Week 3 Story: The Avenger

 Austin was enraged.  He hadn't fought most of the war (which had been going on for nearly 30 years now) due to political reasons.  However, Austin had incentive to join the battle after hearing the news of his best friend's passing.  Cameron and Austin had grown up together and fought together.  The passing of Cameron lit a fire somewhere in Austin.  This is what the Greeks needed though--in truth, they had been struggling up until this point.  But Austin's skills were legendary in the field of battle.  Most people simply ran away as soon as they saw him.  He had never lost, and didn't plan to anytime soon.  

Jack stood behind the walls of Troy.  He knew he should be happy; he had just taken out a general from the opposition's army.  However he was more concerned with who he might have riled up.  Though Jack was the best soldier on the Trojan army, even he was terrified of facing Austin in single combat.  But he knew that if he didn't do it, his city would surely fall.  Upon seeing Austin in his trademark neon jumpsuit riding out to the dusty battlefield, Jack solemnly gathered his things and walked out to meet him.

As was tradition, Austin chased Jack around for the first 30 minutes of the fight.  After thirty minutes, the two shook hands and got down to business.  Both men pulled out their jump ropes and began to jump.  Both armies were watching--things were tense.  This was a match-up that both the Greeks and the Trojans had been anticipating for nearly 30 years.  Both men worked meticulously with their rope as they hopped in rhythm: they knew that one mistake could mean their own demise and, more importantly, could mean the demise of their army.  Jack could start to feel his heart beating in his throat as the pressure of the situation built up--and finally began to boil over.  After going for three days straight, a record certainly, Jack tripped on a pebble and fell on his face.  The Greeks celebrated and sang Queen songs, while Jack knew that his fate would not be pretty. Austin smiled to himself, feeling as though he had avenged his friend Cameron.  

Bibliography: The Slaying of Hector (end) story from The Iliad retold by Alfred J Church 

Author's note: I based my story off of the fight between Hector and Achilles from Homer's Illiad.  In the original story, Achilles had not wanted to fight in the war due to disagreements with the king.  However, it was well known that Achilles was the most powerful warrior probably between both armies.  Hector was the stud for the Trojans.  Achilles was riled up and wanted to avenge the death of his close friend Patroclus, who was killed by Hector.  Upon their initial meeting for combat, Hector did run away from Achilles (I thought that was funny to picture)! After fighting for a bit, Achilles kills Hector.  In my story, I change the names of the characters, though I leave the same sides fighting.  I make the war 30 years instead of 10 years.  I think it's funny to think about the wives of all these dudes who have been at war for 10/30 years.  They are probably so ticked off, and for good reason.  Instead of using spears or swords for combat, I instead have the characters jump rope to the death.  I thought this would be a fun twist! I had fun writing this story :) 

Achilles triumphant in battle.

source: commons