Eyes filled with tears, Cadell woke up to see curious green eyes blinking back at him.

“Are you okay?” Hazel asked.

Cadell sat upright and took off his mask. His hand reached into a portal for a box of tissues. He shrugged while dabbing his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“I see. I just thought... You were tossing and turning in your sleep and yelling. It was very loud. It was… ” Hazel abruptly stopped mid sentence, which made sense. There was nothing else to say on the matter. At least nothing new to say. Instead, she brought up another topic. “I finished Berserk.”

Cadell raised an eyebrow. “All volumes?”

“Yes, yes, all volumes.”

“Well, what did you think?”

“Let’s just say it was a wild ride. To be able to read such an amazing story in such an unusual environment was incredible. Thanks for sharing, Cad.”

A warm sense of relief washed over Cadell. In retrospect, it seemed absurd forcing her to read his favourite manga. But then again… he was not the type of man to not recommend good media whenever possible. He couldn’t help it. It was an old habit which sprouted from a young age, from another life that had crashed and burned a long time ago.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Next up is Vagabond, it’s one about-”

“No.” Hazell interrupted, elongating the word to make it resemble a groan. “We’ve been here for too long. Weeks have passed. I’m losing my mind.”

“I told you before. Time doesn’t exist here. As you may have noticed, you can’t starve or age in here. Sleep is the only parameter I set.”

“Did you make this world?”

Cadell stroked his beard and looked behind Hazel at the empty wasteland. “I’m pretty sure I found it. One day, in a moment of desperation, I pleaded for a world where time didn’t exist. It was supposed to be a place where I could imprison myself. This was the result of that thought.”

“You stay here to sleep and replenish your energy,” Hazel said, grinning. “That’s how you’re able to fight crime twenty four seven.”

“Correct,” Cadell replied. “Alright. Now listen up. We’re going to be here for a while. Before we leave this place, you will memorise everything I know about cleansing crime efficiently. We’ll work on your strengths and weakness and even perfect some…”

“Perfect what?”

Cadell covered a very jubilant expression with a hand. It was a childish, almost goofy grin. He put on his mask quickly. “Combos, Hazel. Beautiful combos.”

“Um. Okay.”

“But first, shake my hand. It will initiate your training but be warned. Once it’s done, there’s no turning back.”

Hazel walked straight into a purple portal. She looked around bewildered, 50 metres away from Cadell.

“What are you doing over there? Shake my hand.”

Hazel shook her head, smiling. She jogged towards Cadell only to enter another portal. Now she was 75 metres away.

“Stop playing around!” Cadell yelled. “Shake my hand. Let’s become the dream team you were talking about.”

“Really?” Hazel yelled back “That’s how you wanna start this?”

“I don’t know what you’re on about. What, you’re not satisfied with a handshake? A hug works too. Bring it in, apprentice.”

“My apologies, Psycho the Superhero. I was feeling a bit shy but I like the sound of a hug. I’m coming now.”

Hazell dashed towards him. She sidestepped three portals before sinking down a portal on the ground. Cadell laughed, now reading a volume of Berserk. “You’re back where you started. It seems like you’re shy again.”

“This isn’t fu-” Before Hazel could finish her sentence, she dropped into another portal.

“Hurry up. You’re wasting my time.”

“I could say the same thing,” Hazel replied.

Two hundred and fifty-five portals and eighty failed attempts later, Hazel stood 75 metres away, breathing heavily. Though not a trace of exhaustion could be seen from Cadell-- the superhero casually turned pages of a manga volume -- he was hanging on by a thread mentally. The Voice was occupying more and more of his mind. He could feel traces of a bloodthirsty seizure scratching at the surface.

“How many times do I have to say this?” Cadell asked. “Stop playing around. Let’s train together. I thought you were ready.”

Hazel only glared in response.

Thud!

Thud, thud!

Hazel stomped her foot forwards multiple times in an attempt to lure out a portal, but Cadell had learnt from her feints just like she had learnt from his distractions.

“I was looking forward to teaching you because you seemed to have potential,” Cadell shouted. "Unfortunately, I was wrong. The fact that you don’t even want to shake my hand is a big red flag, I’m afraid, and even I can’t tolerate such disrespect. Go home.”

Hazel leaped an astonishing two metres, avoiding four portals on the ground surrounding her. She sped straight for Cadell, arms rhythmically swinging back and forth, and evaded a cluster of portals placed on the ground or floating in mid air by flipping, diving and varying her running speed. She took full advantage of the lag times between portals forming and even made some smart predictions.

Cadell swore as Hazel got closer and closer, even dropping the Berserk volume. He outstretched one arm and three large portal projectiles zoomed forwards. They’re too big to be avoided. I’m sorry but it’s over!

Hazell let out a loud battlecry and skidded on her knees, folding her whole body backwards and forcing her body on the ground as close as humanly possible. The three large portals whooshed past her, missing her by mere inches. She was back on her feet within seconds and after one final explosive jump Hazel stood right in front of Cadell.

Cadell lifted his hand up for a handshake, dangerously close to collapsing. Ninety-five per cent of his brain power was focused on keeping his powers in check.

“Good job. You’ve passed the initiation.”

Hazel slapped Cadell’s hand aside. “Nah, stop playing with me. Where’s my hug?"