Alexander hadn’t meant to be pushed through the window. He hadn’t meant to fall. And he definitely hadn’t meant to somehow be transported to an alternate dimension.

See, it was all Jeremy’s fault. If he hadn’t taken that last slice of pizza right when Alexander was reaching for it, then maybe Alex wouldn’t have gotten angry enough to throw his best friend’s flat-screen TV out the window. Then maybe Jeremy wouldn’t have gotten angry too and started screaming because “the storm will ruin the LED!”. Then maybe they wouldn’t have gotten into a fight that ended up with Jeremy pushing him out the window of the 47th floor of his skyscraper apartment building.

But probably not. Did Alexander have anger issues? Most likely.

Alex couldn’t help but think as he fell “I still wanted that last slice.”

He fell parallel to the downpour of rain and squeezed his eyes shut as he braced for impact. Suddenly, thunder clapped and a bolt of lightning struck Alex mid-fall. He couldn’t scream as he spasmed in shock, beams of colorful light dancing across his vision. A purple rift with edges that flowed like violet water inexplicably opened up in the middle of the sky, swallowing and closing behind him.

He tumbled through air as thick as pea soup and most certainly as green. Finally, he landed back-first onto soft purple grass with a hushed thud. Extremely disoriented at that point, Alex stared up at the sky, wondering if this was heaven and why it smelled so much like the word enigmatic.

It wouldn’t be so bad to just die here, he thought.

For a long time, he was silent. Nothing but the sound of his own rapidly beating heart to ground him to the fact he was still alive.

Then he found his voice when three inhuman faces popped up over his own. He sprang up and backed away in terror, waving his arm back and forth like a half-baked idea of a weapon. The creatures stared at him curiously and he gaped at them, equally baffled. They appeared to be human-like, but he knew monsters when he saw them. Or no, they weren’t monsters. Their eyes were too intelligent. They were… Alex had no idea. No idea where he was, and no idea what he was dealing with.

You’re a long way from Kansas, Dorthy, he groaned inwardly.

When the creatures didn’t move or seem to want to drag him away somewhere so they could eat him, he finally gathered his nerves and spoke.

“Hey,” he whispered, not daring to raise his voice.

“You are the one,” one of the creatures replied, its voice crisp as an autumn day. Alex felt better knowing whatever it was, it could speak English and thought he was too important for consumption.

“Before that, what exactly are you guys?” he asked. He looked behind them to see a faraway city with skyscrapers reaching high into the pea-green clouds. Tall mirrors grew from the ground at random intervals and mahogany violins hung from the sky, suspended on dangerously thin strings. “And where am I?”

“We are the Gyros of Jaidenson,” the lead creature said, sounding like crackling leaves. “We believe you have fallen from the sky to help us defeat—”

“So, are you guys elves or talking plants?” Alex interrupted, walking around to examine them.

“We Gyros are nature itself,” another one of them said, smiling at Alex’s curiosity. “Care to take a look?”

It extended its hand to Alex, who glanced at it suspiciously. It was just like a human hand, but instead of bone and flesh, it was composed of ravels of green leaf. Its upper arm was the same, but the green grew to be less and more was replaced with human skin. Flowers sprouted at their shoulder blades and their clothes were made of a fabric Alex has never seen before. Their eyes were their most striking feature, two inhumanely colored irises radiating from slanted elfin shapes. The Gyro he was examining had a distinctly female form.

Alex nodded in approval. “You guys are kind of hot.”

The Gyros exchanged looks.

The one who seemed to be in charge spoke up. “My name is Wilton, and these are my fellow council members, Syiar and Laroche.” The other two nodded at their names. “The city you see in the distance is the one we govern, Jaidenson.

“It’s been under apocalyptic attack for millennia, and we think you are the one the sacred prophecy spoke of who will liberate us.”

Syiar, the female gyro, opened a scroll tucked under her arm. She deeply cleared her throat and recited the apparent prophecy, her voice reverberating throughout the sea of purple grass. “And as he rose into the heavens, the savior declared ‘A boy’s gonna fall from the sky when three of ya’ll are in a field, and he’ll help you. But don’t quote me, for insurance purposes.’” She reverently closed the scroll. “It’s why we’ve been standing here for the last 20 years. Things here are very literal. We’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

“If you choose to help us, we will supply you with all the gold our archives hold,” Laroche added. “In addition to that, you are already given your own Gyro form with your own suit of armor. Standard Jaidenson rule for visitors from other worlds.”

“What in the–” What did they mean by visitors? And Alex may have been a little short, but he liked his form just fine. He approached one of the mirrors that grew from the ground, rather conveniently placed.

He blinked in surprise. “Wow,” he said. “I look as hot as you guys.”

His face had changed completely. His ears had elongated and pointed upwards. Sharp cheekbones led to a straight nose, nearly hawk-like. His eyes were an unnaturally dark blue and he had to say: his lips looked very kissable.

He wore burnished powder blue armor with guards covering his chest, arms, and legs. The silver was engraved with intricately designed flowers winding around like vines with light seeming to emanate from the engravings, almost as if they were on the verge of coming to life. In between the armor was the same seaweed-like fabric as the one the other Gyros had worn, which was surprisingly warm. In his hand had materialized a long broad sword with a silver bluebell as the hilt.

And the best part: he had grown an extra 6 inches.

“I look so hot,” he whispered again, grinning to reveal perfect white teeth. His long dark hair blew valiantly in the wind.

Alex turned back to the gyro council.

“We beg your assistance,” Wilton said. Behind him, the others looked hopeful.

Would he help these people? This was his chance to prove he was better than an angry person who didn’t give jack-squat about others. He could be a hero. He could save the Gyro’s city and come back home richer than Bill Gates. He wasn’t a good person, but if there was ever a place to become one, this would be it.

He looked up at the Gyros. He could sense they were desperate.

“Will you help us?”

Alex looked them all in the eye. “Nah, man.”