Marc looked down at his phone for what Kayla presumed was the score to the basketball game. A disappointed look on his face told her the game was not going as he had first hoped. Kayla, hoping to take his mind off the game, came to a quick stop, causing Marc (who was still looking at his phone), to bump into her.

"Hey!" he exclaimed before realizing what had happened.

"Sorry! I was just thinking though, who would be up for some competition?" Marc's head perked up, and Elise, after looking in between the two, shrugged.

"What is it?" she asked. Kayla guessed she was talking about the challenge and looked around, deciding quickly on the tree a couple feet away from them.

She pointed at the tree, "Slowest one to reach the top and back down again has to buy everyone cans of Coca-cola the next time we feel like it!" she announced, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Deal!" Marc accepted without another thought. Elise, who was probably the most sensible of the three, butt in.

"Wait wait wait, no way guys! You know how dangerous that tree is! Don't you remember what happened to that kid! A branch snapped and he broke his neck!" Elise said nervously.

"First of all," Kayla started, "that was 15 years ago. The tree was a lot younger at the time." Elise gave an uneasy look. "Second of all, if you're so scared of it, why don't you go first! Ya know, make sure it's all safe and stuff."

Giving another unseasy look, she nodded, appearing to have taken in her friend's reasoning. Climbing a few feet, she nodded again, then jumped back down. "Your right, the tree is stronger now. But, just be careful on some of the smaller, twig-like branches." A smile, now mimicking the one Kayla had earlier, crept across her face. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's climb!"

Marc pulled up the stopwatch on his phone and hovered his finger over the start button. He looked up at Elise. She nodded one last nod, and with all the speed and agility from her many years of dance, darted up the tree.

Climbing down with just as much agility, she landed on the ground still smiling. Marc paused the stopwatch and gave her a quick hug. "My turn!" He yelled, handing the phone to Elise and getting into position, "NOW!" he said and jumped up, climbing each branch with ease, his strength working to his advantage. Kayla saw him pause for a couple of moments, but just as she was about to call to see if he was ok, he kept climbing. "I wonder what that was all about," she thought, but then quickly brushed it off.

He arrived back down and quickly pulled down his sleeves. "How'd I do?" he asked, appearing to have still been phased from whatever had made him stop earlier.

"OOH, a couple seconds too slow babe!" she taunted and then gave him a hug.

"Aww, dang it! Guess it's your turn, K!"

Kayla stepped up to the tree. She took a deep breath and gave a thumbs up. Breathing in and out, she let a song form in her head. A fierce, alternate rock song flooded her mind. She let it fuel her. Climbing to the quick beat of the song, an almost sort of power flowed through her, cancelling out any bad feelings.

Just as she reached near, if not a little bit above, where Marc had stopped, the climax of her song was interrupted by a loud "CRACK". The last thing she saw as she tumbled to earth was a giant tree limb (certainly not one she could have broken on her own) falling to earth with her, a translucent green glow covering the side that was once attached to the tree.

-Break-

Marc climbed up the tree, smiling at the sure thought of winning. He loved his friends, Elise especially, but sometimes he didn't know what they were thinking. Kayla was determined, and his girlfriend was agile, but he was most certainly the strongest. At that thought, dreadful laughter filled his head as a memory overtook him.

The boy stood there, helpless, as he was pummeled over and over again. Marc, a scrawny kid that was less meat than bone, had no hope of defending himself against the three bullies towering over him. His attempt to call for help was stopped in its tracks as one of the boys' sweaty hands clasped over his mouth, making him unable to speak. They smiled in utter delight as he let out an involuntary squeak.

Marc was pushed out of this horrible memory by searing pain. He looked down to find a ray of sunlight burning his arm. "WHAT THE FRACK!" He quickly moved out of the light. A quick second of contemplating told him to keep climbing the tree. He didn't want his friends to worry. His other arm, still holding the branch above him, pulled him up. He continued climbing to the top, though wary of the sunlight. He arrived back down, quickly pulling down his sleeves and tried to ignore the pain.

"How'd I do?" He said, putting on a false smile and reminding himself to get something for his burn on the way home.

"OOH, couple seconds to slow babe!" Elise walked over and gave him a hug. He accepted it but made sure to only use his good arm to hug her back.

"Awwww, dang it!" He said playfully, still hugging her. He turned to Kayla, "Guess it's your turn!"

Together they watched K climb the tree. All seemed fine up to a couple of moments later when a panicked Kayla came hurtling to the ground. A tree limb (much like the one he had been holding onto earlier) was seen alongside her as she hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Shoot!" He rushed off to help her once the initial shock had worn off. Checking her for any injuries and finding none, he carried her back home, only leaving when Elise changed her into some nicer clothes and eventually once it was dark.