We were athletes.

Myself and those around me were people who pushed our bodies to the limits every day. Through daily pain and suffering, bearing the agony of forcing our limbs to move even when we felt like puking, we became better. 

We became stronger, faster, more resilient. Through months and years of training we honed our skills and perfected the engineering of our bodies. 

I always found the sport unique. Track was only running, but I could argue that it was the hardest. 

Here, it was always about the stopwatch, the times you hit. During a race, nothing else mattered except for you, the clock, and your past self that you were trying to be better than. 

There was nobody to help you, nobody to compensate for your shortcomings, nobody to fix your mistakes, or support your strengths like in team sports. 

And to become the best meant developing your body to the pinnacle of human capability. You were up against the entire world, not just those on the same field or court as you. 

A numbers game with no gray, only black and white. 

But the team was just as much of a family as any other. 

Through mutual pain and suffering we bonded, becoming close friends who could push each other and complain about how much we hurt. 

And we competed with each other. Who could lift more weight, who could run 200 meters faster, who could go for longer. 

And I surely wasn’t the best in any of those areas. 

I tried my best to keep up. I pushed myself to lift just as much weight, run just as fast, push myself for just as long. 

But I fell short most of the time. As I got better, so did they. In the end, I was always behind. 

One of my close friends was one of those who were better than me. Kevin, a man with skin dark as night and an aim in video games that would put anyone to shame. 

We were often up late at night together playing the latest and most frustrating video games there were. You would even catch us arguing about it during practice, like whether or not I carried his sorry ass the previous night. 

Like us, most people on the team were there in order to get scholarships. Get fast, get the money, go to school and get the degree. 

It was a simple path filled with the thorny road that was the sport. But most of everyone had long made peace with the struggle. So we just went through day by day, sprint by sprint, breath by breath. 

Until one day, things veered a little off course.

……

…

After blazing through a half hour commute in only 20 minutes, I arrived at practice. 

I met with Kevin who stood amidst a massive group of people. It seemed the entire team had gathered. 

“Hey, we have a meeting.”

“Oh. Fun.”

I sighed at his words as we took a seat like everyone else. 

It was the middle of the week, so we shouldn’t have had a team meeting. Regardles, it was probably about something I didn’t care about. 

Sure enough, when the time came and the head coach stepped up, he started rambling on about an upcoming event I didn’t plan on joining. 

Like that I zoned out. The only thing on my mind was my classes later in the day and how I forgot to do an assignment. 

So much for keeping an A. 

I let out another sigh while the coach’s voice droned on in my ears. 

But as I spaced out, I suddenly felt a jolt in my mind. It was like someone had poked my head, so I lifted my gazee and scanned around. 

And I noticed how everyone else had reacted to something as well. That’s when my eyes narrowed, a bad omen brewing in my gut. 

Even the coach had slowed in his words, attempting to overlook the weird feeling, but realizing that it wasn’t so normal with everyone’s reactions. 

And then, we heard it. 

{It is time...}

Those three words shook my mind, coming from beyond the realm of understanding. I could feel chills crawl up my entire body, caused not by the power held within them, but the sheer supernatural occurrence that shouldn’t be happening. 

My head snapped to Kevin beside me.

"Hey, you heard that?"

"...Yea. What the he-" 

He was interrupted as the voice continued.

{Not by circumstance... Not by inevitability...}

{True, unbridled prosperity... At the tips of your fingers...}

{But remaining ungrasped...}

The voice seemed to come from the sky and from within our bodies. It came to me in a perfect English language, but I couldn't help but feel like it wasn't actually a language being spoken. It felt more... raw. Like pure information being delivered to my mind. My surrounding teammates could only remain still, disbelieving of what was happening. 

{All have forsaken the ultimate frontier... The corruption of the degenerate swaying the virtue of the paragon...}

{It is time... The next step...}

{Thrown into the depth of extremity...}

{Evolve...}

{Reach the ultimate frontier...}

{Rejoice, Paragon.}

{The Ascendancy has graced the Earth!}

{And the Demise have come for ruin!}

It announced with purpose and decree. With no excitement, but overflowing expectation.

I continued to sit there long after it went silent. Chills made my entire body shake. I was overwhelmed by this mystical occurrence, feeling it impossible. Every fantasy in my head couldn't prepare me for this. 

But it wasn’t so great that I didn't notice the burning pain suddenly coming from within me. 

At first I just felt really hot, as if I were standing out in 110 degree weather. My entire body felt like it was overheating.

But then it got worse. That's when I felt my organs churn, my blood boiling. 

For a moment, I became painfully aware of all the filth inside my body. I felt dirty as the heat targeted every crevice of my flesh and tried to purify it. It was so intense that the feeling caused me to vomit, trying to expel it. My skin simultaneously began to sweat oil. I felt nothing but disgust along with the pain. 

And I wasn't the only one. Everyone around me, including the coaches, dropped to their knees and started heaving. The ground was coated with all kinds of fluids and food, causing the entire team to crawl outward and avoid the filth and smell. 

And the pain only became worse. However, after what felt like 30 minutes, I realized that it wasn't just pain I was feeling. 

All the cells of my body... they didn't just overheat. It was almost like they were generating some kind of energy. It was more than just cellular energy. It caused me to, despite the pain, feel powerful. I felt like I could do a few of my hard workouts before getting tired. There was more energy within me that made me feel like I was at my prime, even though I was far from it.

It felt like I was evolving, just as the voice said. 

This feeling helped me stay lucid throughout the torture that only got worse. The energy inside of me burst, and I continued to rid my body of all the crap inside of it. Although it was painfully abhorrent and disgusting, I felt better every time I expelled the filth. It was like the energy within me could move more, could grow more. The filth was only inhibiting it. 

This continued even after an entire hour had passed. By that time, although the pain wasn't any lesser, I was able to adapt enough to take in my surroundings. 

There were a few people who had collapsed, unmoving as if asleep. I cringed when I saw them laying in their own filth, but didn't mind it that much since I was practically covered in mine. 

Most people though were fighting through the pain, also looking around. Kevin was one of them, and we turned to each other. 

"Hey Kev... How's it going?" 

I asked through strained breath. 

He chuckled, the act causing him to spit out brown liquid. 

"Like ass. What the hell... is going on?"

"I don't know..."

I grit my teeth. Fighting through this pain for so long took its toll on my mind. I wanted to go to sleep, but I fought against the feeling. 

"Whatever is happening... it's not good. Just stay awake. Don't... go to sleep. In case anything happens."

I spoke aloud, the entire team likely hearing my voice since I was the only one talking. 

I didn't know what was going on, but it was safe to assume the entire world was changing. In that case, I couldn't go to sleep. Something like that would be dangerous. Something inside of me told me so.

It seemed like people began to handle the pain better as some even stood up. But no matter what, the pain never dissipated. It only got worse as each minute passed. Every second, I could feel my mind's lucidity being sapped away. 

"...Water."

When hour 2 passed, I struggled to reach behind me. I slipped off my backpack and drew one of my water bottles. Throwing up so much had made me not only hungry, but thirsty as a horse in the desert. 

Upon drinking some water though, I immediately threw it back up. Kevin, who was about to mimic me, stopped in his tracks. 

"Well... that sucks."

He chuckled, breaking out into a fit of coughs. 

Like that, we could only continue to suffer. After hour 3, many more people had succumbed to their fatigue, falling asleep after collapsing on the floor. 

Being completely honest, it finally began to scare me a bit. I wasn't sure if they died after collapsing. Was this some sort of test? A test of our fortitude? What happened to those who fell asleep?

With a rapidly beating heart, I crawled over to a guy nearby who had collapsed. I put my fingers on his neck, and was relieved when I felt a heartbeat. 

"They don't die after collapsing!"

I shouted, hoping everyone could hear me. Maybe they were scared of the same thing. I couldn't be sure. I just wanted to give everyone some solace. 

At that time, there was another shout. 

"Their body gets cold though!"

This time, it was one of the girls. Thinking, I put my hand on the guy's back. It was true. His body was really cold, almost too cold. 

"Dammit! Don't fall asleep!"

Another one of the guys shouted, slapping his face in order to stay awake. I began to feel it too. At some point, my body was no longer overheating, but chilling. The temperature flipped as my blood felt like it was slowing. It was the kind of cold that made you want to snuggle under a warm blanket and fall asleep...

"No!"

I shook my head. I couldn't fall. 

"Come... to me! Let's fight this together!"

Then, another guy spoke. He barely pulled himself to his feet, waving down those who were still awake.

With all the effort I could muster, I climbed to my feet. My body protested, my limbs feeling so incredibly weak. I felt like I could barely lift 5 pounds, let alone my entire body. Everything shook, about to buckle.

But I trudged forward, taking a step toward that man. A few others did as well, while some could only climb to their knees and crawl.

After several minutes, there were only 8 of us who could stand and gather. Five men and three women. The only thing we did was come closer, but it seemed to boost our energy. 

Mutual suffering. It was a great thing to bond over. 

Hour 5 approached.

"Stay standing. We don't know what happens... if we fall asleep."

One of the men spit out those words. His name was Albert. He was one of our best throwers, a big man with incredible strength. 

"Hopefully nothing bad actually happened to the others..."

Another spoke from beside Albert. Martin, one of the distance runners and a very skinny man. He hugged himself and shivered. It turns out all of us were feeling the cold as it cut into our bones. 

A girl let out a sharp breath, a pole vaulter named Ashley.

"You guys felt that heat earlier? It felt like I was cooking myself."

"Yea, no kidding..."

Albert agreed. 

Beside me, Kevin was barely standing. All of us were shivering from the cold that seeped into our bones. 

"Woah there big guy. Don't tap out on me." 

He stumbled, and I moved to support him. 

"I'm... all good..."

He mumbled, barely keeping his eyes open. Even when he tried to shake himself awake, it didn't work. I wasn't faring that much better. 

Truthfully, I should be scared of falling asleep. So scared that I would never wish to sleep again. But I couldn't be. 

It seemed like falling asleep was inevitable. I surely didn't have it in me to last for another hour. And when that time came, was I supposed to assume that I died?

At this point, I didn't know if I even cared. The cold didn't just freeze my body, but seemed to infect my mind with drowsiness. I didn't have the capacity to even worry about looming death. 

So when Kevin stumbled again, I was barely able to prevent him from falling on his face. Instead, he fell on his shoulder, falling asleep soon after. 

Two of the other guys were quick to go after that. Nobody had talked for a while, just concentrating on staying awake. 

With the guys went the girls. Two girls fell, leaving one standing. 

In the end, I stood there frozen like a statue. Me, one other guy, and one other girl. All I did was focus on maintaining my balance. I felt like once I fell over, I was done. 

A competitive spirit even rose up within me. I looked at the other two through my barely open eyes, smiling a tiny bit. 

I didn't know how long passed like that. Teetering on the edge, not even knowing if I was still awake. 

But after enough time, the cold began to fade, and I regained my lucidity. It felt like I overcame a barrier, feeling a wave of relief as the pain and discomfort disappeared. 

However, instead of seeing the normal view of the stadium and my teammates as I raised my body, I looked forward only to see a vision manifest. 

At first, it was just a bright light that overwhelmed my eyes. I couldn't avoid it though, my body not listening to my commands. 

I just stared at the radiance, until over time, the things within that light became clearer. 

I could see three figures, three men, who stood one after the other with varying dispositions.

And over time, the figures began to gain clarity. I noticed great pain in my mind as I attempted to make out what those figures were, but to see them was compelling. I wanted to know what they looked like, who they were.

And after incredible strain that made me feel like my eyes would pop out of their sockets and my brain explode, I could see the first figure. 

He was a man of humble origins, dressed in steel armor that was intricately designed, though not by a masterful blacksmith. He didn’t seem to be anyone of extraordinary status or brilliance, but in his eyes were the gleams of ambition and hope. 

He looked beyond himself, looked to the future that was full of possibilities. From him I could feel the unyielding aura of greatness. 

But he was a small figure. The other two which I couldn’t make out were bigger than he. From them I could feel greater power, greater status and significance. 

But that was it. Not long after gaining clarity with the first figure, my mind began to fade. My vision blurred as a splitting headache directly erased any lucidity I had retained. 

And so I passed out, unknowing of what might happen in the future.