I did not expect to take this long to update this story, but I didn't realize how monstrous of a chapter this would be! Action scenes take me forever to write because I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to them.

And thank you again for those sweet reviews! I'm so happy that you all are enjoying the story so far!

Chapter 8 - The Neutral Territory

Since attending Titan Academy, I have received almost perfect marks in all my classes. All but one. The dreaded French class. No matter how hard I studied and tried to repeat the foreign words to myself, I could not grasp the meaning of each word. It was as if my brain was short-circuiting every time I attempted to translate something from French. It cannot decide if the word should be translated into English or Tamaranean, so the information never seems to sink in. This way of learning another language was not natural for a Tamaranean, and learning from a book was frustrating.

I let out a groan as I flopped onto my bed with my head toward the footboard and my opened French textbook lying across my face. I laid there for a while, thinking that if I left the book on my face long enough, the text would seep into my mind, and then I would understand the translations better.

"Is there a problem?" I heard Rachel ask.

I lifted the book off my face to look at her upside down from the bed. "You do well in your French class, correct? How much money can I pay you to do my French homework for the rest of the semester?"

Rachel considered it for a moment. "How much are you offering? Do you even have human currency?"

"I have a lot," I said, pushing myself upright to sit on my bed facing Rachel and feeling hopeful. "I took quite a bit of money from my sister's purse before I arrived here. I will give you all of that."

"You stole from your sister?" Rachel asked, surprised, "Maybe you're not as innocent as I thought."

"If you knew my sister, you would understand," I told her, but the thought of my sister made me feel bitter, and I wanted to get off the topic of her immediately. "Will you do my French homework then?"

Rachel momentarily looked me straight in the eyes while she considered the offer and said, "No."

I groaned again and flopped back on my bed in frustration. "How is it that I am doing so well in all of my other classes, but I cannot pass a single homework assignment in French?"

"What's holding you up?" Rachel asked. "All you have to do is copy down the translations from the textbook. It's not that hard."

"It is not easy for me!" I whined as I stared up at our room's ceiling. "Tamaraneans do not normally learn other languages this way."

"Really?" Rachel asked, and I could hear the curiosity in her voice. "Then how do Tamaraneans learn other languages?"

"Lip-transfiguration." I replied, "Through lip contact, a Tamaranean can instantly learn any language from their host."

"Seriously?" Rachel squeaked slightly. "You can learn any language from anyone just by kissing them? That's a weird ability. I can see why that would be useful, but it's still weird."

I shrugged. "In my culture, it is normal, but I know here kissing is only supposed to be done between intimate partners. At least, that is what I read about in one of the books you have on your bookshelf over there."

"Yeah, usually...wait, you have been reading my books? What book did you read about kissing exactly?" Rachel asked, suddenly sounding nervous.

"I can not remember what the title was exactly, but the kissing scene turned into the male character torturing the female character while..."

"Ahhh, okay!" Rachel interrupted me before I could detail what I read about. "New room rule! Do not read any of my books without my permission!"

I propped myself up on my elbows to look at Rachel. Her pale skin had turned a shade of red that I had never seen on her before. "Why?" I asked her innocently.

"Because they are my books, that's why!" Rachel snapped fiercely and then took a deep breath to regain her composure. "Anyway...back to your French dilemma...I'm sure you can find a guy with enough French to help you. I know they would all be lining up to kiss you."

Just as Rachel had finished speaking, a giant green beetle flew into the room through the cracked window we had open. In which that beetle transformed into Gar. "Who's kissing who?" Gar asked excitingly, "Are you two kissing each other? Can I watch?"

Several books were flung at Gar from Rachel's bookcase, and Gar turned back into a beetle to dodge each one.

"You're pathetic!" Rachel scolded him. "And haven't I told you to text me before entering my room like that?"

"Sorry, Rae," Gar apologized after turning back into a human, "I forgot over the excitement about what I'm about to show you! I need to show you, too, Kory! Come with me to check out what Karen's preparing in the neutral territory!"

"What is the neutral territory?" I asked, throwing the French textbook aside, eager to do anything that was not homework.

"Come with me, and I will show you." Gar winked.

Rachel sighed, "You're not going to lead us into one of your practical joke traps, are you?"

"Rae, would I do that do you?" Gar asked her sweetly, "Just trust me and come check it out!"

Rachel looked at Gar suspiciously until she said, "Alright...only because you're not going to leave us alone until we go with you."

"Sweet! Then follow me, ladies!" Gar said before opening the window to turn into an eagle and fly out.

Rachel started to follow him as if she could jump out the window but paused once she realized I was not behind her. "Oh right," She said, "I forgot you can't fly."

"And you can?" I asked in astonishment. She realized she could have quickly flown back to the school if she wanted to after the harvest festival, but she chose to stay with me. "What other powers are you keeping from me?"

"That's all of them," Rachel said quickly as she pulled on the sleeve of my sweater to lead me out of our dorm room. "Let's get going! Gar is probably halfway there already."

We spotted a green eagle flying in circles above the courtyard as we left the girls' dormitories. "There he is!" Rachel pointed at Gar in the sky, "Now let's get this over with."

Gar must have known we spotted him because he stopped flying in circles to start moving north over the school's campus.

"Rachel, what is the neutral territory?" I repeated the same question I had for Gar to her.

"Oh, it's just an area in the woods right outside of the perimeters of the school that the Elites don't have control over," Rachel said as we followed Gar flying above us. "You know how the Elites like to bully the underclassmen out of using the practice fields and school gyms so that they can use them for their dumb purposes?"

"Yes," I said, my fists clenching, remembering that I was still prohibited from attending combat classes.

"The school doesn't own the neutral territory, and the property doesn't seem to be owned by anyone else in Cold Springs. So technically, they can't bully us out of there because they have no authority over that area."

"Is that so?" I asked her, "So their power over us is restricted within only the school boundaries?"

"Or anything with the school's name tied to it," Rachel replied, "but I don't think any volunteering hours or extracurricular activities will be held out in some random unoccupied woods."

"That is very interesting," I mused, thinking there may be a loophole to the Elite's power.

We remained silent for most of our journey to the neutral territory as we tried to focus on the direction Gar was leading us towards. Once outside the school's gates, Gar flew lower to the ground, signaling us where to enter the dense line of trees that started the more wooded territory. After walking for about five minutes and carefully stepping over large tree roots that had protruded from the ground, I noticed a figure suspended in the air with large translucent wings that moved so fast that I could barely tell they were there with their constant blurred motion.

"Hey, Karen!" Gar called when he smoothly landed back on the ground as a human. "I brought Kory and Rachel over so that they can help!"

"Help?" Rachel raised an eyebrow at Gar.

"Oh, come on, Rae!" Gar coaxed her, "A little fresh air won't hurt you, and besides...this is fun stuff that we will be doing!"

"Gar..." Rachel started to say while shaking her head. "Your and my versions of fun are completely different."

I could barely hear their conversation, for Karen's powers transfixed me. I watched her zip from one tree to another while draping a large black tarp over some of the tree's branches and wondered how I had not seen her wings before. We had interacted a lot in our mutual classes, but I did not notice her wings. They were so large that I would have seen them peeking out from her blazer if she had them concealed underneath the school uniform.

"Perfect!" Karen cheered. Her buzzing wings gracefully fold along the length of her back. "With all of your help, I should be able to finish this before dark!"

"What are you building?" I asked Karen, tearing my eyes away from her wings and motioning toward the black tarp.

"A haunted trail," Karen replied proudly. "I really wanted to make a haunted house somewhere on campus. But since the Elites are hogging all recreational areas at the school and I know they would not be willing to let me use them, I decided to make it here instead. But try to keep this a secret as much as you can before Halloween. I don't need the Elites finding out and give them time to figure out how to shut it down."

"A haunted trail sounds like fun!" I exclaimed. I was excited for the opportunity to do something that was potentially against the Elite's wishes. "This is part of the Halloween traditions, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Karen said enthusiastically, "Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I'm not going to let a bunch of stuck-up rich kids ruin this season for me!"

"Wonderful!" I said, returning the enthusiasm. "How can we help?"

I heard Gar let out a spirited "Whoop" behind me, which was quickly followed by an apathetic noise from Rachel.

"You can start helping me by putting spiderwebs on the trees lining the trail. I placed a large pumpkin where the haunted trail would end. You can't miss it. So anywhere from here to there is where those can go."

"On it!" Gar said before diving into the pile of Halloween decorations Karen had sitting beside her. "I'll make sure to make the trees look extra spooky! You know...I can always turn into a spider and hide among these decorations, and then I can turn into something else to scare the crap out of the hauntees. If you're looking for haunt actors, that is."

I had only started to untangle some sticky, cottoned fake spiderwebs when I heard, "What the hell are you four doing?"

Ugh, Babs. And to my dismal misfortune, Dick was not far behind her. Their presence instantly snuffed out all my excitement for creating this haunted trail. I was sure Karen's idea was about to be dismissed right then. Why were they even here to begin with?

"Making a haunted trail for Halloween," Karen said casually as she continued to drape a black tarp over more tree branches. Her wings buzzed furiously behind her. Not seeming too concerned about what Dick and Babs will do about it.

"On this trail?" Babs asked as if horrified by the idea. "Absolutely not! This is where I go running!"

"Then find someplace else to run," Karen said with her hands on her hips while still hovering among the tree branches. "You have the whole track on the school field to run on. Go run on that."

Babs gritted her teeth in annoyance at being told what to do. And for that, my respect for Karen significantly increased. "No, this is where I run every weekend." Babs contested, "I'm not going to have some juvenile display of what you call a haunted trail get in my way of that."

"Well, that's too bad, Babs," Karen said, her wings slicing through the air as she zipped over to Babs instantly as if to make her flinch. But Babs did not even blink when Karen was inches from her face. "But you have no authority over this territory, so you're not able to run to your commissioner daddy to arrest us for trespassing. Because technically, no one owns this land. So it's first come, first serve."

"Dick, talk some sense into Beeswax, won't you?" Babs said, her irritated green eyes never leaving Karen's. "Tell her we are using this space for training as directed by Bruce."

"Karen does have a point," Dick said, finally deciding to put his input. I could have sworn I heard Bab's neck crack from how fast she turned her head to him with a look of traitorous disbelief. I was giving him a similar look. Was Dick siding with us?

"What are you talking about?" Babs rounded on Dick. "She's just making shit up so that she can build her little playground."

"As the student council, we only have authority over what's happening on the school grounds and academic-related activities. Since this is not on the school grounds and whatever they are building isn't academically related, we have no say in what they do out here."

"So you're just going to let them make a mess in these woods?" Babs inquired, "They don't own these lands either."

I watched Dick's eyes scan over the decorations Karen had put up as if determining whether Karen's idea could be classified as a mess. His eyes rested on mine at the end of his scan when he said, "No, they don't. And that is a problem."

I felt a shiver run down my spine when our eyes locked, but I hid that involuntary response with a fierce glare. Babs had then moved in between us to break our eye contact. "What is the problem, Dick?"

"That there is no determination of who has the right to use this land for leisure activities." He told her. Now, speaking directly to Babs. "Therefore, there will always be conflict about who gets to use it. And we have more important things to do than argue with the other students over something we don't necessarily have control over."

"Ok, what will we do about it then?" Babs asked through gritted teeth again.

"I know!" Karen pipped up. "What if we have a little contest over it? Between you and me, Babsy! Whoever wins gets the 'official' rights and use of this area."

"A contest?" Babs responded curtly. Giving Karen a look of annoyed impatience.

"Yeah, a contest!" Karen repeated. "I think it's only fair to see who is worthy enough for this land. I debated whether to turn this area into a haunted trail or a Halloween obstacle course for the students. So, why not turn this into an obstacle course instead? I can build it in time for Halloween, and then on the night of Halloween, whoever gets through the course the fastest wins. I'll even have my wings off, so that's more fair for you since you don't have the means to fly."

Babs picked up on the insult and squinted her eyes at Karen. "Even so, you'll be the one making the obstacle course. Don't you think you'll have an advantage over me then? That doesn't seem like a fair fight."

I almost laughed at the irony of what Babs had said. She worries about having a fair fight when she does not even fight fairly.

"Hmm, I suppose you have a point," Karen said, pacing back and forth. "Then how about this? Let's make it a team thing—four versus four. You can have three Elites help you complete the course, and I'll have three friends compete with me. And then, if you want to make it fair on the knowledge of how the course goes, you can send one of your Elites to help me complete it so each team doesn't have a home-field advantage."

Babs opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Dick when he said, "I think that's a fair proposal. You have yourself a challenge, Beecher."

This time, my neck almost snapped when I looked at Dick in utter surprise. This could not be the same person who had tried to make my school experience as horrible as possible for the last several weeks. It just could not be! This Dick Grayson had to be a clone, and another off-worlder species must have abducted the original version of him.

"You can't be serious!" Babs cried. "When would we have time to prepare for this? And who among the student council would want to help Beeswax build a stupid obstacle course?"

Dick shrugged. "I'm sure Vic would want to help. He's been complaining about how bored he has been lately, so I might as well give him something to do. And..." He paused to look at me again, "It will be interesting to see how well your friends will work together in an attempt to defeat mine."

I felt myself smirk at him. Of course, I will be the first to ask Karen if I can compete with her. This was going to be my chance to prove to Dick that I was worthy enough to challenge him and would be one step closer to putting an end to the Elite's power.

Babs looked as if she was about to explode. Her whole body went tense, with her fists clenched so tight that I was sure she was leaving deep imprints in her palm from her nails. All while glaring at Dick.

After glaring at her leader, Babs turned to me with the same glare and growled through her gritted teeth. Saying nothing after that, she flipped her long copper-red hair over her shoulder and stomped away, heading back toward the direction of the school. I was not sure why she was so upset with me. This was Karen's idea, not mine. I had not even said a word since they had arrived.

Karen let out a cheerful noise. "Challenge accepted, Grayson! You're friends better come prepared to be humiliated in front of the whole school because you know I won't keep this little friendly competition a secret."

"Have it your way," Dick said half-heartedly before turning around to follow Babs.

"Will you be competing with the Elites?" I asked Dick as he was leaving. I was surprised at myself that I even asked him that question. Usually, I do my best to avoid any conversation with him, but I wanted to know if I would have the pleasure of defeating him in a race.

He momentarily stopped to turn to me and say, "I don't have time to prepare for childish games. But I will be there spectating." Dick paused before saying, "Good luck, Kory."

The way he said my name brought another one of those annoying shivers down my spine. I would have preferred that he call me by the other names the Elites had made up for me. Every time he would say my name, I could not help but hear an underlining purring sound when he said it. And it was...irritating. However, when he turned from me to leave again, I could not help but notice the smallest of smiles that graced his lips, which was almost as shocking as him agreeing to Karen's idea since I was convinced that Dick did not know how to smile.

I heard Gar's voice cheering from behind me as I watched Dick walk away, "Way to go, Karen, for probably being the first student here actually to have a successful negotiation with Dick Grayson! And I'll be more than happy to help you flatten the Elites in a competitive race!"

"I would be honored to help you as well." Turning back to join them, I said, "I will finally have my chance to get my revenge on Babs when we win."

"Fantastic!" Karen said brightly, "I would need one more person..."

"Rachel can be your fourth person!" I said before Rachel was able to sneak away. From the corner of my eye, I could see that she was trying to silently float away, hoping we would not notice her walking away on foot.

"Uhhh, I don't normally 'do' obstacle courses," Rachel said apprehensively while placing her feet back on the ground, knowing that her attempt to escape was in vain.

"Then this will be the perfect opportunity to try something new!" I winked at her. I knew Rachel was a timid girl, but I also knew she had a very sweet and fun side underneath all the mystery and darkness she was hiding behind. I just needed to pry her away from her books and our room for her to see that.

"I don't..." Rachel began to protest but was interrupted by Gar.

"I think you would be amazing, Rae!" Gar told Rachel. "With the four of us working together, those Elites won't stand a chance!"

Taking Rachel's silent, blushing face as a yes, Karen said, "So now that we have our team, we need to figure out what everyone's strengths are to build the obstacle course around that. I can be pretty quick and clever if I get in a pinch with an opponent. Gar, you can turn into any aquatic creature, right? I'm now thinking about starting the course at the pond not too far from here owned by the school, and since I'll have Vic helping me with this, I'm sure I can convince him to let us use it for this race. I know Rachel can fly..."

"And is good at levitating things!" I took it upon myself to speak up for Rachel since I knew she would be modest with her powers.

"Kory!" Rachel hissed to keep me from saying anything more, but it was too late. Karen was already beaming with excitement with the abilities she had to work with.

"I can work with that," Karen said, then she turned to me. "What about you, Kory? Other than being an alien who could easily kick Bab's ass if she wanted to, what other special abilities do you have?"

"I guess I have super strength compared to the average human strength," I paused before mentioning my language transfiguration ability. But I could hardly imagine that would be useful for an obstacle course. "I suppose I am quite good with a bow and arrow. My archery teachers were quite pleased with me back on Tamaran."

"Ok..." Karen said with a hand underneath her chin as if she was trying to plan the whole course out in her head. "We'll need to build something with targets as part of the course, with low and high-level challenges...I already got it figured out!"

"Awesome!" Gar cheered again, "Oh! Can we wear Halloween costumes?"

There was a monotone "no" that came from Rachel, but Karen's enthusiasm had drowned her out. "Of course!" exclaimed Karen, "Which gives me another great idea!"

"How did I get roped into all of these great ideas?" Rachel asked quietly, but no one seemed to hear her that well as Karen laid out her newest scheme.

"We should have matching costumes!" said Karen, "You know, to invoke some team spirit! And I already know what we should do! I'll start working on those costumes as soon as I finish today."

I clapped my hands together in pure glee. "Wonderful! What will we be dressed as?"

Rachel introduced the internet to me recently to expand my knowledge of Earth and its customs when I needed help finding books on the traditions of Halloween in the school's library, which had provided me with way more information than the books in the library ever could. There, I did a lot of research on the types of costumes humans wear this time of year. The variety amused me. Most of the costumes I found were related to scary movies or books, but there were a lot of costumes for females that were quite revealing compared to our claustrophobic school uniforms.

"That, my friend, is going to be a surprise." Karen winked at me before returning to the Halloween trail, more than likely to begin preparing the obstacle course we would be competing on.

Karen kept her word for the week following up to Halloween. She did not give me any hints of what we would be wearing, even though I had repeatedly asked her to provide me with some clues about our costume. I was eager to wear something that would not make me feel constricted or as if I was drowning in clothes.

Instead, she gave me an insight into what my role in the race would be. She and Victor had been working hard during the after-school hours to finish the course in time for Halloween. When Karen told me what my part would be, I could not help but bounce at my desk excitedly at how much fun her task was for me. Much to my happiness, the day of Halloween had come quickly, and I had found myself in Karen's dorm room trying on the costume she had made for us.

"Karen, I love it!" I squealed as I twirled in front of her mirror and examined the most attractive-looking outfit I had seen upon arriving at Titan Academy. "You certainly have a talent for making fun clothing!"

It was not a lie. I was wearing what was known on Earth as a cheerleader uniform with the word "Titans" in bold black lettering across the chest of the top. I was pleased it was slightly cropped, and my skin could breathe more. The top was fashioned beautifully with a skirt much shorter than the school uniform with yellow and black striped thigh-high stockings.

"Why can't I help but feel you look like a bumblebee?" Rachel noted, observing my costume with a face as if she had just smelt something awful. "And those can't be our school colors if you're going for a school spirit thing."

"What's wrong with looking like a bumblebee?" Karen asked as she emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a costume that matched mine. "Bumblebees are the most crucial insects in maintaining the health of our ecosystems, you know. And honestly, I don't know what the school colors are here and if we even have them. Since the Elites took over, there hasn't been much school spirit to even think about the camaraderie that normal schools have."

"Karen, you look so cute!" I complimented her wholeheartedly. She, indeed, did look very pretty. Her usual black afro was parted into two poofy buns on top of her head. The costume's colors complemented her dark skin perfectly, and I noticed that she was wearing some makeup to accentuate her lovely facial features.

"Thanks, Kory! I guess I do look pretty fierce." Karen said to herself in the mirror as she applied a bit more gloss to her lips. "But not as fierce as you. You'll probably make most of the guys here melt into puddles once they see you."

"That does not sound pleasant at all," I said, voicing my confused thoughts.

"It's just a figure of speech. It's not a bad thing," Karen laughed, straightening up once she finished applying her lipgloss. She noticed Rachel sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, not looking as cheerful as we were. "Rachel, why aren't you in your costume yet?" She asked, "We have to start making our way to the outer woods in a few minutes."

"You don't expect me to wear...that," Rachel said, pointing toward the third matching cheerleader outfit laid out on Karen's bed, not touched once by Rachel yet. Rachel looked like she was trying to sit as far away from the outfit as possible, as if it had some contagious disease.

Karen and I glanced at one another, then smiled together as if reading one another's mind before we said in unison. "Yes!"

Thirty minutes later, after wrestling with Rachel to put her Halloween costume on, we were standing at the dock of the school's pond. This being my first time seeing the pond, I was surprised to see how large it was. I have read that ponds are usually smaller bodies of water on Earth, but this pond looked more like a small lake with the reflection of the sunset beginning to fall into itself at the horizon of the water.

Gar met us at the dock, along with a group of other students congregating around, growing larger in numbers by the minute.

"You ready to show the Elites what we're made of?" Gar greeted us while rubbing his palms together as we approached him. He was wearing what looked like the matching male version of our cheerleading outfits.

"Always!" Karen said while performing their choreographed hand greeting.

"Is the whole school really coming out to watch this?" I asked, now noticing more students were starting to line up against the pond's edge. However, this did not make me nervous. It made me more excited to have a captivated audience while redeeming myself from being embarrassed in front of the Elites the last time I challenged them.

"It certainly looks like it," Gar said, inspecting the gathering crowd, "I mean, wouldn't you want to watch something fun and hype-worthy after being deprived of joy for so long?"

As Gar looked over his soon-to-be audience, he spotted Rachel trying to hide behind me. She looked extremely uncomfortable and how she did not want to be there.

"Hey, Rae! You look great!" He called to her while giving her a thumbs up in approval of the costume she was forced to wear.

"Uh...thanks," Rachel awkwardly replied to him. She was blushing furiously again. It was something that I noticed was happening more and more when she was around Gar.

The crowd of students had parted when our rivals had arrived. Three of the four Elites also looked like they were in the Halloween spirit since they were wearing some intriguing-looking costumes. Victor was wearing a one-piece suit with 'bell-bottoms,' which I thought I read about once on the different fashions throughout the ages of Earth. He had a big afro similar to Karen's when it was not in buns, but I knew his must have been fake.

Wally came strutting behind him, wearing a black and red tank top with what looked like an image of an eight-pointed star in the center of it. I was unsure what he was supposed to be dressed as, but he seemed to overly flex his exposed biceps whenever we walked past a group of girls. Then, walking beside him must have been Garth, the Elite I had seen only once when Dick had summoned me to their quarters to give me his warning. I learned his name when Karen brought it up in our plan to defeat the Elites. He would be racing against Gar in the race's pond challenge since Garth could breathe underwater.

A few groups of girls huddled together while whispering frantically to one another with matching blushing faces when Garth walked by. I assumed it was from how he was dressed or the lack of it. He was shirtless with one armored shoulder pad held in place with a black strap across his chest. His costume must have been of a soldier from the ancient times.

Babs had made up the rear of their recession with her arms tightly crossed against her chest, holding the same "not impressed" expression she had the last time we saw her in the neutral territory. Her costume, if she meant to wear one, was the least interesting compared to her other three teammates. She wore an all-black leathered body suit that seemed to cling to her body like a second skin with her hair tied back in a high ponytail.

As the four approached us, I was surprised not to find their infamous leader hovering over them like he usually did. In fact, I did not even see Dick among the crowd of all the students. Did he decide he would be 'too busy' to even make an appearance at the large school gathering?

"You are four ready to be shown up by your subordinates?" Karen asked the Elites as they lined up in front of us.

"I'm ready for this to be over," Babs muttered.

"Oh, we're more than ready, Bee," Victor challenged and ignored Babs. "The only group of four I see that are about to get shown up consists of three pretty cheerleaders and a grass-stained one."

"Hey!" Gar said offensively.

"I guess we'll just have to find that out ourselves," Karen smirked and raised her voice so everyone in the surrounding area could hear her. "Alight! Now that everyone from the school is here and the sun has officially set. Let's get the Halloween festivities started!"

Cheers and hollers surrounded us, which seemed to echo to the other side of the pound. Their cheers had died down immediately when Karen said, "The objective is simple. Whoever's team gets the Jack-o-lantern lit at the end of the course wins. Each person is assigned an area and a task they must complete to retrieve the item that will help the next teammate out. The contenders already know what their task is. Therefore, I won't waste any more time going into full detail on what those tasks are because I'm sure everyone is eager to see the Elites get their asses handed to them, am I right?"

There was another explosion of cheers from everyone in the crowd in agreeance with Karen's announcement. Mostly, everyone was cheering. The four Elites did not seem all that roused by the high spirits of everyone else.

"First two competitors, head to the dock where the race will begin. The other six, which includes me, please head to the starting point of your areas." Karen announced. More cheering filled the air as Gar and Garth approached the dock. They were both trying to intimidate one another with their menacing glares before I turned to start making my way to my assigned area.

I was the last person to receive an item from their teammate. This meant I was the one to be the lighter of the Jack-o-lantern at the finish line, and I was planning on taking that coveted task seriously. Even though I knew I was to be racing against Wally, the fastest boy at the school, I was not all that concerned about his speed, for I believed in my archery abilities enough to get a head start on him.

My task was to find the box of matches hidden in one of the balloons to proceed to my team's candle, waiting for me to light with those matches. Only, I would have to wait for the key to be handed to me to release those balloons hanging from the topmost branch of one of the tallest trees in the course's path. This was the most crucial part of the race, for each team had its unique candle that produced a different colored flame. The point of that specific color was to let everyone know who won based on the flame color of the ignited Jack-o-lantern.

I climbed up the steps to my starting point on an extended wooden platform raised about eight feet off the ground and wide enough for a single person to walk over if they so wished. There was another identical platform parallel to the one I was on. I believe these platforms were initially intended for Karen's haunted attraction, but she repurposed them for the obstacle course. For that, I was grateful because now I would have a better vantage point for when the balloons would be released, and I hoped by being a little closer to the falling items, I would get ahold of the matches faster.

The bow and arrows Karen had found in the recreational storage closet were waiting for me as they rested against the platform wall. Picking up the bow, I tested the tautness of the string. I was able to pull back the string with nearly no resistance. The bows were made weaker on Earth than what I was used to on Tamaran, but I knew I could quickly adjust to the lack of resistance.

As I tested my aim, I heard a loud horn blare in the distance from the pond's direction. The race had started, and I felt my stomach turn with excitement. I had all the confidence that Gar would be successful in his task, as well as Rachel, and then would be followed by Karen. There were shouts and cheers in the distance, and then I heard other voices approaching me. I assumed these onlookers wanted to witness the end of the race, so they were already making their way here.

I waved at a few of the familiar faces I recognized as they walked by, and as I watched them, I detected Dick leaning against a tree a little ways from the group. His face was illuminated by the light of the mobile device he was holding, and oblivious to what was happening around him. That was when a wicked idea crossed my mind.

Picking up an arrow from the quiver, I quickly nocked it on the bow and then pulled back the string and took aim in Dick's direction. I released the arrow, and it immediately hit the mark I was aiming for. He immediately reacted as he instinctively jumped forward to move away from danger. He stared at the arrow lodged in the tree he was previously leaning against in astonished confusion until he turned his head to follow the direction from where the arrow had come from. Once his eyes found mine, I flashed a predator-like smile at him. Getting a little thrill from being able to startle Dick Grayson.

I heard more voices and cheers getting closer, which must have meant that the race was quickly progressing to where I was. And then Wally seemed to have finally appeared to be where he was supposed to be.

"How nice of you to show up," I greeted him not unkindly, "I thought you became a chicken and decided to opt out of the race."

Wally snorted, "You thought I would chicken out? Ha! In your dreams, your majesty!"

I watched more students run along the edges of the course's trail. The conversations among them were getting more and more excited by the second. And I could only hope that meant that our team was winning. Since I decided to remain stationed at my post, I unfortunately could not see how my other teammates got on with their opponents. I had to remain faithful that they were all holding their own successfully among the Elites. And sure enough, my hopes for a spectacular lead were confirmed.

"Kory!" I heard Karen shout over the increasing cheers of our audience, and I turned to see that she was swiftly flying towards me. I assumed she changed her no-flying rule once she discovered that she would compete against Victor instead of Babs. I also could not help but notice that Victor was nowhere in sight.

Karen landed on my platform and handed me a tiny golden key. "I was able to buy you some time," she said, almost out of breath, "But hurry! I don't know how long it will take before Sparky escapes my trap."

Fighting my curiosity to ask what exactly she did to Victor, I nodded and ran over to the small wooden box that held a lock directly in the center of it. When I stuck the key inside and turned it, a rope pulled tight from the wooden box to some unknown object in the trees seemed to have relaxed. Next, I heard something like a latch being thrown open above. Letting my eyes follow where the sound came from, I saw large spider-shaped objects slowly floating toward me.

Not wanting to waste another second, I quickly grabbed another arrow from my quiver and briefly glanced at Wally, who was bouncing from one foot to the other. Anxiety washed over his face from Victor not being there yet with his key. I let out a little chuckle to myself after seeing Wally's fear that, for once, he might lose at something. Still smiling from his distress, I pulled back the arrow and aimed it at one of the balloons, released the arrow, and then BOOM! My target exploded instantly, but a matchbox did not fall from it. Instead, black smoke seemed to have been released as it quickly spread, making the already dark surroundings around it less visible than before.

Karen had told me about the trick balloons, and they were there to make the task a little more challenging. Some balloons may have something fun in them, and some not so much. It was a literal 'trick or treat' game. Still, the matchbox was hidden among those items, and I had to keep popping balloons until I found it. I noticed that a red ribbon was attached to the previous balloon, so as I equipped my next arrow, I shot at another balloon with an orange ribbon tied to one of the legs of the spider. This time, candy erupted from its break. This must have been a treat balloon, but still no sign of matchbox.

The other balloons were getting closer, and I had hoped to find the matches before all the balloons reached the ground, but I was rapidly running out of time. Another arrow was nocked, and I shot at the closest orange ribboned balloon only a few feet away. This time, when the contents of that balloon spilled out, I saw a small square box falling with the tiny bits of candy. My heart leaped and then my body after that as I ran forward to catch the matchbox before it landed on the ground. With the item safely secured, I jumped off the platform and sprinted toward the altar with our team's candle upon it. I had no idea if Victor had made it to Wally yet, but I was not about to waste any of my time worrying about that. I knew if Wally got his hands on the matches, I may not have been able to outrun him. Therefore, I could not afford to lose any more time.

As soon as I reached the purple candle assigned to our team, I quickly took out one of the matches and slid it across the side of the box. It took me a few times to ignite a flame, for I was not accustomed to creating a flame in this way, but as soon as I could light our candle, a brilliant purple flame blazed from its tip. I placed the box of matches down on the altar to begin taking the flamed handle off its holder. At the time, I did not know that was a grave mistake.

Just as I was reaching for the candle, I felt someone kick at my legs, and then I fell face-first toward the ground. Fortunately, I was able to put my hands out in time before my face made contact with the ground. I was slightly confused about how I got into that position, but it all made sense when I heard Wally cackling over me.

"Hey, thanks for the matches!" Wally said while throwing the matchbox in the air, only to catch them again. "Victor is apparently down for the count, so I had to find another way to get some matches."

"That is cheating!" I cried, "Those are mine!"

"I don't remember any rules being set for this game," Wally smirked and then proceeded to light his candle.

I had to think of something fast, for I knew there was no way to outrun Wally. If only there were some way to slow him down...wait...the other balloons! Fortunately, I remembered to bring my bow and arrows from the platform, and they were just within reach of me on the ground. And then, as if I had somehow conjured the ability of super speed for myself, I grabbed my weapon and shot arrow after arrow from the ground at every red ribboned balloon I could see. Each one hits its mark perfectly. Then, within seconds, the area surrounding Wally and I was consumed in black smoke, making it almost impossible to see anything.

"What the hell?" I heard Wally say in pure bewilderment somewhere within the black smoke, but I could not see where he was. All I could see was the faint purple flame floating above me in the smoke.

I hastily stood up to grope around for the base of the candle and then took it off the altar to start going toward the finish line. At least, I was hoping I was going in the right direction. The black smoke had made it difficult for me to see where I was going, but it was the risk I was willing to take to slow down Wally.

I remained at a brisk walk, fearing the flame going out, and I had no way of relighting my candle since Wally currently had all of my matches. But I could not slow down in case of Wally figured out a way to light his candle. I knew the finish line was pretty close to the altar; I just had to go straight and north where I had lit the candle, and then eventually, I would find the Jack-o-latern.

Then, as if it was some miracle, as my thoughts strayed to how angry I was at Wally, I found a green light beginning to light my path that had seemingly cut through the black smoke. Only then could I see the giant pumpkin sitting on a tall pedestal with a face carved on it. I almost cried out in joy that I had reached the finish line. I was unsure if that green light was from X'hal or some other spiritual being watching over me, but I silently thanked whoever or whatever produced that light.

With the green light still illuminating my path, I found the end of the long stringy wick hanging off from the pumpkin and proudly lit it with the candle. I felt my heart beating in my chest with excitement as I watched the purple flame slowly travel up the wick to its destination before even larger and more brilliant purple flames erupted from the holes where the eyes, nose, and mouth were. It had to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was the representation that we were victorious.

For a moment, everything went silent, and then, all too soon, I heard a roar of cheers and whistles that echoed all around me. The black smoke had started to clear, and the light from the Jack-o-latern had made it easier for me to see the crowd of cheering and smiling faces rushing toward me. Karen was the first to reach me, then threw her arms around my shoulders to pull me in a tight hug, and I, of course, returned that hug. I was more than happy to celebrate our well-earned victory. And then more pats on my back came, and several other students approached me to give high fives.

"It's official!" Karen sang over the crowd to get everyone's attention again. "As of this Halloween night, the neutral territory belongs to the students of Titan Academy!"

Everyone began cheering again and started to hug and jump with one another. This was a victory not just for the four of us but also for the entire school. They had just won a little more freedom from the Elites. And that was the sole reason I felt so blissful in that moment. Maybe now everyone will start seeing if we work together, we can take back the control from Dick and his Elites.

"PARTY BACK AT THE SCHOOL!" A single voice rang out, and immediately, the sea of students began charging after the direction of the voice back toward the direction of the school.

I spotted Rachel for the first time since the end start of the race, and she gave me the smallest of smiles once she saw me. I was about to run toward her and demand that she tell me in great detail about her part in the race, but Gar reached her before I could.

"Come on, Rae!" Gar said while grabbing her wrists to pull her in the direction where everyone else was going. "We have a party to go to!"

Rachel then gave me a look for assistance to get away from Gar's grip, but I just smiled at her and then waved at them. I could tell Rachel did not want to go to the party, which was why she gave me that look, but it was about time she started socializing with others instead of just Gar and me. It would be good for her.

As I watched my friends disappear with the others and meditate on my happiness, I felt a gentle tap against one of my arms. Looking at my arm to see what it was, I noticed it was one of my arrows. The person holding that arrow was none other than Dick.

"Congratulations," Dick said while holding out the arrow that I had shot at him earlier. "Clever work out there."

"Thank you," I said hesitantly while taking the arrow back, unsure if he was complimenting me. This was not the reaction I expected from him on our victory. I was not sure what I expected from him. Maybe something similar to how Babs reacted when she did not get her way of using the neutral territory. But this reaction was almost as if he was pleased by the outcome.

Dick said nothing as he walked away from me. Setting on his own course by himself as usual. I had half expected Babs to flounce to his side like a loyal pet and complain about how she lost, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then I remembered not seeing any of the Elites after it was announced that we had won. It was as if they had all disappeared.

Looking down at the arrow Dick gave back to me, I saw a rolled-up sheet of paper impaled by the arrowhead. Removing it from the arrow, I unrolled the parchment and noted that it was a course schedule with my name on it. All the classes and times looked almost identical to what I was already taking, all but an extra hour that was tacked on for each day of the week. And in that afterschool slot, it said, "Combat training."

Well, there you have it! A fun little side quest to this tale! The next chapter shouldn't take me as long since it will probably be significantly shorter than this one. And I'll be more motivated because it's going to be a Dick and Kory chapter. O_o. I know, finally!