"I'm in hell," Beowulf finally admitted to himself. He had accepted long ago where he was. What had once been an impossible situation became the only logical explanation. It was either that or he had gone totally insane. The red-skinned creature began laughing.
"Good. Very good. I just love the sight of seeing you completely broken," the red-skinned creature mocked.
"Screw you, you bastard," Beowulf cursed. His eyes showed rage toward the creature that seemed to derive pleasure from his suffering.
The red-skinned creature stopped laughing and gave Beowulf a soft smirk. "Oh, come on now. Is that any way to talk to the demon who's going to get you out of this cave?" the red-skinned creature asked.
When Beowulf heard this, his eyes widened, and his whole body propelled forward. "What did you just say?" Beowulf asked in disbelief. "You're saying you can get me out of hell?"
"Whoa, buddy, slow down. When I said get you out of here, I meant out of this cave that's been your cozy home for the past five decades," the red-skinned creature said.
"And as for getting you out of hell…"
Beowulf anxiously waited for the creature to finish. "It's never gonna happen. You're here for eternity, buddy. Accept it. Or don't, and continue to be crushed by the hope that you might get out of hell. The latter would be more fun for me to watch."
The red-skinned creature began mocking Beowulf with his laugh once more. Beowulf gritted his teeth and turned away from the creature.
"Hey, chin up, buddy. Hell ain't so bad. Especially with the deal I'm about to give you."
Beowulf turned his head back to look at the creature. "You called yourself a demon, right?" Beowulf asked.
"Right-O," the red-skinned creature answered.
"Every story I've ever heard regarding making deals with demons all ends the same way, with the person taking the deal being screwed in every possible angle. So I'd have to be pretty dumb to take whatever deal you want to give me," Beowulf said.
"Maybe? But I'd say you're pretty dumb if you want to remain here in the cave," the red-skinned creature said. The creature started to walk away from Beowulf.
"Where are you going?" Beowulf asked, panicked.
The creature stopped and turned to look at Beowulf. "I'm leaving, of course," the red-skinned creature answered. "You know? I'm pretty hurt. Here I am, trying to make your eternity of torment a little more tolerable, and you spit in my face. That's just so mean."
As the creature spoke, it faked a sad face—not a very good one. Beowulf saw right through it. He wasn't sure if the creature was trying to make him feel bad or just mocking him some more. Scratch that, it was obvious to Beowulf that the creature was mocking him.
"Anyway, have fun being here for all eternity." The creature turned away and resumed its walk away from Beowulf.
"Wait!" Beowulf screamed. The creature stopped in its tracks and grinned.
"This deal you mentioned. What if… what if I considered taking it?"
The creature turned to Beowulf once more, revealing its stuck-up smirk. "Considered? You must not be taking me seriously," the red-skinned creature said.
"Yeah, well, what do you expect? I haven't even heard this deal you're talking about. So how am I supposed to know that it doesn't lead me somewhere worse than here?" Beowulf said.
"Fair enough," the red-skinned creature said. The creature approached Beowulf, crouched, and placed its hand on the chains that wrapped around Beowulf. The chains started to burn, but they didn't hurt Beowulf. Then the chains turned into ash.
Beowulf was free. Well, kind of free. For the first time in decades, he wasn't chained to a wall. Beowulf got up slowly. He then rubbed his wrists and elbows.
He smiled and started to laugh. They say people don't know what they have until they lose it. Well, Beowulf had lost the ability to move for five decades, and now that he was no longer chained, he would enjoy every second of it.
"Don't start celebrating now. You still haven't taken my deal yet. Meaning you could get chained up again very soon," the red-skinned creature said. Beowulf was snapped back to his grim reality.
"Right," Beowulf said. "So, what's the deal you want me to take?"
"First, let's get you out of here. You must be starving," the red-skinned creature said. The creature walked to the wall of the cave. The possibility of getting food made Beowulf drool. He quickly cleaned, wiped his drool, and followed the creature.
The creature placed its hand on the wall, and the wall slid right open. Beowulf followed the creature into a stony hallway. The sight disappointed Beowulf. They were still in a cave. After decades of isolation in a cave, a huge part of him was hoping to see a different scene.
The creature walked to another cave wall and placed its hand on it. This time the walls slid open on two different sides. The creature walked into a compartment. Beowulf recognized the compartment the creature had walked into. "Is that an elevator?" Beowulf thought. He hadn't seen one for so long, but he was sure it was an elevator.
"They have elevators in hell?"
"Hey, buddy, you coming or what?" the red-skinned creature asked. Beowulf joined the creature in the elevator, and the creature pressed a random button. The elevator doors closed and took them up. A few moments later, the elevator doors opened, revealing a well-furnished hallway with tiles and furniture.
The creature walked out of the hallway. Beowulf followed after him. They walked straight ahead for a while. Everything looked so normal, Beowulf started to question once again if he was truly in hell.
"We're here," the creature said. They had arrived at a door. The creature opened it, revealing what was beyond. Beowulf saw an office. But not a regular office. It was an office that seemed to belong to a wrestling fanboy.
There were wrestling belts hanging from the walls, wrestling costumes folded in many areas, and posters of wrestlers Beowulf had never seen before.
The creature sat behind a huge desk and gestured for Beowulf to take the seat in front of him, which he did.
"About that deal I was talking about. How would you like to wrestle again?" the red-skinned creature asked with a smile.