Loser

Part One

Everyone was waiting for 3:00. At that time, the three contestants would be chosen to go to Africa and promote NAB. Everyone wanted in. Ted thought he had a good chance, he had worked hard this year, very hard indeed.

Then... the bell. "Everyone come to the plaza!" the announcer beamed. A little nervous Ted walked through the teleporter. Many contestants where already there.

"Now we shall get to business," said the announcer. "Going to Africa, our three promoters are: ... Jonas of the Barracudas! ... Callie of the Lunas! ... and last but not least ..." ZAP! The announcer was surgically removed by a Hyperstrike. Who had done it? Justin, of course. Justin said, "You all know the third person is me so I'll just go over there and make sure. Justin walked over to the podium. People were booing, and saying, "TED! TED! TED!" They really wanted Ted to be the final spokesman, rather than Justin. Then Wes pushed Justin out of the way, "I'll announce it, buddy" Wes said, as he torched a Whomper at Justin. "I knew that would come in handy," Wes beamed. "Now," he began, "the winner is..."

"Todd of the Tycoons!"

The Tycoons roared. The rest booed. How could this be? Ted thought. I am way better than Todd! But it had happened. Todd had won, but was it a mistake?

Part Two

How could this be? Todd was going to Africa? and Ted would stay? Callie and Jonas and Todd. Ted went to the podium to check the names again, and sure enough- Callie, Jonas, and Todd. Ted walked up to the secondary announcer and asked "Do I get to go or not?" and the announcer replied, "Only if you can pay $700 for the flight!" "WHAT!!" Ted screamed. How would he make that much money? Then he remembered... the upcoming tourney! If he won, he would get $500, and he could easily pay the $200 extra for the flight. All he had to do was win. Just win.

So he would have to buy a new energy suit. His was getting a little slow, and it would help in the tournament. He would only have to play 2 matches since he already had a by! But his first match was against O'Malley and Brin. It would be tough. He knew he could beat Brin any day, but Brin had a liking for O'Malley so it would be more like 2 on 1. If he won that he was almost guaranteed to go against Justin, and maybe even Todd! But Jonas was a factor too. he was pretty good. Ryan had also entered, and if it came down to Ryan and Ted and Justin, Ryan would surely help Ted beat Justin and let Ted get the money because he did deserve it, not scrawny little Todd.

Two more days.

On the day before the tourney, Ted phoned his dad "Hi Dad, um... could I maybe, well, um... borrow 200 dollars?" "No way!" his dad said "I've already payed you enough for help in that arena, and didn't you win that championship? You should have money from that!" "Um, well, I spent it on my Triple Strike and power suit... and funding for the Gator arena "Balta". I hear it is really coming along!" "Don't you try and change the subject, son, but I can give you 100 dollars, that's all" "OK, thanks Dad!" So all Ted needed was another 100 dollars and a win in the tourney!

Part Three

One day until tourney, twelve hours, five hours, one hour, thirty minutes, ten minutes, two minutes, thirty seconds...

5...4...3...2...1... bbbbbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

The first match was in "Tweety's Hallways to Heaven," a big map... which they got from the new link at Slams. Ted was having trouble finding the others. So he went underwater to a secret and got the Whomper and Triplestrike. He was looking at the totem poles, when he heard a squeak from behind. Brin and O'Malley were making out! In the middle of a tournament! They must really have liked each other. But with a blow from Ted's Whomper it was over.

Then in the background he heard "Help! O'Malley I'm lost!" Haha... it was time for Ted, who knew the map well, to go play hide and seek. He found her, nearby, at the main hall. He hid behind a podium and aimed his Triplestrike. With the press of the alternate trigger it was over, again. Time had gone by quickly, because there were only 2 minutes left in the match. Brin and O'Malley each had 0, and Ted had 2750. He would likely win.

Little did Ted know O'Malley had been sneaking up on him as Ted walked to the forest. Ted was surgically removed by O'Malley's Hyperstrike. Ted respawned in the same spot, so he got killed again by O'Malley. Now O'Malley had 2000, and Ted had 2750. Then O'Malley found Brin. If he killed her, he knew he would probably get close to 2750, or 2790, whatever Ted had. He Whomped Brin, and got extra points for it, because it was the Whomper! So now he was in first, with thirty seconds, and also his girlfriend hated him. Ted was only one-hundred points behind, with twenty-five seconds now.

Then Ted found Brin. He killed her, and got the points, with five seconds left. 5...4...3...2...1... bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Ted had won. Final score - Brin: 25, O'Malley: 2800, Ted: 3025.

Part Four

It looked as though Ted would be competing with Ryan and Justin in the final match! Ted had already persuaded Ryan into letting Ted win. It was only a matter of minutes before the final round.

5...4...3...2...1... bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

They were in the Luna bonus arena 2, so it was a very small area. Ryan took the elevator and guarded up top. Ted stayed on the bottom. With one small zap from Ryan's HyperStrike Justin was down and Ted got the points. Then it was Ted's turn, and he did the exact same thing. Soon Justin was only worth 500 points, so Ryan let Ted kill him and get 750. This looked to be a boring match, but out of nowhere, well I guess the teleporter, Justin came with a package of Nerf Cannon balls. He must have let 20 rip at them and he killed them each twice. Now Justin was in first, and Ryan and Ted were getting a bit shaky. Ted remembered the spokesperson's trip, got his gear together, and blasted some sense into Justin. When all was done, the score stood like this:

Ted: 5675, Justin: 5675, Ryan: 5025.

Then the timer gave them one more minute to determine the winner. Ted and Ryan tried to relax, but then Justin jumped out with a Pulsator. But it was no good against Ryan's Hyperstrike. Ted got the points, and he had won.

Now all he had to do was sell his Triplestrike for the other bit of money he needed for the trip, and he had already got the money from his Dad in the mail. They awarded Ted with his cash prize. It looked like Todd would not be getting away without Ted!