Beyond the Skies- Battalia (Part 3)
Inside the map room of the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle was having trouble trying to maintain focus. While there were tasks that she wanted to do, there was something in the back of her mind that prevented her from really committing herself to getting it done. She had tried to put it aside while she and Starlight were working together to get the Cutie Map working again. Unfortunately for her, after both Rarity and Pinkie Pie left to go to Canterlot and solve their friendship problem, the thought in the back of her mind resurfaced and was beginning to distract her from doing anything productive.
The thought on her mind involved someone that wasn’t in the castle right now, that being Calvin. It had been a few days since he left to go on a ‘field trip’ with one of the sensei’s that was teaching him at Skylander Academy, and Twilight had not heard anything since he left. The Skyshifter did tell her that it was going to be for a couple of days, but to her, something did not feel right. If their training was going to take longer than expected, then why wasn’t she informed about that?
“Is everything okay, Twilight?”
The simple question from her assistant Spike was enough to have Twilight’s train of thought come to a halt as she turned towards the dragon, “Huh? Spike, what’s going on?”
“Well, you’ve been staring off into space for almost half an hour now,” he said as the dragon folded his arms, “So, to me, that means that something is on your mind.”
“Am I that predictable?” the alicorn now asked.
“When you’re the assistant to not just Princess Celestia’s student, but also the Princess of Friendship, you begin to pick up on a few things,” the dragon told her, “Now, tell me, what exactly is bothering you? Are you having trouble trying to come up with friendship lessons for Starlight again?”
“No, no, it’s nothing related to that,” Twilight reassured her number one assistant, before taking a deep breath, “Remember when Calvin said earlier in the week that he was going on a field trip?”
“You mean when Pinkie Pie turned the castle into a mobile baking hotspot?” Spike replied, recalling the events that unfolded when the earth pony set up a ‘Sugarcube Corner To-Go’ on their front doorstep, “I remember. Though, why exactly are you stressed out on that? Isn’t that trip supposed to help him?”
“Well, yes, it is supposed to help him with his training. Though, it’s not the trip that’s bothering me,” the alicorn explained to him, “What’s bothering me is how long it's taking. Calvin said that it was going to be a couple of days. Though, as of this morning, it’s now officially longer than that. You would think that he would at least try to somehow inform me if it was somehow going to be longer than expected, wouldn’t you think?”
Spike could only sigh at Twilight’s predicament. She was fixating on the smallest of details again and letting herself get distracted by something not exactly going as planned. Though, that was something that didn’t require too much effort in order for him to fix. “You know, if you wanted to check in on Calvin, you could just visit the academy. I mean, he might not be there, but surely, there’s somepony else that might know about how his training’s going, right?”
Of course, it took Twilight a moment to think over what he had just said. Yet, it did not take long for her to realize that the dragon might have been on to something. “You know what, Spike, you’re right.”
“Wait, I am?”
“If I wanted to check and see how Calvin’s doing, I should just take a trip to the academy,” she proclaimed, before she got up out of her seat, “I’ll be back in a bit, Spike. Watch the castle while I’m away!”
“Twilight, wait-” before he knew it, the dragon was by himself as Twilight immediately teleported away to the basement. All the while, Starlight Glimmer had just trotted into the map room from the back hallway. “Oh... hi, Starlight.”
“Hey, Spike… have you seen Twilight by chance?” the unicorn asked, “I wanted to ask her if she had some time to go over the research that we’ve done regarding the spell on the Cutie Map.”
“Um... you know what-” a loud slamming of a door was heard throughout the castle as Spike let out a deep sigh, “She just left.”
Starlight could only stare at Spike, unsure of what exactly just transpired as she raised an eyebrow, “Really?”
“Yeah,” the dragon replied, just as Twilight briefly teleported back inside to grab her saddlebags before disappearing once again, “Sorry.”
Once Twilight was certain that she had everything that she needed and arrived at the M.A.P., the alicorn went straight for the teleporter that led to Skylander Academy. As the alicorn arrived on the academy’s main plaza, she had a rather clear idea as to where she needed to go and who she needed to speak to. If everything went the way that she thought it was going to go, then it wouldn’t take her long to find who she was looking for. Not only that, but it didn’t look like the academy was super busy, compared to all the other times that she visited.
Though, if living in Ponyville had taught Twilight anything, it was that anything could change at a moment's notice. Such was the case when, shortly after she arrived, someone happened to notice the alicorn. “Oh, hey, what a surprise! I didn’t think the academy would be having any visitors today.”
As Twilight turned her head to the right, she happened to find Tessa not that far away from where she was. Alongside the faun were some of the lava dogs as well, with the most notable ones being Sheer and Skippy. Though, much like a lot of the creatures that would usually wander about outside the academy, Hot Dog was nowhere to be seen, “Hello there, Tessa. How are you?”
“I’m doing pretty well,” the fox replied back, “Right now though, I was asked to help keep an eye on Sheer and her siblings for Hot Dog.”
“Funny you mentioned that,” the alicorn retorted, “When I arrived, I noticed that it wasn’t as… busy as the other times I came here. Would you happen to know why that is? Are they away doing missions or something?”
Tessa smirked, before folding her arms as Sheer and Skippy walked up right beside her, “Nah, they’re more than likely in class.”
That response had Twilight blink, caught off guard by the simple yet unexpected answer that the fox just gave her, “In… class?”
“Even though this is technically the home of the Skylanders, many of them are still just students here at the academy,” she explained, “Which means that whenever they’re not out on missions, out here running about or in their dorms, they’re attending class. Being good in battle is one thing, being smart in ba”
To Twilight, that logic made sense. After all, some of Equestria’s most defining moments happened not by overpowering their foes in battle, but by outsmarting them, such was the case with some of the stories surrounding some ponies that were part of the Pillars of Equestria alongside Starswirl the Bearded. The two main examples were that of Somnambula and Mage Meadowbrook.
“Although, I’m pretty sure you didn’t come all this way to hear me ramble on about students in class,” Tessa spoke up, interrupting Twilight’s train of thought as the fox unfolded her arms, “So, with that in mind, what brings you all the way to the academy?”
Right away, the alicorn was quick to answer, “Well, I actually was coming by to check on Calvin and see how he’s doing.”
Twilight’s answer surprised not only Tessa, but the lava dogs that were right next to the fox at the time. “Check on Calvin?” Sheer now spoke up, “I’m sorry, but we haven’t seen Calvin since he dropped off Dusty at the academy.”
“Well, he told me that he was going to be on a field trip with King Pen to help him with his training,” Twilight explained to the three of them, “I just thought I would stop by and ask Buzz how everything was going. You know, to check in on him?”
The question might have sounded simple… however, it was met with a much different response from Skippy as she tilted her head. “That’s weird, because I’m pretty sure that I saw King Pen inside that dojo thingy this morning.”
Immediately, Twilight and Tessa looked towards another, before the two of them looked back at the lava pup. “Hold on,” the fox asked, “You saw King Pen… this morning?”
“Yup, definitely!” Skippy nodded, smiling all the while. “Didn’t see anyone else with him though. In fact, that dojo was pretty empty.”
That left Twilight with one last question, “But, if Calvin isn’t on a field trip or with him… then… where is he?!”
Elsewhere
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Scoundrels and Crooks! Welcome back to the carnage filled chaos that you all know and love, Battalia!!”
As he listened to the uproar of the fans that were in the crowd at the MaguDome, Calvin was taking the opportunity to observe the next battle from the stands of the arena. Even though the Skyshifter was in the semi-finals, his battle would not come until later, so Calvin thought that the best way for him to use the extra time that he had was to watch the fight before his. Not only would it be a better way to pass the time than just sitting around in his room, but it provided Calvin the opportunity to observe the competition. After all, whoever won this fight could likely be his opponent if he made it to the finals.
“Today, we got ourselves two matches that will determine which competitors will have the honor of fighting each other in the grand finals for all the glory,” the voice of Magus echoed throughout the arena, which brought forth another round of applause from the audience, “I can see that all our viewers both here and at home are eager to get this show on the road! So, without further ado, let’s get right to it then shall we?!”
Shortly after Magus’ proclamation, the gates on the left side of the arena began to open up as the first competitor entered the ring. Much to his surprise, it was the same drow elf that he accidentally bumped into yesterday, the one who had his whole left arm covered in a cloak and carried a sword on his back. As they stepped forth, the elf drew his blade in preparation for the fight that was to commence.
“Now, here’s our first contestant. He’s been a crowd favorite so far in Battalia, and was able to best his opponents so far without even breaking a sweat. Please welcome back to the arena, Blade Gunner!!”
“Huh. So, that’s what his name is,” Calvin thought to himself as he looked at the drow from the stands, “Okay, I see why he would be called Blade, but why gunner though? There’s nothing remotely about him that would give the impression that he uses any ranged weaponry.”
Though Calvin didn’t have much time to ponder on this, because now the gate on the opposite end of the arena had opened up. “And now, for his opponent. They may not look like the sharpest tool in the shed, but this old geezer is a lot stronger than he looks! Give it up for the Chompy Mage!”
“You have got to be kidding me. He’s here, too?” Calvin thought to himself as he watched the elderly mage step out from the other side of the gate. For the most part, the Chompy Mage looked almost exactly like he remembered. A short elderly man dressed in clothes that made him look like a chompy, carried a staff that had a chompy attached to the end of it and had a chompy hand puppet on their left hand. Heck, if there was ever a Chompy Convention, Chompy Mage would probably be its founder.
Though, the mage wasn’t entirely focused on his opponent when he stepped in. Instead, they had a bone to pick with Magus, “Hey! Who are you calling an old geezer?! I don’t like you… and since you’re not a Chompy, I really don’t like you.”
“Me neither,” the mage had their puppet say.
“Now, come on. It was just one small remark. No need to get angry over-” before the announcer of the tournament could finish what they were saying, it sounded like the microphone fell on the table as a loud noise was heard throughout the stands, which was later followed by a different tone from Magus, “W-what the-!? How did they get in here?! We had the doors locked and everything!!”
As funny as it was to picture a full grown drow getting chased by a runaway chompy, it also had Calvin think of an idea, something that he would have to save for when he was back in the safety of his room with Smoky. Right now though, as the Skyshifter looked back at the two fighters, the Chompy Mage’s gaze was focused back towards the drow on the other side of the arena. “As for you, you may be green… but you’re not chompy green. And that means-!”
At that point, Blade Gunner just groaned, “Look, are you here to stand around and ramble, or are you here to fight? Because you can’t do both, and my patience is rather thin.”
That single statement made both the Chompy Mage and his puppet gasp, “H-how dare you interrupt me when I’m speaking?! You will regret interrupting my speech!”
“Prepare yourself!” the puppet then proclaimed.
Before either side could make a move, there was the sound of someone tapping a microphone, “Okay, testing… 1, 2- Alright, we’re back,” Magus proclaimed, even though the sound of his voice was a bit different than before, “Sorry about that, folks. Had a bit of technical difficulties for a moment, but now, we’re ready to get this show on the road! Both of our combatants are eager to claim their spot in the finals, so let’s not delay them any longer!!”
As soon as the drow finished speaking, the Chompy Mage was the first fighter to make a move as he raised his staff in the air. His magic began to form around him, and several chompies were summoned into the arena. “Come forth, my chompy friends! There is someone here that isn’t a chompy, and you know what that means!”
“It’s play time!” the hand puppet said with glee.
Once there were about eight or so chompies in the arena, all of them began to charge towards Blade Gunner. Though, much to the surprise of Calvin, the elf in the arena didn’t make any attempts to act. Instead, he raised the hand that held his blade to his face and waited for the creatures to come closer as the chompies leaped towards him, eager to grab something with their sharp teeth.
Then, in an instant, they were gone. In a single forward sweep, the chompies were struck down, and they popped like balloons. The swift defeat of the Chompy Mage’s lackeys was enough to prompt the elf to point his blade towards the mage, “Is that everything you have, or are you just toying with me? Because sending minions to fight for you instead of meeting me head on isn’t fighting, it’s cowardice.”
“Oh my! Blade’s got some fighting words for his opponent,” Magus was quick to respond, “Let’s see if his skills are just as sharp!”
“Hmph! We’ll see about that,” the wizard proclaimed, before waving his staff to summon more chompies to the battlefield. Though, the chompies that were summoned weren’t always the same. Some of them wore metal hats over their heads as a form of protection, while others were red and on fire.
Another thing that was different this time was not just what types were summoned, but where they were summoned, for Calvin noticed that several of the chompies that the Chompy Mage brought to the battlefield landed directly behind the elf. In fact, he couldn’t tell if Blade Gunner was even aware that they were there. Yet, that all changed with the elf’s next move, for he stepped back and flipped his blade around to hit two of the burning chompies with the back side of his weapon with his next swing, a move that sent his opponents crashing into one another and giving him some room to maneuver on the battlefield.
“Even in numbers, Chompy Mage’s… well, chompies, aren’t doing much to slow Blade Gunner down! Can they think of a way to turn the tide?!”
“For someone that isn’t a chompy, you’re rather strong,” the mage admitted, “However, I’ve only used a minimal fraction of what I am capable of! Behold!!”
Calvin had a feeling of where exactly this would be going, and was right when magic began to flow around the Chompy Mage’s staff and body to transform him into a giant oversized chompy, a transformation similar to what he remembered back home in one of the Skylanders games where he was a boss battle in the game’s story. Once he had taken on his newfound form, the oversized chompy jumped up, before slamming down as the impact they made caused shockwaves to ripple and spread throughout the entire arena. Even though Blade Gunner avoided the first one, the elf’s opponent continued to crash into the ground several times, making the areas where he would be safe from any attacks rather small.
Though, while it looked like the elf was running, he was instead biding his time. He had a feeling that the particular spell that the mage had used on himself would not last long, and when it did fade, that would provide him the opportunity to strike. Such was the case when, after slamming into the ground several times and unsuccessfully missing in his attempts to injure Blade Gunner, the spell wore off, and the Chompy Mage returned to normal. “O-oh, my-”
Immediately, Blade Gunner seized on the opportunity and charged. Before Chompy Mage was even able to cast a spell, the elf quickly disarmed the wizard of his staff and used his blade to send it flying out of the arena. Calvin had to back away from the rafters as the staff was planted into the back wall of the arena above his shoulder, now resembling more of a pole someone would hang a banner from than the staff of an ‘all powerful’ wizard.
“Now, you have nowhere to hide,” Blade Gunner grinned, before pointing his weapon at his opponent, “Do you still think you’re going to win, or are you going to reconsider?”
“What a way to capitalize on his opponent’s mistakes! But will it be enough?”
“Hehehe… Silly non-chompy! Do you really think that it’s the end?”
At this moment, the Chompy Mage did something that Calvin did not know that he could do. With a motion of their other hand, the Chompy Mage’s puppet began to spew forth magic from their mouth, a move that forced Blade Gunner to back away from the mage as they stood back up on their feet.
“I’ll have you know that I’m only just getting started!!” the mage proclaimed, before conjuring more magic in his now empty hand. At first, Calvin thought that the Chompy Mage was using a spell to have his staff return back to him. Instead though, his magic called forth a completely different weapon than the one that the Skyshifter was expecting.
“Time to go boom!!” the Chompy Mage’s puppet proclaimed with glee as the Chompy Mage was now somehow armed with a green rocket launcher that looked like a chompy, before aiming it directly at the elf he was fighting.
“Wait, he has a bazooka now!?!” Calvin mentally shouted in disbelief, “Since when?!!”
Of course, when the Chompy Mage started to fire the weapon, the Skyshifter realized that he wasn’t firing actual rockets at Blade Gunner. Instead, he was somehow firing live chompies at the elf as Blade Gunner was forced to keep moving in order to try and not get hit. When he did try to somehow get close within striking range, the Chompy Mage would transform into a rolling chompy pile and either avoid his attacks altogether or charge directly at him. Even when Blade Gunner thought that he had dodged the attack, the mage would jump out of the pile and have it break up, which littered the ground with even more chompies.
“After an early start, it looks like Blade Gunner’s starting to fall behind! Does he have anything to start making a comeback?!”
“This is getting ridiculous,” the elf grit his teeth as he stared at the mess that was in front of him. No matter what efforts he tried to successfully reduce the amount of combatants the elf had to face, more showed up afterwards. For every one that he took down, two more would then appear, and if things continued to go at this rate, he was going to be overwhelmed.
That is, unless he found a way to turn things around. It wasn’t going to be easy, though as long as he maintained his focus and paid attention to his surroundings, the elf would find some kind of flaw in his opponent’s plan of attack and exploit it. The only question now was if there was somehow a limit to the newfound tricks that the Chompy Mage was utilizing. From what the elf could tell, he had abilities to defend himself at any distance as well as swarm the battlefield with minions to try and keep him as far away from his opponent as possible. Though, like with how the fight started earlier, his opponent preferred to keep their distance and attack from range while his minions tried to slow him down.
So, if it wasn’t possible for him to narrow the gap between him and his opponent, then the only other option left to the elf was to somehow extend the range of his own attacks. Of course, there was a way that Blade Gunner could accomplish this, yet the drawbacks were painful, and it was not the preferred solution that the elf would’ve chosen. Though, if it meant that he would come out of this fight as the victor, then he would need to take that risk.
From the stands, the spectators watched as Blade Gunner gripped his blade tightly. When the elf extended his arm forward, they held their blade parallel to their shoulders as the crackling sound of electricity echoed throughout the arena. Though, when Calvin was watching this unfold, it looked as if the elf was saying something. The noise of the crowd drowned out most of what he said, but the Skyshifter could only make out one word.
“Arthur-”
Within seconds, lightning began to crackle around his weapon as he attacked the chompies that ran towards him. Though, as his blade struck the mage’s minions, the lightning from his weapon began to chain to any other enemies within close proximity and cut his opponents miniature army down to size. With how fast the Chompy Mage’s minions were falling apart and how swiftly he was moving, the elf was more like a rapidly approaching storm on the field of battle than a just a simple swordsman.
“Oh my word, are you seeing this, folks? Just when you think that Blade’s down for the count, he pulls out a surprise like that! This fight’s getting better with each passing moment!!”
“Bah! I’m not going to let some trick by a non-chompy beat me!” the Chompy Mage declared, before he prepared to fire another chompy towards Blade Gunner while the elf’s back was turned. Though, instead of trying to defend himself or avoid the incoming attack, Blade Gunner just simply changed the grip on his weapon to hold it in reverse and spun around to counter it altogether, a move that not only electrified the chompy that tried to bite him, but also sent the little monster back towards the Chompy Mage to chew on him instead.
Once the chompy’s fangs gripped his arm, the Chompy Mage let out a loud scream of pain as he was hit by the electric current stored inside the creature, and mere moments after, he collapsed onto the floor of the arena. For a moment, the elf was unsure if he was going to get up. Though, after a while, it was pretty clear that his opponent was out cold.
“Well, that was a rather… shocking outcome,” Magus commented over the intercom, only to have members in the crowd groan at the failed pun he tried to make, “Oh, come on! You guys know what I mean!” The drow then paused briefly to clear his throat, shortly before he started to get back in character, “And looks like we have our first finalist, folks! Blade Gunner, with a comeback victory over the Chompy Mage, has secured the first spot in the finals!! Now, we're going to take a momentary break, but when we’re back, we’ll have our second semifinal match and see who claims the final spot for Battalia’s grand finale!!”
Once he heard that message, Calvin took that as a cue to leave the stands and head back down to the lower levels. There was no telling how much time the Skyshifter had for a break, so he had to utilize his time to the fullest, maybe even get a chance to eat if the lines for food weren’t long, or check and see if he could return to his quarters to see how Smoky was doing.
When he returned, Calvin looked to find that the little lava dog was now sleeping inside of his bag again. The poor pup must’ve tired himself out after his recent back-and-forth trip to Stealth Elf’s and the others’ cells to bring them food and help his friends stay alive. So, the Skyshifter was forced to leave a note behind for Smoky to read, something that he wanted to ask in person but did not have the time to sit around and wait for the pup to rise from his slumber.
“Hey, Smoky, there’s something I want you to look into while I’m fighting my next match. Can you go to Magus’ announcer booth and see if there’s a way for you to sneak inside? I promise I’ll explain more when I get back.” -Calvin
“And just like that, we are back in action!! Welcome back to Battalia everybody!!”
“Ugh, so much for getting a break,” Calvin groaned internally as he waited at the gates to enter back into the arena. Only fifteen minutes or so had passed since the original announcement of a temporary break from the fighting in the arena, and yet, the Skyshifter had thought that the break was supposed to be much longer. He didn’t get the chance to eat anything because not only were two greebles getting on his case to get him into the arena, but it was more than likely that those same greebles had already eaten his food by now, all things considered.
“Before our break, we witnessed Blade Gunner pull off a come from behind victory to secure his spot in the finals! Now, our last semi-final match is going to be a real treat for everyone watching. We’ll get to see if a newfound rookie that’s quickly making a name for himself can go toe-to-toe with one of the strongest veterans of the arena,” Magus’ voice echoed around the arena as cheers erupted from the stands, “But, you don’t want to hear me explaining everything, so let’s get straight to the point and introduce our competitors!!”
“Here we go,” Calvin thought to himself as the gate to the arena slowly opened up.
“Now, for our first fighter! His passion and strength in combat has set the field ablaze, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep that flame of his burning hot! The newfound rookie who has surprised everyone in the tournament so far! Please welcome Kai Chi!!”
Once his name was called, Calvin stepped out into the arena and cracked his knuckles in preparation for the next battle. He had no idea who it was that he was up against, but just from Magus mentioning how they were a veteran of the arena told the Skyshifter that he should prepare for anything.
“And now, his opponent! He’s one of the most ruthless fighters in the arena and had formerly been the crown champion of Battlebrawl Island for several years straight!!! The ultimate Spell Punk himself!! Give it up for Spellslamzer!!!”
“Who-?”
Before Calvin could even finish with his question, a dark colored fog slipped out from the other side of the arena before taking shape. A pair of white ovals could be seen in the fog, before it was draped with a grey faded hood and tunic that appeared to roughly sewn together like the clothes on a scarecrow. At first glance, there were two things that stood out to Calvin the most. The first was his opponent’s size, for even though they were a spell punk, they were twice as big as he was, while the second was that unlike other spell punks, this one had giant hands, unlike the small ‘flippers’ that the minor spell punks would have.
“So, you are the newcomer who's been making a name for himself?” he spoke, folding his arms as he stared at the Skyshifter. His eyes narrowed, as if he was judging him, “Let me hazard a guess… You want the grand prize for winning this tournament, yes? Well, that prize is mine, and I’m not going to let some lucky punk prevent me from getting what I want!!”
Calvin said nothing, but instead just took in a deep breath, before walking directly towards his opponent.
“Oh, you’re approaching me? Even after warning you, you think you have a chance of defeating me?!”
At that, the Skyshifter smirked as he curled up his fingers in his hands to form a pair of fists, “Well, I can’t find out for sure unless I get closer now, can I?”
“Hehe, I like your spirit,” the spell punk complimented Calvin, before unfolding his arms and taking on a fighting stance, “Very well then, come as close as you like! Let me bear witness to the strength that got you this far!!”
Immediately, Calvin charged towards his opponent as fire formed around his feet. Though, as the Skyshifter got closer, he noticed the violet magic that the spell punk was conjuring in his hands. Before he could even throw the first punch, Spellslamzer clapped his hands together and sent forth a volley of magical orbs towards him, a move that threw the Skyshifter off guard as he was forced to abort his attack at the last possible moment to dodge the spell punk's spell.
“Impressive,” Spellslamzer replied, “You’re rather swift on your feet. Though, let’s see you try to keep up!”
Just as the Skyshifter had stopped and readjusted his footing, he looked up to realize that his opponent had disappeared. At first, he thought that his opponent just teleported behind him, but a quick glance over the shoulder showed that no one was there. Something about this did not make sense to Calvin. What exactly was his opponent doing, and why would they just straight up disappear and hide from him?
Unless… the spell punk wasn’t doing this as a means to hide themselves at all.
“Peek a boo!!”
Calvin had little time to act as he turned to see Spellslamzer emerge from the floor before firing off another attack at point blank range. The Skyshifter was forced to hold up his arms in a defensive posture as the blast knocked him to the ground. Now though, Calvin had a clear understanding of what the spell punk did just now. His opponent used the moment that he was busy dodging the orbs earlier to disappear into the floor unnoticed, only to re-emerge and attack from his blind spot.
“Well, looks like Spellslamzer’s disappearing act has left the rookie dazed and confused! What is he going to do next!?”
As he got back up on his feet, Calvin began to think of something. If his opponent was going to just disappear at any point in time, perhaps chasing after him was not exactly the most ideal way to confront him. If the spell punk planned to continue with surprise attacks, then he should find a way to turn it against him. Luckily, one of the moves that King Pen happened to teach him during his training would work perfectly.
Only thing is, he had to time it perfectly. If he used the technique too early, he could alert his foe of what he was trying to do, and if the Skyshifter did it too late, then his opponent would be out of range and he would’ve given away his strategy. It was a bit of a risk, though it was one that Calvin was willing to take if it meant that he could get the upper hand on his opponent.
For the moment though, he just had to play along and fight his opponent the best he could, which consisted mostly of dodging incoming attacks and trying different secret techniques to see if they had any effect against the energy orbs that Spellslamzer was sending towards him. Out of all the secret techniques that he was taught though, only one of them was the most effective so far. Two of them were more suited for close range combat, and another was only effective with taking down the orbs that the spell punk created one at a time. The final technique, Knockout Clap, was the most effective, because the shockwave from the attack could be able to take out several orbs at once, enough to help clear open a path to his opponent and land a couple of hits in.
“Persistent now, aren’t you?” Spellslamzer taunted, “We’ll just have to see how long you can keep this up for then!”
Once again, Spellslamzer began to cast forth more of the same orbs, shortly before he disappeared into the ground. To Calvin, this was the ideal opportunity to put the theory that was in his head to the test. His first move was to focus on the orbs coming towards him and remove them from the battlefield using the shockwave from his knockout clap. Once the arena was cleared up, the Skyshifter waited for the moment that his opponent decided to make a move.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for too long, “You know, it’s bad luck to turn your back on your enemy, rookie-”
Just as Spellslamzer emerged from the ground behind him and tried to grab him, Calvin put his theory in motion as he moved his crossed his arms in front of him and immediately pushed them outward. In a matter of seconds, a ring of spinning flames sprung to life as the fire struck the spell punk’s outstretched hand and forced him to flinch and cry out in pain. When he did, the Skyshifter quickly turned around before striking him directly in the face, knocking them to the ground.
“Did you see that, folks?! Spellslamzer thought that his trick would work again, but he just got DENIED!!”
“It’s also bad luck to give away where you are if you’re trying to hide,” Calvin smirked as he looked at his opponent that was slowly getting back up off the ground. Though, something did not feel right. Despite Spellslamzer’s attack not working, he wasn’t angry or upset. If anything, he was giving the impression that he actually enjoyed it, “What’s so funny?”
“Hehehe… You remind me a lot of my glory days,” the spell punk replied, “Everything was just great, until a Skylander had to break my record and ruin it all. This was my chance at a fresh start, and I’m not going to let a novice stop me here.”
Immediately, Calvin felt as if something had grabbed his back and pulled him off of the ground. As he looked up, the Skyshifter saw a magical hand grabbing onto his clothes, “The only rule in Battalia is that there are no rules… and you know what they say?” Spellslamzer told him, before they conjured a rift under him, “If you can’t win, cheat!!”
Before Calvin knew what was going on, he felt his opponent throw him into the rift under his feet. The spell punk dived in afterwards, leaving the audience caught off guard… while also rather confused.
“Now, now, everyone. Do not be alarmed. According to our sources, what Spellslamzer just did was an ability that dates back to his days in Battlebrawl Island! With that in mind, I prepared something special. After all, just because they aren’t in the arena right now does not mean the entertainment has to stop!!”
Shortly afterwards, the sound of two claps could be heard over the loudspeaker as eight large holographic screens appeared around the edge of the arena in an octagonal shape.
“At Battalia, we had put in some preparations to make sure everyone here gets to see every jaw breaking moment of the tournament unfold! Thanks to these Holo-Spell screens, this will allow everyone here and at home to watch this fight play out inside Spellslamzer’s own domain!! Now, who’s ready for ROUND 2!?!”
When Calvin opened his eyes again, the Skyshifter found himself in what could only be described as a howling abyss. He was on a floating isle covered in snow, with what looked to be a huge storm circulating underneath. The edge of the platform was covered in what looked like frozen spikes as the Skyshifter felt the cold wind blow against his skin. With no way out in sight, he had the feeling that Spellslamzer had a good reason for bringing him here.
“Welcome to my nightmare realm,” Spellslamzer’s voice echoed all around him, “It’s pointless to struggle, for I’m keeping you here as long as I need to in order to ensure my victory.”
“So, what? You’re just going to leave me here to freeze?” the Skyshifter asked, “For a fighter like you, you’re coming off as more of a coward than a champion.”
“Watch your tongue, newcomer,” the spell punk snapped at him as Spellslamzer’s body manifested high above where he was standing, “This place is under my control and bends to my will. If you think you’re going to just simply walk out of here, then you have no idea what you’re up against!” Once he was finished, several smaller spell punks appeared all around the edge of the arena of different elements as they turned towards him.
“So much for a one-on-one fight,” he thought, before he noticed an undead spell punk among the group that was beginning to channel its magic. Quickly, he switched techniques to attack them with his Wave Fist, hoping to interrupt the spell they were trying to conjure. Unfortunately though, even though his attack connected, the undead spell punk was able to successfully pull off its spell as a pair of skeleton like greebles rose from the ground.
Of course, that was not the only thing he had to pay attention to. The other spell punks in the ring were also channeling their own magic, with their focus specifically on him, something that did not settle well with him at all since, up until this point, the tournament had just been one-on-one fights. Even though there were times where he did have to face multiple opponents, he either was fighting with the help of allies or had a plan in place. This time around, he had no one to help him and no particular plan of attack. The only real thing that he could do was stand his ground and fight.
His first focus was on the two skeleton greebles that were coming towards him. As they swung their clubs, he stepped to the side to avoid them before striking the first one with a quick few jabs to quickly defeat it. As the second greeble charged in, Calvin fired off another Wave Fist towards them to send them crashing into the barrier around the arena, before turning to the undead spell punk as it was casting its spell once again to have new minions replace the ones that he just defeated. “Oh, come on-”
At least, that was what he thought. Before he had the chance to attack, he heard somewhat of a deep laugh behind him. When Calvin turned to look, the Skyshifter realized that a fire spell punk had prepared its spell while his back was turned and was about to launch it towards him, which only gave him mere seconds to react as he had to somersault out of the way to avoid getting hit as the spell struck the undead spell punk’s minions instead before they could even go after him, something that the undead spell punk definitely did not like.
It was at this moment that the Skyshifter realized something. Unlike in the Skylander games, the magic from spell punks can actually harm any of its comrades and interrupt whatever magic other spell punks were trying to conjure. It might not have seemed like anything big at first glance, yet to Calvin, he saw it much differently. He saw the chance for himself to last longer on this battlefield by having the spell punks unintentionally attacking each other and using the resulting chaos to his advantage. Not only would it decrease the number of opponents he would have to fight, but it would also give him some much needed breathing room.
With that in mind, the Skyshifter prepared a new plan of attack to capitalize on this unexpected development. His new game plan was to fight against the enemies he knew that he could handle, while staying aware of the spell punks and purposely interfering with the spells they tried to conjure. If he could do that, then there was the possibility that Spellslamzer would be forced to fight him in person when none of his ‘friends’ were there to back him up. It might’ve been risky, but if it worked, then he had a better chance at victory.
“What are you fools doing just standing around?! Stop him!!!”
Calvin only had mere moments to have a quick look around the arena before his foes began their assault. Aside from the undead and fire spell punks, there were other spell punks of three different elements; Air, Water and Life. Air magic could make the spell punks allies move faster, Water Magic can be used to freeze him in place if he wasn’t careful and Life magic was used to heal injuries. If he was going to win this battle, then he needed to decide which opponents to defeat first and work his way from there.
Immediately, the Skyshifter focused his attention towards the undead spell punk. In his mind, if he could take it down first, then it wouldn’t be able to call forth any additional backup. That way, he could focus his attention on the other spell punks and not have to worry about being outnumbered by too many foes at once. His first move was to dash towards his intended target and strike with a powerful haymaker to knock it to the floor, followed by a series of quick attacks to interrupt any attempts it would make to conjure any spells.
Yet, before the Skyshifter could land the final blow, Calvin felt a rush of cold air and immediately backed off as a giant snowball flew past his head and hit the undead spell punk instead, freezing them in place. As he looked over his left shoulder, the water spell punk that tried to slow him down wasn’t thrilled that its attack did not hit its mark and prepared to cast the same spell again. Though, before it had the chance to send the snowball towards Calvin, the Skyshifter fired off a Wave Fist towards the spell punk to interrupt it and sent it crashing through the spike barricade around the island.
With the water spell punk taken care of, he refocused his attention back to the undead spell punk as it was breaking free of its temporary frozen prison. Yet, Calvin did not give it the chance to try and cast another spell, for he rushed in and struck the spell punk with a dashing uppercut, the impact having caused the spell punk to deflate like a balloon as it was defeated and disappeared from sight. This left only three more spell punks for him to defeat before he could focus on Spellslamzer. Yet, the so-called ‘ultimate spell punk’ was not impressed by how his underlings were doing.
“Do you fools have any idea what will happen if you don’t stop this rookie?! Get rid of him! NOW!!!”
Even though the spell punk probably did not intend it, his outburst made the Skyshifter wonder something. With the way Spellslamzer phrased his words, it gave Calvin the impression that the spell punk was trying to rush things. So, why exactly would he try to get his allies to hurry things up in a realm of his own creation? Was there something else going on that he hadn’t noticed yet?
Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury to think on such things, as more opponents took up the field to replace the ones that he defeated. This time though… there were two new spell punks that he could not recognize at all. One had a robe that looked like the light from the sun with its eyes and mouth being a shade of bright yellow, while the other spell punk had pitch black robes and a red shade for its eyes and mouth. At first glance, the color scheme of the two newcomers made him think of the Light and Dark elements related to Skylanders, like Spotlight and Blackout. Though, aside from appearance, he had little information to go off of. The only way to know for sure was to see them in action.
Which, in itself, did not take long, for when Calvin tried to go for the magic spell punk next, his attack was intercepted by a protective barrier of light, see-through shields appearing to spin horizontally around its spherical form. As this was happening, the blacked robed spell punk had cast a spell on the fire spell punk as its shadow emerged from the ground and copied its appearance. As the Skyshifter backed off from the barrier, the fire spell punk and the shadow duplicate sent two fireballs towards his direction. The first one narrowly missed him, but the second fireball hit the armguard that was on his left arm.
“Well, that’s just great,” Calvin thought to himself as he got back up on his feet. Not only could his new opponents block his attacks, but also make copies of other opponents on the field. “There’s got to be a catch to their abilities somehow. But what could it be?”
At this point, it was clear as day that the two new spell punks were of the Light and Dark element. However, what wasn’t as clear was the extent of their spells. Though, the Skyshifter had the feeling that unless he wanted them to keep on interfering with the fight, he needed to find a way around their abilities, and quickly. If he could do that, then he can overcome these new arrivals without any problems.
Though, before even attempting anything, he noticed that the life spell punk was channeling its magic to heal one of its allies. Immediately, instinct kicked in as he rushed over to try and prevent them from casting the spell. However, before he could even strike it, the light spell punk channeled its magic and cast the same spell from before onto its ally, which forced Calvin to back off. Yet, his attempt to stop the spell in the first place caught the life spell punk off guard and caused it to release its spell in the wrong direction.
Instead of reaching one of its allies, the spell from the life spell punk hit the Skyshifter instead. At first, Calvin thought that something bad was going to happen. Yet, he was surprised when he felt the pain in his left arm begin to diminish and disappear. It was something that he did not expect, but if it allowed him to keep on fighting, then who was he to complain?
“Are you idiots even trying!? Don’t just stand there!! Stop him!!”
Spellslamzer’s outburst was followed by the air spell punk channeling their magic and casting it on the fire spell punk. Much to Calvin’s dismay, he was quick to realize that the spell not only applied to it, but also the shadow that was conjured by the dark spell punk earlier. Not only did the two of them move much faster than before, but their attacks were also faster too, as they sent more fireballs in his direction. “You have got to be kidding me-”
Of course, that was only the start of what was going to be a massive headache, for the dark spell punk took the opportunity to channel their magic and cast it on its light counterpart to create a shadow copy of it. This was bad news for Calvin, since when it came to spell punks, the ones with supportive type abilities can only cast spells on their allies, but not themselves. As of this moment, the dark spell punk covered that weakness and made it possible for its allies' magic to reach every one of spell punks that were still on the battlefield, while also providing protection for themselves.
“Hehe, now THAT’S what I’m talking about!! Show that rookie who he’s dealing with!!”
With the situation going from bad to worse faster than Rainbow Dash doing aerial stunts, the Skyshifter had to find a way out of this mess before it got to the point where victory would seem impossible. Yet, there weren’t any enemies that he could attack that weren’t shielded by the light spell punk’s protection spell. Not only that, but he did not know the extent of how powerful the shield was. The only real way for him to find out was if he tried to attack it himself, but there was a high possibility that such a move could backfire.
Then, an idea came to him. If he could conjure an attack that was small enough and time it carefully, then he can possibly have it fly in between the shields and hit his target. With that in mind, the Skyshifter began to channel his power and focused on preparing a smaller version of the Wave Fist technique that he was taught. Once it was the proper size, Calvin launched it forward at the closest spell punk, hoping for his plan to yield some results and help even the odds.
Unfortunately, Calvin ended up making a costly error. Even though he was able to get his technique to the right size, he unfortunately misjudged how quickly the shields were moving and the timing it would take to get his attack between them. So, when the Skyshifter launched his attack and thought that it would slip through the shields, it instead ended up making contact alongside the edge of a shield and bounced off. With no control over where it was going, the projectile was now bouncing all around the entire arena like it was a game of pinball. That is, if you replace the ball with a burning orb of fire.
The orb continued to ricochet and bounce around the room for some time, and even Calvin himself had to dive out of the way a couple of times in order to avoid getting hit. Though, after his attack was reflected around the ring a few more times, it finally ended up hitting something, that being the copycat of the light spell punk that the dark spell punk created just a few moments earlier. After bouncing off of the shields of the other enemies in the arena, the Skyshifter’s projectile was not only able to somehow get between the shields of the shadow copy, but also had enough force to break through the barrier that protected them, an outcome that Calvin did not expect, but was grateful for nonetheless.
Immediately after the shadow copy was destroyed, the protective spells that were placed around their fellow comrades began to fade, something that the light spell punk was not entirely thrilled by at all. Yet, instead of trying to find a way to prevent the current dilemma it faced from getting any worse, the light spell punk began to argue with the dark spell punk instead and blame it for what just happened. Such chaos and commotion provided the Skyshifter the perfect opportunity, for it gave him the chance to take advantage of the situation and turn the tide of the fight. His first move was to dash directly in front of the light spell punk and strike it in the face with a megaton punch to send it flying out of the arena and into the churning storm under them. Before the other spell punks could realize what was going on, Calvin fired off another Wave Fist towards the air spell punk, which sent it crashing through another section of the spiky ice wall that was around the arena.
“You idiots! This is what happens when you let your petty arguments distract you!” Spellslamzer’s voice roared around the makeshift realm as the storm underneath began to grow more violent with each passing second, “Don’t make me come out there to finish the job that you are supposed to be doing!!”
Of course, for the spell punks that remained, that was easier said than done. The fiasco that had played out moments ago resulted in the loss of the comrades that not only provided defensive protections, but also improved their swiftness on the battlefield. Not only that, but the trio of spell punks that were left on the battlefield did not have a backup plan in case something went wrong. So, whatever it was that the group tried to do on the battlefield was spontaneous and lacked any form of coordination, something that the Skyshifter immediately picked up on and used to his advantage.
While it was true that his opponents still had a lot of offensive power and the dark spell punk could still make copies of its remaining allies on the battlefield, there was one advantage that Calvin had against them. With the removal of the air spell punk just now, the Skyshifter had the upper hand in swiftness. Whether it was the speed of their attacks or the speed of their reactions, the remaining opponents that were on the battlefield were much slower than they were just moments ago, something that Calvin was definitely going to take advantage of as he cracked his knuckles and looked back at the remaining foes. “Okay, so who’s first?”
The only response he got to that question was when the dark spell punk cast his magic and created copies of both the fire and magic spell punks. While the fire spell punks just immediately went to shooting fireballs in the Skyshifter’s general direction, the magic spell punk had a different approach. After turning to its copy and shouting some kind of command, the shadow quickly channeled a spell onto the magic spell punk that turned it invisible as they disappeared from the battlefield. Originally, the thought that came to Calvin’s mind was that the magic spell punk was doing this to avoid fighting altogether. Yet, as he was avoiding the fireballs that were sent towards him, the Skyshifter noticed what appeared to be violet orbs of mana appearing around the edge of the arena that were aimed directly at him.
“Well, that’s definitely something I haven’t seen in a while-”
Before he could even finish, the orbs began to glow and fire off blasts of concentrated magic, prompting him to backpedal away and try to avoid as much as he could. At this point, it became apparent that unless Calvin took down the dark spell punk first, this battle was only going to get more complicated with each passing minute. Yet, if he were to try and do a technique that he had already used earlier, it was more than likely that they would try to avoid it at all costs. So, the Skyshifter needed to try something different that could catch his enemies by surprise.
Luckily, he had such a technique in mind that might do the trick. Quickly, he pulled his arms in a defensive posture, before he pushed them outward as fire was briefly seen from his hands. However, nothing really seemed to happen. If anything, the only thing that it did was have the spell punks just stare at him, before laughing at him. In their minds, they thought that whatever it was that the Skyshifter was trying to do had failed miserably and that it provided an opening for them to attack.
Though, they all made a simple yet crucial mistake. The spell punks anticipated an attack coming straight at them, when in reality, it was coming from above their heads. Without warning, two meteors crashed into the shadow copies of the fire and magic spell punks before they even realized what was going on. When the dark spell punk realized its copies were defeated and tried to execute the same spell to bring them back, a third meteor came crashing down and sent it flying off the platform and into the vortex underneath.
“Are you fools even paying attention to what he’s doing!? If I knew that you were this incompetent, I wouldn’t have hesitated to upgrade to Minions Monthly’s premium service!!”
Once he saw that the remaining opponents that were on the field were caught off guard by the sudden defeat of their comrades, Calvin took advantage of this opportunity to strike. Before either of the spell punks had the chance to focus back on the battle, the Skyshifter charged the magic spell punk and struck it with a powerful uppercut to knock it into the air. As it fell back down to the ground, he struck the spell punk with a megaton punch to launch them out of one of the gaps in the barrier that was around the platform. As the storm grew more restless underneath, the Skyshifter now only had one opponent remaining as he turned towards the last spell punk in the arena.
“So, what exactly was so funny earlier?” Calvin asked as he folded his arms. “Care to share-?”
The only response he got was a frantically conjured fireball that the last remaining spell punk fired towards him. However, instead of making an effort to dodge it, the Skyshifter did something else as fire began to form around his hands. As the fireball got closer, he extended both arms forward and planted his feet as the projectile made contact with his hands. At first, the spell punk thought that he was countering its spell with the same technique that was demonstrated throughout the fight. However, that was when it realized something a little too late, for he wasn’t trying to stop the fireball at all.
He was trying to catch it. “I guess that’s a no then!”
Even though this was something that he just came up with on the spot and was a bit unsure if it would actually work, the Skyshifter stuck with it and pushed forward. As he focused, the flames from his hands began to merge with the fireball that he was holding onto, which made it grow stronger and expand. Once all the flames had been combined together, Calvin looked back towards the spell punk that threw it as it stared at him, “Here, I think this belongs to you!”
After seeing Calvin take its attack and turn it into something far more dangerous, the fire spell punk used the last of its strength to try and make a break for it. However, its attempt at escape was short-lived when Calvin threw the fireball in his hands straight at it, as it struck the spell punk before he could even get out. Now that all of Spellslamzer’s minions were gone, the ultimate spell punk had no choice but to come out and face him. Though, there didn’t really seem to be any signs of him anywhere.
At least, early on, “Grr... you are really starting to annoy me. You know that, right?”
As soon as he heard Spellslamzer’s voice, the spell punk re-emerged right in front of him, “If you really think you can best me in my own domain, then I would like to see you try!! For this ends now!!”
“I think we can both agree on that,” Calvin grinned, “Let’s finish this!!”
As the two fighters charged towards one another, both of them called forth whatever strength they had left to face each other one last time. The storm around them began to get even worse with each passing moment as Calvin tried to think of something that could finish this battle. When he caught a glimpse of the craters left behind by the meteors he summoned earlier, an idea then came to him. If he could create some more meteors and send them flying towards Spellslamzer as a distraction, then he can prepare one last attack to bring this fight to an end.
“By Eon, I hope this works,” the Skyshifter thought to himself, before going forward with his plan and began to channel fire in his hands. Just like earlier, he called down more meteors towards the arena in the hope of getting his opponent’s attention. When the spell punk looked up and saw what was coming, he didn’t try to send an attack towards it, but instead drifted to the side to avoid it altogether as the meteors fell past him and into the storm. Around this point, Calvin tried to charge in and strike his opponent with one last attack that he had prepared.
Only for it to miss as Spellslamzer weaved around the Skyshifter’s right arm, avoiding the haymaker that he tried to strike him with before knocking him backwards onto the ground with a magic enhanced strike, “Did you really think something like that was going to work on me?” the spell punk taunted as his opponent was struggling to stand back up on his feet, “Rookie, I’ve been fighting long enough to know when someone is trying to distract me from something else they’re planning!”
“Oh no,” Calvin thought as he realized his mistake. Not only did his plan of attack get foiled, the Skyshifter left himself wide open for a counter attack from his opponent that could lead to Spellslamzer defeating him. If that wasn’t bad enough, he couldn’t muster any strength left to defend himself, let alone get back up on his feet, his fight with Spellslamzer’s minions having drained most of his stamina, “Not good! NOT good!!”
As the Skyshifter struggled to try and move, the spell punk readied one final attack to win the match as magic began to surge around his hands, “And now, victory is within my-!!”
WHAM!!
Without warning, the meteors that missed Spellslamzer earlier happened to whip back around thanks to the might of the surging storm around them and blindsided the spell punk. The force of the collision was enough to not only hurt the spell punk, but also sent it hurtling into the surging storm below. Everything happened so fast that even Calvin himself was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, “W-well, that wasn’t what I was expecting, but I’ll take it.”
Shortly afterwards, everything began to rapidly change, and before he knew it, the Skyshifter found himself back in the arena of the MaguDome again. Though... his opponent was absent, and Magus himself did not seem to be amused by the unexpected outcome, “Well, that was… something. Not entirely what I thought was going to happen, but HEY! This rookie is making a name for himself folks!! Give a round of applause for the newcomer Kai Chi, for he is our second finalist and will be taking part in Battalia’s grand finale!!”
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” the Skyshifter thought to himself as he slowly got up and proceeded to leave. He still hadn’t had the chance to eat anything because of how unexpectedly quick he was called up for his match, so the first thing that was on his mind was getting some food, followed by a long rest. Yet, as he came out through the tunnel to the inner lobby of the MaguDome, Calvin realized that someone had been waiting for him.
“So, you’re the rookie that’s been getting everyone’s attention lately.”
When he turned around, the Skyshifter found himself staring at none other than the drow elf that was going to be his opponent in the grand finals, Blade Gunner. He had been leaning against the wall that was closest to the entrance of the arena as the drow walked over to him. Though at that moment, Calvin wondered why would Blade Gunner go out of his way just to meet with him. If anything, he did not really appear to be the type of person that would want to sit around and talk.
“Um… hi?”
Blade Gunner just let out a deep groan as he looked back at him, “Look, if you think that I’m one of those cowardly scumbags who would try to blackmail you into forfeiting, I’m not like that. I just wanted to talk, if you don’t have any other matters to attend to.”
Before Calvin had the chance to answer, he heard a low grumble come from his stomach and let out a small breath, “W-well, I hadn’t had the chance to eat, and I was going to-”
“I happen to know a place where you can get something to eat and avoid the crowds,” the drow insisted, before looking towards the overabundance of attendees at the food booths outside, “If you would like, I can take you there.”
While Calvin was thinking about just having a simple meal and then going back, Blade Gunner’s offer did provide an opportunity. He would still get some food to eat, that was certain, but this also provided a bit of an opportunity to possibly learn more about Blade Gunner and potentially ask him a few questions that were on his mind after watching his battle against the chompy mage earlier in the day. It was the equivalent of taking down two chompies with one attack.
With that in mind, the Skyshifter looked back towards the fellow drow elf and nodded, “Alright then, lead the way.”