Held on a lot adjacent Festiville amusement park, the Freshman 15 fighting tournament and auction possessed an air akin to that of a state fair. Even here, all the way in the parking lot, various merchant booths and carnival game stalls blanketed the landscape.
"Where is the, how you say, handicap parking," Cosmo inquired.
"I don't even have the plates for that. Kids, why don't you go on ahead? We'll meet up with you as soon as I can find a meter."
"Nonsense, just park right here. I'll throw my ID on the dashboard, see who dares challenge my country's might over a ticket!"
"You said in the letter you'd be discrete. This is Lynn's big debut, after all."
"Oh, and what about my sidekick? He's fighting too, isn't he?"
"The first time you met this brat was at the airport! No offense Li whatever, but he cannot compare to my little girl!"
"Should we stop them," Li Bao asked Stunlock in a whispered tone.
"No, this is perfect."
"... Should we just leave then?"
Stunlock thought for a moment, before nodding. But, just as the two sidekicks stepped out of the vehicle, she threw a proverbial grenade behind her.
"Whatever you do, no betting Dmitri! Absolutely no betting!"
"Betting? That's a perfect idea! We'll settle this with a penalty wager, old friend! Ha ha ha!"
"Oh noooo," she replied in an especially flat tone before slamming the car door and quickly fleeing the scene.
Happy couples canoodled all around her. To her left, a man showed off on the industrial tower of power to his woman. To her right, a different man just won a stuffed animal in 'Death ray duck hunt.' She imagined Dmitri and herself doing these things, becoming briefly lost in the pleasant atmosphere.
"So, the tournament doesn't start until this afternoon. What are your plans?"
"Forgot about you... Why are you called the Wonderkid?"
"I'm basically a genius, I guess. Athletics, academics, arts; you name the field, chances are I have a trophy for it in my parents' tea room."
"Is that supposed to be a power? Doesn't sound too practical."
"Is that jealousy I detect?"
"No, confusion."
"Then how about a demonstration to enlighten you? We could have a wager, just like our mentors."
"... Go on."
"Whoever wins the most games by opening ceremony can demand one thing of the loser."
"Ew, no."
He had been following her through the crowd but, at his last comment, she suddenly became much more difficult to follow.
"Do you have a better suggestion, then?"
"Winner decides the loser's costume for the tournament!"
"Deal," Li Bao hurriedly declared, naughty thoughts racing through his mind.
ROUND 1: QUAKE HOOPS
The two sidekicks stood side by side on a half court hastily chalked out on the concrete. Between them was a basket full of balls. Opposite them was a hoop and the game operator, a man with gigantic hands.
"Y'all kids ready," he asked after carefully extracting a sip of whiskey from his normal sized flask. It only fell through his fingers twice, indicating he was only a little drunk. Seeing their nods, he drove his meter long fingers into the concrete.
Then, as if wrangling with a broken vending machine, he wiggled the massive chunk of earth back and forth. Since this was the concrete that Mistress Stunlock and Li Bao were standing on, it gave the effect of attempting to shoot hoops in the middle of an earthquake.
Li Bao quickly got to work, taking one shot after another. He did not use any powers, instead altering the trajectory of his shots to match the interference from the shaking platform. Within 30 seconds, He had made 3 baskets and missed 6.
Mistress Stunlock took a different approach, carefully handling a single ball for the first half of the game. Then, she quickly tossed it. It seemed poised to fly over the backboard but, at the last second, it veered into the hoop.
"Wow, you can even magnetize those," Li Bao remarked between shots. The game finished 6-5 in Stunlock's favor.
ROUND 2: FLYING WALL
The two now stood in front of a massive rock climbing wall. What made this wall different, however, were the jets of air blasting forth from each foothold.
"Cosmonaut will hate hearing how his ward lost at flying."
"I didn't know you could talk trash, how interesting."
"Can you two quit flirting and take your turn, there's a line you know?"
The interruption from the ride operator brought a swift end to their talk, and the two dashed towards the wall.
Li Bao, again, showed no visible display of power use. He instead hopped from foothold to foothold like the world's fastest billy goat.
Stunlock, although much less elegant in her ascent, didn't fall too far behind. She released massive discharges of electricity from the soles of her feet, bouncing up the wall like a pinball.
Still, Li Bao clinched it here; by the length of half a head.
ROUND 3: RUNNING OF THE BOMB
The two sprinted around a corner towards the nearby pier. Close behind them followed two cartoonish looking bombs, which is surprising considering the tiny legs on these things.
"You lose again."
"The race isn't finished, yet. You might still trip before the goal line," Li Bao taunted while sticking his leg out. Stunlock skipped over it, and stuck her leg out in retaliation. For the first time since the start of this event, the bombs actually came within blast distance of them; the tripping fight that had broken out between the sidekicks was just that intense.
BOOM!
Ultimately, this round ended in a draw because of that.
COUGH! COUGH! "Let's do death ray duck hunt, next!"
WHEEZE! COUGH! "Lets! You are going down next round!"
Dusting the soot off each other, they hurried to the next game.
...
The morning passed just like this, with the score reaching 12-12 by lunch.
"We're running out of time before the competition. Should we just call this a tie?"
"No, there's still those two booths left," Stunlock said while pointing at two booths opposite each other in a dingy corner of the fair grounds.
"Are you sure? They both look a little run down."
"Step right up! Step right up! Test your luck in a game of Super Rock/Paper/Scissors!"
The shouting, gray-skinned woman seemed eager to get the two sidekicks in her tent.
"Don't listen to that cheat! Come to my booth instead! Plague Doctor's Cupid Crush Finder! Guaranteed to find your true love with only minimal data mining."
"Ugh! Quit trying to steal our customers! What do those two need crush finding for, anyway!"
"You're just jealous that I'm going to beat you in the best booth competition. Oh, I can't wait for you three so-called heroes to pay the penalty wager!"
Li Bao attempted to flee from these crazy people, only to find himself trapped via Stunlock's tight grasp on his arm.
"He he he, is this your way of saying you want to go steady?"
"Don't leave. The competition isn't over. Pick one!"
"Fine! Fine! The one on the right!"
"HA!"
Rock escorted the two inside, but not before getting in a rude gesture at her nemesis.