Frank gulped in fear as he stood like statute at his tarting position marked by the white chalk line drawn in the sand. His eyes were transfixed upon the seven foot tall slab of muscle that stood before him. Hercules's biceps were the size of Frank's head and his chest was as broad as a barn door. Instead of thinking of a strategy to win, let alone survive, Frank's mind only flashed him images of Hercules stomping him into a pulp. The fact that hundreds of eyes were upon him and studying every one of his movements didn't help his nerves either. It was only after taking in several quick breaths to slow his heart that Frank remembered the story that his grandma told him about his ancestor Periclymenus. Periclymenus had fought Hercules almost 3000 years ago and if Frank remembered correctly Hercules and Periclymens were wrestling over some dispute. Frank tried his best to extract as much useful information from the story as he could remember, specifically a way to beat Hercules, but then he recalled his grandma saying something about his great-great-great-great-whatever died in long run.
"That does it," Frank squeaked to no one in particular, "I'm going to die."
The longer it took for the fight to begin the more Frank's confidence diminished. To prevent himself from exploring the possible dreadful outcomes of the competition he concentrated on happy thoughts. He imagined himself cuddling with puppies, watching the sunset with Hazel, frolicking through a meadow, heck he would even taken sixth grade algebra, just anywhere but the Coliseum. Then all he could focus on was the impending water stains that would accumulate on the fabric of his shirt below his armpit or even worse, between his legs. However, from some strange reason there was one thought that always trumped his other emotions, bees, but why bees of all things? He scrunched his eyebrows in concentration searching for answer but unfortunately it would be a question that would remain unanswered. He just hoped it would come to him before it was too late.
Hercules waved his arms frantically from his starting point in order to get Thanatos's attention. The god noticed, shook his head in irritation, and hovered his way to the massive hero.
When the annoyed immortal was within talking distance, Hercules leaned forward, and whispered, "Are you sure about this My Lord?" Hercules asked warily. "He's not what I would say the most impressive looking warrior."
"It will be fine," Thanatos tried to reassure him.
"Are you sure?" Hercules asked again. "Sure, this kid has muscles but look at his face! It's the face of a new born! How do you expect anyone to hit that?"
"Do you have dirt in you ears?" Thanatos asked petulantly. "I said it will be fine."
"I'll go easy on him then," Hercules said more to himself than to Thanatos. "I don't want to accidentally kill him."
If Hercules had x-ray vision he would've saw Thanatos grin, "Trust me, Frank Zhang is more than meets the eye. Don't hold anything back. What I am about to say might help as an incentive: if you don't give this fight your all….Then I won't give my all to that bargain we made. Understand?"
Hercules gritted his teeth, "Understood."
"Good," said Thanatos pleased before floating into the air to get out of harms way and to begin the fight.
"Ladies, gentleman, fauns, entities, and what ever other living being you may be! We are about to witness a battle of strength and physical prowess!" The crowd responded with applause.
"Our first contender weighs in at about 250 pounds, standing at seven feet tall, fighting out of Ancient Greece, and the son of Zeus: HERCUUUUUUULEEEEEEES 'EL VALIENTEEEEEEEEEEEE'!" A roar of praise from the audience. It didn't take a psychologist for one to realize that Thanatos was enjoying his announcer role way too excessively.
"This next fighter hails from the land way north! He has no specific weight or height! Fighting out of British Colombia, Canada, the son of Mars: FRANK 'BABY FAAAAAAACE' ZHAAAAAANG!" There was a cheer from the audience but not as powerful as the one Hercules was rewarded with. The loudest of the cheering came from the section where Hazel, Percy, Jason, Dakota, and Gwen sat.
"The rules are still the same! There will be no killing but this time demigod powers of any kind are permitted. There will be no magical items and no weapons. A fighter wins if they submit their opponent, cause their opponent to forfeit via injury or cowardice, or by putting their opponent into an unconscious state. Do the fighters understand?
A cocky nod from Hercules and a nervous one from Frank.
"Fighters, are you ready?"
Frank's mind raced as he tried to think of a strategy or at least some sort of idea that would help him survive this ordeal. His brain went on autopilot as his thoughts sifted through his memory databanks. He knew Hercules had fought very large things before so transforming into an animal like a bear wouldn't work. Especially since Hercules was able to wrestle Cerberus and carry the beast up a mountain. Frank was sure any beast he could transform into Hercules would be ready for it. Frank almost screamed in frustration from not knowing what creature to morph into. All Frank knew was that he wanted to disappear or either become very small so no one could see him. He just needed more time.
Too late! Thanatos's hand already fallen signaling that the fight had begun.
Hercules charged lazily. The ancient warrior only wanted to get the fight over with as quickly as possible without causing too much damage to the kid. His plan was to take this Frank Zhang kid to the ground and submit him with a choke hold. This way would be the least messy and safest way to win the fight without causing to much damage to the child.
Hercules was almost upon Frank and he was coming in like a freight train. Frank fumbled with ideas but his mind went blank overtime he concentrated but it kept on going back to the idea of him becoming smaller. Hercules was almost in grabbing range now. It was over. Frank closed his eyes waiting for inevitable impact but it never came. Frank opened his eyes to a sight of utter horror. Somehow Hercules managed to make himself even bigger than he already was! Instead of standing at a mere six feet, the dude was now as tall as a skyscraper.
That's totally not fair, Frank thought. That didn't answer the question of why everything else around him bigger as well. Had everyone turned into giants? Did Frank already get knocked out and was he dreaming?
"What the...where'd he go!" Hercules boomed and everyone else in the crowd murmured in confusion. There voices sounded like bass drums to Frank.
Maybe Frank's wish did come true. Maybe he did turn invisible but that didn't explain everyone else's rapid growth or maybe... Frank looked down at his hands but only to find that his hands weren't actually his. They were instead little pink paws. He tried to look down at his legs but to only discover that he couldn't look down at his legs at all because he wasn't even standing. For some reason he was crawling on all fours. Frank looked behind him to find a long pink, wormlike tail. Then he noticed the whiskers protruding from his long grey furred snout.
Frank had turned into a rat! The same rat he owned in third grade to be exact.
"Where the Hades did he go?" Hercules roared in frustration. "Hey, how did this rat get in here?"Unless this kid is a-"
Realization hit Hercules like a bus. Something from Hercules's past told him that Frank was the rat. No doubt about it. From what part of Hercules's history did this notion come from, he did not know. All that mattered was that he must win. He stomped down on the insignificant rodent.
Frank scurried out of the way in time to avoid the ginormous foot. Hercules stomped down several more times but Frank managed to dodge them by scurrying out of the way. Frank jumped onto one of Hercules's legs and climbed up it. Frank noticed the massive hand looming over head and Frank leapt forward barley avoiding it slamming down on him. Frank scurried up Hercules's leg until he climbed up his tunic. Frank bit down on the bare flesh. Hercules yelped in agony and tried to smack Frank but Frank was already in a new spot, sinking his teeth into him once more. The pattern continued on for a couple of minutes. Frank would bite Hercules and before he was smashed with a fist he would scurry away and bite a different part of the body.
The whole scene was ridiculous. The onlookers watched in astonishment as Hercules yelped in pain and then proceeded to smack himself. It was the most outlandish sight they had ever witnessed. Some tried not to burst into fits of laughter but most did anyway.
"Enough of this!" Screamed Hercules obviously humiliated and clearly frustrated.
The brute of a man ripped off his tunic to expose himself in a loincloth. The laughing increased but Hercules ignored them. He just wanted to find the rodent and crush it. By stripping himself he not only exposed the location of Frank but also the plethora of red bite marks that covered his whole torso. This added to the hilarity of the scenario.
"There you are!" Hercules snarled as he grabbed for Frank. Frank scuttled out of his reach and climbed up his back.
Frank climbed atop of Hercule's head and before Hercules could grab him Frank shut his and transformed. He emerged as a fully grown and hairy Gorilla. A normal person would've collapsed under the weight but of course Hercules having the ability of super human strength managed to remain standing. From the top of Hercules head Frank started to rain down blows with his giant Gorilla fists. This brought back memories of playing Donkey Kong as a kid. Hercules's knees buckled from the sudden barrage of attacks but he was able to lift Frank upwards and toss the primate off.
Frank soared in the air and before he landed on the ground he turned into eagle and flew upward into sky. When he reached a certain height he folded in his wings and dived bombed down toward his enemy. He was like a Japanese fighter pilot during World War Two going on a kamikaze run. Hercules swatted at the air in order to knock Frank off course but missed by inches. Frank's beak impacted on Hercules bare chest. He felt it break skin and small amounts of blood began to trickle. Then Frank began clawing with his razor sharp talons at every piece of flees he could get his talons on. After suffering much pain Hercules managed to rip Frank off of him.
Frank transformed back into human form and he hit the ground hard. He stood to his feet to asses the damage he had dealt. Hercules was now not only covered in red rat bites but also bruises, a giant puncture wound in his chest from where Frank had stabbed him with his beak, and deep scratches caused by talons.
"Periclymenus?" Hercules snarled as he spit blood from his mouth.
"No, but a descendant and proud, yes!" Frank answered.
"I killed Periclymenus and I have to say he did a lot better than you."
"Really because I'm under the impression that I'm kicking your ass or are you ready to give up?" Frank asked in a brutal tone that surprised even himself.
"Oh ho!" Hercules scoffed. "We are just getting started. Make your move wench!"
Frank transformed into a wolf and bounded forward. Hercules raised a hand into gesture that said, "Bring it". Frank pounced and Hercules prepared himself for a canine that would snap at his throat. Instead Frank swiftly transformed himself into a hornet upon impact and landed on one of Hercules's eyelids. Frank brought his stinger upward and stabbed down into the soft tissue of the human eyelid. Hercules screamed in pain and brought a hand to his face trying to crush Frank. Frank merely hovered out of the way and Hercules only ended up hitting himself in the face, precisely were Frank hand just stung him, causing the pain of the blemish to increase. Hercules reeled backward in severe agony as he groped his eye.
Hercules removed his hand from his face to reveal the biggest swollen eyes in history. Frank transformed back into human form and he couldn't help but cringe at the grotesque sight. He couldn't also help but laugh either. He couldn't believe that he was laughing at the one of the greatest heroes of all time but how could anyone blame him? Hercules was, at the moment, a pathetic mess. The old hero was covered in rat bites, gashes, wounds, and now one of his eyes was puffing up and was being forced close. Frank Zhang was actually winning.
"That eye looks pretty bad, I think you should SEE a doctor," joked Frank.
"You'll pay for this you insolent little wretch," snapped Hercules. Fury was blazing in his good eye. He snorted before he charged forward. Hercules was no longer that kind and humble hero that everyone was familiar from the stories they were told as kids. He was now a giant, hulking, rage machine.
There was something in the Hercules eyes that was different. In the back of Frank's mind, he recalled an old story in which Hera filled Hercules with so much rage that it lead him to kill his only family. Frank wondered if that was the same rage that was in Hercules now?
Frank turned into a bull and charged forward to meet him. The two collided in the middle of the stadium and were locked in a stalemate. They both pushed forward fighting for dominance. Hercules grabbed Frank by his horns, made yanking/twisting maneuver which flipped Frank onto his back. Hercules picked the bull up and slammed him to the ground. From there Hercules began to punch, kick, elbow, bash, pummel, batter, strike, whack, stomp, and wallop on Frank. After taking all the abuse that he could bear to take, Frank turned into a giant tortoise and hide in his shell. Hercules punted Frank like a foot ball. Frank took off towards the clouds like rocket. When he reached his maximum hight he fell back to Earth. As he fell he seemed weightless but heavy at the same time. Before he hit the ground he transformed into cat to soften his fall. Frank was lead to believe that felines could survive extremely large heights. Everything he had ever heard about cats were a lie. He crash landed on the opposite side of the arena causing a plume of dust to shoot upwards.
When the dust settled the audience found themselves looking in horror at a motionless, human, coughing, but an alive Frank. His face was bloodied and scratched, each time he inhaled his side hurt, and every part of his body was aching. Hazel covered her face with her hands put her head into Percy's chest.
That was it. They should've end the fight for sure. Thanatos was indeed about to call the fight but something inside stopped him. Call it a hunch but Thanatos needed to see where this was going. He heard a few people in the crowd demand that he ended the contest, Hazel and Percy were among them, but Thanatos need to see this through and he didn't care if people hated him for it. Thanatos allowed the fight to go on.
Hercules laughed as he slowly walked over to Frank who was lying and unmoving.
"Time to finish this."
Hercules lifted Frank from the ground, held him in the air by his throat, and began to squeeze. Frank began kicking his feet in desperation, he felt as if his eyes were going to pop from their sockets, his head was going to burst, his neck would surely snap, and his lungs would implode. At the last second he transformed into a boa constrictor and bit at Hercules's meaty paws. Hercules grip loosened and Frank slithered out of his grasp and down his arm. Frank wrapped himself around Hercules' neck and returned the favor and constricted.
Hercules grabbed at Frank and started to punch at him. He missed Frank once and punched himself in the face. Hercules fell to his knees from the lack of oxygen but managed to sink his meat hooks in-between his throat and Frank. He ripped the snake off him and held it in the air. He clasped his hands around Frank's head and tail and began to pull his hands away from each other like one stretching a rubber band. He was about to stretch Frank apart in half, he had been turned into a Chinese Finger Trap, a sick and grotesque one at that.
"I WILL BREAK YOU!" Hercules growled.
Frank closed his eyes accepting defeat. He was to exhausted to morph into another animal. The fight was out of him. Hercules was going to kill him even if it wasn't a fight to the death. He pissed Hercules off too much which lead the ancient warrior to go into fit of wild rage. Frank again remembered a story of how Hera caused Hercules to kill his own family. Ever since then Hercules wasn't the same. There was a heap of kindling that resided in Hercules and when sparked it turned him into an unstoppable monster, and Frank had restarted the fire. Hercules was no longer himself but instead a giant sack of muscles trying to rip a poor baby-faced boy in two.
Frank felt his snake skin tearing and heard his snake spine crunching as it was being pulled. Frank changed his mind about dying. He decided that he wanted to live. He wanted to win. In desperation Frank thought of the biggest animal he could think of and remembered a special he saw one time on the Discovery Channel about the ocean. Frank closed his snake eyes and let his body mold into whatever his mind imagined. When Frank reopened his eyes he was no longer being held in up the air and he wasn't being stretched to death. Unlike in the beginning of the fight when he transformed into a rat and everyone seemed to grow bigger, everyone now looked to be much smaller and everything had shrunk. Frank tried to move his legs and arms and realized he didn't have any. Instead he flopped his flippers. Frank had turned into a Blue Whale, the biggest animal on the planet since the dinosaurs. The crowd gasped in surprise at the pure enormity of the animal.
He remained a Blue Whale for a few moments longer but he remembered that whales couldn't breathe out of water for long periods of time unless they had a water source. Frank transformed back into a human quickly. He found himself laying on top of an unmoving Hercules. At first Frank thought the man was dead but soon realized that he was just unconscious. Frank tried to stand to his feet but as soon as he got to one knee the pain caused from the stress in his joints made him scream. He collapsed back to the ground and rolled over on to his back looking up at the night sky that was decorated in stars. Before his eyelids drooped closed he made out the constellation of Hercules.
"By the Gods, he has done it! Frank Zhang has knocked out Hercules. For the first time in history Hercules has been defeated! FRANK ZHANG IS THE WINNER!
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