Warlock and Wonderman took the fight to Champion and the Gardener. In the middle of a jungle, Champion and Wonderman immediately rushed out at each other lashing out with punches. One of their punches met the other in the middle sending, causing both to fall back for a second. The two quickly locked into deadly one-on-one combat.

The Gardener’s staff shot several blasts toward Warlock. It was clear his heart was not in it though. Fired from an awkward angle, Warlock easily evaded them. Jumping behind a bush tree, Warlock vanished from the line of sight. The Gardener realized his mistake in being lackadaisical. The Grandmaster might be angry if he let one of them escape. How he hated getting involved with his brothers. But right now, he felt it was his duty to contribute to their cause. Worried eyes darted about looking for any movement. His full beard hung low and gave him the allusion of being wise. But right now, he did not feel so wise. He had made a costly mistake. Quickly, he ran over to where he last saw Warlock. His staff blasted some bushes in front of him. There was no one in sight.

As he entered further into the bush area, Warlock swung around a tree behind the Gardener. With his Karmic Staff glowing bright green, Warlock delivered a massive jolt to the Elder’s head. The Gardener fell instantly to the floor unconscious.

Warlock turned to look at his partner. Wonderman was in the fight of his life. Though fighting admirably, already he had black and blue marks, a swollen eye, and blood streaming from his nose. Champion’s hulking form showed no effects from their fight and looked as fresh as if he’d just begun.

Warlock knew he did not have the physical might to battle the opponent.

Wonderman charged Champion once more. This time, Champion used Wonderman’s own energy to slam him against a tree breaking through it and several others close by.

Adam took advantage and Karmic blasted Champion. It affected him slightly but not enough to down him. Clearly, like Asgardians, Elders had a fortified soul also. He lifted his head, red long hair rising along side. His massive arms formed a fist. Champion turned around to face Warlock.

"Tryco Slatterus cannot be defeated!" he snarled.

Wonderman lunged from behind catching him unawares. They both went to the ground.

Warlock began concentrating, building up a massive Karmic Blast. He had never attempted to release such a massive amount of soul energy in one burst. It would require time to build up to a sufficient power level.

Champion used his massive arms and spun Wonderman around on the floor, delivering a bone crushing punch to the jaw. Wonderman visually reeled at the force behind it. He yelled out, "Warlock…"

Champion continued to pummel him incessantly. His reddish hair swung from side to side as each fist connected to Simon’s face.

Warlock closed his eyes, continuing to concentrate on building up the Karmic Blast to extreme levels.

Champion continued his pummeling, laughing at each connection. Wonderman’s face had swollen beyond comprehension. Again he whimpered a cry for help, "Warlock…" He tried to get up, but Champion larger form pushed him back down, pummeling him again. With a final powerful bone-jarring blow delivered to the mouth area, Wonderman now lay motionless.

Warlock opened his eyes and blasted Champion. Green energy blasted forward relinquishing the Elder from consciousness immediately upon impact. The force of the blast knocked Champion several feet back off of Wonderman. Instantly, Champions’ body became limp as he fell backward onto the ground, his body still glowing green with energy from the Soul gem’s assault.

Warlock walked over to Wonderman’s body. He grabbed his hand and let it go. The arm fell down with no force on it whatsoever, other than gravity.

A flash abruptly occurred as the Grandmaster appeared.

Warlock took a step back, instinctively placing his staff forward in a defensive position.

The Grandmaster held his hand up, palm forward, as if in a friendly manner. "Much to my surprise, you have won this round," he said. He pulled a syringe out and injected it into Wonderman.

"What are you doing?" Warlock frowned. He remained tense still unsure of the Grandmaster’s motivations.

"I need to see and analyze the composition of this creature’s energy if I am to restore him."

"Restore him?"

The Grandmaster held the syringe and stared at it. He then placed his hand over Wonderman and closed his eyes for a brief period.

Abruptly, he stopped. "He will recover now, though it will take time. He has massive injuries."

"Why have you saved him?" Warlock asked.

"This is only a contest. There was no intent to kill anyone."

The Grandmaster waved his hand and he disappeared along with the two fallen Elders.

Warlock closed his eyes attempting to contact Moondragon back at their home base.

"Have Thanos teleport us back," Warlock said.

"What happened?" Moondragon asked while relaying the information to Thanos.