Not many knew how well read the Blue Dragon (Azula) was in Chinese medicine, for an age quite tender. In place of physiotherapy at the Presbyterian Hospital, even the doctors were impressed at her conviction that she could care for Johnny using traditional methods. This spared him a long stretch of time spent in the hospital wards he almost couldn't stand. The couple was now spoken of frequently in anything from the New York magazines to small talk. & they never held anything back from one another following the roller coaster of events these past weeks. They'd had one too many rifts to bear it any more. Azula had said this to keep Johnny's confidence level from dipping, "We ain't celebrities. We're just there to help."

They'd both been revising the kung fu moves Johnny had studied with her - a less discouraging form of physiotherapy, or treatment for that matter. She'd then treat him to a cup of miracle-working tea or soup. Mostly at night, if the muscle pains & remaining bruises from the mob attack were harsh on him, she'd apply the poultice ofsan huang san to ease the agony. Secretly, that was a golden chance to watch how his eyes would capture the light, & give it back to her generously in the deep blue orbs.

For him to enjoy was her kindness & warmth freely radiated to him. He hadn't seen it this brilliantly before because of his pride; she'd been right about him dating her just to 'have a girlfriend', not resulting from any intrinsic qualities she possessed. Since she & Ozai rescued him from bleeding to death on the sidewalk, his old self yielded & fell away. Every time she showed her loving-kindness, coupled with her attractive complexion (which was obviously everymoment they met) he would be moved or perhaps even riveted.

One morning he mulled over a thing she had told him, even in his sleep. "Don't be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against you on all sides,"she read from the pages the night before. Then she had reassured him, & pecked him lightly on the forehead upon removing his last head bandage, "You always have me." He remembered her laugh when his dreamy smile almost killed her, & how she had to steady herself from blushing.

He woke up super dazed, rubbing his head to check for pain. There was no sharp feeling left at last; he yawned & stretched like a cat.

"BEN….." He looked down & realized his room was flooded...on purpose. It had to be none other than the one he pranked too often. Trudging through ankle deep water to his bathroom door & sliding it open, he didn't see the tsunami of rushing water coming. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he went under the powerful current.

"Race you to the end!" shouted a huffing & puffing Sue. Azula was no nonsense in terms of celerity - while Sue jogged in her tracksuit down the hallway, the Blue Dragon whipped past her & leapt with the might of her agile nimble frame. Azula scaled whichever walls or ledges she could find to get ahead. However, they halted outside Johnny's room to inspect the puddles of water forming on the floor. Coincidentally the room door slid open to reveal a sight for sore eyes.

"Where is he?"snapped Johnny, floating out the room on a water wave with hair drenched & ruined.

"Oh, Johnny…I'm sorry," Sue began her chain of laughter so contagious it got to Azula in no time.

Johnny pouted, "My sister & my girlfriend…real nice."

"We love you, Johnny," both girls said, echoing what his girl fans buried in the crowd always shouted. Just then they both signaled to each other cheekily & picked him up in a ginormous hug! Azula kissed him on the left cheek, & Sue did so on his right one. A neat package of a loving sibling's kiss & a girlfriend's kiss at the same time.

He struggled for breath, "Okay, you can love me…if I'm able to breathe…first…"

"Sorry," Azula guffawed some more & pet go. "Aw, come on. You pranked Ben a million times," muttered Sue. They helped him up on his feet again.

"Well, it's gonna be a million & one once I dry off…," concluded a grinning Johnny. Next, Azula kindly handed him her clean towel to wipe up. But he was admitted to the sight of her worried countenance. "Zed? What's wrong?" he questioned. "Those bones aren't healed fully." She was referring to his rib fractures. The doctor said they'd taken four weeks to mend themselves, & the same thing went for his broken left wrist. Moreover, she located a big bruise on his back that was recovering a little too slowly. He reached out to smooth her hair & pull her into his bear hug, "It's all good. I'll be fine."

There was more fun going on upstairs at the same time. "Do you think five gallons was too much?" Reed asked Ben, who put down the massive water container after pouring its contents down the pipes. Ozai had stood by to watch the fun unfold.

"Too much or not enough?" winked Ben.

"You know I don't approve of these childish games."

Ben & Ozai looked at each other in alarm & back to Reed. "But it was your idea!" they uttered.

"That's your word against mine," Reed winked in return.

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN,"an outlandish voice rang clear from above. Not two seconds later the three disappeared in bright flashes.

They reappeared somewhere, with Sue, Azula & Johnny standing in line with them. "Umm, Reed? What just happened?" queried Sue. All six of them were high up on a platform that resembled some keyboard.

"We've been transported to what appears to be a game board."

Above them was a hovering figure about 7-feet tall, the Grandmaster, who remarked,"The Contest of Champions is far more than a simple game, Reed Richards…you & your team have been challenged."

"Challenged by who?" said Ben. He gazed upward to see a hooded, square-shouldered adversary appear beside the Grandmaster. "Ronan?"

Azula was displeased, "Him?"

Ben complained, "What are ya, a glutton for punishment? Didn't we just send you packing?"

The Accuser toughened up one of his fists, "Now you will all PAY! One by one, I will crush you in my hands, destroying you each in glorious combat & -"

"Not exactly," Grandmaster cleared his throat, "The events will be selected from the minds of the contestants, & the Fantastic Four, Leopard X & Blue Dragon will be pitted against you & your team."

"Events? TEAM? I did not agree to this!" thundered Ronan, almost in petulance.

"No mere mortal makes the rules of the Contest. I DO."

The gem on the Grandmaster's forehead gleamed & released beams of energy. "Could this get any worse?" whined Sue. Those beams had transported MORE baddies onto this game board. Standing in line with Ronan were Annihilus, Super Skrull, Mole Man, Attuma & Diablo.

This excited Azula, though, "Lighten up. It has to get better! Johnny needs this kinda training."

"YOU!" spat Annihilus in Johnny's direction. Super Skrull flamed on in his slowly bubbling rage. But Mole Man was having a hard time with the sunlight.

"I hope you're right," Reed said to Azula. Sue interrupted, "So, on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worse case scenario…"

"Ten."

Ozai teased, "Come on, Reed. Eight."

"What are you so happy about?" Ben asked Johnny.

He chirped, "Dude…you know what this is? This is like some kind of cosmic good guy/bad guy Olympics! This is gonna be awesome!"

"I hear you," Azula filled in. He smiled at her, delighted to finally have some serious action since he'd spent the last month resting at home & not joining his team on their assignments. (Fortunately there were no major attacks)

Ronan roared, "These…THESE are my teammates? The winged one is clearly insane, & the fat, ugly one…just look at him!"

"IT BURNS!" screamed Mole Man.

"Hmmm…perhaps a substitution is in order."

Grandmaster launched one more beam at Mole Man, conveying him back to his initial location - & replacing him with the Impossible Man.

"Tadda!" the little alien exclaimed. "Hi! It's me! What's this? A game?"

"Hey…," Johnny could wave his healed wrist swiftly.

"Impy! What took you so long to come back?" Azula high fived him as he frolicked around the six heroes. He squealed, "I wanna play!"

"Are we being punished for something?" Sue threw Reed a questioning glare. He slapped his forehead & didn't respond.

"Awww, guys…if it's punishment at all, this should be fun anyway, right?" Ozai slipped on his helmet, now at the simple touch of a button on his armour. Reed wanted so badly to grin sarcastically, "Did you have more tea than you needed this morning, Ozai?"

"A Poppupian? No!" Ronan grew even more dissatisfied.

"Your team roster is final, Accuser. Unless you'd prefer to forfeit."

"No!" the Kree silenced himself.

Reed elongated his body to face the Grandmaster at close distance. "So, we can choose to forfeit…we're not being forced to play this game," he wished to clarify.

"Of course not. You can leave the contest at any time."

Sue grabbed the chance, "Great! Let's do tha -" But Reed had covered her lips & enquired, "& what happens when a team forfeits?"

"They are erased from existence, of course. Along with their entire species."

Leopard X chortled at Sue, "Told you so. Buckle up for battle."