Chapter Ten: Revealed

In the wake of the last round the shattered bones of the hollow men littered the Arena floor, but the spotlight was not on them. It was on the four now glowing Heroes who stood proudly in defiance of the Mayor, truly united for the first time in their lives as one.

"I KNEW IT! I know those signs anywhere!" shouted the Mayor, "You're not people, you're monsters! Witches sent to destroy my beautiful city! I won't allow it! Guards! Destroy those 'Heroes' at once! I will not have them alive in my city!"

Guards lined the front rows of the Arena, poised to strike down the Heroes from every angle. The Heroes refused to back down, and readied themselves for the onslaught that was to ensue, but oddly enough the guards refused to advance. They knew they were no match for them, and backed down like cowards.

"What is this! I have given you a direct order! Kill them at once! Kill them or you will compete in my Arena as well!" exclaimed Mayor Wilson, but once again the guards did not budge.

"The way I see it Mayor…if we win…they don't have to listen to you anymore," Michael said from behind his mask, "remember our wager? If we win, you surrender control of the city of Westcliff and all of your riches to the people. If we lose, and you are free to reign over the city for as long as you live. So, the question is: how confident are you in the final round to defeat us. Because if you have the slightest notion of doubt…I'd suggest running right about now."

The Mayor glared down at Michael, the one who has been taunting him this entire time. He noticed he had a new sword, the one he had been carrying but had yet to reveal until now. The form, it was familiar to him but the origin escaped him. It had been so long, yet he was sure he knew it from somewhere. Wilson shook his head, trying to focus on the task at hand. No one had even seen the last challenge of the Arena in over 100 years and so no one knew how to defeat it, not even Heroes. On that assumption, he made his call.

"Fine you deceptive witches…but be warned, you should be the ones running, not I!" Wilson decreed before walking back and opening a hatch behind him which concealed a hidden lever, one that had not been touched in ages. His fat little hands grasped the handle and pulled back with all his might, and a thunderous 'click' could be heard all the way back in the poorest sections of the city.

The Arena began to rumble, the Heroes staggered to keep their footing as it seemed the entire place was coming down on top of them. The floor itself began to move, parting in two and separating the Heroes once again: Speer and Michael on one side and Shunt and Willow on the other. The four looked into the abyss that appeared before them and an explosive roar emanated from its depths, vibrating the entire Arena. They could see something rising up from the bottom and they all backed up to give it room. They all began preparing their strongest spells, readying themselves for whatever monstrosity might appear before them, but none of them were prepared for what they saw.

From the depths of that chasm rose a monster larger than any they had ever seen before: a troll conceived entirely of bones left over from all those who had perished in the Arena. Be it man or monster, the troll had a piece of them all. The Arena had been a clue to the final challenge all along, for as the walls were adorned with the armor and weapons of the challengers, the final challenge itself was what was left over from those very men and women. It stood over seven stories tall, and was clearly eager to wreak havoc upon those who stood before him after spending an entire century locked up and accumulating underneath the Arena.

"ROUND FIVE! THE HOLLOW TROLL! MAY AVO HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOULS, FOR YOU WILL FIND NONE HERE!" The Mayor shouted, and the troll raised up its mighty fists to try and smash the four Heroes in one fell swoop. The Heroes ducked out of the way, if only barely. The ground the troll managed to hit was smashed into pieces, and now all four Heroes were completely isolated in the four corners of the Arena.

Like mice backed into a corner by a hungry cat, the Heroes lashed out with their spells. Speer let loose a massive lightning storm that shocked the troll's arm, if only slightly agitating the already angry giant. Shunt pushed forward to fire off a shockwave at the troll's knee, setting it off balance when it tried to swipe at Speer with its backhand and causing it to miss narrowly and hit the wall. Michael attacked with a wild inferno spell, setting the rotted flesh of the monster ablaze, which was accentuated by Willow moments after when she formed a vortex around the troll, fanning the flames to grow hotter and hotter.

The displays of powerful magic was impressive, but it seemed that the troll was simply waiting for the spells to stop so that it could retaliate. Michael and Willow could not keep it up forever, and when it relented the troll struck back with its powerful foot, smashing Shunt into the wall. Speer lashed out with his sickles again, hooking onto some of the bones of the troll, but the hollow troll simply swung his arm and forced Speer to fly through the air and smash into the ground close to Shunt. Both lay unconscious now in a heap of rubble, and the monstrous troll raised up its hand to deal the finishing blow, but Willow would not allow harm to come to her comrades, and she unleashed two arrows straight into its eyes. This caused the troll tremendous pain, and it reached up to remove the arrows but its fingers were far too large to pull them out. Willow kept firing, but she was unable to hit any more weak points as the trolls face was now concealed by its hand. The hollow troll found this greatly irritating, and lashed out once again with its mighty hand clumsily. The hand was so large and Willow had nowhere to go, and so regardless of how slow it was Willow was swatted like a fly, collapsing too on the floor of the Arena.

Michael was forced to watch as the love of his life was beaten down by the hollow troll, and watched on in horror as the bones on its hands formed tiny hollow men and removed the arrows from its eyes. The troll turned its attention to Michael, a terrible smirk grew upon the undead face as it knew it only had one more Hero to deal with before it could return to its slumber. The troll leaned forward and let out a terrifying roar that once again shook the Arena to its core. The crowd covered its ears, but the deafening sound was unrelenting. Many looked away, not able to watch what was about to happen. Michael stood firm, his furry began to grow and grow until he could not hold it back anymore. Once again his body began to catch ablaze. The grass below him was instantly incinerated by the pure heat from his body and his hands arms and legs began spouting fires like torches. Soon his body was engulfed in flame, and his eyes glowed an ominous red.

"That's it! Release me! Let me loose and I will punish those who did this to you!"

"No…I shouldn't…I should do this by myself…"

"Is Wilson doing anything himself? He's having his monsters do his work for him! YOU CAN DO THE SAME!"

"I'm better than him…I don't need you to do everything for me…"

"If you want to destroy the troll in time to kill Wilson and save Willow…then you do need me…"

"No…"

"Say you need me!"

"NO!"

"Say you need me or Willow dies!"

"…I NEED YOU!"

Heat began to radiate from Michael's body like the sun itself, and wings of fire spread from his back. His hands grew gruesome claws and his feet talons, and his eyes were like two pure balls of fire burning with great ferocity. His feet left the ground, and for a split second he just hovered there, and the next moment he was gone! The audience looked frantically to locate him, until they noticed the unusual glare from the top of the indoor Arena. Michael was flying, and soon enough even the hollow troll noticed it.

"Now…!" the voice reverberated throughout the Arena, but it was hard to tell who was really speaking.

Michael plummeted downwards at full speed, every foot he fell his flames began to fan higher and higher until one could not even see the body of Michael, only flame. Like an arrow he fell straight through the skull of the hollow troll, piercing it with the greatest of ease. Then like a jack-o-lantern the troll lit up, until it too was on fire burning with the same strength as Michael was. The troll panicked, flailing and trying to extinguish the flames but it was no use. Within seconds the troll was falling to pieces, and its cries of panic and fear were drowned out by the crackling of the fire until finally the massive bonfire that was the troll was only ashes, and only one flame remained, the one that still burned on Michael's wings.

Soon after the troll was defeated, the crowd looked on in stunned silence at what they had just seen. All they could do was stare as Michael stood there, still burning and glaring a hole through Mayor Wilson, who was no trembling like a child. The mask on Michael's face began to fall off, it had been torn to shreds during the battle and now it had finally fallen off. Michael's face was revealed, and now the equation started to add up. Mayor Wilson had finally solved the puzzle.

"You…"