Norbert looked, waiting for another set of names to appear, something else filling up the day, that his fight wouldn’t be the main show. But still, Norbert saw only his own and the beast man, both staring at him.
Half twisting over, Norbert froze, the reality of what would happen to him staring back at him. He was no longer able to escape the fate staring back at him. His body moved jerkily as he stood up, remembering the last time he fought the lion.
Standing there, as Norbert remembered, “I would have made it, or I think I would have.” Whispering out that there was a shadow barrier locking him in and stopping him from escaping. Remembering the arena was another place he couldn’t escape from, his fate would be sealed once he entered.
The only piece that Norbert could hold onto was that they wouldn’t outright kill him, seeing the others had previously made it out, recovered, and were on the outside, contrary to what his group had told him earlier.
Breathing in, he felt his entire body standing and almost pulling the calm energy of the earth into him. The longer he breathed in, the more he felt himself centred. Slowly, carefully, Norbert breathed out, his tension escaping from his body as he looked towards the gate, seeing the doors open up as he headed towards them.
Patting his body down, making sure everything was where it should be. He took the knife out and continued to walk, looking down at the gift he had given so long ago. He had a smile on his face, knowing that he would be able to use it later. He let the person who gave it to him see the knife still intact and in use.
Stepping onto the platform, Norbert felt it rise into the air, the slight inertia making his guts drop slightly. The acceleration stopped, and Norbert continued to rise. Seeing the door above him open out as the lift decelerated, the sounds from outside came down the shaft that Norbert was currently travelling in.
Coming up, Norbert looked around at the empty arena, the crowd's voices in an uproar. Norbert looked across the arena to the other side, another figure having popped out.
Squinting slightly, Norbert put energy into his eyes as he looked, his vision sharpening as the things near went slightly out of focus as he stared. He saw the half lion, half man look directly at him. Arzlan, realising he was being watched, licked his lips under the gaze.
“The little break from the tournament for what we are about to see!” The commentator screamed aloud, and Norbert could hear his voice, unlike many other times when it was just a bubble of unknown noise until the final call was made.
“But before we see that, I think there’s a little bit too much space. Let's shrink it a bit and allow them to have a bit of a more … personal time together,” the commentator told the crowd once more.
Moving his attention to the box, Norbert saw the golden Kreevss looking down at him, smiling as Norbert felt something hit his back and carefully push him forward.
Feeling slightly unbalanced from being pushed from the barrier, Norbert stepped forward, walking roughly to where he thought the centre would be. Touching his weapons once more as he turned around, the barrier no longer followed him.
Seeing the beast man standing too close for Norbert’s comfort, still not going full out as Norbert was towered on. Looking over the body, seeing it mostly repaired, the signs of battle no longer on the lion's skin.
“Oh, what’s this? There is a change to the usual rules. Norbert from Masanu declared for this to be a fight to-the-death,” the commentator said aloud.
Norbert whipped his head around to see where the voice was coming from. “I said WHAT?!” Norbert exclaimed aloud, his voice echoing around the arena. All the others who were talking now died off.
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“Whoa, hold on. I never said or agreed to anything like that,” Norbert shouted again, staring at where he thought it would be coming from.
“Now, due to the uncommon rules, it's up to the other members if they agree with it, so Arzlan, what’s the verdict? To the death?” The commentator asked. Norbert felt all eyes turn to the beast man, wondering what the verdict would be.
Norbert stared into Arzlan’s eyes, staring down his executioner and whether they would lower the axe on the prisoner's neck. Arzlan licked his lips once more. “I ACCEPT!” The lion boomed out, causing Norbert to wince from the noise.
“And so, the bout between Arzlan, the undefeated, and Norbert, the head flipper, will begin. Let’s see if his luck holds as well out here as it does in the casino …”
Arzlan spoke up, his growly voice coming through. “This is why you don’t get under the Kreevs's skin. Or ruin the plans of Arzatech,” he explained to his opponent.
Norbert stood there, the words echoing through Norbert’s head as he instinctually went for his sword. “Wait, this is one big ploy to get me killed by the Kreevss?” Norbert asked Arzlan.
Not seeing a response, Arzlan leaned down, ready to pounce on Norbert.
“Three!” The voice of the announcer is verbatim.
“Are they this petty, needing to get a third party in to win their battles?” Norbert asked Arzlan, the response slightly getting under the lion's nose as Norbert saw the mane puff up in annoyance, wanting to try and intimidate Norbert.
He was sending energy around his body, Norbert, preparing for the explosive start that was to come.
“Two!” The commentator notifying the countdown was past halfway.
“And they want to be called dragons, mighty creatures that hold honour and take challenges properly!” Norbert shouted aloud, feeling the stares on his back even greater than before.
“ONE!” The commentator spat out, Norbert feeling the tension behind the words, happy the barrier was around them, protecting any projectiles from the crowd from interrupting the match. Arzlan would be more than enough to deal with.
“This entire hiding around really does suit a lizard, slinking between rocks and waiting for others to do their bidding. Lizards are trying to hide behind a scaredy cat!” Norbert shouted, lowering his body as he prepared to leap forward.
BEGIN!
Norbert leapt into the air, feeling the wind go against his face. He locked onto Arzlan’s head, and the beast-man stayed still as Norbert raised into the air.
Stepping forward to be in Norbert’s path, he lowered down, ready to pounce as Norbert came plummeting to the earth. Holding the blade in two hands, Norbert brought the tip straight down with his weight as he fell, planning on pinning the lion down into the ground.
But plans rarely went as they should.
Norbert felt his arm gripped as Arzlan spun around, Norbert going along as he was smashed into the ground. The air getting knocked out of Norbert’s lungs, sword nicking the lion but not doing any proper damage to it.
Feeling Arzlan pull back, Norbert spun around on the ground, thankful the arena was reinforced so he wasn’t stuck in the ground like a cartoon character. Spinning his body around, Norbert kicked into the back of Arzlan’s left leg, causing the beat man to stumble slightly. Norbert continued his momentum and rolled out of the way before the fist could crash into him.
And crash it did, causing a ripple of dust to move away from the impact zone. Remembering the last time he battled the beast, Norbert continued to roll away until he was as far back as he could be, back against the wall. Still only a few meters between them, not having created enough space to make Norbert happy.
Where Arzlan was standing off to the right, Norbert saw his sword lying on the ground. Running to the side, Norbert launched a dagger at the giant of a man.
Arzlan looked as the dagger impacted his flesh, took a step towards Norbert, pulled the dagger out, and threw it at Norbert in turn.
Norbert heard the dagger whistle through the air, sliding on the ground as he dodged out of the way. Getting back to his feet, he was able to reach down and launch the other matching one on his other leg, the same one having the same effect as the first.
Following the throwing dagger, Norbert took the dagger out next to his knife, catching the throwing dagger out of the air. Norbert lowered it down as the two slammed into Arzlan’s guts. Norbert twisted them around as he felt two massive paws grab onto both of his, starting to squeeze down on him.
Norbert pushed energy into his body to reinforce it, not wanting to try and escape when the beast person was so close to him. He pushed the daggers in deeper, one going up and the other lowering until they hit something, no longer wanting to glide through the flesh easily.
The pressure on Norbert continued to increase, looking into Arzlan’s eyes something swam through it for a moment before disappearing from where it came from.