“General. I was wondering when you’d show up.” Bi spat, venom dripping from his fangs. He was all Visi now with no skin suit to irritate his skin. He grinned menacingly. He felt like he’d been waiting for this his whole life - the chance to finally kill the famed Shishi of Mato. They would write books about this day.

“So sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s get on with this, shall we?” Yongguk felt sick to his stomach. He was fighting back the urge to upchuck over the cement. As confident as the Viceroy was in him, he didn’t see it. He had that sinking feeling in his gut that told him he was going to lose.  

“Yes, let’s.” Bi raised his hand and pressed down on the control orb he was holding. The other circular devices around them whirred and buzzed to live, creating bright blue lines sizzling with electricity to form a rectangle around them. This was their arena. The Visi surrounding them on all sides cheered. They were perched atop buildings, statues, and even in alleys. Needless to say, the three Matokians felt incredibly small.

“General,” Youngjae laid a hand on Yongguk’s shoulder, “d’vak kohra.” He whispered. It was Mato speech for “good luck,” because the younger knew his friend would need all the luck in the universe then. Daehyun cleared his throat and handed Yongguk his weapons and gave him a sympathetic look. The General would be on his own for this, as per Novai rules.

A small part of the line in front of Bang opened, and he stepped through to enter the field. Bi was already there, smiling in anticipation. This was it; he reached the point of no return. There was no changing to Matokian physique – there were only three weapons, one opponent, and the arena lines that would fry him if he stepped over them.

Yongguk’s head snapped up when Bi snarled and lunged for him, swinging a long energy sword. He barely had time to duck and step back before he was attacked again. He managed to get in a few swings, but none of them hit their mark. Bang grit his teeth and swung again, this time successfully embedding his sword in the reptilian’s skin.

Bi howled and swiped him with his other hand, knocking Yongguk off his feet to slide across the cement. He lurched to his feet, shaking off the skin that had peeled free. Bits of fur matted with blood poked through. He planted his feet and pushed off the ground, launching into the air and swinging, but only to have Bi knock him away with the energy sword.

Bang’s sword slid out of the playing field. His side was buzzing in pain, but he forced himself to his feet. Daehyun threw him another sword, this one infused with a bit of Mato energy to counterattack Bi’s advances.

The Visi commander was the first to charge. Every time he swung or jabbed, Yongguk would duck or slide out of the way. It turned into a twisted form of keep-away in a matter of minutes. Bang only lost his footing once, but it gave Bi enough of a window to knock the General’s weapon outside the line. Yongguk cursed and scrambled closer to Daehyun, who was waiting with a hunting knife.

“Last one, General!” Dae called as he threw it, as if Bang needed a reminder. As Bi ran toward him, he slid toward the floor, tripping the Visi and embedding the knife in his leg before pulling back. When Bi attempted another attack, he somehow managed to knock that blasted energy sword out of bounds and nick him in the leg again.

Bi punched Yongguk square in the jaw and darted away to get his second weapon. The Matokian didn’t feel satisfied about finally landing a crucial hit. As a Visi and with Bang trapped in a skin-suit, Bi was almost twice his size and much more powerful. It didn’t help that Yongguk was still healing from the last fight he’d been in. On the positive side, he hadn’t been wounded as deep as Bi yet.

Yongguk and Bi wrestled each other across the arena, stabbing and kicking and biting at each other as they went. After losing his weapon, Bi shoved his opponent back. Bang stumbled and almost fried himself on the boundary line before righting himself and stumbling forward.

From the sidelines, Youngjae and Dae were looking on, barely even daring to blink. Daehyun was grinding his teeth together, a sign of nervousness. Youngjae didn’t blame him. Neither of them believed Bang would be coming out of this skirmish alive. They could only hope that, when he did die, he went out with a bang.

The two aliens were a blur of movement and angry sounds – more so on the Visi’s part. The reptilian species were cheering and snarling loudly at their leader, getting louder with each successful hit. The noise was enough to make Daehyun’s stomach churn in anger. He hardened his gaze and focused on Bang, but immediately wanted to avert his eyes.

Daehyun hated everything about the concept of a Novai. He considered it just another excuse for people to fight and kill each other. Granted, he was Matoki’s weapons master and even taught a class on fighting styles and techniques back home, but that didn’t mean he loved fighting. He was old-fashioned; he preferred to play by the rules. It was one of the reasons he and Commander Tats never got along. Himchan always believed in “gaining the upper hand even if you use dirty tricks to get it.”

Youngjae was practically wringing his hands together as he watched the opponents slashing and dodging each other. He was barely registering Daehyun’s obvious anger out of his peripheral vision. He didn’t like the rules just as much as his friend, but he knew his General was beyond the point of helping. Even if he was, stepping in would probably cost them the planet. He sighed. Think of Mato. Mato is dying, and we need this planet to survive… Where is that bleeping attack robot when you need him?

“One more weapon, Shishi. Then I get a free hit,” Bi’s mouth twisted in a grotesque smile. He took a few steps forward, successfully beginning to back his opponent into a corner. He barely noticed his open wounds or burning knees – he was too close to finally destroying this creature. “And do you know what I’m going to do with my free hit?”

Bang clenched his teeth and planted his feet. His brain was rapidly running through any plausible escape routes, but he was coming up with nothing helpful to his situation. Bi noticed his dismay and laughed, stepping close enough to slam his foot against one of Yongguk’s scraped knees. Bang groaned and kneeled, his other leg buckling without the support of both. He raised his knife in defense, knowing Bi would stop until he could get his rant over.

Bi stood over him and hefted his weapon up to rest it on his shoulder. “I’m going to watch that traitorous head of yours roll past my feet.”

Youngjae’s head snapped to look at Daehyun. “Traitorous? What the hell does that mean?”

“Do you remember when Himchan talked about the Peace Days?”

“Yeah. Bi was on Mato?”

Daehyun nodded. “He was one of the soldier ambassadors and went with the General on a few missions. They were a great team. Commander Tats said they were called the Golden Duo.”

“I didn’t realize that was Bi.”

“Yeah, well, he’s changed a lot.”

In the arena, Bi took another step towards Yongguk, who was struggling to stand. The Visi waited until he was close to getting back on his feet before backing him further into the corner and knocking him down again. Bang groaned and tipped over, his fingers brushing over the boundary line and getting singed. He winced and pushed himself back onto his knees.

Youngjae shook his head in disgust. “What happened between them?”

“Nothing at first. Bi got promoted and went back to Vis. They didn’t see each other until the fight on Tashnu after Vis broke the alliance. Himchan said that Bi asked Yongguk to spare what little men he had left, since he’d saved Bang’s life before.”

“So then Bang refused and didn’t help?”

“Not to mention he killed Bi’s right hand soldier later on that afternoon.”

Youngjae almost whistled in disbelief.

Bang pulled back and sprung forward, slashing with the knife. He scratched a few of Bi’s scales, but the reptile bludgeoned him with his weapon and knocked the knife out of his hand. It skidded out of the arena and beyond reach. Yongguk sank to his knees in front of Bi. He’d lost too much blood – his vision was getting spotty and he felt like fainting. Maybe this was it.

“This planet is mine. I do have to thank you for putting up a bit of a challenge.” Bi grinned and raised his blade-gun, carefully bringing it down to Yongguk’s neck. He made a small cut to draw blood and make a mark. This was his free hit – his certain victory. Bi didn’t offer Bang any last words. “Night, Shishimato.”

Bang’s shoulders slumped and his eyes closed. Youngjae screamed a long string of Matokian curses and Daehyun sank to his knees.

Yongguk felt cool metal press into the skin of his neck. His mind was blank except for one thought – why so slow?

Daehyun leapt to his feet as soon as the boundary lines fizzled out. He watched as Bi’s eyes widened and a blonde figure slammed into him. Bang passed out and Bi crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Zelo made sure Bi wasn’t moving before he rose to his feet and took a few steps backwards. He turned his head and meat Daehyun’s gaze, smiling a goofy smile that was weird given the circumstances. Youngjae almost fainted from relief himself, but Daehyun gripped his shoulder.

“Call Himchan. We need to get the General home.”