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Oskar has already fought back successfully once and he gained self-respect, the respect of his classmates and, most important, Eli's love. The odds against his prevailing this time are long, but not impossible: there is a weapon within his reach. Keeping his distance from Jimmy, he says, "Okay, time me!" Jimmy advises Oskar to take a deep breath and counts down the seconds from five to zero. At the count of zero, Oskar dives under the water, scoops up the teacher's cassette player and surfaces. Hoping to deter an attack rather than having to fight, he brandishes it.
"What's that thing for?" Jimmy demands to know.
"To hit you with if you try anything!"
Realizing that he can't be sure of defeating Oskar alone, even with his knife, Jimmy jumps into the pool but stays just beyond the reach of Oskar's weapon. "Conny!" he yells, "I'm doing this for you. Jump in and grab Oskar from behind. You other guys help him!" Conny and Martin jump into the pool and race towards Oskar. Not daring to turn his back to Jimmy, Oskar throws the cassette player at him. Jimmy blocks it with his knife; it falls into the pool and sinks to the bottom. Conny and Martin each grab one of Oskar's arms. Then Jimmy approaches Oskar and says, "If you had played along, at worst you would only have lost an eye. Now I'm going to cut you up bit by bit before I kill you!"
"Don't do it, Jimmy!" yells Andreas from the side of the pool.
"Shut up!" Jimmy yells back, bringing his knife closer and closer to one of Oskar's eyes.
Oskar closes his eyes and prepares for the worst. Suddenly Jimmy yells, "Look out behind you!" The two boys release Oskar's arms, and at the same moment all three boys scream. Oskar puts his hands over his eyes and peeks through his fingers. Jimmy is floating face down in the pool, minus his head and his knife arm. Looking behind him, Oskar sees Conny and Martin, also floating face down in the pool, Andreas sitting on the edge of the pool crying, and Eli hovering over the water beaming at him. "That was a good fight you put up," she says, "but I thought you could use some help."
When the teacher returns, he finds the three bodies; Jimmy's has been drained of blood.