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Elliot stretched out. The party was two days ago and he was still sore. Bran even gave him another massage. The lion was sprawled over his bed and he didn't feel much like getting up yet. Motivation was about to get him though.

"Uhh...g...guys?" said Luke when he opened the cabin door.

Allen pranced to look over his shoulder, "OH! WHAT!?"

Elliot stood up and cracked his back, "What now?"

Allen went outside, "There's flyers everywhere!"

Sure enough, when Elliot poked his head out the door, paper flyers were attached all over every cabin. They all read the same thing: "All camp meeting starts at noon in the mess hall! Don't miss it! Be there, or beware!"

"This sounds threatening," Elliot chuckled.

"Oh man, it's gotta be another camp challenge!" Allen wagged his tail rapidly, "I've been waiting for this! We have to win this time!"

"W...well, they h...have our attention," Luke chuckled, "G...guess we better get b...breakfast b...before too long. N...need to have our strength!"

Allen grabbed both of them by their hands, "Let's go!"

"Can't I dress first?!" Elliot laughed.

"Damn your clothes!" Allen was giddy about a new challenge.

Elliot shook himself loose and got dressed. Allen was bouncing around with Luke, and the rat was getting dizzy. Elliot slapped the wolf on the ass.

"Alright, let's go you crazy wolf," Elliot chuckled.

Allen released Luke and bounced around, "I can't wait to see what it is!"

"We know!" Luke shook his head, "H...he has f...far too much energy."

Even the doors to the main cabin were covered in flyers. And the tables in the hall were too. The three of them got their orders in as the room buzzed about the flyers. Elliot could hear a lot of shouting coming from the kitchen when Brett brought their food over.

"Sounds like a busy morning," said Elliot as the wolf gave him his food.

"You don't know the half of it," Brett laughed, "Hank is having a field day in there. There's at least fifteen guys in there right now."

"What for?" Elliot asked.

"You'll find out at noon my sweet lion," Brett caressed his chin and disappeared back to the kitchen.

"Curiouser, and curiouser," Allen laughed as he dug into his food, "I wonder what they've cooked up!"

Luke rolled his eyes, "Eat you s...silly w...wolf. We'll f...find out at n...noon."

Allen talked with a mouthful of eggs, "I wonder if it's a food eating competition... We should stop eating. We can't spoil our appetite."

"Eat!" Luke laughed as he held his hand around the wolf's muzzle, "S...stop worrying about it."

Elliot looked across the hall and noticed Hagan with Elric and Turbo. The three of them seemed to be in a deep conversation. Hagan looked fully thrilled, like he'd just won a poker hand. Turbo waved his hand at a passing jackal. Randall looked confused as the cheetah sat him down quickly.

"I wonder what our king and prince are discussing with the other king and prince?" Elliot was now just as curious about everything as Allen was.

Allen leaned in, "They're plotting against us peasants."

"M...maybe, just like l...last year," said Luke, "T...they get to ch...choose an outcome for the c...camp ch...challenge."

"We shall see!" said Allen.

As they finished up breakfast, more of the camp staff started moving into the hall. Soon the whole room was being shooed out of the building. Benji was hopping from table to table to get everyone to move faster. The monkey stood at the back of the crowd flapping his hands.

"You all be good now, and we'll see you back here at noon!" he was grinning ear to ear as he locked the doors on everyone.

"This must be really big," Allen wagged his tail as they walked down to the lake, "They've never locked us out of the cabin before!"

Everyone seemed antsy and excited for the meeting at noon. No one seemed to want to stray too far from the main cabin. Some of them were splashing around in the lake and others took up the volleyball nets. The building mystery had all of them speculating. Everyone started cheering as Harper came on over the camp's loudspeakers.

"Attention dads! Noon is upon us. Please make your way to the mess hall in an orderly fashion," the dingo giggled, obviously being distracted by someone, "I look forward to playing with all of you."

"That tease," Allen chuckled, "Come on boys. I'm itching for a challenge!"

As the whole camp approached the cabin doors, the Guardians stood there with the doors open. Two of them in white coveralls and the other two in black as they motioned everyone to get inside. The mess hall was packed with the rest of the staff, almost all of them we're dressed in the white coveralls, and a few of them were wearing black coveralls.

At the head of the hall were giant crates covered with sheets. Six of the staff were standing behind Elric, Turbo, and Harper. Randall and Hagan joined them, the jackal lifted the raccoon up onto his shoulders. Everyone hushed as Elric held up his hands. The ram nodded to the dingo.

"Well boys," said Harper, "I bet you guessed it. This is a camp challenge. And it's a doozy! And who is responsible for it?" The dingo walked up to the front of the hall and pulled a chord. A banner unfurled with the words 'Monster Inferno' written across it. The crowd erupted into cheers and howls. Elliot wasn't sure why.

"That's right boys," said Harper, "A double whammy is coming your way. They combined their budgets to plan this."

Elliot remembered now! The counselors had their own cabin names. Monster and Inferno sounded threatening enough on their own, but now they've teamed up.

Harper continued on, "They even bought us all these snazzy suits." The dingo tugged on his collar, "Don't worry. You guys will get yours in a moment. Can my black suits come up here?" Six staff members stepped in from the crowd, "Now, these six will not be playing our game. As you can see, they have red crosses on the front of their suits and big ones on the back. These are the referees and the medical team. Marcus here, will of course take care of any major booboos. Walther, Jarell, Sean, Brody, and Tonk are his team. They'll be making sure you're playing the game right, and they'll be on four wheelers with a supply of water and bandages. They'll be patrolling the woods."

There were scattered voices over the concern of needing a medical team. Harper held up a hand, "Don't you guys worry. We're just doing some rough exercising, maybe some bruising. Will the medics and the Monster Inferno please uncover the boxes?"

Both teams of six went up to the boxes and pulled down the sheets. The room erupted with excitement. Inside the five crates were coveralls, each very bright and in different colors. Cottoncandy, Limegreen, Skyblue, Sunflower, and Lilac came to mind. Next to the coveralls were racks covered in paintball guns and ammo, masks, and pads.

"That's right, PAINTBALL!" Harper shouted excitedly, "Now! Simmer down! We've got some ground rules to lay out." The dingo paced the floor, "Those of you with wings, keep them tucked in. Looking at you Jeigor, Jiro, Kaha'i, Gunner, Paige, and Seamus!" The six of them booed. "Secondly, no going in the water! I know it's tempting to cover your tracks and to hide away, but don't do it. If the refs catch you, they'll shoot you outta the game."

"And try to keep face shots down," Harper pointed his finger at everyone, "And crotch shots. We've provided cups for all of you!" The dingo pulled up a box onto the table, "All shapes and sizes. And don't worry Jules and Wilfred, we got some for your funny bits." The kangaroo and wallaby laughed.

Harper took in a deep breath, "The cabins and buildings are all off limits! You'll have to depend on surviving out in the woods, but not too worry. We have made food packs for all of you to take with you. And there's snack packs in the woods!" The dingo held up a bright red pack with a white cross on it, "They come with beef jerky, cheese, and water! There's twenty of them hidden out in the woods," he then held up a green pack with an exclamation mark on it, "And forty of these buggers. They come in a variety of sizes. Here you see we have the standard small gun boys. They have eight round clips. You'll get a small supply of replacements, and one spare CO2 cartridge. In the green packs, you'll find larger clips and better guns!" The Monster Inferno pulled out large guns from behind their backs, "Sniper, machinegun, and shotgun! A few of the packs also have paint grenades!"

The room cheered. Harper held his mic away from himself as he went up to Elric. The dingo exchanged a few words as the ram nodded. He held his hand out for the mic and Harper gave it up.

"And now the twist," said Elric, and the room got really quiet, "King Hagan here will be drawing the teams at random from Prince Randalls bucket." The jackal held up a bucket, "Inside are the numbers from each cabin, except for three of them. Three of our cabins are one person short, and we'll allow them to pick their team colors. Nine, Twelve and Fifteen, get on up there."

Helmut and Sterling sprinted up to the blue. Sergei and Sven went for the purple. Henry and Wilfred were arguing over the color they wanted. They nodded to each other and went up to the pink.

"And now, we'll have Hagan start drawing the first team for the green!" the raccoon chuckled as he dipped his hand into the bucket and pulled out a number.

Hagan called out, "Fourteen!"

Holt, Seamus, and Wyatt cheered as they ran up. They started sorting through the coveralls to find what would fit them. The other teams were already getting themselves in gear.

Elric then moved on, "And now for Yellow!"

Hagan pulled out another number, "Three!"

Bram and Dirk high fived. The two of them picked up Zahir and started to get themselves situated. One by one, Hagan went through the numbers. Elliot, Luke, and Allen ended up on the pink team with Henry and Wilfred, the rat and wallaby Elliot didn't know outside of polite hellos. The next cabin to join them was Rainier and Randall, and their cabinmate Hans, a redfox.

Rainier approached Elliot as they were getting ready, "I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry. I've been a bit rude." The buffalo held out his hand for the lion.

Elliot shook his hand, "No worries. It was an unfortunate situation we were caught up in. Now we have a situation we need to kick ass in."

Rainier laughed, "Sounds good to me."

Randall held his cup up to his nose and sniffed in deep, "Mmm, nothing like that fresh smell."

"I really don't know how I live with you," Rainier laughed.

Randall grinned toothily, "You like it. You intentionally leave your jocks on my bed."

Rainier slapped the jackal on his ass. Randall laughed as he helped everyone load up. The jackal played paintball when he could. He showed everyone how to load their guns and he went over tips on aiming.

"Now boys," Elric got back on the mic, "Play safe. Don't overexert yourself. Don't need to take any of you oldtimers down the mountain. You all have one hour from right now to get yourselves set up in the woods. The staff will guide you to your bases. And then they'll help you all shoot each other down!" Elric pulled up a shotgun, "And let me say, I'm playing this time." Everyone cheered. "And so is Turbo." The cheetah grinned as everyone booed. The crowd obviously knew something Elliot didn't.

Randall had the answer, "That boy is a crack shot. Should see him on the clay range."

"I didn't even know we had one," Elliot laughed.

"You really need to check the bulletin board," Allen stuck his tongue out at the lion.

"One more twist," said Elric into the microphone, "This is not going to be the last team standing." The room went quiet, "It will be the last two teams!" Elric held up two fingers to applause. Everyone looked twice as determined now as they got themselves geared up.

"That's damn generous," said Allen, the wolf was struggling with having clothing and pads on, "Elric! Can we rip the damn sleeves off?!"

The ram laughed and asked the room at large, "What do you guys think? Can we rip the damn sleeves off!?"

Bran stepped up and tore his sleeves off, "YES!"

"Well," Elric looked amused, "There you have it."

"Thank you!" Allen tugged his sleeves off, "So much better!"

"I hope y...you l...like letting your arms sting," Luke chuckled as he loaded his gun, "L...let's go."

Pascal and Pedro were waiting on them. Elliot had never talked with Pedro before. His grey fur shone in the sun as he got their trucks loaded up. He was nowhere near as large as any of the other wolves, but he looked like the type that would chase you down without breaking a sweat.

Pascal squeezed Elliot's ass as he helped him up into the back of the truck, "I'm gonna shoot them cheeks."

"Not if I get you first," Elliot stuck his tongue out at him.

Pascal wagged his tail, "Soon as me and Pedro make it to our base, we'll be gunning for you guys."

"I see the disadvantage now," Randall laughed, "We're hunting the other cabins, and the staff know where our bases are. They're gonna come at us fast."

"Don't worry," said Pedro, "Once the horn sounds, it would take us twenty minutes to sprint to your location. We're gonna be spread out pretty good. We'll be on the mid island where the battlefield is. You guys are going to be based at the Walther Camp."

"I...I know t...the trails well," said Luke, "We have a g...good uphill advantage f...from that location on you g...guys."

"Yeah, but the cross trails where the other teams are going are going to be rough," said WIlfred.

"Y...you're right," Luke leaned down as he was in deep thought.

Pascal fired up the truck and took off. The other teams took off up different trails. They arrived at the campsite next to the river. There was a pink pop-up gazebo with some chairs waiting for them.

"Sit back, and relax," Pascal called from the truck, "Someone from the medic team will be nearby to sound the start horn!"

The two wolves zoomed off. The eight of them went and sat down. Luke still looked deep in thought. Elliot nudged Allen. The wolf waved a hand in front of Luke's face.

"You ok babe?" the wolf asked.

"Y...yeah," said Luke, "J...just trying to th...think of a strategy."

Henry, the other rat, leaned in, "You thinking we should split off in different directions?"

Luke shrugged, "It's a t...tough c...call. M...most of those g...guys know these woods j...just as w...well as the rest of us." The rat rubbed his temples, "We c...can do g...groups of two. We m...might be at a d...d..."he huffed, "Disadvantage!"

Randall squatted down in front of Luke, putting his hands over the rats knees, "Hey big boo, don't worry too much on it. This isn't like the medieval battle we did. We all have a ranged advantage this time. Smaller packs should make it easier for us to hide. So definitely doubles."

Luke nodded, "S...sorry. I'm u...usually g...good at planning these things. B...but I've n...never d...done paintball before."

"With five teams to go against, we'll all be stretched pretty thin," said Wilfred, the wallaby cracked his knuckles, "But we have a pretty good team on our side. We can pair strengths and strategies."

"Me and Luke compliment each other," said Allen.

"We know," Randall chuckled, "Wilfred and Henry, you two have been dynamite since you both met. No time to part you. Me, Hans, and Rainier can make any pairing work. Elliot, you're the wildcard."

Elliot shrugged, "I'm a country bumpkin as some of you have put it."

Randall smirked, "Me and the wildcat will team up."

The jackal gave Elliot a fistbump. A loud horn went off in the distance. Henry put his hand out. The rest of them laughed and stacked their hands on top of his.

"Let's win this thing," he said, "We never get to see the VIP cabin."

"For Henry and Wilfred," Randall laughed, "Go team!"

They headed off in four different directions. Randall pulled Elliot south. The lion followed the jackal. The two wandered in silence. Elliot couldn't help but notice the jackal was swiveling his hips in a flirtatious fashion.

"Enjoying the view," he smirked over his shoulder.

Elliot blushed, "You always a tease?"

"It's what I'm good at, big guy," the jackal said as he turned right down the road.

"We're heading away from the battle?" Elliot laughed.

"Nope!" the jackal grinned as he spun around and started walking backwards, "I saw a very large green pack wedged up in one of the trees on our drive up. I figure we deserve an immediate advantage."

The jackal turned and skipped up to a tree. Sure enough, there was a large green pack hanging on one of its branches. The jackal untied the line and lowered the bag to the ground. He pranced over and giggled as he unzipped the bag.

"Oh man!" he grinned as he pulled out a sniper, "Long range boy. And some grenades!" He tossed the grenades over to Elliot.

The lion caught them, "Whoa! Careful now!"

"And a shotgun!" the jackal wagged his tail, "This is a good find. Which gun do you want?"

"I'm sure shotgun would be more use with me," said Elliot, "I'm not exactly good at long range running, so I'll use it in desperation."

The jackal turned the bag upside down, "No ammo! I guess a heavy weapons pack is treat enough. Keep an eye out for more of these bags. Guess we'll have to use what we got."

The two of them popped in the ammo cartridges they had. Elliot now had two pistols and a shotgun loaded. The jackal nodded off towards the woods.

"Let's ditch the road and cross the river under the waterfall," the jackal trekked off through the trees.

Elliot followed him. The quiet of the forest was almost eerie. Only the crunch of branches under their feet sounded out. The road leading up to the waterfall came into view. Randall held up a fist and hid himself behind a tree. Elliot did the same. He peeked around the tree and saw Dukagjin and Roger come up from the trail that led down into the waterfall.

Roger was having no problem with getting up the side of the hill, "Come on you big nerd."

The boar narrowed his eyes at the gecko, "Watch it twinkletoes. Keep an eye out!"

Roger spun around, "No one here. Now hurry up. If we cut across the forest we can flank them up the trail."

The boar snorted, "Since when did you become a strategist?"

"When they stuck your slow butt with me," Roger chuckled.

"I remember a few years ago you screaming like a little girl when I came charging down the mountains with two swords," Dukagjin pulled up his goggles and looked around.

"Will you put those back on," Roger hissed at him.

The boar rolled his eyes as he snapped his goggles back on, "Fine. Let's get moving."

Randall slowly rolled himself around his tree. His foot slowly slid over the ground as he brought his rifle up to his shoulder. He looked down the barrel and fired off two shots. Both were direct hits on both the backs of Dukagjin and Roger.

"Are you freakin' kiddin' me!" Roger threw up his hands.

Randall held a finger up to his lip towards Elliot as he slowly slid back behind his tree. Dukagjin and Roger started arguing as they headed back towards camp. Dukagjin looked beside himself.

"Nice shooting you jerks!" the boar roared at the woods Elliot and Randall were hidden in, "Roger! You're getting me a beer and some cake when we get back!"

Randall kept his post until the two of them disappeared. He stuck his head out from behind his tree and sniffed at the air. He motioned with his hand to get Elliot to follow. Randall paused next to the road and he sniffed at the air again.

"Do you expect to smell them?" Elliot asked.

The jackal grinned ear to ear, "Some of the boys wear their cologne a little heavy. Ducky is one of them."

Elliot laughed, "You call him Ducky?"

Randall wagged his tail, "Everyone needs cute names."

The jackal started top hop his way down the hillside into the underside of the waterfall. Elliot let the jackal lead on. They both crossed under the waterfall and crossed up to where the trees cleared out into the battlefield. Out in the middle were the trucks that brought them all up there. Randall reeled back and slapped Elliot against the chest.

"Back in the woods," Randall led Elliot down to the edge of the water, "We're taking the long way around."

"Why?" Elliot was confused.

"The spotted danger was hanging out up there," said Randall as he picked up the pace a bit more, "We have a better chance just avoiding him and taking out the other teams."

The jackal led them along the shoreline until they came to the eastside bridge. He held up his fist again. Elliot got stuck with a hardened player. He didn't expect the camp's naughty boy to be so serious.

"Up on the bridge," the jackal pointed.

There were two sets of parties engaged in firing back and forth. Half of the purple team had two of the counselors pinned down. The purple team took them down with only one casualty. There were suddenly three pops as the other three had their celebration cut short. Jeigor had a rifle over his shoulder as he crossed the bridge with a little saunter.

Randall took aim. There was a crackle of branches behind the both of them as footsteps approached rapidly. Elliot spun around and fired off his shotgun. Turbo skidded down onto his knee pads as he fired shots off. Elliot leapt behind the nearest tree. Randall turned his shot around and fired at the cheetah.

Turbo rolled off to the side, narrowly being missed by the pellet. The cheetah popped back up into Elliots view and he panicked. His gun went off and Turbo fell backwards into the water. He pulled off his paint covered helmet, and for the first time ever, Elliot saw the cheetah laugh

"Master Elliot. You crazy animal! You've blown my head off," the cheetah had a crazed gaze as he approached the lion, he slapped the lion on his shoulder, "Good shot!"

"Sorry, I panicked," Elliot slumped down to the ground.

Turbo stuck his helmet over the top of his head, "Good luck sir." He gave the lion and jackal a salute as he started to strip his wet coveralls off as he walked away.

Randall ran over and hugged Elliot, "Holy shit. Holy shit! You fuckin' got the speedy menace. Let's go. We gotta move. I lost sight of Jeigor."

Randall pulled Elliot up to his feet and ran him up the hillside to round over to the other side of the bridge. Elliot was still baffled by what had happened. The jackal held onto the lion as he ran them across to the otherside where they would have a better view of the bridge.

"Ok, a little less running maybe?" the lion laughed as the jackal got them into position.

Randall patted the lion's belly, "Sorry big guy. I forget you're not exactly a sprinter."

Elliot huffed as he sat back against a tree. Randall took a quick look around. He turned back and grinned. He sat himself over Elliot's lap. The lion blushed.

"If we weren't in immediate danger, I'd totally take advantage of you," Randall grinded himself down against the lion.

Elliot squeezed his hands against Randalls legs, "Are you always this horny?"

Randall looked thoughtful for a moment and kissed Elliot on the forehead, "I just delight in the fruits of life. No sense in wasting time by being passive about what I want. What do you want Elliot?"

"To be happy," said Elliot.

"Happy as you were with Chewtoy against your chest as you both slow danced?" Randall grinned, "Happy when you light up when you see Jiro? Happy when Allen and Luke embarrass you? I can go on."

Elliot blushed.

Randall caressed the lion's muzzle, "Come on Happy. Horny is hungry for another kill. We should stop by the old mine. I bet it has a green pack, or bodies to kill and a green pack."

The jackal helped Elliot to his feet and they made their way down to the bridge. The jackal hustled across the bridge and waved the lion over. He trotted behind him.

Randall took the lion's hand and led him out into the woods. Randall kept a steady pace as Elliot stumbled behind him. He wasn't as surefooted without a trail. Randall ducked down into some bushes and Elliot followed. The jackal laid down on the ground as he shimmied under the brush.

"There's eight of them," Randall said, "They're all heading into the mine."

Elliot poked his head up to get a better view, "Wait, are purple and yellow working together?"

"Sure looks like it," said Randall, "It wasn't against the rules."

"Seems a bit unfair," the lion huffed.

"Once they go in the mine, we can pin them in," the jackal slid himself up and watched as the group started their way into the mine.

A scream came out of the mine "BANZAI!" The sound of hundreds of shots came from out of the entrance. Randall slowly lowered himself back down as maniacal laughter rang out. The tiny coyote came out with a machine gun in each hand.

"Take that you suckers!" Keller called as he threw a grenade back into the mine, "MWAHAHA!" He skipped away as there was a groan from inside the mine. The group of eight came back out and were covered from head to foot in paint.

They could hear Keller cackling as he ran away. Randall slid his way back to Elliot and he sat up next to him. He sighed as he pulled his helmet up.

"I can't believe that small fry," Randall laughed, "Maybe we should play dirty like those guys and team up with him."

"If we can even get close," said Elliot.

"Consider it done," said Randall as he pulled his helmet back on and took off at a sprint.

"Wait!" Elliot tried to clamber after him.

Elliot huffed as he tried to hustle down the hillside after him. Elliot ducked behind some trees as he heard a flurry of pellets fly. Then all was quiet. Elliot slowly crept his way through the woods to try and find the jackal and coyote.

"Come on Keller!" Randall called out, "Let's team up!"

"You only want me for my guns!" Keller shouted out, "Then when the time is ripe, you shoot me in the back!"

"I promise Keller, I won't!" Randall begged, the coyote had him pinned behind a tree, "Come on! You saw the purps and yellows teamed up together! How bout green and pink?"

"That's an ugly color combination!" Keller lowered himself to the ground, getting ready to attack.

"Keller!" Elliot called out, "We have you surrounded! Just join us!"

"Elliot!?" Keller hesitated, "You betray me, I'll never let you sleep for the rest of this week!"

"I don't doubt that!" Elliot slid out from behind his tree and approached the coyote with his hands up, "You should know I'd want to team up with you, Jiro, and Victor."

Keller huffed. The coyote had six other guns hanging off his back and he had two bandoliers packed with ammo over his shoulders. He kept his machine guns up as Elliot approached.

"Fine, we'll team up," said Keller, "But I'm getting my revenge on all those purple yellow jerks. They ganged up on our squad. We didn't have much of a chance."

"How'd you get away?" Randall asked from behind his tree.

"I'm too small a target," Keller grinned toothily, "And I've found three green packs, so I'm fully loaded to crush their souls. Hagan and Jules made a break for it, and I went the other way. Unfortunately, all the other guys are down."

"Damn," said Randall, "We don't know how our team is faring. We did a four way split."

"Smart," said Keller, "But I'm sure purp and yellow made this decision back at camp. They were well organized in such a short amount of time."

"Well, you just wiped out half of them," Elliot chuckled.

"I led them to the mine," he grinned, "I hid my weapons in there so they didn't suspect a thing."

"Good thinking," Randall ruffled the coyotes ears.

"Come on," said Keller, "We need to get moving so we can stomp their asses into the ground."

"Just stick close to us," said Randall, "We don't need our team firing you down."

"Hopefully the rest of your team hasn't teamed up with anyone else," said Keller as he refilled his machine guns, "Might make things a little awkward."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," said Randall.

"I'll take you out if you pick the wrong favorites," Keller grabbed onto the jackals' coveralls and held up a grenade.

Randall held up his hands, "You're my only favorite."

Keller laughed, "Good pup."

"Let's get out of here, we've made enough noise in one spot," Randall led the way across the mountainside.

The three of them wandered for at least an hour. They saw no signs of anyone else. The forest was awfully quiet. Keller huffed and dropped his guns. He sat down on a fallen tree.

"Let's take a break guys," said Keller, "I'm hungry."

"Not a bad idea," said Elliot.

Randall picked up the coyote and set him down at the base of the fallen tree, "Let's sit where we're not sittin' targets."

Keller dug himself out of his guns and bullets to get at his food pack. The three of them kept snug to each other as they munched down on their food. Randall pulled a flask from his bag and took a big swig. He passed it over to them, and they happily accepted it.

"Woo," Keller huffed, "That's some good hooch."

"Made it myself," Randall grinned, "Got my own still at home."

"Tastes like apples," said Elliot.

Randall took another swig from his flask before packing it away, "Maybe I can share a bottle with you boys when we get back."

The sound of crunching branches made them all reach for their weapons. They peeked up over their tree and saw Wilfred running for his life. Helmut and Sterling were hot on his trail. Danse and Kaha'i followed shortly behind them.

Randall, Keller, and Elliot started firing off shots. Sterling and Danse were left unhit as they ducked down behind some trees. Helmut started swearing up a storm. Wilfred found his own hiding and started firing shots at where Sterling and Danse were hidden.

Kaha'i pulled Helmut away as the ibex kept shouting obscenities at Elliot, Keller, and Randall. There were two big explosions of paint. Sterling, Danse, and Wilfred ran from hiding. A barrage of bullets took the three of them out. Several more explosions went off as grenades came down from the mountainside. One bounced right into the hiding spot Elliot and his crew were.

Randall dove on top of it as it erupted beneath him. The jackal giggled as he sat up. His stomach soaked in paint.

"Damn," he laughed, "Watch out boys. Elric is up there with two hungry wolves. They're coming this way." The jackal held his hands high as he left Elliot and Keller to their defenses.

The coyote threw Elliot a bandolier of rounds, "I'm gonna chuck the grenades at them. Get ready to book it."

"Keller, you know I'm not the book it type," said Elliot, "Give me the grenades." He hung the bandolier back over the coyote, "I'll hold them off. Give me one of those machine guns."

Keller huffed, "Well, alright. Good luck Elliot. I hope our teams make it to the cabin. I wouldn't want any other crew."

Elliot ruffled the coyote's fuzz, "Get ready to go."

Elliot pulled the pins from two grenades and chucked them up the mountainside. He heard the approaching party shout and scatter and Keller took off. His little legs carried him as fast as he could go. Elliot turned up onto the tree and started firing shots up the mountainside. He nailed both Pedro and Pascal on their approach but Elric was nowhere to be seen.

Elliot dropped himself back down and waited. He couldn't hear anything other than Pascal and Pedro licking their wounds. The two wolves got suddenly quiet. Elliot peeked over his tree. They were both making out.

"Get a room!" Elliot laughed.

"Good idea El," Pascal called, "Good luck out here!"

Pascal and Pedro paraded by the lion hand in hand. Elliot wondered where the hell Elric went off to. He waited only a few more moments and started to run off in the direction that Keller went. Nothing came his way. He got down to the main road before he stopped. The lion huffed for air as he sat down.

He heard some screaming from up the trail. Zahir, Dirk, and Apollo were running for their lives as Keller was chasing them with a barrage from his machine gun. Elliot took in a deep breath and started firing up at them. The three of them threw up their hands as Elliot and Keller nailed them front to back.

Keller bounced by them and gave Elliot a high five, "You survived!!! HAHA! Let's go! The rest of them broke off at the top of the trail."

"Well played boys," said Zahir.

"Sorry old man!" Keller giggled as him and Elliot went by.

"Better luck next time," Elliot felt quite satisfied with taking Zahir and his boys out.

Keller cracked his neck as him and Elliot made their way up the mountainside. Keller's confidence was admirable. Elliot wondered how the rest of his team was doing. There couldn't be much left of anyone alive. A rumbling came in behind Elliot and Keller. Brody came to a stop near them.

"Hey guys," Brody held out two waters, "Need a refill?"

"Thanks Brody," Elliot said as he and Keller took the waters.

"Do you know who's left?" Keller asked.

"Reports are coming in slowly," said Brody, "Last I knew, your team was down to three, and Elliot's team is down to four."

"What about the other teams?" Keller asked.

Brody shrugged, "Don't know."

"You know," Keller stuck his tongue out, "Just don't wanna spoil us. I've taken down four purps, eight yellow, and one staff. There can't be too many left on the trails. We just saw one pink and four blues get taken out."

"Purples all done then," said Elliot, "I saw the other four get taken out at the bridge."

"Hmmf," Brody started up his engine, "Well. Good luck taking out the rest I guess." The zebra took off.

"Yellow is one, and hopefully done for," said Keller, "And we saw blue lose their most powerful. Elliot, we might win this."

"Not standing here we won't," Elliot pointed.

Five white suits were coming down the hill at them. Keller grabbed hold of Elliot's suit and tugged the lion along. Elliot grounded as he jogged as fast as he could. Keller kept a few paces ahead of him. Several horns sounded off in the distance and they both stopped.

"Does that mean we won?" Elliot was astounded.

"WE WON!" Keller started hopping around and cheering.

The five white suits got close to them, Elric among them, "Don't celebrate yet Keller."

Keller threw up his guns and aimed at Elric, "What you mean boss?"

"We're down to five and five," the ram grinned, "So we're dragging you all in for a sudden deathmatch on the island."

"Ah man," Keller kicked the ground, "Who's left!?"

"Let's just say you're at an advantage," Elric chuckled, "Elliot and Bram aren't so lucky. If we pick either of them off, the game's over."

"Wait, Jules and Hagan are still kicking?!" Keller bounced as they walked.

"That they are," said Elric, "And now, you three are going to work with those two. And we five will be coming after you."

"What happens if we take all of you down?" asked Elliot.

"You're confident lad," Elric laughed, "If that happens. Well, I guess it'll be back to a slaughter."

"Can't spell slaughter without laughter," Keller cackled.

"Don't worry about him," said Elliot, "He's been beaten with too many blunt instruments."

They made it out to the middle of the island. Bram, Jules, and Hagan were already there. Keller ran in and hugged himself up against Jules and Hagan, the three of them jumped up and down with joy.

"You're totally loaded!" Hagan laughed at the sight of Keller.

"I gathered up every green box I could," Keller wagged his tail, "Take what you can. We need to safeguard ourselves against the staffers," he lowered his voice, "And we need to protect Elliot at all costs."

"Agreed," said Jules, "I feel bad for Bram, but those cheats teamed up from the start."

The yak was fully loaded himself. He looked ready for a final showdown. Elric informed them how it was going to work and sent both teams off to each end of the field. He told them to not worry about hitting the trucks. He planned on using them for hiding himself anyway. Marcus got on a bullhorn and shouted out to them.

"I want a good, clean fight," said the weasel, he waited until both teams were in their designated starting areas "Get ready for the final battle in three, two, one." He sounded the alarm.

The five of them stayed put, watching the other team move out towards them. Chewtoy and Jean-Luc broke off left, Jeigor and Red went right, and Elric went straight down the middle.

Jules sighed, "They're gonna try and pin us down from all sides. We need a plan."

Keller slid all of his ammo and guns off, "We take them by surprise."

"What?" Jules was confused.

Keller pulled the pins out of two grenades and took off across the field screaming. The little barbarian was going to sacrifice himself. He circled around Jeigor and Red. The dragon and Meerkat fired off at Keller. The coyote was too quick on his feet as he dodged and rolled and dove his way into their midst.

Jeigor and Red laughed at him as they fired shots into Keller. The both of them high-fived. A second later, both grenades went off. Jeigor and Red were splattered. Chewtoy and Jean-Luc dove for cover in fear another kamikaze would come at them. Elric was unmoved from hiding behind one of the trucks.

"That's my wild boy," Jules laughed.

"What should we do?" Hagan asked, "Two each to take them out?"

Hagan's question was cut short as a grenade bounced on top of them. The four of them burst out in all directions as they came under fire. Elliot carried himself as fast he could. He dove under one of the trucks. The lion spun around to gather in his surroundings. He saw feet go running by and he fired off shots. Jean-Luc howled as hopped along.

"Oh man that stings!" the coyote rubbed his ankle down.

Elliot crawled his way to the front of the vehicle. He kept an eye out for anyone else. He heard the gentle crunch of someone's feet circling around the trucks. Elliot took a chance and threw out a grenade. The clattering of hooves jumped on top of one of the trucks as the grenade went off.

He could hear the hood pop and crackle as the hooves went up and over the cab. The sounds stopped. Elliot figured Elric was trying to narrow in where he was. Elliot stayed put as he heard more shots firing across the field. There was a loud thunk.

"Oh shit!" came Elric's voice as he saw the rams hooves hit the ground and a paint grenade went off in the truck he left.

Elliot fired off.

Elric danced around, "Ahaha! Ok! Mercy!"

Marcus hit the bullhorn again, "Final three! No more friendlies!"

"Damn," Elliot said.

It was down to him, Bram, and either Jules or Hagan. Elliot kept under the truck, but it had become too obvious that was where he was hiding. He needed to make a break for it if he was to dodge Bram. Elliot wiggled his way from truck to truck. As he slid out from under the last truck Bram was standing there with a gun.

"Aurevoir," he said.

A whole barrage of bullets exploded across Bram's chest. The yak stumbled backwards in surprise. Laying low in the grass was Hagan. His finger tight against the trigger as the gun emptied of its bullets.

Elliot slumped against the ground. He was stunned and exhausted. Cheers came across the field. Keller leapt on top of Hagan and began smooching on him uncontrollably. Jules helped Elliot up to his feet. He dusted the lion off and gave him a tight hug.

"I couldn't have asked for a better companion for the VIP cabin," Jules gave Elliot a smooch.

The kangaroo went over to celebrate with his teammates. The three of them bounced around cheering. Elliot leaned against the truck and gave Bram a nod. The yak gave him a thumbs up despite looking terribly disappointed.

Jules, Hagan, and Keller came and grabbed hold of Elliot, bouncing around in circles as they chanted, "We're number one!"

Elric clapped his hands, "Well done boys. I look forward to our time at the cabin."

The three of them surrounded Elric, "We're number one!"

The ram laughed as he jumped around with them, "Come on. Let's load up and head back to the camp. I'm sure your teams are dying to know who won."

The staff on the field loaded up in the trucks. They were going to go check all the spots they hid packs to clean up. Elric and Turbo loaded up the five players and took them down to the camp. There was a crowd waiting outside the main cabin.

Turbo parked the truck and got out. He held his hands up to the group in the back of the truck.

Elric got out to cheers from everyone, the ram pulled up a bullhorn, "Good fighting everyone! I bet you want to know who won!?" The crowd went wild. Elric motioned his hand to the back of the truck as Turbo motioned for Elliot and Hagan to step down, "Two of the newbies survived! Elliot and Hagan!" Elric jumped out of the way as groups of people ran in to tackle Elliot and Hagan into hugs.

Hagan was hoisted up and passed around the larger crowd. Elliot was under fire by kisses from his team. The lion flailed as he got picked up and hoisted up and down. This is how he was going to die, he just knew it!

"Come on boys, let them breathe!" Elric called over the bullhorn.