An arc of lightning shot down the throat of a Ratdog that was about to leap upon a helpless man. The monster’s body shuddered for a moment before bursting like a piñata full of smoke. The man stumbled to his feet and looked behind him at Simon

“Th… thank you...”

“Get out!”

“What?”

“Stop cowering and talking! Get out with everybody else!”

The man tripped over himself as he ran for the nearest door. Simon nodded in satisfaction. He then reached to his shoulder and winced as he pulled out a long needle. He would have to get Lucy to check up on that later.

All the monsters that had been attacking the spectators were finally gone, and the people had finally gained the common sense to escape. He sighed in relief. He didn’t think he would actually be able to do it without any casualties. Especially with the only other capable fighter in the building being a dense asshole!

Simon glared down at the pit. The snarling creatures still surrounded Maxwell, and it didn’t look like he was going to be able to win, at least without help. It was a good thing that Shawn was more content with watching that attacking.

Simon took a running start and jumped into the pit, yelling out. His yell surprised the monsters, and they jumped back as Simon landed and rolled past them. He stood up, head spinning, with his back to Maxwell’s. He created a sword and held it at the ready as the creatures began to circle again, looking for an opening. Maxwell felt the smaller man behind him and couldn’t help but vocalize his displeasure.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“I’m going to help you fight.”

“Bah! I need no help! I am Maxwell!”

“Yeah, sure, but here’s the thing. If you die, Shawn is probably going to turn to Dawnbell, and who knows what will happen then.”

“I can take care of this myself!”

“Just shut up and let me help you! You know you can’t attack without exposing yourself!” Simon took a deep breath, “Look, I know that you don’t like me, and you haven’t made a good impression on me either, but we need to work together, got that?”

Maxwell looked down, and noticed that Simon was covered in wounds. Had he received those trying to protect those people? Maxwell questioned his thoughts on Simon yet again.

“Very well. I will allow you to help me.”

Simon smirked, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Let’s kick some monster ass.”

“Oh boy! Another fighter joins the fray!”

The voice came from behind him, but Simon knew it was Shawn.

“It’s adorable, really. You two deciding to work together. It’s too bad you won’t survive long enough for that teamwork to bear fruit. You know how fast they are, whittling you down before you have a chance to get rid of them. You! Will! Die!”

Shawn cackled as Simon gritted his teeth. As much as he hated to admit it, the murderer was right. When he had been killing them one at a time up in the stand, he had sustained numerous injuries. If they tried that now, even with two people, they might not make it out. And even if they did, there was still Shawn and the monster he rode in on.

“Hey Maxwell?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t suppose you have a way to take out all these guys at once, do you?”

“Actually, I do.”

“WHAT?! Then why haven’t you done it yet?!”

“I would, but I would need all of them to be in front of me, and I don’t think that these creatures would do the honorable thing and face me while we fight! So, unless you can get them away from my back end…”

“Is that all? This will be easy!”

Simon dismissed his blade, and smiled. He instead used his magic to conjure arcs of lightning from his forearms. Normally, he would focus them into one bolt, but this time he let it spread out. Bolts of energy came from his fingers and forearms, moving through the air and across the ground.

The Ratdogs that were in front of him yelped. The spread-out bolts weren’t strong enough to hurt them, but the monsters didn’t know that. They felt the sparks and the general discomfort, and decided not to circle by the lighting man anymore. Instead they all began to converge in front of Maxwell.

“Ahahahahaha! Excellent work!”

The Ratdogs all began to snarl, as they realized that they had been tricked. Simon glanced over his shoulder at Maxwell cracking his metal knuckles. The monsters all charged at once, and Simon knew that if they weren’t taken care of now, they would tear the two of them to shreds. If Maxwell was going to do something, now was the time.

“Unending Blows!”

Maxwell’s arms seemed to disappear. All that could be seen was a blur beginning at his shoulder’s, and extending towards the pack of Ratdogs. Wherever the strange flesh-and-metal blur made contact with one of the monsters, a large dent appeared on it, its entire form jerking strangely before snapping back into position.

As quickly as it had begun, the punching stopped, and Maxwell’s arms reappeared. It was almost as though time had stopped, with all the creatures suspended in midair. Then, as though somebody had flung a switch, they all flew backwards. One by one, the monsters slammed into the front of the monster Shawn was riding and dispersed into smoke.

“That, was PERFECT! Excellent work! I would use that move more often, but because I can't throw the weight of my entire body into my blows, they aren't as strong.  Even so!  The monsters are FINISHED!”

Simon and Shawn both gawked as Maxwell laughed. Shawn snapped out of it sooner than Simon, and he clenched his fists.

“You… you don’t know what you’re dealing with…”

“You don’t intimidate me! Now come down here and fight like a MAN!”

“Oh, but can’t you see? I’m not exactly a man anymore. So it looks like all bets are off! I’m going to make sure that you suffer Maxwell! You and you’re little helper!”

“Hey!” Simon moved to stand beside Maxwell, “We both took down your monsters, so don’t call me his helper. At least we don’t need monsters to fight for us.”

“Oh? You think less of me for not fighting you directly?”

“Yes! Maxwell’s been saying it, I’ve been saying it, and now the whole fighting monsters while you do nothing schtick is starting to get on my nerves!”

“Too bad! I still have one more creature to help me!”

The frog creature beneath him made a strange burping sound and began waddling farther into the building. Its eyes gazed lazily at Simon and Maxwell, and its tongue continued to hang out of its mouth.

One of the creature’s arms began to pull back and tense up, its webbed fingers curling into a fist. Simon realized what was going to happen just in time, and he quickly leapt and pushed Maxwell out of the way. He barely had time to roll away himself as the monster released its arm.

It was fast, too fast to see. A burst of air hit Simon shortly after it impacted the ground. The monster’s arm had extended, and its fist had hurtled towards their original location. It had pushed aside all of the sand from that section, and had impacted the grounds beneath, leaving deep cracks.

“You fools are finished! This is a Skum! One of the most ancient monsters in all the world, only residing in the deepest swamps! The fact that their arms resemble the back legs of a frog make them excellent at crushing the stupid and weak!”

The fist slowly pulled back towards the Skum, before hanging at its side like the other. Simon and Maxwell got to their feet and stared down their new opponent. The Skum responded by burping again, its bulbous body jiggling and rippling.

“Damn. I’ve never fought one of these things before.”

“So?! It looks weak! We can take it easily, just watch!”

“Maxwell, wait!”

Too little, too late. Maxwell rushed at the monster, pulling back his arm and letting loose the strongest punch he could. The Skum’s entire body squished and imploded where he struck, and Maxwell smiled in satisfaction. Then, as though it was made of rubber, the monster’s body bulged outwards, and sent Maxwell flying upwards and into the stands.

Simon turned and ran towards the fallen fighter, and Shawn’s laughter began to reach its highest point. Maxwell sat up and rubbed his head. He saw Simon running towards him, and widened his eyes and pointed. Simon looked over his shoulder and saw the Skum pulling back its arm.

As the fist launched forwards like a rocket, Simon launched a bolt into the ground beneath him, shooting himself upwards and into the stands. He reached out his hand to help Maxwell up, and after pausing for a moment, the larger man took it. They turned to stare at the creature, whose face was now on their eye level.

“That thing has some thick skin.”

“My punch didn’t work… It didn’t even phase it!”

“Yeah, it looks like the direct approach won’t work here.”

Simon rubbed his chin. The last time he had fought a monster with thick skin had been the Elder Troll. That time, there was an obvious weak spot, a scar, a place where the flesh was thinner, softer. But this creature was different, it looked like it had never even gotten a paper cut. Come on, think. There had to be some way to hurt this thing other than hitting it in the blubber. Thinner flesh, softer flesh…

Simon quickly swung his bag from his back. He opened it up and reached in, pulling out what he was thinking of. He tossed it up and down in his hand for a moment before turning to Maxwell.

“I think I have a plan.”