Chapter 6: Game of the Gods

"What's the objective of this game?" Dean questioned, glaring at the arena around us. Gabriel and Castiel stood next to us, staring upwards.

"You must get the ball through the hoop," Castiel informed us simply.

"What hoop?" Dean questioned, looking around, but not finding anything resembling a hoop.

"That hoop," Gabe murmured, taking Dean's chin and forcing the con man to look upwards. Dean's eyes widened in terror instantly and I followed his gaze to a golden ring with a whole punch in it high up against the wall.

"This is impossible!" I gasped.

"We're going to lose," Dean moaned, looking away from the hoop and towards the two angels at their side.

"Gods don't lose," Cas told them before Lucifer once again snapped his fingers together. Fifteen bulked up men covered in tattoos ran into the arena and stood before them. Dean and I both swallowed nervously.

"My lords, Chief Michael's warriors are the toughest in the city," Lucifer informed them proudly. "Fifteen mortals against two gods." Dean and I both swallowed nervously, trying not to let our fear shine through. This was it. We were dead. "…play ball!" they heard Lucifer shout and the fifteen men ran to their side of the arena. The high priest set the ball down by our feet and smiled at us. "Crush them to dust," he whispered, before flying up to his seat next to Chief Michael. As soon as he was gone the ground shook below us and the two of us looked up to see fifteen giant men running towards us. I quickly picked up the ball and threw it into play. Might as well put on a good show. The ball bounced off the wall and the match began.

"Sam, the hip! The hip!" Gabe cried, picking up one of the balls on the sideline and smacking it against his hip. I tried to do as he said, put the ball was going too fast and slammed against my gut instead. I yelped and the ball rolled off to the other team.

"This is impossible," we both agreed, breathing heavily. Just as we said that the other team smacked the ball through the hoop. We stared at the hoop wide eyed. How the hell did they manage that?

Again and again the other team stole the ball and smacked it through the hoop. Dean and I were so tired and beaten we could barely even take a step now and our time was running low. The shadow had almost all the way across the arena. All it had to do was touch the line on the farthest part of the arena and the game would end.

"They're never going to win this!" Gabriel moaned, burring his face in his hands as he and Cas watched on the side lines. A ball rolled out of bounds and a man shouted for a new ball. Gabriel reached for a ball in the barrel, but Cas stopped him. Gabe frowned at his little brother and Castiel pointed at the armadillo rolled up in a ball on the bench. It was the same color as the balls and if it stayed rolled up no one would know the wiser. "Cassie, you genius!" Gabe shouted, kissing his brother on the forehead and grabbing the armadillo. "Work your magic little guy!" Gabe shouted before throwing the animal into the ring.

"We need a miracle," I gasped, trying to catch my breath as I leaned against my brother.

"No, we need to cheat," Dean panted, watching as the ball rolled over to us. It unrolled a little, revealing the beady eyes of an animal. It was an armadillo! We glanced over at the two angels cheering for us on the side lines and smiled. This was more our style. The fifteen men ran after us then and the ball/armadillo hopped from our hands and rolled out of the way of our opponents. It then jumped at me, bouncing off my shoulder and flinging itself through the hoop. Dean and I stared at the hoop and new ball with our mouths dropped to the ground before cheering. The crowd cheered along with us and we quickly turned back to the game. Whenever the other team tried to throw the ball from the hoop or catch it the armadillo would roll away from them and back to us every time. We were cranking up the points and were soon tied with our opponents. Bobby had even joined in on the game, trotting around the arena with us on his back. Once again the ball rolled out of bounds and flew right into the barrel of other balls. Gabe and Cas were so busy cheering that they didn't realize that they had grabbed a normal ball instead of the armadillo. Well, they didn't notice until it was too late. Dean and I grabbed the ball while on top of Bobby, smacking it back and forth to each other. We looked over at Cas and Gabe, expecting to see the angels cheering for us, but instead they were holding a redish-brown armadillo in their hands and shouting frantically at us. Our smiles fell, but it was too late to go back now. I threw the ball into the air and Dean kicked at it, accidently knocking me in the nose. Still, the ball kept flying and swooped through the hoop with ease just as the shadow reached the line. We cheered along with our angels and the crowd as the horns were blown.

"I LOVE THIS GAME!" Lucifer shouted from where he now stood with Chief Michael. He flew down from the stands, ignoring the glare he was receiving from Michael. Cas and Gabe rushed over to us and joined us in celebrating our victory. Our celebrating was cut short however when Lucifer and Michael flew down to us. "Congratulations on the victory, my lords," cheered Lucifer, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "Now, we must of course sacrifice the losing team." Our smiles dropped instantly and we looked between Michael and Lucifer before looking back at the fifteen men now bowing at our feet and waiting for death.

"Not again," I gasped in exasperation, walking over to the men now on their knees. Dean reached out to me, whispering to me not to mess with Lucifer, but I pulled away.

"We don't want sacrifices!" I shouted, helping the fifteen men back onto their feet. Dean rolled his eyes and joined me, followed quickly by Gabriel and Castiel. "The gods speak for themselves. There is no need for you or sacrifices not now or ever." Lucifer stared at me with both anger and surprise as I got up into his face. The people of the city cheered and even Michael was smiling. I turned on Lucifer, pointing towards the exit of the arena and shouted, "Now get out!" Lucifer glared at me and then at my brother as Dean stood next to me protectively. His eyes skimmed over my face, noticing the blood dripping from my nose where Dean had kicked it earlier. His eyes widened at that, but he continued his act. He bowed down to my brother and I before saying,

"As the gods command." He clicked his fingers, disappearing from the arena entirely. I smiled once he had vanished and turned to Dean, eyes gleaming.

"Not bad for my first command huh?" Dean tried to stay angry with me, but he couldn't. Instead, he embraced me in a hug and ruffled my long hair.

"You did good, Sammy," Dean said with a smile, before leading the way back to our temple. Gabe followed quickly behind, stopping when Castiel didn't follow him.

"You coming bro?" he called out to his little brother.

"I'll meet you later," Cas shouted, lifting the armadillo into his arms. He wanted to take the little guy back to his home by the river first. "Come on, Kevin," Castiel stated before stretching out his wings and flying out of the arena. He set the small armadillo down and began to walk back towards the temple. A twig snapped behind him though and before Castiel could even attempt at protecting himself a man in dark robes attacked the angel, covering his mouth with a cloth laced with poison. Castiel struggled under the smaller man's hold, but the poison did its job and he collapsed to the ground in an endless sleep.

*Dramatic music* Only two chapter left now! You'll have to wait till next weekend though. Enjoy!