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** CHAPTER 32** Harena Sanguis Tournament

In the silent cell, within the depths of Turann's arena, Zonda and Alpha were still gathering their thoughts. An hour after they finished their unsavory breakfast, the orientation for that night's tournament was shown in the small screen that all cells had bolted to the stone walls. There wouldn't be qualifying this time as this was a Shifting Tournament.

"For the new ones, a shifting tournament is the one where you will fight to be selected for this year's gladiator grid. So your best is expected in this event." The voice in the screen resonated in the Retcan's memory as they were taken to the gymnasium of the arena. All of the gladiators were there to prepare themselves for that night's tournament.

The gym was almost full with that night's gladiator grid. This could lead to an inevitable riot, but after remembering the dreadful collars that they wore, they understood why no one dared to try anything.

Both Retcans didn't touch the workout devices, as these were too heavy for their bodies to move. The strength of a Retcan came from years of mental training, instead of just depending on muscle mass like other species. They knew what their bodies were capable of, and how they could channel their strength to knock out opponents twice their size. But even knowing their advantage given by years of experience, they still knew that they needed to respect these gladiators, since they were also warriors too; one of them in particular who had almost killed them the day before.

That gladiator's name was Kiire. If the other gladiators were as strong as him, they had to be very careful, especially now that these were one-on-one fights.

"I'm going to kill those rats!" A voice echoed from across the room. A loud noise was heard when an exercising machine dropped all of its weight brutally.

"Silence, Kiire!" A guard scolded him.

"Yes, you can hear me, rats. I will skin you alive!"

"Last warning, Kiire!" A bigger guard approached Kiire with a huge rifle at hand. In a second floor above them, guards watched the action behind a glass wall, gripping the controls for the collars in one hand. One false move by the gladiators and everyone would die.

"Don't pay attention to him..." A voice next to them whispered. It was Morrison who worked out in a bench. "He's all testosterone and no brains."

"We are not scared of him, Morrison." Zonda replied. "He is strong, but his aggressive overconfidence will ultimately play against him. He has no respect for his opponents, and that will be his demise one day."

"Don't underestimate him, though." Morrison replied.

"Silence you three!" A guard scolded them when he noticed their chatter.

After about an hour, three by three the gladiators were being taken to their respective cells. Morrison and the Retcans were the last ones to be taken, but strangely, after the guards watching from above were gone.

The same guard that had taken Zonda and Alpha to the cell the day before suddenly approached them with another group of guards.

"Why did they leave us here without any supervision?" Alpha asked very cautiously before the guards were close enough to hear.

"Keep quiet and obey the rules. No matter what happens, you keep on going until you reach the cell." Morrison said. Strangely enough, she said this as the guards were there, putting all the restraining chains on them.

"Move!" One of the guards ordered.

Everything seemed in order now, as they were being taken to their cells just like the rest of the gladiators were.

On their way to the cells, everything went smoothly since the guards were probably trained to handle these operations. But suddenly, a discussion was heard behind the Retcans.

"Touch me again and I will cut your throat." Morrison threatened one of the guards.

The Retcans were immediately ordered to keep their eyes to the ground. But again, Morrison and the guard started to discuss. The strange thing is that the other guards didn't do anything about it.

"That's it, asshole!" Morrison yelled.

There was little that the Retcans could see since they were pushed to quicken their pace. All they could hear was Morrison fighting with a guard and eventually being immobilized on the floor by the rest of the guards.

"That idiot was touching me! What did you expect me to do? Get off of me you morons!!" those were the last words that Zonda and Alpha could manage to hear, as they were dragged away from the scene, until they were eventually placed back in their cell.

Alpha and Zonda sat on their mattress, confused of what just happened. It took almost ten minutes, until they heard someone approaching. It was Morrison and a small group of guards.

"Do that again, and Lord Turann will know about it!" One of the guards yelled while he threw Morrison into the cell with the help of other three. The female human just yelled some unknown words to the guard, which were interpreted by the Retcans as being a sign of aggression and offence.

"Save your energy for tonight. It could be your last!" the guard yelled laughing while they disappeared from the cell area.

Morrison just sat on her bed, motionless.

"What happened, human Morrison?" Zonda dared to ask.

Morrison made a sign telling him to stop talking. She stared at the cell door for a few seconds and then she stood up quickly, heading to the corner of the cell, close to where the screen was bolted on.

"We have ten minutes." She said whispering as she looked for something behind a loose chunk of rock.

"What's going on?" Alpha now questioned Morrison.

No response was given by the female human as she finally found what she was looking for. It was a strange device with a couple of loose cables. She immediately stood up and opened a small compartment at the side of the screen and quickly spliced a cable inside it with the cables of the small strange device.

"I'm sorry I was rude to you yesterday." Morrison whispered as she kept on working inside the screen. "I had no choice. We were being watched and listened to. We always are, except for now." She said. She took out a tiny plastic device hidden inside her clothes and inserted it into the other device that she just connected to the screen.

"What are you doing, Morrison?" Zonda demanded to know.

"This is the guard's itinerary for tonight's events. Everything is here, including their surveillance plans and procedures." Morrison replied as she made the screen turn on. In the screen, a map of the complex, a list of guards and also detailed information on their procedures were displayed.

"How did you get this?" Alpha now asked while Zonda inspected the information closely.

"I have an informant inside Turann's army. That little riot that you just witnessed was already planned. My informant gave me this disc containing the updated information on tonight's events." She said while pointing at the little plastic artifact that she had hidden in her clothes.

"So we are doing it tonight." Zonda said.

"Look. Even if we know the surveillance plan for tonight, escaping is out of any reach. Being a special event, means that the place is going to be crowded and most of the security will be focused in the arena." Morrison explained.

"So, that means that we do have a chance if we managed to get out of the arena!"

"Listen to me, Zonda. I've been getting this information for years. But so far I haven't had the chance to come up with a good escape plan. Understand that any mistake and we will be killed instantly."

"Then why do you bring this then?" Zonda questioned her irritated.

"Like I said, the more information we have, the best chance we will have of escaping in the future."

"This is nonsense!" Alpha now replied desperate.

"Morrison. We can do this tonight." Zonda asserted.

"No! You have just arrived here. You don't know how things work in this place. I am not going to risk my head for nothing."

"Listen; if you are saying that all the security will be focused at the arena, then wouldn't that make it easier for us if we manage to leave the arena?"

Both Retcans and the human discussed for a couple of minutes. Morrison had already planned many escapes, but there still were a lot of risks that couldn't be avoided. It was a very tough discussion, but the Retcans were decided to try something.

"The problem is that it is impossible to leave the arena." Morrison explained. "The only way to do it is dead."

"I can do that." Zonda suggested. Morrison was shocked by his strange proposal and assumed what Zonda was thinking of.

"You have no idea how many times gladiators have tried that. Faking your death is the worst that you can do. You actually think that Turann is that dumb? If someone is presumed dead, they are taken outside of the arena and their collar is activated. As a matter of fact, you wouldn't even have a chance, since they check your vitals at the arena itself. If you're faking it, then you are killed in the spot."

"I can fake my death, Morrison. Better than you can imagine." Zonda acknowledged.

"Brother, you know that's dangerous." Alpha objected. He knew what Zonda was talking about and didn't like the idea.

"It's the only way. I can slow my metabolism until my heart reaches one pulsation per minute. That should trick the guards." The yellow eyed Retcan explained.

"Still, you will be killed once you exit the arena." Morrison confronted him.

"I can somehow disable the guards once we are out." Zonda didn't sound so sure this time as the human kept on rejecting his ideas.

"Even if you manage to do such thing, what do you plan on doing next?"

"Morrison is right, brother." Alpha agreed. He was afraid that something could happen to Zonda if they tried such reckless attempt of escape. "What would you do next?"

"Our first priority is to deactivate the collars. There's got to be some sort of control room that monitors the collars. I've seen them blink at the same time, meaning that they are somehow connected with a central system." Zonda suggested. "Morrison, where do you think the control room could be?"

"I have no idea, fur ball. Maybe Turann's office, I don't know! This is stupid, Zonda. We don't even know what to do if we manage to exit the arena safely, let alone what would we do next."

"I hate to tell you this Zonda, but she's right. Maybe if we wait until we have more information." Alpha suggested.

"I'm telling you that I can do this. I can get passed the checkup they do to dead gladiators. Is there a way that you can somehow arrange someone to help me or something?"

"I'm sorry, Zonda. I can't do that... Have patience and we will eventually leave this place."

Mayra Morrison refused the Retcan's proposal. But she was probably right since she had been there for years. She knew how security worked in Turann's arena and knew the risks perfectly.

Six minutes after they had studied the information, Morrison placed everything like it was. There was no evidence that she had hacked into the screen, or that they were planning anything to escape that night.

The three of them kept silence the rest of the afternoon, thinking of what could be of them that night.

While laying in their mattress almost fading away in their thoughts, a rude shaking in their cell doors brought the two Retcans back to reality.

"It's your time to shine, gladiators." A guard said while opening the cell.

The Retcans slowly stood up, while they saw Morrison already cuffed and being taken to outside the cell.

"You are lucky, I must say. Not only you are the first creatures of your type to make it to the gladiator grid, but also you get to participate in the Shifting Tournament." The guard continued while he cuffed both Retcans.

"Unlucky, I must say." Another guard discussed as he helped him. "Lord Turann usually keeps the new gladiators confined until he organizes the new grids. He either has too much faith in these fleabags, or he wants them dead soon."

Despite having privileges, Zonda and Alpha were still being disrespected a lot while on their way to the arena. They didn't really paid attention as their minds were focused on what could happen that night.

As they walked through the endless tunnels and corridors, a persistent wail made itself present in the air. They couldn't tell what it was until they were close enough to the arena. It was the screams of the spectators that filled the arena that night. People were craving for fights, for blood and for deaths.

The Retcans were walked into a room beneath the arena itself. All the gladiators were preparing for their night. They dressed on their warrior garments and warmed up after that.

"Do you require any type of gear?" One of the guards asked the Retcans as he observed the soiled suits that once were part of their PX armor. They had left their armor in the dessert and only wore the black PX undergarment that now was dusty because of the environment, and full of holes due to the fight they had the day before.

Both Retcans dissented.

"Your choice. I don't think you'll last too long anyway." The guard said as he walked away and took position.

Alpha and Zonda just stood there waiting to see what would happen next. They were focused on surviving that night at least. They looked at each other, giving themselves the strength they needed.

"Retcans," A voice called them. It was Morrison that now walked into the large room, wearing her fighting suit. A tight top, some arm and leg wrappings, strong boots and a pair of fatigues is all she wore.

Morrison approached them without making any eye contact. "I wish you the best of lucks. Don't die on me, fluff balls." She whispered. "If we are put against each other, don't hesitate to use all your strength."

The attitude towards them was much unexpected. Somehow they could feel legitimate affection from this human. Something in them awakened very good feelings in Morrison. But she brought a crude reality to them. There was a high chance that they could end up fighting against each other; even both brothers.

Alpha and Zonda meditated for a few minutes, preparing their minds and bodies for the new challenge that would threaten their lives once again.

After a couple of minutes, the repulsive man in a tunic that they knew from the day before entered the room with a group of guards. The gladiators were already impatient since it was taking too long for the tournament to begin. Not even the slaughter events had started. They only heard the spectators yelling harder as their patience started running low.

Without saying any words, the man in the tunic walked closely by every one of the gladiators staring them right at the eyes. He looked infuriated by something.

Something is not right... Morrison thought.

With some hand gestures, the man in the tunic ordered the guards to escort the gladiators to the arena. One by one they walked out of the room until they reached the arena and were placed inside the cages. The spectators ran wild, cheering for their favorite gladiators.

"What's going on?" One of the gladiators said.

This caught the attention of the Retcans who were placed next to each other. Morrison was thankfully next to them as well.

"Something is not right. They never bring us up before the slaughter events." She whispered in between all the noise.

"What do you mean?" Zonda asked.

Before he could get an answer, a group of guards stood in front of the cages, with the man in the tunic walking back and forth along them. He never took his sight from the gladiators.

After a minute, the man in the tunic ordered the guards to bring something into the arena. The Retcans couldn't see what was being dragged into the arena until it was almost at the center of it. The screams of excitement from the spectators drowned the terrified gasp that Morrison let out.

At the middle of the arena, one man was being tied into a torture bench; the ones used in the slaughter events.

No. It's him... Morrison thought completely in shock.

"I have seen that man." Zonda whispered. "That's the guard that took us to our cell yesterday. Isn't he...?"

"He is my informant, Retcans... We are dead..."