"Cinister!" Ragna slid his sword back into its sheath, grinning. "You finally made it out of last place?"
Cinister pushed his glasses up his nose and smirked. "Yup. I finally figured it out."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten minutes earlier
Cinister sat at the edge of the lake, scowling at the water. His foot found a rock and sent it skipping across the surface, and ripples spread outward until the reflection of his own frowning face broke apart.
"'Think differently,'" he muttered. "What does that even mean? Thinking is how I do everything. How am I supposed to do it differently?"
Another rock flew into the lake. Plunk.
"Okay. Go back to square one."
He closed his eyes and replayed the start of the race. Ragna had bolted out in first place, while the rest of the pack stayed bunched together behind him, tied for second. Nobody seemed to be in any hurry.
CLICK.
His eyes snapped open.
"Wait. They were all in second, and none of them looked tired. But Ragna was in first, and his energy was depleted like crazy."
He shot to his feet, and the pieces fell into place so fast that he laughed.
"They weren't going full speed. They were holding back, maybe around eighty percent!" He grinned. "So if I run at eighty percent, I should be fine!"
He dropped into a crouch, and the dust at his feet stirred.
Run.
Run.
RUN!
THUD!
His energy was taken away from him, and he pitched forward and slammed face-first onto the path. A cloud of dirt puffed up around him.
For a moment, there was only the sound of a few birds.
Cinister lifted his head, spat out a mouthful of dust, and shouted at no one in particular, "Come on! I had it that time!"
"Guess not," Cinister sighed, flopping onto his back in the dirt. "And I'm all out of ideas."
He rolled his head toward the lake. A fish leapt out of the water, flashed silver, and arced high into the air before it splashed down.
To anyone else, it was just a fish. To Cinister, it looked exactly like a dolphin.
He sat bolt upright.
"Wait. Dolphins sleep with only half their brain. The other half stays awake!" His eyes darted back and forth as the idea took shape. "The shackles only drain energy when I think I'm running. So if half my brain runs, and the other half thinks I'm walking..."
A grin spread across his face.
"I'll be running and not running at the same time!"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ragna's face fell. He had expected something a lot cooler.
"That sounds really dumb."
"Don't blame me, you idiot," Cinister snapped. "I only figured it out. I didn't invent it."
"Well, thanks for the lesson," Ben said, hauling himself to his feet and dusting off his armor. His grin was sharp. "But now it's time for you two to die."
Cinister stepped forward and held out his hand, calm and friendly. "Or we could work together instead. What do you say?"
"Work with you?" Ben sneered. "What makes you think I'd team up with a pair of losers like-"
"Think about it" Cinister cut in. "You slowed Ragna down, and everyone else has already passed us. None of us has a ribbon, so why should we fight each other?"
Ben's lips curled. He raised one clawed hand, and a small ribbon dangled between his fingers.
"You mean this little piece of fabric?"
FWOOSH!
A [Fire Gun] slammed into Ben's face at 100% power, and the blast threw smoke and sparks across the field.
"Forget working together" Cinister said, lowering his hand. His easy smile was gone, and his eyes had gone cold and sharp. "We're at war now."
Through the smoke, Ben brushed the embers off his face as if they were nothing, and a second shield of ice grew from his arm with a crack.
"I like that plan!"
"[Ashen Veil]!"
Gray smoke burst outward and swallowed Ragna and Cinister whole. The field vanished behind a thick, drifting wall.
Ben snorted, and a puff of breath curled from his snout. "You think a cheap smoke screen is going to save you? Big mistake."
He swung the shield off his back, and frost spikes appeared on its surface. "[Ice Barrage]!"
A hundred spikes of ice erupted from the shield and tore into the smoke. For a moment, there was only the sound of ice hitting stone.
SLICE!
Ten of the spikes came flying back out of the cloud, faster than they had gone in. Ben threw up his second shield just in time, and the spikes shattered against the two of them with a sharp crack.
Then the smoke thinned and fell away. Only Ragna stood in the middle of the field, wrapped in a dissolving [Bubble] and wearing a grin.
Ben's ears twitched. "Huh? Where's the other one?"
He glanced over his shoulder, and his fur stood on end.
Cinister was right behind him, the hand gun gesture, a [Fire Gun] glowing blue at 200% power in his hand.
Ben spun around and slammed both shields in front of him.
"That's it, Ben," Ragna thought to himself, stepping forward with his sword at his side. "Keep looking at Cini. Look at the light, and forget me behind you."
"A light always needs his shadow and that me and Ragna are" Cinister said, the flames reflected in his glasses. "One of us shines. The other one fades into the darkness and strikes from behind. That's what makes us an unstoppable duo."
They spoke the next words together.
"[Conjoint Nexus]!"
"[Ashen Blades]!"
Ragna's blades flared and doubled in size, and trails of ash streamed behind them as they accelerated. Ben never saw them. By the time he understood what had happened, two blades had punched through his back, and the [Fire Gun] exploded in his face.
BOOM!
The bear crashed to the ground and lay still.
Smoke drifted across the field. Cinister waved it away, smirking. "You could've been a bit faster, you know."
"And you could've given better instructions," Ragna shot back, grinning.
They bumped fists. Ragna crouched, pried the little ribbon out of Ben's claw, and held it up to the light.
"Come on. The finish line."
They bolted down the path side by side.
"We're unstoppable!"