Outstanding Performance

Dirt flew up my nose as the other students and I tumbled across the ground. I coughed and wheezed in pain, but I couldn't help but start to giggle.

"Andrew, you alright?" Jarun asked, concerned.

By now, I was laughing hysterically.

"Andrew?"

I stood up and dusted myself off, trying to calm myself down.

I still couldn't help chuckling a little, even after I thought I was done. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Well this is promising. Looks like we got ourselves a group of good ones this year."

Every muscle in my body tightened up in fear as I heard the words of a man behind me. I wasn't laughing now. I turned around in one quick motion to be met with a fist to the nose.

I stumbled backwards, blood leaking from my nose.

"What the fu—"

I don't think leather tastes good in my opinion. A boot met right against my teeth, the pressure tearing away at my gums.

Who the hell is beating me up!?

For a moment, nothing happened, and I took this as an opportunity to get away.

"Time stop..." I quietly said.

I opened my eyes to see a metal bat inches from my forehead. Wielding it was a man with sunglasses and scar that ran right down the side of his face, very close to his jawline. He wore a white tank top that was skin tight on him, and not to mention the tan cargo pants that sagged on him. Of course, I had seen and felt his leather boots, which were dirty and worn out. His ab size was impeccable, as well as the sheer mass of his biceps. The sight of him gave me chills, and something told me that I couldn't beat him.

I firmly planted my feet to the ground and launched myself backwards, landing on a nearby rock in a crouching position.

"Time resume."

For some reason, that was more exhausting than I thought it would be.

The bat swung right through the area where my chin was, the speed of it cutting through the air satisfying to see. If I hadn't moved, I would've seriously gotten injured.

I raised my finger covered in blood leaking from my nose and pointed it straight at him.

"You... I don't know who the hell you are, but that was not ok..."

He dropped the bat. "I apologize..."

I sighed. "Thanks. But that still doesn't—"

He lunged toward me, his fist flying right towards my abdomen.

"...for the inconvenience of not giving an absolute fuck!"

Even if I tried to stop time, his fist would connect before I could even blink.

'I can't dodge this one,' I thought.

Before I could even move a muscle, a strand of string shot right into his fist, knocking it off its course. The man's fist smashed into a rock, obliterating it in a single punch. What was left of the rock was now pebbles, scattered along the dry earth. If Ziya didn't make her move, that rock would've been my stomach, quite possibly making me a human doughnut.

He shifted his cold gaze towards Ziya, his eyes filled with rage.

"You little shit... now look what you've done..."

"Time stop."

We sure were lucky that my time stop was off cool-down. I couldn't imagine what would happen if it wasn't.

I launched myself off the ground, directly towards the ripped man's face.

"Looks like it's my turn, aye? Lemme give you a receipt..."

<'Gravitation Remover' has been activated. Jumping will now quadruple the height you hop. Additionally, all speed has been increased by 25%.>

"Of every ounce of strength in my body that's about to kick your ass!"

I threw my fists repeatedly over and over into his chest, face, and stomach, creating a series of a flurry of punches. I repeatedly pummeled his jacked abdomen over and over until I could make sure a asshole like him could feel it. You just don't go up to a random kid and start beating the shit outta him. Before time resumed, my knee rammed directly into his chin, making this an ice cold knockout.

I turned my back the moment time resumed, but I didn't here a groan or the man scream in agony from how many times I smashed my fists into him.

In fear, I turned around again and put my arms up to block my face, in case he tried to bash my face in again with that rock hard fist of his.

But to my surprise, the man just stared blankly at me, a small stream of blood flowing from the corner of his lip. A smile began to form into a smile. Then a giggle, and in a matter of seconds, he was on the ground, laughing hysterically.

'Is this some kind of joke,' I thought. 'Why the hell is he laughing? Shouldn't he be on the ground, groaning in pain?'

He slowly began to stand up, wiping the blood away from his mouth, still laughing.

"Bravo, kid! You guys really are somethin', aren't ya?"

"The fuck..." Sebastian whispered to himself.

To add onto that, the psychotic man started clapping his hands slowly.

"It looks like you guys are well on the path to becoming great soldiers!"

I broke. "The hell!? Is this some kind of joke to you? And—also—why the fuck were you just beating the crap out of us for no reason at all?!"

He stopped clapping and laughing his lungs out, but a smile still stuck to his face.

"My bad. Let me introduce myself. The name is Zach, but please, call me Mr. Jovic."

A sinking feeling began to rise in my stomach.

"Mr. Jovic... you don't mean—"

"That's right, kid."

He stood right in front of me, towering over like a giant.

"I'm your combat trainer for the next three years. All of you, actually. Isn't that gonna be fun?"

Fear built up inside of me like Lego bricks.

'Just what kinda sadistic weirdo are you?'

Sebastian finally broke too. "Are you serious?! You legit just tried to kill two of us not even a minute ago. And you expect us to be your class!?"

He squared up to Sebastian. "Know your place boy. Otherwise..."

I could see the fear bearing down on him too. He swallowed hard.

"Maybe I'll make you one."

Sebastian's hands were shaking, lips trembling. It could've been fear or anger, or maybe even both.

"Now then, about that by the way—all of that, including the plane, was a test. The school facility sent me over to here, where all of you would come flying out of the portal. To be honest, I didn't think a single one of you would be able to be standing here at all."

Jarun stared at him angrily. "Are you saying we could have actually died?"

Mr. Jovic stared him dead in the eye. "Yes, but we wouldn't let it happen. You should be thankful that we have the technology to save your asses. Otherwise, you'd all be floating into an infinite void. Forever."

"Anyways, continuing from where I left off... what did I... oh, that's right! I was exposed to test your physical capabilities, see if any of you were top notch. Surprisingly, you all have passed. Not a single one of you failed. Looks like I'll be seeing your ugly faces early tomorrow morning, aye?"

----------------

That night, we all received our schedules, dorm rooms, and hit the showers. Sadly, the three of us were in separate homeroom classes, Jarun being in Class D-1, Ziya in G-8, and I being in class A-3. To make matters worse, all of the new recruited people like myself had to take a three year course of combat training together. But on the bright side, the three of us somehow managed to get into the same dorm room together, along with Sebastian and another girl, who I later found out was named Avery.

The dorm rooms were divided into five rooms, two for girls, three for boys, which was the ratio for each room, unless there were extra boys or girls.

The moment I walked into the place, it was way cleaner than I had expected. And bigger.

What I was expecting was a few bunks, a sink, a bathroom and that was it. But this place was amazingly huge, considering it was a military school. Wooden boards lined the floors from left to right. A living room with a decent sized couch and television, in which there was a small step-down to enter. The kitchen was beautiful: clean dishes in the cupboards, the marble counter-top neat. Not to mention the decency of the rooms: a bed that was on the side of the wall, an office chair, dresser, closet—and my personal favorite— my very own laptop and desk.

I threw my bag onto the bed and plopped down in the chair.

"This feels... nice."

I looked down at my watch. Suddenly, I was reminded of what happened on the plane. Somehow, I was able to see...

"The... future? But how?"

'Could it have been that bizarre gear Bruce had given me?'

I giggled at the thought.

"Nah. That'd be ridiculous. Guess it was just my luck, huh?"

-------------

"Lieutenant Jovic. Step forward."

"Yes Commander."

A pale, but young woman cleared her throat. "Report."

"Yes ma'am. Commander, although all of the classes this year seem promising, my eye has been caught on a specific individual in Class A-3."

"Oh? And why is that?"

The hefty man sighed. "He made me bleed."

The other instructors began to snicker.

"Mr. Jovic, with all due respect, why is that important to the situation?"

He stared her dead in the eye. "Because in my twenty years of teaching, not a single kid has survived a fight with me. Not only that, but he was able to get a good kick out of me."

"I see. But I still do not understand what is so important about this class, even if it's just one student."

"Commander. These kids are something special because they are the only ones who have survived going through a portal in a plane. Don't you find that a little... strange?"

The woman paused. "Indeed, that is peculiar."

"You don't get the picture, do you?"

"Not fully."

"Commander, the reason getting me to bleed is hard is because I have skin that acts like an exoskeleton, except stronger."

"And?"

Mr. Jovic looked around. "It would take a punch with a force of up to 700 pounds to even crack my exoskeleton. But to break through it? That would nearly take double that amount. And the thing was..."

"Go on."

"I didn't see him once use his watch."