Gods of Arena

Kang put the bracelet on his thin wrist and it stuck firmly. 'How would Jin even wear this?', he thought... but the bracelet was a lot wider when he picked. There was no way anyone would think it would fit on Kang's wrist? The bracelet seemed to have adjusted itself.

"Fuck! Kang. You need to start working on yourself", he said to himself, looking in the mirror. He turned his face and his eyes met with his new roommate's. For a second, he had forgotten the new roommate he just got. "It's a nice bracelet you got there", his roommate said and raised his back.

"Good morning to you too", Kang said and took the bracelet off his wrist, keeping it in his pocket. "My name is Kang. You?"

"Dave", he replied. "Let me see that bracelet"

"Uh", Kang muttered, reluctantly. "I can't give it to you. It's not mine"

"Well, I don't care who owns it. Give it to me. I want to see it"

Kang glared back for a moment. "You clearly don't know how things work over here, do you?", Kang said, threateningly. "Ignore my body size, Dave. You won't be getting off easily, if we get in a fight"

Kang walked to his bed and picked a bottle of water by the side. He walked slowly and confidently to the door and walked out. He headed straight to the gym.

"Hey, Kang", Frank greeted, walking up to him. "I checked you in your room. Who's the new guy?"

"That's my new roommate. Jin is not coming back"

"Why? Is he dead?"

"No. They let him out of the Arena. The Larger Figure said we can also get free if we get to that point", Kang said walking towards the dumbbells. "Now, I'm going to work my ass off till my Shin Zhu finds it's way out" ****

"Hey, you. Where's the bathroom?", Dave asked, as he stepped out of the room.

Romeo looked at him for a few seconds, with a blank carefree expression, and turned, pulling the door open.

"I am talking to you, dummy", Dave said, stepping closer to him. "Are you deaf?"

Romeo looked at him again and walked into the room. Dave rushed after him and reached for Romeo's cloth. Romeo slammed the door twice on his arm. "Oh, sorry", Romeo said, as Dave held his arm, groaning. "I didn't know you were coming... Also, don't pee in my doorstep"

"Fuck you!", Dave gritted and got up quickly, as Romeo slammed the door. "You want it. Then you'll get it"

He pulled down his pants and peed all over the door.

"What the fuck are you doing?!", a low-tier shouted, walking by. "Fuck! I just saw a man's pee-thing"

Soldiers rushed out of the passage with guns pointed at Dave. Dave's smile faded quickly, as he bent and pulled down his pants. He raised his hands and put them behind his head, kneeling down in submission. The soldiers walked to him and cuffed his two hands, pulling him roughly with them, as they rushed back out through the passage.

Romeo opened the door, a few seconds later. The low-tier was still there, staring with horror all over his face. "Where is he?"

"The soldiers took him away".

****

He was taken back to where he was brought from and tied to a chair. "Hey, uh, what's your name again?"

"Dave", he replied, as the man in front of him pointed a torch in his eyes. "Stop pointing that, Will you?"

"What are you going to do about it?", the man asked.

The door opened and another man walked in. "Kwei! What's up?", the man said, walking in quickly. "Who's this?"

"Good morning, Fred. This is my new mid-tier", Kwei replied, glaring at Dave.

"What did he do?"

"I checked the cams, some minutes ago, and I caught him peeing on the door", Kwei said with disgust. "Who the fuck does that?"

"Well, you created him. We should ask you what you put in his head", Fred said, chuckling, and sat down.

"So, uh... what are you going to do to me now?", Dave asked.

"There's a long list of what I can do to you", Kwei said, dramatically. "I am going to say it out to you before I pick the one that comes to my mind"

Dave stared back, confusedly. One part of his expression showed he was scared, the other showed he believed the whole show to be ridiculous. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again"

"Yea, I know that. That's why I'm going to do what I'm going to do so I am sure you won't do it again", Kwei said and sat down. "I can put you in the disposer. You know what that is?" "No? What's it?"

Fred chuckled. "You have the guts to ask questions, boldly?", he said, dramatically. "Do that again and you'll be getting something worse than the disposer"

"Uh... sorry?"

"Good!", Kwei said, loudly, playing along. He stood up and whispered in Fred's ears. "What was that about?"

"Just keep the fear growing in him. That's how it works"

Kwei smiled. “Right. But there really isn't anything worse than the disposer"

"He doesn't even know what the disposer is yet"

Kwei walked up to Dave, frowning. "So the disposer is an oven. We will put you in an oven and we set the place on fire. It's soundproof so your noise doesn't disturb us"

Fred leaned closer and whispered. "Actually, the last fighter I put in the fire. I swear he farted in there and I heard in my sleep"

Dave laughed. "Shut up!", Kwei howled at him.

"How dare you listen when I'm whispering?!"

"I didn't know. I'm sorry", Dave replied.

"You better be sorry 'cause we can put you in the oven and I'll just do what I did to the next fighter I put in the disposer"

"Tell him what you did, Fred", Kwei said.

"I shoved a cucumber up his ass", Fred said, proudly. "If he tried to fart, I'm pretty sure he exploded in there"

Dave stared with an horrified expression on his face. It was working on him. Kwei leaned closer to Fred and whispered. "You didn't do that, did you?"

"Yea, we can't do that", Fred whispered back. "We don't even have cucumbers"

"Back to the list of punishments, we've already mentioned throwing you in the disposer with a cucumber up your ass. We can also put a gun to your head, right now", Kwei said, pointing a gun at his head. "That one is not really cool, right?" Dave shook his head, already sweating. "Please, I won't do it again"

"Or we can drill three holes in your head... then we will spare you but you become an Idiot"

"Tell him what kind of idiot he'll become", Fred said.

"Yea. You definitely won't be able to pee on people's doors again. You only come to your senses when you are on the arena-"

"Please", Dave pleaded. "I swear I will stay in my room. I promise"

"You swear and you promise. We don't even know which one is legit", Fred said, faking a worried look.

"Yea", Kwei replied, playing along. "Don't you think we should just end this so you don't have to stress yourself trying to keep a promise?"a

"A promise and a swear!", Fred exaggerated, loudly. "Even I can't do those two things at the same time"

"Please", Dave said, helplessly, almost crying.

Kwei and Fred looked at each other and burst into laughter.

****

Kang ate his food in peace. Frank was absent and he didn't bother looking around for him. Rather, he was glad. He wasn't used to sitting with anyone at lunch except Jin. He felt refreshed, after the long hardcore workout at the gym and the cold shower that came after it. The feeling was pretty different, like he had nothing more to worry about.... Not even the eyes that glared at him. He didn't even bother thinking of Jae or looking at him at all.

A soldier walked out of the passage, pulling everyone's attention immediately. They grunted loudly in annoyance, expecting the girl to walk out. Kang smiled at the passage, genuinely wishing it was the girl. She had smiled at him, the last time she came around. That meant a lot to him. Besides, he really didn't have anything to lose yet. He was still too lean to be picked for Ana's bosses.

Another soldier walked in, pulling a fighter after him. It wasn't Ana. It was just the soldiers bringing Dave back. Kang clearly heard the sighs of relief from everyone. That was the last person he wanted to see at the moment. He stared at the golden cuffs for a few seconds and looked away. The soldiers removed the cuffs from his hands and he walked straight to the kitchen to get his food. He carried his tray, gently, heading towards Kang who kept his eyes away, glaring at his plate. He stumbled on Jae's foot, almost pouring the tray away. Jae and his friends laughed at him and he only glared back. He looked up at the ceilings. There was a camera hiding somewhere and smashing someone's face into the wall can be an offence. He turned and walked to the table. "This place is filled with a bunch of motherfuckers"

"Were you so hungry you couldn't punch him in the face?", Kang asked. "Or you were just scared of him?"

"I'm not scared of him", he replied and started eating. "I know there's a camera somewhere watching us. If I slam his face into the wall, I'm sure they'll pick me up again and probably throw me into the disposer"

"To be honest, I was hoping they'd throw you into the disposer... At least, I can get a new roommate who will probably be humble and wearing a cool face"

"Well, I'm glad you just lost hope. I'm not letting some idiot shove a cucumber up my ass while I burn"

"Why would you pee on a person's door?", Kang asked, boldly. "Out of all people, you chose to pee on Romeo's door"

"Fuck him! I will best him in a fight", Dave replied, confidently, as his eyes fell on Kang's wrist again. Kang covered the bracelet properly. He shouldn't even be wearing it around. "What is that thing?"

"It's Jin's property. Not your business", Kang replied and kept eating.

Dave stared at him, thinking back. When one of the Larger Figures at the lab pointed a gun at him, he was pretty sure he saw a similar bracelet. The perfect fit, the color, and the thin opening; it was all the same. "Where do you think he got that?", Dave asked, and tried to pull his wrist.

Kang pulled his hand back, quickly. "Stay back", he said and stood up. "It's not your business"

****

Everyone moved upstairs, quickly, as the time counted. There was going to be another spin and they were strictly restricted from staying back in the hall or in their rooms. They would never catch them if they hid on the staircase, like Kang always did but Ana knew about it so she must have been watching him. He walked to the top and clicked a button. Everyone was present there and he was standing beside Frank and Dave.

"This is my first. How does it work?", Dave asked, staring at the two lists on the screen.

"I have no idea. It's my first too", Frank replied, smiling innocently. He held out his hand. "My name is Frank"

"I wasn't even talking to you"

"Well, he's the only one that'll answer you", Kang said. "You may listen to him or you may not. As far as I'm concerned, if you raise your hand against him, you'll get a cucumber up your ass a lot earlier than you think"

Frank chuckled. "Cucumber up your ass? Where did you get that idea from?"

"It's the punishment you get when you cause trouble in the hall", Dave replied him. "Well, it isn't coming for me if I'm doing it in the Arena. Is it? I want me and that guy on the ring"

"Who? Romeo?", Kang asked, doubtfully.

"Yes. You said something about me daring him. I'll show you I'm nobody's mate", Dave said, proudly. "I'll best him on the field and bring his head with me"

"Well, I don't need to tell you his story. I'm hoping you get on the ring though", Kang replied, as they focused on the spin.

The movement of the beep had slowed down already and it was about to stop. Kang and Romeo looked at each other, as the beep moved over Kang's face to Romeo's and it moved down again. It moved down again and again and stopped on Frank's face.

"Oh damn! Has it stopped already?", Frank asked, staring blankly, as the beep didn't move further.

"Looks like it's your turn to fight, Mr- what's your name again?", Dave replied him. "Better pray you get another weakling like you"

"How hard is it, out there?"noveldrama

"It can be hard, depending on who you fight against", Kang replied, as the other side of the spin was about to come to an end. The beep had slowed down too. "But I have a secret to help you beat anyone. Remind me to give it to you" "So you got something to beat anyone, uh?", Frank asked, staring threateningly. He leaned closer and whispered in Kang's ear. "It's that bracelet, isn't it?"

"Stop breathing in my ears, Frank", Kang said, as the beep moved to Jae's face. He skipped an heartbeat. That would be an unfair match. The beep moved to the next face but it was another top-tier bully. It moved to the next and the next, then it stopped.... On Frank's face. "Fuck!"

Frank stared at the screen for a few seconds and burst into laughter. "This is the weakling I'm fighting with? It's going to be a free point for me"

Dave just stared at him. He was definitely scared. Romeo walked up to him and patted his back. "Are you scared?" "I'm terrified. He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

"It's one of two things. You either kill him or he kills you", Romeo said. "Just remember it's your choice to make"