Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

I stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching the carnage before me. The roof had been torn off, leaving room for the behemoth to continue his feast. His long flashing teeth sliced through meat, red liquid dripping to the ground. He growled as he filled his stomach with flesh.

Good thing it was already dead.

“Yo,” I said to the big dragon/dino that was currently devouring a side of some herbivore dinosaur about the size and weight of an elephant, looked up to glare at me. “It’s almost time man.”

He swallowed a big chunk of meat, looking down at my insectoid form. He growled something. While the Omnitrix was hopefully back to normal, Hauzer still wasn’t speaking any sort of language I could understand. I didn’t know if that was because he was less sentient then I thought he was, because he was just magic enough to muddle the Omnitrix up, similar in some way to Wildmutt’s species, or just because he was refusing to speak at all, but that was the situation.

“Are you full?” I asked while scuttling forward on my six legs, dodging around the many things that had fallen on the ground. “Because we have a fight soon.”

He growled. “Yeah… You get Styro. But we have the rest to deal with.”

If he could have, I think he would have rolled his eyes. I let it go. “Come on. We’re going into the arena. One last fight. Then we turn this whole place to rubble.”

I turned around and left. Soon, I heard the footsteps of a giant follow me.

------

I got to the arena, where my fellow former slaves, X, and Kraven had been setting up. They’d tossed aside the crap armor and weapons they had been wearing to replace it with quality gear. As I entered, everyone looked at me. Then up. And up, until they were looking Hauzer in the eyes.

“Grrrrrr,” Hauzer said, looking around at them all.

The gladiators and freed slaves stepped back, even Demi. X cocked his head to the side, looking up at him. Kraven…

“Oh,” Kraven stared up at Hauzer, a look of stunned awe on his face. “Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent,” Kraven looked down at me. “Ha! You’ve been hiding something quite special from me Dial!”

“Don’t try it,” I said, walking past him. “Hauzer might end up killing you.”

“You can’t simply entice a man like that,” Kraven walked up to look at Hauzer. The Earth Dragon leaned down to glare at him. Kraven smirked. “When all of this is over, I think you and I will have to have a discussion. Hauzer.”

The Earth Dragon cocked his head to the side, a flicker of flame coming from his lips. Kraven, on seeing that, looked like he’d never seen something more amazing. Seriously, at this point, I was pretty sure anyone who tried to pull him out of the Savage Land would be fighting a losing battle.

I came up to X. “How long until the Quinjet arrives?”

“Four minutes,” X said.

“Perfect… Hey X. Thanks for coming for me man,” I said quietly. “The past few days were damn hard.”

X stared down at me. “I was worried. We had no plans in place for things such as Anti-Metal, despite knowing of its existence. Or any secondary plans for if the Omnitrix could be damaged in some way.”

“The Omnitrix usually was the plan,” I grumbled, looking down at the symbol around my neck. “I put a lot of faith in Azmuth, but I should remember he isn’t omniscient. Just smart enough that it seems like it.”

“Who is Azmuth?” Gresh asked nearby. I ignored him. Probably shouldn’t have, considering what he made of that later.

“Regardless of that,” X said. “Your current plan isn’t the kind I would have expected from you, especially if your hatred for this Stend person is as you said it was.”

“It is,” I would have smirked if I had lips. “Stend… I think if I have him pegged? Nothing will piss him off more than my plan.”

X shook his head, his blue eyes spinning briefly. “And Sauron?”

“He’s the threat. The main threat. Firebreathing, super-strength, speed, flight, the ability to absorb the life force of others, the ability to control minds… Sauron is the one I’m most worried about. We have no idea how much of his power is the way I remember it, but I do know the guy is powerful. If I had my way, we’d have a small team taking him on. As of now, that isn’t the priority.”

I looked at the group of people we had helped. Around fifty, in total. I went over to them. Gresh, Demi, and Winggirl… Okay, I just realized something. I had no idea what her name was.

“Hey,” I said, walking to look up at her. “What’s your name?”

She looked down at me, leaning down to look me in the eyes, blue skin glittering in the light of the Omnitrix around my neck. “I’m Gena.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” I said a little awkwardly. “I’m sorry it took me so long to ask. We had a lot to get done.”

Gena blinked down at me. She looked better. Her torn off wing, or at least, the section it been attached to her back, was beginning to heal. But I could still see that undercurrent in her emotions, that deep sadness that filled her.

I left that thought aside, instead focusing on the moment. “Demi. Take the civilia-” I cut myself off. Right. I was so used to thinking of people who needed help as civilians. But in this setting, that word didn’t really have as much meaning to former slaves. “Take anyone who can’t fight up top. Transport that can fly will come by soon. I need you to help defend them with the escort team, so you’re in charge. Understood?”

Demi nodded, speaking in that oddly feminine voice of hers. “I have no problem with that.”

“Why is she in charge?” the Raptor guy grumbled.

“Because Sauron can breathe fucking fire,” I told the guy impatiently. “How about this, if you wanna block that, you can be the leader.”

“...I was just asking,” Raptor guy said at last, looking pretty disgruntled.

“You’re a warrior,” I narrowed my eyes at him, then at the rest. “I’m taking a chance, trusting a lot of you. So stop questioning my orders. We don’t have time to swing dicks around just so that you can feel better about yourself. We all get out of this place, free to eat, drink, and whatever, and I guarantee you that I can get you out. Before you guys ask how I can guarantee that, remember that I have a robot and a dragon helping me, so your arguments are invalid.”

X blinked by shuttering his eyes closed, while Hauzer prowled forward, Kraven still eyeing him like a steak dinner.

“So stick to the plan,” I looked around at everyone. “The arena team boxes it out. The escort team protects civilians. Besides that, we all have our personal opponents. Ready?”

No one spoke. I took that as a yes.

“All right. Head to your places… And Gresh. What the hell is the Avengers symbol doing painted on your chest?”

I finally noticed it. The reptile man now had a half-assed ‘A’ symbol in a red circle emblazoned on his chest and stomach, dripping wet even as we spoke.

“Ah, you like it?” Gresh thrust his chest out proudly. “The metal man told me this was the symbol of your nation.”

“...Gresh, I’m starting to wonder if you’re more dangerous than I thought.”

“Thank you!” he said proudly.

“Not in the way you think, man…” I said starting to realize Gresh might be more off than I thought.

“By the way, sir,” X said, distracting me. I looked up at him. “Shouldn’t you change back? You may come close to passing your time limit.”

That was a good point. If I changed back now, I’d be less likely to drop transformation mid-fight. With that in mind, I reached for the Omnitrix with one of my legs, tapping it to turn back into a human. The Omnitrix beeped.

“...Wait, what?” I said, still in Ball Weevil form. I tapped the Omnitrix symbol again and again. It beeped each time but left me in my tiny yellow form. “What, first you break because of some chump metal, and now you decide to stay in alien form?” I tapped at the symbol again and again, getting nothing for my efforts.

“What is happening?” X asked.

“I’m stuck,” I grunted, irritated. “... Fine. Whatever AI, or Azmuth, or Eunice being funny, I’ll just deal with it,” I said without much heat. Stuck in Ball Weevil form. Not that bad, really. I was just curious as to what was going on. Did this mean the Omnitrix was still repairing in the background?

Whatever the case, it was time to get ready for a fight again.

“Places everyone,” I said as badass as I could while looking like the latest adorable product of the Pokemon company. “We’ve got bad guys to fight.”

------

We stood side-by-side when they entered. I was in the center, with X on my left, then Kraven. On my right were Gresh and the Ankylosaur gladiator. Behind us, towering tall on the large stone platform, was Hauzer, his flames dripping from his mouth like magma to scorch the rock under him.

Sauron strode onto the sands of the arena with his hands behind his back, a proud smile on his face. He wasn’t what I expected. More… well, he kinda reminded me of Steve, to be honest. It was in his stance. The proud way he held himself, straight-backed and powerful. Like he wasn’t above the rest of the world, but he also damn sure wasn’t going to bow to anyone. He looked almost heroic. Which I wasn’t sure I liked much.

Styro was wearing armor as he stood on Sauron’s left side. He looked almost unearthly calm. As soon as he came through the doors, his eyes snapped onto Hauzer. And I felt the heat behind me rise. Oh yeah. Hauzer and Styro had some words they wanted to trade.

Pter was on Sauron’s right side, clutching tightly at a pair of knives as he strode in. He smirked at us, looking far too cheery for my tastes. A pair of eyes took him without him noticing. Just as planned.

Stend was just behind Pter. He looked at us, passing his eyes over me. Then they snapped back, his jaw-dropping at the sight of me. I would have smiled if I could have.

“My, my!” Sauron said, stopping about twenty feet away from us. “I must say, Dial, you have quite the skill with theatrics.”

“I’m an anime nerd,” I stepped forward. “Learned from the best.”

“Hah!” he chuckled. “I can see that. I must admit, however, I’ve always been more a fan of fantasy literature. Obviously, I suppose.”

“Can’t hate a guy for taking inspiration from Lord of the Rings,” I shrugged. “So… We all know why we’re here.”

“Indeed,” Sauron looked around. Our allies were almost silent. Kraven was chuckling under his breath. Pter’s clawed feet scratched at the sand. Hauzer’s flames continued to drip. “I suppose you’ve already made plans for how this battle will go. Are you planning to fight me, Dial?”

No fear, no hesitation. Just curiosity.

“Yeah, I am. Everyone else has their dance partners.”

“No,” Stend growled.

Sauron blinked, surprised. He looked at Stend. “My child.”

“NO!” Stend pushed Pter aside. “I don’t care! YOU ARE MINE. This arena is mine!” Stend walked forward, surprising everyone who wasn’t me.

“Bullshit,” I snarked.

Stend scowled, his fists clenched and strode across towards me. “That impudence. I’m going to-”

“Stend,” Sauron growled, his eyes flashing. Stend stilled in an instant. “Don’t move.”

Stend’s eyes widened. His muscles twitched as he stood there. I could see him struggle to move.

Mind control. Sauron must have hypnotized him already. From what I knew of the comics, that usually took eye contact. Stend vibrated in place, his breath coming fast and panicky.

“Dial is mine,” Sauron said casually. “It is okay. You clearly are too close to this. Step aside. Fight-”

Stend’s eyes widened again. He stepped forward.

Sauron’s own gaze shook. “Stend-”

“He is mine,” Stend stared at me, his eyes almost insane. “I will have your life. DIAL!”

He shook like a dog, and Sauron gasped as though in pain, stepping back in surprise. Stend rushed forward, claws outward. “DIIIIAAAL!”

“Told you,” I said to my left.

“Yes,” as Stend tried to claw at me, X stepped in the way and easily caught his claws. “You did.”

Stend screamed, trying to rip into X. Only to stagger when X easily lifted him off the ground. “W-What!?”

“You wanted to learn about the modern world?” I asked smugly. “About all the little wonders we’ve created? Well here’s your chance. X! Teach him about the magic of engineering.”

“Target engaged,” X said in response. His eyes flashed blue. Then he leaped forward, smashing into the walls of the arena. Before he and Stend disappeared inside, Stend got one last look at me. He looked at me in desperate rage. I turned and ignored him. When he let out a loud scream of affronted anger at that, I once again I had lips, just so that I could grin at the satisfaction that gave.

“So,” I said to Sauron.

He looked from where Stend and X had gone, the sound of things being destroyed coming from that hole. He looked shocked. Then he slowly chuckled, before straight out laughing.

“Today! Today has been the most interesting day I’ve had in years!” he was almost crying with laughter now. “Thank you, Dial! You have made things fun,” his wings spread out. “Saur-Lords! Take them!”

“Yes!” Pter swung out a knife. “Time for a hunt to-”

“Hunt?” Kraven slammed his own knife into Pter’s, getting up in his face while pushing him back. He grinned in the Saur-Lord’s face. “I know a thing or two about that. Let’s trade notes.”

Styro ran past them, heading for Hauzer. Hauzer roared, blasting out flame at Styro before the two were behind me and I lost sight of the fight.

A group of guards entered behind Sauron. Gresh and the Ankylosaur gladiator gave Sauron an awkward look. He smiled.

“No, go ahead,” Sauron eyed me. “I believe I have my own fight to handle.”

The two ran past him, heading toward the group of guards, some of whom ran towards the upper levels of the arena, where a big group of former slaves was. The two Aerians who could fly lifted up, Demi clenched her fists, and soon everyone was brawling around us.

Sauron and I faced each other for a moment as the arena exploded into violence.

“So… Shall we?” I asked, spitting out a ball of green plasma.

“OF COURSE!” he said proudly.

So that’s who he sounded like. I knew his voice seemed familiar.

Then he breathed fire at me. I jumped aside, launched a ball of plasma that exploded at his feet, which he dived out of the way of, still breathing a gout of flame hot enough to scorch the sands. I spun in the air and launched another plasma ball. He lifted into the air, cutting off his fire breath to dodge. The ball rolled across the sand, quickly growing until it hit a gate, exploding with immense force and tearing that section of the arena. I ran towards the doorway, Sauron following as everyone else let loose.

------

I ran deeper into the halls of the coliseum before skidding to a halt, my insect legs scratching at the concrete. Sauron landed at the same time, looking down at me with a smirk.

“Attempting to limit my mobility by forcing me to follow here?” he asked, looking around.

“Nah,” I spat out another ball of plasma, hopping onto it. “I just like privacy when I invite a guy to dance with me.”

“How charming of you!” Sauron crowed. Then he was in front of me, claws slashing down. I rolled aside to let his claws slash through the stones, leaving five long lines in the gray floor. I tossed the ball I’d made into his face, blowing it up and sending us both back from the explosion. He skidded on his heels, clawing up the floor with his talons, while I bounced and rolled to come to my feet again. Without missing a beat, Sauron let loose with the flames again. I tossed another ball, only to be surprised when the plasma absorbed the flames, growing in size.

“Hooooo?” Sauron hummed, slipping around the plasma to let it detonate on the wall behind him. “It can absorb my flames? And even leaves a mint scent when it explodes?” he noted the hole left by my explosive orb before looking at me. “The outside world has truly changed if beings like you are coming from there.”

“Bruh, you have no idea. There’s a whole world of weirdness out there,” I spat a line of green plasma, and lashed out with it like a whip. He ducked underneath it, spinning aside when I brought the whip back around to snap at his leg. He brought his arms behind him and began dancing between each whip strike.

I somehow controlled the ten-foot-long whip of plasma-like Wonder Woman bringing the heat, spinning, snapping, and slicing the air, as Sauron continued to dodge with the casual cool of a martial arts master fighting against a novice.

“A whole world,” Sauron mused to himself, hopping over a spinning plasma whip. “I dismissed the outside world when I came here. But I suppose I was a bit hasty. Perhaps I should-”

He was cut off when the whiplashed around his ankle. He had enough time to blink before I pulled him off his feet with surprising strength, following with letting go of the whip. The plasma pulled in around him melding into a ball that surrounded him from neck to ankle.

“Explode!” I shouted. The ball blew outwards, sending Sauron ricocheting off a wall. I didn’t let up, tossing another pair at him, but he didn’t let something like getting literally blown up stop him from spinning to his feet and rushing me. I tossed a plasma at him, but he leaped up, gliding forward and wrapping his talons around my body. Screeching like a falcon, he lifted me up in mid-flight and bashed me into a wall, my tough exoskeleton breaking the stones to free us from the arena and enter the streets. With a mighty beat of his wings that sent the dust from our exit flying, he burst up into the night sky, still carrying me in his claws.

“You fight well!” he crowed. I twisted to look down at the ground below, getting further and further away. “But I think I’d like a taste of that power of yours!”

I felt it then. His talons wrapped tight around me, began to absorb my energy. It felt horrible. Like something clawing at my insides, pulling pieces of me out. I screamed, a grating insect sound, and instinctively lashed out a plasma whip, lashing it around his jaw and pulling hard. He let out a muffled shout as his mouth was forced closed, spinning in the air and letting me go in shock. I let go as well, letting the whip wrap around his long jaw entirely before blowing up in a green ball of smoke with incredible force as I fell towards the ground, spinning around and around.

“EXHILARATING!” Sauron shouted above me. “This is what I’ve longed for! What is the point of having the power of gods if you can’t unleash it, test it’s limits, to create storms!”

He had a point. Our fight was getting a little insane. The cracks of explosions were erupting everywhere, the sky alight in green, silver, and red as he and I traded blasts blow for blow.

I spat out another ball of plasma, catching it before it could fly out of my reach, then spat out as many as I could up toward Sauron. He ducked and dodged in the air, the sky getting lit up by green explosions as each ball blew up around him.

“Hellzone Grenade!” I shouted, stealing my favorite Namekian’s move as I unleashed a final barrage of plasma.

“Not enough!” Sauron crowed. His hands glowed a bright silver that flickered with all the colors of the rainbow before he brought both up over his back then swung them down. Pulsing beams of energy flew from his hands, aiming for me. As planned, I raised the single plasma ball I’d prepared.

I was surprised when, rather than coming for me, the twin beams of energy shot around me. “What the-”

“You were planning to absorb the energy,” Sauron said with a smirk. “But how do you deal with this!”

The twin energy beams met just behind me, blowing up in an explosion of silver that sent me flying upwards. I shouted in surprise as I twisted in the air, narrowing my eyes to hold back the pain.

At the same time, Sauron found himself surrounded by a field of plasma balls. He watched them all with amusement, looking down at me as we both fell. “Heh. I think if you had lips you’d be smiling, wouldn’t you child?”

“...Fuck yeah,” I said.

Then dozens of plasma balls exploded with a thunderous sound that cracked the night sky above the city.

I fell down fast and hard, propelled by the explosion. Below me, a building made of stone came up to meet me. I spun as best as I could to face my back downwards, making it just before I hit the roof.

The roof cratered under me, then crumbled. I fell through it to land on the floor below in a shower of dust. I bounced upwards, then got hit by a falling piece of rock, before I finally lay on my back, looking up at the night sky full of green explosions.

“......ow.”

I took in the pain with a weird sort of happiness, if I’m being honest. I’m not a masochist or anything. It’s just… I’d been worried I’d never get to fight an alien form again. This. Fighting against a superhuman opponent on equal ground, coming up with creative ways to use some crazy new powers. I loved it. It was good to have the Omnitrix back, for all that I felt fulfilled knowing that I could take on challenges at my weakest.

I lay there watching as the explosions faded through the five-foot wide hole made in the roof by my impact. A shadow swept down from them, streaming smoke. He finally landed at the edge of the hole, looking down at me. “That was-” he cut himself off, coughing. “Ah. That was a big explosion. Are you going to lay there all night, child?”

“I was just taking in the view,” I replied casually. “You know, for someone who literally enslaved people and forced them to fight in death battles, you’re a real friendly guy.”

Sauron smiled down at me, not moving as I rolled over to my stomach, spitting out a ball to hop onto. “I am finding myself in a bit of a good mood. Still, I do think manners are important.”

“You should teach Stend that, then. Because he’s an asshole… You know. I think he was planning to dethrone you.”

I’d figured that out a while ago. Stend’s obsession with obtaining knowledge, the fact he was equipping his own men with Damascus steel while no other guards had it, the dissatisfaction he showed with how much Sauron hadn’t shared about the outside world. Stend hated Sauron. He wanted him out of the way, wanted to replace him and steal more knowledge, to rise up.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Sauron sighed. “But that is simply the way with the truly ambitious. You try to feed their greed, but it’s never enough. I was hoping he’d try his revolt later in the year. It would be a good test for my Saur-Lord’s, fighting a civil war! After all, it is a testament to a father when his children show the will to surpass him!” he said in that hammy as hell voice of his.

I stared up at him. “You’d just… let a civil war happen?”

“Yes and no. I would try to stop it beforehand, first through peace, then through violence. But if it happens, it would be a learning opportunity. I want my city to grow, to become a civilization of its own, fighting the battles both literal and philosophical that all other societies must,” Sauron looked around the city. “But that has nothing to do with our battle. Now, Dial. Shall we continue?”

“...Yeah.”

I fired immediately upwards, the roof exploding under him. He somersaulted back, dodging my next blasts, then firing silver beams of energy at the roof, trying to force the whole thing to fall on top of me. I spun in a circle on the ball I was standing on, spitting out plasma as I pivoted in place, the plasma orbs rolling outward and picking up debris as it fell to the ground. I exploded the orb under me, letting it propel me out of the hole. The orbs I’d unleashed blew apart as well, turning the top floor of the building we’d been fighting on to nothingness. That’s the nice thing about Ball Weevil orbs. They don’t leave rubble but instead clean it up.

I landed on another rooftop and kicked more orbs at Sauron, who dodged the three I launched before he was on top of me. He blasted me with a single energy beam before I could block it with a plasma orb. I took the painful hit to my stomach, launching an orb out that hit him in the chest as well.

We both went flying back, landing on opposite buildings and facing each other. I was breathing hard, trying to keep my eyes on him. We were both covered in scorch marks and bruises. While I didn’t have bones in my form, I was pretty sure every muscle inside me was a little tense.

“...You’re hard to kill,” Sauron mused, chuckling just a bit. “This form you have taken is quite the tough one!”

I thought of Diamondhead, Four Arms, Rath, all of my tougher aliens. “You have no idea.”

“I suppose I don’t,” Sauron cocked his head to the side. “I must ask, child. Are you like me? A human forced by circumstance in a powerful form? Or are you… No, if you were a muta&*#$!-”

The rest of what he said was a blinding screech of noise as my head exploded. I screamed in pain, shocked at the suddenness. What the fuck!? Is this what his brainwashing felt like? I’d made sure not to really look him in the eyes, why was this happening!?

I shook my head, struggling to keep my eyes open. But when I looked back at Sauron, he seemed as surprised as I was.

Then his face cleared with realization. “Ah, my old friend… even now, you…”

“W-What did you do to me?” I struggled to say.

Sauron shook his head. “I did nothing. It isn’t my secret to tell. But tell me, how do you know my human name?”

“...I read it on the internet,” I forced out as the headache suddenly disappeared. For a moment, I felt guilty horror in my mind, but that faded as well, which surprised the hell out of me.

“Hm,” Sauron cocked his head to the side. “The internet? I suppose it became pretty big while I was here. I’ll have to visit the mainland when I’m finished here.”

“You won’t be able to do that without being in a cell,” I growled, annoyed at the pain in my head.

“Oh?” Sauron chuckled. “I suppose we’re both being overconfident, aren’t we!”

“Overconfidence is just confidence after you win,” I returned. As I spoke, a purple light in the sky behind Sauron flashed. “Besides. I know two things you don’t.”

Sauron, still chuckling, kept trying to meet my eyes, which I kept dodging. “I suppose that statement is the beginning of a very surprising development in this fight of ours? Very well!” he tapped his chest with his fist. “Show me those two things!”

“I think I’ll let them speak for themselves,” I spat.

From out of the sky, a silver streak fell. Sauron, reacting faster than I could believe, desperately leaped to his right. A fist of vibranium hit the roof where he’d been standing, shattering the roof with ease. Without stopping, the silver figure spun around to punch at him again, Sauron flipped back before the roof fell under him from the first blow. Then his eyes widened when a purple beam of energy came down, the Pterosaur-man countering it with his own silver beams of energy to explode just in front of him. He flew up and hovered in the air to dodge the plasma balls I launched at him, the green orbs finishing off the section of roof he’d been standing on.

I landed at the same time as my friends did.

Creel, standing in his full vibranium form, ripped his shirt off, glaring at Sauron. “Huh. I know X said this guy would look like a dinosaur-man, but he really does look weird,” he clenched his fist with a metal on metal squeal accompanying it.

Fantasma floated down to my right, landing on her high heels with elegance and grace. “Not necessarily strange, Mr. Creel. We have seen many wondrous things. This man is simply yet one more.”

“That’s the nice thing about being an Avenger,” I snarled as much as my adorable bug from could. “You see a lot of cool shit.”

If this were an anime, there would be three panels showing Creel, myself, and Fantasma in a close-up of our faces.

Sauron quirked an eyebrow. “Well! It seems things have gotten dangerous for me!”

“Fuck yeah,” Creel sped forward, followed by myself on a green plasma orb and Fantasma, who twirled up into the sky.

“Good to have you guys back!” I said before we all unleashed hell once more, Sauron letting loose as well.