There was so much excitement in the crowd, waiting to get their seat in the arena. The scent of sweat, blood, and pain was heavy in the air. Security patrolled around the line to keep any fights from escalating into anything too world-ending. If any of the customers died before getting their ticket, that was on them. The owners of the arena made it clear that they held no responsibility for any early deaths outside of the arena. “Welcome to another day in the Cerberus Coliseum. I’m joined again with Sam, as we watch more fools fighting for a chance at glory and money or simply because they didn’t have a choice. Tell me Sam, think you’d ever wanna take a chance fighting in there,” Drag asked? “Not a chance Drag. I have had quite some crazy ideas, like going for a run during a zombie apocalypse or creating mutiny on an alien starship full of venomous goats, but this would be too ridiculous for even me to try. What about you Drag?” “Maybe in another lifetime, who knows? Chances are slim with survival, with the competition being broadcasted across multiple worlds and timelines. The crowd is slowly getting settled into their seats. Looks like a few of them are still fighting.” “It sure does Drag. Think I just saw an arm go flying off of one of the audience members. Don’t know if they’re going to be able to stay through the fight now. Oof, looks like the group below them noticed, got some blood sprayed on them and they don’t look so happy.” “No, they don’t. Such a lively crowd tonight, but surprisingly not too many deaths in the waiting line. Only a low two hundred and thirteen.” “Look at that, Drag. We got a protestor sitting in the stands in section ZJ.” “Aw, that’s adorable. Yes, we see you waving your sign. Did you have a kid help you make it? You know Sam, I love it when the protestors give us their money to come and protest.” “Yes, it’s great when they help line our pockets to make their point. Not everybody agrees with this process of culling the herd and lowering overpopulation. Like we had a choice, of course,” Sam snarked, rolling her eyes. “Oh, looks like we’re about to start, just as soon as the one audience member is finished punching his neighbor to death. Yes, are you done? Looks like he is.” “Alright, time to start the fighting. Our first contestant is coming out. One of the warriors from Thas’Kara. Some people started chanting ‘Minotaur’ and you can see him getting angry. They really do hate that.” “To be fair, it is remarkable how closely they resemble the Greek monster, aside from having crab-like claws, instead of hands, that can shoot tentacles from between their pincers. Last time we had one of them show up, they made it pretty far in the tournament. They’re viciousness and hunger for blood makes them a dangerous opponent.” “My thoughts exactly, Sam. I pity the person who has to go up against them. Here comes the second contestant, and oh would you look at that.” “Ahhh, yes. It wouldn’t be a normal tournament without at least one stupid human showing up thinking they actually have a shot at winning the hundred-million-dollar prize. You have to admire the confidence that our race has. He doesn’t even look like a meta human with powers or anything.” “Nope, but it looks like he thought to bring a gun holstered to his hip. It’s amazing, with the human race being relatively weaker compared to other species, we do have a weird obsession with blood and violence. We’ll have to see how---Oh, the match is already over. One flick from the claw, and there goes the human’s head flying into the crowd. The Thas’Kara doesn’t even look that particularly pleased with his easy victory, but I’m sure there will be harder challenges later.” “And on to the next match we go! The first opponent to enter the ring is Salar, a high elf. The thing you have to watch out for with elves is that they can be wicked fast when they want to be. With their long and lean bodies and wicked blades, they’ll have you cut in two before you can blink. This will be interesting to see who they get matched up against.” “The next person to walk in is someone called Elvie. There isn’t much information about her except for a blurb saying ‘Either a meta human or alien. Tried to get more information and was unsuccessful. Any further inquiries are to be made at their own risk.’ I gotta say Sam, there isn’t too much impressive about. She’s definitely more on the athletic side, but her bored look and the dressy pantsuit looks more like she just wandered here by accident.” “I don’t know about that Drag, take a look back at Salar. This match should have already been over and yet he’s just standing there. Oh, that’s new, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an elf’s ears twitch during a match. From what I’ve heard over many drinks at the local tavern, that’s usually a much more intimate thing.” “You’re not wrong about that Sam. It’s a pretty big compliment if you can get an elf’s ear to twitch.” “Look at that, Elvie is finally starting to do something. It looks like she might be trying to win this match through seduction. It’s not the norm but it wouldn’t’t be the first time either. WHOA! Did you just see that Drag?!” “I most certainly did!!! Looked like it was just gonna be a kiss, and instead he just exploded all over the area, quite literally. Some of the audience members are trying to flick off the pieces of him they got sprayed with. We do try to warn all customers that the shows can get messy. Talk about an unexpected power though!! Poor Elvie, she did get a front row blast of that too.” “It doesn’t seem like the most fun way to finish someone off, but it certainly was effective! With that, she is moving on to the next round. Before we start the next match, there’s a short message from the corporate rusponsors for today’s event.” “Something about thanking all the little people…blah blah blah…they’re so grateful that we’re going along with the thing we have absolutely no choice in…respect the overlords….oh and don’t forget to spend your money at the gift shop and enjoy the show. Seems like pretty much all the usual stuff, ain’t that right, Sam?” “Yup, that sounds about right. Love the false gratitude, really brings home how much we’re not cared about! Moving on, our next opponent just entered the ring. Such a fucking beautiful creature, I just love dragons so much.” “Oh, definitely! Love the iridescent teal scales, the blue lighting from the floors plays off it so nicely. You know, from the spots that aren’t currently covered in blood. That has to be at least ten feet long, and six feet big. Unfortunately, with an enclosed arena, flying probably won’t be too much of an advantage here, but it still has its poison breath.” “And here comes the other fighter, an Isordian. It looks like just a giant floating eyeball. I don’t know much about Isordians but I’m gonna bet now that there’s gonna be a laser beam shooting from it.” “I’ll take that bet Sam. You can see the dragon sniffing at the Isordian, eyeing it warily. They have been known to give off an unusual smell, decaying fish mixed with vanilla bean and teakwood. You can see some of the customers who got the really good front row seats, retching and vomiting from being too close to the eyeball. I’m sure that’s not gonna help with the aroma at all.” “That’s unfortunate. Unlike our other events, being in the front row here isn’t all it’s really cracked up to be.” “Looks like the Isordian is getting ready to attack.” “Is that what I think it is, Drag?!” “Yup! That split you’re starting to see is it’s mouth. Fun fact, the Isordian may look like a harmless eyeball, but if you get close enough it will split in half to show you it’s tens of thousands of needle teeth before devouring you. Now the real question is, what is stronger; the dragon’s scales or the alien’s teeth?” “Oof! Looks like the dragon wasn’t bothered at all, but the Isordian looks about as unhappy as an eyeball can look. Whoa! I think that tail whip from the dragon finished it off!” “Considering how it just got crushed, I’d guess so too, along with most of the audience in section AK. Hope they had everything in order before coming today. And with that, we have a Thas’Kara, Elvie, and a dragon all cleared to move on in the tournament. We’re gonna take a short break here, a quarter of the way through the event! Try to stay alive and make sure to check out the passionfruit bubble tea that we just got in today, and we’ll see who’s still here after the break!”