Prompt Challenge accepted
Magnet 🧲 and Spike
Hmmmmmm....
The Tenamefic fighting pits are universally known for the violence condoned by its proprietor the Orchid Family.
In a sprawling arena stadium seats climb the walls of the dome surrounding a pit of imported bright colored sand. The bloodthirsty crowd roars with excitement as a behemoth wielding a mace bashed in the skull of his opponent.
“That’s it folks! Ba-Clow the Beast Eater wins again,” a clear voice projected, “Who will defeat this demon who has befallen the Temamefic Pits?”
“Fight me!” Ba-Clow roared to the audience. He was well over eight feet tall with the circumference of a minivan stacked with impossible muscle mass. His hands were the size of car tires and his legs like tree trunks. He was a mighty sight to behold. His black horned helmet covered his face and a glowing green eye burned from within as he searched the dome. He pointed at the only floating platform reserved for the Orchid Family and roared.
“This is all for you! I’ll marry you Annabel Orchid!”
The crowd gasped and erupted in cheers as the giant savage declared his intentions to the Princess of Temamefic. A small pink haired woman with a pointed nose and tiny pursed lips clapped her hands excitedly. Her pale white makeup wasn’t enough to hide the reddening of her cheeks.
“Come on Sister Annabel,” a rotund boy chided. He pointed at the man in the fighting pits with a large turkey leg and said, “That brute isn’t fit to have your hand. I’ll find you a husband. Isn’t that right Gamen?”
The tall slender man wearing a red suit stood beside Annabel nodded his head. His silver hair was slicked back his deep sunken eyes were like pits of darkness with no end. When he spoke there was a chill in the air.
“The man who will marry your sister will have to prove his worth. Even your choice will not suffice Master Hertz.”
Annabel smiled up at her personal guard, Gamen and shivered with delight. She enjoyed his menacing aura and loved to watch him work.
Suddenly the crowd jeers and erupts into a chorus of applause. Annabel’s attention is dragged back to the pit below. A man shrouded in a cloak stomps into the arena and points at Ba-Clow and gives him a thumbs down.
“We’ve got a challenger ladies and gentlemen! Who could it be?” The announcer's voice boomed again, “Reveal yourself and state your name Challenger!”
The crowd watched with stifled breath as the man reached up and snatched off his cloak. The crowd gasped, Annabel and Hertz sat on the edges of their seats as the fluttering cloak obscured their view. Ba-Clow’s jaw clenched as the cloak settled in the turquoise sand and kicked up a small sand veil.
The man who was under the cloak was no taller than five feet seven, he was missing an arm and all of his exposed skin was riddled with scars. His hair and beard were wild, there was a scar across his face where his eye should have been. His massive shirt billowed and he tore it off to expose more scars and a name scrawled on across his back in green ink.
He opened his arm and what remained of the other then confidently stated, “I am Iak!”
The crowd collectively groaned questioningly.
“Your back says Kai,” the announcer notes with a tone of uncertainty.
Iak or Kai tried to look at his back and failed “Does it matter?” Iak or Kai called out.
The crowd offered a resounding, “No!”
Followed by cheers and cat calls. The man was an utter mystery to everyone yet garnered their applause. Annabel’s curiosity had been prodded by the man and she watched expectantly.
“As you all know, the rules are simple... Anything goes, the winner is determined upon the death of their opponent. Fighters choose your weapons!”
The compartments in the walls lining the pit started to flip revealing all kinds of weapons. Ba-Clow lurched over to the blunt weapons and plucked a giant hammer from the shelf. He swung it masterfully and tossed it in the air. As it fell back he nimbly flipped and caught its handle and slammed it in the sand. The crowd exploded in applause and they turned to Iak or Kai to see his choice.
The one armed man examined the shelved arsenal and grabbed a small pouch. The shelves immediately closed one after the other and the crowd watched and pondered what was inside the pouch. The bell signifying the beginning of the match chimed followed by Ba-Clow’s cry of engagement.
Ba-Clow sped towards Iak or Kai as he still fuddled with the contents of the pouch. The crowd groaned as Ba-Clow’s hammer slammed down where he was. Iak or Kai had evaded the attack and stood on the hammers head with his tongue protruding between his lips.
“Insect!”
Ba-Clow raised the hammer as Iak or Kai flipped off of it expertly. He continued to evade the onslaught of attacks like a feather in the wind. All the while he continued to fidget with the sack he chose to be his weapon.
The crowd whooped and hollered as Iak or Kai proved to be a worthy elusive prey for the thrashing predator. A confident and devious smile crept across Iak or Kai’s face. He made such a fluid and fast motion that most of the audience wasn’t able to follow him.
Gamen saw what had happened and instinctively stepped in front of Annabel. Iak or Kai tossed a nail at Ba-Cowl’s face and it plunged between his brows. Iak or Kai flipped over his head as Ba-Cowl took two final steps and collapsed on the ground completely motionless.
Gamen watched as the one armed man in the pit bowed.
“I offer my services to the Orchid Family.”
The crowd swooned at the statement and Iak or Kai stood up amongst the cheers. His sleight of hand and speed were unmatched. However, Gamen invoked his power as the man stood up. Seven nails shot towards Annabel and Hertz like homing missiles but all over them curved and adhered to the power of Gamen’s magnetic pull.
Gamen’s clenched fists trembled as he used it to pull in all seven nails. He pointed back at the pit and the nails fired at Iak or Kai. He flipped to avoid the counter to his attempted assassination and slid to a stop in the sand.
“Kai just attempted to kill the princess and prince! Show this fool how we operate on Tenamefic.”
The crowd swarmed from their seats and charged Iak or Kai. He managed to evade the first few but was overcome by the tide of people. Gamen, Annabel, and Hertz watched delightedly as Iak or Kai was trampled by the stampeding audience.
Little to their knowledge before Iak or Kai was overtaken he burst into a cloud of cinnamon. He reappeared on board a star vessel millions of light years away.
“Hello dear, you’ve got beef with the Orchids? So do I...”
(End for now)
***
Stay Tuned…
Mine Imagination: Flight of the Hummingbirds
By: T. M. Ashley
M.I Flight of the Hummingbirds is the debut by T. M. Ashley, which features a six century old mastermind that was banished from space and time and is now free to do as he pleases and find his way home. Read the Prologue here:
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