‘You’re doing it again Main. Your pride shall be your undoing’’

  ‘Shut up.’

  ‘You are rejecting yourself before you even take the chance.’ thought Main to Main. ‘it's just like Brian said. You use this as a defense mechanism because you are so afraid of rejection.’

  ‘Fuck Brian. We don’t need that old shrink.’ Main countered himself. ‘We should get a new therapist.’

  ‘What do you mean? We made so much progress with Brian. Don’t you feel better? Don’t I feel better? Wasn’t there a point to all this strife?’

  Main angrily swayed side to side on the windowsill. His left leg dangled over the 3 story drop to the ground below while his right leg was a mere few inches above the floor. The window, just like every other window in the ballroom, was a massive renaissance inspired window that was usually housed inside a grand church. The beautiful stained glass had since been shattered and scattered across the floor.

  ‘I’m not afraid it's just pragmatic. I’m saving energy which would otherwise be wasted talking to others.’

  ‘At least admit the thought scares you. Such denial will be your undoing.’

  ‘I’m not scared at all. They are no doubt awful friends anyhow. They would backstab and betray me. Gut me on the streets and leave me to the wolves.’

  To his left, Annie shielded Kevin from a barrage of gunfire while he misaligned the tracks of the largest tank, preventing it from moving properly. In front of him, Oswin marched off to assault a second group of mercenaries, despite managing a pyrrhic victory in his first fight. For all her injuries and drunkenness, Brenna showed no hesitation in following him. Skilled as Main was in mental gymnastics, he was not talented enough for this.

  ‘No, they wouldn't betray anyone. If I ever had the opportunity to join such a group of people, the only possible traitor would be myself.’

  ‘And so I'm sparing them from the fate of being with me. I have to work on myself. I am following what Brain says. He says self improve, and I do so. He says meditate and I… I’ll get to it later.`

  ‘Agreed, meditating sucks’

  Main stated out the window, attempting to lose himself in philosophical thought. A constant agitation would not leave him. It had not left him for months now, perhaps even years before that. This idea that he was meant for something so much more.

  ‘You stupid fat fuck. Get up and go be something’

  ‘Now I feel like I hardly have a reason to be so rude to myself. I showed up to the party didn’t I?’

  ‘You did, now do more. Move your gelatinous ass.’

  ‘OK. OK. I yield. You are right. I should have been more amicable to some people I met today. I should have reached out. But it's too late now. I don’t even know their names. Another introduction would be so awkward.’

  ‘Fine, I'll sweeten the deal. If you get up right now, I’ll let you beat your meat’

  ‘I already do that no less than thrice a day’

  ‘Guilt-free’

  Main hopped off the window to catch up with Oswin and Brenna. It wasn’t often he was willing to give himself such a great deal. With his large figure, maneuvering through the debris was a little slow, even with his abilities assisting him. Still, he huffed along, puffing hot, exhausted air as he gasped.

  Oswin and Brenna were hiding behind a pillar, each of them tired beyond what they previously thought possible. Their cover was not large enough for both of them at once. They resorted to nudging each other, each trying to coax the other into going out and drawing gunfire. Oswin nudged too hard, and Brenna, the crafty little vixen she could be, stepped out of his way, causing him to faceplant outside the safety of the support. When he peeled his face off the ground, he started down more steel tubes than a plumber would after a whole day of work.

  They all erupted, sending a dreaded payload of lead and death to Oswin. He cowered, nothing else left for him to do. The bullets bent around him, taking paths that resembled a planet's orbit. They harmlessly scratched the flooring behind him.

  Oswin could not believe his luck. He must have died so fast that he entered a lucid dream without any pain! What a miracle. Like any good lucid dream, the first thing to do was prepare to ask out Carmen. While this was a dream and ostensibly he controlled everything inside it, he learned through many previous trials that Carmen would actually decline his invitation without proper investment. Although truthfully, she had yet to say yes in any fantasy of Oswin’s. The first step was to–

  This was not a dream. The realization hit Oswin as the mercenaries in front of him fell to pieces. They observed their guns falling apart like diced tofu. Then they panicked as they lost feeling in their appendages. Their entire bodies. Lacking the time to even scream, their demise was disturbingly silent. As though they were always meant to exist in separate parts, the group of battle hardened mercenaries were reduced to standardized blocks of matter.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Whoa, you must make some hella nice charcuterie boards.” said Brenna, peeking out from behind the pillar.

  Main did not know how to respond. Acting as a saviour was an entirely new experience to him.

  “Oh I’m so glad I’m not dead. I suppose that does mean I’m still here.” Oswin’s charismatic eyes twinkled at Main. “But genuinely, thank you for helping out. If it's not out of place for me to ask, could you help us clean up this balcony?”

  They talked briefly, explaining the basic situation to Main in more detail. Main took this chance to learn the names of everyone involved, which made him feel included.

  “So you can block all projectiles?” asked Brenna.

  “Uhh. Mostly yes. As long as they are not infused with RAD.” responded Main.

  “And what if they are?” inquired Oswin.

  “Well that's the counter to my power. I can’t bend space that is infused with RAD that is not my own unless I overpower it. And that’s really not easy to do, especially with other people’s bodies.” ‘In order for other people to trust you, you must first trust them’ Brian’s words echoed through Mains mind.

  Neither Oswin nor Brenna reacted strongly to Main’s weakness. Brenna, because she did not care, and Oswin, because he carefully held back his complete shock and astonishment that Main would casually reveal something so important.

  Main continued, “It would be especially hard now since I’m just using my baseline RAD for power.”

  “Would your baseline RAD be enough to shield me for say like 30 seconds?” asked Brenna.

  “Mmmhhmm. Probably.”

  “Ok I have a confession to make. I did not give Kevin any RAD, I kinda forgot to at first and it seems like he can’t tell the difference anyway.”

  Oswin facepalmed. ‘Oh Kevin’ he thought. ‘You need so much help’.

  “Surely you jest,” said Main in disbelief. He pointed a thick thumb over to a man who was fighting three flamethrower troops at once. This person was covered head to toe in napalm-fueled flames, along with a broken arm, conditions which were not dire enough to stop him from beating the troops with his fist. “You are saying that guy is not using RAD to enhance his body at all?”

  “Correct. I’ve been training with him for the past year so I can tell you has seemingly no ability to use RAD, and instead works out super hard to compensate. Some of it has even started to rub off on me, which is good because my baseline RAD is pitiful.” Oswin chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still better than Kevin’s”

  He stole several nervous glances at his flaming friend below. Kevin pounded a flame trooper, a class of mercenaries that were better armored than most, with his fist. After five heavy flows, the trooper responded by pushing Kevin to the ground. Flames reached out and hugged Oswin’s poor friend from all sides. The mercenaries, having learned of Kevin’s impressive resilience, chucked grenades at a nearly disabled foe. Each and every one exploded within a hair of Kevin.

  Annie was held back about 50 feet away. Some special kind of emp grenade was employed against her. With every pulse of the emp grenade, an electric aura was emitted which scrambled Annie’s senses. Thankfully the weapon failed to make her physically vulnerable, but the railgun of the main tank was trained at her. The railgun hummed deviously, charging itself more than done previously.

  Remaining oblivious to the plight of her friends, Brenna was rather glad no one was staring her down with a vicious glare. Most people would die horribly if sent off to fight with no RAD, yet Main and Oswin glossed over that mistake. She laid out her plan. “Annie always yaps about her enforcer training, enough that some rubbed off on me. I can take a little RAD from all the rule breakin that's been happening. At this point I have enough RAD to use an ability, but I’ll need cover while I channel it.”

  “Easy enough. Protecting one person while they chant is child’s play.” Main never saw Brenna in action, and so had no idea what she was capable of. Oswin knew a bit more, but even he did not know the full extent of her powers. He did however know of her father, and that was enough to convince him to retreat a handful of steps.

  Brenna stretched her back, shifting all the way to the left, then to the right. Exhaling slowly, she brought her feet together, clasping her hands with intertwined fingers. Immediately Oswin felt a headache coming on. He hated being brought into someone else’s theme. Then again, not even hate described his feelings towards it. Oswin steeled himself for what was to come, attempting to accept the change in theme.

  “Pray tell. What am I expecting here? I see no change in our surroundings.” Main asked.

  “It's already happening.” Muttered Oswin, still focusing on accepting the new theme. “Someone of your calibre should be able to see the theme shift coming.”

  “That's a rare and valuable skill, you won’t find it common even in my family.”

  “Well maybe your family is not as skilled as you claim they are.”

  Main managed only a grunt in response.

  Brenna gracefully walked over to a window, within her hands contained a small globe of sand. The globe rotated and breathed like a living creature, trying to escape its confines. Occasionally a streak as black as oil would spread across the sphere, its texture smooth and refined. As quickly as it came, any streak disappeared, consumed by the sand once more.

  Expanding her hands, the orb floated towards the center of the window. Oswin nervously wrung his hands. He wrapped his arms around his head and crouched on the ground. ‘Acceptance, Acceptance, Acceptance…’ he thought in vain. Such a display of fear spread the emotion even to Main, who started to wonder if he was actually capable of deflecting a tank shot. Hopefully the channeling would not get any more eye-catching.

  The orb spread out into a line, which connected the very top of the grand window to the very bottom. A screeching sound, sort of like metal scraping against metal but ethereal, echoed across the dance hall. To Main it was mildly inconvenient, a slightly unpleasant noise only notable due to how unique it sounded. To the mercenaries, it represented a new threat. Any who were able raised their weapons.

  To Oswin, it was the foundation on which his most harrowing nightmares were founded. The sound echoed into his bones, his mind, his organs. Every nerve in his body sent a message to his brain of pure, unending pain, as though it was him, and not reality being torn apart. He screamed until he had no air left with which to yell. Through gritted teeth he managed to speak only a few short words.

  “Cut it off.” he strained, blading his hand and knocking against his neck.

  “Your head?” Main asked, horrified.

  “Do it.”

  Main complied. He found that Oswin’s neck was devoid of any RAD, which meant he could manipulate the space around it easily. Oswin was able to rest, his head rolling around next to his legs. Main looked to Brenna for reassurance that he did the right thing, but she was occupied with her ability.

  The portal was opening.

  that crazy though, I usually limit myself to 'I' and 'We'