"Ladies and gentlemen we have another round of combat. We have the graceful death Demona Slouge, and the daughter of Sir Simon Caldifax: Sybil Caldifax." A voice called out to the whole building.
Sin grumbled. He eyed me from his platform with a look of contempt.
belonged to someone else.> Demona, like Rawad , already had her evo summoned. It was a Thrad of all things. It wasn't the same evo that she had used in her last fight. I didn't recognize that one but during it's last fight it had taken a fair bit of damage. So unlike Rawad she swapped it out and used a different evo. Sin turned to face his opponent reluctantly. He sized up the thrad with one glance and sighed, like it and Deomna were beneath him. Sin brushed his hair put of his face them placed his hand on his hip. "Let's get this over with. Kylodon!" Sin called out. A crystalline structure formed behind Sin's back and shot into the air and landed under the platform and shattered. A evo that I had never seen before emerged. It was a reptilian evo that stood on four short legs that looked similar to a alligator's legs. It had a wide and bulky body that sat low to the ground. It's entirely body was covered in large, thick black quills so sharp looking I thought they were blades at first. Thus new evo had a head that looked similar to a bearded dragon's with a mouth full of jagged sharp teeth. "On the field we gave Demona's thrad and Lady Sybil's Hodgepodge. Evo Baaaaaattle Staaaaaart!" "Go Alpha!" Demona yelled. Her thrad immediately rushed towards the Razorback and swung a claws fist at it's head. The Razorback dropped it's body as low as possible then tucked its head down then stiffened it's quills. The thrad's claws met kylodon's quills and the sound of piercing flesh followed by the thrad's pained screams echoed throughout the arena. Kylodon's quills had pierced the thrad's scales in it's paws. I winced as I saw the thrad desperately try to pull it's hand free. It swung it's other claw to try and attack the Razorback only for the quills to stop it's attack again. "Kylodon! Spike shot!" Sin ordered. The quills on Kylodon's head turned towards the thrad's body and then fired at it like a shotgun. The sound of quills piercing the thrad's hard scales echoed throughout the building. The thrad looked like a pin cushion with more than a dozen six inch wide quills were sticking through its body. The thrad slumped back dead, one of the quills had pierced it's skull. "Too easy!" Sin exclaimed. "WINNER! LADY SYBIL CALDIFAX!" The announcer screamed. Kylodon quickly returned back to Sin's crystal and he turned and frowned at me. [Boss! That new evo pisses me off!] Bone-lasher growled. [Bone, leave it alone. He's injured and healing.] I ordered. Bone-lasher let out a annoyed growl in my head but I felt hos presence retreat deeper into his space within my crystal. My attention snapped back to reality. Sin was glaring at me from his platform, obviously he'd been talking to me and I hadn't heard him. "Sorry dear did you say something?" I asked aloud. Sin groaned loudly tjen pointed to the other arenas. "They said we can wonder around and check the other arenas. I also want to talk about you taking that gravegyle." Sin said. Once again I roll my eyes but stepped off the platform and onto the catwalks. Sin did the same and he followed close behind as I went to observe the other arenas. "You know how insane it is that you did that is right? And in front of a whole building full of people too?" Sin exclaimed in English. "If he cared so much about his evo he should have taken better care of it." I replied in English. "If nothing else he could have taken the evo into his crystal and let his mana heal it." "That takes mana, it's too inefficient to use mana to heal a evo such a way father, you know this." 'Sin's really good at this undercover stuff. Though it feels weird hearing him call me father. Even if he is wearing a woman's face.' I thought. Sin and I stopped by one of the middle arenas and watched one of the red dragon plants toy with a young contestant. The red dragon had a assured look on her face as her evo dealt a fatal wound to the challengers evo. Her was yet another evo I hadn't seen before, a bird evo of some sorts, whereas the challenger was using a Hodgepodge. As the fight came to its conclusion the bird evo flew up to the railing of its splicers platform and landed gracefully. Now that it was sitting still I could see it clearly. It was a gorgeous evo, a large bird with bright golden top feathers and deep red flight feathers in its plumage. It possessed long tail feathers that reminded me of a peacock, however given how it slashed the throat of that Hodgepodge with those feathers were not for decoration like a peacocks and a great deal more deadly than its claws. The evo's face looked similar to a quai, while its body reminded of a peacock as well. It sat unbothered by the world and its splicer, like it was only there because it was ordered to. Sin exclaimed in universal standard.. Jade and Nate exclaimed in disbelief. I felt a sudden wave of doubt and fear wash over me from my newly acquired gravegyle. It was so strong I felt my knees almost give out. Sin saw this and place a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" He asked switching back to English. "That gravegyle is scared, caught me off guard." I replied. I told him. With that I let my mind wander into my farm crystal, my vision went black as my focus changed from the real world to the worlds that my evos had carved out inside my crystal. As I entered the space that my evos inhabited I immediately noticed that it felt larger than the last time I was there. I now stood in the middle of a large room, similar to a station. In front of me stood four doorways, three of them marked: Bone-lasher, Alpa'nagia, and Grimm-Guard. The three doors were also personalized to suit each of the evos. Bone-lasher's door was made of water, Alpa'nagia's had pillars that bore Torapos etchings, and Grimm-Guard's were massive trees that had vines and mushrooms encircling them. The fourth doorway was blank however, no name or distinct features for identifying it from the others. [Boss!] Bone-lasher exclaimed as he swam out of his domain and nearly tackled me but stopped short. I reached up and petted the enthusiastic evo, he purred softly as I petted the spot behind his gills he liked. [Bone, what's wrong?] I asked after a moment. [New one.] Bone-lasher replied and turned hos head to look at the blank door. [He's loud…] As if to prove Bone-lasher's point a deafening howl echoed throughout the station, originating from the blank doorway. The screech was followed by waves of pain, anger, confusion, and distrust. I had to grit my teeth and focus deeply to keep my true body from being overwhelmed by the intensity of the emotions. [Gotcha…loud…] I said after a moment. I petted Bone-lasher on the nose and smiled at him. [I'll take care of it, you just head back to your biome, okay?] [Yes Boss!] Bone-lasher exclaimed then swam back through his doorway but not before he licked my face. I chuckled lightly as I watched the liger shark swum away then turned my attention to the Gravegyle's doorway. Taking a deep breath I walked through the door and was instantly taken to a dense and tropical jungle. I had to cover my ears as the sound of explosions and thunderbolts echoed all around me. In this jungle it was nighttime and the only light around was from the flames and lightning bolts that caused the explosions and thundering far in the distance. Unfortunately explosions and thunder weren't the only thing that could be heard. The sounds of countless screams, inhuman screeches, and monstrous bellows. They all sound far away in the distance and right next to me at the same time. 'This is a battlefield…' I realized. [Hey! Hey! Anyone in here?!] I called out telepathically. I waited a few moments for a reply but heard nothing back. 'Well its not like I can't find a way out…' I told myself as I made the decision to head deeper onto the Gravegyle's biome. Traveling through the jungle sucked just as much as I thought it would. The overgrown plants and tricky terrain made moving around slow and tiring, which should have been impossible since everything around here was just a manifestation of my crystal. No matter how far I moved I couldn't get away from the sounds of battle or death that persisted through the jungle. [Hey! You don't have to hide! I'm not going to hurt you!] I projected. The jungle suddenly became dead silent, the explosions stopped, the thundering stopped, everything faded to darkness. I could still sense the jungle around me but couldn't see it. I felt another wave of emotion crash into me, distrust, pain, hatred. Faces flashed before my eyes, dozens of splicers all making the same promise and all of them empty. [You don't trust me or my words but you'll happily take my mana to heal your wounds? That's kinda hurtful…] I said. The gravegyle sent another wave of emotion at me, the feeling of it turned my stomach and made me gag. [Hey I saved your life! The least you can do is show yourself instead of attacking me emotionally!] I yelled. I suddenly felt a wave of malice and anger wash over me from behind. I spun around in time to see the gravegyle nosediving towards me, claws extended and ready to slash me in half. "SHIT!" I exclaimed. Bone-lasher and Alpa'nagia seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Alpa'nagia coiled its body around the gravegyle's and grabbed it's wrists as it forced it down to the ground. Bone-lasher took a defensive position in front of me. [NO! DON'T HURT HIM!] I bellowed to Alpa'nagia and Bone-lasher. [But Ssssstar Ssssshaper it wassss trying to harm you!] Alpa'nagia protested. [I know that but he's scare and already injured.] I said as I patted Bone-lasher on his head to calm him down and walked over to Alpa'nagia and the gravegyle. The gravegyle hissed and snapped it's jaws as it tried to break free of Alpa'nagia's grip bur the larger evo was very determined to keep the aggressive gravegyle restrained. [Stop fighting and just relax, ge'll let you go once he knows you won't harm me.] I told the gravegyle. It let out a warning hiss as it heard me get closer. My earlier assessment that it was blind was spot on, it's eyes were a translucent white color and didn't follow movement. As I got close I placed my hand on the Gravegyle's head it's struggling got worse and I could feel it's anger and resentment more clearly but I could also hear it's thoughts now as well. [BETRAYER! FILTH! MONSTER! CAPTURE ME SO YOU COULD FEED ME TO MY HATED ENEMY!] The gravegyle bellowed. [Feed you to your hated enemy? What? No!] I exclaimed. [I don't even know who your hated enemy is!] [The monster behind you! The slaughterer of my kind!] The gravegyle snapped. I looked over my shoulder at Bone-lasher then made the o-shape with my mouth. [Bone-lasher go back to your biome. Alpa'nagia let him go and return as well.] I ordered the both of them. [But…] Alpa'nagia started to protest but I quickly interrupted them. [Don't argue you two! If you don't do what I say then no more head pats or scratches.] I told them. Both evos looked like they'd just been slapped in the face but the reluctantly did as I told them to. Alpa'nagia uncoiled around the gravegyle then quickly slithered over to my side and eyed the evo maliciously. [I owe the Sssssstar Ssssssshaper my life…If you harm him your death with be sssssssslow and painful…] Alpa'nagia threatened before he slinked off into the jungle. Bone-lasher snarled at the gravegyle before following suit. I relaxed slightly when I felt their presence leave the biome. The gravegyle slowly stood and I moved my hand from his head to his shoulder. [Okay...let's try this again. Hi, I'm Chase Kingston, sorry for Alpa'nagia mind controlling and suddenly snatching you away from your splicer.] I said. The Gravegyle's face turned up in a snarl. [That bastard was not my splicer…he was another in a long line of pretenders.] The gravegyle said. [I guess I'm one of those pretenders….] I said sheepishly scratching my chin with my other hand. [Yes.] The gravegyle said in a matter of fact voice. [Well I could let you go but the second I do that you'll be hunted by other splicers wanting a rare evo.] I said. The gravegyle made a face similar to a frown at me. [What about you? You didn't snatch me away from my last pretender out of the goodness of your heart. You saw I was rare and unique and wanted a new plaything.] The evo spat. [I'm not going to deny that I thought you were cool…but I'm also not going to say that you being rare was the only reason I snatched you. You're strong, and you were fighting for your splicer's behalf regardless of how you thought of him and the shithead didn't appreciate it. He refused to treat your wounds or let you rest. You deserved better…] [You expect me to believe that?!] The gravegyle snapped and jerked away from me. His voice suddenly echoed throughout the biome, sounding everywhere at once. [AFTER DECADES OF BEING FORCED TO SERVE ONE MASTER AFTER ANOTHER YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW A LIE WHEN I HEAR ONE! I KNOW HOW YOU SPLICER'S ARE! NONE CAN COMPARE TO MY REAL MASTER! NONE CAN UNDERSTAND SACRAFICE OR PAIN!] The scenery changed around us to a lone muddy path through the jungle. The gravegyle was gravely injured and trying its best to run. The gravegyle wasn't alone it was being pursued by a pack of Liger sharks, unlike the gravegyle they weren't hampered by the mud of the jungle floor and was moving swiftly. They weren't trying to catch up with the gravegyle, they were toying with it. They knew they could kill it but wanted to savor the kill. The gravegyle needed to get just a little further away, it had to lure them away from the camp that his splicer was recovering in. If it could do that it's death would mean something. All these emotions flooded me at once, if I wasn't somewhat experienced at dealing with other evos emotions at this point I would have been overwhelmed. The alpha of the liger shark pack grew tired of the chase and made one powerful lunge at the gravegyle aiming to kill it with one attack. The gravegyle looked over its shoulder as it's death rapidly approached it oddly felt at peace, it had been a long war, a hard war, he'd fought since the beginning and now his part was finally over. A bolt of lightning suddenly streaked through the dark jungle, striking the lead liger shark through the neck and electrocution its entire body. The liger shark was knocked off course and inlmpaled on the branch of a nearby tree. The gravegyle turned his head to look to see where the lightning bolt had come from, only to see the last person he'd expected. His splicer. "FORTY-FOUR!" The splicer screamed, the farm crystal in the middle of his forehead glowing brightly like a star in the night. Forty-four, it was the Gravegyle's designation. The forty-forth success of the gravegyle project. It had been the only thing his splicer had called him, while others in the lab he was crested in had been given other names he simply stayed forty-four. It was simple and he liked it. His splicer cast another spell that made a lightning bolt shoot from his hands and struck another liger shark while it was jumping in mid-air. The liger sharks now seeing their leader and one other dead turned gears and went after the Gravegyle's splicer. The gravegyle summoned the last of its strength and charged at the closest liger shark punching his claws through its gills and letting out a sonic scream that liquefied its brains. Two more ligers still continued on to his splicer, with his wings injured he wouldn't make it in time. He suddenly felt hos body screech to a halt and move the other way, against his wishes. "FORTY-FOUR! RUUUUUUN!" His splicer commanded as he cast another spell and blue fireball formed in his hand. With no choice but to follow hos splicers command the gravegyle turned and ran, he'd taken about two steps when he heard a loud boom and felt a wave of air crash into his back and sending him flying. The memory ended there however it was easy to tell the fate of the splicer. I sighed and shook my head as I looked back up at the gravegyle. [YOU CAN NEVER KNOW THIS PAIN!] The gravegyle snapped. I stepped closer and placed my hand on the gravegyles head and remembered the day I lost my grandmother. [Does it feel like this?] I asked softly. At first he snarled then in a instant his features softened. [Does it feel like Does it feel like a ever burning rage at your own weakness, a near drowning sadness at their loss, and soul crashing guilt because they died while you survived. Because if it is…I know that pain.] The gravegyle jerked his head away from me and took a few steps back, snorting and shaking his head as if he was trying to clear it of my memories. [My grandmother gave her life so that I could live my to the fullest. I'm sure your real master wanted the same. I have some business that I need to take care of tonight that may just kill me but if I survive I'll see about getting you out of this battlefield….]