Steven should have passed out by now. There was no getting around it.

The sheer number of shields he was calling dwarfed anything he’d done before.

And while the shields only had a small energy cost, he’d called dozens, maybe hundreds.

But he wasn’t tired. The pounding of his Skills drowned out any sense of exhaustion.

He blocked a man who slid across the snow like it was greased, tripped a woman fighting Margie, then slammed his third shield into the slider's face.

People had made it to the pillar itself a minute ago. Markus and the dogs were still fighting strong, but there were too many people to stop them all.

Margie seemed happier now, oddly enough.

She fought with a grin on her face and Micheal’s buff gleaming on her skin.

Noodle had taken out a caster aiming at Micheal, which was enough to proc his Skill.

Clark and Micheal fought with her, and while none of them had close range Skills, the three of them, combined with Steven’s shields, were holding steady.

A flash signaled someone getting eliminated, but it hadn’t come from near the pillar.

Steven spared a second to look around the battlefield.

There was another flash from the back of the current group attacking them.

He looked away to block a warbling sphere of orange light racing for Buford.

The thing nearly broke his shield, but after it vanished, he looked back to the mob in time to catch another flash.

Then a water orb sped for his face.

Steven blocked the familiar Skill on reflex.

Three more raced his way, but he blocked them before any platform could appear to redirect them.

He braced himself for more attacks, but none came.

What are they up to? Just a potshot or-

A blast of grey light exploded from the crowd, and Steven barely had time to react before the fur coat lady slammed into the snow in front of him.

She gave him a fierce smile that instantly set him on edge. It was like seeing a crocodile’s grin.

Instead of immediately attacking him, she spoke, her voice rich and full of smug amusement. “You’re making a much better showing for yourself than before. Were you sandbagging?”

As she spoke, several attacks flew at his team.

An ice javelin raced for Margie, a stone spike flew at Buford, and a lime green hook that left a trail of green in its wake sailed for Micheal.

The woman might attack Steven at any second, but he couldn’t guard against her and keep his team safe.

Steven chose his team.

He called three shields simultaneously.

He knocked the javelin off course with a shield push against its shaft, sending the weapon spinning away.

The stone spike he blocked outright, it looked too big to try and deflect. The shield formed half a second after the first, and the spike slammed home.

Cracks spiderwebbed out, the shield nearly bursting under the force.

But Steven couldn’t spare attention to the near break. The hook had almost reached Micheal!

As he pushed out his last shield, the Skill strained in his mind as he demanded that it form faster.

Pressure built in Steven’s head as his Skills roared.

Pain spiked in his temples as the third shield appeared inches in front of Micheal with a thump.

Green met green as the hook and shield crashed together.

There was a flash, and then the hook raced back empty-handed.

Steven turned back to the woman, his head aching.

She eyed him, the crocodile’s grin still firmly in place.

“You didn’t bother to protect yourself. Why?“

Steven grunted, most of his focus bent toward the fight.

“You didn’t attack me while I was distracted. Why?”

She chuckled. “Curiosity.”

Without another word, she rushed him, her fist trailing grey light.

~<>~<>~

Markus’s glowing amber fist crashed into his opponent’s face with half his meter behind it.

Blue and green flashed, and she was gone.

The short, pasty woman had been able to summon a thin glowing white rock that reflected other Skills.

Her companion had been a tall Native man who could manipulate a fireball with his mind. The orb had danced around, chasing Markus and bouncing off the woman’s Skill to come at him from odd angles.

Unfortunately for them, they didn’t have any close-range Skills. So as soon as Markus got his hands on them, the fight ended.

He looked around for more people, not wanting his meter to empty. He saw a stout young woman with a short bob cut sprinting for the pillar.

He raced to intercept her.

Markus checked his meter as he ran. It had dropped to under half in the few seconds he’d been idle.

The drain was going to be a problem if he fought someone who could keep him locked down. While his Skill didn’t have a cooldown, each time he emptied his meter he would have to eat the energy cost.

If someone forced him to keep emptying It, then it wouldn’t take long before he was too tired to move, much less fight.

The woman didn’t stop when she saw him coming. Instead, she changed course, charging straight for Markus.

He gave her a quick once over and noticed her pockets bulging.

That was all the details he had time for before they crashed together, each trying to bowl the other over.

His meter was over a quarter full, but when they met, they both staggered back.

Markus shook himself. He was a little rattled, but he wasn’t actually hurt. Micheal’s Skill stacked with his own, making him damn sturdy.

The woman shook her head like a dog. “God damn, old timer! I was expecting you to fold like a leaf!”

Markus chuckled as he moved back in—he didn’t want to waste meter now—and gave her a grin. “Proper rest and healthy eating are key!”

The woman back peddled as she dug around in a coat pocket.

“I couldn’t agree more,” She whipped out a granola bar and barely paused to unwrap it before eating it in two bites.

“Don’t choke now,” Markus said as he closed in.

The woman grinned, then stopped backing away.

She lashed out at Markus. He blocked it, and the force nearly lifted him from his feet.

His eyes widened. That was not the strength she’d had a second ago.

Markus kicked out, catching her hip and making her stumble. He pressed in, not allowing her to push him back.

After a second, the woman gave up trying to block. Every time she did, Markus slipped through her guard like it wasn’t there.

She ate his punches, focusing on returning some instead of defending.

Markus tried to block a few hits, and he certainly could, the woman wasn’t a ranked beginner, but a professional fighter she was not.

The problem was that the moment he stopped advancing, he would lose meter, and he was slightly weaker than the woman as it was.

His grin widened, and the woman matched it.

If she wanted a slugfest, Markus would give her a slugfest.

He let himself go, giving everything into pushing her back.

Her fist slammed into his stomach, sending pain lancing through his gut.

At the same time, his own amber covered fist smacked into her jaw.

A hit to the shoulder, a kick to the thigh, and a backhand to the cheek.

The sound of flesh smacking against flesh echoed out over the snow. Markus’s old body burned with pain, a dozen new bruises throbbing as he fought.

But the pain did nothing to dampen his grin.

His body flowed, moving with more grace and power than it had in decades.

The woman laughed and Markus joined her.

He slipped around a punch to his jaw and buried his fist in her gut.

He put a bit more upward force behind it than he’d intended and his meter had grown to over half full by now.

She flew off her feet, skipping off the snow as she tumbled.

Markus chased her, his body flying over the snow like an arrow.

She scrambled to her feet and reached into a pocket.

Markus arrived as she started to stuff another granola bar into her face.

Neither of them moved away from their game. There was no blocking, Markus struck, his entire body and the force of his sprint trucking behind his fist.

The woman took two steps forward and punched, twisting her hips and lashing out for all she was worth, her fist flying much faster than before.

Two fists, one wrapped in amber light, the other simple flesh, crashed home at the same time.

The snow underneath them shook, and Markus and the woman both blasted from their feet, the sound of the impact echoing across the entire battlefield.

He landed hard, tumbling across the snow before sliding to a stop at the edge of the pillar.

His face throbbed, and he was pretty sure she’d broken his jaw. But when he sat up, the woman was gone.

Micheal’s Skill must’ve saved me. There’s no way I had enough durability to survive without it.

Markus saluted toward his vanished opponent.

Then, with his body aching something fierce, jogged back into the fray.