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** CHAPTER 38 ** Harena Sanguis Tournament Part III

The stench of blood and human perspiration saturated the air. The sword swung towards its objective after that slightest opening had given it the opportunity. The strike ended the life of the opponent instantly. A huge gash opened at the back of the human's neck, revealing tremendous damage to the vertebrae and ligaments as he fell down. The screams of the spectators raised in loudness as this happened, as if an orchestrated scene.

"Kiire is the winner! And with that he secures a spot in the final!" The voice of the announcer echoed through the coliseum.

The tournament had finally reached the last straight. After grueling battles, miraculously, Mayra Morrison and the Retcans made it to the end. But this is where the odyssey started for them; for they would only have one chance to make their escape. It was a fifty-fifty chance. Either they made it, or they would be killed.

Sitting in the cages, all beaten and mangled; their PX suits shredded after many fights, the Retcans stared at Kiire who never took his glare from them. He was demanding their blood, and they knew it.

"We'll have a chance, Retcans." Morrison told them from the cage next to them. The rest of the cages were empty, as the rest of the gladiators were either dead, or the ones who survived were taken to their cells.

"Things will be different now," she continued. "The final match will be an all-for-one battle with no rules."

"Got it." Zonda replied.

"The plan still goes." Morrison continued. "We will work together to get rid of Kiire; it should be easy with the three of us. But don't let your guard down."

Kiire still celebrated at the center of the arena. What bothered the Retcans the most is that he didn't look tired at all. If he was, then he was doing a great job concealing it.

"He's determined to kill us." Alpha muttered.

"This time we will be three against him." Zonda reassured him. "Don't worry."

"I have a bad feeling about this, brother."

"We are not going back, Alpha." Morrison responded. "Not only Turann knows about the treason, but we have no option. If we don't do this it would mean that we would have to fight seriously against each other."

"She's right, Alpha. We have no choice. Regardless of the outcome, this is our best option."

But Alpha felt it was something else. He didn't know what, but it was something that had been bothering him a few fights before. Somehow he knew that defeating Kiire was going to be much easier with Morrison on their side, though that didn't help to ease his bad feeling.

The tournament was placed on a pause. The maintenance crew was ordered to clean the arena and pour fresh sand in it. The weapons were also changed for new ones. This last fight would have the best conditions possible.

The contestants were taken to a special room, where their wounds were treated and they were given water and a bar of that well known oily bread. After almost an hour, their energy was restored. They still felt the mental fatigue, but their body felt better than it was prior to the last fight.

The lights in the arena were once again changed to how they were during the fights, announcing that the final bout would commence soon.

The announcer's thunderous voice echoed once again through the coliseum, giving the details in this special all-for-one match between the finalists.

One by one they were called in to the arena, met by the cheers of the mad crowd. Surprisingly, the Retcans were now received with enthusiasm after they gave such spectacle of ability when beating all those contestants that doubled their size.

"How much longer do we have to go with this, Turann?" The scrawny man, Feastus, questioned Emperor Turann. They still watched the tournament from the private box.

"I'm going to ask you again to be patient, Feastus."

"But listen to all those cheers! They love those rats!" Feastus replied furiously. He didn't want more than his money. "They have proven their value already. They have won over more than ten of your best Gladiators."

"Shut up, Feastus!" Turann replied yelling furiously. There was something bothering him since the tournament started.

"What's wrong, Turann? Don't trust that these rats will make it to the end? Or is it that you fear that they do? Think of it; this could be a new era of gladiators that rely on intelligence and ability rather than pure brute strength. The audience loves it!"

"No one escapes my arena... I have a little surprise for you." Turann muttered. Feastus felt confused by the words of the Emperor.

At the center of the arena, the four last contestants stood in front of each other, waiting for the match to start. Zonda and Alpha didn't show any emotions and kept their blank expression. Morrison gave a piercing glare at Kiire.

"What do you say, babe; should we team up and kill these animals?" Kiire proposed, letting out a lascivious chuckle.

Morrison didn't respond at all. She kept on staring at Kiire, showing no fear at all.

The minutes passed and the last four gladiators wondered why the match hadn't started yet. This was worrying. Something was obviously going on.

To the surprise of everyone, Turann stood from his seat inside his private box and spoke.

"I'm very glad with the outcome of this tournament. I never expected this result. Mayra Morrison, you have proven your worth by not only surviving all the past tournaments, but by finally managing to make it to the end. Zonda and Alpha, despite you are new; you have proven that size doesn't matter. I am very pleased with your performance. And Kiire; you have been here for very long. You know our rules. You have proven to be one of my best. But things change. You know too much already."

Confusing words came form Turann. Kiire didn't like it one bit. He felt that something wasn't right and that his life might be at risk for some reason.

"I'm afraid that due to recent events, the rules will change a bit. It will be an all-for-one match, but you won't be alone..." With a mild chuckle, Turann got back on his seat. Morrison and Kiire looked worried. This startled the Retcans.

"Release IT to the arena." Turann ordered by a com device.

"Release what? What are you planning, Turann?" Feastus asked nervously, feeling that his deal would be broken.

For a minute or two nothing happened. But then, through a massive gate at the far end of the arena, a deep grunt overwhelmed the cheers of the impatient crowd.

"Morrison, something is not right! There is something approaching!" Zonda alerted his human friend. Retcans could feel an intense energy getting close.

"Damn Turann!" Kiire yelled as he watched closely. His cocky glare now drowned by fear. "It seems that he decided not to have a champion this season." He then chuckled.

Seconds passed and suddenly, the gladiators felt something on the ground. They felt a pounding that made the ground below them shake in an almost regular pattern. It almost felt like steps.

To the shock of everyone present, something hit against the massive wooden doors of that once ignored gate. It was like if something crashed against it.

"Whatever it is, it's here!" Alpha yelled.

It didn't give them any chance for preparing. The doors slammed open and through a very dark corridor they saw a large group of guards pulling on chains. Soon, whatever they were pulling made itself present.

Another fierce growl made some of the guards run for their lives. Others were yanked violently and thrown various meters away. It was obvious that they didn't make it.

A huge hand, the size of a Retcan grabbed the door and shattered it as that thing pulled itself out to the arena.

A massive creature now walked through the arena, making the ground tremble at each step. It looked like a human, but its size was abominable. Standing almost ten meters, a mass of pure muscle covered in a grey skin; the horrible humanoid giant growled at the gladiators that stood bewildered at its presence.

"A Colossus!" Kiire babbled in fear. "We are dead."

"Prove your worth gladiators, and survive this new challenge!" Turann yelled as he raised his arm and dropped it, signaling the start of the fight.

"We have no chance," Kiire yelled. "We have to work together if we want to survive this!"

"Are you afraid, you worthless coward?" Morrison replied.

"Fool! That monster will destroy us in seconds! Let's fight together and find a way to bring it down. If you work with me, I promise that I will let you give up and your lives will be spared."

"You're pathetic, Kiire! You are afraid because you know that these two aliens and I will team up against you once we manage to get rid of that monster!"

Kiire was furious by Morrison's bold words. He let out a war scream like none. But a tint of fear was very noticeable in that scream.

"We will all die then!" were the last words that ended his war scream.

They had no time to loose. The monster quickly rammed at them with no other thing in mind but to kill the gladiators. Being massive as it was, it was relatively easy for them to avoid the attacks, but the size was deceiving. Even though the monster's attacks seemed slow, they were actually very swift and of course, deadly.

Weapons were thrown at the arena, and the four gladiators didn't hesitate for a second to fetch some. Kiire ran to get a sword, in which Morrison had her eyes locked into as well.

I can't let Kiire get an advantage. I have to get it first.

"Morrison! Secure the weapons. We will distract the beast!" Zonda yelled when he understood the risk of letting Kiire be close to them while armed.

The second weapon stash was unfortunately behind the monster. Zonda and Alpha had to secure them without letting their guard down for a second, or that beast would kill them in an instant.

"Alpha, distract him!" Zonda ordered.

"Zonda no, that thing is too dangerous!"

"Trust me, brother. Just distract him!"

A small stone that lay a few meters away from them would prove to be a good distraction. Alpha ran and rolled on the ground securing the stone. He had to lure the beast so Zonda had a chance to get to the second weapon stash.

"Over here!" Alpha yelled. He threw the stone at the beast after his yell didn't do anything to grab his attention.

The stone hit right in the giant's face, instantly focusing his attention at Alpha. The fear consumed the Retcan as he saw the massive beast walk towards him. Zonda instantly knew this was his opportunity. He ran quickly from were he was towards the weapon stash. He knew that he had to get there as quickly as possible before that monster could hurt his brother.

But something unexpected happened. The monster focused on Zonda instead, stopping his charge at Alpha. He raised his enormous foot in an attempt to stomp Zonda. Zonda barely managed to jump out of the way as a huge tremor shook the arena and a cloud of dust engulfed it.

Dazed, Zonda found it hard to recover. The dust got into his lungs as well as his eyes. He kneeled on the ground as he made a huge effort to recover.

Due to the dust cloud, and the sand on his eyes, he couldn't focus on the beast that already walked towards him.

"No!" Alpha yelled. He ran as fast as he could to save his brother from an imminent death. Driven by a protective instinct and not by logic, Alpha climbed up the beast's back until he reached his neck. He punched and slashed the flesh making wounds on the giant. But they were like little needle punctures that meant nothing to the beast.

As Zonda recovered, he noticed Alpha holding on to his life as the monster tried to get a hold of him. He knew that he had to do something. He ran to the weapon stash and finally got a hold of a couple of long swords. He then ran back towards the beast, yelling at it to distract his attention from his brother.

"Alpha; get off of him!" Zonda yelled at no avail. Alpha was probably afraid of letting go, not knowing what that beast would be capable of if he jumped down.

"Here brother; catch!" Zonda threw the sword at Alpha, who by pure luck managed to grab it.

Alpha didn't doubt a second to drive the sword through the giant's neck, but as he was about to do this, the giant finally got hold of him.

"No!" Zonda yelled as he realized that this could be his brother's end.

The monster grabbed Alpha with both of his massive hands and prepared to crush him. Zonda ran to the monster, targeting his legs. Cutting a tendon would immobilize the beast and hopefully he would let go of Alpha before it was too late.

As Zonda got close, the giant realize the yellow eyed Retcan's plan, and received him with a kick. The massive foot appeared to move very slowly, but it was like hitting a solid rock. Zonda flew meters away from the scene, landing on the ground not before bouncing a couple of times like dead weight. He tried to recover as quickly as he could; he knew his brother's life could end in that instant. Though a sharp pain in his chest incapacitated him from moving the way he wanted to.

He saw helpless as the monster gained his attention at Alpha once again. He started pressing on Alpha's delicate body like one would crush a ripe fruit. The yelps of the Retcan's agony filled the arena, piercing through Zonda's soul. His brother was dying.

Everything seemed like in slow motion as Zonda tried to rush towards Alpha. Every step he took felt like two steps backwards. That Retcan that he loved so dearly, the Retcan that he had shared most of his life with, that Retcan that he had such a special bond with; he was being brutally killed before him.

Tears escaped Zonda's eyes as he continued his endless race to save him. A race that he felt he wouldn't win.

Not like this. Please, let it not be like this.

As he saw the giant's muscles grow in size as he prepared to do one last squeeze, a tiny sparkle of hope flew across the arena. A shiny spot flew through the air. A knife buried deep into the monsters eye, who instantly released Alpha from his grip.

Morrison had been fighting Kiire, and somehow managed to reach the weapon stash. She was aware of the situation. She wouldn't let her alien friends die that night.