"ARGH!" yelled Flurry as she punched some nearby lockers.

The girl was still reeling from moments ago as she suffered the loss of her cousins. The girl's friends kept their distance as they knew better than to get in the girl's crossfire lest she take her anger out on them.

"I did not lose!" said the Crystal Prep girl in her irate state. "Wiseman!"

"Yes, my princess!" said Sombra as he hurried to Flurry's side.

"Tell me I didn't lose!"

"You didn't lose, my student," said Sombra as he tried to calm Flurry's anger.

"I didn't lose to my cousins!"

"All of you, get out," said Sombra, wanting to be left alone to deal with Flurry.

The girl's friends did as they were told, and they quietly left the room to allow their principal to quell their leader's fury.

"Listen to me, Flurry. Listen to me. Hear my voice, my student. Last I checked, you are still the Final Boss. You are still unbreakable. No one duelist can beat you!"

Sombra began to get to work on trying to bring his student back to her senses as the sting of defeat was strong on the girl.

Sunny and her friends were shown walking across campus grounds as their entire school stopped to cheer and applaud them.

"Nice work, you guys!"

"Great job!"

"You're the best, Sunny!"

"Main event Mario!"

"We're this close, guys. One more… just one more duel and we'll win," said Zipp as the girl was excited.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Zipp. We still need to win the duel," responded Sunny.

"Come on, Sunny. We got this wave of momentum right now. Mario and Roll just took down their cousin. You saw how happy everyone was when Mario beat her. They're already calling him Main Event Mario."

"Oh, I like the sound of that," said Izzy.

"I'll admit, it's got a nice ring to it," said the boy as he fed his ego by hearing the nickname his fellow students were starting to call him by.

"Look, I get it, Zipp. But just because we made it to the finals and beat Flurry doesn't mean we rest on our laurels. We have to be ready because tonight will be the biggest duel for CHS."

"Alright, alright, I get it. But come on, let's at least celebrate our victory."

"Oh, I know just the place," said Pipp as she quickly swiped on her phone before clicking on an image and sending it to their group chat. The phones of the others all went off as they pulled them out to see what their social media friend had sent.

"An arcade, huh? I didn't expect that from you, sis."

"It's been a while since I've been to one," admitted Roll.

"I guess we're going," said Sunny, as it seemed everybody was on board to celebrate their victory with a quick trip to the arcade.

"No, Moondancer. Tell them they better invest at least 25% of their stock into ours if they want their products. Anything less is an insult!" said Twilight as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"You're the boss, Twi," said Moondancer over the laptop's screen as the call ended.

Twilight took a moment to remove her glasses as she rubbed her eyes. At that moment, the door to the room opened, and Isaac came in carrying several bags.

"You know, when you asked me to get you some condition for your hair, you never specified which one!" shouted the pro duelist as he had two bags full of different hair products for his wife.

"Well, did you get it, at least?" smiled Twilight as she turned to look at her husband.

"What do you think? Check the bill!" said the man as he just flopped down on the bed, making Twilight giggle at her husband's over-dramatics for having to buy her stuff. "You're lucky everything is right there on the strip here in Las Vegas. So I don't have to travel far!"

"I'm sorry, honey. Next time, I'll say which one. I just had to take an urgent call from Moondancer." said the card designer as she looked inside the bags of hair products her husband had given her. "Speaking of which, any more media appearances you have to do?"

"Let's see," said the man as he reached for the list that Juniper had sent him that contained all his appearances to promote the Super Showdown PLE that was but two and a half weeks away here in Las Vegas.

"I got a live signing at 9 in the morning. Following that, I got to do a charity appearance at 10. And that goes for 3 hours. Following that, I have to do a podcast interview at 2. Then, hopefully, hit the gym at 3:30, shower, and get ready for another media appearance at 5. Then we attended a press conference in the Skyhigh Casino at 7. Lastly, do one final signing of autographs and auctions at 8:45. So based on that, I'll only have 30 minutes for lunch and about 20 minutes for dinner if I so choose. So… yeah, a typical day, what else is new."

"Well, when you're the top duelist in the world, you have a lot of responsibilities to the business and the company," said Twilight as she'd grown used to her husband's insane schedule as she was in a similar boat.

"I've been doing it for over 15 years now. What's another day?" chuckled the man as Twilight approached her husband.

Twilight sat down on her husband's lap as he held his wife's waist before she pulled him in for a quick kiss.

"By the way, have you talked with Aj recently?" asked Isaac.

"Yeah. She said she's going to do some training on the farm before she heads out here for your match."

"And any new info you were able to find out about these Shadow Duelists?" asked the World Champion.

"None so far. Ever since the kids went back to school, it's been quiet. Too quiet, if you ask me."

"Yeah, that's what worries. But… at least the kids are focusing on their education right now. The last thing they need is to worry about evil forces trying to take over the world while in school. I just hope whatever this evil is, we can stop it."

"We've done it before. I'm sure we can do it again," said Twilight as she took her husband's cap and put it on herself.

The World Champion smiled as he pulled his wife in closer and gave her another kiss as he laid back down on the bed with her on top.

Sunny and the others soon arrived at the location that Pipp had sent them, and upon entering, the many sights and sounds from the different arcade machines rang out. A few little kids ran about, using some plastic swords they won to have a swordfight.

"Oh, what's this?" asked Izzy as she noticed a claw machine with many fluffy animals inside.

"Nothing but a scam!" said Mario as he knew the real truth behind machines like these. "Trust me, Izzy, these aren't worth it."

"Why?" asked the girl.

"'Cause they're rigged, that's why!"

"How?"

"You're kidding me, right!" said Mario as he felt Izzy was messing with him.

"Izzy, let me ask you this. Have you ever been to an arcade?" asked Zipp.

"Nope," responded the girl with her carefree smile.

"That explains why you never had any friends," snickered Mario as he got some glares from Pipp. "What?"

Once the group received their cards, they all decided to split up. Izzy immediately approached the claw machine she saw at the entrance; she swiped her card and moved the small handle, and she witnessed the claw match her movements. The girl was amazed by how the machinery moved as it hung over the pile of stuffed plushies. She noticed a red button near the handle, which she gripped as she pushed it. The girl looked up and saw the marvel of the claw descend before her very eyes. It got a hold of the stuffed thing before ascending. To the girl, it was like magic seeing the machine grab something and begin to pull it up. However, the claw's grip slipped from the plushie as it dropped back into the pit before it moved back in place.

"Oh, great and mystical claw. I, Izzy Moonbow, am in awe," said the girl as she seemed to think this machine was something of a marvel. The girl then swiped her card again, determined to conquer the claw.

In another part, Hitch and Zipp were shooting some baskets, and they grabbed multiple basketballs and shot them in rapid succession. The duo competed against each other as the girl had a commanding lead against her athletic friend. The timer was ticking down as the buzzer went off, and the two ceased their shoot. They looked at their scores: Hitch scored 93 points, and Zipp got a whopping 110 points.

"Damnit!" said the boy, who couldn't believe he lost.

"Better luck next time, sheriff!" said Zipp.

"Alright, Mario, you're up," said Hitch as he tagged out and let his friend take a crack at it.

"Don't worry, lover boy. I promise to go easy on you," smirked Zipp as she put her hand on her hip and leaned to the side.

"I don't need no handicap, rich girl," said Mario as he swiped his card and kickstarted the game.

On cue, the two teens began flinging the basketballs in nonstop sessions as they flew. Hitch watched as he was amazed that both were making every basket as they were neck and neck. Eventually, Zipp started to feel the pressure as she looked at Mario, who wasn't breaking a sweat and turned it on. The buzzer then went off as the pair were exhausted from their intense game; they looked at the score as Zipp got 120 while Mario scored 135 points.

"Hell yeah!" said the boy.

"God damnit!" yelled Zipp as she didn't like that she lost.

"Score one for us boys, Hitch!" said Mario as his friend chuckled, and they did a quick bro hug celebrating his win.

Roll, Pipp, and Sunny were passing by some other arcade machines as they soon came across a huge crowd. They wondered what was attracting everyone's attention as they peeked through the crowd and saw someone on a dancefloor trying to match the sequence of arrows on the screen as if they were struggling. The person then slipped and fell onto the floor, making everyone look away before looking at the poor fellow.

"Game over!" said the giant machine.

"Poor guy," said Rol.

"Step aside, girls!" said Pipp as she cracked her neck before getting on the dancefloor.

"Pipp!"

"Relax, Sunny. I got this. Just make sure you stream this," assured the social media girl to her friend as she was in her element. She tossed her phone to Sunny as the girl just hit record and held the phone up.

"Feel the rhythm take over," muttered the girl as she began bobbing her head.

The pop star diva looked at the screen before she smirked. She whipped her head back, making her hair crack a sound before striking a pose with her left leg out as the machine began to start and the music played. The first set of arrows came on as Pipp moved her legs and kept up with the music while she scored some perfects. Everyone was amazed by the girl's moves as the next set of arrows came on, and the stylish crushed it like before. All eyes were on the girl as she was now picking up the pace and going so fast that nobody could keep track of her movements. The score on the screen climbed higher and higher as Pipp moved about the dancefloor gracefully and precisely while whipping her hair about. Safe to say, the girl was catching some nearby boys' eyes as seeing Pipp dancing made their hearts race a bit.

Sunny and Roll were amazed at seeing Pipp go as they looked at the girl's phone; even the people watching the stream of her dancing commented and sent lots of emojis, showcasing and professing their love and admiration for the popstar diva. The crowd then began to cheer Pipp on as the diva was getting into the music before she did a split as the music ended. The screen tallied her score, and digital fireworks went off. The girl was panting heavily as she moved a strand of hair from her face, and the crowd behind her applauded her performance. The teen kissed her new adoring fans and bowed as Sunny ended the livestream. Pipp was making her way to her friends when a couple of boys began to surround the girl, as Pipp just let them down and slipped past them.

"Nice one!" smiled Roll.

"Nothing to it," said Pipp as she took her phone.

Mario and Zipp were currently engaged in a fierce battle as the determination on their faces said it all. The two teens had stumbled upon a fighting game while doing a first-to-ten series. The score was currently tied, with each person winning nine individual games. Both were going with the fighter they knew best, as jab after jab was traded. Spot dodging, blocking with shield, and combos were thrown out as both were in the danger zone of defeat. The percentages at the bottom in the red showed just how close this was.

In the game, Mario's character blocked Zipp's three-piece jab as he then grabbed her character and threw her backward. His character then began to chase after her as it jumped into the air and looked to hit the final attack off the stage, but the heiress recovered immediately as her character hit his, allowing her time to get back onto the stage. Now, she landed and chased after the boy's fighter as he dodged to the side when Zipp's brawler went for a mid-air attack. About another 2 minutes passed of each other trying to get a final attack in while avoiding getting hit.

The high-pressure and tense situation, as well as the atmosphere, was on full display. Both players were making a few mistakes, but can you blame them? Eventually, it came to the final closing moments of the fight, as the girl grabbed the boy's character and threw them forward; she dealt a hard attack as it sent his character sailing to the left and would have knocked him out, but Mario used the analog stick of the controller to input some DI of his own that barely saved his character as he stopped Zipp from hitting his fighter again and then recovered as his fighter hung on the ledge.

At that moment, Zipp had her character throw out a side special while she jumped in the air, anticipating Mario's fighter to jump. The boy jumped up as he did a side special of his own to delay his fall just enough to avoid getting hit by the girl's side attack. As he landed on the stage, just as Zipp's fighter landed, she spot-dodged, thinking Mario would attack. Instead, he grabbed her. Zipp expected the boy to throw her character forward, backward, or even upwards. He did a downward throw, which flung her character into the air, and she air-dodged to avoid an attack. Still, instead, Mario had his character charge up his side smash as it hit Zipp's character as she was but inches from touching the ground; the camera zoomed in on the final hit for 2 seconds as her fighter was sent zooming off the screen as it was over.

"GAME!" said the screen as the fighter's pose was done, with Mario being the winner.

"Yes!" exclaimed the boy.

"I hate this shit!" yelled Zipp as she so badly wanted to throw the controller on the ground, but knew if she did that, she'd get in deep trouble. "There's something wrong with my controller!"

"Yeah, it's the person holding it!" retorted Mario with a sick-ass burn as Zipp looked at him with wide open mouth.

"Fuck you, Mario! You piece of shit! Come here!" said the heiress as she wanted to get her hands on the boy.

Mario quickly took off, as did Zipp, as she growled. The girl chased the boy like he was prey as she wanted to kill her friend for saying that snarky remark. Neither knew how long Zipp had chased Mario around the arcade, but eventually, the two stopped to get some snacks as Zipp was burying her face in junk food and sipping soda.

"Feel better now, princesa?" mocked Mario as he sat across the girl and her pile of comfort food.

"I'm pissed because that comment you made was good. I can't say anything because it was funny. Shit, goddamn it!" expressed Zipp as there was no comeback she could make from the roast Mario gave her. "Talk about instant roasted my ass. You're a bitch, lover boy, you know that?"

"Yeah, I am," smirked Mario as he relished getting this personal victory with the girl.

Zipp just rolled her eyes at her friend before cracking a small smile. A thought then crossed her mind as she turned her attention back to her friend.

"So, uh, can I say something?" asked the heiress as her friend turned in his chair to look at the girl. "I appreciate what you did. You know, giving me that card and all. I couldn't have won my duel without it. So, thanks."

"I'm sure you would've done fine. You're a talented duelist, rich girl. I'm sure with your skills, you probably would find a way to defeat Shirai without Fusion." responded the boy.

"Maybe, but I'm still thankful for you helping me," smiled the girl.

She placed a hand over Mario's as it rested on the table. The girl began to lean in as she captured her lips with his. The two closed their eyes as they relished the small show of affection happening before the girl pulled back and sat back in her chair. Mario smiled as he looked at the girl; her hand was still on his.

"Hello… primo."

Mario gasped as he turned, and sure enough, his cousin stood right before him as she wasn't alone. Behind the girl was Axiom, as they were slowly joined by the rest of their crew. Zipp noticed this well as she secretly hid her phone and used her other hand to send a message. Several alerts went off as Sunny, and the others pulled their devices out and saw what Zipp sent before they all stopped what game they were playing and hurried.

"Sup, prima," said Mario as he stood up and stepped forward to face his cousin.

Zipp did the same, feeling her friend might need some backup.

"Don't!" said Flurry as she put her hand out to stop Zipp from even stepping away from the table. "I'm not here for a fistfight, princesa. I'm here because I want to talk to my cousin."

Somehow, Zipp didn't fully believe Flurry's words as the others arrived at that moment. They see what Zipp means by trouble as they see Flurry, her crew, and Mario standing before his cousin. Roll approached her brother's side as Flurry smiled, knowing her other cousin was there. She glanced up to see the rest of their friends as her smile grew wider.

"Where's Izzy?" asked Sunny to Hitch in a low whisper.

"I'm not sure," said the boy.

Izzy was still playing the crane game as the girl had been focused on now conquering the thing. She'd been so close to getting one of the prizes, but it slipped from her grasp every time. The girl was so focused on trying to conquer the machinery that was mocking her that she didn't hear the alert or the phone calls on her device.

"She's not picking up," said Hitch in a whisper as he'd been silently calling the girl to find out where she was but wasn't getting an answer.

"Let's hope we don't need her," said Pipp as they hoped all of them wouldn't have to start something that would get them kicked out or, even worse, in trouble with their principal if word got out.

"So… prima… what do you want to talk about?" asked Mario as he put his hands in his pockets.

"I think we all know, bro," smirked Roll.

Flurry laughed at the joke her cousin was trying to make.

"Yeah… I got beat… but last I checked, I'm still the Final Boss," said Flurry as she stared her cousins down. "Lords know, you ain't ever gonna be the Final Boss, Roll." The girl smirked as she looked at her youngest cousin, making the girl scowl. Flurry then looked over at Mario as the boy kept his straight expression. "And you, primo… whether you believe it or not, you ain't the Final Boss either… yet."

"What do you want, prima?" asked Roll.

"I want to understand why you two are making me out to be the bad guy in all this. The villain is always the villain… when the hero tells the story. But why does nobody want to hear my side? Why are you putting me on trial, huh? Explain that, cousins!"

"No, no, no, not this time, Flurry," responded Roll. "See, what you're not gonna do is try to spin this situation around and make it look like you're the victim. 'Cause you're not prima. They said it couldn't be done."

"Nope," responded Mario.

"They said you couldn't be beaten."

"Nope."

"But guess what? We did it," said Roll.

"Once… once, you've beaten me. And now you two suddenly think you can do it again. Ha, you must be crazy. I must be crazy, right guys?" said Flurry to her friends as they all laughed along with their leader. "You can't be me, one-on-one. You both know that. I proved to you, your friends, and your entire school. One-on-one, neither of you can beat. As for your friends… they ain't worth my time."

"What about Sunny, huh?" said Zipp as she spoke out. "She nearly beat you in your duel."

"Oh, excuse me, I wasn't for your opinion, perra! This… is family business. As good as your friend is, you should all know that close… doesn't cut it when it comes to a duel. And as I recall, wasn't it Mario that screwed over your friend. Hmm. Honestly, he had a set of balls you didn't have, sheriff!" said Flurry as she looked at Hitch. "How could you? How could you do that to your childhood friend, sheriff? Ain't Sunny your best friend, and you were just gonna let her get hurt? Were you gonna let her be brutalized and victimized by the Final Boss? And you just stood there, doing nothing… some friend you are. How could you?"

"Leave Hitch alone!" said Sunny as she stood up for her friend.

"Hey, Flurry. Why don't you check this package and try to spin this!" said Zipp as she had her phone in hand and pressed play.

"You come out here, and you misrepresent me! Apologize!"

"I whooped you two when we were kids, and I'd whoop you!"

"My cousins. They work for me!"

"You two need to fall in line and acknowledge me, like everybody else!"

"I'm the one! I call the shots! I make the plays!"

"I just want you to make sense of this to me. We belong to a generation family of duelists. We are the future. Our family has a strong grip on this!"

"Not what's been working this whole time! Not what's kept us in the promised land! Not just got us here, but kept us on top of the mountain! Everything we've been through our entire lives. All I've ever wanted is the best for you. The only thing that ever matters to me is doing right by you, doing right by our family. On the same page… all of us working together, ain't nobody can touch us."

"The Final Boss is heads and shoulders above everyone! I'm tired of being humble! I'm tired of letting everybody think they got a chance! This is my show! This is my yard! I run it ALL!"

"Your friends are anchors. I'm the wings. I lift you two up; they drag you two down!"

"This is how we make our decisions. This is how we represent our family. Why… why would you do this to your own sister?! You're siblings, yeah. But who came out first? Who came out first?! So, you're the older brother, right? You're the older one, so you should look out for her. I shouldn't have to depend on her to reel you in! I shouldn't have to depend on her to teach you how to do this. You should just know. I should be able to depend on you because it's not about you, it's not about me, it's about us! It's all of us! The only way we can continue to get it done is to be ourselves and be the best every single damn time. That's our ticker! That's all I know! That's all we've ever known: to be the best!... Why would you do that to her? You're the older brother; why would you do that to your sister? How could you treat your sister like that?"

All of the teens were listening to Zipp's phone as the girl had complied all of Flurry's manipulative and abusive moments of not only her cousins but recently some outbursts she had with her gang. Once it was all done, they turned to look at the girl who rubbed her face up and down while scratching her head, waiting to see how she would respond.

"No, I didn't," responded Flurry. "No, I didn't! You know me well, primo, prima. That's not who I am. That's not who I am. You've both known me your whole lives! That's now who I am! That's who I was forced to be. Do you think I wanted to lower myself? You think I wanted to do all that?! I did it… for you." The girl pointed and looked at Mario as he dropped his expression ever so slightly.

"And I did it for you, prima!" said Flurry as she pointed at Roll.

"I did it for our family. I was a main-event duelist long before the bloodline. I didn't need the bloodline; the bloodline needed me! I bit my moral compass for this family! I put myself in situations I shouldn't have been for you and you! For the elders! For our parents! For the entire bloodline! For this representation of our family! And this is what I get!" said Flurry, staring at her two cousins as if she was being on trial and they were judging her fate. "You come out here and listen to that perra's compiled list of my worst moments! To embarrass me! People looking at me and not understanding who I am because of that! I take on the weight of the world! I take on my responsibilities; I take on your responsibilities and yours! Everybody's responsibilities, and I lift them all up! You think I need more to carry, huh?! I have my own set of problems to deal with. Do you think I need to handle yours as well?!"

Flurry was huffing and puffing as she stared down at her cousins, who listened to what she was saying.

"When they showed me the vision when they told me what needed to be done, they didn't tell me this was gonna happen. I don't need this in my life, cousins. I don't need to be popular anymore, I don't need to look for friends, I don't need the power, I don't need this. I don't need this anymore." said Flurry to her cousins as her expression softened. "Right about now, umbrella service sounds really nice to me."

Both siblings looked at their cousins as their expressions also softened. Flurry was then shown reaching into her shirt as she pulled something out. The girl was showing off a special necklace that she was currently wearing.

"You know what this. This was a gift that your father and my father said was for all of us. That among us three, there can only be one to lead us into the next generation of our family. This… this is what symbolizes being the Final Boss, the head of the table, the tribal chief. This is what you want, isn't Mario?" said Flurry as she now had a sympathetic and emotional expression.

The siblings' friends all looked on with interest as they looked at Mario.

"This is what it's all about. I don't want it. I don't need it. I'm done… I'm done. I'm done with all of it. I don't want it anymore. You want it… it's yours." said Flurry. "I'm done."

The girl reached behind her as she unclipped the necklace she had worn. She took a deep breath as she stepped forward. She approached her cousin and put the necklace around Mario's neck as if giving him the mantle of Final Boss. The girl stepped back as Mario was now wearing the object as he looked at it, before touching it and holding it. Flurry began to form in her eyes.

"You're the Final Boss then. You're the head of the table. You're now the tribal chief. You want me to get down on my knees and acknowledge you, primo. I'll do it." sniffed Flurry as she tried to fight back the tears before dropping to a knee and putting her arms out as if she was willing to be sacrificed.

"I acknowledge you… my tribal chief. The head of the table. And the Final Boss." said Flurry as her friends were stunned to see their leader do what she just did. "It's yours."

Mario took in what Flurry said as he looked at the necklace again. This small object was a symbol of power. A symbol of power in their household as it meant so much to each of the three family relatives. The boy would be lying if he said he didn't crave that so-called power. Eventually, he grabbed the necklace and yanked it from his neck as he held it. Looking at Flurry, the cousin still had her arms out and was kneeling before him as he bent down to her level and put his right hand behind her head to grab it. He pulled her in as the pair touched foreheads and closed their eyes. A second later, they pulled apart as Mario set the necklace by his feet before standing up. The others were confused as they didn't know what was happening between the family members; Mario then began to walk away. The others all looked at the boy leaving as they began to follow; however, Roll remained behind a bit. Mario noticed his sister not walking behind him as he and the others all looked back at her.

The girl's attention was focused on the necklace that lay on the floor. Roll bent down to pick up the necklace as she eyed the trinket herself. She examined the object as if deciding to take it for herself. The statement of Flurry saying she wouldn't ever be the Final Boss resonated with her, as perhaps this was a sign. Flurry also looked as if she was curious about what Roll might do, now holding that sacred thing that had so much meaning to the three.

"The power," muttered the girl, looking at the thing in her hands.

"Roll!" called out Sunny, but the girl ignored her and kept eyeing the necklace.

"Roll, come on!" said Zipp.

The girl didn't hear her friends as she was too entranced by the necklace and her decision on what to do with her.

"Roll!" barked Mario.

As if on cue, the girl returned to reality as she looked at her brother. She eyed her older brother as their friends exchanged glances between the two. The girl soon obeyed her sibling as she dropped the necklace and began to walk alongside him, leading their friends out of the place. Flurry watched her cousins leave before grabbing the necklace as she put it back on, and reclaimed her Final Boss status.

The group passed by Izzy, who was still trying to win the claw machine, as Zipp grabbed her shirt's collar.

"But I haven't won my prize yet!" shouted Izzy as she was being dragged away, unaware of the tense and unusual situation that just went down between the cousins.

The walk back was nothing but dead silence as Zipp informed Izzy of what went down between the three family members. The girl understood how serious it all was as she shut her mouth. The two siblings were approaching their dorm as their friends remained silent.

"Mario! I have something to say!" said Sunny as the boy didn't quite pay attention to what his friend was saying and was about to open the door to him and Roll's dorm. "I want you to compete in the one-on-one duel!"

Everybody was shocked to hear what Sunny said. The boy slowly turned to look at the girl, and the expression on her face meant she was serious about what she said.

"I want you to represent us tonight. You beat your cousin; you can do it again. I have faith and hope in you! You can beat the Final Boss!" stated the girl, putting all her chips in her friend. "Please… just, at least think about it."

The boy sighed as he entered his dorm, Roll following behind and closing the door. The others looked back at Sunny as the girl hoped the boy would accept her proposal. They all soon left, wanting to be alone ahead of the big event in just a few hours.

Mario had been in the living room for about the past hour. The boy was lulling over what Sunny had asked him as he contemplated his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, and there was Flurry sitting across from him in a chair with a table between them.

"You really want to go through with this, primo?" asked Flurry, as she knew Sunny had picked him to compete in the big duel in just under a few hours. "You know what will happen if you decide to do this?"

Mario listened to what his cousin was saying.

"Oh, Mario. Oh, little Mario. Do you want to know why everyone at your school is starting to call you Main Event Mario? It's because I made you that. All you've ever wanted was to be the one. You think you're the tribal chief now, huh? The Final Boss?"

"No, cuz. I never wanted any of that. I'm serious. I wanted none of that. All I did was for you, prima, was watch your back. Do what family do. Support you. Through the mud, through the trenches, no questions asked because you're my family. Because I believed in you. I believe you could lead our family into the future. But you broke this family, and now… I have to do what I have to do, prima."

"Nah, nah, nah. This ain't my fault! I'm not gonna sit here and take that blame; that's not my fault. That's your fault. Listen, primo. When I beat, that's it. You're done. Finished. As a wise man would say, let's turn over a stone. Let's say, hypothetically, that you actually beat me. Then that means you take this. That means you take everything from me. Right now. I'm no longer the Final Boss because of you. And at the end of the day, I'm always gonna be Flurry Heart. So that means I can do whatever it is I want to do, but you… nah, you don't have anybody, primo. You got nothing. And the fact that you sit here and still want to do this just blows my mind! You can't beat me, Mario! Little Mario, you can't beat me! And I want to know what's going through your mind right now because I don't understand that you actually think you can beat me!"

The boy looked at his cousin as the two stared at each other with intense looks. Flurry's nose twitched a bit as Mario soon had his mouth form a small smirk as it did the job of ticking the girl off.

"It's because… I already beat you," smiled Mario as it incited Flurry's anger even more. "I beat you. I'm the only one to do it recently. And tonight…" The boy stood up, prompting Flurry to do the same; the two cousins had fierce looks. "I'm gonna beat you again. So you better show up tonight, Flurry. So I can whoop your ass once more time."

Flurry kept her defiant look as Mario had one of his own. It was clear that the duel for tonight's big-time duel was set. Blood v. Blood. Cousin v. Cousin. Family v. Family.

"Tribal combat!" said Mario, sticking his hand out.

"Tribal combat!" responded Flurry Heart, putting her hand in her cousin's with a firm grip, eye to eye, as the pact was sealed.

Author's Note: So, what do you think about everything Flurry said, about all the points, she made, huh? And... It's official, folks. It's Tribal Combat now... Mario v. Flurry. Winner take all. Main Event Mario v. The Final Boss Flurry Heart. Safe to say, the next chapter will be the conclusion to this massive story arc. Get ready, y'all.