by Simon Archer
“You understand that I must fight you with all my power,” Lioness said with surprising softness. “I must try to take this day for my academy.” Her ears flattened against her white hair as she slipped to all fours, fur starting to sprout across her skin. “At the same time, I understand my chances are slim, yet I hope I force you to go all-out to defeat me.”
“Don’t sell yourself too short.” I matched her circling, and already I could tell she was faster than I was even without shifting. “I’ve seen you out there, and I know you can give as good as you can take.”
“Let us put that to the test, Nicholas,” she practically purred before shifting in the blink of an eye, but not into a white lioness as was her usual. Instead, she shifted into a cheetah, even though her fur remained white, and burst into a lightning fast sprint.
While it wasn’t super speed, her new form was still the fastest non-powered land mammal, and I barely had the reflexes to activate my shield before Lioness was on me. She crashed into the barrier paws first as she pounced, sparks flaring up from where her claws scraped across it before she bounced away.
In an effort to catch her before she could fully regain her bearings, I shifted myself forward and threw a hard, downward-arcing punch. The force barrier followed my motion, shaping into something closer to a shield bash that covered a good three-foot diameter. Lioness was swift though, and before my blow landed, she had shifted into an armadillo of all things and curled up into an armored ball. I slammed her hard, but the brunt of the blow was absorbed by her new form’s leathery armor. Still, she bounced back like a dodgeball, eventually tumbling to a halt a good couple of yards back.
I let out an impressed whistle as Lioness bounced back to her feet, shifting to her hybrid lioness form in the process. “Now that was some quick thinking there!”
“And I must say the same, Nicholas.” The shield-backed blow must have still done some damage because Lioness wiped away a spot of blood from what seemed to be a busted lip. “Yet, I am not pressing you hard enough to use your powers.”
I set my jaw. I didn’t want to tell her that I likely wasn’t going to… but at the same time, if I had to, I would. “We’re not done yet,” was all I said as I decided to take the offensive this time, shifting the bracer from shield to blaster in the blink of an eye.
Again, she impressed me by catching the faint glow on the blaster port before I let loose my first shot, and she was off in a flash. Still, I almost caught her with the first shot, then tried to properly aim ahead of her rapid tumbling, but when I went for the second, she abruptly shifted from her lightning-fast feline form to shrink down to a tiny mouse. My blast went right through the space her chest had been to make a small crater in the far wall.
And that’s when whoever was in charge of this arena decided to spice things up. The floor rumbled under my feet as sections of the tile, some individual pieces and others multi-tile parts, burst up out of the floor to various heights. I barely had time to dodge backward, and the rabid mouse squeaks told me that I wasn’t alone in my surprise. By the time I found a safe, non-moving piece of floor, the rumbling had stopped. Now, instead of a flat surface, the arena was filled with pillars, walls, and stepped rises of seemingly random heights.
I cursed below my breath. This was not a good situation for me. While the shield Kara had given me was more than strong enough to keep Lioness from tagging me, my mobility was shit compared to the Kai-lao captain. Lioness could outmaneuver me here, try to get at me during a blaster counterattack or simply wear down the shield’s charge with hit-and-run attacks.
Somewhere in the distance, behind a strange forest of white pillars, a predatory growl rumbled to my ears. Lioness was on the prowl now, and I was the prey. I need a plan, and I need it fast. My eyes scanned around, then started to drift upward. If I had a superior vantage point, I could see her coming, and if I could see her coming, I’d retake the advantage.
The highest pillar was a good thirty feet tall, but there were no good routes to get there unless I could fly. Maybe I could settle for some of the perches that rose to half that height, two of them had staggered pillars of various heights around them I could climb and leap from to get up there… but they were also ideal ambush spots. I knew Lioness was smart, and as she stalked me, she would be thinking the same thing, about how I would have to fight her. Odds were she would be lying in wait at one of those two spots, and while she may not be able to penetrate the shield in one go, in her giant lioness form, she’d have the mass and strength to pin me down.
So, instead of going for the clear trap, I decided to improvise. Without hesitation, I took a few initial steps towards one of the two sets of step-up pillars, just to throw off my attacker, then cut left towards the towering thirty-footer. As I did, I shifted the shield back to blaster mode and eyed one of the nearby structures. It consisted of three tiles, forming a sort of block triangle that rose up maybe twenty feet and was a good space from my goal. No way I could even get up there with any speed unpowered, and then a leap to the other one was insane.
But I wasn’t going to do that, at least that was my hope. Instead, as a roar of surprise echoed in my ears from a good ways behind me, I curved my approach around the side of the smaller pillar and took careful aim. If I could blast out a gouge just right and just big enough… but it was a risky plan. Still, it was better than being lion food and being forced to blow my powers in the first round.
All pretense of stealth was gone now on the part of White Lioness, and her pounding paws were fast approaching as I unleashed a careful sequence of blasts. I wasn’t even certain when I started if I could even damage the things. Though the pillars looked like they were made of stone, who was to say Dad didn’t make them of super-concrete or something equally nutty?
Fortune was with me though, as the first blast blew away a gouge of stone from the side of the pillar nearest the tallest peak near the base of it. Already, the unwieldy thing started to buckle towards the other one, then the second and third shots struck home. Stone chips and chunks blew out to reveal a core of steel like a piston head, then that was torn away by another shot. Then, like a felled tree, it teetered towards the much thicker thirty-foot pillar.
I saved my urge to shout in excitement, even as my new impromptu walkway slammed into the taller pillar and didn’t slip away from it because I felt the shift in the air behind me as a charging Lioness pounced at me. I forced myself to roll right, only missing becoming her chew toy by inches.
Even so, I didn’t get away unscathed. Though I wasn’t made the main course, one of her paws caught my left arm as I dove, and her claws sliced neatly through my uniform and into my flesh. As I came up from my dodge, I bit down on the burning pain as blood turned my white-and-blue sleeve a distinct shade of crimson. I forced myself up and ran toward my way up while clicking the bracer back to shield mode as I did so.
My one saving grace was that, in her haste to cut me off, Lioness had sacrificed grace for speed. Her tremendous leap had made her overshoot her target when it didn’t land home, and it took her a few seconds to reorient on me. Just enough time to mount my new walkway and get to climbing.
Though it was made from three tiles fused, the thing was thing enough that while I could carefully pick my way up it, it wouldn’t accommodate Lioness’ larger and more dangerous forms. She’d have to go with a smaller mammal or a bird of prey. I could handle that.
I scrambled higher and higher, leaving a bloody path on my way, and by the time I was halfway to the top perch, I heard scraping behind me. With a quick backward glance, I caught a glimpse of a white-furred chimpanzee rapidly ascending after me. Now, under normal circumstances, chimpanzees are cute and adorable animals, especially with human clothes and a beanie hat, but the truth was that a chimpanzee was more than strong enough to beat a man to death in minutes then eat his face off. I had seconds to do something, or I would be the one being beaten on if she simply didn’t hurl me down to the ground.
“Clever girl,” I ac
knowledged… but there was one glimmer of hope. Lioness’s idea had been on point, but she had made one mistake in the process. Without wasting another second, while Lioness was confined to this relatively narrow path, I swept my gauntleted arm back and shifted from shield to blast mode in one lightning-fast gesture.
Lioness only had time to widen her eyes before I fired off a blast of pure force right down the pillar. The brilliant bolt struck her head-on, blowing her clean off her feet as she rag-dolled down a good ten feet to the stone floor. There was a gut-wrenching crack as she hit and tumbled.
I was back down the pillar myself in a flash despite the burning gash in my arm. Sure, maybe the fact she wasn’t immediately up meant she was playing possum, luring me in to strike while I was off-guard, but I was a hero. Even if Lioness was a villainess, we heroes arrested, we didn’t kill. I had to make sure she was alright.
By the time I was by her side, she had shifted back to her normal cat-eared and tailed form. Though it was immediately clear she had hurt her right arm and leg in the tumble, Lioness was actually smiling faintly as I knelt by her side.
“I am sorry, Nicholas,” she said as she held up her good hand to me. I took it and squeezed it gently. “I wasn’t strong enough to test you.”
“Does that mean you’re yielding?” I said with a wry grin, trying to sound amused despite my own pain. “Because I don’t think I want to hit you again. You’re way too pretty for that.”
“Thank you for saying that. I do yield to you, Nicholas Gateon, in honorable combat.“A faint blush dusted her golden skin as that smile widened a bit. She awkwardly cradled her wounded arm and tried to sit up, but I pushed her back down. “Ah, yes, I… I should lie back.”
“Yeah, you should.” I brushed a few strands of her white hair from her sweat-stained brow. “The medics will be here any--”
It was at that moment that sound rushed back into the arena. The pillars that I hadn’t broken shifted down into the ground, causing a terrible sound of shattering stone as my erstwhile walkway fell flat to the ground, and then a thunderous wave of cheers and applause washed down over us. I looked up to see the shimmering force field gone, just as Patty Brownstone’s voice boomed out from the omnipresent speakers.
“And winning his first match, representing Valcav Academy and Alexandria, our own little Lord himself, Nick Gateon!” she cooed. “What a tremendous win, and without even using his powers! Give him a great big ol’ hand, folks!”
I rolled my eyes at that and looked down at Lioness, who was still smiling up at me. “Now, Nicholas, you know what you must do. You must win this entire tournament, not just for your team, but for me as well.” Our hands had never untangled, and she squeezed mine back with surprising strength. “You will do that, yes?”
I smiled and nodded. “I promise.”
27
Matt
Despite our little heart-to-heart before this shindig started, I still wasn’t sure of myself when I walked into the arena. It wasn’t that I wasn’t going to try my hardest, but damn it all, it was hard to have faith after the last semester. Manipulated and mind-fucked by Brad, smacked around by Nick, no matter how much I deserved it, and outpaced by my twin sister in every way… I just found it hard to believe I could see this through.
Still, this was for family, and there was nothing I wouldn’t endure for that.
I took in a big sniff of the air as I forced myself to pay attention. Place was a lot smaller than the big city set-up and still closed off. Sure, you could see through the force field separating us from the fans, but there was no scent or sound from them. The only thing I could pick up past me and the earthy smell of the stone tiles was a distant aroma of oil, steel, and machinery down below the tiles.
“Huh,” I growled to myself. “Traps or shifting terrain.”
In the back of my head, I felt that tingle of approval and agreement from Kristen. It was a funny thing, being a powered twin. My sister was always with me and me with her, even when we tried to block each other out. The only time we’d been cut apart was when Brad had his claws in us.
My blood began to boil, but I forced myself to focus, to think, to stare at the opposite doors and wait for my first opponent. Maybe if I were lucky, it’d be one of the Kai-lao girls or Abbott, the Brand’s big muscleman. I could probably beat them with just my werewolf abilities, and if I didn’t have to try to use Kristen’s powers, the better. Last thing I needed was to try to do something magnetic and fuck it up in front of the entire world.
A wave of disapproval from Kristen and a mental slap to get my shit together. I growled low at that, but there was no time to dwell on it. The opposite doors swooshed open, letting in a wave of cold air and a hint of a rose perfume along with blinding light from beyond.
What the fuck? This was a fight, not a goddamn concert. Fucking Inferno.
I managed to squint past the light to make out a definitely female form, and then her scent hit me. I knew it instantly, and I also knew it wasn’t White Lioness or Black Tigress or Abbott. No, I’d pulled the lucky straw to get Akemi, the captain of the Brand’s team.
As the doors slid shut to reveal her blood red eyes and twisted grin, my growl intensified as rage and concern fought for control of my brain. We hadn’t faced the Brand yet, not directly, and I wanted to sink my teeth into one of those assholes, give Lord Inferno a good show as we beat his best and brightest. That was the anger in me, but… while Carter had edged the Brand out in the rescue event, I had seen enough to know that Akemi was a badass, someone that Aylin said was a ‘black hole,’ whatever the fuck that meant exactly. Kara said she was a power thief, and that’s what had me worried.
“Oh, lookie here,” Akemi said with a weirdly off-putting giggle. “It’s the Big Bad Barbur Wolf.” She twirled a finger in one of the trailing red ribbons in her hair, her hands still gloved. Bare skin contact, that was how she stole powers. “I was hoping to do a tumble with our young Lord, but Lord Inferno, blessed be his name, will certainly reward me if I beat one of his most hated enemies for him. Then I’ll go on to win it all… I wonder what Nicholas’ powers feel like. The omnipotence of it all!”
And that’s where the raging beast that always stalked inside me overtook fear. It was more than the fact that I had to stop her before she faced Nick because she might be the one person who could beat him. No, in this fucked-up crazy girl, I could place all my hatred and anger of Inferno into, all the pain he had caused my family, the blood on his hands from Mom’s death, Ice Bringer’s self-imposed exile, all of it. Without a word, I let the beast take over, bursting into my full werewolf form in mid-leap as I let out a snarling bark. Akemi didn’t even flinch as I tore up the space between us, the micro-thrusters in the gear Kara had given me automatically pulsing with each leap to carry me further.
I was on the bitch in the blink of an eye, claws ripping through the air… and she was gone in that same blink. She had slipped just a hair sideways, and as I instinctively turned my snout to snap at her fleeing form, she drove a long-bladed dagger that she must have had concealed in her sleeve up through the soft part of my lower jaw.
Coppery blood filled my mouth, but the fury didn’t abate for a moment, and even though my jaw was now pinned closed by the blade thrust through it, I didn’t stop, didn’t relent. I spun around with another sweeping slash that Akemi fell backward to avoid and all I caught was air, but when she sprang back up to go on the offense, I was already swinging that same hand backward.
Though I didn’t catch her with my claws, my backhand blow slammed her in the side of the head hard, and superhuman strength sent her tumbling like a broken doll across the stone. Even in the midst of my red rage, I still needed to breathe, and blood from the knife wound was starting to choke me. As she groaned and tried to rise, I took a moment to reach up, grab the handle of the dagger, and rip it clean from my snout.
The pain was excruciating, but I had been shattered into pieces and put myself back together again. I could take it. As the woun
ds healed, I spit up a stream of blood and let loose with another howl of dominance. Akemi was still struggling, a gash torn open in her temple, and her eyes half-lidded from my blow.
She was prey, I was the predator, and this fight was as good as won. As I stalked around to the Brand girl’s back, ready to pounce and beat her into unconsciousness, Kristen pulsed worry, concern, caution in the back of my brain, but I was too ready to win. I had this, and I just had to focus on keeping the beast in check enough that I didn’t kill Akemi, no matter how much she might have deserved it. I tensed up, pulled back, and then pounced on the battered girl.
That was my big mistake. I should have listened to my sister.
In mid-leap, committed fully to my attack, I realized far too late that it was a ruse, at least in part. Though she badly hurt, Akemi wasn’t the helpless prey I thought she was, as she turned with sudden speed to face me and, in the same way she had dodged my previous swipe, fell back so that instead of me crashing into her, I flew over her prone form.
And as I flew past, I saw that one of her gloves was off, her porcelain-white hand reaching up to stroke down my form from snout to foot.
When Brad had fucked with my mind and twisted my heart, that had been a violation. I had felt used, dirty, and sick to my stomach afterward when I came to my senses… but what Akemi did to me with that touch was a million times worse. It was as if some ice-cold hand had plunged into my chest, wrapped around my heart and soul, and then ripped out some vital, intrinsic part of my very essence. Before I hit the concrete, my body deflated as I shrank down into my normal human form, my senses went dull and cloudy as the world closed in on itself, and when I did land roughly on the stone, the broken arm I suffered as it jammed awkward under me didn’t just hurt, it didn’t heal. Same with my cracked skull as my head bounced off the stone.