Mania and the Executioner by A. L. Bridges

island man (I’m thinking that they will all be pacific islanders) with a crew cut hair, that looks like he is entering a body building competition later tonight; a man with longer, shaggier, hair that looks like he is coming down from a three day crack bender and is tweaking pretty hard; and finally a man, that looks like a slightly less ripped version of the second man, with a shark’s mouth tattooed on the left side of his face. I’m guessing they’re The Poli’ahu, Ku, Pa’ka, and Kamohoali’i.
    On the right: A woman with light blue hair that seems to churn with the changes in light; A man with black skin (not like African black, more like darkness black) and red eyes; and lastly, a woman with hair that is on fire. Wait, actually her hair is just red, but embers float from it as she moves. I take it that these are Hi’iaka, Kahoali’i, and Pele.
    They all take their seats and Pele speaks.
    “Welcome. We are here today to address the issue of the coup d’état, and of which side we will take in the war. My side is for The Faction and the other side is for the Norse. Let’s begin with the first question: Why do you think we should join up with the Norse?” Pele asks.
    “Why not create the world anew? There are too many humans, especially on the islands. Also they are becoming too advanced. Soon they will discover something that makes killing us a simple task.” Kamohoali’i says as the Hawaiian deities, and no doubt the unseen Polynesian deities, listen intently and the majority nod in agreement.
    “The girl is right over there! Let’s just take her, bring her to Loki, he can carry out his plan and—” Ku says.
    “If you touch her, I will kill you.” I say at normal volume, as if stating a tested fact. Ku turns toward me.
    “Cole, don’t start unnecessary trouble!” Tia whispers to me. Tia is right of course; I shouldn’t be picking a fight with a god unnecessarily but something inside me tells me that Ku doesn’t stand a chance and another part of me is becoming very excited at the prospect of fighting him.
    “Boy, if I wanted to take her, there is nothing you could do to stop me.” Ku states confidently.
    “Let me reiterate,” I say as I pull out my switchblade and drag it across my right wrist, just below my jacket sleeve. “If you touch her, I will destroy you.”
    “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Ku asks incredulously.
    “If you are insisting on trying to hurt Chezarei, then yes I am.” I say with a straight face as Tia stands up, walks over to Pele.
    “C ut the video feed but keep the audio.” Tia whispers. Pele looks puzzled but snaps her fingers, causing silk cloths to appear over the cameras.
    “HOW ABOUT RIGHT HERE!?” Ku shouts. My nonchalance towards him must be enraging.
    “That’s fine by me.” I say calmly as I stand up and start walking towards the cen ter of the room. I form the cylindrical handle of the Mu-cutter and giant globs of blood start raining to the floor.
    (An example must be made of him, the more gruesome the better. It may end this coup now)
    “I agree completely Airi.”
    Ku stands shirtless in the center area with a Koa short spear that is four feet in length. The spear is divided into three sections: 1’ for a wooden tip, then 1.5’ of shark’s teeth, and 1.5’ for the grip. It seems that Ku is too enraged to notice the blood splashing from my right hand; or perhaps he sees it and just doesn’t care. I can understand taking your suit jacket off, but why did he take his shirt off?
    “DRAW YOUR SWORD!” Ku yells.
    “No thanks, I won’t be needing it.” I reply.
    “Hey Tia, remember that question you asked earlier?” I shout to wards Tia, who has returned to her seat, as Ku shouts some sort of battle cry and charges at me.
    I’m really glad tha t he isn’t faster than me; otherwise it would be a hard task for me to roll to the left as he passes by, while still keeping up the draw. I back up towards his end of the room; I want