A Battle of Wills

By Daylight

Merrick raised his left eyebrow.

RJ raised both of his in response.

Merrick leaned forward and steepled his fingers.

RJ stretched and mirrored the gesture.

Merrick's forehead furrowed.

RJ's head titled back.

And thus the competition began…

"Hey, guys what's going on?"

A resounding 'Shhh!' came from the audience.

"Sorry," Taylor whispered as she squeezed herself in between Danny and Alyssa. "What are they doing?"

"Only the ultimate contest of champions," explained Max. "Popcorn?"

Taylor grabbed a handful from the proffered bowl. "Thanks."

"It's very exciting," exclaimed Princess Shayla clapping her hands.

"Shhhhh!"

"So who's winning?" Taylor asked quietly.

Danny shrugged. "We're not exactly sure."

"But we are, of course, rooting for our fellow team-mate," Cole declared.

Max nodded. "I've got twenty bucks ridding on him."

"Mmm," said Taylor through a mouthful of popcorn. "Put me down for twenty too. No way is yoga boy going to beat our emo boy."

"Hey! That's our master you're talking about," Theo protested.

"Yeah," added Lily reaching across Theo to grab the popcorn bowl from Max. "You haven't seen yoga boy meditate for four hours at a time. No way is he going to loose." She frowned. "Or at least, I think he's meditating. He always seems to do it in front of the TV."

Casey snorted. "I'm sure he appreciates your support."

"How long have they been going at it?" asked Taylor.

"Over an hour," Alyssa replied.

"Really?" Taylor shot her an incredulous look before going back to the two warriors. "And neither one's blinked yet?"

The rangers' heads shook in unison.

Oblivious to the comments, RJ and Merrick remained sitting cross-legged across from each other, eyes locked as the battle continued.