A Tale of Two Brothers: Volume I

Chapter X - Finale

Zayne had left the bunker to get away from Elias and his interrogations as the tiger held great disdain towards the young man and all other humans. He had heard of an underground bot fighting ring that went behind the rules and regulations of the tower which intrigued him; breaking the law was in the tiger's nature.

Entering the tower undetected, he made his way down into the secret arena where many bots were gathered watching an unregulated match go down between two teams of two; he paid little attention to it as the fight did not interest him. Zayne walked over to the bar and leaned against it with his back to the cage fight and waited for the bartender to approach him.

The bot behind the bar sauntered over to the tiger and leaned her left arm on the makeshift bar top; her breasts rested in the tiger's line of sight, "What does the pretty kitty want, hm?" The pallas cat looked Zayne up and down with her hazel optics as she licked her top row of teeth.

Zayne let out a low growl at the female cat's flirtatious manner. He stared at her cleavage briefly in disgust before snapping his sharp crimson gaze into her hazel optics, "Do you think flattery will keep you alive?" His deep voice rumbled through her body as he spoke with a calming distaste.

The female pallas cat's seductive expression changed into one of uneasiness as she gulped, "N-No, no."

"No, indeed." The low tones of Zayne's voice spilled out slowly, "I want a drink and to be left alone-"

"What do we say?" A hare with fur as black as night leaned on the bartop.

Zayne side eyed the dark colored lepus with a snarl, "Now." The tiger gritted his teeth at the intrusive hare.

The hare's ear flicked angrily, "Say 'please', right now," He glared at the feline, "or I'm gonna count to three." The hare noticed Zayne was not complying.

"One."

"Two." He started to pull out his large knife, "Don't make me get to three."

Zayne waited for the ideal moment, "Three!" In one swift movement, the tiger disarmed the hare's knife and kneed him in the gut before slamming the lepus's head on the bartop then shoving the knife into his left optic. He then held the hare's ear close to his maw, "That feeling you have: is fear."

The hare's lips quivered as silent tears rolled down his cheeks before he was taken offline.

The tiger let go of the lifeless corpse of the bouncer and glared at the bartender, "That drink. Now." He growled venomously.

Zayne was finishing his second drink when he heard the bell of the fight sound, indicating that the round was over. He listened absentmindedly as the two victors were given the chance to choose their next opponents, "We choose the pussy cat by the bar!"

The large room went silent at the mention of the strange feline. Zayne's ears perked up as his audio receptors detected the she-wolf's arrogant vocals; he growled at being called the derogatory name. Downing the last sip of his beverage, he stood from the bar to his full height. In the darkened room, it was difficult to judge Zayne's build as his torso was covered by a dark turtleneck sweater.

Approaching the arena, the crowd of much smaller bots parted to let Zayne through into the fighter's pit. He easily vaulted over the wall as he was taller than it and the rest of the bots. Entering the fighter's pit, the spotlights shone on his frame so that everyone could get a glance at him; the room remained silent with tiny whispers as bots began chattering among themselves as they speculated this feline being Zeke.

The announcer looked up at the large tiger with apprehension as Zayne glared down at the small three foot tall white bear, "W-Who would you like to be your teammate?"