Written by Adrian Mehrkens

"Welcome combatants!" The emperor said from his jewel encrusted throne. "Welcome to the annual Gladatorium. Now let me see if I got you all straight... it was... Mazzi... Chris... Faim... Felix... Hong... Maori... Mewmi... and Saki was it? Now let me just go over the rules real quick. There will be three rounds, each one will test your warrior attributes. You will face challenges of strength, skill and wits. And in the end, only one of you will remain, because you will all be required to kill your assigned opponents. Failure to comply to this simple rule, will result in a penalty. You may lose your powers, your weapons, or in some instances, an appendage or two. For the lucky fellow who survives this tournament, there will be one last tournament for you." The ground began to shake as a mountainous warrior entered the room. He stood at a whopping 10 feet, pure white eyes with some short black hair and a rather large nose. He was in fantastic shape, and his arms, all four of them, were as thick as Mewmi's torso. "This is my right hand man, and commander of my personal army, Gilgamien. Whoever wins the Gladatorium, will have the singular honor of facing this behemoth, and taking his place in my court and the luxuries that come with it. Any questions?"

Chris was about to speak while raising his hand when the emperor interrupted him. "Good, now get some rest, for tomorrow, the first challenge begins." He clapped his hands, a band of Durogudu warriors arrived to escort the combatants to their quarters where they will be staying throughout the event.

⚔

"My name is Maggie." The Italian magician girl responded, attempting to correct the emperor's mix-up with her last name, but the emperor already left. 
Mewmi looked at Faim concerned.
"Wasn't this supposed to be an exhibition match?" Faim asked, the gijinko walking next to him, laying her head against his shoulder.
"We all did." Mewmi replied before her sky blue eyes turned crimson, her nails growing long enough to look like sharp claws. "If one of us survives to take down the Behemoth, I'll have great pleasure in tearing him to shreds." She gave a feline smile, showing her fangs, containing her inner hellcat.

An Indoraptor walks in the room, her purple stripe glimmering. "Would you like to introduce yourselves?" The competitors were surprised to see a dinosaur in the room. "No, I am not in the match," she adds. "I am here to help you." 

"Well, seeing how this is all so terribly exciting, I'd just love to get to know each and every one of you, preferably before I slit your throats, of course." A girl with loosely curled brown hair and hazel eyes declared her presence to her competitors, her tone dripping with sarcasm. Her blue baby dragon, Rax, was whizzing around her in an excited circle, small bubbly chirps emitting from her mouth.

Maggie looked at the blue baby dragon in awe. "So cute!" She cooed before her cat Jinx used her paw to cover Maggie's eyes with the rim of the top hat. Idiot, the black cat didn't have the need to state the obvious. 
Chris analyzed his opponents. From what he could guess, the female competitors were too focused on their own agenda, except for Saki, she stood silently, and Felix seemed determined to eliminate anyone that got in his way just by the look on his face. Only Faim seems compliant to cooperate despite not having any magical abilities. "I'm afraid not Shadow. The others refuse to back out from the match, perhaps another time."

⚔

The next day, the combatants awoke not in their rooms. They were all in some random location around the Colosseum. Suddenly, the emperor's voice echoed throughout the land. "Good morning fighters, and welcome to the first challenge. The test of skill and strength. As you probably have guessed, you have all been paired up somewhere around the arena. Your task, kill your partner to move on to round two."

Maori  🆚️  Hong 

The two stared off in the woodland region outside the arena, Maori, clenching her glaive, and Hong gripping her metal gloves. Maori struck first as her glaive burst into flames as she threw it like a metal fire ball. Hong easily dodged it, and countered with extending her metal barbs from her gloves like harpoons. But instead of harpooning Maori, she barbed the nearby trees, and hurled herself right over Maori. As she landed behind her, Maori got her glaive back, and threw it once again.

This time, Hong blocked it with her metal gloves, and lunged back from the fire blast. Maori continued to barrage her with glaive-fire balls. Hong was being pushed back with each blast. But with the fifth attack, Hong had a different idea. She lunged to her left, and barbed the glaive as it was coming. Before long, she was using her own weapon against her.

But what was intended to be a fire blast, turned into a lethal blow, as the glaive's blade lodged itself into her gut. Maori fell to the ground bleeding out.

Felix  🆚️  Maggie

Felix doesn't hesitate to undermine his opponent, and opens with a shot from his musket. But he missed, and hit a tree instead. Maggie then summoned a circus tiger and let him loose on Felix. The beast pounced, and pushed Felix to the ground. Felix was fortunately able to free one of his arms, using his magic to conjure up mana bullets, began a rapid fire, and eventually shot it square in the chest.

After killing the cat, Maggie knew she needed something bigger to stall him and summoned an aggresive elephant. It charged at the gunslinger, but he leapt out of the way, and continued his rapid fire on the giant. It took some time, but he punched enough holes in the creature's flesh to kill it. 

Turning back to Maggie, she made an attack of her own. Playing cards were being thrown like shurikens. Felix thinking fast, dodged all the projectiles, but then his arm got pierced by a card. Maggie was about to throw another one, but she had used the whole deck already.

Felix brushed off the wound, and drew his musket again. As he fired, Maggie pulled off her top hat, and caught the mana bullets inside. She then looked inside, "you killed hopper!" She said as she pulled out a dead rabbit from her hat. Then a swarm of rabbits came flooding out in a stampede.

Felix fired at them as they came to him, but not fast enough, the rabbit hoard swept him away a good distance. When the rabbits finally left, Felix looked around for his opponent, but Maggie was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a lion sprang up from behind him and began tearing him to pieces. "Good girl, Zoey." Maggie said.

Chris  🆚️  Saki

Saki started with a rune she drew in the air, and when it was finished, she blew out a cone of fire. Chris conjured a shield and blocked the flames with ease. He then conjured a broadsword, and charged at her. She could feel him coming, and cast another rune. This time, she made an earth wall. 

Chris slammed into the dirt wall, and recovered quickly. When the wall deteriorated, she blew out a bolt of lightning, which was attracted to the metal shield and sword. Chris was zapped. He was a bit dizzy from the energy, but got over it, being an alien. 

He then conjured vines from the ground that tangled her legs and grew up around her body, she drew another rune, but was unable to finish by the time the vines got up to her arms. With her pinned, Chris took his sword back, but would he be able to kill?

Mewmi  🆚️  Faim

"We have to fight each other?" Faim said worried. "One of us has to die." Mewmi replied, her blue eyes glimmering at him. The two just stood there staring at each other for some time, not willing to hurt their friend. Who will kill the other?

⚔

The remaining 6 combatants sat at the emperor's dining hall for breakfast. It was an absolute smorgasbord. Pig, turkey, mountains of dinner rolls, potatoes, salads, even more exotic foods like lobster and elephant fat, which is a delicacy in this culture.

The emperor sat at the back of the room at a highly elevated seat behind what looked to be a desk. He suddenly stood up and began a speech. 

"It has come to my attention that there are some extra combatants here. I thought I made it clear you were all to kill your assigned targets." Everyone looked at each other as they remembered the 'penalties' they might receive. "Mewmi, Faim and Chris. You three failed to kill your enemies, and as such, Mewmi and Chris will lose their powers for the remainder of the event."

After he finished, two Durogudu soldiers came up behind them, and latched metal collars on their necks. "These collars have been enchanted by my court wizard and head of the inquisitors guild, Warlin to block power of any kind. You two will be fighting with your fists from now on. And as for you, Faim, you have no powers, so you will fight without any weapons for the remainder of the event."

The emperor took a deep breath. "But let's not end this with a bad note shall we? It's time for a history lesson! A long time ago, before Gilgamien came to power, the grand champion was a strange looking fellow named...uhh...well... I never knew his name, but everyone called him, the mirror, because he could flawlessly mimic the moves and strengths of anyone who faced him. And during his reign, he was a bit of a player too. He was always a ladies person. So when he finally fell at the hands of Gilgamien, he lefr behind quite a few offspring." He said as he clapped his hands twice.

Suddenly, 6 naked silver looking teens entered the room behind them, 4 males, 2 females. "These are some of the offspring, and they have graciously volunteered to help with your next challenge. 

Then, all 6 of the silver people transformed into perfect copies of the contestants, one for each member. "A wise warrior once said a warrior's greatest enemy is himself, I tend to take things like that rather literally. So that's what round two will be about. Tomorrow, each of you will defeat yourselves, or your counterparts, or avatars, or whatever you want to call them. But as usual, you must make a kill by the end of the day. If you don't, your clone won't hesitate to kill you. Have a good day." He said as he got up from the throne and left the room. The silver copycats followed.

⚔

GLADATORIUM DAY 3

The next day, when the combatants woke, they were shocked to already find their counterparts in their rooms. "Good morning fighters." The emperor's voice echoed. "Early bird gets the worm, so let's jump into round two shall we?" 

Hong

Hong immediately jumped out of her bed and harpooned the offender, but so did the avatar, quite flawlessly in fact as the mirror image harpooned her as well, blocking harpoon with harpoon. Its mimicry was so flawless that the spiles were dulled down and the tips collided with pin perfect accuracy.

Hong didn't notice it at first, but when she did, a million thoughts ran through her head. "How did she do that? Is this a dream? What is this thing? How can I stop it?" But as she pondered, her avatar broke the mimicry and sucker punched her right in the face. She fell backwards to the other side of the bed. The counterpart loomed over her as she was rubbing her head, ready to make the kill.

She rolled out of the way right as the avatar was about to harpoon her. Once in safety, she tried to harpoon her enemy again, this time lighting them on fire. But the mimic was on par with her plan, and perfectly mimed the attacks with flaming harpoons of her own. 

Seeing that her ranged attacks were futile, she charged at it melee. But once again, the avatar countered her punch flawlessly. The two were unable to land a blow on each other. The two had their fists held together as they stared at each other. This thing was even mimicking her strength too, as they were unable to move the other. 

Suddenly, the avatar broke the mime again and fired harpoons while their hands were still fist-locked. Hong felt her strength weakening as the harpoon impaled her, followed by another, and another, and another. Then all at once, the harpoons were ignited again, and Hong was burned to a crisp.

Saki

Saki took one look at her counterpart, and instantly prepared to attack. She signed a fire rune, but so did the mimic. Two cones of fire were blown to both of the fighters. Their clothes were lit on fire. Saki rolled around in a panic to put out the flames.

That was a mistake, the avatar did nothing of the sort, she let her clothes burn off which allowed her to catch Saki off guard and pinned her to the ground while she was rolling. It tried to punch her in the face several times, but missed. Saki then with her free arm signed another rune. The avatar mimicked that too, but because Saki was already on the ground, she had the advantage. 

When the rune was finished, a powerful gust of wind blew the mirror image off her body and actually blasted her through the wall into Faim's room. Faim was also in the middle of fighting his counterpart, but like the others, was dumbfounded on how to beat this thing.

Faim and Saki were now back to back facing their counterparts. "These things know our every move." Faim said. "How are we supposed to beat them?" Saki had an idea, but she is unable to speak, so she would have to show it. 

The two broke off to attack their avatars. Saki allowed her counterpart to pin her again, but this time with a trick up her sleeve. The two signed another rune, but once again, with her being trapped, she had the upper hand, the rune had pulled a piece of the wall off and knocked the magic glasses right off her counterpart.

Just as she had thought, the mimics also mimic their weakness. She took the opportunity to finish off her avatar by blowing her out the window. Faim got the message, and began thinking of his weaknesses while blocking his avatar's attacks.

Then he remembered how he started his relationship with Mewmi and hatched a plan. He broke free from his avatar's grasp, and put some distance between them. "Wait!" He said. "You don't have to do this!" The mirror warrior replied with a somewhat robotic tone. "It is killed or be killed. That is the rule of the Gladatorium."
"Perhaps it is, but do you really think this is a good idea?" 
"The emperor sees all, failure to obey will lead to death." The avatar replied. 
"But how do you know that? How do you know he is really watching you? I don't see anyone here. Do you?" 

The mirror looked around, thinking this was a trick. "Listen, there is no one here to see us. If you want to kill me, you can kill me. But look inside yourself. Are you a killer?" 

There was a moment of silence. Faim and Saki just stared at the thing expecting to attack. But what happened was most unexpected. It started to cry, and changed back into its silvery form. "You are right, I'm not a killer. The emperor forces us to fight against our will. He threatens to kill all of us if we don't comply." 
"I'm so sorry to hear that." Faim said coming in for a hug to comfort the poor thing. He winked at Saki and continued to play along. 
"He has us all in a breeding program so our family can always partake in this blood bath." The silver boy said. "We are just tools to him."
"That sounds terrible." Faim said. "Juuuuust... TERRIBLE!" He said as he rolled onto his back taking the silver one down with him, and threw him out the window as well. 

Chris

Chris immediately tried to conjure a weapon, but nothing happened. Just as the emperor said, his powers had been blocked. He had to find a way to get the metal collar off his neck, but fortunately for him, his counterpart didn't mimic his powers too. So this would be a battle of physical strength.

So Chris got into a fighting stance, and prepared for his enemy to attack but nothing happened. The mirror simply copied his fighting stance. The two just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. But they both just waited. 

As they waited, Chris thought about this whole situation. "So this thing will attack if I attack?" He thought to himself. "Then if I just stand here, nothing will happen. But I can't stop and do nothing, who knows what other penalties the emperor might have in store. We both can't use powers, so I'm gonna have to use my environment to my advantage." But he was still on his bed, what could he possibly use?

That's it, he was on his bed. He would use the bed as a weapon. He reached out his hand for the pillow. The mimic copied his motion, but being in the middle of the room, he was reaching for nothing. Chris then whipped the pillow, and hit him right in the face. Distracted, he then took the blanket and covered his face. 

The avatar struggled to get free, but Chris was cutting off his air supply by doing this. The avatar got weaker and weaker and before he knew it, he was dead. Chris would live to round 3. 

Mewmi

Mewmi hissed at the intruder, and attempted to go into beast mode, but the collar restricted her powers, she couldn't even shapeshift. She wouldn't give up, she lunged at the mirror image, which did the same. Both fighters were knocked to the ground on their bottoms, but they got back up to their feet and clawed at each other like wild animals.  

The scratching resulted in a stalemate, both fighters chewed each other up good. Their bodies were covered in scratches and small cuts, but Mewmi persisted, despite the wounds and running out of stamina. As time went on, Mewmi's attacks got clumsier and clumsier as she was tiring out. But her avatar was still fresh, as if it didn't have a stamina level at all. 

Mewmi still wouldn't give up. The longer the fight went on, the angrier she got, and the more fierce she battled. She fought with every ounce of savagery she had, but all of that was flawlessly mimicked by her counterpart. She got more and more tired until her legs felt like jello. She simply couldn't go on like this, but she wouldn't give up, no matter how worn out she got, she would fight till the end. 

Which had come when she had finally collapsed from exhaustion some time in the evening. Yes, the fight did last all day. Helpless, her avatar clawed, bit and scratched at her till she stopped moving.

Maggie

Maggie opened the cage where her lion was, and let loose on the avatar. Suddenly, it changed into a lion, and started attacking it. Maggie watched in amusement. "So the mirror image can only copy one thing at once?" She thought to herself. Suddenly, she had a plan. 

After the mimic fought the lion, Maggie summoned an elephant to attack the mirror, the mirror morphed into the elephant, the elephant charged at the counterpart and their tusks clashed, the mirror image was pushed back before the lion roared and clawed at the mirror, the mimic had to divide his attention between the elephant and the lion. The mirror image attacked the elephant in full force, knocking the real elephant over. The lion scratched the mimic elephant. When the mirror image battled the lion, Maggie released the rest of her animals on the mirror image. Another elephant, some snakes, her rabbit horde, some monkeys, and any other animal she had. And just as she planned, the mime couldn't mimic everything at once. It was overrun, and eventually, torn to pieces by a horde of circus animals. 

Faim, Maggie, Saki and Chris had survived to round 3, what challenge will the emperor have for them there?

Later that day, a few minutes after Mewmi met her fate at the hands of her doppelganger, the surviving fighters were summoned to the emperor's throne room. "Congratulations final fighters!" He said unenthusiastically. "You have successfully mastered yourselves. And you all made a kill this time around, I'm impressed. But there is still one last test you all must face before you can challenge Gilgamien. You all have proven to be worthy adversaries in one on one combat, but I have yet to see your skills against multiple opponents. Tomorrow, you will not be fighting each other. Rather, you will be fighting WITH each other. For the final round, you will all work together to fend yourselves against multiple waves of my personal troops. Whoever survives to the end, will get to face off Gilgamien. Any questions?"

⚔

Gladatorium Day 4

Faim woke up in the morning to the sound of thunder outside. A minor storm was blowing over the palace. "Man I'm getting sick of having to fight in the mornings." He said to himself. But inside, there was a cloaked man in his room. "This must be part of today's challenge." He thought to himself. But before he could make a move, the stranger plunged him into a vortex of some sort. There were many bright and flashing colors as he fell. 2 minutes fell later, he found himself laying down on the ground of the Gladatorium arena. The other fighters were there too.

Once again, the voice of the emperor echoed throughout the land. "Welcome final 4 to round 3." He said. "For today's challenge, you will all defeat 3 waves of troops, each one harder than the last. Anyone who survives this onslaught, will be worthy of Gilgamien's entertainment uh-er-I mean challenge. Let the battle begin!"

4 heavy metal gates opened, and several durogudu warriors came surging through. Faim, Saki, Maggie, and Chris huddled together, back to back as the durogudu surrounded them. "I count 12 of them." Faim said. "We can all face 3 at a time." 
"Sounds like a plan." Chris said. And the gang split up and charged into battle.

Saki signed a rune right away, which was good timing. Her enemies had charged her on all sides. When the rune was finished, a stone dome had covered her. The troops hacked at the stone with their short swords in an attempt to get her. Saki made another rune inside of the dome. This time, the dome shattered and exploded as projectiles in all directions. 

She looked around and saw that 2 of her 3 enemies were hit and bleeding out. But the third snuck up behind her, and thrust his blade through her stomach. 

Chria was allowed to have a weapon this round, so he was armed with 2 broadswords. He was surrounded, and the troops were closing in on him, with their giant wooden shields facing him. The first one attacked from behind, but he moved to the left and tripped the soldier. The other two attacked. The first one swung his sword, but Chris blocked it with one of his, and with the other, he slashed the offender across the stomach. The second warrior did the same. Chris blocked it with both blades this time, and kicked him to the ground. But he got back up quickly. 

The two stared down at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Then the wounded one got back up, blood still pouring from his gut, and once again, charged at him right as the second was attacking. Once again, Chris moved to the right, and the two slammed to each other. Chris took the opportunity and slashed at the both at once. The two fell to the ground dead. 

Faim was unarmed for the fight, as a penalty from round one. Outnumbered, against 3 armed enemies, this would be entertaining. The first one charged but Faim flipped him over his back onto the gravely earth. The second one charged at him, but with a twist, he stumbled to the ground as well. The third one however, grabbed him by the arms and pushed him down. The next thing he knew, he had a spear in his chest.

Maggie was also surrounded. When the first enemy attacked, she flicked a playing card, which had actually slashed his jugular. He fell to the ground dead. The second troop attacked. She took off her hat and the warrior's sword fell inside. Dumbfounded, he stepped back in astonishment. Just then, the sword was hurled back out of the hat as if someone had just thrown it, and pierced through the wooden shield and killed the second. When the third attacked, she was unprepared, but her lion wasn't. It pounced onto the soldier and had itself a delicious meaty meal. 

The emperor's voice was heard again. "So you see, my durogudu can be lethal fighters on their own, but they are also trained to fight as a unit." The second wave came in, but this time, they huddled together like a Roman shield wall. Chris couldn't crack this defence, but Maggie had another thing up her sleeve. 

Her second elephant plowed right over them, trampled two of them, crushing the legs of a third one, and scattering the rest. Unfortunately the beast was taken down not long after. It was now 9 to 2, Chris would handle 4 and Maggie would take 5. 

Maggie started hurdling more playing cards. She made a few cuts, but ran out of cards before she could kill anyone. The first soldier attacked, but she tripped him, and he fell into her disappearing box. She spun the box and the soldier was gone. 

Two others attacked. The lion pounced on them too. It killed one, but the other one was able to slip his arm free, and stab it in the neck. The other two charged at her. She couldn't disarm both of them, she only had one hat, but she did have something else. A horde of rabbits flooded out of her hat and pushed the other two right off the stadium. Only one fighter remained. He got into a battle stance, and waited for her to make a move. She had one more trick up her sleeve, or rather her hat. She leaped into the air, and trapped the soldier inside the bottomless pit that was her hat. 

One soldier came behind Chris, but he turned around in a perfect motion to stab the offender in the back as he came. Another attacked him at that moment, he threw that one over his back and onto the dead one. When the third came at him, he blocked his attack, spun his blade around, made the warrior's sword slip from his hand, then he roundhouse kicked him in the face. The fourth one had him blade blocked. The two pushed against each other, when the one he flung to the ground and stabbed him in the leg. He let out a cry of great pain, then the soldier pushed him over. The remaining 3 durogudu took his swords, and hacked the Venusian to pieces. 

"STOP!" The emperor called out. We have a champion! Maggie!" Maggie's widened in relief that it was all over. And that she had survived the brutalities and the onslaught that is the Gladatorium. "Maggie, you are this year's gladiator champion, I now present you with an option. You can either participate in one last battle against Gilgamien and claim your rightful place at my court as commander of the army, and my right hand girl. Or, you can simply leave the stadium, never to return with the knowledge that you are a second place warrior. Keep in mind, if you choose this option, you will lose your privilege to face Gilgamien, return to whatever life you had before. What do you choose?

⚔

"I don't know what to say?" Maggie said before her cat, Jinx, climbed to her shoulder. 
"Go for it!" Jinx meowed to her ear while Maggie petted her.
"You know that-" Maggie tried to whisper back while keeping a straight face. 
"Consider it as your last performance. Entertain them! Use the final act that you've practiced." That was Jinx's code word for *I know.*
"I accept!" Maggie said to the emperor. If the emperor wanted Gilgamien to be entertained, then she'll give a show they'll never forget.
"Very well then." The emperor said. "Tomorrow, Gilgamien meets the challenger!" After he said this Jinx landed to the ground and crossed the emperor's path. 

⚔ BONUS SCENE ⚔

A white Indoraptor with a yellow stripe on its side strolled past Maggie, pretending to ignore her while the light green fox perched on her feathered back as it scrutinized Jinx and Maggie closely.

Jinx looked at the green fox, eyes narrowing while Maggie gawked at the Indoraptor. "Look Jinx, a dinosaur. Petro is going to flip when he sees this." Maggie said as she took her smartphone out of her pocket to take a photo when Jinx used the rim of Maggie's top hat to cover her eyes, obstructing the magician's vision. 
"Idiot." Jinx hissed.
"Hey!" Maggie whined, "What was that for?" 
"Haven't you realized that those dinosaurs have been prowling around since the beginning of the tryout and they have done nothing to help." Jinx reminded her.
"Shadow did try to help." Maggie countered.
"If she really wanted to help, she could have contacted the staff members of the Gladatorium and reported this mess." The black cat implied.
"The emperor is in charge of the Gladatorium, you know that." 
"You don't say..." Jinx meowed sarcastically, "if that were true, then who put the tournament rules on the walls next to the Tryout booth?" The black cat asked her.
"..."
"The staff members, Maggie." Jinxe meowed in annoyance. "One of the rules strictly stated that killing your opponent is forbidden. I walked around the stadium and I overheard one of the staff members mention that the hostess kicked the sorcerer out of the Gladatorium for performing necromancy and he got banished from the Colosseum, PERMANENTLY!" 
"Seriously?!" Maggie gasped.
"Yes, you dummy!" Jinx hissed. "Those Indoraptors are accomplices of that madman's thirst for death. If they really wanted to stop this, they could've informed the head honcho herself and she would've given the emperor the boot and none of the combatants wouldn't have been killed in the first place."
⚔ END OF BONUS SCENE ⚔

Gladatorium Finals

The arena was packed with people today. Everyone was eager to meet the challenger, and watch him/her get crushed by Gilgamien. The emperor stood in his personal seat near the top of the arena. Arch mage Warlin stood at his right side. "My people!" The emperor called out. "Today, the challenger will battle the mighty Gilgamien!" And here she is!"

The heavy metal gate opened up, and Maggie stepped out into the light. The crowd went wild as she stepped out. As an opening act, Maggie turned the tip of her wand into a bundle of flowers. The audience loved it. "And without further adieu, let's bring out the champion!" The emperor called out.

On the other side of the arena, the metal gate opened up, but didn't get up very far before Gilgamien punched it out of its stone slots. With a cloud of dust and debris, the gate went flying until it hit one of the columns in the arena's middle. The crowd roared even louder for the champion. "GIL-GA-MIEN! GIL-GA-MIEN!" They called out.

Warlin leaned over to the emperor. "You think that cat might hinder Gilgamien's performance?" He asked. 
"Oh, no way." The emperor replied. "This isn't the first time someone has tried to sabotage the guy, by poison or other means. Worst case scenario, his attacks are gonna be a bit clumsier." With a thundering voice, he called out what the people have been waiting to hear. "Let the final battle begin!"

Gilgamien began walking over to Maggie, but she was already on the attack. Gilgamien had all four arms up in a blocking stance as dozens of playing cards whizzed through the air. But not a single one had pierced his flesh, not even his arms. 

Like the hulk, he lept into the air and shook the ground as he landed behind Maggie. She fell to the ground as the earth around her shook. She pushed herself backwards a s the champion walked to her. He was about to get her when her lion pounced on him, but the beast was nearly useless, as Gilgamien one-armed back-handed the lion's snout as it leapt at him. With a loud crounching sound, the cat slid on the ground incapacitated. 

Maggie got back up to her feet and thinking fast, whipped off her hat and sent her rabbit horde out once again. Despite the surge of furry adorableness, Gilgamien didn't budge. Instead, he slammed the ground with his foot, and sent a shockwave that scattered the rabbits in all directions. He also stepped on one as he did so.

Gilgamien came in for a bone crushing punch, when his fist was engulfed in her hat. Maggie grew worried. Normally when this happened, the whole person would get sucked into the har. But here, Gilgamien was still there. 

What was going on?

She didn't have time to answer, as he punched her face with another one of his hands. As she flew across the arena, Gilgamien pulled his arm out of the hat and crushed it in his hand. Maggie, now with a distorted face from the crushing blow, was able to see the giant come up to her to finish her off.

Gilgamien decided to perform a feat of brutality. He grabbed her face with one hand, and walked back out to the middle of the arena. She screamed in excruciating pain as he squeezed her head in his massive hand. And before he knew it, her head blew up in his hand, leaving a bloody red pulp in his grasp. 

The crowd cheered violently as the battle ended, the emperor hand gestured at Gilgamien. He knew what that meant, and he gladly went.

GLADATORIUM EPILOGUE

The emperor entered the room with a crystal in his hands. "You're late sire." Gilgamien said. 
"Oh you know me, gotta keep the people happy." He replied. "Well anyways, here is your prize." He said extending his arm with the crystal in hand. Just then, over 2 dozen light blue whispey lights flew out of the crystal. They orbited around it until Gilgamien inhaled, the lights were sucked into his mouth. "There you go demon," the emperor said. "The souls of all the people who died in the Gladatorium." Gilgamien swallowed.
"Ugh, this feels less and less satisfying every time." 
"Then perhaps you can raid a rebel village or something." The emperor suggested. "There are plenty of souls for you here."

"Perhaps you're righ- wait, you feel that?" Gilgamien said. The emperor couldn't get what he was saying, other than a minor draft. But the look on Gilgamien's face looked worried. That was a huge surprise. Nothing had scared him at all before, what could be triggering him so quickly?

His question was answered when a crashing sound followed by a blinding flash. The emperor couldn't see anything, but he could hear what was going on. There was someone else in the room with them, who was talking to Gilgamien. "I finally found you demon, it's about time to finish you off like I should have done before." There were several rolls of thunder before the light died down.

In the end, Gilgamien was gone, and in his place, was a human with a walking stick. He was also carrying an orb of some kind. "Two down, two to go." The man said looking intently into the orb. 
"Y-you... defeated Gilgamien?" The emperor said pointing at the stranger who whipped his head to look the emperor in the eyes. "I must know your name grand champion." The emperor said.

But whoever this guy was, clearly had no interest, as he flew out of the gaping hole he made in the roof when he came. In a blaze of fire, he took to the sky till he couldn't be seen anymore. 

"Your highness!" Warlin said as he entered the room in a panic. "I saw something crash into this room, are you alright?" 

"Yes, I am fine." The emperor said. "But who will be the grand champion now?"