Horatio and Pipistrella had arrived at the city, a place where safety could be found from pretty much anyone or anything. One unique feature of the city was that it was always bustling with excitement, the buildings bouncing around and the people tapping their feet and luggage as music played daily, though not the horrible kind you'd naturally find annoying after 2 minutes, more of a tune that would keep you moving. They stopped at the gate and checked for what money they had.
"I only got a few coins and some blueberries, what about you?" Horatio said, kicking a pebble nearby. It kept bouncing to the beat of the music as it went.
"We had lots of money back at the castle… up until the Helmetites took it all. I got nothing," Pipistrella answered. Horatio sighed, and looked around for options. There was the market, but he didn't want to sell their weapons or blueberries, and he wasn't going to have them sell their clothes in order to survive. Across the city, there was a massive telephone pole, that wasn't going to be of much use. Some little human kids kicking around a soccer ball made of leather and knives, perfectly normal, and the Arena. Wait, the Arena!
"Pipistrella, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What are you thinking?"
"Look."
She looked to where Horatio was looking and saw the Arena, which had been nicknamed 'The Pit' for the sake of that it was built on a large pit, and there gladiators had fought for glory and money over the years for the amusement of the Emperor, the rightful leader of the city. They could get some money there as fighters.
"I don't know, it seems too risky," She replied hesitantly. It was true, half the time no one made it out of that pit, not even the winner. Usually because there were dangerous hazards in there, like lava lakes, land mines, shark mines, shark lakes, shark lakes filled with landmines, landmines with shark lakes in it, you name it!
"We gotta take that risk, we got no other viable options," Horatio said with determination driving his voice. He started toward the Pit, followed by Pipistrella. They entered the lobby, a large room with 3 doors leading to different areas: The Mash Pit, the Spectator Booths, and the Pit. There was caution tape put around the Mash Pit, with a little sign saying: Under further evaluation. And the door to the booths was closed, a sign outside of it saying 'Sold out of tickets for next gore-feast!'
The only option then was to go to the Pit, where 2 men stood, a man wearing a tuxedo with security shades on who looked to be a bouncer, and a muscular man with amounts of spiked up yellow hair. In his hands, he wielded two axes, and was currently arguing with the bouncer.
"Aw c'mon, you let me in last time!" The man with the axes argued. "It wouldn't hurt to just let me in for a second, would it?
"That was when you actually had a team, Yosef. They died in the last fight, and now you don't have one," The bouncer replied with a bored tone. Seems like he's had to do this more than once.
"Pfft, just 'cuz I don't have a team doesn't mean I won't throw some axes!"
"Get a team of 3 minimum, and I'll let you pass, Yosef. Sorry, nothing personal."
"Grrr, fine."
The man started to walk away, and it was then Horatio and Pipistrella noticed something from the first look: the man had only one eye. It appears Yosef was a demi-clops, since evidently he lacked the gargantuan height of a cyclops, and was not a human. Pipistrella looked to Horatio with a grin.
"You heard the bouncer, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, get a team of 3 and we pass," Horatio replied, returning the smile as he shaped the plan, "Let's go talk to that demi-clops."
Horatio strided over to Yosef, who was grumbling about the entry, and engaged in conversation.
"Sir, we would like for you to join our group!" Horatio started.
"Your group? Yes, a group! Let's see 'em!"
Horatio pointed to his only other teammate, Pipistrella, who was currently examining her scepter, wiping off a smudge on it.
"More like a party," Yosef murmured, now reconsidering. "Lemme think."
Yosef stayed silent for a moment, putting a hand on his chin as he thought. Finally, he gave a bright smile and accepted.
"But first! I have a proposal to make!" Yosef added.
"What's this proposal?"
"We'll join souls! We'll be stronger, share memories, and we'll pretty much be married for life. Sounds sweet right?"
"Er.. is it necessary?"
"Come on man, I want to see some action! Just say yes, you worm!" The voice suddenly yelled, shaking the entire building. It surprised Horatio and Pipistrella, but didn't even make Yosef flinch. Over to the bouncer, he was currently laying against the wall, snoozing.
"Sure, let's do it," Horatio agreed. "How do we do it?"
"Just take my hand," Yosef replied, putting his hand out for Horatio to grab. Hesitantly, he took Yosef's hand, and immediately saw stars zoom in his vision. He and Yosef stood there, paralyzed in place by the sequence, neither able to anything. Horatio felt like he was free falling while tripping on epic drugs, which is to say epic.
"What is happening?!" He yelled.
"Ha ha, I don't know!" Yosef replied, yelling back. Eventually, Horatio's vision dimmed, and all he could see was darkness for a moment. Then white outlines appeared of two bears, one smiling and one frowning, whispers in the background. Why does that seem… important? Before Horatio could do anything else, they disappeared into the darkness, and his vision returned. He was now standing in the gladiator pit, standing with Yosef and Pipistrella, who were both looking around with confused looks on their faces.
"What just happened?" He asked, unsure of which he was really asking about, the bears or the drug trip.
"Soul fusion, baby!" Yosef simply said, laughing with joy right after. "We're officially soul mates now!"
"People! I pronounce this fight to begin!" A voice boomed from the stands. Horatio looked and saw it came from the Emperor's balcony, where the Emperor sat on his chair, a lady fanning him with a massive leaf, and a man recognized to be the emissary of the Emperor with the microphone. Cheering could be heard from the bleachers of the pit, wishing for violence.
"So uh, where's this enemy?" Horatio asked, looking for where their opponents were. In the pit, there was several spike pits next to them, and a few cars stacked atop each other to make a wall. Yosef tugged at his arm to grab his attention, and pointed up to the arrows flying at them.
"Raise your shield, raise your shield," Yosef shouted, instructing Horatio to pull up his shieldcover to Horatio in order to escape the onslaught of sharp, metal just in time to block all the arrows. Pipistrella and Yosef had taken objects. From around the car, 2 humans came, a male with a rather sharp sword made of bone, and a woman carrying a club made out of a stick with a big, spiky rock attached to one end. The man only had a poker visor on, but the woman had on the bark of a tree as a makeshift helmet.
"What are you waiting for? Full confrontation!" Yosef commanded, charging forward with his axes. Horatio and Pipistrella followed after him, catchin up to see Yosef throw both of his axes at the man, both finding a place to embed themselves in him, though the man still stood. Horatio slashed his sword at the woman's face, but was surprised to see that instead of impaling her, the blade just glanced off of her helmet. In retaliation, she swung her hammer like a baseball bat and sent Horatio tumbling backward.
"Get me some help here!" Horatio called. Thankfully, Pipistrella answered and defended him, clubbing the woman with her mallet. Unlike Horatio's sword, her scepter made a sizeable dent in the woman's helmet, and she fell to the ground.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Yosef cheered, encouraging his teammates. From the sky, more arrows rained down. "Soulmate, get over here and help!"
Horatio scrambled to his feet and blocked a majority of the arrows, only one or two managing to get past his shield and slice his arms or legs. The man in front of Yosef stabbed with his bone sword, and poked a wound in him, though the demi-clops barely even flinched.
"Doesn't that hurt like hell to you?" The man asked, surprised that Yosef wasn't incapacitated at the very least.
"I threw my axes at you, why aren't you incapacitated with two axes sticking off your body?"
"Touche."
Yosef pulled his axes out of the man and threw them again, only to find the man still standing. Horatio decided to make it faster and swung his sword horizontal to the man's neck to make quick work. The head landed a few feet away on a landmine, blowing up as soon as the mine detected it.
"A little more exciting, but don't get so happy, Horatio," The voice commented on the successful decapitation. After the man fell, the three ran around the car wall to find 2 archers standing there with piddly little bows. One had a hat fashioned out of crocodile leather, while another simply wore a pair of broken glasses. Noticing their current disadvantage, the two archers began to shake in fear.
"The Emperor demands the Speckled Horseman to join the fight. Bring him!" The Emissary interrupted. Several trumpets sounded, and from the sky, a figure could be seen in the bright sun. It looked like a… giraffe with balloons strapped around it. What in the world? A man was seen sitting on the back of the giraffe, wielding two smgs in each hand, and wore a pair of dapper sunglasses.
"Yeah, you gonna get some!" The man riding the horse said, brandishing a smg in his hand. Once he was close enough to the ground, he performed a perfect backflip and shot a few rounds into the air, popping some of the balloons on the giraffe as it floated away. Seeing their new teammate and firepower, the archers regained their confidence and fired off another barrage of arrows, followed by gunshots of the Speckled Horseman. Horatio barely managed to block it all, being pelted by arrows and bullets, a few darting by and catching Yosef and Pipistrella. Eventually it stopped and they made their move.
Horatio ran up to the Speckled Horseman and quickly hit him with his sword, making a deep cut, though it wasn't going to end the gunman. Fortunately, Yosef came to the help and threw an ax to the man, cleaving his head. His remaining ax went to an archer, who was crippled upon the ax slicing their leg. Pipistrella went to finish them off with her scepter, making sure they wouldn't get back up.
"We got 'em!" Horatio cheered, raising his bloody sword in victory. Yosef and Pipistrella joined in, in joy that none of them had died, though they did take in some bruises, cuts, stab wounds, gun wounds, etc. The crowd roared in approval, and the Emissary spoke again.
"These gladiators have won! You may now leave the pit through that door over there and collect your earnings."
Still exhilarated by the moment, the trio left the pit to gain their gold by the lobby, where 3 guards stood with the Emissary.
"The Emperor has told me you fight well, and wants to give you a reward!" He had said with a smile. "In addition with your gold, you have been given a house in the city. Here, let me show it to you."
The man led the three to their house, which was just next to the pit. It was fairly large, though not a mansion. Inside, there was a armory, a mess hall, and about 9 rooms, empty. There was also a door that led to what looked like a dungeon.
"If it wouldn't trouble you, we are in need of your help," The Emissary added as they were exploring the house.
"What is it?" Pipistrella asked.
"Well, over to the beach we've run into problems with the Choglites, I'm sure you've heard of them."
"Nope."
"You know, Chog worshippers?"
"What in the world is a chog?"
"It's this whole religion based around this one massive god dude I think," Yosef answered. "Something about sacrifices, blood, something something."
"Well, they've taken to controlling the eastern beach to the city. Now this wouldn't be so problematic if they hadn't started to kill just about anyone who goes there. Think you can handle this for us?"
Horatio looked to his friends, who both nodded in approval.
"We don't have much else to do right now," Yosef pointed out.
"Eh, why not? We'll do it," Horatio said, accepting the quest.
I can't believe he survived that damned gladiator pit! He should have died, and yet he persists, that annoying mite! Is he immune to the touch of death, or is he just an idiot?What am I saying, of course he is
Dad's still alive? Is that why you were screaming earlier?
No, I was screaming because I like to scream at nothing- OF COURSE IT IS BECAUSE OF HORATIO!
…
Sorry I yelled, it's bad habit…
… I forgive you…