Gusion pursed his lip as the goddess approved of their team choice. He could already see Alucard screaming, WHAT? and facepalm at their team choices.

"We shall battle," Lunox said, "in the land of brawn!"

Next to him, Miya said, "Uh, what?"

"Begin!" The entire room in front of them had shifted to a new battleground, with only a single lane and brown for the theme. There were merely two turrets and one base on a side, the opposing side mirroring the first.

They were in the base, right before the crystal. Unlike the simulation they had experienced, this had no regeneration, only the minor speed boost. Gusion could vaguely make out Lunox on the opposite base, all alone.

Hey, there's five of them, and one of her, so this should be easy, right?

Don't forget that one of her is the all-powerful goddess that looped them all in this mess into the first place.

"Don't die," Lesley muttered. "We can do this."

They had one chance, and one chance only. No respawns. No retribution. No nothing. The rest of the school had vanished as soon as the location changed, so they must be left behind. They won't know what's going on.

They moved out. Minions followed them, but they were weaker than the beta ones. This was not the land for endurance and cleverness. It was the place where the best rises and triumph over the weak.

This is a brawl.

They are not weak. They will prevail.

"Kill the minions first!" Gusion called. "Lesley and Harley, hide in the bushes!"

Lesley nodded. Harley looked like he might protest, but his sister dragged him along before he could ruin anything like Peter Quill from Avengers Infinity War. Gusion was left with Angela and Miya to fulfil the plan. Angela could heal, but they had to play it safe.

Miya slain the minions. Lunox had given them a head start. She was looking down on them.

But that head start was done. Lunox had retreated from the protection of her turret. The golden orb on her right shoulder glowed proudly, and she launched her first attack. Three golden orbs fell on their minions, and they died instantly. This goddess is the definition of overpowered. They were the definition of idiotic challengers from Pokémon.

Miya aimed and managed to get a hit on her. Her HP fell a measly bit, but she used another gold attack and she recovered.

"Great," Miya said. "She can heal herself."

Lunox smiled cruelly. "You were fools to play against me."

A dark purple and gold symbol appeared on the ground beneath them, and it slashed through them. Though there was no physical damage, they still felt pain. A quarter of their health was gone.

Lesley and Harley, on the other hand, was tempted to jump out and attack the goddess with their combined attack pattern. But they had seen what she could do. Gusion had told them to stay put no matter what.

Angela healed Miya and Gusion repeatedly. Lunox's assault didn't stop. She constantly changed from dark attacks to light, and repeat. It was hard to even get a single hit on her.

Gusion used his ultimate. He teleported next to her, and five daggers damaged her. They recalled to him on his signal, and half her HP was down. He slid back to his friends, and Lunox blinked at him innocently like she was the victim.

"You don't want to hurt your future bride, do you?" she asked sweetly.

Gusion gagged.

Lunox used her gold attack again and healed herself. Gusion had displayed her ultimate. The rest of them had not. Lunox's ultimate was sure to be dangerous.

Spoiler alert: It is.

Angela and Miya tried to get a clear hit. Angela tried to immobilize her with her puppet strings, but Lunox kept dodging. Miya cast her rain of arrows down on her. She dodged again.

Gusion had the tracking dagger, but he was certain that he would die once he got close enough. He wouldn't be as lucky as the last time. He still had sixteen seconds until he could use his ultimate once more.

None of them had instant-tracking stuns. Even if Angela could trap her, she could still move. Miya can freeze her, but only if she stays under that spell for long enough. Where's that floating elf lady when you need her? He would have settled for Kagura's stun.

But they were alone. None of them had that. They would have to beat her through brains and teamwork.

Assuming they don't get wiped out first.

"I have a plan," he told Miya and Angela. "Tell me your ultimates."

They told him. He worked with it as he dodged Lunox's attack. New minions had arrived, but Lunox was cutting through theirs like tofu. They kept killing her minions, which was the only reason why she hadn't charged in and murdered them all yet.

Gusion nodded. "I'll keep her distracted. You two, try to succeed. Lesley and Harley will do the rest."

He turned to Lunox as Miya and Angela retreated to the base.

"All alone?" Lunox smiled. "You can still surrender. I will spare you. But for your friends... I will not be so lenient. I don't want my husband to kill himself."

Gusion glared at her. "Any husband of yours would be tempted."

He marked her with his tracking dagger. With blinding speed, he sped to her side and used his daggers. He teleported behind her and damaged her further with another set of them. He recalled them to him and Lunox's health went down to half.

Why is she so tanky? Even Johnson would have been dead from that. He was so distracted by her amount of HP that he didn't notice that she was recovering.

"Must you force me to hurt you, love?" Lunox teleported in front of him and launched continuous dark attacks at him. He couldn't dodge. Before she could deal the finishing blow, Gusion managed to get out of her range with the residue of his ultimate.

His body was racking with pain. Searing heat blared in his chest. The magic damage he had taken was so overwhelming that it could have taken out twenty Hylos's, but he managed. He had spent years researching magic and surviving freak incidents. This was no stranger.

"Come on, you don't want to die, don't you?" Lunox's voice taunted. "Surrender. You cannot win. Where's that sniper and her pesky little brother? Did they abandon you? You poor thing."

Then she hit into an invisible wall.

"What is this sorcery?" she demanded. "How do you know of this magic!"

Gusion smirked. This was the moment he was waiting for. Miya materialized next to her, a baby pink doll dancing atop her figure in the air.

"Now!" he yelled.

Miya kept shooting. Angela healed Gusion. Just as Angela's trap faded, Miya's spell worked its magic. She was frozen. They had a few seconds to finish this.

Just as Lunox's health was down to a quarter, Harley teleported out of the bush and cast his ultimate. A ring of fire surrounded Lunox as he followed up with a flurry of deadly playing cards.

Very intimidating. A midget throwing cards like shurikens at a goddess. Whatever he did, he did decent damage. Lesley appeared behind Lunox and knocked her into their turret with her grenade.

But just as they were about to finish her, her entire form dissolved into gold light. Waves of magic spread over them, killing their entire being cell by cell.

A DNA-like glow spoke from the centre of magic. "You have invoked my ultimate move. You cannot be allowed to live!"

Their health was going down like tofu. Angela's joints sparked. None of them could move. They were held down by pain alone.

Lunox escaped the turret range and headed to her base. If she keeps healing herself, they would be done for. Angela has to focus on replenishing herself first.

Gusion punched the ground. They were done for.

Lunox only had a teensy bit of health left. One more hit and they would win.

Miya's eyes welled with tears. They have failed.

A hit.

Lunox's health went down, dangerously low. She looked scandalized, and glared behind all of them.

Gusion forced himself to turn. So did the rest of them.

Lesley.

She was on one knee, sniper held to the focus as a red line connected her bullets to Lunox. She shot again.

Two hits.

Three hits.

Lunox's health was nowhere to be seen. There were no minions, no enemies for her to use her attack on.

Four hits.

Just as the bullet hit her, a shadowy figure stepped in the line of fire, and took the hit for Lunox.

They stared at the newcomer. The one that had prevented them from winning.

Lesley's eyes widened. The sniper in her hand dipped.

She failed.

Gusion forced himself to stand. He recognized this aura.

"Helcurt," he rasped. "Why?"

Helcurt's gaze was as cold as diamonds. "Because I will be the one to get the kill."

Darkness shrouded them all. Gusion couldn't see anything. They were staring into ink-soup-darkness. Total black. You couldn't even see your own hands.

When it cleared, Gusion's retinas felt like they'd been pulled out and shoved back in again, but otherwise they were okay.

For Lunox, he's not so sure. She was dead.

Helcurt was nowhere to be seen. As they watched, Lunox's mangled corpse faded into lucid gold sparks with the location. They were back in the school, where the entire school stared at them.

"Did – did you win?" Karina was scared to even ask.

Gusion nodded. "She is dead. We have won!"

The school rejoiced. They threw their hats, their belongings, and their weapons. Moskov had the rotten luck of Minotaur's stone hammer landing on his feet. Next to him, Alucard was hit in the face by an umbrella.

Just for a few seconds, everything was alright. The school's scenery started to fade, and everyone was turning translucent.

"What's going on?" Miya demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Recall Teleportation!" Gusion called. "It's sending us back to where we came from!"

"Does that mean I can get my chocolate mousse?" Harley asked. "You owe me."

"I hadn't forgotten." Lesley smiled.

Gusion glanced at everyone. Some of them had come together, and some had walked in this school alone. Friends held hands and exchanged wishes and e-mails and addresses, and so did his friends.

"I cannot thank you enough," Saber said, walking up to him. "You have fulfilled my legacy."

He cracked a grin. "How long have you been here? Text me, dude! I still want to hit you for that."

"Next time we meet," Fanny said, "I'll be sure to bring you a nice bouquet of poison ivy."

"Don't do that again," Natalia warned.

"A warning would be nice," Selena agreed.

"It is an honour fighting alongside you all," Hayabusa said, holding hands with Kagura, who was holding hands with Hanabi. Everyone stared at the threesome.

Karina sniffed. The teleportation had worked up to their chest levels. "Sure is. I will miss all of you."

They all turned to Lesley, who was always the last one to retaliate, but it wasn't what they expected.

She was disappearing like them, but not the way they were going through. She was sinking into a dark mist, with shadow grasps silencing her. Her eyes were screaming for help.

"LESLEY!" Gusion screamed.

Harley noticed. He paled. "It's that guy! The guy who always stalks my sister!"

Gusion ran to her. They were disappearing up to their necks. Lesley struggled, but no avail. She thrust her hand out to Gusion the same moment he thrust his. Their hands connected.

But all he gripped was air.

The teleportation was complete. He was back to where he started. He could no longer return, for he had killed its master.

With a guttural cry, he fell to his knees, screaming up to the heavens.

* * * *

Foreshadowing here, foreshadowing there. The guy who Harley's referring to is the guy he was telling Lesley at the prologue. 

"Harley, I'm sure that 'Creepy-ass-dude-who-always-stalks-me' won't appear." -Lesley, Prologue.

Ahahahahahaha