I stand on the edge of town with a group of my friends. Serena, Trian, Polly and Carly, Midnight, Baxter, Treejinue, George, Charolette, Lilica, Rachel, Taurus, Wonder, Jonah, the dryad from my night out with George and Adrian, Adrian himself, and 4 biomechs. Two earth and two air. All conversation stops as I begin speaking. "I've brought you here today for a fun game/training session," I announce. "We're gonna be playing capture the flag. 11v11. We'll be using his patch of West Forest as our field. There are bright yellow markers lining the edge of our playing field today. Blue team's flag is on one side, red team's is on the other. Me and Serena will be team captains. Use your abilities to your hearts' content. Try not to mess each other up too badly, though, we're all friends here. But don't hold back too much either. We're still opponents," I finish. "Questions?" Wonder raises her hand. "Yes, Wonder?" "I feel more than a little underpowered here. Why are people like me and Adrian here?" She asks. I smile. "You guys are Endromic Fighters, just like the rest of us. You're just as important as me, or Serena. This will be a great way to train you. To work on yours, and all of our teamwork. Offensive and defensive capabilities. Don't worry, though. You may not have any particularly special abilities, but we won't leave you weaponless." In a single second I teleport away, set my hand on a gun rack, and reappear in front of my friends. "Here we have an assortment of guns. Classic kinetic weapons, and some of our new plasma weapons. All non-lethal, of course," I explain. "I think you and me both know that I've never been much of a good shot," George says. "I feel your pain, my large friend. Don't you worry, I have just the solution," I say. I teleport away again and then reappear with another weapon rack, this one filled with an assortment of melee weapons. Clubs, swords, knives, shields, spears, and more. "These ones were a little harder to make non-lethal, but, with the help of our beloved blacksmith and enchanter, John, we were able to create an entirely new enchantment just for today. It is impossible to kill someone with these weapons. You can make lethal blows, but they will not have lethal effects, and will just knock your opponent unconscious. On top of that, any injury inflicted with these weapons will be healed within a few hours," I explain. The others nod in affirmation. "Alright, to the rules: try to keep the destruction to a minimum. I'm looking at you, George and Carly. Don't go slithering over entire patches of forest, or ripping up trees." Carly actually looks embarrassed. Gorge just laughs. "I'll do my best, my friend." "For us teleporters: Rachel, Trian, we can't just teleport to the enemy's flag and then teleport it home. If you see the enemy's flag, you can teleport to it, but once you have it in hand, you have to run it back home." I look at the shapeshifters. "On two feet." Then I look at Treejinue and Taurus, Tree on eight legs, and Taurus on three, "You two are exempt from the two feet rule, for obvious reasons." Taurus actually chuckles. "Alright, I think that about covers it. Come pick your weapons, friends." I turn around and start examining my choices. I take a plasma weapon. It's short to mid range, and designed similarly to the Covenant plasma pistol. I also pick up a couple daggers and a short sword. I'm a better shot than George, but nowhere near as good as, say, Serena, so I much prefer getting close. Once everyone's picked their weapons, I nod at Serena and we stand apart form each other. "Alright, Fighters. Me and Serena will now pick our teams," I announce. "Serena, would you like to go first?" She nods in thanks, and then considers her choices. "I'll take Treejinue," She says. "Taking the biggest first, eh?" I ask. She just smiles. I choose Gorge. "I want an enderman on my team. Rachel?" Serena asks. Rachel goes to stand by Serena, not quite as enderman as Trian, being human and all, but still just as skilled in the art of teleporting during hand-to-hand combat. "And I'll take Trian," I say. Trian disappears, reappearing next to me and George. After a minute or two me and Serena have our teams. Serena has herself, Carly, Rachel, Treejinue, Midnight, Lilica, Wonder, Jonah and Charolette. Along with one air biomech and one earth. My team is made up of myself, George, the dryad, Adrian, Taurus, Trian, Baxter, Polly and the two remaining biomechs. "Come, team. I'll lead you to our flag," I say. Serena signals for her team to follow her. "C'mon guys," She says. I lead the others into the forest, and we find our flag waiting for us. It's a simple construct: a red banner on a six foot tall pole. "Here's our flag. Obviously, we're the red team," I say. I pull out a bunch of red caps and hand them out for everyone to wear. "Serena should be giving similar blue caps to her team. To better identify each other in the chaos," I explain. "What's the plan, boss?" George asks. He has a huge club that I would not want to be hit with, even in the hands of someone like me, let alone a minotaur. "Alright, here goes: I got a job for each of you. Taurus, Trian, I want you two on the flag at all times. Don't let it out of your sight. Taurus, there's a tree nearby with a branch excellent for sitting on. It would make a nice perch so you'd be able to cover the flag with your plasma rifle easily." I point him to the tree I'm talking about. "I'll have my eyes on," He affirms. "Trian, I trust you to find good cover to ambush anyone who tries to get the flag," I say. He nods. "No one'll get close," He says. I point at the earth biomech, with his huge Gatling gun. "You, sir, will patrol the area around the flag. Repel any of the enemy team who seek to take it. Trian and Taurus will have your back." It salutes silently. I point at the wind biomech next. "I want you in the sky keeping an eye out for the other air biomech. Take it down as fast as you can. If you see Lilica, don't try to take her on alone, she will destroy you. Make for the trees and help us in the frontal assault as soon as the enemy air unit is down," I order. The bug-like robot salutes. I look at Polly, who is conveniently standing next to the partner I've chosen for her. "Polly, you and... love, could we please have a name? It would make things so much easier," I ask. The dryad just smiles and wags her finger. "Not yet. For now, though, you can just call me Yin," She says. "Alright. Polly, you and Yin are gonna sneak as stealthily as you can around the edge of our arena. Find their flag, and try and take it out from under their noses while me and the others attack head on. Yin, as a dryad, can use the forest to her advantage. Polly, you can also easily slither around without getting noticed. Be wary, though. I don't doubt they'll have people guarding the flag just like we do," I explain. They nod at me in unison, look at each other and nod again at each other. "Baxter. I want you in the sky with our little friend here. Help it take out their air mech if you can, but your main priority will be Lilica. I don't doubt she'll be in the air, looking for any way she can ruin us with that shotgun of hers. Do what you can to keep her distracted, or even take her down. If our mech succeeds in it's task, it'll help you out," I explain. Baxter nods. "Aye, Joey. I'll keep her off your heads." I finally turn to George, who seems impatient to get going. "George, Adrian; I want you two with me. We'll be charging straight down the middle. They'll send their best fighters to counter us, and it'll be our job to keep them occupied while Polly and Yin get to the flag. If we somehow manage to take out their own frontal assault, we'll push to the flag to deal with the back line defenders," I finish. George smiles and Adrian nods, inspecting his assault rifle. "Is everyone clear on their assignments?" I ask. Everyone confirms. "Perfect. I'll signal that we're ready." I pull out a flare gun, load the flare, and fire it into the sky. A few seconds later I see Serena's flare.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I lead the team to our flag. It's a simple, blank blue banner on a long metal pole. I quickly hand out blue hats to the others. I have one for Tree, but she hardly needs it. She gently sets it on her head anyways, and I can't help but smile. "Alright, team. I've got roles already made up for you all, so listen up. I am not loosing to Joey, you hear me?" I sound firm, but a playful smile never leaves my face. "Alright. Treejinue, Charolette, and Jonah, I want you three on flag defense. Jonah and Charolette, hide yourselves among the trees. Treejinue, can you bury yourself in this open area here?" I ask. She chitters excitedly. "I can," She says in my head. "Perfect. You'll lie in wait, and if anyone gets close that Char and Jonah haven't already dealt with, you'll be our last line of defense." I look at Lilica and the air drone. "I want you two in the air at all times. You're our air support. Keep their drone and Baxter off our backs, 'kay? And, if you can, rain hell on them- ah, I mean..." I give up on my attempt to repair that. It constantly slips my mind, Lilica's angelic origins. Lilica laughs at me, and the biomech salutes. "You're fine. I've long since gotten used to Earth's swearing. We won't let you down," She says, cocking her shotgun for emphasis. I look around at the remaining five. "Carly, Rachel, Midnight and Wonder. You guys, me, and the earth robot will charge head on. If we can break through their line, then we can grab the flag and run. Rachel, you're a teleporter, just like Joey. None of us will be able to touch him, but you can. Get his attention, and keep him off the rest of us," I say. She nods. "He won't be a problem," She says, grinning evilly. "Alright. If we're all ready, I'm gonna signal Joey," I say. Everyone confirms that they're prepared. I pull out a flare gun and point it to the sky. Right before I fire, I see Joey's flare fly up. I hum and fire off my own flare.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
As soon as the flares are in the air, we get into position. I don't waste any time and use my telekinesis to form wings on my back. I use the new wings to lift off, the biomech close on my tail. The sky is empty, so I start making my way towards the other side of the playing field, waiting for Lilica or the robot to appear. The longer they stay hidden, the more my anxiety rises. I take a deep breath. "Ok, X, you're fine. You can do this," I say to calm myself down. A girl's voice laughs behind me. "You call yourself 'X'?" She teases. I whirl around and begin evasive maneuvers. Lilica fires her shotgun and I weave around the beams of white light that come from it. I raise my own weapon and start firing at her. She's forced to fly a distance away to avoid my fire, giving me space to regain my bearings. I steady my flight, and then give chase, firing in her direction, and dodging whenever she fires blindly behind her.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The first signs of conflict come from above. First it's Lilica's shotgun, then that goes silent as Baxter's rifle goes off. Me and Yin look up just in time to see Lilica pass right over us, Baxter right on her tail. We look at each other, then continue on our way. "I'm going down. Don't worry about me, I'll be able to keep up," I say. Yin nods as my form convulses and my point of view lowers to the ground. My senses are altered as a serpent. I can't see as well, but my sense of smell is greatly increased. I quickly pick up speed, slithering through the undergrowth. I sense Yin nearby, dancing through the forest with the ease of a dryad. We're completely silent. Joey chose his stealth team well. Before long, the enemy flag comes into view. "I see it," Says Yin. "I'm moving in." I quickly turn back into a human and pull out my crossbow to cover her. She moves across the remaining space with lightning speed, but is cut off about a hundred feet away by Charolette. "Not so fast, little dryad," She says. Char jabs with a staff, and Yin jumps away, pulling out her own staff. They begin trading blows back and forth. They're both very agile, so it's rare when one gets a hit in, but when they do, they make it hard. The air is filled with the sound of clacking wood, heavy thumps, and grunts. I level my crossbow and prepare to take a shot at Charolette, but I hear a sound behind me. I whirl around and see Jonah, Charolette's husband, sneaking up. I fire my weapon at him, and he's quick to jump out of the way. As I reload, I look for his eyes and find them. I grin as he's suddenly encased in ice. The perks of being a gorgon. That won't last long. In a couple minutes, he'll thaw and be good as new. I take the time I have to turn and take aim at Char.
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Me, Adrian, and George don't bother with stealth. I march through the forest, tall and ready for a challenge. I keep my eyes peeled for their main force. I see movement, and call for a halt. I whisper, almost completely silent, "Be ready to attack." I then teleport to the person I saw. I unsheathe my blade, watching as Wonder freezes in terror to the sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard. "You should really work on your stealth, love," I say. She spins around and fires her weapon wildly in my direction. I teleport up into the tree above her, and then drop down on top of her. I feel bad when I land on her, knocking her onto her stomach and taking her breath away. I prepare to incapacitate her with my knife, but Rachel tackles me off of Wonder. "Ah. I should've know Serena was gonna send you after me," I say, getting up quickly. She just smiles, and then dashes forward, swinging her blade at me. In an instant, I pull out a short sword and catch her longsword with it. We link, and the world flickers around us as we begin teleporting around the playing field in sync, countless times a minute. The link breaks when one of us pulls away our blade, to swing at the other, and then we link once more when the blades meet again. Steel clashes, our blades a blur, and neither of us is able to get a hit on the other. Finally I see a red mark appear on her arm, and she grunts. I push harder and another scratch shows up on her leg. Another slices across the belly of her shirt, but doesn't get her skin. Damn it! We got too cocky. I've pushed too far! All three of us see it coming. I find myself unable to dodge as she swings her blade and it cuts open my shirt over my chest. I feel blood start pouring from the wound. As I try to back up, she gets another hit on me, and another. A cut opens on my arm, and she tears the metal of my other. Finally, in the half a second that our link is broken, I teleport away to regroup myself. Regroup... myself... Wait a minute..!
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I trail Lilica closely as she tries to get away. I keep firing my gun at her and she's forced to swoop and spin to avoid my shots. Not all of them, though. After a minute, I start seeing red on her clothes, and blood starts dripping off of her and falling to the forest below. As long as she's occupied with trying to escape and not pestering my team, I'm doing a good job. I sense something approaching, but before I can react a stunning electrical shock rips through my body and I find myself falling, my telekinesis deactivated. The ground is approaching fast, but my powers reactivate just in time to pull up before I pass through the canopy. I turn around to find the source of the shock; it's the enemy air biomech. It must've taken out ours. I aim my gun at it, but it dodges with lightning speed. I go to fire again, and take it out right before I hear a shotgun blast behind me, and I turn just in time to see the beam of white light coming at me.
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After my sudden realization, I hear a scream above me, and look up to see Baxter falling from the sky. I dive to catch him, and succeed. I lay him against the tree. He's a little singed and unconscious, but he'll be ok. I return to my task. "I can't believe you forgot," I say. "Hey! You did too," Jack responds. "Idiots. Stop fighting about it and let's get going." Tyrone is always quick to break up our fights. I feel a weird sensation, and suddenly I'm staring at an exact copy of myself, with electric blue eyes. I can't help but smile, and Tyrone smiles back. Another strange feeling and Jack is standing in front of me too, with his fiery red eyes. He flicks his wrist and a fireball floats above his palm. He seems as surprised as me. "What the-" I start. "Cool." Jack laughs. Tyrone does a similar movement and an icicle forms from his palm, pointing outwards like a spike. "Interesting..." He muses. "Enough!" I order. "We've a game to win." They both grin and we make our way back to the battlefield.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I wait, just under the dirt, I'm completely hidden, but not buried to the point where it'd be difficult to come up. I can still see, though. My eyes are uncovered. I watch as the dryad runs at the flag, and then Charolette cuts her off. I watch as Polly lines up a shot, but is interrupted by Jonah. I watch and wait, as Jonah is frozen, Polly takes out Char, and the dryad moves for the flag. I giggle as I realizes she has no idea I'm here. Right before she's on top of me, I shake and rise out of the ground. I roar, and hope I look ferocious. I swing my left claw at her, and she jumps up, landing on top of it. I go to hit her with my other claw, and she jumps away, flipping in the air and landing out of my reach. I roar again, standing my ground. I don't need to chase them, just keep them off the flag. I clack my claws together menacingly. I sure hope I don't look too scary.
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Treejinue stands as our last obstacle. Ah! She's just ruined our day. I look back at Jonah, who's already thawing. This is going to take too long. I quickly grow in size and turn into a massive snake. Not quite the girth of a basilisk, but definitely the length of one. It's an ancient serpent I read about before: titanaboa. Once the transformation is complete, I dart forward. I don't dare bite her; her chitinous shell is far too thick. I'd shatter my teeth. Instead, I use my great length to tangle her up. I wrap around her left claw, tuck under her body, and come out again to wrap around her right. I look to see I still have some length left. Good, I'll need it to disable that tail. I wait till she brings it close, to sing me, and then wiggle just enough to make her miss. Once she does, I quickly wrap around her tail, tightening my hold to bring all her weapons close together, useless. I can't speak, but Yin seems to get the message. She darts for the flag, and grabs it out of the ground. She moves to escape into the trees. I know once she gets there, we've basically won. No one can outrun a dryad in a forest. Right before she reaches the tree line, Jonah bursts out from next to her, tackling her to the ground. No! The flag flutters away, and Charolette reappears to pick it up and stick it back in its spot. So close!
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I see Joey on top of Wonder, about to take her out of the fight, but Rachel interjects and they both disappear. I see them clashing everywhere at once, but somehow not here at all. I ignore them, and move forward with the others. I go to Wonder and pull her to her feet. "You ok?" I ask. She nods, catching her breath. "He scared me to death, but I'm good," She says. I see George rushing at us with his club ready to swing. I move to dodge, but Midnight comes out of nowhere and pounces on him, in the form of a massive, white panther. She doesn't knock him over, but knocks him away from us. She starts a fight with him, but he holds her off. I look for the earth drone and find it. "You. Help her out," I say, pointing towards Midnight and George. The biomech levels it's big gun at George, but he raises his bigger shield and it absorbes all of the shots. He swats Midnight away with his club as she jumps at him, and then charges at the biomech while it's reloading. I'm forced to turn away right before he reaches it. Me, Carly, and Wonder continue onwards, towards the flag. Suddenly, gunfire comes from the trees ahead, and we're forced into cover. I peek out just enough to see Adrian reloading. I think he's alone. I try to step out to fire at him, but he's got me pinned. I look over and Wonder gets a strange look on her face. I recognize it as something Joey tends to look like. "Don't you dare," I warn. She looks over and shakes her head. "Get ready to run," She says. Before I can stop her she charges out of cover. Adrian doesn't seem to expect that, but still fires his gun. He misses the first few shots, and that's all Wonder needs to fire off her own gun. He goes down, but he doesn't miss again on his way down. He takes Wonder with him. I know they're both only unconscious, but it's still sad that Wonder felt she had to sacrifice herself. It won't be in vain. I wave Carly forward and we push onwards.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I laugh as the biomech unloads at me. I crouch behind my shield, and it absorbs it's whole clip. I stand back up and see Midnight charging at me out of the corner of my eye as a great, white panther. I swing my club and send her flying into a tree. I see Serena, Carly, and Wonder moving away, but I can't do anything about it. Adrian will have to deal with them. I laugh again and charge at the biomech, my head lowered. I ram into it, horns first, and it stumbles. I stand back up, the same height as it, and bash it away with my shield. I then proceed to swing my club again, completely knocking it over. I lift my club over my head and then bring it down on the robot's gun. I repeat the attack till the gun breaks off. I know it sill has earth based abilities, but it doesn't seem to be moving, so I turn around. As soon as I turn, I see Midnight flying at my face. I grunt as she knocks me into the ground, and begins tearing into me with her claws. Suddenly Joey appears and begins slicing at her side with a knife. I do a double take as another Joey appears and begins doing the same thing with an icicle. Midnight is forced to back off and take in her new adversaries. I stand back up, bleeding, and look down at the Joeys. There's the 3rd one! His hands are on fire. "Midnight! Sorry, love, but I'm going to have to ask you to please leave," Says the one with the knives, joyously. She looks between the three of them and me, and then at the fallen biomech. She quickly turns and retreats back towards the flag. "After her!" Says the one with the flaming hands. The four of us charge.
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I cant help but laugh as Joey's forced to back off. He teleports away, but I can't follow him. I've got no target, so I retreat back towards the flag. I see George destroying the biomech and Midnight sneaking up on him. I stop here to watch and wait for a good moment to jump in. Midnight knocks George to the ground, and I almost teleport back to the flag, but then Joey comes out of the trees and starts attacking her. I'm about to jump out to help, but another version of him comes out too, followed by a third. "What the-" Midnight is forced off, and then retreats towards the flag. George and the Joeys give chase. I quickly teleport away to warn the others.
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I circle above the field, keeping an eye out for Baxter. I don't think he's coming back up. I'm about to go down when Rachel suddenly appears in front of me, takes my hand and teleports us both back to the ground. "George and three Joey's are after Midnight, and they're heading to the flag. I'm about to go warn Tree and the vampires. You go towards Joey's flag and help the others take it," She says. I smile. Joey, Jack, and Tyrone haven't used the gift I gave them since I gave it to them. I was beginning to wonder if they'd forgotten about it. "I was wondering when they'd come out," I say. She doesn't pry, and teleports away. I lift off and quickly fly over the trees till I spot Serena and Carly below. I land next to them, my wings folding away. "Baxter's down, and so is their air biomech. George, Joey, Jack, and Tyrone are chasing Midnight towards the flag. Rachel is going to intercept them. I'm here to help you guys out," I explain. Serena nods. "Where's Wonder..?" I ask. "She sacrificed herself to take out Adrian," She responds. I nod and hum. "Let's not make it in vain, then." Me, her, and Carly proceed silently.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Polly quickly unwraps herself from around Treejinue and slithers towards me. Acting as a whip, she sends Jonah flying off me. She wraps around me and takes us both into the trees. She lets me go once we're a good distance away and turns human again. "That scorpion is a serious problem," She says. "You're right. You think we cou- look out!" I dive away— taking her with me— as Midnight rushes passed us, in the form of a huge panther. George is close on her tail, and Joey not too far behind him. They all rush past, not noticing us on the ground. "Did... did I get hit in the head?" I ask, looking down at Polly. "Not that I saw, why?" She responds. "Cause I feel like I just saw three Joeys." "Well, they're heading for the flag. Let's go help them out," She says. We get up and are quickly heading back towards the flag.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I shout triumphantly when they're forced to retreat. My confidence is short lived, though, as Midnight comes scrambling out of the forest not long after Polly and the dryad leave. George, and three Joeys come into the clearing after her, stopping just on the edge of the trees to size us up. Polly and the dryad are back too, and they stand with their captain(s?). Rachel suddenly appears. "Guys, get ready. There's- oh they're here." She stops. It's an old fashioned stand off. Rachel pulls out a spear and stands firm. I hold my staff at the ready, and Jonah has a sword and pistol. Treejinue stands tall behind us, claws snipping absently. Joey flips his knife in his hands. His doubles have their own weapons, kind of. One has a razor sharp icicle in each hand, and the other's hands are actually on fire. Polly has a crossbow and the dryad has a staff similar to mine, although, I think hers carries magic. George has a huge shield and a heavy club. No one makes a move for a long moment. But then Polly fires her crossbow at Rachel, and Rachel teleports out of the way. In response, Joey chants something and I feel a spell blanket the area. "He's disabled my teleportation!" Rachel warns. "And his own alongside it," Says Jonah. Joey just smiles and shrugs. "I think I can take you guys without it." His purple eyes glisten with mischief. "Unless, of course, you're scared. There's no shame in it. I won't hold it against you if you back down now," He teases. "We'll never surrender!" I shout, getting into the spirit of things. A wicked smile splits his face. "Very well," He says. He and his posse charge, and we brace for impact.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I spot the clearing that their flag is in, just ahead. I don't see anyone guarding it... though, I haven't seen Trian, the alien, the mech, Polly, or the dryad. I expect all of them to be here. I whisper to the others as quiet as I can. "We're a bit outnumbered, but I think we can handle it," I say. "I expect Train, Taurus, the biomech, Polly, and the dryad to be up here." The others nod in affirmation. "Lets just rush in. Carly, go basilisk. Head the charge and we'll be right behind you," I say. She nods. "Let's kick some ass," She says, transforming into a massive, dark grey snake. She slithers into the clearing, roaring loudly. The biomech comes out of nowhere and starts unloading into her. Her massive size make her hard to miss, but her scales deflect most of the bullets. Whatever does pierce her armor does minimal damage. Me and Lilica are right behind her. While Carly's busy biting the biomech in half, I make a rush for the flag. I'm cut off by a volley of plasma fire. I follow where the shots came from and find Taurus sitting in a tree with a long range rifle, his three legs wrapped around a branch. I scramble for cover, but there's not a lot in this clearing. "Lilica! Sniper!" I shout. "On it," She says, passing me. She takes off and rockets up towards Taurus. He fires at her, and hits her with a shot in the arm. She cries out and drops her weapon to the ground. Her arm is burned, but she doesn't slow down. He pulls out a mace as she gets close, and she equips a short axe. While they're skirmishing, I make for the flag once more. I'm cut off again, this time by an enderman with a trident. Train. "Come on, man. Give it up already," I say. "Not a chance," He swipes his trident down at me, and I jump away. We enter a deadly dance of jabbing and dodging away. Him with his trident, me with my sword. He doesn't teleport, for some reason. Trian always was one for an even fight. I swing my sword at him and he catches it between his trident's prongs. Uh oh. With a short twist, my sword is pulled from my hands and flung to the side. I'm forced to back off. "Carly! A little help?" I call. She looks over, finally finished dismantling the biomech. She quickly slithers over and gets between us. Trian, apparently having no qualms about teleporting against a basilisk, begins teleporting around her and jabbing his trident into her scales. Unlike the bullets, he does manage to pierce her scales. I quickly realize that everyone left is distracted. I have a straight shot towards the flag. I begin moving towards it, trying not to draw attention to myself. I smile when I grab the flag, and I dart away. Right before I make it to the trees, the dryad appears with my flag in her hands. "Excuse me?" I say. Polly charges out of the trees right after her, in full basilisk form. As soon as she sees me, she strikes down at me, snatching the flag right out of my hands.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I smile wickedly, and I can tell Jack and Tyrone share the same expression. I charge forward, and the others are quick to follow. Charolette, Jonah, Rachel, Midnight and Treejinue tense up in preparation. I make a beeline for Charolette and drop kick her to the ground. She goes flying and Treejinue catches her with a claw. Jonah goes to swipe at me with his sword, and Jack is quick to push him back with a steady cone of flames. "Don't hurt him," I warn as I move forwards. Charolette gets up again and goes to intercept me, but Tyrone comes forward, covered in a thick layer of ice. It acts as armor as Charolette begins punching him, using her vampire strength to knock off whole chunks of the ice. It regrows fast, but not quite fast enough. He won't have long. I look back at Yin, and then nod towards the flag. She gets the message, but doesn't move yet. It'll be up to the rest of us to open a path for her. Charolette and Jonah are out of the way, but so are Jack and Tyrone. "George! Take care of Tree!" I shout. He's already on it. He rushes forward, blocking her first sting with his shield. Her stinger pierces the shield and she pulls the thing away. The trade off is that, with the shield stuck to it, her stinger is now useless. She goes to snip at him with her claws, but he holds each one away with his bare hands. They're out of the picture. Rachel is next. I dash at her and she's quick to bring her spear up defensively. "Time for a rematch." I say. I feint towards her, and she takes the bait jabbing towards where I was supposed to be. I correct myself and slice at her arm, right on the inside of her elbow, where I know it hurts. She cries out and drops the spear. I knock her to the ground and pin her down. All that's left is Midnight. "Yin! Now! Polly, go with her!" I shout. Yin rushes forward, weaving around the separate skirmishes, and dodging failed attempts to stop her, including Midnight's. She takes he flag and disappears into the forest with Polly. It's all up to them now. Midnight, with no one to inhibit her, gives chase.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Polly bounds over me, and everyone else, in her basilisk form and stakes her flag right back where I grabbed it from. The dryad tries to follow her, but I swipe her legs out from under her. She lands hard on the ground, dropping the flag in the process. I go to grab it, but a shocking pain rips through my body and I find myself on the ground. I look over and Taurus has incapacitated Lilica and has taken a shot at me. Trian makes a go for my flag, next to me in the dirt, but Carly cuts him off. Polly is quick to intercept her sister. The two massive snakes snarl and roar as they wrap around one another, rolling into the forest. They flatten anything smaller than a full grown tree, and shake the bigger ones with impacts. Before long they're tangled around not only each other, but every tree within 5 feet of their fight. It doesn't seem to affect either of them, and they proceed to take chunks out of each other with every bite. Trian takes the chance to teleport to the flag. He grabs it from next to me. He can't teleport back though, and he still has a good 10 yards to his flag. He goes to step over me. I can barely move from the shock, but I manage to reach out and get ahold of his ankles. He trips on my grabbing hands and goes sprawling into the dirt, send my flag flying towards theirs. Taurus jumps from the tree and makes a go for it. Suddenly Midnight come bounding out of the trees, making a beeline for Taurus. It's as if everything goes into slow motion. Taurus grabs the flag right as Midnight reaches him. She swipes at him with wicked, 3-inch claws. He blocks the attack with his gun, which is destroyed by the blow. The force of her attack knocks him back, towards his flag. He uses the momentum to bolt towards home. Midnight pounces after him. Right as she's about to land on him, he touches our flag to his own. That's when Midnight lands on him, half a second too late. The whole ordeal took place in the span of five second. That's it. The game is over. "Score!" Taurus bellows. Midnight roars and mauls the ground. I can't help but release some of my own anger with a punch onto the ground as well. We lost, so barely. Taurus gets up and equips a flare gun from next to the flag. He fires it up into the air, and it explodes in red light. The victory of red team. Polly and Carly come limping out of the trees in human form, both bloody and beaten, but both with wide smiles. Their joy is contagious and I find myself sharing it. We may have lost, but that was the most fun I've had in a long time. Midnight stands up, in human form as well. "Sorry, Serena. I was just too slow." I pat her on the back. "Don't worry about it. You fought well. You all did," I say to everyone. Taurus walks over to the tree and throws Lilica over his shoulder. "Let's get the wounded back to the meeting point. Joey will be doing the same thing." He says.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
We're back where we started the day, near the edge of our playing field. It's been half and hour and healers are already almost done getting everyone healed. Those who got knocked out in the fighting are starting to rouse. Wonder rises first, looking for Serena. "W-What happened?" Wonder says groggily. Serena looks sad. "We lost," She says. "Oh.." Wonder looks disappointed. Then she smiles brightly. "It was so fun, though! We at least came close, right?" Serena smiles at Wonder's enthusiasm. "Yes, it was milliseconds close." She begins telling her the tale she just finished telling me. I smile. Opponents during the game are now congratulating each other on a good fight, and complimenting skill. The gorgon sisters are laughing and playfully bickering. "If the game hadn't ended I so would've had you," Claims Carly. "Ha! You wish, little sister," Polly teases. "Baxter! You're awake." Lilica says. Baxter is just opening his eyes. "Huh.. what happened?" Lilica holds her hand down and he takes it. She pulls him up and into a hug. "You won. It was fun taking you on up above," She says. He smiles and pats her back. "You too. That shotgun hurts like hell," He says. She laughs. "Technically, it hurts like Heaven." She jokes, smiling. I notice Midnight watching with just a hint of jealousy. Finally everyone's awake and healed. I speak up, and everyone looks over. "In case some of you haven't heard already, the winner of today's session was the red team," I say with no small amount of pride. My teammates cheer and pat each other on the back. Blue team congratulates them. "I'm so proud of all of you. You guys did wonderfully," I say truthfully. "This was a great game today, and I loved seeing you guys in action out there. Some you guys might've lost the game itself, but this exercise was a great success." The others smile around at each other. "Now," I say. "Who's hungry?" The others all voice their confirmation, and I smile. We all head out for a big, after-match lunch.
YOU ARE READING
Scenarios
Short StoryHere's a peek into my head. This story will hold a bunch of random scenarios that would not fit into any of my regular stories, some Scenarios that I thought up out of the blue, or little Tidbits that I want to add to my overall story that I can't r...
