A helicopter ride was the last thing Jugo expected to go through today.

Less than five minutes ago, he was going through a tour of Holloway Industries given by Thomas Holloway himself. For whatever reason, Elena's father had taken an interest in Jugo's powers. Now he insisted on taking a ride on a company helicopter to a private island to meet someone of great importance.

Jugo tried asking Elena who her father was talking about, but she didn't have a clue either.

"Dad rarely lets me visit this island," she said.

That wasn't exactly comforting, but Jugo couldn't think of a reason to decline. On the plus side, it wasn't every day he got to ride a helicopter. Though traveling over the ocean made him a little anxious, especially after what happened at the pier a few days ago. He hadn't been very fond of the ocean since that day.

Thankfully, the helicopter made touch down on the island without incident. Holloway's private island was bigger than Jugo had expected it to be. The island had a massive lush forest covering a large portion of it. Rocky gray cliffs made up the far edge while sandy beaches covered the part facing the mainland. A vacation home was built a couple dozen feet away from the beach with a gravel road branching off from it into the wooded area.

An off-road jeep was waiting for them after the helicopter landed. Thomas Holloway hopped into the passenger seat. Jugo gave Elena a hand to help her into the back seat since the jeep sat on high wheels. Before long, the forest opened up to something between a campground, and a military camp. The camp was surrounded by a large fence and guarded by armed security. Inside the fence were a few cabins. However, most of the fenced in area was empty space.

"Dad, where did all of this come from?" Elena spoke-up. "And why is it here?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, sweet heart, but our island was the optimal location for this operation," Holloway told her.

"But what is it?" she emphasized.

"You'll both find out soon enough," he said cryptically as the jeep pulled up to the gate.

While not afraid - he could certainly fight his way out if it came to it - something about this place made Jugo on edge. A billionaire having a heavily armed camp hidden on his private island was sketchy. Especially since the camp was mostly barren.

The guards opened up the gate to let them in. Mr. Holloway got out of the jeep first, but both Elena and Jugo hesitated to follow. After helping Elena step down, the two of them followed her father over to a section of open field. The field was cordoned off by a white chalk line similar to a baseball field. Sitting in the center of that field was a young man laying back on top of a large rock.

"Jackson, come down here for a moment, would you?" Holloway called to him.

The young man, identified as Jackson, raised up then eyed them for a second before acquiescing Holloway's request. The first thing Jugo noticed about Jackson were his eyes. They were an emerald green and possessed some kind of upward glance that expressed some sort of superiority. At least, that's how Jugo interpreted them. His glance seemed to pass right over Jugo, but his gaze lingered on Elena for an extra second. Jugo felt a sense of protectiveness in him, but but also a mix of confusion because - if he wasn't mistaken - Jackson's gaze had a hint of disdain when he looked at her.

Holloway turned to address them.

"Jugo I would like you to meet my associate, Jackson. He is part of a training program I'm sponsoring for the United States government. I'm sure you're aware that the state of Europe is in case right now, and it doesn't look to be getting any better. The U.S. is getting ready to enter the region to reinforce our European allies. Jackson is a member of a unit of exceptionally powerful SuperHumans who have volunteered to join the fight. Aside from Jackson, there are five others in training here. But don't worry, I can see the look in your eyes, I didn't bring you here to join them. 

"You see, our tests back at headquarters revealed just how unique your ability is. Your power seemingly allows your body to adapt to the circumstances around you. In the case of the weight machine, when your body couldn't handle the stress of the weights, your power evolved your muscle fibers to make you better equipped to handle the pressure."

Holloway continued, "On top of that, the tests for your reaction time, and intelligence suggested your power extends to your mental capacity as well. In other words, you're able to absorb information of the task in front of you to become better equipped to handle it. Theoretically, with a power like that, you could master just about anything you want in a very short amount of time."

That was a lot to process; which was ironic considering he supposedly had the ability to process almost anything. Jugo never thought of his powers being that complex, but if Thomas Holloway was right, then it would explain a lot. It would explain how he got stronger overnight after getting the crap kicked out of him by the three jocks from his old high school. It would also explain how he was able to turn the tide of a fight so quickly, even when he was on the losing end. But what about his armor?

An adaptation power didn't explain where the Darkwing armor came from. Jugo couldn't think of a connection between them that made sense. He didn't doubt that Holloway's researchers could figure it out, but there was no way to ask about it without revealing his villain identity.

"But why do any of this in the first place?" Elena asked. She seemed upset that her father would take on an assignment like this without telling her. "And why insist on bringing Jugo here?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Holloway explained to her. "I promise it's not because I didn't trust you, but because I was worried. The whole world knows how dangerous Valerio is, and I wouldn't put it past him to make an attempt on my life to try and shut this whole thing down. I can take care of myself if it comes to it, but I was concerned he might send someone after you if he thought you knew about this place."

Jugo felt his heart skip a beat.

"However," Holloway continued, "after what happened at the pier the other night, I now see how capable you are. I see now that I need to be more honest with you, and show you some more trust." He then turned to Jugo. "As for you, I would like you to engage Jackson here in a SuperHuman sparring match."

A SuperHuman sparring match is a special type of athletic competition that emerged in the past few years. As a natural precaution against the added stress of having superpowers, the human body became sterner stuff. On top of that, SuperHuman powers are different from the superpowers that appear in comics due to choice. If they so wished, a SuperHuman can avoid harming a target with their ability.

For example, if a person who can manipulate flames were to fire them at a person, the fire wouldn't harm them at the user's discretion. Scientists around the globe have been trying to find an explanation for this, but so far nothing has come up. Even stranger, this rule also applied to physical abilities; a super strength punch won't hurt another person, or trigger their pain receptors unless the person throwing the punch intended it to hurt.

After discovering this, a type of combative sport was created. Similar to a martial arts competition, a SuperHuman sparring match was based on contact. The challenger who obtained the majority of points in a three round match would be the winner. Contact is defined by a clean hit from a SuperHuman's ability.

Real fights were one thing, but he'd never been in match like that. Jugo tossed the request around in his mind.

"Not that I'm opposed to it, but why here? And why with him?"

"Jackson is a specialist, professionally trained in sparring matches as well as real world combat. If my hunch about your power is correct, you should end up on a similar level by the time the match is over." Holloway must have recognized Jugo's skeptical expression. "You don't have to win, so don't worry about that. Jackson will be able to match your skill in a way that it'll be more fair, but still challenging enough to provoke your adaptation into kicking in."

Jugo looked over at Jackson, who had said nothing since they'd arrived.

"What're your powers? You know mine, it's only fair I know yours."

"I control stone to an absolute degree," Jackson said in a smooth, uninterested tone.

Jugo got the feeling that was all he was going to get out of him.

In the end, he agreed to the match. He had a sneaking suspicion that Thomas Holloway had an ulterior motive for wanting to see his powers in action, but at least this would be an interesting experience.

Holloway called two other camp occupants that were to join this team of elite SuperHumans in the war over to the field. He explained they would serve as the judges for the competition. The age difference between Jackson and the other two was surprising. Jackson must be somewhere in his early twenties while the other two were easily in their early thirties. One of them had heterochromatic eyes while the other had a deep scar jus above a thick beard. Nothing about them suggested what their powers could be.

Without warning, the rectangular field around them sunk into the ground about ten feet. Now it felt less like a sports field and more like a gladiator arena. Earth and stone was scattered all around him, so Jugo knew that Jackson would have the upper hand. He glanced up at where Elena stood beside her father. She looked nervous, but managed a gesture of encouragement.

He nodded back, thinking, Win or lose, I better put on a good show.

The man with heterochromatic eyes spoke-up, "On my mark... begin!"