“I demand to speak to my lawyer!”

“We have rights you know!”

“I want to speak to the person in charge!”

“I pay taxes, which means that you need to answer my questions!”

I sighed as I tried my hardest to block out the cacophony of screams, threats, and emotional breakdowns.

The soldiers ignored almost everyone, however. Almost as they only stared at those who seemed the most aggressive. Those people tended to hush down when several armed guards presented a united front.

There would have been a proper riot, had they not been heavily armed. I mean HEAVILY.

Jeeps with heavy machine guns. Those barrels were as thick as my thighs. I didn’t want to guess what it spat out and how much could potentially tear through my fat, chubby rear.

Tanks were also on display, and I had noted the sound of several helicopters doing what I assumed were patrols.

Everyone was quiet when the trucks had rounded us up. Then they transported us here… to the middle of nowhere, but there was concrete everything. Buildings. Walls. Very tall walls that had searchlights, and I assumed more machine guns.

Each soldier was also armed. A variety of weapons I had seen on TV. In movies and video games. I had been to shooting ranges before. These were the real deal, and everyone knew it.

The fact that there were so many of them was shocking.

I looked into the football field-sized field. All concrete, but there were stains here. In a variety of colors that made me think of paintball, but way more smelly. Repugnant really.

We were allowed to sleep in the stands, with crap bedding that was most likely built by the cheapest Chinese bidder. The damn bed was solid, creaky, and had a mattress thin enough to be a contender for a ‘plush’ summer jacket.

The simple MRE we were given sucked. It was edible though and I didn’t complain as I simply sat and watched as the morning sunrise up.

We were given a lunch period of yet another MRE. I was now craving McDonald's as I was sure that had equivalent nutrition, but better taste…

[Hello everyone, please remain seated and I will explain everything]

I looked up at the speakers above.

[I am aware that you are confused, unhappy, and frustrated. I would also expect that you are afraid as we are a well-armed division of the military]

Several people were staring towards the far end of the stadium, and I squinted as I saw a tic-tac of a human on the far end.

Several people were starting to get up and move over.

[I understand that you desire answers right now, but I repeat. Remain Seated!]

The intercom screamed as the person also rose his voice.

The sound of gunfire from various parts of the stadium had everyone rushing back to the beds, or onto seats as several groups of riflemen began a very heavy-handed patrol.

I winced as I saw someone get punched and then thrown onto their cot.

[This is unfortunate, but we have very little time to explain everything.]

I stared at the speakers above as I laid down. I bunched up my sweater as I felt my anxiety spike to levels not seen since last night.

[The purpose of us gathering all of you is simple. Within all of you is the Homo Superior gene.]

I blinked as I stared at the loudspeaker high above. Like the X-Men?

[Unlike comics, however, this is reality. Which means that you will need to work together in order to survive the upcoming ordeal.]

I had to stop as the sound of someone breathing down my neck drowned out the world. It took a few moments for my brain to understand it was me.

[We had trained soldiers. But due to a catastrophic event, we have lost them. I want to tell you that every horror story that has been ever told is real. Every fantasy world is real. Every sci-fi you have ever imagined is real.]

My mind spun as I was starting to both understand, and it rose in conjunction with my desire to misunderstand.

[They will try to kill you, all of you. Thus it is important that you not only defend yourself but to kill them as well.]

Suddenly a woman in gray fatigues was standing over me.

She was tall, yellow-skinned, and gave me a look of pity with her brown eyes.

I sat up and the woman immediately sat down beside me.

[Each of you has been assigned a helper. This person will answer any question you have, and give you the tool that will keep you safe, alive, and is the key to your way back home. Good luck. God speed.]

The intercom clicked off and I was now staring into her eyes. Her gaze was burning into mine and instead looked her over. Clean uniform, but there was only a helpful sticker. ‘Hello, my name is Jenny’ stuck to her gray uniform.

“Hello,” Jenny said as she handed over a fresh bottle of water.

“Hello,” I replied as I happily took it. We had only received water when we ate, so this was a great gift. I cracked open the seal and started to guzzle it.

“I understand that this is a rough situation and I will do everything I can to help you,” she said as she opened her own bottle of water.

“What is going on?” I asked. I needed more clarification. I suddenly noted that everyone was paired up with someone similar. White people had white people. Black people to black people. I stared at Jenny. Yellow to yellow.

“This is complex…” Jenny sighed as she capped her water. “Have you ever watched dragon ball super?”

I nodded and her eyes lit up.

“Great! So in short. Its the tournament of power!” Jenny said with a smile that quickly melted into a frown.

“So…” I hedged the opening as my mind scrambled for my full comprehension. “We are selected to fight another group of beings to ensure that we are not wiped out from existence?”

Jenny looked at me and nodded.

I closed my eyes as I finally understood the situation.

We had lost our elites, and we were the backup plan.

We had no Goku.

Fuck.

“This is your weapon,” Jenny said as she passed over a simple sword.

I blinked as I didn’t even notice her carrying it.

It wasn’t very large. A 30cm blade. A foot-long short sword or long dagger.

I hefted it and it was light. Very light.

“What is this made of?” I asked as I stared at the black blade. It was light, dark, and felt like cheap metal.

“We don’t know,” she replied as she stared at the various other pairs. Some had the weapons, some didn’t yet.

“Okay, magical god metal then,” I hummed out as I ran my finger over the edge. It was soft and I tried to stab my water bottle. It didn’t work as the bottle simply indented.

“It doesn’t work on this side,” Jenny explained as I began to play with the blade. It wasn’t sharp at the slightest. I used it to scratch my back and that got a giggle out of her.

“So what do you mean by this side?” I asked as I gave up on using it as a back scratcher. It wasn’t very good for that.

“A portal will open up at midnight. Then who knows? The original teams all say the same thing. It changes every time,” Jenny said as she looked towards the center of the football field.

I did the same.

I also noticed that it was the most discolored location and I sighed as I began to understand.

The question was what would it look like?

— Midnight —

I stared at the dimensional rift.

It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

I was expecting a tear in the fabric of reality.

A giant circle full of runes.

Hell, I would have even accepted a beam of light that came down from the skies.

This? What was this?

Well. The obvious answer was a gigantic disco ball. The sphere was filled with reflective surfaces cut into squares. The searchlights made it glow and rainbows refracted off of it, bathing all of us under a dancing light.

I wondered if Led Zeppelin would start playing. The mothership would make as much sense as Darude’s Sandstorm right now.

I held my sword close as the disco ball began to pulsate.

The pace picked up and the world flashed.

Sadly, there was no flight music.

— Otherworld —

I blinked as the light faded and the new world was presented.

It was amazing!

Considering that I had seen these types of buildings before.

The 7-11 on the other side of the street was mighty impressive.

I looked around and I saw the confused looks of the other people who made it here with me.

I smiled at the guy to my right and he returned it. Good. We were not alone. I was not alone.

I stared at my weapon. It was real now.

I ran my finger over its edge and I nearly threw the damned thing away.

Same soft shit.

I stared at the girl to my left and she was busy putting on a backpack. It wasn’t a light one.

I looked down and I noted the same thing at my feet.

I hefted and groaned as I hadn’t lifted anything like this since high school. That was practically a lifetime ago!

I fell to one knee and opened up the heavy-duty backpack. There were a lot of clasps and rings for other stuff.

The main pack revealed a neat stack of MRE. Which was coincidental as we had just had 3 meals of it. Which meant I knew what to expect.

I hefted the thing up and I let out a moan of regret as I struggled to lift the heavy thing over my shoulder.

The guy from my right made his way over and helped me. I sighed in relief as I got it on. The weight was now better distributed and the weight was my lifeline.

We both then went on to help others.

In short order, we all were ready to move around, and people were milling about. Some were in buildings, others were going down the street.

It looked like a normal day, except for out generic military fatigues and the backpacks.

By nightfall, we had mostly taken up residence in the various buildings surrounding our starting area.

There was running water, and electricity worked.

I made my way up to the rooftop and sat on a patio lounge.

Across from me, all I could see was buildings.

Endless rows of dark, lightless buildings that stretched across the land. If it wasn’t for street lights I would have been blind.

We were definitely in a city, but I wasn’t sure what else to expect.

The moonlight was practically nonexistent, but I couldn’t find the moon itself if it was a new moon. Which would explain why I could see nothing overhead but a handful of twinkling stars.

Light pollution I think it was called. The effect upon which you lost sight of the night sky.

A red strobe light caught my eye.

My thoughts screeched to a halt as I stared at the red strobe of light circling round and round. On my wrist.

My wrist had a red light circling around it.

I blinked and tapped at it.

A screen popped up.

[To obtain victory please do either of the following:]

[A) Kill the Skull King]

[B) Survive]

I stared at the floating screen, and then back down to my wrist. I waved my right hand between the two and nothing happened.

I touched the screen and it simply vanished.

I stared at my wrist. I double tapped it.

Another screen popped up.

[Status]

[Condition: Good]

[Level: 1]

I stared at that screen and sighed as I went back to my room.

If this was what I was expecting. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.