“Hey!” I called to a guard who eyed me suspiciously.
“What do you want, human?” the guard said, drawing the last word out like it was some kind of slur. He wore dark, metal armor, completely unlike those the Enforcers wore. There was no sign of any advanced technology, so I wasn’t too worried. It was just armor.
“I want to fight in the arena,” I answered.
The guard laughed, as did the two others who stood at the entrance to the building.
“Go away, little human,” the guard said, wagging his three sausage-like fingers at me. “The arena is no place for soft, squishy humans. Maybe you can go find a ca-a child to play with. I saw some over there. I’m sure they will be gentle enough not to leave too many bruises. But if you say the wrong thing, it might eat your face.”
I stopped a yard away from him and crossed my arms, staring him in his dark eyes. He stared back, and for a while, neither of us spoke.
“Why do you want to fight, human?” he asked. “You want to die? Life is too hard? Go throw yourself in front of one of them. It will be quicker.”
I glanced where he was pointing and saw the rock aliens again. They only watched, more curious than anything else.
“I’m here to fight,” I replied, growing impatient. “I understand your concerns, but either you let me fight in the arena, or I’ll fight you, then fight in the arena anyway. You seem like a nice person. I’m really not interested in hurting you.” He was being nice, so I hoped he’d be able to sense my honesty.
“Hurt us?” the guard to his right scoffed. “Puny, nasty human. Go away! My patience is nearly gone! Go now, or I’ll grind you into the soil myself!”
“I’ll tell you what,” I said as I scratched my chin and stared up into the sky, “I’ll let you have the first hit. Then, I’ll make you,” I said pointing to the guard on my left, “kiss his ass.” I pointed to the guard on the right.
“I’ve heard enough,” said the guard on the left. He handed his halberd to the other guard who only looked at me and shrugged. I knew what the gesture meant. I’d asked for what was about to happen. I’d try not to kill anyone. I needed to get inside alive. They weren’t taking me seriously.
It was time to show them that I wasn’t your garden-variety human.
The guard raised his meaty fists and extended a filthy-looking chipped claw from each. I was more worried about infection than I was any other kind of injury. His claw looked like he played in the dirt every day, and nobody had taught him about germs. It wasn’t my place, so, instead, I decided to teach the beast not to underestimate humans ever again.
The guard sauntered up like he had all day. Maybe he expected me to lose my nerve and run. The closer he got, the less certain he appeared. He kept that expression until I slapped him across the face. It was a gentle touch meant only to incite him, but his head rocked back, and he stumbled.
He growled and slashed at my face with his claws but found only air when I ducked under his strike. I closed the distance and slapped him twice. His head snapped back from the blows, and he started to topple. He wasn’t over far enough for my liking, so I hooked his forward leg with my arm and pushed him over. He landed on his back with a huff and a huge gust of wind from his lungs.
The guard I’d been speaking to earlier didn’t attack like I’d expected. Instead, he watched with mild fascination as three more guards surrounded me. Two had left their polearms behind, but the third, the only one who looked nervous, kept his at hand. He’d have to be the first to go down. He was the only real threat.
I planted my feet and quickly checked my surroundings. My exploits had already gathered a crowd of locals who were getting a free show outside of the arena. Some looked like they felt badly for me, while others were amazed.
They hadn’t seen anything yet.
The two unarmed guards took up positions to my left and right. The third, the nervous-looking one, approached from the center, directly at me. He bellowed a warcry, raised his polearm, and stomped his foot. Instead of retreating from him like I’m sure he intended, I lunged toward him. He flinched and almost tripped over his own big feet in an attempt to escape whatever it was the little human was about to do.
“Made you flinch,” I said with a laugh.
He took a panicked swing at me with the halberd, but it passed harmlessly over my head, and I rewarded his effort with a light tap to his face. He flew backward as though I’d just hit him with a sledgehammer. The other guards drew closer, and they were joined by two more, creeping up behind me.
Good. I wanted to commit enough of a crime that warranted capture. It would mean reuniting with Reaver, and then we could escape from here.
But was this enough? I’d slapped two guards, but they might just kill me here and now. I needed to show them that I was worthy of the arena. They’d probably earn some kind of finder’s fee for bringing a superpowered human to their superiors. Hell, I needed to amp things up a notch.
I dashed toward the nearest guard, grabbed his weapon with both hands, and twisted it hard but only managed to twist myself in the air. He had
