The Ochman Hunt Chapter 6 - https://www.bungie.net/ko/Forum/Post/132362181/0/0 --------------------------------------------------- [i]Chapter 7 -[/i] Plague of Darkness When I finally awoke from being knocked out by the strange man, I found myself back in the arena. Right on the ground where I was the first time I came here. The arena was still destroyed from the fight between Serenity and Soldalun. The crowd around me went into uproar as I slowly stood up. I found my torn up armor and poor weapons in front if me in a capsule, just like last time. Somehow, I felt no pain in my chest anymore. Like it was healed or something... This place gets weirder by the minute. "Okay you little D*ckhead, here's the deal. I got somebody up here, says he knows you? Well, he also told me your little mission you were on," spoke the man. "Boss, I need help!" It was Crimson, but he was screaming for some reason. It sounded like he was in a lot of pain, and he would not stop crying... After every few words he would just break down and cry. "These guys are crazy, Boss!... I... I tried to resist... but... AAHHHHHH, STOP IT, YOU F*CK! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M ALREADY IN PAIN?! AAAHHHHHH, PLEEASSE STOPP!... AAAHHHH, LET ME GOO!..." Crimson was silenced, and the man came back on the intercom. "That little cryin' bitch is in your fire team? Haha, give me a break. You guys are just a bunch of pussies, man. I'd be surprised if Oryx even does anythin' with you besides devour your essence. Guess we'll just have to find out, now won't we?" "Let him go you stupi—" I was cut off by the man announcing the current game. "In today's event, D*ckmaster down there is gonna have a choice. Yes yes, I know. Choices. I said it right. Our contender will have to choose between saving his jolly ol' acquaintance, Serenity on one side of the arena..." I looked over to one of the far sided of the arena to see Serenity slowly being lowered into an odd contraption that looked like an old meat grinder, with a black mist seeping from it. "...or Crimson's Veronica on the other side, from being processed!" I looked to the opposite side of the arena to find Veronica in the exact same position as Serenity. "And, to make this a little more interesting, I give you your Champion, the Undefeated, the Tormentor - Xivilax, First Born!" The crowd went into an uproar again while the roof of the arena opened up slightly, where Xivilax fell over seventy feet to the arena ground. The force of him smashing the earth caused a tremor in the arena and the ground to break apart at its feet. Who was I going to save? The person my fire team and I came all this way to rescue for Crimson, or the person who saved my life? I could only save one, and I still had no idea who. Before I knew it, Xivilax shrieked once more like he did back in the bunk room, and sprinted after me with extreme speed. With no trees or foliage to hide in, this was going to be tough. Without a moment to lose, I decided to start for Serenity. I didn't even grab my armor. Just my scout rifle with a few extra clips. I was hoping it was enough. I was only a quarter of the way there when I turned around to see Xivilax gaining on me, fast. I quickly pulled up my scout rifle while running, leaned back with one hand, and fired it at the creature. I popped off seven bullets as quick as I could, which seemed to slow him down only slightly. I would have to continue doing that the entire way to even reach Serenity. The kick of the rifle was bearable, so I could deal with firing it in one hand. After a minute more of running, Xivilax finally caught up, teleporting into the air and landing on top of me. It began to slash and shred away at my back, and while having no armor on, it hurt quite a bit. I attempted to turn over onto my back and fire a few rounds into his mouth, but it grabbed my head and continuously smashed it off of the dirt. "Now this wouldn't be fun if our main contender died within the first few minutes now would it? Xivilax, here boy," spoke the man. After miraculously not dying by this creature, he jumped from me and began to run off after something. I turned over to see what it was, rubbing my head in pain, when I saw the man push Crimson over thirty feet to the arena floor. He was in horrible condition. He had cuts all over his body, his head was shaved with pieces of skin chipped from his face, weird worms crawling through his skin, and he lost his right arm. Good God, Crimson... What did they do to you... He managed to gain the strength back to scream for me. "Run, Boss! Save your friend! He'll...—" he was interrupted by coughing and hacking what seemed to be blood from his mouth. "Just... go save her! Xivilax will—will be distracted by me!" I stood up from the ground and raced for Serenity. Once I got to her, I pulled both levers on either side of the machine that was keeping her held in the air by chains, and she came falling to the ground. She didn't seem to be conscious yet, so I made swift action to try and catch her. I was so worn out all of a sudden, that I immediately dropped to the ground when she entered my arms. I became very lightheaded and weak. I couldn't even roll over onto my back, or talk to wake Serenity up. After a few seconds, I managed to somehow reach one of my arms up from under her and tap her on the stomach, hoping she would wake up. No matter what I did, I could not bring myself to speak. Words would not come out of my mouth, and I didn't even feel like myself. I looked over to Xivilax who seemed to be finishing up with Crimson. I then looked over to Veronica who was just dipped into the strange black mist, being ground up by the mechanism. I looked up to Serenity's face and tapped her on it a few times, hoping it would wake her. After it seemed hopeless to even try to wake her, she began coughing like mad, and leaned upwards to a sitting position. "Nex... is that you?" she asked. Since I could not speak, I simply nodded my head. "What happened to you? You've got slash marks all over your body, and..." "Good spectators of the arena, I give you, the newly created Verondris, First Daughter of Oryx!" The crowd cheered with excitement. I managed to look over to Veronica only to see a creature similar to Xivilax standing in front of the machine that held her. "But with that said, I would now like to conclude today's events! Much more mayhem to come in the next few days, so keep us in mind when you desire destruction! Contenders, great job today! You really brought down the house. Now get back to your bunks. You gots a lot of preparin' to do for the coming days." A tube from the roof swayed down to pick up Serenity and I. While I waited, I just simply gazed at Serenity. She was the best thing I've seen in this place so far, possibly even in a long time and I'm glad she is still with me. Were it not for her, I don't know what I would do in this place. I would've probably been dead by now, or worse. But I couldn't shake the feeling of disconnect I had to the outside world since becoming a prisoner. This place, in the short time I've been here, has changed me a lot. More than I'd like it to. But I have to make my remaining days in here worth it, should they be the last. Who knows if I'll ever see her again... who knows if she'll ever see me again... -----Chapter 8 https://www.bungie.net/ko/Forum/Post/133452727/0/0