Chapter 13: The Slayer

"Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!"

The crowd was chanting the name over and over again as the man with the jagged metal claws raised his hands to either side. Most of the other fighters in the arena looked confused, but they were rapidly understanding that this was not another simple melee.

Rick tested the chain link fence, found that the reinforcement made it much too strong to break, and cursed under his breath. He glanced toward Henry, but his friend could only shrug helplessly. This was going to be ugly. It probably wouldn't end with dead bodies, but that didn't mean he could survive the injuries from the match.

Would it be best to play dead? Yet judging from the crowds, he had a feeling that might backfire on him. This match had been sprung on them, so he had no idea what the conditions were to end it. Plus, this might be a rare opportunity to face a trained warrior more powerful than him. If he could avoid permanent injuries, then this could work in his favor.

Then there was really only one good option: he had to fight. As Rick turned back around, he saw that it had already begun.

One of the fighters let out a scream and tried to sprint for one of the locked exits. In a flash the Slayer was behind him, jabbing him in the back with one claw. He stabbed his other claw in as well, then tore them in opposite directions. Not a killing blow, but it opened a large gash in the fighter's back and flung strings of blood in both directions.

Around them, the crowds went berserk, pulsing with a bloodlust that had been held back until now. Rick swallowed, wished one last time that he hadn't taken this risk, and then focused wholly on how he was going to make it through.

Realizing that running wasn't an option, several of the long range fighters began to hurl aura spheres at the Slayer. But he had clearly expected this, ducking the first set and then sprinting directly toward one of the ranged fighters.

She only had time to release a single sphere, which the Slayer dodged, before he was on her. One claw caught beneath her armpit and the Slayer jerked up, sending her flipping into the air. After colliding with the barbed wire above, she dropped heavily, screaming in pain and clutching her arm. It was intact, but it wouldn't be functional soon, or maybe ever.

After raising his arms to the roaring crowds again, the Slayer lunged for the next ranged fighter. Before he arrived, a bolt of lightning shot through his chest, knocking him back. He landed lightly on his feet, mostly uninjured, and rushed toward his newest attacker.

It was the huge man who usually wielded lightning. Rick had seen him several times since his first match and he was a formidable opponent. But he wasn't equal to the Slayer, who sprinted at him with a loud laugh.

The next bolt of lightning shot out, and though it should have been impossible to react, the Slayer somehow intercepted it with one claw. He stopped for a moment, grinning to let everyone see the electricity dissipate harmlessly, then lunged for the kill.

Rick rushed in low and kicked him in the knee.

Though it felt like kicking solid steel, the Slayer did wince in pain and slow down. Then he turned on Rick, eyes blazing. Rick tried to leap back, but his opponent was simply too fast, following him quickly and raising a claw to strike into his chest.

Before it landed, two other fighters tackled him from the side. They actually drove the Slayer to the ground and one of them began stabbing with a shiv, but Rick saw that the point was failing to penetrate the man's defensive aura. With no way to help while they attacked wildly on top of their opponent, all he could do was retreat before the inevitable happened.

One of the Slayer's claws snapped up, going through the neck of one of his attackers. The Slayer burst to his feet, throwing the body into the others attacking him and sending all of them tumbling into the ground. As soon as he was back on his feet, another bolt of lightning shot at him, but he absorbed it into one claw and then roared for the crowds again.

They erupted in response, chanting "Slayer" over and over. Only a few looked at the man lying on the floor, blood bubbling from the holes in his throat.

Forcing down panic by sheer willpower, Rick considered his options. Strangely, the most recent bolt of lightning had come from beside him, which meant its user had changed location. He saw the huge man from the corner of his eyes, but the man wasn't attacking.

"My bolt hurt him," the man said, "but now that he's wise to them, they're not going to hit."

Rick nodded grimly. "Could you land another one if he's distracted?"

"I doubt it. My control isn't good enough to avoid collateral damage or target shots well enough to take advantage of it."

"Could you hit him if you ignored collateral damage?"

That got a dark chuckle from the man. "The bolts aren't strong enough to go through someone, not and pierce his aura. But... I could transfer the power. It'd hurt, but you might be able t-" At that moment they were interrupted as a body flew toward both of them, hitting the chain link fence and scattering blood in all directions.

Before they could return to finish their conversation, the Slayer rushed in their direction. They had no choice but to split up and sprint in opposite directions. Though the Slayer went after the larger man, by this point the others had begun working together, hurling ranged attacks to slow him down.

Several teamed up to rush him at once, giving Rick a chance to analyze their opponent as he tore through them. This "Slayer" was definitely strong and experienced, with most of his strength in offense. His defenses were average and if he had any weakness it was speed - he was faster than most of the fighters in the arena, but given how much he outclassed them, he should have been much faster.

His style was a bit hard to pin down. Though he played up the brutality for the audience, Rick thought that he was well-trained. The technique actually reminded him of a perverse form of aikido, throwing his opponents via injuries instead of normal throws. That was going to be difficult to deal with.

The huge man was across the arena, waiting for a chance to strike. Actually, he was trying to get Rick's attention. Presumably he wanted to continue the plan from earlier, but what had he been trying to say? Then there was no more time to think, because the Slayer threw aside his nearest opponents and rushed at Rick.

That claw lashed out at his face with terrible speed, but Rick desperately swept aside his opponent's arm. Just deflecting the attack made his forearm ache, but he'd managed to hold off the Slayer for one second. Unfortunately, no one else came to help. The claw lashed out again and he managed to deflect it with his other arm, but now both of his arms felt heavy and he knew he couldn't raise them in time to block the next attack.

Then the lightning bolt hit Rick in the back.

For an instant everyone was shocked. Rick trembled in pain as the lightning coursed through him, wondering if his ally had misfired. Yet the large man was now firing a second bolt, distracting the Slayer, and instead of passing through, the lightning continued crackling in Rick's body.

Rick struck the Slayer in the chest with his palm and all the lightning exited his body, blowing straight through his opponent.

The Slayer staggered backward and then fell to one knee, taken completely off guard. For a moment the crowd was quiet, then they let out another huge roar. Screaming back at them, the Slayer leapt to his feet, but at that moment several other fighters attacked him from all sides.

Which was good, because all Rick could do was collapse.

Redirecting the lightning had been a smart move, but it had taken more out of him than the Slayer. Even just holding the power in his body for a moment seemed to leave every part of him singed. Having felt it directly, he realized that the technique wasn't actually lightning, but lucrim charged to follow similar patterns. Rick considered that with mild curiosity until his brain snapped back into gear and he realized he was still in the middle of a potentially deadly fight.

Barely managing to crawl back to his feet, he discovered that the fight was going poorly. There were only three or four of them left standing. At some point while he had been down, the Slayer had struck the lightning user to the ground, though he seemed to be getting back to his feet while the Slayer was distracted.

Realizing that he would only be able to fight a short while longer, Rick tried to consider his best options. His aura was burned by the lightning, but his defensive core was still in good shape. Unless he could team up with someone else, the only way he could land another hit was to leverage his defense.

Rushing in knowing he would take a hit was madness, yet if he allowed the Slayer to control the momentum, he might not even get that chance...

While Rick stared, another one of the remaining fighters swept a hand against the Slayer's back. His hand was clenched like a claw, and he had some sort of technique that cut lines through the Slayer's clothing. Immediately the stronger man whirled, but the fighter tightened both hands into claws and attacked with surprising ferocity.

It was like he poured everything he had into a few seconds of combat, clawing out at his opponent's chest repeatedly, slicing through his clothes and cutting ribbons of blood across the Slayer's chest. In response the Slayer roared and stabbed out, but the man slammed both of his hands together, fingers interlocking just in front of the jagged blade.

The man's aura snapped down like an enormous pair of jaws, closing over the Slayer's wrist. There was a loud snap of bone breaking and the jagged claws crumpled.

In response the Slayer let out a roar of pain and stabbed his other claw directly into his opponent's chest. He began to attack with even more ferocity, wildly slashing at the remaining fighters with his remaining claw. It was only a matter of time.

Rick's heartbeat pounded in his ears, seeming to merge with the mad roar of the crowds. Intellectually he knew that the Slayer was slowing down and getting sloppier in his rage, yet the idea of rushing in seemed downright suicidal. With only a few more seconds to plan his attack, Rick risked closing his eyes for a moment, regaining his focus.

When the Slayer came for him, he rushed straight at the man. His opponent was too experienced to be taken off guard, slashing at his arm.

Instead of trying to dodge, Rick just took the attack. He felt the claws tear deep into his arm, saw a glimpse of flesh and even bone, but couldn't let himself focus on the injury. What mattered was that he was still alive and his right arm was working.

His elbow slammed directly into the Slayer's throat.

The blow managed to get through his weakened aura and the Slayer went down, clutching at his throat and struggling to breathe. When he fell away, his claws tore out of Rick's arm. Suddenly the pain was rushing through him like wildfire and Rick collapsed to the ground.

Had he won? Did it matter, if his arm was useless? It lay beside him, an ugly mess of torn flesh that refused to respond. Rick stared at it, wondering if he had made the wrong decision...

And then he saw that the Slayer was staggering back to his feet.

Just as he started to feel despair, the huge man appeared again, firing a bolt of lightning at point blank range. It would have been suicide at the start of the fight, but battered by injuries and with only one functional hand, the Slayer was staggered. The huge man gathered lightning in both hands and slammed them into his opponent's chest.

The Slayer hurtled across the arena, smashing loudly against the chains and then falling to the ground. This time, he did not rise.

After a moment of silence, the crowd roared out their approval. The last standing fighter raised his arms in triumph, crackling with more lightning. They had won against an opponent who had been meant to tear them apart for the crowd's entertainment.

Rick lay on the bloody floor, struggling to move his arm and then just to stay conscious. As the darkness claimed him, it didn't feel like victory.