Jack was stood at the front of Mana-Script’s viewing gallery. Looking down at the arena, thinking about his next match. He had an energy drink in hand and was sipping it like a fine wine. Daggers were being shot at his next opponent, the boy in the hoodie.

Jude approached. “Jack, I assume you know what he is?”

“Course I do.”

“Oh he most certainly is one.” Rin chirped up, recovered somewhat from his hangover.

“Without a doubt.” Damian answered. All four boys were stood at the balcony overlooking everything

“A cyborg” – Jude

“An android” – Rin

“An angry fairy” – Jack

“Cool.” – Damian

“Idiots” – Olivia

Olivia’s comment was said so cheerily it didn’t feel like an insult.

Yet Sol, Johnathan, AJ, Agni, Zoe, Connor, Aria-Mae, and Rafe all burst out laughing. The four idiots stood proud though. The sun shone between them holding a pose that was not befitting their embarrassing beforehand.

It wasn’t long before Jack was called up for his match against the Cool Cyborg Angry Android Fairy, also known as Dylan McAllister.

Jack was sizing him up. He didn’t look all that intimidating. In fact he dressed like the weirdly quiet kids at school; baggy tracksuit bottoms and a dark hoodie that managed to hide most of his face.

The loose fitting hoodie tried it’s best to hide his true nature by Dylan’s face could be seen from the mild glow that lights in his shoulders gave off.

Jack threw a finger out before the match started. “Yo! Are you a cyborg, android, or a fairy?” A shocked expression washed over Dylan’s face, mixed with embarrassment.

“How did you know?”

“Which one is it?”

“Fight!” Before Jack could get his answer the contest was on. Dylan did not miss a beat. The strides were perfect, the strike was the best it could be.

Jack barely avoided the metallic fist that came towards him. His ability saving him.

He had never really considered what he could do with his ability. He was not a man that did a lot of reflection. It wasn’t that he didn’t think, he just made a subconscious choice early on in his life to trust his instincts rather than analysing things. Hell, he didn’t even know how to spell analysing until he was eighteen, he thought that the word he read was something sexual.

Any alteration, upon gaining them, automatically told the user how to use them and the knowledge of what it was. That did not mean you magically became a master of your ability the instant you received it. You knew how to use it and basically what it did. Though two people who got similar ones would not only use it differently but also would think of it differently. Jack had always said it enhanced his reaction time or reflexes, Rin had described it as a kinda spider-sense where he could almost perceive danger before it arrived. However,. Either were exactly true.

There wasn’t time for him to be debating his ability now. He had to fight and relying on his instincts. His instincts did do him right here, Dylan was moving with more precision and speed than Jack had seen a teenager produce before. Unable to land a blow that wasn’t glancing it was starting to annoy the enigma that he was. Jack knew that each of these punches would hurt to receive.

Dylan stopped his barrage. “Why are you not teleporting?” Jack took a moment and blinked.

“What do you mean?” Jack replied

“You teleported during your last match. Have I not proved a worthy enough opponent for you to use it against?”

“Listen buddy I don’t really know what you mean. I have never teleported. It would fucking rule though.” He wasn’t attacking. Just talking. Everything in him, muscle fibres, bones, even his eyelashes were screaming at him to not engage.

“Fine. Then I shall show you the result of your arrogance.” Dylan crouched into a stance similar to AJ. Lights began illuminating from his hoodie and tracksuit bottoms.

Then boom. Jack had never felt anything like it. It was so fast. He couldn’t see it. The first one was in his left shoulder.

The second broke his left elbow, but he saw that one this time.

The third came for his face. He could move out of this one, or at least try. The attempt broke his nose.

The final one went into his stomach. He grabbed the arm.

To the audience watching along it seemed as those Jack had been shot three times but it was actually a style of lunch that Jude had tried to emulate and Nerissa had improved upon. Four punches backed by an engine that would rival an F1 car.

They had burnt holes into the hoodie at the elbows and it was starting to peel away.

Blood leaked from the corners of Jack’s mouth. His vision became blurry. He had managed to dampen the punch with his grapple but he had not come out unscathed. In fact it has rendered his left arm almost unusable especially after the second hit. He could probably survive one of those hits full power to his torso but it would likely mean the loss of the fight.

“Guess that rules out fairy?” Jack said with a smile. He wrench the robotic arm away from himself.

“You still refuse to teleport? Fine, then I shall kill you.” With his statement over Dylan turned Jack round kicked the back of his knees so he would buckle, and then grabbed his hood to hold him still.

Then he took out his weapon, one which revealed his body. With a whirring and a fiery blaze that started from within he reduced the clothes that bound his torso to ash. And an energy blade extended from his left wrist.

There he was, the remnants of a young man. His face and most of his chest were still skin but the rest was a speak black metal with yellow glowing exhausts. He was more machine than man.

“Ha!” a faint shout came from the stands. “I told you he was a cyborg.”

“Not the time Jude.” Rin scolded.

Jack had the energy blade held to his throat. There was minimal heat or sound it was extremely efficient. A blade made of what could only be described as hard light. Whoever has designed this must have been incredibly intelligent.

Jack had found a way to get out of the situation but he did not want to rip his hoodie. “If you let go of my hood I promise not rock your shit too hard when I get out.”

“All you have to do is teleport in the next three seconds or you will lose without dignity.”

“Sorry dad.” Jack said before grabbing his own hood with his right hand. As he did so he kicked his legs out whilst unfolding them. He sent himself under the blade causing Dylan to strike himself accidentally. But he had also cut the hood off in the process.

He stood up, eyes watering. Left arm hanging limp below the elbow. Angry struck across his face. He tied the hoodie crudely around his left bicep. As he began to crackle with energy. It looked almost identical to the lightning that AJ produced. And in an instant he had planted a fist in Dylan’s skin face, sending him backwards.

The engines revving to try and produce enough horsepower to keep him in the ring.

“Yes! He got his teleportation power back.” Damian said.

“He’s not teleporting.” Jude observed. “If it was teleportation he wouldn’t make any marks in the sand. Plus if he hit someone in the face after teleporting it would just be a normal punch but if he was moving faster it would be a lot stronger.”

“So he’s got a super speed? That’s sick!” Damian exclaimed.

“I don’t think so. Given that he himself thought it was reaction speed and I don’t think alterations lie to people he’s probably able to slow down time a bit.” Jude said. He was clinical and analytical with what he said, a far cry from the man who just exclaimed that his point was proven a few seconds ago. This excited Damian even more. Rin shot a look that conveyed both fear and disgust.

“How did you work that out so fast?” Rin asked.

“Well I’ve never been strong or good at fighting, so when I knew I wanted to do this degree I decided to try and train my ability to see other people’s alterations.” Jude said He never took his eyes off of Jack’s match which is why he never saw how Rin looked at him, but Damian did and it made him shudder.

Jack laid into Dylan not giving him much breathing room but if was tiring him out. So he took a moment to breathe. “I will fuck you up.”

Dylan’s systems were going haywire, he should switch to projectiles. He raised his right arm up and a blast came from a wrist mounted cannon. Jack smoothly moved out of the way and threw a small bearing at Dylan and lodged it in the barrel.

Jack was a monster. Angry did not cloud his judgement it just made me rely on his instincts more and with his new power up he had far more options.