Sora and I were used to waking up early, so when we heard a squealing alarm at 6 in the morning, it didn’t faze us since we were already awake. Jason, however, was a different story. He ran out of his room like his hair was on fire. I started laughing and Sora followed suit. We couldn’t help ourselves. It didn’t help that he was only wearing briefs and his dick was flopping in the wind. That made me laugh even harder. We managed to pull it together to calm Jason down, because the master was headed down the hall.

Master Chow led us outside, once we were ready, to the back of the house. He told us before we had breakfast that we would have to do twenty laps around the house. All of us thinking it would be an easy task; we started to do some stretches and moved into some running positions. The master smiled and then pointed at the ground.

At first, nothing was there, but something began to appear. Once the objects were clear, Master Chow told us to pick them up and put them on. There were three normal looking belts and they were all black. There were also six sets of wrist bands and three sets of shirts. These were also black.

Sora bent over first and tried to pick up a shirt but it wouldn’t budge. I tried to do the same with a wrist band and had the same trouble. We thought they were stuck, but when Jason tried with a belt, he was able to lift it, but just barely. The master had magically added weight to each item. Each wristband weighed 500 pounds and was to be on our ankles as well as our wrists. The belts and the shirts each weighed 1000 pounds. Combined, we each would be wearing two tons. Basically, we had cars strapped to us. Now, we had to run twenty laps around his house with a Buick attached to our bodies. It was going to be a lot of fun, I could tell.

The run was easier for Jason since he was a little stronger than the two of us, but it wasn’t terribly difficult. After we finished with our laps, which took over an hour, the three of us fell to the ground from sheer exhaustion. I was about to take off the weights, but the master shook his head. He told us we were to wear them all day, every day, until our training was complete. The only thing we were allowed to take off was the shirt and that only when we were bathing.

And that’s how it would be for the next three months. We trained with the two tons strapped to our bodies throughout the course of every day. The weight was on even when we slept. I hardly ever turned over in my sleep anymore, mostly because I couldn’t. I was so tired at the end of the day that I pretty much slept like the dead. And the training wasn’t necessarily just martial arts either. We were mostly doing menial labor or basic exercises. We helped build a boat in a nearby city. We helped out in a fire rescue two towns over. We worked at a lot of construction sites.

As far as exercising went, we did hundreds of push-ups in a single setting. One time I had to do 1000 stomach crunches and that number just kept increasing over time. There were squats and calf raises. There were lunges and chin-ups. However, despite all the hard work, by the third month, we barely felt the weight anymore.

Every Wednesday was a free day for us. We still had to keep the weights on, but we could train in any way we saw fit. I told Sora we should work on fully developing our individual powers. Jason only had super strength, so he would just read or go swimming or something else. That first time we had a Wednesday to ourselves, the individual power training was rough. It didn’t really matter later on, but at first the only thing I could do was my telekinesis. The pyro-kinesis was hard at first and so was the earth stuff for Sora. We could have used our minds to move things, but I considered that cheating. I didn’t know about Sora, but everything to do with the mind was easy for me. I had been doing it for as long as the universe had existed. Then, finally came the day when we were done with all of our training.

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We went through the day as usual; cleaning the house, exercising and construction was all we really did. When the day was over, around 6 or 7 in the evening, Master Chow told us to remove the weights and we happily obliged. Obviously by that point we were no longer encumbered by all of that extra weight. To be honest, I didn’t feel it anymore, but my arms were chafing from where the wrist band had been. I also had a noticeable tan. I wasn’t that light to begin with, but wearing that stuff…you could see the difference.

After the weights were taken off, I suddenly felt as light as a feather. I massaged my wrists and the others did the same. The ankle bands and belts didn’t hurt as much, but those damned wrist bands…. Once we got all of the kinks worked out, the master asked us how we felt. When we all said amazing, the master just smiled.

He had us try out our newfound amazing-ness. Was that even a word? That was how we felt though, so if it wasn’t, it would be now. So, we tried everything out. I went first. I was supposed to test out my speed. Master Chow wanted me to run around the tree to my left, but because I was so used to wearing the weights, I over compensated. Because I was no longer used to my body, I ended up going right through the tree. I had gotten there sooner than I had expected and couldn’t stop myself in time. Now, this tree was no skinny little poplar tree, so when I said I went through a tree, I was referring to a massive oak with a really thick trunk. I felt myself going through the tree but I didn’t feel any pain. I really had gotten stronger if that was the case.

Sora and Jason had similar experiences when they tested their newfound strength. Sora jumped about 500 feet straight into the air and landed in a tree on the other side of the wall surrounding the master’s house. Jason jumped a little higher and ended up falling on the other side of the road that ran by the house. Master Chow shook his head, but I caught the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

Sora jumped down off the tree and ran back to us. Jason just jumped over the wall and landed a few feet away. I asked the master if we were going to learn how to get a better handle on our strength upgrade and he answered, “Absolutely, but not here.”

“Where are we going to practice then? Are we going on a field trip Master?” Jason asked.

Master Chow smiled openly this time. “In a manner of speaking, yes we are. I’ve entered you three in a mixed martial arts tournament. It starts tomorrow and people from all over the world come to spectate and participate.”

Things were now following the show, but… “Are we actually ready to fight seasoned MMA fighters?”

“Yes James, you boys are more than ready. Plus, this will also be a proving ground for you all. You are very strong and talented, but you’ve never been in a real fight, and even though there’s no killing in this tournament, they will try to hurt you. There are others like you on this planet. I don’t mean from your world. There are strong people on Earth though very few have your powers. Even less has mine, but they might be able to manipulate their own energy if not the energy of nature. Though, you shouldn’t worry about it. Even if you don’t win this, you’re in the tournament to learn and if you come away with new knowledge of yourselves, that’s all I could ask for as your master. Still, you should try to go for the win.” That last part he said with a smirk and we all laughed.

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After a long rest that night, we got up early to go to the tournament grounds. The grounds were located just outside of New Pandria on a small island.

The island was a resort usually, but once every three years, they close everything else down so that the tournament is the only attraction. 

 It was all done up like fair grounds. There were booths full of games and there were lots of food shops set up. Jason wanted to go to the hall of mirrors and Sora wanted to ride the bumper cars. There were stages where shows were being performed as we passed by.   Sora commented on a water slide. Jason wanted to take me through the haunted house next to the hot dog stand. I saw a Ferris wheel and a small roller coaster. It was obvious that these tournaments were something special.

Master Chow brought the three of us to the check-in station. There wasn’t a children’s division so we would be fighting against seasoned adults. Considering we’ve been training over the last seven years with adults, that wouldn’t be a problem.

On our way to the changing rooms, we ran into Betti, Alistair and Yukon. I was totally shocked and then I asked, “What are you guys doing here!?”

Betti said, “We came to cheer on Jackson. I so didn’t know you guys were also participating. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“We only found out yesterday. Our master signed us up…and when did you start calling Yukon ‘Jackson’?”

Betti blushed. “He likes it when I call him by his first name.”

Yukon also blushed. “Stop embarrassing me Betti.”

The master came from behind me and bowed his head to Betti. She was taken aback but she still returned the bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I was their master; Chow Panushi is the name.”

When Master Chow said his name, Yukon’s eyes just about sprung from their sockets. He started stammering and couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

Betti slapped him hard on the shoulders and he winced in pain, but he snapped out of his shock. “Would you pull yourself together Jackson? Geez!!”

“I’m sorry Betti, I just didn’t expect to be in the presence of….well, him! It’s an honor sir.” Yukon was shaking the master’s hand vigorously. The master just smiled and endured the adulation.

Once Yukon had calmed down and given the master his hand back, we continued to the changing rooms.

After we arrived, Betti and Alistair waited outside. Jason and Sora figured, once in the room, we would wear what we had always worn, but the master surprised us by giving all three of us new uniforms to wear. Yukon had one made by Betti and decided to wear it. The new dogi given to us was the color of a forest, which happened to be my favorite of all the greens. On the back was a picture of a bare white tree with a black background and gold embroidery to circle the whole thing. On the front, in the same gold embroidery, Master Chow’s name was done up with calligraphy. It was so ornate. It was on the left side pocket. We each gave him a bow to show our respect and give our thanks.

“Now, now, there’s no need for that. But, if you really want to show your appreciation, you will get out there and show me all that you’ve learned!”

Finally ready, we emerged from the room and one of the tournament officials led us to the fighting area. The master wished us good luck and walked away with Betti and Alistair.

The official walked us into a giant enclosure. We thought it was going to be some relatively small area or room. This room wasn’t so much a room as it was a gymnasium. The place was huge! But even with the size of the space, there wasn’t enough room to hold everyone that was there. There were thousands upon thousands of combatants. Also, it looked as if there were people from all around the world. I saw many ethnicities. Everyone also came in different shapes and sizes. I saw a few scrawny guys and some super muscled guys. I saw really skinny and some fit but not like the muscle men. Not a lot of women were there and few to no children besides Sora and I.

There was this one girl who I spotted across the room who kept staring at me. She looked to be around Jason’s age and her hair was jet black and a little wild. She was wearing a red sports bra and black workout pants that were very form fitting. Her sneakers were black and so were her arm bands. The girl’s arms were folded across her chest and one leg was in front of the other as she was leaning against a wall.

Every time I would look away and then back, that girl was still clocking me. She was so weird, and for some reason I got a sense that I should have known her. She seemed familiar to me. I tried focusing in on her thoughts, but she must have sensed me trying to invade her mind, because as soon as I got close, she put up a mental barrier. I didn’t think she was a telepath, but she seemed to know some of the tricks to block a telepath. A simple trick like putting up a wall couldn’t really stop me any longer, but I figured I wouldn’t pry any further.

I caught up to my group and we stopped a few feet from where the announcer was. He had already begun his run down of the day’s events.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 133rd World Mixed Martial Arts Tournament! Well, that’s what I would say if this wasn’t the preliminaries.”

The crowd gave a little chuckle.

“Instead, I’ll say to you, welcome warriors to the preliminary matches of the 133rd, blah, blah….you know the rest.”

This guy was a riot.

“So, let’s begin. Feast your eyes over to the left.” We all turned to our lefts. “These eight small fighting stages are where we will whittle down the competition. There are only eight spots open, but 1224 combatants. To make it as fast and painless as possible, we will have a battle royale on each stage. This will still take a while to finish, so I hope you all made accommodations with the island hotels.”

He went on to explain the rules and had us get in our places.

Even though Sora, Jason, Yukon and I were assigned consecutive numbers, we ended up in different groups. That was good because I didn’t want to fight any of them; not yet any way. Luckily, we were all in the first few groups, but if we won, we would still have to wait until the next day to fight again.

Sora went first in group 4. He didn’t use any of his special powers, but quickly defeated the other nineteen fighters in his group. They couldn’t keep up with him. His speed was quite impressive. The fight, however, wasn’t. It was over in a few minutes with Sora as the winner. He knocked everyone unconscious and out of the ring. It wasn’t an immediate out if you landed outside of the ring, but you only had 10 counts to return or it was a loss. Since no one was awake for those 10 counts, they obviously couldn’t return to the ring.

I wasn’t able to catch anyone else’s fights because they were on the other side of the building. Before I got in the ring, since it was my turn next, I told everyone, through telepathy, to meet at the hotel when they were done.

I got into the ring and faced down my opponents. They were all adults, and all were very muscular. They looked intimidating, though I wasn’t intimidated. The referee for my ring blew the starting whistle and the other nineteen fighters’ rushed me. The idiots must have thought they could get rid of the kid first and then go for the others. It was a shame I had to disappoint them all. I took a small step to the left to get out of the way. Still not in total control of my newfound strength, I ended up on the other side of the ring. I nearly fell off the side. I had to wave my arms wildly to keep from falling. One of the fighters saw my precarious state and tried to take advantage. He was about to punch me out of the ring, but I heard him coming so I jumped in the air to avoid him. Now the gymnasium, or small stadium where the preliminaries were being held, was easily twice the size of a normal football stadium, and was also several hundred feet taller. I jumped at least half way to the roof. I really needed to get a better handle on these new powers. Those mistakes would not be acceptable if I wanted to win the tournament.

I used my telekinesis to stop myself and I also used it to propel me back towards the ring. I noticed as I made my descent that all eyes were on me. I could see my comrades as well and they were gawking and shaking their heads at my mistake. Jason sent me a thought. Why are you showing off babe?

I didn’t do it on purpose Jason. I’m still trying to gauge my new strength. Don’t worry so much. By the end of this, I will know exactly what I’m doing.

Right…

I had a huge grin on my face when I landed in the center of the ring. I didn’t give the other fighters time to mark my return. I kicked one guy and he flew through the crowd. I punched another and he flew through the roof. Another one flew out an open door on the right side of the building. The next, I punched so hard he went through the stadium floor. It was basically the same for the other fourteen fighters remaining. I was so fast that they never saw me coming. The whole thing took me about two and half minutes. Once the referee came out of his trance, he declared me the winner.

I got out of the ring and walked to the exit. Everyone around was still staring at me. As I walked by, I noticed that heads would turn to mark my progress. There were even some whispers about me. I caught many thoughts wondering who I was and, Why is this kid so strong? I just hoped that I didn’t reveal too much of my strength too soon.

I got outside and saw my friends waiting for me. Sora gave me a high five and Yukon gave me a hearty pat on the back. Jason, however, just looked at me and then gave me what he thought was a light punch on the arm. My arm totally went numb. “Damn Jason; that really hurt!”

He pulled me in for a hug and squeezed me so tight, that I couldn’t breathe. “I’m so sorry.”

I tried to get him to ease up, but I couldn’t move. Sora got his attention and Jason let me go. He was apologetic again while I tried to get feeling back in my body. “Everything is fine Jason…really it is.”

“I guess you’re not the only one who can’t completely control their strength yet.”

We walked to our hotel and went up to our respective rooms. Sora and I were in one room and Yukon and Jason were in another. Master Chow had checked us in while we were going through the preliminaries.

The hotel we were staying in was very fancy. I personally had never stayed in a place that nice before. At least, I never did as James Taylor. It kind of reminded me of The Plaza in New York City. It seemed to possess that type of luxury. They really knew how to take care of the fighters in this tournament. The rooms were large enough to hold two king-sized beds and a small kitchen and a decent sized living area. Perhaps this was a suite and the regular rooms looked nothing like what we had. The bathroom had a whirlpool bathtub and a detachable massage shower head. The TV in the living area was a 42” flat screen plasma television with 1080p. That technology didn’t even exist in my world just yet. Do you remember that dickhead Connor I went out with so long ago? Well, he had a flat screen too, but I didn’t think it was that level of definition.

I hadn’t watched TV since before I came to this world, so I decided to kick back and sit in front of it. Sora had started watching back at Jason’s house. It was during the time I was in my coma. He wanted something to do to take his mind off of me.

Back in my room….on the nightstand between the two beds was a flat screen monitor. It kept us abreast of the fighting in the stadium. We didn’t find out until 8 o’clock that night the order of the fights for the next morning. There were 254 combatants left. Sora was to be in the fifth fight, followed immediately by Jason. I was to be in the tenth fight and Yukon was to fight in the twentieth. With that high number of fighters left, it would be at least another day before the quarter-finals. None of us actually minded waiting that long. We were treated like kings in the hotel and the longer the tournament lasted, the more we would be pampered. It had been awhile since I was waited on hand and foot. The last time for me was when I was king of England back in the 12th century. Jason was used to that type of attention since his current family was like the richest family on the planet, next to royal families that was.

While we chilled in our rooms, Jason and I talked on the phone for a while. We had decided not to visit one another because we wanted to stay focused on our respective fights in the morning. After I got off the phone with Jason, Sora and I were up talking until 10:30 and then we decided to call it a night. The fighting would resume at eight the next morning and we wanted plenty of rest.

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The next morning, we met Betti and Master Chow in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Alistair decided to find sustenance elsewhere. Yukon and Jason didn’t really eat that much, but Sora and I pigged out. I couldn’t explain what it was, but ever since our training with the master, I was never able to get enough to eat. It seemed to be the same with Sora. It must have had something to do with the race of beings we were. I was sure dragons must eat a lot, and we were dragons now.

After the look of terror had disappeared from my friend’s faces, we got up from the table and headed out to the stadium. When we got there, we were escorted to our fighting rings. I noticed that when I got to my ring, there was only one other fighter. I must have read that day’s info wrong, because apparently, we weren’t fighting in anymore group fights. From that day on, we would have individual fights, but several would go on at the same time.

The first fights were over in minutes. It’s not that the fighters were weak and un-trained; it’s just that my group was so much better. Actually, we weren’t the only ones to end our fights quickly. Some of those fighters were so good that I barely had time to see the fight before it was over. One of them was the girl that had kept staring at me the day before. When she was fighting, I could have sworn I saw her right arm turn into a dragon’s arm, but it happened so fast and was over just as quickly, I couldn’t be sure. Then there were these two guys who wore masks. They had some cool moves and I caught one of them doing magic. There was also something familiar about the way they moved. I tried reading their thoughts, but was abruptly and harshly kicked out of their minds. It was like someone slammed the door in my face. Something like that took immense skill to do…especially to me. I wasn’t too concerned about that, because I was sure I would face them in the ring soon enough.

The rest of the day was harder than the last. We each had to fight a few more times. But at the end, it was finally down to eight fighters. Jason and Yukon made it as well as Sora and me.

The other four slots were taken by the two guys in masks, a guy who totally looked like a Martian from the DC Universe and the girl who wouldn’t stop staring at me.

The quarter-finals would be held at 9 am the next morning. We got the announcement just before we left. My group walked out of the gym and went back to the hotel for some food. I was starving. None of us had eaten anything since breakfast.

I took a shower in my room and then changed into something comfortable. I only grabbed an orange from the restaurant because Jason said he would take me out to this island restaurant that reminded him of that place we went to on South Beach. The restaurant on Lincoln Rd. was an Italian place, but they didn’t have Italians on this planet. However, Jason was right about that place. It really did taste just like Italian food. The name of the place was ‘Visbacku’s’ and they had lots of pasta dishes. The taste was like pure heaven. Food aside, him taking me to that place was our first date in 12 years.

Knowing what we had planned, the others stayed at the hotel. Sora and Yukon were gonna order room service and watch pay-per-view all night.

After our fabulous meal, the two of us left Visbacku’s and took a walk on the beach that was nearby. The sound of the ocean and the big beautiful full moon kept me in good spirits. I could also tell that Jason was happy too. We decided to take off our shoes to feel the sand between our toes. It felt so squishy. I had missed all of this. I hadn’t known how much until that moment. A tear came to my eye. Jason wiped it away. It was funny though. In the six months we were dating back on Earth, we never did anything like this…not even once. Even when we were training with Master Chow, we didn’t use our down time to hang out or even completely reconnect. However, I was sure all of that would change once things settled down some.

Jason pulled me out of my thoughts by grabbing my hand and we wrapped our fingers together. I began to swing our arms back and forth and started to laugh.

He said, “This is nice James. You know, we never did this on our planet.”

I smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing. Well, it’s because of my trying to move to LA and then upon getting there having my life turned upside down. Walking on the beach was the furthest thing from my mind.”

Jason cast his glance out towards the sea. When he looked back at me, he didn’t look as happy as before. “You know that I love you, right?”

“Where is this coming from? Of course I know that you love me, but why are you so serious all of a sudden?”

He pulled me in close, wiped a stray strand of hair off my face, and then gave me a really big hug. “I’m really sorry for dating other people. I should have had more patience and will power. But, it really was all I could do to keep those girls, and some boys, at bay.” He pulled back and then started to play with my ear. That always made me super horny. I slapped his hand away in a playful manner.  I had to push him away so nothing would happen.

“Jason, stop it already. We can’t do that. Also, I forgave you months ago. Why are you still bringing that up? And, why is that up too?” I said as I pointed at his crotch.

“Well, this is because I really want to be with you again, but I brought it up because I felt really bad about what I did. I’m really sorry my love.” He hung his head in shame.

I put my hand on his shoulder and then I lifted his head by his chin. I looked him square in the eyes and said, “Seriously, I’m over it already. You need to be over it as well. I admit it did hurt when you said that you had been with people, but knowing the situation caused me to forgive you really fast. This isn’t your fault. Plus, you are so fucking hot and completely irresistible! I was just surprised that more people weren’t after you.”

He put on his most devilish grin and said, “They were, but I felt that would be too much cheating and told them all no.”

“I’m sure they still jerk off to thoughts of your naked ass in gym class.”

Jason turned around and shook his butt and I slapped it. He turned back around and looked at me with the most serious look I’d ever seen him give and then he started laughing hysterically. He was laughing so long and so hard that he began to hold his stomach. When he finally calmed down he said, “We may fight one another tomorrow. Are you going to be okay with that?”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m more than okay with it. Now I won’t have to hold back.”

There was that smile again. “Same here.”

We headed back to the hotel where we ran into the rest of the gang. They must have gotten bored with movies and room service because they were all chilling in the lobby having a good old time. We joined them and basically ended our date on a good note.

We were all in bed by eleven because the fighting was at nine and I was going first. I was to fight that staring girl and her name was Rebekah. I was hoping to find out during the fight, if she was who I thought she was. I was thinking that she was the girl who destroyed Little Flower. I wanted to prove it, so I would probably have to show my true power from the start. Well, some of it anyway. Despite that, I was really looking forward to the next day. Little did I know, but I really had something to be excited about.

Next Chapter: The Quarter-finals