transmission re-established

Wally ran on over to the jousting area, showing off his stick.

"Not bad, but how about this?" Ace replied, somewhat admiring the handiwork that went into Numbuh 4's weapon until he pulled out his own that was much more well-crafted and taller in appearance.

Wally snorted. "You call that a jousting stick?" he egged on to Ace before he pulled out another jousting stick, this one five times longer than the one he was toting around. The other jousters whistled in appreciation which stoked Wally's pride further. He puffed out his chest. "This is how you say 'kicking thy keester' in Australia!"

"Hmph, size doesn't matter if you don't have a lady's favor to give you luck," Ace said smoothly and pulled out a wreath of colorful flowers.

Wally pretended to gag at it and then laughed. "You gonna wear that in the competition? That's so… girly!"

"It's not for me!" Ace snapped before gesturing over to the jewelry kiosk where a sizeable amount of girls began to form there. "Lady Kuki! May I grace myself with your beautiful presence?"

Slack jawed, Wally watched as Kuki turned and giggled at Ace before curtsying. "You may, sir knight!" She squealed in delight when he presented her with the wreath of flowers. "Ooooh! How pretty!"

"Not as pretty as you," Ace bowed before placing the wreath upon the crown of her dark hair. "I was wondering if I may have a token of favor from you for my jousting competition? Surely wearing something of yours would bless me with the greatest of luck."

One of the jousters whistled lowly to Wally's right which immediately set him off. "Smoothie. He's definitely a smoothie."

"OI!" Wally snapped and tried to roll his sleeves up only to scrub at his armor. The confusion nearly had him fall backwards onto the mud if not for one of the jousters who pulled him back up by the armpits at the last minute.

"At ease, cadet."

Wally ignored Kuki and Ace long enough to spare a second look at his 'savior'. "Cadet? Is that you, Numbuh 60?"

"The one and only." Lifting off his helmet, dark hair and storm grey eyes revealed themselves to the shorter operative. "You should save that anger for the jousting. I hear Ace has been practicing all winter to keep his title."

Wally snorted loudly. "Yeah, well I've been practicing all year! He's not gonna best me this time!" For the first time in months, the lightbulb in his head clicked. "Hey, what chu doing here anyways? Ain't ya supposed to be at the Arctic Base?"

Patton scratched at his helmet hair. "Numbuh 1 didn't tell you? This year it's guild against guild for the lifetime's supply of ice cream. Sector V's going to need all the help you can get from Global Command. Got some of our best fighters here training. Here…" he slapped some kind of sticker right on Wally's breastplate, a coat of arms with the letters KNKO emblazoned on it. "Kids Next Kingdom Over. Named after the fourth age of the KND."

He patted his breastplate, blue eyes widening in awe. "Cooooool." Revved up now that he belonged to a proper guild, Wally punched his palm. "We're gonna kick some major-!"

"Sir Wallllllyyyyy!" Kuki giggled and waved at them before bounding over, ignoring Ace completely much to his frustration. "And Sir Patton! Do you both want my favors for the joust?! I've still got five more ribbons!"

"Nah, but thanks," Patton replied and raised an eyebrow at the green ribbons in her fist. "You're just giving your favors out like candy! It's supposed to be for only one knight!"

Kuki held the ribbons close to her chest as if Patton just offended them. "Well, not these favors of course! They don't match my dress! These are good luck favors since everybody asked for one last year and I didn't have enough! This one is my real lady's favor!" She pulled out a long pink ribbon from her pocket and dangled it in front of Wally. He gagged at the color.

"Who'd want to wear that on their armor?!" Wally protested. "I'd be laughed out of the stables!"

Kuki huffed, picked up her dress, and stomped away with a glare. "Fine! I wasn't going to give it to you anyway, Numbuh 4!"

There was a moment of silence before Patton cleared his throat. "Are you usually as dense as your file says or are you just really good at pretending?"

"OI!"


Dressed in peasants outfits, Nick and Chip sat on the announcers booth overlooking the jousting tournament. The stadium was jam packed with people and the cheers were near deafening.

"Hear ye, hear ye! Welcome to the 35th Annual Jousting Tournament brought to you by Hap-Happy Land. If you're not hap-happy, then we're not doing our jo-job!" Nick opened the event and fiddled with his ear piece.

"Ahem."

They both turned to find the very same jester confiscating their earpieces. "No earpieces back in the medieval ages!"

"This renfaire sure stays true to their roots, don't they Nick?" Chip asked aloud as the jester stomped away.

Nick straightened in his seat and grinned, gesturing to the two microphones secretly disguised as tankards. "They sure do, Chip, they sure do. Now on to the proceedings! It looks like we've got the same participants as last year hoping to beat fan favorite Ace for this year's competition."

"Ain't that a one-trick pony," Chip countered professionally. "Like Sir Wallabee Beetles. Every year the poor squire just falls short of winning. All power, but no technique."

Down below, Wally hopped off his pony to point and yell at the announcers. "HEY! Say that to my face, you stoopid...!"

Nick and Chip remained completely oblivious to Wally's taunts. "And we've got a new applicant on our rosters. Word on the grapevine is that this dark horse might be a better opponent against Sir Ace." Nick said and unrolled a parchment to read off it. "Sir Patton Drilovsky who's also Captain of the Royal Guard for the Kids Next Kingdom Over guild. One that will be squaring off against the Teen Empire in the upcoming Kingdom Wars tournament. We'll be expecting a lot from this distinguished knight that's for sure!"

Snorting, Wally kicked the dirt and glowered at Patton, whose expression he couldn't see under the dark helmet. "Listen to these morons! They don't know what a good joust is if it bit them right on the-!"

One of the referrees sounded loudly from a large horn. "All participants prepare yourselves for the first round! Sir Wally versus Sir Ace! Man your positions and may the gods smile upon you! Excelsior!"

"Well well!" Chip voice reverberated throughout the stadium. "It looks like the powers that be decided to take out the weaker competition in the first round! Poor Beetles, let's hope they give him at least a complimentary keychain for his troubles."

"SHUT UP!" Wally snarled before mounting his pony and moving to the edge of the stadium. "I'm gonna win and the first thing I'll do is shove that first place ribbon right in your smug faces!"

"Sir Wally!" He turned to find Kuki dangling from the edge of the stands, waving excitedly at him. "You're not wearing a lady's favor! Don't you want to wear one?!"

The infernal pink ribbon danced in front of his vision and he cringed once more at it. "As if! I can win this on my own without some girly favor!" he shouted and leveled his jousting stick at the sound of the second horn and kicked his pony into a gallop.

Nick leaned forward excitedly. "And they're off, maidens and peasants! Sir Ace's form is just perfect, but it looks like Sir Wally is gaining ground for the advantage!"

"GO WALLY!" Kuki shouted over the large cheers and waved her handkerchief alongside the other ladies. "Watch out for mud because you're not wearing a lady's favor!"

Oddly enough, Wally could single her voice out against the crowd. "For the last time!" he yelled, shooting a look toward the audience. "I'M NOT WEARING A STUPID FAV-!"

The blunt end of Ace's jousting stick hit him hard in the chest. He flopped immediately off his pony and landed right into the mud with a loud crash of metal and wood.

The crowd laughed and cheered as Ace's pony made its rounds across the stadium, its occupant absorbing the jeers and shouts of his name in triumph.

"SIR ACE! SIR ACE! SIR ACE!"

"Ouch! Well good luck next time, Sir Wally the One-Trick Pony!" Chip announced once the crowd died down. "At least you'll get a keychain for participating!"

Throwing his helmet aside, Wally smacked the mud beneath him and snarled when his pony started to eat at his hair. "Ger-off you stoopid animal! Stoopid ponies! Stoopid favors!"

To the KNKO's credit, a few rounds later Numbuh 60 and Ace tangoed with each other at the final match and everyone watched with bated breath as Patton secured his victory with a well disciplined smack of his jousting stick right at Ace's head.

After Numbuh 10 sashayed her way over to pin the medal to his breastplate and give him a complimentary kiss on the cheek for his exceptional jousting, Patton smirked and shrugged when he met Wally and Kuki halfway out the stadium.

Kuki bounced on her heels and giggled excitedly. "Yay for Numbuh 60! You were great!"

"Yeah, whatever," Wally grumbled and kicked up a fine lair of dust. Kuki frowned and tried to keep the hem of her sparkling dress away from the dirt.

"Hey!" Kuki whined. "I don't want dirt on my dress, Wally!"

Wally answered by stomping angrily around the dirt. "I don't get it! How'd you manage to top Ace?!"

With an apologetic grin, Patton lowered his jousting stick and revealed a dark blue-green ribbon wrapped around the handle. Wally slapped his forehead and groaned.

Kuki grinned triumphantly. "Told you! It's because he had a lady's favor!"

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