The Celestial Arena dimmed suddenly, as if the galaxies swirling above had taken a collective breath. Fighters froze mid-conversation. Energy beings flickered. Steam warriors hissed. The Wolf King narrowed his eyes. Magic Kid accidentally turned a bird into pudding.
And then—
Every sigil on every platform activated at once.
A shockwave of soft golden light rolled over the arena.
Danny felt it.
Swift felt it.
Jake felt it.
Every fighter felt it.
The Arbiter descended again, starlight wings folding inward.
Its runic face rearranged into a pattern that meant ATTENTION in at least eighteen ancient languages.
All voices fell silent.
Even the Wolf King stopped pacing.
Even the Builder Bots hummed quietly.
The Arbiter's voice rang like a gavel made of collapsing stars:
"FIGHTERS OF THE MULTIVERSE:
THE RULES OF THE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS ARE NOW REVEALED."
Dozens of translucent screens burst into existence above the arena—each one translating the rules into different cosmic dialects. The ground glowed with sigils. Runes spun around the central pillar. Everything synched into perfect alignment.
And the rules appeared.
THE RULES OF THE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSROUND ONE: THE ASCENT TRIAL – TOWER CLIMBYou must climb the Celestial Tower.
The tower contains 999 floors generated randomly for every participant.
Your progress is recorded by the Arena itself.
Once you touch a floor's sigil, that floor is added to your score.
There is NO permanent death in Round One.
The tower will safely eject you if your body reaches 0 combat integrity.
You may use ANY ability except external dimensional interference.
Sabotage is permitted—but not fatal blows.
You may hinder, mislead, trap, confuse, block, or defeat others non-lethally.
The top 500 highest-scoring fighters advance to Round Two.
Ties are resolved by time: the fastest tower climbers rank higher.
The tower stops climbing when:
you are defeated,
you surrender,
you run out of stamina,
or you reach Floor 999.
Outside interference forfeits your slot.
This includes coaching, summoning, or outside buffs.
If the tower decides you are destabilizing reality,
it may forcefully eject you.
When Rule #9 appeared, every eye drifted to Danny.
Danny pretended not to notice.
Magic Kid screamed, "THEY MADE THAT RULE JUST FOR YOU!"
Jake clapped Danny's shoulder. "Dude… they definitely did."
Swift gave a thin smile. "At least you're special."
Danny groaned.
ROUND TWO: THE CONVERGENCE DUELS – ELIMINATION BRACKETSThe top 500 fighters enter seeded combat brackets.
Each match is a 1v1 duel.
No outside support. No alliances. No interference.
Victory conditions:
Knockout
Ring-out
Submission
Arena-declared disqualification
Matches occur on rotating battlefields
including: cosmic desert, anti-gravity ruins, sea of mirrors, collapsing fortress, thunder grid, and more.
No permanent death.
The arena disables lethal force automatically.
Failure in any bracket eliminates you from the tournament.
Only the winners of each bracket advance to the final round.
Expected finalists: 10 fighters.
Swift exhaled slowly.
Jake gulped.
The Wolf King smiled.
Danny felt the entire arena tense at Rule #7.
Most fighters wouldn't make it beyond Round Two.
Magic Kid pointed dramatically at the Wolf King, then at Danny.
"YOU TWO ARE GOING TO FIGHT AND I'M GOING TO LOVE EVERY SECOND!"
Even the Arbiter hesitated at that.
ROUND THREE: CHAMPION'S ASCENSION – FINAL BRACKETThe winners of each elimination bracket enter the Champion's Ring.
Combat is purely 1v1. One match at a time.
The arena chooses the order randomly—
though many believed the arena didn't choose randomly at all.
The last fighter standing becomes the Champion of All Realms.
Lethal strikes are disabled, but catastrophic force is not.
Survival still requires extraordinary power.
No allies. No external tools. No summons.
Pure combat.
Winner receives:
The Celestial Crown
The Wish of Radiance (one universal-scale wish)
The Title of Eternal Victor
Immunity from all interdimensional laws for one year
The right to reshape one rule of the next tournament
Every fighter felt the weight of those prizes—especially the Wish.
Danny's breath caught.
The Wolf King's flames swirled violently.
Magic Kid whispered, eyes huge:
"A wish… any wish…"
Jake whispered, "That's insane."
Swift corrected, "That's dangerous."
Sedge Hat added, "Oh ho!! And exciting!"
The screens dissolved, leaving only the Arbiter floating above the arena.
"THE RULES HAVE BEEN SET.
ROUND ONE BEGINS IN TWO HOURS."
A wave of energy rippled outward.
Fighters' sigils lifted off the ground, carrying them outward.
The arena platforms rearranged themselves, forming pathways to individual resting quarters—floating chambers made of clear starlight, each with its own gravity field and private preparation space.
Jake stared at his assigned chamber as it drifted near.
A floating stone cube wrapped in bronze light.
"Hey Swift… Jake's room looks like a rock."
Swift glanced at his—
a sleek silver sphere filled with flowing moonlight.
"That makes sense."
Jake nodded. "So I'm the boulder."
"You are the boulder."
Jake grinned. "Cool."
Sedge Hat floated past them.
"MY ROOM IS MADE OF JELLY!"
Jake squinted. "Why?"
Sedge Hat shrugged. "Preference!"
Magic Kid's chamber drifted by—a chaotic swirl of rainbow clouds and sparkles.
"It came pre-decorated!" Magic Kid yelled.
Jade Killington stepped into a bamboo-walled meditation chamber and closed the door without a word.
A massive canopy chamber made of burning red stone drifted toward the Wolf King. His hybrids tensed as he entered; the entire structure glowed brighter under his presence.
Shadeclaw's chamber was made of shifting shadow.
Finally, Danny's chamber approached.
It was not like the others.
His was built from raw creation energy—light woven into a sphere, flickering with golden geometric patterns, breathing in and out like a living star.
Even the Arbiter paused before it.
"Golden Entity… this chamber stabilizes your flame.
Remain within its walls to avoid Arena interference."
Danny nodded, stepping inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the golden walls expanded slightly, as if greeting him personally.
Jake whistled. "Your room's alive, man."
Swift nodded. "It's meant to hold something powerful."
Danny's chest tightened.
"It's meant to contain me."
Kael'ar landed softly beside them.
"No. It is meant to support you."
Danny met their gaze.
"But it limits me."
Kael'ar bowed their head.
"Only until you learn to limit yourself."
Danny stepped fully into the chamber. The door closed with a soft hum.
Swift looked at Jake. "We should get ready too."
Jake nodded. "Yeah… yeah, we should."
Magic Kid swooped over and booped Jake's nose.
Jake screamed.
Magic Kid giggled. "Good luck!"
He flashed into his chamber.
Swift rubbed his face. "This will be the longest day of my life."
Jake pointed upward at Danny's chamber.
"Think he'll be okay?"
Swift looked toward the Wolf King's lava chamber, then at the shadows beneath the arena, then at the Rift's horizon.
"No."
Jake stared.
Swift smiled slightly.
"But he'll manage anyway."
Beneath all the chambers, deep under the sigils, Bones' hidden agent crept silently.
Every floorboard, every rune, every glowing pathway hid a structural flaw deliberately placed by Bones.
The agent paused beneath Danny's chamber.
It pressed a fractured palm into the starlight foundation.
And whispered:
"Soon."
Meanwhile, the Wolf King stood alone in his chamber, flames curling along his claws.
Shadeclaw approached timidly.
"My king… do you feel it?"
The Wolf King's eyes narrowed.
"The Golden One is stabilizing. He will rise higher still."
Shadeclaw shivered. "Does it… frighten you?"
The Wolf King turned, slow and deliberate.
"No," he growled.
"It feeds me."
His flames roared as he stared toward Danny's chamber.
"Let him climb.
Let him rise.
Let him burn."
He smiled—sharp and monstrous.
"When he reaches the top…
I will be waiting."
The Arbiter floated to the center of the arena as the clock ticked closer to the first round.
Its runes shifted again.
"FIGHTERS—
USE THIS TIME TO REST.
YOUR CHANCE FOR GLORY APPROACHES."
Jake sat in his chamber.
Swift meditated in his.
Magic Kid summoned a small harmless volcano.
Sedge Hat made tea from starlight.
Jade Killington sharpened his fists with chi.
Jimmy panicked and passed out in a waffle-scented heap.
The Wolf King growled low, pacing like a caged storm.
Shadeclaw trembled.
And Danny…
Danny sat alone in his golden sphere, feeling the Creation Flame breathe around him like a cosmic heartbeat.
Two hours.
Just two hours.
He clenched his fists.
"I won't run anymore."
The flame glowed brighter.
Across the arena, the Wolf King sensed it and smiled.
Across the foundation, Bones' agent hissed and dug deeper.
Across the cosmos, Magic Kid sneezed and summoned a rainbow explosion.
The clock ticked down.
Two hours remained.
The tournament was ready.
The universe wasn't.