Leave a review if you can and if you spot something that doesn't fit right, lemme know so I can fix it. ' Otherwise, have fun because Big Brother is watching and telling me if you read or not. Muahahahaha! (Though it is a rather disturbing thought don't you think? Meh, maybe it's just me...)

Chapter 5

Gibson had been returned, obviously freshly cleaned, and Nova had been sent out after another cat robot had finally tended to her arm. Her fight was just as gruesome if not more so as she was one to fight with her hands. Chiro had become ill at the sight and had tried to meditate in order to block out the sight and sound. Unfortunately, the sounds were so distracting that he had problems focusing. That and the image of Otto's face twisting with anger and hatred directed at him kept popping into his mind. He had no choice but to stop and he stood, pacing his cell. He looked at anything but the screens, refusing to acknowledge the image presented him. His Nova would never be so cruel as to-

His eyes had hit the screen just as Nova leapt onto another monkey creature and... ripped his head from his shoulders. As the lifeless body was dragged away and the head tossed aside, the yellow monkey lifted a fist to lick away the blood that was there. It was an image that would haunt Chiro for years to come in his night and day mares. He turned away sharply to see that the rest of his team were still laying immobile, though Sprx and Antauri's eyes would flicker blue and black occasionally. He frowned at this before sighing and regarding the door to his cell. When he had woken earlier he'd been pressed against the side of his cage, the bars pressing into his back. However, when he'd grabbed the cell door when Caesar was there... He ground his teeth together in thought for a moment before he realized what he was doing and stopped.

"Might as well check it out," he mumbled, reaching forward and grabbing a bar. He awoke to the sound of cell doors screeching closed and metal footsteps walking away. His entire body was in pain and he could detect the scent of something having been burned. Slowly opening his eyes he found that a tray of food had been placed near the front of the cell and he was laying in the back on his side. Obviously the door to his cell was electrified and he had, in a moment of 'genius', just fried himself. Again. One day, in the far future, this might be considered funny. For now however... it hurt like hell. As he managed to get to his knees, he realized (with no small amount of pain however) that his gloves were in tatters and his hands were what had been burned. Gingerly he reached up to feel his hair, only to find that it was completely sticking up on end. He sighed, wondering at what kind of picture he made before managing to stand and make it over to his meal.

He was not impressed. What sat on the tray before him as he plopped down was some kind of brownish lumpy... gunk... that reminded him of something he'd seen earlier on the screens. His stomach turned and he quickly grabbed the bottle of water that came with the 'meal' and the hardened block of what he could only assume had once been bread that sat off to the side. Pushing away the tray as far as he could without actually touching the cell door bars, Chiro turned to stare at the wall that made up the rear of his cage. He had noticed that Nova had returned and was laying on her side in her cell. She too had been freshly cleaned, and fortunately no one else had been taken. He sighed, thankful for this, and could only wonder what time it was and how long he'd knocked himself out for.

"I know, somewhere, somebody is laughing at me," he grumbled.

"Oh yes. We find you frying yourself is very hilarious," came a voice that made him cringe and turn to look over his shoulder slowly. Caesar was there, grinning toothily, his yellow eyes once again glowing in the torch light. Chiro glared at him before turning back around as his captor chuckled at him.

"Don't you have something better to do," he snapped, biting down into the hard bread viciously. Caesar snorted, turning to look in on Sprx and Antauri and frowning before rubbing his fat chin.

"I came to warn you Chiro. Tomorrow I will send the other three into the arena, as we were late in starting today," he said casually. "Not that you would have noticed. You slept through most of it." Chiro paused in his eating and tensed, the water bottle halfway to his mouth.

"What's that got to do with me?" His voice cracked, his mouth suddenly dry and he mentally winced. Caesar chuckled.

"You are a rare breed human. We haven't seen one of your kind in nearly a century, and never one with your... abilities. We were informed of your strength boy," the large boar explained. He grinned suddenly, his breath coming out in hot snorts from his nostrils. Chiro defiantly ignored the twin puffs that seemed to ruffle the hairs on the back of his neck, but found he was still frozen and unable to eat.

"So? You know I won't hurt my friends," he spat. Caesar glared at him.

"Yes. But will your friends think twice about hurting you," he asked softly. Chiro said nothing, his breath catching in his throat. Caesar nodded and smiled wickedly before turning and walking away slowly. "I hope you realize that they do know what they're doing. Who knows? Maybe they really like it!" As he disappeared from view, his laughter chilled Chiro to the bone. He sat in silence for a moment, trying to breath and gain the nerve to eat again.

Then, suddenly, it was as if a switch had been thrown and the entire monkey team came to life. The screeching and banging caught him so off guard that he dropped the bread and bottle, water dousing his entire cell. He threw his hands up, covering his ears, and hunched over with his eyes screwed tightly shut. He rocked himself back in forth in shuddering movements, whimpering.

"This isn't happening... This isn't happening... This isn't happening..."

Obviously there was only so much a fourteen-year-old could take.

TBC