Journey To The Tournament

The boy opened his eyes to his surroundings. A large field of flowers spread out before him. He had fallen asleep on a mossy bench. Somehow the moss was still wet and felt soft to the touch under him. With a yawn, the boy stood from the bench, his aching body immediately missing the soft moss, but he had no choice. He hadn't meant to fall asleep there; he was on a time crunch. He had to meet up with his father.

He began picking up the pace as he ran the purple hair on his head fluttering back, revealing that his hair was fading into black. He continued his rush until he saw a forest in the distance. Just past the forest was his destination, the docks.

He reached the forest's edge when suddenly he felt a presence rapidly approaching. Swiftly, he turned his torso almost instinctively to dodge. In almost perfect timing, he felt a massive rush of wind nearly blow him down as if something moving at insane speeds had rushed past him.

The realization quickly dawned on him, but before he could react, he felt something wrap around his waist and pull him into the forest. The invisible force began slamming him through the trees before throwing him, hurtling him into the hillside. This created an impact crater which knocked the wind out of the boy.

Not giving him a moment to breathe, he felt several more invisible forces heading toward him. He jumped into the air to avoid the onslaught but was filled with regret as a new force moved above him, slapping him back into the ground and creating a much greater crater.

Having enough of the treatment, the boy closed his eyes and released a deep breath. Visible smoke left his lips as the air traveled through his teeth. With this, the boy spoke, "Nergal."

The moment these words were uttered a blinding light coated the forest in its beauty, pushing the invisible forces away. As the light dissipated, the boy returned to view, covered in beautiful dark armor on every inch of his body except his head. The sun glistened off its edges and cast a shadow over the forest. On His shoulders were skulls with glowing white eyes. Suddenly one of the Invisible forces began rushing from the right. Signaling the skull, which started to blink rapidly.

When the invisible force got too close, it hit a barrier that seemed to surround the boy, who turned his attention to it and grabbed hold. He knew it. Tugging on the force, he felt a heavy weight, and before he knew it, he was standing face to face with his father, who now stood right in front of him with a scowl. "Axel, it took you far too long to activate Nergal. If I had been trying to kill you, you would have been done for in the first blow."

Axel was swift to protest, not wanting to hear his father scold him over this. "Father, I knew it was you the moment I felt the presence of your Invaslapods."

Axel's father, Greg, was a man of Korean descent. His father was terrifying to look at, with a menacing stature of seven-foot-eight. His godly ability suited him perfectly, with a toned and absolutely shredded body. Invislapod. This allowed him to create invisible tentacles from his body that he could freely control. Axel felt ashamed just standing next to him. Despite the thick armor, Axel was far shorter, standing at only five foot six. He was scrawny; he didn't even have his dad's muscle mass. He didn't even have a six-pack. Despite this, Axel refused to be intimidated.

"That does not matter. What if someone had gained control of my mind and was using my power to attack, or it was someone who could mimic my powers! You always have to be ready, Axel; you failed. I don't think I can send you to the tournament."

This immediately sent Axel into a panic. He had been training all his life for this. The world tournament. A tournament that was founded to thank the gods for saving us from the wrath of The Great Witch Alexandria. Since he was only three years old, he can remember fighting and training with his father. Enduring brutal beatdowns to the brink of death, getting so fatigued that he would be out of commission for weeks. Even worked himself into a coma, and now his father wouldn't even let him go to the tournament. He refused to accept it.

Thrown into a blind rage a dark aura surrounded Axel. His armor darkened to the point the light could no longer reach it. His eyes turned maroon, and the skulls on his shoulders followed suit. "I won't accept this," He cried out as he made a wild rush toward his father.

Greg wasn't sure how to react, so he couldn't dodge in time as Axel's fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying, tearing apart the forest as he went, slowly coming to a stop. "I'll show you I'm ready! You said always be ready for someone to kill me, right?! Well, I'm ready! Do it! Try and kill me!"

Axel made another rush for his father, but before he could, he felt arms gently wrap around his body; despite the armor, he could feel a warmth that pushed back all the anger. Sinking into the feeling, his aura disappeared along with his armor, and he sighed. He wasn't sure how his mother was capable of this. She had approached him without him even realizing it and got through his barrier with no difficulty.

He wrapped his arms around her in return and sighed. "Sorry, I lost my cool" He paused for a second before looking over his mom's shoulder at his dad, who was slumped on the ground. "What's wrong? You can't just sit there and groan all day. What is it? Do you still think I'm not ready?"

Axel regretted these words instantly as he felt his mother's fist connect with his temple in full force, but nothing happened. It was a threat. He looked in fear at his mother before looking back at his father. Who had gotten up and made his way over to them? "So?"

Greg just sighed and shook his head. "Axel, it's not just about how easily you let your guard down. You're far too emotional. You got angry and snapped over something so simple and out of nowhere. If I were to send you into this tournament, I would willingly send many children to their deaths. I can't allow it, Axel. I'm sorry.

Axel was in disbelief, sending children to their deaths? How could he say that? He, of all people, can't say that. "Oh? So now you're against killing? Why couldn't you have done that while Uncle-" He was cut off by his mother and father staring him down with murderous intent. "Sorry. Father. I understand your fear, but I know you felt no blood lust, even in my anger. It was just anger. I had no intent to kill you. Please. I've been waiting all my life! And this is the only year I can participate! I'm sixteen now! You know just as well that only warriors my age can participate! And this year, everyone in the tournament has a mark like me! They're all superb fighters!"

The mark of the gods. A mysterious symbol would appear on the bodies of the most gifted children at birth. Granting them the title Star Child. These marks are a sign of the greatest warriors born in this Generation, and sixteen years ago, a total of sixteen children were all born into this world with a mark of the gods.

Hermes, Ares, Ra, Odin, Thor, Anubis, Aphrodite, Apollo, Enlil, Hadad, Shiva, Ahura Mazda, Tezcatlipoca, The Jade Emperor, Sun Wukong, and of course, Nergal. This sparked the interest of the entire world as never in recorded history have sixteen Star Children been born the same year, let alone participated in the Tournament of The Gods.

Greg thought for a moment about what Axel had said. It was all true; this moment marked history, although it seemed like the mark had become more common as time passed. Thinking of this, he looked down at his own wrist, the symbol of Cthulhu. 'Maybe a bit on the nose,' he thought to himself in amusement. Looking back up at his son, who seemed to have a fire burning in his soul, ready to seep into the world. He couldn't help but feel a bit inspired by it.

So, after thinking for so long, he came to a conclusion. "Alright, Axel, you can go. After all, if things go wrong, the administrators can easily put you down anyways."

With his father's approval, Axel jumped with glee, accidentally sending himself almost a hundred feet in the air. His excitement quickly faded as he looked down and screamed out. Falling back to the ground face first and planted directly into the ground, only his legs still visible. His mother sighed in both embarrassment and amusement at her son's delight. Without hesitation, she grabbed her son's leg and pulled him out of the ground with a pop. "Like a carrot," she joked, which flustered Axel, who broke free from his mother's grasp and returned to his feet.

"Sorry, I got a little bit excited! I'm just so excited! I can't wait! This is gonna be the best tournament ever!"

They laughed together as they began their journey through the forest, eventually leading them to a beach. On this beach were a dock and a speed boat with a large hulking man standing on it. "Axel, that is your ride to the Cruiser. It will take you to it and then to your final destination, tournament Island."

Axel stared in amazement before his eyes caught attention to the strange man dressed in a black suit, which didn't seem to fit him well as his muscles seemed to bulge out of his suit. "Who's he?" Axel asked aloud, to which his father responded.

"That's Dan. The oldest administrator of Tournament Island. Believe it or not, he's ninety years old."

Axel was shocked at this information; the man didn't have a single gray hair on his head nor any wrinkles. There was no way. "You're joshing me," Axel stated, turning back to his father, who was just staring with a goofy grin.

Axel was about to ask another question when he heard an engine roar, and he turned to see Dan driving off with the speedboat. "Oh, looks like you took too long! Dan's leaving"

Axel panicked instantly and sprinted towards the dock, immediately diving off and swimming after the speedboat as best he could into the distance, his screams still audible. "DAN, WAIT! I'M SORRY! I WAS RIGHT HERE! PLEASE SLOW DOWN"

But even his cries faded, leaving his parents to laugh together, soon taking each other into each other's arms. "He'll be okay, right?" Axel's mother asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

Greg just nodded, pulling her against his chest as he stared off into the distance that Axel had faded into. "He's strong. Far stronger than I was when I was his age. The competition doesn't stand a chance. Our boy will win!"

Axel's mother felt comfort in Greg's words, so letting go of her fears she nuzzled into her husband's chest. "You're right. Axel is unbeatable."