[center][color=burlywood][b][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190412/e4dbf397d85ea4a514a02d2553a44c17.png[/img] Level 1 - (8/10 EXP) + 1 = 9/10 Difficulty Level 1 Location: Peach's Castle Courtyard -> Paved Wilderness Word Count: 706[/b][/color][/center][hr] After all the heroes had left, the courtyard had fallen into a calm, with only the various fauna still around. Pokemon were grazing, interacting and playing with each other, and occasionally scaring off any monsters that got too close. All in all the place carried a rather scenic and graceful beauty. Indeed, nothing could ruin it... [color=burlywood][b]"OH CRAP! I'M LATE!"[/b][/color] The shout disturbed the nearby creatures, and it didn't help when front door of the castle was slammed open, startling them further. The man who opened the door didn't waste a second before beginning to sprint, his feet carrying him away from the castle at a speed like no other. He spotted some fresh tracks from when the heroes' convoy had taken off, and followed it in the hopes of catching up. Gene was quite thankful for the God Hand in that moment, as it enhanced his speed and allowed him to run at the speed of one of the karts. It got a bit tiring after a while, but he was in decent enough shape to keep up with the karts... If he caught up with them, that was. He really hoped they hadn't gone too far ahead. The brawler thought back on the previous night. He had went to bed sadly sober, but after all that had happened, he had been more than a little exhausted. Add to that his notorious habit of being a deep sleeper, and he had awoken quite a while after all the others had already left. At first, he chocked up the quiet castle to him waking up earlier than the others, which was a miracle in and of itself. But it wasn't until he went to get breakfast in the kitchen and noticed the kitchen staff cleaning an array of dirty dishes that he realized he wasn't early; he was very, [i]very[/i] late. [color=burlywood][b]"CRAP CRAP CRAP! I'VE GOTTA CATCH UP TO THEM!"[/b][/color] Gene shouted to no one but himself, continuing to speed forward. As he followed the tracks left behind by the karts, he noticed that the terrain had started to get rougher, and he almost tripped up a few times over the jagged rocks. Eventually, he came across a jump over a pit, and began to pick up in speed. He took in a deep breath, sped up, and... Leaped over the pit and landed on the other side! Gene stopped to take a breath for a moment, laughing in amazement. He had made a few jumps like that before, even a few over multiple moving platforms hanging over a near bottomless pit, but man, he never quite got used to it. He continued forward, passing by a large plateau, when he finally saw the convoy! He had caught up with them! He continued running forward, before stopping after noticing something odd... [i]There was a bunch of bandit cars attacking. [b]And a friggin' giant![/b][/i] He stood back and watched for a moment, noticing that the giant looked similar to that Centurion guy he had met last night in the kitchen! So thankfully, that meant that guy was on their side, but the other big cars? No, those guys were definitely [i]not[/i] friendly if them attacking the others was anything to go by. A few of the others had started attacking, a few of them handling the ice cream truck while the giant and Bowser Jr. went for the monster truck. He needed to get in there and help them! But... Even with all his skills, he couldn't just start punching moving vehicles! He needed something, some sort of power-up so he could jump into the fray without worrying about taking damage! If only there was... Gene facepalmed. He had the friggin' [i]God Hand. [b]The thing that made him invincible.[/b][/i] He slapped a hand onto the Deistic Brace and prepared to take it off, while running into the fray. As soon as he was close to one of the bandit vehicles, what appeared to be a buggy piloted by a strange looking man and an orange creature, he ripped off the Brace and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEpGs3STXMY]felt the power of a God flow through him![/url] [color=burlywood][b]"BUUUUURN!"[/b][/color] Gene yelled, before running forward and attempting to leap onto the buggy to disable it.