Playing With Fire [Keith Kogane]

1. The Arena

Her eyes fluttered open. She didn't know where she was, nor who she was, but bright purple flooded her vision.

Breathing was difficult and painful. She lifted her head to see three figures standing above her. They spoke amongst one another, she heard them however she couldn't regester what they were saying. She looked down and saw that her legs, from her thighs down, were gone. Her eyes widened and she sat up.

As she did, a sharp pain struck through her spine and she immediately went down. They looked at her, wearing what looked like gas masks on their faces. They quickly held her down as she struggled to break free.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked, worried by the needle in one of their hands. She continued to restlessly try to get out but the other two strapped her down with more restraints. "No, no wait, stop!" she screamed, voice cracking from soreness as the needle was but an inch from puncturing her skin.

She kept screaming for them to stop but they were failed attempts. She felt the needle go through the top of her shoulder and the spurt of cold, tingly liquid through her veins. She breathed out final attempts of protest before her eyes betrayed her and closed once again.

°•《☆》•°

Her breathing was long and dragged out. Vision fuzzy and head throbbing, her ears hadn't adjusted either; all she heard was the echoing of a roaring audience, pleading for entertainment and the clinking of shackles that rested upon her ankles as their chains were dragged across the floor.

wait..

Two of the figures were carrying her with her arms drapes around their shoulders. The brightness blinded her as they were about to enter somewhere unknown. She squinted her eyes and took in her surroundings after entering.

An arena? She thought. Which was correct. The two people set her down and removed the shackles.  Looking down, she stared wide-eyed at what kept her standing. Her legs had been replaced by metal. Looking at her hands, she saw that they too, had been replaced all the way up to her shoulders.

Shr heard an announcement being made that bounced off the cieling. The combination of loud noises made her clutch her head in pain. The throbbing pain only worsened. She couldn't make out what it was saying but soon after, the crowd became even louder with excitement and the gate on the opposite end of the arena lifted slowly. What stood in the doorway made her blood run cold. A huge beast that was sure to kill her stood tall and wide in the doorway. He struggled under chains that were sure to break at any second.

She felt tears begin to form in her eyes before someone grabbed her by the arm and punctured her neck with another needle. Only this time, rather feeling tired and drowsy, she imediately felt an adrenaline rush. Almost as if pure will to do something - anything - was running through her veins; and that will was to kill.

She almost immediately, grabbed the arm of the guard that was about to run away and threw him to the into the wall on the other side of the arena, barely missing the beast by an inch. "Come on! Come and get me!" She screeched before letting a snarling grin creep onto her face.

It was a strange feeling, like only being the passenger rather than the driver of her own body. She was consious, but she wasn't in control. She knew what she was doing, but she wasn't doing it; not on purpose, anyway.

Her teasing seemed to anger it as it struggled even more and eventually freed itself from the chains. The beast's eyes glowed a bright flaming violet as he ran towards her with an aura of anger and fury surrounding him. But it only excited  her even more.

She ran towards him and noticed her robotic limbs from elbow to finger and knee to toe began to glow a bright, fluorescent magenta. She jumped as high as she could, breaking the ground beneath her; and at the exact second, he did the same. She formed a fist with her right hand and it began to glow even brighter. She forced it into the drooling snarl that could have been miliseconds away from tearing her apart. She slammed her fist downward and the beast was shoved into the ground.

The crowd screamed even louder. She landed about ten feet away from him. Come on, get up! She wanted to fight more, she wanted to kill more. She had never felt something like this before: the feeling of pure rage and adrenaline.

The beast rose, slightly wobbly. A bell rang through the arena and the audience became even more excited. The gate behind the beast opened. A total of six soldiers marched out holding a giant club. The beast snatched it from their arms and they quickly ran back through the door before it shut.

Though it seemed unfair to some people, she only let out excited laughter with a grin that struck terror through the audience. The only sound that echoed throughout the arena was the sickening laughter that emitted from her lips. Whispers started to bounce throughout the seats as a man with red armor and glowing fuchsia eyes stood at the balcony above her.

The bell rang once again and she immediately charged at the beast, ready for a challenge. She once again, balled her hand into a fist but this time, the beast swung his club and shoved her into one of the tall pillars; leaving a cracked dent. Her smile still showed through her hair, which now covered her eyes.

As she began to laugh once again, her limbs began to glow a second time; brighter than before. She pealed herself off the wall and put her body in a stance that readied her to run faster than she ever had —as far as she knew. Her back foot plunged her forward and her legs carried her as fast as they could.

The beast raised his club, but before it made contact with her again, she jumped; dodging it completely. She landed back on the ground in front of him. He swung again but she grabbed the club and turned your back to him before flipping him over and slamming him into the ground in front of her. He grunted and growled in pain but it was pure music to her ears.

She immediately jumped on top of him and began landing powerful punches. She soon started to laugh as she clawed him, ripping apart his skin and throwing out his insides. He wore a shiny metal shoulder plate that also covered part of his chest. She saw her reflection in the metal; her eyes were glowing bright yellow and she had a gruesome smile that could give anyone nightmares. Her hair was white as snow. She was beginning to think properly again, and the only thing she felt was fear. She didn't remember anything about herself, but this was definitely not her. And it terrified her that the person she stared at was her own reflection.

She was a monster.

Her arms slowed down and she felt tears sting her eyes. She stopped and looked at her hands, they were covered in a purple liquid, she hadn't seen it before but she knew exactly what it was. She squeezed her eyes shut and began to sob. She hung her head low and wrapped her steel arms around her stomach. She quivered and brought her knees up to her face, slowly. She hugged her legs in attempt of forgetting everything or just simply, pretending none of it was there.

The people, or whatever they were, went silent. The door she entered from opened and the unknown creatures took her out of the arena and into a hallway. She was thrown into a dark room before the large door shut and sealed her in, trapping her for who knows how long.

First chapter: completely edited!! This is probably one of the only ones that I don't hate completely. I actually really like this one and I'm really proud of it.

Also, DON'T BE ALARMED IF THE OTHER CHAPTERS GET DELETED! It's just so I can completely edit them to my liking so that I can convert them and such. I'm on break and it's currently my goal to completely edit his entire story like I said I would, and possibly write another chapter.

Ps. there might be a Lance X Reader coming in the future..... and maybe a Shiro, too. I have a problem

Song: Young And Menace by Fall Out Boy

1376 words.

-Kyle