Me again! At last I am free of the drudgery of high school. NExt up, the drudgery of university. Graduation was a blast! Would you believe that one of our valedictorians (we had 2) went through the entire grad sans pants? He took them off in the library before the ceremony next to the political science section. Ja ne! --Lady PhoenixDagger *//.^*

*****

Once we were feared.

Darien's fist blocked off a leg as it scythed towards his face. Almost nonchalantly, he pushed it away, shoving the other Fighter off balance and sending him spiralling to the ground. Around them the crowd screamed and roared in sick glee as Darien's opponent, a lithe, light man with shocking green eyes, sprung to his feet. Darien sighed and got into an easy defensive stance, knowing the fight would be over far before the five-minute time limit was up. Of all the fighters that had entered, only the Alayran's Keep fighters were still in the running. They now had only four fights left until the tournament's final decision was made and by the look of it, it would not be difficult.

Now we are mocked with pathetic challengers.

A massive wave of feedback from the speaker system above their heads caused Darien and his opponent to pause. There came the sound of a man clearing his throat too close to the mic. "LAADIEEEEEZ AND GENTLEMEN, THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE IN OPPONENTS!"

Darien blinked. A change? In the middle of a match?

Darien's opponent seemed equally confused, but still he backed off, being smart enough to know that Black Hood still watched his every move. The black haired man didn't move from his defensive pose, even as his opponent left the Ring through the huge vaulted tunnel.

A deafening scream tore through the relative quiet in the Ring, causing Darien's muscles to snap taut. Neither man nor animal awaited him past the mouth of the tunnel. Around him the crowd began to murmur in alarm. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

You wanted a Ring match, Darien noted, almost self-satisfied with this sudden change. Welcome to the real thing.

Another scream met the last, this one shrill and scared and frantic. From the doorway, a bloody Fighter's hand hit the ground and bounced, slapping wetly onto Darien's foot.

Eyes like the mouth of Hell blazed at Darien as his new opponent came into view. The crowd grew silent a moment before bursting into screams and shrieks as the behemoth let itself be revealed by the artificial light. It was once a man, perhaps, but now it stood before the crowds as a ten-foot monster, clawed and fanged and hairless, a mockery of what was once merely human. The thing was totally nude, its slimy grey flanks gleaming wetly in the light of the false Ring. Its carmine eyes were bulbous and bore no pupils but still it gazed at Darien with the primal understanding of a hunter. Darien felt a bitter smile slide easily to his face as he "heard" Walker scream curses through their mental bond.

It looked like Black Hood was finally putting out the big guns.

"LADIEEEEZ AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING… THE BLACK HEAVEN PROJECT!" The announcer seemed pleased to hear the ringing murmurs in the crowd as the Black Hood freak regarded them, still chewing one of the choicer portions of the previous fighter. Behind it, a cleaning crew was already mopping up the mess in the tunnel under a shroud of dim light.

Darien grinned fully this time as his opponent made its way to the centre of the Ring.

Let the games begin.

*****

Back up in the box seats, Mira and the wizards were staring in shock at the behemoth as it advanced on the comparatively tiny man. The clicking of Zach's rosary beads quickened with each lumbering pace while beside him, desperate prayers were mumbled in hurried Hebrew.

*****

"FIRRST BLOOD TO THE BLACK HEAVEN PROJECT!"

Darien clamped a hand over the gash lacing his bicep and backed off, waiting for it to heal over. The Black Heaven Project followed, its taste for blood now piqued, and lunged, using its massive weight to deal a crushing blow.

The crowd roared as Darien leapt forward, towards his foe, and raced up the monster's slimy back. Metal claws flashed quicksilver in the light as Darien allowed himself one backwards slash before dismounting with a graceful spin. The monster howled and spun, flinging streamers of blood around the arena. Darien slashed again, this time catching the monster's chest as it came around and again as it turned to face him.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE DARIEN BROMAN'S GOTTEN IN A GOOD, SOLID FIRST BLOOD FOR HIMSELF!"

Damn straight.

The Black Heaven Project's eyes were almost phosphorescent with rage now, while Darien skittered around the Ring, laughing. Sweat stung his eyes but his muscles cried for the morbid joy of coming in for the kill. The roar of the crowd was intoxicating, a mix of jeers and laughter and absolute horror as Darien skipped in and out, slashing tiny bit after tiny bit out the monster's face and chest.

Another more effective lunge left Darien in a poor position, down on one knee, his palm against a claw-slash scoured into his side. The Black Heaven Project snarled in triumph and lunged, catlike, into the air.

Caught in a desperate situation, Darien's mind reverted to his original Black Hood training. Bracing himself, he stabbed his fully-clawed free hand into the air, just as the Black Heaven Project was coming down.

*****

"What in the Hell was that?!" Talon was on his feet, his face pressed against the glass of the box seat. Mira and the other wizards were crowded against the glass as well, watching open-mouthed as the corpse of the Black Heaven Project was passionlessly gathered up and swiftly borne away. The stands were emptying as people made mad dashes for the parking lot, or perhaps the washrooms to void their stomachs of the oily treats that were previously being sold at the door.

Mira put her back to the glass and leaned heavily against it. "One of Darien's signature moves. Normally it's accompanied by a forward slash to completely disembowel the victim, but I guess he's not feeling fancy today."

"Oh, God." Zach sat heavily down, his mind still chewing the idea of his grandson being such a skilled killer.

Mira sat next to him. "What can I say?" The telepath smiled bitterly at him. "Black Hood always makes sure freaks can get the job done."

*****

Ja ne! --Lady PhoenixDagger *//.^*