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| - “Tch...” Lambia growled as she and Mercuia faced off in the center of the horde, the rapidly milking sheep moving past them every second, “you’re pretty strong yourself.” “Thanks!” Mercuia grinned, small gusts of wind wrapping around her wrists, upper arms, and hands, “but this is pretty hard to do. It’s taking a lot of energy just to do this, y’know.” “...Why are you telling me that?” the female bounty hunter asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Just seems like the nice thing to do,” Mercuia answered, “after all, you’re playing by yourself, so this should balance things out, right? Though...” The former World Noble considered things for a moment, “you’re probably really strong, so that probably wasn’t the best idea was it?” “No, it was fine,” Lambia replied brightly, “it’s been awhile since I’ve fought a pirate as straightforward and fair as you are.” “Mercuia!” Stormy’s voice came from above, “it’s still not here!” “AND HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL WHICH SHEEP IS WHICH?!” Lambia yelled, slapping the air in Stormy’s general direction, up above and still on the platform. “Lutein!” Stormy grinned, pointing at her eyes, “it’s kind of hard to make, but it’s the stuff that allows us to see color. So, all I had to do was add a good bit more and I can make out a bunch of colors from even farther away. Can’t use too much though, or else it’ll screw up my eyesight in general, but this is enough to play your little game.” “Hmph,” Lambia pouted, turning back to Mercuia, “I take it back. You guys aren’t fair at all.” “Sorry,” Mercuia apologized, “but... can we start fighting and looking again? I feel like things were a whole lot less awkward then...” “Absolutely!” the lamb bounty hunter cried as she lunged towards Mercuia, her hands clenched into fists! Throughout the entirety of the board, Sid and Crowe clashed! In a fusion of flying fists and flying feathers, they each launched blow after blow against the other, their strikes causing small shockwaves as they collided and even knocked the deliveries themselves back, though they managed to quickly right each other and leap forward once more, resuming the epic battle between them. “TEKKAI KENNNNN...!” Sid built up as he bounced off the glass screen facing the waiting room, launching himself forward one more time, his fist pulled back and muscles as tight as they could be! “CROWWWW....!” Crowe himself growled, opening up his arms wide and allowing his wings to spread out to their greatest extent! “OKINA ATSURYOKU HITTO!” “HUNTING PERCH BLOW!” The two combatants collided, the air around them turning golden with shades of orange from the shear force of both their attacks meeting! The entire board shook violently as the pirate and the bounty hunter put the most force they possibly could into their respective attacks, and finally they separated, flying in opposite directions! Sid allowed his hair to fall over his eyes, as numerous gashes appeared along his body, blood spurting out briefly. Crowe flew a few more feet, before a massive impact crater indented itself in his chest, him coughing up blood as it did so! His eyes rolled up into his head as he dropped towards the bottom of the playing field... Crowe smashed into the glass pane, his face smushed up against it as he slowly slid to the ground. Sid himself managed to land once more on one of the pins, this time much closer to the center gate than before. “I just have to go through this one, right?” the navigator asked himself, before turning and looking down at Crowe’s defeated form, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be going to help my friends.” And with that, he leaped through the gate. “TENTH ROUND, GAMBLING START!” “12!” Pinkuma called out confidently before Kagome could even open her mouth. “PINKUMA TEAM WINS TENTH ROUND, FREE HIT GIVEN!” Pura and Gopher’s bodies were quickly arced over by the small bits of electricity, and once more they found themselves unable to move. “KUMAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, EYUP!” Pinkuma cried triumphantly, delivering twin punches to the two pirates, who cried out and were thrown across the arena, before hitting the floor and skidding to a stop! “G-gao!” Gopher grunted, as the paralysis vanished and he began to force himself up. “What’s going on, Kagome?” Pura asked, struggling herself to stand up once more. “I-I don’t know!” Kagome cried, hands pressed against the tube, “he seems to know what the answer’s going to be before I can call it myself!” “ELEVENTH ROUND, GAMBLING START!” came the voice once more. “8!” Pinkuma cried, a small glint appearing in the corner of his mechanical eye! “PINKUMA TEAM WINS ELEVENTH WOUND, FREE HIT GIVEN!” “Gnggh!” Pura and Gopher cried as their bodies were locked in place once more, Pinkuma this time choosing to fire a barrage of projectiles directly at them, striking them all over and causing them to collapse, both bodies being covered with wounds. “Tch! Come on, c-come on!” Kagome called out, slapping her palms repeatedly against the plastic-esque tubes, “what’s he doing anyway! I bet he’s cheating!” “N-no!” Pinkuma suddenly stuttered, looking away from the fight and pointing desperately at the young girl, “certainly not! I, Pinkuma-sama, would never, NEVER sink so low as to do something like cheat! It’s preposterous, I tell you! Preposterous!” “Guys, he’s cheating!” Kagome said quickly, waving her hand at her two companions. “DAMMIT!” the mechanical bear sighed, sulking in the corner. “Okay!” Pura said, as she and Gopher forced themselves back to their feet one last time, “any ideas how, Kagome?” “U-umm...” Kagome thought, and then looked up as an idea struck her, “his head! O-or rather, his e-eye, I think! It glinted that time, right? H-he probably has something in there, maybe.” Shit! Pinkuma thought as he surged to his feet, preparing for the final round of battle, how’d she figure out about the probability machine I had tucked in here?! Now I can’t just rig the end results of the dice rolls anymore... However, before the bounty hunter could form a new plan, Pura seemed to appear in front of him as if from nowhere! “SEEEI!!!” she let out a war cry, as she drove the sword directly into the eye in which the glint had appeared! “GGGAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” Pinkuma cried, his arms whipping through the air! The swordswoman neatly leaped out of the way of his strikes, landing a few feet away and allowing her grip on Yamiryuu to slacken ever-so-slightly. “Kagome!” she called, “now!” “Yes!” Kagome said, returning her gaze back to the dice, which had begun to roll again! “TWELFTH ROUND, GAMBLING START!” Kagome’s eyes bored into the dice, the young girl pulling on all her experiences back home. Countless games against friends, rivals, and even some adults all manifested into a beautiful sort of experience within her mind, and when she spoke, it was with absolute confidence! “9!” “KAGOME TEAM WINS TWELFTH ROUND, FREE HIT GIVEN!” “D-DAMMIT!” Pinkuma howled as both Pura and Gopher lunged towards him. “A COMBO STRIKE!” Pura cried, her grip on her blade becoming even tighter than before, “GOT IT, GOPHER?!” “GAO!” Gopher nodded fiercely, his ‘wings’ flapping with a much greater intensity than had yet been seen! He brought both fists forward, and they rapidly inflated. Rather than unleashing a hail storm of punches, however, the Shroomian chef allowed himself to go slightly behind Pura, waiting for her to deliver her own powerful attack! “TENGOKU NO TSUME!!!” Pura howled, appearing right behind Pinkuma as a massive sword slash raked across the front of his armor, the enhanced material slowly shredding away and exposing a figure beneath! Gopher charged forward, his arms finally beginning to move, the two fists coming together and aiming towards the now-exposed flesh in a singular palm strike! “YOU BAASSTTARRDSSS, EYUUPP!!!” Pinkuma howled, his voice still modulated thanks to the helmet remaining in place, “I WON’T FORGIVE YOU FOR-!” Gopher’s fists crashed into his exposed form, and even behind the helmet could the bounty hunter’s pain be clearly seen! His skin blanched as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, Gopher’s attack hitting him right where it hurt. The behemoth dropped to its knees, its arms flailing futilely at anything that would get near it, before finally collapsing to the ground, defeated by simple KOed pilot error. Damn it, eyup... Pinkuma thought to himself as his consciousness faded... Pura let out a deep breath, allowing Yamiryuu to droop slightly and nearly touch the floor, only one of her hands now gripping the sheath. Gopher dropped to the ground nearby, and promptly collapsed, his body and ‘wings’ spent from the battle. “Gao...” the Shroomian chef groaned, his cheek pressing against the floor of the arena. “They just keep getting tougher and tougher, don’t they?” Pura agreed with him, panting a little bit herself. She looked upwards to see Kagome, who was rushing down from the platform towards them. “Good work,” the swordswoman said, smiling kindly. Kagome returned the gesture, this time grinning happily. “Yeah!” “Got it!” Stormy cried triumphantly as her enhanced eyes locked onto a sheep that had just entered the playing field, “three down and five to your left, Mercuia!” “Yes!” Mercuia answered, her eyes locking onto the lamb in question. Indeed, it did feature a somewhat crudely painted pink heart on its flank. The former World Noble began moving towards it, when their opponent acted! “Like I’ll let you just go and grab it!” Lambia cried, lunging towards Mercuia with her two fists clutched in an uncanny impersonation of actual hooves, “Sheep Kenpo-!” “Their!” the crew’s archeologist cried confidently, swinging around and bringing both wind covered hands forward! “Wind Dragon’s Vortex!” The two orbs of wind joined together, engulfing the female bounty hunter in what looked like a massive tornado! Lambia shrieked as the force of the gale took hold, lifting her up into the air and throwing her backward, smashing her against the nearest wall. The force was so great that the wall gave in, and the bounty hunter took the full force of it, being knocked out cold as she dropped to the floor. “Gahh... ughh...” she grunted as she did so, her mind looking back... The pinkette slammed into the floor, her eyes blanking out completely as she slipped into unconsciousness. Her work finished, Mercuia allowed the wind around her hands to fully vanish, the small amount of barely visible scales located there disappearing as well. She threw her head up, brushing some blue hair out of her eyes as she took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. “Whew,” she sighed, before looking back up towards Stormy, “that’s all we have to do, right?” “You might want to grab the sheep, it’s about to head out again!” the doctor called from atop the balcony. “OH, RIGHT! I’VE NEVER TOUCHED THE WOOL OF A SHEEP BEFORE!” Mercuia brightened, her eyes sparkling with excitement as well. She practically skipped the last few steps to the lamb in question, quickly placing her hand upon it. As she did so, a few lights blared, and from the other balcony a sign came to life, displaying the words “WINNER!” to them. “NOW we’re done,” Stormy sighed, leaning back against the railing, before looking up at the ceiling as well, “it’s all up to the others now...” The door to the massive game room slid open, and D’Artagnan tumbled through it, landing on his face right as the tube that the door was connected to deposited him. “Arggh!” he cried, throwing himself up, “the hell was that for-?!” He paused, looking around him. In the center of the room, there appeared to be a massive gameboard, and standing directly across from him, only a few short inches from an odd-looking platform and accompanying button, was the leader of the Cowsino Bounty Hunters himself, Gambull. “Now,” Gambull said smoothly, lifting up a sealed pack of what appeared to be cards, “let’s play a game.” Art paused for a moment, and then leaned forward, a small grin appearing on his face. “You’re on.” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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