CHAPTER 052: Mirror match Monday, pt. 6

"Aw, I missed it. What happened," Alien asked while returning to his spot in the nosebleed section.

"Unga mitti gree sen," Neanderthal replied, taking a moment to first extricate his head from a popcorn bucket.

"You don't say. Sounds like quite the battle."

"Shush, they are announcing the winner," Jenna interrupted from her seat sandwiched between the two detectives. She had lush auburn hair that stretched past the shoulder, eyes the color of emeralds, and a beauty mark that fit perfectly against her tanned face. She was a tad plump, and currently dressed like Sherlock Holmes.

"Would you look at that? By 2 to 1 decision, the Wonderkid is our winner!"

"Hopefully he celebrates with a new wardrobe," Ventriloquist added in between posing his doll.

"You sure he isn't the blurry man?"

"Are you kidding? Blurry man has far too manly a figure to fit into something like that."

Alien crossed a name off his list of subjects, before suddenly remembering the reason for accompanying this girl.

"Don't tell your dad about this match."

"Roger, captain!"

"I'm not a captain."

"But you're a detective, right? Can't you pretend to be an ornery chief of police, or something?"

"Why would the chief of police ever leave his desk? I'm pretty sure they come with asses pre-fused to their seats."

"Lucongo!"

"Oh, sorry. Another donation to the swear jar," Alien responded while passing a dollar to Neanderthal. He smelled the bill closely, before stuffing it inside a woolly mammoth piggy bank.

"And you two complain that I am too childish."

"We actually have badges, missy, unlike some detectives here."

"... Neo, Al is bullying me again."

Neanderthal gave a grunt of displeasure, and gazed at Alien with eyes dyed in accusation.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It is just stressful being here all day for something that might end up as a wild goose chase."

"Folks, get your high speed cameras ready for this next round! It's the battle of the speedsters! In the circular corner, Happy Rabbit!"

"Jeez, he needs to fire whoever told him that costume was a good idea," the Ventriloquist said, forgetting that person was him.

Jenna, by contrast, practically fell off her seat in excitement upon seeing Logan enter the arena.

"It's him! It's really him!"

…

Meanwhile, in Festiville's fantasy lounge, the John repeatedly elbowed Cosmo's side.

"That's him! That's him! The kid I told you about!"

"Where? Damn it, you made me topple the vodka bottle Kremlin!"

…

In the warehouse, Scissors hurriedly waved at everyone to look at the mini-TV in her hands.

"He's on! Paper, did you place the bet?"

"Yup!"

"Is he the piggy bank you mentioned, scary lady in black?"

"Quit moving," Rock reminded the faceless boy, "I can't braid your hair if you keep moving."

…

"And, in the hexagonal corner, Speeder-man!"

"Oh wow, he went red and blue and everything..."

"What is the problem," Alien asked, confused.

"The rules state that you can be disqualified for copyright infringement. I heard it was added after one year had 15 different wolverines."

"You mean we won't get to see the blurry man fight!?!"

"I know, its a bummer, right?"

"I didn't come all this way for that answer," Alien retorted while drawing his flute.

A pleasant melody drifted from the bleacher, causing the referee to freeze. His hand, midway through raising a red flag, suddenly stopped. It lowered uncertainly, before throwing a yellow flag instead.

"Would you look at that? I hope you didn't stop unpacking your camera halfway, because this match is about to begin!"

…

"What? No! We could have kept the same odds tomorrow!"

"Mommy, what are odds?"

"Something people use in big boy games."

"I'm a big boy!"

"Why the questions, nemesis? You're playing a big boy game now."

"Really?"

"Yup, and I think you just proved a robot can do French braids better than a human!"

"Rats! Let's try another round of candyland this time!"

…

Jenna, face to face with the man who whisked her off into an action movie, was unable to hold back a cheer.

"Go Blurry man! You can do it!"

In the arena, Logan's peaceful expression suddenly turned dangerous.

DING!

SLAM!

DING! DING! DING!

"Winner! Happy Rabbit!"

Within a second of the match starting, Logan appeared in speeder-man's position. Speeder-man, meanwhile, found himself half embedded into the wall behind him.

"Did you happen to blink? Not to worry! We set up our own high speed rig! Ventriloquist, if you will?"

"So beautiful... What?"

Having seen the the fight through his doll's super vision, Ventriloquist couldn't help but marvel in advance.

"Push the button!"

"Oh, right."

At 250 frames per second, the playback just barely managed to capture Logan's movement. He first ran towards Speeder-man, stopping just in front of the copycat hero.

Then, he threw a series of punches so fast, the camera could barely pick it up. It appeared as if Logan's arm suddenly turned into 3 blurry arms, each surging toward speeder-man with malicious intent.

To finish the combo, Logan shoulder bashed Speeder-man. This hit is what caused him to fly towards the wall, and is also where the playback ended.

…

"So, what do you think?"

"I never met this Wendigo fella, so I'm just going off of what you say here... I'd need to see him with my own eyes to determine if he could have actually killed your nemesis or not."

…

"Damn it! Damn it! The odds will be corrected for sure, now."

…

"Come on, let's hurry," Jenna insisted while dragging Alien by a tentacled finger.

"Where are we going, now? I need to talk with my partner about what we just saw."

"To get an autograph, of course!"

"... Neo, let's roll."