parallel alterworld continues on...
Gam wakes up and shakes his head to get the cobwebs out. He looks around him and sees that he's in a small cell. Concrete walls. He runs his hands along the walls. Cool, but dry. Steady vibration...
"Must be some machinery about. No door... Hmm."
He notices a speaker embedded in a wall. He walks over to it, but before he gets to it, it sqwaks to life.
"What is your name?"
"They call me Gambit."
"Are you ready to prove yourself worthy?"
"Worthy of what?"
"Your arrival has been prophesied, and you must prove that you are the one."
"And you expect me to do that?"
"Accept the trials."
"And if I don't?"
"You will die."
"Um, guess I'll go with the trials."
"Then let the trials begin."
With the end of that sentence, the light shut out in the cell. It only took a moment for Gam's starlight lenses' nightvision to kick in, and just as they did, the floor opened up and Gam fell through to what appeared to be an arena beneath him.
Unfortunately, a bright set of lights turned on while Gam was falling. His nightvision shut off, but not before it temporarily blinded him. He listened quietly. The hum of machinery... He moved his feet and heard the scrape of tightly compacted sand. Then he heard the sound of something else moving in the sand. It was hard to tell with the large acoustic nature of the arena, but it sounded as if it was coming his way. And then Gam was hit so hard that he flew what he estimated was about twenty feet.
"Dammit!" Gam stood up and shook the cobwebs off again. Then he heard the noise coming towards him again. This time, he stood and as he felt a slight rush of air come towards him, he jumped upward and forward, executed a flip in midair, landed back on the ground in a crouch and ran forward. His vison started to clear, and he could start making out shapes.
And then from behind, he felt something strick his back, and a net sprang around him.
He hit the ground just as his vision cleared.
He rolled over to see what had attacked him.
"A bloody robot! Is that all? I mean come on people, I've fought a damn T-rex!"
A blade emerged from the robots arm and Gam rolled to his right, just as the robot shoved it into the ground where he had laid just a split second earlier. He rolled back, using the blade to cut part of the net. He continued rolling to his left as the robot sprang free. Gam wrenched free from the net and looked around in full for the first time since entering the arena. Junk was all around him. "This just got easier."
The robot turned and started moving towards Gam, and he ran forward to meet it. It moved it's machine arm forward to punch Gam, but he sprang onto it and leapt over the metal monster and made towards a large pile of junk.
Leaping behind it, Gam started taking stock... "Seven feet of steel pipe... This will do, for now." Gam grabbed it and used it to vault over the junk pile, right onto the robot. He rode it like a bull... And like a bull fighter, he got thrown off. Into a wall. And then the machine started shooting at him.
A bullet tore through his left shoulder, and Gam ducked his head just in time to miss a bullet aiming straight for him. He leaned back up and felt something wet behind his head...
"Water? Water..."
Gam put his head back in the same spot, and the robot took another shot in the same spot. The water sprang out a little faster. Gam repeated this process and as the bullet sank into the wall, water gushed out...
"Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!"
The robot rushed at Gam, raising both arms for a downward strike. Gam raised the pipe upward at an angle, and as the robot smashed his arms down, intending to hit Gam, he instead hit the pipe, driving it five feet deep into the ground.
Gam swung himself around the robot's legs, and the robot spun, trying to get a bearing on him, stepping back a few meters. Gam then leapt in front of the pole, as the robot punched forward, striking him, and driving his back into the pole. But, he struck with enough force to bend the pole backwards as well. Just as Gam had planned. The pole was now embedded in the hole in the wall... The water squirted out around the pole, but most of the flow was directed through the pipe into the ground.
Gam sidestepped to his left, and sprang forward, and began running towards the other side of the arena, the robot spun around, and began chasing. Gam reached the far end of the arena, and looked back at the two hundred meters of running room... The robot stopped at the middle of the arena and started firing a variety of weapons at Gam. Bullets, nets, and a variety of other implements. Gam began running back towards the machine and the watery pipe. He sprang over the robot and kept running for the pipe as the robot turned and began chasing him, gaining ground with every step.
Ten feet from the wall, Gam leapt forward, turned mid-air, and sprang off the wall, towards the advancing robot. He slid against the top of the machine as it stomped into the ground and began sinking. Gam jumped onto the robot's back and began jumping up and down, up and down, driving the monster deeper into the quicksand he himself had created... With a little help from the robot. As the robot sank deeper, the water began to seep into the robot, frying the circuits. The robot shut down. Gambit sprang off of the robot and walked to the middle of the arena.
"Trial's over guys." He said, with a slightly cocky air.
A voice boomed into the arena.
"The trial has just begun!"
Three men were dropped into the arena in a similar manner as Gam had been dropped himself. Only they were armed with nightsticks, brass knuckles, and a few knives.
The voice boomed into the arena again, "The last man standing will be the only man to advance to the next challenge."
The three men instantly began fighting among themselves. Gam stepped back, crouching amidst a pile of junk, watching.
"No fighting skill, no discipline to speak of." And Gam was right, the men fought brawl style. No type of education in the discipline of fighting. Chaotic blows, no forethought.
"Easy work."
Gam looked to the junkpile and saw a length of rope.
"Perfect"
Gam tied a quick slipknot into the end of the rope, and coiled it quickly into his right hand. He sprang forward and rushed towards the three men. The first didn't even see him coming. Gam flicked the loop in the slipknot onto the ground, just as the man stepped backwards into it. Gam continued running, tightening the knot around the man's ankle, and dropping him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
The second man, seeing Gam, rushed towards him, but Gam spun around, kicking the man in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards over the man on the ground. Gam turned to the last man, who stood 15 feet from him, knife in hand.
"We don't have to do this, mate." Gam said to the man.
The man responded by throwing the knife directly at Gam. Fortunately, our hero caught the knife midair and threw it back. It hit the man, butt first in the head, knocking him out. The second man started to get up, but Gam tugged the rope, pulling both men back onto the ground. Gam proceeded to bind their hands a feet like clockwork.
"Now is the trial finished??" Gam shouted.
"You must finish them," the voice boomed back, "the rules are that only one man may win by killing the others!"
Gam shook his head, "Those aren't the rules you gave me! You said that the last man standing will be the only man to advance to the next challenge! Well they're not standing, and I don't kill. If you have a problem with that, then screw your challenges, and screw you!" Gam was getting a little frusterated. I mean, come on, wouldn't you?
An opening appeared in the wall of the arena, and David stepped out.
"You have done well, Gambit."
"Thanks, I've been practicing."
"You've been practicing for this? How so?"
"Because I've been practicing for everything and anything. What's the next bloody challenge?"
"The final challenge. Defeat me in unarmed combat."
And with that, David leapt forward with the grace of Ripper combined with a ballerina. But Gam had fought and defeated both Ripper and a ballerina, so he wasn't impressed.
David launched a flurry attack, but Gam smoothly stepped to his left and swung an unusually powerful right hook. David dropped like a... Like something that drops hard and fast.
"A little something one of my friends used to knock me around with. I'm the only one who could ever stay standing after one of those."
A group of people started walking out of the opening in the arena wall. Gam, gulped. He was getting tired and doubted he could take them all. Besides, some of them were women and children. Despite having been beat around by Autumn and a few other women, he never did like hitting women... And children, he simply couldn't bring himself to strike.
But then they threw themselves on the ground, bowing to him... David awoke, and kneeled at Gam's feet. Gam watched as the arena filled with people, all bowing before him.
Gam wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked at his dirty tattered clothing. He looked back around at the people bowing at his feet.
"Woah"
"Must be some machinery about. No door... Hmm."
He notices a speaker embedded in a wall. He walks over to it, but before he gets to it, it sqwaks to life.
"What is your name?"
"They call me Gambit."
"Are you ready to prove yourself worthy?"
"Worthy of what?"
"Your arrival has been prophesied, and you must prove that you are the one."
"And you expect me to do that?"
"Accept the trials."
"And if I don't?"
"You will die."
"Um, guess I'll go with the trials."
"Then let the trials begin."
With the end of that sentence, the light shut out in the cell. It only took a moment for Gam's starlight lenses' nightvision to kick in, and just as they did, the floor opened up and Gam fell through to what appeared to be an arena beneath him.
Unfortunately, a bright set of lights turned on while Gam was falling. His nightvision shut off, but not before it temporarily blinded him. He listened quietly. The hum of machinery... He moved his feet and heard the scrape of tightly compacted sand. Then he heard the sound of something else moving in the sand. It was hard to tell with the large acoustic nature of the arena, but it sounded as if it was coming his way. And then Gam was hit so hard that he flew what he estimated was about twenty feet.
"Dammit!" Gam stood up and shook the cobwebs off again. Then he heard the noise coming towards him again. This time, he stood and as he felt a slight rush of air come towards him, he jumped upward and forward, executed a flip in midair, landed back on the ground in a crouch and ran forward. His vison started to clear, and he could start making out shapes.
And then from behind, he felt something strick his back, and a net sprang around him.
He hit the ground just as his vision cleared.
He rolled over to see what had attacked him.
"A bloody robot! Is that all? I mean come on people, I've fought a damn T-rex!"
A blade emerged from the robots arm and Gam rolled to his right, just as the robot shoved it into the ground where he had laid just a split second earlier. He rolled back, using the blade to cut part of the net. He continued rolling to his left as the robot sprang free. Gam wrenched free from the net and looked around in full for the first time since entering the arena. Junk was all around him. "This just got easier."
The robot turned and started moving towards Gam, and he ran forward to meet it. It moved it's machine arm forward to punch Gam, but he sprang onto it and leapt over the metal monster and made towards a large pile of junk.
Leaping behind it, Gam started taking stock... "Seven feet of steel pipe... This will do, for now." Gam grabbed it and used it to vault over the junk pile, right onto the robot. He rode it like a bull... And like a bull fighter, he got thrown off. Into a wall. And then the machine started shooting at him.
A bullet tore through his left shoulder, and Gam ducked his head just in time to miss a bullet aiming straight for him. He leaned back up and felt something wet behind his head...
"Water? Water..."
Gam put his head back in the same spot, and the robot took another shot in the same spot. The water sprang out a little faster. Gam repeated this process and as the bullet sank into the wall, water gushed out...
"Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!"
The robot rushed at Gam, raising both arms for a downward strike. Gam raised the pipe upward at an angle, and as the robot smashed his arms down, intending to hit Gam, he instead hit the pipe, driving it five feet deep into the ground.
Gam swung himself around the robot's legs, and the robot spun, trying to get a bearing on him, stepping back a few meters. Gam then leapt in front of the pole, as the robot punched forward, striking him, and driving his back into the pole. But, he struck with enough force to bend the pole backwards as well. Just as Gam had planned. The pole was now embedded in the hole in the wall... The water squirted out around the pole, but most of the flow was directed through the pipe into the ground.
Gam sidestepped to his left, and sprang forward, and began running towards the other side of the arena, the robot spun around, and began chasing. Gam reached the far end of the arena, and looked back at the two hundred meters of running room... The robot stopped at the middle of the arena and started firing a variety of weapons at Gam. Bullets, nets, and a variety of other implements. Gam began running back towards the machine and the watery pipe. He sprang over the robot and kept running for the pipe as the robot turned and began chasing him, gaining ground with every step.
Ten feet from the wall, Gam leapt forward, turned mid-air, and sprang off the wall, towards the advancing robot. He slid against the top of the machine as it stomped into the ground and began sinking. Gam jumped onto the robot's back and began jumping up and down, up and down, driving the monster deeper into the quicksand he himself had created... With a little help from the robot. As the robot sank deeper, the water began to seep into the robot, frying the circuits. The robot shut down. Gambit sprang off of the robot and walked to the middle of the arena.
"Trial's over guys." He said, with a slightly cocky air.
A voice boomed into the arena.
"The trial has just begun!"
Three men were dropped into the arena in a similar manner as Gam had been dropped himself. Only they were armed with nightsticks, brass knuckles, and a few knives.
The voice boomed into the arena again, "The last man standing will be the only man to advance to the next challenge."
The three men instantly began fighting among themselves. Gam stepped back, crouching amidst a pile of junk, watching.
"No fighting skill, no discipline to speak of." And Gam was right, the men fought brawl style. No type of education in the discipline of fighting. Chaotic blows, no forethought.
"Easy work."
Gam looked to the junkpile and saw a length of rope.
"Perfect"
Gam tied a quick slipknot into the end of the rope, and coiled it quickly into his right hand. He sprang forward and rushed towards the three men. The first didn't even see him coming. Gam flicked the loop in the slipknot onto the ground, just as the man stepped backwards into it. Gam continued running, tightening the knot around the man's ankle, and dropping him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
The second man, seeing Gam, rushed towards him, but Gam spun around, kicking the man in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards over the man on the ground. Gam turned to the last man, who stood 15 feet from him, knife in hand.
"We don't have to do this, mate." Gam said to the man.
The man responded by throwing the knife directly at Gam. Fortunately, our hero caught the knife midair and threw it back. It hit the man, butt first in the head, knocking him out. The second man started to get up, but Gam tugged the rope, pulling both men back onto the ground. Gam proceeded to bind their hands a feet like clockwork.
"Now is the trial finished??" Gam shouted.
"You must finish them," the voice boomed back, "the rules are that only one man may win by killing the others!"
Gam shook his head, "Those aren't the rules you gave me! You said that the last man standing will be the only man to advance to the next challenge! Well they're not standing, and I don't kill. If you have a problem with that, then screw your challenges, and screw you!" Gam was getting a little frusterated. I mean, come on, wouldn't you?
An opening appeared in the wall of the arena, and David stepped out.
"You have done well, Gambit."
"Thanks, I've been practicing."
"You've been practicing for this? How so?"
"Because I've been practicing for everything and anything. What's the next bloody challenge?"
"The final challenge. Defeat me in unarmed combat."
And with that, David leapt forward with the grace of Ripper combined with a ballerina. But Gam had fought and defeated both Ripper and a ballerina, so he wasn't impressed.
David launched a flurry attack, but Gam smoothly stepped to his left and swung an unusually powerful right hook. David dropped like a... Like something that drops hard and fast.
"A little something one of my friends used to knock me around with. I'm the only one who could ever stay standing after one of those."
A group of people started walking out of the opening in the arena wall. Gam, gulped. He was getting tired and doubted he could take them all. Besides, some of them were women and children. Despite having been beat around by Autumn and a few other women, he never did like hitting women... And children, he simply couldn't bring himself to strike.
But then they threw themselves on the ground, bowing to him... David awoke, and kneeled at Gam's feet. Gam watched as the arena filled with people, all bowing before him.
Gam wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked at his dirty tattered clothing. He looked back around at the people bowing at his feet.
"Woah"