Carter was the superhuman protector of planet Earth, where he'd arrived while still a child via spacecraft taken at birth. He was well loved on his host planet, as if they'd been sent a god, the people worshiped him and gave him names of honor about all.
Then one day as Carter flew through his new home he'd come to claim, a portal opened in the sky before him and he was transported to the Games. It was the Canticle of Champions.
He had been chosen from his strand of time to stand in for his realm's stead. On his team, a man of metal with a cannon for a head. A girl with gold hair dressed in scarlet with irises of red, and pupils like sapphires set ablaze some inner fire fed. A being made of light as if part of a star, and a finally, a beast like dog's and a cats'd bred and found their God.
They found themselves within a hall in a fortress made of glass, through which they saw a great throng watching that which was to come to pass. The crowd had come to crown a champion, and to see who of them would fall. The Game Master stood above the masses and began to call out a spell that quieted the witnesses to the commencement of the brawl.
"May the Games Bring Your Worlds' Honor!", announced the master mage, tapping his staff against the ground; sending a ball of lightning blazing out making a rumbling thunderclap like a mountain falling down. Power flowed throughout the bolt forking through the playing field before the forks broke into fletchettes of fire lighting torches placed according to the fighting they'd reveal.
' That's when they heard the drums and marching of soldiers accompanied by them; and tensed as their host arrived but to their surprise: for guidance. The fighters knelt before the champions proving they were allied them, and yalped out a mighty call to show their spirits were not frightened; tapping their war tools together in a tremendous clash of steel and stone, against the ground in solidarity to fight some foe unknown.
The soldiers aligned in three arrays according to the tri fold path before them and started marching as is if on cue like one massive metal organ. The champions stepped out with the marchers to see the foes they'd have to vanquish, understanding by intuition the men would surely perish without them.
Carter took the lone path up the middle, his co-captains paired at each side channel; the gunmetal head and scarlet damsel, the starman and hybrid mammal. That's when Carter tried to fly and realized his powers' had an end there. He could not lift off by force of will as he'd done since he could remember.
He focused then and tried again, and this time like a dash, he could not fly for long at all but could rush forward really fast. He tried some punches, and these again, once flew at sonic speed, back on his planet, forgotten Earth, but here blew like the breeze.
He called a soldier, "give me a weapon", the soldier offered him his spear. The champion drew back and thrust it forward unpracticed at feeling fear. The ground was tinted, with untrue brightness, for a dome lay overhead, of ruby crystal stealing the light from which his powers fed.
He resigned himself to deal with the dome after the match was over, to seek out what he'd been placed there for and put things back in order. And then he saw the enemy, a monster with shards of stone, protruding from his joints and seams riding a floating throne.
The monster led his own army of orcs and goblin kin. The horde had been advancing on them since before the signal to begin.
"Front line, attack!" the fallen god called, the rushing forward forces met in what became a wall. Of twisting steel and flesh and bone, of creatures dark with blood of black, and men that had been hacked and sawed; their red blood payed first wave's attack.
So met the clashing forces at the center of the field where the archetype of man was set to see his fate unsealed. The throne rider smashed his crystal gauntleted hand against his chair, commanding it to land and stepping of into the air hitting the ground with a mighty
sound causing the crowd to quiet down and stare.
The mighty man was reminded of a foe that vanquished him before, as he set himself and ran to him that resembled that demon called La Morte. He wondered who this demon was who now fought him in this maze, and why he could see the glimmer of recognition in his gaze.
For the demon had a version of the superhuman in his own world. One he'd made an example of by consuming before his girl after killing him with his bare hands and tearing him asunder before going on to rule his world it's demon lord of thunder.
Now he met his match again, in the super being on the field, so he broke out in a sprint to meet him the ground trembling beneath his heels. The beings clashed amidst the chaos sending shockwaves out from where their blows made purchase, the monster's powers were diminished too which he discovered now in curses.
The superhuman drove his spear true, piercing the crystal core of the demon's sinew, but each cut bled more jagged crystal that stabbed and sliced his super tissue. They fought and found virtual stalemate in each others diminished but still formidable strength, and sensed that something was not the same.
These were not their foes of old brought back to life to fight in Games, but parallels from related worlds matched to delight and entertain. And so they fought with understanding, to put on a show and win the crowd, and began talking under it's shouts of old foes becoming allies for now.