Norok hated racing. He hated running, jogging, sprinting; every word for moving any faster than he absolutely had to. If it weren't for Kell’s stupid puppy-dog eyes and his pitiful “Show Will you're here to stay” speech, Norok would have happily grabbed Daimona by the collar and taken her far, far away the minute Pultz announced the relay.

  But no. Here Norok was, panting desperately. It was bad enough his chest was already injured-- the moment the race had started, that asshole Rik summoned a post right in front of him, and he slammed right into it. His glasses had cracked at the bridge. Begrudgingly, he left them behind, determined to steal another pair from Will later, after he had proven himself.

  Taking down the ice golem hopefully helped that. He had spotted the creature far up ahead, wobbling slightly as Daimona had run past it. He focused in on the golem’s head, bringing it down backwards with an astounding crash.

  Leka jumped forward, springing over Norok to grab the baton protruding from the shattered ice first. She shot him an egotistical smirk.

  “Th--”

  Her wisecrack died in her throat. Irina sailed boot first through the air, making direct contact with Leka’s face. Leka’s nose bled profusely, squealing insults and curses as she picked a few teeth out of the dirt.

  “Tadpole,” Irina spat. “I'm going ahead.”

  She ran off before Norok could respond. Leka struggled to stand, but Norok weighed her legs down and kept her on the ground. The silver baton felt cool and wet in his hand, his flesh sticking to the rod. He wrapped his fingers around it tightly.

  Will and Kell were only a few feet ahead, fending off Rik. Norok quickly intervened, sending Rik up into the air screaming before slamming the baton into Will’s outstretched hand. They ran on, finding Daimona on top of Zia’s defeated form, a situation Norok knew he'd have to inquire about later, and now they were running. Again. Which Norok hated.

  Just as he was grumbling to himself, he felt something bite his shin. He looked down to see a round, pink ball of flesh, naked and glistening under the sun. It had no legs, just a pair of spindly arms that had attached its body to Norok's. A wide mouth of perfectly square teeth grinned at Norok from beneath the flaps of skin.

  A bullet pierced the monster’s side, sending it flying behind Norok.

  “That was one of Bash’s!” Will shouted, keeping his smoking pistol aimed towards the ground. The silver baton shone bright from Kell’s curled fist. “Keep your eyes up-- she can't be too far from here.”

  A blood-curdling scream rang out from the front, as a hoard of the flesh monsters lunged down the path towards of them. Will shot the first six, as Kell used his open hand to shoot streaks of fire from his palm. Norok clapped his hands, containing and squishing five more together before tossing the amalgamated flesh out of his sight.

  But more and more of Bash's creatures kept appearing, forming a tunnel of grasping hands and gnawing mouths all around the three as they struggled forward.

  “There's too many!!” Kell cried out. His flames were sparking again, becoming weaker and weaker the more he shot. A monster wiggled out of its place in the tunnel wall, trying to yank the baton out of Kell’s grip.

  Norok cupped his hands together, interlocking his fingers. “Up!”

  Everything lifted into the air. Will, Kell, Norok and the tunnel of monsters flew into the sky, taking patches of the dirt with them. Norok loosened his magical grip around the monsters, letting them fall one by one to splatter apart on the ground. Nearby, Will and Kell kicked the air.

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  “N-Norok!” Will shouted. “How long can you hold us up like this?”

  Norok could feel his body giving out, his vision flickering. “Not long, Captain.”

  Will nodded, closing his eyes for a moment. They floated, slowly drifting towards the ground. Before they dropped, Will’s head snapped up. He thrusted his arm out right, summoning a portal and leaning in. He pulled out a beautiful sniper rifle, adorned with the same white and silver plating as his pistol. A pair of ornate silver wings held the scope in place. Will leaned forward, firing off a single shot just up ahead of them into the trees.

  Norok was confused, until he heard Bash’s shrill yelp followed by the sound of her body thudding through the branches. When they finally made it back to the ground, they found Bash face down in the mud, body twitching as one of her monsters pulled helplessly at her hair to move her.

  They moved on, trotting down the path. Irina waited up ahead, tapping her foot impatiently. She grabbed the baton from Kell thanklessly.

  “We took down the main priorities,” Will said, proudly nodding as they ran behind Irina. “The rest should be a matter of time.”

  “Norok really saved us back there, huh, Will?” Kell replied loudly, waggling his eyebrows at Norok. Norok mouthed the word stop, but Kell ignored him. “He's really come a long way.”

  “He's done fine enough,” Will said cautiously. He didn't look back at Norok, but Norok could tell he was smiling.

  Up ahead, Daimona stood in the clearing, with Judith and Pultz on the other side of another line in the dirt. Pultz's jaw dropped as they emerged, Irina tossing the baton cleanly to Daimona. Judith wore a calm, curious expression, her hands folded neatly.

  Just as Daimona turned her back, Norok felt something soft and cold brush against him.

  “Pardon me,” a soft voice said.

  And suddenly, it wasn't Daimona crossing the finish line. There was Frode in front of her, leaping across with the baton in his hand. Daimona skidded to a halt, turning to look at her hand. She scrunched up her nose, mouth open with confusion as she looked back to her team.

  From the other side, Frode smiled at them, his eery yellow eyes bright with glee. He tapped the baton against the side of his head. “That's one down.”

  Pultz cleared his throat, regaining his usual, unimpressed stature. He took the baton from Judith, allowing her to inspect it.

  “But!” Will interjected with a disbelieving laugh. “But they didn't pass the baton within their squad! Only Frode got his hands on it, so--”

  “If you want to play technicalities,” Rik said, approaching from behind. “We all touched it once. You should find traces of each of us on the baton, Sergeant Judith.”

  “It's true,” Judith remarked. Her eyes were glowing with green light. “Each member of Squad 57 held this baton. I can see their fingerprints here.”

  “That's impossible, we had it the whole time!!” Will argued. His face immediately dropped as Bash stepped forward, helping Leka walk.

  “Vedma,” Irina sneered.

  Bash’s eyes nervously rolled to the side, avoiding Will’s glare as he stormed towards her. He jabbed her in the chest with his finger.

  “You cheated,” he said darkly. “You planted your team's prints on the baton.”

  “I-I-I--” Bash stuttered. “Um, no, I-- I didn't--”

  Kell gasped. “It was in the tunnel! One of her monsters grabbed it, for just a second!”

  “We crossed the finish line,” Leka hissed, her nose still dripping blood, “not you. They're not going to give you a win on a hypothetical, Saint. Just give it up.”

  Will looked helplessly to Judith. She gave him an apologetic smile. “Given the evidence, I believe this is a victory for Squad 57. What say you, Pultz?”

  Pultz sighed. “Yeah, I think it's 57 too…”

  The rival squad gave an excited cheer, all grouping around Frode in celebration. As they chattered among themselves, Will looked on with a bitter look.

  “It's alright,” Norok said, reaching out to put a hand on Will’s shoulder. Will gently pushed him off.

  “You're definitely back on mop duty tonight,” he scoffed, before walking away.