"You guys really like making work for me don't you?" said Thyme with a sigh. "Right, here's the issue. Burnice caught the ball, that complicates things. As, Nell, Borgick, or nobody could lose a life from it. An argument could be made that because Borgick threw the ball, and Burnice caught it, he should lose a life…
"But I'm not a fan of that interpretation of the rules. It doesn't make too much sense when looking at the bigger picture… especially when it bounced off the ball in Nell's hands. So then should Nell lose a life? She was the last person to affect the ball, even if she wasn't technically in contact with it…
"But that wasn't a throw. Did I specify throw? Because if my memory serves me correctly, then I specified that when you caught a ball, it was the person who just threw it that lost a life… and while I might be old, bouncing a ball off of another ball is not throwing a ball at all, it's bouncing a ball at someone else.
"This is compounded by the fact I specifically mentioned that bouncing off the ground and then catching the ball doesn't count as a catch. Right. I've talked myself around. If nobody has any complaints, then I'll add this to the rules. Nobody loses any lives in this instance. Does anyone want to contest this ruling?"
I'm a bit surprised Thyme needed to say that all out loud. I mean, now that they've talked it all through, it seems pretty self-explanatory? I mean, I guess the argument could be made… but why did they need to go through it with us?
[Thyme might have needed to say it all out loud? I dunno, your guess is as good as mine.]
*I suppose it is. Though… I didn't notice the fact the link was open again. How did that happen?*
[I… I'm not sure? I just sent you the message.]
*Hmm… not good. Well, I mean, it IS good you can bypass it…. Possibly. I might've just got distracted. Maybe it's because I was expecting an answer? I really shouldn't have been, just in case Thyme gets mad because the game is only paused and not over.*
[I'll be careful but I'm pretty sure Thyme wouldn't be that petty.]
Kat chose not to argue with Lily, and so, like the rest of the contestants she stood still. When it became clear that nobody wanted to argue, Thyme counted down from three, and when the count was over, everyone in the ring just sort of looked around awkwardly. After the break it just felt a bit odd to jump right back into the dodgeball fight. All the tension had drained away.
Burnice took the chance to slowly walk back to her old spot and Nell made no move to throw anything at Burnice's back. Sure Burnice was looking over her shoulder, but the chance could have been taken. Kat, for her part, made note of the fact that the black gunk on the floor from the burst dodgeballs didn't seem to stay sticky for long. *I wonder if that's just a factor of time, or if we got a big enough puddle it would remain sticky for a while? That batch is spread pretty fine…*
Kat jumped as the cannons in front of her went off, with the rest of the group following behind. Trick was, this time the dodgeballs had shot out from almost the entire wall of cannons. There were just two rows that failed to fire, about two thirds of the way up. It wasn't enough space to stay standing up straight, even if you did time the jump perfectly. But it was more than enough space for everyone, even March, if you were to move yourself to be laying flat in the air. Unless you were Borgick.
The dwarf simply jumped to the correct height and then let the balls pass him by, snatching awkwardly at one just off to the side of his head. The closer ones were all too thin. For a moment, it looked like the ball was going to slip from his hands, but eventually he dug his fingers into it for purchase. The ball popped, sending goop flying out and covering him entirely… but Thyme didn't call for a point loss there.
For Kat and her wings it was an easy thing to fit through the gap, and grab her own dodgeball for the trouble. Burnice curled into a ball and made it throw easily, march grabbed her own dodgeball, and Nell… well she was in a bit of trouble. As soon as the dodgeballs past by Burnice, she hurled the one in her hand straight at Nell. Nell managed to catch it out of the corner of her eye. She shifted the ball in her hands to block the attempt… and at the same time had one of the cannon-fired dodgeballs hit her elbow.
"Nell is down one life!" said Thyme as everyone dropped down. Three contestants armed. Only Borgick and Burnice were missing a weapon… but arguably she wasn't in the most trouble, for even if Nell was looking for revenge, it was clear the dwarf had a problem. His boots landed heavily on the floor, and when he went to shift slightly the gunk clung to the ground, stopping his movements. Borgick's eyes went wide as he carefully surveyed the competitors, even as he continually tried to free his feet.
*I guess it's nice to know that I have to be careful even with the thicker ones… also I'm sorry Borgick.* Kat looked around once more and saw nobody was willing to make a move. So Kat coated the dodgeball in demonic fire, pouring demonic energy into it so that the blaze was strong. Those who could move, turned slightly to face Kat more closely, but Borgick just paled. "Sorry for this!" said Kat as she let the ball fly.
Borgick tried to wrench a foot away from the ground but it wasn't happening. His boots were tied on properly and he was stuck to the damn ground. He wanted to surrender, knowing the dangers of that sort of fire, but he didn't have time. Kat had aimed, not for his upper body, but for his stuck boots. Borgick cursed, and tried to move, but there was nothing to be done.
Moments before the dodgeball would hit him, Thyme clicked their fingers, and the ball vanished. Then a moment after that, Borgick was moved to the side of the arena, "Borgick is out!"
While this was happening, March was making use of Kat's distraction to throw a ball at her. Kat saw it coming a mile away, her cone of vision large enough to watch the movement even before March let the ball fly. It was aimed squarely for her chest, but coming in fast. *Ok, I can try to catch that… but honestly? After seeing Borgick burst one of the thicker dodgeballs? I think it might be too big of a risk at that speed.* Kat followed her thoughts and slid to the side, keeping her eye on the others as she did so. Nobody else moved and the ball whizzed past before vanishing when it left the circle. With Borgick out, the fully back of the circle was free, so Kat moved over slightly, staying at her current 'elevation' and leaving some room to manoeuvre backwards if required.
Borgick fell down onto his backside, "Thanks Thyme. I thought I was a goner,"
"No problem Borgick. While I could potentially heal you after the demonic fire got on your clothes and body, it would be a rather significant effort on my part, and no shortage of pain on yours," said Thyme.
"Yeah. Deadly stuff that. I'm just glad you got me out of there early enough. No complaints for me," said Borgick.
Burnice and March shared a look at that statement, realising that while nobody could directly attack anyone else with magic, Kat had thrown down the metaphorical gauntlet by setting the dodgeball on fire. It was much more difficult for them to use what magic they had in similar ways, and so that made Kat enemy number one. They shared a nod of understanding, and turned to face Kat.
Kat gave a wry smile and looked towards Nell who shrugged back, not willing to commit to a 2 on 2 team up just yet. Especially not when she too was a touch scared of Kat in this fight. Nell thought it was probably best to try and get Kat out now, while they still could.
*Well damn. Guess I'm on my own. Two, or maybe three vs one is a going to be annoying… but the cannons might be able to help me. I should see about catching a ball and perhaps knocking into the other balls? Try to get them to explode out and hit people maybe? Might be my only shot.*
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel