Stardust (A Voltron Fanfic)

Unforgiving Bouts

Word Count: 1,025

I almost stumbled over, in shock at what had just been said by the announcer in the arena.

There was a reason to-death battles had been banned in the first place. I should know, I had to fight in quite a few bouts before they had it banned. Gamblers were betting more than they could pay back, which ended, quite brutally I might add, the whole idea in the first place. But I never said that they would occasionally bring it back just for the sake of the crowd.

"Who will be our first contestant?"

It took only a minute before the loud, progressive mumbling finally came to a chant: "Blue! Blue! Blue!" Top it off with thousands of feet pounding into the stadium floor and I began to feel a bit nauseous.

Of course they would want Clark, after him "chickening out" on his last bout when he was really only seconds away from being dead. I only barely managed to convince the guard to pull him out before he got his head smashed in, or, if you want the more realistic reason, taken off completely.

And now they wanted him back.

Do you want me to pilot you through this one? I thought to him, hoping that he was listening, not that he ever wasn't.

Clark shook his head, he stilled for a moment, winced and clutched his side, his white sightless eyes widened and then nodded vigorously.

My mind spun at his sudden change in reaction, the only reason that Clark would accept my help would be that there was something, new, something that we've haven't faced before.

It shocked me; I thought that Clark and I had faced just about every unworldly creature the Galra put out there. So something new? That was surprising.

The chanting continued growing louder and faster until it was a loud roar of clapping and hooting.

"Alright, alright! Please escort our champion Blue to the arena." The crowd roared.

The iron bars that had been separating us from the arena slowly began to rise with a groan, letting room for a guard, who had already been waiting in the arena, to come up from behind and roughly grabbed Clark by his feelers causing him to cry out. He was then dragged to his feet and shoved out into the arena, the bars slowly beginning to shut behind him.

The cuffs around his wrists fell as one of the metal heads placed their thumb on the censor pad and he was given a sword. I knew from experience of how dull that blade is but honestly, it isn't how sharp the blade is, it's how you use it.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the beast was brought into the arena; you could hear the scraping of chains behind the bigger than average door, as if that wasn't a big enough sign that Clark was about to face something massive. Then, suddenly there was a loud bang and it crashed through the doors.

The beast was indeed massive, towering ten feet above Clark. Its skin was a bubbling grey holding a large club bigger than its head and twice as big around. It had three big eyes on its massive face and it didn't take long before they all zeroed in on the fighter in the ring.

I felt Clark's presence sift into my mind and I sent him a mental picture of what he was facing.

This shouldn't be too hard. Clark's thoughts whispered, I sighed, thankful that he didn't seem as terrified as before. Scared, still, but not terrified.

Yeah. I thought back. Big beasts usually are easier to beat, you know, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, or in this case, the easier they fall. I made sure to keep my mental camera going, shoving my way closer to the front of the crowd of prisoners gathered against the iron bars to watch the fight.

The beast charged suddenly, its beefy arms gripping the club prepared to swing.

At the last moment, Clark ducked and rolled out of the way, his blade scrapping the ground sending sparks into the air.

Great move. I thought.

Thanks.

The thing, thankfully being a little slow in to head, crashed into the side of the stadium, the whole place shuddering.

I couldn't help but let a small smirk venture onto my face, imagining the different ways to bring this thing down always seemed to help brighten my otherwise harsh and useless day.

Alright, we need to see how well this thing manages with its reflexes. Fake a left and dive to the right.

Clark did so without a word, rolling out of the way of the monster just in time for it to stumble to the floor, but it was back on its feet faster than I can say for most monsters as it turned back in Clark's direction.

The beast roared and charged, readying its club above its head for another blow.

Clark! Watch out! My mind screaming. But it was too late, before he could duck out of the way; he was smacked in the chest and sent hurtling backwards into the stadium wall, dust clouding up around him from the impact.

Through the excited yelling of the crowd I could hear Clark's scream from here.

There was a tinge of pain rocketing through my skull a moment later and I was certain that it had come from our mental link.

I could feel panic rising in my throat. Clark. Clark! Please! Do you want me to go in instead?

My heart was practically beating out of my chest, he wasn't answering.

"Clark, please get up." I whispered, nervously biting my lip, clutching the bars in front of me so tight my knuckles were white.

Nothing.

The beast was now shuffling in circles around the arena, all the while keeping its eyes on Clark, still motionless on the floor.

My head jerked up at the sudden spike of pain in my head, but also at the small words whispering to me.

G-get help, p-please. I can't- I felt his mental link snap then. Silence.