Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Was the Iron Giant Always this Mean?

The night after they won that fight was loud and filled with laughter and celebrating. The adrenaline from the fight had not completely down, but it had done so enough for the four to realize how close they had potentially come to losing, so the cell also had an underlayer of nervousness to it, but no one acknowledged it.

Kipo smiled as Fei Fei and Anne excitedly talked about the fight for the seventh time. They still couldn't seem to believe it. None of them could. And it was even harder to believe Kris when they told them that the next opponent might be even more difficult to beat.

"So... how exactly does this work?" Kipo eventually asked Kris, trying not to disturb their two friends across from them. "When we defeat the ones that you haven't defeated with you, will we have to defeat everyone else, too?"

"No," the guard from the door spoke up, startling all four of them. Kipo stared at him. Where all the guards in this place just listening into their prisoner's conversations?

Well... it didn't look like they had anything better to do. No wonder they were always so angry.

"The way it works is that this is basically a trial run," the guard explained, and Anne and Fei Fei quieted down to hear him. "You're all proving to Kris that you deserve to be a part of their team. If, at anytime, they decide they don't want you, they can either chose to kick you off their team, where you will start at zero again, or they can choose to fight you. But as long as you're on their team, their wins are your wins."

Fei Fei and Anne exchanged nervous glances, clearly far more anxious about the 'Kris could choose to kick you off anytime' part, but Kipo wasn't worried about that. She was much more thankful for the guard's answer than his warning.

The guard turned away, but the feeling of dread that he had left in the room didn't dissipate by any means. It seemed to settle like a thick fog, and Kipo could even see it on Kris' impenetrable blank expression. They were all worried, and even Kipo, despite her nonchalance, felt worry crawling up inside her stomach. It was a new feeling, she had never felt the need to distrust friends before....

The next day was basically the same as the first day in the arena. The guard came and collected them, and then they were on their way. In fact, the only thing that was different was probably the tension that had settled on them the night before. It made Kipo nervous... what if Kris was right and the next opponent was more difficult than the last one? They couldn't afford not to trust one another!

With that in mind, Kipo suddenly turned around, and brought the whole parade to a stop. Anne and Fei Fei gave her odd looks, while Kris was expressionless, as usual. The guard, however, looked irritated, and Kipo put up her hands with an apologetic look.

"Sorry, sorry!" she apologized. "This will only take a second, I promise."

"What will only take a second?" Anne asked. "What are we doing? Escaping?"

The guard stiffened, but Kipo shook her head.

"No, that's not it," she said. "I just... we can't go into the arena today like this, where none of us are sure if we can trust the person beside us. Remember yesterday, how hard it was to win even when we did trust each other? We can't have this weakness when we fight! So let's just ask point blank."

Kipo turned, finally focusing all her attention on Kris. "Kris, do you promise that you'll stick with us?" she asked, and when Kris raised their hands, she quickly continued. "And don't try any of that 'fight to the death' stuff."

Kris hesitated, looking vaguely annoyed, before they finally shrugged. "I promise."

"There," Kipo said, satisfied, but when she turned, she was disappointed to find that Anne and Fei Fei didn't exactly look convinced. Kipo sighed. "Uh... well, let's just get through this one fight, ok? We can worry about the rest of them later. Kris will not leave us in this fight."