Chapter 3 - The Pit
Elias slowly pushed himself off the damp stone floor and ignored the sharp pain radiating through his shoulder.
Dim red emergency lights flickered to life and revealed an underground fighting arena surrounded by reinforced glass.
Warden Hayes stood safely behind the glass above and sipped his bourbon with a wicked smile.
"Welcome to the lower levels of Blackgate," the Warden announced over the intercom.
Three massive inmates stepped out of the shadows with crude weapons fashioned from sharpened steel pipes.
They were the prison's undocumented ghosts who had supposedly died in solitary confinement years ago.
Elias dusted off his uniform and settled into a perfectly balanced combat stance.
The largest of the three men charged forward and swung his metal pipe with lethal force.
Elias seamlessly sidestepped the brutal attack and struck the man's throat with a devastating palm strike.
The giant collapsed instantly as he gasped desperately for air.
The remaining two fighters hesitated for a brief second before rushing Elias together.
Elias moved with a terrifying and fluid speed that completely betrayed his apparent old age.
He caught the second attacker's arm and twisted it until the bone snapped with a sickening crunch.
He used the screaming man as a human shield to block the third attacker's heavy blow.
In less than sixty seconds all three underground champions were bleeding and unconscious on the stone floor.
Warden Hayes slammed his fist against the reinforced glass in absolute disbelief.
"You always were incredibly efficient, old friend," a new voice echoed from the shadows of the arena.
Elias froze as he recognized the familiar and chilling cadence of the voice.
A tall man wearing a tailored suit stepped into the dim red light.
He slowly pulled off a black leather mask to reveal a face covered in jagged scars.
It was Julian Cross, the former top operative of Elias's elite tactical unit.
"I watched you die in Geneva ten years ago," Elias said with a perfectly steady voice.
Julian smiled and ran a finger over the deepest scar on his cheek.
"You watched me burn, Elias, but the fire only made me smarter," Julian replied smoothly.
"I own this prison now and the Warden works directly for me."
Julian pressed a button on a small remote and the heavy steel door behind him locked securely.
"I brought you here to watch my new empire rise," Julian sneered.
"But first I need to eliminate the only man who knows my true identity."
Thick green toxic gas began pouring into the arena from the ventilation shafts above.
Elias coughed as his lungs burned and his vision started to blur violently.
He desperately searched the stone walls for an exit but the steel doors were sealed tight.
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Just as Elias dropped to his knees a heavy iron grate in the floor was suddenly kicked open from below.
Marcus Vance poked his massive head out of the sewer tunnel and held up two gas masks.
