Chapter 16: Flames of Change

"SIX AM!" A voice shouted and Double D woke up so fast that he slammed his head on the bunkbed above him. "WAKE UP, THE PARK'S OPENING!"

Double D groaned and looked at Grubba, who was waking up all of the fighters.

"C'mon." King K groaned from his bed. "I haven't got a reserved fight yet."

"You know the drill. Y'all get yourselves dressed for battle. I expect to here someone reserve a fight in ten minutes!" Grubba walked from the room. When the door shut, a fighter threw a pillow against the door.

"This is the Glitz pit, not boot camp!" Whoever it was said.

"Guys, where's the bathroom?" Double D asked.

"Over there." King K pointed to a door.

"Right." Double D groaned, still half-asleep as he walked into the room and slammed the door behind him.

"You know, I'll probably fight again today." Koops said as he sat up.

"Nice. We missed team Gonzales's fights yesterday." Jimmy rubbed his eyes.

"Rolf shall make sure to observe the brawl." Rolf said.

"Cool." Koops said.

Mario turned around and cupped his hands in front of his mouth to amp up his voice. "Okay, who-a-in this room is ranking 16?"

"I am." A fighter responded. It was a Dry Bones.

"Well then, prepare-a-yourself, because we're gonna battle first!" Mario said.

"Cool." The Dry Bones said. "You must be that Gonzales guy, right?"

"Yeah!" Mario pumped a fist.

"HELLO GLITZVILLE!" Grubba shouted into the MIC.

The crowd in the arena went crazy.

"Welcome to the first match of the day! First off is the great battle of teams ranking between 17 and 16. In this side, the Dead Bones!" Grubba introduced the Dry Bones team to the field.

"AAAAAAND, over here, a new rising team, Team Gonzales!"

Mario and his team walked onto the arena.

"GO GONZALEZ!" Rolf shouted from the audience.

Team Eduardo with a few of the other fighters watched from the audience. All sorts of fans shouted in the audience, some standing up and screaming, some holding up signs, and others with huge foam fingers.

"You're going to be scared to death!" The Dead bones leader taunted.

"It's time to BATTLE!" Grubba shouted, getting out of the way on the constants.

"Okay team, remember that-a rule? Use no items." Mario reminded his team.

"Right!" Goombella said.

Mario shouted and ran for one of the Dry Bones. He instantly knocked it out with just one hit.

"One down!"

"Not out!" One of the dead bones team members shouted.

It tossed a bone right for Koops. He took the hit and fell on his shell.

"Ha! What-cha gonna do now?" It asked.

"Mario, shall we end this?" Flurrie offered.

"Wait! Don't blow them off-a the arena. We need to conserve FP."

"Okay." Flurrie nodded and went over to the next Dry Bones and tried to slam into it with a hard force, but Flurrie got hit by the bones and flew clear off the arena.

"Oh wow!" Nazz said, standing up to see where she landed.

One of the Dry Bones attacked Mario, hitting him down to the floor. He didn't get back up.

"Uh oh." Goombella said when she realized she was the last one up for her team.

"Ready to give?" The Dry Bones asked.

"No way!" Goombella said, determined to take it on.

"Wow, such determination!" Grubba announced. She ran and landed right on another one's head. It knocked it down.

"Yes!" Rolf shouted.

"Yeah, but do not forget. Goombella's chances are still slim. She's still out numbered 1 to 2." Double D reminded.

One of the Dry Bones threw another bone, this time hitting Goombella head on. She wasn't hurt too bad, but she was hurt. The other one threw a bone, and this time Goombella looked down and allowed her miner's helmet to take the hit.

However, she became enraged when she noticed that last blow broke the light bulb in the helmet. "That's it, man!"

She charged at it and jumped quickly. In a series of quick moves, she started to beat both of them up.

"THAT'S THE WAY!" Jimmy suddenly got up. "GIVE THE ONE-TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE! THAT'S RIGHT! GO, TAKE DOWN THIS SON Of a…" Jimmy stopped his last statement when he realized everyone nearby was staring at him, including the fighters who stopped.

"Um… go?" he said quietly as he returned to his seat.

Goombella starred with a raised eyebrow, then delivered the final blow to the last team. "That's it!"

"Whoa! Ladies and Gentlemen, what a show!" Grubba shouted. "And amazing comeback, and a battle of the ages! I say we give this team, especially Goombella here a big round of applause!"

The whole crowd was screaming and chanting her name. Goombella started to do poses for the cameras and lights.

"That was a nice come back!" Koops told Goombella as they returned to the minor league locker room.

"Hey!" Double D and his team where waiting inside the room. "Incredible!"

"Well sirs and ." Jolene walked in to see the winning team. "Excellent job. Here is your pay."

Mario took four coins.

"Your ranking has risen to 16. Now, I must be going." Jolene walked to the door but stopped and turned around. "Bandy Andy!"

"Yes?"

"Have you been getting in trouble around here as of late?"

"No!"

"Just making sure." This time Jolene walked out of the room for real.

"Trouble?" Double D asked.

"Okay, I'll tell you. You see, when I became a fighter, I heard about some guys who went missing a few years back. I decided to humor myself and check it out. But I am beginning to suspect that something weird is afoot."

"Weird?" Nazz asked.

"…weird." Andy responded. "I've got more things to investigate." He finished before walking out of the room.

"Hm…" Double D was thinking about something. "Disappearances?"

"Eh, Andy's blowing this way out of whack." King K said.

They decided to get some fresh air back outside.

"So anyway!" Mario turned to Goombella. "We got some coins, what do you-a- want to buy?"

"Breakfast! I'm-a totally starved! After, want to go catch a flick?" Goombella asked.

"Nah." Nazz said. "After this, we're going to go reserve a match."

"Sound good. You know, this whole Crystal star quest is turning out to be fun!" Goombella commented.

"Yes. No struggles against a dragon or a crazed army. Just life in Glitzville."

"Hey!" A voice shouted, clearly agitated.

"Eddy?" Double D asked.

"No, that is that man-who-screams." Rolf pointed to a man.

He looked similar to a pig, only had a vendor uniform.

"Something wrong sir?" Double D asked, running over.

"Hang on kid. I'll serve your hot dogs in a minute!" the guy shouted.

"HEY!" Another voice added in. This one was Eddy.

"Keep it down! What's with all the racket!"

"This blasted Egg!" he said. A strange white egg with blue, pink, and green spots was hopping around the man.

"Hoggle! Why are you serving eggs? You're a hot dog vendor!" Eddy shouted.

"I wanted to add something new to the menu, so I had this thing imported from a southern island. The stupid thing won't keep still! How am I supposed to cook it?" Hoggle asked.

"You mean you were going to cook a live animal that hasn't been born yet?" Double D asked defensively.

"Can you just help me catch the stupid thing?" Hoggle asked.

The egg hopped around several spots before landing on the roof of the hot dog stand.

"Stupid egg!" Hoggle shouted at it.

"Oh calm yourself down, piggy!" Eddy shouted.

"We'll see what we can do." Double D said.

The two teams struggled to get onto the roof, including Eddy who wanted Hoggle to shut up.

"Okay!" Eddy said, grabbing the egg. "I have your stupid egg, will you shut up now?"

The egg jumped out of Eddy's hands and onto the roof again.

"Oh Eddy, we can't allow that guy to cook this poor creature!" Double D said, taking the Egg into his own hands.

"Oh, fine!" Hoggle finally gave up.

"Okay, there you go." Double D said, gently putting it down. "You're free to go."

"Come on guys, now that the egg's safe, let's just go reserve the match." Nazz said.

"Agreed. Come on." Double D said.

They started walking for the door, but stopped.

"Why is the egg following us?" Goombella asked.

"I think it wants to stay with us. Am I right?" Double D asked.

The egg hopped a few times as if to say "yes."

"Okay then, I guess we have an egg now." Double D said. The egg hopped over to Double D and landed in his arms.

"What are we supposed to do with it?" Jimmy asked.

"I'll begin drawing plans for an incubator. In the time being, though, I think we should keep it safe." Double D opened his backpack and placed the little egg in a compartment.

"I hope the little thing will be safe." Double D thought.

"Oh, come on! You sound like my mother!" Eddy said.

"Eddy, we're going to sign up for a match. Can you keep this bag safe until we come back?"

"If you say so." Eddy reluctantly took the bag. "Jeez Louise! This is heavy, what the heck's in this!"

"The necessities. Some binoculars, a laptop, a mysterious egg with an unknown species, the usual." Double D joked.

"Right…" Eddy rolled his eyes.

"Let's go." Nazz said. They ran back into the Glitz Pit. Eddy walked back to his stand and dropped the bag onto the ground, then returned to his line of tourists.

"Ah, back again, Eduardo?" Grubba said over the monitor. "Let's see. Your next opponent, ranking 14 is… the hand-it-overs! Alright, this time I want you to use a special move at least once. Your match begins in five."

"Do we have a special move?" Double D asked.

"Would the shining-green-star count as a special move?" Rolf asked, still in possession of the Crystal Star from the woods.

"That counts." Double D said. "Do we know what this thing's power is?"

"We'll see out on the rink, huh?" Nazz asked.

"Hello again! This next match will feature our other rising team, Team Eduardo!" Team Eduardo proudly walked onto the ring.

"The opposing team will be the Hand! It! OVERRRS!" Grubba pointed to four people walking on stage.

They were all dressed in cloaks that concealed their bodies with masks that hid their faces. Two of them were dressed in red, the other two green.

"Bandy Andy!" Double D said.

"Yeah, it's me." Andy said proudly as the leader of his team. "Let's just get this over with!"

"You're the one who's going down!" Nazz said, pointing to the floor.

"Time to BRAWLLL!" Grubba shouted in the MIC.

"Take it easy at first, then prepare our secret weapon…" Double D gestured to Rolf who kept the star in another bag.

"Jimmy!" Double D pointed to one of the opponents with a red cloak.

"Got it!" Jimmy ran to the target and prepared to slash at it with his staff.

"Purely armature!" The enemy said.

When Jimmy went to slash at it, the read clocked guy grabbed the staff and threw Jimmy down to the floor.

"Owie!"

"Ah, a gift." It said, taking a coin from Jimmy and putting it in his pocket.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Double D shouted.

"Hello? Bandy Andy? Our special technique allows us to take things from your possessions for the duration of the fight."

"I… can't fight." Jimmy said immediately under that attack.

"Now?" Rolf asked Double D.

"No, not yet. We need to catch them when they're off guard."

"Maybe I can help!" Nazz ran at the same target and attempted to jump right on it.

As she landed, the red cloaked one shrieked and fell down.

"Ah, a gift." She mocked it as she reclaimed Jimmy's money.

"That leaves us." Double D said. "Rolf, attack it with your bag!"

Rolf nodded and struck the next target with his whacking bag. It shouted, but got back up.

"Man, these things are durable!" Nazz said.

"Now you'll pay!" Bandy Andy said.

He instructed his two remaining teammates to attack first. The one remaining red cloak jumped Nazz, re-reclaiming the stolen money. The other green cloak hit Double D, though he deflected the blow with his rod and threw it down on the floor.

"My word! In the same day we see another perfect super-guard!" Grubba said over the MIC.

"You got my team down, now it's time for me!" Bandy ran to Rolf and hit him hard. As he did, he stole Rolf's whacking bag.

"That's it!" Rolf said. "Sock-head-Edd-boy, the time is here!"

Rolf took out the crystal star.

"What is that?" Grubba asked into the MIC, followed by confused murmurs in the audience.

"Come on, come on, kick in!" Nazz shouted.

Just then, they saw a shadow underneath them. They looked up and saw to their surprise a huge bomb land right on stage. On it was a symbol of the star and a clock.

"WHOA, I THINK THIS IS THEIR SPECIAL MOVE!" Grubba shouted in the MIC.

"What are they up to?" Eddy asked while watching the TV broadcast.

"Ah! It'll blow!" Nazz shouted.

"Then let's make sure it hits the target!" Double D said.

The three of them picked it up and hurled the massive thing at Bandy Andy. There was an explosion, and when it cleared, Andy's team was completely frozen still.

"What did we do?" Nazz asked.

"A time freeze effect. I read about it once. It effects people in the world temporality to freeze in time. Now's the time to strike!"

"Right!" Nazz ran over and hit one of the cloaked people.

Rolf went and did the same, this time with a punch because he was missing his bag. Double D ran over to Bandy and took Rolf's bag back.

"Ah!" Andy suddenly shouted. He and his team where unfrozen.

"No way!" Double D said. "They lost one person, and we have as well." he said, gesturing over to Jimmy. "But we're having such a difficult time defeating them." Double D pointed at the Hand-it-overs.

"Dude, what do we do? At this rate we'll loose!" Nazz said.

"Please, we have to have some sort of strategy!" Double D said, still pointing to the Hand-it-overs. "Maybe we don't have the fire power to-"

He suddenly felt very, very hot, as if he had walked in an oven. He noticed a ball of flames flying across the room and strike the hand-it-overs. There erupted an explosion of fire.

"What the-!" Eddy shouted when he saw the ring was on fire.

"Whoa Nelly!" Grubba said as he ran from the ring. A fire alarm activated.

"Everyone out!" he shouted. Everyone in the stands started racing for the exits screaming.

"Guys, get out!" Double D said to his team. Nazz and Rolf nodded and ran from the stage.

Double D however noticed Jimmy lying on the ground too weak to get up next to the fire.

"Oh man!" Double D quickly ran and grabbed Jimmy, then was able to rescue Bandy Andy.

"Thank you!" Bandy said in gratitude. "But my team's still up there!"

"There's nothing we can do about them!" Double D said. He held Jimmy and Andy followed him out the door.

"People of Glitzville!" Grubba said over a PA system.

Everyone who was in the building had run out.

"We have successfully put out the fire. The determined cause was a pyrotechnics difficulty. We have shut down all pyrotechnical devices for the time being. Also to tell y-all, because Team Eduardo was winning last, they have been declared the winning team. It is safe to enter again." Grubba ended the announcement. Some sighs of relief filled the crowd, as Bandy rushed in to find his team.

Teams Eduardo and Gonzales however went to Eddy's stall.

"Holy crap!" Eddy said as he watched the TV. "That was the coolest battle I've seen so far!"

"Eddy, people got hurt because of the pyrotechnics accident!" Double D said.

"Whatever." Eddy said. "Eh, they'll be okay. That team is a hardy bunch, I met them one day. Oh, and here's your egg."

"Thank you." Double D said, putting the bag on his back again. "Well, I guess we have nothing left to do now but to rest and get some nourishment, then go to the ring again." Double D said.

However, as he walked away, he thought: "That was too convenient to have been an accident."