Jess woke up light-headed and…in a cell.
"Aw… Sleeping Beauty is finally awake, isn't she?" someone cooed falsely.
"Chris?" she managed to utter, barely.
"In the flesh! Well, actually, you'll have to work the flesh a bit better if you wanna survive but other than that, you got everything right! So tell me, what brought me out? The drugs? The lizards? Tell me!"
He seemed almost happy about this.
"What…are you talki-"
"Oh come on, Jess! If that's even your name. Well, I doubt you can forge an ID like me so let's say your real name is Jess. So Jess, really. A girlfriend scouting a boxing club for her boyfriend but snooping around? Is there even a boyfriend?"
"I still don't-"
"Oh whatever. It's not like anyone will ever find you know. Don't think about GPS tracks, I destroyed your phone and drove your car so far away that, even if you have friends looking for you, they won't ever find you. And about your clothes…"
Startled, Jess sat up and examined herself.
"Don't tell me you're one of those guys with a Xena fantasy…" she managed to snarl despite her uneasiness.
She had been totally dressed up as a gladiator. Leather stripped skirt, leather corset, silver bracelet on her biceps.
"No, not really Xena. I was much more a fan of Gabrielle, particularly at the end, when the two finally make out… ouah! Moment in History. Anyway, see that beautiful bracelet? It is your…how to put it simply…your 'don't you dare escaping' bracelet. Be proud, you're the first human to wear it! This little thingy is controlled by the remote you see here" he took a little cylindrical object from his pocket "and one bad move, one bad word, and you'll feel a pain so intense that it'll teach you not to mess with anyone in here. Except the lizards of course."
"Son of a b- Aaaaaahhh" Jess cried out, convulsing on her bed.
"Now, now, no need to be so noisy, it'll pass you know. Now, you know the things you mustn't do, and the ones you must. Isn't that brilliant?"
Numbed by the electrical shock she just received, Jess couldn't say a word.
"I know I know, you're so astonished before my genius. It'll pass. I'm a man like any other you know? Probably better than this boyfriend of yours though."
"Once he finds out where I am, he'll kill you" Jess muttered between her teeth.
Other shock.
"My, my, you sure know how to bring a man down, don'tcha? Anyway, as I told you before, no one will ever be able to find you here. Totally secured. You'll see. You'll love it!"
Chris walked away then. Jess could only let black overcome her.
She woke up what seemed several days later but what where, according to Chris, merely several hours.
"Come on, I'll give you a tour!"
Summoning two guys hiding in the shadows, he let them enter the cell to take Jess's arms.
"Alright, let's begin with your companions."
He let her see through a one-way mirror a bunch of people. Some were playing cards, other were fighting. All were having bruises and bad cuts. Men, women. Teenagers.
"See, they don't really need a bracelet as beautiful as yours 'cause they're kinda here willingly. Business you know. Money. They all need it. And they can have it easily! What's a couple of fights compared to a whole life of hard labor? Huh?"
Jess, still hazy, couldn't really see the connection between everything. The Minmi. The fighters. And finally, the dizzy feeling she had.
"Drugs…" she breathed.
"And once again, in the flesh! You surely are a clever warrior, aren'tcha? Aren'tcha?" he was poking her cheeks, much like a grandma would do to her grandson.
"Now, let's follow the guide! Once you vanquish the warriors you face – because I'm sure you'll vanquish them – you level up : here you have a magnificent range of furious and strong dragons, a bit like in the Middle Ages! Isn't that cool?"
He opened a door leading to a room full of cells. But the prisoners here weren't humans, no, they were not. They were creatures. From the past, most probably, she doubted they could have had some of the future, way too dangerous.
"Once Becker comes here, he'll call Abby and she'll slaughter you."
The animals were ill-looking, sad. Their cells were their size, if not smaller. They couldn't move. She could recognize a couple of Minmis, and several other species.
"How did you-"
"Now now, this is a secret my dear. Let's not be too curious about it, shall we? Now you better do warms-up to prepare yourself for tonight. Special show! Just for you. Fantastic!"
He left her then, and the two other men led her back to her cell.
Alone, she began to ponder.
"Alright, this guy's seriously messed up. He finds creatures and captures them to organize a big fight between humans and creatures. That's crazy.
The drugs are obviously a bonus. When under them, you don't feel danger. You just go after it. He must have given me some right after kidnapping me, I just wanted to scratch his eyes out.
Becker will kill me. He'll find me, and he'll kill me. After making a speech about not wandering off alone. Oh God. I'm dead either way."
The two big guys opened the cell. One held a syringe.
"Please, no. Don't please!"
She tried to fight back but to no avail. They were way to strong. She felt a rush in her blood, and all was black again.
"It seems the dose is too strong for her structure. Give her three quarters only next time, and then increase step by step. She's already addicted anyway, she'll need it."
Jess could hear the voices even if she could not open her eyes yet. She had fainted. Again. True, it was because of the drug, not because of her emotions but still.
"You just take her for the final battle. No monsters tonight. She'll fight three in a row."
"OK."
"Let me know if she does anything else. And don't – I repeat don't – touch the merchandise."
"We won't."
"Très bien. Que le spectacle commence! Ça va être géant!"*
"Fight? I never fought! Even those self-defense lessons at the A.R.C. were for 'field staff' only!"
She was shaken roughly.
"Girl! Wake up! It's your turn!"
She was led then through a dozen of corridors, not alike the ones she saw earlier.
"Where are we going?"
No answer.
She was thrown in a cell, but an in-ground one. Above her, dozens of people, probably hundreds of them, were watching, excited, impatient, anxious.
"They are…watching the whole thing… as entertainment?"
On her left, a noise. Part of the cell opened, revealing a man, mid-twenties, wearing only trousers. He was in a bad shape, cuts and bruises everywhere. But his eyes…his eyes showed so much lust, blood lust. Jess instantly tensed. A bell went off. The guy lunged at her. She tried to escape, several times. The guy finally hit her on the head. She went to the ground.
"Fight Gaby, fight!"
From afar, she could see Chris shouting at her. She slowly shook her head.
Then she was shocked. Pretty badly…
…and she was thrown back in her cell. Bloody.
"My, my, what a fighter you were tonight! A-ma-zing! Ma-gni-fique! Sensationnelle! Une déesse!* Walkyrie! We would have thought you were Athena in person!"
Jess was looking at her bloodied hands. Then at her bloodied body.
"What… what happened?" she asked shakily.
"Didn't you hear it? You were totally gorgeous! What a fight! Never saw one like this before. Well, the fact that you didn't kill any of your opponents was a bit of a downer, though. But the fight, that was… une pure merveille! Du grand art! Un régal pour les yeux!"*
Jess couldn't think.
"My, my, have you lost your tongue? You sure were shouting a lot down there. Well then, I'll let you rest. Next time will be with the biggest ones! You still have time though."
He exited the cell after a little bow.
"J'en reviens pas!*" she could hear him shouting.
She threw herself on her bed, and cried.
I just went back to my earlier chapters a saw I hadn't translated the French phrases (as they seem clear for me, obviously).
1. "Very well. Let the show begin. It's gonna be great!"
2."...Mar-vel-lous! Sensational! A goddess!..."
3. "...truly splendid! Brilliant! A feast for the eyes!"
4. "I can't believe it!"
