Transcending Fates: The Arena Chronicles

By Floyd Bayly

Transcending Fates, Arena Chronicles

is an Action-Horror story rolled into a Sci-Fi Thriller with a splash of Erotic fantasy… The story takes place on a barren planet that has hidden beauty and fantasy fascinations to behold and revolves around a small group of humans that journeyed to attend a Melee' extravaganza tailored to be the defining moment between two champions of no holds-barred fighting. The thrilling event of a lifetime becomes more than a battle for survival when deception and deceit complicate every turn as they try and survive the event of a lifetime, which becomes a nightmare in a world of alien terror.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798765237915

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Copyright © 2023 Floyd Bayly.

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ISBN: 979-8-7652-3790-8 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3789-2 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3791-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023900616

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/06/2023

An Action-Horror story rolled into a Sci-Fi Thriller, with a splash of Erotic fantasy…

This story is part of an interstellar odyssey that begins on a planet not so different from the hottest deserts of planet Earth. The Arena Chronicles revolves around a small group of humans that journey to attend a celebrated fighting extravaganza, tailored to be a defining moment of two champions. The thrilling event of a lifetime becomes a battle for survival as deception and deceit complicates their every turn. As they try to survive the event of a lifetime, supposed to be dictated by rules and honor, a nightmare of deception and shocking turns unfold. None of their lives will ever be the same after this fateful event, if they can even survive.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Visions of Grandeur

Chapter 2 In The Eye of The Beholder

Chapter 3The Unviled Deception

Chapter 4Facing Fate

Chapter 5 A Time for Rememberence

Chapter 6 Mayham Among Us

Chapter 7 Misery in Waiting

Chapter 8 Carnal Violations

Chapter 9 Exodus, Escaping Carnage

INTRODUCTION

In this chronicle of adventure, love, and adversity, the fateful crossroads of time and place will be contested by the intervention of malevolence and death. Faith will be put to the test, as integrity over the irony of subjective morals will play a role in the balance of life’s never-ending gambit of choices. In the translation of this riveting chronicle about endeavoring in the face of malice intent, a crafted plot begins to unfold on a sweltering world of endless desert plains.

Highlighting the seemingly lifeless world of sand was intriguing prismatic curtains of colorful beauty that accented the perpetual twilight in the northern sky. The prismatic phenomenon frequently caused colorful waves of rippling effects across the granules of sand, which sets this world apart from other planets amongst the stars, and makes the world a celestial marvel to the ones who locate it. The problem with finding the shimmering planet is that from a distant stargazer’s perspective, the radiant ripples of light are easily mistaken as another twinkling star in the proverbial darkness of space… But for the enlightened, the view is a faint beacon of lure!

The almost barren world of flickering reflections could also be identified by a unique water mass, which was also a clue to the location of a spectacular city on the otherwise, barren world. The water mass was the key to the region’s bearable temperature on the searing planet. Notably the planet’s longest and tallest mountain range was just to the west of the spectacular city, like a dividing wall that sprouted out of the huge water mass. Oddly enough, or maybe understandably to the enlightened, there was a line in the water mass that defined a separation of two distinctly different colors of water that never mixed. The always-lighter tan colored water was on the east side of the dividing waterline, which was assumed to be the shallow side, while the darker and assumed deeper water was on the west side. The true reason for the color difference was the water composition that maintained the divide between the two uniquely colored water masses. The Colossal Mountain range was curiously in alignment with the dividing waterline and formed an almost straight latitude-line of reference. The long shoreline of the water was a perfect longitude-line that extended east and west. The two geographic markers were the unmistakable crosshair landmarks that could even be seen from space, and used to pinpoint the otherwise hard to locate city.

The name of the spectacular city that was associated with the elusive shimmering world was unknown in the original Chronicle but in this narrative we will pair it to the fabled names of two lost cities, which we suspect could be one in the same, Muron and Mirage. The second name is synonymous with the planet’s reference and why we suspect the city name of Mirage may be linked as one of the referenced lost cities amongst the stars. The fabled City of Muron, like the city of Mirage, was said to be a wondrous sight, and described as a luminous metallic City of monolithic towers. The skyscraping structures were said to also complement the peaking mountains on the western horizon, mirroring the mountains on a smaller scale. Designed to blend with the terrain, the city’s cusped towers extended out of the sea like the mountain range to the west, and its metallic exterior shimmered with reflective effects that mimicked the surrounding prismatic reflections of the terrain.

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Visions of Grandeur

Our story begins along an ocean shoreline with a towering City as the backdrop behind two joggers, who were not your average fitness enthusiasts. Running side by side towards the colossal mountains in the west, on one of their jog-a-thon excursions, the sculpted male and female resembled a fitness ad in motion. Dressed in blue form fitting attire and sporting dark sunglasses because of the intense bright yellowish-orange star above, they were nearing the end of their training for the event of a lifetime.

For about six months they had been preparing to compete in the first competition hosted by the relatively young City, and much of that time was spent cooped up during their long travel from another star system. The competition was an interstellar fighting event referred to as Melee, or also called Cell Fighting. The Melee competitors were popular among the public eye and respected as an elite group of athletes who adhered to strict ethical standards. The Melee matches featured two classifications of competitors, vertebrates and invertebrates, and four weight divisions in each for one-on-one pound your opponent action. The only restrictions during the match were no throat or eye strikes, no biting or slicing or use of any weapon beyond one’s body.

The only sport more brutal was Bane Fighting and that violent platform allowed everything, even weapons, in which death was the usual determining factor of who lost the match! Because of the volatility and morbid conclusion to the contest, anyone could enroll in the Bane Tournaments so those fighters were not held to the same ethical standards as Melee players. The lack of standards hurt their respectability and celebrity status, but not their notoriety! The Bane contestants were still the most feared fighters in the galaxy; however, as one would suspect over time, Bane fighters were in a pool of contestants becoming extinct. Another distinction between the two fighting platforms, beyond the encouraged gruesomeness of the life and death outcome, was that the Bane Tournaments were illegal in most populated star systems due to the craziness that could accompany the event.

On the more orderly side of the violence spectrum, the Melee players were a glamorized group of stars that were a huge draw for any city and most commonly associated with inspiring festivals and charitable causes to raise awareness and finances. The pre-competition festivities were filled with adventurous activities, exciting parties, and a variety of shows for all plus the thrill of meeting and supporting your favorite Melee Player, which was called the day of reckoning. The Melee event always produced huge financial gains for the hosting city through festivities and gambling opportunities, which was why the League of Gambling sponsored and oversaw all Melee events.

As with any story, there can be many versions, depending on perspective. We’ll continue our story at the base of the Colossal Mountain Range, where the two fitness enthusiasts had jogged. The two athletes both reached for the rocky incline of the mountain that towered over the surf, like a cliff diver’s dream, as if it was a finish line except this was not the end. Without hesitation, the two almost jumped onto the rocky mountainside to continue their excursion.

The male, Mars Dougodolas Raines, was a Melee Champion publicly known as the Surgeon of Melee, and linked to several other M.D. aliases. His closest friend’s would sometimes use other aliases for a form of public anonymity but MD was the most commonly used nickname. He was an obvious thrill seeker by nature and enjoyed physical challenges. In the Melee arena MD was known as a fearless, heavy-handed, striker with a special knack for exploiting opponent’s weaknesses. He was considered as one of the top conditioned athletes in any sport, thanks to his long time trainer and friend, Coach Ginger Reyes, who was credited with his consistent readiness and incredible conditioning. Coach Reyes was also a big influence for MD to come out of retirement to compete in the main event at the first Melee competition in the young city. As one might suspect, Lady Ginger Reyes was not your average girl-next-door. She was a physically talented and skilled athlete who always strived for excellence and felt that preparation, technique, and conditioning were the three main ingredients for success in any sport. The importance of technique, instilled in Ginger from early childhood, helped make her a Martial Arts champion from a very young age and into her young adult life. In Ginger’s late teens and beyond she had distinguished success in track and field events too, which earned her multi-sport stardom as a young adult. With sports fame and a killer body from relentless training, sports modeling opportunities supplied income to furthering her education. After graduating with a degree in sports therapy, and working her way into stardom as a sports model, Ginger embarked in a surprise career in the Melee sport, spawning a spontaneous relationship with MD. At that time he was just known as Mars Raines, a struggling Melee’ contender but a contender nonetheless. After Mars Raines met Ginger, about fifteen years ago, his career changed with the aid of Ginger, and her best friend Savannah. Savannah was the one who decided to make the Melee fighter, Raines, their project and the intervention sparked immediate success, which launched all three into galactic stardom.

Coach Ginger Reyes believed cross training for overall fitness was very important for a balanced body and mind. In the rock-climber universe she was a ranked pro among her peers but MD was no slouch, and having an excellent climb to be even near her in their ascent. While the two continued up the rocky side of the mountain, they seemed almost synchronized as they reached, stepped, and pulled in unison until they eventually arrived at the top of a large ledge the two had climbed to before. Coach Reyes was up first and was quick to compliment her Melee player, MD, who rolled onto the ledge with disappointment evident.

That was the hardest you ever pushed me, you were practically even with me the whole time, Ginger pointed out.

MD felt good about how close he was to Ginger and replied, Thanks, with a hint of disappointment still looming to being so close to her in the undeclared race. After moving to position on one knee, shaking his head with humbled respect, MD added, I really thought I had you on that one.

Ginger replied with a poised expression, as she put her hands on her hips to point out, Remember, you did beat me the other day. You may have had a head start but you still won! I couldn’t let you get me twice in the same week; your ego might get too big and displace your balance in some way. Couldn’t let that happen.

During their shared chuckle, and MD’s loss for words to her comment, Ginger had moved closer to him and without warning, fired a roundhouse kick towards his head. He quickly responded by rising up towards her, while blocking and wrapping her kicking leg with his arm to catch it. In one continuous movement, he swept Ginger’s supporting leg out from under her. She fell towards the rocky ground except, before she hit, he caught her with his left hand and laid her gently down on the ground.

As MD stood motionless over Ginger, staring into her pretty brown eyes, she asked in a melodramatic tone, And where’s your follow-up?

The suggested need to continue spurred MD to release her leg and drop on top of her, sitting on her stomach in a mounted position from which he grabbed and pinned Ginger’s arms over her head, but again, he then paused.

Ginger tilted her head to view her wrists being held on the ground, above her head, and sarcastically asked, So, do you really think this is a good follow up for your fight? You know better, right? When she looked into his eyes, Ginger realized he was not thinking about any follow-ups to fighting. Noticing that he had begun to lean closer towards her face, in a manner that made it clear his desirers had nothing to do with combat, Ginger responded with a soft, No-o-o. He instantly hesitated but gazed over Ginger’s curly jet-black hair that framed her beautiful facial features with captivation. When she softly repeated no again, MD refocused on her lips to watch her accentuate word in a very cute and alluring manner that appeared more playful than literal. Drawn in like a magnet, he lowered his face closer again, until she quickly looked away. When he paused, Ginger turned to look back at MD, who again started to lower.

This time, when he was just inches from her face, she firmly announced, Wait! MD instantly backed off and watched her lips form the words, Promise me this is only for one kiss?

As he marginally nodded, she felt his desire growing and suspected that he wasn’t really listening. When MD again moved to lower, she again snapped her head to the side to look away. After what seemed to be an impasse, he eventually raised his head up. Ginger then slowly turned to look at him with a slightly more sincere expression and questioning tone, Promise me first.

After he acknowledged with a more suitable nod, MD added, I’ll promise to do whatever you wish.

When Ginger responded with an affectionate smile, MD lowered his face to engage her in a passionate kiss.

In the moments of finally kissing her, he heard her calling his name, even though their lips were passionately engaged. Surprised, he opened his eyes to see Ginger curiously looking at him from a few feet away. It took a moment but after a glimpse around MD realized he was in the hot tub at the staging area, daydreaming, with his fight time rapidly approaching.

Ginger was standing in between his legs, paused from kneading his muscles to loosen him up for the big match, and exclaimed with some frustration, I wanted you relaxed but you still need to be focused, not falling asleep! I can tell you are not ready to go out and fight by just looking at you. You don’t have any fire or drive right now and that’s a recipe for disaster!

That’s not true, responded MD, I did get overly relaxed and started reminiscing about our last climb, earlier in the week, when we were on that ledge overlooking the sea or whatever they call it.

Ginger was irritatingly disappointed with MD’s excuse and with a conflicted expression, she replied, Yeah, well, that was nice! Actually it was one of the most beautiful moments we’ve ever shared. She then added with a tone influx, But that was then and today it’s time to go to work! Feeling somber she sat back in the whirlpool, separating herself from MD, before she stated, You don’t seem to be taking the match seriously and it’s making me very uncomfortable. When he did not respond, Ginger suggested Maybe your lack of focus is partly my fault, and elaborated about the mixing of their training with sightseeing excursions as a mistake, The volcano and cave exploring trip was great and the beach activities made training fun and different too but we’ve always done our sight seeing and vacationing fun as a reward after the competition. It seems obvious now that mixing business with pleasure was a distracting mistake. He attempted to reply except Ginger put her hand up for him to wait, as she pointed out, I don’t care if you’re attempting to kick a legendary Gecko’s tail, who happens to be a fighting Icon that you should take seriously, or any average fighter’s ass, if you don’t prepare and focus on the task, then bad things will probably happen! So, just a news flash, in case you haven’t been paying attention. This is a championship match and you’re going to get your ass kicked, or worse, if you don’t focus! Now quit screwing around and reminiscing about the past or there won’t be a tomorrow for you! Ginger paused for a moment, appearing choked up, before she softly added, We have done a lot of things over the years together, some good and some bad, most worth remembering but some not so much. Some things I will never do again, even if I miss it, and some I wish I could forget! Turning to walk to the steps and exit the water, she added, Let’s not make this event into the latter by turning this into something bad just because you can’t get serious or are thinking with the wrong head! I didn’t come here for that so get your priorities straight, get serious, and focus on tonight’s match! As Ginger exited the hot tub, dripping wet and with one foot out, she paused to glance back down at him to question, Got it! Or we are done here? Do you understand what I’m saying?

Once MD acknowledged Ginger’s request for more focus, with a got it reply, she headed to her locker for a towel while verbally recapping their game plan for the match. During Ginger’s naked stroll across the room, unaware of MD’s misaligned gaze, he rolled to adjust his positioning to watch Ginger. Admiring her incredible physique, with his head on his folded arms at the edge of the whirlpool, Ginger dried off with her towel as she continued to tell MD how she wanted him to warm up while she went to check out conditions at the fighting cell. Fixated on Ginger’s beautifully sculpted physique, from her perfectly defined shoulders and tapered back, down to her small waist that accentuated her round derriere that also complimented her toned legs. He was lost in admired lust to her flawless head to toe magnificence, until he had to quickly react to a blue object flying at his face.

After a reactive catch of Ginger’s towel that had been thrown in frustration when she realized he wasn’t listening, Ginger shouted, Dammit Mars! What are you doing? You’re not seeing anything you haven’t seen before! MD was surprised at Ginger’s angry reaction and just stood there with the towel in his hand, at a loss for words to justify his actions. From his low vantage point in the whirlpool, as Ginger glared with frustration, MD tried to fixate on her face while he attempted to think of a reply. Frozen with a feeling of shameful disrespect, looking at Ginger standing with her hands on her hips and obviously waiting for a reply that was too slow in coming, he was at a loss. Ginger shook her head with feelings of disrespect, anger, disbelief, and hurt as her eyes started to tear up. With an anticipated excuse and she said, And don’t you dare relate this to my asking you to focus! You know exactly what I mean! After only giving him a moment for him to reply, Ginger followed the silence with an eye roll before she declared, Whatever. Truth is I didn’t want us to do this match to begin with but here we are, and now I am at a loss to what we are doing here and regretting this whole thing. So maybe you should explain to me why we are here… Ginger’s words tapered off as she held back crying and wiped her eyes when she added, Because it’s not to win. Still with no reply from MD, Ginger walked over to the edge of the whirlpool and knelt down before she expressed her heartfelt worry, You don’t seem to be focused on this match at all. What is going on with you? You have never acted like this before a fight. You’ve never ignored me either.

MD shook his head and answered, Ignored you, I promise I’m not ignoring you. I couldn’t… And I don’t mean that as a joke.

After hearing his less than revealing response, and having a less than adequate bravado, Ginger suggested, We don’t have to do this fight. I’ve had a bad feeling about this one from the very start, and I’m not going to be a part of you getting hurt because you’re not ready. So, why don’t we just leave?

She was about to explain their plausible excuse except her statement made MD come to life with an interjected, No! Sorry, but I can’t do that!

Why, we both feel something’s wrong here, questioned Ginger.

To hell with them and their secrets, MD replied, We don’t need any film on who I’m fighting anyway! You prepare me for anything and I am going out there to finish this. We’re not running away! You have me ready, and yeah, we may have been having fun in a different way of training but at only the cost of making good memories… That’s it. You’ve planned out everything, every detail, as always. And maybe you took some risk at making our training for this event a special adventure to remember but we still put the time in, nothing has been lost on that side. You know I’m prepared for this match, possibly better than ever before, and with you by my side I’m ready for whatever their secret is. When I step into the Cell, it’s on! I promise you that! After a moment of heartfelt eye contact, MD calmed to softly say, I didn’t mean to disrespect you, I need you. He then moved to reach around Ginger with his arms and placed his head on her knelt down thighs before he added, When you’re near me, it’s like you’re in my head. You focus my constant rage. You make me better. In a more solemn tone he said, It’s not the fight I’m worried about, it’s after the fight. It’s the after all this that has me lost.

The untold secret about MD was that he had squandered most of his earnings and was financially broke. The championship match they were at would fix those issues but that was only part of his trouble. He knew age had caught up to him and even though he was having a hard time accepting it, the headaches and body aches from the abusive sport seemed to be getting worse. The most significant pain was the heartache of loneliness in retirement. It didn’t take long for him to be forgotten when he previously retired from the Melee sport and the quiet calm that accompanied the retirement became a silent pain of emptiness. His anger issues had also become a growing rollercoaster of frustrations towards anyone around him, as well as himself, but that was still not the worst loss of all. Before the new Melee opportunity, which had already recaptured the stardom that he didn’t even know he missed, the biggest hurdle he couldn’t overcome was the prospect that he had alienated his closest friends and partners, Ginger and Savannah. MD’s violent and promiscuous behavior split their relationship a few years back and their absence in his life had burned a hole of emptiness into his heart. He had tried filling his time with many women to help relieve his loneliness, as well as to quench his problematic sex addiction, but he still couldn’t get over the loss of the relationship with Ginger and or Savannah. Their blissful fun in life, in bed, in anything, especially as trusted friends and every happy memory in between, had become a haunted past for him with no foreseeable future. So the grand Melee Event was an opportunity to be around Ginger and Savannah again and maybe mend their relationship.

You, Savannah, and fighting is all I ever had that was good in my life and these past few years, without you two and the sport, it was really difficult! MD continued, For years I always had one of you with me and, of course, the buzz of the Cell Fight. He squeezed Ginger tight before he lifted his head to look up into her eyes, from which she responded with a caressing touch across his scalp, as he explained, It didn’t take long for me to realize that I lost everything that meant something to me when I lost you two. I tried to fill the voids but you two are an impossible act for anyone to follow! The Bane tournaments helped me, some.

Ginger knew all too well about MD’s need for thrill-highs plus the perks that accompanied the fame, and pointed out, I’m sure the fame groupies helped too!

The fame groupies were individuals who tried to befriend a celebrity, or even offer themselves to get a special connection with Fame, but without missing a beat MD answered, "Yeah, maybe so except that’s also my point. It doesn’t matter who I was with, nothing was the same without you. I guess what I am trying to say is that after tonight’s match, win or lose, what do I have to look forward to? Being alone, maybe occasional groupie friends again? As I stand here looking at you in all