The Arena. Chapter 9: Start of round two

This last fight of round one had to be awesome. The viewers declined and everything Fred had, depended on this show. With the last two fights having fans complaining, the final fight of the first round was the most important fight of all.
And fans loved it. It was the story of a underdog. Conventional warfare versus exotic and strange weapons was the headlines on many internet articles. The fans got back as the show got praised and people were already discussing which match ups they wanted to see in the second round.
Fred Devons was back.

The launch of the Warrior Channel had been a great succes as well. With all the buzz that the Arena had created, people tuned in to watch the launch night of the TV station, hosted by Seth.
Now it was warriors and combat related shows airing 24/7 and altough the viewers had dropped from the original number on launch night, there was a stable enough base worldwide to support the channel.

'I thought that they had all the warriors already.' Edward asked as the historyboomer arrived. 'Yeah they wanted to get one of the dead warriors back in the second round or something.' Elmar explained. 'Not completely sure but I do not care. We just need to find one and grab him like the other.'  The leader added.
The four men slowly walked over the mountain and into a field. 'You sure we find one here?' Joseph asked. 'Yes I am sure.' Was the answer of Elmar. As the four were talking, a man appeared in the distance. As this man walked towards the soldiers, they saw that he was small, bald and wearing a robe. 'That him?' Joseph asked. 'Yes that is a Shaolin Monk.' It was Eddy who spoke, grinning.
All four had seen kung fu movies and all of them had captured the first Shaolin so they knew how dangrous the monk could be.
The monk nodded towards the men and passed. As he had his back turned, Elmar fired his tranqualising gun. After the monk went down, Edward and Eddy grabbed him and dragged the man to the history boomer.

'You have asked for me?' Pjeter asked as he looked into the office of Fred. 'Yes the new match is next saturday. Have you made the fights?' The boss asked. 'Yes I have.' As he said it, the man showed a few papers he was holding. 'So first off is the Hawaiian Koa versus the Berserker.' Fred nodded. He liked that one. The other fights looked very interesting as well. 'This one. This one is going to be the last fight of the second round.' Fred pointed towards the paper. 'I expected that.' Pjeter Grinned.
'Have you decided on a arena?' Fred then asked. 'No sir, working through the suggestions by the fans at the moment.' Was the answer. For a battle between these brutes. Pjeter wanted a battlefield that would reflect the fight itself.

In the past two weeks, more and more employees have agreed to be part of the nation of Devonsland and construction to turn the island in a real city had begun. Wanting full controll over it, Fred had rejected allowing someone else overseeing the construction and he now had to lead the compagny and construction to create the nation.

'It has been a while.' Seth smiled 'Two weeks have passed since we saw the last fight of round one and it was epic.' The host continued. 'Now we have another epic fight in store for you. But before we can continue, there is one round one loser who is allowed to come back.' Seth slowly created tension for the big reveal. 'The winner of the popular vote and the wild card of this season is the............ Shaolin Monk.'
'Now that is out of the way, it is time for me to announce the battle of tonight.' Seth continued. 'Tonight we will have the Hawaiian Koa face off against the Viking Berserker. Who will win this power struggle?' The young man tried to think of some other strenght related puns but could not think of any and decided to continue.
'In the first round, you saw the Koa trap and take down his Aboriginal opponent.' As Seth spoke, a clip showed the final moment of the first round fight between the Hawaiian and the Australian.
'The Viking was a equal match against the Shaolin Monk in round one and barely managed to kill his opponent before being killed himself.' At that moment, A clip was shown of the Viking fighting the Shaolin Monk.
'Now let us hope that neither of these warriors is afraid of height.' Seth closed before he dissapeared and the peak of a mountain appeared.

Kanunu stepped on the battlefield. He had expected to feel sand between his feet again as he had entered the door. This time however it was hard rock. The koa looked around and saw he was on top of a mountain. Wondering what opponent he would fight, the warrior walked around. For this fight, he had chosen his polulu spear and pikoi rope that he used last fight, but also taken a marlin bladed dagger and a throwing axe. Hoping that these weapons would do the trick to kill his opponent so he could win this tournament and go home.

Einar was ready for another fight and another kill. That monk had been tricky but the Viking had won and taken out the small dude. Now he was ready to kill another man, if not to win and get home then the joy of battle would be enough for the viking to fight this opponent.
He had picked up a sword, shield and battle axe for this fight, figuring to keep it simple, get in close and finish the opponent off.
Einar looked at the depth below, kicked a small rock down and looked around. That is when he spotted his nearly naked opponent. Finally someone his own size.

As the two found each other, Kanunu started off with throwing his axe at his opponent. The throwing axe was easily blocked by the round shield and the Berserker charged in with his battle axe and shield as his opponent picked up the polulu.
The two clashed several times, with neither being able to hit the opponent. All the hits of the spear got blocked by the shield and as the Koa stayed out of reach of the axe, the viking could not hit him back.
The two were both fierce and that neither was able to even hit the opponent brought more rage in both of them.
Einar stepped back and then threw his axe at the Hawaiian, who clearly did not expect such a move. He tried to move away but the handle hit the warrior in the shoulder and Kanunu felt something crack. Before he coud recover, the Viking charged in and rammed the boss of his shield into the chest of Kanunu. The man dropped his polulu as he staggered backwards.
Einar grabbed the weapon of his opponent and threw it over the egde of the mountain and in the depth below. He then drew his sword as Kanunu took his Marlin bladed dagger.
Einar attacked as the Koa tried to dodge the blade and seek a chance to kill his opponent.
Knowing that he could not win this way, Kanunu tried to find a way to win this battle, not giving up.

The Hawaiian kept moving around and already recieved a cut to his side when he got an idea. Seeing his own throwing axe in front of him, he took the weapon and stepped back. The man had a plan and for it to work everything had to ho well. He unwrapped his pikoi and then threw the throwing axe at the face of the viking again, who blocked the attack with his shield. Knowing that this would happen, Kanunu threw his pikoi at the legs of his opponent right after throwing the axe.
The plan worked as the cord wrapped around the legs of the Viking, who tripped and fell forwards.
Seeing a chance to win again, Kanunu swooped in with the marlin dagger as Einar moved to his side and grabbed his shield.
The shield rammed into the hand and Kanunu moved back, almost dropping his dagger. With a quick cut of his sword, the Viking freed himself from his trap and as Kanunu came in again, slashed at the hand. Fingers flew around as the dagger fell out of the hand of its user. The Berserker was now standing again and as is opponent had no weapon to defend anymore, cut into the stomach of the Koa.
Entrails fell out of his stomach as Kanunu dropped to his knees. With no weapons around and deadly wounded, he knew that he would not make it.
Einar sheathed his sword and walked towards where his axe lay. He was going to enjoy this. As he came back towards his opponent, still on his knees, Einar moved to behead the other warrior.
The head of Kanunu came off and fell on the ground. A kick send the head over the mountain top. Einar left the rest of the body as a door opened to let him back in.

'We finished the last battle with a beheading and this battle started with a beheading.' Seth cheered. The island weapons of the Koa were no match for the better arms of the Viking.' He added.
'You know where to find us next week for the second battle of the second round as Azande faces the Greek Peltast. Will the Azande restore African honour or will the Peltast cheat another warrior out of a victory. Tune in to find out.'

The Arena. Chapter 8: Last fight of the first round.

Fred rubbed his eyes. He then looked at the three other people at the table and hoped that one of them had a solution to both problems. Fred had begged any god that the last fight would be great and win over all fans again. However the fight between the Celt and the Egyptian had both praise and hate.
Fans generally loved the fight itself and how both warriors struggled to kill each other. They also hated the location of the fight and the way it ended. Altough some loved the dubbel kill others argued on who actually should have won.
People agreed that the Egyptian had the upper hand and hated that he did not kill because of glass.
Fred had seen comments that the Egyptian would walk around on bare feet all day and said that his soles would be thick enough to not feel glass shards and others boasted that they themselfs did not feel glass beneath their feet and so the Egyptians would not. Others complained that the victory should have gone to the Celt as he was alive slightly longer then the Egyptian. People did say that the double kill was stupid and a desperate move to get back fans.
Fred Devons had not planned a double kill and was now searching for a solution as he missed one spot of a warrior for the second round.

'What if we just go with it and have two warriors fight an extra round.' Pjeter suggested. This man had recently promoted to coordinator, whose job it was to make sure all the fights were fair and a fitting arena would be chosen. Fred had no time for that himself and neither did Atthe, thus the job had been born. 'People would just complain about this and how unfair it would be for the fighters chosen.' Omar said. 'And what if we bring one back?' Atthe suddenly asked. 'As a wild card?' Pjeter asked in his thick accent. 'Yes. We have the fans vote of the warrior who deserves a second chance in round two.' She said. 'The fans would love that as they get input and a chance of their favorite warrior returning.' Omar nodded. 'But how?' Fred asked. 'I do not know if you have noticed but all the beaten warriors are dead and burned to ashes.'  A silence fell. 'Maybe we can pick them up earlier in their timestream' Omar spoke softly. 'Not sure if that would work or if we would get strange doctor Who paradoxes.'  Atthe countered. 'Besides we would not know where to find them as some were grabbed at random.' Fred agreed.
'But why would we need the same ones?' Atthe asked. The men looked at her before she continued. 'We could just have another of the same type of warrior fight.' 'How would the fans reacted?' Fred asked. 'I think they would love it. As some sort of easter egg. A nod that the previous fighter had died.' Omar began enthousiasticly. 'So that is our solution, get fans to vote for a wild card?  Fred asked and he saw the other men nod. This could be interesting. 'Atthe please inform Seth that he has to announce that after the new fight on saturday. And Omar make sure everything is ready for the fans to vote.'  The two nodded. This might actually turn out to be a saving grace for the tournament, Fred thought.

As their own tv station was about to air, Atthe had been calling and making deals with several providers, asking them to include their own tv channel into their packet. Named the warrior channel, it was the proudest archiefment of Atthe and she could not wait to see her baby appear on the tv screen all over the world. If all would go well then the station would start airing the first fight of the second round. Other then the Arena, the channel would also air other history and historical warrior related shows, highlighting warriors from around the world. Not only that but Atthe had gained the rights to the show deadliest warrior and convinced several youtubers and tv hosts to join the channel.
Some youtubers would fly off to the island to become citizens while others would create shows from home, not wanting to leave their native country. However all would be under contract with the channel.

Omar looked at the comments. The man had earlier this week decided to join the country if Fred would buid a place of prayer for the muslim man. The boss had agreed and Omar had already contacted his wife and children to pack up.
Now he was looking at the comments for the next fight. It seemed that not everybody was familair with both warriors as the comments on all different boards showed. Most people agreed however that the Assyrian would have the best chance of winning as he was part of a well organised army and a true soldier while the Maharlika was just a tribesman who did not fight all the time. Others disageed and pointed towards the filipino weapons and how strange some of them were, That would give the Maharlika an egde over the warrior who only knew the basic weapons.
Personally Omar did not care on who would win as long as the fight would be good. This would be the last fight of the first round and it deserved to be a great battle.
As he was reading the comments on the upcoming fight, he also tried to guess which losing warrior would have the best chance to come back. From what he could see now, it would be a tossup between the Zulu and the Shaolin Monk. Some people kept complaining about how the Zulu was robbed of a victory and others wanted to see more Shaolin weapons and that he should have deserved the win.
Omar suddenly chuckled as he saw one man argue that the the Shaolin was taken out of the tournament early because he would dominate otherwise. The argument was that a Shaolin Monk was near immortal, being able to stop both arrows and bullets before they could hit him, was stronger and faster then all the other warriors and that his body was great armour. Fred should see this, he thought.

'Welcome back everybody.' Seth spoke with a booming voice. 'Last week has been an interesting double kill and let us see what thing week will bring.' He laughed. 'Also at the end of the fight, I have a surprise for you all so stay tuned.' The host spoke.
'This is the last fight of the first round and the last time we introduce our warriors.' Seth played with the audiance. 'Let me introduce to you the Filipino Maharlika.'
After a clip of the Filipino warrior was played, Seth reapeared again. 'The Maharlika needs someone to fight ofcourse. Let me introduce to you the Assyrian soldier, from one of the greatest armies ever that have ever existed.'

Narding stepped on the island. The warrior looked around. It was different then home but not too different. He was going to take a head off today and continue in this weird tournament.
A soft and warm rain fell on the naked skin of the warrior. In his left hand was his shield and a sumpit blowgun in his right. The blowgun already had a short spear in it and the warrior wondered if it was poisoned as it was supposed to be.
The other weapons he had chosen were his kampilan sword and buntot pagi. The stingrai whip was one of Narding's favorite weapons and he could not believe that these strangers had it.

Behnam looked around, amazed. That such a simple soldier could see magic. There was no door to be found, or even a building. Just an island, with a few trees, grass and sand. Maybe they allowed him to leave. He got to pick weapons and recieved both a helmet and shield and was send outside to this island.
They told him that he was supposed to fight an opponent but he expected to be put in a room with such an opponent. Not on a island.
The soft rain felt pleasant on his face and Behnam could not wait to get home and tell everyone of the adventure he had. Altough the man did not know where he was and it did not look like home, the soldier hoped that he would find his way back to his family.

As Behnam walked around, he saw another man, who was wearing a loincloth but was holding a spear. Knowing this was the enemy that he was supposed to kill, the soldier took a small stone and put it in his sling when the other man attacked.
A small spear came out of a pipe and flew towards him. Instinctively, Behnam held the shield in front of his body but spear flew past the man and into a tree.
Now it was his time to attack and the sling flew around and threw the stone towards the opponent. The Assyrian did not see the stone bouncing off the shield as he was already loading the sling again and attacking. He had always been a good slinger and this was time to prove it.

Narding was forced to keep his shield up, unable to use his blowpipe again as it kept raining stones. He had been able to load the weapon with his second spear but now he was unable to use it as it seemed like an army of warriors were throwing stones at him. He did see the other man slowly nearing. If he had not missed the first time, this match would have been over already as the poison would have killed the other man.
The rain of stones stopped and Maharlika looked at his opponent, who was now holding a spear and charging. His shield made sure that the spear did not hit but the warrior had to react.

The two warriors looked at each other as it kept raining. Behnam had his spear and shield ready while Narding was holding his stingrai whip and shield. The Filipino was the first to attack, whipping his weapon around and hitting the helmet of the opponent. Behnam reacted by thrusting his spear forwards, almost hitting the other man. The two kept testing each other, attacking and blocking. The whip was able to do some minor damage to the arms and legs of the soldier and altough the small wounds burned, the man did not give way.
Narding knew he needed to get the shield of his opponent away if he wanted to win this battle and he just had a plan. First the Filipino threw his own shield away, which forced the man to step away as his opponent attacked. Using his whip to create distance, Narding then attacked over the shield and hit the arm of his opponent. As soon as the attack hit, the Filipino warrior jumped in and pulled the shield away and threw it in the grass. The spear came in and hit his side as Narding stepped away.
A flurry of jabs forced Narding to create distance between the two but he did manage to get a few small cuts in himself.

Behman stepped backwards. He was covered with small cuts and they all burned like hell. He needed to get past that whip to deliver a good blow and took out his sling again. Before the opponent noticed what happed, a rock hit the chest of the Maharlika and he got flung backwards, taking all the air out of his lungs.
Behman charged with his spear as Narding rolled back and drew his sword. The spear and kampilan met as the weapons clashed with each other. Again, the Assyrian aimed several jabs at his opponent and altough Narding defended fiercly, he still recieved several small wounds on his chest.

Both men were now covered in small wounds and neither was about to give up. Narding quickly picked up his whip ans Behman thrusted his spear forwards. One lucky timing allowed the Filipino to escape without getting hit and he countered. The stingrai whip flew around the legs of his opponent and Behman fell backwards with a quick pull.
Taking his sword again, he aimed to finish the opponent, who rolled away just as the sword was about to hit him and the grass recieved the cut instead.
Narding turned around but Behman was getting up and thrusted his spear forwards at the same time, piercing the upper leg. The Filipino warrior howled as he jumped away.
He found safety behind a tree and looked up. The opponent had picked up his shield again.
Unable to stand on his feet good enough to fight a opponent with spear and shield, Narding knew he had a problem.
The warrior kept silent as the other man was looking around, searching for him.
His leg burned as he ran quickly and silently towards his blowpipe, grabbing it and hiding a tree again. There was only one way to win this fight.

Behman walked around, searching for his opponent again. The man was wounded and bleeding, he would not have gone far. Altough his entire body still burned, the soldier had both spear and shield again and knew he would be able to finish the opponent off.
Narding was standing in the water behind a rock, waiting as he saw the other man looking and moving. He needed one opening. One chance.
Behman turned around and as he walked back, Narding appeared from behind the rock. He blew and the spear hit the soldier in the back.
Behman turned around as a pain hit him in the back and there he saw his opponent in the water.
He took a few steps but suddenly felt ill.
Both spear and shield dropped on the ground as the Assyrian took another step.
He suddenly felt the urge to throw up and collapsed on the ground. What was going on?

Narding had watched the poinson do its work. Now it was time to finish it. Steady he walked towards his kampilan, groaning every time he put weight on his wounded leg. After taking the sword, the warrior made his way towards the opponent.
Behman felt weak and saw his opponent coming near. What was going on. He was winning. Taking out his own sword and using all his strenght to hold it was no real defense as the kampilan slammed it out of his hands.
Behman needed to throw up again and struggled to keep it in as the sword his neck.
With one quick motion, Narding decapitated his opponent. The head rolled into the sand, helmet still on as blood flew everywhere.
The Filipino sat down against the nearest tree and took some rest as he looked at the head of his beaten opponent.

'That battle went head to head. I think the Assyrian got in over his head. Maybe someone should have said to him: don't lose your head.' Seth joked as he appeared on the screen again.
'As you all can see, the Maharlika took the victory against the Assyrian soldier and all head puns aside. I really loved this battle.' The host had been hoping on a decapitation, just so he could make some stupid head jokes and now it seemed it was finally time.
'As I promised you, I have a surprise for you all.' Seth then spoke.
'With the dubbel kill of the last fight, we have one open spot for the next round and it is decided that you guys can pick one of the losers to be allowed back.'  Seth kept smiling. He was allowed to improvise as usual and he loved it.
'Do you want the the big gladiator back or want either the Celt or Egyptian to have another chance of victory. Maybe you want to see the Assyrian back. Pulls will be up later tonight and you get to vote on who you want to win.' The host opened his arms and pictures of all the losing warriors appeared.'We will be back in two weeks and we will announce then who gets to return. Vote wisely.'

The Arena. Chapter 7: Parking Garage

The entire week was a big chaos. Not only was there the issue of the small nation of Devonsland, Fred also had to deal with a lot of upset fans who demanded a redo of the last match.
'I will not redo a match.' Fred said deviantly. 'Not only is our Zulu warrior dead, if we gave him a rematch, every single fanboy will demand a rematch for his warrior.' The man complained. 'Well we have very angry fans to deal with.' Atthe spoke. 'Our next match just has to be perfect.' Fred spoke. He hoped that a good match would turn public opinion around.

As the week continued, Fred had little time to think about the last match and this next. Not only was there a lot to arrange for Devonsland. The tv station also become more real with every day and the daily struggles of having a big compagny with more then fifty employees.
Before Fred knew  it, saturday came again and this meant a new match.
'Do you have chosen any of the suggestions for the battlefield?' Atthe suddenly asked as he was looking through some papers. 'No' Came the short answer. 'We have had some very creative ideas but most have to be installed in the arena computer and that costs time' His wife continued.
Fred was not in the mood to talk battlefield. He really did not care about that at the moment. Not while there were more important things to deal with.
'Honey. I trust you. Just pick one that is easy to do and will make the fans happy.' Fred devons asked as he rubbed his eyes.
Atthe nodded silently and walked away. She knew he was busy but she was too. This was important to keep the fans happy and if he did not realise that... as the woman looked at the suggestions, she saw something she hoped would show Fred how important location was.

'Welcome.' Seth greeted the fans. 'Another day, another match.' The host laughed. He had been instructed not to mention the previous fight in any way and would honor that, how much the young man wanted to talk about it.
'Today we have the battle of the bloodthirsty Celt versus the deadly Egyptian.' The host announced. 'In the second last fight, who will continue in this tournament and who will die a horrible death.' Seth continued. 'It seems that so far the Celt is favored by you guys as he got 70 procent of the votes around the world while the Egyptian only got 30 procent of the votes.'  Seth looked into the camera. 'Will you guys be right or will the Egytian score the victory. There is only one way to find out and that is to get to know both warriors.' As this point, clips of both the British Celt and the Egyptian soldier started airing.
'Now both warriors have been shown, there is only one thing to do for me before we start the battle.' The host spoke as he appeared again. 'The battlefield of this fight is something neither warrior has ever encountered before. It is something that most of the people at home will know right away but might appear scary and dangerous for those not knowing what it is. It is a suggestion we took from the fans and will be the first of many. Today our two fighters will fight in...'At that moment, the camera cut away from Seth and  a large parking garage was shown.

Bakari looked at the strange things in this dark buildings. They had wheels, or what the Egyptian assumed were wheels but otherwise they looked alien. Everything looked alien ever since he he was taken and only his weapons were something familiar. For this battle, Bakari had chosen an Egyptian Axe and a khopesh. Usually he only got to carry a spear and a mace but now that the young warrior could, he was going to fight with the best weapons. The only shame was that he had no armour like the pharaoh or one of the generals would wear when going into battle. Just his ordinary clothing, his shield and his hair to protect the head.
Still Bakari would win with these extraordinary weapons and he would conquer this tournament. The Pharaoh could be proud of this soldier.

The Celt Morcant looked around. This was nothing like the fields and forests back home. He was a little homesick. Morcant only wanted to get back to his village and it seemed that the only way to reach that goal was to kill his opponent. Armed with a spear, short sword and a sling while armoured with a shield. the warrior was ready to do just that.

Morcant spotted his opponent in this smelly arena and took out his sling. The other man was nearly naked, only a loincloth and shield. This was going to be easy. He loaded up a small rock and flung it at the opponent.
Bakari saw the sling and as the rock flew away, the warrior lifted his shield. The rock bounced off the shield and hit one of the cars. The caralarm went off and both warriors froze for a second as a screeching noise filled the building.
After a few moments, both warriors focused on each other again. While Bakari held his axe and shield, Morcant had now his spear and shield in his hands. The two neared each other slowly and attacked. First was the Egyptian and as his axe hit the shield of his opponent, he was able to pull up his shield to block the spear attack.
The two traded blows but neither was able to get past the shield of the other.

It was Bakari who realised that they could not continue on this way and dropped his axe as he stepped back. Morcant saw the opening as his opponent had dropped the weapon and attacked quickly, only to find the shield still in his way.
The Egyptian created a distance again as he took out his khopesh. He had more experience with the khopesh then the axe and Bakari hoped that this weapon would give him the victory.
The Celt closed the distance again as he attacked. Again, the wooden shield met the Celtic spear and this time the counterattack came from the Egyptian sword. The khopesh encountered a shield as well, ending the attack.
The two tested each other as the weapons met the shield. Neither was prepared to give up and both were looking in a weak point to use.
Bakari attacked and as his Celtic opponent threw the shield in its way, the warrior stopped and used the curve of his weapon to get past the shield.
Morcant howled as he felt the cut on his arm and saw blood pooring from it. The khopesh then pulled the shield from him away and as it fell on the ground, the Egyptian stepped in to finish the fight.
However Morcant recovered and pushed his spear in between the two.

Morcant attacked now. He knew that he was without defence and needed to go full offence. With a twohanded thrust, he attacked his sand coloured opponent, who used his shield to block and then tried to push the spear away with his own weapon but the spear was gone by now.
The two attacked each other again and as Bakari blocked and attacked, Morcant used the distance to his advantage and danced around his opponent. A feint from Morcant forced the large Egyptian shield in front of his opponent. Stepping aside, The British fighter thrusted his spear towards the throat of the opponent. Bakari saw the attack on the very last moment and was just able to use his sword to push the spear away, but instead of the throat, the spear pierced the left shoulder of the Egyptian warrior.
Bakari groaned in pain as he dropped his shield. Now it was his time to attack and he used the khopesh to push the spear aside but Morcant had stepped back already and the weapon only hit air as he tried to slash the chest.

Bakari knew he was in a disadvantage as his opponent had a longer weapon and the better reach. One good thrust would be fatal but the Egyptian was not going to allow that. He kept attacking, pushing the spear of his opponent away as he stepped in. This forced Morcant to keep stepping backwards as he waited for a opening to deliver a good thrust.
The Celt hit a stone pillar however and as his opponent pushed the spear aside, the man grabbed it with his free hand. The khopesh flew towards Morcant, who let go of his spear and ducked away. The weapon hit stone as it flew over the head of the Celt.
Morcant pulled out his own sword and attacked. He managed to deliver a superficial cut on the side of Bakari who had dropped the spear and was too slow to step away.
The two swords found each other again and as the two fought, they only were able to inflict minor wounds on the body of their opponent.
Morcant knew that this was not going anywhere. He preferred his spear over a sword and slowly backed away towards the other weapon.
As he was close enough, Morcant lowered his legs, sword still pointed at the opponent and grabbed the spear. He then stepped away and allowd the short sword to hit the ground as he pushed his spear in front. Bakari pushed the spear away but it still cut his leg.
Now it was time for the Egyptian to be pushed backwards as Morcant kept thrusting his spear forwards. He had seen one of the strange things and it had given him an idea.
The Celt kept pushing his opponent backwards, who was only able to push the spear away as he stepped back.
Bakari felt a hard thud and noticed that his back was now against one of the strange vehicles. The spear came again with a hard thrust and te Egyptian stepped to the side. As the spear hit one of the windows, they both heard a clattering sound as if pots were breaking. With the spear through the window, the Egyptian attacked and his weapon found its way to the right shoulder of the Celt.

Morcant had fallen on the ground after this last attack, the spear next to him. His shoulder burned and he saw how his opponent stepped in.
Bakari was just about to give the final blow as his bare feet stepped in the sharp glass. This suprpised the man and he froze for a few seconds as his feet hurt.
This was enough for Morcant to grab his spear and thrusted forwards. As he thrusted his spear forwards, Bakari recovered and continued his attack.
The spear drove into the chest of the Egyptian as the khopesh slashed the throat of the Celt.
Bakari fell backwards, the spear still in his chest while Morcant tried to breath but only got blood inside his lungs.
Bakari tried to stand up. Everything hurt and he knew that he would die shortly but he heard his opponent choking and wanted to finish the job. He wanted to have fought valiantly to make the gods proud. To make the gods proud was the last thing he thought and the choking of his opponent was the last thing he heard.
Morcant was on his hands and knees, his opponent completely forgotten. he tried to breath but was unable to. He felt like he was drowning. He was drowing in his own blood. His face hit the hard ground as Morcant cought up a last bit of blood and then died.

Fred looked at the camera. 'Dead. They are both dead.' He was only able bring out. 'The fight was pretty cool.' Someone spoke, but Fred was not listening. He had hoped that this fight would turn things around. That this fight would be epic and attract the fans again. However now he had two dead warriors and a gap in the next round.
Everything had been going well and now this... Fred was not sure what to make of the whole situation. He was president of a upcoming nation. He could not dissapoint his subjects.
'How.... How are the fans reacting?' Fred asked, fearing the worst.
It was silent for a few moments before Omar spoke. 'People liked the fight a lot but the end was dissapointing.'  Another silence before the man continued. 'They say that the glass was stupid and the double kill a copout.' 'I did not know they were going to kill each other!'  Fred shouted. Atthe rushed towards her husband to comfort him. She knew how important this fight was. In fact everybody in the room knew. 'Want me to continue on?'  Omar asked unsure. Fred simply nodded. 'Some fans are complaining on why the Egyptian did not wear shoes and others are saying that his feet would be tough enough to not be bothered by glass. Others are complaining about the location itself, saying it was stupid to fight there and that this had played an important part of the outcome.' As Atthe heard this, she turned white. The woman was lucky that she was standing behind Fred and her husband did not notice her shock. She had chosen a stupid location to teach her husband how important it was to get a good arena. She would never have guessed that it would influence the battle in such a way.

Fred rubbed his face. 'How are the fans reacting to the last fight. The.....'  He said as he tried to remember the names of the warriors. 'Maharlika and the Assyran.' Atthe quickly said. 'Well it is just announced moments ago and most people are not sure what a Maharlika is.' Omar spoke. 'Most fora now are saying Assyran though.' He added.
This was the last fight of the first round and it needed to be perfect. Fred hoped that the two warriors could give that. Now he needed to figur out what to with the open spot in the next round.

The Arena. Chapter 6: Two

Toklo looked at the bizarre field where he found himself in. He did not remember how long ago it was that he was captured. The man was just hunting seals when strangers had appeared and captured him. Today, these people, each a different colour, had taken Toklo to a room with several weapons. Here he understood that he had to kill another man in a fight if he wanted to get home.
The problem with that was, he had never killed someone before. Toklo had hunted many animals and was known as a very good hunter but the Inuit had never fought another human being before.
Not knowing what weapons would be best to kill a man, Toklo choose those weapons he had used most when out hunting. His bow was always useful, with its sinew string. The man knew that this weapon would be best to kill off the opponent and every arrow counted. Then he had a hand harpoon, which Toklo usually used to stop animals from escaping, due to the rope at the end of the harpoon and lastly his snow knife. This large utility knife was always handy to have around. Dressed in thick fur which not only protected him against the cold but also against animal attacks, Toklo felt rather comfortable going in this strange fight.

Another glance at the battlefield revealed how odd it was. It was grass, both long and short, with flowers and trees. In the middle was water with a bridge over it.
As Toklo looked past the water, he suddenly saw another man popping up. Altough the man was dressed as an animal, Toklo could still see it was a man.
The Inuit put an arrow on his bow, aimed and shot. The opponent, who had spotted the Inuit as well, ran to the side, dodging this arrow and the two other arrows that followed. The other warrior then counterattacked by throwing a small spear towards him. Toklo was surprised by the range of the spear and was just able to avoid getting hit.
Toklo nocked an arrow once again but as he wanted to shoot it, the opponent had gone,
This was rather commen with animals. Some would charge you if you attacked, while others would run and hide. That this warrior took the tactic of an animal was of no surprise,
The Inuit slowly made it over the wooden bridge, his bow and arrow still ready to shoot at any moments notice. As he walked past another tree, the man saw something moving to his side. He turned around with all his speed but some sort of axe hit his bow, which broke in two. Another two attacks of the axe hit the thick clothing of the Inuit, who managed to grab his snow knife and stab thee man in the side. As the other warrior fell back, Toklo knew he had to keep the man here. With a good tug, the hand harpoon released itself from the robe that held it near him and the Toklo stabbed at the side of this warrior.
A howl of pain was the result and as the man tried to flee, he found out that the rope held the warrior to the pole. As Toklo held the handharpoon with one hand, his other grabbed his snow knife again. As he tried to attack, the other warrior managed to knock the snow knife out of his hand with the axe and then started pounding again. With no usefull weapon in his hands, Toklo kept his arms in front of his face to ward off these attacks and thus could not see that he got pushed on the ground.
Grabbing the fallen snow knife, Toklo stood up to attack again but was faced with the point of a spear that found its way in his eye.
Everything burned as the spear pushed itself through his eye into his skull and the only thing the warrior could think was, that he had never faced something so verocious before.
The spear then got pulled out of his lifeless body.

'You have seen it here.' Seth said with a grin. ; The Aztec Jaguar has killed the Inuit warrior.' The host added with a smile. 'I must say I liked that handharpoon but it seems that it was not good enough to deliver the kill.' Seth kept going. 'What do you all at home think about our battlefield. A modern park?' He asked. Seth had been instructed to ask the viewers for ideas of battlefields and he was about to do that now. ' 'Now if you have any suggestions for battlefield you want to see, please put it on our twitter, facebook, in comments and all other ways you can reach us. You can pick a historical battlesite, a modern one or one of your own creation. If you do that last, make sure that you will have a clear describtion of the battlefield.' Seth himself wanted to see two fighters inside of a vulcano fighting. That would be interesting.
'The only thing I have left to do now, is to announce the next match.' The young host continued.  'What do you get when you put a Greek Peltast against a Zulu warrior? We will find out next week.'

Another succesfull episode with milions of viewers worldwide. 'What are the comments saying?' Fred asked his staff. 'Nothing that special this time. Everybody assumed that the Aztec Jaguar would win but some are surprised about the weapons of the Inuit.'  Someone spoke. 'The next match is far more interesting however.' Another person said. 'People are already looking forwards to the Greek light troops versus the verocious Zulu warriors.' That was something Fred liked to hear.
'Look at this.' Omar suddenly spoke. 'Someone is ranting that the Jaguar did not get his Macuahuitl, his most famour weapon.' everybody laughed at it. 'We had it there, He just did not pick it up this time.' It was the weapon master Max who had spoken. 'You aways have those people.' Fred scoffed. He knew that no matter what, someone would be complaining.
The men and womand discussed the comments to late in the night.

Halfway through the week, Fred asked all members of staff to come to a large room inside the complex. As everybody entered, they saw Fred standin on a podium, with behind him his wife Atthe, the president of the United States and Mr. Leono.
'Welcome everybody.' Fred began as he watched the crowd. This was a very special day and Fred could not be more happy.
'Today is the day we have been waiting on.' The big man continued. 'We have been working on getting our own little country now and I am happy to tell you that we succeeded.' Some of the staff members looked surprised while others cheered.
'Thanks to the president of the United States of America, Mickey Tromp, I can introduce everybody to Devonsland.' Fred Devons spoke as the president stood up and waved.
'Now that we are our own nation, it means that you need to make a choise.' Suddenly everyone became quiet. 'I want you to consider become a citizen of Devonsland.' Fred looked at everybody. This was an important moment and he could not mess it up. 'If you choose to stay here, you will be employed for life. We also will build houses,  a school, a hospital and all other things needed.' He looked around again and still silence. 'If you choose to not become a citizen of Devonsland, you will be let go at the end of this season.'  People now started to talk with each other and discussing the options. They had never expected for the island to become its own little nation and were not sure what to choose. 'Can we get our families here if we want to stay?'  Someone asked. 'Ofcourse.' Fred nodded. 'How long can we think about it?' Someone else asked. 'Take your time. I will not pressure you but you will need to have taken your decision at the end of this season.'  Came the answer. When it was clear that there were no questions, a feast got brought in.
'You will stay here I take?' Fred asked Mr. Leone as both men, Atthe and Mr. Tromp sat at a small table. 'Yes.' The other man nodded. 'Italy is a little too hot right now.' The maffiaman added. 'You are welcome to stay.'  Fred smiled to his moneyshooter.

The day after the announcement and the feast, everybody worked with a hangover. People were still discussing if it was good idea to stay or not. It was a simple choise but with big consequences and not something to take lightly.
Apart from preparing for next week's match, the international news now have heard about this new nation and Fred Devons had been answering calls from journalists the entire day.
'Why cannot they accept there is a new nation without having to ask why I wanted a new nation.' Fred spoke out in frustration after another such call. 'Relax sweety.' Atthe tried to comfort her husband. 'It is just something new and interesting. Besides you just cannot say that this will protect us from attack.' He knew his wife spoke the truth and he knew that the media interest would calm down eventually.
'How are the arena suggestions going?' Fred asked. 'We have been spammed with ideas only minutes after the last show and it has not stopped yet.' Someone said. 'Most of these suggestions is the Colloseum actually.' The same person replied again. 'It gets suggested a lot.' Fred laughed. He had expected that to happen. The show was called the Arean after all. But there was a reason he had not chosen the colloseum yet. 'I have something very special in mind for the Colloseum.' He spoke. 'But don't reply that.'  Fred added.
'How are the comments on the match going?' Fred asked. 'There seemed a little bit of confusion on some forums about what a Peltast actually is..' Derek, one of the social media people spoke. 'Here for example. At first they wondered why we put a armoured greek soldier against an unarmoured opponent and we were called racists, then someone commented that according to 300, the Greeks fought naked and lastly someone else commented that it would be an easy win for the zulu because the Peltast only threw spears.' Derek explained one of the fora he was looking at.
'That seem consistent. I see a lot of Zulu victories all around the world.' Omar agreed.
'Let us see how this plays out then.' Fred smiled.

'Welcome everybody' Seth spoke to all the viewers. 'First and foremost. Last week I asked you to give us ideas on battlefields and you did listen. We have recieved millions and millions of requests, ideas and suggestions. Keep them coming. Today will be a rather boring field but I promise you. Next week we will take the first of your suggestions.'
As always, Seth showed a clips with information of both warriors and then announced the battle to start.

Mandla looked over the grassy field. This almost felt like home. The Zulu warrior was ready to battle. Once he got home, he could tell King Shaka and King Shaka would be proud of him. Maybe just maybe Mandla would recieve his own axe. Among the weapons, there was one of the axes but the warrior had never used one before and knew he was not allowed so he had left the weapon for the more traditional Iklwa stabbing shield and isihlangu shield. He also had taken with him the iwisa, a wooden club and the ipapa throwing spear. There was no way Mandla would lose and he would make king Shaka proud.

Alexis looked at the field. This battleground was no different then he was used to. However this time he was alone and there was no hoplite for the close combat action. This would hinder his strategie and the Greek hoped that his opponent would be lightly armed and armoured as well.
They said that he could go home if he won this tournament but Alexis did not care about that. Here he was not one of the many soldiers, here he had his own room and was treated well. The Peltast would fight to win but if he got killed, there was nobody who was going to miss him.
At the armoury, Alexis had grabbed four javelins, a wicker shield and a xiphos sword. He did not usually have a sword in combat and was happy to finally be able to have one with him.

The two warriors spotted each other simultaneously and the Zulu yelled out as he ran towards his opponent, who only stood there. Taking advantage, Mandla threw his ipapa at the opponent, who moved away and the spear landed in the grass. Now it the turn for Alexis to throw his javelin.
As the Zulu warrior ran towards the greek, he threw his javelin. As the man saw how his opponent avoided the attack, he fled.

'Coward.' Mandla yelled as he saw his opponent running away. That wimp would be destroyed, he would never been allowed in a zulu army, this man was as weak as a woman. The Zulu ran after his greek opponent but lost his target as they entered an orchard with several trees.
Alexis looked at his opponent from behind a tree. First he would use the hit and run tactics that made the peltasts famous and if that did not work, this black man would meet a sword.
As the Zulu walked around, Alexis stepped from behind the tree and thew his second javelin. The crack of a twig had revealed  his location and Mandla turned to see the olive skinned man.
The javelin flew towards the Zulu, threw his shield in to block the attack as he moved his body away.
The javelin rammed itself through the shield and scratched the zulu shoulder, which made Mandla only angrier. As the African warrior threw his now useless shield away, he saw that the other man was already running again and he followed.

As Alexis ran out of the orchard, he stopped to throw another javelin. This one hit the tree next to the Zulu and the chase continued.
Alexis suddenly stopped as he reached a cliff. Looking down, he considered if the Greek could throw his opponent off the cliff but then thought that the other warrior might do the same to him. Still holding his last javelin and shield, the peltast waited for his opponent to come near.
Mandla saw that his opponent had nowhere to go and smiled. At last, this coward who could only run would feel how it was to face a real warrior. He could not wait to skewer the coward with his short spear. He hoped that the other warriors in this tournament would not be cowards as this was not something to brag about among the other Zulu.
As the Zulu warrior came near, his smile widened. When there was only a few feet between the two warriors, Alexis threw his last javelin. The smile on the face of Mandla turned into surpise as the javelin flew towards him and then turned into a grimace of pain as the weapon hit the Zulu in the chest and knocked him back. As the Zulu howled in pain and the blood flowed out of him, the warrior still tried to stand. He would not be killed by a coward and a cowards tactic. Managing to take a few steps, Mandla fell forwards on the ground, which drove the javelin deeper into his chest. One last breath was all he could do before the Zulu warrior died.

'Look at that. I have never seen such a battle.'  Seth said. He could hardly believe what he had just seen and tried to make the best of it. 'Two different tactics faced each other and the hit and run tactic proved superior to the charging.'  He said.
'Now everybody, please remember to send in your requests for battlefields as next week our battlefield will be one of your choosing.'  The host changed the subject quickly. 'Speaking of next week, the British Celt will face an ancient Egyptian soldier.' Seth looked into the camera before continuing. 'Who do you think will win between these two?'

'How is it looking?' Fred asked the people in the command centre. He had not expected the match to turn out this bad and the ratings showed that people stopped watching during the fight. 'Bad.' Omar said in a serious tone. 'People are complaining that it was just running and barely any action. They said that we wanted to give inferior warrior the win because quote, there is already a black warrior in the next round of the tournament.'  'That is bullshit!' Fred yelled out. 'There was nothing we could do here.' Atthe hugged her husband. 'I know but people are still saying that this win was unfair and cowardly and that the Zulu should have won this battle.' Fred knew that this was bad. ; He hated this as much as the fans, as the Zulu had been unable to show off his skills and weapons in battle.
'We are being called racists a lot now and people keep yelling that they want a do over of this match so the proper warrior could win this time.' Someone spoke.
Full of anger, Fred walked out of the building and looked at the stars. This was not how he planned things would go. The next match had to be fantastic to keep the ratings up and keep the people happy.

The Arena. Chapter 5: Aggression versus peace

It had not taken long for the fans to figur out that the next match would be Viking versus Shaolin monk, especially considering that the social media department had published the fight the day after.
If the first matches had caused endless debates, these were nothing compared to the debate that this upcoming match. Little time was spend at arguing about how realistic the fight between the Koa and the Aboriginal was, as most people were yelling at each other on the internet. Whole fora were full of discussions on who would win and many youtubers tried to give their own expert opinion on the matter.
Fred read one of the discussions with a broad smile. He had tried to read and watch as much as possible on the subject and it was all very entertaining. He had hoped that people would take these matches as serieus but only now could he see the effects that his show had on people.
The fans of the Shaolin Argued that the monk would win, because he was an expert martial artist who had trained his entire life to fight and was much smarter and calmer. Concensus was that the monk would get his opponent mad and then punish the warrior for the mistakes he was going to make.
The viking fans on the other hand thought that the small monk would surely be overpowered by the bigger and stronger berserker.
Fred looked at the camera displaying the cells. The monk had been silent the entire him he was inprisoned and now sat calmly in his cell. He had been no problem at all and would do whatever told with a simple nod. Fred could not say if he had just accepted his fate or was planning something. The viking on the other hand was a polar opposite. He had been aggressive when he was first captured and had tried to break out of his cell multiple times. Altough he now was less aggressive, Fred still did not trust him and always made sure that there were extra guards around if the viking had to be moved.
The big viking reminded  Fred of another problem that they were having recently. Several female staffmembers and a few males ones had asked for some alone time with a few of the warriors. Fred had said no every time but a few members of staff had been caught trying to get into some of the cells.
Fred was not sure what to think of it and did not fancy his warriors being used in such a way, but he understood peoples needs. Everyone on the island was forbidden by contract to leave without direct permission from either him or Atthe. He was so worried that people found out about what actually happened here that he did not allow it. Ofcourse there had been speculation on what happened was real or not and the fact that nobody on the show answered any of these questions made it more myserieus. He did not want people to actually find out. That would not only hurt the ratings but chances are that soldiers would enter the island again. First he needed to have ths island become its own little nation, under the protection of the US, then maybe it would matter less that people found out about the real fights going on.
'I should talk to Atthe about the urges of people on the island, maybe something could be arranged.' Fred spoke to himself. Then he could figur out the rest.

'Have you researched the possibilities?' Fred asked. At the table with him sat his wife Atthe, John, Omar and the maffiaboss Mr. Leono.
'Yes.' John answered.  There are a lot tv shows that once aired and that we could air. Some shows we even could continue. We can make it in some sort of warrior history channel.' He added. 'We also found some youtubers who could potentially host some of the shows, altough we either have to let them do that at home or bring them to the island.' Came the comment of Omar.
'How about financiall?' Fred inquired. This time it was his wife who answered. 'Looking at everything,  it would not be too costly and in fact would gain us money in the second year'
That was all that he wanted. 'What is your opinion?  The man asked the don. As one of the two moneyshooters, he also had a say in what was going on.  'Yeah I will cover the cost, sounds like a good plan.' Was the answer. Fred had expected the answer to be as such, but he still wanted to ask.
'Well then Atthe. Will you set it up with John?' He asked. His wife nodded, knowing that now she was full responsible for its creation.

'Fight four is about to begin and the warriors could not be different.' Seth started in the new episode of The Arena. 'Our first fighter comes all the way from the frozen north. He has been known as a pillager and a rapist. A destroyer of towns and a wildebeast against innocent people.' Seth allowed a moment of silence to fall before he yelled. 'It is none other then the Viking Berserker.' At moments like these, Seth would like to have an audiance as he wanted to see the reactions from the people watching. However they only could look at him, not the other way around. Not that it was a bad thing that they could look at him, he was dashing and handsome after all.
'Where the viking likes to kill monks, our other fighter is a monk who fights back.' The host started his introduction of the opponent. 'From the beautiful east, this monk is a martial art master who trains his entire life in the arts of kung fu. Fighting raiders and protecting the weak, this man of peace will be a deadly opponent. If you have not guessed it, I am talking about the Shaolin monk.


Han Liu looked at the weapons before him. Altough everything around him was weird ever since he had been kidnapped from the temple, at least these weapons were familiar. Han was no killer however and did not like to take another man's life. He had only killed bandits when the man had no other choise and had punished himself every single time. Now it seemed that fate had brought the young Shaolin in this arena, where he had to kill his opponent to return to the temple.
The monk did not know who is opponent would be and therefore was unsure what for weapons to bring. Han Liu decided on a spade for medium distance combat, a broadsword for close fighting and finally a Emei dagger for very personal combat.
With the weapons chosen and mentally prepared for what was to come, Han Liu stepped through the door and onto an open field.

A quick peek at the guards and their weapons discouraged Einar to attack them. It was so tempting with the weapons here but he knew that there were more of these guys and they all could kill from a distance without a bow. Growling, the warrior looked at the weapons displayed. He would kill this enemy and look for another good chance to escape. One thing was for sure. Einar would not die a prisoner, but as a warrior so he could join his father and brother and he too could dine in valhalla.
After picking the Dane axe and a Seax, Einar stepped on the grass of the open field,

A big brute, this could be interesting. Han Liu thought
The viking smiled. 'A monk, this would be easy.' He spoke to himself. With his axe ready he ran towards the smaller opponent.
The two met at the middle of the field and the weapons hit each other. Monks spade versus dane axe. Han Liu was able to hit his opponent several times, inflicting light wounds as he danced around the axe. As the axe hooked around the spade, Han Liu was able to move his weapon away and hit the chest of the viking, which was covered with wolfsfur and did little damage, The back of the axe however, flew towards the monk and hit him straight in the face, breaking the nose of the shaolin and sending him rolling in the grass. Seeing an opening, Einar charged at his target and moved his axe in a downwards arc. Before he could hit the monk, the other guy rolled away and jumped on his feet. Using the spade as pole, he kicked the viking away.
The weapons clashed with each other again. As Han Liu was able to dodge most of the attacks of his opponent, Einar was able to block the attacks or endured minor wounds on his arms and legs. Once the berserker overextended and Han Liu was able to hit the head, only for the spade to glance off the helmet.

'These two are really well matched.' Fred said to everybody in the room. The two have been going on for a short while now, with neither getting a good edge on the opponent or really dominating the battle. The viewer count was also on a alltime high at the moment as everybody tuned in to see this battle.

Han Liu had hoped to tire out his opponent by this point but the man might have been made of stone as the warrior did not show any sign of fatigue. Han himself was still ready to go as well but he feared that he might tire earlier then the other guy. If that happened, the Shaolin knew that he would lose.
The two clashed again and dealt blows but either blocked or dodged the attacks of the opponent.

Einar leaned a little bit too farwards, which have Han Liu the idea to smack the side of the head of his opponent. That helmet would stop damage, but the Shaolin hoped to disorientate his opponent enough to finish the fight. Just before the monk's spade hit the viking, Einar pulled his head backwards and blocked the attack with his dane axe. This did give the viking an idea.
He overextended his next attack on purpose, which the Shalin took advantage off.
The spade came in but the axe blocked the attack. At the same moment, Einar stepped in, grabbed the weapon of his opponent and pulled.
Instead of pulling back, Han Liu releashed his spade. The viking almost lost his footing due to this. Reacting as fast as he could, Han Liu pulled his broadsword and ran towards his opponent. A swift kick to the chest send Einar to the ground and the broadsword hit the helmet as the berserker tried to stand up. Only now Einar felt how tired he was, with the multiple smaller wounds burning. His opponent was holding a sword close to his throat and Einar was prepared to die. He was going to valhalla.

Han Liu was about to kill his opponent. His sword was close to the throat of the big man. He only needed to make a swift strike to kill. But Han could not do it. Years of living in the temple, praising life had its effect on the monk once again. He had already won. Why would he need to kill this opponent who could not fight back anymore. Then again, it was made clear that he had to kill the other man to claim victory and the Shaolin did not know what would happen if he did not kill.
This moment of struglle was enough for Einar to see a chance. Valhalla had to wait as he pulled his Seax and smashed the sword away. Einar then threw the monk on the ground and attacked with his seax.
Han Liu was suprised as the sword got knocked out of his hand. This opponent still was ready to fight it seemed. He then got thrown on the ground and saw his opponent above him holding a large knife. With only his emei dagger left, he thrusted the small weapon into the fur covered chest of the viking, as Einar stepped the chest of the Shaolin several times.

The viking lay on top of the small monk with neither moving and total silence in the room. 'Did they kill each other?' Someone asked. 'What do we do if they are both dead?' Someone else wondered.
Fred just looked at the screen intensly. People would think a double death would be a cop out even if this was not planned at all,
'Give them one more minute. If neither moves, declare a tie and they both lose.' Fred spoke. He hoped himself that one of them would move or give a sign of life.
A small movement could be seen on screen and then slowly someone rose. It was the viking who stood ip, a wound very close to the heart could be seen on his chest, with blood covered fur around him.

'You have seen it here people. Brawn won out against brain this time and the Viking Berserker continues to the next round as the Shaolin monk joins the losers.' Seth spoke. He still had to recover from the event he had just seen and was not prepared at all for this.
'The two were matched really well and I feel this fight could have gone either way.' The host then added.
'Now we have a victor, it is also time to look at the next match up. Who is your money on as the Inuit meets none other then the Aztec Jaguar in combat.' Seth smiled his usual self. 'Do not miss it as it will be another epic match.'

The Arena. Chapter four: A sandy duel

The second episode had been watched very well again worldwide. Tensions on the internet had flared during the battle and the kill had surprised almost all of the watchers. Again the tournament got praised for its authentic weapons and warrior and again there were people complaining. Some fans of the Sioux complained that a real native american warrior would not react like that. He would not have missed with the bow and arrow the first time and would have won instantly. He would not have thrown his tomahawk that way and would bring more of them to begin with and lastly they complained that he would have been able to either dodge the kpinga or stop the Azande from throwing it.
However these complains were a few among the masses and as before, Fred could only laugh at it.

'Fred.' Atthe suddenly entered his office, followed by John. 'What is wrong?' He asked. 'Several stations around the world caved in to demands and are cancelling showing the Arena.' John stated bluntly. The English man knew that it was always best with Fred to just come forward directly instead of dancing around the subject. He as overseer of the show on tv and it was his responsibility to make sure everythig aired correctly around the globe.
'Why?' Fred asked even though he already knew the answer. 'Some stations are stopping it because not enough people look at it, while others felt too much pressure from parental organisations who call the show distastefull.' John explained.
'But there is a solution.' Atthe added quickly. After a questioning look, the woman continued. 'We can start our own network.' 'Continue.' Fred spoke. 'The only thing is with getting a network that sends out world wide, that we either need to find one channel who does the same and where we can air everything or get a channel of our own.' John spoke up.
This idea intrigued Fred and he asked John to continue. 'Well we would be in full controll of everything ourselfs and we would not have to find a channel who would both be willing and cheap enough. We can fill it with historical docu's and matches If we can buy the rights to things like deadliest warrior and weapons that made brittain, we can fill it up more.' He added.
Fred thought about this for a second. This was a huge step, but then again could be very usefull, especially in the future. 'Very well. Atthe look into the financial side, is it profitable? John see if you possible shows we could purchage and air.' The two nodded and left.
This day had become rather more interesting all of a sudden.

'How is everything looking?' Fred asked Omar. 'Very good.' The Turkish man smiled. 'This next match is hard to decide. In Hawaii we have a high vote for the Koa but in Australia everybody goes for the aboriginal. The rest of the world seems evenly devided.'  This next match could go either way and Fred looked forwards to it. Not only would two of the same type of warrior face each other, both also would have some weird weapons.

Kanunu looked at the men next to him. All armed with strang weapons that he would never be able to  imagine in his wildest dreams. Now he looked at the weapons available on the table. At least he was familiar with them and knew how to use them. Kanunu had been explained that he was to kill his opponent on a battlefield. The Koa would just do that. He wanted to go home again. He wanted to fish and sail for days when he finally would get back home. He was fishing when these strangers ambushed him. He heard people yelling, turned around and got knocked out. It was later in the cell that someone explained that he had been kidnapped and the purpose of his capture.
Knowing he had to make a choise, Kanunu take a look at the weapons before him. First the warrior picked up a pikoi and wrapped it around his arm. That rope could be rather usefull to distract the opponent. Next was the sharktooth club, this nasty weapon could destroy the opponent from up close. As for the last weapon, Kanunu picked up the polulu. This spear was by far his favorite and the weapon that the koa was most used too. If there was any weapon that would win the battle for him, it was this.
Kanunu nodded to the men that he was done and one opened a door. When the warrior stepped through, he stepped in the sand. Surprised, the Hawaiian looked at the the sun in the sky. Then at the ocean next to him and lastly the sand around his feet. It looked like the warrior was home, yet it felt different. There was something, he could not explain. This was not his home island, that was for sure. A mere imitation. It was at that moment that he spotted his opponent.

Kuparr was ready to fight. He was nervous but ready. Having been dragged here from his people had been surreal. These strangers landed on the beach and Kuparr had watched as all the other warriors got killed by powerful sticks of the gods themselfs. The warrior was prepared to die himself, only to lose conciousness and wake up in this godly world. Still a bit fearfull, he was going to fight for their pleasure because they requested that.
For this battle Kuparr had picked a war boomarang, a boomarang shaped club and a deathstick. This spear was barbed along the sides and the only way out of the body, was right through it. Just before giving the sign that he was ready, the Australian warrior took a shield. You That might work well with the club.
The Aboriginal stepped through the door and felt the seabreeze hit his face. Surprised, the man looked around. He stood on a beach. Kuparr had not long to look around as he saw a man standing opposing him.He threw the shield on the ground, as his club and armed with boomarang and deathstick walked towards his opponent.

Both warriors walked towards each other slowly, weary of the attack of the other. Kuparr started off by throwing his boomarang. The weapon flew through the air but missed the opponent. This was not a boomarang which would come back so the warrior continued to walk forwards holding his spear.
The two spears met in midair as they tried to push the other away, Both had barbing and tried to wound the opponent with either the point or the barbs but the two were matched and failed to hit each other. Kanunu yelled out and managed to push his opponent backwards, hitting the leg slightly and the upper arm of his opponent.
As Kuparr got pushed backwards, he knews that this was not working. Unable to land a good blow, he had to change tactics. Allowing himself to be pushed back further, the man guided his opponent untill they reached his weapons. There he he gave a hard jab that rammed at the stomach of Kanunu. The other flinched for a second, which gave the Aboriginal enough time to pick up his shield and club.
A jab of the spear landed on the shield and the Australian warrior acted fast. Using the curving of his club, the warrior pulled the spear aside and stepped in. The Koa recieved a hard smack in the face with the wooden club and both blood and teeth flew everywhere. The spikes as the side of the club rammed in the side of his opponent but did not much damage now. Another hit to the head followed and Kanunu got dizzy.
A howl brought him back and he headbutted his opponent. This gave the Hawaiian enough time to get out of range of the club. Just when he was far away, the club flew towards him. Trying to dodge and failing, the man got knocked down in the sand.

Kuparr had thrown his club with succes. That was the reason he had picked the boomarang shaped one. Now picking up the deathstick again, the warrior looked to finish the battle. As he walked towards the koa, Kanunu looked up and saw his opponent coming near. Thinking fast, he took the pikoi and threw it at the legs.
The string wrapped itself around the legs of the aboriginal, who fell in the sand. Not sure what just happened, he tried to untangle the ropes but before the man could succeed, the Koa stood above him, holding the sharktooth club.
Kuparr tried to protect his face and both of his arms got slashed by the sharkteeth embedded in the club. This Leiomano then slashed the face of the Australian Aboriginal, followed by several smashes to the head. Kuparr was dead.

'It looks like we have a winner.' Seth said with his trademark smile. 'Who could have guessed that a rope would be that usefull. I really thought that the Koa was a goner.' The young man added. 'Congratulations to the people of Hawaii. Also keep that sharktooth club very far away from me.'He winked as he said that.
'Now I am supposed to tell you the next match but I am not going to do that.' Seth continued. 'Instead I am going to provide hinds.'  He found it boring to just announce it and thought that this might be more entertaining. Seth hoped that his boss would not be mad.
'The first warrior is big brutish and would not wish to visit Valhalla soon.'  The host said. 'The other is a calm kung fu master who will make the opponent see orange.'

Fred looked at the sea and allowed himself to calm down. Halfway through the match, he had left. The staff knew what to do now so there was no need for him. If there was something Atthe would still be there. Soon he would have his own little nation and a tv station. Things happened so quickly now that he was afraid the same thing would happen as years ago. No he was not allowed to think like that. He was now better prepared and had powefull allies. Thinking he should give the president a call, the man walked back.
On his way to his office, two men were walking past him with a stretcher. On it was the dead body of the Australian warrior. So the Koa had won then. This body would be thrown into a cremating oven, removing all evidence that the man had been here.

The Arena. Chapter three: Makrigga and Tomahawk

The first fight had been a major succes. All around the world, both fans and critics had jubeled the Arena for historical correct weapons and realistic looking fights. Milions of people around the world had tuned in to watch the ninja fight the gladiator, even in the countries where the show was in the middle of the night.
There had also been haters ofcourse. Religious and family groups who found the content of the show inappropriate and wished the show off the air. Fred did not care about those holier then holy people. They just did not understand the beauty of the concept. There had also been complainers. People who found that the weapons and techniques were not historical correct or that there had been the wrong type of gladiator brought to the battle. These were fans who always found something to complain about and Fred could only laugh at them and their stupidity.

The week leading up to the next match was uneventfull. The health of the warriors got checked daily and they got to exercise and train every day as well. There was a special little building set up on the island, in which the warriors could train. Fearing a breakout, only one warrior would be allowed to train at a time and the warrior would be guarded by three soldiers and two handlers.
the warriors were not allowed to contact each other and they ate in their cells.

With the next saturday coming closer, more and more forums were full of people speculating the outcome and more polls were set up. Where in Africa almost everybody thought that the Azande and his ferocity would win out, in the US it was almost split in the middle, with slightly more votes for the Sioux. Fred had made it a habit to check different social media every night and read about the next match.
As he was reading comments on the website of the Arena site itself, Atthe entered their living room. 'Just got a call from the president, he is going to lobby next week to give this island autonomy.'  She smiled as she said it, 'Good news. Everything would go as planned.' Fred smiled. If this island got autonomy and protection from the US, most laws would not be able to touch him and chances of getting invaded would be slim. This would attract criminal organisations to use the island and more profit for Fred.

'A new saturday, a new battle.' Seth laughed into the camera. 'Last week, we all saw how the ninja took the victory and let us see what will happen today.' With that, clips of last week were shown. 'Now do we have something special for you.' The young host said with a big smile. 'A battle between Africa and North America, as the Azande warrior faces off against a Sioux native american.' He continued. 'According to world wide polls, victory is given to the Azande, with 65 procent of the votes while the Sioux only recieved 35 procent of the total votes.'
Altough Seth himself was not allowed to play favorites, he hoped that the Sioux would win, due to a love for native americans. He was even allowed to see that native american in his cell. Not allowed to speak to the warrior or take pictures but seeing the man was enough.
'Now to introduce the warriors, let us start with the Azande.' Seth said. When the clip about the Azande warrior was done, he introduced the Sioux to the world.
'With the warriors introduced, it is time to see who will win this fight and join the ninja in the next round of the tournament. It is time to fight.' Seth yelled.

Afolabi stepped through the door. Where he first was in a room, with all different weapons, now the African warrior stood in a large sandy field, with big rocks in two rows. Now Afolabi knew that he would never see his home country again.
The man slowly walked over the sand and it did not take long for him to spot the opponent. This was the man he was supposed to kill if the Azande would want to survive. 'Very well.' Afolabi grinned. His grin changed in worry as the opponent aimed a bow at him. He hates opponents with bows. Cowards. The Azande jumped behind one of the big rocks to avoid an arrow.

Ohiyesa saw the large black man standing and took an arrow. He had been hunting when strange white men appeared. They had killed his horse without mercy as he charged the men with his lance. Just after hitting the ground, he got knocked out and awoke in the cell. These men were different then the other white men that the Sioux had seen before and all these strange rooms were alien as well.
However they said that he had to kill his opponents in a tournament to be allowed to go home and Ohiyesa was just about to do that. He wanted to see his tribe again. He had dropped his gunstock warclub and now tried to finish the fight with one arrow.

The arrow flew towards the target but hit the rock as the black man dodged behind it. Ohiyesa ran to the other side of the row of stones as well and got another arrow off. This time, it hit the sand and broke. Running back, the Native American was unable to spot his African opponent and slowly walked past the stones, his bow ready.

The Zande warrior peeked from behind the stone and saw his Native American opponent move carefully around. 'I'm gonna throw.' Afolabi yelled as he threw his kpinga. No matter what the enemy, he would not show cowardice himself.
Ohiyesa turned around and saw the weapon of the opponent coming near. The Sioux used the stone near him to jump away from the strange weapon but lost his footing and fell on the ground.
The African warrior took his makrigga and leather shield and ran towards his fallen foe, who grabbed a tomahawk of his own and threw it.
Tomahawk hit the leather shield and Afolabi was pushed backwards while he covered himself. He looked up again and the native american was gone.

Ohiyesa slowly climbed up on the large rock as his opponent was looking around on the other side.
He saw the black man walking underneath, still holding the spear and shield, which gave the warrior an idea. He jumped down, on top of his opponent. The two fell down and the Sioux was able to wrestle the shield away, then the two began to fight over the makrigga spear. Afolabi got the upper hand and with a headbutt, followed by a kick to the chest, he was able to send the native american in the sand. The Azande charged his american opponent, who rolled on the ground and grabbed his gunstock warclub.
The two warriors cirkeld each other, both now holding a weapon again. Afolabi thrusted his makrigga as Ohiyesa blocked the attack. Using the spike on the gunstock club, the Sioux hit the hand of the Azande. The larger man howled in pain and attacked again, only for the attack to be blocked.
The gunstock warclub flew towards the spear and knocked it with force out of the hands of the African warrior. Another attack to the head missed but the spike slashed the shoulder of Afolabi.
The Azande stepped backward and he grabbed his backup weapon, the makraka.
Ohiyesa on the other hand dropped his gunstock club and grabbed the spear of the opponent from the ground. He knew that a spear would be a more useful weapon at the moment and he had regretted it, not taking one with him at the beginning of the match.

Afolabi stepped backwards as he avoided the jabs of his own weapon, using his makraka to swipe the point away if it came to close. He knew the damage a makrigga could do. He had destroyed many opponents with that weapon. As the Zande avoided his own weapon, he peeked backwards and got an idea and started running.
Ohiyesa saw his opponent running and followed. This match was as good as over and he would be one step closer in seeing his tribe again.
It was too late when the Native American saw that his opponent grabbed the kpinga. He tried to pierce the Azande before the weapon could be thrown but Afolabi was faster and with no chance to dodge, the kpinga pierced the chest of the Sioux.
Ohiyesa breathed with difficulty as he tried to remove the big weapon but before he could, Afolabi stood in front of him and the makrigga pierced the chest several times. Ohiyesa could only think of his family as he died.

'After a bloody battle, we have a winner.' Seth yelled. 'The Azande goes on to the next round' He added. As Seth talked into the camera, the warriors got removed from the battlefield.
'Next week, we have a sunny duel as the Hawaiian Koa faces the Australian Aboriginal. See you next week.' With that, both Seth and the episodes finished.

The Arena. Chapter 2: The first fight.

'How are the fans guessing the fight?' Fred asked one of his media guys. 'So far 95 procent give it to the knight. They all say that the knight is fully armoured and has better weapons, thus the gladiator stands no chance at all.' This was something that Fred did not like to hear, still more people would be surprised if the gladiator actually won. He was much stronger then the knight after all.

It was the friday before the first fight. Social media has been working hard to get everyone hyped for the tournament, while his staff have been going on non stop to make sure everything worked well. The warriors were in top condition, the equipment worked really well and Fred had been in negotiations with the president of the United States to help make this island an foreign nation. Considering that the president was one of his two investors, that would not much of a problem. The only thing he had to do now was to chose the warriors for the next fight.

The next day, everybody was running around, everything had to be ready for the live broadcasting of the evening. Fred was clearly nervous and was drinking a lot of water. This was the most important day, the most important fight. This broadcast would have people tune in for more or his whole plan would fall apart in an instant.
'Mr. Devons?' One of the handlers suddenly appeared. The handlers were guards, who also spoke several languages and had a notion of history. Because of that, they were the perfect people to guide the warriors. 'What?' Fred asked. 'Rainarre LaCobbe is very sick.' The handler spoke. 'Who?' Fred asked. He did not know who this Rainarre was and he could not care less about the health of this person, the very first fight would begin in several hours. The handler sighted. 'The knight sir. The warrior who is supposed to fight the gladiator is very ill'
Suddenly, the world of Fred Devons came crashing down. 'Is he still able to fight?' Fred asked. 'No sir. We are not even sure if he will survive.' The handler answered.
All this preperation, all this hype and one of his fighters got sick. That was a disaster.
'Leave.' Fred said as he walked away himself, sending a text message to his wife and a few others.

'We need a solution.' Fred growled around the table. 'The knight is sick and will be unable to fight tonight.' 'Switch the fights around.' Atthe suggested. 'Now take one of the other fights and wait for for the knight to be better.' She added.
'We can't. The others still need have either armour or weapons completed.' Max countered. As head of equipment, he was responsible for the gear of the warriors and the historical correctness of it.
'What if we take the historyboomer and pick up another knight.' Alfonso suggested. This man was in charge of the soldiers on the island. Clearly he gave the best option. Fred did not like it, as this would tighten the schedule and possibly push a unprepared warrior in the arena. 'Yeah that seems the only solution. Do you have soldiers ready"He asked. Alfonso nodded when another voice interrupted. 'Sir, as you know, I am in charge of social media. As I have noted several times, people do not consider this a fair fight and where the polls gave 95 to 5 in favor of the knight yesterday, now the polls are showing a 99 to 1. ' So?' Fred asked Omar. 'What if we scrapped the knight and gave a more fair fight. According to my calculations, that would give more hype and more people watching.' 'Who do you think would work well then?' It was Atthe who spoke this time. 'Both facebook and twitter suggest that people are looking forwards to a ninja, but we do not have any.' 'How do we get weapons?'Fred replied. 'Ninja weapons are easy to come by, considering they have a hardcore fandom.' Max added to the conversation.
'Hmm Okay.' Alfonso get your men ready for a trip to feudal Japan. I want them away in half an hour.' The man nodded and left. Omar left as well, trying to think of a way to spin this change into their advantage, While Max was phoning people to collect the correct gear. Fred hoped that the new fighter would arrive on time. Altough they had a time machine, it could only travel in linear time, meaning that, if they were an hour in the past, an hour would be gone in real time.

The Historyboomer arrived at the island Koka, in Japan.  'We are supposed to find a ninja here?' Joseph commented. 'Yes.' Elmar answered. 'But aren't they invisible and stealthy and shit. How are we ever going to capture one?'Joseph asked. 'Everybody on this island is supposed to be a ninja.' The leader replied. 'Great, we just pick a random young man we find and hope for the best.' Edward  responded sarcastic. 'That is the plan.' Elmar nodded. His tone did not show any sign of humor.
The four men slowly walked around, keeping close to the historyboomer. The four had to find a ninja as soon as possible but no clue how to either find a ninja or recognise one.
After an hour of walking around, three young men suddenly appeared from nowhere. They said some words and the four soldiers created a small circle. 'These two down.' Elmar yelled and the machine guns rattled. As two of the three fell down, the leader used his knockout dart on the third person.
'Eward and Eddy, Cover.' Elmar spoke. 'Joseph, target.' He then added. Joseph lifted the knocked out man up as Edwin and Eddy kept their weapons ready. With Elmar in front, the four walked back to the historyboomer.

'One minute to go people.' Fred Devons yelled. This was it. In one minute, they would go live and this would either make or break Fred. After the disaster of the sick knight, they were lucky to have found a ninja. The social media department had turned the whole situation around, claiming that due to the demands of fans, the knight was out and a mystery warrior would enter the battlefield against the gladiator. This worked out very well and forums were full of people guessing who this mystery warrior was.
'Welcome everybody. Welcome to the first episode of the Arena. My name is Seth and I will be your host for this series' The young man spoke before the camera. 'You all want to see historical warriors duke it out and that is exactly what you will be getting,'
Fred looked on from behind the camera. 'Get the warriors down and let them pick their weapons.' He said to a handler, who nodded.
'Now it is both an honour and a pleasure to introduce the two warriors who will be duking it out in the arena today.' The smiling young man spoke. 'First off we have the Gladiator. In fact, it will be a Murmillo Gladiator.' With that said, a small clip about the gladiator began to show.
'Now you know all about the gladiator, it is time to reveal his mystery opponent.' The host said when the clip was done. 'It is the knight!'  He suddenly yelled out. At this Fred tensed.  He knows that is not the knight right?'  the owner asked the staff around them. Before any could answer, the host added: 'Just joking just joking. No we have heard your calls and read all your comments. I will now finally and officially reveal the opponent from tonight.' 'Fred could kill Seth right now but he had to admit that the young man had flair and was a very good pick to be the face of the tournament.
'You all have seen anime and have seen martial arts movies, so you will probably all be familiar with him. May I introduce the Ninja.' Seth laughed. With that, a clip about the ninja showed.

Hiroki looked at the big men in front of the door, then to the weapons on the table. The last two days had been chaotic. Yesterday Hiroki was protecting the village against strangers and then he woke up in a cell in a strange world. He did not know what happened to the village or his family or friends but from what he had gathered, the young man was kidnapped to fight other warriors. Hiroki was prepared. He had been training his entire life in the arts of fighting, stealing and assasination. The young ninja was ready to fight whoever these strangers dared to throw at him.
He looked around at the weapons before him. He picked up a few kunai, a kasumigari and a short sword.

Brennus walked into the forest. This was weird. He did not even know that they were near a forest. Not that it mattered. He was dragged here to fight and fighting was all he did ever since he was taken from his village by the Romans.
As the gladiator walked through the forest, he thought what got him here. One moment he was walking with his master though the streets of Salernum, when his master got by a strange weapon. As Brennus was charging the attacker, he got knocked out and awoke in a cell.
These strangers explained that he would keep on fighting, only other opponents and these were always battles to the death.

Hiroki slowly moved through the forest, trying to find his opponent when he suddenly saw a large man in front of him. The ninja jumped behind a tree and peaked as the large man walked around. His opponent wore a helmet and a shield but his chest was bare. That would be his weak spot.
The japanse left his kasurigama at the root of the tree as he jumped in the tree and then made his way towards his opponent.
As Hiroki was near, he jumped out of the tree and waited for the gladiator to pass.
The ninja slowly grabbed his sword and made his way towards the opponent. Just before he could attack, Brennus turned around, his instincts of battle telling him to watch out. The straight sword hit the shield of the gladiator, who then rammed the shield in the face of the ninja.
Hiroki jumped away, barely in time to dodge the sword Brennus.
Knowing his attack had failed, the ninja ran away from the fight, with the big man following.
As one chased the other, Hiroki suddenly turned around. He threw a kunai, aimed at the helmet of the murmillo, but it got blocked by the big scutum shield. This was what he was counting on, as the Japenese man ran towards his foe and attacked the swordarm. The ninja sword met the gladius and then, as Hiroku moved his hands, met the shoulder of the gladiator. Brennus was angry and smashed his elbow in the face of his opponent. Hiroku rolled backwards and threw another kunai as Brennus charged. The murmillo was just able to pull up his shield in defense, but when he looked again, his opponent was gone.

'How are the numbers?'  Fred asked Atthe. 'Very well.' His wife replied cheerfully.
As the episode continues, more people are tuning in and out website is loaded. There are all kinds of topics in several other forums about the fight as well. 'Who do the polls say who will win?'  Fred then asked. 'While at the announcement of the ninja, it was a 60/40 in favor of the ninja. After this last attack, its a 80/20 situation. People say that the ninja will wait untill the gladiator has been bled out before he comes with the kill.'  It was Omar who answered this time.
'Also, apart from the usual complains about weapons or fighting styles being not correct, everybody loves it.'  The media guy added.

Hiroki had collected his kasurigama was looking for his big opponent again. That man looked tough. Nothing like he was used to. He finally found the other man in a large open spot in the middle of the forest. There was no way to sneak up to the man so Hiroki decided to face him up front. This might work or it would be a fatal mistake, but the ninja felt convident.

Brennus rubbed the cut on his shoulder. He was used to these kinds of cuts and it did not bother him much. However his opponent was a small stealthy man who would not face him head on. The cowards attacked from behind and then fled. Now in this position, there was nowhere to hide and the only way that little man could attack him was right upfront. Brennus would show what a gladiator was made off.

As Hiroki entered the battlefield, Brennus stood, with his shield in front of him. This would be the final clash, both fighters knew that.
Hiroki neared his opponent, the ball of the kasurigama making circles in the air. The ball then flew towards the gladiator, past the shield and hit the large man on his shieldarm. another attack of the ball was aimed at the head of the murmillo. This time, the metal ball hit the shield and Brennus rushed forwards. Hiroki was about to move away to avoid a shieldbash, when the scutum got pulled aside and the tip of the gladius appeared. This time, Brennus was able to hit Hiroki in the side. The next attack met air however and with the third jab, the ninja was able to block the blade using the gama part of the weapon.
Hiroki saw blood dripping from his wound. Without thinking, he pushed his finger into his wound and threw his blood at his opponent. Altough barely any blood got into the eyes of the gladiator, it stunned him enough for Hiroki to use the gama to pull the shield away as his ninja sword went out of the sheath and into the chest of the gladiator.
Brennus felt the blade enter his chest and he dropped his shield. He was a gladiator, he could not lose. Before the large man could counter however, the ninja slashed the throat of Brennus with his gama.
First fell the gladius sword into the grass, followed by blood and lastly a near dead murmillo.
He tried to breath, tried to stand up. His body would not move. At least Brennus died in the open air of the forest.
A relief came over Hiroki. He wondered if he could go now his opponent was dead. This man was a though opponent and nothing he had ever fought before.
Suddenly the forest dissapeared and a big room appeared in its place. Then Hiroki felt something sting his arm and he collapsed.

'The first fight is over and the winner is the Ninja!' Seth cheered. 'Everybody who expected the ninja to take the win, and from all your comments it appears most of you did, congratulations. For those who hoped for the gladiator.. Next time better.' The host laughed in the camera. 'Speaking of next time. I can now announce the next battle. So next week, same time, same channel, you will be able to watch a duel between a African Zande warrior and a north American Sioux'

The Arena. Chapter 1: A new beginning

Fred Devons watched the arena through the window. 'It still has the same properties as it used to have?' He asked a small man with a thick mustache. 'Yes sir. With one push of the button we can have a football stadium, an ancient chinese tomb or even a vulcano in here.' The man pushed some buttons and the arena turned into a football stadium. 'Good.' Fred smiled as he walked away.
It has been ten years since the disaster of the first tournament. Everything had been going well and everybody all over the world had watched the tournament. However when his warriors rebelled and international armies attacked the island, everything had fallen apart. Ten years,.. It had cost Fred ten years to recover from that disaster. He had to lie low, pay off several criminal organisations and find a a way to get his island back. But in the end, Fred Devons came back on top, he always did.

Fred walked to his office, where he and his wife Atthe would have a meeting with two investers. He had met Atthe during his first island tournament and she had stayed with him all the way. Now they were married and ready to make it big again. 'Both are in your office already.' Atthe spoke as she walked towards Fred. 'How many warriors do we currently have?'Fred then asked. 'The knight and the Ronin have been brought in today, which means that we only need the Viking and Aztec warrior.' His wife answered. 'You are great.' The man spoke. He gave her a kiss and stepped into his office.

'Mr. President and Mr. Leono, it is always good to see you.' Fred greeted his two investers. 'And it is always a pleasure to see you.'Albert Leone answered with a smile. 'Yes it seems that you are almost ready to start?' Mickey Tromp asked. As new president of the United States and businessman, he had been a key figure in rebuilding the tournament. The island now belonged to Mickey Tromp and he had funded the recovery of some important pieces of technology. This also meant that Fred did not have to worry about getting invaded again but it also meant that half of the money they were making, would go straight to the president.
Albert Leone was the boss of a big crime family, which was active in both the US and Italy. He also had connections with other criminal organsations around the world. Albert had supplied Fred with most of the guards on the island.
'We are picking up the last two warriors tomorrow and will then air our first commercial.' Fred explained with pride. 'Our first match will air next week.' The two other men nodded in agreement.

Fred took a sip of whiskey as he looked at the prisoners through the security camera's. Most were sleeping or calmly sitting down, having given up their attempts to escape. Only the knight still slammed his fists against the bars and yelled in French. He would stop too. Soon he would realise that it was useless to escape.
In the first tournament, he had pitted real life historical warriors against each other in a tournament to the death. Now he was doing it all over again. With only one history boomer that had survived, it took longer to collect all the historical warriors. Now they were almost complete and could begin over. Everybody would know of Fred Devons once again.

With a hard boom, the history boomer arrived in the jungles of South America. The history boomer was a time machine, able to take the user into history and back into the present. It had place for four men and two prisoners Fourteen historical warriors had been collected thus far and now it was time for the last two.
'So what are we looking for?' Joseph asked. 'A guy who is dressed like a jaguar.' was the answer of Edward. 'What the fuck is a jaguar?' Joseph replied. 'An animal. Now shut it and come.' It was their leader Elmar, who spoke.
A man named Eddy joined the three and the small group headed further in the jungle.
Suddenly, the four men heard sounds coming from around them. 'Weapons ready.' Elmar shouted. Small spears suddenly flew from the trees towards them. The four dodged as good as possible, with only Edward getting hit in the side. They returned fire to the trees. More yelling around them and two warriors appeared, armed with wooden swords which had sharp stones embedded in them.
Joseph aimed his shotgun and fired straight in the chest of one warrior, while Elmar fired a knockout dart, which hit the other one.
As he took the man and dragged him to the history boomer, the others gave coverfire. With the Aztec jaguar loaded in, the history boomer dissapeared with a hard boom.

The familiar sound was heard as the historyboomer arrived at its next designation. however screaming and yelling overtook the sound of the historyboomer. From their vehicle, the four men saw how a small village was attacked. 'What is going on here?'Joseph asked. 'What do you think' Came the snarkly reply of Edward. 'Two groups of vikings fighing each other.' He added. 'But they have no horns on their helmets.' Joseph was clearly confused. Elmar took controll of the situation. 'Eddy and I will go and capture a viking. You two will stay here. Joseph, open the door when we come back, Edward keep your AK ready.' The others nodded and the two left.
'Be carefull, Elmar.' Said as the two walked around a corner. The two suddenly saw a viking, who had his back towards them. He was nearly naked and had a bald head. Elmar saw a chance and shot his knockout dart in the viking, who turned around. The two now saw that the man sported a large red beard. He heaved his large axe and ran towards them as Elmar hit his target with another knockout dart.
Just before the viking berserker could hit them, he fell headfirst on the ground. The two dragged their target towards their historyboomer and as Elmar had thought, the raid gave them enough cover to stay undetected.
With the viking loaded in, the historyboomer left for the present.

'Sir.' The last two warriors have arrived.' Elmar spoke to Fred as his head peaked through the door of the office. 'Good.' Fred nodded. 'Anyone injured?' He asked. 'Only Edward minor wound to his side. Nothing serious this time.' The soldier added. Fred had barely heard the last words as he stared at the security footage, where the two new warriors were locked in their prison cells.
All warriors collected and everything ready to go. As soon as he pushed enter on his computer, the first commercial would go live in all social media platforms. Then, a week from now the first episode would start. The first match where a knight would fight a gladiator. Fred smiled once again as he pushed enter.