Dethroning the King - Chapter 1 - Introduction

Greetings readers!

I'm going to try something new here that I haven't really done before -- I'm going to post chapters to an incomplete series, and request help from all of YOU to get it finished. I've written (in collaboration with my friend "D") the first 8 chapters of what could easily be a 16-chapter (or more!) series, but I just can't seem to find the time and motivation to get it finished. So instead of letting this blog go completely idle while I wait for that inspiration, I thought I'd post the series in progress here.

And that's where all of you come in!

I'll post the completed chapters over the next few weeks, and then provide you all with my notes and ideas for the remainder of the story arc. I would LOVE it if you guys could supply me with ideas, or better yet, actually WRITE entire chapters for this unfinished series.

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This latest series takes place in a dystopian near future, where the planet's ecosystem is collapsing, taking much of civilization with it. It's a dark tale, but one that I hope you'll all enjoy!

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Dethroning the King

An original story by Jayse and D. 

Chapter 1 - New Angeles and the UFT

Earth in the 22rd century is a dark and deadly place, a planet that is slowly dying from centuries of misuse and neglect. Rampant pollution, deforestation, chemical warfare, overpopulation, and corporate greed have taken their toll on the planet and its people. Runaway global warming, desertification, and loss of the ozone layer have dramatically changed the world’s climate, resulting in devastating flooding, dust storms, and famine. The air, water, and soil of the planet are now filled with toxins and radiation, resulting in sharp increases in birth defects, cancers, and deadly plagues. 

Yet humanity continues to survive, its 12 billion inhabitants struggling to eke out a living in a world that can no longer sustain them. Nations as they’d been known had mostly disintegrated under the strain and decades of warfare, and had been replaced by hundreds of warring nation-states, each a dictatorship ruled through military force and brutality. Some of these totalitarian regimes spanned huge swaths of continents, while others were as small as heavily fortified towns. The struggle for dwindling resources between these nation-states — and often within them as well — was fierce, and warfare continued to decimate the planet and its shrinking ability to sustain life. 

Human life in this dark time wasn’t just cheap, it was virtually worthless. Disease, plagues, famines, and warfare cut down huge numbers of people every year, yet even with ever-increasing rates of birth defects and infertility, worldwide populations hadn’t fallen much from their peak. Yet. But it was clear that a time of massive human die-offs was imminent, past due in fact, and the world braced for a sharp decline in the human race on an scale not seen since the deadly plagues of the Dark Ages. 

In a world where life held such little value, bloodsports had once again risen to popularity as a way to entertain and distract the dirty and rabid masses, each struggling to make it through another day. These various sorts of deadly games had evolved into a level of brutality not seen since the height of the Roman Empire, and frequently were even more barbaric than the stadium games of those bloody days. The most successful of these bloodsports were run and operated by the heavy-handed governments themselves, and televised throughout their borders as a way to placate the rabble and keep them controlled. 

The territory of New Angeles was one of the most powerful of the nation-states to rise from the ashes of the previous nations. The country spanned a large expanse of territory, encompassing the lower half of the former state of California, and extending east into lands previously known as Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, and south into the fallen nation of Mexico. New Angeles harbored more than 300,000,000 human souls, including the more than 35,000,000 people who lived in the sprawling megalopolis of New Angeles itself. 

New Angeles controlled many valuable resources, including offshore petrochemicals, the great Colorado River, fertile soil in the California Central Valley, a vast military complex, and one of the most advanced biotech industries on the planet. Because of its great wealth, the nation was often beset by enemies, including the neighboring lands of Texarkana, the city-states of the Pacific Northwest, and the various territories of the Pacific Rim. But New Angeles was more than capable of defending itself, and every attempted incursion or invasion had resulted in far greater loses of lives and resources on the part of the attackers than the defenders, which discouraged most such attacks. 

A huge part of New Angeles’ success was owed to Gustav Billings, the undisputed dictator of the nation (though he preferred the term ‘Supreme Leader’) and one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential men. Now in his mid 50s, Gustav had ruled New Angeles with an iron fist for more than 25 years, building the nation’s power base to even greater levels while simultaneously keeping the nation’s vast population subdued and under control. In addition to being a brilliant tactician, an expert politician of Machiavellian-level talent, and a highly gifted military leader, Gustav was a showman of the highest caliber, and had cultivated a smiling, father-figure-like persona with his populace. The people of New Angeles therefore both loved and feared their amiable yet harsh leader, and Gustav enjoyed a level of popularity rare among the world’s dictators. 

Among Gustav’s many successful holdings, companies, and ventures was the wildly popular Ultimate Fighting Tournament, or UFT, a national fighting league that mixed kickboxing with bloodsports to create a free-for-all fighting event that frequently saw the loser crippled, maimed, or outright killed. The weekly fights were televised events, watched not just by the people of New Angeles but also (due to its fantastic popularity and extreme brutality) by many of the bordering nation-states as well. The fights did have a limited set of rules, but in the long tradition of wrestling events, these rules were almost always broken, adding to the excitement of the fights. 

Boys and young men from all over New Angeles dreamed of an opportunity to join the UFT, as success in these fights often meant fame and fortune, and was one of the very few ways someone could elevate themselves from the brutal and squalid life of the vast and dirty slums. Requirements to join the UFT were very stringent, however, and only the strongest, most athletic, most talented fighters were allowed to battle within its ranks. Fortunately for those wanting to join the league, though, the high mortality rate among the fighters created frequent openings in the UFT’s ranks, so there was never a dearth of new blood waiting to be spilled on the arena floor. 

But for those not in the higher echelons of power, or the lucky few who rose to fame and fortune in the UFT, life in New Angeles was a brutal and dark existence, devoid of hope for a better future. This was a nation that needed a hero, a light, a shining beacon of hope and goodness, to beat back the dark shadows, to give a promise of a brighter tomorrow. And that light arrived in the form of Zachary Sorenson.