I don't know if Gespedan can talk or not. I've seriously never heard him say anything in any of the episodes that I can remember. But for purposes of this chapter, he's talking. So there.

The Files of Kazdan Kalinkas

Book One: Not By Choice

Chapter Ten: Fight

UnderWorld Rule #10: OverWorlders must die.

Destroy your enemies; your targets; before they become aware of you. For once they know of your presence…they will show you no mercy.

But I had no intention of destroying anyone. I wasn't going to take anymore lives. I'd killed that soldier at the palace and then Varris in the Coliseum.

I'd been stained with enough blood.

A couple of Battalion soldiers had escorted me to one of the entrances to the UnderWorld and then I'd been left to pick my way through the border lands, keeping an out for a certain, unwary OverWorlder. Not that I paid that much attention. So now I was crouched among the craggy rocks of the No-Man's Land between the UnderWorld and the OverWorld, trying to organize my thoughts and plan a way out of this mess. The silence was eerie. Every time I shifted, the sound seemed to echo a hundred times louder than it should have been.

I could run.

I could just run and run until I found someone—anyone—who could help me.

But wouldn't Chaor expect something like that?

Of course he would. And as soon as he found out that I'd run off, he'd take it out on poor H'earring and then find my friends and—

Footsteps echoed through the towering rocks and I tensed. I reached back and pulled the hood of my tan colored cloak (courtesy of H'earring though who knew where he'd gotten it) low over my head to hide my distinctive red hair and peered through the tinted glass visor covering my eyes. I poked my head over the boulder I hid behind so as to get a better view and gave an internal groan.

Oh no…

The rumor had been right.

There was Gespedan, patrolling the borderlands just like Chaor had heard.

I shut down.

I couldn't do this.

I simply sat there, staring as the OverWorlder drew closer and closer. If he so much as glanced this way, he'd see me.

And to my unfortunate luck, he did.

Before I could blink, Gespedan was on top of me with a hand around my throat, pinning me to the stony earth. He grabbed my hood and yanked it back. Then he went ridged with shock, "A human!?"

I reacted from pure instinct and training. I punched Gespedan in the gut hard enough to make him stagger off me and rolled to the side, swinging myself to my feet and crouching to make myself a smaller target. The Destiny Claw's pointed tips gleamed in the high sun overhead, dangerously sharp. Gespedan eyed them and then at me and then his gaze fell upon the UnderWorld crest on my chest plate.

"UnderWorlder scum in disguise." He decided out loud and charged me.

He was too fast for me to dodge or try and follow so I let him come to me. He tackled me with a hard kick in my stomach that knocked me flying. But I used that to my advantage, twisting in the air and slashing down the Destiny Claw. I was a hairs breath away from him and the gauntlet sliced through the skin on his shoulder. Blood flew into the air and I slammed into the ground.

He was on top of me again pummeling my face with hard and practiced blows. Fortunately, most of them ricocheted off the visor. The ones that didn't slammed into my cheeks, jaw, and mouth. I tasted blood.

Fumbling for an advantage, I felt my fingers curl around the leather straps that crossed his chest. Gespedan obviously noticed too because he jumped backwards so quickly, I was still hanging on. I suppose he expected me to let go because the look on his face was a surprised one again. I brought the Destiny Claw up and swiped at his face but he grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm back painfully.

I shouted and kicked out, sending us both head over heels through the rocks. I slipped out of Gespedan's grasp and smashed my head into a pillar of stone. Dazed, I tried to stand but my legs didn't want to respond and I was stranded, helpless. I was seeing double too; two Gespedans stood up, shaking their heads, and looked around for me.

I fought for control, forcing myself to respond as he stalked towards me—going from one to two to one again—unsheathing a sword as he drew closer. I panicked, breathing faster as I snapped myself from my daze. He was going to kill me. I pressed myself against the rock pillar and hauled myself upright…

…just a little too late.

I think he'd been aiming to take my head off because he brought the sword around in a circle, slicing right through my lower left arm and digging into the side of my chest plate. I screamed bloody murder. Blood splattered the earth and I tried twisting away from the pain but Gespedan started sawing through my armor.

I was in agony. Blood pooled in sticky red pools at our feet, black spots speckled my vision, I was growing weaker by the second. And still Gespedan sawed away at me, like a piece of timber that would not yield. Warm life blood dripped over his sword and down my leg, pooling inside my boot. I just kept screaming. It was the only thing I could do.

I heard Gespedan snarl, "Die, UnderWorld scum!"

And then I fell into blackness.

… … …

If I wanted to murder the voice, I also wanted to murder that stupid ripple that spread through my mind whenever I started to regenerate. For some reason, I found it really, really, really annoying.

I pushed myself up from the ground, shaking my head to clear it of the dark thoughts clustering there. I pulled a leg out of the puddle and put a boot on the ground, water swirling around in an ethereal sort of way. I felt like I was climbing out of a hole as I yanked my other leg out with a weird sucking noise and steadied myself on the rocky terrain again. Wincing as the water turned back into me, I glanced around for Gespedan.

There he was, standing stock still, blood-stained sword dangling at his side. I flexed the Destiny Claw's fingers and felt around behind me for The Ripper. Then I turned my gaze back on the OverWorlder.

"Gespedan, will you…do me a favor?" He didn't react so I licked my lips nervously and kept going, "Run. Please, run away. Just…just run as fast as you can and…and don't look back. I don't…want to do this…just run!"

Gespedan's response was to narrow his eyes at me. His expression said it all; he'd no sooner turn his back on an UnderWorlder (what he thought was an UnderWorlder) than he would betray Maxxor. He brought up his fist and positioned his blade in front of it. He was on the defensive now, wary of what other powers I might have been hiding.

"Gespedan…" I murmured, pleading, but it went ignored. He started circling me and I complied, not wanting him on my back. I slid The Ripper from its holster at my back and held it ready at my side. My hands were shaking.

Events sped up into overdrive.

He charged me.

I aimed The Ripper at him, stepping backwards to give myself room to fire.

I tripped.

My aim went wild.

The gun went off.

A stream of spitting flames arched violently through the air.

Gespedan screamed.

I panicked, scrambled upright, turned, and ran. My cloak billowed out behind me as I dashed between the rocks and pillars of stone. Pebbles sprayed under my heels as I skidded to a halt, my legs shooting out from underneath me so that I hit the earth. I lay there on my back, feeling empty, my eyes on fire with tears I couldn't shed.

My breath was ragged.

I listened.

Nothing.

Gespedan wasn't following. Which meant he was dead. Which meant I had killed him. I struggled upright, found The Ripper still clenched in my hand, and shoved it back into its holster, angry and distraught.

"So you killed him," Came the voice as I picked my way towards the entrance to the UnderWorld, "Big deal. You'll be doing plenty more of it and you know it. Better get used to it, Kazzy, 'cause you're gonna be here for the rest of your life!"

I wondered how long it would take me to go crazy in this place.

Stumbling, I made my way back to the UnderWorld entrance. I rested my hand against the warm rock of the descending tunnel, shaking with millions of feelings. I should run. I should just run and never look back. Screw Chaor's threats, Tom would have the sense to stay out of the UnderWorld. I looked back over my shoulder at the endless stretch of land behind me. Infinite possibilities for escape chased themselves around in my head.

And then they just as quickly evaporated as a shock of electricity sent me crashing to the ground with a scream of agony. What the heck!? Why was I being shocked!? I wasn't going to run off! I had just been contemplating it! The thought struck me, What if Ulmar did something so he could read my thoughts!?

The pain stopped and I struggled to get upright, to move farther into the UnderWorld and avoid more suffering. But another wave of electricity knocked me off my feet again. I writhed in the dirt, fingers racking across my armor, screaming for all I was worth.

Rough hands grabbed me and hauled me down into the dark UnderWorld before my mind had completely caught up with the fact that the shock-job was over. I looked up and found myself being dragged by a couple of Battalion soldiers. Even with the armor and the training, I wasn't strong enough to break their hold. Not to mention I was weakened and shaking from the electricity and the depression of what I'd done. I shuddered, feeling sick, but could do nothing.

I had walked into this mess.

I was going to walk myself out.

"I can…walk." I muttered as they continued to tow me through the UnderWorld city, my heels scraping the rock as they dragged me along. Neither one of them answered me and I sighed, training my gaze at the path passing by beneath me. I found that staring at nothing usually meant I felt nothing. Only when I started recognizing some of the buildings we were passing did I realize where we where headed.

"Why are we going to the palace?"

I didn't expect an answer and I didn't get one.

I hung there, nervous and scared in their iron grips, keeping silent. Chaor had shocked me because he didn't want me putting up a fight for the guards. But why drag me all the way to the palace? I would have walked into the place without him knocking me off my feet, if only to keep my friends safe.

Hold on… I shot a quick look around, This isn't the way to the throne room…

But it was the way to Ulmar's palace lab. The place where he'd stuck me in the Instant Regeneration Armor. No way was I going back there voluntarily.

I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs, voice echoing as it bounced down the stone hallways. I yanked at the tight hold of the Battalion soldiers, kicking my feet around, arching my back, pulling my weight down to make myself more of a hassle, and generally making an all around nuisance of myself. The soldiers ignored me and just kept walking as though nothing was happening.

A door slammed open and they hauled me through. I fought, tooth and nail, against them, kicking, scratching, and twisting around but I still couldn't get loose. They lifted me up and shoved me into a cold, metal chair, like something you'd find in a dentist's office. I screamed some more and tried to jump out as soon as they let got of my arms but steel bands clamped around my wrists, ankles, and around my neck and middle. I jerked at them helplessly, spewing the dirtiest words I could think of and even including some colorful UnderWorld swears.

They left me pinned there, struggling and shouting to no one. And waiting for Ulmar. I hated them immensely. But I hated who walked through the door even more: Ulmar and Chaor. Every fiber of my being burned with the hatred I felt towards them. It showed on my face too—I know it did—because Ulmar was doing his best not to look at me and Chaor was looking pleased with himself.

"What now?" I growled, glaring at him through the visor. He didn't answer, just tapped my temple deftly, sending the visor hissing back into the crevices of the metal bands.

"Do you know what this is?" He held up what looked to me like some sort of PDA thing. I shook my head, not trusting myself to answer him. I could see that silver rectangle gleaming in his other hand, "It's a tracking device. Ulmar couldn't put it in your armor because it would mess up the regeneration so do you know where we put it instead?"

I really wanted to say "up your butt hole" but thought that would be a really stupid thing to do so I kept my mouth shut and shook my head again.

Chaor grinned and ground his knuckle into the side of my head, just above my left ear. I yelped at the pressure and tried to turn away. He grabbed my face in one massive hand and forced me to look at him. His neon eyes were cold and cruel; I was his weapon, his tool, the best piece of Battle Gear in his arsenal. It sickened me.

"I know where you are, Kazzy," He hissed, "And I know what you're doing. All the time. Every second of you life." He waved the tracking device in my face, tauntingly, "So don't try anything funny…" And he backed off, releasing me from his grip.

Ulmar jumped up on my chest and leered over me. I spat in his face and he reeled backwards, hands flailing. I grinned. When he recovered, he slapped me, claws raking across my cheek and leaving it stinging painfully.

"Ulmar…" Chaor said in a low, threatening voice and the tiny Creature backed off. A little. He proceeded to dig his little fingers into every gap in my armor; wiggling his way under the shoulder guards, poking into the bands around my arms and legs, and tugging beneath the chest plate. All the while I twisted and hissed in discomfort, whimpering as he pulled at the steel that was attached to me.

"You're noisier than a newborn." Ulmar grumbled, careful to grind his heel into my calf as he stepped down to the floor and his mass of control panels, "Stop your whimpering."

"What're you doing?" I'd stopped whimpering but I think Ulmar had wanted me to shut up all together because he sent me a venomous look that I gladly returned, "Come on, Ulmar, share with the rest of the class!"

"Don't push your luck, Kaz." Chaor put in from his position by the door. He was standing stock still, arms crossed across his chest like a sentry. Actually, the only part of him that was moving was his tail. It waved back and forth, back and forth just above the floor, anticipation lingering in its movements.

I sulked to hide my terror. The longer I was strapped in the chair, the more uncomfortable I became. Chaor never took his eyes off me and I was starting to feel like a museum exhibit when Ulmar flipped a switch and an electric current shot through me. I writhed in agony, screaming. When it stopped, I discovered something disconcerting.

"Why can't I move?" I couldn't see either of them, my head tilted to the side, looking at a wall of blinking control panels.

"Opps, guess I short circuited your nerves!" Ulmar chuckled, "Pity your mouth still works."

"Why don't you come over here and see how hard I can bite?" I challenged angrily. Opps, my butt. He'd done it on purpose. I wasn't numb or anything, I just couldn't move. Which sucked because I really wanted to punch that little creep. Of course, with my limbs restrained, punching was out of the question too.

"I'll come back when you're done." I heard Chaor say, "I have some other…business to attend to." The door opened and there was a pause, "And Ulmar?" The UnderWorld ruler's voice was dark with unspoken threats.

"Y-yes, Chaor?"

"Don't kill him. It will be the last thing you ever do."

"Of course, Chaor."

The door slammed shut. Great, now I was alone in this room with Ulmar. Things had been better.

"And worse." Said the voice, "Remember what you just did out there in the border lands? Wasn't that magnificent? All of that blood…all of it yours…" My heart thudded in my chest, partly from anger and partly from dread, "And then the way he screamed when you killed him…perfect pitch…"

I shuddered and closed my eyes but I could see it replaying in my mind's eye. The Ripper…the flames…the horrified look on Gespedan's face. I probably would have shuddered if I'd had the ability to.

Wait a second.

Where had my cloak, The Ripper, and the Destiny Claw gone? I didn't have them anymore. The Battalion soldiers must have removed them while I was still screaming in No-Man's Land; only the holster to The Ripper remained, digging into my lower back.

"Why don't you just relax?" Ulmar was saying, "It's just a—how do you say it?—routine check up." He sniggered and I wished he was dead. Bad thing to wish for when a voice in your head eggs you on to kill about everything that moves. But then, I had a right to wish him to his grave. Him and Chaor both.

"Routine check up? What's to check?"

"This and that." Came the evasive answer.

"I'm not a stupid piece of Battle Gear you can poke at and fiddle with and twist any way you want, Ulmar." I growled, towing an invisible line, "I'm a human being. And you can't tell me what to—."
He was on me in a second, one hand grabbing a fistful of my hair so I was looking him right in the eye and the other grasping a glittering blade he held centimeters above my eye. He was angry with me, frustrated, and he hated me.

"Stop pushing my buttons, human." He hissed, "Because I will hurt you! I could do things to you so unimaginably hideous that you'd wish you could die!" He tossed the knife aside and I heard it clatter across the stone floor. The little Creature leaned close, lips curling as he sneered in my face, "I could use this armor to control your movements and make you do the most horrible things. I could wipe your memory clean so you wouldn't even know who you are anymore. I could turn you into the perfect killing machine; one who doesn't question orders, one who kills without complaint, one without any identity or personality whatsoever. Do you understand what I'm saying? The only reason I haven't done any of that is because Chaor doesn't want you to be like that. Why not, I don't understand but he's watching your back…for now." And he let me go and hopped back down to the floor.

I stared, wide-eyed at the ceiling. Shock had rendered me speechless. I didn't want to believe all those things he'd said but I somehow knew that he was telling the truth. They were empty threats because of Chaor's orders but still…it was a scary thought. To be erased of who I was and made into a murder machine without any thought or emotion at all…it made my insides go cold to think about it.

I closed my eyes, driving those thoughts away. I focused on how I was going to get to Tom. I knew he was looking for me and H'earring was looking for him so they should run into each other soon enough. But after that it was a matter of talking to him. I needed to talk to him, I needed to tell him what to do, I needed to hear it from him about what was happening in the real world over my disappearance. I'd been gone for three months now and had had no news from the world outside of Perim. Nuclear war could have occurred and I would never have known.

"I made something for you while you were away at H'earring's." Ulmar was chatting, skittering about the lab. I could hear him moving around like a mouse. I grinned to myself when a mental picture of him stuck in a giant mouse trap popped into my head, "Hold still now. Oh, wait, I don't have to tell you that do I?"

Cold slid into the inside of my elbow joint and I winced, recognizing the feel. A needle. He'd stuck a needle through the IRA and into my skin.

"What're you…doing with that?" My voice was catching. I was scared. I was absolutely terrified of what he could do to me.

"Just taking some blood." Ulmar replied, "For…something." I didn't like the snide tone in his voice that said he was planning something, "You know what," He yanked the needle out unceremoniously and I gasped at the sudden, sharp pain, "I've been thinking that you're not regenerating quite as fast as I would like…" I heard him shuffling around some more, "So I'm going to see if I can't speed it up a little bit!" He laughed.

I screamed. Agony coursed through me and not of the electric variety. It felt like I was being turned inside out with hooks of hot metal. It left me gasping in agony, staring at the ceiling, unable to move, sweat and tears mingling on my face.

"Ooooohhhh, sorry, did that hurt?" Ulmar giggled evilly.

"Can't we…can't we do this…when I'm…I'm…unconscious…?" I panted, fighting for control over my racing heart.

"Not a chance." Came the dark reply.

I screamed again.

Aaaahhhhhhhgggggg! (runs inside indestructible metal bunker) Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! (ducks as many sharp pointy objects clatter off the sides of the bunker) I'm sorry about Gespedan! But if you kill me you won't ever hear the end! (peeks outside) Okay, you're not going to kill me now, are you? Alright…

And then there's Ulmar. I really wouldn't mind having him killed. I've never liked that little runty hunk of maggot-ridden flesh. How's that for an insult?

Anyway, thanks for sticking around and waiting for updates. I know some people didn't think that Kaz was going to kill Gespedan. (shrugs) Whatever. So, yeah, that's chapter ten. Thanks for reading! Please review!