Chapter 10

"Aaaaahhhhhhh..."

Ben yawned, lazily stretching his arms and legs in his cell.

"So boring. I wish something interesting would happen."

"Can it will you?" Roth answered back as he stared through the prison bars. "You always wish for something interesting and it turns out to be something real bad in the end."

"Meh... Can't help it. Even you have to admit staying in this depressing place all day's as boring as watching paint dry."

Roth had no reply for that.

So far, they'd been lucky and had not been called out to participate in the games of death ever since they'd arrived. They'd guessed something of the sort was happening when they performed that strange marching routine everyday and some groups were called out and most never returned.

In the cell with them, were two other men. However they put up such an icy front between him and Ben that it did not seem they'd to want to get friendly with them any time soon. So far, it had been one boring day after another as they awaited their turn to die.

The only big break had been finding Ronin a few days ago but they'd not seen him again since he ran from that strange guard with his baby toys.

"Hahh..."

Roth let out a sigh.

"Something big is going down."

"Well... Yeah!" Ben replied sarcastically. "It took you this long to realize that there are almost no guards around today?"

A vein in Roth's head pulsated.

"Or that today, we didn't do that weird marching thing? Or no group got called out today? Or..."

"Enough!" Roth exclaimed effectively silencing Ben.

He looked and acted like an idiot but his observation skills were top-notch.

"I wonder what's going on with Lucas and Sean." Roth wondered aloud.

"Knowing them, they're probably arguing about which team is gonna win the pro-bending league this year." Ben answered. But his words were laced with a tinge of worry.

Roth turned to look at Ben.

"They'll be fine." He said more firmly. "I mean, it's the gale-blaze duo!"

A shadow of a smile flickered on Roth's face.

"Yeah. You're..."

KREEEEEE! KREEEEEEEE!! KREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

With the ear splitting noise of the siren, their cell doors swung open with a bang. Opposite their cell, another cell's doors swung open violently with a BANG!

"Ahhh!" Ben held his hands to his ears in response to the loud alarm.

KREEEEEE! KREEEEEEE!! KREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

BANG! BANG!! BANG!!! BANG!!!!

The resonance of the doors being opened reverberated through the entire underground tunnel and churned the sand at their very feet.

KREEEEEE! KREEEEEEEE!! KREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

There were some muffled noises as some prisoners wondered aloud as to what could be happening.

Still wondering, they slowly began to approach their open doors with caution since they were not familiar with this routine. Then the confusion steadily turned to calm and then to glee as they began to realise what was happening before them.

A prison break.

Roth turned to Ben.

"This interesting enough for you?"

That crazy gleam in his eyes said it all.

"Oh yeah!"

-------------------------------------------------

"Oh no! Oh no!! Oh no!! OH NO!!!"

Ronin was literally sweating buckets. Of all the bad situations to have been in, this was the absolute worst.

Up against Trice, no bender would stand a chance. Non-benders were out of the question.

"Guys..." he called to his team. "We need to get outta here."

The arena had grown quiet again. Nobody moved. No prisoner dared move. The stillness was so profound you could have broken it by dropping a needle.

"Yeah no kidding." Soren answered hoarsely.

Trice turned her attention unto the next closest team.A team of girls just about her age. They instinctively took a step back.

She took a step towards them.

"They're dead." Jonathan.

They bolted away while throwing all they could at her. Large icicles and a huge torrent of air raced towards Trice but they were merely deflected.

Now they run like the devil was on their heels. Other teams shrunk back hoping not to get entangled with Trice.

The girls did not get far. Water wrapped around the legs of three and threw them against the walls of the arena.

Ronin watched in absolute terror. His comrade was a bloodthirsty monster who killed without remorse. The last girl would face the same fate. Then it would be his turn.

'Perhaps I could reach her. Then we could work together and get the hell outta here.'

However he doubted his plan. Only Lucas had had any luck getting Trice to calm down whenever she was in this state. And God knows where he was at the moment.

"HELLLLLLLP!!! HELP ME PLEASE!!" The last girl cried out to the others. No one answered. Everyone was terrified.

"HAHAHAAHAA!"

Up in the stands, the spectators burst into uncontrollable laughter and made stupid mock faces of agony at each other as water wrapped around the last girl's waist.

Anger rose in Ronin like a snake.

All of a sudden, he was in between Trice and the girl. He swung his metal staff and cleaved at the water binding her.

The laughter from the audience came to an abrupt halt.

The whimpering from the now freed girl was all Ronin could hear now. He turned back to his teammates. Where he had once been standing, two holes could be seen bored into the rock.

'I guess I used it.'

Gritting his teeth, he faced Trice. The water around her churned violently.

However, she did not attack this time. Just stared.

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

The stands were suddenly in flame. Fire and smoke erupted consecutively around the seats of the spectators completely incinerating and burying them in rubble.

BOOM! BANG!! BANG!!! BOOM!!!

Their screams pierced through the rubble and the flame. What had once been luxurious clothes were now pieces of charred cloth.

From the podium,a body fell to the dirt. It was the announcer; his throat slit.

'Now what?!'

A figure descended lightly amongst their midst. Dressed in black with linings of silver. He withdrew the hood over his head to reveal the face of a middle aged man.

"Hello, everyone."