Millicent is a senior on her high school’s bayonet team. Bayonet is a deadly sport in which one’s life is at risk at any moment on the field. They’re on their way to the state championships, but Millicent is preoccupied with her annoyance towards Clarisse, the temporary team captain. She thinks Clarisse is a self-absorbed know-it-all, even though they used to be close friends when they were younger. Still, Millicent is okay with not receiving the same awards or honors as Clarisse as long as she survives her last game of high school. But when Clarisse proposes putting an innocent new recruit named Remington on the field as a starter, Millicent butts heads with her over her willing sacrifice of a teammate she thinks will only last a few seconds on the bloody field. The team stops for dinner, and Clarisse and Millicent begin to argue again. Millicent challenges Clarisse to a duel for the role of team captain, and they go into the parking lot to fight with their bayonets. Clarisse accuses Millicent of being jealous of her, and even though she doesn’t want to admit it, she knows the other girl is right. Remington says it’s not in the team spirit to fight and begins to sing their fight song, which brings both girls to tears and they stop the duel. When they get back on the bus, they sit together and reminisce about their friendship and mutual envy for the other. Clarisse agrees to put Remington in the back to start, and with renewed team spirit, they go out into the stadium to face the other bayonet team.