Joseph looked at the grey thing these people made him eat with reluctance. It was tasteless, spongy, and left a strange film in his mouth. He had no idea what it was made of, and at this point, he didn't care. Food was just fuel.
It seemed this was going to be his life now. Eat, sleep, and kill every few days. Rinse and repeat.
He had tried to discreetly look for a way out, but there were too many guards monitoring the prisoners at all times. He didn't know the full layout of where he was being kept. And he couldn't even read the language.
It frustrated him. The arena, the games, the senseless killing—it was a system designed to break people, to turn them into bloodthirsty animals. Joseph had no intention of becoming one of them. But that didn't mean he was going to die here either. He just had to hold on. Figure out a plan. Find an opportunity.
Because there had to be a way out. There always was.
**
"Our next fight! The rising Homo sapien star called Flux will be fighting the Aellan, Jyrinna-Klynn!" the announcer's voice boomed across the arena.
Joseph clenched his fists. His fifth fight. His body had changed since he'd arrived. He was healing faster, moving quicker, and growing stronger. But something felt different this time.
The Psions had sedated him while he slept. Again.
He barely remembered anything—just flashes of pain, heat, and something being forced into his body. Then, they had dumped him back into his cell as if nothing had happened. He didn't know what they did to him, but he felt strange. Like a bloated balloon, full of something he couldn't quite describe.
He exhaled slowly, pushing the thought aside. He had to focus.
As he stepped into the arena, he got a good look at his opponent.
He had seen Aellans before—yellow-skinned, reptilian humanoids. But this one… this one looked even more reptilian. More monstrous. Bat-like wings stretched wide behind her, her talons gleaming in the artificial light. The Psions had done this to her.
Joseph felt a brief pang of pity.
Then she looked at him, eyes sharp and predatory, and all sympathy vanished.
"—STARTS NOW!"
Jyrinna-Klynn launched into the sky, her wings carrying her up in an instant before she angled downward, talons outstretched.
Joseph barely had time to dodge.
Her claws slashed past his shoulder, missing by inches as he rolled. She swooped back up before he could counter. He had no ranged weapons. Just Nikomar's sword. No way to reach her.
This was bad.
He needed a plan.
Jyrinna-Klynn dived at him again, faster this time. Joseph braced himself, waiting until the last second before diving to the side. Her claws raked against the sand where he had stood. The crowd roared.
She kept coming at him, swooping down, slashing, then soaring out of reach. He tried to counter, but she was too fast. Every attempt to grab her missed. Every swing of his fist caught only air.
And then there were the cuts.
Small ones. Shallow. But they were adding up.
Nine minutes passed. His body burned with exertion. His blood speckled the sand. His enhanced healing was working, but not fast enough. The longer this dragged on, the worse it would get.
And then he heard it.
The crowd was growing restless.
The announcer's voice slithered into the arena. "Oh dear! It seems our Homo sapien is struggling! Remember, dear audience, if he cannot finish his opponent soon, the decision will be left to YOU!"
Joseph's stomach twisted. He wasn't leaving this to chance. The crowd could easily turn on him. He needed to end this. Now.
The next time Jyrinna swooped down, Joseph moved differently.
He dropped his sword. Instead of dodging, he reached out.
His fingers latched onto her arm.
For a moment, he thought he had her.
Then she flapped her wings—HARD.
Joseph felt his stomach drop as they shot into the air.
Higher.
Higher.
The ground shrank beneath him. Wind howled in his ears. Then, Jyrinna-Klynn turned her attention to him.
She raked her claws against his arms, tearing through flesh.
Pain exploded in his nerves. Blood dripped into the open air.
If he held on, she'd rip his arms off and he'd plummet to his death.
If he let go, he'd plummet to his death anyway.
He had no choice.
Joseph let go.
For a second, time slowed. He was weightless, the arena spinning beneath him. His mind screamed that he was going to die. That there was nothing he could do.
And then—
Something inside him snapped.
A heat exploded in his chest. Not Nova. Not the Speed Force. Something new.
"I can't die here!"
Something shifted in his body. A limb he had never used before—an instinct he had never tapped into.
He stopped falling.
He was floating.
He was flying.
Shock slammed into him, but he didn't have time to process it.
Jyrinna-Klynn was still in the air, hovering in stunned silence.
Joseph locked onto her.
He willed himself forward.
It was awkward. Sloppy. But it worked.
He shot toward her, closing the distance before she could react. His hands grabbed her by the shoulders, fingers digging into her flesh in anger.
Then, with all the strength in his body, he yanked.
Her wings tore from her back in a wet, sickening rip.
She shrieked.
Blood sprayed across his face.
"I curse you!"
Her body flailed, then dropped.
Joseph didn't look away as she hit the arena floor with a sickening splat.
Silence. Then—
The crowd erupted.
Joseph barely registered the announcer's delighted voice. "MAGNIFICENT! Our Homo sapien continues to surprise us with NEW developments! What an exciting display of combat!"
Joseph stood there, breathing hard. His hands trembled, still clenching onto Jyrinna's wings. The rush of power still burned inside him, but so did something else.
He had flown.
He was flying.
But he had also killed. Again.
And he knew, deep down, that there would be more to come.
Because he wasn't free.
Not yet.