The sky over Sakaar was painted with an unsettling crimson hue as the roar of the arena filled the air. Javier stood at the edge of the fighting pit, his eyes scanning the crowd of spectators—familiar faces, alien crowds, all waiting to see the carnage unfold. He wasn't here by choice, but the Grandmaster had other plans. The gaudy, over-the-top spectacle of the arena was his playground, and Javier had been pulled into it against his will.
The Grandmaster had summoned his champions, opponents bred for destruction, to face off against Javier in a deadly contest. But Javier wasn't like the others. His powers, his glitch abilities, gave him an edge that no one else possessed. While the gladiators were strong, skilled, and bloodthirsty, they were no match for the unpredictable nature of his glitch-based reality warping.
Javier's heart raced as the first wave of opponents charged into the pit. There were three—massive, muscular beasts whose roars echoed through the stadium. Their weapons, heavy and brutal, reflected the harshness of their world. But they didn't scare Javier. Not anymore.
The moment they lunged at him, Javier's powers activated. A flicker of his glitch abilities sent a ripple through reality itself, distorting the air around him. Time slowed, the edges of the gladiators' movements blurring and distorting. He reached out, the space around his hands warping and twisting, and in an instant, he turned their momentum against them.
One gladiator's axe collided with his own chest, but it didn't pierce the skin. Instead, the weapon warped mid-strike, its edge slashing through the air before it was deflected back toward its wielder, causing the beast to fall to the ground, defeated.
Another gladiator rushed toward him with a spear, but with a flick of his wrist, Javier caused the spear to distort, snapping in two as the gladiator was thrown backward by a ripple in space. The third, more agile than the others, attempted to land a blow, but Javier didn't even have to move. The glitch shifted the reality of the gladiator's path, sending him tumbling through the air, disoriented, before crashing into the arena walls, lifeless.
The crowd roared in approval, but Javier's mind was elsewhere. He felt the weight of the violence settling on him, a heavy burden that he couldn't escape. Each of these lives lost was a reminder of the brutality that surrounded him—of the endless games that the Grandmaster played, and the cost of his own involvement in them.
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Back in the shadows of the arena, Mantis watched the fight unfold with a heavy heart. She had tried to ignore her jealousy, her pain, but it was impossible to look away from Javier as he tore through his enemies with ease. There was something beautiful in the way he fought, something tragic in the way his power warped reality.
But as much as she tried to resist it, the memories of their time together, of the bond they had shared, began to fade in the light of his new actions. He was a warrior now, a killer. And with that, Mantis couldn't help but wonder if she had been wrong about him. If she had placed too much faith in someone who was ultimately beyond redemption.
The moment of reckoning came when the Grandmaster's voice echoed across the arena. "And now, the ultimate challenge!" he cried out, grinning with twisted delight. "The gladiator, the champion of Sakaar—Javier—must face his greatest test! Bring in the final contenders!"
The gates of the arena creaked open, and through them stepped figures that sent a chill down Javier's spine. Gamora, Nebula, and Proxima Midnight.
They stood tall, each with their weapons in hand, ready to face him. Their presence felt like a betrayal to Javier. They were here, not as allies, but as opponents. And though he knew their faces well, he didn't know how to face them now. They were the very embodiment of everything he had tried to leave behind—his old life, the past that he had hoped to outrun. But here they were, the sisters of destruction and vengeance, and their eyes burned with intent.
Javier stepped forward, his glitch powers flickering in anticipation. He knew this wouldn't be a simple fight. This wasn't just about survival anymore. This was about facing the consequences of his actions, of being forced to confront everything he had run from.
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The battle raged on. Javier fought fiercely, his glitch powers shifting the flow of time and space, making him an impossible target. Each strike from Gamora's sword, Nebula's cybernetic arm, and Proxima Midnight's spear was met with an unpredictable response from Javier. He twisted the very fabric of reality, sending shockwaves of energy that knocked his enemies off balance.
But even as he fought them, his mind kept drifting back to the question that haunted him: Why am I doing this?
The fight reached its peak when Proxima Midnight made the fatal mistake of getting too close. Javier's glitch powers warped the space around her, and with a final, explosive flicker, her body was caught in the distortion, collapsing under its own weight as she fell to the ground, dead.
Gamora and Nebula hesitated, watching their fallen comrade with disbelief. But before they could react, Javier's powers sent them flying backward, their weapons spinning from their grasp as they were thrown against the arena walls.
The Grandmaster's voice echoed once again, this time laced with mockery. "Such a brutal ending! Who would have thought the champion of Sakaar would be the one to end it all?"
Javier stood in the center of the arena, breathing heavily. The three women lay scattered around him, their bodies unmoving. He had won. But in his heart, he knew it wasn't a victory.
He had crossed a line. He had killed them. His enemies. His allies. But he couldn't let it end like this. Not after everything they had been through together.
---
With a slow, deliberate motion, Javier extended his hand, focusing his glitch abilities once again. The air around him shimmered as time rewound, reality twisted, and the fallen women slowly began to rise from the ground.
Mantis watched in awe as the three of them were resurrected, their injuries fading, their bodies restored. Gamora's eyes flickered open first, followed by Nebula and Proxima. Each of them looked around in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.
Javier stood before them, his eyes weary but resolute. "I'm sorry," he said softly, his voice filled with regret. "I didn't want to do this. But I had no choice."
Gamora, her anger burning, stood up first, reaching for her sword. "You killed us. You used us."
Javier lowered his head. "I didn't want to. But I did what I had to do. To protect you all. To fix the mess I've made."
Nebula's mechanical gaze pierced through him. "You think this makes it right? You think bringing us back changes anything?"
"It doesn't change anything," Javier replied. "But it was the only way I knew how to make it right. I can't undo what I've done. But I can give you a second chance."
Proxima Midnight rose to her feet, her eyes cold. "You've played your game, Javier. Now it's time for us to decide what happens next."
Javier stood in silence, knowing that the cost of his actions had only just begun to show.
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Next chapter: The Reckoning Unfolds—Forgiveness and Betrayal.