Psionic Gladiators

"Rule One: Survive"

It was dark…it was quiet…and it was cold. Hold on….scratch the quiet part actually it was pretty loud. Now that he thought it about it he wondered if he could find the remote to turn the TV down. He reached out, but all he felt was dirt. He didn't fully understand. Why would there be dirt in his room. Unless someone was messing with him, or he somehow ended up in his Magicant again. Either way this dream surely felt real enough. He finally decided to open his eyes then sit up realizing that he had been sleeping on a patch of dirt. He looked around noticing that he was in a dark dimly lit room with light that peeked out from a few crevices in the room. There were two major sources of light, one across from him and another above him. He figured he may as well take a look as to where he might be since he may as well have fun with this dream. He found it rather difficult to move as if he had exhausted every muscle in his body and he was sore as well.

Drowsiness…

Painful joints…

Splitting headache….

Waking up in an unknown place….

He quickly surmised that this was possibly either not a dream or just a regular Sunday. He had most likely been in a fight and is just now waking up here or wherever here is. He also has this unnatural tight feeling around his neck that just annoyed him. He assumed it was just stiff neck, but as he rolled the joint he realized that something was clamped over it. He felt around his neck to feel a metallic object. It was tight around his throat but not so tight that it constricted his airway. Whoever captured him wants him alive. His first thought was to rid himself of this uncomfortable trinket, so he focused PSI into his hands to enhance his strength however he noticed he didn't feel empowered. He tried this time focusing harder but found no power coming to him. He deemed this a fluke then held out his hand to blast out a burst of psionic energy but not even a fizzle came out. The boy was puzzled as he snapped his fingers trying to get a good energy flow going, but all he got was a few sparks of energy.

"What the heck is going on?" he wondered.

"Hello there!" came a voice that suddenly assaulted his ears. He looked up and looked around the dark room. "Welcome all to the greatest show in the universe, Warrior Madness!" the voice sounded extremely excited, but not as much as the crowd that followed in joyous uproars. The boy looked toward the other main source of light above him to see glowing bars that looked out into the outside. Deeming this is only window into the outside world he jumped up to reach the ledge. It was a struggle with his body still weak he could only hang there unable to pull himself up further. He released the ledge as with a sigh feeling what little strength he had fade away with that simple task. He guessed he could only listen in then. "We are excited to give you, our audience, the pleasure of watching and learning about some of the most powerful creatures this universe has to offer! Watch as these warriors tear into each other, all for your amusement and for the title as most powerful creature in the universe! With a title like that folks I'm sure any galactic invader will think twice about stepping foot on your land as your world will officially be labeled as off limits."

"This guy sounds like he's hyped up on sugar pills," the boy muttered to himself. He needed information and fast if he wanted to figure a way out. He turned to walk toward the other source of light tuning out the loud voice, but not without something hitting his foot. He stopped then nudged the object again to feel his foot sink slightly into what he assumed was a tough mass, almost like flesh. He discerned this as another person who must also be unconscious since they had not said anything since he felt he had clearly made his presence known. He decided to wake whoever it was. He bent down to shake the person. "Hey wake up!"

The person jolted awake and then quickly sat up making both their foreheads collide.

"Ouch!" they both exclaimed.

"Jinx," the first boy said while rubbing away his increased headache.

"Glad you find that so funny pal," the other boy responded gruffly. From the sound and tone quality of his voice he assumed that he was kid like himself. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, I was going to figure that out…by the way my name is Ness, yours?"

"Ninten, I suppose it's nice to meet you, but under these conditions I'm not so sure."

"Agreed."

"Well Ness I'll tell ya one thing we won't be here long," Ninten said standing up with little trouble. Ness was surprised by this since he himself needed a few minutes before he could get his bearings. "Too bad someone went to the trouble of holding us for a few seconds," He looked around for a moment then noticed the source of light which Ness was originally walking towards. Ninten stepped toward it cracking his knuckles and as he stepped into the light Ness was able to see the boy clearer now. He has a red cap on his head with the brim backwards, dark blue shirt with thin red lines across the torso, black sleeves coming from under the shirt, black fingerless gloves with backs exposed, a red bandana around his neck, denim shorts that reach past his knees, and blue shoes with red socks. Ness also noticed a black collar around Ninten's neck and Ness came to a quick realization.

"Wait Ninten you can't-," he was cut off by a loud clanging noise of bone hitting metal. Ness cringed at the noise then looked to Ninten who was frozen on the spot until the sensation crawled up his arm.

"YOW THAT HURTS!" he cried.

"Tried to warn ya, but whatever powers you may have don't work with the collar around your neck," After Ness said this Ninten put a hand to his neck to gain a face of surprise but quickly switched to annoyed to find a collar around his throat. He huffed in irritation then turned back to Ness. Ninten had taken in Ness's attire in the light. He has on a hat similar to his expect he has the brim tilted to the side, a long sleeve blue and yellow stripped shirt, a red vest over his shirt, denim shorts that reach past his knees, white socks, and red converse with a white toe. Ness and Ninten stared at each other for a moment until they came to a realization.

"You have my face…" they said again at the same time. The main difference is the style of Ninten's hair is slightly differing as it curved the opposite way of Ness's and was bit messier as more of his hair was sticking out from under the cap.

"Who are you exactly?" Ninten questioned crossing his arms.

"If you're asking what connections we may have then I don't know any more then you do pal," Ness responded holding up his hands. He turned his attention to the room again trying to study it closer this time. It was dark, barely any light save for the amount from the window and the doorway. The ground was covered in dry dirt that covered the uncleaned floors. Ness was able to detect a pretty strong smell that smelled tart making his stomach twist as it reached his nostrils. He looked toward Ninten who was experiencing the same things, and then back toward the barred window. "Hey Ninten, think you have the strength to give me a boost?" Ninten looked at Ness then looked to where Ness gestured he wanted to look out.

"It's not that high, why can't you pull yourself up or are those noodle arms no good to you," Ninten remarked as he complied anyway as he walked over to cup his hands.

"I have little strength. Still feel weak…you seemed to have recovered faster so I figured you'd be strong enough to get me up there," Ness stepped into Ninten's cupped hands then stepped onto Ninten's shoulders. Ness was glad that Ninten held strong as if he was holding up a mere five pound bar. Ness turned to look out and gasped.

"What, what do you see?" Ninten asked.

"You won't believe it…I'm seeing it and I'm having trouble believing."

"Well what is it dude?" Ninten said growing impatient.

"We're in some kind of coliseum…with some of the freakiest creatures I've ever seen," Ness was accurate in his statement. As it appeared he was looking out into a new world. The sky was colored a swirling color of blue and purple. As he looked around he saw numerous sphere shaped pods floating all over the sky and seemingly surrounding some kind of coliseum. The domes looked like prison cells which lead Ness to believe their cell was in a similar shape. Below he saw the coliseum which looked like a glorious piece of architecture. Shining blue stones with sparkling glints, floating stands surrounding the entire thing, a box for possibly the upper class to watch, and odd assortment of creatures all cheering and screaming about something. From what Ness could tell there was fight going on, a brutal fight from the looks of it. One creature is a blue skin humanoid and has six arms while the other is in the shape of a giant bear covered in metal spikes like a giant vicious porcupine. They were battling tooth and nail harder then he's seen a lot of people go at it before. They moved fast too and clearly well trained fighters despite their vicious natures.

"OOOO, seems like Killer is about to remind us why we call him Kill-oh would ya look at that. Tacheon isn't going down without a fight either!" exclaimed a creature that was floating around the ring. He appeared to be humanoid but showed that he had no flesh. He was a being of pure energy, except for his head which was all flesh. His head is covered in white hair that sticks up at an odd angle with some strands falling in his face, sharp elf like ears, and deep dark eyes that shined like onyx. His face is young with a complexion of that of a young man possibly in his mid-twenties. Despite his body being of pure energy, it was built with huge muscles that seemed to expand and contract of its own will. Finally a metallic bowtie was wrapped around his neck.

"Looks like we landed in some place that aint too friendly," Ness stated. Growing tired of his vague answers Ninten pushed Ness up further to encourage Ness to hang on. Ninten jumped up to latch onto the bars as well with his face almost touching Ness's. He gasped.

"…Toto I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Ness rolls his eyes, "You had to say it."

"It was like the line was made to be used for this exact moment."

"Where do you think we are?"

"Some type of strange world that much I know and we can't be on Earth."

"Right so we gotta figure out how in the world we got here," Suddenly behind them the door began glowing illuminating the room with a greenish glow. Something was roughly thrown in as the object flew across the room to slam into the wall on the other side. Ness and Ninten dropped down in surprise. The glow from the doorway died down so they turned toward where the lump hit the ground. They cautiously approach the object on the ground. Upon getting closer they noticed it move and also groaning from the sound of it, as if they were in pain. "Are you okay?"

The person was startled stiff as they looked up slowly. Ness and Ninten noticed that something covered the person's face, but their shining blue sapphire eyes shined in the dim light. The figure was shaking seemingly in fear, so Ness and Ninten backed off a bit to show they wouldn't hurt them. "We won't hurt you," Ninten assured.

The person seemed to believe them as he picked himself up off the ground while clinging to the wall. He took a step forward, but tipped forward too much as he collapsed onto the ground again face in the dirt moaning in pain. Ness and Ninten gasped as they quickly went to the person's aid. Ninten hoisted him up on his shoulder to carry him to a wall then sat them up gently and in the light so Ness and Ninten could see him better. Ness and Ninten took a knee in front of the person. They observed the person to come to the conclusion that this was a male and human thankfully. The person is wearing a white shirt, a vest with yellow and orange strips with a hood over his head, tattered and slightly ripped jeans, and shoes to match his vest. Ness and Ninten also noticed that he may be younger than them possibly twelve or thirteen. He also seemed to be in far worse condition then the two of them as they stared at the beaten condition the boy is in. Ness and Ninten found themselves looking at each other to see if they were as damaged. They also noticed that he had a collar as well, but his was different. Ness and Ninten's collars were black, but his is white. His eyes opened again to look at them both with clear fear in his eyes.

"Don't worry we won't hurt you," Ninten reiterated. The boy's eyes relaxed a bit at this. "What's your name?"

"…L-Lucas," he said in a shaky voice. Ninten could tell that his injuries weren't the only reason he stuttered a bit.

"Nice to meet you, this is Ninten, and I'm Ness," Ness greeted with a friendly smile. Lucas was clearly mystified at how Ness could smile while they're in a situation like this. Lucas sighed then placed a hand on the collar around his neck showing some signs of relief with it. However, Ness couldn't be sure with his PSI cut off he couldn't read people as well without them. Lucas looked at Ness and Ninten curiously. "No we don't know where we are either, but we think it's not Earth."

"…I-I know that….I saw who captured me….it's just you two…..look alike….." he said quietly with a dash of remorse and sadness.

"Yeah we do, but we're not related," Ninten clarified. Lucas looked confused as he looked between both boys.

"But…how?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Don't know it's just uncanny!" they both proclaimed at the same time. This made Lucas look down at his feet suddenly more interested in them then meeting eyes with his new cell mates. Ness and Ninten sent slight irritated looks at each other because they kept saying stuff at the same time. They turned back to Lucas to see he was shaking slightly. Ness moved toward Lucas to sit next to him. Lucas glanced to him but said nothing. He only scoots to the side away from Ness confusing the capped boy.

"I don't bite," Lucas didn't respond as he looks away more interested at staring at a corner then looking at him. Ness looked at Ninten who motion for Ness to talk to him over on the other side of the room. Ness didn't know what good it might do, but decided to humor him. He stood up and walked over with Ninten. "What is it?"

"He said he saw who captured him. Do you have any idea who caught you?"

Ness shook his head, "I remember fighting but I had no idea who I was fighting or what was really happening. I was kinda panicking."

"Same for me, they even attacked my house…really glad I was home alone," Ninten looked toward Lucas. "Kid must be traumatized. I can tell you're probably used to things like this but he must be totally new to this. He's freaking out…plus he doesn't seem the social type."

"As in he doesn't like making friends?"

"Eh, he strikes me as the shy type."

"Yeah...but I wonder why he's so beat up unlike us,"

"Like I said, even if we were flailing we know what we were doing. He must've gotten hurt simply from inexperience," Ninten said nodding his head with his eyes closed assuring himself that was the answer. Ness glanced toward Lucas to meet eyes with his cerulean orbs. The connection lasted only a moment though as Lucas turned away to face his corner again. However, in that small glance Ness could see a lot of pain in those eyes, pain that has been cemented there for a long time. That much he was totally sure of.

"I don't think that's it," Ness said.

"How so, he's obviously younger than us?"

"Doesn't mean he hasn't been at this any longer than us or as long as us. Could've taken more effort to bring him down then us."

"I'm dangerous…." Lucas muttered. Ness and Ninten almost missed his words. "Please…just stay away…"

"What do you mean dangerous?" Ness asked getting closer. Lucas motioned for him to stay where he was. Ness stopped in his strides confused and not wanting to unnerve the boy.

"I can do things but…I can't really control them…when my emotions take control…bad things happen…"

"So you do have PSI like us," Ninten pointed out. Lucas seemed a little surprised when Ninten mentioned the power. "I'm sure your powers can't be too bad kid. How good of a fighter are you?"

Lucas shrugged. "I can hold my own in a fist fight kinda okay but I'm not too good at that. Just please…don't make me hurt anyone…I don't wanna hurt anyone…" Lucas was trying his best to keep his emotions sealed in shut. Ness and Ninten were beginning to piece together why Lucas's collar was different. Lucas may very well be in an entirely different league when it comes to psionic power. Even with it on if they paid close enough attention they could see the faint lines of energy being charged but restricted. They were a bit unnerved just thinking about what it might be like with that collar off.

"Well does anyone have any ideas?" Ninten asked looking from Ness to Lucas.

"T-The ones who c-caught me…they mentioned games…"

"Games, what kind of games?" Ninten wondered.

"What kind of games do you think someone with the name Killer plays?" Ness asked incredulously.

"Huh, good point."

"We need information, but with our powers unusable and us trapped with no way out. We only have the option of sitting and listening to what's going on," Ness said returning to his spot next to Lucas with his hands behind his head and crossing his legs at the ankle. Lucas seemed to want to move farther away but was trapped when Ninten sat on the other side of him with his arms crossed and his legs stretched out. Lucas sighed as he brought his knees close to his chest then wrapped his arms around them. He rests his head against them no doubt trying to ignore the aching headache he felt crawling up his neck. The three boys sat in silence hearing the animalistic cowling and cheers of the crowd outside. They listened as the announcer cheered for both fighters, remaining a neutral party, and the crowd cheering for their favorite. The boys couldn't help but wince when they heard a loud snap that made the crowd all gasp empathizing with the pain that it caused the receiver.

"Well folks it looks like Killer is about to claim another victim, what should be Killer's next move?" the announcer asked. The crowd all simultaneously cheered 'Graveyard Special, Graveyard Special!'

"What do you think the Graveyard Special is?" Ninten wondered. What followed was a series of ripping and snapping sounds that followed a silent crowd as the wails of Killer's opponents were heard loud and clear. Then suddenly, one final snap and the yell is silenced…all was quiet until the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Ask a dumb question," Ness said wincing.

"Yeah, I definitely don't wanna know anymore."

"Alright all you nasty critters of Overworld, we here at the Titan Arena have a big announcement for this season. We're going to have brand new battles from creatures never before seen here in this arena with frightening new abilities, warriors from distant lands, and coldblooded monsters willing to kill their own kin!" Lucas seemed to shiver at the announcer's last description. "Monsters that are more than meets the eye, but you will have to see them next time on…"

"GLADIATER TITANS IN WARRIOR MADNESS!" The crowd roared finishing the announcer's sentence. After that there seemed to follow a mass exit of many numerous creatures all chattering about what they had seen or about the new surprises on the horizon. The three boys stayed where they were sitting quietly. They didn't know what was about to happen, but they sat waiting for something to happen. Surely, they figured, they would at the very least be given an idea to who has abducted them. Time went by rather slowly in this drawl situation with the three boys having nothing to do or anything to kill time with. Ness and Ninten chatted a bit more discovering they had led quite exciting lives. Ninten wove this tale of how he had to battle a super powerful alien that was invading Earth and abducting people. He even stated inanimate objects attacked him and his traveling companions. Ness expressed that the adventure sounded intense, while also sounding seemingly familiar in nature to his own adventure. Ness explained how he was basically in a war with an alien creature himself that was wickedly powerful, so powerful that his power was able to transcend time and space. In an alternate future Giygas had destroyed the world, and was planning to make that the only future possible if not for Ness and his friends hadn't intervened.

"What was this alien called?" Ninten asked.

"…Giygas…" Ness muttered dryly, clearly not liking the memory. "It was awful, though the bodies we had fought Giygas in were robots, I felt every blow. It was agonizing facing such a terror…I knew if I was still human I would've wet myself," Ness said shaking from just the mere memory. "I had nightmares for weeks…still have em every now and again."

"Wow…that does sound awful…" Ninten said in an empathizing tone. "The alien I faced was name Giegue. Honestly, he may've been evil…but I think he was just really, really sad. My grandparents had practically raised him themselves when they were abducted. My Grandpa made it back, but no one ever saw my Grandma again. It was her that he loved so much that if he even heard the special lullaby she sung him he'd fall to pieces. It actually caused him great amounts of pain…only reason we beat him honestly."

"Ya know, that sounds awfully similar to how we beat Giygas. With our prayers and positive emotions, it broke through the darkness that Giygas created and eventually destroyed him. Our prayers and the prayers of every friend we made on our journey,"

"Amazing…" Ninten said in awe. His eyes fell on Lucas who had remained extremely quiet during the entire discussion. He said nothing, did nothing, and didn't even acknowledge that a conversation was happening and he was sitting in the middle of it. He just sat with his hood over his head and his face buried in his arms on top of his knees. Ninten doubted that the boy was sleeping, but he wondered what was wrong. "Lucas are you alright?" Ninten finally asked. Ness also looked toward the quiet member of the trio. Lucas pulled his face up a little to give a curt nod. "Are we bothering you?" Lucas quickly shakes his head.

"Come on kid, tell us something. We don't know how long we're gonna be locked up, so you may as well talk to us," Ness said.

"…I don't have anything to say," Lucas said surprisingly in a stern voice, but a little bit of a hitch in his voice, like he had been crying. Ness quickly cranes his head to see that indeed there were tear trails under Lucas' eyes. Lucas saw Ness then quickly averted his gaze.

"Lucas-,"

"Please, don't."

"Don't what?"

"Worry, don't worry about me. I'm fine, I'm just being…" he sniffles. "A b-big baby…I've always been a crybaby…so this is normal…I'd cry over spilled milk," Lucas' voice was beginning to tapper which is probably why Lucas didn't want to say anything to give away that he was crying.

"Lucas it's alright to be scared, we are too. It just so happens our coping mechanism is talking, a lot," Ninten encouraged as he placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder. Lucas however shrugs Ninten's hand away which makes Ninten frown. "Fine then, be that way! We are just trying to help make a bad situation less sucky but you are so stuck on slapping us in the face!" Ninten stood up then decided to sit next to Ness instead practically cutting off Lucas. Lucas seemed to have preferred it that way as when Ninten left he turns his body so his back is now facing them with his head against the wall.

"That was kinda harsh don't you think?" Ness asked.

"I'm at my wits end. I can't worry about myself and someone else. If he's too much into his own thoughts to even respond to conversation then let him cry, I like a dry shoulder anyway."

Ness sighed. He understood that Ninten was frustrated and Lucas' resistance in alleviating the frustration just put him on the receiving end was all. He was pretty sure Ninten didn't mean what he said. Ness looked at Lucas' back. "We just wanted to try and be your friend," Ness tried to alleviate the damage done.

"No," Lucas said quickly and sternly. He begins shaking again. "I can't have friends…monsters don't have friends…"

"What?" Ness questioned, but Lucas said nothing further. It actually made him feel sad just looking at Lucas. Being imprisoned on an alien world far from home only seemed to be the tip of the iceberg for him.