The Master Corps: Supplementary Chapters

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Hunter. The game belongs entirely to Capcom. All characters that appear in this story belong to me, unless otherwise stated.

Edited by: dashboardgecko

This chapter is Canonical with TMC

SC3: Competition

Viper let out a low breath and narrowed his eyes, focusing on the center of the target across the field, already riddled with numerous arrows from his previous shots. The archer reached back and pulled another shaft from his quiver, nocking it and drawing the string of his Green Nargacuga bow as far back as it would go. This would be his last shot of the day, and he'd make sure it was a damned good one. The golden-eyed man smirked at the thought and began to release the bowstring, certain that the projectile would hit dead center on the target.

"HEY!"

"Gods above!"

The archer flinched in surprise at the shout, completely shattering his concentration and throwing his aim off wildly, causing the arrow to fling off much higher than he had intended. The projectile sailed more than half a dozen yards over the target and embedded itself in the city wall, almost a full thirty feet above the ground. With an exasperated sigh, Viper turned to the source of the interruption, not showing any surprise at who it was.

"Was that shot meant for them or something?" Emerald sneered. She didn't seem at all sorry for messing up his shot, but that was to be expected. Viper knew how much she enjoyed screwing with him, and he derived no small amount of pleasure from doing the same. The one thing she could do that was always guaranteed to put him in a sour mood, though, was throwing off a perfectly placed shot.

"No, but I wish my bow had snapped back and knocked you out instead, Greenie. What do you want?"

"You know why I'm here! You think I'm letting last week's score stand?!"

"For the love of… Don't you ever get tired of this, woman?!"

"And don't you ever get tired of cheating at every competition we have?!"

"I don't cheat, I'm just better than you are! Why can't you wrap that green-haired head of yours around that?!"

"Because I know for a fact that you aren't better! I've hit more bulls-eyes than you have!"

"Sure, but I've also hit the target more than you have. You can't go a single round without at least one of your arrows missing that thing by a solid foot or so."

"Tch… Fine, I can tell you just don't want an archery competition this time then!" Emerald huffed, crossing her arms and sneering at him. "Alright, name your game then."

"…What're you talkin' about?"

"Are you really that dumb?! If it isn't archery, it has to be something else! Name anything you want, and I'll beat you at it!"

"…Gods, you are completely insufferable… Fine, we can have our competition in something else, but frankly I don't really care what we do, since I know I'll win-"

"Fine, I challenge you to think up of a challenge before me! Go!"

"Wait, wha-?"

"Eating contest! Boom, point for the Green Team!"

"Hey, now wait just a damn minute-!"

"What, you sore about losing a competition as easy as that?! I always knew you were a bit slow in the brain, Viper, but this is a new step back for you!"

"That's it! You want a contest, fine! I'll give you a contest that'll blow your sorry ass to kingdom come!"

"Oh, is that a promise or a threat?!"

"BOTH!" he roared, glaring menacingly at the green-eyed woman as she shot a dangerous look back at him. "Alright, best two out of three! First challenge, first one to the Oasis Inn wins!"

"A race across the city? Sounds good to me! Ready when you are, pansy!"

"Just gimme one second… Wes!"

"What?!" the dual blade wielder replied from across the yard, turning away from the dummy he had been practicing with. "I'm busy right now!"

"I need you to climb up that wall and get my arrow down! It's my lucky arrow!"

"…Are you kidding me?! That's a thirty foot climb, man! That wall doesn't have any handholds!"

"Then figure it out! I've got a score to settle right now!"

"Aw come on!"

"Ready to go yet?" Emmy asked, tapping her foot impatiently. Viper could practically feel a vein bulge from the side of his head in irritation.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I- GO!"

"Wait, what? HEY!"

"'Bout time you caught up, slowpoke," Viper laughed, leaning against the wall of the inn as the green-haired archer came to a stop before him.

"You cheated!" she wheezed, breathing heavily from running for so long. "The head start was bad enough, but then you knocked a pile of barrels into my path!"

"Sorry, I didn't realize we weren't allowed to use the environment to our advantage," he shrugged, making his tone as condescending as possible. "Guess next time we'll have to play by your baby rules instead of actual hunter's guidelines."

"You son of a-! Ooh, you are asking for it now! Fine, since you got to name the first challenge, I get the second one! First one to eat a plate of spicy curry at the Land of Dreams café wins!"

"A race and an eating challenge? You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?! Alright, I'm in! Loser pays for both meals!"

"Sounds fair enough," the huntress smirked as they turned in the direction of the café; it was almost two blocks north of them. "Ready, set-" The huntress quickly whirled to the side, striking Viper across the face with a backhanded swing and knocking him over backwards with a surprised yelp. "GO!"

"Agh… Scheming little bi- hey! Get the hell back here!"

"How did my dust taste with the last bite of that platter, snake boy?" Emerald sneered as Viper stepped out of the café with a dark expression.

"I can respect the headstart thing, but sucker punching me? Now that is cheating."

"Oh, boo hoo! Cry about it. I tawt big stwong huntuhs were supposed to handle anything that happens," she said, her tone just as mocking as his had been before, if not more so. "Or was your talk as big as that ego of yours?!"

"I can tell you it isn't as big as that mouth of yours, greenie!" Viper shot back, earning a furious glare from the huntress. "Last I checked we still had one more contest to go before a winner was decided, so let's make it an interesting one, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dual Horn Tavern is a well-known hook up spot for hunters after the job. First one to get a date secured there wins!"

"What kind of challenge is that?! That wouldn't be useful for a hunt at all!"

"Oh, it wouldn't be? Well, what if you have to go on a hunt with someone you haven't met before, hmm? The situation would require that you adapt as quickly as possible to make sure you all survive the fight!"

"Grr… Fine, you're on! But no cheap head starts or sucker punches this time, deal?"

"You should be asking yourself that, greenie," Viper said. "Fine, we start on go. Ready… GO!"

"I was first!" the pair shouted at each other simultaneously.

"Bull crap, I had a date set way before you even broke the ice," the yellow-eyed archer scoffed.

"As if! I'd been talking with that guy for ages, before you even began talking with that lady!"

"You mean that shrimpy little pale kid? He was more terrified of you than a newbie hunter would be of a Diablos!"

"I secured one, didn't I?!"

"Not before me! Do you have a judge to say who won? Didn't think so!"

"You jackass, that means you don't have any proof either! No one was keeping track!"

"That is not… Shit. Alright, fine, this challenge was a tie. What now?"

"I don't know, I thought this would be the last one! Think of something!"

"I thought of the last one, you think of something!"

"You are such an idiot!"

"At least I didn't paint my head green!"

"You egotistical son of a-!"

"You insufferable little-!"

"Ow ow ow…" Wes groaned, rolling his arms repeatedly in an attempt to return feeling to his limbs.

After Viper and Emerald had run off on their next contest of who-knows-what, he'd tried to figure out a way to get Viper's arrow down from the wall. The surface of the wall was almost completely flat, leaving him with absolutely nothing to grab onto, and there weren't any ladders available that went that high. After almost fifteen minutes of useless searching, he enlisted the help of Frost and Snow. After a quick brainstorming session, Snow came up with the solution they had used: Frost would plant the bottom of his sword's scabbard into the ground and activate the quckdraw function while Wes held onto the hilt, rocketing him up into the air along with it. Snow would then catch him as he fell. Despite nearly having both of his arms ripped off from the force of the quickdraw, and the flustered stammering he was reduced to after falling face-first into Snow's ample bosom, the huntress' idea had gone off without a hitch, and Wes had snagged Viper's arrow from the wall successfully.

He found himself having a newfound respect for the long sword user, though. Frost was able to use the quickdraw at least two or three times per hunt, and with only one arm. A single shot had reduced both of Wes' arms to strained messes that he could barely use at the moment, his grip barely holding around the shaft of the arrow. He had just gotten out of the medical ward after a few hours of having them checked up, and Connor had recommended he keep from using them from any strenuous activities for the next few days.

"Better give Viper his damn arrow back and get back to my room," he mumbled, trying to shake the life back into his arms. He had asked Sapphire and Amethyst if they had seen Viper and Emerald return to headquarters while he was occupied with retrieving the yellow-eyed archer's arrow, and they had reported seeing both about fifteen minutes before, so he wasn't too far behind them. The hunter walked up to the door to Viper's room and tapped on the entrance lightly with his foot, though he was puzzled when he didn't hear a reply. He tapped again using the arrow, which rang dully as the metal tip clacked against the wood, but even after that there was no response. "Ah well, he never locks his door anyways. I'll just drop this inside and be on my way…"

The hunter opened the door to Viper's room and stepped inside quickly, rounding the corner to the archer's desk and tossing the arrow down on top of the papers and books strewn throughout it. He turned to leave, but heard a muffled grunt from the bed behind him, causing him to turn around with a questioning look.

"Viper? Were you sleeping? Sorry, just dropping off the- wait a minute, is that… Emerald? What are you… WHAT?!"

"Wes, this is between me and her! Get the hell out of here!"

"We've been trying to break the tie for two and a half hours, and this was the only thing we could think of that we haven't done yet!"

"That doesn't even make any-! You know what, nevermind, I'm just going to go and bleach my eyeballs."

"Thank you!"

Master Corps Dossier #5

Emerald Mancino

Hair: Green, short

Eyes: Green

Height: 5 ft 9 in

Weight: N/A

Age: 20-21

Favorite Color: Green (except the shade of Viper's armor)

Weapon of Choice: Bow

Most Notable Trait: Competitiveness

The third of the Gem Sisters, Emerald is known as a keen shot with a bow, to the extent that her accuracy rivals Viper's. She is most well-known for her extremely competitive nature, where if she feels challenged in any way she'll insist upon a competition to determine who is right (side note, seems to challenge Viper most often). Acts as the second in command of the Gems, and is Ruby's closest confidant, but works very closely with Amethyst too. Out of the group, she has the hardest time working with others. On hunts, she tries to apply status effects or reduce target's mobility to provide openings for her teammates to use. Also the designated bomb-detonater, which she takes much pleasure in. Has been seen purchasing dirty magazines in the market on occasion, then setting them on fire.

The most likely to pick a fight over the smallest thing.

Author Notes: Please review! I think it goes without saying that a chapter like this one was to be expected, considering how often Viper and Emerald have clashed since the start of the story. This one just stretches the bounds of how ridiculous these competitions get between them! I could have gone on for a bit longer in their contests, but I figured it was better to let your minds wander about all the stupid things these two have gotten into a fight over. And, since I think I forgot to mention last chapter, both that one and this chapter take place before the Tower Incident, so no big spoilers here.

And, as I'm sure I've said many times, I'm willing to take any and all suggestions for what you'd like to see the cast get up to next! This includes the Frontier Lineage cast as well, who I already have a plan for at the moment; any character I have is fair game for a supplementary chapter!