He couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. A stretch of about two city blocks on hot coals. Along the stretch were banners of each of the other nine participants in the Gauntlet match. Their likenesses were arranged in the order they would appear. At the farthest end was a raging bonfire he would have to jump through in order to finish. There waiting for him on the other side was a replica of the XWF United States Championship laying on a table with an ounce of the best smoke around and a bottle of Jack Daniels.


Death Merchant
You seriously think I'm going to go through that for some weed and a fake belt made out of plastic? Are you off your F'n rocker?


Eve
I thought you would need a little more of an incentive. Sitting behind the table there out of view is a briefcase containing Fifty Thousand Dollars and the keys to a cherry red 1969 Dodge Charger in mint condition.


Death Merchant thought about it for a second before answering her. It was clear that she had misunderstood what he said.


Death Merchant
Listen close there hot stuff. I said that I wouldn't do it for what you have there and if I wanted the rest of the crap I know where to get it. I don't need a damn thing to run through your little playground there. I'd do it just for the pleasure of knocking down those ugly @$$ banners!


Eve
That sounds like the Death Merchant that I know. While you go through it I will run beside you and film everything. On the grassy part of course.


He began running through the hot coals. Each step sent a wave of pain through his feet like nothing he had felt before. Screams of pain escaped his lips as he crashed through the banner of Sebastian Duke. He kept going, He couldn't stop. Each wave of pain began to fuel the fire burning inside him, Igniting the rage like a volcano about to erupt he burst through the second banner with the likeness of Mr. Natural gracing it. With a burst of speed he began to block out the pain and focus on the rage. He barely felt it by the time he went through both the third and fourth banners of Matt Ward and Alexandra Callaway. Only pausing for a moment to make sure the one of Callaway remained in tact as he took it down and handed it to Eve. He blew through the fifth, Sixth, And seventh ones of Mystica's whose he also saved. Along with the ones of Chris Legend and Jason E. Smith. By the time he got through the eighth one of Tony Santos he was picking up speed and had his eyes on the likeness of Peter F'n Gilmour. He used the last of his rage to blast through it and the raging fire-pit.


He collapsed on the other side and sat in a chair beside the table with his feet soaking in peroxide. He took a long drink from the bottle of Jack Daniels and a quick hit off of the pipe that was provided for the weed. He relaxed for just a moment before turning to speak to Eve.


Death Merchant
Is that what you had in mind? $h!t, That was nothing really compared to having the actual matches. It does a lot for you mentally though. Really gets you fired up.


Eve
Now you know why I wanted you to do that. It will help you focus through the pain. Nothing that your opponents will do to you can feel as bad as that did. Now, I need to take care of some personal business downtown. Don't worry, The car and money are still yours. I'll see you tomorrow before the match.


With that she left him sitting there. He opened up the briefcase and thumbed through the cash. Yep, Fifty Grand and it was all there. He took the keys to the Charger and put them in his pocket. How did she know what his favorite car of all time had been. He never mentioned it to her. She was sure full of surprises. He took his feet out of the peroxide and looked at them. The blisters had hardened and the whole bottom of his foot was black. He grabbed the bandages that Eve had provided and wrapped them before putting on his socks and shoes.


Later that evening.........


The pain in his feet had subsided to a throbbing dullness that he could deal with easily. He needed a breath of fresh air and decided to head out for a little bit to clear his thoughts. He had gone through the posts his opponents had put up on the web site and was glad to see that everyone seemed to be taking this match as serious as he was. They were all gunning for a war and no matter who he faced that was just what they were going to get.


He walked along the beach. The coolness of the sand and the night air began to make him feel better. He thought about his opponents and everything they had said. Some of them were pretty entertaining and had him laughing uncontrollably while others just didn't make any sense at all. He thought about Sebastian Duke, The so called Angel of Darkness. The man who say that Warfare is HIS playground. Another member of the 'Brotherhood' who was so preoccupied with destroying the 'Black Circle' that he couldn't see that his own destruction would soon be at hand. The same guy who is more worried about the meaning behind Death Merchants name than what he is able to do inside the ring. Duke was even more foolish than Gilmour, Something he had thought would be impossible. No wonder they were both members of the 'Brotherhood' They deserved each other.


He walked a little further down the beach when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned to see the same spider that had been there before. He shook his head, At first thinking it was his mind playing tricks in him. Then the spider began to talk.


Spider
Well, What do you think? Is this thing winnable or not? You have had a chance to evaluate the competition.


Death Merchant
You can talk? What in the world is going on?


Spider
Of course I can talk, We all can. It's just that most of us don't think humans are intelligent enough to carry on a decent conversation. Now, Like I said. Do you think this thing is winnable or not?


Death Merchant
Of course I do. Every match is winnable if you put your mind to it and are willing to go all out to attain that victory. It's all about who wants it the most and who is willing to put their body through the X-Treme hell that it is going to take in order to win.


Spider
Sebastian Duke seems to think otherwise. He says that your promos put him to sleep.


Death Merchant
Yeah, That guy is just a barrel of laughs. The truth is, He fears me! He knows that behind that facade of his is nothing but a coward. He knows nothing of the true darkness and the horrors it contains. let him go on fooling himself all he wants. let him keep believing that I am irrelevant. When the final match has ended and my hand is the one being raised in victory I hope he is awake enough to watch on the television in the back so he can enjoy it with me. How irrelevant will I be then!


Spider
From what I have seen this week only a few seem to be giving you the slightest chance of coming out a winner in this event. How does that make you feel?


Death Merchant
How should it make me feel? I take everything they say in stride and don't worry about it. Cheap talk isn't going to get it done in that ring no matter who you are facing. If any of them think their words are going to bother me then they don't know me very well. If nothing else it will only serve to make me a lot more dangerous than I already am. Something that will only mean bad news for whoever I step into the ring against. I like hurting people and I enjoy seeing the pain in their eyes as they try to hide their screams of horror.


Spider
Whoa, That's a nice breeze coming in. I think I'll hang ten for a while and have a little fun.


With that the spider catapulted itself off of Death Merchants shoulder and took off into the wind screaming with delight. Death Merchant decided to call it a night and head back to his Hotel. He wanted to get up early enough the next day to take care of any last minute business that may be waiting for him when he woke up.