“I’m pretty sure we just focus on becoming who are our avatars are,” Naomi said hurriedly in a hushed voice. “Remember what it was like when we were them? Our identities perfectly merged?”

“Are you sure we don’t just spit on them say some funky words,” Trick joked.

“Do you think this is some Shonen Jump anime and we will just let you talk and plan before we atack,” Cory taunted. “You might be a nerd, Trick, but Sebastian is right. You are not one of us!”

“Good! I would hate to be one of you,” Trick said with slight snarl.

He did exactly what Naomi has suggested. He reached deep into his memories. Well, maybe it was not too deep. It had been only a month since their crazy Dungeons and Dragons adventure in Miami. He remembered what is what like to be Trickster, what his story was, his motivations for survival. How his relationship with Ru-lah was very similar to his with Naomi.

It happened with a quick flash and a whoosh!

Trick and Naomi still stood back-to-back, but now they were once again Trickster and Ru-lah. She held in both hands a large, golden sword. She was again in her paladin armor, now accented with black paint and patterns along the border. Trick wore his Cloak of Transition and had knives in both hands.

“You gave yourself un upgrade. How did you do that?”

Naomi snorted, “I just wrote things in, like you could have done, too. There’s no DM, and I really wanted Excalibur back. I still have the Sword of Heritage.”

Shure enough, she did. It was strapped to her back.

“Why don’t you use that instead of-”

He was cut off as the grass churned and earth hands, the size of adults shot up and tried to snatch up him and Naomi. Trick activated his cloak with a thought and the dirt hands passed right through him. They grasped helplessly at him while Naomi swung Excaliby. With each slash from her sword there was a burst of light and the hands fell apart.

The nerds shouted. They had not expected their opponents to have comparable magic to their own. Trick rushed them. His cloak would keep him incorporeal for only a few seconds more. Cassie shot an energy beam right at him, but it passed harmlessly through.

“He’s gone completely ghost-like,” she shouted to her friends. “Physical attacks have no effect on him!”

“On it,” another kid called out. “Exorcism!”

A lumpy, unkempt boy raised his gloved hand at Trick. It glowed, but otherwise nothing happened. It had taken an Eldritch god to harm him before. And with Trickster’s wonderful skills and intelligence, Trick knew exactly when his cloak would turn him back.

He threw a punch at the perplexed, lumpy nerd. His right fist became solid once more and collided solidly with his nose, breaking it. With his left hand he reached out and sliced another boy’s glove. His second target jumped back and screamed. The lumpy kid fell hard on his butt, clutching his face.

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Trick spun about, holding his knives at the ready. He glimpsed the kid he had cut and saw that the glove had burst into flames on his hand. The fae began clapping and cheering. It galvanized Trick and he leaped right into the thick of the geek group.

They scattered, trying to put distance between them and the thief. It was clear that even with their powers they were untried and not used to combat. Naomi came bowling into the group, swinging with the flat side of Excalibur. Even dealing non-lethal swings still sent nerds flying with flashes of light. In about three seconds, three teens were airborne and Naomi was again covering Trick’s back.

“Remember, this is isn’t an anime! They won’t give us time to converse,” she reminded him.

“Of course this isn’t an anime! Who would even think that way,” Trick complained.

“Sayanora,” Cory shouted, waving his gloved hand.

The ground beneath Trick and Naomi erupted, and flung them apart. Trick’s feet hurt terribly. He threw his knife as Cory who deflected it with a gesture, but at the time Trick pulled out a flask and downed it. His feet healed instantly. He then tossed the flask at Cory who again lazily redirected the projectile and then threw Trick into one of the dark trees.

He thudded hard against it. And then he charged Cory.

The nerd had missed Trick’s quick movement, passing a magical jawbreaker from his pocket to his mouth. Of course he had kept one just in case! Back when they were trying to deal with the Motley Lot and the god Akerbaza had summoned, he figured it would be best to have an ace or two up his sleeve.

“What are you made of,” Cory gasped as Trick closed the gap between them.

“The right stuff,” Trick said triumphantly, about to land another punch.

Energy blasted him to the side. As he soared through the air, he saw that Cassie had again blasted him. Her face was a mask of fury.

But she missed Naomi coming up from behind. The half orc, half-elf paladin clobbered Cassie across the back of her head the pommel of her sword. Cassie fell slack immediately and crashed hard to the grassy floor.

That’s my girl, Trick thought happily to himself as he fell into a gathering of jocks.

With the jawbreaker in his mouth, he barely registered the hit. He got up and apologized for landing on them before he dashed back into the fray. Naomi found herself surrounded and would need some help. However, that was probably thinking too highly of himself on his part. Naomi grabbed the handle of her other sword and swung it with such ferocity and strength that her scabbard burst.

Naomi clanked her blades together and swung them in an X shape. There was a blast of energy that consumed the geeks around her. They shouted out in pain and flew backwards. It was a moment right out of a B action flick.

“Woah,” Trick called out. “That was incredible! When did you learn to do that?”

“It’s just what I wanted,” Naomi smirked. “And thinking of anime, eat your heart out Kirito!”

“Man, those guys should have really tried recruiting you instead of me,” Trick grumbled.

A platform flew right at Trick. He took it like a champ, the jawbreaker once more protecting him. He crashed into a pillar and was pinned momentarily. The platform fell to the grass with a crash and Trick pried himself free. Across the way he saw Sebastian.

The nerd whose nose he had broken previously was throwing heavy item at Naomi. She expertly wielded her sword to cut through and deflect each attack. A blade of energy appeared in Cory’s hand and he intercepted Naomi. Amazingly, the fat kid was able to match Naomi for speed and easily parried her attacks.

Trick slipped World Eater’s power ring on his finger and his abilities increased. He charged with great speed at Sebastian while the nerd was distracted throwing stuff at Naomi. Trick replaced his right handed knife and then shot out his hand.

He clapped Sebastian across the face and threw him to the ground. The strong jawed kid’s eyes went hazy for a moment. Trick took the opportunity to slash across the glove and it burst into flames. He then tossed his knife into Cory’s back.

As the fat kid stumbled and yelped from the pain in his back, Naomi took off his hand. The fae erupted once more into cheers. But they were not the only ones making noise. The remaining dancers, led by the sporty teens, charged the unconscious and scattered geeks.

“Down with the Usurpers!”

“Give them a taste!”

“Kill them!”

“This is all their fault!”

The ones who were not knocked out began running away. Some dashed for the grove and disappeared in the shadows. Others ran for the stone slab doors and were overwhelmed by their peers. Others surrendered and were mercilessly beaten up. Watching this display of continuous violence made Trick sad that they had come to blows in the first place.

“Enough of this,” a powerful voice sang.

As those words were uttered, everyone fell silent and stopped moving. Emerging from the grove was a gorgeous, floating woman in open robes of blue and gold. She had flowing, raven hair that streamed out behind her. She had long, pointed ears, and her chest was on open display. Bright, green eyes sweeped the scene and each person touched by her gaze fell to their knees, trembling.

“It is time for the next trial. We will begin now!”