Our spiritual cadre has exactly twenty four hours before the first trial begins. And no, the details of the final trial haven't been announced yet. It would seem that the tournament really wants to keep the contestants on their toes for this one.

Our heroes decided to spend the rest of the evening at the Lunch Hero shack where Ritsu was pulling double shifts just days ago. It gave Ritsu a chance to formally step down from his place as head fry cook while giving the others a space to strategize for the upcoming trials.

Prior to this, Ham Song, Seven and Bodhi all agreed that they would keep their dirty cheating schemes just between the three of them and just let Ritsu focus on doing his best to overcome the odds on his own.

Ham Song knew that Ritsu was having a hard time when the sun clone barely touched his cheeseburger all throughout dinner.

"Kind monkey, please eat," Ham Song urged, gently nudging the wax-wrapped burger closer to Ritsu.

Bodhi, who was attacking a naked burrito with a fork, said, "Listen to dear old Ham Song, Sun Ritsu. You'll need your strength. If not for the tournament, then at least for when we train. I'm not going to tolerate all of this stupid sulking tomorrow."

Seven slurped loudly through the straw of his second soft drink. He smacked his lips and said, "The first trial starts tomorrow. Exactly how much training do you think will be useful?"

Bodhi waved their fork with each point they made. "Last time I checked, Sun Ritsu has only held his staff in its natural state once. And that was with the help of a little peach soda pop. He can't rely on his Radiant State tomorrow and I doubt they'll let him get even a little buzzed on peach soda for the occasion. So that's where I come in."

While Seven and Bodhi worked out the semantics, Ham Song slid under the booth and crossed to the other side where Ritsu was sitting. The pig climbed beside the monkey and nudged his elbow.

"You didn't look like you were having much fun during the opening ceremonies."

Ritsu sighed and leaned back against the seat. "I don't like this feeling, Ham Song."

"What feeling are you talking about, benevolent–"

"This!" Ritsu snatched his wandering tail and shook it in Ham Song's face as if it didn't belong to him.

"This overwhelming need to... win. Greed is burrowing a home inside my stomach like a worm. It's making me sick and I hate it."

Seven and Bodhi fell silent at Ritsu's outburst. Ham Song's floppy ears flattened against his head. "Oh, Monkey... you have a competitive spirit. There's nothing wrong with that."

Bodhi called out to Sun Ritsu until he let go of his own tail and met their gaze. The monk put down their fork and said, "You shouldn't confuse greed with the desire to be the very best at something. They're not the same."

Ham Song turned his head slowly, regarding the monk with a new sense of respect. "I think I'm beginning to like the sober you, monk."

"Steady there, pig," Bodhi said, picking up their fork again, "Don't go falling in love with me just yet."

Ham Song called Bodhi something so crude and indecent, it made Seven burst into laughter. The commotion was enough to draw in some curious Lunch Hero waitstaff.

Ritsu began apologizing to his old coworkers. "Sorry! We'll promise to keep it down."

"Sun Ritsu! We couldn't help but overhear. Is it true? Are you really competing in the Sevenfold Peach this year? Is that why you're leaving the restaurant?"

Ritsu took his tail up again between his hands, this time in an effort to steady his nerves. "Uh, yeah. You can have my shifts if you want them–"

"Who cares about that?" One of the servers squealed. "You're practically going to be a celebrity around here!"

Another called out the waitstaff at the register. "Did you hear? Our very own Sun Ritsu's going to compete in the Sevenfold Peach!"

"We should name something on the menu after him. And then do some kind of limited offer special. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Oh! Oh! Ritsu! Can you get Encyclopedia Chow's autograph for me? I've been watching her do commentary ever since I was just a pup!"

Ritsu donned a friendly smile as he tried to answer all of their questions, but Ham Song knew better. Even with all of the attention and encouragement, Sun Ritsu looked far from happy.

Sun Ritsu waited until Bodhi fell asleep first. When he could hear gentle snoring coming from the bed, he got out of his small bedroll on the floor and stood up. Bodhi didn't shift or switch up their breathing. They appeared to be genuinely knocked out.

Ritsu felt a bit irresponsible for leaving them alone, but it would only be for a little while. He needed some time to clear his head or else he wouldn't get any sleep before tomorrow.

After Ritsu left the hotel room, he wandered down the long hallway and onto the elevator, praying that he wouldn't be followed by Ham Song. The old pig was always so concerned for Ritsu's well being. It was endearing, but he needed space now.

If only he could get away from the nagging voice belonging to the trinket in his ear.

Oddly, it was quiet now.

Sun Ritsu walked in the direction of the Divine Cave of Three Stars Stadium. He thought it would be gated off, but there was an opening. As he breached the premises, he saw a soft trio of lights floating on the other side of the concrete tunnel.

The Golden-Hooped Rod of Compliance didn't speak, but it tugged on its master's earlobe, as if it were a magnet being summoned by a pole. Ritsu stuffed his hands in the pockets of his lemon lime tracksuit and answered the call.

When he entered the arena, he found it empty. Three glowing orbs haunted the space like jumbo fireflies. They were beautiful if just artificial copycats.

"Why won't you look at me?"

Ritsu wasn't surprised to hear Sun Surina's voice behind him. He didn't want to turn around, but there was no denying her now. Plus, he didn't have everyone else around to worry about. Maybe now he could get off what was on his heart.

He turned to face her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Suri tossed something at him, which he caught with ease. He didn't have to look down to know what it was. Everything clicked into place the moment the fuzzy weight settled in his hand.

"You probably think I meddle too much in your business." Suri said, her tone strangely apologetic. Ritsu noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual nautical uniform, but rather a set of starry fleece pajamas.

She wasn't wrong. At first Ritsu wanted to blame the way Anari left on the thief, but that wouldn't have been right. Ritsu was the reason Anari was no longer with them.

So then why couldn't he stop glaring at her now? Why couldn't he even stand to even look at Suri during her dazzling performance just hours ago?

"No, I don't think that." Ritsu said, doing his best to cloak the anger and resentment coiling inside.

Suri smiled, but there was something frustrating about it. "Eat the peach. We can do our business and go to sleep after. It will help, I promise."

Ritsu felt his tail pierce through his glamour again. There was no reining it in this time.

Suri's tail had slipped past her glamour too – as pink as the tassels that flared above her cheekbones.

"I chase. I steal." She said, stepping closer to Ritsu with that star-tipped wand, slowly twirling.

"It's the only way I can do the right thing around here — breaking the rules in a way that fosters a sense of rebellion among the spirits in this village. I want to help them. You may call my heroism fake, but it's real to me."

Sun Surina bit into a peach of her own, letting her fangs show proud.

"Eat that damn peach and let us fan this fire that grows between us. That way I can steal your staff fair and square. Then I'll grow strong enough to help this Kawaii Village undo its millenia of brainwashing. If I cannot take the Golden-Hooped Rod of Compliance away from you then I have no business calling myself a neighborhood heroine!"

She ripped into the peach again.

Spat out the core.

"So fight me for real, Sun Ritsu! Do not run this time."

.

The Drums of Heaven first begin

inside the monkey's chest.

"You..."

Jaws stretching, teeth breaking

Into that essence, that Rhesus Macaque

"...cannot have my staff..."

Tears run fast down his face

streaking handsome cheekbones

"Sun SurinaaaaaaaHHHHHH!"

Because it hurts whenever a peach

is swallowed whole like that

"Sun RitsuuuuuuoooOOOOOO!"

Tears run fast down their faces!

Streaking radiant cheekbones!

Beneath Divine Three Stars,

Whispers of a legendary staff:

How can they call themselves

Immortal Beings unless they

G o

A l l

O u t

~~ "yeeeeaaaAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" ~~

like Monkey Kings

~~ "keeeeeYAaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" ~~

Bang.

Bang.

– the answer

the sound of heaven

drumming

.

Blown in opposite directions by the collision, the sun clones tumbled backwards through the stadium. They regained their balance in mid-air, followed by clean landings in the spectator section on steady, steaming feet.

Sun Surina's Radiant State was a splendid electric pink. Her playful bob flared out in a thousand directions, almost enough to cover her tapered ears. Her simian fangs were out in full force and a fine layer of pink fuzz covered her forearms and the back of her neck.

Ritsu was also naked in his feral essence, lighting up his side of the stadium with his golden ombre hair. He smiled vigorously back at Suri, fresh peach juice dripping off his elongated canines. His chest rose and fell with the excitement that it took to transform.

He was free!

"You're trying to take my staff again?" Ritsu barked in a voice not like the one you and I are used to. "Get over it. The thing is mine. Go back to pickpocketing dumb tourists, you silly thief."

He switched into a defensive stance and in a brilliant burst of orange smoke, unlocked the full spectrum of the Golden-Hooped Rod of Compliance. Black, iron-cast with gold hoops linked to each end, the complete rod was the thickness of a rice bowl, stretched about twenty feet long, and weighed almost thirteen thousand, five hundred pounds.

"Incredible," Suri whispered. Then, lifting her own modified staff to the ceiling, she commanded, "Fallen Star Shower!"

Surina dropped into a low crouch and shot forward, throwing herself at Sun Ritsu with full force while a cascade of yellow stars erupted from the ceiling and the floor at once.

Ritsu handled the staff as if it were as light as a broom, using it to sweep the wind over his head and around his body. The powerful gusts created by the Golden-Hooped Rod sent all those stars flying. Suri used her skills to dodge the dangerous gales, seeking an opening where she could dive and poke Ritsu in the eyes. Then she would use the distraction to take the staff for herself!

But instead of running or trying to sweep more wind at her. Ritsu leaped – meeting the thief in midair.

Was he going in for a head-butt her or would he bite off her face? It wasn't clear. The monkey king wasn't stopping, so Suri had to think fast.

It was just more of the same, Dear Traveler. They clashed in the air like raindrops, or should I say, like meteors. They did so with broad, terrifying smiles on their faces. They broke sound and light barriers with the force of their collisions. This was not an instance of assault and robbery.

This was a game among unruly apes.

Apes that were Parallel with Heaven!

That is, until the immortal peach effect wore off.

When that happened, the drums of heaven pounding away inside both of the monkeys' chests grew dim and eventually went dormant.

Ritsu, having no more control over a staff so immense, collapsed under its strength and begged it to shrink back down to the jade trinket like before.

Sun Surina laughed despite being covered in sparkly debris from her battle stars.

"Well, that was fun." Her spiky pink hair deflated back into place. "I suppose I can finally get a good night's sleep now."

How the hell is she still standing? Ritsu wondered as he lay on his back, gripping his now miniature rod inside his fist.

"You're not going to try to take it from me?" He wheezed.

Suri regarded Ritsu evenly. "I did try. Twice now." Her features softened some. "I just wanted to make sure that you had what it took to stand on your own two feet in this competition."

"But we ate holy peaches," Ritsu argued, mustering the last of his strength to sit up. "I won't have the Immortal State to rely on. So how was this a test?"

"A test of the heart is what I was after, Sun Ritsu." Suri gave her rival a meaningful look. "You are very good at keeping your feelings close. But in the Immortal State, we can hold almost nothing back from each other."

Ritsu narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're–"

"You love your friends and you love to become strong." Suri said. "It's a lethal combination if you ask me. Anyone who goes up against you, sweet immortal peaches or not, better be worried about it."

She held out her hand in order to help him up. "We're rivals now, so this won't be the last time I come after your staff. I'm still determined."

"I'm not your rival." Ritsu ignored her hand and painfully rolled to his feet on his own.

"C'mon. At least call me Big Sis!"

Ritsu deadpanned, "No."

As he refastened his earring and checked to see if he had broken any bones, Suri said, "You're not the only one who likes to help people, you know."

Ritsu shot her a curious look.

Surina added, "I just found a way to do it that doesn't piss off society."

Ritsu blinked. Was she trying to give him some advice? He still didn't have a good read on her.

"Thanks for being a friend to Bodhi when they needed it," He said. That's all he really wanted to say to her. All of that anger and resentment from before had pretty much evaporated. He was also downright exhausted and wanted to get into bed as quickly as possible.

For the first time, Suri showed signs of blushing at Ritsu's remark. She looked off to the side and blew air. "It's nothing. I genuinely like them. I do feel bad, you know." She looked back at Ritsu. "About the other one leaving. What was her name?"

"Anari," Ritsu whispered without thinking twice. It frightened him how close he felt to the spider spirit even now. As if she were waiting back at that hotel with the others.

Suri looked sheepishly at the ground. "Yeah. Bodhi told me about her. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Ritsu lifted a hand. "It's not your fault, Suri."

The smile he offered was a gentle, sad thing.

"Anyway... goodnight."

The sun clones went their separate ways.

When Ritsu returned to his room, Bodhi was right where he left them. He looked at the bedroll on the floor and groaned at the thought of sleeping on something hard after what he just went through.

"You look like hell."

Ritsu caught Bodhi's keen gray eyes peeking at him over the folds of the duvet.

The sun clone froze. "Um, I..."

"Just get in." Bodhi rolled over to the other side of the bed. "The bed's yours anyway. Get some sleep so you don't pass out in the first trial tomorrow."

Ritsu stood firmly where he was. "Are you sure?"

The monk tucked their head back under the blanket.

"Yeah."

There was a quiet unzipping as Ritsu discarded his lemon lime jacket and then the soft rustling of sheets. Once he was comfortable, he said, "Bodhi? When it's time for us to train, don't go easy on me, okay?"

Bodhi shifted onto their elbow. "Uh, that goes without saying, but what brought this on?"

"Nothing." Ritsu closed his eyes. "I just...I want..."

A brighter, happier version of Bodhi's freckled face materialized in his mind. Then Ham Song's and Surina's. Then Sun Seven's. And finally, Anari's intense, regal profile. Even though she was no longer his friend, her face wouldn't go away or leave him be.

"I want to become strong."