As Tarte was seeing to her team, there was a slight distraction in the form of a young woman apparently drawn by the cute little outfits that the couturier had dressed up the dogs in. She smiled smugly. In her head she thought that it was only natural that her work turned heads and she definitely appreciated that it caught someone's attention despite most people being preoccupied with the troublesome mess brought upon by Santa's evil forces.

"Of course. On my pride as a designer, I would never be caught dead without looking stylish. These were made rather hurriedly, but I guarantee quality nonetheless."

The woman probably wasn't too interested in her reply as she turned her attention to two kids shivering in the cold. She shared with them her coat and cardigan without a second thought. Tarte thought that was kind of her. The Tatin daughter might have done the same thing if they had approached her first, except that she had plenty of coats to spare so she didn't have to give up the one she was already wearing. She thought about sharing one with the woman in red but observed that she didn't seem bothered by the cold anyway. It was a peculiar trait but not one that piqued Tarte's curiosity enough to ask.

"I would advise against walking around here carelessly. There are dangerous creatures about and I can assure you they are not even a fraction as behaved as my dogs."

Tarte walked over the kids after they had their fill with the dogs and gave them a few pieces of candy from her pockets.

"This should help warm you up. Now hurry on home where it's safe."

When she finally received the 'map' from the elf handing them out, she had a puzzled look on her face much like everyone else. She could sort of make out the places thanks to her knowledge of her hometown, but any notes beyond that were incomprehensible. The woman in red was just as annoyed.

"No I'm afraid not. This is probably just another attempt by the elves at being unfair to us. I wouldn't put it past them."

She was interrupted by the sudden reappearance of the boss elf from the big tent in the center of the docks where the elf team was making preparations away from prying eyes. The short man stood on an elevated stage and eyed the crowd mischievously before uttering his announcements.

"Wow, there a lot more gutsier folks on this dump than I thought. Good, good! We love it when people play by our rules! Speaking of rules, I just got word that my boys have already finished setting up the course. Great huh? I'm sure you're all excited!"

The boss and all the elves scattered around the docks laughed. With a snap of his fingers, the big tent behind him collapsed to finally reveal Big Tim and his team. His ride wasn't a sled. That would be the understatement of the year. More than 10 feet tall and nearly 20 feet long, it was essentially a war chariot or tank even. Large spikes ran across the sides of the 'sled' from end to end. It seemed like even the tiniest nudge would wreck anyone who so much as 'bumped' into the thing, the entirety of which was made of an unknown but obviously durable metal. There were also metal panels in some parts of the 'sled' that looked like they could open up to reveal something nasty. In front of the 'sled' were the 10 meanest and baddest looking reindeer you had ever seen, clearly a cut above the rental ones that were handed out. Killer Keith was at the head of it all, sporting a demon like metal mask, and spiky armored plates all over his body. The armor didn't seem to weigh him down at all. Big Tim waved enthusiastically at his comrades who cheered again.

"Oh right I was supposed to explain the race course. My bad! Uh... one lap around lower town, then one lap around midtown, then a mad dash for the peak in upper town. Yeah... that's it."

The boss man roared with laughter again. If the notes and heavy scribbles on the poorly drawn map indicated anything, that most definitely wasn't it.

So much was happening, Melissa would simply nod to the girl in pink, "Oooh a designer. Well, they are fabulous" she said, then everything would flow as normal until their was some major commotion between Reindeers, one reindeer totally devoured and ripped another to shreds. "Don't get any ideas skippy, I'll tear you apart if you even think about it" She uttered to her own Reindeer whom cowered even more. As she stood checking out her map, she would turn to face the commotion of the elves. Though it seemed to be a rather small explanation, one that didnt really make much sense. Before she could speak, the man with the rather ferocious creature came forward.

"That was a rather splendid performance, Francis was it?" Melissa said, looking to her own. "If we don't win ya little prick, I'll have you fed to this bugger" Melissa said to her reindeer pointing to the other whom still had blood around its maw. "Even with that wonderful explanation, Im none the wiser, We should probably find the starting line, thats the best place for us to start. Surely they will outline the course, and if push comes to shove we can just follow That giant arsed elf and his enormous fucking reindeer. Those things look like they could plough through all the buildings of the slum with ease" she mused as she turned to her reindeer, climbing upon him, sitting side saddle.

"Get me to those pillars" she said giving the side of her ride a little kick forcing him to push forward, people moved to allow her past. "Out of the way, out of the way, beauty for all to see coming through, move old lady, I won't hesitate having this guy eat you" She said, much to the scoffing of the crowd. She would get to the pillar standing up looking over to the crowds. "RIGHT YOU LOT, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO IS COMPETING I WANT YOU TO LISTEN TO ME" she shouted, though it seemed no one was listening.

Taking her shotgun from her sling, she would raise it upwards and pull the trigger, the roar of the gun echoing through water 7 shutting everyone up. "Thats better, now as I was saying. Everyone competing in the races, I just wanted to say you need to all look around, look at the competition, if you see anyone else but these winter fucking twats as your competition then your doing it wrong. It doesnt matter WHO WINS, All that matters is that not a single one of these christmas hobgoblins beat us, DO NOT AND I MEAN IT, DO NOT FOCUS ON YOUR FELLOW COMPETITORS." Melissa said pumping her hand into the air. "It also doesnt matter, cuz Im going to win" She winked as she hopped back on to her ride.

Clip clopping to where she was positive the starting line would be, the yuki yuki user would jump from her ride and kneel down, placing her hands upon the snow, from the hidden tips of her palm, she allowed her power to flow, to gently intertwine with the snow of the land.

OOC:

It would be a lie to say Tarte wasn't enjoying the scenario at all. Water 7 was at stake for sure, but something about how these evil holiday mascots went about their business was amusing to her. Perhaps it was their 'holiday spirit' and dedication to making this event as terrible and rigged as possible that tugged at her passionate heart, fueling a desire to beat them at their own game. Was she confident she could win? Well, confidence was probably not the right word. Or maybe it was. But not at winning. What she was certain about was that this race, for all its unfairness, was bound to be 'fun' in its own way. And that was something she was looking forward to.

She smiled after hearing the boss elf's unhelpful explanation of the course. That just meant they were in for loads of surprises. Not that the giant armored sled that the champ was riding on wasn't already a big enough surprise on its own. One look was enough to tell her it was dangerous and that she should steer clear of it as much as she could. No doubt the elves intended to crush people's spirits with the grandiose reveal, but Tarte was not one of those dismayed. As she looked on, there was a brief interruption in the form of a certain man and his rather ferocious reindeer. He didn't seem too intimidated either and was looking for help with figuring out the course.

"Well, I'm assuming were taking the main canal that goes around the island. It's as frozen over as everything else. I can't think of any other route wide enough to accommodate a race of this scale, especially with that thing they've brought out."

The woman with the submissive reindeer suggested they should just head for the starting line and figure things out from there. To be honest, there was no point planning ahead anyway even if they knew the course. Plans were only as good as the planner's experience and as far as sled racing goes, Tarte is treading on new ground. The woman made a good suggestion though to follow behind the big elf. No doubt anyone who would try to race alongside him or ahead of him would likely find themselves trampled if not targeted by whatever was waiting for them at the course. It was just too dangerous to to try and get an early lead. Not that it stopped the dumber and more ambitious competitors from trying.

Speaking of drawing attention to themselves, one gunshot and a declaration of winning later, and the woman with the submissive reindeer suddenly put herself up front among the competitors the evil holidays mascots had their eyes on. To be fair, she was right in that the point of the race was for the murderous Christmas team to not win. But she wasn't really doing a good job of inspiring teamwork among everyone else. Heck some of them might even be confused now if they should be doing something about the big elf or trying to one up the girl who just preemptively proclaimed herself to be the winner. As for Tarte, she was sticking to hanging at the back in the meantime. The time for taking the spotlight was not now.

As the noon deadline came, everyone was now at the starting positions. The big elf sled was up front towering over everyone else. You'd think he would be alone there but there were a few brave or reckless souls who positioned their own rides on the same row as him. Most of them were pirates by the looks of it. Tarte figured it was in a pirate's blood to do insane things once in a while. Perhaps they had their own plans in the works. The boss elf walked up to the platform again and held up a gun, prompting all the competitors to get ready.

"It's time! I hope you're all ready!"

There was loud cheering from the spectator elves and holiday creatures though most of the Water 7 residents were anxious and too tense to make noises. Any cheering that did not come from the evil holiday mascots came from the racers themselves: crazy pirates who probably had no idea what's at stake here and were joining expecting some sort of big treasure waiting at the end.

"Heeeeeere weeee gooo!!!"

The clock struck 12 and the starting gunshot rang out. The ground suddenly began to shake as the giant elf sled sped out of the gate. Those who were immediately beside it were knocked to the side as their attempts to try and get an early head start were dashed by the sheer power of big sled crashing into them and taking the decisive lead. There was some moderate chaos at the starting line as the knocked down sleds blocked the way of some causing some early accidents.

It would seem the competitors where beginning to line up, now after her declaration many would think that she would position herself at the start of the course, though alas this was not the case. Melissa placed herself and her reindeer at the very edge of the course and within the final line up. "Oi, Pink Coat. IF I WHERE YOU, I'D STAY TO THE SIDE OF THE COURSE, DON'T RUN STRAIGHT" Melissa shouted, not caring who heard her. She doubted that any of the Christmas beings cared about what she was shouting out, as for the other competitors, they probably believed that she was trying to psyche out the competition so that she could win. This was not the case, this was indeed friendly advice from a fellow rider.

Melissa was no longer riding her reindeer side saddle, both legs on either side of the creature, she held both reigns tightly, a smile upon her face, barely dressed within the blizzarding snow that would surely begin to cause issue for those not used to such conditions. Melissa on the other hand, she was so happy for this weather, with it she could release sneak attacks before anyone knew what was happening. In fact, she already had. She had inserted her own snow within that which lay below, wrestling it from the grasp of the christmas fiends without their knowledge. The devilish smile upon her face, as she watched the elf with the starting gun, she would bring her upwards and click her finger. The snow dancing around the starting line would give no indication, those all focused on the race beginning.


The gun would signal the start of the race, but all of those at the start would find themselves unable to move. As the gun had risen, as the clasp of the gun shot forth, snow rose upwards with such speed and intensity from all angles within a twenty meter radius, encasing the first three lines of competitors before they could even attempt to garner speed. Leaving only enough space on either side of the edge of the races for competitors to move through, though on the right side there was only enough space for sole riders, sledges would be unable to squeeze through the gap, while upon the left side would be enough for two large sledges to burst through at the same time.

This lowered the competitor amount quickly, for about five sledges slammed into the right side, though Melissa and her own ride dove through the gap, clearing the first hurdle while the dome of powerfully dense snow held the first four lines of racers, she doubted the big elf would be hindered by this for long, with the size of his sledge and reindeer's he would probably break through it within five minutes at most, though many of the other racers also halted their movements in awe of the sudden snow globe that contained well....most of the racers. While Melissa and the few others whom kind of just burst forth made their way through the tracks. Melissa's voice echoing through out.

"I TOLD YOU, I'LL WIN" She shouted in glee as the duo danced forward, snow whipping around them as they darted laughing around.

Skill used:

Nobody expected the snow to seemingly rise up by itself to encase many of the racers right at the starting line. From the point of view of most of those watching and participating, this was another trick by the elves, until they realized the big guy was trapped in the same dome as well. The boss elf watching the events unfold was dumbstruck for a moment as he was wholly expecting Big Tim to make the biggest splash at the starting gun. There goes that part of the plan. He hastily shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a Den Den Mushi.

"We've got a cheat! There's a snow manipulator among the rabble! Don't know how they're doing it but that loud girl is suspicious. She just pulled ahead!"

He spoke angrily to Den Den Mushi and the guy on the other line could only reply meekly.

"Gee boss, that's kinda nuts. Half our obstacles are snow-based. She's just gonna waltz right over them."

"Exactly! A little snow dome's not gonna hold Tim, but you boys still need to knock off the ones who made it past him! Better not screw it up!"

Back at the starting area, the few racers that didn't get caught in the snow dome were funneling through the gaps at the sides, though there were some that got themselves stuck. Tarte didn't actually need advice from the woman as she had already intended to hang back as she had no intention of facing that giant killer sled head-on from the start. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't quite easy to find a big enough opening to get through. She decided to wait and see what the elves would do as they were the real threat here anyway. As long as they didn't win, she couldn't really complain much about the results.

She didn't need to wait long. Barely half a minute into the starting gunshot and there was a second loud bang, several times greater in magnitude that would ring out from the start of the course. When the snow cleared, there was a large hole in the snow dome that seemed to have been a result of heavy artillery. True enough as the giant sled rumbled through to finally join the race, the panel on the front of the sled was open revealing a large cannon, still smoking from having been fired. It seemed like the secret of the giant sled was that it was like a small ship and a crew of elves was inside manning cannons. In any case, the main driver Big Tim was not at all happy about the botched start and was angrily shouting at his reindeer to pick up the pace.

That was the opening Tarte was waiting for. As the rest of the snow dome crumbled, she sped on through after the giant sled. Her team was fast. Willy certainly trained the dogs well. She was confident in a straight up race, they could outstrip that hulking metal thing that looked like it was built for battle rather than racing. That was probably the intention. For now she would keep a safe distance behind until an opportunity came where she could make a move. It helped that a bunch of other racers sped past her making their own attempts to overtake the big sled. She wished them the best of luck and silently thanked them for being good distractions.

There was still a sizable lead though between the elf team sled and those who managed to get past the snow dome. While the woman on deerback was first for now, there were at least five other contestants hot on her tail. Two were on sleds pulled by a reindeer. One was on deerback like her. The last one didn't have a sled but was wearing a pair of skis while being pulled by his reindeer. As they reached the one third mark of the lap around lower town, the Christmas horrors setting up the obstacles finally made their first move.

"So how are we gonna find the cheat?"

"Boss says, whoever it is is probably not gonna like fire."

"A couple of snowmen playing with fire? The things I do for Santa..."

Up in the sky two balloons appeared, having risen up from behind the buildings surrounding the course. They appeared to be manned by sentient snowmen though that would be difficult to spot from below. As the balloons positioned themselves above the passing racers about 100 meters from the ground, the snowmen manning them began to drop what looked like bombs on the unsuspecting contestants. These would turn out to be rather potent incendiaries. As soon as they made contact with anything, they would explode and spread flames in a 5 meter radius. While they were generally trying to stop anyone not on the elf team from winning, quite a bunch was aimed at the race leader herself. A couple would land almost right on top of her assuming she kept the same speed. Three more would fall around the path in front of her which would be right on target if she attempted to speed up.

The hooves of her young buck charged even faster and harder, the thrill of being in front seemed to have gone to its head and granted it an empowered status. It burst faster and faster through the race and well...bombs right? She was completely unsure about the strange sensation that she was feeling, something picked at her mind. As if it where trying to warn her, for a split second she felt as though a radar erupted into her mind. For a few seconds she saw small orb like things coming from above. It caused her minor confusion, enough that she pulled back on the reigns just a little, though this had no effect and no change on what happened next. The very first bomb, ten meters behind her struck. Fire erupted forth and one of the competitors whom had a sled would erupt in flames. "FUCK" Melissa said. The bombs fell quick, but Melissa now aware of her predicament kicked the sides of her young buck. She wasn't going to make it though....not like this.

"See ya boo" she said as her entire body exploded. Thats right, her body literally exploded into snow. Bursting off to the right just five seconds before a bomb landed directly upon the young buck she had previously been on. The sound of its cries filled the race course, as flames licked the entirety of its body. Melissa's snow body had burst through with speed, fate would have it that one of the competitors whom had been on her tail had avoided the bombs. It was one of the two with sleds, the other of course burning with fire right now. Her body would reform upon the sled. "WHAT THE" screeched the little elf whom with a single kick was ejected from its sled. Now the sled was a bit....smaller....Melissa slowing down the small deer's pulling it. "FUCK SAKE" she shouted. That would be why the bombs did not strike down upon their own. Of course the elf knew where to avoid.

It wasn't long before Melissa was being overtaken, though thankfully with her snow capabilities, she eventually managed to commandeer a second reindeer, one of a much larger size and power allowing her to power through. Though by this time the large sled and a large bunch of competitors including the girl in pink had over taken her. Now she burst forth. No more mister nice girl. As she charged with her deer she pushed out her hand, snow bursting around her until five lances where created, following her. Each time she got close to a Christmas elf she would end its existence, taking out any and all Christmas creature that she could find. Eventually, she pulled up, close enough to the other competitors. "KEEP GOING" she shouted to her new deer, a doe for sure. Much stronger than her last one, Sturdier and with a gleam in her eye. The five lances dancing around her, with a wave of her hand she sent one of these lances towards the massive sled, though it punctured the wood it seemed to have no real effect against the monstrosity.

OOC:

"Did we get her?"

"I dunno. But the bombs burned something. Took out a few other guys too."

"And we gotta let Big Tim pass so that's it for us. Gonna have to leave the rest to the guys at the next checkpoint."

Between the raining bombs and the giant sled smashing into other competitors, at least a quarter dropped out from race. Of those who were left, quite a number lost their nerve and decided to not to try overtaking the giant sled just yet, at least without a solid plan. Still a couple of daredevils managed to sneak past him as there were still those who were brave enough to actually attack. It was crazy. Mostly thanks to hanging back though, Tarte didn't have to worry about the bombs because they stopped when the giant sled passed by. All she had to do was keep up and not fall back too far.

Meanwhile the giant sled was having its own problems despite gaining some solid ground. They still didn't get the lead but were now being assaulted by a few brave or maybe crazy souls. Big Tim wasn't oblivious to all this of course, but his head was focused on trying to catch up to those who sneaked ahead. He stomped a couple of times on the sled, sending a message to the elves hidden within to do something about their attackers.

While Klinghoffer was climbing up behind the sled, one of the back panels opened suddenly, revealing an elf with a gun aimed at him and who opened fire a couple of rounds. This panel would be the only entrance leading inside the sled unless one made their own, should one attempt to try and get inside. However the interior of the sled was made for the elf crew and a normal human would find it very cramped.

A side panel opened up to deal with the snow attacker. It wasn't an elf but a cannon that came out this time and fired off a round at the woman surrounded by snow lances.

---

The racers soon approached the two thirds point of the lower town course where the next obstacle was waiting for them. The track was starting to go uphill now as the next part was leading up to the midtown course. As the racers in the lead began the climb up the first hill, they heard a rumbling sound from up ahead. Giant Christmas balls, were being rolled down the hill by Santa's minions and the racers scrambled to avoid being turned into pancakes. A couple were not so fortunate and had their sleds, reindeer, or themselves crushed into the snow. Unlike earlier, the balls did not stop for Big Tim's sled. They didn't need to. Killer Keith just knocked aside any balls in his path. The giant sled was aiming to clear this with brute force. Those behind Tim's sled weren't safe as any balls knocked aside would ricochet off the buildings and into the racers behind him.

Melissa didn't really worry about the whole large snowballs coming for her. Her focus was on the large sled which she was only a few meters from. It would seem that the elves within had some capability to fully see what was going on outside, and a small panel opened, pushing a large round cannon head out of it. Well, large is an understatement, it didn't seem like a full sized cannon, if that had been the case within the sled it would surely be much slower, and wouldn't have nearly as much room within to actually allow the elves much movement. "Fuck this" Melissa uttered. Now a cannon takes time to fire, and of course the elves probably werent stupid enough to light the fuse before opening the panel and aiming. So Melissa as soon as she saw the canon emerging would make her own move. First off she adjusted herself. So that she was pretty much standing upon her reindeer.

Her lances would be wasted, for instead she was forced to jump as the canon fired. With such power in her legs, she was able to easily jump over the cannonball itself, though her second reindeer alas was not so lucky, being struck by the ball. Releasing a painful shriek which was only dulled once one of the large snowballs flattened the poor soul. Melissa on the other hand would dissolve mid movement, pushing her body forth with the power of snow and air. Particles landing upon the sled unbenownst to the elves. Of course the fact that it was snowing hid this well, and with heavy snow came snow upon the sled. It was simple for her to blend in. Waiting for her moment. Being on the sled also allowed her to avoid all the giant snowballs without any effort what so ever. All she had to was wait right?

But what fun would that be, as her body reformed. Her hands held on to each side as she grinned with a childish smile. "WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" The Yuki Yuki No Mi user shouted with glee as the large sled powered forward. Perhaps this would be the best time to assasinate the big guy? Alas with the large snowballs flying and well the speed of the sled picking up even further, standing was becoming a bit of an issue.

OOC:

OOC:

It was about time Tarte's luck ran out. Lagging behind the giant sled was not a tactic that she could employ forever, simply because the big guy wasn't the only thing she had to worry about in this race. Fortunately though, conserving her team's energy was just the ace she needed to get out of this little pinch. Besides that, the other reason she had her team merely keep up instead of overexert themselves to run and their best was because she wanted to give them time to get used to moving on the snow and ice. They were not proper sled dogs after all. But now practice was over and it was time to see just what they could do.

Comical as they appeared, the giant Christmas balls rolling downhill were no laughing matter. A single direct hit was enough to eliminate if not totally cripple any unfortunate participants. It finally made more sense for the elf team to field that juggernaut in this race. That armored reindeer in front was seriously tough being able to knock the balls aside like that. Tarte swiftly steered her team to the side of the course to avoid an incoming ball. The strategy was simple enough. Sticking close to buildings meant less of a chance to get done in by the randomly ricocheting balls. Those who chose to stay in the middle were sitting ducks. However unlike the middle of the course, there were plenty of odd objects, signs, posts and whatnot that proved to be obstacles that she needed to maneuver around. It was in this regard that her team finally showed their true abilities, dodging and avoiding obstacles and slipping through the smallest of spaces. Tarte herself was barely driving. It was more of these dogs' experience around the city. They were trained and possessed considerable athletic skill after all.

In the midst of the chaos of this last obstacle, perhaps it wasn't too much of a surprise that the first racer to make it to the midtown part of the course was the big elf team. But this was still far from achieving certain victory. As they crossed over to more flatter ground again, Big Tim heard a shout from somewhere behind him as it seemed someone decided to board his sled again. He stomped on the floor to signal the elf crew once more as he couldn't very well deal with the stowaway since he was busy driving. Panels on top of the sled began to open and three members of the elf crew climbed out to deal with the snow lady somehow. Only one of them had a gun. The other two had slingshots. Their ammo was a light explosive comparable to a firecracker that would burst on impact. It would be enough to severely burn and injure an average person while being nowhere near strong enough to damage the sled. The pair with the slingshots would shoot first while the gunman would wait and provide covering fire as necessary.

The midtown course was much shorter than the lower town one. It was also much thinner. Now that the big sled had taken the lead, there was almost no space on the sides to even attempt to overtake him. Getting past him this way would require some creativity. Tarte was the second one to cross the line to midtown and she was followed by at least four others who managed to survive. Anyone else lagging behind probably wouldn't have any chance of winning at this point. As much as she wanted to keep watch for any more tricks or obstacles prepared by the holiday horrors, what caught her attention was the commotion on top of the big sled ahead of her.

It was the woman from earlier and frankly Tarte wasn't all that surprised that she was pulling a stunt like that. Well, she wasn't against teaming up with anyone who wanted to take out the elves. She wondered if there was anything she could do to support. It was then that she noticed the armed elves coming out from the sled and preparing to attack. Concerned, she pulled out her umbrella from her sled and took aim. Between slingshots and guns, she felt the gunman was more dangerous and fired a shot in his direction. It would be aimed at his shoulder and hopefully cause him to miss his shot if not drop his weapon.

She couldn't help but enjoy herself, the wind in her hair, even when the singular panel opened up in front of her, she continued to smile so joyfully. You wouldn't think this was supposed to be a life or death situation. "Funs over" Melissa said to herself as the first elf popped free from the only panel that they could come forth. As the second began to pull itself out, Melissa's body began to release bursts of snow, rapidly rotating around with such force that combined with the wind, even the elves would find themselves struggling to keep themselves from being blown from the sled in the snow. They would also find themselves in pain from said snow, all three of them being struck hard and fast.

This would make it nearly impossible for the elves to accurately strike the snow snow fruit user, each time the two creatures with slings attempted to fire their crackers, they would be swept away by the wind, unable to find their target. But Melissa was not finished. As the snow circled around the yuki Yuki no mi user inhaled, filling her stomach with air before blowing forth with such ferocious capability. The snow from her mouth shot forth while at the same time snow burst forth from her shoulders and face, encompassing an area that swallowed big tim, the sled and the massive reindeers as well as the elves in front of her. This meant the sled would be unable to continue forth within the race as the creatures became enclosed within the dense snow.

If this were successful, Melissa would roll from the stationary sled, Her hands touching upon the ground as she kneeled. Bringing her hands upwards she would once again use the snow below to summon forth a large dome, this was because she doubted that the large elf would be kept down by the dense snow along with the large reindeers. "Rests up to you pink coat" Melissa said as she was encompassed within the dome. The girl gave such a smile. "I wonder if elves bleed red" she said cracking her knuckles. Though sweat glistened upon her forehead, her breathing was rough and harsh. She was tiring out quickly from all these actions.

skills:

High above the course on a balloon en route to the finish line near the peak, a certain boss elf was mumbling to himself looking pissed. His foul mood left the snowman piloting the balloon rather nervous. The elf reached into his pocket and pulled out a snow globe which he shook vigorously. As he did, the snow fall around the frozen Water 7 intensified into a blizzard. With his other hand, he brought out a Den Den Mushi and quickly made a call. The speaker on the other line spoke anxiously.

"What's going on on the ground?"

"Big Tim is in the lead as expected, but..."

"But what!?"

"Well, his sled's been boarded. These guys are real gutsy."

This was supposed to be an easy job. Big Tim taking the lead from the start and keeping it that way while the rest of them took it easy picking off those behind him. But from the very beginning they were set back and it took way too much effort to get him back the lead. And still those pesky humans didn't know when to quit.

"Oh sh-"

"What!?!"

"Big Tim's sled just got caught in one of those big snow dome things again! He's stuck! And the other racers... They're riding up the dome and are making a beeline for the finish line!"

The boss elf threw the Den Den Mushi out of the balloon in anger and peered down. Sure enough there was a large snow dome just a few meters away from the end of the midtown course and no visual of the big sled that belonged to their team. Meanwhile the local racers had gone on ahead with a certain pink clad girl taking the lead. Furious, the boss elf grabbed the controls for the balloon from his snowman pilot and began to steer the thing towards the finish line, intending to crash into the racers or block their path. If Tim couldn't get the win, no one could.

---

Inside the dome, Big Tim suddenly got up, regaining consciousness after unexpectedly crashing into a wall of snow that seemingly appeared out of no where, at least from his point of view. His reindeer had recovered faster than he did and there were loud thuds as Killer Keith repeatedly tackled the walls of snow to try and break out but to no avail. His elf crew who were far less durable than he was were all knocked out. Tim roared in fury and began to frantically look around for who was responsible. At this point he had yet to spot the snow user but it was only a matter of time. He shivered as the unnatural chill from the snow was starting to get to him as well.

---

For those still in the race, the finish line was finally in sight. It was a steep climb but for Tarte and her team, it wasn't much compared to what they had to go through the entire race. There were two others who managed to make it to the final stretch: a man whom she recognized as one of the shipwrights in the local company and another guy she wasn't familiar with but she could guess from his looks was a pirate stuck in Water 7 thanks to this event. It should be smooth sailing to the end now right? Well, not exactly.

There was a loud noise coming from overhead and a shadow was cast on the frozen race track. Looking up behind them, she finally noticed the balloon descending rapidly, intending to crash into them. The pirate panicked and pulled out gun, shooting wildly at the balloon and puncturing it in the process, but it was hardly effective as whoever was piloting it still managed to steer the huge thing right at them. Fearing for his life, the pirate jumped from his sled and took a tumble down the steep slope. The shipwright was much braver and pressed on, as did Tarte. They were too close to victory to give up now. Both competitors steered their sleds hard to the sides, avoiding the middle area where the balloon made impact as much as possible, but they couldn't escape the resulting shock wave caused by the crash and explosion and both sleds were knocked aside.

Tarte managed to stay conscious as a stroke of luck and the positioning of her sled protected her from getting seriously injured. Her team however wasn't as fortunate. Half of the dogs were out cold while the rest were limping. If not for the clothes she provided, they might have been suffering from burns as well so she was thankful in hindsight for getting that idea. The problem now was how to finish the race. Her sled was a wreck.

A gunshot rang out and she felt a bullet whiz past her head. Looking in the direction where it came from, she saw the boss elf, limping towards her, gun in hand. He had seen better days for sure. His clothes were tattered and burned and he was covered in bruises.  On his other hand was a peculiar snow globe but Tarte was more concerned about the gun. Before he could shoot again, she scrambled behind what remained of her sled as an impromptu cover. Looks like the boss was literally also the last boss. She clutched her umbrella and prepared for the worst.

OOC: