The Lost Chronicles Of Pangea: Apocalypse

Dying On His Terms

When David was escorted into the arena this time it felt different. Maybe it was the fact that Lilith was hanging suspended from a steel cage four meters above the ground, or maybe it was because David had to face two opponents this time.

And judging from the brightly lit woman who had tongues of fire dancing all over her body, and her friend, the man that had floating rocks dancing in the air around him. But of course this man was staring daggers at him so he might not be any body’s friend after all.

“Ladies and gentlemen, pardon me for asking, but have you enjoyed the show so far……..good. Because this next event will blow you off your feet. Down in the arena we have four former champions, except one is suspended in a cage above the arena and the other three would have to fight to decide her fate. The lady with the flames is a nine times singles champion, she only needs one single win for her to earn her freedom from the arena.”

“Boo!!!”

“Yes I agree, that’s quite unfortunate news. The man beside her is also a nine times singles champion, and all they have to do to win is to kill the woman suspended above the arena. Which brings us to our nerdy looking boy, one time tag team champion, and the lover of the damsel whose life is now in distress. To save her, he has to send his two opponents to hell, and the other two only have fifteen minutes to get to her, if nobody win’s in that time, then everybody dies.”

David had to admit, this guys were ingenious in the way they came up with their events, but of course it did not change the fact, that there was danger staring at him right in the face. The woman had the ability to control flames, but much like himself she might have another ability. The same thing goes for the man too, the only problem was that he was telekinetic, and whichever way you looked at it, that made him the more dangerous person out of the three of them.

David tightened his grip on his gladius and shifted his shield around a bit. This was going to be a tough battle, one that even with his current abilities might be virtually impossible to win. But David was not that worried, in fact he was very calm, and it was not really a fault of his that he had lost his fear in the face of certain death, but you start to see death in a different way when you have gone toe to toe with a giant ice breathing wolf.

But much like these people David also had his abilities activated. He had no idea how to navigate around his molecular restructuring ability, but his telepathy was already working at full speed, and now that it was level three, it was stronger than ever.

David still did not have the ability to read minds, but now instead of just feeling instinct, he could feel and see intentions. It was like a tingle at the back if his head, and an image within his mind. This was no spider sense, but David could see and feel what move these guys intend to make, moments before they make it.

“Begin!”

“Riiinnng”

There was a little whine in his ear, it was not the painful drone that was accompanied with the pains of his evolutions, but something else. Something new. David did not react on time due to how new the feeling was to him, but he was able to raise his shield up in time for it to get impacted by a fire ball and a ball of tightly clustered rocks.

The impact threw David off his feet, sending him crashing to the stone platform, that now had tiny piece’s of stone littered all over it. Just before he came down to the ground, David felt his body grow a bit heavy, and when he crashed down to the platform there was a sound of rocks being crushed and grinded by the force of his descent.

David got up without a scratch and sediments of dust on his body. It was like he suddenly had an epiphany. The ability to restructure and change the molecular structure of his body was beyond amazing. It was actually almost the same ability as Lilith’s when she uses her diamond skin form. This ability did not just offer defense, but it also offered a huge increase in his physical strength.

“Riiiinng”

David turned to the left as a fireball flew past him, then he ducked down and a bunch of sharpened rocks flew over his head. At that moment there was a lull in the fight, before his opponent started firing more projectiles at him.

A rock came flying at him, before it was suddenly covered in flames. David was able to dodge the rock, but the flames on it exploded as it went past his body flinging him through the air once again. Since this fight started, David has not been able to let out an attack, instead being on the defensive through out.

But that could be mostly attributed to the fact that David was more interested in exploring his new abilities than this fight. He had a feeling, it would not be difficult to win the fight after this two killed each other in the first few minutes.

However he was wrong, he was very wrong. There had been signs right from the beginning, but he had chose to ignore them. This two were working together, and they knew the abilities of the other intimately. It might be too late to realize this, but this was not a triple threat match, it was a handicap beat down waiting to happen.

David rolled over quickly from where he had fallen, narrowly dodging the stream of fire that flowed from the hands of the woman. The area he had just vacated was scorched black and the strong stench of gas filled the air. David shuddered as he realized the true extent of this woman’s ability. If she used the gases in the air to create her fire, then if she was stronger, she would probably have the ability to burn the entire atmosphere in Pangea.

David was surprised, but he kept his focus. He raised his shield and blocked the next rock thrown to his face. There was a dull thump as the rock made impact with his shield. The force of the impact was almost negligible due to David’s increased defense, however it brought to attention a glaring problem for David.

If this two attacked together, he would not be able to dodge the attack of one person, the range of his telepathic abilities was limited to just one person, so if he was sensing the intention of one opponent, the other could attack him and he wouldn’t be able to react in time. And to make matters worse, David was beginning to feel hints of fatigue and light headedness. Using his abilities were incredibly draining on his energy and stamina, if he did not end this fight on time, he would be left to their mercies.

David charged, his sudden movement put their synergy off balance for a few moments, but it was enough for David to get close enough. They were both also equipped with weapons, one with a longsword, and the other with a double edged axe.

When David got close enough, the man swung his axe for David’s midsection, but David stopped his advance all of a sudden just a meter and half from the man, and barely a few centimeters away from the axe. The swing missed, and the force of it shifted the man’s weight leaving him completely open to David’s attack.

David moved in quickly as the man tried to regain his balance, and shoved his gladius through his ear, and into his skull. The short sword pierced out through the other side of the man’s head, leaving him dead on the spot.

“Noooo!!!!!”

The woman was distraught and heart broken, her wails resounded through the arena as it mixed with the roars of their watchers. They loved the ensuing drama, the grief she showed, and how broken her spirit looked at that moment.

“Dad!”

David felt like the world fell apart when he heard her cry. He didn’t notice it before, since all he saw were a bunch of people he had to kill, but the man he killed looked to be in his late forties to early fifties. But on Pangea the way a person looked could never really determine their age, as there were people who have lived hundreds of years, but still looked like twelve year olds. This two were father and daughter, they were family.

David looked up at the cage above him to see Lilith looking at him with a rather focused look. The guilt he felt, the guilt he had buried, hit him at full force. He had done it again, and this time it was by his own hands. He had separated a parent from their child forever, David could not help but question if he was cursed or something. Did he have to be the harbinger of such misfortune. This was the third time this was happening. David felt pain the likes which he had never felt before, but he was still in the middle of a fight.

The woman rushed towards the dead body of her father, not caring for the pool of blood rapidly gathering beneath her. She rubbed her hands over his face, and slapped him a few times hoping he would open his eyes. But he wouldn’t, not anymore.

As David walked towards her, the blood of her father still dripping from his sword, he heard her call out to him in grief.

“Dad open your eyes, it’s me. It’s Minerva, it’s me…..please I beg you, don’t leave me now. We’re almost home. Please WAKE UP!!! I’m begging you.”

Was it heartbreaking, yes it was. But the arena was lit, they loved it. David could not understand why they would cheer for something like this, why would they enjoy seeing such pain. David did not even think this particular breed of people were human.

As he walked towards her the entire arena went silent, everyone was watching with baited breaths and anticipation. They could not wait and see what the final kill would be like. The woman Minerva was now looking at David with a dead almost soulless look in her eyes. David felt it would be a blessing to end her pain, a release and freedom from this painful life. She kept on looking at him with her red rimmed tear filled eyes, as she waited for death.

David raised his sword, but his hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t steady it. He was struggling with himself, in this arena it was kill or be killed. He raised his sword higher and brought it down hard…….

The resounding sound of Steel grinding against stone was heard as David dropped his sword. Minerva was still very much alive, and even she had a huge look of surprise on her face.

“David why did you stop, you can’t get your woman back, until all your opponents are dead. That’s the rule of the arena.”

The voice of the ring announcer could be heard from the speakers. His voice was level and calm, but a hint of annoyance could be gleamed from it.

“I can’t…….I won’t. I will not have you and your debased form of entertainment stain my hands with blood anymore. If anybody should die, it is all of you.”

The arena was covered with laughter, apparently they found what David said funny.

“Seriously, David you know the world does not work like that. But you know the rules, and we have to keep it………so this means all three of you will die. What a shame, all you had to do was kill the woman, and you and your lady would have lived.”

There was a giant sound as the groan of gears grinding on each other sounded forth. The cage Lilith was in was lowered down, and she stepped out, looking at both David and Minerva. With the look in her eye’s David was afraid she had actually decided to kill him or Minerva to save her life, but she came over and stood in front of him. David felt the need to explain his actions to her.

“I was tired of not being in control of my own life, if I can not live on my own terms, then at least I will die on it. Hell has to be better than this.”

“I understand.” Those were the only words Lilith said to him, before everything went wrong.

The platform pulsed red, Minerva who was still holding her father let out a scream as his body and blood began to sink into it. In mere moments every trace of the man disappeared and the symbols on the platform began to glow. A spot of light began to shine right in the middle, but suddenly Lilith shot forward, and pulled Minerva back throwing her all the way towards the gate out of the arena. The spot which Minerva once occupied now had the clawed hands of a monster three times the size of the wolf they fought a couple of days ago. David was stuck paralyzed with fear as he came face to face with the stuff nightmares are made from. But he was in control long enough to hear Lilith whisper in fright.

“Demons.”