Legendary

Chapter Three: Everything Gets Worse All At Once

Jenelle had felt uneasy all day, and none of the events taking place so far had changed anything about that. Standing off to the side of the arena entrance, the noise was deafening. The crowd yelling, the announcer yelling into his microphone to get them even more riled up.

     A loud chiming rang out, and the gears beside the door growled into motion, bits of rusted metal dropping into red piles on the ground, to haul the door up off the ground.

     Jenelle looked over at DJ, standing at the door ready to walk out. He was nearly motionless and she wasn't sure if it was stress or concentration. With his armor on she couldn't see his face.

     The sun had set since the last match, so the single massive light on the opposite end of the arena was lit and beating down on the ring. The harsh light slowly broke into the hall in a harsh white rectangle broken only by the dark shape of Zero.

     DJ turned to face Jenelle and the others, nodded once, and stepped out to the cheers of the crowd.

     Once he was out, the door simply dropped back down to the ground, slamming into the dirt with a slam strong enough that Jenelle flinched.

     A hand rested on her shoulder and she realized she'd tensed her entire body. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest, and her jaw was clenched shut. She made a conscious effort to relax, and turned to look at Naomi beside her.

     Naomi squeezed Jenelle's shoulder, nodding once with raised eyebrows. Asking without trying to scream over the noise. You okay?

     Her stomach flipped and she hiccuped, but she nodded anyway and tried to relax a little. I'm fine.

     She wasn't fine. But that wouldn't change until this whole business was over with, so there was no point worrying Naomi. She probably could tell anyway, or she wouldn't have asked. Jenelle knew she tended to be an open book, especially when it came to her emotions.

     "This is it, a contest of champions! Hold on to your seats, folks!"

     Naomi led the group to the large main viewscreen back near the pits. They were the only ones there, except for a few employees of the tournaments host. The other teams had left, or were watching from their pits instead of the noisy back space.

     At least it was a little quieter. It didn't necessarily make her feel better, but it didn't make her feel worse and that was something. She tucked herself close to the wall and watched the screen, focusing on trying to breathe slow and even while DJ marched out into the center of the arena.

    

     Zero marched across the arena, trying to shut out the noise around him and focus. The mud made his footing a bit unstable but he planted his feet solidly and kept steady.

     The door opposite him squealed open and a massive form stepped out of the shadows.

     Femur was, predictably, a pale grayish white, and bulky. He stepped out and paused to look around the arena as if he'd never seen it before.

     Zero stopped on top of a rise in the center of the arena formed by churned-up mud. His competition was at least twice his size, and the ground was wet and sloppy. This was already not going his way. Fantastic.

     "This one's for allllll the marbles, ladies and gentlemen, Zero of team Lionheart, against Femur from team Willibreak. Are you ready for this?"

     Femur's head, nearly featureless with no visible eyes, turned to face Zero. Despite the fact that he couldn't see any space for vision, Zero felt Femur's gaze boring into him.