The Reluctant Gladiator; Part One
Story by Soren on SoFurry
A new series based in the near future.
The Reluctant Gladiator; Part One
A longer story, but still with sexual stuff and lots of action and violence. :)
The world ended. I was one of only a handful of humans who remembered Earth before the Strike. The vast wildlands, diverse animals, comfortable atmosphere. Although humans were gradually destroying it, it was still alive.
I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news report...in my kitchen, barefoot, wearing only a bra, undies, and a black t-shirt. I poured hot green tea from my favorite cast iron kettle into a simple mug.
The TV set announced some sort of impending doom, the hosts chattering excitedly. The political races were the latest highlights, so I tuned out their incessant noise as I passed through the living room, thinking it was just another argument over some obscure opinion.
I stopped in my tracks when an animation of a meteor filled the screen, accompanied by the audio buzzwords "collision course" and "extinction-scale event" rang through. My tea was momentarily forgotten as I watched the CG meteor tumble through simulated space, and collide with a crudely visualized Earth. The spray of molten pixels around the continent-sized meteor expanded to fill the screen, a momentary blinding white frame, then a pixellated view of post-impact Earth; the planet existing only as a scatter of rock framing a half-hull.
No way. They would've had years of warning. Especially for something that big, and on such a path. Why the uproar now?
The news anchors carried on, but they spoke to an empty room, where only a steaming cup of tea listened.
I had always been prepared for a shit-hits-the-fan scenario, mostly natural disasters, but as I packed my bag with essentials and a handful of irreplaceable memories, I vaguely wondered if I should even try, or just go back and settle on the couch, bundled in a fuzzy blanket, piping tea in hand, and watch the world burn. An extinction-level event isn't something you can outrun. But every fiber of my being screamed to get out of town.
I found myself back in the living room, watching some phD try to explain the potential threat in laymans terms, the news anchors patiently faking interest and occasionally nodding as if they understood physics and astronomy like they understood the menus in their iPhones.
The doctor paused, forcing the airwaves silent. I could practically hear my pulse.
"What should we do?"
"Connect with your closest friends and family. Enjoy each other's company." the old man's expression saddened, his sorrowful eyes peering seemingly right through the camera and towards every soul watching, "We will not survive this event."
I stared back at his eyes. The TV was quiet again, both anchors speechless, the old scientist bowed his head. Despite the shocking peace, I imagined a sudden scream of a crowd, the frantic struggle to get to vehicles, subways, planes, even skateboards. The mass hysteria, human beings trampling other humans to attempt to save themselves. I could almost hear the cries of children as their parents drag them along, forced to leave behind a beloved pet or favorite toy. My chest tightened.
No way would I just sit here and wait for death. If these were my last days, I don't want my body obliterated while sitting on a couch. I was steady, clear-headed, and prepared to die. I regretted nothing. But I refused to die sitting on a couch.
With my old 4Runner packed full of supplies, my trusty malamute, Winter, riding shotgun, and a custom AR15 across my lap, I drove away from my house, and towards the mountains.
Two long days later, the 4Runner I had dumped a new engine into last summer was on fire. I had caught a Molotov cocktail with the roof rack in the last town, and didn't realize my folding rooftop tent was a mobile bonfire until three miles later at the trailhead. Without a second thought, I slung my bugout bag onto my back, and secured the smaller pack containing my hastily assembled memories, to my chest. Both packs had body armor plates purchased from a local gun show installed. I made a custom harness and vest from kevlar-reinforced fabric for Winter, with molle straps for his food packs. Once we were rigged, we started hiking into the woods. There was a nice little secluded location I often hiked to when life got to be too much. And this qualified as "too much".
The crack of twigs and rush of voices subconsciously triggered my hands to ready my rifle. Although my Beretta 92 pistol rode on my hip, and a Remington 870 shotgun was snugged to my pack, the AR was my first choice for initial defense. The 16" barrel paired with my well-sighted varmint scope was lethal under a hundred yards. I could have a target sighted and dropped before it realized I was there.
From the trees emerged a hodge podge variety of people. They were of all colors and sizes, but wore the same expressions: fear, exhaustion, and surprise to happen upon a well-armed white girl with a burly dog by her side in the near middle of nowhere.
When it was apparent they were harmless, I reassured them I wasn't a threat, and we made our way up to the hill top together.
The scientist on the news had said the meteor would be landing somewhere off the coast of California. It seemed that all bad things in movies happened in or to some densely-populated cities in America, and I felt like I had seen this particular movie before.
Once at the peaceful mountain retreat, I found a soft spot in the grass and settled down. Winter laid by my left side. The others followed suit, finding comfort holding their loved ones.
Up in the sky, the space rock glowed like a second, smaller, more deadly, sun. It was mid morning, so the actual sun was behind us as we faced west. It warmed our backs, making everything seem slightly better. A light spring breeze lifted our spirits. A Hindu family sang softly in their native dialect, and everyone simply enjoyed their calming voices.
A young boy, maybe around seven years of age, wearing filthy and ragged clothes, looked like he had just gone through a cheese grater, slid up next to me. He looked up at me with sadness and desperation, whispering almost too quietly to hear, that his parents were dead, and he was alone. I took his hand in mine, and smiled at him. He smiled slightly. We looked up at the approaching meteor together.
I closed my eyes, relishing the warm sun, the fresh air, and...
It was dark...cold...
I opened my eyes, but saw nothing but dark. I tried to rub my eyes, and realized the little boy was gone. My hand was empty. There was no grass, no sun, no Winter. Even my packs and rifle were gone. My Beretta was still firmly attached to my belt, but everything else was gone.
Some light source illuminated the room. Smooth, glossy, black, walls, floor, and ceiling. I couldn't see the source of the light...it was just...all around.
Three people were in the room with me: one of the Hindu women, a middle-aged black woman, and an older white man in a suit. I looked at each one of them, each one mirroring my own expression of all capital WTF?
I had a feeling I wasn't dead. But if we weren't dead, where the hell were we, and what happened to Earth?
When she woke, (didn't remember falling asleep), she was laying on hard-packed dirt. As her vision cleared, the old wood benches became apparent, as did the floor-to-ceiling metal bars. This was a prison cell.
She stood on shaky legs, using the bars to steady herself. A couple feet away was a standalone cell with a single bench, and three walls of bars. Just past the single cell, on the left was an archway with double wooden doors hung on wrought iron hinges, parallel to a dark hallway. Just beyond was a series of wooden racks filled with medieval-style weaponry and basic leather armor.
A whimper behind her...it was the Hindu woman. Next to her, the man and woman from earlier. She almost didn't recognize them. All three of them were dressed in basic rags.
From behind, a door clicked in the distance. Footsteps shuffled down hallways, echoing along with the sound of rattling chains.
Through the archway on the right, a pile of people, all dressed like her and in chains, appeared. There was maybe thirty or so of them, being ushered forward by a tall, lean, reptile. He must've been around seven feet tall, muscle-bound, and covered in olive drab scales. A sword was slung over his back, a coiled whip lashed to his side, and only wore a simple tunic held up by a leather belt. He had a short, blunt, alligator-like snout, with dull teeth protruding from either side like fangs. His piercing orange eyes were set just past his jawline and on either side of his wide head, which was host to six horns, arranged like a fan, the top two longest, the next ones slightly shorter, the lower ones even less. He snarled at the captives, pushing them towards the cell she was imprisoned in.
"Son of Godzilla." she snorted.
The reptile slaver opened the gate, shoving the new slaves in. They remained secured to the central tagline chain after he closed the gate and walked away. Not a single one of them looked calm and collected, and the whole group was incredibly diverse; Asian, European, black, white, islander...
"Does anyone here speak English?" she asked. Several eyes looked at her.
"I do, little." came a small voice. A short oriental pushed through the crowd.
"Do you know where we are?"
"Uh, no. No. I come here, like poof!" he made an invisible explosion with his hands.
"Do you know why we're here?"
"No." he shrugged.
"What's your name?"
"Tom Chen." he grinned.
"I'm Jenna." she shook his hand.
Suddenly, a pack of similar reptiles entered. One unbarred the double-doors, the other two unlocked the prison and pulled about a dozen people out, including Jenna and Tom Chen. The dragonoid grabbed Jenna by her brown hair, half-dragging her to the doors. She snarled and swiped at the scaly, only getting a sneer from him.
The doors swung open, and the humans were shoved out into the blinding light...
I squinted, tears filling my eyes as they struggled to adjust to the bright new atmosphere. I rubbed the saltwater from my eyes as they slowly focused. White sand underfoot, warm like a tropical beach. There were other people around me, each struggling with their own vision.
I was able to finally look up. Good God. It was a Roman-style coliseum.
The lady a few paces away from me shrieked, blood spraying all over us. As she fell, blood soiled the clean sand, and a huge anthro tiger with gold armor jerked his sword back from her body. He snarled and plunged at another one of us, sending us running.
I heard another scream from behind me, and panicked cries from all around as we ran like wild horses pursued by a mountain lion. My selfish nature kept me in the center of the group; my compassionate side searched for a way out, or at least a defensive weapon.
We were halted when a huge creature galloped in front of us. Like a cross between a rhino and a bear, wearing scars like badges, snarling like the armored tiger, and drooling from a broken jaw. It roared at us, causing the people ahead of me to scream, one woman just flat out passing out. When I turned back, I noticed the tiger crouched over one of the corpses, more like squatting over her.
The bastard was fucking the human corpse he'd just slain. He caught me staring at him, grinned, and pointed right at me.
"Not on your life" I growled.
The rhino-bear charged us, bowling several people over, spattering more blood on the sand. I dove to the side, facefirst, and rolled. The ground shook as the rhino-bear thundered past. I was back on my feet as quickly as possible, turning to look every which way, tense for the next attack. People around me cried out in pain. Bodies lay scattered like bowling pins after a strike, rivers of blood snaking through the sand.
Then, another scream echoed in the coliseum. There was another pack of scared humans across the giant bowl, also being assaulted as we were. Out of the corner of my eye, an orange motion, and a flash. The fucking tiger was walking towards us, bloody sword at the ready, evil grin painting his scarred muzzle. Fuck.
I turned and ran. Something caught my foot, sending me headfirst into the sand. I cussed out the thing that tripped me, and my broken toes. A silver glint told me whatever it was was metal. Well shit. It was a sword. A fucking sword.
Without hesitation, and with fear of the gap between the tiger and I closing so quickly, I grabbed the sword. The tiger lunged at me, and I shrunk down, lifting the sword, closing my eyes.
A heavy pressure, and a grunt, his iron-y breath washed over me. I felt a heavy paw land on my side, claws dug in, then released. I cracked open an eye; face to face with the damn cat. His tongue was lolled out, dripping blood on me, lifeless eyes glaring at me. Holy shit. The sword channeled blood from his chest onto my hands. I heaved the cat off me, then grabbed a hold of the sword's handle. With every ounce of strength, I lifted the weapon from the carcass, it releasing with a wet squelch.
There was one human remaining from our group. He saw me, and ran towards me, hiding at my back.
"What the hell makes you think I can protect you?" I barked. The rhino-bear was halfway across the coliseum, aimed towards us, pawing at the ground and shaking his heavy head.
"Fuckin' hell." I lifted the heavy weapon, trying to get into a good swinging position. This thing weighed a ton. No wonder nobody could remove the sword in the stone.
The rhino-bear charged, each footstep sending shockwaves across the ground.
"Ah shit." I swung the sword, the centrifugal force throwing me aside as it sunk into the beast's side. The creature roared, plowing into the guy who'd been behind me. I sat up.
The rhino-bear struggled, blood pouring from the wound I'd caused. I didn't wait, and lunged for the sword, wrenching it from his side, and stabbing it straight into where I figured the ribcage would be. He shrieked, bellowed, then fell silent. I tried to remove the sword, but that proved to be too much of a task considering the.....
.....fucking second rhino-bear charging for me. I darted around the carcass, and made a run for the stone tower in the center of the field. I felt the ground shaking, threatening to toss me off balance. I heard the snorting of the angry beast. I thought for sure my heart would just give out trying to outrun the thing.
I scaled the steps, and leaped up towards the tower. I dug my fingers into the rough stones, finding a surprising amount of handholds, and begand climbing. Hey, it was just like bouldering in Moab, except there were alien monsters trying to kill me. The stone smoothed out, and I was stuck only a few feet above the pissed rhino-bear. That was when I noticed the absolute bloodbath. Was there even any white sand left?
I was the last human alive.
The whole tower shuddered as the rhino-bear slammed into it. A wolf-like anthro approached from the other side of the coliseum. What was up with this place?
The rhino-shithead paused, then charged the wolf. With a swift sidestep and parry, the rhino-fucker nosedived, blood spilling out everywhere. The body barely budged as the wolf retrieved his sword, and strutted to the base of the tower.
He looked up at me with one good eye, the other replaced by an ugly scar. His bland grey fur was bloodstained, and he wore no armor; only a leather tunic that more resembled a kilt. He motioned for me to come down. I flipped him the bird.
The wolf punched the stone tower, not even causing a ripple. I grinned. I can stay here all day you dipshit.
Then, he holstered his weapon, and proceeded to climb. Well shit. I had nowhere to go. I don't know if it was sheer desperation, or maybe the desire not to go down without a fight, but I decided to let go.
The stone tower flew by me, and a split second later I contacted a body, and both of us were falling. I landed with a thud, the wind rushing from my lungs like a compressed balloon. I felt powerful arms wrap me, and teeth sunk into my shoulder. I cried out and tried to struggle.
His fur was coarse, and his grip merciless, as he slammed me down on my back. I was looking straight up into his battleworn face, his crooked teeth visible in a sneer, his hands holding my arms down.
I spat in his face. Again, I don't know what posessed me to do so, but there it was. The wolf growled, and the next I knew, my hands were tied together. He held my hands firmly above my head, and used his other hand to rip my tattered clothes off.
Goddamn it. I felt so exposed, especially when I realized there were probably a hundred thousand spectators sitting up above the arena, all screaming as if watching football, not a slaughter. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let this fucktard rape me here. I tried to struggle, but only succeeded in receiving a sharp jab to my ribs.
He flipped his kilt up, exposing his heavy balls, folded sheath, and long pink cock. The tip was already glistening with his pre-cum, and I suddenly felt ill.
I tried to squirm, but he had his legs pinning mine down. There's my desperation again.
As he lined his cock up with my pussy, I closed my eyes, and took myself back to my house. My living room, with it's super plushy microfiber couch, my custom redwood coffee table with a steaming hot cup of Bengal Spice steeping, the glass display case securing my hand-built scale models and wolf statue collection. I felt the cozy fleece blanket, and was almost completely snuggled in it when.....
.....the wolf rammed his cock into me, sending searing pain through my groin, and causing me to cry out. I whimpered as he pulled back, and rammed again, his tongue hanging from his stupid muzzle. He fucked me hard, stretching me so roughly I thought I'd split in half. He thrust the full length of his cock, finally pressing his knot against me. I cried, trying to mentally take myself someplace else, as he forced his swollen knot into me, binding us together. He grunted with the short thrusts, until he released his seed into me. It was hot, and although I'd always thought I'd be ok with being taken by a werewolf, this was not what my fantasy consisted of. The crowd was cheering him on. With his dick locked into me, he leaned back, holding his arms out sideways, and ket out a howl.
I took my chance.
I brought my tied hands down to his beltline, found the dagger handle, pulled it from its sheath, and thrust it upwards under his ribs. It made purchase with several soft things, cutting his howl short, and eliciting a guttural gagging instead. I hung onto the dagger, twisting it like I'd seen in movies. He arched sideways in response, then grabbed a hold of my shoulders with sharp claws. I held the dagger like a fat cop holds a donut, until he started to relax.
My body was coated in his blood. I was mildly disgusted, but tried not to think about germs. His cock softened, and I shimmied off of it, and out from under him, pulling the dagger with me. I sliced through my bonds, and tried to cover myself with what was left of my clothes.
It was then that I realized how deathly quiet it was in the stadium. I stopped in my tracks, looking around at the crowd. Then I searched the arena itself.
I was the sole survivor.
One of the reptile slavers held open the doors for another dragonoid to enter the arena. This one had a similar build to the slavers, and similar color, but had a longer snout, and wore fine garments instead of a tunic. He covered ground quickly, one of the slavers following like a puppy. I just waited patiently.
The slaver grabbed me. I dropped the dagger in surprise. The long-snouted crocodilian held up a scaly hand. The slaver let me go. I glared back at him.
The finely-dressed asshole grabbed my hand, and lifted it up above my hand. The crowd cheered. After a moment, he led me back to the double-doors from earlier.
I was placed into the single cell, plunged back into darkness, wondering what the hell just happened.
A team of three female reptilians swarmed me. They gave me a bath, then tenderly dressed my wounds, and applied a warm, spicy-scented wrap to my sore shoulder. I just let them do whatever to me. Wherever I was, it seemed like a smarter idea to just play along.
After dressing me in fitted clothes made from a nicer fabric, I was left alone.
The well-dressed crocodile from the arena stood outside my cell, smiling at me.
"I think I may have found my new pet champion." he spoke in clear English.
"She's small and weak." one of the slavers snarled.
"That is nothing training cannot remedy."
Well, I'm damned for sure.
To be continued.