Part Two: Die Another Day

There was a dull pounding in Gwen’s head, like a jackhammer had been given free reign over her skull. She forced her eyes open, seeing blades of grass before her eyes. She rose quickly, shaking off the dizziness and steadying herself against the RV her grandfather fondly nicknamed “Rust Bucket.”

“Grandpa!” She gasped, seeing the elderly man lying motionless to one side. She rushed to him and gave a sigh of relief when she found he was simply unconscious.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” Her cousin Ben cried, the voice a clear indication he was in his Diamondhead form. Her eyes widened as the memory of what had happened just seconds earlier surged into her mind.

The three of them, Gwen, her cousin and grandfather were driving on the road when a fireball came at them. Max swerved out of the way, the RV skidding out of control before it crashed against a tree growing off-road. The three quickly got out of the van to inspect the damage. A large shadow loomed over head and a Gwen remembered feeling a dull pain on the back of her head before darkness washed over her.

“You think you can take me, runt?” the taunting of a distorted voice roused Gwen from her reverie. She turned towards the sound and her eyes widened. Not at the sight of Kevin fighting against Ben but at the flashing light coming from her cousin.

In the blink of an eye, Ben had timed out!

Luckily the only time her cousin managed to keep his wits about him was when he was fighting. He leapt out of the way, barely missing being impaled by the shards Kevin shot at him.

Gwen rushed to Ben’s aid, her hands fishing in her pocket for her spell book. Kevin spat out sticky mucus in an attempt to trap Ben. He would have caught the younger boy if Gwen hadn’t dived in to push her cousin out of  the way.

The red-haired girl didn’t like getting slimed and though she hated to admit it, Ben stood more of a chance of bringing Kevin down than she did. Rather than the viscous liquid, a bright flash of light engulfed her.

Gwen found herself landing on a rocky surface. With a groan she got up, waiting for her eyes to focus. When her vision cleared, her jaw dropped. She never seen so many aliens gathered in one place before.

“Hey, what gives?!” She heard Kevin growl.

“Esteemed guests, let us welcome our new challengers!” A strange, metallic voice announced.

“Ch-challengers?” Gwen echoed, getting to her feet in disbelief.

“Will they be able to survive a match against our current champion Technorg? Or will they perish, like all the others before them?”

The ground started to quake as a gigantic alien, easily twice the size of Fourarms stepped forward. Her eyes took in the armor plating his body and the massive mace where his left hand should have been.

“Prepare to meet your doom!” The large alien bellowed before charging straight at the odd pair before him.

He raised his arms for a hammer blow, which Kevin had no trouble meeting head on. Multiple limbs struggled to gain the upper hand, but this lasted but for a moment as Technorg knocked Kevin aside as if he was merely swatting a fly.

Seeing this, the icy fingers of fear gripped at Gwen like a vice. She stood, frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Had Kevin not suddenly tackled the behemoth, Gwen might not have had the chance to gather her bearings and run.

From a safe distance she watched as Kevin battled against Technorg and it was becoming more and more evident that Kevin was losing. Despite the once-human boy’s attempts at Ben’s life (and indirectly hers), Gwen understood that she had a bigger chance of surviving if Kevin won. She had to do something.

And once she managed to dig up her spell book, she did.

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“You think you can take me, runt?” Technorg taunted as his kick caught Kevin squarely in the chest. The force knocked the dark-haired boy a good distance away, stopping only when he smashed against the arena wall.

“I ain’t no runt.” The dark-haired boy growled. His pride was more injured than body, considering just seconds ago he had used the very same words on his hated enemy, Ben.

“Tell you what, I’ll go finish the smaller one first to give you a chance to rest.” Technorg snickered, turning his massive back to Kevin.

Mismatched eyes widened in fury, nobody turned their back on Kevin Levin. Nobody! With a sharp kick, Kevin propelled himself from the wall, hands clasped together to deliver a hammer blow.

He took immense satisfaction at the look of disbelief that flashed across Technorg’s face before Kevin delivered a flurry of attacks. It would only be later that Kevin would realize that Technorg’s eyes were looking down when his expression changed from smug to shock.

Later, being the operative word.

For now he was too busy using all the abilities his alien parts had to bash Technorg senseless. An uppercut using Diamond Head’s arm powered by Four Arm’s insane strength sent Technorg soaring into the air in an arc.

With the same hand, Kevin focused on using XLR8’s speed to shoot out a wave of razor-sharp shards at his opponent. No one seemed to notice a bed of rocky-spikes were conveniently protruding where Technorg landed.

The behemoth groaned in pain and dread. He had been beaten and now he would have to pay the price. Peering through heavy lids, Technorg saw Kevin casually stroll towards him until the dark-haired mixture of alien parts was standing just a few feet away.

The crowd began to demand Kevin to punish Technorg for his defeat.

“Punishment?” He chuckled with a predatory smile. “What kind?”

The arena exploded into a collective yell for “DEATH!”

Only one voice, one small, delicate voice yelled out “No!”

Kevin looked down to find Gwen standing between him and Technorg. Her arms were raised at her sides as if trying to shield the fallen alien.

“Out of the way, girl.” Kevin warned, eyes narrowing.

“You don’t have to do this.” She reasoned.

“Y-yes, he does.” Technorg rasped from behind her. “I have been bested, it is the price I must pay.”

“Typical.” She snorted, as if not surprised. “Why is it that guys never think that losing today means you still have another shot at winning tomorrow? Or that dying today means you’re a loser forever?”

Kevin stared directly into Gwen’s eyes. Those stubborn, soul-piercing green eyes that showed no indication she was going to back down.

“And why shouldn’t I end him?” Kevin demanded.

“Because then...” Gwen swallowed, obviously carefully weighing her words. “Because then you really would be the monster people said you were.”

Was she really trying to appeal to him with such a cheesy line that could have come straight out of a B movie? If what she said hadn’t been so painfully lame he would have laughed. It would be easy to just backhand her aside so he could finish off Technorg. He probably wouldn’t even feel his hand connect with her skin.

He mulled over his decision. And then he saw it.

The minute quake of her knees that lasted no longer than a second, but he saw it. She was scared, probably terrified that he could, would hurt her. Or kill her the way he would Technorg.

She had to be crazy to try and save anyone but herself. And yet here she was, pleading for the large alien’s life. The very same alien that was just moments ago planning to end hers without a second thought.

It wasn’t fair.

It just wasn’t. If Ben or Technorg could have someone who would risk their life for them, why couldn’t he have someone like that?

With a grunt of suppressed rage and bitterness, Kevin turned his back to Gwen. “Whatever. Just don’t blame me if he tries to kill you again.” And he stalked away.

Before the dark-haired boy took more than five steps, several robots carrying weapons rolled into the arena. They surrounded Kevin, prodding him with rods that crackled with energy upon contact. He cried out in pain as he briefly lost control of his limbs. Heavy, power-draining shackles were clamped around his multiple wrists before the robots forcibly led him away.

Kevin heard a voice, a small delicate voice angrily yelling “Hey! What did you do to him!? Where are you taking him?!”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Gwen, struggling to get past a robot. She was reaching out for Kevin, as if she could somehow save him the way she had Technorg. He saw her lips moving but she made no sound until the droid pressed the rod against her flesh. She let out a shriek before the pain caused her to pass out.

Kevin didn’t know why but hearing her scream, seeing her hurt enraged him more than anything ever had before. He roared and struck out at a droid, using his cuffs to bash its mechanical head in. The rods descended upon him mere seconds before the darkness did.