The entity laughed.
And it wasn’t a quiet giggle or chuckle. The thing practically howled cries of laughter like it had heard the best joke in the world.
Manny’s heart thumped. Tingles of fear prickled his skin as he stopped advancing. Throughout his life, he had challenged many opponents, both formally and informally, but never had they laughed in response. The act was equally as shocking as it was disrespectful.
“Hey! What’s so funny?”
The entity either completely ignored him or didn’t hear him because it simply continued the fit of laughter, its square eyes squinting and rectangular purple body jiggling.
Then something odd happened.
While its perfect posture deteriorated due to its bent-over body, it rapidly shortened until it transformed from a 9 feet creep giant into a 5 ft 10 creature. It then spoke rather loudly in an unearthly language, causing four similar-looking creatures to materialise. The entity yelled a few more words while pointing at Manny and suddenly all of the creatures were laughing hysterically. All of them were on their knees, repeatedly slamming their fists on the white surface and one of them was even reduced to tears.
Eventually, they rose to their feet with neutral faces as if nothing had occurred.
“You’re funny, contestant,” the entity said. “It’s been a while since we had a challenger. You will be a fan favourite that’s for sure.”
Manny rose his arms, posed in a fighting stance. “So you agree then? We fight and if I win you wake me up?”
“Of course not,” the entity said, smiling. “You will enter your second life and you will either win or lose. But we do have a custom to reward those bold enough to challenge us to fights.”
“And what might that be?”
“We will grant you the opportunity to participate in a little mini-game where you must survive for as many rounds as possible. The longer you survive the more of our powers we will gift you in the next life.”
“How many rounds are there?” Manny asked quickly.
“One hundred.”
“And what happens if I win all the rounds? Can you wake me up then?”
“No challenger has ever passed round three. I wouldn’t bother--”
“Answer the question, Square Head.”
The entity exchanged looks with its buddies, some of whom cracked a smile and then it shrugged. “Very well. You will be woken up if you survive all the rounds.”
A crimson swirling mass materialised directly in front of Manny.
“Enter the portal to begin, contestant.”
“Where does it lead to?”
“You will know the place when you get there.”
“I’ve been there before then?”
“No.” The entity smirked. “But your first guess will be correct.”
----------------------------------------
Manny instinctively knew he stood within the dark depths of hell.
The sky— or maybe it was a ceiling— coloured bright orange and the ground was littered with skeletons and rotting corpses. Creatures of various sizes skulked or flew around the wasteland. Together they possessed all the stereotypical key characteristics of a monster such as red scaly skin, razor-sharp claws and piss yellow eyes.
What stood out more than anything was what was absent rather than what was present. Visually, the environment was chilling but everything else you would expect from hell was mute. There was no unbearable, foul stench. No screaming souls were begging for mercy. There was no sizzling, hissing or crackling or screeching. None of the monsters even seemed to notice him.
A holographic display appeared in the air filled with text and Manny stared at a list of weapons. Immediately, he frowned as he scrolled down the list.
Choose weapon category:
- Swords
- Spears
- Bow and arrow
- Firearms
- Axes
- Staffs
“No. No. Fuck no. Tempting but no. Nope. Um, what?”
The list was extensive, consisting of hundreds of weapon types but nothing seemed to fit him and the more Manny searched the more confused he became.
Eventually, the heavyweight boxing champion smiled.
“Perfect. There we go.”
- Gauntlets.
Manny selected the gauntlets category and, again, was shown a long list. None of the words made sense to him. They were either in a foreign language or he was too ignorant to recognise them. It was most likely the latter. Next to each weapon title was a preview button which displayed a holographic version of the weapon.
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“All of them look the same.” Manny let out a sigh. “I’ll just pick the coolest one I can find."
True to his word, he selected the coolest gauntlets he could find. They were untitled and could accurately be described as humongous crimson doomsday devices.
In other words, they were perfect.
Two options in bold white showed up on the display:
- Start | Change weapon
Manny looked around to observe his surroundings. There were at least twenty monsters nearby, and the wasteland had more than enough space for running so there was no obvious place to get cornered. He tried to come up with a game plan but found himself thinking of Abeo and Phoebe’s shining smiles and both of them jumping around in excitement.
His heart twinged. Already, he missed them. Already, he missed everyone and everything about the life he was now detached from. No matter what, no matter the costs, he needed to get back.
As soon as Manny pressed the start button, every monster present snapped their necks towards him. Like pressing resume on a paused video game, the silence was broken by guttural, feral growls.
Telepathically, each monster chanted their desires as they converged on his location.
Dismember, torture, break.
It’s only one human. We must take our time with this one.
Let’s make him suffer.
Each word bounced around Manny’s head. The new visceral experience and form of communication left him slightly disorientated.
*Thunk*
The gauntlets rested by his feet, way more glossy than the preview but also much smaller, resembling mechanical boxing gloves. Upon closer inspection, tiny, strange symbols were inscribed on one of them.
No. Not symbols.
For some reason, he knew they were words in another language. Four words to be exact.
Before Manny could reach for the gauntlets, they flew onto his hands. They were the perfect match. Words entered his mind.
Hello, Champ. We are a pair of custom gauntlets and it seems you instinctively picked us from the Infinity List which is really sweet. We’re flattered. We were meant for each other.
“Thanks?” Manny said out loud, not sure how else to respond to the message. Did the weapons just talk or was he hallucinating?
No. You’re not hallucinating. We have a mind of our own. Now run away from the enemies as fast as you can while we finish adjusting our capabilities.
“Adjust your capabilities?”
Simply put, Champ, if you punch with us the way we are now, your arms are going to explode into tiny, tiny pieces.
Manny dashed away from the monsters without hesitation, cursing in frustration. A cluster of flying monsters already began closing the gap.
The human is running.
Don’t kill him straight away.
Perfect. Cowards are more fun to torment.
“I’m not a goddamn coward!” Manny retorted back at the top of his lungs as he accelerated with every step.
Even if it was for a strategic retreat, every part of the champion’s being despised running away. It was against his fighting style as well as his personality. Ferocious offence had always been his best form of defence. In every fight, he got in close and exchanged punches regardless of the level of risk. He would evade, of course, but never flee.
“Gauntlets! When will you be ready?”
Three minutes should do the trick. The time will skip by, don’t worry. It’s the same duration as a boxing round. Quick warning. In the name of all that is holy, please, do not punch. We’ll let you—
Ear-splitting screeches interrupted the gauntlet’s thoughts. A row of monsters blocked his path. Manny rotated ninety degrees and bolted in another direction only to find that the monsters had already formed a perfect ring around him. They grinned wildly and then proceeded to howl in excitement as one of them entered the circle.
The 6-foot-tall monster spat a viscous purple substance on the ground as it dragged itself towards Manny on stubby, crimson legs. It was hideous. Each facial feature was squashed, contorted or stretched as if it had been repeatedly smashed in by a hammer. Its long brawny body was hunched over and two insectoid-like eyes inspected their target from broad sockets.
You’re going to suffer, human. More than you ever have in your life.
It took a few seconds for Manny to realise the monster was talking to him because the words simply flowed into his mind rather than being spoken out loud. His response to the threat was a simple one— he cracked his neck to one side and shifted into a fighting stance.
The surrounding monsters howled in unison but the strangled sounds were already blocked out. For the champion, the enclosed space was perfect as it emulated the boxing ring and the boxing ring was his second home. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Manny had the opposite of claustrophobia. In such a confined place, where he tended to let his fists fly, he buzzed with excitement.
His pupils dilated and his breathing slowed as he edged forwards. The monster snarled yet it didn’t move. Not breaking eye contact, Manny got closer and closer at a slow, steady pace. In response, although barely visible, the monster edged backwards a tiny bit.
It leapt forwards and swiped. Manny ducked and within the simple motion, he evaluated his opponent’s physical weaponry. Its reach was exceptional yet nothing else stood out apart from the razor-sharp claws which could probably fatally wound him in one attack.
As the monster continued with its repetitive sequence of attacks, swiping wildly with both arms, Manny… frowned.
He was a bit disappointed.
The attacks were quick but he had seen quicker. The monster was likely ten times physically stronger than him but the thing couldn’t land a hit to save its life, displaying piss poor accuracy. There was no strategy. No fighting style. It was like playing against a bot.
Manny focused on evasion while resisting the overwhelming urge to punch. He ducked, weaved, sidestepped and occasionally dived and rolled. Meanwhile, though he paid no attention to it, the gauntlets sent updates in the back of his mind like the hidden coding in the back-end of a PC.
Analysing wielder…
CRITICAL WARNING. The wielder is not suitable to wear gauntlets. Risk of death is categorised as extreme.
- Safeguarding plan is being formulated…
- Error. All 634,513 safeguarding plans were unsuccessful. Risk of death is categorised as extreme. Would you like to try again?
- Error. All 1,000,241 safeguarding plans were unsuccessful. Risk of death is categorised as high. Would you like to try again?
Safeguarding plan 997,032 selected.
- Strength output decreasing to 2%…
- Shutting down magical enhancers…
- Depleting energy cores…
Hundreds of other parameters were listed. Then a single percentage popped up. Gradually, it increased.
5%.
15%
30%
50%
70%
The monsters’ howls and roars became deeper and more strangled. Two of them entered the ring.
“Hold up,” Manny said. “This wasn’t supposed to be a street fight.” His eyes darted left to right.
80%
90%
95%
Four entered the ring. Then five more. Suddenly, the second home Manny knew all too well had disappeared. He now felt like a caged bird. All of the monsters screeched and hurled telepathic threats.
We will tear you limb from limb, human.
There’s no escape, human.
You will suffer forever, human.
Manny didn’t let any of the words affect him until one phrase lit a fire inside his soul. It was against his principles as a man and champion boxer.
You have lost, human.
Simultaneously, the monsters swooped down or lunged but Manny reciprocated, charging forward with the same vigour. The crimson gauntlets expanded to almost three times their original size and roared to life.
100%. Modification process complete.