CW:
Gore, Blood, Rat Bodily Infestation
Following the rat’s directions, she is definitely right about not being able to miss the gate, even if Coyo almost walks past me the moment I stop to take it in. I feel like I’m about to throw myself into a life or death round of laser tag with the way this thing glows in the dark hall, only seeming to have dimmed more the further we went down. Neon curtains and safety tape marks our entrance like a poisonous animal, as if I didn’t have to deal with one of those enough as is. Unfortunately, I’ll just have to stomach this one, climbing up the stairs and wondering what seems to be a common thought lately: What the hell am I getting myself into…?
Up and up we go, the stairs zigzagging this way and that before we finally find ourselves at what looks like a waiting room. It’s just as dark and neon as the climb up to it, and the Rat Queen herself is leaning over the counter talking to some kind of secretary dressed like a waiter. Upon noticing our entrance, however, she drops that and skips on over to join us.
“Took ya long enough,” she chides, grinning and wagging a finger at me which I instinctively bat at with my paw. “Thankfully, just long enough to where we ain’t gots ta wait much longer~”
As if on cue, the incredibly wide elevator doors on the opposite side of the room ding, sliding open to reveal two huge guardspeople on either side, wearing completely blank white masks with shades hastily placed over where eyes should be. Turning and taking a step, Liz’s tail swats at me, earning herself a hiss from my end as we make our way into the lift where the doors promptly shut behind us. One of the guards looks over each of us as their silk gloved hand hovers over the controls, focusing on me for a moment and pointing at Fox.
“Ah, she’s not a contestant, she’s my--”
“Mascot~”
I whap the rat in the head for that one as the guard nods and punches some buttons, literally, while the poor fox below looks at me confused, probably unable to understand what this idiot just said.
“Don’t worry about it, hun, just imagine the stupidest possible thing whenever she starts yapping.”
That gets a snicker out of her, which is quickly cut off by the chugging of the elevator, its descent beginning, neon lines zooming by.
“Alright, rat,” I begin, leaning back against the wall of the lift and glaring at the queen of cunt, “I know you’re doing all the talking, much to my dismay, but you can’t keep us in the dark for everything. What’s the whole deal with fighting here?”
“So glad yous finally asked, Cat Kitten!” she says while throwing her arms wide, the pompous jerk. “Y’see, the boss of this lil’ diddy is Caster Ray, a loud dude with a pension for show and drama. All I’s had to do was introduce stakes he couldn’t turn down~”
“Those being…?”
Thankfully, instead of the rat going on, one of the guards taps a screen behind them and gets it to glow, bringing up a graphic of fighters and show information, from start time to seating occupancy, all the way to the wagers…
“Alright yeah, so he’s betting his allyship and fire power in the form of combatants…” I mumble, leaning forward and squinting at the screen. He’s a big guy all around with an even bigger smile, a dress shirt and vest looking damn near ready to burst, and his dark hair slicked up and back. “Damn, he’s really pretty, huh…”
Stepping closer and pressing my paw to the screen to scroll through it further, I find Liz’s ugly mug on the opposing side’s page.
“You, Coyotl, me...you really gave them as much information on me as you--”
Eyes ablaze, I turn and slam the rat into the wall the moment I see her mother fucking wager.
“THE FUCK IS THE MEANING OF THIS, RAT?!” I roar, holding her up by the collar as she holds her hands up defensively.
“What’dya mean, Cat Kitten? It shouldn’t matta what I bet, there’s no way you’d lose anywa--”
SLAM.
“YOU CAN’T JUST BET ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!” I yell, disregarding the dent forming in the wall of the lift each time I slam the rat against it.
“You may wanna consider how roughly you treat the first combatant of our team, Cat Kitten~”
Despite the strained sound of her voice from being hoisted up and held against the wall, her signature venom and cockiness seeps into my fur, slithering past it and under my skin enough to let go of her.
“Thanks ya, darlin’~” she says, dusting off her suit. “Now, as I said all I did was offer him a deal he couldn’t refuse the chance of winnin’! And what better than havin’ the woman who felled a god as a permanent combatant in his shows~?”
“I am going to sear your fucking whiskers off, you slimy cunt.”
Still she shrugs with that pomp I feel wafting around her like a putrid scent filling my lungs.
“Just don’t lose, eh? I have faith in ya, Cat Kitten~”
My snarling doesn’t go on for too long as the elevator suddenly passes the point at which the walls aren’t glass, revealing to us the stadium we descend upon, and the absolutely massive crowd applauding our entrance.
Now, the crowd is massive, but the stage it surrounds? It’s an ice rink four times the size of your average stadium, though, completely melted over. Inside the ring is what looks like a miniature archipelago of small sandy islands surrounding a bigger mass of land in the center. I say small, but each would easily count as its own arena, and all of it is shined upon by a giant orb of light high in the center, radiating a light that feels just like the sun! Sunlit Bounty is beginning to make more sense now.
Then there’s the crowd, each seat having a little screen in front of it for what I’m guessing is spectating from the drones zooming about the arena, and each seat is packed with people...and...ponpa? Especially around Legion, who I catch in the crowd waving at us. All the more reason to not mess up, I guess…
“And here they are, folks, riders of the light, heroes of the day!”
Like the emperor upon their throne, from a station center and back of the stadium is the man himself, Caster Ray, and a smaller, rather unenthused person to the side of him. They’re both just...normal humans, dressed in suits, yet the charisma this man exudes is palpable, it’s no wonder he’s the boss of this place.
“...Food for the feast,” the smaller one says into their microphone with a monotonous tone that feels half in-on-the-joke and half genuinely apathetic.
“Then I hope you’re hungry, folks, because I’m Caster Ray--!”
“And I’m Rider White.”
“And this is a meal fit for the gods, it’s the Ubers Tier Team Rumble!!”
“Scuffle.”
As the announcers bounce off one another, our ride reaches the bottom, and we all walk out into a bench area, like the kind in a baseball arena. We all sit down besides Liz, and the guards stand at either side of the door leading out to the battle field, though there’s no path I can see, so it leads directly into the water.
“I hope you’re ready for the show of a lifetime, everybody, you’re about to see feats of spectacle no human could ever achieve!”
“Isn’t one of the competitors human…?”
“We don’t actually know, no one’s seen her under all those clothes, but she was too good for our standard division, so she’s got to be something special, ain’t she!”
They must be referring to Poison in that case, which still surprises me, even if I’ve seen her fight before. She’s definitely capable, but to fight against Ascended and even a Radiant, supposedly? I suppose I’ll have to wait and see how she fares against Coyotl. I believe in them, but this could be a league entirely on its own…
“Crowd’s getting antsy, Ray.”
“Right you are, love! Let’s not waste any more time and get our first competitors onto the field!”
With that, the guards each pull a lever on either side of the gate, the doors flying open and an ocean breeze hitting me like a salmon to the face. The churning of mechanisms shake the ground beneath us as a bridge begins to jut out over the water, a red carpet rolling out after it as it creates a path between our bench and the main island itself. Liz, standing before her path to glory, looks back over her shoulder at me and gives me a gag-inducing wink.
“Keep your eyes on me, toots. I won’t be out there for long~”
“A shame. Here I thought I’d finally get some peace today.”
Her chortling accompanies the blaring fanfare introducing her over the speakers as her heels clack against the metal bridge, the rat making her big entrance.
“Love her or hate her, and boy, a lot of you sure do hate her, she’s making her way up the food chain! Here she is, newly nonhuman, it’s ELIZABETH ETERNAL LEVIATHAN!!”
Her little rats are summoned from under the bridge as she walks, each looking the part of a marching band and playing her in on trumpets, saxophones, you name it. Upon reaching the island, she kicks off her heels, ready to fight in rat claws alone, throwing her arms wide and even as she’s basking in the attention, she looks back at me and blows me a kiss. I hate her.
“Acting as pest control, here’s a generous donation from Rivers’ Robotics, it’s fresh off the chopping block and fearsome still, iiiiiiiit’s Heeeeat Boooooox.”
One of the guards taps a button on the wall that opens a panel on the floor and out comes a tablet streaming the feed of the drones right to me so I can see just what the hell is happening on the other side of the field. The other guard grabs a broom and runs down the bridge to sweep sand off of it as it begins to retract.
On the opposing side, from the shadows of their bench zone emerges a humanoid figure, a robot walking as naturally as an organic bipedal would, only making its incredibly artificial look more jarring. It’s got a box for a head with a single large eye zipping its gaze all about and pulsing speakers thumping to the music playing over the stadium speakers on either side, sitting atop a skeletal frame of metal. A blue synthetic heart clearly beats to the rhythm of the music within its chest with pulsating tubes extending out of it, circulating its blue blood around their thin metal frame and under the smooth, disjointed plating over its arms and legs. The moment it sets its eye on Liz, however, more plating seems to slide out to cover up exposed areas of its chassis, especially over its chest.
“[Assessing] [Elizabeth E. Leviathan]” I hear its synthesized voice say through the speaker on my viewing tablet, an odd curiosity twinging its tone. “[Analyzing . . . ] [New data conflicting with stored data] [Engaging testing protocols]”
“Awwww, what’s wrong, Hal~? Can’t keep up with changing times~?” Liz heckles the bot, leaning against her propped up bat and wagging her tail along with her butt. “Hope ya last long enough to get even a page a new data on me, sucker.”
“Oh, the vitriol, the snark! Sounds like this was a match up just dying to happen, the poison brewing just under our noses! Which Subterfuge Power House will claim victory over the other?!”
“For our sake, I hope they both lose.”
Finally positioned on either side of the main island, the fanfare comes to a swift silence, and a sinister edge shines at the corner of Liz’s grin, a kind I didn’t even see her face me with…
“[Start-up successful] [Prepared for combat]” Heat Box says, nodding at Liz and looking...oddly composed for a combat robot that moves as naturally as it does. “[I will do my best] [In learning] [And as your combatant]”
“Peh! Listen here, bot!” the rat snarls, hoisting her bat up and waggling it in the robot’s direction. “Fuck ya formalities. This ain’t a fair fight, y’see? This...is a boss fight. And I’M THE BOSS!!”
“That sounds like the end of discussions to me, folks! SUN’S OUT, GUNS OUT!!”
I can even hear Rider leaning forward in their chair to get as close to the mic as possible before calmly blasting our ears out, mumbling:
“fight.”
The moment the bell chimes, clouds of sand burst from all over the arena, revealing packs of Liz’s rats all over the stage!
“BATTER UP!!”
While Heat Box takes a wide stance, its blue blood seeping into the sand and forming some kind of formula in a circle around its feet, a few of the rats in the very center of the arena pitch another rat in a baseball cap directly towards Liz, who bats the critter straight at Heat’s monitor, making it stumble as the formula below seems to melt into the sand.
“Can I get some back-up, navy squeals~?”
Taking advantage of the bot’s fumbling, Liz begins to charge in, pincering it between her and the fleet of rat sized boats surfacing to fire cannonballs at its back. The robot is sturdy and takes the hits well, but they prevent it from regaining composure, Heat barely blocking the underhand swing of Liz’s bat, but the rat just releases its handle and lets it smash into the robot’s eye while the rat previously pitched struggles to stay balanced atop its head.
“Bring in the hunters!”
Another troupe of rats emerge from the sand and volley hook-ended ropes all around Heat, easily pulling it backwards in time for Liz to have her heel put back on by a spare critter and delivering a swift punt to the robot’s groin, then reeling her leg back and kicking it square in the chest, sending the bot flying back into the water!
“Ooo, there’s no WAY that just happened! Could the battle be over before it really even started?!”
“Babe, you already know the answer to that.”
Kicking her heel off for the very rat that put it on her to go scrambling after it, the Rat Queen resummons her bat, her battle sense shining through her bravado in preparing for the way the water begins boiling in spots and freezing over in others.
“Ugh, I hate humidity. Subma-rats, gimme an eye under there,” Liz orders, pulling out her phone and seeming to watch a live feed from underwater while steam spreads over the water, ALL over the water. It’s hard to see any part of the surface once steam covers the entirety of the arena’s water and trails over the sand in wisps.
“Where the hell...Sky Rats, start clearin’ the air!”
From out of the steam, a squadron of rats in propeller planes swoops out and dives back in, clearing the air they travel through until I see Liz’s ears and whiskers twitch.
“FALL BA--”
Before her order is even out, a shattering sound echoes through the stadium over the murmurs of the crowd, Liz coughing up blood and wiping it off her lips with her sleeve, her glare intensifying as she twists around to glare daggers at the shape now visible through the mists. Atop a frozen platform, Heat Box stands, blocks of ice with a sky rat in each being moved through a mist with a more vibrant blue hue. The blocks move towards Heat Box before it crushes another in its powerful robotic hand, making Liz stagger and cover her mouth, swallowing back her pain this time.
“[Analysis complete] [Commencing extermination]”
“ANALYZE THIS, CUNT!! TO THE FURNACE OF WAR!!” Liz shouts, tossing her phone into the air and batting it, knocking the next frozen rat out of the way of Heat Box’s hand just in time as the rat charges in once more.
“AND THE FIGHT BEGINS IN EARNEST!!”
“Took them long enough.”
Once the frozen rat dings against the stadium wall, Heat seems to wobble slightly, but the formula at its feet glows still, the robot raising its arms as blue blood spurts into the air, crystalizing quickly before being hurled seemingly telekinetically towards Liz. The Rat Queen side steps one volley of shots while a troupe of bucket capped rats shoot other icicles out of the air, allowing Liz to approach safely enough until she’s within the robot’s range of steam.
“[Effective range assumed]”
The rat queen is stopped in her tracks the moment she steps into the blue steam, her claw frozen to the sand as more mist surrounds her, eyes going wide and hands reaching for her throat as she takes another breath.
“[Apologies this could not last any longer] [I will be taking your breath now]”
Long streams of blood spew from its hands before freezing into blades while ice crawls up her leg, and yet, even without her voice, I can see the rat snickering through her grin as Heat steps off its platform and approaches her...and trips from the subma-rats bashing their ships against the sides of the ice.
Though its twin slashes continue towards Liz, she seemingly takes both willingly, moving through the gashes on either arm and grabbing the robot by the shoulders, pulling it forward and bashing its chest into her now frozen knee. Despite its body cracking further, Heat continues slashing, one sword being caught in the now bleeding claw of the rat, but the other seems about to connect, only for a sudden sky rat to come out and dive bomb into the robot’s hand! I’d been so focused on the two main fighters, I didn’t even notice the actual furnaces new rats had been manning to unthaw the remaining pilot!
With one sword shattered, part of Heat focuses on rebalancing itself, but the other only fights against Liz’s claw more.
“[Opening detected] [Assuming direct contr--”
Before that thought can even be finished, however, Liz yanks its sword to her face, barely being able to breathe through the pain of having the robot’s blood invading her own, yet she still opens wide and chomps straight through the hilt of the blade, growling out a raspy “Like hell yous is.”
Letting go of the useless chunk of ice in its hand, Heat Box instead goes to grab at the open wounds on either side of Liz’s arms, seeming to take her words as a challenge, and yet, by the look of the rat queen’s devious smile, all is going according to plan. She opens her mouth wide and allows one of the furnace rats that had climbed onto her shoulder to throw hot coals into her throat, allowing her to scream bloody murder once more
“HHHHHHAAAAAAAHHH-- START OPERATING, GIRLS!!”
Immediately, something seems off about Heat, all the more evident by the error codes flashing onto its monitor as Liz turns the tables on it, unable to allow its blood to enter her as her own literally crawls through the open vessels of the robot in the shape of rats! They push back the blue blood, crawling up further into Heat Box as Liz brings her claws to the bot’s cheeks and her hunters return to toss their hooks in the cracks on its chest, only becoming wider as its outer shell pulses and throbs.
“Tell that fucker Hal-- He’s next--”
Liz barely manages to cough that out as the robot’s chest cavity bursts open, revealing its blue heart beating a mile a minute while the little rats stitch each artery shut. It almost seems like there’s actual fear in Heat Box’s eye as Liz shoves them back, and in the blink of an eye, unholsters her rifle and shoots a single bullet into its heart, an explosion of blue splattering all over her as she turns her back to it and shakes her head. The entire stadium is a mixture of excitement and disgust, all while the rat queen shrugs.
“I told ya...I’m the boss.”
The crowd roars in spectacle, along with the announcers popping off in their room.
“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!! The Rat Queen retains her seat upon the underworld’s throne in bloody spectacle!!”
“It’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about the FCC down here.”
Despite all the fanfare, Liz seems bothered, glancing back at the limp remains of the robot, squinting, and while the spectators celebrate a gorey victory on behalf of Liz, I listen in a little closer and hear a slightly different from usual voice echo faintly from Heat Box’s head.
“[B…] [Boss…?]”
A liquid poison deadlier than the sickest concoction of toxic substances gleams in the rat queen’s eye as her grin falls along with her bat, falling swiftly and mercilessly upon the bot’s head piece, smashing it once, twice, again and again until all that remains is scrap metal. Without so much as a final quip, Liz turns on her heel and returns to the extending bridge leading back to us. Two rats return her heels, and another her phone, slipping it into her pocket before she shoves her hands in them, sitting on our bench and allowing a group of rats to tend to her wounds and mend her clothes.
“You wanna explain yourself and your lil’ outburst, miss rat?”
Her usual smug bravado masks any emotion I might otherwise glean from her, chuckling and shaking her head.
“Oh, poor Cat Kitten, so desperate for answers~ Now, whys would I tell yous anything that’d make you hate me less~?”
