Janet clutched the shoulders of both Leon and Janet, dragging them back before the other three could do anything.
"Follow me." She whispered casually, quickly turning around to run. She ran faster than either Leon or Evelyn guessed she could, having to follow her.
The streets were wider than the other three areas of the city. In any other district this level of speed wouldn't be possible, seeing as they'd have to slow down for either pedestrians or cars. But in Privis, the streets were more walkable, overall wider. Leon guessed that living somewhere where people historically couldn't afford to travel or buy cars did have it's perks. Certainly beat living in the center, anyway. But Janet kept running, and Leon and Evelyn kept following, until they were in Privis park.
It was a pretty standard park, seeming slightly more wild than a park in another district would be allowed to be, with several large flower species hiding themselves in the trees shade. The trio themselves were in a wide open patch of grass, with a few cobblestone paths beside them. Behind them was a soccer pitch, and the three were catching their breath.
"Okay, you see the other three?" Janet asked, looking around. Evelyn just wondered how much she could see with those stupid sunglasses she was always wearing.
"You could probably see better without your glasses." Evelyn suggested calmly.
"Don't see anything." Leon replied calmly.
"Cool." Janet replied, quickly taking Leon's sheet from his shirt.
"And Janet has succeeded in taking Leon's sheet!" Xaawo's voice rang out through their heads.
"Janet, what are you-" Evelyn spluttered. She shifted her gaze to Leon, who looked more casual about it.
"I'm paying him." Janet shrugged casually.
"She's paying me." Leon sighed.
"'Sides, Leon's like, the strongest here. He could fight off the other three. Tell you what, Evelyn. You take my sheet."
She exposed her sleeve to Evelyn, hovering it in the air for a few seconds. Tucked under the button of her chequered shirt was her sheet, while Evelyn just looked in disbelief. Janet kept wiggling her arm in front of her until she just took it.
"Evelyn is the second survivor!" Xaawo yelled out.
"Alright, now we just wait for someone else to show up, and Leon can fight them, and it'll all be good!" Janet excitedly announced with a clap of her hands, casually sitting on a park bench.
"So what, we just wait for someone else to show up?" Evelyn asked, already exasperated.
"And then Leon just psychics away their sheet, and we can get the movie night started."
"And we don't stick around for the ending?"
"Look, if you wanna watch one of our friends get killed, be my guest. But I think Out with the Frogs starring Calvin White is a way better thing to watch. Anyway, sit down with me and I can think of something better to watch."
Evelyn didn't sit on the bench with her, just standing in silence with Leon, occasionally looking over her shoulder for anyone else. But after about ten minutes, nobody was making an appearance.
"Come on, this is like, the most obvious place in Privis to fight someone!" Janet yelled, throwing her head to the sky, returning it back down when the setting sun hit her eyes. Even with sunglasses on, it hurt like hell.
"What about the boxing gyms?" Leon asked.
"Shit, didn't think of that. But I doubt you'd go there first for a magic duel. Actually, screw it, I have an idea."
Janet opened her phone's messaging app, making a group chat and adding Blair, Sybil, and Latrell to it.
'yo were at the park square up you three against leon'
Janet sent the text out, and then went back to scrolling movies on the bench. A few more minutes passed, and two more people finally appeared. Blair and Sybil.
"Yo." Janet said casually. "So is this a one on one on one or a two against one?"
"This is just a coincidence." Sybil confirmed.
"Hm. Odd pairing. Anyway, go kick their asses, Leon."
Evelyn went in to support her ally, even if she didn't have anything to boomerang with, glancing around for an unused stick she could throw as a distraction. Leon scanned the duo for the sheets, and Sybil's was up her sleeve. Blair's was in her hair. Leon focused his powers on Blair's one. It was nested in her hair pretty well, and he kept linking to random strands of hair. Blair ran towards him, and he quickly got out of the way of her inky knife. While backing away from her and the approaching Sybil, he managed to focus on the sheet within her hair, pulling it out in one swift motion.
"And Leon survives!" Xaawo's voice rang out. Blair let out a quick gasp of desperation as the three casually walked out.
"Good luck, you two." Janet said casually with a peace sign as her and the other two left the park.
Blair and Sybil stared in disbelief at how casual the trio just took it. Janet was casually strutting through the park gates with her hands behind her head, Leon in front and Evelyn behind like some sort of bizarre bodyguard squad. Sybil was stunned in disbelief, so Blair quickly took the sheet hidden in her sleeve.
"And Blair moves on! It's just Sybil vs Latrell, so think about who's gonna win out!"
Sybil's neck snapped to Blair as she handed the sheet back to her.
"Look, if Latrell took something we'd be stuck fighting each other!" Blair blurted out as an excuse, her eyes darting around the park to see if Latrell would be trying to ambush them. Nothing so far, so she decided to hide amongst the trees, picking a particularly shady part to blend her all black outfit into.
Sybil waited for Latrell to show up, figuring that this was the most obvious place for a showdown. After about a minute, Latrell made her appearance, looking frazzled and desperate. Sybil just looked at her with the same tired eyes she greeted all teenagers with.
Latrell skipped any sort of pleasantries, choosing to jump right into battle with Sybil, who hardened her hand that covered the sheet. Latrell kicked her straight in the stomach, causing Sybil to fall straight to the ground. Her hand stayed hardened, so Latrell couldn't actually do anything to her sheet, and Sybil could see where she hid hers. Sadly for her, she couldn't see it anywhere, so it was most likely in her hair, same as what Blair tried.
Latrell kept a foot on her stomach and refused to let her up, occasionally stomping her hardened hand to see just what would make it go away. Sybil had to make sure she wouldn't accidentally lose her crystalized hand, because one slip up meant it was all over. She just had to keep focus on her hand and as long as she did, it was a stalemate in her favour.
And then Blair reappeared.
She crept up to Latrell, an inky rope in her hands. She threw it around her waist and with one pull, she was on the ground. Latrell tried escaping, but Blair held her head down, inspecting her body for the sheet, turning her around and seeing a green sheet at the back of her shirt. It seemed like a clever move, as she assumed at first glance it was a tag on the back of her green sweater. She pointed at it while pushing to keep Latrell on the ground, and Sybil got up and picked the sheet off her.
"And Sybil wins the final round!" Xaawo's voice rang out. Latrell got up, looking to be in a state of shock as Kwaku appeared behind her through a light portal. Before she could say anything, one spear thrust through the heart. She dropped dead, and Kwaku picked her up and silently left through the portal. It was Blair, Sybil, and the few dog walkers who witnessed all of that.
"So, that's that." Blair whispered nervously.
"Yep." Sybil replied flatly.
"So, we make a pretty good team, huh?" Blair asked.
"Sure." Sybil replied flatly, taking out some money and giving it to Blair.
"Taxi money. See you at school tomorrow."