With a groan, I stepped back into the standby area, my opponent knocked out in the middle of the arena. They hadn’t been as bad as Gimpy, but they sure put up a hell of a fight.

“That’s your second win,” Reinhardt said as she slapped me on the back.

“How many more of these damn rounds?” I asked, annoyance clear in my voice as I looked to the brackets.

“One more tonight, then the last three are tomorrow,” She then smirked. “Looks like it’ll be me and you fighting each other tomorrow morning. Then the winner fights Remi if she wins her bout. Now that’s going to be interesting.”

I just smile back at her. When we fought, I wouldn’t be holding back, of course. Neither will she. But at least I won’t have to worry about us killing each other. Going to be a good ol’ beat down. Same for fighting Remi. No weapons, just fist vs hooves.

“Your opponent after dinner looks like it's going to be Mallogory. She’s actually a threat,” Reinhardt warned as we sat by the junk pile. “She recently got her personal abilities unlocked by gaining favor, so she’s blowing through opponents.”

“What’s her abilities?” I asked as I watched Doc fix my prosthetic, again.

She frowned, “That’s the problem, I’m not sure. Everyone who fights her gets knocked out the moment they get within melee range. So I don’t know if it's magic or something else. She’s one of the few to actually beat me. I couldn’t even tell what she did to me, I just woke up back in my cell, sore as hell.”

“Well,” I said with my own frown, “Anyone can be beaten. I’m sure I’ll figure something out come time.”

Reinhardt smiled at that, “That’s why I like you, Scamp. Always looking for a way to win.”

I just shrug in return, going over a few possibilities in my head.

Standing at the gate that led out into the arena, I watched as Reinhardt beat the literal shit out of her opponent. The poor creature barely stood a chance as she used her fist to wail on him.

Once she won, she slowly strode back to the standby area, waving her hands to the crowd.

“Fuck I love and hate this place,” she announced as she entered the cage.

“Yeah, well I just want to get out of here,” I replied, waiting for my name to be called.

“Remember, everyone gets knocked out as soon as they get close to her,” Reinhardt reminded me.

“I got this,” I said confidently.

Remi gave me a thumbs up and hugged me for good luck.

I don’t know what she can do, but I always figure something out.

At the sound of my name, I stepped out, the crowd now fully cheering for me after the last two bouts.

“Here comes Stumpy! The flying horse with an attitude! You saw her demolish her last two opponents, but how will she fare against…. MALLOGORY!”

The crowd exploded even louder than before as a strange creature stepped out and approached the center of the arena where I stood.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but she was about on par. She seemed to be some kind of reptile with black skin that looked like scaled armor. Her face looked strange, like a white mask sat upon her face. The blue cloak that covered her upper body and lower face flowed behind her, like two tails. Her tail looked dangerous, thick and heavy. It could definitely do some damage.

But I couldn’t see anything special about her, so her ability must not be physical based. Her right hand was covered in wrappings, so maybe that has something to do with it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking a bit bored and annoyed.

“Yeah, me too. You shouldn’t have to face me,” I say back, smirking the best I can. Gotta show confidence here.

She rolled her eyes as she stood there, not moving. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

I eyed her wearily, not liking this one bit. I opened my wings prematurely, just in case.

Advancing slowly, I kept my eyes on hers, watching for something to happen. I focused my entire being on her, time seeming to slow down as I approached. Every twitch of her body caused my eyes to snap to it, watching for her instant knockout ability. Unsure of what even to watch for.

As I got close enough to strike, I saw it. She flickered, ever so slightly, then her fist was in my face.

Thankfully, my reflexes kicked in and I flew backwards, my wings propelling me away from the almost instantaneous attack.

Landing a few feet away, we both stared at each other in shock. She was shocked I dodged, and I was shocked at what she just did.

“Did you just stop time for a split second there?!” I asked, dumbfounded.

“How did you dodge that?!” She asked, just as dumbfounded as me.

Not too long ago, I could also stop time, so I know the concept. But what she did doesn’t feel like freezing time. Similar, but definitely not the same thing.

We stared at each other, now looking at the other in a more serious light.

Then a smile broke on her face as she pulled down the cloak. “Well, this’ll be fun!”

I couldn’t help but smile back as we sprinted towards each other.

Her body flickered again, but now that I knew what she was capable of, I dodged to the left just as her fist flew past my cheek. The look of surprise on her face was replaced with a breathless expression as I slammed a hoof right into her gut.

Spinning with my forward momentum, I spun to face her as she slowly doubled over, the wind knocked out of her. But as I started to go for another attack, she flickered, her leg shooting straight up, catching my chin in the process. I was sent into a forced back flip as I barely caught myself and landed on all fours, my chin in horrible pain.

She came at me again, flickering. But to her surprise, as she went for another punch to my head, I ducked it. I dropped to the ground, twisting my body awkwardly, and bucked her square in the face.

The hit sent her straight to the ground, where she slowly began to get back up, groaning.

“That ability is amazing,” I say, working my jaw. “But you don’t have any fighting training, do you? Just kinda used to people getting caught off guard by your little trick?”

“No need to know how to fight when your first hit always wins the fight,” she replies, now fully standing before me. “You’re skilled though.”

“Thank you,” I say, grinning at her. She returned my grin, but then we both got serious again.

I have a tournament to win.

She sprang towards me, not flickering this time. Using my wings, I shoot to the side, then spring for her side. With a flicker, she was suddenly facing me, her leg flying up again towards my head. But this time, I saw it coming as I simply rolled to the right and flew past her, sweeping her legs out from under her.

As she fell to the ground, I flipped my body and used my wings and legs to propel back towards her. I twisted midair as I reached her and flew under her, using the ground as a brace. I kicked up with my back legs as hard as I could. This sent her flying straight up into the sky.

With a loud whoosh, I shot after her, quickly overtaking her and preparing to kick her again, this time back to the ground.

Using my wings to spin myself, I prepared to deliver a heavy kick to the approaching reptile lady. But just as I kicked out, she flickered. My eyes went wide as she was no longer in front of me.

A hard hit to the side of my head revealed her location as I recoiled hard, keeping myself airborne. But she landed on top of me, grabbing my ponytail in her hands and pushing me downward hard, sending us flying towards the ground.

I twisted as we reached the ground, slamming her into it first. We both skidded away from each other as we quickly recovered, getting back to our feet.

We were both breathing heavily, but we also both looked excited.

I honestly haven’t had a fight like this since I fought Bronwyn! I’m loving it!

“You are great,” she chuckled, adjusting her cloak and clothes.

“So are you,” I reply, fixing my ponytail with my wings.

“You’re making me work for this one,” she said as she began to walk back towards me.

I laugh as I walk casually towards her.

“But,” she says, looking conflicted, “I need to win this. I’m not going to remain a slave in this place.”

“I get the feeling,” I say back, watching her carefully.

“So I’m sorry for this,” she says as she seems to shift into a very focused looking state.

This can’t be good.

As we neared each other, I watched for her to flicker. And when she did, I dodged left, only to be punched square in the face. Hard.

Before I could recover, she began to flicker rapidly. Each flicker was accompanied by a hit to my face or chest. There was nothing I could do as I was hit again and again, every move I made was instantly countered.

That’s when I realized I was now on the ground, eyes blurry and unfocused.

“Again, I’m sorry,” she said from above me as I struggled to stand. But her next flicker was her last as her foot made contact with my head, causing me to feel like I was falling into a deep, dark pit. The darkness slowly overtaking me as the cheers of the crowd faded into the distance.

Everything hurt as I felt myself coming too. I still couldn’t see for some reason, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I had a bag over my head.

Wonderful.

“Ah, awake finally,” a high pitched male voice said from nearby. The bag was then ripped off my head, revealing I was in a rather large, fancy room.

An overweight ogre looking man stood above me, smiling impossibly widely.

Trying to move revealed I was chained up, legs bound to each other.

“What the fuck is this?!” I snapped, not hiding my displeasure.

The large ogre laughed as it adjusted its fancy suit. “I bought you after you lost your last fight last night.”

At my confused look, he smirked, “You heard me. You are now the property of Sir Reeve of Hympth.”

“I’m no ones property,” I said flatly, looking him up and down.

He just reached down and patted my head, “Shhh, quiet my little future wife.”

I frowned, eyes narrowing, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

Sir Reeve got an evil look on his face as he began to reach for me. But at the sight of my dark indigo bladed teeth caused his eyes to widen.

He realized something right then. We were apparently no longer in the Dome of the Dead, and that meant I was no longer being restricted.

Flexing, my Ego blades extended and easily cut through my restraints. I stood up fully, flaring my wings as I stared up at the ugly Sir Reeve’s. Blades extending out of my three hooves and wings.

“Oh… I thought we were still within range of the Dome…” he said, sweat pouring down his fat face and coating his clothes. “If you… would kindly put those away, we can start over.”

With a flick, I cut a shallow gash across his belly, causing him to scream in horror as he threw himself away from me.

“Guards!” he screamed, causing four large ogre’s to rush into the room and run at me.

I rolled my eyes as I attached my Ego to each of them and spun through them, basically blending them all together as I passed through them.

Landing behind them, I turned to face Sir Reeve’s, giving him a sly smile.

“So, you wanted me to be your wife?”

He wailed as he pushed himself away from me as I advanced on him.

“Wait wait wait!” he yelled in a panic. “If you stop, I’ll do anything you want!” When I didn’t stop walking towards him, he got more desperate. “I’m rich! I have Ego and Ore’s! They’re all yours if you just stop!”

I stopped advancing on him, thinking to myself. “How long have I been out?”

“A full day! The tournament is over if that’s what you’re asking!” he screamed, not calming down.

“Who won?”

“That Mallogory chick!” he all but cried out.

I held up a hoof, pointing the claws at him. “Stop fucking screaming and crying!”

He slowly stopped, his face a mess.

“Good,” I said, glaring at him. “What happened to her?”

“She lost of course!” he replied, but at my continued glare, he adds, “They fought for like four hours! He beat her and ate part of her tail. THen threw her back into the general populace! Made a huge speech about her possibly being worthy of joining his crew one day!”

Opening my mouth, he saw my bladed teeth, causing him to wet himself.

Ayla appeared over him, looking extremely pissed as she pointed to him, “Kill him! He’s a creep and a perv! KILL HIM!”

“Soon,” I say to her, causing him to look at me confused. “I have a task for you, then I’ll let you go.”

Ayla looked upset, but upon reading my mind, she relaxed, looking pleased.

“What kind of task? Because I’ll do anything if you just let me go,” he says, seeming to calm down to his normal self. Seems thinking he was going to live was all it took.

“We’re going to use those riches you talked about and buy a few more people from the Dome. Then you’re free to go.”

His eyes widened, “What?! That’s not cheap!”

“Fine,” I say simply as I take a step towards him.

“But!” He yells in a panic, “Not to expensive for me!”

“Thataboy,” I say, keeping my blades out. “We’re going to head back, buy a few people, then free to go. Deal?”

“Deal!” he readily said.

“And if you say a word to anyone about what is happening, I’ll kill you. No matter where we are or who’s watching, I’ll kill you first and worry about everything else afterwards.”

He didn’t seem pleased with this, but he nods his head. “Of course.”

“Then let’s go,” I say, waving for him to get off the ground. “And bring your wallet.”

I glared into his back as we walked along, angry at the situation. He still called for help to every guard he saw on his ship, and I ended up having to kill every single servant and guard he had brought with him.

He was going to be a problem, but I think threatening him with full dismemberment, including his manhood, was enough to get him to play ball going forward. If not, oh well.

“Just…” he said over his shoulder in a shaky voice, “Let me do all the talking. I’m well known here.”

“Yes, but one word out of your mouth that I don’t like, or one strange look from anyone, and I’m going to enjoy blending you up.”

I adjusted the pendant attached to my neck, ready for anything now. Apparently this pendant is given to VIP’s only, and allows them to use their Ego and abilities unhindered.

This was a game changer for this forsaken place.

As we approached the massive VIP entrance, Sir Reeve held up his pass.

“Back already?” One of the guards asked, laughing as he saw me. “And brought your new pet?”

“Eh.. I did indeed,” Sir Reeve replied, trying not to look my way. “I actually was planning to buy a few more.”

“You nasty dog!” the guard laughed as he waved us through. As I passed, he winked. I resisted the urge to say anything to him.

Sir Reeve led us through the mostly vacant halls, following signs that pointed towards an Administration of some kind.

As we entered a fairly large room, we were greeted with a bunch of busy looking creatures running around. They seemed to be taking bets and moving currency around.

“Sir Reeve!” A man said as he walked up and bowed to him. “I thought you were done for the month?”

“I’ve come for a few more… pets,” he said the last part carefully, eyes flickering to me.

“Oh? Got any in mind?” the man asked with a sly smile, looking at me with a look that I did not like.

“I have a list this time around. A few caught my fancy,” he said as he held out a list of names I’d given him.

The man looked the list over, raising an eyebrow. “There are males on this list, I thought you weren’t into that?”

Sir Reeve’s eye twitched as he frowned. “They’re for my daughter.”

“Oh, bringing the kids into the fun?” he asked, winking creepily. “I’ll get the prices for you.”

As he stepped away, Sir Reeve shook in anger. He definitely was not happy with the current situation.

“Buck up,” I say, trying to get him to not act rashly. “I’ll think about giving you a little special reward if you play nice here.”

“What does that mean?” he asked dumbly, but at my wink, he smiled slyly. “Dirty girl. Am I starting to appeal to you?”

Trying not to kill him right there, I just shrug. This has the effect I wanted as he no longer looked like he was going to do something stupid.

“Two of those names are very expensive, Sir Reeve’s. Both three times more expensive than she was,” the man said as he returned.

“Make it happen,” Sir Reeve replied, seeming to be excited now. Gross.

“Yes sir,” he said with a bow and gestured for the door. “You know where to pick them up after payment has been made.”

Sir Reeve led us out the door and down the hall. He stopped at an office of some kind, using a console to make the payment. Once that was done, we resumed the walk down the hallway.

We arrived in a large room with a few massive doors at one end.

“This is where we wait for your friends,” he said, his eyes running over my body.

I again resisted the urge to kill him. For now.

Luckily, we only had to wait half an hour before the guards entered the room with my friends all limp and laying on carts.

“Ah, perfect,” Sir Reeve said as he waved them on. “You know the drill. Take them to my ship.”

As we walked, I looked back at my friends. They all stared at me dumbfounded, but the paralyzing beam they’d been hit with kept them from speaking.

After leaving the Dome, we walked across a walkway back to Sir Reeve’s large airship. The guards took their cargo up onto the ship and dumped them all in the bay.

The lead one returned to Sir Reeve and handed him a little device. “Enjoy, Sir.”

“Thank you!” Sir Reeve said happily, glancing my way. “Come along, I want that little reward first before finishing our deal.”

I roll my eyes as we walk onto the ship and into the bay. He closed the door behind us, leaving just us and my paralyzed friends.

“Let’s do this, right here,” he says eagerly as he begins to undo his buckle, trying to get his pants down.

“Gladly,” I say as I walk up and jump up in front of him. He stared at me in confusion at first, but that confusion turned to horror as my blades shot out.

“Wait, you promised!” he screamed, but I didn’t answer him as I spun forward, turning into a drill as I flew through him. A large hole sat in his chest as he collapsed forward.

Shaking my head, I reached down and picked up the little device he’d been given. Pressing the button caused a little shimmer to wash over my friends.

They all slowly sat up, looking around.

“Scamp, what the hell?” Moxxi asked, then smiled happily. “You are my new favorite person!”

“You saved us? You could have just escaped without risking yourself,” Beans said, clicking as he looked at me.

I wave them off. “I couldn’t leave you, assholes. You’ve grown on me.”

“Okay, but why the hell is she here?” Reinhardt asked, pointing to the lizard woman as she stood up.

Mallogory stood up as well, looking just as confused. “Yes, why am I?”

“After that fight you gave me, I couldn’t leave you there for Leem,” I said as I looked at her tail, now missing some of its length. “Besides, you fought Leem and lived, just like me and Reinhardt.”

She looked at her tail, then my leg. At my nod, she looked grim, “Leem is not normal. He just let me wear myself out, then humiliated me in front of the crowd.”

“That’s his whole thing,” Reinhardt said as she sighed.

Remi slowly walked up to me, tears in her eyes as she held up her chalkboard. ‘Thank you, Scamp. Me part of crew now.’

“I don’t have a crew,” I replied to her, then smiled up at her.

“Uh, yes you do,” Moxxi said as she waved her hand over everyone around her.

“After what you just did, I’ll follow you anywhere,” Doc said, a thankful smile on his face.

I blinked as I watched them all turn to me, smiling just as wide as Doc.

“Your mission is now my mission, Scamp,” Beans said as he clicked rapidly.

“Already bound to you,” Reinhardt said, giving me a thumbs up.

“I guess I’ll stick around for a while,” Drake said, pushing his hair back and giving me his charming smile.

Mallogory crossed her arms, “I’m not going to be in your crew like they are.” But then she smiles a bit, “But I’ll definitely hang around for a bit. See where this all leads.”

“Guys,” I said, feeling touched at their words. “I’m a terrible choice for a leader.”

“Shut up and let’s figure out how to fly this thing,” Moxxi laughed as she and the others began to walk for the door leading out of the large bay. Being careful to step over the bodies I’d left behind.

Ayla appeared next to me, “I like them.”

I smile as I turn to her, glad to finally have her back. “Me too. I’ve missed you, Ayla.”

She beamed a smile back at me and fell into a hug with me, “It’s been so terrible having to watch you go through all that back there, but not be able to speak to you!”

“Don’t worry, it’s over now,” I say as she leans back.

“We will find a way to kill that asshole Leem, and then we’re going to make him eat his own damn legs!”

I laughed as I began to follow after the others. “It’s good to have you back, Ayla.”

Next Chapter: Friends Estimated time remaining: 33 Hours, 57 Minutes