Twisted Wonderland - Beanfest: Bean or Be Beaned

Chapter 23: Far From Little

Still in the woods...

The Farmers Team of Vil are following the source of the smell.

"The closer we get to the botanical garden, the more the smell of good barbecue fills the air..." Epel says, and soon begins to gain an appetite, "Augh. Now I'm drooling."

Vil tries to get Epel to resist the urge, "Pull yourself together, Epel. We could run into the monster team at any moment out here."

"Agreed," Riddle says, "The monster team knows that Cater's group headed for the botanical garden."

"Yes, which is precisely why we're circling around to catch them from behind..." Vil says.

Suddenly, Floyd yelps, "Ah!"And shushes the others, "Shhh! Quiet."

Everyone becomes surprised.

Suddenly, everyone begins to hear firing sounds. The group soon looks around to find Lilia and Malleus.

Lilia dodges the firing, "What's the matter? You can aim better than that! Your shots are so slow, I daresay the beans are gathering dust midair. And you think you can hit ME like that? Not in your wildest dreams!"

"Yet for all your speed, Lilia, I note you're content to do little more than flee. You won't be able to catch me from that far away, you know. By all means, come closer. Unless you're afraid, of course..." Malleus says.

Lilia then snickers, "Kheeheehee. You've grown into quite the cheeky little boy. So be it—I'll give this just a touch of effort, since you so clearly insist!"

"Heh... You'll find me far from little. No mercy, Lilia!" Malleus says and continues firing his bean blaster at Lilia.

In fact, the battle is all out.

Epel is surprised, "Wow... It's Malleus and Lilia!"

"I can't say I expected to walk in on Diasomnia's housewarden and vice housewarden dueling," Vil says.

"Amazing. They're both moving so fast, I can barely keep track of them!" Riddle says, astonished.

"Lilia's on the monster team. Let's surround him and back Malleus up!" Epel says.

But Lilia says, "Better not, Guppy."

"But why, Floyd? This is a perfect chance!" Epel asks.

"Sea Slug and Devilfishie are way too distracted to notice us right now, and we oughta keep it that way. Otherwise Devilfishie will turn around and eliminate us first instead," Floyd says.

"What?!" Epel asks, shocked.

"Why's that surprising?" Floyd questions, "It makes perfect sense to thin out the weaklings first when fighting a whole group."

Epel glares at Floyd, "You're saying we're weaklings? But we're better-armed than Lilia, and we easily outnumber him."

"Lilia may look dainty, but his PE grades are near the top of the junior class," Vil says, "He's a heavyweight, make no mistake. He's made it to the end of Beanfest every single year."

Then Riddle says, "Silver and Sebek often talk about Lilia being their martial arts instructor, now that you mention it. And here I assumed that was just their way of showing respect to someone older than them..."

Lilia questions in a mocking tone, "What's wrong, Malleus? You won't be much of a soon-to-be ruler if you keep retreating!"

"You're being overactive for your age yourself, Lilia. Your breath is growing ragged. Perhaps you need a nice rest in a rocking chair," Malleus says.

The pair continue battling against one another.

"Judging from the way Lilia's fighting now, Silver and Sebek weren't exaggerating in the slightest," Riddle says.

"Yeah, see? He's holding his own against Housewarden Sea Slug. Not only that, but he's dancing circles around him," Floyd says.

"Not even I can gauge Lilia's full capabilities," Vil says, "I think interfering is begging for trouble on our part."

"If Sea Slug wants to tank Devilfishie for us, let him. We can just mosey on by," Floyd says.

Riddle then says, "I'm surprised. I figured you'd be the first to jump in on a potential scrap."

"Are you interested in winning now?" Vil questions.

Floyd thinks for a minute, "Hmmm... Nah, not really. I just figured that it'd sour their mood and mind if someone butted in on all that fun they're having."

Both Malleus and Lili laugh as they continue fighting, "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Whoa... They're both full-on cackling. I guess they really are having a blast," Epel says, astonished.

"Let us remain low and sneak on by. Stay focused on our goal: the botanical garden," Vil says.