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BS Round 1: Zero VS Axiom

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It was mid morning in the desert. The bright supernova of a sun burned just over the tops of the most distant dunes and blanketed the desert in intense light, stretching long wavy shadows out and away from thorn-less cacti and onto the faces of undulating sand dunes. Small decorated charms, tomes of some unseen society, swayed gently from their arbor anchors, glinting in the light. A slight wind blew and caused the top layer of eroded sediment to shift over itself, tipping the tiny flat hexagonal fragments to reflect or shade each other as they moved. The temperature hadn't risen to its peak yet but all moisture in the air had completely dissipated and leeched up into the atmosphere, leaving the lower layer of air completely parched.

This planet's desert was just as desolate and beautiful as Iridekk's, save that Iridekk had giant piles of violet-hued sand and a great deal friendlier faces. A few rib bones and vertebra poked out of the sand next to a particularly large decorated cactus where some native animal, weak and disoriented from dehydration, had wasted away and died, returning to the ground from whence it originated. The once smooth, off-yellow skeleton had become chalky and brittle from constant exposure to the sun, flaking off in small pieces here and there, and became part of the earth which cradled it.

The native animals were shy. Quite shy, actually. Most of the smaller ones retreated to underground burrows to wait out the heat of the day and return to the surface at night when it was cooler and not as horribly bright. The four moons which orbited the planet lit up the night with their pastel reflections to the point that any creature, even with the most basic of vision, could competently navigate the troughs and peaks without worry of tripping over bones or falling into sand pits. The larger animals, however, roamed about freely during even the hottest part of the day in search of food and hidden oases to quench their thirst. Quite a few of them were just over four feet tall with light-colored exteriors and a preference for cactus flesh but the largest of the native desert fauna was a large angry-looking birdlike creature with a sharp beak and a taste for anything even slightly nutritious.

Normally, the giant bird would run after anything that came into its territory uninvited and tear it to pieces. That is, this is what would happen on any other occasion concerning the invasion of its space. However, yesterday was the day that a creature even larger and faster than itself had been chasing the once formidable earth-bound avian over miles and miles of terrain. Today it was lying low and concealing itself from its pursuer from the day before: a great fawn-colored creature with long, boomerang-shaped horns and six legs carrying a strange horned, dark skinned alien swaddled in a loose robe.

Silhouetted against the sky, the Vortian boy and his mount moved along at a good clip, cresting another hill of sand with ease. They'd been traveling due east since first light and hadn't stopped since then. Zero surveyed the surrounding mounds tentatively, searching for a sign that his opponent was somewhere within the general vicinity.

So far, after more than a thousand miles of scouring, he hadn't seen a single track or found the tiniest bit of evidence that would tip him off to the location of his first fight.

He huffed out a short sigh then cleared his throat and scratched his neck with his free hand, continuing to swivel his head around and observe his environment. He figured his opponent would be dead from dehydration before he even got a chance to introduce himself at this rate. His magical adventure would end as soon as he found a dried husk of a corpse lying on top of the sand in which he would probably be executed by a team of Irken goonies or something for failing to destroy his opponent by his own hand. Not a very pleasant thought.

Duuir shook her head and snorted, pulling her head back as a counterweight while she slowed her descent from the dune, bounding down it in short leaps. Her rider followed her example and leaned back toward her rump to further counteract the effects of gravity.

Zero blinked at the dimmed visage of the sun from beneath his goggles. The thought of screwing up his first round in such a life-changing tournament made him cringe. He couldn't mess this up.

"So, Zero... When, exactly, are you planning on confronting your first opponent, hm?"

Zero dropped his hand back to its position at his side and glanced over at his right shoulder where the little perturbed cambot was perched. "Wha--oh. I-I'm working on it, Ban. We have to find him first."

The little robot's arms contracted closer to its body blew a synthesized raspberry at him, narrowing its aperture accusingly. "Don't call me that."

"You don't like the name Ban? Well, what do you want me to call you, then?" Zero asked, tugging on Duuir's right rein to urge her to move to the next dune before they passed the junction where the two mountainous heaps of dun-colored sand met.

"I don't want you to call me anything." The robot hissed, tightening its grip on Zero's white robe. Zero psshawed at this.

"Well, little buddy, I have to call you something. It seems kinda strange to me that all you ever call yourself is 'this drone'. If I can only call you 'cambot' or 'drone', then what happens if we meet up with another one of you? When I say, 'hey, drone' you'll both look at me because you won't know who I'm talking to. I mean, Vortians have names and Irkens have names so why can't you have a name?" He dropped Duuir's reins and folded his arms over his chest, frowning. Why the little robot insisted on being difficult was beyond him. He'd done nothing to harm it and it still was as distrustful and negative as could be. He watched the horizon slowly drop downwards as Duuir continued to climb the dune with an expression of annoyance on his face.

Ban stared at Zero's nearest cheek for a second before making a slightly exasperated dismissive sound. Oh, how badly Ban wished to film this Vortian dying a horrible death.

If Ban had to go on filming the bloody deaths of Zero's opponents for mass viewing for many billions of mindless Irken pawns as a form of entertainment, the camera drone would probably up and smash itself to pieces before the contest was up. Actually, it was very tempting to Ban to just fly off and find a nice, big rock out in the middle of nowhere and beat its lens against for an hour or two. A permanent shutdown would be very nice, indeed.

"I could always call you Sparky or Dradan or Itrius or Shantryphooxas or..."

"Nevermind, Ban is fine. Just call me Ban."

The Vortian's eyebrows shot up at this statement. He turned his head to look at the robot perched on his shoulder with incredulity. "Excuse me, but, could you repeat that?"

Ban glared at Zero hatefully but spoke again, "Ban is short enough and meaningless enough for any drone to go by. This drone accepts your trivial label."

Zero was suddenly elated. He smiled widely, "Really? You mean that?"

"Yes," Ban snapped, "Now shut up."

A wide, toothy grin spread over Zero's lips. He wanted to give the drone some word of affirmation but he stopped himself. If Ban wanted peace and quiet, Zero would honor that request. Instead, he chuckled happily to himself, still smiling hugely, gathering Duuir's reins up in his hands and shaking them lightly to get his mount to speed up again.

Duuir exhaled deeply and picked up her pace to a fast trot, leather saddle creaking audibly every time her shoulder blades shifted under her hide. Zero shifted in his seat, leaned over to the right saddle pack, and pulled out one of his prized instruments. He held the small guitar in his hands, flicked the strings lightly, listening for the tone of the notes.

Ban took one look at the noisy thing in the Vortian's hands and grumbled loudly. It wasn't bad enough that Zero was a chatterbox but now he had to complicate things more and play music? This was too much. Ban slid down the white robe it had been clinging to to settle itself on top of the trailing end of the fabric, lying right behind the back edge of the saddle.

Zero cleared his throat and inhaled, right hand poised to begin strumming when Ban piped up again, "Don't you dare start singing!"

"What, you don't like my voice?" Zero asked, quirking an eyebrow mischievously.

"No! I hate your voice! I hate you!" Ban spat, pulling Zero's robe up and over its body like an angry child.

"Aww, Ban. You're just cranky because of the heat. But that's okay, little buddy, I know just the thing to make you feel better." Zero placed his hand over the strings, "And don't worry. I'm not going to sing."

He plucked the strings slowly at first, getting a feel for what he wanted to perform, and then dove into a fast-paced melody. He would have loved to at least hum the words but decided against it. Instead, he shook his head and nodded at the notes, face contorting and relaxing as he hit certain chords.

Ban resettled itself underneath its makeshift blanket and arranged its arms where it could clasp its little pronged fingers. Its aperture drooped, still not satisfied with Zero's instrumental abilities. Peace and quiet would be nicer than music. But Ban couldn't really complain about it.

At least Zero wasn't singing.

------------------

For the next hour, Zero worked away at the guitar strings with Ban still hiding under the tail end of his robe. He quit playing for a second to check on Ban and see if he'd melted or something and ended up getting his hand swatted away with a very hot, very angry metal hand. He picked up where he left off and looked around while he played.

They'd been riding up and down sand dunes seeing neither hide nor hair of his scheduled opponent and Zero's fingers were starting to ache. He ended his song with a flourish and placed his guitar back into its little niche inside of his right saddlebag with the rest of his more expensive belongings.

How long was it since they'd seen anything move? A living native animal would be a welcome sight. There were plenty of half-submerged piles of bones dotted the scenery along with stationary desert trees and cacti but there weren't any creatures crouched in their shadows or running across the hot desert surface. It was completely desolate and dead out here.

Clearing his throat again, Zero leaned back, stretched, yawned, and returned to his upright position. He blinked a few times and pushed his goggles up over his eyebrows to rub his eyes, pulling them back into their regular position after he yawned again.

Duuir's lively jog had slowed down to a walk to crest the next mound of sand. She continued in the same direction she'd been heading in for the last sixteen miles but kept her head tilted at the nearest visible edge of the desert where it became increasingly rocky and firm, dissolving into the cloud-embraced reaches of the mountains. Her rider didn't realize it at first but she was looking at something very small and very out of place from the rest of the scenery.

Zero stared at her for a moment to trace the path of her vision and cast his gaze toward the region of interest. His eyes quickly roamed over the gentle peaks and valleys of the dunes, picking out the dark shapes of stationary plants, jumping from one empty shadow to the next. Nothing really out of place there. Wait.

He pulled on the reins, easing Duuir into a complete stop and leaned off to the side and scrutinized the stony desert edge. A tiny blob of muted color descended a hill about fifty yards out from the desert's zenith.

Zero's eyebrows jerked up and he watched with silent interest: it didn't move like the rest of the creatures he had seen in his few thousand-mile round trip around this strange desert and it certainly didn't share the same dull earthy hues with the rest of the native fauna. It was walking out into the desert and traversing the rocky embankment where stone met sand in an upright posture with a bit of a slouch in its white body. Its peculiarly angular green head was tipped downward and lolled slightly to the side with each step it took.

This thing was completely alien to the rest of the terrain and obviously not in the best mood judging by the body language it was exhibiting.

Perhaps it was some bipedal moss-headed creature from the mountains that had never revealed itself until now and perhaps it was his scheduled adversary caught in the throes of a less-than-sunny mood.

Either way, Zero was going to find out.

"I think that's him." He breathed. "I think it's my opponent."

A creaking sound emanated from Zero's gloved hands from the pressure of tightening around the leather reins while his heart fluttered with excited anticipation. 'This is it!', he thought, 'There he is! After all the time I've spent running around and scouting, there he is!'

Ban flipped the cover of white fabric off of itself and floated up to perch on Zero's shoulder. The little robot hovered, trying to zoom out and focus on the distant rim of rock. "What, that thing way out there?" Ban asked, pointing. "Even with my highest zoom function I can hardly identify what we're looking at. It could be a mirage of all things. We'd be running over there for no reason--"

"Duuir," Zero said, breath catching in his throat from excitement, "keshte."

"--at all. I mean, we cou--aaaaaAAAAAAAAGH!" Ban screamed and buried its finger prongs deep into the fabric of Zero's robe as Duuir, rearing, pinned her long ears back, and then surged forward with such force that it almost ripped Ban's mechanical arms out of their sockets. The giant antelope gained huge amounts of speed with each successive lunge, digging into the surface of the dunes and dragging an arc of sand into the air when her feet left the ground.

If Ban was capable of crying, Ban would have cried a river of fear. But, being that Ban was only a lowly cambot, it, instead, screeched and wailed, holding on as tightly as the mechanisms in its metal hands would allow.

Ban clung to flapping fabric of Zero's robe while the world zoomed past at dizzying velocity. Duuir propelled herself through the air, leaping up and down sand dunes of varying heights and sizes and up and over others. Zero kept close to his mount, leaning into the wind and over her neck, squeezing his legs around her ribcage to keep himself steady.

Zero's expression became more and more delighted as he closed the gap and his query became larger and easier to recognize. All doubt fled his mind when he saw the Irken stop in mid-step and look at Zero's approaching entourage.

Duuir dipped down into a large valley between two adjacent dunes. She barely slowed her descent down, but slowed it just enough where she could skip dropping into the trough of the trench and leap over to the next side instead.

Sand exploded all around her feet when she made impact with the surface of the other dune, spewing fine particles up into the air where they engulfed the lower part of her legs. She reared up a bit with each ascending stride, pulling her legs up close to her body and stretching them out and bringing them down again, rocketing up the mountain of sand at a considerable clip.

They flew over the peak just in time for Zero to realize that the Irken was no longer standing in the same place he had been moments before. The alien's trail stretched from the edge of the mountain range into an angled circle of footprints where the Irken stood and rested but then it abruptly changed direction to head back over behind a close-packed cluster of boulders.

"Truche, Duuir, truche." Zero threw his weight back and pulled on the reins firmly. Duuir's hindquarters dropped down and her head flew up, legs pressing back against the sand to quickly ease herself out of the ludicrous momentum she'd built up. Sand sprayed out in great plumes beneath her feet, finer particles clung to the fur on her legs to fly up around her, curling up into smoky, gnarled hands that grew and dissipated in her wake.

As she slowed to a somewhat jerking halt, she struck the ground heavily, blowing a sizeable cloud of light sand and dirt up into the air around her and her rider. She stopped ten yards short of the Irken's trail and snorted loudly, sides heaving.

"Good girl, Duuir." Zero chimed, patting her neck affectionately with one hand. He turned back to the task at hand, eyeing the prints in the sand ahead of him inquisitively. A quick glance around the surrounding area where the boulders in question were located told him that the Irken was still hiding somewhere behind them--no trail or fleeing figure tipped him off otherwise.

Then he realized that something was missing from his robes. Well, someone was missing.

Ban, upside-down and halfway buried in sand, flapped its arms about wildly, babbling incoherently in an aggravated tone. The little robot clawed at the sky and the ground around itself, spewing puffs of sand outward with each irritated swat of its hand, screeching out of pure rage when each attempt to right itself failed.

"I HATE YOU!" Ban squealed, "I SHOULD HAVE REFUSED TO SHADOW A STUPID VORTIAN! I WISH I WAS A JANITORIAL DRONE ON PLANET DIRT! OR DEAD! ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN THIS!" It threw its fists around, shaking to and fro from the effort. "I HOPE YOUR HEAD EXPLODES INTO A BILLION PIECES!"

Zero snorted and bit his tongue to hold back his laughter. Watching a perturbed camera drone thrash about in the sand and curse his name was something he never would have thought he would ever witness. Ban was so polite back on Iridekk but those manners were obviously a ploy used only when recruiting contestants. Or it could have been because the drone was intimidated by his parents--most likely his mother. Any hint of disrespect aimed at his mother always ended up in the instigator getting their asses handed to them. He figured he should probably go help the little creature out of its predicament.

He slid out of the saddle and dropped onto the ground with a soft thud. The rock-encrusted sands bore his weight well and kept him from sinking too far into the soil. Turning, he sauntered over to the flailing orb and picked it up, tapping it lightly to dislodge sand from its exoskeleton. Ban let itself be attended to, arms hanging limp, making loud synthesized exhalations.

"Feel better now that you've got that all out of your system?" Zero asked, blowing a filthy layer of dust off of Ban's top.

"You know..." Ban said, floating up and out of Zero's grasp, "I actually do feel better. Wow. I should have yelled at you earlier."

"Ban, you can yell at me all you want if it makes you feel better, buddy. But for now, let's go fight this guy. Or, I mean, I'll go fight this guy. You just do whatever you do and float around and film it."

With that, Zero looked over to Duuir and pointed a finger in the direction they'd come from. Duuir acknowledged the command with a low grunt, wheeling around to trot off to a safe distance. The Vortian walked over to the boulders and circled around from the right side, Ban following closely behind. He paused just before rounding the outer stone and inhaled deeply, prepping himself for the task at hand.

This was it. Succeed or fail. Do or die. Kill or be killed.

He wasn't used to such steep consequences in a fight. Whenever he participated in a sparring match, the ultimate results were always to knock his adversary out or get incapacitated, himself. If he slipped up anywhere in this battle, his dreams of glory and women would be cut short. It was best not to think about it too much. Leap before you think.

Curling his hands into fists, he straightened out his back and walked around the corner and laid eyes on his opponent for the second time. There the Irken was, backed up against one of the boulders, arms spread out at his sides to grasp at the stone, his only intact eye wide with what looked like fear. He--

Wait. Wait a second. This was his opponent?

Zero stopped and stared at the alien confusedly.

This is what the great and almighty Irken race had to offer? A scrawny, weak-looking, scar-faced, half-blind thing that cowered before him like a trapped rabbit? Were other Irkens normally this silly looking? He'd been around re-encoded Irken soldiers before but this particular Irken looked completely different from the sharp, robust Irkens he'd met on Iridekk.

The creature had a patch of strangely-sewn cloth stitched over the area where his right eye would have been with a horizontal scar running the width of his scalp, a few shallow scratches--still bleeding slightly--were scattered about his head. His antennas looked weird since the tip seemed to have tried to pull apart right down the middle, creating two fingerlike prongs that drooped downward in place of a single scythe. The end of his shirt was frayed and dirty, probably from traversing the mountains, and his gloves and pants were splotched with mud. Needless to say, the Irken looked pretty rough and tired.

They stared at one another for another minute, Zero still absolutely flabbergasted and the Irken still plastered against the rock. Neither of them dared to moved or tried to speak, caught in the grip of an awkward silence.

Left to their own devices, the two of them would have stayed in their spots, staring at one another for the next hour if Ban, who was becoming increasingly agitated by the lack of recordable action, didn't slap Zero on the back of the head forcefully to snap him out of his stupor. Ban's action succeeded in its intended purpose; Zero shook his head and cleared his throat and started to approach the Irken with his hand outstretched.

"Hey, there buddy. I didn't mean to frighten you back there. My name's Zero." He closed the distance between himself and the Irken and stopped a few feet away, still offering his hand to the Irken.

The Irken had since pressed himself further into the rock, eyeing the Vortian with distrust.

Zero chuckled and smiled warmly, "It's okay. It's just a handshake. I'm not going to stab you in the face or anything just yet. Your name?"

The Irken said nothing.

Immediately, Zero could see that this guy wasn't the most social person in the world. Probably winded and weary from his trip over the mountains if that's where he came from, that is.

"Can you talk? Yes? No? It's okay; I'm not going to start hacking and slashing before I know who I'm fighting. Do you even have a name or...?" He trailed off, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head a bit, continuing to hold his hand out to the Irken.

The Irken shot him one last glare and slowly pushed himself away from the boulder, straightening up to stand completely erect. He looked at the newcomer curiously, glanced down at the gloved apendage being thrust at him but didn't take it. Instead, he ignored the gesture and cleared his throat and replied sternly, "My name is Axiom."

Zero let his hand fall to his side, realizing that this 'Axiom' was apparently too good for formal handshakes and introductions. Oh, well. No handshake but at least he finally got a name.

"So," Zero began, "I guess you're my opponent for this round."

"Looks like it." Axiom said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Cool. That's cool." This statement was followed by more awkward silence between them, Axiom continued to stare unblinkingly at Zero while he stood and swayed his arms at his sides. "I, uh, guess we'll have to kill each other now that we know each other."

"Yep."

Zero smiled goofily, getting more and more anxious as the silence proliferated. "... Well, since you look like you've had a harder time than I have getting out here, I'll let you land the first blow. How 'bout that?"

"What?" Axiom suddenly looked very confused.

"Yeah. Hit me right here. Get some of those fighting juices flowing." Zero pointed to his left cheek and leaned forward. "Go ahead."

Axiom blinked. He wanted him to punch him? He didn't know what had gotten into this guy. After he tells him his name now he wants him to hit him? Just like that? Just go up and sock him in the face? Were all Vortians this weird?

"Well... o-okay." Axiom pulled back his fist and let it fly. It connected with Zero's jaw, emitting a loud slap, but Zero's head merely shuddered with the recoil.

Zero's jaw slackened and he looked back at Axiom who was staring at him attentively. He almost laughed. "Was... was that... You... Hooo, wow. Was that supposed to be a punch?"

Axiom narrowed his eye at him and frowned, "You said you wanted me to hit you. I hit you."

"When I said 'hit' I wanted you to punch me. Not slap me."

"I did punch you."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"Pfff--that wasn't a punch. You're supposed to throw all your weight into it and keep your wrist straight. I thought all Irkens knew how to throw a punch."

"What are you insinuating? Are you saying that I can't fight?" Axiom hissed, jabbing a sharp finger into Zero's chest. Zero pushed his hand away and chuckled.

"Well, no. Just that you're... kinda weak and your technique could use some, eh, practice."

Weak. Weak? Weak?! He needs 'practice'?!

Axiom pinned his antennae back and lurched forward, slamming his shoulder into Zero's sternum, sending the unprepared Vortian tumbling backwards into the rocky sand.

"WEAK!" Axiom screeched, quickly following his stunned target to where he now sat, "HOW DARE YOU! YOU FILTHY STINKING WORTHLESS VORTIAN SCUM! WE'LL SEE HOW WEAK I AM WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S DEAD!"

Zero shook his head, looked up at his attacker, and rolled out of the way just in time to dodge an incoming kick Sand sprayed up where Axiom's boot dug into the embankment. Axiom bared his teeth, hands clamped into tight fists, jerking his foot out of the ground angrily, the knife in the toe of his boot glinted in the sunlight.

Snarling, Axiom threw a heavy backhand at Zero which the Vortian dodged easily. He flung a follow-up shot at his enemy with his opposite arm, this time smashing the blades of his forearm into Zero's left horn. The recoil jerked Zero's head off to the side and pulled Axiom's arm along with him, muttering a word of surprise under his breath.

"Fuck! Let go!" Axiom strained against his arm, trying to pull the blades free of the boomerang-shaped bone attached to Zero's skull, grunting with effort.

"No, you let go! That hurts, you ass!" Zero spat, throwing a leg up to push against Axiom's chest and shoulder in an attempt to dislodge the Irken's serrated glove from his horn.

"What do you mean, 'that hurts'?! Its a fucking bone growing out of your ugly skull! Bones don't have pain receptors--even I know that!" Axiom beat his free fist against the top part of the offending horn, cursing as he struggled.

"My horns are a cooling apparatus, idiot! There's all sorts of blood and tissue in these! And you're ripping it all up!" Zero flipped his head around forcefully, face contorted in pain and concentration, pulling Axiom forward off of his feet. He was becoming increasingly fed up with being attached to the bitchy Irken and his temper was beginning to flare. His horn was starting to sting and ooze blood and Axiom was clawing at his face and trying to nail him in the gut with his toe-knives.

In a sudden surge of perturbation and strength, Zero started to hop around, twisting his head to and fro which effectively yanked Axiom off of his feet yet again and sent him flapping around in a multitude of directions, nearly getting whiplash as he flew through the air screaming. The serrated blade shifted a tiny bit after a few seconds and then came loose all at once, momentum carrying its owner through the air.

Axiom's blue eye shot open and watched the scenery flip-flop around him sickeningly, catching sight of the wall of stone he was hurtling towards a split second before he crashed against it. He fell forward onto the rocky ground below and threw an arm out to brace himself for the fall, but the action didn't go as planned; his arm folded up underneath him at a strange angle and, as his body made its way to the ground, his elbow bowed and buckled under his own weight, snapping the joint audibly and bending it in the opposite direction.

A pained wail erupted from Axiom's lips as he curled inward upon himself, clutching his broken elbow tightly, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. Zero regained his balanced and looked up at the sorry sight before him. He almost felt like running over to help and call the whole thing off until Axiom's cry of anguish rapidly turned into an enraged yell as his PAK supplied him with a generous dose of painkillers.

"ERRRRGH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Axiom howled, jumping to his feet, injured arm swaying limply at his side. His PAK ejected a small baton from its confines which Axiom snatched out of the air with his good hand. Extending to full length and tipped with a half-moon shaped blade on each side, it sparked at the end with his touch.

Zero gawked at the appearance of the new, very sinister weapon. He watched the electricity arc between the ends of the blades. The sight of it sent a cold chill up his spine. If he got stabbed with that thing...

"DIE!" Came his opponent's war cry as he charged at him, brandishing his scythe like a one-armed madman.

In one brisk movement, Axiom made a broad swipe at Zero, narrowly missing his face. Zero jumped backwards to put some distance between the angry Irken and himself but Axiom anticipated his move and lunged forward in a speedy jab, catching Zero's left sleeve. The blade cut through the fabric like a hot knife through butter, leaving a slightly seared hole behind.

Zero glanced perturbedly at the new rip in his robe, ready to yell at Axiom for his sloppy handiwork but the words died in his throat as he was kicked to the ground. He spluttered and gazed up at his attacker just in time for the non-bladed end of the scythe whap him in the face. Seeing stars in his peripheral vision, he grabbed a handful of sand and lobbed it at Axiom's sneering face, making the injured Irken drop his scythe and slapped his hand over his eye, again screeching in fierce pain.

Axiom stumbled toward Zero, clawing at the ground for his scythe. When he came with a foot of striking range, Zero lashed out, kicking him as hard as he could, sending the blinded Irken hurtling through the air in the opposite direction where he hit the ground with an oof! and skidded away on his back.

Leaping up onto his feet, Zero lurched at the Irken's prostrate form, pulling a knife from its sheath on his thigh.

It was over in an instant.

Hand on the hilt, pushing his weight into it, the knife had cut all the way through the sternum and sliced through the bottom layer of the PAK's metal sheeting. The backpack apparatus sparked and emitted popping sounds, flashing red light, signaling a fatal internal malfunction, peeked through the junction of flesh and metal, lighting up the sand around it.

Blood bubbled up in Axiom's throat each time his heart beat. He looked at Zero ruefully, badly wanting to punch the Vortian's astonished face but found he lacked the strength to do so. With each wheezing intake of breath, he felt his lung filling with fluid, blood traveling up into his esophagus where it sat in a puddle around his pharynx, creating a gargling sound when he exhaled. Is this what it felt like to drown?

The knife was removed swiftly and re-sheathed, blood rose up and out of the wound, spilling out of it and soaking through the shirt surrounding it. Axiom groaned, blinking rapidly, grabbing a fistful of Zero's robe. A pair of gloved hands tried to pry his fingers off of the fabric. He tried to snarl at him but instead choked from the rush of air exiting his throat, coughing up a dark chunk of coagulated blood. He wedged his heels into the soil, a cold feeling traveling up his spine, feeling his heart beating vainly to circulate blood through his system and up to his organic brain.

He was dying. Weak, bleeding, suffocating in his own fluids, defeated because he let his temper get the best of him for the last time.

Zero shifted uneasily on his knees. He didn't like seeing animals suffer. Watching this pitiful creature silently curse his existence and slowly perish made his heart ache. There was nothing to do for Axiom's broken circuitry. Once that was damaged beyond repair, he would enter a state of organic meltdown which could only be reversed by hormones supplied by a fully-functional PAK. But his PAK was already dead and he soon would be, too. Nobody deserved to die from suffocating in their own vital fluids while their body liquefies. Not even this rash, little angry thing called Axiom.

He took a deep breath and reached out to pull on Axiom's shoulder. This movement was met by a somewhat fearful glance but Axiom wasn't in a position to fight back. Zero slid him around and propped his back up against his leg, minding the volatile noises coming from the PAK. He slipped one arm under the Irken's chin and pulled the other around his head to grasp at his own shoulder.

Axiom blinked, realizing what the Vortian was about to do, and threw his good hand up to dig his fingers into Zero's gloved forearm.

"Stop... "

Zero ignored the word and pressed the crook of his arm into the sides of Axiom's trachea, cutting off the oxygen supply to his brain.

The Irken reflexively started kicking the ground after five seconds of no blood getting to his brain, already feeling lightheaded. Zero persisted. Axiom coughed, releasing the glove to reach up and grab Zero's horn. He gasped for breath, blood dripping out of his mouth, feeling pressure building up in his skull.

Fifteen seconds.

Darkness crept into the peripheral of his vision, swallowing it up.

Thirty-one seconds.

Teeth clacking together, he shuddered, hand loosening its grip and dropping to his side, falling into a warm blackness--a dark void of sleep.

He held him there for the next three minutes to make sure that the Irken was gone. His own mind had gone blank minutes before with concentration. He didn't even realize that two more minutes had passed until he finally freed the other's neck from his grip.

Zero laid Axiom's limp body prone on the desert sand, eye closed and slack-jawed. He looked peaceful. Well, as peaceful as a scar-faced, one-eyed, rage-filled Irken could possibly be.

He stood up and stared down at the person lying at his feet.

He'd done it. He killed his first opponent.

"Congraaaaatulations, Zero!" Ban chirped, "You actually survived!"

The Vortian looked up at the floating cambot who was practically beaming at him.

"I wasn't sure you were going to make it! I mean, the guy had a freaking scythe that generated electricity! I thought you were going to get got right then and there! But then you pulled through and found a way to kill him before he killed you! Just... wow! I'm so proud of you! If you're lucky, you'll be the first Vortian to win this competition and I'll be famous for catching it all on video! Think about it--it'll make headlines!" The robot picked its hands up and brushed its fingers over the imaginary title, "Vortian Rises to the Top in BloodSports Tournament. Footage Captured by Camera Drone BN-45643."

Zero had stopped listening at the mention of the electric scythe and had since been staring at Axiom's lifeless figure.

"What are we going to do with him?" He asked, turning to face Ban.

"Huh?"

"Is there some sort of clean-up crew that will come by and return his body to his family or… what?"

Ban waved a hand at him dismissively, "Nah. He doesn't have any family to go home to. If the Mega-Eater project hadn't fallen through a decade and a half ago, yeah, someone would be by to bring him back to Irk to recycle his remains but, since their little recycling prototypes went haywire, the Irkens don't need extra carcasses stinking up their garbage chutes."

"Oh... okay. The animals will get to him then. He won't go to waste."

"That's the spirit!" Ban clapped him on the shoulder heartily. Zero replied with a goofy half-smile.

No family? No friends? That's no way to live. No wonder the little guy was so fiery and angry and rearing to fight. He had nothing to live for. Nothing to loose.

"Now go call your weird pet and let's get going. The next round awaits!" Ban hovered over to its acquaintance and grabbed onto his shoulder, ready to get moving yet again.

Zero nodded and whistled for his mount, catching sight of her lying down on a distant slope where she had been watching him since he ordered her to run to a safe distance. She was up instantly in a puff of dust, ears tipped open towards him, tearing over the sand dunes in haste.

Five seconds later, Duuir skidded to a stop before him, looking at him expectantly with her large glass-blue eyes. Her gaze turned from him to the crumpled mass of flesh a few yards away, her nostrils flared to catch a scent of blood, oil, and death, half expecting Zero to hoist the dead animal up and tie it to her saddle like he always did when they went on hunting trips on Iridekk.

But Zero did no such thing.

He simply walked around to her side and pulled himself up to sit on her back.

He took a hold of Duuir's reins and pulled on her head to turn her around. "C'mon, Duuir, let's go." She gave the thing one last look but she obeyed his command, pivoting around on her haunch to walk in the direction she had come.

Zero had never killed anyone before and it felt strange to know that he'd just ended someone's life recently. The worst he'd ever done to anybody was break a few ribs but that was a flesh wound compared to what he'd done to Axiom. He actually felt bad for killing the little guy. But he knew what was at stake here. He was gambling with his own life to save the lives of his whole species. The deaths of a few defective Irkens would be small change; they could breed new workers whenever they wanted and in any volume they pleased.

Should he fall, his species would very well be enslaved forever, humiliated and forced to do the bidding of the Irkens for the foreseeable future. He couldn't let that happen.

He just hoped that the next round wouldn't be his last.
Oh, boy.

I am never going to take that long to write something for a deadline ever again. e____e

I'll upload a preview image within a day or two, so don't worry about that part of it.

Guh. I'm tired...
--------------

Zero is Mine

Axiom belongs to :iconextremepwnage16:

:iconthe-bloodsport:
© 2012 - 2024 TheCau
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UndergroundByDesign's avatar
So where's that preview image we were promised? :lol: