A/N
This chapter took a long time to make. Not because of my job, or procrastination. It took a long time because of the constant re-writing of scenes and events. It also really bothered me how long this chapter turned out to be as well. I know a lot of people don't really care if it is long or not, but to me some chapter's should never be long when it doesn't have to be when it comes to my stories. But I do hope you all enjoy the chapter none the less.
El Tigre the New Adventures Season 1 Episode 10 – Phase 1 Go through the Darkroot forest!
"I can't believe this…" scowled Marcus, staring at his new super suit with the look of dread across his face.
"Oh come on it's not that bad," said Frida, rocking her leg that was resting up on the other as she sat on the couch.
"And what's with the mask?" Marcus ranted on "Why are the ears so long? Why does it have ears to begin with?"
"Actually," said Frida "The ears were my idea." She then giggled.
Manny just rolled his eyes at Marcus's over-exaggerated complaining. "Dude come on it's not that bad. Besides, my dad worked really hard on it. The least you can do is be a little appreciative."
The trio sat in the living room of Manny's home. Rodolfo was exhausted from working on Marcus's super suit and decided to head off to bed.
Marcus lets out a small groan and tosses the suit over his shoulder. "Yeah yeah, thanks. I REALLY appreciate it." He said in sarcastic tone. "But, I stand by what I said. I'm not going to be entering in any dumb tournament-"
Marcus was cut off by a knock that suddenly came from the front door. Manny get's to his feet and answers the door. Standing at the door was Manny's mom, Maria Rivera. Marcus's eyes widen as he laid his eyes on Maria. His jaw hung open and he drops his super suit to the floor.
"Oh hey mom," said Manny as he went over to his mother and gave her a big hug.
"Hi Hijo," Maria said happily as she hugged her son tightly.
"Hey Ms's M!" said Frida waving at her with a smile.
"Hello Frida, It's good to see you!" Maria said waving at her. Her eyes then laid on Marcus. "And who is this?"
"Such beauty…" Marcus began "Only gifted by the gods above!"
Maria raised a brow "Um…what?"
"Oh no…" said Manny
"Yup," Frida nods "Saw this coming miiiiles away."
"NEVER have I seen such blinding beauty, my heart skipped a beat when you walked through that door! Your wonderful brown eyes and charming smile sucked the breath out of my body! My heart is pounding, ready to explode with love!" Marcus bleated; his eyes turned into beating hearts.
Maria just stood there staring at Marcus. She didn't look surprised since she already had another man saying the exact same thing to her. Maria looks over at Manny "He's been hanging around your father hasn't he?" She asked casually.
"Nope…" Manny replied shaking his head "That's just his personality…" He sighed
"Don't worry he did it to me when we first met." Frida added in.
"Mom, this is Marcus," Manny introduced her "Marcus, this is my mom."
Maria's eyes widen and she broke out into a big smile. "OH, so you're the boy that saved Manny!"
Marcus chuckled and blushed "Hahaha, yeah that's me. Manny was such a helpless little kitten," Manny suddenly bats a glare of shock at Marcus "I had to do something. I mean he was calling out for help."
"HEY I DIDN'T CALL OUT FOR HELP!" Manny shouted at Marcus.
"Nonetheless, you saved my son! And I thank you for that." Maria said sincerely. "Oh, are you going to be entering that tournament that's being held?"
"YES I AM!" Marcus blurted out.
"WHAT?" Manny said in a confused tone. "But you said-"
"Oh that's good!"Maria said happily. "I'll be cheering you all on!"
Marcus gasped cheerfully and placed both of his hands around his heart. "She'll be cheering me on! I'm so happy!"
"UGH!" Manny groaned
"Oh by the way Manny where is your father?" Maria asked
"Oh he went to bed. He was pretty tired after working on Marcus's hero suit all day." Manny explained.
"Ah I see, well I just wanted to stop by and see how you all are doing. Good luck in the tournament!" said Maria
"Yeah I should do the same." Marcus said with a nod.
"HOLD ON!" said Manny, stopping Marcus immediately. "YOU go home first!" he said pointed at Marcus.
"What? Why?"
"JUST GO!"
"Ugh fine." Marcus complied as he rolled his eyes. "It was a pleasure meeting you Manny's mom." He said in a flirty tone that just furthered rose Manny's blood pleasure.
"Likewise," Maria replied with a smile.
Marcus then leaves the apartment. Manny had his mom wait at least an hour before he had let her go. After that, Manny then gave the ok, Maria kissed Manny on his head, and then she had left.
[Elsewhere]
"Incredible…just…incredible…" said Diego breathlessly. Diego Chipotle (AKA Dr. Chipotle Jr.) was sitting in his room tampering with the small little robot that Nelson gave him. It was 2 days ago that he was handed this robot, and Diego was still looking at all the pieces that he took apart. The device was so complex and deep, Diego didn't know how long it would be before he would be done tampering with it. "He wasn't lying…the way this is put together is amazing…"
"DIEGO!" said a booming voice
Diego jumped at the sudden roar of his voice being called out and he turned around to his room door to see his father, Dr. Chipotle Sr. standing there with the usual look of fury on his face.
"You've been cooped up in this room for 2 days doing nothing!" Dr. Chipotle Sr. griped
"Father I've-I've just been busy with new things is all. All of this takes time!" Diego explained
"Is it going to help us actually SUCEEDE this time?" Dr. Chipotle asked, eyeing down his son.
"Well…maybe?" Diego said in an unsure tone.
"MAYBE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!" Dr. Chipotle Sr. roared. "You've been causing us to fail each time! Whatever you're messing with make it work!" Then, Dr. Chipotle Sr. stormed off.
Diego sighed; slumps in his chair and stairs down at the device that Nelson had given him. He took a look at the main pieces that went to the iron maiden and picked it up, taking a closer look at it.
"Hmm…I could actually use this as an upgrade for my cybernetic arm…" Diego said to himself. "I could make a number of magnificent upgrades!"
The sound of a beeping noise was made. Diego looked over to the left of his desk to see his communicator was going off. He reaches over and grabs the communicator and answers. "Sergio?"
"Hey Diego, what's my best buddy up to?" Sergio asked happily.
"Oh hey Sergio; I'm just tampering with some things is all." Replied Diego, "This man named Nelson gave me this device with all of these designs I've never seen before! It's incredible!"
"Oh? You've got to bring it by whenever you can! I've actually got some stuff to show you too!" Sergio said excited
"I'm glad you love the components Diego…"
Diego let out a loud yelp and he falls back in his chair. "WHO'S THERE? WHERE ARE YOU?!" He said turning his cybernetic arm into a large laser.
Suddenly the voice chuckled "I knew I'd get you by surprise little Diego. Don't you recognize my voice?"
"Wait…is that?" Diego looked around on the desk. "Is that you nelson?"
"Huh, who's nelson? Diego is there someone else in there?" Sergio asked confused.
"Umm Sergio I'll call you back." Diego said. Sergio agreed and he hung up. "Nelson, how are you contacting me? I didn't know this was also a communicator.
Nelson chuckles "Yes it is little one. So I take it you've dismantled the iron maiden?" He said smoothly.
"YES! You were telling the truth! I can't help but think of all the creations I can create with this new tech!" said Diego, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well that's wonderful. I'm happy that this is making creative juices flow." Nelson said whole heartedly. "Diego, do you think repay me for giving such a gift?"
"Repay you? What do you mean?" Diego asked curiously.
"The international tournament is beginning today. I'll let you know what I want you to do by then; take care little one." Then, the communication was cut.
Diego was left wondering what Nelson wanted him to do. Why was he so vague about it? But, that didn't worry Diego too much at all. All he was worried about was what Nelson had in store for him in terms of technology. Diego looked down at the picked apart tools from the iron maiden.
He went right back to tinkering.
…
It was around 6am when Manny woke up. It wasn't his usual wake up time but it was the time that all contenders were told to wake up to. They were also told to not head to Miracle city stadium for the first phase; but instead to head to open filed out of Miracle city. Manny, Rodolfo and Puma loco had freshened up, left out of their apartment, hopped into the car and headed down the path. As they drove through town they noticed that just about everyone in town was at the stadium and the streets were empty.
"This isn't safe," Rodolfo said worriedly "What If a banked were to robbed? Or someone attacks town!"
"Nah…you don't have to worry about that." Puma loco assured.
"What do you mean Grandpapai?" Manny asked curiously, as they arrived at the stadium to drop off Puma loco.
As Puma loco got out of the car he says "You'll see." He said
"Do you have your ticket father?" Rodolfo asked
"What? No of course not," said Puma Loco "I know a sneaky way in." He closed the car door and went along to the stadium.
"Oh Dios Mios…" Rodolfo said shaking his head. Manny chuckled as Rodolfo pulled out of the entrance way and heads down to the edge of Miracle city.
Once Manny and Rodolfo had arrived they could see all of the contenders waiting out in the mass open field. Camera crews from big TV stations were there conducting Interviews, and the art of earth team had made benches for everyone to sit down on as they wait for the tournament to officially start. There was a large stage in front of everyone with a microphone stand sitting there. Manny and Rodolfo had parked, exited the car and walked down to the fields to join the rest of the contenders.
"Hmm…I wonder where Marcus is right now." said Rodolfo
"Yeah, he said he was coming." Manny replied.
"I don't want him to be disqualified," said Rodolfo worried.
"HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!" Frida called out.
Manny and Rodolfo turned around to see Frida standing next to a porta potty waving at them.
"Frida?" said Manny surprised as he and Rodolfo walked over to her. "I thought you were at the arena!"
"I thought about it and then tagged along with Mark!" Frida replied pointing her thumb at Portable restroom.
"Marcus is in there?" said Manny
"Marcus, are you ok?" Rodolfo asked in a concerned tone. "Do you have an upset stomach?"
"NO I DON'T HAVE AN UPSET STOMACH!" Marcus bellowed as he slams his fist against the door on the inside.
"He's trying on the hero outfit." Frida said with a grin
"Are you having a hard time getting it on?" Rodolfo asked him "It's not chafing anywhere is it?"
"NO IT'S NOT! WILL YOU SHUT UP!?" Marcus roared.
Manny and Frida began snickering silently trying to contain their laughter.
"I HEAR YOU TWO IDIOTS LAUGHING!" Marcus shouted.
Manny's eyes glided across all of the contenders that were in the area, and as he did so, he and his father's eyes widened in shock in seeing not only all the bandits and thugs from Calavera, but villains such as El Oso, Titanium Titan.
"What the heck are they doing here?!" Manny shouted pointing at the villains. "I thought that this was a tournament for heroes only!"
"That's not really true," said a familiar a voice. "The international fighting tournament is open to anyone who wishes to enter."
The three of them turned around and saw Ryumaru, walking towards them followed by a young girl and boy, the girl had black bobbed haircut, and the boy, had long black hair. Both the girl and the boy were wearing green GI outfits, on the front of their right shoulders hand the Japanese Kanji for Wind stamped on it, and larger symbol on the back.
"AH Ryumaru, It's good to see that you're here!" said Rodolfo happily.
"Hello White Pantera, and hello to you to Manny and Frida," Ryumaru happily. "Frida, you're entering the tournament too?"
"WHAT NO WAY!" Frida said shaking her head quickly and waving both her hands "You can say that I have the best seat in the house!"
"Oh wow I like your goggles!" said the young girl standing next to Ryumaru with a big smile on her face.
"Oh thanks!" Frida said with a smile.
"Everyone this is my nephew, Yusuke, and my niece, Yukari." Ryumaru introduced.
"Pleasure to meet you all; I've heard a lot about you guys from uncle!" said Yukari excitedly
[Yukari Yamagishi]
Age: 16
Height: 5, 4
"It's nice to meet you all…" said Yusuke, silently
[Yusuke Yamagishi]
Age: 14
Height: 5, 2
"YO!" Manny said waving at them.
"SUP!" Frida said waving as well.
"Oh Ryumaru I didn't know you had a niece and nephew!" Rodolfo said surprised.
"What? You don't talk about us at all, uncle?!" said Yukari shooting a sharp glare at Ryumaru.
Ryumaru chuckles nervously "The opportunity never really came up." He explained. "These two, right here have been training in Art of wind since they were young. Their father wants them to test their skills in this year's international fighting tournament."
"AH YES- a perfect way to test your training, an excellent choice!" Rodolfo nods with a smile.
"OH YOU ALL ARE HERE!" said another familiar voice
Everyone turned around to see Carmen and her mother Mariana walking over to them.
"Oh hey Carmen!" said Frida, gleaming at her.
"Hey Fri, Sup Manny!" Carmen said waving at them.
"Oh another friend you've made?" Rodolfo asked.
"HI! My name is Carmen!" Carmen said to Rodolfo. "And this is my mom Mariana!"
Mariana suddenly grasped both of her hands around Rodolfo's; she looked at him with her eyes sparkling in amazement. "I'M SUCH A HUGE FAN!" She gleamed.
"Huh?" said Rodolfo surprised
"Oh I knew this was going to happen…" Carmen said embarrassingly "My mom really adores you Mr. White Pantera." She said scratching her cheek.
"I'VE FOLLOWED YOUR WORK FOR YEARS! YOU'RE SUCH AN AMAZING HERO!" Mariana squealed.
Rodolfo's face went red "I…uh Haha well thank you!" He said chuckled.
"Well someone has an adoring fan," said Frida, nudging her elbow at Rodolfo.
"Who's also single," Mariana mentioned quietly as she brushed her hair aide.
"Mom…" Carmen said sternly.
"I'm just sayin…"
"Why…" Marcus thought "Why are so many people gathered around this damn portable toilet if they're not going to use it?!"
"OH THERE OVER HERE!" said another familiar voice.
"Oh my god no way…not him too…" Marcus said, followed by an annoyed groan.
Leng walked over to the group along with two people. A tall ball man who wore a black GI with a Chinese kanji symbol on the upper chest; and a girl who looked to be Leng's age who had pitch black hair wrapped in two pig-tails.
"IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN!" Leng said happily.
"Ah," said the tall balled man gently "Are these the friends you were telling me about?"
"Yes Grandfather!" Leng nods "That is Manny Rivera, Frida Suarez, Carmen and her mother! A couple of other people I haven't met before." He said referring to Ryumaru and and…umm is Marcus not here?" He looked around for him.
"Oh yeah he's in the toilet." Frida informed him.
"DAMN IT FRIDA!" Marcus shouted from the porta potty.
"Marcus? Is everything ok? Are you just nervous?" Leng asked knocking on the porta potty door.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Marcus roared.
"Did you not chew your food properly?" Leng asked.
"I SWEAR TO GOD!" Marcus screamed.
"I don't think that's going to help Marcus." said Leng concerned.
"UGHHH!" Marcus groaned more annoyed.
"Ah yes White Pantera. It's an honor to meet you." The tall balled man said extending his hand for handshake. "My name is Bao Bai Cho."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too Mr. Cho!" said Rodolfo Honored.
"Go on Ju, introduce yourself." said Bao
"Hi. My names Ju Bai Cho," said Ju softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She then bowed.
The loud sound of many voices around the area was broken by a loud alarm sound that went off for three seconds.
"Please gather around in fifteen minutes. Thank you."
"HEY MARCUS, GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE JOHN WE GOT FIFTEEN MINUTES!" Manny shouted knocking
"PISS OFF!" Marcus snapped back.
"That's no way to talk to your teammate!" Manny said scowling. But his frown then turned into a smirk. "But then again I'm going to be the main one carrying your sorry butt in this tournament anyway."
Marcus opens the door the porta potty and grips his right hand around Manny's shirt and yanks him forward "JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TOO?"
Manny and the group around blankly stared at Marcus. Marcus was geared up in the hero outfit that Rodolfo had made him. His base color on the outfit was black. On the shoulder was grey and so was the patches around his thighs. There was also red cracked lines going from around the front of his legs on up to his chest, and in the center was a pentagram symbol that resembled his Devil eyes. As for his mask, it had red eyes were pointed and on the top of his head were bunny looking ears.
Manny snickered, and so did Carmen and Frida.
"Oooh the outfit really turned out well!" Rodolfo said excitedly.
The three of them broke out into an uncontrolled batch of snickering that just furthered just annoyed Marcus.
"Heeey little bunny, wanna a carrot?" Carmen teased.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Marcus shouted form the top of his lungs as fire roared around his hand.
Yukari and Yusuke suddenly gasped.
"H-He's an art of fire user?!" Yukari said shocked.
"N-No way, I thought all art of fire users were gone…" said Yusuke dumfounded.
"Oooh how interesting." said Bao "A lost art here at the tournament. This will be a fun show to watch."
"Tch…" Marcus scoffed as the flames around his hands went away.
Manny then decided to let his eyes wander across the area, seeing who else had arrived for the tournament.
That's when he saw Dylan Irving; the art of water user that almost go into a fight with Marcus. He was just lying on the grass with an annoyed expression on his face. There was also a women with long black hair was sitting next to Dylan's father, Walter Irving, who Manny assumed was Dylan's mom. Across from the rest of the contenders was a large spear of nothing but vines. A man and a woman with blond hair were standing there in front of the spear. She looked to be yelling at whoever was inside. A boy with bright orange hair, wearing a blue jean jacket and cargo pants was just standing there rubbing the back of his head with an expression of "I knew she was going to do this" type of look. The art of earth users were keeping to themselves and didn't look to want to socialize besides one, who was actually conducting an interview with the TV station. To no surprise to Manny, some of Miracle city's hero's had arrived too such as Silver Sombrero, the industrialist, two old teammates of Cosmic Cleopatra, Iron Pinata, Seventh Samurai and his son Toshiro was among the groups as well.
"Hey…" said Frida, looking up into the sky. "LOOK AT THAT!" She shouted pointing up at the sky.
Rodolfo looked up and he gasped, forming a big smile on his face "THEIR HERE!" he squealed.
The group, including everyone in the field looked up at the sky. Appearing out from the clouds was a large blimp like air-craft with a balancing scale symbol on the sides. The air-craft hovered over the field, and a compartment below it opened up. A door on the right side opened up, and out came a metal walk-way that transformed into flight of stairs. Then out they came, the first to walk out was William dean leader of league of Washington hero's, wearing a navy blue suit and pants with a red tie. Followed behind him is Rebecca Lockhart, the world's greatest female swordsmen, leader of 2nd division sword team. She wore a white dress and had her blond hair tied up in a pony tail, and red lipstick. Followed after her was a man that was eight feet tall, had long black hair that covered his face, that man is goliath. He wore the usual formal attire; black suit with a white shirt underneath with a black tie.
"That guy is huge…" Whispered Manny
"I know right?" replied Frida
Followed after that was a man that Manny had recognized instantly; and that man is named Christopher Anderson, the man he met at Ven's Vill. He didn't wear a suit at all. He was wearing a blue jacket with pink pants and blue shoes.
"It's that guy!" Manny said pointing up with angry expression on his face.
Then followed after Christopher, was a man with pale skin, wearing a long cape with a hood that he had over his head and purple tattoos all over his body. He had purple liner all around the outside of his eyes and come on his lips.
"Ok…that guy looks really creepy…" said Carmen staring at the tattooed man.
"That's Abraxes," said Ryumaru "The magician of the league of Washington heroes."
"That guys a hero? Man, picture him trying to attend a kid's birthday party." said Frida.
"You said he's a magician? Kind of like Cosmic Cleopatra?" Manny asked
Ryumaru nods "Sort of. His power is a mystery to me. I don't think many people have seen him in action."
"Tch…" said Vosper, leader of the art of earth team "Show offs…"
"WELCOME WELCOME!" said Mr. Dolton, head booker of the international fighting tournament. He was round man with grey busy mustache around the top of his lip. He wore a grey suit with a bright red tie and brown shoes. "It's an honor to have you all here! Ms. Lockhart you look stunning!"
Rebecca smiled then giggles "Thank you Mr. Dolton." She said softly.
"And it's an honor finally meeting you too Abraxes. I want to personally thank you for assisting in the first phase of the tournament!"
"Let's just get this over with…"said Abraxes in a deep raspy voice.
"Umm…of course…ahem," Dolton said "Again! Thank you for attending!" He then turned around and hurried to the stage, Abraxes followed slowly in slothful manner.
Dolton stood on the stage adjusting the microphone. Then he looks over to the left seeing Nelson hurry onto the stage huffing and puffing.
"There you are Nelson my goodness where have you been?" Dolton asked while his hand was placed over the microphone.
"S-Sorry Mr. Dolton I got caught up in conversation that's all!" Nelson replied nervously.
"Oh no matter, you arrived just in time!" Dolton said. He cleared his throat, removed his hand from the microphone, and began to speak. "WELCOME ALL HEROES FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO 10th annual International fighting tournament! Now before in the past, we'd always have the standard traditional bracket. But now, for our tenth annual tournament; I believe it's time for us to spice things up a bit. Ahem, Mr. Abraxes, if you will please?"
Dolton stepped back. Abraxes stepped forward. All eyes were now on him. But he didn't face everyone; he had his back to everyone who was watching. Then, a purple glow of aura had appeared around his body. His cape began to hover as he raised his arms. The ground below everyone's feet began to rumble violently. Frida, Carmen and Manny ended up falling flat on their butts due to the shaking.
"WHAT'S THIS GUY DOING? IS HE CAUSING EARTHQUAKES?" Manny screamed.
Then, bursting up from behind the stage were large thick roots that spread on for miles and miles and had risen so high that it almost reached the clouds. Everyone stared at the large forest that emerged with awe.
Carmen's jaw dropped and said "T-This guy just summoned a whole forest?" she said dumbfounded.
"W-was that some type of magic move?" said Manny, looking over at Ryumaru.
"I…think so…" Ryumaru replied "So that's the power of his magic… incredible…"
Abraxes turned to face the contenders. He took off his hood. His head was completely shaven. He began to speak.
"This…is the Darkroot forest. The Darkroot Forest is home to my most ferocious creations of magic, false illusions and much more. Within this forest their lies creatures of my creation...and paths that will test your strengths, courage, wits and smarts. If you cannot pass…you will die."
Rodolfo and other heroes gasped.
Rebecca quickly stepped onto the stage and stood in front of microphone "Ahahaha he's just kidding no one's going to die! Everyone please relax!" She said with a nervous smile on her face. She then turned and began whispering loudly to Abraxes "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? DON'T SAY THAT!"
"I just wanted to be a little dramatic…" Abraxes whispered back. Rebecca rolled her eyes and moves away from the Microphone to allow Abraxes to talk "Within the forest will have these colored stones." A total of six colored stones appeared hovering over Abraxes. One was red, one was blue, one was green, one was yellow, one was orange, and the last was purple. "You must collect six of each colored stone within the Darkroot forest."
"Hmm…that sounds easy enough…" said Manny
"Each stones will be harder to achieve than the last you acquire. But…that doesn't mean you can't try to take a stone from your opponents." said Abraxes.
Every team began to give sharp looks at other teams. Then, the large ball of vines that Manny had saw when had arrived began to unwind. Stepping out from the vines of was Lily Rover, wearing her flat cap, blue jean jacket and pants, with her pink shoes.
A smirk grew across her face "A forest? They're practically giving me this round…" she said followed by a sinister giggle.
"Oh man…she's doing that creepy smile again…" Thought her brother Austin Rover; who stood there wearing red shirt with blue jeans and red boots
"ALRIGHT! AHAHAHA!" Vosper laughed "This is going to be a fun challenge!"
"I see what they're doing…" said Joshua alias, an art of earth student. He had short brown hair and a false right eye. "They're starting off the tournament by separating the weak, from the strong off the bat."
"I wonder who will fall first," said Timothy baker, another art of earth student. He looked be around Manny's age, short blond hair, small body and bright green eyes.
Now, Dolton stepped onto the stage. He straightened his tie and was about to speak when suddenly far off behind the contenders a sudden explosion occurred from out of the ground and a figure leaped out. He landed on the ground on his feet, wearing a black hat and carrying a red guitar on his back. Manny's jaw dropped and his eyes widen when he showed his face. It was Django of the dead.
"DJANGO!" Manny called out in shock
"Well that's just great…here we go again…" Groaned Marcus
"Is that…a skeleton?" asked Dylan raising a brow
"This city just continues to get more and more interesting…" said Walter
"Ah there you are! Django of the dead was it? And here I thought you were not going to show up!" asked Dolton
"Ah yes one of the last contenders have arrived." Nelson said with a big smile across his face.
"DID HE JUST SAY CONTENDER?" Manny shouted confused
Django placed the tip of his thumb on the roof of his hat and adjust it; throwing a mischievous smirk at Manny. Manny glared at Django and clenched his fist tightly. The thought of Django even winning this whole tournament made him sick to his stomach. He would never allow something like this to happen.
"And now," Began Dolton "It is time. Thus we began the 10th annual international fighting tournament!"
Snaps and cracks could be heard coming from the Darkroot Forest. The vines began to untangle and a large opening was made. Inside there were three multiple different paths; enough paths for all the contestants to take.
"Looks like it's time," said Ryumaru looking at his niece and nephew. "Good luck you two, and be careful, watch each other's backs."
"Right!" Yukari said nodding
"Mhm…" Yusuke said nodding as well.
"We'll meet you all on the battle field!" Leng said excitedly as he and his sister went off to get started.
"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Rodolfo asked them.
"ALL SET!" Manny said bouncing up and down.
"Ready as I'll ever be!" Carmen said with a smile.
"Marcus?" Rodolfo asked as he saw that Marcus was fiddling around with his mask. "Are you ok?"
"NO! It's so hot under this mask!" Marcus said trying to find the slit so he could take it off.
On the stage, Nelson was having a short conversation with Dolton on getting ready for the next few phases of the tournament after the Darkroot forest. Once the conversation was over he turned around and walked off the stage. His gaze landed on Manny and his group. He saw Marcus grabbing a hold of his mask and taking it off. Nelson's eyes widened and his mouth hung open. He couldn't believe it…here of all places…after all of those years…he was just right over there.
"Marcus put your mask back on! You must hide your identity!" Rodolfo said hastily.
"UGH just let me breathe for a second!" Marcus groaned. He then looked over to the right and saw that Nelson was staring at him. Nelson quickly looked away and walked off. "Tch…weirdo…"
Nelson took out his communicator and quickly contacted Diego, his hands shaking with excitement.
Diego then answered "Yes Nelson?"
"Change of plans little one…there's something I need you to do…" Nelson said as he formed a grin on his face.
"Kick butt Manny!" Frida said as the she and Manny fist-bumped.
"You know it!" Manny said with a confident smirk. Manny then looked over at Marcus and elbows his side gently "Come on dude put your mask back on!"
"Alright already jeez," Marcus said as he reluctantly puts back on his mask. "Happy?"
Both Manny and Frida broke out into loud snickering again "You two can go to hell!" Marcus screamed.
After that, they all had gone over to the entrance of the Darkroot forest. Each team was standing in their designated spots. Dylan looks over at Manny, who was standing next to his father; giving him a smug grin. Manny clenched his hands in irritation, and then looked past Dylan and other contenders to see Django looking over at Manny as well. So many problems were in this tournament that Manny had to worry about. El Oso and his band of thugs were trying to come up with a plan once they entered, but even they looked confused at whatever El Oso was trying to plan out. Most of them looked scared as they stared at towering forest in front of them.
"ALL CONTESTANTS AT THE READY!" boomed Dolan "NOW GO!"
Everyone sprinted off down their paths and a wall vines had closed behind them. Everyone had entered the Darkroot forest.
"Hey how are we supposed to know how they're doing?" Frida asked Ryumaru
"Yeah, I wanna see my baby girl!" said Mariana sternly.
"Look up there," Ryumaru said pointing up.
On top of the stage was a large floating square screen that Abaraxes had made. Within the Darkroot forest, lies a camera that allows everyone from the stadium to see the contestants. Frida could see Manny, Marcus and Rodolfo walking through a tunnel of vines.
A big smile grew upon Frida's face "GO GET EM MANNY!" She cheered on.
…
As Manny, Marcus and Rodolfo walked on; the entrance became wider and wider as they went. The same was said for the other contenders as well. The further they went in, small little light bugs began popping up out of nowhere; hovering around the trio. Then, they made it to the front. It was breathtaking and surprising. It was like they walked into another world. The inside of the Darkroot forest had a sky with green stars, and open area that was just as big as Miracle city.
"This guy made all of this?" Marcus said, letting his eyes explore "Hell how are we supposed to find anything in here? Who knows how long we'll be!"
"Yeah…I didn't expect anything like this…" Manny said as he stared off at large overwhelming area they were in.
"Well first things first!" Rodolfo began "We must approach everything with caution! Stay close together, and most importantly, TEAMWORK! NOW! ONWARD!" Rodolfo said in a heroic tone as he walked forward.
"Ladies first," Marcus said stepping out of Manny's way.
"Oh, you're such a gentlemen," Manny said sarcastically as he began walking.
Elsewhere, Dylan casually walked through the forest full of large thick healthy trees. He had his hands tucked into his pocket and looked rather bored. He even let out a small yawn and wiped his eyes.
Dylan sighs "Ok so where the heck and I supposed to look for these dumb crystal's anyway? Find six different colored crystals? Sounds like dang chore…"
Dylan stopped walking as soon as he heard a twig break. He turned around immediately and quickly took his hands out of his pocket. He scanned the area, making sure to see anything out of ordinary. That's when he saw two pair of bright eyes peeking from behind the tree. Dylan summons up a ball of water, wraps it around his hands slashes the spot where the creatures was standing. He could hear it run off.
"HEY DON'T RUN OFF LIKE A COWARD!" Dylan bellowed.
The creature began pacing around behind the trees. Dylan sent out multiple water bullets out into the vast darkness trying to hit the creature. But it seemed none of his attacks were connecting. Dylan swore that he hit them directly. What could he be doing wrong?
But then he realized what was going when the creature stepped out. It wasn't a creature at all. It had the body of a very muscular human. But when Dylan looked up at its face; he noticed that there were four floating different colored masks. One was blood red, one was dark blue, the other, bright yellow, and the last one was purple.
"What in the hell?" said Dylan, taken off guard.
"So he's run into that already?" said Abaraxes
"What is that?" William asked
"I call it the Four Masked Idol. It's a creature I made with 4 different mask; each with different powers." Abaraxes explained. "It's one of my most flawed creations."
As Abaraxes said that Dylan was sent hurdling into the air by a powerful shockwave the yellow mask had sent off. Dylan lands on his feet and summons up orbs or water and tosses them at the idol. The orbs of water were blocked by the purple mask that had a made a clear glass shield.
"DAMN!" Dylan cursed.
"How is the idol flawed?" Rebecca asked while she watched the big screen.
"The idols don't compensate for the other too well. If the boy is smart enough he'll figures it out now," said Abaraxes, his didn't blink at all as he stared up at the large TV screen.
Dylan was trying to go on the defensive. The purple mask was shooting out dark purple orbs of energy that was heading towards Dylan. Dylan was able to avoid the purple orbs of energy but found himself back into a corner. The purple mask had made a mirror shield that blocked off Dylan's escape. The red mask charged up its laser and fired it. Dylan hopped high into the air just barely dodging it. The laser hits the mirror. The laser deflected off the mirror and hits the upper body of the mask idol, knocking it to the ground.
Dylan looked over at the knocked over the masked idol in shock. Dylan looked at the mirror behind him and back at the masked idol. Dylan grinned "You stupid freak!" he spat, as the idol gets back to its feet. Dylan summoned up a wave of water around his feet and slides over to the masked idol. The red mask fires balls of lasers at Dylan as he charged in. Dylan hops off the wave of water hovering over the masked Idol. The purple mask had placed a shielding mirror above Dylan so he couldn't move any further up. But that was what Dylan was hoping for. The red mask fired a strong laser stream up at Dylan, and then Dylan moves out of the way just in time, then the laser deflected off the mirror and hits the idol directly in the chest. A loud cry could be heard coming from the masks that surrounded the body. Their glowing eyes went away, and the masks fell lifeless to the ground.
Dylan slowly walked over to the idol's lifeless body. The body began to glow, and emerging from the idol's body; appeared a red stone that landed into Dylan's hand.
"Humph, too easy!" Dylan said grinning.
A roar of cheers could be heard coming from the stadium where just about all of Miracle city and tourist where watching the tournament. The Scottish tourists were rowdy, cheering their hearts out for Dylan.
"Oh, so that's what you meant by flawed," said Rebecca.
The camera's moved on to Lily Rover. As soon as the camera's landed on her; everyone could see fear and cries coming from the thugs of Miracle city. They were all being tangled up and sunk into the ground. To everyone's surprise, Lily had already acquired three different colored stones, red, green and purple.
"All I need is three more," Lily said looking down at her stones.
"Sorry little girl! But we're going to need those stones in order to progress!" said a confident voice behind her.
Lily turned around to see both, Silver Sombrero and The industrialist standing on top of a large thick tree branch.
"Indeed little one! We don't want to hurt you at all so just hand them over!" said The Industrialist. "Please just hand them over, I don't want to try and harm an innocent girl; such as you. Even though that is what they want us to do."
"What in the world…" Lily said staring at Silver Sombrero and Industrialist
"So we ask kindly! To please hand over the crystal that you have! We don't want to use force!" said Silver Sombrero
Lily giggled softly. That giggle then turned into a laugh. "Pathetic." She said smirking "Absolutely embarrassing. You both sound so cliché and generic…"
Both the Industrialist and Silver Sombrero glared down at Lily. A vein popped across the industrialist's head. "WE TRIED TO ASK NICELY!" He roared. The Industrialist aimed his laser at Lily and fire immediately. The laser hit the ground where lily was standing causing a large puff of smoke to resonate form the ground she was standing on. But lily was not there.
"OH NO! I KILLED HER!" The industrialist panicked.
"Oh please…don't make me laugh," said Lily, who was hovering above them by the vines from trees wrapped around her waist. A random tree vine whips the both of them off the thick branch they were standing on, and two Miracle city hero's fall to the ground. Lily stuck out her arm and slowly raised it over her head. Coming from out of the ground in front of Silver Sombrero and The Industrialist, came a large flower purple flower with white polka dots all around it. "La Fleur Du Sommeil (The Flower of Slumber)" Lily whispered.
A purple mist was starting to appear from the flower. It was too late for the two heroes from Miracle city to cover their mouths. Silver Sombrero and the Industrialist began to feel drowsy. Their eyes felt heavy, and they began yawning. It a matter of seconds, the two of them had passed out.
"Sleep well." Lily said as she was let back down to the ground and began walking past the two snoring heroes.
"Well…looks like that's two heroes down from Miracle city," William said with a chuckle.
"Such a strong child," said Abaraxes "To control the vines of the Darkroot Forest; she's one to keep an eye on."
As for the other contenders of the tournament
Ryumaru' nephew and niece had been only one crystal away from completing this phase. The same was for Leng and her sister Ju, were already done. The art of earth team had trouble around the beginning but pulled through near the end, not losing a single member of their team and completed collecting their stones. Carmen was also a surprise in this. She, being all by herself had gathered all the stones. Toshiro had also collected all the stones he needed, using his smarts and caution; he had made it through the Darkroot forest with no problem at all.
Roz and his son Okami had seemed to really enjoy the Darkroot Forest, as the two of them spent much time playing around vines and climbing around tall trees. But, as they did all of that; they, of course, did end up running into the creatures that lurked the forest, and was able to collect all of the stones they needed.
Yukari and Yusuke had also succeeded in collecting their stones as well. They had entered a part of the Darkroot Forest where they were attacked by a bunch of crystal monsters that had ambushed them. Luckily thanks to their skills they were able to defeat them.
Some of the Villain's of this tournament fell completely flat. Titanium Titan was eliminated thirty minutes into the tournament. El Oso was tangled up by living thorn creature and his crew was missing.
Django, however, had no issue at all going through the Darkroot Forest. He had collected all of the stones by defeating the creatures lurking in the forest that held them. He also did that without even trying, which was very strange to Abaraxes.
But for Manny, Marcus and Rodolfo however, things weren't going as smoothly.
"WATCH OUT IT'S ABOVE US!" Manny bellowed as he pointed up.
In the sky fluttering above them were two giant butterflies. The lines of their wings were light cotton blend pale green, their eyes pitch black and every time they flapped their wings sparks of green dust would scatter around.
"HOW COULD SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL; BE SO DEADLY?!" Rodolfo screamed.
The inside of the butterfly's wings was beginning to glow on different spots. Then suddenly, a rain of energy blast had begun to rain down on Manny, Rodolfo and Marcus. The three of them roll out of the way into cover as the energy blast tear through the ground and pierce through trees.
"DAMN STUPID INSECTS!" Marcus growled. Marcus then took a deep breath, hopped out from cover and lets out a wave of fire from his mouth "DRAGONS BREATH!"
The butterfly's antenna's wiggled and a sudden shockwave burst from them, blowing back Marcus's intense fire.
"OH, GIVE ME A BREAK!" Marcus said in frustration
The two giant butterflies started to glow. Then, a glowing bean of dust had shot out of the two of them. This beam of dust tore through the ground and was heading straight towards Marcus. Marcus jumped high into the air avoiding the beam of dust. The beam had had completely destroyed the tree Marcus was hiding behind and the next trees followed after.
Manny had sliced off of the trees next time him. Held it over his head and hurled it straight at one of the butterflies. One of the butterflies' had flown to left dodging it with ease.
Rodolfo hops up high in the air and extends out his leg. But the other butterfly shoots out a scatter of energy blast that hit Rodolfo and send him straight back down to the ground.
"THAT'S IT! TRY AND BLOCK THIS!" Marcus thundered as he focused a wave fire around the spot he was standing. Four towering pillars of flames erupted around Marcus, taking the shape of the hydra. "ART OF FIRE-BURNING HYDRAS!" Marcus boomed as the flaming hydras lunged at the butterflies.
Even the shockwave from both butterflies couldn't stop this immense attack and the flaming hydras had consumed one of the butterflies whole. The other one was flying around trying to get away from the intense flames till it ran straight into Manny. Manny extended his claws and within a matter of seconds, he had slashed it into pieces.
"EXCELLENT WORK!" Rodolfo bleated
As soon as the butterflies disappeared, a blue crystal had appeared from thin air and hovered down to the three of them.
"WHAT? WE ONLY GET ONE?!" Manny shouted in anger. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"
"I should burn this whole damn forest down for this!" Marcus growled.
"Please, you two relax." Rodolfo said softly "If it was that easy everything else we've been through would have rewarded us greatly from the last obstacles if that was the case."
"Tch…" Marcus mumbled under his breath.
"Whatever…" Manny groaned.
After that, the three of them continued on. The three of them had only just had four stones so far. The Darkroot forest has been going on for about an hour. All the contenders had to do was make it to the middle of the forest without having their stones taken or lost.
The three of them had found themselves in the middle of a circular spot. Manny looked around on the ground to see a couple of shirts and hats scattered around the ground. They looked like they belonged to thugs that were with El Oso.
"Umm…this can't be good…" said Manny cautiously.
"Something had tour these guys up pretty badly…" said Marcus.
"Be aware you two…" Rodolfo warned.
As they stepped into the middle of the circular field, that's when they heard it. It sounded like buzz saws, were coming their way. The three of them looked around as the sound grew louder and louder till finally, shooting out of the forest were two big balls of fur spinning in the air. They both landed on the ground, the three of them looked up in shock. Towering over the three of them were giant round brown cats with razor-sharp spikes all over their backs.
"Manny, you didn't' tell you me you had distant cousins in this," said Marcus
"NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR CAT JOKES!" Manny screamed.
"WATCH OUT! THEIR COMING!" Rodolfo alerted.
The two giant brown cats began spinning and charged at the three of them like large boulders rolling down a hill. The ground below them was being torn apart as they attempted shred down the trio.
Fired roars around Marcus's hand as she shouts "FLAME FIST!" Marcus screamed launching a large fist like fireball at the spinning giant cats. The giant cats avoided the fireball with ease and now targeted Marcus. Manny launched his grappling hook straight at the spinning giant cats but it deflected straight off of them. Marcus leaps out of the way and the rolling cat collided against the stone wall cliffside and he rolls up the wall, leaps into the air and returns back down to the ground.
"NOW HOW ARE WE GOING TO BEAT THESE THINGS?!" Manny shouted
"LEAVE IT TO ME!" said Rodolfo, as he sprinted towards one of the rolling cats. One of the rolling cats charged at Rodolfo to try and shred him down but Rodolfo stops dead in his tracks, cocks his leg back and kicks the rolling sending it high into the air. The other charged towards Rodolfo and he sticks his leg out stopping the cat with ease.
Manny and Marcus took advantage of this, and they ran towards the cat ready to deliver the final blow. But then suddenly, both Manny and Marcus had suddenly vanished into thin air.
"What in the world?" Rodolfo said shocked. "Manny? Marcus?"
Both Manny and Marcus had found themselves in the middle of a forest. They both fell down to the ground with a thud and groaned at the sudden impact.
"OW! What the heck?" Manny said rubbing his butt.
"What happened? Where the hell are we?" said Marcus, shaking his head and looked up. He looked around and saw nothing but thick forest.
"How should I know?" Manny said getting to his feet. He looked up and noticed that there was this odd distortion in the sky. The green stars were not there but this weird black and purple aura. "What are we going to do? We need to try and get back to my dad."
"That's going to be difficult considering the fact we have no idea where we are in this forest," Marcus said annoyed.
"I would like to apologize for that," said a voice in the distance. Manny and Marcus turned to the direction where the voice came from "It was planned to have you here earlier but to avoid suspicion we had to plan carefully."
Marcus stared into the distance transfixed. "That voice…" Marcus thought "It…it sounds so familiar…"
Manny noticed that Marcus had this transfixed look "Marcus, what's wrong?" He asked
"Marcus…" said the voice softly as he got closer. "I couldn't believe it when I first saw you…you've really changed…" That's when he stepped out of the shadows. Marcus's eye's had completely widened. The man who he was looking at was wearing a light purple suit with a green tie. His hair was blond, short and spiky. His skin was pale white and his eyes were crystal blue.
"N-No…no way…" Marcus stuttered
"It's to see you again…old friend." said Tetsuo Aragaki
[Tetsuo Aragaki]
Age: 26
Height – 6,1
Marcus continued to stare at Tetsuo dumbfounded, and said…"I…I thought you were dead…"
To be continued
A/N
My goodness it's finally done. Due to me working and working on this chapter for month and months, it feels AMAZING to be finally done with it. Now I can't say that I'm satisfied with this chapter. I know it's pretty long but what bothered me the most was the character introductions and characters trials being skipped over. But if you all do want to see the events just let me know in the reviews. Thank you all for reading! Cya next time!