FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“No no no no no….” Chris panicked as he crashed to his knees. He scrambled on his hands and knees towards the dying form of Eone. He trembled and picked up his friend’s head. It felt heavy and limp. Eone’s horns were poking into his arms, irritating his skin slightly but that was his least concern.

“Don't die no no. Please…” Chris whispered to himself, on the verge of tears. Not just from sadness but from pain as well. The gashes on his shoulders were still burning.

He felt a warm, thick texture pooling along his right arm. He looked and realized the bluish blood was continuously soaking his arm from the deep wound in his neck. A sizeable chunk was missing near the nape of his neck in the shape of a bite. Not only that but his left wing was missing, like it was torn off. He shakily moved his right hand from supporting his friends neck to onto the wound, trying his best to put pressure on it. He quivered in disappointment as it didn't stop the flow of blood one bit.

“Eone...EONE!” Chris repeated as he tried his best to get his ally to stir. Eone was breathing heavily, doing his best to keep calm and stay alive, but he knew his time was up. The pain was overwhelming at first but he knew there wasn't much more that he could do when he felt it fade slightly. He knew the signs. It was inevitable now. He knew there wasn't much his friend could do either.

“Friend..” Eone thought to himself as his eyes were dashing all around. His eyelids fluttered slightly. As his flame was almost distinguished, he thought back to just one minute ago when he was about to step forward and finish Chris off when he felt something sharp sink into his scales in his left shoulder before yanking back and feeling his flesh tear away from him.

Chris was mumbling frantically as he stared back into the eyes of his ally. “Eone we can...we can d-do this.” Chris whined. He saw confusion and sadness in those heterochromic orbs of the alien. Eone was choking at this point, wheezing through the blood oozing out of his maw.

Everything was a blur to him now as Eone reflected upon his last moments. It got hazier. The void was about to consume him. He glanced up at the human once more, locking eyes with him. Past the tears and scrunched up eyes, he saw fear and sadness, with a hint of anger. Not long after, he couldn't even distinguish Chris’ facial features as his eyes fogged over. He wish he could have said something, but darkness got to him first. As he shut his eyes for the last time, despite it all he was glad he could call his human ally a friend.

“Eone...please....” Chris said in vain. Tears began to mix with the dark blood as Chris mourned at the loss of his ally, his friend. He tried desperately to keep his friend alive but he knew it was over. He didn't want to believe it but deep down, he realized there was nothing left to do. They didn't say goodbye. He didn't have enough time. It happened so fast. He couldn't believe it. Eone was dead.

*** 9 Hours Before ***

Chris was quiet. He was quiet when he was escorted out of the ship and back into his cell. His head was clear once he was back. He could not fathom what had happened a couple of hours ago. He could have died. He should have died, if it wasn't for Eone saving his life. Chris gulped as struggled to recall what had happened back at that planet.

It came to him in flashes. He would catch glimpses of his memories but they always seemed to faded away before completion, giving Chris a brief moment in the past. He arrived. He saw himself and the others faint. He was in a dream, reliving his life.

Despite the dreadful situation he was in, he managed to roll his eyes slightly at the fact he was remembering that he was in an illusion. To Chris, it bubbled down to a dream within a dream. It reminded him of a certain movie that explored his particular situation quite thoroughly.

As swift as his subtle change in mood, it faded just as fast. He was reliving his life. He had a very...odd fantasy. He woke up. He and Eone had to escape the pit and make their way to the capsules. All the while, struggling to maintain their arousals at a steady pace as to not overindulge in their pleasure, orgasm, and slip back into the dream. It surprised him. Chris did not expect this round to be as intense as he thought it was. It was certainly different from the other rounds. Still, it was just as challenging. He remembered almost losing it all due to his inability to hold off his ejaculation.

“Never thought I would say that in my life.” Chris chuckled softly. The walls around him listening in with silence.

He remembered phasing in and out of reality, doing his best to discern what was an illusion and what was not. Every time his arousal would fade, the hazy feeling of the dream world came back. Chris had trouble defining what the sensation was of switching back and forth sporadically through the dimensions. He could only describe the ethereal feeling as experiencing a dream, for you to wake up for a bit. However, still groggy and not desiring to achieve full consciousness, willingly fall back asleep and immediately jumping back into the dream world. That was as best as Chris could describe it.

While he traversed the rock wall and ran across the barren plain he endured that. Tittering on a balance of reality and fantasy. To avoid the feeling, Chris had to remain in a constant state of primal desire. Normally, Chris would have no problems doing such as he would be in a controlled environment. His past one night stands in a comfortable bed could attest to that. Thus, the struggle was real when Chris’ attention was diverted from achieving orgasmic bliss to escaping with his life on the line. Fight or flight would definitely kill a boner. Still, he was lucky that he even managed to get up. When Tallula brought him over the edge, Chris knew he had failed. It was over. He would have lost on the 4th round. Except, Eone intervened.

If it wasn't for that dragon he called an ally, he would've died. Chris looked down as his eyes started to feel runny. He looked at himself and lamented. He wasn't strong. He was never strong. He tried to be in other ways but simply couldn't. He had no idea how he was able to survive those other rounds. He just got lucky.

He had to thank him somehow. His face saddened a bit when he realized their alliance was over. They were about to reach the 5th round, the semifinals. There was four left. He somewhat remembered that there were four pods on that planet and that he and Eone got in two. He couldn't recall who got inside the other two.

Chris was torn. He didn't want to compete anymore. He was starting to believe death was the only option at this point. He shook his fiercely, doing his best to get the thought of his head.

“Get out, get out, get out, get out, GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” Chris increasingly shrieked. He smacked his head a couple of times until the pain distracted him from his issue.

He inhaled deeply and shakily, before doing the same exhaling. The air did not fill him up quite as it used to. He sniffed as he collected himself. He sadly reminded himself that he had a promise to keep. He had to win for Emily.

“But I’m just a human. A weak….human.”

He gazed off to the side, staring at a random corner of the room. Soon his sniffling was drowned out by the gentle humming of the barrier of light locking him in his cell. After a couple of minutes of silence, Chris laid down slowly and stared at the ceiling. After a few shaky breaths, he felt his eyes grow heavy. He felt his vision narrow a bit, getting fuzzy. He tried his best to conjure a good memory. Something to put him at ease for the night. It was probably the last time he would sleep willingly.

***

Chris was rudely awakened more so than usual. The drones were a bit feister today than he imagined. He was electrocuted twice. That got him moving quickly and quietly. Chris traveled down the ornate hallway like he used to before, but when he arrived at the hangar he was surprised to see that he was the only one there. He looked left before glancing right. Eone was not there, nor were the other two survivors.

Chris looked down in thought as to who the other two survivors were. He could not remember them. He was certain that they were aliens he had not met before. His thoughts were disrupted when a drone blared loudly at him, ushering him to go into the ship. Not wanting to feel the jolt of electricity, Chris rushed into the ship and sat down. The doors groaned as they closed. Not a moment later, Chris heard the roar of an engine before he shifted slightly as he felt the ship depart.

The dim light of the interior coupled with the dead silence of the interior of the ship reminded Chris how close he was to the end.

“Well, not yet. I have to beat 3 others...if I can beat them anyways.” Chris said dejectedly. He hung his head as he contemplated his chances. He really couldn’t do that as he did not know what the next round would be.

“What horrors await me this time?” Chris sighed as he picked his head up as he felt the jostle of the ship as it landed. A couple of seconds later the groan of the doors opening reverberated through the inside of the ship. An ominous orange light flooded through the interior. Chris was puzzled and watched as the light slowly filled every crevice and nook within the ship. He turned to face the world as the orange light reached the top of the ceiling.

He was greeted to metallic grey structures all around him. There seemed to be no structure to it. There were just these big, ridged obelisk structures scattered all around him. Chris scrunched up his face when he noticed that not all of them looked the same. Some were really thin in the middle sections while others were flat and wide. Others were sharp and dull, and jutted out of the ground at different angles. The structures went out for as far as he could see. What he could deduce was that three quarters of these metal trees towered over him easily. Most twisted over him or angled over the sky, almost like he was sealed in a cage of sorts. Chris could not tell for sure if it was the metal he was used to but he had a feeling as the sharp, slightly rancid smell of metal invaded his nostrils. To Chris, it reminded him of a metallic jungle.

As he stepped off the ship he noticed that he was at the edge of this metallic jungle. It went endlessly to the right as it did to the left. Even though he was playing in a dangerous game, Chris could not deny this planet, and to an extent, the rest of space could look so odd and fascinating. He was so caught up in his wonder he didn’t notice how close he was to the beginning of the metallic jungle until a blue dome encased him, breaking his attention. Much like the previous rounds, Sor-dnaal formed on the dome, wearing his signature smirk.

“Welcome you four. I must say I did not expect this group of contestants to be standing here before me today.” Sor-dnaal announced valiantly. Chris scoffed. He was getting more and more sick of this guy.

“Before we started off, let me tell you who has been eliminated: Tallula the female Dhifgos, Rhyeerin the female Cleatun, Traal the Akkrozs male, and the male Eyrastaz, Chiyd.”

Chris’ face darkened when he heard his two previous teammates died. He felt sadness well up within in but pushed it back down. He realized crying about their deaths wouldn’t change a thing.

“This leaves with our final four contestants: Eone the Valraxian male, Kagoro the male Quezznar, and Gera the female Phoephor…”

Chris was shocked to hear Kagoro survived. He grit his teeth together. He should have killed him when he had the chance. Memories of his mandibles sinking into Emily’s neck and ripping out a chunk of her neck. Even though he had worked with him the following round, it did not diminish the hatred he beared towards that hideous bug. He put his gaze back onto Sor-dnaal.

“The 6th round is based on the planet D572-Xangre. It is mining planet known for its metallic ore, Piete. One of the most valued biometals in this quadrant. They grow much like plants do and tend to grow in massive crops like the one you see before you. However they still are metal and are just as solid and hard. Long ago, many would shed blood to obtain a mere portion of the ore. Eventually, the natives’ greed ended up causing a war of sorts with a neighboring planet. Now we lay in the aftermath of this war, a barren planet with no known survivors. Yet, life always finds a way. The irrationality of it is simply…splendid.”

“The first trial tested to see how clever you are. The second trial pushed you to see how well you could fare in the elements. The third determined how well you could work with others. The fourth trial tested how strong your mental will was. This trial, the fifth, will see how much you are willing to sacrifice in order to succeed.” Sor-dnaal eplained.

“You will each enter this maze trying to find your way to the center. Along the way you will encounter stations that will give you...perks in exchange for something in return. In a sense, the way to increase your chances of survival is simply put as: the more you give, the more you get.”

Chris was stumped. He grew nervous and looked around frantically.

“Sacrifice?” Chris said to himself. He gulped and tensed, dreading a thought in his mind that seemed like it would become reality in a few moments.

“This trial is not one of speed. This is a trial of sacrifice. The first two to the center of this maze will not move on to the final round. Only the surviving two will move on.”

With his final message said, Sor-dnaal disappeared as did the blue barrier holding each contestant at bay.

Chris tried to dash into the iron jungle but walked slowly into it. Left, right, left, left, right, straight ahead, 2 more lefts, and Chris was lost. He looked around in all directions and couldn't find what path he went down. Chris sighed in frustration and jogged down the path to his right. He followed that path until he faced a dead end.

“Crap.” He muttered.

Chris turned back around and jogged back to where he once was. Faced with 2 other paths, the one to his left or straight ahead, he randomly chose the path ahead and jogged ahead. A couple feet later he took 2 rights and a left before he stopped dead in his tracks. The path opened up to a wide area, encapsulated by the piete. To the left near the corner there lay a blue wall. It glowed much like the dome at the start of each round. He figured it came from the same source. Near that blocked opening there was a small, dull gray obelisk of sorts, suspending an oval bowl full of green spheres. Hovering above the obelisk was a sign? Chris could only assume it was, for it depicted 2 creatures. The creature on the left side of the sign ingested a small circle while the one on the right showed the creature halfway through a door.

Chris looked between the sign and the glowing opening before looking at the bowl of green spheres. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was suppose to ingest it.

“Fuck” Chris cursed.

He gazed back the way he came from and retraced his steps. When he was back near the center of the 3 paths he turned to the left one. He started walking before he slowed. His hand touched the wall as he gathered himself. Chris’ mind filled with doubt. He could continue going but at what cost? For him to get lost again in this never ending metal maze? He glanced back, his face contorting in anxiety.

He sighed heavily. He couldn't just stand there all day. He had to make a decision. His hand on the wall tensed into a fist before slamming against the hard biometal. He grimaced as he forced his feet to traverse back to the middle path. A couple of minutes later, he was back near the glowing door and the obelisk.

Chris hesitated a moment, taking deep breaths before slowly reaching out to grab one of the small orbs. It was light and squishy. He brought it close and sniffed it before he brought it down near his mouth. He stuck his tongue out and barely touched it to the orb before reeling it back in.

“Okay it doesn't taste bad.” Chris remarked. With his nerves settled, Chris closed his eyes and popped the orb into his mouth. He tried chewing it but forced himself to swallow it, figuring he had to instead of merely chewing on it to allow him to pass through the door.

It went down his throat easily before settling within his stomach. Chris was silent as he expected something bad to happen. A few moments went by with Chris looking all around him, expecting something to happen.

“So...now what do-” Chris couldn’t finish his statement as his midsection contorted in pain. Chris coughed violently before hunching over, grasping his stomach. His breathing hitched quickly as pain overwhelmed his belly. Chris screamed as the pain intensified. Soon his legs wobbled before giving out completely. He layed on his side, tensing and shaking violently as the fire in his stomach danced madly. He cried his agony but it only came out as broken, guttural screams.

The pain danced around his stomach. It felt like he was being stabbed with a flaming knife. His torture increased as the knot in his stomach grew tighter, a wonderfully tight cramp growing bigger each second. His screams were now drowned out by Chris’ violent dry heaving. He was choking. His throat tensing and relaxing rhythmically, trying to force something back out.

The pain was unbearable. Chris couldn't think clearly. The agony consuming his thoughts. He kept heaving and heaving, saliva dripping down around the ground near his mouth. After what seemed like ages, Chris felt something welling up in his throat before violently spewing forth from his orifice. The vomit ejecting forcefully, erupting not only from his mouth but from his nose as well. The acidic contents of his stomach burned as he felt the corrosive liquid travel up his throat and out his mouth and nose. His hurling continued another minute or so, each spewing less and less powerful. Soon he tapered off much like a tap would.

Chris was breathing rapidly, recovering from the searing pain throughout his digestive tract. As he laid there, he faintly heard a weird buzzing noise. He wearily glanced up and saw the glowing light that was blocking the doorway slowly phase out of existence. He huffed, blinking away the fuzziness in his eyes. He hoisted himself up on his arms before standing up slowly. He inhaled deeply a couple of times, grimacing at the smell of his upchuck, trying to collect himself. He towards the newly unblocked path before trudging toward it. More twists and turns greeted him along the maze. He would choose a path and either continue along that path, or reach a dead end before backtracking back to the fork in the maze and taking the other route.

Chris couldn't tell how long he was in the maze for, nor how close he was to the center of the iron jungle. About 10 minutes ago he saw another station but firmly decided not to go through that one. That station had a weird scale of sorts with a knife-like device next to it. The sign above showed the same pictures as the first sign he saw but it showed the creature on the left side with one of its arm falling onto the scale before the creature on the right shower the same creature running through the door with one of its arms missing. Chris was horrified. He didn't expect he would have to literally sacrifice an arm or a leg for both to survive! That took a pound of flesh to another level!

Thus, he chose to navigate the winding path to the right. It seemingly went on and on and on, but there was no turning back now. He went too far down that path to try and find his way back to that station. Hours had past. Round and round he went, twisting and turning. Chris was getting frustrated.

“What if the others are already at the station and I'm the only one in this maze? What if I'm the only one who decided to take the easy way out and traverse this forsaken maze without no perks and now I'm the only one defenseless?” Chris asked himself as he slowed down his gait. His mind was figuring out what to do next at this point.

“If I go through this trial without sacrifice, my chances of survival dwindle down to single digits basically. If I go through pain, or self-sacrifice or whatever, my chances improve. However if I choose to sacrifice I don't know what perk I will get and at what cost. If I don't sacrifice, I at least know that I wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage because I wouldn't have sacrificed anything and that could put me ahead of the other contestants since they would be handicapped. Although, it would take me longer to reach the center as well as be defenseless when facing the other three.” Chris spoke out loud. Chris only resorted to speaking to himself whenever he was faced with a serious dilemma. While others wrote down the pros and cons, he was a more oral type of guy.

He hated to admit it but he had to endure the next station. He needed some type of advantage if he had any chance of battling the other three contestants. Whatever horror awaited him next, he would soon face in a couple of minutes.

He turned to his left and in another opening amongst the metal trees was another station. This one had a raised ledge in the center. In front of the ledge was a raised silver column about his height. On top of the column were two extended pieces of metal, about a foot and a half length, extending from the upright column. Those two metal arms had spikes on the bottom ends of them. Directly on the upright column where the two arms meet, there was a blank screen of sorts. Chris couldn't determine what it was as he regarded the sign near the glowing, blocked doorway. This time there were two signs. The top one had the creature on the left side struggling under what Chris assumed was the contraption before him. Near the top right of the struggling creature it showed what Chris guessed was a battery insignia fully charged. The creature on the right side showed it holding up a weird, triangular device. The bottom sign showed the creature on the left running through the door much like the signs he had seen before, however, on the right side it showed the creature hurling the device toward another creature. This time the triangular device looked like it opened up and had a bunch of tendrils extending from it with little squiggly lines near it. Chris could only assume those squiggly lines symbolized electricity. Chris was dumbfounded. He glanced at the contraption then back at the sign. He gulped as he figured out what he had to do.

He had to lift the two bars to a certain height and remain there until the battery to unlock the door was charged, but when Chris looked around he didn't see any battery at all. He cautiously approached the machine and pricked one of the spikes.

“Yep. It's sharp…and it’s gonna hurt.” Chris whimpered. He would have backed up by now but he stopped himself. There was nothing else for him to do but move forward. He has to endure the pain. It looked he had to sacrifice his shoulders to pass on.

“I have no other choice.” Chris whined before slowly ducking underneath the contraption. He hunched over as he stepped up onto the ledge and lined up his shoulders under the metal arms. Pressing his shoulders until he felt the pricks of the spikes, he wrapped his arms atop the metal arms and pushed up. He was immediately greeted to a world of pain. He stopped about halfway up because he couldn't take much more. His eyes were shut as pain flourished throughout his upper body. He suddenly heard a faint beeping. Opening his eyes he was taken aback as he saw the same battery insignia glowing on the monitor in front of him. Albeit the battery was nowhere near full as it should be. Chris groaned, knowing he had to set the bar higher, literally!

He inhaled deeply before pushing up slowly. His breath came out jaggedly as the spikes dug into his shoulders deeper. He cried out and stumbled a bit but didn't falter. He pushed up higher. He gazed at the monitor and noticed that the beeping increased slightly and the battery insignia lit up a quarter of the battery. Breathing in and out he grunted in pain as he forced himself to stand straight up. His knees were halfway bent and the pain increased twofold. The tempo of the beeping hastened and the battery was now halfway full. The spikes were almost buried within his shoulders. The burning sensation was intolerable. Whenever he would move, another jolt of pain rocketed throughout his body. Chris started to crumble under the pain, he stumbled subtly. He wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for the battery’s beeping slowing down and the battery started to drain.

“RRNGHRRNG” Chris choked out as he blinked past the tears in his eyes and pushed his body to go higher. The battery refilled back to the halfway point but it didn't stop there. It went to the three quarters mark and halted. Chris was screaming. He couldn't take anymore! He dropped down on his knees, pain consuming his form as his shoulders detached from the device with a ‘schlick’. The bar resumed its normal position as the battery drained and the beeping stopped.

Chris was nearly hyperventilating at this point. His shoulders were on fire, caked in wet blood. He saw droplets of his blood dripping down his face. He gazed wearily at the door and scrunched his face up in disappointment as the glowing light didn't waver. He felt anger bubbling within him. He punched the ledge he was on.

“Dammit! No!” Chris seethed. He swiftly got up, pain riddling his body, and lined up his shoulders again before pushing up hard. He clenched his teeth as pain exploded throughout his shoulders. He cried out again as he faltered halfway up but quickly caught himself.

He used his pain to fuel himself. He turned it into rage. He roared out as he pushed against the bar harder. The battery was halfway filled, pushing the three quarters mark. The beeping got faster. The pain was near his breaking point. He felt himself stumbling again.

“No!” Chris shrieked “Not today!”

He pushed harder, the spikes were fully embedded within his body, tearing away at his body. He thought about all the times he saw his friends die in this tournament. Emily, Tallula, Traal. Well, he couldn't for certain tell if the last two were truly his friends, but they certainly were nice people. The anger and sadness he felt for them, it wasn't going to be wasted in vain now. He let the rage he felt about the unfairness of it all, the fact he had to participate in this tournament, the fact he was abducted from his home, and certainly watching a certain bug kill his friend, consume him.

His eyes were pure wraith. Adrenaline surged through him. With a loud, pained yell, he stood up at full height. Heck, Chris felt he was tiptoeing. He stared up at the sky and didn't dare look down. He just had to keep pushing. Higher and higher. He had to.

He ignored the beeping until it changed to a monotonous drone before dying a few seconds later. He glanced down and was relieved to see the battery insignia full and and glowing a different color. He heard a snap and clunking sound before he decided to drop the bar. His adrenaline faded instantly and the burning pain turned into a stinging sensation as his messy shoulders ripped clear off the spikes with a sickening ‘squelch’. More blood flowed from his shoulders as he layed there on the ledge, the pain overwhelming his body. His body was twitching. Chris knew that as much as it hurt him, he had to calm himself down.

With nothing else to do, he practiced a breathing trick he used to do in high school. He inhaled for 4, held his breath for 7, before exhaling for 8. It was hard at first but as he kept doing it, the more he felt himself calm down. The pain was still there but it wasn't as bad as it used to be. His shoulders just became unbearably sensitive whenever he moved them. When he felt that his heart wasn't drumming away in his chest, Chris got up slowly.

“Fuck” Chris groaned as the pain wormed away in his shoulders. It was bad, but bearable. He blinked away his daze and looked at the door, noticing it was clear. He crawled out from under the contraption before exhaustingly standing up. He started making his way further into the maze but a small object caught his eye. He turned to regard it and realized it was the same object on the sign, only real and tangible!

He winced as he staggered and bent over to pick it up. It was a bit big in his hand but he had a firm grasp on it. The device was plated black with green, luminescent lines covering it in a weird pattern with a button in the center. Chris shook his head as he turned back to the unblocked doorway. He couldn't be focusing on the device right now when he was that much closer to the end!

Another 15 minutes or so Chris looked around, sighing in defeat. He was traveling down paths hoping he was closer to the middle of the maze, but it seems it was all for nothing. He was exhausted. His line of sight was getting blurry. It was hard to focus. The pain in his shoulders was changing into an uncomfortable numb. He took another right and suddenly froze.

Down another 15 feet or so, the path turned to the left. He could barely see what that path led to but he knew it opened up. As he walked down the path, the clearing opened up wider and wider, bigger than any clearing he encountered with the stations. He rounded the corner and was joyed to find the middle of the clearing. At least, it had to be.

Surrounding the clearing were 4 openings amongst the Piete trees. He emerged from one of them. In the center was a pyramid of sorts. It was taller than any of the columns that formed the maze he navigated. He stiffened when he remembered that he wasn't the only contestant. His eyes darted around, scanning for the other 3. His guard lessened when he noticed no one else was there.

“It looks like I'm the-”

A bright light flashed by him and struck the metal tree to his left. Chris immediately dropped to the ground as it whizzed past him with a shriek. He winced in pain as his shoulders impacted the ground. He looked to his left and saw the scorch mark the blast made. He was perplexed as he wondered where it came from. He turned his head to the right and dreaded the sight.

It was the Phoephor, the female alien. He saw it hiss at him before pointing a gun looking device at him. Chris was paralyzed with fear as he stared down the end of that barrel. He would have taken a direct hit if it weren't for her moving her aim slightly to the right out of pain, her shot striking another metal tree to his left. He stood up quickly and crouched low, assessing the situation. He glanced down and noticed one of her 4 legs was missing. Where her front left leg used to be, a bloody stump wrapped in a bandage of sorts was there.

“You’re dead!” She hissed in pain and anger as she lined up the gun to her human target. She fired another shot and wasn't close to hitting him. She cursed inwardly, knowing she would have had a better chance if the pain consuming her lower body wasn't there, coupled with the fact that she was missing a leg to acquire the weapon, limping now.

Chris started walking awkwardly around the clearing, avoiding the shots that were fired at him. To Chris, it reminded him of a sick, darker version of dodgeball. He got closer and closer, hoping his plan would work. It was the only one he had at the moment.

Gera the Phoephor was getting angry. She didn't know that her handicap would affect her shooting that much! But it was okay. The human was foolishly getting closer to her, making him an easier target. She predicted that within the next 4 shots he would die.

One shot flew past Chris’ head. Another nearly grazed his shoulder. A third hit the ground near his feet, causing him to stumble and land on his right side. Chris yelled out in pain as the stinging sensation intensified greatly because of his fall. He would have stayed on the ground if Gera wasn't standing within 10 feet of his. He could have sworn he saw her smirk as she pointed the gun at him for the final time.

“It's now or never.” Chris thought. Fighting past the pain, he grabbed the triangular device tightly, pressed the button, and threw it at her at the last second, hoping it did its job as the sign depicted it would.

Gera was elated and relieved. All she had to do was kill this measly human and she would be one step closer to winning. However she was soon struck short as the human caught her by surprise and threw an object at her. It quickly shot out 3 electrified tendrils laced with jagged hooks. The swiftly wrapped around Gera with a smack, entangling her before sending her form to the ground.

Gera cried out in pain as the device constricted her frame tightly, the hooks biting her deeply. Not a second later her body was overwhelmed with a massive surge of electricity. Her body was instantly convulsing as she fell to the ground.

She couldn't form a thought as the electricity jolted all throughout her body, overloading her senses. It didn't stop from there. The electricity seemed to intensify, causing Gera to start foaming at the mouth. Chris watched on as the flesh near the ropes started to blacken and burn, filling the air with a foul smell. About 30 seconds later the electricity stopped. The zapping was soon replaced with a sizzling sound as her flesh was now charred to the bone. Her insides all but a gooey mess.

Chris again did his best to calm his beating heart. He looked up and noticed the temple. The sight instantly reminding him what he had to do. Chris scrambled to his feet and hobbled towards the base of it. He grimaced as he started to climb the pyramid. After a couple of minutes he finally placed his hands on the top ledge, using all of his energy to hoist himself up. He sat up and looked around, again befuddled as to why he was the only one there.

“There has to be-” Chris was interrupted as a thin metal rod sank into the platform, inches away from his thigh. He jumped as he saw the thing so close to ending his life. He snapped his head back and his heart stopped.

It was Eone. Chris immediately noticed that his left wing was missing and that in his claws was another rod. Chris instantly knew it was a spear. Eone just stared at him, his face struggling to remain neutral.

Chris swallowed the lump in his throat. This was the end. There was no way out. He was going to die and he knew it. Chris’ eyes shifted from Eone to his feet.

“I should have known. I can't really blame you though. It was bound to happen.” Chris declared, smiling sadly. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

All he heard was not the sound of the spear sinking into him. His eyes snapped open when he heard a nasty clicking noise before a pained roar followed suit. His eyes bulged out of his sockets he couldn't believe it.

It was Kagoro.

The Quezznar had its mandibles around the Valraxian’s neck, holding him tightly. Kagoro’s squinted eyes focused on the helpless human in front of him before biting down harder. Eone was desperately trying to pry the Quezznar off of him. That resulted in Kagoro uttering another clicking noise before yanking back harshly, twisting his strong neck muscles away from Eone, effectively tearing off a sizable chunk of the Valraxian’s neck clean off. Kagoro then tossed his prey forward while he spit out the chunk of flesh in his mandibles.

“No no no no no….” Chris panicked. He scrambled on his hands and knees towards the dying form of Eone. He trembled and picked up his friend’s head. It felt heavy and limp. Eone’s horns were poking into his arms, irritating his skin slightly but that was his least concern.

“Don't die no no. Please…” Chris whispered to himself, on the verge of tears. Not just from sadness but from pain as well. The gashes on his shoulders were still burning.

He felt a warm, thick texture pooling along his right arm. He looked and realized the bluish blood was continuously soaking his arm from the deep wound in his neck. A sizeable chunk was missing near the nape of his neck in the shape of a bite. He shakily moved his right hand from supporting his friends neck to onto the wound, trying his best to put pressure on it. He quivered in disappointment as it didn't stop the flow of blood one bit.

“Eone...EONE!” Chris repeated as he tried his best to get his ally to stir. Eone was breathing heavily, doing his best to keep calm and stay alive, but he knew his time was up. The pain was overwhelming at first but he knew there wasn't much more that he could do when he felt it fade slightly. He knew the signs. It was inevitable now. He knew there wasn't much his friend could do either.

“Friend..” Eone thought to himself as his eyes were dashing all around. His eyelids fluttered slightly. As his flame was almost distinguished, he thought back to just one minute ago when he was about to step forward and finish Chris off when he felt something sharp sink into his scales in his left shoulder before yanking back and feeling his flesh tear away from him.

Chris was mumbling frantically as he stared back into the eyes of his ally. “Eone we can...we can d-do this.” Chris whined. He saw confusion and sadness in those heterochromic orbs of the alien. Eone was choking at this point, wheezing through the blood oozing out of his maw.

Everything was a blur to him now as Eone reflected upon his last moments. It got hazier. The void was about to consume him. He glanced up at the human once more, locking eyes with him. Past the tears and scrunched up eyes, he saw fear and sadness, with a hint of anger. Not long after, he couldn't even distinguish Chris’ facial features as his eyes fogged over. He wish he could have said something, but darkness got to him first. As he shut his eyes for the last time, despite it all he was glad he could call his human ally a friend.

“Eone...please....” Chris said in vain. Tears began to mix with the dark blood as Chris mourned at the loss of his ally, his friend. He tried desperately to keep his friend alive but he knew it was over. He didn't want to believe it but deep down, he realized there was nothing left to do. They didn't say goodbye. He didn't have enough time. It happened so fast. He couldn't believe it. Eone was dead.

His grief was interrupted by a loud snort. His teary eyes left the lifeless body of his friend to look up at the towering mass of Kagoro. He had been watching the whole time.

Chris felt a storm of emotions brewing within him. Most were negative, however one surfaced amongst the others.

“Why?” Chris begged, his voice broken.

Kagoro was silent until the human asked him the question. He snorted again before leering in dangerously close.

“It's simple really. I had to get rid of the strongest opponent. If I had let him kill you right then and there, I would have certainly had a harder time killing him in the final round. He probably would have defeated me. My chances of winning this despicable game have increased tenfold now that you are the only other contestant. Now, all I have to do is easily kill you in the next round and my freedom is rewarded. You think I would chance that against a strong opponent like him? I know he was the only other one who could have a chance of beating me. You on the other hand do not, for you are weak. You were only able to survive because of him, don't think I didn't notice that.” Kagoro spat.

Chris could do nothing but remain quiet and clutch his dead friend’s body closer.

“I have already won. We are now prolonging your fate. You will die tomorrow. There is no other choice.” Kagoro said with finality as he leaned back up again.

Before he could respond, 2 blue lights shot down from out of the sky, encasing the remaining contestants. Kagoro and Chris started to float up into the sky. Chris tried his best to hold onto his friend but the blue beam he was entombed in ripped him apart. He watched as Eone’s lifeless body thudded back on the temple as he was rapidly lifted into the air. Soon Eone’s body was nothing but a speck before it all faded to black.