Connected to 'Villain Vows' and 'I'm Here' a test-write for a subplot of a story being written after Nexus comes out. Since I'm trying to improve my writing, please tell me what you think. If the characters are in character, the writing flows okay, ect. Constructive Criticism welcomed.

Dreadzone: Dread to Rights (Test Write)

They had to be joking with this one.

Normally Ace Hardlight didn't give new contestants a second glance. Heroes both mighty and lesser came and went either way; and none measured up to his standards. They all fell no matter what they where, what they looked like, nothing.

But when he spotted the newest contestant, his first instinct was to laugh. He'd been standing in the Exterminator's Lounge among fangs and fellow Dreadzone hot-shots when someone interrupted the evening. The lights had been dim, the music playing and troubles forgotten.

"Hey, Ace, ya gotta check out THIS contestant! You won't believe it!"

Ace rose a brow, smirking in a sneering kind of way, "What's so special 'bout 'im?"

A lanky, green man flipped into view by his side, "Or SHE, Ya never know!" Ace rolled his eyes at the Commentator jargon he still insisted on using.

So the guy had switched on the Holo-TV And directed it to the containment suites. Dallas and Jaunita had looked as well.

Ace nearly spluttered and moved his drink away from his lips.

The Containment Suite, one of the smaller ones, held the new constant as it always did. But Ace found himself staring at a boy who was no older than a child; maybe twelve at best. And very small- the tyke would probably only reach up a little past his knee.

And he was dressed in more slender Dreadzone armor; something that looked like it had been dragged together from scraps. Ace stared almost stupidly for a few moments, processing. Behind him Shellshock laughed.

"Lookit at little furry man! He have no chance!" He laughed loudly to himself.

Dallas stared at the creature, face screwed in confusion, "What is he?"

Ace still sat silently as murmurs and laughs broke out around him. One large ear sported from the left side of the boy's fluffy, cat-like head, the other torn away to basically nothing. A tail flicked absently by his legs, and five-fingered hands fiddled with his arm guards idly.

"Sooooooo, Ace!" Dallas was beside him again, grinning that insufferable smile of his. Ace grumbled a little. "Whaddaya think of THIS, um, Rival...?"

He broke off in muffled laughter over the boy's current state. Juanita was still looking at the fluffy contestant, and tilted her head with a frown.

Ace smirked a little, "That Kid won't last five seconds in the arena. No way I'm ever gonna have him as a rival."

"'Ees a Lombax." Dallas looked over his shoulder at Juanita in surprise. She shrugged indifferently, but a sadistic smirk played on metal lips, "They're very easily killed. Too fluffy."

Dallas stared at her blankly for a moment, then forced a grin. "O-kay."

Ace looked back to the screen again, where the boy wandered around his prison, fully aware of his fate. But as the commentators and other exterminators pondered and chattered on how quickly the boy would die, the youth raised his head, and a pair of ivy-blue eyes stuck his.

Ace didn't know what made him look away. He wasn't guilty nor did he feel pity for this brat. But something was just downright creepy about the way he was glaring at the camera. Like he was already prepared to kill.

Ace smirked. Maybe the spitfire would last long enough to put on a show. He silently bet to himself that glare wouldn't keep up. He'd be as torn as the rest...

In the Containment suite, the one-eared lombax continued to stare at the camera.