V M Ryse and Fall

[Kain Owen]

A strong, putrid smell woke Kain up. He couldn’t tell exactly what kind of smell it was, but it was pungent and bad. His body was laying down on a hard surface, with many of his muscles aching from the uncomfortable place. Before opening his eyes, he took a “look” at the area around him with his powers. It was a locked, small-ish room, and there were other people sitting or laying down leaning on the walls.

Slowly, Kain started to stand up. His muscles twitched with the movement, as if he still had jolts of electric currents passing through him.

Oh, right. He was zapped into unconsciousness. He could remember the bandits and the ice cave, and Fay running away and leaving him behind. Which was better than both being captured, Kain thought, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth. Not as sour as the terrible smell of this place, which Kain could tell now it was a cell.

After finally standing up, Kain found a place on a wall and sat down. The other people weren’t humans, but they were all huge, bigger than an adult person, wearing rags and other kinds of dirty clothes. They were staying quietly, although their gazes pierced through Kain like needles to a fabric. Every single move the kid made took a reaction out of the other people here, if not a startle, a gaze. If not a gaze, a frown. But they didn’t look scared, more like… Cautious.

One of the aliens, a heavy woman with a huge belly and arms gestured towards Kain with her head. “Are you an adult?”

Kain didn’t feel like talking. This entire situation was so messed up. He didn’t want to imagine why he was here, or what his captors would do to him.

But he had to keep quiet and his head low. He wouldn’t blast the first person that opened the cell. Although at this point, Kain didn’t care about ensuring his foe didn’t get hurt in the process. He really wanted to push his captors against a wall so hard their bones would break.

After a while in silence, Kain finally opened his mouth. “No.”

“Then I must say I’m sorry, but this is for your own good.”

The woman stood up and came closer to Kain. Her gaze was low, and she had a frown of pain in her face. Kain moved a bit away from her, but as soon as he saw her lift her leg high in the air, he rolled away from her, just in time for her to smash her foot on the floor, exactly where Kain’s legs were a moment ago.

So this is what we’re doing now, huh? Everywhere he went, there were awful people behind him. None of them deserved his kindness or thoughtfulness. Not a single one!

Kain stood up and took the woman by her rags with his telekinesis, smashing her towards the other wall with all his strength. It wasn’t enough to shatter her bones – her thick skin and many layers of fat and muscle cushioned the impact for her, but for a regular person, it might’ve been too much to handle.

Kain wasn’t holding back anymore.

“You take one step closer and I’m taking that rag of yours and tying it to your neck.” Kain said in between his clenched teeth. He was sweating, and his entire body was tense.

The other aliens had moved aside from the woman towards a side wall. They didn’t look too rattled at the situation, but some were fidgeting with their hands.

Meanwhile, the woman smirked. “So, you can fight. That’s great.”

She let herself slide on the wall into a sitting position.

Kain was still ready to keep fighting, but seeing everyone more or less relax left him with no other option but to do the same. Or try to, at least. He couldn’t completely remove the tension from his muscles. He eventually sat up where he was a moment ago, not looking at the other people here, but still being keenly aware of what they were doing.

“You have good instincts kid,” the woman said again. “But we’re not here to fight. Not here.”

Kain snorted. “I don’t care. Don’t ever come close to me again.”

The woman shrugged. “Sorry about that. But I couldn’t let a kid get picked. If you’re injured, you’re safer. For now.”

“What do you mean?” Kain lifted his gaze from the floor towards the woman.

“We get picked in rounds and forced to fight. If you don’t, you get killed. If you do and lose, you also get killed. Staying here with a broken leg it’s your best bet. if you’re lucky, you’ll get sent to work elsewhere.”

It took a moment for Kain to process what the woman was saying. Forced to fight? Like, at an arena? That actually sounded better than any other thing he could imagine a bunch of awful men would want to do with someone like Kain.

So, the woman was trying to keep him safe. He now felt awful for being so rude to her, but he was also so tired. Still, she could’ve told him that in the first place, before attempting to break his legs like that.

What was wrong with the people in this world?

 

[Maximus]

On the same ship, Marius woke up in a cell, his Roman Centurion armor missing from his body and some of his own undergarments ripped from trying to fight the guards before he was thrown in another cell on the alien ship starting over at oddly convenient placing of what looked like some sort of kid or at the very least a young adult, right? Either way, it was deja vu to have goosebumps on his arms as he was supposed to be on the other side of things, keeping the peace and stopping chaos, not the other way around.

The cell stank like the place hadn’t been cleaned after the last prisoner was there. Apparently the aliens weren’t worried about cleanliness around this area. Inside the area where Marius sat, his clothing was mostly in rags, after he’d been knocked out, trying to fight the group of thugs earlier.

The seasoned Roman warrior eyed the cells through the metal bars containing aliens, humans and even a young man, a teenager? What was a man this young doing here? The soldier wanted so badly to feel sick for the teenager human being contained here but he was used to years of war. Was it worth it to care for a man in the same position as he was? Marius knew the horrors of war just from being outside of the cells years ago.

The other alien creatures around him looked around the cells staring at the new “prisoner” stuck in a cell near them.

“What did you get dragged in here for strangers?” They worded it in such a way that it could be addressed to Kain or Marius in total. However the words were mostly jumbled in some strange alien intellect.

The Roman Centurion turned away from the alien asking questions before he looked over at the teenager in the cell nearest to him. Why did they set him near this man? There was always a reason. He’d find that information out fast if he could.

In a deep and gravelly voice, the first words that came out of the Roman’s mouth was “Lad, are you alright?”

The boy turned toward Marius “You talking to me?”

The Roman acknowledged him “Yes, lad. What’s your name?”

Kain turned “My name? It’s… Kain.”

The soldier turned toward Kain and nodded, staring back at the wall. “Kain, huh?

With that, the fat lady near Kain pushed in front of the kid, trying to protect him from what could be a strange man trying to disturb them.

The Roman looked up and frowned “You must be in the same situation, lady.”

The bigger set lady growled and lightly moved Kain away from the conversation.

Marius frowned “Look, I just wanted to talk to the lad. He seems like he can handle his own.”

The lady looked straight up defiant “I don’t care who you are and what you want? Stay away from the boy, he’s already seen enough.”

The soldier nodded, “I’m just looking for allies in this place and how to get out of an alien ship without drawing attention.”

The woman frowned, “How can any of us trust you? Why are you helping us?”

Marius frowned. “While I’m “gone”, go scope out the ship, look for weaknesses, alien patterns and more.”

It’s like the Roman Centurion knew something was going to happen and he didn’t want to have the woman and Kain witness it.

In time, there was a shift in the alien guards and they, on time, moved toward Marius’s cell.

They chained Marius and eyed the others as he slipped a small item toward Kain’s cell.

607/10000, Ryse and Fall with Kain

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain took the small item the other man had thrown at him. It was a thin thing made out of metal, with weird indentations near the tip. Kain had no idea what it was, but he observed as the man was dragged out by the alien guards. The man was tall and had chiseled muscles, which just showed how out of place Kain felt here.

The big lady was still covering for him, but as soon as the other man disappeared from sight, she went back to her sitting position against the back wall of the cell. Kain didn’t want to upset her more than he had already, but he liked that at least someone here had the decency to worry about him. That hadn’t happened… In how long? Earth blew up at some point, leaving him and his friend alone in the Medium, back when he was still playing Sburb. He assumed his aunt had died eventually, as he never saw her again. It had been Kain and Liah, just the two of them. And when he lost the game, he came here, in a wretched moon called Inverxe, where everyone was a jerk for some ungodly reason. And now he was trapped among aliens it seemed.

He had to make sure this lady was safe.

She seemed to notice the little toy in Kain’s hand. “What is that?” She asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Can i see it?”

Kain threw the metal tool to the lady, who picked it up in a swift move. She observed it.

“It’s a lockpick, kid,” another of the aliens added. He was a purple bald man, but other than that, he looked human enough.

“Ah…”

Kain had heard about those, but he had never seen one.

“Can we use it?” The woman asked.

“Doubt it,” the purple man said. “I already tried to check the locks here. Their mechanism is hidden inside the wall, and it’s opened with an electronic pad. There’s nothing for us to insert there to open it.”

“And besides,” another alien jumped in. She was smaller than the huge lady, but still, had strong arms and peach colored skin with white hair. “What would we do if we opened the cell? Just get beaten to death by the guards? Gotta think this through.”

In Kain’s haze and the attack from the huge lady, he hadn’t had time to think through the idea of escaping. By looking at the cell, it was devoid of any external holes they could use to break it open, and by prying through the actual mechanism inside of it with Kain’s powers, he could sense four thick bars of metal crossing between the cell and the wall. There were other weird gears connected to the bars, but Kain had no idea what purpose they had. He didn’t know how locks actually worked, let alone an alien electronic lock designed to keep strong fighters in check.

Still, if he had his full powers, he should be able to get rid of the bars holding the cell together, but he didn’t have to try to know that that wouldn’t work right now. And the white haired woman was right, what would they do if they escaped? They needed an actual plan, probably with blueprints or at least an idea of where the exit was. Right now, they could be flying in outer space, and Kain wouldn’t be able to tell.

“What do we do with the lockpick then?” Kain asked.

The huge lady threw the tool back to Kain’s hands again. “Keep it. Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to use it at some point.”

Kain scratched the back of his head. He just noticed he didn’t have his awesome hat, which was a tragedy, but he wouldn’t make another one right now. The rest of his clothes were mostly intact, except the back of one of his calves, which had the white stocking with a hole and blood coming from it. The wound still hurt, but with all that was going on around him, it felt like white noise.

“Wanna let me see that wound?” The huge lady asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

Alright, Kain had to think this through. He was trapped in a cell with other people, strong people, who didn’t feel like escaping, which was the correct choice at this point. There were guards around, but Kain couldn’t feel any nearby, so they most likely only guarded the end of the cell’s hallway. He had no idea where he was, how long he had been unconscious, or how to get back… Wait, get back? To where? The elf city? No, he wouldn’t be returning there, even if they invited him again. Still, the frozen moon was probably a better place than being trapped in a dirty cell, so escaping should be his priority. He could think what to do next once he cleared that part.

He needed a good look at this place before deciding anything. The aliens had mentioned he would eventually be picked to fight, so he had to make sure to take a good look at the design of the place with all the detail he could muster. No one knew he could feel the space around him to the smallest crack in the floor, including behind walls and hidden mechanisms like locks or ventilation systems, so he should use that to his advantage. He could also move things without touching them, another point to his side – he could use that to study the lock of this cell and see if he could find a weak point inside of it to break himself open. He had to check if the rest of the building used the same locks, which they probably had, although maybe not as strong as the ones in the cells. The purple alien seemed to know more about this, so maybe Kain could consult with him. But before that, he’ll have to see if these aliens weren’t hostile, which so far have been fine, but he was tired of helping assholes.

Speaking of assholes, the guards. He needed to see which weapons they carried. Kain doubted they would be able to zap him again, now that he knew what a taser looked like, but he really needed to make sure they couldn’t shoot him either. Kain’s powers were too weak to destroy their guns outright, although… His powers were growing stronger with time. Maybe a better strategy would be to wait until he had his full strength back, which would make getting out of here a cakewalk. Cells? Walls? He could teleport. Guns? He could disintegrate those. Labyrinthine mazes? He could know the exact configuration of walls and doors from afar without needing to see them at all. If that didn’t work, he could just blast away the walls until he found – no, made – an exit. And if he needed to fight, he could fly past anything at high speeds and push his enemies away with the strength of a zooming car.

His captors were lucky Kain didn’t have his entire repertoire.

So, he’ll just wait and see. For now.

 

[Maximus]

The aliens dragged Marius into a blood-soaked arena, full of various aliens of all sizes and shapes, most wearing simple gladiator gear not meant for pure survival. The Roman stared up at what seemed to be aliens and different various creatures of space cheering on the brutal contest. One alien pushed Marius with a taser “Move it! We don’t have all day..”

Marius would try to headbutt the smirking aliens in their cocky mouths, only to be tased in return. “Assholes.”

“Welcome home. Get used to this prison for a while. At least till we return, HAHA!”

The smell of the sand with just a tang of metallic and blood mixed inside, smelled awful for what he remembered of watching and/or having to clean the cells of the last unlucky bastard who died inside. The aliens, noting he was about the only human inside the arena, felt like smirking. A filthy human had no place in the arena like this with them.

The aliens felt a range of emotions for the only human within the arena fights at the moment. Some sort of anger, contempt and a hint of jealousy. But what of the aliens forced to fight with Marius in the arenas? Well, he would be forced to cooperate with them if he wanted to survive.

A multitude of alien languages were heard outside the cells but none of them sounded like anything to the new gladiator, Marius.

In the pile of weapons the alien captors allowed him, there were quite a few familiar weapons Marius would have enjoyed using in ancient Rome, a few of the weapons were unfamiliar to him as confusing as it might seem to him, they glowed with a blue light he’d never seen before. But he’d take whatever he could get.

At first, he liked the feel of a traditional Roman weapon in his hands, a gladius, something he was actually familiar with using when he fought for the 14th Legions of Rome. However, he also selected a new weapon. Something all new to him as it glowed on top as he grabbed its base.

He’d go for two weapons instead of the one this time. Maybe he’d luck out and get his Sword of Democles back in the long run.

The aliens before him eyed him as he grabbed for his choice, he eyed the others quickly, making sign languages in languages the aliens could understand because this helped him communicate with them in battle as well.

The former 14th Legion soldier took a deep breath and placed the helmet among his head, staring back out at the gladiator type aliens he’d get accustomed to seeing over time.

He made a “good luck” symbol and nodded back to the aliens who saw him as more than a human.

The door opened to the arenas opening to the alien’s bloody jeering and booing out loud, signaling the aliens in the crowd were relatively displeased with the “entertainment” they were receiving so far.

The alien overlord tried his best to calm the raging crowd “I was told this match would be different! Bring in the entertainment!

A different setting instantly popped up, showing a battle of old. Maybe alien arenas were so inspired by the Roman Colosseum, Marius could get through this somehow.

“AND NOW, let the games beginnnnnn!”

The Legionare turned slaveeee, Marius…..”

Boos were heard throughout the audience, along with jeers.

The audience changed reactions when the first opponent or should I say opponents. Alien gladiators were released from the area first for an easy challenge.

However many alien gladiators were sent to die, Marius was forced to kill every one of them.

“And our brutallll alien gladiatoooors!”

The crowd blinked and began to cheer out loud.

Maybe the two regular weapons didn’t match his own sword of Democles, but he’d make do. However he did have a secret on his side. His “Focus mode.” It helped him in the long run when he cut down an enemy in battle.

The blood of enemies would turn into energy and strength for the new gladiator, Marius.

With increased strength, Marius eyed a few of the alien gladiators that dared to make him pay for mocking them.

“Come on, try me.” Marius growled.

They ran at Marius’s two weapons, his gladius and then his holographic weapon hissing scraping among the alien’s own weapon.

The battle continued for a while until one gladiator weapon broke, Marius stabbed the poor sod and the crowd’s sick cheers was all he heard.

Yet, nobody knew of Marius’s secret. Every enemy's blood spilled increased Marius’s own fighting skills and strength. Maybe that’s how he liked it too.

A former Centurion touched by the gods. Maybe Summer truly was watching over him and giving him the same strength like she did before when he went to protect Rome.


The alien overlord was startled and cursed in a language “What’s going on?! He should be LOSING to my gladiators? Not making a spectacle!”

Marius, looking back and just gently smirking, turned his back after the defeated gladiators were dragged away.

Perhaps there was hope for the gladiator after all.

Marius took the time to rest before the next match where the Alien overlord silently boiled over a pot thinking of what was the secret to Marius’s unknown power.

To some understanding, the Centurion finally heard his name being chanted in various languages and names. “Marius, MARIUS, MARIUS, MARIUS, MARIUS.”
Yet with the next match, the aliens didn’t let Marius and the other gladiators sleep as suddenly the doors were opened again and the alien arena longed for another match. A bigger, badder enemy to stop Marius from uplifting the crowd.

“Come on, Centurion, you think you can match my arena? I am stronger than you know.” The overlord jeered out loud.

Who exactly was Marius supposed to protect in the arena and defend them from?

Who knows, exactly? But whatever it was, the arena match was shown in the ships from a distance.

Ryse and Fall with Kain
1003+607= 1610

 

[Kain Owen]

That moment came in soon – too soon. The guards rushed in, bulky aliens in bright silver armor with all sorts of weapons hanging in their waists. With a palm on the wall pad, the door of the cell opened. It was too quick for Kain to sense exactly how the mechanism for the lock worked, but the metal bars locking the cell retrieved into the wall, that's all he was able to "see". One of the guards grabbed Kain by his arm, not caring if he stood up or not, and dragged him out. The last Kain could see was the face of the huge lady, who looked away in pain.

Stumbling into a steady stride, the guards took Kain through the hallways of the cells. The others were as dirty as the one he got to be in, but many were empty. They had a lot of cells, like a whole prison worth of them. Maybe they hadn't always used their slaves for pointless fights?

Over the cells, and inside walls, there were square tubes passing in parallel with the hallway. The ventilation system, perhaps? But it wasn't big enough for a person to crawl inside of it, so any escape route involving those was discarded. The tubes connected with vertical ones at equidistant sections, taking the air to the rooms above, which Kain could perceive were mostly devoid of people. A storage? He couldn't pay too much attention, as their trip to the arena grew closer.

The guards opened a door leading to an overly bright place, and threw Kain through it, standing behind.

"Make sure you die in an entertaining way, kid." One of the guards said.

"Yeah, if you can crawl while decapitated, the crowd will cheer."

They closed the door, faint laughs disappearing behind it.

It took Kain a moment to get used to the brightness of this place. The dungeons the slaves were held in were so dark, now that he was seeing actual light. The audience cheered in an all-surrounding cacophony of whistles, applause, and ovations, as Kain's vision cleared to see five other aliens alongside the human man who gave him the lockpick earlier. His weapons and part of his body were covered in blood, and so was the earthy ground, where several dead bodies were scattered. If the pungent smell of the cells wasn't enough to get him nauseous, this was.

There was a shelf holding different kinds of weapons. The other aliens had already picked theirs. Kain knew he shouldn't show to everyone that he could manipulate things with telekinesis, but at the same time, the prospect of fighting hand to hand to the death against such huge aliens sent a tremble through his spine. In fact, he just noticed his hands were shivering. Trying to hide his fear, he picked a small-ish sword and a shield. Kain really didn't want to kill these people, neither did he want to die at their hands. What should he do, really? Just aim for the legs to incapacitate? Would he be able to do it…?

A voice coming from speakers cut Kain's thoughts. "And here we are, spectators! The next round! We got some fresh meat on the menu, who will come out victorious, do you think?!

The audience cheered even louder.

Kain looked at the other human. He was sweating, but otherwise looked fine, unfazed even, as if the splatters of blood covering his body didn't bother him. His gaze met with Kain's. The man gestured something with his head, but Kain had no idea what he was saying. Meanwhile, the other aliens were also eyeing Kain… Did they want to eliminate him first? Kain looked like an easy target, he had to admit.

"Fighters, come forward and show us your might!" The speaker added.

At that, the fighters dashed towards Kain. One halberd fell straight where the kid was, but he moved out of the way in a swift dash – disguising his flight as a stride, he could at least dodge them with ease. Some of the aliens started fighting among themselves, swords and spears clashing. It looked nothing like the movies. Their moves were not a choreography, they were designed to kill with as few hits as possible. Kain watched as they stabbed and slashed and punched each other to death.

On his periphery, another alien jumped from behind the main fight. They were like a small-ish reptile, with a thin snout and gray scaly skin, as well as a thick tail. They were carrying a dagger, and were ready to dash towards Kain.

As Kain raised his shield to stop the dagger, the other human intercepted the lizard guy mid-jump, and slashed its head with both his sword. The dead body rolled beside Kain from the momentum, while their head got lost among the rocks and blood of the arena.

The fight of the other aliens came to a close, as one emerged victorious. A giant orc, and she really looked like an orc, green skin and tusks and all, came forward. The other man was in between the orc and Kain, and they fought, their war screams deafening the mad cheers of the audience.

This fight lasted longer than the others. The orc was too strong, her skin too thick for the man's swords, yet he would dish a rampage on her, dodging her giant ax at every step and counter attacking at the same time.

However, the orc threw her ax away and grabbed the man's arm as he was about to stab her. She tried to lift the man into the air, but Kain had grabbed her by the bracelet she was wearing with his telekinesis, and kept her arm in place. The orc cringed in confusion, but it didn't last long – the man stabbed her in the mid section with his other sword, a glowing energy weapon, which could bypass her thick skin. The orc fell to her knees, as the man slashed half her neck in a swift swing of his glowing sword, winning the fight.

All the aliens have been defeated – no, killed. Only Kain and the man were standing. The man looked at Kain, as the kid took a step backwards in fear, the tip of his sword scratching the ground.

The audience were chanting "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Are you enjoying it?!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs to the audience.

The audience went quieter, although not entirely. Then it burst into loud cheering.

"Finish him!" The speaker called.

The man looked back at Kain. "Kain was your name, right?" His voice was a normal volume now, although still loud enough to be heard through the crowd's noise.

"I-I'm not fighting you!" Kain stuttered.

"I know. My name is Marius."

Then, Marius threw one of his swords towards the audience, but not the usual folk – the big shots, who were enjoying the show from special seats separated from the rest. The sword didn't hurt anyone, but the audience went quiet at the display.

"Come and kill us yourself!" Marius yelled, addressing the audience again.

The audience booed. Then went back to chanting "Kill! Kill! Kill"

"Then so be it! Guards!" The speaker said. Kain was pretty sure it was the alien sitting on the first seat who was saying that. They were wearing such pudient clothes.

The guards came from one of the doors around the arena.

"Make sure you don't get killed, lad," Marius said to Kain, as the guards came and took them back into the dungeons.

 

[Maximus]

Marius shuddered as he remembered the last time he was on the other side of things. He had heard what happens if you ended up “leaving” the Roman Legions. If you disobeyed, you got whipped, if you deserted, you would be crucified.

The memories of Marius's past as a Roman Legionnaire flooded back, and he couldn't help but shudder at the recollection of the harsh punishments meted out for disobedience and desertion. The discipline of the Roman Legions was infamous, and Marius had witnessed the brutal consequences of stepping out of line.

Whippings were a common form of punishment for those who defied orders or failed to meet the Legion's strict standards. The lash of the whip, cutting through the air and striking the flesh, was a painful reminder of authority and control. Marius had seen many comrades endure this punishment, their backs marked with the scars of discipline.

Desertion, on the other hand, carried an even more gruesome penalty – crucifixion. The mere thought of being nailed to a cross, left to suffer and die in agony, sent a chill down Marius's spine. The Romans used crucifixion as a deterrent, a public display of the consequences awaiting those who dared to abandon their post.

The former Centurion turned gladiator awaited his fate among Kain. He gritted his teeth, squeezing his fist. He was on the wrong end this time and he held out his arms to protect Kain from the sting of the whip expected to come for him.

Ryse and Fall with Kain
1003+607= 1610+259=1869

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain was gonna take the whip, but Marius stepped in front of him to cover him with his body.

“You can’t take these forever, human!” one of the guards said.

More whips swung into Marius’ body, still holding tight in front of Kain. His cringes of pain left an iron taste in Kain’s mouth, even if he was sure his mouth was free of blood.

No! What are you doing! He wanted to yell at Marius, but something held those words back. Kain’s body was tense, and still trembling with fear.

“Alright, enough of this shit!” Another guard said.

He came closer to Marius and tried to kick the man, but he grabbed the leg of the guard and threw it aside, the guard almost losing their balance with it.

“Oh, you’re not getting away with that!”

The other guard zapped Marius with a taser, the man falling to his knees. And to think Kain had lost consciousness with one of those, how strong was this man?! The guards whipped Marius’ back again, to then kick him aside to make room for Kain’s turn.

Kain’s body was tightly held by his own arms, sitting like a shrimp. He really didn’t want to receive one of those whips. But he would do it. He had to be strong!

He screamed at the hit of the whip. Right beside his eye, towards his cheek and into his shoulder. He had lost his glasses long ago, but he was sure they would’ve been completely broken by the strength of that whip.

Fuck this…!

Both the guard and his whip stopped in midair, as a faint red aura covered their body. These guards were dressed from head to toe, and they had metal armor in many places throughout their bodies, which meant Kain could really fuck them over.

He held the first guard in its position by taking control of their armor and the whip. The other guard looked at Kain and the guard back to back a few times.

“What are you doing!” The free guard said to his partner.

“I don’t know what’s happening!”

Kain could feel the strength of the guard under his control – he was desperately trying to lower the arm holding the whip. When the other guard finally realized what was happening, he also tried to whip Kain again, but Kain left free his guard and instead, took control of the two whips they had. In unison, he tied them around their waist and arms, and he tied them hard. Their struggles to get free felt good, he had to admit. These monsters didn’t deserve Kain’s consideration.

But he had an idea.

“Listen you fuckers,” Kain finally said, as he stood up from the floor. He had blood pouring from the whip attack earlier, but he couldn’t bother to clean that up. “We can make a deal.”

“What are you talking about!? What the fuck are you?!”

Kain tied them harder, their whimpers of pain the confirmation of his influence. “Do you want to get your neck cracked instead?”

“You won’t get away with this!” The other guard said.

Kain let go of the whips, making sure they wouldn’t untie themselves without his powers. He took them by their armors now, and slammed them with all his strength towards the side wall of the cell they were in. Kain was sure he heard a crack with that. Marius stood up and came near Kain, watching the scene unfold.

“Does the deal sound like a better idea now?” Kain asked.

The guards nodded.

“Alright, you tell your superiors we got hit good and painly, with as many screams as you want to add, and you take us to the cells as we are right now. No more whips, no more kicks.”

“You think that will be enough?” A guard said. “You don’t think our superiors will hear about this and do to you what you deserve, you useless worm?”

“They won’t hear anything if you don’t say anything. And if you do, whatever you do to me, I’ll do to you tenfold. Am I clear?”

This time, Kain grabbed them by the clothes they had around the neck, and squeezed them until they couldn’t even talk.

“Am I clear!?” Kain repeated himself.

Their pathetic attempts at a nod earned them a life free of telekinetic chokes. Kain also untied them from their whips, and slowly, the two guards came back to their feet.

Without saying any more words, they took Marius and Kain back to their respective cells.

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain found himself in a cell all by himself, which he was thankful for. He didn’t want to worry the other slaves by being absent after being thrown to the arena, but at the same time, he wasn’t feeling well enough to deal with other people. As much confidence as he could muster during their little torture incident, his whole body was shaking from it, his breathing uneven. The whip wound beside his eye and cheek throbbed with pain, and he didn’t need to check his clothes to know they were a mess of blood and sweat.

He let his body lean to the wall, and slowly slide into a sitting position, while he tried to make his breathing go back to a normal rate. He was keeping both hands playing with each other in order to distract himself, but it didn’t work. As soon as the idea of being held at a whip’s length finally left his mind, the scenes of the arena deaths flooded it in its place. His stomach twisted itself at remembering the bodies of the other aliens being dismembered in brutal fighting. But he did his best to keep his insides from leaving his body. He had to think about something else.

For the next several hours, or however much time had passed, as Kain didn’t have a clock, his mind would drift from topic to topic, but mostly fixating on the arena and its consequences. He couldn’t let go of the idea he was being forced to kill others, or that other people were dying every day while everyone was cheering for it, like sick deranged psychos. What was wrong with this place? Will he always have to deal with this stuff?

Kain hugged himself, clenching his teeth. He didn’t want to! This place was horrible! What did he do to deserve being treated like this, and to witness such atrocities? Was there really no one out there who could help him? He wished his aunt was here. He wanted to hug her so badly.

He covered his mouth, holding back a sob. But the more time passed, the harder it got. He wanted to be back at his house, he missed his aunt, he missed watching dumb edgy series on the couch until he fell asleep, he missed eating warm chocolate croissants. But no, he was in a cell, as a freaking slave, and everyone was cheering for him to be brutally murdered, or to kill others in its place. The thought of those croissants was such a distant memory, Kain couldn’t remember what they tasted like – all he could feel in his mouth was blood.

He cried, alone, for a while. At some point a guard came to leave him food, some weird pudgy paste on a bowl, but Kain didn’t care about that. He was lost to his own self pity. He didn’t need to eat anyway.

.
.
.

Another guard came, this time, they opened the cell and grabbed Kain by his arm, not even letting him stand up on his own. They dragged him through the same corridors, so he knew what awaited him.

The noise of the audience’s loud cheers brought him back to reality. Suddenly, he wasn’t thinking anymore how his present life sucked. He was reminded he now was supposed to defend it, with all it took.

Once his eyes got used to the brightly lit arena, he looked for Marius, but Kain was alone this time. Only him, some boulders scattered, and the shelf with weapons.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to another round!” The speakers called, as the audience applauded.

From the other side of the arena, a door opened. The guards were walking another alien, this time, the purple man Kain shared a cell with yesterday. He looked bigger now that he could see him standing.

“Fighters, choose your weapons!” The speaker said.

The purple man went to the weapon shelf, and picked a sword. Kain was left gazing at him, a bit shaken that he had to fight him, specifically.

“I see that you survived last time, kid,” The purple man said. “But I’m not as kind as Judy. I won’t spare you if it means I get to live another day. So, be prepared.”

Kain went to the weapon shelf. He couldn’t avoid fighting this time. And the purple man made it clear he’ll have to do it regardless.

He picked a warhammer, which immediately fell from his hands, as he wasn’t expecting such heavy weight. The audience collectively laughed, but not the purple man. He was as serious as he had always been, in the short amount of time as Kain had seen him.

Kain picked the hammer from the ground, but this time, he used his powers to lift it up and keep it in his hands, making it appear he was holding it with his own body. It weighed nothing for his telekinesis.

“Fight!” The speaker ordered.

At that command, the purple man dashed towards Kain, trying to stab him in the mid section. Kain took a wide step backwards, flying a little bit, which allowed him to dodge the attack by a hair’s length. Wasting no time, the purple man jumped towards him again and tried a similar stunt, which Kain avoided with the same maneuver. Then again, and again. His foe was relentless in his attacks! Kain could barely keep up.

Until he was pushed to a wall. Being cornered like that, Kain lifted his hammer with both hands (and his telekinesis) to stop another sword slash, this time aimed to the neck. The man’s sword kept pressing against the metal handle of the hammer, his strength for sure beating Kain’s if it wasn’t for his powers.

“You can’t keep dodging forever,” the purple man said, his face a few inches away from Kain’s. “You will eventually lose.”

Kain didn’t answer, but he used the little time he had while their weapons were locked in a parry to think. For the most part, Kain had been aiming towards his enemies’ legs if he had to attack them, which would stop them without gravely harming them. That was why he picked a hammer as opposed to a slashing weapon. But would that work here? He was forced to kill! Unless...

The huge lady mentioned that breaking Kain’s legs was a sure way to spare him from fighting. Would that work here? That was a serious injury, and yet, it had to be better than dying, right? Also–

The man took a step backwards, taking his sword with him, and tried to resume his relentless flurry of attacks. But as soon as his sword came close enough to Kain, the kid took control of it with his powers and forced it to miss. As the man caught himself confused at the sudden force on his sword, Kain sent his hammer straight to the man’s legs.

The sound of breaking bones could even be heard through all the audience noise.

The man fell to the ground screaming, but his yell quickly turned into a hiss of pain. He tried to stand up, but another short scream escaped his mouth, his body unable to fulfill his command.

Kain approached the man.

“So? You’re gonna end me now?” The man said through hisses of pain.

Kain looked at the audience. Some were booing, but many were chanting “Kill! Kill! Kill!”. He gazed back at the man, crouching to be at his level.

“No, I’m not like that.”

He stood up again, and threw the hammer to the ground.

“I’m not like that!” Kain yelled as loud as he could, to the audience. “I’m not killing him!”

The audience booed harder for a while, until the fancy man at the center stood up. The audience went quiet.

“Are you not killing him?” The speaker said.

“No!”

The fancy man started talking about something with the people around him, but Kain couldn’t hear him. The audience kept its silence, which felt uncanny with how loud the place usually was.

“Very well,” The speaker added. “You may not kill your opponent and claim victory as it is.”

The audience booed in unison.

“Guards, take him out.”

One of the doors of the arena opened, and two guards came from it. They dragged Kain out, and returned him to a cell. However, the guards remained outside of it.

"No torture today?" Kain asked.

"Shut up, kid."

They left Kain alone.

 

[Maximus]

Vatallion, now struck with pangs of anger, saw Baxter bluish. “How did you know of Marius, my centurion!”

It felt that Vatallion himself too was grieving, the loss of his men to history and the loss of Marius to the death of Rome. He gritted his teeth and kneeled down, silently mourning the loss of the past. He stabbed his gladius into the ground, feeling the pain. As if the forest felt the pain with him, the Legetus almost regretted coming here on this journey to this ancient empire.

But as things were, the gods finally blessed him.

Within seconds, the buzzing noise of the strange box went off. Vatallion in the midst of grieving, pushed up and blinked "Baxter, the box is buzzing. What does that mean?"

Baxter looked up "Oh? The smartphone?" "What's it telling you?"

Vatallion couldn't believe his eyes. A ship carrying a group of slaves was captured above. Someone had checked the database and found someone by the name of Marius in the arena fights earlier.

Baxter's eyes widened at the revelation. "Marius alive? This is both astonishing and troubling news. Vatallion, fueled by a mix of emotions, nodded. "We must act quickly. Marius deserves his freedom, and we cannot allow the horrors of slavery to persist. Rome may be gone, but its ideals live on in us."

Vatallion, with new hope in his eyes, squeezed his fists and smiled, a new fire burned within his hearts to keep Rome’s ideals alive somehow but he had to find Marius first. But how to get onto the spaceship without a clear connection?

Baxter frowned “This is an alien slave ship, right?”

Vatallion debated giving his armor up to make detection virtually impossible between men and aliens but the very real possibility that Baxter, the historian could easily betray him and sell off his armor to a museum was a very real possibility as well.

The Legatus bit his lip “Professor, you know of a museum you could borrow an ancient set of Roman armor?

Baxter looked confused “Why, Vatallion? I just said the Roman Empire- wait, I think a museum might have an ancient set somewhere earlier I might be able to “Borrow”

A building somewhere nearby stood out and it was silent. Inside the said museum, through the back entrance lay an unused Roman armor not used and a gladius nearby with a convenient helmet.

Baxter was able to slip something else in to avoid detection.

Vatallion nodded and sighed “Now that you got the armor, time to “play” the part as a Roman Centurion, soldier.”

Baxter blinked “What, I didn’t sign up to be a Centurion with you.”

Vatallion said “You wanted to grab my ancestor’s armor, now you can fully embrace the role with me until we find Marius.”


Baxter muttered something Vatallion couldn’t understand in English and then slipped the Roman Centurion armor on.

“I can’t believe I signed up to be an actual Roman Centurion in the modern age.”

Vatallion smirked, “Funny how the role suits you.”

“Can you speak Latin and English, professor?” Vatallion was lightly teased.

The Professor blinked “Why was this required?”

Vatallion raised a eyebrow “You want to find Marius too, right?”

The historian had to suppress a laugh “Of course. But why Latin?”

The Legate frowned “Marius only knows hints of English, he knows fluent Latin.”

Baxter frowned, realizing this “Damnit.”

Vatallion enjoyed teasing Baxter about his new role under Vatallion in this little duo of Roman soldiers.

After all, Baxter had dragged him through the mud being from ancient Rome. Why couldn’t he do the same?


And so the valiant duo forced their way through the local museum, sneaking out through the back and searching for the nearest taxi.

And with that, Vatallion began to teach Baxter basic Latin phrases to get him through certain situations.

Baxter, through hours, seemed to learn fairly quickly and Vatallion started to enjoy being in the teacher role once again.

Soon, Baxter and Vatallion were conversing Latin to each other.

Maybe the gods were looking over them after all. Not only was their luck doubled, but they found a spaceship lying around, no idea how it worked but were hoping the instruction book could help them out.

A far cry from home, both frustratingly searching the spaceship for controls and both sighed after Baxter found a way to control said ship with “Spaceships for dummies.”

Funny but worth it.

“Ok, this should work.”

Eventually, Baxter got the ship going after reading the guide as Vatallion held onto whatever the hell he could grasp, still not understanding modern tech. The Roman Centurion, Baxter smiled “Gotcha back, Vatallion.”

For once, their whole thing started to come together. Both were fully embarrassed to learn each other’s culture only to embrace each other like a brother instead.

Wasn’t this what Marius wanted the whole time?

Speaking of the Centurion, we go back to the Centurion turned slave who fought back called Marius Titus.


Marius stared at the guard who grabbed him while trying to threaten the ever-growing stronger Centurion “I don’t care who you think you are, a slave but you are coming with me”

He had remembered Kain grabbing the guards and choking them out, threatening them within an inch of their lives. Yet, something was odd, these guards weren’t scared of their lives yet returned like nothing happened.

The cage Kain had been put in was farther away from Marius this time, making things a lot more complicated for Marius to find him from a distance. Marius got thrown into another cell, somewhat away from the view of Kain, left to hiss over the pain of the whips he had gotten on his back.


Marius heard the guards whispering to each other, their voices low and urgent and he knew he had caught their attention and he couldn’t resist just a small grin. They were starting to fear him, just as Kain had warned.

One of the guards, an alien with a brown sash stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword. “You think you are a tough slave?” We’ll see about that.”

Marius’s laughter echoed off the stone walls and out to the aliens around him. "“Is that all you fuckin’ got? Come on Lads. I’ve seen tougher boys in the arena.”

The guard sneered and drew his sword, advancing toward Marius with a purpose.

“Hmmm, I think I’ll hang you up on the side of the ship for an example made to the other- HRRG.”

Before the guard could finish his sentence, Marius had reached him and punched him square in the face with incredible force. The guard stumbled backward, dropping his word as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The other guards around Marius started to panic, some drawing their weapons while others ran away in fear.

Marius’s cage bars bent and Marius was able to break the doors with his new god-like strength.

“Fools, I’m the legendary Democles! Not a mere mortal… “

Soon guard after guard was falling as the mortal in a god skin slammed the guard down.

Marius stood tall among the fallen guards, panting heavily from exertion but also feeling exhilarated. He couldn't believe the strength and power he possessed,


Seconds turned to minutes and Democles was surrounded by nothing but quiet halls, way too quiet halls.

No guard would have the balls to take him down now, would they? Do or die or fight another game as a weakling again.

He could make things so much more fun, save the slaves and get out but first he had a few tasks of his own to achieve.

He picked up a scared guard who was trying to contact for backup as he growled “Where is the comms?” The guard triggered an alarm before he could stop them and yet again, trouble came.”

The guard laughed weakly, I’m not telling you, fucking slav- HRRRGH! He was swiftly knocked out. “Hmph, useless.”

Ryse and Fall with Marius Titus and Kain - 3913/10000

 

[Maximus]

The guards finally get a hold of Democles “Fucking De-Marius, how the hell do you keep escaping us?!”

Democles smirked “Oh you know me. Never can keep me in a cell for long.”

The blood-stained man stared down the guards who dared to touch him and keep him bound. Alarms blared as an alien slave was threatened with being killed or ed if they could tell the guards where and what was Democles’s only weakness.
The blood-stained man only smirked “Nothing you can play can scare me enough to break me.”

The alien guards murmured something in an unknown language “Oh we know something enough.”

As guards fell once again, Democles was trapped and surrounded by guards. “Come easily and we won’t hurt you.”

Democles knew that was a lie. “Come at me then, assholes.”

A guard swiftly overpowered the god-like man and smashed an elbow in the man’s head as he fell unconscious.

The guards dragged him away giving the others commands “Give him the worst cell in the bunch, the Overlord wants the slaves killed.” “No food for Marius. He’ll break after days.”

Marius stared outside the metal doors, no food or water was not delivered to him every few hours like the others. The man sat in complete silence, unaware of what was happening outside his cell.

The Overlord started orders to kill every slave in the arena unless they can kill Marius or the other man in a fight.

Slaves were gathered one by one and judged if they won or lost against Marius. If not, they were executed by a simple slam to the head or a whip to them.

Screams were echoing through the cells on and off.

Marius sat in a smelly, dank cell, the worst cell the aliens could offer, yet he could only hear nothing of what the other slaves were going through.

No fights were started and yet more slaves were being killed by the guards and the Overlord.


The only thing getting Marius to not get bored or annoyed at himself was the silent carving of Roman numerals depicting the number of enemies he’s killed in past battles, enemies in the arenas or in his past.

The blood-stained man, Marius, sat in his cell, listening to the screams and the pounding of feet outside. Time seemed to stretch on forever as he waited for the inevitable. He knew that he was not just fighting for his survival now, but for the lives of every slave in the arena.

One man had been contained.

Ryse and Fall with Marius Titus/Damocles and Kain 4564/10000

 

[Kain Owen]

The noise of emergency sirens woke Kain up. Guards were desperately running around the hallways in groups, passing by Kain's cell every minute or so. They were not paying any attention to the people trapped, so whatever emergency happened, they didn't seem to care about them. But Kain couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary in his vicinity, yet he knew the dungeons were bigger than his sense of Space. Whatever happened had to be outside his range, and he couldn't do anything about it.

But if the worst comes, he'll need a way to get away from this place, and to bring as many of the other people with him as he could. He didn't want anyone to die in a fire or something. The noise of the sirens and the many steps of the guards made it hard to concentrate, but Kain did his best to pay attention to the mechanism behind the lock of the cell. The four metal bars holding the door closed were connected by a series of other contraptions, some of which were thin enough that Kain knew he could break them up if he needed to. Still…

Some guards stopped by Kain's cell and opened it. The sirens were still blasting everyone's ears off, maybe they did care enough about his safety? As always, they grabbed him by the arm as if he was a sack of potatoes. The other guard pointed a gun behind his back as he was being dragged through the hallway.

"Do not think of doing anything!" the guard with the gun said.

Kain didn't respond, he just obeyed as best he could.

Another guard brought a bag made of fabric and put it over Kain's head. Were they bringing him to a secret place? Fools.

The walking was short though, as they only took him to another cell. There was a small table in the middle, and other stuff laying on the floor. The room smelled weird, a pungent scent, but Kain couldn't know exactly what it was. It wasn't waste, and it had a freshness to it that reminded him of a butcher's shop.

The guards forced Kain to lean over the table by pressing his torso on it, but his head was hanging in the air.

One of the guards grabbed a giant ax from the floor, and raised it in the air.

Kain's heart skipped a beat. Those things on the floor weren't things, they were dead bodies.

They were about to behead him.

The ax, the guards, and the table, all flew away from Kain with a flare of his powers. He took out the bag from his head, as another guard raised their gun, which also flew out of their hands into hitting them in the chin by Kain's powers.

He had to run. He couldn't allow these psychos to kill him!

The sirens were still resonating throughout the dungeons, and many guards were still running places around it. But when they saw Kain, they left whatever they were doing to chase him up.

Kain wasn't hiding himself anymore. He had to use everything he got to get away from them, to avoid getting shot again, to avoid dying to them. Any guard that got in his way got thrown away by his telekinesis, no matter where they were standing relative to Kain. He had to avoid those from behind doing something he couldn't react to, so everyone got attacked by him, as he himself flew through the dungeons.

But he couldn't find an exit. After getting rid of the Nth group of guards, Kain was sure these corridors looped into each other. He did find doors closed during his chase, but a peak to the other side by his Space sense told him those were leading to the arena. He probably was running in circles around it, which meant the door he was looking for had to be opposite to it.

Finally, he found a corridor opposite to where the arena should be. The door was locked by the same mechanism as the cells. Kain blasted the small device beside it, which was connected to the bars holding the door locked. The door kept being locked. The bars crossing through its insides didn't move! Maybe he had to move those manually...

Kain was surrounded now, and the guards didn't hesitate to blast their guns at him. These guns didn't fire bullets, but their projectiles still hurt like hell. They burned!

His back, one leg, and a shoulder were victims of these psychos. Kain fell from the air into the floor, on his knees, facing the door, but the pain was too much to concentrate on how to open it.

One of the guards came closer to him. He was much taller than the others, with a cape behind him, and had a different helmet, but Kain wasn't seeing him directly – the kid had his eyes closed and his teeth clenched.

The guard squatted beside Kain, still gun in hand.

"So, this is the slave that threatened my guards into not punishing you? And I thought they were useless. I can see why now."

He grabbed Kain by the back of his clothes, pointing his gun directly to the kid's head.

"Don't you dare to pull off that little stunt of yours. You're surrounded, and under my command, you will die by a thousand blasters. Well, you will die anyway, but I'm not risking gunning you down. You proved to be quite an interesting nuisance.

"I gave some of the other slaves a chance at redeeming themselves, but you? The audience hates you, so why would I want to put you back to the arena? And besides, you have a pending punishment. Where you're going is much worse."

In between his clenched teeth, Kain managed to say, "W-why?"

"Oh, you want to keep me monologuing at you to delay your punishment, huh? Well, I'm doing that anyway. You will have all the time in the world.

"The overlord gave the order to kill all the current slaves because one of you little bastards decided to try to escape. But you, in particular, proved to be too much for my useless men. So, you're going in the Hole and will starve to death. Archer!"

One of the guards surrounding Kain came forward. "Yes, sir!"

"Put the kid to sleep."

The other guard –Archer– took a taser. Kain knew what was coming. But not wanting to risk getting blasted at by a bunch of guns, he closed his eyes and let the guard electrocute him.

The pain faded as Kain lost consciousness.
.
.
.

When Kain woke up, he was in another cell. This one didn't smell bad, like the ones he was getting used to. Its scent was one of abandonment. He coughed as he accidentally inhaled some dust from the floor.

The walls here were so thick, Kain couldn't feel where they ended and another room began. The door wasn't a bunch of bars held together, it was an actual thick metal door with a small window on the upper side, where little light filtered through. Beyond it, there were three other identical doors like this one, separated by some space. Inside the cell itself, there were two skeletons, their remains lost to time.

Kain wasn't alone though. Through the darkness, he could sense Marius sitting on the other end.

The past events washed over Kain like a cold waterfall being poured over him. The guards tried to kill him with an ax to the neck, and they did succeed in killing who knows how many other slaves. But because Kain was too much of a problem for them, they instead condemned him to starve to death. Yet, Kain couldn't starve. Did that mean he would be here forever? Having to deal with Marius' dead, rotting body in the meantime?

Kain screamed. The horror was too much. This place was too much.

He promised to himself, that whoever the Overlord was, he was gonna pay for what they did to him, to the other slaves, and who knows how many other people have died to their hands. This entire place filled with psychopathic assholes was gonna burn, and Kain was gonna do it, it didn't matter how long it took, how much work it took. He didn't care anymore about preserving their lives – they didn't deserve a single extra breath.

 

[Maximus]

The emergency alarms were far enough away from Marius’s cell as he gritted his teeth, Latin marks scratched into the walls of the time he spent inside the cell. But something started to bother him. Where was Kain in all of this?

That’s when he saw the guards drag an unconscious Kain toward his cell.

“Wait, what the hell did you do to him?!” Marius got up to slam a fist into the wall.

“Shut up, slave.” With that, they threw the teen into the same cage.

One day in the cell has already annoyed the man who realized without food, he’d starve to death in this place.

Without any more trouble, Marius tried to kick the guards where the sun didn’t shine only to have the door slammed in his face.

“Basterds. Every last one of ya.”

The guards laughed at Marius’s “joyous” response to their slamming of the door.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soon there was some sense of silence, this place had gotten way too quiet.

Marius sighed, looking over at the Latin marks on the wall and eyed Kain, waiting for him to nudge himself awake.

Soon, Kain was able to shake off the stupor on him.

“Aye, lad. Glad to see you again. I didn’t think I was goin’ to see you after this mess.”

The Centurion forced a smile, but at least it was genuine.

“I don’t think I ever told you my grand adventures in Rome, did I? Of course, if it’s too boring, I can cut the meat off some details and-”

Kain blinks “So you are going to tell me your life story? Lovely.”

“Well, there was the time I faced off against the barbarians in the northern lands.” Marius blinked, a glint of reminiscence glittered in his eyes, recalling the battle and memories, it all plays out in his head. The snow fell among us and the ground was slick of blood and mud and I thought that would be the end of me. “But I fought on, for honor, for glory, for Rome!”

He squeezed his fists remembering the adrenaline at the thought of the battles of the past.
Kain listened intently, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. "You've seen more than most men ever will," he remarked, his voice tinged with respect.

Marius nodded solemnly, a shadow passing over his features. "It all feels like a different life now," he murmured, his gaze drifting to the Latin marks etched on the wall. "I never imagined it would end like this."

Kain gritted his teeth “Don’t think that, Marius. Maybe it’s the lack of food and water bothering you.”

Marius stared ahead, recalling the guards saying he’d starve to death before they’d let both of them out. Yet Kain couldn’t starve here.”

Marius sighed “I am a Centurion for the 14th Legion of Rome, I fought a lot of battles in my time. I hope you do too. I fought Nero and his sons for something unforgivable. I’d never forgive them.

His eyes widened as everything came rushing back, his mother and sister’s death at the hands of the barbarians, Nero and his son’s betrayal and the battles.”

Just when Marius thought it couldn’t get any worse, the guards kicked the cell. “Hey assholes, The Overlord wants "Marius”. He says it’s important.

The man stepped up and blinked, hunger and thirst gnawing at his stomach “What does he want.”

The guards growled and opened the cell, and grabbed Marius harshly, forcing him to move forward.

Shortly after the long, extended painful walk. Marius could feel his focus wonder as he passed the cells to the Overlord as he was thrown to kneel in front of the alien.

The Overlord smirked “Comfortable, Marius?”

The Overlord leaned back in his throne, studying Marius with amusement glittering in his alien eyes. "I have heard tales of your bravery, Centurion. Your resilience against insurmountable odds is quite impressive."

Marius narrowed his eyes, a flicker of hope igniting within him. "If you know of my deeds, then you must know that I will never bow to tyrants like you."

The Overlord chuckled, the sound sending shivers down Marius's spine. "Oh, I have no intention of breaking your spirit, Centurion. I have an offer for you."

The Centurion raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued despite himself. "An offer? What could a creature like you possibly offer me?"

The Overlord's smile suddenly turned to a smirk as he smirked “The offer? GUARDS!”

The guards came running “Bring this man all the food and wine he can drink.” The Overlord smirked “Oh, but don’t give it to Marius, hang it over his head like a dog to a bone.”

Marius eyed the food hanging over his head and blinked, trying to ignore the fact that he hadn’t eaten in a few days and gritted his teeth.

“I’m not giving in even if… “

Marius’s stomach growls, his hunger speaking for him.

The overlord smirked “See, I knew your stomach would betray you. Ready to talk yet, Marius?”

The Overlord's smile widened. "Ah, but that's where strategy comes into play, my dear Marius. You won't be charging into battle head-on. No, we'll need to be clever about this. We'll exploit Malakai's weaknesses, his vulnerabilities. Perhaps we'll strike when he least expects it, or we'll use deception to get close enough to him."

"How about that “alter" ego of yours? Can you use him?” The overlord played with Marius a hint.

Marius stopped in his tracks “What alter-e…”

The Overlord smugly shrugged “Damocles. You know the one you’ve been using to senselessly slaughter my guards?”

Marius stopped “I don’t have the right “equipment”, Overlord.”

The alien stopped “What do you… require for this .. task?”

Marius frowned “I need blood, paint, and more for this job.”

The alien overlord sighed “I can supply the blood and the paint.”

Marius growled while the Overlord toyed with his emotions more “Getting angry won’t change that situation, Marius. Marius growled “And Democles can become a plaything for the sake of your puppetry?”

“Remember our deal, dear Marius. Do this or starve in prison.”

Marius pushed him away as the Overlord went to get the tools which were some of the killed slaves' blood and white paint.

Waiting in his cell, the Overlord brought his “supplies.” “Here, don’t fail me.”

Marius growled as he moved to the most private part of the cell.

Kain looked up and blinked “Marius, what are you doin-”

The teenager again asked him.

Marius had white painted on his face and then painted blood down his face along with the ashes on his face. He grabbed his old, ripped cape and blinked. “I’m Damocles.”

The fallen Centurion was back into play once again. The darkened Centurion lightly growled “Don’t tell the Overlord anything about this. “I’m Marius, just an alter-ego.”

Kain stepped back “What the hell did you use on your fac-”

Democles turned “Don’t ask. You do not want to know.”

He turned to the cell and scoffed. “I’m ready, whatever. The short sword his family passed down through generations was now with him again, the Overlord willing to surrender it for the mission.

Within a swift second, the fallen soldier waited for the doors to open as he frowned. With Democles’s temporary freedom left Kain with the grim reminder of what was near him: Two buckets, one with blood and one with white or black paint and ashes.

With the guards he was forced to take with him, he sighed as he looked back at Kain.

Kain, staring at the two buckets left behind, was rather shocked that the man was like this. But what did he use?

The teenager stood silent. There was a lot of missing details about Marius he was not saying but the blood in the bucket spoke volumes about his alter-ego.

5872/10000- Ryse and Fall with Marius and Democles and Kain

 

[Maximus]

The Overlord grunted “Guards, go with him.”

The guards questioned the Overlord’s logic, frustrated “We aren’t serving under no incomp- ENOUGH!”

The Overlord picked the guards up by the sleeve and growled “You WILL do what I say or you will die like the rest.” as he threw them to the ground, some gulping at the harshness of their employer.

“Yes..Yess..sir”

Democles grunted “How much longer do I have to wait unti-”

The guards scattered in front of Damocles and stood near him, reluctantly “Come on, let’s get a move on before I decide to eat something more than you.”

He wouldn’t but they didn’t know that.

The fallen Centurion grunted as he turned toward the ship prepared for him going to yet another little “blip” in space.

A ship loaded up, carrying Democles and the foolish guards who dared to follow him on the mission. Not one guard made a peep or a sound as they feared looking up at the Centurion, who was a dark version of himself.

The Overlord better keep his part of the deal after all.

The ship ride took a short time to another area, more like a party. This is where the enemy was in between a group of people. Orders were just to take him out. But how Democles was not a assassin but a Centurion. What kind of fool did the Overlord take him for?”

If a normal stab-and-go job weren’t going to work, he’d have to do both poison and stab.

Blending in was another challenge as he grunted. He just wanted to be done with this job. “Guards, poison the nobel’s drink, I’ll take him out fast.”

The guards gritted their teeth as they ran to find poison around the room. Speaking in their native tounge, they found poisons stored in the back. They snuck in the kitchen, grabbed one and noted the opposing figure chatting it up with friends. The guards bent down, and dripped some poison in the drink and mixed it, moving away.

After the grim job was done, Democles bent down under a table, quickly using the table as a shield to push it up and stab the nobleman, making others scream in the process. The job was quick and done. Now to escape.

The guards and Democles spread out, eventually meeting at the ship. By the time the opposing guard came out, Democles and the guards were already gone.

Democles frowned at the guards “Job well done. Maybe you’ll get paid in food this time.”

Soon after Democles’s ship pulled back in the port as he growled along with the scattered guards.

“There, I did your task.”

Democles threw the head of the opposing king on the ground “This is what you wanted. I’m not your puppet anymore.”

The Overlord gave a sarcastic clap, suddenly carrying out food and wine.

“Very good, Democles. Eat up. It’s all yours now.”

Democles took a slow bite of a grape, “This isn’t poisoned, is it?”

The Overlord frowned “Of course not. Why would I poison food?”

Democles growled “I know exactly why you would. I don’t trust you.”

The sweetness of a grape hit his throat and he found out fast it wasn’t poisoned.

Soon, the food sounded good, and he continued eating.

The Overlord had him eating literally out of the palm of his hand. If he could use him against Kain…

6440/10000- Ryse and Fall with Marius/Democles and Kain

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain knew he's been getting stronger lately. He could feel the Space around him more clearly, more malleable than usual. His own power bubbled inside his body like a soda bottle ready to pop, leaving goosebumps on his arms and legs, eagerly waiting for the right moment to burst out at a simple command.

But it was not the moment. Not yet.

The skeleton hanging out with him at the cell has been pulverized by Kain a few times already, in order to test his own strength during his wait for Marius to return. Those bones were pathetically flimsy, so easy to break apart it didn't even register to Kain their resistance to his power. The bars holding the cell together were a lot tougher though, but still, Kain knew he could break them apart now. Maybe it would take some time to wear them down, but it was totally within his limits. Still, he decided against trying more than just a test. Marius would be back soon, and that would be a much better moment to attempt an escape than trying to get past three consecutive iron locks.

Still, he couldn't teleport. The Space around him was not malleable enough to attempt that. But he was hopeful that, one day, he would get his entire arsenal back, and a situation like this would never repeat itself again. Never.

Yet, the buckets that Marius left in the cell were still there. Kain didn't need to check on them to know that at least one of them had fresh blood in it, its smell reminding him of the butchery scene that almost killed him some days (or maybe even weeks) prior. Why would Marius need something like that? He had put it on his face... Was he as bloodthirsty as the guards and the audience? Or did it serve a real purpose? But regardless, he had to work with Marius if he wanted to escape. He would ask him about that later.

.
.
.

A guard stopped by the first door to the cell, and started to open it. Marius was with them. Perfect.

As soon as the guard got past the three locks, Kain pounced from his cell into the air, grabbing the guard by the collar and smashing them into the floor.

"Easy there," Marius said, his voice unaffected by Kain's action. "We're here to pick you up."

"Really?"

"Yes, I got us an audition with the Overlord."

"That's convenient." Kain said, as he released the guard. "So, I'm guessing I don't have to threaten this jerk to get to see the mayor, right?"

"You don't. Let's go."

Marius frowned as he gave the guard a look, who quickly started walking through the hallways of the facility. Marius followed him, and Kain followed Marius.

They walked for a while, the awful metal walls turning into nice, decorated hallways more akin to that of a hotel than a dungeon, with carpet coats, plants, and other decorations like framed pictures and chandelures hanging high in the ceiling. Kain felt out of place there, being confined for so long to the awful dungeons beneath them, but the opulence only made him gag inside. This really was a place for wealthy people to "enjoy" brutal violence while their meticulous dresses and suits remained impeccable.

Finally, they reached a huge door with gilded gold filigree at the end of this hallway. The guard knocked on the door and moved aside. Another guard greeted them from the other side, as the door opened. Inside, there was a huge table filled to the brim with fresh food, their smells combining into a single wave of delicious aromas, but when they reached Kain's nose, he could only remain unaffected by it. It's been so long since he had something to eat that the appearance of food couldn't incite any hunger inside of him. In fact, it felt a bit disgusting, thinking about swallowing anything at all.

But then, Kain saw something. The entire room's ceiling and part of the walls were a giant glass window. And beyond that, there was nothing. Utter darkness, with little bright dots glimmering.

Outer space. They've been on a spaceship all this time!

Kain smirked. This would only make it easier.

Sending an imperceptible wave of bended Space, Kain could feel the thickness of the window. It was not made of glass, and it was a lot thicker than one may imagine – which made sense, if it really was the boundary between a breathable environment and the coldness of space itself. But it was still weaker than the metal walls he felt while in the cells, which meant Kain could easily break it apart.

"You're finally here," a man sitting at the end of the table said. He was wearing an absurdly fluffy red coat with gilded gold details.

This should be the Overlord himself.

Around the room, there were a bunch of guards standing perfectly still, like statues. They were armed with special weapons that Kain hadn't seen before.

"As promised," the Overlord added, "Here's your feast, Marius. You may enjoy it now."

Marius went ahead and sat on the other side of the table opposite to the Overlord, and started devouring the food in front of him. Kain sat beside Marius, but he didn't try to eat anything.

After a while of not-eating in silence, the Overlord said, "And here I was thinking my hospitality had been too great. The food isn't poisoned, kid, you can enjoy as much as you want."

"And then what?" Kain finally said. "Go back to rotting in a cell?"

"You are lucky Marius here had thought of you at all. Now, stop disrespecting my hospitality and eat."

Kain kicked the table from his seat, throwing the entire furniture sideways. All the food splashed into the carpet, as Marius was left with a single turkey leg on his mouth and hand. The guards grabbed their weapons and pointed them at the two convicts, but before they could actually fire them, Kain destroyed all of them with a single wave of his powers.

Yes, this is exactly what he's been waiting for!

"Guards!" The Overlord shouted.

Before they could do anything, Kain released another wave of bended Space, smashing everything around him into the walls. The guards' bones cracked with the impact, in no doubt out of commission, if they survived the hit at all.

The Overlord was alone now.

"Couldn't you wait until I was done eating?" Marius asked.

"The Overlord pissed me off. Sorry about that."

"Anyway..."

Calmly, Marius and Kain walked to the Overlord, who was crawling backwards into the wall.

"You won't get away with this!" The Overlord said. "My guards will fill all of you with bullets! Unless..."

Marius kicked the man right in the head, giving him a bloody nose. "Shut up!"

"So? What do we do with him?" Kain asked.

"I was gonna kill him."

"No, don't do that! Leave that to me."

Kain grabbed every shard from the broken plates and other decorations around them, and raised them in the air, pointing them at the Overlord.

"You think this would be enough?" Kain asked Marius.

"Do as you see fit."

"Wait, wait!" The Overlord added, "I can get you both free! My guards can let you use my private ship! It has everything you could ask for!"

"Ah, so we weren't free at all?" Kain said.

One shard shot from the curtain into the Overlord's arm, and he screamed. Kain could feel the shard under his power sink into the flesh, and he purposefully made it rotate and fall deeper than it should.

"You are not getting out of this one alive," Kain added.

Under his command, all the shards shoot directly into the Overlord's body. Kain pressed at them, the strength of his telekinesis forcing many to shatter inside the body, but he didn't care. He was gonna make him suffer as much as he could, his screams feeling like nothing but soothing music to his ears.

 

[Maximus]

Marius growled, it was nearly over and it was his turn to end things. With his strength back in position, it was time to take back his power and go from hunted to the hunter once again.

Marius picked the overlord up by his coat “..Heh.. Heh, M..Marius… Could you put me down, I? I fed you like a King..

Marius finished the overlord off for good, efficiently choking the man out.

“That’s for everything you put us through, you ignorant bastard.” He spat on the ground where the overlord’s body lay.

It was over now, all he had to do was release everyone and we could all leave this godforsaken ship.

Seconds turned into minutes as Marius grabbed the guard’s keys and began to release lock after locks of each of the gladiators, now given their freedom.

But he blinked in suprise as Vatallion, his Legatus, somehow connected to the ship with yet another unfamiliar man in armor much like his.

Marius blinked as the Legatus and Professor Baxter. “Vatallion?! How and when did you get here, old friend and who’d you bring with you?

The blue armored man said “Oh, this is Professor Baxter. He is a professor of history and we were going on a quest, when we heard you were here and here we are.”

Professor Baxter blinked, trying to keep up the facade of playing a Roman Centurion with the museum’s armor on. “Uh… yeah… I am.”


The man finally took off the Centurion mask, leaving Marius baffled and cleared his throat.

“Uh, hold on… Got to grab my things.”

Marius nodded and ran into the weapons shed, along where his armor was and slipped it back on.

“That’s so much better.”

“Vatallion, where’s your armor?”

“Oh, I gave it to Baxter to fit in.

“Speaking of which, Baxter, Uh… I need to have my armor back.”

Baxtor laughed nervously and gave the armor piece by piece back to Vatallion.

Both Marius and Vatallion bro hugged as Marius had so much he wanted to talk to Vatallion and his new ally about.

Marius waved the slaves out to different emergency boats and smiled, glad they found a way out too.

Marius frowned “Now where is Kain? Maybe we should meet up.”

Vatallion looked back “We need to get off before this thing blows. Everyone nodded and followed each other toward the ship Vatallion and the Professor prepped.

Marius couldn’t help but worry about leaving Kain behind but he knew he could take care of himself with those powers of his.

 

[Kain Owen]

Today was a great day, Kain thought as he smashed away another group of guards trying to stop his way. None of his usual mental blocks like morality or being careful about other people's bodies were getting in his way. Today, he was gonna free himself, and today, he was gonna wreck as much shit as it was possible on his way out. The people around him would feel at least a tiny amount of the fear that he had been dealing with since he was forced to stay in those horrible cells all those uncountable days ago.

And they did! Kain could see it in their faces, those meticulous cared for faces with their expensive jewelry and clothes, which Kain used to strangle them and take them out of his way. These are the same people who chanted for violence in the arena, they had no right to be scared of that same violence being thrown at them.

It was an exciting stravaganza. No one could really stop Kain, their flimsy weapons evaporating as soon as the kid could feel their presence.

But it couldn't last forever, could it? Kain had a plan. A stupid plan, but one nonetheless. Flying around the hotel rooms where the "guests" would stay, destroying everything in his wake, got boring too fast. No, he needed something more.

Until he finally found it: the section of the ship with the "Authorized Personnel Only" signs. The first rooms he found beyond those doors (which could do nothing about being smashed away with Kain's telekinetic waves) were kitchens and other places for the workers of the ship to do their jobs. Kain didn't want to fight this specific group of people though, but still, he threatened some to tell him where the engine room was. And he still destroyed everything there, the sound of dishes and lamps and shelves being thrown away feeling oddly cathartic, but he left the actual workers alone. These were not armed guards, nor complicit guests.

With enough violent sleuthing around, Kain eventually found the engine room. It was gigantic, incredibly tall and wide, with huge machinery. There were no workers there, they probably got the memo at some point that Kain was heading this way, but he didn't care. The engines looked like enormous cylindrical metal structures, with many warning signs around not touching them, or not pressing certain buttons. Inside these structures, Kain could feel there wasn't much inside of them, but considering these were engines, they probably had huge amounts of energy being processed there, which Kain couldn't feel by the space alone.

Ok, time to wreck shit up.

He started by pressing all the buttons he could find. They did something to the engines, some opened compartments, others activated things, others only lightened up screens. But none of them destroyed anything. Which made sense, self destruct buttons only existed in movies for a convenient way to get rid of the villains. One button seemed to deactivate the artificial gravity, but that was as far as visible effects went.

Time to see how strong those cylindrical machines actually were.

Kain, levitating in the middle of the room, started bending the metal coat of the main machine, which was the biggest one, located in the center of the room. Its metal was strong, it took a few tries to bend it. But in doing so, he could feel pressure coming from the inside. It was an uneven force, which probably was being disrupted by Kain's intervention. He kept working on it, bending the coat with as much force as he could muster, until a piece of it fell off. But it was only the outer coat. It had many more layers of metal and other materials stacked upon each other. But the outer one was the strongest of them all, so once it fell out, bending the insides was much easier.

Until a beam of pressure shot out from the hole Kain just made. It almost hit him, ruffling his hair on its way out.

Alarms started to echo throughout the whole room, with red flickering lights synchronized with the noise. The screens monitoring the engines showed error messages and "DANGER" signs.

Alright, that sounded exactly like what Kain was trying to accomplish.

He kept destroying the main engine, until the pressure became too great to be contained by the cylindrical shape. Glowing cracks started to spread throughout the machine, even affecting the other two engines.

Alright, that did look dangerous. Forcing a hole into the wall towards outer space, Kain flew away from the breaking apart engine room. Soon enough, he could see from afar how the engines started to explode, taking huge parts of the ship with them, until only half of it remained, floating in space. The ship probably had spare engines, and someone would come and pick up the survivors, but Kain's job was done.

He flew away into the coldness of space.