“All right, everybody, it is time for our final event of the day. We’ve had an awesome day of golem action, but as we all know, there is only one gladiator walking away victorious. Sixteen young enthusiasts arrived here today, all with aspirations of getting to this moment. It all comes down to this. On the alpha side we have Pepper, and his opponent out of the bravo side is Tamin. Come on, KBVS fans, let’s give it up one final time!”
Pepper clenched his fists tightly. He slammed them together. His knuckles knocked and the impact slowly surged in his hands. He glanced over at his golem. Though the shape was designed more like a human form, he still imagined what it would be like to have a golem fully formed the way Mala, his battle tiger, was supposed to look. We got this…
He stepped up onto the stage and glared towards his nemesis. Tamin was already on the opposite platform. He was gesturing to the crowd that a championship belt should already be placed around his waist.
The countdown timer began, and Pepper kept his eyes fixed on it. His heart pounded in his chest. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and he quickly wiped it away.
The starting horn erupted, and Pepper watched as Tamin brought his brawler golem straight towards the center of the arena. There was a forward lean to Tamin’s fighter. Pepper knew it was due to the weight of the stone fists and forearms that it carried.
The brawler was slow in its movement. It looked more like a staggering walk than the fluid and balanced dance Pepper and Sasha had both shared. Pepper was sure the power core within the golem was working overtime just to keep its arms up.
Pepper had his golem sidestepping around the arena, letting his opponent take the center. Now that he was able to see how the golem was struggling to move, he planned to attack the legs. If I can just get it off balance, or even on its back, it will be all mine for the taking!
Pepper was a split second away from launching his golem forward when he saw a bright yellow light appear around his opponent’s fist. Tamin’s golem released a pulsing wave of yellow energy, and it streaked towards Mala in a flash. The energy slammed into Pepper’s golem and launched it back roughly eight feet.
He has a gravity force push rune?! Pepper exclaimed in his head. He stayed locked onto his opponent, making a quick adjustment of his controls to ensure his golem maintained its balance while it skidded across the dirt floor. His mind raced as he watched Tamin’s golem start to charge towards his. The same bright yellow energy now appeared on the opposite hand.
He had no time to react before the hand unleashed another forceful push that slammed his golem back. It crashed into the arena wall, and Tamin’s golem didn’t slow its jog towards his fighter. His opponent came charging ahead with a raised fist, and he could see it about to close in on him.
Pepper quickly activated his rune shield and rune absorption. They both activated in the nick of time and Tamin’s golem smashed into the shield. His energy meter rose slowly, as the connecting energy absorbed much less than an energy rune attack.
Pepper shifted as Tamin tried to navigate around the defensive shied. He began to slip the punches that Tamin’s brawler flung at Mala. The stone gauntlets affixed to his opponent made its movements far slower than those of an average golem, even those found in the club matches. Pepper ducked down and was able to connect with some quick jabs to Tamin’s midsection.
They had little to no effect, at least that Pepper could see. He mentally counted down the shield duration and then backed away as quickly as he could. His evasion didn’t go unscathed, however, as Tamin swiped a left haymaker towards him and connected with his shield at the last second.
The blow knocked Pepper’s golem backwards. His fighter’s balance was now off, and it stumbled across the arena to the other side. He just wanted to gain some distance. His mind still raced, and he tried to figure out what he could do to make a difference. He didn’t have a single extra second to spare, for Tamin’s brawler was already closing back in on Mala.
Pepper brought his hands up and readied himself. The brawler reared its right arm up and brought a sweeping blow down towards him. Pepper ducked and the punch passed narrowly over his golem’s head. He quickly sidestepped and brought a volley of jabs, then snapped a side kick directly against the brawler’s midsection.
Tamin reared his golem around and tried to bring in a backhanded strike. Pepper countered by evading the move and attacking with another strike sequence. He thought he saw his opponent’s ribcage crack. Pepper tried to twist his head to a different angle to see, but Tamin twisted his golem around and came in with a round of hammer strikes.
Pepper instructed Mala to dive forward. It did so just to his opponent’s left, and performed a roll which launched his golem back up onto its feet. It was so smooth, it looked like he had performed the sequence a thousand times before. The crowd roared and savored every second of the action.
Tamin’s golem spun around and was about to close the distance yet again. Pepper faked out his opponent into believing he was going to throw another round of low punches. Tamin lowered the brawler’s arms to block the blows, and once he had done so, Pepper launched his fighter up and into a tornado kick.
The strike blasted against the side of the brawler and its head ruptured. Clay shards flew across the arena floor. Pepper’s heart sprang up into his throat. He quickly went to activate his energy strike rune, but then he saw the yellow light already glowing around the brawler’s hands.
Pepper’s eyes widened as he watched the brawler activate its attack while its fist was in an upward arching motion. He watched his golem get launched off the ground. Its body flailed defenselessly in the air. It began to float downward to its waiting opponent, which brought its other fist around and connected directly with his golem’s midsection.
The impact made a crack! like giant boulders being smashed together. Tamin then activated the rune still being suppressed in the same hand. Pepper’s golem was launched vertically again and pummeled in the same fashion. Another thunderous crack rang out, and Pepper’s command screen flashed bright red with warnings.
Thankfully Mala landed a short distance away from his opponent. Pepper reactivated his shield and started to backpedal once his golem got back to its feet. Tamin continued his pursuit, the same way a predator stalks its wounded prey. Pepper’s power core had generated enough energy to activate his energy strike rune. He had no other idea what to do and figured there was no better time to risk it all than now.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He charged ahead and saw Tamin smirk as he did so. The brawler’s arms were outstretched, welcoming his daring move. Pepper tried to fake out his opponent again, acting like he was going to aim high, but rather ducked down low into a baseball slide. He thought it was going to work, but then Tamin let his golem’s knee drop to the arena floor. The brawler pinned Mala to the ground and started to slam its fists down on him.
“No!” Pepper screamed.
Tamin mercilessly pummeled his golem and didn’t stop until Pepper was left with a pile of shattered clay chips. He watched as the power core ruptured and bright blue energy shot out. His gladiator controller screen flickered and then zeroed out with a No Signal Detected notification scrolling across it.
The victory horn sounded, and Tamin lifted his arms above his head. He and his golem bathed in the cheers of the crowd. Confetti rained down from above, and sparklers activated and sprayed upwards around the edge of the arena.
“We have our champion!” the announcer declared to the onlookers.
Tamin jumped down from his platform and ran along the edge of the arena. He high fived fans who rushed to the sidelines. “I told you! I told you I would win! What now? What you all got to say now! Haha! Champion, baby!”
Pepper did his best to ignore his opponent and shuffled over to the shattered pieces of his golem. He knelt and rummaged his hands through it all for a moment. There was nothing worth salvaging.
The final ceremony commenced, but Pepper couldn’t recall it. He ignored the KBVS staffer who wanted to ask him some questions for their newsletter. Pepper made his way back to his holding cage and packed the remainder of his items into his backpack. He turned to see his friends standing at the entrance, waiting for him. They each gave him a hug and a pat on the back or shoulder, all offering words of encouragement. He thanked them, but the grief of losing was all he could feel. They offered to give him a ride home, but he refused.
His forehead rested against the glass of the back window of his Rover Ride. He sighed when he thought about the fact that he wouldn’t need a trailer to tow anything back home. The car eventually pulled up in front of his house.
He walked slowly along the side of the house and headed for his workshop. By the time he arrived, his sorrow had turned to anger. Pepper began to throw his tools and scrap pieces all over the small space. He finally flung a wrench as hard as he could and felt a burning pain in his arm as soon as it left his hand. The wrench clanged against the metal object it had hit while Pepper reached up and clasped his arm with his free hand.
“Oh, come on! You’ve got to be kidding me!” He let out a loud bellowing cry of frustration. His throat burned as he screamed out every ounce of emotion that he could. He plopped down in his recliner, a tear streaking down his face.
He looked across the shop and his eyes locked onto what his wrench had hit. There was now a small dent in the ribcage of his metal dog statue—a pitbull. It had a large blocky head with pointed ears and a cybernetic chest piece that wrapped around its entire body.
“Oh boy, yeah… I thought I heard a hoop’n and a hollerin’ coming through the area. Looks like the tornado that cluttered up your workshop was what I heard there, aye?”
Pepper flopped his head back against the back of the recliner and his bloodshot eyes looked up at his neighbor. “I’m really not in the mood, Ryan.”
“Sure, sure… yeah, that is normally what most people say when things don’t go their way. Yes sir, they do, you know.” Ryan had his hands on his hips and slowly lifted up onto his toes. It looked like he was stretching his calf muscles and warming up for an athletic event.
Ryan then turned and looked down at Pepper. He was already a giant compared to most people, but he looked even more commanding as Pepper remained seated. “You know, Pep, you got the same sad face that old Bill Baxter had when he found out he was adopted. The kind of face someone makes when the joy is just sucked out of their soul, as if God forced a vacuum hose down your throat and…” Ryan made a slurping sound. “Sucked it right up there, don’t you know.”
Pepper shook his head. A fresh tear ran down his face and he looked away from Ryan. “I had it… It was so close. I have worked and trained and practiced… all for him to just show up with the best golem money can buy and smash all my work into pieces.”
“You know, Pep… sounds like it wasn’t your time.”
Ryan had barely gotten his statement out when Pepper snapped back, “It was! It was my time, Ryan! This was going to be my time to shine—to get my final win and go on to Regionals. To win there and get into the real Golem League and leave this piece-of-crap town in the rearview mirror! This—was—my—time!”
The tears were rolling down his cheeks like rivers by the time his speech ended. He quickly reached up and brushed them away. Ryan began to slowly walk over. He plopped himself onto the workbench and used it as a chair.
“I used to have this friend of mine—”
“Bill Baxter?” Pepper sarcastically interrupted.
“Oh, Bill is a great guy there, don’t you know, but no. Another feller who went by the name of James LaShawn. James was a good guy, a real, real good guy. The type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back.”
“He wouldn’t happen to have a spare golem lying around, would he?” Pepper huffed.
“You know, I think he is fresh out of those. But James… well, James was a good athlete. He trained his whole life to be on the Olympic team, and by golly, that man busted his keister to make sure he achieved it, don’t you know. But… he didn’t get it right away.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, see… James trained so hard that he actually broke himself. He went to the tryouts and was going to be selected until he tore a thingy in his knee.” Ryan tapped on his blue jeans where his knee was bent at an angle.
“I thought you said he got to be on the team?” Pepper asked but immediately noticed Ryan had pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. “Sorry,” Pepper said.
“So, James went back home, and the team went on to training and preparing for these games. He was devastated, much like you are here, you knows. He took some time to feel sorry for himself, but then, after a few days, he returned to his routine.” Ryan’s hand shot out. “As best as he could with the injury and all.”
“Okay.”
“Well, James kept at it—didn’t give up on his dream and did his best to be his best. Then one day he got a phone call. A phone call that asked him, would you be able to fly out and join the team?” Ryan waved his hand from side to side as he told the story and paused at this point. The moment passed and he continued. “James would replace Tyler Ward, who got injured during practice. A career-ending injury, and when the coach asked the team if there was anybody they preferred to replace Tyler, James’s name was at the top of the list.
“You see, Pep. Just because it isn’t your time, doesn’t mean it isn’t your destiny. Who knows what or why you were denied this time? But that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opportunity to still make it. There’s a reason behind everything, and time is the one thing we always seem to question the most, you know. But when you just keep your eyes on that dream of yours and keep pursuing it, that random phone call will one day come. You just wait and see there, big Pep.”
Pepper took a deep breath. “Thanks, Ryan.”
His neighbor looked around the room and his gaze focused on the metal dog at the other end. “Hey, what’s that there?”
“Amprage. I normally just call him Amp. He’s modeled on one of my favorite video game characters that I used to play when I was growing up.”
“Did you make that?”
Pepper chuckled. “Yeah… took me about five years to make.”
“You don’t say.”
Pepper’s eyes dashed from side to side, and he recalculated the dates to make sure he was accurate. “Yeah. Five years. A lot of bottle deposits to pay for him too.”
“Five years and you didn’t give up.” Ryan slowly turned and looked at him, a mischievous smile on his face.
Pepper looked back at his neighbor and rolled his eyes.
“Like I told you before, Pepper—don’t give up on the journey. It will be worth it in the end.”