(A/N: Thank you everyone who has been reading and reviewing. It really means a lot to me and I hope you're enjoying my story.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enough said.

Chapter 9: Glacius' Punishment

Glacius opened his eyes. This didn't make much of a difference since the room he was in was pitch black. Where was he? What had happened to Jago? What the hell was going on?

Glacius tried to move but couldn't. He was in chains. He struggled to get free, but it was useless. Glacius was very strong, but he did have his limits.

"RELEASE ME!" he shouted. "Do you here me? Release me now!"

A door opened and light filled the room. It looked like a prison, only more advanced, like it was designed to hold something not of this world. Like him.

"Good, you're awake." Said the person who entered the room. Glacius immediately recognized the speaker. Dr. Chambers.

"Of course, who else?" he thought to himself. "Let me GO!" he shouted, pulling against his restrains.

"Quit squirming around!" snapped Dr. Chambers. "That cell was especially made for you in the event you tried to escape. Tsk, tsk. Naughty boy."

Glacius ignored Dr. Chambers and continued fighting. "You have no right to keep me here!"

"Oh stop bitching." Dr. Chambers sneered. "You should be grateful you didn't receive Jago's punishment."

Glacius was suddenly concerned. If Jago was hurt or worse, it would be his fault. Jago had risked his neck trying to help him.

"Where is he? What did you do to him?"

Dr. Chambers just shrugged. "He'll be fine. We just had to rough him up a bit to teach him a lesson. He'll make a full recovery though. You should be glad you haven't fought yet or else you would have received the same beating. But we'll need you in tip top shape in case you're the next one to fight."

"You bastard!" Glacius shouted.

A beam of light shot out of his hand. What Glacius didn't know was that he was behind 6 inch thick glass. His ice beam merely left a frozen block of ice hanging on the glass.

Dr. Chambers laughed. "Apparently you don't listen well. I said that this cell was specially made to keep you locked in. I hope you like your new living arrangements, because this is where you'll be staying from now on."

"What?" cried Glacius outraged. "You can't keep-"

"We most certainly can." Dr. Chambers interrupted him. "We gave you a nice room, good food, and company when we first brought you here, but you just lost those privileges with your little escape attempt. Now I bid you good day."

He turned to leave. Glacius glared at his retreating form. "Damn you!" he shouted before the door closed, leaving him in the dark once again.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Jago was recovering remarkably fast, almost supernaturally fast. It had been 2 weeks since his punishment and he was twice as healed than a normal person would be.

"It's the Tiger Spirit." Jago explained to Orchid and Thunder. "It guides me, protects me, heals me."

Thunder did a slight bow. "The Tiger Spirit is a strong one. I must remember to tell my people to honor it with the others."

Orchid rolled her eyes. "I don't believe in spirits like that. Still… your miraculous recovery does define logic."

Jago just smiled. Ever since he had been caught, he, Orchid and Thunder had gotten rather friendly with one another. They all knew that when they met in the ring it would be fight to the death., but until then…

"I wonder how Glacius is doing." Jago wondered out loud. He hadn't seen or heard anything about his frozen friend the whole time of his recovery. "I don't like the idea of him just disappearing. Maybe I should try and go find him."

"You will do no such thing!" cried Orchid. "Not after what had happened to you last time." Orchid had made it very clear that she didn't want Jago sneaking out again. She wouldn't even let him accompany her on her late night investigations, which she had to cut back on since Ultratech had been keeping a closer eye on the contestants.

"I'm sure your friend fine." Thunder assured him. "Ultratech want him to fight in tournament. There still 2 more fights before our second rounds begin. Glacius not fight yet."

That much was true. In fact, it was the only reason Glacius hadn't ended up in Jago's position. But when the alien's time to fight did come, it would either be against Orchid, Cinder, or Thunder. It was a good thing the fights were randomly paired. Or were they…

The day of the next battle came. The contestants were once again in the arena, waiting to see who would be fighting next. Glacius was still missing and no knew or would say anything about him.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

On her late night searches, Orchid had tried to find the alien, but was unsuccessful. Jago got a good scolding from her when she got back complaining about how much security had increased.

Jago was doing much better. He was still sore, but there were no physical wounds that could be seen. While he had been healing, Jago had tried to sense Glacius' presence. He was still in the facility, but Jago couldn't tell where. He had hoped he would be at the pairing, but he wasn't. Jago had a feeling that he wouldn't see his friend again unless he was in a match.

"Welcome back everyone." Dr. Chambers greeted them. "I know this last month has been a bit difficult, but don't worry, we're back on track. How you hanging in there Jago?"

Jago glared at him. "Where's Glacius?" he demanded.

Dr. Chambers frowned. "He is fine. But I advice you not to get involved with matters that don't concern you. Remember what happened last time?"

"You did that to him?" exclaimed Orchid. "You bastard!"

"You not have right to treat anyone like that." Said Thunder.

"That's in the past." Dr. Chambers replied. "Jago seems to have made a miraculous recovery. Let's just hope he learned his lesson and let bygones be bygones." Before anyone else could reply he shouted, "Begin to roulette!"

The names flashed across the screen. That immediately shut everyone up. Thunder, Cinder, and Orchid knew that one of them would be fighting. The question was who.

The roulette stopped and the next two fighters were chosen. Their names flashed on the screen.

Cinder

Glacius

Dr. Chambers gave a sadistic smile. "Well now, look at that. We have our next contestants. "It's Cinder versus Glacius. You know the routine. Be here by 8:00, and bring you killer instinct."

With that, he left the fighters. Cinder cracked his knuckles and laughed. "Well it's about damn time I got some action. I've been dying to try my new body out in a real battle. I'll melt that giant popsicle in 10 seconds flat."

"Not unless he puts you out." Snapped Orchid.

Cinder smirked. "I hope I face you next. I'll show you how to really heat things up. Ssssssss."

Orchid gave him a look of disgust as he left the room. She turned to Jago who was still staring at the screen. "Jago? What's wrong?"

Jago didn't reply. Something was telling him that this was wrong. The pairing was supposed to be random, but he had a feeling that this one wasn't.

(A/N: Kind of short, but I couldn't really think of much for this chapter. I'll leave you to decide weather the pairing was random or not.)