The arena, Chapter 12: Last warrior standing

Fred looked around the room. Several people stared back at him. They would all be wondering what he called them in for, even Atthe did not know.
'Ladies and gentlemen' Fred started. 'I have been thinking how to make this even more entertaining, and considering battle royales are all the rage at the moment, how about one last battle between the four last fighters.' 'How do you mean?' Atthe was surprised that she had not been consulted by her husband. 'Well, instead of two more battles between two warriors, one last battle. All four in one arena.' Fred smiled. He knew it would be a succes. 'That will actually surprise a lot of people and makes it harder to predict a winner as so far, people assume the finale will be the Viking versus the Monk.' Omar spoke. It did not take much to convince the others to this completely different approach and finally Atthe agreed as well.

'Welcome to this very special and very last episode of the Arena.' Seth spoke. The whole day, episodes of the arena had been running after each other, together with some top tens. Now it was time for the very last episode, where the final four would fight to the death.
'One last fight in the arena to decide who is the last warrior standing will soon be up, but first let us see which four warriors made it this big finale.' Seth added.

A clip of the viking appeared on screen as Seth spoke. 'The viking is the first one who we will see tonight. His weapons and strengt has overpowered all his opponents so far and he seems unstoppable. Will his shield provide enough defence or will the big viking finally fall?'

Next came the Azande. 'This African warrior has some weird weapons that proved very lethal against any opponent facing them. Will his weapon see him become the winner or will his verocity and his weapons not help him any more.'

'Then we have the Maharlika. I think that nobody expected him to rise up like he did. Will this warrior continue his streak or be outclassed.

'Finally we have the monk. He has been killed and lost one match but you guys voted him back and he came back with a vengeance. He showed why you voted him back. Will he be the victor or will he be killed once again.'

Seth appeared again. 'With the four warriors introduced, it is time for them to fight and see who will be the final victor of the Arena.' 

The four warriors walked into the arena, each walked through a seperate door.

Afolabi walked up the small hill. From what he understood, this was the last battle. He only needed to beat three other warriors and the Azande could go home to his village. For this last battle, he relied on his three weapons that had brought the man victory already. The kpinga, makraka and makrigga. Afolabi knew that he would emerge the victor.
Looking for his opponents, the black man continued on up the hill and past a small cave when he spotted something orange from afar. Realising that one of his opponents was coming towards him, the man smiled and hid in the cave.
As the opponent came near, he saw a small bald man in a orange dress walking. The odd man was holding a strange spear that looked too heavy to be useful.
As the man walked past the cave, Afolabi struck. Holding his makraka, the man leaped from the shadows and slashed towards the neck of his opponent, who moved fast and only the shoulder got slashed.
The Shaolin monk flinched from the pain and then moved to make distance. This was his second fight but the man already was forced to fight three other warriors. He had chosen a butterfly knife, rope dart and spade to win and get home.
Shinji slashed at his opponent with his spade, making a small gash on the chest of the black man, who retreated back into the cave.
The monk followed and saw how the Azande grabbed his makrigga. He then tried to impale the monk, who pushed the weapon away with his own and came down with a slash from above. The Azande stepped back and as the spade hit air, the Shaolin pushed it and hit the chest. This however only pushed the African warrior away.
The two moved in a circle as both attempted to get past the weapon of the opponent. Suddenly Afolabi moved away and grabbed his kpinga. He knew that he would have great difficulty fighting this little man now so he needed to get away and wait for another chance. The Azande threw his kpinga and ran.
Shinji stepped aside and held his spade between himself and this ranged weapon. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other man flee.

Einar howled as he looked at his opponent. He was holding a battle axe and shield but also carried a seax with him. His opponent was a brown man, one that the viking had never seen before. The two warriors stood on a grassy field, in a big circle of large stones, all standing upright. 'YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.' Einar yelled.

Narding eyed his opponent. He was holding his blowdart but also carried his kampilan and stingrai whip.
The big man with his furs would not stand a chance against the Filipino warrior. Both were commited and confident that they would seize victory.
Narding started off with his blowpipe and spew a dart towards the viking, who used his shield to block the attack and close the distance. A smack of the round shield forced the blowpipe out the hands of the Filipino. Next came the slash of the axe, which hit air as Narding moved away. Now armed with his kampilan, the warrior slashed, only to have his attacks blocked by the shield and Einar moved in, slashing the chest of his opponent. Narding stumbled back and Einar used this to take his seax and drive it in the stomach of his opponent.
The viking tried to grab his axe from the ground but as he reached for the weapon, his opponent attacked with some sort of whip, The stingrai whip hit the axe and the norseman stepped out of range.

The two stood there for a short while. Any attack of the whip got blocked by the shield but if Einar tried to extend and grab his axe, he risked exposing himself. However the viking also knew that it was just time before his opponent would bleed out and die.
A sharp pain exploded in the back of the viking, he turned around and saw a bloody spear come out of him. A black warrior was holding the spear and now thrusted it in the stomach of Einar. The viking stepped back but tripped and fell. He did manage to block the next thrust with his shield but never saw the sword of his other opponent coming. Einar almost got decapitated by the kampilan.
This last attack had taken too much out of Narding and with eyes closed, the Filipino died of bloodloss.

Afolabi looked at the two dead men and poked them, just to be sure that they were actually dead. He then moved on.

Shinji had not seen another opponent after his first run-in but the monk was on alert.
As he kept on strolling over the terrain, the monk suddenly saw the same opponent he had faced earlier walking up a bridge. Shinji followed and as soon as the Azande saw who was behind him started running. A small chase ensued and as they reached a large flower garden, the monk took his rope dart and let the dart fly towards his target. It ensnared the leg of the tribal warrior and brought him down.  Shinji came near as the other man used his knife to cut himself free.
Afolabi then jumped up and attacked with his own knife, only for the attack to be parried by the butterfly knife.
Shinji spun around and as he spun, grabbed the spade. The Shaolin then used the flat of the spade to slam the makraka out of the hand of his opponent and another slam was aimed at the head but missed.
Afolabi grabbed his makrigga and and faked a thrust. Just as his opponent blocked an attack that never came, the Azande thrusted for real. The monk was just able to block the attack and Afolabi jumped at him. The African warrior figured he could overpower his opponent and at first it worked. Both weapons fell in the dirt as he grabbed the arms of his opponent.
Afolabi grinned as he bared his teeth but the grin quickly faded away as Shinji pushed his hands up and then arms down, releasing the grip. A quick punch to the throat was followed with the sweeping of the leg of his opponent.
Afolabi jumped up again and towards Shinji, who turned the graple in a throw and threw his opponent on the ground.
Afolabi was angry, this little man was beating him. This way he could never get home. His hand found the makraka and he slashed the leg of the monk.
Before he could get up again and kill the small man, a strike that broke his collar bone forced the man to drop his weapon. He then felt two hands around his neck and before the man knew what was happening, a loud crack was heard and Afolabi dropped dead on the ground. Shinji had broken the neck of his opponent. I should give him a burial as he fought well, the monk thought as he looked at the body before him. The monk first needed to see if he could find the other warriors. It was at this moment that the arena turned back into a big room. As men approached him, the monk saw two dead bodies lying on the ground.

The Arena, chapter 11: An Eastern showdown

Fred looked at the ratings. The fans really enjoyed both of last week's fights. Almost everybody was rooting for the Azande in the first fight and it was a deserved victory. Some even called it a deserved irony.
The second fight was well recieved as well and the fans speculated how much the poison in the end played a role in the last part of the fight. All the fans agreed that it had been a hard and tough battle and altough the killing blow came from a rock, it was still very entertaining.

'How are things going Ali?' Fred asked the man in charge of social media. 'Good.' Came the answer. 'People are happy with the ninja versus Shaolin match and the fans are divided on who will win. Currentntly however, the ninja has a slight advantage over his opponent.

Hiroki was finally allowed to fight again. Altough an assasin by trade, he still knew his way around a battle and he had been trained in the use of several weapons. His first fight here proved his skill.
From the table with weapons, the ninja had picked some shuriken, a black egg, two kama and a katana. He hoped not to have to use the katana and that his diguise as farmer would allow the man to sneak up to his opponent and finish him off without a fight.

The young man looked around the small village. It had a couple of huts and lines of bamboo. He hit the sword in a hut and stood next to the bamboo, waiting for his prey.

'Welcome everybody. Tonight we have an Eastern showdown as the ninja fights the Shaolin Monk.'
Seth started. 'Who will win, the sneaky ninja or the the calm monk.' Seth smiled to the camera.
A video started, which showed the battle between the ninja and Gladiator and finished with the ninja impaling the chest of his opponent.
Then Seth appeared again. 'This is were we usually show the Shaolin monk winning but he lost his match....' Seth looked a little sad and then happy again. 'But... you voted for him to get another chance so he is back. Without further talking, let us go to the battle.'


Shinji walked through the village. He has been taken from his home and now he was forced to fight to survive and to be able to be send home. The Shaolin loved a good fight. He had mastered multiple weapons but his favorite was hand to hand combat. He liked to keep it simple and that always showed with the weapons he chose to use.
On the table lay all the different weapons that Shaolin used but for his first fight, the monk had kept it simple. He had picked the single headed Meteor Hammer and a Bo staff.  His eyes did glance past a butterfly knife but the Shaolin had decided that these weapons would help him claim this victory.

As Shinji walked around, he was greeted by a peasant cutting some bamboo. The odd thing was, that this peasant was the only person Shinji had come across. This could only mean that this was his opponent. As the Shaolin walked past, he kept an eye on the peasant.

This was the moment, Hiroki thought as he walked up to the back of his opponent. His two Kama swung at the neck of the opponent, but only hit air as the target had moved away with a surprsing speed and now counter attacked using his staff. The staff moved to the legs of the ninja, who jumped away and then had to avoid a blow to the head.
The Ninja retreated for a split second and then took out two of his shuriken. he threw them in succesion and one hit the shoulder of his target while the other hit the stomach, However the ninja was already moving again and slashed his two weapons at the opponent. One of the kama managed to hit the other shoulder of the Shaolin, who now created distance and blocked any other attacks.
The staff then sweeped the feet of the ninja, who fell on the ground. As he jumped up, a blow hit his head directly.
Hiroki now took out his black egg. This would blind the opponent enough to finish the job, but as he threw it, the staff came at him and hit the egg. It shattered and hit neither warrior.
The Ninja however was on the move again and attacked with both kama.
The first Kama got knocked out of his hand while the other punctured the staff. The two struggled for a bit, before both weapons ended on the ground.

Two quick punched of the ninja got blocked and as he tried to kick, the Shaolin grabbed his foot and threw the other man away.
Now Shinji moved as he attempted to finish the fight with one strike. This attack missed as the ninja rolled away. During the roll, the man had scooped up some dirt and as the Shaolin came into range again, he threw it in the eyes of his opponent.

Shinji wiped the dirt away. He already knew he was dealing with a coward here but throwing dirt..
Now the opponent was no where to be seen. Hiding probably.
Slowly, the Shaolin walked from house to house, peering inside when suddenly someone moved from atop the house he had just peeked in.
The Shaolin had barely avoided the blade of a sword and as the ninja was recovering, he stepped back to take the Meteor hammer. The hard egg swung at the opponent but missed target. The ninja came in again, but this time Shinji aimed for the legs. the weapon wrapped itself around the legs of the ninja and as the warrior pulled, Hiroki ended on the ground. Before the monk could take advantage of it, his opponent was moving again.

The ninja closed the distance and slashed at his opponent. However the Shaolin used the chain of his weapon to block all incoming attacks. He then wrapped the ball around the arms and weapon of the opponent and threw him away. The ninja rolled as he was thrown on the ground. The warrior stood up, made a feint and as the Shaolin blocked, the ninja kicked the other man in the stomach. This attacked got followed by another cut of the sword, which missed as the Shaolin had dropped his weapon and now blocked the sword by the hilt.

Hiroki punched his opponent in the face and followed with a knee in the groin. Before he could get free and finish the job, he recieved three fingers in the solar plexus, that made him buckle. The Shaolin then smashed his knee in the face of his opponent and heard the nose shatter. A kick to the face followed.

Both warriors knew that they had to finish their opponents off quickly, would they have a chance to win this fight.
Shinji looked at the two Kama, disgarded on the ground and as his opponent was recovering from the blows, he grabbed the weapons. The monk was familiar with sickles and knew how to use them in battle.

The next attack came and in an instant, it was over. Hiroki attempted a slash but his opponent stepped away and sliced  the hand of his opponent. Following that, the monk stepped in and sliced the throat of the ninja as he tried to move away.
As the ninja fell on the ground, the Shaolin put his hands together and prayed for the warrior he had just slain.

'There you have it people.' Seth spoke. 'The Shaolin has beaten the ninja with his own weapon. He made use of his second chance and now is in the semi finales, joining the Viking, Azande and Maharlika.' Which of these four will become the ultimate warrior. We will know which two will not be it as next week is a special episode.' Seth added. 'a whole night of fighting as we will do both fights in the third round next week. Be prepared of a whole evening full with the Arena next week.' With that, commercials hit the air.

The Arena. Chapter 10: Double trouble.

The first fight of the second round had been populair and everybody agreed that the Viking had deserved to win.
Fred had been afraid after this slaughter, fearing that people expected a more even fight in the second round, but on all the boards people agreed that the Hawaiian Koa was just not good enough to survive in the second round and that all the other warriors would have destroyed him as well.
People also responded well to the announcement that the Shaolin Monk had been chosen as wild card.
 Altough there were a lot of voices that complained that the Zulu had deserved the spot more, most were happy with the Shaolin considering the epic fight. Everybody also wished for a rematch between the Viking and Shaolin Monk to see who would win in a second battle. All kinds of fora ran wild with theories how the monk could make a come back. 

'Everything is looking positive again.' Atthe smiled to Fred. She knew he had been worried a lot lately about the island and the show but the last two episodes were succeeding and had brought back a lot of viewers.
With round two starting solid and the Warrior station having a good viewership, the plans were going fruitfull.
The man simply nodded. He was wondering what would happen if the Peltast won again with a dirty trick and how he could stop it without it being obvious.
The fans were decided. They wanted the peltast to lose and get destroyed by the Azande.

The day of the fight, Fred was nervous. He was still looking for ways to rig the fight but could not think of any.

'This is going to be a fight to remember.' Seth started off. Will this be a repeat of the last fight the peltast had or will he bite the dust this time? It's the battle you guys have been waiting for... It is the Greek peltast versus the Azande warrior.' The young man smiled a smile from ear to ear.
'Before we continue on with these two incredible warrior, let us first take a look at how they got here.'

A clip was shown of the Azande warrior fighting the Apache. It ended with the death of the latter and a victorious man over the native body. 

Then a clip was shown of the Greek Pelt as running from his African opponent. This clip too, ended with the death of the Zulu. 

'Now we all remember who are fighting this round, it is time to go into the battle.' Seth yelled in the camera again. 

'It is Azande versus the Greek Peltast.'

Afolabi stepped on the grassy plain. Once again he had to fight, probably a strong opponent. Again armed with the kpinga, makrigga and makraka. He kept it simple yet effective. This worked well the first time and Afolabi was sure that it would work a second time as well. 

Alexis had not taken a sword this time. Only 6 javelins and a wicker shield. His last tactic worked like a charm the Greek was about to win his second match the exact same way. Throwing javelins and running away. 

The two warriors looked at each other for a moment. Then the match was on. Alexis moved first by throwing a javelin and as soon as he had thrown it, the man started running away. 

Afolabi saw the small spear coming and stepped aside as he ran forwards. Even if he had not stepped aside, the weapon would never have hit him. As he saw the other man turn and run, the tribal warrior threw his own danger weapon. The kpinga soared through the air and as the peltast looked back to see of his opponent followed, he only saw the metal knifes heading for his legs. Alexis tried to jump but failed and the kpinga took one leg completely off. 

The Greek fell on the ground, howling in pain as the black man walked towards him, holding a Cresent shaped knife. 

Alexis tried to stand up as he grabbed another javelin to defend himself. 

The Azande grabbed the small spear with his free hand as he delivered a crushing kick to the ribs of his opponent. Alexis pushed himself on his stomach as he tried to get away but this way he never saw the knife cutting in the back of his neck. A second later, the Greek head rolled on the bloodstained grass. 

'That was quick.' Fred spoke as he looked at the decapitated head. He had hoped that the Azande would win but not this fast. 'Who is next on the schedule?' he asked. 'The Aztec Jaguar versus the Maharlika.' Atthe spoke. 

'People are loving it. A fitting revenge.' Someone yelled. This gave Fred some hope. 'Okay send in the next two warriors.'

'Welcome back from the break.' Seth grinned. 'It was a short but awesome battle if i say so myself.' He added. 'Ofcourse we do not let you hanging and have another amazing match for you all.
 'You have seen a deserved victory in a very short fight before the break. Now you will see what happens when a warrior from South America meets a Filipino.' Seth added. 'You will now watch the Aztec Jaguar versus the Maharlika.'
With that said, a replay of the finish of the last two battles played out/

'You all now remember how the last battles of either warrior played out, now let us see what weapons they will use this match and more importantly, which one will be the fatal one.'

A grassy field appeared on the tv screens of people at home.
Then the two warriors appeared. As soon as they saw each other, they went off. The aztec took a rock and slung it at his opponent, then started running. He jumped over a small wall and ran towards a large oak tree. The Marharlika followed him but just as he was about to jump over the walll, a rock flew towards him. The warrior was barely able to duck behind the wall and avoid getting smashed in. The warrior used this moment to fill his blowgun with a dart and shot it at his opponent. The dart missed and hit the tree but this did give the Filipino the chance to jump over the wall and run towards his opponent, who was waiting holding his macuahuitl.

The Filipino warrior drew his own sword and avoided a strike from his opponent. He then countered and slashed, but got his slash blocked and the wooden stick flew at him. Stepping back just in time, the weapon hit the tree and several pieces of obsidian shattered on impact. Feeling he was safe, the Maharlika stepped in again, only for his shoulder to get teared as the other side of the macuahuitl hit him.

The two dueled with their sword and either attacked, blocked or avoided the blow of the man. By then, there was no obisdian left on the blade and the macuahuitl was only a large wooden club.
However the club was wielded greatly and had several times pushed the sword away, two of these attacks had hit the opponent.
Knowing he was not able to hold this out much longer, the Filipino warrior switched to to his stingrai whip and managed to keep the other fighter at a distance.
Now coming close was a lot harder for the Aztec as he had to avoid the whip every single time he attemped to get close.

The two looked at each other, when the Jaguar feignt an attack and dropped his weapon to jump on the Filipino. The two struggled for a bit before the warrior from the Filipines managed to throw of his attacker, who started running towards a cliff. The other followed and saw how the animal clad warrior pulled out a knife. The knife struck the chest of the Maharlika just as he rammed his opponent off the cliff. Both of them fell in a small pool of water, where neither one moved.

The camera hovered over both bodies, when the Jaguar slowly rose. His knife was nowhere to be found but his opponent was in front of him, who was trying to stand up as well. Before the other warrior could stand up, the Jaguar grabbed him by the back of the head and pushed the head of his opponent in the water. The two struggled for a bit as the Filipino tried to grasp for air. As his hands moved around, the man found a large rock. First, he smashed the rock into the knee of his opponent, who let go of the Maharlika. The Filipino then smashed the rock in the face of his opponent and kept smashing as blood flew everywhere. When he was done, there was nothing left of the face of his opponent.

'That was a rocky fight.' Seth joked. 'But with this gruesome death, the Maharlika finds its way to the next round.

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.