The runners lined up ready to show everyone what they’ve got. Since they were the first set of runners, they had to give it 110% or they could be the ones failing. The pressure was soaked into their expressions, all of them except Josh. He wore a smug grin across his face so wide it could trip the other runners. “I’m aiming for the top ten! I doubt Takeo’s kid could make it past spot sixty.” Josh shouted over his shoulder towards us.

I clenched my fists so hard my hands started to cramp. ‘I have to try, I can’t let him be right! I just can’t!’ I put my clenched fist up to the center of my chest. I took a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. I glanced up to the list on the jumbotron screen above the stadium. ‘I’m next...’ The sound of the starting shot rang out against the walls of the arena.

The runners kicked off with Charlotte Tuttle in the lead, her short bright pink hair bounced up and down as she ran. ‘Charlotte Tuttle, I think I remember her. That’s right, she is deemed the queen of kendo. It’s rumored she can slice a sheet of paper or chop a log with her wooden kendo sword.’ The runners’ feet were running in rhythmic thunder, it seemed that all of them were head to head. The winner isn’t clear at this point.’ Josh began to shout. “Her Tuttle, nice lead— but you aren't too special. How can Kendo even be considered a martial art, it’s just a toy sword?” Josh cackled loudly, it made my ears recoil at the touch.

Tuttle grinned angrily. “Josh, after I beat your lap time, how about I show you why Kendo is considered a martial art.” Her eyes were very terror-inducing, they sent shivers down my spine several meters away.

‘I would not want to be on the other end of her Kendo sword.’ I shifted nervously.

The runners were at the 200-meter mark now, all of them were running so fast it was hard to believe. The air around them distorted from their collective chi energy. Each step was thrust forward by Chi. . Much like a freight train, these runners would fly down the rails to their destiny.

Josh plowed through to the head of the pack, the other runners were losing steam. Josh looked to his left and smirked. “Alright Tuttle, I respect you a little more now. It’s just my off day so you actually caught up with me.” His face was washed over with a sense of superiority. Josh and Tuttle both shot across the finish line at the 48-second mark. The other three came a few moments later at the 55-second mark. All of them raised their arms above their heads. Each of them while panting like an exhausted animal, looked satisfied with their performance.

Josh looked up at his posted time on the Jumbotron. “48 seconds, huh that was kind of slow. Good for you, huh Takeo?” The crowd around him actively avoided him as he laughed and grabbed a rag to wipe his sweat off. He walked up to me and draped the rag around his neck. A smug look of satisfaction signaled his primal dominance. The feeling it solicited was like I was staring into the face of a proud lion.

Anger trampled my anxiety. I threw a right hook aimed at his face. “Take this asshole!” Before it could land Josh blocked it gracefully with his outward vertical block. My fist collided with his toned forearm. The impact was similar to a train hitting a brick wall. ‘Shit, he was so fast! Also, what came over me? That was such a shitty punch.’ Josh pivoted on his back foot and grappled me into a headlock with his right arm. The grapple was just as swift as the block.

“Knock it off, boys!” The proctor was furious. “If you don’t get off of him, I’ll have to disqualify both of you. Save it for the fight.” He pushed up his glasses and leered down his nose at us. The air was frozen with his intensity.

Josh let me go and fixed his ruffled dirty-blonde hair. “Yes sir, I won’t let this trash ruin my standing.” he looked down at me, as I was on the ground. “Have a good run Takeo.” He kicked sand into my face.

I coughed violently and spat on his shoes. He tensed and readied a kick aimed at my face. I took a breath in and honed my chi into the middle of my palm. His foot swung up and narrowly missed me. I had used my family’s palm defense technique to propel me from the ground.

My feet landed on the ground and my momentum slid me back a few paces. I looked at the proctor and bowed respectfully. “Sir, I shall go to the starting line.” I turned heel and walked to the track. ‘That asshole! I am gonna make it! I’ve been preparing my life for this, a stupid 500m dash won’t stop me.‘ I was stopped by a tap on the shoulder.

“Hey, Takeo just do your best. Don’t take that in a weird way or anything… Just beat Josh to defend your honor.” I turned around to see who said that and found Charolette. Her long pink hair flowed gracefully through the air. Charlotte was short for a girl, she was at least a head shorter than me. Her fiery demeanor definitely made up for her height deficit. Every time she was upset it was like the roar of a great tigress. She wore cute round-framed glasses which she seemed to push up onto her face while she talked.

“Tha-nks Charolette, I appreciate it.” I bowed respectfully and quickly ran to the starting line. ‘That wasn’t very smooth of me, but its showtime’

The proctor readied the starter pistol. “On your mark runners. Get set.” The air snapped just like all the muscles in my legs snapped into motion. It was an even start amongst us.

‘I have to beat his time!’