Chapter 25: Aint over till its over
Vaughn slowly walked towards the broken champion. He had his hands up as a precaution, but didn't think that there could be much threat from a man with a shattered arm. He got in fairly close as Rhal continued to fight in a partial version of his stance. The champion moved back a little as Vaughn closed in, a trap. Vaughn got closer, and all he saw was something coming up at him, then the ceiling. He lay on his back stunned for a moment, then rolled backwards to his feet, to see Rhal; leg still fully extended in the air. A sick grin stretched from ear to ear on the champion as he let his leg down to normal. Vaughn's head spun and he had trouble staying up at first. Blood dripped down into his left eye from a gash the kick left on his forehead. "You kick a lot harder than you punch..." Vaughn said to a blurry Rhal. "Heh heh heh, da ooman gonna find out why Rhal da champion, right here and now mon!" Blood and spit flew from the champion's mouth as he yelled. Vaughn fought off the dizziness and raised his guard. "So I guess it ends here then?" "Dat sound good to Rhal mon" Rhal smiled through a bloody grin as he slowly made his way toward Vaughn.
Vaughn kept on guard, never even blinking. Rhal's legs shot out one then the other, over and over again. Each powerful strike clubbing against Vaughn's body. His arms, his sides his own legs. He was beat back and forth across the arena like a rag doll. The kicks were fast and hard, he could barely see them coming, and it felt like he was getting hit with a bat every time one landed. It was all Vaughn could do to keep his head covered up. A particularly strong straight kick to his chest sent him sprawling to the ground. He landed on his stomach, and rolled to the side just in time to miss Rhal stomping down hard where his head had just been. Vaughn grunted at the pain that arose from his chest. He could feel the broken ribs that were the result of the last powerful kick. He coughed hard and blood came out onto the ground. Rhal laughed and raised his leg into the air to stomp down again. Vaughn ignored his pain and swung his legs around, sweeping away Rhal's now off balance stance. The champion fell to the ground with a hard thud, landing flat on his back. Vaughn rolled over on top of him, sitting up and clenching his fists tight. The synthetic man began punching the downed champion in the face, over and over. The crowd roared as Vaughn's arms churned like two mighty pistons, blood followed his hands up as he brought back each punch. Vaughn let out a primal scream as he continued to pound away at the defenseless fighter. More blood splattered up onto Vaughn and covered his hands; it ran from his gauntlets and dripped from the razor wire. Vaughn stopped punching and breathing heavily, held up one bloody fist to the crowd. More cheers erupted down into the arena.
The synthetic man looked down at the mangled bloody heap of flesh that used to be Rhal's face. He sat still there on top of the champion of a few more seconds, glad that this brutal braw was now over. But then one horribly bloodshot eye shot open amidst the destroyed face, and a deep gurgling bubbled out of his throat. "What the hell?!" Vaughn shouted with surprise as Rhal's legs reached up from behind him and wrapped themselves around his neck. Vaughn was thrown backwards and off of Rhal. he landed on his back, and for a second couldn't even tell what had happened. The roar of the crowd had been cut off in mid stream, and now sixty thousand strong stood silent. Wave after wave of pain flowed over Vaughn as he lay on the ground, grimacing from his broken ribs. Not to mention the thousands of small wounds all over his body. He rolled to his stomach and slowly and painfully stood to his feet. Vaughn turned to see what was left of Rhal, now standing motionless, arms limp and head hanging from his shoulders like a dead man's. His one remaining eye staring a hole straight through Vaughn. More gurgling came from Rhal's throat as blood gushed out of his mouth. He started a slow and zombie-like walk towards Vaughn. he picked up some speed with every step, never gaining much though. Vaughn stood there, looking at the champion with awe. "Why wont you just freaking die already?!" Vaughn screamed at the half charging champ. The synthetic man clenched his fist and his knuckles cracked. He gritted his teeth and waited for the other fighter to reach him. Rhal came at him without style, without even an attack, simply the instinct to fight on. Vaughn swung with a hard right, which stopped Rhal dead in his tracks, and sent him stumbling backwards. Teeth fell from the now shattered jaw of the champion, but it didn't seem to affect him. He once again began to stagger forward. Vaughn pulled his arm back for once last punch. "Its over now Rhal! just walk away now, and you may make it here again." But forward the dead man came. Vaughn let loose his punch, a punch that drained him of his last little bit of energy, and a punch that he collapsed after throwing. It was also a punch that connected firmly with the side of Rhal's head, shattering the eye socket, and scrambling his brains to mush. The champion let out one last moan as he fell limply to the ground at the same time Vaughn did. The crowd exploded with deafening cheers as Vaughn slowly stood to his feet. He looked out over them, almost all were Yautja, and they were cheering for him. His flesh hung from his body as he stumbled back to the waiting room. Ka'jeal stood ecstatically waiting for him, the new champion of the games.
There was a victory ceremony after the championship. Vaughn stood in the arena, surrounded by the arbiter's clan members and the arbiter himself. The crowd cheered and Vaughn was awarded with spear. It was big and gaudy, covered in blades and jewels, something that really wasn't meant for use. He accepted it as humble as he could, which surprised just about everyone there since he had showboated in the tournament. He didn't do it because of the council member though. He couldn't bring himself to be very happy about this victory, something kept bugging him. He couldn't figure out why the Yautja were so happy now. They seemed to be very honor based, yet finishing off a man that was in no condition to fight didn't strike Vaughn as honorable, and that is what he had done. He erased this from his mind when they all left this grand city of Yautja and retreated to their ship. A party ensued, one that was kind of an initiation for Vaughn. Many things had changed in Vaughn's life over the course of it, things that most people couldn't dream of. But his life was now with the Yautja, and that was his decision, to stay with them.