Mongul and Superman charge at each other. Mongul shoulder tackles Superman. The shot sends Superman to the ground. Mongul raises his arms above his head, he swings them down. Superman catches them. He tries to hold them up. Mongul is strong, stronger perhaps than Superman anticipated. Superman pushes Mongul back.
"Do you have any idea what you did to me?" Superman asks.
"I let your heart give in to its deepest desire. Removing the Black Mercy must have been excruciating, like ripping off a limb." Mongul says.
Superman flies forward and punches Mongul square in the jaw. Mongul falls off his feet. Superman stands over top of him. He begins swinging at Mongul again and again. The shots make the entire arena shake. Finally Mongul blocks one. He grabs Superman's arm and throws him aside.
Superman begins taking a few deep breaths. Those punches tired him out, just as Mongul anticipated. Mogul grabs a metal plate and swings it at Superman. Superman is sent across the arena. The crowd cheers on in excitement.
Mongul approaches Superman again. Superman grabs Mongul around the waist and tries to fly upward with him. He struggles though. Mongul drives his elbows into Superman's back, knocking him back to the ground.
"Give it up Kryptonian, I am the strongest here." Mongul says.
Superman gets back to his feet and is met with a right hook to the face. Mongul then punches Superman again, right in the gut. He swings again for Superman's face, but Superman blocks the shot and pushes Mongul back.
Superman clears his mind. He thinks back to his karate teachings with Kaire Tanaga. It had been nearly two years since he'd taken a class with her and he was only a green belt. But he could tell Mongul had no finesse to his fighting style, just brute strength. If Superman could channel his anger, he knew he could win.
Mongul charges at Superman again. This time Superman side steps him. Mongul turns around. Superman taunts Mongul with a hand gesture, telling him to bring it. Mongul charges Superman again. This time, Superman grabs Mongul's arm and slams him to the ground. This upsets Mongul greatly. He looks up and sees Superman standing over top of him. Mongul grabs a hand full of dirt and throws it at Superman's face.
This disorients Superman and he fumbles backwards, unable to see. As his vision restores, he see's Mongul swinging a pipe. He clocks Superman upside the head with it. Superman falls to the ground. Now Mongul stands over Superman. He lifts the pipe above his head and attempts to stab it right into Superman's chest. Superman grabs the pipe and breaks it. He kicks at Mongul's feet, knocking him over. Both men get back up. Superman thinks back to some of his earliest training.
Jab, jab, cross. Jab, jab, cross. He says to himself as he swings forward. Mongul staggers back. A couple of Warzoon's are by the entrance to the arena. Mongul motions to one of them. He throws Mongul an axe. Mongul swings the axe at Superman. The axe hits Superman's left shoulder and snaps at the handle. Superman stands in shock at Mongul's cheap shot. Mongul looks on in shock that the axe had no effect on Superman.
As Superman watches, he is shocked from behind. One of the Warzoon's attacks him with an electo-stick. As he falls to the ground, another Warzoon begins kicking him.
"Dishonor!" A voice yells.
Superman looks over and sees Draaga fighting off the Warzoon's. Draaga nods at Superman. Superman looks back over at Mongul.
"Just you and me." He says.
Mongul charges wildly at Superman. Superman punches him back. He punches Mongul to the ground and punches over and over.
"Uhhhh-" Mongul growns.
Lobo and Maxima run into the arena.
"Hey Mongul, catch." Maxima says as she dumps the sack with the Black Mercy inside on top of him.
The Black Mercy bonds to Mongul. He gets a dopey look on his face. In a moment, Mongul is subdued, entranced in a dream like state brought upon by the Black Mercy.
"What do you think he's seeing?" Maxima asks.
"Whatever it is, it's too good for him." Superman says.
"Lucky." Lobo says.
Draaga comes over to the group, after taking care of the Warzoon's.
"You fight with honor Superman. I saw that. But you still dishonored me by not killing following our fight." Draaga says.
"A man's honor isn't determined by how he dies Draaga, it's by how he lives." Superman says as he kneels over and picks up Mongul's crown.
"Whoa Supes, that was a cool line." Lobo says.
The crowd watches on. They cheer as Mongul has been defeated. A child Warzoon jumps out of the crowd and runs up to Superman. He is holding something in his hand.
"I made this for you." The child says.
It was a blue shirt with Superman's crest on it. It wasn't stitched the best, but Superman loved it. He took off his armor and put it on.
"You are their king now." Draaga says.
Superman hands the crown to Draaga.
"What are you doing?" Draaga asks.
"I already have a home, you can help these people." Superman says.
"I can't, I don't know-" Dragga says.
"You know about honor. Honor the citizens and they will honor you." Superman says.
Draaga takes the crown.
"Say, if you're the king now, can you grab my bike for me? Mongul had it impounded." Lobo says.
"I suppose I'll need you to give me a ride home." Superman says.
"I need to get back to Almerac." Maxima says.
"Alright, alright. Almerac isn't far from here, I'll drop the lady off first and then take you back." Lobo says.
The three head off as Superman prepares for his next adventure.
Victor had found it. Detective Bowman, the detective investigating the explosion that took Lex's parents life had received a huge sum of money to his account shortly after. A payout that Victor could trace back to Lex. Lex was very good at hiding his tracks in later years, but he was young then. Victor had so many files that were close to pinning Luthor, but his lawyers could likely help him slide. This was going to be harder to hide. Victor's phone rings.
"Hello." Victor says as he answers.
"Mr. Sage, stop looking into Lex Luthor. This is your only warning." A voice says and then hangs up.