Crazy trouble with love part 8
Ikki, Metabee, Samantha, and Peppercat
Series: Medabots
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"Come on Metabee, aim higher!" called Ikki into his medawatch while he and Metabee were near the river with Metabee doing target practice, and was a little off with most of the cans on the rock still standing.
"Hey you try and aim at far away cans on tiny rocks! Harder than it looks with all this water getting in the way!,I told you it was windy, but no you had to bring me here for target practice! Personally it feels like a waste of bullets when not in a Robattle!" Metabee growled out while he aimed down his gun arm and fired, his bullet this time grazed the can he was aiming at.
"If we don't practice in our free time then we'll start getting creamed. Besides, in our last battle you were firing all over the place and barely got a hit. This way we'll be ready and you won't be such a lousy shot."
"Oh really?" Metabee said while he turned to Ikki with a pissed off look on his face. "Why don't I practice on a moving target then!" Metabee yelled out while he fired his bullets at Ikki and starts to run at him as well to get close.
"Ahhh!" yelped Ikki jumping around before he turned and started running from the bullets. "Metabee cut it out!"
"Am I lousy shot now? I think this might just do the trick!"
Meanwhile on a nearby bridge…
Samantha and Peppercat were seen walking along it before they heard yelling and looked to see Metabee chasing Ikki with guns blazing wildly.
"Look Samantha, seems Ikki and Metabee are having another argument." Peppercat said when she saw the furious look on Metabee's face, she and Samantha were having a simple walk around town without Sloan and Spike and it was pretty peaceful today thanks to them not trying to call Samantha boss all the time, granted she was stronger then both combined but she did get physical when either of them called her boss which was funny to Peppercat.
"Tch, what'd ya expect? Those two numbskulls are lucky they can even know how to Robattle." scoffed Samantha with crossed arms as they watched. "Seeing them go at it like this still makes me annoyed. They get one win on us and yet they look like they can barely deal with each other. Nothing but a dumb fluke in my eyes."
"Didn't they beat us though for newbies?" Peppercat stated when she remembered getting short circuited by fountain water during hers and Metabee's battle which helped Metabee win the match.
"If we were somewhere else at the time, it wouldn't have count!" Samantha retorted quickly before they saw Ikki duck behind the rock with Metabee blasting all the cans off, but kept firing.
"HEHE!, you know you're right Ikki, target practice is fun! Now get out here and be the target otherwise you'll have to shell out cash to get me more bullets!" Metabee darkly said while he laughed when he had Ikki pinned behind the rock.
Ikki in turn was trying to think of a way out of this and had this idea when he seemed to point away from the rock and to the river. "Oh hey I think I see Oceana in the river!" Ikki said to distract Metabee which made Metabee blink before he looks at the river.
"Really, where!?" Metabee said while he looked in the river and took his optics off of Ikki which had heart shaped icons in them for some reason.
"YAH!" yelled Ikki running out and tackled Metabee down while holding his arms behind him. "Ha! Gotcha!"
Metabee then got really pissed that Ikki tricked him and a moment later, Samantha and Peppercat saw the duo form a dust cloud and bullets and what not start flying from it while the duo keep arguing… before a stray bullet hit Peppercat in the forehead, stunning her and knocking her down the bridge and into the water as a result.
"Peppercat!" cried out Samantha before running to the stairs, went down them, and saw her friend get swept down the river.
"Samantha!"
A moment later, Samantha got a royally pissed off look on her face before roaring this at the duo to get their attention. "HEY YOU IDIOTS! LOOK AT THE RIVER!" Samantha roared out before throwing a rock which conked Metabee on his robotic head.
"OW!" Metabee yelled out before rubbing his head from the pain, or more like shaking when the hit rattled his head a bit. "What the heck was that for?"
"LOOK!" yelled the girl pointing making them turn and see Peppercat getting farther away.
A moment later, Ikki, with a panicked look on his face, looked to Metabee. "Metabee! Go help Peppercat! Here's a water leg part." Ikki said before he quickly transferred Metabee's normal legs with the ones he got from the beach incident, thanks to some extra practice Metabee could move around on water now but it was slow going but more than enough since it was pretty much capsize proof.
Metabee instantly nods before he jumped into the river and like some kind of boat like Metabot, he floats down the river at a quick speed towards Peppercat who had grabbed a nearby rock to keep from floating away more.
"Help!" she called out while feeling her fingers losing their grip from the wet rock.
"Hold on! I'm almost there!" Metabee called back when he floats faster thanks to the current, he even used a missile behind him to give him a pseudo boost which gave him a slightly larger wave to ride. He reached out and moved closer before reaching the rock and grabbed one of her arms. "Quick, grab on my back."
Peppercat, after a moment to get a good grip on Metabee's hand, did manage to climb on… however…. Metabee didn't think much on how to get to shore… the parts that he had were perfect for staying afloat but..
"Er… Hey! Ikki! Got a part to help get to shore! Movement is not my strong suit here with currents this strong!" Metabee called to Ikki while Metabee moved himself so he was sitting on the rock so to speak while he made sure Peppercat didn't get wet, it was a bit rocky thanks to the currents but Metabee and Peppercat were safe for the moment.
"Oh no, they're both stuck." spoke Ikki with Samantha growling and started shaking him like a ragdoll. Ikki kept on groaning through the shakes while Metabee, not seeing any other way to help Peppercat, looks at her before he said this surprisingly enough.
"Hey Peppercat, you trust me?" Metabee asked with an oddly calm tone to his voice.
"What?" she spoke in confusion.
"I said do you trust me?"
Peppercat was confused by that but considering the situation, she just nods her head while Metabee gripped her hand tightly.
"Well then… HEY IKKI!" Metabee called while he starts to spin on his legs like some kind of top and Peppercat was held by Metabee while he gained speed before the duo look over and saw Metabee spinning like that before Metabee made one last spin and tossed Peppercat right at Ikki and Samantha with surprisingly perfect aim… but got knocked back in the water while everyone was distracted by the flying female electric cat medabot who crashed into the duo.
"OW!" he let out from the impact while Samantha groaned too. Ikki quickly pushed Peppercat onto Samantha before he looked into the River to see Metabee being taken by the tides. "METABEE!" Ikki called before Metabee dramatically yelled this.
"REMEMBER ME AS I ONCE WAS!" Metabee called back before a wave hit him and he got capsized when the wave was too much and all that was seen before he vanished from view was his four water based legs floating through the water.
"No no no! Metabee!" cried out Ikki into the medawatch.
However all he could hear were garbles and what not, either from Metabee going out of range or from Metabee's head being underwater before Ikki looks at Samantha.
"Samantha, you gotta help me find Metabee!" Ikki said with a worried tone to his voice while the river rapids keep going strong.
Peppercat, after she managed to get to her feet, looks at the river before she looked to her friend. "Samantha, while it was true it was Ikki and Metabee's fault I ended up in the river, they did help get me out of there, it would be the right thing to return the favor, besides didn't Metabee and Ikki help us out a few times in the past?" Peppercat said to remind the Screws leader about some incidents in the past, mainly about the rubber robo gang and their crimes.
Samantha growled and crossed her arms and turned her head. "Why? If anything this works out. If he's gone then we can get back to being the strongest team around."
Ikki looked worried from that before Peppercat came to the rescue.
"Maybe Samantha, but do you really want to win like this after all the hard work that you put into training? I know you better then this…" Peppercat said to try and reason with her owner.
Samantha huffed and looked at her friend and then at Ikki before groaning and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this…"
Peppercat got a happy look on her face while Ikki looked relieved before the trio quickly ran down the riverbank to see where it led, thankfully for the trio, it seemed like beavers had made a small dam on the side of the river and Metabee had floated towards it and the beavers mistook his legs as wood and set him smack dab at the edge after using other pieces of wood to keep him in place.
"Oh wow… didn't think this would happen." Ikki said when he, Samantha, and Peppercat got near the dam to see what they could use to help get Metabee to shore. "Hold on, hey Samantha, got any long range parts or something? Like some kind of grappling part? Peppercat could fish Metabee to us, if not I would give a part to save Metabee but I'm drawing a blank on what to use!" Ikki said while he tried to remember if he had any parts that could help, he didn't mind giving one to Samantha to save Metabee while Peppercat thoughtback to all the parts that they won in various fights.
"No way, the only parts I got are made to kick butt, not grab stuff." she remarked looking at the medawatch. "But I might have something to get her over there."
"Really? What?" Ikki asked when he got a curious look on his face.
Peppercat after a moment of thought, looks at Samantha with a slightly surprised look. "Really Samantha? You want to use that part?" Peppercat asked since its been awhile since that part was last used.
"It'll get you over there without getting wet, unless Ikki here is having second thoughts about saving his precious bot." smirked Samantha smugly looking at the boy. "If that's true, we better leave them be."
"What!? Look I'll admit that I was an idiot and Metabee too which caused Peppercat to get into this and Metabee and I will apologize to her when we get him to shore, but he did save her! What do you want!?" Ikki said with a slightly worried tone when he didn't like the smug look on Samantha's face, not only that his gut was telling him to run right now but Metabee was in trouble and he would do anything to save his medabot.
"Hmmm, well...you can do me a solid when this is over." Samantha said with a grin on her face which made Ikki blink before he simply says this.
"I… won't have to do anything bad will I? I'm pretty sure Metabee will go on strike if that's the case." Ikki said with a worried tone to his voice… it wasn't a no so that was something.
"Relax, you'll just do something for me, nothing too hard."
"Err…." Ikki said before he looked at Metabee in the river and back to Samantha who grins at Ikki who looked back at Metabee before Ikki made up his mind. "Ohh… fine! you win!" Ikki said with a defeated tone to his voice when he had no other way to help Metabee right now.
"That's the spirit." she pushed on the medawatch before Peppercat's legs glowed and were replaced by the lower half of Phoenix's hovering part. "There, this'll get you there easy."
Peppercat nods before she floats through the air carefully since the wind was a bit strong while Ikki, after a moment of thought remember seeing them with the Rockers before.
"Wait… aren't those the parts for the lead Rocker Guy's medabot? Where did you get those since Medabee and I fought those guys and beat them? I haven't seen many Phoenix type medabots in awhile." Ikki said when he remembered Samantha not fighting those guys before while Peppercat worked to get Metabee untangled from the wood on top of him.
"Duh, it's called getting it from a gift. My grandma sent it to me in the mail." she rolled her eyes.
"Oh… well… thanks anyway, seems like I'll have to find something similar for Metabee just in case hehehe." Ikki said before rubbing the back of his head while Peppercat lifts a waterlogged Metabee into the air.
"Ugh… t-thanks for the save P-Peppercat." Metabee mumbled since he was still a bit seasick right now and his optics showed swirls right now to show his dazed state.
"No problem." she replied before dropping him down on the shore and floated next to Samantha. "Seeing you get waterlogged like this is more than enough to make up for starting all this."
"F-Fair enough… P-Pepcat." Metabee mumbles while in his daze accidently gave Peppercat a nickname it seems which made Peppercat blink a few times at that and Ikki chalked it up to how out of it Metabee was, he never did like water without water based parts.
"Now that he's in one piece, time for that favor." smirked Samantha.
"Ugh… alright… what is this favor exactly?" Ikki asked while he helped set Metabee on his feet so he could change the leg parts after Metabee felt better.
"There's this tournament coming up tomorrow. Now normally me and Peppercat could handle those losers no problem, but there's a stupid condition." she frowned. "It's meant for tag teams, and I need a partner to enter."
"Huh? What about Sloan or Spike? Granted, Totalizer is slow, but it's durable and while Cyandog may need a close combat part for his Metal to work right since its a monkey medal... but wouldn't they join you in a heartbeat?" Ikki asked since they normally hanged around Samantha and they did everything they said sometimes.
"Sloan got grounded for failing a stupid test and Spike is going to work with his dad."
"Oh… I see why you needed help but why not just ask? Granted we do have issues, but Metabee and I love fighting in tournaments." Ikki said while Metabee, after finally getting back to normal, pumped a fist into the air while looking excited.
"Yeah! I'll kick any and all Metabutt! Tournament or not!" Metabee said before he lowered his arm to look at Samantha and Peppercat.
"Because then I wouldn't get the chance to crush you both." she answered with a huff. "If it was some normal tournament I would have let your bot stick there, but if I can't find a competent partner before tomorrow then I'll lose my chance to show everyone around who's the number one robattler."
Ikki blinked at that while Metabee after a moment of thought looks at Peppercat.
"So what is this tournament exactly? Tag team stuff is pretty rare… what is tomorrow?" Metabee asked while Ikki looked thoughtful.
"Tomorrow?... wait… isn't tomorrow Valentines day?" Ikki said while he and Metabee looked to one another then back to Samantha and Peppercat with surprised looks since a tag tournament there would mean a…. Romance themed tag tournament.
"Yeah, so what?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Err…. two questions… won't people wonder why you and I are going there? What's the prize anyway for this tournament that got you to even get me to agree like this? Seems to be a pretty good prize to get you to do that." Ikki said when he remembered that Samantha was normally stubborn about working with him and it was only in her best interest would she swallow her pride and work together with him.
"I don't know what it is, but they made it clear on the fliers it was a once in a lifetime chance, and that just screams big time valuable." she grinned. "My money's on a brand new medapart, and if it's the prize it's probably extra tough too."
"But what if it's a girly or mushy one? It is a valentines tournament after all, romance and all that, not saying Metabee and I won't join, just saying that the prize may not be what you may think." Ikki said while Metabee looked a bit thoughtful as well.
"I hate to agree with Ikki, but don't you human's make plenty of ways to make something centered on something? Wouldn't this prize be similar?" Metabee said while Ikki got a tick mark on his head but ignored Metabee's jab for now.
"Look, the point is you two are gonna help us get the prize, got it?" she frowned.
"Alright! Alright! We'll do it!" Metabee and Ikki said as one when they didn't want to get Samantha pissed off at them while Peppercat giggles at the reaction a little since the odd sync moment was funny to her.
"Though considering its tomorrow, I would suggest a slight practice match together to see how well Metabee and I can fight together, I would bet the Phoenix part that I have that plenty of people trained for this in pairs." Peppercat said while she looks to Samantha to see what she thinks while Metabee blinked at that since it was a pretty good idea while Ikki looked thoughtful since there would be better prepared teams there.
"She's right, otherwise me and Metabee might take over and take out everyone." he smiled arrogantly making Samantha's eye twitch.
"What was that!" Samantha growled out while Peppercat and Metabee sweatdrop when they saw Samantha chewing out Ikki a moment later.
"Errr… just to ask… but what do you think our chances of winning with those two acting like this?" Metabee said before he looked to Peppercat with a raised eyebrow.
"To be perfectly honest? I'd say...fifty-fifty."
"Wow, pretty high to be honest, I would say 35 since Ikki does have a habit of ticking people off and… no offence, but Samantha… seems easily set off…" Metabee said with another sweatdrop while he saw Samantha and Ikki panting after Ikki ran from Samantha while she tried to chase him.
"She's much nicer when you get to know her."
"Seriously? Well you live with her so you know her more than me. Anyway… nice part you got, seems it would help with the tournament, though from the look of things you seem to have issues with balance… do you not use them much?" Metabee said when he saw Peppercat wobble a few times in the air.
"Yeah, I work better on the ground with legs."
"Want to practice a bit with getting used to floating at least? Helped me when I had to fight on the ocean once. Should be a good time waster while waiting for those two to calm down, besides we need two extra people for a practice tag match so unless Spike and Sloan somehow got out of their issues, we're out of luck with training partners." Metabee said when there was only two of them and they would need 4 medabots for a practice tag Robattle.
"Sounds good to me, when Samantha gets like this, it takes a while for her to calm down."
"Alright, lets head back to where Ikki and I were practicing, should be good practice to move a little at least… though… Hey Ikki! Mind giving me back my legs?" Metabee said after looking at Ikki… though looks like he was to busy with dealing with Samantha to hear him which made Metabee sweatdrop. "Well… no time like the present to practice walking with four legs." Metabee said before he slowly starts to wobble by Peppercat and towards where Ikki and he trained sometimes.
(Later)
When Samantha and Ikki finished arguing and what not, they looked around and didn't see Peppercat or Metabee near them. "Huh? Metabee! Where are you!?" Ikki called after looking around a bit.
"Peppercat? Where'd ya go?" asked Samantha looking around.
Ikki after a moment of thought did have an idea. "You don't think they went back to where we were right? Seems kinda obvious." Ikki said when he noticed that they were arguing for 15 minutes already.
"Then what are we standing here for? Let's go get them."
Ikki and Samantha then ran back to where Metabee's training area was to see Metabee giving Peppercat some coaching tips on balance while she held some large rocks in her hands.
"Remember Pepcat! the key to staying balanced no matter what is to find your center of gravity and go with the flow. worked for me on the ocean only after a little training so this should help with keeping balance if you can stay steady with a few small rocks in your hand! Think of the air as a ball or something and your standing on it, channel your inner warrior and focus everything on balance!" Metabee said with a pep talk here and there while he oddly wore the upper half of his training gi like he was acting as a sensei right now.
"I'm...trying." she groaned while touching the ground due to the large rocks.
"Good! Keep trying! You lasted 10 seconds this time. Keep this up and if you can last 30 seconds, you may have what it takes to master the art of balance!" Metabee said before Ikki and Samantha walked to the duo with bewildered looks on their faces.
"Er… Metabee… what are you two doing?" Ikki asked which got Peppercat and Metabee's attention.
"Oh hey Ikki. I was just coaching Pepcat here on the art of balance, you never know when she may need the part in a fight right?" Metabee said while he waved to the duo.
"You're weighing her down, that's making the part useless." sweatdropped Samantha.
"Really? Well I can get that, but if she can at least keep a good balance with some rocks in hand, she should be able to move around without this wind messing with her from just floating, I mean I capsized when I first got these parts and I had some training with Ikki with this fisherman who gave these parts to us. Let me ask Medabot to Human, did you even have Peppercat practice wearing these? I heard these were a gift from your granny so wouldn't it be good for Pepcat to get used to them?" Medabee asked with a raised eyebrow to Samantha.
"How we train for battle is our business." she frowned. "Second, no, because Peppercat is way faster to use and works for her much better."
"Well your call, but food for thought... what if you fought some flying Medabots? I got range so no real worries on me even if Ikki says I have poor aim… point is, I practice with all my parts so if I need a quick change, I can adapt on the fly. I mean Pep here is a female Medabot and I've seen you weigh her down a few times with pretty heavy parts made for male Medabots. You can complain and get mad sure, but all I'm saying is Pep here is the one paying the price for the parts used. Remember that tournament and you lost to that weird medabot? Ond in one hit too? Granted Ikki and I had issues then and lost in the finals. But even I know not to use bad parts unless I can use them in somewhat good fashion… it's like Peppercat mimicked Cyandog. He is more fit to use melee parts but uses ranged instead. You seem to like using male parts so why get Peppercat when a person with skills like yours knows it will weigh Pepper down?" Metabee said to Samantha with a serious look in his optics while he looked Samantha in the eyes.
She looked at him in surprise while Ikki gawked.
"Metabee? Since when did you get so smart?"
"Hey! I'll make you start carrying rocks too if you want?"
Peppercat looked surprised as well at Metabee's observation skills while she looked to Samantha to see how she would respond to Metabee's line of questions.
"I...I...gah!" she rubbed her head in frustration. "Out of all the bots that had to talk to me like that, it had to be you and it had to make sense!"
"I'm not trying to tick you off. I'm just saying if you want to work with Ikki and I for this tournament, I need to know Peppercat's strengths and weaknesses so I can do the same so we can cover one another. People call me stubborn and stuff, but even I can tell that unless we do something fast, we won't make it past the first round since Pep here and I don't have any experience working together unless forced." Metabee said with crossed arms before he looks at Ikki. "Hey Ikki, mind giving me back my legs? I can't move much on the ground like this." Metabee said while pointing to his water based legs which looked hard to stand with on the loose rocks.
"Oh! Right." he nodded before pushing on his medawatch before the legs glowed and returned to the normal ones.
"Thanks Ikki, anyway Samantha, mind telling what Peppercat's strengths and weaknesses are?, I'll go first if it helps… my strengths are my ranged skills and my durability, but I don't have many close ranged options, I need to get used to certain parts and can work with them, but normally I'm all ranged, speed is also a weakness of mine and unless I get the right parts I can't fly or do anything fancy in the air." Metabee said to try and help Samantha talk about Peppercat's pros and cons.
She sighed and rubbed her head. "Alright fine, Peppercat is all about speed and hitting soft spots with her sparks. She's kinda light and needs to be to stay ahead of the game, but I figured she could still run fast if she had a little bit extra firepower."
"Well unless you have nothing made for female bots then try and rely on Ikki and I for firepower, in fact I have an idea on how we can tag team the enemy, remember when you teamed up with Erika and Brass and Peppercat used her as a shield? Well why not focus purely on speed and distract the enemy and I can finish them off while they are busy trying to hit and miss Pepper here?" Metabee said with a mischievous look in his eyes when he could imagine the enemy getting dizzy from trying to keep up with Peppercat.
"That actually might work." spoke Ikki. "But if we rely on it only, the others will notice and try to shake things up."
"Right… hey Samantha, does the match forbid changing parts between matches?" Metabee asked Samantha for some reason while Peppercat looked confused when Metabee looked at her with an intense gaze.
"Beats me, I just read when it is and what it requires." she deadpanned.
"Right… well… I may have an idea if they do allow switching between matches and I can swallow some issues since she did save my servos, how is Peppercat's aim with ranged parts?" Metabee cryptically asked since he never saw Peppercat use ranged weapons before.
"I don't know, we don't use them really."
"Right… hey Ikki... bit of a shocker here, but switch my right arm for a different part. Doesn't matter what you switch it with and… transfer it to Samantha, I want to see if she can fire a simple bullet, and if she gives us issues like Spike did we can always challenge Samantha to a Robattle and get it back!" Metabee shockingly said much to everyone's shock.
"Wait, you wanna lend her a part?"
"Well how else are we going to get her trust? Besides I want to see how Peppercat can do with different weapons that she can possibly use. she's speedy right? Well why not give her a ranged part to make her like an assassin? Striking swiftly from any range? Seems pretty cool to me and we can cover one another like a team should right?" Metabee said while he punches one hand with a fist to show how pumped he was right now.
Ikki opened his mouth before sighing. "Alright fine."
A moment later, Ikki used the part transfer to switch Metabee's right arm and switched it out for the melee Medabot arm that he got when Metabee helped rescue Oceana and a moment later, after a moment of hesitation… Ikki actually transferred Metabee's right arm to Samantha.
"There, Metabee's arm is yours for now, might as well give it to Peppercat to test out." Ikki said while he grumbles a bit about how this could be a bad idea and what not.
Peppercat was actually surprised that Metabee would give his arm to her even if it was a temporary thing before she looked to Samantha to see how she was reacting since this was a pretty big trust moment right now.
"You know, unlike Spike, if we wanted to take it we could." remarked the girl before she pushed down before switching Peppercat's arm out with Metabee's. "But I wanna win, and this is just gonna backfire in the end when we kick your butts when this is over."
"Yeah yeah, try saying that if we win, for now hey Pepcat, hows the arm? Not too bulky right?" Metabee asked while Peppercat looked to the arm, moved it around and had a surprised tone to her voice.
"Actually this is pretty light, I don't think this would impact my speed at all." Peppercat said when she swings the arm around a few times in a few punching and grabbing motions.
"Good, good. But it won't do you well without seeing how good or bad you are with your aim, I think the cans are still over there so why not try a few practice shots, you got my sniper based arm so take a moment to aim before you shoot, trust me, Cyandog didn't even bother aiming so I hope your medal allows decent aiming." Metabee said which made Peppercat look to her temporary arm and aimed it at a can… and much to everyone's shock, she got a bullseye on the first shock much to everyone's surprise.
"Wow, nice shot." spoke Ikki.
"Y-Yeah." Metabee said before Samantha grins at Peppercat.
"Try again Peppercat." Samantha ordered which made Peppercat nod before she aimed at the cans and after a moment of fine tuning, she managed to get each can shot and didn't miss at all while Metabee had wide optics and Ikki had wide eyes when Peppercat had perfect aim right now. "Well would you look at that, Peppercat's a better shot than Metabee."
"P-Probably just beginners luck, won't matter much if she can't hit a moving target!" Metabee said while Peppercat looks at him.
"All I did was just aim, but I get your point, but unless you're willing to be a moving target, I don't see how I can test on a moving target otherwise." Peppercat said like it was a normal thing.
"That's easy. Ikki, get to running."
"Huh!?" Ikki said before he saw Peppercat aim at him much to Ikki's horror before he starts to run like he never ran before right before Peppercat shot him in the ass. "YEOW!" Ikki yelled when he covered his ass and runs farther and faster with fear fueling him and Peppercat hit the back of his knees which forced him to the ground and Peppercat made one last shot that hit Ikki on the back of the head which forced him onto the ground and his body twitched from the shots that hit him.
"Was that good Samantha?" Peppercat said when she looks at Samantha while the barrel of the arm part smokes a bit before it fades.
"Bahahahaha!" laughed the girl holding her sides with Metabee crossing his arms. "T-T-That was great!"
"I don't think a human running would be good practice, Metabee, mind helping with the practice?" Peppercat said while she raised into the air a bit thanks to the Phoenix part and aimed her arm at Metabee who got a nervous look on his face.
"Uh-oh!" Metabee said before he bolts like he never bolts before but unlike with Ikki, he made sure to keep Peppercat in view when he ran behind cover… though that was short lived when Peppercat floats over the rock and if Metabee had a face it would be paling when Peppercat had good balance which showed the training did help… right before Samantha heard Metabee yell in pain when Peppercat peppers him with bullets.
"Oh man, I should have brought a camera!" laughed Samantha harder.
A moment later, a pained Ikki and a pained Metabee were sitting against one another's backs before Metabee said this.
"Hey Ikki…." Metabe said with a depressed tone.
"Yeah?" Ikki asked before Metabee's head looked down.
"I think I created a monster." Metabee said when his lessons and ideas worked to well with Peppercat.
"You read my mind."
Samantha just keeps laughing while Peppercat looked to the Phoenix part and Metabee's arm before she lands in front of Metabee.
"Hey Metabee…" Peppercat said which made Metabee look at Peppercat.
"Yeah?" Metabee said before Peppercat surprisingly says this.
"Thank you for the lessons." Peppercat said with an eye smile like expression on her face.
"...huh?"
"Just saying thank you since I doubt I would have improved this fast without your help, so thank you." Peppercat said with a somewhat happy tone to her voice since she managed to fly in the air without going off course.
Metabee for some reason blushed a little from that before he rubbed the back of his head. "W-Well glad to help." Metabee said with a nervous tone to his voice.
"Yeah, now we're definitely gonna kick your butts after the tournament." spoke Samantha as she got herself to calm down.
"S-Says you! We're just lending the part to you, besides even if we do fight for it, when Metabee gets serious, not many can take him!" Ikki said when he jumped to his feet.
"Keep telling yourself that. Now come on, we gotta register ourselves."
Ikki grumbles before he quickly picked Metabee up and sets him on his feet before he looks to Metabee while Samantha changed Peppercat back to her normal self. "Hey Metabee, here, should be a good replacement for now." Ikki said while he changed the large melee based arm to surprisingly enough the arm that he won from Samantha and Metabee had Peppercat's right arm on his body.
"Huh? Hey! I can't use this, I'm all for fire power."
"It's just temporary, besides you can shock things with it if I remember right, I'm still looking for a good ranged replacement but it should be good for now right? Besides if Peppercat is using your arm, why not use hers? Could be surprising and you could stun someone and then jump back to give a point blank gatling barrage or a horn missile after getting safely away." Ikki said while he tried to think of all the parts that he had and tried to think of a good replacement.
"Oh fine, I'll make due."
"Great, besides, since this is a valentine themed tag tournament, should be interesting if you two are matching somewhat right?" Ikki said with a teasing grin on his face when he looks at Metabee since he saw Metabee look nervous around Peppercat.
"Keep that up and I'll test it out on you." warned Metabee shaking his fist.
"Fine, but I wonder what others would think if you go around with Peppercat's arm and Peppercat does the same." Ikki said before he quickly walked away from Metabee with an amused grin on his face.
Metabee growled while feeling embarrassed with Peppercat's arm giving off sparks. "I warned ya!"
(Later)
When the four got into the registration area, or 3 with Medebee dragging a stunned lightly charred Ikki, the duo saw that the place was decked out in hearts galore and everything while plenty of people were signing in to register for the tag tournament.
"Wow, who knew this many people were eager?" Metabee said which made Peppercat look at Metabee.
"Well considering how advertised this event was and some kind of secret prize as well, who wouldn't want to sign up?" Peppercat said while she walked next to Metabee while he keeps dragging Ikki on the ground.
"Oh my, Ikki? Is that you?" A familiar female voice was heard which caused Ikki to jolt when he recognized who it was.
"K-Karin!?" Ikki said when he quickly sat up and looked around when he heard her voice from nearby.
"Are you alright?" asked the ginger haired girl while standing next to her was Koji.
"Oh leave him alone Karin. Seems he's working with another lady right now. I must say Ikki, I would have thought you would have come here with Erika with how close you two seemed. But guess I was wrong." Koji said while Sumilidon walked near Koji and stayed silent as usual while Neutranurse stood near Karin.
"Are you alright Metabee? You seem damaged. And what happened to your arm? Did you lose it in a Robattle?" Neutranurse asked when she saw that Metabee looked slightly scuffed.
"Nah, let's just say I'm giving Pepcat here a little boost in strength, along with my expert teaching skills."
"Pepcat?" Neutranurse said with some confusion.
"Nickname it seems. anyway he helped me with getting used to a part I didn't use much and he lent me his sniping arm." Peppercat said while Samantha chuckles and switched the part and everyone saw Metabee's arm on Peppercat.
"Hehe. And believe it or not, Peppercat is really good with it. much better then when it was with Metabee here." Samantha said with a grin on her face to Karin and Koji while Metabee rubbed the back of his head when Sumilidon and Neutranurse looked at him with surprised looks on their robotic faces.
"Yeah yeah, we already know." spoke Ikki with annoyance.
"Oh you're just steamed that its in much better hands with Peppercat then Metabee, maybe you should get more close ranged gun parts for him since he seems more up close and personal for a ranged type Medabot." Samantha said with a grin on her face before she starts walking to the registration desk. "Come on Ikki, we better sign up before the spots are taken."
He grumbled and followed with their bots doing the same.
Koji and Karin looked to one another with confused expressions before the receptionist noticed Samantha and Ikki approaching. "Hello you two. You signing up for the Valentine tag team event? I must say you two look a bit young to be a couple, but then again I had young love once." The woman said while she smiles at Ikki and Samantha before she saw Metabee and Peppercats arms. "Oh how cute, even your Medabots seem to be in the spirit of romance it seems to be sharing parts and all that." The Woman said much to Peppercat and Metabee's confusion and looked to one another and back to the receptionist.
"H-Hey wait! We're not a couple." spoke up Ikki with a blush.
"Oh, don't you know? Thought the commercials helped convey the meanings and all that." The receptionist said with a surprised look on her face while Ikki looks at Samantha with a bewildered expression on his face.
"You didn't say anything about that!" Ikki said while Metabee got a tick mark on his head.
"Alright spill it lady, what's so special about this tournament anyway?" Metabee asked which made the receptionist smile.
"Well aside from being a Robattle tournament. After some time passes after a few matches, we have a break here which involves food, dancing, and what not to help convey a feeling of romance between teams, I mean it is valentines day so why not mix things up my doing that? Not only does it help bring couples together. It also helps with Medabots as well since we have the Medabots dance as well… or are you saying your against the feeling of romance?" the receptionist said while she got a scary grin at the end when she looks at Samantha, Metabee, Ikki, and Peppercat to say their next words carefully.
All four of them felt a cold chill seeing the grin with all of them huddling together. "N-No… w-we understand…" Metabee, Peppercat, Ikki, and Samantha all said as one which made the receptionist smile kindly.
"Good. Here is the sign in sheet and the conditions required to enter. Don't worry, you seem to have one down already by having the Medabots here trade arms, oh they look so cute like that." The receptionist said after she passed the sign in sheet to Samantha on a clipboard while she gushed a bit at how adorable Metabee and Peppercat looked like that.
Ikki and Samantha put their names down with Metabee crossing his arms with a huff.
"I do not look cute."
"Oh how adorable playing the tough guy routine, people will eat that up!" The receptionist said while Peppercat looked at the conditions.
"Uh… Samantha... You may want to look at the fine print first before you sign up." Peppercat oddly said much to Metabee's confusion while Ikki looked confused as well before he looked at the conditions and got wide eyed looks at what he saw.
"Uh… yeah… please look Samantha…" Ikki said while pointing to the entry condition section after the part about tag teamed Medabots having shared parts.
Samantha with a confused look, looks where Ikki was pointing and got a surprised look at what she saw.
Condition #2: All participants must dress up in their best Valentine outfits, for men, tuxedos, for women, dresses.
Condition #3: All teams, Medabot and Human, must dance together at least once in a slow dance during the break event events.
"What?!" blushed Samantha with a slack jaw. "You gotta be kidding!"
"Nope, this is a classy event so to speak, if you got complaints, you can just erase your names from the list and leave. This is valentines day we're talking about, the season of love! If you can't respect the power of love then you don't deserve to enter for the super secret prize for the winner." The receptionist said with a serious look in her eyes.
"But I don't wear dresses when Robattling!"
"Oh but don't worry, we got plenty of dresses here to help those who don't have the option, it gives the ladies who are not well enough in money to feel beautiful and lovely, same with the tuxedos for the men. And ironically enough you do wear the tuxedos and dresses when Robattling, so better get in a romantic mindset because during the finals we have one last event to celebrate and the lucky winners have a single dance in front of everyone. And if your boyfriend here wants to give you a peck on the cheek then no one can blame him. Same with these two cuties here if they want to join in and show their affection to one another for fighting so hard for one another." The receptionist said while winking at Ikki, Metabee, and Peppercat.
All of them blushed with Samantha gritting her teeth.
"Just what IS the big prize?" she asked with an eye twitch.
"Sorry, but the prize is only brought out when the event is over after the final battle… can't call it a secret prize if the secret it told can we?" The receptionist said with a smile on her face.
Samantha growled with Ikki coughing.
"M-Maybe we should pass on the tournament? I mean, there's always others."
"Actually I believe Samantha said something about this being a once in a lifetime event." Peppercat said to remind Ikki about that phrase.
"Oh but it is. Well more of once every 5 years, you see while we do have this event daily we do it around the world every valentines day and this years prize is the biggest best one yet, if you miss it, you might as well kiss the prize here goodbye." The receptionist said with a smile on her face.
"5 years!? How old are you guys again?" Metabee said when he looks at Ikki and Samantha with a confused look on his face.
"I believe it's rude to ask a lady that, but still… 5 years…" Peppercat said while she looked thoughtful before looking at Samantha to see what she would decide.
Said girl gripped her hands while looking mad with Ikki gulping.
"N-Now now e-easy Samantha I mean it'll happen in 5 years, we could try again when it comes around." Ikki said to try and calm Samantha down.
"Forget it!" she yelled. "We came here to battle and win!"
"Great! All we need is your three sizes and we can make a dress fit to impress. Same to you young men and not to worry. We keep all info confidential. I mean it makes sense right? Can't have a wardrobe malfunction from loose pants or ill fitting dresses right?" The receptionist said while she moved a second piece of paper to Ikki and Samantha much to their horror.
"W-Wow… you people are through…" Ikki said before he sighs in defeat and wrote down his measurements just like that before Ikki and the receptionist looked at Samantha to see what she would do.
"If I'm doing that, you BETTER look away." she growled.
Ikki jolts before he quickly turned away from the look Samantha gave him while Metabee leaned to Peppercat and asked this. "Three sizes? What is that? and why is it supposed to be a secret?"
"It's better not to ask."
"I see… well considering things, hey lady, got Medabot sized outfits?" Metabee asked surprising the trio.
"W-What? Metabee why are you asking?" Ikki asked which caused Metabee to roll his optics.
"Well I won't wear it in a fight but I do want to know what's so good about this valentine stuff if I'm going to be dancing and what not… though I do have one question…" Metabee asked before he got a serious look in his optics which threw Ikki off a bit from how serious it sounded.
"And what's that?"
"How do I dance?" Metabee asked which made Samantha, Ikki, and Peppercat facefault from how Metabee asked the question.
"S-Seriously? You don't know how to dance?" Samantha asked which made Metabee cross his arms.
"Hey! I never needed to learn how to! I'm a fighter not a loverbot." Metabee said since up until now, he never needed to dance before or learn it in the first place.
"He's got you there." sweatdropped Ikki.
Samantha, after a bit of thought from that sighs before she looks at Peppercat. "Hey Peppercat... think you can help teach Metabee on how to dance? We had a few lessons before when mom wanted me to learn something… culture like… though with a body like that, chances are he'll mess up. My money is him having two left feet." Samantha said while she got an amused grin on her face.
"Uhhh…. I don't have two left feet. Pretty sure one is a left and right foot part." Metabee said when he completely missed the insult just now while he looked at his feet with confusion.
"She means you won't be able to dance to save your life." clarified Ikki.
"What!? I'm sure with some practice I can dance with the best of them! Besides I never danced before so who knows, I could be a better dancer than you and Peppercat combined!" Metabee growled out when he felt insulted from not being able to save his life in dancing… whatever that is.
"Sure you could, keep telling yourself that."
Metabee made a noise of frustration while the receptionist smiles a bit.
"Well good luck with the dance lessons, but we do have the option of giving dancing parts to contestants as a way to help them, though its minor, while it can be only used during the event, we do let the winner take the parts as a farewell gift, not the actual prize, just a little something to help any romantic medabot to be have their own fun." The Receptionist said with a smile on her face.
"Look, let's just get the measuring over with." grumbled Samantha.
"Right… hey Matilda you got someone to measure." The receptionist before metallic footsteps was heard before everyone saw a Medabot who looked a lot like Neutranurse appearing, however the key difference was that her head part looked like it had a visor equipped.
"Hello, my name is Matilda, sorry if Cristy here gave you issues, she can be a bit pushy when it comes to Valentine's day." Matilda said with a mannered tone while she bowed lightly to Ikki and the others.
"Oh don't worry, she wasn't to much of a hassle." Metabee said with a wave of his hand to the Metabot while Ikki sweat drops from that.
"Considering you don't have to get measured I'd say that you and Peppercat got off easy." Ikki said before Matilda looks at Ikki.
"Actually I'm here to measure all four of you, Metabots included. Before you ask why, not all Tinpets and Medals are made equally the same and while we can get the parts for the Medabots, we do take in some personal requests if they want to mix it up a little. We make the parts thanks to various technology here donated from the Medabot corporation. For example, this Peppercat here has a Queen Medal so her ability centers on shocking or freezing attacks, the former with these parts. So we make parts that so she won't feel to out of place with her new event parts." Matilda said while some kind of scanner scanned Peppercat while Matilda spoke.
"How long is it gonna take?" asked Ikki.
"Lets see…" Matilda said before she scanned Metabee's body. "For these two, I would say 7 hours or so, an extra couple hours since it would take a bit to get the blueprints for a KBT type Medabot, those parts are out of date compared to newer models… Now for you two…" Matilda said before she scan's Ikki's body and Samantha's body. "Done… your outfits will be tailor made with this data in mind. Any personal requests for your outfits you two? Same to you two for the parts." Matilda said when she looked to the four while Metabee, a little ticked from his parts being called old, shook it off since Matilda didn't sound insulting.
"Well just make me look cool and we're good. But try and keep the Metabee brand going strong! Old or not I love these parts." Metabee said which made Matilda nod her head before she looks at Peppercat to see if she had any requests.
"Anything that doesn't drag, I don't wanna trip over my own feet." Peppercat said which made Matilda nod her head.
"So something not to encumber you, and speedy I believe if the lack of defense is any indication. I'm guessing your lack of defense helps with the more speedy stats that you have." Matilda said when she looked Peppercat up and down and noticed her body was much lighter than the normal Peppercat model.
"Indeed." Peppercat simply said before Matilda looks at Ikki and Samantha to see if they had any requests for their outfits.
"Anything's fine, but nothing too mushy." frowned Samantha. And NO frills."
"Very well. Something simple... no frills. Anything else like coloring or style? All expenses are paid for the outfits so no need to hold back." Matilda said when she looks at Samantha but when she got nothing, she looks at Ikki to see what he had in mind.
"I'm good with just a normal tux, I don't dress up that much." spoke Ikki.
"I see. So a simple tuxedo then. If you can please write your home phone number on the sign in sheet, we can let you know a few hours in advance when the parts and outfits are done. Again my apologize for Cristy here if she gave you trouble. She's normally calm and collected but gets like this on Valentines day since its been awhile since she was last on a date." Matilda said which made the Receptionist or Cristy cringe a bit from that but tried to play it off as a strained smile of sorts.
"Please ignore my friend, she must have me confused with someone else." Cristy said which made Matilda look at her.
"I believe my memory is perfect. It has been 4 months and 27 days since your last date since you have been focusing on various things." Matilda said which made Cristy cringe for real while Ikki, Samantha, Metabee, and Peppercat sweatdrop from that.
However before they could hear more, they heard a gasp from nearby.
"What the!? Ikki, what are you doing here? And with Samantha!?" A female voice said which made everyone look to see Erika and Brass approaching the duo while Erika had her iconic camera, seems she was here to get a scoop like normal or something.
"Erika?!" he went wide eyed along with Samantha.
"Oh hey Erika, hey Brass, here to get some kind of scoop?" Metabee asked while Erika and Brass look to the bug based Medabot.
"W-Well yeah… though that doesn't… what… how…" Erika said with a stumped tone since she did not see this coming.
"Oh, well it kind of went like this…" Metabee said while he explained things to Erika who got her notepad out to write some notes down while everyone listened.
"...So as you can see, were just returning the favor with Samantha and Pepcat, though seems we will have to dance with one another or something during some events and it looks like I'll have to learn how to dance since I never did it before so Pepcat here is gonna teach me if I have what Samantha calls… two left feet…" Metabee said while he looked thoughtful and looked away from Erika and Brass so missed the looks on their faces after hearing everything… though Brass looked a bit off when it seemed that Metabee was being pretty friendly with Peppercat if the nickname was anything to go by.
"So wait...that means you two are...oh this is huge!" spoke Erika looking at Ikki and Samantha before writing it down.
"Hey wait! It's not like that!" spoke up Ikki embarrassed.
"Oh really? Then tell me Ikki… when was the last time you danced? This is news to me." Erika said with a serious look on her face which confused Samantha and Peppercat… Metabee was one thing but Ikki never learned how to dance?
Meanwhile with Metabee, Brass, and Peppercat…
"So… are you two… an item or something? I heard the nickname so I wonder when you two got so close." Brass said when she wondered what could have changed, normally Metabee saved Peppercat a few times so she wondered what made this moment different.
"Oh, we're not an item, I just figured giving her a nickname would sound cool." spoke Metabee.
"I see… well good luck to you and Peppercat in the tournament, Erika came here to try and get a scoop but if she is unable, she would work around it by signing up herself. Thankfully we don't need a romantic partner or anything. We just need to clear the conditions." Brass surprisingly said to Metabee… wait… if Brass would be entering… who was her tag partner then?
"But I thought this was tag team, don't you need a partner?" asked Metabee.
"True, but considering how things are nowadays with Humans, they can't force same sex couples away, so it allowed us to get someone who wanted to say hello to you and Ikki as well, in fact she's suppose to be here as well to help sign in." Brass said before the main doors to the lobby open and to Metabee's possible shock and horror considering the situation… he saw Hannah and Oceana entering the lobby while Hannah had a curious look in her eyes.
"Wow… I heard this place will be packed but didn't expect this… oh hey Ikki, Erika!" Hannah said while she ran up to the duo while Oceana floats towards Metabee, Brass, and Peppercat while Peppercat looked confused from the odd look that Metabee had… seemed like a mix between horror, a blush, and confusion if that was possible.
"Oceana?!"
"Hello Metabee, it's nice to see you after all this time. I hope things have been going well for you." Oceana said with a kind tone to her voice while she floats near the group.
"Err… who is she?" Peppercat asked with a confused tone to her voice since she never met a Mermaid model medabot before now.
"This is Oceana, she and Hannah got separated, but me and Ikki got them back together safe and sound."
"I see, well what are you doing here? You signing up with Brass?" Peppercat asked much to Metabee's horror, more so when Oceana nods in agreement.
"Indeed and thanks to Hannah's family getting lucky with a lottery, they were able to pay off their debts and everything and we recently moved back into town. Thanks to the money, we own a home near here, it's not the biggest but it does mean that I can visit any of you if I want now. And we ran into Erika who, after finding out about this rare tournament, asked Hannah and I for aid and here we are." Oceana said while she sounded happy right now.
"That's great! Maybe you and I can hang out after it's done." suggested Metabee.
"Of course Metabee. I would love to." Oceana said with a happy look on her face when she looked at Metabee while Peppercat who watched the display felt a bit off herself when she saw Metabee acting all… mushy and what not with Oceana which made her wonder what's going on while Samantha could see the confused look on Peppercat's face, thankfully with how close the medabots were, Hannah didn't need to explain things to the others.
Ikki however looked worried before he whispered in Samantha's ear. "Er… we may have an issue… you see… *Whisper Whisper*..." Ikki whispered while Samantha got a more shocked look on her face as Ikki explained things to Samantha.
"Wait so Metabee has a crush on Oceana!?" Samantha said out loud much to Metabee's shock and Oceana's blushing face while Brass and Peppercat looked more off when they heard that.
"Hey! What's the big idea of saying that stuff?!" yelled Metabee with a tick mark.
"Well can you blame me, you normally fight this or argue that so sue me for hearing that you got a thing for this Mermaid here. I mean you would probably hold back or flat out refuse to fight her I bet even if you owe Peppercat and I for the stunt that you pulled with that stray bullet." Samantha said while she had crossed arms while thinking this would complicate matters if they had to fight Erika and Hannah, Brass maybe no issue but Peppercat may need to handle Oceana since she doubt Metabee would harm a part on Oceana's body..
"Then I guess it looks like if we have to fight, I'll take on Oceana here." Peppercat said while she had a serious look on her face when she looks at the Mermaid Medabot, and for some reason Peppercat… seemed irritated?
"Err… Peppercat… you alright?" Samantha asked when she saw Peppercat acting odd.
Peppercat looked to Samantha before she said this. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Peppercat said when she didn't seem to notice the irritation.
"Uh...nevermind."
Peppercat blinked at that while she looks back at Oceana while Metabee saw some kind of hostility coming from Peppercat for some reason and it seemed to be directed at Oceana.
"Uhhh… pepcat?" Metabee said when he tried to help calm things down.
"What?" Peppercat said with a royally irritated tone which made Metabee flinch since that was out of left field so to speak.
"Uhh… nevermind…." Metabee said while mimicking Samantha when he stepped back from Peppercat who seemed really irritated in his eyes.
"Come on Metabee, let's get home." suggested Ikki.
"R-Right… see you later Oceana, mind telling the address so I can visit later?" Metabee said while he looks at Oceana who looks at him.
"Oh sure, here it is." Oceana said while she told Metabee the address while Peppercat seemed more… off while she saw Peppercat watching Metabee and Oceana… she had an idea of what could be going on but would confirm it later.
"Come on Peppercat, let's get going so we can talk strategy, we can discuss the dance thing later." Samantha said when she got Peppercat to follow her while Metabee sighs in relief.
"Oh wow… what's up with Pepcat?" Metabee said with a confused tone when he saw Peppercat walk away without saying a word at all.
"Not really sure." remarked Ikki. "See ya Erika."
"Y-Yeah, see you Ikki. Come on Hannah, Brass, Oceana. Lets get signed up, oh and Ikki… better not be surprised when Brass kicks Metabee's butt, especially with Oceana backing her." Erika said while she walked to the registration desk.
"Yeah, see you Ikki, it was nice to see you again." Hannah said with a smile on her face while she followed Erika while Brass looks at Metabee.
"See you later Metabee, hopefully we can have fun during the tournament." Brass said before she walked away while Oceana looks at Metabee.
"Hope things work out between you and Peppercat. I must say you two did look adorable together. Hope she's not the jealous type or something." Oceana said which made Metabee and Ikki blink a few times when they heard that.
"Wait, say what?"
Oceana blinked a few times from that before she looks at Metabee. "Oh, the jealous thing? Well I've seen plenty of Medabots get jealous before and while we were out of town. Some Medabots tried to hit on me but turns out some of them had boyfriends and girlfriend Medabots, so I learned how to read the signs and it looked like Peppercat had some starting signs so maybe she doesn't notice yet." Oceana said to many levels of shock while Ikki's jaw dropped… and if Metabee had a mouth, it would be open in shock as well.
"Say what?!"
Oceana just looked more confused when she looks at the duo. "Well… unless I'm wrong, then I think Peppercat maybe developing a crush on Metabee here, I mean you two know her better then I right? Have you two been friends for awhile or have you been able to challenge her when no one else around here can't match her? She does have a Queen medal if I heard right from Erika so maybe she likes strong Medabots and doesn't realize it yet?" Oceana said with a thoughtful tone to her voice.
"Metabee and Peppercat? Wow, and here I thought Metabee was clueless." remarked Ikki while patting the bot on the back. "Who knew you had it in you?"
"A-ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? I never did anything special with Peppercat! T-This is Samantha's Medabot we're talking about here! S-Shouldn't you be trying to deny this!" Metabee said when he looked at Ikki with a hard to read expression.
"What are you getting at?"
"Wanna play dense huh? I'm saying maybe you got a crush on Samantha you don't want no one to know!"
"WHAT!?" Ikki yelled before Erika, Hannah, and Brass got back to see a dust cloud had formed around Ikki and Metabee when they got into another fight while Erika looked to Oceana.
"Err… what is going on?" Erika asked while Oceana looks at the reporter student.
"Oh just talking about how Peppercat is developing a crush on Metabee without her knowing it from how jealous she acted, then Metabee countered that Ikki could have a secret crush on Samantha and here we are." Oceana said which made Erika and Brass get wide eyes from the unexpected info while Brass looked off while Oceana sweat drops when it seemed that Metabee seemed more popular then she thought if it wasn't just Peppercat who had a crush on the bug based Medabot.
"Wait, for real?" asked Erika with interest.
"Indeed, that's the reason why these two are fighting. Seems they are denying it but won't back down from one another… is this normal for these two to fight a lot?" Oceana said when she worried for the duo.
Meanwhile while Erika keeps asking Oceana questions…
Samantha was walking next to Peppercat while Peppercat still seemed off… and if Samantha was right, she would bet all her parts on thinking the worst. "So Peppercat feeling better? You seem tense." Samantha asked while trying to not irritate Peppercat further.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
Samantha then decided to try asking a series of questions to see if she could get a better grasp on the situation. "Well… when Metabee seemed to talk with that Mermaid Medabot you looked really tense and ready to zap anyone right then and there." Samantha said while trying to carefully make sure to not tick Peppercat off.
"It's nothing Samantha."
"You sure Peppercat? Because it seems to me you're acting a bit… jealous… I mean why snap back there since out of the two of us, you're the one who's normally the calm one." Samantha said with a genuinely curious tone, granted Peppercat getting with Metabee would be a pain to her if it did happen but she wouldn't cause issues and she knew that while she hated to admit it… Metabee and Ikki were pretty strong fighters when they could actually work together so Peppercat could do worse then Metabee.
Samantha also knew what love was like and jealousy a few times as well so she knew the signs and Peppercat gave off some jealous signals.
"Yes Samantha, I'm positive."
"Well… alright, I'll stop this talk not, but just to let you know, I'm not against it. After all while I may not like Ikki or Metabee, they can take care of themselves in a fight compared to some other idiots and weaklings that we know…" Samantha said while she had a thought bubble over her head and thought of Sloan and Spikes win/ loss streak… mainly Spikes loss streak which made her sigh when she wondered why she even hung out with those two. "Let's try and focus on practicing when we get home."
Peppercat was silent for a moment while she thought about what Samantha said but she did say this when she remembered something. "But Samantha… you say you don't like Ikki, but didn't you have a crush on him once when you two were younger?" Peppercat said when she looked at Samantha while she walked next to the Screws leader.
Samantha stopped and stiffened up with a bright blush. "N-No! I didn't!"
"Really? I think it was when I was first given to you when you were around 8 that you talked with me about a lot of things and you talked a lot about Ikki back then. Said he was funny and pretty knowledgeable about Medabots. Even said once that because of him helping you once in a match you would marry him. Said something like he was a prince on a horse helping a princess." Peppercat simply stated while she looks at Samantha's blushing face.
"N-N-No I didn't! You misheard!" she stuttered while looking around.
"I believe you wrote that down in one of my parts with some kind of ink so I'm sure I could get that if I look hard enough, said it was a good luck charm back then but you forgot about it." Peppercat said while she looked at her various parts. "It could even be in my old arm that Metabee has. He did win it from us after all." Peppercat ominously said to Samantha while she held up her arm that she got from Metabee.
"Peppercat, keep your voice down." she hissed in a panic. "You want the whole neighborhood to hear?"
"Well you keep saying I like Metabee and jealous… well why not use this chance to actually see if Ikki is the right person for you, I mean no one else is around to hear us and let's be honest… while Ikki can be as you call an idiot. He is no weak person, and what about Nathan that you were fawning over? I haven't seen him in a long time so what about him?" Peppercat said with a surprisingly serious tone to her voice.
"T-That's entirely different and you know it!"
"Oh really, well how about a bet then if you really think I'm into Metabee…" Peppercat said with a serious tone to her voice.
"A bet? What kind?"
"Simple… if I can get Metabee to do something romantic to me of his own will… doesn't matter what, but it has to be during the tournament but you can give some kind of goal if you think that is to vague. But if I win then if we get to the finals and win you have to give Ikki a kiss… doesn't matter where, but everyone in the arena has to see it… or is the Leader of the Screws and my Medafighter a coward who can't even get one boy to like her?" Peppercat said with a serious tone to her voice while she looked at Samantha with a determined look in her eyes.
"A kiss?! You gotta be kidding!" she blushed crimson red.
"Indeed, or will you back down? Besides when was the last time you even went on a date? It's normally Medabot this or Medafight that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining since you and I are the best of friends, but even I can see that you deserve your own happiness that doesn't involve some kind of intimidation or trickery, or has all the years we spent together show that I know nothing about you?" Peppercat said with a determined tone to her voice to get Samantha to agree with this no matter what.
"T-That's not true and you know it! I could go on a date if I wanted to! I've...just been busy is all." she grumbled looking away.
"Then tell me the last time you tried to go on a date and within the month… and Nathan and that other boy don't count since I never seen you go on dates with either of them." Peppercat said with a serious tone to her voice.
"Uh...I...uh…" Samantha let out before growling and crossed her arms. "Ok fine! I'll take that stupid bet, but there's no way that dumb bot is gonna make a move, he's as clueless as Ikki."
"Yet he seems infatuated with that Oceana Medabot so he's not fully clueless, I'm sure if I try my best I can get something at least from Metabee." Peppercat said to point out that Metabee wasn't fully clueless, if she could get Metabee's attention, she would have an actual chance. "This means you can't back out of it."
Samantha's eyes widen a bit from that and she couldn't even say anything but this. "W-What if you lose… and nothing happens?" Samantha asked while she managed to get her voice back.
"If I lose, then you don't have to do anything. Things will stay the same and I'll drop it."
In a sense, Samantha had nothing to lose if that did happen but if Peppercat wins… then she would have to kiss Ikki… which gave her a thoughtful look when she followed Peppercat again when Peppercat seemed to have a spring in her step so to speak.
Meanwhile back at the Tenryo residence…
Metabee was sitting in front of the TV with crossed arms while he watched some kind of movie that involved dancing while Mrs. Tenryo watched Metabee and saw he looked off before she looked at Ikki.
"Ikki, is something wrong with Metabee? He looks more thoughtful than normal ever since you told me you and Metabee have signed into a Valentine tag tournament with Samantha and her Peppercat. Did something happen between you two or with you and Samantha? Or with Metabee and Peppercat?" Mrs. Tenryo asked with a concerned tone.
"Nah mom, Metabee's just trying to learn how to dance."
"Dance? I heard about that it happens between matches right… oh my… are my two little men trying to wow a pair of ladies?" Mrs. Tenryo said with a small smile on her face when she looked at Ikki with a proud look on her face.
"N-No way!" he blushed. "It's just for the tournament, it's all about valentine stuff and it's not like we have much of a choice!"
"But still… oh my little Ikki and Metabee, you two are growing up so fast. I mean while you two are forced into this for some reason at the very least it's with a person you know and not a complete stranger right? And think like this… you never know what could happen during the tournament… for all you know she maybe so happy to win in the end with you helping her she may kiss you on the cheek or something without thinking it. You never know a person truly unless you get to know them. I mean you and Metabee fight like cats and dogs, but when push comes to shove, you two act like brothers. So who knows what you and Samantha will do… and if Metabee gets a crush on this Peppercat or the reverse happens… well, I won't complain, maybe your Father and I should come and cheer you on. Should be a good date as well if there is food and dancing… Ah so romantic." Mrs. Tenryo said while she blushed at the end while Mr. Tenryo, who just walked in, looked to his wife with a confused look on his face.
"Uhh… did I miss something honey? Got you flowers since Valentine's day is coming and chocolate as well." Mr. Tenryo said while he held out a box of chocolates and flowers to his wife while he smiles at her with a blush on his face while Ikki and Metabee watched with various reactions… Metabee's was pure curiosity since he didn't see many interactions like this.
"Oh that's just gross!" spoke Ikki with a shudder. "The day Samantha kisses me on the cheek is the day Metabee learns the tango."
"Oh really? Hey Mrs. Tenryo, thank you can help me learn the Tango?" Metabee said with an amused tone when he enjoyed Ikki being uncomfortable while Mr. Tenryo's glasses flash for a moment after he heard what Ikki said.
"Hold on… kissing?... is our son growing up." Mr. Tenryo said while Mrs. Tenryo, who smiles from the gifts, got up and with a smile says this.
"Indeed honey, you see…." Mrs. Tenryo said before she finished with this. "...So you see things wound up with Samantha and Ikki as a tag team with their medabots, so if you got a day off tomorrow, why don't we go there and cheer the two on and enjoy the festivities there." Mrs. Tenryo said with a smile.
"Hmmm… well why not, I did earn a day off for job recently so why not cash it in now… besides I want to say hello to Ikki and Metabee's girlfriends." Mr. Tenryo said with a grin on his face.
"They are not our girlfriends!" Ikki and Metabee said as one before Mr. and Mrs. Tenryo laughed a bit at that reaction when they saw the blushes on their faces.
"It's alright you two, we understand how it is." Mrs. Tenryo said before Mr. Tenryo got a mischievous look on his face.
"Then again... it feels like how your mother and I met years ago. Granted it was without Metabots, but it feels like yesterday when I met your mother. Ah those were the days. Lets just say it must be a Tenryo knack for finding interesting ladies during contests and sweeping them off their feet." Mr. Tenryo said with a grin on his face.
"Oh dear, you know just what to say." smiled his wife making Ikki sweatdrop and Metabee tilt his head.
"Err… are they ok?" Metabee asked while Mr. Tenryo smiles at the duo.
"Oh you two will find out years from now when your our age and hopefully in our places with your own kids… granted not sure how it works with Medabots, but then again I never expected Metabee to be so animated compared to other Metabots that I've seen." Mr. Tenryo said before shrugging. "But eh that is years from now, for now considering the time, you two should make sure that you two are ready… especially with the dance part since even I heard from a few sources that one team will have to lead things in with a small slow dance from my boss who's helping with sponsoring the event with a few other companies doing the same." Mr. Tenryo said after a moment of thought.
"Relax, I'll get this dancing stuff down in no time flat." spoke Metabee looking back at the TV.
"Great, I recommend this channel for slow dancing though." Mr. Tenryo said while he flipped the channels to one that showed a couple slow dancing romantically while Metabee was confused since it was different then the last dance.
"Err… why are they so close and why is the guy holding his hand so close to the woman's butt?" Metabee said while he looked confused.
"Her waist Metabee, its tradition in some places to slow dance and if you want to sweep a lady off their feet then this is the dance to do… in fact… Honey, think we should get our old dancing shoes out and get them ready for tomorrow and show Ikki and Metabee what real dancing is like tomorrow?" Mr. Tenryo said with a grin on his face.
"Well it's been a while, I'm not even sure my old pair would fit."
"Well let's go out and get a new pair for us both, and why not go the extra mile and get some dancing shoes for Ikki here." Mr. Tenryo said before Metabee spoke up.
"Actually they supply the outfits and dancing parts so I think we're good pops." Metabee said which made Mr. Tenryo blink since free suits and stuff was unexpected.
"Wow, they must take this serious to afford all that. How many are actually gonna be part of it?"
"No clue, all Ikki and I did was sign up so there could be a lot of people there, though I think it's the contestants only that get the free stuff since they're the ones doing most of the leg work so to speak." Metabee said while he watched the tv closely while he had Salty as his dance partner so to speak… it was funny but no one else was Metabee's height so he had to make do.
"Well I'll go get my shoes and see if I can give you boys some tips."
"Really? Thanks, though I think Ikki would need more help I think… I… got… this!" Metabee said before he fell thanks to Salty falling on top of him which made him groan when the dog was heavier then he looked.
"Oh boy… looks like I got my work cut out for me… honey wish me luck." Mr. Tenryo said while he looked down at Metabee while rubbing his head.
(Later)
The day of the tournament then came up with Metabee and Ikki, after a few lessons last night and a refresher when they woke, were in front of the tournament lobby where the sign showed where the contestants to meet.
"Well… the moment of truth Ikki… and after what I heard… looks like this will be the biggest battlefield of our lives with how intense your dad was with lessons." Metabee said while his eyes looked aflame from how determined he was.
"I think my feet are still sore." sighed the boy.
"Power through the pain! Visualize success!" Metabee said to mimic what Mr. Tenryo said to Ikki when Ikki had fallen down a few times which made Ikki shudder while Metabee enters the building before him.
'I'm really hoping to not hear a line like that later.' Ikki thought before he followed Metabee inside and he was surprised to see so many people in the room, looks like this would be a long tournament made sense for the events then so people could have a break from the fights.
A moment later, the duo saw Samantha and Peppercat nearby near the desk when it looked like they were about to get changed with Matilda handing some boxes to the duo.
"Here are the parts and outfit participants Samantha and Peppercat, and thanks to your last minute changes we managed to change them to your specifications." Matilda cryptically said while Metabee and Ikki looked confused before Ikki spoke up behind Samantha without her noticing Ikki yet.
"Last minute changes?" Ikki said which made Samantha jolt when she didn't expect to hear Ikki behind her.
"Ikki?!" she whirled around. "D-Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Ikki rubbed the back of his head from that. "Err… sorry about that, anyway sorry if Metabee and I are late, had to take a last minute refresher lesson on dancing from my dad." Ikki surprisingly said to the duo.
"Lessons?" Peppercat said which made Metabee place his hands on his hip like joints.
"Yup, now I can do stuff like this." Metabee said when he did a slight tap dance and after clapping a few times, held a hand out to Peppercat before chuckling at the shocked look on her face before Metabee returned to his normal standing self and looks at Samantha. "Now who has two left feet?"
"I'm still gonna say it's you. You'll have plenty of time to show us what you got later." Samantha said which caused Metabee to get a tick mark on his head.
Before Metabee could say anything, Matilda came to Ikki and Metabee with a set of boxes.
"Here you two go, one tuxedo and shoes and dancing type Medaparts for when you're not in battle, or you can wear them in battle if you want, your call as long as you keep the shared Metaparts that you two have." Matilda said while she made sure Metabee and Ikki had the boxes in their hands.
"Thanks Matilda, and sorry for the trouble if no one said anything yet." Metabee said with a kind tone to his voice while Peppercat got a slight tick mark on her head which faded fast but Samantha noticed fast enough.
'Whoo Boy, looks like Peppercat may actually try something if she gets pushed far enough… can't believe she talked me into making these changes to my outfit…' Samantha thought when she looked at her box.
But before anyone could do anything or say anything everyone heard Cristy's voice come from a speaker which got everyone's attention.
"Hi everyone, and welcome to the Valentine tag tournament, I believe you know all of the rules and regulations and conditions for this tournament… however we have a unique rule that was allowed will be told when the first Robattle comes up, for now participants please get dressed to impress, there are locker rooms and what not past the doors that say man and woman, separate obviously. As for the Metaparts… you can equip them once the Metabots are inside the locker room, we might as well surprise the medabots partners after all with eye catching sights for men and women." Cristy said before the speaker shut off.
"Unique rule? Know anything about that Samantha?" Metabee said since he didn't know anything about this.
"Not a clue."
"Ah." Metabee simply said before he followed Ikki into the males dressing room before Peppercat looked to Samantha.
"Ready Samantha?" Peppercat asked before she walked to the females dressing room so Samantha can help her with these parts.
"Not really, but I'm not backing out now." Samantha said before she followed Peppercat into the dressing room.
With Ikki and Metabee…
The duo had entered the dressing room and saw people already getting the parts on the Medabots first and aside from the black and white coloring for the parts, they seemed well themed.
They even saw Koji nearby while he was working on Sumilidon and aside from a more sleek look, the Medabot's parts looked like a cybernetic suit that was perfect for Sumilidon before Metabee looks at his box.
"Huh… looks like this won't be too bad with the parts at least. Let's see what we got." Metabee said before he walked to an empty spot with a bench and with Ikki following him with a curious look on his face, he and Ikki were greatly surprised when they looked in the box and Metabee and Ikki go to work with getting the parts equipped before Ikki quickly gets ready as well.
(A few minutes later, 15 to be exact with 8 being for the part switching.)
Ikki, now decked out in a tuxedo that fit him like a glove, walked out of the dressing room while he moved around a bit and aside from the suit being a bit so classy for his taste, it felt like it was perfect on his body.
Not even the shoes were uncomfortable surprisingly enough.
"Man, if I knew this fit just right, I might be tempted to dress up like this more often."
"Yeah, who knew parts like these looked good. Guess they did keep the Metabee brand strong here." Metabee said when he followed Ikki out of the room and his parts were changed to show that for Metabe his arm parts were changed with slimmer looking parts with some gun barrels on them for some use in battle.
His leg parts were slimmer as well, more circular then block like to mimic human legs more while he had pointed feet that looked similar to shoes and his head parts had a decent change as well.
For starters from the neck down to go with the valentine theme, Metabee's parts had a suit like look and had a collar that went up a bit around his head, about mid cheek while everything from the head up looked like Metabee's normal head, just with slimmer missile barrels.
Koji, with Sumilidon decked out in the new Medaparts that give the medabot a mainly black and white look but with the head part looking a lot like Sumilidon's normal head part did speak up when he saw Ikki. "Huh, for a moment you almost looked halfway decent wearing that, too bad it won't help you with Karin though." Koji said with a grin on his face, the suit looked perfect on him and he had his hair slicked back and tied into a ponytail while he and Sumilidon walked to Ikki.
Ikki got a tick mark on his head for many reasons but before he could say anything, Samantha's voice was heard.
"Well at least he's not stuck up like you rich boy." Samantha's voice said which was shocking sense Samantha sounded to back Ikki for some reason while Koji looked behind Ikki and was greatly surprised by what he saw.
"Uhhh…" Koji said with a shocked look on his face much to Ikki's confusion… more so when Koji actually blushed for a moment before the rich boy looked away without saying anything to Samantha's come back.
"Wow, Koji going silent? Samantha, what did you-woah." spoke Metabee turning his head.
Ikki in turn looked back as well before his eyes widen from what he saw and he got a slight blush on his face, if he wasn't so sure on who Samantha was with the outfit, he would think she was a different person.
First and most obvious to Ikki was Samantha's outfit… it seemed to be tailor made to fit her body and seemed she had some slight curves when the style of the outfit seemed to help with that.
It was red in color mostly, most likely for matching with Peppercat's parts but those would be described in a moment.
The style of the dress while not really frilly like Samantha asked seemed to be sleeveless and strapless and hugged her body to keep it from falling and it seemed to be a long flowing one at that and hanged down low to the ground, another skirt like bit that seemed to be for an eye catching bit hanged down and well but not as low as the main skirt so that it looked like Samantha was wearing a classy dress, it was simple, but yet different. And her hair was let down all the way instead of having any flair to it which was different enough to really show that subtle differences were key here.
All in all if Ikki didn't know who she was, he would mistake Samantha for a different person entirely.
Metabee however after seeing Samantha looked to Peppercat who walked from behind Samantha… and he was genuinely surprised from what she had equipped.
For starters, like Metabee's torso part, Peppercat's head was normal but with longer metal to give Peppercat a longer hair kind of look but didn't get in the way of Peppercat herself and her ears were a bit longer, not enough to be drastic but enough to show the difference.
Her themed section however showed that she looked like she wore a dress as well that seemed to look backless so to speak and she seemed to… be curvier then normal? Again subtle differences and the leg parts could help with that.
Peppercat's leg parts seemed to be similar to Samantha and had a long flowing dress bit around her legs but looked more like a skirt that went to mid thigh which showed well built legs that seemed perfect for speedy actions and her arm parts, which were usually thick and built for electrical attacks, now looked thin and more human like in shape, though the hands of Peppercat looked paw like and seemed to have gloves on them or at least something glove like, one hand hand an small electrical symbol on it and the other had a snowflake like icon but both icons were red in color to help match the rest of the red coloring of her parts.
All in all Peppercat looked vastly different then she normally did but didn't detract from Peppercats… cat like form… and both Peppercat and Samantha were silently looking at Metabee and Ikki to see how they would react to the new look.
"Samantha? You look….wow." Ikki let out in shock.
Samantha seemed to blush from that but Ikki chalked it up to being out of her comfort zone while Metabee looked stunned from Peppercat's new look.
"W-Whoa… Peppercat? Is that you?" Metabee asked when he had trouble looking away for some reason which… for most would be obvious when Metabee looked Peppercat up and down slowly.
"Of course, how do I look?"
Metabee surprisingly blushed a bit, especially with what he heard from Oceana which caused him to say this nervously when he had trouble adapting. "Y-You look nice…" Metabee said while he rubbed the back of his head and looked to the ceiling to try and calm himself… this was Peppercat for bots sake, he had a thing for Oceana, not her… at least he was pretty sure, but some kind of nagging feeling was trying to tell him it wasn't the case, but he wouldn't notice it for now.
"Wow, you actually made Metabee speechless." remarked Ikki getting a glare from the bot with Samantha crossing her arms.
"Alright you two, let's stay focused on winning this thing."
"R-Right!" The male duo said before they look around to see how everyone else looked.
They saw Koji walking to Karin and she looked like she was dressed like a princess with a poofy pink outfit while Neutranurse looked like she was wearing a thin dress based parts that went down to Neutranurses feet and her normally bulky healing parts were changed to be thinner versions which made a few wonder if they were weaker as a result or something or maybe they had a gimmick to help make up for the lack of size.
They then saw Erika, Brass, Hannah, and Oceana at a different corner and thanks to the free outfits, Hannah was able to dress up a bit in a frilly dress which went down to mid calf and had long sleeves with puffy ends on them.
Erika had a short dress equipped that had straps on her shoulders while she wore flat dress shoes and was looking around the area while she was taking notes right now, her hair was brushed and styled to be slicked back like Koji's hair bit was not tied up.
Though while Ikki was impressed with how detailed the dresses were, Medabee's gaze was drawn to Brass and Oceana.
Brass seemed to have picked some eye catching parts which were mainly blue and pink in color. Just like every Medabot here with some slight changes, Brass had her iconic head with the lower part wearing some kind of gown like parts to help catch the eyes of people, her arms looked thinner similar to Peppercat's but on her palms, holes were seen which showed where her guns were while her leg parts were completely hidden by a wide shirt that nearly hit the ground but never seemed to hit the ground so it wouldn't get in the way.
And Oceana looked like an underwater princess bot with a mainly white and pink theme. Her head parts seemed to take a shorter hairstyle type of theme and she looked more like an iconic mermaid, she had clam like parts on her chest while she wore a ribbon like part on her stomach. Her arms seemed to have some kind of fins on them that looked like they could help her swim around quickly and looked like they could extend as well. And her leg parts seemed to have changed to allow her to have legs and wore a skirt that went to her knees, her legs seemed to look strong looking and she had some kind of small jet like items on her heels which gave her a heel like look so to speak.
"Wow, everyone looks so different." remarked Ikki.
"Y-Yeah…" Metabee said while his gaze was drawn to Oceana while Peppercat got a tick mark on her head and with a flick of her more cat like fingers, she shot a spark of electrical energy which zapped Metabee on the ass for a moment. "YEOW!" Metabee yelled while jumping high into the air before he looked at Peppercat when he lands and Peppercat just looked away from Metabee while Samantha sweat drops from that since… well considering things she couldn't blame Peppercat for doing that, but couldn't blame Metabee for staring at Oceana since she heard that Metabee has a crush on the mermaid medabot. "Hey! What was that for?"
"I don't know what you mean."
Metabee would have said something but before he could, the lights dim greatly and the center of the room had a spotlight shown on it to show Cristy… and Mr. Referee next to her… and horrifying enough… he was wearing a Cupid outfit which made Metabee say this when he covered his optics.
"My eyes! They burn!" Metabee said which made many near Metabee sweatdrop but… they had to agree that Mr. Referee in that outfit… was so many levels of wrong.
But before they could say anything, Cristy with a microphone in hand spoke up to get everyone's attention. "Hello everyone! And to all participants taking part in this valentine tag tournament if no one remembers me I am the receptionist Cristy and next to me to help explain the rules and what not for this tournament is Mr. Referee." Cristy said before Mr. Referee spoke up when he was passed the microphone.
"Hello I am Mr. Referee, I will be the one to observe these Robattles and explain the unique rules of this event so listen carefully since they will be the key factors in winning your Battles." Mr. referee said which made many gulp from the intense gaze that Mr. Referee had before he continues. "First off and most obviously, in Battle you must used shared Roparts between the two Metabots. Second to help make that switch bearable, we have a rule to allow the shuffling of said parts between Medabot! For example… take Metabee for example." Mr. Referee said while he points at Metabee much to his surprise and everyone looks at him.
"Me?"
"And his tag partner Peppercat! They have already switched parts before, their right arm parts to be exact and thanks to this rule the ability to switch their right arms is available, it doesn't matter what part they use in a sense but for example…" Mr. referee said before he ran to Metabee all of a sudden and picked him up by the right arm. "Say for example you and your partner are fighting and you want to not only get the jump on your opponent but to see if the Medafighters trust one another enough with this method, but say for example Metabee and Peppercat are in a battle. If Metabee, in the unlikely event gets his borrowed arm damaged enough to shut down, he can if Peppercat allows it, to switch arms and while Peppercat gets her arm back and Metabee gets his own back, the arm is still damaged so for this… it is a matter of trust! Can you trust your partner to work at full power with his usual parts or will you be afraid of trusting your partner to make a come back! Am I making sense or did I confuse any of you?" Mr. Referee said while he gently set Metabee on the ground.
"Sounds simple enough." spoke Ikki.
"Indeed, however there is a catch. you can only switch parts only a number of 3 times! After that you are forbidden to switch anymore. As you can guess if there was no limit then contestants would be switching parts left and right without repercussions and we would get nowhere with unfair matchups. We have been working with the Medabot corporation that if things go well here. That rule can be used anywhere else at anytime in any tag team Robattle and this is an experiment of sorts! And just to recap. It doesn't matter what part you have exactly, if you have a Medabot who got a leg part from their partner but they have an arm part, they can still switch but only for the leg part for leg part and arm part for arm part so making combinations that match well with your partner is key." Mr. Referee said into his microphone while he looks around to see if anyone was following, seems with this new rule teamwork was an absolute key to take advantage of the part switch system in mid battle.
"Simple enough." remarked Erika.
"Indeed. We use parts that can compliment the both of us and there is a limit of three times to do so and depending on how well the teams work, it could be a real game changer." Koji said when he could see the merits of this system.
"Sounds like fun." smiled Karin.
"Indeed Karin, and with our teamwork, we're sure to win that prize… whatever it is… they still haven't said what it is yet so I hope it's not something like the journey was the prize itself." Koji said with a sweatdrop since at best a trophy could be given to the winners.
"Well I wouldn't worry. I mean considering this is a rare tournament. I doubt they would give away a low grade prize, though if the prizes are to keep the outfits and parts then I'm not complaining. They both look good and really good on you Brass." Erika said before she smiles at Brass and how well the parts worked for her.
"Thank you Miss Erika, you as well look very beautiful."
"Indeed. Everyone looks so nice as well, I believe I can see Ikki and Metabee there… though I am confused… who's the two next to them? One looks sorta like Peppercat but she seems… different and the person next to her looks like that Samantha girl as well." Oceana said next to Hannah which made everyone look over before they had various reactions though Koji rubbed the back of his head when he saw Samantha already and was caught off guard at how different she looked.
"Samantha?! She...She's in a dress." spoke up Erika in shock.
"Looks like she's dressed to impress, maybe she's trying to get Ikki's attention? I must say she looks pretty in the dress." Hannah said when she had a thought that could be the case, granted she didn't know the Screws leader so no one could blame her for thinking like that.
"What? Samantha wanting to get Ikki's attention. Trust me Hannah, that's never gonna happen." Erika waved off.
"You sure? I mean why dress like that? She could have gone much simpler and planer like some of the others here but she looked like she is actually trying to play with her strengths and she did get Ikki as her partner so unless she's trying to make someone jealous, then I don't see why she would go through all the trouble, and from what Oceana told me, seems like Peppercat is gonna try some stuff if the parts that she has are anything to go by with Metabee, Oceana told me that Peppercat was acting strange and gave off signals of jealousy." Hannah simply said to Erika much to everyone's shock.
"No way!" Some said for those who knew Samantha and… Brass as well much to Erika's surprise.
"Alright everyone, it's time to get the tournament started!" called Cristy as other robattlers and their medabots showed up, all dressed up and ready to go.
A bit later with everyone in front of a large screen that came from a hidden area in the ceiling and lowered on strong beams, the tournament bracket was announced and Metabee and Peppercat were the first ones up, seems they were up against a team called the Lovey dovey couple.
"L-Lovey dovey couple?... am I reading that right everyone?" Metabee asked when he looks at Ikki, Samantha, and Peppercat after he rubbed his optics when seeing a name like that was rare.
"Yeah, we see it." spoke Ikki.
"Great…. Everyone ready to kick metabutt?" Metabee said with a fist pump before Ikki and Samantha switched the right arm parts for them so Metabee had Peppercat's arm while Peppercat had Metabee's right arm before they walk forward when they were called onto the stage that was raised from the ground while a couple people walked on stage from the other end.
The couple being a man in a white suit and matching pants with black shoes and slicked back brown hair while the woman was actually in a white wedding dress with a veil and bouquet and long blond hair going down her back, both them holding hands with large smiles.
In front of them stood a pair of Medabots who seems like a King and a Queen of sorts, the King looked to be bulky and wearing thick Medaparts for defensive purposes and had a long sword equipped to his wrist while his left arm has the Queen Medabot's arm which had a small bunker on it.
The Queen looked to be elegant and her parts showed pure regalty with a scepter in her right hand while her left arm was the King Medabots left arm and it was a massive shield that she held next to her to show that her mobility would be cut but it would be hard for a full frontal assault.
"So honey. Think we should go easy on these kids for a bit and let our loving medabots get a good warm up for later rounds?" the man said while he lovingly looked to the woman with the veil.
"I think it'd be a wonderful idea dear, let them have some fun before we get serious."
Metabee got a tick mark on his head since the couple was pretty audible and had crossed arms. "Are they calling us weak? I'm pretty sure they're calling us weak! Well I'll show them who will kick who in the medabutts!" Medabee growled out while he starts walking to the stage to get things ready.
"Easy there Metabee." Ikki said to try and reign in the ticked off Medabot before he looks at the two. "I'm not sure what models they are but knowing the weapons on the big one, close range must be his forte while the Queen looking one seems a mystery, could be a ranged type because of that scepter but could be a melee type… want to add anything Samantha?" Ikki said when he looked to Samantha with a serious look on his face.
"No, I'd say you're right on the ball, but that doesn't mean we're gonna give them a chance to show us their tricks."
"Right. Listen Metabee, Let Peppercat handle the big guy. With her speed she should run circles around him. You focus on the Queen since you can fight at a safe distance." Ikki said with a thoughtful look on his face.
He would try and play it safe for now but at the same time he doubted Samantha would hold back on fighting so he was trying to play with Peppercat's strengths while Metabee looked thoughtful and couldn't argue since he was nowhere near as fast as Peppercat.
"Fine, but if she gets in trouble I'm giving her back up, no ands ifs or buts." Metabee said with a serious tone to his voice while Peppercat looks at Metabee with a surprised look on her face.
"Well no duh, we have to work together or we'll get creamed."
"Hey I'm just saying if I have to break off of your plan Ikki, don't blame me for it." Metabee said while Ikki looked ticked but before they could do anything… the couple and Metabots seemed to noticed the issues going on.
"Oh my, wonder if everything is alright with them? Think we could ask for a few minutes to give them some time to calm down?" The man said before the King Medabot made a humph like noise.
"It wouldn't matter in the end. Even if they work together it won't break our combination, and with a Medabot not getting along with his Medafighter, only humiliating defeat will be a result, looks like the Female there is the stronger of the two for keeping calm it seemed. What do you think my Queen?" The King Medabot said before he looks to his battle partner while Metabee got a seriously big tick mark on his head.
"I think this is going to be a walk in the park if they're like this before we even start."
Metabee looked really pissed now and before anyone could stop him, he said this. "Oh really!? At least I don't look like freaking chess piece rejects." Metabee said which caused tick marks to appear on the Medabot's before the King spoke up.
"Maximilian, permission to go all out when the battle starts?" The King said to the man with a very held back but noticeable angered tone to his voice.
"Same to you Veronica, I believe we should put this Medabot in his low key place." The Queen said while she flipped the scepter and made a whip like motion and the handle end seemed to extend and it turned into a whip before returning to normal… while Metabee sweat drops when the two Medabots gave him royally pissed off looks.
"Alright you two, just don't be TOO harsh on them."
"Oh don't worry… after we knock this rude Medabot around a bit we will put him out of his misery." The Queen said before she said this. "Though I hope you don't mind if I enjoy punishing this rude bot a bit while my liege here deals with the rude one's partner… I do enjoy love seeing a bot break down piece by piece after all." The Queen said with a very dominating tone to her voice which made many viewers sweatdrop and feel sorry for Metabee right now.
"Alright couples, it's time to begin!" called out Cristy.
"Indeed. Meta Fighters to the stage!" Mr. referee said while Ikki, Metabee, Peppercat, and Samantha walked on stage before Metabee and Peppercat got in the ring where the fight was to take place. "Alright! Meta fighters ready?" Mr. Referee said while everyone looked at their opponent with serious gazes.
"Yeah!" all four said which made Mr. referee nod his head.
"Very well… Metafighters…" Mr. Referee said while he raised his hand and Metabee, Peppercat, the King, and Queen got on guard. "ROBATTLE!" Mr. Referee called out when he slashed his hand down before Metabee charged the Queen and Peppercat charged towards the King with serious speed in her step and thanks to her dance parts, she was able to be even more speed then usual thanks to her lighter body and a couple times, the King had trouble even turning to keep up with Peppercat who seemed to leave after images from her quick steps.
Metabee with a pissed off look on his face aimed his single gun arm at the Queen while he keeps running towards her and opened fire, the Queen raised the large shield to block the hits while Metabee keeps charging the Queen while he had Peppercat's borrowed arm raised to get ready to strike with it, he might as well try and use it since he has it and it sparks with electrical energy to show he was charging a strong attack right now. "I'm gonna take you and your stupid looking boyfriend down!"
The Queen got a tick mark on her head before she quickly used a quick whip of her hand when she jumped to the side at the last moment and the whip part of her weapon wrapped around Metabee's left leg before the Queen chuckles when Metabee starts to pale for a moment before the Queen starts to swing Metabee in the air while me made sound of discomfort for a moment before the Queen made a quick whip motion and Metabee was slammed into the ground.
"WARNING HEAD DAMAGE 15 POINTS. LEG DAMAGE 20 POINTS." Ikki's watched said when the attack caused some damage to Metabee's leg and the impact from getting slammed into the ground damaged his head part somewhat.
"METABEE!" Ikki called out with worry while Metabee sat up with a strained groan.
"My bad, this time I'll swing harder."
Peppercat, while Metabee was fighting the Queen, was dancing past the Kings attacks like they were moving in slow motion and used the arm she got from Metabee to hit the Kings various joints to force him to step back from her when she lands he tried to attack her but she seemed to hop, skip, and dash past his attacks with ease. "Humph, seems you're not all that for your parts being modeled after a king." Peppercat taunts since she didn't like the way the King was looking at her which was strange… she was winning but it looked like the King was enjoying the attacks for some reason.
"Heh, is that really what you think? Then you really are a fool."
"How so? Seems to me you're the one taking the brunt of the damage." Peppercat said when she managed to get herself in front of the King and gave him a point blank shot to his sword arm just in case and it took critical damage, seems one more shot will take it out.
"Hehe...well… true against your speed I have no chance… but it's a good thing I kept you distracted right?" The King said while Peppercat heard Metabee scream which made her look to see the Queen stepping on Metabee's head much to her shock.
"Metabee!"
The King in turn chuckles before he charged Peppercat and slugged her in the gun arm thanks to her distracted state and thanks to her lowered defense, her gun part was shut down right then and there while Peppercat bounces on the ground a few times before she lands on her feet while the arm hanged dead until the match was over.
"Peppercat!" Samantha called with worry before wondering what she could do right now, thanks to that shield with the Queen, she couldn't get close, and thanks to the King, Peppercat's gun arm was down for the count.
However Metabee seemed to have some kind of idea before he made this call. "I-Ikki!, when I make my move!... use the part switch and give Peppercat her arm!" Metabee called out much to the Queen's confusion.
"Pardon me, but I believe you're the one who is in need of aid right now, not your friend." The Queen said while she pushed her foot on Metabee's head who chuckles oddly much to her confusion. "And what is so funny!?" the Queen growled out before Metabee said this with him placing Peppercat's fully charged electric arm on the Queen's leg.
"This!" Metabee growled out before unleashing all of the energy which made the Queen scream in pain and in no time flat her leg parts shut down and she fell to the ground while a heavily damaged Metabee, who had only 5 points with his head parts thanks to that stunt since the damage transferred to him somewhat and aimed his gun arm at the Queens head while she was trying to recover. "Hehe… told you I would kick your butt!" Metabee said before unleashing a clip of ammo into the Queen's head and she shut down when she couldn't withstand the barrage but thanks to all the damage to himself, Metabee collapsed on his knees while everyone looked to what just happened with surprised looks.
"My queen!" the King called out with a shocked look on his face while Ikki, after getting over his shock, looks at Samantha.
"Samantha!" Ikki called out when he looked at Samantha and held his arm with his metawatch on it and thanks to some info in how to use to part switch system being hand out before the monitor was shown, in order to activate the part switch system both partners need to look at one another and hold their watches close to one another and the watches would do the rest automatically after they were updated with the program.
"Got it!" she spoke holding her own watch out.
A moment later when the watches were close enough Metabee's and Peppercat's arms glowed and a moment later Peppercat's arm was back with her and Metabee's arm is back with him and it fell limp since it was still damaged before Peppercat brought her hands together and they sparked greatly to show that she now had double the shock damage and charged towards the King medabot with serious speed.
"You're next!" Peppercat called out while the King in a last ditch effort to stop Peppercat roars when he held his sword arm up and swings it towards Peppercat who vanished with a burst of speed and appeared behind the King and jumped over him and lands on his shoulders with her hands sparking while he had a shocked look on his face before Peppercat gripped his head with both hands and a moment later he screams when he was filled with electrical energy and in no time flat, his head part shut down and he fell to the ground while Peppercat gracefully jumped off and lands on her feet while Mr. Referee looks at the King and Queen before using his bow and arrow to point at Metabee and Peppercat.
"The Robattle is over! The Winner is Metabee and Peppercat!" Mr. Referee said with the crowd cheering while Peppercat rushed to Metabee who fell onto his back but before his head could get damaged more, Peppercat used a burst of speed to catch his head.
"You alright Metabee?" Peppercat said while she gently lifts Metabee's head a little so he wouldn't harm it anymore while she looks down at Metabee.
"Ugh...yeah, I'm fine."
"Good… guess this should teach you to keep your cool huh?" Peppercat said with a gentle tone to her voice while Metabee grumbles a bit and tried to change the subject.
"W-Well I did learn to not try that attack again if I can help it, that arm of yours packs a punch with how shocking it is, I still feel tingly all over." Metabee said while he could feel his body repairing itself.
"Wow, that was easier than I thought." spoke Ikki.
"Yeah, granted there was a tough moment but for all things considered… it seemed to be mainly talk with these guys… either that or were just too strong for normal fighters." Samantha said with a grin on her face. "Guess you two didn't slow us down after all, I'm impressed."
"Er… thanks I guess?" Ikki said when he wasn't sure if that was a compliment or insult since that could have sounded like Samantha was stronger then they were and but just shrugged it off as Samantha being Samantha.
Though the lovely couple walked to the duo with smiles on their faces before the Maximillian spoke up.
"Good job you two, seems your trust in one another helped with winning this match." Maximillian said before Veronica spoke up.
"Indeed, I wonder if this could be the start of a new loving couple in the future, they remind us about us when we were younger." Veronica said before giggling a little at Maximilian.
"I'd say so, especially their attie. Reminds me of when I first asked you on a romantic date."
"Oh honey! I do… hehe and I remember you being so shy back then, I had to be the aggressive one, but now look at you being tough and what not." Veronica said before she leaned in and after moving the veil kissed Maximillian on the lips much to Samantha and Ikki's horror.
"Aw gross!" they spoke looking away with their tongues out, while also blushing at the similar implications.
After Maximillian pulled away, he chuckles at the duo before he said this. "Oh you two won't be saying the same thing in the future when you are older, besides if you think this is bad then better brace yourself for when your adults, though I'll stop there since I don't want to scar a couple kids." Maximillian said with a grin on his face.
"And we have our first winners ladies and gents!" called Cristy.
"Er… I already did that madam." Mr. Referee said which made Cristy sweatdrop from that before she cleared her throat.
"W-Well that's beside the point for now let's get the stage cleared now so we can get ready for the next match!" Cristy said before Peppercat gave Metabee a hand so he could walk off stage while he had swirls in his eyes to show he was still out of it while Ikki and Samantha, who wanted to get away from the loving couple who got their Medabots off stage, got to Metabee and Peppercat while Ikki had a worried look on his face.
"You alright Metabee?" Ikki asked while Metabee looks at Ikki before he gave a thumbs up.
"Oh I will… though how come there are three of you?" Metabee said which made Ikki sweatdrop when Metabee was going to take a bit before he was fully recovered.
"Well he's out of it." remarked Samantha bluntly.
"Maybe we can help?" Karin's voice said from near Ikki which made everyone look to see Karin, Koji, Sumilidon, and Neutranurse.
"Oh hey everyone… nice day today right? Everyone is looking so pretty today." Metabee said while he had a slight slur to his voice.
"I can help." spoke Neutranurse moving over and held her hands out to him which began to glow.
Thankfully for Metabee, while it took a couple minutes since Neutranurse wanted to be through, Metabee was healed to full health and jumped to his feet.
"HAHA! I feel like a new bot! Thanks Neutra." Metabee said while he had a happy look on his face while Peppercat got a tick mark again when she saw Metabee being so friendly with the other female Medabots like they were more than just friends or something.
'Maybe I am getting jealous if I'm getting irritated from Metabee giving nicknames it seems.' Peppercat thought while she watched Metabee stretch his body a few times to test out his healed body. That's when she looked at Samantha and Ikki and tapped her chin. 'Hmm, if he doesn't make a move, I'll lose the bet, and it's too early to call it quits.'
While Peppercat has those thoughts, Koji looked at Ikki with a grin on his face. "Well if anything it looks like Peppercat was the star of this show for ending this fight in a flashy way, I wonder if you'er losing your touch Ikki." Koji said with an amused tone to his voice.
"Oh please, next match me and Metabee are gonna be doing all the real work."
"Oh really? Well if you really think like that then why not do that while I have Peppercat stay out of the fight at the edge of the ring then?" Samantha said with a grin on her face next to Ikki while Ikki blinked when he didn't expect that.
"Er…" Ikki tried to say before they heard Cristy speaking up.
"Alright everyone! Considering how impressive the first match was, lets get deeper into the first rounds battles!" Cristy said before everyone looked at the screen to show that many unknown people were going to fight while Koji and Karin's fight would be the 8 fight in line.
"Hmm… looks like Karin and I don't need to rush or anything since it looks like our fight will be soon if I count the number of fights in the first round… well for now Karin and I should be going to talk strategy… alone… good luck waiting for the end of the first round Ikki and Samantha was it? Come along Sumilidon, we got some last minute practice to get out of the way so we can get that tag team move down." Koji said with a grin on his face… wait… tag move?
They watched them walk away with Ikki crossing his arms.
"Eh don't worry about it Ikki, I'm sure once we beat them Koji will be singing another tune." Metabee said when he wanted to fight Sumilidon again… though there was one issue on Ikki's mind…. Fighting Karin and Neutranurse for a couple reasons...
"Yeah, but what about Karin? We've never fought her."
"Yeah well you got a point, but Neutra is a pure defense and healing type, I never seen her use an attack unless I missed something or those new parts give her some kind of attack we don't know… well we at least got their round to watch so we will find out later right?" Metabee said to try and cheer Ikki up while Samantha looked confused.
"Hold on, why worry about her anyway? It's Sumilidon who's the larger threat." Samantha said which made Metabee look at Samantha.
"Oh… that's because he has a crush on Karin." Metebee teasingly said while poking Ikki in the side to mess with him a little.
"S-Shut up!" he blushed pushing him back. "I could bring up your crush with Oceana, what are you gonna do if we face her? Act all goofy and stutter just from talking to her?"
"Well I could probably get her to not fight for starters last I checked she was a healing type! Don't you know talking is another way to win battles!" Metabee said while Peppercat and… oddly Samantha got tick marks on their heads… and Samantha felt a bit off when Ikki's crush was mentioned and didn't know why. The main reason she didn't know was that she was normally offensive with romance, never on the sidelines so her experience was a bit off since she was normally a strong person trying to be at the center of attention when it came to her.
"Hey! Don't go getting any ideas." she frowned. "If we fight her, we fight her and win, it's that simple."
"Oh really? Then what about you? You nearly gave up robattling because of a crush that you had on Nathan before tossing him away like a sack of potatoes so can you really get onto us about crushes?" Metabee said while he glared at Samantha.
She growled at the bot with Peppercat stepping in between them. "Why you little-"
"Easy Samantha, we're not here to fight one another so trying to provoke anyone will get us nowhere, just keep your eyes on the prize and things should change greatly at the end." Peppercat cryptically said which confused Ikki and Metabee a little but the message was clear to Samantha since it was a reminder of the bet.
"...fine." Samantha said surprisingly enough since she seemed to give up way to soon… though she had a slight blush on her face for some reason.
Ikki and Metabee were caught off guard and utterly confused.
"Uhh… is everything alright?" Ikki asked when he got close to Samantha and surprised her when he felt her forehead and felt his own like he was comparing temperatures. "Huh, you don't feel too warm."
Samantha blushed brightly before she instantly slapped Ikki's hand off of her head. "W-Well I'm not sick you numbskull!" Samantha said before she turned away from Ikki while she had a bright blush on her face.
"Well excuse me, I was just checking."
"L-Look just focus on the fights alright." Samantha said while she tried to get herself under control while Peppercat shook her head from how stubborn Samanta was being. 'I can't believe he did that!'
Meanwhile with Metabee who was watching things, he looked at Peppercat to ask something. "Hey Peppercat, is Samantha really alright? It looks like her face is glowing." Metabee asked before he had to hold his head when Samantha threw her shoe at Metabee and it made his head rattle around.
"Will you all give it a rest!" Samantha growled out before she starts to stomp away with a blush still on her face while Metabee groans on the ground.
"N-Not sure who's tougher… Medabots… or a ticked off Samantha…" Metabee said while he had swirls for eyes again.
"Definitely Samantha." sweatdropped Ikki.
Peppercat sweat drops as well while the scene went to quite a bit later with Ikki and the others seeing plenty of Robattles between people, some were pretty good and some were anti-climatic until the time for Koji and Karin to take the stage approached.
"...And now we have another match with Koji and Karin and their Medabots Sumilidon and Neutranurse!" Cristy said while she watched the duo get on stage while Koji and Karin waved to the cheering crowd while their medabots stood next to them. "Now to introduce their opponents, one is called Emerald, his Medabot is called Onimusha, and Emerald's partner is Lillum, her Medabot is called Weaver." Cristy said before two people walked on stage.
The man, who looked adult in age, looked to be in his twenties or so and looked a bit underwhelming with an average looking body, had long brown hair and green eyes, and he wore a tuxedo that had a long tail like bit which gave him a butler like look.
The woman next to him however seemed to be the opposite and seemed like a beautiful model, her figure was well proportioned and she wore a simple dress that had no back to show her figure, she had brown hair that went down past her hips and it was braided to be in one long ponytail.
Next was the medabots and the first while impressive for many reasons didn't cause Koji to feel anything bad… but the second one caused him to pale for many reasons.
First for the Medabot that didn't cause fear or anything, this Medabot looked to be like a Samurai type Medabot but looked to be a younger looking model then Ikki's principal's Samurai and the armor was even pure black in color while various parts like the joints were pure white and had a katana strapped to his left side and even though his left arm was switched with his partners, it looked like he didn't mind, in fact the look in the Medabots eyes showed a seriousness that was rare.
Though… while the second Medabot didn't seem that threatening, looking like some kind of female Medabot who wore a dress… though… multiple spider like legs coming from her back did cause Koji to have this reaction.
"S-S-S-SPIDER!" Koji said before he starts to repeat that with a horrified expression that made everyone sweatdrop while Ikki facepalmed when Koji still had a fear of insects.
"You have got to be kidding me." Ikki muttered as he ignored Koji's cries of fear while Karin tried to calm him down.
"N-Now now Koji, its alright, we can always try again next time in 5 years." Karin said when she, Neutranurse, and Sumilidon tried to calm Koji down.
"GIANT BUG! GIANT BUG!" he cried out making Erika facepalm and Samantha burst out laughing.
"E-Er… Hello?... are you two gonna Robattle?" Mr. Referee said while Karin seeing how Koji was doing just sighs before she looked to Mr. Referee.
"I'm sorry, but we're forfeiting, Koji can't battle when he's like this." Karin said when Koji was still out of it and Emerald and Lillum sweatdrop when they didn't expect this.
"O-Oh man! This is hilarious!" laughed Samantha holding her sides.
"W-Well at least we won't have to fight Karin and Neutranurse…" Metabee said before sweat dropping when Mr. referee gave the win to Emerald and Lillum who blink before they just walked off stage while looking confused while Sumilidon, Karin, and Neutranurse managed to get Koji off stage by carrying him and set him on the ground near the others.
"Yeah, but this is just sad, even for Koji." remarked Ikki.
"Yeah, but when Neutranurse was in trouble with the Rubber Robo gang, Koji lost it with that bug type Medabot and we had to handle things… huh, wonder if I should act like a bug around him to be funny." Metabee said while chuckling a bit at the idea.
"I-I'd pay money to see that." snickered Samantha.
"Well I would have to channel my inner beetle later, for now I think we should give him a break." Metabee said before they heard a woman's voice while footsteps approach.
"Well I would have apologized then if Weaver here caused issues, I don't want to cause issues and get a win like this." The woman's voice said which made everyone look over and see Lillum and Weaver with Emerald and Onimusha following next to the duo.
"AHHH!" screamed Koji flailing his arms making Erika and Sumilidon try and hold him down.
"Weaver, change modes please." Lillum said which made Weaver nod.
"Yes Mistress Lillum." Weaver said before Weaver's spider like legs wrap around her and they seemed to shift with complex parts moving around till they turned into butterfly like wings that gave a multicolor glow for everyone to see. "Is this better?"
"Uh, not sure, lets let Koji see." Ikki said while Sumilidon moved a bit so Koji could see Weaver's altered state.
"Ahhhh!"
Everyone sweat drops before Ikki looks at Lillum.
"Guess not…" Ikki said before Sumilidon covered Koji's eyes again while Emerald had a raised eyebrow.
"Well… guess that means we will see you in later rounds… though to be safe… none of you have any fears or anything like that right?" Emerald asked since he didn't like winning like this which showed on his face when he wondered if Koji was a good Metafighter or not.
"Nope." spoke Metabee.
"Good. I would hate to win this tournament from that and not being able to show my skills." Onimusha said with a deep tone to his voice near Metabee.
"Indeed, I would have loved to stretched my legs so to speak, is he even a good fighter?" Weaver said when she felt a bit disappointed with how the fight turned out and looks at Koji since it looks like she would get easy wins against Sumilidon without Koji aiding him.. And… Sumilidon had a hard time answering right now since he couldn't say anything to counter that.
"Uh...well most of the time yes." Ikki said while sweat dropping since he had trouble backing Koji right now.
"Well… Let's get going Lillum so we can prep for the next battle, good luck on your end everyone… and good luck with getting that Koji guy some therapy Sumilidon." Emerald said while giving Koji a half lidded look while Samantha laughed a bit more since she found that funny to her while Emerald and Lillum left with their metabots.
"Wow, that was pathetic." muttered Metabee as Koji shook, but slowly calmed down with Karin patting his back.
"Well… it's not like he hasn't gotten better, saw him last 10 seconds with a regular spider in front of him instead of the usual few 2 to 3 seconds." Karin said to show how Koji was improving even if it wasn't much.
"Still pathetic." snickered Samantha.
Everyone was silent since they couldn't counter that before time passed to much later with many fights happening before the 20th fight kicked up, the final one as well for round 1.
"Alright! the final match of round 1 is about to start soon! Let's give a round of applause for Erika and Hannah and their Metabots Brass and Oceana!" Cristy said while holding a hand out to signal the four to get on stage.
Both girls and female bots came over onto the stage while waving to the crowd.
"You can do it girls!" Ikki called out to cheer the four on while Metabee chipped in.
"Yeah! Go Brass! Go Oceana!" Metabee said while fistpumping into the air while Karin sat next to Koji and comfortingly pats his back since he looked depressed even after he managed to calm down.
"I feel like crawling under a rock."
"There there Koji, at least we have the dancing and the food and what not later." Karin said with a gentle smile on her face to try and cheer Koji up.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Yeah, so lets cheer Erika and Hannah on, and we can cheer on the others right?" Karin said before she got up from the chair she was on before she walked to where Ikki and the others were to do just that and cheer on Erika and Hannah while Cristy looked to the other end of the stage.
"And for their challengers… we have the duo called Heart 2!" Cristy said before a couple walked on stage.
The first person, an average looking man wearing a tuxedo had his hair in the shape of an afro...while the afro itself was heart shaped, he wore a heart shaped mask on his face while his partner, a woman in a bright red dress that hat hearts all over it had red hair and a heart shaped mask… all in all… they looked decked out for Valentine's day.
"Heart 2, more like Hearts galore with how...hearty they look." Metabee said before he chuckled at his pun.
"Yeah, they look like a valentine's day store barfed all over them." snickered Ikki.
"And their medabots…"
The first medabot resembled a white and red jester with hearts around it in a pattern with one centering on each limb while it was clear it was female due to her frame.
The other was a more blush inducing Medabot who looked like she was equipped with parts to dominate others, the parts were mainly heart themed on the chest and leg area while she stood next to the Jester with her mechanical demon like wings appeared behind her.
And like for the first condition, they had swapped left arm parts which had the Jester held a whip in her left hand while the Succubus medabot was able to pull out some cards out of nowhere.
"Humph, so these are our opponents my dear Jester?" The Succubus model Medabot said when she looked Oceana and Brass over before looking at the Jester Medabot.
"Indeed my sweet Mistress, but compared to our teamwork and love, I bet they are an impromptu tag team for this." The Jester said while she looks at the Succubus Medabot with a love filled look much to everyone's confusion.
"Uh, miss Erika, I'm confused." spoke Brass. "I thought the couples had to be a male and female? Medabots included?"
However before Erika could answer, the man with the heart mask got an angered tone to his voice when he spoke up for the first time. "Oh really!? Are you saying you're against same sex romances? Are you and your medafighter sexists!? You know the saying true love can conquer all so how is this breaking the rules!?" The man said while pointing dramatically at Brass and Erika while some people in the crowd starts to mutter to one another about that.
"I can't believe they'd let some medafighters participate who are so close minded when it comes to love!" spoke the woman.
More people muttered from that while Ikki, Metabee, and the others start to look worried when the people around them start to look angered.
"Uh oh, unless Erika or Brass does something then this may not end well even if they win." Metabee said while feeling worried for Erika, Brass, Hannah, and Oceana who looked worried when they didn't know what to do.
"H-Hold on!, we didn't say anything like that, it's just until now we have seen different sex couples here." Erika said while the man points this out.
"Like I'd buy that! What about you two!? You two are female and your medabots are the same sex so tell me if our Medabots having a romance is so bad then what about you and your Medabots!?... are you even here to enjoy this beautiful event!? Are you insulting all by being here when none of you are romantic in the slightest!?, I'll be honest my Partner and I have no romance at all but we're doing this for our Medabots so they can share the love…. Is that so wrong!?" The man said while he had the mother of all pissed off looks on his faces, though even though it was masked everyone could tell the man looked pissed from body language alone.
"W-Well, uh, not exactly…" Hannah started.
"Then why are you even here then? To be fair unless your Medabots at the very least show us something romantic, then my partner and I and most likely the others in the arena will cheer for you two to forfeit!" The woman said while some people in the arena did cheer when the woman said that while Brass and Oceana looked shocked from that… they couldn't say or do anything to counter that since it would be hypocritical and it would backfire if they tried to get out of this without something romantic backing them… though Hannah did see Oceana look thoughtful before Oceana shockingly says this.
"You want to see something romantic right? Does it matter what we do?" Oceana said much to everyone's shock while Metabee got wide eyes since he didn't expect Oceana of all bots to say that.
"Wait, what's she up to?" asked Samantha who was now curious where this was going.
"No clue… just hope it's not too desperate… but hope it works because everyone else looks like they are pissed beyond belief right now." Ikki said when he and everyone else looked around and flinched when they could see fire in many people's eyes from how intense their gazes were when they look at the stage.
"Of course! If we can't see any romance, then you four shouldn't be competing!" The woman said which made Oceana nod before she looks at Brass.
"Hey Brass, sorry about this." Oceana cryptically said when she walked up to Brass who looked confused while everyone watched…. Before everyone… especially Metabee got wide eyes when Oceana pretty much leaned in and if they had lips or mouths, it looked like Oceana just kissed Brass on where her lips would be in front of everyone.
"EEEEEHHHHHHH!?" Metabee loudly said while he had the mother of all blushes on his face.
"Holy cow!" cried out Samantha and Ikki at once.
Peppercat had wide eyes while she herself blushed at the sight before Oceana pulled away from a blushing Brass and looks at the heart mask couple.
"So… think that's not romantic here? A kiss before a match for good luck and what not?" Oceana said with a normal tone to her voice.
"Uh...well uh...you just did it to make us think that! How do we know it's real romance?"
"Well besides going into a full out makeout session or something that is too old for kids to view, I'm not sure how right now. Or are you being perverts hoping to see two lady Medabots go at it to prove a point on live television?" Oceana said which made the glares go from Erika and Hannah to the Heart mask wearing couple while Brass blushed at the make out session thing.
"What?! N-No of course not!"
"Well then… why not this, after this match I'll prove that while Brass and I are for the most part friends, I can at least try and sweep her off her feet with a dance, will that calm everyone down and we can start the match?... I mean Valentines day is about finding love or loving loved ones… so why not think like this and say that I can try and wow Brass and be romantic to her from here on?" Oceana said with a eye smile on her face from the compromise.
That got the crowd to murmur while they seemed to be accepting with others nodding.
The Heart mask couple got a bad feeling in their guts but the mask wearing man did give one final challenge.
"Really? Well how about this for a final thing and I'll be satisfied, if your partner gets knocked out, you both automatically lose! You can't say its not love unless you get that classic true love conquers all stuff by protecting one another with a fiery passion!" The man said with a challenging tone to his voice while Oceana blinks a few times.
"Would you do the same in turn since you are giving that condition? Would seem unfair even for this situation." Oceana said with a curious tone to her voice.
"Ha! Our medabots are so in love we don't even need to bring it up." spoke the woman.
"Well then it seems both are in agreement then for that condition, Erika and Hannah's team have the term to protect one another and the same for Heart 2! In the name of love this is something to be proud about!" Cristy said over the microphone much to Heart 2's confusion.
"Err… did it sound like we agreed?" The heart mask wearing man said to the heart mask wearing woman with a nervous tone to his voice.
"I think we just did." she replied with equal nervous in her tone.
Mr. Referee then stepped onto the stage before he looked to both sides. "Alright! I mr. Referee will observe this conditioned match, if one bot on one team is taken out of the battle, both bots on the same team lose, are we in agreement!" Mr. Referee said while he looks at Hannah and Erika.
Erika, after a moment of thought, looks to Hannah with a nervous look on her face. "So… think you can work with this? Sorry if Brass and I caused you and Oceana trouble." Erika said while she worried Hannah would take it wrong that Oceana had to help her and Brass out… though Oceana kissing Brass did catch her off guard.
"It's alright Erika, we can handle this."
Erika nods back before she looks at Brass who was still blushing. "Hey Brass, you alright?" Erika asked to help snap Brass out of it.
"Oh! Y-Yes miss Erika."
Erika however knew Brass would be a bit off for a bit before she looks at Hannah. "Looks like we will have to cover Brass mainly, not just because she's a ranged type but from what Oceana did." Erika said with a blush when she remembered what Oceana did… and pretty natural as well, looks like Oceana had some romance experience or something.
"Don't worry, Oceana's tough." nodded the girl.
Erika nods before she and Hannah looks at Mr. referee. "We're good." Hannah said which made Mr. Referee nod his head before he looks at Heart 2.
"Well Heart 2? Think you can agree to the terms that you yourselves made?" Mr. Referee said with a serious tone to his voice.
The Mask wearing man did flinch a bit at the gaze but then grins when he said this. "Of course, it would be faster if we can just take down one bot instead of two, right ladies?" The heart wearing man said with a grin to his partner.
"Yeah, that just makes it easier on us."
Mr. Referee nods his head before he raised his arm. "Alright! Robattlers ready!" Mr. Referee said while every bot got on guard. "READY! ROBATTLE!" Mr. Referee said before he lowered his hand and the Jester and Succubus Medabots shot into action with the Succubus bot shooting into the air over the Jester used her card arm and aimed for Oceana but tossed the cards at Brass without even aiming at her while The Succubus bot used her whip arm and grabbed one of the cards mid flight and spun around and redirected the card to fly at Oceana who was surprised and tackled Brass out of the way of the attacks and they narrowly missed the do while the Jester and Succubus bot worked their way closer.
"Are you ok Brass?"
"Yes, but look out!"
Oceana looked back and got surprised when the Succubus bot used her whip to wrap around Oceana's arm and had an amused tone when she looks at the Jester bot.
"So dear, think I should discipline this one here while you deal with the embarrassed bot?" The Succubus bot said while Oceana tried to get the whip off her arm but it held strong.
"Hmmm… sure Honey, I could tease that novice there before I take her out hard." The Jester Medabot said with an amused tone while the Succubus Medabot used a bit of strength to drag Oceana to her to get her away from Brass.
"Let go!" cried Oceana pulling as hard as she could.
"Sorry Deary but I'm having too much fun… why not take this a step further by doing this!" The Succubus bot said before she starts to spin in the air like a top before Oceana got spun around in the air.
"Whoawhoawhoa!" Oceana repeats while she tried to keep from getting launched away.
"Oceana!" Hannah cried out while her watch gave this report.
"WARNING! DAMAGE TO RIGHT ARM PART 10 POINTS!" The watch warned while Hannah looks to Erika.
"Do you have some kind of plan to help us get out of this jam?" Hannah asked while she worried for Oceana right now while the Jester walked closer to Brass while making sure that Brass wouldn't get the jump on her by being careful.
"This, Brass try and shoot her away and help Oceana!"
However while Brass tried to aim her gun arm at the Jester, the Jester retaliates by using her Whip arm at Brass and grabbed the arm and used a quick motion to jerk her arm to the side and she fired a few shots at Oceana by mistake while the Jester laughed.
"Hohoho, seems your teamwork is not up to par it seems." The Jester said while Hannah's watch gave a warning that Oceana's legs took 20 points worth of damage.
"Hehehehe! Looks like as long as we have our teamwork, we won't lose to some makeshift tag team!" The Heart mask wearing man gloats before laughing more while Hannah looked worried that she was dragging the team down since she had no idea on what to do to help Oceana or Brass.
Brass however had one idea but since she and Oceana switched arms then…
Brass raised Oceana's arm that she borrowed and the fin on it extends before she brought it down on the whip and it was sliced clean off and the Jester bounced back a few steps when she was pulling the whip and without Brass on the other end, she was off balance before Brass used her scope sight and took aim at the Jester and fired some bullets at her which caused the Jester to yell in pain while the Man's Watch gave a 20 point damage warning to the Jesters head part.
"Aw no! That's not fair!"
"You know the saying, all's fair in love and war! Now Brass, show that Jester some more war!" Erika said with a grin on her face while Brass took aim at the Jester again.
However the Succubus bot narrowed eyes before she called this out to Brass. "Oh no you don't!" The Succubus medabot said before she gave one last spin and launched Oceana right towards Brass who got a bit surprised by that but quickly adapts since she was still using her scope and surprised Oceana when she stepped to the side but gripped her around her arm and waist and spun around a bit and slows while making sure to keep a good grip on Oceana and when Brass stopped spinning, she and Oceana were in a dancing position while Brass had her hand on her waist and was holding Oceana's hand which made her blush when she realized the accidental position that all could see.
"Wow, they look ready to do the tango." remarked Metabee.
Though Metabee's comment did cause Ikki and the others to sweatdrop, Cristy speaking up did get their attention when the sound of cards being thrown were heard.
"Unbelievable folks! It looks like that since they can't split up at the moment thanks to the Succubus Medabot and the Jester Medabot taking advantage of the situation and are attacking Oceana and Brass it looks like that are actually dancing by the attacks now! Not to put words in others mouths but with a display like this, it looks like some real friendship or love is in the air with these two!" Cristy said which made Ikki and the others blink before they looked on in surprise when they saw Oceana and Brass actually dancing by the attacks and when they made certain turns, Brass or Oceana were able to counter with Brass's gun arms which slowly caused damage to the Medabots attacking them… though Brass did blush from the love comment.
"Wow, I had no idea Brass had a dancing part in her body." remarked Samantha.
"Well I managed to learn how to dance so it can't be to hard." Metabee said while Ikki sweat drops.
"Isn't that because we had my dad as our trainer and he was pretty brutal about it?" Ikki said while he shuddered at the memories much to the groups confusion.
"Do I even wanna know?" asked Samantha.
"No… No you do not… let's just say nothing you can do to me from here on can be as bad as trying to learn how to dance for the first time in your life… so many falls, scraped knees… and bruised egos from your own dad coming down to insult your skills like a drill sergeant…" Ikki said before chuckles… which slowly turned to depressed crying at the end.
"I still feel sore." groaned Metabee looking glum.
Peppercat in turn just placed a hand on Metabee's shoulder and pats him comfortingly to try and cheer him up while Ikki still looked down and Samantha scratch her cheek before she pats Ikki's back a few times.
"T-There there… those lessons are over." Samantha said to try and cheer Ikki up since she didn't want to deal with a depressed Ikki during the tournament.
"But the nightmares will stay."
Samantha sweat drops before she looked back to the battle to see Brass tossing Oceana in the air with a spin and she and Oceana aimed at the Succubus Metabot and fired away while she screams and a moment later she was quickly KOed from the combined firepower and showed that to fly like that, she had low defense before her medal popped free.
Mr. Referee then raised his arm to Brass and Oceana before he announced to all the results. "By the conditions set by both parties, we have a winner! The Winner of this robattle is Brass and Oceana!" Mr. Referee announced while the heart mask wearing man looked to the woman.
"I knew we should have picked a sturdier bot, but noooo you had to pick one since it looked good to you!" The man said with an aggravated tone to his voice.
"Oh don't get mad at me! At least mine managed to do some damage!"
"Thanks to My Medabots cards!" The Man said before everyone sweat drops when they saw them argue more before security had to escort them and their bots off stage and Cristy looks at everyone else.
"W-Well that was an interesting sight to see… still… who is ready to eat, drink, and dance to refuel for later battles!?" Cristy said to help get the dance started between everyone while the stage was lowered back into the ground to give an even floor for everyone to walk on while a massive table filled with food and drinks galore was rolled into the room followed by a few more for the audience and the contestants to share.
That got the battlers to cheer while Brass and Oceana sighed in relief.
"And let's give a round of applause for Oceana and Brass who did a pretty good job with not only battling but dancing as well, maybe we have a new couple in the making folks!" Cristy said while the spotlight shined on Brass and Oceana.
Both medabots blushed hearing that before waving to the cheering crowd.
The crowd cheered more from that while Cristy had a spotlight go over Erika and Hannah. "And let's not forget their Medafighters! Give them a round of applause for future battles as well!" Cristy said before the crowd clapped and cheered more while Metabee somehow got some flags with Oceana's face on them and waved them around.
"WOOO YOU GO OCEANA! BRASS YOU DID GOOD AS WELL!" Metabee said before Peppercat knocked him upside the head. "OW! What was that for?!"
"Take a look around and tell me it wasn't needed." Peppercat said with a half lidded look which made Metabee look around and… saw a lot of people looking at him with raised eyebrows and some even mutter to one another about Metabee being so strange.
"Uh….duly noted." Metabee said while rubbing the back of his head.
Everyone else sweatdropped from that before looking back to Cristy who walked in front of everyone. "Now then who wants to lead the dancing!? If we have no takers after a minute we will select a couple at random to do so!" Cristy said before a large clock was moved next to her by a few workers for the event and when the timer was started, it showed that it was counting back from 60 now.
"Psst, Samantha." whispered Peppercat. "Why not ask Ikki?"
Samantha blushed more and gave Peppercat a slight glare and whispered back. "What about you? Unless Metabee makes a move on his own I don't have to do jack so why not try and get his attention, though I'm sure with how dense his metal head is, I'm not worried if you try and wow him and nothing happens." Samantha whispered back to Peppercat with a smirk a moment later.
"Oh yeah?" she huffed before tapping Metabee on the back. "Metabee, what do you think?"
"Huh what do I think? Well I thought the fight just now was interesting." Metabee asked when he looked back at Peppercat with a confused look on his face since he wasn't paying attention to Samantha and Peppercat's conversation thanks to the whispering and misread where Peppercat was going with this.
"No, I meant what Cristy said."
"Oh you mean the dancing thing? Well a couple will be picked in about… 45 seconds so why rush? I prefer battles, besides if Ikki and Samantha were picked out, I would laugh if Ikki tripped over his own two feet…" Metabee said before chucking while covering where his mouth was.
"Hey! I know how to dance way better than you do tincan."
"Oh yeah!?" Metabee said while Ikki got a tick mark on his face.
"Yeah!" Ikki said which made Metabee chuckle.
"Then prove it here and now in front of everyone!" Metabee said which Samantha and Peppercat blinked while Samantha got a bad feeling in her gut at how this was going… more so with the look on Ikki's face.
"Fine! I'll prove it to everyone here! Hey Cristy!" Ikki called out while raising his hand while Peppercat sweatdrops since this… was not quite how she would think this would go down and looked to Samantha and sweatdrops more from the look on Samantha's face.
"Yes, are you stepping in?"
"Yeah! But think you can make this a bit interesting and let Samantha and I bring our Medabots in as well?... Metabee here did learn how to dance recently just for this after all." Ikki said while grinning evilly at Metabee who got a shocked look on his face from that move.
"Hey! Don't go-"
"Why that's a wonderful idea!" Cristy said which made Ikki chuckle before he looks at Metabee.
"Well Metabee… want to back out now? I mean plenty are expecting the both of us to dance out there now… lets go Samantha, I'll prove to you as well I'm not a bad dancer after the torture that my dad put us through." Ikki said before he grabbed Samantha's hand and lightly dragged her away from the others while Peppercat had to chuckle at Samantha's reaction to not only from leading this dance but from how aggressive Ikki was right now.
"I ain't backing out! Come on Peppercat, we'll show them what we got!" Metabee said before he grabbed Peppercat's hand which made her blush a little while she was dragged along before Ikki, Samantha, Metabee, and Peppercat were in the middle of the room while a spotlight was on all four of them and Cristy had a grin on her face.
"Ohhh this is going to be adorable! Contestants, please switch your Medabot's parts to the dancing parts and we can get the dancing started!" Cristy said before Ikki, and a reluctant Samantha switched Metabee and Peppercat's parts to the dancing parts while the other Contestants did the same for later before Ikki looks at Samantha and with a surprisingly calm smile on his face said this when he held his hand out to Samantha while romantic music that was perfect for a slow dance was played for everyone to listen to.
"So Samantha… ready to see what I can do?" Ikki said with a grin on his face.
She blinked and was actually surprised before sighing and grabbed his hand. "Well you already dragged me out here, might as well see if you can back up what you're spouting."
Ikki then surprised Samantha when he pulled her in a bit and place a hand on her waist while his other hand held her hand to the side. "Very well, might as well show that those lessons were not for nothing!" Ikki said before he starts to lead the slow dance with Samantha subconsciously doing the same to not fall over from the surprisingly smooth moves that Ikki used.
"Watch what I do Peppercat and keep up, I'll lead." Metabee said while he held a hand out to Peppercat who blinked at that.
"Very well… though I do have to ask before we start. Considering I heard that you are the only Medabot with Ikki, how did you practice exactly?" Peppercat said when she gently grabbed Metabee's hand.
"You'll find out." Metabee said before he mimicked Ikki and pulled Peppercat in and a moment later, everyone saw Ikki and Metabee slowly dancing with Samantha and Peppercat while Ikki grins at the looks on some peoples faces.
"Hehe, seems I surprised them with my newest skill huh? So Samantha you surprised?" Ikki said while he keeps going with the dance for a few minutes.
"To be honest, yeah. You're actually keeping pace without stepping over my feet."
"Well you can thank my dad for that… he made it pretty… painfully clear how bad it can be to have your feet stepped on during a dance." Ikki said before he shuddered and paled a bit from the memory.
"Am I ever gonna get details?" Samantha said with a grin on her face.
Ikki shuddered a bit more before he got this out. "J-Just don't ask him for dancing lessons otherwise your feet will feel sore in the morning… with ice packs helping the healing process." Ikki said before shaking his head a few times before he looks back at Samantha. "Still considering that I learned how to dance a bit. Might as well do my best to impress right?" Ikki said with a grin on his face while he spun around a few times which caused Samantha to move around in the air and she was gently placed on her feet again.
"Wow, pretty good." she admitted.
"Thanks, just hope Peppercat is doing well with Metabee…" Ikki said while the camera turned to Metabee who was a bit slower then Ikki with his movements for some reason while he danced with Peppercat and Metabee had a look of concentration on his face right now.
"Are you alright?" asked Peppercat who didn't see the point to being so focused since they weren't going that fast.
"W-Well… While I did get lessons… I'll admit that I couldn't use anyone else in the house thanks to height reasons… and had to use Salty as a dance partner… so I've normally had to go slow and steady with him since it was tough to keep a dog on their back legs." Metabee said while he tried to be extra careful to not step on Peppercat's toes. "Want me to go faster?"
"Hmmm… a little, just try and relax, this is suppose to be a fun time right? Or am I boring to you and you want to switch dance partners already? I'm sure if you ask you can get that Oceana Medabot to switch with me." Peppercat said while she worried that she didn't matter much to Metabee currently and wanted to see how he would react to that.
"What? No you're not boring me."
"Really? But you seem so interested in that Oceana person… I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it to put ideas in your head, but how come you like her so much compared to other female Medabots that you hang around with daily?" Peppercat asked while she had a curious tone to her voice.
"Well….I don't know, I mean...there's just something about her that took my breath away, at least I think that's what humans say when they're speechless."
"Isn't that just because she looks pretty? I mean compared to a Mermaid Medabot I bet I don't stack up to her in terms of looks. Same with the other lady bots you met I bet." Peppercat said while trying to not sound like she was interested in Metabee but was making it sound like that compared to Oceana she would sound like she was lacking in the looks department.
"Well yeah, you may not really match her in looks, but you do got something she doesn't."
Peppercat would have gotten a tick mark on her head for that jab at her looks before she asked this when she was a bit curious. "And what is it that I do have?"
"Sweet moves and pretty good experience from robattling."
Peppercat blinks at that before she chuckles a little. "Well while you do seem nervous about dancing, you got some good moves in battle as well… sometimes I can get a bit jealous of you since you started battling much later then I did and seem to have plenty of win streaks… Guess that's why I'm impressed by you." Peppercat said before she said the last bit a bit cryptically.
"Huh? Impressed?" he asked confused.
"... Yeah… Impressed, unlike Cyandog or Totalizer you won more matches then they have and aside from issues with Ikki in the past or from a bad matchup which you won after a bit of training from what I can deduce since you got those water leg parts… well.. I guess you can say I'm impressed with how strong you are." Peppercat said while she had a slight blush on her face.
"Heh, thanks."
"No thanks are necessary, you have your own skills to thank for that and Ikki as well, he helps with taking care of your parts and supports you even though you two get into arguments… remember when you two were separated and you wound up in that body with the Rubber Robos? I heard from Samantha about it and how you two made up after that incident so you could fight Sumilidon in a proper fight." Peppercat said while she tried to help Metabee calm down around Ikki a bit since she didn't want to see a good duo like this have issues.
"Yeah, that was kinda a crazy moment." he chuckled.
"Try embarrassing until you and Ikki managed to make things up and get back together as a tag team duo." Peppercat said while giving Metabee a half lidded look which made him chuckle nervously since a wrong word could get him zapped or freezed if he remembered the icons on her hands right.
"H-Hehe… y-yeah… so uhhh… how have you been doing lately Pepcat? I mean aside from being here that is." Metabee said while he speeds up the dance a bit and even did a few fancy moves with Metabee spinning around a few times with Peppercat in tow and made sure that she didn't crash on the ground.
"Meh, the same. Win a few battles here and there against Totalizer and Cyandog, but they don't really count."
"Ah… well… what do you think of this event? Granted it's a bit fun with the tag matches but seems a bit intense… especially with that Heart 2 couple and their bots messing with Erika, Hannah, Brass, and Oceana… I mean does it really matter if anyone here is in a romance? Is that suppose to be a condition here?" Metabee asked when he remembered the Heart mask wearing man getting pissed off with Erika and Hannah and their Medabots after the same sex romance was pointed out.
"Hmmm… seems fun though I bet seeing Oceana and Brass kissing did get you worked up huh?" Peppercat said while she got a slight teasing tone to her voice.
"W-What?!" blushed the beetle medabot.
"Hehe, I'm saying I bet seeing those two kiss got you all hot and bothered so to speak, who knows… maybe they would actually get into some kind of romance… and who knows if they want to spice things up, you maybe the go to bot for them… after all you do help them out daily and you are a nice guy so what kind of Female Medabot wouldn't want to go out with you?" Peppercat said like it was a question not about her to see how Metabee would react to the possibility of Oceana and Brass possibly dating and the other stuff after.
He turned more red hearing that while the camera moved back to Ikki and Samantha.
It turns out that the song was nearing its end and Ikki decided to surprise Samantha when he made a quick step back to twirl Samantha once and when she was facing him again, he dipped her to the ground a bit before bringing her back to her feet while the song ended.
"Heh, I take it you enjoyed yourself?" he smiled.
Samantha had a slight blush on her face before she crossed her arms while looking away from Ikki. "The blood just rushed to my head from that sudden move is all… not bad since we didn't crash to the ground though and all in one night huh? Maybe you should give up robattling and be a dancer in the future or something." Samantha said with a grin on her face when she looked back at Ikki.
"Heh, I could probably do both no problem." he praised himself.
"Maybe… but that means you will have to take more lessons from your dad or something." Samantha said while she grins more at the look on Ikki's face from hearing the word lessons from his dad.
"Oh god no…" he groaned looking down.
Samantha laughed at that before the group heard Cristy's voice. "Well folks talk about an interesting show! Please give a round of applause for Contestants Ikki and Samantha and their Medabots Peppercat and Metabee! Now that the starting dance is over please eat, drink, and be merry because in 2 hours, we will resume the tournament with Ikki and Samantha leading things off since they won the first round!" Cristy said before everyone cheered loudly before many start to go to the food area and some went to congratulate the contestants.
"Aw man, finally, I'm starved." grinned Ikki.
"Well I hate to agree with you but same here. Let's get something to eat before the good stuff is taken." Samantha said before she starts to lead the way to the buffet. "But since I'm the date, I should get first dibs."
"Aw what? No fair."
"Hehe, who said it was fair? Don't you know the term let the lady go first?" Samantha said with an amused tone to her voice while she walked to the buffet and Metabee and Peppercat stopped next to Ikki.
"Hmmm, well you know she has a point Ikki, might as well think of this as a date so to speak." Peppercat said to try and help Ikki here.
"Yeah Ikki, or maybe you're too stubborn to wait." remarked Metabee idly with his hands behind his head nonchalant.
"Either that or he could be shy, has Ikki ever gone on a date with anyone? Samantha has for a few boys she met in the pass but they don't last long… still she had some dating experience so I wonder if Ikki here has some as well, he does seem to be interested in this Karen person but I think she is just naturally friendly to everyone." Peppercat said to Metabee while she looked at Ikki with a thoughtful look on her robotic face.
"H-Hey! I-I have so gone on a date!"
"Really? With who?" Peppercat asked while she looks at Ikki with a more curious look on her face.
"Yeah Ikki, now you got me curious too." remarked Metabee with Ikki stiffening up and gulped.
Ikki looked nervous after a moment of thought before he tried to think of a way out of this.
"Oh would you look at that I think I see an open space near the Buffet! Gotta go before its taken!" Ikki said before he quickly walked away from Metabee and Peppercat much to the duo's confusion.
"Huh… either he was bluffing or he is just shy, what do you think Metabee." Peppercat said while she looks at Metabee.
"Frankly it sounds sad to me." he remarked with a shrug.
"Maybe. But in an ironic sort of way this could be Ikki's first official date. I mean this place is geared towards romance after all." Peppercat said while she wanted to see how Metabee would react when she leaned in to him a bit, not so much as to rest on his body but to see how he would react to a slight touch while she looked nonchalant about it.
"I'll consider it a date if Samantha kisses him, but like that's gonna happen." he chuckled.
"And what if it does happen? Think you will have issues if something does happen between Samantha and Ikki?" Peppercat said before she looks at Metabee and thanks to how close she was, it was like a near kiss moment would happen if Metabee moved just a little towards Peppercat.
"Hey, it's his choice, frankly I'd be surprised if they even stick together for a week."
"Really? Well how about a bet so to speak…" Peppercat said when she had an idea that she can use to help set things up with Samantha and Ikki but also to get Metabee to try something with her as well.
Metabee though confused did ask this after a moment of thought. "Oh really? What kind of bet?" Metabee asked while Peppercat got an amused look on her robotic face.
"Oh just to see if you and I can play cupid to try and help get them to actually do romantic stuff… as for the bet itself… you can pick either Ikki or Samantha to help but if I win with my person of choice, you owe me one favor…" Peppercat cryptically said while she left out what she would get if she won for some reason.
"Really? You want us to get those two together?" he remarked while they saw both teens digging into the food with vigor like starved coyotes.
"Indeed, aside from some quirks they do have a lot in common… however if the person I pick wins… you have to do one thing for me no questions asked." Peppercat said with a cryptic tone to her voice.
"Err… what is that one thing?" Metabee asked while Peppercat decided to mess with Metabee a bit by leaning in and whispering into his ear like area.
"Simple… without telling anyone of this bet… you have to kiss me in front of everyone… simple as that." Peppercat whispered before she pulled away from Metabee.
"What?!" he looked at her with a red face.
"What? Think of it like this… nothing has to happen after that, but you'll know what it's like to actually kiss a female Medabot… should help considering how experienced Oceana is…" Peppercat said before she walked away while she teased Metabee a bit by swinging her hips a bit with each step.
He stared and made what sounded like a gulp with a redder face.
Meanwhile with Ikki and Samantha after they ate their fill for now…
Seems that they were relaxing near one another in chairs away from the dancing and what not before Ikki looks at Samantha. "Hey Samantha, this event is fun, but I do have one question… thanks to Metabee and Peppercat asking questions I want to ask since… you have more experience with romance but what was your first date like?" Ikki asked while he looked to the ceiling.
"What?" she blushed at the sudden question.
Ikki in turn looks at Samantha with a serious look on his face. "Well like I said, I heard from Peppercat that you have dating experience so I'm wondering what it was like for your first time dating well… anyone." Ikki asked while he keeps the serious look on his face.
She gulped seeing it while racking her brain to get her thoughts together. "Well….it was….kinda awkward."
"Really? Bad as the time you tried to get Nathan to go on a date with you?" Ikki asked when he remembered how bad that turned out and Samantha went to Nathan's brother who popped up out of nowhere at the end of the Robattle. "Oe when you tried flirting with his brother?"
"Don't remind me!" she yelled with a blush.
Ikki chuckles at that while he took a moment to let Samantha calm down before he thought it would make her feel better if he said this. "You know I've never been on a date before to be honest… well there was that one time with Erika but that was more like she forced herself into it since I wanted to invite Karin in the first place… though considering how it ended I'm not counting it sense those Rubber Robo guys got involved as well… *Sigh*... you know I used to remember when things were simple but now we got those Rubber Robo guys to deal with daily… you would think they would learn by now and stop trying to do bad things." Ikki said while he looked back to the ceiling again.
"Yeah, I'm more amazed they haven't joined the circus with those weird suits they always got on."
"Hehe yeah, though try and not jinx us, for all we know they may try and stow away in a traveling circus or make one of their own and I don't think we would see it coming." Ikki said before chuckling more when he could picture those guys in clown outfits and laughed a bit more from how fitting it was on them.
"Heh, them with those colorful wigs might actually be an improvement." snickered Samantha.
The two then laugh a bit from the images before they took a moment to calm down.
"H-Hehe wow… you know considering how things are now, how come you never were this friendly with others like this? I mean I'm not saying you're all bad… but how come you want to try and play the bad girl of the school? To be honest I would think you could do more without worrying about being a leader and all that." Ikki asked since he was a bit curious on why Samantha always wanted to try and be the tough girl most of the time minus a few crush moments.
"Tch, because of this." she pointed to her Medawatch. "I didn't wanna be like so many girls and do all that girly stuff, not when I could show them all I'm no slouch, I'm a winner."
Ikki blinks at that before he starts laughing for some reason.
"Hey! What's so funny?" she glared.
Ikki then calmed down after a minute before he wiped his eyes a few times and looks at Samantha with a grin. "Well it just seems ridiculous that you have to act like a gang leader to show everyone your tough. I mean I'm not saying that I or anyone want to force you to do girly things… well maybe your parent, but I don't know them so I don't know what you do at home… but wouldn't it be easier to do what you do best and not have to worry about what others think? Who cares if you act girly or not, you're you right? A pretty strong Medafighter who can pretty much do what she wants. I mean take this as an example, as annoying as Metabee is, he's still my best bud no matter what I say… don't tell him I said that, he already has a big enough ego as it is and wouldn't live this down…" Ikki said before whispering that last part.
She blinked at him in surprise and shook her head. "Man Ikki, who knew you were so cheesy?"
Ikki blinks at that before scratching his cheek with a awkward grin. "W-Well sorry for sounding cheesy… anyway like I said who cares what you do at school, if anyone gives you lip just knock them around like normal, if you want to wear a dress, wear a dress, if not then don't simple as that, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a drink real quick, want anything?" Ikki said while he stood up and stretched his body a bit so he didn't see Samantha's face right now.
"Uh...s-sure." she nodded while she felt touched and felt her heart flutter.
"Alright, be right back then want Diet or not diet soda?" Ikki asked before he looked to Samantha with a smile on his face.
"I don't drink diet, my figures just fine the way it is." she smirked.
Ikki blinks at that before he rubbed the back of his head with a slight blush. "R-Right. be right back for real now." Ikki said before he walked away from Samantha while Peppercat was walking to Samantha and got a surprised look when she saw Samantha looking at Ikki.
"Samantha?" Peppercat said to get her Medafighters attention when she got close to Samantha.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Err… did I miss something? You're staring at Ikki for some reason." Peppercat said while she watched Samantha stare at Ikki's back before she got an idea of what was going on. "Oh my… seems like my idea to help get you two together may not be so hard as I thought." Peppercat said with an amused tone to her voice.
"What?!" blushed Samantha looking back at her. "N-No way! It's not like that!"
"Then why are you looking at Ikki like that?... you normally only did it with that Nathan fellow or a few boys you're getting a crush on." Peppercat said while she walked over and sat next to Samantha while her legs hanged from the chair.
"N-No I don't!"
"Oh really?... oh hey Ikki." Peppercat said while waving her hand behind Samantha who looked back with a bright blush on her face… to see nothing while Peppercat had a triumphant look in her eyes. "I knew it~"
Samantha growled a bit before she looks at Peppercat. "Ok… fine so I don't hate the guy as much as I used to but that still doesn't prove I have a crush on him." Samantha said before Ikki's voice was heard near the duo.
"Who has a crush on who?" Ikki said while he carried a couple drinks in hand and hand a curious look on his face while Samantha jolts and gripped where her heart was when she felt like she would have a heart attack right now.
"Oh hello Ikki, Samantha was just-"
Samantha quickly placed her hand on Peppercat's mouth area which muffled Peppercat's voice and looks at Ikki with a nervous grin. "Oh it's nothing really, Peppercat was just about to leave for a bit to go hang with the other Medabots and just wanted a small break first to recover real quick." Samantha said while she had a nervous grin on her face while Ikki just looked more confused.
"Well… if you are sure, then here got you a regular, hope Root beer is alright." Ikki said while he held the drink to Samantha with a kind smile on his face.
"Thanks, I'm parched." she smiled taking it and started downing it.
Ikki keeps the smile up before he looks at Peppercat while Samantha was busy with drinking her drink. "So Peppercat, think you and Metabee got a better grasp on teamwork? Things were a bit rocky at the start but now that you two fought with one another we should have a better time with our battles." Ikki said while he sat next to Peppercat who was between Samantha and Ikki now.
"Yeah, it was actually easier than I was expecting."
"Well I was nervous when that Queen Medabot got the drop on Metabee for a bit… speaking of which where is Metabee anyway?" Ikki said before looking around and noticed that Metabee was nowhere near them.
"Wasn't he with you Peppercat?" asked Samantha.
"Oh he's just thinking about stuff right now, you know how stubborn he can be so a thought provoker will really cause him to think till he finds a way to end things in his favor…" Peppercat cryptically said which confused Ikki but Samantha knew from when she remembered Peppercat talking about an idea to help Samantha and Ikki get together.
'Oh this is gonna be good.' Samantha thought before Ikki asked this with a curious tone to his voice.
"Oh really? What kind of thought provoker?" Ikki asked while Peppercat got a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Oh just the fact that someone he knows has this crush on this guy and because of how stubborn she is, she won't admit it… so Metabee and I have a bet to see if he can help with getting her to admit her feelings for him… got any tips Ikki?... you did say you have some experience but ran off before we could get a real answer." Peppercat said while she enjoyed the confused/ surprised look on Ikki's face and she didn't need to look at Samantha to hear what she was thinking… she could guess it to a T, but since Peppercat was being roundabout about the lady being Samantha, Samantha couldn't do anything or risk blowing her cover.
"Uh...well….um...well maybe the girl should try and be honest with him."
"Hmmm… that could work but what if she's way too stubborn to admit it? Like as stubborn as a brick wall stubborn." Peppercat said which caused a tick mark on Samantha's head but she couldn't say anything to counter Peppercat… at least right now.
"Then maybe the guy needs to confront her and make her be truthful."
"Possibly, but what if this guy is as dense as a brick and never noticed her feelings and didn't know about them at all? Do you think a more observant person would notice and if it was a friend, would it be good to point it out to either one of them?" Peppercat said while Samantha, though still trying to not give things up did giggle a bit when she could picture a brick for Ikki's head and him just trying to smash his way through things with how stubborn he can be as well.
"Well it sure would be helpful to both of them."
"Great, then I guess I should tell Metabee this so he will know what to do… good luck with talking Samantha, Ikki, I'll be right back." Peppercat said before she hopped off the chair and walked away to look for Metabee.
"Huh? What does she mean by that?" Ikki asked while he had a confused look on his face before looking at Samantha to see what she thought.
"N-Nothing! She didn't mean nothing!" she sputtered with a red face.
Ikki just looked more confused before he drank his drink for a moment and said this when he finished. "Well… if I'm taking that question on a more personal thing, if a I knew a girl was interested in me, I may just agree to a date with them… granted I do like Karin, but if she finds someone else I can't in all good conscience get in her way since I knew if she found the right person, she deserves to be happy, I mean I won't lie it would sting for a bit and well… no other girl was really interested in me so I guess if a lady did something nice for me I may like them back." Ikki said while he rubbed the back of his head with a blush on his face.
Hearing that made Samantha blush harder and feel steam coming from her head.
Ikki looked confused by that while he asked Samantha this when he saw how red Samantha looked. "You sure your ok? You look like you can make a tomato pale in comparison." Ikki said while he moved to sit close to Samantha.
"S-Sure, just peachy." she mumbled to herself.
Ikki however got a worried look on his face before he got up from his seat. "Hold on, I'll see if I can get an ice pack or something." Ikki said before he ran off before Samantha could stop him.
'Oh god! Why did she have to trick him into saying all that?!' Samantha thought with her body really feeling warm when she felt embarrassed from head to toe… but oddly felt a bit… giddy from what Ikki said about how simple it would be to get his attention from a single gesture. 'He didn't even realize he was making things worse.'
Meanwhile with Metabee…
He was indeed thinking on some things, mainly from what Peppercat said about the kiss and how he was suppose to help Samantha or Ikki make the first move… and he was reminded from what Oceana said about Peppercat being jealous… could… Peppercat actually like Metabee?
'Hmm...nah, that's crazy...right?'
"What's right?" Metabee heard which made him squeal a bit when he didn't expect not only someone to speak to him like that but to hear Peppercat's voice behind him which made him look back while he looked upset.
"P-Pepcat! Don't sneak up on a bot when he's thinking! You nearly gave me a Medal attack!" Metabee said while he pants for breath which made Peppercat blink a few times before she just shrugged.
"Alright, anyway I made my choice on who to back for the bet, but just to be clear, do you agree or not… remember if you win you can have me do any one thing that you want as long as its within reason." Peppercat said while she placed her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, of course I do." he spoke patting his chest. "And I'm in."
"Great… then I'll be backing… Ikki." Peppercat surprisingly says with an amused tone to her voice.
"Ikki? For real?"
"Yup, for real… simply put I don't care if I win or lose per say since I want to see how well Ikki and Samantha do together, but that doesn't mean I won't make it easy for you, I mean I helped Samantha know that she has a crush on Ikki now so you can consider this an easy mode for you if you want… though that could change if you don't have some kind of tact." Peppercat said while she had an amused look in her optics from the look on Metabee's face.
"Alright, I can still work with this no prob."
"Great… just remember though… if I win and Ikki does something then you'll have to give me a kiss in front of everyone of your own will… and it doesn't have to be now… but at the finals and when we win it." Peppercat said before she walked away from Metabee. "Oh and Samantha is that way if you are wondering where she is." Peppercat said while she points to where Samantha was.
"Alright, just you wait, I'm gonna get those two holding hands before you know it."
Peppercat giggles before she gave Metabee an air kiss of sorts when she used her hand to emphasise it. "Can't wait… see you later Metabee." Peppercat said before she walked away with an amused look in her eyes.
He blinked and felt his face heats up from the gesture.
Time then passed with Ikki getting the ice pack back to Samantha and he had passed it to her. "Here Samantha, this should help."
Samantha blushed a bit from that but to keep Ikki from finding out that she had no issues she took the ice pack and placed it on her head. "Thanks."
"No problem, I hope it does the trick."
Samantha was quiet for a bit after that while she keeps the ice pack on her head while Ikki sat next to Samantha.
"If you need anything just let me know, consider me your personal attendant right now." Ikki said while he smiles at Samantha.
'Hmm, personal attendant huh….that gives me an idea.' Samantha thought while Ikki was unaware of what Samantha was planning.
Time then passed a bit before 2 hours pass and everyone heard Crisy's voice over the speakers.
"Alright folks! It's time to move on to the next stage!"
A moment later the stage raised from the ground again… however this time it looked different with a pseudo rocky area of sorts.
"Now listen up folks! To keep things fresh we are switching stage terrains up to help spice things up! For this terrain by not only allowing flight type Medabots to strut their stuff by using the added cover for quick turnarounds and for ranged types to get good areas to aim from so if you have ranged or flight parts then bring them out to take advantage of this stages setup! Does anyone have questions about the stage!?" Cristy said with an excited tone to her voice.
No one raised a hand or spoke up for a couple minutes.
Cristy nods her head before she took a deep breath so she could continue speaking. "Now let's get the first match started! Contestants Ikki and Samantha! Are you both ready!? Have your parts set up to be optimized for this kind of field!?" Cristy said while she and everyone looked over to see that Peppercat, after swapping arm parts with Metabee, had also changed her leg parts to the Phoenix leg parts and was floating in the air while Metabee had a confident tone to his voice when he punched his fist into his free hand.
"Oh yeah! We're ready to kick Metabutt!" Metabee said before he starts to approach the stage. "You ready Pepcat!?" Metabee said with a confident tone to his voice.
"I was born ready." she nodded.
Ikki looked at Samantha before he gave her a concerned look. "Hey Samantha if you still don't feel better then try and relax, Metabee and I will cover for Peppercat while you recover." Ikki said while he had a confident grin on his face.
"Oh please, me and Peppercat can keep on going."
Ikki nods at that before he looks at Metabee. "Alright Metabee! Let's go all out and end this match fast!" Ikki said which made Metabee fist pump the air.
"Ikki I always go all out!" Metabee said with a pumped up voice while Cristy sweat drops when she thought she saw fire coming from Ikki and Metabee's eyes.
"R-Right… anyway here are the opponents!" Cristy said before the opponents came on stage and when introductions were over, time passed to much later after Metabee and Peppercat charged at the Medabot opponents.
(Later)
"AND WE HAVE A WINNER! Metabee and Peppercat win the Robattle!" Mr. Referee said while Metabee dusts his hands off after the fight while his opponents were both TKOed while he looks at Peppercat.
"Thanks for the assists Pepcat!" Metabee called while Peppercat lowers to the ground while their opponents were got off stage.
"It was no problem, it was actually easier than the last."
"Yeah, bit of a let down for a second round. I gotta say though that you really did well with those legs, guess the training really helped huh?" Metabee said before Peppercat got a bit of a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Oh so you were paying attention to me… guess I must be doing something right to get you to not look at Oceana and what not…" Brass teasingly said before she starts to float away from Metabee.
"What? H-Hey! It's not like that!" he blushed.
"Oh really? Guess I'm not doing well then with getting you to notice me, guess I'll need to try harder later. Don't forget our bet as well you help Samantha and I help Ikki with getting them together, first to make the romantic act wins." Peppercat said before she floats away before Metabee could speak up.
Metabee had a bright blush on his face and had trouble making words before he grumbles before he followed Peppercat off stage while Samantha was congratulating Peppercat on the win.
"Nice job Peppercat, keep this up and the prize is ours in no time flat!" Samantha said while she grins at Peppercat with a proud look in her eyes while Ikki, after looking at Metabee, said this when he saw Metabee's blushing face.
"Err… Metabee? You ok?" Ikki asked when he wondered what was going on. First Samantha now Metabee… what was going on?
"Of course I'm ok, why wouldn't I be?"
"Your face is beet red right now somehow." Ikki said with a half lidded look on his face while he points his Metawatch at Metabee and the shine on the watch had a mirror like effect and Metabee saw his red face on the watch.
"T-That's just because it's hot in here!"
Ikki had a raised eyebrow and just gave him a more half lidded look. "Unless you got hit in the face with flamethrower then I doubt you can feel hot right now, I mean you're a Medabot and last I checked you guys have programming to dull low temperatures so they won't get in the way of battling." Ikki said while he gave Metabee a raised eyebrow again.
"J-Just drop it!" he sputtered before walking past Ikki.
"Oh come on I'm just worried about you, you need to be in top form for the next round otherwise it will be just like with what happened to us before we lost to Koji and Sumilidon before we got that rematch, I mean I am your Medafighter after all… don't you trust me by now?" Ikki said when he stopped walking and… actually sounded depressed a bit.
"Of course I trust you Ikki, it's just...hard to say." Metabee said after he stopped walking as well.
"Oh really? Well how do you know its hard? At the very least I can listen if you want to talk I won't force you, but remember that we got fights to win so we can make things up to Samantha and Peppercat. I'll be sitting where I usually will so see ya." Ikki said while he walked by Metabee with his hands in his pockets while he still sounded a bit down.
'Aw come on, now he's guilt tripping me? Not cool.' Metabee thought and after a moment of internal struggle… he growled and said this when he walked to Ikki.
"Oh fine! I'll spill it but not here in front of everyone!" Metabee said before he rushed by Ikki with a fast walking pace and he had a brighter blush on his face as well.
'Heh heh, nailed it.'
A couple minutes later with Ikki and Metabee in the mens restroom and after Metabee checked the stalls and outside of the restroom to make sure no one was approaching anytime soon looks at Ikki and had a serious look on his face.
"Alright… so you want to know what's bugging me fine, but I want your word that unless I give you permission, you are to not tell anyone! Break that and I'll destroy your gaming system back home and lack of parts for me be damned it will be worth it!" Metabee said while looking Ikki in the eyes that showed that Metabee was 100% serious about the threat.
Ikki gulped hearing that and nodded. "Sure, my lips are sealed."
"Alright…" Metabee said before he glanced outside the door again to be safe before he looked back to Ikki again. "You can laugh if you want, but I think Peppercat actually has a thing for me and is not just messing with my head… remember what Oceana said about her being jealous?"
"Yeah?"
"Well… I'll be honest… Peppercat made a bet with me to see if we could get you and Samantha together romantically, and oddly enough she said she would back you of all people and me for Samantha. And the bet was that if you made the first move, I would have to kiss Peppercat in front of everyone and if I won and Samantha made the first move, then Peppercat would owe me one, but oddly enough she didn't seemed worried about winning or losing and she's been teasing me with things that only couples should do…. And the worse part is I keep thinking about her more and more thanks to that and I don't know what to do..." Metabee said while he looked like he was losing it right now while he held his head from the raw confusion right now...
"Wait, you two did what?" blushed Ikki with wide eyes.
"Hey she's the one who started it! And besides you're the dating expert for going on a date before right? Well what do you think? Does Peppercat actually like me like me as you like Karin or is Samantha acting odd around you and seems to be acting odd when you are around?" Metabee said while he pretty much lost it and was trying to get answers while Metabee remembered Ikki talking about his *experience* and was hoping Ikki could actually help him.
Ikki gulped and looked away while feeling like a cornered rat.
"Come on man! I told you what was wrong with me so I'm doing a rare thing by actually begging you for advice! Oh please romance master Ikki!" Metabee said while quickly getting on his hands and knees and bowing to Ikki much to the human's shock that Metabee would actually beg him like this… oh wow Metabee must be grasping at straws looking for help from Ikki.
Then again he did boast about going on dates before so he dug his own grave by doing that.
"Uh...well...the thing is….I lied!" Ikki blurted out in shame.
Metabee blinked a few times before he looks up at Ikki. "Huh?... lied?" Metabee said while hoping he heard wrong.
"Yeah, I've never been on a date before."
"W-What about that time with Erika when we went to that amusement park? Granted it may not seem like it but wasn't that a date… all things considering?... and yet you… never… and I just..." Metabee said while trying to keep calm since he just blurt out the bet, Peppercat seeming to like him, pretty much everything bugging him right now which caused Metabee to fall fully onto his front while dully muttering this. "G-Go ahead… laugh at me, I'm a fool anyway for falling for that bluff of yours…" Metabee said in a tone of defeat right now.
"I'm sorry Metabee, I was nervous and wanted to feel like I knew what I was saying."
Metabee didn't move for a moment before Ikki heard his voice. "What do I do then? I can fight my way through anything, but something like this has me stumped same for you if Peppercat actually talks you into doing something with Samantha, whats next? Peppercat making a bet that if I did anything with her, Samantha would have to kiss you or something?" Metabee said while he sat up while back in the arena, Samantha sneezed which confused her and wondered if she was actually coming down with something before the scene went back to the restroom with Ikki and Metabee in it.
"Sorry Metabee, I don't know what to say."
However Metabee seemed to have some kind of epiphany when he had a shocked look on his face. "H-Hold on… now that I think about it… oh why didn't I see that!" Metabee said while he got up fast while Ikki had a shocked look on his face.
"W-What?" Ikki said before Metabee looks at him.
"What if Peppercat is making a bet with Samantha to do what I just said? I mean think about it… why make a bet for me to support Samantha and she supports you? If she wins I would have to kiss her and if that bet went with what Peppercat and Samantha made if they made a bet… wouldn't Samantha have to kiss you if I kiss Peppercat!?" Metabee said when things were oddly clicking for him, the odd situation, the bet which confused Metabee… everything!
"...holy crap!" cried out Ikki with wide eyes and a blush.
"Yeah, though what now? I made that bet and even if we do come clean about figuring it out and Peppercat comes clean as well, what's to stop her from trying to talk you into doing anything with Samantha? Either way she would win in a sense because if I lose I would have to kiss her either way which would cause Samantha to do that! It's a freaking loop where I lose either way because she would probably mess with me into just giving her a kiss on the cheek at least!" Metabee said while he had a shocked look on his face.
"Oh man, what a sneaky bot."
"Yeah… oh wow… never been this messed up in my head before and for some reason I'm starting to think it's not too bad if I kiss her… UGH! I don't know what to do!" Metabee said while Ikki's eyes widen in shock… was Metabee actually falling for Peppercat instead of Oceana?
"Metabee? I think you're starting to get a crush on her."
"Huh!? Are you kidding me!? She's manipulating me and by proxy you! I mean in the end if she wins you get kissed by Samantha and if Peppercat is manipulating Samantha into getting a crush of her own on you, you may get kissed on the lips! You fine with that!?"
Ikki turned bright red imagining him and Samantha kissing and went silent.
After a moment, Metabee just said this. "We're doomed aren't we? Maybe I should just get it over with so I can catch her off guard at least." Metabee said while looking at the ground.
"Aw come on, you mean you're giving up?"
"Well what about you huh? If I am right about all of this, what's to stop you from kissing Samantha if Peppercat talks you into it? I bet you would like it since it would be a kiss with a person you know at least." Metabee said while giving Ikki a half lidded look.
Ikki blushed more and sputtered out incoherent babbling.
"I knew it… well see you Ikki, might as well get this over with so we won't have to deal with all this manipulating." Metabee said before he starts walking towards the restroom door.
"Metabee wait!" he cried out putting a hand on the bot's shoulder.
Metabee stopped walking before he looks at Ikki to see what he would say or do to stop him from just giving up.
"What if we turned the tables on them?"
Metabee blinked at that before he had a confused look on his face. "Huh? turn the tables? What do you mean?" Metabee asked when he wondered where Ikki was going with this.
"I mean we try to go around and sweep them off their feet."
"HUH!? how is that any different then giving up!?" Metabee asked with a greatly confused tone to his voice while he really was wondering where Ikki was going with this.
"Because if we just give up, then they might hold it over our heads for the rest of our life. Is that what you want?"
"Then what do you suggest that we do then? I mean if you make the first move for even a simple gesture that means Peppercat automatically wins or do you have an idea to get Samantha to make the first move?" Metabee asked with a curious tone to his voice since if Ikki made the first move, Peppercat would win and get a kiss from Metabee most likely which would loop to Samantha having to kiss Ikki and if Samantha won, Peppercat would have most likely settled for having Metabee kiss her and knowing how Samantha would react if Peppercat taunts her, she would most likely kiss Ikki to prove Peppercat wrong.
"As a matter of fact I Do." Ikki said with a grin on his face.
Metabee had a greatly confused look on his face before the scene went to a bit later to show Ikki and Metabee walking back to Samantha and Peppercat after a few matches pass before the duo noticed them.
"About time! I was beginning to think you were the one who was sick and Peppercat and I would have to deal with our matches." Samantha said with a raised eyebrow while Peppercat looks at Metabee when he seemed... off...
"Metabee? you alright?" Peppercat asked with a somewhat worried tone.
"Uh? Oh yeah yeah, just fine." he nodded.
Peppercat blinks at that while she wondered why he responded like that while Samantha looks at Ikki to see if he felt the same thing.
"So are you ready to get this party started or what?"
Ikki in turn had a thoughtful look on his face before he decided to start the reverse psychology plan and hoped Metabee would follow along. "Oh yeah... especially with you here backing me."
"Huh?" Samantha let out, because it sounded like there was a hidden meaning with what he said.
"Just saying I'm glad your my tag partner for this, I mean true it was forced at first but I'm having fun so I guess I should say thanks, plenty of food, drinks, and dancing, if things were different I would think this would be like some kind of date if it was anyone else but I know you don't like me so I know it's not one." Ikki said with a grin on his face.
Samantha looked at Ikki in shock and felt her face heat up with Metabee walking over to Peppercat and grabbed her hands.
"Yeah, if we're this much of a great team for a tournament, maybe we should do it more when we're done."
Peppercat blinks in surprise from Metabee grabbing her hands and blushed a little from what Metabee said. "M-Maybe... we should see how well we do in the later rounds before we think about what to do after." Peppercat said while she tried to calm down while Metabee gave her an intense look like he was concentrating on something on Peppercat which made her blush a bit more. 'Wow, he's really serious when he looks like that.'
Ikki then looked to the stage before he asked this. "So Samantha, did Metabee and I miss anyone interesting in the last couple matches?" Ikki asked while he walked closer to Samantha with a smile on his face.
"Uh...n-no, nothing real big."
"I see..." Ikki said before he got a thoughtful look on his face. "Hey Samantha, why don't we take the time we have before the next round and talk strategy, I'm sure with your excellent battling experience we can get by anything." Ikki said with a grin on his face when he stands next to Samantha.
"U-Uh, s-sure, I guess." she replied while blushing more when he got closer.
'J-Just what is going on with Ikki? first he left to talk with Metabee now he's acting all friendly with me...' Samantha thought while she took a few glances at Ikki while wondering what is going on in his head.
'Alright, seems like I caught her off guard, it's working.'
Meanwhile with Metabee...
"So... were you serious about that whole bet thing and if I win I can have you do one thing that I want?... anything I shouldn't do just so we can have some ground rules?" Metabee asked while he stood near Peppercat.
"Uh...well nothing too extreme, or too embarrassing."
"Makes sense... hmmm... well... how about after this if I win... we go on a date?" Metabee asked while he crossed his arms near Peppercat.
"What?!" she let out with wide eyes in surprise.
"Well you did say nothing too extreme or too embarrassing and I do need the experience so why not to that if I win? You would get more if I win anyway, and you would still win if you get Ikki to do something so why not make it easy for all of us?" Metabee said while he shrugged his shoulders while Peppercat blushed more. 'Wow, she's really turning red.'
'W-What has gotten into Metabee? Earlier he was the one blushing and what not now he's the one trying things." Peppercat thought while she tried to think of something to say but failed to do so and just touched her index fingers together a few times when she felt oddly shy, guess she was not so good with being on the defensive.
'Wow, that's REAL cute.' thought Metabee seeing her poke her fingers together.
Time then passed to a bit with Erika and Hannah winning their match pretty easily while Karin was trying to cheer up Koji again since he and Karin were not able to do much now thanks to his phobia of bugs.
"Oh man… can't believe I don't have a grip on that fear of mine… and now we pretty much miss out on half the fun here…. Sorry Karin." Koji said while Sumilidon pats Koji on his back to try and cheer him up.
"It's alright Koji, things like that happen." she smiled.
Koji in turn did smile a little and for a few minutes felt a bit better before he looked around and saw Ikki and Metabee nearby acting oddly friendly with Samantha and Peppercat respectively. "Huh… I maybe imagining things, but don't you think Ikki is acting oddly friendly with Samantha? Thought they were frenemies or something from what I heard." Koji said while Ikki brought Samantha another drink while he had a smile on his face when he gave it to her.
"Maybe they're just trying to get along without fighting. I think it looks cute." giggled Karin.
Koji then had a light bulb go off in his head before he stood up and with a quick grip of Sumilidon's head which surprised the Medabot, he ran off after saying this. "Hey Karin, I'll be right back, I'll get you a drink when I get back!" Koji said before he ran off while Karin and Neutranurse, who kept quite through the whole thing, blink a few times and looked to one another.
"Huh. I wonder what is wrong with Koji? Think I should scan him to see if he is Bipolar later?" Neutranurse said when she felt a bit worried for Koji cheering up so fast like that.
"No, let's leave him be for now."
Meanwhile with Koji and Sumilidon…
Koji got Sumilidon a pretty good distance away from everyone before he sets Sumilidon down on the ground gently. "Sorry about that Sumilidon, but I think I found a way to make this loss here actually worth something if you'll hear me out, should help greatly with me getting together with Karin if it works, but did you notice how friendly Ikki and Metabee were with Samantha and Peppercat? Well what if we help Ikki and Metabee with getting their attention or help Samantha and Peppercat with getting Ikki and Metabee to notice them more? It would be perfect to get Ikki away from Karin and I can take my time to wow Karin after." Koji said after he pats down Sumilidon for dust and what not.
"So you want to play matchmaker?"
Koji grins at Sumilidon when he stood up. "And is that wrong? I mean I'm not the one being friendly to Samantha, Ikki is, same with Metabee and Peppercat, you can think of me like the modern day cupid, and it should be a double whammy with Karin if she hears about this afterwords and thinks about how romantic I can be for helping a pair of people and Medabots get together… though the real question is WHO to help before I think of how to help, Samantha seems like she would be stubborn and would be hard to help but Ikki may give me trouble because of how stubborn he can be when it comes to getting help in general… and you may have trouble if Metabee gives you issues and we have no idea what Peppercat thinks… what do you think Sumilidon? " Koji said with a thoughtful look on his face when he wondered just how to help and who to help would be the best question.
"I say go with what you think is best and I'll be there to help as best as I can Koji." he nodded.
"Alright just to make things simple then, why not help both but make sure we are careful. For example while I'm helping Samantha if she's away from Ikki, you can help Metabee or Peppercat if they are apart. And we could set up situations that can get them a bit… closer. Think you can be stealthy with those new parts Sumilidon?" Koji asked when a plan was forming in Koji's head right now.
"Can do Koji."
Koji nods before the scene went back to Ikki and Metabee when the finals of the second match were approaching after they got some things for Samantha and Peppercat.
Ikki got some food and drinks for Samantha while Metabee brought a chair over for Peppercat. "Here, watching fights like this when they get intense must give you an appetite right?" Ikki said with a kind smile on his face while he held a plate off food out for Samantha to take.
"Yeah, really big." she admitted without looking at him with her hands on her knees.
"Hmm? Something wrong? Did I get the wrong kind of food?" Ikki said when he sat next to Samantha and placed the plate on his lap before he looks at Samantha with a curious look on his face.
"N-No, it's fine, really." she spoke while grabbing the food to bite into it. 'Oh man, keep it together Samantha, quit being so shy!'
Ikki just smiles from seeing Samantha eat the food before he looked back to the match.
Metabee in the meantime got the chair to Peppercat before he set it up next to her. "Here, should be easier to see the match right?" Metabee said while he gestured for Peppercat to sit on the chair.
Peppercat blushed a bit before she went to sit on the chair and was able to see the stage better while Metabee stands next to her.
"Need anything else?" Metabee asked while he gave Peppercat a curious look to see if she needed anything.
"N-No, this is fine, thank you."
"No thanks are needed! A Medabot like me should make a female bot like you feel like a Queen for this event. We are a team after all and Partners in battle." Metabee said while he hits his chest once while he had a serious look in his eyes.
'Wow, is he doing this on purpose to get back at me? Well it's working.' thought Peppercat poking her fingers again without realizing.
Meanwhile with Koji and Sumilidon…
They kept a close eye on Ikki and Metabee, after getting Karin a drink first, and after a bit, Koji heard Ikki say he was going to the restroom and went over to Samantha while she was focused on the match but Koji saw she looked a bit off right now and wondered what she was thinking right now, but he had a plan to start when he spoke up near Samantha.
"Hey Samantha, seems Ikki is not here. You two have a fight?" Koji said to play off the matchmaking for a moment to help Samantha drop her guard so to speak.
"Huh? No, what's it to you?" she frowned.
"Well I could be wrong, but I think Ikki is being pretty friendly to you lately, a lot more than he would with other lady friends of his and you two could have argued or something which could have caused him to leave but I guess I was wrong, you two are tag teammates here after all so I guess even Ikki can learn how to appreciate other ladies who are interesting to him… maybe he could be developing a crush on you or something." Koji said while he had his hands behind his head and his elbows blocked his face a bit but thanks to the angle, he could peek through his arms to see how Samantha would react from here on out.
"S-Shut up!" she sputtered with a glare. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Maybe, but a bit of a tip before I leave, Ikki pretty much fell for Karin after a single meeting but they barely interact, but do you see him doing things like this with her? Food for thought while you eat the food Ikki got you…" Koji said before he starts walking away while he whistles a bit, he would wait a bit before he would start the next part but that would involve Ikki being near Samantha for that to happen.
Samantha was stunned and looked at the food and let that sink in. 'Wait...if he barely does stuff with Karin and likes her, but is doing all this for ME, then….holy crap!'
Koji grins when he looked back and saw the shocked look on Samantha's face and had this thought. 'Hehe seems this will be easier then I thought, hope Sumilidon is having the same luck.' Koji thought while the scene went to Sumilidon who was walking towards Peppercat after Metabee left to get a chair for himself so he could get a better look at the state.
When Sumilidon got near Peppercat, he got her attention. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Sumilidon simply said next to Peppercat while he looks at the stage to see the fighting Medabots.
"What are you doing here though?"
"Getting a closer look at the fight. That not an issue I hope." Sumilidon simply said while he keeps looking at the stage.
Peppercat raised an eyebrow, metaphorically, and could tell something was up.
"So, you and Metabee seem like you're getting along pretty well."
Peppercat blinks at that before she looks at Sumilidon. "Yes… what is it to you though? I mean no disrespect, but you were knocked out of the tournament so why ask if we are getting along out of the blue?"
Sumilidon took a moment to think on this before he tried something surprising. "Well considering how friendly you were with Metabee, I was just asking since it looks like you are the one making advances to him and he's now seemingly returning them, are you two planning on dating after this event is over?" Sumilidon asked while he keeps looking at the stage.
"...I don't know." she let out embarrassed while looking away.
"Sounds to me like it'd be a lost chance if you two didn't. After all, if things are going well, why not take it further?"
"W-Well… I…" Peppercat tried to say before she jolts when she heard Metabee's voice.
"Hey I'm back with the chair, I miss anything?" Metabee asked before he noticed Sumilidon. "Oh hey Sumilidon, you watching the fight up close?" Metabee said while he sets the chair up next to Peppercat.
"Indeed, but from the look of things it looks like the fight isn't going to last long with how poorly the second team is with their teamwork so I'm going back to Koji to see how he's doing." Sumilidon said before he starts walking back while he gave Peppercat a glancing look that Metabee didn't notice. 'Hopefully she takes my advice.'
Peppercat blushed more from the glance before she collects herself when Metabee looks at her.
"So… doing ok Pepcat?" Metabee asked while he climbed onto the chair to sit on it.
"Yeah, hunky dory." she replied without looking at him.
Metabee blinked a few times when he wondered what was going on before he looked back at the stage to see the match ending after a minute like Sumilidon said. "Man really not going to like that Sumilidon was taken out of the contest so early, seems like there are not enough good fighting Medabots here." Metabee said while he could count a small number of good fighters.
Peppercat and Himself for obvious reasons…
Weaver and Onimusha since they were able to win their matches pretty fast and could be a good challenge later down the line.
Brass and Oceana when they had some surprisingly good teamwork, and while there was a few others, they didn't have the same teamwork they did apparently so this event may go by quickly.
"We might end up winning this with a slam dunk." he joked.
"Oh really?" Metabee heard which made him jolt before he and Peppercat looks to see Onimusha and Weaver near them.
"Oh uh… hey…" Metabee said when he didn't expect them to be here.
"Hello. sorry for our surprise introduction but considering that I didn't want to risk frightening that poor boy from earlier if he happened to be nearby, we waited for Sumilidon to leave." Weaver said before she looks around to make sure Koji wasn't nearby.
"Yeah, Koji gets the creeps from bugs, but he's nowhere near."
"Good, and sorry for not introducing ourselves properly but we had to leave to keep that Koji boy from having a heart attack… he should really man up and at least tolerate bug type Medabots." Onimusha said with a deep tone to his voice.
"Indeed, though considering we get to talk with these two, it would seem we have a good moment here, believe it or not I'm a fan of yours since you have a high win record among newbie Medabots." Weaver said while she looks at Metabee.
"Heh, well I am pretty good, makes sense I'd have fans." he praised himself.
"Try and not get too cocky Metabee, we're still in this tournament to win it, though I will say I am a fan of Peppercat here since she is an experienced Medabot with a high win record, truly impressive for a bot of your type with a lack of defense I hear." Onimusha said while he gave Peppercat a slightly impressed look.
"Well it helps when I have a great partner, Samantha is one for winning."
"True, and if I am honest, you do seem like a beautiful Medabot as well, though considering you have a Queen Medal from what I heard and I have a Knight Medal, it would make sense for me to be well mannered around you." Onimusha said while Weaver giggles a bit since Onimusha was way too honest to a fault from that.
"Wow, I can't tell if you're praising her or trying to hit on her." remarked Metabee with a deadpan.
"Well I won't lie, I find her attractive, especially with the way she moves in battle like a graceful Lioness charging her prey." Onimusha said when he looks at Metabee with a serious look in his eyes.
That made Metabee frown and cross his arms while feeling slightly irked. "Yeah well, to me she's like a graceful...uh...um…."
Onimusha shook his head at Metabee's lack of tack before he looks to see how Peppercat was doing though all of this. Turns out she had a slight blush on her face while Onimusha walked to her, took her hand and said this after he leaned down and seemed to kiss Peppercat's hand. "No hard feelings on who wins and loses when our match comes up milady?"
"Uh...sure, no prob." she answered with Metabee feeling his eye twitch.
"Very well, Come Weaver, let's go back to Emerald and Lillum so we can talk strategy and give it our all in or up and coming fight." Onimusha said before he starts walking away while Weaver giggles a bit before she looks at Peppercat.
"Seems you have two Medabots interested in you… I wonder how this will turn out on the day of romance." Weaver said before she walked away with an amused look in her optics.
Peppercat blushed brightly from that before she looks to Metabee to see how he would take that info.
"Why that no good jerk. Acting all nice like that, why I oughta…" he mumbled with a shaking fist.
Peppercat blinks at that before giggling a little. "Why Metabee, you almost sound jealous right now."
"What?! I ain't jealous! Just...on guard!"
"Oh really? Well considering how nice he seems, if he sticks around and shows he is strong I may consider letting him take me out if he's serious and you're not with that whole date thing." Peppercat said while she looked away from Metabee for a moment and tried to turn things around in her favor by making him more jealous.
"Oh yeah?" he grabbed her and made her face him. "Then I'll make it clear. When we win this thing and get that sweet prize, I'm gonna take you out on a date you'll never forget."
Peppercat got surprised from the action and blushed from what Metabee said before she looked away. "Oh I don't know… you can say things but that's all talk, got anything to back that up?" Peppercat taunts while Samantha, after finishing her meal was walking towards Peppercat and was greatly surprised at what she was seeing with Metabee holding Peppercat and from the sound of things it sounded like Peppercat was trying to get Metabee to kiss her as proof or something...
"You want proof? Here's proof, and it's something I'll give you on it." he replied before his face moved towards hers.
Samantha's eyes widen in shock before she tried to move to stop Metabee but before she could, she tripped on something which made her stumble before she look up to see Metabee actually kissing Peppercat which made the sound of glass shattering in Samantha's mind when she felt her jaw drop while she silently watched what was going on for a minute straight.
'OH MY GOD!' thought Peppercat with wide eyes.
Metabee pulled away after a minute and said this with a triumphant, but blushing face. "Ha!, how do you like that!?" Metabee said while Samantha's jaw dropped more when she realized that she just lost the bet… and would have to kiss Ikki after the final match!
"You...you...with me." Peppercat muttered when she had a hard time finding words to say.
"Huh? What are you trying to say?" Metabee asked when he leaned in a bit to get a better grasp of what Peppercat is trying to say.
"You….KISSED me!"
"Well yeah I did, you wanted proof that I was serious and there you go." Metabee said while he crossed his arms.
And like that, Peppercat wobbled before fainting.
"PEPPERCAT!" Samantha called out with worry which made Metabee jolt when he saw Samantha run up to Peppercat and made sure she wouldn't fall from her seat.
"Hey, when did you show up?"
"Just now when I saw you plant a kiss on Peppercat!" Samantha said while she had Peppercat lean back in her seat while she had a blush on her face. "I can't believe you!"
"Hey she was asking for it when she wanted serious proof and what better then something like that?" Metabee said while he gave Samantha a raised eyebrow.
"I mean you pretty much screwed me over!"
Metabee feigning ignorance, though surprised if this was going where he thought it was going just raised his hands in defense. "Whoa, what do you mean? I mean it's not like if I kissed Peppercat you would have to kiss Ikki right?" Metabee asked while he gave Samantha a raised eyebrow.
She turned beet red and gulped while sputtering out gibberish from embarrassment.
Metabee blinked a that before he got a surprised look on his face when he was actually right. "Seriously?" Metabee simply asked the embarrassed Medafighter.
"Yes! I have to do it now that you kissed her!"
"Seriously!?" Samantha shockingly heard from behind Peppercat which made Samantha jolt when she looked behind Peppercat when she saw Ikki behind Peppercat.
"Ah...ah...ah…"Samantha stuttered while she had wide eyes that looked at Ikki in shock and had the mother of all blushes before she surprised Ikki and Metabee when she to faints as well and fell forward so that her head rests on Peppercat's legs.
Metabee sweatdrops before he looks at Ikki. "So… uh… want to pretend that they just dreamt up what just happened or be honest?" Metabee asked while he made sure Samantha wouldn't fall on the floor.
"I...don't really know."
(Later…)
Samantha starts to come to an unknown time later and groans while she held her head. "Oh… wow that was some dream." Samantha said before she heard Metabee's voice.
"It wasn't a dream Samantha." Metabee said which made Samantha jolt before she looked over to see Metabee… holding a old smoking pipe and pretending to smoke from it for most likely comical effect.
"W-What?" she blinked more bewildered than shocked.
"Like I said, it wasn't a dream, we are nearing the end of the second round and you are the second to come to, Peppercat is over there and from what you said and what Pepcat filled us in on was that you have to kiss Ikki after the finals since you lost that bet that you made with her." Metabee said while pointing to Peppercat and a blushing Ikki who sat nearby. "So everything you saw really happened before you fainted."
Samantha blushed more before she looks down to the ground while Ikki rubbed the back of his head from how awkward it was while Peppercat just blushed and keeps pushing her index fingers together.
"So, you gonna try and deny it?" teased Metabee.
Samantha looked more and more embarrassed which caused Ikki to look to Metabee and tries to help Samanha.
"Easy Metabee, bet or not we can't force her to do anything she doesn't want to." Ikki said when he walked to Metabee and stood next to the Medabot. "Sorry Samantha… kind of my idea to do some kind of reverse psychology but it seems to work too well."
"Wait...does that mean you….know?"
"Well… sorta, it… kind of went like this…" Ikki said before he starts to come clean about everything from when they went to the restroom to now.
"... So… in a sense Metabee and I were trying to see what was up, but because of Peppercat being pretty forceful that kind of blew up in our faces thanks to Metabee's stubbornness to get what he wants." Ikki said while he looked regretful about causing Samantha worry.
"I ain't stubborn." muttered Metabee.
Ikki just bopped Metabee on the head lightly before he looks at Samantha. "So… is there any way we can make this up to you two? After you fainted I was really worried believe it or not."
Samantha surprisingly blushed at that before she mumbles something which confused everyone a little.
"Huh?... you say something?" Metabee said with a raised eyebrow before she looks at Metabee.
"Oh shut it you tin can!" Samantha said with a pissed off look on her face which made Metabee jolt before she looks at Ikki with a serious look on her face.
Ikki gulps at the look before he got this out. "Uh… yes?" Ikki said before Samantha walks up to Ikki and with a quick motion placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen Ikki, if you are serious about making this up to me… then you better make do on that AFTER this tournament is over by taking me out for a good meal or something and nothing easy like fast food… Understand?" Samantha said while her grip on Ikki's shoulder got to slightly painful levels while Samantha had a blush on her face…. Did she just ask Ikki out or something?
"R-Really?" he asked in surprise. "You mean you're not gonna get angry at me?"
Samantha just raised an eyebrow before she gave Ikki a rhetorical question. "Do you want me to get angry with you? Because that can be an option." Samantha said while she had a slight growl to her voice.
"No thank you." he spoke up quickly with his hands up.
"Good… you can consider this a date if you want, but there will be a few ground rules that I will go over… break them and I break you… Understand?" Samantha said before she cracks her knuckles a few times to show that it would be a very bad idea to disobey Samantha right now.
"Crystal." he gulped nervously.
"Good, but I am a person who keeps her word, if we win this then better expect a kiss from me, but if we lose then don't even try asking for one." Samantha said while she blushed brightly while she tries to act tough right now.
Ikki nodded while Metabee gave him a thumbs up.
"Don't think your out of this Metabee! Considering you did plant those nonexistent robotic lips on Peppercat, you better take responsibility and take her on a date or so help me I'll make Ikki give me all of the parts he has and scatter them all around town for you two to hunt for." Samantha said while she gave Metabee a look that showed she was serious about that.
"Metabee take responsibility!" spoke up Ikki quickly.
Metabee, who gulped a bit, said this with his hands up in defense. "R-Right… H-Hey Pe-Pepcat… got a place in mind to go to after this is over?" Metabee said while he quickly looked to Peppercat with a nervous look on his face.
"Well...maybe a simple walk along the river while the sunset's out."
"D-Deal!" Metabee said while Samantha looks at Peppercat.
"Is that all you want Peppercat?" Samantha asked with a kind tone in her voice.
"Yes, I'm not very petty and feel it should be enough."
"Well if you're sure. then I guess it's alright, though considering things you may want to think of other things to do if you find something interesting later." Samantha said before she looked at the stage. "So we at the end of the second round?" Samantha asked which caused Ikki to nod.
"Y-Yeah, the final match is about to start." Ikki said while he tried to calm down.
"Good, then keep your head in the game and don't slip up, got it?"
Ikki gulped before he nods his head at Samantha before the final match was underway…
(Later…)
The Final match wasn't too eventful unfortunately which left a bit of a sour taste in Samantha's mouth while she ate her food, she wasn't in the mood to dance right now and hoped the next round will be more eventful then the second with the more interesting fighters being there.
"Look on the bright side, we won." spoke up Ikki nervously.
"Yeah, but we need to focus on here on out since the fights will get harder." Samantha said with a serious tone to her voice. "Which means one slip up and we're hosed."
"R-Right." Ikki said before the scene went to much later after everyone got fed, danced, and everything before the stage was shifted again to be half water half Grassland.
"Alright everyone this field should be self explanatory but I'll explain anyway, the water field will allow water based Medabots to do their own thing while the field will give plenty of land for land based Medabots to show what they can do… now let's start the third round in full force!" Cristy said which caused many to cheer before Ikki and Samantha followed Metabee and Peppercat on stage… unfortunately for the opponent who used water based parts, Peppercat was able to zap them in the water easily which caused Samantha to facepalm when they won in record time, maybe she was just overestimating many people here. "Uh...and that ends this first fight for the 3rd round folks!"
Time then passed to much later with the rounds passing by with the finals approaching fast with fights being pretty easy except for Onimusha, Weaver, Brass, and Oceana working hard as well until there was 4 teams left.
One was Ikki and Samantha. next was Emerald and Lillum. The other was Erika and Hannah, and finally was a tag team who managed to get lucky with their last opponents and looked nervous.
"Alright! We have our top four people so instead of a normal finals, we have decided to mix things up by making this last fight a battle Royale! Winner take all in this final fight! Any Questions everyone?" Cristy said while she grins at everyone in the room.
None of them raised their hands.
"ALRIGHT! AND FOR THIS FINAL FIGHT WE HAVE A UNIQUE STAGE TO USE! EVERYONE PLEASE LEAVE THE FLOOR AND HEAD ON TO THE STAND!" Cristy said which made everyone blink in confusion before everyone left the floor and to everyone's shock, the entire floor except for near the stands shifts and changes to show very wide field with large see through walls in front of the people in the stands.
It looked like it was a mix of water on the outer part and some water in the center.
Rocky terrain was near the middle and grassy terrain was near the watery sections.
Finally the starting stage was right smack dab in the middle of the field… all in all it looked like a Medafighters dream stage with how it was set up.
"Whoa!" Ikki said with an impressed tone to his voice.
"You can say that again." Emerald said near Ikki when he and Lillum approach Ikki and Samantha.
"Hey you two, sorry for not saying this before but since this fight is unique, I just want to say good luck and no hard feelings on if either team wins or loses." Emerald said while he held a hand out for Ikki to shake.
Ikki in turn grins before he shakes Emerald's hand while Lillum held her hand out for Samantha to shake while she had a smile on her face. "Good luck Samantha." Lillum said while she waits for Samantha to shake her hand.
"You're gonna need it against us." she smirked shaking the woman's hand.
Lillum giggles at that before Erika and Hannah approached the four.
"Hey guys, sorry we couldn't talk much during the event but Hannah and I had to talk strategy for each match." Erika said while Hannah giggles at that.
"Yeah, unlike when we started I think we got a good synergy going for us." Hannah said which made Emerald chuckle.
"I see, well good luck ladies, may the best team win." Emerald said while he held his hands out for Erika and Hannah to shake.
Both of them shook his hands with smiles.
A few minutes later, and all the teams were in separate corners while Cristy stands on the initial small stage in the center of the bigger stage. "Alright everyone! Now the moment you all have been waiting for! Once Mr. Referee counts down from 10 the match will start!" Cristy said before Mr. Referee came down from the sky in his Cupid outfit again on wires connecting to the ceiling which made Metabee and a few other people shudder.
"I Mr. Referee will be the official referee of this four way final Robattle! All contestants ready!?" Mr. Referee said while he had his bow and arrow aimed up while looking at all four teams.
All the Medafighter and the Medabots nod in agreement before Mr. Referee shouts this line.
"VERY WELL! ALL FIGHTERS! ROBATTLE!" Mr. Referee shouts while he fired the arrow… which ironically hit a light in the ceiling which made Mr. Referee jolt while Cristy knocked him upside the head.
"You owe us a new light after this for that." Cristy said before glaring at Mr. Referee.
"Apologies, I got a bit caught up in the moment."
Everyone sweatdrops before Cristy looks to the fighters who were a bit surprised from the light breaking. "Well what are you all waiting for? A repairman? Get to fighting!" Cristy yelled which made the Medabots and Medafighters jolt before they each ran to one another and considering how things are it would be hard to tell who would fight who in this stage which was designed to make it hard to tell directions with the high rocky terrain.
Metabee ran beside Peppercat before he looks at her. "So out of everyone here who do you think will be the toughest to take out?" Metabee asked while he keeps an eye and his horn missiles at the ready so they won't get jumped before the duo plus Ikki and Samantha who followed after Metabee and Peppercat heard an explosion, seems one team was battling another already.
"Emerald and Lillum if I had to guess."
"Yeah, Onimusha barely used his weapon and besides Weaver switching from a spider like form to a Butterfly like one, they didn't have to do much so they are mainly unknowns, just wonder who's fighting over there." Metabee said before Peppercat tackles Metabee out of the way when a rain of bullets hailed down on them before Ikki notice Brass approaching with Oceana, followed by Erika and Hannah.
"Hey you guys, looks like your fighting us now." Erika said with a grin on her face while Oceana got next to Brass with an arm fin at the ready.
"That just means we can get some payback! Go get 'em Peppercat!" called Samantha.
Peppercat got off Metabee before she charged Oceana with her ice based arm at the ready while she took aim with the arm she borrowed from Metabee and took aim just in case Oceana had any tricks up her sleeves.
Brass in turn got in front of Oceana and opened fire with her gun arm while Oceana jumped over Brass and did the same thing which caused Peppercat to jump back a bit while Metabee go up to his feet.
Ikki in turn quickly thinks before he had this idea. "Metabee! Aim your horn missiles in front of you towards the ground but not too close to damage yourself!" Ikki called out much to everyone's confusion.
"Huh? You sure? Well if you say so!" Metabee said before he aimed his horn missiles at the ground past Peppercat as well before he fired and a moment later, the missiles hit the ground between peppercat who jumped back to be safe before the missiles hit the ground and a moment later the explosions happened a lot of dust was kicked up as a result.
"Oh no, I can't see!" called Brass.
"Don't worry! They can't see as well!" Oceana said before the duo got surprised when they saw more Horn missiles launch their way before Ikki and Samantha heard Peppercat and Oceana scream when an explosion happened.
"Alright! Because of how narrow this area is, they may have the advantage with range but we do to with the right conditions, Brass may have her accuracy with her scope mode but that won't work in a dust cloud like that as a passable wall!" Ikki said with a grin on his face next to Samantha.
"Pretty clever Ikki, I'm actually impressed."
"Hehe thanks, unfortunately Metabee can only use a few more Horn missiles before he's out of ammo so I can't use this move a lot, hopefully we caused Brass and Oceana some serious damage with that attack." Ikki said while the dust cloud slowly clears to show a surprising sight with Oceana in front of Brass while her Finn arm was out of the match and hanged limp from her arm and the rest of her body was greatly damaged while Brass was surprisingly alright.
"What!? how?" Metabee said with a confused tone before Oceana barely got this out.
"H-Hehe, well this fin is also good as a shield but unfortunately it couldn't take full effect thanks to this switch condition... I was able to get Brass out of the way… but I took the entire blast myself." Oceana said while she looked like she could barely stand right now.
"Oceana!" called Hannah in worry.
"D-Don't worry H-Hannah! I'm fine!" Oceana said while she managed to aim Brass's arm at Metabee and Peppercat. "Don't think I'll fall for the same trick twice Metabee." Oceana said while Ikki grit his teeth, thanks to that they can't use that move again or the missiles will get shot down in no time flat which would waste ammo.
"Can you get up Brass!?" Erika called out since Brass barely took any damage at all.
However Peppercat aimed her gun arm up towards the ledge near Oceana and opened fire much to Oceana's confusion but Brass was able to see Peppercat breaking a large rock off to try and finish Oceana off with the rock breaking more and more and it looked heavy in size.
"Oceana look out!" cried before the rock above Oceana gave out.
However Oceana was way too slow to react and the rock crashed on her head before she could do anything and a moment later her medal popped free of Oceana's back when she was KOed.
"And Oceana is out!" called Cristy.
The Crowd cheered for a moment before another explosion was heard.
"Oh and it looks like Onimusha and Weaver won their battle, and from the look of things are heading right for where Brass, Metabee, and Peppercat are!" Cristy said which showed that this fight may turn into a three way fight if Brass wasn't taken out soon.
"My turn!" yelled Metabee before using his other main arm and opened fire at Brass.
Brass managed to get out of the way after quickly rolling over and managed to get to her feet to see Metabee and Peppercat near her which caused her to worry a bit since the odds were not in her favor right now.
"Brass! Try and retreat!" Erika said which caused Brass to nod while she keeps an eye on Metabee and Peppercat before she takes a step back to get ready while she aims her gun arm and all three Medabots wait for the first to act like it was some kind of old time standoff.
"Want me to take care of her?" asked Peppercat.
"Hard to say, if one of us move, were taking damage, Brass has a pretty high accuracy with her scout mode active…" Metabee said while he keeps a steady gaze on Brass and for a few seconds… nothing happened before a rock breaks nearby and when it hits the ground, Brass took action with Metabee and Peppercat doing the same but not without Ikki and Samantha seeing two fast shadows run by them and when the bullets settle, Brass was KOed while Metabee's gun arm was down and hanged limp from his body. "G-Guh! Knew she had pretty good aim!" Metabee said before he held his arm while Ikki shouts this out to get Metabee and Peppercat's attention.
"GUYS BEHIND YOU!" Ikki shouts which made Metabee and Peppercat look back to see Onimusha and Weaver standing behind them much to their shock while Emerald and Lillum walk over to stand next to Ikki and Samantha.
"And Brass is out!" Cristy said while Metabee, Peppercat, Onimusha, and Weaver look at one another with serious looks on their faces. "And now we have just four more medabots left!"
Onimusha then spoke up after looking at Metabee and Peppercat. "So… looks like we're the only ones left… think you can fight with only one good arm?" Onimusha said when he saw Metabee's down armed and Metabee only had Peppercat's shocking arm to rely on for close range combat.
"Heh, this ain't the first time I've lost an arm."
"I see. Then I won't hold back then." Onimusha said while he got into a drawing position with his sword at the ready.
Weaver giggles a bit before she looks at Peppercat. "Seems we have to deal with two stubborn man medabots huh?" Weaver said while she got into a guarded stance with her spider like parts at the ready.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't change it with him." Peppercat threw back with her main arm emitting frost.
A moment later with Metabee drawing back the sparking arm, everyone tensed before all four charged one another.
The fight was short, but intense with only one attack from each Medabot.
Onimusha drew his sword with quick speed and Metabee barely dodged it by blocking with his good arm and powered through to grab Onimusha's head and unleashed all the electricity he could which caused Onimusha to scream from that.
Peppercat was able to fire a couple rounds towards Weaver who blocked the hits with her spider arms while she got close before sending a spider leg bit to attack Peppercat who jumped nimbly and lands behind Weaver before she and Weaver turn and with Peppercat sacrificing the arm she got from the event and aimed her gun arm at Weavers head before unleashing a barrage of Bullets before all the Medabots either stumble, with Metabee having critical damage to his arm and Peppercat from losing her ice arm to Onimusha and Weaver looking unharmed for a moment before they fell to their knees.
"I-Interesting… using your only good arm as a shield…" Onimusha said before he shut down and his Medal popped free.
"I-Indeed… didn't expect you to use your arm as a shield considering your lack of defense." Weaver said before she shut down as well which caused Cristy to fist pump the air.
"AND AFTER AN INTENSE ONE ATTACK STANDOFF! WE HAVE A WINNER FOLKS!..." Cristy shouts before Mr. Referee points his hand towards Metabee and Peppercat.
"THE WINNER OF THE VALENTINE TAG TOURNAMENT IS METABEE AND PEPPERCAT!" Mr. Referee shouts out before everyone in the tournament cheered for the two Medabots and for Ikki and Samantha as well while Emerald rubbed the back of his head.
"Damn, didn't expect that, but I did say no hard feelings so congrats you two." Emerald said while he held his hand out for Ikki to shake while Lillum looks at Samantha.
"Indeed, Weaver didn't even have time to go into her butterfly mode, seems it was a mistake showing that earlier but oh well… it was an interesting round." Lillum said before she held her hand out for Samantha to shake.
"Yeah well, it's what happens when you mess with the leader of the Screws gang." smirked Samantha.
"The who?" Lillum said with a confused look on her face which made Samantha sweatdrop and Ikki chuckles at that before he looks at Emerald.
"Sorry about that, and yeah thanks, hopefully if you two are in town we can have a rematch if you want." Ikki said which made Emerald chuckle.
"Maybe, though I'll be using Onimusha's real parts next time instead of new ones." Emerald said with a grin on his face which shocked Ikki, if Onimusha was not using his real parts, and if the same applied to Weaver… then how strong are those two bots if they used their real parts?
"Real parts or not, my boy Ikki here will cream you." spoke Samantha draping an arm over Ikki's shoulders.
Lillum giggles at that before she looks at Emerald. "My my, seems these two are in a relationship it seems. Though fitting considering this tournament." Lillum said which made Emerald chuckle while Ikki blushes brightly at that
"W-What?! N-No no! I-It's not like that!" Ikki tried to say which made Emerald laugh a bit.
"Oh don't worry, once you get older that may change, I mean Lillum and I used to be at one another's throats when we were younger but we've been dating ever since we were 15 and barely had any fights." Emerald said with a grin on his face while Ikki and Samantha blushed when they were technically at one another's throats daily before looking at one another.
"Yeah, though I wasn't the leader of a gang, I used to be the strongest Medafighter where I was from, I believe it was in a school near this place right Emerald?" Lillum said with a grin on her face.
"Hehe, yeah, you pretty much had the students there terrified into submission until Onimusha knocked Weaver around a few times, I think it was when we had a principal who had a samurai Medabot but I forgot his name." Emerald said before he and Lillum laughed a bit at the memories.
"What!?" Ikki and Samantha let out in surprise.
Lillum and Emerald blinked in surprise at that before they look at Ikki and Samantha.
"What's wrong?" Lillum said when she bent down a bit to look at Ikki and Samantha while she and Emerald had confused looks on their faces.
"That's our principal!"
"Seriously? Wow, you two go to Riverview public school? Wow small world. Well Lillum and I work with Dr. Aki as well if you don't know him, we're kind of his security team and assistants when he seemed to pick us up out of nowhere. In fact during the prize giveaway Dr. Aki will be coming to explain what it does since he helped make it while Onimusha and Weaver help carry it in so expect to seem them in their real parts later, anyway you two should get to the center area of this stage so you can claim your prize, I'd say… you have three minutes to meet Dr. Aki on the stage." Emerald said before he and Lillum went to get Onimusha and Weaver which left a stunned Ikki and Samantha behind while Metabee and Peppercat looked confused when they got close to the duo.
"Something wrong you two?" Metabee said while he waved his hands in front of Ikki and Samantha's faces.
After a moment of not getting a reaction from them, Metabee looked at Pepper cat while he held his electric arm up.
"Think I should zap their butts?" Metabee said while his arm jolts with energy a few times.
Peppercat looked thoughtful before she nods her head. "Sure, just keep the energy low."
Metabee nods before he walked around the duo and placed a hand on Ikki's backside before he shocked Ikki's ass.
"GIIIAAAHH!" Ikki yelled before he fell flat on his face when he jumped in the air before Metabee did the same to Samantha after he charged up a little energy.
"GAAAAHHH!" Samantha yelled before she jumped forward a few times and rubbed her ass.
"What's the big idea!?" Samantha yelled out when she looked at Metabee with anger in her eyes.
"Wanted to make sure you were still awake." he chuckled.
"Well try that again and I'll make sure that your body is bent like a pretzel! Got it! Some would say you touching a ladies like that is sexual harassment!" Samantha growled out when she picked Metabee up by his head part and he saw raw fury in her eyes.
Metabee gulped before he said this with a higher pitched voice. "G-Got it!" Metabee said before Samantha dropped Metabee before she looks at Ikki.
"Hey Ikki, you with us?" Samantha said when she looks down at Ikki to see if he was recovered from his shocked state.
"Yeah…" he groaned giving a stiff thumbs up.
"Well get up and let's get going, I want to see what this mystery prize is! Come on Peppercat let's get going!" Samantha said before she ran off to the initial stage area which left Ikki and Metabee behind.
But before Ikki could get up, Metabee ran by, gripped Ikki's ankle before he starts to drag Ikki on the rocky ground.
"Let's get going! Don't want to keep them waiting!" Metabee said while he ran as fast as he could with Ikki in tow via dragging.
"OW, M-Metabee! S-Stop!" Ikki tried to say while he bounced painfully on the ground but Metabee ignored Ikki by kicking it into high gear and the scene went to Samantha who made it to the stage where Cristy and Mr. Referee was.
"Hehe, alright, Ikki and I won the event so what's the prize?" Samantha said while Cristy giggles.
"Hold on, need to wait for your partner before Dr. Aki help's reveal it." Cristy said before Ikki was tossed on stage and Metabee dusts his hands off when he walked on stage.
"Phew, Ikki you're getting heavy, maybe you should ease up on the snacks at school." Metabee said while he wiped his forehead.
"Ow…" he groaned before picking himself up and rubbed his head with a frown.
Samantha laughed a that while Peppercat shook her head before she looks at Samantha.
"Samantha… I believe you need to cash in that bet now…" Peppercat said which stopped Samantha mid laugh and she had a funny look on her face as a result when she forgot the bet for a moment. "You know, what me and Metabee did before?"
"I… remember…" Samantha said which made Cristy and Mr. Referee blink a few times while Ikki blushed.
"What bet?" Cristy said while her voice was heard around the arena.
"Oh just if Metabee did something romantic to me first, then Samantha would have to kiss Ikki if we won the prize." Peppercat said which made Cristy blink a few times before she got a slight blush on her face.
"Awww… how romantic in a sense. Looks like we get a bonus for this prize showing… well go on Contestant Samantha. Why not pucker up and show your man here a kiss he won't forget." Cristy said with a cheerful tone to her voice while she looks at Samantha with a happy look in her eyes.
"W-What?!" she turned red. "H-Here?! I-I-In front of everyone?"
"Well you can't say anyone wouldn't believe you if you kiss him here and now, or is the leader of the screws afraid of kissing a single boy?" Peppercat said when she knew what would happen when she taunts Samantha while Ikki blushed brightly when he had no idea of what do do right now.
"Hey! I'm not scared and you know it!"
"Oh really? A bet is a bet and it had to be after the finals and you kissed other boys before so what's stopping you now? Or is Ikki being the target making you nervous?" Peppercat said while she crossed her arms.
"That's it! I'll show you!" she growled before grabbing Ikki and yanked him over before grabbing his cheeks. "Pucker up!"
A moment later before Ikki could do anything, Samantha in front of everyone, full on kissed Ikki on the lips which made his eyes widen comically and he blushed brighter then he ever had to before while many people cheered and Erika takes plenty of pictures from afar as well.
Koji made a fist pump of victory when he knew Karin would see this and would have her wonder if Ikki and Samantha would date.
Brass and Sumilidon shake their heads at their Fighters reactions while Hannah just tilts her head a bit.
"So… what's so good about a kiss?" Hannah asked while Oceana placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder.
"You'll find out when you are older Hannah, just think of it as something to learn later when you meet a boy that you like." Oceana said with a wise tone to her voice before she looks back to the stage.
After 30 seconds, Samantha pulled away from Ikki with a bright blush on her face to match Ikki's and Samantha wondered what Ikki was thinking since he was pretty quiet though it all.
Before it was broken by the crowds cheering and Cristy clapping.
Ikki and Samantha jolt before they heard Cristy's voice next to them. "Awww… that is so adorable!" Cristy said before Mr. Referee cleared his throat.
"Cristy, I believe it's time for Mr. Aki to come on stage so he can pass the prize to these two." Mr. Referee said before he gulped when Cristy glares at him.
"I was getting to that mr. Lightbreaker!..." Cristy said before she cleared her throat.
"Now for the moment all of you have been waiting for! To show the grand mystery prize, we have the most influential person among Medabots to bring it out! Let's give a round of applause for Dr. Aki!" Cristy said before a spotlight was shown on a nearby wide hallway before multiple footsteps were heard with a waving and grinning Dr. Aki leading the soon to be seen group of Emerald, Lillum, and a repart Onimusha and Weaver which made Metabee and Peppercat blink when they had different parts entirely while the crowd cheered for the Dr and the sight of the prize being carried by Onimusha alone.
Onimusha was decked out in actual knight like parts and had a greatsword on his back which made his samurai parts look weak in comparison.
And Weaver looked a lot like the Queen Medabot from the first round but she seemed more refined and had butterfly like wings on her back this time, all in all though the feeling of power from the duo made Medabee and Peppercat wonder if they would have won if those two came out in those parts.
"Hehe thank you! That you! You all are to kind!" Dr. Aki said when he walked on stage before he looks at Onimusha. "Oh you can place the prize there Onimusha, no need to worry about damages, it's in a durable case that not even Metabee here can bust through with his horn missiles." Dr. Aki said with a grin on his face while Onimusha nods his head and sets the prize down on the ground and stepped back from it while Dr. Aki looks at Samantha and Ikki with a grin on his sunglasses wearing face. 'Well you two, I congratulate on a job well done, especially with that kiss, that really helped fit this whole mood."
Ikki and Samantha blush brightly before Samantha looks at Dr. Aki. "Alright we get it! Romantic day today! Just get to showing the prize already before Ikki or I's head explodes from blushing so much!" Samantha said to try and get things under control.
"Alright alright, I'm getting to that." Dr. Aki then looks at Emerald and Lillum before he raised a hand. "Alright you two, please unveil the prize that these two fought so hard for!" Dr. Aki said before Emerald and Lillum grin when they gripped the sheet covering the prize and pulled it off which made people around Ikki and Samantha in the stands gasp for dramatic effect.
"Wow…" spoke Ikki.
"Yeah…" Samantha said when she saw the prize in full.
It was two arm parts, both red and white in color with hearts on the undersides and palms with two short barrels poking out from the top of them.
"Wow… uh… but Doc… what are they?" Metabee said when he got a close look at the parts, they looked like gun based arms with a lot of hearts on them so he wondered what kind of effect that had since most Medaparts were pretty unique.
"These medaparts are a special pair made specifically for this tournament."
"Well what makes them special? They look like regular Gun based arms to me." Peppercat asked when it seemed like the professor was drawing this out for dramatic effect or something.
"Simple, because these two work especially great when used together by two medabots at the same time. By themselves they work as mini grenade launchers, but together? Well, I'll let you two find that out for yourselves."
Ikki and Samantha blink a few times at that before Emerald spoke up when he opened the glass container holding the arms. "Here. Give them a whirl." Emerald said while Lillum grabbed the arms and walked over and passed one each to Ikki and Samantha before she stepped back while they looked surprised, the arms were surprisingly light but looked like it was made out of some pretty tough stuff up close.
"Alright, hold on." Ikki held his water up before the part vanished and aimed it at Metabee before pushing the button with Metabee's arm swapping out with it. "There, how's it feel Metabee?"
"Hmm… bit colorful for my tastes but feels good, not too heavy and I can still aim with it… how are things on your end Pepcat?" Metabee asked when he saw Samantha equip the other arm to Peppercat.
"Pretty good, doesn't weigh me down much though it doesn't feel different then other Medabot arms…" Peppercat said while she moved the arm around while Dr. Aki watched Metabee and Peppercat with a grin on his face.
"And if you two stand together and have them touch and fire, you'll be surprised by the special shot they can make."
Metabee and Peppercat looked to one another in confusion before they walked to one another while Dr. Aki looks at Onimusha and Emerald.
"Oh Emerald, mind getting that shield for Onimusha so the two loverbots here don't destroy anything and worry the people in the stands." Dr. Aki said before Emerald nods while he and Onimusha got in front of Peppercat and Metabee before Emerald switched Onimusha's arm parts for some massive shields and when they were set it looked like a tough wall was in front of them.
"There, now we won't have to worry about collateral… now you two.. LET 'ER RIP!" Dr. Aki said while Metabee and Peppercat looked to one another before they pressed the arms together and the back of their arms rest against one another while they aim at Onimusha's shield.
"Alright Metabee… 3...2...1… FIRE!" Peppercat said before she and Metabee fired as one which got a surprising effect for everyone. The resulting shells that came out collided, made a big explosion, but then two red lights came firing out and spun around each other before hitting the opposite wall, making an explosion big enough to shake the whole place.
Onimusha was the most surprised before he got launched back from the blast and skids on his armored feet quite a bit while the shields took a pretty heavy hit much to Emerald's shock.
"Whoa!... another blast like that and the shields would have been toast Dr. Aki." Emerald said when he walked to Dr. Aki and showed the scientist that the shields were at 45% health so 55 was taken as damage while Metabee and Peppercat looked to one another in shock from how strong the attack was.
Same thing with Ikki and Samantha as well when they had wide eyes from seeing such a strong attack.
"Holy crap!" let out Ikki. "That...was…"
"AWESOME!" Samantha let out with a grin. "If it's that tough together, just imagine how good they are on their own?"
Dr. Aki chuckles before he made a tsk tsk like noise. "Pretty naive there kid. I did say they work their best when together right? Well try using one arm only and you'll see what I mean." Dr. Aki said when he gestured for Onimusha to get back in position after his shields were restored to full health.
Samantha blinked at that and growled from the taunt before she looks at Peppercat. "Alright Peppercat try the arm out without Metabee next to you!" Samantha ordered while Peppercat nods in response before she pulled away and aimed the arm at Onimusha who was ready for the attack before she fired the shell again, it looked the same as before but if what Dr. Aki said was true then...
When the shell connects, there was another explosion. However to everyone's surprise it was in the shape of a heart and it didn't have the same oomph like the combo shot did, so much so that Onimusha barely moved from his spot this time while Emerald looks at his watch. "Wow… only 5 percent? Granted it is a defensive part so durability is their forte, but I gotta say much more impact when together." Emerald said when he showed his watch to Samantha after walking to her to show the difference.
She huffed and crossed her arms while Dr. Aki chuckled.
"They're meant to be that way so you HAVE to work together if you wanna make much use out of them."
"Well good luck with that. There are barely any events or anything to allow tag team matches. Can't one Medabot use both arms and get the strong shot like before?" Samantha asked which made Dr. Aki hum for a moment.
"Maybe… but you would be limited in shots and after that… poof, both arms are out of ammo. They are explosive based parts so you can't expect them to last long in a fight and you saw how long it took Peppercat and Metabee to aim them right? Not only do you have to take the shell's trajectory into account but the type of opponent you are fighting. It doesn't mean the parts are weak. But you have to know how to use them to their full potential with your Medabot." Dr. Aki said with a grin on his face while Samantha growled a bit at that since she would have to be forced to share one arm to use it to its full potential. "Besides, it makes sense to share between a couple."
Samantha blushed brightly from that but before she could say anything, Dr. Aki beats her to it by saying this loudly. "And there you have it folks! The prize is won by Ikki and Samantha so if you want a shot at them then do your best, but watch out! They make one interesting tag team if I do say so myself." Dr. Aki said while the crowd cheered for Ikki and Samantha again.
Both of them blushed while Metabee and Peppercat chuckled seeing this.
Samantha then looks at Ikki before she growled this in his ear when she got close to him. "Better get ready to pay for one pricey steak for me after this to help my sour mood now." Samantha said before she walked to Peppercat. "Peppercat, let's get out of here for now! All this cheering is giving me a headache." Samantha said while she starts to walk away while Peppercat looks at Metabee and waved at him.
"See you later… for our date I guess." Peppercat teased before winking at Metabee before she followed Samantha while Metabee was left with one of the event prize arms and Peppercat had the other.
"Man Ikki, this is gonna be sweet to try out later." spoke Metabee holding the arm up.
"Yeah… though probably not after our… dates I guess…" Ikki said with a slight blush but turned to worry when he worried for his wallet now and could picture his dollar bills flying out of his wallet.
"Yeah, make sure you treat her right and she might give you two kisses." chuckled Metabee.
"You do realize that I won't be able to get you any parts from stores for a bit if she goes full on steak from a decent place right? Well if you're alright with that then I guess I can live with that." Ikki said before he starts walking away from Metabee with his hands behind his head.
Metabee went wide eyed and let out a horrified scream while imagining medaparts flying away from him.
"Oh don't worry. we can always just win more from Robattles, now come on, better figure out a way to make sure I can save something after this… date with Samantha." Ikki said while he keeps walking away and left Metabee on stage while Dr. Aki, Emerald, and Lillum chuckle at the funny look on Metabee's face when he realized he could do just that.
"W-Why you! Worrying me for nothing! Why I outta…." Metabee said before he chased after Ikki while Emerald looks at Dr. Aki.
"So Dr. Aki, what do you think the chances of Ikki and Samantha actually getting together and staying together are?" Emerald asked when he grins at the Scientist before Lillum put in her two cents.
"Same with Metabee and Peppercat. They did look adorable together." Lillum said with a smile on her face.
"Oh something tells me with those new parts, they'll have to see each other a lot more when not battling."
"True… anyway we should get going so this place can be cleaned up. So what's next on the list Dr. Aki?" Emerald asked while Dr. Aki grins.
"Eh I'll explain later, for now let's get going. I'm in a good mood so might as well get some steaks thanks to Samantha mentioning them just now." Dr. Aki said while he walked off stage before Emerald and Lillum followed him with smiles on their faces while the scene went to a bit later with Samantha and Peppercat back to normal and were leaving the event arena.
"Man am I glad to be finally out of that dress. how you feeling back in your old parts Peppercat?" Samantha said while she stretched her body a little.
"Like myself, those other ones felt a bit off."
"Well good thing we're back to normal. Hopefully after our… time with Ikki and Metabee is over we can forget this day since the prize was a bit of a let down with that Tag based condition." Samantha said when she wondered when would be a good time to even use those parts in a tag match, those kinds of matches were rare after all.
"I don't think you want to forget the day." remarked Peppercat.
Samantha blushed at that before she looks at Peppercat. "Oh shut it and let's go!" Samantha said while she walked away from Peppercat who giggles and gave chase for a moment while Samantha had a bright blush on her face and she grumbles about freaking bets and how stupid they were and made a promise to not take a bet again unless she absolutely know that it would end in her favor.
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END.