The air swelled in confusion and complete disarray. "Halt die Klappe! Today I welcome you to your new führer. Karl war ein aufgeblasenere reicher Idiot, der in einem Marshmallow-Fluss shwamm."

The confounded crowd muttered surreptitiously, some with raised eyebrows and others with blind, flummoxed head nods. The front soldiers were at a dither. They looked at each other and shrugged, joining in the mystery with the rest of the crowd. No one resisted due to the strange fortuitous fact that German blood being exchanged for another German blood wasn't as startling as it was had an outsider laid claim to the throne. Unanimously an apple was still an apple and an orange was still an orange. What remained perplexing was discerning the quality of the fruit. 

Casper raised his arms as if he was a bear welcoming his cubs. "Karl motioned for diplomacy but I say nein! We must seek vengeance and destroy any weak players that get in our way. We must win!"

Had they stood with reason they would've realized that there could only be one victor, but their cowardice lay in subdued submission. They needed a leader to not only carry them to the top but their identity as well.

There was a vacuous cricket in response. The most Casper got were a few watery eyes and some coughing.

Casper nodded. "I see." He turned to Zeke. "What drags you here Amerikaner? What tantalized you to betray your friends and join our cause?"

The crowd, inspired by the same curiosity turned to Zeke. What was the spy doing here?

Zeke cleared his throat as he took the grazing position into the limelight. "I hate Americans. They bore me and all they ever talk about is themselves. I'm from New York. I've never had a relationship there that surpassed a week."

Casper grew alight with shock. "That's quite a trail of tears there Zeke. But are you sure you're not just betraying us?" The tension took shape, maturing into the evergrowing demon that it was purported to be. "Are you not going to run off back to your team members and expose our plans?"

Zeke hesitated, treading back slowly. "I'll give you a name, Nick Galloway. He's a player I've been observing for a while. He doesn't do much but he has potential to win the game. Players like him usually do. If anyone's worth destroying, it's him. You have my confidence." Zeke raised his hands in plea. "Besides, I'm half German."

Casper looked at Klaus and Lena. Lena yawned. Klaus nervously patted his legs. Casper laughed fervently clapping his hands. "You do amaze me, Zeke. What do you think, Klaus?"

"Logistically speaking, his words do seem pretty solid..."

"Well said." Casper held his hand out to Zeke. Zeke reached out to shake it but met a blast in the head. His body tumbled to the ground, releasing a red ooze. "Welcome to the team."

The crowd screamed and began to run for the door. Bullets hit the roof with deafening acclivity, white sparks spontaneously flashing in the air.

"Shut up or you die!"

The senseless clamoring ameliorated into prim silence. But the quiet became punctured by the earth-shattering boom. Casper grinned. Free for All was officially over.

"I don't think Zeke was lying," Klaus said, his eyes on the ground. "You shouldn't have done that, we could've used the extra eye."

"Perhaps. But we hardly needed him, we have you for that. Let's just keep a red eye on this Nick Galloway character. If the Amerikaner's word holds any weight, we might have more work on our hands."