The phone rang at 4:15. I picked it up on the third ring. “Hello?” I say into the receiver.

          A deep voice answers me, “Hello, Jay. I have a challenge for you.”

          I smile to myself and think ‘Why is it that I can never get some rest?’ out loud I say, “Go on”

“As you know, there is a martial arts tournament coming up soon. I run a large company, and I am entering my top bodyguards in it. My challenge is this: enter the tournament. If you can defeat every single one of my entrants, I will give you $100,000,000,000 in addition to the prize money.”

“And if I don’t?”

“ I was getting to that. If you don’t, well, you probably will be in a hospital, so really, I am just looking for some sport and want to see some action. I am, of course, making bets on the matter, so I really do hope you will accept my offer.”

“ I just have one question. Why did you choose me?”

“ Even you can’t be that dense, Jay. We both know who you are. We both know…that you have superpowers.”

The Tournament

“How do you know this?” I ask, stunned, “how could you possibly know?”

“That is not your business. All that matters to me is that you say yes. So, what’ll it be?”

“You said $100,000,000,000?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll do it. When’s the tournament?”

“You have two weeks to train. Get busy.” And with that, he hangs up.

‘ One hundred billion dollars,” I think to myself. ‘Well, better get to work.’

Over the next two weeks, I train my powers non-stop. I lift weights to hone my super strength, I run laps around the block to test my speed, and I jump hurdles to test my endurance. After the two-week period, my powers are in perfect condition and I am ready for the tournament.

I drive my car to the Greaten Arena, where the tournament is to be held. I quickly park and then use my super speed to get inside before the tournament drawing. I look around, and out of the seven people around me, I see a few faces that I know. One of these faces really sticks out he was treated in the same laboratory as me, but had been kept longer so he had more advanced powers. We both knew that he could easily beat me in any match type we fought in.

“We will now decide the order of the tournament, “says the judge, “When I call your name, come forward, reach into the hat, and pull out a slip. I will mark the number on the slip on the tournament board, and that will decide your placement.”

He slowly goes down the list, pausing every few seconds to look around. He calls out the name ‘Chuck Thompson’ and the man who I remembered from the lab steps forward and pulls out number 8. Finally he calls out ‘Jay Holins’ and I step forward. I slowly reach into the hat and search around for a slip that I like. My hand closes on one and I bring it out. I open it up and stare, dumbfounded, at my number. I am number 7. My opponent is number 8. My opponent…is Chuck Thompson.

Submitted by Chris Zeile