Title says it all, pick your weapon. Don't ask what mine is.
edit:
He just stared at me, not sure what to do after I chose the weapon of the duel to be time itself. The bystanders were equally shocked and confused, expecting a bloody scene to unfold only to be met with a prolonged scenario that no one ever thought would play out.
" Very Well sir, your whits have saved you this day, be warned that honor will be satisfied and I will live to see you lose your life." He said, and then promptly turned around and walked back toward his estate.
I was overjoyed, my cleverness had saved me from the best dueler in the country. I immediately met up with my friends who had been watching the situation unfold and went out and partied and celebrated until well into the next day.
As the weeks went by, I began to think more and more about my situation, wondering if my rival would come for me in the night, or send one of his lackeys to do it for him, or worse, I might die before him and he would get the last laugh! I vowed to myself that would not happen and immediately began focusing on strict physical fitness and a life extending diet.
Anything that presented even the slightest risk of injury I avoided like it was the plague (which I also avoided), I used my families fortunes to hire the best trainers in the land, and stocked my personal gym with the latest and greatest making my gym one of the best equipped personal gyms on the planet. This was not enough however and I interviewed and hired on several consultants to ensure everything I ate was nothing less than the absolute best.
I did nothing else, relationships were a distraction, a temptation that I would not let get in the way of my goal, for years, decades, my routine was the only thing that I knew, my duel long forgotten I pushed forward because it was the only thing I knew.
As old age started to take its toll I began slowing down, doing what I could but my energy was never what it was in my youth, eventually trainers and advisors were no longer needed and went on with their lives as I began to experience uncertainty for the first time in nearly a century.
I wondered about the town, seeing it had changed so dramatically since I had last gone out, murmurs from those who walked on the streets were painfully obvious as they stopped to stare at me, I was apparently well known throughout the town. I eventually found myself at the town hall and went inside. As I wondered, I found myself in a room dedicated to recording and presenting the towns history, I went and looked at all the things had happened that I knew nothing about, famous individuals who came and went, important events, wars, celebrations, notable deaths, and influential people who helped make the town what it was today. Among that list I was shocked to recognize one, it was the name of my rival! He became one of the towns most widely liked mayors, the towns people even voted in an amendment to their towns laws so that he could serve longer than what term limits previously would allow. He served as the mayor for nearly 50 years before retiring. He was pictured happy and surrounded by a loving wife and a huge family of sons, daughters, grandchildren and extended family.
Panic set in as I noticed there was no mention of his death, I asked a passing clerk about him and he was all to happy to explain to me more about the man and that he could most likely be found sitting in his favorite bench, in a park that the current mayor had renamed to honor him, feeding ducks and telling exciting and interesting stories that captivated the towns children and adults alike.
Frantically I rushed in the direction that the clerk pointed after I asked him where the park was, I ran and ran, my wrinkled but still strong legs carried me until I was exhausted but found myself in the park. I walked and walked until I saw him, sitting happily on a bench with several young children around him, hanging on his every word.
He stops his story as I approach, his warm smile greeting me but then changing to a brief look of puzzlement as he realized he recognized me and then realization struck as he determined that I had been his long time rival.
He smiles again warmly and bids me to sit, he thanks me for motivating him in his youth, and talks a long time about all the amazing things he has done and how many people he has inspired, then asks about my life to which I am silent. I have only been motivated by health and fitness that I have forsaken everything else, I have no wife, I have no family, I have not experienced the warmth of a Woman's touch, or the joy of holding an infant child. I break down and cry. long powerful sobs that send me shaking uncontrollably realizing that my choices in life have ultimately succeeded in seeing my rival winning. I have lost my life, I may not yet be dead but I have no life and it is too late to start, my heart hurts as I realize this.
He sits in silence as I continue to crumble into the realization that my life has been a waste and I would not be given another chance, this becomes even more panicking as my heart begins to hurt for the first time in my life, its overwhelming and I fall to the ground, the children who had been listening scream and run to their parents who see what is going on and call for medical assistance.
As the sirens get louder, I notice everything getting darker, more distant, I know I am dying, he has won and I have done it for him. His sad face is the last thing I see before the darkness takes me, the sirens fade and as with the entirety of my life, I am left with nothing...
edit:
He just stared at me, not sure what to do after I chose the weapon of the duel to be time itself. The bystanders were equally shocked and confused, expecting a bloody scene to unfold only to be met with a prolonged scenario that no one ever thought would play out.
" Very Well sir, your whits have saved you this day, be warned that honor will be satisfied and I will live to see you lose your life." He said, and then promptly turned around and walked back toward his estate.
I was overjoyed, my cleverness had saved me from the best dueler in the country. I immediately met up with my friends who had been watching the situation unfold and went out and partied and celebrated until well into the next day.
As the weeks went by, I began to think more and more about my situation, wondering if my rival would come for me in the night, or send one of his lackeys to do it for him, or worse, I might die before him and he would get the last laugh! I vowed to myself that would not happen and immediately began focusing on strict physical fitness and a life extending diet.
Anything that presented even the slightest risk of injury I avoided like it was the plague (which I also avoided), I used my families fortunes to hire the best trainers in the land, and stocked my personal gym with the latest and greatest making my gym one of the best equipped personal gyms on the planet. This was not enough however and I interviewed and hired on several consultants to ensure everything I ate was nothing less than the absolute best.
I did nothing else, relationships were a distraction, a temptation that I would not let get in the way of my goal, for years, decades, my routine was the only thing that I knew, my duel long forgotten I pushed forward because it was the only thing I knew.
As old age started to take its toll I began slowing down, doing what I could but my energy was never what it was in my youth, eventually trainers and advisors were no longer needed and went on with their lives as I began to experience uncertainty for the first time in nearly a century.
I wondered about the town, seeing it had changed so dramatically since I had last gone out, murmurs from those who walked on the streets were painfully obvious as they stopped to stare at me, I was apparently well known throughout the town. I eventually found myself at the town hall and went inside. As I wondered, I found myself in a room dedicated to recording and presenting the towns history, I went and looked at all the things had happened that I knew nothing about, famous individuals who came and went, important events, wars, celebrations, notable deaths, and influential people who helped make the town what it was today. Among that list I was shocked to recognize one, it was the name of my rival! He became one of the towns most widely liked mayors, the towns people even voted in an amendment to their towns laws so that he could serve longer than what term limits previously would allow. He served as the mayor for nearly 50 years before retiring. He was pictured happy and surrounded by a loving wife and a huge family of sons, daughters, grandchildren and extended family.
Panic set in as I noticed there was no mention of his death, I asked a passing clerk about him and he was all to happy to explain to me more about the man and that he could most likely be found sitting in his favorite bench, in a park that the current mayor had renamed to honor him, feeding ducks and telling exciting and interesting stories that captivated the towns children and adults alike.
Frantically I rushed in the direction that the clerk pointed after I asked him where the park was, I ran and ran, my wrinkled but still strong legs carried me until I was exhausted but found myself in the park. I walked and walked until I saw him, sitting happily on a bench with several young children around him, hanging on his every word.
He stops his story as I approach, his warm smile greeting me but then changing to a brief look of puzzlement as he realized he recognized me and then realization struck as he determined that I had been his long time rival.
He smiles again warmly and bids me to sit, he thanks me for motivating him in his youth, and talks a long time about all the amazing things he has done and how many people he has inspired, then asks about my life to which I am silent. I have only been motivated by health and fitness that I have forsaken everything else, I have no wife, I have no family, I have not experienced the warmth of a Woman's touch, or the joy of holding an infant child. I break down and cry. long powerful sobs that send me shaking uncontrollably realizing that my choices in life have ultimately succeeded in seeing my rival winning. I have lost my life, I may not yet be dead but I have no life and it is too late to start, my heart hurts as I realize this.
He sits in silence as I continue to crumble into the realization that my life has been a waste and I would not be given another chance, this becomes even more panicking as my heart begins to hurt for the first time in my life, its overwhelming and I fall to the ground, the children who had been listening scream and run to their parents who see what is going on and call for medical assistance.
As the sirens get louder, I notice everything getting darker, more distant, I know I am dying, he has won and I have done it for him. His sad face is the last thing I see before the darkness takes me, the sirens fade and as with the entirety of my life, I am left with nothing...