As they sat back down on their wooden chairs, there was an uncomfortable silence. For some reason, Blackeye was blushing like a plum, and he didn’t know how to stop it. He could see that PJ and Nosidive were just as embarrassed. Bits was the first to break the ice.
“Why did he do that? His actual reason, I mean.” Bits said. “He wouldn’t have done that for nothing.”
“Yeah,” Nosedive mumbled.
“Uh-huh” PJ agreed, staring into the distance. Bits slapped his hand into his face.
“Come on guys! What’s wrong with you today?” Bun shouted. Immediately, they snapped out of it. They weren’t going to let Bunny think that there was anything wrong with them for a second.
“I don’t know, honestly, Bun. My guess is that he was being nice. But we can’t think about that right now.” Blackeye said.
Almost immediately after that, a loud bell sounded to quieten the crowd. A booming voice roared out over the arena, making the last remnants of the people’s chatter die out.
“WE ARE HERE TODAY TO WITNESS A HISTORICAL EVENT.” The voice rumbled. “THE CLASH OF TWO STORMS THAT HAVE RAVAGED THE PITS FOR AN AGE OR LONGER.” The crowd oohed.
“THESE TWO FORCES MANY OF YOU KNOW WELL. THOUGH YOU MAY DIFFER ON YOUR OPINIONS ON THEIR STRENGTHS,” At these words, PJ hopped out of her seat to start placing bets on Bricker and his competitor.
“IT IS UNDENIABLE THAT THEY ARE EXTRAORDINARY IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.” The crowd screamed and cheered like their lives depended on it.
“ON THE LEFT, WE HAVE THE LEAN SPEED MACHINE, THE PACKED PUNCH OF POISON, ITS … .” The commentator made the crowd drum roll for effect. “SCORPION SCORPISKAN!” the crowd booed and screamed their delight and disapproval. A man walked out from one side of the pits, where a pair of double doors had been closed. Striding through the Pit in a confident manner was a man with green daggers and black robes. He blew air kisses to the crowd as he walked to the centre.
“THIS VENOMOUS INSECT IS FAMOUS FOR HIS KNOCKOUT PUNCHES, SO FAST AND SO STRONG YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HIT YA. BUT WHAT HE’S REALLY FAMOUS FOR, IS THE POISON DAGGERS HE USES TO MAKE THOSE PUNCHES EVEN MORE DEADLY!” When the audience calmed down, he continued,
“ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE THE UPCOMING STAR, THE BEAST, THE BRICK-BREAKING GLADIATOR. EVERYONE, WELCOME TO THE STAGE. . .” Again he paused.
“BRICKER!”
Again the crowd erupted, but this time with more booing than praise. Bricker dove through his corner and sprinted towards the centre like a charging bull. In his hand was a great hammer that he dragged along the sand. Skan lifted his hands over his face, obviously scared, to stop the coming rampage. But, at the last moment, Bricker swerved off and stopped with a flurry of red sand right next to Skan, who was coughing from the dust particles that now filled the air. Skan hissed.
“Go Bricker,” Blackeye heard PJ whisper.
“BRICKER IS KNOWN FOR HIS MUSCULATURE, SAID TO CRUMBLE BRICKS IN HIS HANDS. HE CARRIES A GREAT HAMMER TO MAKE QUICK WORK OF HIS ENEMIES' SKULLS.” The commentator bellowed.
That’s clever, Blackeye realized. He used his speed to frighten Skan, to make him more skittish, while also making it seem like his battle strategy was simple brute strength. How did he come up with that?
“ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, IT IS THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. It's TIME, FOR THE FIGHT.” The people screamed their hearts out once again.
“GO TO YOUR CORNERS COMPETITORS.” Skan and Bricker obeyed, moving to their respective regions.
“ON MY MARK.” The commentator shouted.
“READY. SET. GO!”
The fight was off.
With a gleaming dagger in each hand, Skan came zigzagging towards Bricker’s square, a malevolent glare plastered on his face from the humiliating entrance a few minutes before.
Bricker widened his stance, feet dug into the ground like hooks, while both hands clutched his great hammer. Even from the bleachers, he could tell the Bricker was nervous. Blackeye knew that this was Bricker’s first minor final, and although it wasn’t as high-paying as a major league fight, the reward was still huge.
Seeing that Bricker wasn’t attacking, Skan quickly changed to a head-on charge, probably to gain enough momentum to get a stab powerful enough to knock him out. This change of tactics seemed to have startled Bricker, but he was soon back to his body-wall position.
Blackeye casts nervous looks at the others. Each of them looked as scared as he did. Those daggers. . . Were powerful.
Come on Bricker! Do something clever, get out of the way!, Blackeye thought. But Bricker did none of those. He just waited and waited for that dagger to cut a deep hole into his skin.
Some of the crowd were worried, perturbed and confused, but the majority were cheering for Bricker’s loss. If this got to Bricker, Blackeye couldn’t tell, for his eyes were just as stone-cold and without emotion as the human wall Bricker had become.
“Come on, Bricker, I’ve got twenty bets on you! That's more than 3 decka’s worth if you win. If you lose, well. . .” PJ said unceremoniously.
“Beat the shit out of that dude, Bricker!” Nosedive hollered.
By some miracle, Bricker heard them. Turning his head slightly, he looked directly into Blackeye’s eyes, a grin spread across his face. Blackeye knew that he saw them. Hopefully, that would give him enough encouragement to win. Bricker went back to looking at Skan.
Like an immovable boulder, he crouched lower and dug his feet deeper into the sand. Skan was gaining momentum. Faster. Faster. And faster.
“Move out of the way, Bricker!” Bits yelled.
“You big idiot!” PJ screamed.
Oh, no. Blackeye thought. He’s not actually thinking of hitting head-on, is he? Oh, gods.
Skan was moving faster than an arrow, darting left and right like a gel ball. His feet were a furious blur, making a whirl of sand behind him. Blackeye was sure that Bricker would move, or block or. . . something, at least. But he didn’t. He just stood there.
Skan was a foot away from him when he leapt into the air with daggers outstretched, looking like a psychopath. Blackeye braced for the impact, but it never came. In a movement faster than Blackeye could imagine Bricker capable of, he jumped to the left, His hammer outstretched to knock Skan flat. The noise of the crowd muffled the thud that followed, but Blackeye could tell that Bricker connected. Skan fell into the sand head first. The audience screamed in delight.
“Yes!” screamed Nosedive.
“Beat his arse!” Bun yelled.
Quickly, Skan jumped back up, before Bricker could land another blow like the first. Bricker took two steps back and gripped both of his hands tight over his hammer. A furious look went over his face as he turned around, but his frown quickly changed to a grin.
“Why is he smiling?” Nosedive asked agitatedly.
In the blink of an eye, Skan grabbed a fistful of sand from the floor and threw it into Bricker’s face. Bricker sputtered and blinked as he tried to spit out the sand in his mouth. Blackeye knew what was going to happen before it started. His heart dropped to his kidneys.
As the attack distracted Bricker’s attention, Skan leaped forward and planted four lightning fast punches to Bricker’s stomach. Bricker doubled back, and threw up a mouthful of blood as his shoulders sagged. Skan was laughing at the sorry sight of Bricker, who stumbled back and gasped for breath.
How did Skan do that? His punches can’t be strong enough to make Bricker throw up, Blackeye wondered. Looking down again, Blackeye saw that blood had started spewing from Bricker’s stomach in huge jets.
“Shit. He used the daggers. I don’t think Bricker can handle that.” Blackeye said. Nosedive turned to him, shocked.
“THAT'S FUCKING FOUL PLAY, YOU BASTARD!” Nosedive yelled. Around him, Blackeye could see the crowd was equally distressed.
“Please be alive, please stay alive,” PJ whispered, her arms wrapped around her legs. Blackeye noticed she was crying. Bunny buried her face into PJ’s torso. She was crying too.
Come on Bricker. Get back up.
Skan was bowing to the crowd already, like he had already won. A smile was plastered on his face as he bent down on his knees and flicked Bricker’s nose. Using his middle finger, he slowly pushed against Bricker’s nose to push his head back slowly.
He’s taunting him, Blackeye realized.
“FUCK YOU!” Nosedive shouted.
“Come on, Bricker, get up. You can’t let this scumbag win. Stay strong.” Bits said.
Astoundingly, Bricker raised a foot from the ground. He pushed up. On both legs, he looked up to Skan in rage. Skan’s jaw dropped like it weighed a hundred pounds, shocked to the bones. With blood dripping from his lip, Bricker delivered an uppercut to the chin, his great hammer forgotten in the sand. Skan was lifted off his feet from the blow, and went flying into the sand. Skan jumped up in a flash, blood rushing to his head like flies to sweat.
Blackeye sighed in relief. The people in the stand blew up.
They always like the underdogs, Blackeye thought amusedly.
“Oh, thank goodness,” PJ said, then started to comfort Bun.
“Take that you-” Nosedive yelled before Bits cupped his hand to her mouth to stop her from swearing.
“Not in front of the commoners,” Bits muttered, although Blackeye could tell he was just as jubiliant. Nosedive frowned.
Bricker panted for a few seconds, as he relieved himself from the pain, the entire time staring at Skan’s face. A roar exited his mouth as he rushed forward. Skan quickly dodged, then tried the same trick again, throwing sand to land more fast attacks. But Bricker didn’t fall for it a second time. Jumping back five steps, he reached down for his hammer and glaring intently. Skan was ready for this though, and launched forward to start running circles around Bricker. Literally. A blur of a circle started to form, until Blackeye couldn’t distinguish where Skan ended and where he started.
“What’s he doing?” Bunny asked anxiously.
“Skan’s trying to trick Bricker into getting dizzy, so that while he’s disoriented, he can attack.” Blackeye replied. He tried to act confident, but on the inside he had his doubts.
How can Bricker get out of this one? Blackeye worried. Quickly, Blackeye looked back down at the Pit to see if he had got out of the trap that Skan had set.
Bricker was obviously sweating, nervous and coughing as he fought the poison. The scared expression that had encroached his face was gone in an instant as he switched it for a determined one. Moving his grip to the closer end of his weapon, Bricker started spinning around and around, until his hammer lifted from the sand. Gaining momentum, he started to turn it around as fast Skan was sprinting. Together, they looked like they were in the middle of a deadly ballerina recital.
“Yes Bricker! Beat that piece of shit! Kill him!” Nosedive roared.
“Oh, so when Bricker does something ‘bad’ in front of Bun its heroic,” Bits muttered. “But when I do, it’s a bad behaviour.” Blackeye smirked. He knew Bits was jealous.
“Oh, don’t be a sour butt, Bits. We don’t treat you as bad as all that.” PJ said, looking excited from the exciting battle happening below. Bits grumbled. “Now shut up and cheer Bricker on.”
Suddenly, Skan stopped moving. Standing in place, he threw both of his daggers directly at Bricker’s face.
Shoot. That was his plan all along.
Time seemed to slow down as the daggers flew through the air. The crowd was silent. The commentator was not in sight. Both daggers hit.
Time unfroze as Bricker sunk to his knees again. This time, he fell to the ground completely. In front of his body was Skan, taking in the cheers of the crowd. Bowing, like he felt nothing.
Blackeye, PJ, Bits, and Bun were mute. Even Nosedive was free of her raging spirit.
“No.” Is all she said.
Blackeye was in shock. It couldn’t be possible that Bricker, that lumbering oaf, could have ever died. Tears started to form in his eyes, his friends doing the same.
No. No, this can’t be his end. Blackeye thought despairingly. But it wasn’t.
“IF BRICKER DOESN’T GET UP IN EIGHT SECONDS,” The commentator boomed. “THEN HE IS ELIMINATED.”
“EIGHT.”
“SEVEN.”
“SIX.”
“FIVE.”
“FOUR.”
“THR-”
Bricker got up, grabbed his hammer and gave a swing to Skan’s turned head with more force than an earthquake. A sound like a gong ringed out as the weapon collided with Skan’s skull. Skan dropped to the ground, gore slpattered everywhere. He wouldn’t be getting up again. Bricker gasped for breath, his face red as the blood went to his face.
The stadium was quiet.
The once-giant voice of the commentator said weakly, “I guess that means Brick– that Bricker has won.”
The on-lookers burst with excitement.