An hour after Sora’s fight, people began to retake their seats. The ring had been patched and the grounds surrounding it, re-sod. They were finally ready to proceed with the last fight of the quarter-finals.

Jason waved to me from his side of the field and I waved back grinning wildly. I loved him so much.

The other masked fighter came up behind me and laid a big hand on my shoulder as he passed. I instantly felt a shockwave go through my brain and I stumbled to my knees. He stopped and then came back to help me up. Once he was sure I was fine, he walked back to the field entrance and waited. He never said a single word.

When the fighter laid his hand upon me, a familiar sensation ran through me. It was more than familiar, it was…. No, it couldn’t be! I thought. There was just no way he could be here! At least, that’s what I thought at the time. I didn’t understand the situation. If it was him, then the other guy was…

Just before they announced the masked fighter, he turned around and nodded. Then, he walked out to the field.

T.K. came up behind me and then laid HIS hand on my shoulder and I felt the same familiarity wash over me. He told me, “You will find out why soon enough James,” and then he walked away.

It was totally surreal. I certainly didn’t think I would see both of them again, and definitely not so soon. I couldn’t figure out what they were doing back or even how they got back. I would have to be patient. Yes, because I was such a patient person.

Before I could even collect my thoughts, there was a tremor that basically shook me awake. I needed to see what was going on out there. When I arrived on the field, I saw a very deep crater off to the left of the ring. When I got closer, I saw that Jason was at the bottom of said crater. He wasn’t moving. The referee started the count. Jason then started to move and tried to climb out of the hole, but by the time he reached the crest, the counting was over, and he had lost.

I walked up to him and stretched out my hand. He looked up at me, shook his head from side to side in utter disgust, and then grabbed my hand. I pulled him out of the hole and he wiped the dirt off his clothes.

“That brings us to the end of the quarter-finals! The remaining combatants are James Patel, S.P., Sora Knoll and T.K.! The first match of the semi-finals will be in two hours; James vs. T.K.! Don’t go anywhere!” And the announcer left the ring.

I walked Jason back to his side of the field. He grabbed my hand and then he wrapped his fingers into mine. He didn’t seem too upset from his unexpected defeat. I had half expected some grumbling or groaning, but instead, he pulled me into the tunnel and gave me a big smooch. I returned his spontaneous but welcome gesture. “What was that for?”

“I just felt like giving a kiss to the fella I love. Your lips were very inviting at that exact moment,” Jason said with that grin that always made me melt. “Plus, no one can see us and I haven’t been able to kiss you on the lips since we reunited.”

“Those seem like really good reasons to me.” I playfully pushed him off of me, but he came back in and planted another wet one right on the corner of my mouth. “Stop it already. You’re distracting me. I have to fight soon and I can’t have a boner in the ring. Speaking of fights, how are you taking losing your fight, because as welcome as those kisses were, it didn’t seem like typical losing behavior?”

Jason laughed. He pulled me in real close and grabbed the small of my back. “I am a little bummed about it, but honestly, I didn’t think I would get this far. Like you, I wasn’t much of a fighter, but I could hold my own. I used to get picked on a lot when I was younger on our Earth. When I was about 14 or fifteen, I started taking boxing lessons, so all of those bullies who tried to keep me down, got a surprise one day when I fought back. After that, I was the most popular kid in school. I even joined the basketball team because I got my confidence back and really loved the game.”

“I never knew that. In the year that I’ve known you, you never told me that you were picked on as a kid.”

He lifted my chin and looked directly into my eyes. “There was never a need to before now. I told you on our first date that I didn’t really like to talk about myself. I already had to do that in interviews for shows and movies and stuff, so I didn’t really like it in my personal life," he said.

“I think I understand," I countered.  "I used to over share, because I thought I could get people to like me better if they knew about all of my amazing talents since I didn’t have any confidence in my looks.”

“And that is something I still don’t understand. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? I’m not just talking about the outside, even though you are gorgeous. Even before you found out that you were once an arch-angel, you were an amazing person. That was who I fell in love with. It also helps that you could suck the chrome off of a tailpipe. They need to nickname you Hoover.”

My mouth dropped open.

“That’s it, you got the gist of it; just let me get my pants down,” Jason said while trying to hold back laughter. I slapped him across his arm and he winced but kept laughing.

“You are so tacky.”

“You know you love it.”

I smiled.

Jason stepped back and continued with what he was saying. “But seriously, about the fight, I’m just glad that I’m one of the top fighters here. I never would have guessed when we met in the mall that fateful day that any of this would have happened. I’m really glad you came that day.” He leaned back in to give me another kiss, but Sora came up to us and grabbed his shoulder. “Umm, Sora, we were kind of in the middle of something.”

Sora looked annoyed…a rare thing for him. “I know that, but those guys are staring at you. I think I’m gonna go over there and teach them a lesson about not staring at people during private moments.”

“Heel, Sora,” I said.

“What?!” he shouted.

“First off, if you fight outside of the ring, you’ll be disqualified. Secondly, they don’t mean us any harm,” I said while stepping away from Jason.

Sora put on his patented confused look. “Do you know who they are?”

“I didn’t at first, but you can say it sort of came to me. You also know who they are by the way.”

Sora looked more confused than ever.

“The only thing I don’t know is why they are here or even how they got here.” To them I said, “Why don’t you take off your masks? I already know it’s you….dad.”

While I had been talking, Jason had grabbed ahold of me and he tensed up, looking at me with great intensity. “Did you just say ‘dad’?! But, your dads are dead James. They couldn’t be here.”

Sora was walking towards them as if he was in a trance. “Daddy….is it really you?!”

T.K. took off his mask first and revealed that it indeed was Todrick. “Yes Sora, it’s me.”

Sauza took off his mask soon after. “Hello boys. You’ve both grown a lot in less than a year; and I’m not just talking about your height.”

Todrick gave Sora a big hug. Sora just let it happen at first, but then he wrapped his arms around Todrick’s waist and began to sob.

Through tears, Sora cried, “I never got a chance to say goodbye.”

I started to tear up myself. It was a very moving scene. Jason held me tight and caressed my shoulder.

Sauza walked over to me and looked down. I looked up to meet his gaze. He smiled and then put a hand on my shoulder. I really tried to stay strong, but after he laid his hand on me, I totally lost it. He had raised me for twelve years, so I loved this man. Seeing him again brought back all of those feelings I had buried deep down. Sauza laid both hands on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around his waist. He pulled me in and we hugged one another fiercely. Sauza started to laugh. “You are always so stoic James. This is a nice surprise; a welcome surprise really.”

I pulled away from Sauza and sniffed deeply. There was a wet spot on his clothes where my face had been buried. He rubbed my head and smiled at me again. I tried my best to gather my wits so I wouldn’t blubber when I spoke. “What are you guys doing here? How did you even get back? When did you arrive? How long do you have?”

“Slow down son. Let me answer the first question and then I will get to the others.”

I nodded and just stared up at the two of them.

“For our good service on this planet over the centuries, we were given permission to participate in the tournament to see the two of you. We made it back because Master Chow’s sister is the protector of this planet. She also works with the world leaders and commands the dead; kind of like a necromancer. We actually don’t have that long to be here. We were given until the end of the tournament and then we have to go back.” It was so good to hear him speak again.

The master’s sister was a witch who was also immortal like her brother. Well, they weren’t exactly immortal, but they aged very slowly. Her name was Magus Annabelle Foseel and she had a castle on the highest mountain on the planet. She was the high queen and also helped take care of the dearly departed if they were ever instrumental in helping the world. That definitely applied to my two dads. If it wasn’t for their sacrifice protecting the planet, they would never have been injured and could have lived relatively normal lives as fighters and lovers.

I honestly didn’t understand how or why they were back, and I didn’t care. I was just happy that we got the chance for a proper goodbye. Sora obviously felt the same way.

For the next two hours while they got the field ready for the semi-finals, we chatted up a storm. I introduced Jason to the two of them and they welcomed him so warmly. They were both so happy that I had finally found him. I was just happy that they had a chance to meet him. Coincidentally, they were behaving just like my parents from my original dimension had when they had gotten to know Jason better. I was glad, because it looked like they loved him and loved him for me. Life was so perfect at that moment. I was totally in the moment and didn’t once think about having to save the universe in 100 millennia.

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Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. Or rather, there didn’t seem to be enough time to reminisce with my parents and to forget about having to fight one of them.

A bell sounded over the loudspeakers. The announcer had also taken to the ring again and began his spiel.

“Ladies and gentlemen; welcome back! It is time to start the semi-final rounds of the World Mixed Martial Arts Tournament! We commence with two power houses. First up, we have our favorite little winner….James Patel!”

The crowd cheered appreciably. I walked out of the tunnel and made my way to the ring. Walking there, I heard people shouting my name and everyone had jumped to their feet cheering enthusiastically. I hadn’t thought that I had made that big of an impression, but I must have because they seemed to love me.

Once I was in the ring, the cheers intensified to a fever pitch. It took a while for it to finally subside. The announcer had to settle them down in the end. “All right everyone; let’s bring out the next fighter! This man finishes all of his fights in record time! Will James be a match for this powerful warrior?! I bring you….T.K.!” Though it wasn’t to the extent that I received, the crowd cheered loudly.

Todrick walked up the stairs and entered the ring. He walked over to the center of the ring, where I was standing and then stopped and looked down at me. He was still wearing his mask, but I could see his calm and caring eyes smile at me. Those eyes told another story as well. He was just as anxious to fight me as I was to fight him. Other than some sparring back in the day, we had never fought one another. I would finally find out first hand just how powerful he really was. And also, since he no longer had to heal that old injury, his powers would be at their max.

The referee slash announcer walked up to us and asked, “Are you guys ready to do this?!”

I nodded my agreement and Todrick did as well.

“Then….fight!!”

I only waited long enough for the announcer to move and then I threw my hardest punch at Todrick. He deflected it like it was a side of fries he didn’t order. I hardly saw the punch he countered with. I leaned back to dodge it and then did a backflip out of the way. I righted myself and looked for Todrick, but he was gone. I felt a great heat building up and realized I was feeling heat on my back and I turned around. Todrick was spinning his arms in front of his chest and creating a ball of fire. He put his hands closer together and the ball condensed. The heat from it intensified and there was sound that resembled steam escaping from a teapot. But unlike from a teapot, it was insanely loud and quite piercing. The ball got smaller and hotter and when it was no bigger than a golf ball, he launched it towards me. It moved so fast and was so intense that the tiles on the ring floor broke apart and melted along the path of the ball. I turned to face it and braced myself for impact. I held out my hands and when it hit, I caught it, but I was pushed back to the edge of the ring leaving deep drag marks.

I held the ball floating in my hand above my head and said, “That was a good one dad, but fire can’t harm me.” I bathed myself in flames and the audience let out a collective gasp. My clothes didn’t catch fire. “I’m thinking that the first element that is unlocked with us dragons, we become immune to it. Throwing a rock at Sora and it hitting him won’t even leave a mark. That aside, let me show you how to attack with fire.” I made the miniscule ball of fire in my hand absorb the flames surrounding my body. It grew larger and larger until it was about three times to the size of the ring. The flames covering my body were now in the ball.

There was a lot of buzz in the audience about the giant fireball. They didn’t really need to show concern however, because I had no intention of throwing it. If I had thrown in, Todrick could just blow it up or just make it disappear. I had another idea all together. I jumped into the air and hovered a few dozen feet above the ring. I moved the ball in front of me and put out both hands. They turned completely white as I began to concentrate. The ball was shrinking and it changed color. First it was red, then it was orange, green, blue and then finally white before it disappeared entirely. Beads of sweat were falling in rivulets down my face from the effort of condensing that much energy.

“What was the point of that James? Why make it disappear? Didn’t you say you would educate me on how to attack with fire?” Todrick asked.

I smiled and held out my palm. My hand was empty. “I will indeed educate you father. And, who said anything about it disappearing?” I sprinted to his position before he realized I had moved, and then I thrust out my arm to within inches of his stomach. Todrick looked down and then I did a fast step move out of there just as there was an explosion of cataclysmic proportions. I had run up to the announcer and pulled him out of the ring, because the entire ring had been caught in the explosion too.

When the smoke and dust finally cleared, I was on the left side of the field with the announcer. He was still coughing up the soot. When he was done, he stood up and looked around. He realized where I was standing. “You’re out of the ring James. I have to start counting.”

“Look at the ring sir,” I told him.

Where once stood the ring, now, a crater about five hundred feet deep had taken its place. The announcer looked at it and let out a shocked whimper. We were standing at the edge of the crater. He quickly retreated once he noticed how close he was to the hole. “Where did the ring go? How do I call this now?”

“How about, the first person unconscious for a whole ten count loses?”

He thought about it for about a minute. “That actually sounds like a good---.”

“Look out!” I pushed the announcer against the wall just as Todrick crash landed next to us.

Todrick’s clothes were singed and a little dingy and he himself didn’t look much better. His eyes were shut tight and it didn’t look like he was breathing. I didn’t even know if he even could breathe. He was dead after all. Without warning, his hand shot out and grabbed a hold of my throat. He opened his eyes and stood up, lifting me off the ground in the process. I grabbed the wrist that had me in his clutches and tried to break free, but his grip was fast and firm.

Todrick spoke. “You have definitely improved my son. Your moves are spectacular and your strength is quite impressive. The only problem I have with you is that you are treating this like it was a training session. This is a real fight James and you’re still holding back. Fight me like you mean it!”

He was cutting off all of my circulation and I couldn’t breathe, so I sent him a telepathic message. I thought you would never ask, dad.

Todrick relaxed his grip for a second, but that was all I needed. I pried his fingers away with telekinesis and then lifted him off the ground. I raised my left hand to lift Todrick higher into the air. While massaging my throat, I said, “You’ve got a really strong grip there dad. I’m not gonna be able to swallow for a week. But, you asked me to get serious, so, here it is; me serious.”

I launched him higher into the air with all the force I could telekinetically muster. He went up rapidly. I jumped up after him and had to struggle to catch up to him. I didn’t know I had it in me to use that much power.

Todrick tried to right himself mid-flight, but I just launched him farther up. I kept at it until he was about five miles above the Earth. It was getting harder to breathe, so I put a psychic bubble over my head.

I flew higher still, and when we were ten miles or so up, I grabbed Todrick around the middle and launched us back to the ground. He tried to struggle, but I had him bound tightly with my mind. We were speeding up as we descended and we would soon reach the stadium. Meer seconds before we hit the ground, I let go of him and pulled up, pushing him down by jumping on top of him. The impact shook the very foundation of the stadium and everything surrounding it. Cracks appeared on every wall and seat. He landed in the crater I made from my explosion and that caused it to go deeper.

The announcer inched as close to the edge as he could and peered inside. He looked disgusted and seemed like he would pass out. The look of revulsion on his face was horrible. What he saw was Todrick’s legs sticking up and they were the only part of him visible. The announcer shakily grabbed the microphone head piece he was wearing and said, “T.K. has not moved for over ten counts, and since this isn’t a ring, that’s all I can go on! T.K. has been knocked out, so James Patel is the winner!”

There was stunned silence and then tentative applause. That gave way to louder and more boisterous cheering and then the crowd was on its feet screaming for me.

I walked back to the fighter’s entrance and sat down on one of the benches inside totally exhausted. That fight took a lot out of me. In truth, it was because I still had been holding back. I shouldn’t have done that with my dad. He would be pissed when I told him. And then there was the fact that he was much stronger than I thought he would be. Either he had always been holding back, or the injury that he kept at bay with his own power took a lot more than I realized. It begged the question, if Todrick was that strong, how powerful was Sauza? However, Sora would find that out before me since he was up next. Though, it would be awhile before that fight would happen. I had completely demolished the field with that last battle. I didn’t even know how they were going to fix all of the damage.

I heard someone walking up behind me, so I turned around. It was Rebekah. She looked pissed. “I’m really confused; can you explain something to me? How the hells are you so powerful?! It would have taken everything I had and more to do half of what you just did. I also have this nagging suspicion that you weren’t even using half of your strength.”

I was going to try and deny it, but I didn’t want to do that to her. So instead I said, “How could you tell?”

“Mostly, it was your very fighting that gave it away. You made it look so easy. It was the same way you looked when you fought me.”

“I’m sorry for deceiving you Rebekah. I promise I didn’t do it to hurt you.”

“It’s all right and I know you didn’t. When you were fighting T.K., I realized I never really had a chance against you. At first, I was angry and then I became really happy.”

“Why were you happy?!”

“I was happy because I figured that someday, we would fight again and it would be epic! At least, that is what I think now. Who knows when or if it will ever happen? I was also wondering why someone as powerful as you is on this planet. Our people would never send someone with your potential to a weak planet like this. You would have been nurtured and bred for battle to conquer the strong planets.”

I scratched my head. “I thought I was sent here because the planet was about to explode. That was what the engineers who sent me here said. I also heard them say that they would have to explain it to the king.”

Rebekah also had a confused look. “Why would they have to explain your absence to the king? Unless you’re……no, I don’t think that’s it at all.”

“What…what’s not it at all?”

“Nothing. I had a thought that you were the long lost prince, but that’s silly.”

“And why is that silly? The prince could easily be me. You said so yourself; they don’t know what planet he landed on and that he left around the same time I did. I don’t really believe in coincidence and that is a pretty big coincidence don’t you think?”

Rebekah seemed to consider all that I said, and she seemed about to accept it when Sauza came into the waiting area with Sora and Jason. “We’ll discuss it later, if there’s time.”

I nodded.

Todrick came into the waiting area shortly after the others. His clothes were totally ruined, but there wasn’t a mark on him. His body must have healed super-fast because of his dead status; less like a zombie and more like a vampire would be my guess.

The ring area was a disaster thanks to me and the announcer said they would have to postpone the next fight until something could be done. As the announcer was talking, Master Chow appeared on the field in a flash of bright white light. He walked up to the announcer and started talking to him and the other officials. The master walked down to the center of the crater and then sat down at the bottom, crossing his legs in the process. The crater began to fill with a piercing yellow luminescence and energy was shooting out of it. The ground shook with such intensity. Where Master Chow was sitting, the ground had started to rise up. It looked like dirt was going into the hole from out of nowhere. A few minutes later, the entire crater was filled in and it looked whole. Not long after that, a new ring materialized and in the center sat the master. He stood up and walked over to the officials. They shook his hand and then he just disappeared. If I had had any doubts on how powerful he was, they were alleviated at that point.

The announcer got back on his microphone and told the crowd that the next fight would begin immediately and called for Sora and Sauza. They both went out and entered the ring shortly thereafter. The last match of the semi-finals was about to begin and I would finally see how strong they both were. Sora might have been mad at me for holding back, but I knew he hadn’t entirely given it his all against me either. This time, he wouldn’t be given a choice. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen.

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Once Sauza and Sora got to the middle of the ring, they both stopped. The four of us remaining in the waiting area came out onto the field for a better view. Jason held my hand, Todrick stood to my right and had a hand on my shoulder and Rebekah was standing off to the side just to Jason’s left. We all had a feeling that this would be as Rebekah said….epic.  There’s that word again.

Sora was staring up at our dad and he had the biggest grin on his face. Sauza was looking down at Sora and had the same devilish grin. It seemed that they were both looking forward to the fight.

As soon as the announcer told them to begin, Sauza’s grin disappeared. He made the first move. He threw a bolt of lightning straight for Sora’s head, but Sora was already gone and hovering above Sauza’s own head. Sora raised his leg high and brought it down for a kick. Sauza stepped to the left and avoided the kick, and then he punched Sora in the chest which sent him flying out of the ring into the wall at the edge of the field. All of that happened in the span of ten seconds.

I looked at all of that, but I wasn’t truly surprised. I had figured Sauza would be a true challenge. I was a little surprised that Sora had been able to temporarily get a leg up, so to speak, over Sauza. Though, looking back at that little exchange, I believed that Sauza had already seen it coming.

The announcer started the ten-count, but Sora was back in the ring before he reached the second count. The crowd cheered. The fight resumed immediately with Sora jumping towards Sauza and he began punching, but Sauza just blocked every attack. That didn’t deter Sora in the least. It was my guess that Sora must have been gathering rocks and such while he was in the wall, because he suddenly launched an assault of rocks and stones of varying sizes and shapes. Sauza closed his eyes and smiled. I could read his thoughts but I didn’t really need to. That smile meant he was proud. When he opened his eyes, lightning bolts shot out of them and destroyed every single stone that came his way. Sauza never moved from his spot once.

Sora launched bigger boulders, but Sauza made short work of them long before they got close. That level of attack began to take its toll on Sora because he stopped to catch his breath and Sauza waited patiently. Once Sora was good, Sauza launched his own attack. Instead of from his eyes, he had begun to shoot lightning bolts from his hands. It was all Sora could do to dodge. Sora would bank left and Sauza would fire a bolt. Sora did a backflip to get out of the way and Sauza got behind him and shot another bolt. Sora dodged it in time and then ran towards Sauza. He got within inches of Sauza and was immediately knocked back by a swift punch.

Sauza had started gathering energy while Sora was getting back onto his feet. Sora quickly ran behind Sauza again using his super speed and tried to catch him off guard. Sora performed a knife hand chop to Sauza’s shoulder blade, but Sora’s hand went right through Sauza. He had used an illusion technique, one that made it look like he was standing still, but in reality, he was moving so fast that it only looked like he wasn’t moving. In anime terms it was called an after image.

Sauza had moved behind Sora once again and let loose the gathered energy. A gargantuan beam of energy shot out and collided with Sora. The beam sent him flying up and over the stadium walls. I heard him crash land in the fair grounds.

The ground shook and there was a flash of red light where Sora had landed. Shortly thereafter, there was a deafening roar. There was a sound of leathery wings beating against the air and that’s when I saw him. That’s when we all saw him. Sora was flying back to the stadium, but not as a human. Despite all of his talks about never doing it during a fight, Sora had changed into his dragon form to try to gain the upper hand.

The crowd flipped the fuck out. Wide spread panic had swept through the spectators. Women and children were screaming bloody murder. People were running up and down the aisles trying to flee. Men were being trampled. All kinds of people were jumping over the railings and onto the field to escape the red menace. The only people not panicking were Todrick, Jason, Rebekah and I. Well, I was sure that Betti, Yukon and Alistair weren’t panicking either, but they were up in the stands, so I didn’t exactly know.

Sauza looked up towards Sora and broke out in laughter. He hadn’t seen that form in many years. There was also the fact that Sora was in complete control, so that impressed Sauza greatly.

Sora swooped down into the stadium and shot out a blast of fire from his mouth. It was moving faster and with greater intensity then the energy blast Sauza shot at Sora. Sauza jumped up and hovered. He held out his hands and a frigid blast of ice came out and froze the fire. The fire, now turned to ice, shattered and fell to the ground. That didn’t deter Sora in the least. He spewed another fiery blast, but accompanied that with some boulders he gathered from outside the stadium. There had to be hundreds of them. They were coming from all directions and were converging on Sauza who was still floating in mid-air.

With a final assault, Sora flew in real close and was about to attack Sauza with his tail, but Sauza just held out his hands again and all of the boulders and fire disappeared. He then quickly flew up to Sora and did an uppercut to his lower jaw. The force of the blow sent Sora flying high into the air. He was hit really high up into the air over the stadium and then……he began to fall. He fell hard and fast. When he got to the top of the stadium, there was a flash of crimson light around him and he transformed back into his human form, but not consciously. He was still falling. If he had hit the ground at that speed, he would die, so I sent out a telekinetic blast to slow him down. He still hit the ground hard, but not enough to kill him, just hurt him.

The only person who knew I did anything was Sauza, because he looked over at me and shook his head. I shrugged my shoulders and sent him a message. What did you expect me to do, let him fall?

I would have caught him son.

Well….. I didn’t know.

For someone as old and smart as you are, you can be incredibly stupid sometimes. I would never let anything happen to the two of you if I can help it. He smiled. I smiled back.

The announcer, noticeably calmer after seeing Sora as a dragon, started his count. Sora never stirred during the count. When the announcer said ten, Sauza walked over to Sora and then picked him up. As he walked Sora over, there were no applause given; no cheers of any kind. It was eerily silent. After the calm had finally returned to everyone, they all moved back to their seats, but all exuberance had left them. They didn’t know how to react. I suspected that they had never seen fights like that one, nor had they ever seen a dragon.

Sauza walked over and laid Sora at my feet. I sent a telepathic message to see if he was all right. His eyes fluttered and then opened. He smiled and gave me a thumb up gesture. He was going to be just fine. The medics showed up and put him on a stretcher and then carried him away.

When Sora was gone, my father looked down at me with a grin on his face. He then reached over and gave my head a pat. “I know you think I’m being hard on you two, but I know what it is you have to do. In order for that to happen, you can no longer hold back. What happened to Sora was a warning to you.”

“I understand father.”

Sauza let go of my head and walked back to the ring. The announcer was already calling his name. I started to walk over too, but Jason pulled me back and gave me a big hug. I grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

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After I got in the ring, the announcer said his final spiel. “Ladies and gentlemen; the final match of the 133rd World Mixed Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin!” By that point, everyone had returned to their seats, but after the announcement, they all stood up again and started to cheer. “That’s right everybody, I feel the same way! On my left; the winner of the last match… S.P.!” Everyone cheered. “And on my right, a kid who needs no more introductions and totally has blown us all away with his power and skill…. James Patel!” The crowd went wild. It was quite deafening the sounds they were making, but it made me feel really good about myself.

“And with no further delay, let the final match of the 133rd World Mixed Martial Arts Tournament begin!”

I rushed forward and decked my dad square in the jaw. He flew back all the way to the edge of the ring. Sauza stopped himself just before he flew over the edge. “Wow folks! James isn’t wasting any time! What a great open!” The announcer said with exuberance.

Sauza rubbed his jaw and readjusted it. He gave me a really big grin. “That’s what I’m talking about James, but it’s still not enough!” He disappeared and reappeared right in front of me. He did an uppercut on my lower jaw and I rose into the air, but he wasn’t done. After that, he punched me in the gut with all of his might and I soared out of the ring.

I tried to right myself but I just couldn’t. I hit the wall and kept on flying. I came to a sudden stop when I hit a Ferris wheel. The supports buckled and broke and the whole contraption fell on top of me. Fortunate for me, no one was hurt since everyone was in the stadium watching the fight.

After I pushed the debris off of me, I straightened my clothes and wiped off the dust and then flew back to the stadium. I went back through the hole I had made and then re-entered the ring. The announcer had just said ‘9’ as I set foot in the ring.

“You recover really well my son. However, I still feel that you’re holding back. If you continue, you will die in this match. I’m not holding back and you saw how that affected Sora. He was even at full power. You are much stronger than he is. You always have been. I felt it when you two first came to Todrick and me. I never understood why you held back so much power during our training and I honestly don’t care what your reasons were. They no longer matter. I want you to attack me now. If you don’t give it everything you have, I will kill you.” Sauza had a pleading look in his eyes. He was quite serious.

“You would kill your own son?”

“To teach him a lesson; absolutely! On the other side, in our version of Heaven, I was told what it is you have to do and you won’t achieve it by holding back. Give it everything you have James!”

I let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Fine, I will come at you with everything there is inside me, but don’t say I didn’t warn you father.”

I closed my eyes and went inside myself to where I kept my powers. Basically it was my mental warehouse. The size of it when I first arrived in Sora’s world was probably about the size of the Macy’s department store in Manhattan on 6th. The size of it twelve years later reflected how much I had grown. It had become roughly the size of New York City.

There was a door that led to the powers I had kept hidden away. Right next to it was another door. That second door was completely sealed. It had chains and padlocks, retinal scans, lasers, and several bars to keep it locked. Above the door there was a sign that simply read ‘Angel’. I assumed that behind all of those ridiculous locks, my angel powers were in residence. I still hadn’t managed to get through, but perhaps one day I would. But for the time being, I only unlocked the door with my hidden abilities. Once I did that, the room disappeared and incorporated itself into the rest of the warehouse.

I left the mental building the same way I came in, closing the door behind me. I opened my eyes to the real world. Energy was radiating off of my body in huge waves. I looked down at my hand and brought it up to my face to have a closer look. I was pleased with the result. I clenched it into a fist and could sense the newfound strength flowing through me. I thought, so, this is full power….. Interesting.

Sauza took a step forward, but I put out a hand to stop him. “Just a second dad; I have to tell you something.”

The crowd went silent and everyone was motionless. The announcer had dropped the microphone when I started to glow and he was bending down to pick it back up, but he was frozen in the act of doing so. I had stopped everyone’s movement except for Sauza and me.

“What’s going on?” Sauza asked.

“I just wanted to have a moment to talk to you alone without any prying eyes, so I shut down everyone’s brains and put them into a placid state. All basic functions still work, like a heartbeat and breathing and so on, but all cognition has ceased. I just wanted to find out if you were serious about doing this. I’ve never been at full power before and I don’t really know what I’m capable of.”

Sauza smiled and said, “I’ll take my chances son.”

“Well all right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” and then I snapped my fingers and everyone began moving again; completely unaware of what happened. “Here I come dad ready or ---,” I disappeared and reappeared behind him and said, “not!” I punched Sauza’s back and he flew out of the ring. I flew after him and appeared under him. I kicked my dad in the stomach and he went high into the air. I caught up to him and then back handed Sauza in his cheek. He fell back towards the ring and then I flew close enough to hit him again. I put both fists together and smashed him into the ground below. And boy, did he ever hit the ground. Sauza crash-landed hard in the ring, causing it to shatter and completely break apart. He formed a large crater just off center. I landed a few feet from the edge of the new crater and peered inside. “You okay down there daddy? I didn’t hit you too hard, did I?”

Sauza jumped out of the hole he inadvertently made and kicked me in my chest which launched me from my gloating spot in the ring. Because I was finally at full power, the kick didn’t even hurt, and I was able to right myself easily.

I came back hard and fast with a flurry of punches and kicks and all manner of attacks I could summon. Sauza did the same. We were all over the place. I would punch him and send him flying, and then I would disappear. He would do the same to me and then he would disappear. Neither of us was ever visible for more than a few seconds at a time because of how fast we were both moving. I vaguely heard the announcer say something to that affect.

The stadium was starting to look a little worse for the wear. The ring had been completely destroyed, parts of the stands had small craters and every wall on the field was full of holes and cracks from either me or Sauza crashing into them.

After ten minutes of pure destruction, we both reappeared back in what was left of the rabbled ring. I was having trouble catching my breath and it looked like the same could be said for my father. He was also breathing very hard, but that didn’t stop him from giving me his best grin. I cracked a smile myself and we both started laughing. The fight had been a lot of fun, but I couldn’t keep up that pace for much longer, so I needed to end it…..quickly.

I picked up a few of the larger pieces of the ring using my telekinesis and threw them at Sauza. I ran towards him and conjured up a fiery sword. I tried for a strike, but he conjured up a sword of ice. I backed off and let the shards of the ring strike him, but he just diced them to pieces with his ice sword. I flung a fireball from the sword and he flung an ice-ball. They collided in mid-air and a mini explosion ensued sending out a shockwave of energy. Sauza ran up to me and slashed with his sword and I held up mine to deflect the blow. I knocked his sword aside and countered with a forward stab. He moved to the right and slashed horizontally to the right. I blocked it again and held the blade edge to keep his sword from moving. I pushed it back and started stabbing rapidly. He blocked some of the attack, but a lot hit their mark. Sauza jumped back and I followed him, but it was my first and last mistake.

I thrust my sword forward, expecting him to block it. Sauza dissolved his sword and dropped his guard and my sword plunged into his open chest. He stepped back and I heard the crowd gasp. What did I do? I thought. Did I just kill my father?! I was about to pull the fire sword out of him when he wrapped his arms around me and held fast. His body began to glow a burnt orange color. I tried to break free from his hold but his grip was strong. I could feel his energy building up and then, he exploded.

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I woke up in a hospital bed still wearing my dogi. Well, I was wearing what was left of it. I was completely disoriented. Why am I in the hospital? What’s going on? I thought to myself. The last thing I remembered was being caught in a bear hug and Sauza exploding. I had no idea how I survived that or if I even did. For all I knew, I was back in Heaven. I looked around the room and my eyes stopped when I saw familiar faces. Both of my fathers were sitting by the door and were talking among themselves. It wasn’t long before they noticed me and got up to walk over to me.

“How are you feeling son?” Sauza asked.

I was very agitated. “I’m pissed, that’s how I feel! I’m also a little bit confused; where am I and how did I get here?”

Todrick put a hand on my shoulder and settled me back into bed. “You’re in the hospital wing on the tournament grounds. After Sauza exploded, you were knocked out and we brought you here.”

I slouched lower into the bed. “That means I lost the tournament, doesn’t it?”

Sauza laid a hand on my arm and nodded his head. “I’m afraid so James, but it wasn’t because you were weaker than me. It honestly took everything I had to beat you. If you hadn’t made that one mistake coming in so close, you probably would have won. You weren’t even using all of your powers against me. I’m obviously no match for your telepathic powers. You should really be proud of yourself, because I am extremely proud of you.”

I was about to say something petulant but thought better of it. He was right; I had pretty much given it my all and I nearly beat him. Well…… I must have had a weird look on my face because Sauza looked at me as if I had murdered his beloved dog or something. “What’s wrong dad?”

“Other than your telepathy, you did use everything you had to fight me, correct?”

I tried not to make eye contact with him. I felt a tiny bit of shame welling up from within. “Well, for the most part I did. Other than telekinesis, I didn’t really use any of my mental powers. I didn’t think it would have been very fair. I could easily control you as I did the whole stadium, but what would I have learned from that? I needed to see just how strong I could be.”

Both of my dad’s smiled at my sentiment. Todrick gave my head a quick pat and Sauza bent down and pulled me in for a hug. He said, “That’s all right then. It wouldn’t have been a fair fight if you had.”

“That’s just what I was thinking,” Todrick intoned.

After that, they pulled their chairs next to my bed so we could continue catching up.

About an hour or so later, Sora, Jason and the rest of the gang came in to check on me. It was a wonderful little reunion and we chatted for a little bit before the announcer came in to tell us that the award ceremony was to be held the next morning. That would give me enough time to rest up. That fight was insane and I was more exhausted than I’d ever been since arriving in that dimension.

It was a grand old time in my convalescent room after the announcer left. We brought up points about my fight with Sauza and what could have been done differently. My master also praised us for making it so far in the tournament. They all left about an hour later because the doctor came in urging them all to give me my rest.

I sat in one of the chairs and watched TV for a while before bed. I wanted to quiet my mind. I thought about everything that had happened to me since I left Miami and all the things that might happen before I got back to LA. I had a lot to look forward to. Before I drifted off to dream land, I thought to myself how lucky I was that everything had transpired as it did and things could only get better from there on out. My sleep that night was a peaceful and uninterrupted sleep. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

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When I awoke, Jason was looking down at me with that goofy grin he got when he was happy to see me. As I wiped the sleep out of my eyes, I gazed into his baby blues and almost got lost in there. I snapped out of it since I had to get to an award ceremony, but I wanted to be lost in those eyes forever. I was such a sap back then. Who am I kidding? I’m still a big romantic.

He watched me as I got ready and it was very unnerving. That look said he wanted to do me right then and there. It took all I had to not let it happen. It was the problem of being a 24 year old trapped in a 12 year olds body. Jason was at least old enough to have had sex, but I digress.

We headed to the stadium where we met up with our family and friends. Betti and Yukon were laughing about something and holding hands. Alistair was sitting in between them. Master Chow was standing off to the side talking to some pretty girl and he had a very disconcerting look on his face. I recognized that look. It was the same one Jason had when he was watching me change and I almost threw up at the mental picture of seeing the master with that girl. She didn’t seem to mind though, because she was laughing at everything he said. Maybe that meant she found him foolish. Who knows…?

Todrick and Sauza were arguing over who could have actually beat me if I had used all of my powers, and Sora was staring off into space as usual until I got his attention. Our entire group then walked into the stadium. We used the combatant’s entrance and our friends waited for us by the entryway. They basically had front row seats to the festivities.

The announcer was calling us over to what was left of the ring, which wasn’t much at all. They had set up a box that had a place for the first place, second place, and third and fourth place winners. It was very similar to what they did in the Olympics.

There was a lot of talk about past tournaments and future tournaments and how well each of us did and then he lined us up on the box in our respective places. That was when he started passing out the medals. Sora was first, getting a copper medal put around his neck and then he received a check for 1 million dollars. Todrick got the bronze medal and a check for the same amount as Sora’s. I was next and the applause were deafening. I could barely hear what was being said, but I saw it all. The announcer put a silver medal around my neck and handed me a check for the amount of 5 million dollars. It was like winning the lottery. The odds were just as high if you considered how we had to win it. And Sauza was last, getting the gold medal placed around his neck and a check for 10 million dollars. He also received a champion’s belt that had his name embossed on the front in gold lettering. Sauza held it in his hands and the announcer grabbed his arm and lifted the arm and belt above their heads. The crowd was insane with glee over all of our triumphs. It was the best tournament anyone had ever seen.

Later on, we were all standing by the back entrance. Lots of the spectators had stopped us to congratulate us, so we went around back to avoid all of the fandom. Also, it was time for Sauza and Todrick to return to the netherworld. Of course I was sad, but since I was finally able to give them a proper goodbye, I wasn’t too sad. Sora somehow managed to keep it together. Everyone else however were wreaks. Betti was balling her eyes out and Rebekah kept blubbering. They had only just met, but I was sure it was more for me and Sora that they carried on like that.

Sauza told us, Sora and I, that we probably wouldn’t see them again until after we died and hopefully that wouldn’t be for a long while. As we were talking, I noticed that they were both becoming transparent. They were fading away. Then, the most beautiful woman appeared before us. She was clad all in white. Her dress was a sheer material with a gold inlay. The sleeves of her blouse extended just below her hands and were wide at the ends and had more gold as embroidery. She walked up to us and stopped in front of Master Chow. She did a very meticulous bow before him and then called him brother. The rest of the group was shocked, except for Master Chow and me. I knew who she was. I had watched the show after all. He made the same sort of bow and called her sister.  It was Magus Annabelle Foseel and she was Earth’s protector and also the High Queen of the planet.

The part I didn’t know because it was never brought up in the show was that centuries ago, the master had been next in line to ascend the throne, but he refused it and that meant it would go to his younger sister. The reason she had come to us was to take my fathers to the netherworld. That was one of her jobs as protector. It mostly only applied to great warriors who at one point saved the planet, which my dads did in the past many times.

Once the two of them had completely vanished, my own tears started to fall. As I said before, at least this time I got to see them off.

Jason grabbed my hand and led me away. Sora followed behind like a little puppy dog. The rest of the gang also followed, except for the master, who stayed behind to speak with his sister about something. He asked us not to wait for him, so I suggested that we all go back to the hotel for some much needed rest and relaxation.

It was a quick walk back to the hotel and I for one was glad to be there. I missed the beds the hotel had. It was by far the most comfortable bed ever. Not that the beds in the medical ward were uncomfortable, it’s just that the ones in the hotel made them feel like they were a bed of nails.

Back in the hotel, the concierge at the front desk called us over and asked us for our room keys. Because we had done so well in the tournament, they extended our stay and gave us an upgrade for free. We had been given the top floor suites for another week. That was music to my ears. If the beds were amazing in a slightly ritzy room, I could only imagine what they were like in the best rooms.

The suites were three to four times the size of our previous rooms and those rooms could have fit my last apartment from Miami. Each suite was roughly the size of a modest two story house. I later found out that they were 2400 square feet in size. It was probably made for the wealthy and for royalty.

When we got to our new digs we found that all of our things had been moved inside already. Yukon had decided that he would stay with Betti, so I took the chance to move in with Jason. I figured I could be distracted since the tournament was over. Sora also stayed with us. He had his own room on the opposite side of the suite so it was like we had the place all to ourselves.

That night, I slept like a baby. Well, maybe I should have said I slept like new parents after their baby finally went to sleep. I was that tired. I didn’t wake up until noon the next day. Jason only woke up an hour before me and the others a little earlier than that. Everyone must have been tired. We had been here for a few days so it made sense. I could still see the circles under Sora’s eyes when he came out of his room. It took him over an hour to get ready. He fell asleep in the shower for twenty minutes before I got him up again. We didn’t finally meet up with everyone until about 2:30 in the afternoon.

I asked if they wouldn’t mind doing the tourist thing since we still had five days left. They all agreed like eager little beavers. The only person who didn’t agree was the one person who hadn’t returned and that was Master Chow. He was still talking with his sister the High Queen somewhere.

We walked to the fairgrounds to see what kind of trouble we could get ourselves into. Betti and Yukon were busy making puppy eyes at one another so they didn’t really have a lot of input in what we did. Though Jason and I were the same, crazy in love, we were still focused on doing something fun. He wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, but it was still damaged from when I smashed into it during my fight with Sauza. I also wanted to ride it. It was one of those couple activities I never got to do with him on our planet and was technically too young to do on this one. But that aside, we all took in everything else that the park had to offer. We had dinner in one of the park restaurants. It resembled a clipper ship and served seafood. It had rigging high in the ceiling with a small mast that came out on the roof. It had circular windows just like on the inside of a ship with doors that could be sealed shut in case of a storm and wooden floor boards and a captain’s wheel at the stern. There was even a slight rocking to give it a real ocean voyage feel. Sora didn’t like that part very much because he almost lost all of his meal on the floor. When we got back to our room, Sora ran to his room and slammed the door shut. In the background I heard him in his bathroom throwing everything up. He must have passed out afterwards because I heard him snoring not long after. I laughed and then joined Jason in our room. After some light conversation, we also went to bed. It had been a full but also fulfilling day. However, it was what happened in two days that would be the most memorable of the trip; even more so than the tournament.

I awoke to music playing in the room that was reminiscent of Celtic folk songs and a buffet of food next to the bed. There was a big tray of bacon and an even bigger tray of eggs topped with parsley florets. Next to that was a smaller tray of buttermilk biscuits with a bowl of sausage gravy in the center of it. On a separate cart there were sausage links and flapjacks also some cinnamon raisin bread and tater tots galore. Next to all of those things, on a small plate next to that was a bottle of ketchup and warm maple syrup. I almost forgot about the butter that was melting next to the biscuits. I had died and gone to fat boy heaven. I sprang from bed and immediately looked for a plate. I was on my third plate before Jason came in. He looked surprised that I was already eating.

“I was hoping that we could eat together but its fine…go ahead.”

“Oh, I thought you got this just for me. You know how hungry I get after a big fight. You picked all of my favorite breakfast foods so I didn’t really think you wanted any,” I said with a sheepish grin.

Jason had no choice but to smile, but mostly he smiled because I said all of that through a mouthful of eggs and tater tots. He sat down next to me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek and proceeded to join in and we both pigged out.

The rest of that day, all we did was watch movies and order more room service. All the while we just lay in bed. Good thing my metabolism was fast I would have gained like a hundred pounds that day.

In the morning, there was a knock on the door. I answered it in my robe and found Sora beaming at me. “What’s up Sora? Why do you look so happy?”

“I finally feel better. I was throwing up all yesterday and didn’t eat a thing. This morning I ordered from the hotel restaurant and I now feel great! Let’s go exploring!”

“What?” I was barely awake. “Why would we go exploring?”

“I want to see what else is on this island. Come on; get dressed!”

“Calm down will you? Can’t I at least take a shower first?”

“Hurry up!”

So, I woke Jason up to tell him what was going on, took a shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed and then left with Sora.

We walked to the under-developed side of the island and looked around. In the middle of the day we came upon a cave on the far edge of the island. It was in a blocked off area, but the barrier looked as if it were erected centuries before so it was clear no one would be around to stop us.

Sora and I went inside to continue our exploration of the island and then also the cave. It was getting darker as we walked in and neither one of us brought a flash light. Luckily that didn’t matter because I noticed unlit torches in sconces on the walls. I went to light one and then take it off the wall, but when I lit it, every other unlit torch surged to life. Even the torches we passed on the way in had lit themselves. We apparently had stumbled upon a magical cave. It seemed oddly coincidental and you know how I feel about coincidence.

Sora and I walked farther into the cave following the line of torches down the cavern. Not long after, we reached a set of stairs leading down and followed it. When we got down to the lower level I let out a little gasp. There were paths going in all different directions. Some led back up, others led farther down and still others just stayed on the same level and went off to who knew where. However, we figured that the path that was lit, (and there was only one) had to be the path we were supposed to follow.

“James…..”

I quickly turned around because it sounded as if someone had been whispering in my ear. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Sora asked.

“James…..”

“That; did you hear that?!”

Sora just looked at me as if I had gone crazy. “James, I don’t hear any---.”

“Sora…..”

“What was that?”

It was my turn to give Sora a look, because I didn’t hear anything else other than my name being whispered really close to me. I asked, “Is someone, or something, saying your name in like a hushed tone?”

Sora nodded.

“I have no idea what this place is, but it’s kind of freaking me out. Maybe we should turn around and go back.”

“NO!!”

We both wheeled around in a hurry to see a small blue flame hovering above the ground. I blinked and it was gone. Another troubling sight was the lights we followed to get as far as we had were going out. Only the ones still in front of us were lit. I had a feeling that if I tried to light the way back, whatever I used to light the hall would be extinguished somehow. There seemed to be only one way to go, and that was forward. So, we kept walking and walking and walking for what seemed like an eternity.

A few hours later, we came to a stone bridge that was hanging over a great abyss. It didn’t possess any hand rails and there were sections of the floor missing, but ultimately looked sturdy and safe. We could hope it was safe anyway. There’s only one way to find out, I thought to myself.

Sora walked out onto the bridge first and then I followed close behind him. After we were more than half way across the bridge, I glanced over my shoulder at the path we had taken to get to that point. I noticed several openings along the back wall. From what I was able to make out, they all looked like different paths. Since they weren’t lit, I could only surmise as that they were the paths we didn’t follow, and had we followed we would have hit a dead end; in more ways than one.

The bridge led the two of us to another cave opening along the wall which eventually brought us to a small room and a real dead end. The room was circular and several more brightly lit sconces lined the walls. On the back wall was a mural of a tribe of people that most likely built these ruins. In the mural, they seemed to be engaged in a fierce battle against some central figure that seemed to be winning. Moving further down the wall, Sora and I saw his defeat, possible banishment and what looked like a celebration.

A few of the characters in the mural looked familiar to me, especially the one with wings. I couldn’t place it, so I moved on to the center of the room. There, in the center, were two pedestals. They hadn’t been there when we first entered. They must have risen while we were looking at the mural. The ruins seemed to hold many secrets and it also seemed like the secrets were waiting for Sora and I to reveal them.

One of the pedestals had a relief carved in the shape of a fire and the other pedestal had another relief in the shape of a mountain. That was odd in and of itself, but then Sora pointed to another relief that was next to the mural. I must have missed it on the first go around. I walked over and tried to make it out. It was hard to see because it was the same color as the wall and fading away. Upon a closer inspection, I saw a person put what looked like a ball of fire on one pedestal and a big rock on the other and light was spilling out of some door in the background. I asked Sora if he saw a door, but he just shook his head. I hadn’t seen one either, but the message seemed clear enough.

The relief seemed to be to scale because the figure in it holding the fireball was my height and the same for Sora with the big rock. I made a fireball as close to the same size as in the relief as I could and Sora stomped the ground and a big rock sprang up and flew into his hands. We both walked to the respective pedestals and laid the fire and rock on them at the same time. No sooner had we done that when the mural split down the middle and began to open inwards. A warm and soothing light poured out and engulfed us. I suddenly felt calm and at peace; something I had not truly felt since arriving in that world. I decided to walk forward and Sora followed suit. As we walked in, the light completely covered us and then we were transported to another space/time.

The room we were in was all white and the gravity felt so much heavier. Breathing was also a little difficult to do. Sora looked as if he were about to pass out. I couldn’t blame him; I was also having trouble keeping conscious. As we each tried to adjust to our new surroundings, a man walked into the room but he didn’t use a door. He sort of just appeared before us. He was pretty tall, (but I was hardly five feet tall in my twelve year old body, so everyone was tall to me) with long gorgeous blonde hair and so stunning to behold. And then it dawned on me…. He was an angel. It was Briathos and he recognized me as well. Actually, he recognized my spirit since he last saw me as Adonael. “It’s good to see you again brother. It’s been too long.”

“Briathos, what are you doing here? Did we get transported to Heaven without my knowing?”

Briathos gestured to two chairs and Sora and I walked over to sit in them. He walked up behind us and rested a hand on my shoulder before saying, “Peace brother. All will be revealed in due time.”

Sora looked more confused than I felt. “How do you know one other James? Why did he call you brother?”

“I think I already told you that I used to be an angel, right?”

Sora nodded his head.

“Well, even though Briathos is from a lesser choir of angels, we share the same father; the creator of all….Janus.”

All I got was a blank stare from Sora.

“I’ll explain. Janus or God if you like, created the angels first. He started with the arch-angels and worked his way down to the cherubim and the like. After that, He made the universe. Briathos and I used to be great friends until the war in heaven. I haven’t seen him since I was captured by my big brother Lucifer.” At the mention of my brother Lucifer, Briathos tensed up. “I must have hit a nerve. I haven’t seen you jump like that since Lucifer first declared war.”

“That was a long time ago and we are here now for a greater purpose. Let me explain the situation Adonael.”

Briathos told us that he had been waiting for us for a very long time. 2000 years ago, there was a fierce battle between warriors and a powerful and evil wizard. He brought this star system to its knees with his terrible power. There was a tribe of spirit warriors called the Mitmeer who helped the other warriors defeat the great evil. Their special powers allowed them to forge great weapons that only a chosen person could wield. It was with these weapons that they eventually won the day. Most of those magical tools had been lost over time, but two remained.

Briathos gave one to each of us. They looked like silver charm-bracelets. He put them on our wrists. The metal then melted and moved up my arm to form a kind of metallic armband. Sora’s just reformed itself to create a wristband.

I was able to feel a quiet but powerful energy inside the item. Though it was funny, it made me feel as if I had just finished an important quest in a role-playing game. It was like the one to find the most powerful weapon ever forged, but you had to play for hours and go through several dungeons to locate it.

Briathos then told us how the tools could be used to turn into any weapon we could think of, and those that we couldn’t as well. The only issue was we would need a significant amount of training to truly know how to wield them. The first weapon would be one that was most suited to our then current abilities and skills. All we had to do, according to Briathos, was concentrate on forging a weapon and the item would do the rest.

I closed my eyes and tried to create a sword from the article on my arm. I peeked into Sora’s mind and saw that he wanted fighting gloves. Those could be deadly, I suppose. Definitely in his hands, I thought to myself. The band on my arm began to twitch and grow warm. I opened my eyes and looked down. There was a glow; a bright crimson color and as I watched, it stretched out to form something new. When it was done, I had a fighting staff and Sora had a short sword. That was so not what I wanted. I had my heart set on a sword. I had always wanted a sword specially forged for me like in medieval times or a samurai film. Though, if you considered my fighting style, it was actually the perfect fit.

Sora and I played with our new ‘toys’ for an hour before we realized that we had been gone all day and everyone would get worried. I turned to leave and saw that the door was no longer there. I turned back to Briathos and asked, “How do we leave here? I no longer have my teleportation ability. Are you going to take us back?”

“No brother, I must return to Heaven now that my purpose has been fulfilled. I hope to see you again in your true form. Until that day,” he gestured to a new door that had just materialized, “Have a safe journey and I pray for your success. Goodbye brother,” and he vanished.

The two of us walked through the new door which led to utter darkness. We walked for what seemed like hours until we saw bright light ahead of us, so we kept walking. Once we got to the light, it enveloped us and we ended up at the entrance of the cave. Waiting for us was Master Chow and his sister Annabelle. They had arrived shortly after we entered the cave. It had been foretold that the warriors would come from beyond the stars and save the planet from a huge threat. A new evil was rising and we needed to be ready for it. Queen Annabelle said that she was going to continue are training from then on because we needed to take the next step in order to confront the new menace. After that, it would be up to us to reach the appropriate level.

That was exactly what I had been waiting for. I knew I would have to work extremely hard, but that didn’t matter. Though, I had something new on my plate. I was going to save this universe as well. It was a good thing that I was so good at multi-tasking, because I was going to be a really busy little beaver for a long while.

Next Chapter: Time to live life