The doorway lied, the other side is not well lit at all. Quite the opposite. Being paralyzed and pulled through utter darkness sucks. My perception is not working. It might be the speed. More than likely it is some sort of method in blocking those types of abilities. Not that knowing my surroundings would do much to benefit me.

I am deposited unceremoniously into a small room. It’s illuminated, thankfully. Where the light is coming from is the question. Every wall, the ceiling and even the floor are emitting light. My senses tell me they are all metal though. This material is so cool. If only I can learn more about it. That might not help me in my current situation, but it would slate my curiosity.

No seams in the walls, no symbols, instructions or anything else. Waiting is the name of the game at the moment. I should heal my hand. It’s still gripping the knife that one guy conjured up. Blood covers my hand and the blade.

The cut isn’t particularly deep or painful. It does take a little bit more of an effort to heal. Leaving new pink skin instead of no sign of an injury. The effort doesn’t make me feel drained or anything like that. Simply surprises me. Could it be some aspect of the knife?

Visually the knife is a knife. My perception and magic senses say otherwise. It lacks real substance. Feels like the energy associated with metal, but there is none. Almost like someone 3d printed a knife with the energies normally associated with the material it should be made out of. Another trick to learn. The list keeps growing.

The knife starts to break down. It is my only weapon and I’d hate to lose it. In an attempt to save it I try to apply my own energy into it. It is extremely similar but not exactly the same as the knife. Instead of reinforcing the structure it breaks down even faster. Tiny bits flake off and evaporate. Leaving me with an empty hand.

Maybe I can recreate it. Summoning up some energy inside myself. I shape it to be like the forces surrounding metal. It takes plenty of concentration and effort. Picturing a knife in my head. I apply the energy trying to mold it to fit. The end result is more like a sliver of nearly transparent metal. The whole process makes me feel a bit woozy. I should just reabsorb the energy.

The reverse process was a lot easier. It didn’t leave me with exactly a net zero of energy. I am in a better place then when I conjured the sliver of metal that wasn’t a knife.

“What now. Can I get a little clue?” I ask hoping they are listening. No response. Zip, zero, zilch, nought, nothing….

More nothing. I try to sit but there isn’t much space. If I had to guess maybe the room was five feet by five feet. It dawns on me that I’ve only been awake for at most two hours. I should still rest up. Who knows what it’s in store for me.

The quietness of the tiny space relaxes me. Combined with the sheer boredom I drift in and out of sleep. When I am awake I use the heat around me to reinvigorate myself.

Eventually I get bored and I stand up. Practice making a shield. It is unsuccessful. Then I try teleporting, but there is not enough room.

More waiting.

Finally something happens. My perception alerts me to one of the walls opening up. Revealing a larger room. Like all the rooms it is a sort of off white that is lit from all sides. Not quite as big as the place I went to with Mac and Lucy to train. Well the ceiling is a bit higher. I step into the room extremely weary. There is no way this is just another waiting area.

“Now what?” I ask without expecting an answer. I stretch out my senses to make sure the room is the dimensions I think it is. During this the door to my little box shuts. I turn and examine the wall. Looking for any sign of the doorway.

“This must be your first time here.” a voice behind me. The man I find standing there surprises me. His overall demeanor is surprising. About my height and a little thinner. He looks sick though. Almost as if he is strung out on some drug. Aren’t we all supposed to be in the peak of physical condition or something?

“Yes this is my first time fighting in here. I did a bit of fighting in the general population. That doesn’t matter much now.” I lie. He doesn’t need to know about Goliath. “This may be out of line, but you don’t really look up to a fight. It looks like a strong breeze can knock you over.”

“How is this your first fight?” he asks.

“Luck.” I say as I shrug. He doesn’t look convinced and we start circling each other. Mechanically his body seems to be working fine. His face and posture would indicate otherwise. Every step looks painful.

“Well I am not going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers. I don’t know what I will do if these implants aren’t removed soon.” he says. “Would you consider just giving up? I’ll let you move to my floor and make life as comfortable as possible for you.”

I considered this for a moment. If only I asked Steph how she does her mind trick, or whatever Chuck can do. He could be a really good guy and great leader in the making. Then I wouldn’t have to fight him or anyone else. The weight of everything was crashing on my shoulders. This whole thing is too big.

My movement slowed to a stop. I practically ignored my opponent as I stared at the ground and rubbing my head. Comfort or pain. Well, relative comfort or most likely death. Relative comfort until this guy turns bad or most likely death.

A flood of energy fills my body and my senses explode in clarity. I only felt like this in the training room. Which would mean the implants have deactivated. Also that the fight has begun. I look up to see my competitor on the other side of the room. He is in the center of a field of energy that is slowly expanding.

“The thing is the only way I can get relief from my pain is to inflict it on others.” he says as the field starts to engulf the room. “More people around me the less pain for everyone and as you will soon find I can focus it on a single person. So just give up now.”

I press myself to the wall unsure what to do. The implications of what this man will do. To Mac and everyone else. Imposing his will with pain. It would be leagues worse than a giant strong man.

“I guess the only choice is death.” I say resolving myself to fight.

My regret was instantaneous as the field hit me. Every nerve in my body flared. It is as though they were all being burned at the same time. The effect brings me to my hands and knees as my vision blurs. All my effort is put into stopping me from falling.

He moves. Not particularly fast or threatening. Crap, even my perception is blurry. I don’t know if it took a second or a minute, but he is standing over me. With a quick punch to my head I am on the ground. A hard kick to my gut sends me sliding. On the plus side, these strikes don’t hurt.

I manage to get on my feet and teleport as far away from him as I can. The distance does nothing to elevate the pain. He turns and walks slowly towards me.. Knowing that sooner or later the pain will get the best of me. He just needs to wait me out.

My stomach lurches. Nothing could have prepared me for the taste of my vomit. The pellets were bad going down and exponentially worse coming up. The smell is enough to make him stop in his tracks.

“Oh god, Why did you do that?” he says.

The smell is extremely bad. It makes me throw up some more. All of this is too much for him to bear. He fights the good fight, but in the end he loses. Adding more extremely toxic smelling stomach contents onto the floor.

I quickly step to teleport away as far from the pool as possible. Looking back I see him stripping off his shirt to cover and throwing it away. Some of the vomit must have ended up on it. A pungent smell told me I have some on my shirt as well.

The pain has also decreased. He must need to focus in order to project it in a way to debilitate people. That might not be the case, it doesn't matter. I need to take the opportunity. A plan is formulated.

Tearing off my shirt. I teleport around the room in an attempt to confuse him. Ending up in front of the pool of vomit. Holding my breath I wipe up the vomit in my shirt. Holding my breath I try to get the shirt as saturated as possible. He is still looking around trying to find me.

Quickly I teleport behind him. Then I force his end into the neck hole of the shirt, flip the rest of the fabric over his head, and pull his pants down for good measure. It was all done in a fraction of a second.

The results are immediate. He vomits the rest of his stomach contents and dry heaves. In an attempt to retaliate, he steps and falls over due to his legs being bound by his pants. I just sit back. This might be the evilest thing I have ever done. So I run up and kick him in the head hard. It might kill him or knock him out. Either way the fight will be over. No one should suffer like that for long.

The room goes dark and a doorway opens. It's lit in there. A clear indication the fight is over. As I walk I consider both of our shirts. Mine is a lost cause. His has some vomit on it. Nope, I can do this shirtless. The doorway shuts as soon as I pass over the threshold.

I immediately get to work rejuvenating. Hoping the lack of food in my stomach won’t cause too many issues. The process of taking in heat and repurposing as whatever energy that drives my body. This is definitely going to become a regular thing for me quickly. Spending the whole wait making sure I am ready for what comes next.

The doorway opens and I spring into action. Everything is the same as before. Is this the same room or did they move me? My previous opponent is gone, the shirts, and the vomit as well.

This time focusing on my perception to indicate motion. To the left of me a doorway opens. Carlos walks out.

“Hey buddy. Are you ready for round three?” I cry out and wave to him.

He immediately raises his hands to fire his heat rays at me. I teleport out of the way.

“Come on man. That didn’t work on me the first time. Why would it work on me this time?”

I go in for a quick end. When I get near I am thrown back rolling on the ground. All of his skin is glowing. There is a fair chance I’ve angered him a bit too much.

He goes for another blast. This time I tank it. There is definitely some sort of kinetic force combined with the heat now. I can’t see him. Maybe he can’t see me in the light.

I inch my way closer to him. The heat and kinetic forces rolling around my flesh. If I relax at all it would easily overcome me. Storing a little bit of the energy in me. Even my perception and magic senses are clouded. When the attack finally ends I am standing a few feet away from him. My flesh steaming. We are both panting hard.

The look on his face is almost heartbreaking. On several different occasions he hit me hard. Pushing himself to avenge his dead brother. All it accomplished was me a bit winded.

“Lets not do this again” I say as I unleash the stored energy back at him. He can dish it but can't take it. Flying back and hitting the wall. Falling to the floor burnt and broken. My senses tell me he is alive but he isn’t moving. After a few minutes my doorway opens up again.