When Manny opened his eyes, almost instantly, he frowned.

No pain.

After big fights, he tended to wake up to big pain but there was no such sensation. Where was the raging headache and the aching muscles? Where was the sharp sting from being punched in the face over one hundred times?

Instead of lying in bed next to Sonya, he stood in a white room that stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was the most mundane and empty setting you could think of, void of any colour, creativity, and natural beauty.

Two others were present in the white space.

One of the beings, Manny decided, was most definitely not human. Even if it wasn’t the size of a giant— the entity was standing at least 9 feet— most of the typical human physical characteristics were warped in some fashion.

The number of abnormalities were large enough to become unsettling yet small enough to avoid being comical. It had a square face, red eyes and no nose. Its thin limbs were too long for the rectangular body it had and it was completely naked, exposing muddy purple skin which reminded Manny of poison and death. There was no hair or even genitals to be seen.

It stood with perfect posture and stared at him with beaming eyes. Manny couldn’t tell for sure if it was smirking or not.

The second individual, thankfully, was definitely human. The boy looked about seventeen and sat in a way that Manny had seen several times, a position he liked to call “the defeated.” Knees tucked in, the boy sat with eyes transfixed on the white surface and wept softly. He wore a hoodie and jeans.

Manny glanced at the mysterious entity who still stared him down before yelling, “Are you alright, kid?”

The boy jolted at the sound, then looked up. His eyes widened. “No way. You’re the champ. I… saw your fight. It was legendary. I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks. Happy to entertain. That fight was one of the highlights of my career, no doubt about it. Do you have any idea where we are and why there’s a… you know…” Manny nodded forwards to acknowledge the thing that was certainly not human.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“You don’t need to call me sir.”

“Sorry, Champ. Please can I call you champ?”

Manny held back a smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” He wasn’t sure why but being called champ by the kid instead of his actual name was amusing and wholesome. He said the word in a very serious tone like it needed to be capitalised in every sentence, as if it was a royal title.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The boy sniffed. “So the thing was already there when I got here. I tried talking to it but…”

“But what?”

“I couldn’t…”

Manny nodded, then crouched next to the boy. “How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know. Too long to guess.”

Manny glanced at the smirking entity which stared right back. “Wipe those tears. Sitting and crying isn’t going to do anything.”

The boy flinched at the words. “Not everyone can be fearless like you.”

“What gave you the impression I was fearless?”

“You’re scared too?”

“I’m a little tense,” Manny admitted. “And I’ve been terrified in many situations as well. I’m only human after all.”

“How do you get rid of the fear?” the boy asked shakily.

“Maybe we don’t need to get rid of it. Fear doesn’t always have to be the enemy. Sometimes it can protect us and overcoming it helps us grow. What’s your name?”

“Albert.”

“Hear me out, Albert. Have you considered the thing doesn’t have malicious intentions? Maybe it just wants to play rock, paper scissors and have a little picnic with us. Have you considered that?”

Albert smiled slightly. “No.”

Manny grinned. “Optimism never hurts. It could have killed us countless times by now so my theory still stands. I have a plan. Let’s talk to it.”

Albert’s smile vanished immediately and he shook his head frantically. “No way! Are you seriously seeing what I’m seeing? Look how big that thing is! It’s going to kill us and probably dig up our organs and eat them like some kind of zombie.”

“That’s a bit extreme,” Manny said.

“A-also, there’s nowhere to run, Champ! This place seems like an endlessly expansive area but there are actually walls. I checked. There’s no escape routes. We’re stuck here. If that thing comes after us we would well and truly be fucked!”

Manny rested a large hand on Albert’s shoulder, immediately dwarfing it. “It’s okay. Deep breathes.”

Albert followed the advice. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologise. Come on. Get up.” Manny stood up and extended an arm, yanking the boy up as if he weighed a sack of feathers. “If we’re stuck here and there’s no escape, we might as well try talking to it.”

Albert didn’t respond for a long time. His whole body trembled and tears welled. “I’ll do it myself. I’ll do what I should have done.”

“Admirable,” Manny said, genuinely surprised. “You got this, kid. I’ve got your back. I’m right behind you.”

“Really?” Albert squeaked.

“Of course.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yup”

“Do you really really mean it?”

“I promise.”

“Do you really really really-”

“Stop stalling!”

“Hey, you over there!” Albert screeched.

The entity changed its focus from Manny to Albert.

“Why are we here you big, ugly, smelly square head? I-i-if you don’t follow my commands, we will tear you limb from limb! We’re not afraid of you! Actually, me and my friend were just talking about how we were going to eliminate you right now! Yeah, you heard me! Right now! What do you think about that chump?”

There was a silence and then the entity took one humongous, swift step forwards and towered above them, red eyes blinking rapidly.

Manny was speechless. He looked back on his life to double check he hadn’t heard anything more stupid. He hadn’t. Fear had driven the boy over the edge.

“Y-y-you think this is a game?” Albert roared, snot and tears dripping down his face like a fountain.

The entity grinned for the first time, revealing crimson, square teeth. “Yes, I do. This is very much a game, contestant.”