So sorry for the long delay on this one! I know it's been taking an ice age to wrap up the Sokovia City stuff, but I hope to wrap up the Marémon Contest part of it soon and move on to the next story-arc which will be focused on Doctor Strange. Hope you continue to read my fanfic despite its many delays and thank you for the support.
Episode 117: Vindictive Vulcarrion!
"How are we supposed to pair off?" Jean-Paul asked Barton. "There are five of us."
Barton reached into his dark-blue hoodie pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here's the order of matches for the second round: the first match will be between MJ and Liz, the second will be between Gwen and Felicia, then the winners of those two matches will compete for a third match, and whoever wins gets to battle Jean-Paul for the fourth and final match. Any questions, ladies?"
No one said anything as Barton left to announce the beginning of the Second Round for the Intimacy Ribbon Marémon Contest. Liz and MJ were still wearing their dresses from the First Round with Liz's being green with white feathered lining to match her vulture-like Vulcarrion's colors. Meanwhile, MJ's dress was red with black web-like patterns just like Hamder's skin that was similar to the spider-like Spidermin's skin.
As the curtain rose, the two girls stepped forward and smiled to the cheering crowds.
"Your Hamder has no chance against my Vulcarrion," Liz whispered to MJ.
"We'll see about that," MJ whispered back.
"So here are the rules for combat," Barton stated from the judges' table with Linda and Agnes watching with interest. "You may only use the Marémon you have picked for the contest, you may use Healing Factor syringes but nothing else, and there's no time limit. Now begin!"
"Vulcarrion, grab Hamder with your talons and drop him from the ceiling!" Liz ordered.
"Hamder, use your Spidey-Sense to dodge Vulcarrion!" MJ insisted.
As Vulcarrion swooped low, Hamder squealed nervously and ran away. He managed to avoid Vulcarrion, who nearly flew into a wall but managed to fly upward to avoid it.
"Just because your Hamder can dodge really well doesn't make him invincible," Liz argued. "Vulcarrion, Feather Blades!"
Flapping its wings vigorously, Vulcarrion was able to summon a cloud of green feathers with sharp points that rained down on Hamder. Fortunately, Hamder's Spidey-Sense allowed him to avoid being hit by every single sharp feather.
"It seems to me like MJ is mostly relying on Hamder's Spidey-Sense to avoid getting hit by Vulcarrion," Agnes observed at the judges' table.
"Can you blame her?" Linda said. "Apart from Web Shot and Spider-Nonsense, Hamder doesn't have too many attacks or abilities."
"But just because her Marémon has limitations doesn't mean he can't win," Barton pointed out. "When I was part of the Avengers League, me and Hawkeye didn't stand out compared to other powerful members like Tony Stark or even Steve Rogers, let alone their Marémon. Though we still kicked butt because I was good at strategy and observation in battle."
"Do you think MJ has those same qualities?" Linda questioned Barton.
"That remains to be seen, since I didn't see how she handled the Dark Elf invasion in New Asgard Town. But from what Pepper Potts told me, MJ could pull this off if she utilizes the best of what Hamder can do."
"Hey, MJ!" Liz said in an annoyed tone. "Is Hamder just going to keep dodging my Vulcarrion's attacks, or are you actually going to fight me for real?"
"I'm working on that!" MJ snapped.
This isn't good, MJ thought to herself. I can't keep dodging Vulcarrion forever, but if Hamder uses his Spider-Nonsense ability…there's no telling what will happen because of how unpredictable it is.
"Hamder, Web Shot onto the rafters!" MJ said, forming a plan in her head as she spoke.
The pig-like Hamder oinked and used webs shot from his wrists to do that.
"Are you running away again?" Liz guessed.
"No, I'm taking a risk," MJ said. "Swing onto Vulcarrion's back and use Spider-Nonsense to incapacitate him!"
Vulcarrion heard this and tried to attack Hamder directly. But he swung out of the way and got onto Vulcarrion's back. But Vulcarrion flew upside down causing Hamder to fall. He used Spider-Nonsense to lessen the impact using a giant Whoopie cushion, though he wasn't able to dodge Vulcarrion as he used Talon Strike to scratch Hamder's exposed stomach making him groan in pain.
"Oh, dear," Agnes remarked. "It looks like Hamder is hurt pretty badly."
"Now pick Hamder up again and drop him!" added Liz.
"Get out of the way, Hamder!" urged MJ.
Unfortunately, Hamder was too busy groaning from the pain of his scratched stomach to get away from Vulcarrion, who picked him up by his pig ears and dropped him onto the stage. A pig-shaped hole was left, followed by Hamder's hoof waving a white flag.
"I think Hamder is surrendering," Agnes noticed.
"Then in that case, Vulcarrion is the winner!" Barton announced.
While Liz smiled at the cheering crowds with Vulcarrion perched on her right shoulder, MJ tended to Hamder by using a Healing Factor syringe to fix his injuries.
"You did great, Hamder," MJ said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. "I'm just sorry I couldn't have protected you better."
As MJ hugged Hamder, the judges looked sympathetic. From there, the battles went a little more smoothly with Felicia's Blaccet winning against Gwen's Greengob much to everyone's surprise. But since Jean-Paul insisted on using his Norstarr and Auroris together, Felicia was given the privilege of using a second Marémon in battle.
"Looks like I'm presenting you earlier than I anticipated, Scarspide!" Felicia said as she used her PDB to unleash a spider-like Marémon that resembled Spidermin only with a red body and black web patterns instead of red-and-blue with white web patterns.
To be continued…