Blake Thornwood drove through the lonely roads of the Colorado mountains, his old pickup truck straining against the steep inclines and sharp turns. Old and beat-up, his ride had seen better days. The interior was worn and torn, with cracked leather seats, a faded dashboard, and didn’t even have a CD player, let alone a smartphone dock.
He’d just spent the last week in a tech-free retreat at the behest of his Professor at the University of Denver. For a computer science major, it was important to know what it felt like to be free of the shackles of technology. The only problem was that while Blake was at that retreat, the whole world had gone to hell.
Blake listened intently to the radio, the only source of information about what the insanity happening out there across the rest of the planet. Everyone was saying it was the end of days and based on all the information coming through his tinny old car speakers, he was finding it hard to remain hopeful.
“The event is suspected to have started in the Osaka prefecture in Japan, and seems to have spread out, leaping across oceans and international boundaries more quickly than authorities have been able to react to,” the radio announcer said. She normally had a calm, soothing voice, but Blake could almost imagine the stricken look on her face as she spoke. “Fires, earthquakes, landslides, and other natural disasters are sweeping across the continents, leaving destruction in their wake. Scientists are at a loss to explain the cause, but there is much speculation.”
Blake felt a shiver run down his spine as he listened. At first, he hadn’t believed the rumors of these strange events, but there was no denying the truth of it now.
The news was coming in from every angle, no matter which station he tuned the dial to, and it was all the same. Now, as he drove through the mountains and saw the evidence of the destruction for himself, he couldn’t deny the truth any longer.
The road ahead was blocked by a massive landslide, and Blake was forced to pull over and get out of the truck. He walked to the edge of the road and looked down, his heart racing as he saw the extent of the damage.
The earth had been torn apart, massive cracks snaking through the ground and reaching up to the sky.
Blake heard a low rumble in the distance, and he turned to see a plume of smoke rising from a nearby peak. Fear surged through him as he realized that this was not a natural disaster, but something much more sinister.
He jumped back into the truck, turned around from the dead end in front of him, and floored it.
The radio was still blaring in the background. “Fires and earthquakes continue to ravage the planet,” the announcer said, her voice breaking. “The world as we know it may never be the same.”
Blake had always been a survivor, and he was not going to let the end of the world defeat him. He had moved to Denver, Colorado to go to college, and that had led him to the tech-free week-long retreat he’d just left.
His hometown of Cedar Creek was about an hour and a half north of his current location, and the retreat was high up in the Rocky Mountains. However Blake had no idea how long it would actually take, given the landslides and natural disasters were changing the very nature of the landscape as he drove through it.
These weird events seemed to be spreading across the United States of America from two different directions. These strange happenings occurred in Los Angeles and New York City almost simultaneously, then spread out from there.
Blake had no idea whether his parents in Cedar Creek were safe, or whether they’d fallen victim to the disasters spreading across the planet.
At least there would be fewer people in Cedar Creek than Denver, and when things went bad, you didn’t want to be in a place that was full of other panicked, desperate people.
Also, if he was being honest with himself, Blake missed his parents and the comfortable familiarity of life in Cedar Creek. Life in the big city was not all that it was cracked up to be.
However, returning to Cedar Creek was not as simple as just driving there. The world was a dangerous place now, and he wasn’t sure what he would find when he got home. He wondered if his parents were still alive, if their home was still standing, and if Cedar Creek was still the place he remembered.
Plumes of smoke rose from all around him, and spot fires burned all across the Rocky Mountains.
Blake cruised down the deserted road, hurtling down the side of the mountain. His old pickup truck rattled along the rough asphalt, and he idly thought that he should probably get the engine checked out once he reached Cedar Creek.
Blake was deep in thought, his mind wandering as he tried to piece together the strange events sweeping the world.
He turned a gentle corner, and he slammed the brakes on when he saw a figure standing in the middle of the road, blocking his path. Blake’s heart began to race when he saw the man’s hands were on fire, crackling with yellow and orange flames.
A pillar of smoke rose from the mountain to one side, and the other side of the road dipped down the mountain. The only thing stopping cars from careening over the edge was an old steel barrier.
The man standing in the middle of the road was tall and muscular, with a wild look in his eyes. He was dressed in tattered clothing that had singed edges. Soot and ashes covered his skin, almost like he had recently had a run-in with a fire himself, and it hadn’t gone so well.
Something wasn’t off about the man. Everything was off about him!
Blake’s fight or flight response kicked in, and he had a sudden burst of intuition that said if he stayed here, he was going to die. He slammed his foot down onto the accelerator and drove straight at the man with the flaming fists.
He hoped that his game of chicken would make this dangerous man leap out of the way, but the closer Blake got, the more steadfast the man looked.
Blake gritted his teeth as he rocketed toward the man. He wanted the man to lose his nerve and leap out of the way, but he never did. Blake closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen if he hit the man, but at the very last moment, he knew he couldn’t run someone down like this.
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He spun the wheel to the side, swerving around the man with the flaming fists. Then there was a shuddering impact to the side of the truck, followed by a peculiar feeling of weightlessness.
The world was upside down and spinning when Blake opened his eyes. Somehow the man with the flaming fists had knocked his car up into the air.
A few seconds of airtime later, the pickup truck slammed back down onto the road. It skidded across the asphalt, right toward the drop over the edge of the mountain. Blake was glad he was wearing his seat belt as the pickup truck smashed through the barrier and dangled over the edge for a moment.
Suddenly, the man with the flaming fists was standing next to the car, reaching for the driver’s side door. It was crumpled in so badly that there was little chance this guy would be able to open it even if he wanted to without the jaws of life. However, it would have taken a great amount of strength to smash the car up into the air the way that he did.
Maybe this guy could just pull the door straight from its hinges? Or use the flames billowing out of his hands to burn Blake alive?
Just as the man with the flaming fists reached toward the door, Blake shifted his weight backward, changing the equilibrium of the truck. He arched his body backward, right toward the open air that would take him over the edge and down the side of the mountain.
The pickup truck began to tilt until it reached the point of no return.
It tipped over the side of the mountain and fell.
The slope was gentle, thankfully, so there was no terminal impact that would end Blake’s life in a second.
The truck rolled over rocks and boulders, its body slamming against the rough terrain as it plummeted toward the bottom. Blake was fighting to brace himself against the impacts.
But it was no use.
The truck tumbled down the mountain, rattling his body and brain, its momentum carrying it toward the bottom. Blake’s world spun. He could hear the sound of metal crunching and glass shattering as the truck slammed into rocks and boulders, its chassis twisting and turning as it fell.
Blake was trapped inside, unable to escape as the truck continued its downward slide.
Fear gripped him as he realized that he was going to crash, and he braced himself for the inevitable impact. He might not need to worry about the wildfires and the earthquakes if he never even made it off the mountain.
The truck hit a large boulder, and it flipped end over end, its body crumpling as it tumbled down the mountain.
Blake was tossed around inside, his body slamming against the dashboard and the seats as the truck continued its descent.
Finally, the truck hit the bottom of the mountain, its body crashing into the ground loudly.
Blake was dazed and disoriented. His body ached from the impact. He tried to move, but he was trapped, his seatbelt holding him in place.
He looked around, trying to assess the damage, but everything was a blur. He could hear the sound of hissing and crackling flames as the truck’s engine caught fire.
He was in serious trouble. He could feel the heat of the flames, and he knew that he had to escape before the truck exploded.
Blake struggled against his seatbelt, his hands fumbling with the latch as he tried to release himself. The belt was jammed, and he couldn’t get it to budge. He kept on trying in vain as panic ran through him.
He had to find another way out.
Then he remembered the pocket knife he kept in the glove compartment. Blake reached over for the handle, and it was just within reach. He opened the glove compartment, then thrust his hand inside. His fingers closed around the wood grain finish of the pocket knife, and he pulled the blade out.
Blake sawed through the seatbelt and fell out of his seat. He crawled through the broken window, glass cutting into his body as he moved.
Blake emerged from the wreckage, his body aching from the crash and stinging from the fresh cuts. He stumbled to his feet and scanned the surrounding area for any signs of the madman.
The figure with blazing hands was descending the side of the mountain toward him.
Looking back at the truck, Blake knew it was seconds away from complete destruction. He backed up from the vehicle, then ran in the opposite direction of the man coming down the side of the mountain.
Just what the hell was happening here? The radio talked about natural disasters, but this was another human who was literally on fire, appeared to have superhuman strength, and wanted to kill him! Did this guy have something to do with what was happening everywhere else on the planet?
The cover of the nearby forest might give him a chance to flee. Blake was terrified that he might run into wolves, a bear, or even a mountain lion, but those were all less terrifying than the man who still pursued him relentlessly.
His feet pounded against the snow-covered earth as he tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and the wreckage of his pickup truck. He was breathing hard, his heart racing as he disappeared into the shadows of the forest. It felt like something was pushing him further into the forest, like there was something waiting for him.
Eventually Blake came to a clearing.
He turned back toward the direction he’d come from, searching for his pursuer and any other signs of danger. No signs of him. Not even sounds.
The clearing around him was peaceful and quiet, with shafts of sunlight filtering down through the trees and illuminating the lush undergrowth.
As Blake caught his breath, he noticed something glinting in the sunlight, sitting directly in the center of the clearing. He approached it, curious.
The object looked like a strange card of some kind, and its edges were glowing. Power radiated from within, calling out to him to come and pick it up. Was this what he felt calling out to him?
Blake picked up the card, his fingers tingling as he felt its energy. There was some kind of transference between him and the card, and suddenly a window appeared in front of him like he was inside some kind of video game.
[Personal Message: Welcome to the System!]
Greetings, Blake Thornwood. By obtaining your very first system-generated power card, you are now an elevated part of the new citizenry of Planet Earth! You are a Challenger! Congratulations!
Things are going to change quite a lot, and rather quickly. Those who become Challengers can draw on the power held within the cards in their possession to do amazing things!
Why don’t you take a look at your card right now?
Blake looked down at the card in his hands, too dumbstruck to do anything else. The edges of the card still glowed with power as he inspected it.
Card: Stone Fists
Level: 1
Rarity: Common
Element: Earth
Type: Sustained Ability
Cost: 1 Anima
Duration: 30 minutes
Effects: Transforms the user’s hands into fists made of stone, increasing their physical strength significantly. While affected by Stone Fists, your arms will be significantly heavier. Your strength will increase to compensate for the added weight, but you will move more slowly.
“Okay, this is not how I pictured today going,” Blake said aloud to the empty clearing. “What the heck is anima?”
Another window appeared.
[Personal Message: System Induction]
Awesome! You got your first card! It’s only a common card, but that’s totally okay. Only 1 of every 1000 cards is uncommon, and only 1 out of 1000 uncommon cards are classed as rare. Everyone’s starting off at the bottom! Well, mostly everyone. It’s a pity you weren’t one of the lucky ones.
Anyway, let me explain how this works. You start each day with 3 anima, which is just a fancy word for the energy the system uses to activate these power cards!
Your card—Stone Fists—can be used a total of 3 times a day, for a half an hour at a time. Pretty cool, right?
The more you use these cards, the stronger they’ll grow. Which, in turn, makes you stronger!
Wait, I think you have a visitor…
Blake’s heart raced with excitement, anticipation, and fear. He turned to see the man with flaming fists standing at the edge of the clearing with a murderous look on his face.
“Hey, whatever’s happening to you, it just happened to me too!” Blake said. “You’ve got a crazy magic card, right?”
The other man just scowled at Blake, his hands crackling with flames.
Blake reached for his Stone Fists card, hoping to encase his fists in stone and defend himself. He activated the card by holding it aloft and mentally triggering it to activate. A bright light shone from within, illuminating the clearing.
Instead of encasing Blake’s fists in stone, a massive creature emerged from the card.