He stood upon the pile of trash, taking in the sight of a city that was surrounded by wormholes, continuously dumping unwanted items from the sky. Surprisingly there wasn't a horrid smell from the ever growing trash pile, like it was picked regularly by the people rather than to let anything rot away. He looked up at the wormhole he fell out of and saw a giant piece of a ship falling towards him.
Quickly he scrambled down the pile and then felt the whoosh of air that passed over him when the piece crashed into the pile. Breathing slightly harder than before, causing the glass screen of his helmet to start fogging up. He only stared at the spot he was standing at a few moments earlier. Lotor knew that he barely escaped being crushed, but that wasn't enough of an excuse for him to stop finding a way to the city. As best as he could, he went to climb up the next pile.
Slowly he made his way towards the city, the piles of trash becoming smaller and smaller. He did spot a few fights between the people with odd masks and others who also fell out of the wormholes. Seeing what the people with the odd masks did to capture those who had fallen from the wormholes made him a bit squeamish, even as a son of the Galra Emperor.
Still he made his way towards the city, making sure he would avoid those wearing the odd masks as he went over the piles of trash. This gave him time to think of what he should do if he came across a leader in the city. Hopefully they would be easy to manipulate and if they weren't, he would make it so.
Trust can be created so easily if one acts like they could be trustful.
As Lotor climbed up the next pile, there was a sound of a scuffle going on the other side. Peeking over the top of the pile, he saw a woman standing over a body, swaying just the tiniest bit. Her hair was tied up in a way to keep it out of her face yet still appeared to be fashionable enough if she was out in public. The body near her was covered in a netting of some sort and as she grabbed the one end to drag it towards the small ship near by, his eyes widen when he saw who she was dragging.
"Well I can see where he went after he escaped my generals." He muttered to himself as he rose over the pile. The woman didn't noticed him as she continue to take his use to be capture towards her ship.
He slide down the trash pile and made his way over to the unknown woman. Just before he could say anything to her, she quickly turned around and held out a small device towards him. Even as she swayed a bit standing there, the look on her face promised him nothing good would be in his future if he came any closer.
"It looks to be my lucky day if I catch the both of you. Though you don't look to be an easy catch as this one here." She said, her words slurring together just a little bit. She stood there looking at him with the same look on her face before she kicked his use to be capture as if he couldn't figure who she was talking about.
"As much as I would love for you to capture me, I'd rather talk to whoever is in charge of this city." Lotor said, his hand gesturing past the trash piles where the city lay.
"Too bad that won't be happening." Then she lunged at him with the small device. Quickly moving backwards away from her, he saw the small bout of sparks that flew from it. He saw that she stumbled a little, not able to react fast enough to change where she could land the device. Then she stood up straight, looking at him with glee.
Still she swayed a bit as she stood there, but seemed to be thinking of a different way to get him. Then she moved to get him again and nearly got him with how quick her movements suddenly become.
Pulling a small dagger from beneath the armor of one of his legs, he managed to stop the device from making contact with his neck. Still she tried to push against his strength, wanting to have two captures instead of one it seems. He quickly moved away from both the device and the woman, seeing her stumble forward a bit as he do so.
Seeing an opening that her stumble caused, Lotor used his dagger to stab her in the arm. It didn't go in too deeply, but it was enough to cause some blood to flow out. Still she seemed to shrug it off as she raised her head to look at him. The look in her eyes almost made him want to reconsider fighting against her.
But he would fight to get off this planet whether this woman would be a match against him or not.
Making another move to stab her, he was stopped short when she grabbed at his wrist holding the dagger. Her strength while impressive, wasn't enough to completely stop him. He still tried to stab her, his arm slowly moving towards her arm to create another wound.
With so much focus towards giving her another wound for her to fuss over, he failed to notice her other arm or her legs were free.
Suddenly the one arm that wasn't holding a dagger was twisted to stay behind his back. For a moment he focused on the discomfort this caused before noticing that the front of his body was on the ground. She had put her full weight on his back, grabbing at his other arm to twist around and join the other one. Even as he struggled to get free, she still made him stay on the ground.
"As much as I would love to have a bloody brawl with you, how about I get you to the Grandmaster? He'll pay a lot for a fighter like you." She said, tying his arms together with something she had on her. He looked back her to see the grin on her face that spelled out his demise for getting caught.
"Sleep tight." She said before pressing the device to his neck.
He felt shock waves spread out through his body. The pain that followed after the woman stopped pressing there made his eyes roll to the back of his head. In the last few seconds of consciousnesses he had, he felt her take off his helmet that he wore and heard her give a surprised sound at what he looked like.
Then he was created by darkness that promised to keep him safe from reality for a while.
Lotor awoke with a start as he was placed in a chair. The woman who captured him only gave him a smile as she placed his limbs in something to keep him from escaping her capture. Before he could ask her what she was doing with him, the chair started to move forward and away from her.
The pounding in his head started to grow as the chair moved forward and a woman with a chipper voice started to talk about the planet he was on. While he knew it was useful to listen to whatever the disembodied voice was saying as he went through the vivid presentation, he wasn't in the right mood. The headache he had grew worse as the presentation went on.
And then as everything sped up around him, the pounding became worse in his forehead and behind his eyes. As he felt the urge to scream out his pain to lessen it, the woman repeatedly stated that he would met the Grandmaster.
In the back of his mind, Lotor hoped that his mood wouldn't grow worse in the next few seconds or he'll probably end up offending the Grandmaster with a snide remark. Just like how it usually happens with his father and Hagger. Then the presentation stopped so suddenly he wondered if it was an illusion to trick prisoners.
He saw a man sitting a distance away from Lotor. The grey hair along with the single blue mark that went from the bottom lip down to the man's chin lead to the other bizarre features he had. He noticed the bright, flashy clothing that the man wore and saw that it only made him stand out against the people that stood around him.
So this must be the Grandmaster.
Lotor didn't trust the glee that he saw on the Grandmaster's face. It reminded him of Hagger when she was given a new project with one of the fighters from the Galra Arena to play around with.
"Oh, he would be a lovely addition to the Arena. He would stand out easily with the skin and hair." The Grandmaster said, leaning closer to him with interest." It's a he right? Never know with these newcomers and all."
"I'm that he you speak of." Lotor spat out bitterly. The headache grew worse as he saw the excitement on the other's face grow as well.
"Speaks so eloquently as well. He would do well in the Arena, the crowds would love him." The Grandmaster said to one of the women that was near him. She looked between him and the Grandmaster, as if it was beneath her to agree with his words.
"He hardly looks like he would even last a full match Grandmaster. Are you sure Valkyrie hasn't duped you with this one?" She said, a smirk growing on her face.
Before he could speak up about his skills as a fighter against the unknown woman, another voice spoke up. "I fought him myself. He'll last a lot longer than a match I can assure you of that Grandmaster."
Tilting his head back far enough, Lotor saw the woman who had captured him earlier standing behind the chair he was in. She glared at the other woman, almost like she would fight her right in front of the Grandmaster regardless of what he thought. For a moment it reminded him of Xathrid with the way she would suggest violence for almost every situation.
Too bad Hagger had to turn his team of Generals against him. Lotor might had had a chance against his female captor earlier if he had them with him when crashing into the trash filled world.
"No need to fight. Valkyrie hasn't let me down with a fighter yet. Look at the Champion that she brought me a few weeks ago." Grandmaster said with another glee filled smile point towards Lotor. He stood up and walked over to Lotor, most likely to take a closer look.
Valkyrie came to one side of the chair, standing taller under the praise of the older looking man. Everyone watched as the Grandmaster gently touched parts of Lotor's body, almost like they were waiting to hear if this unknown person would be worthy to be a fighter.
When a hand touched one of his ears, a low growl escaped his mouth. There was a lowly chuckle from the older man as he leaned close to Lotor's face. The colour of the Grandmaster's eyes were an odd mixture of brown, yellow and green, swirling together to create what could have been a beautiful jewel to posses.
But the look in his eyes was what made Lotor grow still.
They held power beyond what he could imagine. The man could easily take down his father if he choose to do so. In that moment, Lotor forgot to breath, hoping that if he didn't move the Grandmaster would spare him.
Then he leaned away from Lotor with a easy going smile. "What's your name? Seeing what you are, I bet you have a good name."
"Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire." Was all he could manage to get out.
"Oh we've got ourselves a Prince. Hopefully he's been taught enough to survive a fight. Have him ready to participate in one of the fights in the Arena tonight." The Grandmaster said, walking away from Lotor. "Oh have the credits transferred to Valkyrie for both of the fighters. She deserves it."
"I wouldn't have done less for you Grandmaster." Valkyrie said. She had a bright smile that pointed towards the older man, as if to sweeten her words even more.
The Grandmaster looked bashful at the compliment, but Lotor knew that it only continued to stroke the ego that he had. Men with power that the Grandmaster seem to possess always had such an ego.
He was then dragged away by a guard that was nearby. Quickly they passed through hallways, almost like the guard was afraid to be caught going slower than needed. Servants swerved around them like it was daily occurrence. Soon they reached a door that stood a few feet taller than Lotor.
The guard quickly opened it and then tossed him into the room. Then the door shut with a click that sounded out his doom.
For a few moments Lotor stood in place, unsure what he would even do. Looking around at where he was place, he was slightly unimpressed. The room looked more like a huge hallway with how each end curved towards what he assumed was each other. A few other aliens were with him, not even glancing his way.
"Hello, I'm Korg." Came a voice next to him. What Lotor saw as he turned his gaze towards the new person only surprised him slightly. Korg was made up of rock, even had a few pieces falling off his body.
Well this put meeting the Balmera lower on his list for stuff he's seen in the Universe.
"I'm Prince Lotor of the Galra." Lotor said turning his gaze towards the blank wall near him. "I'm guessing that there's not a lot of ways to get out."
"No, not many. Even those who do get out get punished by the Grandmaster. So we stay and try to make it to the next match. Could be worse. We could be Doug." Korg said, walking past Lotor. He sat down by one of the circular walls, resulting in a few more pieces of rock to fall off his body.
"Doug?" He questioned.
"One of the other fighters here that fought the Champion. He's dead now."
Lotor sighed at the answer he was given. Then he moved towards one of the walls away from Korg, feeling his headache making a comeback. Sitting down, he waited for one of Grandmaster's Arena fights.
He would prove that he could fight one way or another.
It didn't take long for guards to come get the fighters in the room. Lotor followed silently with the group, wondering if he would be given a weapon or not. It had been a long time since he had to fight with nothing.
"You might want to go with a helmet when fighting. Your skull looks like it would be crushed easily." Korg said to him as they were lead into a room fill with weapons and armour.
Lotor didn't say anything back as he made his way to find a sword that would hold up during this fight. Korg followed him around, telling him what he should and shouldn't get for his first fight. He only took some of the advice as continued to try and find a sword.
On the other side of the weapon's room was a metal divider that showed what were known as Scrapers. They surrounded what looked to be a bar, creating noise as the fighters gathered their weapons. For a few moments Lotor glared at the Scrapers, knowing that one of them had dragged him into this mess.
His attention to keep glaring at the Scrapers was interrupted by Korg as he shoved a sword towards him. Taking it by the handle, the weight felt right in his hand. Taking a few practice swipes, Lotor gave a small smile at the fact he found a weapon suited for him to fight.
"Thank you." Lotor said softly, looking up at the taller man.
"No problem. Now just go find a helmet for that head of yours or you'll be screaming later from it being crushed." Korg said, wandering off to find his own weapons.
It didn't take long to find a helmet that would protect his head. Even if he knew that his skull would protect most of the damage that he may get, who knew what kind of opponent he would face. It always better to be safe than sorry in battles such as these.
As he was going to look for a dagger to use as a surprise weapon, his name was called. A guard swept him towards a door where he forced to sit down in a chair. His hands and feet were clasped to the chair, insuring he wouldn't move much. An older man came out of the shadows to him with a metal hand raised up.
"Now we cut your hair before your battle."
"You will do no such thing." Lotor growled. While he didn't consider himself vain like some of the aliens he had come across, his hair took a long time to grow and much more time to maintain it to keep it healthy.
The old man just chuckled at him as his metal hand turned into something that would guarantee that his long white hair would be cut. Still he let out another growl, wanting to show he wasn't about to give up. That's when the guard that brought him here, grabbed his head and held it to the back of the chair.
Lotor could hear the mixture of the man's odd hand cutting his hair and the laughter that he had while doing so. Another growl slipped out, angry that he couldn't do anything, not even save his hair in this damned place.
Soon he was taken away and shoved out a door. Stumbling a bit, he could hear a crowd quieting down. Looking up, he saw the battleground of the Arena. While it didn't have any obstacles like the Galra one had, it was big enough for a fight to last a while if one was smart enough.
Then the image of the Grandmaster sprung into view and the crowd was excited once more. A smile came over the Grandmaster's face before he started to speak. "Now we have someone new. While not impressive to look at like our beloved Champion, I'm betting he'll dazzle us. Here's the Prince going against Loki."
The crowd cheered once more and that's when Lotor saw who he was fighting against. Also stumbling out into the Arena, was his use to be capture.
"It's always nice to put a name to a face I suppose." Lotor mumbled to himself as he put on his helmet.
It was time to see how this would turn out.
Well this will be the first chapter of the sequel to Princes of the Universe, which you can if you're interested. Hopefully I can get the rest of these chapters out much quicker than the last fic did.
Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully the rest of this fic :D
