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     The warriors rush onto the battlefield. It is just how they had planned. The towering  shining castle lies the middle of the open field completely unguarded. The occupants apparently oblivious to the oncoming raid. The warriors trudge forward through the muck  readying their weapons  unsure of what awaits them inside the castle  unsure even of how they will enter the castle. Their commander  a sharp-witted  narrow man named dAve had simply stated during the briefing   "We will overturn that stone when we get to it."  They approach the castle its glorious might towering over them  like the sun in the sky.  "It's millions bigger 'n I'd ever imagined it."  shouts one soldier  stricken by the castle's pure  untouchable majesty.

     Surrounding the castle is of course as is around every castle EVER a moat. This moat, however appears as though it is filled with blood. Upon closer inspection the commander confirms that it is in fact blood.  "The blood of millions… "  rolls off his lips. He looks around as if someone else had put those words in his mouth.  "We must clear this moat.", he shouts to those willing to listen. An "Aye Aye SIR."  roars through the crowd and the first brave man steps forward into the moat.  "Okay  plan B… ", states the commander as that once brave man silently disappears into the depths of the treacherous moat only adding to its volume.  "We must build a BRIDGE.", he continues looking over his ready and willing crew.

     Several attempts at bridge building fail. As the other side of the moat is flush with the castle wall yielding no place for the bridge to rest. Anything that touches the blood of the moat only disappears making the moat swell deeper.

     The men  now listless and frustrated  begin to quarrel amongst themselves. A fight breaks out ending in one man killed by his own comrade. Push comes to shove  shove comes to punch  punch comes to stab. It's all out WAR . The soldiers are killing one another for no apparent reason. The dust settles  the final scream echoes over the land and one man is left standing. The now cavalry-less former-commander dAve stops flailing his sword drops his dead human shield and surveys the remains of the battle.  "I win!", he shouts with an odd sense of pride confusing himself. How can he consider himself a winner… his entire army is dead. The castle lies unscathed just yards away. His dreams of taking this land for his country are now shattered.

     The ground begins to shake with an oddly familiar rhythm. He panics and seeks shelter ducking into a small cavern a short ways away from the castle. Peeking through a tiny crevice he can see an army approaching. It's almost identical to his own. They approach the castle from the very same direction  and in the exact same manner fail at crossing the moat. It's like watching himself from a distance. Just like his own crew this one breaks out into battle. Only this time no one is left standing.

     Shortly after the ground shakes again  and yet another army approaches. Everything EXACTLY the same. Only this time  there 's one man left standing. Without thinking and not really certain of what he's doing he picks up his sword and throws it like a javelin through the heart of the sole survivor. Again   "I win!" comes out of his mouth. Even though he cannot determine what it is exactly that he is winning.

     For some time this continues. Ground shakes, army comes,  army kills itself. He watches from the safety of his cavern  keeping in mind his original goal of taking the castle…

     One day the ground begins to shake but this time it's different. The rhythm of the shaking is completely different. Something is wrong. He watches through the crevice. Indeed an army is coming… but the army is strange. The soldiers are by far intellectually inferior to the ones he's been watching for what seems like eons.

     They hastily storm toward the castle and without a single thought try to leap over the moat. It is true, they are strong  able jumpers  but they jump headlong into the side of the castle  resulting in little more than a thud followed by a splash into the pool of blood.

     dAve watches in amazement at their stupidity chuckling softly to himself. One of them, apparently lost, wanders close to the entrance of his cavern. Like a burrowing spider dAve snatches him in and binds him.  He has been planning for this moment. From the gunpowder of the many fallen soldier's guns he has fashioned a belt. An explosive belt. He just needed some way to hurl the immensely heavy belt across the moat at the broadside of the castle hopefully ending with a bang and a hole in the side of the castle for which he would like to use as a front door.

     Here sits his shiney new belt-thrower wriggling around on the floor. dAve props his new friend up against the wall and looks happily into his face.  "What is your name friend?",  he inquires grinning. The soldier can only respond in grunts and unintelligible utterances.  "That's nice, I'm dAve… and you, Jim… I 'll call you Jim are my key to that castle. "dAve knows that this man only has one thought on his mind, "jump at castle" and is merely biding his time until the army outside suicides itself.

     The roaring and clanging subsides and dAve smiles as he hears one last 'GRAAAHHHH-thud – - splash.'  "Time to go Jim!", dAve says as though trying to rouse a puppy.  "Put on your belt!" dAve stands him up and ties the belt around his new friend's waist.  "Lessgo!  Lessgo!!" dAve unbinds "Jim" and excitedly leads him outside.  "GO! GO!! GOOOO!!!", he yells  pointing Jim towards the castle and giving him a shove. Jim takes off like a dart towards the bullseye.  "GIT 'EM BOY! GIT  'EM!",  dAve continues egging him on while jogging after him. Just as expected Jim leaps full-fury into the castle wall resulting in not a weak thud but an explosion that rocks the very soul of the world.

     dAve grins larger than he's ever grinned in his short life and screams, "I WIN!!!" while leaping over the moat into his newly-formed front door unsure of what's inside but ready for anything

-The End…

or rather, The Beginning