Little Lightning

Chapter 39

Lyrical sank to the ground, reality sinking in. The stone wall was cold against the back of her neck, perspiration already beading on her forehead.

It's going to be the time of your life. The creatures voice whispered in her mind. Her head dropped, her eyes finding her hands. They trembled in the gloves she had been given. After staring at them for a moment, she clenched her hands.

No. She thought. I will not give up. I will not die.

But what if you do? A voice hissed in her mind. What if you fail, like you have with everything else? With the space mission, with the shadow test, with protecting Kirtash. For a moment, she stilled, her mind immediately going down all the wrong roads.

No. Not this time. Not when my life depends on it. Not when others are depending on me.

Before the voice could respond, the machine on her shoulder beeped. A holographic blue set of shoulder armor appeared on her shoulders. She knocked on one to see if it was solid and was met with sparking pain spiking in her knuckles. She grinned. That would come in handy. Before she could do anything else, the metal door began to rise, a grinding sound emanating through the room she stood in and the arena before her.

What if... The voice hissed again.

No. No time for what ifs. Only now, right now. She stepped out into the arena, wincing at the bright light that streamed from massive light fixtures above. Even just the light was already giving her a headache. She looked around, and realized just how massive the arena was. There were doors built into the wall, all of them housing what was no doubt something deadly. There was one that caught her eye, directly across from where she stood. It was by far the biggest door there, at least 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide, definetely more than two times bigger than the other, much smaller, doors. All she knew was that she didn't want to know what was behind that door.

"Ladies and gentlemen... our first contender is nothing more and nothing less of an apprentice, trained by Kirtash himself. From the far outreached galaxies that no one had ever heard of, Lyrical Cyrax!" Sparse applause scattered around the arena. She winced at the description of her. If they were gonna make her fight at least they could do her some justice. "And now, the one you've all been waiting for... the one and only gargantuan alien, you've seen him, you know him, you love him... The Champion!" This time, the crowd came alive. She could feel the roar that followed in the pit of her stomach, adding to her quickly churning stomach. The Champion? That didn't bode well.

Looking around, she spotted a box raised above the others, the opening large and covered with glass. There she found the boy, eyes on her, a grin on his face.

It's gonna be the time of your life. His voice echoed through her mind.

Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him, staring at him silently. He only smiled wider. But before she could do anything, a boom reverberated through the arena, vibrating in her core. The crowd exploded with even more noise than she thought possible. Again the boom sounded, but this time it sounded closer. The crowd erupted once more. They were like a hive of bees, getting crazier and crazier as a threat comes closer and closer. A final boom reverberated, and the crowd went silent. Lyrical slipped into her fighting stance, her heart racing with anticipation. The silence of the crowd threw her off even further, making her sweat with a mix of emotions.

Then the door across from her opened. But there was no face. Just a giant pair of legs and a large potbelly stomach. Lyricals stomach dropped as the monstrous creature ducked down and squeezed its way through the massive doorway.

This alien was huge.

It was hands down, the biggest thing she had ever seen. And she had seen a lot of things on Purple since being stranded there.