Sav stood on a platform with two guards standing over his shoulders, watching the crowd of people move around as if they were an ant colony. He could distinguish the guards from the others by their armor and the rifles hanging by their sides. There were also plenty of non-human individuals, some of whom Sav had never seen— intriguing future opponents. Sav felt the tip of a gun poking him and he hurried forward, noticing countless corridors that probably led to other parts of the ship. They walked past small groups of people who, by the looks of it, had formed recently but the young fighter paid them no mind. He was shoved into a small storage unit with old, dusty boxes scattered around. The guards instructed him to stay inside, and the door closed. The place was cold and dark, and it smelled of freshly opened books. Sav examined the area for any doors or cracks in case he needed to escape, making his way through the old cartons. After failing to find anything, he sat on top of one of the larger boxes. A small, milky-white creature with pointy ears walked into the unit, carrying a folder.
“Hey, excuse me, sir! You’re not allowed to be there! Could you please come down here?” it asked.
Sav jumped down, nodding.
“What’s your name, sir?” the little gremlin asked, looking at Sav from inside huge, shiny orbs.
“Sav Orbona.”
“I’m Tabby! I’m in charge of assigning the fighters to their cells. I’m also obligated to tell you that each one of those cells accommodates five people. You won’t be alone.”
“So, what you’re trying to tell me is that the ship is basically a fancy prison?” Sav joked.
“I can understand why you’d see it that way, but it’s just a safety measure. You’ll be free to roam around whenever you please.” Tabby explained.
“Okay.”
Tabby took out a tiny gun from his back pocket and pointed it at Sav, lifting it in the air with three fingers. “I must scan you for any hidden weapons. Do you object?”
“Wait, are you about to shoot me?”
“Well, technically, yes. You won’t feel any pain, though.”
“Sure… what if I say no?”
“Are you objecting?”
“Just go ahead…” Sav sighed.
Tabby aimed at Sav’s head with the blue gun, then pulled the trigger. No sound was heard, it flashed red repeatedly, and both stared at each other.
“All clear,” Tabby said.
“That was it?”
“Yes, just like I told you. No pain.”
Sav was impressed. He imagined what the procedure would’ve looked like if it had been done on Yuna. They probably would’ve made him strip naked.
“Oh, by the way, Yuna was our last stop before heading back to Kybernan. The trip is estimated to last six days. I thought I’d let you know.”
“Six days?” Sav repeated.
“Yes, that shouldn’t worry you. As you’ve probably already noticed, the aircraft holds the size of a small city. We have a canteen, a big training facility, showers… you name it!”
“I see, and where do the High State’s people reside?”
“Oh, we have our own compartment.”
“As expected,” Sav mused.
Tabby opened his folder and began searching for Sav’s file. A long signature was scribbled on the cover. It didn’t take long for him to find it. A picture of the young fighter was glued to it. The sides of his head were shaven clean, but he had great volume on top. His chocolate brown hair stood slicked back, and his smoky green eyes stared back at Tabby.
“Is it true that you guys in Yuna don’t have running water?” the white creature asked.
“What? No! We’re not that poor,” Sav replied.
“You hold an impressive fighting record. Fifty-one wins and only one loss. It’s a rare thing to see…”
“You’re damn right it is.”
Tabby handed Sav’s file to him. “Could you sign this, please?” Sav grabbed the pen and scribbled on the paper, he couldn’t even remember when that picture was taken. He gave the file back. Tabby thanked him, then left.
The guards who had put Sav in the room returned, barking commands at the young fighter. Leaving the room, they strolled through the main area. Rows of blinking lights adorned the steel walls around them. Emulating the inside of some matrix, which in all fairness, described the current situation perfectly. Stairs leading up to another platform revealed themselves as they continued with their walk. It must’ve been the pilot cabin, since it was so heavily guarded, Sav told himself. He felt yet another hit of cold steel on his back and fought the urge to retaliate. The pair of soldiers pressed him through a red doorway and into a large section of cells. They resembled little matchboxes stacked against one another, better suited for rats than for humans. Sav was led into the cell Tabby had assigned him, and the heavy metal door clinked shut behind him.
Sav examined the room, there were five wooden planks for beds, propped up on cones. Four of them were already occupied by his cellmates. He met their glances and went for the bed at the back of the room, sitting down without saying a word.
After a brief moment, one of the cellmates broke the silence. “Well, since everybody’s here now, I say we introduce ourselves to each other. I’ll start.” He was a blind cyborg, with a black cloth wrapped around his eyes. He spoke with a lisp, slurring some of his words and taking deep breaths between sentences. “My name is Yuri. I come from Nexum-0, and I’m set to compete in the tournament… well, as you all are. You might be asking yourselves—how is this blind fool going to fight? He took a deep breath. “It’s quite simple, really. I lost my vision many years ago in a freak accident… I was devastated, trust me.” Another pause. “But having lost my vision, my remaining senses sharpened, and I was able to use them like never before. One thing led to another and here I am, sitting in this cell with you guys—on our way to kill each other like some animals!” Yuri inhaled shakily; he seemed to be distraught all of a sudden. “If it wasn’t for my wife and kids back home, I never would’ve accepted to be a part of this… this cruel joke!”
“Yeah, yeah… everyone has their sob story.” A voice interrupted Yuri before he could continue. It came from Sav’s left. It belonged to a man with skin tough as rocks— his long limbs were uneven and blotchy in their length. “Name’s Jared, I’m from Oculus. I don’t have a story to tell, I’m here for those zens and nothing more. I just hope you all get eliminated before you have to face me, because believe me, it’s going to get ugly, heh, .”
After Jared stopped talking, all heads turned toward Sav for no particular reason.
“Name’s Sav. I’m from Yuna… that’s all you need to know.”
“Well, okay, Sav from Yuna! I’m Manny!” Another voice appeared, thin and childlike. Sav acknowledged the creature which had introduced itself. It looked exactly like Tabby— the one who had scanned him with the gun minutes ago. “I’m from Xal’ Zhaen and—”
“Do you know Tabby?” Sav interrupted.
“Yes, he’s my older brother. Ugh, I can’t stand that prick! Has everybody here met him?” Manny shook his head, his brows would have furrowed, if he had any. “He chose to serve the High State. Seems to have forgotten what those scum have done to our people…”
“And how is a creature of your size supposed to compete against us?” Jared asked, sneering with pride.
Manny faced him and grinned, showing off huge, razor-sharp teeth, then he lifted his hands up— six fingers in total, equipped with black, monstrous claws. “That answer your question?”
There remained only one man who hadn’t introduced himself. He sat with his head down and spoke without looking at any of them. “I’m from Kybernan Magnus. You needn’t know my name. I departed from the planet a long time ago, refused to serve the High State. They’ve somehow managed to reach me… gave me no choice but to go back.” His knuckles were white from squeezing.
“We shall call you the Mystery Man, then!” Manny chirped.
“Suit yourselves…”
“Six days in this shithole with you guys… can’t say that I’m excited!” Jared complained and tossed around on his bed. Sav lay down, staring at the ceiling and going over the events and conversations of the day— it was only the beginning. They all fell asleep shortly after.
Day 1
Sav had woken up early, unable to sleep. He found his way back to the main compartment of the ship and wandered around the spacious area. The State’s servants were running around with sheets of documents in their hands, bumping rudely into the outsiders and scolding them for staying in their way. The little authority they had over the fighters had clearly given them a false sense of supremacy, and it was evident in their ill-mannered actions. Sav explored his way to the canteen Tabby had mentioned to him the previous day. Lighted only by two old lamps, the place emitted dark energy— the atrocious-looking food not making it any better.
The young fighter went over to the displayed dishes on the buffet, and the feeling of disgust heightened with each meal he saw. He was relieved to stumble upon a tray of fruit and settled for a banana. A round froglike creature had seen the hesitation in Sav’s movements and muttered under its nose. “Humans and their snobbish taste…” Sav glanced at the yellow frog and headed back to the main compartment. He noticed men and women clad in white aprons, with various high-tech apparatuses in their possession. Medical staff, Sav thought.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He continued towards a small gateway, with a barbell painted vertically on its right side. Sav walked down the path which led to the training facility, and it curved left, then into a sharp right. It mimicked the movements of a snake in its construction. Entering the training grounds, Sav was met with a sense of familiarity. The place was similar to Gene’s gymnasium back at Yuna, although three times as big. Sav chose a heavy bag and stood in front of it, ignoring the others and getting in stance. He took a breath; feinted low a couple of times, then came up with a high kick— snap! The force of the kick colliding with the leather ripped the bag in half, and sand poured down onto the floor. Sav quickly realized the risks hidden in practicing his shots in the facility. He was surrounded by possible future opponents with their eyes set on him. The young fighter turned around on his heels and calmly left.
Back at the cell compartment an alarm had gone off, and Sav made it just in time to witness what was happening. A soldier of the High State lay dead in a pool of blood. Two men were fighting. All the fighters had stepped out of their cells, watching the sudden brawl. Some were even cheering them on. The incident carried an almost prophetic aura, and Sav was aware of it. He hurried to a safe spot and joined the spectators. The men stood ready to pounce on each other once more, both heavily bruised and bloodied. The shorter of the two dived for the legs of his opponent, aiming to take him down. The taller man managed to prevail and wrapped his arms around his attacker, squeezing hard. He lifted him in the air and slammed his head into the steel floor with all his might. The shorter fighter didn’t move after that. The victor looked around in a frenzy and roared at the top of his lungs right before a bullet pierced his skull, putting him down…
Day 2
As a result of the brawl, the High State had tightened the security measures, and the fighters were prohibited from leaving their cells for the day. It was deadly quiet in the compartment, and everyone was forced to bond with their cellmates in one way or another. Tensions were high as food and drink were also kept from the fighters.
“… I mean really, why do we have to suffer just because two idiots decided to go at it?” Jared complained. The news had hit them early in the morning, and naturally, arguments ensued. Manny’s stomach rumbled.
“Look, I’m not happy either, but you ought to stop whining like a baby!” The little gremlin of a thing shouted.
“Yeah, it’s easy for you to say! You’d probably get full just from one apple! We grown men need real food… “ Jared shot back.
“I’ll show you a grown man!” Manny stood up and headed towards the rock-skinned man.
The Mystery Man stepped in between them with his arms held apart. “Stop it! You want those High State fuckers to barge in here and shoot us too? Sit down, both of you!”
Sav was sitting on his bed and watching the whole scene unfold in front of him. They were too emotional, he told himself. He had been taught to control his emotions and impulses while in a fight. There was a common misconception about said control. Most associated the word with the act of shutting the emotions off completely, but the key was in channeling those emotions out from the spiritual world into the physical. That way, if you were really hurt, you could use the feelings of uncertainty and the desire to respond immediately, thus molding them into a lethal counterattack.
“… Maybe he knows…” Yuri said.
“Sav!” Manny called out.
“Hm? What?” Sav had been too busy with his inner monologue to follow their conversation.
“Do you think they’re gonna keep us locked up for more than a day?”
“Eh, probably not. I was expecting something like this, but… they acted quicker than I thought. They’re just warning us to not repeat what those guys did back out there…” Sav answered.
“Right, so what do we do?” Jared asked.
“Nothing, we just wait for the day to pass…” Sav replied.
“I agree,” Yuri added from the opposite end of the cell.
“Somebody should tell a story or something!” Manny exclaimed. Everyone glanced at him with disapproval. “What? How else are we supposed to pass time?”
“Ahh, alright, I’ll bite!” Jared said. “Let me tell you about that one time I mugged a hooker for her three hundred zens…”
Day 3-4
198…199…200… Sav finished his push-ups and sat down, alone in the cell. The others had left for the training facility, and he took the opportunity to do a short workout by himself. Next, he hit the showers and found himself in the main compartment after that. His eyes fell on the stairway he had seen on the day of his arrival. It led to the pilot cabin, which for some strange reason wasn’t surrounded by guards like it usually had been. A uniformed man walked out of the cabin, and Sav rushed towards him, purposely tripping on his way up and bumping into him.
“Watch where you’re going, man!” The pilot spat out. He had a youthful face, uncommon for his line of work.
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t see you.” Sav lied.
“You didn’t see me? What’re you doing walking up here anyway?” The pilot asked.
“Oh, I must’ve gotten confused. Are you a pilot?”
“I am. Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering how many days we have left until we arrive at Kybernan?”
“Two more days… I just wish we could’ve stayed longer at Yuna.”
“Why?” Sav asked.
“It’s my home planet.” The pilot explained.
“How could you work for these assholes after what they’ve done to our planet?” Sav pressed.
“And who exactly do you think you are to judge me?” The young pilot huffed. “Acting like you didn’t get on this ship for a chance to join the ranks.”
“It’s not the same!” Sav fumed, stepping closer to the pilot.
“Oh, it’s not?” He chuckled. “And what’s the difference exactly? … I guess we all have our price at the end of the day… Now get out of my way before someone sees you…”
Sav stood alone on the stairs and watched as the man disappeared down the corridor leading to the canteen. He continued up the stairs and looked around before entering the cockpit. Before him stood two of the pilots, who were occupied with operating the large spaceship. There were three seats in the room and one of them was empty, adjacent to the man Sav had been talking to seconds ago. He stood by the wall and eavesdropped on their conversation. They were discussing the tournament.
“… Yeah, I’ve heard about that too. Are you sure that it’s true though?”
“I can’t say for certain, but my source works in one of the governor’s facilities. There must be some truth to it…”
“Wow, those guys might really be allowed to kill each other then…”
Sav was about to step closer to the pilots when the door next to him opened and one of the EAGLE agents walked in. The young fighter held his breath and waited patiently for him to approach them before slipping out of the room, unnoticed. Sav took off down the stairs and headed back to the cell compartment, he’d had enough adventures for the day. Returning to the cell, he found all the other fighters in a heated debate. He slammed the door with all his might and stopped in the middle of the room. Everyone fell silent.
“I just learned that killing will be allowed in the tournament,” Sav revealed.
Just as the group was about to speak, someone kicked in the door and two guards stepped in with their guns held high. “We’re looking for Yuri,” they barked.
“That would be me,” Yuri said. “What’s the reason?”
“We got a report that you’ve stolen something from the training facility, and you’re coming with us. Now!” The guard shouted, aiming at the blind cyborg and motioning towards the exit.
“Steal? He’s blind for fuck’s sake!” Jared called out.
“I haven’t stolen anything!” Yuri protested, not leaving his seat.
“Look, asshole! You either get your ass outta here, or we’ll drag you out of this cell ourselves!” The agent threatened.
“I ain’t going anywhere!” Yuri shouted.
Everything unfolded instantaneously, but in Sav’s eyes, their movements had passed in slow motion. One of the agents tried to grab Yuri’s leg while the other had already gotten a hold of his shoulders. Yuri caught the man closer to him by the collar and pulled him down towards himself, knocking the guy to the ground. The blind cyborg struck him with his head, and before the other soldier could react, he had already bitten his carotid artery, killing him on the spot. The remaining guard cried out in deep anger and made bullets rain down on Yuri, emptying the whole clip. The alarm went off again.
Day 5
The young fighter sat alone in the dark; it had been hours since he had been shoved into a small cell, furnished only with an old table and two chairs. At first, he had tried meditating and succeeded, but as with most things that were not related to fighting, he got bored of it rather quickly. Sav wondered if the other guys were in the same situation.
The door flung open and Sav was met by an old, wrinkly face. The old man rocked a uniform similar to the one the young pilot had worn, and he scowled at Sav, resembling some dehydrated camel. The young fighter fought the urge to laugh and watched as he sat down.
“I am General Kang, and I shall be addressed as such. I’m the head warden of the ship, and I’ll be asking you some questions about the incident that took place in Cell-35. Am I clear?”
“Loud and clear, sir,” Sav answered.
“What can you tell me about Mr. Yuri?”
“Not much… I met him when I first got on the ship. He told us that he was from Nexum, and didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the trip.”
“Given the short amount of time you’ve known Mr. Yuri for, would you say that he was an aggressive man?” Kang continued, resting his elbows on the table. He had an angry scar going over the bridge of his nose, and his right eye was drooping.
“Quite the opposite, he mostly kept to himself.”
Kang took a deep breath. “What exactly happened in that cell yesterday, Mr. Orbona?”
“Acting like you don’t have a clue…” Sav chuckled, shaking his head.
“Answer my question!” The general barked.
Sav smirked, enjoying the anger on the old man’s face. “Well, your guys came in, kicked the door open. They wanted to take Yuri with them, accused him of stealing something from the training facility. He denied it, resisted… They got into a scuffle and… you know the rest, general.”
“You think I don’t know who you are, Orphan?” Kang asked, smiling. “You’re free to go.”
Sav froze when he heard the old general use his nickname. He rose up from his seat and got in Kang’s face, then half-whispered, venom dripping from his voice. “Ah, since you know me so well, you also realize I could kill you before you even make it to that door, right?”
Fear flashed across the general’s face. “I’d advise you against it, if you want to keep your life, that is.”
Sav shot him a dirty look, then left.
Back at Cell-35, the fighters were discussing Yuri’s death. As usual, the conversation had grown into an argument, and from an argument into a straight shouting contest.
“No! They weren’t right in killing him!” Manny yelled.
“I’m not saying they were right! But the guy resisted and killed one of ‘em first! What the fuck did he expect?” Jared replied.
Manny stared down, shaking his head. “Yeah… I guess that's fair to say. He mentioned that he had a wife and kids…” Yuri’s bed stood empty; even the bloodstains had been cleaned. Three deaths had occurred in four days, and Sav was questioning the legitimacy of the whole ordeal. How many more lives were going to be taken until they made it to Kybernan? He went back to his bed and isolated himself from the outer world until it was nighttime, somebody had called out to him a couple of times, but he didn’t bother to acknowledge them.
He waited for everyone to pass out and silently left the cell. After much thought, he had decided to track down the guard who had killed Yuri. The fighter went around the entire ship and couldn’t find anything, ending up back in the main area. Just then, he noticed two agents talking to each other, and one of them took off to the compartment of the High State, leaving his partner alone. They had changed shifts. Sav recognized him immediately and hid behind a column, waiting for him to change his position. The guard looked around before heading out to the bathroom, and Sav followed him. He waited until the man started pissing in one of the urinals, then snuck up behind him, sliding his own belt off. Sav wrapped the belt around the guard’s neck in one swift motion and squeezed hard, putting his boot on the man’s back so he couldn’t reach him. The guard gurgled in shock and began struggling against the leather constraint. He tried to claw back at Sav but ended up grabbing air; his face had turned an angry red, and the eyeballs threatened to pop out of their sockets. The man thrashed around, attempting to get his fingers around the belt but Sav tightened it harder. There was no escape. The guard’s arms fell limp at his sides, and Sav let him drop down on the floor, cracking the tiles.
Day 6
All the fighters were gathered in the main area. Sav had lost sight of his cellmates and stared ahead as the hatch he had previously entered from slid open. They had landed. Outside on the landing site stood three officers, with a huge pile of bags behind them. Sav soon found himself in one of the High State’s vans, travelling to an apartment complex they had chosen for the fighters. The capital was not like any other city he had seen in his life, and he had been to many places during his active fighting days. They arrived at a gated complex and were granted entry without issue. Sav stepped out of the vehicle without seeing the driver once and entered the tall building he’d been authorized to stay at. The apartment was exceptionally furnished— equipped with everything one could ask for and offering an amazing view of a huge, flowy river. Sav wasn’t surprised, given the fact that he was located in the heart of the High State.
He sat down to rest for a while and his phone rang — another message from the High State. It was labelled ‘Brackets’. He had already been assigned an opponent, and he tried to imagine what he’d look like based on his name — Butch-7.
