Ehehe...h-hey guys...

Wow, it's been quite a while since I updated this story. Four months is a long time... But do not worry! I will not let that much time come between my updates anymore! ...At least I hope not...

I'm so sorry for my lack of updates on all my stories. Things around here are so busy and I'm barely home with school, work, applying for college and all the rest...

Anyway, I wrote this little bit for you guys as a prelude to the next chapter, which will be a big one! This isn't supposed to be a big chapter, but I hope it gives you guys a hint as to what to expect from the next one!

Hope you like!

-Blythe

Chapter 7

The Next Day:

"Brittany, I-I don't think this is such a good idea... M-maybe you should call this competition off... f-for the sake of your own health!"

The two younger Miller sisters congregated around Brittany as she sat on Miss Miller's antique chest in the center of their room. It was morning in the Miller house, and just like every morning, they were waiting on Brittany to finish getting dressed before taking their usual route to school. However, they all knew that today would be a different kind of day for the three of them - today, Brittany was standing up against Alvin for round two of their two-person tournament. The purple clad chipette looked closely at her elder sister's foot, still noticing the traces of blue and dark gray spots where bruises had formed a week previous.

"Eleanor's right, Brittany. I-it's might jeopardize your health if you keep injuring your feet like this!" she took a closer gander, becoming more worried about the color of her ankles, "Last week was bad enough... a-and you still can't walk straight because of it! Please back out of the competition, Brittany!"

"Are you kidding?! There's no WAY I'm backing out of this one! I mean, it's practically an easy win!" bragged Brittany, pulling the strawberry blonde locks of her hair into her usual high ponytail, "Just imagine how great it's going to be for me knowing that I best Alvin at not only being a musician, but also beating him as an athlete! I can't wait to see the look on his face when I take the gold medal once again!"

Typical Brittany. If ever there was a perfect personification to the phrase "don't put all your eggs in one basket," it was undoubtedly the very definition of the eldest chipette's most prominent character flaw - unfathomable brashness. Aside from her infamous pig-headedness, Brittany had the stubborn traits most gamblers had the misfortune of possessing...and the kind that would most likely end up doing more damage than good. It was also fair to say that her male counterpart encompassed the very same stubborn disposition, which most likely explained their constant opposition. With the knowledge of the record the two shared for holding one-on-one compeitions with one another, the remaining two chipettes always found it a mystery how the two were still good friends with one another through all of their candidacy.

"But Brittany... I hope you haven't forgotten what he said you'll be giving up if you lose..."

The eldest chipette ignored her younger sister's warning, slipping on her daily pair of periwinkle leg-warmers. The bespectacled chipette continued.

"...You won't be able to go shopping...o-or get a spa treatments...And knowing Alvin, he won't be able to forget the fact that you lost-"

"But I won't be losing!" interrupted Brittany with unyielding confidence, "why worry so much about something I'm going to win anyway?"

"Because we all know how Alvin gets when he doesn't win something," informed Jeanette, "he's a sore loser."

"Yeah," joined Eleanor, "a-and this time, HE'S setting everything up! How do you know he hasn't set a few traps?"

After slipping into her usual pair of pink patton shoes, Brittany approached her vanity mirror and applied her makeup, disregarding the other two in the room, "Don't be ridiculous! You two are worrying over nothing. Besides, my feet are feeling much better than they were last week! The bruises are beginning to fade."

Eleanor and Jeanette exchanged worried glances, each pair of eyes reflecting worry for their older sister, "but-"

"But nothing. I'm going to compete against that little fungus today and win like I always do! You guys can help me by cheering me on, how about that?"

The sisters sighed in response, finally realizing the uselessness of their admonishments. It was no use trying to pull brittany in a direction she wouldn't go; it would be just as hopeless as trying to build a protective dam during a tsunami.

"Yes, Brittany."

"Great! Now would you two like to help me pack my sports wear for this afternoon?"

"Who does she think she is, hm?! 'Hey, look at me! I'm Brittany Miller! I think I'm better than Alvin in every way because I'm the lead chipette!'"

"Alvin..."

"Oh, look! Let's all bow down to Brittany the drama queen! She's perfect and right about everything, not to mention better looking and NOT annoying at all!"

"Good grief... Alvin-"

"I mean, you don't see ME walking around all high and mighty, pretending that I'm better than HER at everything!"

"But Alvin-"

"She thinks that just because she beat me at one little competition that she can just trump me at everything! Well she's wrong! I'll show her-"

"ALVIN!" shouted the bespectacled chipmunk, halting his brother's angry ramblings. Simon retained his composure, pushing the bridge of his glasses back up the slope of his nose. It was beyond a doubt that Alvin was once again a sore loser, which meant one-thing; he was plotting another ingenius scheme to reestablish himself as the top-dog of all competition-related activites. This wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened - in fact, competitive streaks like this happen almost monthly between him and Brittany. It was no secret that the two practically lived to exceed the abilities of the other. The two may have been close friends when it came to everything else, but the solid foundation of their relationship relied on the essential purpose of 'I can do it better than you.'

With knowledge of the traits the two shared, it was always up to Simon, Theodore and their Chipette counterparts to keep the two from killing each other. Much of the time, the remaining four of them were unsuccessful at accomplishing such a task, therefore many of their shenanigans lead to disaster - which is where the direction of their new rivalry was headed.

"Tone down the animosity, will you?! It's aggravating!" scolded Simon. He took a moment to cool down before beginning again, "Alvin, you do realize that if the two of you don't quit challenging one another, you'll always be at war, right?"

Alvin leaned against the hallway lockers with an obvious display of his usual obstinant nature, his lips thinned into a frustrated line. He was less than pleased about this assumption.

"What makes you think I'll NEED to beat her again once I win this time? Perhaps she'll finally see the light of day - the truth that she's not better than me!"

"And just what are you planning to do this time in order to prove that hypothesis, Alvin?"

The red clad brother replied with a cheeky grin; the one commonly identified as a warning sign in the Seville household (or anywhere else, for that matter). In simpler words, this meant trouble.
Alvin motioned for Simon to follow him, turning on his heels and heading in the direction of the back exit of the school. The bespectacled chipmunk already regretted asking that question; he knew that when it came to competition, Alvin always had a few spare aces up his sleeves. What would it be this time? Was it a booby trap Alvin had constructed especially for Brittany? Or perhaps some sort of carefully engineered contraption that-...no, wait...thought Simon, this is Alvin we're talking about. He's not mechanically inclined enough to do such a thing overnight.
But at the same time, Simon knew never to underestimante Alvin's competitive side...

When Alvin opened the door to the back of the school, what was revealed was so much more rigorous than Simon expected - Alvin had built an entire triathalon-styled arena on the school property in the middle of the track field. Where Alvin got the equipment to do so was far beyond Simon's apprehension.
Dumbfounded, Simon gawked at the newly decorated field: mats spread out from one side of the field to the other, thick nylon rope layed vertically in the centerfield, neon flags of all colors at each station, dumbels and barbels of five different sizes, rubber playing balls of every sport lined up outside of the track, two dozen tires layed flat on the ground, a rope netting hurdle... far too many things to describe!

"Alvin..." began the more sensible chipmunk of the two, trying not seem seem as overwhelmed as he was feeling, "PLEASE tell me that nothing on this field has anything to do with the competition between you and Brittany...?"

There was silence.

"Ehehehe...well...actually..."

"Alvin! Do you know how much trouble you can get into for doing all this?!"

"Oh, lighten up! It's not like I installed a gigantic in-ground swimming pool in the center of the track!" defended Alvin, even though the thought had actually crossed his mind at one point...

"It doesn't matter! You could get kicked out of school for utilizing gym equiptment without permission! It's called unauthorized possession and property violation!"

The red clad boy waited patiently for a moment for a direct translation.

"...STEALING, Alvin!"

"Oh. W-well if I just explained what had happened that brought this on, maybe they-"

"It doesn't work that way! In fact, that might make things worse!"

Suddenly, a third voice joined the conversation between the two siblings. The third brother had been standing behind them listening silently as the two argued for quite some time.

"What are you two yelling about?" inquired the green clad chipmunk as he chowed down on a bag of pretzel sticks. Without requiring an explanation, Theodore knew that his eldest brother had gotten into yet another fix that would be hard to maneuver out of. After all, Alvin's ego and pig-headedness were worn prouder than the giant yellow 'A' on the front of all his shirts!

"Alvin's 'sore-loser syndrome' has doomed the Seville name once again, that's what's happening," complained Simon, combing an exasperated hand through his hair, "And it seems that this neverending cycle of competition isn't going to halt until he gets all of us into trouble!"

"Oh, come on, Simon!" argued the opposing chipmunk, "No one's going to get into trouble for this! Am I really the type of guy who would welcome mischief?"
The two younger chipmunks were less than impressed with their brother's blatant oblivion. To substitute for what they wanted to say, they simply stared at him.
"Okay, okay...so I've gotten into a few pickles in my time. Who hasn't?"

Again, the brothers said nothing.

Simon crossed his arms over his chest, "Good Grief. At least if you're going to do something stupid, don't try to justify the cause!"

"I still don't see what all the fuss is about! I'm going to put everything back after it's all over!"

"That wouldn't make your case any better! Haven't you learned anything from last week when you broke all those stagelights?!"

"Yep! But don't worry, Simon. There won't be any stagelights this time around," assured Alvin.

Taking a break from the argument, he peered down at his wristwatch: 3:07pm. It was almost time for the games to begin. He would have to meet Brittany behind the school in eight minutes.

"As much as I'd love to stick around and bicker with you, I have a date with a lovely maiden named Victory. If you'd like, you are welcome to bear witness to my glory when I beat Brittany this afternoon. If the idea displeases you, feel free to walk home with Theodore. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get dressed into my sweatpants."

With that, the eldest chipmunk closed the back doors and headed off down the hall toward the gymnasium, disappearing into the boys locker room.

Silence lingered between the two remaining brothers. Theodore peered up at Simon, his mouth still full of mashed pretzel sticks.
"...we have to go watch, don't we?" he asked. Simon nodded slowly, defeated and out of ideas to stop Alvin's scheme from happening.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I'm not cheering for him..."

Sometimes there was nothing worse to Simon than Alvin's perseverance.

Thanks for reading, guys! I hope to be updating a bit quicker next time!

So...who will win this battle? Will Brittany's feet prevent her from taking the gold a second time? ...or will Alvin win this one?

Reviews are appreciated!