Scorbunny felt more than ready when she entered her old back yard. Sure enough, just as Cinderace said, there was a wrestling ring right in the middle with a small wooden bench set up just like a bleacher.

Lilly walked over to it and took a seat while both rabbits leapt high into the air and landed firmly against the mat with their arms spread out dramatically. They both stared each other down as the tall rabbit smirked and thought, 'You'd better be ready for this. Just 'cause I'm past my prime doesn't mean I can't still kick arse.'

Lilly smiled when she noticed just how prepared they were and thus she rose her hand in the air and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is now time for the ultimate showdown between father and daughter! Begin!"

As soon as she threw her arm downward, Cinderace wasted no time racing toward Scorbunny. The small rabbit narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Even though I'm at full strength, I need to wait for an opening.'

However, she could not really see one, and this proved to be quite a big hindrance when Cinderace and leapt sideways into the ropes and bounced himself off, sending a flying kick into her ribcage. Scorbunny gasped and flew into the ropes. And when she bounced off, her father waited for her to get close before delivering a roundhouse to her gut.

Scorbunny gasped and fell on her back while her father leapt from side to side one leg at a time and quipped, "Oh, yeah, I still got it! Even at this age, you can't keep up with me!"

Scorbunny slowly pushed herself up and breathed heavily, thinking, 'No way. I knew Dad was tough, but I didn't think he'd be this tough,' before narrowing her eyelids and rising all the way to her feet.

Cinderace once again sprinted toward her, only this time he leapt over her head and landed behind her. And with the short rabbit distracted, he spun around and delivered a roundhouse to her back, causing her to fall on her belly. He then lay on his back and latched his legs to hers before using them to twist the parts in question.

Scorbunny cried out in pain while Cinderace smirked and said, "You can't be ready to quit already. We've only just gotten started."

Scorbunny struggled to free herself but to no avail. Lilly, all the while, rested her chin on her knuckles and observed all of this with a serious look in her eyes. She could see right away what her daughter had done incorrectly, but she also knew better than to say anything. After all, if she did, the short rabbit would not learn a thing.

After a while, Scorbunny let down light tears and patted her hand against the canvas, whimpering, "I give up," Cinderace releasing his hold on her and wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Wow, what a rush," he said after he released a light breath, "I haven't felt this level of excitement in years." But once he noticed the tears in his daughter's eyes and a look of shame on her face, he took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

Scorbunny looked up when he extended his arm and said, "Cheer up, lass. Just because you lost this match doesn't mean you're hopeless."

Scorbunny took his hand and allowed him to pull her up, but she was unsure whether or not she truly believed what he had said. She had never felt this much self-doubt in her life. Even her loss to Vaporeon, while quicker, had not crushed her spirits this much.

Lilly could see this plain as day, thus she turned to Cinderace and asked, "Honey, can you leave us alone for a few minutes?" the tall rabbit about to protest. But when he saw how serious she was, he nodded and leapt out of the ring before heading back into the house.

The woman approached the side of the ring and climbed into it. She then walked over to Scorbunny and knelt down, resting her hands on her shoulders and saying, "Your father's right. You could have easily won that match if you had done things right."

"But I did!" Scorbunny retorted with a look of frustration, "I actually took the time to think of a way to catch him off guard," only for her mother to sigh, "I could see that. You were certainly thinking harder than usual, but there is such a thing as overthinking these things. You were so focused on trying to come up with a strategy that you didn't notice that your father had left himself open both times he went in for the attack."

Scorbunny blinked and reflected on all of that before gasping, "You're right! He did!" a big smile forming on her face, "When he leapt at me from the side, I could have countered with a roundhouse before his kick could connect! And when he leapt behind me, I could have struck him first!"

Lilly nodded and said, "You've had more than enough combat experience to know that there's more to a match than knowing what to do. Sometimes, you have to live in the moment and think just hard enough without trying too hard. Try too hard and you waste time that could be spent getting the drop on your opponent."

With all of that in mind, Scorbunny took a bit of a break before challenging her father to a rematch. Since she had surrendered, she had not taken too much damage, and thus an hour was enough for her to make a full recovery.

Cinderace folded his arms with a smirk and said, "Well then, this should be good. I'm certain you'll be able to best me this time," the short rabbit grinning and replying, "I'm certain of that too."

Once again, Lilly signalled the start of their match as Cinderace sprinted toward Scorbunny. However, he also knew better than to use the same opening tactic. After all, he had no doubt she had already figured out how to counter the moves he had used before.

As such, he started to swerve to the right, but when Scorbunny readied herself, she was shocked when the tall rabbit remained in front of her. And with her distracted once again, he shifted his body sideways and rammed both his fist and foot into her gut, causing her to back up and clutch onto that very spot with her eyes twitching.

Lilly, all the while, narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Come on, Scorbunny, you can do this. Don't think too hard,' and sure enough, when Cinderace leapt into the air and descended toward Scorbunny with his knee pointed outward, she was ready.

She waited for just the right moment, and once he was a mere centimetre away, she propelled herself high into the air. As a result, his knee hit the canvas hard before he winced and released a light tear of his own. Scorbunny then smirked and descended toward him with her foot on fire, shouting, "BURNING MISSILE!" ramming her heel hard into his forehead.

Cinderace cried out in pain and flew backward. He then tumbled along the canvas and rolled under the ropes, falling out of the ring. Lilly smiled and gave her daughter a thumb up before starting a twenty count.

But of course, both knew this was not over, and this was made clear when Cinderace placed his hands firmly against the ground and propelled himself into the air. He then flipped one hundred and eighty degrees and landed against the ring's surface only to wince and think, 'Back in my prime, I could have taken a hit like that. Come on, don't let her see how much damage that actually dealt.'

Though Scorbunny hardly cared about this right now. She had the biggest smile on her face and thought, 'I did it! I saw through his strategy!' only for Cinderace to race toward her again. He once again attempted to fake her out only for the short rabbit see this coming and leap into the air, planting both her feet into his face.

This caused him to stumble backwards a bit, though he quickly shook the pain off and leapt over Scorbunny's head. This time she was ready as she spun around and sent a roundhouse into his back before he could take this further, the tall rabbit falling flat on his face.

Scorbunny smirked, leapt into the air and planted an axe kick into his back as he coughed up a bit of phloem. However, he would not allowed her to defeat him this easily, thus he pushed himself up as soon as she leapt away from him and planted a two-legged kick into her chin.

But while this sent her flying backward, she threw her arms back and used them to stop her fall. She then flipped herself upright and breathed lightly, a look of confidence in her eyes.

"Good job, honey," Cinderace said with a grin, "But this is far from over," racing toward her and readying a kick.

But just as it looked like he was going to attack her, he stopped his foot and sped behind Scorbunny. Before she could respond, he leapt over and planted both feet into her head, knocking her down. And once again, he lay down and latched his legs onto hers. He then folded them over to form a figure four before shifting his left leg between a gap between her legs.

Scorbunny cried out in pain as he applied full force, Lilly thinking, 'Come on, you've got him. You can get out of this. You know how.'

The short rabbit tried to ignore the pain and thought hard about this. And after a few seconds, she remembered exactly how to escape from this hold. As such, she applied all her might to flip her body sideways, Cinderace's eyes wide with shock when she flipped herself onto her belly thus taking the pressure off of the leg sticking outward. She then slipped it out of the tall rabbit's hold and rose to her feet with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Cinderace sprang upright as well and smirked, saying, "Good show, honey. Couldn't have done that better myself," a look of pride forming on Scorbunny's face. But even so, she could not let her guard down when the tall rabbit raced toward her and started to zip around the area once again.

She was prepared for him to launch himself off the ropes like he had done in their first match. However, she was unprepared when he stopped right in front of her with his leg on fire and shouted, "PYRO FOOTBALL KICK!" ramming his foot hard into gut.

For the first time in the match, Scorbunny coughed up blood. But even so, she would not allow herself to lose and thus she spread out her legs and stopped herself from flying backward. And when Cinderace saw this, he stood there spellbound and allowed the short rabbit to take hold of his ears and mount herself onto his back.

"BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" she exclaimed before ramming the heels of her feet into the back of his neck, Lilly nodding in approval while the tall rabbit fell forward and landed hard on his chin.

This was just enough to keep him down for ten seconds, thus Lilly rose her hand in the air and shouted, "And Scorbunny is our winner!" Scorbunny raising her arms in the air with a big open-mouth smile.

Cinderace pushed himself back to his feet before she turned to him and squeaked, "Dad!" running over to him and enquiring, "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?"

"I'm fine," he replied, "But more so, I'm proud of my baby girl," before he ruffled the fur on the top of her head. Needless to say, Scorbunny could not have been happier. Now she truly felt ready for the Olympics.

But of course, Scorbunny was not the only one in need of advice. Upon her return home, Rillaboom was immediately greeted by her mother, a yellowish-green monkey with brown arms, bluish-green rings around her wrists and two long sticks that she used to hold a hair bun in place named Thwackey.

Her father, a tall man named Obasi, made some tea for the whole family to enjoy while Rillaboom told of her experiences in Edmonton. Unlike Scorbunny's family, hers did not watch a lot of TV or use the Internet and thus they were a tad out of the loop.

"Well, I have to say, it's nice to know you've made a name for yourself," Thwackey said with a sweet smile, "When we returned home and didn't see you here, we were beyond worried."

Rillaboom took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah. Sorry about that, Mama," Obasi taking a seat and sighing, "I still can't believe you actually have money to your name. Though you're not the only one. After we were released from prison, we went out and applied for real jobs. Granted, it took a while since after our release, most employers didn't trust us, but hey, it's a miracle we have jobs all things considered."

The gorilla bit her lip and looked down only for Thwackey to pat her hand and say, "Don't blame yourself for what we did, okay? You weren't the one who encouraged us to steal. It was a decision we made on our own."

"Yeah, because I was putting you in the hole," Rillaboom murmured only for both parents to give her a big hug. And while this did not change the past, this did help put her mind at ease as she returned the gesture.

Either way, the next hour went by rather nicely. Rillaboom had ultimately decided it was best to drop the subject of her and her family's past actions and thus they had a very nice chat about the good things going on in their lives.

While the three sat for dinner, Obasi smiled at Rillaboom and said, "Your friends sound like great people. If only we could afford to take a vacation, then we could come with you and meet them in person."

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Well, um, it is worth note that my flight here was free, and apparently, since I'm an official hero, the trip back will also be, you know, free," Thwackey shaking her head and protesting, "Oh no, you don't have to spend your money on us."

"Well, then, treat it as payment," Rillaboom replied before the monkey blinked and enquired, "Payment? For what?"

The gorilla held out her wrist and explained, "During my match with Dracovish, my wrist leaves turned into wood. That miracle is a big part of the reason I won. Do you know anything about that?"

Obasi and Thwackey both stared at one-another for a few seconds in stunned silence. Then once it all sunk in, the monkey grinned wide and laughed, "Oh, this is wonderful! You used the Abebe family power!" Rillaboom's eyes wide with shock when her mother held up her arms and closed her eyes.

Sure enough, her wrist rings spun rapidly until they transformed into wood. The gorilla continued to stare at this before stating, "I want you to teach me how to control that," the monkey nodding and saying, "Come. I have much to show you."

During this time, Drizzile walked through the streets of Dublin while his eyes shifted back and forth. Sure, he may have been a hero in Edmonton, but he was uncertain how the people here would react to him. However, he tensed up when he walked by his old school and noticed a certain quartet of people exit. His eyes were wide with terror as he just wanted to flee.

However, for some reason, he could not bring himself to do so. And sure enough, one of them, a tall boy with raven black hair, noticed him and pointed at him while saying something to his friends, specifically a shorter blond boy, a girl with brown hair and another with red hair and freckles.

Before the chameleon could vacate the area, though, the one with black hair held out his hand and exclaimed, "Hey, wait!" Drizzile biting his lower lip.

He had to remember, he was no longer the weakling he used to be. As such, he breathed in and out and turned to face them with a serious look in his eyes.

"Whoa, calm down," the boy said reassuringly, "We just want to talk," the girl with freckles nodding and adding, "We know we don't deserve it, but please hear us out."

As soon as Drizzile heard her say that, he had a feeling he could trust them. Besides, if they tried anything now, he could easily deal with them. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'm listening."

"Look, we know we're the reason you left," the black-haired boy sighed, "You joined the side of evil because we treated you horribly. Honestly, it's a miracle you're fighting for the side of good."

"Oh yeah, we saw your fight with that ghost thing," the ginger girl said with a big smile, "You were so cool!" the brunette nodding and squealing, "The way you formed those knife things and destroyed his stone like that! That was hardcore!"

The blond boy nodded and chuckled, "I bet if you fought us now, we wouldn't stand a chance," the black-haired boy smiling and adding, "Anyway, we just wanted to apologize. The truth is, well, let's just say things at home haven't been great for us. You don't need to know the details, but, well, we took out our frustration on you since you were the only one who never fought back."

Drizzile blinked and thought, 'So that's how it is,' the brunette cupping her hands together and saying, "Even though we really, really, really don't deserve it, we'd like a chance to make it all up to you. Could you please give us that chance?"

Drizzile was about to question this, but deep down, he knew better than that. After all, Allie and her family had been so kind to him despite the fact that he had once fought for the side of evil. If anything, it would have been wrong for him to hold a grudge against the four of them.

As such, he nodded and said, "Yes, I'll be sure to join up with you later. But, well, before I do that, I need to see my folks first," the blond boy replying, "That's understandable. How about we all meet up here tomorrow at around the same time?"

Drizzile smiled and agreed to their terms. Though before he headed off, they all introduced themselves since he had never actually learned their names back when he attended classes. The boy with black hair was Kevin, the blond was Sean, the brunette was Tiffany and the ginger was Shannon.

Once introductions were taken care of, Drizzile headed off to his old house with a sense of accomplishment on his face. He had not even expected to run into them and yet his encounter had ended so favourably. And what was more was that deep down, he could tell none of them had said any of that out of fear. He had a feeling that they truly regretted their actions.

After a while, he came to his old house and rang the doorbell. He waited for a while until the door opened and a taller chameleon stood before him. She gazed down at him and stared silently before gasping, "Son?"

Drizzile's mother was not only twice his height but also very thin. While her head and tail were light blue, her eyelids and fins leading from her head to her lower body were yellow. Her torso was dark blue with a white diamond-shaped mark at the bottom, both colours formed in a way that resembled a spy outfit. Her hands were also black, making them resemble gloves, and the same went for her feet with her legs black at the front and dark blue at the back. Her name was Inteleon.

She breathed heavily while Drizzile suddenly tensed up. He had forgotten that when he disobeyed her, she often punished him severely. And there was no doubt she would not approve of what he had done.

Needless to say, he could not have been more shocked when the tall chameleon held him in a tight embrace and exclaimed, "I missed you so much!" though she quickly proved one of Drizzile's fears when she bonked him on the head and barked, "Now don't you ever worry me like that again! I just about had a heart attack when I heard you'd been arrested!"

Drizzile looked down with shame until she took a deep breath and added, "Still, at least you returned as a hero. Now come on inside. I'll make you some clam chowder."

The short chameleon took a deep breath and entered, though he still felt bad about his decision to leave home without warning. After all, his father had died when he was six, so he was the only family Inteleon had in Dublin. Either way, he was ultimately glad to have returned. Not only did he get to reunite with his mother, but he had possibly made some new friends. He would still take the Hero Olympics seriously, but for the time being, that was hardly a priority for him.

And sure enough, Vaporeon had a great time reuniting with her family in Bangkok. Eevee and Popplio were beyond happy to have her home, even if it was just for a month, and they promised to help her train as much as possible.

In Baia Mare, Morgrem and her family had some nice family time as well. Since all four had finally been accepted by the citizens, they were truly able to enjoy life to its fullest. But while Morgrem thought it might be nice to train with Grimmsnarl, he figured it might be better if he head to Alba Iulia since he had signed up for that tournament instead. After all, he wanted both of them to qualify for the Olympics, not just one or the other.

Rolycoly, on the other hand, wheeled through Athens and stopped to gaze upon the orphanage he spent most of his life in. He took a deep breath and thought, 'Well, Mrs. Camilla, you were wrong about me. I have a happy life now.'

He then carried on his way to train in the mountains. He figured if he wanted to be tough enough to stand a chance, this was just what he needed.

And the next month seemed to pass by quickly. Scorbunny continued to train with her father while also taking time to reunite with her old friends and apologize for leaving them. Some of them blamed themselves for her turning evil, but she reassured them they had nothing to do with that.

Rillaboom, meanwhile, trained hard with her mother and eventually not only learned to control her wood powers but also discovered other abilities she could perform with it. One such ability involved her actually forming hammers around her fists. Needless to say, she could not believe she had the foresight to come up with such a fitting name for this in advance.

Drizzile also learned quite a bit more about his water powers and how the daggers were not the only weapons he could form. However, unlike Thwackey, Inteleon decided to have Drizzile learn these skills on his own. She trusted him to do so.

And when he was not training, it seemed his feelings about his former bullies were correct. Not only were they nice to him, but since they no longer picked on him, all the other students who once felt sorry for him were happy to be his friends. It was truly amazing. Just like that, he had gone from having no one but his mother to being the most popular kid in his old school despite no longer being a student.

But while it was a tad overwhelming, it was also nice. While Drizzile had been happy with Allie and the others, he was much happier now. And with all of them rooting for him to win the Olympics, there was no way he would let them down.

And of course, the others did their best to prepare as well. Vaporeon trained hard with her folks until the last day when she had a sparring match with each of them. And while her father ultimately defeated her with a move that involved him launching himself off the ropes while spinning called Circus Windmill, she had beaten Eevee with her Trampoline Suplex. In the end, while the brown fox was a touch upset about this, she also could not have been more proud of her daughter.

Morgrem and Grimmsnarl both trained extra hard, knowing their allies would do the same while Rolycoly spent his time punching open various rocks in the mountains. This alone was enough to raise his confidence. He just knew he was prepared for this.

But preparing was one thing. Were the heroes truly ready for the preliminaries? Only time would tell.