The weather was weird in this part of the world. As soon as Finn kneeled down and scribbled words into the dirt, dark clouds approached from the horizon. A chill passed over the field, and distant thunder sent warning of what was to come.

It was like God was throwing a hissy fit even larger than Tommy’s mom. As soon as Mr. Griffin noticed this, he put an end to their ‘conversation.’

“Enough!” He placed a hand on his sword which shut the woman up. “One more word out of you, and your house is no longer my concern. You will not disturb my class any longer, and you will not lay another finger on your kid.”

Tommy’s mom opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of metal leaving its sheath made it close. The parents’ bodies suddenly felt heavy and breathing became a formidable task.

“I could use an apprentice,” Griffin showed an eerie smile. “By law, I cannot take another family’s child, but I am not required to save all of you when the winter monsters come. No one has been eaten since I settled here, but I am getting old. You never know when I might slip.”

Griffin’s stare combined with him re-sheathing his blade and the pressure suddenly lifting made Tommy’s mom faint on the spot. The crowd took its distance, and the old knight turned towards the field.

“Break’s over! Prepare for round six!”

With clouds closing in, everyone packed up their bags. Those without children left first, occasionally looking over their backs in the direction of the knight. Joe and Elizabeth held each other’s hands while cheering for their son in silence.

“You okay, Tommy?” asked Michael while they walked towards the other group.

“Yes.” Seeing his mother finally lose to someone gave the boy unexpected relief. “We’ll go with Finn’s plan. Let’s win this.”

No different than the last five times, the children stood in two long lines facing each other.

‘Six year olds can’t pull off complicated formations, so there’s no point in trying.'

However, looking at his friends, Finn realized they were rather unusual. If he had to compare their behavior with Earth's standards, they acted at least two years older than their age. Maybe it was the lack of pollution or unusual genetics, but if anything, the one who had acted most childish out of the group was himself.

‘God, if you can hear me, I'm flipping you off.’

Thunderclap struck Finn’s ears, and a bolt of lightning fell a few hundred feet in the distance. With a stern look and a slight frown, Mr. Griffin raised his arm, dropped it, and shouted: “Begin!”

While yelling squeaky war cries, one group ran towards the other.

“H-hold,” mumbled Finn, unable to hold in the fear and anxiety that was clutching his chest.

“Hold!” Tommy relayed the message.

“Now?” asked Annie.

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“He said hold,” Michael gave her a look.

The enemy would reach them soon. John John, the fastest out of the bunch, took the lead and was eyeing what he thought was the weak link: Finn.

Tommy put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Whenever you say, buddy.”

Finn clenched his teeth. His past experiences told him to wait. Every game of tag he had ever played, ever football match he had ever watched, it was all coming back to him.

He swallowed his spit.

“Now.”

“Now!” shouted Tommy, and the entire group shoved their hands into the ground. Michael had even licked his fingers beforehand, so he could reach deeper and gather as much ammunition as possible.

John John’s eyes widened in realization, but by then, it was late.

“Fire! shouted Tommy, and all 10 kids threw piles of dirt in John John’s general direction. Many missed, but enough hit to get into one ear, both eyes, and to fill his mouth to the brim. The boy tripped, fell, and started crying, forcing his teammates to run around him. For once, Finn’s team had the numerical advantage.

[10 minutes earlier]

“Michael, do you know who you can beat and who you can’t on the other team?” asked Finn.

“Besides John John? Anybody.” The boy smirked.

“Tommy?” Finn continued.

“John John and Gabriel no; I’m equal to Aiden and Dylan and can beat everyone else.”

“Annie?”

“I...” Annie was the smallest in class besides Finn, so she lowered her head. “I can’t beat anyone on my own.”

Instead of a frown or worry, Finn showed her a mischievous grin. “You won’t have to.”

[Back to the present]

Five seconds and 10 feet away from contact, Finn’s entire team scattered. Him, Annie, and a few others ran towards the parents.

Tommy, Michael, Natalie and a few more pretended to run until the others were in the clear. Then, they stopped and turned. The opponents looked as confused as Tommy and the others were excited.

Three steps and one trip later, Michael’s opponent went flying like a dog after a treat. “Let’s go!” Michael shouted while the other boy fell on his back.

In the meantime, Finn’s group was struggling to stay ahead of the others. Annie couldn’t outrun her pursuer and was taken out before reaching the adults. With John John out of the picture, they were now five against five, equal yet outmatched.

“Dad!” Finn called out, but the young man shook his head. ‘Crap.’

Finn took a sharp turn to the left trying to put one of the trees between him and his pursuer.

“Mom!” somebody else shouted, but the parents would not budge. Some flinched and had complicated expressions, but their eyes wandered towards the teacher and their feet stayed put.

“You can do this, son.” Only Joe’s voice erupted from the crowd. “You’ve got this.”

The man’s face was stern and he looked only at Finn.

“Argh!” Another kid fell. It was now five against four.

'A bit longer.’

One of Finn’s teammates tried to run back to the first group, but the distance was long, so he got tired and was caught.

'Anytime now.’

“Give up, chicken.” Finn’s pursuer tried to run around the tree, but the trunk was thick, giving Finn more than enough room to keep his distance.

“Noo!” Another one of his teammates fell in a most dramatic fashion, so only two children remained.

The enemy, still five in number, split into two groups. Three of them sprinted after the last remaining girl, easily catching her a few seconds later. Another joined Finn’s pursuer and cut off his escape route.

Finn backed away, but it was game over. He was too tired to run, and turning his back didn’t feel right.

“Want to go one on one?” he asked the first kid. “Or are you scared?”

“Hmph.” The boy smirked, cracked his neck, and took a step forward. However, while one side of his body approached Finn, the other side stayed behind.

Confused, the boy turned his head only to see Michael was holding onto his wrist. With a move so clean it would’ve made Mike Tyson proud, Michael turned his hips, pivoted his foot, and punched the pursuer in the gut so hard, he dropped him in one blow.

Finn was stunned. While Tommy tripped and punched the other kid, Finn turned towards the teacher hoping he couldn’t see through the crowd.

“Relax,” Michael grinned as he drop-elbowed the second kid WWE style. “I kicked Dylan when he tried to jump Natalie and nothing happened. Turns out, unless you go really overboard, Mr. Griffin’s fine with anything.”