CHOOSE YOUR OWN MINDFUCK: A Night in Eighth Block Tower (B19)

Bedlam Bible fans! Explore the Eighth Block Tower! Choose your fate! New posts every Tuesday and Friday. September '23 through December '23. Don't succumb to the huummmmmmmmm...

You’ve decided to fight Poppy…

You lean on the ropes and listen for Karl, but there’s only silence.

“Karl?” you call out, and your voice swells in the air, but he doesn’t respond.

All in a moment, the room darkens, as each of the four spitting flames dwindle to the point their tips no longer reach the ends of the wicks in which they cling to.

The little hairs on the back of your neck stiffen as a cloud of warmth envelops you. You turn just in time to catch a quick glimpse of bulging muscle, wide-set eyes, and a pair of ears that stand as tall as devil horns, but the vision dissolves as quickly as it forms. Whatever it is you just saw, it bashes you on the side of your face with such strength you nearly lose your footing.

“Hey now,” you say, trying to find your bearings. “That’s not fair! I was caught off guard!”

Fair or not, the thing follows your every step, occasionally extending its arms in hopes of trapping you inside them. Every time it lurches forward, you’re able to get a quick glance of its face—a flat black nose, a set of long white whiskers, and a short coat of fur that seemingly covers its entire body.

Is this some kind of… dog man?

Your heart hammers in your chest thinking of what it could be. Is this it? Is this how you go out? Is this how you’ll spend the last moments of your life?

“Ah, there you are!” Karl shouts, sliding back into the ring. “I was looking all over for you! Now, now… let’s start this thing fair and square. Everyone back in your corners!”

The thing does just as it’s told. You keep watch of its every move from the opposite side of the ring. Even though you’re only able to see its silhouette, you dare not look away or even blink. The thing is built unlike any living creature you’ve ever seen before. Its upper body is both slender and muscular, but its head is oddly disproportionate, much too small compared to the rest of it. And those ears! They’re easily just as long as its entire head! And that’s not even its most peculiar feature! Its lower body is pretty much the exact opposite as its top: thick, wide, and meaty—built like a bowling pin.

“Alright, let’s start this thing!” Karl shouts, belting the words out like a ring announcer before a televised boxing match. He introduces you first, and even pauses for the crowd reaction, despite knowing that there’s only the three of you inside the room. “And in this corner, weighing in at two-hundred and ten pounds, we have the Australian interspecies light heavyweight champion—Poppy Pumpkin!”

Poppy steps into the dim light and reveals its full form to you. It’s a… kangaroo? You’re sure it’s a kangaroo, but there’s something odd about it. You’ve never seen such a muscular animal before. The thing appears as if it's been taking steroids! Poppy immediately throws his head back and arms down, then leans his full weight upon his tail until his feet are hovering just above the surface of the ring. It’s the most bizarre fighting stance you’ve ever seen.

“Let’s have a clean fight, now… okay?” Karl says, but you’re not sure exactly who he’s talking to, so you don’t answer the question. “Fight!”

In all this time, you’ve only been thinking about what Poppy is, not how to fight him. Now that the match has officially begun, you have no idea what you’re going to do next. You decide it’s probably best if you walk in circles for a minute, just until you come up with a plan, so that’s just what you do. You look Poppy up and down, trying to determine his weak spots. You assume it must be his head. All animals are weak in the head, right?

You lurch forward and throw a punch at Poppy’s tiny head, but he shuffles sideways and dodges it easily. He hops towards you aggressively, and with every hop you take a step back, until finally he has you backed against the ropes. Karl waves his hands and motions for Poppy to hop back to the center of the ring, but because he’s a wild fucking animal that can’t be tamed, he keeps pressing forward until he’s got a firm hold of your head, pinched inside his lumberjack arms.

“Goddamn it! Unhand me, you rodent bastard!” you shout, despite knowing he’s a marsupial. His grip tightens. Your face swells and runs hot with blood until suddenly you’re no longer able to breathe. “God…,” you manage to say, but it takes several seconds before you’re able to finish the entire word. “Damn.” It leaks from your head like a spirit leaving the body.

Then everything goes black.

---

You awaken sometime later in a Waffle House parking lot just outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey with no idea how you got there. Unfortunately, a quick look around offers no answers.

Every part of your body is bloody, bruised, and sore to the touch. You vaguely remember fighting a kangaroo in some gym somewhere, but your mind has trouble processing it as something that actually happened to you.

Your stomach grumbles as the aroma of maple syrup wafts into the one nostril that isn’t swollen shut. You reach into your back pocket and remove your wallet, curious if you have enough to grab a bite to eat.

You don’t.

In fact, there’s nothing in your wallet at all. Not a card, not a dime, even your driver’s license is gone. Someone took you for all you had, and you can’t help but to think it was probably Karl.

You sit on the curb next to a noisy freezer filled with large bags of ice, hoping that eventually someone will see you there and pity you enough to buy you a meal. The longer you sit there, the more appetizing the stench from the dumpster becomes.

More than ever, you wish you would’ve gone after that shoebox full of cash back when you had the chance.

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