After wrapping up the Realm battle with Jean, I'm going to cut back to MJ and her competition. Hope the transition isn't too jarring.
Episode 115: The Auroris of My Norstarr!
"If you're going to throw a Synergy Attack at me, I'll throw one back!" Turning his palms upside-down, Peter said, "Spidermin, Web Barrage!"
While regular webs emerged from Peter's wrists, Spidermin's Web Shots had a metallic sheen to them. Though these webs went right through the firebird, they covered Phoevix who could barely move.
"Now, Stun Web!" Peter added.
Spidermin tossed an enormous web crackling with electricity which covered Phoevix completely. Then because of the metallic webs, the shock was greater causing Phoevix to pass out which made the firebird dissipate before it made contact with Spidermin.
"You saw what my Psychic Firebird did to Professor Xavier and knew it couldn't touch Spidermin, or you'd be done for," Jean said as she returned Phoevix to a second PDB. "Because of how impressively you adapted to this match and won, I give you the Reality Stone Badge."
Reaching into her dark-blue jacket, Jean took out a red stone-shaped badge that she gave to Peter, who pinned it next to the yellow Mind Stone Badge inside his jean jacket.
"How did I do?" Jean asked nervously. "As a Realm Champion, I mean."
"You did fine," Peter said. "I'm not sure why you're asking."
"Well, I thought my previous match with Quill was a little harsh. So I tried not to come across as too intimidating this time."
"Again, you did fine. I was actually surprised you gave me helpful advice during the match."
"Oh, you mean the Upgrade Module? I knew you had it all along."
"What?" Peter exclaimed. "Did you really read my mind?"
"Sure! It was how I knew Quill was going to choose the wrong Marémon for battle and took advantage of that. But I felt bad as I was basically 'cheating.'"
"Then what did you do differently with me?"
"I waited to see what you did, even when I had the information, because I didn't know if and when you were going to use the Module. But just so it would be a fair fight from my end, I gave you that advice."
"Yeah, I guess using your Mutant powers to win a Marémon Match wouldn't be fair to the Marémon—even if both Marémon Wielders are Mutants."
"No, it wouldn't. We Mutants should always use our powers responsibly and not to show we're better than normal humans. That's what Professor Xavier told me before I left, which I will honor as long as I'm Sokovia City's Realm Champion!"
"And that concludes the first round of the Intimacy Ribbon Contest!" Clint Barton announced.
The Marémon Theater was crowded with spectators, who were applauding as the competitors took a bow onstage as the curtain dropped in front of them. Meanwhile, Barton and his fellow judges Nurse Linda and Agnes Bohner were seated with him at a table with microphones.
"Honestly, there were many standout performances," Linda said.
"But they can only win if they get through the second round," Agnes pointed out. "If I had to pick a winner right now, it would have to be MJ's comedic routine with Hamder."
"Why's that?" Barton asked Agnes.
"It was so cute and funny!" Agnes said as she smiled. "The way Hamder kept making random objects appear with his Spider-Nonsense ability to win MJ's affection, only for her to reject him. And when that piano fell on his head by accident, I nearly died of laughter."
"For me, the moment where she picked Hamder up and kissed him was a little excessive," Linda argued. "You don't need to literally kiss your Marémon to show how intimate you are with them, and vice versa."
"Agreed," Barton added. "I had the exact same issue with Gwen and Greengob's romantic waltz. The whole thing left me feeling weird."
"That I will agree with," Linda nodded. "For me, the best performance was Liz with her Vulcarrion. While it certainly isn't the prettiest Marémon, I could see the intimacy in the way she commanded Vulcarrion to fly in circles over the audience and its loyalty to her in turn."
"Yes, that's true," Barton agreed. "Felicia's routine with Blaccet had the same vibe, especially with how well it jumped through those hoops and Felicia's smiling face."
"Except for the part where everyone's pocket money rained down from the sky because of Blaccet's Bad Luck ability," Linda noted. "Fortunately, Hawkeye observed which pocket money belonged to which person and returned the money to the right people with ease."
"Well, he is good at that," Barton said as he scratched the feathers of his hooded owl-like Marémon Hawkeye. "Now there is one thing we can all agree on: Jean-Paul's Marémon Norstarr and Auroris were cute together, and their combined Light Blast attack was certainly spectacular, but I felt like he kind of cheated using two Marémon to demonstrate the intimacy with his Marémon instead of one like the girls did."
"But you're missing the point, dear!" Agnes argued. "Light Blast can only be done by Auroris and Norstarr together. So seeing them both do it showed their true intimacy."
"No, I agree with Barton," Linda interjected. "If the girls were able to use one Marémon to demonstrate their intimacy with their Marémon, it's not fair for another competitor to use two Marémon instead."
"Let's put this issue off to the side for the time-being," Barton suggested, not wanting their conversation to dissolve into a pointless argument. "For now, let's focus on the second half of the competition where the contestants will have to battle one another—but still show intimacy in how they command their Marémon."
Meanwhile behind the theater curtain, Felicia, Liz, and Gwen were ganging up on Jean-Paul with MJ standing between both parties.
"You cheater!" Liz snapped. "Ribbon competitors are only allowed to use one Marémon per competition, not two!"
"Didn't you read the rules?" Gwen said.
"I did, and I won the previous competition with Auroris," Jean-Paul responded defensively. "But for the theme of intimacy, I thought using both my Marémon would be best."
"That's no excuse to break the rules, Jean-Paul," Felicia frowned.
"Like you're one to talk," MJ retorted.
Felicia glared at MJ. "What's that supposed to mean?"
To be continued…