Chapter 1: A Hidden Purpose * * * * * Another few hours past and it was time for everybody to go to their sleeping quarters and sleep. Venom went to his and saw a small wooden bed with a soft straw mattress with a sheet over it. There was also a small flour sack with more pieces of straw in it. He sat on his bed and set his gym bags on the floor next to it. He pulled off his shirt and threw it into his gym bag. He laid back on his bed and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. Venom woke up and rubbed his eyes. When they adjusted to the light in the room he stood up and stretched. He walked in the bathroom and began to shower. * * * * * When the first match started Venom was sitting next to the ninja who talked him out of fighting. "What's your name anyway?" Venom asked. * * * * * A few matches later Nukum got up and walked off when a group of reptilian creatures walked onto the arena. "There he isss," one of the Raptors said, staring at Venom. Venom flipped the Raptors off, and one of them hissed back. There was a dark red one, who stood there with his teeth beared. Suddenly two men in black robes ran out onto the arena and started to attack the five Raptors. The red one ran off and disappeared into the forest. Three of the five raptors were killed, and the remaining two ran off like cowards. The announcer ran out onto the arena, but the two unknown men ran off. Venom decided to follow to see who they were.
Venom kicked the punching bag as hard as he could, and followed up with a hard punch. "I see you've been working out, Venom," said a familiar voice. Venom turned around to see his brother Scyllus leaning against the entrance to the gym.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go to that tournament and prove to everybody I'm not a weakling," Venom replied, punching the punching bag in repeated blows.
"You can't go to that tournament!" Scyllus yelled. "You'll get yourself killed!"
"Listen, bro, I'm not gonna get killed. I'll come back just fine. Don't tell anyone about this, got it?" Venom asked, grabbing the punching bag and holding it in place.
"All right. But what am I gonna tell mom and dad?" asked Scyllus.
"Just tell them you don't know where I am. I'll think of something when I get back. Just don't worry. Listen, take care of mom and dad while I'm gone. And I promise that I'll come back fine. Got it, bro?" Venom asked and he wrapped an arm around Scyllus's shoulder.
"All right," Scyllus said with a smile.
Venom walked back over to the punching bag and began punching it again. "Listen, I'm leaving tomorrow morning before everybody gets up. I'm gonna take some stuff with me, and I probably won't be back for a couple weeks. So take care of mom and for me," Venom said while beating the punching bag. Scyllus walked out of the room and to his parents' sleeping quarters.
* *The Next Day* *
Venom picked up his gym bags and walked onto the huge ship that came to pick him up. He walked over to a wooden bench and sat down, setting his gym bags on the floor in front of him.
A few hours later the ship stopped at an island. Venom stood up and slung the gym bag strap over his shoulder, and stepped off. The rest of the people on the ship followed a man in a black cloak. Venom ran behind the guide and started following him.
The group stopped at a huge stone temple with the carving a dragon with a circle around it that was engraved above the entrance.
"All right. Everybody can go there own way, but you must stay inside this temple. There will be a wake-up call tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. the first match will start after breakfast," the guide informed, disappearing in a bright flash of light.
"Well I guess we'd better get inside," one of the people said to Venom. Venom turned to the man and began walking inside.
* *The Next Morning* *
When he was done showering, he got out and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked over to his gym bags and opened one up. He pulled out a dark green vest with a black chest guard in the middle and black tights. He pulled the tights on and the vest. He reached into the bag again and pulled out two shin guards, wrist guards, and a mask. He slipped the mask on and then his wrist and shin guards, and then walked into the dining room, where everybody was getting their breakfast. Venom got his breakfast and sat down at a table with three other men. He began eating and one of the men grabbed his carton of milk. "Give that back you son of a bitch," Venom ordered.
"What are you gonna do? Hurt me?" the man said, laughing.
"I'll do more than that, mother fucker," Venom threatened, standing up and pulling two sickle-like talons out his gym bag. He slashed at the man, but his hand was grabbed by a man in an orange ninja suit and no mask. "Let go of me!" Venom commanded, but the ninja didn't let go.
"Don't do it, man. You'll get yourself executed by the guy who set this whole tournament thing up," the ninja informed. Venom pulled his hand away from the ninja and shoved the sickles in his belt.
"You're lucky he stopped you," the man said to Venom.
"No, you're lucky. Because it would've been your funeral," Venom said, laughing. He picked up his bags and walked out of the dining room.
"Nukum. What's yours?" the ninja asked.
"Venom. I came here to hopefully win a few matches and get back alive to my home world," Venom replied. "I'll be back. I have some business to take care of," Venom said, walking onto the sandy arena.
A ninja in red clothing stepped out of a dark tunnel and bowed to Venom. Venom bowed slightly back, and pulled out his raptor talons. "Fight!" the announcer yelled. The ninja who was fighting Venom was called Shrapnel. Shrapnel whipped out a pair of swords and threw an energy wave that hit Venom in the chest. Venom ignored the stinging pains in his chest and charged at Shrapnel, but he awaited with a knee to Venom's stomach. Venom dropped the talons and dropped to a knee. He rolled backwards and hopped to his feet, and tossed a green ball out of his hands. Millions of sharp spikes shot out of it with a loud *shing!*, and the ball struck Shrapnel in the chest, knocking him down. Venom flipped forward, and kicked Shrapnel in the face as he was getting up. Shrapnel blocked it, though, and kicked Venom in the kneecap, knocking him on his back. Shrapnel followed up with two roundhouses that Venom was sent falling to the ground by. He side-flipped and threw another Spike Bomb that hit Shrapnel in the thigh, knocking him back down again.
Shrapnel hopped to his feet and blocked a fury of punches that Venom threw, and foolishly dropped his guard when Venom backed away. Venom took advantage of the moment and uppercut Shrapnel square in the jaw, causing him to walk around in a staggering stance. Venom pulled off his mask and blew a green gas that entered Shrapnel's lungs, He dropped to his knees and his eyes rolled back in his head. Venom picked the dizzied ninja up by the throat and stared deep into the whites of his eyes. "You were a good fighter, ninja. That's why I'm not going to kill you," Venom said, throwing the unconscious corpse to the ground.
"Venom wins. Mercy," the announcer said. Venom sat next to Nukum who stared up at him in amazement.
"Why didn't ya' kill him?" he asked.
"I'm not a cold-blooded killer who goes around killing everyone for some stupid reason. I just wanted to win the match to prove myself as a worthy fighter, not kill every person I fight," Venom replied, walking back onto the arena to pick up his raptor talons. He sat back down next to Nukum and they watched the next match.
Venom found the two robed men in a clearing of the forest. "Why did you attack those Raptors like that?" Venom asked, breathing heavily from running so fast.
"Because they have my wife Sheeta in their Goddamn prisons," one of the men said in a deep voice.
"Who are you anyway?" Venom asked.
"Well you already know who I am," one of the men said, pulling off the hood of the robe. It was Nukum.
"And I'm Thunderblood." the other replied, taking off his hood, too. "We came here to find my wife Sheeta. Those Raptors have her held captive in their prisons. We're trying to get all the information we can about her, but we haven't found any yet."
"Maybe because you're killing every Raptor you find," Venom said.
"Well we can't let every Raptor we find live, now can we?" Thunderblood asked.
"I guess not," Venom said.
"Do you wanna help us look for Sheeta?" Nukum asked.
"Well, uh, I..." Venom stuttered, "I guess but I have to go back home for a while to tell my brother about my match here," Venom replied.
"Well, see ya' around. By the way, what is your name?" Thunderblood asked.
"Venom," Venom replied, walking back to the arena. "See ya', Thunderblood and Nukum," He said as he walked off.
Next Chapter: "The Search for Scyllus"