“Get down!” shouted DJ, making several hand signs and grabbing his robe. In an instant, his robe turned to iron deflecting the flurry of arrow sent at Team 8.

“Good job, DJ!” said Val, pulling his longsword from its sheath.

“Heh, thanks,” said DJ, falling onto his side with a metallic thud.

Val’s eyes bulged in horror as his eyes fell upon DJ’s body, completely immobilized by his newly created iron robe. Resisting his urge to unleash any vile comments, Val turned to face the enemy team, who had made the mistake of doubling over with laughter instead of continuing their attack.

Slowly, Val turned around to face his team, taking his sword with both hands.

“For Frodo.”

There was an awkward pause.

“What the frick does that mean?” said Blaze.

Val lowered his head and charged towards the enemy, unleashing his mightiest battle cry.

“Shut up!” Sydney screamed into the comms. “You’re tearing my ears apart!”

Their screams entwined into one, creating an inspirational cacophony of catharsis as Val thundered past the tall trees of the forest. Noticing the incoming attacker, one of the enemies on the other team – Robin the Archer – unleashed another barrage of arrows. Val watched the arrows come, waiting for moment right before they hit him. When that moment came, he snapped his fingers on his left hand.

Timelapse!

Time slowed for an instant, giving Val the time to throw himself into a sideways roll, avoiding the arrows. Val hopped on his movement pad, making his in-game character pop back to his feet.

The archer needs time to reload!

Val stepped down hard on the front of the movement pad, sending his character shooting through the forest, straight towards the enemy team. Seeing the incoming danger, the enemy team unleashed their other fighter, Titus the Might Axe.

Val met Titus in a small clearing within the trees, wasting no time in launching his own attack. Using his slightly superior speed, Val lunged forth, trying to snake the tip of his blade past Titus’ defenses. Right before Val’s blade struck, Titus lurched backwards and deflected the blade with the flat part of his axe. Not giving Val a chance to recover, Titus launched his counterattack, a massive overhead strike.

Bad move!

Val hurled himself to the side, allowing Titus to smash his axe into the ground, splintering fallen branches and tearing the foliage to bits. Having exposed his backside with the reckless attack, Titus was now vulnerable for Val’s own counter, a sweeping blow aimed at Titus’ right flank.

Val’s blade made contact with a green shield wrapped around Titus. Upon hitting the shield, the shield pulsated for a moment before exploding into a burst of green flames. The force of the explosion launched Val backwards, sending him crashing through the nearby trees, health dropping to 40.

Dazed, Val tried to reorient himself. The moment his vision cleared, he was met with an arrow to the leg and a second arrow to the torso. Val collapsed to his knees, health dropping to 10. In the distance, Val could see Titus charging at him, hoisting his axe to deliver the finishing blow.

It’s over.