Futuristic The Colosseum: Battle Royale

[mkuchiha]

It is now the year 2048, and society has now started experimenting on humans. These experiments are performed on inmates, orphans, the disabled and etc. After experimentation they are pitted against each other in an arena dubbed the colosseum where they fight for their lives.

 

[mkuchiha]

Cat.Chrestomanci

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

Background

The year is 2048. After significant scientific advances, technology allowed for mutating humans and giving them superhuman abilities. Research was done in the shadows with experiments performed on those who would go unnoticed were they to disappear: inmates, orphans, the disabled, and the like. Experimentation resulted in monsters of sorts with supernatural abilities. The upper classes established a gladiatorial system, complete with a barbaric colosseum in which the super humans would be pitted against one another in fights to the death.

Tournaments were held bimonthly. The tournament was a survival game between 16 competitors. At the end of the tournament, there was only one mutant left standing. There were several ways in which one could spectate the event. It was broadcast such that it could be streamed online or it could be attended in person. There were some that even participated in gambling on the victor for the tournament.

In between tournaments and tournament matches, there were also daily scrimmages. They were battles to defeat, as opposed to death matches. In these matches, the mutants were able to showcase their abilities and the gamblers would have a clearer idea as to who to place money on.

The Colosseum

The mutants are housed in camps of sorts with multiple mutants living in one tent. They do not discriminate gender, so female and male mutants are housed together. There are 4 beds in each tent and 32 tents total. When a tournament begins, one mutant is selected from a tent to compete. There is only ever one mutant selected from a tent and those who share a tent will not face one another. There is a mess hall and various other amenities.

The colosseum itself is like the traditional roman colosseum, save for the protective field to prevent any stray shots during the competition from injuring a spectator.

Characters:

Kaida Balthory

Age: 21
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 127 lbs
Gender: Female
Eye: Green with Copper Flecks
Hair: Strawberry Blonde
Ability: Full or partial transformations into a dragon (cannot breathe fire), high physical specs in both human and lizard form
Bane: Transformations are painful, unstable personality due to the fact that the dragon has a separate personality, sometimes reactions are slow

Dianna Alois

Age: 25
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 122lbs
Gender: Female
Eye: Blue
Hair: Platinum Blonde
Ability: Control over fire
Bane: Low stamina

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

She sat on her cot clutching her head, an inaudible scream coming from her mouth as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Her skin felt as though it was burning as the skin shifted to cream-coloured scales. Her nails turned into claws and it felt as though her fingertips were being broken open. A voice purred at the back of her mind. Just give in, it whispered. You know you want to raze this place. Just grant me control and I will be able to grant you your escape.

Ever since she had been taken off the streets into the research facility and experimented on, she heard this voice. Sometimes it was louder than others. The times when it was louder was when her body had transitioned from its human form to a reptilian one. There were moments when it was so loud that her transformation seemed to be forced upon her. It was all she could do to keep this beastly persona at bay. The fact that she was forced to engage in battles did not help her suppress it. The personality seemed to respond to bloodshed. She could feel blood pulsing in her ears and all she could hear was that voice.

She just wished that it would all go away but that would be too easy. She had already survived a few scrimmages but a tournament was coming up and she was doubtful that she would be killed so easily. The only thing the voice in her head wanted more than bloodshed was survival. If she were too close to defeat, it would get stronger and her instincts to survive would fuel its rage. There were but a few days remaining until the tournament was to begin.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo squirmed as he clutched at his bruised arm, biting his tongue to stop from screaming. Punching a mutant that could change the density of his skin was not a good idea. The battle not only left him with a bruised arm but also a bruised ego.

He was certain no one would sponser him now. Scrimmages were basically a "try out" of sorts. Rich businessman or upperclassmen would shop for mutants to sponser and bet on. Of course, after losing all but one of his matches, his chances of being sponsored were pretty low.

Going without a sponser meant, no one to provide him advantages to win, or good food, or anything. It meant he was by himself.

And even in a tournament of 1v1s, being by yourself was one of the worst things that could happen.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

The public announcement system announced the participants of the next skirmish. "And the next match will be Kaida Balthory versus Dianna Alois," called the bubbly announcer. Kaida winced when she heard her name being called and the voice at the back of her head seemed to laugh. You cannot avoid this. It is a part of your daily life now, it seemed to cackle. Tears filled her eyes as she slowly slid off her bed and headed to the arena.

The scales and claws had disappeared but her skin still felt as though it were on fire. The draconic in the back of her mind persisted, encouraging her to allow it to take control and assist her in battle. As much as she refused, it continued to pester her and she mumbled her protests, gaining strange looks from passersby. "I don't want you here. I don't need your help," she mumbled as she made her way to the arena.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo rushed to the arena where the scrimmage would be taking place, and found a seat. Even though he wouldn't be competing in today's Scrimmages, he made it a point to attend anyone he could. It gave him a glimpse of his future opponents abilities and fighting styles and time to come up with a counterattack against it.

Today's match was against two girls, he assumed by the names, one who was ranked high in terms of wins and sponser deals and another who he knew nothing t. It was fair to assume who would win, but upsets did happen and one could happen today.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

She flinched when she heard her name called out by the announcer. "The first of our competitors this afternoon is Kaida Balthory!" She grabbed her left arm with her right hand so tightly that it was already beginning to bruise. The voice in the back of her head was already telling her all the different ways she could attack her opponent and her vision began to swim. The more time she spent in the arena, the stronger the dragon within her seemed to get. Her body would periodically move of its own accord but soon she suspected that her consciousness would be overtaken, swallowed up by the tiny voice whispering at the back of her mind that had grown louder and louder.

"Kaida's opponent today will be Dianna Alois." The girl who appeared at the other end of the area was a petite blonde who was fiddling with her long blonde hair nervously. The both of them were high-ranking fighters in the grand scheme of this but Kaida was definitely stronger than she was from what she had seen, despite the fact that they had not faced one another as of yet. "In this battle between number 7 and number 12, let's see whether Kaida can overtake her opponent and increase her rank! Fighters, you will begin in 10," the announcer called. "Please prepare accordingly."

A giant timer appeared in the air above the arena, displaying the countdown. There was the sickening sound of bones cracking, limbs being torn apart, and the popping of cartilage. The strawberry blond girl's shape began to change and she fell to her hands and knees as her form morphed. The countdown had finished before she had adopted her new form but it appeared the amount of time she had to prepare was enough to fight with. By the time the alarm sounded for the fight to begin, she had a layer of scales across her skin, clawed hands, and a spiked tail that swished menacingly.

While Kaida was transforming, Dianna had been forming a tiny army of small floating will'o wisps. They all glowed different colours and looked harmless enough, like the sort of cheap magic trick you might perform at a cocktail party. The only thing that made the flames seem less tame was the air that swam around them. They were quite high in temperature and were capable of doing significant damage, were they to collide with their target.

Dianna wasted no time when the alarm sounded. She plucked one of the balls of fire out of the air like a baseball and hurled it with as much force as she could toward the reptilian girl. Given that they were quite a distance apart in the arena, it was easy enough for Kaida to dodge. She started running on all fours with inhuman speed straight at her opponent. Although she seemed to be following an unwavering linear path, she dodged sideways when another fireball was shot in her direction.

Dianna changed her tactic once Kaida got close enough. She took two fireballs and drew in the air with them, leaving a fiery trail that hung in the air. She drew out a grid of sorts in front of her to act as a shield. She finished it just in time for the dragon-girl to run into it. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as Kaida hissed in pain. Her movements today were unfaltering, unlike the day prior in which she had been fighting with her demon. Today, the demon had won and was in control.

After more grotesque noises coming from Kaida as more of her body changed, there was an inhuman screech. There a gust of wind and it was all Dianna could do to maintain her shield of fire. There was sweat on Dianna's brow as she worked to maintain the fence of flames. The wind ceased but Dianna could not see through the wall of flames before her. It was too late by the time she noticed the shadow of the winged lizard above her. The monster dove and crashed on top of her and she could feel several ribs break. The platinum blonde could taste blood in her mouth. She frantically waved her left hand in surrender.

"And with that, the scrimmage has finished!" called the announcer. "A brilliant performance on the part of both of the competitors! Kaida has now moved to 7th place in the scrimmage rankings!" The reptile shook its head before backing off and retreating to the other side of the arena. More sickening cracks and pops could be heard as she returned to her human form. Dianna struggled to her feet, clutching her side where the ribs had broken. Of course she would win. Dianna thought to herself. How could that monster not win? For now, she would go to the infirmary to get her injuries treated. They would be announcing the competitors of the next tournament soon.

 

[mkuchiha]

Dianna Alois. The name rang familiar for the teen. Romeo stared at the blonde as she made her way to the battleground. Thats it! He thought. She was highly touted for how she performed in the scrimmages, and so she had an array of sponsorships as long as being ranked 7th out of the 32 competitors. Which was extraordinary compared to Romeos measly 25th.
However Dianna's rank did not matter in the battle, as she was severely outclassed. Her strange ability had no effect on Kaida, a girl with some sort of shapeshifting ability, who dodged and evaded all of her attacks.

Kaida ended the fight quickly, and brutally when she crashed down on Dianna with all the weight of her transformed form.

As Romeo watched onwards he couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear towards the girls monstrous state.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

Kaida transformed back to a human bit by bit, tears streaming down her face as the pain lit her nerves up like fire. She could only handle enough pain to regain her human form. She maintained scales, claws, a tail, and wings as she slunk back to her room. This was not what she wanted.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo watched as Kaida walked away, his brain still in the middle of processing what had happened earlier. It was so rare seeing someone outside of the top ten take down a single digit.

As Kaida walked down towards the exit tunnel, Romeo ran up.to her.

"Hey!" He called, as he neared her. "Good job. That Dianna girl was really strong.. You're amazing."

 

[mkuchiha]

Cat.Chrestomanci

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

She flinched as she heard someone call out to her. "Wh-what do you want with me?" she asked, turning away. Her wings were disappearing bit by bit and it looked as though one were watching a video of the wings growing in reverse. She bit her lip and it started to bleed. She could taste the iron in her mouth. Tracks of tears traced trails through the dirt on her face from the battle.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo smiled as he strolled up to her. The girl had a suspicious, nervous look on her face, which almost made the teen laugh. How could someone who could transform into a monstrous winged lizard be afraid of him.

Romeo outstretched his hand. "Nothing. I just wanted to congratulate you. What you did put there was really cool."

 

[mkuchiha]

Cat.Chrestomanci

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

"If you think that breaking the body of another is cool," she replied gloomily. "I don't think that is particularly worth commendation... But then again, what else am I good for?" She held her left arm with her right hand and gripped it tightly enough for her knuckles to turn white. The scales had gone away for the most part and there were only patches here and there on her pale skin.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeos eyes widened slightly as he sheepishly scratched his head. "Er.. Well." The teen tried to find the right words.

"Thats not what I meant." He started. "Its pretty rare seeing someone ranked outside of top ten beat someone who is was all." He explained. Romeo studied her pale sort of patchy skin, and her green eyes as he awaited her response.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

"It only means that I'm likely to compete in the next tournament," she replied. "They will take mutants from all rankings and see how it goes, how this survival game goes." She stared at her feet. "They want a wide spectrum of mutants and abilities to display to the world."

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo's gaze fell to the ground as she spoke. "At least you'll get those sponsers to help you out. With their help you get access to the best facilities and "drops" during the tournament." He stated matter-of-factly. "People like me... We.. I get nothing."

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

"Isn't that better than having blood on your hands!?" She thought back to one of her earlier scrimmages in which she had killed her opponent. The match was going on too long and the dragon had taken over. It didn't stop until her opponent was dead, a splat on the floor of the arena, unrecognisable as a human. "I didn't ask for this!"

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo scowled at the girl, his tan complexion darkening considerably as his temper rose.

"Of course you'd say that." He said after a while, his tone melancholy.

"But however you may feel about the ethics of this." He motioned his arms towards the arena that she had just come from. "Just know that we didn't sign up for this. We were forced to."

"And although this probably won't affect you, or anyone near your level. We have to kill to survive. Otherwise, its off to the lab for more experiments. Or, death for those of us they deem too weak."

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

"I don't want this kind of life," she all but cried, dropping to her knees. "But she won't let me end it. I've tried so many times. I would rather be dead than compete in this killing game." Her voice had dropped to a whisper by this point.

A shiver ran through her body and her posture changed. She sighed in exasperation before standing up and dusting her knees off. "Weak. The lot of you," she grumbled almost to herself. "And what are you?" she asked turning toward the boy. She ran a hand through her hair.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo watched the girl as she seemed to almost have mental break down in front of him. She? Was she referring to Dianna?

"Who is holding you back." He asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

At that point, Romeo could tell the girl was losing it so he defensively took a step back. Contestants were prohibited from attacking each other outside of scrimmages or tournament matches, but he was a firm believer of the old saying--'Better safe then sorry', especially when dealing with a girl that could shift into a dragon at a moments notice.

Kaida then proceeded to get back to her feet and dust herself off, seeming to regain composure.

"If trying to survive is 'weak'. Then I'd rather not he strong." He stated adamantly.

At her question, he gave her the best and most honest answer he could.

"Me?" He started. "I really don't know anymore, to be honest with you."

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

"Let's start with a name then, shall we? You already know her name so introductions on my part aren't necessary." The pointed look she gave him was almost haughty. The patches of scales that were receding had returned and her arms were now covered in white.

 

[mkuchiha]

Romeo stared at her confused. Whose name? What was she talking about? Although the teen was so perplexed, he kept the questions to himself.

"Well, my name is Romeo." He answered. "Just Romeo... No last name so don't ask."