Edit: ...did the inspiration run out? If it did... well... it was totally awesome while it lasted. I should take up a few things from this story...
Oh dang,
sorry almost, but I'm not done yet, believe it or not.
Man, what‘s it been? Hm… I think… a 6 month hiatus? Yeah, where the heck have I been? I really think I now actually have a much better reason to say, sorry for the delay! By now, some of the members who read this aren’t even around anymore
LEVEL UP ! ! I’m sorry, though I hope that I have sort of work on this. I’m actually pretty close to the story’s end, though not quite there at the same time, so I’m going to try to make up for some lost ground.
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“I’m sorry, folks.” stated a replacement announcer back at the city. A puzzled group of citizens walked about, as a sense of concern slowly began to overwhelm the area. “For some reason, we can’t seem to locate any of the racers, or the proctor.”
The city’s monorail system had been closed down temporarily, leaving most of the citizens with no real way to return to their homes for the evening. This didn’t quite help everyone calm down either.
“This is getting absurd.” stated the announcer, as he got off the intercom, inside of a booth atop a skyscraper. “It’s obvious that something serious has happened. I’m going to cancel the race and call the police.”
Another of the businessmen, however, grabbed his collar. This one looked like a Toad, wearing a black jacket, with black spots and sunglasses. His expression was completely devoid of personality. “Don’t.”
“Are you insane? We need to do something.”
“Only the Proctor can make a call about that, and you know it. I know it too. I am, after all, the proctor’s brother.”
“Oh, sorry sir.” the announcer stated, before walking away.
It was exactly at the same time that two distraught yoshis barreled their way the office.
“Hm… what?” he pointed to a red, winged Yoshi. “You’re Yoshark, aren’t you? Sorry, but entering this office disqualifies you both from the race.”
“That’s not important now!’ Yoshark shouted. “The proctor is going insane! He’s trapped all the prisoners in a volcano.”
“What?” asked the black-clothed toad.
“It’s true!” Shouted Yoshark. “Something to do with politics or something-”
“That idiot!” the proctor’s brother shouted. “If word gets out of this, he’ll ruin me!”
Yoshark’s eyebrow arced. “What?”
The man sighed. “Did you two tell anyone else?”
Yoshark shook his head. “No, not yet.”
The proctor’s brother smirked. “…well, good.”
The Yoshi’s expression turned a little puzzled now. “What are you-”
The was abruptly cut off though, as a sudden blow from the back of his had threw both he and his friend into darkness.
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Moshi almost instantaneously had to dodge an attack sent in by Twi. She jumped backwards, kicked from a wall, simultaneously preparing a shadowy ball attack. With the added force from the wall, she flung herself right at Twi, shooting the ball of darkness.
“You’ve left yourself open.” Twi stated. He swung his scythe in the air. It smashed the ball, causing it to ricochet back in her direction. She was struck in return, causing her to crash to the ground.
In his own distraction, though, Twi failed to notice Yoshee. She had taken matters into her own hands, jumping him front behind and forcing him to the ground.
<Yoshee!> Champ and Charon both mentally projected at once.
“Now!” She shouted, as she held him on the ground. “Somebody get that Proctor!”
The proctor’s mouth went agape. He turned around and proceeded from the group, running in the direction of the ship.
It was Lava’s turn now. He sped ahead of him, and blocked his path. Lava then withdrew his key blade; it shinning in the light of the glowing magma, and drew it to the man’s neck.
“Got you now!” Lava stated victoriously. “Stop the explosive, now!”
“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!”
The both looked back to spot Yoshee flying in the air. Twi had thrown her off, quite far actually, as she spun in the air. Luckily for her, a newly transformed dragon caught her in flight. Teo landed safely nearby, as Yoshee sat in his back.
“Thanks!” She said. Teo nodded, with his small dragon smile.
In the distraction, the proctor picked the key blade out of Lava’s arm, who starred back, surprised. The proctor then landed a punch on his face, causing him to back off.
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“Come on!” Hunter urged, trying to pull the door open. He was sweating, due to the rising heat in the Ship, as it awaited helplessly for it’s explosive doom. “Come on!”
The heat-drained lion slowly sank down into a sitting position, by the door, which would just not open.
“I…” he spoke aloud to himself. “I need to do something. Right now.”
Hunter got back up, the early stages of heat-stroke appearing all the while. Summoning his courage, Hunter walked away from the door, towards the stairs that delved deeper into the ship’s interior. He brushed his forehead, to sweep the sweat off himself. As Hunter walked down the stairs, he felt like it was getting hotter and hotter. He stopped, and took a deep breath, the burning air inflating his small lungs. With that, the small lion proceeded further down, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs to the lounge.
The room itself was much different. Now, as quiet as ever, it felt like walking onto the sun. The heater controls, which were situated on the far wall, were turned up all the way. Nearby that, the thermal sensitive exploding device was set. Hunter’s eyes began to close, as his walk turned into a slurred movement across the floor. He was still sweating, though with every step, Hunter appeared to be losing his footing.
Finally, when he reached the other end of the wall, he collapsed, supporting himself on the wooden side. By now, the fact that the wall’s side was so hot didn’t matter anymore. His half-closed eyes peered over to the heating meter: “146 Degrees F.”
As Hunter glanced over to the explosive, he noted yet another sign: “Temperature Activated: 150.”
The lion cub glanced back to the heater, which had switched to 148 in that short amount of time. Mentally, he jumped in panic, though his physical body didn’t budge. Hunter groaned, and reached the heater’s control knob, turning it in the opposite direction, before slowly passing out.
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“What the…?” Yin asked.
She, Yapi, and Leoshi arrived at a strange fork in the road.
“Which way do we go?” Leoshi asked.
“I’m not sure.” Yapi said.
“Let’s split up.” Leoshi said. He attempted to go into one direction.
“Wait.” Yin said. “There’s only three of us, and the odd one out will be more vulnerable. We need to stay together.”
“Then…” Yapi started. “…which way do we go?”
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The proctor laughed, kicking Yoshee aside once again. “I’m getting better at this fighting business, aren’t I?”
“Stay focused, you idiot!” Twi shouted, slicing his scythe, barely missing LD.
It was about that time that Jolene reappeared.
“Did you get rid of them like I asked?”
She nodded at the proctor. She tilted her head and leaned backwards to avoid Charon as he spiraled right overhead. “Did I miss something?”
“Just dealing with-URGH!” The proctor was struck by the dull side of Lava’s blade.
She looked behind herself, to notice that three more yoshis, two female and one male, just entered the chamber. Though she did not make a sound, her keen eye observed as the three of them ran behind the ship.
“We’re too late!” Yin whisper-shouted to Leo and Yapi.
“Now what?” Leoshi asked.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!” called a considerably muffled voice. All three of them turned their attention to one particular window on the ship. They saw a familiar Hunter, banging on the glass.
“He’s trapped!” Yapi shouted, sounding a tad overdramatic. She flapped her wings twice, and kicked up, to fly towards the door.
“NO!” Leo and Yin whispered. They both grabbed onto her foot and grounded her quickly.
“Why not?” Yapi asked, after she landed and folded up her magic wings once more.
“If we go now, they’ll see us and we’ll be a part of the battle.” Yin explained. “We need to save Hunter first. Ninjas know these things.”
“How do we get in then?” Yapi held a quizzical expression.
Leo reached for the window, and tugged on the metal sill. “I don’t suppose either of you have a screwdriver?”
Yin reached into her set of weapons. When her hands returned, she held out a small shuriken, the width of the blade equal to the metal end of a tool.
Leo nodded. “That’ll work. Thanks, Yin.” He took it from her, and began to use the blade to unscrew the windowpane, one rivet at a time.
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It was just about then that Yoshiko and Jay arrived into the scene.
“What took you guys so long?” Lava asked.
“Long, 6 month overdue, author-can’t-think-of-a-reason, reason.” Yoshiko stated.
“…oh.” Lava shrugged.
Twi sliced his blade between the two, splitting up the conversation quite efficiently. He jumped between the two, withdrew his sword from the volcanic floor that it struck, then went forth, spinning it in a single, perfect 360, striking both Yoshiko and Lava at the same time.
Champ flew in next, smothering Twi’s face, so that he could neither breath or see.
<What are you going to do now?> asked the flying Chao.
Twi simply poked Champ’s back with the tip of his scythe. Champ froze for a moment, then shot upwards, off his face.
<Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!>
“Champ!” Yoshee’s run to tend to Champ quickly forced her out of battle as well.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” The proctor slapped his knee and pointed at the fight with the other hand. “This should be over fast!” He clenched his hand into a fist. “Take that, Yoshee! Your plan didn’t work!”
“You’re mad!” Yoshee shouted in the distance from the sidelines.
“Hey, Proctor!” shouted an annoyed female Yoshi.
The proctor turned around, spotting Yin, Yapi, Leoshi, and Hunter, standing several feel away from the Majestuosa.
“Our hostage!” the proctor shouted. “WHAT THE-”
In the proctor’s confusion, Lava had managed to swipe the detonator from his hands. Before the Proctor could so much as protest, Lava dropped it on the ground, and stomped it with his boot, ending any sort of threat he once posed.
All at once, the proctor’s face changed. “Wait, let’s talk rationally now!”
“You fool!” Twi shouted at the proctor. “How could you lose that quick-”
Before he could finish his own statement, he was struck dead in the back, by a huge shadow ball shot by Moshi. She grinned as the final blow was struck, and landed on the ground swiftly.
“Show off.” Yin sighed.
“…fine, I’ve been defeated. It’s useless to take everyone on at once anyway.” Twi shook his head. “…but you all made a mistake in getting in my way. Just you wait, you’ll all be alone at one point, and when you least expect it, I’ll return.”
With that, Twi vanished into a portal of darkness. It closed behind him quickly.
“Uh……” the proctor looked around, realizing he was now ally-less in the hand of the enemy. “Jolene, do something!”
Jolene, who was standing at the side the whole time, nodded. “On it, sir. The police are on their way.”
The proctor’s eyes widened. He turned to Lava, and got on his knees. “HAVE MERCY!!”
“It’s over.” Leo stated simply. “…wait a moment- we need to get back into the race!!”
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Well, I just have one more chapter to complete this story arc, and then just two more to complete the story. To be honest, I’m really ready to just start a new fanfic, but I really need to get this one all done first. Now, the next arc will be a little bit faster, I hope. So, I need to as another question. I know some people have come and gone, so I want to ask the readers, if there are even any left at this point, if they still want their characters involved in the story, because the cast has proven to be way to challenging to keep track of after 6 months x.x. …well yeah, if you read this after 6 full months, then thanks.