The Berdacs twins were what you might call ... originals. From their earliest childhood, they had always been more adventurous than other children. And as they grew older, some might have called them daredevils, and they would have been absolutely right! Speeding through town on their bikes, exploring the forest with no other help than each other, learning ax handling with the Timbercats (their parents didn't know about that one), Asher and Dahlia wouldn't refuse any challenge as long as they had fun. But from the start of the dodgeball match, Asher knew that this would be a tough one.

This observation was as brutal as the gust of wind that stirred their hair as they narrowly avoided a ball launched at full speed. They heard an impact behind them, with a noise comparable to a water balloon bursting. Turning around, they saw a student with a shiny blue rope wrapped around his waist.

Mrs Netossa had been a gym teacher for several years now. She knew well that some children had difficulty controlling their abilities, especially with the adrenaline of a game. Therefore, she had developed a method to avoid injuries. The woman used her magic to weave balls which, upon impact, burst without resistance. For games like dodgeball, she added a function where one of the wires would wrap around the one touched. In this game, the balls were flying at full speed and the teams were shrinking just as quickly. Clearly identifying who was eliminated was a simple way to avoid cheating and arguments.

Asher wasted no time watching the student leave the field. The next attack was imminent. Sure enough, the new girl already had another ball between her paws and threw it forcefully. The projectile rushed towards Jinora, but deviated at the last second. The young airbender hadn't even flinched as the ball hit another student in the shoulder.

The net magic might not be particularly spectacular, but Netossa had trained her entire life and perfectly mastered her abilities. The balls she created could therefore easily contain reactions programmed in advance. For dodgeball, they were designed so that after a ball bursts and a string attaches to the victim, the rest of the strings come together into a new ball. The teacher had created three balls before the game. Asher's team had already lost two players, but they now had control of all three balls. The response would be fierce.

Matt was the first to arm himself. He picked up a ball with his annoying smirk and shouted his projectile at the pink terrian with terrifying speed. This boy had no qualms about using his reinforcement magic. Still, Kipo dodged easily. With a single push from her right leg, she propelled herself to the left and landed on all fours with the grace of a cat.

Two impacts were heard. The projectile avoided by Kipo had struck the wall and exploded before reforming. And a student had been hit by a second weapon. Asher hadn't seen the shot, but they knew who shot. Dahlia was the type to take every opportunity. Since Matt was clearly pissed off, she took advantage of him getting all the attention and made a sneak attack at a distracted student.

The game continued at a breakneck pace. The three balls continously alternated between the two camps. Sometimes propelled by magic, sometimes by superhuman strength and sometimes by simple skill. Some were better at defending themselves than attacking, which wasn't bad. In a game where the last standing wins, dodging all the balls without ever touching them was a strategy like any other. In the team opposite, Gus seemed to have made this tactic his rule of life. He had created two illusions of himself and the three Gus were moving in concert, using their proximity to trick the enemy. It seemed to work, until the genius Jinora noticed an error in the illusions and hit the original with a blow to the leg.

Asher also avoided attacking. They were not inactive, however. Simply, their magic wasn't very... offensive. It was simply increasing their reflexes a bit. Thus, they could avoid most attacks before passing the weapon to their sister. Dahlia's strengthening magic wasn't as impressive as Matt's, but it was respectable nonetheless.

Both teams were shrinking at an alarming rate! After a while, Matt managed to eliminate one of the last opponents, increasing the advantage to four against two for their team. He should however have restrained himself to celebrate his victory so quickly since a ball struck his abdomen the next second.

Wolf was impressive among the young students. The girl was only 10 years old and studied with 12 and 13 years old. Apparently, she was super studious. Maybe it came from his scientific parents? Unfortunately, she was also very aggressive and had been involved in two fights last year. Both against a terrian. She had won both fights even tough she had no power... And by ejecting an overconfident Matt, Wolf was proving again that she shouldn't be underestimated.

The teams now boiled down to Jinora, Dahlia and Asher against Wolf and Kipo. At this time, the rhythm became absurd. Jinora used her airbending to deflect attacks and send them back in the same movement. Asher dodged all attacks aimed at them before passing the ball to their sister, who replied fiercely. Wolf certainly lacked a little power on the throw, but she caught all the balls. As for Kipo... she was as fierce and agile as a wild cat.

This continued for a little while until Jinora and Dahlia attacked Wolf at the same time. Obviously, the young girl grabbed the first without problem, but the second was well on its way to touch her shoulder. But against all odds, Kipo intervened in the blink of an eye and caught the second ball. The terrian smiled at her teammate, proud of her rescue. Wolf did not smile...

Everyone had been having fun since the start of the game. Even the student eliminated at the very beginning without being able to act had been shown an incredible spectacle from the bench. But Wolf, she had that irritated look every time Kipo came into her sight. And after being saved like that, she seemed ready to quit then and there. Fortunately, she stayed in the game and threw her ball, just like Kipo. The attacks were received and sent back. Again, Wolf was the target. But what happened in the seconds that followed shocked everyone...

Wolf picked up the third ball that was trailing on their side of the field and used it to block an attack and sent it straight to Kipo! The purple terrian took a moment to understand what had just happened. Wolf didn't even try to block the second ball, which hit her shoulder, ending the game. The gymnasium was immersed in silence. Kipo stared at her comrade with bewildered, even sad, eyes. She felt ... betrayed?

Two minutes later the bell rang and Wolf left the gym without a glance for the terrian. The other students quickly came out of their amazement and went to the locker room to change. The Berdac twins were on their way to do the same, but Asher continued to observe Kipo. This is how they saw her return to her human form. She seemed completely devastated...

Asher didn't know Wolf very well. And they had only met Kipo two hours earlier and hadn't even spoken to her yet. They did not know what kind of conflict existed between the two girls. But all that didn't matter. The expression on Kipo's face... it was too much. So they went to the girl and planted themselves in front of her with an outstretched hand and a smile.

"Come on. We're gonna be late for the next class."