Sariel and the group of Dreamers found themselves suddenly transported into a beautiful ice skating rink. The rink was massive, with pristine ice stretching out as far as the eye could see. The walls were made of glistening ice, and the entire space was bathed in a soft blue light that seemed to emanate from the very ice itself.

'And from the Away team, we have...' The spotlights roamed around the field to illuminate the Dreamers. 'It's time to find the winner of the Annual Ice Hockey Championship!'

Around the circular rink, three machines sprouted from within the walls, and then whirring filled the arena. The machines began to shoot out pucks at an alarming rate, dozens of them flying towards the Performer all at once. But he was ready for the challenge.

He spun around, his hockey stick flashing as he hit each puck with precision, sending them hurtling back towards the Dreamers. The crowd gasped as the pucks flew past them, impressed by the Performer's skill and accuracy. Sariel swapped his Omni to a greatsword to attempt to block an incoming puck, but he quickly found that the ice was nigh indestructible, and instead quickly swerved to avoid the blow.

The machines continued to fire more and more pucks at him, but the Performer showed no signs of slowing down. He weaved in and out of the onslaught, hitting each puck with ease and sending them flying back across the rink. Sariel looked around; Rosary was deftly dodging the projectiles, and King had attempted and failed to reach melee range of the Performer. Getting slammed with a single disc, he got slammed against the wall, and struggled back to his feet.

The crowd erupted into cheers, clapping and shouting as the Performer took a bow. He opened his eyes once more to reflect the newest batch of discs flying at him at blinding speeds. Every puck that slammed into the walls disappeared, seemingly being reloaded into the machines.

The situation went from bad to worse when the machines around the arena began rotating around the border of the rink, forcing everyone to constantly be on the move. Most were able to adapt to the changes and dodge, but the biggest issue was that nobody was in any position to inflict any damage to the Performer.

Sure, they could keep dodging, but how long until they'd get exhausted? Sariel attempted to make a proactive movement and swapped his Omni to a rifle, and considered spraying the Performer with shots. But the other Dreamers were behind him, and there was a non negligible chance that they'd get hit in the process. In the end, everyone was forced to continue skating in spirals whilst quickly dodging the pucks rebounded by the Performer.

It didn't take long for people to start sustaining blows. The Dreamer with the pen symbol got hit first, getting knocked to the ground. Another blow by the machine sent him rag dolling across the floor before being caught by the dreamer with the two linked chains. Sariel marked him down as Chains in his mind. This started a spiral of people getting hit, and slowly, everyone sustained exhaustion and damage.

Then, Sariel got the answer.

Swapping his Omni to a stick, he was surprised to find it was allowed. He tried to form a hockey stick, but that didn't work. He settled for a baseball bat, and attempted to steady himself. Once more, the Performer sent a puck flying towards him, but he chose not to dodge this time, instead attempting to send it back at him.

It worked; the disc was sent flying at the Performer, causing Sariel to exhale in satisfaction; or at least, he would have, if the Performer didn't simply rebound the disc again. Was there really no method to combat this? Did someone have a good Aspect to turn the fight? No, but then they'd have already used it. No, surely this was the method to win. But how could they fight against the mastery of the Performer?

'Everyone, I think we need to work together! Form your Omni into the shape of a baseball bat, and attempt to send the pucks back at the Performer!'

Surprisingly, this was not Sariel's inner monologue. Instead, it was Lantern who had spoken, and at her suggestion, the Dreamers spread out and gave it a try.

Instantly, three of them got knocked off balance by decisive shots by the Performer. Rosary attempted to pick everyone back up near her, and the rest continued circling with their makeshift hockey sticks. After all, it wasn't just the Performer; the machines rotating around wouldn't relent either. The ethereal crowd went wild, seeing the Away team finally have a chance to take the title of 'Ice Hockey Annual Champions' (although, to be honest, they were a bit miffed that it was a twelve on one).

It started with Sariel sending a single puck back. Lantern hit another one. Slime hit another. King hit another. The performer sent them all back, and they were sent back into the wall. But improvement came quick and fast for the Dreamers; at least, the ones that had managed to survive a while. The discs flying at them seemed slower, and their eyes were able to catch up; more discs were being returned, and the Performer seemed unrelenting, sending back more and more discs.

But the more times the Dreamers rebounded the discs, the more that stayed on the field, rather than being sent back into the walls. They began to fill the arena, dotting the flawless ice. The Darkness under the ice seemed to bang against it, eager to reclaim the discs, and yet it was entirely unable to.

Every swing from the Performer was matched by a swing by a Dreamer; Rosary, especially, seemed to be hitting her groove. Swerving across the ice, she targeted the stationary pucks that had lost their momentum and sent them back towards the Performer, attempting to knock his concentration.

A castle crumbled starting from the fall of the first brick. The Performer let the first disc slip, and it flied dangerously close to his feet. He was forced to dodge another, instead of reflecting it; this wasn't missed by any of them. 'More! Faster!'

Sariel decided it was time enough: Taking a deep breath, he sent a chain to the Performer, attempting to drag him in his direction and knock him off balance. Nearly falling off balance himself from the instant tug on the chain, he immediately reciprocated by grasping the chain to leap towards the Performer. Finally. Melee range.

Chains swapped his Omni from the hockey stick to... well, chains, and skated forward to send them flying forward and wrap them around the Performer, sending himself flying forward to impede him. The rain of discs on the Performer now slammed into his legs, and he was powerless to do anything but fall down onto the icy floor.

Taking that as a cue to end the brutal torment, the Dreamers leapt at the opportunity to end the Performer, each materializing their own weapon of choice to bash him down. It seemed he was entirely defenceless, now that his puck-reflecting shenanigans were over, and with all the discs on the field, the machines started firing blanks; there were none left in the tank.

Blow after blow, the health total of the Performer dipped further and further down. No less than four machine guns were aimed directly at his head, firing on all cylinders; indeed, though it may take a little bit of time, his fate was already sealed.

But Sariel felt like there was something of importance that was missed. Something critical...

'Back off! Now!'

Indeed, it was the entrance of the Performer that had left Sariel a bit wary, and now he felt why; the platform on which the Performer had entered on suddenly opened up, and the Darkness underneath the ice rushed to catch any prey that was unfortunate enough to fall. Everyone scrambled out, jumping forward.

Yet, too late; the dreamer with a little drop of slime fell in the pit along with the struggling Performer. The Darkness moved up to take him; Chains swiftly threw the metal links down to wrap them around his arm, but the platform rose again, shoving off his chains and leaving the Dreamer below in the depths.

The discs on the platform disappeared, and with it, the cheering of the crowd came into full blast. Laughing filled the air as they all moved out of the stage single file, whilst the Dreamers were left looking at a pile of Omni Orbs and two Aspect Gems, and the ice on the ground.

'Hey, everyone. I'll buy the Aspect Gems at a fair price in Omni Orbs, and then we can split the Omni Orbs between all of us. Would that be okay?' Rosary offered a simplification to the problem of the division of resources, but her practicality was met with an outburst. 'A Dreamer just Fell, and you have the tactlessness to mention business, now?'

Surprisingly, it was Lantern that spoke up. Sariel had pegged her as an uncaring one, but it seemed that the death had affected her a bit more than he expected. Rosary shrugged. 'He didn't move, even with the warning from Flower? That sounds like a simple blunder to me.' A pause. 'Anyone who can't even do that much might as well die off early. Saves us resources. Now, the survivors can grow.'

A bristle of fury at that comment. But most of the Dreamers seemed to be in agreement with Rosary, and so Lantern quit talking and decided to nod at the offer.

The total came to 110 Omni Orbs after the trade was concluded ('How incredibly convenient that it was a neat amount divisible by eleven!', thought Sariel), and with that, the Dreamers dropped back into the portal to go back to the waking world.

Time for more alcohol sales!