Chaos and Stu sat on one side of the booth directly across from Tom and Prosperity. They were at the Sushi place a couple of blocks from where Stu lived, he’d been by this place a million times but never stopped in. Now he found himself there with a god that tried to kill him and a talking cat. What were the odds, he thought to himself. The silence was awkward as it persisted. Stu couldn’t take it anymore, breaking the quiet by nervously asking, “Is it safe for Chaos and I to be having dinner with the person that just slaughtered a bunch of people, and tried to kill us?”

  Tom sat in his booster seat so he could reach the table, and he said, “You have nothing to worry about here, this is hallowed ground. No gods have any sort of authority here; besides, I think Prosperity learned a valuable lesson here.” Prosperity herself sat silently working on a craft or something one handed on the table, the other hand still clutching her eye. After a few minutes she pulled up a handmade eye patch and she put it on, finally taking her hand away from her face. Then she just sat there obediently, Stu was having a hard time with all of this.

  Stu looked at Tom asking, “Are you a god as well? Is that why you can control Prosperity?”

  Tom shook his head before saying, “Oh, hell no, I’m no god! I’m just a cat that’s all. Just a regular cat that woke up one day and found out I was chosen as a judge for the tournament. So, I’m just doing my job, that’s all.”

  Sounding like an excited school kid, Stu asked, “Chosen? Chosen by who? By what?”

  Tom jumped up excitedly in his booster seat as the waiters brought out plates for everyone. He said thank you to the waiters as they retreated back to the kitchen. He eagerly dove into his plate and in between mouthfuls of sushi he continued to explain. “Don’t know… Just heard a voice one day and knew what to do. Whatever made cats talk and things like tournaments for gods trumps my power… So, here we sit…” He was annihilating his plate.

  Stu looked at the girls and they both ate theirs as well. The smell was making his nausea worse; the thought of all the blood and gore made his appetite disappear. He was displeased with the answer he received but he couldn’t quit focusing on the smell. Everyone else was focused on eating, not conversation. His whole world had been turned upside down today, and his head was pounding terribly.

  Tom pointed his paw at Stu’s plate saying, “Before we discuss everything, you need to eat as well. This will help you keep up your strength.”

  Shaking his head Stu said, “No offense, but I’m far too nauseous from all the death today to keep this down.” He looked up to see the cat just staring at him, and with a serious look Chaos motioned for him to eat it. Relenting and taking a reluctant bite, he looked up saying, “This is amazing!” Taking another bite, he noticed he felt better all round with every additional bite. After Stu had a third plate and licked it clean he finally leaned back relaxing a little. He felt good, actually he felt better than good, he felt almost completely recharged.

  Tom looked smug as he said, “See? I told you that you needed that. Now gods and gentlemen, I believe it’s time to discuss the tournament and rules.”

  Stu asked, “What is the tournament called?”

  Tom said, “The Armageddon Tournament, it’s for the fate of humanity, and winner takes all.”

  Seeking clarity Stu asked, “Well how do you win the tournament?”

  Tom said, “There are a few ways, of course the easiest is probably to kill the other gods. The second is to convince your opponents to surrender. Third is get your enemies to just commit suicide. Final option is the hardest, win your opponent’s hearts and minds. If I’m being honest, I don’t even know if that’s possible with gods.”

  Chaos spoke up, “Why can’t I remember anything?”

  Tom sighed and gave a disapproving look to prosperity before saying, “The truth is that no one remembers anything from before. All anyone knows are the orders they were given.”

  Slamming Chaos’s dagger on the table unexpectedly, and causing everyone to jump Stu asked, “What about the daggers then?”

  Chaos backed him up saying, “Yeah, that’s right! We woke up with these, that means they are from our past lives!”

  Tom sighed saying, “Rule 10. All Gods have an equalizer. The dagger they awake with will have anti-regen abilities. In other words, gods cannot regenerate damage from the daggers, no matter how major or minor unless it can be healed naturally in the human world.”

  Prosperity asked, “Why do we all have shirts with our names on them?”

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  Tom said, “Team jerseys of course!”

  Stu asked, “Really?”

  Tom said, “No stupid! I don’t know everything in the world! I can only answer judging related questions. Look, there are a set of rules that must be abided by at all times. They may explain more than I can because the rules are all I know. I’m just a cat after all!” He looked over at the waiter and the man brought a trey with fortune cookies. Tom said, “Eat up. These will give you a mental data base for your rules in the tournament.” Everyone took a cookie except Tom. Eating his, Stu thought it tasted like a regular fortune cookie. Then he saw the list of rules and punishments for the tournament. A list that just appeared clear as day in his mind as he thought of it. (To see what Stu sees please reference - Chapter 6B: Tournament Rules And Punishments) Tom started explaining, “As you all now know the tournament rules are not as straight forward as you may have hoped. This is the extent of the help I can provide on this subject. If something happens and you don’t have access to a judge in the field, you may always find one willing to assist in hallowed ground. Does everyone understand this?” Everyone nodded solemnly, and Tom looked pleased with himself while saying, “Good, I’m glad you are all so agreeable, that makes this next part easier. You three are suspended for three days, after that you may rejoin the tournament.”

  Stu asked, “When does the tournament begin?”

  Tom said, “It officially begins when the last god wakes up. I believe that was about 4PM today. That’s why your punishment is so light, you didn’t know the tournament had already begun. However, do not break this rule again, or you will be made obsolete. Every god will have incentive to hunt you down.”

  Chaos and Stu both looked at each other realizing they met at the very start of the tournament. Was there something more to their meeting? Stu couldn’t help but wonder if there was something to it or maybe it was just coincidence. Looking back to Tom he asked, “What am I supposed to do as a worshipper, or I guess blue blood?”

  Tom stretched and gave a big yawn before saying, “You have chosen a God, and you must show your devotion to Chaos. You are the keeper of her faith, what that means is entirely up to you two. I do believe we have just about covered all of the basics along with the dos and don’ts tonight.”

  Prosperity pulled out a cellphone and said, “Yeah, it’s getting late. If we’re done here, I’m going to take off.”

  Tom looked at Stu and Chaos saying, “I’m good with that, if you guys are.” They nodded in agreement. Jumping from his booster seat Tom said, “Then on that note I bid you all a good evening and remember no tournament for three days unless sanctioned by me.” He made his way into the kitchen.

  Prosperity stood up looking at Stu and Chaos for a moment before shrugging and saying, “I guess then.. What? I’ll get you guys early next week? Maybe? This is weird now…”

  Chaos softly said, “I still don’t want to fight.”

  Prosperity smiled saying, “I know, but you will, we both know it.” Her smile faded into looking away from Chaos and maybe blushing slightly as she said, “I guess we all have a few days to kill… Bad choice of words on my part, well, you know what I mean… I don’t suppose you guys might want to get some lunch tomorrow or hang out, I’m just saying I might be game…”

  Stu stared in disbelief, the same psycho that just murdered a ton of people and tried to kill them as well, wanted to hang out tomorrow? He felt like he was going to have a coronary, all he could do was say, “The fuck..?”

  Prosperity immediately got defensive at Stu’s reply saying, “You took my eye! The least you could do is, um, you know… Keep me company for a little bit…”

  Her face was red and Stu couldn’t believe his eyes, she was blushing. Stu immediately retorted with, “You tried to kill us! Don’t think your guilt trip will work on me or Chaos!”

  Softly Chaos said, “I’d Like to hang out with you tomorrow.”

  Stu looked like he’d run into a brick wall. Prosperity said, “Great, lets meet at Stu’s before noon tomorrow!” She actually looked cheery…

  Chaos said, “Okay! That sounds wonderful!”

  Stu immediately cut into the girls conversation saying, “No way! Besides all of the reasons I can think of to say no, the main reason is I have work tomorrow! I’m sure you two don’t have any comprehension of this but humans have these things called bills, you know debt… We go to work to get money to pay our debt, and I have to be there tomorrow to pay my bills!”

  The girls both looked at each other and began laughing at Stu. Managing to hold back her laughter for a moment Prosperity said, “First off we both understand bills, I have a cellphone remember? Also, you quit your job, or didn’t you get the memo?”

  Stu thought, at what point did the gods start sounding human? Also, at what point did Prosperity start talking to him like this? Last but not least when did he quit his job? He was totally lost. Chaos chimed in saying, “You quit to come work for me remember? You are supposed to be my full-time worshipper.. Are you saying that you won’t be with me tomorrow?”

  Stu stammered trying to understand what was happening, then he had a thought, “Wait a minute… You two understand money and finance, but you don’t understand me when I try to explain to you that my name isn’t, the word, stupid?”

  Unsure, Chaos placed her hand on Stu’s shoulder, “Don’t worry so much, we understand your name isn’t stupid.” She gave him a reassuring smile before saying, “Your name is actually Stu. See? I know your name…” She looked so serious and caring, it was killing Stu.

  Hanging his head in shame and defeat he said, “Never mind. I-its alright….” Sighing he muttered, “The point is I have to pay my bills…”

  Chaos still looking reassuring as she utterly failed said, “Don’t worry. I promise that we will take care of it tomorrow after we hang out with Prosperity.”

  Shaking his head Stu said, “Today we tried to kill each other, and tomorrow we’re going to hang out pretending to be friends… When did everything in my life become so crazy and chaotic?”

  Prosperity laughed hard this time saying, “Gee, you chose to worship Chaos instead of prosperity and now you say that your life is chaotic? Wow! I’m totally surprised… Not!” She gave Stu a weird grin that he had a hard time reading.