#Which Sora responded so you care about this dead body but not mine

[therealterriblelizard]

Sora & Riku: *Finding a dead body on a mission* Sora: Sora: B- Riku: *Holding up a finger* Don’t you DARE say “been there done that.” Sora: You can’t tell me what to do, you didn’t even come to my funeral! Riku: I was looking for clues to find YOU! Sora: And I was in another REALITY!

[floriswrite]

It was hard, for both of them, trying to piece their lives back together, both /together/, and apart. 

Radiant Garden could be more destroyed. It had been. At a point. It had been utterly gone at a point. Transformed by their own greed for knowledge. 

But his World was at least back in some form of capacity after the destruction of Xehanort. And Vexen had slipped back into being Even with ease. The two were really the same side of a coin. Vexen had simply not had to care about morals when it came to science. 

His research could happen without any pesky interruptions from his own mind. 

But he was whole, once more, and Ansem was back, and he was thankful for the man who was a critical part of his heart and family, but it made being in his lab strange. 

He had committed his life so deeply to the clone research. Because he could. Because he was told to. He could never have imagined what it’s true purpose would be. But he had never put much weight into the thought of time travel until then either. Until his services were needed and he had no idea what degree of agent he had been at the end. 

To think they would truly believe that he would betray Ienzo like that. How idiotic could they be. 

But he had to leave with Saix without telling him, and it had been a painful but easy fact. He was needed on that side. That side had his research. He wanted Vexen’s journals more than anything else. And then he had been instructed to make empty vessels, like Xion, but more perfect, and it had been easy.

So, so easy. 

So easy because his loyalty was not to Xemnas but Ienzo. It had always been to the child gifted to him by Ansem all those years ago. 

So easy to ask Demyx, because his research had given him an out to the battle, to bring something to Ienzo. Because no one would expect that he would speak to Demyx. Vexen had always made it very liberally known his feelings on the other members. 

His feelings that were not real and merely built on fragments of memories. Marluxia had always made them feel so real. 

Marluxia who was there, again, with Larxene, of course, and that was a part of the puzzle that Vexen could not understand. How had Marluxia fallen back to Xehanort? Why was he not his Somebody once more? That was all the man had wanted at Oblivion. To find a way back. 

Even, Vexen, felt beyond foolish to learn the way back was death. And not even death via Keyblade. His body would always have scars from Axel. As if he needed reason to hate his body more. 

He couldn’t speak to Marluxia. Not then. Not when everyone was planning something. Because it could go either way.

It had almost gone bad. Very wrong. 

Vexen had not cared, or perhaps he had cared too much. 

Science or family. He hated himself for constantly making that a decision in his life. 

But they had won in the end. Won were it mattered. Even if Sora was missing. Dead but not dead. And his research had turned to focus on that.

Because Ienzo and Ansem willed that. 

They owed the children that much. 

So he settled into his new life. Because his life was science and his family. 

But Lauriam. 

Lauriam was distinctively not Marluxia. 

That had been clearest in the way he spoke to Ansem when he first appeared on Radiant Garden. Elrena close to his side. Elrena who was softer as well. 

Everything made so much sense about the two of them when he learned of Strelitzia. 

Lauriam had spoken plainly to Ansem. Because Ansem was a kind king and deserved as much. Because Ansem knew betrayal intimately. 

Ansem insisted that Lauriam and Elrena stay with them. The castle had plenty of space and he had the notion that he wanted to be close to some mildly familiar faces.

Lauriam had hesitated and Elrena had bristled. They had always been a duo. But eventually Lauriam had agreed. To find their bearings. To try and understand the time and place. 

Ansem had merely told them to take as much time as they needed. 

It was a week into their stay that Lauriam had even come near the labs. Even could not get out of Lauriam /where/ he had woken up. His response to any question that was a bit too deep was an immediate shut down. 

Once it had been his Keyblade. And that had made a few more pieces fit into place.

“Allow me to speak freely?” 

Even startled at the voice. 

Ienzo had left his side a few minutes ago and Even had fallen right back into his research. Memories held the key to everything. Memories controlled everything. It was work that made his heart ache with thoughts of Oblivion. The Riku Replica should have been a perfect idea. But it had wanted to be too real. Ienzo had hesitated for some time before admitting to him how he had died. 

“Lauriam,” Even turned slowly, feeling suddenly caged, “Go ahead.” 

“I had wanted to talk to you about this before, but it seemed foolish to speak of death when it would be coming again soon.” Lauriam started as he walked across the room. 

“How morbid of you.” 

“I have always been on the side of Sora, after all.” Lauriam smirked, but it fell quickly. “Do you know what became of the Riku Replica?” 

“He died in battle, I presume. He was not a large primary focus of mine. You must realize.” Even responded with a wave of his hand. “A failed means to an end.” 

“How heartless of you.” Lauriam laughed. “Vexen was so proud of him. Honestly, it was cute.” 

“You thought it was /cute/ that I made a replica out of spite?” 

“Marluxia found everything about Vexen cute.” Lauriam shrugged. “He created a whole interior being to try and prove that Sora was the wrong choice. Even now you do not get it. Why it had to be Sora. Always Sora.” 

“I doubt I ever will. But I’ve always been more on the side of dark, Mr. Champion of Light.” 

“You’re either getting guardians or princes mixed up, which I am neither.” Lauriam shook his head a little. “Or are you making fun of me?” 

“There’s princes of light?” Even squinted at him. 

“There’s princesses of heart. Which are hearts that lack dark, so essentially they are light.” Lauriam sighed. “Did we ever properly apologize to all the people the Organization kidnapped?” 

“No, too busy dying.” Even smirked at him. “But there are /princes/?” 

“Well, there’s Ventus. More a joke, then anything.” 

 “How is that boy?” 

“Odd, but I am happy for him.” Lauriam placed a hand over his heart. “I am very thankful to Terra and Aqua.” 

“Odd?” 

“He is still a boy. I was only a few years older than him. I... worry it makes him uncomfortable.” 

“That’s understandable.” Even gave him a careful smile. “What did you actually want to talk about?” 

“I wanted to apologize. For before.” Lauriam swallowed. “I- I did not expect Axel to actually go through with it. To go that far to- to win my /favor/.” He scuffed a little and played with his hands. “I do not expect you to ever forgive me, but I needed you to know that I did regret it.” 

“Do you have scars from your death?” Even questioned. “I believe you, but only on the basis that you killed me while I was still useful to you.” 

“You have burn scars?” Lauriam’s voice hitched a little. Wounded. “Vexen needed to only stay out of the way. He allowed a- a /pissing contest/ to destroy him.” 

“Yes, and you are not being pleasant enough to see them.” Even scuffed. “Well maybe if Marluxia had gotten off his high horse it wouldn’t have been such a problem.” 

“We both know you would love if I bent you over your desk right this second.” Lauriam laughed. “Xemnas gave him a /castle/.” 

“Shut up.” Even snapped. “That castle should have been Vexen’s.” 

“What a joke.” Lauriam stepped closer to him then. “Even now you don’t get it. Would Namine have listened?” 

“What?” Even stepped back into the desk. The feeling familiar against his lower back. Familiar ground.

“What was the purpose of Castle Oblivion? What would you have done with Sora? That castle was not supposed to have casualties. Larxene and Marluxia were meant to handle him. Nothing else. To lead him through his memories so Namine could do her job. Why was Vexen stationed there? Why were Lexaeus and Zexion?” 

“Are you accusing Castle Oblivion of having been a trap?” Even stared down at him. He grasped the desk behind him so he did not grab Lauriam. 

“Namine was making Sora loyal to her, was he not? How were we meant to control him? It seems so obvious now.” 

“You’re terrible at apologies, you know that?” Even sighed. “You can’t change the past. ...Probably.” 

Lauriam laughed a little. “Probably.” Lauriam sighed and slowly placed his hands over Even’s. “My point is. Nothing about Castle Oblivion went correctly. I regret all of it. I do not expect forgiveness. I am aware I do not deserve you after what I did. But I would like a chance.” 

“Are you... are you asking me out?” Even stared at him in shock. 

“I think I am. If that is okay.” 

“Give me time to think. My mind and body are- /competing/.” 

“I am being a touch unfair.” Lauriam slipped his hands away and stepped back. “Take as much time as you need.” 

“You are serious?” 

“Marluxia’s words were never lies. But Vexen was a liability and there was a war.” 

“Come back tomorrow.” Even gave a small nod. “Do you- do you still-” he swallowed and finally reached for Lauriam “Do you still feel that way?” 

“I am not Marluxia.” Lauriam responded. “What they felt is theirs. We cannot build a solid foundation on it.” 

“I understand.” Even placed a hand on his cheek. “A fresh start.” 

“That is all I ask for.” Lauriam leaned into his touch. “Remember to eat dinner, Even. And get some rest.” 

“Yes, yes.” Even stepped closer. “Tell me something.”

“Anything.” 

“You really mean that, don’t you?” 

“Do I have reason to lie or keep secrets from you?” Lauriam closed his eyes. 

“I- I suppose not.” Even held his ground. “Back then, it was love at first sight, is that still-” 

“Even.” Lauriam cut him off with a kind smile. “Think about my offer and give me your answer tomorrow.” 

“Okay.” Even withdrew his hand slowly. He had nearly kissed him. It had been so easy to fall into the motions of his body. The control of it all. 

Lauriam caught his hand. “I’ll make you breakfast.” 

“That would be nice.” Even gave him a small nod. A promise for tomorrow. Something to look forward to and think on. 

It wasn’t really a question of yes or no. 

It was a question of what they did after the yes.

[speeding-fox]

Sorabon Vs. Porukabon: The Big Race! Enter Bolt-Striker! [Part 2 of 2]

~~~~~~

[Part 1]

~~~~~~

Author's note: "~~~~~~" indicates scene change while "------" indicate the same scene from a different perspective.

~~~~~~

In the distance, Polka begins to see the finish line. Victory was so close he could almost taste it. "I'm almost there! Ha-haa! I have this in the bag! And Sora can't accuse me of cheating once I win fair and square!"

He glances behind him to see if Sora was behind him, which he wasn't. "Speaking of which, I must've gotten too far ahead of him for him to catch up." He looks back to the finish line. "Serves him right for accusing of cheating a Rock, Paper, Scissors! He can eat my dust for all I care!"

Polka slows down to a crawl as he nears the finish line. He wanted to savor this victory and have Sora see him cross the finish line, however, as he got close, he notices how quiet everyone, including his friends and sister, were, heck, even his father, whom was waiting for him at the finish line, was oddly silent. He expected cheers for when he wins, not silence.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" He asks himself as he glances around at the quiet biidaman under the tents. "Shouldn't they be cheering for my soon-to-be win?"

He realizes everyone is staring up at something, so he stops in place to do the same. He sees on the giant TV screen Sky-Soarer fighting a giant rock robot. "What the? Sorabon? What is he fighting?" He watches as Sora evades the fiend's projectiles, and land hits by firing Double Biida Shots, only for them to do nothing. Polka was beginning to realize that Sora is in trouble, and not only that, it dawns on him why Lucifer turned around, that cheat!

The former thought was proven correct when he saw Sky-Soarer get struck by a projectile he failed to dodge in time, then collide into a stone wall, and some debris traps him while he was stunned. The crowd gasps, and his friends cry out Sora's name, and Polka did the same. "SORABON!"

As much as Polka wants to finish this race more than anything, he has to go back to save Sora! He knows he might lose, but despite how much of a pain Sora can be, he's still his friend, and he has to come to his aid! Dot was the only one to notice her brother's arrival. 

"Porukabon?" She tried calling out, but Polka didn't hear her as he was (reluctantly) turning Bolt-Striker around, then take off. He knows it was going to take some time getting to Sora, but good thing he knows of a shortcut that could help in getting to him in time!

~~~~~~

The rock robot trudges towards the downed Sora. Sora groans as he recovers from his daze. "Ugh, that smarts..." He gazes up to see that Rocky is once again towering over him, its heavy arms slowly raising in preparation to crush him while looking at him dead in the eye. 

"Uh oh!" He tried to move to get out of the rubble to get away, but nothing would respond. "C'mon, move you stupid metal limbs! Move!" He grunted as he kept trying to get them to function to no avail.

The Biidaroid's arms were now fully raised, ready to crush the helpless Sora. "Is this how I lose?!" He thought aloud as he closes his eyes tightly and braced for impact. "By getting stoned by a stone-cold rock robot?!"

Rocky was just about to swing its arms down to crush him when a voice yells out: "HEY!" This prompted the two to shift their gaze from eachother to the direction the voice came from. Both can see something fast approaching in the far distance, but Sora immediately figured it out what it was, or rather, who it was. "Porukabon!?"

As he's encroaching to the two, Polka opens Bolt-Striker's compartment, takes his card out, and stares down at it, then to the crackling lightning in the sky, then back to his card. He opens up the hood, quickly getting drenched by the rain, takes a deep breath, holds his card up high, and closes his eyes as if he's bracing for impact. "I hope this works!"

The card shines, and in a flash, a lightning bolt strikes down onto him. Polka thought he was going to be electrocuted, however, he realizes that somehow the lightning isn't hurting him, but is empowering him. He and his Bolt-Striker began to glow yellow as they were covered by electricity, they soon became a quick bolt of lightning, and they strike the Biidaroid away from Sora.

Once the lightning covering him and Bolt-Striker dissipates, it stops raining, and Polka is now dawning armor, and his new red visor shines. "Stay off my friend you heap of rocks!"

Sora, awestruck, exclaims "Holy crud, Porukabon, that was epic, and you-, you've got armor!" 

At the finish line, Tosukana announces about Polka's stunning transformation as the crowd is in awe, and his dad, Kiiro shouts "Heck yeah! Git 'em, son!".

Polka checks himself out, he too was in awe over his new appearance. Not only is he now armored, but he now knew why his card had issues syncing up with Bolt-Striker before. "Seems like Bolt-Striker just needed more juice from a bolt strike!" He turns back to the rock robot as it gets back up to glare at the armor clad Polka and get ready fire rocks at him. 

Polka smirks. "How about we make this a fair challenge?" His biidama glows and sparks, he then jumps up, and shouts "HEADS. ON!" as sparks cover his entire body as he back-flips and spins a few times as he turns into the head for his soon-to-be mechanized body; Bolt-Striker modifies and changes into a robot body for Polka, once the change is complete, they link up, Polka pumps up his now robotic fist and swipes it to the side as the transformation is complete!

------

Back at the starting/finish line, the crowd and kids cheered as they watched Polka's change unfold on the giant monitor. Dot, Tiiru, Tosukana, and Shian all exclaim respectively: "He did it! Polka's transformed! He transformed!" "Amazing!" "He's actually done it!" "OH HECK YEAH! GO GET HIM PORUKABON! CRUMBLE THAT ROCKY HEAP INTO A BUNCH OF PEBBLES AND SCRAP METAL!"

------

"Alright you overgrown pebble, let's see you try landing a hit on me!" Polka challenged his rocky opponent. Rocky aims its cannons, and fires boulders at him, which he dodges effortlessly, and lands a punch on it, knocking it back somewhat, but barely left a mark. 

"Is that all you got, Rocky?" He taunted. Rocky fired more boulders at him, but he once again swiftly dodges out of the way and connects another blow, knocking it back some more, but still not doing much damage. "You're gonna have to be quicker than that, bud!"

Angered by his taunting, Rocky fires a barrage of boulders at Polka, which all miss him as he continues landing hits on it, but none of them leave a dent in this rock-hard menace. Sora finally got his limbs to function again, he uses this distraction to free himself, get back on his feet, dust himself off, then hover out of the way before he could get hit by another projectile, he could just leave, let Polka handle this by himself, and finish the race before Lucifer does, but as much as he wants to win, it's not the most heroic thing to do, and besides, Polka did forfeit first place to come to his rescue. Eventually, Polka gets struck by Rocky's ammo, causing him to shout, and get downed, he was too stunned to get back up right away.

"Porukabon!" Sora cries out.

Rocky trudged forward, raising its heavy rock arm cannons as it got closer, Polka was just beginning to lift himself up when the enemy got close enough to smash him, but right before it could, Sora swoops in and scoops Polka up as it swung its arms down and creates a crater where Polka just was. Getting suddenly scooped up startled Polka. "Whoa! What the?!" As sudden as that was, he was thankful for the rescue, then looks up to see his savior. "Sora?!" He yelled out in surprise.

"You can thank me later!" Sora tells him as he carries Polka to some high ground, safe from the stony Biidaroid. He lets go of him once he sets his friend down, then he softly lands next to him.

"You saved me?" Polka asks him, somewhat confused.

"Duh. Who else could it have been?" Sora responded with a bit of attitude.

"I thought you'd take off and try finishing the race." Polka's robotic eye may be staring at him blankly, but if it had an eyebrow, it'd be raised.

"Believe me, dude, I wanted to," Sora admits. "but leaving you here to get smashed wouldn't be most heroic thing of me to do, plus, you did just save my metalic butt, so I'd thought I'd save yours."

Polka chuckles. "Heh, I guess that would make us even."

Sora nods. "Yeah. So anyway, have an idea on how to take care of Rocky over there?" He asks as he points to the Biidaroid a fair distance away, looking around for the duo.

"Wait, you're asking me for a plan?" Polka questioned, stunned that Sora, the self-proclaimed hero, is actually asking him for a plan for once.

"Yeah, you clearly saw the result of mine when you showed up, so I'd appreciate a plan that doesn't involve either of us getting smashed." Sora suggested.

"Hmm..." Polka glances to their far away foe. "Sorabon, do you have a clue where its weakpoint could be?"

"No. I tried firing Double Shots all over its body, but none of them even left a dent! Rocky is literally as tough as a rock for a robot!"

"My punches didn't really do much either besides knocking it back a bit, so maybe just brute forcing it won't get us anywhere. Hmmmm... If our attacks had no effect on it..." Some distance away from their enemy, Polka spots a path leading to a ravine, and a lightbulb goes off as a plan comes to mind. "then maybe we need to give our friend a push!"

Sora stares to where Polka is gazing at, he sees where he's getting at, but he knows how heavy their opponent is. "And how do you think we should do that?" He inquired. "Thing's a giant rock robot, giant rocks aren't the easiest things to push you know, and it's not close enough to the cliffs."

"I know that, Sorabon, which is why I have a plan." Polka covers one side of his face with his robotic hand and whispers the plan to Sora.

"Oohhhhhh... but why do I have to lure it over there?" Sora inquires.

"Because you're the reckless one that rushes headlong into battle without thinking." Polka answers matter-of-factly without hesitation. "Besides, do you have a better idea?"

He got him there. Sora grumbled. "No I don't."

"Then follow my plan. I'll meet you by the ravine." With that said, Polka flies off towards the ravine, and Sora discreetly flies down towards the path to avoid getting prematurely caught.

The rocky opponent stomps around, surveying the area for the transformed kids, its cannons ready to fire once it spots them. "Hey boulder butt, I'm over here!" It turns to the direction of Sora's voice to find him waving his arms to get it's attention. It immediately fires at him, but he dodges it by flying up.

"C'mon, I've seen pebbles aim better than you!" Sora's taunt angers the fiend enough to get it to quickly trudge over to the path Sora was stationed at and fire at him once again. Sora once again dodges the rocky cannonballs and starts flying down the path, with his stony opponent in pursuit.

"Well someone's getting craggy!" Beat. "Uuugh, did I seriously just pull a Tiirubon and Kiirobon-san level pun?" Sora self-critized as he facepalms, which almost got him hit with one of his rocky friend's projectiles, he barely manages to avoid getting hit. "Whoa!"

He slightly turns his head to bellow to his enemy: "Hey! Can I self-critize without you firing crud at me for one second?!" Said enemy responds by firing more projectiles at him. "Waaah!" He screamed as he dodges said projectiles. "I guess not!"

Sora flies farther ahead out of the Biidaroid's sight to the end of the path leading to the ravine, then promptly hides behind a boulder big enough to hide his giant robotic form. The Biidaroid trudges out of the path's exit onto the plateau overlooking the ravine, stopping at the center to observe where Sora could have gone. "Hey buddy. Lookin' for someone?" It turns to its left to see Bolt-Striker with his arms crossed. "Been waiting for ya. Being made of rocks and metal, no wonder you took so long."

Sick of being mocked, the Biidaroid shoots its rocky projectiles wildly at him, Polka promptly dodges out of the way, but it kept firing without let up, so Polka begins circling it. He picks up his speed each time he circles the enemy, soon, he was circling it so quickly that the Biidaroid itself started spinning, and got incredibly dizzy. Polka stop circling around it as it began stumbling around the plateau, and Sora comes out of hiding to stand nearby him, and remarks "Not gonna lie man, that was trippy. For a bit there, I thought there was two of you 'cuz of how fast you were going."

"I'm glad I don't get dizzy easily, unlike Mr. Stony here." Polka replies. "Who knew boulders can get dizzy."

The duo snicker briefly until Polka realizes that their craggy opponent had wobbled over to the cliffside, but it was just barely close enough to not fall into the ravine on its own. "Ah! Sorabon, now's our chance!"

His sudden shout snaps Sora to attention. "Oh! Right!"

Their biidamas began to glow as they charged up with power, with Polka's crackling with sparks. "Ready, bud?" Polka asks Sora. "You bet, dude!" Sora answers confidently.

At the same time, they shout "BIIDA SHOOT!" and fire off their shots. By the time the Biidaroid regained its footing, BOOM! Direct hit!

The force of their combined powered up marble shots was enough to knock it off its feet, and send it plummeting down the ravine. Once the stone-cold fiend hits the bottom, an explosion soon followed, and the mechanized kids stand by the cliffside triumphantly. Polka let out a parting shot that echoes thoughout the ravine as he high-fives Sora. "And that is how the boulder crumbles!"

"Heck yeah!" Sora yelled after. He was about to say something else after they lower their mechanical arms when he had a realization. "Wait a minute. Porukabon, didn't you ram that thing off of me from going super fast earlier?"

"Yeah?" Polka answered, a bit confused on where he's getting at.

"Then why didn't you do that to push it off the edge?" Questioned Sora.

"Uhh..." Polka stared at him for a bit before shrugging. "I guess I didn't think to do that, but we still beat it, right?"

Sora shrugs. "Your plan worked, so I can't complain too much."

"Yeah, and we shouldn't stand here and dewaddle anymore than we need to! We need to catch up to Lucifer before he finishes the race!" Polka reminded Sora.

"Oh crud! You're right! But how can we?!" Sora questions. "Lame-o's probably close to the finish line by now!"

"I know of a shortcut, but that might be considered "cheating."" Polka states.

"At this point, I don't care if it's cheating, I don't want that lame-o to win!" With Sora's proclamation, the duo takes off.

~~~~~~

During that entire battle, the whole crowd, including Tosukana, Dot, Tiiru, and Shian, watched in anticipation, the spokeskids took turns commentating Sora and Polka's battle against their stone-cold enemy. Tiiru and Tosukana questioned what the duo were doing luring their opponent and circling around their foe when one of them went to hide, when their rocky opponent got dazed and wobbled over near the edge of the cliff, Shian screamed "PUSH IT OFF!," then shortly after, the fiend gets pushed off by Polka and Sora's combined charged up shots. As the duo high-five eachother, the crowd, and kids, cheered. The crowd grows tense once they hear the next announcement.

"Sorabon and Porukabon may have won, but Lucifer is approaching the finish line as I speak. It seems like he has this in the bag. Will Sorabon and Porukabon make it in time?" Tosukana announces as Lucifer's mecha encroaches towards the finish line with his siblings close by him. He may be ways away, but he's taking his sweet time to get there, as he knows that Rocky would be too tough for those two kids to handle.

"Lucy's gonna wi-in! Lucy's gonna wi-in!" Chants Dandylion.

"Dandylion, your plan to summoning a Biidaroid made of stone to stall them was genius!" Praised Lucifer.

"Thank you, Lucy! With stone being one of the toughest things ever, their regular Biida Shots will have zero effect on it, and it could possibly, as you can say, leave them "crushed," not only because they lost against you!" They giggle.

"With them being out of the way, there's no way I can lose now! That trophy and bragging rights are as good as mine!" Lucifer gloated before letting out a laugh.

"Are ya sure about that, Loserfer?" Polka's voice echoed as Bolt-Striker zips passed the Devil siblings and skids to a halt infront of them, creating a cloud of dust in the process, and blocks their path, prompting them to stop in their tracks a good distance away from him.

"WHAT?!" Lucifer roars. "How did you get here so fast, and what's with the get up?!"

"Like it? I guess you can say it's pretty "striking."" Polka quips.

Lucifers growls. "Grrr, NO! And that doesn't answer my first question! How did you get here so fast?! My Biidaroid was supposed take care you!"

Sora's voice echoes from behind as he caught up, prompting the siblings to turn around. "Let's just say our buddy had a "great fall.""

"Hey! You know two against one isn't fair, right?!" Lucifer bellowed at the two.

"Fair?! You call everything you pulled fair?!" Yelled Sora.

"Sora," Polka started, sounding oddly casual. "would you say that Lucifer was "cheating?""

"Having his siblings trying to sabotage us, then creating a giant rock robot for us to fight to slow us down? Yes, you can bet your butt he was cheating." Sora answered, also strangely calm.

Them speaking to eachother all calm unnerved Lucifer. "Why the frick are you two suddenly so calm?"

Sora and Polka charge up their Biida cannons. "HYPER-"

"I have a pretty good idea..." Hades replies as she and Dandylion put on helmets.

"BIIDA SHOOT!" Sora and Polka yell out in unison as they both fired at the Devil siblings.

"F**k..." Lucifer cursed.

BOOM!

The explosion sends the siblings screaming as they're blasting off. Sora got right next to Polka to get a better, once they disappear in a *Ting* star, the two turn to eachother, and fistbump their robotic fists as the crowd cheers. "Pound it!"

~~~~~~

The kids were all crowded around Polka (now in his unarmored state along with Sora) estatically giving him compliments as he rubs the back of his head. "Porukabon, that was AMAZING!" Shian gushed as her eyes sparkled.

"That was pretty stunning." Says Tosukana.

"I'll admit, you turning into a bolt of lightning to shove off that Biidaroid was hecking rad!" Sora exclaimed.

"I will say, we were "shocked" when that lightning struck you, we thought you were a goner, and we were e'static' when it helped you transform instead!" Tiiru joked, despite their puns, Polka could tell Tiiru was just as amazed everyone else was.

Dot hugs her brother. "You turned around to save Sorabon even when you wanted to win! I'm so proud of you, Polka!"

Polka chuckles. "Well, yeah, I did want to win, but seeing him in trouble, I kinda realized that winning wasn't the most important thing in that moment." 

Sora smiles. "I didn't get the chance to say this earlier given there was trouble, thanks for the save, dude." He holds out his fist for a fistbump.

Polka bumps his fist. "And thank you for saving me from getting crushed."

"So, now that that's over with, are you two gonna to finish your race? The finish line's right over there." Shian asks as she gestures to the finish line.

"Nah, there's no point in racing anymore." Polka states.

"Huh?" The group aside from Sora and Polka say in unison.

"The Devil Dorks kinda ruined it for us. We don't feel like finishing this race given everything that happened." States Sora, and Polka nods in agreement.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing, because we didn't have any awards set up for you guys." Says Tiiru.

"Wait, you mean to tell us...there was no award ALL ALONG!?" Screamed Sora.

"Yeah." Tosukana rubs the back of his head. "We didn't exactly have time to make a trophy, medal, or anything that could amount to those."

Tiiru chimes in. "That, and the writer of this story couldn't think of a good enough award."

Everyone blinks twice while staring at Tiiru. "Tiiru, who and what the heck do you mean?" Polka asks incredulously, to which Tiiru simply shrugs.

"By the way, Polka." Dot spoke up.

He turns to her. "Yes, Dot?"

"How did you know that you needed to get hit by lightning to get your card and Bolt-Striker synced up?" She questioned.

"Heh, well," He takes his card out and shows it to everyone. The card's striking design gives it away. "I'll just say it wasn't hard to figure out."

"Whoaaa, that's a rad design!" Sora exclaims.

"When am I gonna get an awesome card?" Shian mumbles to herself.

The group hears two separate voices calling out to Sora and Polka, as they look to see that it's Shiro and Kiiro calling out their respective kids' names as they run towards them. "Dad?" They say in unison; Polka puts his card away before his dad got close.

Kiiro wraps an arm around his son once he was beside him. "Polka, that was incredible! You comin' in like a bolt of lightnin' was amazin'ly electrifyin'!"

Polka chuckles lightly. "Hehehe, Dad please. Well, I'll admit, what I did back there was pretty awesome, I was shocked myself."

While Polka and his dad were talking, Sora chides his dad for not showing up to aid him and Polka. "Dad, were you?! Didn't I hear you say something about getting Crys-Whiter if something were to happen?!" Sora questioned his father with furrowed brows.

Shiro rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I did say that, but-"

"But what, Dad?" Interrupted Sora.

Shiro twiddles his fingers. "There was a bake sale, and they had cake, so..."

"You were at a BAKE SALE?!" Sora turned away and crosses his arms. "Hmph! ...How did I miss the bake sale on my way in?" He mutters the last sentence to himself.

Shiro rummages through one of his coat pocket, he pulls out a plastic baggy with a slice of cake in it, and holds the bag out for Sora to take. "I did get you a slice of chocolate cake."

Sora immediately turns back around. "Cake?!" He snatches the baggy from his dad's hand, opens it up without hesitation, and scarfs the whole cake down. He lets out a satisfied sigh once he finishes it up. "Ah... I'll let your ig...igo..." He turns to Tosukana. "What's the word I'm looking for?"

"Ignorance?" Tosukana suggested.

"Ignorance, yeah, thanks, Tucker." He turns back to his dad. "I'll let your ignorance slide this one time, but if it happens again, it's gonna take more than one slice of cake to appease me."

"Er, sure, whatever you say, Sorabon..." Shiro then thought to himself. 'You may be my son, and I love you, but you sure are a piece of work at times.'

"Anyway," Kiiro began. "now that those troublemakers are outta the way..." 

"Perhaps you two could finally finish your race?" Shiro finished as he and Kiiro gestured to the finish line.

Sora and Polka glance at eachother, then back to their fathers, and say "Nah." simultaneously. Both fathers yell "WHAT?!" in unison.

"But the finish line is right there!" Shouts Shiro as he gestures to the nearby finish line.

"Yea!" Kiiro agreed. "Ya both can jus' run ova' there ta see who's the fastest!

"Shirobon-san, Dad," Polka starts as he raises a digit. "as competitive as I am, no race is worth losing a friend over." He concludes as he wraps an arm around Sora.

"As cheesy as that is, he's right, and I could say the same." Sora affirmed.

"Awww, you two!" Cooed Dot.

"How mature of you both!" Tosukana complimented.

Sora adds "Besides, there's no point in finishing if there's not gonna be an award for us." Polka nods in agreement.

"But... we made a bet on who'll win..." The two adults turn to stare at eachother, then Kiiro shoves Shiro and makes a break for the finish line.

"HEY!" Shiro takes off after him. "KIIROBON, GET BACK HERE!" "NO WAY, SHIROBON, DAT MONEY'S AS GOOD AS MINE!" "YOU GREEDY SON OF A PENNY!"

Kiiro was near the finish line when Shiro catches up to him and tackles him to the ground, then the two got into a scuffle, causing them to kick up a plume of dust and dirt as they fought, and began spewing unoriginal insults. Sora and Polka simply watched their dads act embarrassing from a distance. "Dude, our dads are embarrassing." Sora comments.

"Tell me about it." Polka sighed. "Say, Sora,"

Sora turned to him. "Huh?"

Polka continued. "next time," He turned to him. "how about we have another race, but between just the two of us, without interference from the Devil Dorks?"

Sora chuckles. "You're on! ...But not right now. I'm kinda burnt out after the trouble they caused."

Polka chuckled as well. "Yeah, I'm with you on that, but I promise you, with how fast Bolt-Striker can go now, I will win next time!"

Sora smirks and playfully elbows him. "We'll see about that!"

"Um, guys." Tiiru says as they glance around, clearly looking for something, or someone. "Where did Shianbon go?"

"Wasn't she just next to you?" Inquired Tosukana.

"Place your bets people!" They heard her announce on the speaker, when they all look back towards the table, there she was, shouting into the mic. "Which of these two biidaman-children who're acting more immature than their kids will win his petty 100 bucks: Shirobon, or Kiirobon?! Place your bets now!"

Along with the crowd, Sora and Polka burst out laughing at her announcement, while Tiiru facepalms and mutters. "Oh sister..." 

Tosukana stifles a laugh. "Can't say she's wrong about how those adults are acting."

Tiiru breathes out, then lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I will admit, her commentary was pretty spot-on."

"I love my dad, but Shian is right about how he's behaving, along with Shirobon-san." Dot states as she's watching the grown-ups fight.

Shiro and Kiiro continue their brawl to cross the finish line first, too focused on their skirmish and name-calling to realize they were being laughed at by the crowd and their sons as well, and being mocked by Shian the announcer. "And they both just called eachother greedy pigrons! How unoriginal can you get?!"