“Lightbearer, I challenge you to battle!”
Retvik glanced up to see who had just spoken to him. He didn’t quite recognize the voice, mostly became it came from the internal microphone of a gladiator helmet. But, weirdly, not his own. This was doubly strange because he had literally just finished a match where he’d beaten the snot out of an arrogant Thraki that had mockingly called him “Lamebearer”. In all honesty, the name amused Retvik more than it annoyed him. After all, how could you call a gladiator with 20 years of experience and one of the longest win streaks in history “lame”?
Still, this unexpected appearance was awkward. Retvik was still covered in blood. And his challenger was someone Retvik thought he had dealt with. Someone who was making a very large spectacle of things, openly making this statement. With a sigh, Retvik reached underneath his helmet, tapping a small, rarely used button which turned on his personal microphone. The Raptor rarely allowed Retvik to openly speak in a way that the crowds could hear him, but he needed to deal with this intruder.
“Kayess-En, what are you doing here?”
“Are you deaf, exile? I challenge you to battle!”
Retvik grunted. Most Rethans bluntly calling him an exile didn’t really bother him. But they both knew that Kayess-En was not most Rethans. She was the decorated leader of the top Rethan Dessaron team, Retha Squad One. But she had recently challenge Retvik and his own Dessaron team in a bid for an easy victory and had ended up losing, much to everyone’s surprise. Clearly, Kayess-En wanted revenge. She was certainly dressed for it, wearing her full custom battle armour and carrying her gunstaff.
“We have already defeated you once, Kayess-En. You really want a rematch?”
“No, I do not want a rematch against your team. I want revenge against you! I should not be beaten by a dirty exile like you!”
Again with the blatant insults. Retvik was getting tired of this. He knew better than to let his irritation get the better of him, but right now, he felt like he needed to teach this bastard a lesson.
“Fine. I accept your challenge. Reset my damn health meter and we will settle this stupid dispute right now!”
Kayess-En stepped back slightly. Was she intimidated? Retvik didn’t care. She was already wearing a health meter band around her wrist and neck, she was wearing her armour, Kayess-En came out here looking for a fight. And by the Blessed Panelix, Retvik was going to give her one. Glancing down at his wristband, Retvik heard the familiar ding of a refilled health meter. He’d only lost a miniscule amount of health anyway.
“Very well, exile! May the best Rethan wi-”
The hulking gold and purple Rethan didn’t finish her sentence. Retvik charged at Kayess-En, bashing her with his shield, Lightedge, before swiftly taking out her leg from underneath her. Kayess-En may have been prepared for a fight, but she normally had a team to back her up. Plus, Retvik knew from experience that she hit hard but moved slow. Fast for someone of her size, but still slower than Retvik.
Not allowing herself to fail so quickly, Kayess-En rolled to her right, away from a thrust from Retvik’s gunstaff. However, she barely made it back to her feet before Retvik knocked her down again. A kick to the side, a shield bash and a slice up the leg meant that Kayess-En had lost complete control of the fight, forcing her to go into survival mode. But if she could make Retvik angry, angrier, he’d start to get sloppy. All Kayess-En had to do was wait.
“You sully our name, exile. You reject your own and serve foreign interests!” Kayess-En taunted as she managed to make some space for herself, emptying a clip from her gunstaff in Retvik’s direction. One shot did clip his right shoulder, but Retvik shrugged it off.
“You do not understand why I was exiled!” Retvik hissed, immediately closing the gap between them. Before Kayess-En could retaliate, she took a shield to the face, completely throwing her off. This was followed by a kick in the gut, which sent Kayess-En sprawling across the ground once more. With a snarl, Retvik disarmed Kayess-En, then pressed the edge of his shield to her throat. “Would you like to know WHY I was exiled? I am not allowed to tell vok normally, but I am SICK and TIRED of keeping secrets!”
Kayess-En struggled to break free, but Retvik applied further pressure to her neck. She tried kicking at Retvik, flailing and clawing at him, but he was not relenting.
“Then tell us…” Kayess-En finally answered.
Retvik’s temper was rising, but he took a quick breath to calm himself slightly, while forcing his gunstaff into Kayess-En’s arm, pinning her down. “I never asked to be part of the Rethianos bloodline! I had no choice over who my parents are, that my mother somehow had triplets! But I was given a choice at the age of 18. Do you know what the rule is when it comes to the Rethianos Tradition and having more than two kids per generation?”
“N-no…”
“The rule is that we kill any additional kids. There were three of us! They were going to kill one of us! The weakest of us! Our own government was going to kill Relkir because they happened to be the third of what was supposed to be two kids, and I offered myself in their place, because I did not want my sibling to die!”
With a snarl, Retvik removed his gunblade, then stabbed Kayess-En through the leg. It was a cruel thing to do, but he didn’t care. She didn’t care about him.
“And you know what, Kayess-En? Sometimes I wish they DID kill me that day, rather than casting me out as an exile. Because then I would not have idiots like you, who hate for me no reason, over something I had no say over. While I chose to sacrifice myself so that Rethais and Relkir were free to live their lives, I did NOT choose to be part of this stupid bloodline.”
Kayess-En stopped struggling. She felt awful. Retvik noticed this, and dropped his shield, but kept his gunstaff in his hand.
“I did what every Rethan desires to do. I protected others. And I was punished for it. I have spent the last thirty years trying to build my own damn life, and I managed it, away from you all. I rose to the top on my own, only to have idiots like you challenging me. In MY damn arena, trying to take away the glory I earned!”
Retvik placed his foot on Kayess-En’s stomach, clutching his gunstaff tightly. He then raised it high, before plunging it deep into Kayess-En’s side. The hulking Rethan let out a grunt of pain before collapsing and allowing the medical system to teleport her away. With Kayess-En out of the way, Retvik turned to the audience, who seemed rather confused, but happy to have seen an extra battle. Most of them didn’t know about Rethan laws and traditions.
“I hope some of you found that as… cathartic as I did. I clawed my way to the top and I intend to stay here. No matter what my fellow Rethavok think. Now, please excuse me, I need to clean myself up.”
Retvik turned off the microphone in his helmet, then picked up his weapons and marched out of the arena. While beating Kayess-En again had briefly felt good, an overwhelming feeling of dread began to cloud Retvik’s mind. He was in trouble. He knew it.