The gladiator looked around the stadium at the roaring crowd, unaware that all of their feet were fused together, unaware that the crowd was one being and unaware that winning their favour would not end well for him. Still, he strode about encouraging them all to cheer for him and hoped he might live to see another day for his efforts.
The lions they released shortly afterwards had other ideas.
It was longer than he anticipated, far bloodier than he'd imagined and over in about ten minutes. The last thing he saw was eight reddened jaws snarling above him,fighting at each other for more of his meat while the world faded to darkness and all the pain flowed out of his broken body.
Then he woke up in the stands.
The strangers beside him wore the faces of other gladiators who'd met their end before him but their bodies didn't look entirely human. In fact, they looked like someone had taken the description of a human and wrapped it in enough colourful material to hide the fact that they'd left out most of the details that made their creations look believably human.
Things like shoulder blades and clavicles and the correct amount of joints in their fingers and the way their arms bent too far and not far enough as they tried to applaud the fighting below. As the world came further into focus he noticed hows his body was much the same as theirs, much less like the body he woke up with that morning.
He glanced down, hoping to see his own feet and instead seeing a river of flesh joining him to the crowd.
The lions they released shortly afterwards had other ideas.
It was longer than he anticipated, far bloodier than he'd imagined and over in about ten minutes. The last thing he saw was eight reddened jaws snarling above him,fighting at each other for more of his meat while the world faded to darkness and all the pain flowed out of his broken body.
Then he woke up in the stands.
The strangers beside him wore the faces of other gladiators who'd met their end before him but their bodies didn't look entirely human. In fact, they looked like someone had taken the description of a human and wrapped it in enough colourful material to hide the fact that they'd left out most of the details that made their creations look believably human.
Things like shoulder blades and clavicles and the correct amount of joints in their fingers and the way their arms bent too far and not far enough as they tried to applaud the fighting below. As the world came further into focus he noticed hows his body was much the same as theirs, much less like the body he woke up with that morning.
He glanced down, hoping to see his own feet and instead seeing a river of flesh joining him to the crowd.
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