The man, or should I say kid? Is it too soon to call myself a man? Adolescent? However you call him, the dude flicks out a shiny silver pocket watch and swings it back and forth.

"If you can last five minutes, I will consider it a loss. If I kill you before then, well, I win." He flashes a fake smile. The eyes give it away.

"Any rules?" I ask.

He laughs. "Are you serious? I just said I'm going to try to kill you and you ask for a handicap?" He pauses. "Fine, how about this. Single combat only. No weapons or sneaky shit. Castor and your lady friend can be the referees."

"Crazy bastard," the kid, Castor, snickers from the sidelines.

I shrug. "Fine by me." I'm not sure how obvious it is, but my heart is racing like crazy. The adrenaline is running through my veins at lightning pace and everything is starting to speed up.

"Wait, boss." Baldy interrupts from his place next to Castor. "Let me fight in your place."

The boss snickers, "You want your revenge after he rocked your shit? Hmm....." He pauses as if to contemplate. the watch still ticking away in motion at his wrist.

"Please," Baldy asks, "He caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting him to retaliate like that."

"Well did you learn your lesson?" Boss asks in a tone as if he were speaking to a child.

"Yes of course. Let me make it up to you." I've embarrassed him, I realize, in front of someone he respects greatly. Now I feel a little bad.

"Alright, but we're switching it up. No rules, and I'll give you a little more time just to even it out." He walks backwards and the big fella steps around him to face me.

Kathryn piques up from near the door. "Don't hurt yourself," She says.

"If I do you better be ready to run," I say looking back at her. She nods curtly.

"Are you ready?" I ask, the excitement and anxiety making me slightly impatient. The man refuses to reply, and simply glares back.

Whatever, I square up slightly and offer my fist to bump. He stares still, his expression slightly confused.

"You're an odd one," Dark Eyes says from behind the big guy. His silhouette nearly blocks my view of the ringleader. "Begin," Dark Eyes orders, and beefcake bats at my outstretched fist.

A pang of anger flares up. I hate cocky shits. I stand ready, rocking slightly on my feet with pent up energy. The big guy steps forward and rocks a flying haymaker right at my head. I weave backwards, just barely dodging the punch. I can feel the air fly at my face from the strength of the punch, but a question pops up in my mind. Does this guy even know how to fight? I step into the opening his haymaker left with a left-handed jab to his nose, not too strong but strong enough to hurt.

Baldy cusses in anger. The boss man leans forwards in his seat with a look of interest.

I'm careful not to get too close and grapple with this dude. He might not have much boxing experience but he's got the muscle and the weight to be a challenge in a wrestling match.

He wipes his now bloodied nose on his sleeve and recalibrates himself. His body language seems more cautious now. He's more guarded than before. My turn to instigate.

I lurch as if I'm about to swing a punch but then shift my weight into a kick aimed at his midsection. He realizes and turns quickly, and I miss his liver just barely. He grunts at the impact but stays standing. I drop my leg back down as he throws a punch straight at my face. I duck and step back. "How much time has passed?" I ask without taking my eyes off of Bigman."

Castor scoffs, "It's only been like fifteen seconds, dumbass."

Damn. It feels like it's at least been a minute or two.

"Cassius be careful," Kathryn says softly, almost inaudibly from behind me. I look back as if to wink confidently, but out of the corner of my eye I see the big man shift. He takes advantage of distraction and lurches forward, tackling me to the ground before I can do anything.

I slam against the floor with him on top. Jesus this guy is heavy. And damn is the floor hard. He sits up as if to pummel my head from above, but I bridge out and knock off his balance. I try to throw him off enough to slip out from under but I'm not strong enough. I reach up and grab his right arm and shoulder as my hips fall and twist, angling his torso sideways while also leaving room for me to pull out my leg and position it at his hip. I push off from his hip and free my legs, wrapping them around his neck in a triangle choke before he can react. I lock his arm in place and squeeze as hard as I can. He struggles with his other arm and scratches at my skin but I just compress even harder. After a few seconds his arm slows and then goes limp. I wait a few more just to be safe, and then let go and quickly scramble off the floor in case he wakes up.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"God fucking dammit Barn," Dark Eyes says in an irritated voice.

"There's no way," Castors says in disbelief. "He used an enhancer or something, he's a fuckin cheater!"

"You shit-head, I said there were no rules," says Dark Eyes. "And I didn't sense any of the rift anyways. God this is- fuck- I am so mad right now." Dark Eyes paces back and forth behind his collapsed henchman.

Baldy moans from the floor as he comes to.

"You just had to mend your broken little ego and now look what happened. You couldn't even beat this lanky teenager." Dark Eyes says as he helps Baldy up from the floor. "You lasted thirty seconds. Thirty fucking seconds!"

"I'm sorry boss," Baldy says and hangs his head. You can see it turn pink with embarrassment.

"Whatever, it's fine." Dark Eyes says. He walks towards me, but then moves to walk past me towards Kathryn. I step in front of him. "Careful cuz," He warns, "You still don't know who I am."

I stand my ground and hold his gaze for what feels like an eternity, until Kathryn grabs my arm. "He won. Now we can leave like you said." She declares.

"Hold on," He says. "You haven't even let me introduce myself." He gestures towards the skinny kid in glasses. "This is Castor, my cousin." Castor throw up the bird. "Hey! Quit doing that. You have no reason to be angry at them." Dark Eyes scolds. Their relationship is odd, to say the least.

"And the bald guy you just beat the shit out of is called Barnelious." He finishes.

"Hey I thought you said you'd keep that under wraps," Barn argues.

"That was until you got sat down by a kid," Dark Eyes responds.

"He's like the same age as you," Barn defends.

"Doesn't matter," Dark Eyes responds. "And my name..." He begins. "Well, you can just call me the Prince of Ash." He reaches out his hand. Weird. I move to shake it but he retracts his hand and smooths back his hair. Very immature. "And what do they call you, miss?" He asks Kathryn who is standing close to my side.

"If I tell you can we leave?" She asks.

"Of course," He flashes a bright smile. More genuine than before. "Although I'd hate to see you go."

"My name is Beyoncé," She says and offers her hand to shake.

He moves to shake her hand, but she retracts and hooks my arm. I stifle a laugh and she grins up at me.

He laughs slightly, but his eyes reek of jealousy. "You're a funny girl," He says. "I'll be seeing you, Beyoncé. And you too, beanstalk." He gestures his hand and the ice that was obstructing the door shatters into mist.

—————————————————————

- Kathryn -

"That was awesome!" I say as we head back to Jome's place. The sun has started to dip into golden hour, casting the shadows of the building roofs onto the pathway. "I'm going to be super honest, I didn't think you were going to win at first."

"What?" Cassius says in a disbelieving tone. "You of so little faith."

"Did you see him? He was huge," I defend. "And I think it's 'ye of so little faith."

"Yeah but I was still taller. I had the reach on him."

"He was like the Rock. If you were me, who would you bet on winning. You or the Rock?" I quiz.

"Fair enough," He gives.

"You know, you walk a little too slow for your stride," I say.

"Feel free to carry me home," He jests.

I realize I'm still carrying his shirt. No wonder the passersby seems offput. "Put your shirt back on," I say. "All the ladies are staring."

"Are they now?" He asks as he takes it from my hand. "And does that make you jealous?" He smirks.

"Wha- no. Did you get hit in the head?" I blush.

"Then maybe I won't put it back on," He teases.

Fine by me. Cassius isn't as beefy as Barn the baldy, but he still has some muscle to show off. I get why a lot of the girls at school would fawn over him.

"Whatever," I say and stare at the ground.

He suddenly flings his shirt in my face and takes off running down the street. "Race you there!" He shouts.

Ha. I take off after him. I'm not sure what it is, but in the short amount of time Cassius and I have gotten to know each other, I've begun to feel very close to him. It's like that feeling as if you've know someone your whole life, but in reality you've only just met them. As if they're a lifelong friend you grew up with. You just click. I feel so comfortable and safe when I'm around him.

"No fair!" I shout as he holds the distance between us. "You've got super long legs compared to me."

"I'm pretty much jogging. I don't know what you're complaining about." He jokes.

I suddenly have an idea. I act as if I caught my foot on something and fall to the ground in a poof of dust.

"Woah!" He shouts and turns around. "Are you alright?"

I plant my face in the crease of my elbow and remain emotionless. I listen as his running footsteps close in and he bends down.

"Earth to Kathryn," He says. I try not to smile. "You think you're slick, huh?" He asks.

He then grabs me and lifts me off the ground. I burst out laughing. "How'd you know?" I ask.

"It was so obvious. I mean suuuuuuuper obvious. You're a terrible liar." He says. "I could literally see you smiling."

"Me? A liar? I would never."

"My apologies your highness," He smiles. "I forgot you were incapable of mistruth."

"Yes of course. And as your punishment you must carry me all the way home."

"As you wish," He says, and stomps off towards Jome's house whilst carrying me like a damsel in distress. I place my hand over his arm. I can feel the tightness of his broad chest, and the rapid beading of his heart.

"How chivalrous of you," I reply. "And just how many ladies have you carried home, Sir Knight?"

"Hmmm, you would be the fifth." He states.

"Seriously?" I ask. I had never seen him with any girl in particular in school, but it would make sense for him to have a girlfriend though. Maybe he left her behind when he came here. Am I overstepping boundaries here?

"Nah," He says. "I lied."

I would be the liar if I said his answer wasn't relieving.

"Did you leave anyone behind?" I randomly ask.

He slows down and pauses before answering. "A few friends, I guess. I wasn't very close to all that many people after my dad was gone."

"You didn't have like, a girlfriend, or like, anything like that?" I ask awkwardly. He laughs.

"No, I did not." We walk in silence for a moment, his footsteps echoing around as the sun dips below the horizon. "Did you have a boyfriend, or like, anything like that?" He mocks.

"You're mean," I say. "No, I did not."

"That's relieving," he says.