The Battle Begins

"Before we head out though we first need to decide on what to do with these two" Matt said motioning to the two unconscious newbies.

"You mean who kills them for the rewards?" Steele asked eyeing the two bodies.

"Well in this situation we have the team leader decide," Gwen explained, turning to Logan for his answer.

He gave a moment of thought before he responded "The first of course goes to Ashley" he said decisively. The young woman gave a gasp in surprise and looked at the two newbies, her face paled as she realized what she was going to have to do.

"And the other?" Steele questioned.

"That one is going to Josh" Logan said without hesitation. Shock passed through the team as they heard the declaration. Toby's only response was a slight turn of his armored head when Matt and Steele gave cries of protest, both wanting the kills for themselves. Lance had an odd look on his face both annoyed and contemplative. Gwen stayed silent looking from Josh and Logan with an anxious expression. Josh was the most surprised at the declaration.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because ever since you came here you've been resistant of our ways" Logan said, an undertone of anger was in his voice "You show some potential but if you're not willing to do whatever it takes to grow stronger than you're just wasting everyone's time"

"So, killing someone is the only way for me to prove myself" Josh asked also getting heated.

"Yes, prove to us that you have a will to live!" Logan cried out "This is the easiest points you will ever gain in this world I guarantee it, if you can't do it now, you'll be dead by the end of the next movie"

Josh hesitated at Logan's words, he wanted to live. The idea of taking a life just to give himself a better chance just seemed wrong to him though. It wasn't like this was a guarantee, he wasn't in a position to kill this man and he will go free. He was taking a life to trade for a better chance to survive, if he died then another person lost their life for nothing. Did he want to live with that weight on his conscious?

Lance spoke before Josh could come to his decision "Did you tell your team you were coming to us?" he asked Abuya. The woman had watched the team in silence though her disapproval was clear when she looked at Josh.

"No, I didn't," she answered, "just told them I was leaving and hope they all die."

"That's a good way to leave things" lance said with a nod "so maybe we should wait till after the fight to kill the newbies"

"Why?" Logan questioned

"The other team may guess that Abuya would ally herself with us but if we kill these newbies, they will have evidence to support that." Lance explained "if we don't then they may think she's gone off on her own and won't be planning for an attack right away"

"So, leaving the newbies alive right now could give us a better chance of an ambush" Gwen realized.

"Exactly, how long until these two wake up?" he asked Abuya.

"They won't" she answered with a shake of her head "I did a lot of damage to their minds on the way over here. Only a heal from God could bring them back."

"So, for now let's stash their bodies someplace and then head over to take on the rest" Lance concluded.

Logan looked hesitantly at the teen and then shot a look at Josh before giving his consent. Josh let out a small sigh of relief, he knew his stepbrother had only bought him a little bit more time, but this wasn't something he wanted to decide on right now. He dreaded to think about what was going to happen when he did.

"So, the first thing we need to know is a run down on their abilities" Gwen said to Abuya. The group was making their way back towards the town to get vehicles. Abuya informed them that her team had appeared the next town over in the town square. Toby was carrying the two newbies at a much slower pace so not to pull any attention to them.

"Not including me my team has 5 veterans; the team leader is a violent man called Stone he has the Sai Sai fruit from the One-Piece universe, he spends most of his time in his hybrid rhino form. Then there's his right-hand man a cowardly man who uses chaotic magic from DND I guarantee if you take down Stone he'll go running. Then there's a couple one is a water bender and the other has an odd ghost mutation. Allows him to take a ghost form, he can go through solid options and shoot ectoplasm blasts, but he can't be in the form for long. Then the last is the newest, a psychopathic gun nut who spent all his points buying infinite ammo guns and magic that allows him to summon them from a pocket space"

Logan, Matt, and Steele split from the group to go get vehicles to get to the next town, leaving Toby and Gwen to watch the newbies. Abuya sat down and closed her eyes to take a mental scan of the way there and see what her team was doing. Lance, Josh ,and Ashley sat separate from the others a little ways away. Ashley and Josh sat with contemplative looks while Lance rested between them.

Ashley broke the silence "thank you" she said looking at Lance "for buying us some more time"

"Don't worry about it" he answered dismissively "I really do think it's better to wait till after the real fight"

"Still.." she trailed off at the memory of her dilemma.

"Could you have done it?" Josh cut in. "Could you have killed that person?"

"I.." she hesitated for a moment before continuing "yes, I would have"

"You didn't look so sure back there" Lance pointed out.

"I have to survive this movie" Ashley spoke and a look of resolution settled on her face. "Gwen said there's a way to go home temporarily you can buy after the movie"

"We can go back?" Josh turned to look at the young woman fully.

"Yes but it's only temporary and very expensive apparently" she said but the determination didn't fade "I have to survive this movie and go back home at least once. Gwen said gold and other valuables are extremely cheap"

"You have people you support?" Lance asked.

"Yeah my mom died when me and my brother were born and my dad only ever put out enough money to pay the bills, spent the rest on booze. I need to make sure my brother will be alright without me. Not that he'll appreciate it"

"Sounds like you two don't get along" Lance commented.

With an audible sigh Ashley explained "we do but.,. Well ever since we were Young, I could tell he was special, very smart. So I decided to put everything into making sure he can succeed in life, worked since I was mine years old to make sure he got everything he could need for school. Just a few days before I came here I told him I could finally send him to a decent college with all his scholarships"

"So what happened?" Josh asked.

"He told me that he didn't want to go to college anymore, he proposed to his girlfriend and wanted to use the savings for the wedding and honeymoon. All my years of saving and he wants to waste it on a wedding!" by the end of her story Ashley's face had become flush with anger.

"That's crazy" josh replied not sure what else to say.

"Yet you still want to make sure he'll be okay without you" Lance noted.

"He's still my brother" Ashley said with a defeated sigh "even if he's a little entitled, I still love him"

"Brothers can be very frustrating" Josh said with a grin. Lance let out a grumble but was also grinning.

Any further conversation was cut off as the cars arrived. Matt and Steele drove two medium size cars that would blend in well with any area. Logan was driving a large black pickup truck with tinted windows, not a particularly flashy car but one that stood out amongst the rest. Toby set the unconscious newbies into the back seat of the truck were no one could see them and then sat himself down in the bed of the truck. Abuya took the passenger seat next to Logan. Lance took the passenger seat in Matt's car with Josh and Ashley sitting in the back. Gwen chose to ride with Steele.

The drive was short and relatively quiet, the realization that they were driving to the battlefield killed any interest in talking. According to Abuya her team had moved to a mostly empty part of town and was taking shelter in an abandoned factory. Parking the cars a little under a mile away the rest of the journey was on foot, a small hill was behind the factory and was the spot Abuya had the team stop.

"This is as far as I go" she said suddenly, bringing everyone to a jarring halt.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked "were about to attack"

"I will not be joining the fight" she declared "the team leader is a spiteful man, if he sees me, he will focus on nothing but killing me. Even at the cost of his own life"

"That's good" Lance interjected "he'll be so focused on you the rest of the team can take him out before he gets to you"

"That's too much of a risk" Abuya countered "Stone is strong, it will take a lot to kill him. I cant risk my life on a gamble that you can kill him before he gets to me"

"So, you're really just going to leave us to do your dirty work" Logan said in a low growl.

"You are being compensated for your troubles" Abuya pointed out

"fine but leave now then," Logan declared "I don't want you watching over my shoulders while we fight"

"Very well" Abuya took the dismissal gracefully "I wish you luck Team West America" with her farewell she made her way down the hill and after a moment of walking took to the skies. Within minutes she was too far to see.

"Well that dropped our power a bit" Gwen said in disappointment.

"It's fine" Logan said "well be fine without her"

"So what is the plan?" Steele asked

Logan took a moment before he answered "Toby, Matt, and I will approach the factory and attack the enemy. I'll take on the leader while you two try taking out other members of the team. Try to get the ghost man first, he's probably the biggest threat to us. Gwen will support you; she'll stay at the very edge of her range for her attack spell"

"Is it alright to leave the newbies unguarded?" Gwen questioned

"We need as much fighting power as we can get" Logan explained "it's a risk we have to take. Besides they have their guns and we'll be the main focus."

"Still…" Gwen didn't look convinced but couldn't find a good argument.

"Ill do my best to protect them" Steele cut in, pulling her gun out "I'm confident I can kill anyone from a distance except the rhino man and maybe the ghost."

"Good" Logan nodded at her declaration before he could continue the sound of a gun firing cut him off. Everyone's heart skipped a beat as they tried to figure out where it came from. When another shot rang out they realized it was sounding from the other side of the hill. Moving carefully the team made their way forward until they could see over the hill Crest and saw the abandoned factory.

Below a man holding a gun was standing casually in the parking lot, his aim focused on an overweight man in front of him. As the team watched the gunman fired another shot just barely missing the man's foot, causing him to jump back and fall on his backside. A mirthful laugh could be heard as the overweight man scrambled to get to his feet before another shot sounded and hit where he was laying a moment before. He didn't run away like most would expect, instead he just stood facing the gunman, tears could be seen running down his face now.

"He's torturing him" Josh growled out.

"This is good" Logan said "Toby get ready we can get him while he's distracted"

The armored giant stretched out his arm and the large axe he had used against the Creeper appeared in his hand. With a nod from Logan, Toby pulled his arms back and threw the axe towards the gunman. While it couldn't be seen from the outside his eyes had lost their focus, he had entered the unlocked mode. Logan took off in a Sprint once the axe left Toby's hands, Matt right behind but not nearly as fast.

The only warning the gunman received was a startled cry from the fat man before the axe struck him in the back, cutting clean through his spine. His body fell just as Logan made it to it, but he didn't stop there. Instead of grabbing the gunman he ran towards the fat man, a strange green energy covered his hands and with one swipe the fat man's head was removed from his body.

A beep from Josh's watch informed him that two points had been added to his team's total but he didn't acknowledge it. He just stood in horror as he saw two people killed in a matter of seconds with no hesitation from the killers. This was life in God's dimension? Would he have to do this to survive? His musings were cut off as Lance grabbed his arm and moved him out of view of the factory with Ashley. Gwen had made her way closer to the battlefield and Steele stayed just over the crest to watch as the fight progressed.