Jim shivered as the ice melted off his body. Beside him Varian was also thawing out. Sheltering behind his frozen friend had not worked out as well as Jim had hoped. Matt had been the first of the boys to fall, zapped by Stalkinew from behind. Braxton's revenge had been swift and freezing.

Varian had been friendly fire. He'd jumped out of the way of a bolt from the right and directly into Jim's retaliation. Jim had frozen his actual opponent next. The guilt of freezing Varian was much harder to take care of.

He and Braxton had survived until about the halfway point. They had been making their way back through the field when blue streaks rained down on them from behind their ice sculpture classmates. Jim had hidden behind Varian and Braxton had bounded a little farther past. Jim hadn't even seen the boy behind him until it was too late.

From his block of ice, Jim had been able to watch the cyborg take out the three boys that had ambushed them. Unable to move his head he had been forced to stare in one direction as the battle surged around them. Braxton had put up a good fight but, unfortunately, he too was caught in the icy blue beams.

Gru's deicer freed the boys from the ambush before he moved on down the field. The small cluster of youth shivered and shook off the cold water that clung to skin and sunk into their hair and clothes.

"Good shot, Matinral," Jim grinned over at his classmate. "You're the one that got me, right?"

Matinral nodded, his whole body bobbing with the movement. The small creature seemed pleased with the recognition. Not much more than a face on a body and a pair of legs, Mantinral used his two limbs for everything from movement to shooting. Jim didn't actually have a clue how he managed it all.

Varian shivered violently. "A-a-are we a-allowed to g-go?" he stuttered as he clutched his arms around himself.

Braxton joined them with the answer, "Instructor Gru said we could head to the showers once we were unfrozen. We've got about ten extra minutes before history to warm ourselves up."

"Want to head up to the showers near our rooms?" Jim suggested. Matt fell in beside them as the small group headed for the building again. "They'll probably be less crowded than the gym showers. I don't know if it'll save us any time, but it's worth a shot, right?"

Varian hopped on that suggestion straight away. "Let's. I'm not much of a fan of the communal showers, anyway." The boys made their way up to the gymnasium. Like their classmates, they hugged the wall as they passed from the outside doors to the exit into the rest of the school. Jim scanned the first years as they passed. With their constant movement as they sparred with each other, and the full protective gear, Jim couldn't identify which might have been Sy.

Braxton snickered. Matt raised an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?" Varian asked.

Jim blinked at them. "Just fine, why? What's with you three?"

"You sighed." Braxton sounded amused.

Jim scoffed. "Did not. Come on. Let's get moving. I don't want to be late for our next class."