Normally, the Big Bad in the popular Thirteenth Night arena game show would be announced in advance, and there were several House Fighters who would regularly play as the big, scary monster that would go around pretending to kill contestants. Today though, the identity of the Big Bad had been kept a secret until all eight contestants had stepped into the arena. The Dasoudi Arena was extra dark today, to the point that the contestants, consisting of four Temthans and four Vrekans, had no idea what they were up against, and could barely see, even with their torches and small, scavenged weapons.
However, they could hear something. A voice, echoing in the darkness.
“Eiste sto palstra mu. Trekste i path’nste.”
The voice startled the contestants. None of them knew exactly what had been said, but they all assumed it was bad. Worse, they now had an idea of what was following them.
Some of the Vrekans though, the two males, both with glowing spots on their bodies, they seemed less scared. They straightened themselves out, scavenged for better weapons, grabbing an axe and a pistol, and stuck close to each other and one of the females. The Big Bad wasn’t a standard predator race. It wasn’t an overly large Temthan, nor was it a typical Thraki or a monstrous Banikan. It certainly wasn’t a normally rather protective Rethavok, and they would have known if the shapeshifting Spast Big Bad had made a return, because that was always announced early. No, the Vrkeans had worked it out, the Big Bag was a Skyavok.
Skyavok were not big or scary. In fact, Skyavok were short beings that never even reached 2m tall. Sure, they were armoured similarly to Rethavok, but they weren’t walking tanks of meat like their more recently evolved cousins. They were small, kindly, almost timid beings that kept to themselves.
“Den Fovaste? Tha Fovaste.”
As one of the male Vrekans though was pulled through a nearby shadow though and stabbed repeatedly before being returned to the group, tensions began to rise. While almost all Skyavok were harmless, a tiny percentage of them had… unnatural, often considered unholy abilities. Some Skyavok had the ability to manipulate shadows. Shadowjumpers, as they were often known by non-Skyavok, could use shadows to increase their speed and strength, camouflage themselves and use shadows as a way of teleporting. All shadowjumpers would be collected and trained by the K-Class, the Skyavok military and defence Class, before being allowed to work elsewhere.
The most powerful shadowjumpers would become Phantasmas, essentially assassins. A dark, cult-like organization within the K-Class, hidden away in a very non-Skyavok way. While details about Phantasma Skyavok were few and far between, it was often believed that if a Phantasma wanted you dead, there was little escape.
A Temthan screamed. The biggest of the Temthans. They screamed, then threw up violently, utterly disorientated by having been dragged through a shadow. The Temthan appeared on the other side of the arena, dangling from a tree, flailing wildly as a blade stuck out of their side. The other contestants all caught a glimpse of the Skyavok as it stabbed the Temthan in the throat, then laughed as the Temthan was teleported out of the arena.
“M’ares t’pono sas! Fonakste! Kle’te! Kle’te ia me!”
Whoever this Skyavok was, they were not recognizable. Black shadows covered their body and an unholy dark energy glowed from their eyes. They disappeared into the shadows, then reappeared behind one of the female Vrekans, pulling her into the darkness. She did try to fight back, to attack the Big Bad with the pipe she was holding, but whacking the Skyavok over the head did very little as the pipe bashed off their armoured head plate.
“Den eheis energa?” the Skyavok taunted. “Eiste megalyeir ap’me! Ke m’fovaste! Fovaste t’mikre Skyave!”
With a hideous smile, the Big Bad, or maybe the Small Bad, forced a blade into the female Vrekan’s throat, then teleported across the arena, throwing her now unconscious body at the two males. She was teleported away by the automatic arena systems before she bled out, but what little confidence the male Vrekans had completely vanished, doubly so as the second female screamed and collapsed between them, with four daggers sticking out of her back.
“Alright, fuck off you baby Rethan cunt!” the remaining male Temthan snarled, throwing his axe in the vague direction of the Big Bad, before dashing to grab another. “You’re not scary! You’re an abomination!”
“Yeah!” the two female Temthans both shouted, sticking together for safety. “You’re a monster! A stupid little monster!”
The Big Bad laughed, their voice still echoing around. “Ia, teras eim. Pant’eim teras! Al’ksero to. Agapo tin alithia! Ke eseis m’fovaste.”
The male Temthan made his way over to the two females, but abruptly disappeared. He’d been pulled through the shadows, through the ground. To his surprise, he was now mere meters away from the exit, the escape route. There was a chance he could actually win, that he could-
Small, thin teeth tore through the Temthan’s neck as they collapsed on the ground. Enough light was present that the other contestants could at least see the entirety of the Skyavok. But the shadows around it and the pitch black, heavy armour they were wearing meant they couldn’t be properly identified.
The Skyavok stepped into a nearby shadow and reappeared with a blade held to one of the female Temthan’s throats. She tried to flail, to throw the Big Bad off her, but its claws dug deep into her skin and its overly long tail wrapped around her stomach.
“Na lalo tin alithia ome, den m’ares pos m’laleis an eim Phosve. Oi Phosve irthan met’apo ton Skyave!”
That blade dug deep, cutting into the female Temthan’s flesh before the two male Vrekans could get to her. The other female Temthan, having seen all of this up close, fell to her knees and utterly gave up, essentially letting the Big Bad finish her off.
All that were left were the two male Vrekans, who were now standing back to back, desperate to not get separated. They were bigger than the Skyavok. There was a chance they could overpower it. They just needed to not get separated.
“What the fuck are you?” the smaller Vrekan hissed. “You’re unnatural! Unholy!”
This time the Big Bad didn’t laugh. They seemed to hesitate. As they did so, they switched to a language the contestants and the audience actually understood.
“No, I am a child of the Allbirther, just like you all are. The gods gave me my powers. If anything, I am holier than you are. Today though, I am the Big Bad, for your entertainment.”
Twisted claws suddenly grabbed the two Vrekans by the feet and pulled them downwards. However, they didn’t seem to just fall downwards, they were thrown at an angle across the arena. Bits of broken roots and thorny bushes scraped across the Vrekans bodies. They both rolled onto their backs, trying to orientate themselves, before catching one last glimpse of the Skyavok. It leaped through the air and plunged two blades into their chests, before kneeling by them and laughing.
“Efovaste me. Ekan t’doulia mu.”
The two Vrkeans both passed out then vanished, teleported to the infirmary to be healed up. The Big Bad stood up and glanced around the arena, where the crowds were cheering. They were confused, maybe even a little scared, but they were at least cheering.
“I timi katavlyth. Thanto kat’olon.”
With one last smile, the Big Bad waved, then disappeared into the shadows.
While the crowds outside were still cheering and trying to work out what they just saw, the House Fighters’ Viewing Bay was in a far more amused mood.
“Damn, that little Shadow Beast is terrifying!” Timik Lilac-Crown laughed heartily. “Where did you find the little girl?”
“Same place I found Tenuk and Nyssi, essentially…” Retvik grunted, sipping his drink. “I take it you enjoyed the show?”
“Oh, of course. Us House Fighters bloody love watching Thirteenth Night, right, Happy Cold?”
Psiksi was smiling a little too much, glad that someone had finally convinced the masses that the Skyavok were just as threatening as other races. “Oh, definitely.”
“You going ask the Raptor to be the Big Bad?” Tanok Stormcloud, a Lanex House Fighter, asked. “I think you could pull it off, Psiksi.”
“Hah, nah. I can’t do what Kayel just did. I’m not a proper Phantasma like he is…” Psiksi paused. He’d gotten a message on his communicator. He smiled, then stood up and made his way to the exit. “I gotta go, gotta sort something out. I’ll see you all later, I guess?”
The other House Fighters all waved, watching as Psiksi shadowjumped away.
“So, Retvik, when will you be fit to fight again?” Tanok turned his attention to the veteran Rethan gladiator. “And when will you play the Big Bad? After all, half your team have been pretty damn successful Big Bads, surely it’s your turn.”
Retvik crossed his arms and tutted. “Hmph. The Raptor will not let me. I have a stupid persona to keep up.”
“A shame…” Tanok shrugged. “I think you’d be pretty good at it.”
“Yes, well, the Raptor has said no. And we all now how she is like…”
Timik and Tanok both nodded in agreement.
“Either way, that was a glorious match!” Timik beamed. “You sure picked out some amazing team mates! Xeno Dessaron One never fail to put on a good show!”
“Heh, I appreciate that…” Retvik smiled. “We certainly are some… interesting gladiators…”