The charge into the next room had started so well. Joy felt that the battle cries as Ian blew the final bit of debris out of the way were quite awe inspiring. As they entered the room, Joy noticed a few figures and many inky black monsters. It all seemed so similar to the last time that they had done this that he hadn’t worried at all.

Then the teleporter jumped into the crowd and took The Heater away. There was no fighting; there was no fanfare. Emmy just disappeared in a moment. Then some lady threw spears made of fire and killed the person running alongside Joy.

Joy had known that Death may follow the fools who joined in on this quest, yet it was very different to see one of his companions die right in front of him. Joy didn’t even know the poor woman that well. She just died, blood leaking onto the snow and soot around her.

After seeing the carnage, Joy knew what to do. He shared a quick glance with Theo and Lillian before charging at the fire wielding woman.

Their team was not at one hundred percent, because Lillian was still “dealing” with her gift, but that didn’t mean that they would just stand and watch their teammates get immolated.

There was no silly pose as Joy approached the woman who controlled fire, instead he shouted a single phrase.

“Do you want to play a game?”

Joy, Theo, Lillian, and the woman they were bearing down on heard a voice in their heads simultaneously. It was an androgynous voice with no discernable characteristics. It sounded like the most basic voice a person could have, a template for language rather than a person’s personal expression.

The voice decreed, “unstable hot potato. Do any of you need the rules explained to you?”

The woman reeled back as the voice resounded in her head, looking around to see where it was coming from. At the same time, a large potato appeared in Joy’s hand. It was a hefty potato that was clean. It was a beauty of a potato and Joy experimentally tossed it up and down a few times to find the weight of it.

Joy, Theo, and Lillian all had no idea what unstable hot potato was. They did know the basic game of hot potato, and all had varying reactions to it. Lillian and Joy immediately started passing the potato back and forth between the two of them, noticing that it was slowly growing hotter, and the color slowly shifted from an earthy brown to more of a deep red.

In contrast to the two who just started playing the game, Theo asked the voice to explain the rules. Theo swore that he could hear a small sigh emanating from the voice inside his head, but it explained.

“Unstable hot potato is very similar to normal hot potato. But if the potato is not caught, it will explode with all the stored-up heat and energy stored within the potato. Additionally, course corrections will be applied to all throws to allow catching to always be possible.”

Theo tried to think about the implications of the game, but his train of thought was rudely interrupted when the woman they were charging shrugged her shoulders and started throwing fireballs at them.

As Joy dodged the bolts of fire, he noticed something interesting. She could give the fire purely kinetic properties, or she could allow it to retain its fire-like properties, but not at the same time. She could throw a spear made of fire that would skewer an enemy like any other spear, or the flames would explode upon contact, creating a miniature fireballs.

She also seemed limited by her own mind, she couldn’t aim in more than one direction, a spear would either be aimed at him, Theo, or Lillian, but never all at the same time.

The problem came from the sheer volume of fire she could create. It was a firestorm and only one person was in control of it. Walls of flame appeared in their path, followed by spears that could cut or burn. Joy dodged everything through sheer luck and his unique style of movement, while Theo blocked and distracted her with as much ice as possible to support himself and Lillian.

Joy had felt the potato in his hand start to heat up as more time passed, and he figured it was time to finally show the lady who she was messing with. He stood his ground as fireballs and fiery spears whizzed by him.

He glared down at the woman who had eyes that were tinged red from the flames surrounding her. One leg rose into the air, and he let one of his arms drag behind him as he swung his body with as much twisty speed as he could generate. As his arm caught up to his body, Joy released a throw that catapulted the potato at an incredibly high speed with a throw that would make any shot-putter proud.

The woman looked suspiciously at the potato. No one could rise to such heights of power without knowing that power comes in unique forms. These were unknown combatants with unknown powers, so she mitigated the threat in the most reasonable way possible. She threw a barrage of hardened fire spears at the flying object.

A wave of flaming spears approached the flying potato, and the woman changed her target back to the moving figures. But she whipped her head around when she caught a slight movement in the corner of her eye.

She could’ve sworn that the potato moved. In the air the potato moved just slightly, and all her spears passed by the flying potato. It was unbelievable, and even worse, the potato was flying on a direct course towards her.

She moments before it would collide with her, but she kept her composure. A dome of hardened flames surrounded her, it stood at twice her height and encircled her on all sides.

The potato smashed into the wall with a force that was unbecoming of its tiny size. The walls of her dome shook, and the potato started sliding to the ground.

Joy watched as the potato finally touched the ground. As soon as the potato made the slightest contact with the floor, it exploded. The explosion wasn’t world ending, neither was it beautiful. A pocket of flames and force just expanded out of the space that the potato used to be.

The woman in her dome screamed as the explosion rocked her backwards and the flames licked at her skin. Her eyes were wild, and fear was hidden somewhere deep inside them.

Joy had watched her and her gift. If he had to describe it in a sentence he would say, ‘complete and utter control of all the fire nearby her.’ The woman had probably never suffered a burn since she received her gift; fire was her tool, it was subservient to her, it never bit her back.

But the fire generated by Joy’s games were a different breed of animal compared to the normal fire this woman had dealt with. That fire played only by the rules of the game, and no meager gift could subvert those rules.

A new potato appeared above Theo’s head, and he reached up to take it. The woman’s eyes shone, and a massive ball of fire burst to life in her hand, the ball slowly condensed in on itself until it was the size of a marble.

Theo knew something was about to go down, so he started conjuring walls of ice between him and the fiery woman. Wall after wall appeared, each was a hand thick, and they stood tall and proud.

The marble of flames tore through the first wall, then the second, and it kept going. The marble burnt holes through everything, it was a near unstoppable force.

Theo tossed the potato at Lillian, who started juggling it back and forth between her hands. As the final wall was melted through, Theo dove to the side. The marble blew by his head, missing by barely a hand’s width. The heat coming off it was so intense that the edge of Theo’s hair started smoking.

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The marble seemed to stop for a moment as indecision filled the fire woman’s eyes. She could take out this one enemy, or she could keep going after the potato. A grimace appeared on her face as she realized she had to focus on the gods damned potato.

The marble of flames zipped away from Theo’s face, and he let a sigh of relief, before quickly smushing out the embers that had started to form in his hair.

Joy and Lillian had closed the distance to the woman. Now they were encircling her on either side, lobbing the potato back and forth between them. The potato was growing dangerously hot, and Joy knew that if they went on, even for a few more moments, their hands would start burning. So, he threw the potato at the woman in a last-ditch effort.

Joy felt the heat of the marble approach his head from behind, and by pure luck, his foot slipped out from under him. Theo had made many patches of ice around the field of combat, and Joy’s foot touched one, and suddenly he was on the floor.

The marble of flames zoomed over Joy’s head by a hair, lighting a bit of Joy’s hair on fire, as it targeted the flying potato.

This potato had been misshapen and a bit lumpy. It arcs was less predictable because of its uneven distribution of weight, so the marble nicked the edge of the potato, but didn’t blow it to smithereens and the woman had intended.

The potato’s trajectory changed a little bit, but it was still very close to the flame wielding woman. She dismissed her marble in a puff of smoke, before creating a massive barrier of flames between herself and the potato.

The potato was hit by a flying piece of debris, that skewed its trajectory directly to the side of the wall of flames and the woman behind it. But then a miracle occurred. A second piece of debris came out of nowhere and hit the potato hard enough to change its trajectory to be right at the woman again, without the fire impeding its path.

Theo, Joy, Lillian, and the woman watched in dumbstruck awe as the potato glided towards the woman. It was improbable, impossible even.

Theo muttered under his breath, “Course corrections my ass, that’s some bullshit.”

The potato flew at the woman, no longer moving at its initial high speed. Now it lollygagged in the air towards the woman. The woman’s hands reflexively reached out and snatched it out of the air.

She stared at the potato, then back at the three people closing in on her, then back at the potato.

A small yelp escaped her lips as she had finally noticed the heat radiating off the potato, but she thew the potato behind her, in hopes that it would disappear and never become her problem again.

The woman waved her arms and a wall of spears appeared and launched themselves at Joy and Lillia. Theo froze some walls between them and the spears, trying to support his two friends, but it was an onslaught that only their personal skill could save them from.

Dipping and ducking, the two of them weaved through the flying weapons. Not even one singed their hair. There was just such grace to their movements as they danced their way closer. Lillian even had time to snatch the potato off a spear flying at her.

She let out a small whimper of pain that was thankfully muffled by the sounds of combat all around her. The potato was hot enough to truly burn anyone’s hands, and she knew that she shouldn’t close the distance anymore. The explosion this potato would make was going to be a big one.

Lillian arced the potato and it flew true, straight into the woman. She had obviously figured out the trick to the potato by now. Adaptability was truly the greatest strength of any warrior and being able to adjust to an enemy’s unique gifts was the only thing that stood between Life and Death sometimes.

The woman confidently stretched out her hand and caught the potato, and immediately dropped it. Her hand was bright red where it had touched the hot potato. She blew on it, forgetting about the potato for a split second as the pain hit her.

Then the world around the woman turned red.

The explosion knocked Joy and Lillian to the ground, and chunks of rock were sent flying out as shrapnel. Theo had formed a massive wall of ice around himself that he felt cracking under the extreme stress.

When the wall finally cracked and fell, Theo looked out across the room; he immediately noticed where his teammates lay and rushed towards them. Even though they had taken on one of the heavy hitters of their enemies, one of those inky monsters could kill them if they were unconscious.

Theo found Lillian lying face down coughing weakly. It was a powerful explosion that had taken a toll on everyone around them. No one was fighting near their little scuffle anymore; people had realized they would be caught in the crossfire of these powerful gifts if they tried to step in. Theo heard Joy wheezing and almost giggling to himself. He was relieved that Joy was safe, but Theo did wish that the man had a bit more class than giggling in the middle of an assault.

As the smoke cleared from where the detonation took place, a figure wreathed in flames stood imposingly. She took heaving breaths, and gouts of flame burst from her face every time she did so. She burned with power and hatred, staring into the faces of the three who had done this to her.

The woman was severely injured, and the only thing holding her together was the armor made of flames that wrapped around her body. Without it she would be dead, and even with it she was only standing through sheer willpower.

She looked at Theo and he started forming walls of ice around her, trying to keep her isolated in one place. His teammates had put everything they had into that last attack, and they were going to die if he didn’t keep them safe.

The woman drew her arm up above her head, then raised one finger. Above it, a billowing ball of fire appeared, then shrunk down to the size of a marble. It obviously took effort, and it seemed to pain her to strain this much with her gift, but little by little the ball condensed, until a pinpoint of flames was left.

The point of condensed heat and light exploded outwards. A trail of sparks and miniature explosions were left in its wake. The force that tore out of it blew warriors and tribespeople alike off their feet from the sheer power.

Theo looked at his impending doom. He thought of his life, how little he had accomplished with it. He felt so small in the scale of the world, his family and always pushed such big aspirations upon him, and he had let them down at every opportunity. He was not the prodigal son that they needed, he was a simple man with simple abilities, and simple wants.

He simply wanted to survive, and maybe start devoting himself to his artistic passions.

Theo’s blue eyes shook as he saw the point of light get closer and closer to him and Lillian.

He simply wanted to see his best friend in the whole world overcome her inner tribulations and become stronger and better from them.

The walls of ice were blown to pieces as the pinpoint struck them, nothing could slow it. Its approach was inevitable and unstoppable, Theo could feel the breath of Death hanging over his shoulder.

He wanted the power to stop this attack.

Theo felt his eyes watering as the blistering heat started getting closer and closer to him.

An unstoppable calm took over his body for a moment as he saw the end coming, and a wall of ice larger and stronger than anything he had ever made before appeared in front of him. It was beyond cold, and Theo could feel the heat being sapped from everything around the wall.

The wall was imposing and crystal clear. It stood in defiance against Theo’s opposition, it was the final defense he never knew he had.

Then the point of light crashed into the wall and started melting through.

The ice sapped heat from the pinprick of light, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The light grew the tiniest bit dimmer, but it was unstoppable in Theo’s eyes.

He looked around, hoping to find some magical solution to the end that was coming. Maybe Ian or the prince could save them somehow?

Yet there was no answer, no salvation. Only the undying heat of this woman’s rage.

Then a potato appeared above the woman’s head and started to fall towards the ground. Her head whipped upwards at the sight of a potato appearing out of nowhere and the pinpoint of light stopped in the middle of Theo’s icy wall.

Her eyes widened and she screamed, “Shit!”

The potato was just barely out of reach, an arm’s length, and a smidge away from her. She knew the potato was a threat, and she knew that she had to catch the potato no matter what.

But she was weakened, her body was moments away from giving out on her. So, she did the only thing she could.

She toppled over and stretched her arms out. She slid on the ground until her hands were directly beneath the potato and she caught the damn thing.

The woman let out a terrible laugh that turned into a wracking cough. Her eyes were tinged red from the fire that surrounded her entire body and they bored into Theo’s eyes. A look a of disbelief and incredulity was on her face, and she passed out, finally succumbing to the pain of her injuries.

All the fire she conjured winked out of existence as soon as she passed out. All that was left of this monumental battle was a half-melted wall of ice and burn marks all over the floor.

Theo carefully stood up, surveying the battle around them. It was an absolute shitshow from all sides.

Ian had started cutting lines through the opposing forces. All the inky monsters had been bisected by this point and many of the human combatants had lost their heads.

Theo couldn’t find the prince though, no matter how hard he searched for the man, he just was not in the battle anymore.

The room that had been filled with sculptures and art before this assault. Now blood and the inky equivalent of it stained the floors everywhere.

Theo saw one of the older men on the other side of the room survey the combat much like he was, before convening with a woman who was next to him. He shook his head sadly before waving his hand at the woman. She disappeared and started reappearing next to the enemy soldiers, touching them, and disappearing again.

People noticed this of course, but no one was able to stop her sneaky teleportation shenanigans. She was too wily with her movements and skills.

Finally, only the older man he had seen earlier was left. The old man clasped his hands together and a single tear left the side of his face. The woman appeared next to him and the two disappeared leaving only the prince’s forces in the cavern.

Then every one of the statues in the cavern exploded in a shower of flames, and the world turned white.