Shutdown (Glitch)

other Reg. Blood spurted out over the ground just as the rest of the Regs got close. The crowd jumped to their feet around me, roaring their approval of the kill.
    The other four quickly attacked the spiked Reg. The metal from their various body parts sparked with the force of each impact. More blood spurted through the air, huge swaths of red filling the vid screen in the background.
    I turned away, nauseated. But I couldn’t block out the sounds of metal crunching against metal. I could tell from the way the crowd reacted that another Reg had died. I glanced back and saw three bodies on the ground. The two remaining Regs had turned on each other, one swinging a heavy spiked ball on a chain. The other hit the ball away with his sword, but the Reg was quick and swung again right away. The spiked ball embedded itself in the opponent’s forehead.
    And the crowd jumped to its feet, cheering louder.
    I stepped down off the ledge. I didn’t want to see any more. I already felt sick to my stomach. My power buzzed in my ears uncontrollably, straining to get out because I’d become so emotional. It hadn’t happened in months, at least not when I was awake. I stumbled, the bile rising in my throat, and backed into someone who let out a grunt of surprise.

 
    Chapter 4
    BEFORE I COULD TURN AROUND to look at who it was, a hand slid over my mouth and a whisper sounded in my ear, “Shh.”
    It was Max. I let out a relieved breath and whipped around. I wondered how he’d found me. Could he sense me somehow, since he was using his power to shield me? Then again, the how wasn’t important. All that mattered was that he had found me, and we could continue our mission. He grabbed my hand and tugged me forward. I didn’t like touching him, but at the same time, didn’t want to get separated again.
    Most of the crowd was seated now, and the aisles were clear. Down in the arena pit, bodies were being dragged away and the stage reset for the next match. I forced my eyes away from all the blood.
    With my telek, I felt Max moving ahead of me with confident steps, crouched low to the ground. I followed his lead as he walked toward the front row. There was a wider aisle in front of these seats to give ample legroom for the important few who got the front-row seats. And there was our target, Warnost, just a few seats away from us now.
    The horn sounded again, signaling the start of the next match. Warnost sat forward in his seat. People were packed in all around him, and suddenly our plan seemed ludicrous. It had sounded so simple when we were discussing it in theory back in the safety of our suite. At least I didn’t sense an ounce of hesitation from Max. There was no trembling in his hands, no stutter to his step. He squatted low right in front of Warnost and pulled out the stun device.
    And then we waited, heart-thumping minutes while the crowd watched whatever was going on behind us. The crash of metal against metal was still deafening, but I forced myself to focus only on the mission. Warnost’s face was getting sweaty with excitement as he watched. His eyes were glued to the action, and then, right after I heard a loud metallic slicing noise, he jumped to his feet along with the rest of the roaring crowd.
    That was our cue. Max jumped up too and held the stunner to Warnost’s face. Warnost froze in place, staring outward with dull eyes. Everyone else was so busy cheering, they didn’t notice his blank expression or the quick flash of light the stunner emitted. I leapt up and tugged the buttons of the top of Warnost’s shirt open, then reached in and slid the pendant off over his neck. Max pulled the fake replacement pendant out of his pocket, keeping the stunner to the man’s eyes the whole time.
    I grabbed the pendant from Max and put it around Warnost’s neck, tucking it into his shirt. I glanced around quickly—some of the crowd was starting to sit down again. It was going to look strange if our target was the only one left standing, especially with such a weirdly blank expression. We had to finish quickly.
    But once I had the new pendant in place, I couldn’t get the buttons done up again. My fingers shook as more and more people sat down. Warnost’s wife took her seat and looked up at her husband. I managed to get one button clasped and then left the top two undone. Hopefully it just looked like he’d left them open to relax for the fight.
    I dropped down again, and Max must have felt me, because he joined me