Lil Arrow lay moaning on his canapé, trying to regain consciousness and get rid of his headache. There was an ice pack on his forehead and two of his girls were standing next to the couch with large peacock feather fans, fanning the boss of the 655.


    ''They put a joke in my stable... they put a joke in my stable...'' Lil Arrow kept whispering half-consciously, ''me of all people, the only one who really takes the game seriously... what impudence, what audacity, what disrespect... And then they zeroed me twice while I was unconscious. If I hadn''t fainted, that would never have happened! Zeroed twice! I should stop, yes really, I should stop and find a more serious and respectful server.''


    He would have liked to cry, but he was careful not to do so - he was too afraid of the globally recognised cry of ''Cry!'' that regularly rang out from the 652 clan castle.


    So he just lay on his canapé, whimpering softly, waiting for the headache pill to finally dissolve far enough in the glass of water.


    He was still lying there when his right-hand man and best fighter AceAngel entered the room.


    Lil Arrow waved his hand weakly, ''Faithful companion, what news do you bring?''


    AceAngel grinned, ''Good ones, I hope! I''ve been to RxD and cleared fifteen - or was it twenty? - of their accounts of their troops and cleaned everything up nicely. They''re all useless. And because I was already at the 652 anyway, I also brought the donkey back to them and put it back in their stable.''


    Lil Arrow half sat up: ''The joke''s gone? Really gone?''


    AceAngel laughed: ''Yes, the joke is gone and so is half of RxD. You can get off your sofa, boss. All is right with the world again.''


    Lil Arrow propped himself up carefully and adjusted his cape. Maybe he didn''t need a headache pill after all. Maybe all really was right with the world again.


    There was a crash outside. Then someone shouted: ''Shit! The towers are on fire!''


    Lil Arrow staggered to the window. His clan towers were indeed on fire. And the checkpoint. And his base.


    Several fighters ran down the corridor outside, quickly donning their battle suits. ''The 656 is attacking!''


    ''What? Not the 652, but the 656? What do they want?'' asked Lil Arrow, stunned, ''Aren''t they the defeated ones?''


    ''Er, boss...'' AceAngel said cautiously, ''I''m afraid they''re not quite defeated yet. Half, maybe. Or a third. I''m really sorry for you. But I have to get to the front quickly now.''


    Lil Arrow made it back to the couch. Then he fainted.


    ______________________________________________


    Lipsyte sat in his wheelchair in his room on the first floor and thought about how he could manage to heave himself out of the wheelchair and into his bed without help. He didn''t really want to need the help of the Thunder brothers all the time, even though Thunder Horny had really excelled himself now and had been pushing him around most of the day. However, Lipsyte was annoyed to realise that being pushed around in a wheelchair behind the combat team was no fun at all. He hadn''t been able to take much from the massacre day, only two girls from the 656 had been burnt and he had been able to enjoy it a little.


    While he was still thinking about the most skilful way to get to his bed with his legs in plaster casts, he heard a rustling noise in the corridor outside. Lipsyte listened. It was otherwise very quiet in the clan castle, only a few people were still awake. In the parlour next to the entrance hall, King Mink was still brooding over his strategic plans for GW2, and Kodaxx had still not returned from the battlefield. He was the only one of the entire squad who still swore by the true fighting power of kitchen aprons and high heels, which greatly reduced his speed of action. As a result, it now took Kodaxx at least two hours longer than everyone else to get back from a raid.


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    The rustling in the corridor was unsettling. Lipsyte quietly switched off the light in his room and carefully pushed the wheelchair with both hands. Almost silently, he unlatched the door and let himself roll gently into the corridor in the wheelchair. Nothing. Silence. He carefully rolled on towards the large flight of steps that led down to the entrance hall. At the top of the landing, only a single lamp was lit, the rest was in darkness. As an experienced fighter, Lipsyte made sure to stay outside the circle of light from the lamp and stopped the wheelchair. He listened into the darkness with keen senses.


    Suddenly a nut hit him on the head. Lipsyte flinched and automatically reached for his knife. And then he saw them.


    Like two immobile statues, with pitch-black, slightly shiny beady eyes, his squirrels were perched on the banister right at the top of the stairs. They had had the cheek to throw a nut at him. And now they stared at him provocatively without making a single move.


    Lipsyte slowly exhaled the air he had been holding and discreetly pushed the knife back. Then he very quietly and carefully set the wheelchair in motion. He only had to get a tiny bit closer to the stairs... then a quick speed-up on the wheels of the wheelchair... one quick movement, one bold grab and he would have them, those damn bastards of squirrels...


    Lipsyte gripped the wheels of his wheelchair tightly and gave it full speed.


    _______________________________________


    Mink had finished his strategic planning for GW2 in the parlour to his satisfaction and was finally ready to turn in for the night. He switched off the light, opened the door to the entrance hall and was about to enter when a loud scream from the direction of the stairs made him jump. He managed to save himself just in time by jumping backwards quickly, then Lipsyte raced straight towards him in his wheelchair, rattling down the stairs at an insane speed.


    He narrowly missed the king and thundered unchecked towards the huge double-leaf entrance door. Kodaxx, who had finally managed to return from the battlefield, was less fortunate than the king. Although he heard wild shouting from inside, he suspected that the Thunder brothers were drunk and unsuspectingly opened the door from the outside. The next moment, the speeding Lipsyte collided with Kodaxx, who fell over helplessly like a bowling pin due to the sixteen kitchen aprons, was unceremoniously run over by the wheelchair, and then the speeding wheelchair disappeared into the darkness along with its hapless, loudly screaming passenger.


    Kodaxx, unable to get to his feet on his own, scrambled up into a half-sitting position. ''What the hell was that?''


    Mink snorted. ''That was the insanity I''m subjected to here every day. If this keeps up, I''m switching to 655.''


    _________________________________________________


    Blood! A contract like this was best signed in blood. Lil Arrow bit his lower lip in excitement and anticipation as he made a small cut on his forearm and dipped the pen to sign the letter he had just written.


    That was enough for him. He had had enough for good. Tougher measures had to be taken so that his opponent finally realised that this was no joke. A contract killer had to be found, and quickly. Fortunately, it was only a question of the price. But it was a price he was willing to pay. Lil Arrow carefully rolled up the order, tied it to the foot of a pigeon and sent the animal on its journey south.


    ________________________________________________


    A cheerful mood prevailed at the front that the 656 had built up to the 655. Captain Zaxpool was as drunk as ever and had learnt to order his beer in eight different languages. Tower after tower of the 655 was burnt to ashes, and since AceAngel alone could not save everything, the winning streak continued. They had just extended the lines when they were surprised to discover that the control point that the Japanese general had routinely taken over was under attack.


    ''RxW?'' StlK wondered, ''what are they doing here?''


    ''It''s probably some kind of contract killing,'' slurred the captain with a heavy tongue, ''Lil Arrow will have paid them. Or they''re begging for a beating.''


    ''Yeah, or they''re scrapping troops. Maybe they think their city is stupid now and want to migrate and reduce the price.''


    ''No, they want to search for their T4 later. They think it''s a funny game after seeing Thunder Boo do it again and again.''


    The 656 waited anxiously for the impact. It came and ended - as expected.


    Captain Zaxpool grinned. ''A lot of people must be looking for their missing T4 now. Mink, the Dude, Poison Ivy, oh, the Thunder Boo was there again, he''ll never learn, Josi, Marzzzz, ...''


    Then he shouted in the direction of the 652: ''Cool fight guys! Too bad it was only a try!''


    ''It was worth the try!'' the Dude shouted back, ''If it had been at the beginning of GW1, when we still had the turbos, we would have won!''


    ''Yeah, yeah,'' muttered Lady Evelyne, ''and if Lil Arrow hadn''t fainted, he wouldn''t have been zeroed twice and would have won too, of course. And if the angry Russian had been allowed to migrate his big account here from the old town, then he would have shown us how great he can beat us all up, and of course he would have won hands down. And if Christmas and Easter had fallen on the same day, we would definitely have won GW. Yes, yes, yes.''


    ''Hey!'' roared the Dude in offence, ''I heard that!''


    ''Cry!'' the girls of 656 yelled back in chorus.


    ________________________________________________


    When Thunder Horny pushed the wheelchair into the hall with the freshly treated Lipsyte, the conversations of the Thunder brothers stopped for a moment. They were all drunk again, but the sight sobered them up briefly.


    ''I''ll punch the first person who thinks he can make a stupid joke in the face,'' growled Lipsyte.


    ''Brother,'' said Thunder Jack cautiously, ''you''ve got two arms in plaster. How are you going to punch anyone in the face here?''


    ''I don''t care! Then I''ll kick him in the face!''


    ''Brother... you''ve got two legs in plaster. How are you going to kick anyone in the face here?''


    ''Oh shut the fuck up!'' roared Lipsyte, ''I''ll kill the first one who keeps bugging me!''


    ''Brother... you''re going to need help with everything first... I mean... on your own... how are you going to pee? You''re going to need someone to hold your - uh - dingdong - uh.''


    ''I can do that.'' Thunder Horny smiled gently.


    Lipsyte would have winced and wheeled around if he could have. With four limbs in plaster, it wasn''t possible. With sudden suspicion of his self-appointed nurse, he asked, ''You? Why you?''


    ''Because he''s gay!'' roared the donkey from the stable, ''Gay and horny!''


    ''No,'' said Lipsyte quickly, ''no. No, Horny, don''t push me into that dark corridor back there. I don''t want to be alone with you. Horny, don''t do that, I want to go back to the others right now. Horny, bloody hell, noooooooo!''