Steven’s Skills felt wrong.

Like a set of clothes that had shrunk in the wash or a…he didn’t have the right analogy for it, but something was wrong with his Class.

His hands tensed at his side as the timer slowly ticked away.

He wasn’t nervous, couldn’t be nervous. There was no room for that now. His distraction could cost one of the others everything, so he wouldn’t be distracted.

The Red Hand tensed.

Margie reached down, one hand seething with red light, the other with black.

5

4

Steven tried to feel his Skills, to let their pulses wash over him, but the calm blocked them out. He narrowed his eyes. He could almost feel it, like a sound through thick walls, if he could just- 3 2

Steven’s focus snapped up, and his world narrowed.

No time!

1

0

The System’s wild laughter filled his mind. “Go wild!”

The Red Hand attacked the moment the System spoke.

Carson threw his hand up, the air condensing in front of him before blasting forward.

At the same time, Stacy whipped a small totem carved to look like a fox from her coat and held it in front of her. Blue light immediately gathered at the foxes mouth before blasting out at Markus

Before Carson finished his attack, Steven was already in motion.

A Hand-Shield blocked the wind shot, the compressed air blasting around the green oval with surprising force.

At the same time, Steven called another shield directly in front of the totem. Stacey fired, a laser of ice blue light rocketing from the totem to thump against the shield and burst in a shower of blue Motes. The woman yelped and jumped back.

Steven shoved the shield into her chest, staggering her.

Markus and Joshua rushed in, Skills kindling over their bodies. Markus a coursing amber, Joshua a bright pink around both feet.

Morgan snapped her fingers, and white light burst over Joshua in a loose mantle before vanishing.

Carson backpedaled while firing off two more wind blasts back to back.

Steven blocked both and started to call a shield behind the man’s head but had to cut it off to block another blast from Stacey.

Markus and Joshua met, and just before they did, the pink light rushed from Joshua’s feet to his fist.

Markus slipped under a punch like he could read the future, then snapped a fist at the man's face.

Joshua jerked his head to the right, Markus’s amber-covered fist almost brushing his cheek as it sailed by.

Their fight became a blur of dodges and counters, their motions closer to a dance than a fight.

As they circled, they started drifting towards one of the campfires, and the moment they got close, Regan raised his hand, and the campfire roared up, the flames turning a deep crimson as they spread.

Markus dove forward, rolling as he hit and springing to his feet.

Joshua’s pink-covered fist hurtled through the air, moving faster than Steven could track.

But Markus was a lot faster than Steven.

He slipped to the side in a burst of speed, the amber light around him flaring with the motion.

Steven had to block two more wind blasts and a stronger shot from the totem as they tried to tag the old man.

The last hit nearly broke the Hand-Shield, cracks racing along its edges.

We can’t stay on the back foot like this. Markus will get ground to dust..

They needed to split the Red Hands' focus if they wanted to win.

Thankfully, Noodle was already on it.

He had been circling the whole time. Steven hadn’t noticed, and neither had Carson.

The dog leaped at his back, sinking his teeth into the man's shoulder.

Carson screamed and spun, trying to dislodge the dog.

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Noodle jumped away, his shadowed form racing along the icy pavement.

Carson swore and tried to get a shot off on the fleeing dog, but Steven caught him in the arm with a shield before he could.

Markus and Joshua started moving away from the others, their fight heating up.

Before the Red Hand could attack again, Margie made her move.

Buford rushed Regan and Stacey, his shroud trailing behind him, the crimson light mixing with the fires.

Steven called, blocking the totem shot Stacey tried to hit him with, then sent the shield to the side, clipping Regan in the shoulder.

The man cursed, dancing away from the dog.

As Buford chased, Stacey moved towards a nearby fire and pulled out a second totem.

She dropped it into the fire just as Regan clenched his fist.

The flames roared up, and a sound like shattering glass filled the air.

A shape exploded from the flames.

The monster was the size of a brown bear with bright red fur, flaming eyes, and a mouth full of teeth. It was technically a wolf, but hellhound was probably the better term.

A worm of fear tried to crawl into Steven’s gut, but he crushed it. It was easy—the emotion snuffing out with barely a thought.

Something else shifted inside him, a twisting, pulling sensation in his chest.

His Class felt…distant.

The monster let loose a furious snarl and descended on Buford.

The dog spun, his teeth flashing as he met the thing's charge.

They met with a heavy sound of impact as they devolved into a mass of snarling and violence.

Margie twitched her hand, and Buford blasted back from the monster, his own shroud knocking him away. Before his opponent could figure out what had happened, the dog was rushing back in, fangs bared and crackling with lightning.

Regan and Stacey turned to Steven, one set of eyes hard and focused, the other eager.

Steven met their gazes, feeling nothing.

Then he called.

~<>~<>~

Micheal had gotten a lot better at dodging since the System’s arrival.

He’d been bullied in the past; being thin and a little short would do that. So he wasn’t a total stranger to dodging hits, though he hadn’t been able to punch for shit.

But getting a Class with virtually no defensive or offensive Skills was a great way to speed run learning how not to get hit.

Unfortunately for Micheal, it was hard to dodge people with superpowers.

Morgan’s fist missed him by inches, and the woman didn’t even have the good graces to be sloppy about it.

It was a controlled punch, and she immediately reset her guard as she kept after him.

Micheal desperately wished he could apply his buff to himself.

“The Damsel wouldn’t be much of a damsel if they could save themselves, would they?”

The distraction almost caused Micheal to take a right hook to the nose.

“Now is not the fucking time!”

Morgan swept a kick up, and Micheal scrambled to the side.

He needed a second to breathe!

An idea sprung to mind, one that wouldn’t work twice.

He stopped dodging, his feet almost slipping on the gravel.

He straightened his posture and raised his hand. He pointed at Morgan and narrowed his eyes in focus.

Her own eyes widened, and she scrambled a few steps back.

Okay, that’s at least five seconds.

Micheal quickly glanced around.

Steven, Margie, and Buford were locked in a fight with Regan and Stacey. And one of them had summoned some sort of hell beast that was throwing itself at Buford.

He glanced at Markus next. The man was still locked in his fight against Joshua, with Carson taking potshots from the side.

Should I taunt?

…No, better to save it for when I’m sure we can capitalize.

Most of them seemed evenly matched at the moment, which was a problem since Micheal was not part of that most.

Morgan narrowed her eyes, and a dangerous grin stretched her lips. “Oh, that’s clever.”

She sprinted for him, her boots thudding against the gravel-covered pavement.

“It bought you a little time, at the very least.”

“Shut up!”

Micheal dodged, slipping around what he could and blocking what he couldn’t. But even focusing entirely on defense, punches still slipped through. Micheal reeled, a punch to his chest, another bumped his cheek, his dodge too slow to avoid all of it.

He had to do something!

“Have you thought of hitting her back?”

Micheal took the System’s sarcastic advice and threw out a jab.

Maybe he was faster than he thought. Maybe he’d been playing defense for so long Morgan hadn’t been ready for the swing. Either way, he connected solidly with her jaw, knocking her back a step.

She blinked. “Okay, so you can hit back.”

Micheal was so surprised that he paused for a breath before pushing forward.

Morgan gave ground, her eyes narrowed.

She slipped around a kick, blocked a jab at her nose, but was too slow for the next one, and he tagged her side. She grunted.

She was maybe an inch taller than him and around the same weight, so he wasn’t at a disadvan-

White light flashed over Morgan’s shoulders, the Skill activating with a quiet hmmm.

She struck out much faster than before, her fist slamming into his forearm so hard the limb instantly went numb.

Micheal backpedaled as pain belatedly flooded the limb.

“She can cast her buff on herself!?”

“Naturally. She’s no Damsel. It’s quite boorish of you to assume she was just because she’s a woman. For shame Micheal!”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”