Chaos reigns.

Immediate Chaos erupted in the arena, the people who had previously been held in check by the disks embedded in their chests, suddenly found themselves freed.

Dregg, Grog, and Markus began tearing away at the Arena, demolishing the walls.

" Out of the way!" Cir-El tried pushing her way through the crowd of people running. She could have easily moved them, but she didn't want to hurt the citizens.

" We need to leave." Dregg told Markus.

" Why? He's right there. I can end this now." Markus told the man.

" Not without getting them hurt. I want Mongul taken down too. But not at the expense of the people. These people are free for the first time in years. Mongul is not going to just let them run around. Don't you see?" Dregg told the man.

Markus looked to the people, slaves, commoners, people who just wanted to be free without the fear of being persecuted.

" Okay." Markus spoke. Markus chucked a bolt of lightning straight into the far corner of the colosseum and blew a hole large enough for everyone to run through. " If you want your freedom, then follow us. If you want to stay behind and be a slave to Mongul and the people who've done nothing but dictate your entire lives, then stay. Either way. We're leaving!" Markus and the others led the charge through the colosseum, taking with them those brave men, women, and children, and Orion, who wanted to fight for their freedom.

..................

After some time escaping into the woods near the city, Markus and Orion stopped.

" That damn disk was keeping me trapped here. The Boomtube that stranded me here weakened my powers, prevented me from Calling motherbox and my Astro-harness. But no longer. I am free. And I think it's time to go. If you want, I can take you home. It would only be a few moments." Orion told the man.

" No. I'm staying." Markus replied.

" Are you sure? You don't belong here. You never did. You don't owe these people anything. Why stick it out with them, like a commoner?" Orion asked the man.

" I know what it's like to only know the darkness of a cage, Orion. Whatever you call me, God or not, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that, right here, right now, I can do for them what was done for me. I can give them a chance at freedom." Markus explained.

" And let's say you do topple Mongul Sr. Then what? What happens next?" Orion asked.

Markus chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. " I'm not sure exactly. But I know we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Orion smirked. That was about as half-assed as an answer he would have given.

" Very well then. So, be it." Orion pressed some buttons on his box and a portal opened beside him. " Oh, and one more thing. Just a heads up, the woman. The Governor's guard? She's a Daxamite. Distant cousins of the Kryptonians, and the sun here gives her powers just like theirs. She's strong. She's fast, and practically invulnerable. Be careful. You may be stronger now, than before. But that doesn't mean a thing. That woman has powers you don't. So, don't get complacent, and don't get cocky." Orion spoke. His tone was serious. " And another thing, don't think this ends with Mongul Sr. There are forces in this universe of ours you couldn't imagine. Be careful."

" Thank you, Orion. Safe travels." Markus told the man.

" You as well, my friend." Orion spoke. He stepped into the portal, and it closed behind him with a boom.

" That was quite the sentiment. But what are you going to do after you defeat Mongul? Are you going to leave? Go back home?" Dregg asked.

" Don't know. But for now, it doesn't matter, what I'd do. Right now, all that matters is that we survive. Because from here on out, we don't have the supplies of gladiators or citizens. Now, we're outcasts, with nowhere to go and nothing to our names except the clothes on our bodies. Get ready, Dregg. Because it gets harder from here on out."

Markus told the man.

Dregg nodded in agreement and joined Markus as they continued on the path with the rest of their people.

Meanwhile back at the stadium, the thunderclouds that had been hanging over the arena, suddenly gave birth to rain. A phenomenon that the people of Valdr had not seen in so very long.

" I don't believe it.... It hasn't rained in thousands of years. How is this possible?" One man asked.

" It was the thunderer. He did this." Another spoke up.

The men looked around at the dusty ground around them, devoid of all signs of life, and then as if by magic, the ground sprouted a single green leaf, from the blood that fell from Markus' body. In fact, the entire arena grew and changed, patches of grass, began springing up everywhere the rain touched.

It was a miracle.

...................

Markus and his people set up camp in the twisted woods outside the empires reaches, in the valley. There they sat for days, hunting, resting. Preparing.

" So, we're free."

" Yeah."

" What now?"

" The Thunderer will tell us."

" The Thunderer hasn't said more than a few words to us since we left the arena. I don't think he has any idea what we're doing." One man spoke.

" No worries. Two-arms will take care of us. He's taken care of Sid since the maul. Saving him from all kinds of monsters, and even the King himself." Sid explained.

" I saw him, destroy the lava monster in the Maul with a sword and his bare hands. No one's ever done that before."

" I saw him in the great arena, swords, spears, everything was completely useless against him. He deflected it all like it was nothing. And that lightning. I couldn't believe it. Valdr hasn't seen a storm in ages. And look what grew from it. I don't care what they say, if he can bring life back to our planet, I'll follow him wherever he leads." Another Valdarian exclaimed happily.

" Then you're an idiot." The man from before spoke. " Open your eyes. He's not here to help you. He's an alien, an outsider. He's a danger to us and everyone on this planet, just like his crew." The man stated.

" You'd best hold your tongue." Sid told the man.

" And if you're smart, you'll run away while you still can. Because he's a killer, a thief, a pagan. He's nothing more than a destroyer, and he'll get us all killed."

" LIAR!" Sid shouted. He lunged at the brown skinned man, tackling him to the ground in a fit of rage usually not expressed by the bug creature.

" Sid!" Markus shouted.

Sid turned around, and watched as Markus, Dregg, and Grog approached, with a smile on his face.

" Sid, let him go." Markus told the bug.

" But he's disrespecting you." Sid argued.

" Let him. If he wants to leave, then he's free to leave. We're not here to be like Mongul. We here to be better." Markus told both Sid and the Valdarian.

Sid stepped aside begrudgingly and let the man up.

As soon as he was free the Valdarian took off running out of the camp.

" Do you want me to go after him?" Trench asked Markus.

" No. Get packed up and get moving, leave the campfires burning." Markus told the woman. " Dregg, Grog, let's go get him." Markus told the two beside him.

...........

The Valdarian ran as far away from the camp as fast as he could. And when he finally felt comfortable, he stopped and pulled out a communicator.

" The camp's completely vulnerable. On low ground, in a valley between two mountains. A few rows of wood fortifications. Follow my trace, but you should see the campfires. There's smoke all over, so you can't miss it." The man.

On the other end of the communicator was Cir-El and the Governor.

" Message received. Hold your position." Cir-El told the man.

" Actually, I'd like to move further out if-"

" I said hold your position." Cir-El spoke once more, cutting the man on the other end off before he could finish speaking.

" Why the glum face, lieutenant?" The Governor asked.

" It's too easy. There's no way, they just set up camp in the middle of the valley like that." Cir-El stated.

" My dear, our opponents are savages. I mean they're leader's never even read a war book in all his time here." The Governor explained.

" He is-"

" He is a gladiator. An effectively powerful one, yes. But simply that. We've seen him fight enough times to know how to deal with him. Whatever the reason for their encampment, it has nothing to do with strategy. It's time to finish this." The governor spoke. " Drop the bombs."

The Governor gave the order, and shortly afterwards, the war drones, creatures with many arms capable of carrying numerous amounts of bombs, began floating over the valley.

" Oh no!" The Valdarian man, who had sold out Markus and his people, saw the bombs heading right towards him, and fearing for his life he ran. But he didn't get far, before being confronted.

" You damned fool. Why are you running?" Markus asked the man. " There's nobody here, but monsters and murderers, right?"

The man looked up at Markus, Grog, and Dregg, as the bombs began to fall, and cried a single tear.

" Luckily for you, we aren't." Markus, Grog, and Dregg shielded the man with their iron hard bodies. The bombs went off, without hitch, engulfing the entire mountain range in a blaze of fire. Any creatures living in the area were without a doubt dead.

When the bombing stopped, and the flames died away, Markus and the others stood up, their skin had burn marks, sure, and they certainly were hurt. But with their bodies combines, they managed to protect the man from the series of blasts.

" wha- What? How?" The man asked.

" Go back to your rulers and tell them what happened here. Tell your people what happened. Tell them Mongul's days of killing his own people for amusement is over." Markus told the man.

The Valdarian, looked up at Grog, and Dregg, both of whom clearly wanted to crush him, and then he looked at Markus. His expression wasn't one of anger or hatred, or indifference. But one of conviction.

He quickly got up from the ground and ran. Ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

" Was that wise?" Dregg asked.

" Yeah. We want to get a point across, don't we? What better way to get the people on our side than to show them we're serious about change." Markus told the man.

" Alright, let's go, join the others, before anything else happens. And we have to fight. I don't think even I can do much after taking that many of those explosions." Grog groaned.

" Sorry for putting you through that, Grog. But now we've accomplished two things." Markus told the man.

" And what's that?" Grog asked.

" You'll see." Dregg told the man.

..............

A little later.

The Valdarian man ran back to the Imperial camp, much to the shock and awe of everyone else there.

" What? How did you survive? What happened?!" The Governor yelled at the man.

" The Thunderer. He saved me from the bombs. He... Used his own body to shield me.... And.... You tried to kill me!" The man yelled out in anger.

" That was the idea, slave!" The Governor exclaimed.

Cir-El, listened as the Spy detailed the events of what happened, and to say she was surprised would be an understatement. Why would he save someone who betrayed him to his enemy? She wondered.

" I am not a slave! I am a humble citizen of the empire. And..."

" And what?" The Governor asked.

" I quit. To hell with you."

The Governor exploded in a fit of rage. He grabbed his sword and quickly separated the spies head from his shoulders.

" GOVERNOR!" Cir-El shouted. She was loyal to the empire, certainly, but not even she killed soldiers for simply disagreeing with her.

" Lieutenant! I want you down in that Valley, now! Find them!"

Cir-El clenched her fists together tightly. As much as she disliked the Governor's course of actions sometimes, he was still her commander. And it was her duty to follow.

" Yes, sir." Cir-El responded.

She and a group of soldiers ventured down into the Valley.

...............

" Nothing, Governor. Nothing at all." Cir-El told the man.

"Disperse the trackers." The Governor ordered.

" I already have, but the bombs have blown away any tracks in the valley. We're back to where we started." Cir-El explained.

" Just a moment, Cir-El." The Governor radioed to the woman.

" Governor?" Cir-El spoke. She heard nothing on the other end of the radio. Instead, the sounds of laser fire filled the valley.

" Lieutenant?" One of the soldiers spoke.

" Get ready." Cir-El told the man.

She and the soldiers, rushed towards the sound of weapon fire, weapons drawn, and when they arrived instead of finding Markus and his men, they found the Governor killing locals.

" Governor Denenbo! What are you doing?!" Cir-El demanded the man answer her.

The Governor turned to her with a smile on his face.

" Oh, just dealing with some local villagers. They were holding food from the imperial army. We have to keep up our standards." The man explained. " Besides, I figured it'd help to add some bait to your trap." He spoke.

And indeed, it did, as Markus and the others were watching from above as the Governor killed the village people.

" In cold blood." Virlal muttered.

" Last time they'll ever have the chance. There's only a dozen of them. Come on, Vulcan. Let's go." Elara exclaimed.

Markus drew his sword and was ready to jump down with Elara when, Virlal grabbed his arm and stopped him.

" Wait." He spoke.

" Why?" Elara asked the man.

" Whn the enemy invites you in." Virlal stated.

" What?" She asked again.

" Look to the ridge on the other side." Virlal told everyone.

Markus and the others all looked in the direction Virlal pointed to, and there just barely they spotted the glimmer of armor.

" I see a few glimmers of men in armor, so what?" Elara asked the man.

" No, Elara. A dozen war chariots and two platoons of heavy artillery." Virlal told the woman. " She's trying to turn our trick back onto us. Wants us to think she's exposed. Wants us to strike in anger. And then she'll crush us." Virlal explained. " If we are going to survive then you need to learn about strategy, and these slaves need to learn about war. We need a place to train." Virlal spoke plainly.

" I know a place." Sid stated clearly.

" Way to go, little buddy. Let's get out of here." Markus ordered. He took one glance down at Cir-El and sighed.

.........................

Sideros, led Markus and the others back to the land he knew as his own. The place he was born. Luckily for the villagers there, Markus and his band of rogues arrived just as a group of Manhunters started attacking the village.

After stopping the attack, the villagers welcomed Markus and his fighters with a feast.

And for a while, things seemed to be fine. But then, as they were eating Markus and the others were alerted to Sideros. They felt a strange sensation and then images began flooding into their heads.

The images told the story of Sid's birth and all the events of his life up until now. But more importantly it showed, how Sid's father died. How the current head of the village had murdered him and took Sid into slavery.

" What did we just?" Elara asked.

" It was a bonding. Sideros bonded with us all. Shared his life with us, as if we were his hive." Trench explained.

" Yes. You're my hive now. And I call upon all of you, for justice. You headman, you killed my father, my brothers, my whole family. Now, I will have my revenge." Sid told the man.

" Nobody touches my father." The man's son came rushing forward to defend his father, but the man simply told the boy to stop.

" They are right. I rubbed out his hive. The emperors orders: Exterminate the natives, establish imperial ownership of all vital resources. But those are old crimes. Unconnected to the threats we face jointly, today. If we all fight, many will die. So, I invoke imperial law. Let us make this a trial by arms. Id the bug agrees, only he and I need fight." The man spoke. " What say you? Twelve hours to prepare our bodies, and souls. And then we meet here. To make an end."

" Your end." Sid exclaimed. Seemingly having agreed to the terms.

...............

For hours Markus watched as Sid prepared himself, training with Virlal along with the others who needed training.

As they trained the village headman approached Virlal.

" You train for war with the empire?" The headman asked.

" Aye, headman." Virlal replied.

" Then hear this: Those manuevers you are teaching worked ten years past. But more and more of the imperials have field shields. The neck is no longer vulnerable, the ankles are now the soft spot. Let me help you." The headman took Virlal's place and began showing the slaves how to properly defend and attack an imperial soldier of today.

Meanwhile, Grog and Sid watched from the side.

"Ssid, a word: Forgo." Grog told the bug.

" I don't understand?" Sid responded.

" This man is an ally. Let the past"

" No. He murdered my entire hive. My brothers. You couldn't understand." Sid told the man.

But Grog did.

" Think again, little one." Grog muttered.

Having realized his mistake, Sid began trying to apologize to Grog.

" We are brothers now." Grog told Sid, he then walked away from the bug, he no longer had words to speak. Whatever Sid did now, was his own choosing.

Feeling the guilt, Sid turned to Markus for a source of light.

" Two arms. What do you think I should do?" Sid asked the man.

" Honestly, Sideros... I don't know. I have an idea of how you feel, but... I'm afraid this is one problem I can't solve for you. Whatever you decide, just remember it is you who has to live with yourself afterwards." Markus told the bug.

Markus left Sid to think for himself. This was one battle he could not fight for him.

..........

Hours passed and daylight soon came to head. And as the sun began to rise above the sky, Sid and the Headman, began their duel.

At first the headman was in complete control, he swept Sid off of his feet and pinned him to the ground with his spear.

" Yield." The headman demanded.

Sid grabbed the spear and in a surprising move, used it to sever one of his arms. Sid, swept the legs of the village chief, knocking him on his back. He then grabbed his spear and held it at the man's throat.

The headman looked up at Sid and demanded he do it. He demanded he end his life.

But before Sid could do it, he suddenly felt something calling out to him, causing him great pain. Sid dropped his spear to the ground and collapsed, holding his head.

" AIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Sid yelled out.

" AIIIIIIIIIE!" Another high pitched shriek, similar to Sid's started coming from the ground below.

" Over there, Under the ground." Markus spoke.

" It's nothing. Just the threshers." The chief exclaimed.

Markus looked at the man and then the ground, and with one hand shattered the floor below him. And from the hole in the ground came a whole hive of bug men, just like Sid.

" Sid."

" Sid?"

" Brother sid!" The Bugs came pouring out of the hole and swarmed Sid. They were grateful for being freed.

" Just threshers.... Right." Markus muttered. " Well, what do you want to do, Sid?" Markus asked the bug.

" I want to kill them all!" Sid exclaimed.

The villagers began to panic. The stories of Vulcan's strength in the arena were legendary at this point. No one on Valdr hadn't heard of him.

" But. That is not who I am. Instead, we're taking my people. And this village, destroy it." Sid proposed. Sid reigned in his anger, choosing to leave the villagers with their lives. Choosing to be better. Something they wouldn't have done for him.

And destroy they did.

Markus, Grog, and Dregg immediately started wrecking the town, destroying the buildings, but leaving the people of the village alone.

When they were done, Markus and his soldiers, left the village behind, leaving them to play in the ruins.

................

Days flew by and News of what Markus and his people had done for the natives of the planet had spread, to every corner of the imperial empire. Each day, more and more people began revolting against the throne. And others were more than eager to join their cause.

" They came all the way from my father's province. They're talking about us in every corner of the empire!" Elara exclaimed happily.

" Don't be so happy, Elara. If they found us, Imperial troops can't be far behind. We're not moving fast enough." Virlal spoke.

" Don't be like that Virlal. Honestly, I'm hoping they find us... At least a little bit. I'm interested in seeing the kings shadow again." Markus spoke. He had a smile of intrigue on his face. He was thinking back to what Orion had told him weeks ago, and for whatever reason, he could not figure out why the woman had simply not tracked them down already.

" Don't speak those words, lest you ready yourself for the woe of the universe." Virlal stated.

" Right. Don't tempt fate. You say that a lot these days." Markus joked.

" Because you seem to be tempting fate a lot these days, my friend." Virlal muttered.

" Hahaha! You're right, about that." Markus replied. " Sid, how are things going?" Markus turned and asked the bug.

" Fine! Fine!" Sid shouted back.

Markus watched as Sid fumbled around with the hivelings, practically carrying each of them on his own.

Sid, looked back at Markus, and after failing to herd them together, he cracked the faintest smile.

" So many younglings. They slow our pace. And we'll need to find more provisions to feed them. And more warriors to protect them." Virlal stated.

" More provisions? More Warriors? You know, Virlal, I have an idea." Markus told the man.

" You're thinking about testing fate again, aren't you?" Virlal asked the man.

" Nah! More like paying a visit to an old friend of ours. Give him a little taste of Irony." Markus stated.

Virlal looked at Markus, with concern written all over his face.

Markus laughed and patted the man on his back.

" Don't worry, Virlal. You're gonna love this." Markus clapped his hands and gathered the attention of everyone standing around. " All right everyone! All hands-on deck! We're going on a trip!" Markus exclaimed.

" Where too?" Dregg asked.

" To the Maul." Markus grinned.