The ground approached rapidly, and eric prepared himself. The moment Eric made contact with the concrete, he stopped. There was no impact, and it was as if all momentum had simply stopped. Eric stood up and looked around, and he was in the middle of the street, surrounded by confused and concerned onlookers.

He looked at the ground where he landed, expecting to see a massive crater, and instead, he saw perfectly intact asphalt. “Did the devil answer my prayers?” was his initial thought, but he quickly dismissed that possibility. After a while, Nathan showed up, having flown over using his power.

“Are you okay?!” Nathan asked loudly.

“Yeah. were you the one who caught me?” eric asked.

Nathan looked confused. “I just got here. Did somebody catch you?” eric nods.

“They must have. How else do you explain me stopping the moment I touched the ground? I wish I saw who saved me, though. I owe them my life.” D arrived around the corner.

“Is the kid okay?!” D yelled.

“I'm fine, D. where the fuck were you?! The fall nearly turned me into sidewalk paint!”

“I'm so sorry, kid. I had no idea that drug was on the market yet.” eric quickly calmed down.

“What the hell is that drug? He said it empowered him by one whole tier?”

“It's an experimental drug that pushes powers to their limit. The downside is that once they wear off, the person usually dies unless they take the counter drug.” d says.

Eric remembers the man's locket. “He only had one pill and was prepared to die.”

D nods. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the judges deemed you the winner, and the bad news is that your next opponent may be impossible.”

Eric quickly hailed a cab. “Tell me about them on our way to the colosseum.”

“The issue per the usual is the powers. He can shoot lasers from his eyes. I don't need to tell you that moving faster than light is impossible unless you have apex-level superspeed.”

Eric looks at d. “Well, that's true, but perhaps I could make a dust cloud or something.”

D shakes his head. “I have a better idea. Moving faster than light is impossible, but he can't hit you with his laser if you move faster than he can look at you. You must move faster than his perception.”

Eric nods. “That sound like a plan. So what's the training regime?”

Nathan speaks up. “Currently, you can run 100 meters in 10 seconds, and we need to get that down to less than 5 seconds. It's more than possible, you have the muscles for it, but you just need to train as hard at sprinting as you do combat.”

The cab pulls up to the colosseum. “sounds good, teacher.” eric goes to enter his room only to see a man in a business suit standing outside of it.

“Eric Mendoza?” The tall man spoke with a voice that conveyed centuries of experience.

“Yes, that’s me. What is it?” eric said incredulously.

“I am police commissioner Silas silvertongue. I'm sorry to bother you after such a traumatic event, but I'm afraid I must ask you about the pill Devil took.”

“Oh, that? I'm afraid I don't know much, but I can tell you what he told me. He said that the pill increased his powers by one tier and was very expensive.” eric decided to leave out the things that d told him so as not to incriminate him.

The commissioner simply nodded along. “Is that all you know?”

“Yes, that's all he told me.”

The commissioner opened his mouth to speak again, but every instinct in Eric's body told him not to let him speak. Eric quickly closed the commissioner's mouth with his hand.

Eric just as quickly removed it. “I'm so sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me.”

The commissioner looked perplexed. “How did you know of my power?”

Eric looked at him, confused. “What power? My senses just told me I would be in danger if I didn't stop you from speaking.”

The commissioner smiled. “Your senses are quite good. I possess the ability to make people do as I say. I was going to ask you to tell me if you knew anything. Sorry for not taking you at your word, but I find people lie to me often. If you have nothing to hide, you won't mind if I use my power.”

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“Power code 2a explicitly states that unauthorized use of mental manipulation type powers is illegal unless it's in self-defense. So I suggest you come back with a warrant, or a lawsuit will be the least of your worries.”

The police commissioner smiled at eric. “I respect a man who knows his rights. Fine, I'll come back with a warrant but ill make you a deal if you tell me the truth, ill offer full immunity for all the underground fights. I'm sure someone as educated on the law as you surely knows that participating in underground fighting is a felony, and any person you've killed in the ring will be treated as first-degree murder. I can call the D.A. he owes me a favor. All you have to do is tell me everything you know about the pill. I'll give you a month to think it over. I wish you luck in your next fight; I've never seen a fighter as skilled as you. It would be a shame to see you in a cell.”

The commissioner left, and eric quickly called D and told him everything.

D seemed calm. “Sounds like a good deal you should tell him.”

Eric is surprised. “But what if they throw you in jail?”

D laughed loudly. “Kiddo, I am older than any prison built by human or superhuman hands.”

“But what if they kill you? They might pin some trumped-up charge on you. You know how corrupt the cops are?”

D suddenly went silent. “Kid, you seem to forget something. My power isn't that I heal quickly or that I'm very survivable. I cannot die under any circumstance. There exists no being in the width and breadth of creation capable of killing me. I am eternal and undying. I was here when mankind was still making shit with STICKS AND STONES.” eric could feel d’s anger, but he quickly calmed down.

D sighed. “I'm sorry, kid, I get worked up sometimes because they can't hurt me, even if they could. I have friends in the highest and lowest of places. I want you to report everything you know to him. Don't worry about me, kid.”

Eric was rarely emotional, but this time he was on the verge of tears. He had never met anyone besides his mother willing to sacrifice themselves for him. Eric decided right there and then that d wasn't going to prison. Eric pulled out his phone and called the commissioner.

“I've decided to tell you the truth.”

“That was quick. Glad to see you're smart. I'll come to see you tomorrow.”

Eric went to bed.

Eric woke up to the sound of a knock on his door. He expected to see the commissioner, but instead, he saw the short blond boy that had spoken to him in the kitchen.

“Hi. I'm glad that you're okay. It would suck if you got killed by a lowlife like Devil.”

Eric smiled at him. he was one of the few superhumans that was kind to eric. “Thanks, I never caught your name.”

“My named is Zeus, but all my friends call me Z.”

“It's good to meet you, z.”

“I'm sorry I couldn't help during your fight, my family was in town, and I couldn't make it.”

“It's not your fault, and I wouldn't expect you to risk your life for a person you've only met once.”

“Well, if something like that happens again, ill be sure to help.”

“I appreciate it, Z. same goes for you.”

Z smiles brightly at him. “Thanks!”

Eric blushed slightly.

Eric coughs “anyway, it's been good talking to you, but I have a meeting in a few minutes.”

“Oh, okay, see you later.” z waved as he left.

“He’s way too cute to be a gladiator.”

An hour passed before the commissioner arrived.

“Okay, ill tell you how this works. I will use my power to force you to tell only the objective factual truth. Once I've asked all my questions, I will disappear and never darken your doorstep again, scouts honor.”

Eric nodded.

Silas opened his mouth, and erics senses screamed at him, but he controlled himself.

“Tell only the truth for the next 30 minutes.”

Eric felt something strange and indescribable overcome him.

“Did it work?” eric asked.

Silas smiled. “Try to lie.”

Eric attempted to say that he had brown hair but couldn't.

Eric tried to tell several more lies but was unable.

“The feeling is strange right? Anyway, onto my questions. Do you know the manufacturer of the drug?”

Eric spoke. “No.”

“Do you know any sellers of the drug?”

“No.”

“Do you know how the drug is produced or its ingredients?”

“No.”

Silas was frustrated. “Well, what do you know about the drug?”

Eric felt compelled to tell the truth. “I know the drug will kill you if you don't take the counterdrug.”

Silas smiled. “And how is it that you know this?”

Eric sighed. “A close friend told me.”

“And who is this friend?”

Eric looked at the man with eyes filled with malice.

“Under the effects of your power, I cannot lie, correct?”

The man felt a chill up his spine.

“Yes. why?”

“If anything bad happens to my friend as a result of what I am about to tell you, I will kill every single person you love in the most excruciating way possible, and I will make you watch.”

The commissioner felt real fear for the first time in a long time. “The fact he can say it at all means it's not an idle threat but something he fully intends on doing.”

“I give you my word that I won't lay a hand on your friend.”

Eric sighed in relief. “It's my trainer D. He knows nearly everything in the criminal underworld. If you ask him, I'm sure he would be glad to help you. But please remember that if you think I'm scary, he's much worse. He has killed me a total of 472685 times. You piss me off, I'll kill you and be done with it. You piss him off, and you're not allowed to die until he permits you.”

The commissioner once again felt fear. A feeling he was unfamiliar with, as his power allowed him to kill even the strongest person with a few words. He had arrested men who could have been called gods, and nobody would have disagreed, and yet this powerless teenager put the fear of god in him. He felt excited. For the longest time, he was going through life unchallenged, but today, someone had finally shaken him. Something told him that his life would finally become interesting.