"I thought you said this was a good idea!" Artemis hissed.

Grim shrugged. "Never said that. Just said I had a plan."

Grim took a bold step forward, his cloak sinking into his skin. It formed a tight but breathable fabric that settled back onto his body, a black bodysuit that allowed more movement than his cloak. He pulled his hair off his face, cold black eyes burning.

"Come on, Eris!" Grim barked, "I said fight me! Are you a coward or something?"

That was about the exact second Eris sent a blast of wind directly at Grim's stomach. Grim was thrown against the wall, while most of his internal organs decided the floor was a much better destination.

He got better.

Grim threw himself at Eris, several writhing tentacles emerging from his spine. He swung them at her like blades, Eris struggling to deflect the frenzied attack. He sliced into her cheek and neck, but he knew that wasn't good enough.

Eris struck back, hard. Wind pounded Grim from all sides, but he kept his ground. He howled with exertion, pushing through the blast and sinking his tentacles into Eris's torso.

Eris wasn't as perturbed as Grim wanted her to be. She hacked off his head.

Heaving for breath (once his head grew back, of course), Grim clumsily pulled himself back to his feet.

He was in over his head (which, by the way, was laying a couple inches away), but hey, he had already said she sucked and challenged her to a fight, so there really wasn't any going back from that.

Shaking her head, Eris threw him back to the ground, his face grazing a puddle of his own blood. Grim hugged his ribs, a wet cough reverberating through his fractured chest.

He didn't have time to get up. Cold sweat poured down his face. He clenched his eyes shut, prepared for another round of "See How Many Vital Organs You Can Blow Out of Grimslay's Torso."

It didn't come.

"Get your hands off my son!"