Episode 118: Outmatched!

"You really think a little spider can fare against my flying beauties?" Jean-Paul laughed.

"Spider Marémon are a lot more powerful than you think, Jean-Paul," Felicia argued. "Believe me, I know."

"Okay, let's put that notion to the test!" Jean-Paul then pointed at Scarspide. "Norstarr, Concussive Blast!"

The flying black-and-white Marémon that resembled a jet plane narrowed its eyes and fired blasts of light from the white star emblem on its chest towards Scarspide. Luckily, Scarspide was able to dodge the blasts using its Spidey-Sense.

"Now Blaccet, Claw Strike Auroris!" Felicia ordered.

The black bipedal cat with the hook-like tail nodded and leaped towards the other Marémon that was identical to Norstarr only its colors were white-and-black. Afraid of Blaccet, Auroris flew upwards causing Blaccet to crash into the curtain where she held on with its sharp claws.

"Auroris, Concussive Blast the Blaccet while it's stuck on the curtain!" Jean-Paul commanded.

So Auroris used similar light blasts to Norstarr, which not only destroyed the curtain but also injured Blaccet.

"Darn it," Felicia grumbled. "I thought Blaccet's Bad Luck ability would kick in."

"For those of you who don't know, Blaccet has an ability called Bad Luck that causes bad things to happen around it while it's left unharmed," Nurse Linda explained to the audience. "However, this ability it shares with Domnya can't always be controlled by the Marémon who wields it much like the Spidey-Sense that several spider-based Marémon use including Scarspide."

But Blaccet wasn't completely knocked out as she leaped towards Auroris once again and managed to scratch its long neck before landing on her feet.

"Nice job, Blaccet," Felicia complemented. "Now protect Scarspide while she deals with Norstarr in case Auroris tries attacking her."

Blaccet nodded and stood beside Scarspide who was still undamaged.

"Scarspide, Impact Web!" said Felicia.

From Scarspide's mouth flew a web that was smoking like dynamite sticks. When it landed on Norstarr, the web exploded causing the rafters of the stage to shake briefly. As the debris cleared, Norstarr was covered in gunpowder but still flying.

"It seems your Marémon are a lot tougher than I gave them credit for," Felicia told Jean-Paul. "They must have a strong affection for one another."

"You got that right, Felicia," Jean-Paul admitted. "Now Auroris, Norstarr, combine together to perform Light Blast!"

Immediately, the two jet-like Marémon flew up into the sky above the amphitheater. They touched their stubby arms together and from their mouths burst a blinding multicolored light beam that encompassed the area in which Blaccet and Scarspide stood. But to everyone's surprise, the stage remained intact leaving behind only the smoking passed out bodies of Felicia's Marémon.

"And with that one-hit KO, Jean-Paul wins this round!" Barton declared.

While Felicia was still in shock, Jean-Paul smiled as a young man a few rows up cheered loudly for him.

An hour later, MJ and the others returned to the stage with their Marémon as the judges had finished talking among themselves.

"So we are going to reward the Intimacy Ribbon to the top three winners of this contest," said Barton. "But please remember that whether you lost the first round or second round, we are only judging your overall performance."

This made MJ more nervous as she saw Peter, Quill, and Spidermin towards the back of the crowd in the amphitheater.

"In First Place is…Liz Allen and her Vulcarrion!" Barton announced.

Liz cried for joy while Vulcarrion flapped its wings in excitement. As this was happening, Nurse Linda gave Liz a heart-shaped ribbon that looked exactly like the Encouragement Ribbon—only it was pink with a ruby gemstone embedded in the gold pin instead of lime-green with an emerald gemstone.

"For Second Place, Michelle Jones and her Hamder!" continued Barton.

MJ couldn't believe what she heard until she saw Peter cheering in the crowd for her while the Intimacy Ribbon was pinned to her red dress.

"Now Third Place was a tricky decision," admitted Barton. "But ultimately, we decided to give it to Jean-Paul and his two Marémon Auroris and Norstarr!"

While Jean-Paul was genuinely happy, Felicia wasn't.

"Hey, that's no fair!" Felicia objected, causing everyone to stop cheering. "Why should he get Third Place when he cheated using two Marémon instead of one Marémon like the rest of us?"

"It was something we heavily debated on," Linda said to Felicia. "But since you volunteered to use another Marémon, we judged your battle with him in the Second Round as a fair fight. And between his stellar performance in the First Round combined with the way his Marémon battled in the Second Round, it was decided that he should win Third Place with the penalty of using two Marémon instead of the usual one for this competition."

"That is fair, Nurse Linda," Jean-Paul nodded. "I will keep that in mind going forward."

"As for you, Miss Hardy, the Third Place title could have been yours if you hadn't decided to make everyone's pocket change rain down from the sky with your Blaccet," Linda said sternly. "It was completely disruptive to the competition and not in the spirit of representing the theme of intimacy. So we're going to let you off with a warning for now. But if you pull a similar stunt like that, you'll be permanently disqualified from participating in the Marémon Lovers Festival! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Nurse Linda," Felicia said coldly.

After Jean-Paul got an Intimacy Ribbon pinned to his tuxedo suit, the crowds dispersed. So MJ went backstage changing out of her red dress back into her usual green jacket and black jeans.

"Congratulations, MJ!" Peter said as she emerged from her dressing room. "You won another Ribbon for the Festival."

"Thanks, Peter," MJ smiled, hiding her disappointment at only winning Second Place. "How did you do in your battle against Jean Grey?"

Peter opened his denim jacket and showed a red stone-shaped badge next to the one shaped like a yellow stone.

"I managed to win the Reality Stone Badge on my first try," Peter said. "Now let's get to Kamar-Taj Village so I can win the Time Stone Badge!"

"And the Synchronicity Ribbon!" MJ replied excitedly.

To be continued…