The Gremlin King

[B0b_J3ffers0n]

Pain seared across his body.

What number was this, now? Fight number twenty? Twenty two? Twenty five?

He had lost count.

His palms ached, scorched by the power of his own core. His bones? Ached. His flesh?

... It felt strangely warm.

Time and time again - it seemed as if his kin seemed to push him back.

Those that had abandoned their forms. Their original bodies.

Their pride, in his eyes.

Why?

Was it the pure, physical adaptations they'd chose?

Was it their ability to utilise power that he did not have?

Why was it that they were so much more superior to him, in quite a few fights?

... Those that had abandoned their pride, their instincts, their physical form...

They continued to be rewarded for their cowardice.

For their weakness.

One even suggested he became a mere pet.

He even almost abandoned his pride, in order to change who he was.

...

The world was testing him.

Testing his throne.

Testing his pride.

This would not stand.

He could feel it now. That pride, that defiance flooding through him.

If they wished to discard their form?

Fine.

If they wished to sneer at him for evolving his mind?

Fine.

If they laughed at his supposedly weak form?

Fine.

However.

... The Gremlin King would rise.

His throne awaited him.

For only The Apex would be able to claim it.

And he'd be damned if he wouldn't grasp that for himself.