A/N: Next stop, the JJK-verse! Very excited to write this one, so I hope you all enjoy!
Also, would like to note that this episode, and by extension, Maki is Season 1. I have not read or watched any of the series further than that yet.
Reviews:
Goodguygary: I get it bro. But at the same time, I'm gonna be a hundred percent honest with you man, if I did it more than what I'm willing to do now, I feel like it'd come off as me trying to phone it in just so I can say 'I got the story done real fast'. Especially if they're not done right. Because then it'd be obvious that I'm cutting corners. And that's NOT what I want from this at all. I already hate that I did that in the Hoo-Ha challenge and the Worms challenge in Multiverse Edition. Both felt rushed and were probably the worst challenges I've written that season imo. Especially the latter when I literally like and actively play the source material. Battle Islands is literally one of my favorite PSP games.
G-Man: Most of the review was already addressed via Discord so I won't rehash it here. But I didn't address Ep. 29 actually. You'll see exactly what I have planned for that when it comes. The only thing I'll say is that the same VA jokes will no longer just be jokes.(e.g. picture Kurt firing a Galick Gun, Furuya with Wind Magic, Emma with a Power Stone, Dawn with Giru, Bren with the power of Earth(G From Street Fighter) or Bakura with the power of Red Dragon Archfiend or the Ultimate Ninja!)
Teams:
Radical Rats:
Bennett, Emma, X, Zero & Axl, Albedo, Rick & Morty, Sendo, Akko, Sucy, Lotte & Diana, Blaze, Puss, Rally, May & Becky F., Becky B., Yulaw, Kurt, Tangle, Lanolin & Whisper, Rei, Dawn, Adrien, Hiruma, Sena/Eyeshield, Kurita, Monta & Mamori, Natsu, Lucy & Happy, Kagami, Kise, Zee, Murasakibara
Storm Kings:
Jotaro, Todd and Riley, Paul, Skipper, Sophie, Bren, Courtney, Rex and Bobo, Marinette, Reimu, Razer, Din Djarin, Team RWBY+Penny, Ben and Rook, Octavia, Eliza, Huey D., Dewey and Louie, Aomine, Akashi, Sebastian, Isagi and Bachira, Sly, Mayuzumi, Maki, Ryoma Echizen
Wave Breakers:
Mr. Wolf, Dwayne, Urien, Ayame and Ryoma(Power Stone), Toxsa, Reagan, Jenny, Julie, Launch, Randy, Molly, Scratch and Libby, Team JET: Kaz, Fiona, Diego, Myron and Shiro, Hailey and Scott, Johnny,Zak M, Hanamiya, Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishma, Eijun, Miyuki and Furuya, Kunigami, Dan, Bakura, Bass, Asta and Noelle
Eliminated:
165th- Dragonfly Jones(Radical Rats)-Martin Sitcom
164th- Richie and Virgil(Wave Breakers)- Static Shock
163rd- Cameron(Storm Kings)- Total Drama
162nd- Duncan(Wave Breakers)- Total Drama
161st- Chris P.(Wave Breakers)- Dan VS
160th- Mona(Storm Kings)- Mona the Vampire
159th- Owen(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
158th- Zoey(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
157th - Tetsuya Kuroko(Radical Rats)- Kuroko's Basketball(Quit)
156th-Shintaro Midorima(Storm Kings)-Kuroko's Basketball
155th-MacArthur and Sanders(Radical Rats)- Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
154th-Luz Noceda(Storm Kings)-The Owl House
153rd-Priya(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
152nd- Shogo Haizaki(Wave Breakers)-Kuroko's Basketball
151st- Edward Falcon(Radical Rats)-Power Stone
150th- Shawn and Jasmine(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
149th- Zak Saturday(Storm Kings)- Secret Saturdays
148th - Nimona(Wave Breakers)- Nimona
147th-Rocky Rickaby(Radical Rats)-Lackadaisy
146th-Huey Freeman(Storm Kings)-Boondocks
145th-Cicini(Radical Rats)- Rabi-Ribi
144th- Blaineley(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
143rd- Heather and Alejandro(Storm Kings)-Total Drama
142nd- Karin Kanzuki(Wave Breakers)-Street Fighter
141st-Ruby G.(Wave Breaker)-Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken
140th-Noah(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
Intern:
Heloise(Jimmy-Two Shoes)
Hired Gun:
Doyle Blackwell(Secret Saturdays)
"Last time on Total Drama Across the Multiverse! It was yet another quiz challenge! This one being based off the famous game show Jeopardy! Without the intro of course. You really thought I was gonna risk copyright infringement or have to pay up? Absolutely not."
Footage of Chris explaining the Jeopardy Chris was shown.
"The goal? Reach $5000 or be the closest to it when all the questions were answered. And since there was no elimination the day before, I was going to make it up with a double elim here. Everyone that competed was made to be an active participant. I made sure of that via the rules."
Footage of the game progressing was shown.
"Lots of things to unpack from the game. So much so that I can't cover it all here without dragging things along too much. Which, I guess is a good thing for me since it shows I did so much of a better job at choosing compared to Charles. But, results are the only thing that matters in the end. And the Kings won. So they're the only ones safe."
Footage of Aomine securing the Kings' win was shown.
"As for who went home? It was Noah and Ruby Gillman. And both of them did so well too. Yep, that's it Noah. Drop that a-bomb! Let all that frustration out! But seriously though, he's come a long way since Island I'll give him that. I mean, growing to be a better person and player didn't get him ten million but still."
Footage of Ruby and Noah being eliminated, with Noah expressing his frustrations of being eliminated again was shown.
"But uh, Murasakibara at the end. Wow. That was out of nowhere."
Footage of him picking up Morty by the head with one hand along with him giving snacks to Emma and Noah was shown.
"Will we get more of that this episode? Who knows? Let's find out on this episode of Total….Drama….Across the Multiverse!"
*TD: ATM Intro 2 Plays*
Today's Challenge Inspirations:
(Slight Inspiration)Total Drama Everything 2's Snowy Surprises and Switches Episode by TheMasterKat on FF Dot Net
Total Drama X: Ultimate Islands' Episode 24: The Two For One Special by thenewsubwayguy on FF Dot Net and AO3
Special Guests for Today's Episode:
Satoru Gojo(A character suggested to appear as a guest by well….. a Guest on FF Dot Net lol)(VA: Kaiji Tang)
Utahime Iori(Tara Sands)
Nobara Kugisaki(Anne Yatco), Yuji Itadori(Adam McArthur), Megumi Fushiguro(Robbie Daymond), Mai Zenin(Laura Post)(Jujutsu Kaisen)
Other minor appearances from the JJK-verse
Featured Song:
Kaikai Kitan by Eve(Jujutsu Kaisen)
"And with all of that, it brings me here. With you all." Razer concluded. He had just finished explaining to Dawn, Rook, Jenny, Julie, Monta, Sena, Kurita, and Diego his motivation for being here along with what led up to that, which included the adventures he had with Kilowog, Hal and Aya, and the loving relationship he had with Aya. The latter four all in tears.
"Max tears!" Monta shouted out as he continued to cry.
"Honestly, that is very sweet. And really nice of Hal to do this for you." Dawn said.
"The question is, do you like it here? I say that because of well, Chris and his challenges. It's pretty clear that some people like them, and some aren't a fan of them at all." Jenny said, the question being directed towards Razer.
"That is…. a very good question actually. Most of them are doable so that isn't an issue. But whether I like them or not….. I'm not sure if I have a say."
"In other words, you're indifferent to them."
"I guess."
"Well, what about you Rook? I'll be honest, I'm a bit curious about you since you and Ben are partners. I would have thought someone like him would have went at it alone." Julie said.
"As they say, the more the merrier. I'm sure a lot of people watching that have never seen us in action could say that each and every one of us out of the five of us in Team JET could work by ourselves all the time. But at the end of the day, we work the best as a team. Well, except for Shiro. He started off as a solo act." Diego remarked.
"I share those sentiments about teamwork. Believe it or not, Ben has worked with a team for most of the time he has had the Omnitrix." Rook added. "As for why I am here, it is not as complicated, or as wholesome as Razer. I am simply here because Ben thought it would be fun if I accompanied him."
"That's it?" Jenny asked, in disbelief. "I know you said it wasn't going to be as complicated, but I didn't think it would be that simple."
"But, it is."
"You know what I just thought about? That we're just talking about this now." Julie said.
"Huh? I don't see much of a problem with that." Sena said.
"Yeah, me neither." Diego added.
"I believe she's saying that because that is usually something that is explained within the first few days being here." Dawn remarked.
"The product of such a large ensemble of people I'd say." Razer said.
"That, and the fact that we're on different teams. Mind you, this is stuff that we've, for the most part, have already conferred with our own teammates about. Outside of times like now and during the challenges, we really don't get that time to really interact with each other. Well, the inter-team stuff to be specific. And that was especially apparent when we were on the planes." Jenny explained.
"Makes sense. We only talked about most of the things like the story of the Devil Bats with our own teammates." Sena said with Monta nodding in agreement.
"Well I'm curious. What's your story?" Diego asked.
"The big guy can really tell you. He, Musashi and Hiruma were the start of it. Since day one." Monta said, pointing at Kurita.
"Well, how 'bout the rest of you? You guys interested?"
"Hmm, I suppose so." Rook said.
"Count me in. I know I'm the only here that wants to get some background on Hiruma." Jenny said.
"Man, my only regret is not bringing more snacks. Murasakibara stays prepared. I've gotta take notes." Diego said.
***Confessional***
Rook(Storm Kings):
"If I must be honest, I am a bit curious about Hiruma myself. If he was the start of the team, I wonder what exactly caused Sena, Monta and Mamori to join given his… eccentric personality. One would think he coerced them, but, given their behavior, maybe not."
***End Confessional***
Meanwhile, Emma was having a chat with several others, from her team, and not on it.
"I absolutely wish I could do anything to stop him from being eliminated. And by anything, I mean being in the challenge and doing the best I could to stop him from being eliminated, not cheating." Emma said, referring to Noah. "But, that's not how it turned out. Only thing I can do is move on and stay focused on winning. Besides, if anything, we already established that we'd be sharing the money anyway. At the very least, there's one good thing that came out of this."
"What's that?" May asked, one of the people talking with her.
"I don't have to face Noah in the finals. Because you better believe that we weren't going to be one of those people that'd try to have some 'wholesome' finals or just surrender to get things over with for some simple happy ending. No, we'd try our best to beat each other. I'd hate to have to embarrass him on TV."
"Well, glad to hear that you're okay." Rally said.
"Same here. Some people just look for or expect those generic reactions where their real emotions are hidden. Not me. Why? Because it's a lot more realistic." Reagan said.
"And in the case of the last part, I can relate. If we were put in that same hypothetical scenario, I'm not holding back on Kagami. I'm a hundred percent going to give him a beatdown. A bit of tough love if you will." Rei said.
"Speaking of which, wonder what he's up to since he's not here with you." May said.
"Probably working out or something. His work ethic is absolutely insane. That's one thing I will say I absolutely love about him. If I didn't learn from what not to do from the time I 'dated' Mamoru, I might have been a lot more overbearing on him because he doesn't, you know, try to spend more time with me. I know this might be controversial to some, but I think that's really selfish to do that. Instead, I'm going to be supportive of it. Because at least I know he hasn't let our relationship go his head."
"That's really great to hear. Really reminds me of how Hiruma continues to try to continue to work hard himself." Mamori said.
"Does he? It sure doesn't seem like it." Reimu commented.
"I know. But he really does."
"After what they've told me about how things started, and the relationship he and Agon had, I a hundred percent can believe and second what she's saying." Rally said.
"Well now I'm curious. How was their relationship before things got to what they were when we were there?" Reagan asked.
"If I had to summarize it, it was a….. symbiotic relationship? If that's the right way to describe it." Rally said.
"I don't know if I'd use that word, but it works if you give more detail. And in this case, the two would pretty much benefit from the other. Then, when it was time to choose their high school, Kurita, Musashi and Hiruma had already established that they'd all go to Shinryuji. And with those three, Ikkyu and Agon, they had pretty much envisioned that they'd be pretty much an unstoppable team. Agon didn't see it that way though. And that was when he took away Kurita's chance of getting in. Kurita, because of his grades, wouldn't be able to get in. Until Hiruma found out a way to get him in via an athletics merit. There would be only two of those given, and Ikkyu had the other one. From what they explained. Agon didn't need it to get in. He just 'did it for kicks'. I think with what you saw of him in the challenge we were in and how he treated people like Lotte, it makes sense why he'd do such a thing." Becky F. explained.
"Guy's just a bully and a jerk to anybody he thinks is beneath him pretty much. Hiruma and Musashi weren't fans of that. So they chose not to go either and went with Kurita to Deimon. Musashi and Hiruma already made it clear that they'd pay him back if they ever played again on the field. And with the tournament they're in, there's their chance. They play each other in the first round. Problem is, Deimon's an underdog against a team that's never been defeated in the tournament their in for the past several years." Rally added.
"That's…. surprisingly wholesome. I never expected that out of Hiruma at all." Reagan said.
"Yeah, me either. Just goes to show that you can't judge a book by it's cover." Rally said.
"Mm-hm! Haizaki should have taught you guys that lesson." May said.
"Why the heck are you nodding? I didn't see you lift a finger when Haizaki was here."
"You didn't really do anything either."
"Whatever. Anyways….. speaking of Haizaki, I wonder how he's doing."
"Hopefully a lot better compared to how he was when he first came here. Let me say this, if you feel like you changed for the better, made friends or whatever, even though you got eliminated, I think that's enough of a win." Reagan said.
"Speak for yourself. I'll be disappointed if I don't get through this." Reimu said.
"Well, I mean you already got the friend part out of the way, so I can see why." Rally said.
"Huh?"
"Come on, you and Becky? You guys have drinks and tea together sometimes. Not exactly as subtle as you think it is."
"God, that just reminds me of Rick."
"That was out of the blue. How come?" Emma asked.
"It's the drinking isn't it?" Mamori asked.
"Yep." Reagan said.
"Well, I mean for the most part, he's sobered up. I think he's realized that when he drinks like that during these challenges he's a liability that can get him kicked out." Rally said.
"That's the spirit of competition for you. I seriously doubt that if there wasn't 10 mil on the line, he wouldn't do this." Becky F. said.
"The same way you wouldn't be acting like you have at times." Rally replied, half-joking.
"I already told you that Chris is going to pay. In full."
"Oh yeah! Speaking of Rick, what do you guys think about Morty?" May asked.
"Morty? He's-" Emma started before music was heard by them in the distance, music that clearly surprised Rally.
Decadence by Disturbed was heard playing. At least from a guitar.
"Wonder who that could be." May said.
"Yulaw probably. He did show off having a guitar in the talent show." Mamori said.
"Ohhhh you're right about that!"
"Yeah, like Octavia said, that one caught me off guard. He really is hard core." Rei said.
"Same here. It's the fact that he brought it here that surprised me." Emma said.
"Well, I mean he's dedicated. I don't really see much of a problem with it. And he actually sounds pretty good." Rally said. "Wonder if he ever considered joining a band at one point." She said before blinking a few times and shaking her head a little.
"Something wrong?"
"Déjà vu."
"Don't remember you ever saying that but sure." May said. "Anyways, you guys have been talking about getting further. That got me thinking. And someone may have asked this before and I don't remember but, what do you think of those late entries?"
"Well, it's nice to see that Zoey and Marty are coming back. Couple more vets to join. I'm sure Morty will be happy about seeing the former." Rally said.
"Ikki is the one that sticks out to me. Hear me out, if I had to choose one challenge, out of the ones so far that we've done that describes this season, it's that one. Fiona's machine, Lucy's spirits, Jotaro, Kagami damn there flying, being able to explore where we were, Haizaki getting punched, a pair of merge veterans getting eliminated early. The last few were kind of extras that I tacked on, but the rest of the in-challenge stuff? Oh yeah, that's this season packaged nicely. And now we get a guy that's actually experienced with using those ATs?" Reagan said.
"It's just some kid using roller skates. I think you're overreacting. It's not like he has any abilities of his own like some of us do." Rei said.
"I mean you say that, and then there's, the Devil Bats, the Generation of Miracles, the Blue Lock guys outside of Kunigami and the Scan2Go guys. I would absolutely not be shocked, that much, if he did have something we didn't have, simply because he has experience using them unlike us." Rally said.
"I wonder what made only a few decide to join back? I thought about that when Dax mentioned it." Reimu said.
"Who knows. Maybe they weren't interested in coming back. For some people, understandably, one season of Chris is enough for them before they call it quits, from what Noah has told me. And just from these challenges here, even if they weren't as insane as they are here." Emma said.
"Not enough for me apparently." Rally said.
"Or me." Reimu added.
"Or Rick and Morty, and some of the others here. Also, you guys didn't answer my question earlier. What do you think about Morty?"
"May, you sure do have a lot of questions today." Becky F. said.
"Is that a bad thing? I'm just curious is all. These are just things that I like hearing others talk about too."
"Well, to answer your question, I guess he's okay. I don't really have much of an opinion on him outside of that." Becky F. said.
"He's a good kid. I really don't have anything bad to say about him at all. Speaking of which, how about what happened with Murasakibara a few days ago, huh? We've gone on and on about all of these other things and we need to talk about that." Rally said.
"Yeah. I still don't get that at all." Emma said.
"Maybe he was trying to be nice? But, his methods aren't exactly the best if so…." Mamori said.
"I know for sure he hasn't exactly looked like he's really cared that much since he's been here. So that complete 180 was off-putting." Becky F. said.
"Off-putting or not, picking up Morty by that head like that was unnecessary." Rei said. "Especially if he had his own snacks to give the whole time."
Get to the Finish Line by Jim Kaufman was heard next by the group.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to give some serious props to Yulaw. That guy is an absolute monster on the strings." Reagan said. "Sorry. I know I derailed things with that."
"Hence why I said I wonder if he's ever been in a band. But with him knowing how to play all of those different instruments like he showed off in the talent show, he could probably be a one-man band." Rally said, the last part jokingly.
While they continued their casual conversation, one of Rei's usual companions for conversations like these, was off to herself, writing. That person being Lucy, who was stretching at the moment.
"This would be a lot easier if I remembered exactly what was missing." She was referring to the missing pages that she was previously looking for. While she tried to advance forward with writing, that was easier said than done being unable to refer to parts of previous writing. So she took a break and started writing something completely unrelated to those.
"…..there's a lot of faces here. Some of them, admittedly obnoxious, but still very friendly nonetheless. I think my favorite part of seeing all of these faces, is the relationships that form from people that have never seen each other a day in their life. Like a girl that's on my team that's studying to be a witch and a hot-headed boy who I think does nothing but play Volleyball all day. She's from a high-class family too. While he isn't. If anything, he's probably the average guy that age that just really like sports. Their personalities clashed. In front of her school no less. And they said some things about each other that seemed to have really hurt them personally. Funny enough, neither of them won the race they were in together. I guess that's karma for you. But you know what the best part was? I wasn't there but I heard they actually apologized to each other. So now, they compete hard against one another, but there's not single pint of bad blood anymore. Heck, I think at some point, I've seen them play volleyball together. Just goes to show that just because you're on opposite teams and are rivals, you can get along very well. Kagami and Aomine should take notes."
"Speaking of which, admittedly, I think I have a bit of an adversary of my own. Her name's Sophie Casterwill. She's on another team. While I think it's interesting to know that there's an entire school dedicated to learning magic, I think the most interesting magic user that I've come across isn't those four at all. Or the pair that are a part of a Magic Knight Guild Squad. It's Sophie. She's able to summon creatures from amulets that she has. They're obviously not the same as spirits, but the similarities are there. She can even do her own magic individually. Even if our team was able to win, admittedly, she's a very good and versatile user. We haven't exactly spoken to one another outside of challenges so I don't know much about her. I wonder how-"
A ball was suddenly seen flying over her. A trailing Eijun not too far. Unfortunately for her, he couldn't fly and ended up running into her.
"Oh come on!" Lucy complained.
"Damn it!" Eijun yelled out. "I would have had that!"
"I know that was an accident but jeez!"
Eijun blinked a few times after realizing that Lucy was right there. He then noticed the several pages she was trying to pick up.
"Already bad enough that it happened once…." She commented as she continued to pick them up.
He immediately scrambled to help pick up some of the rest and held them out for her to take. "Give me those mister nosy."
"I didn't even try to look!" Eijun insisted.
"Sure you didn't."
"Sorry about running into you. I didn't see you."
"It's fine. Like I said, I already figured it was an accident." She said, looking at the paper that she was just writing on. When Eijun walked past, seemingly back to wherever he came from, she groaned out in frustration, a groan that didn't go unheard by Eijun. "Great. Now it's smudged. I can't read any of this!" She sighed. "It's either start over and try to remember word for word what you wrote, or it's continue writing the thing you don't want to work on at the moment due to frustration."
"What were you trying to write? Describe it to me." Eijun said.
"I thought you were gone! You were being nosy!"
"I was, but I wasn't!"
"What?"
Eijun put a hand on his face, realizing just how conflicting that statement was. So he tried to fix it.
"I was leaving, but I still heard you groaning anyway!"
"Why the heck would I describe what I'm trying to write to you!? It's none of your business! Even though you probably know anyway, you're just pretending that you don't."
"I'm not!"
"Well, there's no way to prove it is there?"
"Just like there isn't a way to prove that I am!"
"Look, you've already done enough. Thanks to you, it's smudged!"
"Which is exactly why I'm trying to make it up to you!"
"How exactly will me telling you what I'm writing be making it up to me? If anything, I'm doing something for you."
"Wouldn't that help get your ideas together? You know, like a group project! Where you have at least a second person to talk about ideas with."
"While that is a good idea….. I really don't think you're the person I'd do that with especially after what you just did! Besides, you're with that scheming Miyuki! He put you up to this didn't he!?" She pictured him sending Eijun off with him saluting. As he ran off, Miyuki pushed his glasses up, eyes unable to be seen in the reflection as he grinned, "He he he he he…."
"Huh? What the heck are you talking about? He didn't send me over here! I told you it was an accident, stupid!"
"You're the last person to be calling someone stupid…."
"HEY! I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU AND YOU'RE THROWING OUT INSULTS!"
"You threw out an insult first!"
"Enough of this! If you don't wanna do that, then hit me with one of your patented Lucy Kicks!"
"What? Why in the world would I do that!?"
"I've seen you do it before! Won't that make you feel better?"
"Either you were hit with a bunch of balls to the head or you're secretly a masochist. I hope it's the former."
"Come on! Hit me already!"
"I already told you I'm not kicking you!"
"Then what can I do to help you!?"
"Go away?"
"How is that going to help!?"
"By not hearing your loud voice maybe I can focus!"
"Fine then! If that's what you want!" Eijun said before bowing. "Sorry again!"
"You don't have to bow."
"Eijun! Eijun!" Bakura called out.
"Bakamura! Bakamura! Where the heck are you!? You didn't die did you!?" Miyuki called out. "Guess we already know who the next ace is gonna be if so!"
"I'M NOT DEAD! AND THE NEXT ACE IS ME!" Eijun yelled out as he started to run and make noises as he did like a madman.
"Yeah, I'm really starting to think it's the former."
"You've got new mail!" A voice was heard saying in Japanese.
She looked down and saw the source as it said it a second time as well.
"What's this?"
It was a cell phone. Though she had no idea that that was what that was and accidentally turned it on.
A message was seen on it, though it was all in Japanese. It read,(In Japanese):
"Eijun. Just wanted to let you know that we've been watching you. Every. Single. Episode. Even the ones you had no role in. Not going to make this super long but, we just wanted you to know that we haven't forgotten about you! In fact, we have something coming your way soon. Whenever you're free, give it a watch!"
"Keep being a part of that pillar of flame for your team! On and off the field, I know they appreciate it!"
Love you,
Mom & Dad
Another message came.
Though she couldn't understand all of it, she certainly could understand a good bit of it. "I shouldn't be reading these! How do I turn this stupid thing off!?"
"Good morning Eijun! We can't wait to watch you again today! Keep working hard and playing hard! Good luck to you and the rest of your team today!"
"We are all rooting for all of you!"
Wakana.
26 baseballs and wave emojis could be seen under the rest of the message.
"Great. Now I feel bad. I just told him about reading my stuff then I do this, even if it wasn't intentional."
"This was the last place I-" Eijun started as he slowed down running, returning back to where Lucy was before seeing her with his phone.
"It's not what it looks like!"
"HEY! WHAT DO YOU'RE DOING WITH MY PHONE!?"
"It was an accident I promise! It was on the ground!"
Eijun was looking at his hand as he began to walk over, grunting louder and louder as if he was beginning to power up.
"Uh oh. I think I made him mad. Maybe he's about to unleash some secret power like Furuya and that weird aura!"
"Hey! Did you find it ye-" Miyuki started before seeing Eijun well….. being Eijun as Lucy looked terrified.
He raised a hand as Miyuki looked confused while Bakura looked horrified.
"Eijun what are you doing!?" Bakura yelled out.
The pitcher swiped his hand forward. But Lucy felt nothing. The phone however, was no longer in her hands.
"Reading my messages huh? Now who's nosy?" He said as he looked through the messages, not even reading them fully because of how mad he was.
"I know I look like a hypocrite now."
He turns off the phone. "You're lucky. You'll feel the power of my family and my friends if we ever match up! Believe that!"
"Look, I have no idea what that means but, if it means anything to you, I guess we can talk about what I've been writing."
Eijun looked away as he put away the phone before turning his back, eyes closed.
"Yeah, makes sense. Don't wanna hear it since I don't exactly have proof."
"You two can play without me!" He said to Miyuki and Bakura.
"Are you sure?" Bakura asked.
"Yes I'm sure!"
"Alright, well, good luck on your date!" Miyuki said, raising a hand in goodbye as he walked away.
"IT'S NOT A DATE!" Eijun yelled out before taking a deep breath and turning around.
"Alright…." Eijun sat down opposite of her on the log. "Where do you want to start?"
"Well, I guess we can start with the letters, since that's only fair." Lucy answered.
Elsewhere….
"Whoever says volleyball is the same as tennis is a moron!" Kageyama yelled out as he was beaten by Diana again after losing to Echizen. Though he's beaten everyone that was there. The court was made by Ben, as Heatblast, Hiruma, with a flamethrower, along with Jenny, with her own flamethrower, melting some of the sand on the ground to turn it into a solid court of glass. The net was makeshift via Spidermonkey's webs and some wood for poles. Though because no one had shoes equipped to run on it, only a part of it was turned into glass while the back half was still sand.
"And that's game! Diana wins 60 to love!" Adrien called out, being the referee. Though referee duty was by committee of whoever else wasn't playing at the time.
"Of course they're not the same! You're just saying that because you're losing!" Hiruma called out.
"SHUT UP!" Kageyama yelled out.
"Maybe that's what's causing you to have trouble. Don't think of this as volleyball. Think of it as-" Diana started before he interrupted her.
"You're the last person I wanna hear giving me advice!"
Diana let out a breath of disbelief at him saying something like that. "For what? Beating you?"
"Because you're just starting out learning too. What the heck would I learn from a novice?"
"Well, considering you haven't won a single game yet, you have a lot more of a ways to go than her." Echizen said.
"YOU BE QUIET TOO!"
"Dude, please don't be a sore loser. Just take her advice." Ben said.
"I'm not being a sore loser!" He sighed right after. "But, I'm not gonna get anywhere if I don't change something. Really tired of losing."
"Or just admit that you're terrible. Even I beat you! You're literally my only win!" Dan said.
"I'm damn sure not taking advice from you!" He turned back towards Diana, pointing his racker at her. "Diana! Let's play again!"
Diana closed her eyes before looking back up and pointing her racket back. "As you wish. Be forewarned. I will not go easy on you! I would still like my fourth win."
"I still don't get the half and half. What's the problem with playing in sand only?" Rex asked as the game began.
"Well, we're trying to recreate the tennis experience as much as possible. Not the best but, it works." Jenny answered.
"I still think it's dumb. You want an authentic experience? Play ping pong! The school that my friend Noah goes to, no relation to the one that was here, they take ping pong super serious. Like, worship serious. You're on the team, they worship the heck out of you! I get more respect playing table tennis than I do saving the world on a near daily basis. However that works….. of course, if you don't win, you get stuff into a locker. So yeah, it's not all good."
"I mean, can't you just break out?" Ben asked.
"Well yeah I can, but Noah can't. I don't go to school. Well, at least not public school. Not anymore anyway."
"They don't happen to shoot lasers, disappear, or create mini-natural disasters do they?" Marinette asked.
"Uh, no." Rex answered. "Rival schools do spy on you though. And the week I was in his school, coach that coaches and is the dad of conjoined EVO brothers tried to cheat and mess with my nanites. Wonder how that piano's going for them."
"Just checking."
"There are spies. And cheating. And EVOs, whatever those are. For table tennis? What kind of a school does he go to?" Randy asked.
"I know, right?" Rex said.
"At least like, the others kinda make sense. But table tennis?"
"Wait, you used to go to school? When did you stop going?" Ben asked.
"Dunno. I was there for like a week because Noah asked me to be his partner for the team. And that was only because the other partners he had got hospitalized. Of course, that was when I found out those brothers were the ones that did it. An EVO against regular kids? Nothing good was bound to come from that. So, I made it my mission to not only win, but cure them to stop people from getting hurt."
"They were incurable but, at the very least, they got their dad to be supportive of what they really wanted to do: Play piano. All they really wanted to do was make him proud. They weren't trying to hurt anyone. Just too bad that that was what had to happen for him to realize he was taking things too far. Honestly, one of the most wholesome 'failures' I'll ever have."
"Can we just talk about the fact that he was casually accepting of the fact that his sons were EVO?"
"Yeah, that's what also makes it wholesome. Unfortunately for me, that whole match/fight ended up caused a good bit of destruction in the school. They pinned all of it on me, and I got expelled. And disqualified from the tournament. Hence, besides being unable to cure them, the 'failure' part. Remember, I came there to help Noah win initially. I didn't know there EVOs there. And unfortunately, Dr. Holiday got the bright idea of piling more lessons on to me. Booooo!"
"Wonder if Zak's homeschooling is like this."
"You kidding? He gets to explore the world! That's nowhere near the same!"
"Game to Diana!" Adrien called out.
Kageyama slumped over.
"Well, at the very least, you lasted longer?" Diana said, trying to find some positive.
"I know you're making fun of me. It's not helping!" Kageyama called out.
"I'm not. I'm trying to find a way to be encouraging."
"That's even worse. If you have to say it like that, then I definitely haven't really improved."
"Practice makes perfect. I was never great with magic in the beginning."
"Magic and tennis are not the same thing."
Doyle flew in via his jetpack and landed. "All right guys. Challenge- what in the world did you guys do?" Doyle asked, looking at the ground.
"Don't look at me. It was their idea. I said we should have played Ping Pong." Rex said.
"You know what? Whatever. You're gonna be the ones that deal with Chris not me. Anyways, as I was about to say earlier, challenge time. Be there or…. just follow me!" Doyle said before volunteering to help put away the rackets and the makeshift net.
All of the contestants gathered around, with Eijun noticeably wiping tears from his eyes.
"Why are you crying?" Mr. Wolf asked.
"Don't worry about it. Let's focus on the challenge!" Eijun declared before quickly returning to his normal self.
***Confessional***
Lucy:
"Sometimes, the best thing you can do is listen. And Eijun was that, a listener. We exchanged some stories about our parents and the letters I write to my mother. Along with how supportive his own parents are. He told me that even if he was to fail in his dream of baseball, they'll always welcome him back home with open arms. His dad was the same way. He wanted to be a rock star, but failed. So he came back home and inherited the family farm. He wished that my parents were just as supportive as his and even felt bad there was nothing he could do to help. But I already told him he did. By listening, and with a hug."
She wiped her right eye.
"Are all loudmouth hotheads cinnamon rolls on the inside?"
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Eijun:
"Now's not the time for tears anymore. Now's the time for war! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"DO YOU HAVE TO YELL LIKE THAT!? JEEZ!" Rei yelled outside of the confessional.
"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!"
***End Confessional***
"Okay, now that you're all here, it's time to travel to our next location for our next challenge! We'll be returning to Japan once again. But don't expect to see the Devil Bats. Instead, this'll be familiar stomping grounds for someone else here." Chris said.
"Can you give us a hint?" Kise asked.
"Uh no? Why the heck would I do that, when I just said we're about to travel to the next location?"
"Oh. Sorry."
"Whatever. Now, everyone, into the portal!"
?, Japan(Jujutsu Kaisen)
A forest could be seen with multiple trees and occasional power lines. In between the trees is a brown flight of stairs.
And several people rolling down them. Of course, that was before a few of them remembered that they could fly.
"I have no clue why he continues to think that's funny. It's not." Marinette remarked after transforming.
"Slapstick equals humor guys." Ayame said sarcastically, also transformed.
"Come on, you guys are being too negative. Slapstick can be funny. It just has to be done right." Cat Noir remarked.
"Yeah, well this isn't one of those times." Ladybug replied.
Some of them, thanks to flight, or in the case of Sena, Tangle, Yulaw and other speedsters, were able to ascend the flight of stairs pretty quickly. Unfortunately that effort would go to waste as they were all pushed back down, with some of them hitting the people that were still coming up the stairs.
"Well that was a waste." Lucy commented.
"A waste? You didn't even do any work! I carried you!" Happy said.
"It's still a waste. And, what if I was talking about others too?"
"Well I feel like you're lying."
"Whatever. Regardless, we've still got to get back up there."
"And figure out how to do it without getting hit by, whatever that was." Natsu added.
"Yeah. That was weird. There was suddenly a flash of red light and….. next thing you know, all of us are pushed back."
"When I saw the surroundings I was pretty sure anyway. That all but confirms it." Maki commented.
"Let me guess, this is where you're from?"
"Yep. Which means, I wouldn't be surprised if the stairs thing wasn't Chris at all. Well, at least a hundred percent him."
"Alright, who do you know that thinks that's funny? I'm sure they'll change their tune when they see what all of us can do." Ayame said assuredly.
"Eh, for the most part, not really." Someone said in a nonchalant tone. That person was revealed to have been right above them and lowered closer to where everyone was, upside down. The man in question looked to have been in his late twenties with spiky snow-white hair with a black blindfold covering his eyes. The blindfold was also propping up his hair. He wore a dark blue zip-up jacket with a high collar that's also fairly wide. He also wore slim-fit matching black pants and black dress boots.
He picked up Courtney and threw her up in the air as she was heard yelling, terrified.
"What is wrong with you!?" Sophie yelled out with others having several similar reactions. She pulled out an amulet to summon a titan to get her with Reimu about to fly to get her before Gojo held up a hand and immediately flew upwards. After grabbing her, he immediately flew back downward to the ground.
Even when she was back down on the ground, she was breathing hard and felt her heart pounding out of her chest.
"What would even possess you to do something like that?" Emma asked.
"Trust me, I never had any intentions on letting her die. I'll let Chris handle that. As long as you're here today, you're not dying on my watch. After that? No promises." The man said just as Courtney fainted in his hands. "Whoops."
"Are you not going to check her pulse?" Bakura asked.
"Give me a dollar for every time you've talked about checking people's pulses this season. I'd have at least a few. Also, I'm starting to sense a pattern in some of the people he lets be guests on this show." Isagi commented. "But seriously, are you going to check her pulse?"
"Just did. She's fine." The man said. "Hey, so uh, can someone-" He held out Courtney expectantly.
"I got it." Aomine said before the man tossed her to him, causing her to fall on top of him. "Okay seriously Maki. What the hell is wrong with this dude."
"I think you have issues for telling someone you got it when you don't. Unless… you sly dog." He said, looking at him with a mischievous smile.
"You may not have a punchable face, but that personality is definitely punch-warranted."
"Sure as heck wouldn't be you that'd do it that's for sure."
"Don't. Trust me. It's not even worth trying." Maki said, using a staff to block him from running forward.
"If it wasn't for the fact that this guy's probably gonna explain the challenge, I would."
"Is this the case of polar opposites in the case of you and…." Sly started before realizing he didn't know his name.
"Satoru Gojo. Heck of an introduction, right?" Gojo said, a smile on his face.
"No, it wasn't!" Several people yelled out.
"I would have expected him to be late. Probably would have been better if he was honestly." Maki remarked.
"Whaaaaat? Come on Maki this is reality TV. What kind of example would I set to the kids if I was late?" Gojo remarked which only caused her to shake her head. "Anyways, follow me. Take your time. Or don't. I got all day." He said as he walked up the stairs.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't. Or, does he? Where is Chris anyway?" Hailey said.
"Probably up top." Maki answered.
"Maki, if you'll please." Gojo said.
"If I'll what?"
"You know…."
"Sorry, but I don't know. I'm not a mind reader."
"Come on, what's the one thing you guys almost always do when you're in a new place?" Gojo said, pulling out his phone.
"Why the heck would I explain that? That's your job."
"Hi, how ya doing? I'm great. I'd like to place an order. For pickup."
When she realized that he was talking on the phone, a vein appeared on Maki's head. And another shortly after.
"Wow. I don't think she's ever been this angry." Julie whispered.
"With this guy, who wouldn't be?" Rally said.
"Lazy a[censored]…." Maki grumbled before calming herself. "Alright, since Gojo wants to be stupid it looks like I'm gonna have to give some background for where we are. You got any questions I'll answer 'em the best I can. If you don't wanna listen that's fine with me too. As long as you don't do anything stupid like purposely talk loud I don't really care. So far starters, as Chris already explained, this is Tokyo, Japan. The location we're headed to specifically is Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical High School, or as most people call it, Tokyo Jujutsu High for short."
"Wait, this is the first time we've gone to a school, right?" Todd asked.
"Nope. Remember Luna Nova? And Beacon? And no, we're probably not going here to learn. At least that's what I'm assuming. I have no idea what Chris and/or Gojo has planned. You'd have to ask them. But anyways, this is one of two jujutsu schools in Japan. Our sister school being Kyoto Jujutsu High. I go to this one. These schools are training grounds for up and coming jujutsu sorcerers. Think of what you saw with Team RWBY's school with Beacon, but a lot smaller when it comes to the number of students. And of course, replace Grimm with Curses."
"Are there other schools like these around the world?" Ruby R. asked. "You know, since there's only two schools in Japan."
"I can't a hundred percent say for sure, but more than likely, probably not."
"How come? You told me that curses are made up from the buildup of negative emotions. It would make sense that they're located globally, right?" Huey reasoned.
"You're not wrong on the negative emotions thing. Or your reasoning. But again, the reason why I'd imagine that there aren't any is because there's no need. It's very rare for curses to show up anywhere outside of Japan. Why have people fight something that seldom exists? This is their hotspot. So it'd make sense that this is where the sorcerers are. There's something called Tengen's barrier. A cursed technique. It has multiple purposes, but the one I'm focusing on specifically allows it to optimize cursed energy in Japan to prevent it from leaking out to the rest of the world to make Japan the hotspot. If that makes sense."
"Yeah can you reword that? I don't get it." Kagami said.
"Me neither." Kaz said.
"Think of it as like a greenhouse, but for cursed energy. If you round up all the cursed energy, which makes the curses, right? Curses are monsters like Grimm, right?" Molly said, looking to Maki for approval that she was on track.
"Trust me, if you get something wrong, I'll correct it." Maki said.
"Great! You guys are familiar with how greenhouses work, right?"
"Uh…. no?" Kagami said.
"I don't know what that is either." Asta added.
"Wait, I think I know what they're gettin' at! Okay, so, I'm sure you know about Carbon Dioxide, right? Well, think of cursed energy as Carbon Dioxide and Japan as a really huge greenhouse. That barrier thing Maki said earlier, it pulls and keeps in the cursed energy like a vacuum in Japan. So like, it makes it easier to kill the curses instead of everybody having to be all over the place to try to find them." Zee explained.
"That about sums it up perfectly Zee. That a better explanation for you guys?" Maki asked.
"Yeah, I think I get it now. Thanks!" Kagami said.
"So, is Gojo a jujutstu sorcer like you Maki?" Huey asked.
"Wait, what? She's a sorcerer? I haven't seen her do any type of magic here, even when she fought." Hanamiya thought.
"Yep. And a damn good one at that, as annoying as he is." Maki answered.
"Wait, if you're a sorcerer, then you must know some type of techniques, right? How come you haven't used any yet?" Lucy asked.
"Oh yeah, forgot all about that. The rest of you guys not on my team don't know huh? Well, that's a simple answer. I can't."
"Then how are you a sorcerer then? Unless….." Noelle started.
"You're just like me! I can't do any magic either!" Asta finished.
"Shut up you idiot! If they find about the Anti-Magic…. Knowing him he's not going to get the hint. And apparently everyone else forgot too. So I need to stop him myself." Hanamiya thought.
"Wait, you can't? That's news to me. Guess we are pretty alike huh?" Maki said.
"Yeah! Tho-" Asta was cut off by Hanamiya.
"Gojo? Got a question." Hanamiya spoke up.
"Unless you're dying, ask Maki. Got another call to make." Gojo said before holding the phone back to his ear.
Maki could only sigh and shake her head. "Thank goodness we're almost there." She said under her breath. "Alright, what's up?"
"I was just going to ask what type of magic he can do compared to the others here. Lucy said she saw something red. Maybe that's what it was." Hanamiya said.
"That should derail it enough. Hopefully long enough for us to get to wherever we're going." He thought.
"Well, for starters, unlike the rest of you guys, we don't call those techniques magic. We call it jujutsu. That pretty much covers any and everything that involves the use of cursed energy in some way. From cursed techniques to cursed objects, and of course, my personal favorite, cursed tools. What Lucy, and by extension some of you saw and/or felt, was an example of a cursed technique in action."
"So, cursed tools and cursed objects are like magic-infused items, while cursed techniques are like magic spells right?" Akko inferred.
"A good way to put it, yes. But unlike the magic you four learn at your school, not all cursed techniques can be learned and replicated by anyone. Sorry Kise."
"Well, it's not gonna stop me from trying. And now that you're doubting me, I'm definitely going to try it if I do happen to see one." Kise remarked, sporting a smile as he almost always was.
"So, those weapons you have. Are those infused with that energy too?" Natsu asked.
"Yep. My weapons are cursed tools. These are what help me battle against curses despite not having much cursed energy myself." Maki answered.
"So, is it not enough for you to do any type of magic- sorry, cursed techniques?" Asta asked.
"Nope. Trust me, it would be nice to have my own cursed techniques. But, I wasn't given that. So, instead of constantly asking myself and the world 'why', I made due. These glasses that I'm wearing? They're a cursed tool too. These are the only way I'll even be able to actually see curses because of how low my energy is."
"Hey Morty, hand me one of your snacks will ya?" Todd whispered to him as Asta continued to express his amazement at the similarities between him and the jujutsu sorceress.
"Oh these aren't mine. Lotte shared these with me." Morty said, referring to the pack of cookies that he had.
"Look, it doesn't matter. Could you hand 'em to me?"
"You're not gonna pick me up by the head are you?" Morty asked in a joking manner.
"'Course not! You think I'm strong enough to do that?"
Morty hands him the cookies.
"Thanks."
After walking slower and "slipping" to get to the back of the group, he drew his hand back and threw the cookies, his target being Gojo.
"Who knows? Would be interesting to see how-" Maki started before feeling a pack of cookies hit her in the head. She immediately stopped talking after that, picking up the cookies.
"Alright, we're here." Gojo called out. "Are you finished up Maki? That interruption was pretty abrupt."
"If we're here, I don't have much else to talk about."
"Good point. You know what? Maybe I should have ordered something for you too." He added after putting the phone away. "Now I feel a little bad for getting you to do all that exposition for nothing the second time. Then again, you'd probably relate to them more. And, if you get past all these you'll win a heck of a lot of money. So what's one little trick?"
"Trick? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh yeah, that. Second time I was on the phone? I wasn't. I just really didn't feel like answering questions, then being bombarded with even more questions after that."
Maki's face turned red. Not from blushing. But from anger. "YOU WHAT!?"
"Relax. If it'll make you feel any better I'll handle all the explanations from here."
"You should have been doing that in the first place!" Maki called out, pointing at him, still steamed.
When they reached the top, several buildings of traditional Japanese architecture could be seen.
"Like I said, he may be strong, but his attitude, especially as a teacher, absolutely p[censored]es me off sometimes." Maki said to some of the others around her.
"Wait, he's a teacher!?" Randy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I know that's really hard to believe."
Another object was thrown his way. This one being a cookie from the pack that Todd was given. Though this one never reached Gojo either. It stopped in front of him before it broke apart.
He didn't even need to turn around to know that someone tried to throw something at him as the cookie feel harmlessly to the ground. "And that folks is the exact reason why I'm not making hitting me a part of this challenge today. Because the fact of the matter is….." Gojo turned around to face the others. "Almost none of you here could do that."
"What was that!?" Kaz said, fired up from that comment.
"I'm sorry but I can't say I'm a fan of this blatant disrespect!" Ryoma spoke up.
"You got some nerve some sayin' somethin' like that. Let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is." Sendo added.
"You want someone to hit ya? Challenge accepted!" Natsu said, preparing to run in for a punch.
"Hey! I called it first!" Kaz said.
"Wait, you did? How come I didn't hear it!?"
"Settle down now guys. Kaz gets a shot first since he looks to be so fired up." Gojo said.
"I'm gonna make you eat those words Mr. Gojo!" He said as he pulled out Falgor from the case that it was in attached to the back of his belt.
"Please, you don't have to add the 'Mr.' Makes me sound so boring. But anyways, go ahead. No tricks. No dodging. I'm right here." Gojo said, hands in his pocket.
"Either he is very brave or very stupid." Albedo commented.
"Something tells me he might not keep his word. And if he can do cursed techniques, then he's definitely not weak. I know! I'll hit him with an attack he can't dodge because it's too fast!"
"Let's go Galaxy Falgor! Fly!" After gaining some speed, the power stone glowed into rainbow colors, indicating that one of its special abilities had been activated before its wings expanded, with it taking flight not long after. Instead of taking flight upward like some of the rest of Team JET expected, he instead flew back behind where everyone else was.
"He's not going upward?" Diego said in surprise.
"I'm surprised myself." Myron added.
"Why would he need to go upward?" Jenny asked.
"I would have thought he would have gone upwards for a devastating descending attack from above, using the speed from the descent to strengthen the attack, like he did in the soccer challenge, and when we were trying to escape capture a while back to deal with a large crowd of enemy machines."
"Oh yeah. I do remember him saying something about a Galaxy Magnum, right?" Asta asked.
"Yeah. That's one of Falgor's Special attacks. Of course, it's only as effective as how much speed it gains from above."
"Fitting name I'd say. Sorry, couldn't resist." Rally said.
"The gun nerd in her was about to come out. She had to hold it in." Yang joked.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Ruby R. said.
"Spin, then punch it!" Kaz commanded.
"Interesting." Gojo commented, still in the same place.
"Why spin?" Shiro thought.
A few seconds later, Falgor appeared, seemingly colliding with Gojo. But it was short.
"What? Okay, Plan B-Oh no!" Kaz called out as his machine was immediately pushed back. "Falgor!"
Even with the pushback, it was able to land on the ground safely as Kaz breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was that? I thought you said no tricks!?" Kaz asked Gojo, upset.
"That wasn't a trick. You didn't hit me, so I sent your machine back." Gojo said.
"That doesn't even make any sense! How could my machine just stop in place like that?"
"Well, let's see." Myron said before pulling out his machine.
"I do not detect any strange anomalies surrounding Satoru." Penny said.
"Let Slazor give it a try."
"Nope, it's Natsu's turn." Gojo said.
"All right!" Natsu exclaimed, pumped up.
"So, Kaz tried speed. Maybe that's not what you need. He probably has some type of barrier or aura that's blocking attacks so you can't just get through. So, I'll just have to hit it hard enough to break it down!" Natsu thought.
"Okay Gojo! You asked for it! Take this!" Natsu runs directly at him to punch him with a powerful flame infused fist. But it proved to have been no good.
"No u." Gojo said before sending him back as well. "Okay, they say third time's the charm. Who's next? Maki, wanna give it a go?"
"As much as I would love to hit you with no potential repercussions for it, no." Maki said.
"Awww. Anyone else?"
"Reimu, you're fast enough, right? You should give it a try!" Becky F. said confidently.
"Who said I wanted to be involved in this!? " Reimu yelled, annoyed. "Let someone else do it. I'm sure there's someone else here that can hit him. Jotaro's good. Let him try."
"You coward. But sure, let's see what Jotaro can do."
"I'm not a coward! I just really don't feel like being involved with something so stupid that has nothing to do with the challenge."
"Okay well, you do have a point there."
"Well?" Gojo said expectantly.
"Ben, do you think you have an alien on that watch of yours that can get through?" Jotaro asked, calmy turning towards said teammate.
"Well I mean, considering I can't exactly see what I'm trying to get through, if anything, I don't know." Ben said.
"Perhaps we should try a different approach than just speed or brute strength. Allow me to try." Eliza said confidently.
"Wait, I never said I didn't wanna try. And wait a minute, I thought Jotaro was supposed to be going? Before Reimu pinned it on him. Then he pinned it on me!"
"Guess everyone's bein' lazy." Bobo commented.
"It's not the case of me being lazy. It's moreso the fact that we'll need to get creative if we want to get through. I could use my Stand, but it probably wouldn't fare much better than Natsu or Kaz."
Eliza attempted to use blood-based attacks to get to Gojo, but that didn't work either. And he attacked her as well, sending her flying back.
"Nope. Guess it wasn't the charm here. And also, blood? Really glad that didn't connect." Gojo said.
"You're messing with us. It's clear that we can't hit you. Just get to the challenge already." Yulaw said impatiently.
"And let this guy get away with all the stuff he's done? No way! Look at what he's doing!"
Gojo had his phone out as it was playing music from it.
(Lyrics are from Kaikai Kitan)
Yami wo haratte yami wo haratte
Yoru no tobari ga oritara aizu da
Aitai shite mawaru kanjōsen
Zaregoto nado wa hakisute ike to
"He's not even paying attention to us at all! If Falcon were here, he wouldn't have taken this lying down! And neither will I!" Ayame declared before transforming with her Power Stone. "POWER CHANGE!"
"Take this!" Ayame unleashes several small shurikens that resembled blossom petals. "Heaven Explosion!"
The petals seemed to hit everything but Gojo. "How can none of those have hit?"
She was immediately kneed in the stomach before being sent away herself in the same fashion as the others.
Gojo casually waved around his phone in his left hand. "Well, you're right about one thing. If Falcon were here, he definitely wouldn't have taken it lying down. He would have been beaten standing just like you were." Gojo said. "Anyone else?"
"Enough of this." Albedo said before transforming into Ultimate Gravattack. "I wasn't going to entertain this meaningless battle, but if doing so means you'll be quiet, then I'll do it!"
Gojo, to his surprise, was immediately picked up off the ground before being slammed into it numerous times and sent flying back into one of the buildings.
"I think you made your point. The extra collateral damage was unnecessary." Dawn said.
"He did the same thing to us. Consider that retribution."
Seconds later, Gojo returned and clapped. "Well, at least we know there's one person here that isn't weak. Too bad I can't say that for the rest of you."
"Uh huh." Ben remarked before transforming into the original Gravattack and doing the same thing.
"Real original. Now try coming up with your own idea." Gojo said, recovering.
"Try this for original. Metagross! Stand by for battle!" Paul called out before bringing out said Pokemon. "Now use Psychic!"
The Steel/Psychic-type was able to lift Gojo in the air with ease before giving him a slight push.
"So, it looks like psychic attacks can get through." Ryoma said, a hand on his chin, thinking. "Do we have anyone like that here?"
"On our team? I don't think so."
"If something like those attacks can get through, then I believe what we need is something that can manipulate space." Myron concluded.
"Well, it's too bad Ryu isn't here. He could do that easy." Hailey said.
"You're joking, right?" Tsukishima said in a deadpan tone.
"Uh, yeah. It's not that serious where I'd ask for help from someone as crazy as him."
Without warning, Bass shot out a purple orb past Gojo before it exploded, creating what appeared to have been a black hole and pulling several people towards it, Gojo included.
"Uh oh. You got a way to turn that off?" Gojo asked.
"You taunted us, now you want mercy?" Bass scoffed in disbelief at how quickly things turned.
"Mercy?" Gojo laughed.
When Bass really paid attention to him, he realized that he wasn't there anymore.
"I was asking that for the others." He finished before hitting Bass from behind, kicking him forward.
He readjusted his blindfold back, covering the one blue eye that was revealed. Aomine's hand was stopped mid-way from reaching him.
"And I thought you weren't going to try to hit me. You liar." Gojo remarked, smiling as he did before jumping back over to see all of the contestants.
"Alright, every team has proven they have at least one person that can move or hit you. Now get to the challenge already." Maki said to him, impatient.
"Already? Oh yeah, totally forgot. That was the challenge."
Several people were in shock or disbelief.
"You can't be serious. That was it? That was the challenge? Hitting you?" Rally asked.
"Read a dictionary. Maybe then you wouldn't be asking a stupid question like that."
"What did you say!?"
He immediately put his phone in her face. "A stimulating task or problem. You can always rely on Merriam-Webster."
Rally immediately tried to slap his hand away, only to be stopped because of whatever was protecting him, which only made her even more annoyed.
"Does he have to be this disrespectful? Literally treating people like they're stupid." Fiona asked Maki.
"Like I said, he's annoying. Weirdest part is the fact that no one else is here." Maki replied before turning her attention to Gojo. "Alright, where's everyone else? Namely Chris."
"They should be here in about…" Gojo took a look at his phone. "Three minutes or so. I was half-expecting them to be here by the time we finished up, so good on you. So, any interesting stories you guys wanna tell? How're you liking the show so far Maki?"
"Hey, do you know the definition of a[censored]-backwards? Because that's exactly what that was." Yulaw snarked.
"In a completely disordered or improper way." Gojo said, looking at his phone again, which only caused Yulaw to shake his head.
"Okay, just out of curiosity, since we don't have anything better to do, what exactly are you using to stop us, well, most of us, from touching you?" Sly asked.
"Magic," Gojo said as he spread his hands out wide, a wide grin on his face.
"Okay, I kinda fell into that one."
"Seriously though, that's not specific." Lucy said.
"A magician, especially a good one like myself, never reveals his secrets." Gojo said.
Lucy looks at the camera with a look that said, "Really?"
"His cursed techniques are as strong as his ego it seems." Sophie remarked, arms folded.
"Eeyup." Lucy agreed.
"Any other questions? I'm an open book." Gojo said. "You've got a little over two minutes."
"Possible stupid question incoming but, did you go to any of these schools?" Tangle asked.
"Yep. This one right here."
"So, what exactly made you want to be a teacher here?" Rex asked. "I agree, some of that stuff is a bit extra, but at the same time, least you got a sense of humor."
"Oh that. Well….. hmm. I could be lazy and just say because I thought it would be fun or because I like teaching kids or some stock mumbo jumbo. But then again….."
A portal opened. "Whelp! Guess that's time!"
"He was definitely stalling on that last one and you can't tell me otherwise." Mr. Wolf remarked.
"I wouldn't put it past him." Rally said.
"Alright, looks like we're on time." Doyle said as he, Chef, Heloise and Chris had bags of food in their hands.
"Thanks." Gojo said after Doyle handed him one of the bags.
"Stop wasting our time and get to the challenge!" Urien said, his patience was already starting to be tested despite not wanting to take part in whatever was going on with Gojo, but seeing the others just casually have food in their hands immediately put it on the edge of the cliff. And it was about to fall off if something didn't stop it.
"Gojo, you didn't start the challenge?" Chris asked, surprised after hearing this from Urien.
"I did. I have no idea what he's talking about. Must have been sleep." Gojo replied.
"Okay, so who got it in the least number of attempts?"
"Uh….. let's see. Albedo, Ben, Bass got me. And prior to that, it was, Natsu, Kaz, Eliza and Ayame."
"Wait, how do you know our names? We never said them out loud to you." Akko asked.
"If he talked to Chris prior, he was probably told about us ahead of time. At least, that's my guess." Hiruma said.
"And you'd be right." Chris said before asking Gojo another question. "Who got it first? Ben or Albedo?"
"Albedo." He answered.
"Cool. So, that brings me to the next thing. Rats get the advantage for this challenge." Chris announced.
"Wait, Gojo made it seem like that was all there was to it. There's more?" Ayame asked.
"Yes. You really thought I would just end it right there?"
"Let's not act like you haven't, or at least done something close to it. Remember when you eliminated Courtney along with Blaineley in World Tour because of budget instead of sudden death?" Riley reminded.
"Not my fault. That one's on the producers."
"Still though, that was really cheap. No pun intended."
"Look, at the very least, Blaineley got a proper elimination this time around. Courtney had All-Stars, and now she gets this season. Now, are you going to do more complaining about unfair eliminations and waste more time, then complain about how I'm not getting to the challenge, or are you going to be quiet for a maximum of probably five minutes so I can explain it?"
"Fine. Go ahead."
"Thank you. Now, as I already said, you hitting Gojo was actually the start of your challenge. And now, the Rats have the advantage. That advantage? A slight head-start and more options available on who they can choose for the second part of the challenge."
"Since everyone but Maki is unable to see curses, we had to do something a little bit different this time around." Gojo said.
" 'This time around'? You've never done this before. At least, for as long as I've been here." Maki said.
"Ohhhh." Gojo put a hand on his head. "How could I forget? You're probably wondering why no one else's here. It's not because school's out that's for sure. Come on, I'll show you."
"Well, this is gonna be interesting."
Everyone followed Gojo to an open area, away from where most of the school buildings and dorms were. Several people wearing similar uniforms, with the exception of a few, were seen. One of them notably being a panda.
"Hey, hey everyone!" Gojo said, waving as he and the others approached.
"Don't just come casually waving like you did nothing wrong you idiot." A woman with hair colored and styled similar to Rei's remarked, a frown on her scarred face. Though some of hers was tied behind her head unlike Rei's. She also wore a miko outfit.
"Utahime Iori folks. Teacher at Kyoto Jujutsu High, you know, the other school I mentioned? Always a bundle of sunshine." Gojo said, introducing everyone to the sorcerer. "Want some?" He said, offering her the bag of food.
"NO I DON'T!" Utahime shouted, immediately swiping away at the food, only to realize that she couldn't.
"Awww. I ordered this one all for you. Mine's is the one in my other hand. Oh well. More for me."
Utahime immediately grabbed her nose and shook her head. "I'm really sorry about Gojo. He can be…. very difficult."
"Tell me about it. Also, nice outfit. I'm guessing your abilities are based off a Shrine Maiden's?" Rei asked.
"No. Although, I'm guessing you're one yourself."
"Yes ma'am I am. Reimu's one too. Although, she's a lot more dedicated to it than I am. That's moreso because I have other duties to take care of."
"Wow. Two shrine maidens. You don't see that every day." One of the students commented. She had long light blue, shoulder length hair that framed her forehead and wore a black, long-sleeved jacket over a light-colored button-down shirt and a black tie, pants, socks, shoes and a belt that she uses to hold her sword. "My name is Miwa. I'm also studying at Kyoto High. It's really nice to meet you all! Even though I know I won't get much attention today, it's nice to know that a reality TV show chose to come here when they could have chosen anywhere else."
"I wish I could share your enthusiasm. While it's great to see the show come here, especially Maki, I am a hundred percent jealous. I signed up for the show and got rejected! Any camera time I get now, no matter how much it is, will always be bittersweet for me knowing that. But anyways, Nobara Kugisaki, Tokyo Jujutsu High sorcerer in training. First year. Remember that, because I'm going to try again the next time you have sign ups." Nobara remarked, pointing at Chris at the end.
"Cheer up Nobara. It's not every day we get to be on reality TV." A young man wearing a black long sleeve shirt resembling a gakuran over a red hoodie, black pants and red shoes remarked. He also had light brown eyes and spiky pink hair styled in an undercut fashion. A realization had come to him. "Wait. I'M ON FREAKING REALITY TV!" He yelled out, hands on his cheeks. "YUJI ITADORI! FIRST YEAR WITH NOBARA AND MEGUMI AT TOKYO JUJUTSU HIGH! IT'S SO NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!"
"We get it. It's reality TV. Jeez, you're acting like you're the focus of today. And even if you were, why are you yelling like you just won the lottery?" Megumi, the last of the first-year trio at Tokyo Jujutsu high said, a neutral turned slightly annoyed expression on his face. He has black hair with long spikes, resembling a sea-urchin's and wore the standard school uniform, without any customizations, like the red hoodie that Yuji had.
"As Yuji here already said, my name is Megumi Fushiguro. I'm a first year, just like those two. Hope you guys have a good time here, for however long it's going to be."
"I hope it's short." Another student, who looked completely identical to Maki, but had shorter hair and didn't wear glasses remarked, arms folded. "Mai Zenin. Student at Kyoto High. And twin sister of Maki. Unfortunately."
"Come on, be nice." Miwa pleaded.
"It's fine by me. Better to be honest than a lie." Maki said.
Bren and Sly looked at each other after that remark.
"Benito Flakes." A slim young man with mid-length straight hair that was gray said, His uniform was customized to have a high collar with a zipper that covered his mouth. This was Toge Inumaki.
"Honesty or not, Miwa's right. First impressions are everything." A brown humanoid puppet with a robotic appearance remarked. The puppet had green eyes, a swirl marking on its forehead and wore a scarf around the standard school uniform. The puppet was in fact controlled by a student named Kokichi Muta, who was born with a body that was sickly and fragile due to his Heavenly Restriction, leaving him unable to attend school himself without the Mechamaru as a proxy.
"Oh cool, is that a robot?" Huey remarked in awe.
"Forgot the robot, check her out! She's got a witch broom!" Akko pointed out, referring to the girl with blonde hair tied into two pigtails that point upwards. Her uniform was a loose, short-sleeved black dress that ends mid-calf and black ballerina shoes.
"This is no ordinary witch's broom. Although, since that first year signed up, and Maki's here…. Maybe I should have signed up too. But anyways, Momo Nishimiya, second-year. I attend Kyoto High. Unfortunately, you won't get to see what I mean by it being no ordinary broom since you're interested in it so much. You're the spotlight here, so enjoy it." Momo said, trying to hide the fact that she was flattered that someone took interest in her out of all the others.
"Noritoshi Kano. I am also a second-year that attends Kyoto. Not much else for me to say other than I hope you enjoy your time here. And to Maki, while I understand we attend different schools, we are still sorcerers at the end of the day. I wish you nothing but the best today and onwards." Noritoshi had gray-colored eyes that are normally kept shut and black hair. Two strands were in front of his face while the rest flowed down his neck. The strands were wrapped. He wore a blue shozoku version of the uniform.
"And last but not least! ME! Aoi Todo! THIRD YEAR! Let's see….." Todo remarked energetically as he scanned the crowd of contestants. He was the tallest out of the Kyoto students there(which he completely forgot to mention), a muscular build, and shoulder-length black hair that is almost tied into a top-knot bun with strands being rounded ends akin to stamens of a flower. He also had a larger scar running down the left side of his face and wore the school uniform with martial arts pants and slippers.
"He does realize I haven't introduced myself yet has he?" Panda said low to Toge.
"Sammon." Toge said, with a bit of a sigh.
"You! What's your type of woman!?" Todo asked, pointing at someone in the crowd of contestants.
"Not this again…." Mai remarked in an exasperated tone.
"Me?" Scott asked, surprised as he pointed to himself.
"Actually I was pointing to someone else. But, I guess you can tell me your answer too."
"W-wait. Why are you asking this?" Hailey asked, just as shocked.
"Evaluating. Of course, if he's into guys, that's fine too. All I care about is his tastes in a partner."
"This is gonna be good." Beta commented.
"Uh….. I guess, I don't really have one. But, the number one thing is they have to be nice." Scott answered.
Todo closed his eyes. "Well, now I regret asking you. What a boring answer… from just as boring of a person! Hell, it's worse than Megumi's answer!"
Said person immediately had an annoyed look on his face after being dissed just for his opinion on his type of women again.
"I thought it was a good answer." Hailey replied.
"I guess he wanted something really specific. But I really don't know." Scott said.
"I mean, we're 14. I think it's really hard to be specific on something like that compared to someone like Kagami or Aomine."
"Kagami and Aomine huh? And who are those two? Tell me and I'll ask them instead of who I was going to pick originally." Todo said, now intrigued.
"Red hair, blue hair." Hailey said, pointing to both.
"Why ask him that question? He already has a girlfriend! Me!" Rei said aloud.
"Now I'm even more intrigued! Which one?" Todo asked.
"Don't worry about it. No skin off my back. What's up? Name's Kagami." Kagami said to Todo.
"I see. Kagami! Since you're lucky enough to have found that special someone, I want to know! What do you see in her that you like? I assume she fits what your type of woman is, so describe it!"
"This is stupid. Why are we doing this instead of resuming the challenge!?" Dan said.
"I don't think he heard you. Wanna say it louder?" Sucy asked.
"I'm not going to. Not like he's going to listen."
"Just be patient. It'll happen eventually."
"If only we could all be like Octavia." Tsukishima remarked as said demon was listening to music, earphones in but low enough to hear when the challenge was going to start.
"Well, to be honest, before Rei, I never had a girlfriend. But, what I like about her is her passionate personality. She's more than just a pretty face. I said before that my type of girl is someone that's stable. What I mean by that is someone who doesn't have to rely on me every time. Because, the fact of the matter is, yeah, I'm confident in myself, but I'm not gonna have it every time. And I don't mean that in just games. I mean that in life too. I pick her up, she picks me up, when the other falls. She's honest with me, I'm honest with her. And we both get better, and stronger together. That make any sense big guy?" Kagami explained.
"Isn't that supposed to be the base for all relationships though? Well, good and healthy ones anyway." Doyle asked. "No offense."
"Uh, sure? I don't know. I don't really know anything about that stuff, really."
Todo, hand on his chin, pondered Kagami's words for a few seconds. "I see. So in other words…. you like strong women." Todo concluded before closing his eyes, nodding and smiling. "I can respect that. A much better start! I wish the both of you nothing but joy! Now then, who's Aomine?"
Aomine, as if he was on skates, slid in front of Kagami. "Right here man! And my type of woman…."
"Can we please get to the challenge already!?" Weiss interjected before he got in front of her to continue.
"Is a girl with a nice set of bazoongas like these!" He declared proudly before pulling out a Horikita Mai magazine to show him before Weiss grabbed and threw the magazine away before sending ice shards with her Myrtenaster at it to rip it to shreds.
"You monster! That was one of my favorite volumes!" Aomine cried out, crying, literally as he knelt to the ground in front of her.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop reading those!"
"I have to admit, ruining it seemed a bit unnecessary." Razer commented.
"Yeah. You overreacted. And it's rare that anyone ever says that about you." Blake commented.
Todo laughed, getting the attention of several people. "Yeah! You definitely look like a fun guy! Tell me, are you and Kagami friends?"
"Hell no!" Both yelled out.
"That's pretty disappointing honestly. You two look like you could get along so well…."
"Like hell we would!" Both yelled out in unison again.
"Yeah, they played together when we were all together on Team Vorpal Swords. Sometimes, they were okay. Other times, they were yelling at each other because one of them didn't get the ball." Kise said.
"The perv and the non-perv. How exactly does that mix again? Am I missing something or am I crazy?" Lucy said.
"It's definitely the second one." Happy remarked.
"Yeah. Not gonna lie, you act like you've lost your mind sometimes." Natsu added.
"At least I don't show up in someone's house uninvited constantly!" Lucy shot back.
"I didn't come here to make friends with him. I came here to kick his a[censored] and get a bag." Aomine remarked, referring to Kagami.
"One of the easiest ways for people to get along is to have something in common. Where are the similarities?" Kagami said.
"Well for starters, your similar taste in clothing." Todo said.
Both Kagami and Aomine looked at each other and the fact that they were both wearing tank tops with pants.
"What the hell? You're right!" Aomine said.
"Of course I am! Give it time! You'll be best friends! Just like me and Yuji!"
"Don't listen to him, we're cool, but we're not best friends." Yuji whispered.
"I'm sure one day, you'll get to relax and talk about why you love your women so much."
"Yeah that only works if both of us have one. No offense." Kagami said, the latter part to Aomine.
"Seriously though, can we please get to the challenge?" Weiss asked.
"You're sure in a hurry. Someone you gotta see back home or somethin'?" Yang teased.
"No. I just really would like to resume our challenge." She insisted.
Ruby gasped. "Weiss are you secretly dating someone?"
"No! I'm not! Now stop being nosy!"
This exchanged caused Todo to chuckle. "Their clothes aren't the only reason why I said they're so similar." He thought.
"Alright! I was going to ask him about his type originally but, I think I'm satisfied. I have a fair assessment of how everyone here is. For the most part, you all look like some really fun and interesting people! And hopefully, strong too! Although, if you weren't, a member of the Zenin clan wouldn't be there with you all." Todo said, pointing to Asta.
"Wait, you were going to ask me?" Asta said as Noelle looked in disbelief, saying the same thing, though replacing the "me" with "him".
"Yep!" Todo said, stretching out one of his arms.
"I wonder what he would have answered with?" Noelle thought.
"Alright folks now that introductions are out of the way-" Gojo started before being interrupted by Panda.
"Actually, you forgot about me! Panda!" Panda
"That's it? You're name's just Panda?" Randy asked.
"Yes! It is very nice to meet you all! Also, Maki, a gift! From me to you!" Panda said before handing her a sack.
"Aw, you shouldn't have!" Maki said before several nosy eyes, including Dewey, Huey, Louie and Todd, also started to look over her and into the bag. "Do you guys mind!?" Maki said, a comically annoyed look on her face before she immediately closed the bag. "Jeez. Nosy kids." She said before she thought of something. "But, since you guys wanna be nosy, you all can be gentleman and hold my bag, okay?" Maki said before handing them said bag and causing all of them to fall from the weight.
"I never knew, weapons were that heavy." Louie remarked, still crushed under the sack.
"Jeez lady, what are you, arming a Spartan Army? Don't you have enough weapons?" Todd asked.
"Man, for her to throw this, she's gotta be strong." Dewey commented.
"And none of us are! Screw being a gentleman! If push comes to shove, you'd be the one protecting us!"
"I can definitely see that. But to answer your question Todd, I usually have a lot more with me. But when that happens, Panda usually carries them. But, Panda's not with me on the show, so when I'm here on each episode, I've gotta limit the number of weapons I bring." Maki explained.
"We've wasted enough time already. Gojo? Explain to them what their challenge is. Every one else, settle down and listen please." Utahime said.
"Of course! Now usually, we have an individual round and a team round. Along with that, it also usually lasts over two days. One round on one day, and the second round on the next. But, we're not doing that. Especially since we already did the first round." Gojo explained.
"Wait. You did?" Several of the students, along with Utahime said in surprise.
"Gojo! What. Did. You. Do?" Utahime grumbled, trying to prevent herself from exploding in front of him.
"I shortened the event?" Gojo said.
"It's already bad enough that you changed the traditions of what's usually done in the most recent event. And now you pull this stunt when we have guests!?"
"Relax. It's not like they would have been able to do any fighting involving curses anyway. As I already mentioned to them before we got here, no one but Maki can see curses. So, I had to get creative."
"You!? This is something you could have collaborated with me and the others about! I can understand about having to change things because of the curses, but I don't appreciate you doing it without our input!"
"Our? Do the students have input on the events too?" Huey whispered to Maki.
"Nope. By our she means the rest of the faculty from both schools." She answered.
"It's fine. As long as its something reasonable and cool, I don't really care. Gojo? Show us what ya got." Chris said.
"If the host is okay with it, then go ahead I suppose." Utahime relented.
"Sweet! Alright contestants! Who's ready for a shopping trip!?" Gojo said, showing off some lists.
"Shopping!?" Several people said in either disbelief, surprise, or excitement.
"You mean to tell me. You made an event. FOR SHOPPING!?" Utahime exploded, unable to hold it in any longer.
"Not gonna lie, I don't really believe this myself." Sly said.
"Believe it! Heh, now I'm starting to sound like Naruto." Gojo said.
"Come here, so I can strangle you!" Utahime said, trying to reach him but couldn't. "I'm going to catch you off guard sometime. And when I do, it's going to be sooooo satisfying to have my hands around your neck."
"Oh, I didn't take you for the kinky type. Then again, I think you and Rei have some pretty striking connections in terms of being strong women."
"JUST SHUT UP AND EXPLAIN THE CHALLENGE ALREADY!" Rei and Utahime yelled out.
"Jeez. As if I'd ever be into something like that. You weirdo." Rei added.
"I'm not either. But this is Gojo for you. A person that can turn something as normal as having tea together into a way to p[censored] people off. This is what I've had to deal with for 12+ years." Utahime said.
"Twelve plus years? Are you-"
"Never. In a million. Years." Utahime said firmly. "I still don't know how I was able to stand being around him for so long."
"I guess you're numb from it?"
"No, that's not it." Utahime said before sighing. "I don't know."
"Well, since the first part of the challenge was technically the individual game, we'll treat this as the team game. You'll be split up into teams of six. Your job is to gather these items off this list. You've got an hour. The team that comes back with the most items on this list first wins. No, you're not getting alerts. You've got clocks in the stores. You've got clocks on your own devices. You don't come back on time, that's a you problem. Like usual in these events, just like the last combat-based team event, for example, anything goes. I don't have any say on what happens, and neither does Chris or anyone else. But, the one thing that is absolutely not allowed by any means is killing or injuring opponents beyond recovery." Gojo explained.
"Yes, I understand. Accidents happen. And I don't wish that on any one of you. But if any of you are caught doing either of these to someone intentionally, your team forfeits and you yourself are subject to instant removal from the show." Gojo continued.
"I second that. I already told them no killing numerous times this season! I may like you hurting each other, but this is not Mortal Kombat IRL! Even I have my limits. It's more than just the fact that I'll get sued to death. But it's also just the fact that bloodbaths are just not funny. Roasts and butt-monkeys getting revenge, etcetera, are." Chris said. "Now, please continue Gojo."
"Absolutely! Now, since the Rats have the overall advantage in being able to hit me on the second try, they'll be able to pick two out of the six that'll participate in this challenge. Along with having a one minute head-start. The Kings will have that same advantage, but will not have that head-start. While the Breakers, terrible name by the way, will only have one to choose from. Your choices can be any one you wish. Just know that once you make your choices, you can't change them so choose wisely. You've got a minute! Make your choices now!"
(The picking is simultaneous here)
"If it's a shopping spree, we need someone that can get items on a list quick. How about one of our speedsters?" Kise proposed.
"You say that as if you're not cat quick yourself." Adrien joked.
"Keep in mind that anything goes. Don't think it'll be just as easy as running, finding items and that's it. The others are going to interfere." Lanolin said.
"Yeah. I may be cat quick, as Adrien would like to say, but I'm nowhere near as fast as you guys." Kise said.
"You're just being modest." May said. "You've been on the shelf for a while. You deserve a chance to have fun too. Why not give it a try!"
"No, really!" Kise insisted. "You guys go on ahead. I'm all about the team first. As much as I know I'd help when it comes to translation, there's others that I'm sure could do better." His expression, while still his usual upbeat self, showed that he wasn't going to move on his decision.
"Okay. As long as you're okay with it."
"Then get someone with speed and is a good fighter! Let's have Tangle or Blaze give it a shot." Axl said.
"Or, why not both?" Tangle suggested.
"A good proposition. I am fully supportive of this decision." Albedo said.
"Anyone else?"
"The others are out of our hands it seems so, might as well." Rally said.
"Don't forget, like Kise said, we need a translator. If you don't mind, can I take one of your spots?" Adrien asked.
"I-" Blaze started before Tangle's voice spoke over hers.
"You can take mine." Tangle said.
"Are you sure?" Whisper asked.
"A hundred percent!"
"Well, it's settled then. We have our two." Lanolin said.
"Well, I might not be as fast as the others. But there's one thing I have they don't: Stealth." Sly said to his teammates.
"Okay. And how does that help us?" Todd asked.
"Use your brain. Sly's a master thief. Anything goes remember?" Louie said.
"Ohhhhh! Put him in!"
"You're saying that like you call the shots around here. You don't! But, regardless, that's a good pick. All in favor?" Skipper said.
"Aye!" Several people called out in unison.
"What about Mayuzumi's Misdirection? Do you think that can help?" Ruby proposed.
"Actually, I think we should give him a rest." Akashi said.
"Really? Why? I think he'd be great for this type of challenge."
"It's better if his usage is limited. Misdirection, by no means, was ever an invincible ability. But, one of the things that diminishes its effectiveness is constant use. When that happens, the effectiveness of said user decreases drastically. It would make sense that opponents that have someone like that on their mind would make sure to try to stop it from then on."
"But, I doubt people would just forget. It's been over 20 episodes." Isagi said.
"True. But even with that, the mind can drift to other things. Hence why it works best when there's more people or things around to take attention away."
"Well, what do you think? We are talking about you after all. You deserve a say." Ruby asked Mayuzumi.
"Do what you want." Mayuzumi said before getting back to reading. "It's not as if you cared enough to ask initially." He grumbled under his breath.
"Well….. if you guys don't think he should go, then I guess we can choose someone else."
"How about you?" Yang proposed.
"Yeah. You've got speed to get this done quick. And, if you do need to get into a fight, you're fully capable of defending yourself." Maki said.
"You know this place. Don't you think it'd make sense for you to go?" Ruby asked Maki, surprised that she would just easily defer in the place that she's familiar with. Ruby knows that she definitely wouldn't have done that, as selfish as that sounds in her thoughts.
"Nah, it's fine. I think you guys are more than capable of handling yourselves." Maki said.
"Problem is, if this is Tokyo, there's a good chance there'll be a language barrier." Echizen brought up.
"Crud, you're right! Well, I guess I'm gonna have to go. Sorry Aomine, I know you've got your speed and your training with Weiss, but I gotta make sure everyone can get through this okay. Wouldn't sit right with me if we lost and I was okay with differing."
"It's all good. I got my shot last challenge. So, I guess it's only fair everyone else gets their chance too." Aomine said.
"If language is an issue, I could translate." Razer offered.
"Yeah but, no offense, will you know exactly what to look for in the stores?" Maki asked.
"That is a valid counterpoint. Probably not."
"If Maki's familiar with the stores around here, she's the best fit." Din said.
"Alright, looks like we have our two." Maki said.
"Whoever goes needs to know their way around a store." Bad Launch said. "I'd volunteer, but I know we need speed."
"That should go for like, most people here I think." Toxsa said.
"Hence why I said the speed part! If only you were as fast as how quick you open up your yap!"
"Hey, I have an idea!" Fiona said loudly.
"Pipe down! Remember that the other teams could be listenin' and could try to counter pick or steal ideas!"
"Forget whatever idea she's about to come up with. I robbed stores a lot. I could steal the items and get out no problem." Zak M. said.
"No! We're not stealing anything! The last thing I want is to be known as a criminal just from playing a game show!" Jenny said.
"Okay, then who's got a card and is willing to spend money then? I'm waiting."
"Both of you shut up and let Fiona talk!" Reagan said.
"Thank you. Okay, so if we have to find certain items, even if we do know our way around a store, it's easy to get an unnecessary duplicate. Heck, this'll just make things quicker and a lot more convenient." Fiona began to explain.
"Can you get to the point?" Dan said impatiently.
"I'm getting there! I could use my Satellite Owl from Leopatra to detect and scan whatever we need on the list. And then, we'll use that to help everyone else figure out where to go."
"That's…. actually a great idea. Can it really do something like that?" Noelle asked in amazement.
"Yep! I wouldn't have brought the idea forward if it couldn't."
"While I agree with that, there's one teeny tiny issue. This is Japan." Tsukishima said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinata asked.
The blocker sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you? It means there's a good chance most, if not all the cashiers speak Japanese and Japanese only."
"Which is why we could skip all of that if we just steal the stuff." Zak M. said.
"WE'RE NOT STEALING!" Kageyama and several others unanimously yelled out.
"I'm right here. You don't have to yell."
"Well apparently we have to for you to stop bringing up that dumba[censored] plan." Kageyama said.
"Again, I'm still waiting for the volunteer that'll pay for whatever's on the list."
"We'll just do it by committee. Everyone has some amount of loose change." Hailey said.
"I've got 30 bucks. Anyone else?" Scott said.
"I've got 25."
"I kinda left my wallet at home. Sorry." Hinata said.
"If that comes back to bite us in the a[censored] I'm kicking you in the a[censored]!" Kageyama yelled.
"Don't worry about it. It shouldn't. My debit card should have more than enough." Reagan said.
"Same here." Dwayne said.
"Ah yes. The benefits of being an adult." Randy said.
"Can't wait to get my own card." Toxsa added.
"Yeah, you don't want that. You get a card and then a good bit of the money you think you've got goes to bills. Especially if you don't know how to save. And even then, it can still be pretty tough at times. Especially if something comes up." Reagan said.
"Guys, hate to break up this 'stay a kid for as long as you can' speech, but, your time's up. I need a pick." Doyle said, getting in between them.
"Crap, I forgot! Uh….."
"Let me handle it. Thanks to the CD Data I have for the Japanese language, I can speak and translate the language for anyone that doesn't understand." Jenny said.
"Awesome! Well, that's our pick."
"Cool. Alright! Gojo, you're good to go." Doyle said to him, with the sorcerer replying with a thumbs up as all of the volunteers gathered.
"Now for the rest of you. As I said before, the ones you didn't pick are out of your hands. That will be through drawings here." Gojo said before showing a box. "If I pull out your name, you'll be one of the ones that'll round out the six for your team."
He then starts digging around for names. "Now let's see… who will we get first… Ah ha! Got one! We've got…. Paul!"
"Next up…. Shiro!"
"Can Tsukikage come along?" Shiro asked.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Companions are A-ok!" Gojo said, before doing the ok sign.
"Hmm… Sendo!"
"Zee!"
"Rally!"
"Hiruma!"
"Libby!"
"Eijun!"
"Kunigami!"
"Ryoma!"
"Jotaro!"
"Marinette!"
"Din!"
"Well, whatever teams you're on, go ahead and gather up!"
"Confessional's over there for anyone that wants to use it by the way." Chris said, pointing off in the distance.
***Confessional***
Gojo:
"Yeah, the ones with Din, Jotaro, Paul and Shiro were completely rigged on my part. Everyone else was randomized. You'll see why soon enough. You're welcome Chris." He said with a smile on his face.
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Kagami(Radical Rats):
"Honestly, I'm a bit bummed out I don't get to be in this challenge. A shopping challenge actually sounds pretty dope. Of course, that might be bias speakin' since I don't mind shopping myself. I actually kinda like it."
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Rei(Radical Rats):
"Ugh, I'm so jealous I'm left out of this challenge. I love shopping! This would have been so much fun!"
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Adrien(Radical Rats):
"I learned a bit of Japanese from watching anime. And from studying with Kagami. Not the basketball player. A girl I know back where I'm from. Good thing is, if I do get something wrong, Hiruma will be there to back me up."
"As for Kise, I hope he's really okay with all this. I know it seems like he's trying to be a good teammate and all but, I'm just worried that it might be getting to his head. And trying to mask letting others have their time to shine over self-doubt."
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Kise(Radical Rats):
"I know. I haven't been in a challenge in a while. I get it. And I'm sorry for anyone that's been rooting for me this season. But at the same time, I have to do what's best not for me, but for everyone on this team. And if that means less time in the spotlight, I'm okay with that. I promise, when I do get the chance to play, whether it's by choice, or I have to, I'll give it everything I've got."
***End Confessional***
"Alright, here are your lists. You'll all have a copy of one." Gojo said as he along with Doyle and Heloise, handed them all lists. "Please try to make sure you don't lose these. Also, make sure all of you take part in this musical or your purchases will be void."
"Yeah, you guys say that every time, and nothin' happens." Sendo said.
"Except, we're going to be looking at the surveillance cams just to make sure." Heloise said.
"Okay, so, why now all of a sudden?" Rally asked.
"Look, if you want those purchases to count, then just do it." Chris said.
"Oh yeah, one more thing." Gojo said before tossing them cards. "Treat yourself to some nice stuff!"
"Total Drama Credit Card." Marinette read. "Where'd you get this from?"
"From me. This takes directly from the funds of what was made from this season overall. Usually we spend some type of money for some of these challenges. But, that only went to the schools here. And Gojo himself, who was nice enough to use some of it on treating us to some good food." Chris explained.
"Food that we're about to enjoy inside. One minute headstart to the Rats. You kids have fun!" Gojo called out before preparing to head inside.
"Hey. If we're gonna do this, I want a weapon." Kunigami said.
"If he's getting' one, then I want one." Sendo said.
"Mak-" Gojo started before he was promptly told off.
"No. They want weapons, they better get 'em themselves. No way I'm helping out the opposition." Maki said.
They were promptly tossed staffs.
"What the hell is this!?" Sendo asked, in utter shock at how generic the weapons they had were. Not to mention the fact that they were the same thing.
"Weapons. Cursed tools don't exactly grow on trees you know. We had swords, but I'd rather not have any freak accidents due to you wielding weapons like those without prior experience." Gojo explained.
"Yeah, or it's an excuse to be cheap. But fine. It's better than nothin'." Sendo said as he tried to get a feel for how the staff felt in his hands, gripping it tighter.
"Gojo." Utahime said.
"What's up?" He asked, turning around.
"I'll… take the food. It'd be a waste if I didn't."
"Oh. Whoops. I think someone ate it. Sorry."
"GOJO!"
Utahime ran after him.
"I'm kidding! It's fine! Chef moved everything inside!"
"I don't care! I still want to hurt you!"
"Sorry, but I'm not into masochism!"
"I don't care!"
Several of the students along with the contestants looked on at the two.
"What are you guys waiting for! Go! Go!" Mamori called out as even Hiruma was distracted, with the six promptly running off.
Shopping List:
Game Console(With games of course, duh!)
Several drinks of any choice
TV
Sofa, chair and/or recliner
Snacks
Bus Tires
An assortment of fruits and vegetables
Hockey Sticks
Boom Box
Dressers and Chests
Clothes of your choice!
Shoes of your choice!
Board Games(Please make sure one of you gets a chess board)
Digital Camera(Make sure to get an SD Card!)
Soap(Hand soap and bath soap)
Cleaning Supplies(For Bathrooms, Kitchens, etc.)
Kitchen Utensil Set
Takeout from any restaurant of your choice!(Make sure it's the last one so it's not cold!)
"So wait, how are we supposed to be able to watch?" Toxsa asked.
"From what we were explained, no recording is done. Everything is tracked inside with something else. That's what we'll be using." Chris said. "Well, have fun. We're gonna enjoy our food. At least, when this head-start time's up."
"Please, beat Maki for me." Mai said to the six participants that were Maki's opponents.
"That's the idea." Kunigami said.
"Can't beat me yourself so now you're asking others to do it. Pretty sad if you ask me." Maki remarked, a smile on her face, showing that she was making a joke. But Mai didn't take it that way.
"That's exactly what I hope you'll be feeling when this challenge is over. I would tell you to break a leg but, that might get twisted into me saying that I wish you good luck." Mai said.
"Interesting. Looks as if there is more to Maki then meets the eye." Eliza thought.
"Jeez Mai, do you gotta bring down the mood like this?"Todo said before turning his attention to the twelve. "Look, just have fun out there. And of course, if you happen to send some faces into the pavement, that's fine too. It's all in good fun and competition after all!" Todo said to the twelve.
"Yep. Todo's right. I don't know what's on those lists but, shopping can be a pretty good time so, have fun." Yuji said.
"Couldn't have said it better brother!" Todo said, putting an arm around Yuji, with said person giving an exasperated look to the camera.
"Alright, minute is up. Go!" Chris called out. He and the interns walked to follow where Utahime was chasing Gojo to.
The remaining twelve were off to the races to try and catch up to the Rats, with Din taking flight.
"Alright. I'll have Tsukikage save the list so he'll help keep track of what we have." Shiro said before handing the robot said list as it scanned it. "This'll prevent us from getting into any trouble with duplicate items."
"Great thinking. I'll be sure to keep track as well. I've got to catch up to Din!" Jenny said before flying off.
"Wait, we don't have any way to communicate. We forgot to get those from Reagan!" Eijun said.
"Just section off each part of the list. Three each!" Kunigami said.
"The problem is, Jenny doesn't know that." Libby said.
"Well, if she's fast enough to speed off like that, she's fast enough to be able to figure it out on her own."
"Tsukikage?" Shiro said to the robot before it made a few beeps in understanding.
"Three per person? Got it." Jenny said, mid-flight.
For the remaining ten, it was just a matter of who would decide to do anything but run first. And the first person to do that was Maki. Using the polearm she had, she spun it around in a circle to clear out some space. While everyone else cleared out, Ryoma was the only one that blocked the strike with one of his katanas.
"I heard you've been through this song and dance before. Let me show you a few dance moves of my own. You might learn somethin' new." Maki said to Ryoma before attacking him, causing him to have to sway multiple times to avoid getting poked by the staff.
"Sorry, but I don't dance. But if I did, there's only one woman that I'd want my first dance to be with." Ryoma said before pulling out his second sword.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes! And her name… is Rouge!" Ryoma declared out loud as his yellow stone responded to his emotions.
"POWER CHANGE!"
"Well, I think it's time I joined in too." Marinette said before transforming as well.
Paul and Shiro were the next to join in.
"Torterra!"
"Lightning Wolver!"
"Stand by for battle!"/"Scan one!"
"GO!" Both commanded.
"Eijun! Kunigami! Libby! Go! I'll hold them off!" Ryoma called out.
"You think can handle them and Jotaro?" Kunigami said before he scoffed and then realized something. "That damn raccoon. He slipped away! Eijun, Libby, go ahead."
"Come on!" Eijun yelled out to Libby before pulling her arm.
"I'll take care of Sly." Kunigami said, more to himself than anyone else as he began to run in his own direction to try and find him.
"Wait! Hold on a second!" Libby said, caught off guard by the sudden hand grab before he started to run like a madman.
"Take this! Thunder Blade!" Ryoma called out, with Maki being fast enough to dodge the multiple lightning bolts that came from his sword, while Star Platinum was able to protect Jotaro from any damaging hits.
"We're doing this and we haven't even gotten out to the streets yet, that's the funny thing." Maki commented.
"Yeah, and the worst part is, I can't even imagine what this'll look like in the stores." Ladybug said.
"Then I guess we'll have to finish this quickly!" Ryoma spun in the air as if he was a ball, surrounding himself in electricity. "Tenchi Ryoudan!"
Before he could slam down onto the ground, Jotaro stopped him as sword and Stand fist collided, creating a shockwave that sent Maki back a bit along with causing Shiro and Paul to feel the effects as well.
"Looks like we're in for one hell of a fight that's for sure." Maki thought.
The Rats meanwhile, were taking full advantage of their head-start as they were already in the streets looking for stores. And in the case of Blaze, was already in one of them, with Adrien having to transform just to try to be able to keep up with her. The team was split of into three groups of two.
"There's the game consoles." Cat Noir pointed out before Blaze grabbed one of them. When she looked up, she saw that he had reached for one that was higher than the one she got. Though the box was different.
"I don't understand. Other than how different the boxes look, they're the same." Blaze said.
"List said to get a console with games. Well, easy way to do that, is with a bundle. They weren't exactly specific so this should do." He explained as he put the box in the basket that he was strolling along.
"I see. Well, we can move on then. Forgive me if there are things I don't know, like video games. Like Kurt, I don't play them."
"Good to know. But no worries! This brain is filled with more than just cheese, litterboxes and Japanese."
"Right…." Blaze said before trailing off, unsure how else to react to his "banter/quips".
"Come on, let's get to the next item! Drinks! Think they sell milk?"
"I'm pretty sure they do." All she hoped was that it wasn't just going to be quip after quip or cat pun or joke after cat pun or joke. And considering the action that was about to take place within the store from Din and Jenny making their presence known by flying in, the jokes may be turned up to a higher dial.
"I'm in one of the stores. Are any one of you nearby?" Din asked his teammates over the comms via his own custom binocucom.
"Honestly? I don't know." Maki said as she was still in a heated battle with Ryoma and Shiro. They had reached the streets and they were still fighting.
"We're in the streets. Which, isn't a good thing for a multitude of reasons." Marinette said.
"Well, I guess we can be prepared to add this to the list of places we've trashed. But anyways, what store are you in Din? I think I can help you out." Sly asked.
"Not sure. All I know is that Jenny's there. And it looks like Adrien and Blaze are there too." Din said, now trying to fend off the robot and the two Rats members.
"I'll try to see if I can help you out. No promises."
"Just make sure you get those items. That's the focus." Din reminded before being sent into a couple aisles by Jenny.
"I'll make sure to keep that hint in mind." Jenny said to Din before dodging a staff attack by Cat Noir.
"I would have thought Sly would have been the one to steal, not you." He said.
"Remember, anything goes. Besides, most don't have much of a problem with stealing from the ric-." Jenny countered before noticing that Blaze was trying to speed off with the cart. "Hey!"
She immediately tried to fly off, but was stopped by Cat Noir, who extended his staff long enough to whack her away.
"Flying off mid-chat? Are robots here not programmed with manners? No offense to X."
"My mom did program me with that, thank you very much. And she also programmed me with this!" She then pulled out a grenade launcher and lobbed multiple grenades at him.
"Manners but no common sense. Did you forget we're in a store?" He said before dodging the grenades to advance on her.
"Relax, they're set to stun. And that's rich, Mr. big stick!" She changed her hands into several swords to try to cut into the staff, but it was too strong for that to happen.
"Carry a big stick and you'll go far. Sounds like foreshadowing to me."
One of her hands changed into a giant spike-fist and sent him flying through the roof.
"Huh. Guess he was right." She commented, looking out the hole of the roof that she made before gasping and turning to see that Din was nowhere to be found. And Blaze was long gone.
"Great. I lost them. Thanks a lot Cat Noir. Well, looks like I'll have to just find what I need….." She looked at the trashed store, including the game consoles that were broken because of the fighting.
"…..In here." She immediately facepalmed in frustration before flying off to find another store.
Zee and Rally were continuing to search the store they were in, focusing on the cosmetic section of the shopping list, for clothes and shoes.
"Wait, so like, don't you think we should be finding this stuff in our sizes instead of, you know, just buying stuff?" Zee asked, worried. Their basket was full of several shoes and clothes for both men and women.
"The list wasn't specific, so it's better to be safe than sorry. I just hate how wasteful this is." Rally said.
"Wasteful? What cha mean?"
"I mean what is even the purpose of buying all of this stuff? I just really feel like Gojo just came up with random stuff for us to get and called it a day. It's not even like the scavenger hunt where it was specific stuff, as hectic as that turned out to be."
"Wait, you guys went on a scavenger hunt?"
"Yeah. We went to different places and had to collect certain items, obviously. Some easier than others."
"Oh so kinda like what we do here. Go different places. That's pretty neat. You think we'll do that again?"
"If it's anything like it was last time, I really hope not."
"That sounds fun. You didn't like it?"
"No, I thought it was okay. Of course, I can't remember if I was in it, but everything was fine, in Total Drama standards anyway. At least until up to the end. Led to some crazy stuff at the end of the season."
"How crazy we talkin'?"
"Evil Huey Freeman, mean Lindsay and nice Heather Chandler crazy. With an insane 6 on 6 challenge that eventually led to a final four final challenge crazy. Reminded me of something off a movie. Listen, I think everything here is a lot more over the top compared to last time. But not much this season has beaten that last challenge for me believe it or not. And I wasn't even there."
"Wait, you weren't? How'd you know then? And also a four-way final? In-tense!"
"Got eliminated right before the merge. Was really….. disheartening to say the least to know you're that close and to not make it in the end because of something you couldn't overcome."
"Hey, with driving like that, I'm pretty sure you can overcome a lot."
"Unfortunately, driving's not the only challenges here. Hell, I'll take driving over this any day."
Before Zee could ask another question, he realized they were on a collision course with a raging bull in Eijun.
"Look out!" Zee called out before trying to steer out of the way, only to run over Rally's foot, causing her to yelp in pain before being hit in the chest by Eijun and the basket he was running around with. Seeing what he did, he immediately stopped the basket and sent her flying forward.
"Idiot!"
"Sorry about that!" Libby called out to her as she ran past.
The bounty hunter could only shake her head before they ultimately went their separate ways.
"Hey, wait, don't you think we should get some of the stuff they have?" Zee asked.
"For what? Why would we- ohhhh. I see your point. But at the same time, I thought I saw clothes in their basket too." Rally said.
"But, what if, we took their clothes and added it to our basket? Or, we like switched baskets or something? Unfortunately, there's people that do that a lot in stores."
"Not a bad idea. That would at least slow them down. But I'd imagine they're not going to give it up that easy. Then, there's the retaliation part of-"
Zee was already off and running after Eijun.
"NO! I know what you're trying to do! YOU'RE NOT TAKING OUR STUFF!" Eijun shouted to Zee. "Libby! Do something! Stop him!"
"What do you expect me to do?" Libby asked.
"Just something to stop him!"
"Uh…" She tried to think before just deciding to lunge and pull on one of his legs.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help!" Scratch declared, suddenly appearing before pushing Zee out of the way along with sending the basket he had through a wall.
"Was that second part necessary?"
"Anything goes, remember?"
"Yeah, and-"
Moving to the other isle to get the jump on him, Rally had tackled Eijun to the ground. The minute he looked at Rally, he tried to cover his nose.
"Not you too." She said as she got off him before shaking her head as she walked off. "Jeez. These people act like they haven't seen a-"
Eijun, yelling, again, threw one of the items on the shelves perfectly at her head. So hard, that it knocked her out.
"Be honest, what are the chances that your team can come out on top and beat Maki's?" Mai asked, though it wasn't really directed at any one person.
"A great chance!" Miyuki declared with a smile on his face, giving a thumbs up.
"A bold declaration, when more than half of your team is powerless." Sebastian said.
"Powerless?" Miyuki laughed out loud. Something that confused Sebastian along with being unnerving to Eliza, and even Urien, Hanamiya, Yulaw and some others.
"I don't understand so what's so funny. That is a fact. Not an opinion." Albedo said.
"You'll learn that heart is just as much of a power as anything." Miyuki thought.
Eijun stood up, walking past the unconscious Rally as he wiped his nose.
"Tch. They might be bigger than Rei-senpai's." Eijun thought.
"Well dang kid. Didn't know you had that in ya." Scratch said, looking at the unconscious Rally as Eijun and Libby joined him.
"Come on! If you're gonna be here, make yourself useful and help us find the items on the list!" Eijun told Scratch.
"Uh, hello? That was a compliment. But sure thing. Now, let me see that list."
The other pair of Rats were searching for the foods on the list.
"That should be good enough." Hiruma said to Sendo as he got an assortment of fruits, and eventually, vegetables.
"Hey, got a question." Sendo said as Hiruma pushed along the cart they had.
"Yeah."
"You actually any good with those guns?"
"If I wasn't, you wouldn't even be here asking me that question."
"What? That's why I'm asking that question dumba[censored]!"
"I mean you and others would have been dea-"
Hiruma's answer would be cut off by glass breaking. The source being Ryoma. Ladybug, Jotaro, Maki and Paul would also be not too far behind him as Shiro was already beaten.
"Just take the stuff and let's go!" Hiruma said before blasting a hole in the wall.
"What the hell? So we're just not gonna pay for it?"
"We're going to pay for it even worse than that if we don't get out of here!"
"Damn it." Sendo said under his breath before grabbing the basket and running through the hole. "Come on then!"
"You're not gonna quit. So, no point in even asking you to." Maki said to Ryoma, who was still on the ground. Jotaro and Marinette had begun looking through the store for items on the list, while Paul was still catching up.
"Then why even make that offer?"
"I didn't. Guess those blows affected your hearing too." She tried to hit him on the head to knock him out, but the minute she got closer, he was about to draw his sword.
"Sword of Li-"
A split second before he could unleash the wave of energy, Torterra, using Giga Drain, grabbed him and his sword with the three energy beams from the tips of the three mountains on his shell. Ryoma tried to get free, but Maki finished him off as he reverted back to normal, now unconscious.
"Torterra, return!" Paul called out as said Pokemon returned back to its pokeball.
"S[censored], that was closer than it should have been. Thanks." Maki said to Paul.
"You can thank me by not giving him the chance to do that." He said before grabbing a basket as they began their search for items.
"If it's any consolation, I tried. He just got the jump on me."
"If you made that excuse with any of those curses, it'd be a whole lot worse for you."
"Looks like I know where not to go if I want encouragement."
"Who in their right mind would praise someone getting bailed out from losing?"
"'A win is a win', is what a lot of people would say."
"True, but still, I can't give praise for that."
"Points for honesty. You might not be fun at parties but I can respect that. I know a guy just like you. Well, sort of like you."
"Considering the fact that I don't really like parties, I can't really comment."
"Huh. Wonder if Megumi's a fan of parties himself? Never bothered to ask him."
The final member yet to have been accounted for was Sly. But for someone like him, that may be a good thing. He was unable to catch Blaze in the first store she was in, but he was definitely able to catch her on the next.
He continued to keep his distance before waiting for the right moment to strike. Once she left the basket to try to reach one of the cameras that were higher up than she could reach, that was when he made his move.
Jumping over an aisle, he took the console she had with his cane, along with leaving a parting gift to replace it. He immediately started to run, knowing that she was going to find out that someone took the console the second she came back.
"And that's all I needed. Just on-" Sly started before being hit in the face by a soccer ball with incredible speed. The source being Kunigami who immediately went to grab other items while Sly was down.
"Great. This guy again."
An explosion was heard seconds later. The source: Sly's parting gift, which left a confused, and seconds later, upset, Blaze, who now had ash on her face.
"Think that's my cue to leave." Sly said before deciding to cut his losses, take the console and go. Of course, despite him being a thief, it didn't stop him from being an honest paying customer as he went to the register to pay for the console. Something that Cat Noir, who had recovered from the punch that Jenny threw, had saw and immediately tried to stop him.
"Stop! Honest paying customer!" He called out as he chased after Sly, who dashed through the store to try to get away from him.
"Now I've got three people that want to hurt me. Nothing new."
He accidentally ran into Blaze, who noticed the console and put two-and-two together.
"Okay Din, now's your cue to help me out."
Din, meanwhile, was putting several foods in front of a confused cashier as he looked at the Mandalorian's armor.
"Is there a problem?" Din asked before the cashier immediately shook his head before scanning the items. Din had found a cashier that at least had some understanding of him. Now all he had to do was wait.
And the others weren't exactly going to be helping him anytime soon either.
"You think Sly's going to be okay by himself?" Ladybug asked Jotaro.
"He knows what he signed up for when he was called on. He'll be alright." Jotaro said.
"I hope so."
The other pair however, had a little more to talk about, surprisingly.
"Your sister. Mai." Paul started which surprised Maki. "Why does she resent you so much?"
"That was out of nowhere."
"If you don't want to answer the question, then just say so."
"No, it's fine. It's just….. so out of the blue. Especially for someone like you. Guess this might be another Shiro situation."
"That's not even close to being the same thing."
"Okay, any reason why you want to know?"
Paul took a few seconds before he answered. "To be honest, you don't seem like the type of person that would garner that type of hate. Especially from a sibling. So there has to be a reason."
"I wanted to be a jujutsu sorcerer. She didn't. In the clan we're in, not having cursed techniques is looked down upon. And the fact that we're twins made it even worse. Not to mention, women in these sorcerer clans have to work harder than men to stand out. Not something I really like to bring up but, that's the reality. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have been treated the way I was when I was around the clan."
"Mai, she was content with that, in trying to make as normal of a life as possible out of it. I couldn't do it. I wanted to get stronger, so that one day, I could be head of the clan, and tear down way of life, despite my inabilities. That's why I became a sorcerer. They forced her to enroll and be one too. I didn't like the fact that they made her do something she didn't want to but…." Maki closed her eyes and shook her head. "If I stayed, I would have hated myself. On the flipside though, now she hates me. Sometimes, I wonder how different things would have been if I stayed with her. If I never became a sorcerer. I know, some things aren't in my control. No one has control of everything. But… I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to have control of that. If nothing else. Just that one thing."
Coincidentally enough, back at the starting/finish line, Mai was explaining her side, with Kurt being the one to beat Eliza and Hanamiya to the punch to ask why she resents Maki so much, though his reasons were a lot more pure than theirs.
All of the other students had left to enjoy food. But Mai declined, saying that she wasn't hungry. But it was really seeing Maki competing, and having so much respect among her peers on the show that made her lose her appetite.
"That's…. why I don't like her. In fact, that's a lie too. I hate her." Mai concluded, arms folded, against the bridge she was on. The last part's venom in her voice could be felt.
"So angry…." Puss commented, being held by May.
"Mm-hm." May nodded.
"I'm sure she never meant that to happen to you. Couldn't you have just, talked things out?" Huey asked.
"Talk? You mean the thing she could have done when she up and left me!? She couldn't have even been bothered to do that before she decided to leave and become a sorcerer! That's the person who you're teammates with! A selfish girl trying to play revolutionary! Even if she really didn't intend for that to happen, how can you defend her lying to me?"
"Give me a break. You two were kids! Anyone can say anything when they're kids." Dan said. "And you guys are idiots for even giving this dumb sob story the time of day!"
"I'm not. That's why I haven't said anything." Rick said before drinking from the bottle he had.
Dan and Rick were suddenly kicked in the face by acrobatic moves by Bachira.
"Bachira, what the hell!?" Isagi said aloud.
"Honor-" Sophie started before Bachira stopped her.
"You don't have to worry about me. I won't do anything else." Bachira said calmy. "I promise."
"But I will!" Dan said, pointing at him before being stopped Dwayne.
"Not now you idiot! I'm not Kagami and Aomine. I'll just do it in a challenge."
"Yeah, because we've beaten each other to a pulp all 26 episodes." Aomine said sarcastically.
"It ain't even the fact that you're sayin' we don't get along too well, 'cause it's no secret we don't. It's the overexaggeration that's startin' to get on my nerves." Kagami said. "You really gonna sit here and act like we're the only ones here making any type of commotion? The hell out of here with that."
"Alright, I think it's clear that we need to talk about something else. Dan, Rick, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it. Especially you, Rick. That goes for me too. Let's put the roasts on hold for right now, alright?" Dwayne said.
"Tch." Kurt said, shaking his head.
"Hey, it's not your fault. You were just asking a question. You didn't expect things to turn out like this. And I can completely understand why you asked." Dawn said.
"It's not just that. Even if all that was unexpected."
"What is it then?"
"Let's just say I'm gonna take Dwayne's advice and stay quiet."
"Yeah, I think it's time I leave too." Mai said. "I'm really sorry." She said before shaking her head as she walked away.
Hanamiya was the first to make a move before Eliza, Sebastian or Bakura could, headed to the bathroom about a couple minutes later.
Kagami was about to leave seconds later but Aomine, of all people, discouraged him, shaking his head.
"If Aomine's telling you no, then don't. Please." Rei added.
Kagami grunted. "Fine. Okay. I'm sorry."
***Confessional***
Aomine(Storm Kings):
"I don't have a good feeling about this at all. But, I just gotta pray that that's all it is. A bad feeling. I know I'm on a short leash with the outbursts I've had before. If Akashi's getting on me about it, then I know I gotta tone it down."
***End Confessional***
***Confessional***
Eliza(Storm Kings):
"Even if he got there first, it doesn't matter. I've heard everything I needed to know about Maki. Maybe that will come into play later on. Or, maybe not. She may be gone before then anyway."
***End Confessional***
"Hey, you alright?" Hanamiya asked, finding Mai off to herself.
"Not really." Mai said, arms folded against a tree, not even looking in his direction.
"Surprisingly honest. But that's a good thing in my opinion."
"I guess. Look, I can't promise anything you say will make me feel any better. So if that's what you're aiming for, just prepping you for the very possible disappointment."
"And I guess all of that's on Maki huh?"
"Yes. A hundred percent. Hence why I want her to lose so much. I'd do something myself but….. you know." She pulled out a magnum and idly fiddled with it.
"If you wanted her to lose that bad, you should have signed up. Have a chance to beat her."
"One: I didn't know. Two: To sign up just for something like that would be a waste of energy. Not about to kill myself over someone like her. I need extra motivation."
"I get that. How about ten million? At least in terms of US currency."
A slight smile crept on her face after hearing this. "Oh yeah? That's enough motivation for me. Too little too late though."
"Hmm, makes sense. Although, I'm curious. With that pistol of yours. We've got quite a few gun guys in our ranks. That your cursed technique? Accuracy?"
"Huh. For a second there I thought you were about to ask if I had a boyfriend." Mai said, twirling a bit of her hair. "I don't but…. you're not who I'm interested in, sorry."
"Fine with me. I'm not much of a guy looking for romance at the moment anyway. Although if I was, even if you're not my type, I gotta admit, you're not bad looking at all."
"Okay, I could tell that wasn't you trying to butter me up. You're serious. Thank you. Just, don't expect me to protect you if we ever did become a thing. 'Cause this is all I got." She said before pulling out the chamber and showing him six bullets.
"I don't understand."
"These bullets? I can make them. I didn't make these in particular but, you get my drift."
Hanamiya had a genuinely surprised look on his face. "Or maybe you don't." She added after seeing his confused look and decided to explain it to him.
"That's my cursed technique. Construction. The ability to make something out of nothing. And no, it's not as strong as you think. It's still weak. Very weak. And I don't see much of a reason to develop it to be honest. I only did the bare minimum so I could get in the school. And even when I do make something, it's a withdrawal on my body. Even something as simple as one bullet, can give me a nosebleed. So much so that I can only make one object a day before I use all of my cursed energy. Remember that I don't have much cursed energy to begin with unlike pretty much everyone else but Maki, who has basically none. But, I am very accurate too. Otherwise, I wouldn't have this." She said, the last part referring to her magnum. "Of course, I prefer long distance. But I can manage at close range too."
"Really now? Let me have your number."
"Look, I'm really flattered but I already-"
"Let me rephrase that. How about we help each other out? If this works, you'll get your wish of Maki losing after all."
"I doubt you can do anything but, I'll let you humor me. Not like I have anything else better to do. I'm all ears."
As Hanamiya began to explain his plan, the shopping frenzy continued. Hiruma and Sendo were frozen by Shiro, along with their items, Sly had lost the console he had, Din had returned the food items back to the start with him and Marinette on their way to help him, and Ryoma had returned to the fray with a vengeance. The same with Rally. Though the latter was a lot more p*ssed off than the former.
"Knock me out will you. I don't give a damn who has a problem with it. I'm gonna hurt that kid!"
"Maybe say somethin' else? I don't know, that sounds kinda crazy out of context." Zee said.
"Anything goes, remember!?" Rally said, a near unhinged grin on her face which unnerved Zee.
Ding Ding
"Oh joy! And we have to sing too! WONDERFUL!" Rally yelled out, hands to the sky.
"Rally, are…. you okay? You're kinda turnin' into Hiruma, and I don't really know if that's a good thing or not."
"Relax, I'm not turning into that maniac! But-"
"This is it guys! Come on back!" Chris said, on the intercoms on all of the stores they were in. "And remember, you better sing! Or else!"
"Oh I'll sing all right! Hit it stalker McLean!"
"Stalker McLean? Okay, you're really scaring me." Zee said.
"Oh you're right! Stalker McLiar and Gojerk! Well Chris? You wanted us to sing? LET'S GO ALREADY!"
Lost in Paradise by ALI feat. AKLO plays
(A/N: A montage of battling and frantic last-minute shopping between the contestants is shown)
Rally: Gotta get it homie gotta move it
Eijun: If you gonna do it then hoka ni no tsugi (If you gonna do it then push everything to the side)
Zee: Everybody just talk nobody really do it
Jotaro: Nan'nara yaru made shitoke yo himitsu ni (You should keep a secret until you actually do it)
Jenny: Dareka to kakunin nante fuyō (No need to double check with someone)
Kunigami: Jibun no jajji dake de break the walls (Use your judgement only, break the walls)
Maki: Do hade na fake yarō yori (Let's do flashy fake)
Cool ni low ni prove them wrong (More cool, keep it low, prove them wrong)
Paul: I won't give up the fight in my life
Marinette: 'Cause my life is living for love
Adrien:I won't give up the fight in my life
Sly: Stand off and groove on time
Everyone(Sendo and Hiruma are still frozen so they don't sing this):Tōkyō prison
I'm going to relight your feelings
When times get too rough
Night and day are fading
I'm going to relight your feelings
There's no time to explain
*Instrumental Period Plays*
Jenny and Din had engaged in an air battle, while Blaze thawed out Hiruma and Sendo as Sly and Adrien continued their battle.
"Thanks." Sendo said.
"What are you waiting for? Go with the cart! I'll help them out!" Hiruma ordered to the two as he pulled out a pistol.
"I can handle the cart. You help Hiruma. I won't lose this one." Blaze said.
"This one? You just told on yourself. I'm makin' sure you don't screw this up, let's go!"
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Kunigami yelled out, running after the two.
"Hell yeah we are. Let's see what you got!" Sendo said, preparing to fight Kunigami to fend him off, and selfishly, to test his strength.
Rally:Oh nothing is for real
Adrien: That's how you make me feel
Sly: I got beaten, stompin'on love
Zee: Pick up my wasted time
Shiro: God might understand
Paul:Nobody can hold me down
Din:I won't give up the fight in my life
Rally:Cause my life is living for love
Eijun:I won't give up the fight in my life
Libby: Standing off and groove on time
Everyone: Tōkyō prison
I'm going to relight your feelings
When times get too rough
Night and day are fading
I'm going to relight your feelings
Light up every last one of them
*Long Instrumental Period Plays*
"You were overmatched last time. What makes you think this will be any different? You're too exhausted to even transform again." Paul asked Ryoma as he had Electivire and Torterra out.
"I don't know. Everything might turn out the same way. But I won't know if I don't try!"
"I owe my best. Not just to myself. But to so many of my teammates! I refuse to go out the way I did with dishonor last time. Power Stone or no Power Stone! I WILL FIGHT!"
He suddenly felt a surge of energy as he unintentionally and unexpectedly transformed once more. "POWER CHANGE!"
"I'm…. transformed? I can't worry about the why. I have to keep fighting! HAAAAAA!" His entire body started to glow in a golden aura before he made quick work of both Electivire and Torterra, to the surprise of Paul.
"Take this! Spring of Knives!" He began to slice fast, sending crescents of energy slashes, some of which also going towards the already purchased products in the Kings' possession.
"I don't think so!" Jotaro called out.
"Hiya! Hiya! Hiya! Hiya!"
"Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora!" Star platinum countered back with its own signature rapid punching attacks.
Rapid slices and punches collided. And this continued, even when they were on the move.
Jotaro:Mata time is ticking (
My time is ticking)
Ryoma:Yuiitsu byōdō wasting no more (Only equal wasting no more)
Hiruma: Keikaku nara done suru made not real (If a plan isn't done it is not real)
Adrien:The illest itadaku shōgō yeah (The illest title to achieve, yeah)
Sendo: Dareka no yosō karugaru koete haruka mukō (Far beyond anyone's expectations)
Kunigami: I've done it aremo koremo soremo (I've done it, that and then)
Eijun:Moshi down shitemo up shite on-and-on (If down then up and on-and-on)
Jenny: Tōkyō hell kara paradise (Tokyo hell from paradise)
Maki: Sorya kachitoru made nara gotta fight (If you want to win you gotta fight)
Imasara yawa na kake (There will always be stakes)
Hiruma:Dekiru wakene daro buchikamase (But you are able to do it)
Jotaro: Atama no naka kara genjitsu ni (From the bottom of my head to reality)
Sendo: Henkan shite iku menmitsu ni (You must carefully transform)
Eijun: Nemurazu action reiji sugi (Sleeping action past midnight)
Kunigami: Kono life ga umidasu geijutsuhin (This life always creates art)
Rally: Oh nothing is for real
Zee: That's how you make me feel
Adrien and Marinette: I got beaten, stompin'in love
Sly: Pick up my wasted time
Shiro: God might understand
Blaze: Nobody can hold me down
Maki:I won't give up the fight in my life
Marinette: Cause my life is living for love
Din:I won't give up the fight in my life
Jotaro: Standing off and groove on time
(A/N: At this point, all of the teams are preparing to go back to the finish with their items, with everyone, including Chris, Gojo, Chef, Utahime, the students, and the interns. Mai was absent)
(Din, Jotaro, Paul and Shiro only): Tōkyō prison
I'm going to relight your feelings
When times get too rough
Night and day are fading
I'm going to relight your feelings
There's no time to explain
Lost in paradise
Night and day are fading out
When times get rough
Access to your love
Lost in paradise
Night and day are fading out
Keep on dancing now
Hey hey
Hanamiya, on his phone, sent out a text that had a heart with an arrow emoji in it to someone. That someone being Mai as he blushed to try and sell it more for anyone that was inevitably being nosy and keeping an eye on him. Of course, the fact that he genuinely thought she looked nice helped in trying to make it look real.
Everyone: Tōkyō prison
I'm going to relight your feelings
Night and day are fading
I'm going to relight your feelings
Light up every last one of them
Mai, from a very log distance away, readied her magnum.
Lost in paradise
Night and day are fading out
When times get rough
Access to your love
Hanamiya sent a heart emoji as the teams approached. It was about to be a close finish, with the Kings looking to take first it seemed.
Lost in paradise
Night and day are fading out
Keep on dancing now
Hey hey hey hey hey
*Song Ends*
"This is it! Wolver! BLIZZARD STORM!" Shiro called out, attempting to try to freeze all the opposition. But all of that cold air was sucked in by Star Platinum.
"Don't give up!" Shiro called out.
Eijun, sensing an opportunity to take out Jotaro, suddenly grabbed Tsukikage and threw him. Of course, he tried to throw the robot like a baseball, so it's size gave him different results than he expected, causing it to hit Shiro in the head instead and knock him out.
"You dumba[censored]! Why would you do that!?" Kunigami called out.
"THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK LIKE THAT!" Eijun shouted back. But he wasn't going to panic just yet.
Jenny's grenades were cancelled out by Din's own.
"Go! Go now!" Din called out to Marinette and the others on his team as Hiruma decided to join the party and throw his own explosives.
"Tenchi Ryoudan!"
"No way! I'm sorry Marinette, but this is one challenge I refuse to lose!" Rally thought before throwing one of the video game boxes she had at her, as she was the closest.
Though, something was wrong with Maki. Or, was there? She suddenly started to spin around like a ballerina with the polearm she had, surprising everyone and knocking some of them back along with the items, with the exception of Blaze, who used her speed to get across first.
Jenny was the one to knock her down on top of Jotaro.
"Maki, what was that?" Jotaro asked, just as confused as everyone else.
Scratch left from Maki's body.
"So it was you all along." Jotaro said to Scratch.
"Yep! Wait, how the heck can you see me!?" Scratch said surprised that Jotaro was able to see him when he never revealed himself to most of the opposing team members.
"No idea what the hell that was but, regardless. You're done." Hanamiya thought.
He sent another heart emoji.
"Well, here goes nothin'." Mai said before taking the shot.
A bullet was speeding towards Maki and Jotaro, but was stopped mid-air before it could hits intended target in Maki. Although barely, Star Platinum was able to catch and stop the bullet.
Hanamiya, smiling to mask his annoyance, waited a bit before he sent out another text with another heart emoji with an up arrow when Paul was getting close to the same spot Jotaro and Maki were in.
"Alright. If at first you don't succeed." Mai said before standing and shooting another shot. As the bullet began to speed its way to its victim, Jotaro saw this one coming as he was about to cross with some items and saw its intended target.
"Sh*t! If I don't stop it Paul's going to hit! And he doesn't see it either! But if I do, we might lose!" Jotaro didn't hesitate with his decision at all. "Damn it! I'm out of range, but I have to try it!"
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders OST - Stardust Crusaders
"STAR PLATINUM! THE WORLD!" Jotaro called out.
A golden aura surrounded Jotaro. Everything and everyone around him was stuck in place. From Eijun preparing to throw something else, shoving the basket to a surprised Libby, to Sly grabbing onto Adrien and about to slam him into the ground, to Rally making a concerted effort to try not to lose. Like Clockwork, X and Zero, Jotaro had stopped time!
"Five seconds. Need to make them count!" Jotaro thought.
It was just barely, but Jotaro was able to get over to Paul in just enough time to tap the bullet and change direction of the bullet and stop it from hitting him.
When time resumed, Jotaro didn't have time to breathe a sigh of relief as he had to get back leaving a confused Paul as to how he even was that close to him in the first place.
Music Stops
"What!? Impossible! He was just over there!" Hanamiya thought.
"What the hell was that?" Yulaw thought, noticing as well.
"Interesting." Bakura and Eliza simultaneously thought.
Hanamiya sent a "WTF", multiple angry emojis and another heart.
"Tch. I can hear him seething in these messages."
Jujustsu Kaisen OST- Jujutsu Kaisen Plays(Basically the one where Mai fights Maki)
"I bet it's her doing it too." Mai balls up a fist. "Fine. You want to be difficult? Then have it your way. Remember. You did this. And now you've spread your lies to others too. You destroyed the life I wanted. So now, I'm going to make you hurt, the same way you hurt me all those years ago. I hate you."
Adrien, Marinette, Eijun,Zee, Rally and Libby were all trying to fight to get their last few supplies in.
"Oh no you don't!" Marinette said, bumping Adrien's cart.
"Check out my dance moves!" Adrien said before tripping her up. "Notrhing personal m'lady."
"Oh yeah?" She pulls him down with her yo-yo.
"Come on!" Eijun called out to Libby.
"Get back here!" Rally called out.
Flashback
"Big sister. Don't let go." Young Mai pleaded as they ran outside, Maki holding her hand as she guided Mai through the cursed spirits that she called "scary monsters".
"I won't let go." Young Maki said.
"You never will?"
"Jeez, give it a rest."
"Never leave me behind?"
"Of course I won't. After all, we're sisters."
End Flashback
"Liar." A mixture of blood and tears was seen on her face as she pulled the trigger. But unlike the other bullets, this one had a streak of green and black around it, which was her cursed energy.
Jotaro saw this one as well. "Damn it! Another one!?"
"STAR PLATINUM! THE WORLD!"
He stopped time again and tried to reach the bullet.
"Come on!" Jotaro thought, trying to reach the bullet before his time expired.
One second remained, and he was able to reach out to try to get to the bullet. But there was one problem: compared to the last one, this one was further along its path.
"S*hit! This one's faster than the last one! I'm not gonna be able to stop it from hitting in time!"
Music Stops
Even with time resuming, everything still felt as if it was in slow motion, as one person was heard yelling in pain.
"Marinette? Marinette! MARINEEEETTE!" Adrien yelled out.
Said person was down on the ground as Eijun yelled in celebration at getting to the finish line first. Though no one else came to talk to him. And when he turned around to see if the others had caught up, he saw why.
"Get a medic, now!" Diana called out, with her and Mamori being the first to tend to her.
"Chris, open a portal!" Doyle called out.
"Yeah, sure!" Chris said, not even asking any questions.
"Do you know where she was hit?" Din asked.
"Ribs. That's why it seems like it's harder for her to breathe." Mamori answered.
"At the very least, it's nothing fatal." Gojo remarked.
"Still though, who could have done this?" Adrien asked. "I would have thought we'd be able to survive something like that transformed."
"A platinum bullet." Jotaro said, going to find where the bullet he tried to stop before had landed. "That's what she was hit with. But, unlike the last one that was shot, this one had green and black streaking behind it. I'm not exactly sure if that narrows things down but, all I can say is whoever shot it this time meant business. They wanted to make sure they hit their target. Because this one was travelling faster than the last one too."
"Wait, how do you know all this?" Adrien asked.
"Because I tried stopping all three."
"Wait, there were three bullets?" Rally asked. "I don't remember there being a first. Or second. And secondly, green and black streak? That doesn't make any sense."
"You've got to remember where we are. A lot of things that usually would make sense back where we're from, gets thrown out the window here." Becky F. said.
"True."
"That's cursed energy. The green and black you saw? That's usually how cursed energy looks. That's how the bullet was able to travel faster. And more than likely hit harder too. Enough to hurt Marinette when it most cases, from what you're describing, normal bullets wouldn't. It was imbued with cursed energy." Maki explained.
The minute she heard this, Utahime left.
"Where are you going?" Gojo asked her.
"To check on something."
"You didn't see them because I stopped them."
"What? No one saw you do that! You're just trying to take credit to add to your cool counter this season!" Todd accused.
"Good grief kid, I have idea what you're talking about. I stopped them because I stopped time."
"What is this a time stopping bargain sale? Can any of us stop time?" Toxsa asked.
"I wish. Absolutely unfair." Randy said.
"Wait, how come it took you this long to be able to show you could do that?" Ben asked. "You didn't even write that down."
"Because, I didn't feel that I needed to. Unlike Zero, X, you and Albedo, when I stop time, it's incredibly taxing on my body. Hence why I never use it unless I'm completely out of options. And this was one of those times. If I didn't do it, there's a chance that Paul is in this situation too or worse. And Marinette doesn't survive this at all." Jotaro explained. "And plus, my time stopping ability is easily the weakest. Not just because of that, but because of duration. I can only stop time for a couple of seconds. And that's it. The more I use it, the more taxing that is. When I used it the first time, I was able to get to the bullet fast enough to cause it to miss Paul completely. But the second time, it travelled faster. The only thing I had time to do was change where the bullet was going to hit to stop it from being a fatal hit, and even then that was barely."
"I know you couldn't have done any more than that, but something is better than nothing. And that something could be the reason why Marinette is still here. Thank you." Adrien said.
"Our job's not done yet. We need to figure out who shot those bullets. Because it's clear they weren't just trying to hurt or sabotage. They were trying to kill someone."
"Well, it wasn't Maki. But at the very least, someone was hit. And I don't mind this one at all." Hanamiya thought.
"No need. I already have an idea on who it is. If true, I will take care of them." Utahime said, returning.
"She's going to have to go to a doctor if she's having trouble breathing like this. Immediately." Doyle said. Everyone already knew what that meant.
"Do what you gotta do. No game's that important." Bobo said.
"Agreed. A life matters more than a game." Maki said. "Just really sad that this is the way she has to go out."
"Marinette. I'm sorry." Adrien said to her with Marinette reaching up.
"….Okay. Fri-"
"Please. No more talking. Don't yourself anymore." Adrien said before he grabbed her hand for a bit. "Get well soon."
Doyle and Chef walked her into the portal.
"So….. we'll end it here. There will be no eliminations today. Go on home guys." Chris said.
"While we appreciate it, we already lost anyway. The other teams were the first to get their items through. Adrien was the-" Huey started before realizing what he was saying or hat he was implying and stopped.
"Don't blame yourself. You didn't know. None of us did. Not even Jotaro knew until the last second." Rally said to Adrien.
"Hard not to say I can't take at least some of it. Who knows what would have happened if I had decided to not do that. Even if it was just to help us win. Crazy how something so fun can turn into…. This." Adrien said as his portal opened. "I'll see you guys later." He said before going through the portal.
Kise stopped the second he crossed paths with Hanamiya, not even turning to look at him.
"I'm not going to try to fight you or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking. I'm not stupid. Now I can't prove it, but, just know that time will tell if you had a hand in what just happened. But that's low. Even for someone like you." Kise said.
"Just tell Adrien that I hope he cheers up. Doesn't feel that same if you're not motivated." Hanamiya said.
"Yeah." Kise said before they parted ways into their own portals back to Japan. The last thing being seen on Hanamiya's face was a grin as he received a blowing kiss emoji from Mai. Though, to his credit, he did ask if she was going to be okay with her replying with "DK".
"Good luck Maki. I'll be rooting for you. And a speedy recovery for Marinette too." Nobara said.
"Same from the rest of us too. Good luck!" Yuji called out.
"Thanks. Really appreciate it." Maki said before looking off in the distance behind them before going to her dorm, as she didn't need a portal since she was already where she usually resides, shaking her head.
"What an unfortunate way to end things. Another person having to be sent to the hospital. But, the show must go on. But those items? We'll be keeping those in a safe place for right now. We'll be right back here again soon, with the next episode of Total….. Drama…..Across the Multiverse!" Chris announced.
A/N: And with that, the final one out of the four of the, well, final four of Multiverse Edition, is gone.
Also, Gojo changing things from the usual was an idea from the show itself. So it's definitely possible for him to do something like that. Including even changing the musical. Sure, Chris now has footage of Din, Jotaro, Paul and Shiro singing. But at what cost? Another person sent to the hospital.
Let's hope the next episode isn't like this. But, considering what Prince of Tennis slowly evolved into as characters' abilities developed, it won't be a shocker if a couple of bruises are seen.
Also, what are all those items for?
See you all on the next one!
Episodes:
Episode 27: The Prince of Drama: Compete in games chosen by the Seigaku Tennis Team(The Prince of Tennis)
Flower by gigs(Prince of Tennis)
Episode 28: Not so happy feet: Compete in a game of musical chairs, TD style!
Music used will be revealed during the episode
Episode 29: My voice gives me Super Strength!: Roles reverse in this episode. With the power of shared voices from Across the Multiverse!
Episode 30: No time like the present!: Return to present New York and compete in games from the turtles around the sewer(TMNT 2003)
Midnight Run(TMNT 2003)
Episode 31: The Obligatory Camping Episode: Compete in events hosted by both Acorn Flats and Camp Kidney(Camp Lazlo)
Song: The Camp Kidney Anthem(Camp Lazlo)
Episode 32: A Totally Regular Episode: Compete in Events hosted by employees of The Park(Regular Show)
Working for the Weekend by Loverboy
Placements:
165th- Dragonfly Jones(Radical Rats)-Martin Sitcom
164th- Richie and Virgil(Wave Breakers)- Static Shock
163rd- Cameron(Storm Kings)- Total Drama
162nd- Duncan(Wave Breakers)- Total Drama
161st- Chris P.(Wave Breakers)- Dan VS
160th- Mona(Storm Kings)- Mona the Vampire
159th- Owen(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
158th- Zoey(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
157th - Tetsuya Kuroko(Radical Rats)- Kuroko's Basketball(Quit)
156th-Shintaro Midorima(Storm Kings)-Kuroko's Basketball
155th-MacArthur and Sanders(Radical Rats)- Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
154th-Luz Noceda(Storm Kings)-The Owl House
153rd-Priya(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
152nd- Shogo Haizaki(Wave Breakers)-Kuroko's Basketball
151st- Edward Falcon(Radical Rats)-Power Stone
150th- Shawn and Jasmine(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
149th- Zak Saturday(Storm Kings)- Secret Saturdays
148th - Nimona(Wave Breakers)- Nimona
147th-Rocky Rickaby(Radical Rats)-Lackadaisy
146th-Huey Freeman(Storm Kings)-Boondocks
145th-Cicini(Radical Rats)- Rabi-Ribi
144th- Blaineley(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama
143rd- Heather and Alejandro(Storm Kings)-Total Drama
142nd-Karin Kanzunki(Wave Breakers)-Street Fighter
141st-Ruby G.(Wave Breaker)-Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken
140th-Noah(Radical Rats)-Total Drama
139th-Marinette Dupain-Cheng(Storm Kings)-Miraculous Ladybug
