Preliminaries

Inside, the centaur was continuing to tidy up the place, jotting down some notes on the rule board up ahead.

Holding the entry pass in front of me, I ran toward Chiron.

"Hey," I said, "We're back and this time we've got this," I continued to hold the pass up as the centaur turned around at the sound of my approach. I handed him the pass. He peered at the slip for a moment, then looked at me in surprise.

"Hey, how'd you get this?"

"Can we enter the games now?' I asked.

The centaur frowned at the group, his expression stern, but then he heaved a sigh.

"Well, it looks like I ain't got a choice," he said, "Fine, you're in, but don't go feeling all high and mighty just yet. You want to get into the big leagues? Two words: Preliminaries."

"That's one word!" Tank said.

"Yeah, let's go!" I said.

"You guys'll have some interesting competition. Some real weirdos signed up for the games," Chiron cautioned us, "Better watch yourself."

Without further ado, Chiron led us back into the arena. To my surprise, a set of maybe twenty of the shadow creatures that we had encountered were sat on the benches. Even though, we were surprised to find them in the coliseum, all three of us were confident we would win.

Fighting these creatures off would be no problem, since we had so much experience with them already. The strange thing was that they seemed to be cooperating with Chiron rather than attacking people. Then again, it did seem strange that the shadow in Wonderland waited until after we shrunk to attack us, or how it tried to stop me from getting to the Eat Me Cake.

Other than shadows, there were normal humans too, but also centaurs other than Chiron, as well as skeletons in Greek armour, eight foot tall minotaurs, massive cyclops, green reptilian gorgons and satyrs that were 6 or 7 feet tall.

I turned my attention to a woman with feathery wings and long claws on her hands and feet. She appeared to be in her thirties but she was ugly. She was very short and very slim to the point of looking sickly. Her half-shaved blonde hair was a pixie cut with green and blue headlights. She was wearing a short length skirt and a t-shirt with a fist in a female power symbol. If one thing was for certain, it's that I wouldn't want to put her in my bed.

"What the fuck?" I said out loud.

"That is Alecto, one of the Furies. They're harpies that are supposed to punish evil do-ers but one day they decided they just hated men. They pretty much do only two things, rant about the 'patriarchy' and how society supposedly advantages men, and whip little boys to **** for 'justice' and 'equality'. She probably entered this tournament so she could kill boys legally," Chiron said.

So basically, Alecto was your typical feminist. I've actually had teachers like that in my previous life. I know how painful a whipping can be. To kill children this way...

The prelims were a sort of mini-tournament. Two fighters would fight with a one-minute time limit.

Glaze would keep her distance and use several different magic spells.

Tank would go the opposite, preferring to get up close and personal with her axe and shield due to her lack of projectile abilities.

I just used my Chainsaword to create portals to get close to my opponents. I didn't actually use my Chainsaword to kill anything that wasn't a shadow.

Each battle was slightly more difficult than the one than came before it. The toughest was a cyclops with a club, wearing nothing but loincloth. The preliminary rounds, overall, did not last very long, even with the time limit.

After winning five rounds, I returned to the sidelines where Glaze and Tank were sat.

"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad," Chiron told us, "Lucky you came to me for coaching."

As soon as Chiron shut his mouth, a mysterious figure approached, having just come through the entrance to the arena. A young woman with long black hair. She was dressed in black leather with several straps and buckles.

Draped over her shoulders was a red cloak.

She approached in a slow, confident stride. I eyed her as she came forward, my gaze following her every move. The woman's eyes met mine and we stared at each other as she passed. She soon turned away as though she had lost interest, continuing her way to the other side of the arena.

I slowly turned back to the others. Chiron stoked his goatee thoughtfully before letting out a low, impressed whistle.

He folded his arms over his chest.

"Something tells me she'll be a tough one to beat," Chiron mused aloud, "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing her."

I took a quick glance at the mysterious young woman. Her opponent was another shadow. As soon as the match started, the woman's body entered her cloak, which then flew at the shadow. As soon as it was near, the woman emerged from the cloak, carrying a large, powerful looking scythe that she quickly decapitated the creature with.

"You ready to get back in there?" Chiron asked.

"Oh, yeah," I said after a moment, "Yeah, we're ready," I turned to the other two, "Right, guys?"

Both Glaze and Tank nodded.

Chiron pointed to the arena and gestured for us to enter, "Then you better get out there! Your next opponent is Alecto."

I stepped into the arena. Alecto pulled out a whip.

"I smell another man. Do you pretend to be a lesbian to **** women?" Alecto asked.

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded by her baseless assumption.

"You were looking forward to **** me afterwards, weren't you?!"

"I really wasn't."

Alecto stuck her fingers in her ears, " La la la la la, you want to **** me!" She put her fingers out her ears and cracked her whip at me, "You're just another toxic little boy! I'm going to whip you to ****!"

Alecto cracked her whip at me but I opened a portal between us. The end of her whip went through the portal, and out of another portal behind Alecto, causing her to accidentally whip her own back.

"You bastard! This is misogyny!" she cried.

I just rolled my eyes and opened another portal, stepping through so I was right next to her. I swung my Chainsaword down and cut Alecto's whipping arm off. Alecto screamed in pain, while I threatened her with my Chainsaword.

"Take off your clothes," I told her.

This wasn't about sex. I just wanted to humiliate her. Alecto used her remaining arm to remove her top and her skirt.

I could see she had almost no breasts. Why the fuck did she think anyone would want to **** her?

"Get on your knees," I said.

Alecto did so, looking fearful. I stood behind her and cracked my whip. Alecto screamed in pain. I just kept whipping her like she'd done to so many children. I did not stop until she had completely collapsed to the ground. I used my Chainsaword to cut the talons off her feet and her remaining hand. She wouldn't harm anyone again.

Before my next battle began, I conferred with Chiron.

"Say, you're better than I thought!" Chiron told me proudly. He then sighed, looking up into the air, "Wish she was here to see this."

"Who?" I asked.

"Herakles," Chiron said, "She's a hero if there ever was one."

Tank tilted her head, "Herakles? That sounds kinda like 'Jerkakles'…"

"Jerkakles?" The centaur's eyes narrowed and he shook his head, "Where'd you get that from? Hera?"

"Well…" Scratching her head, Tank frowned, "There was this yellow eyed woman in a black stola, and…"

"Say no more! That's Hera alright," Heaving a sigh, the centaur shook his head again, "Don't believe a word she says. Herakles' a true hero if there ever was one.

After a brief moment, Chiron sent us back into the arena for our next round.