[center][img]http://oi58.tinypic.com/2889r28.jpg[/img][/center] First Ace, then Toby, and now Ran was out of the competition too. How the hell was she still flying? The girl shook her head and laughed weakly, "don't worry, guys! I'll avenge you...maybe, hopefully—crud no!" A tin of steaming mango pie knocked the wind right out of her and soon Riley was swatting away at the yellow substance. It clung to her coat and burned her fingers, "ow, ow, ow, SHIT." She dove down, zipping through the air unpredictably. It made her hard to hit, but it also made her feel queasy. It was pure luck, and Riley knew that it would be running out soon. [center][img]http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy334/defangbasilica/Ri.jpeg[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i61.tinypic.com/oa3nrn.jpg[/img][/center] "Eh, you're still here? How is a clown like you still flying?" Ri didn't even bother wasting her bullets on Riley. "If you run into Lavi, tell the slowpoke I said hi." The nobody bumped into the girl, nearly tipping her over, but before she could lean forward and fly away, a force crashed into her and Riley ended up half-lying on her board. "Geddoff, you're not exactly light," said the nobody. "I can't exactly win, but if there's one thing I can do, it's prevent a certain Nobody from winning." Riley was trying to get on the board and pull Ri down with her but the Nobody had a boot in her face and her grip on the board was slipping. Ri scowled, "get off before I give you a face full of leather." The human managed to wrap her fingers around the nobody's boot. "Gah, your feet stink!" "They do not, now shoo!" "Shoe, haha, that wasn't half-bad. Now prepare to get [i]booted[/i] off!" Riley reached for the nobody's knee but the hoverboard jerk to the left and she nearly slid off, her fingers wrapped tightly around the board's end. "Fudge," the board tilted and the wind whipped wildly at her face. Ri smirked then noticed cruising towards them, "it's the end of the line for you and for him. Send him my regards!" She gave the human a playful salute then pointed her gun at Riley. She wasn't planning to shoot the girl, but she did get her desired result. As soon as Riley noticed the gun, she let out a yelp and Ri leaned back, throwing her off the board and straight at the approaching Lavi. Being the gentleman that he was, the nobody caught her with a surprise yelp and they both fell off the board and onto the net. "My, my, that was quite the cheap trick." Lavi turned to look at Riley with creased eyebrows, "are you alright, human? If not, I assure you, Ri will be paying for the medical bill. She can be a little rough and too competitive for her own good, but she's not a bad person...I think." He laughed a little then offered her a hand, "you humans did a fantastic job. Really, I am quite impressed." [Quote=Announcer Goomba]Last year's champion and all the humans are out, folks! Tunas and tomatoes, it looks like this cycle's champion is going to be a fresh face. Three nobodies are racing towards the goal and..."[/quote] Fireworks shot out towards the sky, trumpets blared, and the crowd went crazy. The screen was focused on a smiling Ri. She waved cheerfully at the crowd then blew a flying kiss in Lavi's direction. Apparently, she had won the race and was to be crowned this cycle's Hoverboard champion. Lavi laughed a little and Riley fell into the net with a groan. [center][b][u]Back at the Museum's entrance:[/b][/u][/center] [center][img]http://i61.tinypic.com/339jevs.png[/img][/center] He was covered in paint. His white shirt was no longer white at all, and his hair was more blue than black, but he didn't really care. At the moment, Harper was standing beside Leila, gushing excitedly about the explosive last stand that the red and blue teams had pulled together. "Lesley and Inadi were amazing, I think I felt the heat between them, especially after Jasper was shot, but really, Leila," if it were possible, he'd probably have stars in his eyes. "[i]How[/i] did you and Lesley make that robot fall over?" He grinned from ear to ear, admiration obvious in his gaze. "Piggyback shooting, I've never seen anything like it." Harper wasn't the sort who enjoyed guns and glory, but the game of paintball they had played would be a memory he'd treasure. Everything had been amazing. From the robots that came out of Nowhere to Aiden's and Est's name calling as they ignored the rest of field and focused on finding each other. It was hard to believe they were soldiers and Harper found the duo's company refreshing. They were a little reckless, but thankfully Breeze and Liz were there to make sure everyone came out of it okay. "And that last stand," Harper turned to face Jasper and Inadi with a grin. After the pink and orange team came charging in, they all teamed up. "We put up a really good fight, didn't we?" He wrinkled his nose then laughed. Jasper had managed to shoot a poor soldier in the face and he ended up crashing into an angry paint bot, it was a silly sight. [center][img]http://oi58.tinypic.com/2889r28.jpg[/img][/center] "Lesley, you're even more colorful than I remember." Riley approached with Ace, Toby, Ran, and Japhet. She was grinning from ear to ear despite the bandage that was wrapped around her left hand. "What happened to you guys? Arts and crafts store?" "Hm, not exactly," he smiled. "Ask Leila, she blew up a robot." His eyes landed on her hand and he frowned. "What happened to your hand?" Riley chuckled, "competitive nobody stomped down on it, but no biggie, it's a battle scar." Japhet eyed the museum then noticed the few soldiers that were talking worriedly outside. "They haven't given you humans the USB yet?" Strange, Lt. Falkner was always trying to get things done as fast as possible. "Hey Est, Breeze, everything here alright?" The humans might not have noticed it, but some of the soldiers on duty looked quite uneasy. From somewhere inside the musuem a loud yell followed by a poor soldier's sobs were heard. [center][img]http://i60.tinypic.com/w7ohsh.jpg[/img][/center] "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT ISN'T HERE?" Someone was slammed against a wall, "I leave to patrol outside the gates and come back to this? Really, I expected a little more from this platoon. And you nobodies call yourself [i]soldiers[/i], this is unbelievable." There were a couple of muffled apologies. Japhet didn't recognize the poor soldier's voice, but he was familiar enough with Lt. Falkner's yelling to know that she was the one terrorizing the poor nobody. He turned to look at Est and Breeze with creased eyebrows and a frown. "So, who's brave enough to head inside?" A red-faced soldier scurried out of the door, mumbling apologies as he left. He stopped right before the humans and the guides and gave them a shaky salute. "Pvt. Fenrir reporting for duty. A problem came up and..." The door flew open and an angry Lt. Falker came marching out, she had a young soldier's collar in a death grip and dragged him along. The Nobody in front of the humans flinched then looked pleadingly at both Est and Japhet, as if he were asking for backup. "Y-Yes, something came up and we d-don't have..." as soon as a hand landed on his shoulder he zipped his mouth and stared at the floor. Lt. Falkner let out a sigh then turned to face Breeze, Est, Japhet, and the humans. "The USB has been stolen." She pressed a crumpled piece of paper into Japhet's hands and he scrunched up his nose in confusion. What was this supposed to be? It looked like a third grader's failed attempt at writing a letter, most of the handwriting was bad and it was done entirely in green crayon. [Quote=Letter]How do I start this thing again? Fear, dear, rear? Oh—deer! That's right :D Deer, I thought you were our neighbors, but then Sacha reminded me. You're that group that's trying to complete the list, the bunch of weirdos we ran into at the Lake and in the forest. Do you wanna join us for tea? Sacha is one hell of a cook and I can buy some of Mr. Cuddle's tarts if you come. I promise I won't let Gargar go anywhere near the food. Her cooking really sucks... Anyways, we have that weird information stick you want, so yeah, join us for tea? Gargar drew a map to where you can find us![/quote] There was a badly drawn picture of five people in green hoods and attached to the letter was an equally badly drawn map. Thankfully, written on the same piece of paper and in good handwriting were actual directions. Japhet gaped, "the dark side?" He then turned to the humans, "does this make any sense to you humans?" He looked at the paper again. [Quote=Letter]P.S. We'd love it if you joined us for tea. - C[/quote]