Page 101 of Villainous Rise

I dropped to my starting position. Between us: spinning barriers, gravity wells, moving platforms. No easy path to victory.

My fingers tingled. For once, I wouldn’t need to hold back.

Havoc landed opposite me. Our eyes locked. A slight nod.

“Combatants ready!”

I coiled, every sense heightened.

“BEGIN!”

I exploded from the platform, propulsion systems flaring dramatically. Pure theater. I didn’t need them.

Havoc moved like liquid chaos, blue energy trailing as he dodged my first strike. Decades of experience in every movement.

“Not bad,” he called, deflecting my gauntlet blast with a casual wave.

“Just warming up, old man.”

We collided above the center of the arena with a loud CRACK! The impact sending shockwaves through the air. The crowd screamed.

I deployed drones, holographics multiplying three into dozens. Havoc twisted through them, laughing, actually laughing, as chaos energy lashed out.

“Clever,” he acknowledged.

We danced through obstacles, each pushing the other higher, faster, harder. When his chaos blast came, my shield scattered it into light that drew gasps.

Suspended midair across a gravity well, I caught it. Havoc wore a genuine smile. Not for the cameras. For me.

Recognition. Respect.

I unleashed attacks, walking that delicate line. Show enough power to impress without revealing my true nature.

“Is that all you’ve got?” I taunted, hovering just beyond reach.

His eyes narrowed, smile playing at his mouth. “Not even close.”

There was a shift in his stance, a coiling of power that veterans of a hundred battles would recognize as danger, before he launched himself at me with blinding speed.

Oh shit.

WHAM!

His fist connected with my jaw and I spiraled backward through a barrier.

Real pain flared through my system. It was sharp and utterly exhilarating. This was it. Decades of planning, of hiding my true nature, all culminating in the legendary Havoc treating me as a genuine threat.

I laughed, spitting blood onto the platform. “Now we’re talking!”

I rocketed toward him, restraint slipping. My fist slammed into his abdomen with a sickening thud.

His eyes widened in recognition. I was stronger than he’d expected.

We escalated, each blow harder than the last. Arena obstacles became weapons. Platforms shattered. The crowd roared.

Blue chaos energy swirled in complex patterns as Havoc dug deeper. I pushed my suit to its limits, letting more of my natural strength flow through.

His chaos-infused fist cracked against my ribs with a beautiful agony.