“I’m J...jjj…jjames.” I stuttered through my trembling.

  His eyes went wide with wonder. “James! Such a cool name! Great to meet you!” He looked me up and down. “Do you need any assistance or are you good?”

  His warm, comforting presence soothed my disease as I sat up. “Y…yeah, just give me a second.”

  He beamed at me with a white toothed grin. “No worries, take your time!”

  Over the next few minutes, I composed myself and he helped me up. I felt reassured in his presence. “Where in the world are we?” I looked around at the nothingness surrounding us. “You know what. I don’t care. Please just direct me to the nearest phone.”

  “These here are the Forsaken Realms.” He said in a fake country accent as he spun around, making a wide, sweeping gesture with his arms. “I’m sure you’ve learned about them in World Class so there’s no need for me to explain why there are no phones here.” He stroked his chin hairs. “What I’m wondering is how in the world you got out here. Civilians haven’t left the city for anything but trade since before I was born.” He narrowed his eyes. “Also, I like your drip but it’s pretty weird to be outside in the middle of nowhere butt naked.” He leapt back and put up his fists. “You’re not some kind of weird evil pervert, are you?!”

  I facepalmed. Forsaken realms? He has to be joking.

  I stared at him through my fingers. “I don’t know anything about forsaken realms and no, I’m not a pervert. I have no idea how I even got here so please just take me home immediately. I was at my football game and suddenly these two jackasses showed up and then I died and now I’m here and then that spirit came, and this…THIS IS JUST CRAZY!”

  “Hmm, I see…Well, I’m glad to hear you’re not a pervert! Come with me!” He said as he started walking way too fast. We made it a few paces before he froze. He slowly turned to face me. “Wait a second…did you say football? How do you know that word?”

  “I’ve literally played it my entire life. What do you mean? How have you guys not heard of football in your forsaken realms? Is this an island or something?”

  He chuckled at our surroundings. “There are certainly no football games being played in the forsaken realms. That’s for sure.” He pointed at my calves. “I should have known though, because why else would your calves be so huge! They’re almost as voluptuous as mine!” He laughed. “But this is so cool! I thought I was the only one to ever cross to the other side!” He pinched his nose. “I hope you don’t give me any weird diseases or anything from your world. If I come down with a cough, I’ll know who to take vengeance on…”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Are you trying to say I’m dirty or something? Because if so, I’ll kick your ass…” My eyes widened. “Cross to the other…” I stifled my rage. “Wait a minute…so you’re the one who ruined my fucking game and got me killed! You’re the reason I’m walking around naked in this dusty ass forsaken shithole right now?!”

  He nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, that was kind of my bad. I hope that game wasn’t important or anything.” I clenched my fists as he tiptoed over and whispered in my ear. “Don’t tell my dad I told you this because it’s kind of top secret, but we’ve been getting strange energy readings in various spots around the country. My new friend that I fought at your game was reported to have traveled through a portal into your world and I’ve been tracking him ever since. I finally caught him, and we hit it off on the day of your game, but things got way further out of hand than I anticipated.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  I stomped. “I don’t give a damn! Take me home right now, before…”

  He put a finger to my lips. “Shh! It’s story time…”

  Milliard began recollecting his first encounter with Gray. This is an accurate and succinct retelling that I found out much later.

  Gray stood in a high rise several miles away from the stadium. He looked out a window, and funneled Spirit Energy into a tool that allowed him to magnify his vision to analyze members of the crowd.

  Milliard stood behind him. “You know, if you wanted some tickets to the game, I could have gotten you box seats.”

  Gray’s eyes widened. He swiftly dropped his tool, drew his blade, extended it toward Milliard, and launched a beam of dark energy. Milliard deflected it and the impact from the collision with his blade shattered the glass in the entire building. Gray leapt out the window and darted from shadow to shadow across the night sky. Milliard activated his suit as rocket boosters slid open from his wrists, ankles, and back. He leapt out of the building and soared through the air at supersonic speeds after Gray.

  CLANG!

  Milliard drew his blade, and their swords crashed against each other, sending a metallic boom through the city. They battled across the night sky until they crashed down onto the 50-yard line of my football game.

  “AND THEN OUR SWORDS WENT CRASH! AND THERE WAS A BOOM! AND THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED!” Milliard said as he threw his arms up. He longingly stared into the distance. “Man, those were good times.”

  I blinked rapidly. This guy is even dumber than Micah!

  I took a deep breath. “I have no idea what to say to that…”

  He smiled. “It’s alright! I regularly astound my fiancée and squad mates with my incredible storytelling skills, so you’re not the only one…”

  I stomped. “Except that I don’t care! Where is the nearest door or portal back to my world.” My heart sank. “I…I’m sure my family is just on the other side waiting for me to come home…”

  He looked away. “I’m sure they are too. The bad news is that I have no idea how to cross back into your world again.” He held up a small metallic sphere. “My little brother made the device that transported me there and back, but it was busted in the fight with my new pal Gray. I was barely able to get it to work for myself, or otherwise I would be stuck over in your world as we speak.” He gave a thumbs up. “I’m sure he can fix it though, and we’ll send you back in no time! As long as my dad is okay with everything that is!” He whispered into my ear again. “Don’t tell him I told you but…he has anger issues.”

  Relief washed over me. “Awesome, I have to get back as soon as possible. That game that you idiots interrupted was super important.” I covered my face. “I’m sure they’re working on rescheduling it now…and I’m missing practice…dammit…This is just a disaster!” I glanced at him. “By the way, who is this dad that you keep talking about?”

  “His name is Milliard Basilas Iliaktida VI! It’s where I get my charming name and even more charming personality from! You’re actually about to meet him!” He paused and cuffed his eyes as he looked intently into the distance.

  I turned my attention to the direction he was squinting and saw nothing. Maybe I need to find someone else because this dude is just…

  He gave me a thumbs up. “Perfect! We are just about in range. Hang on tight!” He said as he grabbed me like a sack of potatoes. Before I could protest, my senses were completely overwhelmed. The world turned into a blur of colors and my mind went blank as it was completely devastated. My stomach lurched like I was on a rollercoaster, and I blacked out.