Clark got prepared quickly, wanting to get to the arena a little ahead of time, hoping to be able to look over the competition. Clark arrived at the arena about half an hour ahead of schedule. The first thing he did was scan the crowd for signs of the girls even though he knew they probably wouldn't arrive for about half an hour. When he didn't see them his heart constricted for a brief moment before he shook it off. Now wasn't the time to worry about the girls. He knew that they were probably all right.

Clark moved through the crowd and looked over at the contestants that had already gathered at the 'Trough', the place where the gladiators ate, drank, and waited before being called up two at a time to fight. It was situated only a few feet from the 'pit', the oval in which the gladiators fought, providing convenient access to both elongated ends of the pit for the contestants by providing them with a large walk way leading from both ends of the trough to the individual ends of the pit. This helped to insure that the contestants didn't try to get in a few blows before the match. The pit was almost as big as the coliseum in Rome, meaning it was quite large with huge amounts of seats surrounding it. There were five contestants already gathered in the trough. Jor-el began to provide Clark with information on each of the contestant's species and all five of them gave Clark pause, each for their own reasons.

First there was an Archan, a very large bipedal being that seemed to be made of some sort of rock or mineral. According to Jor-el they were very tough, almost indestructible if they had been fed a certain type of mineral that was found on their moon. Which, telling by the small silver stands running across his reddish brown body, meant that he had. They were also deceptively fast for short periods of time, but quickly fan out of steam if they did so. It went without saying that he was also very strong.

Second was a Temerian, a species known for its extremely large girth. Basically a large mound of off white flesh, the Temerians had a trick up their sleeve. They were telekinetic, meaning they could push themselves and anything else that they wanted by using their mind.

Third was a Talitcit, something of a very overgrown mosquito with mandibles where their hands would be that could crush almost anything. They could also fly very fast, almost as fast as he could if they were in good shape. Their bite also contained a poison. It wouldn't be able to kill him if it got into his blood steam, like it would almost anyone else, but it would take a lot out of him and it would make him very slow and disorientated, allowing the Talitcit to finish him off easily. He also had a very strong exoskeleton that helped to protect him.

Fourth was a Salment, a small lizard creature that was very fast but wasn't very strong compared to the company he was keeping. He wouldn't be a great challenge if it weren't for one thing. His species had two small glands that produced massive amounts of a … well, no human language had a word for it. From what Clark could understand from Jor-el, when the two substances combined they produced a new product that when spit out could burn up almost anything. Clark knew enough to stay away from anything the creature spit.

The fifth contestant worried Clark most of all. Not because Jor-el had told him something bad about him, but because Jor-el didn't. Jor-el had no idea of who or what the fifth contestant was. This was very unusual as Kryptonians had known of every single species in this universe and this being wasn't among them. He was a total unknown. About six inches taller than Clark with grey skin, he almost could have passed for a human except for the shape of his head. It was a little too wide and his jaw was as wide as his skull. In his mouth were what looked like fangs. His black hair came down to his shoulders and was tied in strange fashion that reminded Clark of very thick dreadlocks. His eyes, however, were his most disturbing feature. They were blood red and almost seemed to glow.

Looking around as he made his way to the trough Clark saw all of the gladiators chatting together except for the mystery guest. All of the other contestants seemed to give him a wide birth. They would occasionally look at him, but when he looked back they almost immediately turned around, trying to make it look as if they weren't looking at him.

The unease Clark felt over this mystery contestant double when he noticed this and interpreted it to mean that none of the others wanted to mess with him. Clark made his way to a corner of the room and sat on a chair that he moved from a few feet away so that he could better study all of the contestants.

All of the contestants seemed to be in a jovial mood, which struck Clark as a little funny. They were about to fight each other in the arena, where almost one quarter of the matches resulted in a death, and yet they were talking as if they had all the time in the world. This puzzled Clark enough to where he tuned in to a couple of conversations until he found what he was looking for. The Temerian and the Talitcit were talking together about the arena.

"I wonder why they brought all four of us back from retirement," said the Talitcit.

"I was wondering the same thing, so I asked around. I heard a rumor that a Kryptonian was going to fight in this one."

"I heard the same rumor, but couldn't find out anything about it because I was too busy getting here. I just dismissed it after awhile. I mean, they've never fought in the games. Never. Not a one of them. But if you heard it too that means there might be something to it," said the Talitcit, who looked a little worried.

"I heard it from the announcer's assistant, you know, the one with the red hair to her waist. Anyway, I overheard her talking to her boyfriend about the upcoming match, telling him not to bet on anyone this time because she wasn't sure who would win with a Kryptonian fighting. Some women have no taste at all. I mean, can't she see that he's just using her for betting tips."

"You're getting off of the subject. I don't care about the announcer's assistant's love life. I care about an unknown fighter that could be appearing and we know next to nothing about him." said the Talitcit, flapping his wings with a combination of nervous energy and irritation.

"All right, all right, just because your race comes from a single Queen and therefore has no concept of romance doesn't mean the rest of us feel that way."

"Get on with it."

"Ok. Ok. I looked up the Kryptonians in our main computer to see what kind of fighters they would be. There isn't much there, and what was there was very sketchy, but from what I could tell they aren't very strong, or fast, or much of anything. I don't know why they are letting him fight unless they know something that I don't."

"What do they look like?" said the Talitcit, wanting to be able to identify the Kryptonian when he saw him.

"Well, they kind of look like the new guy in the corner, but so many species look similar to that, and I have a hard time telling one of the other based on looks alone. I need to be able to sense their mental aura and pictures don't convey mental auras."

"Do you think he could be the Kryptonian?"

"Maybe, but with all of the new blood they keep introducing these days I have a hard time keeping up. He could be any one of fifteen or twenty new contestants."

"Speaking of which, here come the hordes." said the Talitcit, fluttering above the Temerian to get a better look.

"Why is it that almost every newbie comes just before we get started but all of the veterans like you and me come here early?"

"Over confidence. Watching the matches from the sidelines makes it seem easy so when they first come they feel like they can take everyone on easily. It usually takes only one real fight to take that out of them, at least, if they survive," said the Talitcit.

"You're probably right. I wouldn't even have come, but they offered me five times my normal wages to come out of retirement and fight in this one."

"They offered me six," said the Talitcit with what Clark assumed to be a smile.

"Figures. Anyway, it looks like their about to start, so good luck, just not good enough so that I have to fight you."

"Same to you. If we both survive I'll buy you a drink at the bar and we can talk about old times."

Just then a screen came down from the ceiling. On it was the first pairing of fighters and the Owner telling everyone that today was a special event and to give the fans a good show. The four veterans chuckled at this, knowing it to be a joke. No one with any sense at all would be worried about putting on a good show when their lives could be hanging in the balance. Most of the newer contestants didn't get the joke and actually though he was serious and were determined to put on the best show they could. The veterans didn't correct them, knowing it would make their jobs much easier if their opponents were more worried about the crowds than their opponents.

Clark was smart enough to realize the joke for what it was. He was both relived that he wouldn't be up first and hoping that he could see at least some of the fighters in action before he was called up so that he could get a better idea of what to expect.

He watched the first four fights, but they were nothing special. They were all fought between new contestants and none of them were a threat to him. Clark realized that this would take a large part of the day and relaxed a little. Grabbing some food he looked up at the crowd, searching for Chloe and Lana. He spotted them quickly and felt much better when he did. They both looked much better than they had last night. They were sitting three rows below the owner in a small section that appeared to be all their own, apparently specially set so that everyone could see them and so that they could watch the fights. Neither of them were particularly entertained but they still watched the fights with interest, seeing as they would belong to the person who won them. Both girls looked a little sick as they watched the fifth match end with one of the contestants being beheaded.

Clark continued to split his time between watching the fights and watching the girls to make sure that they were all right. On the eighth fight the Temerian fought a new comer. It surprised Clark how fast the fight was over. The Temerian threw the newcomer against the shield that came down when the fight began to protect the crowd. The shield acted like a spring board and sent the newcomer flying back the way he came. The Temerian then used his telekinesis to pick up a section of stone, around five feet cubed, which was lying around on the ground as an obstacle to make the fight more interesting. He held it in front of the flying newcomer and watched as he rammed into it. The newcomer was out cold. It had taken all of twenty seconds from when the bell rang. Clark started paying a bit more attention. Over the next seven fights he discovered that there were basically two kinds of fighters here. One kind who were very good at fighting and seemed to do it on a contractual basis, and another who seemed to be in it more for the fans than for the fighting and just walked in like he did. Clark quickly learned to distinguish between the two.

When the sixteenth match was displayed Clark was worried by the fact that he was paired with a veteran of the arena. He was up against the Archan, the species that looked like they were made of stone. Clark exited the trough out of one door and the Arcan walked out the other. They both made their way around the pit to their separate entrances. As they waited for the shield to drop they surveyed each other. Suddenly the shield dropped and the announcer came on and gave a quick bio. on both of them. When he finished both of the contestants heard the bell ring and walked towards the middle of the pit. Nearing each other they slowed down, trying to find a good opening. Clark was about to make the first move when …

TBC