"The Experiment"

Chapter 5

"So you've lived here your whole life, then?"

Swiftwind nodded. "There was another Tiger on the ranch before you. He was bought from another ranch, just like you were. As, I assume, was the Tiger that was Combined to make me."

"Was your friend Combined?"

The Dento shook his head. "No. Curtis doesn't like Tigers. He lived to be about eleven or twelve, and then..."

"ELEVEN OR TWELVE!!!" I stared at him in shock. Ralph was the oldest Tiger I had even known, and he was five and a half. Master had told me I might live to seven, if I was lucky, but twelve years?

Swiftwind laughed, though, at the expression on my face. "All the monsters on this ranch live a long time. They put something in our food."

I looked back at the stable, and the silo of meal perched on one side of it. "That foul tasting stuff?"

"Oh, yeah. It may taste awful, but it's got all sorts of stuff in it to make us live longer."

We both turned as Lenny approached, bounding over to us. "Trainer say we gotta go. All monsters go."

For some reason, Swiftwind's mood suddenly turned sour. He stood up. "I was wondering. I guess we'd better go."

"What's going on?"

He glanced at me. "You'll find out soon enough."

The two Hares joined our handler as he approached the stable. Wordlessly, Swiftwind fell in behind them as the human gestured for us to follow. Even Lenny had fallen silent. We were led down the path between the stables, towards the main gate back to the human section. There, a few humans and a monster were standing on a wooden platform, inside a roped off area.

I froze. The monster inside the little corral was the red Zuum from last night. I hesitated a moment longer, then, as the others threatened to leave me behind, I trotted to catch up.

As we halted in front of the fenced off area, I struggled to fight down the rising sense of fear. The other monsters were also gathering around the spot. I noticed Inferno out of the corner of my eye. He was hanging back at the rear of a group of Dragons.

Mr. Curtis was at the head of the platform, and he stood there, patiently, obviously waiting for all of the monsters to arrive. As each handler brought their group up, they continued on, past the ropes, and up to the platform. The monsters all remained on the ground, waiting.

As soon as the last handler had joined him, Mr. Curtis turned to Gene. "What do you have to report?" he asked.

"Last night, sir, a group of Zuums broke into stable C and tried to attack the Gray Wolf, Steppenwolf. They claim that this was part of a hazing ritual. In the battle, one of the Zuums set fire to the stall and destroyed it."

Mr. Curtis stepped up to the Zuum. I noticed that his feet were chained together. I looked down at the ground, unable to bear any more. "Crimson, which of the Zuums started the fire?"

"I accept responsibility for that, sir."

"You will not tell me who started the fire?"

"No, sir. I understand the penalty for damaging your property, sir, and I alone will accept that punishment."

"Very well... due to the fact that the fire was an accident, I will reduce the usual punishment to ten lashes."

I kept my head down. There was a moment's silence, and then the crack of a whip. I winced, turning my head further away from the platform. The sound came again, and again. I tried to shut it out, but couldn't.

"It could have been worse," Swiftwind said, in that voice meant only for me. "The usual punishment is twenty-five lashes."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No... I suppose it isn't."

I somehow managed to stand it until the whipping stopped. When I looked back up at the platform, Crimson bore a few welts, but there was no pain on his face. He simply stared straight ahead. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"There's nothing you can do, Gray Wolf. This is the way this ranch keeps discipline. Without it, it would fall apart. And there's nothing you or I can do to change that."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I don't believe it... I know it." Swiftwind met my eyes. "And the truth is, so do you."

I closed my eyes, and then turned away. As I started to walk back to the stable, I heard the voice of a Pixie off to my left. "Hey, look, the puppy can't take it." I looked up at her. She smirked at me, but it was Sandy, who was peeking around her, whose eyes I met. I could see the pain, the fear, the confusion in those glowing green eyes.

I took off running for the trees. Behind me, I could hear Swiftwind, approaching the Pixies. "I'm glad SOMEONE'S still disgusted by this," he was telling them. "The truth is... I sometimes wonder why I'm NOT any more..."

By the time I reached the other side of the forest, Sandy was already there, waiting for me beside the lake. I trotted slowly out of the bushes, to plop down tiredly on the bank. She settled down next to me, and put her arm around me.

"That big Baku was worried about you," she said.

"Baku? Oh, you mean Lenny," I guessed. I shuddered to think how this "discipline" had effected that dumb creature.

"He sent me to find you. I said I had a feeling I knew where you'd go."

I sighed. Then I looked up at Sandy. "YOU'RE still bothered by that, aren't you?!" I asked, staring at her intently.

"Yeah, I guess so..." She looked frightened again. "I'd hate to ever have that happen to me..."

"Not for you," I protested. "For him!"

She looked at me. She was silent for a moment, studying my expression. "He was going to hurt you, maybe even kill you. Yet, you can feel sorry for him?"

"It wasn't his fault." I shook my head, torn between anger and revulsion. "It was Brom and Inferno that put him up to it. Yet he bore the punishment himself, rather than implicate them."

I looked back at Sandy. "That wasn't justice. That was a warning. That was Crimson being used as an example, for you, for me, for every other monster on this ranch."

Her expression hardened. Sandy stared at the ground, frowning. After a few moments, she brought an arm up to her chest, and started scratching her forearm with her other hand. She looked down at it, as she started scratching harder. "Itches..." she muttered.

Later, I would realize that I should have paid more attention to her. At the time, though, I was too occupied with my own thoughts. "What kind of a place is this?" I asked, to no one in general. "I couldn't have dreamt up a place like this in my worst nightmares!"

Sandy looked up at me, a bit startled. She then wrapped her arms around me again. "It's okay, Steppenwolf. It'll... it'll be okay..."

* * * * *

Not three days after the battle with the Zuums, I finally got to see my first IMa tournament. I was entered in the A class, and swept it easily, the opposition not even up to Inferno's caliber. The big fights with the last two opponents were being saved for the next day, but I had watched them fight, and didn't think I would have any trouble with them.

I stood in the passageway that led under the stands to the arena floor, watching the Baku, Lenny. It was interesting to me to see another canine monster, but one that was neither smart nor fast. Lenny was large, slow, ponderous, and stupid, but he was no pushover as a fighter. His bulk made him dangerous, and protected him well from damage.

His opponent in this battle, unfortunately, was a Naga. Like Inferno, he seemed to have been bred to make money in this class, because he was far more powerful than the others had been. Lenny had gotten a few gashes across his side from when he got too close to the snake beast, and it was now toying with him.

There was something sadistic about the way the Naga fought, as if it enjoyed hurting other monsters. That could be the case with Nagas, I had found in the past, but most arenas had rules to prevent fights from becoming TOO violent. The judges weren't calling any of this Naga's fouls, however, they were pretty much letting him get away with whatever he wanted to do.

"The crowd likes him," Swiftwind commented.

I glanced back over my shoulder. "The Naga?"

He nodded. "His trainer's friends with the Arena owner. He's a regular here. He's a real show off for the crowd. But he's not fun to be in the ring with. I told Lenny to keep away from him, but he's not listening."

Lenny charged in for a head butt, but the Naga dodged it easily. As he slipped past, he slashed the canine's sensitive nose open with his claws. Lenny howled in pain.

"Damn it, he's not listening."

Fortunately, at that moment, the audience began counting down the ten seconds to the end of the fight. A gong rang, and the Naga backed away, laughing, a nasty, hissing sound. Lenny lumbered back to the passage, his trainer meeting him there. He was led past us, the trainer pressing a towel against his nose to soak up the blood.

Out in the arena, the judge was declaring the Naga the winner. It bugled out a victory cry. "One of these days, I'm gonna tear that Naga apart," Swiftwind said.

After leading the victorious Naga and his trainer out of the arena, the judge stepped out onto the floor again. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he called out, "This is an D class tournament. Unlike our other tournaments for this festival, this has been an Official Tournament, for the IMa Grade D. The winner will be progressing to grade C, and will then be able to compete in B and C grade tournaments."

"In this corner, from the Westwood Ranch, we have a returning favorite, trying for a second time at the IMa Grade D cup. Say hello to the Joker, Deathedge!"

"And in this corner, from the Curtis Ranch, a newcomer to the arena who has swept this category. She's a unique type, you'll probably never see another like her, the Pixie/Henger, Sandy!"

I leaned over to get a better look. She was getting a smattering of applause, nothing like what the Joker had gotten. But her battles so far seemed to have won her some respect. I had been a bit surprised when Curtis entered her in a D grade tournament. But then I learned that in the IMa area monsters are allowed to compete above their class.

So far she had done well. Her training had paid off, and she was quick, and confident. After seeing that Naga toy with Lenny, however, I was getting really worried. Although she was obviously trying, there wasn't a lot of power behind her attacks. And she hadn't fired her Rocket Fist since that first day. Even though we had tried to talk to her about it, she refused to use the attack again.

As the gong sounded, Sandy took to the air. She circled around the Joker, sizing him up. He swung at her a few times with his sickle, but then stopped and waited for her to come to him. He wasn't going to be an easy victory.

Sandy gathered a Lightning Bolt in her hand and blasted him with it. The Joker leaped forward, through the blinding flash, and slashed at her. Sandy leaped backward, but his blade had cut a hole in front of her bathing suit. The crowd cheered, smelling blood.

Sandy, however, unfurled her wings and shot upward. She arched over the Joker and landed behind him. Firing off two Rays in rapid succession, she hit him with both. Then she dodged as he came at her again. He missed a few times, but then she stumbled, and he caught her with the backside of the weapon. Sandy clutched at her upper arm, as the smaller blade cut into her skin.

"Her legs too short."

"What?" I looked back at Lenny, who had come up behind us. His nose had been bandaged, but otherwise he looked fine.

"She fall down. Her legs too short."

It was then that I realized what had been wrong with Sandy, the last time I saw her, at the lake. Her legs and arms were out of proportion with the rest of her body. Her body was long, skinny, developing into the body of a young woman, but her arms and legs were still growing at the same rate as those of a child.

The Joker attacked. Sandy stumbled again as she tried to dodge. The blade cut into her leg, deeply. Sandy cried out in pain, falling to the ground. Deathedge moved in quickly, swinging his scythe up for the death blow. Sandy brought up an arm, as if to shield her face, but then she extended it, pointing her fist at the Joker.

There was the explosion of sound, the blast of flame, and Sandy's fist shot out, striking the scythe as it came down at her. It snapped the head of the weapon right off, sending it spinning across the arena.

As the startled Joker watched its weapon fly out of its hands, Sandy rolled back to her feet. She kicked the Joker across the head, sending it reeling back, then stuck out her arm. Her fist, returning, inverted itself and reconnected to her stump. Then she began to pummel the Joker, slapping his masked face back and forth with her iron hands.

Finally, as the ten second countdown began, she ran back, and grabbed the Joker's blade. Cradling it against her chest, with a look that said "Take it from me if you dare", Sandy stood there, panting. Then the countdown ended, and the gong sounded to end the fight.

"She did good," Swiftwind said. "That last series of strikes will probably buy her points with the judges."

I nodded. There was a lot of commotion from the crowd. Some of them were chanting the Joker's name, but there was a lot of applause for Sandy, too. Finally, the judge returned to the center of the arena and addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our judges have made their decision. For damage inflicted, the point goes to Deathedge. For accuracy, the point goes to Sandy. So the point for strategy will determine the winner. And that winner is..."

"Sandy!" I cheered for her, as did Lenny and Swiftwind. Sandy just stood there, though. I expected her to jump up and down happily, but she just looked stunned, clutching the Joker's scythe head to her chest. Oddly, she wouldn't let go of it, and carried it with her as she came down the passage past us. The Joker's owner had brought him a new scythe, and they left through the other entrance. I assumed that they had let her keep it as a trophy.

"That was some amazing attack she had there," Swiftwind commented.

"I think it scares her to use it," I said, worried. "I hope she's all right..."

"She all fuzzy-headed. Lenny remember when Lenny first fight, Lenny get fuzzy-headed, too."

"Yeah. She's just overwhelmed, that's all. She'll feel better once she gets back to the ranch."

I looked up at Lenny. "What do you think of Sandy, Lenny?"

"She nice, like swift one and silver one. Pixies mean to Lenny. But she not mean to no one."

I smiled. "She is at that."

"Hey, you guys, come look!" A blue Hare stuck his head into the passage. "The Pixie/Henger just tried to cut her arms off!"

"WHAT!!!" I charged down the passage into the infirmary. Sandy was being restrained by three large humans. Two of them were holding her arms, the other was pressing her up against the wall. She was struggling to get free. The Joker's scythe head lay on the floor in front of them.

There were a series of long gashes across each of Sandy's arms. They were perfectly straight, cutting deep into the material of her Henger shell. Again, there was that resemblance to soft clay, slashed with a knife to form narrow, V-shaped trenches. Except that these cuts couldn't just be smoothed over to close them.

"Let me go!" Sandy yelled, still struggling. Electricity was starting to play around her fingertips, but the men were wearing leather gloves. One of them put his hands over her eyes to keep Sandy from seeing a target to aim her attacks at. She tossed her head, trying to free herself.

Frank burst into the room. "What's going on!" he roared.

"She sat down with the weapon, sir," one of the men said, "right after the battle. For a moment she was just holding it, you know, so we didn't think anything of it. Then she started using the blade to cut into her arms. I could tell that it was hurting her, but... she just didn't seem to know what she was doing."

"Dammit, let me go!" Sandy repeated. The handler released her eyes as Frank examined her, and Sandy looked at him. "What is the problem! I was just fiddling around, now let me go!"

Frank stroked Sandy's hair. "Look, I know you're scared, but you're just going to have to trust me. I don't think you're in control of yourself right now. But everything will be fine, just as soon as I run a few tests."

He stepped away from her. "Take her to the cart. Make sure she can't get to any weapons or anything like that."

"What is the problem with everyone!" Sandy yelled, as she was dragged away. "I'm not even bleeding! What is the damned problem!"