It's Back

"TONIGHT ON WORLD CREATURE WARS: Tentacles meet spinning blades! Then, an aerial gunfight for dominance! And in tonight's MAIN EVENT, what happens when razor-sharp claws the size of a man meet a carapace that can resist cannon fire?!

World Creature Wars - the world's leading monster bloodsport organization!"

A brief teaser glimpse of a scorpion with a buzzsaw tail facing down a pigeon with a laser gun for a head. The crowd cheers...

-LAS VEGAS-

Life was good for Rex Maximilion. But then, wasn't it always? Deep within his shining golden tower at the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada, the billionaire CEO sank deeper into the velvet plush of his favorite easy chair and contemplated again how he came to his current position.

A niche. There had been a niche to fill.

About three years ago, Zoofights Corporation ran into financial difficulties. The reason a company begins to decline is never simple, and a huge number of factors combined to make life hard for the once-mighty bloodsport promoter. One problem was the final tournament's winner, Hardcore Prawn, who wasn't popular. But a combination of computer cunning and lots of funding from Cray Computers ensured that not only could Zoofights Corp not be rid of the lobster, but he now had a hand in many of their business decisions, as he was now part of the upper crust of the company.

Low on options and prepared to try anything, those old blueprints dug up by a janitor came to the fore. Zoofights rebranded itself. Reinvented itself. Now ZF Interstellar Contractors, they took to space with their new cruiser...

And the niche was left wide open.

It had been child's play. World Creature Wars, the scrappy upstart rival to Zoofights, had been crushed by them during the final tournament, but the crushing was literal - World Creature Wars still existed as an entity, it simply had no one to lead it, as Kommodore Disaster had met his end at the hindquarters of an elephant god. (Long story.)

Rex saw his opportunity, and bought up the company's assets, trademarks, and equipment for a song. Then, with Zoofights a galaxy away, WCW was suddenly the only game in town.

Monsters were created. Arenas were constructed. The market for bloodsports was there, and Rex took full control. It was here in Las Vegas that he had crafted his masterwork - a brilliant combat dome, a crown jewel of the city, where people flocked to see animal mutants fight for glory.

But now... now things were about to get interesting.

Zoofights was coming. Or, rather, the company once known as Zoofights was coming. Many of the people in management weren't even there during the Zoofights days. No one had seen the faces of Zoofights Corp among the board of directors in years. The Major was off in parts unknown, and his right-hand AI Gravitas Shortfall, too, had vanished. Gezora, the legendary cuttlefish bartender, had not made a public appearance in over a year and a half, last seen in a brutal four-way Fite Yer Mates with other bartenders.

And that, there, was the rub, Rex thought as he steepled his hands in thought. ZF Corp, whatever they were up to now, did not compete directly with him. But their associated hangers-on... Fite Yer Mates. The Fite Club. Big Bobby's Bonus Boss Pavilion. These, truly, were spectacles capable of competing with him, especially the legendary kobber throwdown known as The Big Bar Brawl. They were in his business. The business of gladiators and arena showdowns. Taking control of the people's eyes. Taking their money. Taking HIS money.

Competition... Rex loved competition. Or, rather, he loved crushing competition - like that pitiful wrestling federation that had been clinging to life at the edge of his territory until he finally drove it out last year. Like any good CEO, Rex hadn't gotten where he was today by playing nice. The capital for his WCW acquisition was money he'd gotten from his numerous other business ventures in Sin City - ventures where he had ruthlessly knocked out his competitors until he held a monopoly. Now he controlled a not-insignificant portion of the city, with the arena and his personal tower at the center of his territory. Every place of business within the territory - from the biggest motel to the simplest convenience store - was firmly in his grasp.

Rex looked out the window and stared at the lights of Las Vegas. He drew out a cigar, lit it, and puffed leisurely.

Let the kobbers come. Let ZF Corp muscle into the city. Let Fite Yer Mates gear up to give them a show. It wouldn't matter to Rex Maximilion. He knew there was a force that even the greatest hero could not possibly overcome. And he knew that there was a strategy that had the potential to stop any team, especially one as hopelessly diverse as the kobbers.

Let them come.

World Creature Wars would have its ultimate revenge by achieving the impossible:

Dismantling and destroying ZF Corporation.

Piece by piece.