[h3][center][u]Echo Marine, Tawne Adagio[/u][/center][/h3]

Tawne witnessed with nonplussed disinterest the immodest and earnest contest emerging between Victoria and Daelon, her opposition of his objection an amalgamation of cruelty and camaraderie.  Only a few moments later, the opposing entourage elected to exit, even as a gray-haired grouch seated himself nearby over a bowl of noodles to leer, seething, in the students’ general direction.  Distracted for the moment from DEVL, Tawne cast a brief, unfazed look Silme’s way, finding that whatever surliness that excused such a milk-curdling grimace did not appear to be directed his way.  Incorrectly assuming him to be an everyday idiot, Tawne finished his udon and stood up from the noodle stand just in time to see his brother-in-arms arriving.

He saluted Albus, saying [color=CD5700]”Hi-de-ho.  You know, you just missed meeting –in person!- [i]the[/i] future champion team of the Vytal Festival.  They were true winners, the stuff of legend!  No doubt you will regret this momentous occasion for years to come.  Hey, want to go try the festival games?”[/color]  He turned partially around toward Burgundy, squinting in the manner of the esteemed philosopher.  [color=CD5700]”Might be just us, though.  Berg’s won’t be done bloating for another hour or so.”[/color]

Slurping down the last of her soba, Echo span around on her stool and stood up.  [color=0070FF]”Not so fast.  I’m up for a game or two before we get down to business.”[/color]  She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand before crossing her arms.  She only managed a single step forward, however, before a little TV screen hanging in the back of the noodle stand switched from boring news to a live feed from the stadium box.  Both Echo and Tawne turned around to listen, the professors onscreen unfamiliar to them.  When Oobleck mentioned a change in rules and Port began to explain, all of team BEAT froze.  The only sound coming from any one of them was a thin stream of air from Tawne, hissed through his teeth: [i]’ffffffffffffff-[/i]

Halfway through the explanation, he burst.  [color=CD5700]”Fiddle!  Sticks!  What!?  Who thought of this?  We can’t do our super-special-secret-plan anymore!”[/color]  He trailed off, however, when Professor Cross appeared on the screen.  His expression changed instantly at the sight of a mature woman with an intriguing sense of style.  Frowning comically with his eyebrows up, he waited patiently for her to finish before turning to his teammates.  Theatrically rubbing his hands together, he remarked, [color=CD5700]”I really must say, I’ve never seen a whale that’s such a fox!  I might not mind bein’ knocked dead by a daughter of hers.”[/color]

Echo’s eyes nearly crossed in exasperation.  [color=0070FF]”You’re a real dolt.  It’s even dumber since I know you’re not serious.  I hope ya do get into the second round—I’ll have a real excuse to whoop ya myself.”[/color]  She began to walk, leaving the noodle stand behind, and Tawne strode alongside her.  [color=0070FF]”D’you think that announcement means the fights are about to start?”[/color]  Her teammate shook his head.  A minute later she found herself steered toward an orange minigame tent, where the task appeared to be to hit a slowly-moving target with a baseball.  The obvious ploy on Tawne’s part earned him a sour look, but the boy appeared unabashed as he lined up his shot.  A moment later, the ball sailed from his fingertips, headed straight for the target’s bullseye.  Before it hit, however, it curved [i]upward[/i] and soundly missed, bouncing off the backboard.  Tawne pretended to be upset.  [color=CD5700]”Impossibru!  I was dead-on!  How rigged can ya get?”[/color]  Echo punched his arm as they left, while the confused and irked gamemaster replayed in his head the physically impossible shot.  [color=0070FF]”Show-off.””[/color]  Grinning, Tawne held his arms behind his back, and the two trekked on, discussing what could be done to make up for the now-unusable super-secret-plan.