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.'