Survival Of The Fittest

He found himself in a small church, empty except for him. It was semi-comforting, because even though he wasn't a Christian, he was in a holy place, and he allowed himself some rest. He sat on a pew and took a bottle of water from his bag and began to drink. By the time he was done, about half of the bottle remained. He had set his Kalashnikov to the side. It wasn't loaded. He supposed that it was Danya's idea of a joke. A gun without ammunition. It was just as well though. He hadn't needed it, and didn't plan on using it even if he had the ammo. If he got into a sticky situation, he could probably bluff his way out, because it was rather intimidating, and nobody else knew that he had a completely useless weapon. If push came to shove, he could hit somebody with it, but he could probably do better with a straight punch.

Adonis just hoped that he wouldn't have to worry about that. Avoiding a fight was much better than winning one.

He ate a little and pondered his situation, wondering where he would go from here. The bread tasted awful, but it was what he had. Water was more important than food, but staving off his hunger was important as well. Thinking is almost impossible when one is hungry. He checked his water supply, and though he had enough for a little while, refilling would be a good idea. He recalled from the last time that he looked at the map that there was a stream somewhere on the island where he could get fresh water.

Reclining on the pew, he allowed his eyes to shut for a little while. He would worry about where to go next in a little while. Right now he just wanted to rest.

(Bobby continued from: Lady So Divine)

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that the shore became a danger zone before I started blasting away? Wait! What I am thinking!? Of course it is. There's no need to go around blowing the heads off every person I see. My face is cut up enough to remind me of that. There's enough on my conscience already... Suit me fine if I never see anyone else.

Bobby froze as he saw the ominous building looming up in the early morning light. It looked very much like a church: hadn't that been a danger zone earlier? Judging by the fact Bobby hadn't already become drastically shorter at the neck, he presumed that the danger zone had been deactivated. Ah... yes, the announcement had said as much. He really had to keep things together, how else was he going to retain any sense of organisation and clarity on this island?

Arriving at the doors, Bobby carefully nudged them open, his carbine held up and his finger poised to pull the trigger. Not for the first time, Bobby considered how small the weapon felt in his hands, seemingly engulfed by his large fists. Still, the size didn't matter: it was much easier to kill somebody with a gun than fists. Bobby winced as that thought hit home as he caught a glimpse of the skull and crossbones tattoo on the back of his right hand. He'd killed more people with his fists than with his gun...

Bobby started as he saw that there was a perosn inside. Furthermore, it was somebody he actually recognised. Adonis Zorba. He was very distinctive looking from the start: somewhat reminsicent of Bobby himself with a large stature and long dreadlocks (although Bobby wasn't quite the looker the other was) dark skinned and muscular. More importantly however - as Bobby wouldn't have given him a second glance at school, regardless of appearences, was one of his extra-cirricular activities. Adonis was a boxer, and apprently a damn fine one, since otherwise he wouldn't have made it to regional levels. They hadn't squared off before, and Bobby wasn't entirely sure who would be the winner in a bout, since he had only caught small slivers of Adonis' fights.

This... should be interesting.

Bobby hovered by the doorway, keeping his gun trained on Adonis. It wouldn't take him long to twig something was up, if he hadn't heard the door opening already.

The sound of the door had disturbed his rest. He heard nothing else, but he knew that whoever had opened the door hadn't just walked away. He assumed that he had also been seen and possibly identified, which is why his visitor hadn't ventured in any further. Adonis didn't even open his eyes before speaking.

"You are in God's house. There will be no fighting here. Sit for a while. Take a rest while you are able." His voice carried a hint of a Jamaican accent, passed down from his mother. He slowly raised both hands before sitting up and turning his head toward the door. He also recognized his visitor.

"A familiar face. Is that a good or a bad thing on this island?"

Adonis shook his head a little as he chuckled. "I have one of those too. Haven't had to use it yet. Put yours away and I see no reason I can't keep it that way."

God's house? Yes, Bobby supposed it was. A church was alledgedly a holy place, but he couldn't really care less about that. Pacification, he already knew and had decided, was futile, as was placation. Bobby had been referred to as a familiar face by Adonis, and unless he had somehow been asleep for both of the previous announcements, there was no way he could not know that Bobby had already killed. Either Adonis was incredibly naive, or he had a trick of his own up his sleeve.

"You sound remarkably sure of that," Bobby commented, remaining standing where he was at the door, carbine still pointed at Adonis: his torso in fact. Bobby figured it was the largest area of the body, so he would have the greatest chance of hitting: if, he chose to fire. "I'm not impressed by the facade Adonis. Pull the gun if you're going to, because I'm telling you here and now that if you so happen to try anything, you're going to go from nought to dead in 0.5 seconds," Bobby couldn't see Adonis' gun from where he was, and he didn't care to, although he would be perfectly able to duck back outside if necessary. He wasn't planning on getting himself shot anytime soon.

"A familiar face? I'm surprised you recognise me. Had a haircut since the last time we met, and I didn't have my tasteful facial art then either," Bobby indicated the cuts on either cheek. "But surely," Bobby began, going for the plunge. "If you can recognise me, then you know my name, and if you know my name, then you know it has been on the announcements. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. And this is more like one and one," Bobby smiled sadly, then continued. "I would suggest, if you're planning on surviving for any length of time, that you start taking things more seriously and stop trusting in a damn church to prevent you from getting killed," he met Adonis' gaze levely. "If I was somebody like that Nathanial Harris dude we've been hearing so much about... you'd already be dead,"

He shook his head.

"You'd have already pulled the trigger if you were going to kill me. The fact that you continue to speak is enough to tell me that you won't use that. This is the third day here. This church may not be any safer than the barracks or the caves, but nobody has fallen here yet, and I don't think that you want to be the first to kill here."

Adonis grinned. "I could be trying to trick you, but I've never really cared to be any good at that sort of thing. Besides, I haven't killed anybody yet. If I were going to start, I think I'd have done that yesterday. I have less reason to trust you than you do to trust me, so, do what you will. Stay or go. Shoot or don't. Maybe if you obey your captors they'll let you go home. I doubt it though."

Adonis was pretty sure that he wouldn't die here, but even if he did, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. This game was crazy. Dying here might save him a lot of anguish later on.

The body dies, but the spirit is eternal. This game cannot kill me.

Bobby raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Oh really?'. A smile played across his face. Despite the seriousness of the whole situation, he still found some things amusing. Predominantly, it was the way Adonis presumed to know what Bobby was thinking. Fighter, he might have been, but psychiatrist he most certainly was not. Obviously, aonis had no idea what Bobby was thinking, otherwise he would have been out of the back door as quick as a flash. Still... he did have some point, Bobby was still loath to shoot somebody down. At least, if he extended the same challenge to Adonis as he had to Ric, he would have some chance of making it out. Hell, Ric himself had almost made it out of the predicament before Bobby decided to play his trump card.

"Know what Adonis? You're right. Partially, that is," Bobby engaged the safety on his carbine, popped the magazine out, and attempted to removed the round which was already chambered, trying to find the right catch to do it. "I'm not going to shoot you. On the other hand, that's not the same as not killing you," Bobby snorted. "And isn't that an ominous warning?" at length, he managed to remove the round, and Bobby transfered the whole gun back into his pack, which he tossed to the ground inside the chapel. "The fact that nobody has died here... yet," Bobby placed particular stress on the last word. "Doesn't bother me one bit. Still, I'm giving you a chance Adonis: you still kept your hand in since that last tournament? I certainly hope so: put 'em up,"


Bobby walked towards Adonis and stopped only a short distance away, raising both of his fists. He was taking a risk, but didn't actually give a damn. Adonis had said he had a gun, but Bobby didn't believe him. Nobody was that much of a pacifist they wouldn't pull that kind of weapon if they had it: especially if somebody else was pointing a gun of their own at them. It was time to see if Adonis' reputation was hot air or fact...

Though a fight wasn't really what he wanted, at least the playing field was a little more even now. He didn't know if Bobby had an ace up his sleeve or not, but at least the gun was put away. The wiser idea would probably be to stage a bluff with his AK-47, take the other's supplies, and leave. But Adonis was far too honorable for that, and wouldn't resort to stealing. He would have to defeat Bobby, or try one last time to dissuade him. He rose from the pew lazily grabbing the gun and grinning.

"I told you I had a gun. You are either very brave, or very foolish. But one thing you are not is bulletproof. You still want to do this dance? I could end it right here. What do you think?" He laughed and shook his head. He set the gun down and assumed a fighting stance.

"If a fight is what you want, then I suppose I must accept your challenge." His face took on a more somber expression, as he awaited the first strike from Bobby. He would not strike unless a blow was aimed, so unless Bobby started it, they could stand there all day.

Bobby smirked as he spotted something about Adonis' gun. Just moments earlier his stomach had clenched with dread to see the weapon, fearing he had made a fatal mistake. He'd figured that Adonis had been bluffing when he said he had a gun, but Bobby was mistaken. However... Bobby knew what an AK-47 looked like, he'd played enough video games to be able to identify one, even if the computer wasn't exactly his favourite pastime. It was one of the most distinctive looking weapons in the world, and in this case, it was very obvious indeed that the gun was missing something rather crucial...

It wasn't loaded. Bobby could tell - the magazine of an AK extended below the main body of the gun, and this was notably absent. Bobby wasn't sure whether Adonis was just stupid or it was some kind of sick joke on Danya's part. After all, a gun with no bullets wasn't too much worse than a syringe with some insulin, nor a stick. Hell, the stick might not even have been Ric's issued weapon, it could have been something he'd picked up because it was more useful than his original weapon. But the matter at hand wasn't the stick wielding Spaniard, rather the dreadlocked half-Jamaican in front of him. Adonis appeared to have decided to resolve things with fists also, but Bobby couldn't resist calling him on his bluff.

"I'm the foolish one? Considering that you're either too stupid to load your gun or too unlucky to receive bullets for it, then you try to threaten me with said gun," Bobby raised an eyebrow and smiled at Adonis. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe I should have just shot you down. If anything, it was foolish of me to put my gun down. Ah well... wisdom never got me anywhere anyway," Bobby shuffled a step forward. "Ready to get knocked out?" talking wasn't going to get him anywhere, so, in mid-sentence, Bobby was already throwing his first punch. He struck right at the middle of Adonis' face, throwing a straight jab with his left hand.

The boxer wasn't quite as fast as he used to be. He had bulked up significantly since he first started to box: exchanging a measure of speed for a good deal of power. Trying to beat the opponent down was Bobby's best bet in any situation, it played to his natural physique. Still, Bobby had recently found it somewhat difficult. Heayweight fighting was a whole new thing to Bobby, and since he only fell within the weight class by a slender margin, the fights had been tougher recently. Bobby felt quietly confident about this fight. Although he knew size wasn't everything, the difference was undeniable. Adonis must have given away at least forty pounds to Bobby, and that put him several weight classes below him. However, he couldn't get complacent, who knew what Adonis might be caplable of pulling out of his repetoire? Bobby had to remember that this, after all, was not a straight up boxing match. Anything would go.

He chuckled and leaned to the left, avoiding the anticipated punch and stepped in the direction he was already leaning.

"I thought it was amusing as well. Danya is a funny man, no?" Adonis aimed a kick at the boy's midsection. He hoped to incapacitate his opponent quickly, claim the spoils of his victory and go. He didn't really feel like killing him. They were all victims of a sick game, and taking the life of another was not something that really appealed to him. Unless Adonis felt that it would be dangerous to leave him alive, he would much rather just set him in a closet and let him wake up later, minus his weapons.

He had noticed two doors when entering the church, and he figured that one of them would be a storeroom or something of the like. If I win this fight, that will be a perfect place to put him until he wakes up. Keeps him a little bit safe from being blown away before he comes to at least. He kept moving, making sure that he didn't make an easy target of himself. Speed was his best friend here. Constant movement would help keep him from getting knocked across the room.

Bobby made a small noise of frustration at Adonis' agility: he didn't know how, but somehow, his opponent had known that it was coming. Still, it was nothing to be unduly concerned about, after all, Bobby had assured Adonis he was going to fight with him, the fact that he guessed correctly to dodge meant little: you couldn't keep relying on chance for long, if the other did, he would end up laid out on the ground in short order. Bobby wasn't so slow you could run rings around him, and sooner or later, he would land a solid blow, and when he did, it was going to hurt whoever took it.

It wasn't too difficult to bring his hand back from the punch he had already thrown, but by the time Bobby could have brought it back to defending, he would have already been hit. Adonis had followed up the dodge with a quick counterattack of his own: but if he felt that using his feet would put the puncher Bobby at a disadvantage, Adonis was sorely mistaken.

The problem with the attack was the distance between the pair of them. They were too close. Adonis had allowed Bobby to close the gap right from the start, and the boxer had only decreased it with his forwards movement. That meant the kick would be awkward and constricted, perfect for Bobby to drop his right hand and catch hold of Adonis' leg, pinning it.

Rather than following up with the move - as Darnell has done to him back in the Shooters tournament, Bobby proceeded to simply shove Adonis back, letting go of his leg in the process. He didn't really care whether or not he could maintain his balance, nor whether it actually suceeded in hurting his opponent. The important thing was that Adonis was away from Bobby.

The boxer smiled at his opponent, then turned away, calling out casually behind him.

"You're not worth it. I was looking for a decent fight... and didn't find one," Bobby paused only to pick up his pack on the way out of the chapel doors.

((Continued in: Soulless))

Adonis didn't allow Bobby's parting words to affect him. That's what fighters do. They talk shit. Fighting was as much psychological as it was physical. Bobby was trying to undermine Adonis's confidence. It didn't really make much difference to him. Adonis had been trying to avoid a fight, and he had managed to do so, which was all that mattered to him.

Looking around, he sat back on the pew, and began to rest once again.

((Sorry sir, but you're way past the deadline.))

Fortunately for Adonis Zorba, rest did come, and as he closed his weary eyes his body drifted off into a deep sleep. Unfortunately for Adonis, he didn't hear the speakers over the howling wind as they squawked to life, and he didn't hear the stuttering Dorian Pello declare the church a dangerzone.

In fact, Adonis remained in a deep slumber, even as his collar began beeping, signifying that it was about to detonate. Only in the final moments did Adonis's eyes open and the boy searched groggily around for his alarm clock, thinking it was time to get up and go to school.

No sooner than the memories of their abduction and the SOTF ACT flooded back into his mind, his collar suddenly detonated, taking the wide-eyed Adonis's neck with it as it blew up.

MALE STUDENT NO. 52 - ADONIS ZORBA - DECEASED