The Tournament of Death

IM SORRY!! I took more than 8 months to write this because I didn't know whether I would write it or not. Well, it's here again, and I am goin' to finish it. So, here we go.

xalanthas@yahoo.com

Warning: As you can CLEARLY see from the title, this story is very violent. If you are underage, do NOT read this.

Chapter 2 The Match

Kovu was awakened by the loud snap of light. His eyes burned, and he struggled to get up. His cold cage still surrounded him, so it was proof enough that he wasn't dreaming. Kovu looked around, and saw that Xal was sleeping, as well as all the other lions around him. Kovu wondered why he had been the only one to wake up. Suddenly, light burst forth from behind him, and he turned to see what it was. To blinding lights were fixed on his eyes. Suddenly, two shiny, tooth-like objects slid under his cage and lifted him up. He heard a roar and a plume of smoke come from behind his carrier, and Kovu knew he was being carried by some sort of beast. To his amazement, a human was seemingly commanding it. The Human sat behind the creature's odd, bar-like face, with a bunch of levers before him. Whenever the human pulled on a certain lever, the beast would perform a certain task. Kovu was obscured from his vision when another human from behind whom he did not see covered his cage with a dark blanket.

Kovu's only senses were now sound and smell, and Kovu tried hard and listened. He heard cheering, the roaring of beasts similar to his, and could hear heavy footsteps on dirt. Kovu's cage was dropped, and landed on a solid steel platform. With a loud clang, the beast removed its tusks, and Kovu heard it rumble away. The blanket was removed, and a group of humans surrounded him. Kovu, although a superior animal, felt weak and naked to their gazing eyes.

"Quite a lion ya' got there, Mack.", one said.

"Nah. I caught him out in the jungle. He was sneaking around, someplace in the jungle when me and my boys caught 'em.", another said. Kovu only wished he could understand them.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I know a good fighter when I see one." it repeated.

"Yah, yah, yah, we'll see soon enough..." the last one replied, and covered his cage again. Kovu sat in darkness, listening to the footsteps outside. It seemed as if they were rambling around, doing nothing. Suddenly, his cage was pushed backwards, and the cage began to pick up speed. Kovu tried to hold on, but his claws could not hold onto the steel floor. It slammed to a stop, and Kovu hit the side of his head hard on the bars. Kovu slowly rubbed his cheek.

"Oww that hurt..." he said.

The sheet was ripped off of his cage and Kovu saw where he was. Around his cage were all gray walls, except for in front of him. In front of him was a single opening, the same size as his cage. Beyond that opening was a huge room, the same as Xaal had described it.

The Arena.

Kovu gulped down saliva, and let out a small sigh. This was it.

Suddenly, his cage door slid open, allowing him to leave the cage for the first time. Kovu tentatively peered outside the cage and into the Arena.

The Arena was a circular construction, with a flat floor. With were four squares in different places on the Arena floor, each marked with a Black and Yellow striped pattern. The walls were trimmed with red and black. Above there were a clear material Kovu could not decipher, and millions of humans were staring at him, raising fists and howling like banshees, clapping their hands together and jumping up and down.

Kovu slinked out of the cage cautiously, keeping his head low. He heard something slam behind him, and he turned back.

His cage was slammed shut. Again he swallowed hard.

He heard three similar clangs before him, and he readdressed his vision forward.

Three square holes were before him, each containing a creature covered by the same blanket that covered Kovu's cage.

He could hear low growls that sounded somewhat familiar.

A voice from above crackled, and Kovu tried to listen.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! WELCOME TO THE SHOW THAT REDEFINED SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!! THE TOURNAMENT OF DEATH!" The voice said aloud. Kovu once again wished he could understand.

"IN THE RED ZONE, THE MIGHTY KING OF AFRICA!! THE BEASTLY LION!!" the voice crackled again.

"YES, AS MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LION HAS USUALLY BEEN ONE OF THE TOP PLAYERS IN THIS TOURNAMENT. BUT, NEVER HAVE YOU SEEN THEM GO UP AGAINST THEIR MOST VICIOUS AND DANGEROUS RIVAL. AND NOT JUST ONE, BUT THREE!! OH, YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE GOING TO SEE A SPECTACLE UNFOLD TONIGHT!! LET'S RUMBLE AND ROLL!!"

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the crowd roared with joy and anticipation, causing more clamor than ever.

As Kovu watched the crowd through the clear material, he never noticed the covers of the cages being taken off, and the doors of the cages sliding opened. The three creatures crawled out simultaneously.

Kovu watched the crowd's bloodthirsty lust for death, and suddenly the lights around him were shut off, and the only lights were the ones revealing the arena floor.

And Kovu's enemy.

Three Hyenas were closing in on him, each revealing their sharp fangs and crude teeth. Kovu lowered into his fighting stance and growled sharply. The hyenas responded with barks and laughs, saliva spilling from each of their mouths.

"How we gonna kill 'em?" growled one hyena.

"Let's rip him to shreds, and throw the remainders to the humans! They always love that..." answered another.

"Nahh," responded another, "let's kill 'em, and then let's eat 'em, and then we'll throw the remainders to the crowd.

The three looked at each other in agreement and simultaneously said,

"YEAH!"

The three turned their gaze back to Kovu and began to encircle him.

Kovu growled at hissed at them with temerity, even though in his mind he could not help but worry. Kovu kept his eyes on them, but one would somehow manage to sneak past him and snap at his tail.

Kovu knew if he did not do something he would certainly be killed. He suddenly remembered everything he was fighting for, and rage suddenly began to boil inside of him.

Kovu shut his eyes and tried to feel their presence. Kovu felt great evil around the hyenas, and could sense their aura as they moved. He felt a slight change in their bodies. He grinned. They were becoming confused.

"What the hell is he doing?" Asked one.

"Who cares? Let's do this!" Barked back another, and Kovu felt one get ready to pounce him from in front.

He grinned evilly.

With the element of surprise, Kovu pounced like a lightning bolt, and caught the hyena totally unprepared and defenseless. Kovu tackled the creature, its head whipping back with the force of Kovu's assault. Roaring cheers could be heard from above.

Kovu stood over the petrified hyena, and sunk his vicious fangs into the creature's neck. The hyena screamed aloud, only to be drowned out by the roaring cheers of the crowd. The bitter taste of blood filled Kovu's mouth.

Kovu suddenly felt burning pain on his shoulder and hind leg. He roared and whipped around. The Hyena biting his shoulder lost its balance but held true, his teeth locked firmly on his shoulder. The Hyena biting his leg did not fare as well. Kovu easily released himself from the bite and swapped the hyena across the face. Blood shot from the hyena's mouth as if it held a mouthful of water.

Kovu spun in circles, snapping and clawing viciously at the hyena on his shoulder. The hyena hastily tried to keep from Kovu's attacks, but stay on his shoulder. Kovu, already becoming very agitated, formed a stratagem. He began to run as fast as he could towards the nearest wall. Before the hyena realized his intent, it was too late. Kovu launched himself and the hyena towards the wall. The hyena's skull came into contact with the wall with a hard smash. He would have possibly survived with only pain if it wasn't for Kovu's weight crashing down on him. When they had impacted, Kovu heard a loud snap of bone. Kovu hoped it wasn't his.

The hyena released his grip and Kovu jumped away from him. He got into his stance, ready for a counter-attack. The hyena stayed slumped on the floor, a pool of blood gathering around the head, the snap of bone Kovu heard being the broken jaw which the hyena displayed, its chin touching its neck.

Kovu sighed with relief when he felt a bite on his neck and another on his tail.

Kovu grabbed at the hyena's body biting his neck, and clawed furiously at it. Kovu saw crimson littering the floor like rain, but Kovu did not cease, only dug his claws harder and deeper.

The hyena tugging at his tail only proved to heighten his annoyance. Kovu was near on the edge of going berserk.

The roaring of the crowd was deafening.

Kovu finally got a window and took the full advantage of it. He brang the hyena close and bit into its side. The hyena screamed as Kovu crushed his ribs like sticks. The hyena immediately slumped to the ground like a bag of flesh. The hyena remained alive, but Kovu could not finish it off. There was still the last one to take care of.

Kovu whipped around and smashed the hyena over his head. Both Kovu and the hyena yowled; the hyena from Kovu's blow and Kovu from its hard head.

The two began to circle each other, and Kovu got a good look of who he was fighting.

This was a large hyena. Very large for his species. The hyena stood nearly as tall as Kovu, and was extremely muscled and stocky. Kovu saw his massive jaw muscles, protruding his cheeks like a cub filling his mouth with food.

The hyena jumped at him, and suddenly Kovu remembered an old trick his mother had taught him. The hyena opened its massive jaws, ready for Kovu's attack.

Again, he would catch a hyena by surprise.

Instead of dodging or parrying the attack, Kovu plunged his paw into the creature's mouth, his paw easily reaching to middle of its throat.

The hyena was truly surprised. It stared at Kovu with huge eyes of horror. It didn't even try to bite his forearm.

"Bite me, now, tough guy..." Kovu said sinisterly.

He unretracted his claws and dug them deep inside the hyena's throat. He could feel hot blood begin to stain his paw. The hyena tried to scream, but could not. Kovu dug deeper, and he could already see the impressions of his claws rising from the hyena's neck. The hyena's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and Kovu finally found what he was looking for. Getting a good, clawed grasp of it, Kovu yanked the jugular of the hyena from his mouth, leaving a gaping hole in the hyena's neck. Blood flowed from the hyena's neck like a waterfall, slapping at the floor, spilling blood everywhere. Kovu stared at the hyena, shocked at what he had just done. The hyena, looking at him with death-stare, simply fell to the ground.

Kovu's rage had subsided, and he breathed heavily at the three, lifeless corpses around him in the blood filled arena. Kovu realized the jugular he held in his clawed paw, and he screamed with shock and disgust, dropping it and shaking his paw, as if it were infected with a deadly virus. Kovu looked up, and saw the crowd cheering with more clamor than ever. They held their hands up at him, either with a fist with a thumb sticking up, or portraying the back of their hand with their thumb, index, and small, fifth finger extended. They shouted and screamed at him, pounding at the invisble barrier with outright joy and delight. Kovu looked around him and saw the three corpses, all lying in crimson pools of fresh blood.

"Why do you cheer?" he asked them silently. There noise did not cease.

Kovu heard footsteps from behind him, and whirled around to look. Kovu saw 6 humans, all huddled up together. Four held shields with odd looking rods, each rod had an insect like pincer at the end. The fifth held a longer rod with a thin cord around it. The last one held a shorter rod, with a small needle at the end.

All six wore complete black with a refelcting helmet, hiding their true faces.

The first four circled around him, and Kovu backed up. He backed into a wall, and looked to see that he had. Suddenly, he felt two cold, gray objects grab at his forepaws. Kovu, shocked, tried to wrench free from them, but the humans held fast. They both pulled in unison, and another snapped his rod to his hind leg. Kovu roared, trying to get free, desperately kicking at the last human attempting to clamp his free hind leg. He felt a cord slip onto his neck and tighten until he choked. Kovu tried to bite at the rod, but the human kept it just out of his tantalizing reach. The human used his distraction and clamped his leg.

Kovu was trapped.

"NOO!!!" He shouted, trying to wring himself free. The humans pulled him apart, keeping him still. The human holding the rod pulled up, painfully keeping his head high. The last human with the short, needled rod, approached him calmly. He took what seemed to be a protective casing off the needle.

"NOOOO!!!" Kovu pleaded, thrashing about violently. One human lost his balance, and fell before him. Kovu raised a paw to hit it, but the human pulled its shield just in time to block it. The human quickly got back up and once more held Kovu fast.

Kovu turned his attention to the human with the needled rod. He pointed it at Kovu, and plunged it into his side.

Kovu roared, and he felt hazy and drunken. The humans released their rods from his body, and left him standing. Kovu tried to attack, but his body responded so slowly he could barely breathe. He fell to his side and saw the blinding lights above. They seemed to move closer to him. His vision began to narrow, and he saw that the humans still stared down at him through their masks.

Kovu fell into unconsciousness.

Chapter 3 coming soon.

Like I said, I am sorry for taking so long to post this story. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as you anticipated. e-mail me!