The great Dessaron Arena of Palaestra was closed off today. A public holiday meant that everyone aside from essential staff had the day off, which meant that there were no lives shows either. If anyone wanted to satisfy their artificial blood lust, they would just have to watch old arena reruns. But the main arena wasn’t empty. Eight beings were inside, honing their skills.
Well, most of them were.
Retvik and Phovos, two of the most powerful warriors alive, watched as their team mates sparred with one another.
“Thank you for joining us, Phovos, but I am surprised that you joined us in the first place.”
While Retvik’s team, the Dessaron, were known for their tight, well-coordinated movements, they were equally matched by the instinct and quick-footed randomness of Phovos’s Army of Four.
“Well, it’s only fair that we all get to train here in the peace and quiet. We have a lot to learn from one another, but more importantly, we should always be using each others’ resources.”
Retvik’s attention was drawn to the sparring between Tenuk and Kohra. Two Kronospasts disguised as Rethavok, lobbing glowing orbs of energy at each other. Tenuk had originally been taking the training session seriously, but somewhere along the line he had ditched that seriousness and was happily enjoying playtime with his little brother.
“They look like they’re having fun!” Phovos beamed, dragging Retvik’s attention back to her. “We have a lot more to learn from you than you have to learn from us, but knowing when to have fun is something you all deeply lack.”
“We need to be ready all the time. We have targets painted on both our heads and our backs.”
“You can still play around though,” Phovos continued to smile. “Especially you. You never stop.”
Retvik grunted, then walked off towards where Elksia and Timik were sparring. “Because there is no time to stop. No time for rest. Your Timik requires assistance. I will return briefly.”
As soon as Retvik had moved, Tenuk and Kohra both immediately stopped play-fighting approached Phovos.
“What’s up with him?” Kohra asked.
“I was about to ask the same thing, actually…”
Tenuk shrugged. “He’s just… been like that actually. Since Macromera ended. He seems to think there is an avalanche of catastrophes around the corner.”
“What sort of catastrophes?” Phovos blinked. “Like, relationships falling apart? Cities crumbling? Planets exploding? Scenarios of the universe ending?”
Tenuk shrugged again. “I don’t know. He won’t talk to me about any of it either.”
“That’s really worrying…” Phovos shuddered.
Kohra looked around, then glanced at Tenuk and Phovos with a confused look on his face. “I thought General Retvik was always a strong, silent type?”
“Bro!” Tenuk put an arm around Kohra. “Firstly, you don’t need to call him General. Secondly, you have no fucking idea. Retvik is like, a super soldier. Perfect in every way. I may have the wisdom of the ages behind me, Phovos may be an adapting, thousand-year-old warrior, but neither of us have the power Retvik wields in both his mind and his body. He’s always thinking twenty steps ahead and is almost always right. The Perfect Rethavok, as many call him.”
“So what you’re saying is…” Kohra hesitated. “That Gener.. uh, Retvik is right and something bad is going to happen?”
Phovos and Tenuk both blinked.
“Uh… That’s not what I said at all…” Tenuk stammered.
“You just said he’s almost always right though, and Retvik seems to be preparing for some sort of catastrophe, right?” Kohra turned to Phovos. “He said that, right?”
The Raptor nodded awkwardly. “Yeah… Maybe we should… prepare for the worst.”
Tenuk sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”