[center][h3]Power Stone Games: Ōedo II[/h3]
[i]Friday Morning[/i]
Location: Esaka's Mid-Tier, Forbidden Kingdom 
Word Count: 2,478 (+3)

[color=BC8DBF][b]Therion[/b] - [u]Level[/u]: [b]10[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 397/100[/color]
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 15 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](346/150)
[sub][@Yankee][@DracoLunaris][@Lugubrious][/sub][/center]

As the metaphorical dust settled following the chain goo bombs going off, the four fighters found themselves scattered to the edges of the replica town. None had been knocked out of the game yet, and the first of the participants to recover was Therion.

He'd landed smack between the two wooden houses but was back on his feet quickly, feline ears flicking up to stand tall on his head. He hadn't been taking the game seriously at all, and light or not the rain shower that stubbornly refused to clear did nothing but keep him in a poor mood, but now it was like his gaze had sharpened. The unpredictable nature of the weird items [i]did[/i] make things more interesting than a dumb slugfest, and having a side goal to chase in the Power Stones that promised a big advantage once three were collected added another layer to what appeared to be a simple contest.

Alright, fine. This was supposed to be for fun, right? Therion could have fun. 

He shot out from behind the water wheel, his intent to grab the two fallen Power Stones across the stone plaza clear to everyone else.

It took more effort for Ayame to pull herself out of the bamboo thicket she’d been launched into, but despite being sooty from the gooey explosion, the ninja girl seemed to be in good spirits. When she saw Therion dart toward the crystals, she grinned. “Wow, you guys are full of energy, huh? You’re not Esaka natives, are you?” With a grunt, Ayame broke off two sticks of bamboo to use as stilts. Once elevated, she peg-legged her way over to Therion to try and whack him with bamboo kicks. “Where you from? I bet it’d be fun to visit someday!”

Her antics put a stop to the thief's advance, but he was proving too elusive to catch with the stilts. He weaved between the bamboo poles as they shifted, keeping just out of reach of being struck. Unfortunately the height of the poles meant escaping them entirely was easier said than done.

[color=BC8DBF]"It's way different than here,"[/color] was all he said in response to her question, leaving if that was meant as a good or bad thing up to interpretation. 

Dusting himself off, Pete chuckled. He might not be doing well, but he was still having a good time. When chaos reigned, and random item drops dictated the flow of the match, it was easy to get caught up in the fun and not stress about who was fighting better or worse. Even the most dominant combatant could find the tables turned at the drop of a hat, after all. “It’s nice having new people, th-that’s for sure,” he remarked as he pulled a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/18ca6dba00aa.png]freeze gun[/url] out of a lucky chest. He closed one eye and stuck out his tongue as he took aim at the melee between Therion and Ayame. “Keeps things…fresh!” The next thing the others knew, globs of supercooled fluid were flying around the battlefield, able to encase anyone in a block of ice for a second or two.

[color=SpringGreen]”The Koopa Kingdom”[/color] came a shout of an answer to the question, coming from the insides of a rather large smashed open crate. A moment later, there came the revving of an engine before the front of the crate smashed open and Jr, riding in a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/abd17865f0fb.png]Rambi Rider[/url] go kart, came careening out while cheering [color=SpringGreen]”and we know how to crash a party!”[/color] before going careening towards the power stone brawl.

Not content to just threaten crashing into the pair brawling over the power stones, the prince also formed a koopashell out of iron, and tossed it towards Pete as soon as the freeze gun wielder tried to turn the weapon his way.

After deciding that the best way to get around Ayame's bamboo based assault was to actually go straight through it, Therion had been whittling away at one stalk during the few seconds of the encounter. Being tough and pliable it wasn't a simple task, but he'd succeeded with a quick Battle Boost and a sharp elbow, splitting one of the kunoichi's stilts just as Junior came rushing at the both of them. While Ayame was off balance and in danger of going down, Therion leapt up to avoid the koopa prince. The go-kart zipped right underneath him, but of course while Therion was airborne he was a sitting duck for Pete. A chilled projectile struck his side, freezing Therion with an expression of surprise on his face as he fell back to the ground.

Pete, unfortunately, could not take advantage since he’d dodged Junior’s iron shell with an emergency dive, which took him straight into a fence post. Meanwhile, as one of her stilts buckled beneath her, Ayame ditched it and leaped away. “Man of few words, eh?” She grabbed onto one of the yellow waterwheel supports and began to climb upward, quickly gaining some elevation. A chest had appeared on one of the more prominent rocks by the waterfall, and when she could Ayame leaped for the treasure box to pop it open. From within the ninja girl produced a third power stone, this one hot pink. “All three in play, huh? Two to go, then!” She took a running jump and landed with a roll back on the stage, at which point she made for Therion’s ice block. There was no telling how long the freeze would last, but if she could slide it off the edge and into the pool below, that’d be an easy elimination.

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh no you don’t!”[/color] Jr (having ditched the out of juice go-cart and now sporting a pair of  [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/51ccfa36b327.png]goggles[/url]) yelled at Ayame. He then focused, causing the goggles to glow and for pixel static to erupt in front of him as the device summoned a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/650d94cb48fa.png]Monochromon[/url] from the digital world, which he commanded  [color=SpringGreen]”Get me those stones!”[/color] 

As commanded, the triceratops sized digimon promptly charged towards the woman with thunderous steps, oversized horn lowered down low to lance her, though given the low battery warning beeping on the goggle shaped digivice jr was wearing it seemed like that was the only thing it was going to pull off before returning home.

“Whoa!” Now [i]that[/i] was an item that took Ayame by surprise. Sliding to a stop right next to Therion’s ice block, she threw up her hands to try and block, but the dinosaur was just too strong. With a mighty bash it bowled her over and sent Therion sliding toward the edge of the stage while flinging the stones in its summoner’s direction. Ayame tried to grab hold of the edge, but her sheer momentum meant that she slid off before her fingers could grasp anything. “Aieeeee!” The ninja girl disappeared, bound for a watery disqualification.

It looked like Therion was going to share the same fate, but the ice cube he was encased in sliding along the rain-slicked stone floor was so quick that when it flew off the edge it kept going, sailing over the water and smashing into the rock wall that surrounded the arena. The ice shattered on impact, leaving Therion clinging to a boulder with his tail all poofed up. He blinked while he regained his bearings, glancing in the direction of Biff's tower at the center of the park. Did this count as a ring out? He wasn't hearing anything about being eliminated, so apparently he was still in the game. 

He braced himself against the rock and then pushed off to leap the distance back towards the stage proper - the rain was bad enough, but being dunked into the pool would be awful, and he'd already come pretty close to that. For a thief he hadn't had much luck getting his hands on the stage's spawning treasure chests, but there were still small wooden crates littered around. He smashed one open after landing, gaining a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/a2ba279460b8.jpg]capsule[/url], which seemed a little redundant. The better prize was Ayame's Power Stone that had been flung back up from the ravine she'd fallen into in order to be put back into play. Therion noted the airborne gem and snatched it before it landed next to him. Then, as though taken by the rain itself, he simply vanished.

[color=SpringGreen]”Hey! That was mine!”[/color] Jr yelled at the vanished thief, before pulling off the now inert goggles and tossing them aside. He then went for another crate, smashing it open to reveal an oversized plant plot (one as wide as the prince was) with a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/64301100d96e.gif]peashooter[/url] growing inside of it. This the prince looked at in bemusement for a moment, before wrapping his arms around the pot and hosting it up to hold in front of him.

Pete took aim, only for his freeze gun to click empty. He blinked at it, then grimaced at Junior’s peashooter. “Uh oh…”

He was saved only by coincidence. Using his tsukigakure, Therion suddenly reappeared from a puddle right nearby to do what he did best: steal. With a swipe he nabbed a Power Stone from Junior, the gem shifting to join the one already orbiting the thief. One to go. With a little bit of a grin from the successful theft he made a quick back step to avoid direct retaliation, then broke open the capsule to get whatever item was inside that would surely clinch the win for him. 

The [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/7f822be7351e.png]little pink guy[/url] that appeared was a surprise, enough so that Therion faltered before his next move, the moment's hesitation all it took to leave him open. [color=BC8DBF]"Huh?"[/color]

At that moment a beachball sized fresh pea came flying towards the thief, which would be followed by a few more (fired every 1.5 seconds) while Jr cheered [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah!!! Get him!”[/color]

It was the second time during this game that Therion had been pelted with projectiles like this, so he managed to weasel his way out of the barrage after only the first two pellets with a quick duck and dodge. Unfortunately one of his stolen stones abandoned him due to the hit, falling to the ground where he had just been standing. [color=BC8DBF]"Tch."[/color]

While Junior opened fire on his fellow Seeker (and bigger threat) Therion, Pete did what [i]he[/i] did best: scurry around in the background. Rather than try to fight directly, he hunted for crates and stomped open the first one he found, revealing a miniature [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/f8b7f075953b.png]monster truck[/url]. A grin instantly spread across Pete’s face, and when he touched it, a giant monster truck materialized around him with the puppet at the wheel. “Enough toying around!” Laughing like a maniacal gremlin, Pete began to do donuts on the stage, which really wasn’t big enough to accommodate both it and the Seekers’ brawl at once. One way or another, this tussle was about to reach a conclusion.

Therion was only just out of reach of the next puddle that would allow him to teleport out of Pete's way, so when an oversized wheel smacked into him he was sent spinning across the plaza. His remaining Power Stone flew from him back into the center of the area while the thief himself was tossed out of bounds, passing under the torii gate they'd entered from at the beginning. He laid on the ground for a moment to let the dizziness pass, the only thing really hurt being some of his pride, before getting to his feet to see which of the two boys would emerge victorious. 

Jr responded to the incoming roadkilling by lunging to the side and using Magma Rush, leaving a mine of magma to be crushed beneath the tire of the monster truck in his place. Unfortunately the heavy plant and pot left him entirely off balance, causing the boy to fall to his belly with an [color=SpringGreen]”Ooof!”[/color] while his peashooter went rolling away from him.

Sadly for Pete, his four-wheel rampage came to an end all too soon, as the monster truck vanished beneath him and sent him tumbling along the stage again. When he lifted up his head with a wince and adjusted his glasses, he blinked at the sight of Bowser Jr only a short distance away, with all three power stones scattered between them. “Oh. Oh!” Galvanized into action by the sudden realization, Pete pushed himself to his feet and ran to scoop up the power stones, desperate to beat his opponent to the punch.

The prince had come to the exact same concussion, scrambling to grab the stone closest to him, and then turning to face the other kid across from the other kid with the final stone between them. He squared up, forming a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/14536c097899.png]blunt tipped fencing foil[/url], because after all the chaos and crazy items it looked like it might just come down to a plain clash of skills over who could land the first hit to both drive their opponent back and get their power stone off of them. 

Pete seemed a lot less sure of himself than his opponent, and rather intimidated by his sword, to boot. With a grimace he reached into his backpack and pulled out a yoyo. He clutched it like a softball, then dashed forward to swing the makeshift flail in an arc.

Despite the makeshift nature of the attack, certainly wasn't the kind of one Jr had ever faced while fencing at the olympics (then again, that could describe every weapon that wasn't another foil). Which was why, instead of trying to parry, he brought his full arm up, formed a shield of iron out of it to block the yoyo, and then let it fall away as he swung the foil around like a spindly club, accompanied by a [color=SpringGreen]”Sike!”[/color] from the ever so proud of himself prince. The blow struck Pete over the head and bowled the puppet over, wincing, which gave Junior plenty of time to grab his prize.

The prince spared no time in tossing aside the sword and grabbing a stone in each hand. Knowing exactly how this kind of thing worked from many a silly sporting event, Jr immediately inhaled deeply and then unleashed a  [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/c2164585436e.png]Sonic Roar[/url] that washed over Pete, shrinking the puppet down to a tiny size.

With that done, it was easy enough for the prince to jog over, reach down, pick up, and then dunk the puppet into the water for a ringout victory. A little mean, yes, but surprisingly restrained given the stomping he could have given was he in a vengeful or mean spirited mood.

This was all fun and games, however, though the prince was also not at all beneath cheering loudly and pumping a fist as Biff announced his victory.