Reluctant Gladiator

RELUCTANT GLADIATOR - Part Fifteen A story by Pete Brown (petebrownuk @ yahoo.com)

Read all of Pete's stories at groups.yahoo.com/group/petebrownseroticstories

I was expecting Mike to be enraged by Straughan's words and that I would have problems with him when we got back to our room, but in fact I had problems of a different kind: Mike sat there with his head in his hands, distraught. "It's true, Steve", he told me. "I am out of touch with the younger guys - not just Darren, but the very young ones, those who've just come here. I haven't a clue what they're thinking. I'm a gladiator because I like fighting. But what do these young guys think? Especially the ones who seem to be here only for the acrobatics? And you heard him - he's going to replace me. And what then? It's over, Steve. I'll be in the mines in a couple of months."

"Keep a sense of perspective, Mike! Straughan was probably upset, and said more than he should have...."

"It's easy for you, Steve. You'll be out of here one day anyway, and not to the mines! He said more than he should have, because now I know the game is almost up for me. If he hadn't been angry he'd never have let that slip as he'd have wanted me to keep going right to the end...."

"Well worrying about it isn't going to change it.... Come on, you're fighting tomorrow, and you need a good night's rest."

Mike still sat there, though, and eventually I had to gently force him to lie down. He still couldn't sleep and lay there, tossing and turning - until I jerked him off very slowly and sensuously, as I knew Mike always fell asleep after he'd cum.

The following morning Mike's mood had changed, and he was now angry - angry at everything and everyone in sight. He was masking his worry about hi future by blaming the five young guys. He prowled around the mess hall as we were trying to have breakfast, snapping at anyone who as much as spoke to him, and cuffing two or three of the young gladiators so hard that they almost fell off the benches. I tried to calm him, and he was pretty shitty to me, too - in fact when he told me to shut up and I tried to argue with him, he slapped me across the face, really hard. The sound of it went around the room, and everyone stopped eating and looked at us. After that, all the gladiators kept their heads down and tried to avoid Mike.

His foul bad temper lasted all day and that wasn't a bad thing, actually - Mike's a pretty rough fighter at the best of times, and that night as we all watched him in the large arena, he completely annihilated his opponent in a really savage way. The crowd really loved it of course, as they like to see a lot of blood, and at the end of the bout Mike stood over his opponent with his foot on the poor guy's chest, waving his clenched fist above his fist and literally roaring his victory.

I was expecting a bitch that night, and felt almost sorry for the poor girl as with Mike in that mood he'd really fuck her hard. But there was none, and Mike seemed to have calmed down enough for me to ask why not. "Steve, it's almost all over for me. There's no point in me fucking around any more. I'm going to save my credits, Steve, and I'd like you to have them when you get out of here."

"Thanks! But what for?"

"To remember me by, Steve. You're the only real buddy I've ever had, and I'd like you to remember me."

"For fuck's sake, Mike, stop being so melodramatic. You've got a long future here still - look at the way you fought tonight. Anyone can see you're a Champion."

"Steve, stop trying to jerk me around. We both know it's not a question of whether I'll not be Champion one day, only one of 'when'. Sooner or later there'll be a younger, stronger, fitter gladiator who gets the edge over me, and then I'll be on the downward slope...."

"You know what the say, Mike: change the things you can, and learn to accept the things you can't. I can't be more honest with you than that. Yes, you'll stop being Champion one day, but who knows - Straughan might keep you on as a trainer here - you've got more experience than anyone else. Or someone might buy you as a personal trainer...."

Mike shrugged. "I don't think so, somehow. They think I'm a good fighter, but a vicious one. Not like you, Steve - you're a good fighter, and they see you as a nice guy, too. And in any case I think the overall style is changing - they definitely want more athletic, acrobatic fighting, and less of the heavy slogging that you and I do."

I could see this was going nowhere, so I changed the subject. "Whilst you were lounging around today getting ready to fight, did you find out what's going to happen to Jamie, Darren and the other three?"

"Straughan's pretty pissed off! He's keeping them locked up with no food, only water. And tomorrow night they're going to be punished after dinner. Jamie's seen the doctor, and at least he's OK - Darren did a good job on his 'skinning, a proper 'high and tight', and Jamie's dick won't be disfigured as it would have been if Darren had done it clumsily."

"I know they found out how he got the knife, but how did he learn to circumcise a dick? It's not the sort of thing they teach you in high school biology."

"He talked to all the young gladiators who have been 'skinned here. Most of them remember enough about it so that they could piece together the whole thing."

"And the punishment?"

"Dunno. It's got to be something harsh, as Straughan's got to convince the other gladiators not to take initiatives - we've supposed to be slaves, to obey. On the other hand it can't be too harsh - there are five of them in it, and that's a big investment for Straughan. He won't want to damage any of them permanently - although he might, I guess, single out Darren for something pretty dramatic...."

"He wouldn't order him to be castrated, would he?"

"Probably not. Darren's a fantastic fighter, and Straughan will be looking to make a lot of money from his fights in the future. If he takes Darren's balls, that would all be over - a gladiator needs all those hormones raging." Mike stopped for a moment, looked thoughtful, and added "But he might have Darren stubbed. That would show Darren just how serious his offence was."

"Stubbed?"

"Cut his dick off. Or most of it - slice through his dick about an inch above the root. It's pretty extreme, but it doesn't affect a gladiator's ability to fight, not like cutting his balls off. He can still piss and everything as the dicks' really only a tube for that. But no more sex, no more fun...."

"You can't be serious...."

"I've seen it done here, Steve. A year before you arrived there was a gladiator who raped another guy, so Straughan had him stubbed. No more rape, obviously, and a real lesson to the rest of us."

I looked at Mike in sheer amazement. "Not much of a lesson! You raped me - well, raped my throat..."

"You're a gladiator, Steve. So what we do together is all in the game - one gladiator rapes another is only like more advanced training, really. I mean, it didn't stop you from fighting, did it? No, the problem was that his gladiator raped a guy - a free man. Straughan had lent the gladiator to another school for a few weeks, and on the way back the driver of the van got a bit horny and decided he'd like sex with a gladiator - well, who wouldn't? It was all agreed, but the guard thought sex was all about him fucking the gladiator, but the gladiator knew that a tougher, stronger, more virile guy should make all the running... The guard cried rape, and the gladiator got stubbed. Then Straughan sold him a few months later, and I think he did go as a personal trainer - some rich guy heard about the story, and decided he'd like to fuck hard gladiator butt after his exercise. And there was no danger of rape, of course."

"Do you really think Straughan will stub Darren, then?"

"Fifty-fifty, if you ask me. He needs to make an example. And you know Darren's always been a bit of a wild card, a real man's man, that the others all look up to... So a hard lesson would send a strong message to a lot of the younger gladiators. On the other hand, a stubbed gladiator looks a bit ridiculous in our uniforms, as everyone can see the front pouch is pretty flat, and Straughan might take that into account Darren's future earning potential in the arena."

I listened to all of this, and once again the realisation came to me that in this world of slaves and gladiators different rules applied - it was all a matter of economics, really. What was Darren worth in terms of his earning potential? If it wasn't enough, then why not stub him, however cruel it would be considered to disfigure a guy in that way normally?

As I practised the next day I kept thinking of the five young guys, then finally we went into dinner and the mess hall was unusually tense that evening. There was a buzz of excitement as ate our dinner. Everyone kept looking around, wondering what was going to happen. As we finished eating, the doors were thrown open and Straughan came in followed by guards with their tasers out, and the five guys all naked. They'd been shaved all over so that they looked particularly young and vulnerable, and seemed very embarrassed about being reduced back to the state of young trainees. We'd heard that they hadn't been fed, and after two days without food I fancied I could almost see their ribs sticking out - you've got to remember that us gladiators work exceptionally hard and our metabolisms are in high gear: we're normally always ravenously hungry anyway, so being deprived of food would be a terrible punishment anyway. It was a pretty shocking experience

already, as normally we could fool ourselves into thinking that although we were slaves, we were well treated as we were valued as gladiators. And now we saw exactly what could happen - Straughan could decide to have us humiliated, lock us up, starve us... and, as we were about to hear, order us to be punished. There was no trial, no court, no appeal - we were Straughan's property, and he could do with us as he liked.

We all gasped, because these were proper gladiators and now they had been taken back to look like trainees - they were all stark naked, and had been totally body shaved! They stood there in front of us looking so ashamed of themselves, and one or two tried to hold their hands in front of their genitals as if to hide those bare organs from us. I noticed that Jamie's dick had a bloodstained bandage around it, and that Darren was looking particularly embarrassed: I remembered how proud he was after his eighteenth, when his pubes had been allowed to grow again and he'd worn his uniform slung low as if to show them off - it must be terrible for him to be reduced to this "trainee" state again. Even worse, though, was their general look - we'd heard that they had been kept without food and only allowed water, and perhaps it was only in my imagination that their ribs were sticking out through their skin - you need to think that gladiators live a pretty

strenuous life in fighting and training, so we have a huge need for energy. Keeping these guys without food would be pretty serious.

Straughan held up his hand and the room fell silent. "We are here tonight to see these gladiators punished", he told us. "Punished for daring to attempt to take control of their own lives. All you men know that a gladiator is here to obey, to fight when ordered, and that nothing else matters. Yet these ungrateful men, these men who were part of the honourable brotherhood of gladiators, decided to embark on a totally unauthorised body modification to one of their number - a body modification which, for reasons which I do not yet choose to reveal, I had specifically decided against. So they must be punished, both to reinforce to them the heinous nature of their offence, and to remind all of you that I will tolerate no breach of the discipline under which we all live here in the school."

"You may not appreciate it, but you have relatively free lives: you train, but you are well fed, you get time for relaxation by the pool, the rules of combat mean that it is unlikely that you will lose your life in the arena or suffer a life-threatening injury, you're allowed to choose the companions in your rooms at night, bitches are provided for your pleasure, and we do not attempt to order every waking minute - compared to criminals in prison, you men live in a paradise of freedom - provided you behave, the guards do not interfere. But these men cast all that to one side, and decided to act contrary to the rules of our society here. To protect that society and to allow all of you to continue to enjoy the relative freedom of life as a gladiator, rather than as a common slave, they need punishment."

Mike whispered to me "I'd never thought of it like that, but he's right, isn't he, Steve?"

Straughan continued "These gladiators are, nevertheless, valuable properties. I have therefore to consider their punishment carefully, so that it commensurate with the nature of their crime, but yet not damaging to the success of Philips' Fighters. So I have not, as I could have as they are all common slaves, decided to order them to be unmanned. They may keep their testicles."

I saw one of the three young guys who'd held Jamie down relax a bit as Straughan said this. He went on "It is also desirous that gladiators should make a good 'show' in the arena. Men who come her want to see men, real men, men who are visibly men, fight for their entertainment. And so for this reason 'stubbing' is not going to be performed."

Everyone now seemed to relax a bit as he said this. "But let there be no misunderstanding - any gladiator who attempts anything like this again, or who breaks the rules under which we live to any serious degree, will indeed be stubbed. These gladiators, however, are to be treated somewhat leniently: I have taken into account their relative youth, and that they thought they were doing one of their number a favour - 'esprit de corps' is valuable to gladiators. Consequently they are to suffer 'only' the punishment cane."

The watching gladiators started to murmur with approval. But Straughan continued "As some of you will know, six strokes administered by a corrections officer is considered a severe punishment. The three gladiators who were peripherally involved will however receive twelve strokes."

There were gasps from some of my fellow gladiators, who probably, like me, had received a punishment caning and could remember how it was. "....and Jamie and Darren, the planners and instigators, will each receive eighteen."

There were gasps of astonishment as he said this, but Straughan raised his hand for quiet and continued "Furthermore, the punishment cane is normally administered by a law officer who is a normal man. But I have decided that these beatings will be performed by really strong men, men who can wield the cane with all the force that their trained bodies can bring to bear on it. My Champion. Mike, will perform the first part of the punishment."

I saw Mike look a little surprised, then he gave a little shrug, as if to say "so what?". I moved close to him and whispered "Go easy on them, Mike...".

"You heard Straughan, Steve. They're getting off lightly. And they do need to be taught a lesson. And Straughan has picked me to do it, as the Champion. So I'm not going to fail him."

We all watched as the five gladiators were marched to stand against one of the mess tables, then were ordered to bend over. Their bodies were close together, touching, and I hoped that his provided them with some comfort. Straughan handed Mike a punishment cane - long, flexible, and thick, and he stood behind the first of the young guys, and began to vigorously and remorselessly lay the cane into him.

As you'd expect, the young guy howled and screamed. And he lost control of his bladder and was pissing all over the floor. We could all see the way his body jerked as the cane landed, and the bright red line that formed across his butt from the impact.

When he finished the first one, I could see that Mike was already starting to sweat from the sheer physical energy that he was putting into it, and it was the same for numbers two and three. Then he stood by Darren's ass, and I wondered what thoughts were going through his mind - after all, he knew Darren idolised him, and had on so many occasions enjoyed the attention of Darren's lips and hands on his dick. But it seemed to make no difference to Mike - indeed, it was almost as if he was hitting Darren particularly hard as if to prove a point and demonstrate his utter loyalty to Straughan. Darren had always been bold and brave, as I've told you, and he didn't start screaming until about the fourth stroke. And he managed to control his bladder until the thirteenth. But in spite of his courage, at the end he too was reduced to a helpless, whimpering thing sprawled across the table, as if unable to move.

Sweat was pouring off Mike now, and he moved on to Jamie at the end of the line. But Straughan stopped him. "No, Mike. You're tiring. I want Steve to punish this one."

I went rigid with shock. "Please, Mr Straughan, please, no..."

Straughan said to me, quietly so that none of the others could hear "You want to own this slave, so it will be good for you, Steve, to take responsibility for punishing him. A good owner knows that a slave needs his owner to punish him when he deserves it,. Jamie here knows he did very wrong in defying my orders, and as a good owner he will be expecting me to punish him, and it will be good practice for you. So you will take the cane, and administer eighteen strokes on that butt of his."

I remembered the agony I'd been through when I'd received only twelve, and I knew there was no way I could do this to Jamie. "Please, please, sir, please, no."

"Are you defying me, Steve?"

I stood there. It was a real moment of decision. Time seemed to stand still. Then I said, utterly calmly, "I won't do it, sir."

"Strip off that uniform, and take your place at the end of the line then!", Straughan said, sounding as calm as I felt.

The room went quiet, wondering what was happening, as I pushed down my uniform and walked forward, naked, to lie beside Jamie.

"Begin, Mike", Straughan ordered. "The eighteen ordered for Jamie, and now an additional twelve, for Steve."

I know I screamed and cried and thrashed around - my second experience of the punishment cane was even worse than the first, probably because Mike really did have such tremendous power in his arms. But I did not piss all over the floor, at least. I'd sort of hoped that compared to the judicial caning I'd had at the start of all of this the pain would be less - after all, my body had learned a higher tolerance of pain by now. But if anything it was worse, although that was perhaps because of the power with which Mike wielded he cane compared with the municipal correction officers I'd experienced before.

When it was over we were all made to continue to lie there as all the other gladiators filed past so that they could inspect the stripes across our butts in great detail. Then we were marched off and thrown together into a bare "punishment cell" - stark plain concrete walls and floor, with a hole in the floor to piss and crap into, but nothing else. We spent a wretched night - we all hurt, hurt dreadfully, and the concrete was cold and completely unsympathetic to the needs of our bodies. My own body was screaming in pain, but I felt terribly for the other guys - they were hungry, too, dreadfully hungry. We all huddled together, trying to take what comfort and warmth we could from each others bodies, and in spite of all this closeness, none of us had even the stirrings of an erection.

They made us go into the mess room for breakfast, too - not so we could eat, but so that we could stand there "nose and toe", as it's called, as all the other gladiators filed in past us, ate, then filed out. It sounds easy, I know - simply face the wall and press your nose and your toes against it, but it's a pretty unnatural position and after a few minutes in addition to our other pains we were all experiencing bad muscle cramps. None of the other gladiators seemed to be very sympathetic towards us, and some of them even slapped at our butts as they went past - we couldn't help crying out involuntarily as they did this as a fresh wave of pain from the stripes on our butts shot through us.

We were going to have to exercise as usual that day, it seemed, but before then there was one further level of humiliation facing me. Straughan ordered me into the showers at the end of breakfast, and Mike was sanding there with a razor. Straughan watched as Mike soaped me, and then began methodically to shave off every trace of hair from my body! At the end of it, I was as smooth as the other five guys - as soon as he'd started I knew it as useless to plead with Mike not to do it, not to humiliate me like this, as he was going to obey Straughan's orders come what may.

Straughan had ordered that the six of us should continue to be totally naked, so now in addition to the agony in my body and the problems of working out naked that I've already told you about, I had the additional shame of having the gladiators see my shaved body. Without the hair on my chest, my trail, and of course my pubes, I felt small and inadequate compared to the virile men around me.

That night Mike was a bit sympathetic, and he'd actually "borrowed" some of the soothing massage oil from the infirmary, the one with an analgesic effect. He told me to lie down, and then knelt over me massaging it into my butt. He was looking for approval for this, and I think I was probably unkind when I told him that if he hadn't hit me so fucking had it wouldn't be quite so necessary. "So what did you want me to do, Steve? Hit you less heavily than the other five?"

"No - not to hit all of us so fucking hard!"

"You just don't get it, even now, do you, Steve? I'm the Champion, and part of that is being responsible for discipline. It's my fault that anyone was caned at all - if I'd really had my ear to the ground I'd have known what Jamie and Darren were planning and all this would have been avoided as I'd have thrashed them privately - a few punches would have knocked the idea out of them. But once they defied the system publicly like that it was out of my hands - I was ordered to cane them, and I had to do it."

He paused and continued "And as for caning you - well, it's your own fucking fault, isn't it? So don't blame me! You're a gladiator, and a gladiator here is meant to obey Straughan's orders. He told you to cane Jamie, and you refused - so what was he to do? If he'd let you get away with disobeying a direct order there'd be anarchy here soon enough. You're a slave, remember? And what are slaves supposed to do? Obey orders!"

I was feeling a bit better as the soothing analgesic oil made its way into my throbbing nerve endings, and Mike started to massage me more sensuously, allowing his oiled hands to slip down my ass crack. "You know, Steve, I think I'm going to like this smooth you - if you could only turn over I reckon jerking you off is going to be kind of exciting without all that hair in the way - it's going to be a bit like playing with one of the very young guys when they first arrive!"

"Fuck you...."

"Only joking, Steve. You'd better lie there on your belly, and we'll play tomorrow."

End Of Part Fifteen