A scream could be heard from somewhere, but Mandy didn't have time to pay attention to it. She was busy fighting Crow and things were looking bad for her.
"Uhm, where's Chester when I need him?" she cursed under her breath while continuing to fire at Crow. When she was almost done, her superpower activated. This was her salvation! She was about to shoot when Crow jumped high into the air with his super skill.
Damn! He would land right behind her and destroy her. Her only chance was to hit him first once he was back on the ground. She turned around in a flash and shot off her candy stream.
Mandy almost thought she'd missed him, but then came the announcement that there were only five players left on the map.
Just as relief was about to spread through Mandy, an intense pain shot through her body. She looked down at herself and realized with horror that Crow had managed to wound her with his poisonous knives before her Sugar Beam defeated him.
"Moldy Mints!" she scolded and fell to the ground. She was too weak to take the damage caused by the poison, in a few seconds she too would leave the game. In doing so, she almost made it into the top four in Solo Showdown and reached the final stage of the Candy Land challenge. But now she would probably drop the challenge.
The poison and the pain took control. She closed her eyes, got sucked out of the game... and ended up in fourth place!
"What?!" was the first thing she could say. Incredible! Apparently, just before Crow's knives defeated her, another Brawler must have been destroyed. That means, she made it to the final round!
"Smackdown in Candy Town!" she cheered.
"Okay, my dear brawlers." Said 8-Bit's voice. "Congratulations to everyone who made it through. The final mode of the Candy Land Challenge is Jewel Hunt. The appointment is today at the same time in one week and the location is the mysterious mine map."
With that he ended his announcement and Mandy went to shower and change. Of course, all the injuries, she had gained during the fight had long since healed. When she was done, she relieved Cupcake Darryl at the Candy Land Shop and stayed there until the Star Park closed. Candy was being sold, Chester was bugging her, and the customers were behaving like customers. Just an ordinary afternoon.
***
"Hey Mandy! I think I did it! I managed to use my superpower to make healing candy!" Chester called from the warehouse just as Mandy had said goodbye to the last customer with a fake smile on her lips.
"Really?" Mandy wanted to go through the door to the storage room, but Chester had stretched cling film in front of it. Laughing, he held his stomach while Mandy fiercely fought her way free. Angrily, she walked up to him and growled at him. Chester gave a cheeky grin back before showing her the healing candy.
Neither of them noticed that they were being watched.