D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

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As Kress made his way back to the group, Gareth slapped him hard on the back and smiled, "Damn Kress, you smoked that one. You've done alright in the last few tournaments… but man that was something else," 

Kress grinned at the praise but waved Gareth off, "It's not that impressive. I only barely got Willow due to a bit of luck, and this was just a silly game, really," 

Green spoke up from the side, "You've been a bit out of it for a while Kress, probably since we lost the guy we had on the team before Kat… though now that I hear about this crush Stan has on you… were you heartbroken?" 

Kress sputtered and glared at Green, "Of course not!" 

Kat's eye twitched and she tried not to laugh at the response. Regardless of if it was true or not, it was funny to watch Kress' reaction to the news. *Though that would explain some part of why he was so mad that I was recruited to the party. I'm certainly not a handsome man Kress can seduce. Perhaps he was just lonely.* 

[I feel like that's giving him a bit too much credit. Surely the rest of the team would've noticed right? Even if Green is… sleepy a lot of the time, Nixilei is a spy and Gareth is his best friend! Surely they both pay enough attention to Kress to notice that sort of thing.]

*I'm not sure… if they were both assuming Kress was straight, or just not gay then maybe they missed it.*

[IS he gay though?]

*Signs point to yes right? He didn't shut Stan's interest down straight away, there were other concerns sure, but it wasn't 'no way I'm straight'. Like, I can imagine your response to being asked out by a guy, it'd be an immediate look of disgust if you weren't ready for it.*

[I don't like that you're right about that. Makes it seem like I hate men though.]

*If you say so.*

Thyme clapped their hands to get everyone attention… and show of the fact they were now in a pinstripe suit. Kat just accepted the wardrobe change. "Because it seems that I've not completely thought over my rules, I realised one I need to add to the dodgeball section. If you block a ball with another ball, it doesn't count as a hit, but it also doesn't count as a catch, even if you do catch it afterwards. Oh, and you need to hit people FIRST not bounce into a hit. Is that clear?" 

Everyone gave a round of nods, so Thyme clapped their hands together. "Excellent." Suddenly the world seemed to expand for a moment, as Thyme separated everyone and expanded the space. The five contestants participating in this game were spread out around in a five point star while the rest of the contestants were outside of the circle. Said circle had doubled in size and right in the middle was a spinning cannon painted in a bright red. Kat also noticed, that somewhere in the transition, Thyme had managed to slip a band around her wrist. "Are you ready!" shouted Thyme. 

*Sneaky Thyme. I wonder if you were trying to trip me up… or if you trusted me to notice? I'm not sure what's more likely with you Thyme… but I'm hoping for the latter. I suppose regardless of the truth… I'm ready for the match.*

  "YES!" returned all five competitors. Kat was of course, her team's representative. From the Wild Ones Nell had stepped forward. Her gauntlets were missing and she was stretching her fingers out with a few little exercises. From Romilda's team, Borgick was taking charge. Really though, Kat was just glad he didn't have his cannon in hand. The only other notable detail Kat grabbed in her quick glance was that Borgick's beard was wrapped around his neck and pinned down to prevent it moving.

From March from Willow's team flexed slightly to warm up. Kat winced at that. She was sure that March was just moment away from snapping the seams on her poor abused outfit but it wasn't giving up just yet. Finally, from Vanya's team Burnice had decided to participate. Her knuckledusters were missing, and this clearly disturbed the elf, as she didn't stop rubbing her knuckles since the transport. Though that was one more thing, with a closer look at Burnice, Kat was now 90% certain she was a woman. 

*Right. What's my strategy here? March has to go first. Her throws are going to be the fastest by far. Not sure how good she'll be at dodging… but I'll also have to watch out for catches. They're so much more likely in superhuman dodgeball. Sure we can throw faster, but with wind resistance our reflexes probably scale better. I know mine certainly do. Even with this band restricting me… getting my hands in position shouldn't be hard.

So March is priority number one… but I don't know who should be priority number two. Borgick maybe? He had the forethought to pin down his beard just in case it counts as a 'hit' in case someone got lucky, or it was trailing behind and in the way. Then again… not sure how well pinned down his beard even is… so that could be a weakness to exploit later in the game.* 

Thyme clapped his hands, and then all of a sudden, a row of cannons dropped down. One in front of Thyme, and one to the north. Kat's jaw dropped as Thyme grinned madly behind their row of cannons. *SHIT. Thyme strongly implied we'd be throwing balls at each other… but he just said we lose a life if we get hit and can return the favour if we catch it. No wonder Thyme added that line about blocking with another ball. We're going to have plenty to grab soon.*

*Does that change my plans? March isn't as flexible as everyone else… probably. I mean, she's got muscles on her muscles, no would she have the kind of flexibility she's going to need… right?* Kat bit her lips and glanced over at March who seemed remarkably unconcerned with the addition of the cannons. 

*Then again… magic is allowed this round. Just not against people. Should I be going a mage? I don't think any of the people in this round are mages… probably. Hopefully? Everyone has obvious weapons, or at least, had obvious weapons on them. Thyme specifically allowed magic this round though! Did the teams just think that it wouldn't do enough? I feel like I should abuse the heck out of it. Not only is there no rule against flying, I can shoot a bunch of ice everywhere. That being said…*

Kat glanced over at the wall of cannons that stretched all the way to the ceiling. *Perhaps my flight was taken into account. So… yeah I guess that's off the table. Ice might not be… but…* Kat once again looked at the wall of cannons and noticed that even the lowest still aimed upwards slightly. *Hmm… not sure if those cannons can actually hit someone if they fell. Laying down on the ground might be a good way to avoid the cannons… even if you can't avoid the balls from other people.*

*So where does that leave me? Perhaps wait a volley and see if March gets taken out by any of the cannons. If she doesn't, then I should go for her unless she seems to be targeting someone specific. Then the next target is… Burnice perhaps? She seems scary. What with the burn scars and everything. Not sure if that translates into fighting power but it's at least a notable trait.

*I could always go for Nell… she's quite strong, and is a similar concern to March even if… not one that's so obvious. I just kinda don't want to though? I like Blue and if I can give her team a bit of an edge without sacrificing my own success. It's not like I'm friends with Stan. He might be a demon, but that doesn't mean anything to me. It's not like a grew up and obtained some sort of demon pride. Or succubus pride, for that matter. I mean, technically he's an incubus, but that's semantics.* 

[Why not go for Burnice because she's closest?]

*Wait you can hear me Lily?*

[What do you mean? Of course I can. You're not blocking your thoughts.]

*Sure… but I'm speeding my mind up a pretty significant amount. You never used to be able to keep up.*

[Huh… I… I don't really know how I'm doing this.]

*We can discuss it later, test some things out. For now though, I'm going to block off our connection. I don't want anyone to accuse us of cheating.*

[Understood. Over and out!]

Kat let out a grin, even as she suppressed the link. Knowing that Lily could speak to her even at such a speed was a massive boon. The tournament didn't require it, but it would be useful in the future. It was great news, and Kat was ready to hold that feeling, and use it to win.