"-And so, we thought we could team up, because we're all from different worlds, so we already have a kind of connection," Kipo explained nervously. She was starting to get a little worried at this point, because all throughout her five minute long explanation, Kris hadn't spoken at all, in sign language or otherwise. "And since you obviously want to help these people, too, we can all help them together, right?"

Kris didn't answer. They didn't even move from the chair they were sitting in ("We didn't get a chair," Anne remarked when she saw it) and Kipo could feel herself sweating.

"...Right?"

After a second of silence, Fei Fei spoke up, but she kept her voice low. "Kipo... do we know if they speak English or not?"

"No, they spoke ASL last time," Kipo explained offhandedly, keeping her eyes on Kris for any sort of reaction. Because of this, she didn't catch Fei Fei's confused face.

"American Sign Language," Anne explained impatiently. She stepped forward. Both she, and the guard outside, were getting impatient. The guard was facing away from them, but his irritation was hard to miss. "If they speak that, why aren't you using it?"

Kipo nearly turned to explain that yes, she had been using that the entire time, but before she could, Kris finally moved. They raised their hands, and started to sign something slowly and deliberately.

"I'll only join you all on one condition," Kris told them.

"A condition?" Kipo repeated. She wondered what it could possibly be. "What is it?"

"One of you has to fight me to the death."

"..." Kipo couldn't move for several seconds, and she didn't speak in either english or ASL. "Huh?"

"One of you has to fight me to the death," Kris repeated, and Kipo glared at them.

"What are they saying?!" Anne butted in, looking from Kipo to Kris and back. "What's wrong?"

"They want one of us to fight them to the death to prove we're worthy," Kipo explained, keeping her narrowed eyes on Kris. Her fists were clenched. She couldn't help but think of Adam.... and someone else, too-.

"But... that doesn't make any sense," Fei Fei spoke up, and Kipo's thoughts were suddenly cut off. "If we're going to fight to the death... and we prove ourselves and kill you, how will you join us?"

Anne nodded. "Yeah, that doesn't make any sense at all. This town's brainwashing must have gotten to them, Kipo!"

Despite the fact that the sentence was addressed to her, Kipo didn't answer. She was too surprised to move, too confused.

'Wait... Fei Fei's right... so that means..."

Kipo turned back to Kris, who was staring at them blanking. Kipo could read their face... at least until they looked away, crossing their arms and huffing like a child.

"Dang it."

Kipo blinked. "What?"

"I had hoped you'd believe that for sure," Kris explained, but it still felt like they were complaining. Kipo spluttered on her words.

"Wh-Wha-Why- Why would you do that?" Kipo cried. Now that her fear and worry were gone, she was left with confusion. "What was the point of that?"

"Well, even if it didn't completely work, your face was still funny," Kris gave Kipo a grin, but it wasn't a friendly grin. Instead, it was full of malice, and even though Anne and Fei Fei hadn't even heard what he said, they stepped back, too.

Kipo frowned. "You don't need to."

Kris shrugged, and Kipo sighed, finally reminding herself to get back on track.

"Well, are you going to join us?" she asked. "We really could use your help..."

Kris tilted their head at her. Now, they finally seemed to actually be pondering her words. Fortunately, this time, it didn't seem to take them very long. They nodded.

Kipo stared at them. "You agreed that easily?!"

Kris nodded again, but they didn't say anything else.

Kipo sighed, but ultimately decided not to respond. Instead, she turned around to Anne and Fei Fei, who had already figured out the outcome due to the context clues. They grinned up at Kipo, and she smiled back before stepping up to the guard. He affixed her with an uninterested glare, but Kipo only smiled back at him.

"Sorry to bother you, but we've got our team now," she explained politely. "We're ready to go into the arena now!"

Kipo could feel the sand shaking beneath her feet as she walked, closer and closer to where she remembered the arena to be. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anne swinging around her blade, almost playfully, but Kipo could see determination in her grip. Fei Fei was on her other side, and she was fiddling with the little contraption on her wrist. Preparing it for battle, no doubt. And Kris... well, they were behind Kipo, so she couldn't see them, but her six sense was always aware of them, slinking a little bit behind the group. They hadn't talked since they had tried to trick Kipo, so she never knew what they were thinking. Their expression certainly never told her.

Soon enough, Kipo's attention was pulled from her teammates to the gate into front of her as the guard stepped away. She clenched her recently transformed fists. She thought back to the number of people they'd passed on the way here. Which one of them would they be battling?

Well, as she would soon find out, none of them.

Suddenly, through the roaring crowds, a voice cut through, loud and almost overly-excited. When Kipo heard it, she jumped and looked around. Where was the announcer supposed to be?

"Hello, folks, are you all ready for another day of ARENA FIGHTS?!" the announcer yelled. The crowd cheered even louder. "Of course you are! And we've got some very interesting contestants for you today. In one corner, on the left side, we've got a team of four, some newbies, Kipo Oak, Anne Boonchuy and Fei Fei! We'll find out more about them soon, but we ALSO have the one, the ONLY.... KRIS DREEMUR!"

At that, the crowd went positively wild, reaching a crescendo that had Kipo reaching out to cover her sensitive ears. But when she looked back to Kris, they didn't seem affected in the slightest.

"Will they continue they're winning streak?! Will they finally lose it?! Well, that's up for their opponent to decide, the crowd favourite, the esteemed... Chariot! On the right!"

Kipo froze, but she only got to give a spilt second look of confusion to the others before the gates before them were opening, and she and the others were forced out by the guard. They paused out on the sand, just in front of the closing gate, and waited for the other person to step forward.

He didn't.

Instead of stepping outside, this person, chariot, burst through the gate and did a lap around the field in a golden chariot, just like his name, pulled by a white and black horse. As he rode around, he waved at and blew kisses to the crowd, and they seemed to cheer even louder. His blonde hair trailed behind him as he laughed, and when he waved at the crowd, the heavy amour on his hands didn't seem to weigh him down even a little bit.

Kipo, Anne, Fei Fei and Kris watched as he completed his lap around the arena, stopping his horses in front of the gate across from them and giving them a smirk. He also gave them a kind of mocking bow.

"Wha-horses?" Fei Fei tilted her head. "Why...?"

"Why does he get a chariot?!" Anne cried. "What do we get?!"

"Well, folks, who's excited to see what these newbies have in store for us?" the announcer asked smugly, ignoring Anne. "We'll find out soon in THREE..."

Kipo jumped, startled.

"TWO..."

Kipo quickly raised her hands, and clenched them into fists. In the corner of her eye, she could see Fei Fei and Anne raising their weapons as well.

"ONE! GO!"

The four really didn't have any hope of catching up to Chariot, because before the word was even really out, Chariot was racing towards them with a bang and a warrior's cry that could only barely be heard above the cheering crowd and the clacking off the horse's hooves.

"Look out!" Anne cried, and they all dived out of the way, Anne and Kipo to the right and Kris and Fei Fei to the left. But Chariot didn't give them any time to regroup, because in no time at all he was racing by again, this time straight to Kipo and Anne.

Kipo let up her feet, throwing up her arms to try and stop his rampage, but the sight of the horses barreling towards her made her arms weaken. In the end, she and Anne jumped aside again, Anne to the left and Kipo to the right.

Then, Kipo watched as he raced over to Kris and Fei Fei.

'He's splitting us up,' Kipo realized, struggling to her feet. She tried to run over to Anne, but the golden blur rushed between them and threw Kipo to her feet again. She growled.

"Chariot's trying to separate us!" Kipo yelled, hoping that her voice could carry over all the noise. "As long as he has his chariot, he has the advan-!"

Chariot and his chariot rushed by her again, but this time Kipo felt something heavy and blunt crashed into her side. She didn't just fall down this time, she was thrown several feet away, bouncing along the ground. She gasped; whatever had happened had completely taken her breath away.

Heaving, Kipo painfully picked herself up, staring across the arena. Now, Chariot was brandishing a long metal pole and laughing.

Kipo glared at him. For as long as they couldn't communicate, Chariot really would win this.

"The-The CHARIOT...!" Kipo wheezed. "The chariot is...!"

"I understand!"

Kipo's head snapped up in surprise, and her eyes widen in even more surprise as she watched Fei Fei jump up and shoot an arrow directly into the wheel of the chariot.

But the chariot didn't stop. It only crushed the tiny arrow until it was nothing but a million tiny splinters. Kipo winced. Uh oh...

"Fei Fei!" Anne shouted, jumping out of the way as Chariot rode past her. "Aim for the reins!"

"Oh!" Fei Fei raised her wrist bow again, this time aiming slightly before the chariot, and, after mumbling something quickly under her breath, let the arrow fly. But Chariot seemed ready for that, and with a quick jerk of the reins, the arrow slipped by harmlessly while Chariot smirked. Kipo groaned. Right... they couldn't plan anything without him over hearing and stopping them.

Well, maybe all they had to do is just not plan ahead.

"Fei Fei, get ready to try again!" Kipo called out, and before Chariot could react, she leapt forward, catching one of his big wheels in her paws. Chariot, the driver, was thrown forward, but not enough to fall off his ride, and Kipo couldn't stop her feet from sliding through the sand as the horses strained forward, but it was enough. Fei Fei's next arrow whizzed through the air, and cut the horses free.

"NO! Come back! Now!" Chariot shouted, reaching his hands out, but the horses ignored him, racing around the arena.

Not wasting a bit, Anne and Kris hurried forward, both of them raising their swords. They attacked from opposite sides, so even when Chariot swung around his long pole like thing, he couldn't get both of them, and he seemed to know it, because he jumped out of the chariot... and caught onto one of his terrified horses, the white one. He laughed when Anne groaned in frustration, speeding away.

"No!" Kipo cried. "We can't let him get the advantage again!"

"Ok!" Fei Fei agreed, and she reached to capture the other black horse that had been racing by her. It tried to drag her forward, neighing loudly, but Fei Fei held tight, and it didn't break free until Kris had climbed on and was racing after Chariot.

Chariot glared at him, seemingly seething, and swung the pole at Kris' head, but Kris raised their sword, knocking it away. But it didn't stay away for long, and soon Kris and Chariot were having a sword fight on top of the sources, and unfortunately, Kris was being forced away. Soon, Chariot would have the advantage again...

"Kris!" Kipo yelled out, trying to keep up along side them. "Just get that pole away!"

Kris and Chariot seemed to realize what she was saying at the same time, but for Chariot, it was too late. He was already swinging the pole at Kris, and he couldn't possibly stop the momentum. Kris did that for him, stopping the pole with their sword and then grabbing onto it with both hands before Chariot could yank it away.

Kris gripped the pole tightly, and to both Kipo and Kris' surprise, it didn't immediately slide out of their sweaty hands. It, thankfully, seemed to have been made with this in mind.

Without wasting another moment, Kris pulled on the pole, but only succeeded in off balancing Chariot. Then Chariot pulled back, and Kris was heaved forward, nearly falling off their horse.

The battle turned into some kind of odd tug of war situation, with neither of them managing to knock the other off balance. Kipo, Anne and Fei Fei shouted encouragement from the sidelines, but they didn't seem to be help much, at least until Fei Fei got a good idea.

"Just try and get the both of you off your horses!" Fei Fei yelled, and Kris thankfully seemed to get it faster than Chariot. The next time Kris yanked on the pole, they rolled off their horse and onto the ground, successfully dragging Chariot off his horse and into the sand with a thud, losing his weapon in the process. He didn't stay down for long, trying to scramble to his feet as quickly as he could, but it was too late. Kipo, Anne and Fei Fei had already surrounded him, with Anne's sword pointed into his face.

Chariot scowled up at them, but he didn't get up. Instead, he flicked his golden hair, seeming regal and above them even though he was on the ground and covered in sand. "Well..." he seethed. "I'm certain I would have won, too, if I had four people."

"That might be true..." Anne agreed, but she was grinning. "So it's too bad you're on your own."

A giant horn sounded through the arena, and the crowd went wild, marking this win as their own.