Rafferty turned and watched the sun dip toward the horizon. The sunsets were just another reason she loved the Breaks. The fierce orange sky turned the low hanging clouds purple. As she watched the metal giant march past in silhouette, Rafferty let herself get lost in the moment.

"Thumb!" she heard Katrin shout from above.

Katrin sliced into the God's hand as she descended through the air. Rafferty was jealous of the long, thin blade that Katrin wielded, which seemed to conduct the Blue so effortlessly. Gus said it was Japanese, like Lady Cyclone.

The God's thumb came away clean and tumbled toward the earth. It landed in the twenty point section, but it bounced and rolled across the line, finishing in the ten point area.

"It counts where it lands!" yelled Katrin as she hit the ground.

"You know it doesn't!" Rafferty yelled back, preparing to jump.

"Finger! Right hand!" she shouted as she launched herself into the air.

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She rose just above the wrist, and savored the feeling of weightless as she drifted down into striking position. She slashed at her target.

Clang.

Thump.

Twenty points.

Back in the lead.

The God was a Class Two. Long ago, it had been a terrifying machine. Electricity arced between its hands, and it could deliver torrents of fire from its mouth with devastating accuracy. But the wires in its hands had corroded, and the current flowed no more. Its mouth opened to expel the flames, but the fuel for the device was spent long ago. Rust had taken hold of the left side of its body, and it listed noticeably to one side.

These days all it could do was walk, turn, and swat, and it couldn't do any of those things fast enough to pose a serious threat to experienced Hunters.

So the girls had done the only sensible thing. They made a game out of it.

They had made a grid by dragging their swords through the dust, and took turns calling their shots. Not every attempt was successful. When Rafferty only made it halfway through the elbow joint, she howled in frustration, knowing that she'd left Katrin an easy strike.

Sure, it was all in fun.

But neither girl wanted to lose.

When the game started, they had given each other a lot of space. As the game progressed, and the excitement continued to build, their jumps got closer and closer together. When Rafferty went after the remainder of the God's left arm, Katrin hadn't even landed yet.

Rafferty sliced through the shoulder joint, and a gigantic chunk of metal fell toward the ground, Katrin landed in its rapidly growing shadow. She hit the ground, took two steps backwards, and fell on her butt.

The God's upper arm landed less than three feet from Katrin's outstretched legs, covering her in a cloud of dust. She coughed, and looked up at Rafferty.

Rafferty braced herself, expecting to be yelled at.

Katrin broke into an undignified laugh, and Rafferty followed suit. She couldn't help herself.

When they finished wiping the tears from their eyes, they noticed that the God had lumbered into the distance.

The girls hopped to their feet, and gave chase.

There was a game to finish.