Our time was then, it wasn't now, it was then. Leon and I faced off in my school's ever decaying gym. Our eyes met, and our bodies clenched with anticipation as we were both about to face off in the most fierce game ever created by man—Dodge ball. All of our school body had followed us to the gym, and to the red rubber balls which we would hurtle at each other.

I stepped forward, into that lovely painted circle which you see on most gym floors, Leon did the same. "Let me make the rules straight!" I shouted far too loud.

"I'm standing right in front of you." Leon retorted, "Your yelling far too loud."

I let out a scoff and turned to my fan base, it consisted of one boy who happened to be a close friend of mine. Despite there being only one person cheering in my favor, I couldn't help but feel motivation come over me. I had to win, it was absolutely necessary. That feeling soon drained from me when I heard the cheering for Leon.

"You can do it Leon! We believe in you!" One of his many adoring girl fans screamed.

"Yes Leon! Kill him! Kill him like you killed my heart!" Another roared, soon the cheers flew out like bullets, becoming all the more violent at every turn.

"Kick him in the face Leon! Make his head explode with your face kick!"

"Shoot him with a shotgun Leon!"

"Shoot him then marry me!"

"No, shoot him then marry me!"

"Marry all of us Leon! Marry us all and then divorce us so we can all take half of your awesome with us wherever we go!"

Now that Leon's fan base had successfully developed a mature mob mentality, I gulped, and looked to Leon with fearful eyes. They didn't want a sport, they wanted my blood. He smirked, "Don't let the crowd get to you." He said sarcastically, "Let's hurry this up, what are the rules kid?"

"You can't kill me." I spurted quickly, "Like ever in this match."

Leon crossed his arms and nodded slowly, "Fine… but then you can't kill me? Deal?"

I stared for a moment, actually wondering if Leon thought me capable of killing him. "Yeah… deal."

"What else?"

"Just us two in the ring, first to get hit three times with a rubber ball is disqualified." I pointed to a long line which divided the gym court in two, "You can't pass this line, ever. Uh… yeah, that's it."

Leon cracked his neck and nodded, "Alright, I can handle that much hotshot."

Wanting to sound as cool as Leon did, I retorted, "Yeah, I bet you can handle that… hotshot."

We stared at each other in silence, our rivalry just birthing itself. Then, slowly, we both took our steps back to the opposite sides of the gym. The time had come upon us, our moment was true and just. Together he and I would settle who was the greatest at sports. One of his fan girls came to the center of the gym and raised her arms.

"You two ready?" She looked at Leon, "Ready to kill him Leon?"

Leon nodded, "Ready."

The girl looked to me, "Ready to die?" She asked with contempt.

"He can't kill me! It's a rule!" I squealed.

"Go!"

Without hesitation Leon lunged forward at the dodge balls. I however, hesitated greatly, and by the time I started to think about moving Leon had already pushed all the balls to his side of the court.

"Looks like you need to work on that speed of yours kid." He said in his usual attractive voice, "I'd start panicking if I were you."

Now, up to this point, Leon had yet to see me make a move. That gave me some comfort, because I knew that once I started to engage him he would be dumbfounded. That's when I started up my true fire weapon, the weave. At the time, I believed it to be the best move any dodge ball player could use. It involved a lot of head ducking, and moving your feet back and forth. Granted, it does make one look odd, but it boosts your natural evasiveness by about three levels.

Once Leon saw the weave, he stopped in his tracks, and just stared – dumbfounded. I smirked, "What do you think of this huh? Huh?" I have to admit it felt good seeing him so confused. Little did I know he wasn't intimidated in the least, he just thought me an idiot.

"You're an idiot!" One of his fan girls shouted at me.

Being insulted by the girls comment, I naturally replied, "You're an idiot!"

As the girl and I continued to argue with childish remarks, Leon sighed and quickly pulled out his Red9. He aimed the gun's barrel at my leg, and shot it casually. The bullet zipped right through my flesh, and caused my leg to give out under my weight. I dropped to the floor in silence, shock overtaking my body.

I looked down at my leg, and when I realized that I indeed had just been shot, I looked at Leon, "You shot me!" I screamed.

Leon picked up one of the dodge balls, and gently lobbed it at my head, "That's one point for me." He said casually.

His fan base (The entire school, plus a few outsiders) screamed with delight. "You can't do that!" I shouted, "I'm bleeding man!" I double checked my thigh, when a blood spurt into my face, I confirmed that I was bleeding.

"No, you said I couldn't kill you." Leon answered. He picked up another ball, and gently tossed it at me. It hit my forehead, I let out a strange cry when it did. "That's two points for me."

"Gahh! Just stop it! My leg his been hit man! It hurts really bad!" I looked over to the single man who cheered for me, and called to him, "Bro, help me! I'm bleeding really bad bro! The blood, it's coming out of me!"

Our eyes met, even before he answered I knew I had already lost him. "I'm… I'm sorry… I… just can't." He slowly slunk away into the midst of cheering girls, "I… love Leon."

My eyes began to water, "Bro… no, not you to." Before I had a chance to raise my defenses, Leon lobbed another ball at me, ending the match.

"That's three outs. I've won." Leon stated calmly. He raised his hands and smiled, "Looks like you need to do some training kid. Either that, or you just need to give up." Then he laughed, oh, did he laugh. The crowd joined him in his laughter, and soon they began to exit the building.

As they did a screamed out with great contempt, "Leon! I'll get you for this Leon! I'll get you!" But my pointless threats couldn't be heard over the crowd, and soon they were completely gone.

I sunk to the floor in defeat, blood dripping out of my leg generously, and remained there until a janitor found me and called the police.

So, that was my first run in with Leon, but it was by far the last. As I stated, we soon became arch rivals for the rest of my existence, and that rivalry actually continues until this day. I do hope you enjoyed my story good reader, and if you wish to hear more of my wondrous tales, they will be waiting for you at my profile page.

Till next time – Adam Gilbert