“There they are!” Nika grinned as she spotted the Squa’Kaar outside the changing room, chatting with Kritch, who had immediately rushed from their form class to meet their two newest team members. “Glad to see they didn’t do a runner!”

  “They’ve been nervous…but I am sure they will try their best,” Crill quietly acknowledged with a serious look, the Squarri and Arlox having tagged along with them on being dismissed.

  “I know, Crill, I was just joking,” Nika quickly retorted, though without any heat as she gently patted the mage on the shoulder. Though he had shown signs of improvement as the weeks went by, the avian was still mentally in a bad place.

  It hurt Jack to see Crill this way, especially when he remembered how supportive the Squarri had been to him when he first arrived at the school. Back then he had been so lively with his curiosity, and so willing to talk to him when others were still treating him with caution. Now Crill was closed off, and the rapport they once had was dead.

  Was this how he was like with the others? He couldn’t tell.

  But he knew that, along with the medicine of time, he and his friends were all doing what they could to be supportive of each other, especially with Crill, Arlox and Kizzarith, who arguably had suffered the most in the aftermath of the Klown attack.

  Hopefully their current plans would make things better once again.

  “Hey guys!” Kritch called over, putting on an air of confidence as they met up, likely for the benefit of the Squa’Kaar. “Still waiting for the others.”

  “No doubt Rena's going on a power trip as their ‘Class Representative’ to nag them to death.” Sephy snorted. “So fucking glad I’m not in that Form Class! Even if Mr Sparrel is the Form Tutor over there!”

  “Karzen and Bentom shouldn’t be too long. They just wanted to check their mail before coming here in case we received any job offers for the holidays,” Zayle added. “They’re in our Form Class with Luviannestixxx as our Class Representative”

  “How has that been going lately?” Jack asked curiously. “The work you do, I mean.”

  “Rather well!” Rayle spoke up happily, and Jack saw Kritch give an almost proud smirk at that before Rayle’s face dropped slightly. “Though it’s been drying up recently. We haven’t done anything since we went to help Mista Monsta and his crew with his rebuilding efforts.”

  “I wouldn’t worry.” Nika shrugged. “You’ve all more than been earning your keep, not that Alora would ever make a bother about it.”

  “And my grandfather’s already said Mr Mesahop and his family are cool to get an apartment in Clan Ashtail territory!” Kritch added, with Jack remembering that being the surname of Karzen and Bentom.

  “Not that Alora’s pushing anybody out,” Jack noted. Some of the students who had been living with them temporarily had since moved out in the several weeks since their last Run, as the worst of the recent city-wide chaos had passed them by, though several had remained, either not having a reliable living situation to move out too, family circumstances, or the fact that they just liked it there better.

  Alora was still not charging anyone rent, but a few had still offered to pay it regardless.

  “While we miss having a place of our own, that’s nothing to the safety and comfort we have now,” Zayle pointed out.

  “Well I saw where you were last.” Jack shrugged. “Evil Shrek might have been dealt with, but now it’s a mostly-abandoned bandit haven.”

  “What’s a shreck?” Kritch asked Jack curiously.

  “Best not to ask!” Nika snorted, poking Jack with her tail.

  “It is much better with you and the others, but I do miss the garden we had,” Rayle admitted with a sigh. It wasn’t that great, but it still represented a lot of work we put into it.”

  “Hey, don’t be like that!” Kritch put his arm around the Squa’Kaar. “You were able to replant most of the plants at Alora’s place right? It’s just a setback that you can bounce back from!”

  “I guess so.” Rayle shrugged with a reassuring smile. “At least we could keep the GrainCoin!”

  “Hey you lot! Ready to kick some ass?” A new voice called, as Karzen and Bentom showed up, the two armadillo-girls quickly ambling up to the group, clearly hyped-up for the game ahead.

  “Hell to the yeah!” Sephy grinned. “And ready to get trashed afterwards!”

  “Did you have any luck?” Zayle asked the two newcomers.

  “Afraid not, no jobs for us” Karzen shook her head. “Ah well. We all need to take a break anyway! Especially Obeda!”

  “We’ll find something.” Bentom shrugged. “Oh! And here’s the rest of them! Hurry up you lot!”

  “Yes, yes…” Vaal sighed as they were joined by the rest of the team. “It’s not my fault Rena decided to make a speech on various rule infractions she’s accused us of. Even if they are true…”

  “Well it is your fault, since you could have run for class representative yourself to spare us a Prefect Officer on an everlasting power trip!” Kizzarith grinned.

  “Why the hell would I do that?” Vaal rolled his eyes. “Student politics is cringe and ultimately doesn’t mean a damn thing anyway.”

  “True!” Kizzarith shrugged. “Plus you’d have to go to the school council meetings.”

  “Can we get changed already?” Plooderoo asked.

  “Sounds like a plan!” Vaal grinned as he led the way into the changing room.

  *****

  Jack didn’t take too long getting changed, more than eager to change out of his school uniform and into the black and purple lycra-like team kit he had been given. He slipped on the black and purple top with his surname and the number ‘10’, before slipping on his socks and shifting the in-built protective pads of the clothing to be a more comfortable fit.

  As he took out his shoes and took his time lacing them up, he let out a controlled sigh to dispel some of the nerves he felt. Their team facilities were nice and well maintained, and he and the others had spent many an early school morning sneaking in here to freshen up during the worst of the ongoing corporate conflict and utility brownouts they were having. As he allowed the warm thoughts to envelop him, the tense anticipation lessened and his mood improved…

  Then, his mood was suddenly interrupted by a rippling fart.

  “Damn, Ploo! Are you sure you’re not the Pooping Bandit?” He called out, causing the entire changing room to burst into laughter.

  “Fuck yoooooo Jack!” Plooderoo retorted as he quickly finished up and exited his cubicle. “I feel nervous before a game!”

  “Alright everyone!” Vaal clapped his hands as the last person finished changing, calling everyone in for a team huddle. “We’ve against a team composed of spellcasters. Apparently they’ve all got some kind of arcane ability and are running off a Myrodin scholarship because of it.”

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  “What’s the field?” Nika asked.

  “Botanics!” Vaal grinned, looking towards their two newest team members. “Lots of nature around for both of you to easily do your thing!”

  “You didn’t bribe anyone for that, did you Vaal?” Karzen asked with a smirk.

  “I can neither confirm or deny!” The Eladra laughed. “No I actually didn’t - I thought Sephy or Kritch must have tampered with the schedule or something.”

  “Nope.” The two mentioned shook their heads.

  “Huh, maybe we actually got lucky for a change.” Jack shrugged.

  “Well regardless, tangling up their mages and stopping them working off any combination attacks will be the way to go for our support,” Vaal continued. “These guys work well as a team and will likely target who they think are the greatest threats. Sorry, Jack, that probably means they’ll be aiming for you…”

  “Great…” Jack sarcastically remarked.

  “And they’ll have countermeasures for our Keeper too!” Vaal continued.

  “Boooolloooocks!” Ploo sighed.

  “But you can make it work for us,” the Eladra reasoned. “Keep their focus and attention while the rest of the team takes advantage of the distraction. Wizards are also squishy, so try to take them out if you can.”

  “What kind of magic are we dealing with here?” Kritch asked.

  “I wasn’t able to work that out.” Vaal sighed. “I know they have different fields of specialty, but as for what they are, I’m not sure. They have rotated out reserves and magically disguised themselves in other games to keep that information obscured.”

  “Then what have they done before that they’ll likely try here?” Plooderoo asked.

  “They use combination magics,” Arlox spoke up, the diminutive mage leaning heavily against the table for support as he closed his eyes and scrunched his brows to focus on the present. “Weather effects mostly. Combining cold magic with powerful winds as one of the more obvious ones.”

  “Well done, Arlox.” Vaal smiled, patting their teammate on the shoulder. “Keep an eye on them during the game for me? You can give us some advice about the magical stuff they try during half-time.”

  “Yes…sure I can do that!” The aquatic boy nodded violently, gripping the table as he did so. “I will do what I can.”

  “I’m sure you will, but take it easy, ok?” Crill soothed, moving up to him. “You okay?”

  “Yeah…I’m fine. It’s just…” Arlox began, searching for the words in his mind. “I’m sorry, it’s becoming hard for me to focus for too long.”

  “It’s all good. You’re doing better.” Jack spoke up with a smile, trying to be supportive. “Weather effects will be a pain to deal with, but I can grin and bear it. I think…”

  “Just close the distance and whack them if they try!” Sephy advised, miming a haymaker punch.

  “And if you see anybody in trouble, try and put pressure on the mage targeting them if you can,” Vaal cautioned, making sure everyone was listening. “We can’t afford to be locked down for too long and have the other team free to dictate the tempo of the game.”

  “Botanics have some wide open areas!” Kritch pointed out, looking around at everybody. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of these mages know how to levitate. I bet they’ll use those areas to pass the balls around!”

  “If you’re able to knock them about enough, you may be able to disrupt the spell.” Arlox spoke up hesitantly.

  “That’s right!” Crill confirmed. “Levitation spells can be tricky to hold for most mages if they want to cast anything else at the same time.”

  “I have something that can help with that!” Zayle excitedly spoke up. “But I need to wait until the game starts before I’m allowed to do stuff right?” They asked, unsurely looking to Vaal.

  “Your Shaman stuff?” The Eladra asked as Zayle nodded. “Yep, same with you Rayle! When the game starts just get out of the way and do your thing. Rayle is in our back row, so it should be easier for them to set the field!”

  “So if those rules about not pre-buffing apply to the other team too, could we rush the first goal while they set up?” Jack asked.

  “Good idea!” Vaal nodded with a smile. “You, Sephy and Nika do what you can to make that happen. But make sure you and the other Chargers aren’t too out of position for when they release the other two balls. Depending on what happens, you may want to just keep a hold of the first ball and wait for the other two to be released before you make a play for the goal if it means you’re too far away to respond.”

  Jack nodded, remembering the events of his previous-and only other-game of Deathball thus far. Taking the first goal didn’t matter much if the following two could be more easily claimed by the other team.

  “Depends on where the balls get released.” Nika shrugged. “Sephy and I could always pull back if you have a straight shot for the goal.”

  “That could work, but you’d better not fuck up getting past the Keeper if we do that!” Sephy grinned, playfully poking Jack.

  “Apparently their Keeper is good with wind magic,” Kizzarith added, the Anicite eager to contribute to the team discussion. “She’ll probably use that to try and slow you, down but she can also cast barriers which she can camouflage.”

  “How tough are the barriers?” Jack asked.

  “Uh…” The insectoid hesitated, thrown off by the question. “Fuck, I don’t know…”

  “Well there’s one way to find out…” Jack sighed, remembering watching several Jackass stunts involving smacking into walls at high speed. “If I can spot them, great, if not, I’ll find a way to deal with it.”

  “There’s gotta be a limit to the amount they can maintain!” Karzen spoke up. “I know Obeda can summon physical barriers like that, but he needs to put some power into them to maintain. If he doesn’t they begin to disappear, so if you bait their Keeper you can probably get past them!”

  “Kizzarith, if you keep an eye on the game, see if you can try and come up with ways we can go on the offensive.” Vaal nodded to the insectoid, who quickly nodded back, happy to still be involved despite still being too injured to play.

  “Heh. Well it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of eyes to spare!” The Anicite smirked, pointing to his still-bandaged face.

  “What about defense?” Bentom asked, the armadillo-girl looking apprehensive. “I mean they’re all wizards of some kind, right? They’re all full of tricks!”

  “Then we limit what they can try and do.” Vaal sighed. “This means closing off access points and trying to maintain possession. If we frame this game as them chasing us, we’ll be better off than us chasing them.”

  “Easier said than done…” Kritch muttered.

  “Hey! Positive vibes!” Vaal called to them, clapping once to emphasise it. “Just do your best, that’s all we should strive for. We have an inexperienced team, but that doesn’t mean we’re without teeth! Just as we’re worrying about what they can do, they’re worrying about what we can do!”

  A loud buzzer sounded out from somewhere outside, signifying the five-minute warning, and signalling the teams to get ready.

  “Bugger, I wanted to go to the bathroooooom again….” Plooderoo joked….probably.

  “Suck it up!” Vaal grinned confidently. “Let’s just do our best and give the good people out there a good show! What do you all say?”

  “Hell yeah!” Sephy spoke up first, followed quickly with similar sentiments from everybody else.

  “Well at least we’re getting shitfaced soon afterwards!” Karzen shrugged, patting Kritch on the back as they headed out.

  “Hey, you two are gonna kill it out there!” Jack grinned, feeling the urge to reassure the two newest members of the team as he walked out behind the Squa’Kaar clutchlings.

  …even though they were barely newer to the team than he was.

  “Too late to back out now!” Zayle joked, though Jack could tell the gecko wasn’t fully confident.

  “What could go wrong?” Rayle smirked nervously back at the human.

  ‘That’s my line…’ Jack thought to himself.

  Heading down several flights of stairs, the team made their way to a tall, open area glass hall, where the cold tiles of the floor gave way to grass and flower beds, which had apparently been marked as ‘off limits’ due to the rare species on display.

  Winding away from the central hall were numerous corridors, and Vaal led them down one that was framed entirely by living walls of ivy and creeping vines. The air was humid all around them, carrying the scent of damp earth and blossoms.

  Suddenly, the sound of cheers from the waiting spectators echoed out all around as Vaal led them out of the passageway, where two marshals were stood there waiting for them impatiently.

  “Cutting it close?” Vaal asked with a winning smirk as they emerged onto a crossroads, which Jack noted had a magical circle that signified their goal. The marshals didn’t respond to the Eladra, instead pointing along the central route.

  “Three paths but they’re narrow,” Vaal noted. “They’ll have something similar. Rayle, reckon you can start by closing them off?”

  “I’ll try…” The Squa’Kaar nodded, shivering from nerves until Kritch put his arm around them and whispered something into their ear that calmed them down.

  Being directed by both marshalls and observer droids Jack groaned as he saw the labyrinth of corridors all around them. While they had been allowed to see a map of the arena just recently, experiencing it in person was a rather different affair.

  “How are we not going to get lost here?” He whispered to the others. “Even if we know the general direction to head in, these corridors are confusing.”

  “We probably will get lost at times,” Vaal admitted. “But it’ll be the job of our Protectors to support us where they can and point us the right way.”

  “We’ll try.” Crill nervously nodded. “But they’ll have counterspells ready.”

  “Plus don’t forget we’ll have this crowd.” Bentom added, indicating the eager students cheering them on. “Our supporters will point us in the right direction.”

  “And their supporters won’t!” Nika snorted in amusement. “Still, it’s better than nothing. If nothing else, we can have a laugh about it afterwards.”

  “Just keep your senses alert for any signs and trust yourselves,” Vaal cautioned as finally the corridor transitioned into what Jack could only describe as a ‘rainforest room’, where the soft patter of artificially generated rain blended with a gentle rustling of leaves.

  Looking around, Jack could see a spiderweb of corridors connecting to this room with moss-covered archways, while the walls had several vines that hung down from the high, vaulted ceiling. In the middle of the room was a large pond, where strangely, the head referee was standing and staring at them expectantly, the water going up to his waist.

  “Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jack groaned, realisation settling in...