(a/n): Well as promised, I'm updating as soon as possible. This chapter contains the match and some other surprises. Some of you might like these surprises other might think 'what the hell?' But it's all part of the plot and more of mischief. Enjoy this chapter because this one will really hit the gut.
Oh by the way. Due to the matches, this fic will soon be rated R. There are about five more chapters before the fic will be rated R.
Here are my thanks.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Ah, yes. I do apologize for this because it is my fault for not updating often. If I would have updated often the first chapters of this story wouldn't feel that far away. You are right. Zack Vicklair is a very old friend of Tanya's. He is her mentor, teacher, trainer, friend, and a father replacement. Zack means more than the world to Tanya because she looks at him more of father than a friend. He is basically the one who made all her dreams possible, such as avenging her father's death and getting out of the first Unreal Tournament. In this book he is helping her find Desssloch without getting involved with the tournament.
Dessloch is the one Tanya is looking for. He is her lover and best friend. He is her other half. Tanya believes that without him she won't survive and that there won't be any more reason to live. Phew. So does everything start to make sense? I really do apologize. Well in any case, I'm glad you've asked.
Dynamis: Yes. I haven't found one fan of Gorge just yet. Either Gorge has a gift of making people hate him or he gives of this radiance which just makes you want to kill him. I always make sure I practice on him along with my other hateful opponents. Well, this chapter is going to be a little bit violent. But don't worry lotsa blood is going to come soon. Hehehe. Lotsa blood.
Enjoy, everyone.
Chapter 11 -Hard Blow-"When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self." –Confucius
"How was it you said?" Boris asked me, "Let's rock?" I chuckled at his words and nodded, "Yeah, let's rock." All of us spawned in the station below the sea.
It wasn't much to my satisfaction to be spawned in front of my least favorite weapon, the Bio-Rifle, but I had no choice but to use it, for now. I grabbed it and jumped on the pad that took me straight to the upper catwalk. Flak dug into my armor as soon as my feet clattered the metallic walkway. Quickly, I rolled to my left before I managed to take a glimpse of my shooter. The corner of the wall in front of me blocked me from my view, and from his target; me.
Once again I cursed my luck to be stuck with this Bio-Rifle when I quickly thought of what to do. Maybe I disliked this weapon, but I can do some serious damage if I use it correctly. Its deadly acidic waste was more than enough to get rid of these good-for-nothing contestants.
I pressed and held down the trigger of my weapon, the oozing green substance filled up the glass container slowly with a slurping sound. Metal echoed the footsteps loud enough for me to hear and approximate the location of my pursuer. I leaped out into view and released the trigger.
The acid spurt out from my gun straight into Gorge's face, which he grabbed with a thunderous howl. His face was eaten away quickly and I have just received a frag. Commenting on his behalf was pointless; he had well gotten the message of what I wanted to say; eat that.
I dropped the nearly empty Bio-Rifle and ran for my best friend, the Flak Cannon. I continued further down the hall and ran into a more enclosed space with an edge to my left.
Before I jumped down, a rocket exploded beneath me, and I saw Wraith dodging off a wall as a blue beam missed him by an inch. It didn't take him long to notice me, but because he did look at me he couldn't dodge another blast from the mysterious shooter. The laser shot straight into his chest and he let out a painful, suppressed yell as he was forced out of my sights.
A voice chuckled, viciously, and in moments Gorge stepped up into view with his Shock Rifle. I didn't wait around for another chance to receive a frag. I leaned my body towards the edge and whistled at the oversized juggernaut. The minute he stopped to look at me, I fired a hot, sizzling ball of flak straight into him only to reach his remains after a well place rocket in his face. Must have been Wraith who stole my frag. That bastard.
Without wasting time, I jumped down to finish that bastard. He was struggling to get up with a clean hole in his chest. If I had some respect for the bastard, I would have let him go, but because in reality I despised him I had to finish him off.
He fired a missile into me which I dodged by hiding behind a wall to my right. Still had some fight in him left it seemed, but he won't be able to run away. I tried taking him by surprise by leaping out into view and firing a whole army of flak. But he managed to skip away towards my left.
Frustrated, I followed him into an open area with a narrow passage to the far right behind the columns that were around the lowered area where a Rocket Launcher just spawned. Blood stains colored the ground and lead to the lower floor and off to the left.
Before I jumped down, I was pushed down from the blast of a rocket behind me. The lift I landed on took me back up to where I was before. Wraith stood in front of me and kicked away my Flak Cannon before I had the chance to aim it. He grabbed my right hand quickly, forcing me away from the lift, as he raised it high in the air and forced it around my back. Before I knew it, he was standing behind me with two of my hands in his strong grasp and an assault rifle against my right temple.
"For an injured bastard you sure move fast," I said against my teeth.
"I take it as a compliment," he sounded like he was enjoying this. "An approval from Champion herself." Blood began to boil inside of me; was he going to humiliate me or just shoot me.
Our chitchat was invaded by a girl in an Egyptian suit by spawning near the Rocket Launcher below us. She definitely knew what she was doing when she went for the Launcher when Wraith aimed the Assault Rifle at the intruder. One shot was all that it took to put a bullet through her head. Her youthful eyes didn't close when the blood spit out from behind her head and she dropped to the floor.
I tried to pull out of his grip, but he was stronger than me, much stronger, and my attempts of getting out of his grip caused him to place the barrel back against my temple. Something caused him to turn around quickly and next thing I knew was that I was facing Boris with a Shock Rifle. I trusted Boris to have good accuracy so he could shoot the bastard behind me.
But before Boris managed to do anything, Wraith released me and pushed me towards Boris. A column of blue light escaped Boris' weapon when I ran to his side, and watched Wraith leap backwards and shooting off three metallic objects. When they hit the floor next to us I realized what it was. "Get down!" Was what I heard from Boris as he pushed me back into the hall where Gorge was blown to pieces.
The floor met my face and the three grenades exploded. I saw Wraith skip passed the hallway to my right and took a left turn. I jumped back to my feet, and before heading out to haunt the bastard I made sure Boris was in a good shape. He was by the way he leaped to his feet and blurted out an, "I'm fine."
Without wasting time, I reached for my Flak Cannon and ran after Wraith into the blue, square room. There was no blood trail to follow this time, but I guessed he ran up the catwalk on the opposite side from where I entered.
I ran into the open area below the catwalk onto the grates above some green substance that definitely looked lethal. A rocket zipped by behind me and crashed into the wall near the jumping pad. Surprised to see the Egyptian girl instead of Wraith when I turned around, I fell on my back when another rocket escaped her Launcher.
Aimed, shot, and missed my target when the clever Egyptian skirted away back down the catwalk to the right. It would have been suicide to follow her there. I for one do not like being in a close range combat with a Rocket Launcher held by a suicidal maniac. The catwalk it is then.
It was a surprise to see her follow me onto the catwalk. Strange. I was half expecting it and, yet, still I was surprised. I was forced to hug the floor with my back when she fired another rocket that flew above me. Before I got a chance to frag her, someone fired a single shot that buried through her forehead.
I whipped my head back to see the shooter and saw a hint of orange color escape to left of the passageway. It took less than an idiot to know who it was. I ran after Wraith once again, furious for what he took me for. Just when I'm about to earn a respectable frag, the bastard grabbed it under my nose. I'll show him, I thought. I ran out near the edge.
Before my feet got a chance to jump down I was forced to freeze as I felt a large weapon against my back.
"Ouch. That's a second time already." Wraith said behind me. "That would have given me a killing spree with four more frags to rampage." His voice was smooth and it killed me to admit that he said those words beautifully. Perhaps he was new to this planet, but he definitely was not new to the tournament. That would explain why he entered the matches so early.
I heard Boris' voice behind me say, "You sure are taking your lovely time." Then I heard the Shock Rifle release the energy. Wraith's weapon was moved from my back and I quickly turned around to hit Wraith in the face with my foot.
I missed as Wraith ducked under it. He quickly followed up by a good kick in Boris' rifle, which send it flying in the air, and delivered a spinning kick straight into the side of his head. I pulled my weapon to aim at him but after catching the weapon, Wraith quickly spun around Boris. He seemed so fast until I heard Boris fire a shot from his Assault Rifle.
Wraith froze in place with wide eyes. Blood slowly seeped out from the slit he had on his face from the bullet. It wasn't long when he decided to aim the Shock Rifle at Boris, but by then the two men were aiming at each other's faces. The only thing that prevented them from shooting were their thumbs that were held behind each of the enemy's trigger.
It was Boris' time to widen his eyes, but Wraith was the one who spoke, "How did you assume my position before I had a chance to move?"
"I have to ask you; where did you learn this technique?" Boris asked.
Before Wraith got a chance to answer, it was my turn. "Checkmate," I spoke out loud, my Flak Cannon against his skull. Wraith didn't dare to move an inch when his eyes diverted into mine. "Not so tough now, are you?" I asked.
At that moment, I could have laughed at how pathetic he looked with guns in his face. But I knew if I hesitate he would manage to get out of this situation. Then again, he was definitely faster than me.
He rounded a kick with his left leg against my weapon which made it smash into the wall when I pressed the trigger. The shrapnel only scratched his back and some even dug into the wall behind him. Boris quickly rammed him into those fragments and Wraith hissed from pain with his teeth clutched together.
I aimed at Wraith once again. This time I'll make sure he won't run from his death. But to my surprise, Boris let go of his weapon and pushed him hard into the floor making him roll towards the ledge. "Get out of here." Boris told him as he fired a beam right next to him. Wraith didn't hesitate as he rolled of the edge.
"What happened?" I asked and closed my mouth when I noticed it was hanging open.
"I—I don't know." Boris dropped his head. "I couldn't let him die like that."
Rage filled me up. "Well, you should have just let me shoot him. I wouldn't give a shit how he dies." I slammed the wall with my fist.
"You have really changed, Tanya." Boris surprised me. I have heard it before. Plenty of times have I heard Zack say the same thing. This time it has pierced my heart; it pierced right through it.
It was my turn to hang my head. Guilt took over me. I haven't just changed in my behavior. I just realized that I really wanted to kill Wraith. If I have pulled that trigger earlier or if he hadn't kicked it away, I would have killed him out of free will, out of anger. Have I really changed that much? Have I really become a monster? What have I become?
My knees dropped to the floor, uncontrollably. Shock had paralyzed my whole body. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. What was there to say? The tournament had really changed me; I had become its victim when I had promised that the tournament would never have any effect on me. I am big walking contradiction. Forgive me, Dessloch. Please, forgive me. I have forgotten why I was here in the first place.
The rest of the match seemed to be more horrific than it was before. I couldn't have killed anybody after what Boris had told me. I guess it would be fair to admit defeat because I haven't shot a single soul during that match again.
It felt like centuries after the bloody fight was over when I watched Wraith from the distance drop his minigun and collapse on the floor. "Wraith has won the match!" The announcer's voice echoed through my ears.
Defeat. I was defeated for the first time. But I was too shocked by Boris' words to care at that certain moment. I knew that I would get over about what Boris had said to me. That was when my rage about losing the match will come.
We all appeared in the full stadium of screaming fans. I looked at Boris and he had a sympathetic look on his face. He slipped his hand on my shoulder before quietly saying, "I'm sorry, Tanya. I didn't meant to—"
"—Don't worry about it," I interrupted him. "You were right back there. I was a fool to forget why I came here. All I should be caring about is finding Dessloch."
Boris gave me a final squeeze on my shoulder as an indication he understood.
Doctors came and ordered the guards to take us to the medical wing. We were all scanned and identified for any injuries. Most of the contestants were filed out after a quick scan. I was forced to remain among some of the unfortunates. Wraith was among those unfortunates, as well. Boris wasn't here to calm my fury.
Wraith's injuries were serious. The one that scared Veronica the most was the hole in his chest. "Lux, take care of the others please. This would take some time." I heard Veronica say.
A pale white skinned woman came over me. Her eyes were white and pupil-less and her black hair was tied back. She told me that I would be fine and that I just needed to let my shoulder heal from the wound and some burns would fade away in no time. After she was done dressing my wounds, I was allowed to stay in the medical area for a day. The hours went by quickly when I fell asleep, dreaming of my own Eden with just me and Dessloch.
I woke up the next morning with my limbs stiff. I set up in the medical berth and rubbed off the sleep from my eyes with my hands. The bruises from my wrists were nearly gone. That was a relief, I never ever want to see that place again. The place full of blood, screams, and drugs. That insane scientist—stop it! Shivers ran up my spine just thinking about it.
"At this rate, you will be feeling better in no time." I overheard Dr. Ross say to Wraith who was sitting up on a berth. He had dressings around his abdomen and chest. A small bandage covered the slit on his cheek. He seemed exhausted by the way his back was arched and his head suspended. His eyes were glued to the floor with absolutely no expression on his face. The doctor patted him on his shoulder and went off to other patients.
The sudden urge to come over next to the bastard and hit him in the face became unbearable. For some reason I wanted to blame him for everything I did wrong. Ever since he started to talk to me I went through Hell.
I slowly slid my legs down to the floor and stood up. My legs were fine and would hold my weight. But I wasn't sure if my neck would hold my head; it felt as heavy as Gorge looked.
Veronica quickly ran up to me while saying, "I need to sign you out, Tanya. You cannot just walk out of here. The guards will not allow you to walk freely around the halls. Liandri policy forbids you." She stopped me and forced me back to my berth. I gladly sat and let the weight of my head rest on the pillow. "Why do I feel so dizzy?" I rubbed the two of my temples with my fingers.
"After observing the arena conditions and attending to view the contestants' barbaric acts, I have come to a conclusion that such exposure to extreme levels of noise pollution would harm the eardrums of those exposed, temporarily, and cause pain to your head." She talked wise with me.
"Meaning that my head hurts because I got too close to a rocket's impact. Got it." I rubbed my eyes again. This conversation alone intensifies the pain in my head.
She sighed and walked to another patient after saying, "I will sign all of you out the same time." I blew a long breath out and decided to try to sit up again.
"I'm fine!" The patient screamed at the doctor, making heads turn. I slowly looked back at the familiar roar and, alas, there was that oversized juggernaut, Gorge, with a white pad over his left eye and a dressing around his head. Whoever had done this to him would consider staying away from Gorge a century if not a millennium.
"Don't make me sedate you." Veronica warned the big contestant after scanning the damage he had done to the medical table with his fist.
Gorge ignored the good doctor and hovered next to Wraith and punched him lightly on his wound. "How does that feel, you asshole?" He was standing in front of Wraith. A good guess would be that Wraith was responsible for that nice looking patch. It was time to duck and cover.
After realizing that Wraith wasn't paying attention, Gorge wrenched him by his throat. "Not so tough now, huh?"
My heart sank at hearing those words come out of that monster that held Wraith up. Those were the same exact words I said to him. I felt terrible.
"Put the patient down!" Veronica said as she cautiously held a syringe in her hand.
"I will." The harsh voice hissed. "After I break his neck." Gorge threw Wraith across the medical and he slammed against a berth. Wraith groaned from pain and slowly stood up only to sit on top of the berth.
Gorge didn't see Veronica coming as she slammed the syringe against his neck. He roared from anger and placed a fist into her face, which dropped her cold onto the floor.
"Veronica!" I screamed out her name and jumped off the berth to support her, suddenly the headache vanished. It seemed he displaced her jaw, but overall she was fine. I stood up to face Gorge. He was big, but I had no choice.
I took one of the emergency berths with wheels and pushed it against the back of his knees. He fell hard onto the berth and I pushed him with the bed into the wall. He flew into the wall face first with a loud groan.
Kicking the bed away, Gorge's eyes glowed with intense anger. "Trinity." He 'uglyfied' my name with his ugly voice and slowly came up towards me with knotted fists. Terrified, I stepped back. I knew I didn't stand a chance against him; he was three times my size and probably possessed three times my strength.
The giant seemed to enjoy the look in my eyes by the way he smiled. It wasn't long 'till his smile was smashed along with his face with someone's foot. Wraith jumped into the air and kicked him in the face again, which caused Gorge to shuffle back. I noticed red began to color Wraith's dressings.
Gorge threw himself at him, but hit the floor instead when Wraith moved away. The way Wraith grabbed his wound with pain in his eyes made Veronica scream, "Don't!" But it was too late when the juggernaut pulled Wraith off the floor by his foot and swung him into the wall. For the first time I heard Wraith cry out as he slammed into the wall. Gorge grabbed one of the surgical knives that was on the medical table and was ready to throw at the fallen soldier.
The ruckus was interrupted when a young Necris with a medical insignia on her coat stepped in with the doors sliding behind her. She yelped when a surgical knife flew her way and missed when it dug into the wall right next to her.
My hands quickly found some sort of blade on a table, and I grasped it with the point of the blade to the floor.
The girl quickly ran for the vidcom, screaming, "I need the closest squad here, now!!" Gorge went after her and before he placed a hit on her youthful face I dug the scalpel into his side. The hand that should have met with the girl's face grabbed his side, instead.
He swung at me and I ducked and skipped away. I finally realized that he was insane, literally. He was going crazy; hitting anything he saw or got in his way. Unfortunately it was that young doctor by the name Lux. She screamed when he raised both fists in the air. I ran towards him, trying to stop him from killing the poor girl.
There was a loud pulse sound and something burned through the air and rammed hard into Gorge's chest. He flew into a wall and crumbled to the floor. I saw Lostis aiming a pulse rifle at the fallen juggernaut with two men standing on either side of him. He had a deadly look on his face, and if looks could kill, Gorge would have been splattered into millions of pieces that you wouldn't be able to tell apart which used to be his brain or his skull.
Lostis looked at me and than at the girl. He helped her up from the floor and she threw her arms around him while screaming his name and sobbing. Poor girl must have only reached her twenties. Wait a minute…she knows Lostis?
Slowly Lostis pulled away from her and whispered something in his native tongue. In response she nodded and seemed to hold back her tears. The two guards came up to the juggernaut while Lostis helped Dr. Ross to stand on her feet.
"The situation is taken care off." Lostis said to his wristcom and holstered his weapon. He looked at me and asked, "You okay?" Perhaps I looked terrified if he asked me that question. I nodded quickly, still surprised that he was here. How long has it been since I had seen him.
The two soldiers slowly took the juggernaut away, but were stopped immediately by the Necris doctor. "Wait. You can't take him out of here. We need to operate on him. We can still save him!" She screamed as she stood in the path of the Liandri troops.
"He tried to kill you." Lostis said, coldly. "If he stays here he will try it again."
"I don't care! He needs surgery now!!" Lux screamed, still not letting the two men exit with the giant.
"I cannot allow that, doctor. General Eckelipse will not allow it." He came up to her. "Let it go, doctor."
"Space Eckelipse, this man needs surgery. If the General is so goddamn concerned about my safety he'd at least post guards in the medical not outside!" Lux wasn't near of backing down.
"Very well, I will consult with him." Lostis was just about to leave with the guards when the young girl stood in his way. "You are going no where. I will be the one to discuss this matter with Eckelipse. Until then, you are going to stay here and help me repair the damage you have caused." Somehow Lostis became the enemy. I didn't know why, but I had high respects for this doctor.
"Your men are going to help me guard medical and you are going to scrub, pronto, and be Nurse for a Day. I mean it." Her words caused Lostis' eyes to widen and mine, too. First time I heard anyone humiliate the all-serious-Lostis.
"I have no medical training." Lostis looked sore but sounded cold.
"You will as of now." Lux ordered the two men to put Gorge on the surgical table.
"The General will not allow this." Still trying to get himself out of this. This was too comical.
"The General could go feed himself to the Skaarj." She said and pushed him into the lavatory. "Come on Nurse Lostis. Welcome to surgery 101." Was the last thing I heard before me and Wraith were taken out of the medical and back into the cave.
When the two of us entered into the cave without a word, Wraith went over to his usual place with the redhead and the woman next to him. Romulus didn't greet me as happily as before. Judging by the way Boris was sleeping and standing against the wall with his head down told me that Romulus knew that the match didn't go so well.
I came over to Romulus and slid my back against the wall. "Hey." I told him in a not too happy voice. "Hey." He echoed back and sat down next to me. "I heard what happened." His voice was low and sympathetic. "Don't worry." He nudged me on my shoulder. "There's always such thing as a rematch." I knew he tried to cheer me up, but it wasn't helping.
"That was the last match before the teams are formed." I said bitterly. "And that was the qualification round. I lost in a qualification round," That last part was what I still couldn't factor in my mind. I wasn't sure if I heard myself right, either. Perhaps I was angry with myself. After all, I was the former champion of this damned tournament and here I see myself losing in the beginners' round.
"That's still okay." Romulus shook me. "As long as you won other matches you'd still be in the tournament. It's just that you won't become a leader." He studied my expression. My mood had gone from bad to worst.
"Oh…" Cheerfulness vanished from his voice. "You wanted to be a leader." He inclined his head slowly. From then on he didn't bother me. He understood what I meant.
I for one, am not the following orders type, and whatever jerk will ask me to join will have his ass kicked. And I am serious.
(a/n:) That's all for now folks! The next chapter will be updated next saturday. I promise. And if you are wondering how will she treat the bastard now, you'll all find out. If you thought she treated him bad wait 'till you see the next chapters.