Story created and written by Horngryonmain
Kai had blacked out. He didn’t know if it was because of something hitting his head or if he just went into shock after falling into lava, but by some miracle, he wasn’t dead. At least that’s what he thought. The truth was much less miraculous.
Kai awoke, groggy and confused, on top of a floor made of stone and sand.
“Oooueaghh.” Was all Kai had to say as he struggled to regain consciousness. His entire body ached in dull, throbbing pain, and he generally felt uncomfortable. There was also a sound he had trouble identifying as the ringing in his ears faded, like a massive group of people were whispering, yet he could hear each voice loud and clear.
Pushing himself off the sandy ground with much effort, Kai blinked and took in his surroundings. A circular wall surrounded him on all sides, a massive crowd of… something, in the seats above the wall, and above him a rock ceiling that hung high above everything else. Wherever he was, Kai figured it was not a good place.
Climbing to his feet, still dizzy, Kai dusted himself off and tried to get a better look at the source of all those loud, murmuring voices he was hearing.
They were… Monsters. All of them. And the stands were positively full of them. All the creatures varied in size and stature, but Kai was able to recognize the imps he was fighting just before waking up in this strange place. Before he could question anything further, he felt his ears ring with a new, much louder noise.
“Welcome! All my hellish hooligans, to a once-in-a-lifetime event you will NOT want to miss!” Boomed a strangely cheerful voice.
Kai looked towards the source of the noise, looking up towards the other end of the ring. There, upon a pedestal, gesturing to the crowd with exaggerated and gleeful movements, was a humanoid hellion. She was feminine in shape but still clearly inhuman by virtue of her horns and sharp nails. The thing wore what appeared to be tight-fitting leather pants and a studded leather jacket, open and with no shirt underneath. Her hair was long and white, and her skin was a deep red. Her appearance almost seemed to be a strange imitation of a punk aesthetic, but was overall not too convincing. Kai was about to shout and ask what the hell was going on with this strange woman, but something shocked him into silence.
“It looks like our star contestant has finally woken up from his beauty sleep and is ready to face the positively diabolical challenges we’ve got lined up for him, folks!” The strange hellion woman said, now staring directly into Kai’s face.
Kai wanted to bark back at this weird creature, but her eyes took him by total surprise. This thing’s eyes were like staring into an abyss, and not only did the abyss stare back, it threatened him. Her eyes were a dizzying pattern of red, black, and yellow, swirling in her sockets like a merry-go-round from a child’s nightmare. And despite all her enthusiastic rambling to hype up the crowd, no matter the expression her mouth conveyed, this woman’s eyes did not emote in any fashion. She didn’t even seem to blink.
Kai could hardly describe the feeling himself, but he knew that this thing scared the shit out of him.
“Now now, I know you all have been getting on my ass about the show, and just so you know I understand. After beheading a few of you for getting too uppity about it, I realized something did have to change. And let me tell you, this one was a tough customer!” The crowd laughed and cheered despite the clear admission of murder from the ringmaster.
“Hailing from the planet Earth on the mortal plane, this handsome human is known as Kai! Give it up for Kai, everyone!”
Boney claps and guttural cheers echoed out from the stands. Kai was still too dumbstruck to say anything, but it seemed as if he had been entered into some sort of hellish game show he did not sign up for. Perhaps he had died and gone to hell.
“Now humans are rare for this little show of ours, but admittedly not super interesting. A couple good warriors now and then, but never enough to really whet the appetites of all my loyal followers.” The woman paused, taking a step across her podium and looking towards Kai with what he could only assume was a knowing smile. The look of her eyes still filled Kai with an indescribable dread. “Thankfully, this is no ordinary Joe-Schmoe; this particular human has quite a few tricks up his sleeves.”
“What are they?” Spoke up a random hellion from the crowd.
The announcer looked towards the source of the voice, eyes locking onto the specific creature that dared to interrupt. In a moment, the small hellion’s eyes went dark, and its body went limp and fell forward. The crowd paid little mind to this, instead casually throwing the small thing’s body directly into the ring. With a sickening crunch, the hellion hit the floor below, clearly dead before even hitting the ground.
Then the announcer continued. “We’ll just have to wait and see just how far this little human protege will go!” The crowd cheered just as normal.
“Gooey. What the fuck is happening.” Kai spoke only so he could hear himself.
Suddenly appearing on the top of his head was Kai’s faithful spiritual companion, Gooey. “That is a wonderful question.” The small octopus creature seemed rather unbothered by its surroundings. “From what I can tell, we are in the Hell of Fire, in some sort of ritual battle arena.”
“Ok. Why,” Kai asked plainly, with a twinge of anxiety in his voice.
“From what I can tell from the series of events that led us here, this hellion with the loud voice tricked you into falling into some sort of portal into this specific arena and plans to use your skills and abilities as a form of entertainment,” Gooey explained in the same monotonous voice it always used. Gooey always helped Kai when he needed it, but otherwise, the spirit remained totally neutral to all events as long as it was a new experience.
The announcer was still speaking all the while, primarily hyping up the crowd. None of this sat well with Kai. This colosseum was spelling bad things for his future.
“Now enough chatter from me, though I’m sure you all love hearing my dulcet tones. Let’s get onto the main event!”
Suddenly, from across the ring, Kai saw a large metal gate begin to rise. From the shadows behind the gate, a large, muscular figure began to emerge from the archway.
“This is an extra special match today, everyone, because these two challengers have already met once. That is right, the hellion our human will be facing is none other than the imp that helped me catch Kai not so long ago. Everyone give it up for the newly promoted Nelvos!”
The crowd erupted in cheers once again, but Kai was only dreading what was happening more and more. The figure across the ring now stood visible in the ember light of the colosseum. The hellion was massive, well over 7 feet tall. Whatever the hell this thing was, it was certainly not the imp that caught Kai in the first place.
Once the hellion was fully lit up by the lights of the colosseum, Kai could make out what exactly this thing was. A hulking form of muscle, mostly humanoid in look but definitely not a person. The monster’s muscles bulged grotesquely, as if something a person with a fear of muscles would have a nightmare about. It also had large, pointed horns and wore nothing more than leather straps around its body. Kai could only interpret the look in the monster’s sunken eyes as a look of excitement.
“Without further delay…” The ringmaster said before clearing her throat. Then, along with the entire crowd, she chanted. “LET! THE! BLOOD! FLOW!!!”
Kai looked with horror as he watched the hellion across from him begin to charge. There was no more time to wonder what the hell was happening; if Kai didn’t act now, he would be crushed into a red pulp. With shaky arms, Kai formed an X with his bracers and readied his weapons. Thankfully, the arena was quite large, so Kai had plenty of time to prepare himself.
Raising his arms in front of himself, Kai braced himself for whatever the hellion was going to throw out first. With unrestrained fervor, Nelvos approached Kai with lumbering speed, winding up for a right hook. Kai was able to anticipate the attack easily, holding up his tonfas to take the blow.
The attack connected with Kai’s weapons. Even with the hook blocked, Kai felt pain radiate up his arms. This thing’s strength was going to make every attack hurt, as long as it connected, nothing else mattered. As the hellion wound up for another punch, Kai decided it was time to dodge. With a swift duck, Kai slipped away from the other punch, ready to take the opportunity to retaliate. Kai quickly closed the distance between the two of them and, with great swiftness, landed a 1-2-punch directly into the hellion’s torso.
Unfortunately for Kai, the wall of muscle this creature had was much more dense than he expected. Both of Kai’s attacks did virtually nothing to the Hellion. Kai was not given any time to register this information, as Nelvos was quick to retaliate. With his body exposed, Kai could do nothing about the Spartan kick administered by the hellion. Kai felt his body jerk violently as he was sent many feet flying backwards. Kai slammed into the hard floor below, unable to soften his fall in any way.
With the air knocked out of him, Kai began to panic. This feeling was something very foreign to Kai. Even in objectively dangerous situations, Kai was always the single person who would be able to tackle any problem with a level head. This sudden spike of adrenaline and mortal fear was quickly overwhelming.
Kai tried to lift himself off the ground, doing his best to breathe again. As he propped himself up, he saw the hellion walk up towards his prone body. Fear entered Kai’s mind in a brand-new form. This was no longer a simple response to pain, because as Kai looked into the eyes of this monster approaching him, he saw only one thing. A brutal and unfeeling death.
Suddenly, Gooey appeared on Kai’s stomach. “I’ve never sensed this feeling within you before. I understand it’s not a good emotion. You cannot lose yourself to fear. You have my assistance, do not forget that.”
Gooey’s considerate words brought some ease into Kai’s mind and reminded him that this didn’t have to be the end.
Kai called upon Gooey’s power, an ocean blue glow surrounding the young man as he borrowed some of his spiritual familiar’s power. Spectral tentacles shot out of Kai’s body, the large appendages reaching out away from the hellion. Just before the monster brought down a stomping foot to try and finish off Kai, the human was quickly dragged away from the area of Nelvos’ attack.
Nelvos was confused, looking towards Kai with a furrowed brow. Kai wasted no time in a counter-attack; there was no way he was going to die to this stupid hunk of meat. With the same two tentacles that helped him dodge the incoming attack, Kai used the spiritual appendages to launch himself into the air. Kai flung forward, and before the monster had time to react, Kai swung his right arm and landed a direct hit into the head of the hellion. The punch landed with great force, staggering Nelvos into dropping onto one knee. The monster’s neck was too thick to have the attack be a knockout, but it was enough for Kai to feel like he still had a chance.
With newfound confidence, Kai landed behind Nelvos, spinning to face the hellion again. Kai felt his breathing steady and his mind focused. He did all that training for a reason, and he was not about to let this be the end of him.
“Wow! What an upset! And here I thought this human would barely last 10 seconds into the first match. Let’s see what this underdog has in store for us!” The announcer spoke among the crowd’s cheers. The strange hellion woman had been narrating the entire fight, but Kai was a bit too preoccupied to pay attention to everything she was saying.
Nelvos stood again, only appearing to be slightly rattled by Kai’s direct hit. As the hellion turned to face Kai, there was a new look in the monster’s eyes. Now, anger was the only thing fueling this creature.
Kai was ready this time, the adrenaline fueling him and giving him clarity of mind. As Nelvos charged and brought a fist down with much greater speed than before, Kai reacted. A new spectral tentacle shot from his body, this time wrapping around the body of the hellion. With a sudden movement, Kai was pulled in close to Nelvos, dodging the hammer arm in the process. Then Kai went for the head once again. With a swift uppercut, Kai’s blunt weapon connected with the hellion’s chin. A crack rang out from the jaw of the monster as it once again staggered from the attack.
Kai was in the zone, and to a degree, beginning to enjoy himself. As soon as he hit the ground, Kai stayed close to the monster’s body. Kai rotated himself around Nelvos, and as he began to face his back, Kai used a pair of tentacles to push off the ground and into the air. Kai then grabbed hold of Nelvos’ waist with the tentacles, pulled himself close with his feet planted on the hellion’s back, and pushed off the monster with great force.
With perfect timing, Kai’s tentacles disappeared, and all the force of him pushing off the hellion sent the monster face-first into the hard ground below. Kai wasn’t the most acrobatic and was sent flying into the ground himself, but with some quick thinking, he used another pair of tentacles to prop himself up before he hit the ground. Kai stood back up, the crowd cheering in a mad uproar.
Any sense of exhilaration Kai was experiencing before got muted slightly by the unpleasant sound of the crowd’s cheers. At least that’s what he hoped was the sound they were all making. The cheering sounded less like a baseball stadium witnessing a home run and more like a cacophony of dry heaving and the sound of a million people knocking on a hardwood door.
It was strange, Kai thought. The crowd didn’t seem to care that the outsider was winning, only that someone was getting their shit kicked in. Kai didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing, and he did not have time to think about it.
Nelvos struggled to their feet, almost falling back to the ground as they pushed off the ground with a grunt. The hellion looked back at Kai, with only a silent rage in its eyes. Seems as if this battle was nearing its conclusion.
Nelvos did not break eye contact with Kai as the two of them closed the distance between each other. They both walked with a certainty in their steps. They both knew how this was going to end.
Kai wasted no time, hoping to catch the hellion off guard, he threw out a left hook. Kai hoped Nelvos wouldn’t be able to react in time if he threw out a feint and then a finishing blow with his right. Unfortunately for Kai, Nelvos wasn’t trying to win this fight. As Kai’s punch landed against Nelvos’ abdomen, the hellion had already reached down and swiped at Kai’s legs with an open palm. Kai did not expect this, but was still able to attempt a dodge. Kai moved his left leg up and successfully avoided Nelvos’ grasp; however, his other leg wasn’t so lucky. Kai’s right shin and calf were both firmly grasped in Nelvos’ massive hand. A shriek of pain came from Kai’s leg soon after it got caught, as Nelvos began to crush both bone and muscle as they began to squeeze with all their might. This was a pain Kai had never known, the sensation almost being enough for him to faint on the spot. However, another part of Kai knew that this was kill or be killed.
A primal fear re-entered Kai’s mind, and a primal resolve quickly came with it. Kai’s vision was blurred by his pain, but he could see the look on the hellion’s face. It was smiling.
Kai pushed his fists together, the blunt ends of his tonfas also clashing. The whirring mechanics of the weapons started once again. Suddenly, a gauge on the side of his right tonfa filled, blinking yellow.
Kai then planted the end of his right tonfa directly into the stomach of the monster, still crushing his leg. Nelvos looked confused, as Kai did not throw a punch, simply placing the weapon onto its body. Kai then pressed a button on the handle of his right tonfa.
With a sudden burst of energy, Nelvos went flying. Kai fell to the ground as he no longer had two legs to stand on. The crowd went wild.
“BY THE HELLS! WHAT A SUDDEN DISPLAY OF POWER!” Screamed the announcer in a shrill voice.
Kai felt his consciousness begin to fade slightly. The pain he felt in his leg bordered on extreme to so unbearable that his body wanted to simply give up. Though before he could succumb to any sort of natural defense mechanism, Kai looked up at the Hellion across from him.
Nelvos held its stomach as it hunched over in pain. The hellion tried to move, but any movement was met with the monster coughing. Then, Nelvos coughed up blood. Then more blood. Blood began to pour from the creature’s mouth. The light faded in the hellion’s sunken eyes as it fell forward and hit the ground with a thud.
Kai smiled weakly.
“If the contest here was truly a fight to the death, I believe you won, Kai.” Gooey appeared on Kai’s chest as Kai began to lose consciousness.
“If I don’t die first,” Kai said in a weary voice.
“Do not worry. I will make sure you make it out of this.” Gooey affirmed.
That was all Kai needed to hear for his body to finally give in to the pain. Kai lost consciousness to the sound of cheering.
Thx to the homie Horngryonmain for creating and writing this story, as well as creating the characters Kai and Gooey
