Upon the arena, a golden pillar of light audaciously pierced the WAAAGH! energy field of the Ork Divine Realm. The explosive energy rent fissures in the verdant radiance that enveloped the ring. Gork and Mork stared at Nyx, standing at the light's epicentre; their two great green faces were marked with undisguised curiosity — what kind of grand spectacle was this boy trying to conjure?
"OI RECKON... DIS KID'S GONNA TRANZFORM?" Gork scratched his colossal green head and muttered.
"I'Z SENSIN' SUMFIN FAMILIAR FROM DAT GOLDEN LIGHT BOY... LOIKE DIS..."
The pillar of light gradually dissipated. The rising aura around Nyx's body slowly converged. A majestic, magnificent figure condensed and materialised behind him.
"——DAT GOLDEN GIT!" Mork immediately roared in unison.
Dazzling golden armour of fate. Eyes that cast the same indifferent, piercing stare upon all non‑human species... No mistake! The aura that made Orks tremble in the depths of their souls — it was the behind‑the‑scenes boss who sent tin‑can boy to fight them all day — the Emperor!
"GOLDEN LIGHT BOY! YA WANNA CALL DAT GOLDEN GIT BEHIND YA AN' FIGHT US TOGEVER AGIN?!" Gork and Mork's eyes blazed with pure, ecstatic light. They could clearly sense the majestic power contained within that phantom shade — power capable of shaking the stars.
"WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?!"
Nyx's roar was like thunder, forcibly wrenching the two brothers' attention back to himself.
"YOU'VE GOT IT WRONG... I SAID I'D FIGHT YOU BOTH — THAT MEANS JUST ME IS ENOUGH!"
"THE EMPEROR? HE'LL JUST WATCH FROM BESIDE ME!"
As Nyx declared, the Imperial phantom behind him merely folded his arms across his chest, like an ancient mountain — capable of movement, yet unmoving. In this moment, bound by Nyx's almost‑paranoidal will to fight alone, the phantom simply crossed his arms and made no move to step forward.
"COME ON! GIMME A REMATCH!" Nyx's craving for exclusivity had now reached its zenith. He would not permit Gork and Mork's attention to be divided by even half a glance.
"WOT AN ARROGANT GIT! YA DRIVIN' US CRAZY — BUT I LOIKE IT!" Gork's fists clashed violently, producing a thunderous symphony of gold and iron. The battle‑lust in his heart erupted like a volcano.
"WAAAGH! ME BROTHER MORK GOTTA TELL YA — IF YA WON'T LET DAT GOLDEN GIT FIGHT, I'Z GONNA BEAT YA TILL YA FART! DON'T FINK YA WAKIN' UP EASY DIS TIME!" Mork twisted his thick neck; his joints popped like cannon fire.
They exchanged glances. They resolved, this time, to finish off this arrogant golden boy.
"THEN YOU TWO — COME WITH ME!"
The second bout erupted with a crash!
Across the entire universe, countless greenskin Boyz were 'watching' this clash through the WAAAGH! energy field. Yet the overwhelming majority of Orks found the experience increasingly frustrating — how could watching from afar possibly compare to seeing it with their own eyes?!
"WAAAGH! I WANNA SEE GOLDEN TIN‑CAN FIGHT GORK AN' MORK WIV ME OWN EYES!"
"JUST WATCHIN' FROM 'ERE AIN'T 'NUFF! SEEIN' A SCRAP DIS BIG WIV YER OWN EYES — WORTH DYIN' FOR!"
None knew which 'cunnin'' Ork in the material universe first bellowed this thought. It spread instantly, like the most virulent contagion, propagating through the WAAAGH! energy field network, drawing countless frenzied responses from countless Boyz like a tidal wave.
"ME TOO! ME TOO! I WANNA SEE DA BIG SCRAP!"
"SHUT YER GOB!" A Nob silenced the frenzied Boyz around him. He tapped his head — which had been replaced with crude metal plates — and declared, his face full of 'cunnin': "AIN'T DAT EASY TO SEE WIV YER OWN EYES? WHEN I WAS AT DEATH'S DOOR, I WENT TO GORK AN' MORK'S RING! IF YA WANNA GO, JUS' DO LOIKE ME! A GOOD BOY'LL BE BACK IN EIGHTEEN YEARS!"
"DA NOB IZ CUNNIN'! I'LL GO FIRST!" The instant he finished, an impatient Ork snatched a shoota from his companion beside him, aimed it at his own head, and without hesitation pulled the trigger.
*BANG——! *
The next second, his head burst like a watermelon. His body crumpled to the ground.
Beneath the ring of the Ork Divine Realm, a green figure that had just solidified and successfully arrived shoved its way into the front row of spectators.
"WAAAGH!"
"YOU'Z DA CUNNIN'EST NOB!"
The Boyz around this Nob descended into even more frenzied agitation. They rushed to finish themselves off — the quickest ones had already grabbed a choppa and bisected their own skulls.
"YOU LOT IZ TOO SLOW! WATCH ME!" A Warboss grinned an almost disgusting smile, then raised an iron fist and slammed it into his own metal‑braincase — he had, back when he was upgraded, packed a big charge of 'explosive' in there. Never thought it'd come in useful today.
"WAAAGH! BOYZ! LET'S ALL GO TO THE SCENE TOGEVER AN' 'AVE A PROPA SCRAP!"
Before his words faded, blazing fire suddenly erupted from the fissure in his head. The next second, half his tribe was launched into the sky in an asymmetric explosion.
On Ullanor, in the Star Sector that would, in later generations, become the legendary 'Skull‑krakka' — a Warboss forcibly halted his Boyz's increasingly uncontrollable suicidal behaviour with a roar that strained the WAAAGH! energy field itself.
"ALL OF YA — STOP! I KNOW YA WANNA GO! BUT GORK AN' MORK GOT US A MORE IMPORTANT MISSION!"
"DERE'S A SUPA‑PROPA SCRAP COMIN' FOR US IN DA FUTURE! SAVE YER LIVES FOR DAT!"
The Skull‑krakka's roar propagated through the WAAAGH! energy field network. Countless Ork Warbosses and Nobs, who were themselves itching to witness the battle, followed his example, suppressing their tribes' chaos. Though their hearts burned with desire, for the sake of the prophesied, destined Great War, they had to temporarily quell their boiling urge to spectate.
Seeing that the Boyz had finally, reluctantly, settled down, the Skull‑krakka sat alone upon his crude, massive throne. He surveyed the empty space around him, confirmed that no Boyz were nearby, then deeply buried his enormous green head in his palm. His shoulders shook. A restrained, muffled sob escaped him.
"...sob... I... I WANNA SEE IT TOO!"
Within the Ork Divine Realm, the number of spectators had multiplied several times over. In the arena, Nyx remained unaware that he had inadvertently resolved a significant wave of Ork threats to the Imperium. All his thoughts, at this moment, were fixed upon Gork and Mork before him.
Gork and Mork stood before him. The invisible WAAAGH! energy field around them surged and seethed like boiling magma. Nyx's gaze was cold; he knew that this time, they would fight in earnest.
"WAAAGH! I'Z GOIN' FIRST!"
Gork's war cry rose once more. His colossal green form leaped again, like a cannonball. But this time, Nyx was not half‑confused.
"YOU REALLY THINK... THE SAME TRICK WILL WORK ON ME TWICE?!"