Five people sat near the edges of a magic circle chanting; all of them levitating lightly off the ground, their eyes glowing white as the magic circle glowed with a dim but sparkling blue light. One of them dropped from exhaustion and was pulled away from the circle. He wasn’t the first, the circle originally had 10 magic castors but now only the strongest four remained.

“What is taking so long? They said this was supposed to take a couple of hours, it’s been nearly three days.” Might Guy asked looking out at the group.

“It takes as long as it takes I guess.” Kid Mighty responded, lounging on the canopy, her back against the wall and her feet up.

“I still don’t like this. We don’t need to summon some random hero. I can take Lunar King any day.” Might Guy said, annoyance evident in his voice.

“You may be able to beat him in battle, but he has been four moves ahead of us all.” A deep voice said behind them. “Even when we defeat him, he still comes out of it more powerful. If his powers remain unchecked we will find ourselves unable to beat him by any means soon enough. Might guy grumbled but he didn’t argue.

“Well, whoever this hero is I just hope they’re. .” Before Kid Mighty could finish, the sparkling blue light became a pillar of brilliant blue light before it exploded outward.

The magic casters fell down out of exhaustion but the ritual was complete. In the middle of the circle was what looked like a silver coffin. Moving closer one person realized it wasn’t a coffin at all but rather a pod with a glass casing on top.

“What the hell is this?” Might Guy shouted angrily looking into the pod. “Why does he have the face of the Lunar King?"

With a button press, the glass lid opened on the pod catching Might Guy off guard; he jumped and flew backward, quickly taking up a defensive stance. He saw the pod move to a sitting position and then felt a hand on his arm. Kid Mighty stepped past him, a look of shock on her face. He saw the figure step out.

“Jack, can you figure out what happened with the pod? It didn’t log me in.” Jam said stepping around and checking the pod. He knew he wasn’t logged into World of Heroes; when he was there was a certain lightness to his body, a vague feeling that he was controlling a body that wasn’t his own. It was there to anchor him in reality so he wouldn’t lose touch whenever he went on multiple day dives. He backed a step away from the pod. “Jack?” he asked and then it registered that he wasn’t just not in the game, he wasn’t in his apartment either. His hand gripped the pod as if he were trying to keep himself from flying away. He found a small crowd had gathered around him.

“Ica wah on mya” one person whispered to another.

[ Deciphering Language, please wait. . . . ]

“Where am I? What is this? Who are you people?” he asked thoroughly confused and trying to stop his legs from shaking.

“Wah mya on sova!” A man he felt he vaguely recognized yelled at him.

[ Language Identified: Dovarish - translating ]

“What? I don’t understand.”

"Why do you have his face?" the man before him yelled again. Jam recognized the voice and then it clicked. All these people looked the same but somehow different to the heroes of WoH.

“Wait a second, you’re Might Guy.” he said. Might Guy still wore the same suit but gone was his usual golden locks, instead he was completely bald, wore sunglasses and instead of an M there was a red X on his chest.

“And you’re Cyprus Black.” he pointed to the leather trench coat wearing psychic. He now had a bunch of rips and tears in his trench coat, multiple piercings in his lips, ears, nose and eyebrows, and sported a purple tipped Mohawk.

“And you’re Kid Mighty, you’re alive?” he asked before his scrolled down and noticed the darker skin color but more noticeable the protrusions from the chest. “And a girl?”

“Who are you?” Might Guy asked, anger slipping some replaced with high confusion.

I know this feeling.

[ Skill Developed: Psychic Awareness Lvl 1 ]

It felt soft, as if something was tickling certain parts of his brain. He tried to block it out.

[ Skill Developed: Psychic Resistance Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Used: Psychic Resistance Lvl 1 - Failed. ]

Shit. Blank, go blank.

“He’s trying to block me out. He detected me in his head, be careful. He may be dangerous.” Cyprus spoke up.

“Let’s not overwhelm the boy.” A deep voice said. “I don’t sense any malice from him.” An average sized man walked through the crowd. He had a kind face with slight wrinkles that made him look deceptively aged but his muscles were well defined underneath his outfit. He wore a simple all black suit with a white peace sign in the middle and a white cape. Jam could feel the power radiating off of him. He dropped to one knee and bowed in reverence. The gesture caught the man off guard and forced a deep belly laugh. “What’s this about?”

“You’re the Arcturian. the most powerful man alive. Respected among heroes and villains alike. I’ve never met you in person but I’d know you anywhere.”

“Well, I appreciate that but please stand, you’re embarrassing me.” he said lightly. Jam stood with a respectful smile.

“That doesn’t answer the question though, why does he have the lunar king’s face?” Might Guy said his scowl returning.

“You said you and I have never met in person before, does that mean you’ve met the others here?” Arcturian asked.

“Well, yeah. I’ve fought almost everyone here. There’s a few new faces but for the most part I’ve tangled with them all.” Jam answered.

“Is that right? So, you’re the lunar king then?” Arcturian asked his soft smile never slipping.

“No, I don’t know who that is. I’m the villain Apex.” Jam said matter of factly. In a blink Might Guy had Jam held up by the throat.

“I knew it. You dare to show up here, I don’t know how you found out about our summoning Lunar King but I promise; when I throw you in prison this time, you won’t be getting out.” Might Guy sneered.

Maybe telling them I’m a villain wasn’t the best thing to do.

Jam struggled against the hand, slowly he realized that he wasn’t nearly as strong as usual and it dawned on him again that he indeed wasn’t in the game. He could only do what he knew how, he relieved the pressure on his neck by using Might Guy’s arm to lift his body and wrap a leg around the arm. Using his other leg he kicked Might Guy in the chest repeatedly but he just laughed it off sadistically.

[ Skill Developed: Unarmed Combat Lvl 1. ]

[ Skill Type - Passive ]

[ Unarmed combat level 1 adds 5% of damage to all unarmed combat attacks. ]

Jam kicked one more time with all his strength in his face; the unexpectedness of the attack and the strength caught Might Guy off guard and his hand loosened. Jam dropped to the ground and scrambled back to the safety of his pod.

“I don’t want to fight, but I will defend myself.”Jam said hesitantly getting to his feet. Might Guy looked at him, his eyes literally glowing red with hatred, and his looks could kill if he wanted.

“That’s enough.” Arcturian boomed. Might Guy blinked his eyes a couple of times the glow releasing but he still seethed with anger.

“You said you’re the villain Apex, not the Lunar King?” Kid Mighty stepped up and asked.

“I don’t know who that is. Honestly I’m not sure what’s happening right now. I’m not in my suit and I don’t feel any of my powers. None of this is making any sense.” he said his pulse quickening, finding it harder to breathe.

“What is your name?” Cyprus Black spoke up.

A light blue screen popped up in Jam’s field of vision.

New Character

Please Choose Your Name

Simply Speak The Name Aloud

What the hell?

“Jam?” he spoke aloud asking no one. The box changed.

Checking. . .

Jam is accepted

Welcome to World of Heroes: Jam

“Was that a question?” Cyprus asked.

What the hell is going on?

Jam looked down at his hands and he definitely knew he wasn’t in the game. So why was he seeing status screens?

“Jack, what the hell is going on?” Jam asked quietly his pulse moving even faster. Then he looked around and was reminded that he definitely wasn’t in his room. He was outside. There were people around and he definitely wasn’t in the game. He began to hyperventilate and he heard his mother’s voice again. He leaned on his pod for support. “Jack. Please.” He managed to breathe out.

“Just breathe, everything is going to be ok.” He heard a familiar woman’s voice say. Suddenly everything around him cancelled out. He didn’t notice the people staring at him in a mixture of confusion and concern, stopped gasping for air and his heartbeat slowed. His head shot up and his body went straight.

“Amara?” he managed to squeak out. A pause.

“No, Jam. I’m sorry.” the voice said. Then everything went black as he lost consciousness.