by Simon Archer
Theo and I climbed in the car after Bev, Kennedi, and Ellie were in. The seats inside were brown leather and smelled freshly oiled. We heard the driver’s door close, and a moment later, we were on our way.
The car ride was quiet. It felt as if we each needed that short gap in time to ready ourselves for the upcoming noise, bustle, and scandal of the evening.
When we arrived, our driver pulled up directly in front of the small metal door we were to enter. He already had my bag out of the trunk before I got out of the car. I reached for it, but he picked it up instead, indicating that he would be carrying it in for me.
“If you are going to be carrying my things, I should at least know what your name is. I’m Clark,” I said and held my hand out.
“I’m Kevin. I’ve been with the Lindy’s for a while now, and they asked that I see to your needs,” he responded strongly, giving me a firm handshake.
“Alright, Kevin. Nice to meet you,” I said.
“You as well,” he replied and went about picking up my bag and holding the door open for the six of us to pass through.
The warehouse-room was in full transformation mode. The preparations for the after-party were spread about everywhere, and there were workers hustling around like they had shock collars on. It was impossible to tell what the end result would look like, but it would have a lot of red involved. There were spools of red material, bottles of red paint, and buckets of red glitter piled all over the place.
We made our way to the elevator and headed down into the stadium. To my surprise, both Leah and Charlie Lindy were already waiting for us when the doors opened. They accompanied us to the ready-room. The room was just as tiny as it had been last time I was here, only now there were seven of us standing in it.
“Clark, we simply wanted to wish you good fortune and offer to escort Theo, Bev, and Ellie to our skybox,” Charlie said once the door had closed and shut the noise out.
“That’s very kind of you,” Bev piped up.
“Yes,” I said. “I appreciate you doing so.”
Leah stepped forward and motioned to Ellie and Bev. “Come on, girls! Let’s go make this as fun as we can! Ellie, I have someone for you to meet!” she talked excitedly as the three of them made their way out of the room.
“It’s our turn, Theo,” Charlie stood aside so Theo could exit the room. “Clark, your driver will bring your gear bag to the skybox. Kennedi can join us at any time,” Charlie said. He looked at Kennedi and asked, “Do you know how to get there?”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll see you in a while,” Kennedi said and turned to face me as if to block out the rest of the world from view.
Charlie and Theo were gone, and it was just the two of us in the tiny room. Kennedi watched as I removed my shirt and shoes and unzipped the bottom sections from my cargo pants, making them into shorts. When I was attired properly, she stepped forward, holding a glass jar full of dirt. She began rubbing it all over any skin I had showing. When she was done with that, she drizzled oil from a different bottle, over my shoulders. The oil was cold and slowly dripped down my chest. Once I was covered, Kennedi grabbed a bit more dirt out of the jar and sprinkled it over my shoulders, arms, and chest.
“A little extra grip never hurt,” she said and smiled sweetly up at me.
“Thank you, Kennedi,” I told her. She winked back at me.
Once I was completely prepped, I pulled my whip out of my bag and stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back wall. I looked even more intimidating than I had the first time I’d been here. I stared at the image. It showed me, scoured in dirt, slick with oil, and wearing only shorts while just behind me and off to the side was Kennedi. She was standing with her legs set shoulder-width apart, her right hand on her hip and the other straight down, resting on the front of her thigh. She looked like a silent force to be reckoned with, and I drew from her strength.
There was a loud knock at the door, and it swung open. The same two men as last time were standing outside on either side of the doorway. They still looked like they belonged in a Men in Black movie.
Kennedi walked out the door, and I followed her, carrying my whip. When the door closed, the suit on the left walked out in front of us to lead us to the Platform. As we started to follow, the suit to our right reached out and grabbed Kennedi by the arm and pulled her back.
“You stay here,” he barked. “Defects aren’t welcome here.
I felt my blood boil. I loosened the hold I had on my whip just enough for the tail to drop to the ground. I’m going to cut this fucker’s head off.
I did not have time to commence with cutting his head off, however. Quicker than me releasing my whip, Kennedi grabbed the arm he was using to hold her with her other hand and twisted his wrist until he let go. Once he released her, she spun around him, jammed her other hand underneath his shoulder blade, and forced him to the ground. She knelt beside him as though nothing happened and whispered, “you stay here,” before she let go of him. She stepped over him and looked back at me.
“You coming?” she asked with a little devilish smile.
“I’m coming,” I answered proudly. I stepped forward until she was next to me, and I offered her my arm. She wrapped hers over it, and we both looked straight ahead while we started our journey to the Platform, together.
The noise got louder and louder as we walked toward the Platform. I could hear people screaming my name. I felt the confidence rush over me as the noise intensified. As we neared it, I looked around at the faces in the crowd. Nearly everyone was on their feet, cheering and yelling. Alcohol was splashing out of the drinks they were holding as they tried to clap.
Kennedi and I walked together to the very edge of the Platform. We looked at each other as she untangled her arm from mine. She took one step back as I took one step forward, and the crowd erupted into an even louder frenzy. I raised my arms over my head and accepted their energy, letting it spark the rage that I knew I’d need in order to win. Kennedi stood in her place and didn’t move while I made my way to the center of the Platform. This time the announcer was already waiting.
As the announcer lifted his microphone to start the introductions, I heard someone behind me yell, “Stop!”
I turned to see who the voice belonged to. It was Alan Graves. He was waddling out on to the platform as fast as his tubby ass would allow for.
“Stop!” he shouted again.
“Yes?” the announcer asked, putting the microphone down.
Alan was huffing by the time he reached the center of the Platform and had to pause to catch his breath. Then he stood up tall, turned to me, and held out his hand.
“Give me your whip,” he commanded.
“What the hell is going on here? I'm not going to give you my whip,” I snapped.
Alan took another labored breath. “We have reason to believe that you are preparing to use an unsanctioned weapon,” he hissed at me.
“Oh, yeah?” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Where did this ‘reason to believe’ come from?”
“There was a report that you made plans to modify your weapon. Modifications are strictly forbidden. Now GIVE ME YOUR WHIP!” Alan screamed.
The crowd noise had decreased a bit as people tried to hear what was being said. I put both my arms back up over my head and turned slowly in a circle, sparking the crowd’s energy again.
“He wants my whip!” I shouted to the crowd. They screamed back. “He thinks I’m a cheat!” I yelled even louder.
The noise was at its highest as the crowd turned on Alan. Some were screaming at him to get the fuck off the Platform. Others were screaming for me to push him into the needles. The message to Alan was clear, though. He was not in favor with the crowd.
I dropped my arms, turned to Alan, and threw my whip at his feet. He stood motionless, glaring at me with hatred that was borderline murderous. Then he bent down and snatched up the tail of my whip and started examining it. He twisted and pulled and bent it. He did that from
the tip of the tail to the handle, but nothing about the whip changed. I saw his shoulders sag when he realized without a doubt that my whip was not modified. He threw it on the ground at my feet and stormed off the Platform while the crowd cheered his departure.
“Well, that was a bit of ugly business, now wasn’t it?” the announcer asked the crowd. “Shall we get going now?” He waited while the crowd answered with screams and cheers.
I bent down and picked up my whip, rolling it up into my hand. I watched the announcer put the microphone back to his lips and raise his arm to hush the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” he started. “Who here wants to make their money back?” he shouted. He didn’t wait for the exploding noise to calm before he went on.
“Last time you were here, this hellion from Antarctica relieved you of your hard-earned cash! But tonight you have the chance to win it all back! You just have to ask yourself, does GABE have a chance of beating our CLAAAAAAARK?” the announcer screamed into his microphone. He turned just as my opponent stepped on the Platform.
Gabe looked a lot more like me than he did like Evan from my last match. He was at least six-foot-two-inches tall and had to weigh more than two-hundred-sixty pounds. His movements were fluid and smooth as he strolled towards me. His face was completely expressionless. If I’d have been sitting down to a poker game, I’d stay far away from his table. I’d never seen a face that blank. He stopped just inches away from me.
The announcer had backed up so Gabe and I could size each other up, but he pushed his way back between us. “I’ll lay this out simply for you. Neither of you can touch the other until your whip touches them first. First strike with a whip has to be made from behind the centerline. After that, anything goes as long as you stay on the Platform. When the blue lights on the poles at either end of the Platform show, that is your two-second warning that one of the additional challenges will be added to the match. No outside weapons other than your whip and no blood-smearing. You will be disqualified. The first person into the pit will be declared the loser. Note to whoever loses, you will be escorted outside, and it will be your responsibility to seek your own medical care if needed. Any questions?”
It was the exact same speech I’d heard last time. I nodded my head. So did Gabe.
The announcer yelled into the microphone one last time before walking off the Platform, “Ladies and Gentlemen, begin the countdown!”
The crowd began the countdown in unison, just as before. “TEN, NINE, EIGHT…”
I looked Gabe over as we both stepped backward, neither of us taking our eyes off the other. What is your weakness?
“SEVEN, SIX…” the crowd screamed.
I watched the way he moved as he stepped backward. If I hadn’t been able to see the bottom half of him, I would’ve thought the top half was floating. His torso didn’t twist or bend at all while he walked. Why isn’t your spine moving?
“FIVE, FOUR…”
I saw that Gabe had rather large feet, which meant trying to knock him off balance the way I had Evan last time wouldn’t be as easy. You aren’t just going to tip over.
“THREE, TWO…”
I sized up Gabe’s proportions. He was heavily muscled through the chest and arms. I would definitely have to stay away from the whip he’d be swinging. His hips were narrow, though. While his legs were solid, that was where most of his height came from.
You’re top heavy, aren’t you?
“ONE, ZERO!” the crowd roared out the end of the countdown. The noise was nearly ear-splitting.
Gabe and I were a fair distance apart. I needed to see how his whip-handling skills were. I released the tail of my whip and let it drop onto the Platform. It dragged along behind me, scuffing on the rough sandpaper-like surface. I started flicking my wrist, trying to get Gabe to do the same so I could see how adept he was. He didn’t comply.
It came suddenly. Gabe dropped to one knee and rounded his whip above his head and snapped it. I felt the tip of its tail graze the hair on my chest. I had jumped back just far enough. He was fast standing up again.
I didn’t want Gave to have too much time to gloat to himself, so I brought my whip forward and flicked my wrist hard to the side. The tip scratched across the Platform surface in front of him, just an inch from his toes. He jumped back just as I had, so I took a large step forward and whipped at his feet again, barely missing. I had him dancing backward to get away from my whip until I was almost at the centerline. I had to make contact before I could cross it.
I started backing away, and Gabe advanced. He had lowered himself into a charging stance and started rotating his whip in a circle out to his side. The speed he had it turning with would turn that tail into a virtual razor blade. He started out taking one very deliberate step at a time, slowly. Then he started moving faster. I was being backed up, and he was almost at the centerline. He’d have to stop advancing soon. I saw him glance at the floor to check the line.
Before he could bring his eyes back up from the floor, I brought my whip out in front of me, crossing from my right side to my left. The tail stretched out, and as it neared Gabe, he leaned his torso back. I wasn’t aiming for his torso, though. I watched as the tail of my whip wrapped around his, stopping its rotation. I pulled hard and yanked it right out of Gabe’s hand altogether. I ran up to the line, and before he could retreat too far, I threw the handle of my whip at him and struck him on the side of the jaw.
That was all I needed. I could cross the line now. I ran forward until I was two feet in front of him, raised my leg, and planted my foot in the middle of his chest before kicking with all the force I had. I crouched down and grabbed my whip handle from the Platform as I saw him start to fly backward. I shook the tail loose of his whip, and I was sure he was going to fall over, but right before he hit his tipping point, he put one of his long legs behind himself and managed to stay upright.
I was preparing to charge him again as he reached for his whip. I still had the advantage of being able to make physical contact when he still couldn’t. Just then, I saw the blue light behind him light up. I ran back down the Platform as he brought his whip over his head and snapped it at me. I wasn’t far enough back to avoid it, so I put my left arm up above my head. I was still running back when I felt the tail of his whip wrap around my arm and felt the tip snap into place, cutting through the flesh on my forearm. Gabe braced himself to pull me forward while I watched the burning metal edges of the Platform start to rise.
I stepped sideways until I was as far to the side of the Platform as I could go without touching the edge. I squatted down to make it look like I was bracing against Gabe’s pull. When he yanked back on his whip, I lowered my arm, so it was pointing straight at him and rotated it. The tail of his whip slid off easily, and he wasn’t expecting to have zero resistance. Gabe lost his balance and fell sideways onto the hot metal edging.
He roared in pain as I stepped forward again and side-whipped at his feet. This time my whip found its mark, and two of Gabe’s toes were removed from his foot as he rolled away from the edge. I whipped again. This time the tip cut straight across the bottom of his foot. He started scooting himself backward to get out of reach, but I kept advancing on him, slicing at him one swing at a time.
The blue light behind Gabe went bright again. I backed up quickly, so that I was far enough away to avoid his whip while I figured out which danger was headed our way next. He stood as I watched two panels of the floor start vibrating violently. Both Gabe and I were behind the panels on our respective sides. I decided I was not going to lose my momentum.
I leaped over the vibrating panel in front of me and charged Gabe. I was preparing to jump the second panel to get to him when I saw him bring his whip out to his side and across his body. I was too close to avoid it, so I jumped as high as I could. I felt the tail slice through both my shins on the way up and back across both my thighs on the way down. I landed just inches past the sandpaper danger and fell to my knees. My blood flowed onto th
e floor. I had just enough time to look up and see Gabe’s bloody foot headed for my face. I ducked to the side, but he caught me in the shoulder and sent me rolling backward. I instantly felt the burn of my skin being stripped off by the floor, so I threw my legs up as hard as I could and rolled. Before I knew it, I was back on my feet, standing between the panels.
Gabe’s face showed surprise. He hadn’t expected me to be quite so agile. I jumped back over the next vibrating panel and was back on my side of the Platform. He stepped forward to the edge of the panel before him, continuously striking his whip back and forth in front of himself. He leapt over the panel, and I saw his face change to pain as he struggled to stick his landing. He was missing two toes, and the soles of his feet were sliced all to hell. His balance was compromised.
I raised my whip over my head and swung hard, bringing my arm around. The tail sliced Gabe across his bicep and chest before getting tangled with his own whip. I yanked, and to my surprise, I pulled Gabe’s whip right out of his hand. I detangled our whips once again and held them both up over my head for the crowd to see.
The stadium exploded with screams and yells. Some were saying to use both whips, and some were saying to toss one out. I looked back at Gabe. He was scared and couldn’t hide it. I had no desire to whip an unarmed opponent, however. So, I threw his whip back to him, handle first.
I saw the blue light come on again as Gabe reached up to catch his whip. As he closed his hand around the handle, I heard a ‘pop’ from behind my right side, or so I thought. I started to dip my right shoulder to avoid the medicine ball I’d heard released from its cannon when I realized, too late, that the ball was coming from Gabe’s side of the Platform. He ducked, and the ball hit me square in my right shoulder, knocking me backward. I was okay with that, though. There weren’t any vibrating panels behind me.
I scrambled to my feet and took a deep breath. I’d made a mistake that I didn’t intend to make again. I heard another ‘pop.’ This time I was positive that it was coming from behind my left shoulder, so I turned to my right. I felt the medicine ball whiz by me and saw it catch Gabe in the arm just as he was trying to bring his whip over his head. There was a thunderous ‘crack’ when his shoulder dislocated, and he dropped his whip once more.