Where the Strangers Live

by Phipps, Oliver

  With their bodies sealed from the neck down they watched on as each others chambers began to fill with the strange liquid vapor. This strange substance resembled what they saw in the large bay area, yet this substance had an odd red glow. Troy watched Sophie's chamber fill and he could feel the substance filling in around his body as well. It felt warm and slightly damp at first. Then the damp feeling left and he felt even stronger as the substance completely covered his body.

  Headpieces now lowered from above and behind them. These appeared to be similar to a complete head helmet. The caretakers maneuvered the helmets over their heads and only darkness could be observed for several seconds. The sounds of the crowd also became muted. Troy could feel actions around the helmet as if the caretakers were securing the helmet to the enclosure lid.

  Though they weren't aware of it, three of the creature’s enclosures that were inside the large bay area had also filled with the odd red glowing substance. The Gorgon, the Centaur and the Minotaur's enclosures all filled completely with the red glowing liquid vapor as the three submariners were being prepared in the arena.

  Now Troy, Sophie and Eliot felt the ankle restraints fall away from their feet. They stood in darkness, only aware of the strong effects of the drug and a muted roar from the crowded arena.

  Chapter Four:

  Death Match

  The sensation of a warm mist flowing around their heads could be felt. The mist entered their lungs with a warm, heavy feeling. Now they all three felt as if they were outside their bodies for a brief instant. Then a sudden flash came and a jolt similar to an electric shock was felt.

  After this odd feeling, everything began to slowly clear and Troy found himself standing in the middle of the arena as its sounds became much clearer. Yet he didn't feel the same as before the jolting experience. He looked down and realized he was now the Centaur they had seen back in the large bay area. His mind raced as he examined the armor on his chest. He raised his hands and felt the metal helmet. Around his waist area was strapped a large sword. He had a shield on his left arm.

  Troy maneuvered the huge horse's torso to his right. It didn't actually feel unusual; he felt as if he'd always owned this body. He recalled Carzoc's words and knew it must be the drug.

  He became even more shocked as he suddenly noticed Eliot to his right. It was Eliot and he knew immediately that it was Eliot, but Eliot had become the massive Minotaur. His head was of a huge bull. He had horns and on the tips of his horns were sharpened metal attachments. He was at least seven, possibly eight feet tall. His lower body was of the back half of a bull. His chest and upper body was of a huge man and very muscular. He also had body armor and a shield on his left arm. In his right hand he held a large weapon that had an axe blade on one side and a slender sort of hammer on the other.

  He then noticed that Eliot stood staring at something on Troy's left side. At this same instant Eliot made the grunting sound that a bull makes. It was as if he was entranced and wanted to say something about it, yet couldn't speak as a person would.

  Troy turned to his left and became shocked and a bit excited both at the same instant. There on his left side and directly in front of Eliot was the Gorgon from the bay area. But this wasn't the same Gorgon. She had Sophie's face. They realized now this was in fact Sophie.

  The snakes on her head moved about as if waking up. Sophie had her eyes closed but she opened them slightly. Then her eyes closed again as if she were struggling to adapt to the dramatic new situation.

  In the meantime Troy and Eliot found themselves transfixed by Sophie's chest. The large full breasts of the terrifying Gorgon had made no impact upon the young men while in the bay area. But now, with Sophie's face attached to the Gorgon's body, the impressive and exposed breasts immediately captured their attention. They both stood staring at them and didn't realize that Sophie was now beginning to completely awaken.

  She opened her eyes and stared at the men. She recognized them, but continued to struggle with the unfamiliar body. Then she became aware of the snakes wriggling about on her head. She began to realize she now had the body of the Gorgon. Then she noticed Troy and Eliot staring at her chest.

  "What's going on?" She asked them in a bit of bewilderment.

  Troy and Eliot looked up at her with obvious embarrassment. Sophie noticed this and then glanced down at her chest where the men had been staring. Realizing her chest was exposed she immediately put her arms up around her breasts.

  "Hey, I can't believe you guys! What are you thinking anyway?"

  Eliot grunted and turned away. Troy sort of moved to his right. "Uhm, sorry Sophie," he said with a bit of shame in his voice.

  She then chuckled under her breath about the guy's apparent distress. After her immediate and conditioned reaction to the situation Sophie put her arms down. The drug had suppressed her fear of being exposed and she slid up to the other two. They in turn tried not to look at her breasts.

  "Come on, we've got to stay focused guys. This drug has me wanting to fight, but we can't lose track of who we really are." She spoke with a bit of a hiss and her eyes were strangely reptilian in appearance.

  "I agree." Troy added. Then Eliot grunted as this seemed to be all he could do in terms of speaking.

  Troy continued. "I'm feeling strong and aggressive. I want to fight something too, but this must be the drug. We've got to use this to our advantage but still work as a team. Carzoc said this was a fight too the death." After Troy said this they turned to the other box across arena. They realized there were similar enclosures as the ones they were in. The caretakers were preparing this in the same manner as they did their own enclosures. The large lid was being lowered and then the helmets were put on the three caretakers.

  They turned around and looked at their own chambers. The clear cylindrical devices stood closed up and the red glowing vapor flowed around inside. Troy moved his arm up and down. Then, in the chamber his body was slightly viewed moving and he knew his arm was waving in the chamber as well.

  "We're still in those, container things. But we're out here as well, in these creatures bodies! This is some form of a remote body control system." When the other two realized what he spoke of, they also moved and tried to see themselves moving inside the chambers.

  "But we could still be killed, right?" Sophie slid around as she tried to spot the action inside the chamber. The serpents now moved in a strangely harmonic rhythm on her head.

  "I guess so. I'm not for sure, but it seems possible."

  They now turned back around to face the area where the caretakers were in their three own chambers. The transparent cylinders had by now filled with the glowing red vapor. As they watched the scenes on the far side of the arena the noise of the crowd continued to rumble in anticipation of the opposing creature’s arrival.

  Suddenly, around fifty feet in front of them, a strange creature materialized, when it was fully visible they quickly identified it as an Asian dragon. The size was around twelve feet in length. It was colorful and fierce in appearance. The teeth were obviously sharp and deadly. It had short horns and some form of whiskers that looked like flesh rather than hair. The beast moved about slowly at first as the Caretaker that controlled it seemed to also be struggling in an effort to mate with the creature. Then it appeared to become in sync with its controller; in a similar fashion to the way Sophie reacted. Soon the creature was moving about the arena floor menacingly.

  As they watched this, Sophie seemed completely unafraid now as the drug rushed in her veins and gave her confidence. She commented somewhat casually. "An Asian dragon, are you kidding me?"

  Troy nodded, “I suspect now that it didn’t originate in Asia, or anywhere on earth for that matter.”

  Another creature suddenly materialized to the side of the dragon. This creature had the head and torso of a woman. The remainder off her body resembled a large predatory bird. Inside her wings that now moved as if becoming adjusted to the materialization, Troy and Sophie noticed claw like fing
ers or toes. These claws or fingers had long sharp protruding nails. The wings with the claw protrusions resembled a dinosaur or bat and yet she obviously had feathers as a bird. Her head and face was not ugly and yet not pretty either. Her hair appeared wild and unkempt. Her breasts were bare but small feathers covered them slightly.

  Sophie realized what the creature was from her Greek mythology classes. She slithered a bit closer to Troy and Eliot. "That's a Harpy; very dangerous."

  Eliot grunted and Troy studied the beast briefly before replying. "It doesn't look that dangerous."

  "Well, if the legends are true, which they now seem to surely be; she has razor sharp claws and can almost disappear as a breeze or the wind. It's some sort of shape shifting ability. I suspect the Harpy must actually be a hybrid of creatures from earth and creatures from, well, who knows what planet."

  As they watched, the Harpy moved about and flapped its wings as if adjusting to the situation. Then it slowly gained control over its body and now began to fly in place and hovered a few feet over the arena floor. Then she took off straight up into the air very swiftly. After a few seconds the fearsome creature swooped down and landed back on the ground; walking about as a proud Rooster might.

  Now the final beast materialized across the arena and on the other side of the Dragon. As this beast materialized Troy and Sophie both recognized it, but Troy spoke first. "That's a Griffin. I know what that is."

  The large creature had the body of a massive male lion. The head was of an eagle and it had wings that spread out at least fifteen feet across. It also moved strangely at first, as if disoriented. Then it slowly became adjusted to the situation as the caretaker in the tank became adjusted to the remote body of the creature.

  As they watched this threatening scene play out across the arena, all three became excited and eager for combat. Sophie slithered around in anticipation and Troy reared up on his hind legs. Eliot also began to pace around and swing his battle-axe.

  Then, as Sophie was growing ever more excited about the coming battle, she felt a strange sensation in her fingertips. She held them out in front of her and as she did this Troy and Eliot noticed her and also watched in amazement. Long sharp claws slowly emerged from her fingers. They were around three inches long and quite lethal in appearance. After they extracted in the fashion of a cat's claws, Sophie looked at them and then glanced at Troy and Eliot with an expression of amazement.

  The two men studied the claws for a few seconds. Then Troy commented somewhat casually. "Well, those should come in handy."

  Sophie smiled and Eliot grunted enthusiastically. Then Carzoc stepped out into the middle of the arena. The crowd erupted in a massive show of enthusiasm over the quickly developing fight. Carzoc again spoke into the metal object and his voice boomed loudly over the packed arena.

  "Fellow Jovacians, these three trespassers have entered the sacred grounds of our testing arena." He moved his hand out towards the three submariners and the crowd let out an angry sound in unison.

  "We all know the rules of the arena. Once you've entered the sacred testing grounds, a death match must be fought." Now the crowd erupted with excitement. Carzoc turned to Sophie, Troy and Eliot, he smiled with satisfaction indicating his pleasure in announcing the deadly match.

  Although the Jovacian potion raged in their veins and created an excited anticipation for the fight, Troy had a sensation of being in an odd dream. He couldn't feel nervous due to the drug but he felt he may die in this arena and never see the light of day again. The thought faded as Carzoc continued.

  "The trespassers have been administered the arena fire. They neglected to choose a weapon so we have chosen for them. They are now completely adjusted to their weapons as is our three representatives. The fight is to the death. If these trespassers by chance finish alive, then we will consider allowing them to leave. Are these statements understood and agreed upon?" The arena now grew so loud it hurt Eliot's ears and became uncomfortable for Sophie and Troy.

  Carzoc appeared immune to the roar of the spectators. He smiled and walked around slowly while holding his hands out in a welcoming gesture to the thunderous reaction.

  Realizing the contest would soon start Troy maneuvered his massive horse body around to speak with Sophie and Eliot both. "We've got to win this or we'll never get home. We've got to focus and work together. We've got to be aggressive and fierce or we won't make it. Are you two in agreement?"

  Sophie replied with a confident voice. "I agree." Troy turned to Eliot and Eliot grunted as a bull would. Troy smiled with some reservation but then nodded and said, "I'll take that as a yes."

  He then turned back to face the opposing forces and drew the long sword from the sheath.

  "Do you know how to use that?"

  "I guess we'll soon find out." Troy replied to Sophie and then noticing his helmet visor, he lowered it over his eyes just as they heard Carzoc make his final remarks.

  "Then let the contest begin!" Carzoc then moved away from the center of the arena.

  The three beasts on the opposite side of the arena focused their attention on Sophie, Troy and Eliot. Eliot snorted and began to move about even more aggressively. Troy moved his huge body around the way a battle horse might just before a charge. He raised his shield. Sophie glanced quickly into Troy's eyes. She was nervous but appeared to be ready for the challenge. The three beasts opposing them began to charge forward with a violent intent.

  As the roar of the spectators filled their ears and the rush of the arena fire burned in their veins, Troy shouted the final words before hell crashed into them.

  "Let's go!"

  The three raced towards the Dragon, Griffin and the Harpy at a desperate pace. The six fierce beasts met in the middle of the arena with the intensity of a train wreck. The drug and the excitement of the battle now completely overtook Troy, Sophie and Eliot.

  Sophie met the Harpy straight on as did Troy the Dragon and Eliot the Griffin. Troy was in a full gallop when he came to the Dragon. He held his shield out and the impact enabled him to run straight over the beast. The Dragon expelled a frightening growling sound as Troy's hooves landed painfully on its body.

  Sophie grabbed the Harpy as it attempted to fly up and attack with her feet. She was only able to catch one of its claws. The serpents struck the Harpy's legs one after the other but wasn't able to penetrate the tough bird like leg. The Harpy then broke free from Sophie's grasp and let out a terrifying scream mixed with a screeching sound. The sound was nothing from the known world and chilled Sophie's blood even with the Jovacian drug running strong in her veins.

  Eliot swung his battle-axe as he met the Griffin. The winged beast screeched loudly as it flew up to avoid the weapon's blow. This caused the crowd to erupt into an even louder roar. Eliot rolled onto the arena floor as the missed blow caused him to lose his balance. The Griffin quickly landed on him with sharp claws digging in to his skin. Eliot brayed loudly as the pain shot into his body. Again the crowd roared from the sights and sounds of the battle.

  Troy turned and moved to advance on the Dragon before it could regain its footing. The Dragon however twisted its nimble body quickly and faced Troy's attack and this time the Dragon didn't meet Troy head on but moved aside. As Troy closed in and passed by, the Dragon jumped onto the massive horse body. It now bit into Troy's back and he yelled out in pain. He reared up and the Dragon fell, but not before placing a deep and bleeding wound on Troy's back.

  The Harpy flew up and then turned back for another attack on Sophie who watched upwards attempting to keep sight of the winged creature. She reached out just as the Harpy swooped down and tried to sink her claws into Sophie's head. The Harpy seemed to understand the venomous serpents would have trouble biting her legs. Sophie latched onto the Harpy's feet and legs and with this entanglement the two became intertwined and Sophie pulled the Harpy down from flight. This caused another blood curdling screech from the Harpy, and another roar from the spectators.

  While Sophie and the Ha
rpy struggled in a deadly entanglement, Eliot turned on the Griffin and grabbing its wing, tried to keep the beast in a battle on the ground rather than allowing it to take to the air again. The Griffin screeched out almost the same time as the Harpy and the violent sounds of battle filled the arena.

  Troy used his hind legs and kicked the Dragon as it tried to lunge at him again. The beast flew backwards and rolled across the arena floor. Troy turned and advanced as it struggled to recover. With the sword raised high he attempted to swing it as he came close. The Dragon sprang up with claws and teeth exposed. Troy reared up and again blocked the attack with his shield. Then the two moved in a slow circle facing each other and grasping for an angle to attack.

  The roar of the spectators became almost deafening again, but the three heard little of this as they fought desperately for their lives. Carzoc stood close to the area of the three caretaker's chambers. His eyes gleamed and he appeared to be ecstatic with the sights and sounds of battle. Beside him in the three chambers, movements could barely be seen in the red glowing substance as the caretakers inside fought the battle taking place in the center of the arena.

  Back on the arena floor, the Griffin ripped at Eliot as the two rolled in a chaotic struggle. Eliot grunted as a bull being lead to the slaughter. He moved his head and horns in an effort to defend himself. He then moved the battle-axe around with his right hand and pushed it into the Griffin's chest, only to realize it was the hammer side rather than the axe side. The Griffin screeched again as this nevertheless brought pain. Eliot's grip on the wing and the push from the hammer side of the battle-axe now caused the Griffin to fall over and the strength of the bull gave Eliot an advantage as the awful cracking sound of the Griffin's wing could be heard as it landed on the ground. The Griffin screeched loudly with pain and the crowd hushed somewhat as they realized this event would certainly weigh in favor of the three trespassers.