Pankration - match 9: Thicker than water (2) (written by Harry)

This is the second part of a new episode of Harry's epic series Pankration that is set in Ancient Greece. (Part 1 is here.) I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did!

Previous parts:
Pankration
Match 1: Tallus vs. Amun 
Match 2: Nico vs. Pollux
Match 3: Lysander vs. Ali
Match 4: Theaetetus vs. Amun
Match 5: Karma
Match 6: The barbarian vs. the seven plebes
Match 7: Secret friends
Match 8: Cat and mouse
Match 9: Thicker than water (1)

Warning: Can contain traces of cum.

Of course I can see it clearly now, Theo thought ruefully, gazing across the torch-lit arena. Far away from the rest, one boy was watching the action all alone, not aware that he was being observed. Alexander always said he had friends here. I just assumed he was bluffing like usual. But the coincidence is too much, he was was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fuck me for missing it before.   

Lost amid the deafening roar of the crowd, Theo gave a low whistle. Of course nobody heard him. Everyone’s attention was on Nico and the degrading spectacle that Alexander was making of the popular prince. But Theo did not look. There was a lump in his throat that would not go away, and he knew that if he looked at Nico’s abused body, he wouldn’t be able to focus. And he needed to focus, for Nico’s sake. As Theo raised his fingers to his mouth to whistle again, two pairs of deep blue eyes flashed toward him.

Son of a bitch. They actually heard me.   

Even though Castor and Pollux were seated several rows away, the hunters were able to pick out Theo’s whistle among the tumult. The twins’ smooth, ivory brows furrowed at the interruption. They looked at each other and communicated silently. They were enjoying watching the handsome prince of Thebes getting taken down a peg. And there was only the remotest chance that the Athenian twink had anything more interesting to show them.

Bastards, Theo thought as a second whistle died on his lips. Nico welcomed all these guys. Trained them praised them, gave them a home. And now they just watch as he... From the corner of his eye, he could see Nico’s taut body, his jutting cock. I guess it’s hard not to watch, he conceded miserably, cursing Alexander and the twins and himself in the same breath. Turning in the other direction, Theo began to crawl forward over the shifting sand.

“Wait.”   

“What’s he doing?”

“He thinks he’s sneaking around.”

“But he moves like a piglet in the mud...”

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll be offended.”

Theo whirled around, looking very much offended. Castor and Pollux were just a few feet away now, slouched against a pair of pillars and concealed from the torchlight. They’d covered the distance astonishingly fast, which intimidated Theo a little.

“This better be interesting.”

“We need to get back to our seats soon.”

“Because Nico’s going to spunk himself for sure.”

“That will be epic.”

As if on cue, Nico’s throaty moan echoed over the courtyard. The brothers licked their lips simultaneously. Their high cheekbones and fine features shimmered under the moonlight, looking beautiful and ghostly at the same time. They still gave Theo the shivers. But the fact that they’d answered his call at all proved that they were with him. And with Nico.

“Nobody would be more interested in this than you, Castor,” Theo replied in a hushed voice. As usual he had guessed wrong which brother was which. Pollux looked at his twin with a raised eyebrow.

“Except for you, Pollux,” Theo continued, wiggling his eyebrows in Castor’s direction. The brunette made a rude gesture using his finger and his cheek. Now both brothers were flummoxed. Confident that he had their full attention, Theo pointed toward the center of the arena.

Slumped by himself on the arena floor, Ali’s baggy clothing made the scrawny Persian nearly imperceptible—a shapeless mass among the shadows. But the hunters’ sharp eyes immediately recognized his pinched face. Ali was lying on his belly, cupping his chin in his palms. It looked like he hadn’t moved from where he landed after Alexander kicked him. He was watching the contest with focused attention.

Theo observed the twins’ jaws clench, and how they began to fidget silently. Ali was the only Lost Prince that made Castor and Pollux nervous. Several weeks ago, the trickster had defeated them in the Pankration in unforgettably embarrassing fashion. Theo would certainly never forget it. His bright brown eyes glazed over as he relived the hot scene when one brother went down on...

“Psst. Athenian.”

“What are you looking at?

Theo snapped back to attention, pulling his eyes away from the round bulges in the twins’ soft animal-skin loin cloths.

“Uh, nothing,” Theo said throatily. “We need to be very DL. Or Ali will hear us,” he warned, unconvincingly.

The brothers locked eyes.

“He’s not as DL as he thinks he is.”

“He was staring right at your...”

“Hey! Guys, this is serious. Ali is interfering in this match. He’s messing with Nico’s head.”

Castor and Pollux turned back to Ali curiously. Indeed, they could just see the glimmer of his marvelous blue-violet eyes under his shaggy bangs. He appeared to be engrossed in the match, and his mouth was moving silently. The brothers glanced at each other in recognition, then turned back to Theo.

“What makes you think he’s messing with Nico?”

“Ali and Nico are friends. Maybe he’s getting in Alexander’s head”

“Anyway, I can’t tell which is Nico and which is Alexander from here.”

“They’re so much alike. It’s impossible to tell them apart.”

Only the tiniest twitch at the corner of the brothers’ mouths gave away that they were fucking with Theo. But he was in no mood for joking.

“Shut up!” Theo hissed with real passion. “They are nothing alike. I see that now, and I know you do too. Nico has given all of us so much, and we can at least give him a fair chance. Otherwise, you might as well get used to having a bully out there”—he pointed toward Alexander, who was again mocking the audience—“and another bully in here.” Theo tapped his own temple for emphasis.

In sync, Castor and Pollux became still. They remembered all too well what it was like to have Ali inside their heads. Their angular faces turned out toward the shadowy figure in the courtyard, and their muscles curled and corded like predators. Without another word to Theo, their bare feet drifted silently over the sand of the arena, and they disappeared into the dark.

Theo let go of his breath in relief. If anybody could sneak up on Ali, the twins could. But then a minute passed. And another. The only sounds in the arena were of Alexander pummeling and mocking Nico; punctuated occasionally by a crash of thunder. Theo’s doubts returned. What if Ali sensed them and got in their heads? What if the twins were secretly with Alexander too?

Finally, muffled by the thunder, Theo heard a series of squeaks, as if a mouse had gotten stuck under a door jamb. From the shadows of the courtyard, Castor and Pollux reappeared. Each hunter held a corded rope in his hand, and dragging along behind them, Ali was scraping and clawing at the sandy ground with his ankles firmly tied. The scrawny Persian craned his neck, trying to see who had snared him.

As they reached the cover of the colonnade, Castor and Pollux rounded either side of a stone column. Theo’s eyes followed the ropes in the twins’ hands. Each rope was tied firmly to one of Ali’s ankles, and with each step that his captors took, his legs were pulled like a wishbone. In the middle was his crotch, and the stone column. Whether the twins noticed the potential snag was not clear to Theo.

“Great work guys!” he congratulated them. “But be careful of that...”

THUMP.

“...column.” Theo winced. There was a high keening scream from the other side of the stone column. The brothers looked at the ropes as if they were malfunctioning. They let some slack play out, giving Ali a chance to scrabble away. Then in unison the twins shrugged.

THUMP.

This time there was no scream. Theo peered cautiously around the corner, wary of getting caught up in the trickster’s marvelous eyes. But the teen was facedown in the sand, unconscious.

“Oooooo,” Theo gave a low whistle. He hadn’t noticed that the round column had a square base, and Ali had been unlucky enough to get crotched right on the corner. Theo did not even want to know what the unyielding stone had done to Ali’s junk. It couldn’t have been pretty. Castor and Pollux appeared on either side of the column. Their neutral expressions did not show any surprise. Or any apology either.

“Oops.”

“Bad luck.”

They shrugged at Theo and headed back toward their seats, talking in low voices.

“No big loss. He only had tiny beans anyway.”    

“Like a squirrel.”

“Or an Athenian...”

“Hey!” Theo called after them indignantly. But the hunters had stepped inside a shadow and disappeared from view. Across the arena the shouting had kicked up in intensity, but Theo couldn’t decipher the meaning. He peered around the column, hoping that he’d knocked Ali out of the fight before Nico could be knocked out for good.

**************

The prince of Thebes’ mind had dissolved into a rolling chaos of sensations. Normally clear and crisp, his impressions blurred into each other. Sounds seemed to come from a far distance, and sometimes they echoed in his ears. And sometimes they didn’t.

Clap. Slap. Boo! Tug. Moan.

Some of the sounds came from him, although Nico couldn’t be sure which ones. The blood on his teeth and the spasming pain in his midsection reminded him that he’d been beaten up. But he’d been beaten before, and his muscles had never felt numb like this. His tongue felt thick and parched one moment; and the next he was drooling like a dog.

Pinch. Shriek. Stomping. Jerk. Slick.

Tossed in a storm of sensations, the only constant in his experience was the voice in his head. A soft, musical voice. Something about it was familiar, but Nico couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He wasn’t even sure how long the voice had been there. It seemed to have slipped in while he was busy fighting his brother. That’s what the voice called Alex, but Nico knew it was wrong about that. However, the voice was soothing. It didn’t want him to hurt. And right now Nico was hurting really, really bad. Every so often the voice whispered that he should submit. It cooed that he should beg for mercy. And Nico’s heart rebelled against it. He would rather hurt.

Then all at once the voice was gone. Nico had become so used to hearing it in his head that it took him a moment to get his bearings. He still hurt; the pain was real. But with the voice gone, his sensations became stable. The world around him took shape. As luck had it, Nico found himself in his favorite place in the world: in a fight, surrounded by friends and challengers. He smiled, but the smile made his left eye throb.

Must have gotten punched. Lucky shot, Alex.

He looked up and caught Alexander’s eye just as his rival was leaning forward to flick his exposed cock head  and make him spout like a fountain.

Not gonna happen, buddy.

Nico squinted one eye to take aim, then sat straight up. For the second time his unyielding forehead connected with Alexander’s all-too-yielding ball sac, cracking the blonde’s stones and buckling him to his knees. The look on Alexander’s face was priceless. His crossed eyes made it appear that he couldn’t make up his mind which was worse: getting head-butted in the nuts or having his victory snatched away.

After smushing his rival’s nuts, Nico continued to sit all the way up, until he was able to grasp the edge of the low wall. He wheezed at the sharp pain in his abs; he’d been worked over really good and the sit up maxed out his strength. It was easier to get his bearings now that he wasn’t upside down, though. He found himself looking into the astonished faces of Amun and Lysander. Lysander’s cheeks were streaked with tears and Amun’s mouth hung open. Both boys still had their arms wrapped around Nico’s legs like their life depended on it.

Not their life, but mine might have. I’m lucky to have great friends. But they look like they’ve had a rough time.

“You guys! This is Pankration, you should be having fun!” Nico’s voice was hoarse, but he grinned around the gallery and straightened his olive laurel. Ignoring the piercing pain in his torso, he flexed his biceps and wiggled his eyebrows, every bit the cocky stud that they all admired. Seeing their friend revived, the crowd in the Princes’ Palace let out a collective breath. Cheers and chatter ran down the gallery again. Lysander had a goofy grin plastered across his face, and even the solemn Egyptian Amun was beaming. Nico leaned closer to them.

“When I tell you, I need you to flip me backwards off of this wall.”

The boys smiles faltered, but Nico did not let them object.

“I need to finish this match. I can beat him, and I want to do it in style.” Behind Nico’s swagger, his friends noticed how he hunched over in pain from his injuries. “By the way, where’s Theo?” Lysander and Amun just shrugged. They’d been so focused on not letting him fall and break his neck that they hadn’t noticed the Athenian leave. Nico bit his cheek a little in disappointment.

“Well, he’ll be sorry to miss this.” He looked behind and saw Alexander staggering to his feet. “One. Two. Three. Now!”

Nico pushed off the top of the wall, and Lysander and Amun heaved his legs at the same time, propelling the reckless prince into the air and careening back into the arena. The audience held their breath as Nico flipped over and landed on his feet just behind Alexander. Nico’s hazel eyes revealed his own shock that he’d stuck the landing. Capitalizing on his run of luck, Nico seized Alexander from behind, wrenching the blonde’s strong arms into a full nelson. He bore down until his rival’s chin had dipped toward his chest and his arms waved futilely.

“Sorry about your nuts, bro. I guess they’re a little softer than my head.”

Before Alexander could respond, Nico heaved them both backwards. Alexander flew over the top and landed squarely on his shoulders. He jolted from the impact and tumbled over again before coming to rest on his back. Nico, too, remained supine after the throw.

Separated by just a few feet, the pair of fighters lay on the cool sand, blinking up into the swirling storm clouds. Their chests heaved but otherwise they were still. A lightening flash lit up their silhouettes. At a far corner of the arena, it lit up Ali’s crumpled form as well, but nobody noticed. The rain began to fall in fat, sporadic drops. The torches flickered and the combatants felt the cold bite into their sore muscles and bruises. Nobody moved to take cover.

I could lie here all night, Nico thought and closed his eyes. Between Alexander’s pummeling attacks and his own efforts, even Nico’s well-trained muscles were at their limit. A sharp drop of rain landed on the cut below his eye, pulling him back reluctantly to wakefulness.

But this kind of match can’t end in a tie.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his abs, Nico rolled to his feet. His loose sac of sore nuts swung softly against his thigh. The gentlest impact felt like needles stabbing him. He hissed breath through his teeth.

Cheap bastard. You’ll regret going low first.

With a handful of blonde curls, Nico dragged his would-be sibling to his feet. Alexander pushed feebly, but he hadn’t yet recovered his breath from the slam. Nico hoisted him over his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of the brawler’s weight. He walked them away from the wall and the rocky floor, back to the center of the arena.

“Alex?”

“Hmmh?” His head was hanging over Nico’s shoulder, and he was disoriented in the sputtering torchlight.

“I’m gonna put you down, okay?” Nico’s voice sounded friendly, just like when they were kids.

“Fuck you. If you didn’t I was gonna...”

The rest of Alexander’s threat was cut off when Nico dropped him unceremoniously across his knee, hitting a perfect atomic drop. Alexander’s mouth opened and closed without speaking. He looked down in distress, but his nuts were hidden from view, sandwiched somewhere between his body and Nico’s iron-like quad.

“My nuts!” he squeaked.

Nico gave him a mischievous smile. Then he, too, looked down, craning his neck.

“Uh oh. I don’t see them anywhere, buddy. Want me to look for them?”

“No!” Alexander replied hastily, but Nico had already started bouncing his knee, sending his unlucky opponent into new tremors of pain as he rode Nico’s knee on top of his own balls.

“St-o-o-o-o-o-p-p-p-p...” Alexander’s voice seemed to have jumped an octave, and the vibrations didn’t help.   Eventually Nico untangled them. Alexander began to tip over, but Nico held him up, positioning them both to face the crowd.

“My buddy here seems to have lost his tongue, along with his balls. So I’ll make this public service announcement on his behalf. If anyone finds a pair of smallish, partly dented testicles, please dispose of them outside the Princes’ Palace. Because not one bit of Alexander will be welcome here after tonight.”

The Lost Princes cheered Alexander’s immanent departure and hammed up Nico’s joke. Some of them pretended to look under their seats for the unpopular fighter’s “missing” balls. Other threw pebbles out into the arena, taunting him to “Try these on instead!”

Lysander was laughing harder than anyone. The young Spartan was relieved to see his idol back in charge of the match, and delighted that the bully was being mocked as he deserved. Amun was still in his seat with his hands in his lap. The Greek boys’ ribald jokes still made the shy Egyptian sort of uncomfortable. Amun’s dark eyes were fixed on the figures at the center of the arena. “They are so similar, though,” he said to himself.

“Not true, Amun. They’re nothing alike,” Theo said definitively as he sat back down between his friends. “Now quit being a prude and look for Alex’s balls. They’ve got to be around here somewhere.” Theo’s bright brown eyes were twinkling.

Amun ignored the jibe and continued to focus on the combatants. “But I don’t even just mean physically. Look how Nico has his arm around him. Alexander did the same to him earlier, and Nico didn’t even know it, because he was unconscious. It’s just weird how similar...why are you looking at me like that?”

Theo didn’t blink as he held the Egyptian prince’s dark eyes with his gaze. Then his hand darted forward and scooped up a handful of Amun’s junk. He could feel every important detail under the thin linen wrap that Amun wore. His testicles were warm and pliant, and Theo cupped them in a relaxed hand.  

“I think I found them, Alex!” Theo yelled, joining the banter. Amun was as still as a stone next to him, lest Theo tighten his grip. When Lysander noticed which balls Theo had found, his face lit up in delight. The Spartan’s own young pair was usually on the receiving end of Theo’s horsing around. He decided it was much, much funnier this way. Especially with the silly face Amun was making! Lysander’s grin spread from ear to ear.

Theo smiled blandly at Amun, not wanting to give away just how much fun he was having groping the prince’s crown jewels. Amun’s scorching blush convinced Theo that he should spend the rest of the match like this. But he was interrupted when a random thought occurred to Lysander.

“Hey, Theo?”

“I’m busy, Sander.”

“Where were you for so long? You missed...” Lysander wasn’t sure how to summarize Nico’s brutal beating and miraculous revival. “...a lot of action.”

Theo paused, not sure how much to tell. “Uhh, bathroom break. Glad I got back for the part where Nico makes that asshole submit.”

Theo turned his attention back to Amun, but the royal teen had taken the opportunity to slip his precious bits out of Theo’s grasp. He was sitting several seats away and glaring poisonously at the cheeky brunette.

Damn, Theo thought, already missing the feeling of Amun’s plums in his hand.

************

The wave of adrenaline that Nico was riding made him forget his injuries and his exhaustion. He was in the middle of the arena, fighting a strong opponent. And winning. To the cheerful prince, this was the best place in the world, and he didn’t want to end it too soon. But the storm was kicking up, and the night sky had taken on a blotchy, purple hue.

“Time to finish you, buddy,” Nico said. Alexander didn’t answer, which Nico expected. He’d put his arrogant opponent into three variations of his signature bearhug already. Usually just one was enough to crush the air out of a guy’s lungs, but Alexander deserved special treatment. The blonde gave a stifled groan.

Nico paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow. The rain was wreaking havoc on the firelight, and it was dark enough now that he couldn’t make out the faces seated under the colonnade. But he could still tell most of the guys by their silhouettes. He still wondered what had happened to Theo, and whether his best friend was cheering for him. He hoped so.

He hoisted Alexander back up over his shoulder; the crushed fighter was facing the ground, and they were chest to chest. Nico’s powerful arms encircled his chest at the widest part, where Alex’s lats flowed into his pits and shoulders. With his hands clenched in front of him, the prince squeezed. His pecs, shoulders, and biceps formed a steel band around Alexander. There was no escape, and despite his determination, Nico felt the bully’s breath whisper to a stop. He dropped to a knee and let Alexander tumble over into the sand.

The handsome teen’s limbs splayed and his tongue hung from the side of his mouth. It reminded Nico of when they were kids and would pretend to have drunk an entire urn of wine just to stir up the palace servants. He chuckled. Alexander still looked the same, even if his character had changed.

The Lost Princes and the other spectators were cheering wildly. The match had not disappointed them. Nico beamed proudly and put his foot on Alexander’s heaving chest and flexed for the raucous crowd. No matter what else he would accomplish in his life, he would cherish the raw struggles of the Pankration forever.

But maybe not every single moment of it. Alexander’s fist drove upward between Nico’s legs from below. Just like in the old days, his rival had a way of pretending to be worse off than he was. And Nico paid the price as his nuts were pancaked against Alex’s ruthless knuckles. He staggered back, curling around himself and clutching his bruised ball bag. Alexander pressed his advantage, sucking breath as he climbed to his feet.   

“Don’t celebrate just yet, you cocky piece of shit,” he spat. Grabbing Nico by the chin, he pulled him and nudged his knees apart. Then he lifted a devastating knee into the center of Nico’s very being, massacring his manhood. After rallying through so many kicks, squeezes, and elbows, this blow crushed the last of Nico’s adrenaline. His balls felt like they’d been shattered, almost like they were a separate world of misery inhabiting his own body.

“You’re right, it is time to finish up. But I have one more little move to show you. You may even find it life-changing.”

Alexander smiled mirthlessly and grabbed Nico by the hair. After laying in a couple more knees to the ribs for good measure, he dropped to one knee. With his other leg stretched in front, he pulled the miserable prince over his knee in a backbreaker. With one hand around his throat and another pressing his knees down, Nico was bent, straining, into an arch. His belly and manhood were wide open to the sky and to his enemy.

The cards were all on the table now. Alexander held his clawed hand aloft for the audience to see, then he drove it between Nico’s spread legs and seized the prince by his root. Nico’s male organs were as large as eggs, but his sac was loose and rubbery and gave Alexander just enough room to manipulate them into his grip. He had to keep adjusting his hold, so that each time one of the virile globes rolled out of his fist, he would twist his wrist or poke it back in with his thumb. Each twist and poke of his gonads brought the prince new agony. After being tenderized throughout their match, the villain’s prodding fingers plunged into the core of Nico’s softened orbs. A couple times he grayed out from the abuse.

With his enemy’s manhood firmly in hand, Alexander relished his accomplishment. “They didn’t want to cheer for me,” he said, more to himself than to Nico. “Always just for you. As if you alone were special, and I was nobody.”

Nico groaned, hearing only the blood pounding in his ears. Alexander reached down and pulled the olive laurel off his curly head; he tossed it away so it was lost in the darkness.

“Now you are nobody. And when they see you destroyed, they will learn to love me.”

“Alex, my nuts,” Nico gasped. “I can’t...”

Lost in his delusions, Alexander had torqued down the pressure on Nico’s ball bag without even noticing.

“Oops. If you’re ready to give up, let them hear you. I want them to hear you acknowledge your brother.”

Nico drew a shuddering breath but said nothing.

“I’ll make you, Nico. I promise. You’re only making it harder on yourself.” Removing his grip on Nico’s neck, he plucked up his cock and gave it a couple sharp tugs. “Get it? Harder on yourself,” he repeated humorlessly. “But consider this my gift to you: you can jizz all over yourself first, so that you’ll always remember that you were a man. Because you won’t be for much longer.”

The lightening flash lit Alexander’s face. His handsome features were deranged, and his eyes looked wild.

Nico’s mouth was suddenly dry.

***********

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Theo was usually more articulate, but watching his best friend getting owned had numbed his mind. He leaned forward, squinting against the rain and the darkness. The last torches were snuffed out by the sheets of rain. He knew that the two opponents were talking, but some of their words were carried away by the gusting wind, along with their meaning.

 Next to him Lysander was hunched over, looking very small. His wide gray eyes didn’t blink. He knew this was Alexander’s finishing move, the one with the weird name he couldn’t remember. It gave him a funny feeling in his guts.

“Hey, Theo. I think we should stop the match.”

Theo hesitated. “I want it to be over too, Sander. But Nico would kill us if we interfered. It would be worse than losing for him.”

Lysander nodded. “Yeah. But what if this is actually worse?”

*************

The fingers tightened around Nico’s softened-up testicles, pulping and bending them. A tremor passed through the prince as a thousand points light stabbed under his eyelids.

“Alex, you can’t! Please man, not my balls!” Nico’s deep voice was hoarse and desperate. “They can’t take any more.”

Alexander continued stimulating the squirming fighter, tugging the lip of his glans while digging into his perineum with the same knuckles that were working over Nico’s balls. The wrecked prince was forced into maximum erection, with no choice and no pleasure. His body was being bent to his opponent’s will.

“I wonder whether I’ll be more popular in the palace once everyone finds out that your balls are broken? A crown prince without functioning gonads might be a liability.” He released Nico’s cock, which slapped back wetly against his abdomen. Tugging him up by the hair, Alexander looked his rival directly in the face. “I’ve practiced this move, lots of times, but I was saving the final damage for you. It’s called the Kingmaker.”

Tears streamed down Nico’s cheeks as he realized what Alexander intended. He’s serious. This is what he wanted all along. To break me for good.

Nico’s dreams flashed before his eyes. Raw instinct sent adrenaline coursing though his body and he lashed out with every ounce of his remaining power.

Not. Like. This.

In the last moment Nico’s knee cracked against Alexander’s temple, sending both teens sprawling into the sand. The arena floor had become muddy and sloppy, and the competitors slipped and skidded to be first back on his feet. Alexander peered around the darkened, rainy arena but couldn’t see Nico anywhere. A punch to his left eye staggered him, opening up a cut that matched the one he’d given Nico. Before he could return the favor, he was lifted off his feet. The purple clouds and muddy sand whirled around him before he was slammed down across his opponent’s knee. Alexander shrieked; his back felt shattered.        

Nico still felt disoriented and shivery from the overwhelming rush of adrenaline. Part of him was aware that his body was still suffering unimaginable pain. But another part of Nico’s consciousness seemed to have splintered off. That splintered part had taken control of this match. That splintered part was going to demolish the teen who was presently draped over his knee.

Without hesitation he grabbed Alexander by his balls. He ignored the blonde’s squeaking objections, and squeezed his testicles ferociously. Just one corner of Nico’s mouth curled as he noticed how easily those organs nestled in his big hand and bent under his fingers. And every time he bent them, his pinioned rival gasped and shuddered.

I get it now. This power over him. The tips of my fingers making him quake and cry. I can almost imagine these... He bore down in earnest now and felt Alexander’s testicles deform under his grip. I can almost imagine these two squishing into nothing.

“Yuck,” Nico said, spitting into the sand. The taste of blood was getting old. “Is that really what you wanted to do to me?” He peered down into the face of his former friend, now racked with pain and fear. He barely recognized him. He pushed Alexander off his knee and let him splash into the murky sand. Both boys were painted in the muck by this point. The rain seemed only to smear it over their bare bodies, not willing to wash them yet. Their blonde curls were caked with the gray sand and framed their wary eyes like twin masks.

Alexander sat up, cupping his throbbing nuts. His eyes were wild, like a cornered animal. Nico stood over him and brought his foot down on top of Alexander’s hands. The poser prince squeaked, neither able to extricate his hands, nor his balls. His cock poked out of his grip, perhaps the only part of Alexander that was still ready to fight.

“Bro. You really showed me something tonight,” Nico said seriously. Alexander looked up at him with glassy hazel eyes. “You showed me one UGLY-ass dick. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.” Nico grinned and stepped down with his full weight. Alexander howled.

***********

“Okay, cuz, tell me one more time which brother is winning? I can’t see shit from here.”

“Q, they’re not brothers, remember? I told you this like three times now.”

“Don’t play fool, I’ve been watching those guys for like an hour now, and I still can’t tell the mother fuckers apart.”

“Oooooohhh shit! Did you see that? Dude just got his sack checked stone cold though!”

“Aaaawwww damn! That’s gotta be it for Alexander now.”

“Okaaaaaay. None of y’all can tell them apart from here, with them all covered in mud and shit. They just flipped over like three more times.”

“Fair enough, I’m out. Ever since Nico lost his crown, I can’t tell who is who. You know, Blue Guy?”

“Blue Guy is not gonna talk to you, fool. He doesn’t even know what words you’re speaking.”

“Q, he knows how to speak Greek. Don’t piss him off, cuz.”

“All I’m saying is if we’re boys with one of the Lost Princes, how come we got stuck in these cheap-ass seats and can’t see shit?

“Theo said we’re still Plebes until all this drama gets sorted out. Plus, me and Lippo actually work here. It’s not like we can score the front row.”

“I work here, too, bitch.”

“True, no offense, Ganymede. I just mean me and Lippo are more official. We have to wear uniforms and we can get fired...”

“Ooo baby. I love a man in uniform.”

The vineyard worker Dionysus caught his companion’s lecherous look and gulped. From the back of the gallery, the Plebes—Dio, Lippo, Ganymede, Q, and Mani—looked jealously at the guys in the front row.  

“So...why is Blue Guy up here? He’s a stud like them,” Q asked, gesturing down toward the Lost Princes, who had the closest view of the action.

“Mother fucker, I told you! He speaks Greek!”

“Okay, check this. Blue Guy! What...are....you...doing...here.”

Q spoke in a slow, exaggerated manner. The muscular, bare-chested stud seated between Q and his cousin Mani just kept watching the match.

“Told you, fool.”

Tallus grunted, leaned back and draped his heavy arms across the shoulders of the talkative cousins. The Nubians became very quiet and very still.

“It’s dry here,” Tallus said. He spread his broad hands, then he pointed toward the other Lost Princes in the front rows, who were drenched in the rain. His deep laugh echoed under the colonnade. For a couple minutes they all watched the fight unfold, and nobody spoke.

“...”

“Yo, Blue Guy, I didn’t mean anything, for real though.”

“Hey Dio, how come they keep using the same move? This is like the third or fourth time.”

“Looks like they enjoy squeezing grapes. I can get behind that.” The handsome vineyard worker giggled at his own joke.

“More like they enjoy looking at dicks. I never seen two dudes bone up so long in a fight. Gotta hurt after that long, am I right?”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the sight of a nice, long...”

“Hurt? You mean like how they’ve been whaling on each other for an hour? I can’t believe they can even stand up.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a pussy. Like the one brother said.”

“They’re not. Fucking. Brothers! How many times, man?”

“...”

“Okay, so maybe this sounds weird, but this fight makes me really want to get picked for Pankration.”

“Me too bro! This is some wild shit. But I can hang with it.”

“So can I. Must be dope to know how you stack up.”

“Would suck to lose though.”

“Yea that one dude is wrecked. Check him out, he’s gonna blow for sure.”

“He looks like he’s crying.”   

“...”

“Just better pray you don’t get picked against me!”

“Boy, I’ll turn your cream to butter so fast you’d slide right out of the palace!”  

*********

While the Plebes jabbered and the Lost Princes wrung their hands, the inevitable end marched steadily closer. This night marked the end not just of a brutal, unscrupulous brawl, but also the end of a life-long friendship. Both the victor and the vanquished had exhausted their strength and laid bare their characters as much as their bodies.

“Alex, what did you call this move? The freaking ‘Kingmaker’? Did you think you were some kind of nerd-ass god of the underworld?” Nico grabbed Alexander by the hair and pulled their faces close together. Alexander’s eyes were half-closed, and his tongue hung stupidly out of the side of his mouth. His strength and defense had been shattered, but he had not yet begged for mercy. Part of Nico felt badly about continuing on, but the other part—the part that splintered off when his dreams flashed before his eyes—demanded total submission. “Of course you would. You always were so dramatic.”

Nico ruffled Alex’s hair before dropping his head back. In a different context the gesture might have been affectionate. But in reality the listless blonde was stretched over his knee, bent in an arch with his softest parts exposed. With his jewels nestled in the hand of his rival, Alexander heard the crowd joyfully anticipating his defeat. He moaned, lamenting that he didn’t have enough energy to curse them.

As his intimate parts were mauled and massaged, Alexander’s fat cock automatically thickened and took on a brutish solidity. Nico marveled at how each pinch and push of his own fingers manipulated Alexander’s bone, made it pulse and jump and leak. Whenever he changed his grip or his rhythm, Alexander’s taut body jerked as if he’d been struck by lightening.

Man, what a weird feeling to own a dude like this. The prince marveled to imagine how a villain would feel in his place.

Meanwhile the real lightening retreated as the summer storm rolled out toward the sea, leaving behind a soft rain to cleanse the mud from the combatants’ bruised skin. Around the courtyard, some torches sputtered reluctantly back to life.

Nico pinched his thumb and forefinger together. He held it poised above Alexander’s raw, leaking shaft, reminding the defeated bully of his own vain tactics. Alexander’s familiar hazel eyes went wide. He knew his body couldn’t take any more. Nico would make him submit with just a flick of his finger.

But the prince shook his head and smiled grimly. “Nah, that’s not my style...Bro.” Nico pulled his pinched fingers into a fist and drive it between Alexander’s spread legs, annihilating his balls. The force literally punched the cum out of Alexander’s gonads. His fat dick shot copiously and erratically, coating his own face and chest. Splooge ran down the crevice between his smooth pecs and mixed with the mud in his curly hair. After two matches and after hours of teasing, tugging, and edging, his pent-up orgasm submitted enough seed to lose a hundred Pankration matches. It was not a record Alexander would be proud to hold.   

Nico’s square jaw was clenched tightly as he ground the final submission from his adversary. Alexander’s mind was incinerated in his sensations, too shocked to tap out. To bring him back to earth, Nico wrapped his palm around the teen’s raw phallus. He jerked him roughly until his seed trickled to a pathetic stop. And beyond. He didn’t relent until Alexander was spasming dry and begging for mercy. Then Nico laid the broken warrior on the arena floor.

The swirling wind garbled some of his words, but the finality of Alexander’s submission was obvious to all. The desperation and utter defeat in his voice was intense, even for those in the back row. The crowd hushed in an unbidden moment of respect. Respect for both the victor and for the vanquished. Then one voice raised the cheer, followed by others:

“Nico! Nico! Nico!”

Theo’s voice cracked. It had been an intense day, and he himself was spent. His chin drooped onto his arms on the wall of the colonnade, as other voices took up the cheer.

The Lost Princes will be safe. Alexander will be gone for good. Nico and me will...Theo sighed. I guess Nico and me will just...

Theo looked to the center of the arena. Nico stood alone, and his bright hazel eyes were fixed on him. Muddy, bloodied, and nearly broken—his prince was more commanding than ever. The look in his eyes made Theo’s chest feel tight. Crushed. Worse than any bear hug. Nico’s handsome face split into a smile as he waved for his breathless best friend to join him in celebration.

The weariness vanished from Theo’s muscles as if it had been an illusion all along, and only now he was able to see through it clearly. He clambered over the wall and lurched forward on aching legs.

Yeah. Me and Nico will...

He sprinted faster.