Damn, it’s been a long while since I’ve updated this. Sorry for the wait, but life has been pretty crazy for me most of this year. Actually it still is, only much less so I figured it’s high time to get back into writing. And So I’ve decided to start with this, since it’s the tale that was laying in wait the longest (well, besides “Hideki’s Harem”, but that one… well, I don’t know, maybe the moment is gone).

Either way, I hope you’ll find this installment worth waiting for and that you’ll leave me a review with your opinion. It’d really mean a lot. And now, without further delays, here’s the second chapter of “Far Out”:

Chapter #2: Pride and Punishment

Title Page: Meifa wiking up from the sleep In Her bed with the sheets covering Her lower body (though leaving one leg entirely exposed) and her night gallon falling off from her shoulder. Her hair’s a bit of a messy, while she rubs her eye to chase away the sleep completely

“Gladiator quarters are off-limits to guests” announced the guard, a tall, skinny, brown humanoid with a flat face, dressed in a thin armor and armed with a spear, which he used to block Meifa’s way. The girl only glanced at him, twisting her mouth a bit in a displeased manner, before speaking up: “Isn’t there anything I can do to… change that policy?” she asked, allowing the coins in her palm to jingle a bit.

The guard only snarled, repeating his orders in a much less friendlier voice: “Gladiator quarters are of-limits to guests” The teen merely let out a sigh and turned on her heel, walking away. If she weren’t human, perhaps she stood a chance at convincing the soldier, but there was no hope at doing so otherwise. There was also no use causing a ruckus, since that could only end badly for her.

Meifa narrowed her eyes, taking a final glance at the gate leading to prison cells that held the fighters. With a short moment of hesitation, she clasped her hands together in a strange symbol with her thumbs and little fingers sticking out to the sides, while her eyes shut. In a flash her hands made a few, more moves, forming themselves into different symbols, until they stopped in a position where all index and middle fingers reached to the sky.

And then, within a blink of an eye, she vanished.

---xxx---

Gladiator quarters as the guard called them, in reality, were nothing more then a dungeon-like hallway, filled with cells. Each cage was separated from the hall with a line of laser bars, holding in warriors of many origins. Some had several pairs of arms, others bodies from hard materials like stone or metal, plenty bore great resemblance to humanoid hybrids mixed with some sort of animals. All skin colors were present.

In one, such cell, Sorco sat, apparently sleeping with his arms crossed. His eyes were shut and his breath slow. His wound from the fight was still visible, not attended to at all, yet that didn’t seem to bother the gladiator at all: “If you’re looking for your friend, then you won’t find him” he spoke up suddenly, apparently to himself, but as the silence filled the hallway, a moment later another voice was heard, coming out of nowhere: “How did you…?”

“You, humans, have a very specific stench” the Saorian announced, while an image of Meifa began appearing out of thin air. “And since you’re of the same species, I assume you’re a companion of that brat, who beat me just now” he added, glancing at the girl with a straight face. “Anyway, for disobeying the Arena rules, it’s safe to assume he’s on his way to the Abyss… if he hasn’t arrived there yet that is.”

“Damn, I wasted too much time” the female cursed, turning her head towards the exit. “You wouldn’t know where I can find him by any chance?”

“I may” the lizardman replied, calmness still plastered on his face. “Though I see little need in telling you. After all, he’s the one who beat me, it’s not like I care much about his well-being. He can root in the deepest circle of the Void if it’s up to me. Naturally, there’s always persuasion” he noted with an evil grin, narrowing his eyes without taking them off the girl.

“You pig!” Meifa yelled, taking a single step back in disgust.

“Do not flatter yourself, human” Sorco shot back, visibly annoyed. “I’m not about to sink as low as to settle for a member of your lowly species. What I am proposing, is what on your planet was called… what was that phrase again? Ah, yes: I scratch your back and you scratch mine…”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the fire-breather responded with a little tired voice. “Since I lost, I have no, further use for Graag. Public hates losers and it doesn’t matter that I was the champion. Should I stay here, my fate is decided. But you are outside the bars and there are no guards in sight. If you could work the electric lock on my cell, I’d be free and could avoid death. You on the other hand are not in any danger, but you want to find your boyfriend. It just so happens that if he’s still alive, then there’s only one place he’s at and I know where that is. I was the champion and I’ve spend quite a bit of years here. I know how to get around…”

“In simple terms: I set you free and you’ll lead me to where this… Londo guy is?”

“In a nutshell…”

“And what guarantee do I have you’ll stick to your end of the deal?” Meifa asked suspiciously, rising her eyebrow. “You seem rather ruthless and unpleasant. How can I be sure that you won’t cut my throat the instant your cell’s opened? Right now, any of the other gladiators is just as good of a choice as you are…”

“Technically” the Saorian nodded, a smile still visible on his face. “But you should keep in mind that warriors gathered here are basically scum. Most of them are this station’s customers who, for various reasons, got in Graag’s way. I wouldn’t really say they’re any more trustworthy then I am. However I was the champion, so it’s a safe assumption I’m among the strongest gathered here. Should the need to fight arise, if I do decide to become your ally, I’d be most effective of the choices. And, since your goal is to help that, other human, it’s best to avoid drawing attention, so it’s best to take the smallest group of people possible as that gives the team the biggest chances to sneak past the guards. Yourself and a guide… isn’t that a minimal requirement?”

The girl considered his words for a moment. On one hand he made some, good points. On the other, there was absolutely no guarantee he’ll come through on his part. With slight hesitation, she gazed at the lock near his cell; a simple mechanism that’d only require a short-circuit to stop operating. She then settled her eyes on the lizardman again and then walked forward, once more forcing her hands to go through a set of strange, hand symbols: “You better be a man of honor” she stated with the last sign, while electricity engulfed her palms.

Sorco’s eyes widen at the sight, yet Meifa seemed completely unfazed by the sudden current running through her hands as she simply used them to grab the lock and a moment later, the mechanism blew up in a rain of sparks, making the laser bars fade into nothingness.

Immediately the Saorian rose to his feet, charging forward. In a blink of an eye, he grabbed the girl by the neck and pushed her against the wall, with her back sticking closely to it. It took little struggle for her to realize she could not set herself free.

“Humans are really stupid beings” Sorco announced with a stoic voice, staring into his victim’s eyes. “Without any insurance, you just set me free, not thinking of consequences. It’s no wonder your species is near extinction. Didn’t you even considered I might want to get back at your friend for defeating me? Wouldn’t a murder of his own kind be a good punishment? Do you even comprehend how easy it’d be for me to just kill you, right here on the spot? The likes of you really are trash of the universe, whose misery should be ended” and with that he took a deep breath, gathering fire in his lungs.

Instantly the lizardman’s head shot to the side as he unleashed the flames, in a flash incinerating three guards that came running towards them, leaving no more then single grains of ash floating in the air. A confused look spread through Meifa’s face as she stared at the aftermath. She did not even saw the three coming.

“Pure stupidity” he finished, letting go of her throat. “Apparently the locks were somehow secured to raise an alarm upon deactivation or something of the sort. The longer we stay here, the greater the risk we’ll just have to deal with more of these weaklings. If we’re to save that brat, we need to get to the upper level of the station. If the judgment has not been placed on him yet, then he can only be in Graag’s quarters since that is where the… ‘court’ is located. But getting there is not that much of a problem, it’s getting safely out that’s gonna be a bother. You saw those two alongside our host?” he asked, only getting a weak nod from his new companion. “They’re Graag’s bodyguards and most likely as strong as most gladiators here. Seeing your skills just now, I doubt you could take one of them, two even less. I on the other hand wouldn’t have a problem with completing the task…”

“Are you confident by nature or just a moron?” the girl remarked a little angry at his comment, yet a stern look from the latter quickly made her quiet down again.

“I despise your race, but most of all I’m capable of respecting one’s special talents” Sorco stated calmly once more, his face still. “You don’t seem like a warrior type and since I was able to sense you when you were invisible, I believe we can assume that spiky-lizard, who has features at least roughly similar to mine, can do the same. Your tricks, whatever they are, may not help you in that case. On the other hand, that other brat is a good fighter. If we join forces, on equal terms, I think we could beat both of Graag’s henchmen…”

“But you’re not on equal terms” Meifa noticed, pointing at her companion’s neck. “That, weird collar-thing gives that green goo an advantage of you both!”

“Preciously my point” the fire-breather responded with a nod of acknowledgement. “That is why someone should do something about this, little issue. This is where you come in: just below this level there’s a special generator, one that powers these collars, as well as all bars and the sort. Destroy it and this things will be nothing more then ugly jewelry. With that vanishing trick of yours, even without my help, you should be able to get to that contraption and using that electricity, you could short-circuit it. Basically, what I’m asking is that you handle that task, while I go help out your… friend.”

“Just a moment ago I was positive you’re gonna kill me” the female reminded him with a note of objection in her voice. “What insurance do I really have that this time around you won’t break your word?”

“None” the Saorian replied immediately in a simple manner. “You can only trust me…” and with that he charged forward, straight at the guards that appeared from behind the corner: “And if you won’t hurry, the fact that I escaped will reach Graag and once that happens, he’s sure to activate that remote of his. Once he does, even a bug will be able to strike me down” he added quickly, blasting his opponents to the side like they were standing still.

Meifa hesitated for another moment and then, without a word, she performed a familiar set of symbols, once more fading into air, while Sorco kept tearing through the guards. As two of them swung their halberds in an attempt to cut him in half, the Saorian jumped over the assault and somersaulting in mid-air, he threw his legs out front in a split, kicking two, other soldiers in the faces.

The instant his feet connected, he used the momentum to blast himself back and grabbing the heads of the guards who attacked him a second earlier and once more putting his body into a spin, tossed them both at the soldiers he just kicked, making the four collide hard and fall to the ground, clearing the way, if only by little.

Leaping forward, the lizardman spit a few, small fireballs, forcing the enemies out front to move aside in order to avoid getting burnt. Gaining enough space to land, Sorco spun on his feet, extending his tail, thus swiping all the guards around off theirs. This bought him enough room to move few more inches forward before faced against more soldiers.

Ramming the one out front with an elbow, he kept on charging forward, using the guard as a shield. However as he went pass few of the soldiers, the ones behind swung their halberds at his back, forcing the Saorian to stop and spun on his feet to block the assault with his claws. Pressing against the blades, he once more gathered air, releasing a powerful fireball that chased the enemies away, allowing him to flip back to his hands and throw his feet forward, kicking two more guards that came at him from behind.

This stopped the duo in their tracks, letting Sorco to spin on his hands, thus delivering a spin kick to the two faces and flip back to his feet, now facing his remaining opponents that stood in his way to the quarters he was heading to.

“You people just have no idea when to quit” he announced annoyed, narrowing his eyes. “Outta my way or I’m really gonna get nasty…”

---That time, upper level---

“That was very unnecessary, what you did” Graag stated simply, walking around Londo, who was kneeling in the middle of the room with his hands brought together by metal cuffs behind his back. “That Saorian is gonna be killed anyway and now you forced me to have you share his fate. Why would you do something so stupid?” he asked rhetorically, but even so the young human spoke up, his voice calm albeit his position: “My entire homeworld was destroyed for no, apparent reason. I experienced the aftermath of pointless killing first-hand. There’s no way I’ll allow myself to willing subdue anyone to similar fate. Everything deserves to live!”

“Don’t act like an idiot!” the green goo shot back annoyed. “The universe practices law of the jungle; the strong eat the weak! That is the way things go! That’s how it’s always been! If the strong feels like killing the weak then there’s nothing more to be done, it just happens! That’s how it is!”

“The only reason things are like this…”: Londo began calmly with a lowered head. “Are creatures like you…”

At this point Graag slapped the teen hard across the face with his tentacle, anger taking over: “I thought about giving you a chance, since you managed to beat Sorco. I don’t suppose many in the galaxy are capable of such a feat. But now I see it was pointless. You’re just a dumb brat with high ideals that cannot come true. I don’t need idealists in the Arena. What I need are warriors. Real warriors!”

“A true warrior is not the one who kills…” the human surprisingly said. “But the one who protects life…”

“Enough of this nonsense” the green goo ordered after a moment of shock. “Reck, you can commence the execution” he motioned to his lizard-like bodyguard, who merely smirked as he walked closer to the new champion. He placed one of his blade at Londo’s throat, ready to slice it with one, smooth motion, but as the time for that came, the doors to the quarter suddenly blasted open, letting in a single newcomer with a quickened breath, who gave Graag and his companions death glares.

“Let the brat go” Sorco said in an ordering tone with his eyes narrowed.

“Seems like we have an escapee” noted the other bodyguard, the one with the horn on his head. “A troublesome day this is turning out to be. Master Graag, shall I take care of this fly?” he asked the base owner, who only lifted one of his tentacles in a calming motion: “Don’t bother Banros, there’s no point in wasting your energy” he announced, picking out his remote.

“Like I’d let you!” the Saorian yelled, charging at his “master” with his claws already extended, but before he could reach the green goo, Reck appeared in his way, slashing horizontally with his right, elbow blade, forcing the fire breather to duck. As he did so, a knee rose towards him in an attempt to pierce through his face, leaving Sorco with no, other option then to bite the spike, thus stopping it in its way.

Angered by the turn of events the former champion thrust his hands forward at his adversary’s chest, still not letting Reck move away due to his blocked knee. The bodyguard didn’t seem to make much of the situation however as he easily blocked the attack with the flat side of his elbow blades, leaving the two fighters in a deadlock.

The Saorian acted immediately, gathering air in his lungs, ready to unleash his incinerating breath, but before he managed to do so sudden pain engulfed his neck and then traveled all around his body. Mastering all the willpower he had, he bite harder on Reck’s knee blade, making the electricity faze his enemy as well, yet it was not long until the suffering took over, forcing him to release an ear-breaking scream, while he collapsed to the floor.

Dammit, that witch didn’t make it… he concluded, barely conscious, while the pain disappeared.

“How he got out?” Banros asked, shifting his gaze from Sorco’s fallen form to his master.

“There’s probably another intruder on the ship” Graag figured simply, his tentacle still wrapped around the remote. “He should be found before he does more damage. Reck, I’ll leave that task to you. Banros, you can finish off these two” he added as the huge bodyguard aimed the tip of his horn at the fire breather.

“The hell you can!” came a voice and an instant later Londo sprung into action, kicking the massive fighter in the face, even as his hands were still joint together behind his back by the metal cuffs. The assault made Banros’ head tilt a bit to the side, yet besides that it left no effect on the huge bodyguard.

“Why you, little…” he began, charging straight at the boy, who quickly jumped back, but just as the teen was about to dodge, a surge of electricity went through his body, paralyzing him completely. Sorco only cursed in his mind: What is that hag waiting for?

Londo’s eyes only widen. He could not do more then stare at the horn that came closer at incredible speed, aimed directly at his heart…

---the ignition… what will become of Londo?---

And so this chapter ends. Hope you had at least as much fun reading it as I had writing it. I also hope you’ll leave a comment to say what you thought of this piece. Remember that as long as I’ll get reviews, I’ll keep on writing.

Thanks for tuning in and hope to see you next time!

Take care!