Fenrick walked briskly through the school’s spacious courtyard on the way to the principal’s office. He needed some fresh air to calm himself down after the scene he caused back in Mrs. Hydraslaughter’s history class. It was a clear, calm, sunny morning with a gentle breeze flowing through the leaves of the surrounding trees as well as the student’s golden hair—which only made Fenrick feel more nostalgic for days gone by. He quietly muttered and cursed to himself, obviously displeased with how his morning was going.

For the life of him, he just couldn’t comprehend what he did that was so wrong. Sure, he halfway understood that he may had said a few things that some people may had taken offense to, but he believed he was only expressing his opinion. Wasn’t that what living in a free society was all about? He did not see the big deal, and he especially didn’t see why the captain of his TAS (Team Arena Squad) of all people had to involve himself in the situation either. Everyone always tried to make him feel bad about the way he acted, and he'd started to get sick of it.

With eyes glued down to his feet and mind lost in a cloud of negative thoughts, Fenrick saw something he did not expect to see that day…

When he was almost halfway across the courtyard, they attacked him without any warning.Two long, thick vines burst out from underneath the concrete walkway Fenrick walked on. The surprise underground explosion sent chunks of concrete flying up into his face.

Fenrick instinctively threw his head back, trying to keep his face away from the debris. With minds seemingly of their own, the vines quickly tried to wrap themselves around Fenrick’s wrists, but before the intelligent flora could grab hold and tighten its grip, Fenrick was able to jump backwards high into the air. The vines then tried to grab his ankles, but he was able to throw his legs up, leaving the vines’ grasp just out of reach. He performed a backflip and managed to dodge away from danger and narrowly escaped the mysterious vegetations’ surprise attempt to capture him.

Coming up empty, the vines quickly retracted back into the ground and all became ominously silent. Upon landing back down to earth, Fenrick quickly surveyed his surroundings while bracing himself for another attack.

The courtyard was empty, however, save for a single person on the western side. Whoever it was stood near the thick oak tree that overlooked the garden of blooming death daisies. The person looked young, possibly a second or third year. He had a rather small stature, short dark hair and wore a dark green school uniform, which differed from Hardires High’s standard blue-colored uniforms. Without needing to ask, Fenrick knew full well that this person was responsible for the surprise vine attack and was not amused in the slightest.

“Alright. I’ll bite,” Fenrick yelled over. “Who are you? What the hell’s a Gungannon student doing in Hardires?”

The green-uniformed stranger took a few steps towards Fenrick. Upon closer inspection, a peculiar trait presented itself; the young man had eyes the color of amethyst—a very rare trait for humans to have. Most people would have been taken aback by such a unique feature. Fenrick, however, cared little for that.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me,” the young man said after a slight pause. “There are many people that would know my face here in the Eastlands.”

“Yeah, you do have a face that people would want to beat senselessly with a sack of dirty onions,” Fenrick spat.

The Gungannon student only laughed at the insult. “Now there’s that blunt humor I’ve heard so much about! Though you may not know who I am, I certainly know who you are. But, where are my manners, please allow me to introduce myself,” the young man bowed, “my name is Ziggy Ratt.”

“Stupid name.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s so bad,” the young man lightheartedly shrugged.

“It kinda is, but whatever. What the hell do you want?”

“To take a second to bask in this moment, if you don’t mind,” Ziggy Ratt took in a deep gulp of the crisp air and fully exhaled. “It couldn’t have been a more pleasant day for such an occasion. Please let me explain: I’m a student that transferred from the Grand Canopy all the way to Gungannon Primary for the sole purpose of getting the opportunity to meet you. You may not believe it, but I admire you greatly, Fenrick Freygar. Your skills and prowess as a gladiatorial athlete are truly unmatched.”

The praise from Ziggy the stranger did nothing to improve Fenrick’s mood.

“Really, so this is how you treat those you admire? By attacking them with your little plants?” He gestured at the sizable holes in the concrete walkway near his feet.

“Apologies, I couldn’t help myself,” Ziggy Ratt chuckled. “That was only a little test, but I knew you weren’t going to fall victim to such a simple surprise attack. Let it be known, however, that I’ll be sending more than just galla vines after you once we finally meet in the arena. It will surely be a showdown for the ages!”

Fenrick continued to eye Ziggy Ratt suspiciously. “Meet me in the arena, you say? You look a little young to be a fourth year…”

“You are not wrong in assuming I don’t belong,” Ziggy put a hand to his chest. “I am, in fact, a year younger than you and most other fourth years, but alas, a fourth year I still am. I was able to make some arrangements during my transfer and enter the Eastlands school system a grade higher, just for this very opportunity, just to meet you,” he pointed at Fenrick and smiled. “Yes, even now, I still can’t believe that I will be facing you in the arena just two days from now. It will be a dream come true for me; I really wanted you to know that. I can barely contain my excitement!” He said with child-like enthusiasm.

“Don’t fuck with me, kid,” Fenrick quickly lost patience with his new-found admirer. “If what you say is true, then I’ll gladly give you an autographed portrait or whatever the hell you want after I kick your ass all over your turf. Then you can feel free to cheer me on from the stands as my team wins another championship.”

“Oh no,” Ziggy waved his hands dismissively. “No fucking around is going on here, good sir. As I said, all I wanted was the chance to meet you before we do combat, and that’s exactly what I did!”

The young man’s face suddenly turned serious as he dropped his hands and gave Fenrick a hard stare with his purple eyes. “But let this serve as fair warning; when the time comes, I won’t hold back like I did today. I’ll do whatever it takes to beat you, and I will prove that I’m someone worthy of your respect.”

The two stared each other down without saying another word. After a silent moment went by, a steady beeping was suddenly heard somewhere in the courtyard. Ziggy looked down at his wristwatch (which Fenrick could tell was solar-powered, a well-known staple in druidic fashion) and pushed a button on its side. The beeping ceased and Ziggy took a couple steps backwards.

“Welp, it looks like I have to be getting back to my own school now. It truly was an honor meeting you this fine day. We’ll be seeing each other again very soon, but until then, may Dagdanu watch over you, with all her bountiful beauty.”

Ziggy bowed his head and gracefully walked back over to the oak tree he stood near before. He placed a hand upon the thick trunk. A greenish light emanated from his hand that slowly expanded and melded into the bark. The green light pulsated and formed itself into a transparent doorway within the tree’s center. With one last wave to Fenrick, Ziggy proceeded to walk seamlessly through the oak tree. Once he was through, the doorway disappeared and all became normal once again. Just as quickly as he appeared, Ziggy Ratt vanished from Hardires High without a trace.

“Jerkoff.” Fenrick muttered under his breath and went on his way, leaving the broken and cracked concrete behind him.

An explosive surprise came to Fenrick in the form of a mysterious student by the name of Ziggy Ratt, who claimed to be one of the Gungannon gladiators that he’ll soon be facing in the arena. He managed to escape Ziggy’s surprise attack unscathed, but the encounter still hadn’t negated one thing: Fen still needs to deal with the principal! What kind of punishment awaits him once he steps foot into the dreaded principal’s office? Find out next time on Clubs and Stubs!