A purple portal appeared before Leland.

He let out a groan, tossing his head back, then leaned forward, elbows planted firmly on the desk. Never before had his chemistry revision notes been so appealing to read.

Not now. Go away, go away, go away!

Another portal materialised by his side, then several more around him. Cadell seemed to infuse his frustration into multiple rapidly opening and closing portals as if to say, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!

Despite the overwhelming anxiety, Leland felt somewhat prepared for the special event. The super suit was on and he’d activated a few abilities as a precaution. He stalled, reading through more notes until Cadell’s hand suddenly emerged from a portal, squeezing his cheek like an excited grandma.

“A-alright!” Leland jumped out of his seat and stumbled through a portal next to him into a desert. He looked around. At first, no one seemed to be nearby, but then he spotted Cadell and Staress in the distance, at least two hundred meters away.

“R-really?” Leland complained, shaking his head. He jogged towards them, but realised halfway along the journey that he could fly, so that’s what he did, flying with a sheepish smile on his face. He was glad there was no one around because he felt weird in the super suit even though it was extremely comfortable.

He landed on the sand, stumbling slightly.

“My fault?” Cadell asked incredulously. “You should have handled this all by now! None of this would be happening if you just put on the damn— oof”

Staress elbowed him in the ribs. “Leland! You’re finally here. It’s great to see you. The time has finally come for…” She paused, mischievously meshing her hands together. “… your special event! All of your training has led up to this moment. You’ve come so far, and I am so incredibly proud of you.”

“Training? W-what training? You h-haven’t trained me for anything.”

Staress shook her head. “Maybe not official training, but you’ve learnt a lot about your capabilities. You’ve become a master through your journey.”

“M-master? W-what are you talking about?”

“Why am I here again?” Cadell asked. “You know I can use portals remotely, right? And let’s not forget, I’m a very dangerous criminal. I should be in prison right now. Hell, I should be six feet below the prison. There better be a good reason for this.”

“Moral support,” Staress said. “Little Lee is entering his first fight. You need to be here for this.”

“Why? Who do you think I am, his father?”

“I’m e-e-entering a fight?” Leland yelled, his eyes bulging.

“Yes,” Staress said, squeezing one of his shoulders. “Don’t worry, you’ve got this.”

“Do I?” Leland mumbled.

“Yes! Just endure, you’ll be fine.”

“Is this o-one of the things… y-you know the outcome of? Do I win?”

“Define win exactly.”

“D-don’t do that.”

“What do you mean? You’ll survive for sure, I think.”

“That doesn’t answer the question, Stars!” Leland exploded. “I-I-I can’t handle this. I don’t do… w-well under pressure. This isn’t some story, you know. Give me the spoilers. Give it to me straight. How does it end? Broken bones? M-m-mutilation?”

“Aww,” Staress said as if he was a toddler taking his first steps. “You gave me a nickname out of sheer terror, that’s so sweet. Honest to author— I mean god— I don’t know the details. I only know the important nuggets of information that give us a chance, not the outcomes. Besides, if you were to die from this scenario, I wouldn’t tell you. You would just freak out.”

“He’s already freaking out,” Cadell said.

Leland glared at him, “W-w-why can’t you do this? You protected Earth for ten plus years. Y-y-you should do this! You’re more experienced.”

“Nah. As the next upcoming promising superhero, I think you should do it. You need the experience.”

“I’m n-not a superhero!”

“Says the guy wearing a super suit with superpowers.”

“Oh my goodness. Can you at least a-assist?”

“That’s not how duels work, rookie.”

“Screw the duel. Let’s jump him.”

“You’re funny. Listen, I don’t fight anymore.”

“W-what’s that supposed to mean?”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Cadell’s smile faltered. “It means exactly what I said.”

“Drop it, Lee,” Staress said. “These days, he considers himself a pacifist. Just be grateful the lazy bum uses portals.”

“W-what? But that’s impossible. Someone like h-him can’t be against violence. Can’t you just use your—”

Cadell sunk into a portal.

“Rude,” Staress said. “That man better not forget us because he’s our ride home.”

“So w-who am I fighting?”

Staress put a finger to her lips and thirty seconds later a figure slammed onto the ground with such force that it trembled. Immediately, the alien locked eyes with Staress. “Is that your … champion?”

Leland rubbed the back of his head before waving, and immediately regretted the action because it felt weak. The alien caught him off guard due to its rather normal appearance. It looked… human. Almost. For starters, it had the correct number of limbs and all the typical facial features you would expect. With its sparkling orange eyes, triangular face tattoos and midnight complexion, it looked like a special custom skin you could unlock in a video game rather than a menacing destroyer of hundreds of planets.

“He certainly is,” Staress said confidently. “The strongest organism our planet has to offer.”

The alien rotated his right shoulder. “Are you sure? He doesn’t look willing to fight.”

Leland straightened his posture slightly, hoping to look even just a tiny bit more intimidating.

“Don’t underestimate our boy here,” Staress said.

“Bring me, Cadell,” the alien snapped. “Let me fight him first. He is the root cause of all of this.”

“He doesn’t want to. I’m sure he’s told you that. But if you win here, he will gladly submit and let you destroy Earth. I will be the referee and outline the conditions of this duel. Is that okay for you?”

The alien shrugged.

“Okay! The rules are simple. King Volengi, you must kill Leland here within five minutes. If you fail to do so, you lose.”

Leland looked at Staress with a glare that said a thousand words. She avoided eye contact.

“Are you both ready?”

Leland looked up. A bunch of blue insects had formed a ring around them.

“Let’s begin,” Volengi said.

“Alrighty,” Staress said cheerfully, stepping backwards. “On your marks, get set, go!”

Less than half a second before the word “go” was uttered, Volengi darted forward and sent Leland to the ground with a punch so forceful he bounced like a basketball.

Even without pain receptors active, Leland could sense his body screaming for dear life, shrivelling from the impact of each blow Volengi delivered. He quickly stumbled to his feet only for the onslaught to continue, caught on the receiving end of a rapid combination of punches, kicks and palm strikes. In the background, he noticed Staress covering her face with one hand, peeking between fingers.

However… he was still alive. Somehow. The invulnerability ability seemed to be working.

Volengi lifted Leland up by the neck, the confusion in his eyes clear as day. For a moment, the alien stood there, then his eyes widened.

“Stop,” Leland commanded. He flew up and let out a sigh of relief. Volengi wasn’t moving. Staress gave him an encouraging thumbs up.

Five seconds passed. Leland couldn’t wait to go home. He was already exhausted, and suddenly starving. Whatever was allowing him to take such incredible damage was taking a lot out of him. I’m not built for this—

*ZAP!*

Before Leland could finish the thought, an energy beam pierced straight through his chest and out of Earth’s atmosphere. Slowly, he looked down, patting his chest. There was no large hole or even a tear in the super suit. What was the damn thing made of? His powers on top of the super suits special durability seemed to have saved him. For now at least.

“It was you,” Volengi said, flying to Leland’s level. “This whole time, I felt something odd about this planet. A strange, hidden energy was in the air. It was you.”

Leland said nothing. According to Maggie, he had a strong resting bitch face. Would that intimidate the alien? He could only hope.

“I wish you told me sooner, human,” Volengi boomed. “Let’s take this seriously.” The alien’s body morphed and with each passing second Leland’s face grew more and more horrified. The alien's charcoal skin peeled off, exposing crimson glowing flesh. What were once cool looking triangular scars on his face were now, deep, hideous prints, bleeding a strange blue substance. He had almost doubled in height, his muscles were bulky, and a long tail protruded from his back.

And there was something else… a terrifying, murky energy Leland sensed deep within the alien. It was dormant. Hiding. Waiting.

Leland soared towards the skies, mentally screaming his ass off, zigzagging for good measure. This is my first fight? I didn’t sign up for this shit! Volengi teleported into view, and simultaneously they threw a punch, their fists connecting.

*CRACK!*

Leland’s arm snapped off and after his body plummeted to the ground he sprung into a dash, the limb already regenerating. He flipped, ducked and dived, narrowly evading Volengi’s burst of physical attacks.

Invulnerability. Regeneration. Heightened reflexes. Super speed. Leland had activated them all, and they were most certainly saving his ass. Luckily, the open desert was perfect for someone running for their life.

He leaped back to avoid another energy blast when an unexpected kick to the calf sent him in a spiral.

Time seemed to slow. From the beginning, the plan was to last the five minutes, to simply survive and then maybe squeeze in a good six hours of sleep before school. But when Leland caught himself with two hands on the ground, effortlessly holding up his body weight from years of secret breakdancing, his right leg lashed out, crashing into Volengi’s temple. He pushed off the ground, landing back on his feet.

But there was no time to celebrate. Volengi immediately closed the distance.

And he was smiling. Why on earth was he smiling?

*SNAP!*

Two palms slammed into Leland’s ears. Ringing erupted. Volengi predicted all of his evasive movements, catching him with continuous strikes to the skull and chest. It was like the alien had figured him out.

There was no pain, but he could feel his body struggling to regenerate, and the so-called “invulnerability” was clearly showing its limits. His senses and brain functions flickered on and off like a broken computer monitor. One second he was trying to predict attacks and the next he was incapable of calculating two plus two.

After enduring heaps of devastating punishment, while drifting in and out of consciousness, a thought floated into Leland’s mind.

I’m… I’m…

…never trusting that bitch ever again.

Volengi wrestled him to the ground, surprisingly dense knees crushing his chest and snapping ribs. “Highly disappointing, human. Goodbye.”