Love Battle

by Katrina Kahler

  “How’d you guys get in here?” I asked.

  “We’re squirrels, we can get into anything,” one of them answered.

  The other squirrel nodded. “We just want to help. By the way, you could use more nuts.”

  Walking over to the bed, I asked, “Why?”

  “We’re squirrels; we really like nuts!”

  Sitting on the bed, I asked, “Why do you want to help?”

  “You passed our squirrel test. You showed that you have a good strong mind. You led your team out of the escape room. You showed you are a good leader.”

  One of the squirrels sniffed me. “You have a lot of power. We’ve decided to back you to win our bet.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “Oh, we have a bet with the pigeons that your team will win. If you guys win, we get a LOT of nuts. If they win, we give them bird seed. The pigeons like you guys, but they think you’re too young and green. Though they don’t literally think you’re green; it just means that you’re new at this.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” I replied.

  “They think that when you hit the battlefield tomorrow, you won’t be able to match the Amazons. Those ladies are tough!” the squirrel exclaimed.

  “They haven’t bathed since they arrived here!” the other squirrel added.

  “Gross,” I replied.

  “They believe their scent makes them stronger!” the first squirrel said.

  The second squirrel bobbed its head up and down. “And it actually does.”

  “Okay now, I appreciate the support,” I said, pointing to the door. “But I would like a little privacy. By the way, I’m about to take my shoes off, so unless you want to experience my scent at full power…”

  One of the squirrels held up a paw. “Hold off for a moment. We’re here to give you a tip.”

  I thought about this for a second. I knew the squirrels could be sneaky. I figured they might be trying to trick me, but it couldn’t hurt to listen. After all, they did make my bed which was kind of nice of them. “What is it?” I asked.

  “We can tell that you like Jason!” one of the squirrels said.

  “And we know you want to tell him that you like-like him,” the other squirrel added.

  I nodded. “Go on…”

  The squirrel patted me on the shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “We support you.”

  “Thank you for your support,” I replied.

  “But we think it’s the wrong time. Right idea, wrong time,” the squirrel told me.

  Before I could comment, the other squirrel said, “If he rejects you, it will hurt your feelings and therefore, your concentration on the battlefield tomorrow. Plus, you might hold some resentment towards him.”

  “I’ve known Jason, forever, I could never resent him!”

  The squirrels shook their heads. “Never say never. Love or lack of love does strange things to people.”

  “Jason and I will be friends no matter what!” I said strongly and pointed to the door again. “Out!”

  “See, we’ve scratched a nerve!” the squirrel said. “If you really were confident, you wouldn’t be so upset right now.”

  “Okay, guys you asked for this!” I said. I kicked off one of my boots.

  “Yikes!” the two squirrels exclaimed. Their cheeks expanded as they held their breath. They darted out of my room.

  Kicking off the other boot, I mumbled, “What do squirrels know about love?”

  Dear Diary: Could those silly squirrels be right? Would it be better to wait till we go home before I tell Jason exactly how I feel? Or will telling him help him to be mentally and physically stronger? If we win on the battlefield tomorrow, we could win the competition.

  But instead of encouraging Jason, what if telling him jeopardizes our chances? What then?

  A Change of Rules

  That evening we gathered around the dinner table. The team had a good vibe.

  “Right now we are tied for first place with the brains!” Jason said. “So if we beat the robots and the brains in the battle royal, we’ll win this part of the competition.”

  “Wait, how can we be tied for first? Zeke asked. “We’ve finished third and second!”

  “The Vals use a point scoring system. It’s complicated, but we’ve actually done okay in both events so far. The brains and robots did very well on the team knowledge challenge but not so well with the escape door. The gas clouds did well with the escape door. The blobs haven’t done well with anything. Frankly, neither have the Amazons. They just seem to want to fight. They’re here to win the battle royal. But if we finish ahead of the brains, the gas clouds, and the robots, we win!”

  “I like our chances!” I said, munching on a big juicy apple.

  “I do too!” Jason said.

  We heard a cough. Actually, we heard several coughs. We turned around to see the Amazons strutting into the room. They walked straight up to our table. Dina took a carrot stick off Zeke’s plate.

  “Go ahead,” Zeke said. “I like to share.”

  Dina chomped down on the carrot. “Our amazing Amazon senses told us you were talking about us.”

  “We were talking about all the teams,” Jason said.

  Dina glared at him. He sank back down into his seat. Dina smirked. “We are here to tell you that you are going to be the first team eliminated tomorrow.”

  “Say what now?” Zeke said. “How do you know that?”

  “Because we are going to concentrate on you. We are going to make sure you six are out before any other team. That will eliminate you from winning. Plus, if we take out all the other teams without losing one of our own, we win the competition,” Dina said, thrusting her shoulders back proudly.

  Zeke turned to Jason. “Is that true?”

  Jason touched a button on the table. A computer screen appeared. He flicked through some texts. He groaned. “There is a rule 42.42.42 that states… any team that defeats all other members of all other teams in the battle royal without losing one of their teammates is automatically declared the winner.” Jason looked up. “I didn’t catch that before because the rule is written in a tiny three-point font!”

  Dina laughed. “That’s why we don’t care at all about the first two events. We know we can rock out the battle royal. In the end, you will envy us!”

  Tanya stood up and walked over to Dina. They locked eyes. “Yeah, not going to happen, blue girl!” she said. She poked Dina’s shoulder with a finger.

  Dina didn’t budge.

  “Was that meant to impress me?” Dina snickered.

  Tanya’s hands started to glow. “No, but this…”

  Shooting up at super speed, I grabbed Tanya’s hand and lowered it. “No need to fight now,” I said. “Let’s save it for the battlefield tomorrow.”

  Tanya and Dina exchanged death glares. Neither of them wilted.

  “I’ll gladly wait until tomorrow to kick this girl’s tiny toned butt!” Tanya said.

  “I’m going to hit you so hard tomorrow that your ancestors are going to feel it!” Dina said.

  “What did you say?” a voice screamed from above. Tayla’s sister, Kayla appeared.

  “Who’s this twit?” Dina scoffed.

  “My little sister, Kayla!” Tanya declared defensively.

  Kayla floated down to Dina and folded her arms. “Girl, you do not insult my sister! Nobody insults my sister!”

  “Ah, Kayla, last week you said my feet smell like a place where skunks go to die…” Tanya said.

  Kayla pointed to herself. “Nobody but me insults my sister!”

  I didn’t know how Kayla had found us here. I didn’t know how she was able to travel here. I did know we had to get her out of here before she caused all sorts of trouble. I just had to do this carefully. We didn’t want to make Kayla extra angry.

  Moving at super speed, I separated Kayla from Dina. Moving Kayla to the far side of the room, I told her. “Kayla, you have to stand down. This is not your fight.”

  Ka
yla pointed at Dina, sending a time warping vortex at her. The vortex hit Dina and sent her flying across the room. The other Amazons took fighting stances.

  Kayla pinched her fingers together. The other Amazons shrank to the size of ants.

  “Retreat!” one of the Amazons screamed.

  “Run away!” another said.

  The five tiny Amazons ran out of the room.

  Tanya pointed at the out cold Dina. Dina disappeared.

  Tanya walked over to Kayla and put her arm around her. “Thanks for the defense, sis, but I had it.”

  Kayla looked at her and smiled. “We’re sisters; we stick together.”

  “Excuse me, Kayla, you are not supposed to be here,” Val said, appearing in the room with about ten other versions of herself. “Though I admit that you being here is an impressive feat.”

  “I don’t like people picking on my sister!” Kayla said, stomping her foot and causing the ground to shake. After a moment, the ground stopped shaking.

  Val teleported next to us. “Yes, we get that dear, but you are not allowed to interfere with the contest. Please leave us,” Val said.

  Tanya looked in her sister’s eyes. “Come on, sis, go home.”

  I put a hand on Kayla’s shoulder. “Please!” I said.

  Kayla disappeared.

  “Sorry about that,” Tanya told Val. “I’ve returned all the Amazons to their original heights.”

  Val smiled. “Thank you for that. While we understand that you did not call Kayla here, on the record, I must tell you that her interference means I must penalize you. Now, for your team to win the competition, you must beat all the other teams while not losing any members of your own team.”

  “That’s not fair!” Adam and Tanya both said.

  “We didn’t ask Kayla to come here!” Tanya added.

  “Good point,” Adam said. The pair exchanged looks.

  “Understood,” Val said. “But what she did was wrong, and sadly you must pay the price.”

  I nodded and lowered my head.

  Val smiled. “Of course, it was nice seeing those stuck up Amazons put in their place.” With those words, Val disappeared.

  “Okay, I think we can still do this,” I said. “Right?”

  Jason looked at the view screen inserted into the table. He glanced up at me and smiled. “Yeah, we can! The fact that Kayla made such quick work of the Amazons has to be eating away at them. Their plan to intimidate us totally backfired.”

  “That’s true!” Adam said. “Tanya, you and Kayla rock!”

  “But Kayla rocks a bit crazier,” Zeke said.

  “Oh, Zeke, you are so smart!” Luna told him.

  “I also think Kayla’s appearance and power show will make the Amazons want to take Tanya out and fast,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’d do if I were them,” Adam said.

  “Me too!” Jason said.

  “I would run away, very afraid,” Zeke said.

  “That’s because you are smarter than they are,” Luna told Zeke.

  We all nodded in agreement.

  I smiled at Jason. He smiled back at me. That made me feel good. He gave me a thumbs up. That move was so Jason. I loved it.

  Dear Diary: Kayla showed how unbelievably powerful she and Tanya could be. While they might not have my pure speed and firepower, they still have a lot of power. They handled the Amazons like they were nothing. While it was bad that Kayla interfered, at least it taught the Amazons a well-needed lesson. Plus, it helped us to figure out the Amazon’s probable battle plan. If we defend Tanya, we have a great chance of winning.

  One way or another, after the fight tomorrow, I’ll tell Jason how I feel. I can’t keep my feelings bottled up any longer. Jason deserves to know. I also deserve to know exactly how Jason feels. It’s time to put my mental cards on the table. I have faith that things will turn out for the best. And besides, Jason has never let me down.

  Our mistake

  The next morning, I woke up to find squirrels looking me in the eyes.

  “Your plan is wrong,” one of them insisted.

  “Very flawed,” another said.

  “Excuse me? Why are you guys here?”

  “We like you!”

  “We want you to win!”

  “You deserve to win!”

  “But you won’t win with your plan.”

  I sat up in bed. The squirrels rolled off me and onto the floor.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Simple!”

  “So simple.”

  Sitting up in bed, I said, “Guys I’m going to need more from you or else I am going to hit you with my morning breath!”

  “Yikes!” the squirrels exclaimed in unison.

  One of the squirrels moved closer and glared at me defiantly. “Your plan is wrong!”

  “Dudes, I realize you think that. But I need more!” I told them.

  “You are correct in deducing that the Amazons believe Tanya to be a big threat.”

  “Okay…more please…”

  “But because Tanya’s way scary sister decided to show up, you have to consider your penalty. The Amazons are now going to focus on simply taking out your weakest member first…”

  “Zeke!” I said at the same time as the squirrels.

  “Yes,” they said, bobbing their heads in agreement.

  I sighed. “Oh my, that does make sense.”

  The squirrels continued to nod.

  “Yes, it does,” one of the squirrels said. “And if we were them, we’d pretend to attack Tanya, but have most of our team zero in on Zeke; take him out, and it's over for your team.”

  “I think you’re right! Thank you, squirrels,” I said.

  “Our pleasure.” They smiled and gave me a polite little bow.

  “But why are you helping us?” I asked. “There must be more to it than simply winning some extra nuts?”

  “We want you to win. You deserve to win!” one of the squirrels told me as they scurried away.

  Dear Diary: I don’t know why, but I trust those squirrels. Actually, I do know why. It’s because their words make perfect sense. If my team and I hadn’t been so distracted by Kayla’s visit, we would have realized our mistake. Right?

  A New Plan

  “Wow, I can’t believe we missed that loophole!” Jason said, a confused expression on his face.

  “Agreed,” Adam said.

  “Wait, I’m the weakest link?” Zeke asked. He put one of his fingers on his lips and thought about it. He nodded. “Oh yeah, I see that.” He paused. “I’m so weak. We’re doomed…”

  Luna put her arm around Zeke. “No, my dear, we are not. We can use the other team’s overconfidence to our advantage.”

  “Are you sure?” Zeke asked. “I’m pretty darn weak. A couple of days ago I lost a battle of wits with a spider. Yes, it was a crafty spider, but still…”

  “I take it, you have an idea,” Tanya said to Luna.

  Luna nodded.

  We all huddled together. Luna told us her plan. For an elf, she could be surprisingly devious and tricky. She told us it was out of love for Zeke. Whatever the reason, I hoped it would work. I thought it would. This plan would put a lot of pressure on me. But I could handle it. I knew I could. I hoped I could.

  Dear Diary: We have a plan. If we execute this plan right, we could win this. I feel really good about our chances. Of course, if the other teams figure out what we’re planning, it might be game over for us. We just have to make sure they don’t figure it out!

  Unstoppable

  We walked onto a HUGE field. For as far as the eye could see there was flat land covered in green grass. Of course, the other five teams were there too. They were positioned in a circle formation and stood about a hundred yards apart. We given a spot between the Amazons and the blobs.

  Val stood in the middle of the circle. She cleared her throat. The sound rumbled through the plains. “Greetings, teams! This is the battle royal. At the end of the battle, the team th
at has the last woman, man or creature standing, wins. Except of course, for the Earth team. Due to interference which resulted in a change of rules for that team, if any members of their team are knocked out or surrender, the Earth team loses. I will count to three, and then the battle will begin!”

  “Man, she’s not much for going over the rules. Is she?” Tanya said.

  “One, two, three!”

  Sure enough, the squirrels were right. The Amazons sent five of their members straight at Zeke. But it wasn’t just the Amazons; the blobs sent their entire team at Zeke. The gas clouds did the same, and only the brains and the robots held back. But then I noticed the robots weren’t hanging back. They were aiming rocket or missile launchers towards Zeke. They attacked as soon as the other three teams attacked. It was an interesting plan on their part, to take everybody down at once.

  The Amazons reached Zeke first. He stood with his arms crossed, being brave. An Amazon hit him from the right. Another Amazon hit him from the left. One hit him from the front. Another smashed him in the back with her legs. The fifth jumped up and down on top of him. Meanwhile, the gas creatures tried to seep into his nose. The blobs also slithered towards him.

  However, none of the Amazon’s punches or attacks seemed to phase Zeke in the slightest. In fact, he quickly inhaled the gas creatures, then exhaled them with super force into the ground. The gas creatures all burst into tiny bubbles.

  “Yuck!” the gas creatures cried. “His breath is so bad! We surrender! We’re done!”

  “The gas team is eliminated!” Val shouted.

  “What is going on?” one of the Amazons shouted. “Dina, I thought we’d committed all our resources to battle that small strange green being…” The Amazon woman shuddered. “But now I fear we do not have enough power. How can this be?”

  What the silly Amazons hadn’t figured out was that Luna had cast a disguise spell over Zeke to make him look like me. As the Amazons were about to find out, she made me look like Zeke, but I still had all my power.