Yay! Last chapter for Training!

Day One

"WOOOO! We're training for a tournament! We're training for a tournament! We're training for a tournament! We're tra-"

"RUDY!" Boomer screamed irritably. Seriously, how could a 15 year old like him retain the hyperactivity he's had since he was 10? And having the kangaroo hop circles around her like this wasn't helping her patience in the slightest. So she grabbed him by the collar of his sweatshirt to halt him. "Would you hold still for one cotton-picking minute?"

"But Boomer, we're not picking cotton, we're training!" Rudy corrected, joking of course. Rudy could never be as naive as Jack; not that he would say that aloud either.

"That's right Boomer," Charmy chuckled, adding in. "We're training."

"Hey, you're no help," Boomer grumbled with a finger pointed at her Captain. "You're the one who encourages this kind of behavior in him!"

"Well, maybe he thinks it'd be better to be child-like and carefree than to be too grouchy?" Natal presumed with a slight giggle.

"Alright, now we've got to wait for Wiper and Sonia, and we can get started, y'know." Newt nodded.

"Yeah, what's taking them so looong?" whined Rudy with an unbelivably high pitched voice.

"I wouldn't call it carefree, but that's definitely child-like," Boomer grumbled, twisting a finger in her ear to soothe the ache from Rudy's noise.

"I'm sure we won't have to wait for very much longer Rudy," Cal assured; trying to hide the fact that he was also a little annoyed by Rudy's commotion.

"…sorry for the holdup." At that point, two characters approached the group, each of them ready for training. "I presume that you're all ready?" Wiper hummed.

"You bet, Wiper!" Newt nodded, slamming his fists together.

"That's good to know!" Sonia chuckled, as she rubbed her hands together. "So, just what do we have planned?"

"Oooooh, I've got something planned!" That was when Boomer grabbed Rudy and shook her fist right at his face. "I'm going to pound the snot out of-"

"For goodness sake, Boomer, calm down," Charmy chuckled uneasily, wrestling Rudy free out of her grip. Rudy jumped behind Charmy for cover, sticking out his tongue at the duck tauntingly, and Boomer started chasing the kangaroo madly; the two of them running swift circles around the old bee. He stood there, sighing of frustration while listening to the screams and laughs of Rudy, and threatening curses from Boomer.

"If I may cut in," Cal snatched up Rudy and held Boomer back with a hand-like foot, having solved the issue of the chase for now. "Honestly, I don't know what's gotten into you two."

"I guess they're just eager to get started." Natal giggled.

"You know, I think Boomer and Rudy got a good training program right there." Sonia chuckled, folding her arms.

"I don't think it's so good!" protested Rudy, who tried not to look at the scowls that Boomer shot at him.

"Now, now, I believe I have a suggestion for our method of training," Charmy pulled a hat out of his vest with a smile. "We're going to be random."

"Do tell," Rudy said, at the feet of his Captain with all ears to listen to the words he had to say. The very word 'random' just rang wisdom to the kangaroo's ears.

"I'm going to throw our names into this hat, then each of us draws a name," Charmy says. "Whichever name you pick will be your opponent for the day."

"...well, how exactly would that work fair?" Boomer asked. "There isn't really an even number of us; that's if you're not fighting Captain, and I highly doubt you would. One of us would be left out."

"Nothing wrong with that, right?" Charmy said. "Besides, it isn't going to be entirely random. It will be team against team. The Chaotix members are going to pick a name from team Alpha, and of course, I'll throw your name in too, Sonia. Last name not chosen can just sit and watch the battles."

"That sounds like a plan." Wiper nodded.

"…hey, you guys are training for the tournament, right?"

Hearing that voice, Sonia glanced over her shoulder. That allowed her to spot a red scorpion walking towards them, who waved one of her pincer-hands at them. "…you know, Captain…" she hummed, before looking back at the bee. "…I figure that we might have an even amount of fighters after all, today."

"Well look at that," Charmy said with a smile.

"We sure are!" Rudy answered the scorpion's question while hopping around her. "You're more than welcome to join us if you want!"

"Really?" the scorpion hummed, before giving Rudy a nod. "Cool!"

"…Ruki, wasn't it?" Sonia hummed out of curiosity, eying the scorpion.

"Yeah; that's it." Ruki nodded. "So, what method of training did you all decide on?"

"We pick names out of a hat and fight the person whose name we picked," Cal briefed.

"Right, and for the sake of this little exercise, we'll pretend that Ruki is part of the Chaotix, and Sonia is part of Alpha, evening the numbers," Charmy said, ripping up a sheet of paper which he had written Wiper, Natal, Newt, and Sonia's names on. Then he tossed them into the hat, and bounced it to shuffle up the names. Everyone waited on their sparring partners.

The first one Charmy offered the hat to was Rudy, and he looked in while reaching in. Then Charmy smacked him. "No peeking, Rudy," he reminded, so Rudy averted his eyes while he stuck his hand in. Then he beamed when he saw the name on the paper.

"I got your name, Newt!" he said.

"Oh, really, now?" Newt chuckled. "Let's make sure to get a lot of trainin' in, y'know!"

Next was Boomer, and when she looked at the name she picked out, she glanced at Sonia. "Looks like you're my sparring partner today, Sonia."

"Really?" Sonia hummed, tapping her foot against the ground. "This could be fun."

Cal was up next, and he chuckled when he saw the name he got. "Well, it's you and me Natal."

"Hey, no fair!" Rudy complained with a point at Cal. "He gets to fight his girlfriend!" that remark made Cal turn a little red, and he tried to hide it; especially from Ruki who was just a newcomer. Natal, too, turned a bit red, trying to hide it whilst giggling nervously.

Ruki, however, didn't seem to mind that comment, as she looked at Wiper. "This means that I'll be taking you on!"

"I suppose it does, Ruki." Wiper nodded, hissing a tad. "We're all set, then?"

"Yep we're ready!" Rudy said.

"Now Captain," Boomer began, "would we take turns, or would all of us fight at the same time?"

Charmy shrugged his shoulders. "Your choice."

"Let's all fight at the same time!" Rudy exclaimed, bouncing up and down with energy.

"Hell yeah!" Newt yelled in approval, pumping his fists in the air.

Wiper chuckled, as he shook his head. "Even if we're going to fight at the same time, I don't think we should crowd together in one area. Let's split up."

"Me and Newt will see if there's any more room around Music Square!" Rudy said. He didn't even bother with Newt's input either; he just grabbed the salamander's arm and tugged.

Although, Newt was much stronger than Rudy was, and Rudy wasn't even able to make him budge no matter how much he tried to pull. This just made others in the group chuckle. Newt began heading off with Rudy in tow. "Come on, Rudy; we're gonna get ahead of everyone by miles!"

"Oh, is that so?" Sonia quipped, before she suddenly grabbed hold of Boomer, pulling her in the opposite direction of where Newt and Rudy were heading. "Come on; we can stop by my place to train there!"

"Whoa! Hey! I can walk, you know!" Boomer uttered, catching up so that Sonia didn't have to pull her.

"We'll take the woods for some espionage combat, since the trees make good cover," Cal said. "That'll leave you guys here, if that's fine?"

"That's alright with me," Charmy said, and then he turned to Ruki and Wiper. "How about you two?"

"I'm okay with it." Wiper said with a nod. Glancing over at Ruki, he saw that she nodded, too.

"Right; let's move, Cal." Natal said with a nod to him, before she leaped ahead of him, right into the woods. Cal disappeared almost as quickly as she did, following where she went. Since everyone scattered to their designated areas, Charmy contently went to a nearby bench and took a seat.

"You two are free to start, whenever," he said.

Nodding, both of them looked at each other, Wiper raising his left hand in preparation, and Ruki snapping her pincers together. "…ready?" Ruki chuckled.

"Ready." Wiper nodded, before the two ran at each other.

"Alright tough guy!" Rudy exclaimed right in the middle of the town square, which definitely garnered the attention of the others around. "Put up them ol' fisticuffs!" Rudy's fists circled back and forth eagerly with some jabs in the air, trying to look tough for Newt.

Chuckling, Newt cracked his knuckles whilst looking down at Rudy. "Alright, Rudy; time to show me what you've got, y'know!"

"Right!" Rudy wound up a fist and threw it right at Newt.

Though it hit, it didn't do too much. "Come on; give it everything you got, y'know!" Newt called.

Rudy kept right on punching persistently, but it still didn't look like it was doing much, and Rudy didn't seem aware of it. Those around them started giggling and chuckling in amusement. Newt could only look down at Rudy, before looking around in slight embarrassment. Geez… I can't begin punching him until I actually feel some pain…

Rudy finally noticed that he wasn't doing much to Newt. "You're tougher than I thought..." So he leaned back on his large tail, and used it like a spring to launch himself, throwing both his feet at Newt.

Surprisingly, this had some serious impact.

This kick sent Newt skidding back a few feet, taking him off his guard. "…well, that was some trick!" he laughed, before raising his fists. "Now we can get really serious, y'know!"

Rudy started hopping again, raising his own fists and raring to go. "...incoming!" Rudy was hopping at Newt, and spun around to hit him with his large tail.

"Hoo!" Seeing that, Newt was quick to raise his arm to block that from hitting him, before aiming a punch at Rudy.

Rudy jumped away from Newt's punch instantly, and hopped right back at him with another springing kick. This time, Newt had the courtesy to avoid the incoming kick, before aiming another set of punches at the kangaroo. Rudy was up on his tail, blocking the punches with his feet.

Those around them crowded, finding the fight interesting.

With a small grin, Newt cupped his hands together, before he aimed an even stronger attack at Rudy, by smashing his hands into him.

It knocked Rudy off balance on his tail, "Whoa!" and he rolled over back onto his feet as a smooth recovery. Then he swept his tail around underneath Newt's feet in attempt to trip him.

"Whoa!" Newt called, as the tail successfully tripped him; however, before he could hit the ground, he planted his hands down on the ground, vaulting himself so that instead of crashing into the ground, he got back on his feet, before shaking his head. "Close one…"

"Aw," Rudy moaned. Then he bounced again, but each bounce sent him higher and higher. Eventually, he shot up into the air like a rocket, soaring above everyone to their awe. It was hard to see the kangaroo without having to shield their eyes from the sun.

"….weeeEEEEEEEE!" Rudy wailed, aiming to land right on Newt with his feet.

"Hn?" Seeing that, Newt quickly rolled out of the way before Rudy could land on him. "Man, that's one trick, y'know!"

"You ain't gonna see no rabbit hop like that, that's for sure!" Rudy said, still jumping around. His cheery joke managed to get some chuckles out of people.

"I bet I won't." Newt chuckled, as he glanced at Rudy's feet. "…hey, by the way, your shoelaces aren't tied, y'know."

"What?" Rudy actually looked down and everyone laughed.

…that was too easy, y'know. Newt thought with a sigh, before he took advantage of Rudy's lowered defenses, knocking him on the head.

Rudy fell over and lied there with closed eyes, appearing to be knocked out from that blow. In reality, he was just pretending, to see what Newt would do about it. However, Newt didn't seem to buy it. "Don't try anythin' smart, y'know; I know that I didn't punch you that hard!"

"Aw," Rudy groaned, sitting up. He was hoping to make an opening for himself, but Newt was too hard to trick. With a spring of his tail, he was up and he bounced off his feet over Newt. Then he landed on his tail and tried to kick Newt from behind. Newt counted on that, as he suddenly spun his arm around to block the kick, before aiming a punch right at Rudy. Rudy was knocked back again, but he only rebounded by his tail. The difference was that instead of a kick, Rudy launched himself at Newt with both fists.

"Hn?" Seeing that startled Newt, which resulted in him taking a couple of punches to the face, sending him staggering back. "…nice rebound!" he laughed, before aiming another smash at Rudy. Rudy was knocked back again, but this time he had the smarts to grab Newt in the middle of it and take him down with him. Then he bounced on his tail with a back flip, and while still holding to Newt, slammed him right back down on the ground with his feet.

"OOF!" That knocked the air right out of Newt, as he quickly tried recovering, shooting Rudy a glance.

"I didn't hurt you too bad, did I Newt?" Rudy asked, bouncing up at down again. He STILL had so much energy.

"…no, I've had worse, Rudy." Newt chuckled, wiping his lips, before getting to his feet. "I'm still rarin' to go, y'know!"

"Good!" Rudy said with a big smile. "Because I could go on ALLLLLLLLLLLLL day!"

"So you live in a cabin?" Boomer asked Sonia.

"Yep." Sonia chuckled, glancing around the area as she and Boomer were walking through the woods. "I was one of the first ones to arrive on Safe Haven once King and his buddies set up shop, along with a few others. I wasn't too comfortable with crowds at the time, so I set up a small cabin in the woods." Then, she grinned. "Of course, I'm a hell of a lot more comfy around crowds now than I was all those years ago, but I still like living in that cabin; it's cozy."

"I bet," Boomer said. A cabin in the woods did sound pretty nice, especially for being on an island. "What exactly was Safe Haven like for your first time, when it was just starting up as oppose to how it is now?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, it's totally different from when a new recruit comes here these days." Sonia hummed, glancing at Boomer. "You know most of the town, including the arena and everything?" she said, before snapping her fingers. "None of it was around. The only thing we had at first was, like, one building that everyone slept in."

"Wow, bet it was rough," Boomer murmured, remembering her own experiences of living in a single building with a crowd of people; say, 5 years ago when everyone stayed at the old Chaotix HQ.

"Yeah, it sucked a bit; especially with people like Hank and Will around…" Sonia murmured, letting out a sigh. "…you know, I just remembered the weirdest thing; the first one who suggested that we should make more buildings, along with actively building a few of them… was Spiel." she hummed.

"Huh...I didn't know Spiel was around that long too," Boomer mused to herself. "...but he suggested it, huh?"

"Yeah." Sonia nodded. "It's just weird… I mean, the guy's without mercy, only cares about what he gains in the end… but he's just so damn jovial and friendly about everything. He even drew the blueprints for some of the buildings and the arena for King to build!"

"..sounds suspicious to anyone with a brain cell," Boomer remarked. "But my guess is that no one has the dirt on him?"

"No; he managed to keep nearly everyone fooled the first year, before we got the first batch of new recruits." Sonia murmured, folding her arms. "After that, he spent far more time tinkering with his own devices, getting unsuspecting soldiers to join him… and since he got Krieg as his right-hand man, it's become even worse; it's nearly impossible for anyone who isn't Sage to pinpoint him. He just comes and goes as he pleases."

"...I wouldn't be letting him walk around so freely without being watched carefully," Boomer said. "Especially when there's children on this island." All she could think of was Joy, but she didn't know if there were actually other soldiers with children here...it was something to consider.

"The thing is, we've tried keeping an eye on him, but he's just too inconspicuous." Sonia sighed. "We can't exactly lock him down, since he hasn't done anything too cruel, like Diablo or Hex would've. He's a wild card; absolutely unpredictable." Then, she shook her head. "I do wonder what goes on in his head at times…"

"Probably disturbing kinds of thoughts that I wouldn't want to know about," Boomer said flatly. "I'll leave the mind reading to Sage, thank you."

"That's probably the best course of action." Sonia nodded, as she looked ahead of them. "…well, what do you know; here we are!"

Indeed; before them was a nice, big cabin, resting conveniently enough by a small lake.

"Well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" Boomer smiled, setting her hands on her hips as she admired the view.

"It sure is." Sonia nodded, as she looked at her home with a smile. "It's the perfect hideout for when I just need some time on my own… of course, many recruits would be dying to come inside…" As she spoke, she trailed off, letting out a longing sigh.

Boomer blinked her eyes at her. "...what's that supposed to mean?"

"…hn?" Blinking, Sonia shook her head. "Oh, I was just… thinking of when I first invited Wiper over to my house…"

"...oh, really now?" Boomer had a smug look on her face, folding her arms.

"Oh, it was the best thing!" Sonia practically swooned, holding a hand close to her face. "After we got done with sparring in the arena, I took him to my cabin, and all the way there, we talked about so much… I think we actually got lost a few times, since we were so caught up with talking to each other." she chuckled.

"How funny," Boomer chuckled, interested in what else she had to say. After all, it wasn't every day that Wiper spends time with a girl.

"Alright, so we finally got to my cabin- and we were still talking. Can you believe it?" Sonia giggled. "So, anyway, we go inside, and I offer him a cup of tea, along with something to eat, and he said yes. So, not only did I end up making tea… I ended up making a full-blown dinner for the two of us!"

"Uh-huh," Boomer said, with a smug look still on her face.

"Now, I'll tell you right now; I'm no cook." Sonia chuckled. "But even still, Wiper really enjoyed what I made!" Then, she blushed madly, clasping her hands against her cheeks. "Then… the moment was just perfect… he and I didn't talk or eat… we just looked at each other… inching closer and closer… and then…"

Boomer waited for her to continue; growing more curious at the suspense of this.

"…and then…" Sonia uttered, blushing even more than before. "…we sat down and played 50 rounds of chess nonstop!"

Boomer was silent; trying to process was just happened. "...wait, what?" That wasn't what she was expecting at all; she was so taken aback by the sheer stupidity of this that she tripped on a root sticking out of the ground from a nearby tree.

"I swear, I'm not making it up!" Sonia said in an absolutely blissful tone. "I could've sworn that we played much longer, but we played chess like no man or woman had done before! I have to admit, I'm not that good at chess, but I actually managed to come out on top quite a few times! Even Wiper was impressed sometimes!"

Boomer just stared at her in disbelief. Was she really supposed to believe this? Just the way Sonia described it, needless to say, it didn't really sound like few, plain, simple games of chess. Heck, it didn't sound like chess at all. Then Boomer shook her head, chastising herself for letting her thoughts drift off like that in the first place.

"After the last round, both of us were so pooped that we both practically fainted on the futon." Sonia said, not noticing Boomer's brief gesture. "But since then, every chance Wiper could get to come over to my place, we've played chess a lot; just about every chance we got, we'd play chess together. He even gave me pointers on how to improve my game! Isn't he just the best?"

"...I didn't even know Wiper was so interested in chess," Boomer mumbled, no longer interested in hearing the story.

"He's practically a prodigy at it!" Sonia laughed. "Man, oh man, was that enjoyable… you know, we did talk about going all the way, but he said that he didn't feel ready for that, yet. Isn't that just cute?"

"...yeah," Boomer muttered dryly. "...well, anyhow, we'd better get to sparring. Don't want to be left behind in the tournament, right?"

Nodding, Sonia got in a fighting stance, nodding to Boomer. "Ready?"

"Sure am," Boomer sure was relieved to get to the fighting at last. She was so eager, in fact, that she ran and made the first kick at Sonia. However, that kick was blocked by Sonia lifting her leg, before she quickly spun around to deliver a kick of her own, aimed right for Boomer's side. It hit, but once Boomer hit the ground, she somersaulted her way back on her feet. Then she threw a punch. Smirking, Sonia raised one of her legs to block the punch, keeping the two at a standstill. Suddenly, she dropped into a handstand, using her other leg to perform a sweeping kick aimed at Boomer's legs, to trip her.

Boomer made a fast recovery after being tripped. "I swear...you guys and your acrobats," she grumbled under her breath. Personally, she was more for strength than agility, and she rushed at Sonia to slam her shoulder in.

As she tried that, however, Sonia simply stepped out of the way with an elegant step, placing one hand on her hip whilst raising her other arm in the air. "…that's not all you can do, I hope." she chuckled.

Boomer growled a little. Then her eyes caught something on the ground that made her grin, picking it up. "Well lookie here," She chuckled. Her hands got dirty immediately from what she was carrying, which was mud. Then she shot Sonia an evil look.

Seeing that, Sonia made a slight gasp; not that it actually scared her, but because she knew what that look meant.

Mischief brewing.

"…now what are we planning on doing with that?" she said with a smirk and a clever tone.

"I think this'll look good..." Boomer ran at Sonia, "...on your face!" and she tossed as much mud as she could at Sonia. It impacted instantly, covering Sonia's face in mud within seconds.

"…oh, it's on." she chuckled, before she suddenly tackled Boomer, causing both of them to skid right into the mud, dirtying them further.

"That's more like it!" Boomer snickered, grabbing Sonia's arm and twisting it behind her back, pinning her down. Nothing like good old mud wrestling.

As Boomer did that, however, she failed to pay attention to her own back, as something suddenly wrapped around it. "You need to be more careful." Sonia chuckled, as she managed to lift herself up, pinning Boomer down onto the ground; having wrapped her legs around Boomer while she was focused on pinning the rattlesnake down.

"Just how can you bend like that?" Boomer asked. "That ain't right..." So she tried to struggle out of Sonia's hold on her.

"I'm really flexible." Sonia chuckled, pressing her finger against Boomer's beak, "comes with my dancing lessons." Then, quicker than Boomer could comprehend, Sonia had turned her completely around, so she was face-first in the mud. "Surrender!" she laughed whilst doing so.

Boomer spat out mud, and only chuckled. "Okay, if you can make me eat mud, then I'll surrender for now..."

"That's what I wanna hear." Sonia chuckled, as she got off Boomer, pulling her to her feet. "Jeez, imagine what the guys would've said if they saw us there."

"Their minds would've turned this into something sick and twisted through their point of view, that's for sure," Boomer said, flicking her arms to shake off mud.

"True enough." Sonia chuckled, as she glanced at Boomer. "…you know, we should probably wash up before we continue training."

"What's the matter?" Boomer teased. "You don't want to keep fighting like this?" Boomer actually didn't mind being covered in mud. She was like Ani in some ways; a bit of a tomboy.

"Not that I don't mind…" Sonia chuckled, before pricking Boomer's beak. "…but we should at least do something, considering the state of our clothes."

"True," Boomer said, shrugging. "At least it's a good thing we're close to your place."

"…you know..." Sonia hummed, as she rubbed her chin. "…yeah, that works." she eventually nodded, before grinning. "Alright, when we're done sparring, I've got a surprise for you, Boomer!"

Boomer's head cocked in more curiosity. "…and what would that be?"

"It's a surprise." Sonia said with her tongue sticking out. "Now… fight!" Before Boomer could react, Sonia grabbed hold of her and caused both of them to topple right back into the mud. It wasn't until after Boomer was knocked into the mud that Boomer had the nerve to place her foot on Sonia's stomach and kick her off.

Once on her feet, Boomer spun with a roundhouse kick at Sonia. "Hoo!" However, Sonia quickly bent her back to the point where Boomer's kick didn't even connect, before she grabbed the incoming leg, slamming the duck right back into the mud.

Boomer spat out more mud, getting a little frustrated now. On her jump back onto her feet again, she wound up a hard punch aimed for Sonia's gut. It knocked the air out of the rattlesnake, but not for long, as she quickly grabbed hold of Boomer's arm with her own leg, somehow twisting it around. "Say uncle!" Sonia taunted.

"Wha—AGH!" Boomer yelped because it hurt when her arm was twisted.

"Saaaay uncle!" Sonia taunted, making sure not to twist too hard on Boomer's arm, but just enough to keep her in place.

Boomer grinded her teeth to cope with the pain.

Until finally…

"…okay, uncle! UNCLE!"

"Booya!" Sonia laughed, as she let go of Boomer's arm, before folding her own. "Gotcha good there, didn't I?"

"I'll get you next time," Boomer said, pointing a finger at her. "Just you wait."

"No offense, but I have my doubts, Boomer." Sonia chuckled, placing a hand on Boomer's shoulder. "Nearly five years of hanging with King's gang, along with my exquisite knowledge of dancing… I'd say you're a bit outclassed, GUN training or not."

Boomer folded her arms in a huff. "...I bet I'd still beat you in arm wrestling."

"I doubt that we'll be allowed to arm wrestle to settle the tournament, though…" Sonia chuckled.

Boomer pouted. "...so," softening from frustration, her focus changed. "What's this surprise?"

"Oh, ready for that, already?" Sonia hummed, glancing back at Boomer. "…well, we should get ourselves cleaned up, before I tell you."

"...fine," and Boomer went ahead for Sonia's cabin.

Standing on a tree branch on her own, Natal kept her arms folded and eyes closed, listening to the sounds around her. …he'll try and attack me in three… two…

The leaves rustled swiftly with a sudden gust of air, heading toward Natal. Without opening her eyes, Natal leaped off the branch, without even looking down at the invisible being that had tried getting her. This same invisible being started to follow her through the trees. Finally, she opened her eyes, simply focusing on heading through the woods.

The chase proceeded for a long while. Then, Natal no longer heard the swift currents of air from behind. That didn't stop her from advancing, however. He's trying to ambush me. she thought.

Just as Natal suspected, the path ahead of her was cut off by a sudden gust through the leaves. Rather than head right through, Natal quickly stopped, leaping a distance back whilst looking ahead of her. Natal managed to avoid whatever danger was after her, because some branches plucked off and fell down below right in front of her. The gust went around a tree, and came from behind Natal.

Quickly, Natal used her tongue to draw out one of her swords, before using it to parry whatever was coming from behind her. The metal of her blade clashed with something, and this invisible force kept pushing down against her blade persistently.

In spite of this force pushing against her sword, Natal didn't budge, as she reached for another sword she had. Once she unsheathed it, she spun around, slashing that sword against the force along with her tongue.

Whatever force pushing against her jumped backward, and finally this invisible foe appeared out of thin air. Cal held steady to the branch with his hand-like feet, katana's drawn. Retracting her tongue, Natal simply looked at Cal , without losing her stance.

Cal finally made a move with a forward swing. Ducking underneath that swing, Natal quickly drew her last sword, before she aimed a swing at Cal with the blade she now held within her mouth. Cal parried that, and tried another swing. Swiftly blocking that with the sword in her left hand, Natal attempted to swing at him with sword in her right hand. Cal blocked that one with one of his blades, and took another swipe at her with the other her other blade as well, Natal blocked this strike, rendering the two at a standstill.

However, Natal wasn't out of tricks yet, as she extended her tongue out, still holding onto the sword, which was now pointed at Cal.

Cal's tail sneaked underneath and hoped to pull at Natal's leg to lose her balance. Somehow, however, Natal noticed that, and quickly sent her tongue right down to curl up Cal 's tail. Once more, the two were in a stalemate.

"...well, we certainly won't go anywhere with this," Cal remarked in a chuckle.

"…true enough." Natal chuckled as well.

Cal actually thought of something though. Raising one of his hand-like feet, he reached over and tickled one of Natal's legs. "Coochie-coochie coo," he chuckled.

Surprised by this tactic, Natal couldn't help but start giggling, as she glanced at Cal . "Cheap-shot." she managed to say in between giggles.

With Natal occupied, Cal managed to yank away from Natal, and that was when he sheathed both his katanas. "I say we take a break," he said, sitting on the tree branch he jumped to.

"…yeah." Natal nodded in agreement, withdrawing her own swords and leaping up on the branch Cal was sitting on, sitting next to him.

Cal decided to start up conversation. "How long have we been here now? A week, maybe?" he asked.

"Hmm…" Counting on her fingers, Natal eventually nodded. "Yeah; more or less a week." she said.

Cal let out a bit of a tired breath. "I didn't think I'm come to so much craziness when we all came here," he said.

"Things really have picked up, though…" Natal hummed, before giggling. "Plus, I don't think the others seem to mind spending time here."

"Especially Wiper," Cal could almost laugh. He didn't even think that he'd get interested in a girl; he always thought that Wiper was more like Shadow. Someone who just didn't get into things like that.

Natal nodded, as she looked towards the horizon with a small smile. "…this place has certainly proved to be interesting." she hummed.

"...I just hope things don't get dangerous," Cal said, growing serious. "I'd hate to see any tragedy happen to anyone here..."

"…yeah… me, too…" Natal sighed, closing her eyes.

Instead of letting his mind sink into a solemn depression of all the bad things that could happen here, he tried to look on the bright side. "...well, that's what we're here for anyway," he murmured. "To make sure nothing gets out of hand."

"…yeah." Natal nodded, smiling a bit. "We'll make sure to keep things in order."

Cal looked at the wilderness all around him. To be honest, he didn't really know what else to carry conversation with. "...sure is nice today."

"Yeah; it's really peaceful." Natal nodded, before she opened her eyes, glancing around her as well.

"...hm." Cal closed his own eyes, feeling the soft breeze that gathered up some of the leaves on the ground, and listening to the various sounds of nature. He laid back a little more relaxed-like.

"...wh-whoa-AHHH!" He leaned back so far that he lost balance on the tree branch he sat on, and plopped his way down each tree branch until landing on the ground in some bushes. Seeing that, Natal let out a small sigh, before she quickly made her way down to those bushes, trying to pull Cal out.

"Here… are you alright?" she inquired.

"Yeah," Cal muttered. "...for whatever reason, I still have my clumsy moments."

"…I suppose it happens." Natal shrugged, before smiling. "Don't sweat over it, though. Honestly, it's kind of cute when you have one of those moments."

Cal blushed, but he tried to look irritated. "Me? Cute?"

"Yep." Natal giggled with a nod. "What, you don't like being cute?"

"...well..." Cal didn't have an answer for that. He only blushed a little more.

Natal only giggled at seeing that. "At least I like it when you're cute." she hummed.

Cal sort of smiled. "...well, I guess I kinda like it when you're a tease."

"Me? A tease?" Natal giggled, pretending to be clueless. "Since when?"

Cal put a finger to her nose. "Since you decided to kiss me that night at the Clubhouse."

Giggling, Natal pressed her own finger against Cal 's nose. "Admit it; you liked it."

"Okay, maybe I did like it. Had to admit it caught me by surprise at first, though," Cal took her and held her.

Smiling, Natal placed a hand on Cal 's cheek. "Yes, you did seem flustered… that looked cute as well," she giggled.

Cal smiled back at her. Then he planted a kiss on her. Wrapping her other arm around Cal, Natal kissed him back. Cal started getting lost in kissing her, holding her closer. Natal did the same; holding onto him tighter whilst kissing him. He peered around the corners of his eyes to see if there was anyone walking by. Since the coast was clear, Cal gently took Natal and laid her down on the ground, within the hiding of the bushes.

"Are you still numb, Ruki?" Charmy asked, still leisurely sitting at that bench that he had been sitting at for hours now.

"Nnh…" Ruki grunted, as she tried getting to her feet, whilst looking at Wiper, who kept himself in a fighting stance. "…it's starting to wear off." she murmured.

"I certainly hope so," Charmy said. "Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you."

Giving him a nod, Ruki quickly rushed right at Wiper, snapping her pincers at the cobra. However, he was agile enough to avoid the blows, making sure not to let them get close to him. As Ruki kept up her relentless assault, Wiper still didn't strike back; simply waiting for an opportunity.

Charmy sat there watching them.

Just when Ruki raised her pincers in an attempt to slam them down on Wiper, he suddenly thrust his hand forward, striking her left shoulder. As it fell limp, Ruki leaped away from Wiper. "…tsch…"

"…striking your opponent's pressure points is an ideal way of finishing a fight." Wiper hummed, as he looked at his hands for a small while. "And that, along with my other ability, has kept you from hitting me."

"…hrm…" Humming, Ruki seemed to get an idea. "…gotcha!" Before Wiper would know it, Ruki suddenly sent her tail's stinger flying right at Wiper's leg, striking it before he could move away. Gritting his teeth, he looked at Ruki. "…like it? My stinger's filled with a paralyzing toxin… much like what you've got in your teeth. It'll take a while for it to recover." she chuckled.

"Interesting twist," Charmy murmured under his breath.

Gritting his teeth, Wiper tried getting on his feet, but to no avail; the paralyzed leg prevented him from moving.

"Alright; here I come!" Ruki called, before she ran right at Wiper, snapping her pincers at him. Surprisingly, Wiper actually kept them from reaching him, even though he was confined to one spot.

Charmy watched on.

It came to a point where Wiper held both of Ruki's pincers at a halt again, keeping the two from moving. All of a sudden, however, Ruki attempted to jab her stinger into Wiper's body, to paralyze him further.

With no other option, Wiper did the most sensible thing he could think of; raising his leg to take the stinger, saving him from being skewered. Without fail, Wiper suddenly jabbed his right hand into Ruki's chest, rendering both of them simply standing there for a while, locked in place.

Charmy whistled a little, apparently not very concerned about the suspense of this battle; yet he still watched.

After a while of silence, the two fighters collapsed on the ground, both of them taking a few breaths.

"…I call for a break…" Ruki uttered.

"…I could use a break, yes…" Wiper murmured.

Charmy just chuckled, getting up from the bench and approaching the two. "Well, you two have been battling for almost the entire day." He was amazed that they didn't stop sooner.

In fact, once glance out at the horizon, and he saw that the sun was getting closer to the sea. "I bet the others will be heading back, now."

"…perhaps…" Wiper hummed, as he closed his eyes.

"…this has been one hell of a workout, though…" Ruki murmured. "…I feel much stronger, already!"

"Sure that you're not experiencing a placebo effect?" Wiper chuckled.

"Eh; it could be the adrenaline…" Ruki chuckled as well.

"…well now," Charmy mused. Off in the distance, two bodies trudged their way tiredly across the road toward them.

Rudy and Newt had all kinds of bruises and scrapes on them, but that didn't wipe off their grins off their faces when they made it to the three. "Today was awesome!" Rudy laughed, throwing his arms up enthusiastically.

"Rudy really knows how to throw a punch, y'know!" Newt laughed, patting Rudy's back.

"…nice to know that you two had fun, today." Wiper chuckled, as he eventually sat up, looking at the two.

"Wow, you guys look pooped," Rudy said.

"And you two don't?" Ruki quipped, as she sat up as well, before glancing behind her. As she did that, she noticed someone. "…hey, look who's coming!"

As it turned out, she was talking about Natal and Cal, both of them seeming less exhausted than the other two groups, but they still seemed content. "…you guys are done, now?" Natal hummed.

"Yeah, pretty much," Rudy said, scratching an itch he had underneath his sweatshirt. "It doesn't look like you guys did much to each other."

"You have to keep in mind that we're ninja like that," Cal said with a finger to his head, like it was supposed to be a no-brainer.

"Right…" Wiper hummed, as he folded his arms. "…well, it seems that we only have one group remaining."

"Yeah; Boomer and Sonia." Newt nodded, scratching the back of his head. "…but what's takin' 'em so long?"

"I don't know, but I hope they'd hurry!" Rudy said.

It was almost if that cursed time to go slower, and drag out. The group sat around and waited until sundown.

That was when Cal spotted some figures coming toward them. He recognized one of them. "Hey, there there's Sonia," he said with a point.

Rudy squinted to try and get a better view. "…but…who's that with her?"

"…dunno…" Newt hummed. "…a new friend of hers?"

"But why wouldn't she come back with Boomer?" Natal inquired.

"…hmm…" In silence, Wiper tried making out who it was that was coming with Sonia.

"…guys…" Cal's eyes went wide. "…I think that is Boomer."

When they were close enough, everyone could see the green duck was not so tomboyish now, that was for sure. Since her overalls were drenched with mud, she had changed clothes, and Sonia had decided to pick out the clothes for her.

She had black boots, a black plaid miniskirt with a chain hanging on it, and a black belly top with netting around her neck and arms; appearing to be quite a gothic style. It was quite a transformation from what she usually wore, and obviously Boomer didn't look to happy about it. Seeing Boomer dressed like that, Newt instantly turned red, merely able to gawk at her. The particular style that appealed to him, as well as the fact that Boomer looked like a girl now, stunned him.

"…well… that's unusual." Wiper commented.

"So, what do you all think?" Sonia laughed, placing a hand on Boomer's shoulder. "I think it kinda suits her!"

Boomer just grumbled.

Rudy laughed at her. "Wow, she's boiling like an egg! I don't think she likes that all that much!" Of course he had to be the loud mouth in his opinion.

"Shut it, or I'll pound your face in, Rudy," Boomer growled.

Cal didn't exactly know what to say. He didn't want to say anything that would offend her, but it was just so…weird, seeing her dressed up like this.

Rudy hopped all around Boomer to get a look at her, when he stopped. "…hey, when did YOU get a tattoo?" he asked in astonishment. On Boomer's lower back, there was a tattoo of a black, wicked-looking butterfly.

"She has a tattoo?" Natal hummed, tilting her head.

"Ooh, let me see!" Ruki called, as she followed Rudy to see this tattoo. "…man, that looks sweet! Where'd you get it?"

"…you seem to learn something new, everyday…" Wiper hummed, as he shot a glance at Newt, who tried (and failed) to hide the fact that he was redder than a tomato.

"…really? Are you guys serious?" Boomer said. "I got this tattoo last year!"

Cal was surprised. "What?"

"Well, you guys just…never saw it, I guess," Boomer assumed.

"…well, you didn't tell us about it, either." Wiper hummed.

Blinking, Natal glanced towards Newt as well. …did he know about it…? she pondered.

She thought Newt told them, and just before she opened her beak, she shut it again. The situation was already embarrassing enough for them, and Boomer didn't need to make it worse by talking before thinking. "...I thought you guys knew," she muttered.

"No, we didn't have a clue about it!" Rudy remarked, hopping right around back in front of her. Then he noticed Newt. "What's wrong with him?"

Rudy saying that drew Boomer's glance at Newt, and seeing the look on his face made her blush in embarrassment.

Seeing the two, Sonia hummed, as she folded her arms.

"…um…" Newt began, rubbing the back of his head. "…you… look great, Boomer."

"...uh...thanks," Boomer replied, shuffling her feet bashfully.

Looking from Boomer to Newt, Wiper kept a neutral look on his face, before letting out a small sigh. "…well, shall we call it a day?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to get hungry," Rudy said, quickly hopping away.

"Hold up, Rudy!" Cal hollered, following him.

Sighing, Natal gave the group a nod. "Let's go." she said, before following the two.

"He's a lively one, huh?" Sonia chuckled, as she and Wiper began following them as well.

"You can say that again." Wiper nodded.

"Better not get left behind you two," Charmy chuckled, turned and walking after the rest, leaving Boomer and Newt standing there. Realizing that they were on their own, Newt scratched the back of his neck, glancing towards Boomer bashfully.

Boomer was more comfortable that everyone left, but she was still a little shy toward Newt. "...well..."

"…um…" Newt hummed, managing a small smile. "…you…"

"...yeah?" Boomer wanted to know if Newt was going to say anything.

"…well… I know I already said this, but…" Newt began. "…you look great, Boomer."

Boomer smiled, blushing again. "...thanks."

"…no problem, y'know." Newt replied, as he walked up to Boomer, unable to take his eyes off her. Boomer was still when he came up to her, and looked at him, still shyly smiling. Once he stopped by her, Newt simply looked down at her with a smile of his own.

Boomer dreaded the idea of wearing this outfit in front of her comrades, and may even get after Sonia about it later, but now, she didn't think it was so bad. She certainly liked the way Newt was smiling at her. "...we...uh, should we catch up with them?" Boomer muttered.

"…um…" Newt hummed, as he scratched the back of his head. "…well… maybe… what do you think, Boomer?"

"...well..." Boomer smiled a little more. "...I know that we don't have to follow them if we don't want to."

"…yeah… that's right…" Newt nodded, smiling a bit more as well. "…so, where do we go?"

"I guess somewhere where we could spend some time..." Boomer murmured. "...you know, alone."

"…yeah… that works." Newt nodded.

Boomer took Newt's hand, and smiled at him again. "...shall we?"

"…yeah." Newt nodded, smiling down at Boomer. "Let's go."

Boomer and Newt started walking away in a different direction than where the others had gone, and Charmy hesitated to watch them go with a smile of his own. He was still proud of the funny tricks he did to them all those years ago that probably got them together like that. Chuckling under his breath, he returned to following the others.

Day Two

As the morning sun crept up across the horizon, Wiper rose from his bed, glancing out the window. …what time is it…? he thought, rubbing his eyes. As far as he could recall, he had waited up far too long for Boomer and Newt to come to the pub, so he assumed that they had gone someplace else for the night. As long as they're ready for training…

There came a knocking on Wiper's bedroom door.

Blinking, Wiper glanced towards the door. "…who is it?" he called.

The door opened. "Rise and shine, sleepy head!" Rudy laughed. "Ani would've come to wake you up, but she went to go play with Striker and the others!"

"…just like yesterday, huh…" Wiper murmured, stretching out as he got out of bed. "…any sign of Boomer and Newt?" he asked, glancing at the kangaroo.

Rudy tapped his lip. "Not yet...no one really knows where they went off last night either," he said.

"…as long as they get back, it's none of our business." Wiper shrugged, as he began walking towards the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Anyway, let's go meet up with Ruki at the spot we were at yesterday!" Rudy said, hopping down the hall. "Who knows? Maybe Boomer and Newt are waiting for us there, too!"

"Sure." Wiper nodded, as he began following Rudy.

"Good morning Wiper," Cal joined them in the hallway shortly, walking with them. "I see Rudy woke you up this morning."

"So he did." Wiper nodded.

"I do wonder what games Ani and the boys are playing, though." At that point, Natal joined the gang in the hall as well, walking alongside them.

"Aw man, I bet they're having lots of fun," Rudy moaned. "After all, they got Joy with them too."

"I'm surprised that Jill is letting her spend so much time with them," Cal murmured.

"Well, she's being looked after by them, at least." Natal shrugged.

"Hm." Wiper nodded.

"C'mon, let's hurry!" Rudy urged.

Hours later, after picking up Charmy, the lot of them headed off toward the place that Ruki and Wiper were primarily at yesterday for their battle. Of course, Ruki was waiting there and all ready for today's activities. While Boomer and Newt weren't already there, they conveniently saw them coming from another direction, meeting up with them.

"There you guys are!" Rudy said, hopping after them. He saw that Boomer was still in the same outfit from last night, likely because she hadn't had the chance to get back to Sonia's and grab her usual clothes; speaking of, Sonia wasn't here.

"…well, we're missing one member of our training group, it seems." Natal hummed, as she watched the two newcomers walk towards them.

Glancing towards Boomer and Newt, Wiper hissed, before he looked around him. …strange… I'd have expected her to be up by now… he thought.

"Maaaan, why is it that there's someone always missing, and making us wait?" whined Rudy, getting a hit upside his head in reply. "OW!"

"Just be quiet and calm down, Rudy," Boomer growled, not really wanting to listen to him make noise this morning.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait…" Newt murmured, folding his arms.

"Not exactly."

Hearing that voice, Wiper glanced behind him, to see Sonia walking towards them, though someone was accompanying her; a warthog wearing feudal armor.

"…Krieg?" Ruki uttered upon seeing him.

"Wow...he's big!" Rudy threw his hands up in the air dramatically.

"...he's also blind," Cal murmured under his own breath in observation.

"Hiya." Sonia called, waving at the group. "Sorry that I took so long; I bumped into Krieg, here, and he decided to tag along when he heard that Ruki was training with us."

"I'd like to try out for the tournament as well; I rarely get time to practice, these days." Krieg said with a nod to the group, before turning his head towards Ruki.

"…that's nice…" Ruki noted, as she folded her arms. "…though this makes nine people. What do we do, now?"

"…we could split up into groups of three." Wiper suggested, glancing around him.

Rudy was certainly psyched about that. Then his hand shot up. "I call the blind guy!"

"Now, now, we have to do this fairly," Charmy chuckled, pulling out the hat from his vest again. "We'll randomly pick teams out."

"Awww..." Rudy's hand fell in disdain.

With a nod, the others waited for their names to be picked by whoever would draw them.

"Wiper," Charmy said, offering the hat to him. "You pick two names...both of them will be your opponent."

Nodding, Wiper took two names from the hat, before looking at them. "…Sonia and Rudy." he hummed.

"Well, looks like we're cruising together on this one." Sonia chuckled, as she glanced at Rudy. "That's alright with you, right, Rudy?"

"Yeah, I guess," Rudy said with a casual shrug.

"I'll just quickly pull Wiper's name out to save confusion..." Charmy said, fishing through the hat. Once he picked out Wiper's name, he shook it up again. "Ruki, you go ahead and draw now."

"Alright…" Nodding, Ruki reached into the hat (albeit with some difficulty, given her pincer hands), before she pulled out two slips of paper. "…Newt and Boomer."

"Okay; we're grouped together, then!" Newt said with a nod.

"That means we'll all have to fight each other though," Boomer pointed out.

"And that just leaves me, Natal, and...Krieg, was it?" Cal inquired of the warthog.

"…that is correct." Krieg nodded.

"Well, we shouldn't waste more time; let's start training." Natal shot in, as she folded her arms, looking at the three groups.

"C'mon! Let's get to the forest this time!" Rudy exclaimed, grabbing Sonia's and Wiper's arms and hurrying down the road with them in tow.

"Whoa! Someone's eager!" Sonia laughed, letting Rudy pull her and Wiper after him.

"So, where do we go to train?" Ruki hummed, as she looked at Boomer and Newt.

"Let's see if the Battle Arena's empty," Boomer suggested.

"Right; let's move!" Newt nodded, as he, Ruki and Boomer headed off.

"…I suppose we could stay here." Krieg hummed, turning his head towards Cal.

"Yeah, I don't have any problem with that," Cal replied, pretty sure that Natal would agree to the same.

Charmy found his bench and sat down on it. "As usual, I'll just stay here and watch," he said. "Do feel free to begin at any time."

"Very well." Krieg nodded, as he took a few steps back, nodding to Cal and Natal. "Ready when you are."

Glancing from Krieg to Cal, Natal nodded, before she drew one of her swords. …he's blind… but he carries his own sword around… she thought, looking at the warthog. …this could be interesting.

Cal drew out his own katana's, warily looking at Krieg. He knew that the warthog wasn't going to make the first attack, and he also figured it wasn't going to be as easy as it would look.

Krieg silently drew out the sword he kept on his back, waiting for either Natal or Cal to make their move.

…he's patient… Natal thought, as she slowly began circling around the warthog. …I need to be cautious with him…

Cal figured he aught to make the first move, and he tip-toed forward at first, then he leaped into the air with a diving swipe at Krieg. With surprising agility, however, Krieg suddenly parried Cal's attempted slash, remaining completely stationary.

Natal blinked. …impressive… Quickly latching her tongue around the hilt of her sword, she shot it forward, intending to catch Krieg by surprise.

However, the warthog seemed to hear it coming, stepping to the side to let the tongue sail past him, before he grabbed it, yanking Natal towards him.

Cal ran and aimed to kick the arm that had a hold of Natal's tongue. (In reality, possessing hand-like feet would make it a punch). Before the kick could connect, however, Krieg pulled on the tongue to the point that Natal got in the way of the kick, resulting in her taking the blow and collapsing to the ground.

"Ungh…" Once Krieg let go of her tongue, she retracted it, holding her head and shaking it. …he's skilled… is he even blind? she thought, quickly getting to her feet, looking at Krieg.

"...yeah, I'm sure he's blind," Cal said, baring his katanas up.

"All the more reason that he's proficient," Charmy chuckled, still casually watching them.

Cracking her neck, Natal drew her other swords as well.

"…go." Krieg uttered, before he suddenly rushed right at Cal, aiming to slash him with his own sword.

Cal leaped out of the way in a panic. Geez, he's like a tank! He thought.

Quickly, Natal rushed right at Krieg as well, but when she attempted an overhead swing at him, he raised his other hand and blocked the strike with his gauntlet, without even bothering to turn back to face Natal. Quickly pushing her away, Krieg attempted another charge at Cal. This time, Cal leaped high enough to jump right off Krieg's head, landing on the other side. Afterward, he spun around and charged right back at Krieg from behind. In the nick of time, Krieg spun around as well, parrying the blow with his own sword, before rushing at Cal for another strike.

However, before it could connect, Cal was suddenly snatched away by Natal, who had used her tongue as a lasso to reel Cal away from the blow. Before Krieg could figure out where Cal had been pulled to, Natal let go of the monkey, before motioning for him to try an attack on Krieg right away.

Cal took quick, silent steps on the tips of the fingers on his feet and jumped into the air, aiming a slash at Krieg's back. However, even with the element of surprise, Cal's sword didn't even scratch Krieg's armor, though it gave Krieg the incentive to leap forward, before turning to face Cal.

"…unreal…" Natal uttered. "…where do you get that kind of skill from?"

"…years and years of training." Krieg responded, gripping his sword. "Though, at the moment, I only possess one tenth of my true potential."

"...well, this is going to be challenging," Cal muttered in slight disdain, gripping his katanas firmly.

"...guess we've got to give it our best shot." Natal sighed, gripping her own swords as well.

"Alright, Rudy, you're sure you're ready?" Now in the woods, Wiper and Sonia had finished stretching out for the sparring session, though Sonia still wondered if Rudy would be able to keep up with both of them.

"Sure, I'm sure!" Rudy said, hopping up and down impatiently.

"Just be assured; we're not holding back." Wiper nodded, as he cracked his neck. "So we're expecting you to follow our example."

"Alright, everyone's ready!" Sonia called, clapping her hands together. "Let's get started!"

"Bouncy, bouncy, BOUNCY!" Rudy laughed, hopping up higher and higher and higher to rocket right down at Wiper and Sonia with his kangaroo feet. The two of them quickly leapt out of the way of this attack, and when Rudy landed, Sonia quickly rushed at him with a kick. Rudy leaned back on his tail, and once the punch flew over him, he sprung with his own kick at Sonia.

"OOF!" Sonia coughed once she was kicked, holding her stomach and stumbling back. "…that got some power…"

"…behind you." Just then, Wiper, who had gotten behind Rudy, began rapidly thrusting his hands at Rudy's back, to strike his pressure points and paralyze him.

"AGH!" Rudy fell onto the ground, motionless; except for a few twitches here and there. "...that's not fair!" He protested.

"Well, I did say that we wouldn't hold back." Wiper noted, rubbing his hands. "There's going to be people with even less fair moves at the tournament, you know."

Rudy winced as he twitched.

...somehow, he started to feel his legs, and then his arms quickly, and slowly started getting back up.

Wiper raised an eyebrow at that. "…strange… it usually takes longer for someone to recover from the paralysis." he commented.

Finally Rudy was on his feet and hopping happily again. "Woo! Hey Wiper, THINK FAST!" And with another spring of his tail, he lauched at Wiper with both fists.

Quickly, Wiper rolled away from the incoming punch, glancing at Rudy. "…that was quick… how did he-" All of a sudden, he found himself caught in a headlock, and the same went for Rudy.

"Don't tell me that you boys forgot about me?" Sonia laughed, as she was holding both Wiper and Rudy in her arms, keeping them from moving about.

Rudy struggled. "Admittedly, I did!" but he couldn't break free.

"I was… caught up in the moment, I suppose." Wiper admitted, struggling a bit as well.

"Now, I got both of you under control…" Sonia hummed, glancing from Rudy to Wiper. "…man, I still got it!" she laughed.

Rudy lifted a leg. "Hm...wonder what happens when I do THIS?" He slammed the foot to the ground and the bounce was so strong that he actually knocked Sonia and Wiper over, breaking free of their grasp. Once they landed, both of the snakes quickly recovered, getting to their feet.

"…you know, he could come a long way in the tournament!" Sonia commented.

"I suppose…" Wiper nodded, cracking his neck. "…this could get tricky."

"Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!" Rudy was preoccupied bouncing around the place, growing more and more hyper in the moment.

"…this could get really tricky." Wiper murmured.

"…I got an idea!" Sonia called, snapping her fingers. "I'll keep him busy!" she said, before running towards him.

Rudy kept hopping around madly, not even noticing Sonia. "Tsch…" Watching Rudy bounce about, Sonia waited to see if he would try and ram into her; in which case, she'd be ready to grab him.

"Okay, here I come!" Rudy finally said, leaping at Sonia with a kick. The moment Rudy attempted to kick her, Sonia had the insight to grab his leg, causing both of them to skid along the ground, whilst the rattlesnake kept a firm grip on him.

"Hey!" Rudy tried to pull and pry from Sonia but she held him so.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere." Sonia chuckled, glancing behind the kangaroo. "You need to slow down a bit."

"This might hurt a little, so I apologize in advance." All of a sudden, Wiper managed to get behind Rudy, grabbing hold of his tail, before biting it.

"YOW!" Rudy leaped up in the air, somehow breaking from Sonia's grip while he clutched to his tail in pain. Upon landing, Rudy found immediately that he couldn't budge.

"Even with your excessive amount of energy…" Wiper hummed, as he glanced at Rudy. "…the neurotoxin from my teeth should keep you immobilized for a while longer."

"…right…" Sonia uttered, wiping her brow, before looking at Rudy. "…maybe now would be a good time for a break?"

"Aw, but I don't wanna take a break!" But Rudy really had no choice, because he wasn't going to be able to move anytime soon.

"Really, you should learn to stay still for a bit." Sonia chuckled, lying down on the ground. "With how energetic you are, I'm afraid that you could cause the entire arena to collapse when the tournament rolls along."

"...killjoy," Rudy muttered in defeat.

"Well, looks like the arena was empty after all," and good thing too. Boomer had a thing about training in front of other people. Call her picky, but with the outfit she was wearing, she didn't want those horrible perverts making comments on her while she fought. She REALLY needed to get her overalls from Sonia's place.

"…you know, it's weird." Ruki commented, glancing around her. "I'd have figured that a lot more people would be using the arena to train."

"Maybe everyone thought that only the strongest were training here, and wanted to steer clear?" Newt suggested with a mild shrug.

"Well, all that matters is that this place is empty and perfect to use," Boomer said.

"Right." Ruki nodded, snapping her pincers a few times. "So, shall we begin?"

"I'm ready, y'know!" Newt nodded, cracking his knuckles.

"So am I!" Boomer paced back and forth, and then shot a fist at Ruki immediately.

"Hm!" Quickly, Ruki caught the fist with her pincer, making sure not to grip too hard down on it, lest she rip it right off Boomer's arm.

"Huah!" At that point, Newt ran to throw a punch at Ruki as well, but the scorpion quickly grabbed his fist with her other pincer, keeping the two at bay.

Being held at bay like that, Boomer brought up her foot to kick Ruki in the face. Even as the foot slammed into her, Ruki's grip on the two didn't cease.

"…let go!" Newt grunted, aiming a punch at Ruki with his other hand.

Just like the kick, it hit Ruki, but she didn't let go of the two. Boomer even tried stomping down on Ruki's toe. Still, she didn't let go of the two.

"Damn, you sure have a firm grip!" Boomer grunted.

"It could be firmer, but…" Ruki shrugged. "…I'd rather not risk hurting you two."

Boomer, this time, raised her foot and aimed a kick right at the joint between her wrist and her pincer. Still, the kick didn't do anything to make Ruki let go, though with her wincing, one could see that it hurt her.

...damn...how do we make her let go? Boomer thought.

"…hrm…" In desperation, Newt did the only thing that really came to mind, as he suddenly reached his free hand over, and began tickling Ruki's side.

"Pfftt…" Ruki uttered, trying as best she could not to burst out laughing, though one could see that her grip was wavering.

...not a bad idea, Newt, Boomer thought with a smirk, using her free hand to aid in the tickling.

"Pffff- no, s-stop it!" Ruki laughed, struggling to keep her grip straight. "I-I'm really ticklish! Plea-haha-se stop!"

"Keep at it, Boomer!" Newt said, ignoring Ruki's pleas. "We've got 'er now, y'know!"

Boomer chuckled to herself, while she kept on tickling.

"C'mon, this isn't fair!" Ruki laughed, before eventually, she was forced to let go of the two, before she held her stomach in laughing throes. "I can't stand the tickling! Knock it off, will ya?"

"Keep at it, Boomer; we've got her!" Newt laughed, as he still kept on tickling the scorpion, who just couldn't stop laughing.

"This is fun," Boomer admitted with glee, continuing.

"Not fair!" Ruki laughed, unable to get the two to stop tickling her. "If I had fingers, I'd have tickled you guys as well!"

"But you don't, so too bad," Boomer retorted.

"Oh, I'll get you back!" Ruki laughed. "…wait… I can tickle you!"

Just then, Boomer felt something that was starting to tickle her as well, and when she noticed it, she saw that it was Ruki's tail.

"AHAHAH!" Boomer yelped out, and jumped away from Ruki to get away from the tail.

"Eh?" Blinking, Newt glanced back at Boomer, stopping his tickling session. "Boomer, wha-AHAHAHAHAH-"

At this point, Ruki had taken advantage of Newt's moment of weakness, using her tail to tickle the salamander. "Revenge!" she laughed, an mischievous smirk on her lips.

"Guess we aren't taking this as seriously as I thought we would," Boomer chuckled. Then she ran at Ruki. "Okay, let's get back to business!" Since Ruki was busy tickling Newt, she had an opportunity to punch Ruki. The punch knocked her off balance, which made her stop tickling the salamander.

"Ow… cheap shot!" she groaned, shooting a glare at Boomer.

"Well, that's what happens, y'know." Newt shrugged, before he turned to face Ruki again.

"Hoo… well, we got a nice workout from that." Ruki noted, cracking her neck a bit. "Alright… here I come!" Quickly, Ruki ran at the two, aiming to swing one of her pincers at Boomer like a mace, whilst using her tail as a whip against Newt. Boomer ducked to the side, running up to the scorpion and kicking her again. Strangely, she felt like she could move around a lot easier with the skirt than the lag of the jean bottoms of her overalls.

As she had just finished whipping away Newt, Ruki used her tail to block the kick before it could reach her, though that left her open for a punch to the face from the salamander, sending her skidding away.

"Phew…" Newt hummed, wiping his brow. "…we're gettin' a lot of practice out of this, y'know!"

"Sure feels like it," Boomer agreed. She wasn't going to rest, so she ran at Ruki again.

This time, however, Ruki had more time to lunge right at Boomer, grabbing her arms and pinning her to the ground. "I'm gonna need a countdown; three strikes, and you're out." she said with a smirk.

"Hey!" Quickly, Newt ran right at Ruki to try and get her off Boomer, but the scorpion thought ahead, using her tail to bind the incoming salamander in place. "Tsch… you know your tricks." he scoffed, trying to break free.

"I know." Ruki shrugged, before glancing at Boomer. "So… what do you say that we take a break? I need a breather."

"...I guess I have no choice..." Boomer muttered.

"Alright!" With a nod, Ruki let go of both Boomer and Newt, before she wiped her brow. "Man… training like this is something else, isn't it?" she hummed, before she sat down, letting out a small sigh.

"It certainly wasn't like the training at GUN." Not that Boomer had to undergo that training, really, but she's watched it once or twice. That, and Newt told her a few things about it.

"…still, going through this is definitely gonna be worth it." Ruki nodded, looking up at the sky. "I don't care if I win the tournament or not… as long as I can grow stronger, then I'm fine doing whatever it takes."

"...you wanna grow stronger?" Newt hummed.

"Yup." Ruki nodded.

"Do you have any specific reasons why?" Boomer asked curiously.

"Well…" Ruki hummed, rubbing her chin in thought. "…I wanna help others who need it. And I figured a year or two over at Safe Haven could help me with that." she eventually replied.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Boomer responded.

"I know, right?" Ruki chuckled. "So I'm gonna give it my best shot, and get stronger as fast as I can!"

"This...isn't good." Cal and Natal jumped away from Krieg again, catching their breath. "To be honest, I'm getting worn out, Natal," Cal whispered. "He's tough."

"And he doesn't even seem to be breaking a sweat…" Natal whispered back. "…just where did he get this kind of experience?"

With a mild hum, Krieg turned towards where he assumed Cal and Natal were, simply waiting for them to make their move.

Charmy sat patiently waiting for them, just enjoying the sunshine; which he noticed probably wouldn't last very long, since he could see it drifting toward the horizon again. Cal also saw this, and finally, he just dropped his katanas to the ground. "I'm done," he said in tired defeat.

"…yeah, I'm done, too." Natal sighed, as she sat down, rubbing her temples. "You're tough, Krieg."

"…you two are skilled, as well." Krieg hummed, as he sheathed his sword, before he approached both Cal and Natal . "Quite commendable."

"...coming from you, that's quite the compliment," Cal remarked.

"Indeed," Charmy got up from the bench and walked to them. "You three did as well as Ruki and Wiper did yesterday."

"Is that so?" Krieg hummed.

"I guess; according to Wiper, he and Ruki never once took a break during their fight yesterday." Natal nodded.

"…I see." Krieg mused. "Most interesting…" he added, before he sat down.

"It looks like another day is coming to a close," Charmy said.

"WOOOOHOOOOOOO!" Everyone's ears captured quite the obnoxious outcry, and the bushes split apart for a brown blur to sweep right past them...and return with a screeching halt.

"Hi guys!" It was Rudy.

"…hello, Rudy." Natal said with a small smile. "Where's Wiper and Sonia?"

"Right behind him." they heard Wiper call, as soon, he and Sonia emerged from where Rudy had burst through, Sonia looking especially exhausted. "How was training for you guys?" the cobra hummed, as he folded his arms.

"...it was," Cal tried to find the word for it. "...effective."

"So was ours!" Rudy exclaimed, hopping circles around everyone. "Man, I didn't think I could actually sit still for so long, but it was HORRIBLE! I don't think I could stand being paralyzed again!"

Charmy looked from Rudy to the tired Sonia, and chuckled. He knew Rudy was a handful.

"…that only leaves Ruki's group." Krieg hummed, as he folded his arms.

"Wonder where they are, right now…" Sonia hummed, scratching her head.

"We're over here, y'know!" they heard Newt call, as the group could see Boomer, Newt and Ruki approach them, all of them looking exhausted as well.

"Hiya Boomer! Hi Newt! Hi Ruki!" Rudy waved his arms around excitedly while he kept hopping around.

Boomer watched him with annoyance. "...I thought training would calm him down," he grumbled.

"You know Rudy, Boomer," Charmy chuckled.

"In any case," Wiper hummed, folding his arms, "that's two days done."

"Right; we should think of getting' some shuteye." Ruki said, letting out a small yawn.

"Indeed; we won't get much training if we're drowsy." Krieg chimed in.

"…oh, yeah, Ruki; where do you sleep at?" Sonia inquired. "Unless you're still over at the newcomer barracks, you could stay over at my place."

"That won't be necessary." Krieg hummed. "She lives in the same quarters as I do."

"…oh…" Sonia hummed, before grinning. "So you two are bedmates, then?"

If Ruki could turn a redder shade than she naturally was, she would've done so instantly upon hearing that comment. "Wha- what kinda inquiry is that?" she snapped, causing the others to start laughing, with the exception of Krieg. "Hey, it isn't funny! Cut it out!"

Day Three

"…another day…" Yawning, Wiper glanced out towards the window, seeing that sunlight was shining through the window of his bedroom. …wonder if anything unusual will happen…

"RUUUUUUUUDY!" whether or not Wiper would really call it unusual, a loud roar filled the building.

The yell presumably belonged to Boomer, so maybe it wouldn't be so unusual since she was the one most likely to yell at the kangaroo for something.

Wiper glanced towards the door. …that's one way to get people to wake up. he thought, as he rubbed his eyes drowsily.

Wiper's door suddenly swung open, and a panicked Rudy slammed it back shut, locking it. Then he pressed his back to the door when pounding hit the door. "RUDY! GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!" screamed Boomer.

"Wiper, you gotta hide me!" Rudy whimpered.

Wiper blinked, as he could only look at Rudy with a puzzled look. "…what did you do, now?" he yawned.

"I...uh..." Rudy just snickered. "...I poured cold water on her to wake her up!" Another pounding on the door made him jump with fear with a yelp, and scurry right underneath Wiper's bed.

With a slight groan, Wiper rubbed his temples. Cal, Newt, someone… do try and calm her down… he thought.

Almost as if answering his request, the pounding stopped. "C'mon Boomer, you know how Rudy is," Cal's voice was speaking outside of Wiper's door. "It was just a harmless joke."

"Yeah, a joke in bad taste!" Boomer bellowed right back.

"Now Boomer, just because you're in a fowl mood, doesn't give you the excuse to talk to your comrades like that." Charmy had cut in, and his voice was what really brought the calm silence.

There was a sigh, "...yes Captain," Boomer responded.

Hearing the silence, Wiper let out a small sigh of relief. "…seems like the situation's defused itself…" he murmured.

Rudy poked his head out from beneath the bed. "Is it safe?" he uttered.

"…so it seems." Wiper hummed. "Charmy calmed her down… but I do suppose we can all learn a thing from this." Then, he glanced down at the kangaroo. "Namely, don't wake Boomer up by pouring water on her."

"...right," Rudy crawled out from under the bed, rubbing his chin. "Next time, I'll use a firecracker to wake her up."

"…or maybe you won't…" Wiper muttered, letting out another yawn as he got out of bed.

"...oh..." Rudy finally got what Wiper meant. "...yeah, okay." So he unlocked the door for him and Wiper to enter into the hall.

Scratching the back of his neck, Wiper headed out, as he let out another yawn. The last day of training… he thought. …wonder if it'll be different from the other training days…

Once they all got some breakfast, Ani took off again with Striker and the others to get Joy, leaving Teams Alpha and Chaotix to exit the pub and head toward the usual spot, assuming that Ruki and Sonia would be there too; perhaps Krieg if he was still interested. Once they got there, they saw that Sonia already was there, thought there wasn't any sign of either Ruki or Krieg just yet.

"…wonder where they could be…?" Natal wondered out loud.

"Who knows," Cal responded.

"But question is, should we wait for them?" asked Rudy.

"…well, one of us could go and look after them, y'know." Newt suggested with a shrug.

"I'll go," Cal offered.

"…sure you won't need anyone coming along?" Wiper hummed, glancing at the monkey curiously.

"I'll be fine," Cal assured. "As long as I'm invisible, anyway." With that, the monkey disappeared in the air right before them, and the bushes rustled to the side, implying that Cal had left.

"…that's interesting." Sonia hummed once she saw Cal vanish like that.

"…well, I suppose we should wait until he returns with them." Natal mused, folding her arms.

And so, they waited. However, even hours later, neither Cal, Krieg or Ruki showed any signs of showing up, leaving a few of the group members to simply train on their own close-by whilst waiting.

After a long while, both Ruki and Krieg actually did show up, but neither of them had even seen any sign of Cal whatsoever, forcing them to wait even longer for the monkey to come, but Cal never showed up, even then.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Natal groaned in aggravation, as she stood up from where she sat. "I'm gonna go look for him."

"This time, I'm coming with," Boomer said. "If he's been gone for this long, I wouldn't go alone."

"…I believe I should accompany you, as well." Krieg hummed. "I know a bit about the island, so if he's gotten lost somewhere…"

…aren't you supposed to be blind? Newt thought in puzzlement.

"…well, let's go look for him." Natal nodded, turning to where Cal had left earlier.

"We'll all wait for you guys here then," Charmy decided, watching the three of them disappear off in the direction they remembered Cal going off to.

As the three walked through the woods, Natal kept glancing around her to try and find a clue on where Cal could be. Krieg, on the other hand, remained quiet, simply focusing on walking straight ahead. Boomer, meanwhile, tried to think of where Cal could disappear to. If they could think of where to look, rather than run around the whole island, then they could save time.

"...he went looking for you and Ruki, Krieg," Boomer said, "so we should look around the mountain first to see if he's there."

Hearing that, Krieg stopped.

It took Boomer and Natal a short while to realize that Krieg had stopped walking, which prompted them to stop as well, looking back at the warthog. "…Krieg?" Natal uttered.

"…the mountain…" Krieg hummed. "…he could be there… but there's also a good chance that Spiel could be there, as well."

"...is there something wrong with that?" Boomer inquired.

"…let's just say that if Spiel found Cal around the mountain…" Krieg murmured, as he began picking up the pace, walking ahead of the two girls. "… Cal would be lucky to escape unscathed."

The two could only watch Krieg as he went ahead of them, before they looked at each other. "…we should hurry." Natal eventually said.

Boomer didn't like the sound of that, and agreeing with Natal, they hurried.

Sunset came when they made it to the mountain pass, and they had been stepping around in the brush and looking through the trail thoroughly. Thankfully, Spiel hadn't been around as Krieg had assumed, but so far, they found no sign of Cal yet.

"Sheesh… where could he be?" Natal murmured, before she glanced up towards the path leading up the mountain. Krieg had gone up it earlier, telling the two of them that they wouldn't need to go up there with him.

"...I hope that crazy monkey didn't get into trouble," Boomer grumbled, walking through the brush on the side of the path.

"Ow."

"...huh?" Boomer felt something under her foot. It felt soft, and yet thick. Pulling up her foot and moving some of the brush aside, it turned out that Boomer had accidentally stepped on someone's face. She turned her head back to Natal. "Found him!" she called.

"…you did?" Natal hummed, as she walked over to Boomer, looking down at where she had stepped. "…well, there you are." she mused, looking down at Cal, before pulling him to his feet. "Where have you been, all day?"

Cal wiped his face tiredly. "I..." and he found something quite strange. His mind was drawing a total blank for an answer. "...actually, the funny thing is that I don't know."

"...you're kidding, right?" Boomer growled dryly. "You've been gone a whole day, and you don't even know what you were doing?"

"...I was gone a whole day?" That sure was a surprise to Cal.

"…yeah." Natal nodded. "You went to look for Ruki and Krieg, remember? You didn't even come when the two of them wound up by the meeting spot on their own, and… now the day's almost over." Then, she sighed. "So in the end, we got a minimal amount of training in for today…"

Cal scratched his head in puzzlement...and also a little guiltily. "...Gee, sorry guys," he said. "I just...have no idea what happened. I can't remember." He wondered if maybe he somehow dozed off.

Boomer would've yelled at him, but when she heard him say that he didn't remember, there was something to that which made her quiet...and thoughtful. Now why wouldn't he remember, I wonder? she thought.

"…so you found him." Hearing that voice, the three of them glanced towards the pass, where Krieg was walking down from. "Where was he?"

"Lying around." Natal replied. "In any case, it's getting late. We should head back to the others."

So they did. Cal got a bit of a lecture from Boomer, since she was looking forward to some training, but other than that, they were glad that he was found and alright. With serial killers on the loose, it didn't bode well when someone was gone for longer than they should be.

Anyhow, it was the late evening before the gang finally headed back to the pub. Upon entering, Ani burst out and almost ran into them. "Whoops, sorry guys!" she called, running off.

"Hey Ani, where are ya going?" Rudy called back.

"Captain Whisker's having a slumber party on the ship!" then she was gone.

"…slumber party, eh?" Newt hummed.

"I suppose they decided to prepare some form of pre-emptive celebration before the tournament, or something." Wiper shrugged, placing his hands behind his head whilst looking upwards.

"Well, let's shove off to bed," Charmy said with a yawn, slowly ambling inside, with all of the others following. The pub was closed down and quiet, so they just made their way to the back hallway. However, Boomer wasn't even allowed to touch the doorknob to hers and Newt's room.

"NO! DON'T GO IN THERE!" Hunter jumped right there, blocking the door off to them.

"...Hunter, what the hell?" Boomer stamped her foot. "This is mine and Newt's room!"

Hunter looked very afraid of Boomer right now, or her temper anyway, and he uneasily averted his eyes to the door. "...someone's using it."

"What?" Boomer just couldn't believe it. How could they lend their room to someone like that!

"Someone's…" Newt uttered, tilting his head. "…but… no one else is sleeping over here but us, right?"

"Curious…" Natal hummed, rubbing her chin.

"Would you really loan someone a room like that?" Boomer complained, certainly mad. Today, she was woken up with cold water poured on her face, she HARDLY got any training done today because of Cal, and NOW they can't even go to sleep in their own room? She had a reason to be unhappy.

"...listen," Hunter looked pretty serious, which actually stopped Boomer's tantrum. "...I'll tell you who's using that room...but it's going to be pretty shocking, so I suggest that you keep it a secret."

"…I'm sure we can all keep a secret." Wiper said, shooting everyone present a look, and giving Hunter a nod. "Go ahead."

Hunter still hesitated in telling them, which made Boomer impatient. "Well?"

"...Metal and Jill are in there," he finally said, and that grabbed Charmy's attention like nothing before.

"…Metal and…" Newt began, slowly tilting his head.

"…Jill…" Natal continued, tilting her head the other way.

"…is that so…" Wiper mused, rubbing his chin.

"...but..." Cal just stared at Hunter blankly and wonderingly.

Boomer's eyes were wide as melons. "...you're joking, right?" she uttered.

"...no, I'm not joking," Hunter replied.

"…but… why would they…" Newt uttered, as he scratched his head.

"…do you know why they're in there, Hunter?" Natal inquired, folding her arms.

"...well..." Boy, was that an uncomfortable question for Hunter if there ever was. He didn't even need to answer however, because Charmy had the answer. The old bee just closed his eyes thoughtfully.

Then he chuckled. "...I guess they really hit it off."

Cal shot his Captain a baffled look. "What?"

"What did you say!" both Newt and Natal said in surprise, looking at the bee with baffled looks as well.

Wiper, however, was silent, merely glancing at Charmy.

"...I don't get it, what's going on?" Rudy asked, completely oblivious to what was going on, really. Charmy chuckled again at Rudy's naivete.

"...you mean to say...that Metal and Jill are..." Boomer put two and two together, but she just couldn't believe it.

"...he's right," Hunter confirmed.

The silence in the air was so immense at that moment, that one could hear a pin drop from miles away.

"…in any case…" Wiper eventually said, folding his arms. "…you and Newt currently lack a bedroom, Boomer." Then, he turned his gaze towards the duck. "You can have my room for tonight."

Hearing that, Newt turned to Wiper. "You sure about that?" he uttered. "I mean, y'know, where are you gonna sleep?"

"I'll figure something out." Wiper shrugged. "Besides, I insist."

"...well, alright," Boomer said. "...c'mon Newt." and she walked quietly toward Wiper's room. With an awkward nod, Newt followed Boomer.

"There's always Sonia's, Wiper," Charmy said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind having you over."

"...but what happened? What's with Metal and Jill?" Rudy pestered, still clueless to what was going on.

Charmy just chuckled again. "It's nothing, Rudy," he said. "I'll tell you in the morning."

"Perhaps it could wait until after the tournament?" Wiper hummed, glancing at Charmy. "That way, he could be more focused on getting through it without his mind wandering."

"Aw, c'mon!" Rudy complained at Wiper's suggestion.

"Either way, it's late and we should be getting to bed," Cal said.

"I agree." Wiper nodded, as he began heading down the hall. "Good night, everyone… and good luck, tomorrow.

And now, to work on the 15th chapter of 5 Years Later! XD