FSE

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Once arriving back at the spaceship, Chris was anything but relieved. He was in a blur as his pod landed in the ship. It opened to the F-57 drones flashing their weapons in his face, threatening him to move. Chris didn't fight it anymore, he didn't want to. He just realized he just saved another person--an alien. He didn't even think of the consequences to come. He was shaking, scared that he would suffer greatly because of his actions. But in a surreal sense, he didn't truly regret it.

It seemed like something dreadful was about to happen. He looked around the holding dock of the ship and saw most of the other contestants looking at him and whispering among themselves. They gave him an array of looks--mostly confusion or contempt. The only look he had was fear--fear of the unknown. His fear intensified when he and Solara locked eyes. She was currently cradling the unconscious form of Eone in her arms. He couldn't read her face but he was sure she wasn't thinking anything positive about him. He grew uncomfortable under her gaze and decided to look at the alien he saved. Even though he was unconscious, he looked to be in pain.

His train of thought was broken when a group of aliens, swarmed Solara. They looked much like the aliens he experimented on him, with their yellow skin and 3 eyes. The communicated something to Solara. She tightened her grasp on Eone, looked at him one more time before releasing her grasp on her male counterpart.

The aliens quickly took Eone and placed him on the floor. One of them quickly typed something on his wrist, which caused a blue outline to form around Eone. It gently lifted him off the floor, prompting the aliens to get up before escorting him to some place else.

Soon he was reunited with Emily and together they were escorted to their cells, along with every other contestant once they found their counterparts. Unfortunately, some returned to their cells alone.

As they walked, they walked in silence. Chris glanced at Emily only to see a range of emotions of her face, mainly confusion. Chris sighed, knowing she wanted to know why he saved Eone.

When they settled in their cells, and the F-57 drones locked them up again, Emily got up and approached Chris who was sitting on his bed. He looked up and expected Emily to scold him. What she did instead shocked him.

She knelt and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Chris slightly gasped, not expecting the sudden gesture.

"I thought you were gonna die", Emily sobbed.

Chris stayed there, unsure how to respond. After a moment, he decided to accept the gesture and slowly wrapped his arms around her back. However, before he could hug her back, Emily broke free and winded her hand back. It blurred forward until it made contact with Chris's cheek, leaving a red mark where she slapped him.

Chris' face contorted with a throb as the pain from her slap settled in. He winced and touched the sore area.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?!", Chris yelled.

"You know damn well what that was for! We are here to survive and go home Chris! We can't do that if you recklessly put your life on the line for somebody you don't even know!", Emily berated.

"Well he wasn't hurting anybody! I mean there was an extra pod, and he was the only one left besides me. Why should he suffer? Why shouldn't he live?", Chris shot back.

"It doesn't matter if he was hurting anybody! The fact that you saved him not only makes you stupid, it makes you weak. Have you thought about what the other aliens are gonna think about you know? They are gonna realize that us humans are weak, pathetic things. They will probably use that against us and ultimately kill us first!"

"I don't care what others think of me! And they are probably right! We are weak! We would rather pick and hurt others than help each other! We would rather hurt the planet we live on than save it! Nobody ever helped me out when I was picked on and bullied for being different! All I was taught was that I had to be tough in our world! Sorry that the world isn't all sunshine and happiness like you think it is! We. Are. Pathetic!", Chris cried.

Emily's eyes softened a bit. She remembered that Chris used to be bullied when he was younger. But that didn't stop her from responding.

"You're right, the world isn't all rainbows and sunshine. The world is fucked up. People, humans, are bad. Most people would decide not to do anything when the time arises. People would rather flee than fight. It's natural. I would flee if something horrible happens! You can't blame me, it's instinct: fight or flight! But you need to realize something Chris: we are not here to make friends. We are here to survive; we are here to fight! We didn't choose this! In fact, none of the others chose this either, but we can't change that. We have to accept it and go with it. We all don't know each other and know we have to fight each other to survive. I don't want to and I know you don't want to, but it is what it is! We have to do what we can to survive. We can't let our emotions get in the way if we wish to survive. Sometimes we have to make hard choices Chris!"

Chris sighed. "Well it's too late to do anything about it now. All I have to do is face the music. Maybe it was stupid for me to save him, but I just couldn't stand by and watch it happen! He wasn't hurting anybody and there was one pod left! It would've been a waste!"

"Maybe that guy wasn't hurting anybody, but you don't know what he's capable of. He could be some type of convict on his planet, and you just saved him. How do you know he won't kill you huh? How do you know he is just gonna be all buddy-buddy with you? 'Hey thank you random Earthling for sparing my life. Let's be friends now'. How do you know you didn't just break some rule because of your choice? What if we both have to die now?", Emily scolded.

"I don't know, okay! I don't know what he is capable of. Hell, he might just kill me, now that I made it personal somehow. All I just know is that I probably will be asked why I did it. That's my best case scenario."

"And your worst case scenario?", Emily asked, shakily.

"I will die because of what I did", Chris exhaled, not knowing he held a breath.

Emily sighed and rested her hand on his shoulder. Chris hesitantly locked eyes with her. Expecting disappointment, Chris was surprised to see sorrow on her face.

"Chris, promise me you won't do anything that rash again. I know you mean well but in reality, it's us versus them. We can't stop and offer help when they are in danger. It's a fight to the death, and I can guarantee you that they will kill you in a heartbeat if given the chance. I can't do this stupid Battle of the Universe without you Chris. I don't want to die yet", Emily uttered.

Chris looked away for a moment. He hated every single moment ever since he was abducted. He also hated how she was right. More importantly, he realized that he probably made the biggest mistake of his life by rescuing his competition. He gazed down before his eyes settled on hers again. "You're right. No more. It's just you and me until we get to the final 2...if we get there."

"Let's not think about that endgame right now. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it", Emily smiled sadly.

Chris nodded his head as Emily returned to her bunk after giving him a hug, grateful now that Chris was starting to see the light of things.

***

Just like the morning before, Chris and Emily were forced awake by the loud blare. Chris groaned as he got out of bed and looked around. All he saw besides the bland cell that he was currently residing in was Emily, who also sat up in bed, obviously annoyed with the noise.

No sooner had it stopped did the force field in the doorway drop and F-57s came barging in, flashing their weapons in a symphony of electric crackles. They both got up and walked the hallways, gradually meeting up with the other contestants.

However, they didn't go down to the cargo dock. They went back to the white room where they first met each other. They gathered around the hologram projector, wondering what was going to happen. As Chris suspected, most of the other aliens kept glancing at him and whispering to their counterparts.

He looked around and sighed; he expected this and he couldn't do anything but ignore it. However, his demeanor changed when his eyes met the Valraxians', especially Eone. What caught his attention was not just the cold expression on both their faces, but Eone's shredded wing was now perfectly normal. Chris' mouth dropped a little, realizing that there was not a single scratch on the body part.

Despite the unfortunate situation he was in, Chris was still fascinated that those aliens that had taken him earlier obviously restored his wing back to its previous condition. It also made him realize how his planet wasn't even close to the technology aboard this ship.

His focus was deterred when the wing his sights were set upon flexed and folded upon its owners back. He followed the movement of the wing until he looked at its owner. Once he stared into those greenish-orange orbs of Eone, Chris froze. He was glaring at Chris. The human tensed, realizing that the Valraxian knew he was staring at his fixed wing and wanted his attention.

Well, Eone got what he wanted and now he and Chris were staring at each other. Brown eyes meeting the greenish-orange ones in a silent standoff of sorts. Even though Eone was looking at him, Chris couldn't help getting lost into his eyes. They were exotic. They were hypnotic. Gosh, he wished he could stare into this eyes and forget about the world.

Chris was able to see the emotions in Eone's eyes. To him, he saw anger but that was quickly outweighed by confusion. Confusion as to why a human rescued him. If Chris didn't know any better, he would say that there was a sliver of fear in those eyes. But Chris stopped his gawking when Sor-dnaal flicked to life in front of them.

Eone, realizing that Sor-dnaal was going to speak, drew his eyes away from the human that took up his attention.

"Why did he rescue me? Why didn't he leave me for dead?", Eone wondered, slightly dreadful of the human's intentions for doing so.

"Good morning to you all, the survivors of the first round. You all braved the dangers of Grall Prime. I hoped you all enjoyed the help I provided. Though, it seems that you all would have braved the dangers without any aids at all", Sor-dnaal announced.

He turned to Chris and grinned at him, making him slightly uneasy.

"How ironic how the least advanced of us was able to figure out how to survive the unstable plates and security system", Sor-dnaal smirked.

Everyone was staring at Chris now. Out of the corners of his eyes Chris noticed but kept his focus on Sor-dnaal, not wanting to the see the magnitude of the attention.

"And then, he decides to save a contestant who should've died on that planet. What you did was completely irrational, given the circumstances. I definitely did not see that!", Sor-dnaal chuckled before breaking out into a full chortle.

No one seemed to find Chris' compassion as funny. It was silent as Sor-dnaal continued to laugh. After calming down a bit, he resumed his seriousness and looked out at the contestants.

"There are 16 of you still alive. Both Oog-lins have been eliminated and the male Cleatun, Vashtuu, as well as the male Dhifgos, Errtyios, have been eliminated. The next round will prove to be more of a challenge I hope", Sor-dnaal asserted before dissolving away.

***

The transport vessel died down as it landed on the planet. The doors clanked as they unlocked and the wall gradually dropped down and became a ramp, revealing the first glimpse of the atmosphere.

Chris was seated near the front of the vessel, far away from the door. As crazy as it sounded, he was glad that the next round was progressing. It had been extremely uncomfortable as Eone gazed at him for the longest time. Whenever Chris would turn to him, Eone would look away as if nothing happened. Sometimes he wouldn't look away in time and they would look at each other, but Eone didn't care if he saw him or not. A lot was going through the Valraxian's mind.

As Chris and Emily stepped out, they were immediately greeted to an icy white landscape. Hell, the couldn't make out what was in the distance. All they saw was a grey, pointy, big shape amongst the lighter grey of the air. It was snowing, at least that was what the humans thought.

A huge breeze swept by them and confirmed their suspicions of the atmosphere being tundra-like. The bitter winds nipped at Chris and Emily, sending an unwanted shiver through their spines.

A blue dome then encased them, sheltering them temporarily from the elements. Sor-dnaal appeared in front of them in the middle of a screen.

"Welcome to the second round. This is the icy planet of Wroxstyl. The temperatures are deadly on the surface that there are no prevailing colonies anywhere on the surface. However, the ice caves below the snowy surface are warm and big enough to house entire civilizations. In fact a species did do that. The Zicisinise tried to settle here. Their colonization worked for a while, but as there no major resources on this hunk of ice, only their most cold-resistant survived. Even at that, their colony was destroyed as the cave that housed their main colony caved in", Sor-dnaal explained.

"Your task is to reach the underground city. Just like the previous challenge, there are 12 escape pods located somewhere within, but do not take this lightly. You must also survive the harsh climate and anything else along the way. There will be some aid to help you along the way, but it's your whether to accept the aid. For you see, they are scattered along this frozen wasteland. The only thing stopping you is your will. Good luck. This time, try not to bunch up like a herd of Drossmi like the last time. Must I remind you that this is a competition--a battle. Only 1 of you will walk away from this alive. Remember that", Sor-dnaal declared before he disappeared along with the shield. The sharp winds hit them at full force, reminding them of their task.

It was a mad dash as the crowd dispersed into the white, some faster than others. Although the climate of the place convinced the hesitant ones to make haste. Chris turned his head when he heard a faint noise. He turned and saw Emily flagging him down. He trudged his way through the snow and caught up to her, the cold already numbing his skin.

"Let's go find a cave before we freeze to death!", Emily shouted.

Chris quickly nodded and followed Emily closely as they trudged their way in a direction away from the others. Another blast of icy wind temporarily halted them. They cringed as a wave of coldness enveloped their bodies, struggling to continue.

They honestly didn't know where the city was. Emily decided that they would go along the sides since she everybody else was going one direction. Even then, she hoped that hey way proved to be fruitful.

As they went further and their bodies colder, Emily faintly made out large lumps of snow, probably hills.

"Come on, there has to be a cave around those hills. I see an opening!", Emily shouted. She pulled Chris tighter but was startled when her arm felt no weight behind it. In fact, she couldn't feel anything in her arm. She looked back and realized Chris wasn't even following her. She went into panic. When had they got separated? She looked out around has screamed his name, hoping in vain that he would hear her.

Chris stumbled to the ground awhile ago. He couldn't really see with the snow and wind upon his face. He also couldn't feel anything either. His normal clothes were equipped for Miami Heat, not cold blizzards. The winds disoriented him, pushing and pulling him wherever they felt like. The only thing really anchoring him was Emily's grasp. But soon he realized that she wasn't there and probably long gone, not noticing him. He couldn't blame her. He couldn't even think straight with the snowstorm around him.

The air wrapped him in a blanket of frost. He couldn't move. He just kneeled as it got colder. He was sure his legs were frozen; he couldn't feel them anymore. He was beyond shivering. He collapsed on ground, not able to hold himself up anymore. As he fluttered his eyes closed, he could've sworn he saw a blurry silhouette in the white of the snow, but he didn't have to comprehend it further as his body shut down.

"Is this how I die? Like this? Do I deserve it since I helped out another?", Chris thought to himself despite the frostbite. He wasn't able to think further as his slipped into unconsciousness, for the last time.