Shouldn't Be

chapter 10

The roar of the crowd filled his ears like the crashing of waves. All around him were countless others filling the stands, all cheering and staring down at a Colosseum that would have made the Romans green with envy. Not all of his fellow spectators were human though, some were animals, or a strange mix of beast and man. In fact he was sat next to a werewolf. From this, and the person who seemed fine with her hair on fire two seats away, he could conclude that he was dreaming again. So he sat back, went with the flow and enjoyed himself.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Shouldn't Be's of all ages, welcome to another action packed finale here at the Casino”

The voice boomed out from nowhere, he could see no speakers, but it easily overcame the cavernous roaring of the crowd.

“For your pleasure we have saved the best till last, a four way, four suit, duel of Kings!!!”

He hadn't thought it possible but the crowd grew even louder in their screaming. He tried to zone it out when something caught his eye. Others must have seen it too as a dull hush covered the arena. Four figures were entering the stadium from opposite corners.

“From the north entrance, the Emperor of Beasts, the King of Clubs... Kaiser!”

One of the figures, a huge hulking man with shaggy, golden hair, raised an arm. One single burst of sound came as the crowd cheered once.

“From the west entrance, the Mountain God, the King of Diamonds... Nadia!“

This one was the woman, who winked and blew kisses for the crowd, again there was a brief roar of support.

“From the south entrance, Mister Charity himself, the King of Spades... X“

This one was tall but his entire body was hidden under a huge, white overcoat. A wide white hat met the collar and covered his face.

“And from the east entrance, the rising star of the Hearts, the Forever Man, the King of Hearts... Titan!”

The last person raised an arm, his black hair waving in the breeze. He got a huge roar from the audience so he assumed he was a favourite.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this match will be Conquest. For the next minute the gladiators may alter the arena as they see fit to create their own areas. Then they must conquer the opponents”

Even as this was said Nadia raised her arms. With a great grinding and rumbling the earth of the arena floor rose up around her covering her from view. Crenelations grew out and Nadia appeared at the top of a castle of stone. X, in his white overcoat, reached inside his jacket and took out a sack. He untied the top and tossed it's contents into the air. Hundreds of small, shining objects rained down. X held out a hand and the glittering things stopped, hanging in the air. He squinted and realised that actually they were coins, countless coins hanging in the air. X snapped his fingers and the coins flew inwards forming a dome of glittering metal around him, covering him from view. Kaiser stretched and flexed his arms. His muscles visibly bulged, growing even larger. He leant down and grabbed a handful of the sand that covered the arena floor. He tossed it into the air and then repeated the motion. Faster and faster a great cloud of dust and sand obscured Kaiser and his area from view. A pair of shining eyes, they definitely weren't human, appeared briefly before vanishing into the dust storm. Titan, however, did nothing. Well, he sat down and lit a cigarette but that doesn't really count. He wondered what Titan would do.

“Hey Fior, who are you supporting?”

He turned to see who had spoken, he smiled when he saw that Gina was sat next to him.

“Not sure” said Fior “there's something about Titan though”

“I figured as much” said Gina grinning “Well, as a Diamond I'm rooting for Nadia”

They were stopped from talking any more by the siren that went off.

“Here we go” said Gina excitedly.

The two of them edged forwards in their seats.