Chapter 16
“Rec time!” A loud voice over a speaker blared, stirring me from my daydreaming.
Looking up from my back on my bed, I saw my door swing open on its own.
With nothing else to do, I hopped out of bed and limped out of my cell, my missing leg really annoying me at how it hindered my walking pattern.
“I knew you looked like a tiny horse when they dragged you by,” the voice from the cell on my right said as he stepped out as well.
Glancing his way, I took in the large creature that resembled a praying mantis. It wore cobbled together armor that looked like it’d fused into his exoskeleton.
“I prefer the term pony,” I reply, getting a few chuckles.
“Well, pony, my name is Beans,” the mantis said, smiling at me.
“Beans?” I ask, the odd name making me chuckle. “Okay, well my name is Scamp.”
“Fitting name for one so small,” a large yeti creature said in a gruff voice as it stepped up to us.
I stared up at the yeti, frowning. Fighting him in the arena would be… unpleasant. “Let me guess, you’re here to intimidate me?”
“I like this one,” the yeti said to Beans.
Beans made a clicking sound and turned to me, “He’s Doc. The one who’ll take a look at that stump.”
“The giant yeti is Doc?” I said aloud with an incredulous smile on my face.
The Nuble from before, Remi, pranced up to us and stood up before me, towering above me with her mustelid shaped body. Without her makeshift cloak, I could see just how strange she really looked.
“Damn I did not realize how tall you actually were,” I said in awe as I stared straight up at the smiling beak of Remi.
“Yeah, Remi here is the resident Nuble. Doesn’t talk, but damn can she cook,” a little goblin woman said. Remi flexed her arm and slapped it a few times. “And a hell of a fighter.”
I looked at the goblin, eying her up and down.
She stared back, smiling slyly as she noticed me looking her over, “Liking what you see?”
“Not my type,” I deadpan. “Just never seen something like you, little green thing.”
“Oh, har har.” She holds out a hand, “Moxxi.”
I use my wing to shake her hand. Looking at the motley group around me, I raise an eyebrow.
“Are you all friends, or?” I noticed the rest of the creatures around us were heading for the other side of the room.
“Friends?” Moxxi laughed, looking around at the group around her. “Nah.”
“Not worth it, making friends here leads to complications,” Beans said, making a gesture around himself.
“Friends drag ya down,” a dark demon looking guy said as he posed on the floor behind the group, laying on his side with his head propped up with a hand.
I looked past everyone and eyed the brooding demon man, “And you are?”
“Drake, Prince of Hearts. Dark Hearts,” he said, flipping his hair and biting his thumb.
“Ew,” I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t mind Drake, he likes being all dark and dramatic,” Moxxi said, waving a hand at the still posing demon man.
Beans rubbed his mandibles together. “Yes he does, he likes to woo the new meat.”
“Are you sure you guys aren’t friends?” I asked, looking between each of them.
Doc chuckled loudly, “We’re sure. Just sticking together here helps pass the time in between the killing and dying.”
I concede with a shrug, then hold up my stump. “So, big yeti named Doc, what can we do about this?”
He reached down and took my stump with surprising gentleness, examining it. “Some fool burned this, so that complicates things.”
“Is it fixable?” I asked, but when he raised an eyebrow at me, I smiled sheepishly, ”I mean, can you make it so I can at least fight?”
Doc gives a nod, “I can see what I have put aside, but we should be able to get you up to fighting standards.”
“Thank you,” I say, not expecting to receive help in a place like this.
Remi gave me two thumbs up as she then pointed to where all the others in the area had gone. She made an eating gesture and pointed to me. Before I could say anything, she fell to all fours and ran in that direction.
“She said she’ll get you food,” Moxxi said as she and the others followed.
“Oh, tell her thanks,” I replied as Doc began to lead me to the other side of the large room where a junk pile resided.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“You’re sure this is safe?” I asked as I looked at the rusty makeshift prosthetic that Doc had crafted for me out of random junk.
“Safe in the sense it’ll help you walk? Then yes. You’ve had your tetanus shot right?” Doc asked as he ran a strap over my chest and buckled it down, helping to secure the prosthetic to my stump.
“Eh… Yes?” I say, unsure as he shakes his head at me.
The sound of claws on stone got my attention as I turned to see Remi sprinting towards us on all fours, a pouch held in her beak. She came to a stop and stood, pulling a small pile of sandwiches from the pouch.
They looked to be an assortment of sandwiches, some with meat, and others with vegetables and fruit. She held up the meat ones in one paw, and the vegetarian ones in the other, seeming unsure of which I prefer.
“Uh, thank you, Remi,” I said as I grabbed one of each and shoved them one at a time into my mouth, chewing loudly.
Doc raised an eyebrow at me as I devoured the sandwiches. “For such a cute tiny pony, you eat like an Orc.”
I chuckle as I shove another into my mouth. “I’m not sure what an Orc is, but I just love food.”
“I see,” he replied as he took my new fake leg and flexed it a few times. “As for this, you should be able to walk like normal again. Might take some getting used to, though. Don’t hit anyone with it, it's not that strong.”
I hold it up, my mouth full of meat and fruit, “Thank you, Doc!”
Food flew from my mouth and landed on his face. He simply wiped it off with a hand and sighed, “You’re very welcome, messy pony.”
Finishing the last one, I looked at Remi. “Got anymore of those?”
She shook her head, but pointed back the way she came.
“Lead the way then!” I said as I stood, still starving.
Remi smiled brightly as she took off in a dead sprint. Taking the chance to test the new leg, I chased after her.
Doc was right, it would take some getting use to. I stumbled multiple times as I galloped ahead, but it wasn’t that bad thankfully.
Once we reached the other side of the room, we entered a door and came to a very large cafeteria, creatures eating at long tables.
Waving me after her, Remi slinked up to a buffet table and grabbed a plate. She began to take different parts of other foods and began to pile them on her plate.
I took a different approach as I grabbed two plates with my wings and began to pile them as high as I could with as many different foods as I could. This place, despite being a death pit, had some tasty looking food!
Oh is that meat of a dragon?! Add a bit of that to the pile. Oh shit, no way, a kebab with meat from multiple different creatures?! Going to try that right now.
Once I was sure I couldn’t carry anymore food, I looked for Remi, seeing her waving me over to a part of a long table.
When I stepped up, I saw the others from earlier sitting around her. Taking my seat, I looked at them as I put my food down.
“Not friends, but you also eat together?” I ask, taking a kebab and ripping a chunk from it. Oh fuck yes, that’s what I need in my life right now!
“Eh, easier to find seating this way,” Moxxi said as she chewed on a hunk of meat.
Beans leaned over me, looking my pile of food up and down, then looking at my midsection. “Two things here: one, that is a lot of food for such a small thing. And two, ponies eat meat?”
I laugh out loud despite myself. “Good questions. This is nothing, I can put away like three times this amount.”
“Where does it all go?!” Moxxi asked, looking at me in slight disbelief.
“My stomach?” I say as I pat my belly. “As for ponies and meat, yeah, I’m apparently weird there. Humans in my world brought the idea about, and most ponies shied away from the thought. But I tried it once, and oh boy, not a damn thing is better than medium rare meat!”
Drake cut his food with a knife and lifted it to his mouth with a fork. “Hm, this little pony is a bit terrifying.”
“A bit?” Doc asked as he sat down beside me. “You should see her pain tolerance. Putting that prosthetic leg on was not pretty, and she didn’t yell in pain once.”
Remi slapped my back as she ripped into the leg of some kind of creature, being just as messy as me.
After shoveling a portion of the food into my mouth, I look around the room. “So, what should I expect going forward?”
“Well,” Beans started, wiping his mouth with a front leg, “There are bouts every morning, afternoon, and night. The participants are random for each one, but you are going to fight at least once a week for sure. Sometimes more.”
“But with the quarterly tournament starting tomorrow, you’ll be fighting for sure in the morning. Just don’t score any points, and you shouldn’t have to join the actual tournament, and you’ll be able to avoid fighting multiple times a day,” Moxxi said as she picked food from her mouth.
“Honestly, just do as I do,” Drake says as he places a hand to his heart, “Have someone you trust strike you down and play dead. When the preliminaries are over, act all hurt. You’ll get the next two days off for sure.”
“Just avoid combat, and run from fights,” Doc adds.
Remi takes a piece of meat and stabs it a few times violently, then nods.
“Yeah, don’t do that,” Moxxi says with a chuckle, “Remi likes to actually fight in the tournaments. She usually gets knocked out near the end, so she’s lucky enough to still be alive. Pretty sure Leem would shred her to pieces if they fought.”
Remi shook her head and held up a fist as she looked up into the ceiling, a determined look on her face.
“She’s got a death wish for sure,” Drake commented, using a napkin to tap at the corners of his mouth. He flipped his hair back, leaning back in his seat. “It’s very simple; the best way out of here is to catch the eye of a rich benefactor and get bought.”
“Ain’t a single ‘rich benefactor’ out there that wants a demon twink boy,” Moxxi teased, throwing a piece of bloody meat at him, landing on his chest and smearing his black suit.
“Oh come on! You know it’s hard to wash anything down here, Moxxi!” he whined as he grabbed a napkin and desperately padded at the stain.
Moxxi just laughed loudly as she went back to eating.
“So,” I begin, “The only two ways out are to win the tournament, then beat Leem. Or, get sold as a slave?”
“Yep!” they all say at once, bringing a frown to my face.
“Guess I gotta kill Leem then,” I sigh as I poke at my food, suddenly not as hungry.
“Impossible,” Doc announces, getting a look from me. “Do you understand his powers at all?”
“I fought him,” I said, causing all of their heads to snap to me. “But he just negates all damage he takes. My Ego can turn off others' Ego, but even that didn’t work.”
“Well that’s because,” Drake said as he leaned towards me, crossing his fingers in front of his face, “Leem’s Ego activates when he takes fatal or incapacitating damage, and it can’t be negated.”
“I’ve seen all kinds of things thrown at him since I’ve been here, but no matter how much damage is done to him, he comes back. Hell! I saw him get turned to ash in an instant, and he still came back from that,” Moxxi said as she jumped up onto the table and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me, “he is unkillable!”
Remi held up her little board and wrote on it. ‘Leem scary, but killable!’
“And how would you kill him?” Drake asked with raised eyebrows.
She erased what she’d written and scribbled on it, turning it to us again. It showed a picture of her standing on top of Leem, her arms up in a victory pose. The words ‘I break his spirit!’ surrounded it.
“Uh-huh, perfect plan,” Drake said sarcastically, shaking his head.
I leaned back and rubbed my chin. If he’d been turned to ash and still was able to come back, then what could I possibly do? This is going to require some workshopping.
“Just stick with us tomorrow,” Beans said as he stood up. “We’ve all been here for a few years, and we know just how to survive.”
Giving him a nod, I stand up, taking a few more bites of my food before lifting up the remains.
“This place isn’t so bad,” Moxxi assured. “I mean, as long as you can fight and not die.”
“Noted,” I replied, following Remi and Beans to a few large trash bins. Tossing my food in, I follow them back to the main area with the cells.
Looking up, I was still taken back by how many cells there were and how high it went. That was also when I noticed every floor had their own cafeteria. Huh.
Glancing to my leg, I had to count my blessings; I at least got put with some nice creatures. They had a weird group dynamic, but they seemed like good people. Despite the current situation.
“Rec time will be over here soon,” Doc said as he walked up to me. “Let’s do some physical therapy with you and that new leg. Try and at least give you a fighting chance.”
I smile up at the white yeti, giving my fake leg a shake, “Let’s hop to it then.”
Remi sprang up next to us, seeming to want to help.
“We’ll start with simple sprints, then move on to jumping,” Doc said as he led us back to the junk pile.