The Plan

"What's the plan?!" Emile panicked, "We can't talk for too long or they'll know!"

"Just figure out how to tackle me and I'll do the rest!" Blood said.

Emile's gaze covered the entirety of the crystal blood that was pinning him to the wall.

'Is he stupid?'

Suddenly, part of the crystal encasement cracked. Then it exploded right before Blood, shards of crystal traveling across the arena and high above the crowd.

Blood intentionally stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Emile dropped onto the floor and gathered himself as fast as he could then ran at Blood.

As he was lunging towards Blood, the blood in the arena all returned to liquid and shot at the two of them, but Emile made it first.

Emile dropped on top of Blood, he released a single punch into Blood's chest hoping to make it more believable.

A second later and all the blood in the arena had recollected and arrived at the two. The blood toppled over them like a wave in the ocean, scooping them up and throwing them across the floor.

But then the blood hardened just beneath them, enough to lift them into the air. The blood started to spiral as it lifted the two higher and higher.

"Wait!" Emile screamed. "There's a guy—"

But before Emile could tell Blood, Blood launched the two of them into the air, high above the crowd. And, just like before, a thunderous boom echoed in the pit.

Time stopped and Emile's eyes slowly panned over to Blood whose left shoulder was nowhere to be found. Only a massive, bleeding hole existed in the area where his shoulder used to be.

Time sped up and Blood and Emile rocketed across the air towards the ceiling, but Blood was still conscious. He willed the blood around them to form tentacles that crashed into the ceiling first, greatly reducing their impact.

Meanwhile, the crowd stood up and left their seats, chasing after Emile and Blood, livid to see the rest of their match.

Blood and Emile slid down the wall and landed in an encirclement of people looking down at them. Blood crystallized his shoulder, but all of the tendons and muscles connecting to his left arm were destroyed. Blood effectively lost his arm.

Emile stood up first and quickly pulled Blood to his feet. With locked hands, Emile dragged Blood through the crowd towards the entrance he was brought through last time. Luckily, the crowd let them. It wasn't everyday you got to see a successful escape.

The duo burst through the crowd and ran as fast as they could towards the tunnel, but a blaring laugh resonated throughout the pit. Stepping out of the tunnel, Chief Khon blocked their path.

Emile stopped and looked around. There were a lot of other tunnels leading to the pit, but Emile had no idea where any of them went.

Khon continued to walk at them, seemingly sure the two wouldn't be able to escape, an insidious smile spread across his face.

"It seems your luck has run out!" Khon boasted.

Emile nudged Blood, pulling him from his almost delirious state. The blood from the arena pooled in the air, forming multiple globs of it above them. They thinned and stretched until blood spears hovered all around.

The spears rapidly spun in the air, a subtle hum stretching through the pit. Then, all together, the spears released and rained down on Khon.

Khon stopped advancing and put his arms up in a welcoming gesture. He closed his eyes and comfortably laid his head back.

The blood spears crashed into Khon, but they all immediately shattered on impact. Holes littered Khon's clothing, but you could see smooth, undamaged skin underneath all of them.

Khon released a leisurely yawn and outstretched his limbs, almost like he was re-enacting waking up. Emile took another step back, now really unsure of what to do.

Khon sucked in a huge inhale and opened his eyes.

"The death of luck is the beginning of despair—" he said, "a truly exquisite taste."

Emile turned to Blood and grabbed his head.

"Blood!" He yelled in his face, "Hey buddy!" He started smacking the red eyed boy, "Kinda need you right now!"

Meanwhile, Blood's eyes were shot. He couldn't focus on anything before him and the world continued to spin, a sick nausea infesting his brain.

"Over here!" A girl's voice broke out into the pit.

Emile traced the voice and found Luna jumping and waving in one of the tunnels, beckoning for them to come join her. Emile had to take this chance, even if Luna herself were a trap all along.

He tossed Blood's good arm over his back and hurried towards Luna, who was thankfully the opposite direction of her father. Pushing through the crowd once more, Emile and Blood made their way to Luna.

"Luna!" Khon roared through the pit, "You dare go against me!"

Emile and Blood were only a few steps away from the tunnel, but then a tingling sensation spread throughout Emile's body and he received a strange feeling that someone was watching him.

Turning back to look towards Khon, Emile made eye contact with a similarly massive man standing beside Khon. He too had long curly hair, but his body was completely covered in tribal markings.

Emile watched as the mysterious man took a massive inhale, then it clicked. Emile threw Blood to the ground before he dropped himself, a sonic boom immediately following.

Emile heard an explosion overhead. Looking up, he saw a monstrous chunk of stone missing from the wall of the tunnel he was going towards. Even Luna retreated further into the cave to avoid the massive blast.

Emile picked himself up and grabbed Blood's arms, dragging him along the stone floor, trying to reach the tunnel as fast as possible. Luna came running out and picked up Blood's feet. The three of them successfully ran into the tunnel, out of sight and further into the depths of the cave.