Veils and Vipers

Chapter 1

Five dark silhouettes entered a room. Only the faint sounds of functioning machinery could be heard. With a press of a button, bright lights flickered on revealing training suits lined up all along the room's walls. Tobias and his men exchanged ambitious smiles. Their skin tight suits were covered in black metal scales with neon green embedded in long strips that decorated the look. Black boots had sharp spikes that shot up vertically from every available spot like ice shards in the dark. The group locked their skull like helmets to their head, sealing off their menacing look.

"How'd we do?" One of the team members eagerly asked.

Tobias clicked his watch with approval, "thirty-two seconds exaclty!" Many cheers resounded from the four at the minor accomplishment of breaking their record of suiting up by a mere second. Tobias chuckled and took a look at his watch once more. Only five minutes remained until the final battle would commence. Nerves were seeping into his stomach.

"You ready for this? I mean either way you'll do great." A young man asked as he sat down next to Tobias.

"Yeah...thanks Ace. I'm just...no, it's stupid." Tobias looked down and fastened his throwing tech infused blades to his wrists.

"Hey now what kind of talk is that? Just cause you're the new Vipers captain doesn't mean you have to act like a big man all of the time. What's wrong?" A persistent one the lad was. Perhaps a little too much at times.

"I just don't want to end up like the last captain, okay? You happy now?"

"Tobias, the other captain was a murder and got launched into space. Everyone sees you as a leader and even if you were to commit treason against the empire, they wouldn't be able to dispose of you without ruining the face of the elites."

"Tch, thanks. That really helped," Tobias replied with a sarcastic remark.

"Just keep in mind that we're with you until the end." Ace patted his friend's shoulder and returned to the other three.

Without warning, a red alarm blared catching the attention of the Vipers. "Thirty seconds remaining," it spoke in a monotone voice. Rolling his eyes, Tobias made his way to the front of the group. He hated that siren. It was always the big countdown to every fight and he detested the unrealism.

As soon as the heavy door that confined them lifted, Tobias ran out with his men behind him. It was like watching a reflection of themselves as the red team, the Jaguars, followed the same running pattern. Tobias and the Jaguar's captain, Rez,  took a knee and waited while exchanging death glares.

White was everywhere. A variety of geometric shapes covered the room. There was a second floor that could possibly give one team the advantage of the high ground. Tobias had already formulated a plan based on the looks of the Jaguars and the layout of the battle room.

A hoarse voice sounded over the speakers. The white haired general appeared on a screen that spread out over the blank wall. "Listen and listen well! I have no desire to waste my time speaking to young brats. You already know that the winning team will serve as our next round of elites," the general coughed and cleared his throat once more. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The final battle will now commence!"

The lights were dimmed. Red blared in small waves. Tobias had three blades in his hand and signaled his men with the other. Ace was by his side and the two friends hid behind a large white cube.

"Omega left," the young captain whispered to Ace. He followed orders and stealthy moved over to the left, jumping on top of the cube.

As soon as neon red was visible through the space between Tobias and Ace, blades from both of the boys made contact with the enemy's neck and shifted from their solid form into pixels. The eliminated Jaguar swore at them before he was moved into the elimination box through pixel transportation. It wasn't soon after when a Viper was caught up in a similar omega left.

Four against four. Five minutes passed and the tension rose. The Vipers maintained the entire lower area with the Jaguars dominating the high ground. There was complete and utter silence, not a soul to be seen.

Tobias peered out from the low rectangle he was hiding behind, his hand ready to end the match with blades. A hand pinned his arm to the rectangle. Tobias had a blade in his hand and was ready to throw but was quickly stopped when the second Jaguar pinned his other arm. Rez leaped from the second floor with a Viper's blade grasped tightly in his hand.

Tobias couldn't free his arms no matter how much he struggled. This thing was gonna hit him right square in the face. His entire team would be eliminated and the Jaguars would win. Unacceptable. That was the only word in Tobias' mind. However, pure resolve alone wouldn't get him out of the pickle he was in.

Ace jumped in the way without a second thought and slashed the incoming blade to the side with his own. "Go!" Ace called back to Tobias, his eyes still locked on his target. The Jaguar captain was on the floor and backed into a corner. Checkmate. Tobias finally ripped free of his opponents and stabbed blades into their chests He saw the two appear in the elimination box. Tobias could already picture himself as the leader of the elite team. Power pulsed through his veins and he felt like a champion as he dominated the arena.

Suddenly, there was a flicker in the lights above and for a brief moment, darkness reigned in. A gross slashing noise sounded. The lights returned their brightness to the room only to reveal a horrifying sight.

Ace wobbled once or twice but soon backed up and crumpled to the ground, his back against side of a block. A blade was lodged deep into his throat. Crimson began to flood the white floors as Ace struggled for air. He fought for it with everything he had. Tobias could only stare at the shocking sight. The fight around him didn't cease, and it was like he was the only one watching the life seep from Ace.

Every blade had been checked before the match had even begun! Real blades were prohibited for the final battles! It wasn't possible to even sneak a real weapon in!

Tobias rushed to his friend and quickly pulled the helmet off of Ace, yanking the sharp object from his throat causing him to cough uncontrollably. "Ace! Get up, come on! You're fine!" Tobias shook his friend lightly. He looked down at his shaking hands. They were coated in his friend's blood. Ace's lips formed words, but his vocal cords had been cut. He hoarsely groaned through his lips and tried to manage a smile as blood stained his suit.

"Captain! Finish Rez!  We got the other one!" A teammate called from above unknowing of the situation. Tobias stood up in a blind rage and didn't hesitate to eliminate the captain of the Jaguars with every remaining blade he had left. 

The Vipers cheered and hugged each other with the sweet taste of victory. That taste turned bitter as soon as they saw Tobias staring down at Ace's corpse. The truth was stabbing his heart, and he realized Ace was gone. They joined him at the bottom, tears leaking into their eyes. This was a murder. Tobias felt death deep into his fingertips. He was going to kill whoever did this.

He had to pull himself together for the copious amounts of people that were watching them on live television. Tobias took a deep breath, swallowed, and picked up his dead friend's limp body with a grunt and carried him out of the battle room, his crew following him.