Chronicles of Myth Volume One: Twisted Daydreams

Scene Twenty-seven

I got back up and walked over to the gate, “Nolan, how do the dead taste”. I looked at Nikolai as he stepped out in the ring with nothing but the clothes on his back; “Rotten… putrid, almost like fish on the verge of spoiling; why do ask”? Something changed in his normally carefree eyes; his pupils turned into narrow slits and his skin hardened into an dark emerald coat; he towered above me by at least nine more feet, he pressed his hands into the earth and scooped out the remains of a dead warrior, swallowing the corpse whole he looked at me with black venom coursing through his eyes, the Nikolai I knew was replaced by a more terrifying person. “I am a titan, make no mistake… this is how I grow and live, please get out of my way… I don’t want your blood on your hands”. “You’re certainly a handsome bastard”, I touched his granite and emerald skin; smooth and cool to the touch, I snapped back my hand as his skin burned white hot, he steamed and howled in pain, the reflective sheen of his armor glowed bright and became harder than diamond; metallic fragments grew out from his flesh and blood. His body was turned completely jet black, his skin shined under the grey sunlight and reflected my face, Nikolai’s body arced with natural electricity; “Get inside before I lose it… I’m starting to slip away right now”. I rushed inside and closed the gate, I peered out of the iron bars and saw his aura; needless to say I almost shit myself, Nikolai grew out eight more arms from his shoulders; from the sides of his head a pair of magma bull horns manifested themselves, an ominous cloud of shadow hovered around his body as his skin bubbled and cracked open spewing magma onto the arena floor; he looked at me with deep crimson eyes, there was no more Nikolai… only the beast that had consumed him.  He clapped his hands together and turned the battlefield into a scorched hellscape, he materialized his cleavers out of thin air and charged them with the same energy coursing through him; the blades caught on fire were engraved with cursed inscriptions.

The letters glowed a bright orange and his armor was marked the same, he flared brightly almost singing off my face, he took a deep breath as I swatted off the flames on my clothes; the armor hardened its last layer making Nikolai into a walking tank.

I walked forward and the earth shook from my heavy steps; I shrank down to normal size, I faced down my opponent; she wore a simple hoodie and tattered jeans, with a smile she stepped forward, I looked into her fragile eyes and purity… she was beautiful, olive skinned; around five or so feet tall.  She fell on her ass and looked at me fearfully… I scooped up ten corpses from the ground and swallowed them whole solidifying my state for the next ten minutes; I chewed on the bones and decaying tissues, I gulped down my snack and looked at her… “Tasty”. The expression turned to anger as I stomped downward and she rolled out of the way; I slashed downward and squashed her like a bug underneath my blade, I pulled back to dodge a group of tendrils. She moved forward like a wild beast, striking at every opening in my defense; I swatted her to the ground and crushed her under my foot, I torched the ground and looked at the torched remains of my opponent. I bent down and ate what was leftover, a little burnt but still just as good. I wiped the bloody smear off my mouth, my armor and swords faded away; my opponent materialized in front of me with her hand piercing through my stomach, “I’m Natasha… what’s your name”; she whispered into my ear, digging her hand further into my intestines; she squeezed and pulled her hand out, the wound was infected and turned into a sickly green. I absorbed the poison into my blood and healed the wound, I looked at her and clapped my hands, squashing her head like a grape; I grabbed her by the neck and pulled out the vertical smear ripping out her spine from the rest of her body. I tossed the remains and looked at the twitching heap; I turned my back as her head grew back, she thrust her fist into my back and grabbed my heart. “Give up, I don’t want to kill you again”. Behind me I heard crackling as her body crystalized into amber from touching my innards, I walked forward and the wound sealed; I turned and looked at the statue. The expression of anger was burned on Natasha’s face, I wrapped my guardian around my right arm and formed a deep red shell of magma on my arm; I slammed down my fist and shattered statue into dust. “Stay down, I’m done fighting”. I walked over to the gate and caught a tendril in my hand as it was to skewer my brain, I spun around and ripped the tendril out of her back and tossed it aside. I moved back to the center of the ring in a blur of dust, I transformed back into the beast from earlier and smashed all of my arms downward pounding Natasha into a bloody pulp. I kept hammering away until she was turned into a bloody stain on the ground, she raised her fist to the sky and I smashed her in the chest making the ground erupt in fire; I crushed her remains and scattered her ashes. I changed back into flesh and blood, I formed my rifle and waited for her to reform; she was eagle spread and unconscious, her purple hair flowed freely; I watched as the wounds on her body sealed shut; underneath her regular clothes she wore a regenerative nanofiber combat skinsuit, the skinsuit patched itself; I bent down looked at her biometrics, “Stable”. I put the rifle on my back and turned around to have a sniper barrel pointed at the back of my head, I grabbed the sniper rifle and pointed the muzzle downward; tearing it out of her hands I swung around and smashed the stock into the side of Natasha’s head, I tossed the rifle back to the ground and felt her arms wrap around my leg, “Why can’t I touch you… why damn it, why”! I felt her tears wet my cargo pants, “Your bloodlust has consumed you… that’s why you are doomed to fail against me; a warrior is a person who dedicates their life to protecting those who cannot protect themselves”. “Only the strong survive in this world”. She stepped back and drew her sword, she downward, I deflected blow with a back hand; I formed a reticle under our feet, “Then you are weak, fall before me”. I shifted my feet and formed a spear over us from the scattered brimstone from earlier, I hardened my body and swung my arms downward, I propelled myself out of the way and impaled Natasha through the head with my spear cleaving her in half.

I walked away from the epicenter and reformed the original arena, I turned the brimstone underneath me into dust and absorbed it back into my body. Natasha looked toward the sky, with her guardian manifesting itself and stitching her body back together; “I never lost to anyone, how did you beat me”? I pointed my cleaver between her eyes and tapped my blade at the center of her forehead, “I am Nikolai; a titan… a being of war… mortals cannot expect to beat me with losing their life”. She formed a large snake like tail and stood on her feet, “I can’t quit… not yet”. “Come… follow through your destruction”. She rushed me and I slid past her, I stomped on her tail and cut it off with my cleavers, I stabbed my swords through her back and sliced her body in half; stabbing both halves of her body I touched the handles of my swords and flicked the gore off of my swords, I sheathed my blades and looked downward; Natasha reformed and dropped to her knees as I pressed my hands together; my body seethed with power, the madness inside me festered, I only saw red; “Forgive me”, she said with tears streaming from her eyes; the expression of despair grew on her face, she looked at me with sheer terror; “Bow before your master”. I held my sword above my head and looked at the sniveling child before me, “Tell me why I should spare you”! I slashed downward and stopped my blade at her scalp, I cooled off my rage and sheathed my sword. “No more… no more”. Natasha whispered to herself as she rolled into a ball, she cried and howled in agony as my gaze burned into her soul, I walked over to her and kicked her stomach. “Die”; like a rabid dog I sent her flying across the space into the iron bars of her team’s gate. She hit with a loud clang and all the noise stopped, I sealed my power and turned toward my gate.

I watched Nikolai walk back into the lobby, “That’s the power of a master barbarian”. I exclaimed, “Why so surprised, this isn’t even one percent of my total power Ashton”. I felt him pat my back, “I’ll protect what we have… I can promise that”. “You and Astoria are the only witnesses to my real strength I prefer we keep it this way, by the way good luck on your match”.  I stared at Nikolai, the excess power still bled off him; the floor cracked as he walked toward his quarters. “Just what the hell is he”? Draco asked me walking out from the corner of the lobby, “I don’t know… I’m afraid of what happens if he gets pissed off”.  I imagined the world exploding, and Draco looked me with the same disturbed expression; “Yeah let’s not blow up the world we call home”. “Ashton, keep an eye on him”. “Fine, good luck out there”.

I walked out in the arena and looked at the score board, “Three to four… this is bad”. “Louis, Elaine, Ragnarok, Thane, Astoria, Nolan, Nikolai, Me, Lex, and then Ashton”. I looked at my opponent, it was the team medic; “No not her, anyone but her”. The angel of grace: Diana, I’m so fucked right now”.