//------------------------------//
// Scroll 29- Battalia (Part 4.2) 
// Story: Beyond the Skies 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Scroll 29- Battalia (Part 4.2)




When morning finally came back around and Calvin had risen from his slumber, many thoughts echoed in his mind. After Stealth Elf unexpectedly showed up at his door the other night, he could not stop thinking about her and Trap Shadow. Even though Smoky was with the two of them, there was no telling whether or not they actually were able to escape. He tried his best to think positively, but with the uncertainty of his friends’ escape and the pending fight against Blade Gunner, the Skyshifter was in a state of disarray.

Fortunately, he still happened to have the communication band that Stealth Elf returned to him. So, in order to try and stay calm, the Skyshifter decided to take some time to see if he can get ahold of Sharpfin. If there was anyone who could help him refocus and put his mind at ease, it would be him. “Hey, Sharpfin, are you there?”

“I hear you loud and clear. Perfect timing, too,” the land shark replied, which had Calvin be a little hopeful that he had some good news to share, “We just got out of range of that gizmo Magus had put in place at the Coliseum. Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow just got recalled back to the academy a few moments ago.”

That had Calvin let out a sigh of relief. Now that he knew that the Skylanders that he came to rescue were back at the academy and far away from Magus’ clutches, he wouldn’t have to worry about them. Now, he could properly focus on his upcoming match, “That’s great to hear-”

“Is that Calvin? Is he talking to you!? Please tell me that’s him-!!”

“Uh oh,” the Skyshifter thought to himself, for he immediately knew who that voice belonged to.

“Woah, easy there!! I know you’re eager to talk to him, but please mind the helm! You hit that, and we get sent spiraling off course,” Sharpfin retorted, before letting out a sigh, “Calvin, I apologize. Snap Shot and I did what you requested and asked for Twilight to help us. Though, ever since she came on board, she’s… well, I think you probably get what I mean.”

From what it sounded like so far, Calvin definitely had some kind of idea as to what was happening right now. “So, where are you guys?”

“Well, we’re on our way back and getting ready to get you out of there as we speak,” he replied back, “Now that Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow are safe, you don’t have to stay there any longer. That is, unless you want to take part in one last match.”

“I did say that I wanted to see this through to the end,” he replied, “Though, before I go, can I talk to Twilight for a moment?”

That caught Sharpfin by surprise, “Wait, you want to-? Seriously? …Alright, I’ll tell her,” There was a brief pause as silence began to linger in the air. Though, Calvin eventually heard the sound of Sharpfin trying to get Twilight’s attention, “Hey, Calvin says he wants to talk to you-”

Immediately, he could hear what sounded like the communicator being snatched away from the land shark, before a different voice was heard. This time, he heard a voice that the Skyshifter was all too familiar with, with no real restraint on how loud she was, “Calvin, what were you THINKING!?! You said-!!”

“Twilight, calm down please. You’re going to-”

Before he could finish telling the alicorn that her outburst could break his cover, there was a loud knocking on the door. “Oi, new guy!! What’s going on in there?! Everything alright?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Calvin quickly replied, changing forms as he tried his best to stay in character, placing his hand over the communicator to muffle any sound that came from it, “I’m just… talking with my trainer. She’s kind of mad that I forgot to tell her that I was taking part in this tournament and was chewing me out for it.”

Even though his excuse was something that he came up with on the spot, it… was enough to convince the guard that was outside. “Well, don’t take too long. You’re expected to be in the arena in twenty minutes. If you don’t show up, you’ll end up being disqualified. Got it?”

“Understood,” the Skyshifter replied, waiting to hear the sound of footsteps drowning out first before removing his hand from his wrist.

“What the heck just happened?” Sharpfin was heard over the other end of the com-line.

“Well, Twilight almost had one of the guards knocking down my door to see what was going on,” he told them, “I was able to get them to believe that I was talking to my trainer. Though, I don’t have much time before my last match.”

“How much?”

“Twenty minutes or I’m disqualified.”

There was a bit of silence at first, before he could hear Sharpfin’s voice as they were talking to Twilight again. This time, with a bit of a serious tone in his voice, “Okay, I’ll give this back to you, but please demonstrate some self control. Your outburst just now almost blew his cover, and he doesn’t have a lot of time to talk right now. Can you do that?”

For a moment, Calvin waited for some kind of response, whether it was from either Sharpfin or Twilight. With how quiet everything was, the Skyshifter thought that he might’ve accidentally hit some kind of mute button on the communication band that he wasn’t aware of. Fortunately though, he did not have to wait too long to hear a response. This time, it was from Twilight. “Calvin.”

“Twilight,” he said back, before he began to work on forming an apology, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you the truth. You must be pretty mad at me.”

“I’m not mad, Calvin. I’m very disappointed,” the alicorn corrected him, “There are some things that I would want to say, but before I do, I just have one question.”

“What is it?”

“Simply put, why?” she asked, “Why would you go out of your way and risk your own safety to do this? I’m still having trouble trying to understand.”

In his mind, the Skyshifter had only one response for her. “Because Stealth Elf is my friend. When I first came here to the academy, she was one of the first people I met. She helped me understand what I was capable of, helped me with my training and even helped me learn a bit more about everyone else that was on campus. She went out of her way to make sure that I felt at home. So, what good of a friend am I if I don’t help her when she needs it most after everything she did to help me?”

Much to his surprise, Twilight didn’t quickly retort or try to argue with him. Instead, she was silent. This seemed odd to Calvin, since he thought that the alicorn was going to scold him for not only lying to her, but asking for her help in pulling off a rescue mission after she found out. So, what exactly prompted this change in behavior?

“Hey, Calvin?” she finally spoke after a few moments of silence, “I know what it’s like to be in that kind of position, where you have a friend that’s in trouble and you really want to help them. Hay, I’ve personally been in that situation before with my friends. Though unlike me with my friends, you tried to do all of this by yourself.”

“Mostly by himself,” Sharpfin corrected her.

“Um, Twilight?” Calvin now took a turn to speak, “I-I’m a bit confused. I thought you said you were disappointed with me.”

“Oh, I still am, that’s for sure,” the alicorn retorted, “Though, that conversation will be for later. You still have a match to take part in, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Y-yeah, that’s right,” he replied, “Though, what about afterwards?”

“Leave that to us, kiddo. We’ll make sure to get you out of there, no matter what the outcome is,” the land shark reassured him, shortly before the communication band went silent, which left Calvin with an empty room and little time to prepare himself for one last confrontation in the arena.



“Ladies and Gentlemen! Criminals of all ages!! Welcome one and all to the grand finals of Battalia,” Magus’ triumphant voice declared as the roar of the crowd echoed around the arena, “Where our remaining competitors fight one final battle to see who will become the champion of the arena!!”

Unlike the first couple of days in the tournament, the size of the crowd that was here in the stands was much bigger. Whether they were competitors that had already been knocked out of the tournament or just fans that were eager to see some action, every seat in the stands was practically filled. The cheering and noise echoed throughout the stadium to the point that anyone that was outside the MaguDome could hear them as well as any airships that just so happened to be passing by. Even Magus himself was surprised by the huge turnout of fans.

“Now, I know that all of you are eager to have our two finalists battle it out to determine who goes home with all the glory,” the drow continued to speak to his audience, “Though, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that the charity portion of the tournament is still accepting contributions of any size. You still have time to donate your contribution to help further Lord Kaos’ ambitions! So, don’t wait!! Act now before those pathetic Skylanders try to undo another one of his glorious schemes!!”

Once the drow elf was done speaking the promotional bit for the tournament, it was time for him to get straight to introducing the finalists. “Now, for our first contestant! He’s a seasoned fighter who has bested against several fan favorites throughout the course of the tournament! Now, he’s just one more battle away from becoming the champion of Battalia! Give it up for Blade Gunner!!”

From where Calvin was waiting, he watched as the gate on the opposite end of the arena opened up as Blade Gunner entered the arena. The elf looked the same as he did yesterday, yet the friendly appearance from before was gone. It was now time for the final fight, and if he was going to win, then he needed to give it his all in order to come out on top. “And now, for our second contestant!”

“Here we go,” Calvin thought to himself as he stretched his legs and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

“He’s a rookie in the arena who has been quickly making a name for himself in Battalia!! The fiery fighter with enough determination in his heart to overcome all challengers!! Does he have what it takes to go all the way and claim victory!? We’ll just have to see for ourselves!! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome KAI CHI!!”

With that, the gates opened, and Calvin immediately stepped out onto the battlefield to join his opponent. The roar of the crowd echoed throughout the battlefield as he saw dozens of fans crammed in their seats. Everyone in attendance was eager to finally watch the two final competitors face off to see who would come out on top. And Magnus was not the kind of host that would keep his fans waiting.

“Alright, now that everyone’s here, it’s time we get this show on the road!!”

That signal prompted Calvin to take up a fight stance, his gaze fixed on his opponent as Blade Gunner unsheathed his weapon. The other elf was quick to straighten his shoulders, before he gripped his blade and looked back to the Skyshifter. The time for talk had now passed, for it was now time for battle, and only one may stand victorious.

“It all comes down to this!! FIGHT!!!”

Immediately, Calvin’s opponent went on the offensive, as Blade Gunner charged at him and swung their blade. The Skyshifter himself was caught off guard by his opponent's speed, forced to either dodge or block the incoming attacks as he tried to find an opening to push him back. Unlike yesterday against the Chompy Mage, where the elf just waited for who he was fighting to make the first move, they were taking the initiative this time. In doing so, the fighter had placed Calvin in an uncomfortable position, where he was forced into a corner rather early in the match.

“Well, would you look at that folks?! Seems our champion wants to knock out the rookie sensation before he can fight back!”

As the Skyshifter was still moving to avoid the attacks, he took notice of something. Just like when Blade was fighting Chompy Mage, he only used his right arm for his attacks. For someone of his skill, Calvin thought that Blade would go out of his way to use both arms to be effective in combat. Yet, even as he dashed away to his left to get out of being cornered, his opponent didn’t even use his left arm to try and intercept him, which seemed a bit off. After all, why would a fighter at his level of skill not use every possible trick that he had in order to stop him?

With that in mind, the Skyshifter had to change his strategy. Originally, Calvin was going to observe his opponent's attacks and find any weaknesses to exploit. However, since Blade Gunner was moving too fast for him to keep track of his movements, he had to improvise. Instead of fully going on offense or defense, the Skyshifter chose to combine the two of them: act defensively to protect himself from incoming attacks and go on the offensive when there was an opportunity to act on. 

“Would you look at that?! The rookie’s not planning on giving up so easily!! Can he find a way to turn the tide of this fight?!”

“Wishful thinking,” Blade Gunner retorted, before he charged at the Skyshifter. As the elf swung at Calvin’s chest, he stepped back to avoid the blade, lucky that it only cut the cloth of his tunic. Though as he was about to counterattack, the Skyshifter saw his opponent change the grip he had on his weapon before swinging again, this time holding the blade in reverse as it barely passed by Calvin’s face.

“Okay, that was too close...” Calvin thought to himself as he backed up far enough to give himself some distance from his opponent. The Skyshifter then planted his feet, before he began to channel his power into his hands. As flames began to flicker around his fingers, he placed his hands together and shifted his arms. “Let’s see how he’ll respond to this!”

Quickly, he had the flames he was channeling combine together, before launching it as an Energy Blast towards Blade Gunner. In Calvin’s mind, if his opponent excelled at close quarters combat, then there was a possibility that they might have difficulty against attacks fired from range. So, he hoped that this attack could hit its mark and possibly provide him an opportunity to act on, something that could allow him a chance to turn the fight around.

However, Blade Gunner had something else in mind. Instead of stepping aside or dodging the attack, he held his blade in a defensive manner as the flat side of his weapon faced towards the oncoming projectile. Calvin was quick to recognize the stance his opponent was in, for it was the same one that he took at the beginning of yesterday’s battle when the Chompy Mage sent his minions towards him. Though, something about it didn’t make sense. What exactly was he trying to do?

It was only when his attack got closer to the elf’s blade that Blade Gunner chose to act, for when the energy blast made contact with his weapon, he pushed his right arm in a swinging motion as if to cut through it. From Calvin’s perspective, he thought that his opponent was either trying to block the attack entirely or possibly redirect it somewhere else. He would go as far as to even think that maybe Blade Gunner’s weapon had other properties that he wasn’t aware of, but it didn’t look like the blade had any particular properties to back up that theory.

Then, Calvin heard a sharp crackle as he saw electricity run through the elf’s sword. Without warning, Blade Gunner put his strength into pushing his blade through the Skyshifter’s attack, slicing the blast in half as both sides hit the wall behind him and exploded. The act was enough to catch Calvin by surprise. Out of all the times that he had used that technique, nothing like that had ever happened before.

“Did you see that, folks!? Blade Gunner was unphased by Kai Chi’s attack, cutting it in half! Can you believe it!?”

“Okay, that’s going to get annoying real quickly,” the Skyshifter grit his teeth, “If he’s too fast for me to get a hit up close and can easily stop any ranged attacks I have, then what can I-”

It was as he was thinking this over that Calvin noticed something. For a brief moment, the lightning at the end of Blade Gunner’s sword went towards where the elf’s left arm would be as the elf looked at his left shoulder and started to say something. At first, he thought that his eyes were simply playing tricks on him. But then, a different thought came to mind as he recalled something from the day before when he had his conversation with the elf.

Yesterday, when Blade Gunner moved his shoulders, he heard the sound of something that he had heard before on most Tech Skylanders. At the time of the conversation, he wasn’t so focused on it. Yet right now, he was beginning to realize what it might be, for the sound he heard was the sound of when mechanical limbs would move and shift around, similar to that of Dr. Krankcase.

However, theory alone wasn’t going to prove anything. Calvin had to find a way to test it, and to do that, he had to find a way to remove the cloak off of him, a task that was not going to be easy, given that it looked like his opponent happened to have something to counter his abilities. That... and Blade Gunner probably had a good idea of the moves he frequently utilized, if he had watched his previous battles.

Unless… he found a way to catch him off guard by using an attack the elf hadn’t seen before. Something that his opponent could not anticipate and prepare for. Though, trying to figure out what exactly would be the best course of action to do was going to be a bit challenging. However, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from trying.

With that in mind, Calvin began to have flames form at the bottom of his feet as he took off in a blazing dash. Yet, he didn’t go directly towards his opponent. Instead, he dashed towards the walls of the arena and jumped up right before he made contact. Once his feet had touched the wall, he used his powers again to dash off the wall and towards his opponent in a blinding strike towards his side.

“What’s this? It looks like Kai Chi is trying to use a different plan of attack! Just what tricks does this rookie have up his non-existent sleeves?!”

Calvin’s attack didn’t exactly catch Blade Gunner off guard at first glance. Yet, the longer he continued this string of surprise attacks, the more that the elf grew irritated. To him, he thought that the Skyshifter was more likely showing off than actually fighting. “What exactly makes you think that such attacks like that would work?”

To Calvin, that was actually a question that he wanted to hear, and that he answered gladly. “Because I now know more than I did before,” he said with a smirk on his face as he went forward with another attack, this time from the elf’s left side. Instead of moving his left arm to block or intercept, Blade Gunner just simply moved the left side of his body to avoid the attack altogether.

“Really now?” the elf humored the Skyshifter, “And just what is it that you learned just now, despite failing to land a single blow on me?” In his mind, he honestly thought that Calvin was just running his mouth. However, what he heard next sent a chill down Blade Gunner’s spine.

“I know that you’re trying to hide something.”

Immediately, Blade Gunner’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the Skyshifter and grit his teeth. “What are you-”

“For someone who’s one of the strongest fighters in this tournament, you only seem to use half of what you’re capable of,” Calvin interjected, now back in the center of the arena, “Don’t pretend like I haven’t noticed-”

“Pick your next words carefully,” the elf snarled as he brought his blade back up. To the Skyshifter though, this was a step in the right direction. Not only did it confirm some suspicions that he had about his opponent, but perhaps aggravating him and having his foe break his composure would provide an opportunity to turn the tide of this fight in his favor.

“Okay, okay, just one question though,” Calvin replied, thinking that this particular question would prove his suspicions right, “When are you going to start fighting for real and not like you have one arm tied behind your back-?”

Blade Gunner didn’t speak, but instead responded by charging directly at him and swinging his weapon. However, the Skyshifter was able to sidestep out of the way just before the attack could hit anything as he looked back at his opponent with a grin. Watching his opponent break his composure was seen as a good sign to him, because it meant that he was more than likely to make a mistake. Instead of being precise with his attacks, Blade Gunner was swinging wildly to try and hit him. Now, he just needed to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity that was provided to him and catch his opponent by surprise.

That opportunity came when his opponent left an opening for him after he dodged some attacks from Blade Gunner’s sword. As he charged in, Blade Gunner thought that the Skyshifter was trying to hit him with an uppercut. Yet, just as Calvin stopped in front of him, he changed his attack midway through. Instead of attacking his opponent with a rising uppercut, he had a condensed orb of fire in his right hand that he fired off at close range to blind him and burn a piece of his cloak. While the elf was trying to recover, the Skyshifter quickly grabbed hold of his cloak and tore it away with all of his might!

In the moments that came after, the cheering crowd went dead silent. When Calvin backed away, he wasn’t sure what exactly had the whole arena go quiet. As he looked back at Blade Gunner, he realized his answer. What was hiding under his cloak was a metallic silver arm that went up to his shoulder, with an orange circle on the outside of his left hand, a sight that left him with a multitude of questions.

Yet, before he could say anything, a different voice was now heard. “I warned you about this.”

Blade Gunner grit his teeth, before looking back at the Skyshifter. Yet, when he began to speak, he wasn’t talking to Calvin. Instead, he was talking to the newfound voice as his eyes shifted to his left. “Now is not a good time, Arthur-”

“Wait, Arthur?” Calvin realized as he looked towards his arm. He remembered his opponent mentioning it during Blade’s fight the other day, but couldn’t exactly make heads or tails on who or what they were. If anything, he thought that it was just someone talking to Blade the same way that Sharpfin communicated with him.

“Well, to take a term of phrase that you and your kind would say, the cat’s out of the bag now,” the voice, Arthur, spoke again, “Optimally, it would be ideal for me to-.”

Before they could finish, Blade Gunner grit his teeth. “Don’t even think about it. I told you that I do not need your help in order to win, and I will see it through.”

If he were entirely honest with himself, Calvin had no idea what exactly was going on. Though, he did not have the time to ask any questions. Before the Skyshifter had the chance to do anything, Blade started to channel more electricity as the crackling sound of lightning echoed around the battlefield. This time though, the lightning was not only circulating through his weapon, but also his arm.

“What’s t-this!? F-following this s-surprise r-revel-lation-” Magus tried to commentate further, but the speakers were beginning to cut out and distort his voice, “W-what’s going on-!?! W-why is i-it right n-now that we’re g-getting i-interference-?! F-Find a way to f-f-fix-!!”

The speakers of the arena were quick to short circuit, cutting off whatever it was that Magus was trying to say as Calvin turned his attention back to Blade Gunner. Small chunks of stone that fell from the walls of the arena were now suspended above the ground as the elf looked back at him. Blade’s eyes burned with rage as he gripped his blade and grit his teeth, “I will do whatever it takes to prove you wrong, Arthur! And if I need to tear this place apart in order to do so, then so be it!!”

Before Calvin had any idea as to what Blade was going to do, the elf dragged his weapon on the ground and swung in an upward arc. As he did, chunks of the stone floor began to break off and were sent flying towards him alongside a wave of lightning. Instinct quickly kicked in for the Skyshifter immediately afterwards as he somersaulted to the right in an attempt to get out of the way. Though as he did, he couldn’t help but get the feeling that something seemed… off.

Originally, the Skyshifter thought that his opponent’s attacks were going to move much faster than what he had already seen now that Blade Gunner didn’t seem to be holding back anymore. However, despite its destructive capability, it did not move at the same speed. If anything, the shockwave and the pieces of stone that the elf sent flying moved slower than he expected, which at first glance didn’t make any sense.

Though after watching Blade Gunner attack a couple more times, Calvin began to realize something. When the fight first started, the elf’s attacks lacked strength, but his speed was greater than his. Right now, his attacks were slower, but had far greater power and range. Not only that, Calvin also noticed that Blade Gunner would grimace in pain from time to time, even though he was trying his best to shrug it off and ignore it. 

Based on everything he was seeing, Calvin could only think of one possibility for what was going on in that moment. With the power of his arm came a change in how Blade Gunner attacked. In exchange for giving up his speed and bladework, Blade gained raw strength and power to use in attacks that the Skyshifter had not seen before. If he was going to have any hope of winning this fight, he needed to fight back and not have the elf push him into a corner. Though right now, he was having trouble thinking of how exactly he was going to do that, considering that he didn’t have many options at his disposal.

It was as he was trying to think of a plan that something crossed his mind. More specifically, it was something King Pen told him a couple days before this mission began.



“Well, we’re going to be using the next two days to come up with something brand new, something specifically tailored to how you fight and something for you to use as your ace in the hole.”



“Well, sensei, I guess it’s time to see if all that training paid off,” the Skyshifter thought to himself as he cleared his mind and began to focus. As he did, the fire that he had conjured many times before began to take form not just around his hands, but also his body. Blade immediately noticed, for his opponent had not demonstrated anything like this before.

“I don’t know what you’re doing,” the elf grit his teeth as the crackling of electricity grew louder and more rocks from the ground began to rise, “But if you think I’m just going to stand and watch, then think again!!”

With another outward swing, Blade launched two more projectiles towards the Skyshifter. However, how Calvin reacted this time was much different. Instead of trying to avoid it, he faced it head on as the flames he was conjuring began to burn brighter. As he moved forward, the skyshifter sidestepped past the first projectile and then directly charged at the second one. To the elf and everyone that was watching this unfold, they thought that he was going to avoid it again or defend himself.

Though, that was when Calvin did something that caught everyone that was watching off guard. Instead of striking it, the Skyshifter used his hands to somersault over the flying projectile. Before Blade realized what happened, Calvin’s flames surged around his feet as he struck him on his left side with a blazing kick. The force of the blow being enough to send the elf tumbling across the ground as the Skyshifter landed back on his feet.

“You’re not the only one who has been holding back,” Calvin smirked, before taking on a new stance. Instead of having his feet firmly planted on the ground and being locked in place, the skyshifter’s legs were moving a little more freely as embers burned around his feet. “After all, how can I call myself a martial artist if I only used just my hands?”

When Blade Gunner got back up on his feet, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth in disgust. The elf thought that he had this rookie in a corner and that if he were to keep pressuring him, then he could overpower them and easily win. However, not only did his opponent avoid his attacks, but they blindside him with a strike that he wasn’t able to anticipate. Something that greatly annoyed Blade to no end.

“Do you really think that you’re going to win just because you caught me off guard once? How foolish,” the elf snapped back, before he pointed his left arm at Calvin. The electricity that was around him began to circulate even more as smaller sized stones began to float all around Blade Gunner’s left hand in a circular formation. Then, with an upward flick of his wrist, they were launched towards the Skyshifter’s general direction at a speed that was slightly faster than that of the elf’s previous attacks.

However, it was then that Blade made a crucial mistake. The elf was so focused on trying to fight back and regain his earlier advantage that he underestimated his opponent’s newfound capabilities, for not only was Calvin able to avoid the incoming rocks, but he could also send one flying back towards the elf with a blazing kick. He only had mere seconds to move as it blazed past his head and collided into the back wall.

It wasn’t just Blade that was having difficulties though, for the longer the battle went on, the harder things became for Arthur as well. They knew that if the elf continued to draw on so much power with his arm, then it was entirely possible that he could end up seriously hurting himself. However, right now, Blade was so fixated on trying to defeat the Skyshifter that he would defiantly ignore anything Arthur would try to tell him, so any kind of warning to the elf would fall on deaf ears. Not only that, but the fact that the Skyshifter was using techniques that had not been observed previously made it harder for Arthur to think of an effective way to counter them.

Unfortunately for the elf, he realized the ramifications of his haste far too late. When he tried to prepare more rocks to send towards the Skyshifter, the electricity in the air began to wither, and the projectiles he had prepared fell to the ground before he had the chance to fire them. In his confusion, the Skyshifter saw this as an opening and quickly charged straight for Blade Gunner. Whatever was going on, Calvin saw this as an opportunity to attack, and he knew he should take it before he lost his opening.

“W-wha-!?”

Swiftly, Calvin struck the elf with two straight jabs, followed by a kick from his right leg. While the attacks weren’t exactly powerful in terms of strength, each consecutive strike in quick succession was enough to throw Blade off balance and have him stagger in place. With the arm out of commission for the moment, the Skyshifter saw this as his chance to finish the battle here and now. If this opportunity were to slip away, then he might not have another chance.

“Alright, remember what King Pen taught you,” Calvin thought to himself as he concentrated his flames into the soles of his feet. “Hit them fast, hit them hard!!”

In the blink of an eye, the Skyshifter dashed forward and struck Blade Gunner with an overhead kick as the elf fell to one knee. Before Blade could get back up or counterattack, Calvin struck again, this time with enough force to knock his opponent upwards into the air and in the ideal spot that the Skyshifter needed him to be in. Swiftly afterwards, he channeled the flames in his feet to launch himself into the air and continue his assault as he struck Blade Gunner with a few more blazing kicks. As his attacks landed, the flames around his feet burned brighter as Calvin focused what was left of his energy into one final blow.

“Time to finish this!”

In one last motion, the Skyshifter flipped his body forward and brought his leg down on top of Blade Gunner in a fiery axe kick, as the impact of the strike sent the elf crashing into the ground. The shockwave from the impact of the crash was felt all throughout the surrounding area, as some of the people in the stands were knocked out of their seats. When Calvin finally landed back on solid ground, the electricity throughout the arena slowly began to flicker and fade out as he looked where his opponent had landed. Part of him expected for the elf to try and get back on his feet, but instead, he just laid there motionless. 

Out for the count.

Seconds after the decisive blow had been delivered, that was when he finally heard the speakers go off, “-W-wait, i-it’s back on? W-we’re live again?” the voice of Magus echoed, before he cleared his throat, “Ahem!! W-what I mean is… WHAT AN INCREDIBLE UPSET!! In an unexpected series of twists and turns, the rookie was able to come from behind and pull off an amazing victory!! Everyone, give it up for your new champion!!”

Immediately, a round of applause rocked the entire stadium as Calvin looked towards the announcer’s booth where Magus resided. Much to the surprise of the Skyshifter, the drow elf actually chose to emerge from the confines of his booth and come onto the battlefield to meet him face to face. He wasn’t entirely sure as to why Magus wanted to do this, though it was a little bit too late to be asking questions. Right now, he had to just go with the flow, because the sooner he got through this, the sooner he could leave this place behind.

“Now that we have that out of the way, let’s tell our champion what exactly he won, shall we?!”

“Wait, what?” Calvin thought, caught off guard by the drow’s words. While the Skyshifter knew that this was a tournament, he didn’t know that there was some kind of prize that was to be given out to the victor. If anything, the promotional posters around the arena made it seem like Kaos was getting more of a benefit because of the ‘charity fundraiser’ that the event was planning than they were. So, what exactly was Magus trying to do here?

“Why are you so surprised? Did you really think I would go as far to host a tournament without a grand prize? What kind of lunatic does something like that!?” the drow asked, before raising his arms to hear more praise from the crowd around them, “As for what you won… well, why don’t we show you?”

It was as he was speaking that the Skyshifter watched a hatch open up from an opening above the booth, and with it, a cage emerged shortly afterwards. However, there was something about the cage that the drow did not realize until Calvin inadvertently pointed it out to him. “Hang on… you’re giving me a cage? How is that a prize?”

“No no. I’m giving you what’s inside the cage-”

“But it’s empty though.”

Immediately, Magus blinked and turned back around towards the cage, his expression immediately changing when he realized that the prize he was going to give… was gone. There was no trace of anything out of the ordinary both inside or outside of the cage, but the two prisoners that he had been graciously given by Lord Kaos were nowhere in sight. What made things worse was that he only learned of this now, in front of his massive audience. Of all the times to have everything start to fall apart at the seams, this was the worst possible time.

To Calvin though, he could tell that the drow was not prepared for this at all. The sight of seeing Magus struggle to try and stay calm made him chuckle for a brief moment. For someone that bragged about the amount of security around the arena and about how it would be impossible for his prisoners to escape, Magus didn’t appear to have a backup plan in case everything went wrong. Not only that, but he could see that several of the staff members that he ‘hired’ were downright panicking at what was going on.

“Is… everything alright-?”

Suddenly, Magus turned back around almost instantly, his eyes twitching at the mere question that the Skyshifter posed. Any signs of the drow being composed were long gone by this point, for he was downright furious. The only thing that was on his mind was wanting to make someone pay for embarrassing himself in front of his audience. “Does everything look alright to you?!”

That single statement was enough to startle Calvin right where he stood. Even though some of his own ‘employees’ were trying to talk some sense into him, the drow wasn’t having it. Yet, the Skyshifter soon became uncomfortable when a smile emerged on Magus’ face, and he smacked his minions off to the side with a motion of his arm. “You know what? We’re going to make sure my show gets a proper grand finale… right now!”

“Oh no-”

“Oh YES,” Magus boldly declared, “ONE. MORE. MATCH!! NO LIMITS!! NO RULES!! The last fighter standing wins this very arena, and we aren’t the only ones taking part!! Anyone who thinks they have a shot at beating us, come on down!!”

While some might’ve seen this as just the drow boasting, many of the spectators in the stands saw this as a call to arms. Immediately, several different attendees emerged from their seats and jumped down into the arena. Some of them armed themselves with makeshift weapons while others went as far as to steal the weapons from the Greebles that were supposed to act as security. Calvin did not like where this was going, because he was already exhausted from his fight just now with Blade Gunner and didn’t have the energy or stamina for one more fight, especially if that fight put him up against an army of Magus’ die hard fans.

Yet, that did not mean that his back was against the wall. He still had friends that could help him. Though, the Skyshifter preferred for them to help out sooner rather than later. “So, you decided that you want to finish things off by getting everyone involved now?” Calvin asked, backing up to where Blade Gunner was lying on the ground to get some space between him and everyone else.

“Look, kid, do you really think that you have a chance at winning?” Magus mocked, before he grabbed one of the attendee’s that charged at him and threw them towards a group of greebles like they were a football, “You’re on the ropes right now, and no matter how you look at it, there’s no way that you’re going to make it out of here.”

“Oh, really now?” the Skyshifter asked, moving his right hand over to where he kept the communicator that he wore on his left wrist. He had an idea in mind for how to get out of this mess, but it was going to be a gamble. If Twilight and the others were waiting on standby to get him out, then this would be the appropriate time to put whatever plan they had prepared in motion. “I think there’s one way.”

“Kid, what did I just-?”

“Twilight, NOW!!”

At first, it didn’t appear as if anything was happening. Yet, as Magus looked up, he was soon hit by a bolt of violet magic directly in the face as the alicorn swooped down from above and landed by him. As she landed, Twilight was only able to speak a few words to him. “Okay, we need to go now. Once the spell kicks in, everything is going to get a bit crazy.”

“How crazy-?”

“Hey!! What’s the big idea?!” Magus shouted, “You aren’t one of the attendees! What makes you think you can just fly on in and-” Before he could even finish, the drow noticed that, aside from the pony that just flew and the rookie he wanted to crush, everyone else had their gaze fixed on him. “What…? Why are all of you staring at me like that? It’s creepy!!”

Yet, despite what he said, the crowd did not listen. If anything, his words were soon drowned out by a united chorus from the creatures around him.

“Want it…”

“Need it…”

“Need what? I don’t have anything to give-” Magus tried to tell them, before he felt some of the attendee’s and even his own staff try to grab hold of him, “W-what!? Hey!! Get off of me!!”

“WANT IT!!”

“NEED IT!!”

As both the alicorn and the Skyshifter watched the madness unfold in front of their eyes, that was when Twilight let out a small breath, “That kind of crazy.”

“What… did you even do-?”

“It’s a long story,” she replied back, “And now is not the ideal time to talk about it. Sharpfin’s waiting on us, so we can get out of here. Unless there’s anything else you need to do, we should leave this place now.”

In response, Calvin took a moment to look around the arena one last time to see if anything really came to mind. Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow had already been rescued, Smoky was probably with them, he had already fought his final match... and with Magus being preoccupied at the moment, now seemed like the perfect time to get out of there while they still had the chance.

Then, that was when the Skyshifter noticed the unconscious body of Blade Gunner that was still on the ground. Even though he felt the need to leave as quickly as possible, Calvin didn’t want to just leave the elf behind. While they might’ve been enemies on the battlefield, it did not have to be that way now. There were people back at the academy that could help both him and Arthur, but not if they remained here.

“There is one thing I could use your help with.”



By the time that Calvin and his companions left the MaguDome behind, the Skyshifter was rather fortunate to not have anything disturb their trip back to the academy. Not only did it allow for him to get some well deserved rest and not have to keep up his disguise anymore, but it also allowed for him to provide Twilight with a proper explanation and answer any questions she might’ve had. Of course, recalling everything that had happened over the course of the last couple of days wasn’t exactly easy for him. Yet, he still tried his best regardless.

When Sharpfin’s ship finally pulled in at the docks of the academy, there were still two things Calvin had to do before he could go back to Equestria with Twilight. The first thing on the agenda was to be debriefed by both Master Eon and Buzz. The two of them had several questions for him regarding both the mission and afterwards, including why he decided to bring Blade Gunner back with him. Calvin’s answer to them was that he chose to bring them back because he thought that the academy could possibly help Blade and Arthur. That, and he wasn’t sure if there was anyone else out in the Skylands that was as much of an expert on the arkeyans as Mags was.

After the debriefing was over, he was free to do the second thing, that being to pick up Dusty from the other Lava Dogs, something that Dusty herself was extremely thankful for. It might have only been a couple of days since Calvin last saw her, but to Dusty, it felt like an eternity had passed, so to see that her master was alive and well came as a huge relief to the young pup, especially when the last couple of days had been stressful because of her siblings panicking because Smoky was nowhere to be found.

Once that was out of the way, Calvin and Twilight were free to go back to Equestria. Though, it was as the two of them left the academy and they began to walk to the doorway that Twilight said something to him. “So, Calvin? Remember when I said that I was disappointed in you earlier and that we were going to revisit that discussion later?”

“Um… y-yes?” he replied, a bit nervous now that Twilight had chosen now of all times to revisit this subject.

“Well, I took some time to think everything over,” she replied, “And I’ve come to a decision. Calvin, you’re grounded and not allowed to leave the castle for the next three days.”

That was a bit of a curveball to him. He had a feeling that Twilight was going to chew him out for all of this, but getting grounded? That was something he did not expect.

Before he even had the chance to say anything in response, the alicorn was quick to cut him off, “While it is true that you lied to me about everything that you were doing while you were away,” Twilight explained, “The fact that you went out of your way to do what you did to help save a friend in need is something I commend you for. In fact, it’s the reason why your punishment is only three days instead of a week.”

“Uh… i-is that it?” he nervously asked.

“Oh, most definitely not. In fact,” with a flash of magic, Twilight had a long roll of parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill appear in front of her, “I’m preparing a list of chores for you to complete during these three days. Your punishment will only be served once you complete everything on the list… without your powers.”

Calvin blinked at that, still trying to process everything as he scratched the back of his head. “That sounds… reasonable-”

“Also, the chores themselves are the same ones that Spike would do on a regular basis. So, you’re going to be taking over his duties at the castle as well.”

“…Oh crumbs.”




End Scroll 29