Angelico had little time between his meeting with the Dogmorian Agents and the start of his next fight. He had to fix his hair and body makeup. Additionally, he could not just stroll across the street to the arena, as thousands of fans and the media wanted a piece of him, and he was instructed by the agents to avoid them. He had to exit out the rear entrance of the hotel, follow the long, dark alley, cross an unpopulated bridge, and come back up behind the stadium to avoid being seen. He hated these orders.
He was sore all over from previous matches. The painkillers that he was no longer permitted to take, for fear of disqualification, had worn off. Angelico was feeling the full effects of the blast Rapt had struck him with, just before he killed him in response. Angelico had wanted to visit Vivarine, a local acquaintance and bookie, but there was no time. Talking to his ally and partner in the arena, Shadowed, would have to suffice. Angelico stood alone in his starting doorway, wearing a toga, sandals, and loincloth beneath. His arms were crossed, and he rested sulkily against the wall.
"Nice crowd tonight," sizzled the voice of Shadowed. If he hadn't spoken, Angelico would never have known he was there.
"Good, you're here," said Angelico, standing up, more alert now. "There's something I wanted to ask you." He paused for a response, but there was none. "Are you Viv?"
"Hmm?" questioned Shadowed. There was an unnatural crackling to his voice like he spoke through a microphone. It was impossible to gauge his thoughts.
"It's just...after I was struck with the sphere, I was hallucinating, or whatever. Things looked different. You and Viv both looked the same, appearing as living holes in my vision." Shadowed said nothing. "And then Viv always knows things she shouldn't know, things that you would know. Like, that you were the one who threw the spiked disc at Brunt, not me. Or that I took pain pills before my last match."
There was a long silence. Angelico thought that he was correct about Shadowed's identity, ending the conversation. He would not push it further. To Angelico's surprise, Shadowed finally responded. "She's psychic. She's reading your mind, or maybe mine." That did not answer all of the questions Angelico had, but he would leave them unanswered for now.
"Who are we fighting?"
"Rapt's sister and her partner."
"Oh." Angelico expressed more worry in his shaky voice than he realized he was feeling. "I understand we're supposed to pretend to hurt them, and they're going to fake defeat."
"That's what I was told. Mandy probably won't, though. She may kill you."
"Better gladiators than her have tried. Who's her partner?"
"Concussion."
"Why's she called concussion?"
"She was in an accident, hit her head, suffers from a constant internal hemorrhaging. This has given her psi abilities."
"Interesting," said Angelico. They stood in silence until the match was announced.
For the first time in the Dogma Stadium history, the announcer was not at his side table to start the match; he was standing in the center of the arena. The announcer moved around enthusiastically, his monkey-like tail swinging every-which-way. "Good evening Dogma!"
There was a loud uproar as all the locals were excited at hearing the name of their moon. "Welcome to a very special vengeance match." The cheer was louder now. Angelico was impressed with the volume. "Here to avenge the recent death of her brother, one of the most powerful gladiators ever to come from Dogma, let's give a cheer for Mandissa `The Mystical Phenomenon' Gahnin!" Huge roars of approval filled every space within the stadium. Angelico felt the walls around him shaking. He feared they would collapse at any moment. Mandissa entered the arena. Her hair was big, curving out in each direction, and then curving back to stop at her shoulders. She leaned one hip to the right, resting an open hand on it. She was dressed in a black bodysuit, surrounded by a loose, silver belt. She also wore silver gloves and boots. She was chewing gum and spat it on the ground. Angelico hoped he did not step on it with his bare feet.
"Standing by her side, her partner in and out of the arena, Dogma's finest Psi gladiator, let's give a cheer for Kelly "Concussion" Coaxes." They were still cheering, but not nearly as much. Concussion was a striking, young lass, blond hair, blue eyes, and a friendly smile on her face. She was dressed in a similar bodysuit as Mandissa, but hers was white and blue instead of black and silver. To rile the crowd up a little more, she did a jump, kicking back her right foot, and raised her right fist high into the air. Angelico thought she'd make a great cheerleader if this gladiator business didn't work out.
The announcer, unable to stand still, paced back and forth like a caged animal, waiting for the cheering to quiet down before he went on. "And now, the team you've all come to see, the guardian angel of the people of Dogma, our very own Angelico!" Angelico strolled out confidently, basking in the roaring of the crowd. People were yelling his name, in addition to "Daniel," "Grace," and "Killer." Honestly, in his entire life, he had never been received with so much enthusiasm. Angelico was surprised when he saw not one, but three sections of the stadium being filled by the audience. Apparently, they had only ever needed to open one in the stadium's entire history. The glass barrier, previously shattered by Angelico's face and a rioting crowd, had been replaced, once again giving the arena a professional look. Now when Angelico did his dance, he had to space it out, using most of the arena floor, giving each section an equal amount of attention. They were eating it up. He heard many people yelling slurs against him, but he accepted it as if it were praise, and kept jumping around, gliding, doing backflips in the air, and generally showing off his wings. Then, in a new twist to the act, while he did a double backflip, he took off his toga, in the air, and kicked off his sandals. This received a much bigger reaction than his last stripping performance. So much so that the earth beneath him was quaking. He decided he needed to stop before the place fell.
Though he could barely be heard under the voices of the crowd, the announcer went on. "A prisoner from the planet Morten, an uncontrollable killing machine, the dark one simply known as Shadowed." A deafening chorus of booing filled the place. Angelico returned to the starting door when Shadowed failed to enter. A black chain was shoved into his hands. He yanked the chain fiercely, and Shadowed came rolling into the arena. His arms were fastened down to him like he was in a straightjacket. He wiggled and writhed, trying to free himself. Angelico attached the chain loosely to a hook in the ground. The announcer quipped, "Now I'm going to get out of here before I'm Shadowed's next victim." He rushed off to an unseen booth.
Angelico focused on the fight. The announcer, the crowds, Shadowed, even Concussion vanished from his mind. He had one thought: attack Mandissa.
Mandissa stood calmly. If she could shoot bullets from her eyes, Angelico would have been killed instantly. But she couldn't, and instead stood her ground, tearing open a portal. Out came a creature like a common dog. It was three feet from the ground to the top of its head. It had a long skull, growling teeth, brown fur, and a curved tail like a Siberian husky. It did not look like anything too dangerous. Angelico would not waste his time with the dog and went to attack Mandissa.
He ran at her, jumped, and prepared his wings for a flying kick. However, he was stopped before he had the chance, and then backed away, without being able to explain his actions. Before he could go for another attack, two more dogs identical to the first had entered the arena, standing guard around Mandissa.
Angelico spotted a ball and chain hanging on a hook on a wall. He grabbed it, glided towards Mandissa, but again was stopped by an unseen force. This time, not only did he step away again, but his body hurt as he did so. There was something at work far greater than he could imagine. He noticed Mandissa had produced two tagnies in the meantime. They looked like floppy-eared cats, but were slightly larger, and could shoot a pain-inflicting projectile. Angelico had been hit by one before and cringed when he saw them now.
Angelico glanced over at Shadowed, who had managed to free his arms from their binding. He was working on his legs and would be free to attack soon.
A sword with less-than-lethal, blunted edges was strewn on the ground, half-buried by the dust. Angelico dove for it, holding it in his left hand, the ball and chain still swinging in his right. The third time would hopefully be the charm. Besides the three dogs, there were three tagnies, two giant birds that had both beak and teeth, and a two-legged creature with an armored head that Angelico had painfully been introduced to previously, on the Gahnin farm. Angelico again ignored the minions and went for Mandissa. Again he was stopped, again it hurt, but additionally, he lost both of weapons. The defense was becoming stronger.
Angelico stood and dusted himself off simultaneously.
The arena started to grow dark. It was night, the sun was long gone, and the arena lights did not make much of a difference. However, it was growing even darker than this dimness. Again, it was only his sizzling voice that let Angelico know that Shadowed stood close beside him. "Her mood affects the light level. We have to finish her before she starts that minion assault," warned Shadowed.
"I'm trying, but something keeps blocking my attacks."
"Allow me." Shadowed pulled a spiked disc from his wrist. With a flick of the fingers, he shot it at Mandissa. At first, it looked dead-on, but in the end, it missed by a hundred yards.
"Something's up with her," observed Angelico. "Can she put up some invisible shield or stop us mentally?"
"No, that's more Concussion's thing..." Simultaneously Shadowed and Angelico remembered there was another gladiator there. She had managed to hide from their thoughts. "Where is she?" They both looked around the arena. Angelico's eyes had passed over her no less than three times before he saw her. She was hiding in plain sight, and missing her was inexcusable.
"I see her," said Angelico. He shook his head, "I'm tired of the mind tricks around here."
"Distract her. She'll let down her guard. I'll get Mandy."
"Don't kill her," instructed Angelico, but he did not take his eyes off his prey, and did not know Shadowed's response. He walked confidently towards Concussion. As long as he did not lose sight of her, she was not a threat. He came up with the best method of distraction: grab her, jump up into the air, backflip, and land safely. She would be unharmed, but dizzy and disoriented. That should drop her defenses long enough.
Concussion was so focused on protecting Mandissa that she did not see nor hear Angelico walk right up beside her. She was only aware of him when he grabbed her from behind, his arms around her waist, his body too close. She struggled against him as he jumped and flapped twice, rising into the air. "Let go you freak!" She threw her head back to hit his face but missed. As he started into the backflip she brought up an elbow into his nose. He recoiled from the immediate pain, and brought his hands to his face, more from shock than for comfort.
He realized quickly that he had dropped her. In retrospect, Angelico realized he should have grabbed her and spread his wings so both returned to the ground slowly. But in the intensity of the moment, self-preservation over-rid all logical thought. He flapped his wings, pausing his descent, giving him the chance to watch her fall. She returned to the dusty arena floor headfirst, landing with an audible crack. Angelico landed softly on his feet, pained with guilt.
A shriek like a banshee attacked every ear available. With a point of a finger and her will imposed upon the animals, every portal minion Mandissa had been able to summon turned on Angelico. He was across the arena floor from her, but the minions moved quickly and were upon him as if there had been no distance to overcome. Angelico jumped and flapped, hoping to fly over their onslaught. He saw Shadowed extending the claws on the tips of his fingers as he leaped at Mandissa. "Don't hurt...!" Before Angelico could finish the command, the bird minions she had called forth struck him in the chest. Though it was clearly not safe to be in the air, the ground proved worse. Angelico was forced into the hoard of animals, all wanting a taste of him.
He was receiving the first of their attacks when the announcer's voice rang out so loudly he could not ignore it. "That's the match, folks! Angelico and Shadowed have annihilated their opponents!" Two men in bio-suits were standing over Angelico. They had long devices that were used to stun the minions around Angelico. Angelico had bites and scratches covering most of his body. The beaks had left wounds in his chest dangerously close to his heart. His shoulder was throbbing from where a tagni had shot him. He was thankful the men stunned the other two before they had a chance to strike.
Angelico glanced across the field. Two more men in bio-suits were in the midst of shocking Shadowed. Mandissa lay on the ground, her face buried under a rush of blood. What sufficed as medics in this stadium rushed to her aid, as well as Concussion's.
One of the men in a bio-suit helped Angelico onto his feet and said, "Get cleaned up. There's a cart outside waiting to take you to the Gahnin ranch." A night of labor lay ahead for Angelico, and the nights were very, very long.
0 Comments