Have Fun

A blade pierced through her stomach, effortlessly, as if the muscle that defended her was nothing more than paper, and then continued straight through her abdomen to the wall behind her.

“Good shot,” She chocked out to her assailant. Despite how fatal her situation was, in some sick and twisted part of her mind, she couldn’t help but admire her death wound. A straight cut through her body, no jagged edges at all and one hundred per cent, fatal.

Her tall balding assailant withdrew the sword that had pinned her in place and she fell to the ground as if her legs no longer existed. She hit the cement with a thud, but behind her she felt something, could it be? Was it her gun? She knew she should be screaming, it was true, the pain was intense, but why scream when you were knocking on death’s door. You cannot flee from your demise forever and screaming doesn’t make it any easier.

The tall man regarded her for a moment. Blood trickled out of her thin wound onto her once white blouse, no doubt it was flowing into her stomach as well. Her insides were bound to be a mess. She wouldn’t survive, his job was done. The assailant flicked his blade as he sheathed it, covering her face in droplets of her own blood.

“Have fun dying, witch bitch!” He spat.

He had barely taken three steps from her when a solitary shot rang out across the street. The single bullet tore straight through the man’s torso, obliterating his heart.

“Don’t let me have all the fun.” She said as darkness consumed the life she had once called her own.

Taste My Heart

I feel like I’m caught in the centre of a web of lies and concealed truths. I’m just an unwilling, paralyzed prey waiting to be consumed whole by the sometimes monsters, sometimes friends. The aspects of my life that weigh heavily on my mind at the moment are speckled with lies and mistruths. How can I make an informed decision when there are so many red herrings and misconceptions. How can I know what words to trust? How can I know, what words aren’t altered by the bitterness of a past sting?

Someone has to die…

There was a brief moment of silence. Former friends had been made enemies by fate. She stared right into his eyes as he did hers. No other sound could be heard on the oil rig, not that there was anyone left alive to make one. They had swept through the oil rig with ease. Their super human abilities allowing them to tear every opposition in their path apart limb from limb. Both of them were tyrants of power, but now they had come to this conclusion. What was it that happened when an unstoppable force met an immovable object. Something had to give way, someone had to die.

“Are you going to kill me?” She asked. The words almost seemed to splutter from her mouth. She was afraid, why the hell was she afraid. No one was stronger than her. Not even him. They were equals.

“I don’t have a choice…” He responded.

“Bullshit, everyone has a choice in life.” That’s when it hit her, they weren’t equals, not fully, because while she had no desire to kill him. Only one look into his eyes told her, Back down, give me any chance at all and you are dead.

“If it makes you feel any better, I am sorry.” 

Before she could reply he raised his twin pistols and opened fire on her. Faster than the bullets that craved her life, she threw herself aside while lobbing a single grenade in his direction. There was an explosion and then nothing, she tore threw the smoke and fire, her only weapon left, a broad sword, glinting in the moonlight. He met her challenge without fear.

When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object something has to give. Someone has to die!

It was the end.

The blow came, like thunder the magical bolt erupted across his chest, a raging malicious energy. His body, as a rag-doll, was thrown across the room. Light erupted in his vision then darkness. When his vision returned it was obscured behind a red haze as blood trickled down his forehead into his eyes. 

“You see Alex, you can’t win. I will always be better, and you will always be nothing.”

Alex stared up at the taunting figure before him, every aspect of his body ached. Breathing was a torment. His face was obscured by a red mess of blood.

“So this is it then?” Alex asked. Part of him wanted it to end, part of him wanted to just give up. Quitting was so much easier, no more pain, no more suffering.

“Yes, this is.” The old figured sneered.

Alex lowered his head, staring at the dirt floor beneath him.

Please don’t let it be painful, he thought to himself. He could hear his tormenter pacing towards him. Alex screwed his eyes shut. It was the end.

My attempts to alleviate writers block

I stand poised, fists clenched, he mimics me. I stare straight into his eyes, he stares into mine. My gum shield presses against my upper lip, his does the same. Our faces swell due to the gum shields, creating a false look of aggression. The referee moves between us. He assesses our white uniforms, ensure we are wearing our black safety gear.

“Gloves, gum shields, footpads, shinpads, helmet?”

We nod in synch, our eyes never breaking contact from one another. His hand passes through the air between us.

“Fight!” He shouts.

Adrenaline floods our veins. We charge into one another, a flurry of punches and blocks. Too close for kicks. I break away and flank back. He follows me with a roundhouse kicks to the face. I swerve, duck and dodge. He follows with more kicks. I catch his leg and spin him. His back faces me for only a second, but that’s all I need. I launch at him with a single punch. It connects with the force of a bull.

“Stop” The referee shouts.

We separate, returning to out original positions. Our eyes remain locked.

“Point this side.” The referee says while pointing to me.

I bow in response.

“Fight.”

We launch ourselves at one another again. He forces me back with a flurry of blows. I do my best to block them. Sweat flows down my forehead, but I don’t stop. I try to charge him. He steps back and raises his leg, a trap and I’ve fallen for it. His heel connects with my face, then darkness.

Moments later I awaken. The coppery taste of blood in my mouth, a thick musty smell of sweat engulfing me. I push the paramedics away and return to the fight. The referee asks if I’m ok. I nod in response. He then points to my opponent.

“Three points this side! Fight!”

I silently curse myself. I was a fool for falling for his ruse. I try my best, launching attack after attack but he dances around me doing his best to run the clock down. Adrenaline and the taste of blood drive me on, but to no avail. He blocks and dodges. I can’t catch him and then I hear the words I was dreading bellowing from the referee.

“TIME!”

The fight that lost it all, but hey I still got bronze :D

“Next Two Fighters!”

I walk out, my opponent is at least two foot taller then me. What’s worse is I recognize him. He’s the same tall guy that beat me in a tournament in Birmingham almost a year and a half ago. I clench my fists, and perform the customary bow.

“Shane be up for it!”

“You can do this!”

“Come on Shane”

Adrenaline enters my blood stream and every noise fades away to a false silence interrupted only by the sound of the referee saying “Fight.”

I launch, as does he. We slam into each other before pulling back to take potshots with our kicks. He tries to catch my foot, cheeky git. I side step his punches and then out of nowhere, CRACK! He lands a blow right against my ribs I stumble back.

His point.

“Come on Shane, Don’t let him take it away!”

“Fight”

I launch again. More kicks. All aimed at his head. None connect substantially enough.  I drop my foot. Like a cobra he strikes with a punch. I catch his arm and give him a punch of my own.

My Point

“That’s it Shane, More like that!”

“Fight”

We’re both more hesitant now. Light blows and dancing around each other. Nothing serious, testing the air, assessing weaknesses. Then he strikes more forcefully, a chase. I try to counter, my hands slip. I try to kick and my footpad is ripped from my foot by his guard. Before I can recover he strikes me right in the head with a kick.

Three points to him.

“Fuck”

“Shane double your kicks, don’t let him through!”

“Fight”

I’m a flurry of kicks, I need to even it out. He backs away. I keep chasing. He’s waiting for an opening and I know it. My foot drops. Smash. Vision falters and I see stars for a second. Such a punch to the head, completely unnecessary.

His point.

“Shane, Don’t let him win it!”

“Fight”

I’m gunning for revenge now. I chase with my kicks, and then just when he thinks more kicks are coming I smash his chest with a punch of my own. His ribs heave against my glove. He falls back to the floor in pain.

No score, too rough.

“Time”

I lose 4-1. Still at least I got bronze.

Don’t leave me

“Run!”

“Which way?”

“Through that door!”

I don’t have time to look, she barrels into me and throws me through the door. It’s wooden nature shattering beneath our combined weight. A hail of bullets tear through the air. But she doesn’t stop, her momentum never ceases. She is a champion, a juggernaut of destruction, a hero. She rolls with our fall, while I lay sprawled in a heap, and rises to her feet in one fluid movement. Those nearest her are felled by her blade, others by the pinpoint accuracy of her pistol. She tosses a phone to me.

“Call him,” She grunts as she bisects a soldier. His blood spilling out in a crescent arc behind the gleaming sword.

I sigh deeply as I watch the carnage, we shouldn’t have come here. This was all my fault. They were dead. Whether we tried to rescue them or not was irrelevant now. Whether our intentions were pure or not, they were dead and it was all out fault. How could I tell him that? But I know I have to, so I dial the number.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

“Whats taking so long?” Beth calls to me over gunshots.

“It’s ringing.”

She grunts her response.

“I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t even look at me, two more enter. They see her and try to raise their guns. But Beth is faster. Both are dead before they fire a single bullet.

The phone stops ringing. “Hello?”

“Hi Jeff, its me. We’re trapped in camp 217, we need evac now!”

“Did you get them.”

“I’m so sorry Jeff, I didn’t… they didn’t… we were… they’re dead…”

“It’s OK! You tried your best.”

I smile when he says that, but I can hear the pain in his voice, he was so sure we’d get his brother out alive. I had given him false hope.

“Where do you need me?”

“Where do we need him?” I call out to Beth.

She does not look at me as she continues her deadly dance. For that’s what it looks like to me. She spins, sword in hand, and limbs are severed. Her snow white skin is blemished with red droplets belonging to the fallen.

“End of the runway.” She shouts.

“You get that?” I ask jeff.

“Yeah I got it, ETA 7 minutes, Jeff out.”

As the last soldier falls I clamber to my feet. She nods and I follow. As we leave the death camp through an old metallic door I hear a click. Beth tosses a grenade behind us and seals the door.

“Never can be too careful.” She smiles, well she tries to smile but its hollow, broken. She wont say anything but I know she’s thinking it too, if we had just left well enough alone, they might still be alive.

We hear the low rumble of an approaching helicopter. After the day I’ve had the sound of the rotary blades slicing through the air is music to my ears. I can see Jeff landing his helicopter just at the end of the runway, just outside the range of their defenses.

“It’s Jeff.” I start pacing forward.

“Hold on a second Sparrow.” Beth says as she holds me back, “Once we start, they are going to be all over us, this is a sprint. No stopping. Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

She nods her approval, and with that we are off. Running as fast as our legs will take us. We haven’t taken more then ten steps when sirens begin to wail.

“Keep going!” She urges me.

Before I can reply the ground explodes beneath us. I’m tossed through the air like a rag doll. My vision is nothing but dust, spinning terrain and fire. Then there’s nothing, blackness. I open my eyes to find I’m behind some mass of metal, and shes standing over me, firing at our perusers.She’s covered in blood but still she doesn’t stop. She can’t. She is the embodiment of destruction, absolute.

She pulls me to my feet. “This is where we part ways Sparrow.”

“What? No? You can’t!”

“I have to, my destiny was never to see it through to the end, I understand that now. I was only meant to safeguard you, we all knew that from the start. You’re the one thats important. You can stop all this, save countless innocents.”

“But it’s me they want, let them have me and you can get away.”

She hugs me, gunshots ring in my ear. She’s firing over my shoulder.

“That would be to waste everything. Think of our friends, their deaths mean nothing if you’re killed now. They died to keep you safe. Show them gratitude by living, show me that gratitude.”

“Please don’t leave me…”

“This is the way it has to be. Tell Jeff, I’m sorry and that I love him. Sparrow you are an amazing person, I look back on our time together and I have no regrets, it was an honor protecting you.” A bullet whizzes past my face. “She pushes me behind her. “Now go! I’ll make these bastards pay for what they did.”

With that I run and I don’t look back as she turns to face our foes. I sprint from the sound of gunfire. I slow to a run as explosions of detonating grenades fill the air. I don’t stop as I hear her cry out in pain, not once but twice. Tears roll down my cheeks when I hear her scream, but still I don’t look back. I clamber onto the helicopter and make the mistake of turning to survey the carnage as we pull away through the sky. There she was, on her knees. The flick of a sword and her body falls asunder.

I watch as a juggernaut is halted, as a hero is destroyed and as my world crumbles.