191. The Earth Must Bleed part 6
"Nnnnnnnnnngh!" Bushido charged across the cage. Both hands gripping the long, wooden stalk to his naginata. The blade at the end curved out like the end of a broad katana and glistened in the arena light filtering down through the bars. SWIIIISH! The blade jabbed forward and slashed up.
Hull ran, pivoted his body, and spun his sword around the circular hilt.
SHVVVVVVV!
It came at Bushido like a buzz saw.
The oriental combatant twisted his naginata to the side.
CL-CL-CLANK! It batted away the spinning sword of Hull with a shower of sparks.
The awkward, spinning impact of metal-on-metal shoved Bushido aside with his weapon.
Hull kept his feet planted on the ground. He twisted his spinning blade down in a snake curve, knelt low, locked the sword into place—SHVVVV-CLACK!—and swung it up like a regular scimitar towards Bushido's head.
SLASSSH!
Bushido spun and twisted his naginata, blocking Hull's swing in reverse. CLANG! Metal met metal. Grinding to a halt. Bushido gritted his teeth and kicked backwards. "NNNGH!"
Thwap!
A kneeling Hull took a boot to the breast and fell flat on his back.
Bushido spun his whole body around, nimbly twirled the staff and its blade in his hand, and then brought it swinging down onto the other newcomer's body.
Hull's fingers twitched. His sword disappeared in a flash of silver light as rolled to the side.
CLANK! Bushido's naginata scraped the metal slabs where Hull once was.
Hull jumped to his feet, flicked his wrists, and—Fl-Flash! A pistol materialized in each of his hands with a silver aura. He aimed both at Bushido and fired repeatedly—BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
Bushido held his breath, jumped back, and twirled the naginata over his frame like a fan. Somehow the twirling blade managed to block or defect every shot. He backflipped, impacted the metal bars of the cage, reached a free hand to his back, grabbed the hilt of a katana, and shoved off. FWOOOSH! He dove horizontally at Hull with an outswing of his unsheathed katana. CHIIIIING!
Hull stood back and instantly raised his pistols in front of him, one on top of the other. In a silver strobe, they disappeared and a metal staff was in their place…effortlessly fitted into the combatant's strategically placed fingers.
CLANG! Bushido's blade was struck back just inches from Hull's face.
Hull glared and shoved forward.
THWAP!
Bushido landed completely. He stepped back with his naginata gripped in one hand and the katana in another. He paced opposite of Hull with quick, mongoose-like footwork. His almond eyes glaring. Sweat running down his brow.
Hull was immaculate. No sweat. No panting. No sign of wear or tear. He glared at Bushido the entire time. His stone-blue eyes locked on his opponent's. His staff firmly in his grasp.
The crowd cheered around the two cages. Gamblers waved and screamed. Other viewers stopped their feet into the floors between the seats.
Lights glared and speakers boomed.
"You are a fearless warrior…," Bushido murmured. "I can sense it. But I can also sense….that you have a lot of blood on your hands." His asian eyes narrowed. "Tell me….does this violent spectacle please you?"
"Shut up an die." Hull twirled the staff, coiled back, and sprang forward with a heavy jab.
CHIIIIIING! Bushido grinded his katana along the staff and shoved towards Hull.
Hull jerked his dark head aside before he could so much as have an ear lopped off by Bushido's singing blade.
The oriental combatant swiftly jerked his katana back, spun, and swung his naginata down low. SWIIIISH!
Hull leapt up in the air, 'stepped off' the metal bars to his side, twirled, and came down on Bushido. And as he did so, the metal staff silverishly turned back into his exotic blade. Spinning. SHVVVVVV!
Bushido rolled out of the way, but not quickly enough—SLIINK!
"Nnngh!" he winced, hobbling up to his feet and leaning to his side. A thin wound in his right shoulder leapt blood down his arm to the wooden part of the staff he was holding. He panted…teeth grit in pain.
SHVVVVvvv-CLACK! Hull's sword locked into place and he held it high in a pose. His leather jacket and waist-chains settling. A deep breath through his nostrils. And he glared.
Glared…
Cheers.
Boos too.
Murmurs and mutterings of tension.
The lights converged.
Bushido took a deep breath. His legs repositioned over the metal floor. His grip on the katana and naginata staff tightened. After a slight cracking of the neck and shoulder joints-
SWOOOOSH! He came on the attack. He let out a cry, ran, jumped, and spun down at Hull with both blades—long and longer—spinning.
Hull's iron legs braced themselves and he held his sword out horizontally.
CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANK! Sparks of impact.
Hull shoved and swung high. SWIIISH!
Bushido ducked and slid his leg out.
Hull tripped-
"Nnngh!" Bushido jabbed with the naginata.
Hull shoved the extended blade away with his sword. He sprung his legs up.
Bushido slashed down at his middle with the katana.
Hull jumped up, leapt the swing, landed, and swung his blade low.
CLACK! It forced Bushido's katana into the ground.
"!" Bushido tried to pull back, but he was stuck in a yucky position with his grip on the katana's hilt.
Hull released one hand from his circular grip and the silver tips of his fingers started to spark.
Before the young man could produce a pistol or something, Bushido jabbed the naginata straight at Hull's face.
CLAMP! Hull's fingers nimbly grabbed the flat sides of the blade and—
FLASH!
In a flicker of silver light, Bushido's entire blade disappeared. Tiny specks like faerie light danced between Hull's fingers and was gone.
Bushido gasped.
WHAP!
Hull kicked him off the ground and let go of his katana with his sword.
But Bushido was shaking all over. He uttered: "My family weapon!" He pointed where the naginata was gone. "My mother's soul is in that!"
"She's on loan!" Hull glared back.
Bushido gritted his teeth. CHIIIIING! He pulled a second katana out in his right hand. He spat something in a foreign tongue, crossed both blades in front of his face, and charged at his opponent. "Nnnngh!"
Hull gripped his circular blade with two hands and started the blade-spinning process. SHVVVVVVVV!
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Bushido jabbed, spun, swung, slashed, and lunged with his whole body spinning and both katanas wailing through the air straight at Hull's torso.
Hull merely held the buzz-saw of a blade out, twisting it just right here and there to ward off the double attack on all sides.
SHVVVVVVV!
CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANK! CLANG! WH-WHANG!
Bushido took a gamble by stretching his grips on the katanas as far out to the lateral sides as he could and digging towards the opposite ribs of Hull.
Hull's blade couldn't possibly stretch to both sides at once. So he vanished it with a flick of his wrists, shot both his arms out to the left and the right, and produced a metal pistol in each. F-FLASH!
CLANG! CLANG!
The metal pistols stopped both swords.
Hull gritted his teeth and lifted a blue-jean leg.
WHAP!
He shoved Bushido back and immediately aimed the two gun barrels at him. BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
Bushido jumped back, twirled, avoided the bullets, and landed in a reverse slide. He sheathed one katana, reached into a side pouch, and produced a fan of shuriken. He let out a shout and flung all three throwing stars in a heartbeat.
SW-SW-SWIIIIIIIIISH!
Hull vanished the guns, brought his hands together, knelt, and met the shurikens at the point of impact.
FL-FL-FLASH!
They vanished into silver light where his fingers haloed.
Bushido blinked.
Hull glared. He cracked his knuckles, uncurled them, and-
FL-FL-FLASH! SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH! Shot the same exact shuriken—materialized—back at the warrior.
Bushido leapt and rolled out of the way.
CL-CLANK! THUNK! One stuck in his ankle.
"Augh!" he winced, hobbling up on his feet.
A padding of black boots.
Bushido looked up, sweating.
Hull charged at him in a curve. His hands were dragging behind him. The fingers curled together. FLASH! The sword reappeared, already buzzing and spinning the blade right at Bushido's forehead.
SHVVVVVVVVVVV!
Bushido hobbled to the side, twirled, and brought his one katana at Hull's cranium.
Hull easily blocked with his blade locked—CLACK!—and brought his leg up again.
WHAP!
Bushido slammed back into the metal cage.
Hull charged.
Bushido weakly brought his katana up again-
Hull's blade spun. SHVVVVV!
CRAAAACK!
Bushido's katana shattered. And the shards went sailing….all over his torso.
He jolted. His eyes wide.
A gasp from the crowd. A beat. And then a bloodlusting cheer.
"Snkkkkt….," Bushido wheezed as pain wracked through his lungs and blood oozed out of his vest.
"……," Hull glared.
Bushido slumped to his knees. Blood was trickling down his arms, wrists, and fingers. It mixed with the sweat and rippled from his panting.
Roars and lights.
Hull disappeared his blade. His fingers tingled with silver as he slowly brought them down—staring into Bushido's face the whole time—and produced one pistol. Cl-Click. He pointed it square into the oriental warrior's forehead.
Chanting.
Stomping feet.
Bushido panted, swallowed, and struggled wheezingly to say: "You…h-have fought…well. I am….h-honored…to die….at y-y-your h-hands…."
Hull inhaled.
"Whatever…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
BANG!
I, Wildebeest, and a few other fighters in the shaded alcove wince.
A thunderous round of applause and cheers soar out from all sides of the arena.
"WINNER! HULL!"
I looked across the arena.
I could see Jacob Anderson standing in his burgundy robe. Clapping. Smiling…..wide…..
I took a deep breath.
I looked back into the fighting cage.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Bushido's body lay amidst a carpet of red brain matter and skull fragments.
Hull disappeared the pistol.
With a flick of his wrist, a silver pulse flashed. He produced Bushido's naginata.
THWOOSH!
Clank!
He tossed it down onto the corpse.
"Your mother loves you….," he droned.
And turned.
And walked out of the cage.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I bit my lip.
It was just there and then that I realized…
The Messenger was gone.
"?" I looked around feverishly.
No sign of my raving friend.
Then….in my ear….
The tiny, crackling speaker.
"Snkkkkttt……"
I fingered my ear with a metal hand.
Blinking my black, shaded eyes.
"Snkkkt……looking for me, Noir?"
"……."
"No worries. I'm back at my post. Don't blame me a bit after seeing that guy."
I took a deep breath.
"I think you're going to need all the help I can give you from my coaching roost……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"WYLDECARDE versus EMPRESS!"
Th-Th-Thwish! Empress spun to a stop, balanced like a ballet dancer on one foot. She smirked across the cage, lifted two fans of knives in front of her face, blew a kiss, and tossed them at me. SWIIIIIIIIIISH!
I swung Myrkblade up in one smoking blur. CL-CL-CLANG! The blades deflected all around me. I held the blade up and ran towards her.
Empress merely spun with a wave of her ponytail and—THFFF! She disappeared.
I skidded to a stop.
Gritting my teeth.
Oh yeah. Right.
'Behind you, sharpy!'
I spun-
THFFFF! Empress materialized with a fist in my face.
SMACK!
My goggles stung into my face as I stumbled back.
People cheered and groaned at the same time.
Empress twirled, knelt, and tossed knife after knife at me. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
I knelt as well and twirled Myrkblade to block and deflect. Clang! Clang! Clang!
She dove at me with a sharp breath.
I leaned back.
THWAP! I kick-vaulted her off me.
She twirled nimbly in the air, flipped, and flew backwards. As she descended, she tossed a razor-sharp discus at my skull.
SWIIIIIIISH!
I gritted my teeth.
I rolled out of way-
CLAAAANK! The discus slammed into the metal slab floor where I just was. Sparks flew. It bounced up towards the opposite of the cage.
I stumbled up to my feet.
CLANKKKK! The discus bounced off the bars and soared back at me.
"!" I blurred my upper body.
SWOOOOOSH! The discus swam through me.
I materialized with a shudder.
CLLLANK! The discus bounced off the ceiling, ricocheted off the bars, and soared down at me once more.
I desperately, madly blocked with Myrkblade jabbing down behind my shoulders.
CLANG!
I shattered the discus into a dozen shards with my smoke-encased weapon.
THFFF!
Empress suddenly materialized besides my distracted body, twirled like a figure skater, and slammed a foot across the square of my back.
THWAP!
I tumbled and slumped against the metal bars, wincing.
"Hehehehehehe," Empress folded her arms and nimbly posed with knife points peaking out from between her fingers. She basked in the arena light and the cheers of the bloodthirsty audience. "You're a terrible dancer. I can tell. You're a loss at leading."
I took a deep breath.
'Man, she's TOTALLY flirting with you. Heheheheh.'
I smirked.
Then maybe I should flirt back.
CHIIIING! She stuck a pose, two fans of knives appearing. A coy smile across her dark features. "Give up?"
I turned to face her. I twirled Myrkblade. TH-TH-TH-THWISH! I held the sword in one hand and gestured with hooked fingers with my other as if to say: 'Can I have the pleasure?'
"Suit yourself," Empress smirked. She spun, danced, and flung fan after fan of knives.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!
I summoned Murk, concentrated, and—FLASH! I teleported.
She frowned, grunted, and also disappeared—THFF!
Two seconds of obscurity.
The audience held their breath.
The lights faltered….
THFFF!
Empress materialized in the corner of the cage.
She blinked.
I wasn't there.
"Huh?" she murmured.
A swift, bursting cloud of murk shifted up and came to a stop above her.
FWOOOOSH! I materialized over her head, clinging to the metal bars of the cage. I thwapped the top of her head with Myrkblade. SLAP!
"Ack!" she snarled and flung two blades up at me. SWIIIISH!
FLASH! I teleported down.
CLANK! The knives struck the ceiling.
Empress bit her lip.
FLASH! I materialized to her side, gripping her right arm.
"Nnnghh!" she frowned, produced a dagger in her left hand, and jabbed at me.
FLASH! I morphed into smoke form, swam along her shoulders, spiraled aroundher right arm, and materialized on the other of her with my metal hand gripping her wrist.
And I squeezed.
"OWWWWWIE!" Empress squealed. She gritted her teeth and swung her elbow into my face-
FLASH! I disappeared, then reappeared with shifting smoke behind her.
WHUMP! I grabbed onto the metal cage wall behind me and struck her butt with two solid boots.
"Duaaah!" she stumbled forward.
I jumped down, blurred six feet, and ended with a heavy upswing of Myrkblade.
THWACK!
The blow from behind sent her literally tumbling head over heels and collapsing against the metal bars of the far side of the cage. WHAM! "Ohhhhh…."
Cheers.
A laughing announcer's voice.
I panted…panted…panted….
Smoke danced all around me as I remained standing, pointing Myrkblade at her downed figure.
'Hehehehe. Check it out! The Empress' new concussion!'
I smirked.
"Nnnngh!" Empress stumbled up to her feet, her chocolate ponytail in a tangle and her outfit torn in a few places. She sneered at me. "This your idea of how to treat a lady!"
'Think we're gonna fight some ladies anytime soon, Noir?'
I chuckled.
'I'm at a loss. Think Beast Boy can fly over here?'
I chuckled even more.
"What's so blasted funny!" Empress snarled. CHIIING! She produced more daggers than I thought a human being could hold. "I'm going to tear that smile off your face!"
I cleared my throat and held Myrkblade at ready.
Do what you want with my mouth. Not like I use it.
"Nnnghhh!" Empress ran at me and teleported in mid jump.
'Now, Noir! Myrking FWAH!'
I blinked.
Uh………yeah.
FLASH!
We streaked at each other in incorporeal madness….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"HULL versus THUNDER!"
SHVVVVVVVVVVV-Clack! Hull's blade locked into position as he paced around another newcomer. His blue eyes narrowed.
A blonde, full-figured young woman strutted across from him. Clad in a tight, tight jumpsuit of converging black, orange, and indigo bands. She smirked and tossed her blonde yellow hair as her eyes thinned at the opponent across from him. "You know….you're as handsome as you are homicidal. That sword of yours the only thing that vibrates?"
"…….," Hull merely glared.
"Hmmm. The quiet type," she winked as the crowd urged them on all around. She raised her fists. Standing tall and firm. "Eager to rip off more than either of us can chew?"
"Only the parts that talk," Hull droned.
"Hehehehe…..well…take your best shot, killer," Thunder expressed something strung up halfway between a frown and a grin. "I hope you don't mind if I put my foot down…." That said, she lifted her knee, tightened her muscles, and-
SWOOOOOSH—STOMP!
The entire arena shook. The cage rattled. Lights flickered and hundreds of audience members gasped as a steady quake branched out from Thunder's foot and cracked some of the metal slabs under Hull's feet.
"Nnngh!" he gritted his teeth, slipped, and fell from the vibrations.
STOMP!
More shaking.
Hull struggled to get up.
"Heh heh heh…," Thunder grinned and got into a crouching position. "Ooops! I just put on some weight! More like…three thousand pounds of it! Nnnngh!" STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP!
She roared in a charge towards Hull.
The newcomer barely had the chance to get up-
THWACK! A foot with the impact of a metric-ton slammed into his chest.
He flew back and crashed mercilessly into the side of the metal cage. WHANG!
She hissed, flexed her muscles, and charged towards him. Her thin-looking legs making paradoxical dents in the floor as she came closer and closer. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
She swung a heavy fist hot with friction. "NNNGH!" SWOOOOOSH!
Hull ducked.
CLANG!
The blonde's fist slammed into the bars of the cage, denting them outward.
Hull held his breath, rolled forward, jumped up to his feet, slid across the metal floor, twirled, and replaced his sword—FLASH—with a shotgun. Chtung—BLAM!
Thunder swiftly reached down. She increased the density in her limbs, gritted her teeth, and—CRKKKK!—lifted a panel of metal slabs up to block the shotgun spread like a shield.
CLANK!
She then lifted the metal slabs entirely, spun around, swung them, and launched them with a loud shout. "RRRRRGHHH!"
SWOOOOSH!
Hull ran, leapt, vaulted over the mid-air slabs, and came down on the other side with his staff replacing his shotgun in full, silver swing.
SWOOOOSH!
Thunder smirked and merely lifted a forearm.
CRACK!
Hull's staff split in two.
"…..," Hull stood, holding two severed clubs.
"I'm sorry," the blonde giggled. "Did I break your stick?"
THWACK! Both broken pieces jammed hard into her hips.
"AAAAUGH!" she twitched and convulsed in pain. She yanked the tiny clubs out and clutched tiny, bleeding wounds. Teeth clenching.
Due to her extra density, they only went about skin deep. But they were at the pressure points.
The pain…..
Thunder winced all over.
"I'm sorry…," Hull droned. "Did I break your ovaries?"
The woman growled. "Nobody….NOBODY screws with me!"
Hull waved. "I can see that."
"Nnnnghh!" she charged. Producing thunder with each footstep. Like a mammoth howling through the scurrying of a field mouth. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
The arena shook. The cage buckled.
Hull stood his ground. A familiar blade reappearing in silver light.
SHVVVVVVV!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"WILDEBEEST versus PANTHA!"
"RAWWWWRRR!" the she-cat leapt with a snarl.
Wildebeest growled and blocked with a meaty forearm.
THWAP!
Pantha grabbed onto his wrist, swung on it like a handlebar, and kicked Wildebeest upside the helmet with a pair of sharp cat-feet.
THWACK!
Wildebeest stumbled back.
Pantha landed on the floor, hissed, ran up a metal wall of bars, clung onto the ceiling, leapt off, and then flew in a rolling 'cannonball' into the small of Wildebeest's back.
WHAM!
The horned combatant's white eyes widened as he teetered over-
WHAM!
He landed snout first.
Growling, he turned over-
THWAP!
Pantha landed on top of his chest.
"…….," he blinked at her.
"……..," she smirked down at him. Fangs showing. She gave his crown a lick.
The audience laughed.
Wildebeest's face went red. Steam came out his nostrils. CLAMP! A meaty fist closed around Pantha's face.
"MMMMMFFFF!" she struggled and clawed and kicked her feet like a cat under a blanket.
Wildebeest snorted, hoisted Pantha up as he stood on his feet, and slammed her down like a palmed basketball into the metal slabs.
WHAM!
Again, into the bars on the side.
WHANG!
He snarled, raised her high, and prepared to crush her into the ground-
Pantha bit onto his ring finger.
"!" Wildebeest wailed, dropped her, and gripped his hand.
On the fall, Pantha gripped ahold of his horns, swung her legs down, and poked his two eyes with her heels.
THWACK!
Wildebeest mooed in pain and stumbled back into the bars. CLANG!
Pantha dropped down and spun around in circles, giggling. Purring, giggling some more.
More laughter from the audience.
Some groaning too.
"Heheheheheh! Somebody get them a sandbox!"
Wildebeest's fists clenched.
"Rawwwwr!" Pantha hopped up and down. She smirked and winked under her mask. "You're holding back…"
"….," Wildebeest frowned. He reached behind him and gripped a bar of the cage. CRKKKKK-CRACK! He ripped it loose and held it like a huge, titanium newspaper bundle.
"….," Pantha blinked. "Rowr….then again—"
THWACK!
The she-cat ragdolled across the cage like a wet sack of kittens. She sounded like one too.
Wildebeest, holding a now-bent 'club', stomped after her. Snarling.
As the crowd applauded.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Well….," Jinx sweatdropped and looked across the catwalk at her blonde compatriot. "He's doing okay for himself….assuming he stays impotent for the next few minutes."
"……..," Pulsade stared down at the arena. Silent. Contemplating….
Jinx's cat eyes blinked. "Leslie?" She leaned her head towards her. "You okay?"
"Mmmmm….," the British assassin hummed.
"We're keeping an eye out for Wildebeest…r-right?" Jinx simpered.
"I don't know if he's the bloke we should be watching out for anymore…," murmured the blonde.
"What do you mean?" A beat. "Hehehe….Leslie, you're not still recoiling after what that raving-asian-fuzzhead did to yo—"
"NO!" Pulsade snarled. A little too snappishly for her own good. She bit her lip, shook it off, and stared back down from the rafters as she said: "It's this newcomer…."
"Who? The bloodlusting Hull guy?" Jinx glanced down. "He's cute." A beat. She winced nervously. "Erm….in a Christopher Reeves not-in-a-wheelchair sort of way."
"Jinx…."
"And not dead either."
"Jinx!"
"Ahem…yes?"
"Does he look…..familiar to you?"
"What? Mr. Denim down there?"
"Yes…."
"…….," Jinx's cat eyes narrowed. "I can't say that I remember him."
"Well, given your circumstances with H.I.V.E….."
Jinx gulped. "Yeah….," she hugged her far shoulder with a thin, frilled hand for a moment.
"……," Pulsade gazed at her. She placed a gentle hand on Jinx's shoulder.
The pink-haired sorceress shut her eyes and sighed.
"Keep an eye out on our fuzzball…," Pulsade managed a soothing smile. Her faced hardened once she again trained her eye on the other fight transpiring down below. "I'll fret over our bloody little septic for the both of us."
"Yeah….," Jinx shuddered. "….you do that."
Pulsade took a deep breath. "Sooner or later….," she murmured to herself. "….he'll be doing fisticuffs with Wildebeest." A blue-eyed blink. "Or maybe Mister Smoke and Sword too…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FWOOOOSH!
FLASH!
THFFF!
THFFF!
Our cage was a warbling lava lamp of shifting smoke, streaking body shapes, glinting metal, and wooden serration.
Empress and I teleported and blurred and breezed through each other at eye-blinking intervals.
Empress solidified against a wall.
I materialized behind her with a swing of Myrkblade.
She blocked with two daggers.
CLANK!
She stabbed at me.
I turned into smoke form and streaked across the cage.
Empress held her breath and blurred to the opposite side.
THFF!
FLASH!
FLASH!
FWOOOSH!
At one point, Empress appeared at one end of the cage and myself on the opposite side.
She spun like a dancer, panted, and tossed three daggers at me.
I jumped back, teleported with the daggers streaking just under my armpits—flashed across the cage, and materialized along with the flying daggers that suddenly found their momentum carrying them back at Empress' prone finger.
SLIIIIINK!
"Nnngh!" she clutched a grazed, bleeding shoulder.
FLASH!
I solidified opposite her again across the dagger-littered, metal floor. I slumped down to my knees as she too hunched over.
She panted.
I hyperventilated.
We were both sweating all over.
'Wow, Noir! You've sure been exercising your fart force!'
I clenched my teeth.
Why can't everyone be mute!
"Let's end this….," Empress hissed at me. A final fan of knives in her grasp.
I frowned. CHIIIING! I held Myrkblade up.
She stared at me. "….."
I stared at her. "….."
Hot, sweaty, stillness…
The audience held their breath.
"Nnngh!" she ran at me.
"!" I blurred at her.
She took a breath and leapt.
I held Myrkblade up and dove.
THFFF! She teleported.
FLASH! I shifted into smoke form.
A blink.
….
FWOOOOOOOOSH!
I materialized into a sliding crouch, Myrkblade held high and vibrating.
Empress slid to a stop behind me, facing away.
We were both still for a second.
And….
"Ugh….," she dizzily fell over. THWUMP! She lay on the ground, unconscious from my incorporeal blow.
"WINNER! WYLDECARDE!"
Cheers.
Standing applause.
Flashing lights.
I took a deep breath. I glanced back at Empress.
Her body lay still on the metal slabs. Slowly breathing. Her body rising up and down.
Oye……
That was too close……
I lowered Myrkblade. Something red and stringy was dangling off the tip.
My heart froze for a second and I did a double take.
"….."
A brassier hung off my weapon.
"……," I bit my lip…blushing. I shook it off. I twirled Myrkblade—freed of the article—and sheathed it with a coy, Wyldecarde grin. CHIIIIING!
'Heh. You dirty womanizer, you.'
Shut up.
'How come you never ran off with Slade's boxers, then?'
SHUT UP!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SHVVVVVVV!
Hull held his buzz-saw of a blade up high.
Thunder screamed towards him, fist swinging.
SWOOOOSH!
CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANG! The spinning blade danced against her dense flesh, sending sparks flying.
Hull ducked her lunging knuckles.
She snarled and slammed her foot down.
STOMP!
A shockwave of thunder flew through the cracked metal slabs at Hull's figure.
He took a breath, leapt up, and stuck his sword into the ceiling of the metal cage. CLANK! He hung one-handed from his embedded blade's circular hilt, flicked a free hand of silver-tipped fingers down, and produced a pistol. FLASH! He aimed down and fired—BANG! BANG! BANG!
Thunder focused her energy into her palms, held the dense skin up, and deflected the bullets. TH-THWAP! THWAP! She reached down, grabbed a chunk of metal, and tossed it up harshly at Hull. "Nnngh!"
SWOOOSH!
Hull loosened his blade and fell at the last second-
THWAP!
The metal chunk hit him in mid-air.
His body spun, twirled, and landed hard—WHAM!
He winced all over as he collapsed across the cracked, metal floor of the cage. His silver-tipped fingers twitched and disappeared the sword and pistols.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
GRIP!
He wheezed as the blonde combatant marched over, grabbed him by the neck, and hoisted him up to near-ceiling level again by her left arm.
He hung helplessly from her super-strength grip. Nearly choking…
The audience cheered and roared.
Panting, Thunder's face curved into a grin. She sneered up at him: "Well there, hotshot….guess you got to live the high life after all. It was a thrill…but I think now's the time I rip your dick off and call it a rap."
Hull wheezed: "Thank you….."
"'Thank you'?" Thunder's face twisted. The young woman giggled. "Hehehe…..for what?"
Hard, blue eyes.
Hull slurred: "For giving me a hand…."
CLAMP! His fingers gripped Thunder's wrist at his neck. The silver tips flickered and-
FLASH!
SPLORCH!
Thunder's entire left arm disappeared. A spurting, bloody hole resided in her shoulder.
"AAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" the blonde howled, wide eyed.
THWUMP! Hull fell down on his rear, wincing. His fingers still sparkling with silver light. Blood-stained.
"NNNGHAAAAAAAAAH!" Thunder fell back and slumped against the metal bars. She clutched her red-leaking shoulder. Shaking all over. "Nnnngh…my arm…MY ARM!" She lost all concentration. She clenched her eyes shut. Her face was a horrifically tense string of pain.
Convulsions.
Blood.
Blood….
A pair of black boots in front of her. A standing combatant.
"Pssst…."
Thunder's tear-stained eyes thinly opened.
"….say 'ah'."
THUNK!
Thunder's eyes widened. Hull's sword had plunged into her mouth. The bloody, metal tip burst out the back of her head. Her skewered cranium bled silently as the eyes remained frozen-open in infinite pain.
"….," Hull glared. Not a sweat. Not a scratch on him. He held the sword firmly through her lips and piercing her skull.
The crowd was silent. "……" But only for a little while. They cheered. Waving and applauding. Feet stomping.
Hull took a deep breath. YANK! He ripped his blade out of her mouth.
One could look through her lips and see the edges of the arena on the other side.
THWUMP!
Thunder's carcass slumped to the side.
Hull exhaled: "Don't forget to chew…."
FLASH!
The sword disappeared. A beat. In its place, Hull materialized something else.
Thunder's arm.
THWUMP!
He tossed it wetly on her bloody body and walked towards the cage's exit like nothing had happened.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I stood on the sidelines.
Barely outside the alcove.
I peered out, sweating, as the blue-garbed stranger marched from his cape.
There was blood staining his silver-tipped fingers.
"……..," I blinked under my goggles.
Hull walked a few paces, froze suddenly, turned his head, and glared at me across the way.
I stared.
He glared back.
A beat.
He exhaled…and slowly walked alone to another alcove where he sat down on a bench, slumped. In brooding, dark thought.
There was a trembling of the figure standing next to me.
"?" I glanced right.
A red-hooded archer with a white skirt gulped. She looked at me with simpering, pink lips. "Good thing I'm scheduled to face you next…," Arrowette stammered.
"…….." I shrugged.
I stared across the arena at Wildebeest's fight.
This is suddenly……depressing……
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Mmmmmm…..," Jacob Anderson hummed deliciously.
Deliciously….because he was watching the bloody death of Thunder being replayed.
On all five monitors in his balcony.
Totally ignoring the Wildebeest-Pantha fight.
"……..," he smiled drunkenly. His hands folded together. A whiff of air-conditioning breezing across his smooth-skin and burgundy robe. "Mmmmmm…."
A beat.
He glanced aside.
"……," Rexxin stood patiently. Looking a little patient.
Anderson merely gazed at him.
Rexxin gulped. He hesitated…but finally uttered: "Now, sir?"
A beat.
Anderson slowly nodded. "Yes….it's about time we tested out our Gotham ally's…..gift to us."
Rexxin nodded. He turned, squabbled into a walkie talkie, and briskly marched out of the rear door to the balcony.
Jacob Anderson pressed a button on his chair. Three screens showed separately the live images of Wildebeest, Hull, and Wyldecarde.
"Well then….children….bloody, bloody children…," he leaned forward with his fingers folded together and a devilish grin. "…it's time to teach you the ultimate lesson in massacres. And perhaps, I too shall learn….who the final four will be. But I hope….you're it. Heheheheh….I hope so indeed…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"RAAWWWRR!" Pantha leapt onto Wildebeest's shoulder and started clawing, biting, and kicking madly at him.
Wildebeest snarled, pried the 'club' underneath her belly, and yanked her into the air.
THWAP!
She shrieked as her body twirled up towards the ceiling of the cage.
GRIP!
Wildebeest took her by the tail, spun a three-sixty, growled, and slammed her harshly down onto the metal slab floor.
CLANG!
"Mrrrrrrrwwwww," she moaned.
WHAP!
Wildebeest knocked the breath out of her with the club slamming over her chest.
She exhaled, twitched, and let out a furry groan as she fell unconscious.
Both cheers and boos.
Wildebeest snorted and tossed the club to the side.
CLANG!
"WINNER! WILDEBEEST!"
Thunder of the massive, gambling kind.
Wildebeest grunted and turned to limp his hairy way out of the cage—
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, time for a truly amazing surprise!"
"?" Wildebeest jolted to a stop and craned his head curiously towards the ceiling of the arena.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The audience members sat still.
Looks of curiosity and perplexity washing over their faces.
They blinked and exchanged glances.
Listening…
"You have gambled bravely today! Not just in placing your bets, but in coming here to this sacred auditorium of gladiatorial amazement! Jacob Anderson knows how to please a crowd. And today……you will not be disappointed!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"For now we have a secret challenger! A violent aggressor built for only the final rounds of this grand melee! And this twist will certainly rock the socks off each and every one of you! If not strip the skin off a few unlucky fighters! Heh heh heh……"
"Erhm…..," Jinx blinked. "This is time for a 'bloody hell'," her cat eyes looked at her companion. "Isn't it, Les?"
"What bloomin' second…," Pulsade sneered. She leaned on the catwalk with one hand as she whipped out a communicator with another. "'J'? Come in. What's going on? This is new! Why hadn't we heard of this!"
She received a morse code message in response.
Her blue eyes narrowed. "One of Triangular's Arkham lackeys? What sort of rubbish is that?" She barked into the communicator.
Jinx gasped.
Pulsade glanced at her.
"Oh jeez…oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez…," Jinx nearly bit her pink fingernails.
"What?"
Jinx gulped. "It has to be. It makes sense. He escaped just recently. The Triangular Gotham guy brought him here! It makes sense! Ohhhhh Jeez. I hope Wildebeest brought his brass knuckles…."
"………," Pulsade blinked.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Wildebeest, Arrowette, a few other fighters and I craned our necks as Red Panzer stepped into the golden cage. Across from him was a tall, muscular figure under a cloak. His features were hidden. Shadowed. Mysterious…and ominous at the same time.
Even Hull—in the distance—seemed anxious. He tilted his neck to the side and watched from his lonely little alcove.
'Say Noir. Who's the new guy? We're a long way from Obi-Wan….much less an Obi-Wan on steroids……'
I shrugged. I absent-mindedly watched the ongoing….'proceeding'.
"Red Panzer has bravely volunteered to fight this new aggressor! The stakes have been doubled for this one, folks! For what will this Russian Roulette of matchmaking doom have in store for our advancing combatant? None other than the most ruthless, most bloody, most notorious underground fighter in the history of the sport! Yes…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Rexxin watched from the sidelines. A bit nervous. Shifting back and forth.
He stood by a few guards in the lower tiers of the audience ring surrounding the elliptical arena.
He glanced up at the balcony. At Jacob Anderson.
"….."
The robed man was smiling. Almost aroused.
"….."
Rexxin ran a hand through his red-highlighted hair, took a deep breath, and gazed once again at the caged fighting area.
"Yes……it is none other than the most recently escaped convict from Arkham Asylum in Gotham City! The terrible, swamp tyrant from the Bayou!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Red Panzer locked his arm-cannon into position.
Steam settled outward from his mask and metal joints.
He adjusted his red vest and stared sideways at the shrouded figure through his helmet.
"The one……the only……."
A dramatic pause.
Lights focusing in on the cloaked newcomer.
"RrrrrrrrrghhhRAAAH!" The figure flung off the cloak.
A resounding gasp.
A hissing breath came from Red Panzer's helmet. "Mein Gott…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Killer Croc!"
A shudder through the fighters.
A wave of screams and shouts through the crowd.
A distant cackle from the balcony.
My lips parted. My goggles felt like slipping down my face.
The warm voice crackled in my ear's speakers.
'Ladies and germs……we have us a purse. A blood-sucking, walking purse.'
I nodded to the stuffy air.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hehh….Hehh….Hehh….," a pale, hard-skinned monstrosity of a human being standing over seven feet with broad shoulders and razor-sharp fingers breathed heavily. He stood across from Red Panzer in ripped blue jeans, shirtless, ridges and sharp bumps along his back exposed. His bald head crowned a twisted face with a heavy jaw full of razor sharp teeth. Gray eyes narrowed upon his meaty opponent. He cracked his razor sharp fingers and hissed: "Rip and tear time, ya Nazi varmint…."
"……," Red Panzer merely stared.
Flashing lights and crimson strobes.
"LET THE FINAL ROUNDS BEGIN!"