Total Drama: Across the Multiverse

by StaticShock01

Chris returns for yet another season in what may be the most insane one yet. 69 contestants! 9 winners from the previous seasons! 28 network picks! 28 audience picks! Which contestant will come out of this madness!(52/98 initial contestants remaining, 119/165 overall) UPDATE: The teams join the Time Patrol in fixing history across the multiverse!

33. For Chima and Honor!

A/N: Next episode, next stop! What's in store for them in the land of Chima? Time to find out!

Just to note, I changed a couple of things around from the initial concept that I had initially planned to better match up to what was seen in the show, so the challenge portion might be shorter than originally intended.

---

Teams:

Radical Rats:

Noah, Bennett, Emma, X, Zero & Axl, Albedo, Falcon, Rick & Morty, Sendo, Akko, Sucy, Lotte & Diana, Blaze, Puss, Rally, May & Becky F., Becky B., Yulaw, Rocky, Kurt, Tangle, Lanolin & Whisper, Rei, Dawn, Adrien, Priya, MacArthur & Sanders, Hiruma, Sena/Eyeshield, Kurita, Monta & Mamori, Natsu, Lucy & Happy, Kagami, Kise, Kuroko, Zee, Cicini

Storm Kings:

Jotaro, Todd and Riley, Huey F., Paul, Skipper, Sophie, Bren, Courtney, Rex and Bobo, Marinette, Reimu, Razer, Din Djarin, Zak S., Team RWBY+Penny, Ben and Rook, Octavia, Eliza, Huey D., Dewey and Louie, Heather and Alejandro, Luz, Aomine, Midorima, Akashi, Sebastian, Isagi and Bachira, Sly, Mayuzumi, Maki, Ryoma Echizen

Wave Breakers:

Mr. Wolf, Dwayne, Urien, Ayame and Ryoma(Power Stone), Toxsa, Reagan, Blaineley, Jenny, Karin, Julie, Launch, Randy, Molly, Scratch and Libby, Team JET: Kaz, Fiona, Diego, Myron and Shiro, Hailey and Scott, Johnny, Haizaki, Zak M, Hanamiya, Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishma, Eijun, Miyuki and Furuya, Kunigami, Dan, Nimona, Bakura, Bass, Ruby G., Shawn and Jasmine, Asta and Noelle

---

Eliminated:

164th- Dragonfly Jones(Radical Rats)-Martin Sitcom

163rd- Richie and Virgil(Wave Breakers)- Static Shock

162nd- Cameron(Storm Kings)- Total Drama

161st- Duncan(Wave Breakers)- Total Drama

160th- Chris P.(Wave Breakers)- Dan VS

159th- Mona(Storm Kings)- Mona the Vampire

158th- Owen(Radical Rats)-Total Drama

157th- Zoey(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama

Intern:

Heloise(Jimmy-Two Shoes)

Hired Gun:

Doyle Blackwell(Secret Saturdays)

"Last time on Total Drama Across the Multiverse! The teams traveled to Japan for a special Deimon field day! A school that included the Deimon Devil Bats! Five of its members competing here! Sure, it's not World Tour, but man, having the opportunity to see exactly what the rest of crazy Hiruma's team was like was something I absolutely couldn't pass up when I was called about it."

Footage of the teams touching down in Japan was seen.

"And we actually got to see more than just them. A look at some of the other teams was shown as well. From the prideful Ojo White Knights, which included Shin, to the cowboy-themed Seibu Wild Gunmen. I seriously can't believe Shien goes around wearing that cowboy outfit, but hey, Hiruma walks around with guns and has a tank….. for some reason. And Sena, as a high school guy has a literal superpower with super speed. So it's not the craziest thing in the world."

Footage of other teams including the rock-themed Bando Spiders, the cowboy-themed Wild Gunmen, the prideful knight-themed Ojo White Knights and the discipline-themed Shinryuji Nagas entering the arena was shown.

"Each of them had different challenges based off the themes of the teams. With most of them except surprisingly having nothing to do with football whatsoever. At the very least, it opened up a lot of possibilities of what to expect. And man, there were a decent few."

Bando's music-based challenge, Seibu's shooting/football accuracy challenge, Deimon's running challenge(which was more than just running thanks to Hiruma's ever-creative mind) and Shinryuji's skills challenge was seen.

"But of course, Hiruma being Hiruma, definitely had his fair share of fingerprints on this challenge. Somehow the guy found a way to get access to several TVs, monitors and screens in the streets and the stadium to deliver his message to rile up the Deimon faithful. And boy did he. Seriously, he came prepared for this. An image of Nimona as Miyuki and a video of Courtney to make the crowd think they hated football, and even got one of his teammates to draw a promotional poster were a couple. The funny part is? He wasn't even there for the challenge. Oh yeah. Did I mention he had a tank? For some reason? And he asked about Deadpool? And he gave the tank to Max? And he made pre-game intro cards somehow complimenting and dissing several people? Including me? Yeah, he's definitely….. something. I can see why he likes Rocky. Seriously, I still want to know why he has a tank. Isn't he in high school?!"

Footage of Hiruma appearing on screens to make an announcement was shown.

"Regardless, they were able to score second without him, but the event of the day, other than Midorima singing before the challenge, was Agon. Yeah, compared to the rest of the team, who looks pretty disciplined, for the most part anyway, he's like the exact opposite. I think Lanolin said it best. Haizaki but worse. At least when he first got here anyway. Other than challenges, he's been surprisingly quiet."

Footage of Agon appearing in clothes that weren't his school uniform, to the displeasure of his brother, Unsui was shown.

"The dude's anything but a nice guy. Apparently to everyone but women it seems. Correction, pretty ones. And apparently, he's got a personal vendetta against Hiruma and Deimon. Not sure why, but it definitely caused him to interfere with the challenge. And embarrass Lotte. I'm all for drama, and I was definitely entertained. But I gotta admit, the extra remarks to Kurita and Lotte was kinda low. Seriously. You guys didn't see it, but he definitely made Lotte cry. Her team definitely took exception to it though. Which fueled Morty to beat Haizaki at the end, securing them second."

Footage of Agon interfering with the challenge by loosening the mallet he gave Lotte, causing her to embarrass herself in the final game was seen along with him talking down to her and the rest of her team. Morty beating Haizaki in the obstacle course was also seen.

"Fast forward to the elimination ceremony, by one vote, Haizaki was saved again. But Zoey, not so much. With how much Molly talks about him, she's definitely not given up on him yet. Although some like Hanamiya, Urien and Agon aren't exactly believers that he just lost the challenge. With Agon outright telling him that he thinks Haizaki let Morty win. Something Haizaki, colorfully denies."

Footage of Agon talking to Haizaki about what happened after the race, Zoey's elimination and Hanamiya questioning him as well was seen.

"Is it true? Only Haizaki knows. But what I do know is the next episode of Total…. Drama…. Across the Multiverse, starts now!"

*Total Drama Across the Multiverse Intro Plays*

Featured song:

Unleashed the Power by Finley

Special Guests for Today's Episode:

Laval and Lavarius (Legends of Chima)

Midorima's Lucky Item:

A Red Cell Phone

It was the fairly early in the morning. While Furuya was off to himself fishing, the rest of his team, for the most part, were also off to themselves doing their own thing. Whether with friends or by themselves. Albeit doing a lot more noisier things. With the exception of Kageyama, Shiro and Kunigami. The latter was off to himself, working out in the sand.

As for Kageyama, he was outside, writing in a journal, a bottle of water next to him as he wrote. Drinking out of it after practicing by himself.

Shiro, not too far from where he was, was testing his machine, Lightning Wolver to make sure it was still running properly.

"It's been a little over a couple of weeks since I came here with my fellow Karasuno teammates and friends, Tsukishima and Hinata. So far, I like the team we're with, but performance wise, we can do better. I can do better especially. Asta and Noelle are great additions and seem to be fitting in nicely, despite Asta being in more challenges. Sure, we haven't won as many challenges as I'd like but I think we're making better progress and have started to find our footing. As for Haizaki, I said before he wasn't exactly a good guy. The definition of wasted potential. But honestly, he's now become the most frustrating person on this team. I know how Bass and Kunigami are. Not exactly the most approachable people in the world. Which is fine, but they're personalities aren't something I like. As for Haizaki, he looks like he's improving little by little in terms of willing to help the team and has toned down a lot of the behavior he's had in the beginning. I think Miyuki is the catalyst of that. With the plans he's had so far since our team meeting(that have worked better than I thought they would), he's kind of like Hiruma(but without the guns and crazy attitude). I didn't expect that confrontation with Haizaki out of him, but that was the start of me really seeing this team's potential along with Eijun, who, like I said before, really surprised me with what he did in the Gran Prix. I think the message he was trying to send to the team is great. But what happened in the race against Morty. I can't say whether he stumbled or not, because I don't exactly have evidence to prove anything else, but Hai-"

Kageyama's writing was disturbed by someone yelling in a megaphone. The source being Hiruma.

"WAKE THE F[CENSORED] UP! TEAM MEETING TIME!"

***Confessional***

Kageyama(Wave Breakers):

"Say what you will about Eijun. But at least he doesn't try to make people mad with his yelling. Hiruma constantly does this stuff to p[censored] people off! Me included! I get it, that's his thing, but I hate it's working!"

***End Confessional***

Several people, from all three teams were heard groaning, yelling and/or expressing their displeasure in other various ways as they got up. Kageyama, frustrated, closed his journal and started to walk back inside. Though he had to get through the several people that were walking out. Because of that, he ended up dropping the journal, which only made him even more frustrated as some people were unknowingly stepping on it. It was when Kurita slipped and fell on it was that the last straw.

"Would you guys move out of the way! You're stepping on something!" Kageyama yelled which scared Kurita a little.

"Oh. S-sorry!" Kurita said, jumping a little. Though Kageyama noticed he was a lot more scared than he expected. As if the lineman thought he was about to hurt him.

"Hey. Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get what's right there." Kageyama said, pointing to the journal, which was messed up from people constantly stepping on it, moving it, or in Kurita's case, fell on it.

Kurita handed him the book.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Sorry again."

"Hey, I know it was an accident. Nothing to feel bad about." Kageyama said.

Diana was the only one that was actually going back inside compared to everyone else as she took a deep breath, seemingly exhausted for some reason.

"That doesn't look to be in the best condition." Diana commented, referring to the journal in his hands.

"Yeah. I know. No thanks to you."

"How is it my fault? I wasn't even aware you had it."

"Considering you were one of the people that-" He noticed that she had beads of sweat on her forehead. "Okay then. Maybe you weren't."

"I'll take that as an unofficial apology." She said before walking past him and wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead.

"Huh. How long has she been awake?" Kageyama said. It wasn't exactly scorching hot, so it was pretty clear to him she was doing something to make her sweat.

Akko suddenly ran back in, almost running into him, which annoyed him.

"Would you watch where you're going?"

"Sorry! Have you-"

"If you're looking for Diana, she went that way."

"Wait a sec, how'd you know that was about to ask? Did you do something with her?"

"No. I just saw her walk past."

"You sure? You look pretty sweaty."

"LOOK I SAID NO!"

"Okay! Jeez, no need to be a jerk about it."

"When you ask stupid a[censored] questions like that of course I'm going to be annoyed! Though you can thank Hiruma for that as well."

"Oh yeah. The team meeting thing. I get it though. Thanks anyway." Akko ran past him before he looked at his journal and sighed, knowing he'd have to get it unwrinkled somehow.

***Confessional***

Akko(Radical Rats):

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still a little mad at her. But I just want to make sure she's not up to some funny business. First Karin and now Kageyama? Something very strange is going on around here."

***End Confessional***

Diana grabs napkins out of her suitcases and wipes her forehead with them before exhaling again.

"DIANA!"

The prodigal witch turned as Akko pointed at her.

"Alright, the jig is up! What the heck have you been doing with the other team?"

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Other team? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me! First Karin and now you and Kageyama are sweaty? You're trying to collude with the enemy team for an alliance or something!"

"I'm not colluding with anyone. Perhaps before you start making false accusations you gather reputable evidence other than a conversation I had with Karin and being 'sweaty' like Kageyama."

"You want evidence? I'll gather evidence! I'll just have to make sure to catch you in the act!"

"If I was doing something, maybe the best thing to do isn't to say you're going to observe them out loud."

Akko was starting to get annoyed with her. "Whatever. I still know you're up to something!"

"AKKO AND DIANA! WE NEED YOU OUTSIDE!" Lanolin called out.

"Maybe you should stay here. I'm not sure I feel comfortable having a traitor listening in on our plans."

Diana could only shake her head, following her out.

When they arrived, the entire team was gathered around in one area.

"Alright. These are the last two." X said.

"Good. Now we can get down to business." Hiruma said, this time wearing his football uniform, minus the helmet, with, surprisingly, no type of firearm or explosives in his hand.

"From what Hiruma has told us, he has an announcement to make. A very important one, so everyone needs to listen closely." Lanolin said.

"Or else!" Hiruma said, pulling out several pistols at once and pointing them at everyone.

Lanolin, X and Rally could only sigh.

"All you guys have to do is listen closely. This isn't just for our benefit. It's for yours as well." Rally said.

Hiruma put away the guns. "First things first, I'd like to address what happened during the Deimon field day. And I don't mean mop-head. I mean on my end."

"Yeah, you have a lot of explaining to do. Running off like that. I hate to say it, but if you were here, we might have been able to win." Rei said.

"I was actually in the school in one of the empty classrooms if you were looking for me."

" 'If we were looking for you'!? Are you serious!? How could you talk so casually like that!? You were gone the entire challenge! You wouldn't be saying this if we lost." Rei said.

"The mop-head was right about one thing. I did watch the whole thing from there."

"Then if you saw we needed help, why exactly didn't you do anything to help us?" Axl asked.

"I'm not the only person you can turn to for help. You had three others you could have went to. And after seeing what I saw yesterday, I can see why we got second. Which is exactly where we are as a team overall. Second."

"Then if that's the case, who's first?" Natsu asked.

"That should be obvious dragon boy. The Kings. They've won the most games out of the season so far."

"I've gotta agree with Hiruma here. Compared to the other two teams, we're pretty much middle of the road. Winning some, being second, and losing some a few times." Rally said.

"Which isn't a place we need to be. Something could happen within moments to make us lose games at the worst. Or at best, we'll never be able to catch the Kings. We're very inconsistent." Lanolin said.

" And at the rate we're going, we're not going to go any further than that. And eventually, it's going to end with me being the first out of us four to be eliminated." Hiruma declared.

"H-Hiruma, don't say that! You'll get far with us!" Kurita insisted.

"There would have been a chance you'd have been gone the last challenge if we lost." Rei said.

"You really don't know how to keep your mouth shut do you?" Kagami said.

"Oh that's rich coming from you." Rei scoffed.

"What happened to not putting people down Sailor Projection?"

"What happened to not being insensitive and rude Kagadummy?"

"Isn't that what you were just doing?"

"No, that's brutal honesty. I know I'm not doing only one that thinks this."

"Okay yeah, that is true, but just keep it to your damn self!"

"Hey! You two said you made up. Doesn't look like it to me." Kurt said.

"We did!" Both insisted.

"Tch. Whatever. Let's just get back to what Hiruma was talking about." Kagami said, looking back forward.

"Hmph. At least you acknowledge I was right."

"What does that have-" Kagami started before Kurt, Lanolin, Rally and X all shot him looks, which caused him to wave his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright."

Emma and Noah looked at each other and could only shake their heads.

***Confessional***

X(Radical Rats):

"Mental note to never pair these two together in challenges."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Kagami(Radical Rats):

"Look, I don't exactly like Heather, Courtney, or some of the arrogant a[censored]holes on the Kings. And it's no secret that I don't consider myself friends with Midorima, Akashi or Aomine. It'd be kinda weird to consider some of my biggest rivals to really be friends you know? And you know how I feel about Haizaki and Hanamiya. But damn it! Why the hell does Rei get on my nerves so much!? Not even Hiruma is this bad. Yeah, we did make up but still!"

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Rei(Radical Rats):

"Hiruma and Rocky are annoying for obvious reasons. But no one grinds my gears on this team more than Kagami. Doesn't matter if we made up, he still gets on my nerves at times. And I don't mean in the same way as Usagi, even if he does share some of those same traits." A thought just came to her.
"Huh, maybe that's why he annoys me so much."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Noah(Radical Rats):

"You know what's happening between Rei and Kagami? The classic case of an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. And you could say the titles are interchangeable between the two depending on the situation. Best thing I can compare it to? What Owen thought I was going to do to Emma until I found out, that wasn't meant to be." Noah said before smiling a little. "And no, I'm not saying those two are going to be like us and get together. With how they keep going at it, they're both too stubborn for that to happen."

***End Confessional***

"Like I said, I'm almost certain I'll be gone first out of the four of us. Doesn't matter what we, as a team, have overcome against stronger teams. The fact of the matter is, we're not an invincible team. Devil Bats and Rats. I'm almost certain I'm one of the highest priorities to take out of the game. And several of them aren't above playing dirty to do it."

"A-are you saying….." Mamori started.

"We'd never want to actually vote you off! You're just too much fun!" Rocky said.

"That's not what he means. He means some of 'em are willin' to take him out by any means necessary because his unpredictability is too much of a threat. Even if it means injuring him." Sendo said.

"I definitely believe it." Kagami said.

"I mean it makes sense. And the whole thing with the tank and showing up on the monitors somehow all but seals it." Emma said.

"Yeah. That's because I hacked the screens." Hiruma said.

"You what!?" Several of the Rats said simultaneously.

"Calm down. I'm not even close to being like any of the f[censored]ing nerds. But it still works for what I need to do."

"Since you're willing to be unexpectedly this open, is it true that you have a book full of people to blackmail?" Lanolin asked.

"Ah, you mean this!" Hiruma said, a devilish grin on his face, pulling out his Devil's Handbook.

"You know what? I think that's enough. You don't have to open the book to show me anything." Lanolin said, sighing and putting a hand on her head.

"How many names do you have in that book?" Yulaw asked.

"As many as I need to get what I want done." Hiruma answered.

"Does that include Chris?" Noah asked.

"Of course! After all that he's done, I could easily blackmail him into giving us wins. Or even giving myself the win!"

"You've got some balls to admit something like that out loud." Rick said.

"So what? It doesn't matter. I'm not going to use it." Hiruma said before opening the book and turning to a page that had a picture of Chris on it. He tears all of the pages involving info on Chris out of it, pulls out a lighter and burns them.

"You just tore apart the easiest way for you to win. Why?" Morty asked.

"If it were that easy to get wins, other than that f[censored]ing CIT girl, how come no one else has thought of it? And, how come I never thought of doing it at the beginning of the season?"

"The thing is though, that wasn't blackmail. But I get your point. Difference is, none of us are willing to cheat to win." Emma said.

"Or for that matter, go through such an extreme length like this to do so." Becky B. said.

"To answer your question twig-man, I chose to get rid of it, because winning that way isn't interesting." Hiruma answered, grinning.

"That's it? You're not willing to take an easy shortcut to 10 million because it'd be boring to win that way?" Noah asked.

"Exactly."

"Well. Alrighty then."

Several grins appeared on some of their faces, including Sendo, Kagami, Kise, Natsu, Falcon and Puss.

***Confessional***

Becky F.(Radical Rats):

"If I had that book. Oh boy you bet I'm taking that 10 mil, running and not looking back. Sorry not sorry. There's no way half this crap is legal anyway so I don't think anyone would have a problem with me doing that. Only reason Chris gets away with it is because of contracts. I don't even have to do research on Canadian laws to know that. I'm not saying I'd use it to cheat like Courtney did apparently. That's just stupid. At that point, if I can't use it to win instantly, it'd be better to just play the game normally. That'd just make me a target for everyone else to stop the cheating. I'm no Rally or May but I can handle myself just fine."

***End Confessional***

"Now that that's out of the way, like Lanolin said, at the rate we're going, we won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Which is why we need to train. Especially you five." Hiruma said, pointing to Lotte, Morty, Zee, Cicini and Bennett.

"Me? No, no, no, no. I think you're talking to the wrong guy about this." Bennett said.

"The fact of the matter is, you five, other than Kuroko are probably the weakest members here. A team's only as strong as its weakest link." Rally said.

"So what kind of training are we gonna do?" Zee asked.

"Whatever training's needed to get you in the spirit of these challenges. With how some of these challenges are randomized, falling back on the fact that you won't get picked and staying on the sidelines for more of a support role isn't a smart way to think of things." X said.

"The same applies with manajerk's data. I thought it'd be a lot more effective, which is why I asked her to start collecting data on the other teams. Yeah, it'll still be useful, but seeing how these challenges work, data gets thrown out the window." Hiruma said. "And since we're obviously not the only team here, we'll have to split things up. Gun freak, you're taking Priya with you."

"Priya? But-" Rally started, being caught off guard with the sudden assignment before Hiruma interrupted her.

"You'll be the only one to go with her."

"How come she's the only one that goes with Rally?" Bennett asked.

"Because what she needs to improve on is different compared to the rest of you chumps. Specs, freckles, no-pants, kuroghost, twig man….." As Hiruma, Lanolin and X assigned their team members to each of their specific training, Kurita was thinking about what Hiruma had said earlier.

"If I would have gotten a higher score. Hiruma might have never said this." Kurita thought. He then thought of the dream he had before he was woke up out of his sleep.

It was the final 30 seconds of the game. The score was tied 21-21.

Agon, who was wearing a purple and red jersey made to look similar to a dragon, wore the number 2. Using his God-Speed Impulse ability, heblew past all of Deimon's players. Jumonji, Togano and Kuroki all tried to stop him together, but his strength allowed him to knock all three away and send them flying. Sena tried to stop him, but with a chop, he brought down Sena easily, bruising his arm in the process. Kurita was the only one standing in the way of him getting to Hiruma, who was trying to find Natsuhiko, Monta or another player to throw to.

(A/N: Considering Eyeshield 21 gives several of the players superpowers, most rules, other than the most basic ones are thrown out the window in the show/manga. So stuff like what Agon or Kurita does like the Kuri-Hammer is legal)

"I won't let you get to Hiruma!"

Agon laughed and used his incredible speed and superhuman reaction time again to get around Kurita. Though the lineman wasn't about to quit. He willed himself to catch up to Agon and tried to bring him down.

Monta's arms were up, indicating that he was open.

"Go to sleep!" Agon slams Kurita into the ground headfirst before jumping high enough to tip the ball Hiruma threw and catch it himself. Hiruma tried to run to stop him.

"It's no use struggling, weaklings. Die." Agon sent him flying.

Kurita, trying to get up, ran to catch him before he scored and ended the game.

"KURITA! STOP HIM!" Hiruma, for the first time Kurita remembered, since befriending him, pleaded.

Agon laughed. "Asking him to try to stop me is a worthless effort. Your dream dies. Game over."

"No. We all made a promise. We all worked so hard. It can't be for nothing!" Kurita said.

Kurita stumbled and fell as the last thing he saw before closing his eyes in agony being Agon get to the end zone.

The referee blew the whistle.

Hiruma and the rest of Deimon was in disbelief, with Hiruma screaming in agony, harder and louder than when Musashi left them in their first year.

"TOUCHDOWN! TIME UP!"

Though instead of the final buzzer, shooting was heard.

"HEY! F[CENSORED]ING FATTY! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS!" The real Hiruma shouted, shooting a rifle in the air to try and get his attention.

"Oh. S-sorry." Kurita said.

Hiruma sighed, annoyed a little. "I'm sure you didn't hear anything I said. So I'll repeat it again. You'll be with the shrimps and this group here, so go ahead and get your football gear to train." Hiruma said. "Got it?"

Kurita was silent for a few seconds. "H-Hiruma."

"Hm?" Hiruma turned back to face Kurita.

"Actually, everyone! I'd….. like to tell you something." Kurita called out.

"We're all ears big guy. What's up?" Natsu said.

"What Agon said yesterday. Since you all are on our team… I think you all should know what happened." Kurita said.

Hiruma, Rally, X and Lanolin all looked at each other.

"Do you feel comfortable with this?" X asked Hiruma.

"That's not for me to decide. That's up to you all." Hiruma said.

"I don't mind." Rally said.

"Same here." Lanolin said.

"Well, whatever you have to say, we're willing to listen. Go ahead." X said.

Hiruma gave some signs to Rally, indicating for her to talk to Priya and scrap the training.

Rally nodded.

***Confessional***

Lanolin(Radical Rats):

"Everyone on this team should feel comfortable talking with each other about something, even if it's just advice. This has nothing to do with winning challenges whatsoever. Or just about being a good leader. It's about being a good person."

***End Confessional***

Everyone, except for Hiruma, Rocky, Rally and Priya were gathered around as Kurita began to tell his story.

Rocky was given a rifle by Hiruma and was told to scare anyone back that tried to get close to where Rally and Priya were. Hiruma was off to himself, typing on his laptop.

"I'll start from the beginning. It might not seem like it, but it wasn't actually Hiruma that convinced me to play football with him. It was the other way around." Kurita said.

"Huh. Go figure." Tangle said, genuinely intrigued and surprised to hear this.

"I always thought it was Hiruma that made the team. It was…. Kurita?" Sena thought.

"You see, I was in the stadium watching the Kanto Tournament. After seeing the Shinryuji Naga win, I thought football looked really awesome and fun to play! So in middle school, I decided to make a club for it. Maybe make some friends with other people who were interested in it too.

Flashback to Eyeshield 21 Chapter 248

Mao Middle School, Japan

Kurita was off to himself on the track field, pushing a football blocking sled.

"Hey! Get out of here!" One of the track runners called out.

"You only get a small corner of the grounds, remember? Since you're not in an official club." Another runner said.

"S….S-Sorry." Kurita moved the sled somewhere else, eventually also getting a sign and a board with brochures in front of the board.

The sign stuck in the ground said, "Recruiting for an American Football Club!", while the second sign said, "Please take a brochure." An arrow was pointing downwards towards the brochures.

A boy and a girl passed by, with the boy, confused, said out loud, "Sumo club?"

Days passed and Kurita passionately and nicely tried to persuade people to join the club. Though not a single person joined.

"Come on, together, American football is fun!" Kurita said to several passerby, football in hand.

"He just doesn't get tired, that Kurita, day after day." One boy in the distance commented.

"But if you don't have 3 people, you can't make a club. He should just give up already." Another person next to him said.

But eventually, it was starting to get discouraging.

Outside, after another day of failing to get a single person to join, he sighed.

"No, I can't get depressed yet. Because I'll definitely go to the Christmas Bowl. I have to find comrades…"

Suddenly, a paper blown from the wind, landed on the ground. On it, was a drawing of a football formation. He looked above and believed the formation had to have come from the rooftop. He quickly climbed up the ladder, paper in hand and found, who he didn't know at the time, Hiruma, to be writing in a book, wearing the same black Gakuran uniform with golden buttons.

Several papers that had several other formations drawn on them were seen on the right of him with a football magazine on the left of him.

Kurita, surprised after seeing this, saw an opportunity. "LET'S PLAY AMERICAN FOOTBALL TOGETHER!"

Kurita's shouting scared Hiruma as he jumped a little, sending the papers and the magazine flying.

End Flashback

"Huh. So he actually is a good drawer." Lucy said.

"You didn't believe him?" May asked.

"No. With how much he lies, I thought it was just something else he made up."

"Man, a younger Hiruma. I can't even imagine it honestly." Adrien said.

"So that's how you two became friends huh? What a way to start." Natsu said.

"Actually, we didn't become friends immediately after that." Kurita said.

Flashback

"I told you no already, you f*cking fatty!" Hiruma said, riding his bike to go back home as Kurita ran after him.

"B-b-b-but Hiruma you were drawing a formation on the paper earlier."

Hiruma blew a bubble with the gum he was chewing. "That is just gambling. I bet 3000 dollars on the red team of the base."

"Do-dollars?" Kurita said before stumbling and falling over, potentially losing him. But when he looked up, Hiruma made an unexpected stop. He folded his bike and walked into a business hotel.

"This is Hiruma's home….?" Kurita said in disbelief. "A business hotel!"

"Because it's closer."Hiruma answered, going past the reception desk. Before Kurita could even ask how, Hiruma explained, but not without doing his signature cackle first.

"I found out they cheated the building access laws when building this hotel, the floor space is larger than in the initial data so they let me stay here without charges." Hiruma explained.

End Flashback

"Wait a second, he lived in a hotel?" Adrien commented, in just as much disbelief as past Kurita was.

"Actually, I think he still lives there." Kurita said.

"That's where….. Hiruma lives? What happened to his parents?" Mamori thought.

Emma and several others had these same thoughts.

"What happened to his parents? If you don't mind sharing. And if you know." Emma said.

"I….. don't know what happened to his mom. But his dad…"

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry for asking." Emma said.

"N-no! No! Hiruma's dad isn't dead!" Kurita said, waving his hands to quickly dismiss that.

"Well, that's good to hear at least." Becky F. said.

"If he had 3000 dollars to bet on a football game, he's gotta be rolling in dough. So if that's the case, why the heck is he here?" Tangle asked.

"Perhaps it is for the thrill of a challenge and adventure. While winning the money would be nice, the adventure is what makes it fun." Puss said.

"Sena told me it was to fund the football club." Morty answered before looking at Kurita. "Was he lying again?"

"No! The thing about money is true!" Kurita said.

"Damn. So he must have lost it." Rick said.

"Y-yeah. It was my fault too. Hiruma told me to not follow him. But, I didn't listen. But, it was also the first time I met Musashi." Kurita said.

Flashback

Kurita, trying to follow Hiruma and watch the football game too, tried to go through the same hole in the chain-link fence that Hiruma went through. Though it wasn't exactly big enough to fit him compared to Hiruma.

He was hopelessly stuck in the hole until Musashi came along. At the time, this Musashi had a stubble, a buzz-cut and a mustache. He wore a white tank-top, a white bandana and grey pants with a black belt. He had a toolbox and more chain-link fabric in his right and left hands respectively.

"What the hell are you doing?" Musashi said to Kurita.

"Ah, Musashi? Of the class next door…."

Musashi pulls him out of the fence.

"Our company got a request to replace this wire fence." Musashi said.

At first Kurita was overjoyed to hear this as maybe he'd be able to play football with Hiruma if he couldn't bet on games anymore. But changed his mind, saying that it was wrong, thinking about how he'd feel if someone took away his ability to play football from him.

He pleaded for Musashi to not fix the fence, telling him how Hiruma looks forward to betting on games every day to help convince him.

"I can't do that. When we get a job we must do it until the end." Musashi said.

"I…. only have a small corner of the grounds. That is a treasured place for me. For Hiruma too, this small hole in the wire fence is definitely….." Kurita tried to explain until Musashi got up.

"…I'm done. Your story just has nothing to do with me." Musashi said before walking towards the fence. "But….." Musashi, with great force, effortlessly kicks another hole at the bottom of the chain-link fence, which alarmed Hiruma.

"I did the work I had to do. I don't know about any holes that would have appeared after that." Musashi said before walking away.

End Flashback

"So let me guess, you going in distracted some of the players, they lost the game and predictably so, Hiruma got p[censored]ed and started shooting at you." Rick said.

"Actually, a couple more things happened before it got to that game." Kurita said.

"Then why tell us about the bet now? You acted as if that was up next." Bennett said.

"Sorry. Maybe I should have waited a bit down the line. Anyways, I continued to practice by myself. I saw how many players that loved football in Japan my age dreamt of going to the Christmas Bowl. So I imagined myself as a player there with Hiruma as motivation. Sadly though, all that would come to an end when the school had had enough. They said I was being too loud and disturbing the peace. So I had to throw everything out. Coach, well, Mr., since he was a teacher at the time, Doboroku made all the equipment for me. I know he made it, but I still feel bad for getting him fired from his job. He didn't want to tell me to stop, so the school ended up firing him." Kurita explained.

"Did you…. not have any friends in middle school that could play with you?" Whisper spoke up and asked.

"No. I didn't."

"Not having any friends at first. I get it. Feeling lonely." Lotte said.

"Well hey, y-you got friends now right? A lot better than me." Morty said.

"What about Sena, Kuroko and Zoey? Aren't they your friends?" Akko asked.

"Well….. I don't know. I-I guess. But Zoey kinda doesn't count right now. She's not here."

"What do you mean it 'doesn't count'? A friend is a friend!"

"Well, you've totally got some awesome friends with you now!" Monta said to Kurita.

Kurita laughed a little.

"I'm guessing he ended up finding a job at Deimon, right?" Becky F. asked, referring to Doboroku.

"Yes. He did. But it wasn't until after the Death March that he ended up coming back. Hiruma helped him get hired. He was in debt from losing so many bets. So had to stay in America to find people to play football. Until we came around because of the Death March. He ended up winning all the money that the coach lost and then some!"

"How much money are we talkin'?" Sendo asked.

"2 million yen." Mamori said, remembering the amount.

"How much is that in US dollars? Do you know Becky?" May asked.

"Not off the top of my head. I'll need a calculator. Or at least a pencil and paper." Becky F. said.

"Thirteen thousand, eight hundred and ninety-five dollars and ninety cents." Adrien said, looking it up on his phone.

"So that's a pretty decent amount. Did he win it from betting on a game?" Becky F. asked.

"No. We went to a casino in Vegas. He won it in blackjack." Sena said.

"Wait a second, so this son of a b[censored] went in, played blackjack, won 13K and dipped? The f[censored] happened to playing football?" Rick said.

"I still have no clue how he was able to remember all 300 of those cards." Sena said.

"Photographic memory. It has to be." Becky F. said.

"Photo-huh?" Monta said, confused.

"Yeah. You're gonna have to explain that one." Kagami said.

"Photographic memory. It's the ability to recall images, sounds or objects with incredible accuracy." Becky B. explained.

"Another word for it would be eidetic memory." Becky F. said.

"Figures. Other than that, there's no way in hell you're remembering all of those cards. Not without some type of power to help anyway. I don't care how much a genius you are." Rick said.

"I never considered photographic memory." Mamori said.

"We're getting off track. Remember that we don't exactly have all day, especially if there's a challenge today." Zero said. "Kurita, continue."

"You all asked about Hiruma's parents. He's said different things about them. About why they're not there. At first, he said they were jailed for 15 years when I first met him before he went to go bet on a game. But, he also told me this after I had to throw the equipment out."

Flashback to Eyeshield 21 Chapter 249

Hiruma was passing by a discouraged Kurita on his bicycle and stopped after seeing him.

"Is it over already, f*cking fatty? You were quick at giving up on that American Football Club. 'I did what I could. I tried hard.' Is that what you'll say?" Hiruma cackled a little. "It was the same thing in my family."

"Eh your family…. Weren't Hiruma's parents in jail for 15 years?" Kurita commented.

"Nah, they're not audacious enough for that. I just made that up on the spot because it was too bothersome to explain to you, f*cking fatty." Hiruma leans over, putting another piece of gum in his mouth. "The truth is, he was a shogi player. Just collecting losses. His name won't remain anywhere. A weak player that never climbed the mountain. Even though they know they're small fries, there a guys that want to climb to the top even if they have to die to do so. It was different for him. Day after day, he kept saying 'I did what I could'. 'I tried hard.' Until he eventually gave up in the end. Are you the same? F*cking fatty."

"You're wrong. It's not like that. I will definitely go to the Christmas bowl. For that sake, no matter what. I just can't give up. But….. I will never be allowed to create an American Football Club anymore. I love it. I really love it. That's why I will never give up American Football! But I don't know what to do anymore!" Tears started to come out of Kurita's eyes. Hiruma rode away on his bike without saying another word.

End Flashback

"Who's to say he's not lying about that?" Rei commented.

"I don't know. That was way too descriptive to sound like a lie." Adrien said.

"Maybe his dad was where he got his brains from? Just throwin' ideas out there." Zee said.

"If I had to guess, he went out to travel for those matches, leaving Hiruma to have to fend for himself. And by the time he came back, it was already too late. His son had already grown up on him. And he wasn't there to see any of it." Kurt said.

"If he lost all of those matches….." Puss started.

"He probably had to retire." Sendo said.

"All of that….. for nothing. To know that your father ended his career as a failure. It must have affected him a lot." Puss said.

"Did you all know about this?" Kurt asked Sena, Monta and Mamori.

"No." Sena answered.

Monta shook his head along with Mamori.

"That's probably the reason why he wants to reach the Christmas Bowl. He doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of his father. And I guess in his case, he's willing to do whatever it takes to do it." Adrien said.

"I don't know. But, I do know, Hiruma and I, and later, Musashi too. We all promised that we'd reach the Christmas Bowl together. During one of the games, a quarterback and a lineman on the team Hiruma bet on to win, the red team, got struck by a heatstroke."

"I can guess the next part easy. Hiruma wasn't about to lose the bet, so both of you decided to try and take their place." Rei guessed.

"If I bet that much money and was about to lose it because of something like that I'd be pretty p[censored]ed too." Rick said.

Kurita nodded. "I had fun. But, Hiruma….. not so much. We lost the game."

"Like I said, look at how much money that was. Of course he's p[censored]ed."

Flashback

Hiruma and Kurita, wearing the number 1 and 77 on their jerseys respectively, along with the rest of the red team were beaten easily. The white team left with the case of money Hiruma had in their hand while Hiruma and Kurita were on the ground, battered and bruised.

Hiruma, with one eye closed, got up.

"You f*cking fatty. Do you realize I lost my bet because of you?"

"B-b-but wasn't it fun playing American Football?"

Hiruma pulled out a rifle and starting shooting at Kurita's feet.

"IT'S NOT FUN WHEN YOU DON'T WIN YOU PEACEFUL IDIOT! DIE!"

SO-S-SORRY!" Kurita shouted, as he tried to comically avoid the bullets.

"That's why if we make an American Football Club, we'll definitely have to win." Hiruma's statement surprised Kurita. "You'd better get ready f*cking fatty. We'll go to the Christmas Bowl even if we die. We won't give up under false pretenses and just kill them!"

End Flashback

"So that's why you and Kurita wear those numbers." Sena said.

"So wait, didn't the school stop Kurita from even doing his football stuff? How'd they even make the club?" Kagami asked.

"By getting 3 members. Duh." Sucy said.

"Why are you acting like that was a stupid question?"

"Because it was. Were you listening at all?" Rei commented.

"Yeah, you're definitely doing this on purpose. Exactly why I'm gonna ignore your a[censored] from now on."

"Taking bets for how long that's going to last. I'll give it….. eh, by the end of the day." Noah said.

"I'll take that bet. I've got nothing else to say to that moron anyway." Rei said.

"Sure you do."

"Personally, if there's a challenge today, I'd say it's before then." Kuroko said.

"Who asked you!?" Kagami said, annoyed.

"I'd give it about eh, maybe half a day?" Zee added.

"Would you stop betting on us!?" Rei said, just as annoyed as Kagami.

"Come on, who wouldn't want to win a couple of quick bucks here? Seriously though, how much money are we talking here?" Zee said.

"No money, 'cause there is no bet!" Kagami said.

"I hate that I have to intervene, but your question genuinely was idiotic. Kurita already provided you that information on how to start a club before. You just failed to listen." Albedo said. "As for your bet, I estimate that it won't last for longer than a day."

"If you hate that you have to intervene then don't say anything smarta[censored]!"

"We're getting off topic again." Diana warned.

"Sorry. My bad." Kagami said.

"We did start gathering more members though. First it was Musashi. Then, we gathered more people!"

"Let me guess, it was at gunpoint." Rei said.

"No! Hiruma said he wouldn't do that. I wanted them to think it's fun. If they join against their will and they don't like it, they might not try their best. But he was able to convince the vice-principal to let us start practicing until then."

"And you really think he followed through on that?" Sucy asked. "This is Hiruma we're talking about."

"Yeah! Just look at Musashi!" Kurita said.

"That's one person. What about the rest? And the vice-principal."

Flashback to Eyeshield 21 Chapter 250(Kurita isn't aware of this)

Hiruma came back to talk to the vice-principal about allowing Hiruma and Kurita to practice on the school grounds.

"HA! What are you saying again…. American football is prohibited." The vice-principal said before letting out a puff of smoke from the cigarette he had.

"Well well, vice-principal. If you would please take a look at this and reconsider. Or should I spread it?" Hiruma takes a page out of his threat notebook, the precursor to the Devil's Handbook, showing him a picture of the vice-principal in bondage over candles. The vice-principal dropped the cigar in horror and immediately caved-in.

End Flashback

"All we were able to gather was three people. But that was a good enough start! If we could gather three, I just knew we'd gather even more eventually!" Kurita said. "That's when I saw a game in the Tokyo stadium. The Shinryuji Nagas were playing in the Kanto Tournament and won! They looked incredible! And that's when I knew that's the high school I wanted to go to. But, there was a problem. There was an entrance exam. I needed to get a high enough score to be able to enter. But, I didn't know any of the answers."

"Don't worry. I don't exactly have any strengths when it comes studies either." Sena said.

"Same here." Monta said, nodding.

"That's…. not a good thing." Mamori commented low.

"Well Kagami, looks like you've got some competition." Noah said.

"Add Akko to the list too." Sucy said.

"HEY!" Kagami and Akko said simultaneously.

"But, Hiruma found a way. He learned there was an athletic merit for two students to bypass the exam. Hiruma told me Ikkyu would probably get the first. But I was able to get the second!"

"Wow, so that mini-Vegeta is the same year as you guys. First years." Falcon said.

"Actually, Sena and Monta are both first years. Hiruma, Musashi, Kurita and I are second years." Mamori informed.

"And what about Hiruma and Musashi? How'd they get in?" Kise asked.

"Through the normal exams. I started to train hard, motivated, knowing that we'd have a chance at going to the Christmas Bowl!"

Flashback to Eyeshield 21 Episode 107/Chapter 171(which also contained a flashback scene)

Kurita, fire and passion in his eyes, got to work with the lineman equipment that Hiruma had gathered.

Agon, who was wearing a white jacket with a blue stripe on the right sleeve with a blue collar and cuffs over a red shirt and a gold chain with black pants and dress shoes was off in the distance. He was taking money out of the wallet of a would-be attacker that had a pocket knife before hearing Kurita. He looked up and saw him, Musashi and Hiruma. He grinned before walking away, the trio unaware that Agon was watching them.

Another day, Kurita continued his training.

"FUNURABAAAAAA!" Kurita relentlessly pushed the sled back, numerous times without trying until someone from up above threw a water bottle, drenching Kurita's dougi uniform.

Hiruma and Musashi turned and looked up. The perpetrator being Agon.

"Who's he?" Musashi asked, never seeing him before.

"Agon." Hiruma said.

Agon grinned, laughing a little as he walked away.

End Flashback

"So even back then he was a jerk." Rei said.

"Maybe he wasn't always that way. Hiruma and Agon used to be friends I think." Kurita said.

"If that is true, something tells me this was starting to be their breaking point." Kurt said.

Flashback

Agon appeared in front of the entrance to the school, at the bottom of stairs as a student appeared to ask him who he was and why he was here. After getting an answer, he reports it to the football team and the coach inside the school.

"His merit card just says 'let me enter'." Another student informed Yamabuchi and the coach.

"What? What kind of half-as*ed merit is that? We've already chosen two players this year." Yamabuchi said.

"Should we send him away?"

"Hmm… It wouldn't hurt to see what he's got." The coach said, opening an eye. He was a bald old man with a thick white fu Manchu mustache and beard.

Agon, Yamabuchi and the coach were seen outside a basket of footballs next to them. The coach also had a wooden cane while Agon had a football In his right hand, studying it.

"Is this your first time playing football?" Yamabuchi asked.

"No biggie. This'll be a cinch!" Agon said, grinning. He runs, football in his left hand loose, not even worried about protecting it. Three players were running to try and tackle him in full football gear as he chose not to wear any himself.

"Crush him!" The three players said.

Agon, while laughing sadistically, punches one of the players with his right, stiff arms another and with an upward motion with his right arm, knocks two more off their feet and sends them flying. Yamabuchi, who went to put on gear himself, was in disbelief, jaw dropped. The coach also opened both of his eyes.

"Amazing! He's the genius of the decade, no, the century!" The coach said.

End Flashback

"No….. That d[censored]k! He didn't!" Kagami said.

"He did." Monta said. "Kurita told us about this."

Flashback

Kurita, Hiruma and Musashi were all in a classroom together.

"They're revoking… my acceptance? N-N-No way….." Kurita said, a look of disbelief on his face as he read the letter from Shinryuji High. He was sitting on top of a desk, reading the letter.

"Did he do this. Hiruma?" Musashi asked, hands in his pockets in the open part of the sliding door of the classroom.

"Yeah." Hiruma, who as sitting down at a desk, facing one of the side boards, back turned to Kurita, said.

Kurita's jaw dropped even more in disbelief and shock that someone would do this to him.

"That jerk!" Musashi got up to go and find and confront Agon himself.

Later that night, Musashi was in an alley confronting two people.

"Huh?" One man had messy brown hair and wore a blue overshirt over a white t-shirt and a circle shaped necklace, black pants and brown boots said. He also had a piercing on the right side of his chin, right under his lips.

"Who are you?" The other man wearing a white cap and black zip-up hoodie and black shorts with white tennis shoes said.

"I'm looking for Agon Kongo."

"Agon huh?" The first man said.

Musashi closed his eyes and balled his fists. "Know where he is? If you do, please tell me where he is."

"Heh, like we'd know." The second man said.

"Now scram, you loser!" The first man said.

Musashi, angered, showed the power of his powerful legs as a warning.

"HAAAAAAAAA!"

He kicked a can that was on the ground so hard, it created a hole in the wall of one of the buildings and spun for a few seconds. After it stopped, the can never fell out. The two men looked back at Musashi in horror.

"Tell me where Agon is!"

Agon was found in town sitting on a bench where a large tree was lit for the holidays. There were several people either looking at the tree or spending time with family, friends and loved ones. Or coming and going out of stores. Agon himself was with two girls. One of them was sitting on the bench with him and had shoulder length brown hair and wore a white fur coat, a necklace, a black shirt and a blue dress with yellow flowers on it. She also wore black heels.

Agon was wearing a dark green jacket over an orange hoodie, with the hood over his head. He also wore white pants and white dress shoes.

The second girl wore a pink jacket, had short silver hair, white pants, a blue purse and pink shoes.

"He was so fat!" Agon said, continuing to describe and mock Kurita.

"You for real?!" The first girl said.

"What a gross fatso!" The second girl said.

The first girl started to laugh with Agon and the other girl laughing with her.

"You're terrible!" The first girl said jokingly as they all continued to laugh.

Hiruma had found him and silently sat on the bench opposite them, hands in his pockets.

Agon, without having to turn around, already knew who was behind him and grinned.

"Why?" Hiruma asked.

"Huh?" Agon replied lazily.

"You could have passed the exam to get it. Then Kurita, Musashi and I along with you and Ikkyu... We coulda turned Shinryuji into an invincible team."

Agon grinned before chuckling. "Idiot! I don't need you guys!" Agon said before laughing. Musashi, running, had finally found Agon, breathing hard before noticing Hiruma got there first.

"Why'd you do it? Why did you do this to us?"

"Man, I just felt like it. I did it for kicks." Agon answered lackadaisically. "Watching a loser cry about how he's a talentless freak, now that's real entertainment. I just had to crush that worthless, fat chump!" Agon said before cackling.

Musashi took exception to this and was about to go at Agon before Hiruma stood up and blocked him.

Agon stood up and looked at both Hiruma and Musashi, with Hiruma not even turning to face Agon.

"They're scary! Are you friends with these guys?" The first girl said, grabbing onto Agon's right arm.

"Nope, never even met 'em before!" Agon said.

The second girl grabs on to Agon's other arm. "Then, let's go!"

"Yeah let's!" Agon agreed,

"Hey, I wanna have some crepe!" The first girl said.

"Me, too!" The second girl added.

"Totally!"

"Hiruma, someday….we'll make him pay for this….in a game." Musashi said.

Hiruma, his neutral frowning expression never changing, agreed. "Yeah."

The next day, Hiruma and Musashi both tore their ID's in front of Kurita, who again, was in just as much disbelief that they'd do that.

Both Musashi and Hiruma looked at each other and grinned.

End Flashback

While the Kurita from the past couldn't hold back his tears and started crying after thinking about Musashi and Hiruma had did, the Kurita of the present held them back as steam came from his nose.

"I can definitely see why Hiruma wouldn't consider himself to be buds with Agon after that. I can't exactly forgive someone for pulling something like that myself." Natsu said.

"Yeah. It's crap like this, that really gets under my skin. How the hell can you be so selfish?" Kagami said, angry.

"They could have left me behind to chase their dreams. And be in a better situation than now. But, they chose to stay behind. To be honest, earlier today, I had a nightmare. That I'd fail. That it'd be my fault we'd lose to Agon and Shinryuji. That I couldn't protect my friends. And that Hiruma, Musashi and you all would blame me for it. But, I know the Devil Bats need me. Just like this team needs me. I may not be as fast as Sena. Or nearly as strong as Natsu or even the Generation of Miracles. But I'll do whatever I can to help! I'm not afraid of Shinryuji or Agon! Or the Kings! Or the Breakers! Now let's train our hardest and get stronger together! Ready?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Natsu said.

"Sorry Natsu, but I gotta steal your line here. I'm definitely fired up." Kise said.

Kurita took a deep breath before performing an even louder yell than during the Fry Cook Games, which caused some of the boards from the mansion to come off along with the leaves of some of the trees to be blown away as well.

"BUTTSUBUSU! YA-HAAAAAAAAA!"

"YA-HAAAA!" Several of the Rats shouted.

***Confessional***

Kagami(Radical Rats):

"I gotta admit, I'm pumped. I know they'll say different, but I can tell by their faces, that game is personal to them. Even to Sena and Monta for Kurita. But man, playing a team that's been champion for 9 straight years in the first round ain't gonna be an easy task. And all that's before a guy like Agon arrived. Just imagine if we had to play Akashi and Rakuzan first instead of the finals. Even though Touou in the first round wasn't easy either. As much as I talk smack about Aomine, the guy's a monster. Every round after that, except for Yosen and Kaijo were easier compared to them. The scary part is, he's been in the Zone, but that ain't even close to him really trying yet. How do I know? I can tell from how he's looked. And neither has Akashi and the others. But that's cool with me. That just makes it more exciting."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Lanolin(Radical Rats):

"Looking back on this, even though this just finished, I think this was needed. Now I understand the type of person Hiruma is completely. And I think the others do as well."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Rei(Radical Rats):

"He's not here for me to say it to him but, I apologize Hiruma. I misjudged you. I think that's a sentiment shared by a lot of people here. I know it's asking a lot, but I hope one day things between you and your father get better."

***End Confessional***

After the yelling died down, Rally and Priya, meanwhile, decided to end their target practice. Though in their case, it was with prop guns. Even if she was carrying guns, that didn't mean she'd condone or enable anyone else to carry or use real firearms.

"Alright, let's take a break. You're doing pretty good so far. But your grip needs some work. Remember, grip plays just as important as a role as concentration. You'll be surprised how much of a difference that makes. Even something as miniscule as the feel as well." Rally said to Priya.

"Thanks. It means a lot that you guys are willing to help. I know it's a burden." Priya said.

"A burden? Come on girl, this is my passion. I'd do this for hours if I could. But even if it wasn't this, you're not bothering me at all."

"Still though, if I'm going to win again, I'm going to need to pull my own weight. I don't have any excuses. Especially as a previous winner of as season. You know, in all of Total Drama's history, no one has ever won a season twice."

"Looks like you're looking to be the first."

"Well yeah! How awesome would that be for me to make history on one of the biggest reality TV shows ever? You realize how proud my parents would be? Total domination of Total Drama for two seasons! No pun intended."

"I guess it'd be nice. Granted, I didn't even sniff the merge the last season I was here so I definitely won't have those same feelings like you do. Still though, I'm willing to right those wrongs. All bets are off during the merge. Just giving you fair warning." Rally gave her a confident smile.

"Oh trust me, I don't have a problem with that at all. Most of us did come here to win after all. But yeah, if someone that's as good as you didn't make the merge, that just shows how stiff the competition is."

"Thing is though, you already won a decent amount of money last time. I'm sure that was a dream come true for you, like most people. If you don't mind me asking, what plans do you have if you win this time?"

"Oh that's not my dream. It's my parents. As for the money, I actually haven't spent any of it. My dad suggested that I save it for when I get older. It's fine though. Once I finish my circuit of dominance in reality TV shows, I'll be able to use all of that money and go into med school."

Rally's eyebrows were raised. "Circuit of dominance? If you're doing all of that reality TV, how much time do you have to do what you like?"

"What I like? Oh girl, if you've seen my summer job, you'll see why I chose reality TV over that. I'll have time to do what I enjoy later. Work hard, play hard as they say." Priya said before picking up a stick and throwing it dead center into one of the targets.

"Yeah, but when is later? And I'm assuming you've got a backup to that right? As they also say, everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Exactly why I have backups to backups in case something goes wrong. And if all else fails, improvising works too."

"Wow. You really do come prepared. But uh, actually, I never thought that far ahead. My parents have pretty much planned all of that out for me. But hey, I'm not complaining. That's less thinking on my part. All I have to do is do my part and work hard."

"So if you've never thought that far ahead, did you ever think about the possibility of you losing? What if you lost the last season you were here? Or this one? A few Total Drama champs have already gone out early. Vergil and Richie made it to the merge and they were second boots. And I get it, Cameron got injured but still, that just further proves that anything can happen. Knock on wood, but with how insane these challenges have been, Exhibit A, the Fry Cook Games, with a mixture of Chris and the contestants themselves, there's no guarantee that someone else doesn't get seriously injured and has to leave because of that. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, as great as it'd be to win that 10 mil, that's not the end all, be all for me. At the end of this, whether I win or not, I've still got a gun shop to run. And bounty hunting."

"Okay, I get it. Some of the other winners got eliminated. And I was close to being gone too. But you guys willing to believe in me, and help me, just proves how valuable I am and the potential that I have on this team. And now, it's turned from me not wanting to let my parents down to also not wanting to let you guys down as well. I'd hate to see your votes go to waste. That's why I kinda hate that I felt bad after that board game challenge. There's no time for crying or sobbing. And Heather and Hanamiya are right. I haven't proven myself. She's a Total Drama veteran that made the merge in multiple seasons! She made the final three twice! So she definitely has some validity in her criticism of me. And what Hanamiya said about me being useless compared to Zee is true too. I haven't been as useful as Zee this season. Or anyone else. And I need to fix that."

"Now just hold on a second. What she said wasn't criticism. That was her being a jerk. Plain and simple. If she told you to just simply do better, that's one thing. But to make comparisons of you being hurt to you being carried like that especially after what happened to Cameron is straight up distasteful. And as for the crying and sobbing part. I get it. Eventually, you've got to get up, move on and get stronger. That's the same thing I said to myself after I got eliminated. It was back to work after that to make sure I'm better. And I want you to be better too. But to hate yourself for feeling bad? I can't say the same for everyone else, but I'm not going to let you say something like that and not say or do something about it. Now this Hanamiya stuff is new to me. And if he said something like that, I'm just as upset with him as I was with Heather. Someone should have confronted him about this too. When did he say this?"

"It was after the challenge. I was by myself when he came in."

"And did he tell you not to tell anyone else about this?"

"No. I just didn't feel I needed to."

"Well, I'm glad this did come out. Because this isn't something I'm just going to let go."

"Are you really going to confront him about that? I'm glad you want to stick up for me but you don't have to."

Rally sighed before sitting down. "I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to be some nagging parent. It's just that, hearing all of this? When I look at you, you remind me of, well, me. And you're not the only person that I've gotten like this with. May and I have butted heads before. About her relationship with Ken among other things. And there was a case in a bounty hunting job that I did a little more than I should have because of how much one of the people involved related to me. But you? You remind me of me the most. Hard working, not too many breaks or time for yourself, parents, or in my case, a parent that….. was really hard on me."

"But that means they love you, right? If they care for you, of course they're going to be hard on you. They just want what's best for you after all." Priya said.

"I get it, being hard on someone and giving them tough love. I talked to May that way about Ken because I cared about her. Which is pretty funny considering I don't exactly have experience in romance. I'm 23 and I haven't been on a single date with anyone. And I've never had a boyfriend growing up either. Or, as May jokes, a girlfriend either."

(A/N: Usually I don't do this unless it's important, but I'm just going to get this out of the way now, I do not consider the ending of Gunsmith Cats' sequel series, Burst to be canon. If you've never read Gunsmith Cats or you want to continue to Burst, trust me, you're not missing anything. Hell, I don't blame you for not reading Burst at all. The red flags kinda started when they continued the whole thing between May and Ken, probably the only thing I absolutely disliked about the series and it would have been fine without. But the ending to it is easily one of the worst endings I've ever seen in a series for multiple reasons. It's not just May's relationship with Ken. It's also TD All-Stars levels of bad when it came to character assassination. The original manga series and the OVA/Anime episodes are really good though)

"Huh. I guess we really are alike." Priya said before whispering, "Don't tell anyone this, but I never had a boyfriend either."

A thought just came to Priya. "But, w-wait a second! You're a bounty hunter! You've got guns, you're a great shot, a really good driver, at least from what I saw in the Gran Prix, and you even run a store! How could no one want to date you? That sounds like an awesome person to be with. Even though I basically know nothing about that stuff. But it sounds cool."

"Oh yeah. Guns and cars are my world. But even with that, admittedly, I'm not exactly the most approachable person in the world. I'm just not much of a social person honestly. And if I have to be honest, relationships aren't exactly something I care about too much. While that'd be nice, relationships can come and go. Jobs like the one I have don't."

"Wow. You're the polar opposite of Rei and Lucy. They talk about relationships and romance a lot."

"Add May to that list. But to each is own. But the one thing that I know stays the same, is the definition of tough love. And what my mother did, wasn't tough love."

Flashback to Gunsmith Cats Chapter 44

A young Rally was shooting cans with her father watching.

"Got it!" Rally said, shooting a can.

"Way to go, Irene! That's the ticket." Her father said. He had brown skin and wore a black jacket over a white dress shirt and wore sunglasses.

"Don't forget to hld your breath when you squeeze the trigger." He added.

"Can I shoot another one, daddy? Can I?! PLEEEASE?!"

"Sure! How about this time I line up five of them?"

After her mother had found out what she was doing, she sat her down on the sofa and began to scold her.

"No means no! Honestly, Irene! Why can't you act like a proper, well-brought up young lady!?" Her mother scolded. She had blonde hair and pale skin and wore a blouse tucked into a skirt. "It's bad enough that you refuse to practice your violin. But when I find out that you've been shooting guns instead!"

"But…. But daddy said-"

"Don't you 'Daddy said' me, young lady! I will speak with your father myself!"

Rally was secretly eavesdropping on her parents' argument.

"I don't see the problem. Irene asked to try it." Her father said.

"What do you think you're doing teaching an eleven-year-old to shoot?! What if there's an accident?! What do you intend to do then?!"

"And I'm always with her, and I'm an Olympic medalist, remember? If you ask me, all that horseback riding you make her do is far more dangerous."

"Very well, then! In that case, I'll just increase her violin lessons until she doesn't have time to waste on riding….. or guns! I will not have that girl growing up to be like you, either as a writer or a shooter!"

End Flashback

"So in a way, I definitely relate to Kid a little. My parents were rich just like his were. I get it. It'd be one thing if she genuinely was doing this to try and keep me safe. But the stuff she did after that, this was more about her molding me into her image than just keeping me safe."

Flashback

Rally approached her father outside, who had a sniper and was shooting at targets. wearing a matching vest and skirt over a white blouse. She had a violin case in her hand.

"Irene?" He turned after hearing her footsteps. "Aren't you supposed to be at your violin lesson?"

"I… um, kinda skipped it, daddy."

Her father pulled back the bolt on the sniper. "Why, honey?"

A few seconds passed before she looked down as a tear started to come out of her right eye. "M-mama…..mama knows…. She knows I hate violin! Everyone's so….. so much b-better'n I am. The second I start playing…. Th' teacher yells at me. An' when I sit back down, all the other kids laugh an' stuff." Rally answered before continuing.

"'Why'd ya come if you're so lousy?' An' stuff like that. I….. I…." Rally closed her eyes and was about to start crying before her father nudged him with the butt of a disassembled rifle.

"Hey, kiddo!"

Rally looked up.

"It's okay, sweetie…. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. And you know, I'm sure glad you came here. I brought this along just in case you showed up. It's a little early for your birthday, but…. it's yours."

"Oh!" Rally looked at it as she had it in her hands.

"When I'm feeling down I always find plinking a few tin cans makes me feel better. Here, let me show you how to assemble it. Don't worry, I'll hold on to it for you. And I'll tell your mom that I dragged you out here today."

End Flashback

"The fact that she kept trying to force it on me when I said I didn't like it. I tried my best. But I just….. I just….." Rally closed her eyes balled her fists but unballed them after a few seconds and opened her eyes, looking at Priya. "My dad started a gun store. The same store that I run now. But my mom. She hated the fact that he decided to do this. And eventually, enough was enough for her I suppose. She began to file for divorce. She went to the store to give him the papers, and that's when it happened. There was a holdup. The guy killed everyone in the store, including her. Crazy part was, my dad wasn't even in the store at the time. She probably died hating him and guns more than whoever shot her. I'll never say I hate my mother. But I can't say that she didn't hurt me doing what she did." Rally said.

"If this is about my parents. They didn't force it on me. Honest! I really do enjoy being here. Meeting awesome people like you for instance. That would have never happened if I didn't get the opportunity to come here."

"While I really appreciate that, still though, how long is later? You still never answered that question."

"Oh that. Until I'm 40."

"UNTIL YOU'RE-" Rally was about to explode but had to control her emotions. "Priya, even if you were to win reality TV shows and make all of that money, is it really going to be worth it? That's over 25 years of your life dedicated to this. What are you going to do in between then and now? As much as I hate to admit it, even I need a break. And unfortunately, as the type of person I am, it took having friends like May, Becky, and later on Misty to make me see that. Unrelated, but I was willing to go back to doing bounty hunting while injured. Looking back, I realized just how insane something like that is. If it's to help a friend, of course I'm willing to continue to take that risk. But it wasn't. Obviously I'm not your mother so I'm not going to tell you what to do or force you to do anything. Be kinda hypocritical if I did honestly. But at the very least, think about yourself a little bit too. Self-care is not the same as selfishness. With all of the hard work you do, you deserve it."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it. Now, want to do some combat training?"

Rally's eyebrows raised. "Combat training? What-"

She was suddenly kicked in the face to the ground.

"Element of surprise!"

"Oh I'll show you element of surprise. It's not much but I have a little bit of martial arts training under my belt too."

As the two continued to fight, Bren was talking to Isagi about what he learned from yesterday.

"I'm actually glad you brought that up. That's not something I thought about honestly." Isagi said. "Which is funny considering I don't exactly have speed or strength in my arsenal either."

"Don't feel bad. I don't either. Nerds gotta flock together right?"

Isagi laughed a little. "I guess. Call us the analytical Kings. Weathering the storm against the Rats and the Breakers."

"Is it kinda bad that I'm one of the few that would laugh at this?"

"Not really. But that's still really concerning."

"So what do you consider doing, working out?"

"That's actually what I've been doing a little here. Unironically."

"Then how come you and Midorima aren't ripped?"

"Uh, because that's not how working out works? In all seriousness though. I do practice. My most frequent partner being Bachira. But in terms of what I have in my disposal, there's no way in hell that I'd have physical strength to keep up with Kunigami. And with how he works out relentlessly, I won't be able to catch up to him either. Why do you think he was able to keep Sly down? He's definitely strong as hell. Maybe not Natsu or Kurita levels of strong but he's good."

"I get that. It's just I brought that up because Midorima talked about training and practice and about how I shouldn't rely on my Monsuno so much. The guy was throwing up coconuts from the other side of the mansion into trees. Perfectly!"

"That was what said he was good at, so you telling me about his accuracy isn't news to me. But I will say this about the Monsuno thing. Don't be afraid to play to your strengths. They're called strengths for a reason."

"Exactly!"

"But,"

"Uh oh. I don't like this."

"What really makes or breaks you in a game isn't your strengths. It's how you adapt past your weaknesses."

"You're not gonna sing are you?"

Isagi's eyebrows were raised as he had a bit of confusion on his face. "What? Why would I do that?"

"Uh, never mind."

"Hard work and training is one thing. But that goes out the window when something unexpected happens. Anything can happen in a game. Hell, Hiruma feasts on that. Maybe a little too much. Something I'm gonna discuss in a second. So when that happens, what are you going to do then? Run away? Break down? Everyone talks about the Generation of Miracles. Haizaki. Kagami. Kuroko. And Hiruma. Call this the egoist in me, but I feel a little disrespected by that. Not invisible. Disrespected."

"There's no need for me to give you a long drawn out backstory. In a nutshell, before I got invited to Blue Lock, my team and I had a chance to go to nationals. I had a chance to tie the game and either give us additional time or send it into overtime. But I passed. And the guy I passed it to missed the shot. Everyone else felt bad. But they were okay because they 'tried their best'. I felt the worst out of all of them. I didn't blame him for missing the shot. I blamed myself for passing it to him and not shooting. When I got invited to Blue Lock, like I said, my starting ranking was the second to worst player there. The reason why I survived for this long, isn't because of some flashy stuff like jumping, copying, or speed. It was because I could adapt past my weaknesses." Isagi explained.

"Sure, I'd like to play to my strengths, but think about it, you're a smart guy. If you had a chance to take away someone's strengths. Say, Natsu and Lucy's magic, Sena's speed, or Bass' weapons, wouldn't you do it?"

"Well yeah, obviously." Bren answered.

"Exactly. Which brings me to my next point. For some people, like Hiruma, the Devil Bats are nothing but specialties and strengths. With Hiruma being the control tower. Each player he has he comes up with unpredictable, but creative plans to keep making use of their strengths, but also keeping his opponents on their toes. That's great and all. But Agon, as much as a jerk as he is, he's got a point. Kurita's has no speed whatsoever. Sena and Monta are not only short, but they don't have strength. And Hiruma's weakness is his unimpressive physicals similar to me. Call it team bias, but I'd much rather see Hiruma than Jotaro in the merge."

"Jotaro? Why?"

"Because, he's the best example of adapting past his weaknesses. Obviously I can't see it to say for certain, but he hasn't been using his stand that much outside of during the AT challenge. Not because he wants to. But because he just can't, yet he's still been able to do so well. I don't exactly know what Midorima said to you, and, not to be rude, I kind of don't care too much to hear it. But you can't break down or give up the second you don't have access to your Monsuno. Not everything's going to be a cakewalk. They wouldn't be called 'challenges' if they weren't difficult in some way after all. And it's not just you, it's almost everyone else on this team too. Physical strength isn't our strength, but we've been able to adapt past it fine. As long as we continue to do that, I think we'll be fine."

"In other words, put our brains together and think of a way past it. Thanks Isagi. And also, thanks for not singing and talking to me about horoscopes."

"Uh, you're welcome?"

"CHALLENGE TIME FOLKS! LET'S GO!" Chris called out.

"Well, I guess it's time we put that to that test." Bren said.

Isagi nodded. "Show time."

***Confessional***

Isagi(Storm Kings):

"Gotta say, Becky, well the younger one anyway, was definitely right about the teams having themes now that I think about it. The Rats are probably the most passionate and the loudest. We're the best when it comes to balance and adaptability. The Breakers are the best 'no power' team. What do I mean by that? Most of their team doesn't have abilities from what I've observed. At least not ones as outlandish as ours or the Rats'.

"Most of the heavy lifting in that department is from Bass, Team JET, and Jenny. Sure, there's Haizaki, and while his ability is very good at strengthening himself and crippling opponents, it isn't invincible. He can't steal the Miracles' moves, and outside of VR, he can't take most abilities either like magic. And his battle against the White Knights linemen in the last challenge all but confirmed to me how it works. What I have planned to stop it won't shut it down completely like I thought it would before, but it'll make it a whole lot less effective. But for me, he's the least of our worries, despite how much people still overreact about his behavior like he's not clearly changing. Chris and Chef included. It's Miyuki, Asta, Hanamiya and Reagan that I'm worried about. I already know Kunigami's going to be tough so he's automatically omitted. Miyuki's starting to do some tricks himself. A lot smaller in scale compared to Hiruma's but just as tricky. I think he's found a perfect moderation of unpredictability and tameness by staying subtle. I know Noelle has water magic, but I have no clue what Asta can do. All I've seen is that he has swords and is strong. But that can't be it. Can it? Hanamiya looks like he's doing his best to actually hide what he can do, and Reagan's brains can definitely do wonders for them if used right."

"Isagi! Gonna get left behind if you don't hurry!" Bachira called out which caused Isagi's eyes to widen.

"Oh man! He's right!" Isagi quickly runs out of the confessional.

***End Confessional****

Everyone was seen going through a portal with Isagi desperately trying to run before he was left behind, tackling(in the American football sense anyway) Dan.

"Would you get off me!?"

"Sorry! Sorry."

"I suppose this is the reason why punctuality is so important." Rook said.

"Tell that to these two." Weiss said, referring to Aomine and Ruby.

"I was tired alright!? I didn't expect Hiruma to come with a damn microphone and start yelling." Aomine said.

"No one expects anything Hiruma does at this point." Ruby R. said. "And hey! I come to class on time now, thank you very much."

"Yeah because I all but had to force that out of you. What would you do without me?" Weiss said proudly.

"Give me a break." Yang said, rolling her eyes at this side of Weiss coming out again.

"It's beautiful." Blake commented.

"Blake look, I know you-"

"Not you. The place we're in."

"Ha! She called you ugly." Todd said only to be bonked on the head by a yellow gauntlet.

"Well deserved." Reimu and Fiona commented.

"Is he wrong though? That's what it sounded like to me." Zak M. said.

"You get hurt in this challenge by me, you'll know why." Yang said.

"I'm not Lotte or Libby. Not only am I not scared of you, I'm more than capable of beating you." Zak M. said.

"How insensitive can you be you jerk? She's right there you know." Ayame said.

"Here we go. Now I kinda hate I said anything."

"It's okay. That's….. just how he is." Libby said, shrugging.

"Blake is right. This scenery is amazing!" Bakura said.

Zooming out, what Blake and Bakura said all but made sense. They were on a beautiful island where several waterfalls were seen along with forest, jungles, mountains and swamps with a magnificent blue sky overhead.

"I am honored that you enjoy the scenery." An anthropomorphic lion that wore armor with a crown on his head said as he approached them. He had grey haid and a grey hair.

"A LEGO lion?" Luz commented low.

"He did say we'd be going across the multiverse." Bachira reasoned.

"I am Lagravis. And this is the land of Chima. A magical world of untamed nature, beauty and wonder. Here, several tribes of animals inhabit the land, each tribe having their own unique homes and bases. Although each tribe may have their differences, we all still make the best out of them and get along as best as possible." Lagravis explained.

This caused Riley to clear her throat in between Rei and Kagami.

"I know you're talkin' about us kid. We're good. Honest." Kagami said.

"I myself am the king of the Lion Tribe. And for today, your challenge for today will start in our home, the Lion Temple, center of the Lion City."

"It is an honor to meet you, King." Rook said before bowing with Ryoma, Akashi and Weiss doing the same.

"The heck are these dorks doing?" Todd said.

"Uh, I don't know, being respectful?" Huey D. said.

"You could learn a thing or two about that." Sophie said.

"I share your same sentiments. Now, if you'll please follow me." Lagravis said before gesturing them to follow.

"Whatever. Like I said, I came to Total Drama to hurt people and get paid for doing it, not go to a second school." Todd said.

"Unfortunately for you, turning off your brain is not how you're going to last here." Rally said.

"Well duh. I just don't feel like learning anything else. What the heck does any of this have to do with the challenge?" Todd said.

"Context dumba[censored]. If you don't know what the hell you're doing or what it's about how the hell are you going to really have a chance at appreciating it?" Aomine said.

"While you are correct, I would rather you not use that language when we enter the kingdom." Lagravis said.

"Huh? Oh. My bad." Aomine closes his eyelids a bit before putting his hands on the top of his head.

"Aomine's right. A beautiful place such as this deserves to be appreciated." Dawn said.

"He really does have a point though. It'd be kinda odd if we put you guys in some random place and you don't know what's going on. Doesn't have to be a whole story but at least a bit of info to give you an idea is needed." Doyle said.

"Exactly. Kinda something I wish I did in World Tour more, but hey, bigger budget, more time, more places to go. Especially going across the multiverse like this. But in most cases, the guys that live here can explain it better than I can so for the most part, as long as it doesn't get in the way of challenge or episode time, I'm cool with it." Chris said as they approached the stairs. In front of them was a very large golden-brown temple with the entrance of it being built in the shape of a lion's head.

"Welcome to the Lion Temple." Lagravis announced.

"Hey, not bad." Louie commented.

"Louie, no." Huey D. said, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking.

"What? I can't comment on how good a place looks? Hey Reimu, does your temple look as good as this?"

"It's a shrine, not a temple." Reimu and Rei answered.

"Oops. Sorry."

"So these are the guys that'll be competing here? Pretty cool." A lion with beige arms, torso and white hands like his father said. He wore a royal blue kilt with golden and black markings, pads on his knees and a royal Lion Tribe belt, all of which have Lion Tribe crests. He also wore a matching cape. A golden harness with a sword on the back was over blue clothing.

"This is my son Laval. Prince of the Lion Tribe." Lagravis introduced.

"What's up guys? It's awesome to have you here. Definitely looking forward to seeing some good action this month. Twice in one month? I'm gonna enjoy this." Laval said. "Come on! You've gotta see the rest of the temple." He added, running before gesturing them to follow and adding, "What are you waiting for guys? Let's go!"

"As you can see, my son is very excited to see you all. But before we start the games, I suppose I should give you a bit of history on the temple and Chima as a whole." Lagravis said.

"Uh oh. I forgot. You're about to get The Great Story." Laval said, slowing down.

"Another history dump huh? Chris, you sure this isn't history class?" Todd asked.

Maki poked him on the top of the head with the naginata she had in her hand. "Would you can it already kid? Your whining's getting on my nerves."

"As you can see, my son isn't very fond of the story. More from exhaustion than anything else." Lagravis said, smiling a little.

"Yeah. Moreso because I've heard it like a million times." Laval said.

"If we still haven't arrived at where the challenge is, it'd at least pass the time. And we could learn something along the way." Sophie reasoned.

"I never thought about the history of why LEGO animals talk but hey, there might be something interesting here. I'm more than willing to listen to the story." Jasmine said.

"We weren't always the advanced, sophisticated creatures we are now." Lagravis started as Laval secretly copied his gestures behind his back, to the amusement of Miyuki, Akko and a couple others.

"Once, many, many centuries ago. There were no buildings. Or vehicles. Or tribes in Chima. Just jungles and planes. And creatures that walked on all fours. One day, the sky opened up and blessed the land. Pulling Mount Cavora from the heart of Chima. The water that flowed from this mountain was different. Powerful. Transformative. Full of a life force we now call, Chi. Those who drank from it, became smarter. More complex. Evolved. However, some in Chima, chose not to embrace the Chi. They stayed simple, and pure. Vanishing into the outlands. Never to be seen again. These creatures are now known as the legend beasts. It is said they will return one day when Chima needs them most. But few here believe they even exist anymore." Lagravis explained before gesturing upwards to the mountain above the entrance to the inside of the temple they were approaching.

"I'm pretty sure they exist. Just look at how much stuff that's out there that people didn't think existed that well…..actually exists. Like the Loch Ness Monster. Or Bigfoot. Or some of the other conspiracies out there. Maybe Chima hasn't gotten to that point yet." Reagan reasoned.

"Perhaps. A testament to the peace that has lasted within the lands." Lagravis said as they entered the inside of the temple.

"Mount Cavora still applies us with Chi today. But it is collected here, in the Lion Temple. Where it forms into powerful orbs. Thanks to the special minerals in the sacred pool. The power of Chi can be channeled into many different things. Including weapons, equipment, vehicle engines, and so much more." Lagravis explained, gesturing to the pool of chi next to them.

"And check this out, you can even-" Laval said, picking up a Chi orb.

"Son." Lagravis said.

"Fine. But come on dad, you've got to give something new to this. Adding a couple of tidbits of info isn't enough. To tell you the truth, I don't really care about hearing the story again no matter how exhausting it is. I'm saying this more for these guys. I mean just look at him! He's falling asleep!" Laval said.

"FURUYA! WAKE UP!" Eijun shouted, shaking him.

"Not him you idiot. Aomine." Tsukishima said.

"Oh." Furuya gave Eijun a stare, clearly not pleased with being randomly shaken out of the blue.

"It's time for a wakeup call." Nimona started before Weiss stopped him.

"Not your wakeup call at least." Weiss said before pinching him on his face and ear, waking him up.

"The hell is wrong with you!?"

"Maybe if you went to sleep this wouldn't happen."

"Maybe if you'd listen, you know why I'm so tired."

"Yeah. It's because of the boring story huh?" Todd said.

"What? No. I'm just tired. Then this guy right here decides to just randomly start yelling for a team meeting." Aomine said, pointing to Hiruma.

"As long as it worked, that's all that matters." Hiruma said.

"Yeah, and it worked too well." Kageyama said. "You messed up my concentration."

"Concentration? You were practicing volleyball without me?" Hinata pouted.

"So that's what you were doing Diana? Practicing volleyball?" Akko asked.

"What? No. I was not." Diana said.

"I had no clue what she was doing. I didn't even know she was even up."

"Sure you do." Akko said, giving them a suspicious face.

"The Great Story is history for Chima. And history, never changes." Lagravis said.

"Time travel would like to have a word with you." Bennett said.

"Time travel? Hold on a sec, you guys can go through time!?" Laval said.

"Me? No. My older self can do it. Kind of. It's more time projection than anything else."

"Close enough. That's awesome!" Laval said.

"The rest of the tribes will be gathering soon. Feel free to explore for the next few minutes until they arrive. Once they do, we shall begin the games." Lagravis said before leaving the teams with Laval.

"Well guys, come on! I've gotta show you the power of Chi!" Laval said.

"But didn't your father say-" Weiss started before Laval cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah I know. 'Use it well, use it wisely', exactly why I'm only taking one orb. Come on! Anyone that wants to follow me outside to see the power of Chi, be sure to keep up!" Laval said before running to another exit of the temple.

"Yeah, I'm not going with him." Isagi said.

"Same here." Weiss said.

"Well, for those that choose not to go, confessional's over there." Chris said as the confessional was pulled in by Chef and Doyle from a portal.

"How cheap do you have to be?" Fiona said.

"It's not being cheap. It's called being cost effective." Chris said.

"That's still being cheap. You're just sugarcoating it." Isagi said in a deadpan tone.

"Whatever. Confessional's here. Remember, the camera's on a battery so try not to wear it out." Chris said.

"Thanks. I guess." Blake said.

"Think they have something to eat here Happy?" Natsu asked.

"Hope so." Happy replied.

"Hey Ral, mind if I talk to you for a bit?" May asked.

"Sure. Just uh, give me a couple minutes. I've gotta talk with someone." Rally answered.

"Who?"

"It's not really important. Trust me, its nothing bad if that's what you're thinking. It'll probably along take a couple of minutes."

"If it's not really important then you should tell me." May said before gasping. "You've been bit by the love bug again haven't you?"

"No, you idiot! Look, this is something important, I need to do this in private. Got it? Hey Rocky, watch my back will ya? Make sure neither Ms. Nosy May Hopkins and Ms. Becky Nosy Farrah don't try to spy on me."

"Aye Aye captain!" Rocky saluted.

"If the f[censored]ing girl shrimp or old nerd moves her way, shoot them!" Hiruma said, a devious look on his face as he tossed him a submachine gun.

"Got a spare?" Nimona asked.

"No he doesn't have a spare! No taking guns from Hiruma!" Reagan said, blocking her.

"Look, I'm just gonna stand guard and get a feel for it. It's not like it's gonna be super long anyway. As long as those two don't move Rally's way, we're good."

"No means n-" Reagan was tased again.

"I'm…. gonna… get you….. you b[censored]d." Reagan said, on the ground to Hiruma as he handed Nimona a rifle.

X and Lanolin could only put their hands on their foreheads.

"I'M 25! THAT IS NOT OLD!" Becky F. yelled.

"Compared to everyone else here, you're pretty old." Miyuki commented.

That comment got Becky steaming and tried to intimidate him by standing over him. "You wanna say that again you snarky a[censored] kid?"

"Oooold." Miyuki repeated. Zoomed out, her tactic didn't work as she was actually shorter than him, giving up a few inches so she had to(noticeably by others), stand on her toes to do it.

Becky F. grabbed him and shook him violently as he was grinning, giggling as he did. "You're lucky you're just a high schooler or I'd knock out all of those teeth you annoying a[censored] kid!"

"Masterclass trolls at work people." Toxsa commented.

"Eeyep." Randy said.

***Confessional***

Reagan(Wave Breakers):

"I'd hate to see what'd happen if he ever got kids. He'd give the guns and his tank to his kids! And again, why in God's name does he have a goddamn tank!? Can someone explain this to me? Isn't he in high school!? How is his school allowing this!?"

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Becky F.(Radical Rats):

"I'll have you know that 25 is not old! I'm very comfortable with my age despite what that stupid kid says. What happened to never asking a woman her age? Do kids these days just not follow that? And I know what you're thinking after I said that. I AM NOT OLD! I AM THE YOUNGEST NOSE IN THE BUSINESS! If that's the case then May and Rally are old ladies too right? RIGHT!?"

A devious grin appeared on her face as she rubbed her hands together.

"As a matter of fact, I got something for that kid. Just you wait! It's over for you!"

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

May(Radical Rats):

"Don't bring up Becky's age especially if you're a kid. She gets really steamed over being called old. Heck, I bet that's what she was yelling about in the confessional earlier. Don't tell her this, but it's kinda funny when she gets that mad sometimes." May said before giggling.

***End Confessional***

"This dude really has issues." Kagami said, a deadpan look on his face, referring to Hiruma.

"You're really finding that out now? Rei's right, you really are stupid." Sucy said.

"I ALREADY KNEW THAT! I CAN'T MAKE A COMMENT!?"

"Then if you knew that, why point out something we already know?"

"THAT'S IT! I'M OUTTA HERE! HEY KUROKO, LET'S GO PRACT-"

Kuroko was gone, causing Kagami to frantically look around.

"Kuroko you ba[censored]d! The one time I need you you're gone!"

"Inside voice. Use it." Rei and Tsukishima said.

"At this point, she's kind of right." Lanolin said.

"In for a penny, out for a pound I suppose." Sanders said.

"Annnnd the bet is over." Noah said.

Rei facepalmed.

"Can you blame her though? He's about as bad as Eijun when it comes to yelling." Lucy said.

"I don't gotta take this crap. I'm outta here!" Kagami said before leaving outside to find Laval.

"I suppose we can train to pass the time?" Rook proposed to Razer.

"I guess that would be the best thing to do. Since our time here is limited." Razer said.

"You know, that's not a bad idea. Count me in." Yang said.

"How about a little battle royale?" Ruby R. proposed. "Hey Maki! Wanna join?"

"Nah. I think I'm gonna practice by myself." Maki said.

"Suit yourself." Yang said. "Now then, how about we take this outside?"

"I think that is probably for the best. To avoid collateral damage." Rook said.

As the four went outside to prepare for battle, two of the Gunsmith Cats trio went to talk to opposing team members. Rally to Hanamiya and Becky to Reimu.

Rally and Hanamiya were off in an area of the temple to themselves.

"Okay, this looks like a good place. Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Hanamiya asked.

"I'm gonna get straight to the point. That crap you said about Priya being useless. What was that?" Rally said sternly as she folded her arms, awaiting an answer from the Uncrowned King.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about." Hanamiya said, keeping a neutral face.

"At least you didn't try some stupid innocent face. That probably would have p[censored]ed me off. But I can still tell you're lying." Rally said.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. Do you have anything like a video to show me?"

Rally sighed. "No. I don't. I'm only going off Priya's word. But she'd definitely have no reason to lie."

"Hey, there's not much else to be said then I guess. Good luck in the challenge today. If you play that is."

"Yeah. Same to you." Both parted ways.

Meanwhile, Becky was talking to Reimu and was in absolute disbelief at the information that she gave her.

"Why in the world would you do that with those two out of everyone here!?" Becky F. yelled in disbelief.

"Why not? I don't exactly trust Heather. And there's not anyone else I can really say I trust or care enough to be in an alliance with on the team."

Becky F. put a hand on her face, sighing. "I know I'm going to regret this… but I want in."

"You realize we won't be able to do much with it until the merge, right?"

"Not a hundred percent true." Becky pushed up her glasses as the reflection covered her eyes. "Bring in Louie and Todd and I'll explain to you exactly what I mean."

After bringing the two in, Todd and Louie were in disbelief.

"Wha? You want us to work with this old lady?" Todd asked.

Becky cracked her knuckles, gritting her teeth in anger. "Now you listen here you orange-headed brat! I will NOT be disrespected by you damn kids! Now if you'd like I can make sure your life is a living hell and make sure my team targets you. I'm sure you know how Hiruma is like right? Let's see what happens when I tell him, Kagami or Rei about you laughing at them or taunting them. Or, I can expose your alliance!"

"Lying and brigading for child abuse. All recorded." Louie said, holding up his phone.

"You little s[censored]! Are you trying to blackmail me!?"

"Uh, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Nice try kid. The alliance part was recorded too."

Louie trimmed that out of the video. "And now it's not." A smile on his face.

"You…" Becky balled her fists.

"Well, well, well. I'd say you have three choices lady. Either join the alliance, leave and we pretend this never happened. Or you go and tell and this guy here shows everyone what you said." Todd said, pacing around, hands on his back, trying to perform a Russian supervillain accent.

Becky pushes up her glasses. "You know what? If I didn't respect the moves so much, I'd genuinely dislike you two. And that respect is why I'm in."

"One more question. Are Rally and May in on this?" Louie asked.

"Nope. They honestly don't have to know a thing. If we all get far enough, it might not even matter."

"Fine by me." Louie said, putting his phone away.

"Now then, let me explain what I meant by putting this inter-team alliance to use." Becky F. started.

As Becky explained to her fellow money-loving alliance members, Kuroko was revealed to have been with Priya, Cicini and Bennett. Moreso to check on how Bennett and Priya were feeling more than anything else.

"I'm fine. But thanks for asking." Bennett said.

"You're not exactly good at keeping secrets." Kuroko said, his neutral expression, as almost always, not changing along with his voice.

"How would you know? You don't even really say too much. I've barely even interacted with you the entire time I've been here." Bennett said.

"Even so, I can tell something's bothering you. The same way I can tell Priya is feeling a whole lot better than before. Granted, I don't think everything with her has been resolved as not everything can be fixed in one day. But she's definitely making some progress." Kuroko explained as Priya was walking on her hands in the distance.

"Again, you've barely interacted with us. How do you know this?"

"I can tell from your facial expressions. And your body language. Outside of a couple few, you've been one of the quietest people here since the end of the Gran Prix. And not to mention, the older projection of yourself hasn't been here since then. It's been several days."

"Yeah, so? Just because he's been gone for that long doesn't mean anything."

"Bennett, please stop replying with an attitude. He's just trying to help you." Cicini said.

"I don't need his help. What could a guy that plays basketball. Or in his case, just passes the ball around in basketball, do to help me?"

"I completely understand how from the outside looking in, I don't resonate with you. Or Priya. Or even Lotte and Morty. But, we have a lot more in common than you think."

"Really now? I'd love to hear this explanation." Bennett said sarcastically, rolling his eyes a little.

Kuroko sighed. "I'm sure you've heard the arguments between Aomine and Kagami about me."

"You mean the stuff about you getting abandoned and things like that?" Priya asked, passing by before jumping back up to stand back on her feet perfectly. "Are you going to explain to us what happened?"

"I won't give you the full story since I don't think that'll be necessary. But, I'm going to explain to you some of what happened. Hopefully, after you hear this, you'll better understand what I mean about how I know how you and Priya felt. Or in your case, continue to feel."

Bennett folded his arms as Kuroko began.

"To be honest, I never really had the dream of being a professional NBA player growing up or anything. If anything, a job I'd love to have is being a Kindergarten teacher."

"With that misdirection you'd probably scare the kids." Bennett snarked.

"Bennett!" Cicini said.

"What? It's true."

"I got introduced to basketball from watching it on TV and thought it seemed fun. Where I grew up, there weren't any clubs around. So every day, I'd play by myself at a park that had a hoop. One day, a boy appeared on the court and wanted to play with me. So we became fast friends after that. He was better than me. And even taught me to play. But eventually, he had to move away. But we still kept in touch over the phone. So we made a promise that we'd play each other in middle school."

"Wow. So relatable. Is this the part where I'm supposed to cry?" Bennett said.

"Bennett, if you're just going to act like a jerk then leave." Priya said. "Let him tell his story."

"30 seconds. You better say something interesting or relatable within that 30 or I'm gone." Bennett said.

"But that promise would never happen. And to this day, it still hasn't. It's because he quit basketball. And it was all my fault."

"Wait, he quit basketball because of you? This doesn't sound like you just beat him. What did you do?" Bennett asked, eyebrows raised.

"I'll get to that. I promise. There's a couple of things I have to mention for it to make sense though."

Bennett sighed. "I guess I'll stay. But the minute it gets uninteresting, or obviously, when it's time to start the challenge, I'm done."

"I enrolled into Teiko Middle School. Mind you, this was before I met Aomine and the others so you can discard them. Kagami as well as he was in middle school in America. Eventually, I signed up for the basketball club. I was the last person to be picked for third string. Which meant, I was the very last person as a whole to be picked out of the new students that wanted to join the club. In most cases, outside of things like injuries or garbage time, third string players don't get to be in actual games. So I knew that if I wanted to fulfill my end of the promise with him, I'd need to work my way up. I didn't care how long it took. How many balls I had to use. Or how many days I had to stay all night and clean up anything I put around the gym to help me practice. I was going to fulfill the promise I had made. No matter what."

"Determination. I like it. I can definitely relate to that. The tireless training that my parents put me through for reality TV." Priya said.

"Sure. I guess. Eventually, that was when I met Aomine. He really liked my determination too actually. So he said we'd practice together every day. And he even made guarantee to me too. That eventually, all of that practice would lead to the two of us to playing together. But sometimes, even hard work just isn't good enough. As a matter of fact, my ranking actually got worse. No matter how hard I tried, nothing changed. And so I decided to quit."

Flashback

Kuroko went to tell Aomine his intention of quitting.

"Huh? But why?" Aomine asked.

"I love basketball. But with how I am now I doubt I'll be of use to the rest of the team." Kuroko said.

"There's no such thing as a useless player. It doesn't matter whether or not you're on the court. But there isn't a single guy that can match your fire so don't you dare call yourself useless. Do you hear me? Look I can't promise keeping at it will get you there. But still, if you give up you'll have nothing."

End Flashback

"And with those words in mind, I continued to practice instead of quit. I continued to work. And eventually, I got it. I made it into Teiko's first string."

"But, didn't get you wanted? You didn't quit and you worked hard. So you should have played against your friend, right?" Cicini asked.

"No. It seems it would end that way. But it wouldn't. Of course, when I joined the first string, I wouldn't get to play him right away because of how far away he lived. So our only chance for our schools to meet was through the National Tournament in the summer of next school year. And everything was going along great. We never lost a single game that entire school year. But eventually, that would get to their heads. Everyone except Midorima that is. And that's when things turned for the worst. They started to not want to pass the ball. Skip practice. Making competitions in between themselves to see who can score the most points. Not in a fun way. I mean in a way that was mocking their opponents. No one was even smiling anymore. I understand wanting competition to have fun. But the way they acted for being bored. I hated it. And when the time came for me to have a chance at playing him, I got a head injury in the game before, and got knocked unconscious. I came to in the hospital bed before the game against my friend, which was the finals. Even though he said we could just play again another time, I asked Akashi and the others to take this game seriously anyway. Give everything they had. Win or lose."

"I'm guessing they acted the same way huh?" Bennett asked.

"No. It was worse. Akashi promised me that they'd take it seriously. My friend, Ogiwara, told him about the promise. And I described it to him as well. Akashi told me he'd tell the others this too. But he lied to me. I didn't care that they beat him. I wanted them to go all out. I cared about how did they did it. At the end of the game, they started passing the ball around at the end. And when Ogiwara's team got the ball back, they missed. But Aomine told Murasakibara to score the points for them. I can understand if it was to be nice. But it wasn't."

Flashback

"Good grief. We let you have your moment in the spotlight but you blew it." Aomine said, walking past Ogiwara.

"Yeah, but who cares? Look at the board, they're matching. Pretty sweet don't you think?" Kise remarked, also going past.

"They made a basket for the opposing team just so the score would be all ones!?" Ogiwara said in disbelief as Kuroko got out of bed to see Ogiwara who turned to Kuroko, his brown eyes lifeless.

Kuroko looked at Akashi in absolute disbelief.

"Akashi?" Tears started to come out of Kuroko's eyes. "Why? They trampled on the promise to my friend."

End Flashback

"I didn't like what Akashi and the others did. But I kept thinking about what I could have done to be better. Be stronger. If I hadn't got so emotional and worked up in the last game before that one maybe I wouldn't have gotten in a position to be injured. If I was more than just a player that passes they'd listen to me. They'd take me seriously when I asked them to do me that one favor. I just…. I just felt useless. If I was stronger, I would have been able to fulfill my end of the promise. That's why I blamed myself. I'll never forget that day. And the pain I felt. And I didn't want to feel that pain again. So that was it. I was done. I quit basketball. He quit as well. And I never saw him or heard from him again since. No texts. No calls. Nothing. And it continued to effect me even outside of that. I just…. couldn't talk to anyone at school anymore. I make another friend and then what? They become like the Miracles? Or like Ogiwara? I just couldn't do it. Momoi was the only one that still cared. That wanted to just see us smile again as friends. I couldn't even talk to her. She asked me about a promise that I made to her. About Aomine and I staying together as best friends. And I just…. I brushed her off like I didn't know what she was talking about. I couldn't even do that. I couldn't fulfill the promise I made to her either. She didn't deserve that."

"So….. what made you want to come back?" Bennett asked, his expression completely changing from the disinterested look he had before.

"One of Ogiwara's teammates. He asked me not to quit. He believed I'd be the only one that'd be capable of changing their way of thinking by beating them. Granted, how I was feeling at the time wasn't the best way to act out. I was being a little selfish myself by choosing to only really show that much energy in the game before and the game against Ogiwara if we played. And to act that way towards Momoi. I fail-"

"Stop right there." Bennett said, suddenly interrupting him.

"Benn-" Cicini started before he raised a hand in her face, stopping her.

"Let me finish. Look, you can correct me if I'm wrong on some things because I don't really know too much about sports other than the basics. But I do know that just blaming yourself and thinking you deserved to get hurt physically and mentally like that, especially the latter by your own friends is not okay."

"But they didn't injure me."

"Doesn't matter. I'd say getting hurt mentally is worse than getting hurt physically. I should know. Even if you were being a little selfish, that doesn't change what they did to you. And to an extent, Momoi. Two wrongs don't make a right." Bennett said before realizing something and sighed.

"Which I could also say with what happened to my other self as well. We were arguing over how to cure Natsu's motion sickness because Rick didn't want to do it. We both said some things out of the heat of the moment and got angry. I kept thinking it was his fault. He messed up because he didn't want to admit he had no idea what to do. So I blamed it on his pride to compete with Rick. And then, fast forward to later, I blamed myself. I said I should have been the bigger person and stayed calm. Defuse the situation. Instead, I just added more chemicals to the test tube and blew it up. And you see what happened then. You're right Kuroko. He hasn't been back since. And I have been struggling to talk to people. I was just….. afraid of talking to people. Just like you were. Afraid I'd get angry. And get frustrated. Say the wrong thing. And make things worse. Have the same thing happen again. Burn bridges that haven't even been built and turn the whole team against me. And it would have with you. I got an attitude with you when you were just trying to help me. And the stuff about sports. That was so prejudiced on my part too. I shouldn't have said that. All of that was unwarranted. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. Like I said, I totally understand why you'd feel that way."

"No it's not. Acting out like that when someone is trying to help me when I genuinely need it isn't right." Bennett responded.

"I know you won't be able to hear this. But I still have to say it anyway. I'm sorry." Bennett said, his apology going to his older self. "Edee, I'm sorry too. I'm not asking you to forgive me. But I wouldn't feel right knowing that I didn't apologize to you."

"Guys, forgive me if I don't do so well in challenges. But that's not an excuse for me to not try. If Kuroko can find a way to be useful and help the team then so will I. You too Priya."

"That's good to hear." Kuroko said, smiling.

"Kuroko. Without that talk I'm not sure how much longer I would have lasted. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now, I guess it's my turn. You guys deserve to know how exactly-"

"Yo guys!" Sendo called out. "It's challenge time. Lagravis and the others are back."

"Maybe another time. Right now, we've got a challenge to worry about winning." Bennett said.

***Confessional***

Bennett(Radical Rats):

"There's no way a guy like Kuroko can be selfish. From what I've seen, his playstyle matches who he is a person perfectly. Once again, thanks. He didn't have to help me, but he went out of his way to do it. It's still pretty crazy though that he picked up on all of that silently."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Kuroko(Radical Rats):

"I honestly have no clue if what I was able to helped him completely. And it probably didn't. But not giving up is a start. Even if I've got to be the one pick them up, I'm not going to abandon any of them and watch them feel like they're useless, and experience the same pain I did during my final days at Teiko. I don't care what it takes. Or how long it takes, I won't let their spirits die."

***End Confessional***

Several of the tribes were gathered around Lagravis, Laval and the contestants as a golden orb was seen in front of them.

"Welcome! Citizens of Chima to a special event!" Lagravis announced.

The crowd cheered.

"For centuries, the Golden Chi has chosen a different contest each month, so that no one tribe will have an advantage. And this event will be no different, even if the Golden Chi is not available to be won today. Now then, what does the Golden Chi have in store for our special guests?"

The Golden Chi orb's energy began to spread out and started to create new portions of land.

Several obstacles were seen in the land along with trees and ramps.

"Ah! It looks like this will be a jousting battle! Although it seems with a twist." Lagravis announced. "In this event you will be given orbs of Chi. Your goal is to use these orbs as a means for you to score points. Toss the orbs into the deposit bank that appears and opens and you will earn points, each orb being 1 point each. All three teams will be competing at once with four members each. You will be using these Speedorz to navigate the track and combat your opponents. And since you are all first-timers, a practice run will be given. The team that scores the highest amount of points wins the match."

"As a compensation, you'll also get weapons! And Chi to power some of those weapons, since in most cases, Golden Chi is awarded. Awesome, right?"

"Wait, you mean we actually get to use the Chi if we win?" Kaz asked.

"Yep! You can use it whenever and however you want. Of course, you won't get an unlimited amount. Once you use up the Chi you're given that's it. No refills." Chris said.

"Which means if we win don't go using the Chi for stupid stuff." Lucy said.

"And just like the Golden Chi picks a different track and event each time to make things unpredictable, we're going to do the same thing here with random choices." Chris said.

"Let's see…" Heloise randomizes the selection of names for each team on her tablet.

"For the Rats we've got Priya, Bennett, Whisper and Kuroko."

"For the Kings we've got Jotaro, Bren, Midorima and Isagi."

"And for the Breakers there's Miyuki, Hanamiya, Zak and Ruby."

"What? Hanamiya's gonna be in this game? S[censored]." Aomine commented.

"Quit your worrying." Midorima said. "As long as I'm around along with his teammates, and I have my lucky item, that lowlife won't try anything."

"Yeah you better keep that promise. If something happens to Tetsu I'm gonna kill you, got it?"

"Same here." Kagami said.

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Your item must be pretty small today." Akko said.

"Today's lucky item is a red cell phone. In this case, since my phone is green, I borrowed Akashi's." Midorima said, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Is anyone curious what he'd do if he didn't have Akashi to give him his phone?" Toxsa asked.

"I don't think Midorima's the type to steal." Ruby G. said. "Even if he is a bit crazy about those items."

"And what about all of the other people that follow this. Not everyone has a red cell phone." Hailey said.

"Pretty funny. I've got one." Scott said.

"Not you Scott."

"Oh."

***Confessional***

Kise(Radical Rats):

"I know it might seem funny to some of you the items he's brought so far. But you haven't seen anything yet. This is tame. The last time we were in that other season he had a blender. Another time, he had a frog puppet. A train set. And I don't mean a small one. I mean an actual toy train set and brought it with him to school. A kettle pot, a phonebook, a bag of mushrooms, and apparently, caught Aomine with a net, which also was his lucky item. And he's brought stuff bigger than that if he's had to. I'd hate to see what would happen if he brought anything bigger here. And apparently, Takako told me that he took Shutoku High's copy machine because it was the lucky item of the day. If that doesn't tell you how he is about his lucky items nothing will. Don't be surprised if he tries to take Rocky's violin or Hiruma's guns if he has to."

***End Confessional***

"Each of your Speedorz are color coded for your teams. You've got two minutes of practice. Better make sure they don't go to waste." Chris said.

All 12 were at the starting line before they sped off a few seconds later. Barrels of Chi were seen scattered throughout the track for the teams to pick up. One of the banks was already opening. Kuroko was the one that grabbed only a couple compared to the rest.

Before they all passed by the bank, the 12 threw the Chi they had into the bank.

"We should focus on passing too. Because of how fast-paced the real game is going to go, I don't think it'll be that easy to get them in." Priya said.

"Right." Whisper said. "Do you think your passing can work here Kuroko?"

"I don't see why it can't." Kuroko said.

"Try passing some to each of us. I know you might have been trying to watch us from afar, but I still think we should get a grip for how your passes feel in our hands." Priya said.

Whisper passed to Priya with Kuroko redirecting passes to his team as needed, his Misdirection in full effect. From tap passes to quick throws and tosses.

"It's like he knows exactly where to pass it too and where we're going. It's amazing!" Priya said to Whisper, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Exactly." Hanamiya thought.

The other teams were also practicing their passing as well.

"Hey Jotaro."

The Stand user turned his head to look at him.

"I know this is a random question but, you kinda got out of character during that little face-off you had with Shin. What happened?" Isagi asked.

"I just refused to lose. That's all." Jotaro said.

Isagi looked at him but wasn't about to say anything further.

***Confessional***

Jotaro(Storm Kings):

"I'm not sure why, but that big guy, Otawara, he sounded a lot like someone I knew. And in his case, that wasn't a good thing. That someone I knew being Dio."

***End Confessional***

(Patrick Seitz voices Otawara in the very shortly lived dub of Eyeshield 21. I don't remember much from the dub compared to the sub since it got taken off archive dot org, but with his personality, oddly enough I'd say Patrick would use a bit of his Dio voice for him)

"Hey! Everyone, gathering around for a bit. A word?" Hanamiya called out. But before they could do so, time was already up. Everyone brought their Speedorz back to the starting line.

"Before we begin, let me explain the rules. In most cases, these events allow the use of sanctioned weapons. But, since you all have your own weapons and/or abilities, you will be allowed to use them. Just make sure they're melee weapons. If you wanna go bare-knuckle that's cool too. But ranged weapons like blasters, etcetera are not allowed. They're not allowed in the real games so you can't use them here either. But that's it. They have to be weapons, tools, or abilities that allows you to use or summon weapons. Which means anything else that can be used to actually attack your opponent or block their attacks like Monsuno are not allowed! Things like say Zak's Fang are allowed! And for those that don't have weapons, you'll have a minute to get weapons from the Lion tribe to use." Chris explained.

"That's quite a few of us actually." Bennett remarked.

"Time to get some weapons of war." Bren said.

"Question." Lanolin started.

"Go ahead." Chris said.

"So something like Whisper's Variable Wispon can change into a hammer. If she changes it into that, would that be allowed?"

"As long as she doesn't use any ranged attacks with it like I said before, that's fine."

The teams, or those that needed to anyway, with the exception of Whisper, gathered weapons. Ruby got the glove from Reagan that was made.

"Hey guys. I'd still like to discuss something real quick." Hanamiya said to his teammates, including Zak.

"Make it quick." Zak said.

"I know it's not much but I think it'll be worth it. Hope you're ready to put on your thinking caps because this isn't going to be easy." Hanamiya said.

While that was happening, the other two teams were already waiting at the starting line.

"Huh. I guess you were right. Another challenge without Monsuno." Bren said to Midorima.

"That is insignificant. None of that matters if we lose anyway." Midorima said.

"Yeah. Guess so."

"All you got was a shield Kuroko?" Priya asked, surprised.

"Yes. I know it's not much compared to you all, but that doesn't matter. I'll still be right here with you all. And do whatever I can to help."

"And we'll do the same for you." Whisper said.

***Confessional***

Kuroko(Radical Rats):

"Another reason why I got the shield, other than to be defensive, was to help better support my teammates. Granted, because I'm using the shield I won't be able to do two-handed passes. But as long as I have a free hand, that'll be good enough. One-handed passes should be fine too."

***End Confessional***

Hanamiya and the others showed up to the starting line next.

"Now, the games can finally begin!" Lagravis announced as the crowd cheered. "You will have four minutes in the game. Points will only count if the rider that threw the Chi in was on their Speedor."

"On your marks. Get set."

…..

…..

…..

…

"Begin!"

Everyone pulled on the levers to start their Speedor chariots.

All 12 began to grab Chi orbs as they passed by the first barrel of them, with Whisper having her Variable Wispon in her other hand.

The first bank opened.

"And it looks like the first bank is open for business! Get past the swinging log and you'll see it." Chris announced.

The teams began navigating through the arena to find the first bank. Priya was already on the attack with the staff she had, attacking Bren and Jotaro who were using a spear and sword respectively. Although neither hesitated to try and attack back.

After that, all bets were off. Outside of trying to avoid friendly fire, it was a free for all.

Zak used his Fang to knock off Bren's glasses, causing him to be unable to see and go out of control, causing Bennett, who was using a sword, to have to steer out of the way. But he failed to notice the ramp, which caused him to go in the air. He panicked and tried to adjust mid-air, which caused him to fell off the Speedor.

He shook his head to try and regain his senses before getting back on the bike.

"Oh man. Oh man! I can't see!" Bren said, desperately trying to find his glasses after falling off his Speedor. He suddenly felt glasses in his hands. After putting them on, he sees the source of him being reunited with his glasses. Midorima.

"Thanks." Bren put on his glasses with Midorima nodding.

"We've wasted enough time. It's time to get moving again." Midorima said, expression not changing.

"Wow. He really went back to help him?" Zak M. said. "Hey, that's less guys we have to deal with." He said, shrugging.

"Don't worry about them. Stay focused." Miyuki said, blocking a hammer strike from Whisper via her Variable Wispon, which was in Cube Mode thanks to a Blue Wisp.

"Hard to believe that's the same guy making all of those snide remarks." Toxsa commented as he and the other non-competing contestants observed the match.

Kageyama could only smile.

"Yeah. You better stay focused!" Priya said before smacking Zak in the face with the staff she had.

Zak grabs his face, not expecting her to hit him that hard. "Oh, you are so gonna regret that." Zak said before using the grappling feature on the Fang.

"Ha! You missed!"

"Wait, is that even allowed?" Isagi commented.

"Is it?" Ruby R. asked Chris.

"Yep. It's not a projectile so it's cool. If it was shooting a laser or something like that, that's a different story." Chris answered.

Zak pulls the object in question, which was a couple of rocks, hitting Priya in the head. They definitely caused her pain and made her lose control for a bit but not enough for her to crash.

"I wasn't aiming for you, idiot." Zak said to Priya.

"Yeah. I see that." Priya said, holding her head.

Hanamiya, who was using a light club, swung at Isagi's head.

"A bit of a hard swing don't you think?" Isagi remarked.

"Are you going to complain, or fight?" Hanamiya said.

Isagi attacked back using his spear. "I can't say for sure. But there's no way that hard a[censored] swing wasn't intentional. I understand we're fighting but that was unnecessary. I can see exactly why Aomine and Kagami call this guy an a[censored]hole."

"Fine then. If you want a fight, you got it!" Isagi said, his personality completely changing, attacking back with his spear. Though unfortunately for him, he had to relent as they were approaching the moving log trap. Priya, Whisper, Jotaro, and the Breakers all deposit their Chi. Isagi was the last out of that group to deposit.

While Whisper turned back around to get more Chi, Priya did the same thing, but it oddly enough was slower than Whisper for no particular reason it seemed.

Then, Chi was seen flying past the logs.

"Got it!" Priya said, getting ready to deposit the Chi that she was about to catch. But those aspirations wouldn't come true. The Chi was intercepted by Ruby who passed it to Miyuki, depositing it into their team's bank.

The rest of the subsequent Chi that was seen coming their way was also taken by them.

"Darn, they took all the Chi!" Natsu commented.

"And the Breakers jump out to an early lead! We've got a little over three minutes left guys!" Chris said.

"Nice!" Ruby said, getting high fives from both Miyuki and Hanamiya. As this was happening, Chi was arcing over their heads. The source being Midorima, who threw up the Chi he and Bren had as they all landed into their team's bank. Not a single one missed. But it wasn't as if Midorima would see it, he and Bren, who was doubtful until he saw all of them into the bank, went back to get more Chi.

Breakers: 19

Kings: 11

Rats: 4

Priya went back through to meet with Bennett and Kuroko, who was the source of the Chi thanks to a pass through the log.

"Sorry guys. I don't know what happened. But that's no excuse. That's on me." Priya said.

"It's okay. You put in some Chi already so I think that's a start." Bennett said.

"Bennett's right. It's too early to give up. Now let's catch up with Whisper." Kuroko said.

They all went back to the same bank to gather more Chi.

"Man, you really are confident about those throws." Bren said to Midorima.

"I told you. I do everything humanly possible." Midorima pushes up his glasses. "No matter what game or challenge. I will never miss."

"This is unreal. He's never missed the entire time he's been here. That shouldn't be possible!" Bren thought.

Isagi grinned. "You really are an animal. Just what I expected from a Generation of Miracle." Isagi thought.

Whisper threw more Chi her teammates' way since they were still ahead of her and closer to the banks. After going through, Isagi decided to do the same after being harassed by Zak and his pesky attacks, passing to Jotaro, who had just put in his orbs.

But they were all taken again. This time by Hanamiya.

"Damn it! Again?" Kagami said.

"Sorry…" Whisper said to her teammates, catching up to them.

"It's alright! Keep going!" Priya said.

The current banks for the teams closed.

"A new bank has been opened! Now above the ring of fire!" Lavarius said.

"Darn it. That's my fault. I shouldn't have done that. If I do it again they won't get taken again." Isagi thought.

Breakers: 33

Kings: 24

Rats: 15

Less than 3 minutes remained.

"We're off to a good start. Let's hope we can keep up the momentum." Tsukishima commented.

The teams gathered Chi once again.

Jotaro and Zak were in the middle of a battle with one another.

"I still don't get it. What the heck did you do to throw Puss in that AT challenge? And stop Kurita in that Fry Cook Games challenge? No offense, but he definitely should have flattened you." Zak said as the two continued to fight.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me I bet." Jotaro said. "Especially in this case."

"Oh yeah? Try me."

Jotaro used that split second of curiosity to toss Chi over his head to Midorima, who wasn't even close to the ring of fire, but somehow was still able to make all of the throws, depositing the Chi.

"What the hell? From that distance?" Reagan commented.

"You better guard up." Haizaki commented.

"Huh?"

"The team better stop him from getting those up. 'Cause he's not missin' anytime soon. Doesn't matter what distance it is."

Whisper swung her hammer at Isagi. While it missed hitting him, her goal was to knock the sack of Chi he had out of his hands.

Bennett picked them up with the rest, other than Midorima and Jotaro depositing the Chi into the bank before they all jumped over the ramp, which had the ring of fire.

Breakers: 44

Kings: 37

Rats: 31

"Smart move. I think I might steal it." Isagi said, grinning at Whisper as they both were fighting on the way down the ramp.

"Try not to lose your weapon first!" Whisper said, smiling before knocking the staff he had out of his hands.

"Crap!" Isagi was about to turn around to go and get it, but Bren already picked it up for him and handed it to him when he caught up. "Thanks."

"One good deed deserves another." Bren said.

"Looks like that one steal has breathed some life back into the Rats! Things are starting to tighten up now." Chris said.

As they circled around on a dirt part of the track, driving slightly sideways, more barrels of Chi were seen available for them to collect. Afterwards, they turned back around to deposit the Chi.

All of them threw the Chi up. But Zak athletically jumped off the Speedor and stopped Midorima's Chi from being deposited, putting it in himself.

"Wow. Call that a slam dunk if I've seen one." Chris said.

Priya's orbs were blocked by Jotaro who knocked them away.

Bren missed a couple, but was able to get some in.

"Darn it." Bren said.

"It happens. Keep going!" Midorima said.

"Heh. No Monsuno, no problem it seems." Zak said, high fiving Miyuki.

"It's getting close to the end. Crag! This is the third challenge in a row. If we lose….." Bren said, closing his, starting to doubt himself.

"Bren!" Midorima called out.

"There's no time for that now. There is no shame in falling! The only thing to be ashamed of is not getting back up!" Midorima said, not even in a condescending manner.

They went back around to get more Chi. No one else was able to get their Chi into the bank in time but Midorima. And that was because he stayed back at the barrel to throw up all the Chi he had.

"This guy. We've been trailing the whole game. And the Rats are catching up to us. I haven't been playing well in any of these challenges without my Monsuno. And he's still trying to get me to keep going." Bren thought. "With how he is, he definitely had every right to be mad or quit. He even went back to help me."

"I… I'm more than just my Monsuno Zak! And I'll prove it to you!" Bren said.

"This can't be the same Midorima in the past that Kuroko talked about. He really did change him. And the others." Bennett thought.

"If Bren can keep going, then I have to too!" Bennett said.

Breakers: 58

Kings: 49

Rats: 40

Ding Ding

"It's the final 2 minutes! And fittingly, here comes a musical. You know what? Add another 3!" Chris called out.

"Per request by Chris, the time has been extended!" Lavarius announced.

Unleash the Power by Finley(Legends of Chima) Plays

*Short instrumental period plays*

All 12 team members grab orbs, preparing for battle again as they go back up the ramp and through the ring of fire. Another bank opened near a small lake.

Ruby G.: When you feel the world is trying to drag you down,
Isagi:You're the one who can react,
Hanamiya: There is nothing that you cannot really get,
Miyuki: Everyone will try to con you out there,
Hanamiya: Life's a jungle full of traps,
Kuroko and Midorima: There's no map in here, but don't be scared.

Priya, Bennett and Bren:(it makes you stronger)

Hanamiya attempts to strike Jotaro with his club but he blocks the attack and retaliates with force, hitting him with a knuckle-fisted punch in the face. Although Hanamiya wasn't about to back down that easily, attempting to kick him away, causing both of their Speedorz to get distance from one another.

Midorima, Isagi and Kuroko: Fight fight for what you believe in
Don't give up your dreams and then
Midorima: Try, retry to do the best you can.
Priya: Unleash the Power!Miyuki: Fight fight for what you believe in
Bren: Don't give up until the end
Bennett: Try retry, the future's in your hands.
Priya:Unleash the power!

*Short Instrumental Break*

Priya lost her balance trying to throw one of the orbs into the bank after being hit by Miyuki. Kuroko, using his misdirection, attempted to redirect the throw. And while it worked, it would end up being intercepted by Ruby with her glove hand. Shielding herself from an attack from Bennett, she passed off to Miyuki, who dumped the orbs into their team's bank.

"Come on Priya! Get it together!" Rei called out.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Priya called out, ducking an attack from Jotaro.

"It's alright! Don't quit! Keep going!" Whisper called out as she and Bren clashed.

Kuroko: Don't lose your heart if everything goes wrong,
Midorima: Or if you start feeling strained,
Isagi: There's no chain so strong that you cannot break,
Ruby G.: Life's a climb up a waterfall,
Miyuki: It's a long way to the top
Hanamiya: If you wanna rock n' roll.
Bennett: It makes you stronger

Hanamiya had finally landed a clean hit on Isagi, and it hurt. And while he was in pain, it only p*ssed him off more than anything else.

Ruby G.: Fight fight for what you believe in
Midorima and Kuroko: Don't give up your dreams and then,
Try, retry to do the best you can.
Whisper: Unleash the Power!Hanamiya: Fight fight for what you believe in,
Isagi: Don't give up until the end,
Bennett: Try retry, the futures in your hands.
Zak: Unleash the Power!

Kuroko surprises Isagi as he gets in front of him, intercepting Chi he was trying to get to Jotaro through a rotating wooden trap built similar to a windmill.

"Damn it! Even with my eyesight from my stand, his Misdirection allows him to get around it. The only chance to stop him is to get him the second he appears right when he makes a pass." Jotaro thought.

"What the hell! I'm trying to keep track of him yet he always seems to just disappear!" Isagi thought, getting frustrated in trying to stop Kuroko's Misdirection.

"Think. There's got to be something I can do! They're catching up! And we're running out of time!" Isagi though.

Priya: It makes you stronger!
Bennett: Unleash the Power!
Zak:The power!
Hanamiya, cutting off another pass, this time from Bren to Midorima: The power!
Bren: It makes you stronger!

Isagi's eyes widened. "That's it!" Isagi thought.

Midorima: Fight, fight for what you believe in
Miyuki: Don't give up your dreams and then
Hanamiya: Try, retry to do the best you can!
Ruby.G: Unleash the power!

(it makes you stronger)

All except Jotaro: Fight, fight for what you believe in
Don't give up until the end!
Try, retry, the future's in your hands!
Unleash the power!

*Song Ends*

A little less than two minutes remained, the Breakers were leading, but the other two teams were not too far away.

Breakers: 78

Kings: 74

Rats: 72

"They've been cutting off all the passes. And the minute they try to take it themselves you risk getting attacked and losing the orbs. Sure, both us and the Rats are still able to score, but compared to the Breakers, it's been very difficult for them. And they've been cutting off Midorima too." Sophie commented.

"The hell's goin' on!?" Kagami said, in disbelief that Kuroko's invisible passes were being shut down by the Breakers as a whole.

"I don't understand. The Misdirection is working because it's clear they're having trouble keeping up with where he is. But his passes are still getting cut off. What exactly is happening?" Bakura commented.

"We're running out of time. I don't know what to do." Whisper said. "If I try to throw them in I might get blocked. But if I try to pass it to someone else to avoid getting attacked, they get stolen."

"Pass them to me." Kuroko said, which surprised all three of his teammates.

"What? Are you sure? Out of everyone you've thrown up and made the least." Bennett said.

"Yes. I won't let it end here! Please!"

Kuroko, after blocking an attack from Hanamiya with his shield, pushes forward with it, catching him off guard and causing him to lose control of the Speedor and spin out, which caused him to look visibly upset.

He decided to put down the shield. The bank to deposit Chi orbs was on top of a tower made from a rock formation.

"You idiot, you just took away your only line of defense." Zak M. said as Kuroko put one of the orbs of Chi he had in his hands.

"What? You gonna pass again? Not confident you'll get them in?"

"Actually, I'm more than confident I'll make them." Kuroko said, determination in his eyes as he held his hands under one of the orbs.

"Well guess what? I'm not going to let you!" Zak said, actually jumping in front of him as he pushed up the orbs with force. He expected it to go into his hand, but nothing happened.

"What?" Zak's eyes widened.

Several contestants looked on in shock including Jotaro, whose eyes widened. Not even his Stand could see it. The Chi vanished.

"What the hell!? It disappeared!?" Kunigami said.

The Chi reappears and lands into their team's bank perfectly.

"Dad, did you see that!?" Laval asked in disbelief.

"Yes. A rather interesting technique." Lavarius said.

"So he's decided to take it himself huh?" Natsu said.

"Yep. That's his phantom shot." Aomine said.

"Wait, that's his phantom shot?" Rex asked.

"Yep. Ball disappears and reappears. There's almost no way to stop it." Aomine said. "I taught him it."

"WHAT? WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU TEACH HIM HOW TO MAKE STUFF DISAPPEAR!?" Weiss yelled.

"LOOK I DIDN'T THINK IT'D BE USED FOR A STUPID REALITY TV SHOW CHALLENGE!" Aomine yelled back before calming down. "Besides, I only taught him the form. The rest is rooted in his own abilities. Tetsu did the rest of the work himself. So if you wanna blame anyone, blame him and his work ethic. Truth is, half these abilities aren't even really intended for use outside of basketball. Hence why using them here looks so strange compared to you guys' abilities. Kise and Midorima have been the only ones to actually do that before being on this show."

"Strange? Kid, your friends over there are making stuff disappear and throwing stuff up into the air and notmissing anything as if it's nothin'. I think the only weird part about this is how you're doing all of this and you just play basketball. You sure that's not Hawkeye in disguise? Or a relative?" Chef said.

"And I suppose there is a way to stop it. Hence almost." Sebastian said to Aomine.

"Yeah. But I doubt they'll figure it out in less than a minute." Aomine said.

"YOU B[CENSORED]RD!" Hanamiya called out. The fact that Kuroko refused to quit even after all of that was starting to tick him off. And Kuroko continued to punish the other teams with the technique. He kept enough distance to avoid being hit by anyone's weapons as he did it. And those that tried to stop it with their weapons like Zak and his claw missed because he couldn't figure out where the ball was.

"I never thought Hanamiya could get this mad." Hinata said.

"I suppose this is his will to want to win." Ryoma said.

Ruby looked around at the chaos that was ensuing. And a frustrated Zak and Hanamiya. "Come on Ruby think! Your team needs you! Use your brain here!" Ruby said out loud.

"When he pushes them upwards, they have a bit of an arc. Obviously, you can't see them, but gravity pulls it downwards like a parabola. If there's a beginning, there's an end. So the orbs have to reappear as they arc downwards. That's it! That's how you stop the Phantom Shot!" Ruby thought.

Kuroko went upwards to throw up more as Jotaro, Isagi and Bren deposited their remaining orbs.

"I don't get it. You and your team have been struggling to get past us this the entire game! So why? Why aren't you bothered by this?! Why won't you give up?!" Hanamiya said, raising his club and was about to swing it at Kuroko's face only for Bennett to stop him, knocking him off his Speedor.

"Obviously, there's no guarantee we'll win. But if we don't try. We won't have anything! Victory or defeat!" Kuroko said, showing the most emotion he's had here the entire season.

He pushes them upwards to perform the Phantom Shot again. While the first few were made, Ruby was able to time her punches with the glove and knock away the last few orbs, timing her jump.

"Wow! She stopped it!" Hinata said in amazement.

"Hate to say it, but that's definitely a clever and creative way in stopping it." Kise said.

"Not exactly what I was talking about, but it works." Aomine said.

"Yeah. It's a good thing this ain't basketball. Otherwise, that'd be definite goaltending."

The teams went to gather more orbs one last time.

There was about 30 seconds left. The Breakers were holding on to a 2 point lead over the Kings with the Rats, thanks to Kuroko, were tied with the Kings.

"All we have to do is guard the banks and time our jumps. If they can't get past it, this'll be easy." Ruby said to Miyuki and the others.

Just as she said this, the bank changed back to where the ring of fire was.

"Ugh." Ruby slumped over, putting her hands on her face, realizing she jinxed it.

"You and your big mouth." Zak M. said.

Everything that happened within those seconds felt as if it was in slow motion.

Zak, instead of trying to prevent them from getting to the banks, uses his Fang to knock the orb sack away from Jotaro and performs a Kamikaze style attack and takes out Priya.

"Bren!" Midorima called out.

Miyuki leaps and takes out Bren. But before he lost all of the orbs, he saw Midorima entering his shooting form already. Bren gasped, knowing exactly what that was.

"Midorima!" Bren called out, throwing one of the orbs his way before he hit the ground.

But Hanamiya saw it coming and knocked it away, timing his jump off the Speedor as it was coming down.

"No!" Ruby R. called out. She and several others on the Kings had jaw-dropping reactions on their faces.

"Impossible! He stopped it!?" Akashi said aloud.

"No way! Only Akashicchi has been able to stop the Sky Direct Shot!" Kise said.

"You think I didn't notice Midorima is the only one out of the Miracles that's left-handed?" Hanamiya thought. "Every single one of the passes he's been given, whether by Jotaro, Bren or Isagi, you've all made sure he can catch it with his left hand to make it easier for him. Even if I'm not tall enough to stop it when he launches them, if I know he's going to throw the orb with his left every time, all I need to do is figure out where the Chi is coming from."

"Kuroko! You have to make this!" Bennett said.

Kuroko prepares to throw up another Phantom Shot.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Part 3 Bizarre Jotaro's Theme Plays

Jotaro was coming over on his Speedor, with full intentions of stopping it.

"It's not over yet. Doesn't matter if I can't see it. All that matters…. IS THAT I STOP YOU!" Jotaro shouted.

"ORA!"

Using Star Platinum, with sheer force, the orb reappears, going back downwards.

Several people on the Rats, Kings and Breakers all had their jaws dropped.

"He blocked it!?" Akko said.

"That's the same I way stopped it." Kise said.

"Huh?"

"When I went against Kurokocchi and Seirin in the Winter Cup semis, I couldn't see the ball. So I just copied Murasakibara and Akashi's Emperor Eye. And stopped it with brute force. As long as I could figure out where the ball was going before it turned invisible I could stop it."

"I figured out the quirk to your trick. When you do that, the object in question doesn't actually disappear. It's just invisible. If your opponent can correctly guess the direction of where it went when you push it upwards, then they can stop it!" Jotaro explained to Kuroko.

"Even so, I won't give up! I'm not finished yet!" Kuroko said.

Wind started to form around him.

Jotaro turned and saw the orb that was coming. But it was too late.

"Crap! How the hell did I not see that!?" Jotaro thought.

Akashi's eyes widened.

"Wait. I know what this is." Kagami said.

Kuroko, in an incredible show of strength, sent the orb back forward with the palm of his hand andunleashed another one of his signature techniques, the Ignite Pass Kai, an improved version of the Ignite Pass, another one of his signature techniques.

Ten seconds remained.

But Jotaro wasn't finished either. Pulling out an orb from his pocket, he throws it to Midorima.

"Midorima!" Jotaro calls out.

7…..

The green-haired sharpshooter sees the orb coming his way and already knows what to do, getting into his shooting motion.

6…..

Ruby G. anticipates this as being to his left, but it wasn't. It was to his right hand. He throws up the orb from a great distance.

5….

"I see you." Isagi said, making his presence known once again. He was en route to stopping the pass and had a better chance of stopping it compared to Jotaro as he was closer.

"I finally figured it out. My metavision. Thanks to that, my vision and spatial awareness increases. Which means, even with your Misdirection, I can still see you." Isagi thought confidently.

He believed he had the pass in hand before a bad feeling came to him.

4….

"Wait."

He reared his head and saw….. Whisper! She was in the perfect position to get the pass and score, putting her team in front of the Kings.

3…

"No! How did she- unless….. he diverted the attention all to himself on purpose!? I won't be able to stop it. It's too fast!"

2….

"No… I can't give up. There's no guarantee Midorima makes this….."

Isagi, letting his instincts take over, actually jumps off the speedor and performs a mid-air kick as his body was turning towards Midorima, who was already preparing for another shot, kicking the orb back his direction. He didn't even pay attention to the fact that Isagi kicked it, it was more out of trust for his teammates that they'd find a way more than anything else.

1….

But it was Ruby, who at the last second, jumped in the way and took the brunt of the hit.

"TIME!" Lavarius called out.

Everyone was in pure silence at the recent turn of events.

"The winner of today's contest is…." Lavarius started.

…

….

…

…

…

…

"The Wave Breakers!" Chris called out.

"Second place is the Kings!"

This caused the former team to cheer and latter to breath a sigh of relief.

"Rats! You're last! And I'm sure you know what that means."

Breakers: 84

Kings: 83

Rats: 82

The 12 competitors, to various degrees, with Jotaro and Whisper showing basically no fatigue, were breathing hard.

"That pass….. that was incredible! What was that?" Isagi said to Kuroko.

"I guess. That was the Ignite Pass Kai. But even so, it still wasn't enough it seems." Kuroko said.

"Yeah. Guess so." Isagi said, scratching his cheek a little before noticing Kuroko's face. "I would have thought you would have been a lot more upset losing. I know I would be." Isagi said.

"Well of course I'm upset."

"Then could you show some emotion other than that same blank look!?" Isagi shouted comedically.

"I have to say, that was a bold, but impressive move."

"Huh? Oh that kick. Well, I guess my instincts sort of took over. Heh heh heh."

"Sorry Kuroko. You gave it all you had. But I dragged you down." Bennett said, showing up in between the two.

"I don't think you dragged me down at all. That pass was perfect."

"Not perfect enough it seems." Bennett said before sighing and walking away.

"They're really taking this one hard. And it makes sense." Isagi said as Priya wasn't smiling herself. Same with Whisper.

"This was a tough loss. But we did our best. And we didn't quit. Sometimes, that's all that matters in the end. We may have lost, but our spirits didn't die."

"Next game then. If you're still around that is." Isagi said, looking forward to the possibility of a rematch. Kuroko nodded as the two joined their respective teams.

"Tetsu you b[censored]d." Aomine said.

"Knucklehead, why the heck did you try to pull that reckless crap?" Maki asked Isagi, lightly hitting him on the head with her staff.

"Like I told Kuroko. Guess I just acted on instinct." Isagi said.

"Yeah, well guess what? Those instincts could have gotten you injured." Maki said before looking at Kuroko. "Kid really sent a whole laser beam. No idea which one I should be shocked more about. The fact that he did that or the fact that you did that." Maki said to Isagi.

"Or the fact that she did that?" Dewey added, referring to Ruby G., which caused Maki to give him a look before she said something.

"Yeah, guess that counts too."

"What was that that happened with Jotaro? Do you know?" Huey D. asked Aomine.

"He combined the Ignite Pass Kai with his ultimate trump card. The Misdirection Overflow." Aomine said. "With it, he diverts opponents' attention to himself. But by doing so, creates an opening for his teammates."

"And that's how Whisper got open. And how no one noticed Bennett." Marinette said.

"Yet he was still passing. Didn't matter what happened before. Or how much his teammates messed up. The guy still trusted them enough to do that." Maki said. "If that really was his trump card, he didn't just throw a laser beam. He basically threw the whole kitchen sink."

"And that's not even all of Tetsu's arsenal. He's still got the Direct Drive Zone and Vanishing Drive in his pocket. And the regular ignite pass." Aomine said.

"What? Just how many moves that he have? And just how the heck is something like this just ignored?" Maki said, a surprised look on her face.

"Because he doesn't even use half this stuff most of the time, duh. If he did then his Misdirection would start to run out."

"'Duh'? You're saying that like I'm supposed to be an expert on this stuff!"

As Aomine and Maki continued their back and forth, Toxsa, Libby and Hailey were tending to Ruby.

"I'm fine. But thanks though. I'm definitely not going to really be able to eat." Ruby said, her stomach in pain.

"It'd be worse than that if you took the brunt of that probably. Why would you do that? It's not like we were in danger of losing." Reagan asked.

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I know we haven't actually won a challenge undisputedly at all this season without some potential asterisk. So I wanted to make sure we actually got that this season."

"I'd rather we tie than see you get hurt. Please don't do that again." Hanamiya said.

"Fine, fine. I won't do it again." Ruby said before handing Reagan the glove which was actually dented because of the Ignite Pass Kai.

"Jesus what the heck did he do? This has a dent in it." Reagan said.

"Kid's got a cannon. Furuya too." Dwayne said.

"Never seen Furuya's arm shoot a laser though." Miyuki said.

"Dude, why the heck didn't you say you could do stuff like that?" Natsu asked Kuroko.

"You didn't ask." Kuroko said.

"What!? Are you serious!?"

"Yes."

"It's like you knew where they were going. How?" Sena asked.

"I just looked at their movements and their personalities and tendencies. That's all. For example, Natsu, Sendo, Kagami and Falcon actually move similarly. And in some cases, Rei as well."

"What? Are you serious!?" All four said simultaneously.

"Yes."

"I don't move like Kagami!" Rei yelled.

"And would you quit it with those blank looks already!? It's creepin' me out!" Falcon said.

"In order for my passes and Misdirection to work, I have to get some sort of feel for my teammates. Even if I don't play with them, watching them can be effective too. I think for the most part, I have a good feeling for how all of you guys act here. Even Rocky and Hiruma. As unpredictable as they may seem, they can definitely receive passes from me just fine. Even Happy could."

"Wow. So you can tell all of that just from silently watching someone. Kinda scary." Happy said.

"Yeah, and I thought Dawn's aura reading was weird. You can literally predict our movements just from watching us? Yeah I think that's enough challenge for today from me." Noah said.

"Our auras are actually pretty similar. Kuroko is a very kind and gentle soul." Dawn said.

"I could say the same about you." Kuroko said, smiling at her.

"Alright guys, time to head back! I'm actually starving. And as promised, Chi and weapons will be awarded to the winning team! Which in your case, you'll be able to keep the weapons you have."

"Sweet! I call dibs on all of 'em." Nimona said.

"That was an awesome event! You guys are welcome back here anytime." Laval said, waving as they went through the portal.

"I wouldn't mind. I'm sure there's so much to learn here." Sophie said, passing by.

"Only time will tell. As for the winning team, congratulations on being the victory and winning Chi. Use it well, use it wisely." Lavarius said.

Back on the island, the teams were given food, with the Breakers being given burgers and fries, the Kings were given tortillas. Though it had a bit of a….. questionable taste. The Rats were given the chef special with soggy fries.

Priya could only sigh looking at her food.

"You okay?" Rally asked, sitting next to her.

"No. That's four challenges I've been a part of that I couldn't help lead to winning."

"So? You did well on this one."

"Of course you'll say that. I don't expect you to tell me 'I suck'."

"Look, I'm not going to let you sit here and act like all of this is your fault when it isn't. It was a two point difference. This counts as self-care too you know. You're not going to get everything back at once. Think about it, Kuroko tried to score himself but the absolute last thing he did in the end was to find an open teammate to pass too when he could have tried to score himself again. What do you think that says?"

"But that's different. Kuroko's a passer. So of course he's going to do that."

"And what about the others who think it's their fault? You think they think you did well for them to be blaming themselves?"

"But it's not their-"

Rally smiled after realizing that Priya got what she meant.

"Wow. I never thought about it like that. I should probably go talk to them huh?"

"That's up to you to decide."

Priya picks up her plate to go talk to Whisper and Bennett.

"Thank you!"

***Confessional***

Priya(Radical Rats):

"You know, when she first brought up my parents, I kind of thought she was going to be like Millie at first when it came to writing that stuff about them. But she wasn't condescending at all. And….. she actually brought up some good points. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind me talking to them and asking them a few questions. Once I win this season I'll get right to it!"

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Rally(Radical Rats):

"I really do want to help her. But considering the fact that I don't consider myself the best person to talk to when it comes to advice, I'm kinda doing all of this from my gut and on the fly. And I'm afraid that if I go too fast, I'll actually make things worse. The last thing I want is her to get mad at me or get some type of panic attack and break down on everyone here. Hence why I'm not just going to go around telling everyone this."

***End Confessional***

Meanwhile, Hanamiya was with Bakura, Blaineley, Reagan and Ruby at a table.

"That was incredible. You guys were able to stop his passes even though his Misdirection was working. How? What exactly did you tell them?" Bakura asked.

"I told them to actually ignore Kuroko and focus only on the orbs. There's only two ways you can actually stop his misdirection. The first is to have a wide field of vision. Something that not everyone here has obviously. And the second is to figure out how it works. Imayoshi did, but it's easier said than done to replicate that b[censored]d. And even then, Misdirection Overflow got him. So I figured, that if we couldn't stop him, we'd stop the passes instead. But that'd be easier said than done. His passes are quick and crisp. Hence why it's so hard to actually steal them. It'd take a lot of thinking and a good reaction time to stop them. Hence why I said something to them about thinking caps. As 'invisible' as his passes seem, they're not. Outside of when he changes them up himself, his pass patterns make sure the person he's passing too can actually see and expect the pass. But with what I came up with, it doesn't matter if the person he's passing to expected it or not. If it doesn't reach them, it doesn't matter. And the same could be applied to the passes of the others. It's all about prediction, reaction time and teamwork. If you don't have all three of those, then it isn't going to work. It's very high risk, high difficulty and high reward." Hanamiya explained.

"Something I think we did quite well." Ruby G. said.

"Wow. You thought all of that through in a matter of minutes? Incredible." Bakura said.

"Like I said, all you needed was a little patience." Hanamiya said. "There's no guarantee we'll win every game, but I'll definitely be giving it my all from now on."

***Confessional***

Hanamiya(Wave Breakers):

"Actually, I lied. What I had to do to come up with that took several days and several challenges. Did you dumba[censored]es really think I was just sitting there doing nothing the entire time? No. I was studying both of the teams. I just took longer because that's more people I had to study. Even in the challenges I was in all of that was intentional. Trying to injure one of them. Getting under the skin of the Miracles and then intentionally choosing not to be in any of the challenges when possible. All of it. It's unfortunate we lost people along the way but there's no use in crying over spoiled milk is there?"

"It's nowhere close to perfect yet, but it did it's job. I decided to try it now because I wasn't going to let the opportunity of getting rid of that nuisance slip by. If I can't take him out by injuring him I'll just do it by just making him run out of options. No more games. From this point on, neither the Kings or Rats or going to have it easy. And I really do mean it this time."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Yami Bakura(Wave Breakers):

"While I do respect him, I have no interest in forming an alliance with him. Why? If our performance improves drastically after this and he's figured out to be the source, then there is a chance he could get targeted. Besides, if someone as nice as Ruby can get unknowingly involved in his plans then anyone can."

***End Confessional***

Haizaki went to sit with an unexpecting Kuroko. He wasn't sure what to say or how to react seeing him there especially since they've never talked since middle school.

"Haizaki?"

Haizaki said nothing for several seconds. But Kuroko could tell that was thinking of something to say, but struggling to do it.

"You're lookin' a hell of a lot different compared to the little runt I remember from middle school." Haizaki finally said.

"Things have changed since then. We've all trained and gotten better. I'd say the same thing applies to you as well." Kuroko said.

"Yeah, whatever."

There was dead silence between the two of them.

"So, what do you think? I told you you would have been worse off if you stayed. So? Was I right?"

Kuroko stayed silent for a few seconds. "I don't regret staying at Teiko if that's what you're thinking." Kuroko answered before pausing a few seconds. "As much as I disliked their way of thinking. And their way of playing, that never made me want to resent them as people. Yes, I could have quit. Multiple times. But I didn't. Because I was determined to fulfill my promises. No matter what it took. Or how long it took. If I were to just quit and leave things as they were, that wouldn't make things better for me. That'd only make me the same as them."

"Tch. All I asked was if you felt worse off. I didn't ask you to give me all that extra crap. That's got nothing to do with me."

"If you're really unconcerned. If it really had nothing to do with you. Why did you come back to play basketball in high school? Why do you have so much resentment towards them? Not for their thinking, but as people? Especially Kise. You were given the choice by Yami to quit here but you didn't. And other than us, no one here knew you before this show. So, according to your thinking, they've got nothing to do with you either. Yet you decided to admit you got kicked off the team after lying to Duncan about it when Myron was scared. Yet you continued to ask Duncan why he wanted to know more about you. Yet you stopped when Lotte was on the ground crying when you could have easily won. Yet you stopped stealing food from your teammates. Yet you stopped with the demeaning attitude you've shown towards women for a while. Yet you decided to race Morty with no advantage. Yet you cared about what people would think about you if you were eliminated. Yet you decided to sit here and talk to me when you made it clear before you quit back in middle school that we weren't friends. And last time I checked, you haven't done this with any of the others. Why?"

"I ain't answerin' all that. I'm done." Haizaki said, getting up. "Enjoy your elimination tonight pipsqueak. Somethin' told me sittin' with you wasn't a good idea." He said before walking away.

Kuroko looked at Haizaki as he left.

As for Kuroko's light Kagami, he went to confront a now free Hanamiya, who was about to start reading until he saw a tall shadow standing over him while he was under a tree.

"Oh. Hey Kagami."

"Don't you hey me you a[censored]wipe. I wanna know exactly what the hell you just did in that last game."

"You're gonna have to be more specific. Sorry."

Kagami folded his arms. "If you think I'm gonna punch you like Aomine did it's not gonna happen. So you can throw whatever scheme you're plannin' in that head of yours in the trash."

"Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Those steals. It's as if you and the others could just….. see the future! Like some Team Emperor Eye or somethin'!"

"Team Emperor Eye?" Hanamiya chuckled before actually laughing out loud. "Wow. You really are stupid."

"HUH!?"

Hanamiya's expression changed to his true self. "I don't mean to say that just to tease you like Rei does. I really do mean it." Hanamiya stands up. "Do you really think that I would just gladly tell you exactly what I did to shut both of your teams down? How much of a damn moron do you think I am!?" Hanamiya snapped.

Ding Ding

Character Song SOLO SERIES Vol.14: Makoto Hanamiya Song 2: STEAL YOUR BREATH by Jun Fukuyama(Hanamiya's Jap VA)plays

*Short Instrumental Period Plays*

"You just keep underestimating me. The next 'Team Victory'. Eliza. Sebastian. You all just keep underestimating me and my team, and we'll dig all of your graves!"

Kurai tsuita mushikera ni (For those worms that really get into it)
Doujou wa mijin mo kanji tari shinai (I won't even feel an atom of sympathy)
Tettei teki ni mijime na omoi saseruze (I'll thoroughly give you these miserable feelings,)
Kuyashi gare yo (yes feel frustrated at yourself)
Zenbu yo METERU tsugi no PATAAN mo (I've read through all of you)
Omaera REBERU 100% (the next pattern as well)

Kaibou wa sundeirunda (The dissection is complete,)
Jiwa jiwa naburi koroshite yaru (I'll torture you to death so it's slowly seeping out)
Kumo no su wa de kiteruze (The spider's web has been finished)
STEAL YOUR BREATH hajimatteru (Steal your breath, it's about to begin,)
Sorosoro kiite kita koro daro (it's about time for it to come into effect)
Kizuite mo osoi ze (It's too late even if you notice it)

*Short Instrumental Period*

"When this is over, there will be no miracle to save you or your Miracle friends."

Kozaiku nashi demo (Even without tricks,)
Tennan te hora, itsudemo toren dayo (I can take points anytime, take a look)
Sekkaku no GEEMU daro (It's the long-awaited game any how,)
Suki ni yarasete mora uda kesa ( so I'll just be having you let me do this how I like it)
Yuganda kao mo keisan doori da (Your strained face is also according to my calculations)
Omaera nante sonna teido (Are all of you only at this level?)Kara me toru teashi ni (I'll stop your hands and feet,)
Zetsubou he no fukusen ga kasanaru (and the foreshadowing to despair will happen simultaneously)
Saikou ni kessaku da (This is my best masterpiece)
STEAL YOUR BREATH ato wa katte ni (Steal your breath, do whatever you want after,)
Socchi kara make tekurerunda (they'll be losing from the other side)
Mogaku hodo hamaruze (You've fallen into a trap, struggling)

*Instrumental/Guitar Solo Period Plays*

"You think I care about feeling less known compared to you guys? Or fitting in? Making friends? No. I came here to make every single one of you that 'grinds' or works their a[censored]es off suffer the bitter taste of defeat. Hell, being invisible makes it easier to slit your damn throats."

...SET UP THE TRAPS
Kaibou wa sundeirunda (The dissection is complete,)
Jiwa jiwa naburi koroshite yaru (I'll torture you to death so it's slowly seeping out)
Kumo no su wa de kiteruze (The spider's web has been finished)
STEAL YOUR BREATH hajimatteru (Steal your breath, it's about to begin,)
Sorosoro kiite kita koro daro (it's about time for it to come into effect)
Kizuite mo osoi ze (It's too late even if you notice it)

*Final Instrumental Period Plays*

"I told you I'd make your life a living hell the next time we played after you beat me in the Winter Cup. Well guess what? It starts now. If you thought what I did to Kiyoshi, Priya and Cameron was my best then you're sadly mistaken. Talent or abilities don't matter. Because when they're broken? They're all trash in the end."

"Tch. You can throw out all the threats you want. Fact of the matter is you were still close to blowin' that lead. But what p[censored]es me off the most. Is the fact that you're not even sorry for the s[censored] you did even after you lost! And I'm not just talkin' about Kiyoshi. I mean to everyone here too."

"I already gave you a fair warning. If you can't even see how different things looked compared to all the other times then that sounds like a problem you'll need to fix on your own. Let's just hope it won't end with you on a stretcher."

This only made Kagami ball his fists.

***Confessional***

Kagami(Radical Rats):

"I don't give a damn if he doesn't like Jabberwock. So he's not racist, so what? The guy's still garbage! Whatever it takes, he's not gonna win!"

***End Confessional***

Hiruma was outside on his laptop, sitting by himself. Mamori walked up beside him and sat down.

"Hiruma….."

Hiruma didn't say a word and continued typing.

"Your father….. I didn't know….."

"What about him? It's not as if talking about him will do or change anything."

"You don't have to shoulder all that burden anymore. Lanolin. X. Rally. They're all here to help you."

Hiruma continued to type in silence as he blew a bubble with his gum.

'If….there's anything you need to talk about. Please. Don't hesitate to talk about it with us. We'll listen to whatever you have to say. That's what we talked about earlier. That's why…. you wanted Priya to stay wasn't it?"

"Is that so huh?"

"Yeah." Mamori said before grabbing his left arm and giving him a hug.

Hiruma turned with a devilish grin. "So you'll listen to anything huh!?"

Mamori had a terrified look on her face at what she just said, realizing her mistake when Lucy and Ruby G. passed by them.

"Oh wow." Ruby G. said before taking a picture of them on her phone.

"Well look at you two." Lucy said.

"It's not what you think!" Mamori said. "I would never date him!"

"Never actually said that." Ruby G. said.

"I JUST WANTED TO CHECK ON HIM!"

"Well, does it look like I'm dead, f[censored]ing manager?"

"As Mamori continued to try to explain herself, to the amusement of Lucy and Ruby, on the quieter side of things, Mayuzumi was off to himself reading until Heather and Alejandro showed up which only caused him to sigh.

"If this is about that alliance, I never explicitly said yes or no yet did I? So why are you bothering me about it now?"

"Sorry. Maybe you forgot." Heather said.

"Well, I didn't. Besides, after what you said to Priya, you've got some nerve wanting to ask about an alliance."

"Yeah, that was too far. I did apologize." Heather said.

"I see. Well in any case, I suppose I'll accept the offer."

"What made you say yes so quickly after we asked you this time?" Alejandro asked.

"Like I said, I don't have any connections to anyone here. And I don't really care much to make any. However….." Mayuzumi closed his light novel. "That doesn't mean I don't have an interest in winning. College is expensive after all." Mayuzumi said, smiling a little. "As long as you leave me be and don't ask me to do anything outside of what I'm not capable of, I'm fine with joining your alliance."

"Just do what you're supposed to and you'll be fine. I don't think anyone's asking you to make laser beams. But that support definitely helps. We'll really appreciate it." Courtney said, joining the four.

Mayuzumi walked away.

"Going to find another spot to read I assume?" Alejandro asked.

"Yes." Mayuzumi said.

***Confessional***

Courtney(Storm Kings):

"You know, I think it's safe to say I misjudged Midorima. Greatly." Courtney grabs her "I…. probably should apologize to him huh?"

***End Confessional***

Courtney found Bren talking to Midorima. About the challenge no less.

"No need to thank me." Midorima said to Bren.

"I insist man! You were awesome!"

"What I mean by that is that you should be thanking yourself."

"Thanking myself. For what?"

"For being willing to improve yourself into something better. Try as you might to try and thank me. What I say is meaningless. You are in control of your decisions, not me."

"Huh. You know, that is true. And uh, also, sorry about all the stuff I said before about you. I may not be dedicated like you are to this stuff. But I don't have to be!"

"Same here." Courtney said, finally speaking up. "Sorry for lashing out at you. You had every right to not help me anymore."

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would I not help a teammate?" Midorima said before getting up. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

As he walked away, he pushed up his glasses. As he did, a slight smile could be seen on his face.

***Confessional***

Bren(Storm Kings):

"Say what you will about him and his lucky items. But he gets the job done. To be able to do something like that through sheer effort and work for over four years deserves a heap ton of praise and awesomeness. More than I could ever give him. You could say Midorima doesn't have a superpower. But I disagree. His superpowers are hard work and effort."

***End Confessional***

"What?" May said to Rally in disbelief after being told about Priya's parents along with Becky.

"Yeah. I can't believe it either. And the poor girl believes all of it is to make sure she has a better life. When it clearly isn't from what was shown. Maybe not put your baby around a wild bear if you want them to have a better life. Just my two cents." Rally said.

"Rally, I really don't like the fact that you don't want us to tell everyone about this." May said.

"It's not the fact that I don't want you to do that. It's how fast you do it. Everyone knows about this and she's not going to trust anyone here if a person tells her about it the wrong way. I want her to know that we're trying to help her not demean her. Besides, we definitely don't need bad apples here to hear about this. There's no telling what they'll do with that info."

"'How fast'? What do you expect us to do?" Becky asked.

Rally sighed. "To be honest, I'm kind of stuck on this myself. I wanna say she's making progress since she said she'll talk to her parents about her future and things like that, but that honestly could be when she gets sent home from being eliminated. I just….. I need time to think. I've never been put into a situation like this before. Besides, we have an elimination to worry about anyway."

"True. Then if that's the case, we need to make sure we don't pick Priya." Becky said.

"Too bad we can't control what the others do." May said.

"I'm more concerned about Kuroko. That kid is ridiculous. And you expect me to seriously believe all of that is just ignored? Just what kind of world are they from?" Becky said.

"It's anime Becky. They're definitely from anime world. Has to be." May said.

"Oh yeah. Forgot you said you said you're into that stuff." Rally said. "Besides Becky, are you really going to be a prisoner of the moment? Kuroko is the least of our worries. At least when it comes to power players we might have to deal with. Falcon is one since he made the final 4. Natsu's another. And Lucy. And you're supposed to be the thinker here."

"Yeah but still."

"Even if he were to stay around for that long, Jotaro basically showed a blueprint for how to stop the Phantom Shot. Don't know anything about the Ignite Pass Kai though."

"You should try catching one." May joked.

"And end up having my bones broken? Absolutely not." Rally said.

(Kuroko's ignite pass kais are apparently fast enough to break bones like the femur)

"So Ral. Got anyone here you're fancyin'?" May asked.

"No one in particular. Now could you please stop asking me that question? Thanks."

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! But seriously though. Did you see that picture of Hiruma and Mamori?"

"Uh, no?"

"Wanna see?"

"Not really."

"Haaa!" May puts the phone in front of Rally's face, surprising her. It was the same picture Ruby G. took.

"Uh, context first, thanks."

"And of course you're not the gossip type."

"I'm going to gossip on over inside to watch about of TV. I need a mental break honestly." Rally said before going inside. As she was going inside, she found Kageyama on one of the edges of the porch writing something in a book. But she didn't really give him too much of a look. It was Hinata that got his attention.

"Hey! You writing in your journal again?"

"Yeah. Just about done though." Kageyama said.

"Cool! What's this entry about?"

"Our team. And how great it is. I'll be honest, I was kind of getting frustrated the first few challenges. But now, I think we're in a great place. I think everyone's great. Now we just need one more piece of the puzzle to finish it."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Take a wild guess." Kageyama said as the camera changed to Haizaki being in his room being by himself, laying on the bed and looking upwards as he held and looked at a basketball he brought over.

***Confessional***

Kageyama(Wave Breakers):

"I feel like Haizaki's making progress, but it can definitely be accelerated if he was more open with us. Sure, he's talked. But outside of challenges, he's been pretty much a closed book. But then again, I get it. Sometimes you're not comfortable with sharing your personal life with other people. While winning the challenges would be great, the biggest win would be seeing him win as a person."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Becky F.(Radical Rats):

"You're probably wondering what I told Louie, Todd and Reimu. Simple. We team up against the Breakers. Particularly to take out strong members. E.g. Miyuki. Yeah I know it's kinda petty but he's still a bit of a threat regardless."

***End Confessional***

Elimination Ceremony

"Alright Rats! It's time for an elimination! You already know the rules. You vote, you come back here. Now let's get started." Chris said.

***Confessional***

Becky F.(Radical Rats):

*Stamps Kuroko's passport*

"Still going with Kuroko here."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Kagami:

*Stamps Priya's passport*

"Sorry. But I gotta choose somebody. And if push comes to shove, of course I'm not gonna vote may pal off."

***End Confessional***
***Confessional***

Kuroko:

*Doesn't stamp anyone and walks out of confessional.

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Falcon:

*Stamps Priya's passport*

"Let's see. 4 challenges to two from Whisper. Gonna go with Priya here. Sorry."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Natsu:

*Stamps Bennett*

"Man, I really didn't know who to choose. But I just couldn't vote for Kuroko. The guy gave it all he had. It just wouldn't feel right."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Hiruma:

*Stamps Kuroko*

"That f[censored]ing manager. Even if she means well, she can be too coddling and suffocating. That's exactly how she treated the Peewee until he stood up for himself. That's why I didn't tell her about champriya. She might do the same thing to her.

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Priya:

*Stamps Kuroko*

"I really do thank you, Kurt and Rally for helping me. It'll only help me get stronger. But being strong means still playing the game. And so far, those abilities will be too dangerous to keep around later. I really hope you understand."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Bennett:

*Stamps Whisper*

"I wouldn't feel right voting for the guy that motivated me to keep going. He didn't abandon me so I won't just toss him away like that. I really hope you understand Whisper."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Whisper:

*Stamps Bennett*

"I'm sorry Kuroko. It was definitely my fault for not getting closer. You could have tried to win yourself but you believed in us enough to pass to us one more time. Too bad I didn't live up to that belief."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Tangle:

*Stamps Bennett*

"Whisper blames herself for the loss for not getting closer. But it's not her fault. And it's not Kuroko's either. The other teams just outplayed us. It's not anyone's fault."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Zero:

*Stamps Priya*

"I can tell Whisper blames herself for this loss. But simply put, we just got off to a bad start. Ruby, Hanamiya and Miyuki clearly had a plan to stop both of the teams and it worked perfectly."

***End Confessional***

***Confessional***

Lanolin:

*Stamps Kuroko*

"I saw that Priya tried to confide in Whisper. It's not any of their fault. I don't know what Hanamiya had planned, but he shut us down to perfection. All of the points we scored were difficult to earn compared to theirs."

***End Confessional***

"All right. Another day, another elimination. You've all casted your-"

"Excuse me." Kuroko started.

"Uh, this is like the worst time to interrupt me man."

"Sorry, but I'll make it quick. I'm quitting."

Several people's eyebrows widened.

"Kurokocchi you're quitting!?" Kise said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Kuroko do you know what you're sayin' man?" Kagami asked.

"I know it seems like a surprise. But trust me, I'm absolutely sure."

"Dude, seriously, if you quit, you're going to lose an opportunity for 10 million dollars. So just to confirm, are you sure you want to leave?" Chris asked.

"Yes. I'm a hundred percent sure. I want to quit the season." Kuroko said.

"Kuroko. At the very least, you have to give us an explanation." Rei said. "After what you just did today, how could you just leave after that?"

"Because, I don't want to take the opportunity of that money from others." Kuroko started.

"Now hold on a second. While I appreciate the gesture, why wait until now? It's been multiple episodes and challenges. What's changed?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah man. You're a good guy. If you beat us, it'll be fair and square. Sure, I don't like losin', but I'm not gonna get upset if you win. You earned it man. I can definitely say that after what you did today." Natsu said.

"Originally, I came here to win the money of course. And use some of it for college. But after seeing and understanding the reasons and motivations for some of the people coming here,I realize that there's people here that are far more deserving of that type of money than I am. And time."

"Time? What do you mean by that?" Kagami asked.

"Priya, Whisper and Bennett. I know you all blame yourselves for this loss. But I don't. And you shouldn't either. You all gave it your best. If I didn't believe in you, I wouldn't have tried to pass the ball one last time. Or try to bring us back in the game. So keep playing. Don't quit. I can't guarantee you'll win, but if you don't try, you won't know that for sure. I don't care what Hanamiya, Agon or Urien says. None of you are useless. And none of you will be forgotten. You all can do amazing things that some people in the world wish they can do. Someone out there, even if it's one person that you've never seen in your life, will remember you."

"Obviously, some people may be dealing with trauma or pain. And I'd hate to see any of these three. Or even someone like Morty or Lotte be eliminated and have that opportunity for people that care about them to help them through it every step of the way be taken away from them because of me. I've already had people to help me through things when I've felt pain. And while I'd love to be around to help, I suppose this will be a good substitute. Even though my time was short, I still had a lot of fun. I've never been anywhere outside of Japan before coming to this show so this was an amazing experience. And it was nice to see all of my friends in one place smiling, laughing and having fun, even Haizaki. Especially you Kagami."

Kagami was looking down.

"Kagami? You okay man?" Sendo asked.

"Tch. You son of a b[censored]h." Kagami said before looking up, grinning at him. "You just can't keep that damn mouth shut can you? You selfless b[censored]d. You realize I hate every part of you quittin' right?"

Kuroko was a little surprised at Kagami's words. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Unlike this jerk here being selfish. What are you gonna spend the 10 million on? Basketball shoes?" Rei said mockingly.

"Would you can it!?"

"I didn't get a reply." Rei said.

"I said can it! And you're the last person to talk about being selfish! I don't see you quittin'!"

"Would you two give it a rest?" Several of the Rats, Chris, Doyle, Chef and Heloise all said simultaneously.

Kagami puts a hand on the back of his head. "But….. I do respect it. And I'm not just sayin' that to not be disrespectful. I mean it man. I respect your decision for leaving. And why you wanna do it. I just hate the fact that we never got to actually do anything here together if I recall correctly. I know it's selfish but….. it's the first time we've gotten to see each other in person since I left to go to school in America. I just…. at least wanted to have that you know? But I'm not gonna complain. Because what I did get was pretty sweet too. And I got to see you take over a game firsthand. Something I ain't ever see you do since the game against Yosen. Hell, this actually might be better than that, even if we did lose. So what if the time was short? It's better than nothin' right? And I'm thankful for that time." Kagami said before extending his fist for a fist bump. Kuroko accepted.

"Kurokocchi, obviously, I'll be seeing you again when I come back in Japan but, I had fun. It's always a treat being on a team with you. And I'm glad you had fun here. Seeing all of these places truly is an incredible experience." Kise said before extending his own fist. "I'll be sure to make sure you proud."

"I'm sure you will Kise. And it was fun being on the team with you too. By the way, tell the others that I said it was fun playing against them as well." Kuroko said after they bumped fists.

"You got it."

"Kuroko!" Puss called out.

"In most cases, I am not particularly a fan of quitting. But your reasons to want to leave. To give others an opportunity, is one that I can truly respect. Especially after what you've done in the last few challenges you've been in. You battled with no regrets. Even in a loss you gave it everything you had to try and pull our team to victory. As long as you and your friends are okay with the decision, then so am I." Puss extends his hand for Kuroko to shake it who accepts.

"It was great playing alongside a hero like you." Kuroko said.

"Just like it was great playing alongside you, Phantom Sixth Man. You truly are deserving of the title Generation of Miracle."

"Kuroko." Bennett said. He turned towards him.

"Thank you." Bennett said to Kuroko.

"You didn't have to do this. But you did so out of kindness. Even though I never knew you very well." Whisper said. Usually she likes her personal space and isn't exactly a fan out of out of the blue hugs. But she makes an exception and hugs him.

"Thank you." Whisper said.

Priya joined in on the hug. "Thank you so much. I promise, win or lose, I'll keep going until the end."

Kuroko, a few seconds later, releases from the embrace and gets his bags and gets on the boat, extending his fist again. While Kagami was the first do it back, Rei was the second and Kise was the third before the entire team did it.

"Well, I guess that's it. You're safe for now." Chris said, still surprised at the fact that someone decided to quit so early without even waiting until the votes started.

As they walked back, Rei caught up to Kagami.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Honest. Like I said, I'm a little bummed I didn't get to play with him. Guess it's just the aftermath of it bein' so sudden ya know?"

Rei and Kagami sat outside in the sand, the moon shining bright above them. The only other two people outside being Shiro, who was off to himself, eyes closed, seemingly in bliss and one with the moon, the ocean sounds calming him. And the other being Furuya, who was fishing by himself again.

"To be honest, my only friends are Yuichiro, who's at the shrine I work in and the other Sailor Guardians, with Usagi being one of them. But, I'd definitely understand how you'd feel if that ever happened to them. Just out of curiosity, what do you want the money for?"

"Well, I wanna win the money for college. Obviously, if I'm gonna be able to go into the NBA like I hope to, I have to get into a college. It'd be nice if this money could help."

"But if you have jumping skills like that, you'd probably be able to get a scholarship I'd assume."

"Maybe, but it's not a guarantee. So what about you? Guessin' you want that money for your shrine like Reimu huh?"

"Actually, no. I'd like to be able to use some of it to go to college. And then maybe put some away for my dreams."

"Huh. Pretty crazy we got similar goals. If you don't wanna run that Shrine, what exactly are your goals?"

"Well, a singer, songwriter, model and voice actress."

Kagami was surprised and a little dumbfounded. "Wow. That's a lot. A lot more ambitious than me. If I wasn't gonna do basketball, a job as a firefighter would be cool. But hey, I respect it. Someone with a fire like yours I'm not even surprised."

"Don't feel bad. Wanting to go pro in a sports league in America isn't easy. So I think that's pretty ambitious too. With jumps and passion like that, I think you definitely have a chance."

"Thanks. I think it's safe to say we both have got that fire in us to fulfill our dreams." Kagami said.

"Yeah." Rei said. "Hey, how about a movie?"

"Huh?" Kagami was confused at her randomly bringing this up.

"A movie. You skipped out after the Halloweentown Challenge. Guess you were scared huh?"

"No you idiot. I wasn't scared. I just wasn't really interested. And I know you're not talkin' about someone being scared. Damn do you project a lot. You should change your name to Sailor Projection."

"Considering you lied about being scared of dogs and ghosts I'm skeptical. And I'll have you know I'm very comfortable in talking about my dislikes."

"Give me a break. Your lie was about some stupid s[censored] like romance. The hell is that to lie about?"

"Like you'd know anything about romance. Have you ever even been on a date?"

"The hell does that have to do with anything!?"

"Answer the question!"

"Projecting much!? Have you!?"

"Wha- don't try to flip this on me! And I thought you didn't care about romance?"

"I don't! I'm just not gonna let you get away with-"

Kagami and Rei's arguing was heard from inside from the other rooms by the contestants.

"And they're at it again." Mr. Wolf commented in bed.

"WOULD YOU TWO GET A ROOM ALREADY!?" Ayame yelled out.

"HUH!?"

"SAY WHAT NOW!?"

"SERIOUSLY, GO TO YOUR ROOMS AND GO TO BED!" Weiss called out.

"Tch. If she's gonna say somethin' like that she needs to be more specific." Kagami said.

"Agreed. That sounded completely different than how she intended." Rei said.

Kagami sighed. "You know what? I'll take that movie. Fair warning that I'm not really familiar with actors like that."

"We can just watch something you're familiar with. Like Toy Story. It's the least I could do after seeing Kuroko leave."

"He quit the show he's not dead. I could just call him on the phone if I wanted to."

"Then what the heck was all that emotional stuff earlier?"

"It's because I haven't seen the dude for several months! I moved to another freakin' country! How the hell else am I supposed to feel!? You want me to act like a damn robot or somethin'?"

Rei put a hand on her forehead. "Look, two movies. One is your pick. One is my pick. Got it?"

"Cool with me. You think they have any snacks here?"

"Oh crud I forgot! This can't be a movie night without snacks."

"Damn it. Guess we're just gonna have to do this with no snacks. What a pain."

Chris appeared in front of the camera back outside. "And as these two hotheads cool down together for a movie night, we wind things down on an….. unprecedented elimination. Well, they're asking for food. They might get their wish. In DIY form if you will. What am I talking about? Find out on the next episode of Total….. Drama….. Across the Multiverse!"

---

A/N: Another longer than I expected chapter. To be honest, Kuroko is the one of the KNB characters in the weirdest situation when it comes to how far I'd imagine him getting in these TD Fics.

Because of how he is, how far he gets all depends on his team and how they utilize him.

If they use him well enough, I could potentially see him sneaking into the merge, but him winning is very doubtful. It's canon that he's terrible at 1v1s because he can't use his Misdirection to help him. Which means the merge would be a nightmare for him unless he's in an alliance, which is doubtful. Other than that, he'd definitely be middle of the pack at best in most of the TD X-over stories and at worst a late early boot because of his physical weaknesses, which was how I originally was going to get him eliminated in before I changed it to him quitting, something else that's fitting for him because of his personality.

As for Hanamiya, as I already told G-Man, some of his strategy was very similar to Scott's when it came to self-sabotage. However, what I didn't tell him was why he was doing it. It wasn't something he intended to do the entire time he was there. He just needed time to observe his opponents. You could say Hanamiya is kind of a one-off character since he was only a major character in 3 episodes as far as I remember. Other than that, there'd be a few cameos and that's it. But apparently he was decent enough to get his own two character songs too.

Next chapter will involve cooking so I hope you're ready to break out your chef hats. The stakes may also be raised via double elimination but that hasn't been decided yet. Along with that, a lazy purple-haired final late entry for the interdimensional part of the season will also appear. Will skilled cooks like Sebastian and Kagami get to show off their skills? Find out next time!

---

164th- Dragonfly Jones(Radical Rats)-Martin Sitcom

163rd- Richie and Virgil(Wave Breakers)- Static Shock

162nd- Cameron(Storm Kings)- Total Drama

161st- Duncan(Wave Breakers)- Total Drama

160th- Chris P.(Wave Breakers)- Dan VS

159th- Mona(Storm Kings)- Mona the Vampire

158th- Owen(Radical Rats)-Total Drama

157th- Zoey(Wave Breakers)-Total Drama

156th- Tetsuya Kuroko(Radical Rats)(Quit) - Kuroko's Basketball

---

Next Episodes:

Episode 13: Win a cooking challenge with dishes critiqued by Beerus, Endive, Mung Daal and three other judges(Dragon Ball/Chowder)(Multiverse Edition Challenge; Double Elimination)

Song: ?(?)

Episode 14:Compete in large Scale 6v6 Crucible Modes hosted and commentated by Lord Shaxx(Destiny 1 & 2)

Song: I'm on the Moon(It's Made of Cheese) by Lord Shaxx(Destiny 2)

Episode 15: Compete in Blue Lock challenges hosted by Jinpachi Ego(Double Elimination challenge, only the first place team will be safe from elimination)(Blue Lock)

Song: Chaos ga Kiwamaru by Unison Square Garden or Judgement by Ash Da Hero(Haven't decided which to use yet)

Episode 16: Aftermath I: Compete in a talent show(Multiverse Edition Challenge; Double Elimination)

No Featured Songs