The Tenth Wielder

Chapter 1

"Magnus Everette, congratulations on once again winning your round in the Gladiator Tournament."

"Thank you. As always, I'm grateful to all my fans for allowing me the opportunity to compete and I hope to count on your support in the future as I strive to keep the world safe from evil."

The reporter holding a microphone in front of her chuckled heartily. "In this second era of peace, surely there isn't much evil left to save us from, unless you are referring to the more domestic forms of evil?"

The man's words confused Evelyn for a moment, what did he mean by domestic evil? "I'm sorry, I don't quite follow."

"I'm talking about the rumours spreading around that Thor is now dating the new winged hero, Pixie. Can we get your comment on this latest scandal?"

Evelyn was staring dumbfounded at the camera as the reporter waited eagerly for his big scoop. Thor, so called because he could control the weather, particularly lightning, likened himself to the God from Norse mythology. He also happened to be her husband of two years, and this was the first she'd heard about him seeing another woman behind her back.

"Magnus?" The reporter prompted when she didn't respond immediately.

"What do you want me to say?" She spat, her patience for the media evaporating instantly. "Thank you for embarrassing me on live television by telling me my husband is having an affair?"

The venom in her voice caused a shiver to run through the camera crew and the reporter realised he'd royally fucked up. He took a tentative step back from the now seething hero, known not only as Magnus Everette the strongest hero in Japan, but also as the Criminal Crusher, which was her stage name for the Gladiator Tournaments.

True to her name, she was the greatest female hero in the country. She had won every round she'd faced in the Gladiator Tournament for the last three consecutive years, and was its longest reigning champion. Incidentally, it was at this tournament that she met her husband, Thor, also known as Raiden Kaminari. He was the runner up after her that year.

If you thought the tournament was a clean battle between Heroes, you'd be sorely mistaken. No, the price for peace these days was far darker than a clean sport between willing participants. The role of a gladiator was to defeat some of the biggest criminals under lock and key and prove that crime doesn't pay. Another idea approved by the Government.

Following the prosecution of Hawks for his assassination of Twice during the liberation war, the jury ruled that his actions were justified under "The Greater Good" clause, section 13 of the Statutory Safety Regulations. Because of this, part of the Active Hero Licencing Act brought in the following year, was amended so that lethal force could, and should, be exercised if deemed absolutely necessary. It was a turning point for the country as a whole, and a misguided one at best.

The human rights for criminals were abolished, giving heroes more freedom in their methods to deal with wrong doers and bring them to justice, but such a drastic course of action made a lot of the more righteous heroes quit the profession all together. Refusing to be a part of such a cruel system, those honourable few from the old days quit and vanished from the limelight, especially when another bill was passed that made participation in the Gladiator Tournament mandatory, with no right of refusal.

The only upside to this barbaric change in law, was that, should the villain beat every hero in the tournament and win, they would be given a full pardon and released. Of course, this was just a pretence to make things seem fair, but in reality, any villain who looked like they were on the verge of winning would be dealt with before they had the chance. This was the underhanded way of working, may seem despicable, but it was a well-kept secret and placated the public; keeping crime rates down, so those in the know, viewed it as an unfortunately necessary evil.