//------------------------------// // Drekzone Part 11 // Story: Other Wanderings // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Ethan sat beside Glen. She was awake, but still in a great deal of pain despite the super stimpaks. Her ribs were still broken but the swelling had gone down a bit and Ethan was reasonably sure that he’d managed to set them right with what little medical tape and such he’d had floating around in his pockets. The man was gently stroking her fur and occasionally scratching her behind the ears. “That was a nice speech you pulled off there,” a familiar female voice spoke from the doorway into their room. Ethan turned his head to see Veria leaning against the doorframe, her arms criss crossed against each other. “Nice, and as some people thought around here, crazy,” she added. “Heh, Crazy Son of a Bitch, it’s all in the title,” Ethan replied with a small chuckle. “That is true,” the orc agreed with a small chuckle. “But standing up to Drek like that and asking to fight Kharon, that takes a whole new kind of crazy down here.” She unfolded her arms and walked inside. “Not many would ask to fight the man who hasn’t lost and is a stone cold killer.” “Hey, I haven’t lost, and I’m a stone cold killer,” Ethan defended himself while his fingers scratched behinds Glen’s ears. “And I believe ya,” Veria stated. “So you should last longer than the rest who tried to face him, and might even win...but that’s still a ‘might’.” “So, what brings you to our little home?” Ethan asked her. “Unless you’re just here to spout exposition about how I’ll probably lose this fight?” “No, I’m just here to offer to look after the pony,” the orc replied, nodding her head at Glen. “Don’t want to leave someone as vulnerable as her alone by herself while you fight to the death with Kharon.” “Oh,” the man said, a small smile appearing on his face. “Consider your offer accepted,” he added with a smile. “Thanks a bunch, Veira.” The orc gave the man a smile and nodded of her head. “No problem; gladiators like us should be looking out for each other instead of going for each other’s throats.” “Yep, especially with something this big happening,” the man agreed. “I mean this fight is probably going to shake up the social order a bit.” Veria raised an eyebrow at the man but nodded her head. “Yeah… hopefully enough to bring this tournament to a halt for a while.” “I’d say so, yeah,” the man said, winking. “Hell, if we’re lucky, I might just bring this whole thing down around my head.” “Well then, I’ll prepare for the rumble then,” the orc said with a small chuckle. “Great,” Ethan replied with a smile. “Think you’d be alright with our orcish friend watching out for you Glenny?” he added, glancing down at Glen. The mare gave a weak nod and the man grinned before giving her a final scratch behind the ears and getting to his feet. “Well, she’s all yours Veira, I’d better go to the lift, time to get this show on the road.” The man gave the orc a slap on the shoulder as he passed, and headed for the lift. Veira nodded her head and looked down at Glen. “So, want some food?” she asked. Meanwhile, Ethan reached to the doors to the lift and they opened automatically as he approached them. He stepped onto them, beginning the three-minute journey to the preparation room. Well, I really hope that Wistala and her friends can get me out of this... otherwise I’m screwed, the man thought to himself with a deep frown. I hope they’ll at least find Cassie and tell her that I went down like a badass... Don’t worry, Wistala and her friends are getting their plan ready, a soothing female voice spoke to him. They just need a bit more time. The man blinked at the voice and felt as if someone was standing next to him. He glanced to his left to see a tall female anthropomorphic red fox, dressed in a dazzling scarlet dress though an elegant red white tipped tail stood out from it. The fox stood next to him as if she was always there and she glanced towards him, showing a pair of charming dark orange eyes and soft smile on her muzzle. Hello Ethan, it’s nice to met you in person… in a way, she said. Man, me and invisible chicks in my head, the man replied with a small mental chuckle. If I’m not careful Cassie’ll find out and think I’ve been fantasizing about other women. Oh, it’s not like you have before, the fox said with a small chuckle. True enough, Ethan agreed with a small chuckle before he glanced down. Though they don’t normally have cute bushy red tails, so that’s new, and a bit concerning. The fox chuckled some more. Faust was right about you, you are quite the charmer, she told him. Ah, thought that might be who you were with, the man said with a small nod. I don’t suppose you can send Fausty to kill everyone here can you... I’m kind of dead otherwise. I wish I could, but I can’t. Another set of cards are in play and I cannot upset it, the vixen told him with small shrug. But you shouldn’t be worried, I’ll be watching over you, just like I have before sometimes. Ethan raised an eyebrow. You’ll be watching over me, like you have before? Who are you Miss Vixen? The fox smiled slightly. My name is Lucy...but many know me as Lady Luck, she told him, her smile growing. Lady Luck eh? the man asked with a small frown. I always pictured you as being a busty red head... guess I’m kind of right, heh. No offense of course. None taken, the fox replied. The lift stopped and the doors open. I’ll be giving you an even chance against your fight with Kharon, for Drek wished to sabotage you in your weapons and armor. You just have to last for half an hour before in either prolonging the fight or winning yourself through your own set of skill, Lucy informed him. Thanks, Ethan said with a small nod. I’ll do my best, Lucy... hmm... guess I can’t call you Lulu, Luna’s already got that one. I guess I’ll just call you Lucy. The fox chuckled. That’s fine by me, she told him with a smile. Godspeed Ethan Smith. Dontcha mean good luck? he replied with a raised eyebrow as he walked off the lift. I mean what I said, she answered. Besides, you already have good luck, she added with chuckle before the lift’s doors closed. My god, I really hope she was real and not just a hallucination, the man thought to himself as he walked up to the requisition terminal. “Alright, I’d like my gauss rifle, my wife’s pulse gun, my light machine gun, my wife’s red glare, and hmm.... what else... oh yeah, my cattle prod,” the man listed off. The terminal made a beeping noise and on the table with the rest of Ethan’s gear a swirl of particle light dance on the table. The light died down and the weapons Ethan requested rested on top of the table with the rest of his gear. The man quickly dressed himself in his armour and then set about gearing up. He stowed the gauss rifle and the light machinegun on his back, disassembled the Red Glare for easy storing in his pockets, and put the pulse gun beside his Novasurge on his right hip and the cattle prod on his left. He then checked to make sure his shotgun was loaded, which it was, and stepped onto the lift. “Come one, come all, try your luck and find the lucky red lady. Find her and win the pot,” Omega called out shuffling three cards around on a small bar counter. The arctic fox drew a small crowd around as a few gather him to tried the game. A few people lost but in the same some won, and to the ones who won Omega gave them a couple of credits as well letting them keep the card. Omega reached down to pull out another red queen and started to shuffle it with the two black jacks. “Alright folks, who feels lucky to follow the red lady eh?” he asked once more as he continued to shuffle. “I do,” a female voice replied, causing the white fox to glance up to see a red one staring down at him. Omega raised an eyebrow and tilted his head side with a small smile forming on his lips. “Alright, it’s five credits to try,” he told her. The red vixen nodded her head and reached inside a pocket to pull out a small blue chip and place it on the counter. She then looked at the cards for awhile before reaching out for the card at the far left and picking it up. She flipped it over and looked at its face before showing it to Omega that it was the red queen. “Well, it seems we have a winner,” the arctic fox stated with a small smile as he reached for one of his pockets and pulled out his own blue chip to add to the vixen’s winning. “Keep your money,” the red fox told him. “And mine, I just did it for the fun,” she added with a smile as she placed the card back down and left. Omega smiled slightly as he withdrew his hand from his pocket and watched the red fox leave the bar. He glance at the three face down cards and reach over for the red queen and picked it up. He flipped it over and looked at if face, seeing it change from a red queen to a picture of a clock with its hands placed at noon and six. Omega glance up at a nearby digital clock, seeing it was quarter till six. David...you got twenty five minutes to get finished hacking, we’re on the clock now, the fox told the man mentally. Oh goodie, the man replied. Though it shouldn’t take me that long to get inside, almost got it. Good, the fox said with a small nod, twirling the card around for a bit. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” the announcer's voice spoke in the background and continued on with his speech but the fox wasn’t really listening. ’Cause the fight just started, Omega stated as he glanced up at one of the nearby screen that people were gathering around. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU READY TO SEE THE FIGHT OF THE DECADE?!” the announcer roared as Ethan and Kharon rose from lifts on the opposite sides of the arena. “ETHAN SMITH, THE LONE WANDERER, THE CRAZY SON OF A BITCH VS THE ELITE STALKER, THE TOP UNDEFEATED GLADIATOR, KHARON!” The crowd roared in a cheer as Ethan looked over Kharon, he was wearing a bit more combat looking armor, but his weapons stay the same. A sheathed sword and his advanced combat pistol. The dark tanned merc looked at Ethan with emotionless eyes. “You do know this won’t go well for you,” he told him. “Meh,” the man replied with a small shrug. “Way I see it, it doesn’t really matter, I’ve already made Drek look like a moron; that’s good enough for me.” “And it will only last for about a week before the people forget about this,” the merc replied. “You only made a small scuff mark that can easily be removed.” “Ah, but you see, that’s the neat thing about it,” Ehan replied with a chuckle. “Even if it goes away, it’ll still have been there, and that means that it’ll always be in the back of Drek’s mind.” “Maybe… but it won’t be enough to stop him,” Kharon said with a small shake of his head. “Now… I have to kill you.” “GLADIATORS, FIGHT!” In a flash, Kharon drew his pistol and it fired three shots at Ethan’s chest. The rounds scoured and pierced right through his body and armor like only paper was in their way. Ethan stumbled backwards a bit from the force of the bullets, but shrugged off the holes in his chest and pulled out his Novasurge, firing several shots as he began to strafe the other man. The merc followed Ethan’s strafe, dodging the bolts of plasma with ease. “Rapid fire,” the man said out loud before holding his pistol out. The gun began to fire a stream of bullets at Ethan, some hitting into his side and legs. Ethan frowned in pain as the bullets smacked into his side, none of them penetrating the armour. He continued his strafe until he rapidly changed directions and started going in reverse, holstering his Novasurge and pulling out his shotgun, blasting a shot into Kharon’s face. The pellets from the shotgun smacked into the merc’s personal shield, and the man in return fired a stream of bullets at Ethan’s face. Ethan ducked under the bullets and pulled out his pulse gun, firing it at Kharon, disrupting the shield. Before Kharon could recover, Ethan sent a stream of plasma into the other man’s face while stuffing the pulse gun back in his pocket. The plasma scored a hit on the right side of the merc’s face, causing Kharon to jerk a little to the side. However, he just turned to Ethan with a dark frown, completely ignoring the melting flesh on his cheek. “Explosive,” he said before he held up his pistol and fired charged rounds at Ethan. Two rounds hit Ethan’s in the chest, each of them exploding with the same yield of a small grenade, and one exploded beneath the man’s feet. Ethan was sent flying into the air and landed flat on his back, rolling to his feet as his flesh and armour began to mend itself. However, Kharon’s assault didn’t end as more explosive shots streaked towards Ethan. This time, Ethan dodged the explosive shots and pulled out his sword, charging the other man. Ethan delivered a swing at the merc, but he sidestepped away while pulling out his own sword. The edge of the merc’s blade became etched in a blazing glowing blue of light of ruin. Kharon stepped forward and swung at Ethan with agile speed, Ethan barely had time to raise his sword to parry it away. Sparks flew as their two swords edge scraped against each other and the two engaged in a dance of death. The two swords rang and sparks flew with each swing as the red and blue blades crossed each other time and time again. The blades and the men were moving faster than the eye could see as they moved back and forth across the arena floor, neither having a clear advantage, neither scoring a hit. Ethan kept his moves conservative, playing defensively for once in his life under Kharon’s never-ending assault of blows and stabs. Still, he was managing to hold off the merc, even almost landing a few blows of his own occasionally in the maelstrom of steel. Kharon then pulled away from his assault, quickly reaching down into his belt. He pulled out and toss four spheres onto the arena floor, causing them to bounce and roll a little before dark grey smoke began to seep out of them. “Fuck that,” Ethan muttered, leaping back and quickly backpedaling away from the smoke, mindful to watch for the merc appearing behind him. As he did so, he also reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of plasma and incendiary grenades which he proceeded to toss into the smoke cloud. The grenades went off, showing a light of green and red to flash inside the dark grey cloud. Whether or not Ethan hit Kharon he didn’t know. The man dodged to the side as Kharon’s blade stabbed through the space where he’d been standing seconds before, but his pistol raised up and fired an explosive round at him. Ethan took the bullet but ignored the explosion as he brought his own sword slashing down into the other the man’s shoulders. However Ethan’s sword was slowed down by the merc’s recharged shield, doing minimal damage and Kharon retaliated with a series of kicks and punches to make Ethan stagger backwards. Ethan recovered and then glanced at his Pip-Boy. “Huh, twenty minutes have passed,” the man mused aloud. “You’re not too bad Kharon.” Kharon didn’t reply as he continued to fire his pistol at him. The bullets scored several hits on Ethan, exploding in his shoulders, stomach, and legs. “What, the silent treatment?” Ethan asked as he stumbled backwards, not apparently bothered by the explosions and the deep flow of blood rolling down his body along with internal injuries which were already beginning to mend. “Come on Kharon, a little dialogue would be nice here,” Ethan added with a chuckle as he dodged another incoming round of bullets while reaching into his pocket and injected himself with a stimpak. “Didya know I met a hot little minx earlier? Or maybe she was a vixen, not sure, either way, sexy as hell.” The merc only stepped forward, swing his sword at him. Ethan dodge and parried, but was a bit slowed down from his body still regenerating so Kharon was able to get his blade to stabbed through his chest. Luckily the blade was half an inch away from his heart, but the merc’s blade inflamed the man’s skin as the merc pulled it out. “What was her name... Lulu? Na,” Ethan mused as he took a quick step away from the man, another stimpak going into his chest. “Lulua... na,” he said as he pulled out a pulse grenade and tossed it at Kharon. The pulse exploded, blacking out Kharon’s shield once more, but the merc hardly care. “Oh, was it Luis? Na, that’s a guy’s name,” Ethan continued to ramble as he raised is Novasurge up and fired a shot at Kharon’s eye. The merc sidestepped and retaliated by closing the distance and delivered a sweeping kick, making Ethan fall on his back. Kharon then flipped his sword downwards and prepared to stab it into the man’s heart. “Oh right, it was Lucy,” Ethan said with a smirk as the merc’s blade thrust downward. *Cling* Kharon’s sword ranged out as it hit the side of a large silver white metal plate that appeared above Ethan’s chest. “That’s Lady Lucy to you,” a male voice spoke out. Kharon’s head whirled to see a bipedal arctic fox suddenly standing next to them. Omega smiled and thrust his hand at the merc, sending Kharon to fly away and land a couple yards away. The fox glanced down at Ethan who grinned. “Good timing, I take it you’re part of my rescue committee?” he asked as he extended his hand up towards the fox. “Yep, name’s Omega,” the fox said as he accept the hand and pulled Ethan to his feet. “Nice to meetcha,” Ethan replied. “So, where’s the ‘boom’?” Suddenly all the lights went off and were replaced by red emergency lights. The audience muttered in small panic and the arena was beginning to fill up with worried aliens. Then there was the sound of beeping emitting from Ethan’s cufts and they snapped open and fell to the floor. “There’s your ‘boom’,” Omega told the man. Ethan looked down at his freed wrists, and then back at the fox. “Tell Lucy that if she’s ever in Vegas, I owe her a kiss,” he said with a grin. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Omega said with a small chuckle. “Now, let’s get you out of-” “Not so fast!” Drek’s voice shouted from a speakers. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you’re not ruining my tournament!” There was a loud whirl of gears and a section of the arena began to open. There was a loud hum of power and glowing orange lights began to flicker on as well as two huge glowing eyes. Out from the shadows a giant metal claw attach to a robotic foreleg emerged out and dipped into the lava, with little to no affect to it. The leg pushed and pulled up, making a head appeared, a robotic dragon head. The cyber dragon crawled out of the hole and into the lava to the edge of the arena. It opened it’s mouth and let out a screeching loud roar. “Oh now that is just unfair,” Ethan grumbled as he reached into his pockets and assembled the red glare. He turned to Omega who looked oddly calm. “So... I shoot it with rockets and you use whatever magic bullshit you’ve got to kill it?” “No, you get out of here, I can take care of the dragon,” the fox replied. “Really?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow as he pulled the trigger and shot eight rockets at the monster. The rockets slammed into the metal beast, but only left small scuff marks on its shell. The dragon glance at them with emotionless eyes and closed its snout and reeled it back, about to unleash its breath attack. “Yeah,” Omega said, reaching down to pull out five cards from his deck. He then pulled one of the cards out and held it out, causing it to grow to a large wall that block the roaring fire the dragon unleashed. The fire slammed against the wall, splitting apart and away from the fox and man. “I’ve fought worse… trust me,” Omega told Ethan. “Get to the lifts, they’ll take you out of the arena.” The fire died down and the fox dismissed the wall, pulling out another card and tossed it at the dragon. The card pierced into the armor and electricity danced all over the metal reptile. “Have fun then, I’m going for Drek,” Ethan replied. “But first...” he then ran over to where Kharon was recovering from his small unexpected flight. Ethan held his hand out to the other man. “So, want to go kill Drek with me?” The merc rubbed his head and glanced at the arctic fox duking it out with the cyber dragon with ease. He glanced back at Ethan. “So this is your ‘break out’?” he asked. “Looks like it, yep,” Ethan stated confidently, still holding out his hand. “Want to make the most of it?” Kharon stared at the man for a few seconds before accepting Ethan’s hand and got pulled up to his feet. “We must make haste before Drek activates the self destruct and escapes.” “Right,” Ethan agreed. “Lead the way,” he added. Kharon nodded his head and rushed for the lift, Ethan not far behind.