Adam unleashed a blazing torrent of golden energy from the Soul Stone embedded in his forehead, the beam streaking through the air like a sentient force. It twisted and coiled with deadly intent, pursuing Proxima Midnight as she spun away in a desperate retreat. Each strike landed with unrelenting precision, bombarding her from every direction, denying her even a moment to recover.
STEP.
A feral gleam ignited in Proxima's eyes. She twisted midair, her movements defying gravity as though the void had become her ally. With a guttural roar, she brandished her spear and charged straight into the beam's path.
BOOSH!
The impact resounded like a thunderclap, shaking the heavens. Her spear sliced through the golden torrent, shattering its radiant brilliance into fragments that rained like glittering shards across the battlefield. Adam's eyes widened in shock, his relentless assault obliterated with a single, devastating swing. What is that spear made of?
She was on him in an instant. Adam dodged, narrowly evading her thrust. But with a savage twist, Proxima reversed her momentum, her spear slashing across his back in a brutal arc, carving a deep gash from shoulder to hip. Pain seared through him, white-hot and blinding, but before he could escape, her boot slammed into his chest with bone-crushing force.
BOOM!
He was hurled backward, ribs crunching under the brutal impact, golden blood spraying as his vision swam. Veins burst in fiery red across his eyes, a storm of rage and agony entwining within him. Instinct roared, forcing his body to twist unnaturally mid-fall, worsening his injuries but narrowly evading certain death.
SHING!
Her spear screamed by, slicing the air with a feral shriek. Its blistering speed carved spiraling vapor trails, searing the phantom image into his sight.
BOOOOM!
The spear slammed into a colossal boulder, erupting it into a shower of molten debris. Shards exploded outward like deadly shrapnel, ripping through distant ships. One after another, vessels ignited into blazing infernos, plummeting from the sky in a breathtakingly destructive cascade.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Adam staggered, gasping for breath, golden light spilling from his wounds as his flesh began to mend. New skin gleamed over shredded muscle, knitting together with supernatural efficiency. His gaze snapped toward Proxima, fury and unyielding determination blazing in his eyes.
Across the battlefield, a tempest of violence unfolded. Gladiator and Corvus Glaive clashed in a whirlwind of ferocity and precision, might against strategy, brute strength against razor-sharp cunning.
Each of Gladiator's devastating strikes tore through the air like a thunderclap, the earth trembling beneath their impact. Yet Corvus danced between them with deadly elegance, his counters slicing so swiftly that Gladiator barely noticed the wounds until dark purple ichor streaked his skin.
Their battle was an unyielding barrage of fists, blades, feints, and ripostes. Blood flowed freely down Gladiator's formidable frame, but his indomitable will drove him forward. Gradually, inevitably, the tide began to turn. Corvus faltered under the relentless onslaught.
His foot caught on a jagged shard of debris jutting from the war-torn ground. He stumbled, his expression flickering with shock.
Gladiator's eyes flared crimson. Sensing the opening, he surged forward, hovering menacingly over his fallen adversary.
Then came the blaze.
BOOOOOOM!
A searing ocular blast erupted, engulfing Corvus in a torrent of annihilating energy. The ground beneath them liquefied under the unimaginable force, the detonation carving a massive crater as Corvus convulsed helplessly within the inferno of radiant destruction.
Gladiator descended like a meteor, each strike carrying the devastating force of collapsing stars. His fists blurred into arcs of thunder, shockwaves erupting with every blow. The ground fractured beneath them, jagged fissures spreading outward as though the planet itself quaked under his wrath.
But Corvus Glaive was already in motion.
He twisted in a blur, his body contorting at impossible angles, the edge of his glaive slicing golden trails through the air. With surgical precision, he deflected a crushing punch, redirecting its force just enough for it to obliterate the earth instead.
BOOOOM!
A massive crater erupted, molten rock spewing into the sky, yet Corvus had already vanished, moving through the fiery chaos like a shadow. His glaive struck out, severing Gladiator's crimson cape and grazing his armored skin, leaving behind a sizzling trail of venomous purple that hissed against his invincible flesh.
Gladiator's eyes flared like twin suns.
"ENOUGH!"
Twin beams of searing energy shot from his gaze, tearing across the battlefield with annihilating fury. Entire ridges disintegrated in their path. But Corvus danced across the crumbling terrain, leaping from fragment to fragment of falling stone as if even gravity obeyed his will.
He whirled his glaive in a deadly flourish, the blade slicing through the air with a shrill whistle, and with uncanny precision, he split the beams, sending them arcing skyward in twin radiant streaks that vanished into the void.
Gladiator lunged forward, moving faster than thought itself, and drove his shoulder into Corvus with the force of a living warhead. Corvus twisted, his bones groaning but unbroken, and flowed with liquid grace along Gladiator's forearm, his weapon carving deep into the alien's side before the warrior king could retaliate.
Blood, dark and glowing like molten magma, splattered violently across the battlefield.
Gladiator bellowed, the sheer force of his roar shattering distant ruins. His fist crashed down with the speed of a thunderbolt, but Corvus bent backward in an unnatural contortion, the strike so close that the displaced air shredded his armor like paper. Even as he retreated, his glaive lashed upward, connecting with Gladiator's jaw and snapping his head back with the explosive crack of thunder.
The battle erupted into chaos, raw power clashing with otherworldly agility. Gladiator was an unstoppable cataclysm, every swing capable of obliterating worlds. Corvus was a whirlwind of precision and evasion, his blade weaving through the storm like a serpent, striking where no wound should be possible.
Neither combatant showed any sign of surrendering.
The ground trembled under Gladiator's boots as he surged forward with immense force, every motion exuding raw destructive power. His punches cut through the air like meteors, each strike generating thunderclaps that echoed across the battlefield. Fragments of stone erupted from the ground under the sheer pressure of his charge, a miniature storm swirling around the violence of his assault.
Corvus Glaive moved as though the laws of physics were mere suggestions. He ducked, spun, and pivoted with inhuman precision, weaving through Gladiator's attacks like smoke slipping through fingers. His blade struck back with impossibly swift ripostes, its tip slicing through the air one moment, then retracting at untraceable angles the next. The weapon thrummed with otherworldly sharpness, capable of cutting through anything, and every slash pushed Gladiator's defenses to their limits.
CLANG!
The glaive scraped against Gladiator's skin, not armor, but flesh as impenetrable as star-forged steel. Sparks burst as the weapon glanced off his torso, leaving a shallow crimson mark where any other being would have been sliced in half. Gladiator winced but did not waver. Instead, he retaliated with a backhand strike carrying the force to level mountains.
Corvus ducked just in time. The blow roared past his head by inches, unleashing a sonic boom so intense it hurled both fighters backward, gouging a massive crater into the earth beneath them. Corvus hit the ground rolling, the movement seamlessly transitioning into a lunge. His glaive flashed upward in a silvery arc, aimed straight for Gladiator's throat.
But Gladiator's eyes blazed crimson. In an instant, twin beams of scorching energy erupted.
ZAAK!
Corvus twisted sharply as beams of searing energy streaked past, gouging molten trenches into the battlefield. In retaliation, he hurled his glaive like a spear — it spun end over end, faster than a railgun shot, radiating malevolent energy.
SHNK!
The glaive struck true, embedding itself dead center in Gladiator's chest.
The titan staggered, his body shuddering from the impact as the weapon sank halfway to its shaft. For the first time, his knees wavered. A dark satisfaction glimmered in Corvus's eyes as he vaulted forward with predatory precision, reclaiming the glaive in one fluid motion. He tore it free, spinning with an unnatural grace, his movements defying human anatomy. Each slash that followed was a masterstroke of lethality, a whirlwind of cuts targeting every vulnerable point with inhuman speed and precision.
Gladiator's body ignited with glowing red fissures. Blood spilled across his arms, shoulders, and chest, cascading like molten iron. Yet, as his injuries grew, so did his defiance. His aura surged with raw power, fueled not by perfection but by his unyielding will. That will remained unbroken.
With a thunderous roar, Gladiator snatched Corvus mid-spin, his massive hand crushing the assassin's ankle with bone-snapping force. Before Corvus could counter, he was swung like a ragdoll and hurled across the battlefield with devastating momentum.
BOOOOOOM!
The impact tore a gaping canyon into the earth, the devastating shockwave obliterating ranks of lesser soldiers caught in its ferocious path. Yet Corvus rose once more—wounded but unyielding, his glaive steady in his grip, ready to strike again. His eyes gleamed with icy, deliberate rage, a storm of determination brewing within.
Above him, Gladiator loomed like a crimson specter, beams of deadly energy gathering at its eyes, preparing to fire.
"This ends now," the machine declared with finality.
But Corvus only smiled, his smirk brimming with defiance. His movements flowed like liquid grace, every step a calculated prelude to the deadly dance he was already crafting in his mind.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the planetoid turned battlefield, a clash of cosmic forces raged.
Golden light poured from Adam Warlock's form, radiant and unyielding, like a living sun in the void. His breaths came labored, each one a searing effort, as luminous blood dripped from his side. Yet he stood resolute, the Soul Stone embedded in his brow blazing with celestial intensity, his presence a second star illuminating the desolate expanse.
Across from him prowled Proxima Midnight, her spear humming with alien power. The weapon pulsed with fragments of ancient, extinguished stars, forged to bring even gods to their knees. She exuded calm menace, her predatory gaze locked on Adam. The spear was her advantage, a weapon she intended to drive deep enough to extinguish even his soul.
Adam moved first. His hand rose, fingers curling as golden energy condensed into a brilliant lance. With a thrust, he unleashed a torrent of celestial fire, the air itself trembling as the blazing pillar roared toward her.
Proxima was a blur, moving with impossible grace. She sidestepped, the spear's shaft a streak of motion as it cleaved through the torrent, scattering its might into harmless streams. Her feet glided across the ground as she closed the gap, the spear's tip glowing a deadly, ethereal blue.
SHNK!
The spear struck true, piercing Adam's shoulder.
He bellowed in pain, staggering back as his counterattack dissolved into chaotic arcs of energy. The spear withdrew, trailing streams of radiant ichor, and Proxima pressed her advantage. Her strikes came relentless, the spear spinning like a storm, its blade slashing at him from angles too swift to counter.
Adam's body defied mortality. Torn flesh knit together in an instant, golden light spilling from his wounds only to seal them moments later. With a roar, he caught the spear mid-swing, his grip halting its deadly arc. Proxima's eyes widened, her surprise evident as the sheer power in his grasp froze the weapon in place.
Golden light surged up Adam's arms, pouring into the spear itself. The weapon quivered, glowing brighter and brighter as though resisting his influence. For one tense moment, it seemed as if he might destroy it entirely.
But Proxima's lips curled into a wicked smile.
"Fool."
She released the spear, twisting with inhuman agility, and her fist struck Adam's jaw with explosive force. The blow snapped his head to the side, splintering bone and shattering teeth. Before he could react, she reclaimed her weapon with a fluid spin, tearing it from his grasp and driving it deep into his side.
BOOM!
Adam screamed as the spear tore through him, nearly rending his body in two. Yet, even then, there was light.
A tidal wave of golden brilliance exploded outward, hurling Proxima backward in a storm of celestial fire. The air itself ignited, and ships overhead disintegrated under the sheer force of the blast, their hulls peeling apart like paper as the battlefield was consumed by radiance.
Adam staggered forward, battered and broken, yet ablaze with unyielding power. The Soul Stone burned like a second sun on his brow, pulsing with a relentless heartbeat. His voice was raw but unwavering.
"This fight… is not yours to win."
Across the battlefield, Proxima Midnight rose from the debris, her armor fractured, her body bleeding. Yet her spear remained intact, gleaming, unbroken, and unrelenting, a weapon forged for death.
Their gazes locked once more. Neither would surrender.
[AN - I buffed Proxima and Glaive in this version to make them more interesting combatants!]