Daniel jumped in surprise when the box appeared in front of him, taking a moment to read it carefully. “Whoa. We’re both unranked?”

“Yeah. If I had verbally said ‘I challenge you to a ranked fight’ to you and then your name, you would have to accept or you automatically lose the fight. If you were ranked higher than me, you’d have to accept to not lose your rank. But, it’s a casual Fight and we’re both unranked, so there’s nothing to lose.” Carmen shrugged.

“But we didn’t come here just to stand around.” He grinned, finger hovering over the accept button. To the side, the box displayed information about Carmen — her headshot, her Fighter name, and a chart showing her stats.

[https://i.imgur.com/Gr43SlI.png]

Daniel opened his own stats page, comparing the two. Her stats looked similar to his. They both had low health, and they were both good at close range. But, while Daniel had higher flat-out Damage, Carmen’s spikes at Combo Potential and Speed were worrying, along with her decent Long-Range stat. She likely had something to pester him with from far away, and up close, she must’ve been good at chaining together attacks.

But, Daniel shrugged and pressed accept. All he had to do was counter and it wouldn’t matter.

In the blink of an eye, a referee appeared between them, standing slightly off to the side. His body was semi-transparent, and his clothes and his skin glowed bright blue, just like they did on TV.

“Eléctrica VS. Chase. Best of three!” The referee’s voice boomed throughout the training room, even though the microphone in his hand wasn’t connected to anything. “Fighters, enter your starting positions!”

A red square appeared below where Carmen stood, but Daniel had to back away to enter the blue square closest to him. Above Carmen’s head, a green bar appeared, too; that must’ve been her health bar. But, as she put up her fists, Daniel squinted. Was something fading into existence behind her? Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

They weren’t. A transparent creature floated behind her, half man, half humanoid bird, feathers jagged and lightning yellow. Daniel’s jaw dropped.

That was her new power.

“I don’t have a name for him yet, but…” Carmen looked back at the half-bird-half-man ghost. “Chip. He looks like a Chip. What do you think?”

Daniel smiled, putting his fists up as Carmen, too, entered a fighting pose. “I think I’m about to get jumped.”

Paying close attention to the position of his fists, he noticed something new on each of his wrists. A green bar floated on his inner left wrist, with a 90 on the other side where he would’ve worn a watch. That must’ve been his health and the timer, but what was the blue bar on his right wrist?

“I’m ready, too.” In his mind, Daniel reminded himself of his one move. Fists to the side, chest out, and boom — he could counter anything.

“Round one!” the ref shouted, raising his hand. “Ready? Fight!”

Time to put it to the test.

Carmen crouched and rose to her feet as she stepped forward, raising her hand to snap. Behind her, Chip, the bird ghost, struck the same pose.

Block!

Daniel’s inner voice shouted at him, and every alarm in his body went off at once. Frozen in panic, frozen in processing what was about to happen, Daniel couldn’t put his hands up fast enough. She snapped her fingers, and a bolt of yellow lightning struck his chest, crossing the distance in an instant.

He cried out in pain. Yellow electricity arced along his skin, forcing every muscle in his body into a numb submission. As he stood there paralyzed, Carmen rushed closer and drove her fist into his chin, throwing an uppercut. Daniel thought he’d just get knocked back, but no — he flew several feet into the air. Carmen leaped after him, and Chip punched him back down.

Daniel hit the ground hard, groaning. His chest still buzzed where the lightning hit, and his chin throbbed. Was it supposed to hurt this much?

Carmen was on the approach. As she landed, Daniel shot to his feet, but he tripped over his own ankle and stumbled backward. Carmen did the same motion, crouching, rising, and raising a finger to snap, but Daniel put his forearms up. Lightning cracked through the air.

Daniel shut his eyes. But, he heard a hollow thunk — a transparent, spherical blue field had appeared in front of him, blocking Carmen’s energy blast. She fired another lightning shot. Daniel kept his arms up. His guard stayed in place to block the lighting, and she followed with the same move again, and again, and again. It didn’t hurt, but a force shoved against him every time, forcing him to stay vigilant.

A lightbulb went off in Daniel’s mind, and he grinned. If he knew what was coming, he could use that. After the next electric blast, he thrust his fists to the side and put his chest out. His body shuddered, surging with power, shimmering blue.

It faded away as fast as it came. A second blast of lightning struck his chest, paralyzing his body. Carmen charged forward, stopping to repeat the action for Electroshock as Chip uppercut Daniel.

His jaws exploded with white-hot pain, force reverberating through his skull. Daniel flew high into the air. Carmen jumped after him, her hand raised to snap.

“Electroshock!” she shouted.

Yellow electricity surged around Carmen’s hand, surged through her eyes, surged through the air around her body. A clap of lightning assaulted Daniel’s ears as the attack filled his vision with infinite light. At that moment, there was no ground to hit, no friend to fight, no pain to feel — nothing became his everything.

And then, everything was back. Daniel didn’t remember closing his eyes. He sat up from the training room floor, feeling his chest, surprised to find he felt good as new. What was that? Did he die from that attack?

The blue referee stood over him, arm extended. “Eléctrica wins round one!” he boomed, helping him to his feet.

Daniel knit his eyebrows as he rose. “Uh…what just happened?”

“What happened is that you lost.” Carmen playfully flexed her arm. Chip followed behind her, flexing actual muscles.

“No, duh, I mean after that!” Daniel patted himself again, ensuring that he truly wasn’t hurt at all. “Wasn’t I just all beat up? How…?”

“Round two!” the referee shouted. “Ready?”

The overwhelming nothing from a few moments ago burned into his memory, and Daniel pushed it away for now. Questions could come later; he had a fight to win, and the counter was harder to time than he thought.

“Fight!”

Daniel broke into a sprint, bolting towards his opponent. He couldn’t afford to let Carmen go on the offensive first. If she won this round, the entire match would be hers.

She crouched and rose to her feet, edging forward, raising a hand. Daniel blocked the Electroshock, but Chip went into an aggressive all-out offensive. His lightning-fast flurry of fists blurred against his guard, deflected a foot away from his face. Daniel winced before every hit. Hopefully, the strange shield wouldn’t go away.

Chip paused on the next hit. Daniel froze, waiting — expecting — another punch. But, Carmen dropped down and swept at his ankles. His shield didn’t block that. Daniel landed hard on his back. Above, Chip clenched his raised fist.

Even with his back to the ground, Daniel put his fists to his side and puffed his chest out. Chip’s fist struck his stomach as it gleamed bright blue, and an incredible surge of energy coursed through his veins. He scrambled to his feet instantly. The surge of energy disappeared a moment later.

Carmen’s jaw gaped, clearly just as surprised as he was. She pointed as she retreated a step, and Chip came in with another flurry of punches. Daniel struck his counter pose. Chip’s first right hook landed square in his jaw, but raw power exploded through his bones instead of pain. As time slowed around him, his senses went into overdrive, registering every single punch that merely faded through his body. Intangible, Daniel weaved through Chip’s flurry of punches and phased through him, raising a fist as he rushed at Carmen.

Carmen couldn’t block this in time. Yet, when he looked into his eyes, all he saw was the cute girl from his eighth hour glass. His mind willed it, but his body and his soul refused to attack.

The surge of energy blinked away. Chip spun on a dime, swinging, and Daniel tried to go for the counter. Before he could even start the pose, his jaw burst with pain. Chip let out a beastly caw as he demolished Daniel’s shoulder with a left hook, demolished his ribs with a right hook, took him by the ankles, and tossed him hard against the nearby wall.

Daniel didn’t even feel himself land. The world faded to black, and he then returned to the familiar sight of the referee over him, healing his battered body. As soon as he was fully healed, the referee teleported next to Carmen and raised her fist into the air.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“K.O.! Eléctrica wins!”

Daniel rubbed his head as Carmen cheered to herself, jumping up and down. “Oh, man, I did it! That felt great! We’re really Fighters, Daniel!”

He got to his feet and gave her a high five. “That was crazy! That blue shield I put up was how I block, right? How were you able to hit me anyway?”

“Because I attacked low,” Carmen said. “If you’re blocking standing, low attacks still hit you.”

“Wow. Didn’t we just become Fighters? Did I miss a handbook or something?”

Carmen snickered. “Nope! I told you, this is what I do all day. I watch videos of people fighting, and videos of people breaking down fights. It’s just…the physical aspect. I’m not used to it.” She panted, holding her side. “I think I pulled something.”

Daniel helped her down to the floor and sat beside her. “You’re still tired? I thought we get healed after the fight.”

“Only the loser does.”

A translucent yellow bird fluttered in from behind Carmen’s back. Daniel nearly jumped in surprise, but Carmen raised her palms. It landed steadily in her hands and collapsed onto its side, exhausted.

“Whoa…is that the bird thing you were fighting with?” Daniel asked, leaning in closer. The bird yawned, its ruffled feathers standing on end.

“His name is Chip. I think so,” Carmen said, running a kind finger along its back. Daniel raised a finger to do the same, but it went right through Chip’s back, and he instead rubbed Carmen’s soft palm.

It was only then that Daniel realized just how close he was, close enough to feel the warmth of her exhausted breaths. He hurriedly sat straight up, clearing his throat. Change the subject. “That counter was harder to time than I thought.”

“Yeah, you messed it up almost every time. Why didn’t you hit me when you got it right? You could’ve actually done some damage, there.”

“I…” Daniel bit his lip. “It ran out before I could. What about you, though? You kept using the same move over and over. Don’t you have anything else?”

“Sorry! That was the only move I remembered, so I had to spam a bit. Just like a certain someone,” Carmen said, a mischievous grin on her face. She swiped open her menu, navigating to her command list in the Self menu. “Let’s see what else I have.”

Surprisingly, there was more than just Electroshock. Carmen raised her eyebrows and scrolled through, nodding. Daniel counted two other special moves, a few simpler moves, and four ultimates, each with a complex command just like his own Hard Punch.

“Four ultimates?!” Carmen exclaimed. “Command Mode, Thunderbeam, Gigavolt Rally, Eye of the Storm…wow!” Below that, an entry described the mechanics behind Chip. She kept her menu floating beside her, reading as she stepped a good distance away. “Come out, Chip!”

Chip fluttered behind her. With a crack of lightning, he exploded into the same giant half-man-half-bird ghost from earlier. Daniel watched him float behind her, bold and muscular. She punched at the air, noticeably slower than before. Chip followed the same motion, and his arm extended a whole foot out further than her noodle arms.

“It feels like my attacks are slower when he’s out,” she said.

“Yeah, I could tell, but his arm goes out a lot further. He hits harder, too.” Daniel rubbed his healed jaw.

Carmen glanced at her menu. “That’s good, Chip.”

Chip shrank back down into his tinier, cuter form, letting out a small chirp. Carmen punched through the air once more. “Definitely. My arms feel lighter now that he’s gone. No offense, Chip.”

“What’s one of your other special moves?”

Carmen squinted at her menu, nodding. “Here’s one.” She backed away for a second. As she stepped forward and kicked, yellow lightning surrounded her leg, and she lunged several feet in the blink of an eye. The blinding burst of speed caught her off guard, and Carmen tumbled along the floor for the last few.

“Ow!” she cried out. Yet, she still laughed on the ground. “Oh, I’ll have to study this later. This is great.”

Daniel helped her to her feet. “You have to actually study your moves? Imagine that.”

“You only have one special move? Imagine that.”

“It’s perfect for me! I just gotta work on my timing. What’s next? Are we gonna stay here and train?”

“I wish, but…this place doesn’t work like when we were taking the test. Time passes in the real world, too” Carmen sighed and checked her watch. “It’s been ten minutes. If we’re here for too long, my parents are gonna get really worried.”

“You don’t think they’ve noticed you gone yet?”

“I doubt it. The only time they care where I am is when I try to go out and have fun. Then, it’s always a no. Let’s go back.”

Carmen opened her menu, returning to the control panel for the training room. Daniel followed her lead, and they pressed the buttons to leave at the same time. Once the room faded to black, Daniel opened his eyes, finding himself back in the gym. Together, they left, heading down the main hallway for the front door.

Carmen checked her phone. “Oh, no.”

“What?”

She showed him the screen, and the notification made his stomach drop. A new text from her father.

“Both of you come home. Now.”

Daniel missed his parents, but he didn’t miss the feeling of coming home when you knew you were in trouble. He rarely experienced it, though. Whether he slacked off on his schoolwork or made too much of a ruckus in the back of the class with his friends, his parents never answered the phone and never even cared to see his grade card. He got away with more than most other people, but sometimes news of his behavior slipped through.

And he never liked to think about what happened when it did.

Clearly, Carmen lived a different life. Her parents were different; they cared, and he understood exactly why they’d be as ticked off as they were.

When they returned to the Maroon Bar, a man sat at a table off to the side, eating a hamburger. Mrs. Garcia stood in front of the counter, her arms crossed, a stern look on her face. Mr. Garcia wasn’t in the kitchen. He stood at the foot of the stairs, his face as cross as Mrs. Garcia’s arms.

Daniel’s mind searched for a witty joke to split the heavy, stifling air, and he chuckled nervously. “Hey, did you guys know there’s a McDowell’s down the street?” he said. “I didn’t know it was called that in this—”

“We’re aware, Daniel.” Mrs. Garcia said, her voice like ice. “Go upstairs.”

Carmen kept her gaze down as she went towards the stairs, her father stepping aside to let her through. Daniel didn’t move.

“You too,” Mrs. Garcia said.

You’re a part of this mess, too, Daniel heard the rest in his mind. Mr. Garcia stepped aside to let him follow Carmen, and followed them upstairs. “Go into Carmen’s room. Both of you sit down.”

Daniel did as he was told. Anime and video game posters plastered the walls, but her desk was surprisingly clean, and the LED lights behind her laptop were turned to a pleasant cherry blossom pink. While he took the chair at her desk, Carmen sat on the end of her bed.

Mr. Garcia’s broad shoulders filled the door frame, and he closed the door behind himself. “Open your menus.”

Daniel opened his menu at the same time as Carmen. Mr. Garcia was on the other side, so he couldn’t read it. But, clearly, he didn’t have to read to recognize the glowing yellow button at the top.

He pointed down at Carmen’s menu. “What is this button, Carmen?”

Carmen averted her eyes.

“What. Is. This. Button?” he repeated, heavily emphasizing every syllable.

“The Fighter menu,” she finally mumbled.

“It’s a Fighter menu. What is the one thing me and your mother don’t want you to become?”

“A Fighter.”

“And what did you do? You snuck out of the house again, deliberately disobeying our orders again to go to the Fighting Center, but you took it a step further this time — you actually became a Fighter!” Mr. Garcia raised his voice. “Did you forget what we told you on your last birthday? Or Christmas? Or your birthday before that?”

“No.”

“And you did it anyway? What’s wrong with you? Do you realize how worried we are every time you sneak out of the house like this? You could be in the back of someone’s van or dead in a ditch, for all we know. Do you even understand why we don’t want you to become a Fighter?”

Carmen sighed and mumbled something under her breath.

Anger flared through Mr. Garcia’s face, and Daniel winced. Muttering something under your breath? If there was a list of what not to do when you were in trouble, that would be close to #1. He thought he knew what would come next, but Mr. Garcia didn’t seem to be wearing a belt.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Yes, Dad, yes! Yes, I know! Yes, Mom told me the story about grandpa getting hurt in his fight! I know! You won’t let me become a Fighter, you don’t let me hang out with my friends, you don’t let me have a boyfriend, and yes, I know it’s because to you I’m just your weak frail little girl!” she screamed, her voice cracking under the weight. “I’m not someone who has to constantly be kept in a shell. I’m a human being!”

“You’re a sixteen-year-old girl, Carmen, not Lola Moreno, or Serena Gonzales, or any of the other celebrity! We’re your parents. We protect you. That’s what we do!”

“I don’t even know how to ride a bike, Dad!” Tears spilled onto her cheeks. “I’m sixteen and I can’t ride a bike because the last time I did, I got hurt, and I was seven! I want to live my life, too!”

“Not after this, you aren’t,” Mrs. Garcia cut in, throwing the door open. “No friends, no phone, no video games, and no fights for a month, Carmen Garcia.”

“So? So what? Take it all away. Lock me in my room if you want. You can’t un-Fighter me!” Carmen yelled.

And with that, she shot out of her bed, stomping out of the room and into the bathroom across the hall. The door slammed shut behind her, locking a moment later. Underneath Carmen’s soft weeping from the bathroom, the world was silent. Mr. and Mrs. Garcia shared a look, and Daniel just sat there, watching it all.

It wasn’t long before they turned their attention to him.

“What’s your name again?” Mr. Garcia said.

Daniel wet his lips. “Daniel Chase, sir.”

Mr. Garcia took a deep breath. “You don’t have to call me sir, Daniel. You’re not my son. But, you know how dangerous becoming a Fighter is, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you became one anyway. That’s your decision. I can’t control that, even if I’d rather you didn’t. But, Carmen is my daughter, and we specifically were against her becoming a Fighter. Were you aware of that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you let her anyway?”

Daniel pursed his lips. There wasn’t a good reply to that question, but at this point, digging them out of this hole wasn’t possible.

“Well?”

“If you want to know what I think…” he said, looking between both of them. “I think Carmen is a lot stronger than you think.”

Mr. Garcia shook his head. “Then I’m disappointed in you, too.”

“Excuse me!” a voice called.

Mr. and Mrs. Garcia rushed for the hallway, and Daniel followed. The man that ate downstairs stood at the base of the stairs as the source of the voice. Daniel got a closer look at his features. A casual exercising tracksuit and an older face, with brown skin darker than his own, a gray beard, and clean gray dreadlocks hanging down his face.

“Do you need more ketchup, sir?” Mrs. Garcia asked, descending the stairs.

“No. Forgive me, but…I overheard your conversation,” the man said.

Mrs. Garcia gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to hear that. My daughter, she’s—”

“It’s alright, I was the same way in my years,” he said. “I believe I can solve both of your problems, with her becoming a Fighter, and you two wanting to keep her safe, as her parents.” He bowed. “I am Jonathan Stone. I can teach her.”