On Board the S.S. Mary
As our group of soon to be buddies, Victor, Sora, Inuyasha, Bart, Brock and Bridgett boarded the S.S. Mary the next day, Brock couldn't help, but feel déjà vu on it. He said near the stern of the ship while drinking a coke to Victor, "You know Victor, I could just be me, but I feel as if I've been on this ship before." Victor then said, "Same here. I heard that they used parts of the S.S. Anne that sank in Kanto to build this puppy here. That must be it then isn't it?" Brock nodded and then said as he saw that no one was around, "Where is everybody anyway? We just set sail and I don't see anyone on deck." "It must be that time. They're all getting ready for this luau from what I heard. I think about 90 of the passengers are going to be in it, excluding us that is." Brock then asked Victor, "So I take it our group is just taking in some zzz's?" Victor drank his pepsi he bought at the canteen just below deck and said, "You know it took us over four hours to pack right? Those guys are bushed out of their minds. That manual probably has something on fatigue I think right?" Brock nodded and read aloud from their training book, "All participants must be well rested and non-stressed before entering a battle against the GoldConoton Leaders. You must also be well prepared for their battle styles, arenas, rules, etc. Anyone who fails to do so is disqualified." Victor then said, "I didn't say to read to the end, but good and well thorough though. Which is why the group is resting right?" Brock nodded and then asked, "So why aren't you at the luau though then?" Victor sighed as he drunk his pepsi and tossed it in the recycling bin to his left saying, "It's a dumb holiday greeting to me Brock, nothing more. Don't get me wrong, I like doing all kinds of good stuff with other people, but let's face it. I hate conformity. It wrecks individualism, it means guys like you can't wear your baggy others say no and it means that I'd be wasting my time competing."
Brock sighed as he also said in kind, "I heard there was this contest for a gold trophy though. It involves drinking two separate drinks and differing between them, which is Pepsi and which is Coke is what it's called I think." Victor then perked up as he asked turning his head from his sunset view of the lake's horizon, "Where do I sign up?" They headed down to the brig and found it represented everything the S.S. Anne was. The place was sparkling, the carpet was red as ever, and there was novelty stands stretching across the entire ship along with a whole crowd of people swarming around each one. Brock then said (cue in sweat drop on the back of his head), "This could take a while." Victor then said as he saw the sign he was looking for, "I see it. That big sign that says 'Which is Pepsi and which is Coke' is two stands to our right." So after getting to the stand Victor signed up as the bald white mustached, sunglasses wearing man in charge of the stand said, "You got here just in time boy. We only have one spot left. Perhaps your friend would like to join." Brock shook his head and said, "That's okay. Win it for me alright Victor? I gotta go check on the others in their cabins and you know, see if they're alright." Victor nodded and then as Brock left and he began drinking the cups separately, the bald man said, "You also have to win three separate rounds against the other folks around here just to fill you in. So what's your reckoning?" Victor then said putting his cup down, "That was a Diet Pepsi to my left and Coke Zero to my right."
"Congrats. You won the first round boy. Keep it up.", the bald man replied. Then Victor of course saw Rhino from the Spectacular Spiderman and he said picking up the boy with one tug of his black shirt, "You'd better amscray punk. I'm not losing this contest here kapeesh?" Victor then said, "Funny, I don't recall there being a rule against fair play you know. Rule 616 of the GoldConotan manual: no roughhousing. Anyone caught threatening a competitor is disqualified." Rhino bit his tongue as he said, "I could still whip ya at this drinking. Hey Horris, the one on my left is a Pepsi Lite and the one to my right is a Coke Vanilla." The bald man (Horris) then said, "You win Rhino. A good shot too. The other five people are out now: Patrick Star, Beastboy, Bridgett Verdant, Otis the Cow, and Milhouse." Victor then saw Bridgett walk away as he asked her personally, "Bridgett? What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping in the cabin?" Bridgett then asked Victor, "What are you talking about Victor? I haven't met you since we fought Deep Blue. It's great to see you again, but I've been on this ship for the past little bit after taking a trip to Hong Kong for the last three months." Bridgett then walked away to other parts of the long cruise vessel as Victor pondered, 'If that was Bridgett, then who is…' Rhino then finished his drink and said, "That one is a Coke Lime to my right and the one to my left is a Pepsi Turbo." "Right again Rhino. You may win the next round yet if Victor fails to beat this round successfully." Rhino then crunched his knuckles as he laughed and said to the brunette boy staring with anger at him, "Top that small fry."
Oddly enough everyone else came to look at Victor drinking his cups and crossed their fingers as he said, "The one on my left is a Pepsi…regular and the one to my right is…" A drum roll was soon heard across the ship. Meanwhile in the dark corridors of the Captain's Mess Hall above the crew was a looking glass floor above the contest and the other shop stands. There Snake was with the Captain tied up and unconscious with him holding a blueprint for the ship. He then said staring down Victor below him, "It won't be long now. Soon my revenge will be realized. No one can stop me from blowing this ship sky high. Hah hah." Meanwhile, behind an unclosed door, Bart was staring down the man with his slingshot and aimed for his crotch thinking, "Not on my watch man! Not on my watch!"
Victor then said finally, "…a regular Coke." Horris then said, "Congrats man, you win. Rhino you are disqualified." Rhino then roared as he picked up Horris and said threatening him, "For what? I followed your stinkin' rules, your signup sheet took forever to sign, and to boot I polished your shoes to show I turned over a new leaf. How dare you?" Victor then said, "You put in tea in your cup to make your set sweeter and harder to recognize while Horris had his back turned. Everyone else saw you and so you lose because of that, you cheater you." Rhino then roared as he said throwing Horris back in his black chair, "I ought to tear you apart…" "You might want to rethink your odds.", a voice said. The group of people as well as Rhino and Victor to see Brock, Zoey Hanson undressing from her Bridgett disguise and Inuyasha as he said, "There's a hundred or so of us and only one of you dirtbag! Now screw off before things get real ugly up in here." Rhino then panted and closed his eyes and then stared back at Victor and vice versa.
"Meet me up at the top floor of the ship, tonight. This ain't over little man.", Rhino finished. He tore a hole in the ceiling throwing the stand up at it and jumped towards the top. Then the entire crowd of people cheered Victor and his group of buddies as Victor received his gold trophy engraved to him and five hundred thousand dollars cash. Brock then asked, "I don't recall that being a part of the prize reward?" "Horris said it was for saving his life. Who knew people like me were that easily hated eh? One peep out of me is going to be the death of me for sure.", Victor added. Brock laughed at the idea and asked, "Say you haven't seen Bart around have ya?" Victor then replied as the group of people carried him up to the deck along with the whole group, "I haven't seen him yet. But I'm sure he'll turn up. Don't worry. As for you Zoey, you got some 'splaining to do." Zoey then said, "Alright alright. I just wanted to compete in this tournament that's all, but my mom put a heck a load of errands on my plate and I decided to sneak out in a disguise. Who knew I could play Bridgett that well huh?" As she smiled at the thought, Victor then jumped off the crowd saying, "Okay then. That's one issue done with. Now then on to Rhino."
The whole crew headed up the deck and Rhino was there waiting for Victor and his posse to back him up. Victor then stood with the giant brute as the moon came out and the crew lit some torches to brighten the night and Victor then said with his new found friends behind him, "We'll have a one on one match…" then Snake ran across the ship heading for a lifeboat as Bart yelled, "He's getting away with the captain's money." Gasps arose as Snake carried two sacks of money down the stairs and jumped on his lifeboat, "So long suckers. Good luck finding the bomb losers. I hid it in a special location, one where you guys would least expect it to be. So I bid you farewell hah hah!!" Inuyasha jumped on his lifeboat and punched him good in his right eye and took his money and saying, "I don't think so creep!" Then Inuyasha jumped on board again as Snake said, "Didn't see that one coming, but I do reckon that the bomb should be going off in about two minutes. Good luck getting everyone off with only fifteen lifeboats!! Well, be seein ya. Again, hah hah!" Then as the lifeboat departed from the ship, Victor said, "That could get annoying." Sora ran quickly on board from his cabin saying, "You guys gotta come quickly. There's something ticking in my pillow and I can't turn it off."
The whole group ran down into their private cabin as Inuyasha, Brock, Sora, Victor, and Zoey opened up Sora's pillow and found a bomb inside. Zoey then asked looking at the black watch looking bomb, "You think it has some wires to diffuse or something like that?" Inuyasha then said, "Nah, just look at it. This thing's way too high tech for that kind of cliché. No there has to be something else making it tick." Sora then said, "Can we hurry it up you guys, the thing's counting down from a minute." Victor then said, "Give it to me. There's no time!!" Sora then said holding it, "But…" "You'll have to trust me on this one guys now give it to me, if you please!!" Give received the black watch looking bomb and transported it using his special powers of light (note: if this is your first time keying in to Victor's character, I would suggest reading Legend of the White Knight to know why he has these kinds of powers.) Then the whole ship cheered as they rushed into the cabin and grabbed the guys and put them on deck once more.
An hour passed and the captain now untied and resembling Mr. Pewterschmidtt from Family Guy in a blue navy suit and black top hat came down from his mess hall and said in a firm voice, "I don't know how to thank you kids, you saved our lives, righted some wrongs, and above all else, you rescued my blueprints to my ship. That crook, Snake was going to use them for terrorist plots and gang thuggery." Bart then said, "Typical Snake. He'll never change." "This is why you all deserve these gold medals. They certify that you showed courage in the face of danger, helped us when you could have just have chickened out, and also as a token of our gratitude to the GoldConoton tournament coming up." The group then received their medals as they put them around their necks and Victor asked, "So you guys ready for the real challenge to begin?" Inuyasha then said putting his right hand in a circular fashion, "While I wish Kagome was here, I feel honoured to be here. I'm hoping to meet you in the finals Victor." Victor nodded and said, "Can do." Brock then put his right hand in a circular fashion saying, "I too hope to see you guys in the finals. It's going to be one heck of a ride." Zoey put her right hand in the circle saying, "Good luck. I bet this tournament won't be easy, but it won't be a drag though. Let's try to have some fun as we go." They nodded as Bart then said putting his right hand in the circle, "I'm hoping for two things right now: the big trophy cup from the tournament and prank calling Moe as many times as I can." Then came Sora as he put his right hand in, "What Zoey said, plus let's stick together. There's more firepower in a team."
Finally Victor added putting his right hand in the group, "It's settled then. Tomorrow we fight in our first GoldConoton match." Rhino then rushed at Victor saying, "We ain't done yet little man. You and I got a score to settle. Luckily for you I'll save it for the finals. Like you I want to test my brawn out on a good target and this tournament fits the bill." Victor then said smugly as the group brought their hands down to their sides, "Look at that you guys. It's not every day a blowhard comes to town. Listen Rhino when I say this, brawn is never stronger than wits. Mark my words you'll lose before you even qualify for the preliminaries." Rhino then got steamed up and ran towards the dock and turned to see Victor one last time. He then roared at him, "You're gonna regret saying that kid. Mark my words you're dead!!" He then jumped off the ship and then Inuyasha said, "You just make a friend everyday don't ya?" Victor then said, "Live and learn Inuyasha. Live and Learn."
The next day, our group of buddies after exiting the boat ran across the sandy beach and docks of the nearby town of Gemini City, a colourful green painted city, towards a black rock shaped gym as Brock said, "This is it you guys. The Gemini City Gym's Leader is Yerty. He's got abilities in karate and all the finest of martial arts. From what the manual says, we should be extra careful." Sora then said, "What's a little danger right Brock? I'm looking forward to that badge he's going to give out." They the group entered inside the giant rock shape gym into a building covered in sand and boulders. Victor then thought as they entered, 'I wonder where I did send that bomb?' Meanwhile, miles away out to sea, Snake took off his shoes to clear the water out from inside. "Man that bums me out. I lost the loot and those kids beat me again when I wasn't even fighting either. How could this get any worse?" Then he saw the bomb and thought, 'Crud!!' then a boom came as his lifeboat was blown to kingdom come. He then said smacking the water, "Arrgh. That's the last time I go on EBay ever!!" Then he swam to shore with only his self pity to guide him and thoughts of revenge burning strongly once more.
(A pretty good chapter if I say so myself. I may have rushed a little during some parts, but that was because of the mass panic on board the S.S. Mary. Either way, it gets you thinking. What they said at the end about teamwork is important, since they are having adventures now together, it'll make all the difference in the GoldConoton Tournament as well. More to come yet.)
(Next Time: The First of Many Battles.)