Jay watched YoAnna turn her furniture-murdering gaze on the sixth sofa. The poor comfy-looking thing existed in the far corner near some dynamic paintings of angels fighting devils. It was probably trying to stay out of the way of YoAnna, the Godling of Challenge and Change.

But she had a demanding audience. And YoAnna wanted to impress.

"Farewell, dear comfy-looking sofa," Jay said as YoAnna’s eyes flickered a cruel and destructive gold light. The sofa fell apart into dust.

"Ah, no, I blinked that time!" moaned the more boisterous and jovial Junker Twin– Rick. "How about another? I swear I’ll believe the entire magical craziness with the seventh try."

The other twin, Tim, shrugged. He remained a silent and surprisingly unimpressed teen.

Why were the ginger-haired pair of troublemakers, drug dealers, and Junkside gangsters here? Jay had no clue. They didn’t fit the classical chosen-one tropes, but they were chosen nonetheless. They had given YoAnna their golden tickets with their names on them.

"I’ve seen enough," Band Lead Brit said, shaking her head. "I just don’t know if it’s right."

Brit was a southern belle originally from Alabama, which carried over with her accent and mannerism. She was devout, too. Jay wondered if she would lose her religion.

"Um. Uh." Superjock Dennis stuttered hesitantly, the biggest and strongest guy around acting sheepish. "Are giant swords involved?"

"Yes, giant swords are very much involved," YoAnna said immediately.

"I’m still not sure," he said to Brit.

Those two tended to hang out a lot even though they weren’t a couple. Their nicknames were alpha status, after all. Their programs were the best around with Dennis and Brit at the forefront of their respective cliques.

They both had stellar performances earlier at the football game. Dennis had led the team to victory. Brit had led the band to give the crowd another huge show. Jay hadn’t been there, but he’d seen the hype on his social media.

Jay could see Brit and Dennis as chosen ones.

"I wish you told us sooner," Casey said, looking up at YoAnna in awe. Financier Macy looked like she was about to kneel at YoAnna’s feet. Planner Hailey and J-Prez Emily were similarly engrossed.

The more Jay looked at the Divine Four, the more he wondered if it was possible for mean girls to be chosen ones. They had a couple of strong points. The Divine Four had an obsessive devotion to YoAnna and were half-sisters. From what Jay knew of them, they were always a unified front who followed behind Casey. Maybe they would be unified enough to kick apocalypse butt.

As for the two greatest nerds…

Mike was still in awe. His brain was probably rebooting.

Lilith was measuring, journaling, doing the math, and reviewing her work in her head. Jay could tell by looking at her eyes. They twitched up and down and side-to-side when she was thinking hard.

First Nerd Lilith, Second Nerd Mike, and the Third Nerd– Divine Planner Hailey– were the smartest kids around. But they couldn’t come up with any scientific answers against YoAnna’s magical displays and bombastic claims of godhood and apocalypses.

The chosen ones had even taken risks with two willing test subjects.

The fourth sofa had suffered its death with Rick and Tim sitting on it. YoAnna disintegrated the furniture and left the boys in a pile of dust on the floor. Then she’d spoken some actual magic words and wiped the dust off Rick and Tim, cleaning them up instantly.

How much freaking proof did the chosen ones need?

Jay was glad he trusted his whims. It made things easier. And more fun.

"You’re a sofa murderer," Jay told YoAnna.

"It’s for a good cause," she deflected.

"Tell that to the footrests and cabinets," Jay said mockingly. "How are the families of those sofas supposed to survive without them carrying your big tush?"

Casey and her Divine Four surged toward Jay with a vengeance for that joke.

Jay froze as Casey reached down for the front of his hoodie. She was going to wallop him again, getting Jay to fear for his nose.

YoAnna intervened with a sharp tap of her finger on the back of Casey’s hand. It sounded like a ruler hitting flesh.

Casey retracted her hand quickly. The back of it reddened and bruised quickly.

"No," YoAnna scolded. "This mortal is my first Champion. You have yet to be given the choice and have no right to challenge him in my presence."

Casey and the other mean girls flinched back in surprise. She apologized quickly and gave Jay his space. That left an impression on everyone else. Jay could feel the stares all over his body.

Jay had selected the yes option without further explanation. That sales pitch from earlier was too good for Jay to deny.

"I require," Lilith said quietly, "more context."

"Origin story. Exposition. More detailed revelations. Anything to further solidify the fact that magic is real, and it’s not just you." Mike looked up at YoAnna desperately. He had to crane his head back just like Jay.

Jay, Mike, and Lilith were the shortest. Lilith was five feet flat, especially in the sandals she was wearing tonight. Mike had an inch on Jay. And most people dwarfed all three.

The amazonian YoAnna cast a big shadow that swallowed up her childhood friends when years ago she had been as tiny as them. Mike trembled under her lofty gaze. Lilith glared intensely, unconcerned by the physicality or magic YoAnna exuded. Jay enjoyed the view as he anticipated some juicy exposition.

A derisive snort sounded in the back corner, interrupting the silent buildup. Jay looked past YoAnna where Spook waited.

He was a tall, suave, and sharply dressed teen with a glowering look. His entire energy suggested he was at maximum seriousness all the time.

"We have the most interesting," Jay said, "group of chosen ones."

"By design," YoAnna said, turning away from them as she sauntered toward a window. She opened it and looked out into a dark and early Saturday morning in late August, the crickets singing into the humid air.

Moonlight shone around her shapely frame, giving YoAnna an ethereal glow.

She snapped her fingers.

The light twisted and broke apart.

The broken pieces of lunar light became points that etched figures across the air. The lunar drawings lingered, moved, morphed, and did everything they could to illustrate YoAnna’s story.

"Our universe is a dimension separate but connected to the Multiverse," she said. "It is in the far corner of the Multiverse where it has yet to be tamed by the System fully. This will not last, for I have come to your world as both a boon and a curse. I can bring great fortune to all the intelligent civilizations here. But that’s after the System tests me– and you– for we few will bear the greatest duties of the Multiverse Protectorate Pantheon."

The lunar lights depicted starry universes inside bubbles moving in a huge cluster. It changed into an image of a city on a plate held up by a giant godlike woman. The same woman sculpted on YoAnna’s fountain statue.

"The Multiverse Protectorate Pantheon once spanned dozens of universes. It had a long history of facilitating gentle and fair System Apocalypses. Have no doubt, the end of your world is guaranteed. But it can be conducted within ranges that are kind, cruel, or in between. I was but a scion to be groomed to sit the chair leading this enterprise. My pantheon is– was– one of the most successful, if not the greatest, of Multiverse Pantheons. But it did not last."

The lunar images shifted to show widespread destruction of the statue woman and plated city. The statue woman broke apart. The city fell to ruins. The lunar lights flashed into images of bubbled universes filled with inner explosive lights. Like there were countless battles in each universe where the same war raged. The worst part was when it stopped. And complete stillness reigned. The lights in the bubbles winked out quickly. They became empty voids. Then the bubbles broke apart and the universes… died.

Jay shifted uncomfortably from seeing that. Would that be the fate of their universe? If so, this was serious.

"It is possible that some remnants of my pantheon remain," YoAnna continued. "But when I exited hibernation, awakened upon your world, I quickly became aware that I was to be the sole matriarch of my pantheon. Few could hold such a position. I’m also the only Systemized Godling of your universe, granting me the role of Multiverse System Guide by uncontested right. And with tonight’s birthday, I’m recognized as ready to be tested."

"By what?" Mike asked.

"The Multiverse System via its Apocalypse and Admins. It’s why I amassed a great fortune, made great political connections, and built our school." YoAnna reached up and strummed her fingers through the lunar lights. The gesture twinkled like crystal chimes. "My chosen Champions are to be gathered in that school, supported, and given reason to challenge and change. Thus they will grow and fend against these tests so we can decide the fate of our universe."

A silence followed after her words.

"We," Jay said quietly. "Not just you. But we."

"Yes. We." YoAnna turned slowly, the lunar lights fading away. "Accept my offer, and you will have power beyond imagination."

Oh. Wow.

The Spook walked forward with a fast and militant stride. He moved in front of YoAnna, disregarding the special moment of receiving the mother of exposition mic drops.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But maybe that was for the best.

Because Jay’s sorrow for YoAnna’s plight and his eagerness for great magical power almost made him overlook how screwed their position as a pantheon sounded.

"Dungeons," Spook said. "Three of them are forming right now as we speak. All around your city. These things will break open and spew murderous monsters unless the right people go inside and remove the threats."

YoAnna settled into a position behind Spook, supporting him with her divinity and lunar lights. Jay felt weird about that.

"This is Frank Stronghold," she explained. "He’s a junior agent of a secretive government agency. One that has global support from your world’s major governments. He is our age. But he’s endured a different life in comparison to yours and has earned his right to be my twelfth chosen through trial and fire."

Frank glanced annoyingly at YoAnna. That sort of disrespect didn’t bug Jay as much. But he wouldn’t help Frank if Casey leaped across the room and flying kicked him.

Frank glowered over the other ten chosen ones– since Jay’s already a Champion. "You don’t have the training. You don’t have the aptitude." He shook his head at them. "What I have has been cultivated for years. Just for this moment. And the same goes for the ten trained and capable agents needing your spots. Do the world– our universe– a favor and deny the offer when she gives it."

YoAnna frowned, swaying her head side to side. Jay could tell she wanted to refute Frank. But she held her tongue instead. The chosen must choose.

Casey and the mean-girl pack stayed resolute. They wouldn’t give up their spots no matter what.

The other six were a different matter and–

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rick asked. "Give us the magic. I don’t got all morning. I got a coffee date later."

"Big badass magic. Fight monsters. Be heroes. No biggie," Tim said.

Frank looked at the twins like they were human stains that should be wiped away.

"Who attacked your pantheon?" Brit asked YoAnna. "And why?"

"I would rather not discuss that at this stage," YoAnna said. "They are not an issue right now." She breathed deeply, which gusted the air around the room. "It’s not all gloom and doom. There are beautiful things your greatest fairy tales can’t depict out in the Multiverse. Cities the size of solar systems. Worlds that have reached the zenith of utopian designs. And dark and deep places that contain the most enchanting creations ever to be seen. It is… a journey."

"Yes," Brit said breathlessly. "I’ve been meaning to leave the band for something big. There ain’t nothing bigger."

"I don’t know," Dennis said. "This–"

"Do it," Brit cut in.

"But football. And my dad. And… I’m too deep to quit."

"Giant swords and magic powers and what have you." Brit huffed. "Try. You know this will suit you."

"Fine, fine. I say yes," Dennis said, uncertain but a tinge hopeful.

Jay smiled. He was standing in the background for the most part, but he was happy that this band of teenagers was accepting the enormous challenges set forth anyway. Now the only teens holding out were Mike and Lilith.

"Assassins," Frank said suddenly before the top nerds could speak. "She hasn’t mentioned that, has she?"

"I’ve dealt with their pitiful ilk," YoAnna said bitterly.

"What does he mean by assassins?" Mike asked.

"I can give a guess," Lilith said. "We’ve been known as chosen ones before tonight. And if YoAnna has expressed that knowledge with the governments of the world, she’s endangered us. Because why would anyone let us live if it means they’ll only get one spot for their global agents and miss out on the great powers to be claimed?"

"Oh no," Mike moaned.

Lilith pointed at YoAnna. "You could’ve gotten us killed."

"Exactly," Frank said darkly. "Some of you have been targeted plenty already."

The tension in the room elevated.

The Divine Four remained steadfast behind Casey.

Rick and Tim seemed more subdued.

Dennis and Brit looked more doubtful.

Mike was shaking like a leaf. Lilith frowned deeply, looking disappointed at YoAnna.

Everything could fall apart here. Then Frank would get his way. The governments would get the big magic instead of the true chosen ones.

"Wow," Jay said, swaggering to the center stage. He had the urge for rum, but that would have to wait. "That was a lot. Multiverse. Systems. An entire pantheon getting destroyed. Supergirl origin. And now you’re asking a handful of rando teens from Central Florida to save the universe. Not even the world, but the universe."

Jay figured Frank might have a point that the trained teenage agents should probably do it. And not this pack of roguish high school teens. From Central Florida.

"I think I know what to say that’ll turn this all around," Jay said with all the theatrics he could muster. Everyone listened intently.

YoAnna’s neutral expression softened into wonder. She leaned forward as if hoping Jay could say something that would sweep Frank’s negativity aside and push positivity into the whole situation.

"Will you go out with me, YoAnna?" Jay asked with a big grin.

YoAnna’s mouth fell open.

Then the godling snorted like a piglet. She broke into thumping laughter. It was loud, beautiful, and merry. It was a sound that eased woes, softened tensions, and put forth a sense of comedy. It was the most needed thing for them to hear.

Even though Jay was totally serious about the question, he smiled like he’d planned for YoAnna’s joy to become an infectious cheer.

"Thank you, Jay, for raising my spirits," YoAnna said. "I think I know what to say." She panned a gaze across them all before settling her sights on Lilith and Mike. "I’ve made countless mistakes. I will make many more mistakes. I am not qualified for the position I hold. But I must do it, anyway. Will you aid me? For I’ve chosen you on purpose, and no one else will satisfy."

"Hm. Okay," Lilith said simply enough. "I appreciate your forthcoming admittance to being inadequate." She raised a finger to signify she had another point. "And it would be shameful to let governmental powers gain more. I would rather have those powers."

"Amen!" Rick cheered, his twin nodding along in approval. Jay was starting to like those guys.

Mike shook his head slowly, still uncertain.

Jay smiled at his friend. "Dude, magic."

"But the danger."

"Magic," Jay repeated.

"My mom."

"Magic, Mike. Magic."

"I don’t think I’m qualified."

"You aren’t qualified, and we have agents as smart as you," Frank quickly threw out there, sounding desperate. "That’s why you should say no. You have no training. You’re a liability. The universe is at stake."

Mike sighed, heavily weighed upon by Frank’s negativity. Jay’s positivity was a little hesitant.

"I will torment you," Lilith announced, smashing through negativity with the simplicity of a threat. "When I return home after whatever slaughter and mayhem involves me, I’ll find you, Mike. I’ll make you cry. Then–"

"I’m in," Mike said immediately.

"Woo!" Jay cheered, whirling around.

He got another sweet, bright, divine smile accentuating YoAnna’s otherworldly beauty. They got through another challenge, and nothing seemed to make her happier than that. Jay smiled back.

As most of her chosen ones froze under that beaming smile, YoAnna swept her hand at them and gave her chosen ones another shock. Jay assumed they got a visit from the blue box. Within half a minute, eleven other Champions joined Jay.

He could feel it in the air. The others were like him now. They were the revival of a pantheon that nearly went extinct. It was them against the apocalypse.

"We’re doomed," Frank muttered.

"Come on, Spook," Jay said, sidling up to the guy with an impish smile. "Where’s your sense of adventure?"

Frank cringed, taking a step away from Jay.

But Jay stayed on Frank like white on rice.

"Why stick to the same old same old with those stuffy government types when you can kick it with us?" Jay yammered. "We’re your new pals now!"

"I don’t need pals," Frank said, searching for help. But none intervened. Casey and the Divine Four smiled cruelly at Frank, leaving him at Jay’s mercy.

"We’re gonna be the best of friends, I tell ya," Jay said. "It’s gonna be so amazing. Because everyone will feel the power of our friendship!"

"We’re all going to die," Frank said, "horribly."

YoAnna led the way out of the room and whooped with laughter. A few piglet snorts. Some cute and merry chortles. And a mix of chirps and shrills that sounded inhuman but engrossing.

She’d given them no orders or instructions on what came next. But all of her Champions followed in her wake. It just felt right to follow and see where this craziness led next. At least that seemed to be what Jay felt.

Jay glanced around and confirmed that everyone else was probably feeling the same. It was bigger magic this time around. Not the subtle stuff they felt from their strange school that had been built at YoAnna’s behest. This was more than the magic surrounding their nicknames.

This magic was like a call. The call to adventure. And all of the Champions were now connected regardless of if they liked each other. Even as Jay got stuck between moody Frank and vicious Casey, the two towering over little him, they didn’t lash out at him. Casey and her half-sisters gave Jay a thin measure of assurance that he’d be left at peace.

Rick and his twin swung their arms around Jay’s neck. They yanked him into their current of brazenness. Apparently, they liked Jay’s style and wanted to get to know him.

Before Jay got pulled away fully, he graciously thanked the twins for their kind considerations and slipped forward.

Jay rejoined Mike and Lilith. Their little congregation of high school phenoms, weirdos, and strangers was both wondrous and preposterous as they descended the stairs and exited out the front door.

They broke into groups to enter giant black SUVs with mysterious government types behind the wheels.

Jay blinked as he accounted for the occupants riding with him in the lead suburban. Himself, Mike, Lilith… and YoAnna.

She reached over and patted his knee, leaving a tingly sensation that warmed him up. "Thank you, Jay, for that burst of comedy when things looked bleak. It was the perfect remedy."

She beamed a dazzling smile at him again.

Jay felt helpless, sinking into himself. It was probably better for him to be looked at as a clown than to explain his crush. But then again, Jay had friends.

"It wasn’t a joke," Lilith bluntly stated.

"That’s what made it comedic," Mike said gently. "It came from the heart."

"He wants to date you, deity," Lilith hammered in. "The two of you have matching egos, so it might work out."

"Egos that large would surely invite destruction," Mike said. "But it’ll be romantic."

Jay nodded rapidly. Having friends like these two was beyond fortunate.

YoAnna nodded slowly before leaning back into her seat. She looked out the window as the city rolled by.

"So, what do you say?" Jay asked.

"No," YoAnna answered. "It’s too sudden, Jay. I just can’t, and I’m sorry."

The hurt Jay felt was great, but he’d also expected this. Even while being the first Champion to join, YoAnna was still out of reach in a sense.

Damn.

Jay slouched in his seat, wondering where they were going next. Then when they hit a road leading them toward the city outskirts, he figured they were heading to YoAnna’s more reclusive mansion.

It was an uncomfortable and silent ride. Up until YoAnna bumped her toe against Jay’s leg. Jay frowned because that gave him mixed feelings.

"I have available five Classes for you all to choose from," YoAnna said. "Normally four. But I’ve made concessions to nab the fifth. Once we reach the ceremonial profile stone I’ve crafted, you can choose from any of these five. It’ll be a more grand ceremony that way, and it’ll have your magic gear nearby."

"Is it like an RPG?" Jay asked halfheartedly. "And what are the Classes?"

"It is, indeed. Attributes. Skills. Titles. Experience earned through great effort. Plus more," YoAnna answered. "And the Classes are [Fighter], [Mage], [Medium], [Crafter], and something special."

Jay sighed, sensing YoAnna wanting him to engage her more. His heart wasn’t in it, but curiosity won out.

"And the last?" Jay asked, noticing Lilith and Mike salivating for information. They were nice enough to let Jay and YoAnna talk.

"[Freak]," YoAnna answered. "It is not a Class for the faint of heart. It’s a wildcard, without exact purpose, and could come with grave consequences. I will not be surprised if no one chooses it."

"Eh, sounds like a mess," Jay said. "Who’ll want to be that?"

“It’s the only Class that gets an affinity from the start. Affinities are like elemental powers, air, wind, fire, and such. They can also be based on concepts such as holiness, death, war, and more. [Freaks] tend to embody their affinity more than any other Class. Sometimes to a risky and monstrous degree.”

“Hm, okay. That is pretty cool. It also feels like more trouble for me, too.” Jay hummed. “Maybe I’ll take the safer option this time around. Like [Fighter]. I can be good at that.”

YoAnna arched an eyebrow, seeming doubtful of Jay.

Mike and Lilith whispered, betting over something.

YoAnna covered her smile with a hand as if she heard Mike and Lilith’s whispers clearly.

Jay narrowed his eyes. YoAnna probably had super hearing, didn’t she?