The scent of crisp mountain air permeated the area as it often did. High in the mountains of North Carolina, four studious students practiced the ancient art of altered reality dungeon training.

Cassidy did her best to stay cool as she focused on her ice creation ability. Electra did her best to lift and throw oversized boulders. Jessica rocketed about the area, intense flames trailing behind her.

Scott's training was the most difficult of all. He was forced to stare into Maxine's eyes. While that was certainly hard for him, in more ways that fun, it was what she did while he stared that made things truly impossible.

The golden elf leaned back a little, her chest rising and falling sensually as she breathed in and out. She wore a skimpy negligee that left little to the imagination. The unsubtle rhythm of her fingers lightly sliding between her thighs greatly fueled the imagination of her dedicated student. Her powerful, yet delicate, fingers traced the feminine curvature at the bottom of her panties. Though clothed, the obvious arousal she felt while training her possible future boyfriend caused her sheer silken undergarments to become quite transparent.

A bead of sweat formed to the left of Scott's eye as he struggled with every masculine fiber of his being. He must not look. His eyes must remain focused on her eyes.

Maxine made a soft gasping noise, like her breath was slightly caught in her throat, "Oh, Scott... So good..."

His nostrils flared a little. The bead of sweat grew larger and began to slide down the side of his face.

"No one's ever touched me like this..." she purred softly, before she sucked the corner of her lower lip into her mouth and bit down a little.

Scott's left eyelid twitched slightly, followed by the corner of his mouth. His resolve began to waiver, but he held fast. He must hold! He could not look away! It was for the sake of his training.

Maxine gasped loudly then bucked her hips upward a little, "You're making me so... Ahhhn..."

The twitches and spasms increased in intensity. Scott began to breathe rapidly in and out, almost hyperventilating. Was this training, or torture?

"I can't take it anymore..." she cooed, "I need it so bad. Can't you see how bad my lonely little pussy needs you, Scott?" she asked him, the look in her eyes soft and hopeful.

His nostrils flared. His left leg began to bounce up and down. She moaned erotically once more and then it just happened. For one fleeting instant, his eyes wandered. It was not to blink, but to glance slightly toward the waterfall of forbidden delight waiting down below.

Faster that he could react, or even blink, Maxine's hand lashed out and slapped him hard across the face. Scott was sent flying to the side, her handprint evident on his cheek.

"Fail," said Maxine.

Scott groaned loudly, but did not bother to rub his stinging cheek. Alice hit harder and did naughtier things. Though, Maxine's overly cute and sexy approach was relatively new. Alice was far more aggressive and tended to be handsy.

"You know the drill," said Maxine lightly.

He sighed then went to get a bottle of water from the cooler. The art of intimidation largely relied on willpower and charisma. Physical strength and a powerful body would help, but if his will broke then it was pointless. As such, special intimidation training frequently required him to do his best not to let his concentration lapse.

Admittedly, it was not an unpleasant training method. However, it proved far more difficult than facing down a monster. Neither Maxine, nor Alice, were even remotely cowed by his attempts to intimidate. The knowledge that their power levels were so severely different allowed them to be supremely confident.

Scott sighed loudly before he drank the full bottle of water. He became easily dehydrated due to the intensity of the energy in the area, not to mention other reasons. Maxine's PLOT device ramped up the resonance requirements of the local area to the point that it was similar to a true low-grade dungeon. There were no monsters to fight, but simply training in the area would prepare them for their coming mission and final exam.

Another hour passed in intensive intimidation training. Scott's cheeks stung fiercely from the repeated slaps. His will increased little by little, but the cost was high in both pain and dignity.

He joined the girls in normal physical training afterward. He did his best to fly around, or performed extensive physical exercises. Maxine healed any injuries acquired by the team, and the night wore on. Soon they called it a day.

Day in, and day out, the team trained. Scott worked on intimidation and his physical skills. Soon, the night before the final exam came. It was a harrowing time for the students. Each of them wandered off to their rooms for the night in anticipation of the final exam to come.

They were allowed to do whatever they wished for the evening as long as they did not leave or cause a disturbance. Either way, they would never return to this place so they needed to pack for their future at IDEA, or the road down washout lane.

Alone in his room, his bags packed at ready, Scott considered his recent life. A lot of things changed the moment that he'd been whisked off to this place. Weeks passed in dedicated training, all for the chance to go to IDEA. During that time many bizarre things happened.

He counted off the oddest of the odd things that happened. He accidentally married a mildly psychotic space princess. He'd been mind raped by a vampire who was hot for his body. He was constantly teased mercilessly by the hot school nurse. Oh, and he could fly. Many of his boyhood dreams were coming true, it seemed. His life became more like some sort of comic book by the day.

"Man, if I could go back in time I'd tell fourteen year old me that it does get better," said Scott with a slight bit of laughter in his voice. His mirthful enjoyment of life died a little after a moment.

"I fight it a lot, but isn't this what I wanted?" he asked his empty room. Why did he fight it so much? What was the point in becoming bent-out-of-shape, or butthurt, over everything that happened? Mind raped by a sexy vampire who wanted to get staked in the sexiest way possible? Married to an absurdly hot alien space babe? Why the hell did he complain about any of it when those were things he actually day dreamed about before now?

Deep within his masculine heart he knew there beat a deeper rhythm than what most experienced. Was that a nonsensical thought? Possibly. It still made sense to him, however. "Why am I so hung up on making sense of things? Isn't this the stuff that happens to superheroes?"

Demons, witches, aliens, giant robots, and perverted tentacle waving abominations were all part of what it meant to be a true superhero. Since his earliest days he longed for such things. Yet, he fought it now at every turn. It was strange. His mind found difficulty in accepting the fact that he found it hard to accept such a life. Most of his childhood dreams were literally coming true before he was old enough to legally have a beer.

Scott frowned a little. "What if..." He took a deep breath and considered his next words carefully. It was a crazy thought. It was ridiculous, really. In some ways it was even more insane than the stuff that he'd dealt with recently.

In the end, he nodded and said, "Yeah. What if I just go with it and embrace the crazy?"

"No more shouting. No more complaining about an unfair fate..." he said, his morale rising significantly.

Wasn't an unfair fate and rising to meet it what comics were all about? Was that not the life he wanted? He could continue to have the mindset of an ordinary teenager, or he could accept the craziness of the ridiculous crap happening to him. Remain a normal young man, or become the new awesome.

Scott rubbed his chin thoughtfully, more like a villain than a hero. What could he do to embrace the crazy and unleash the awesome? It took him a moment, but a plan began to unfurl. It was a simple plan but it would take truly heroic confidence to pull it off.

"Tomorrow's the big day. Better make it happen with style," he said with a satisfied smile.

And so, our intrepid hero rose up from his bed and put on enough clothes to avoid being laughed at in the hall. "Shall we go shopping?" he asked. A sly, almost predatory grin slid across his lips. It was time to grab his destiny with both hands and make it his bitch.