As Xander ducked his head, the blade passing over his head with an eerie whistle, all he could think was: Man, this is NOT how my winter vacation was supposed to go! I was just supposed to hang with my friends, maybe get a game of D&D in, and get some extra hours in for work. Being in a life-or-death scenario was definitely not on the list! He brought up his staff just in time to block the return strike, the dull thunk putting a nasty vibration through his hands. As his mind flailed on what to do next, salvation came as another staff came from the attacker’s behind, sweeping the legs out from under his attacker, dropping him on his ass, giving him a welcome, if brief respite. As he took a gasping breath, trying to calm his nerves, he heard an exchange of weapon strikes behind him and to his left. He desperately wanted to look behind him to see what was going on, but he knew that to turn away from his enemy was a recipe for disaster. Instead, he swung his staff up and over his head, bringing it down in an overhand strike on his opponent; purely by luck, they managed to deflect the strike slightly, so instead of coming down square on his head, it hit the side of his head instead. It was a glancing blow at best, but it was enough to disorient his opponent more, giving him a bit more time. “Yumi? Zeke? How we doing?” he shouted, looking for a bit of reassurance.

“Bit busy over here, X!” Zeke said, from behind and to his right. Xander heard a grunt, most likely Zeke’s, followed by a scream of pain from whomever he was pitted up against.

“Stupid asshole! STAY DOWN!” Yumi shouted, as her strike seemed to connect in a more sensitive place, judging by the gasp, wheeze and strangled cry of pain behind him. Against his better judgement, Xander took a moment to look behind him, to see Yumi’s opponent clutching at his groin as he fell over. Wincing in sympathy, he turned back around, eyes widening as he saw his opponent driving their blade up at him. With a very un-manly sound, he dodged to the side, barely avoiding being impaled. Fortunately for Xander, his opponent’s bell getting rung spoiled his aim, or he would have been speared like a kebab. Watching all this, eyes wide in horror, Zeke went to take a step back, but froze at Yumi’s words:

“Zeke, stand your ground!”

Zeke, fear evident on his face, tried to take a breath to steady himself, and stepped back into place. His opponent was still on the ground, clutching at his arm, his weapon forgotten on the ground. Zeke raised his staff in an overhead strike, and his staff struck true. His opponent slumped to the ground, unconscious… or dead. Revulsion was clear on Zeke’s face; he looked like he was going to vomit. Xander couldn’t blame him; the mélange of adrenaline, fear, and violence was almost too much for him to bear. All he could do was look on in horror at the person in front of him. A person he’d never met in his life, and had no ill will towards, until about ten minutes ago, when they were all told of the condition needed to keep on living. Either he and his friends had to render their 3 opponents unconscious or dead. If they lost, there was no ‘do-over’. It was literally fight or die.

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Now that it was a three on two fight, Zeke turned to help Xander with his opponent. Stepping to the attacker’s right, he tried a sideways baseball swing at the opponent’s head, and once again, the disturbingly squishy thwok of something hitting a human head sounded, and the second opponent crumpled over as well.

Nodding in thanks, Xander and Zeke turned to watch as Yumi expertly wielded her staff, blocking a weak attack, and spinning the staff so the end smashed into the attacker’s throat, making it so they were unable to breathe. Dropping their weapon, their hands went to their now ruined throat in a vain attempt to do something; they thrashed for a few seconds before also going still.

Chest heaving with exertion, adrenaline, and relief, Xander turned to Yumi and said “Y’know, next time you want us to do something dangerous while on vacation, maybe do something less evil, like take a credit card out in my name, max it out and ruin me financially?” Yumi glared at Xander and replied by flipping him the bird. Zeke laughed, the sound tinged with the beginnings of hysterical laughter.

“It’s not my fault!” she retorted heatedly. Zeke and I looked at each other before looking at her, doubt clear on both our faces.

“All right, it’s mostly my fault!” she retorted. “But there’s nothing for it now, we just have to win to survive.”

At that, all I can do is reluctantly nod my head, as a cheery voice chirps from my wrist “WINNERS! The Enders!” All I can do is groan at that. My childhood is coming back to haunt us, on a stage where I don’t even know how many people are watching. Yumi and Zeke both look at mix, a mix of exasperation and amusement evident on both their faces. You know, maybe on second thought it'd be better to just kill me now and get it over with...