Once the dino fiasco finally ended, Kelce let me wake up.

  She’d been right: despite everything that happened in dreamland, I didn’t feel tired at all. If anything, I felt annoyingly refreshed.

  "How did you sleep?" Mom asked, looking up from her coffee with her innocent smile.

  "You’re really going to pretend you didn’t know about Kelce?"

  "I have no idea what you’re talking about," she said, grinning like a cat who had absolutely eaten the canary.

  "Uh-huh." I sighed. "So what’s the plan for this week? Are you going to close the gym for a bit?"

  "There’s no need to close the gym," she said brightly. "And actually, we’re going there today. I invited some people."

  "Who exactly?"

  "An old... well, not a friend, but someone I’ve known for a long time. His daughter is one of the kids you met on Friday. She’s bringing some of her friends to train. Apparently, Hana is one of them, so at least I didn’t need to send her an invitation."

  "Ah. Then those must be the ‘other guys’ she said she invited for movie night," I nodded.

  ***

  We arrived early at Mom’s gym. I wanted a head start on meeting the new people, but apparently, they had the same idea. Five people were already clustered outside, and I immediately recognized three of them: Hana, Kelce, and Bozo the clown boy.

  "Hi, kids," Mom greeted as she fished out her keys. "I’ll open the gym. Warm up a bit before Jürgen joins us."

  "Hey, guys," I waved while she worked the lock.

  "Kelce told us about your little nightmare adventure," Hana said. "Damn, I wish I’d been there."

  "I can pull you into my dream tonight if you want," Kelce offered. "I can bring multiple people at once."

  "Hard pass," Bozo said, shaking his head. "I like sleeping without emotional damage."

  My attention drifted to the two people I didn’t recognize: a boy and a girl.

  "Oh, right," Hana said. "You guys don’t know each other yet. Guys, he is Max, Creepy Carol’s son, also known as Friday’s baby-beater."

  "Please don’t brand that as a nickname," I shook my head.

  "Taura Sternritter," the girl said, giving me a firm handshake. She looked mostly normal, aside from the fluffy blonde mane and the pair of cattle-like horns curling from her skull.

  "Elek," the boy said in a voice so flat it could be used as a table. His handshake was limp, his pale skin nearly translucent, his hair was white like snow, and his half-shut, bloodshot eyes made him look like he hadn’t slept since he was born.

  "Nice to meet you, Max," he continued, but the voice didn’t come from his mouth.

  It came from beside me.

  I turned, and a ghostly duplicate of him hovered there, with the same hair and face, but somehow looked more alive.

  "Oh, uh..." I pointed.

  "Before you ask, no, I’m not a ghost," Elek said.

  "Oh. Okay. Then...?"

  “Astral projection.”

  "Cool," I said. "I saw a documentary about that. Aren’t you supposed to be asleep for it, though?"

  "Well, I am asleep." His astral form gestured at his physical one. Sure enough, his real body looked like it was sleepwalking with its eyes half shut. "The body wanders, the mind wanders elsewhere. Not ideal for coordination, but at least my muscles don’t atrophy."

  "Khm." Mom cleared her throat like a hard reset button. "Inside, kids."

  We entered the gym and changed into our gear.

  "So," I said while stretching, "which one of you is the daughter of Mom’s mysterious guest?" I looked between Kelce and Taura.

  "It’s me," Taura said, lifting a hand.

  "And what’s the plan for today?" I asked.

  "Dad wants to test us a little," she explained. "He’s one of the organizers of a German martial arts tournament. I’m not promising anything, but if he’s impressed, he might invite some of you."

  "Sounds cool," I said. "Haven’t left the country for a tournament in a while. And those were just normal ones, not paranormal. What kind of styles are allowed?"

  "Pretty much anything," she said. "But, um… there’s something you should know about my family first."

  "What is it?" Hana asked.

  Taura opened her mouth, but before she could answer, Mom slammed the front door open like she was kicking off a WWE entrance.

  "Kids, let me introduce you to Jürgen Sternritter," Mom announced.

  And then he walked in.

  A Minotaur.

  A huge Minotaur, three meters tall, stacked with enough muscle to put bodybuilders out of business. His horns grazed the doorframe as he ducked inside, but that wasn’t the part that made my brain almost blue-screen.

  He was wearing a Nazi officer’s uniform.

  And not a subtle one. He had the full red armband, swastikas, medals, and an iron cross.

  "Dad," Taura groaned, dragging her palm down her face, "please tell me you did not ride the metro dressed as the Nazis’ furry mascot."

  "Nah, nah, I put the uniform on in the car!" he said, laughing deep from his bull chest.

  "I see your dad has a very healthy sense of humor," Bozo said with a grin.

  "No," Taura corrected, "my family actually consists of ex-paranormal war criminals."

  "My comrades and I served in a secret Minotaur unit of the SS," Jürgen said proudly. "We were unstoppable."

  "You weren’t, Dad," Taura sighed. "Otherwise we’d all be speaking German right now."

  "Khm." Mom cleared her throat again. "Can we focus on the reason you're here?"

  "Of course." He nodded and turned back to us. "I am one of the organizers of the übermenschen-Turnier."

  "I haven't heard of it," Hana said. "Is it international?"

  "It's invitation-only, but competitors from all corners of the world can enter. Also, this tournament is always held in a specific location in Germany."

  "Oh, so you came to see whether we're ready for it?" Kelce asked.

  "Not exactly." He shook his head. "Not now, at least. I’ll be at the tournament this Saturday to see what you all can really do. Right now, I just want a little taste. I want to know why my daughter chose you as her friend."

  "Dad, I already told you, I don’t choose my friends based on how strong they are," Taura sighed. "Otherwise, that blonde girl would be here too."

  "That's just what you think." He snorted. "But fate always brings the strongest players into the same game. There's a reason you met."

  "We just took the same elevator on Friday, and that’s how we met," Hana whispered to me.

  "Alright, Jürgen. Let’s start this little test. But keep yourself contained." Mom pointed a finger at him. "Claude can fix their broken bones, but not the walls and floor."

  "Do not worry, Frau Creepy," he chuckled. "I have perfect control over myself. I'm a soldier, after all."

  He shrugged off the coat of his uniform, revealing his muscular upper body. "So, who wants to be first?"

  "I volunteer," Bozo said.

  "Alright, let's start then." Jürgen nodded and reached for a big plastic bottle of mineral water on the shelf. "I can use this?"

  "Yeah, I prepared them for you," Mom said.

  Jürgen unscrewed the cap in one move and held the bottle in his left hand. With his right palm open, he tipped the bottle and poured the water into his hand, every last drop. The water should have splashed to the floor. Instead, it moved across his skin like soft, viscous jelly, pooling and then stretching.

  Slowly, the liquid reshaped itself into a long, thin blade.

  "Nice trick," Bozo said. He reached into his pocket, produced a long, deflated balloon, and began to inflate it with a few huffs. When it was full, he folded and twisted it into a ridiculous but serviceable sword. "Let's see if this can match up against my Clown Fu."

  "Let's see if your Clown Fu can match up against my Mensur," Jürgen replied with a grin.

  [Note: Mensur is academic fencing.]

  Jürgen assumed a fencer stance: precise, compact, everything measured. Bozo adopted an absurdly exaggerated pose, one hand on his hip, the balloon-sword angled like a parade prop.

  "Show me your first form, Clown," Jürgen said.

  Bozo flourished. "Prepare for Clown Fu, Style No. 4: Seltzer Serpent Slash!"

  He lunged. The balloon-sword squeaked as it cut the air.

  Jürgen parried, his water-sword answering in a clean, sharp arc. Though it was liquid, the blade moved like metal, biting through the air. He pressed forward with a series of short, disciplined thrusts. Bozo hopped back on his oversized shoes, keeping the fight flashy and mobile.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Fast," Bozo chuckled. "I like fast."

  Jürgen increased the tempo. He feinted low, probing for an opening, then pulled the attack back; an invitation. Bozo obliged with a wide, showy spin... and vanished.

  Not with smoke, not with a pop; Bozo exploded into a cloud of glitter. It wasn't dangerous, only dazzling: shiny dust that stayed in the air like a thousand tiny stars.

  Jürgen blinked. "Cute trick."

  "Ta-daa!" Bozo spoke from another corner, followed by the sound of confetti raining down.

  Jürgen pivoted and swung; Bozo burst again, glitter erupting around him.

  "Can't hit what you can't catch!" Bozo crowed, each reappearance belted with clownish bravado.

  Jürgen did not smile. He narrowed his eyes and breathed out. "Now I see."

  With another colorful explosion, Bozo reappeared near Jürgen, but this time, he was quick and executed a single, clean upward slash.

  There was a crisp tearing noise, and the balloon-sword in Bozo's hand sagged as if its latex had been neatly carved.

  Bozo stared down at his weapon. Where there had been a single silly sword now lay six perfectly sliced lengths of balloon, wobbling faintly and hissing as air escaped.

  "My sword!" Bozo said, incredulous.

  "Do you accept your defeat or want me to cut more than just that balloon?" Jürgen asked.

  "Okay, okay, you won. But how did you know where I would reappear?"

  "Since the air was full of glitter, I could see the spot where your body would pop up next time." He explained, "You know, teleporters don't just disappear and reappear somewhere else. Their particles need space where they can rebuild themselves. So each time your body does this, the air is pushed away right before you reappear. It's usually hard to notice, but the glitter in the air showed me where you will be next."

  "How do you know all this stuff about teleporting and particles, Dad?" Taura asked.

  "One of my old friends is a scientist at NASA," he answered.

  "And how did you do that water thingy?" Bozo asked. "Nazi supersoldier experiments?"

  "No," Jürgen said, shaking his head. "We Minotaurs bear the power of Poseidon. The bull who fathered the first Minotaur was his creation. So we all have a connection to him."

  "To me, it’s hydrokinesis through the power of belief," Mom added. "Also known as the Tulpa effect."

  Great. An ex-Nazi, martial arts expert, Minotaur, who’s also a waterbender blessed by a god. That’s how my Monday starts.

  The rest of that day was equally weird, but we’ll get to that later. For now, back to the present.

  "Who's next?" Jürgen asked.

  "Me," Hana said, raising her hand.

  "Hey, do you believe in that stuff?" I whispered to Taura as Hana and Jürgen got into position.

  "Um… I take part in some traditions, I guess? But no, I'm not into the Nazi stuff. Dad isn’t really a full-on Nazi either. Minotaurs just love fighting. That’s why the Nazis hired them. They hate all humans equally, not just minorities."

  "I meant the Poseidon part," I clarified.

  "Oh. Yeah, no. Not that either." She shook her head. "I think we’re just... mutants. The hybrid physiology and the water powers are just two random side effects."

  Hana ripped off her empty human face, revealing her red Oni features. "I'm ready," she said.

  "Ah, the brute strength of an Oni," Jürgen grinned. "Let’s test our brute strength in a Ringen."

  [Note: Ringen is a German term for unarmed combat in general.]

  The water sword in his hand changed shape, splitting into thin strips of rings that wrapped around his arms.

  "Armbands made of water? How’s that supposed to help him?" Bozo asked.

  "Those armbands are loaded with kinetic energy," Taura explained. "His arms can move faster now."

  "Oh, so it’s like what Bambi does, just with water instead of gold," I said.

  "Yeah. Most kinetic-power users charge up a material with kinetic energy," Taura said, nodding. "But the material itself doesn’t always matter. What Bambi does would still work if she used paper, dust, glass, or even pebbles. She loads that gold dust with so much energy that the type of material becomes irrelevant."

  "Oh? And how does that work?" I asked as Hana and Jürgen started grappling. "Because from what I’ve seen, you guys don’t really get to pick your material."

  "Right. Most kinetics can only manipulate one material, sometimes two. You can train yourself to use others, but it’s extremely hard. Only a handful of people can manipulate multiple materials on a professional level."

  "Well, I don't have any material," I said. "I just charge up my body parts with energy. Plus I’ve got that super weak, short-range telekinesis."

  "I saw that on Friday," she said. "Your category is called unspecialized."

  "And that's... bad?"

  "Not necessarily." She shook her head. Meanwhile, Hana and the Minotaur were trying to tear each other apart. "Since you’re not locked to a single material, you can experiment with lots of different ones. You’ll never master all of them, but having a broad toolkit can be useful if you’re creative."

  Jürgen suddenly got the upper hand. He wrapped his massive arms around Hana’s neck, dragging her into a chokehold.

  Hana reached up, grabbed her Oni face, and ripped it off, revealing a scaly, fish-like face underneath.

  With that new face, she lunged toward one of Jürgen’s water armbands and sucked it dry. Then she turned back toward him and blasted the stolen water into his face at high speed. The impact cracked through the gym like a gunshot.

  The Minotaur staggered backward, releasing her.

  "Ha ha! You tricky kleines M?dchen," he rumbled, laughing. "You win."

  "Good job, Hana," Taura said with a thumbs-up.

  "Yeah, what kind of face was that?" I asked.

  "My Ningyo face," she explained. "I can swim faster with it, and I can spit water like a cannon."

  "Nice. I can only do something similar with a really small amount of water. Mostly my saliva," Taura added.

  "Really? Show it!" Bozo said.

  Taura glanced around and spotted a fly zipping by overhead. "Watch this," she said. She spat, and her saliva sliced the fly clean in half mid-air.

  "Cool!" Bozo said, eyes sparkling.

  "Who’s next?" Jürgen asked, as if he hadn’t just gone a round with an Oni-Ningyo hybrid.

  "I can give it a try," Kelce said.

  "Ahh... a Buhmann," Jürgen said with an approving nod.

  "Yeah. I know there's no way I'd be as strong as you outside the dreamlands," Kelce admitted. "But I can make this fight a little more balanced."

  A small, pale puff of cloud appeared above her head. It swelled, darkened, and compressed into a perfect black ring. A moment later, something enormous forced its way through.

  A monster dropped onto the floor, a Minotaur-shaped horror, twice as feral as Jürgen. Black fur. Hooked claws at the fingertips. Burning red eyes. Foam dripping in thick strings from its jaws as a rabid wolf.

  "Straight from the land of nightmares," Kelce announced. "I caught this beauty from a torero's nightmare. He almost got gored to death by a bull once."

  Jürgen didn’t flinch. He grinned at the beast the same way someone grins at an unruly puppy. A very large, murderous puppy.

  He snatched a few plastic bottles off the table, uncapped them, and dumped the water over himself. Thin rivulets clung to his skin, then fused into a liquid shell that hugged every inch of skin. The water vibrated with barely contained kinetic energy.

  "All right, kleiner Stier," Jürgen said to the nightmare. "Come."

  The nightmare Minotaur charged first, snorting steam. It lowered its head to gore Jürgen clean off his feet.

  Jürgen stepped forward instead of back.

  He caught the beast by its horns.

  The impact was louder than what I expected, but Jürgen didn’t budge. The kinetic-charged water around his arms rippled, amplifying his strength.

  With a grunt, he twisted. The nightmare stumbled sideways.

  It lashed out with a clawed swipe. Jürgen ducked, grabbed its wrist, and rolled his massive shoulder under the creature’s arm.

  A perfect judo-style throw, executed by a three-meter Minotaur.

  The nightmare hit the ground hard enough to shake dust from the lights.

  It tried to rise.

  Jürgen didn’t let it.

  He wrapped his arms around its torso, lifted the monster clean off its hooves, and suplexed it into the ground. The water coating his body flashed, releasing kinetic bursts that cracked like wet gunshots.

  The nightmare Minotaur roared, thrashing wildly, but Jürgen simply shifted, pinning it with ease.

  One final twist.

  One final slam.

  The nightmare beast let out a strangled groan, and then its form buckled inward. It collapsed into a puff of oily black smoke, vanishing back to wherever Kelce had pulled it from.

  Jürgen rose, brushing a stray wisp of darkness off his shoulder.

  "Sehr gut," he said. "A nice warm-up."

  Kelce flicked the dissipating smoke with her finger. "Well... at least I made you breathe a little harder."

  "You did," Jürgen admitted with a grin. "Two extra breaths."

  The next one to challenge him was Elek, both of him. His astral form floated ahead, while his sleepwalking physical body shuffled behind like a bored zombie.

  "Which one of you wants to fight?" Jürgen asked.

  "I usually use my astral form," Elek said, sitting down on his own physical body’s shoulder like a depressed parrot. "But my body can still do some stuff. We can fight separately or together."

  He slumped sideways slightly, very ghost-like. "Together usually works better sometimes because I can control my real and astral bodies easier."

  "Oh, so you can ride on yourself," Jürgen nodded. "Good. Then..."

  The water coating his body rippled and lifted. It flowed upward, gathering on his shoulders and torso, sculpting itself into a humanoid shape. Arms, torso, head, and finally a pair of bull horns.

  A watery Minotaur-like rider sat upon him.

  "I brought my own, too," Jürgen chuckled. "Let us do some Ringen zu Ross."

  [Note: Ringen zu Ross is mounted grappling. Usually done on horseback.]

  Elek’s physical body charged first, slow, aimless, but surprisingly hard to knock down. Jürgen blocked lightly, pushing it aside with one arm while the water-golem rider tried to grapple Elek’s astral form.

  Elek drifted upward like a helium balloon someone forgot to tie down.

  "Come back here, kleiner Geist!" Jürgen hissed.

  Elek floated behind it and gave the golem a shove. It stumbled, splashing slightly. Jürgen countered by twisting his torso, sending the golem whipping around like a figurehead on a ship.

  Elek hopped off his own body, zipped around Jürgen, and then flew straight into the water-golem’s chest.

  For a moment, the entire golem froze.

  "Ah, he’s possessing it," Taura said, "Smart move."

  "Very creative," Jürgen said, "but you picked the wrong puppet."

  He put a hand on the golem, and the water began to vibrate.

  "He is overcharging it with his kinetic energy," Hana remarked, "He is also smart."

  Then the golem detonated in a geyser of water, spraying the entire gym like someone had dropped a water balloon the size of a bathtub.

  Elek’s astral form shot out of the explosion like a soap bubble fleeing a toddler, drifting rapidly back into the air.

  His physical body stood where it was, dripping, swaying, and then slumped over with a groan.

  Mom wiped a droplet of water from her cheek. "Jürgen. Clean. This. Up."

  Jürgen nodded solemnly. He snapped his fingers.

  Every droplet, splatter, and puddle rippled, lifted, and streamed across the room toward him. It all gathered into a single enormous sphere of water hovering over his palm.

  "Better?" he asked.

  "Much." Mom said, though she still sounded mildly annoyed.

  "Who’s next?" Jürgen asked.

  "I guess it’s my time to shine," Taura said.

  She stepped forward and casually flicked her hand toward the shelf. One of the plastic bottles trembled, then shot straight into her palm. Taura twisted off the cap and poured water on both hands. The water crawled up her arms, thickening and shaping itself until she wore a pair of boxing gloves, bull-headed gauntlets complete with tiny curved horns.

  Jürgen lifted the sphere of water hovering above his palm. It rippled, then split into a flock of doll-sized harpies, each with needle-like claws. Then he launched them like a scattershot burst.

  Taura dashed through the oncoming swarm, weaving between the miniature harpies with sharp footwork and low slips. The moment she cleared the last one, she stepped in and slammed her fists into her father’s abdomen with everything she had. The horns of the bull-headed gloves punched through his skin before she yanked them back, leaving two pairs of clean punctures.

  "Sehr gut," Jürgen rumbled, unfazed. A few blobs of water peeled away from the puddles around him and packed themselves into the wounds like liquid sutures.

  "That was quick," I said as Taura jogged back, breathing hard.

  "I put everything into that one," she panted. "All or nothing. Sometimes risky is the only way."

  And then all eyes moved to me. It was my turn.

  "Can I grab some water too?" I asked.

  "Of course," Mom said. "What exactly are you planning?"

  "I... don’t know yet. I just want to be experimental." I snagged a bottle from the shelf. "Sometimes you have to play riskily."

  I uncapped it and immediately realized I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

  Maybe if I pointed the bottle at him and pumped kinetic energy into it, it would blast water in his face?

  No. Knowing my luck, I’d just detonate a plastic grenade into my own skull.

  So.. now what?

  Then a thought struck me. Hana and Taura both did mouth-based water tricks earlier. Why not me?

  I lifted the bottle and chugged as much water as I could, puffing out my cheeks until they ached. At the same time, I tried channeling my kinetic energy into the water pooling inside.

  And... it worked.

  I felt the water rumbling and vibrating. I was about to unleash the most eco-friendly beam attack ever.

  But the triumph lasted about three seconds.

  The pressure spiked. I lost control. My cheeks ballooned even bigger, then boom, the water detonated inside my mouth. Two high-pressure jets blasted out of my nostrils like a disgusting sprinkler system. Blood mixed with the water in twin red streams in the end.

  I dropped to my knees, choking and coughing.

  Jürgen stared at me, stunned... then burst into thunderous laughter.

  Once everyone realized I wasn’t dying, they all joined in.

  "Pretty gross move," Jürgen wheezed between laughs, "but I should have expected it from Frau Creepy’s kid!"

  At least I managed to entertain him.

  "Not bad," Mom giggled, "but there’s a way to make it even grosser."

  "Do you... want to show us?" I asked, morbid curiosity wrestling with dread.

  "Yeah, let’s try it on me," Jürgen said confidently.

  "Alright," Mom grinned, "you asked for it."

  She bent down and picked up the half-empty bottle I’d dropped earlier. I braced myself for her to drink it, but instead she lifted the bottle to her nostril.

  "Oh no," I whispered.

  She tilted her head back and started pouring water straight up her nose. I knew what was about to come.

  When I was little, Mom had a party trick that kept me up at night; she’d snort milk and then fire it out of her tear duct like some kind of cursed water fountain.

  And now she was doing it again.

  Except this time, she’d leveled up.

  Twin jets of water blasted out of her tear ducts with fire-hose pressure. They hit Jürgen square in the face. He jerked back instantly, whether from the impact or the sheer horror of the attack, I honestly couldn’t tell.

  The others around me wavered in hesitation. Half impressed. Half nauseated.

  I was ninety percent sure I’d never be able to look at Mom the same way again.

  But later that day, I learned more about her powers.

  And apparently, this was just the disgusting intro level.