Part 1:

The trip started off in its usually chaotic and teary way. Hiruma-san sent them all another one of his I-know-I-caught-you-off guard-but-you-need-to- shut-up-and-listen TV broadcasts stating that they better be at the clubhouse at midnight tonight or else he will "personally" come and drag their behinds out. All this was said in an innocent voice from the mouth of an equally adorable mini version of Hiruma-san, not that any one of the Devil Bats would ever say that to him. Midnight arrived quickly and the whole team find themselves sleepily waiting for their spiked-haired captain to arrive. Everyone was dead on their feet, except for Monta who was chattering about some of his wild conjectures centering around why they were all here. Midway through one about Hiruma-san being an evil dictator from another planet finally ready to reveal his malicious plan to conquer the world and forcing the Devil Bats into being his slaves, a voice interrupted Monta's rant,

"I see that a monkey's brain will always be a monkey's brain" said Hiruma

"H-h-hiruma-san" stuttered Monta "I-I wasn't talking about you. I-I have…"

"You weren't? Too bad" replied Hiruma "Now, all of you, get your asses up to the roof. We have someplace to go"

"The roof? What's on the roof?" asked Sena, more so to himself than to anybody else.

Everyone turned around and looked up, to see a helicopter on the top of the clubhouse. With the help of his trusty friend, the black book of threats, Hiruma had turned the rooftop into a helicopter landing pad, bought a helicopter, got it custom designed, and scored the best pilot possible. After they found and scaled the ladder to the roof, the team found themselves staring at a huge, black, and red helicopter with the Devil Bats logo on one side and their chant "Kill em'! Ya-Ha!" on the other side. The size of the helicopter was readjusted in order to fit the whole team, but the huge proportions made the copter look more like a small plane than a helicopter. Once they were all tightly strapped inside, Sena, who fortunately managed to secure a front seat spot with the girls, Hiruma, and Doburoki-sensei and escaped the crowded backseat, asked,

"Hiruma-san, where are we going?"

"Hehe, America, brat, America"

"A break? Vacation?" asked Sena hopefully and praying that Hiruma-san will not say what Sena thought he was going to say. His prayers were all in vain.

"You have been hanging around the monkey too much. You should be careful not to catch his stupidity" said Hiruma "We're going for training. The Death Marathon. You could say it's the older brother of the Death March"

A loud and panicked chorus of "What?", "Again?", "I'm going to die" echoed throughout the 'copter, followed by a loud turbine sound as the helicopter ascended into the sky.

"This time will be worse than the Death March. You brats have improved too much since that time for it to still work. The Death Marathon is what I have created. Be ready for a few weeks of hell. HEHE. HEHE. HEHE"

On another plane, the atmospheres around the passengers were a little bit different. The Seibu Wild Gunmen were also going on a training trip, but the team members, instead of wishing that they were in Japan, wished they were in America or anyplace other than being stuck in a small airplane with a fierce bull, Riku, and Kid. Doc went to zoo the other day and brought home a bull. He insisted that they had to bring it with them and will not let it ride in a separate plane. Riku had gotten delirious from taking one too many motion sickness pills and was staggering around while blurting out everyone's secrets.

"Tetsuma-san. Can I call you Tetty? Teddy? Teddy-bear!" slurred Riku "You know what that reminds me of? Your teddy bear underwear. Hehe. Teddy bear rhymes with underwear! "

"Buffalo-san. You look very happy. That is so weird. Is it because you were making out with our head cheerleader? Oops, sorry. I forgot that it was a huge secret no one is supposed to know. SHH, everyone. It's a huge secret."

"Do you guys know what's another big secret involving kissing. So, the other day, I saw Kid-san and—"

With one hand over Riku's mouth, Kid said "Let's keep that between you and me. Ok, Riku?"

With his free hand, he motioned to his teammates to bring over a handkerchief to quiet Riku, but when Kid look at Riku again, the white-haired teenager was already asleep. The medicine had finally kicked in. Kid gave one more look at Riku and went back to his shooting practice. With the threat of Riku gone, everyone was reminded once again why they need to leave this plane. Kid, instead of bringing a bull onto the plan, had set up a mini shooting range that stretched across the length of the plane. It was already dangerous and illegal to shoot in a plane, but to practice shooting in a small and crowded plane that was in motion, upgraded the danger level by several hundred times. The Wild Gunmen trusted their captain but their nerves were still severely frayed.

Sena and Riku were in different planes, but their experience was, oddly, the same. They were both asleep when it happened, but woke up to hear a loud stuttering sound from the engine and panic rising from their fellow teammates. The pilot's voice was heard cutting into the chaotic noise to say that due to some problems with the engine the plane needed to quickly land. Sena's helicopter landed safely first and as the Devil Bats left the copter to take in their environment, they were shocked to see another plane landing a few hundred feet away. In the grassy and non inhabited area they were in, it was a surprise to see another group of people, much less the Wild Gunmen, someone they knew. It was such a coincidence, a one in a million chance, that the two teams stared at their respectable captains and murmured quietly to themselves, "It can't be, right? It can't his doing".

It was almost morning and the sky was getting lighter. The two team decided to set up camp together and some people were chosen to go look for the necessities like wood, water, and edible plants or animals. The pilots were assigned the responsibility of fixing the planes, or at the very least, the emergency radio transmitters, but before they went off to work, they had informed the football players that they had landed in the state of Kansas. Both teams' destination was Texas; one team had a training ranch there and the other team decided to start their marathon there. Kansas, to the surprise of most of the people present, was not like how they imagined it. It was not as flat as a pancake or as boring as one. It was certainly in the middle of nowhere, but they had managed to land in a rather lush and vibrant part. There were short grass, wildflowers, and dandelions around them. There was the pleasant humming of bees and other insects in the air. To the far left of them was the opening of a forest and it is from here that the Ha-ha brothers appeared to tell the good news that they found a long river.

"At least we won't die from dehydration now" remarked Hiruma

"Yukimitsu-san and I found some berries and small fruits growing in the forest" cried Suzuna

"Tetsuma and Kid, come over here with me" said Doc who had also emerged from the tiny woodland "I found some animals living here. Come quickly. We'll have meat tonight. Ye-haw. I'm getting hungry and excited just thinking about it"

"Hey, monkey" said Hiruma "You can catch anything, right?"

"Yeah" said Monta "I'm the number one receiver"

"Hehe" smiled Hiruma "Follow the Ha-ha brothers and make yourself useful by catching some fishes. The Wild Gunmen won't be the only one eating meat tonight"

"Yosh" yelled Monta "Meat! I'm pumped to the MAX"

A few hours later, the Devil Bats and the Wild Gunmen were seen gathering around a large fire. A few people were in charge of cooking the wild pigs and fishes caught by both teams. A few others were in charge of keeping the fire going and keeping an eye out for any animal that might be attracted to the scent of food. A couple more were in charge of building make-shift tents out of the few items they were able to gather from the planes. It was nothing fancy but it will have to last them for the time being.

When the food was ready and everyone are seated around the fire, Mamori took a look around her and said,

"Where's Sena?"

"Last time I saw him, he was going into the forest to find food" replied Monta

"You don't think anything happened to Sena?" asked Suzuna

"I'll go find the brat" said Hiruma stalking into the forest

"You don't have to worry Mamori-chan. It's only morning and Hiruma will find him" said Kurita

"Riku is missing too" said Kid looking around "I guess I'll join that guy" With a final sigh, he put on his hat and followed Hiruma.

A few hours later, the two emerged puzzled and empty-handed. It was now, when confronted with the severity of it, that everyone became more aware of their situation and as a result, more worried. They were in the middle of an unfamiliar environment with no way to call for help and two missing teammates.

"Good news" shouted Hiruma's pilot "Our helicopter is fixed. We can leave anytime now"