Chapter 11 - Colosseum

A sellsword stabbed an iguana man through the chest with a bastard sword.

A squad of skink men gunned down a charging street samurai with laser rifles.

A monitor lizard man bludgeoned a space cowboy to death with the power armoured body of a Republican Marine.

Civilians everywhere were screaming and running.

Emma lit a cigarette with her Zippo lighter and inhaled the bitter smoke. Akumi was screaming her head off beside her.

It was World War III all over again.

Home sweet home.

A laser beam bounced off the force field bubble surrounding them.

'Hang in there, young 'uns!' said Bunny-Bear as she powered the miraculous force field bubble through her bear paws. 'We'll get through this! Just hang in there!'

'Oh, Buddha! Oh, Buddha! Oh, Buddha!' Akumi transformed into a Werewolf Girl Warrior. 'We're all going to die!'

'Mmmhm.' Emma equipped her SPAS-12 and floating Desert Eagles. 'Sure looks that way.'

Something crashed against the force field bubble.

Monster Slayer was fighting a Gila monster man with a laser sabre outside.

Emma noticed something beyond the pair. 'Bunny-Bear...how much damage can this force field take?'

'Huh?! A lot! Why?!'

Emma pointed. 'Because as bad at things are, they're about to get a lot worse.'

The giant figure of Komodo Kong crashed into Lord Inferno.

A shock wave spread out throughout the area, knocking everyone down.

All the other Good Guys jumped off Komodo Kong's shoulders and attacked the Outcasts.

Jaguar elbow dropped Tyrannus.

Astronaut flew into Sharkodile and punched her in the face.

Fly's 100 eyebots fired a volley of lasers at Squid.

Snake stretched her arms and slashed at Pussy with her axe guitar.

'Everyone, scatter!' said Tyrannus.

The Outcasts scattered in all directions.

Lord Inferno flew towards Yggdrasil.

Tyrannus equipped a war hammer ending in a rocket and blasted towards the Arena District.

Sharkodile burrowed into the sidewalk and swam through the concrete towards the forest.

Squid extended his mechanical dreadlocks and used them as legs to scuttle towards the Market District.

Pussy lengthened her tentacle hair and propelled herself from building to building towards the Red Light District.

'After them!' said Jaguar.

Komodo Kong clambered after Lord Inferno using the city as a climbing frame.

Jaguar leapt after Tyrannus using his super strength.

Astronaut flew after Sharkodile using his gravity manipulation.

Fly grew a pair of mechanical fly wings and flitted after Squid along with his 100 eyebots.

Snake sat on her axe guitar and glided after Pussy like she was riding a flying broomstick.

Monster Slayer got up, gutted the Gila monster man with his giant silver greatswords and turned to Bunny-Bear. 'Now's our chance!'

Bunny-Bear nodded. She deactivated her force field bubble and lifted Emma and Akumi over her shoulders (she was surprisingly strong considering how small she was; then again, she was half bear).

With everyone around them knocked down, Monster Slayer and Bunny Bear ran towards the stage, where they found Sheepwolf cowering on the floor.

Monster Slayer unequipped one of his giant silver greatswords and hauled Sheepwolf up by his collar. 'On your feet, Herbivore!'

They all ran towards the Adventurers Guild Headquarters. The double doors opened wide for them.

Akumi watched Jaguar as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. 'Aren't we going to help the Good Guys?!'

'Nope!' said Bunny-Bear. 'That there's a fight between Gold Rank Adventurers! We'd just get in the way!'

They ran into the light.

*

Jaguar landed in the sand pit of the Colosseum.

Tyrannus was standing in between an army of gladiators and three big monsters: a fire drake, an autonomous mecha, and a Giant Venus Flytrap.

The crowd screamed and ran. People loved watching violence, but they hated being a part of it.

'Stop right there, Tyrannus!' Jaguar pointed at the monster. 'Every Adventurer and United Worlds Peacekeeper in Babel is on their way! There's nowhere to run!'

Tyrannus placed his hands behind his back and leisurely looked around the white gladitorial arena. 'Ah, the Colosseum, a place where demihumans like yourself hunt monsters like me in front of a cheering crowd. Such a perfect microcosm of the United Worlds itself.'

'That's not true!' said Jaguar. 'The United Worlds is the light of the Multiverse! These creatures here have nothing to do with our war! They aren't even sentient!'

Tyrannus smirked. 'They said the same thing about Dinosaurians once.' He turned to the big monsters. They growled at him, but he raised his hands in peace. His eyes gleamed. 'Your masters don't even think of you as prey, you know.' He pointed to the gladiators. 'They think of you as entertainment.'

After a moment of silence, the big monsters went berserk and stampeded past Tyrannus towards the gladiators.

The fire drake burned a dwarf alive.

The autonomous mecha ripped an android limb from limb.

The Giant Venus Flytrap ate a Little Green Man whole.

This shouldn't have been possible! These creatures weren't even sentient!

Whatever was happening, it was clear Tyrannus was as dangerous an orator as ever. He had to be stopped!

Tyrannus suddenly swung at Jaguar with his Rocket Hammer.

Jaguar rolled beneath the rocket and punched the monster in the face.

Tyrannus kicked up sand in Jaguar's eyes and headbutted him in the nose.

Stinging pain.

Jaguar kneed Tyrannus in the stomach, but the monster rocketed them both into the wall.

BOOM!

The crowd above screamed on impact.

Jaguar coughed. 'There are civilians here, you animal!'

Tyrannus bared his teeth. 'There were civilians on Dinosauria, too!'

The man was a zealot!

Jaguar channelled his super strength into his right arm. 'MANHATTAN SLAM!' He delivered an uppercut to Tyrannus' chin which sent him flying across the sand pit.

The monster crashed to the sand. He coughed, pushed himself up, and laughed. 'I must say, I've missed this, Jaguar!' He beckoned with his hand. 'Come! Don't tell me that's all you've got, superhero!'

Something was off. Tyrannus was a criminal mastermind; he wasn't the sort to just stand his ground and fight unless it was a part of a wider plan. Jaguar hoped he wasn't being played for a fool, but there was little he could do about it if he was. His role as the Party Leader of the Good Guys was to lead from the thick of the fight; he'd leave the thinking to nerds like Fly.

I heard that, said Fly through his system.

'Sorry,' said Jaguar.

He gave a roar like a big cat and charged towards Tyrannus.