hexagonal tiles making the floor of the arena. The crowd was on the outside of the stadium, in stilted rows of seats with no noticeable exits. The arena itself was roughly a kilometer in length from one wall to another, much bigger then Gamma had expected. He thought silently to himself, looking at the tiles and walls in wonder. 'These must be made of some type of regenerative material; it looks as if nothing has touched it since its formation.'
Suddenly, the crowd reached a new climax of cheering, as a bright white portal materialized in a flash on the other side of the arena. Gamma watched with intent eyes, seeing for some sort of hint to his opponent. His inquiry was quickly answered, as a metallic ball shot through the portal and landed with a thud. He smirked, a quick "Tch." being spit out. "Is that what I'm fighting? A ball? Oh this will be easy…" He began to walk patiently towards it, mindful of the growing cheering of the crowds. His acid blades retracted, and he noticed that the arena was even larger then it seemed to him. Walking, it would take him about five minutes to reach either end from its opposite.
After about a minute of walking, he started to frown. 'This is what they challenge me with? Do they not think I can handle something else?' He was nearing the center of the arena, when suddenly he noticed the metal ball shiver. The crowd had become deathly silent, but the air reeked of anticipation. Gamma squinted at the metal ball, making out some of its details. It had weird markings along its surface, and a small black slit which served an unknown purpose. Gamma was slightly confused by the metal ball, but his query was soon answered.
The ball started to shake, first slightly, then violently. The surface began to crack apart, and all at once, it expanded itself suddenly. The main metal part was floating in mid-air, smaller metal legs, no, not legs, feet, were just below it. The body seemed to be being held up by the metal protrusions, but that wasn't the amazing part. The back of it opened up, spreading apart and extending itself. After a second or two of grinding sounds, it came to a halt in the shape of four metal spikes ending in flat squares. After a current of electricity flowed along it for a second, Gamma saw the hands of the machine raise. He was sure it was a machine now, nothing natural could be like it. Huge metal claws, roughly twice the size of Gamma's own hands, two fingered, and one thumbed, floated beside the body. The lines he was confused about before now made instant sense. Two of them flowed diagonally from the corners of the slit around the shoulder area of the robot to meet the protrusions on its back. The other two flowed along the bottom of the machine to meet the protrusions, again, on the back.
The metal claws flexed, and he saw the feet as well. They were almost matches of the hands, except they had no thumb. Two claws protruded the front of it, creating a support for the machine. It was fully formed now, its hands moving around in an idle stance, before the bright white eyes flared to life in the slit embedded into the chest area of the ball. Two white dots, which was all that could be seen in its pure blackness. Whether it was a screen, or some type of skin, Gamma could not tell. The crowd was already in an ecstatic frenzy, cheering wildly for the robot. It raised a single arm, turning to face the crowds to the left and right of it. The crowd roared even louder, before the announcer began to speak. "Gamma's opponent, currently placed in position 817 of the Arena, is long-time veteran Titan, the invincible machine!"
Gamma looked at his opponent, who was looking back at him. Titan turned towards Gamma, no actual weapons could be seen, apart from its metal claws. Gamma crouched down slightly, in a ready position. His hands were beside him, ready for any movement. The robot seemed relaxed in its movements. Suddenly, a voice chimed in right inside Gamma's thoughts. "Welcome, newcomer, to the Arena." Gamma's face was in bewilderment, as the voice had a clearly robotic sound. He spoke out loud, "Is that thing talking to me?" Titan has lowered its hand by now, and was just standing there. "Another newbie aye? Don't know about the direct speak protocol then? Ya, it's me, the big metal ball. I'm talking to you." Gamma shook his head, and then twisted his face into a look of anger. "You are my opponent. You will fall to my blade and that is all that you are."
The machine shook itself up and down, almost as if laughing. The voice spoke up again. "Haha, Oh boy, you have quite a bit to learn. Don't worry; I'll go easy on you." Gamma retorted in anger, "Silence device! Prepare to fall by my hand!" Titan just shook its head, almost as if he was mocking Gamma. The voice came on one last time. "Oh boy, you have a lot to learn." Gamma sprinted the instant the sentence was over, his powerful legs speeding him towards his target. Titan just stood there, almost as if relaxing.
Gamma powered forward, his arms trailing behind him as he ran faster than a horse. As if in mockery, Titan turned around and put his arms up to the crowd, getting both a mixture of cheers and laughing at his cockiness. Gamma grimaced; this robot was making a fool of him! He ignited both of his blades, they flared to life behind him. A hundred meters, fifty, twenty, ten, and Gamma jumped up to strike a fatal blow to the cranium of the robot. With bewildering speed, Titans hand came up and parried the semi-solid blade with a single movement, Titan's body twisted, the other arm throwing a rather painful punch into Gamma's chest, both stopping him in mid-air and throwing him back about ten feet. He heard something crack, his single piece chest plate obviously cracked by the blow.
He landed on his feet, sliding back a bit before coming to a stop. He was flabbergasted by the robots speed. It didn't look fast, but it was swift. Gamma saw the glint coming from Titans left hand. With a quick inspection, he saw a blade, roughly a foot long, extending from the bottom of the claw. It was shining silver, much like Titan's own body. Titan looked at his other claw, and suddenly it began to transform before Gamma's eyes. The outside broke apart like a puzzle, sliding around and piecing itself together until it formed a strange large-barreled cannon, clearly almost twice the size of the hand before.
Titan lifted the cannon arm, and held it steady with his other hand. A voice chimed into Gammas head again, "Well, this was easy." a second before the front of the cannon erupted in fire. Gamma barely had time to avoid the clump of matter thrown at him, diving out of the way as it hit the ground a few feet behind him. Looking back, he saw a quickly cooling off pile of molten lava. He glanced back at Titan, and quickly pulled himself to his feet. Titan's first shot seemed to be just a quick example for Gamma, as soon as Gamma had lifted himself off the ground; Titan released the full power of his Magma Cannon.
A steady stream of molten rock flew towards Gamma, who flipped backwards to avoid it, his feet landing only a few inches away from the heated rock. The stream swung around again, and Gamma dived under it, throwing himself into a roll towards Titan. The robot aimed downwards, throwing out a massive pool of lava right in front of itself. Gamma expected this though, and propelled himself through the air with a push of his hands. He floated in midair for a second, before landing down behind Titan. Gamma twisted around, his weapons lit and ready for combat. The first blade nearly impacted his opponents body, Titan's own short blade just barely stopping the edge from hitting. Gamma did a vertical slice with his left arm, throwing all his strength behind the blow. Despite this, Titan parried the blade easily. It was clear that, despite Gamma's immense strength, Titan had an advantage in the strength category.
To counteract this, Gamma started raining down a flurry of blows. He had two weapons, Titan only had one. He used this to his advantage, and sliced constantly, throwing Titan off balance, forcing him to walk backwards. A vertical slice, seconds later followed by a horizontal slice by the other arm, and then a backhanded left slice, quickly followed by a rising slice. Titan clearly could not handle such fast attacks, and scratches could be seen across its armoured surface. Gamma could have kept the onslaught up, were it not for Titan suddenly jumping back, and firing his Magma Cannon again. Gamma tried to avoid the attack, but at such close range the burst hit his right arm as he sidestepped.
He held his breath as the pain hit him, the lava sticking like glue to his arm. He retracted his left arm blade, and quickly wiped off the affected area with his hand. Although it burned, it had to be removed one way or another, so he lived with slight burn marks on his hand from the contact. He examined his arm; it was burnt and slightly blistered by the heat. Although, he could already see his body's natural hyper-regenerative abilities at work, for the smallest of the skin wounds were already starting to crust over and heal.
Gamma looked back over at Titan, who was busy pulling a small metal canister out from his Magma Cannons barrel. He yanked out the empty cylinder, threw it on the ground, and watched as his cannon split apart and shifted back into the metal claw that was his hand. Gamma was running at full speed already, and nearing titan's distracted form he twisted in mid step, filling himself with centrifugal force and prepping his blade to tear through the robots frame.
Titan just barely saw the action, and being unable to bring his blade up in time, caught the glowing sword with his right claw. Gamma kept the pressure on it, seeing steam coming from where the claw contacted the acidic blade. He had to give Titan credit; his metal body was extremely tough. Few things would have held this long against his blades. The hissing sound increased, and the blade started to sink through Titan's claw. Gamma grinned again, but was thrown off balance when Titan pulled his hand back and jumped out of the way, slamming his blade horizontally into Gamma's spine.
Gamma flinched at the blow, feeling his blood squirt out from the wound. His movements became sluggish, and he stumbled forwards, trying to put distance between him and Titan so his body's regeneration could take effect. Titan had seen this before though, and despite Gamma's blood burning into the blades edge, he aimed himself at Gamma and leaped into the air.
Gamma turned around, seeing the robot jump into the air. He thought it would look rather silly when it hit the ground, but to his surprise Titan's back opened up and thrusters pushed themselves out of his back, just beneath the metal 'spines'. Titan activated them, and rocketed forward at a blistering speed, too fast for even Gamma's extreme reflexes to avoid. Titan slammed into Gamma, ramming him into the ground and dragging his body beneath the metal behemoth a few hundred feet. After a fair distance, Titan switched off the thrusters and slid, on top of Gamma's body, to a stop. It flipped off of Gamma's twitching corpse, landing with a thud on the hard ground. Gamma's jaw was smashed into a weird position by the blow, and his back was flayed from the rough travel across the ground. A bloody smear was all that was evident on the hexagonal grid. Titan turned his back onto his opponent, assuming he was dead, and raised his arms to the cheering crowd.
He waved them around, but suddenly the crowd became quiet. Titan shifted his feet and looked over his shoulder, hearing a groan coming from Gamma's corpse. To his utter surprise, the corpse had lifted an arm up, and was pushing itself off the ground. "Holy crap, is this a new immortality protocol variant or something?" Gamma had stood itself onto two feet, his face a macabre and grotesque image of blood and shattered bone. He raised his right arm to his left shoulder, and with a groan pushed his arm back into its socket. He then grabbed his twisted jaw, and with a horrid crack, shifted it back into position, stretching it out a bit and then sticking out a long tongue in a mocking way.
"Going to have to try harder than that to win, device." He said with a smug grin. The wounds on his body already crusted over with some strange yellowish coating. Some of the crusted pieces were flaking off like dandruff, only to display a perfectly healthy patch of green skin right beneath it. Titan had seen regeneration before, but nothing of this speed or strength. He calculated that Gamma could recreate his entire body in less than ten minutes of regeneration. That is, initial calculations during extreme stress though. Titan would definitely have to see Gamma about samples after this, because his regeneration was faster than that of even the hexagonal grid beneath them.
Gamma smiled with cocksureness at the stunned robot. "What? Never seen somebody come back from the dead?" Gamma checked his blade emitters on his arms, and then stood up rather straight. Titan awoke from his thoughts, and was watching the rather still xenomorph before him. Titan was waiting for Gamma to make the first move, watching his each movement as Gamma's body regenerated itself to a perfect condition. Suddenly, Gamma flipped his arm up, launching a small green blob directly at Titan's position. Titan attempted to deflect it with his claw, but it exploded upon impact, pushing him back and leaving a burning green liquid across the affected areas. Gamma had stepped a few feet forward, then threw another green blob directly at Titan. 'He's got a good arm.' Titan managed to think while sidestepping the projectile. It impacted the ground, exploding in a blast directly away from Gamma. 'Interesting. Controlled cone-shaped damage zone for close range safety as well as directional control. Very clever.' Titan was doing more calculations in its metal body determining Gamma's weapons and statistical analysis's then actually figuring out how to beat him.
Gamma took a few steps forward, and then dashed directly at Titan, throwing two blobs at once towards his target. Titan rolled and avoided one, but the other one impacted him directly in the body. Its electronic eye systems shut in simulated pain as the acid burned through the eye slot. Titan fell on the ground, clawing at the front of its visor, trying to wipe off the burning film of liquid. Gamma ran right in front of Titan, grabbing his shoulders and jumping mid-step right over him. He landed on the ground, arms still holding Titan's shoulders. With a loud grunt, he forced the movement to continue, flipping Titan over his back and throwing him across the ground, right into a wall.
Titan bounced off the wall with a loud thud, dazed from the impact. Gamma walked slowly up to Titan's motionless form, the acid had burned its way through the visor and made Titan blind to the impending attack. Gamma raised his arm, ignited the plasma blade, and rammed it through Titan's vision port, getting cheers and yells from the crowd around him as the robot shivered a few times and shut down. Gamma pulled his blade free and retracted it, roaring at the crowd's again. The narrator came on shortly afterwards, pronouncing his victory. "With a turn of events, Gamma claims victory over Titan!" The crowd cheered again, buffeting Gamma with waves of applause and ecstatic clapping.
Gamma looked up, and nodded his head. "So this is what it is like…" A large portal, just like the one before, materialized around his feet. It began to float upwards, and Gamma felt cool metal beneath his feet instead of the warm rock-like material of the grid. He closed his eyes for a second, relaxing as the portal moved up and transported him somewhere else.
Cool air greeted his face, and he opened his eyes to see Titan standing before him, hands clapping. Gamma instantly went on the offensive, igniting his blades and jumping backwards. He hit a wall though, and looked around to see the room he was in. It was like the arena stadium, but much smaller. The hexagonal grid floor was replaced with metal panels. So were the walls, with smooth lines curving around them to a door set in the wall. The room was lit by unknown means, although it seemed to be that the walls themselves gave out the light. He was standing on a raised area, about a foot off the main floor.
"Whoa there boy, calm down. We ain't in the stadium no more, so there is no point in taking a chunk out of each other." said Titan, his hands relaxing by his side. Gamma was skeptical of this, but retracted his blades anyways. "Where am I, device?" Titan made an annoying grinding sound, which sounded like a grunt. "I would prefer it if you stopped calling me 'device'. I'm a lot more sophisticated then a piece of every day hardware." Gamma crossed his arms. "Fine then. Titan. Where am I?" Titan nodded his head. "Much better…" Before turning around and gesturing for Gamma to follow him. His plodding metal feet making loud noises as they crossed the short distance to the door.
Gamma followed with both curiosity and annoyance. His question still not answered, although Titan seemed eager to show him something. Titan pressed a large panel on the center area of the door, and at once the door split apart, the pieces flowing into the frame around it while simultaneously opening the path forward. A light shone in through the open gap, and Titan gestured for Gamma to take a look. Complying, Gamma took a few steps through the door, covering his adjusting eyes with his hand. His vision slowly corrected, and he found himself standing on top of a huge platform above an utterly gigantic central plaza-type area.
He approached the edge of the platform, leaning against a smooth railing. Directly across from him, another platform, almost an exact clone of his, was floating, a set of stairs being the only way up or down the platform. The platform was mostly white, with black lines crossing it in pleasing design patterns. A large circle design was in the center, showcasing a circle with two V's inside of it. The platforms had small pod-like structures on top of them, each of them a clone of Gamma's own room. The same door, the same size, the same shape, colour, and design.
The platforms led down to the plaza area, which paid tribute to an utterly gigantic dome in the center of it. It wasn't as big as the arena, being roughly half its size. Gamma looked around at the various other domes on the central plaza area. Various creatures and other entities mingled in the plaza, making it seem like a gigantic market place. Some of the domes had open sides, displaying large weapons, crude devices, elegant sets of armour, as well as other unnecessary things like food and entertainment. Glowing signs floated around the plaza, showcasing various products held by the vendors.
Gamma was flabbergasted by the sight of all this. "Wha…what is all this?" Titan walked up behind him, and placed a claw on the railing. "Welcome to the machine behind the Arena." Titan gestured with his hand. "You think that all we do here is fight? You would be mighty wrong then." Titan pointed at one of the smaller dome vendors. "Like there. You can purchase cuisine from all sorts of different realm's and dimensions. One of the most common things about entities is the need to consume matter, and that place can fill any cravings you got. Personally, I don't need it, if you didn't notice." A thick rope of drool leaked out of Gamma's mouth as he eyed the vendor. Titan patted his shoulder. "Guess we shall have to bring you there some time then, won't we." Gamma looked over at Titan, wiping the acidic drool onto his arm, which was immune to his own burning liquid.
Titan made a strange grinding sound that reverberated like laughter. Sticking up a metal claw, he greeted Gamma. "I guess we haven't 'truly' greeted each other, apart from attempting to knock each other's brains out. Name's Titan. At least, that's what I was given." Gamma smiled, somewhat struck back by the strange kindness of the machine before him. He grabbed the hand, and gave it a single, strong shake. "Gamma. Well met Titan." Titan broke the shake, tapping his fore-claw against the railing. "Quick thing; it is pronounced Tie-TAIN. Not the usual Titan. Kind of like the material Titanium, just remove the –ium part." Gamma nodded his head in understanding.
Titan looked back at the giant plaza, seeming to fall into a trance. "Guess I should give you the rundown?" Gamma agreed shyly. Apart from being told that he was fighting for omnipotent power, he hadn't been told much by the Armaga-…Armageddaling? Armageddaling that had invited him to the challenge. The black energy-being moving with somewhat distrusting movements, yet speaking in a tone that Gamma could swear was his own voice. It was like a shadow taken form, a shapeless blob with bright white eyes and mouth. It spoke of the truth always, and knew more about Gamma then he knew, for it could predict something that would happen ten minutes in the future.
Titan made a new grinding sound, lifting his body and lowering it to replicate a sigh. He turned to his left and faced Gamma, who was looking off the edge of the platform into the crowds. "Well, I assume you know the main parts. Fighting in an arena-based combat zone with opponents while attempting to impress the ultimate being into giving you a fraction of its power." Titan looked off into the distance. "That's not all of it…" He started. "The Arena is more of a training area then a brutal combat zone. You see that big dome over there?" Pointing towards the huge dome. Gamma nodded in agreement. "That's actually a giant practice dome. Kind of like the Arena combat area, but it's all practice. No points are gained or deducted for fighting there." He pointed towards the vendors in the plaza area. "Those guys are the merchants. They got quite a few things down there. Some random tools for purchase, weapons for purchase, and an improvement stand for upgrading your stuff. Trust me, they can make ANYTHING better." Gamma held up a hand to signal Titan to pause.
"Wait wait, you keep mentioning points and purchasing things. I have no idea what they take, and points for what?" Titan nodded in understanding. "You must not know about the stat system. No problem. Now, you see, everything in the Arena is given a statistical digit, or number. All of us fighters, everywhere…" He gestured around him, and Gamma noted the large amount of, what looked to be warriors. "All of us have a statistic amount. Balance in the Arena is extremely important. It's not the amount of power you have; it's how you use it. So, for example, all of us fighters, statistically, have a base 'health point' amount of exactly one thousand." Gamma nodded again. "These 'points' are balanced for each combatant, so despite us maybe being unbalanced in power in our own universes, here, we are equal. The 'health points' lower each time you're hit. Obviously, where you hit, how hard you hit, et cetera, affect how much 'health points' are taken off, as well as the status of your equipment."
Gamma gestured for Titan to continue. "Now, the point system for the Arena is how we are all ranked. You gain points for fighting in the Arena. You also gain them from doing some various things, such as fighting somebody that is a certain amount of ranks ahead of you, fighting multiple opponents, winning a blitz challenge, stuff like that. Obviously I can't list every single thing without standing here for an hour." Gamma quickly replied, "You know every single reason?" Titan nodded. "I know most of them. Obviously new ones keep being added and old ones removed. Being a hard drive can let you store a lot of information."
Titan pointed towards one of the domes on the main platform. "Actually, that spot could help me explain things a bit better…" Gamma nodded, before heading in the direction of the stairs. Titan had a different idea though, and grabbing a hold of the railing, jumped off of it in the direction of the dome. Gamma watched Titan float in midair for a second, suddenly noticing the limitless expanse of shifting swirling colours underneath them. He guessed it was the after-effect of dimensional travel, since both space and time was distorted by the effect. Although Gamma wondered how dimensional travel was possible, since each dimension had to maintain the same amount of matter and energy in it at all times. Perhaps there was an exception?
Titan was losing altitude quickly, and its back opened up into the thrusters from before. They propelled it forward at a great speed, easily giving it enough of a boost to reach the platform below them. Titan approached the platform, a clear and open gap in his trajectory, and landed with a loud clang of metal on metal. Gamma had reached the bottom of the stairs by then, and was walking towards Titan. "Just had to overdo it didn't you?" Titan laughed again. "It's what I do..." Before its lighted eyes expanded suddenly and it dived at Gamma. "Duck!" Was all it managed to say, as Gamma didn't see the action coming and fell to the metal behemoths tackle. A huge shadow dived right at where Gamma was just standing, sweeping only a foot away from Titan. It flew past them, Gamma feeling a strange sensation of foreboding and despair for a second as it passed.
After a second, Titan pushed itself off of Gamma, staring at the giant black shadow a few feet away from them. Titan seemed rather perturbed at the floating apparition, its lighted eyes formed into a glare of anger. "What's your damage Exessera? I'm showing a newbie around!" A hollow, grating laugh came from the being. Gamma was standing by then, staring at the strange floating vessel. Its form was like a dragon of medieval times, its arched neck and swishing tail perfectly portraying one. Apart from its shape though, it looked nothing like one. Instead of skin, it was a thick black shadow, extremely similar to that of the Armageddaling that Gamma met. Its mouth and eyes a bright white, the rest of it cloaked in black, it's body seeming to steam thick black tendrils of energy off of it.
"Mmm…fresh meat. Can I devour it now?" It laughed again, swishing its tail and head around with strange movements. Gamma realized that its wings were not flapping like those of a regular dragon, they just stayed open, the being afloat out of its own accord. It locked its eyes on Gamma, and suddenly disappeared in a burst of black shadow. Gamma suddenly felt a presence of despair, and it was coming from behind him. He turned around slowly, only to be met by himself. Yet, it wasn't himself. It was completely and utterly black, Gamma only able to make out a few details of his own form beneath the swirling tendrils of black energy. His immediate thought was to flee from this unnatural thing, this form-stealing energy being. And he would have, if it wasn't for his curiosity of it. The beings unnaturally white eyes staring back into Gamma's own green eyes. He noticed four protruding black tentacles of energy from the back of the being. They swayed with some unnatural force, their surfaces molding and forming constantly.
He stood firm as the black being drifted towards him with slow, purposeful steps. It got unnaturally close to Gamma, its face barely an inch from Gamma's own. It blinked once, then curved around Gamma, following the contorts of his body with its hands. "The master has chosen a worthy warrior…" It said in Gamma's own voice. Gamma's skin tingled with some strange ecstasy of pain and feeling as the beings mockery of his own hands passed across his skin. "You shall make good prey…" It said with Gamma's tongue, pronouncing its S's with much more emphasis than normal.
It moved away from Gamma shortly afterwards, to his own relief. He was about to flinch and beat the being into a coma, its unnatural form somehow driving him to rage and disgust within himself. It pulled away, reforming its surface from Gamma's form to some strange quadrepedal creature that Gamma did not recognize. Four legs that ended in pointed stubs, an extremely large body with the four tentacles from before, two arms that formed into three-fingered hands, and a single head with four unblinking eyes, two on each side. He saw nothing that looked natural, it's as if this being took parts from other creatures and formed a body for itself from them.
Titan refused to say anything, and the being laughed again. It spoke directly into Gamma's mind, a strange and almost arousing voice dancing through his thoughts. "I shall see you in the Arena…" Before the being disappeared in a burst of black energy that was like smoke. Gamma blinked twice, looking at Titan with bewildered eyes. "What…what was that thing?" Titan closed his lighted eyes for a second. "That was Exessera. An Armageddaling in the Arena. Currently ranked first and yet to be beaten. Mostly because fighting it is like fighting every warrior in existence. It can reform its body into anything in the Arena, as you just saw. Statistically, it is inferior to all of us. Arena wise, it is omnipotent. It's a mystery to those who try to figure it out, like myself. About the most I have learned is that it is somehow connected to the great being, which we know even less about." Gamma just shuddered at the thought. He couldn't imagine something even worse than that Exessera. It seemed to reek of misery and pain.
Titan shrugged. "Continuing on…" He began, walking towards one of the domes that hosted a band of Arena warriors searching through various devices and weapons. Gamma followed the robotic being, somewhat confused by the barrage of information that he was being given. All these various beings, all fighting for the same thing. Gamma wondered why the great being would be interested in finding the greatest warrior. Perhaps it was for an opponent? Gamma shook his head. No, nothing that lives could fight something that cannot die. Although…dying was not always the only way to beat something…
Gamma, woke up from his thoughts as Titan, who had already made it to one of the stands, called over to him. "You coming or what?" Gamma nodded his head, and quickly jogged the short distance to Titan's position. Titan was speaking with another armoured being behind the counter. It was large, larger then Gamma in height. Huge plates of armour covered its body, two ear-like protrusions on the top of its head. The head was lower than normal, as the armoured being had no neck to speak of. A tube like protrusion came around from where the mouth would be and wrapped around the sides of the head to the shoulders, ending in small covers. Bright, glowing blue lenses replaced what would be the eyes. The armour was either a dark grey or dark blue, giving the entity a faded form in the covered area of the domes position. Long arms, nearly as long as Gamma's entire body, rested beside the entity. These too were armoured like the rest of the body, the thickness of the arm increasing drastically as the arm left the shoulder. They ended in huge metal claws, the five fingers replaced with huge blades as large as the claws on Gamma's feet. The lower half of the body was covered in armour as well, all segmented and thickly covered. The feet ended with two claws, similar to Titan's feet, except they were actually attached to the body by thickly armoured legs.
Titan was chatting leisurely with the entity, speaking of the current battle, which was playing on a large screen hidden beneath the lips of the domes roof. Gamma fell under the shadow of the domes roof, and looked up to see to warriors fighting in the same place that Gamma and Titan had just fought in. One of the warriors, a human who wielded many guns on its body, was trying to shoot at an extremely fast dog-like creature, which was dodging most of the bullets that were shot at it.
Gamma walked over to Titan, and rather than interrupting the conversation they were having, decided to look at a large handled weapon on the smooth counter before him. The counter and area was made of the same material as the dome, just a bit brighter shade. The weapon was a stark contrast to the bright counter, with black edges and dark grey parts. The handle was nearly an arm in length, and ended with a menacing looking spike. The weapon itself looked like a massive axe, with a huge blade on either side of the shaft. Gamma grabbed two hands onto the handle, and lifted it up with some trouble. The weapon was heavy, not too heavy, but just heavy enough to use. He looked at the front blades edge, gliding a hand across its edge. It was extremely sharp, probably as sharp as possible. Gamma checked the back blade, staring at the blades edge with a warrior's precision. It was the same, both blades expertly crafted and formed into this weapon.
Gamma looked at the handle, noting the handle piece that was separate from the rest of the handle. It seemed to be in a weird place, farther up than the regular handle area. It would be awkward to hold it there. Gamma grabbed it, and to his surprise, it slid along with his hand. He pulled down, and the back of the blade shifted around to flip over the top and meet the front blade's top. The back and front blade slide down with the handle, ending in the form of a huge sword. Gamma whistled, impressed by the weapon. A large axe that transformed into a large sword, he wondered who thought of the strange idea. However strange it might be though, it gave adaptability as well as power, for something like this in the hands of gamma would deliver a devastating blow to those caught within reach. Although it was slow and cumbersome, it could be used by a skilled warrior to devastating effect.
"Aye, find something you like there newbie?" Gamma turned to the sound of the voice. It was synthesized, like Titan's, but sounded much deeper and slightly more toned down. The entity that Titan was speaking to was now faced towards Gamma, its arms fiddling with something beneath the counter. "Just taking a look. That's all." Gamma put down the weapon, somewhat thinking that he could put it to good use. Turning back to the entity, Titan spoke. "Gamma, meet Argo. He's one of the top weapons experts here. Doesn't battle much, but being an artificial intelligence, like myself, he can figure out the exact numbers for anything that you wield. Need some help figuring out something? Ask him." Gamma nodded, and Argo raised one of his bear-like claws, rubbing the back of his head.
"Titan, you give me too much credit. I just see what looks good, and teach them how to use it. That's it." Titan shook its head vigorously. "And you don't give yourself enough credit. Without you, half of us would be stuck beating each other with sticks." Argo released a hiss, which Gamma saw come out of the covers at the end of his tubes. "Hah. I guess so." Gamma noticed Titan eyes, which were the only thing that it had to convey expression. They were in a small upwards curve, like when smiling. "That's more like it." Argo nodded, then looked back at Gamma. "So, I saw your match against Titan. Quite the arsenal you got. Wouldn't find equipment like that in a regular shop." Gamma agreed quickly. All his equipment he had forged and created himself, from minerals he had to dig for days underground to find, to the acidic properties of the plasma that he had created through examination of his own acidic blood. Yes, he had put blood, sweat, and tears into his work. And the equipment he carried was the best for him.
"Care to make that a selection set?" Gamma looked at Titan in puzzlement. Titan quickly tuned in, and explained. "Oh, a selection set is simple. It basically takes a copy of you, and puts it into storage with your file. Before entering the Arena, you can select one of your sets, and you will instantly be equipped with everything in that set. Pretty good for trying out new combinations of equipment and such." Argo raised one of his mechanical bear arms. It held a small device, hexagonal and in the same colour as the dome. A small circle in the center of it shone with a dark light, almost pulsing. Argo passed it to Gamma with a flick of his fingers. Gamma caught it in one hand, and opened his palm to look at the device.
Argo nodded his head. "Give it a try, no harm or hurt. Good for exactly what Titan said." Gamma complied, slightly reluctant about the device. Pushing the center of it, the device suddenly pulsed a strange blue energy, the same colour as the shifting portals before. It floated out of his hand, about two feet in front of him. The circle faced towards Gamma, and projected a light a few inches above his head. The light moved downwards, passing over Gamma's body, his eyes naturally squinting as the light passed across them. After a few seconds, it had passed across his entire body, and with a click floated back towards him. He grabbed it, and it beeped in a synthetic voice, similar to the announcer, but neither male nor female. "Selection set 1 saved." Then the light faded and it went back to its dull shine. Gamma looked at it for another second, and then threw it over the edge of the counter, Argo catching it with a quick movement. "And there you are. First selection set done. You're becoming an Arena warrior already." Gamma smiled in reply, but everything still seemed strange to him.
Titan nodded, then turned to Argo. "Well, I'm taking him over to the centre. Show him how to use the ranking system and such." Argo moved an arm over the chest-height counter, and placed it open Titans body. He patted twice, then pulled it back over. "Take care shorty. Give me a shout some time; I'll take some time off." Titan nodded and replied. "Sure thing." Gamma watched Titan turn around and head towards one of the larger central domes. Gamma turned to Argo and quickly thanked him, then ran off towards Titan.
After a few minutes of walking, Gamma and Titan approached the larger dome. Twin sliding doors were at the entrance, and they filtered themselves through the other beings that passed in-between the entrance area. Gamma was greeted by a massive screen on the wall before him. The screen was divided into four sections, each one showcasing a fight between two arena duelists. Gamma stood in awe at the doorway for a second, before walking towards Titan's metal form by a small booth-like counter along the edge of the domes inside.
Gamma approached the robot, who was busying itself with dragging its claws across a holographic screen and talking to itself. Upon Gamma's approach, Titan grabbed one of the holograms and actually lifted it up, turning towards Gamma with it in its metal claws. Roughly two feet across and a foot down, Gamma was surprised to see his own face in the upper left corner. Titan greeted him happily with, "Found your profile." Gamma looked at the transparent energy 'card' before him, grabbing it from Titans claws. Beside his headshot picture, which showed a rather cocky grin, it displayed his name, age, weight, height, everything about him. A bit lower down, it gave a brief description of what he looked like, along with a glowing button near the description that said 'Project Image'. Gamma had an idea that the button would show a picture of himself, so he passed by it. It also gave his arena stats, which right now, was the grand total of one win and zero losses. Near the bottom, it gave a quick paragraph on his battle style, saying it was from quick estimates and observation due to his low battle count.
Gamma smirked. "About the only thing they don't have is my favourite colour. Sheesh, don't they know of personal space?" Titan laughed at him. "When you join the Arena, they know everything about you. Almost nothing's personal here." He said through quick grinding sounds. Gamma lightly touched the large 'X' at the top right of the holographic card, and it disappeared instantly in his hands. Titan turned to the counter, dragged a few smaller cards around, and pulled up another one. Titan was eager to pass this one to Gamma, and he accepted it without a word. "This is your personal profile, the part that nobody else can access without your permission. Just say something, and it will show you your profile." Gamma looked down at the card in his hands, and quietly said, "Begin."
Suddenly, the card filled up with multiple rows of buttons, as well as his headshot picture at the top left. A number beside his name with the title 'Rank' was highlighted, as well as another number set below it with 'Points' listed as the title. Gamma read out the numbers out loud. "Rank is ten thousand sixty seven…There must really be a lot of competitors here." Titan nodded. "Yup. Millions. More coming all the time. But the fact that you beat me in your first round put you pretty high up. As you heard from the announcer at the start of the fight, I'm extremely high up." Gamma looked at the robot. "Although I don't fight as often as I should. I prefer being support." Gamma looked through the info on his profile. It explained his next fights time, which was scheduled in two hours' time. "Hey Titan. What are the points for?" Titan was sifting through random cards on the small counter, passively hearing Gamma's question.
"The points are used for purchasing things, like that switch axe you saw back at Argo's stand. Although you need a lot of them for the most basic stuff. You can also use them for some various training systems in the practice arena. Training can actually increase your statistics, albeit by tiny amounts. But, really, every little bit counts in the end." Gamma nodded in understanding, and looked down at his next fights schedule. "Hmm…My next opponent is…Neronin," Titan quickly replied, looking up at Gamma with his lighted eyes. "Neronin? I've heard of him. Pretty good in the arena, strong ranged attacks, average close range ability, very fast. Uses mostly electrical attacks." Gamma stifled a quick chuckle. "You know Titan, with somebody like you around, I wouldn't need to know anything apart from what to hit." Titan laughed in its weird grinding sound again. It turned away from the counter, the little holographic cards disappearing from the screen.
"But if all you could do is hit stuff, you wouldn't be very good to talk with." Gamma chuckled again, this robot was more life-like then most sentient beings he had met. Gamma ran a hand along the top of the card, and pushed the small 'X' button on the top right, making it disappear instantly in his hands. He turned around, and then looked over his shoulder. "Shall we get going then?" Titan nodded quickly, and walked over to Gamma's side. "Let's do this." He said with his eyes lighting up in anticipation. Gamma began towards the entrance, Titan by his side the entire time.