by Jamie L. Word
"Lodan Versus Varkon"
The crowd roared in frenzied anticipation as Lodan and Varkon took their positions on the arena battlefield. Lodan appeared slightly nervous about the fight, but he quickly steeled his resolve as he prepared himself psychologically for the upcoming battle. Varkon seemed absolutely excited, and he licked his lips in an effort to rattle Lodan, succeeding for a brief moment before Lodan could once more regain his composure. The other six fighters watched the fight with interest, but no one watched the fight more itensely than Yukio.
"If I can manage to get past Koji, a major if here, then one of these two fighters will be my next opponent," Yukio noted to himself in silence.
"The Sagean is hopelessly outclassed," Koji thought to himself as he noted the combatants' energy levels. "The Arlian shouldn't have much trouble with him, even though Lodan is far more powerful than any Sagean I've ever encountered in my time. Once I dispense with the Arcosian, I will have to fight Varkon. He's powerful, but I'm still stronger.
Among these fighters here, only this Xarlok, the Nameccian Kien, and his green-skinned opponent Tao should be a real challenge to me.
Although the Nameccian's power level is only a little higher than Borgoso's was before he went Super Zolian, if the Nameccian can transform into that giant form like Chih did, his power will rise to be equal to mine.
The green-skinned Tao seems to have a great deal of power, more than his Nameccian opponent. Hopefully he doesn't have any transformations. If he does, he might prove too powerful for even me to be able to defeat.
Xarlok is a complete mystery. He doesn't seem all that powerful right now, even though his power level exceeds most of the other fighters by a significant amount, but I can't help but sense something more within him, as if he's somehow concealing the bulk of his power from me. His power does seem strangely familiar to me, however. I should keep my eye on him."
"I certainly hope no one brought their young children to witness this one," the Kanassian thought to himself as he seemed very solemn about this upcoming fight between Lodan and Varkon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first ever Velorian Gladiator Tournament!" the announcer exclaimed, drawing an enthusiastic response from the packed house. "We will be beginning with first round action! Our fighters have all drawn their spots randomly, and it will be a single elimination tournament! You will lose your match if you give up, get knocked out, or, unfortunately, die! Let's get to the action now, what do you say?"
The crowd roared with enthusiastic anticipation about starting the tournament as soon as possible. All eyes were on Lodan and Varkon.
"Alright! Let's get this one underway with our traditional ring announcements!" the announcer shouted fervently. "Dressed in the denim and chaps is the mightiest of the Sageans, making only his second appearance ever in our arena! He is the greatest of his people's warriors! He is Lodan!"
The fans gave Lodan a fair but modest reception, a good sign considering this was his first appearance since his qualifying match.
"And his opponent is a mighty warrior from the now-destroyed planet of Arlia!" the announcer continued. "He is one of the few Arlians left in the universe, and he's a veteran of exhibition matches here! He's a gruesome competitor who likes to devour his opponents when he defeats them! Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for Varkon!"
The crowd gave Varkon a much better reception than they gave Lodan, but, then again, Varkon was much better known to them than Lodan.
"Now, gladiator arena fans, get ready for the show!" the announcer cried out over building fanfare. "This match is now officially underway!"
At that announcement, Lodan swallowed hard and then flew at Varkon to attack him! Lodan threw a flurry of punches at the monstrous Varkon, but Varkon had little difficulty blocking each and every attack! Lodan then hopped back and began powering up an energy blast between his outstretched palms as he pointed them towards Varkon, and Varkon smiled in anticipation! After several seconds of powering up the attack, Lodan fired it at Varkon, but the hideous, beetle-like fiend caught the blast in between his insect-like extremities and threw it back at Lodan! Lodan's eyes widened just before the blast hit him in the chest, knocking him across the battlefield and to his back on the ground! Lodan slowly made his way back to his feet!
"This ain't good!" Lodan thought to himself as he grimaced in preparation to renew his efforts to take the Arlian down. "He's faster and stronger than me! I'm gonna have ta resort ta extreme measures fer this!"
With that said, Lodan took a small sword handle from out of a holster on his hip, and an energy blade extended from it as the determined Sagean grinned at his surprised foe! Varkon's eyes widened as he pondered this latest development with interest! All onlookers were quite intrigued!
"What's this?" Varkon muttered in surprise as he noted the weapon in Lodan's hand with just a hint of concern.
"What's the matter, ya oversized cockroach?" Lodan taunted as he took careful and deliberate steps towards Varkon. "Not so confident anymore, are ya? Let's see how ya deal with this! My skill with the energy sword is greater than my skill in a bare-knuckle brawl!"
"Well, it had better be!" Varkon replied with a broad, taunting grin on his face as he seemed eager to begin a-new. "So far, your fighting skills haven't impressed me in the least! You've barely qualified as a warm-up!"
"Oh, yeah?" Lodan snarled in seething anger at Varkon's last statement. "Well, I'll show you, ya big ugly varmint!"
Lodan closed the distance quickly and swung his blade at Varkon in a frenzied display of anger, and, this time, Varkon seemed to be exerting significant effort to evade the deadly attacks of the Sagean! Again and again he swung the energy blade at the dodging Arlian, and each swing seemed to narrowly miss the huge bug-like creature until one of the swings managed to slice off one of Varkon's antennae! The Arlian screamed in pain as he leaped back away from Lodan, and Lodan chose not to press his advantage as Varkon noted the severed stump of his antennae!
"What?" Varkon growled in seething rage. "You backwoods buffoon! Look what you did! You cut off one of my antennae! Now you're going to get it! Now I'm mad!"
With that last statement, Varnok's voice shot to a crescendo and held the last word in a drawn-out yell as he began raising energy in his anger! The sky began to darken slightly, Varkon began to glow, the wind began to howl, and the ground began to tremble slightly! Seconds later, the ground began to tremble more strongly as small stones began rising from the ground, and Varkon began screaming to the heavens in his rage! The winds blowing out from Varkon wafted the Sagean's hair and his clothes, but the determined fighter stood his ground, even though he was beginning to grow more nervous by the moment! Seconds later, the ground began shaking violently, small rocks began splitting, and whirlwinds of flying debris began forming around the battlefield! The wind blowing out from Varkon began pushing against Lodan even harder than before, but the Sagean dug in and held his ground!
"This ain't good neither!" Lodan thought to himself as he exerted his strength against Varkon's power to remain standing and not get blown back. "What's that overripe cockroach up ta?"
"Now, Sagean!" Varkon roared with laughter as the he extended his extremities towards his foe. "Get ready to feel my power!"
The powerful blast streaked from Varkon's insect-like hands towards Lodan, and Lodan quickly extended his hand towards the incoming blast and powered up a blast of his own, firing it into Varkon's blast! The two blasts collided, and Varkon's blast began overpowering Lodan's blast, but the Sagean continued to pump energy into his blast in a desperate effort to prevent it from striking him!
While Lodan was struggling with that seemingly monumental task, Varkon disappeared from where he was standing, surprising the Sagean! Varkon reappeared behind Lodan, the work of his incredible speed, and thrust one of his extremities through the startled Sagean's torso! As Lodan screamed in excrutiating agony, his blast withered against the power of Varkon's blast, and Varkon manipulated his blast skyward with a simple gesture! Varkon then withdrew his extremity from Lodan's torso, causing even more pain to the already agonized Sagean! Varkon smiled as he tossed the Sagean into the air and gestured once more, causing his blast to return downward towards the hurtling Sagean! The blast exploded against Lodan's body, and then Lodan's smoldering body plummeted towards the ground like a rock!
"Mmmm! Yummy!" Varkon said, licking his lips again as he anticipated what he was about to do next. "Country fried Sagean! My favorite!"
The monstrous Arlian laughed as he opened his enormous mouth wide to reveal that he could stretch his mouth large enough to take in a full grown Sagean's body! Lodan's smoking form fell into the maw of the Arlian, and Varkon began chewing merrily! The crowd shied away from the sight, but some of the fighters managed to continue watching the horrorfest before them, namely Xarlok, Yukio, and Koji!
"Oooh! That settles it, folks!" the announcer cried in disgust. "Varkon wins, and he advances to the semi-finals of the tournament!"
Varkon laughed as he swallowed Lodan's chewed-up corpse and then made his way merrily out of the arena to the back, rubbing his belly with delight. Every fighter except Koji, Yukio, and Xarlok grimaced in utter sickened disgust at the sight.
"There goes our concession stand business plummeting through the floor!" the announcer thought to himself as he turned away from the gorey sight of Varkon savoring his morsel.
Moments later, Yukio and Koji entered the arena and took their places on opposite ends of the arena. The fans resumed their fanfare for the tournament action. Both fighters seemed ready to rumble!
"Okay! Here we go with more action!" the announcer began, regaining his composure a bit. "Here we have the Arcosian fighter who is making his second appearance in our arena, his first being his qualifying bout! Please, make welcome the Arcosian warrior Yukio!"
The audience extended a fair reception for Yukio, but he remained locked in a staredown with his Saiyan adversary.
"This next fighter doesn't need any introduction for you regulars in our audience, but, for you first-timers, I'll introduce him as a formality!" the announcer proclaimed as the crowd became eager for more action. "Although planet Vegeta was destroyed, not all the Saiyans went with the planet! This one is one extraordinary fighter! He is undefeated in twelve years of fighting in this arena, folks! What an incredible track record! Let's give it up for the mighty Saiyan warrior Koji!"
The crowd fanfare was off the scale as they cheered, whistled, and otherwise made their supreme appreciation for one of their favorites known. Koji remained locked in the staredown with Yukio however, and all eyes were on them in anticipation of their fight.