IMPERIUM:Earth’s Champion

Somewhere Beyond Reality – The Waiting Void

Orion stood in darkness.

Not the normal kind—the absence of light, the comforting dim of a late-night street.

This was absolute nothingness.

No walls. No sky. No floor beneath his feet. Just a vast, weightless void stretching in all directions.

But he wasn't alone.

A hundred feet ahead of him, Bakari Okoye stood waiting.

Orion could see him clearly, despite the lack of light. The Nigerian fighter was tall, built like a sculpture of pure muscle, his posture rigid but calm. He wasn't fidgeting. He wasn't tense. He simply stood, watching Orion the way a lion watches its prey—patient, unshaken, certain.

Orion exhaled sharply. He could feel his own heart pounding, but he refused to let it show.

No words were exchanged.

They both knew what was coming.

And then—

A sound.

Deep, cosmic, vibrating through the fabric of existence itself.

The Voice.

"The first battle begins now."

The nothingness fractured.

The shift was instant.

One moment, Orion was weightless in the void. The next, he was standing on solid ground.

The arena bloomed into existence around him.

He took a sharp breath, adjusting immediately.

They were in a vast, circular battleground—a rocky desert under an alien sky. The air was thick, dense with heat, the sun above massive and golden-red, casting long shadows across the cracked stone floor. Jagged cliffs rose along the edges, forming a natural barrier.

A battlefield built for brutality.

And across from him—

Bakari Okoye stood ready.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then the Voice spoke one last time.

"Fight."

Bakari moved first.

Orion barely had time to register it before the Nigerian fighter was on him.

No wasted movement. No hesitation.

Just speed and power.

Orion barely dodged the first blow—a brutal, crushing fist aimed straight for his ribs. Even without it connecting, he felt the shockwave from the sheer force.

He twisted away, stepping back—

And Bakari was already pivoting.

A second strike.

Faster. More precise.

Orion didn't have time to dodge this one—so he didn't.

Instead, he changed the reality where it landed.

Bakari's fist should have slammed into Orion's jaw. Should have sent him flying.

But instead—

It missed.

Not because Orion moved. Not because Bakari mistimed it.

But because the impact never existed.

Bakari blinked.

Orion smirked. "Nice try."

The Nigerian's expression remained unreadable. But there was something in his eyes—calculation.

Then, without a word, he attacked again.

And this time?

Orion wasn't fast enough.

The kick came out of nowhere—low, sweeping, targeting his balance.

Orion tried to counter, but—

Impact.

Pain exploded through his side as he crashed to the ground, dust billowing around him.

For a split second, he couldn't breathe.

Then—

A shadow loomed over him.

Orion's eyes snapped up.

Bakari was already bringing his foot down.

A stomp. A finishing move.

Orion acted on instinct.

He didn't dodge. Didn't block.

He simply removed the moment where the stomp happened.

Bakari's foot never landed.

One second, he was mid-motion. The next, he was stepping back instead, his body repositioning itself as if the attack had never occurred.

He frowned, exhaling through his nose. "You play with time."

Orion pushed himself up, chest heaving. "Something like that."

Bakari rolled his shoulders. "You cannot keep this up forever."

Orion wiped blood from his lip, grinning. "Maybe not. But I don't have to."

Bakari's eyes narrowed.

Then, without warning, he reached down and lifted a massive boulder.

Orion's smirk vanished.

"Oh, come on."

Bakari threw it.

Orion barely had time to react before the boulder was flying straight at him.

He reached out—pushed with Imperium.

The boulder stopped mid-air.

Hung there for a fraction of a second—

And then exploded into dust.

Orion staggered back, gasping.

He felt it immediately.

The drain. The exhaustion.

He hadn't erased just the rock—he had erased everything inside it. The structure, the density, the very concept of it.

And that?

That took effort.

Bakari saw it.

And he smiled.

Orion exhaled sharply. His limbs felt heavier. His head pounded.

Shit.

He had just confirmed Bakari's theory.

His power had limits.

And Bakari?

He was waiting for Orion to burn himself out.

"Smart," Orion muttered, rolling his shoulders. "You're making me waste energy."

Bakari nodded. "I was not sure before. Now I am."

Orion scowled. "Great."

He needed to change the approach.

Fast.

He couldn't afford to erase big things.

Not yet.

Which meant—

Time to fight dirty.

Orion grinned. "Alright, big guy. Let's see how you handle this."

And then—

He reached out.

Not for Bakari.

For the battlefield itself.

The ground shifted.

The terrain tilted beneath Bakari's feet—just slightly.

Not enough to be obvious. Not enough to feel unnatural.

But enough that when he took his next step—

He overcompensated.

His balance wobbled.

Orion moved.

Fast.

Before Bakari could recover, Orion was already inside his guard.

A strike—aimed at his ribs. Not powerful. Not devastating.

But precise.

Bakari grunted, stepping back, regaining his footing.

Orion smirked. "Problem?"

Bakari exhaled. "You are more clever than I thought."

"Yeah," Orion said. "I get that a lot."

Another silence.

Then—

Bakari charged again.

Faster. Angrier.

And Orion?

He grinned.

Because now?

He was in control.

To Be Continued…