Hello, everyone! Here's a one-shot I've been thinking of, and it introduces a new character! Let's meet 'er. :P

What Really Keeps Ya Goin'! The Day of Rivals and Games!

Uno Household

"Snooooore…shoooo…snoooore…shoooo…"

BEEEP! BEEEP! BEE-

Cheren's hand plopped onto the alarm clock as he rolled over. This was on accident, though, as he was still fast asleep. It was only when 10 more minutes passed that the morning sun peered through his window, forcing his tired eyes to open. Still not wanting to wake up, he squinted his eyes at his clock, almost certain it would've gone off by now. …It read 7:10.

"AAAAAH! OH GOD, WHAT HAPPENED, I'M LATE, I'M LATE!" He zipped downstairs.

In seconds, he was in his clothes with his backpack packed, zooming out the door. "Wait!" His father, Nigel called. "Your mom made you-"

"There's no TIME for that, I'm late I'm late!"

Five minutes later, the bus arrived, but Cheren was far ahead of it. He only needed a few more blocks 'til he was at the school and victory would be assured. "NOT so fast, boy!" Already beside him, the very reason he rushed out so quickly: to beat Panini Drilovsky.

"YOU AREN'T BEATING ME THIS TIME!"

"Ay'm not just Rabbit Ears, AY'M Rabbit Legs! And YER eatin' my dust!"

Their speed was unreal, and definitely equally matched. It looked like anyone's game as they were seconds from Gallagher's front doors. But with a little more pulse, Panini ran a few inches ahead of Cheren, and busted down the door while Cheren slipped in defeat. Many children and teachers jumped in surprise. "YYYYES! STOMPED ya again, Boy!"

"FIRST ONE TO CLASS!" The duo began another dash, in which they took separate routes around the halls. Cheren was nearly to victory, but-

"SNAGGED IT!" Panini threw the door open first and let Cheren slam into it. The boy fell on his back, then felt someone standing over him.

"Uhhh... hi, Mom." His mother, who was the school principal, looked disapprovingly.

"Cheren, how many times do we have to go over this. The 200 Wing is the better shortcut, not the 300."

"Uuugh. I knew it was one or the other."

He walked in in a slumped fashion and took his seat beside a smirking Panini. "At least I listen to my mummy."

"First one to beat today's quiz!"

"Ah'll do that and MORE!" They grabbed their papers and began to scribble frantically.

From outside, Aurora, Francis, Harry, and Artie watched them. "They're at it again." Aurora said.

"There some kinda rivalry-bug goin' around?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I mean, everybody's doing it. Just look at those two." Artie pointed.

"Er! Outta my way, Shortstuff!" The group turned to find First Grade President, Jessie Sidney, trying to force his way into a classroom. He was locked in a shoving contest with a girl in a dark-purple two-piece swimsuit, purple towel-cape, bare feet, and purple crown with a shell crest. They knew her as Princess Shelly Johnson, local beach bully and Fourth Grade President (or rather, Queen).

"Suck a sand dune, you big-footed freak!" Jessie had both hands shoving her face while Shelly's foot was pressed against his. "I'm taking the window seat!"

"You can have the other one, BEHIND ME." With a forceful kick, Jessie was down and Shelly had claimed the seat. "Nnn hnn hnn hnn hnnn!" Shelly's infamous snicker that drove Jessie crazy whenever she did it. "The queen takes the front!"

"Great." Jessie frowned, begrudgingly taking the seat behind her. "You get to be the first one to be shot, *** princess."

"HE CUSSED! !" the other students screamed.

"It's only friendly rivalry." Sandy Sidney told them with a smile.

"ROCK ON!"

"See you for the pudding-eating contest." Shelly smirked. And for the rest of that class, Jessie's view of the chalkboard was blocked by Shelly's crown.

That lunch bell...

"Grrrr!" Cheren and Panini rushed down the lunch line to claim their favorite foods first, and several other groups were in the scuffle as well. A brother and sister were locked in an endless staring contest, two boys were trying to stay on one foot all day, and a boy and two girls were going the whole day without talking, trying to outlast the other. The action everyone was most focused on was at Table 3, where all five Grade Presidents engaged in pudding-eating contests, since the young ones couldn't ingest many hotdogs. :P

They had many cups of chocolate pudding and were hurriedly trying to swallow them all before the others. The Third Grade conked out first out of hopelessness, the Second Grade started choking and was forced to stop and start breathing in his inhaler. The Fifth Grade almost made it, but he got a stomachache, so Jessie and Shelly were the only ones left. Jessie could swallow a lot for a 7-year-old, but Shelly's stomach wasn't bursting anytime soon. The girl showed pure gusto when eating her pudding, but that only tempted Jessie to eat faster.

"All right! Jessie's about to make it!" Timmy Gilligan cheered, his support followed by Hikari and Joey's.

But thinking fast, Shelly smirked and- "Haaaa, aaaah, aaaCHOO!" forced her knees against the table and shook Jessie's pudding cups off.

"HEY!"

Shelly quickly cut open her last three cups and chugged them down. "WOOHOO! VICTORY!" She fist-pumped, chocolate around her mouth.

"I hereby decree SHELLY the winner!" Principal Rachel announced.

"YEAH! UH-HUH! I'm queen of the beach and QUEEN of the pudding! Nnne hnn hnn hnnnn!" Shelly jumped on the table and raised her arms victoriously. "Hey, later we'll have a contest to see who can clog the toilet the most." She smirked, flicking Jessie's nose with her toe.

"Uhhh, Principal Rachel, was there really a contest scheduled for this?" a teacher asked her.

"Not really."

Outside

The first-graders and fourth-graders engaged in a soccer game, with Jessie protecting his team's goal. The score was even 6-to-6, and Shelly had the ball, lightly kicking it up and down. "This is the finishing blow, Shorty. Think that little gut of yours can withstand my foot?"

"I've dealt with babies that kicked harder than you!"

"We'll see about that!" She focused tight on the goal, and the foreign boy that blocked it. Just as well, Jessie stood firmly and kept a sharp eye on the ball, ready to block it wherever it went. Shelly kicked it a little higher, jumped, and with all her might, sent it hurling to the goal like a meteor. It came awfully fast, but Jessie wasn't afraid. He would stand and block it like the Great Wall. You know, before the aliens destroyed it. With a witty grin, Shelly shifted her left foot back.

"Whoa!" Jessie became unbalanced, right when the ball came and SOCKED him in the face, into the net with the ball.

"YEAH! ! !" Shelly felt as prideful as she did a few minutes ago. "Shelly kicks butt and she kicks BALLS! …Why did that sound weird? But hey, Shorts, at least you'll be making some money offa those lost teeth. KNIGHTS! Your princess grows weary! Carry her to her bundles of chocolate-chip cookies and fountain of the finest juices!"

"HO HOOOO!" Three knights in conchshell armor came and lifted Shelly in their arms, carrying their leader away.

Jessie remained with his hands tied in the net's strings, not feeling the strength to help himself out. Cheren approached him with blue shoes and blue jacket, as opposed to his red clothes. "Don't worry. I heard she just has a little snack pack and one of those boxed juices."

"The *** are you wearing?"

"Eh, Panini beat me in the pie-eating contest and made me paint my clothes blurpleberry."

"Siiiigh." Jessie leaned his head back. "What's the point anymore. Ever since I was in kindergarten, Shelly's kicked my butt in everything. *** bigfoot. *** big kids. How can I represent the First Grade if I can't even beat a dumb beach bully?"

"Heh heh heh. I know how you feel." He sat beside him. "You won't believe how much I try to beat Panini at stuff."

"There's a difference, you two are *** lovebirds. Shelly's just… uuuugh. I can't stand her. She thinks she owns the whole school just 'cause her older cousins follow her around everywhere, and she totally CHEATS at our contests. I hope her house burns down and she has to walk on a bunch of shattered glass."

"Well, even if they're bullies, the good thing about rivals is, they help shape who you are and help hone your skills. It's good to have people that'll keep you active and ready, 'cause then-"

"Look, did I ask for a lecture from a *** 4th-grader?"

"Well, YOU need to work on your 'tude." he said more angrily. "How's about we meet up for Gun Wars later after I race Panini around the school and to the buses?"

"It's a match then!" Jessie decided.

"See you then." Cheren walked away with an eager smirk, leaving Sandy to untie her brother's hands.

Ashland Park

The rivalry game continued elsewhere, too. At Ashland Park, many kids gaped as two stone pillars rose from the ground, one higher than the other. Fybi Fulbright flew up to confirm this. "Prithee, Michelle hath claimed this victory again."

"NOT fair, you were stomping softer soil!" Anthony yelled.

"I was NOT, you just had softer feets!" Michelle argued.

"We'll see whose is softer after yours goes tumbling down!" He stomped an earthquake at Michelle's pillar, but accidentally made it higher, while also causing his own pillar to crumble.

"Awwwww! Thank you, Anthonyyyy!"

"Aaaauugh!"

Downtown Cleveland; The Gang's Hideout

Kimaya Heartly chugged down three sodas and let them bubble in her stomach. "BUUUUUURRP!" She released a loud, smelly burp that blew tiny Kateenian, Vweeb away. "Top THAT, Shrimpy."

"Heh!" With a witty smirk, Vweeb hopped atop a soda can, stuck an extended straw down, and sucked it in. His belly filled with the fizziness, he released his burp. "Buuuu- WHOA!" He ended up blowing himself off the can.

"HA HA HA HA! It's fun to see you try, Little Dude!"

"Grrrr WELL AT LEAST I STILL BEAT YOU IN THE HYGIENE COMPETITION, that's the only reason I didn't win-" Kimaya just smashed Vweeb under her hand.

"That's okay, 'cause I smash yo' butt in everything else."

"OOOH! OOOH!" Kaleo Anderson, who was still a 20-foot giant due to recent events, spoke eagerly. "I BET I CAN TOP HER!" He grabbed four six-packs of sodas and swallowed them whole.

"LEO, NOOO!" They all screamed.

As people casually walked the streets above ground, the whole city jumped for a brief second. No one ever found out what that was.

Back at Gallagher…

"YOU'RE DOING MY HOMEWORK TODAY, PANINI." Cheren declared as the two raced around the halls.

"Not before ya polish my BOOTS!" They zipped by the principal's office as Rachel stepped out.

"CHEREEEEN! 400 Wing's getting mopped tomorrow, may wanna run across the lockers."

"'kaaaaaay."

Rachel went back in her office to continue signing papers. One of the teachers walked in and asked confusedly, "Um, Mrs. Uno… are you really okay with students, running around like this? I mean, it can't really be healthy to eat pudding that fast…"

"Well, no matter where you're from, kids're always gonna have rivals. But it's not like our usual methods are encouraging them to do their homework, are they?"

"No… they're not." He sighed.

Outside, Jessie and Shelly were once again in the struggle to enter the bus first. "Nn, I want the window seat!" yelled Jessie.

"You're too short to enjoy it, anyway!" The bus was delayed for a while because of their scuffle.

Jessie's a potty-mouth. :P Lol so meet Shelly Johnson, the daughter of King Sandy Johnson with an unknown mother. :P I named her after Queen Shelly, who was Sandy's sister in BND, Sort Of, an old fanfic by lemony anemone. Same story with Chris or Angie basically. :P I was gonna introduce her in Seven Lights, but she deserved a more proper introduction, since she's now one of my favorites. Let it be known, she has quite a few secrets. Anyway, don't expect many updates since I got college work, but I will see you October 3 for Miyuki's new story. Later.