[Lord Stanley]

The title is derived from "God of War," but this fits Oddworld. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out.

CHAPTER THREE

The Zyxlag was a true monster: roughly twenty feet long, it resembled a giant caterpillar, except that its body was caked in tough scales that could reflect nearly any kind of weapon. Two huge arms extended from its sides and ended in huge three-toed claws that could grab him and crush him with little or no effort. Though shaped like a grub, the Zyxlag could move with great speed; it was out of the gate and wriggling across the pit floor in seconds.

In the grandstands above the pit, the Vamps had begun to chant. “Zyx-lag! Zyx-lag! Zyx-lag!”

Klot would have found it annoying, if he had cared.

He was too busy fighting. He threw himself into a sideways roll, pulling back on the trigger of his pistol with both index fingers. Lasers blasted out of each of the six barrels in sequence, pounding the creature’s armored black eyes with fire. The Zyxlag screeched loudly and spat greenish acidic saliva from one of its ten mouths; Klot leapt out of the way and let the acid burn its way into the floor.

Not today, he thought. Nor any other day.

One of its huge clawed hands snapped out for him, and those huge claws filled his vision instantly – Klot rolled in the opposite direction, and reached his right hand up onto his shoulder to grab the energy sword clipped there. When he came up out of his roll, the sword was in his hand, an electric charge streaming down the blade.

The claw reached for him again. “Hi-yaah!” He hacked at it and sent a dazzling burst of lightning up its arm. The creature yanked its arm back, but only to lash out with its other arm from behind.

Klot whirled around, swinging his sword, but the claw was too fast. It caught him in the stomach with devastating force and powered him into the far wall of the arena. He thought he heard something snap inside, and felt as if his guts were on fire.

But he got back up again, deactivating his sword and firing again with his pistol. He was Fangus Klot, the greatest gladiator in the Vamp empire! Even if he was a captive, manipulated for the Vamps’ greedy desires for entertainment, he was powerful and he would let no one down, least of all himself.

The Zyxlag spun around, whipping its huge horned tail at him. Klot ducked, and the breeze from the horns whooshed through the fur atop his head. The tail came back around for the return swing, but Klot was still on the ground, pumping lasers at its unprotected belly with his pistol.

The monster screamed in pain and spun around, launching acid from its mouth. Again Klot rolled away, still on the ground, but part of the saliva caught his left arm, burning away a small portion of skin. His only reaction was to grunt, and switch the settings of his pistol from LINKED FIRE to SIMULTANEOUS FIRE.

Now, when he pulled the trigger, all six barrels fired at once. It would not fire as quickly, but pack more punch when he got a hit.

He got back up to his feet, only in time to see its claw reaching out for him again. This time, there was no time to dodge, and he felt himself grabbed up in its huge claws. Those claws began to constrict around him –

* * *