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Shawn Warstein · (05-05-2020)

There I stood there leaning against the wall while each one of them kept their eyes locked on me. A low rumbling is heard behind us, as we all turn towards the rumbling. A few stones begin to fall from the ceiling, as a crack of light shines from between the stones, as the large wall begins to roll opening up into a large stadiumish arena. Soldiers and guards file into the seats, as Achilles appears on the other side of the arena. Sitting atop a throne, with his legs crossed.

A grumbling can be heard behind us, as the chattering of chains hitting the ground echoes in the small room. The Man with the Mask rushes out into the arena, and is quickly tackled to the ground. Held up by a few guards restraining him from running. The Spaniard and Potato thrower walk calmly past into the opening. They were both left alone as they stride towards Achilles. The Monster and the Older man stand up. The Monster towers over as he snorts and walks out into the arena. The Older Man rubs his wrists where the chains were and gives me a slight pat on the back as we both walk out into the arena.

“Well here we go.” Muttered the Older Man, with a voice of knowledge and wisdom. A few guards surround us, as the people in the stands knock their swords rhythmically against the stands. They are clanging them slowly at first, but with each step closer to Achilles the cadence grows faster and faster. Suddenly…

Silence.

Achilles stands holding his hand high, peering down upon the six of us. In succession each of us were clipped in the back of the knee, forcing us to the ground. I must’ve been the lucky one as I got a shield to the back of my neck as well. Lucky Me.

“Well we were going to do this at a later date, but the gods have blessed us with a gift.” Achilles’ faze falls upon me. I spit at his feet, and was once again met with a shield to the back of the head. Always defiant no matter the situation. “Yes. You. You brought to me the second orb that I need. We are going to have our little tournament today. Right here. Right now.”

Achilles snaps his finger. In a mere moment a few guards drag out a cart holding an assortment of weapons. Ranging from swords, small blades, spears, amongst other weapons. Everyone’s eyes light up at the sight, well almost all of us. My eyes, along with the Monster’s never leave Achilles.

“This is going to be a quick tournament. The first one of you to reach that door, I’ll let you walk right out that door.” Achilles points to a doorway behind him. “It’s really that simple.”

“Then what’s with the weapons?” The Older man chimes in, as a huge smile comes across Achilles’ face.

“Well I’m glad you asked.” He raises his hand towards the outer rim of the arena. “You didn’t think it was going to be a foot race did you?” A flurry of Soldiers in full combat gear flood into the arena. Each of them ready for battle. There were easily forty soldiers eying each of us like we were lunch.

“It’s been too long for them, they haven’t had a proper battle. It’s my gift to them.” Achilles smirks and then draws his attention back to us. “So in the interest of fairness, you will each get to choose a weapon. See I’m not all bad. We will then move you back to the other side and the tournament will begin.”

“What if none of us make it through?” Huffed the Spaniard in a perfect English dialect. Achilles steps down from his spot and takes a deep breath.

“That’s what we are counting on. I don’t want to let you leave, but the prospect of leaving makes everyone just TRY a bit harder.” Achilles walks over to the cart with the weapons and runs his hand over the top. “Now let’s get started.” Achilles points to The Masked man.

“Make it quick, the sunlight is running out.” The Masked man gingerly walks up to the cart. He surveys it for a few beats, and grabs a shield. He reaches for a blade but his hand is stopped by Achilles. “Only one. You’ve chosen the shield. Smart. I guess you’re hoping to sneak through and just survive to the end. We shall see how that works out for you. Back in line. You! You’re next.”

Achilles points to the Spaniard who quickly jumps up and is at the cart in an instant. He quickly grabs a spear and tosses it over his shoulder without a second of hesitation.

“The spear? Classic. Capable of inflicting damage from a distance. Not a bad choice.” Achilles nods in agreement of the choice. “You’re up next.”

The Potato thrower stands, throws a quick glare at the rest of us, and walks up to the cart. Much like the Spaniard, he chooses quickly. A heavy mace, that as soon as he lifted it up, it fell to the ground. He drags the weapon to his spot and smiles widely.

“The Mace. A weapon capable of severe damage, if one can lift it and use it to its full potential.” Achilles rolls his eyes, and laughs to himself. “Next.”

The Older man stands up, grunting as he does. He looks puzzled at the selection. Achilles coughs to get his attention, and then waves him to hurry up. The Old Man eventually grabs a medium sword and returns to his spot.

“A classic choice. A perfectly balanced weapon, capable of offense and defense if wielded correctly. I’m impressed. It takes thought and intelligence that the others haven’t shown.” With a point the Monster stands up and walks towards Achilles. He stumbles backwards as a few guards get between the Monster and Achilles.

The Monster calmly walks to the cart and grabs the largest broadsword. The Monster turns and returns to his spot.

“How fitting, well you’re up orb bearer. Better choose wisely.”

As I approached the cart there wasn’t really anything that caught my eye. Achilles is hovering over and I point to his sword. He scoffs and backs away. I once again peer over the cart and see a small blade, not much bigger than the palm of my hand. The handle was sturdy, and covered with wrappings. I pick the small blade and return to the line.

“That’s what you’ve chosen? The smallest weapon? At least the idiot chose a shield. Getting that orb from you is going to be easier than I thought.” Achilles waves the guards over as they lead us to the opposite side of the arena. The soldiers in the stands begin their cadence again. We all turn around as we watch Achilles ascend out of the arena and take a seat right near the door that was promised as the exit. He slowly raises his hand, and in a quick burst lowers it.

All the soldiers inside of the arena rush towards the six of us. Everyone rushes towards them ready for battle, except for myself and the masked man. We share a quick glance and nod.

“Is this what I’ve been left with? The moronic mute who barely showed up in a match against the Face of the Company? A person who in no way shape or form deserves to be anywhere near a Captains match, not to even mention a fucking title! He will bemuse most of us with his incoherent ramblings about changing the XWF, but it’ll never come to fruition. When Main and Page and to a lesser extent

says something like that we all take notice. When this pissant says it, it just falls on deaf ears. He’s like the cute kid with downs. You tell him he’s doing his best, and that he can live a full life, yet deep down we all know the truth. It’s just no one is willing to say it aloud. Yes that’s the society we live in today. I can’t call someone who clearly has brain damage a re***d. See even in my own thoughts I get censored. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to treat him like they did way back in the day when there was a special person that needed to be taken care of.”

The Masked Man takes a few steps in front of me, as a few soldiers make their way towards us. I grab my blade firmly in my hand and jam it deep into the center on the Masked Man’s neck, the blade protrudes out the front of his throat. I pull the blade out quickly as he crumples to the ground. I picked up his shield and made my way forward. The audience cheering on the violence displayed. The Spaniard was fighting valiantly against two soldiers.

“Just look at him trying so hard to be relevant. He knows just as much as the next guy that he doesn’t stand a fucking chance in hell, but you have to applaud the effort. After taking a beating, and taking me to my proverbial limit only to fall short. In his mind he thinks that he almost had me, when the sad fact was he wasn’t anywhere close to beating me. The only thing he proved was that he was and will always be a failure. His grasp on what is actually happening is sickening. He thinks he has his finger on the pulse, but really it’s jammed up his own ass. When he pulls it out he’s nose dead to the bull shit, so he continues in his ignorance. It really should be considered a strength, but in his inept hands it’s fumbled and lost. This is all just surface level stuff here. I don’t even need to dig any deeper on this miscreant, he’d miss the points laid out anyways. I mean he probably didn’t even notice that I didn’t even say his name, but he knew it was about him.”

I run up and boot one of the soldiers in the chest, a kick that would make the fiercest of Spartans jealous. I lift the Spaniard up to his feet, and out of the corner of my eye I can see a soldier rushing towards us, blade leading the path. At the last second I pull up the shield, and divert the blade towards the Spaniard. The blade impales him in the stomach, as blood begins to pour out of his mouth. With my blade, I stab the soldier in between his protective gear. You could hear the air leave his chest as I pulled the blade out. A blood curdling scream is heard across the arena, as I see the Potato Man facing off with a guard.

“Then there’s Shane. New year New Me! Well if you aren’t what New Year's Resolutions are all about right? Sure you’re essentially still Shane somewhere in that body, but something is different this time. You’ve actually changed. For that props man, it’s not going to do you any good. Well how could I possibly know that? Well it didn’t work on Savage, Wednesday isn’t going to be any different. You stuck your nose in my business, and for what? To show that you are a threat in this match? Isn’t that supposed to be Peter’s calling card? Being the Threat? Or are you finally done sucking his microscopic dick? With this new transition have you finally realized that associating with trash makes you trash? I’d like to say you’ve caught my eye, and are making me second guess myself, but you’re not. On Savage you had me cornered and I didn’t know you were coming. Warfare it’s a different story, I know you’re going to be there. What should really be a concern of yours is….. That I Know You’re Going To Be There.”

The Potato Man shrieks out loud and before anyone does any damage, he takes his Mace and begins to swing it wildly. Quickly losing control over the weapon. Just as soon as it was in the air, it came crashing down upon himself. A quick acting guard ran up and plunged his sword right through the eyes of the Potato Man. I quickly assess the situation and see the Older Man and the Monster seemingly working together. The Monster swinging his broadsword clearing soldier after soldier, while the Older man constantly goes in for the killing blow.

“Then there’s these two again. I’m not sure if with the change in Main if these two will work together, but it’s also something that can’t be ignored. Their past very well may play into the decision. I understand that our pasts don’t exactly lean in my favor, so I’ve got to do the only thing I can right now.”

“Survive.”

“That’s just it. With this match and stipulations I don’t even care if I win, just as long as I get my pick. The person I want on my team. That in of itself makes it necessary that I win. I can’t have either of those two fuck it up for me in any way. Sure the last time Centurion and I met in the ring he ‘won’, but even he knows it’s a tainted outcome. I don’t even consider it tainted anymore. I’ve accepted the fact that the officials here are useless and I’ve moved on… To bigger and better things. Although Cent does have one thing going for him….”

“Robert seems to think he deserves a shot at my title, but that’s only if Robert gets a shot first that is, and I agreed with him. Out of everyone here Centurion you deserve a shot well before the useless waste of talent parading around with Page. The fact that Robert thinks HE deserves a shot is funny. In this company, it’s a what have you done for me lately, and well, Robert…. What have you done? Ohh you guys beat the Sick Cunts…. only because I let you. You’re making the tag team titles relevant… already did that. You’ve done what? Beat some scrubs? Cool. Still not enough to garner my full attention. You know that the last time we were even in the same ring my full attention had to be split, the last thing you want Bobby… is my full attention on you.”

I hang back watching the two of them now down most of the Soldiers and guards. As the numbers are winding down I rush over to a body. Quickly I cover my face with blood and lay down on the ground next to a corpse, placing a blade protruding from my chest. I gloss over my eyes, and watch as the two of them stare at Achilles waiting for the door to open.

“You’re not done yet. I said one of you would be free to go.” Achilles proclaimed from his perch above the arena.

The two men stared at each other, and a battle quickly started. With each swing from the monster, the Older Man blocked. Sparks flew with each swing. Both of their backs are turned to me, as I watched the Monster raise his sword high above his head, and landing a massive killing blow. I jumped to my feet, blade in one hand shield in the other.

I slide across my knees right up behind the Monster. With one swipe of my blade across the backs of both his ankles, both his Achilles’ tendons were severed. With my shield, I Captain America jab the back of his knees. The Monster falls to the ground face first. I leap on his back, jamming the shield into the back of his neck, pinning him to the ground. With a quick lift and downward pressure, the neck of the Monster was broken as his body went limp under me.

“I won. Open the fucking door.”

“I am a man of my word. You’re free to go.”

Achilles waves for his men to open the door. I don’t even think twice before I’m rushing out of the door. I catch myself sliding to a halt right before falling off of a massive cliff. The waters at the bottom crashing up along the jagged coast. As I turn around with my blade and shield held at the ready as Achilles walks through the door.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy? What I’m going to do is kick you off the edge, find your corpse and get the orb that way. Goodbye…”

I raised my shield as Achilles booted me over the edge. It felt like I was falling for hours, and thankfully I was able to turn facing the water, with the shield taking most of the impact, when I crashed into the water. I get my composure and frantically search for the shield. I use it as a makeshift float as I paddle out into the open waters. Quickly the sun crossed the horizon, and the dark waters grew ominous. I was at the mercy of the tides. I was thrown around like a rag doll, and the last thing I recall is my shield bashing up against my ribs pushing the air out. Weakened I struggled until I became resigned to my fate, and went with the tide.

————Sometime-Later————

I don’t know how long I was in the water for, or how I even survived. All I know is that when I finally started to come to, I was being dragged across a white sand beach by an unknown person or persons. Their voices muffled from my water logged ears. I slowly open my eyes as the camera fades.

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