"Why are we here again?" Wally sighed, sitting down in one of the arena seats.
"Because Bats has been a pain in the ass these past two months and insists we need to see how 'professionals' fight." Artemis growled.
"Calm yourself. Fate said this would be good. They catch criminals from all over the galaxy and have them fight. It'll be interesting to see how the styles differ." M'gaan tried to calm them down.
"It's not the same without Dick." Wally huffed.
"The first match is about to start. Let's just see how this turns out." Conner grunted.
"Man. The older ones are not in a good mood." Bart whispered to Robin.
"Don't I know it. Unfortunately, B has moved Wally into our place to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Man's been grouchier than a rattlesnake."
"Geez."
"The League needs to figure something out before he drives me crazy."
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and everything in between, welcome to the Nodesh arena! Today's starting champions are Uglar the Egdian, versus Onelau the Qheapard!" The announcer's voice rang through the stadium, rattling Bart's popcorn. A slug looking alien slide out of one gate, and a blob slid out of the other.
"So, a slug and slime. This should be interesting." Wally rolled his eyes.
"I think I'd rather watch paint dry." Artemis yawned.
"Come on, you two. At least try to have some fun." M'gaan pouted.
"It's two slow moving aliens. It'll take forever for them to reach each other."
"Maybe not. They could have some tricks up their sleeves."
"The only trick I want to see is them going more than a mile per hour."
Needless to say, the fight went on for a while. Well, Artemis doubted you could even call it a fight. It ended in the slug being thrown into a lake of some sort. "Well, that was the most boring hour of my life." Wally yawned.
"You said it. I think I dozed off." Conner agreed.
"I hope all the fights aren't like this. I'll die of boredom if all of them are like this."
The fights continued on, songs bringing a little more excitement to the crowd. The Qheapard was taken down by a Navi, the Navi crushed a Greenac, and a Zutonac finally brought the Navi down. Wally and Artemis amused themselves by criticizing the fighting styles, and throwing popcorn at Aqualad. It was much more interesting than the fights.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the Champion Fight! Who will win? Will it be the underdog Zutonac? Or will it be the reigning champion, the Human!" That caught the team's attention.
"I thought it was all aliens."
"To some, a human is alien. I wonder who it is."
"Maybe it's a criminal we put away. There are a lot of dangerous guys out here."
"Wonder how this one will turn out."
The Zutonac was by no means small. Only four feet tall, but built like a tank, the older members could see why it had made it so far. Spines lined its back, and thick claws shone in the light. He had a thick tail swinging about, strong enough to crush a man. The younger members were worried for the human. Could they fight against the Zutonac? Would they be able to win?
The gate opposite the Zutonac opened, although nothing came through. "Alright, I'm pretty sure humans aren't invisible. Where are they?" Conner was looking around.
"They may have a strategy. It's not easy being a human and fighting against aliens. They must know how each species fights."
"Yeah. This one's brute strength. It uses his build to knock his opponents down. They'll have to be slippery, whoever they are."
"That, or extremely fast."
"It's possible."
Something small shot out of the gate. It landed at the Zutonac's claws, and started spewing smoke. "Is that what I think it is?" Artemis asked.
"Yeah. Whoever they are, they're smart. Zutonac's rely heavily on their sight. Blinding it will give the human a good chance." M'gann shivered. Not many knew about a Zutonac's weakness.
The smoke slowly filled the arena, until nothing but the stands could be seen. "That's no fun! We can't see who they are." Wally pouted.
"That seems to be the point. Their identity seems important to them. That may be why nobody calls them by their name. Nobody knows it." Kaldur suggested.
"That can't be the only reason. The announcer didn't call anyone else by their name."
"It may be personal, then."
A form was thrown from the ring, smashing into the ramps next to Wally. The Zutonac was limp on the floor, stuck in a crater that hadn't been there before. "Whoa! Okay, that human is way strong." Wally yelped, eyes flicking down towards the arena. There was another form on the field, eyes looking back at him. Both were filled with shock, but for different reasons. "I can't believe it."
"What? What is it?"
Wally looked over at the team, pale as paper. "The human fighting is Dick."
