Rebellion Begins

Blocking the blows, I responded with powerful strikes of my own. Each one struck against Beta Ray Bill's body, echoing across the arena like miniature explosions that rocked the entire stadium. Beneath us, the ground cracked and cratered, powerful waves of wind rippling around with every swing of our fists.

We were two Titans of the arena, two Titans of combat that clashed against one another. Blows blocked and parried, hundreds of strikes exchanged in a matter of seconds. The ground erupting around us.

To the outside, we were evenly matched, but me and Bill both knew the truth. It was only getting easier and easier as time passed by, for me anyway.

Beta Ray Bill's strikes and attack patterns were choreographed and simple. It made predicting and blocking them even easier for me. Everything about this fight only became simpler, the disciplines of Torquasm and the techniques of Horu-Kanu used in perfect unison with my powers.

As strong and as talented as Beta Ray Bill, the Champion of the Korbinites and the Red King was, he had never been challenged in the same way I had. His Korbinite heritage as well as the cybernetic enhancements he had been given enabled Beta Ray Bill to defeat his opponents with overwhelming strength. The reliance upon skill and the need for such a thing was not something he had learned.

I had, many times.

None more so than this moment here, as I thought against Beta Ray Bill, the man who would go on to defeat Thor Odinson. As I had been previously, victory would have been a pipedream. Matching him in a contest of strength was something that would have been all but impossible as I was now. His strength, greater than my own currently, just blocking his blows was difficult.

Stronger than Thragg.

Stronger than Tyrany'r.

Stronger than Conquest.

He was quite possibly as strong as Doomsday, in fact, I would wager that at the point I faced Doomsday, Beta Ray Bill may actually be stronger. Though in the future, as Doomsday adapted and evolved, that would no doubt change. But one could never be too sure, unless Beta Ray Bill and Doomsday clashed I couldn't be a hundred percent certain. Yet I had a strong feeing that if the two were to clash, it would be more evenly matched than one might expect.

But with the mastery of the three Kryptonian martial arts at my disposal, what would have at one point been a pipedream, was reality. I was weaker than him, less durable and evenly matched in terms of speed and agility. By all accounts, this victory should be his, but it was I that was overwhelming him. And as every moment ticked by, the sun beating down on us, my powers became stronger.

It was something that reminded me of the words once spoken to me by General Zod. Back when I was a young teen, newly graduated from the Kryptonian Military Academy and swept up into the Sword of Rao. A moment that was shared between us mere days before he adopted me into his family as his son, him teaching me personally in the art of warfare.

My training under the instructors gathered by my biological father, Lor-Em were strict and cruel. They demanded excellence at every turn and out of a desperate need for familial affection like an abuse victim trapped in a toxic relationship, I gave everything for him.

I mastered the arts of Torquasm-Vo and Torquasm-Rao.

Something that could only be achieved when one used the two in conjunction. Many focused their attentions on one particular aspect and despite their best efforts, would never truly master it. The true secret of Torquasm lied not within one like many believed, but in the union of both.

General Zod on the other hand, was somewhat of a mystery amongst many.

By many accounts, he could not use Torquasm, or at the very least, had not mastered them. I had believed that was the case, after all, Torquasm had no set techniques or abilities so I imagined it was something that Zod would not waste his time to master.

But what he had mastered was something no one else had, not even myself.

Horu-Kanu.

I had worked hard, always trying to push my understanding of the art further and further, but to no avail. Now though, in my time as a gladiator and relying upon my skills rather than brute force to survive, I reached an epiphany of sorts. Just as Torquasm could not be fully mastered unless both arts are used in unison, what happens if the same was for Horu-Kanu?

That only when the unified art of Torquasm when used in conjunction with Horu-Kanu allowed someone to fully master that dangerous martial art.

Now that answer lay before me, as clear as can see.

Horu-Kanu was not only created to streamline all the martial arts from the races that the Kryptonian's conquered into one. It was also created to complement and enhance Torquasm even further. Horu-Kanu possessed the skills and techniques, Torquasm possessed the mental and physical disciplines necessary to utilise them perfectly. Only when both were used in unison could someone truly master Horu-Kanu.

It was with this epiphany that I not only survived my many bouts within the arena.

It was also why I was overwhelming Beta Ray Bill.

A straight jap was parried with my right forearm, my left fist swinging up and slamming into Bill's exposed side.

He stumbled back and I followed, eliminating the distance between us, even leaning down to avoid the backhanded swipe intended to take my head off. A defensive manoeuvre that was easy to predict and avoid.

As I crouched down beneath it, my right leg swung round, smashing into the inner side of his leg, further weakening his position. I followed up by wrapping both hands behind the back of his head and dragging his head down onto my knee.

He grunted under the force of the blow, blood splattering into the air.

As good as Beta Ray Bill was, at this point in time, I was simply better.

And I came at him again, Bill hunkering down as he raised both arms up to protect his face. Hundreds of blows rained down upon him, my fists nothing but blurs as they slammed into his guard. Yet after a second in which his guard remained firm, his footing regained, I changed things up.

A feint to the face, a Bill tensing in preparation to receive the blow. Only for it to be nothing more than a light tap. A tap that hide the hook that slammed into his side, Bill actually knocked to one side and directly into the roundhouse kick that met him there.

I didn't let up though, following up with a spinning hock-kick that slammed into his temple. There was a pause, just like in those animes where my foot rested against his temple, allowing the viewers a moment to witness directly where it struck and take a moment for it to sink in. A strange thing for sure, but then time returned to normal and explosion of sound rushed across the arena, a displacement of air bursting out as Bill was flung across the arena.

His body bouncing and rolling to a stop.

In most cases, that would have done nothing but stumble him. However, he had no proper footing to stabilise, absorb and disperse the force of that strike. Nor did he have the ability of flight to do something similar either.

Without those things, he took the full brunt of that blow and was unable to stop his body going with the momentum.

That once again left him exposed, me leaping through the air and just as Bill began to push himself up onto his hands and knees, I came down upon him. Both fleeting extended and slamming into his back, the ground beneath us already weakened from our earlier clashes, completely broke apart as we sunk into the crater of our own making.

This fight had already been decided, now it was just a matter of ending it.

-X- Line Break -X-

"Korg now's the time," Hiroim spoke up, pulling away from the bars.

Korg and the rest of the Warbound looked up to the podium where the Red King was looking down upon the fight below. The crowd around them exploded with cheers and applause, all amazed by the showing before them.

Despite the fact that many would have bet upon the Red Kings Champion to win and would be disappointed with the outcome of this fight. At this point in time, all were too caught up in the moment, too caught up in the thrill of the battle before them. The onesided slaughter before them had captured their hearts and minds, none could think of anything further.

He was not happy though.

"Really? I don't see anything that would suggest he's going to do anything." Elloe pointed out, just as confused as the rest of the Warbound.

Hiroim moved towards the door, many gladiators in the tunnel with them too absorbed in the fight to take notice of what else was going on. "He is. Trust me, he may not look it, but he's on the verge of snapping. If we want to help Tah, we need to get into position now."

"Let's do this." Korg nodded his head, moving towards the door where Hiroim. Considering his size and reputation, he did attract attention though it was quickly drawn back to the fight.

However, all eyes within the tunnel turned to them the moment Korg punched down the door that kept them in place. The guards on the other side hastily turned around only for the Brood and Miek to rush out, Miek tackling one unsuspecting to the ground, unsheathing a knife at his side and burying it in his neck. The Brood on the other hand simply swiped its tail through the air, cutting through the neck of two.

"We need to get to the armoury." Korg turned to Lavin who nodded his head, already getting dressed into the armour of one of the guards as did Elloe and Hiroim, the extra protection that could possibly save their lives. "Let's go."

As the Warbound rushed down the corridor, many of the gladiators who were within the tunnel watched them go. Slowly and warily, each began to make their way through the open doors, almost expecting for the disks on their chests to zap them. However, they didn't and once that realisation struck them, a sense of elation and a desire for freedom rushed through every fibre of their being.

Without even realising or understanding why every gladiator began to rush down the corridor. Each with the same goal and destination in mind, the armoury and the weapons kept within it.