Episode 19: The Fall Festival Part 3: Wars

The announcer said, "This match is the finals for the Sunnyvilla bracket!" The second day of the Festival came, as Mosor walked out. But now, instead of Kyofi, it was Vanos and Mynt.

The decision wasn't made in haste, as much as they needed a sleeker, quicker build, as their opponents would be two Violats, and a crimson. Crimsons had amazing speed and dexterity, while Violats were probably pound for pound strong as, or stronger than, dires.

The game began, with Mosor leading the charge into the crimson whose name she didn't even remember, before she placed paw on forehead and slammed her down.

The crimson lurched up, screaming. Crimsons were known for being amazingly sensitive despite all their positive parts, and Mosor bit down on her tail before yanking up.

Immediately the crimson tapped out.

Vanos and Mynt stared back, before dodging twin blows from the violats. "Man, Mosor is being really aggressive lately," Vanos said.

Mynt gave a buck in the chest of a violat, sending him backwards, while Vanos hopped onto his back and crushed him under his weight. "Yes."

Mosor ran over before slamming one Violat the ground. She jumped into the air, about six feet, before fox jumping onto the other one and knocking him down. As the other one rose, she did a second fox jump, and kept it up.

Vanos and Mynt backed up, not even bothering to fight, as Mosor defeated the next team.

Announcer: We have never seen this before, but Mosor has single handedly eliminated three individuals in less than two minutes!

Mosor heaved as she felt her cardio challenged and battle proven. Vanos put a paw on her back, and said, "So, uh, that was really quick."

Mynt said, "Extremely quick."

"We're leading for Sunnyvilla," Mosor said. "Tomorrow, we represent against the hyenas. We beat them, and we go on for the triple triangle match against Lantorn's team."

"That's assuming Lantorn and company even get far into this tournament," Kyofi said, "and I don't think anyone's going as far as you..."

Mosor grunted, and said, "I don't care."

They went back into the locker room, and hit the showers. Ahmond giggled in the shower room while Mosor grabbed some kind of energy bar. She ate it.

"I hate oatmeal," Mosor said, and offered the rest of the bar to Vanos.

Vanos said, "No one likes oatmeal."

"I like oatmeal," Kyofi said.

"You like all food," Vanos pointed out. "You eat any food. If there's food, you put it in your mouth. You're just a food maniac."

Mosor nodded. "Food in, food in, I've never seen food come out, I don't think even when you're nauseous that I've seen you puke."

"Yeah, well, keeps my big," Kyofi said.

"Quite big indeed," Vanos said, and Kyofi rolled her eyes.

"You're just mad because there's a lot of me to love." She swayed her big behind around.

Ahmond came into the room, still giggling madly. She took a breath, and snorted. "Okay, I just heard the funniest joke. Get this. So why..."

After the joke, the rest of the family members stood unamused. "You're grounded," Mosor said.

Ahmond frowned, as they left the locker room.

***

Around an encircling of wolves, Lantorn the jackal sat, and got the rites prepared. "So now all we need is to rip out some hearts, and we're good for the ritual."

Her team, Rhed, Blhu, and Arber stared at her. Arber said, "Um, well I'm not offering-"

"It can't come from someone with a quality, otherwise I'd just sacrifice these two for each other," Lantorn quickly explained. "What we need is for someone who has a close link to them, as in family members."

"Well," Arber said, "That's easier said than done with the brat. What are we going to do when it comes to Lhyna and Solarh?"

Lhyna and Baynana were bound to logs with chains, all tightly bound and woven. Lantorn raised an eye. "Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure. My first guess is we find an Ascended but I really have no idea if that's the best we can do, or should even try. After all, are all Ascended necessarily related?"

"They have families with each other," Rhed pointed out. "I doubt they're all related."

Arber said, "My uncle's also my great uncle."

Rhed's jaw dropped, while Blhu ran over the logical calculations if that was possible, but Lantorn said, "Final piece of the jigsaw puzzle solved."

Baynana said, "My cousins are going to find out, and they're going to beat you up, and take your qualities instead!"

Lantorn frowned and patted Baynana on the head. "Woah there, little scamp, maybe you should focus on saving yourself instead of someone else saving you."

She turned her head to Arber, while Blhu was drawing lines in the mud. "Arber, keep guard of this brat. I'm going to be bringing her parents over here, for some familial visits."

***

The next day, Mosor led the charge against the team of hyenas, with Kyofi and Mynt. Vanos had been left out, for he was too small, while not having the quickness of Mosor.

What the team didn't say, while discussing, was that Vanos didn't have the ferociousness of Mosor, albeit most knew the implication.

Mosor stared at the hyena team, while Princess Lilu watched on from the stands. Mosor mouthed to her, "Make sure your mother hears about this". To put the message over, she began the match by kicking one hyena in the jaw with a bucking motion. The hyena fell back, but Mosor kept it up with several more bucks to the jaw, and then raining down slaps on the poor animal.

Kyofi threw one hyena down into the ground, before Mynt bit down on the neck, waiting for a tap out. However, a stream of ice froze her to the ground.

While earning a tap out, Mynt also was prone to getting smashed by one hyena. She flew into the ground, and skidded away.

Kyofi butted up to the icy one, but she unleashed a stream of ice into Kyofi's face, adding new meaning to the term brain freeze.

The hyena pinned under Mosor pushed up, his bulk still too mighty for her slaps, before he picked her up, and slammed her into the ground. She gasped. She buckled under the force, before he prepared his fangs.

She rolled out of the way of crushing jaws just in time, before she hopped onto his back. Wrapping her legs around one arm, she grabbed the other arm.

His chest hit the ground, while her limbs held his arms.

Mynt saw Mosor's strategy, and charged for the hyena, before jumping into the air, and stomping down onto him.

A doctor declared the hyena downed. Unconscious. Maybe dead?

Kyofi squared off still against the icy one, but a shard of ice almost sliced her eyeball. She ran at her, but got scooped up, and powerslammed to the ground. At last, Kyofi was downed.

Mynt and Mosor flanked the icy hyena, but icy shot a spray of icicles in the air, before the shards fell down and pinned them by their tails.

Mynt bit down at her icicle, only to get tackled by the hyena, then picked up and power bombed into the ground. Mynt groaned as she felt the pain and pressure in her spine.

As Mynt struggled to all fours, the hyena bit down on the back of her neck, and Mynt tapped out.

All was left on Mosor. The hyena grinned, reared up, but Mosor jumped. Hand on head, Mosor swung forward, and slammed the hyena down.

Before the hyena got up, she bit down on the tail, and yanked as hard as she could to force her to make the final tap out. Mosor sweated, and gasped.

After they all head into the locker room, Mosor said, "Well, I guess we've finally got into the finals. Anyway, guess that means our mission has been accomplished. All that's left is we deal with Lantorn."

Vanos said, "We need to figure out our final team combination if we're going to the triangle."

Mosor considered the options, and said, "I've been there for all the matches. I know it should be my turn to leave, but I want to do one more. I want to carry our team to the win."

Vanos muttered, "We've seen."

"Hm?" Mosor asked, her ear flicking.

Vanos said, "Mosor, I don't know if you've seen yourself lately, but you are the most vicious competitor in that stadium by far, and we just saw what that hyena did to you three."

Mosor shrugged. "So what? I'm getting a little bolder."

Mynt said, "You have the current record for most competitors taken out by one person in the past four years, at a total of six."

Mosor stared at the floor. "That can't be. To win the tournament, you have to take out twelve people over all, maybe even fifteen."

Mynt told her, "Usually all four team members are used, and that makes the average taken out about three or four. You just zip by and attack."

"Maybe I just want to get some results," Mosor said.

Mynt shook her head.

Was she really getting more aggressive lately? Mosor knew she had more negative emotions, but they found out someone inflicted her with Despair, and so they cured it. Mosor was fine now.

Maybe a small remnant of something from earlier still remained in her system. Maybe Vanos could give her some extra treatment, or maybe Mynt could since they shared the same Quality. Either way, Mosor knew it wasn't anything worth the worry.

Supernatural causes had supernatural fixes.

***

Lantorn's team stood triumphant in their final win before the triangle. Their team, minus Arber, would head on.

Too bad for Waterfront, which had been dealt a crushing defeat.

Lantorn's team would leave the stadium, content with meeting up with the Ice Cream Pack later. Kyofi had no Quality, right? She'd make a great sacrifice.

Until, Owlis said, "Everyone, I have a confession to make."

The Ice Cream Pack were in the stands at that point.

"Last night, there had been an attack on our prison facility. In that attack, the dangerous criminal, Lhyna, disappeared. While some are not sure of her whereabouts, or the whereabouts of Baynana-"

Mosor gasped audibly, while the others frowned.

"I have the answer."

Lantorn paused, and stared up at the empress, who sat in her own private rafter.

Owlis jumped down, and landed. "There is a Forbidden Book, and it resided in our library. It had the ability to spawn Dark Qualities, the opposites of the ones your heroes, the Ice Cream Pack uses. I made sure to keep these Qualities away from you people. However, plans changed, and I thought it'd be best to get them here. One of the primary ways I did that was I allowed Baynana to stay in my empire, knowing she had one of them."

As the audience and spectators spoke amongst themselves, Owlis flicked her tail.

"Fortunately my plan worked - Lantorn came to pick up the book which had its own tracker on it. My tracking magic allowed me to understand where she went, and where the fugitives are."

"Tracking magic?" Lantorn asked, as she stared at Owlis.

"You are just some common criminal," Owlis said. "A former friend of Lhyna. But didn't you hate Lhyna, Lantorn?"

Mosor asked Vanos, "Did Lantorn just get outsmarted?"

Vanos said, "Apparently."

"I know the Qualities can be stolen," Owlis said. "So I know you'd just love to steal one. I also know how they're stolen..."

That's when Mosor put some pieces together, and said, "...Owlis gave Baynana the Worthlessness."