Colosseum One-Shots

The Emperor's Lapdog

Sanaa walked onto the field, watching the gates before they opened ceremoniously. Her opponent 'Cobra' had just been announced and she held a sort of familiarity with the name. She had heard it before, on **multiple** occasions within the Challenger community. Funnily enough, she had never seen her in person. The girl had gained somewhat of a reputation since arriving.

When Sanaa's eyes finally adjusted to the gleaming sun, and she adjusted to the monstrous cheering around her, she heard her name project loudly across The Colosseum.

"Challenger number 25, Sanaa al-Idreis, Trarii."

She found herself sparing a glance at the Emperor, the sun reflecting against his blood-red irises as he watched her enter the arena. She saw Soceil eye her as well, but with more curiosity and softness compared to the Emperor. As she reached the centre of the field, a female voice broke the air, her opponent looking more than a little frustrated.

"I swear, if I have to face one more flying idiot throwing magic balls I'll **actually** kill someone."

Sanaa couldn't pinpoint her accent, but she could tell almost instantly she wasn't from the Empire. Her brown eyes fell on her blue orbs then, and Cobra pushed hair behind her ears to scan her up and down. Sanaa could tell that she wanted to say something; the look on her face gave it away. Despite this, the challenger sighed and turned around, walking away from her as her combat boots crunched over pale dirt.

"That screen will pop up any second now. I think it's about time I won my third fight in this tournament."

**Yeah right,** Sanaa thought as she rolled her shoulders and flexed her leather, fingerless gloves. They were a new addition, since she had advanced in her training enough to only need a small amount of contact to kill.

When she got a considerable distance away, Cobra rotated once more, wearing a small grin, "Don't take too long. Won't make much of a difference anyway sweetheart." She stretched her fingers out, straightening her arms and tapping the ground with the toe of her shoe.

Sanaa let a feral smile slip from her lips, savoring the challenge before her. Clearly this girl was cocky. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

"They promised me a new suit after this tournament. And I intend to get it."

As both girls faced each other on the arena floor, it became apparent that they were almost mirror images of each other. Both dressed in black, armored suits with long black hair and the same height and stature, they could have been sisters in another life. Their eyes were the main difference between them: Cobra's brown to Sanaa's blue, as well as their choices of weapons: Cobra had four Glocks in their holsters while Sanaa had two sagarises and her khopesh.

What was that saying? Never bring a knife to a gun fight.

The touchscreen appeared at Sanaa's chest when she finished, the two options displayed clearly. She broke her gaze from Cobra's only to peer down at her choices. She clicked the first one knowing there would be more opportunities for stealth in the landscape and watched as the world before her transformed into a wasteland.

Being plunged into this new landscape came with pros and cons. A pro was Sanaa could no longer hear or see the crowd she knew was watching. A con was that it was dark and for an instant, Sanaa only saw spots as the blinding high-noon sun plummeted away. She used that time to pull her khopesh from its sheath and crouch low as her eyes adjusted.

Blinking quickly to let the darkness in, Sanaa scanned her surroundings carefully. She could no longer see Cobra and realized that she did not know anything about the girl's abilities. It made her uneasy losing sight of her, like she could just appear behind her any second and put a gun to her heart.