OKAY! More of... The Slayers Princess Bride!! YAY!!!!! Okay, ummm... *big grin* If you remember the movie, people? Well, the man in black has to challenge Viccini to a battle of wits... Gourry... battling for Lina's life... depending on his smarts... Poor Lina...

The man in blue ran through the field of rocks, jumping over the smaller rocks, and going around the larger boulders. Suddenly, he ducked, and just in time. A huge rock, bigger than his head, just hit the side of a boulder where his head had just been. He stood up, and spun quickly, facing where the rock came from. His hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

From behind another of the large boulders came Phil, the giant. "You made me miss," he said. He bent down and picked up another rock. "But that's okay. I don't like to do it that way. Let's both drop our weapons and settle this, man to man."

Slowly, the man in blue said, a tad confused, "You mean... I put down my sword, you put down your rock, and we fight each other like that?"

"I could kill you now," Phil said, holding up his rock again.

The man in blue put his sword on the ground, and said, "All right. But I think you have an upper hand in this battle." Then the man in blue charged forward, and grabbed Phil around the waist. He tried to lift him-- throw him-- topple him-- something, but he couldn't the giant was too heavy. "Why aren't you doing anything?" he demanded after a moment of trying to move the troll-sized Phil.

Shrugging, Phil said, "I just want you to feel like you're doing well. That's so important in you young folk these days." Then he reached down and grabbed at the man in blue.

But the man in blue was faster. He ducked under Phil's massive arms, and rolled between his legs, before coming up to a crouch behind the giant.

"You're quick," Phil mentioned.

The man in blue shrugged, and said, "I still think physical fighting is more your thing."

"It's not my fault," Phil said. He turned around, only to find the man in blue gone again. The man in blue, standing behind him again, took a huge leap, and grabbed Phil around the neck with both arms. Phil reached up and caught the man in blue's arms to keep him from strangling him. "Not my fault I'm bigger and stronger," Phil said. He manuvered so his back was to a boulder, and shoved backwards, crushing the man in blue between himself and the rock.

The man in blue groaned, but didn't loosen his hold.

"You're determined, aren't you?" Phil asked, shoving against the rock a few more times.

Again, the man in blue didn't respond, concentrating on keeping a hold of the giant's neck.

Phil continued on. "You know, it's different fighting just one person," he said, before he crushed the man in blue against the rock again.

"Really? How?" the man in blue asked curiously.

"Well," Phil said. "With lots of men surrounding me, I just swing and I end up hitting someone. But you dodge out of the way." He slowly walked away from the rock. The man in blue's grip tightened, and Phil found it harder to breathe. "You see... It's harder for me... Because... You're... faster..." These last words were dragged out, from Phil's leack of breathe, and the effort he was exerting to try and stay conscious. Slowly, he fell to the ground, not having enough breathe to stay conscious.

The man in blue waited a moment, then rolled off of Phil's back. With great effort, he managed to roll Phil onto his back. He checked for a second to see if he was breathing. The man in blue shrugged, not being able to tell, really, and stood up. He grabbed his sword, put it away in it's scabbard, and ran off, following the path Vrumagun and Lina took.

.~*~.

"Someone has beaten a giant," Prince Zolf said, looking around the rocky field. "We must move quickly." With very little effort, he leapt back on his horse, and led the party off after the footprints leading away.