Battle 1:
The days were nearly as dark as the nights.
Drew took a labored breath as he stood at the top of a hill of matted grass and branches. Instictively he reached into his pocket for a cigarette before remembering they were gone. Taken, like everything else. The battle had lasted for days, or was it weeks? He had lost track of time, and the loss of his gear only heightened his confusion. As he tried to catch his breath, his stomach began to groan. Drew glanced around and saw a few red berries on a low hanging branch to his left. Not going to risk it, he though. Just a day ago (or was it a week?) he had eaten similar berries, and had shat for hours afterwards. That was when Methodis first struck.
Drew had spent years reading survival guides, studying pamphlets, and preparing for the end times. Yet when it came time to act, when he found himself first dropped into the jungle arena and given an objective to kill or be killed, he panicked. And when first faced with his opponent, he was left brutally beaten with his gear stolen and his own shit on his thighs. An honorable man would not attack an opponent as he shat, but Methodis was not an honorable man.
Methodis had cut his teeth in the gutters of the ghettos of Boston. When he was five his mother had dropped him off on the black side of town, and he learned how to survive amongst panhandlers, whores, and hustlers; by the time he was 13 he had mastered their ways. So when he was dropped into the jungle arena he felt at home. It didn't take him long to find Drew, and it took even less time to steal Drew's supplies and leave him starving in the woods.
The sound of a branch snapping brought Drew back to reality. He quickly turned and saw Methodis sanding at the bottom of the hill. Methodis brandished a knife and began walking up the hill. Drew fell to his knees. "Please," he cried. Fumbling on the ground, Drew grasped a sharp branch and held it up in defense. Methodis let forth a laugh before giving Drew a black man's nod. Drew had seen that nod before. In times past he had responded to it by crossing the street, but there was no street to cross in the jungle. He feebly rose to his feet as Methodis rushed towards him. Drew threw the branch, hoping to skewer his opponent - but the branch sailed wide to the right. Methodis closed in and punched him in the stomach. Drew fell to his knees and grabbed Methodis' Sean Jean pants. "I'll suck your dick if you let me live." Methodis laughed again. "And emasculate me, in my hour of triumph?" Methodis stabbed Drew in the arm, then leg, leg, arm, and head.
Drew fell down the hill and burst into flames. Methodis slowly made his way down the hill to inspect the body, but only found an amulet. The cacdemon chalcedony. Methodis shivered. "It's so demonic, my friends" he said as he pulled out a cigarette and took a puff.
Poll
