.....fog rolls into the town, as the wind whips through the streets. The town is quiet, but inside the arena the masses of spectators excitedly stir in their seats. A robed figure walks to the center of the arena, and takes his hood down, revealing a smiling Slingblade. He produces a small cage, inside it, a raven. Slowly, he raises the cage to the sky, and releases the bird. The games have begun...
LUCRETO vs. STATUS
Status enters the arena, ready for his chance at the Gladiator Title. Shortly after him, comes Lucreto, but not alone. Following closely behind him is an entourage of what appears to be 6 Knights, suited in full plate armor. Lucreto stops, but the Knights continue to space themselves around the arena, blocking the various entrances. The two competitors slowly circle each other. Status raises his sword, and makes a quick advance at the wizard. His sword outstretched, Status lunges forward, nearly impaling the wizard on his blade, and missing by inches. Instinctively, the wizard cocks his hand back. A blue aura consumes his hand and he brings it down hard to the throat of Status. Now holding tight onto the fighter's neck, Status' legs become weak and he falls to his knees, then to his back. Lucreto shows no signs of letting up, as he continues to weaken the downed Status. After minutes of this torture, and with Status not moving an inch, several of the robed arena guards run out to the fray. As they always do, they begin examining the downed man, deciding whether or not to declare the match in favor of Lucreto. Three of them quickly look the situation over, and huddle up, eventually deciding to continue the match. They turn to leave the area, but one holds back. Reaching for his belt, the guard produces a sabre from his under his robe and quickly strikes at the stunned wizard, delivering a deep gash in his chest. The robed guard sheaths his sword, and takes off for the wall of the arena. Immediately, the armored knights of Lucreto spring into action and begin pursuit of the guard. The guard wisely does not attempt to run to one of the exits, but heads for the arena wall instead. With knights on his tail, he jumps for the wall, climbing into the crowd. As he makes it over the railing, his hood is blown back revealing the unmistakeable face of Skorne. In the arena, the Warriors still attempt to get to the fleeing Skorne, as the wizard himself is down, and his spell on Status broken. There is no movement from either competitor for several minutes, until Status begins to stir. He slowly gets to his knees and looks in disbelief at the motionless wizard sprawled in front of him. Taking advantage of this occurence, Status raises his sword and pluges it into the abdomen of the already wounded Lucreto. The REAL guards run out and stop Status from ending the life of the helpless wizard. The match is awarded to Status, and he moves on to the finals.
SKORNE vs. SHINJI
Shinji is already in the arena, but Skorne is nowhere in site. Last anyone had seen of him, he was being chased by Lucreto's guards. Slingblade stands from his position in the crowd, and delivers a message. "If Skorne is not in the arena in 5 minutes, he will be forced to forfeit to Shinji." As the minutes pass, the spectators converse with each other, debating whether or not Skorne will make it. As Slingblade counts the seconds down, an out of breath Skorne stumbles in the entrance. His clothes torn and bleeding from the nose, drags himself into his match. Slingblade stands once again and declares the match officially started. Shinji seizes the moment and rushes the fatigued vampire, stabbing at him with his lance. Skorne mananges to raise his boot, and kick Shinji squarely in his ribs, tossing him to the ground. Skorne stands, and draws his saber. He positions himself over Shinji and thrusts downward, plunging the weapon into Shinji's torso. The vampire firmly holds the blade, pinning a squirming Shinji to the earth. As Skorne applies more pressure, the arena guards run out and stop the match, likely saving Shinji's life. The match and the spot in the finals, is awarded to Skorne.
DEATHMATCH CHAMPIONSHIP ~ LUCRETO vs. SHINJI
Slingblade allows for a break for the competitors who have just fought. After about an hour, Lucreto enters the arena followed by his knights. His face shows disgust with his earlier match, when he was cheated again by Skorne. Shinji, how heavily bandaged about the waste slowly and cautiously enters the arena. Lucreto wastes no time in unleashing a ball of fire, hurtling straight at Shinji. Somehow, Shinji ducks to the side, avoiding the attack. With considerably less speed than he had in his previous match, Shinji dives at Lucreto, taking him to the ground. Shinji begins choking the wizard as hard as he possibly can, until the wizard manages to get his scythe from his robe, and hack into the arm of Shinji. Shinji's grip is now loosened, and Lucreto slips free of his hold. Both still on the ground, Lucreto begins the same spell he used earlier against Status, this time grasping at his opponent's leg. The blue aura seems to drain energy from Shinji, making Lucreto stronger as it goes. Shinji falls into unconsciousness, and the match is awarded to Lucreto, the new DEATHMATCH CHAMPION!!!
GLADIATOR CHAMPIONSHIP ~ SKORNE vs. STATUS
Both competitors are ready to go, ready to become the first ever Gladiator Champion, the highest prize in the land. Status and Skorne are both in the arena now, eyeing each other down. In a fit of rage, both competitors suddenly burst from their positions and charge head-on at the opposition. With their swords raised, they clash raining blow after blow upon each other. Both now beaten and bloody, they stand and stare into each others eyes. With a quick motion. Status dives at the knees of the vampire taking him to the ground. He applies an arm lock on Skorne, and begins wrenching on his shoulder. Neither competitor has his weapon. Skorne is face down in the dirt with Status on his back, pulling with all his might on the shoulder joint. Skorne desperately tries to swing his arm around to get out of the painful hold. After several minutes of torture, Skorne manages to grab a handful of Status' hair, and pull off. Both men now lay in the dirt, trying to get their breath. Status is first to his feet, but instead of going for his weapon, he laces into the Skorne with kicks to the kidneys. He continues 6,7,8 times until Skorne manages to wrap his arm around the leg of Status, and pull him down. Both now laying side-by-side, Skorne stretches his arm, straining to reach his sabre several feet away. He barely reaches with his fingertips, and pulls the sword to him. Seeing Status is still disoriented from being tripped, he brings his sword over his own body, and forces it brutally into the shoulder of Status. Skorne pushes with all his might, before getting back to his feet. He now stands staring down at Status who is desperately trying to remove the blade from his flesh. Skorne, not to let Status regain his composure, picks up Status' sword and places it at the throat of the fighter. Slingblade declares Skorne the winner, and new GLADIATOR CHAMPION!!!
