Three green dots blinked repeatedly before system messages began flooding in.

External diagnostic check complete…

Location unknown…

Internal systems check complete…

All systems online…

The world flooded into view as Elvis opened his eyes. Physical pain, a side-effect of the pain receptors installed on his bionic upgrade unit, flared to life all over his body.

“Aaargh!” Elvis screamed in pain and struggled, only to realize he was restrained. Looking down, he could see the carbon composite shackles attached to his wrists and ankles. The shackles had no tethers; instead, they were held in place by gravitational anchors. Elvis strained again, to no effect. The restraints were obviously calibrated to restrain a being of his superior strength.

“I demand my freedom! Who dares try and restrain a warrior as mighty as Elvis!” Elvis shouted.

The room was dark, the only light emanating from a halo on the ground around Elvis’s body. Squinting and looking into the darkness, Elvis smiled. “A victim…”

A man walked forward until he was barely visible in the ambient light of the halo. The man was well dressed, albeit in a a way that showed he was trying hard to be something he wasn’t.

“Tssk, Tssk,” The man clicked at Elvis. “I knew we had a new shipment of livestock due in, but this one seems to be of premium stock. How much did this one set us back?” The man turned to address someone behind him.

A younger-looking female walked forward holding an electronic tablet, looking back and forth nervously between Elvis and the screen. “We have no record of purchase for this one, sir. I was informed that this subject was a gift from an anonymous donor. No doubt a fan of your tournaments.”

“I do love free stuff. Have we completed a physical assessment?” The man asked, grabbing some sort of cigarette from an expensive-looking shiny metal case and raising it to his lips. “Please have my assistant bring a fresh box of stingers to my office; I am afraid this is my last one.”

“Yes, sir. I just sent her a message, they will be waiting when you return to your office. As for him, he seems to be a bio-droid. His class reads as Bio-droid Berserker. I have found no records of such a class in the Council’s class compendium. More tests will be required to ensure he is able to perform in the arena. I have requested extensive physical testing. I also took the liberty of setting up practice matches. If he shows promise, we could assign him to the team representing the Council. It never hurts to weigh the odds in the home team’s favor,” The young woman said without looking up from her tablet.

“I love the idea! You are learning Korin!” The man said.

“Thank you, sir,” Korin nodded nervously. “I am merely trying to be proactive and do my best to ensure your satisfaction.”

“Elvis will not fight for Council! Elvis will destroy the Council!” Elvis shouted, struggling against his restraints once again.”

“Oooh, I do love his energy,” The man turned and smiled at Korin menacingly. “Elvis, is it? How about this, Elvis? If you are a good boy and do what you are told, I will allow you to pick who you fight for whatever side you choose. I have a new stable of human livestock, and after the last show sold out, we have citizens lined up to see humans in action. How does that sound?”

“I do not know how I came to be here. I do not know your name. I do not know where I am. There are many things I do not know,” Elvis’s eyes began to glow as the air around his head shimmered from the heat. “There is one thing Elvis knows without a doubt, though… would you like to know what that one thing is? Elvis leaned his head forward and whispered.

“How entertaining!” The man clapped and took a drag of his stinger, flicking it away before leaning forward and blowing the pungent smoke in Elvis’s face. “Entertain me, dog; what is the thing you know?”

Elvis smiled and looked up at the man. “I know these restraints are not strong enough to hold the mighty Elvis.”

Elvis swung his head forward, using his entire body. The gravitic restraints wined as Elvis bashed his head into the man’s face. Blue blood shot out of the man’s face, spattering Elvis and staining the man’s finely tailored clothes.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“The animal broke my fucking nose!” The man said, falling to the ground and grasping at his mangled nose.

“You lost something, puny man!” Elvis laughed maniacally as the man realized he was missing a front tooth, only to immediately realize it was stuck in Elvis’s forehead.

“Put that animal with the filthy human livestock! Make sure he feels the full might of the council team in his first match. I want a 10,000 credit bounty on his head, and I will double it if he dies slow!” The man struggled to get to his feet as he rushed away from Elvis, who was still laughing.

“ELVIS IS MIGHTY! ELVIS IS WARRIOR! ELVIS HAS COME TO KILL!!!!” Elvis shouted into the darkness.

A few hours later, Elvis was transferred to a holding facility that was, to his surprise, full of human captives. The human captives were, in a bad way, obviously malnourished and wearing little more than rags. Elvis was shocked by something resembling a large cattle prod, and upon losing strength in his legs, he was violently thrown into the holding cell.

After gathering his composure, he sat up to take stock of his surroundings. He was disgusted at what he saw. The humans were a mix of men, women, and children. The oldest looked to be in his seventies, while the youngest was a girl of no more than eight years old. Elvis watched as a man nervously approached.

“Let me help you up, young buck,” The man said, grabbing Elvis under his arms and helping him to his feet. “My name is Grant. It’s nice to meet you,” the man said, holding out his hand to shake.

“I am called Elvis. My Captain allowed me to choose this name myself, so I warn you not to mock it,” Elvis warned with a glare.

“Calm down, fella,” Grant said with a calming smile, holding his hands up defensively. “Things are already hard enough; nobody here is trying to make new enemies. Why don’t you tell us your story? How did you get here? Where ya from?”

“I am not sure. I was on Earth helping destroy the Lacertine weaklings. My crew had just finished a successful operation. We were returning to our base of operations when everything went dark. When I opened my eyes, I was in this place being held captive. A man in fancy clothes approached me, and I relieved him of some of his blood as well as a tooth. I was then thrown in here with you. That is all I know.” Elvis shrugged and looked around the room. “Where are your warriors? I know many humans, and they are mighty warriors, but I do not see any here.”

“I can’t say we have many warriors here. Mostly old men, women, and children. There were twice as many, some good fighters, too, but they were taken for the first round of fights. I assumed we were gonna be sent away or used for labor.” The man looked down and shook his head solemnly. “Seems that isn’t the case. One of the guards let it slip that we would be fighting in the next round. Gonna be out in that arena tomorrow if nothing changes.”

“Did you say fight? Elvis loves to fight. I will fight for all of you. Can you inform the guards?” Elvis asked excitedly.

“I can tell ‘em, but I’m not sure they will listen. I don’t think you understand our situation here. We are expendable. We were only brought here to die, you understand?” Grant asked.

“You will not die, Grant. My captain is your mightiest champion. I swore to fight with him to save humanity. I will defend you all. Elvis is mighty!” Elvis said, the excitement of a potential fight energizing him.

“Hey, you lot calm down and get back to your corners. You are gonna need all of your energy for the fight tomorrow, and I would hate to have to beat it out of you!” A large guard dressed in black fatigues said, banging his boomstick against the wall. Elvis turned and smiled at the guard.

“Well, looky here! We have a volunteer that needs to be softened up!” The guard said, smacking the boomstick against his palm. “I get that you’re new here, dog, but everyone has to learn the way of things. Nothing personal, but you are gonna have to be brought down a few pegs.”

“I learned a word for people like you from a friend. He is a friend now but was not always a friend. Now that we are separated, I see that he is better man that you. I never thought I would say this, but Elvis will miss him.” Elvis said somberly.

“Oh yeah? What was his name? I just call you all dog; makes things easier for me,” the guard said.

Elvis looked up, eyes glowing menacingly once again. “His name is Craig Jennings, and he is my friend. You though, you are just bitch!” Elvis lunged forward in a flash, a trail of flames in his wake as he blitzed the guard. He abruptly stopped immediately in front of the guard, the hot air rushing past the guard, blowing his uniform. “If you call Elvis a dog one more time…I will make you eat that boomstick. Understand?”

“The guard scowled and drew back his boomstick, pressing the button and allowing it to flare to life with electricity. “Time to learn your lesson…DOG!” He swung down toward Elvis’s chest. Elvis simply stepped to the left and, ducking under the blow and wrapped his right arm across the guard’s body. Placing his right foot behind the guard’s legs, Elvis pushed, relieving the guard of his upright stance. The guard spun in the air, now falling toward the ground headfirst, a look of panic on his face. The guard dropped the boomstick to move his hands into a defensive position, trying to guard his face from making contact with the dirty concrete floor. Faster than could be seen with the natural non-upgraded eye, Elvis snatched the boomstick out of the air, and with it still activated, he swung it down with both hands, burying it to the hilt inside the guard’s anal cavity, frying him from the inside out. The guard screamed and floundered on the ground before being fully cooked by the still-active boomstick.

Children screamed, and a woman standing 15 feet from the guard doubled over and vomited. Alarms and flashing lights began to blare as a large contingent of heavily armed and armored guards rushed into the large holding cell. Sprinklers activated, and gas was shot into the room. Elvis went to his knees and put his hands behind his head with a smile. Grant, now standing beside Elvis, mimicked his behavior and went to his knees, hands behind his head.

“I thought you said you were gonna make him eat that boomstick?” Grant said.

“He was talking out of his ass so much that Elvis got confused. Honest mistake.” Elvis shrugged and smiled.

Grant smiled, “I think we are gonna get along just fine, big fella, just fine.”