It had been years since Blademan had seen this much of his own blood. Blood was red because of the presence of hemoglobin, which was a protein rich in iron. Blademan’s blood was darker than most, because he did not have normal red blood cells. His cells were in the shape of shurikens. He stared down at his wounds, breathing exasperated. He cocked his head up at Locke as she sheathed her sword.

  “So…” Blademan said, “You’re pretty good.”

  Blademan had his hands to his sides. His bladehead was bobbing back and forth as he tried to catch his breath. Locke stared at him from across the way, sheathing her sword. Blademan shook his head.

  “How’d you do it?” He asked.

  “Your weakness was obvious. After enough observable data, I was able to determine that your perception was that of a much stronger fighter. I merely lulled you into a fall sense of victory and…” She gestured to Blademan. Blademan attempted to take a step but his knees were weak. They collapsed from the stress and he fell to the ground.

  “I’m sorry, Kippo,” Blademan said to himself, “I really wanted to be the one that killed you.”

  “Oh,” Locke said, “You thought we were going to kill him? Funny. This whole thing could have been avoided if you talked to us instead of instantly attacking.” She stepped over Blademan. He felt the vibrations of her footsteps get smaller and smaller as she walked away.

  “Bodhi.” Mumbled Zeke again, “Bodhi.”

  They were walking through the abandoned service tunnel.

  “You already said that.” Said Akun.

  “Is he here?”

  “Nope. The old dog is still on the battlefield. Where he belongs. But once he heard that you were challenging the new leader to a duel, he got in contact with us.”

  “I thought I chose you guys.”

  “You needed a pit fiend, a dire wolf, and a gargoyle. We were the ones who stepped up and volunteered. Happily. Simple as that.”

  “Right.” Said Zeke, “I just… wish he had told me.”

  Akun shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe he thought you couldn’t be trusted.”

  “Ha. Ha. I can be trusted. Where’s this thing going, anyway?”

  “He told me not to tell you.” Said the pit fiend.

  “Oh come on!” Said Zeke.

  “ZEEEEKEEE!” Kip’s high-pitched cry came through the false board of the cabinet.

  “You closed the wardrobe right??” Akun asked.

  “Yeah,” Said Zeke, “I closed it. But I couldn’t screw it in from this side.”

  Kip scratched through the wood panel with his claws, and then kicked it down. It took him a couple of kicks, “Zeke! They’re hurting us! I don’t know why, but they want to seriously injure us!”

  Kip walked in.

  “How’d they know we were in here?!” Akun asked.

  Jasssper glared at him, his tongue shooting out of his mouth, “You both stink.”

  “Zeke!” Kip yelled to get the big lug’s attention, “Do you hear me? They’re hurting us! They’re not just playing a game of tag! I think that our lives are in danger!”

  “Hey, buddy.” Zeke said, “You’re not in danger. Trust me. They’re trying to win but, it’s not like they’re trying to seriously injure you.”

  “Step aside.” Said the pit fiend as he walked forward. He grabbed the hook off his belt.

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  “Chain, enter Kill Mode!”

  The chain began changing shape. It collected it’s metal into a ball and sprouted sharp points.

  “You… you heard that, right?!” Kip asked.

  “Admittedly, that sounded bad,” Said Zeke, “But I’m sure that’s just what the mode is called!”

  “Begin subprogram, ‘Inflict Great Suffering!’”

  The points on the mace pistoned in and out in an effect to be even spikier.

  “You can’t hurt them.” Said Zeke.

  “They’re getting in the way of the mission.” Said Akun.

  Just then, the gargoyle burst through the door. Kip and Jasssper were surrounded on both sides of this service tunnel.

  “If we tag you, you’ll be it!” Said Kip.

  “What if we break your legs from back here?” inquired the pit fiend, “Then you can’t tag us, right?”

  Kip cursed under his breath as Jasssper whispered to him, “What do we do?”

  Kip looked up and saw a crevice in the dirt tunnel, “They can’t get all of us, Slip through the crack and escape. I’ll see if I can survive for three more minutes.”

  “And what of the pig, sire? Do we know if he tagged his foe?” Jasssper asked.

  “The game’s changing. We’re going to have to fight against these guys no matter what. Hopefully by the end of it, they come out tagged.”

  “Understood sire, it wasss a pleasure knowing you.”

  Jasssper slipped up through the crack and wiggled out. Jasssper kept climbing out. Unable to turn around and tell his best friend that he would miss him.

  Kip turned around. The gargoyle was at his back. The pit fiend was at his front. He took a deep breath. What did he have? His claws. That was one. He had his wings, but things were cramped in the tunnel. He had his naturally sucky fire breath. When was that going to start to come in handy? His ancestry feat couldn’t come fast enough. He glanced at Zeke, who showcased a healthy worry for the wellbeing of his friend.

  “I’m calling it,” Zeke said, “That’s enough. I’ll call the whole game off.”

  “You can’t,” Said Akun.

  “Kip, let’s get out of here. We’ll talk to Maeve. I’m going to call for a forfeit.”

  “Don’t chicken out now!” Mason said.

  “He knows about Bodhi.”

  “You want us to tell Bodhi you were a chicken? I’m sure he’d love to hear that.”

  “HEY!” Zeke snapped at them, “You’re lucky I don’t pummel you both for how you’ve treated-”

  “Zeke,” Said Kip calmly. Zeke looked at Kip. With his hands still by his waist, he threw Zeke a shaka brah. Zeke’s confusion broke into a smile, then a wry chuckle, “What is it you’re thinking, lil guy?” Zeke thought to himself.

  The Pit fiend swung his chain around. Kip conjured his wings. He ran toward the pit fiend and fluffed his wings back. Kip jumped. The pit fiend looked up, tossing his chain toward the ceiling. It bumped the ceiling and fell down, knocking Mason behind Kip. Where was Kip? He had feigned the jump. He was still low to the ground and slid along the shaft of the tunnel, leapt up and kicked Akun in the chest, “Tag! You’re it!”

  Kip flapped his wings once. The wing flap combined with the kick was enough to push the pit fiend. Akun fell on his bony butt. He pulled the chain back as Kip turned around and headed toward the door, “Just one more!” Better catch me!”

  Mason spread his stone wings and placed his hands to the ground, but Kip used his second wing gust to fly over him. He bumped his little head on the ceiling but cleared the large stone creature. He rolled off his back back up the shaft.

  “Drat!” Said Mason as he turned around and watched Kip slip out.

  Zeke looked at both of them, “Whelp!” Said Zeke, “What are you two laying around for? Let’s go tag them!”

  Kip burst outside of the cabin door. The sun was peeking over the hills now, still trying to catch the last bit of the game of tag. But it was turning over. Kip placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled loud enough that a wayward broom might hear. He looked up at the scoreboard. It was two it, but Storm had not tagged the dire wolf yet. “Drat. Still, we have two.”

  “Try one.” Kip turned around, his face curling into shock. The gargoyle was outside the cabin, but he had managed to snatch Swiff out of the air, catching him by surprise as he left the cabin. “Looks like you’re back to hunting us.”

  The scoreboard changed again. They looked up.

  Mason: It, Jasper: Not It

  He looked at his shoe. “Not. Again” He muttered. Jasssper wriggled out again, this time having touched Mason’s foot.

  Mason reached down to pick up Jasssper but Maeve floated down to them, “The round is over!”

  “What?!” Said the pit fiend as he left the cabin. Zeke followed behind, crawling on all fours to exit the cabin.

  “You three have been tagged!” Maeve’s voice boomed.

  They looked up at the scoreboard. There was a small dot on the board that covered up a crucial piece of information. But as the dot got bigger, it occurred to all of them that it was descending closer to them. It was Storm.

  “STORM!” Yelled Jasssper and Kip at the same time.

  “I mercilessly tagged him, my boy! I got him good! Didn't see me coming. Thought I was an exceptionally large dandelion puff. Not me. My cousin is one though.”

  “We did it!” Said Kip as he looked at all of them.

  “Nope,” Said Maeve.

  “What do you mean, nope?” Asked Kip.

  “There’s still three minutes left.”

  “Hold on!” Yelled Akun, “We can’t catch them in that amount of time! Surely, we adjust!”

  Maeve nodded, “You’re right. We’re going to re moving to sudden death!”

  “Sudden death?” Stormboar asked, then looked at the two of them, “How do you think we’ll fair?”

  “We’re dead.” Jasssper said, “We’re dead becausssse they want to kill usss.”

  "No, we’re not dead.” Kip said, “We’re going to beat them.”

  “Really?” The pig asked, “What do you suggest we do?”

  “We beat them. With force.”

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