Beowulf started at the arena. It looked like a pretty normal wrestling arena, a lot similar to the one that belongs to the W.W.U, but it was very different. It was composed of two colors: black and flaming yellow.
Flames constantly went in and out on top of the arena. It felt like the arena was breathing. When Beowulf saw this, he thought it was pretty cool. The D.W.E sign on top of the building was made completely out of flames. There were no burners under the flame signs.
Some of the walls of the arena looked to be constructed out of bones. This choice of design for the arena sent a chill down Beowulf's spine. 'Maybe they're fake,' Beowulf thought. That's what he hoped, but this was hell, so there was a pretty good chance that those bones were real.
It just appeared on top of the building like magic. Beowulf noticed something else about the arena. There were creatures flying around the top—not creatures that looked like Lenny.
These creatures were bulkier and far taller. Beowulf squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look at the creatures. Their skin looked to be made of stone. They had wings similar to a bat.
"Are those gargoyles?" Beowulf asked. He had seen many on Earth, but they didn't fly. "What did I just say? We need to get inside. Come on, move your lazy behind," Lenny said.
Lenny grabbed Beowulf's hand and dragged him along as he ran inside the arena. When entering the arena through its glass doors, Beowulf felt his laziness leave him. It wasn't completely gone, though. If Beowulf were to guess, he'd say about 90 percent of the laziness was gone, leaving the remaining 10 percent still present.
"The effect of being in the Sloth Ring for souls like you," Lenny answered. "Each ring in hell affects souls like you according to their name. We were in the Sloth Ring, so it made you incredibly lazy. If you were in a different ring, like Wrath, your rage would be like the Hulk's."
"The effects lessen a lot when we're inside. It won't completely leave you, but it's manageable."
"Wait!" Beowulf said. "We were in the Pride Ring, but I didn't feel anything."
"Yes, you did. You just didn't notice it because you feel like that most of the time," Lenny said.
"What do you mean?" Beowulf asked.
"Do I have to spell out everything for you?" Lenny asked. "The Ring of Hell affects claimed souls based on their name. You were in the Pride Ring, but since you have such a huge ego, the effects wouldn't do much."
Beowulf understood Lenny's explanation. "Oh, that makes sense," Beowulf said. He felt a little embarrassed. "Don't let it bother you too much. A lot of wrestlers have too much pride in themselves. Well, the best ones anyway," Lenny said.
"Come on." Lenny walked further inside the arena, and Beowulf followed. They arrived at two red doors. On guard was a large humanoid ox demon with a ring in his nose and a heart-shaped tattoo on his left arm.
He wore a leather vest and jeans. "Hey, Lenny," the ox demon said.
"Hey, Ox," Lenny said. Lenny and the ox demon shook hands.
'An ox demon named Ox. His parents must not have been very creative when thinking of baby names,' Beowulf thought.
"This your new wrestler?" Ox asked.
"Yeah. Are the others already inside?" Lenny asked.
"Mmm hmm. You're the last," Ox answered.
"Well, last or not, mine's going to win," Lenny said.
"Win or lose, it don't matter. They're all damned," Ox said. "So is he ready?"
"Gimme a minute. I wanna tell him what to do," Lenny said. Lenny walked back to Beowulf. "Listen, this match you're going to wrestle in, it's not going to be a normal match."
Beowulf raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Beowulf asked.
"It's going to be a Royal Rumble." Beowulf had mixed feelings about this.
A Royal Rumble involves many wrestlers. It starts with two wrestlers, then a new wrestler is called every few minutes. The goal of the match is to throw off every wrestler over the ring. The last wrestler remaining is declared the winner of the match.
Beowulf's mixed feelings about the match were because Royal Rumbles were extremely difficult to win. The best chance of winning would be by being called last; then you could attack the fatigued wrestlers.
Another thing that worried Beowulf was how many wrestlers would be taking part in the Royal Rumble. The maximum number of fighters that would take part in a Royal Rumble match was thirty. If it was that amount, then Beowulf wasn't sure he could win.
"It's going to be a match of ten wrestlers, including you," Lenny said. Beowulf let out a sigh of relief. His chances of winning went slightly up. "Don't relax yet. You haven't won yet," Lenny said.
"I know. I know," Beowulf said. "Oh, and one more thing," Lenny said.
"What is it?" Beowulf asked.
"Don't lose," Lenny said.
"I don't plan to," Beowulf said.
"I know that, but you really, really don't want to lose this match. If you do, you will regret it," Lenny said.
Beowulf stepped away from Lenny and glared at him intensely. "Is that a threat?" Beowulf asked, trying to look intimidating.
"A threat?" Lenny asked. He burst into laughter. This put a frown on Beowulf's face. He had had it with that annoying laugh. "No. It's not a threat. Just advice. That's all it is. You'll understand when you enter the ring."
Lenny walked past Beowulf and tapped his shoulder. "You and I must part ways for now. I hope I see you again after the match is over." Beowulf watched Lenny leave the arena.
Beowulf started to think about Lenny's last words. 'What did he mean when he said he hopes to see me after the match?' Beowulf asked.
"Hey, wrestler," Ox called out. "Get in."
Beowulf glared at the ox demon. He didn't like being ordered around. "I will, but not because you told me to," Beowulf said.
"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever you want to tell yourself," the ox replied. Beowulf walked past the ox. "Hold on," Ox said. Beowulf stopped. The ox demon handed Beowulf a ticket.
"You'll need this." Beowulf looked at the ticket, and it had the number 5 on it.
"I guess that's my number," Beowulf muttered. Beowulf walked through the red doors.