Twisted Wonderland - Beanfest: Bean or Be Beaned

Chapter 16: Tag on a Massive Scale

The Beanfest fight continues with the Farmers vs. Monsters at Night Raven College.

Epel dodges the attack, "Whoa! He almost got me..."

Jack scoffs, "Tch. I was THIS close to grabbing him!"

"Rgh! Jack's grabbing arm is dangerous enough, but the net is just as much of a problem," Riddle replies, dodging the attack

"Never let yourself get too close! Get more distance from the enemy. We have the numeric advantage!" Vil calls out.

Azul then says to Jack, "Jack, I suggest we beat a tactical retreat."

"We've almost got them, and you want us to turn our tail and run? Why?!" Jack questions.

"Monster team members shouldn't stay in one place for too long. Monsters are intended to have the advantage one-on-one, it's true. But the farmers outnumber us. If they surround us, we're finished," Azul explains, "I don't like the way Vil said 'more' distance. It's almost like he's trying to lure us somewhere. He could very well be bluffing, but we've had two instances of unexpected interference already. I say we play it safe. Knowing when to attack is far less important than knowing when to retreat. You DO want to win, don't you, Jack?"

"Grrr..." Jack growls, annoyed, but he soon agrees, "Fine, whatever!"

And with that, Jack and Azul hurry off. The Farmers Team are surprised by it.

"We...we did it! The monster team's runnin'!" Epel says in relief.

"I knew he'd think twice. It was purely a bluff on my part, but luckily for me, Azul is a cautious man by nature," Vil says, Yet the fact that it was a bluff was largely apparent to him regardless. My acting, convincing as it is, didn't work on him. I suppose his wariness can also be to our disadvantage."

Riddle is breathing heavily from the dodging, "You rescued me from a tight spot there," Then turns to the others, "Epel, Vil, thank you both for coming to my aid."

"Don't bother thanking me. We should get moving. They might just be pretending to retreat so they can come back with more monsters," Vil says.

Then Riddle says, "All right. I've been informed that Cater and Briar's farmer team is headed for the botanical garden. What would you say to joining up with them?"

"Certainly. Why not?" Vil answers, " I had no shortage of allies myself until just a short while ago. Sadly, I was 'forced' to say goodbye to them. Let us build our forces while we can.

With you on board, I can probably recruit Heartslabyul farmers without having to resort to any...forcible persuasion. To the botanical garden, then!"

Then the group begins to head to the botanical garden.

Vil then says, "You know, I noted back there that Azul was clad head to toe in rare gear.

Back when I was a sophomore... There was one time he questioned me about Beanfest to an unusual degree. I can see now he was gathering intel on supplies and the way previous games played out."

"I got curious and asked him about that just a short while ago, actually. The planning he outlined to me was well beyond simple proactive measures. It was closer to an obsession," Riddle says.

"Between that and the way Rook was acting yesterday, it's kind of scary how seriously the monster team is taking this..." Epel replies.

"You think so? Personally, I think it would be much more unflattering to wing it with disinterest," Vil responds, "That, and we'll likely never get a chance to play a game of tag on such a massive scale again once we age into adulthood. I say we seize this transient, chaotic day."