"We''ve got fifteen minutes left, folks, and only five survivors left? Who will make it into the final round?"


    Alex and Jack made up two of those people. Alex suppressed a curse as he ran down the alley, with Jack trailing behind him. He didn''t even accomplish what he set out to do. The nature of the arena made escape impossible in this configuration. He needed Sayed''s advice, but Sayed could be anywhere in the sprawling city. Whoever operated the island core was a jerk to set up this situation.


    "So, who do we have left, folks?" the announcer continued. "It looks like we have Maki ''the Beast,'' ''Tin Man'' Ortega, ''Sword Saint'' Sayed, and ''Thorn Queen'' Leah. And, last but not least...Jack? That won''t do. He needs a real name. How about: ''Street Urchin'' Jack?"


    A cheer rang out around Alex, and he shook his head. How many people had died in that hour? Their lives had been thrown away because some people wanted entertainment. Alex grimaced. He hated this island.


    "But how will we narrow five to one? Why, new orders from the Great Gulantry. A special restriction is now in effect."


    Crack. Crush. Boom.


    In the distance, the echoes of collapsing cement and iron echoed through the alleys. Alex stopped in his tracks, reaching out and grabbing Jack by the collar before Jack ran past him. The boy practically jumped into the air, his legs windmilling before slowing down. Alex sat him down once he stopped running and listened.


    Crack. Crush. Boom.


    He didn''t like those noises. Alex looked around himself and saw exactly what he feared was happening. The arena''s edges were compressing, crushing buildings and streets alike as the world shortened with every second. Alex clenched his teeth as he checked the other side. The landscape devoured itself in the same way as the arena pulled in on itself. He needed to make sure he and Jack would make it to the center of the destruction. Whoever controlled the island wanted a more intimate battle for the final act.


    "What''s going on?" Jack asked him as Alex knelt.


    "Jump on my back," Alex said. "If you want to get out of here, don''t let go. We''re going to run."


    Alex could say what he wanted about being a glorified babysitter, but Jack did as he asked. He used his staff to give the kid something to sit on before sprinting down the alley. He knew the others would do the same until the arena settled. It was all part of the test. He knew Sayed, and he didn''t have to throw out many guesses as to who the ''Thorn Queen'' was. Erin had her own wanted poster if he was right. That only left the last name, which he had never heard of before.


    "Don''t worry," he told himself between breaths. "He''ll be reasonable, and we''ll just talk the last few minutes of the fight."


    He stopped every time he hit a four-way intersection just to make sure that he was traveling toward the center. It was hard to tell from ground level, but already, the destruction was slowing down at the edges of the horizon. To his eyes, it looked like space was folding in on itself as walls rose at the edge of the folding concrete. It was like an arena was being built rapidly on all sides from the top down.


    Alex shuddered. This was just a fraction of the things that were possible for someone who held access to an island core. What wasn''t readily apparent was the cost that was being paid. He had to wonder how much power had been stored at Glory Plateau. How much would be lost for these tricks with the arena?


    A dust cloud rolled toward from all the destruction, obscuring his view of the walls around the arena.


    "Jack, you can get down," Alex said, kneeling at an intersection.


    "We''re here?" Jack asked, looking around him.


    "You''ll want to find a good hiding spot," Alex said. "We''re about to have company."


    He wasn''t wrong. Sayed appeared first from the roiling dust to his left, sword held out at his side as he walked toward the intersection. He could see a familiar green cloak come out of the dust cloud to his right. Erin, or ''Thorn Queen'' Leah, had also survived.


    That left Maki ''the Beast.''


    Boom. Boom. Crash. Crunch.


    The ground shook, and Alex planted his staff into the dirt to keep steady. A steady weight dropped down heavily in his stomach. He hated every moment of this fight. Now, a true monster came from the center of the arena. A creature over two stories tall walked out from the dust, reaching out and pushing over one of the crumbling ruins with its clawed hand. Thick green hide covered it, and a long, toothy jaw opened up in a primal roar.


    The best way Alex could describe Maki was a mix between a man and an alligator. He took the bipedal gait of a man but had the hide, eyes, jaws, and claws of an alligator. Like with the captain back in Dry Gulch, Alex had to question if it was a curse that made him an alligator man or if there was an entire island full of giant lizard people.


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    Alex looked over to Sayed and Erin as they joined him. They had ten minutes.


    Sayed''s face was set in a grim line, and all signs of the jovial man from the maze had gone out of him. He had seen the most losses of the three that day. Erin''s eyes had dark bags under them, and she looked completely drained. None of them were ready for the last fight. Alex nodded to the monster in front of them.


    "You think he''s willing to talk?"


    "No. How many do you think he killed?" Sayed asked, flexing his clawed gauntlet. "We will have to beat him before we can mourn the lost. If I am right, he deserves to be taken by my blade."


    "Do you think we can?" Erin asked, standing a little farther back than either of them. "We should just buy as much time as we can. We can outlast him."


    "Now, what way is that to end this?" Alex asked. "If not for Jack, think of all those who died. Their story needs more than us just living through this."


    "Hah." Sayed''s frown cracked into a light smile. "Taking down something like that would be worthy of an epic story. I would gladly spin a tale that would give glory to the fallen that helped to take such a beast down."


    "That''s your support, then," Alex said, turning to Erin. "What about you, ''Thorn Queen?''"


    "You''re offering to buy time for me." Erin shrugged. "As long as I can stay back and out of the fight, ten minutes will be like no time at all."


    "You hear that, Sayed?" Alex laughed. "She''ll gladly help us take it down."


    "That is not what she said, brother." Sayed shook his head, but he still had a light smile on his face.


    "Let me go in first." Alex started walking forward, resting his staff across his shoulders and draping his arms over it.


    He walked forward and was aware of Sayed keeping a distance behind on his left side. Erin was much farther back but still walking forward with the group. Maki ''the Beast'' looked down at them as they approached him, his yellow-slitted eyes blinking as he looked down from above. To such a creature, Alex had to be like a small dog. If he were quick and strong, Maki would be able to take them down easily. Alex was banking on the size of the monster man slowing it down.


    "What''s this?" the announcer asked. "The three outlaws are teaming up to fight Maki! Who would have thought that such people could work together?"


    Graw!


    More than said, Maki opened its maw and roared. The sound shook Alex''s bones and even rumbled the stones around it. Alex had to wonder how such a creature could fit in the maze down below. While the maze had been spacious, the roof hadn''t been tall enough to contain the beast. He chalked it up to another sign that this monstrous body was part of a curse, not a naturally occurring creature in the nightsea.


    "Hey, Maki!" Alex yelled out.


    Whoosh. Crack. Boom.


    The attack was as quick as a lightning strike. The hairs on the back of Alex''s neck raised, and it was his only warning that it was coming. He jumped to the side, rolling across the ground when he hit to gain as much distance as possible. Alex stood on one knee and saw the massive fist, as large as his chest, cracking deep into the pavement. His ears rang from the sound of the strike, and he could barely hear the announcer give a replay of what just happened.


    "Maki strikes first with his mighty claws!" the announcer yelled.


    "Demon''s Wind!" Sayed yelled, his sword blazing orange as he charged toward the fist.


    A series of flashes cut across Maki''s clawed hand as Sayed blurred past it. He came out on the other side of the fist. He held his sword high above his head as he stood in a wide stance. Alex stood up, holding his staff with both hands. Maki''s fist seemed to heat and sizzle. Black burned cut marks ripped open across its hide. However, the moment they appeared, a green light suddenly glowed across the cuts. The rough hide stitched itself back together before their eyes.


    "That''s not good," Alex whispered before the tail came for him. "Step!"


    He shot forward as Maki''s tail slammed down on the ground. Again, concrete ruptured under Maki''s strength. Alex didn''t stay still after coming out from his step. He continued to run to create some distance between himself and the beast.


    "He can heal himself," Sayed said from beside him as they both skidded to a halt a short distance away.


    "And he''s faster than he looks." Alex nodded. "Maybe Erin was right. We run out the timer and hope for the best."


    "We can," Sayed said, his face creasing with a frown. "It would be the most prudent action. However, that thing killed Gramps."


    Alex set his own mouth into a thin line. That changed a few things. He hadn''t known Gramps long, but he knew Sayed would keep going in a fight, even if he backed off. He couldn''t just let Sayed fight Maki alone.


    "Alright," Alex said. "We take him down. That''s the goal."


    Above them, Alex noticed the timer. It was at nine minutes. They had nine minutes to take down Maki, and then the four of them would be shunted back down to the maze below. He gritted his teeth as Maki got down on all fours, snapping his jaws in the air as he watched both Sayed and Alex.


    "I''ll be the distraction," Alex said. "You hit him as hard as you can from the side."


    "Right!"


    "Step!"


    Alex charged forward, going straight for Maki''s alligator face with his staff. He disappeared for a second before reappearing right next to the monster''s mouth. The jaw snapped at him, but it only caught the air. Alex planted his staff on the ground and vaulted onto Maki''s back.


    For a brief moment, he knelt with his knees digging into the rough hide. He tried to find a handhold, but the entirety of Maki''s back was covered with a slick, oily film. Maki bucked beneath him, and Alex ducked the tail as it swung for his head.


    "Any second now," he whispered as a claw reached for him.


    "Demon''s Thrust!"


    Maki twisted to face Sayed as he charged toward it. A leathery arm came up to defend the beast as it rose from all fours. Alex tumbled off the back, hitting the ground hard as he saw Sayed charging at the monster.


    Like a hurtling comet, orange light covered Sayed''s blade and gauntlet as he thrust forward with his sword and into the beast''s blocking arm. The thrust burned into Maki''s hide and pierced into its arm. It let out a roar of pain as Sayed fell to the ground in front of it, landing on his feet in a wide stance.


    Roar!


    Alex''s bones shook again as Maki roared out in agony. The beast clutched at its now severed hand with its right hand, and green light glowed around the wound. On the ground, its severed claw twitched. Sayed had scored the hit and done some real damage.


    "With any luck, we''ll be able to do this," Alex whispered, forcing himself to stand up with his staff.


    Squelch. Crunch. Crack.


    As soon as he said it, a new clawed hand erupted in a mass of goo and puss from the stump Sayed''s cut had left behind. The rough hide was a faint white instead of the dark green as before, but Maki flexed the clawed hand as it regenerated more. It grew tougher and greener in moments until it matched the leather hide across the rest of Maki''s body.


    "Well, hell," Alex said. "Now what?"


    Above him in the sky, the timer read eight minutes remaining.