Even as I was flying through the air after launching myself off of Tumbleweed, I caught a quick glimpse of another stream of Liqueguy’s liquid coming at me from the corner of my eye. It would have slammed into my side, but at the last second, I activated the green star on my back. That sped me up enough to sail right through the area the liquid was shooting into an instant before it would've hit. I could feel the spray passing by right behind me, just close enough to brush past my back.

  But he wasn't exactly done there. The liquid curved up and around to create a large ball around me before he must have shifted into his solid form, because the liquid did the same, and it always followed whatever form he was in. Just like that, I was enclosed in a large solid orb and about to crash into the wall. Or at least, that was his goal, to trap me in there. But I could see everything closing in, the orb starting to form around me as it solidified. Right before I would’ve been trapped, my hand snapped out to send a shot of rainbow paint that way. At the last second, it passed through the rapidly shrinking opening as the walls closed in around me.

  There was barely a pin-sized hole left, letting in a tiny beam of light from the arena, when I used that paint and teleported myself out of the orb I’d almost been trapped in. Just like that, I was out, landing against the side of a tall, spinning cylinder. Twisting sideways, I was able to plant my gravity boots against the thing and stick there, giving me a chance to catch sight of Liqueguy himself. After leaving me trapped in that orb, as far as he knew, the guy was sending himself right through three red rings and a blue ring. Eight points. Which were added to the five he already had.

  He was just ahead of and below me a bit, sliding along a curved ramp as his eyes darted around, looking for his next points. Before he could look up, I used a bit of green-blue paint to launch myself that way, triggering another green star on the inside of my costume. At the last second, his gaze turned my way, but it was too late. I crashed into the guy in his solid form before he could shift, knocking him to the ground. Immediately, the bright holographic thirteen on his chest and back vanished while the seven on me changed to a thirteen instead. They rounded down.

  The guy was already shifting into his liquid form even as he was slammed into the ground, splashing out and around me in a way that had to be similar to what it was like when I was in my liquid form as someone passed through me. Yeah, it was definitely disconcerting. I had to put my hands down to catch myself against the ramp, turning it into a forward roll while Liqueguy quickly reformed behind me. I sensed him launching himself after me from behind, trying to regain his lost points before I could get too far away. His hand was outstretched to grab my foot so he could yank me down. But just as his fingers were about to catch hold, I activated the red-blue mark I’d left on him when we had collided. Fortunately, shifting into his liquid form hadn’t erased that, which raised some interesting possibilities that I’d have to focus more on later. Right now, all that mattered was that the paint was still there, and it immediately yanked him straight down before he could catch my leg.

  Honestly, I had originally intended to leave the paint there on his back and activate it when he had more points stored up, but it was more important that he not be able to grab me. Which, of course, just made me realize afterward that I should’ve shifted into my own liquid form to get out of there. I’d--well panicked wasn’t the right word, but I certainly hadn’t chosen the most efficient escape. Oh well, at least I still had those thirteen points, while he was left pinned to the ramp.

  Sure, he wouldn't be trapped there for long, but it gave me the chance to roll back to my feet. The wheels on my shoes popped into place as I used my momentum to go careening along the curve in the ramp, crouching slightly to pick up speed. Off to my left, I could see Tumbleweed expertly flipping her way between both of Split’s arms, even as they came flying in from either side in an attempt to grab her. She twisted in the air and passed through a purple ring before rebounding off a floating cube just in time to send herself sailing right into a blue ring that was flying sideways through that spot. Yeah, some of these rings were moving around, and she had timed her rebound perfectly to go through that one. The ten she'd had from that purple became fifteen.

  By the time I had taken that much in, my wild ride along the ramp had carried me through three red rings. My thirteen had become a sixteen, almost all of which were from points I’d taken from those two, which meant I still had two more rings to go before the values would actually double.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to look around for my next rings, because I already had Liqueguy basically right on me. He created a wall in front of me, right at the edge of the ramp, while launching himself at me from above to try to pen me in and crash into me. He was being pushed forward and down at me by a rapidly growing pillar of his own material in its solid form, so even if I shifted into my paint form, that would still knock me down, which would count for getting rid of all my points and would immediately reset what I needed for raising the ring values.

  So, I didn't try to become paint. Instead, I hit the spot just ahead of me with a quick spray of black and pink as I passed through it, barely a foot away from the wall he had created. That part of the ramp became liquid, and I dropped right through. Instantly, I canceled the paint to turn the ramp back into its solid form just in time for Liqueguy to bounce off it with a startled curse. The other Touched was left right on the other side of the thing, cut off from me at least for a moment.

  Just like that, I was falling toward the ground. But before I could crash into the grass, I was already sending a shot of red as far as I could reach. It hit the very edge of a rectangular platform that kept flipping end over end, and I was yanked that way with a loud whoop.

  By that point, Tumbleweed had reached her own arch, having gained a few more points on the way. There was a loud, cheerful chime as a bright holographic forty-one appeared there. She had managed to bank that much already. And she wasn't the only one. Split’s arch had a bright thirty-two on it. He hadn't exactly been slacking. Meanwhile, Liqueguy and I still had zero.

  Taking that in as I flew through the air, I quickly shot the rapidly spinning rectangle platform ahead of me with a shot of green-blue paint. At the same time, I flipped over to go feet first while keeping my hands held out that way (putting my arms down at my sides after I flipped around) so the red on my gloves would keep pulling me to it. I had to time this whole thing just right.

  That timing bit was important, because the rectangle was spinning quickly enough that the thing completed three more full turns before I reached it. Fortunately, I pulled it off properly. My feet hit the green-blue spot I had left on it just as I activated that and canceled my red paint. Just like that, I rocketed back the way I had come, passing through a blue ring and then four more red ones along the way. That by itself would have been nine points added to my sixteen, but I’d passed through three rings earlier. So the blue and the first red were still at their base level for five and one respectively, putting me at twenty-two. But the next three red were doubled from one to two, making them worth a total of six together, bringing my total up to twenty-eight. Which was nice and all, for sure. But that wouldn't amount to anything if I couldn't bank the points before one of the others hit me again. That was the key part to this whole thing, the gambling. I could keep going and rack up more points with my multiplier active, yet if any of the other three managed to knock me down before I actually made it back to my arch, every last one of those points would instantly vanish.

  What the hell, you only lived once, right? I wasn’t ready to play it safe. It was time to gamble and try to push my points up higher. After all, it was only a game anyway. I could do this. The LEAT games weren’t about being cautious, they were about pushing yourself as far as you could and making a big show for everyone. Besides, playing all timidly just wasn’t the type of person I was.

  Instead of sending myself toward the arch, I used a yellow feather image on my shoulder to slow myself slightly, then dropped right onto a horizontal cylinder that was rolling rapidly, like a spinning log. It would have sent me flying right off, but my special boots kept me firmly planted against the thing no matter which direction I was facing. Granted, that did mean that I was spun upside down, then rightside up, then upside down, and so on over and over again as the cylinder kept going with me standing on it, making my stomach lurch more than a little bit. But I could deal with it at least for a few seconds. Especially considering it gave me the chance to get a good look at the surrounding area from basically every angle. I could see plenty of rings.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Using those couple of seconds as I was being spun around and around to plan out my next move, I stayed there just long enough for Split to think that his incoming foot was actually going to take me by surprise. But I had caught sight of it flying in from my left side a couple rotations earlier. Right before it would have collided with my stomach, I activated the green-yellow spot I had surreptitiously hit the spinning cylinder with a moment earlier. Instantly, and for just a second, it stopped spinning and left me hanging upside down just as the foot flew right through open space I would've been in if the thing had kept spinning to bring me upright once more.

  Before the cylinder could start spinning again, and before Split could redirect his foot to come after me once more, I was already pushing off it, launching myself toward the ground. Or rather, toward the three red rings below me. Two of those were each worth two points, bringing me up to thirty-two. But that was when I hit the bonus multiplier again, doubling the ring values once more. So that third one was worth four. Which meant that just like that, I was at thirty-six.

  Suddenly, the idea of hitting a purple was incredibly tempting. Those rare rings had started at ten points, but now they were worth a staggering forty. That was more than double what I had so far. I could definitely see how important the multiplier was, and how easy it would be to keep going for too long and end up losing a huge amount of points when someone inevitably managed to land a tackle. It didn't matter if you had several hundred racked up if they all vanished just like that. You really had to balance the risk versus the reward.

  That was what the small, cautious voice in the back of my head was saying. I did have to be careful with that. I could lose everything very easily. But the much louder voice was telling me that I knew where two purple rings were. I'd seen those and several other rings during my spin on the cylinder. They were hidden inside a large tube about a hundred feet away, and slightly above where the spinning cylinder had been. Which, considering I was falling, meant it was much higher than me now. Plus, there was Split’s foot, which had recovered from the miss and was on its way down.

  I really wasn’t in the mood to take a boot to the head, so just before the foot would have collided with my helmet, I reached up while activating a yellow and blue parachute image on my leg. In that second, my fall practically stopped, my momentum slowed as much as if I’d been using an actual parachute. At the same time my grasping hand caught hold of the incoming foot. It jerked in my grasp, and nearly tore its way free. Quickly, I activated a purple fist across my left arm before the thing could get away, holding it tightly.

  The parachute image was still making me float gently that way. But now absolutely wasn’t the time for gentle. Now was the time for speed. To that end, I canceled that paint and used red-blue instead. Yeah, I was yanking myself straight down. On the way, I gave the foot in my hand a strong heave slightly at the ground, just a bit to the side of where I was going.

  Just before hitting that grass (or forcing the people in charge to use safety measures), I activated an orange shield image on the inside front part of my costume, just so I wouldn’t end up breaking half the bones in my body. Simultaneously, I was hitting the grass down there with another green-blue circle.

  Split’s foot had already bounced off the ground and was coming up and around toward me again, clearly intent on taking me down. But it was taken by surprise by my sudden speed, as I rocketed straight down past the thing. Before it could adjust, I hit that green-blue circle and let out the loudest scream of exhilaration I could as I was positively catapulted back into the air. That one definitely would’ve hurt if I didn’t have the orange paint, hitting the ground at that speed before being bounced off it. I probably would’ve pancaked right there. Well, I would’ve if the protective measures weren’t in place. I wasn’t exactly sure how they worked, but clearly they were able to tell that I had my orange paint on and would be safe from the impact. From what I understood, it had to do with a lot of complicated Touched-Tech scanners and actual Mind-Touched. Some of them could see slightly into the future by a few seconds, others just had general danger senses or other similar powers. They all worked together to analyze how much damage someone would take at any given time. The combination meant they were able to take powers into account and could tell at any given moment if you were using them with enough certainty to know if they needed to step in. They knew with a few seconds leeway if any given player was in serious danger.

  Either way, I didn’t need the protective measures. Instead, I was sent careening the other direction, past a hovering Split foot that somehow managed to look bewildered without the benefit of a face.

  Before I could reach the apex of my launch, my hand was already sending a shot of rainbow paint toward one of the hovering cubes. Then I was there, landing right on the corner of it before using my skates to roll to the opposite edge, where I used a bit of blue to launch myself off. The tube was still far above me and about fifty feet forward, but not for long. There was a tall, skinny pole-like obstacle directly in my path. It was a perfect target for a hasty shot of simple pink paint. I activated and then instantly canceled that just before colliding with the pole. It bent halfway over from the force of my impact, before snapping back the way it had been. I was sent flying up and backward like I was being shot out of a catapult. That was the height I needed. Even better, I passed through a blue ring on the way. That meant twenty more points with my bonus, so I had fifty-six. My hand rose, sending another shot of my rainbow paint while I shifted back into my liquid form for the transport. Which was absolutely lucky, since it meant that Split’s flying hand, which I hadn’t even noticed in that second, went right through my body without any real effect.

  Well, not without any real effect. It came so suddenly that I almost felt like my heart was going to stop. Or maybe get taken along with it. The hand was just right there. If I hadn’t already shifted into my liquid form, it would’ve slammed into my stomach, probably knocking the wind out of me and sending me to the ground.

  The good news was that I wasn’t solid right then, so his hand did nothing aside from startle me. The bad news was that thanks to being startled, I didn’t teleport immediately, so my hand stayed stretched out toward that large pipe long enough for Tumbleweed to realize what I was aiming for. I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye while I was recovering from that brief shock. She looked at my hand, then to the big tube, before bouncing off two floating platforms. On the last one, the girl rocketed off it and went sailing straight that way.

  Oh hell no, she wasn’t stealing my purples. With a quick thought, I activated the rainbow paint that had been about to run out and instantly transported myself up there, landing right on the edge of the tube.

  What the hell? It was so much bigger than I’d th-oh. Oh, it was bigger on the inside. There was some sort of extradimensional storage space going on in there. From the outside, the tube was about twenty feet long and ten feet high. But once you actually moved into it, the interior was maybe a hundred feet long and thirty feet high. They really were showing off with this, but why all the effort t--

  Fuck, Tumbleweed appeared at the opposite end of the tube. She seemed to have the same moment of surprise then realization that I’d had, before her eyes landed on me. Then both of us looked at what turned out to be several purple rings, a few more blues, and maybe half a dozen or so reds. All of them spread through the hundred feet between us. Just like that, we launched ourselves off the respective edges of the pipe and started to rush for those rings.

  Or at least, we started to. But no sooner had we both begun to move that way, than the ends of the pipe, the openings we had come through, abruptly closed off. Suddenly, we were stuck inside this thing, while the rings themselves just vanished.

  “And two of our contestants have found the minigame!” Nquobile’s voice filled the tube, and probably the rest of the arena. She sounded like this was the most exciting moment of the entire match. I could see several small flying camera drones buzzing around, so everyone out in the stands could see us. We had definitely stumbled into something outside the ordinary scope of the game. .

  “Here's the rules of this little bonus!” The woman's voice echoed through the enclosed space, bouncing off the walls eerily while the two of us watched one another and the obstacles warily. “The tube won't open until one of these players has been legally tackled three times. When that happens, the other player will get all of their points, as well as every point they would’ve received from the rings in here! But they'll still have to get those points back to their arch! Three tackles before you win or lose anything, players, so let's see which one of our bouncy little contestants make it out of the tube with their points and their opponent’s!”

  Tumbleweed, who had stopped just a few steps in while I did the same at the opposite end, lifted her head a little before giving me a little bow. Then she extended her hand and flicked her fingers as though telling me to bring it on.

  “Alright, Paintball,” she called to me with an obvious grin in her voice. “Show me what you've got!”

  Joke Tags: I See Cassidy’s Ability To Stumble Across Something That Further Complicates An Already Existing Situation Is Not At All Stymied By This Just Being A Game