Another Willing Gladiator: The Study

The Beginning

Eta saw himself atop a stage with people cheering in the plaza before him; he was being awarded a medallion for his string of achievements. A faceless man in a flashy outfit clapped a hand down on the Titan's shoulder.

"Eta-15, for your determination and valor I am proud to award you this!" The man clipped the gold medal onto Eta's chest piece with his free arm, "I hope that you will better the champions of tomorrow by acting as both a challenge and a role-model!"

"I promise I will do everything in my po-" Eta's view suddenly changed. He was at a run-down and empty, aside from the tender, bar in the lower end of The Last City. The Titan ran a hand down his face to wipe away the remnants of sleep, "How did I get here again?"

At first it may have seemed like Eta was speaking to nobody at all, until his Ghost appeared at his shoulder, "You turned in your field report to a Vanguard worker, received another meager reward, threw down your gun, and stormed out. All while vowing to become something greater than what they apparently intended for you."

"Thanks for reminding me, Leo," Eta groaned and dropped his chin to rest on the edge of the bar.

"Might I add, you look like you could use a new coat of paint. Maybe hot pink? Humans must be so jealous of you. Able to just change your colors whenever," Leo guided Eta's eyes to a mirror across the room. He trudged over and inspected his features for what must've been the hundreth time. A dark red covered his face, only being interrupted by a single white stripe down the middle. He stared back into his eyes, the bright yellow reminding him of summer's warmth despite his otherwise cold and metallic appearance. Eta turned his head to the side and tugged on one of his two "antenna", they were a chrome blue unlike most other parts of his body. He liked being an Exo; all the metal plates and internal wiring made him feel orderly.

"Yeah well, you don't look any better," Eta pulled his rubix cube-like companion in front of the mirror. Leo was plain white with a single blue light for an eye.

Leo faded away again with a sigh of annoyance. Eta took that as a sign that he could go back to wading around in his thoughts. He set himself down at the bar again and started to ask himself, "How the hell am I going to-"

That's when the bar's door was kicked open by a figure wearing bright red and white robes, "Thank the Light, no paparazzai here!" The newcomer took a second look and added, "Or... anyone but you two."

Eta looked over his shoulder and examined the new face, or helmet rather. He wished he hadn't. They were a Warlock. The somehow always irritating scholars of the Tower.

"Hello? Are you just gonna keep staring? Yeah, it's me. Take it in, but don't bring it up!" The Warlock sat next to Eta, a drink already waiting for them. Their helmet disappeared in a brief flash of light to reveal long, black hair, and a face that seemed capable of both compassion and fury. Not exactly Eta's "type" but she was still beautiful.

Eta though, was more focused on her words and finally asked, "Uh... wait, who are you?"

"What?" She raised an eyebrow, wondering if this Exo had a loose screw somewhere, "Have you been living under a rock for the past few months?"

Eta answered with a laugh, "No, I've been stuck being an errand boy for the higher-ups. Today is my first day off!"

"You quit didn't you?"

"Yeah...."

"Well, to cheer you up, I'll enlighten you!" She set her drink aside and stood on the chair yelling out proudly, "I am Alyssa! Fifth highest Guardian of the Crucible rankings... of the lowest tier!"

"Fifth? That's pretty go- Wait... lowest tier?!" Eta burst into laughter, thinking getting excited at first only to hear the complete truth was amusing.

"Shut up! I'm above hundreds of others!" Alyssa took her seat again, lightly kicking Eta's once she got settled.

"Yeah, ye- Did you say hundreds?" The Titan's yellow eyes grew wide with possibility.

"Wait.... no!"

But it was too late, Eta had already run out the front door to find the Crucible Handler.