Careful Not To Break Reality

'Just a reminder, everybody, that the highest three bids will be allowed to challenge each other after five bids are performed!'

Right as the leaderboard for the bidding for Monstrana is being constantly updated as more and more interest for the humanoid looking Aquarian peaks, the current leader in the bid goes as far as giving thirty thousand BP credits! With the newest raise, a majority of the contestants have pulled away from this fight, and only precisely two bidders were left in the final stages.

The price went up to thirty five thousand with yet another generous jump before taking incrementally smaller steps. Each bidder weighing against the other and making chess moves that will put them in the best position to win the bid.

It wasn't long before increases in bid became more and more neglible, and the host had to remind the minimal jumps are ten credits.

'So...we have a stalemate at thirty eight thousand five hundred and sixty credits...the bidder at the second place, would you choose to raise the bid, or perform a challenge?' The host asked invitingly, almost a mocking undertone that can easily provoke any inexperienced bidder. There were some loud chatters amongst Aquarians from the other corner of the arena, and everybody's eyes shifted over to see a young Aquarian teenager, probably the son of a well known Gangster, shuffling an elderly skinny Aquarian who looked vaguely familiar to Zel to the side. He was helped up, and the teenager pointed his fingers and yelled.

'I raise! Fourth thousand credits!'

'Fourth five thousand.' Suddenly, another voice came from the other side of the room, and this newcomer instantly jumped to the front of the bid. The beings in the room began to chatter excitedly, as the show down between fat pockets are just about as entertaining as what the items themselves could offer.

The same thing happened another five times, when the teenager continually raises the price by the minimal of ten credits, and this mysterious bidder raises it one thousand credits at a time, completely ignoring the feeble actions of the Aquarian brat.

The teenager could not believe what had just happened. The easy catch was snatched away right from his underneath his nose, and all he bit into was his tongue. The Aquarian slave girl Monstrona, despite her wicked morphology, actually had a rather attractive face. With some fine tuning, she could be a fine toy in his collection. He gritted his teeth and scanned the arena for this mysterious bidder, but he saw nobody like that in the darkness.

'I declare a challenge! Whoever the hell you are!'

'Are you certain?' The host asks, 'and you, mysterious bidder, would you accept the challenge?'

'Explain the mechanics of the challenge.' The rumbling voice spoke again, and it sounded vaguely familiar to Zel, though he could not figure out exactly who that voice belonged to.

'Ah, so we have a brand new bidder here.' The Aquarian teenager is finally able to locate where the voice came from, he pointed his sharp finger right at the origin of the voice, his extravagant fur coat slid down his sleeves and revealed a sharp claw underneath, 'if you don't even know the rules, then get the hell out of here.'

'Are you so threatened by my presence that you do not care to explain?'

'Why would I waste my time on a dead man?'

'What do you have to lose? It's not like you are going to die the next minute...'

'NO! THE ONE WHO...'

'Alright alright.....' Seeing the quarrel between the two bidders had gone from rival taunts to straight up street level arguments, the host finally decided that the entertainment factor of this chat has declined too far and stepped in, 'I shall explain the rules to this gentleman.

'The challenge occurs when there has been only two bidders left in the bid, and five rounds of raising the bid have been performed at minimum increment of ten BP credits. Upon which, the lower bidder is allowed to perform a challenge for the bid, while offer something of satisfactory value. The winner of the initial bid has a right to refuse the challenge, though if the initial winner loses the challenge, he/she will lose the bid. If the initial winner wins the challenge, then he/she keep the bid, as well as the price offered by the second bidder.

'The mechanics of the challenge itself is simple. It's a fight in the ring, and the aim is to make your opponent submit or die. Only melee weapons are allowed, and no armor may be worn.'

'Simple enough.'

'And each party may propose a fighter. What is your offering, Lord Bonoleon?'

'Forty thousand credits, when I should have gotten the slave! You can still back out now!'

'And you, mysterious Sir, do you choose to accept?'

'Of course.' The mysterious man finally stood up, and the a beam of light shined in his direction, revealing that it is indeed Sir Deva who's behind all this, 'Who wouldn't say no to free money?'

The crowd hissed, while some laughed and cheered. It looks like a show is about to begin.

'Which fighter do you propose?' The host swung back to Lord Bonoleon, the Aquarian youngster who started it all.

'Lord, please consider carefully!' The Old Aquarians surrounding him urged him to calm down and be wise, but Lord Bonoleon has finally had enough of their hindrance. With a swing of his hands, he slashes across the face of one of the butler looking Aquarians around him, who fell to the ground screaming and holding his face. Zel and Sir Deva both raised his eyebrows at the quickness of the Aquarian's movements.

'Don't waste my time. I will be fighting.'

As some of the other butlers tended to the injured one's face, no one is there to stop the Lord Bonoleon. He marched across the rows of seating and declined down into the center of the arena, when the cage was raised overhead and a octagon showed itself from underneath the panels that folded to the sides. Blood stains still remained from the previous fight, but the surfaces are cleaned the best the droids can.

'And you, mysterious...'

'...Sir Deva.' Sir Deva said as he descends the stair to meet Lord Bonoleon, 'I fight for my own name.'

'Very well. The host nodded towards each other, and cleared their throats.

'WELCOME YOU BLOOD L.U.S.TED RICH BASTARDS TO THE ARENA OF GODS!!!! WHERE RULES ARE BENEATH YOU, LIVES ARE WORTHLESS, AND YOU CAN DO WHATEVER THE F.U.C.K YOU WANT WITH YOUR GOD DAMN MONEY!!!!!!'

'NOW! WHAT'S WANTS TO SEE BLOOD!'

'BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!'

The crowd roared and screamed as the entire arena shook due to the sudden surge of energy. The peace of a high-end auctioning event was torn apart, and all that's left are the craze of the rich. They all started stomping their feet in rhythm, and Zel kept getting bounced out of his seat.

The lighting also changed as the gentle layer of lights focused solely on the display of the bid was switched off and replaced with the disco themed lights of blue and red as it pans all the way around the arena going back and forth before bathing the octagon in an intense white. There is nowhere to hide in the ring.

'These people are bat-shit crazy...' Zel had dropped his drink to the floor out of shock when the rampage begun, and the cleaning droids were constantly kicked around as it tried to come and clean up the mess, 'this isn't an auction with a side bonus of fighting, this is a tournament of fighting with auctions as the timeouts!'

'FIGHTERS! GET YOUR ARSES TO THE WEAPONS STAND! NOW!' The human host yelled into the microphone, and the Aquarian host made a series of random noises like rappers in the backgrounds of the latest diss album.

Sir Deva walked around the ring one way, as Lord Bonoleon walked around it the other way. They both met by the weapons stand, and a modified riot control droid which is the referee for this fight gathered them around.

'You may selected as many melee weapons as possible, however, inspection is needed to ensure no armor may be worn throughout the fight.' The referee droid said, and turned to Lord Bonoleon, who took off his giant fur coat and threw it on the ground behind him. He is wearing a thin layer of exoskeleton, though it is clear from the basic design that the it acts basically as a suit of armor. There are always leeway for Aquarians, however, as the lines between some of the most high-end exoskeletons are basically indistinguishable from light armor.

'This, is considered light armor, as it's thickness exceeds...' The referee droid pointed his finger towards Lord Bonoleon's c.h.e.s.t plate and was slapped away with a quick swing of his arms.

'Well, I think you might want to reconsider that.' Lord Bonoleon snapped his finger, and three thousand credits were quickly transferred towards the referee's account, which in turn went into the host's account.

'I suppose it is acceptable upon second viewing.' The droid turned around stiffly and inspected Sir Deva's. He had took off the heavy armor he usually wears and also the thin layer of clothing underneath. And then the underlayer. Some began to whistle from the crowds and boo as he went topless and turned towards the weapons stand to find a weapon to fight with.

'I suppose... you don't have armor.'

'Now, Lord Benoleon, please selected your weapons.'

'None needed, I already got what I need.' Lord Bonoleon glared towards Sir Deva with his tiny eyes trying to elicit some sort of reaction from him, but Sir Deva had his eyes locked on the rows of melee weapons on display. He didn't get what he wanted, so he simple snarled and spun away. He walked towards the octagon and sprinted towards it before planting his feet hard and flipped right over the six foot high fence.

The crowd roared at his explosive entrance demonstrating feats of athleticism never before seen in an Aquarian. As Zel shuffled his feet nervously and waited for the fight to begin, he wasn't even aware that he is somewhat...worried for Sir Deva? Maybe he has grown a sense of respect after creepily living in his ship for the past few days, and maybe he understood that despite being his enemy, Sir Deva is a human working towards his goals just like he is. It doesn't excuse for what the Absolute Being is doing, but Zel isn't one to think about the greater moral obligations or wild reaching consequences. He fight for himself, and now his friends.

He haven't seen Sir Deva in actual close quarter combat despite their somewhat entangled history with one another. Zel is rather excited to finally witness the power of the man who dragged a ship from relativistic travel lanes created by acceleration gates with his artifacts. So far, that may be the greatest single feat of power seen in this series.

However, he doubt Sir Deva would use his artifact to fight such an opponent. It wouldn't fit someone like him. He is determined, discipline, decisive and direct.

'Now, Sir Deva, please select your weapons.' The referee droid turned towards Sir Deva and said. Sir Deva nodded towards the droid, and then continued his scan through the weapons.

'You are taking a hell of a long time to pick a weapon. Too afraid to die so you are just wasting everybody's time?' Lord Bonoleon taunted, but the mountain of a human did not response.

Finally, after much consideration, he reached his hand out, and grabbed a single weapon. Those people seated within the arena who had a direct view at the weapons stand gasped in shock, and heckling was thrown his way.

'You dirty human! What do you think you are doing!'

Zel, unfortunately, sat out of sight of the weapons stand, and could not understand what could possibly cause such an uproar. Then, as Sir Deva moved from behind, it became clear why that's the case. Zel chuckled once and shook his head.

Within Sir Deva's gigantic hands, are a single Aqurian blade. The pride and joy of Aquarian martial arts, now held in the hand of a human.

'Have you gone insane?' Lord Bonoleon tilted his head to the side and asked coldly.

'No, I am just thinking of the best weapon to humiliate you with.' Sir Deva spun the blade in a quick spiral, feeling it's weight and momentum. Compared to the traditional human long sword, this had the feel of a short Katana. The blade was a carefully constructed thing of beauty, however, and even Sir Deva can appreciate its cultural significance towards the Aquarian Culture. Absolute Being is a mostly human-centric organization, though he was never one that held anything against the other two species.

'You are certainly confident, especially for a FOOL.' Lord Bonoleon said mockingly, He stood up tall and threw his arms to the sides in a pose of intimidation. He stood a whole head taller than Sir Deva, and his wingspan about that much longer two. However, he is built different than most Aquarians Sir Deva has faced off against in his many years of combat, 'I am not like any of the Aquarian's you have faced.'

'No, you are all the same to me. Dead or defeated.' Sir Deva pointed the blade tip at Lord Bonoleon and said casually, his heart began to pump faster and faster as his exposed body warms up.

'Those Aquarians that relied on their little swords are weak, they live by the wave, and die by the wave. I learned from the best humans and the best Rockies in the wild region, and I fight like no one else.' Lord Bonoleon said, quickly whipped his hands to the side before bring it back in and stood in a combat stance, having two of his arms down on the ground with his legs as he crutches down, and then four more arms raised up in front of him, 'you will realize the mistake you have made soon enough.'

As he finishes his sentence, Lord Bonoleon sprung forward, putting all of the power through the arms and legs on the floor and extending it, propelling him quickly through the air like a tiger jumping into this prey. He was going for the kill in his first move, and this is exactly how Sir Deva likes it.

Zel had never seen an Aquarian move this fast, the things that always held back Aquarians in their movements on land are their reduced speed due to how their body evolved to move underwater. They can move about just fine with a little bit of training and a good set of exoskeleton, but any well trained human can easily outpace an Aquarian on land.

Not this one though, as he moved just like a large land animal on old earth, including his ferocity and aggression.

Sir Deva didn't make a move when Lord Bonoleon launched himself at him. He had his eyes locked on this giant flying piece of meat, and return the blade to his side.

'DIE!!!' Lord Bonoleon yelled, and threw his hands at Sir Deva in an array of punches, two of them going up top and crushing his temples, one grappling on his shoulder and the other aiming straight at his stomach. Then, right as the claws are going to connect, Sir Deva made his move.

He shifted ever so slightly to the left that all Lord Bonoleon saw was the twitch of his shoulders, and he immediately stepped out of the range of his attack.

Lord Bonoleon was surprised by how well the human moved, as he was alwasy the faster one in the ring, no matter who he fought. Be it the gangsters that rose through the ranks, the mercenaries who had been in the field for decades, or monsters someone caught from an unknown planet. Lord Bonoleon is always the fastest.

Today's the first time his speed was challenged, though he had to admit that he was holding back a bit before since he did not think the human would be able to evade this attack this late, it's almost like he was testing out when the latest moment to evade would be, and chose to move at the time that he did.

Lord Bonoleon's forward momentum carried him forward all the way towards the edge of the Octagon ring and he threw his arms at the fences of the ring, planted his feet hard, and charged at Sir Deva once again.

He stood in the same pose as before, his eyes still locked on his target. This time, Lord Bonoleon mixes up his combination of attacks with his bottom two arms coming from the sides and eliminating any possibility of attack which the other two arms still went for his head and lower torso positions. For an instant before contact, Lord Bonoleon saw a smile from Sir Deva's face, and the next thing he saw was the bottom of his boot.

'Sir Deva kicked Lord Bonoleon right in the face! OH MY F.U.C.K.I.N.G GOD can you believe it! How you like the bottom of the boot?' The host were speechless at the initial battle, and the first contact between the fighters finally woke them up. The lights in the room moved around in a frenzy, and the crowd shouted in unison with a low voice:

'how.....you.....like...the...bottom...of...the...boot...?'

It's really amazing to Zel how the crowd turned from booing Sir Deva with all their hearts and souls to mocking their proud Aquarian representatives. Perhaps all the wanted to see is a good show.

Meanwhile, Lord Bonoleon lied face flat on the ground after the direct kick to his face hit him like a freight train and sends a thundering bang throughout his body. His limbs are still shaken by the impact this many seconds later, and the rapid breathing isn't helping him get up enough to defend against another attack.

He slammed his hands on the ground as streams of Aquarian blood flowed out the tiny gaps from his mask. He need to get up, he had to get up!

HE IS LORD BONOLEON OF THE SEA SERPENT'S BIGGEST GANG, son of the Gang Leader King Bonoleon! He will not be taken down by a random human in the ring!

But seriously, how the f.u.c.k did he move that fast? Lord Bonoleon wondered. He trained all his life in mastering the art of fighting, and yet his movements still seemed like snails pace compared to the human in front of him. There is no time to ponder and w.h.i.n.e, he need to change his strategies. Instead of crushing this human with his strength and speed, Lord Bonoleon will actually need to use all the skills he has acc.u.mulated up to this point. He will fight Sir Deva, as one martial artist against another.

'Get up.' Sir Deva pointed his blade tip once again at the grounded Aquarian prince and said with his thundering low voice, 'I am just getting entertained.'