“There’s a hidden mine within the large mounds of earth west of here. Supposedly it’s guarded by some intimating figures, claiming they are extracting valuable ores and gold.”

“Shoot, I could use some of that.”

“Why don’t you go up and ask them for some then,” the man responded to his friend sarcastically.

Nonchalantly, at another table beside them, a newspaper fell down revealing Eiji. “Intimidating figures you say?” he pondered aloud, squinting his eyes suspiciously.

Beside him a kid’s menu also fell down, revealing Plu. “Plu…” it said in a similar tone.

In a room at the local inn, Lily, Eiji, and Plu gathered around a small, worn-out table covered in maps and scattered pieces of information. Candlelight cast shadows across their faces as they discussed Rai’s whereabouts.

Eiji, dressed in an oversized detective's hat and a trench coat gazed at the maps intensely.

Plu, perched on the table, wore a miniature detective's hat similar to Eiji’s.

“We've gathered valuable intel,” Eiji started. “Plu, any insight on the matter?”

Walking over to a corner of the map it pointed at a spot. “Plu.”

“Hm, okay,” Eiji said, staring at the map intently.

Hobbling over to another area of the table, it pointed at another piece of information they collected. “Plu,” it repeated, pointing at the papers at his feet. Eiji nodded again in agreement. Now, walking to the edge of the table, it hopped off, relocating at the foot of a lamp. Placing its hand on it firmly, it said, “Plu.”

It repeated the same action at a rug, prompting Lily to say, “I’m pretty sure Plu’s just pointing at things.”

“You’re probably right,” Eiji swiftly admitted.

That night they camped outside; in the distance a metal door wedged into a mound of dirt.

“After enough investigation we’ve identified a potential weak point in the mine’s perimeters. Out of the seventeen mounds, two guards appear every other hour behind steel doors. The patterns are still somewhat sporadic, but still, I believe we have a fifty percent chance they’ll appear here.”

“Hopefully, we’ve already failed a couple times…” Lily said.

“I’ve got a feeling this time we’ll nail it,” Eiji said. After watching for a bit, suddenly the doors opened. Eiji glanced at Lily, flicking his eyebrows up twice.

Eiji wore a disguise with a helmet, somewhat similar to the guards, meanwhile Lily had a bag over her head, acting as a prisoner.

“Hold it!” one of two guarding the metal door to the mine said. “This is private property.”

“I’m here transferring a prisoner.”

“Maybe I wasn’t clear,” one of the men guarding the front door said, stepping forward. “You’re trespassing, and we don’t deal with prisoners, so you better turn around and head back where you came from.”

“Listen here!” the masked soldier said, yanking the hood off the prisoner. “I’ve got a Nefarian here, and unless you want your boss hearing how you let one slip right through his fingers, I suggest you get moving.”

The guards didn’t know how to respond, each gazing at one another.

“What should we do?”

“Call it in?”

“Guess I’ll be going then,” Eiji’s voice rang from around the corner.

“Wait, sorry, you know how Rena can get,” they said following after them. “We just wanted to make sure.”

Thuds echoed in the quiet night and soon after, Lily appeared around the corner, draped in one of their uniforms.

“Ugh, this smells like month old tuna,” Lily said, pinching her nose.

Eiji unlocked the door, dangling the keys, “And we’re in.” He returned a guard within the view of the camera, leaning him against the wall, arms crossed so he looked like he was keeping watch, meanwhile Lily slipped into the base with Plu. “That should do it,” but before he went, Eiji hesitated, returning to the masked guard, unsatisfied with his work. Instead, he changed the posture to make the guard look like he was about to hit on someone. “Much better.”

“Eiji,” Lily stressed.

“Coming!”

Lily, Eiji, and Plu peered over the edge where they had to take a ladder down. It stretched into a dark unknown territory.

“You sure you—”

“Don’t remind me,” Lily said, placing her hand up to stop him. Carefully turning around, Lily eased her way down. She kept her eyes shut while whispering, “Think happy thought, it’s not that bad, it’s not that bad.” She happened to peep, down, yelping and freezing in place. “It’s that bad,” she said, crying.

Once at the bottom, Eiji, looked around for any potential Guard’s while Lily recuperated from the descent. Inside he found many workers—machinery was everywhere!

“A factory all the way down here?” Lily said.

“Who would have known,” Eiji said, flicking pipe.

“This place is so cold,” she said.

“I imagine, there’s not a lick of sunlight down here,” Eiji responded.

“I meant cold, as in lifeless,” Lily said. “I don’t like it here… Let’s find Rai and get out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Eiji said.

Suddenly, a few guards came running around the corner.

“We’ve got intruders!” one of them said.

“Plu we need a distraction,” Eiji said, but upon looking back he noticed Plu hobbling off between the crevice’s of large metallic pipes. “Plu!” Eiji stressed in a whisper.

“Hey, what was that?” a guard said.

“Eiji…” Lily said.

“Sorry,” Eiji responded while they dashed away.

***

Ethan lunged at Rai, swinging a kick toward his head.

Rai ducked as the wind from his attack brushed right over his head, but then appearing in front him, Ethan dug his fist into his stomach.

Ethan tried to pull his fist away, however he noticed Rai was holding it firmly.

“I told you I can take a hit!” Rai said, swinging at the man.

Ethan swayed his head left, avoiding the punch, retaliating with well time head butt.

It smacked Rai straight on, causing him to stumble backwards. Looking up, he caught a glimpse of Ethan on the relentless pursuit, his fist only inches away. Lifting his hand, his palm caught the heavy fist, pushing him back. “Dammit,” Rai said. The device was sealing his flux force, but even so, the man before him had incredible skill! After trading a few blows, Rai finally saw the chance he had been waiting for.

“To slow,” Ethan said, dropping low to the ground and twisting his body with a sweep aimed in the hopes of taking Rai’s legs out from under him, but to his surprise, Rai mimicked his exact movements in mid-air, except his body twisted the other direction. A foot collided with his face, sending him rotating through the air, landing a few feet away on the arena floor.

Patting the dust off his hands, Rai said, “Don’t go expecting a handicap now one-armed.”

Whisper spread throughout the coliseum. Everyone was silent, shook by the unlikely outcome before them.

“He’s getting old,” someone stated.

“He’s only got an arm now, what did you expect?”

Rai noticed a larger number of prisoner’s than he had originally expected, each being enclosed within a chamber overviewing arena. Slowly they trickled in, watching from behind the thick transparent walls.

“Looks like he’s the real deal!” Rena said. “Hey champ, you hear that?! You might have yourself a challenge.” Rena laughed along with the women sitting on the couches beside him.

Ethan, keeping a watchful eye on Rai, placed an arm before him, slowly rising off the ground.

Lightly huffing, Rai shook his head as he watched the man reposition himself into a fighting stance, and so he did the same.

Both fighters muttered simultaneously.

“Old man’s crazy.”

“This kid’s crazy.”

They collided with one another, exchanging blows yet again, meanwhile, Rena looked over a lackey of his, saying, “Hm, let’s spin the wheel.”

Rai looked in confusion as the walls encasing them within the arena, started to flash multiple colors. The colors danced around the arena like a ball would in roulette, until eventually stopping.

A voice rang out from the speaker, high above, stating, “Underrena root modification, flame-wheel root.”

Beneath the arena’s surface the head of a small device emerged on each end of the arena, and from it, waves of fire shot out, slowly rotating in a circle.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What in the?!” Rai said looking around, when a heavy fist collided with his face. “Ow! That was a cheap shot!” he said, thrusting his fist in the air and rubbing his cheek.

“Don’t lose focus boy,” Ethan said. While balancing on one foot, he thrusted his leg forward, following it with many more. Each kick arrived as quick as they came, and he happened to be kicking the same spots.

“How can he keep up this pace at that age?” Rai said, holding his guard up. I don’t even sense a flux core within him… The pain swelled up, like shoving a thumb onto a newly formed bruise.

“Would you give it up already,” Ethan said, still aiming his kicks at Rai. While fighting, they had to shift steadily away from the fire which inched towards them every second.

“Give up?! Why don’t you!” Rai shouted.

Ethan dug his foot into the crust of the earth using the tips of his toes; flinging his leg up, dirt smacked Rai straight in the eyes.

Quickly Rai put his arms in front of his face, however a heavy foot collided with his stomach instead, sending him sprawling backwards. Rai could feel the warmth of the approaching flames creeping over his skin. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced up at Ethan who had his leg ready to crash down on him, but in Ethan’s hesitation, an old injury sprung forth, causing him to hunch over in pain.

The approaching fire was now on the cusp of brushing right over them both!

Rai lunged forward, crashing into Ethan as they fell onto the ground, barely avoiding the flames.

“He saved him?!” the audience murmured.

“Great, another fighter who likes to play hero,” an inmate said.

Rena looking at his viewing slightly fall, bit his cigar in half. Slapping the cat off of him, he leaned back, taking a deep breath. “No matter. Once the timer’s up, the rating is likely to rise again,” he said confidently, staring at the timer.

“Why did you save me?” Ethan asked.

“I told you, were getting out of here together,” Rai replied, standing.

Ethan glanced at the time. His chance to end this swiftly had passed. “Kid, Rena doesn’t play hero anymore, someone must die before the timer is up.”

“I already told you, that’s not happening.”

“You must kill me,” Ethan said. “When that timer goes down to zero, there is no telling what sick game Rena has in store!”

“Will you shut up already, I’m trying to concentrate here,” Rai said, contemplating how they could escape. “If you’re so interested in dying there’s a raging flame wheel right behind us, otherwise, get up and help me.”

Ethan knew killing oneself was the same as dooming the other to outcome of the countdown. Something he could never do. It’s exactly why Rena implemented the new rule in the first place.

“Three! Two! One!” The inmates shouted, erupting into cheers.

Soon after, the flames subsided, retracting into the arena floor.

“He’s gonna love this,” Rena said, a sly smile spreading across his face.

The light shut off and everyone got silent as the melody of birds filled the room. Their chirps were followed by a fog, and on the ceiling, makeshift stars glistened. From the depths of the shadows above, a crystallin bird cage carefully made its way down. In it, a little girl with dark brown hair.

“What’s going on…” Rai looked around at the spectacle unfolding.

“Bastard,” Ethan said, anger growing in his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Rai questioned.

“At the end of the timer Rena always has some sort of game, only now it’s gotten more sporadic and dangerous.” Looking at the girl suspended in the glass casing, Ethan said, “In the past, this was how he entertained everyone, but he’d since dropped the act.”

Light beamed onto the bird cage, producing a kaleidoscope of colors everywhere, and holograms of butterflies flapping throughout the sky filled the space.

“You mean they’ve got her locked up there just for their entertainment?”

“Yea so what!” Rena blurted from his chair. “You can’t do a single thing about it, nor can she,” he said pressing a red button on the control panel, causing and electric shock to course through the cage the girl was in. The girl shuttered, screaming from the quick jolt.

“Stop it right now!” Rai shouted, clenching his fists.

“Sing you useless girl!” Rena yelled, hovering his finger over the red button.

“Do not worry now, wings of mine,” she begun. “Soar the sky, be free. Not good.. Not good.. Um...” Frustration stamped itself across Rena’s face as he frantically tapped his finger. The girl continued, “Through nights and days...”

“Not again,” Ethan said, rushing forward.

“Screw this,” Rena said, tugging a lever under the control panel, and the bird cage’s floor popped open, dropping the girl from a height that would possibly kill her.

Ethan, springing forward, caught the girl just in time, turning his body over to protect the girl while his back dragged across the arena floor. When the dust cleared, the quivering girl looked up, fear clearly apparent in her eyes. “Hey, I’m Ethan, what’s your name?” Her big brown eyes looked up at him, tears steadily drying up.

Then, three large doors opposite them began to open.

Rena’s hand was placed on a luminite embedded into the panel in front of him. “Now the real fun begins,” Rena said, kicking back. He smiled noticing the viewings rise once again.

From each door, a baboon with the frame of a werewolf stepped into the light, though its skin was rough like most reptiles.

“Three of them,” sweat trickled down Rai’s forehead, glancing at Ethan and the girl who carefully made their way beside him.

“Are those night stalkers?” One of the women from Rena’s posse asked.

“That’s right, imported straight from the Ishtec jungles baby. Set the wheel to non-lethal weapons only,” Rena commanded, and the guard, looking towards others, relayed the information quickly. “Now spin it!” Colors rapidly danced around the arena once again.

The beasts roared, charging at the three of them.

Dust kicked up into the air as Rai took off in the direction of the night stalkers.

“What are you thinking?!” Ethan shouted.

“I’m not!”

***

Lily and Eiji moved silently through the tunnels beneath the underground facility; though it was hard to find their way around, being that the place looked the same everywhere they went.

“Looks like we lost them,” Eiji said, peering around a corner.

“Hey check that out,” Lily said. In the distance, a strange contraption with an intricate system of interconnected square blocks. Everyone once in a while, a block would detach, before being replaced with another.

“There’s guard’s everywhere,” Eiji said, “but not as much as before.” They were controlling the panel which seemed to move the blocks.

“You hear that?” Eiji said, hearing rowdy cheering from above.

“Wonder what’s going on up there?” Suddenly, a commanding voice reverberated from above, calling out, “Now spin it!” Lily sniffing the air, shouted, “Rai’s up there!”

“Who’s there?!” guards around the corner approached fast.

“Mhm,” Eiji said, gazing at Lily with his arms crossed.

“Oh shut it,” she said, pushing him out of the way, confronting the guard’s.

Within moments, Lily and Eiji had seized control of the room underneath.

“You sure he’s up there?” Eiji said.

“It’s faint, but I’m sure of it,” she said.

They observed as another block detached, only to be replaced by another. There were small symbols on each one. Not far away, they noticed things of all sorts being placed within each block waiting to join the rest by mechanical arms. Poison gas, spikes, and many other deadly mechanisms were systematically inserted.

“Wonder what this does,” Eiji said, pressing a button and a hologram appeared above the panel.

“Look!” Lily said. A projection of Rai’s fight above was shown.

Eiji, in an attempt to understand the system, started pressing random buttons on the machine, causing a block beside them to burst flames inches away from their face. The smell of seared eyebrows lingered in the air.

Atop, charging the night stalkers, the color green appeared on a wall in the corner, and a small section on the arena floor slid back.

“What the—” smacked across the head, Rai fell to the ground. A katana on the floor lay next to him.

“Eiji you idiot!” Lily shouted from beneath the arena.

“Huh? I could have sworn I just heard Lily,” Rai said.

“Huh? The hell was that. I thought I said non-lethal!” Rena yelled.

“Yes, sorry sir. There seems to be a miscommunication with the team below.”

Coughing, Rena composed himself before saying, “Well then get on it!”

“Kid!” Ethan hollered.

The beasts were only a few yards from Rai when another slit in the ground opened and a red cape shot out, blanketing over the night stalker in the middle.

It thrashed about, ramming heavily into each one before veering left and taking one away with it, eventually collapsing on the floor.

“Worked out rather nicely I think,” Eiji said watching the screen. More guards came running around the corner, prompting Eiji to say, “Time to go!”

Before leaving, Lily smashed the panel with both her fists; and in turn, the blocks started to rapidly switch and get replaced, firing off without any control.

The two creatures under the cape, scuffled with one another while getting up, meanwhile, the third regained its posture, now gazing at the two nearby, instead of Rai.

Ethan, noticing its eyes fall on him and the girl, picked the girl up with one arm, saying, “We need to go.”

As the two night stalkers jawing at each other subsided, they refocused on their prey.

“Easy now,” Rai said, lifting his hands in defense. Teeth chomping at air, they once again raced toward Rai, eager to feast before the other could. Rai in turn dipped in the other direction.

With the girl in his arm, Ethan ran as fast as he could to avoid the night stalker, but it quickly approached behind them, closing the distance.

Moments before it was about to catch them, a shriek from the beast echoed through the arena.

Ethan turned around noticing a sword wedged directly into its neck, causing it to squirm around as it tried to remove the sword, but its arms were too small for it to reach, so it attempted to use its legs instead. Ethan glanced over and saw Rai who had a smirk on his face; his arm was extended out, insinuating he threw the blade that saved him. Quickly, he let the girl down and rushed the creature, avoiding its retaliating bite. Grasping the handle of the blade, he pushed it forward, effectively slitting the beast’s neck, spilling blood all over the arena.

“Shit,” Rai said, seeing the other night stalkers nearby. He ran but the creatures seemed to have a pack-like mentality when hunting, herding Rai into the corner where he was met with a dead end.

They roared, running forward, teeth stained yellow from their previous meals, but then, the ground of the arena opened yet again, producing a pipe which covered the ground in a thin coat of ice, making one creature slip, colliding with the floor and tripping the other up along the way.

Rai, responded by jumping over them, sliding across the ice in the other direction until he was on a dry surface.

Once again, the night stalkers skirmished, but the one with the standing advantage bit into the neck of the downed creature, ripping its neck apart, and killing it.

Rai quickly retreated to Ethan as the crowd once again exploded with excitement.

“Will someone turn the damn thing off already!” Rena shouted, his face fuming. “Those things cost me a fortune!”

As the last night stalker rested its eyes upon Ethan and Rai, they scanned their surroundings for any advantage they could exploit.

“Sir, they’ve turned it off,” a guard said.

“Finally,” Rena said.

With the arena stripped of its anonymousness, the fighters were left with few options.

The creature crouched low, blood dripping down its face.

Nodding in agreement, both fighters sprinted towards the it, splitting apart just as it lunged toward them, but the creature chose to chase after Rai.

Rai picked up the red cape from earlier, wrapping the arena with the night stalker in hot pursuit.

Rena, smiled; his wicked brain rotating ever so fast. “Turn the lights off,” he said. “There called night stalkers for a reason.”

Rai’s eyes narrowed as the light faded, plunging them into darkness. “Great, as if it wasn’t hard enough as is.” Flickering Tv’s were the only things slightly illuminating the arena, but they didn’t help much at all. Rai could feel the predator’s presence, its movements concealed in the pitch-black void. Strangely its rageful nature, disappeared with the light, almost as if it knew it was in its element. Rai tightened his grip on the red cape. Closing his eyes, he focused, on the creature’s flux core, however he couldn’t locate it. “I thought this was a beast of flux?” Thick breathing followed by the soft padding of its feet against the arena floor, appeared all around him; then there was silence. The anticipation was unbearable…

The screech of a creature, and the cry of a person excited Rena, as he alerted the guards to quickly flip the lights on, but as they did, the creature lay on the floor, dead.

Ethan stood over it while Rai was seen holding his hands up in self-defense.

“How did you…” Rai said.

“I’ve had a lot of time in the shadows,” Ethan looked at him with a confident smirk.

Frustrated Rena ordered his guards to surround them. Rai and Ethan kept the girl between them. Seeing the situation unfold, Rena took a business decision in saying, “Congratulations. No one has ever defeated a night stalker before, let alone three. You’ve given me a ton of new ideas.” The girl leaned back, hiding herself from Rena.

“Great. We’ll take our get-out-of-jail free card and be on our way,” Rai said.

Chuckling, “I have a proposition for you,” Rena said. “Why don’t you fight for me? You’ll have all the freedom in the world. A lot more than anyone else here gets. Ask him,” Rena said, referring to Ethan.

“Fat chance I’ll ever fight for you, and even fatter I’d let you have the girl!” Rai blurted.

Rena scowling, said, “Let me make it a little clearer. You will fight for me,” the guards all tightened the circle surrounding them, “or you, the old man and the girl will die here and now.”

Rai knew they were in a bad position, however, in the corner of his eye he noticed something. Hobbling across some pipes around ceiling of the arena—Plu! But if Plu was here, then that means… “Fine,” Rai said. “I’ll fight, but only if you promise to not harm the girl or Ethan here.”

“You have my word,” Rena said. “I won’t lay a finger on either.”

Ethan glanced at Rai, a look of bewilderment, but upon seeing Rai’s confident nod, he didn’t press further. Leaning down, he said, “Hey, well get you out of here soon, promise.” He held out a pinky, and the girl use her small one to wrap his. With that, the guard’s directed the girl elsewhere while Rai and Ethan were returned to their cell.

Later that day, Rena stormed through the corridors, saying, “That little brat! How dare he!” His coughs worsened, causing him to hunch over. Entering another room, Rena sat a mahogany desk where a small screen monitor was. “Which is why you’re going to take care of him tomorrow,” he said. In the corner of the room, a man stood with his arms folded. His eyes were covered by a red cloth, concealing his eyes, including his sight. “Feel free to do him like you did the other guy, quick and easy.” Rena laughed, observing the monitor next to him where it showed a young boy alone in a room, playing with action figures.