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[b][u]The Hoverboard Tournament:[/b][/u]

Riley's eyes landed on Japhet, he was surrounded by a bunch of giggling girls, and they were eyeing the boy beside Ace and cheering him on. Japhet looked absolutely miserable, he had a tub of popcorn cradled in one hand and Ace's hat clutched in the other.

"You sure you aren't going to join us?" She laughed when one of the squealing girls nearly knocked Japhet over.

The nobody took a handful of popcorn into his mouth and snorted. "Nah, seeing you all fumble around is going to be fun."

Why that jerk! Riley's ears went red in frustration. Japhet reminded her of Songbird in way, though the latter had always been more polite around them. She noticed the smug looking smile on the guide's face and glared, though Ace's voice snapped her out of her anger. "Oh huh?" She fumbled with her helmet then laughed. "Good luck to you too Ace!" Ran was wishing them good luck next and the girl turned to both the grandpa of their group and Toby. "Good luck guys, let's do our best and not fall to our deaths, alright?" She laughed a little when Toby nodded excitedly and nearly fell over in the process.

He always had so much energy. Well, hopefully that would help give him an advantage.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Watermelons and potatoes, the moment you've all been waiting for is here! Riders, make sure you have your helmets on and get into position." The crowd went wild and the Riley noticed a young man in a suit, not too far from Ace and the boy in the cap. Whoa, it was the same guy that zipped past them on the airship and the girl Ran had bumped into was here too. Well, wasn't this some reunion.

"Pleasure to run into you folks, again." He gave the humans a grin and tipped his top hat at them. "Just a warning, but you best be careful."

"Lavi, darling. Stop giving those newcomers tips, let them find out for themselves what this competition is about." It was a girl this time.

He laughed, "don't be so harsh Ri, we don't want them breaking a leg or anything."

The girl named Ri batted her eyelashes playfully, "well, that would be a [i]fabulous[/i] show." She winked at the boy in the cap, "it'd eliminate the competition though..." she brought a hand over her mouth and giggled. "There isn't any competition as far as we're concerned."

Lavi scrunched up his nose and looked at the humans. "Don't mind her. Let's have a good race."

A tall man in a tux made his way to the starting line and cleared his throat. He raised a gun over his head and pointed the muzzle upward. "Let's get started, you all have a long way to go. Ready, get set, and GO!" He fired a flare into the sky and when it exploded colorful lights drifted downward. Somewhere in the ground Japhet was drowning in a sea of limbs as girls cheered and as fans roared.

"Toby, Gramps, comee-OOOON!" Riley was practically flying in a zig-zag.

The audience stared blankly, some tried not to laugh and Japhet he face-palmed. "FLY STRAIGHT DAMN IT!"

"I'M TRYING! SHUT UP AND CHEER YOU GROUCH!" Riley couldn't get any redder. The board flipped upside down, but thankfully metal straps shot out to hold her feet in place. She let out a yelp before managing to right herself in the air.

Japhet buried his face in his hands...this was embarrassing and there was nothing to cheer about.

Riley stepped on a button that propelled her backwards and she crashed smack dab into Ran. The crowd erupted into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lavi was taking it slow, cruising beside Ace with a sympathetic looking smile. "It looks like your friends got into a little predicament." He pulled two chocolate bars out of his pouch. "Want one?" And before she could answer he tossed on at her then tore open his own. He wasn't trying to get ahead of her, though judging by how relaxed he was he probably could. Lavi had been riding hoverboards ever since he was eight, it was second nature to him now.

"Lavi, darling, I'll see you at the finish line." Ri zipped past them, she tapped the front portion of her board and it zipped ahead, leaving white smoke in its wake. She turned around with a confident grin and waved excitedly.

Lavi took a bite out his chocolate bar then waved back. "Oh yeah, which reminds me. You gotta watch out for the traps." He leaned to the side and dodge a blue ball that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

From the buildings around, tiny cannons began to emerge. They aimed at the riders who passed and those that were knocked off their boards landed on an invisible net. "Don't worry, none of the contestants ever die--ooh, move to the right." It didn't look like Lavi would be leaving any time soon. He took a bite out of his chocolate bar and gave her another one of his wide, excited grins.