Suika paced around in front of her dog Chalk. She and Kohaku were waiting for their friends to return back as it had been hours since they had all left. The little girl was giving out whines every now and then. Kohaku was just as worried as her, though she was trying not to show it. She knew she had to be strong for her friends, and for Suika in case it would take days for them to return. She then gasped up ahead as Suika ran up.
"I'm so happy to see you!" She jumped up happily at Chrome, Ginro, Senku, and Sumi. They all had bags on them full of sulfuric acid.
"Biggest hurdle cleared! Sulfuric acid acquired!" Chrome pumped a fist, Senku struggling with his bag. Sumi put down her bag, bending down as Suika reached her. She jumped up and hugged the woman, who returned it happily.
"Yup, no casualties here," She assured the girl and then stood up, grabbing her bag into her hands with ease.
Kohaku gave a hopeful smile with tears in her eyes at this news. That, and silently relieved that her friends were all okay and not dead. "This is so amazing! We can finally make the medicine and save Ruri's life!"
Chrome gave her a semi blank look while sweat dropping. "We're still a few steps away..." He explained with a flat tone, to her dread. "You gotta have some patience. You remember that crazy road map to the drug, right?"
"I recall it being incredibly long..." Her shoulders dropped at him.
Senku glanced over his shoulder with a chuckle, smirking. "No sweat, we're close. We have just about every component that we're gonna need now," He revealed, to the delight of Kohaku, Suika, and Chrome. Sumi saw their faces and giggled while still holding her bag, walking up to Senku.
"That's right. We're just missing a few items, and we'll have everything to start making Ruri's medicine," She added in, looking down at the sulfuric acid with a gleeful smile. "And trust us, it won't be as hard as getting the sulfuric acid."
Senku gave her a grin, especially since things between the both of them were back to normal. "And since most of the materials are in place, it's just a matter of lighting all the dark spots on the road map one by one. Should be pretty easy actually."
"If we tackle all these dark spots in a timely manner, it should get us closer to our objective in no time," Sumi placed her hands on her hips. "Especially if everyone from the Kingdom of Science works together! So let's do it, guys!"
She and Senku went to the lab, grabbing flasks and beakers with grins. "Let's light up all of them today. It's time for a little mad chemical cooking class! So you'd better get excited!"
"Too late!" Sumi hopped up and down with a big smile on her face. He just chuckled and patted her on the head gently to get her to stop moving.
"Calm down, Sumi, would ya? You look like a kid hopped up on sugar. Plus you could drop a few of the glass if you're not careful." She stopped and placed them onto a table before going back to bouncing a little.
"I can't help it. Chemistry is one of my favorites," She smiled up at him and then pouted. "And I can act however I want to whenever we're mixing chemicals..." She grumbled a little to the green-haired scientist. Everyone then got to work. Chrome stepped outside as Senku and Sumi were sitting in front of a bowl getting heated up. Kaseku, Kohaku, and Suika were all watching.
"First, we boil the sulfuric acid and add a pinch of salt," Senku told the group.
"This is to help manufacture the medicine, and the gas it results in makes the reaction irreversible. Therefore the medicine will solidify positive results," Sumi smiled proudly while making sure it was boiling at the correct temperature.
"This glass thingy is weird," Suika was looking up at a large beaker with two necks poking out, and with a stick inside. "It looks like there's a stick in the middle of it."
Kaseki popped up with tears in his eyes. "You asked me to make this bizarre doohickey, and I did it!" He pointed down at it, a red mark near his forehead. "I have no idea what you're going to use it for, but you went and got me excited!"
"Oh, and we appreciate it!" Sumi smiled at him joyfully. "It's not just for nothing!"
"It's part of a dripping system," Senku explained, feeling that the old man was overdoing it a little bit. Chrome was looking at the weird layout of beakers leading to the giant beaker.
"We're catching the gas coming out of the sulfuric acid and salt mixture as it drips," He stated, having a gas mask on.
"Keep that stuff away from Sumi, okay?" Senku told him protectively as a chibi head. "We don't need her dying from the strong smell of that stuff." Sumi also popped up, nodding in agreement with a hum. She was silently glad that Senku was keeping up their promise of having each other's lives to protect.
Senku then held up the jar with both hands, holding it close to him. "Hydrochloric acid acquired!"
"Hydrochloric?" Kohaku asked in confusion behind him.
"It's a slightly dangerous chemical," He stated while Suika was shaking in fear. "Get this stuff in your eyes, and you'll go blind."
"Maybe don't tell that to little kids," Sumi sweated nervously from Suika's expression. "But don't worry, Suika, just don't touch it please and you'll be fine...actually, scratch that, no one except the scientists touch this stuff."
"Next, we take the sinters from the sulfuric acid spring, which some call flowers of sulfur, boil them, throw them into the hydrochloric acid we just made, and now we have chlorosulfric acid!" He grinned evilly, while holding the flask of it, and it was literally emitting skulls.
"Chlorosulfric?" Kohaku looked uneasy this time. "Uhhh..."
"It's a super bad chemical! Get this on your skin, and you'll turn into a skulking zombie!"
"Stop telling Suika this kind of stuff!" Sumi exclaimed with her hands on her hips, annoyed. Suika was even more terrified than before. "Honestly, you can be so scary at times..."
"You've put up with it for thousands of years, and you've never been scared of it once," He pointed out to her.
"That's because thousands of years passed without me having to deal with you being such a creeper since we were petrified," She retorted back while looking away.
"Hey!"
Kinro and Ginro pulled at the generator outside to get electricity. While they were doing so, Senku and Sumi were testing copper wires on their tongues. "That's good!" They placed both ends into the salt water. "Smells like a swimming pool." Sumi looked away with a blush while remembering their time in the river to get iron sand. "We'll separate the salt water with electricity and we've acquired sodium hydroxide!"
"Sodium hydro...?" Kohaku's eyes were very wide. Suika had tears streaming down her face looking at Senku. He had a shadow over his eyes, a mad grin on his face. Sumi sighed, a hand on her forehead while looking at him. He was holding a glass jar of the powder.
"It's an extremely bad chemical. The Yakuza used it to melt enemy corpses!"
Suika was shaking immensely and Sumi walked over to her. Suika hugged her tight and Sumi patted her back to comfort her. "Still think you're not being a creep? Look at what you did," She scolded him a little. He was about to retort back when Kohaku spoke up.
"Oh, I get it now," She said lowly, and everyone turned to her. She was standing at the entrance, a hand on her cheek. "It makes you blind, turns you into a zombie, and melts your corpse. Is that all? Senku, Sumi," She started off while having a deadly look in her eyes, towering over her friends. "You're gonna make Ruri drink that?"
Chrome shook in fear between Senku and Sumi. "No one's drinking it!" Senku defended with gritted teeth. "We're just using it to prepare the drug!"
"Kohaku, believe me, I wouldn't let Senku make this stuff at all for consumption if we didn't have a reason," Sumi gave a big sweat drop at the back of her head. "She or anyone else won't be drinking it, it's not even done yet..."
This eased her enough to let them continue as everyone except Suika stepped out of the home base. They went towards the clearing. "Relax, will ya? All the rest of the chemicals are harmless. Next up is ammonia."
"Let's go!" Chrome agreed and Sumi sighed knowingly.
"Oh no..." She turned around, crossing her arms. "Look away, Kohaku, because I am definitely not watching!"
"Where do you get ammonia?" Kohaku wondered curiously as they placed the jar down, as she didn't know what to prepare herself for. Her eyes widened as a rainbow appeared in her eyes. The two men had dropped their pants...to piss into the jar. They let out sighs of relief as Sumi rubbed her temple.
"You had to ask..." She mumbled to herself. "I tried to warn you..."
"Ammonia...acquired," Senku let out a relieved groan and Sumi blushed deeply, dragging her hand down her face to calm down. Kohaku looked at the trio murderously again.
"Do you really think I'm gonna let you force my sister to drink that?!" She demanded the three of them.
"I didn't pee in it, why are you giving me that look?!" Sumi whined in protest at Kohaku with white eyes, a tear at the corner of her eye.
"She's not drinking it!" Senku told her in frustration at Kohaku's assumption. Chrome was shaking in fear, expecting her to hit him in the head a bunch of times...or worse. He was also frothing at the mouth. "We just need it to prepare the drug!"
"I would explain it simpler, but I'm not going to. Because...yeah, no, I have nothing to add there," Sumi gestured wildly to the two of them having to piss, and she could still smell it from them too. "Couldn't you have done it in the bushes, though? Gross."
"Alright, we're so close to getting there," The upper half of the road map was completed. "We're down to the last three items. Acetic anhydride, sodium bicarbonate, and aniline."
"Sounds like you're casting some kind of spell," Suika spoke, trying to keep up with all of those terms.
Sumi gave her a small giggle. "He means a combustible liquid, baking soda, and an industrially significant commodity chemical. We need it for chemical synthesis for what we have."
"But we need alcohol to make those," Senku grinned at the others. "That's the key here. So if we can get our hands on some booze, we'll have the ultimate cure-all. A powerful sulfa drug!"
They all gasped at the news at how close they were to making the medicine. "So let's make us some alcohol then!" Chrome ran out of the lab. Sumi and Senku followed behind him, though they weren't running.
"Yeah, the alcohol component is gonna be a little less easy than I said earlier," Sumi winced a little, hands behind her back.
"That's gonna take a little time and energy," Senku called out to him.
"Not to mention time-consuming as hell," The black-haired scientist gave a sheepish smile. "It needs to be distilled for weeks, and I'm not sure if we have that kind of time..." When she, Senku, and Taiju made alcohol, it took a while to both make the clay pot for it, and wait for it to be refined.
"Yeah..." Senku nodded in agreement at her as Kaseki was walking by. "Some more manpower would be great!"
"Need booze?" Kaseki turned to the three while overhearing. "Funny you mention it, because if you were to be victorious in the Grand Bout tomorrow, the villagers will give you more booze than you could ever hope to finish."
The three grinned at the coincidental timing. Chrome blinked in surprise; with all that was going on, he had forgotten the date of it. "Wait, it's tomorrow?! No way!"
"Great!" Sumi smiled, pressing her hands together. "And luckily, I've caught up on my training with Kohaku!"
Senku chuckled while looking to the field where Kinro and Ginro were training. "The timing couldn't be more perfect."
Kinro used his upper body strength to knock Ginro backwards. He panted while looking at his brother. "You're right. If Kinro or Ginro wins, we'll have alcohol, and then practically nothing can stop us from making Ruri's medicine!" Kinro stood up, prepared for tomorrow while looking at his brother.
"Yeah," Senku agreed with Chrome. "Our team is gonna win the Grand Bout. Even if it kills us!"
Kokuyo stood in his hut, looking over the arena. "At last the time is upon us. Tomorrow, your husband, the new village chief, will be chosen," He spoke up to Ruri, who was sitting behind him. "Are you ready for that?"
"Yes," She answered with no hesitation.
"Turquoise!" He called out to the woman standing guard. "Are preparations for the Grand Bout proceeding as planned?"
"Yes," She replied, never taking her eyes off up ahead. "Well, I mean..." She then glanced back at materials being brought forward. "The preparations are in order. But there is one thing..." She turned to Jasper, hitting him a little in the arm. "Why is Kohaku allowed to take part in this again?! You need to go and tell her that she can't!" She didn't want another repeat of what happened last time, and plus Kohaku could be seen as a conflict of interest. She was Ruri's sister, after all, and Turquoise felt that it was too personal to let her compete.
"Anybody over 14 and unmarried can enter. The sacred rules governing the Grand Bout can't be changed," He responded, and he should know, he was the referee for tomorrow.
"When those rules were written, nobody expected a hard-headed girl to compete!" Kokuyo yelled, seeming to agree with Turquoise. He grunted in defeat while walking down the staircase. Those rules were written years ago, and no one could really change them either, since the Grand Bout was tomorrow. He would do it himself, but there was no point now. "But I suppose we should just let it be. After all, a man who's unable to defeat a woman isn't fit to be the village chief, anyway."
"Mm..." Jasper sweated a little as there was something else he hadn't mentioned. "Chief...there's actually one more small problem. Or should I say two of them." Kokuyo stared at him attentively. He looked a bit weary from the next thing he was gonna say. "Yet another contestant has submitted their name. And there was an anonymous name that was kept a secret until now."
"You're gonna participate in the Grand Bout too?!" Kohaku exclaimed at Senku in the lab, who had just broken the news to her and Suika. He was holding one of the weapons.
"And I was the one who signed him up for the big battle!" Ginro exclaimed out of nowhere, his mouth curled up into a proud smile. "Yep! Senku's over 14 and unmarried, isn't he?" Kohaku and Suika inched away from him with white eyes. Kinro had a small shadow over his as he stared at the scene in disbelief. He flinched as Sumi didn't have a reaction at all. Considering what happened with the sulfuric acid, she would've protested against it unless...
"You knew about this too?!" He pointed at her in shock and she gave a small scoff.
"Of course, he told me this morning. The assumption that he'd keep that for me is a little insulting when he knows everything about me and vice versa," She then grinned widely. "And besides, at least this way, we can watch each other's backs!" She had faith in Senku, and she knew he wouldn't let himself get seriously hurt.
"That's right! Plus, there's no rules that says you have to be a villager to participate!" He and Ginro laughed while clasping hands. Suika and Kohaku looked exasperated, Sumi blinking at the two and smiling a little. It seemed that after Ginro got over his fear, that he and Senku had become a bit more friendly.
"This is kind of weird. Since when have Senku and Ginro been so close?" Suika commented at the two, baffled.
"Well, they're birds of the same devious feather..." Kohaku muttered into her hand. "No offense, Senku..." She looked up at him. "But you're not a capable fighter. Especially when you're compared to Sumi, who I have trained."
Senku chuckled while looking at her. "I don't plan on winning the thing. My main goal is just to tire our opponents."
Sumi nodded in agreement with a small smile. "And plus, he can use his brain should he go up against people with more experience. It wouldn't be the first time he's done that—although I pray he doesn't go up against Magma..." She sweated a little at the thought; that was the one thing that really did bother her. Magma did seriously injure Gen after all because he wanted to kill Senku. She just hoped he didn't attempt to pull that off again. If Magma tries to kill him right before the Grand Bout, I'll make him regret it for the rest of his life.
"And not only that, if we happen to go up against each other..." Ginro spoke up eagerly. Ginro poked Senku with his staff lightly. He then fell backwards with an innocent look on his face.
"Oh no, you sure got me good!"
Senku had an evil grin while Kinro was dumbfounded at this. "We'll move up without breaking a sweat! So the more contestants on our side, the better! You see?" His eyes glinted while sparkles were around him.
"You're really gonna rig the Grand Bout?" Kinro asked in disappointment behind them. "How dishonorable, even for you. Either way, although the goal is worthy, rules are rules. I won't throw my match, I'll still fight fairly and with honor."
"Yeah!" Ginro and Senku said in unison, teasing Kinro. "Of course you will!"
Both of them looked mischievous, Senku having a snake tail for a body now. "Everybody knows that you have the best chance of beating Magma in a one-on-one fight. So we're gonna need you to save your energy and make it to the top!"
"Exactly!" Ginro sung a little to his brother. "Nobody's asking you to cheat, Kinro! Once you hit us, we're just gonna cry out mercy and the match will be over! No problem there, right?" Kinro shook while the two were now licking at him with long tongues.
"You're not convincing me that this is the right thing to do!" He said through gritted teeth. He then pushed them away, looking towards Kohaku and Sumi. "Hey! What do you think about this? Please, Kohaku and Sumire! Surely you don't agree with them!"
"Eh," Kohaku walked away from them. "Honestly." Kinro was taken aback while Ginro and Senku looked at him in victory. "If this can help my sister survive, then I'm left with no other choice." Kinro gasped at her declaration. Sumi flinched while glancing at Kinro, who was also expecting her to answer on this. He knew that saving Ruri was the right thing to do, but cheating was still something he couldn't comprehend.
"Well..." Sumi gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't worry about it, Kinro. If I were in Ruri's place, Sen would still cheat if it meant he could save me," She gestured to Senku, who let out a small chuckle. "So I can't really force them in this case. Yeah, it's still wrong, but we'd rather not let Magma win the Grand Bout. And I know you don't want that either."
"B-But...but..." Kinro stammered and once she saw this, she turned around to Ginro and Senku.
"Alright, you two, stop freaking him out," She ushered them away while shooing them rapidly with her hands. "Ginro and Kinro still need to train, and you and I need to discuss the possible scenario of facing each other."
"What do you mean, discuss? There's nothing to say," Senku told her bluntly and she blinked at him in confusion. However, she decided to not question what that meant, though, since she didn't want to press the issue. She would just have to wait and see what would happen, she supposed...
Kinro stood in front of the Kingdom of Science lab later that day, still debating on whether or not he was making the right choice. If it was Ginro who was sick and not Ruri, would he have rigged the game as well...? He didn't know how to answer that.
"Hey, Sumi," Kohaku spoke up, getting her attention as she was in front of the shed. "Come with me."
She glanced up in confusion as the blonde walked past her. Sumi stared for a few seconds, wondering what Kohaku needed as she followed her silently. The two eventually stopped at the training clearing and she turned around to the black-haired woman.
"Before we enter the Grand Bout, I wanted to congratulate you in your training. Especially since you were already practicing before we even met," She smiled a little, reaching into the bushes behind her. Sumi attempted to peek over her shoulder in curiosity. "So I had Kaseki make this for you," She turned around to reveal a whip in her hands. "I know it's not the most ideal, and you can't use it in the Grand Bout tomorrow, but I know you'll use it to its full potential."
"Thanks, Kohaku," Sumi smiled while taking it from her. "I'll use it to my very best!" The two women gave happy looks to each other, silently wishing each other luck in the Grand Bout.
Soon, it was time for the Grand Bout. The sun was in the sky, with no clouds. A villager hit a few drums as people were gathering in the arena. Senku and Sumi were walking in the forest, all the villagers turning to them in shock. Kohaku was on the other side waiting for her friends. They both could hear the drums, the two in front of the bridge. Sumi stared up ahead, the wind blowing in her hair. If they messed this up, they might lose favor with the villagers...well, even less of it at this point.
She stepped up first, turning around and reaching out her hand. "You ready?" She gave him a small smile. He gave a small smirk, taking her hand tightly to her surprise.
"Heh. Don't I look it?" He remarked and then stepped across first. She followed after Senku, staring after him in admiration for his confidence. The two eventually reached Kinro and Ginro, and they moved their spears away for them to enter.
"Ha!" Kohaku smiled a little at her friends. "It's been close to half a year since Senku and Sumi arrived." The two walked past the guards. "Now, finally..." The two lifted their feet and stepped onto the land, the two still holding hands.
"This is the first time we've set foot in the village," Senku spoke up as the two looked to each other.
"Yeah...but now we've gotta make it count, right?" She gave a small smile as he lifted his head to meet her eyes, their hair blowing behind them.
"Yup...we're here," He gave a small smile as they faced the rest of the village. Kohaku, Suika, and Chrome ran up to greet the duo happily. Senku and Sumi stood in front of their friends while walking towards the arena, still holding hands. They knew that with their friends behind them, they'd be safe should any of the villagers get any ideas such as Magma. The two paid no mind to the staring, both her and Senku looking confident as they continued on. Senku glanced down at her unwavering hand interlocked with his, his heart thumping a little. He shook it off while never letting go of her.
Kokuyo watched the two of them from his hut. He watched them closely while Jasper was standing behind him. "I take it those are the outsiders, the ones foolish enough to enter the Grand Bout?" He questioned while never letting them leave his eyes.
"Yes," Jasper answered him firmly. "Their names are Senku and Sumire, but she prefers to be called Sumi."
Ruri gasped sharply from the names, sitting behind them. "It's what?" She asked in shock. "Hold on, did I hear correctly that this man's name is Senku? And this woman's name is Sumire?" She wondered, as if she knew them from somewhere.
"It is," Kokuyo answered his daughter as he and Jasper turned to her. "I assume you haven't met them before, have you?"
"No, sir," She answered a bit quietly. "Of course I've never met them," She then got onto her feet. "How could I have?" She walked up to the exit, seeing the two with their friends. "But yet...I do know them," Kohaku and Chrome ran away from the two. Sumi let go of Senku's hand as the two talked to each other. "This Senku...this Sumire...could they be the ones?" The two men flinched in alarm as she started walking down the stairs without warning.
"Wait, Ruri!" Kokuyo called out to her, but she ignored them.
"I've known them for years. Possibly even from long, long ago in the past." The two flinched as they felt someone watching them. The two looked over their shoulders in unison, seeing Ruri standing behind them. "I've heard those names all my life..." She then approached the duo. "Your names...are Senku and Sumire, are they not?"
"Well, yes," Sumi turned around to her fully. "But I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. You've heard our names?" She blinked in confusion that she seemed to know their names. And yet they didn't tell her, no one else had...and it was like she was familiar with their names, despite never meeting properly until now. And the two hadn't been in the village before meeting Kohaku.
"And you're the village priestess, Ruri," Senku then let out a chuckle. "So nice to finally meet you in person," He said a little too snarky.
"Oh, don't mind him, he can be a bit rough around the edges sometimes," Sumi rolled her eyes a little. "You're Kohaku's older sister, right? We've heard so much about you," She smiled with her hands behind her back.
"Indeed..." Ruri said, seemingly ignoring Sumi's comment. "I have a very important question to ask the two of you." The black-haired scientist blinked in confusion while straightening up, wondering what she wanted to say. "Tell me, please...Senku...Sumire...what are your surnames?"
The two didn't answer as they stared, Senku looking suspicious. Sumi blinked rapidly, taken aback by the question. She remembered Senku telling Tsukasa when they first met...that family names didn't matter, and they still didn't because it wasn't necessary to bring up. So if someone was born into the stone world without that knowledge...how would someone from the village know about them? Especially since no one in the village even had one...
"Say what?" Ganen asked in confusion, since obviously only Ruri knew what that meant.
"Surnames?" Shovel wondered, just as confused.
Ruri took this silence from them to assume that they had no idea what she was referring to. "I mean your family names. The ones that are passed down-"
"Yeah, we know what you mean," Senku interrupted her as Sumi continued to stare, both of them baffled. Something about Ruri...just wasn't adding up to them. Why ask a question regarding to something that only the three knew about? He leaned in towards Sumi. "There's no tradition of having surnames in this village...so how does she know about them? You didn't explain those to anyone like you did with cola, did you?"
"No, I didn't," Sumi whispered back to him, cupping her hand to his ear while glancing at Ruri still. "I didn't think it was relevant to explain, but apparently it is now...and by her way of going about it, there's something that she's not telling us."
"Could it be that your names are Ishi-" Before Ruri could finish asking the question, she fell to the ground. She coughed, covering her mouth as Jasper, Kokuyo, and Turquoise rushed over to her.
"Priestess Ruri!" Jasper shouted urgently to the blonde woman. Senku, Chrome, Kohaku, and Sumi rushed over in concern to see what was going on. However, Turquoise held up a hand to stop all of them.
"Stop there! Stay away from the priestess, outsiders!" She demanded the duo, Sumi frowning in worry. The villagers looked on as the three surrounded Ruri.
"Don't make her walk! Carry her back immediately!" Ruri was carried away on a stretcher, being carried back to the hut. Sumi's eyes softened as she had felt this way before...watching someone with a sickness continue to get worse.
"Are you alright?" Turquoise whispered to the priestess.
"I am..."
"Sen...she was gonna say something to us...about who we are. And no one else knows what she does. We should figure out what's going on after this," Sumi spoke up and he nodded in agreement, giving a small smile.
"I have about 10 billion questions for her as well. I think you two ladies and I should have a nice, long chat after this Grand Bout business is over."
A loud laugh was heard and they turned to see Magma staring at the priestess. He had a gleeful look on his face while watching her leave. "Now we're talking! It looks as though I might not have to go through the trouble of killing her. At this rate, she'll probably keel over on our wedding night."
Kohaku frowned deeply, reaching for her dagger behind her back. A weapon was held in front of her, and she turned in shock to see that it was Chrome holding it. She could tell on his face...that he wanted to do the same. But attacking him right now would accomplish nothing. "Save your energy for when you might face him in the Grand Bout," Sumi placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Trust me, I don't care for what he said either. But doing anything now might risk our chances of success."
"No, Magma! Anybody but you!" Chrome shouted while lunging his staff forward at a target. He continued hitting the target repeatedly, letting out his anger over what Magma said. Ginro, Kaseki, Kohaku, and Suika all watched from behind.
"Well, look at that. Chrome might actually have some decent fighting skills after all," She smiled with a hand on her hip, looking a bit proud. She didn't think he had it in him, to be honest.
"That's true! Probably because he's been busy poking that target like a madman," Suika commented while looking up. The target was left with smoke from the middle. Ginro and Chrome stared at it, the former a bit shocked.
"I'm practicing hitting Magma's weak spot," Chrome explained to them as Sumi walked over.
"His weak spot? You mean-"
"That's right! His junk!" Chrome exclaimed with a big smile. Suika let out a yelp with her face red from the answer. Sumi smacked Chrome a bit over the head.
"Chrome! Don't go mentioning that in front of Suika," She placed her hands on her hips, looking a little embarrassed herself. "I don't want to imagine having his...parts getting hit, just saying it makes me wanna get some cold water for my face."
"It's a sound strategy," Kohaku stated, to Sumi's shock as she looked at her friend with bulging eyes. "If we're trying to wear him out in the early rounds, then his testicles will be an excellent target to strike."
"My, Kohaku," Kaseki commented, a bit shocked as well. "I know you have a reputation of being somewhat of a tomboy, but this strategy goes well beyond that. Some things should be off limits, you know..."
"I realize that I have no chance of winning," Chrome held up the staff in determination. "But if I can land a couple of good hits on Magma, I can wear him down for the next person! That's the best I can do for our team!" He rushed forward, Sumi smiling a little in realization. He just wanted to ensure that Magma wouldn't win, therefore marrying Ruri. He was still content if Ruri married Kinro or Ginro, but he would in no way allow Magma to kill her now that he had heard the man's intentions.
"He's right," Kohaku murmured, Kaseki and Sumi turning to her. "That means the order of matches is going to be crucial."
Later, everyone participating had to draw straws to see who would be going up against each other. "Rig the match! Rig the match!" Ginro chanted while approaching the group. "Give us an order that'll let us win!"
"Maybe don't cheer that around a crowd of people..." Sumi sweat dropped at his chant.
"Yeah, I say to hell with trying to have a fair fight!" Senku smirked, Kohaku looking up at him. "The Kingdom of Science uses our wits and cunning as weapons. Our strategy is to gain the Grand Bout to work in our favor."
"Not that I doubt our Kingdom of Science, but if word gets around that we're rigging it, we might get disqualified," Sumi sighed a little, a hand over her forehead. "But we do have to hope for the best here if this needs to work in our favor."
"We'll rig it so that Kinro gets to the top unscathed and pit him against an exhausted Magma. Which means it's best for us if Kinro and Magma are in separate blocks," Senku continued explaining to the group.
"The quickest way would if me or Sumi beat Magma in the first match," Kohaku gave a small smile, her arms crossed. "If that happens, it's smooth sailing from there."
"That's correct," He held up his own straw. "If you can take him out early like that, we're good as gold. Although I wouldn't mind seeing Sumi kick Magma's ass," He smirked in amusement and she chuckled, grinning.
"Yeah, what I wouldn't give to take him down a peg, but it's all up to chance now. So all we have to do is wait," She glanced to the drawing board for the matches.
"Since they're drawing straws for the order, all we can do is pray for luck," Suika stated while holding her hands together. "Kohaku and Magma start off together. Kinro and Magma never go against each other," She prayed while Kaseki watched her.
"Is that a prayer or some kind of tongue twister?" Kaseki wondered at her devotion. Sumi gave her a small smile, humming.
"Kinro and Magma never go against each other. Kohaku and Magma..."
"They're drawing up the brackets right now!" Kohaku turned around to the board as a villager drew it out.
Suika continued chanting as everyone waited patiently. Other than that, it was tense while the board was being blocked from the villagers. "Kinro and Magma never go against each other. Kohaku and Magma start off together. Kinro and Magma never go against each other. Kohaku and Magma start off together! Kinro and Magma never go against each other!"
The brackets were finally all painted up. Jasper continued blocking the board as he faced everyone. "The first round of the Grand Bout...will be between..." Everyone froze as they waited to hear it, Senku smirking...and it was between Kinro and Magma. "Kinro and Magma!"
Everyone from the Kingdom of Science stared blankly at this news as they didn't know what to say. Sumi snapped out of it first, sighing while placing a hand on her temple and closing her eyes. She had an awkward smile on her face. How could I forget? We almost never have any good luck in the Kingdom of Science, do we...?
"This is bad! This is really bad!" Ginro mumbled to them as he felt like he was about to lose his mind, kneeled over in the corner. Everyone was gathered in the lab to talk about what just happened. "Seriously bad!"
Suika had tears in her eyes, clutching her hands. "It's the exact opposite of what I prayed for!"
"Don't worry, Suika," Sumi placed her hands on Suika's shoulders from behind. "You didn't do anything. It's just that...well, we can't control everything that happens in life. Sometimes you just have to take it as it comes."
"Damn it! How could we have such rotten luck?" Chrome clenched his fists, unhappy as well.
Senku chuckled in amusement as he was the only one keeping a level head besides Sumi. "Well, that's life," They turned to him as he picked up a bottle of suspicious yellow liquid. "A scientist knows better than to rely on luck or superstition, even if you're dealt the worst hands. You play every card you've got." His mad scientist self then appeared while holding the bottle, his lips stretched out as he looked insane. Even the bottle itself had a skull inside. "So we'll have to resort to doping to win the Grand Bout. Thus Sumi and I have developed the Kingdom of Science's special power-up drink!" Everyone except Sumi was in shock at this news.
"I regret helping you make that," Sumi looked at him with white eyes. He had asked her to gather the ingredients, and she did, but at what cost?
"Eh, wouldn't be the first time you've regretted helping me with something like this," Senku shrugged off her comment.
"Great. Another suspicious chemical creation..." Kohaku was already skeptical while looking at it.
"There's some kind of bad drug in that stuff?" Chrome asked curiously, eyeing the bottle. There was a pot nearby of leaves.
"Ha ha ha, unfortunately thanks to Sumi, it's perfectly safe," Sumi gave Senku a small glare from that response. "It's a mixture of tea leaves, honey, and sweet flag," Unbeknownst to them, Ginro was already drinking it, and eating the raw ingredients. "The caffeine speeds you up, sweet flag keeps you cool, and the honey jacks your blood sugar way up! It's the stone world's version of doping!"
"Luckily, the sweet flag and tea leaves were easy to get thanks to Chrome's shed," Sumi held up a finger with a smile. "For honey, I had to make a bee suit to prevent myself from getting stung since there's a beehive not too far from here. And the sweet flag is perfectly safe for consumption, its oil is actually used in medicine to cure gastritis. Or just stomach inflammation if you want a simplified term. So when you combine those three-"
Kinro interrupted her by hitting Ginro in the head three times after seeing what he did. "Did you really just drink all of it?!" He seethed at his younger brother. Ginro cried a bit in shock while looking up at him.
"I didn't know that was the whole supply!" His mouth was full of leaves. "What do you want me to do? Because if you lose to Magma, then that'll mean it'll be completely up to me to beat him!" The matches were as followed: Kinro against Magma, Mantle against Chrome, Senku against Kohaku, Ginro against another villager, and Sumi against another villager.
"He even ate the raw ingredients!" Chrome exclaimed in disbelief while looking at the empty clay pot.
"Wow, yeah," Senku looked into it as well. "There goes our whole supply of sweet flag."
"Ginro, I know you're worried, but you can't just eat our supplies just so you have a chance of beating Magma..." Sumi sighed a little and he pouted.
"That's the grass, right?" Chrome glanced up at the two. "The kind that grows down by the river?"
"I'll go pick some more for us!" Suika offered while raising a hand. "I may not be competing in the Grand Bout, but I can still make myself useful!" She cheered while tucking in her body to bounce of the lab. Sumi stepped out, looking after her as she headed for the river.
"Just be careful, okay?" She called out, neither of them noticing that Mantle was listening in behind a rock nearby. He had an evil smile on his face while looking in Suika's direction.
Everyone went back to the arena, the drums beating again. Kinro and Magma were preparing for their match, holding their weapons. Chrome, Kohaku, Ginro, Senku, and Sumi stood nearby. "Here's the plan," Ginro muffled, since he was still chewing on a leaf. "Everything will be just fine, as long as you make it to the final match, got that?"
"I don't think that's how this works," Sumi sweated a little at him.
"No! This is horrible!"
The five all turned around to see Mantle running towards them. He had sweat dripping down his face while stopping in front of them. "Suika went to pick up some herbs and fell into the river! I'm afraid the poor thing's gonna drown!" However, they weren't buying the urgency in his voice at all. It was like with Gen, where he wasn't scared at all and just ran his mouth. "Kohaku, you're the fastest one here! So you need to go down and help her before it's too late!"
Senku gave him a deadpanned look. "It's 10 billion percent obvious he's lying through his teeth!"
"If you were a decent enough man, you would've gone out of your way to rescue her yourself. Because running back over here to warn us is just a waste of time," Sumi crossed her arms, annoyed by the lie he just gave them. Mantle's eyes widened that nobody believed him like he had hoped.
"No, I'm telling you the truth, I swear! I just happened to be walking by the river when I saw her! And then she fell in!"
Chrome and Senku went over to him, shaking the bridge while pinning Mantle's body to the ground. They shook one foot each onto his back to mess with him. "If you just so happened to see her fall into the river, how did you know she was there to pick herbs in the first place?" Chrome smirked down at him.
"Come back in 10 billion years if you really wanna have a battle of wits with the Kingdom of Science, you slimy pea-brained idiot."
"Okay, okay, that's enough," Sumi walked over to stop them both in place. "You might break off the bridge if this goes on," She pushed them both away, sighing heavily.
"Sumi, are you really defending him?" Chrome looked up at her in surprise.
"You know, I would've said yes if he didn't mention Suika," She smirked, hands on her hips as she looked down at him with a big evil grin. Mantle shook in fear as she looked like Senku's mad scientist side. "So if I find out you did something to her, I'll break you in half, you lying little asshole."
Senku chuckled at her behavior, Chrome looking at her with wide eyes. He hadn't seen this side of her ever since they met Gen. "Ahh, this side of you is a sight to behold, Sumi. I'm glad you're on our team, otherwise we'd be in hell right now."
"Uhh...my, my, such a strong spirit. If you aren't going out with one of them, I'll take you up on that offer," Mantle had a cheeky smile while trying to divert suspicion away from his bogus story.
Both men looked unamused as Sumi had a dark look in her eyes from his disgusting innuendo. "Stay. The hell. Away from me," She growled down at him and he yelped, backing away from her. She let out a small groan while turning away. "Besides, not sorry to break it to you, but shrimpy scum like you aren't exactly my type."
Kohaku placed a hand on Senku's shoulder, and he looked over to her. "I'm almost positive he's lying. But there's a slim chance that he's not. I can't risk it and let Suika die!" She frowned at the two of them. Sumi and Senku glanced to each other silently.
"Are you sure about this, Kohaku?" Sumi asked her while staring.
"Yeah, well, you realize you're our last line of defense against Magma..." Senku reminded the blonde with a frown. "So if you bail on us now-"
"Look," Kohaku cut him off, clenching her fists while trying to keep her argument. "I'm the fastest out of all of us, so I'm the only one who can save her! I know it's a little risky, but I have to go see for myself!" She scoffed while looking towards Mantle, who grinned wildly up at her. She let herself sweat a little from him being proud of himself for what she was about to do. Even if he was being honest, bringing Suika into it was crossing a line. "You're disgusting, Mantle, a despicable person!"
Before they could say anything, she ran down the bridge. "Kohaku!" They called out to her, but she didn't listen. She had already made her decision as they watched her leave. And there was nothing they could've done, except pray that she got back in time for her match.
"Wait, she's leaving us?" Ginro whined a little and Sumi sighed, hanging her head.
"I don't blame her," She turned her back to them, walking past Mantle. He reached out to fondle her leg, but she kicked him in the head once. "I would've done the same if I was fast enough," She walked back across the bridge. Mantle whined in pain from the head bump while the others stared at her.
"Wow, Sumi can get really scary when it comes to her friends," Ginro commented at the woman. "It's like she becomes a completely different person."
"Yeah...almost as scary as you get in your mad scientist mode," Chrome glanced to the green-haired scientist.
"Heh. Well, she's not the type to just sit around and do nothing, she takes action when necessary. She does all she can for both science and people she cares about." Senku crossed his arms proudly while seeing her figure get farther away. "And I know she'll do the same in the Grand Bout. I have no doubt in my mind."
"Round one! Kinro, Magma! Come forward," Jasper announced as the Grand Bout was starting.
"Hey, uh, Kohaku's not here," Chrome informed, hoping that he would allow Kohaku some time in case she didn't arrive back in time. "She went to save Suika." However, Jasper didn't seem to be that inclined to allow leniency.
"She competes in the 3rd round. If she hasn't returned by then, she will be disqualified," He informed, to their dismay.
"Damn it!" Chrome said in frustration, looking towards the forest. "Come on, Kohaku! Hurry!"
Sumi turned to the forest as well, silently hoping that their efforts wouldn't be for nothing. Without their strongest fighter in the Kingdom of Science, who knows what would happen? Kinro stood in front of Magma, keeping his look firm. Magma laughed while seeing the worried members from the Kingdom of Science.
"Excellent work, Mantle!" He praised his right-hand man.
"Oh, yeah!" He rubbed his hands while looking up. "I had to make sure our problem was solved."
"Now that Kohaku is gone, there's no one who can defeat me!" Magma and Kinro stepped up to each other. "And I, Magma, will get what I deserve! Ruri and the entire village will be mine!" He said confidently before speaking to Kinro. "Now, Kinro, surrender to me and I'll make you my right hand man. I'll need a strong fighter by my side. As well as someone who will do my bidding!" He lifted a foot, placing it in front of the ground. He then smirked in bloodlust while stating his demands, acting as if he was already the chief. "Grovel at my feet before the crowd! Put on a show for everyone! Do that and I'll take it as your loyalty!"
"Ugh," Sumi crossed her arms, a bit disgusted. "Now I see where Mantle gets his personality from..."
Kinro wasn't fazed as he narrowed his eyes to glare at Magma. He kept his anger in from Magma's overconfidence. "Listen, Magma. Even if everything you say is true, I'd never kneel before you. There are many schemes in this Grand Bout. But I can only fight honestly into the best of my abilities. Besides, I'm not the same man I was before."
Magma simply laughed from his response, as he was being arrogant. "You've never once beat me in a match like this, Kinro. So what's so different about this time?"
Kinro paused for a bit to tightly grip his spear. "This time...I have no choice but to win! Because my friends are counting on me!" Sumi smiled at his statement, her hands folded in front of her skirt. Meanwhile, Kohaku was running as fast as she could to reach the river.
"Round one!" Kinro glared at Magma as the match was about to start. "Magma versus Kinro, begin!"
"You're motivated by a lust for power. But I..." He lunged forward with his spear to attack, and Magma blocked it. "Have biggest reasons than that!" Before Magma could react, Kinro pulled his weapon back and gave out multiple hits to his opponent. Magma had to hold up his spear to defend himself from the multiple blows.
"Wow, Kinro! When did you get so strong?" Magma retorted while the two clashed their weapons. Neither of them so far were winning.
"Kinro seems to be holding his own against Magma," Ganen exclaimed while a villager looked on.
"He might actually win this whole thing."
The Kingdom of Science looked on as they witnessed the fight. Sumi had her hands clasped together in hope for Kinro. "I gotta say, he's really doing 10 billion times better than I was expecting," Senku said while in awe.
Sumi pumped a fist while looking on. "You've got this, Kinro! You can take him!" She hollered while cheering for him.
"Heh. We got a little cheerleader now?" Senku teased her while raising a smug brow. "All you need is the outfit and equipment."
She blinked and then grinned in amusement. "That's not a bad idea, but at the same time, I don't need that kind of attention from Mantle and Magma. Both of them are creeps that I don't need in my life right now."
Senku chuckled from her remark as they looked back onto the fight.
"This is all thanks to the training our battle team had to go through!" Ginro clenched a fist, though still had the leaf in his mouth.
"Why the hell are you acting so smug about it, Ginro?" Chrome gave him an amused smile. He then looked past Ginro to see Mantle in the back of the crowd. Mantle chuckled while looking to a rock in his hand.
I've got our back-up plan right here, He thought smugly as he was gonna throw it at Kinro to make sure Magma won. He then held up his arm, about to throw it.
"Hey, Mantle!" He flinched as Chrome said his name, standing in front of the shorter man. "Jasper's our bad referee! No way he's gonna let you get away with that!" Sumi growled at Mantle a bit while clenching her fists. Jasper had a blank look on his face.
"Take him down, Kinro!" Senku, Chrome, and Sumi shouted as it was Kingdom of Science-1 and Mantle-0.
"Heh..." He sweated while giving a nervous laugh, acting like he wasn't about to cheat. "I was just...uh...Clack!" He hit two rocks together. "Clack. Just clacking these to cheer them on."
"Nuts!" Senku lifted up his clothing to reveal a bunch of science items that he had been hiding. Chrome and Mantle looked at him in shock. Sumi silently shook her head at him while Ginro didn't have much of a reaction. Or Jasper, for that matter.
Suika was tied up to a tree, moving all around trying to break free. Unfortunately, there was a lot of rope around her waist. "Ah! What am I gonna do now? Mantle tied me up so tight, I don't know how I'm gonna break out of this!" She gasped as she realized she could spin to break out. And she did so, tucking her whole body into her watermelon mask. She popped out of the rope, heading down a pathway.
"I have to get back to the others, quick!"
Back at the arena, everyone was shocked up ahead. Kinro and Magma weren't even fighting anymore. Instead, they let themselves be far away from each other. However, what was most surprising was Magma's behavior. He didn't look like his arrogant, confident self anymore. Instead he looked more serious, almost as much as Kinro himself.
"Magma took a big step back! He always just goes rushing in with brute force!" One of the villagers pointed this out.
"It looks serious. I've never seen him like this before!"
Not good. Kinro sweated a little while looking at Magma, as he didn't know what his strategy was here. He's put distance between us. Unfortunately, because he was nearsighted, his vision was blurry looking at Magma.
Suika made it back to the Grand Bout, moving up a pillar. She landed on top of it, gasping as she saw Kinro. She looked closer and saw him squinting his eyes...and it was very familiar to her. I know that look. He's straining his eyes! She gasped as she realized...that Kinro had the same fuzzy sickness as she did.
"Oh, Suika!" Kaseki spoke up as her friends noticed her. "You're back home safe!"
"So Mantle was lying about you drowning! What a little worm!" Chrome growled out as she slid down the pillar.
"Oh, I'm so happy that you're okay, Suika," Sumi smiled in relief while running over to her. She checked up on the little girl, bending down to see if she was hurt. "Nothing happened to you, did it?" She then blinked as she saw that Suika looked urgent. "Suika, what is it?"
She looked up at her and Senku. "I think Kinro has the fuzzy sickness in his eyes!" The two of them gasped from her explanation. "He's making faces like I used to have to."
"What?!" Sumi turned to Kinro in alarm with wide eyes and then looked to Senku. "No...Magma must've somehow found out about it. He wouldn't be doing this if he didn't. That's why he's keeping his distance from Kinro. This isn't good."
"Yeah..." Senku frowned as they looked back to Kinro. He thrusted his spear at Magma, but missed because of the large distance. Magma laughed while seeing this display and at Kinro's lack of eyesight, turning back to his confident self. He even looked gleeful about this.
"Were you trying to hit me with that? You're not even close!" He grinned while punching Kinro's weapon away. He then swung his own to give Kinro a hard blow to the face. Kinro grunted, looking up as Magma then swung back and forth to hit him again and again. He delivered a final blow and Kinro was sent flying, landing on his back with a hard thump.
Chrome held his head, while Ginro had tears in his eyes. Senku looked frustrated while Sumi bit at her thumbnail in worry.
"Bad! He just wiped the floor with him!" Chrome exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Kinro!" Ginro cried out for his brother.
"No...what do we do?" Sumi's eyes glistened in concern for the man on the ground. "He needs glasses in order to see where Magma is coming from, but there's no time to make them...all that squinting is just gonna exploit it even more..."
Kinro laid on the ground, unable to get up after that strike. I can barely move...is this it? He continued to shake and then thought about all his friends. No...not yet. It's too important to give up now!
Suika had managed to pop out of nowhere on top of the chief's hut. She watched for a few seconds and then started spinning around rapidly. "Suika?" Ruri asked in confusion for what she was doing, Kokuyo watching as well.
"What the hell do you think you're doing up here?" He demanded the little girl, who continued spinning.
"I'm finally gonna really, really make myself useful for once!" She answered the two of them.
Magma approached Kinro still struggling to get up. He then laughed as Kinro slowly sat up. He smirked down at his opponent. "You don't give up, do you, Kinro? Think I like you even more now. I actually want you to be my henchman."
"I'm gonna use the stairs to build up speed!" Suika tucked in her body, spinning down the stairs.
"Now, you better start groveling, boy," Magma looked down in satisfaction, his foot about to finish Kinro off. However, Suika landed on the bottom of the staircase, and then pulled off her watermelon mask. She threw it as hard as she could into the sky.
Magma glanced up in shock. And he wasn't the only one, the rest of the Kingdom of Science shared the same expression as well. Kinro gasped as he recognized it.
"Take the eyes of science, Kinro!" She pleaded with him, the mask heading in his direction. He grabbed his spear and jumped up into the sky. The mask landed on his head and he landed, now wearing it as his spear was gripped behind his back. It might've looked badass out of context, but in context...not as much.
"That makes him look so creepy!" Senku, Chrome, and Ginro cried out while frozen looking at Kinro.
"But this means he'll be able to see now!" Sumi smiled happily at Kinro. Magma reacted quickly while charging towards his opponent. He just laughed at Kinro's appearance.
"Nice try, but that goofy mask ain't gonna save ya!" Kinro's eyes widened while looking up ahead, as Magma was no longer blurry to him anymore.
I can see! This is the power of science! And because he could see, he easily dodged Magma's weapon coming at his head. He continued to dodge Magma's strikes as everything was in more detail, just like it was for Suika with the sunflowers. The tides were now in his favor as everyone stared at them, Kinro dodging left and right in rapid fashion.
"Whoa! Holy crap!" A villager exclaimed as everyone was in awe.
"It's close, but he's dodging each attack!" Ganen chimed in as they looked on.
Meanwhile, Magma was put off by the drastic shift in Kinro's fighting. It was never like this when they had fought before. His eyes looked at his opponent in shock. "Hey! What kind of stunt are you trying to pull here?!" He roared and swung his weapon again, only for Kinro to place his foot on it.
"I'm so grateful...for science!" Kinro declared, one of the lens sparkling. "For Suika, Senku, and Sumi!" Suika looked determined while Senku was smirking, Sumi smiling happily. He then pulled back and sent multiple blows at Magma. He pulled back again and with a yell, hit Magma right in the face with the weapon. He flew backwards and landed roughly on the ground. Sumi beamed while clapping for him.
"He did it!" She cheered happily at him.
"Learn this lesson, Magma," Kinro put his spear into the ground, now no longer letting his fuzzy sickness hold him back. In fact...he was glad to be wearing the watermelon mask now. If it wasn't for his friends, he wouldn't have been able to do this at all. "If I'd had this gift of science before...had this vision...I would've surpassed you long ago!"
Everyone cheered as Magma was kneeling in front of him, as the match was won...or was it?