

USC Brawlerz: Bring On The Brawlzone

Kit Michaels

Copyright 2017 Kit Michaels

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hardwork of this author.

Ultimate Superpower Championship

Here's what's in the 3 part series!

Bring On The Brawlzone

Team Megaforce: Level Up!

Tretton vs Brawlfest City

Dedication

Mr Brad Z Baker, a great designer and a great friend who we sadly lost on the 21/11/2016.

He Believed In Brawlin'.

Thanks, Brad!

Contents

  1. Perseus vs Abyss: The Championship Brawl

  2. USC Team Selection Day

  3. USC Performance Centre

  4. Superpower Fusion Dome

  5. Who Farted? The Epic Stink Bomb!

  6. Unleash The Gooz Gun

  7. Go Nuts For Doughnuts

  8. Trouble, Tantrums And A ... T-Rex!

  9. Captain Crusher Toilet Flusher

  10. Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge

  11. Turkey on a Stick/Brawlfest Bulletin

  12. The Elders

  13. Make Some Noise For Team Megaforce!

  14. Crank-Up The Prank

  15. Believe In Brawlin': One More Round

  16. Ultimate Megaforce Boom

Chapter 1

Perseus vs Abyss:  
The Championship Brawl

"Welcome back to the main event! If you're just tuning in now ... WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! This Ultimate Superpower Championship Brawl is electrifying!" Jerry screamed while clutching his microphone. "It's all neck and neck right now John! How much superpower do these two have left in them?"

"Who knows Jerry? Perseus and Abyss have been throwing supercharged moves at each other from the start. As a result, the Lava Stage has become critically unstable. I'm amazed that we have a Brawlzone left!" John shouted back with excitement.

"I knew as soon as the Lava Stage was selected for this Championship Brawl, it was going to be wild!" Jerry replied. "And I was right! Just one slip from either of these two Brawlerz could end their career. It's so tense right now."

The crowd were all stood out of their seats, a hundred thousand Brawler fans roared with passion as the Championship Brawl raged on. The stands shook as fans jumped up and down with delight as defending Champion; Perseus, took on his arch rival Abyss, in an unforgettable Brawl of the ages.  
The action was fast paced, with each Brawler giving it everything they had. They both wanted to be Champion so badly. Commentators, John and Jerry, filled the Brawlzone with their voices calling the action as it happened. Cameras were littered in every corner underneath huge glowing stadium spotlights, broadcasting the action all over Brawlfest City.

Among the mayhem was Mickey, wide-eyed, smiling and stood on his seat, screaming with excitement. Mickey wanted nothing more than to become a Brawler, he wanted to be the best Brawler that ever lived. That was his dream, and he wanted to be just like his favourite Brawler, Perseus.

The lava continued to gush from the sides of the Brawlzone and flowed like a sea of fire, spitting heat from its molten surface. Small, rocky platforms were scattered throughout that swayed in the lava flow. Perseus and Abyss were stood at opposite ends of the Brawlzone in the ultimate stand-off.

Sweat poured down Perseus's face as he tried to plan his next move. Abyss suddenly sprung forward, weaving effortlessly between the lashings of fire and unleashing his Spirit Claw Attack. The long, black claws stretched out to grab Perseus. They swiped and snapped at his golden boots, narrowly missing him. Perseus used his Halo Force to get out of the way quickly, giving him a clear speed advantage.  
The Brawlzone glistened from every move Perseus made as he jumped between the rocky platforms. Halo Force allowed Perseus to tap into his Godly powers and move so fast that it left an afterimage of him behind.  
Perseus had to be on his toes though; Abyss could end a Brawl with one move at any given moment. It was his raw power and mystic style that made him popular with Brawler fans. Perseus frustrated Abyss; he was too fast for the Spirit Claws.

He weaved past them and went on the counter-attack, catching Abyss with Lightning Bolt attacks. Perseus circled Abyss as the bolts struck him from all directions.

"ENOUGH!" Abyss growled.

His voice was deep and dark. Abyss started to chant as he held his arms out wide. The Brawlzone shook wildly as Abyss powered-up.

Black mist burst through the lava and created a vortex around him, unleashing his Super Form. Abyss moved his hands around in small circles; his fingers outstretched to control and fuse the swirling black mist and lava together. He morphed them to create Doomsday Power Comets.

"Whoa! Abyss is in his Super Form!" Jerry shouted excitedly. "It's all gonna kick-off now!"

"That's not all Jerry. He's also using the Brawlzone's lava in his final attack! Instead of having Doomsday Power Orbs, he's mixed them with the Lava and turned them into Doomsday Power Comets. This will boost the attack to dangerous levels!" John said impressed.

"That's clever thinking from Abyss. He really knows how to turn up the heat," Jerry added.

The crowd erupted with cheers as Abyss flung his arms forward and fired the comets at Perseus. They swirled crazily as they picked up speed and grew in size. *BOOM* Each Comet connected and exploded with a thunderous bang, launching Perseus from one direction to another. The Power Comets' explosions generated plumes of smoke. The attack caused the Brawlzone lights to blackout temporarily.

Mickey took his purple beanie hat off and gripped it tightly; he looked on to see if Perseus was okay.

"Did Abyss do it? Is he the new Champion of the Brawlzone?" John asked.

"If the smoke wasn't everywhere I'd be able to tell you ..." Jerry replied, gripping the commentary desk.

Abyss stalked the smoke cloud and waited for any movement from Perseus. The crowd looked on in silence, was Abyss their new champion? Had he finally defeated his arch rival?

Suddenly, a powerful, bright white light illuminated, engulfing the Brawlzone with its aura. Abyss retreated back to the other end of the Brawlzone; the Godly light was too intense for him to be near. The source of the light shone from Perseus who was standing there confidently.

"Impossible!" Abyss roared with frustration, he hadn't defeated Perseus with his attack.

Perseus then placed one hand on the floor and smirked at Abyss, his left leg kicked out to the side as his right leg bent loosely.

"He's in his power stance. He's going to use his Ultra Form; Perseus is going to use his Ultra Form!" Mickey cheered at the top of his lungs, waving his hat above his head in support.

One large golden wing appeared through the light, then another to the delight of the crowd. They spread out as Perseus flapped his wings, clearing the smoke. Mickey was right; Perseus is now in his Ultra Form. Mickey threw both arms in the air with excitement as Perseus floated upwards with his golden wings outstretched.

"Take him down Perseus!" Mickey screamed.

Perseus's wings started to shine intensely as he powered-up his Ultra Form attack. Abyss fired as many Doomsday Power Comets as he could at Perseus to prevent it, *BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* but they deflected off him and flew up into the night sky, exploding wastefully.

"It's time to max-up this Brawl!" Perseus roared. "Who's with me?"

Perseus put both of his fists together. Mickey and the rest of the crowd copied the actions with anticipation. They waited for him to shout his famous phrase.

"FIST OF THE GODS!" Perseus commanded, along with the Brawlzone fans.

Lightning struck Perseus, supercharging his golden bangles as he took aim. He darted down towards Abyss like a burning meteor. Abyss tried to defend himself with a Spirit Force Field, but it was no use. Perseus connected with an almighty powerful lightning-fist. Abyss crashed into the platform with a deafening boom. A Refbot dashed to the side of Abyss and screeched to a sudden halt next to him. It scanned Abyss up and down, then side to side for damage. The Refbot then signalled the countdown. All 100,000 fans counted along, too.

"ONE ... TWO ... THREE!"

"USC-ya!" screamed the crowd to Abyss.

"PERSEUS WINS! PERSEUS WINS!" Jerry screeched. "John pinch me because I can't believe it! What a comeback."

It was all over; Perseus had defeated Abyss. The crowd's celebration was almost deafening. The sky ignited in a sea of red, white and yellow as fireworks shot up all around the edge of the Brawlzone. The crowd chanted at the top of their voices for their champion.

"PERSEUS! PERSEUS! PERSEUS!"

The Refbot awarded the Championship Belt to Perseus and held his hand in the air. Perseus was still Champion. He held his Championship Belt above his head with pride as the crowd celebrated with him.

The Brawlzone's Lava Stage started to reset back to normal. The molten lava drained away, the small rocky platforms lowered and reconnected in the Brawlzone floor. Abyss floated over to Perseus and hovered in front of him; the two stared intensely at each other.

Perseus lowered his Championship Belt before nodding respectfully at Abyss. There was a moment's silence as the crowd waited to see what Abyss was going to do ... he nodded back and then floated away towards the shadows.

Perseus put the Championship Belt around his waist and flew up into the fireworks and waved at his fans as he revelled in his victory. He then swooped back down to high-five them. Mickey held his hand out and high-fived his hero as the Brawlfest music played at full volume to close the show.

"Wow, what an amazing Brawl eh, Jerry? I'm tired from just watching it," said John. "What a rush!"

"You've got that right, John! Perseus really came through and once again showed everyone why he's still the Brawler to beat! He believed in Brawlin' and came away with the victory," Jerry replied. "We wanted Superpower action – we got it!"

"And on that note Brawler fans, it's time for us to go. Thank you for joining us for this Championship Brawl ... I'm John Micro."

"And I'm Jerry Phone, and we'll see you at the next Brawlfest!"

Mickey jumped around like a wild animal, what a mind-blowing Brawl. He was fired up with energy and more determined than ever to become a USC Brawler ... and tomorrow, he would finally get his chance to become one.

Chapter 2

USC Team Selection Day

The next day quickly came around and Mickey hadn't slept at all. The adrenaline from last night's Brawl was still firmly in his system.  
He paced up and down his bedroom looking at the official USC Brawlfest clock on his wall as it ticked away slowly. It was only 7:04 a.m. He still had at least an hour to kill before the team selection process began. He stared at the clock, almost willing it to go faster.  
His room was filled with posters from past USC Brawlfest events he'd been to. It was almost like a short history of Brawlfest. There were the likes of Zycho vs Duke 2, Galaxxion vs Plasmarine, the very first Brawl-4-all, and his prized possession, his signed Perseus poster that he got when Perseus first won the Championship Series.

This was Mickey's favourite Brawl of all time, and it was the whole reason he ever got into Brawlin'. He would do whatever it took to make it to the Championship Series. That's where the best of the best competed, that's where mickey wanted to be. He wanted to be a part of Brawlfest history.

He checked his clothing that he was going to wear for team selection. He had a black t-shirt, jeans, black boots and his purple beanie hat. All still folded neatly since he last checked ... ten minutes ago. He threw a few punches and kicks in the air to pass more time. His blood was pumping with nervous energy and excitement. He then got changed into his clothing and smiled to himself in the mirror; this was his moment to seize his dream. He knew he was ready. He looked back at the Clock, 7:09 a.m. ... he slumped onto his bed in frustration and buried his face in the pillow.

"AWWWW COME ON!? REALLY?" he shouted into his pillow. This was taking forever.

That was it, he couldn't wait a minute longer, he would just try to be first in line. He jumped off his bed, opened the bedroom door and crept down the stairs quietly, trying not to wake anyone up. He tiptoed on each step *creak* *creak* *creaaak* the floorboards just wouldn't shut up. He placed his hand on the front door and was heading outside when,

"Duh! How could I forget that?" he said forgetfully.

He slammed the door and rushed back upstairs; this time each step sounding like it was struck by a herd of elephants. He charged back into his bedroom, lifted his bed up and grabbed a wooden box from underneath. He opened it revealing his Gooz Gun. His Gooz Gun always brought him luck in everything he did. His father gave it to him when he was very young and he loved it, it was like having his father with him all the time. It was almost like an extension of him, he carried it everywhere he went. Mickey fastened it to his back and headed off outside again, this time sliding down the banister rail to avoid the creaky steps.

He took in a big breath of fresh air at the front door as the morning sun warmed his skin. He pumped his fist in the air and shouted at the top of his voice,

"I'M GOING TO BE A BRAWLER!" he said.

"That's nice dear but keep the NOISE DOWN!" his mum screamed from her bedroom window.

"Sorry Ma!" replied Mickey, quietly.

He ran off at full speed for the USC headquarters, as it wasn't far from his home. He looked to his left and saw the Brawlzone standing proud and dominant in the sunshine. It dwarfed every other building in Brawlfest City. The thought of actually competing there filled Mickey with fire in the pit of his stomach.

The air smelt of burgers, fried onions and freshly made doughnuts as food stalls were always open. The smell was so delicious that just one whiff would be enough to leave you drooling.  
Official USC merchants were scattered all over the streets and pathways. They were selling Brawlfest merchandise like clothing, games and posters from their stalls. They tried to call Mickey over as he ran past. Any other day he would've been more than happy to stop and spend his pocket money, but not today.

"Sorry guys. Toady's team selection day, I'm going to be a Brawler," shouted Mickey as he ran passed them.

"Good luck then lad, give it everything you've got. We'll be rooting for you!" they replied.

"Cheers guys, today's going to be a good day," he said, "I can feel it!"

Mickey spun left on to the Brawlerz' Walk of Fame. This was where the greatest Brawlerz that ever competed in the superpower sport were immortalised, with a golden statue. Perseus was inducted last year; Mickey was there in person watching the whole thing.  
The gold statues glistened and shone in the morning sun. This stretch of the road represented every single reason why Mickey wanted to become a USC Brawler. The bravery, the determination and the will to be the best were traits of these ultimate Brawlerz. It was also something Mickey knew he had in him, too.

At the end of this road was the USC headquarters, this was where the team selection took place. His hands became sweaty, just a few more steps and he was about to begin the journey of a lifetime. He climbed the marble carved steps which lead up to the gigantic white doors. He took in one last deep breath, placed his hand on the swirling silver handle and burst through the door.

A long, thin ruby red carpet ran down the entrance hall in front of him. Mickey felt the softness as he stepped onto it. The walls were decorated elegantly. They had an array of USC memorabilia neatly arranged in glass cases. Autographed pictures and Championship Belts were on full display.

Above him hung a huge chandelier, covered with tiny crystals and jewels. At the end of the long carpet was a desk, blue neon light shone the words 'reception'.  
Mickey walked over and rang the bell. A big black swivel chair revolved round, revealing the receptionist.

"Hi, my name is Shauna and welcome to the USC cutie. State ya name and purpose," she said while chewing gum.

"Hello, I'm Mickey and I'm here to be a Brawler!" he said proudly.

"Awwww, good for you sweetie," she said.

He handed over his application form to her with his skills and information on it. Shauna had long acrylic nails that reached out and grabbed the form from him. She carefully typed his name into the computer system. Her hair was big and curly. Her eyelashes were thick like an old paint brush. She chewed with her mouth open too.  
Mickey stared as he watched this one piece of gum nearly fall out of her mouth several times. Her tongue kept catching it and flicking it back into her mouth.

"M ... I ... C ... K ... E ... Y. Okay cutie, you're registered. You need to be in the Performance Centre. What you wanna do is you wanna go through those double doors behind me, take a right, go up some stairs, take a left, go through some more double doors, and then take another left, go right to the end, look at the camera on the wall, take a selfie for your ID card, don't forget to smile, go through the red door to the left, not the green door to the right, okaaaaaay cutie?" she said quickly in one big, long breath.

"Errrrrr okay, thanks. I think. Ummm is there a bathroom around here I could go to beforehand?" Mickey asked.

"Aww, what's the matter cutie? Are ya nervous? Don't you worry, Shauna's here to help! To get to the bathroom, all you have to do is go through those same double doors but this time, you wanna take a left, go up two flights of stairs, you'll see an archway, ignore it, turn right, go down the hallway with the yellow carpet, turn right again, follow that until-"

"Forget it! It's okay; I'll hold it," Mickey said.

He just smiled at her and followed the long finger nail that was pointing over her shoulder to the double doors. He opened the doors and charged through, going over the directions in his head to the Performance Centre. Or what he thought were the directions.

Eventually, after many, many wrong turns, he arrived at the big red door.It was a good job he'd set off early because he needed the extra time to figure out what way Shauna told him to go. He should have asked for a map, really. There was a screen just before the door with an arrow and a sign saying 'Place face here.' He walked up to it and followed the instructions.

'Look into the screen, press the button and a countdown will begin. When the countdown finishes, your ID picture will be taken and the red door will unlock.'

He looked into the screen and pressed the button, a robotic voice started to countdown from ten.

"Ten ... nine ... eight ... seven ... six ... five four three two one SMILE!"

"Wait, what?" Mickey stuttered, with a confused look on his face.

*FLASH*

Before Mickey could figure out what had happened the red door unlocked and slowly opened. He stumbled towards the doorway with his hands out to guide himself. His eyesight was blurred by the flash,

"Well, that's going to be the worst ID photo ever!" he said.
Chapter 3

USC Performance Centre

The door led to the Training Arena in the Performance Centre. It was a glorious sight to behold, a familiar one too. Mickey looked around, his arms swung by his side as his jaw dropped at what he saw. He was standing in a smaller version of the Brawlzone.

"Hehe, check me out I'm standing in a Brawlzone!" Mickey said quietly to himself as he looked around. "This is going to be amazing!"

Brawlfest City was home to some of the most unique looking characters you could imagine, and it looked as though most of them had turned up today. You had Cyborgs, Zombies, Robots and Monsters to name but a few.

They all had different levels of toughness and natural skill. But they all had the same goal, becoming a USC Brawler.

He watched on as some of the wannabe Brawlerz showed off their flashy kicks and punches. Others stood around them and watched their techniques. Mickey wandered through the Training Arena; in front of him was a stage which arched round. In the middle was a podium. Above it, was a Brawlertron, a giant TV screen with the message 'WELCOME' flashing across it. Suddenly, a spotlight shone on the podium, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked on.

Approaching the podium was the Chairman of the USC; Mr Chad E. Jordan. He was dressed in a tailor-made white three piece suit and his hair was slicked back. He tapped the microphone, cleared his throat and welcomed everyone.

"Hello and good morning, I am Mr Chad E. Jordan and welcome to the first step on your path to glory!" he announced.

The whole Training Arena erupted with applause.

"Today is the day that all of you new applicants have the opportunity to be drafted onto a USC team to compete in the Brawlzone. Will you be selected to take your place in the Ultimate Superpower Championship? Do you have that special something that our team captains are looking for?" Mr Jordan said while pointing at everyone.

"All twenty team captains have had a chance to look at the application forms you handed in at the reception. Our Superpower Identification System matched you to a team best suited to your abilities. The team captain then had a choice to either accept you for their team or not. If they hit the green button you were accepted and if they hit the red button you were declined," he explained.

"If you were declined, you were sent to the next best-suited team whose captain had the same choice to make and so on. That process can continue until all twenty teams have had the chance to accept or decline you," he added as twenty huge flags around the Training Arena unravelled, revealing each team name. Each flag was red with a gold trim. The team name was in the middle of the flag, also in gold.

Mickey looked on at the Team Perseus flag. To him, that was the only team he wanted to be on!

"If your name is shown then please stand under the flag with your team name on it. The results will now be displayed on our Brawlertron. Good luck to all of you. I hope you all reach your goals in the USC ... I don't want to wait any longer, let's kick things off, shall we. The first draft pick is ..."

Mr Jordan pointed towards the Brawlertron, the names started spiralling. Mickey was fixated on the screen; his fingers were crossed tightly as he wished for his name to appear. Suddenly, the names stopped spinning. One name and one team were clearly displayed.

"Nash! And you are drafted to Team Maxximus!" he applauded.

The Brawlertron listed another name to another team, and again, and again and again. Mickey kept looking, eagerly awaiting his name to appear. Another name flashed up. More Brawlerz became accepted and the numbers started to noticeably dwindle down. He looked around at everyone that was left. One by one they too were accepted, jumping for joy and standing under their team flag. More and more names flashed up that weren't his. He never looked away from the Brawlertron though; he had to be on a team. Any minute now his name was going to appear. Surely someone must have wanted him.

Fifteen minutes had passed and Mickey still hadn't seen his name on the Brawlertron, but his fingers were still crossed tightly. Maybe they were saving the best for last or something? He looked on as another name flashed up on the screen. Then it turned off.

"WAIT, WAIT! TURN IT BACK ON! TURN IT BACK ON!" Mickey screamed. "WHY HAS IT GONE OFF?"

Mickey looked at the Brawlertron, waiting for it to start up again. It felt like dead air had filled the arena as the seconds turned into minutes. His hands trembled as he looked one more time at the Brawlertron to see if he had missed anything, still nothing.  
Mr Jordan tapped on the microphone. Mickey looked at him with a glimmer a hope, was he about to announce that the system had crashed? That had to have been why the screen stopped working, right? The hairs on his neck were stood up straight. His heart started to beat faster and faster with the renewed hope of being accepted.

Mickey took off his hat and held it in his shaking hands.

"Thank you, everyone, for attending the team selection process. Unfortunately, those of you that are still in the middle have been unsuccessful this time. I wish you the very best for the future," Mr Jordan announced. "Now, those that were selected are about to begin the journey of a lifetime by becoming a USC Brawler! Follow me to the next part of this incredible process, the Superpower Fusion Dome!" he said, waving everyone to gather round him.

Mickey looked on emotionless, just staring like he was in a trance. The more he tried to fight his disappointment, the more overwhelming it became until his legs buckled under the weight of rejection. He dropped to his knees. His dream was over. How could he have not made it onto a team? All the years of dreaming big, all of the time spent preparing for this day and it was all gone in just a single moment.  
What did he do wrong? Did he miss something out? The more Mickey thought about it, the more his heart sunk deeper into his stomach. He'd had twenty chances to be on a team and not a single team captain saw his potential. His bottom lip started to shiver. His hearing went away as sounds became muffled. He hung his head in sadness. Droplets of tears slowly trickled down his nose. They dripped onto the arena floor. Mickey held his hat over his face to hide the tears as he sobbed to himself.

"No one wanted me. Not one single team wanted me. Why?" Mickey mumbled hopelessly. "I thought I was good enough."

He kept his head hung down. He sluggishly stood back up and sighed. Mickey put his hat back on as he turned to leave, defeated and dejected. Behind him were only two others, who were also declined from all the teams, a boy and a girl. The boy was short and chubby. He wore a bright red and yellow cap and a white vest, and the girl had a pink top and black skirt on with her hair in pigtails. They were also upset at the news of not being selected for a team.  
The girl comforted the boy as best she could by putting her arm around him.

She hugged him as she tried to hide her own sadness from onlookers, knocking his cap onto the floor.

"Come on Chubz, we'll be fine. We still have each other, that's all we've ever needed," she said to him with tear-filled eyes. "It's you and I against the world remember?"

Mickey walked over to them; he picked up the cap from off the floor.

"Here, you dropped this," Mickey said, wiping his face dry with his sleeve.

Before they could speak to Mickey, a couple of Brawlerz that had been selected for a team started to laugh at the three of them.

"Oh man, no one wanted them? What a bunch of losers. Look at them crying like little babies, how lame," one said, pointing and laughing.

"HEY! Clamp your teeth before I come over there and do it for you!" the girl with pigtails shouted.

"Dude, listen, you don't want to make Lulu get her mad-up!" the boy warned, who was in no mood for troublemakers.

"Ha! Lulu?! More like Lu-loser! Am I right everyone?" someone else said.

The others broke out into laughter, chanting  
Lu-loser at the top of their voices. The boy sighed with disappointment because they hadn't listened to him. He decided to unleash the girl's temper to teach them a lesson.

"They've just asked 'who does your hair, your Mam?'" the boy said cheekily to the girl, side-stepping out of the way because he knew what was coming next.

"THAT'S IT! Hold my bag," she snapped, taking out her earrings and rolling up her sleeves.

"I'm gonna smash-you-up a new face!" she said, staring out the one she thought had said it.

"I didn't hear them say that?" Mikey said to the boy.

"I know they never, but watch this!" the boy joked.

She gripped her fists tightly and breathed heavily; she put her head down and ran at them in a fit of anger. She built momentum and took aim at the troublemakers. They just barely dodged her charge and she crashed head-first into the stage, just under the podium. *CRASH* The podium shook from the impact. Mickey and the boy sprinted over to help her; they both lifted her back up to her feet. She was dazed but okay. Mickey turned and confronted the troublemakers who were still making fun of them.

"Come on guys, don't start something you can't finish," Mickey said bluntly.

"Oh yeah, you and what army?" one said cockily.

"This one!" two voices said from behind Mickey.

The boy and girl were stood at either side of Mickey in support. They stood together united and looked strong. The troublemakers backed away slowly, still laughing between them although a lot quieter than before. Mickey smiled at the boy and the girl in turn.

"Yeah, stay scared sucka!" the girl said while glaring at them, jutting forward ready to Brawl.

"Yeah, whatever," they replied as they walked off with Mr Jordan.

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting screech of feedback blaring out from the speakers as a hand reached up and grabbed the microphone. Everyone covered their ears as they tried to block out the noise.

"Waaaaait! Mr Jordan sir, just hold on a second," the voice said. "If I can draw your attention to my Book of Brawlerz, you will find that these three can create their own team, look here!" he added.

Mickey, the girl and the boy turned around to see a small, little-framed person with thick black round glasses and bright ginger hair. He was holding a very big, thick green book. He opened the book and started turning the pages frantically. He stopped on one glowing page, jabbing it with his finger. He looked at the three of them, grinning eagerly.

"What do you say? Do you three want to be your own team?" the little guy said down the microphone to them, as Mr Jordan stood waiting. "Because section four, paragraph seventeen in the Brawler Code has just-"

"OH MY GOD YES!" the three of them screamed together, excitedly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

They didn't know who this little guy was. The fact that he'd mentioned they could be a team to Mr Jordan was enough for them to agree, without question.

"Haha okay wonderful, I'll explain everything properly in a minute. Just give me one second to talk to Mr Jordan about it!" he replied while adjusting his red bowtie and putting the microphone back carefully on its stand.

"Well, I guess if we're going to be a team I better introduce myself. I'm Mickey," he said.

"I'm Chubz," the boy replied. "How's it hangin'?"

"I'm Lulu," the girl said while pressing an ice pack on her forehead.

The three of them carried on with the introductions as the little guy talked to Mr Jordan.

He held the big, thick green book up to Mr Jordan's face so he could read what was being shown to him. The glow from the page lit up his face. Mr Jordan nodded slightly in agreement.

"Okay, I understand," said Mr Jordan. "So be it."

He walked off and the little guy quickly ran over to the three of them.

"Well, I spoke to Mr Jordan and ... YOU'RE IN!" he said proudly.

"NO WAY! YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" Mickey shouted at the top of his voice.

"I'm serious! It's official. You guys are a team!" the little guy said.

"Way-hey! Check us out we're Brawlerz." Chubz cheered. "Caca-mala-smala-wala-fala-bala-jala."

The three of them high-fived each other in celebration. The feeling they had was indescribable. Like infinite happiness had taken over their bodies. Mickey laughed with relief, what a roller coaster of a morning. But he'd done it. He was finally on a team. It might not be Team Perseus, but it was still a team.

"Chubz, Chubz, head-fight to celebrate," Lulu declared. "GO!"

Chubz and Lulu placed their foreheads on each other's and started to push the other one as hard as they could. They pushed and pushed until one of them gave up.

"Thank you, you're a life saver! I owe you big time, up top ... errr, what's your name?" Mickey asked the little guy as he put his hand up for a high-five.

"The name's Ziggy and you are all very welcome, I was more than happy to help you. This Book of Brawlerz does have its uses!" Ziggy said proudly as he extended his hand out for a handshake.

"Don't leave me hanging, gimme a high-five," Mickey said as he lifted Ziggy's hand up and slapped it.

"Oh, a most unusual greeting," Ziggy said as his hand stung from the high-five.

Lulu and Chubz walked over to join Mickey after finishing their head-fight. Lulu smiled in victory as Chubz nursed his sore head.

"You only won because you have a head like a brick," Chubz said as a red lump poked through. "A brick that's covered in concrete and wrapped up in steel, HAHA!"

"Ziggy, how did you know all that stuff, do you work here or something?" Mickey asked him.

"No I don't work here, I just love Brawlin'. I go to all of the USC Brawlfests and I study them with my Book of Brawlerz. This book records every Brawler, every superpower and every upgrade. I know everything there is to know about the USC," Ziggy said.

"NERD!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"So that's how you knew about making us a team?" Mickey asked.

"Precisely, section four, paragraph seventeen in the Brawler Code is about team selection. After the three of you didn't make it onto a team the book opened by itself to that page, which I thought was pretty spooky. Then, the last full stop on the page started to glow and it projected a message from the Elders themselves!" he explained. "Here, have a look."

Ziggy showed them the book and the words were still there, though faded slightly and sinking away back into the page. But it could still be read.

'By order of the Elders, we exercise our divine authority to request that the three remaining Brawler candidates are permitted to create their own team.'

The three of them stared at the book in awe and total disbelief. They'd been chosen by the Elders, the original pioneers of Brawlin'. They were legendary. They held a lot of power and the stories that people told about them were incredible.  
The Elders declaring that a new team will be formed by them had never happened in the history of the USC.

"This is what I've just shown to Mr Jordan," Ziggy continued. "Even a man of his authority couldn't argue with it."

"Dude, you should totally join our team!" Lulu said.

"YEAH! It's the least we can do Ziggy, we owe you," Mickey agreed. "You'll be a great help."

"Plus, it will be handy to have a genius around, especially for maths. I mean; I can only count up to eleventeen," Chubz joked. "But I'm super smart with the alphabet, Ziggy – A B C G E F T ... well, you know the rest."

"Chubz, lower the shutters on your mouth and stop messing about," said Lulu.

"I'm flattered, but I'm not a Brawler. However, I'd love to help your team as a strategist?" Ziggy asked, "If that would be any use to you?"

"Too right it will!" Mickey replied.

"Wonderful! Right, you guys need to go and catch up to Mr Jordan at the Superpower Fusion Dome for the next part of becoming a Brawler. I'll wait here for you," Ziggy said while pointing them in the right direction. "Good luck."

"Cheers Ziggy, see you soon," said Lulu.

"He's a nice lad," Chubz said to Mickey and Lulu as they set off. "No upper-body strength though. Weak, weak shoulders you see."

"Chubz ... shut up!" said Lulu.

Chapter 4

Superpower Fusion Dome

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz hurried to catch up with the others. They hurled themselves down the corridor and hit a blockade of Brawlerz. They were all packed together tightly, like a flock of sheep in a pen. Mr Jordan was talking but his words were quiet and they could just barely see the top his head.

"I can't see what's happening!" Chubz said as he tried to jump up to see over the crowd.

"What's he saying? He speaks so quietly without a microphone," Mickey said, cupping his ears with his hands, trying to amplify his hearing.

"Well standing here isn't going to deal with the problem, is it?" Lulu said. "Don't worry boys, I'll sort this out!"

Lulu bobbed her head down; Chubz held onto her arm and held his hand out for Mickey to grab onto. He knew what was going to happen.

"Outta the way ... oops ... watch out ... coming through ... heads up ... move it buster!" Lulu said as she barged her way through the crowd, with Chubz and Mickey in tow.

The three of them pushed their way to the front to find Mr Jordan standing in front of a large white wall. He had a remote in his left hand which he held upwards.

"Fellow Brawlerz, I welcome you to the Superpower Fusion Dome," he said.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked at the wall puzzled.

"Now, I might not be the smartest cookie in the tin, but isn't that just a wall?" Chubz whispered.

"Yeah I can't see anything. Maybe he's taken directions from Shauna the receptionist," Mickey replied laughing.

Mr Jordan pressed the button on the remote and the wall evaporated, revealing the secret dome.

"Oh! Well, that shut me up," Chubz said as he pulled out a bag of doughnuts.

"Ask yourself this one question, what superpower do you want? Everybody is good at something that makes them special, even if they don't know it yet. You all have hidden potential buried deep down within you. Here, it will be unlocked and it will become something truly extraordinary. The superpower is unique to you and it is up to you to do incredible things with it. This is where your true inner strength is found, where confidence is boosted and where bravery becomes bold," said Mr Jordan. "You will become unique, you will become super, you will become Brawlerz!"

"YES!" said Lulu while elbowing Chubz and Mickey repeatedly with excitement.

One by one, the Brawlerz started to step into the colossal crystal dome while discussing what superpowers they wanted. However, Mickey, Lulu and Chubz stood still and took in the mind-blowing sights that the dome offered.  
The other Brawlerz tried to shuffle round and squeeze past them to get in. But the three of them were oblivious to it as they looked on. Different colours waved around the dome from the sun's rays. The floor was marble, grey and black and so clean that they could see their reflections in it.  
Thick, clear glass chambers with silver edges were spread around the dome in a circle. They stood tall and imposing. Each was filled with a smoky blue magical essence which floated and lightly swirled around inside.

A control panel started to rise up in the middle of the dome as Mr Jordan walked towards it.

Mickey could barely contain himself. "I'm off in!" he said, as he ran into the dome to get a better look.

Lulu followed and took her first step onto the marble floor. Her shoe clicked and the noise echoed around the dome.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello ... hello ... hello ... hello," the words echoed repeatedly.

"This place is massive!" she said to Chubz. "It echoes for-like-ever."

Chubz leant into the dome and put his arm across his mouth and blew hard on it.

*PFFFFRRRRTTTTTTTT!*

*Pfffrrrttt ... Pfffrrrttt ... Pfffrrrttt* the fart noise echoed.

"Awww Lulu, you stink!" he shouted at the top of his voice, pretending to waft away the smell with his hands.

"It wasn't me ... honest. It wasn't," she answered going red in the face as Brawlerz turned to look. "IT WASN'T ME!" she screamed, as the fart noise kept echoing around the dome.

"That'll teach you to tell me to shut up!" laughed Chubz under his breath.

Lastly, Chubz walked into the dome. A doughnut fell out of his bag and onto the marble floor, as he gawped at the astonishing sights.

"Hey Chubz, Chubz ... DOUGHNUT!!" Lulu said, urgently pointing at it and snapping her fingers to get his attention.

He cornered his doughnut against one of the chambers. He grabbed it, blew on it and put it back in the bag with the others.

"EEW! Chubz you can't be serious? You can't eat that now?" Lulu said with disgust. "Haven't you heard of the five-second rule?"

"Five seconds? Five seconds – five minutes – five hours, who cares? There are no rules for me and food," Chubz said proudly.

"Dude, it was covered in fluff," she replied.

Chubz took the doughnut back out of the bag and wiped it on his vest repeatedly to clean it.

"There, happy?" he said.

Mickey interrupted, putting his arms on the shoulders of Lulu and Chubz. His excitement was at fever pitch.

"This is awesome! So so awesome! Every single Christmas I always asked for superpowers and now I'm going to finally get them!" he said.

"No way, me too, it was all I ever wanted!" Lulu replied.

"What? Hang on a second, you always said you wanted a doll that cried and wet the bed," Chubz said with an air of honesty.

"Haha – no I never, silly Billy," Lulu replied, feeling embarrassed.

"Yeah you did," Chubz continued. "I remember it as clear as day, you-"

"Say one more word Chubz, just one. I dare you!" Lulu growled, staring him down to shut him up.

"I always wanted the power to run along walls and fire lasers from my eyes. I used to draw pictures of myself with those powers when I was younger," said Mickey.

"I always wanted to turn invisible; just think of all the amazing pranks you could pull!" Chubz said as his mind wandered off as he thought of a few. "And not get caught!"

"I used to dream that my pigtails would spin really fast. I would fly around allll day," Lulu added while quickly twirling her pigtails like a propeller.

Mr Jordan summoned everyone to the middle.

"Quite the sight isn't it?" he said with his arms outstretched.

"This dome helped create the USC Brawlerz that you know and love, from the unstoppable Collozzuz to the mighty Perseus. They all started here, just like you. It is now your turn. Each of you will go into one of these Chambers. You will then be fused with your own unique Brawler superpower," he said with passion. "Now the question is ARE YOU READY?"

The whole dome erupted with applause and cheers.

"Okay, good. Now, please take your place in a chamber and we can begin. Read the safety instructions that are shown on the inside of the Chamber door before you activate it using the fingerprint recognition dial. Make sure you follow them closely, it is of the utmost importance that you do!" Mr Jordan said sternly.

There was a mad scramble as everyone ran towards a chamber. Mickey, Lulu and Chubz hurried to the far side to make sure they got three chambers next to each other. They placed their hands on the handle of their chamber. The smoky blue magical essence seeped down into the chamber floor as they swung their doors open.

"Good luck guys," said Lulu.

"I hope we do get really cool superpowers! I don't want to come out as something stupid like Supercat or something," Chubz added.

"Let's show every team what they have missed out on!" Mickey added.

The three of them remembered the sinking feeling from the team selection process and mutually nodded. It was time to get superpowers! They each stepped into their chamber and closed the door behind them. Green text started to appear on the glass in front of them to read:

'Hello, Brawler and welcome to the Superpower Fusion Chamber. Before we begin, please make sure you follow these safety instructions.  
1. Keep your arms folded at all times  
2. Keep all personal items outside the chamber  
3. Keep the chamber door closed at all times  
Failure to follow these instructions can result in serious irregularities. Once you are satisfied that you understand the safety instructions, push the green fingerprint dial to start. Stand back, relax and enjoy the experience'

The three of them pushed the fingerprint recognition dial without hesitation. Their doors locked promptly. Mickey folded his arms and started to think about what superpower he was going to get. His mind raced with ideas, would he get the superpowers he'd always wished for? Or would he get new superpowers? The wait was almost over, any minute now the chamber was about to start. He leant back against the chamber to relax when he heard a noise.

*Clink*

He reached behind him to see what it was. Nothing was there and the glass was still intact. He leant back again.

*Clink*

What was making that noise? He reached behind again and couldn't feel anything unusual. Just his head, his hat and his Gooz Gun ...

"Oh NO! I've still got my Gooz Gun on my back." he shrieked.

He didn't leave it outside the chamber as instructed. He frantically tried to get the chamber door open but it was sealed tight. He had to get his Gooz Gun out. He tried to take it off his back but there wasn't enough room to manoeuvre.  
He looked over to Lulu in a panic; she was putting on perfume that she had pulled out from her bag. She looked back at him and waved excitedly. Her lips mimed 'this is awesome!'  
He turned the other way in a hurry to see if Chubz could help. Chubz was zoned out, staring into the distance as he enjoyed his doughnuts.  
Mickey waved and banged on the chamber glass to get his attention. Chubz looked and gave Mickey a jam covered thumbs up as he wiped the sugar powder from his cheeks with his other hand.

Mickey buried his face in his hands in disbelief; they all had taken something in with them. It was obvious that they didn't pay any attention to the safety instructions. They were probably over excited about finally getting superpowers.

"Well, this is going to be interesting ..." he mumbled. The smoky blue magical essence filled the chamber and started to swirl around him, getting faster and thicker. Mickey kept his arms folded tightly and closed his eyes.  
He could hear Lulu cheer loudly with delight from her chamber and hear Chubz burping from his. The smoky blue magical essence became dense. His heart raced furiously as he took shorter breaths. He tried to calm himself down but he couldn't, the consequences of entering the chamber with his Gooz Gun made him very uneasy.

Hopefully, it didn't turn him into his Gooz Gun ... or worse still, it didn't cause the whole dome to collapse. He'd just have to suck it up and see what happens.

As Mickey clamped his eyes shut, images started flashing in his mind. It was like a movie reel spinning, but it was so fast that he couldn't make them all out.  
Why was he seeing these? What did they mean? He tried to focus in an attempt to slow them down. He relaxed his body and concentrated. The images slowly came to a steady speed. Most of the images were blurred but three were clear as day. Firstly, Mickey saw three old people in a derelict Brawlzone, sat in ancient thrones that were lined up next to each other. Their faces were obscured but he could clearly see them pointing at him.  
The next image was of a gun floating in front of him. It stayed still for a brief moment but then burst to life and started to morph. Different parts started changing as it became something else over and over again, before stopping back in its original form. Lastly, was six shiny, jagged pieces of gold. Each had some sort of inscription on them, Mickey couldn't read it. They slowly started to move and meet in the middle, forming one solid round piece.  
Then the images stopped. The smoky blue magical essence started to disperse and the Chamber door opened. Mickey leapt out of the chamber, checking to make sure he was still intact.

"Arms are still there, my legs still work and my face is still okay. Phew!" Mickey said, relieved.

Lulu and Chubz celebrated as they left their chambers.

"Wow, what a crazy ride!" Lulu said as she gave Chubz a fist bump.

"I know right. I was nearly sick four times!" Chubz answered.

"You were nearly sick because you were stuffing your face with doughnuts the entire time, piggy!" said Lulu, as she licked her thumb to rub a jam stain off his cheek.

"Get off me," said Chubz. "That's gross."

"Are you guys alright?" Mickey asked with urgency.

"We're fine Mickey. It's just that there's nothing worse than when someone licks their thumb to wipe your face clean," answered Chubz. "It's just wrong!"

"No, I mean alright since you came out of the chamber?" Mickey asked again.

"Yeah why?" they both replied.

"We all went into the chamber with an item! It was against the safety instructions!" Mickey said nervously.

"Not me! I didn't take any items in with me, except for my doughnuts but they won't count," Chubz said. "So ... I'm good."

"ONE item? Nah, I went in with a whole bag of items," Lulu answered. "My bag goes everywhere with me, why do you ask – Mr Panicky Pants?"

"Did you not read the safety instructions?" Mickey said shocked.

"No, did YOU?" they replied, staring at him.

"Yeah, I did ... I just didn't follow them. Something serious could have happened to us in there from taking an item in with us," Mickey said to them both. "Mr Jordan warned us about it, the chamber safety instructions warned us about it too-"

"We're all gonna die!!" screamed Chubz.

"Are we?" Mickey panicked. "What do we do?"

"... Stop, drop and roll?" Lulu suggested. "That normally works for me."

There was a brief pause before all three of them hit the deck and started to roll on the floor. They rolled around as if they were putting out flames until *swoosh* a Brawler flew overhead. The three of them stopped in their tracks and looked up in amazement.

"Whoa!" they all said together, looking upwards.

The Brawler shot up into the air, looping round and round. He then spiralled down and flew low enough that he just missed their heads. They stood up and looked around the whole dome.  
They were overwhelmed by the all of the new superpowers that they could see. Their eyes darted around from one Brawler to another.  
One had the power to burst into flames. It was so hot that they could feel the heat radiating from him from across the dome.  
One girl had glowing yellow hands and generated shock waves of power every time she clapped, causing the dome to rumble.  
Another Brawler was stood in the middle of the dome looking around by himself. Then a clone of him appeared from behind, then another and another until there were ten of him, all stood around greeting each other.

"Wow! Wow! Wow! You two look at that guy over there he can teleport!" Chubz said, grabbing Lulu and Mickey to show them.

"He's in the dome, and now he's out the dome, now he's in the dome again and now he's out the dome again," he added. "In, out, in, out, in ..."

"Never mind that, check out that guy with the stretchy body over there, it just keeps on extending!" said Mickey.

His body stretched around the dome. He crept up behind Mr Jordan and tapped him repeatedly on each shoulder causing him to turn around.

"Who's doing that? Knock it off!" he yelled. "This is a very expensive suit!"

"Hahaha that's incredible!" said Mickey.

"You're telling me, Mickey, he's back in again now – no, no, he's out again haha," said Chubz, who was still commentating on the Brawler who could teleport. "Look, look, haha – look at him now he's in the Dome again. Nope, hold it; guess what – you'll never believe it?"

"He's out the Dome again," said Lulu, rolling her eyes.

"Yeeeeeeaaaah, how did you know?" said Chubz.

"You want incredible do ya?" Lulu said to them, she grabbed both of their heads and squished them together so they looked in her direction. "I give you, Mr Six arms. He has six arms! Six! Imagine how many people he could fend off at once," she said impressed.

"Six?" Chubz answered cheekily.

"Well, yeah, but still. Shut up!!" she said back to Chubz.

"I could beat six Brawlerz, easy," he replied. "I don't need six arms."

"No you couldn't," she shouted.

"Yeah I could!" he shouted back.

Mickey watched as Chubz and Lulu argued back and forth. His eyes bounced between the two, looking at each one every time they shouted like he was watching verbal tennis.

Lulu grabbed the nearest object to her, a solid wooden chair and she held it over her head.

"Let's see your arms stop this then. Chair attack!" she yelled.

"No no no don't!" said a worried voice.

"Who said that?" Lulu asked, confused.

Chubz pointed at the chair, with a huge smile on his face. Lulu lowered the chair and looked at it very closely.

"Hi!" the chair said.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Lulu shrieked in shock as she launched the chair across the dome.

The chair morphed back into a Brawler who fell onto the floor laughing hysterically.

"Hahaha gotcha!" the Brawler shouted.

"WHY, THAT LITTLE!" Lulu bellowed as she lowered her head, getting ready to charge.

Chubz laughed as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away before she caused a conflict.

"Those superpowers are so cool, everyone has something amazing!" Mickey said.

He looked at them all before he realised something, he turned to Lulu and Chubz with a look of wonder in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that means we have SUPERPOWERS NOW TOO!" he shouted.

"AHHHHHHHH I KNOW!" Lulu yelled, pulling down on her pigtails and stomping with excitement.

"Caca-mala-smala-wala-fala-bala-jala!" Chubz celebrated. "Does anyone know the magic words to kick things off?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Lulu said confused.

"No, there aren't any magic words Chubz. I think it just happens, I think we just let it naturally happen," Mickey said confidently as he moved Lulu and Chubz to either side to create some space. "Here I'll show you."

He spaced his feet apart. He clinched his fists together as he bent his knees slightly, then forced his legs to straighten and stuck his chest out.

"HURRRRRRRRNNNNNNNGGGGH!" Mickey forced out in one big strain.

He held the pose and he strained so hard that he started to turn red in the face.

"It's working Mickey," said Chubz as he winked at Lulu to join in the wind-up.

"Wow, awesome! Keep going Mickey," she said.

Mickey strained again, even harder believing his superpower was starting to appear.

"HUUUURRRRRRRRNNNNNNNGGGGH!"

"Go on! Go on! That's it," Chubz encouraged. "Heave that superpower out, buddy."

"Yeah, nearly there Mickey," said Lulu as she took a picture with her phone. *Click*

Mickey couldn't hold it any longer and let out a massive gasp of air.

"Well?" he asked.

"Nah," they both laughed.

"Yeah, that didn't work. Maybe I need let the superpower flow or something?" he said breathlessly.

"Yeah, it could need a bit of elegance and a hint of flair!" Lulu added.

"Try using the magic words!" Chubz said again over her.

"There are no MAGIC words!" Mickey and Lulu said together.

"Well, you two don't know, do you? I mean, c'mon, he's just danced around like a loony until he went red in the face," Chubz replied, laughing at Mickey's efforts.

The three of them stood side by side in a line. Mickey swung his arms backwards and forwards with his hands clasped together. He tried to throw the superpower out this time.  
Lulu popped her hip to the side and placed her hands on her head and struck a supermodel pose, complete with a mega-pout to try and awaken her superpower. Chubz jumped up and down, shouting 'abracadabra' repeatedly in different tones of voice, trying to activate his.

"Anyone feel any different?" asked Mickey.

"Nope, I don't," Lulu answered.

"Yeah I do, I'm out of breath! But that can't be my superpower though, right?" Chubz added.

"I don't get it? What gives? Why isn't it working?" Mickey said confused.

He placed his Gooz Gun over his shoulder, with the barrel facing behind him.

"Well, I need to freshen up. Stand back, it's time to accessorise!" Lulu demanded, as her bag sparkled.

"She likes her pink perfume. She uses it all the time because she sweats loads," Chubz whispered to Mickey as he reached into his bag to grab a doughnut.

"I heard that!" said Lulu. "I don't sweat, girls don't sweat so – hush you!"

Mickey and Chubz leant forward to watch as she sprayed herself. She pushed the top of the bottle and sprayed it so many times that a faint, pink, misty cloud covered their heads.

They all lost balance and their eyes closed as the perfume put them to sleep.

Mickey softly pulled the trigger on his Gooz Gun as he fell to the floor. The Gooz Gun unleashed a huge red energy blast from the barrel. It shot around the Superpower Fusion Dome and took out the flying Brawler, causing him to crash face first. His face squeaked across the marble floor until he came to halt.  
As Lulu fell into Chubz she knocked the doughnut he was about to eat out of his hands. It hurled into the air towards a chamber and Chubz fell to the floor and started to sleep. The doughnut splatted on the chamber door. It started to slide down the glass leaving a streak of jam and sugar. Then, the middle started to glow and it exploded with a deafening boom. The whole chamber shattered. The smoky blue magical essence started to escape. The evacuation alarm rang and red lights started to flash around the dome. Everyone ran out in a panic as Mickey, Lulu and Chubz lay still, in a heap, snoring away peacefully on the marble floor.
Chapter 5

Who Farted? The Epic Stink Bomb!

"Hello ... hello? Can you hear me?" Ziggy said while slapping the three of them individually on their cheeks to wake them. Mickey could barely see him as his vision was blurry. His eyes slightly opened seeing the outline of Ziggy before they started to flicker and focus.

"Huzzah, you're all awake ... finally!" Ziggy cheered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Wh-where am I? What happened?" Mickey asked groggily as he rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands.

"You're all in the Medical Centre. Oh boy, you three almost blew the roof off the Superpower Fusion Dome," Ziggy replied, chuckling geekily.

"Heyyyyyy Ziggyyyyy! How you doin'?" Lulu said as she sat up.

"I'm doing very well thank you I was just saying to-" Ziggy continued.

*Buzzzzzzzzzzzzrt*

The third bed started to raise slowly, the noise it made cut Ziggy off mid-sentence as a smiling Chubz greeted them.

"Have I died and gone to heaven or what? This is awesome, I've always wanted an electric bed," he said. "It's so much easier than actually moving."

"Are you both okay?" Mickey asked, concerned.

"Yeah I think so, my head hurts," Lulu replied. "But at least I still smell good."

"More than okay, Buddy," answered Chubz, stretching out in the bed and getting comfy.

Ziggy started to speak, "WELL, you three have-"

*Buuuuuuuuuuzzrt*

Chubz lowered his bed a little.

Ziggy tried to explain again, "You three have-"

*Buzzzzzzzzzzzzrt*

"Chubz, please. Just give me a minute, and then you can play with your bed," Ziggy pleaded.

"Oops – finger slipped," Chubz said, he glanced across at Lulu who had a mischievous look on her face.

Ziggy tried to explain yet again, "Right, as I was saying-"

*Buuuuuuuuuuzzrt*

"Oh come on Chubz, really?" Ziggy said annoyed.

"It wasn't me – I swear!" Chubz said, with his hands in the air.

Ziggy glanced across to see that Lulu had discovered the bed remote, too. He put his hands in his hair with frustration. Chubz joined in again. The two of them started to race each other to see which would raise and lower their bed the fastest. Ziggy just let them race to get it out of their system.

*Buuuuuuuuuuzzrt* *Buuuuuuuuuuzzrt*

*Buuuzzrt* *Buzzzzzrt*

*Buzzzzzzzrt* *Buzzzzzzzzrt*

*Buuuuuuuuuuzzrt* *Buuuuzzrt*

*Buuzzrt* *Buzzzzzrt*

"Come on guys, Ziggy's trying to tell us something," Mickey said, putting his hat on.

"As I was trying to say, you three really brought the Superpower Fusion Dome down earlier. I've never seen anything like it, ever!" Ziggy said. "Your superpowers are crazy!"

"Superpowers? What superpowers? We couldn't get them to work Ziggy," Mickey said disappointedly.

"That's where you are wrong my friend. Observe the TV screen above me," Ziggy said confidently.

Ziggy turned on the TV and the security footage started to play. They saw Lulu spray her perfume and then the three of them crash into each other and fall asleep. Mickey saw his Gooz Gun fire the energy blast uncontrollably, crack the top of the dome and take out the flying Brawler.  
Chubz saw his doughnut explode and completely shatter a chamber, releasing the smoky blue magical essence. Lulu watched as her perfume cloud drifted over to twenty other Brawlerz trying to escape and put them to sleep instantly. The three of them looked on in astonishment; they had superpowers, finally.

"Wow, we really did that? That is so cool!" Lulu celebrated.

"I don't believe it, my Gooz Gun actually works. Look at how powerful it is!" Mickey cheered.

"Was my doughnut okay Ziggy?" Chubz asked.

"What do you think?" Lulu interrupted. "It blew up, idiot."

"The items you took in the Superpower Fusion Dome were infused with the superpowers and not within you. That being said, Lulu, pass me your perfume, please," Ziggy asked, holding his hand out.

"Sure thing, Zig," she said as she threw it over it to him.

"Hmmmm just as I thought, it's no longer a perfume – it's a knockout perfume. It has a power regulator on the side and it's set to maximum. That's why it kept spraying. Let me tweak it a bit ... and ... presto. It will only squirt once and the effects will last up to a couple of minutes, tops," Ziggy said as he passed Lulu the knockout perfume back. "We need to figure out what your items can do. The superpower that they have stored inside can be a real force in the Brawlzone," Ziggy said, pausing the footage. "The Superpower Fusion Dome was designed to be Brawler proof. It was created to handle any superpower a Brawler could attain. Yet you three destroyed a chamber, cracked the top of the dome and took out twenty new Brawlerz unintentionally, in your sleep! The power you displayed was off the charts, my Book of Brawlerz had trouble trying to register it. So, I say we call it a day, for now, get some food so you can get your strength back and then head to the Training Arena tomorrow," he added.

"Tomorrow? Can't we just test them out in the training session this afternoon?" Lulu asked.

"Well, there's a slight problem there seeing as that session has finished," Ziggy answered.

"FINISHED!?" the three of them yelled.

"Gosh yes, you and the twenty other Brawlerz have been knocked out for a while," Ziggy said.

"What, all twenty? Oops!" Lulu joked putting her hand over her mouth.

"How long is a while?" Mickey questioned. "Ten maybe fifteen minutes?"

"More like six hours," Ziggy laughed with a snort and a grunt.

"Six hours!? How did we get here then? Did you help us?" Mickey continued.

"Oh no, I couldn't lift any of you on my best day.  
I was in the Training Arena watching it on the Brawlertron but the security cameras captured who helped you," Ziggy answered, continuing the footage to show them.

The security footage showed that a girl with long, bright red hair ran into the Superpower Fusion Dome. She was carrying a giant yellow pencil that she used to sketch something on the marble floor. After a couple of seconds, she put her hands on the sketch and it became real. She had drawn a huge snow plough.

The footage then showed her climbing inside and operating it. She scooped up Mickey, Lulu and Chubz along with the other Brawlerz that were knocked out from Lulu's perfume and shoved them out to safety.

"She was in and out so quick I couldn't get a good look at her, but she really saved the day. That pencil is magnificent! It could have been one of the new Brawlerz but I'm not entirely sure. I didn't see anyone holding a giant pencil during team selection. Let me check my Book of Brawlerz to see if I have any information on a girl with red hair and a giant pencil," Ziggy explained, opening his book.

Ziggy paced up and down flicking through his book trying to find information about the mystery person. Mickey and Chubz watched as Ziggy mumbled to himself with every page he turned, trying to solve this mystery.

Meanwhile, Lulu was frantically texting away on the other side of the room.

*vuuuurrrrm vuuuurrrm*

Chubz received a text from Lulu. He glanced up to see her big mischievous grin. He read the message.

'OMG Chubz m8 do u still have dat stink bomb in yr hat?'

'duuuuh ☺' he messaged back.

Lulu looked at him and rubbed her hands together before texting him again.

*vuuuurrrrm vuuuurrrm*

'Ziggy is totally asking for it. roll it at his feet!! ' it read.

She waved her arms frantically above her head in excitement and then pointed at Ziggy's feet.  
Chubz looked back at her and nodded quickly, in agreement.

'Got it! Hold yr breath HAHAHA  FOL' he messaged to her.

*vuuuurrrrm vuuuurrrm*

'FOL, what's FOL?' Lulu text back.

'Fart Out Loud' Chubz replied.

*vuuuurrrrm vuuuurrrm*

'HAHAHA I like your style '

Chubz sneakily reached up into his cap and slowly pulled out the stink bomb. Then, he craftily leant to the side of his bed and dangled his arm on the floor, before carefully rolling the stink bomb towards Ziggy. He sat back up and pretended that he was still listening.

Lulu and Chubz didn't blink as they stared at Ziggy's feet. They held their breath and gripped the duvet every time Ziggy came close to stepping on the stink bomb. His shoe narrowly missed it again and again.  
Lulu and Chubz scrunched their faces at every close call. The stink bomb moved slightly with each near miss, touching the shoe but not breaking. Ziggy lifted his foot to walk back, the stink bomb rolled forward an inch directly under his shoe. All he had to do now was put his foot down.

"ZIGGY – WAIT A SECOND," Chubz shrieked to get his attention. "... err ... spider!"

"Yeah yeah yeah! It's under your foot, quick, squish it squish it squish it!" Lulu screeched dramatically.

"URGH I hate spiders," Ziggy said as he stomped down in a hurry.

*CRUNCH*

"Bullseye!" Chubz and Lulu said together. They both air grabbed in triumph as they waited for the smell to hit.

"One time, a spider ... *sniff* a spider ... *sniff sniff* quick, someone hold my glasses. I'm going to be sick," Ziggy said while stumbling around, hopelessly trying to find a bin.

"That's rank!" Mickey shouted as he tried to cover his nose with the quilt. However, the smell easily crept through.

"I'm gonna be sick as well. Someone pass me a bucket!" Mickey asked as he jumped out of bed.

Mickey and Ziggy grabbed the nearest thing to a container and hurled and retched into them, "HUUUURRRRGH!"

"Chubz, that stinks! Is it a new, stronger stink bomb?" Lulu laughed, as the smell started to reach her.

"No, same old same old ... *sniff* phwoar that's nasty!" Chubz said surprised.

"I'm gonna puke!" Lulu said, still laughing.

"Me too!" Chubz joked. "This is AWESOME!"

The stink bomb morphed into a thick, dark green cloud of stench. It filled the room and started to spill out into the corridor through the gap under the door.

"I can't handle it – HUUUURRGH!" Lulu said, leaning over and puking. "Bail – HUUURRGH!"

"Yeah, bail!" Chubz mumbled through an oxygen mask he'd found. "HUUUURRRGH!" he groaned as he barfed into it.

They all burst out of the room and headed for the exit. The rancid smell from the stench cloud surged after them. Cries and pleas for help came from every room the stench cloud passed. The sound of everyone throwing up quickly followed. The four of them made their way down the corridor as fast as they could. They reached the end of the ground floor corridor and found a window. Mickey desperately opened it as the stench cloud was closing in.

"Forget finding the exit, out the window now!" Mickey said, trying to hold the sick back with his hands.

All four of them gasped in the fresh air as they fell from the window and sprawled out on the grass.

"Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear," gasped Ziggy, holding his stomach. "That was extremely unpleasant. Dreadful! Just awful!"

"AWESOME!!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"What was that?" asked Mickey. "It stripped the air out of my lungs."

"That was THE maddest stink bomb ever, Mickey," replied Lulu. "They must be new stink bombs Chubz, you knucklehead!"

"Nope, I swear it. It's been in my cap for a week!" Chubz defended himself, wiping his face clean with his vest.

"A week? Don't forget you've been in the Superpower Fusion Dome Chubz!" Mickey said, still trying to catch his breath back.

"And? So what?" Chubz replied.

"The same dome that made the items you all have supercharged?" Ziggy added as he sprawled out on the grass, stunned, as tears streamed from his eyes.

"OH! ... Got ya. Shame I only had one left then. I could have had a riot with those," Chubz said as he looked back at the stench cloud engulfing the Medical Centre.

"Look on the bright side though; at least it can't get any worse than this," Chubz concluded as they all looked up, not able to move and covered in their own sick.

Chapter 6

Unleash The Gooz Gun

"FALL IN LINE MAGGOTS!"A tall dominating figure shouted in the Training arena.

"Well, it looks like it just got worse," Chubz said regretfully, remembering his final comment at the Medical Centre.

The Brawlerz all ran and lined up next to each other shoulder to shoulder. They looked on as this huge, bald, intimidating tank of a Brawler started to walk forward. He wore black tinted sunglasses that hid away what, or who he was looking at. A toothpick was stuck in his large rotten teeth in a mouth that was constantly frowning.  
He wore a combat shirt that had the sleeves ripped off. His boots were black and polished to perfection; you could almost see yourself in them. He punched his massive open hand with an equally large fist as he walked towards them.

"Who's this guy?" Chubz asked a Brawler using the edge of his mouth.

"That's Captain Crusher," the Brawler whispered back. "Why do you ask – were you one of the Brawlerz that never attended yesterday?"

Chubz nodded. The Brawler gulped worryingly as he started to shuffle down the line to get as far away from Chubz as possible. Chubz then faced forward. He was greeted by Captain Crusher leaning over and staring right into his eyes.

"Ah, the problem team is here," Captain Crusher said angrily.

Chubz pointed at himself and mouthed 'us' to Lulu and Mickey, confused as to why they were a problem.

"The three Brawlerz that caused twenty other Brawlerz to miss MY TRAINING SESSION yesterday!" he screamed at Mickey, who stood up straight when he raised his voice.

"I will see to it personally that the three of you are ..." he started to scream in Lulu's face.

Lulu opened her bag and lowered her hand into it while he was screaming at her. A rattling noise could be heard as she pulled out a little tub of mini-mints. She slowly took one out and pushed it past his lips and into his mouth. Then, with one finger she carefully closed his jaw with her other hand.

"There you are," she said sweetly.

The mint stayed in his mouth for a moment as his face started to boil over with rage. He spat the mint at her feet. The other Brawlerz in the line started to separate from the three of them, leaving a big gap at either side.

He started to breathe deeply as veins popped out of his neck and across his forehead. He tensed his muscles as he started huffing and puffing.

"WHO ... DO ... YOU ... THINK ... YOU ... ARE?" he forced heavily out of his mouth to Lulu, who was too busy putting the mints away and fastening her bag back up.

"Ahhh that smells much better, now your breath won't melt my face," Lulu said, playfully slapping him on his cheek.

Captain Crusher yelled in absolute frustration, so much so that his words were gibberish. "GASHDFNTKGFKSKGJH!!"

A hand appeared from behind Captain Crusher and tapped him on his large shoulder. Captain Crusher furiously spun around with both of his massive fists clenched and swung them up in the air, ready to flatten who was behind him.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" he roared.

Mr Jordan was standing there. He pulled Captain Crusher aside and started to tell him something in private. However, everyone could still hear the important parts thanks to Captain Crusher's random rage yells.

"SELECTED? ... ELDERS? ... NO PUNISHMENT!?" Captain Crusher squealed in disbelief.

Mr Jordan walked off and Captain Crusher slowly turned around, with his arms still in the air. He was now about to explode.

There was a brief moment of silence;

*sniff* *sniff* "Dude, his pits stink too!" Lulu whispered to Chubz, pointing at Captain Crusher's sweat patches.

"Aww man, there's no need for that. That's just really poor personal hygiene," said Chubz. "Hey, Captain C ... get a wash!"

"Here, take a mint for each armpit. I hope nothing else stinks 'cos I haven't got many left," Lulu said to Captain Crusher, dipping her hand back into her bag.

He glared at Mickey, Lulu and Chubz. His eyeball twitched with anger as he had reached his boiling point with them already. He slammed his fists repeatedly into the ground while screeching to let the anger out.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked up and down each time he slammed his fists over and over.

"I don't think this guy likes mints," Chubz said to Lulu.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Captain Crusher screeched, furiously.

Captain Crusher caught his breath and said, "Just get into your teams and do something. I've had enough of you already," and shooed them away.

The Brawlerz broke off into their teams and occupied their own section of the Training Arena. Ziggy was waiting for Mickey, Lulu and Chubz, eager to get started.

"What was wrong with Captain Crusher?" Ziggy asked.

"Nothing a good shower couldn't fix," answered Chubz.

"I'm so pumped up for this! I couldn't sleep last night! I just want to take this Gooz Gun for a spin!" Mickey said excitedly.

"Good, well you can go first then Mickey. Then I'll move on to you two. Is that okay?" Ziggy asked Lulu and Chubz.

"Yeah fine with me," Lulu said as she took out her phone.

"Okay Mickey, I think you should start with some target practice. Let's see what this Gooz Gun can do, shall we? What I want you to do is hit this target ..." Ziggy said as he struggled to pull a lever to release it, "using your energy blast."

"No problem!" Mickey said confidently, looking at a wooden target at the far end of the arena.

He licked his lips, eyed up the sights and he placed his finger on the trigger.

"It's Brawlin' Time! FIRE!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger.

*KABOOM!*

The power from the energy blast launched him backwards instantly in a cloud of dust, sending his hat spinning into the air.

The energy blast lashed into the floor with a loud crackle, leaving a deep trench. Ziggy, Chubz and Lulu looked down across the trench with amazement. They looked back across the Training Arena to Mickey. He was embedded in the wall, winded, but laughing.

"Nailed ... it!" he wheezed.

"That's going on YouTube!" Chubz laughed.

"ARRRRRGGHHHH, what are you doing now!?" screamed Captain Crusher.

"Nothing, nothing Sir. Errr everything's fine, no need to worry. Nothing to see here," replied Ziggy who ran over to distract him.

He looked past Ziggy, to Lulu and Chubz who were holding up Mickey, pretending nothing had happened. Chubz dusted off Mickey's purple hat and put it back on his head. He quickly grabbed mickey's arm by the sleeve and yanked it around. Chubz made him wave to Captain Crusher to avoid suspicion.

"I have my eyes on you!" he mumbled as he pointed at his eyes and then at them.

"WEIRDO!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving each other, dropping Mickey in the process.

"Hmmm, we need to find a way to improve the centre of gravity in Mickey so he is able to control the force generated from the Gooz Gun more efficiently," Ziggy said, examining the Gooz Gun closely.

"Say that again Ziggy, just this time not in geek talk so we can understand you," Lulu asked.

"We need to keep Mickey still when he fires the Gooz Gun," Ziggy simplified.

"Ah gotcha, thanks," she replied while uploading the video of Mickey that she'd recorded.

Ziggy looked at the boots that Mickey was wearing. He opened his Book of Brawlerz and started to come up with a solution to the problem by sketching his theories.

"Hmmm ... ahhhh ... yes that could work. We have to anchor you down Mickey," Ziggy said while turning the Book of Brawlerz around to show him.

"There's two options, one, we could order you some auto-spikes for your boots. These fire short spikes into the ground to hold you steady. They'll keep you in place, but once you're anchored down that's it, you won't be moving much. Or, two, we can work on your stance and improve your balance," Ziggy explained.

"Errrrm the second one sounds good to me. I don't want to use the auto-spikes; I have to be fast and agile in the Brawlzone," Mickey said.

"Okay, stance it is then. Let me see. First, put your kicking foot forward and your other foot behind. Leave a gap big enough so you don't fall over, then relax your knees slightly," Ziggy instructed.

Mickey followed his instructions, "like this?" he asked.

"Not quite, almost. Just need to move this slightly ... and if you drop a little lower here ... and lean a bit more there ... relax some more here ..." Ziggy said, shuffling Mickey's body and kicking his foot further forward into position.

"Right, now what do I do?" Mickey asked as he balanced in his stance confidently.

"Well, how you hold the Gooz Gun is just as important as your stance. If you get this right, it will greatly reduce the recoil and aftershock that your Gooz Gun produces.

So what I want you to do now is pull the stock firmly into your shoulder. Then, stabilise yourself by leaning forward slightly over your front foot," Ziggy continued to instruct.

"Yeah this feels right, miles better! I feel more in control now," Mickey said excitedly.

"Brilliant. Now, again, aim for the same target! Let her rip!" Ziggy shouted.

"It's Brawlin' Time ... again! FIRE!" Mickey laughed.

*KABOOM!*

The energy blast obliterated the target, sending bits of wood everywhere. They fell to the floor, singed and still burning. Chubz looked back to the wall to where Mickey had landed the first time, he wasn't there. He was still standing in the same spot.

"COME ON! THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!" Mickey roared proudly, pumping his fist in the air.

"That's ... TOTALLY AWESOME!" Lulu said, slapping the top of Chubz's head like a bongo drum.

"Cheers Lulu it-" Mickey started to reply,

"375,000 views already?! That's crazy," Lulu said, showing Chubz the video she uploaded. "It's a smash hit – literally."

"Oh, I thought you were talking about me!" Mickey realised.

"I ... err ... you did good too," Lulu said, clapping softly, "yay for Mickey."

"Well done, Mickey." Ziggy applauded. "That was splendid!"

"Thanks, Ziggy, that was so much better," said Mickey with absolute confidence.

"Now I'm going to give you more of a challenge. Are you up for that?" Ziggy asked.

"Yeah, of course! Bring it! Give me your best!" Mickey demanded.

"Okay, I'll up the difficulty to push your skills further. Let's see how you handle these moving titanium targets! These won't damage as easily as the others and their movement patterns are unpredictable. You'll need to keep a sharp eye while moving around and maintaining your stance! Are you ready?" Ziggy shouted eagerly. "GO!"

*KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM* Mickey was off with a bang.

Chapter 7

Go Nuts For Doughnuts

Ziggy then moved on to help Lulu who couldn't stand still. Shaking rigidly, she was raring to go.

"Okay Lulu, do you have your bag with you?" Ziggy asked. "I would like to examine the contents."

"Sir, yes Sir, Mister Ziggy Sir," Lulu said while saluting him, she opened her bag and started to pull her items out.

"I have my mirror, my bangles, my lipstick, ooooh my perfume *squirt squirt* and I have my ... my ..." *THUD* Lulu face planted the floor. She'd used her knockout perfume on herself ... again.

Ziggy sighed while dragging his hands slowly down his face.

"Un-be-lieveable," he muffled through his fingers.

Ziggy left Lulu to sleep it off and moved on to Chubz. He was sat with his bag of doughnuts open between his legs. Ziggy reached into the bag and pulled a doughnut out.

"Where do you think you are going with that?" Chubz asked, grabbing Ziggy's leg.

"I need to examine it Chubz, don't panic," he replied.

He held it in the air, rotated it round and felt the weight. He gripped it in his hands and ripped it in half to show Chubz the filling.

"Waaaah, are you crazy?" Chubz screamed.

"Check this out Chubz; your doughnuts are explosive on impact because of this filling. This filling somehow reacts when you hold it and throw it. That's why it exploded in the Superpower Fusion Dome," Ziggy said.

"You're mad you ... you doughnut killer ... Mr Killer of doughnuts," Chubz replied, snatching back the doughnut pieces.

"Don't worry Chubz, my Book of Brawlerz is showing me that you have infinite doughnuts," said Ziggy.

"Infinite doughnuts? Infinite – shimfinite Ziggy, I don't care what flavour your book says they are. There was no need for that," Chubz said. "I wish you hadn't have ripped my doughnut apart."

Ziggy and Chubz both watched as the filling started to glow. The doughnut pieces started to wobble as they moved back together and became whole again in his hand.

Ziggy scratched his chin as he pondered what the secret to the doughnut's power could be. He watched as Chubz ate one and nothing happened. Ziggy went into deep thought as he tried to understand the doughnut's power.

Interesting, not only are his doughnuts explosive as standard, but he was also able to fuse one back together, fascinating. But how did that happen? What could he be doing to affect the state of the doughnut? I wonder if there is more to the doughnut's power. I wish I knew – Wish? Wish, that's it! Suddenly, Ziggy snapped his fingers with excitement.

"Chubz come over here and sit down next to me, please," Ziggy asked impatiently.

"Don't even think about ripping up another doughnut, Ziggy," Chubz warned him.

Chubz sat down and placed the doughnuts next to him. He picked one out that he was about to eat, but Ziggy asked him a question which made him pause.

"Chubz, I just want to try something with you really quick. What superpower did you want when you were younger?" Ziggy asked.

"Invisibility. I wanted to be invisible," Chubz answered.

"Ah I see, and how desperately did you want to be invisible?" Ziggy continued.

"Yeah, I used to wish for that superpower all of the time, it was so cool!" Chubz replied as he started to move the doughnut towards his mouth.

"What was that? You did what for invisibility?" Ziggy asked, staring at Chubz.

"I wished for invisibility," said Chubz as the doughnut edged closer to his mouth.

"Would you wish for it now if you could?" Ziggy said as he continued to stare closely at him.

"You're freaking me out Ziggy. I wish I was invisible right now to stop you staring at me!" Chubz said, finally taking a bite of his doughnut.

"BINGO!!" Ziggy celebrated.

"What do you mean bingo?" Chubz asked.

"Chubz, your wish has been granted, look at your feet!" he said proudly.

Chubz looked down, his feet had vanished.

"Huh! What the?" Chubz panicked. "AHHHHHHH!" he screamed. "My feet, where've my feet gone?"

"Don't worry Chubz just calm down. It's the doughnut that's making them invisible. You have to wish for that power in order for it to work, that's why I got you to say it Chubz ... Chubz?" Ziggy asked reaching out to find him as the rest of his body had become invisible now too, "Are you still there?"

Chubz had already started running round in a blind panic, bumping into other Brawlerz, knocking them off balance or knocking them over entirely.

Ziggy tried to keep track of him but it was impossible. His eyes darted from one incident to another.

"Have you seen my feet?" he asked one Brawler. "How about you – have you seen my feet?" Chubz asked another as he ran around chaotically.

"Has anyone seeeeen my feet?" he yelled.

He then realised that he was now totally invisible,

"Waaaaaah!" he screamed, "Where have I gone! Has anyone seen me?"

"Please, has anyone seeeeen me! How about you buddy – have you seen me?" he asked urgently. "Where am I? Does anybody know where I am?"

"Chubz, it's fine. Calm down and come back here!" Ziggy instructed.

The running stopped, and Chubz made his way back to Ziggy. Ziggy held his hands out to make sure that he was back.

"Walk into my hands so I know you're there!" he asked.

Ziggy waited patiently when he felt something touch his hands.

"Is that you Chubz? Are you okay?" Ziggy asked.

"Yeah I'm good buddy; it was just a shock that's all," said Chubz, "Totally freaked me out."

"I fully understand, it's not every day you become invisible – is it? Just think of all of the things you can do now you're invisible. You can do whatever you want and no one will be able to see you," Ziggy told him.

"Ooooooooh yeah. It's time to crank-up the prank!" Chubz announced with an invisible glint in his eye. "Err, Ziggy how long will my invisibility last?"

"I don't know actually. But I'll know soon enough," he answered.

"Awesome. Wait until Lulu gets a load of this!" Chubz laughed, he was off again.

He made his way over to where Lulu was lying and kicked her in the leg to wake her up.  
Chubz turned her over to see that she was still sleeping. She was snoring loudly from the perfume blast she took earlier. Lulu grumbled nonsense in her sleep as she started to stir a little from the commotion. Chubz decided to have a bit of fun at Lulu's expense.

He grabbed her lipstick and wrote 'DOPEY' in big capital letters on her forehead. Then, taking her two index fingers, he carefully shoved one right inside each nostril. Lastly, he tied her shoelaces together in a tight, double knot before walking off laughing.

"Haha, she's gonna go mental when she wakes up," he said under his breath. "Chubz: 3 Lulu: 0."

Chubz looked across to Mickey, who was still training hard. He wandered over towards him while singing to himself. He thought about the best way to let his new friend know about his invisibility superpower.

Mickey was taking aim at another set of targets and about to fire when,

"GUESS WHO'S INVISIBLE?" Chubz shouted as loud as he could in his ear.

"WAAAAAH!" Mickey yelled as he fired his Gooz Gun up into the air from the shock. *KABOOM*

"What the? Chubz – is that you?" Mickey called out confused, looking around.

"You heard me then?" asked Chubz.

"Of course I did, you've just screamed in my ear," replied Mickey, banging the side of his head to ease the ringing. "Whoa, you're invisible! That's so cool!"

"I know right! This is the best day of my life!" Chubz said as he turned to walk away. "Be right back. I have the urge to create CHAOS!"

Mickey kicked up dust onto Chubz's back; so that he could see his outline and keep track of him. He knew what a prankster he was and didn't want to get caught a second time. Chubz headed towards a group of Brawlerz, preparing to scare them. However, as he got right next to them, the time was up and the invisibility superpower instantly wore off.  
Chubz was stood still with his arms in the air, cross-eyed, his tongue hanging out and his legs bent ready to pounce on them ...

"Chubz, Chubz it's worn off!" Ziggy shouted. "And you're naked," he continued.

"WAAAAAHHH!" screamed Chubz as he looked down in horror, covering the most important parts of his body.

"Erm ... hey?" he said awkwardly to the group of Brawlerz.

"Ooh, look at the time. I best be off," Chubz said casually as he looked as his wrist, pretending to look at a watch.

"Whoa, put your hand back down," the Brawlerz screamed, looking away at the sight. "Put it back down!"

Chubz quietly turned his back on them as if nothing had happened and coolly walked back over to Ziggy, wiggling his bum as he went.

With all the commotion, he had attracted the attention of the other Brawlerz in the Training Arena and Captain Crusher.

"Guys guys, don't be ashamed, be proud!" Chubz said as he strutted past everyone.

"Hey Mr C, how's it hangin'?" he said to Captain Crusher, giving him a cheeky thumbs up.

As he walked over, he noticed a discarded sweet on the floor.

"Ooooh, a piece of candy ..." Chubz said as he bent over to pick it up, with his bum on full display.

"WHOAAAAAA NO!" everyone screamed.

"What, it's still in the wrapper?" Chubz screeched. "Oh I see, haha, sorry guys," he said, looking behind him and remembering that he was still naked.

Chubz finally made it back to Ziggy. He grabbed the fat of his belly and pushed and pulled it around his belly button to make it look as if it was talking. "Give us a kiss, Ziggy," he said, pursing his lips and making kissing noises at him. "Kissy, kissy, kissy."

"Chubz please," said Ziggy, laughing at the sight of Chubz's talking belly and not knowing where to look. "Stop it!"

"Awwww spoilsport," said Chubz. "If you're absolutely sure?" he asked and squeezed his belly button one last time.

Ziggy opened the Book of Brawlerz. He saw that it had updated the requirements needed for the doughnuts to work. It had also listed how long the effects of the doughnuts will last for. Chubz's clothes then reappeared moments later.

"Three minutes, your invisibility lasted three minutes Chubz. So whatever you wish for will last for three minutes, too. Just make sure you eat the full doughnut next time. You only took a bite out it when you wished for invisibility which is why your clothes didn't reappear when you did. You can't put Brawlerz through that type of trauma again," Ziggy blushed.

"Haha, sorry buddy," Chubz laughed.

"The book also says that if you wish for something while eating a doughnut, you will become that wish. Whereas, if you wish for something and then throw that doughnut, that doughnut will become that wish on impact! The possibilities are endless!" Ziggy said enthusiastically, patting Chubz on the back.

"What, anything?" Chubz asked in astonishment.

"That's right; anything," Ziggy reassured. "But it will only last for three minutes."

"Ooh ooh ooh, could I have giant gold wings like Perseus?" Chubz asked.

"Yes! Whatever you wish for will happen," Ziggy answered.

"Wow, this is next level cool," said Chubz.

"Right, I'm going to wake Lulu up now. Remember, you can wish for anything. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G," Ziggy repeated one last time.

Chubz gave Ziggy a double thumbs up as he started to walk away. Ziggy looked over to where Lulu was still sleeping when he could hear pattering footsteps trying to catch up to him. He looked to his left to see Chubz, again.

"Ziggy ... Ziggy ... could I have hands of stone?" Chubz asked, "With knuckles as big as boulders?"

"YES CHUBZ!" Ziggy said firmly.

"Okay, cheers," Chubz said while still following him.

Ziggy took a few more steps when he felt tapping on his shoulder.

"What about if I want to become a superfast, intergalactic, star-chasing, planet beating rocket? Could I do that?" Chubz quizzed. "Or, or, better still a superfast, intergalactic, star-chasing, planet beating rocket, with twin-turbo boosters, loads of plasma guns on the sides and a teeny-weeny laser on the top that could destroy a Galaxy? Could I do that?"

Ziggy stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Chubz. He put both of his hands on Chubz's head and said,

"Chubz, you're not understanding what I'm telling you, are you?" said Ziggy. "I don't think we're working off the same page here do you?"

"Working off the same page? We're not even working off the same book," replied Chubz. "We're not even in the same library Ziggy, haha!"

"Let me break it down for you then," Ziggy said. "Repeat after me ..."

"Repeat after me," Chubz copied.

"No no no, not that part!" Ziggy said quickly.

"No no no, not that part!" Chubz copied while laughing.

Ziggy dropped his head and let out a loud, exhausting sigh before continuing.

"Right, I, Chubz can use my doughnuts to wish for anything," Ziggy said slowly.

"I, Chubz can use my doughnuts to wish for anything," Chubz copied.

"You get it?" Ziggy asked impatiently.

"Yep," Chubz replied.

"Got it?" Ziggy asked again. Chubz continued to nod.

"Good!" Ziggy said.

"Awesome Buddy, why didn't you just say that in the first place?" said Chubz. "I'll add an alien detection system to the rocket list too."

Ziggy watched Chubz walk away before going over to Lulu, finally. She was slowly starting to come round; the knockout perfume had almost worn off entirely, so Ziggy would be able to wake her. He lightly shook her, but then he heard a familiar voice shouting him ... again.

"Ziggy. Ziiiiiiiiggy," Chubz shouted. "Over here!"

Ziggy slouched down and sighed once more at the fact Chubz was asking for him yet again.

"Yoooo hoooo!" Chubz called.

Chubz had turned himself into a massive balloon and was floating around the Training Arena effortlessly.

"Like this?" Chubz asked. "Way-hey!"

"Yeah, just like that Chubz. Spot on," Ziggy laughed as he watched a slight breeze carry Chubz away, knowing he was going to be like that for three minutes.

"Small steps Ziggy, small steps," said Chubz.

Chapter 8

Trouble, Tantrums And A ... T-Rex!

Ziggy looked back over to Lulu who was now awake. He held his hand out to help her up. She was wiping the snot off her fingers using her top.

"What happened? Why were my fingers rammed in my nose?" Lulu asked, grabbing Ziggy's hand for a lift up.

"You sprayed yourself in the face with your knockout perfume ... again. You've been knocked out for a while, too. Didn't I set the regulator at the Medical Centre?" Ziggy said, helping her to her feet. "Let me have another look."

Ziggy inspected the perfume regulator and saw that it had changed.

"There you go, it's been moved. Have you been tinkering with it?" Ziggy asked as he set the regulator back to normal.

"I haven't, but I know who has ... CHUBZ!" Lulu shouted as Chubz bobbed around in the air, innocently.

Lulu glared at him. She attempted to run at him but quickly tripped over, falling face first onto the floor with a thump. She stared down at her shoes to see that the laces had been tied together.

"CHUBZ!" Lulu yelled again. Her eyes widened with anger as she unfastened them.

"And now I'm covered in dust, too. Great, just great!" Lulu said irritated. "Thanks a lot, idiot."

She took out her mirror to wipe the dust off her face when she saw 'DOPEY' written across her forehead.

She shook silently. Her head dropped as her fists clinched tightly. Ziggy backed away slowly.

"Grrrrrr CHUUUUBZ!" she screamed at the top of her voice, flinging her arms by her side with rage.

"Now now, Lulu; calm down a smidge and chill," Chubz said from above, gesturing to her to back off. "I take it you don't find it funny then?"

Chubz panicked when he saw how mad she was. He attempted to fly away while still in his balloon form. He flapped his arms frantically and kicked his feet as fast as he could to get himself moving. He puffed air from his cheeks, desperate to get away. She watched on as he didn't move very far, despite his best efforts.

"It's okay, I've got allll day to wait, Chubz," Lulu said firmly. "I'll get you back!"

"Noooo you won't," Chubz said as he floated by slowly.

Ziggy hopelessly tried to drag Lulu away by the scruff of her top, but she dug her heels into the arena floor. She wanted to keep her angry eye contact with Chubz a little longer. He dragged her back to where he'd left his Book of Brawlerz. He picked it up, licked his thumb and started to search for the page on Lulu while she calmed down. The pages flipped over at a blinding pace. Ziggy mumbled to himself until he found it. He put the book on the floor and sat down to read it, Lulu sat opposite him.

"Here we are, Lulu!" he said, pointing to her name at the top of her page.

Lulu leant forward to get a closer look.

"My Book of Brawlerz has updated again, we now know more about your accessories. However, your bag is still a mystery.

On your right arm, you have a beaded bracelet. The bracelet gives you a huge power increase. So, if you head-charge or punch something, chances are you'll send it into next year." Ziggy snorted while laughing at his own joke.

"Aww, Ziggy said a funny," Lulu cheered. "How cute."

Lulu looked at her beaded bracelet; each bead had a different colour.

"Let's give it a whirl then shall we," she said as the bracelet started to spin round her wrist.

She hoisted her arm in the air and slammed it down on the ground, knocking bits of it up into the air and creating a hole in the floor.

"Totally sweet eh, Ziggy? Lulu said satisfied.

"... Ziggy?" she added, looking for him.

Lulu looked around, Ziggy had gone. Where did he go?

"Up here," a voice said from above.

She looked up to see that Chubz, still in his balloon form, had hold of a shocked Ziggy who was clinging onto Chubz and his Book of Brawlerz for dear life.

"You pack quite a punch Lulu, next time give me a heads-up first, okay?" Ziggy pleaded as Chubz lowered him back down.

"Well, you've got that bracelet down to a tee. Okay, where are the rest of your items so I can analyse them?" Ziggy asked.

Lulu stood up and opened her bag and shook out the contents. Once again her lipsticks, mirrors, perfumes, headbands and bracelets fell out.

"Everything I need to accessorise with is right there," Lulu said.

Then, with a flash, her bag started to sparkle. Little bits of glitter fluttered out from the inside. Lulu held onto her bag securely as it suddenly started to rumble and shake.

"Ziggy what's happening?!" Lulu yelled.

"I-I don't know Lulu!" Ziggy replied, startled.

His book of Brawlerz went berserk trying to update itself and show Ziggy what was going on.

"Something's coming Ziggy, what do I do?" Lulu panicked.

"Stop emptying your bag, fasten it up quick!" Ziggy ordered.

Within the next second, massive amounts of items spewed out of her bag in a wave of junk. It landed on the floor in a colossal pile. Lulu flung her bag down and ran towards it.

"MINE! ALL THIS STUFF IS MINE!" she declared.

She jumped on top of the junk, claiming the contents as hers while parting it, like a snow angel. Ziggy kicked a few pieces out of the way as he searched through what the bag had thrown out. All of the stuff was random. Chubz floated over for a closer look.

"Whoa, that's so awesome! Ooh, Lulu can I have that Baseball glove?" Chubz asked, floating in a circle directly above her head.

"No, it's allll mine," Lulu howled with laughter.

"Come on Lulu, I'll trade you for it?" Chubz begged as he ate another doughnut to keep himself floating. "Pleeeeease."

"I SAID NO!" Lulu shouted.

Lulu laughed as she rolled around in her pile of junk, throwing random bits in the air at Chubz, to knock him away.

Something caught Ziggy's attention. He could see something creeping upward in the corner of his eye. He turned to get a better look and dropped his Book of Brawlerz in shock when he saw what it was.

"Lulu," whispered Ziggy.

"WHAT?" she replied loudly.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh, keep your voice down," Ziggy whispered back. He twitched his head back towards her bag to get her to look at it.

"EH? WHADDYA SAY?" she asked at the top of her voice.

Ziggy turned white with fear; he bit his lip to stop his scared screams from escaping. Lulu twirled one of her pigtails around her finger as she looked at Ziggy, blankly. She shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

Chubz continued to spin above her, as he slowly started to face where the bag was, Chubz wailed,

"Caca-mala-smala-wala-fala-bala-jala! D-D-DINOSAUR!" he screamed.

Lulu looked across to see an enormous T-rex stepping out of her bag. Its eyes were fixed on Lulu and the pile of junk. It dug its huge claw-like nails into the ground. Its muscle-bound legs braced to run, and then it screeched so loud that the pile of junk vibrated. The T-rex put its head down and started to run towards her.

"RUN! Run for your lives," Chubz declared as he continued to spin, broadcasting the information to the other Brawlerz to warn them. "Just keep running and never stop."

Every single Brawler in the Training Arena headed for the nearest exit, in a panic. But the pushing and shoving just caused a log-jam at the doors. The T-rex built momentum as it smashed through the pile of junk, flicking items across the Training Arena floor with its tail. The Brawlerz that were stuck in the exit looked back. The T-rex was almost upon them. They started to shove and squeeze through even harder.

"Oi! Are you deaf? I've just said all that stuff is mine!" Lulu shouted, before charging at the T-rex.

"Mickey, Mickey – HELP!" yelled Ziggy.

Lulu head-charged into its huge back legs, knocking it away from the Brawlerz. Mickey sprinted over to help and ran up the T-rex's tail. He stomped on its head and launched himself into the air. The T-rex roared its head upwards following Mickey as he took aim. He fired his Gooz Gun downwards three times. The energy blasts formed rings which trapped the T-rex. It tried to struggle free but it wasn't going anywhere, but its jaw was still snapping viciously at Mickey.

"Someone's a bit snappy," Mickey said as he fired another energy ring, trapping its mouth shut.

"Ziggy what do we do now?" Lulu asked.

"It needs to go back in the bag," Ziggy said, cowering behind the pile of junk.

"Lulu, open your bag and put it underneath its foot as best you can. We're going to squash it back in," Mickey said, nodding at Lulu for agreement.

Lulu grabbed her bag and ran over to the restrained T-rex. She watched on as its feet kept hopping and stomping around. She was trying to time its movements but they were too random. She squeezed her fist and smacked its toes with all the force she could muster, causing the T-rex to yelp. It lifted its foot up in pain. Lulu slid her bag underneath, ready for it to step on it. As the foot lowered, its leg slowly sunk back into the bag.

"YES! Nice one Lulu! Now we just need something to squash the rest of it in with," Mickey said looking around for something to use.

"TADAAAAAA!" Chubz said while standing ten times bigger than normal, in a superhero pose.

"Never fear. When there's danger ahead, when all else fails ..." he waffled, giving a superhero entrance speech.

"CHUBZ today would be nice!" yelled Lulu.

"Ooops, yeah sorry," he replied.

He stood next to the sinking T-rex. He leapt up and landed on it with an almighty elbow drop.

*BADOOSH!*

"AGAIN! AGAIN!" Mickey shouted.

Chubz landed another four elbow drops, squashing the T-rex further and further into the bag. Mickey ran round to help Lulu close it, but the top of the T-rex's head was still poking out.

"One more should do it Chubz!" Mickey yelled.

"Okie dokie!" he said, landing the final elbow drop.

*BADOOSH!*

The bag snapped shut and skidded across the floor.

"Phew, that was tight," Lulu said to Chubz and Mickey as she walked over to pick it up.

"I know, right. It was tighter than two fat guys squeezing through the same door of a cake shop. Thank goodness then for ... Super Chubz!" said Chubz, as he finished off his superhero entrance speech.

"When your Mum says 'NO!' to everything. When your goldfish wants to fight you for the last biscuit. Never fear because, errr – because ..." he continued, struggling to think of a superhero ending.

"Because Super Chubz is here?" said Lulu, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that one Lulu. Super Chubz is HERE!" he finished triumphantly.

"It's only a little bag, how did something that big climb out of it?" Mickey asked.

"The book of Brawlerz updated so much that it was unable to get an accurate reading. I need to take a closer look," Ziggy said, prodding the bag to make sure it was safe to grab.

He took the bag off Lulu. He unfastened the bag carefully and placed his fingers around the edges. He looked up at Mickey, Lulu and Chubz who were taking a big step backwards, just to be safe. Ziggy gulped, before opening the bag away from his face. Nothing jumped out at him. After a few seconds, he moved it back towards his face for a closer look, and then stuck his head in completely.

"What the?!" Mickey shouted alarmed.

"No, it's fine Mickey. I'm okay, but you all have to see this!" Ziggy said with excitement as he waved them over.

The three of them approached Ziggy, who pulled his head out of the bag and passed it to them.

"Take a look; it's out of this world!" Ziggy said.

The four of them stuck their heads in one at a time.

"Wow, it's so big inside!" Mickey said. "No wonder it could hold so much junk."

"I quite agree. I'm going to measure how big it is by using sound echo. I just need to find something to drop inside it to make a noise," Ziggy added.

"It's so ... empty. No wonder you could fit loads in here," Chubz said to Lulu. "It's massive, just like your mouth!"

"Yeah, it's massive and full of nothing, a bit like your head Chubz," Lulu laughed.

"Well, you're just ... oh ... wait a second ... hey Ziggy, measure this!" *Buuuuurrrrp* Chubz burped into the bag. They listened on as it continued to echo.

"That burp is still going; I think it's bigger than massive! It's endless! It's infinite!" Ziggy concluded.

"There you go again, Ziggy," said Chubz. "Infinite this, infinite that. My doughnuts are infinite and now Lulu's bag is too. Who's heard of this infinite flavour anyway? And what does it taste like ... chicken?"

"No Chubz," replied Ziggy. "Infinite doesn't mean flavour. It means-"

"Ziggy, don't waste your breath," Lulu interrupted.

"Ah-ha! So it does taste like chicken. I knew it!" said Chubz. "Lulu, grab me a bucket of infinite chicken, please."

"What? You've confused me now, Chubz," Lulu said. "Are you asking for an endless supply of chicken or chicken flavoured chicken? Haha!"

"Go for both!"

Ziggy looked back into his Book of Brawlerz, which had finally finished updating.

"This is strange; the book was juggling twenty pages worth of information a few moments ago. Now it's all been condensed down to just a glittery question mark and one word, 'accessorise'," Ziggy read.

"Accessorise?" Lulu questioned.

Glitter started to flutter from the bag again.

"Eureka! That's it. It all makes sense now. Whenever YOU say the word accessorise, that activates your bag. So, if you say what you want first, followed by the word accessorise, it will materialise for you to take out," Ziggy explained.

"Whoa! Hang on a second there mister. Just zip it and rewind a smidge. So this tiny, little bag holds anything I could ever want or need, and all I have to do is ask for it and say the word 'accessorise'?" Lulu clarified. "Really?"

"In a word ... YES," Ziggy said.

"WOW, sweeeeeeet!" she replied.

"Wait, so why did the wave of junk happen earlier?" Mickey quizzed.

"Well, she had the bag upside down and was shaking it without telling it what she wanted, so it made the choice for her. That's why it spewed out random objects," Ziggy said while miming the actions of her shaking the bag.

"Go on Lulu give it a go, say what you want followed by the word access-,"

"DESIGNER SHOES ... ACCESSORISE!" Lulu interrupted, she was already one step ahead.

The bag glittered; Lulu opened it and pulled out a pair of pink designer shoes.

"No way!" Lulu laughed, clapping her hands with joy.

"You don't have to literally shout Lulu!" Ziggy said with his fingers in his ears.

Chubz ran over to her bag and started to shout things he wanted.

"Pizza accessorise. Fries accessorise. Onion rings accessorise," he bellowed, getting closer to the bag. "And a top hat."

Nothing happened.

"Pizza ACCESSORISE. Fries ACCESSORISE. Onion rings ACCESSORISE," Chubz tried again, shouting louder this time. "Forget the top hat!"

"It only works for me, pumpkin. HA!" Lulu said, putting her new pink designer shoes on.

Chubz turned around and kicked the floor disappointed. "It only works for me, pumpkin," he mocked sarcastically, "Blah! Blah! Blah!"

"Chubz ... shut up!" said Lulu. "Bite your head."

Lulu lifted her bag close to her mouth and quietly whispered the following,

"Foam darts with sticky love hearts and a giant cannon accessorise," she said with a devious look on her face.

Her eyes narrowed as she slowly looked over at Chubz, he was about to be the target of the ultimate revenge prank.

"Just a minute Chubz," she said. "Look at this!"

"Wow! Awesome!" Chubz said, looking at the giant cannon. "Can I have a go?"

"Yeah, of course you can Chubz. It's for you anyway. Just be a sweetheart and stand still while I set it up," Lulu asked, flipping up the sights and lowering the giant cannon's stand.

"Come on Lulu! Hurry up," Chubz said, fidgeting.

"Just a minute, it's nearly ready," Lulu reassured.

Lulu loaded all the love heart foam darts in the cannon and looked down her target sights to line up her shot. But, an eye was looking right back at her, obstructing her view.

"Is it ready yet?" Chubz asked again.

"Okay, Chubz. You've got three ..." she said.

"Three? Three what?" Chubz said nervously, getting worked up.

"... Two ... One ... FIRE!" Lulu screamed.

She grabbed the cannon handle and cranked it around, firing the love heart foam darts at Chubz. He was hit with a barrage of hearts that stuck to him as he tried to run for cover.  
Lulu laughed menacingly as more and more love hearts stuck to him. He tried to escape but there was nowhere to hide. Another wave hit him up both sides as he ran in circles. Chubz mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' as his face got covered, too.

Lulu cranked the handle faster until he was completely covered from head to toe in cute, girly love hearts.

"WHO'S DOPEY NOW, EH?" Lulu roared while coolly kicking over the cannon and walking off like a rock star.

Chapter 9

Captain Crusher Toilet Flusher

A claxon bellowed around the Training Arena, calling everyone to gather immediately. All of the new Brawlerz lined up in the middle, waiting for further instructions. Mickey, Lulu and Chubz scuttled across and joined the end of the line as Captain Crusher emerged. He snarled at them all as he walked past, giving most of them the evil eye. He cracked his knuckles before he took out a piece of paper from his trouser pocket.

"Attention! You maggots aren't ready for what I'm about to tell you. Are you listening? The top two teams of the new recruits will have the opportunity to compete in the Rookie Brawl. This Brawl will be held in the Brawlzone, in front of a capacity crowd.

This will be your chance to showcase your skills and superpowers and compete for the Rookie Brawl Title," Captain Crusher explained while revealing the Title Belt.

Mickey rocked his head up and down with a determined look on his face, his eyes fixated on the belt. He glanced at Lulu and Chubz and winked at them as if to say that it was there's for the taking.

"BUT, to get the chance to be in the Rookie Brawl, you have to rank in the top two teams of what I like to call, 'Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge!' I'm sure you've all heard of Inzaniac's Critters, am I right? Well, he has created hologram versions of them that are truly diabolical, just for this challenge."

"Borrrrring!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"Only three members from a team can try to tackle the challenge at a time until everyone has had a go. This will push you to your limits. There will be sweat, there will be tears and spirits will be broken. Some of you have the potential to do well; some of you will do okay. Whereas most of you will become a blubbering mess and cry for your mamas," Captain Crusher mockingly looked at Mickey, Lulu and Chubz suggestively.

"What are you staring at me for? You fathead!" Lulu shouted all riled up, trying to grab her bag. "Giant diamond hammer accessorise, ACCESSORISE RIGHT NOW!!!"

"No Lulu! Just chill, cool it," Chubz and Mickey said while grabbing an arm each and lifting her up to stop her.

Her feet kicked around wildly as she screamed angrily. She then shrugged Mickey and Chubz off her.

"FINE. But if he says one more thing; I'll shove that toothpick where the sun doesn't shine!" Lulu snapped.

"None of you have what it takes to complete 'Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge', but I look forward to watching you all try! Right, the first team of three follow me. As for the rest of you, go and wait in the canteen. When it is your turn I will send for you, we don't want to ruin the surprise of what's to come," Captain Crusher announced.

Lulu walked past Captain Crusher and shoulder barged into him as she, Mickey and Chubz joined Ziggy and headed to the canteen.

"See you soon ... Toilet Flusher!" she mocked.

"HA! Toilet Flusher! Toilet Flusher's Critter Challenge!" Chubz laughed as they walked off.

The canteen was a spacious white hall with matching white furniture. Tables were stretched across the width of the hall with six seats, three on each side of a table. The remaining teams had congregated towards the back of the canteen in little clumps. They were working on their action plans. On one wall was a huge TV that was playing 'The Brawlzone's Greatest Knockouts: Vol 7.' Lulu and Chubz sprinted towards the table that was closest to the TV. Mickey and Ziggy sat a couple of seats back to discuss more developments on the Gooz Gun.

"Bucket of cola and a bin of popcorn, accessorise," Lulu said to her bag.

She passed the bin of popcorn to Chubz as they got comfortable. They shovelled popcorn into their faces and downed as much cola as they could manage, without choking. Their legs dangled off the table as they watched some superpower knockouts, much to their enjoyment.

The next team was called through to take on the Critter Challenge.

"That was quick!" Mickey said to Ziggy. "At this rate, we'll all be done in half an hour!"

Chubz overheard Mickey's comment and said,

"They're quick because they're CRA-"

"Oooh, I need a Pee," said Lulu.

"So do I now," Chubz said, unimpressed at her cutting off his last letter.

Mickey and Ziggy were sat looking at the Gooz Gun. Ziggy took out the Book of Brawlerz to show Mickey the latest updates on it.

"This is interesting; the Book of Brawlerz has shown me that there are extra modes to your Gooz Gun," Ziggy said. "You can now alter its fire rate."

"Yeah, I figured out one of them when the T-rex escaped. I managed to fire energy rings to catch it, I don't know how though," Mickey said. "What other ones are there and how do I use them?"

"Well, here's what you've got: you have your Standard mode which is the energy blast. Then you have a Tactical mode. That must have been the energy rings you fired. The final mode you have is Overdrive, which sounds destructive! You can switch between the three whenever you feel like it. You see that small dial on the side? If you turn that, the mode will change," Ziggy described while pointing to the dial.

Mickey examined the side of the Gooz Gun and saw the Overdrive mode as he turned the dial.

"Overdrive eh, I wonder what you can do?" he said to the Gooz Gun.

He then set it back to Standard. He couldn't wait to try Overdrive out in the Critter Challenge.

"There's more Mickey. The more you use the Gooz Gun, the more experience you will get. This is instrumental in its development. When you reach a certain level of experience from firing it, a new attack power will unlock!" said Ziggy. "There are ten attack powers in total."

"Wow, ten attack powers," Mickey replied.

"Absolutely, what those attack powers will be are a mystery. My Book of Brawlerz can't get a reading on what they are until you unlock it. This is exciting; the Gooz Gun is so unpredictable that they could be anything!" Ziggy continued.

"If they're anything like the energy blast then we're onto a winner!" Mickey said.

"Here's the best bit Mickey. With the amount of target practice you did earlier, it says you're close to unlocking the second attack power!" Ziggy added, showing Mickey that the experience bar had nearly filled.

"Wow! So all I have to do is whup everyone in my way and my Gooz Gun will become stronger? Challenge accepted!" Mickey said as he examined his Gooz Gun closely. "I'm going to unlock all ten attack powers in no time!"

More teams were called through in quick succession, one after another, until:

*Team Megaforce please report to the Training Arena. Team Megaforce please report to the Training Arena*

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked around and no one was left.

*Team Megaforce please report to the Training Arena*

"OH, that's right. You guys are Team Megaforce. I totally forgot that I registered you while you were in the Superpower Fusion Dome. I picked Team Megaforce because you're a Megaforce. There isn't a team captain like with the rest of the teams; I think you're all equal. It would have been unfair to name it after just one of you," Ziggy explained.

"We are Team Megaforce! Good job Ziggy!" Mickey said confidently. "I like it!"

Mickey picked up his Gooz Gun and put it on his back. Ziggy shyly put his hand up for a high-five as a nervous smile broke from the corner of his mouth. Mickey high-fived him and shook his hand, too. Mickey looked over to Lulu and Chubz who were still watching TV and munching on junk food.

"It's time guys ... GUYS. We're up. It's time to show Toilet Flusher who's boss," Mickey shouted as Ziggy laughed at Captain Crusher's new nickname.

"Yeahhhhh!" Chubz said with excitement, spewing popcorn out of his mouth.

As they made their way back to take on the Critter Challenge, a short brutish guy was stood in front of the entrance to the Training Arena with his hand out.

"Brawler ID?" he asked.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz presented their Brawler ID cards as the guy scanned them to let them in.

"Sorry, only the three of you can go past. He can't!" he mumbled sternly, looking at Ziggy. "No ID, no entry!"

"Oh come on, let him in. He's not competing, he's just watching," Chubz said, trying to squeeze Ziggy past. "Captain C won't mind, he's a dear, dear friend of ours ... honest. In fact he's our BFF, isn't that right Lulu?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Good old Captain C – he's our bezzie mate," replied Lulu, laughing at Chubz's efforts.

"No, only three allowed in! I can only allow the three that are doing the challenge in anyway, Captain Crusher's orders," he repeated.

"Captain Crusher's orders," Chubz mocked in a high-pitched squeaky voice.

"Hold up, I've got this one Chubz. Hey, mister! Does this smell nice to you?" Lulu asked while spraying her knockout perfume in his face.

*THUD*

"Problem solved," Lulu said, stepping over him and entering the Training Arena.

Chapter 10

Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz stood in the middle of the Training Arena. Ziggy moved to the corner of the arena to observe. The whole place was deserted. The perimeter lights slowly faded out, leaving only the central part of the arena floor lit up. A voice echoed around the arena.

"Welcome to Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge. ARE YOU READY!?" The voice-over shouted.

The Brawlertron turned on with the word 'Ready' in big red letters.

"Quick, everyone back-to-back to form a triangle, cover all directions!" Mickey ordered.

*beep ... beep ... beep ... beeeep* the word 'Go' flashed up.

"Keep on your guard!" Mickey said as he scanned the area.

*Boing*

"What was that?" Chubz asked, scrambling to get a doughnut ready.

*Boing boing boing*

"Over there!" Lulu said.

"Over where?!" Mickey asked.

"Critter, to my left," she replied.

Mickey and Chubz turned to face the Critter hologram. A tiny little green fur ball with two small horns on top of its head bounced along towards them. It skipped left and right, flapping its tiny arms.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Lulu said while crouching down with her arms out, wanting to cuddle it.

"Is ... that it?" Mickey said confused.

The critter ignored Lulu and skipped over to Chubz and started to sniff near his foot. Chubz looked down and watched it. It looked up and smiled at him. As he went to pet it, the smile turned into a growl as it showed off its fangs. It snapped wildly as it tried to take a bite out of Chubz.

"Ahhhh!" Chubz shouted as he kicked it.

*Whack!*

The critter flew upwards and disappeared into a thousand pixels.

"Well, at least we know what we have to do. We have to clear them!" Mickey said. "If you see one, get rid of it!"

"Did you see it? It was going to go for my throat!" Chubz said to Lulu.

"I know. I like them even more now!" Lulu said, with a wink.

*Boing boing boing boing*

Three more tiny Critters appeared from out of the shadows.

"Back in formation, right there's three – so one each!" Mickey instructed.

They stood back into their triangle formation as the three Critters made their approach. Mickey let rip at one with a short energy blast, sending it spinning backwards and bursting into pixels. Chubz waited for his to come closer before he launched a massive elbow drop on it, squashing it. Lulu held out her arms again and picked up the last Critter while it was snapping wildly. She petted it before giving it a huge cuddle, so huge that it burst into pixels in her arms.

"Well, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Chubz said to Mickey, flicking his thumb up. "Piece of cake!"

*Boing boing boing boing boing boing boing*

"Way to go Chubz. In future, keep your mouth shut and stop jinxing us!" Lulu shouted, as more Critters appeared.

The arena floor was covered green with a wave of Critters heading for them. Chubz threw four doughnuts that took out clusters of Critters with every explosion, clearing his section. Mickey ran towards the Critters in his section and leapt into the middle of them. He crouched down on one knee and swung his Gooz Gun low, in a circle. He repeatedly pulled the trigger while he spun; unleashing energy blasts that eliminated them in one go.

"Mega mallet, accessorise!" Lulu said.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a big hefty mallet. She started smashing her way through the Critters in front of her.

*SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!*

"One for YOU, and YOU, oh and don't forget about YOU," Lulu yelled as she smashed her way through. "I see you hiding there, YOU can have one too!"

"Back in formation!" Mickey shouted.

They stood back-to-back in a triangle again, waiting for whatever was next.

*beep ... beep ... beep ... LEVEL 2*

*Boing ... Boing ... Boing*

The footsteps sounded a lot heavier this time. A deeper growl could be heard echoing around the Training Arena.

"Anyone see anything?" Lulu asked.

"Yep, it's a big one too!" Mickey answered.

The Critter jumped up and landed in-between the three of them, splitting up their formation. Mickey rolled on the floor and took aim.

"Quick! Hit the deck, I can't get a clean shot!" he shouted to Chubz and Lulu while waving them down to the floor.

Chubz and Lulu hit the floor as Mickey fired. *BLAM* The energy blast rattled right through the Critter as it opened its mouth. The force of the blast sent it flying high before it burst into pixels. The three of them ran back into the middle and prepared for the next wave.

"Is everyone okay?" Mickey asked. "I think it's going to be one each next!"

Three more big Critters appeared and leapt towards them. Mickey caught one with the buttstock of the Gooz Gun, causing the Critter to flip over him. As it was going to land he pulled the trigger, blasting the Critter and forcing it to pixelate.

Lulu pulled out a big steel baseball bat from her bag and lined up the other charging Critter. She swung the bat, knocking its fangs out. They turned into pixels before they could hit the floor. The critter spun directly upwards from the force. Lulu changed her stance, lightly swinging her bat while waiting for it to come back down.

"Rookie sensation Lulu steps up to the plate. She has one shot to win the game," she said with her eye on the falling Critter.

*WHACK* The critter shattered into pixels instantly.

"And you are out of here," she said.

Chubz grabbed a doughnut and made a wish before throwing it at the last Critter. The doughnut stuck to the Critter and started to encase it in rubber, like a balloon. The critter hovered in place, unable to move and break free. Chubz then ate a doughnut and transformed into a giant nail. His face was tightly squeezed into a sharp point at the tip. He looked over at Lulu who still had her bat.

"Lulu, whack my feet when I jump," Chubz told her.

"Hahaha looking 'sharp' Chubz," Lulu laughed at his super pointy head. "What's the 'point' of this?"

"Hahaha, I'm going to 'at-tac-it' and 'pin' it like a postcard," he said laughing. "Anyway, enough of the cheesy jokes and just whack my feet."

"Sure, whenever you're ready," Lulu replied. "This is 'nail'-biting stuff."

With a big heave, Chubz jumped in the air and pointed his feet at Lulu to hit. She swung her bat and connected.

*WHACK!* went the bat.

"Ahhhhhhhh," screamed Chubz.

*BOOOOSH* went the Critter.

"'Nailed' it!" laughed Lulu.

Chubz scuttled back into formation on his toes as pixels from the Critter showered down behind him. The force from the bat had stung his feet, making it impossible for him to walk properly.

"How hard?" Chubz asked Lulu while glancing at her bat and rubbing his feet.

The three of them got ready for what was coming next, a whole wave of them. Mickey turned the dial on his Gooz Gun to Overdrive.

"Let's give this a whirl. It's time to try the new mode. I'm going to take them all out in one go, so hold on to me," Mickey said.

*Boing Boing Boing Boing* Big critters swarmed them from every direction.

"Let's kick this challenge into OVERDRIVE!" Mickey shouted as he pulled the trigger.

The Overdrive energy blast was enormous; its power increase was through the roof. Chubz and Lulu held on to the back of Mickey. He forced the Gooz Gun round to take the Critters out as they swarmed him from all directions. The Critters burst into pixels as the continuous Overdrive blast wiped the floor with them.

*beep ... beep ... beep LEVEL 3*

"What already?" Lulu said, straightening her skirt. "Don't we get a break?"

*Boing clink ... Boing clink ... Boing clink*

"Where's the Critter coming from," Mickey asked while flicking his head left and right, trying to find it. "And what's that clinking noise?"

"Yeah ... you might not want to know the answer to that," Chubz said, tapping Lulu and Mickey to get them to look in his direction.

This Critter was armoured. It was wearing a protective helmet, shoulder pads, with chest and back armour covering its body. Fur burst through the gaps where the armour connected. However, it was also dragging a large mace. The spikes on the mace clinked on the ground every time it landed. The critter scowled at them, showing only one fang.

"Mickey do your Overdrive thingy!" Chubz said.

"You got it, grab on!" Mickey said confidently.

Mickey stepped up and took aim. He pulled the trigger. They all braced for the blast when ... *click ... click ... click click click*

"Eh?" Mickey said while turning the Gooz Gun around, looking down the barrel to see if it was jammed.

He pulled the trigger again *click click* and still, nothing happened. The armoured critter was getting closer with every jump. Mickey looked at Chubz and Lulu confused, shrugging his shoulders as to why it wasn't working.

"It needs to recharge after every Overdrive blast," Ziggy shouted from the sidelines. "Switch it back to Standard mode!"

Mickey switched the dial back to Standard mode. He fired rapidly at the armoured Critter but the energy blasts bounced off it. The Critter pounced forward, swinging its mace at them. It smashed into the floor narrowly missing Chubz's feet.

"What is it with my feet and these Critters?" asked Chubz. "Is there a sign saying, 'Go for Chubz's toes'?"

The Critter swung at close range at Mickey; he thrust his Gooz Gun up with both hands to protect himself. Sparks flew from the impact.

Lulu ran up behind the Critter. It lashed out towards her on its return swing. It caught her bobble and ripped it out of her hair, ruining one of her pigtails. Chubz covered his mouth in shock as her hair fell down on one side of her face. She ran her fingers through it as her eye twitched with anger.

"Oh ... No, you DIDN'T!" Lulu frowned, as she dropped her head getting ready to charge. The Critter jumped at Lulu as she started to run at it. She head-charged it, burying her forehead into its armour plate.

*BOOM*

The Critter rolled backwards as pixels started to leave it with every tumble until it vanished.

"No one touches MY hair!" Lulu yelled.

*Boing clink ... Boing clink ... Boing clink*

"Quick, here comes more company!" Mickey shouted. "Back in formation."

"Nope!" Lulu answered abruptly.

"What do you mean no!?" Mickey replied, shocked.

"Are you serious, with my hair looking like this?" Lulu said offended, "No way!"

"Mickey they're coming!" Chubz said anxiously.

Mickey and Chubz stood back-to-back while Lulu sat down next to Ziggy. Ziggy looked on, gobsmacked, as she pulled out her brush and bobbles to redo her pigtail.

"You got something to say?" Lulu snapped at Ziggy.

"No ..." Ziggy said nervously, leaning away from her.

The three armoured Critters surrounded Mickey and Chubz, striking their maces on the floor.

"What now, Mickey?" Chubz asked as he twirled a doughnut around in his hand.

"My energy blasts are deflecting off their armour. I should be able to trap them using the energy rings," Mickey said, switching the dial on his Gooz Gun to Tactical. "So I'll keep them still and you think of a way to take them out."

The Critters leapt forward. Mickey and Chubz ducked, causing the Critters to crash into each other. Mickey fired his first energy ring, trapping one Critter as it struggled to stand up.

"Chubz, you're up!" Mickey pointed.

"Hey, Mickey, will this do?" Chubz asked while dragging a giant hand behind him.

"Yes, perfect. Great choice!" Mickey laughed as the remaining two Critters started to chase after him.

Chubz dragged his giant hand closer to the Critter that was trapped in the energy ring. Chubz looked at it, then looked at his giant hand and grinned.

"This dopey Critter, he had a fang, Chubz went SMASH ..."

Chubz bumped his hips into his giant hand to get it to swing upward. He strained as it started to leave the floor and twisted his body when it was above his head, making it crash down on the Critter.

*BADOOSH!*

"... and the fang went BANG!"

The Critter splattered under the force, pixels escaped through his fingers as it disappeared. He looked over at Mickey who was still dodging the other two Critters.

"I'm coming Mickey," Chubz shouted as he slowly dragged his giant hand to catch-up.

"Just wait there, I'll send one over to you!" Mickey replied.

Mickey kept his eyes on the two critters as he ran backwards. They both pounced together at him. He leant back as one Critter passed over him; he caught the second one with his boot and kicked it towards Chubz.

*BADOOSH!*

"CLEARED," yelled Chubz.

Mickey saw the pixels float past him as he locked eyes on the final armoured Critter.

The Critter slammed its mace on the ground in a temper as it started to walk in a circle. Mickey mirrored its movements to keep eye contact. He took aim as the Critter looked ready to attack. Mickey stretched his finger and rested it on the trigger.

"Mickey, you've unlocked a new attack power!" Ziggy shouted.

Mickey nodded, the Gooz Gun sprung to life. It started to morph in his hands. Different parts started to twist and appear. Other pieces flipped and rotated, getting faster and faster. Mickey ran forwards while the Gooz Gun was still morphing. He threw it at the Critter. The Critter looked up, distracted by the morphing Gooz Gun. Mickey ran in close as it started to fall. He caught the Gooz Gun and pressed it against the Critter.

"Level up," Mickey said to the Critter as he pulled the trigger. *KABOOM*

An ice blast burst out of the barrel and froze the Critter solid in its tracks.

He pushed the frozen Critter towards Chubz with his foot. It slid across the arena floor like a giant ice cube while Chubz waited for it to get closer.

"FREEEEEZE sucka!" laughed Chubz.

He hoisted his giant hand up and slammed it down, shattering the frozen Critter into tiny pieces. As each piece hit the floor it melted into pixels. Chubz's hand shrunk back to normal and he ran over to Mickey and jumped on his back.

"That was beautiful!" Chubz said, knuckle rustling Mickey's hat.

"That was cool! Hahaha cool, because you used ice. Get it?" Lulu said as she strolled back over to the group with her hair looking nice.

"Nice of you to join us," said Chubz.

"Quick, get back in formation. This is going to be difficult. It is going to be a wave of them next," Mickey said to them. "Beating three was hard enough!"

*beep ... beep ... beep FINAL LEVEL*

"Final level – what about the last wave?" Mickey questioned.

A few moments had passed and nothing had emerged. The Brawlertron then flashed the name 'BIG MAMA'.

"Big Mama?" Lulu asked. "Who or what is Big Mama?"

Millions of tiny Critter pixels rolled out from all directions. More dropped down from above as they all gathered together. They formed a pixelated structure. More and more kept appearing, floating up the structure and fitting into place, growing larger in size.

Then, the structure started to warp as the pixels blended together.  
One arm popped out from the side. Another arm popped out of the other side, they both flexed as two energy axes appeared. It was Big Mama.  
She was enormous; she almost touched the Training Arena lights. Her eyes appeared and stared with intensity as she breathed heavily, revealing her giant fangs.  
Armour pushed through her fur, covering her chest, back and shoulders. A tiny pink and white polka dot bow sat on top of her head. Big mama was ready for a fight.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked up at this giant Critter standing before them.

"Well ... you don't see that every day," Chubz said, impressed.

"She looks like my old Maths teacher," Lulu joked.

*ROAR*

"She sounds like her too," she laughed.

Mickey quickly fired two blasts from his Gooz Gun in panic, hitting her in the chest. She started to rumble before quickly expanding a little, twice, as she absorbed each of the blasts.

Chubz threw a doughnut at her, it exploded on impact. Big Mama grew again as she absorbed the blast.

"Whoops!" said Chubz. "That can't be good."

"I'll cut you down to size, you big, green lump of fluff!" Lulu joked. "Giant sword, accessorise."

She pulled out the giant sword and took a swing at Big Mama. The sword buried into Big Mama's armour but shattered under the pressure. Big Mama flipped Lulu up with her axes and whacked her with them both. Mickey charged and fired his energy rings at Big Mama. The rings wrapped around her but couldn't tighten enough to contain her. Big Mamma swung her arms outwards and the rings broke. She absorbed the energy and grew even bigger.

"Come on Mickey, idea time!" Chubz asked.

"Err ..." Mickey tried to think. "Hmm ..."

"Wow, you've got nothing, have you? Lulu said, shocked.

"Well, my dad always said 'think big but do it bigger'," Mickey said to the two of them while trying to come up with an actual plan.

"Your ideas are drying up faster than a puddle in the desert," Lulu quipped as she face-palmed.

"Yeah do it big! I get it ... I think," Chubz said unsure.

Chubz ate a doughnut and instantly grew to the same size as Big Mama, thinking this is what Mickey had meant. She turned her attention away from Mickey and snarled at Chubz as he ran towards her. They clashed and locked hands as they started to push, edging each other backwards and forwards. No ground was given as they were locked in a stalemate.  
Chubz scooped up Big Mama and power-slammed her down hard, shaking the Training Arena. Chubz reached to pick her up for another slam but Big Mama hooked Chubz's leg with her axe and tripped him, knocking Chubz onto his back. Big Mama then belly-flopped on top. Chubz held her face in place as she desperately tried to take a bite out of him. Chubz mustered as much strength as he could and rolled her over and regained control. He stood up and looked at Big Mama.

"BUTT BUSTER!" Chubz shouted while jumping in the air and landing on Big Mama with his butt.

The momentum sent him back up into the air and he landed another, and another, keeping Big Mama in place for now.

"Hahaha! If only you could see yourself right now!" Lulu laughed while wiping tears away.

"It's alright you laughing, I can't keep this up forever," Chubz said. "You need to figure something out fast. My three minutes is nearly up!"

"Keep it going Chubz, I've got a plan now," Mickey said snapping his fingers.

Mickey and Lulu huddled as he explained the plan.

"The only way we can defeat Big Mama is first, we need to stop her from moving. Secondly, we need one super-massive, big hit to finish the job. She absorbs energy attacks and explosions so it needs to be a big physical attack. I'm going to try and freeze her to keep her still so Chubz can get off her. She's so big though, she's going to break free quickly. We need something stronger to keep her still longer," Mickey said.

"I know what will keep her from moving; you just leave that with me," Lulu said.

"Cool, then with Big Mama in place, I'll create an ice slide with my Overdrive and then we'll send giant Chubz down to crush her!" Mickey continued.

"Got it!" she said to Mickey. "Yo! Chubz! What's your gas levels like out of ten?"

"Errrrr I'm only about a four at the moment!" Chubz answered, still bouncing. "Why?"

"Super-spicy-chicken-burger, accessorise!" Lulu said, reaching into her bag.

"Heads up Chubz!" she shouted, throwing it at him.

Chubz opened his mouth to catch the burger while still bouncing. Mickey ran round Big Mama and froze the lower half of her body and got back out of the way as the burger entered Chubz's mouth.

"Right, get off Big Mama and lay down on your back with your feet next to her face!" Lulu instructed Chubz.

"No no no – I know what you're doing Lulu. Don't do it, I'm begging you," yelled Chubz as he swallowed the super-spicy-chicken-burger whole.

"Don't force me to do a Butt-Sneeze," he pleaded.

"Grab a leg and copy me!" she said to Mickey, ignoring Chubz's plea.

She grabbed his foot and pushed his knee up to his chest then straightened his leg before pushing it back up again. Mickey grabbed the other leg and copied Lulu's actions, repeating it over and over. Loud grumbling noises could be heard from Chubz's gut. The super-spicy-chicken-burger mixed in his stomach, creating masses of spicy gas.

"Okay Mickey, one more push should be enough to force one out!" she shouted.

"I'm warning you, this isn't going to end well!" said Chubz.

"Heave!" Lulu and Mickey yelled together.

*Pfffffffffffffffrrrrrrt*

The biggest, loudest, stinking Butt-Sneeze left Chubz and engulfed Big Mama.

"Ooph, that hurt, total stinger," said Chubz, as he checked his pants just in case. "Woo, no stains!"

Big Mama coughed as she dropped her axes and hopelessly tried to cover her nose with her tiny arms to block the smell. Her eyes started to close as the awful smell overpowered her and stunned her rigid. Mickey held his breath, ran and jumped onto Big Mama, bouncing him up into the air. He switched to Overdrive and fired it directly underneath his feet to create an enormous ice slide with a ramp at the bottom. From the top, he fired ice blocks to make steps on his way down for Chubz to use.

"Chubz, slide down this and finish her off!" Mickey said, pointing at the slide.

"You got it!" Chubz said and he started to climb.

When Chubz made it to the top, he leapt onto the ice slide and shot down. He tucked his arms in by his sides for maximum speed.

He hit the ramp which launched him into the air.

"CANNONBALL!" Chubz screamed as he took off, tucking his knees up to his chest.

*squeak*

Chubz landed softly on Big Mama, surrounded by her long green fur. He stood up and walked through it trying to find a way out. He quickly found the edge, poked his head out and peeked over at Mickey.

"The doughnut wore off, Chubz," Mickey said.

"Yeah I gathered," replied Chubz, while lightly bouncing on Big Mama. "What now?"

"INCOMING LOSERS!" Lulu wailed as she shot down the slide.

Lulu had decided to take it upon herself to deliver the finishing move. Chubz scrambled off Big Mama as Lulu pelted across towards her. Lulu held her fist up and her bracelet started to spin. With the momentum of the slide and her power, that would be enough to finish Big Mama off.

"MEGA PUNCH!" Lulu shouted as she connected with Big Mama.

*BOOOOM!*

Big Mama erupted into a sea of pixels that filled the Training Arena from edge to edge in a matter of moments, filling it up to their knees. Ziggy leapt up from where he was sitting and navigated through the fading pixels towards them, punching the air in celebration. He jumped into a huddle with Mickey, Lulu and Chubz. The four of them started to jump in circles, celebrating as the pixels continued to dissolve. The Brawlertron flashed the word 'Complete' repeatedly in big green letters.

The Training Arena door swung open as Captain Crusher kicked it and marched the other Brawlerz through in single file. Mickey, Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy were oblivious to the fact that other teams were in the arena. Ziggy looked up and saw everyone staring, which promptly caused him to stop jumping. However, the momentum from Mickey, Lulu and Chubz kept him shuffling and crashing between them.

"Guys ... hey guys," Ziggy tried to say as his head bounced between Mickey and Chubz. He pushed Chubz's face to the side to make him see.

Chubz planted his feet firmly on the ground, stopping Lulu and Mickey in their tracks too. Lulu immediately scowled at Captain Crusher.

Captain Crusher raised his arms forwards and then applauded. The Brawlerz stood behind them joined in.

"Incredible effort Team Megaforce! Toppling Big Mama is no easy feat. Credit where credit's due, you make a great team and you link together brilliantly. Your unorthodox teamwork brought Big Mama down, so congratulations ..." Captain Crusher said as everyone continued to cheer.

"I still don't like you though," Captain Crusher whispered to them while smiling.

Lulu stopped scowling and smiled back as Captain Crusher laughed and addressed everyone in the Training Arena.

"Now, onto more important matters, the Rookie Brawl. The Brawlertron has the results from your performances in the challenge. The two teams that will be competing tomorrow are ..." Captain Crusher said while pointing at the Brawlertron.

"Team Maxximus versus ..." he announced,

"Team Megaforce!"

"Get in there!" Lulu shouted, pinching Chubz's cheeks in celebration.

Team Megaforce put their hands in the middle to celebrate. "Team Megaforce on three, okay?" Mickey said.

"One ... Two ... Three ... Team Megaforce!" they all shouted, throwing their hands in the air.
Chapter 11

Turkey on a Stick/Brawlfest Bulletin

"MA! HEY MA, GUESS WHAT!" Mickey shouted to his mum as he burst through the front door.

"Whoa, hang on a second there young man! You've been out for how long? I've been worried sick!" Mickey's mum said angrily, yet relieved that he was home. "Would it have killed you to have rung me or sent me a text, so I knew you were safe?"

"But Ma, we've just ..." Mickey tried again.

"Don't you 'but' me mister! I told you to be home for five o'clock. What time is it now?" she said, pointing to the clock.

"Six o'clock ..." Mickey read.

"That's right! Now explain yourself!" she said while giving him that Mother's look. She stood intimidatingly tall, her hair in curlers and wearing a long, flowy, pink love heart nightie.

"I'm sorry Ma!" said Mickey. "It's been a mega cool day though and we have some news. We've made it onto the Rookie Brawl!"

"You're on the Rookie Brawl? As in THE Rookie Brawl?! Oh, that's wonderful news. My big snuggly bunny is growing up so fast," she said with her arms held out. "Come here and give your mum a big cuddle."

Mickey went red in the face as he glanced over to Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy. They were desperately trying to hold back the laughter as he slowly wandered over and cuddled his mum.

"That's my clever little champion! Good job I've got a cookie cake in the oven isn't it," she said, kissing his cheeks.

"COOKIE CAKE!" Chubz screamed as he forced his way in-between Mickey and his mum.

She petted his head in confusion as he cuddled her tightly, too. She looked at Mickey not knowing what to do.

"Oh yeah! This is my team Ma. Guys, introduce yourselves," Mickey said to them.

"Hello. My name is Ziggy and I am very pleased to meet you. I come up with the strategies and help the team improve as Brawlerz with information from my Book of Brawlerz," Ziggy said as he adjusted his bowtie.

"Nice to meet you Ziggy. Aren't you polite and well mannered," answered Mickey's mum.

"Hey, I'm Lulu and I am a professional butt-kicker. There isn't a Brawler in Brawlfest city that I won't take on!" she said proudly, flexing her muscles.

"Nice to meet you too, Lulu. You look amazing. I bet you keep the boys in check don't you?" she said, giving her a wink of approval.

"Hi Mrs M, I'm Chubz ... what's all this chatter about a cookie cake?" he said looking up at Mickey's mum, continuing to cuddle her even tighter.

"Hahaha, nice to meet you Chubz. It won't be much longer sweetheart," she replied while rustling his cap.

"Okay come on now break it up, let the lady breathe you big oaf," Lulu said, yanking Chubz by his ear to wrangle him off her.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you all. Go and make yourselves comfortable in the living room and I'll cook you some tea," Mickey's mum said as she smiled at them.

Mickey opened the door and took Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy into the living room.

"Shoes!" shouted Mickey's mum from the kitchen.

"How do they know? My Mum seems to see everything I'm doing, without even being there," said Mickey quietly as he slipped his shoes off.

"Yeah I know right! It's like Mums have got eyes in the back of their head or something," Lulu added.

They all took their shoes off before walking on the thick cream coloured carpet. A long grey sofa stretched across the back wall of the living room. They all sat on the sofa, immediately sinking into its comfy cushions and relaxed. Chubz sniffed as the smells from the kitchen made their way to him and flirted with his senses.

Moments later the living room door swung open as tray after tray filled with food was brought in.

"That was fast," said Chubz. "Like awesome fast!"

"LOOK! Turkey Swirlers ... turkey ... on a stick ... it's TURKEY ... on a STICK ... A STICK!" Chubz shouted super impressed, waving one around in amazement.

"Will this be enough for you?" Mickey's mum asked them.

"Well, I don't know, my Grandma does say that I am a growing young man. Nah I'm just kidding, thank you Mrs M it smells gorgeous," Chubz joked, as he slowly pulled a table full of food towards him.

"Thanks, Ma. You're the best!" Mickey said as he took a bite out of a turkey swirler.

As the team devoured everything in front of them quicker than a plague of locusts in a cornfield, a phone started to buzz.

"Oooh, that's me!" Lulu said as tomato sauce dribbled down the side of her mouth.

"OMG! Guys turn to channel six now!" she said urgently.

Mickey turned on the TV; there was a Brawlfest Bulletin that had a huge announcement.

"Evening Brawler fans, I'm John Micro; this is Jerry Phone and welcome to the Brawlfest Bulletin. We have Breaking News with regards to the Rookie Brawl tomorrow!" John said.

"Breaking is right, John! We have just been told that one of the rookies from Team Maxximus has suffered an injury. They are out of the Rookie Brawl, leaving a spot open for another team member to fill. So, to keep things fair, we are now about to use the Wheel of Brawlin' to select their replacement at random," Jerry said. "So John, SPIN THAT WHEEL!"

John reached up and pulled down hard on the massive wheel. The camera focused on the wheel as pictures of each member of Team Maxximus went whizzing by.

"I wonder who it will be, Jerry," John said as the wheel started to slow down.

"It could be anyone, John. That's the whole idea of having this massive, spinning wheel in the studio," said Jerry, sarcastically.

Mickey, Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy were on the edge of their seats as they waited to see who the replacement will be. The wheel slowed right down.

"And the replacement on Team Maxximus is ..." John said.

"MAXXIMUS! Maxximus himself! Talk about getting the strongest replacement possible! The captain of Team Maxximus will Brawl alongside two of his rookies! Wow, unbelievable!" Jerry shouted.

"WHAT?! We're Brawlin' Maxximus? THE Maxximus?" Chubz said, spitting out food all over the carpet.

"People won't be giving Team Megaforce a chance in this Brawl now. They're going to be the underdogs by a landslide. Tickets will go quickly for this one so make sure you buy yours now to avoid disappointment. And that's it for this Brawlfest Bulletin, I'm John Micro ..."

"... and I'm Jerry Phone, and we'll see you at the Rookie Brawl!"

The living room fell silent as Mickey turned off the TV. All four sat looking at each other, waiting for someone to say something.

"Could be worse," Chubz said, everyone slowly turned and glared at him. "I know, I know, don't tell me – shut up Chubz!"

The room remained silent; the ticking clock in the hallway was the only noise that could be heard. Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy looked at Mickey, who still hadn't said a word. Chubz leant over to Lulu and whispered to her,

"Hey, do you think Mickey is scared?" Chubz asked. "He looks totally freaked."

"I don't know, he could be, maybe?" Lulu shrugged, scratching her head, confused. "He's never this quiet."

Mickey then jumped up on the sofa.

"This is totally awesome! Oh my god! We're going against Maxximus, the Cyborg master!" Mickey said while punching the air excitedly and jumping up and down.

"We are all Team Megaforce and we are going to take over the Brawlzone," Mickey declared. "We'll start by beating a big name like Maxximus!"

"YEAH, you know it, buddy! For a second there, Lulu thought you were scared," Chubz said nervously. "But I knew you were fine."

"WHAT? NO I NEVER YOU LIAR!" Lulu shouted back as she lunged at him, knocking him off the sofa. She grabbed his head and repeatedly whacked it on a cushion.

"We're going to have to be at the top of our game, alert, no mistakes," Mickey said while he slowly looked towards Ziggy and smiled.

"Jeez, I'm going to have a long night of planning aren't I?" Ziggy said as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

"No sweat Ziggy! Just tell me where to hit them!" Lulu said, with Chubz now trapped in a headlock.

"I can't breathe! I can't breathe, I'm dying," Chubz squeezed out through his squashed cheeks.

"If you're talking then you're breathing," replied Lulu, flicking the end of his nose.

Ziggy started to look in his Book of Brawlerz for any information updates. As he searched, the pages started to rapidly turn by themselves and the book flew off his lap. The book landed in the middle of the room. A large square of pure energy projected out of the book, resembling a TV screen.

The four of them slowly leant over and gazed into it to inspect it. The middle of the square lit up and a face popped up. An eye and a nostril could be seen. Then just a patch of skin as it zoomed in closer. Then it shuddered while zooming out to show the whole face, but it was out of focus.

Chapter 12

The Elders

"Hello? Hello hello hello? Is this thing on? Can you read me – over?" the face said in an old withered voice.

"Move out of the way you old fool. You're standing too close to it again, you always do this," an older female voice said from behind. "Will you never learn?"

"Yeah I want to see them too, move back!" a third voice said.

"Whoa! What's going on with your book Zig? It's talking to itself," Lulu screeched. "And whose face is that?"

The face moved back to reveal a long white beard and a faded purple beanie hat. As he moved back, two other faces could be seen. One with two long grey pigtails and the other had a worn-out red and yellow cap and a huge curly white moustache.

"That's better. Behold, we are the Elders. How's it hangin'," the curly moustached man said as he put on tiny round glasses that carefully perched on the end of his nose.

"Oh shut up you idiot, move!" the woman said.

The pigtailed lady shoulder barged him out of the way to get a better look.

"Come closer so I can have a better look at you all. Hey! I like your hairstyle little lady!" she said to Lulu.

"Th-thanks?" Lulu replied.

"Where are our manners, I'm sorry. My name is Cecilia. The bearded one in the purple beanie hat over there is Lloyd. The one with the red and yellow cap and moustache is Grampz," Cecilia said. "We are the Elders."

"Hi there. I'm Mickey, the girl in pink is Lulu, the one with the red and yellow cap is Chubz and the one with the glasses is Ziggy," Mickey replied.

"We know who you are," said Cecilia. "We have a very important message for you all."

"Trouble is coming your way, trouble that will change the landscape of Brawlfest City forever," Cecilia warned.

"Trouble's my middle name!" said Lulu, cracking her knuckles. "What's going down?"

"An ancient, rogue Brawler is returning for a magic gold tablet. One that contains unimaginable power, power beyond your wildest dreams. This tablet contains power from every single Brawler in Brawlfest City. Whenever a Brawler went into the Superpower Fusion Dome, a sample of that power was taken and added to the tablet. It acts as a living record of all Brawlerz. It's called the Powercore Tablet," Cecilia described.

"So does that mean that the tablet holds our powers in it, too?" Mickey quizzed.

"Yes, it does. It has stored the power of all Brawlerz from the beginning of time. But 2000 years ago, the power of the tablet drew the attention of one particular Brawler, Tretton," Lloyd said.

"Tretton is a Cyborg Brawler who was corrupted by the immense power that the tablet possessed. He was obsessed with the Powercore Tablet and wanted to use that power to become unstoppable and rule Brawlfest City," Grampz told them.

"He broke into the Grand Castle's security chamber, where the tablet was protected and smashed his way around until he had the tablet in his sights. As Guardians we confronted him, but it was too late. He had the tablet in his hands. His eyes glowed red as he absorbed a tiny amount of the tablets' power, making him stronger than he could possibly imagine. We managed to get the tablet away from him, but by this point, he was too strong," Cecilia explained.

"How strong is too strong?" asked Mickey.

"Tretton has thirteen devastating plasma cannons. When he fired them, the blasts levelled the surrounding area. It evaporated the buildings to dust and leaving the Grand Castle in ruins," Lloyd said. "That's how strong!"

"Blimey!" said Ziggy.

*pfffrrt* Chubz let-off a small Butt-Sneeze, nervously.

"Despite our best efforts, we couldn't Brawl him. He was far too powerful so we had no choice but to imprison him," Grampz said.

"What did you do then?" asked Mickey.

"Well, using the instructions in the Book of Brawlerz and the Mystic Pencil, we were able to create a prison that would hold Tretton in space for 2000 years. He swore that he would return for the tablet and rule Brawlfest City," Cecilia said.

"I've got the Book of Brawlerz and I've seen the pencil if we need it," said Ziggy. "So what happened to the Powercore Tablet?"

"Well, we knew that it was too dangerous to keep the tablet whole, so we broke it up into six pieces and hid them. But now the 2000 years are up and he will be back any day," Grampz added. "That is where you lot come in."

"You three must stop Tretton when he re-emerges. You are the new Guardians of the Powercore Tablet, so you must stop him from gathering the pieces. You must protect Brawlfest City," Lloyd said, pointing at them.

"You want us to protect Brawlfest City?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah! Are you deaf? We are no longer physically able to protect Brawlfest City because we are now Elders," Cecilia said. "Clue's in the name there kiddo."

"Dude, she's got a shorter temper than me," laughed Lulu to Chubz.

"Sure, we still have incredible superpowers; better than any other Brawler. The problem is we prefer a mid-morning snooze and a mid-afternoon nap," laughed Grampz.

"We can only assist the new Guardians. That's why you are all in a team, we made it possible. You three had to be together!" Cecilia told them.

"Wow! So at the team selection, we weren't selected by a team because we were meant to be a team?" Mickey said to the Elders.

"Yup, we rigged the whole thing," Lloyd replied.

"Fantastic!" said Mickey. "I knew I was good enough."

"What about where we-" Chubz started to ask.

"We rigged that too," Cecilia interrupted proudly.

"And the time that-" Lulu tried to ask.

"RIGGGGGGGED," Grampz said, flicking his thumb up.

"But why us?" Mickey asked. "Why are we the Guardians?"

Mickey's mum was about to bring in the desert when she overheard the conversation. She waited outside the door and listened in.

"Oh, I'll just tell them. You three are descendants of us. Come on I thought it was obvious? I mean just look at us!" Grampz laughed. "This is what you'll probably look like in 2000 years. Drink it in."

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked at each other, then looked at the three Elders and then at each other one more time. The similarities were there. They were just too dumb to notice.

"You three carry our bloodline, so only you have the power and the know-how to stop Tretton," Lloyd said.

"You've left it a little late to tell us this, especially if Tretton could be back at any time," Mickey said, worryingly.

"Well, we did have three other Brawlerz preparing for Tretton's return. But they vanished without a trace. Even we can't find them. So you three are the last of the bloodline and our last hope. It's only Brawlerz with our bloodline who can defeat him," replied Lloyd. "That's why, Mickey, one of the previous three Guardians was your-"

"Cookie cake's ready," said Mickey's mum as she barged in, interrupting Lloyd on purpose. She slammed the cookie cake down and closed the Book of Brawlerz with her foot.

"Ma! What are you doing?" Mickey said as he reached to open the book again.

"You don't need this here while you eat!" she said, picking the book up and quickly walking off with it in her hands.

"Is she keeping that? Or ..." Ziggy asked Mickey.

Mickey stood up and walked out of the living room to look for his mum.

"Ma? Where are you?" he shouted.

Mickey's mum was arguing with the Elders in her bedroom.

"No! I won't allow it. Find somebody else. Mickey's Dad has already vanished because of this ..." she yelled at the Elders.

Mickey could hear the raised voices from upstairs but couldn't make out what was being said. He ran up the stairs, the voices started to become clearer. When he reached the top, his mum's bedroom door was slightly ajar, the light from the Elders shone through.

"I know how important this is to Brawlfest City, but he's my only son. I won't lose another member of this family; he's all I have left," she said. "You can't ask him to do this."

"But he's the only one who CAN do this. I'm sorry about what happened last time and if I could bring him back I would," Cecilia replied sympathetically. "But Brawlfest City needs Lulu, Chubz and your son."

"Ma? What's going on? What do you mean you won't lose anyone else?" Mickey asked as he walked in.

"Nothing sweetie. Here, take the book back downstairs. I-I just wanted to make sure you weren't talking to strangers, that's all," she replied, handing the book back.

Mickey knew his mum was keeping something from him, but he could see how worried and upset she was so he didn't press for an answer.

"Ma, I'll be fine. We'll all be fine," he said as he held her hand to comfort her. "Don't worry."

"I know son. Just ignore me, I'm being silly. I love you so much," she said with tear filled eyes, begrudgingly accepting the fact that he'd made up his mind to help save Brawlfest City. "You're just like your Dad," she added.

"That's a good thing, right?" he said, giving her a reassuring kiss and taking his mum's comment as approval to continue. Mickey went back to the living room.

Just like your Dad, she said to herself as she watched him head back downstairs.

Mickey placed the Book of Brawlerz back down and opened it in the living room.

"Everything okay, Mickey?" Chubz asked, swallowing the last piece of cookie cake.

"Fine Chubz, thanks," he replied. "Let's crack on," Mickey said, looking at the Elders.

The Elders continued from where they left off.

"Where did we get to? Oh yeah, that was it. We had to wait until you decided to become Brawlerz and get your superpowers by your own free will. Only then could we ask you to help Brawlfest City," Grampz said.

"So, how do we stop Tretton?" Ziggy asked, waiting to take notes.

"You have to gather the six pieces of the Powercore Tablet before he does. If he gets all the pieces he will be unstoppable. The pieces are spread across Brawlfest City. There are two pieces hidden away at Limb Bay Beach. Two are under lockdown in Cyborg Central and two more are on Mayhem Mountain," Lloyd answered.

"Road trip!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"That's not all; the spirit which binds the pieces together is locked away in a Championship Belt," said Cecilia, "which you must win!"

"The spirit activates the Powercore Tablet. Without it, the tablet is useless. We removed it to stop it happening again. Only the Guardians are aware of this. This now includes you," said Grampz.

"There isn't a challenge we can't smash to bits!" Lulu said while smiling and putting her arm around Chubz.

They both stared while smiling, frozen still. The Elders stared back for a moment waiting for them to move.

"Is ... is it frozen? They're just standing there like a pair of dummies. Fix it, Lloyd," Grampz said, pushing him forward.

"Err, the signal seems fine. Hello? Can you guys hear us? I don't get it? Why aren't they moving? I've just had this fixed too," Lloyd said confused while trying to repair it.

"Work already! Why won't you show us them properly?!" Cecilia said, shaking the screen. "Somebody just give it a whack!"

"OOOOSH!" Lulu and Chubz shouted at the Elders, shoving their faces as close to the screen as they could.

"WAAAAAAH!!" screamed Cecilia. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"What's that? Who are the kings of pranking?" Lulu laughed, giving Chubz a high-five, "These two are!"

"That was a prank? Really? You young ones don't know what pranking is," Grampz said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Pfft amateurs."

"It must be some new age prank. Just smile and nod," Cecilia whispered.

"Rest up, and good luck in the Rookie Brawl!" Lloyd said. "We'll be in touch – Elders out, peace!"

The book slammed shut and laid still as the room returned to normal. The four of them just looked at it. Ziggy walked over to pick up his Book of Brawlerz. He was just about to grab it when,

"ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH," Cecilia screamed from inside.

"Ahhhhhhhhh," squealed Ziggy in return horrified and gripping his chest with fear.

"Now that's a prank!" laughed Grampz, as a faint high-five slap could be heard from inside the book.

"You guys ... you're good," said Lulu and Chubz in admiration.

"Old school, but still – so are you," said Lulu. "Like, really, really old school!"

"Don't forget we invented pranking," said the Elders from inside the book. "Anyhoo, TOODLE-OO."

"And they say that reading is boring. They clearly haven't read your Book of Brawlerz Zig," Chubz said.

"I know right! The words literally jump out at you!" Lulu joked.

"Those guys sure can waffle on though! It's nine o'clock. I take it you're all staying here tonight?" Mickey asked them.

"IT'S NINE!? I need to go home and prepare for tomorrow's Rookie Brawl," Ziggy replied.

"Just prepare here buddy, there's plenty of room," said Mickey. "There's no need to go."

"Thank you for the kind offer, but I'm going to have to pass. I need peace and quiet. I can't concentrate with those two around," Ziggy said, pointing over Mickey.

Mickey turned around to see Lulu and Chubz having a head-fight over the TV remote.

"I'm picking the channel!" Chubz shouted.

"Well, you can when you beat me in a head-fight, loser!" Lulu mocked.

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH you suck!" Chubz screamed as he tried harder.

"Yeah, good point. Catch you later Ziggy," Mickey said, shaking his hand.

Mickey closed the front door behind Ziggy. He went back into the living room and whipped the TV remote from under Lulu and Chubz.

"My house, my rules!" Mickey said as he put his feet up and changed the channel.

Chapter 13

Make Some Noise For Team Megaforce!

"Is that for us?" Chubz said while pointing at a black limo that was parked up outside.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz ran out to the limo and pressed their faces against the window on the driver's side, trying to look in. The driver's window rolled down and a moustached man in a black hat leant out, resting his elbow on the opening.

"Are you three Team Megaforce?" he asked.

"You know it, buddy!" Mickey said eagerly.

The passenger doors at the back of the limo opened automatically. Lulu and Chubz wrestled each other as they both tried to get in first. Chubz stuck his elbow under her chin trying to push her up. Lulu covered Chubz's eyes with his cap and tried to throw him backwards. Mickey walked round to the other open door. He looked back and waved at his mum.

"I'm off Ma. Wish me luck," Mickey said as he climbed into the limo. His mum walked over.

"Good luck my little Brawler! Be careful. I know you'll do well. All of Brawlfest City will be watching, so no pressure," she said as the limo slowly pulled away.

"Don't stay out too late," she said as she started to run after the Limo as it picked up speed. "And don't forget you're doing the dishwasher tonight, too!"

"Don't panic, I'll be fine. See you tonight!" Mickey said, popping his head out the window to wave.

"Thanks for everything Mrs M," Chubz and Lulu screamed through the sunroof. "Bye."

Lulu and Chubz waved at her as the Limo drove away. They sat back in their nice comfy, leather seats and relaxed. Their arms were stretched behind their heads. On the arm rest was a button that said 'Driver coms'. Chubz slyly stretched his finger and pressed it, curious as to what it does. A screen lowered in front of them which revealed the driver.

"Is everything okay for you back there?" the driver said while looking in the rear-view mirror.

"Watch this," Chubz whispered to Lulu.

"Hi, err yeah everything's fine back here; I just wanted to know a little more about you," said Chubz.

"Aww that's nice most people don't care, I'm just the driver to them. Well, my name is ..."

*bzzzzzzuuuuuuurrrrtttt*

The screen slowly rose back up, cutting him off as he started to talk. Chubz chuckled as he took his finger off the button. Lulu laughed hysterically while kicking her feet in the air.

"I wanna go, I WANNA GO," she screamed as she crawled over Chubz to press the button, the screen lowered again.

"Excuse my friend, he is an absolute idiot," Lulu said, smirking and sniggering. "What did you say your name was?"

"It's okay; I was young once. My name is Bernard and I drive this limo for the USC," he said.

Lulu laughed as she pressed the button. The screen started to rise but quickly got stuck.  
Lulu pressed the button again, and again, still nothing.

"My first driving job was over fifty years ago. Mr Orlando was his name. He was a lovely gentleman. He owned a chain of restaurants all over Brawlfest city," Bernard started to waffle on. "He was a very, very wealthy man."

"No no no NO!" Lulu said as she tried to push the screen up by hand, while Chubz continued to press the button.

Mickey put his headphones on and mimed laughing at them both. He turned his music up so he couldn't hear Bernard's story.

"He tipped me four Brawler coins and back then that was a lot of money, not like today. I remember when you could walk into a market and buy a week's worth of food for two Brawler coins. These days you'd be lucky to get a loaf of bread. Anyway, he tipped me four Brawler coins ..." Bernard continued.

Lulu face palmed repeatedly, as Chubz tried to open the limo door to escape. They realised that their prank had backfired – big time.

They slumped back down into their seats. They had no choice but to listen to Bernard's storytelling for the rest of the journey. The Limo soon pulled up to the Brawlzone, after what felt like the longest journey ever. Ziggy was stood waiting for them. Lulu and Chubz pleaded for the automatic car doors to open.

"Then, 46 years ago ..." continued Bernard. *SLAM* Lulu slammed the door behind her to escape the next part of Bernard's life story. Chubz tried to do the same but Mickey was in the way.

"C'mon buddy. Shift it, quick," Chubz said while trying to scramble over Mickey. "Let me out!"

Mickey was having none of it.

"You started this. It's only fair that you wish him well," Mickey said sitting still. He blocked Chubz to make sure that he had to suffer the awkward silence he'd created with Bernard.

Chubz conceded.

"Errr ... hmmm ... errrm ... well ... you know ... like ... what a varied and interesting life you've had, Bernard. Yes, so interesting," Chubz said, making small talk and keeping his eye on Mickey.

"Who'd of thought it eh? Bread and ... stuff," Chubz said, resting his hand on Bernard's shoulder pretending to be interested. "And you're right, kids today – well, I don't know!"

"And that time when the thingy broke – terrible, just awful. I feel for you man," he said.

"Thanks for the lift Bernard," Mickey said as he eventually got out.

"Finally, well got to go. Cheers for the lift Mr B," Chubz said, slamming the door behind him. *SLAM*

The three of them were greeted by a hyped up Ziggy, desperate to tell them something.

"The Maxximus announcement last night was huge! The tickets sold out in minutes after it aired!" Ziggy said excitedly.

"SOLD OUT!?" Mickey said as he pulled his headphones off to make sure he had heard Ziggy properly.

"Yeah, full house! Not one spare seat. Just look, people are taking their seats already. There's just a couple of thousand left here to go in now," Ziggy pointed out.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked on as fans were stood in line clutching their tickets, as others passed through the turnstiles. Others took pictures of their friends and families posing in front of the Brawlzone. Young fans ran over to the steward who handed out the programmes for the night's event.

"OH MY GOD, LOOK! IT'S TEAM MEGAFORCE! IT'S TEAM MEGAFORCE!" a fan screamed, causing mass hysteria.

"Whoa, this just got real," Lulu said amazed.

"We love you Team Megaforce!" the fans cheered.

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about," Chubz shouted back, as he grabbed Lulu and ran over to them.

"We love you too guys," said Lulu, as they high-fived as many fans as they could reach.

"We are your biggest fans!" they said.

"Are you now?" said Chubz. "Let's test them out as fans, shall we Lulu."

"I'll start something and see if you guys can finish it," he said to them. "You ready?"

"Caca-mala," Chubz started.

"Smala-wala-fala-bala-jala," the fans roared back.

"AWESOME!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving. "Best fans ever!"

"Believe in Brawlin'!" they both said to the cheering fans, as they thumped their chests.

"Believe in Brawlin'!" the fans shouted back to them, thumping their chests, too.

"We've got to go, guys, we'll see you inside," said Chubz. "Enjoy the Brawl and don't forget to scream for us."

Cameras flashed as they walked past and headed towards the entrance. Microphones were shoved in their faces as questions from reporters came in thick and fast.

"How does it feel knowing you're about to step into the Brawlzone for the very first time?" one asked.

"Any comments about the last minute inclusion of Team Captain Maxximus?" asked another.

"Why Team Megaforce?" one said from the left.

"We're so excited to be here. It is an honour to be going against Maxximus himself in our very first Brawl. We're going in with a great strategy and we are going to pull off a big win here tonight," Mickey said as he addressed the reporters.

"We have a strategy? I haven't heard it yet," Chubz said cheekily, putting Mickey on the spot as the reporters leant in closer. "What is it?"

Mickey hesitated before laughing off Chubz's comment. He covered Chubz's mouth with his hand to keep him quiet.

"Hahaha, he's such a joker. After tonight, the USC will be put on notice. Team Megaforce is going straight to the top! We'll take on whoever is brave enough to step into the Brawlzone with us! Now if you'll excuse me, it's Brawlin' Time!" Mickey answered confidently, as he dragged Chubz in by his ear.

Team Megaforce opened the door to their changing room. A wall of blue lockers stood opposite the door. A wooden bench was sitting in the middle. To the left of the room was a water dispenser and to the right was a huge mirror and gym equipment to warm up with. Ziggy placed the Book of Brawlerz on the bench while Mickey, Lulu and Chubz each picked a locker and put their stuff in.

Ziggy called them over to give them a team brief about their opponents. Chubz sat on the floor opposite him. Lulu sat on the bench with her feet up resting her chin on her knees. Mickey paced up and down nervously, stretching his arms to limber up.

"Right, I've been up all night doing research on Team Maxximus and I've found that ..." Ziggy started to explain.

There was a knock at the door; they turned and looked as a production member popped her head around. She was carrying a clipboard and had a radio which was shouting all sorts of different instructions at her.

"Okay ... okay. Right, I'm just ... shhh, I'm in their locker room now!" she said down the radio.

"Hi there, Team Megaforce is it? Smashing, right the show is about to start so this is your ten-minute warning. Make sure you're ready and I'll be back in a second to take you to the Brawlzone. Good? Great!" she said without waiting for a response and quickly heading back out of the door.

The four of them looked at each other; it was almost time to Brawl.

Mickey went to shut the door when he could faintly hear the crowd cheering. He felt his legs turn heavy like lead as the crowd chanted "Maxximus! Maxximus! Maxximus!"

"So what did you find out, buddy?" Chubz asked Ziggy.

"We're not going to have the time to go through it all now! I worked on this plan all night, too!" Ziggy whinged.

"Short version then Zig, come on," said Lulu.

"Okay, Right. Maxximus, need I say more? His massive metal fists, his scanner, his moveset, his power and his aggression are too much to handle. Then there are the special attacks ..." continued Ziggy.

"Err, short version Ziggy, remember?" Lulu interrupted.

"This IS the short version," replied Ziggy.

"My entire strategy was based around beating this one Brawler as he's the biggest threat! Basically, as Cyborgs go; he's one of the most powerful. You don't get ranked in the top twenty Brawlerz for nothing. Rockston and Nash are more on your level, as rookies. Rockston is another Cyborg Brawler and Nash is a Zombie Brawler. All I know is that Nash can multiply himself and Rockston has a bionic, extendable left arm. When the red lights flash he's going to use it. Keep an eye out for that," Ziggy explained quickly. "Remember, Cyborgs need to win, by any means necessary, even if they have to break the rules."

The show music started and the muffled cheers could be heard in the changing room. John Micro and Jerry Phone started to introduce the event.

Mickey turned to Lulu and Chubz and said, "Guys, this is it! We can do it. Together, we can win. I know you're nervous, truth is, I'm nervous too. But, we got here together so let's win this together!" Mickey shouted, pumped up. "Lulu, Chubz, IT'S BRAWLIN' TIME!"

"Team Megaforce, it's time. Make your way to the entrance ramp, please," the production member said, popping her head back in.

They headed out of the changing room and towards the Brawlzone entrance ramp, walking side by side.

The cheers from the crowd started to get louder as they navigated the underground corridors and got closer.  
When they got backstage, they walked up the thick, steel steps. Another member of the production staff halted them. He pointed to the floor, "Wait here, please," he told them. Yellow tape was stretched across the floor just in front of the entrance ramp.

They watched on a small monitor as the TV cameras cut to a large Mexican wave. It was being performed by every single fan in the crowd, before cutting back to the Brawlzone commentary booth. John and Jerry were about to announce the Rookie Brawl. The crowd roared with excitement, giving all three of them goosebumps.

"I can't believe it, John and Jerry are about to introduce us into the Brawlzone. IT'S SO EXCITING! Let's blow the roof off this place!" Mickey said as he put his hand into the middle of where they were standing.

"What roof?" Chubz asked as he put his hand in.

"It's a figure of speech, thicko," Lulu said while putting her hand on the top.

"You guys have got this!" Ziggy said putting his hand in, too. "I'm going to cheer you on from the dugout."

"Team Megaforce on three? One ... two ... three ..." Mickey shouted.

"TEAM MEGAFORCE!" they all screamed.

"GO GO GO!" the production member said as he pointed to the entrance ramp.

The music was loud. The guitar ripped through the opening riff. The backstage curtain flung wide open as the drums joined in. They walked onto the top of the ramp as their entrance theme music kicked in. The crowd cheered louder than the music, it was almost deafening.  
The lights danced around the Brawlzone, changing colours and dazzling spectacularly. Camera flashes popped all around as Mickey, Lulu and Chubz took in the moment. They looked and waved at as many fans as they could.  
Mickey then tensed up centre stage as he fed off the energy from the crowd. He flung his arms up in the air with his palms open wide, exploding to life and shouted "IT'S BRAWLIN' TIME!" at the top of his voice, inviting the crowd in. This further ignited their passion as they screamed back even louder.

Lulu stomped around psyching herself up before charging down the ramp. She gave a high-five to the fans that were leaning over the barriers along the way. Chubz took his cap off and waved it at everyone as he walked down.

He grabbed a fan with a Team Megaforce sign and screamed down the nearest camera "YEAH BUDDY!" while holding the sign with the fan.  
As they made their way down the ramp, the top of the entrance ramp illuminated with bright gold fireworks that exploded upwards. The three of them worked the crowd into a frenzy as they stepped into the Brawlzone.

Lulu and Chubz lapped the outskirts of the Brawlzone still high-fiving as many fans as they could. Mickey headed straight into the middle as he continued to swing his arms upwards to keep the crowd cheering. He looked around and took in the view. It felt so different and strange to be inside looking out at the crowd. He felt a burning fire in his stomach and was going to unleash it all during the Brawl.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing first, from the heart of Brawlfest City. Making their official Brawlzone debut Mickey, Lulu and Chubz. Make some noise for Team Megaforce!" John screamed as he pointed to them.

"What an entrance, John! That blew my socks off! Ah – I've spilt my coffee too! But I don't care; this is going to be great! These guys absolutely demolished Captain Crusher's Critter Challenge. But will they be able to overcome the mighty Team Maxximus?" Jerry said. "We'll soon find out!"

Chubz pointed to the side of the Brawlzone and said, "Guys, look up there, I've made us a team flag."

Sure enough, there it hung amongst the other mighty team flags. Chubz's spare vest with 'Team Megaforce' scribbled across it in black pen. Mickey and Lulu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as it was so tiny compared to the official USC ones and just dangled there, motionless.

"We have to start somewhere, right?" Chubz said proudly.

"Yeah, yeah we do Chubz," replied Mickey putting his arm around him. "I love it."

Lulu, Chubz and Mickey awaited their opponents.

The Brawlzone lights then turned off and the fans screamed with anticipation.

"MAXXIMUS! MAXXIMUS! MAXXIMUS!" they chanted.

A dark, deep sounding horn echoed throughout the Brawlzone. It was then followed by a heavy beat. The ramp lit up with huge orange fireballs that briefly revealed a glimpse of Team Maxximus with each burst. They were all standing menacingly in the darkness. Then another burst of fireballs shot up, then another, getting quicker each time. Maxximus roared at the crowd as he walked through the fire, he meant business. The crowd lost their minds. The fireballs continued as the team started to walk down the ramp. The lights came back on with one final roar from Maxximus as he stepped foot into the Brawlzone.

Mickey paced up and down, not taking his eyes off him. He wanted to show that he wasn't intimidated.

"Introducing their opponents, from parts unknown, Nash, Roxton and their unforgiving captain, Maxximus! Make some noise for Team Maxximus!" Jerry screamed down the microphone.

"It's easy to see why they're the favourites to win this Brawl. Talk about intensity, Maxximus is completely focused," John said. "We're in for an absolute war tonight!"

The two teams squared up. John and Jerry ran through the rules of the Brawl from the commentary booth.

"Can you feel the electricity in the air tonight, Brawlzone fans?" Jerry said, hoisting his microphone up as the fans screamed at the top of their lungs.

"Okay folks, this is going to be a Team Battle Brawl, using the Brawlzone's Standard Stage setting. Each team will have a tag zone in which they stand in at opposite ends of the Brawlzone. Two Brawlerz will start the Brawl, one from each team. They can tag someone else in to take their place by reaching in their zone and tagging a member of their team. As always, the Brawl ends when the Refbot counts out a Brawler. Let's get this show on the road," John said as the crowd went wild. "Are you ready?"

"I can't hear you! I said are you ready?" he repeated. "Okay, TAG ZONES ACTIVATE!"

A large circle lit up at each end of the Brawlzone, one blue tag zone and one red. Team Maxximus occupied the red tag zone and Team Megaforce stood in the blue tag zone.

A Refbot screeched out to both tag zones to make sure that they were both operational. The Refbot scanned them to make sure that there were three Brawlerz in each zone and that the protective barrier on the tag zones worked.

The Refbot screeched back to the middle of the Brawlzone and started the ten-second countdown. Roxton stepped forward from the red tag zone and made his way to the Refbot.

"Roxton is stepping up for Team Maxximus. It looks like he wants to make a statement in his first Brawl!" John said.

"Team Megaforce can't seem to make their minds up on who is starting the Brawl. They're going to run out of time," Jerry said. "They need to meet the Refbot's countdown or they could lose this Brawl before it even starts!"

"Who's going first? We never thought of that," Mickey said, laughing at the obvious mistake.

"... See you later losers," Lulu said as she ran off to the Refbot before the countdown finished.

"Whoaaa! Lulu is starting for Team Megaforce. She's going to cause a riot if she's as feisty as she looks right now!" said Jerry.

Roxton was waiting in the middle for her, spinning his bionic arm around in circles, trying to intimidate her.

"Oh please, are you serious? I make scarier things than that in the toilet!" Lulu joked. "I'm going to snap that arm off and wear it as a scarf."

"Team Maxximus are you ready?" asked the Refbot, Roxton nodded back.

"Team Megaforce are you ready?" asked the Refbot.

"You bet," Lulu replied.

"THREE ... TWO ... ONE," the Refbot counted down, as the numbers appeared on his screen and on the Brawlertron.

"LET'S BRAWL!" the Refbot said with the crowd as the screens turned green.

"And this brawl is ONNNNNN!" John screamed down the microphone.

Chapter 14

Crank-Up The Prank

The red lights on Roxton's left fist flashed immediately. He extended his bionic arm straight forward and smashed Lulu on her head. The crowd gasped at the thunderous impact. Lulu head-charged his arm in return and ferociously pushed forward with her thick skull. His bionic arm crushed under the force, causing it to malfunction.

"Oh my god, what is that girls head made out of?!" John asked, shocked.

"This girl is crazy! Talk about an opening statement!" Jerry said, jumping out of his chair. "And according to Chubz her head's like 'a brick that's covered in concrete and wrapped up in steel.'"

"Well, there you have it, folks," said John. "Who am I to argue with that description?"

Roxton scrambled back to his tag zone to repair his bionic arm while being hunted down by Lulu. He lunged forward and tagged in Nash. Lulu started to walk backwards, calling Nash in by waving him towards her.

"Remember me Lu-loser?" Nash mocked as he stepped foot into the Brawlzone.

That name echoed around in her mind as she thought back to what happened on the team selection day. She dropped her head as her bracelet started to spin. Lulu took aim and sprinted at Nash. Before Nash could do anything, she'd planted her feet in front of him and caught him with an almighty Mega uppercut, *SMASH* sending Nash spinning sideways.

"Yeah, I remember you!" Lulu laughed.

"Ooooooooh, right in the jaw!" Jerry said, scrunching his face in empathy. "I hope he knows a good dentist!"

She kissed her fist in celebration and held it in the air. The crowd went crazy over the move. Lulu looked back over to Nash who was struggling to get back to his feet. He rubbed his jaw as he regained his balance.

"Now you'll remember me, pumpkin!" she said to him.

Nash winced in pain as he stared at her. He looked to his left and a copy of himself shot out of his side, he looked to his right and the same happened again. Three Nashes now stood in the Brawlzone.

"Look at that! That's incredible! Nash has replicated himself! He can do this up to nine times. You can end up Brawlin' with ten of him at a time," John explained. "What a move!"

"If I could replicate myself, I'd never leave my bed or go to work ever again!" Jerry laughed.

Lulu looked back at her tag zone and held her hand out, offering the tag to one of her team. Mickey held his hand out and stomped eagerly. Lulu casually moonwalked back to her tag zone while waving at Nash, belittling him and Team Maxximus. She tagged Mickey in.

"Listen up; every time Nash replicates himself, each one is weaker than the original!" Ziggy shouted from the dugout.

As Mickey ran in, Nash replicated again and again. There was now five of him standing in the Brawlzone. Mickey took aim as he ran forward. He tucked his Gooz Gun into his shoulder and fired an ice blast at the Nash furthest to the left. He then switched to the energy blast and released a short burst that shattered the frozen Nash instantly. Mickey quickly switched back to the ice attack power and set it to Overdrive as he ran past the other four Nashes. He fired it directly in front of him, creating an ice path. Mickey skidded on the ice and rode along it. He curved the ice path round in a half circle, bringing him to the other side of the Nashes, much to the delight of the crowd.

"Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant one-two combo from Mickey! Switching between attack powers to take one Nash out in style!" John said. "The crowd can't get enough of that showmanship!"

"Wait, hold your horses, everyone, Mickey is surrounded!" Jerry interrupted.

The four remaining Nashes swarmed Mickey, surrounding him once he had come to a halt. They held their fists backwards to charge them up until they were overflowing with energy.

One by one the Nashes super-punched him, knocking him around between the four of them.

* SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!*

"Those big, heavy punches are doing some serious damage, Jerry. This onslaught by Nash is ruthless!" John said, as Jerry covered his eyes and peeked through his fingers.

Mickey ducked down to avoid the attacks. He switched his Gooz Gun to the Tactical mode and fired out four ice jets at the Nashes, encasing each of them in an ice shell. Mickey stood back up as the Nashes struggled to break free. Mickey circled the four Nashes; selecting which one he was going to take out first.

"Eenie ... meenie ... miney ... SMASH!" Mickey said as he picked out a Nash and walloped it with his Gooz Gun, leaving three.

The remaining three Nashes broke free from the ice and tried to grab him. Mickey switched to his energy rings and fired them down at the floor. The rings propelled him up above the Nashes. He quickly switched it into Overdrive and fired again. The force of the blast launched him back towards his tag zone.

"You're up Chubz," Mickey said as he landed.

The remaining two copied Nashes ran to the real Nash and merged back with him. He tagged Roxton in again in order to recover. Roxton had managed to repair his bionic arm and was ready to get back in there.  
Roxton handsprung towards Chubz, he landed in front of him and taunted him by showing off his martial arts training. He threw several high kicks in the air while circling round.

Chubz just watched on.

"You don't want a piece of this. You can't touch me!" Roxton said arrogantly as he directed his flashy kicks close to Chubz's face.

"What, nothing? No comeback Chubz? No wonder no one wanted you on their team!" Roxton ridiculed.

Roxton started to perform a backflip from close range. As his feet left the floor, they kicked the doughnuts out of Chubz's hands. The doughnuts scattered in the air. As Roxton landed he saw a hand reach out. Chubz grabbed Roxton's head by his antennas and belly bounced him across the Brawlzone, towards the red tag zone. The protective barrier automatically shot up to protect Maxximus and Nash. Roxton bounced off it and smashed to the floor. Mangled, he struggled to look across at Chubz.

"And you're weaker than my mum's gravy!" Chubz shouted to Roxton, laughing.

"Well, that's his anger trigger. Everyone take note, NEVER touch his doughnuts!" Jerry laughed.

Chubz threw a barrage of wrecking ball doughnuts to finish Roxton off. Small wrecking balls popped out of the doughnuts and whacked Roxton over and over. It left him dazed and confused on the ground with dents in his cheeks. The Refbot screeched in and scanned him twice – up and down, then left and right.

"COUNTDOWN! COULD THIS BE IT?" John and Jerry shouted together.

"ONE ... TWO ..." the crowd counted with the Refbot as the numbers flashed up on the Brawlertron.

Roxton quickly extended his bionic arm over the protective barrier and tagged in Maxximus before the count could reach three, keeping Team Maxximus in the Brawl.

"WHAT? That was close!" said John. "I thought Team Megaforce had got the win there!"

"Look, Maxximus is stepping in now! Roxton made the tag!" Jerry said. "Hold on to your seats!"

"MAXXIMUS! MAXXIMUS! MAXXIMUS!" the crowd chanted.

Maxximus walked forward. His blue scanner glowed threateningly. He slammed his feet into the floor with every single step he took.

"The crowd are on their feet! What an ovation they've given for Maxximus," John said to Jerry.

"I've got chills John! Maxximus is just the definition of power in the Brawlzone! He's so powerful and Brawls without mercy. That deadly combination usually spells the end for his opponents," said Jerry.

"Then, there's his Rare Form to worry about, the legendary CBX1000 upgrade! Will we see him use it in the Brawlzone tonight?" John said, eagerly looking on for Maxximus to make a move. "I sure hope so!"

Chubz threw a firecracker doughnut near Maxximus's feet to get his attention. The doughnut crackled loudly, prompting Maxximus to look at Chubz.

"Are we Brawlin' or what?" Chubz said impatiently, tapping his foot. "If not, grab me an ice-cream and a couple of hot dogs will you princess?"

"Silence ... rookie!" Maxximus talked down to Chubz.

His huge metal fists gripped closed, preparing to Brawl. From nowhere, he leapt up and caught Chubz in the stomach with a spinning heel kick.

*WHAM!* Chubz stumbled backwards while holding his belly.

"What a kick John, right in the gut!" Jerry said.

"Wait ... is Chubz laughing!?" John interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah he is. With a gut like that, I'm not surprised. It was a great move by Maxximus, just used on the wrong Brawler!" Jerry joked.

"Hey, Maxximus am I a ghost? Well ... am I?" Chubz joked as he swallowed a doughnut. "TADAAAA! I am now! WOOOOOOOOOO."

Chubz had vanished using invisibility. Maxximus started to look for any trace of him quickly. His scanner swept the floor, scanning around, trying to pick up Chubz's location. Maxximus lunged forward swinging his huge metal fists but couldn't find his target. Maxximus continually tried to smash an invisible Chubz. However, Chubz was one step ahead, moving out of harm's way each time.

"Aww man, you look SPOOKED!" said Chubz.

Maxximus lunged again, this time Chubz grabbed him and countered with a piledriver.

*SLAM*

Maxximus punched the ground in frustration as he stood back up.

"What a counter by Chubz. Maxximus has been slammed down hard and the signs of frustration are starting to show, already," John said. "It's rare that an opponent is able to get under Maxximus's skin so easily!"

"I wish we could see what Chubz is actually doing, being invisible is really making my job impossible to do. Maxximus is swinging and missing every time and the crowd love it!" Jerry laughed, still looking for Chubz.

"It's time to crank-up the prank!" said Chubz.

Chubz took out all six doughnuts out and scattered them around Maxximus. Each doughnut created a large, invisible, electrified contact panel. Maxximus tried to walk forward but he triggered one of the electrified panels. The electricity from the panel shocked him with 100,000 volts. The surge of electricity forced him backwards into another panel. This then hurled him forwards towards another. Maxximus bounced off the electrified panels like a pinball, rebounding between all six, keeping him in place.

"Wow! Now that's awesome! Chubz has trapped Maxximus while still being able to deal significant damage at the same time," John said. "Those doughnuts are amazing!"

"And now ... for my masterpiece!" announced Chubz, as a massive machine materialised in the Brawlzone. "Behold, the Auto-prank 5000!"

"Whoa! Where did that come from?" asked Jerry, laughing.

A huge machine coiled around the Brawlzone. It stood tall, filled with surprises that only Chubz knew about.

"Anyone got a Brawler coin I can borrow to start this thing off?" Chubz asked the crowd. *PING* "Thank you."

"Let the fun begin!" Chubz announced as the Auto-prank 5000 started to operate.

At the front of the Auto-prank 5000 was a giant arcade claw that slowly started to move. It rotated round until it was over Maxximus. The claw then slowly lowered and grabbed Maxximus out of the contact panels. It then flung him onto the Auto-prank 5000.

"This has got slap-stick comedy written all over it!" John said.

"Shhhhhh John, the first prank is about to start!" Jerry interrupted, watching eagerly.

The claw grabbed Maxximus by his head and started to lead him through the Auto-prank 5000. *CRAAANK* Two robotic arms shot from the sides and gripped tightly onto his legs.  
The crowd edged forward to see what they were about to do. The robotic arms yanked at Maxximus's legs, pulling them outstretched.

"Whoaaaaaa look at that John, it's made Maxximus do the splits!" Jerry laughed. "I love slapstick!"

*Clank* *Clank* The claw continued to drag Maxximus along, spinning him around and swinging him in loops. Maxximus was met with an enormous slap in the face by a giant rubber hand, the second he stopped spinning. *Thwack*

The claw then raised Maxximus up high and dropped him into a spiral snake tube slide.  
Paint bombs exploded from the inside as Maxximus slid downwards; covering him in all sorts of different, vibrant colours. As Maxximus shot out the end of the slide, an oversized, bright green curly wig was slapped over his scanner. *SLAP*

"Well folks, welcome to the Brawlzone Circus. And here's your first clown ... Maxximus!" John said, laughing.

"Maxximus? We should change his name to Coco!" Jerry laughed, singing the Circus theme tune. "All he needs now is a pie in the face ... Whoa, there it is hahaha." *SPLAT*

The claw caught Maxximus in mid-air and dragged him over to two large dunk tanks. The claw dunked Maxximus in the first tank, covering him in glue. Maxximus hung helplessly as the glue dripped down off his feet. *ooooze-drip*

The claw made its way to the second dunk tank. The claw then dunked Maxximus again; it pulled him out, covered in turkey feathers from head to toe. Finally, the claw plonked Maxximus on a big wooden stick.

"John, John, look at Maxximus! ... He's a turkey ... on a stick ... he's TURKEY ... on a STICK ... A STICK!" Jerry wailed hysterically.

"Way-hey, someone gets it!" Chubz cheered.

*Craaank* The claw returned and hoisted Maxximus off the stick and dropped him onto a conveyor belt. The belt started to raise Maxximus up to the finale of the Auto-prank 5000. Maxximus juddered along, climbing higher and higher. He approached a platform at the top. Maxximus looked around nervously. Loose turkey feathers fell off with every twist and turn. A curtain rose up in front of him to the sound of a drum roll.

"What's going to happen now John, I can't handle anymore," Jerry said as he wiped away his tears of laughter. "I can't see properly, this is NUTS!"

The drum roll stopped.

*WHACK!* A giant boot kicked through the curtain and kicked Maxximus off the platform.

"Whoooooaaaa!" yelled Jerry. "I've got to get me one of those!"

A massive pair of underpants was stretched in-between a catapult, waiting for him below.

"Are those ... underpants?" John asked confused.

"Haha, yeah they are John. Now, where have I seen massive underpants with holes in before – they do look familiar?" said Jerry. "Oh, that's it ...  
on your Dad," he said, bursting out into laughter.

Maxximus fell into the underpants. They stretched down, then shot up, and back down, then back up and back down, giving Maxximus the granddaddy of all wedgies.

*bungee* *stretch* "Ow! Ow! Ow!" *fling*

*bungee* *stretch* "Ow! Ow! Ow!" *fling*

"They're bungie underpants John," Jerry laughed hysterically, "bungie underpants. Bungie undies! No, no ... they're bundies!"

The Brawlzone erupted with laughter as Maxximus swung in place. Two tiny little confetti cannons went off *pop* *pop* as the Auto-prank 5000 came to an end.

*BOOOOOOM* The Auto-Prank 5000 self-destructed.

"WHOOOOA!" Jerry screamed as he gave a round of applause. "Again, again, again."

"That was a glue dunking; face slapping, wig wearing, clown bashing, turkey sticking and butt twanging of a move by Chubz!" John said. "But will it be enough?"

Maxximus got back to his feet. He lifted his arms up at either side and started to spin rapidly from the waist up. He desperately tried to shake the turkey feathers off. Maxximus continued to spin, trying to clobber Chubz with a lucky hit.

"Steel Fist Tornado! What a move, John," Jerry said. "I'll never get tired of seeing it."

"It is a great move Jerry, but did you ever think you would see Maxximus use it defensively? Maxximus is out of his comfort zone right now," John said.

"Chubz is proving to be a thorn in his side. He is controlling this Brawl!" replied Jerry with admiration.

Maxximus stopped spinning, he couldn't find Chubz.

"Cooee! I seeeee you, Maxximus," Chubz laughed, cranking up the frustration further.

Chubz wished for voice doughnuts and scattered them randomly near Maxximus. Each voice doughnut went off, one after another.

"I'm over here," one said, forcing Maxximus to turn furiously in that direction.

"Nope, over here now buddy," the second voice doughnut said from the other side of him. "Or am I?"

"Dude, you need glasses, I'm over here," a third said, forcing Maxximus to turn yet again.

Maxximus's scanner then turned from blue to red. He'd had enough of Chubz's pranks and games.

"Thermal vision engage," Maxximus said menacingly.

"Whoa, Maxximus is using his thermal vision. Chubz will no longer be invisible, at least to Maxximus," said John. "He'll be able to see his body heat so Chubz will be as clear as day!"

Maxximus charged towards Chubz. Before Maxximus connected, his black shoulder plates enlarged and spikes popped out. Maxximus was looking to deal maximum damage. He collided with Chubz.

*SMASH*

The crowd could hear Chubz scuttle across the Brawlzone. The invisibility wore off as Chubz came to a halt. Maxximus stormed forwards and grabbed Chubz. He dragged him over to the red tag zone and propped him against the protective barrier. Chubz looked up at Maxximus, groggily.

"I see you now!" Maxximus said as he held Chubz up.

Maxximus beckoned Roxton and Nash to jump in. The three of them surrounded Chubz. The Refbot screeched up to Maxximus with a flashing yellow warning written across its screen. Maxximus swung his arm back in anger and smashed the Refbot with one hit to keep it away. Maxximus, Roxton and Nash started to bash-up Chubz.

"What are they doing? Team Maxximus are ganging up on Chubz. The crowd are booing loudly with disgust, and rightfully so. This is embarrassing; they're supposed to be professionals!" John shouted angrily.

"The Refbot tried to give Maxximus a yellow warning to stop it, but he just smashed it up!" Jerry said, disgusted. "This is out of order!"

The crowd's boos got louder each time Maxximus, Nash or Roxton struck Chubz.

"Get off him – you cowards," said Jerry. "I can't watch this anymore, John."

Chubz curled up into a ball to protect himself. Lulu could see Chubz reaching out to her in pain, his arm then collapsed to the floor.

"CHUUUUUBZ!" screamed Lulu, in a massive rage, getting ready to storm in. "Right, that's it – I'm gonna smash-you-" *SWOOSH*

The blue tag zone protective barrier shot up around Mickey and Lulu.

"Are you kidding me or what?" yelled Lulu, punching the barrier.

"It looks like they're trying to keep us in the tag zone," Mickey said. "The barrier has gone 360° wrap-around on us. We can't get out."

"360° wrap-around? 360° wrap-around? I'll show 'em 360° wrap-around!" she screeched.

*Bang* *Thud* *Bang* Lulu head-charged the barrier.

"I need more force!" she said, frustrated.

"Battering ram?" Mickey suggested.

"Battering ram, yeah!" Lulu agreed. "Hang in there Chubz, we're coming!"

Mickey grabbed Lulu by the back of her collar. He scooped up both legs with his other arm and swung her like a battering ram into the barrier.

"I'm gonna, *Baaang* smash-you *Thud* up a *Baaang* new FACE!" snarled Lulu, as Mickey swung her into the barrier.

*SMASH!*

"CHAAAAAARGE!" screamed Lulu.

"LOOK! JERRY LOOK!" John shouted excitedly.

The crowd burst to life with cheers at the sight of Mickey and Lulu sprinting across the Brawlzone.

"YES! That's what I'm talking about! Go get 'em Team Megaforce!" Jerry screamed, banging on the commentary booth window in support.

Without thinking, Lulu leapt onto Maxximus. She coiled her arms and legs around his neck and shoulders.

"I'm gonna smash-you-ALL-up a new face!" Lulu shouted as she desperately tried to help Chubz.

Twelve Refbots flooded in to break it up. Each Brawler was grabbed by two Refbots and taken back to their tag zone to restore order. Then, after separating the Brawlerz, all twelve Refbots circled Maxximus. They all had a red warning flashing across their screens.

"Look! Maxximus has received a red warning for his actions! He will have to sit out of the Brawl for ten minutes in the penalty cage," John said. "That's what you get for breaking the rules folks!"

"Good!" replied Jerry.

The crowd booed and threw half-eaten hotdogs, drink cartons and other rubbish at Maxximus as the Refbots dragged him into the penalty cage. They slammed the cage shut and locked it as the word 'Banned' lit up above him. Nash stepped back into the Brawlzone.

Chubz gently tagged Lulu in as he made his way to the back of their tag zone to rest.

"Are you okay, Chubz?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeth!" replied Chubz.

"I think you've bitten your tongue pumpkin," she said, "because of those IDIOTS!"

"Plobably," replied Chubz.

"What? Haha," laughed Lulu.

"Plobably," he said again. "Plob-ab-lee, plobably!"

"Oh, you mean probably? Lulu asked.

"YETH!" answered Chubz. "Thith ith plobably the ploblem."

"Awwww, come here!" she said, giving him a big hug. "I'm gonna thmash, I mean smash-'em-up a new face!"

"Thankth."

Lulu stomped out furiously and prepared to charge. Her eyes were locked on Nash, and she was going to make him pay for ganging up on her best friend. Nash quickly copied himself nine times.

She threw her bag on the ground and said,  
"Battle armour, battle helmet and Battle Boar, accessorise," as she braced herself in the shape of a star.

Pieces of shiny, pink armour shot out of the bag and started to attach to Lulu. the armour pieces attached all over her body, linking together to form a protective suit. She then whistled to her Battle Boar as her helmet shot out and snapped closed over her head.

"Battle helmet, show me the real Nash!" said Lulu. "I'm gonna take this sucka out!"

Her helmet brought up a small yellow targeting system which locked on to each Nash, revealing the strength percentage of each one to Lulu. It skipped over them until it locked onto the real Nash and highlighted him in red. She climbed on her Battle Boar and grabbed the chains to secure herself. She yanked them, readying the Battle Boar for action.

"CHAAAAAARGE!" she yelled as she thundered towards them.

The Battle Boar squealed as it tucked its tusks under the weakest Nash and flipped it up for Lulu to deal with.

"Mega punch!" Lulu shouted as she clobbered him. *Wham!*

Lulu then pulled the chains back and reared the Battle Boar to change direction. The Battle Boar put its two front hoofs in the air as it turned around to face another Nash.

"Peacekeeper, accessorise!" Lulu commanded.

A gigantic hand cannon launched out of her bag and into her hand. The barrels rolled in a circle as massive red-tipped missiles poked out, ready to wreak havoc.

"THAT thing will definitely keep the peace!" John said surprised.

"Look at the size of it! It's massive. The barrels look bigger than her! How is she able to even lift it up?" Jerry laughed.

Two Nashes ran at Lulu, determined to knock her off the Battle Boar. Lulu pulled the trigger twice. Two missiles launched out and screeched after each Nash. Both Nashes quickly stopped in their tracks and ran away in opposite directions. The missiles frantically chased them around the Brawlzone.

The crowd edged forwards and watched on eagerly as the missiles quickly closed in on each Nash, as they hopelessly tried to get away.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

Lulu raised three fingers up to the crowd to signify that three Nashes were down. The crowd went wild as they chanted for more.

"Look at the carnage! What an incredible weapon!" John said to Jerry. "Lulu is taking them all on."

"You know it, I know it and the crowd know it too!" said Jerry. "Just listen to them; they can't get enough of her."

The crowd counted along as she continued to take out more Nashes with the Peacekeeper.

"FOUR ... FIVE ... SIX ... SEVEN ... EIGHT!" the crowd shouted as each Nash was taken out.

Lulu paraded around on her Battle Boar as she showboated. The defeated eight Nashes crawled back towards the real Nash and fused back with him. The real Nash and his last copy looked on as she trotted up and down. The real Nash ran at the Battle Boar head-on and grabbed its tusks, holding it in place. The other Nash blindsided Lulu and knocked her off it, sending her flying towards her tag zone.

"Heads-up looks like you're on!" Lulu yelled to Mickey, as she sailed through the air.

As Lulu whizzed past the tag zone, she stuck her hand out. Mickey reached out. Lulu made the tag to Mickey as she passed him and crashed. Her battle armour short-circuited from to the impact. The armour started to fall off piece by piece as she slumped down, leaving only her helmet on. The Battle Boar walked up beside her with her bag on its tusk. She petted him on his head to say thank you as the bag opened.

"Cheers Yoof," said Lulu. "You've done a great job."

"Yoof?" quizzed Chubz. "Have you given it a name?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's called Yoof Hearted," replied Lulu.

"Ah, okay! ... Hey, Lulu, if you say his name quickly it sounds like-" Chubz started to laugh.

"I know, right," Lulu interrupted, as they both burst out into fits of laughter. "Haha, I'm going to call his brother ... Noah Never! Hahaha."

The Battle Boar climbed back inside and the bag closed behind it.

"Can you hear that crowd, John? It's so loud! The hairs on my arms are standing up! Look, see!" Jerry said while showing his arms to John.

"The shift in support has changed dramatically. The momentum has swung in favour of Team Megaforce. The crowd are now backing this team of underdogs 100%," John said.

"It's easy to see why John. As the Brawl has gone on, they have won them over with their unique Brawlin' skills, their showmanship and their gutsy performance!" said Jerry. "They love these guys! I love these guys!"

Mickey set his Gooz Gun to energy blasts and calmly walked forward. Lulu had taken care of eight Nashes, Roxton wasn't in any shape to continue and Maxximus was out of the picture. The victory was close.

Nash absorbed the last copy of himself so he could take on Mickey at full strength. He raced forwards with his fist charged and ready to Brawl. Mickey leant back as Nash swung wildly, avoiding his punches. The desperation was settling in with Nash, he knew that Mickey was fresh, so had to act fast.  
Nash clinched his hands together and slammed them down in a double-axe-handle power punch. Mickey jumped back and fired two energy blasts that sent Nash tumbling. Nash quickly stood back up and dove right back in, throwing supercharged haymakers at Mickey. Mickey stood confidently as he bobbed and weaved between Nash's punches. Mickey ducked under a looping right hook and switched to Tactical energy mode.  
He fired the energy rings and stopped Nash in his tracks. He wasn't going anywhere. Mickey set his Gooz Gun to the ice Overdrive mode and placed his finger on the trigger.

"Here we go, folks! Grab your jumpers, it's about to get very cold in here!" John said.

"Hold on, what's Roxton doing? He's ... he's trying to free Maxximus!" Jerry interrupted. "Oh ... My ... God!"

Roxton steadied the penalty cage with his magnetic hand. He then repeatedly smashed his bionic arm into the lock. With each strike, the five red lights on his fist fired lasers into the lock to melt it. Maxximus glared at Mickey as Roxton continued to break the lock. *SMASH*

"He's free! Maxximus is out of the cage!" John screamed.

Maxximus surged into the Brawlzone. The force from the landing freed Nash from the energy rings.

"CBX1000, UPGRADE!" Maxximus roared.

"Maxximus has gone RARE! MAXXIMUS HAS GONE RARE!" Jerry screeched at John. "The upgrade has been UNLEASHED!"

"But he's still got time left on his ban. This needs to be stopped!" John replied concerned.

Maxximus smacked Nash as he tried to scramble away. Maxximus hit Nash that hard that he replicated himself in mid-air. The red tag zone was in disarray. Refbots swarmed in from all directions and piled onto Maxximus. However, Maxximus shrugged them off with ease. He swung his massive metal fists around angrily and smashed the Refbots as they kept coming forward to restrain him. Their parts were littered across the Brawlzone.

"Maxximus in his Rare Form is usually a Brawling machine, but he's just out of control! He's gone crazy! Someone needs to stop this madness before someone gets seriously hurt," John pleaded.

"The team captain has been humiliated and frustrated by three rookies. Then there's the fact he was banned too, which doesn't help," Jerry speculated. "That's why I think he's lost it."

Maxximus started to smash-up the Brawlzone.

He slammed into anything that moved. One by one he smashed the already broken Refbots and used his scanner laser to melt them down. Maxximus looked wound-up and unhinged as he set his sights on Mickey.

The Brawlertron flashed-up *PENALTY LIFTED*

"What? He's been allowed to Brawl?!" Jerry raged. "What are they doing?"

"The USC has given the go-ahead for Maxximus to carry on, even though he had time left on his ban. This is shocking!" John said, shaking his head disapprovingly.  
Maxximus's rage was at tipping point.

Mickey needed a plan, fast.

Chapter 15

Believe In Brawlin': One More Round

Mickey switched back to his energy blast and fired rapidly at Maxximus. The energy crackled in the air as it closed in on Maxximus. It smashed into the ground, rumbling it like thunder from the impact. Maxximus leapt up evading it effortlessly. Maxximus charged forward and connected with Mickey, *WHAM* sending him spinning across the Brawlzone. Mickey didn't have a chance to defend himself.

"John, what happened? What was that?" Jerry screeched. "I blinked and I missed it!"

"Maxximus just kicked it into high gear with his upgrade. The CBX1000 increases his performance in every area. Not only does he move faster, but he hits even harder!" John explained, clutching the microphone.

Mickey took aim and fired at the charging Maxximus. The energy blasts hit Maxximus but had very little effect. The spikes popped out of Maxximus's black shoulder plates as he closed in. He collided with Mickey, knocking him onto his back with authority. *CRAAASH!*

"Whoa! Now that looked NASTY!" said John.

"Too right it did John," answered Jerry. "Maxximus is relentless, tonight."

Mickey quickly stood back up and switched to the energy Overdrive. He hoped that that sheer power of the attack was enough to deal Maxximus some damage.

Mickey fired the Overdrive directly at Maxximus. Maxximus didn't move.  
The Overdrive blast was about to land when Maxximus fired his own laser beam from his scanner and stopped the attack in its tracks.

The beam and the blast clashed, pushing back and forth with neither making any ground. Mickey held his Gooz Gun tighter as he tried to somehow force the Overdrive forward. Maxximus remained still, unphased by the power struggle. His scanner surged brighter as he increased the laser's power. This forced the Overdrive right back at Mickey. He held his Gooz Gun in front of him and braced for the inevitable impact.

*BOOM*

Mickey was stunned, how did Maxximus manage to do that?

The Overdrive blast was one of his strongest attacks and it didn't even land on Maxximus. He had to switch things up soon or he would be in serious trouble.

Maxximus suddenly grabbed the barrel of the Gooz Gun and swung Mickey round and round, like a rag doll. Maxximus flung him towards his tag zone like a Frisbee and chased after him. Mickey bounced off the blue tag zone barrier and was met with a drill-kick from a spinning Maxximus.

"Wow! He didn't even give Mickey a chance to hit the floor!" Jerry yelled.

"Here comes the Refbot," John added. "Is it all over?"

The Refbot darted over to where Mickey was laying. It scanned him up and down and side to side, then started the count.

"ONE ... TWO ..."

Mickey quickly sat up, avoiding the three count and keeping Team Megaforce in the Brawl.  
He shakily got back to his feet, trying to keep his balance. The crowd cheered him on.

"Hey! Mickey tag me in!" Lulu said, holding her hand out.

"No it's fine I've got this, it's all part of my plan," Mickey said, smiling back at her.

"Does your plan involve being repeatedly whacked in the face?" Chubz joked.

"Yeah, maybe you need a new plan, dude," Lulu laughed.

Maxximus immediately went right back towards Mickey. Mickey ran right back at Maxximus. Maxximus scooped him up and slammed him down hard. *Wham*

Mickey curled up in pain, winded. He slowly tried to roll onto his front; he pushed his body up off the floor and started to make his way back to his feet. Maxximus picked him up again and hoisted him in the air for a double powerbomb.

*Smack* *Smack*

Maxximus took a couple of steps backwards and waited for Mickey to get back to his feet.

"Have you got pillow fists or what? I thought the CBX1000 was supposed to pack a punch?" Mickey teased as he tried to stand up. "My Granny can hit harder!"

Maxximus's scanner went dark. A thin green line appeared in the middle, mimicking a heartbeat monitor.

"There's the signal! This is it! Maxximus is going for his finishing move. It's Flatline time," Jerry shouted while covering his eyes.

"This is going to be ugly! Mickey needs to do something urgently or this Brawl is as good as over. Maxximus puts all of his power into the Flatline!" John explained. "And he's already taken such a beating."

Mickey got back to his feet, dazed and wobbling with his hands up to protect himself. As he turned around, Maxximus drew him in with a tractor beam from his scanner. Mickey couldn't fight out of it. The tractor beam held him tightly, Mickey dangled hopelessly. He hovered upwards as Maxximus tilted his head back. The scanner charged up as Maxximus put all of his power into it. He then unleashed the full power scanner-blast that hurled Mickey high up in the air.

*BOOOOOM*

Maxximus tracked his body, he lifted his arms up and fired both of his massive metal fists at Mickey. *Boom* *Boom* They detached and chased after him.

Mickey was still soaring up when the first fist connected *BOOM*, knocking him even higher.

*BOOM* The second fist then smacked him up even further.

"Maxximus has connected with the Flatline!" John shouted while Jerry was still covering his eyes.

"Aww man, that's not good," replied Jerry, who couldn't watch. "That's not good!"

The crowd looked up in horror at the height Mickey reached. He was so high that he was barely visible. He stalled in mid-air and then started to plummet back down, lifeless, picking up speed. Mickey crashed down and collided hard with the Brawlzone floor.  
*BOOOOOOOOM*

The Brawlzone fell silent as the impact resonated. Mickey wasn't moving.

"No no no no no, come on Mickey, get up, get up!" Lulu screamed.

The Refbot made his way over to Mickey, again.

"Yeah, come on Mickey get up!" Chubz shouted worriedly, banging on the tag zone barrier.

The Refbot scanned Mickey up and down. He hadn't moved a muscle. The Refbot scanned Mickey side to side, still nothing.

"This isn't looking good folks; Mickey hasn't moved. Maxximus might have sealed the victory here," John said in a solemn tone. "The Flatline move is devastating."

Mickey just laid there, no movement, no signs of life – nothing.

"It can't be over Chubz, It can't be," Lulu whispered.

"Lulu, distract the Refbot so it doesn't start the countdown. I have an idea to wake-up Mickey," Chubz said.

Lulu quickly took off one of her pink designer shoes and lobbed it at the Refbot, catching it on the side of its screen. *SMACK!*

"What was that?" Chubz laughed.

"Well, Mr Ungrateful, that's all I could think of," she replied. "It worked didn't it?"

"Throw another, throw another!" Chubz said urgently.

"Do I look like a shoe shop?" Lulu replied bluntly.

The Refbot signalled the count.

"ONE ..."

The crowd didn't count along this time; instead, they all pleaded for Mickey to get up.

Lulu threw her other shoe at the Refbot, *SMACK!* stopping the count long enough for the crowd to see Mickey move his hand.

"Movement! There's movement, Jerry," wailed John, who was unsure. "I think I've just seen Mickey move."

"Show me! Show me!" screamed Jerry at the news and stuck his face against the commentary booth window to watch again.

"That worked. Throw some more," Chubz asked Lulu.

"TWO ..."

A barrage of shoes, trainers and boots began hitting the Refbot from all angles, knocking it off balance and delaying the count further. *SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!*

"That's it, Lulu, keep it going, we need more," Chubz asked while whispering something into his bag of doughnuts.

"It's not me?" Lulu replied.

Both Lulu and Chubz looked around the Brawlzone to see the crowd taking off their footwear and throwing it at the Refbot, to support Mickey.

"Come on Mickey! Move!" Ziggy screamed while peeking behind his Book of Brawlerz, then throwing one of his shoes in as well.

"Come on Mickey boy!" screamed John and Jerry, throwing their shoes in support but hitting the commentary booth glass. "Folks, if you've got any shoes on, throw them now!"

"Throw anything you've got!" said Jerry as he started to strip off. "Here are my socks, shirt and trousers ..." he said, throwing everything he could.

Chubz threw a voice doughnut at Mickey which landed at the side of his head. A familiar voice spoke to him.

"Come on big snuggly bunny if you don't get up, you'll be late for your Brawl."

Mickey's head twitched slightly from hearing the sound of his mum's voice.

Then an unfamiliar male voice spoke in Mickey's mind.

"Listen to your Mum. Get up Mickey, get up," it said, "get up son."

"THR-"

Mickey bolted upright, stopping the three count.

The crowd exploded with cheers! Lulu and Chubz let out a huge sigh of relief.

"OH, MY GOD! I CANT BELIEVE IT! MICKEY BEAT THE THREE COUNT!" Jerry screamed, falling off his seat in shock.

"This Brawl is crazy!" said John. "Just crazy!"

Mickey used his Gooz Gun as a crutch to stand back up.

"Nice touch Chubz," said Lulu. "Nice touch."

"How much more punishment can he take? Maxximus hit him with all of his power, all of his energy and Mickey is still standing," Jerry said as he climbed back into his seat. "This kid's tougher to crack than your phone's password, John."

"Maxximus's scanner is dimming; he is really low on power! Hang on, hang on? What's Mickey doing now?" John shouted, leaning over his desk to get a better view. "I think he wants more!"

"Is that it Maxximus?" Mickey taunted while kicking some of the shoes and trainers to one side. "Is that all you've got?"

Mickey slung his Gooz Gun on his back. He looked at Maxximus as he brushed himself off before beckoning him on for more. Maxximus smashed the only surviving Refbot aside and roared as he charged head-on at Mickey. The spikes in his black shoulder plates popped out once more. The crowd flinched as they anticipated another clean strike.  
However, Mickey ducked under Maxximus. He rolled between his legs and tripped him up using his Gooz Gun. Maxximus crashed head-first into the Brawlzone floor. The crowd were elated and cheered Mickey on. Maxximus scrambled back to his feet and wasted little time before charging again. Mickey fired his ice blast and caught Maxximus on his leg, momentarily stopping him.

Maxximus swung his metal fists down into the ice to free himself, before continuing the charge. Mickey rattled off another three ice blasts and hit Maxximus in his left metal fist and both legs. Again, Maxximus swung his arms up and hit the ice repeatedly to break free.

"Oh no, Mickey finally starts landing his ice blasts but Maxximus keeps breaking free ..." Jerry said.

"Look closer, Jerry. Earlier, Mickey couldn't touch Maxximus with anything in his Rare Form. Mickey has purposely gone on the defensive and made Maxximus work hard. As a result, he's tired Maxximus out," John explained. "This has changed the Brawl entirely and evened things up! What a tactician! He's the man with a plan!"

Maxximus was becoming slower and slower every time Mickey hit him with the ice blast. Maxximus was using what was left of his energy to keep breaking free. Maxximus swung wild but slow. Mickey was able to move out of the way in plenty of time, he knew this was his chance to strike with force. He was going to fire everything the Gooz Gun could muster at Maxximus. Mickey switched the Gooz Gun to energy attack.

"Standard blast, fire." *BOOM*

"Tactical blast, fire." *BOOM*

"Overdrive blast, fire." *BOOOOM*   
Said Mickey in quick succession, as he pulled the trigger.

The Brawlzone glowed red from the size of the blasts. Mickey lowered his Gooz Gun, exhausted. He breathed heavily as he looked on to see if Maxximus had been defeated.

"Yes! That's a big move from Mickey! He's fired every energy mode from his Gooz Gun at once!" John said, looking for Maxximus. "Let's hope it's enough for the victory."

"Whatever the outcome, Team Megaforce have shown us all that they mean business! We could have a Cinderella story on our hands if they have beaten ... OH NO, MAXXIMUS IS STILL STANDING!" Jerry said in disbelief, he nervously put his hands in his hair as he watched on.

Maxximus was barely standing, staring at Mickey; his scanner flickered badly. Maxximus was almost out of power. Mickey looked back, his arms swung by his side with fatigue, barely clutching his Gooz Gun.

"These two have been relentless; the pace they've maintained has been intense. But the signs of tiredness are on display for us all to see. They have both given absolutely everything to win the Brawl for their team. Who has enough left in the tank to push that little bit further?" John said while applauding. "Who wants it more?"

"Before this Brawl started, no one really knew who Mickey, Lulu and Chubz were, but they know who they are now!" Jerry shouted, applauding with John. "Come on Team Megaforce, beat this fool!"

Maxximus fired his big metal fists into two stadium lights and yanked the power cables out. His fists reattached and he started to charge himself back up to full strength using the Brawlzone's power. The Brawlzone's lights surged and dimmed as Maxximus absorbed as much energy as he could. Mickey watched him as he struggled to ready another Gooz Gun blast when a voice behind him shouted.

"Hey, Mickey! Over here!" Ziggy shouted.

Mickey slowly turned his head to see Ziggy stood on top of the dugout.

"You've unlocked a new attack power called the Time Splitter!" he shouted.

Mickey looked at his Gooz Gun closely, dazed and worn. It then sprung to life. Once again, the Gooz Gun started to morph. Different parts started to twist and appear. Other pieces flipped and rotated, getting faster and faster before landing back in his hands. Mickey checked the attack powers and saw that 'Time Splitter' had appeared.

Maxximus had now absorbed enough power to continue. His scanner glowed brightly once more as he charged at Mickey.

"What does it do Ziggy?" Mickey asked.

"There isn't any information about it yet, just the name," Ziggy replied.

"Just pull the trigger and find out!" Lulu screamed.

Mickey switched to the Time Splitter. He tried to lift his Gooz Gun up but struggled to do so, his arms were too tired and weak.  
Come on Mickey, you can do this he thought to himself. He pulled his Gooz Gun into his shoulder and steadied himself, just as Ziggy had taught him. The crowd gasped as Maxximus pounced. Maxximus was stretched out; his big metal fists were inches away from Mickey's face.

"Level up," Mickey said as he pulled the trigger.

A clear, plasma wall fired out at Maxximus, stopping him in mid-air. The wall stretched out across the Brawlzone. Maxximus was travelling through it in super slow motion. His knuckles slowly poked though. Mickey stepped back and touched the wall, causing it to ripple. The ripples distorted Maxximus's face.

Mickey looked through to see that everything else behind the plasma wall was in super slow motion, too. Roxton and Nash were also frozen in super slow motion.

"Well ... that was a little too close for comfort," Mickey joked to himself.

Chapter 16

Ultimate Megaforce Boom

Mickey staggered over to his tag zone.

"Dude, that was EPIC," Chubz said as he patted him on his back to congratulate him.

"What were you thinking? Idiot!" Lulu raged, "You stupid, stupid, idiot!"

"I know, but I had to tire him out somehow. Don't forget I'm only a rookie, I couldn't go head-to-head with him, especially in his Rare Form," Mickey replied.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Yadda yadda yadda. I'm such a tough guy. Oooh look at me, I'm a tough guy," Lulu said as she stomped around, acting macho. "I'm a stupid, idiot, tough guy!"

"She was worried Mickey, that's why she's mad," Chubz whispered. "We both were."

"Stupid, fathead, idiot, tough guy ... idiot, fathead!" she continued to the side of Mickey.

The three of them huddled together in their tag zone to decide what to do next. Their faces glowed blue from the tag zone light as they looked at each other.

"Anyhoo. This is really nice guys, huddling together and stuff, but we are meant to be Brawlin'!" said Chubz.

"I can't think straight," answered Mickey.

"You can't think straight ... because you're an IDIOT!" said Lulu. "Not just any idiot either. You're a stupid FATHEAD one!"

"Here, eat this," Chubz said while stuffing a doughnut into Mickey's mouth. "It's a health doughnut. It'll help you recover, faster," he explained.

"Here, tough guy, drink this too," Lulu said as she pulled a bucket of energy drink out from her bag to aid Mickey's recovery. "Do you want a glass of IDIOT or a jug of STUPID?"

"What is it?" Mickey asked wearily.

"It's an energy drink ... for fatheads," she insulted for the last time realising her mood wasn't really helping but had to squeeze just one more insult in.

Lulu and Chubz watched as Mickey chomped his way through the health doughnut and glugged his way through the energy drink. Seconds later Mickey's mind kicked back into gear.

"I've got it! It's time for the Ultimate Megaforce Boom!" he said, feeling all wired-up.

"Sugar rush!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"Lulu you need to pull out everything you can from your bag, the whole works. Stack it and rack it. Chubz I need you to contain the explosion, that way it will do more damage. Go nuts with your doughnuts, wish for everything you can and add it to the pile. Just think, the bigger the boom the better. When his face comes through the wall, everything will explode!" Mickey said to Lulu and Chubz with a refreshed look on his face.

"Dude, you need to tag me in," Lulu said to Mickey with her hand out.

"Oh yeah," Mickey said, as he tagged her hand.

"Sweeeeeeet!" Lulu said excitedly, she grabbed her bag.

Lulu skipped towards Maxximus while humming to herself. She placed her bag on the floor before the Time Splitter wall. Maxximus's full fist had poked through and was starting to move.

"Massive double rocket launchers accessorise, big bad bombs accessorise, giant crates of TNT accessor- ah forget it, just have it all! Everything that makes an explosion, accessorise!" she said as she turned her bag upside down and shook it.

All of her explosive items splurged out of her bag and heaved up in a pile right in front of Maxximus.

"Sucks to be you! Well ... have fun pumpkin!" Lulu said, patting him on his face.

Lulu skipped back to her tag zone.

"TAG!" she said, tagging Chubz on his shoulder.

Chubz ran over to the concoction of destruction that Lulu had left behind.

"My turn, buddy. Now, you might be thinking – how could this get any worse?" Chubz said as he stood in front of Maxximus.

Chubz raked through his bag of doughnuts. "SURRRPRIIIIIIIZE!" he shouted.

"This is for you, that's for you. These are for you. OOH, this one is definitely for you. Those are for you. This little beauty's for you. Here comes his big brother, too. Aww, this one's got your name written all over it! Is this one for you? Yes, it is," Chubz said, as he continued to stack loads of his supercharged doughnuts on top of what Lulu had left. "That's for you, that one, this one, that one, this one and ... that one!"

Maxximus started to shake his head slowly as his face started to push through. Chubz placed the protective doughnut on top of the pile. Chubz then whipped his cap off and polished Maxximus's scanner with it.

"Wouldn't want you to miss anything," Chubz said cheekily as he breathed on his scanner, making sure it was clean. "Enjoy!"

"Gripping actions here folks. First Maxximus goes on a rampage in the Brawlzone. Then in the next second, he's moving slowly through this time wall! Team Megaforce has got Maxximus under control, thank goodness," John said.

"Team Megaforce has turned the tides and now Maxximus is faced with what is looking like a wild finish. We are in for a blinder of a conclusion to this Brawl!" Jerry said, with optimism. "WOOOOOOOOO! GO TEAM MEGAFORCE!"

Chubz tagged Lulu back in. She raced back and placed a detonator in the middle of the pile. Maxximus was almost through. Lulu was about to walk back to her tag zone, but she stopped and headed back to Maxximus and stared at him.

"Just one more thing, here's what you get for being a cheater!" she said sweetly.

*WHAM*

"Ohhhhhhh man, Lulu has just booted Maxximus in the shin!" Jerry commented. "Now that's going to hurt ... Big Time!"

"Can Cyborgs cry?" laughed John.

The crowd were all chanting together.

"MEG-A-FORCE! MEG-A-FORCE! MEG-A-FORCE!"

Lulu walked over to Mickey and tagged him in to end the Brawl.

"Hang on Mickey, change of plan; you know the detonator in the middle of that pile?" Chubz said as he winked at Lulu, "We think it's only right that you trigger the Ultimate Megaforce Boom, with this."

"The Elders left it for you. It was found in the Grand Castle and has magic powers," Lulu sniggered, as she handed Mickey a bow and arrow. "Use it to set off the detonator."

"Yeah, it can never miss ..." Chubz said, thinking on his feet. "It's super special, like super magic special!"

Mickey placed the arrow in the bow and closed one eye to aim at the detonator. He steadied himself, stretched the string and pulled the arrow back.

"It's Brawlin' Time!" Mickey said confidently as he let go of the arrow.

*twang*

Lulu and Chubz burst out laughing as the arrow plopped onto the floor. They pointed at the arrow and pointed at Mickey. Tears streamed down their faces from laughing so hard.

"Ooosh, pranked!" Chubz and Lulu said together and high-fiving.

"Idiots," laughed Mickey.

"Ju-just use your Gooz Gun hahaha!" they both said as they carried on laughing.

"Did you hear it ... twang, hahaha!" cried Chubz in hysterics. "Twang!"

Mickey grabbed his Gooz Gun and fired it at the detonator.

*Boom* *Click* *BOOOOOOOM!*

Everything started to shake and rumble vigorously. The crowd's faces glowed with reds, yellows and oranges as the Ultimate Megaforce Boom ignited.

As the final move came to an end, the half damaged Refbot, slowly rolled over towards Maxximus using its one working track. It wobbled side to side while dragging its buckled track behind it. It kept stopping and starting as its loose wiring kept making it short circuit.  
Mickey, Lulu and Chubz waved their arms across, willing the Refbot on as it slowly edged closer and closer to Maxximus. Sparks shot out from the side of its screen as other loose connections made contact. It tried to scan Maxximus for damage. Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked on nervously, praying that they had done enough to keep Maxximus down.  
The Refbot scanned up and down but struggled to get an accurate reading. Its scanner turned off, then back on, but then cut out again. Eventually, it slowly flickered enough to complete the first scan. Then, as it started to scan from side to side, the Refbot powered down altogether.

"Don't you dare!" Lulu yelled. "You can't stop working now," she screamed at the Refbot.

The Refbot powered back up and finished scanning from side to side.

The Refbot initiated the countdown, the numbers showed up on the Brawlertron. The crowd counted along with it.

"ONE ..." a long pause followed as the Refbot still struggled to function.

"T-T-TWO ..." the Refbot stuttered as smoke bellowed from its core processor. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats. Team Megaforce crossed their fingers as they waited for the win.

"THR ... TH-THREE!"

"YEAHHHHHH!!!" the Brawlzone exploded into celebration.

"USC-ya!" screamed the crowd to Maxximus.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz screamed at the top of their lungs as the Refbot declared them the winners. All one hundred thousand fans leapt out of their seats, punching the air and celebrating.

"THEY WON! THEY BEAT MAXXIMUS! THEY ACTUALLY BEAT MAXXIMUS!" John screeched down the microphone.

"I can't believe what I've just seen. What an incredible Brawl! Congratulations Team Megaforce!" Jerry said while linking arms with John and dancing round the commentary booth.

Chubz and Lulu looked at each other. Then they looked at the fans. They quickly darted across the Brawlzone and threw themselves at them and started to crowd-surf. The crowd loved it as they hoisted them up and cheered as they moved around.

Mickey dropped to his knees. He looked around at everyone celebrating and took it all in. We did it. We actually pulled it off, he said to himself.

"Heads-up knucklehead!" Lulu said to Mickey as the crowd threw Chubz and herself back into the Brawlzone. They ran at Mickey and dove on him.

"Team Megaforce, we're here to stay!" Ziggy shouted as he took his glasses off and ran across the Brawlzone to join in.

Roxton and Nash picked up the defeated Maxximus and helped him to his feet. With one of his arms over each of their shoulders, they carried him over to Mickey, Lulu and Chubz.

"Great move. You beat us fair and square. You'll go far in this sport," Maxximus congratulated, extending his hand out humbled.

Mickey, Lulu and Chubz looked on momentarily. Then one by one they shook his hand and the respect was mutual. Nash and Roxton carried their team captain away to the Medical Centre. John and Jerry had left the commentary booth and walked over towards Mickey, Lulu and Chubz, applauding them.

"Fantastic, that's a debut to remember. Come on everyone; let's hear it again for Team Megaforce!" John said as the crowd continued to cheer and show their appreciation.

"Guys that was tough. That was really tough, especially for your first Brawl ..." Jerry started to comment before he was interrupted.

"WOOO! YEAH! TEAM MEGAFORCE, BABY!" Lulu screamed, staring closely down the camera. A hand pushed into her cheek and forced her face out of the way.

"Oi, Oi. I'm on the telly," Chubz said excitedly while holding the camera with both hands and moving it with him. He looked back over his shoulder to see that his face was live on the Brawlertron.

"Lulu, quick head-fight live on TV? Chubz asked as he pointed the camera at her. "Winner takes all?"

This was too much for Lulu to resist, who stormed into Chubz, clashing foreheads. They both pushed and shoved each other in front of the Brawlzone crowd, and those watching live across Brawlfest City.

"Hahaha, there's so much energy here! We won't stop your celebration, we'll interview you fully later. But, is there anything you want to say?" John asked while slowly pointing the camera back at Jerry and himself.

"Yeah, I want to thank the fans! I know we were the underdogs in this Brawl. But you guys rallied behind us and your support was incredible, it kept us going! Everyone here believed in Brawlin'.  
So, we dedicate this win to you all, from us all, thank you!" Mickey said, putting his thumbs up and turning to show his appreciation to all parts of the Brawlzone crowd.

"Anything to add Lulu? Chubz?" asked John.

"Well Kevin, yes, yes there is. I can call you Kevin can't I?" said Chubz, who now had a big red mark on his forehead.

"Err, no. My name's John," he replied.

"Ok, Great. Good for you. You see, the thing is Kevin, in life only three key things really matter. Number One, true friends – those who you can trust 100%. The ones who have your back 24/7 like my buddies here in Team Megaforce," said Chubz.

"Absolutely Chubz, couldn't agree with you more. Well said," John answered.

"What are the other two things?" he added.

"The other two what?" said Chubz.

"You know – the other two key things in life that really matter?" quizzed John.

Chubz just stood there with a blank look on his face. He quickly turned and ran off to join Mickey and Lulu on the winner's podium. He turned and shouted to John, "Too many questions, Kevin, too many questions."

"Well, we have a very special guest to present you with your Rookie Brawl Title Belt. Make some noise for the one and only ..." John said as he pointed to the entrance ramp.

"PERSEUS!" Jerry shouted.

"No way!" they all said together, gobsmacked.

Perseus stood at the top of the entrance ramp to thunderous applause. He had his Championship Belt over one shoulder and the Rookie Brawl Title Belt over the other. He made his way down, nodding at the fans. He walked up to Mickey, Lulu and Chubz, and shook their hands.

"Great Brawl you guys! You had me hooked from start to finish. I've never had so much fun watching a Brawl, you're all so talented. On behalf of the USC, we would like to present you with the Rookie Brawl Title Belt," Perseus said, handing the Title Belt to the three of them, to rapturous applause from the crowd.

"And, you've been awarded the Wild Card slot in the Championship Series!" Perseus announced. "Congratulations and welcome to the USC!"

Team Megaforce held the Title Belt above their heads and chanted, "USC! USC! USC!" as rows of cannons shot out confetti and streamers in the air.

This was their moment, the best day of their lives, they'd made it.

The skies darkened as the clouds started to swirl uncontrollably. Alarms started to bellow abruptly in the Brawlzone and throughout Brawlfest City. Mickey, Lulu and Chubz lowered their Title Belt down slowly and looked up. The swirling quickened, creating a vortex in the sky. Lightning shot out and struck the Brawlzone floor as something started to force its way through. The sky turned into a vile rancid purple colour as more lightning lashed down and thunder consumed the City. Whatever was coming meant business.

"Guys what's happening?" asked Lulu. "What is it?"

The thing finally forced its way through the vortex and was falling at high speed. Perseus watched as it quickly closed in.

"Everyone take cover, it's going to hit the Brawlzone!" Perseus warned.

Mickey, Lulu, Chubz and Ziggy sprinted for cover behind the dugout. The crowd hid behind their seats. John and Jerry scarpered back to their commentary booth and braced for impact.

*CRASH*

With an almighty smash, the thing crashed into the centre of the Brawlzone. Smoke and debris spewed out from the impact. Everyone coughed and choked as they desperately tried to see through the dust.

Thirteen blue cannons glowed sinisterly from a huge, menacing machine.

"The name's Tretton!"

To be continued ...
