Was this a fight I needed to engage in? Maybe.
Was this something I had to do as a squishy if still mostly immortal human? Hell no.
Did I care? Nope.
I could give you several reasons for why I wanted to do this as a human, but I've probably drabbled on about those for long enough. So, I'll be blunt: I just wanted to kill this thing with my own hands because I could. It didn't matter that I could erase it from existence with a carefully scaled down annihilaser that would only kill this creature and scorch its arena. I wanted to shoot and beat it to death myself. I wanted to prove I could do it. It was more fun this way.
Besides, I'm pretty sure that there was already some commander out there who had already solved every problem on the ARK system with ease using their commander. That seemed normal.
I do not like being normal. And I wanted a trophy I could store in my giant tower.
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I stood at the entrance to the Desert Arena, Vivian at my side, my motley crew of survivors and the other tribes we had gathered behind us. We had a force assembled from the Bionicle Universe, Planet Arrakis, Tatooine, and probably a few universes I didn't bother to learn about. It included Fremen, Sand Raiders, Matoran, Toa, Agori, Glatorian, and I don't know what else. I'm pretty sure someone from Fallout was here - not like that would be a surprise anymore. Backing us up were all kinds of desert creatures, including a few wyverns - a force that would probably make a standard medieval town cower in fear and beg for mercy.
I was fairly certain it was enough, but it never hurt to be prepared. Which was why we had enough tech weaponry to reduce Mt. Rainier to rubble, and enough ammunition to turn that into a sinkhole. We had guns, lasers, grenades, rockets, and whatever else I could stuff into our guys/girls/beings of indeterminate gender or chose not to identify. All that remained was to stuff in our offerings and dig in.
When the last call timer finally reached its conclusion, we were transported to yet another arena. Here, we found ourselves atop a pedestal, where an ear-splitting roar filled our ears. Looking upward, we found our target, perched atop an outcrop. WIth a mighty roar, it took to the skies.
Smiling, I whistled, and the mount I had chosen for this battle - a lightning wyvern - took to the skies. Not far behind, Vivian joined me atop her own mount - a phoenix.
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The Tuskens took aim with their rifles and fired upon the strange flier, until the ground below them shook and gigantic worms emerged, apparently called forth by the mighty flying beast. They were met by a horde of golems, hurling stones and boulders at them while smaller creatures attacked the joints of the mighty annelids. In the skies above, pterosaurs, vultures, wyverns, and other fliers chased after the hybrid monster, trying to force it to the ground. They only succeeded a few times, but each time they did, the horde of creatures managed to viciously wound their target, tearing through skin and fur, leaving deep wounds on the flesh.
The ultimate life forms were supposed to act as the guardians of their arks - a test of power for the survivors, to see if they were capable of defeating the Element outbreak. If the survivors proved capable, the way would be opened for them to challenge the Overseer of the current ark. Defeat that, and the survivors would prove themselves worthy to advance to another ark, and repeat the process until they could best anything they encountered. Then, they would assist in reclaiming Earth.
But this required conflict, and that meant that new threats must exist to encourage the survivors to keep pushing forward, lest they stagnate. The failure to do so on this ark had resulted in the Overseer barring the gateway to its chamber, effectively trapping the few who hadn't escaped here for all time. Perhaps that could change, but not now.
As the manticore realized it was losing, it decided to call for new allies. Another roar was sent forth, but this time, not only did worms respond, but also a new variety of golem. These stone titans emerged from the walls of the arena and charged toward the horde on the ground, trying to disperse them. One of the masked figures, however, dared to challenge them, and let out a mighty screech. Two of the golems disintegrated into dust, while the rest were stunned. Of the friendly golems, though, none were harmed, though one was a little dazed. Without missing a beat, the feminine masked being grabbed onto a third golem, which suddenly glowed blue, before disintegrating into yet more dust.
More golems eventually joined the fray, but this was hardly enough to discourage the assembled army of survivors and their pets. Realizing this, the Manticore roared yet again, summoning another set of monsters to aid it.
With roars that pierced the din of battle, a pack of wyverns fell upon the assembled tribe.
They didn't do much to change the outcome of the fight. That was already decided at this point.
But it only became official when the Commander's wyvern and his benefactor's phoenix collided with the manticore, knocking it to the ground, after which they finished jumping onto the beast and impaling it with their swords.
Someone said something about showoffs a moment before everyone started cheering.
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Hidden away in its chamber, the Overseer watched on as the victorious survivors engaged in rounds of merry making. It wondered if any would spend the following nights seeking passion with one another - handling survivors born on the ARKs was a tedious process, though they did seem to improve themselves faster than the ones who simply ended up here via selection.
Other issues were proving more pressing, though - Rockwell's drones were engaging the newly arrived machines in orbit, which were starting to put several ARKs in danger. If they were not disabled soon enough, they would become major problems later on. Additionally, other aberrances were starting to make themselves known - not all survivors arrived solely through selection.
But how to handle this?
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AN: Needed to get something out to get the gears working again.
Anyway, Read and Review (though if you have nothing to say for this chapter, I understand). This is Flameal15k, signing off!