Chapter 64
“Okay, guys. So we have one full day, until sunset, to get one more point to tie Horizon’s team.” Bailey had gathered her group together just before sunrise to “rally the troops” and come up with a strategy for their last day. “The only way I see us covering the distance necessary in the time we have left is to split up and go on attack. A full-on blitz.” She noticed some nods amongst the group. “Zs, I’m sorry, but you’ve gotta stay here again to play defense.” Joel had no reaction. He partly expected this since he had been on defense for nearly the entire month, and every time he hadn’t been, points had been scored against them. “So, the rest of us will need to capture and take out the other three bases: Team Horizon, Team Olympian, and Team Handimorph. Does anyone have a preference?”
June jumped in first. “I want Horizon’s team!” Her motivations were obvious. She clearly wanted to challenge the current point leader. But, more than that, she hoped to take on Samurai Tortoise. She and Ken had been sparring nearly every day since The Culling had ended. June wanted her chance to prove her superiority.
“Sorry,” Bailey apologized, unable to meet June’s eyes. “I’m not sure that your power matches up so well against that team. They have been using Dark Devil on defense, and she’s no joke. Plus, if one of us crosses paths with Horizon or Samurai Tortoise, we will need someone with more balance of offense and defense to defeat them. Your powers are mostly offensive in nature.” Bailey paused and added, “I was thinking of taking that one on myself, to be honest.” Was she coming off too self-serving? Selfishly, she wanted to be the one to take down the current champs, but she really did think her more adaptive power set would be the most likely to succeed. “Plus, I don’t want to sink too many assets into a potential lost cause. I’ll give it my best, but I want to send the rest of you in pairs to Teams 2 and 4. That way, once you capture their fortresses, one of you can stay back on defense, and the other can head toward Team 1’s castle to back me up. Just in case I can’t handle it alone.” Bailey hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but better safe than sorry.
June seemed to be pacified with the likelihood of being able to capture two fortresses in one day. She thought a moment before saying, “Okay. Then, I’d like to take on Olympian’s base. It’s closer to Team 1’s. So once I finish up, I can just swing North to help you out.” Bailey noticed June was giving herself as many chances as possible to run into Samurai Tortoise. In the proposed plan, there were three obvious points where the matchup could occur: on the way to Team 2’s castle if they happen to cross paths while heading through the center of the map to different bases; at Team 2’s fortress or on the way from Team 2 to Team 1, if both were on the attack at the same time; or at Team 1’s home base if Ken was on defense for some reason.
Bailey nodded. “Done.” With June happy, Bailey moved on to the remaining three team members. “So, who would like to join Skyrocket against Team 2, and who would like to pair up to take on Handimorph’s squad?
“OOOOh… cartoon murder castle?” Jax, excitedly and rhetorically, asked. “Me. I call that one. My turn.” He was clearly upset that he had missed the last assault on Handimorph’s locale.
Bobby stepped forward and raised his hand. “Not that I want to revisit that madness, but he’ll need someone with experience taking on that meth-addled, murder-happy Beauty and the Beast knockoff.” Jax held his hand out for a high-five, so Bobby smiled and obliged.
Having no objections, Bailey moved on. “So, that leaves UFO with Skyrocket. Sounds perfect. I know we can do this team. Move fast. Capture your opponents' flags, protect your assets, and join me for the Horizon assault if you can. Good luck!” And with those final words, they were off.
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***
When it came time to decide who would go where, on attack for Lizzy’s team, Ken couldn’t volunteer fast enough to be the one to take on Team 3. Know thine enemy and all that. Unfortunately, Ashley won that role. So, come daybreak, Ken headed Southwest to capture Team 4’s flag. He had heard some crazy stuff about Team 4’s defenses but assumed that if anyone could take them down solo, it would be Samurai Tortoise.
The War Games area was set up in a giant 5-mile by 5-mile square, with each team’s tower near each of the four corners. Team 3 was in the Northwest, Team 4 in the Southwest, Team 2 in the Southeast, and his team in the Northeast. So, Ken had to trek through the center of the battle locations, where he could encounter anywhere between three and nine hostiles if all teams were attempting a similar blitz strategy. To add to the stress, the center of the map was the field where they had just played soccer all day. Most of the arena was forested, but not the midpoint. The midpoint was a wide open space with no cover–not ideal.
Ken was hesitant to shift into tortoise form since he couldn’t predict what the Samurai would do. He and his alter ego had exchanged a few video messages during The Tycoon Challenge where they agreed to work together to become the Top Seed, but Ken hated relinquishing his judgment in these critical situations. He jogged lightly so that he didn’t tire himself out for whatever fight awaited, but it wouldn’t really matter. Whenever he turned into Samurai Tortoise, his own energy reserves became meaningless. His alter ego had his own metabolism, agility, strength, and toughness. It was almost as if Ken’s body were transported elsewhere and replaced by this super strong, super dextrous badass warrior.
He reached the center field in about half an hour but hid in the brush on the edge of the forested area. A battle was raging on the pitch. The Rusky challenger, Hazmat, was using his radioactive energy to power a bunch of gadgets and weapons, one of which was an arm blaster that he was firing against The Herald Powerwhip. She was using her energy tendrils to great effect, deflecting blasts and martial attacks alike. It was quite the spectacle!
The battle also had a distracting effect. So much so that while he was taking it all in, a voice sounded from over his shoulder.
“Hey there, handsome.”
Fuck. He expected her to have been on the offensive team that would take his team’s tower. That would have led her along the northern route instead of through the middle. “So, they sent you to Olympian’s team? I am surprised.”
“Why is that?” June asked. “Awwww, So cute. You hoped I’d head your team’s way. No, We had a better option to go after your castle. I wonder,” she paused, “Who will be waiting there? Gluttony and Quill are clearly not cut out to be defenders. Typically, Horizon was your team’s best offensive weapon, but since you just have to hold us off for one day, maybe she stayed back?”
Ken gave nothing away in his expression. He wasn’t even really listening to her. He was surveying his surroundings, looking for the best place to take on his stunning sparring partner.
“No. She’d never stay off the battlefield. It’s Dark Devil. She’s the one you chose to defend the point.” June looked deep into his eyes, seeing if he would give anything away. He didn’t.
“Interesting theory. I assure you, whoever is protecting our home is up to the task. Especially with you here.” The complement slipped out. Why did he always lose focus around her?
“Can I give you something?” she inquired flirtatiously. She thought it might be lost on the stoic soldier, but it was worth a try.
He tilted his head. “Well, I guess it depends.”
“I promise you will like it.”
She had never lied to him before, so Ken took her at her word. June held her hands in the air to show that she wasn’t aiming to attack him and slowly moved toward him. Goosebumps tingled on his arms and neck as she approached. He could feel her breath on his neck as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
But, the euphoria only lasted a moment before he felt immense pain in his side as June lowered her hand and blasted him with the combustible force of a small rocket. He flew backward, hitting a tree, and spun off it, landing face down in the nearby creek.