"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
~Abraham Lincoln
"What are you doing, Antvenom?" Bodil asked. He was wearing a full set of light blue, diamond armor, excluding the helmet. "Pick up your sword! It's time to fight!"
"And tell me, exactly, how you suddenly have a nearly complete set of diamond armor," TrueMU said to Bodil.
"Magics," said Bodil.
"I see an easier solution," Antvenom said. He was facing the king and now in close proximity. He was closer to the squid than he was to his friends.
"You'd better know what you're doing, Ant," Sky demanded.
"Please, Sky, remember who you're talking to," Ant said calmly.
"Do you really think there's a way this could end well for you?" The enormous squid taunted. "I've already won! This worlds greatest defense, the Elements Of Harmony, are now useless! And your fragile bodies are the last things in my way!"
"You've overestimated yourself," said Antvenom. "There are three ways this could end and all of them end in your defeat. First, you could fight us and we defeat you. Second, you could defeat us, which would be even worse for you. The Sky Army has many more than six members. Jerome, Mitch, Husky, and Caveman are a few of the millions that will find out about what you have done. If we are lost, they will not stop until they know what happened to us, and you will pay dearly when they find out."
"And the third outcome?" The king insisted. He appeared to be unamused and disbelieving thus far.
"The third outcome is that we give you a second chance."
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!?????????" The other five minecrafters shouted in unison.
"If you undo what you have done and send us back the way we were sent here in the first place, you will be spared from those first two outcomes. Understand that I am offering you this because even you deserve a second chance, and also understand that none of the others will offer this to you. Make your choice, atonement or destruction."
"He's so cool!" Rainbow Dash said admiringly.
"I kind of like the destruction offer better!" Sky whispered angrily. "Antvenom, what are you thinking!?"
The king rose on his massive tentacles, revealing that they were more than capable of carrying his weight. He towered over Antvenom with his head nearly touching the ceiling. "Interesting offer," he said, "here, let me give you my REPLY!" He swiped Antvenom into the air with one, powerful sweeping motion from a massive tentacle. It happened too fast for him to even attempt to dodge.
Antvenom flew helplessly through the air as his friends gasped in shock. He slammed his back into the solid marble wall a few feet above the floor. The impact was hard enough to crack the wall around where his head and back had hit. He hung there, suspended on the side of the wall for a short moment before he fell face down on the stone floor. He didn't move.
"ANTVENOM!" Sky shouted in disbelief. The four companions beside him were still staring in utter shock. Sky fell to his hands and knees. "How can it be over? We didn't even get to start..."
"Oh, give the boy some credit!" Discord demanded rather unsympathetically. "He's not dead!"
Sky looked back at Antvenom. He was slowly lifting his head. He then tried to lift himself up with his hands, but he was too weak and fell back down.
"Stupid, don't try to stand up," Ty said quietly.
The squid king bellowed, "Ha ha ha! But seriously, who's next?"
Sky stood back up and gripped his sword tightly.
Jason said, "Knocking down one of my friends when he's trying to give you a second chance? Yeah. That's definitely on my ass-kick list!"
The five of them charged at the king screaming in a fit of fury.
Ty and Jason were in the front of the charge, and thus the first to strike. With their butter and diamond swords, they both swung at one of his eight tentacles with all of the momentum from their charge. However, rather than being soft like they had expected, it felt like they had swung their swords into solid rock! Their was a metallic clank and not so much as a dent in the tentacle. The tendril wrapped around them at their waists and carelessly flung them up into the ceiling where they slammed with tremendous force and fell to the ground like bricks.
Meanwhile, Bodil hacked at a different tendril with his iron sword with no effect. Kuledud3 swung at the tendril adjacent to the one Bodil was attacking and his stick immediately snapped. "Okay, I probably should have gotten a real weapon!" He said regretfully. King Squid grabbed Bodil by the foot and slung him at Kuledud3's back. Because of Bodil's armor, it felt as if Kuledud3 was struck with a wrecking ball. They goth crashed into the ground.
Sky refused to back down. He let out an angry battle cry and jumped atop the base of one of the King's tentacles and leapt at the kings giant head with his butter sword held high. He was aiming for the only soft part of the King's armored body, his eyes. When he was only a few inches from his goal, he felt a thick tentacle wrap around his legs and grab him out of the air. He was thrown in the opposite direction like a rag doll, hitting the ground and sliding back several meters on his shoulders before coming to a rest.
After the failed assault, the five attackers found themselves to injured to even stand. They struggled to lift their heads high enough to see the Squid. To their horror, he was completely intact. The king gazed at Sky who was sitting back and leaning on the backs of his elbows.
"Honestly, this would almost be insulting if it weren't so funny!" The king said with a chuckle. "You honestly thought you could stop the might of the squid army! Face it Sky! You never stood a chance! All of the real warriors were defeated long before you entered this city! You and your friends are just a bunch of kids playing pretend!"
Sky rolled over on his stomach and tried to crawl up to his hands and knees. He couldn't even muster enough strength for that.
"I suppose its a good thing that only five of your friends are here to see just how pathetic you really are! You can't even stand!" The king commentated. "Your little 'Team Crafted' and 'Sky Army Recruits' are just as diluted as you are! Of course, that can be said of anyone who takes you seriously."
"Actually, I can stand just fine, thank you," Sky grunted. He forced himself to his knees, then picked himself up one foot at a tlme until he was standing up straight. He picked up his sword and held it at waist level. He spoke with an underlining tone of anger, "You can say whatever you want about me... BUT I WON'T LET YOU TALK ABOUT MY FRIENDS THAT WAY TOO!!!" He gripped the hilt of his blade with both cubical hands and charged at King Squid with even more anger than before.
The king swung one massive tentacle and batted Sky away like an annoying bug. Sky was launched back and landed on his shoulders again. This time, his butter sword hit the ground and the blade broke off.
"SKY!" Deadlox shouted. "...You suck! Try to do better!"
"That's not exactly encouraging him, Ty," said Jason.
"It encourages me," Ty replied.
"This was all just a waste of my time!" The king boasted. "Your fragile swords can't defeat me! There's only one thing that can possibly stop me, the Elements of Harmony, but the only ones with the power to wield it are squids! I've already finished the hard part you six are just extra fun!"
Sky struggled to his feet again, his broken sword in hand and his body straining to stay upright.
"Up again?" the king said confidently. "You want more!?"
"You really shouldn't talk," said Sky. "It makes you sound stupid." A faint, yellow glow could be seen extending a few inches from his body. "You just yap yap yap like your some stupid pro wrestler! And then what happens? You have to eat all of your words! It's pretty lame."
"I don't think I'll be eating any words today," the king said confidently. "You may still be able to stand, and I find that impressive, but you're living on borrowed time! I bet there isn't a single bone in your body that isn't broken!"
The aura around Sky extended. It was now bright enough to be clearly seen. "You're wrong about a lot of things, but one in particular will be your last mistake!" He shouted. "You think turning the six element barers into squids is all you need to protect yourself!? What gave you the idea that they were the only six creatures in this world who can wield the power of friendship, something we all have?"
"Wikipedia," the king answered sternly. "Everything on the Internet is true!"
Sky held out his broken sword his yellow aura enveloped the shattered blade, making it glow. "Anyone can represent harmony and friendship, and your about to find out the hard way!" Antvenom, Bodil, Kuledud3, Jason and Ty began to emit the same aura as Sky.
"Hold on a second. Why are you guys glowing?" the king asked.
Sky didnt answer the king. Instead he said, "Deadlox, with his brutal honesty toward his friends and his lovable ability to make reality sound hilarious represents the spirit of: HONESTY!"
The aura around Ty turned brighter and larger. A beam of light extended from it and connected with Sky's sword. "You know what Sky?" He said. "You suck, and I love you for it!"
Sky continued his speech. "Jason, the friend who's always been by my side and helped me when I'm startled represents the spirit of: LOYALTY!"
Jason's aura did the same thing as Ty's and connected with the shattered blade. "Kick his ass for us, Adam!" He shouted.
"Kuledud3, the loudest person I've ever met, who uses his creative talent to make others laugh represents the spirit of: LAUGHTER!"
"F**k yeah! I get to be Pinkie Pie!" Kuledud3 screamed while his aura extended to Sky.
"BODIL40! Who spends his own valuable time to create maps for the public and let's others play them for nothing in return represents the spirit of: GENEROSITY!"
"There should be an element of trolling too," Bodoil added. His aura extended to Sky.
Sky gripped the brightly glowing sword with both hands. "Antvenom, the only person I've ever none who would be willing to offer a second chance to someone like you represents the spirit of: KINDNESS!" Antvenom's aura blinded to the sword. It was now glowing to brigthly for anyone to look directly at it.
"Teach him a lesson, Sky!" Said Antvenom.
"When these elements are brought together, the sixth is revealed, the element of... BUDDER!!! Which is basically the same thing as magic."
"Did he just say butter?" Luna asked.
"He just said butter," Celestia repeated.
The aura around Sky's sword formed into the shape of a blade twice as long as the original sword. With a flash of light it formed into a solid, glowing, butter blade that was taller than Sky himself. The auras around the six of them disappeared and the only thing left glowing was his newly created blade. "There are two things that Skythekidrs doesn't let you f**k with, and those things are friendship and butter! And you just f**ked with both of them!"
The squid king commented, "In hind sight, I probably shouldn't have stood completely still while you were powering up."
"Are we gonna keep talking or are you gonna man up and lose this fight already!" Sky taunted.
The squid raised one massage appendage to the ceiling and said, "There's one thing I should tell you before I crush you." He swung his tentacle down like a falling tree. "It's called GOLD!"
Sky sliced his sword through the air timed perfectly to hit the tendril. Unlike previous attempts, this sword actually sliced through the squid like he were made of styrofoam. The tentacle was severed and fell harmlessly to Sky's right side with a loud thump. "That was for starting this in the first place!" Sky cried angrily. He pointed the sword to his opponent with the base gripped by both hands.
"Well... That was highly improbable," said King Squid. He was eyeing the stump were his tentacle had been. His insides were yellow and universally pixelated as if he were consistently made out of butter.
"I hope you've enjoyed your time on the top, squid, cause now it's back to the way things used to be!" Sky said. His taunting didn't go unanswered. The squid retaliated by attempting to smack him into the wall with three tentacles at once. The three adjacent tentacles were side by side with one nearing the floor, one stacked in the center, and one stacked on top in the same was a man would hold up three fingers together. Sky lifted his blade and swung it down on the three tendrils as they flung at his left side. The sword seemed to meet no resistance at all as it sliced through the top, middle and bottom tentacle with ease, like a cannonball ripping through paper. The severed appendages rolled on the castle floor and the king quickly retracted what was left of them, only three short stumps.
"ONE OF THOSE WASN'T A TENTACLE!!! AAAHHH!!!" The squid screamed in horror.
"And that was for turning a bunch of ponies into squids! Your kind are the only creatures who deserve to be that hideous!" Sky declared.
"Well put," Kuledud3 said weakly while trying to help Bodil crawl into a sitting position.
The squid smacked the ground with one of his four remaining tentacles, creating a loud boom. "Let's test that theory!" He yelled angrily, ignoring the pain. His eyes turned bright, glowing red. They projected a soft humming sound like a well tuned motor. Then, his eyes fired a red beam of light. Sky braced himself and the beams of red energy completely enveloped him. A wide dome of red light surrounded him and his shadowy outline was all that could be seen of him. The light quickly dreaded and was replaced by a cloud of smoke around where Sky had been standing.
"Ha!" The king exclaimed happily. "Looks like Sky... Just got squi-owned!"
"That was terrible!" Jason heckled.
"You vill respect ze fuhrer's lame puns!" Melissa commanded.
Sky's silhouette approached from behind the blanket of smoke. It was no in the shape of a squid. He was still the same blocky minecraft character holding his large sword in his cube shaped hands. The king's magic had failed. He stepped out of the smoke with the blade of his massive sword slumped over his shoulders.
As the remainder of the smoke cleared, there was a long, awkward pause while Sky and the squid stared at each other.
"Hey," Sky said, breaking the silence.
"...Hi," the king said nervously.
"Your stupid laser beam didn't do anything," Sky stated bluntly. "But anyway, where were we?" Sky raised his sword off hip is shoulders and readied it.
"...uh..."
"I remember now," Sky said quickly. He lunged at the squid and because he was missing four of his tentacles, the king had little opportunity to defend. The sword struck the left side of the squid's body and cut through him to the right side, creating a deep gash with ease. "That was for my friend who tried to give you a way out and got his ass kicked into the ground!" Sky jumped back to give him enough room to make another attack. King Squid was using two tentacles to cover the gash and the other two to slowly push himself backward.
"Thanks for the shout out, Sky," said Antvenom.
Sky's sword now started to glow brighter than before, fueled by the passion and determination of its wielder. He leaped into the air with his sword held above his head crying out, "And this one's for me! Just for pissing me off!"
"Wait! No! Sky, we can talk about this!" The king begged.
Sky slashed the squid without any hesitation. His sword struck the top of his ugly head and easily sliced down to the base of his body. The sword struck the ground beneath the squid and Sky held it there and looked up at the king. He had a massive gash from top to bottom, but was still standing upright.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, I guess," the squid said. Immediately after saying that, however, the massive cut shimmered with a blinding white light. "Oh god! WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?" The king roared. The light intensified and the king erupted into a ring of yellow light like a visible sonic wave that passed through sky and his friends harmlessly. When the light passed through the tank, Melissa and chad disappeared as if they were never there in the first place. The nine captives were reverted back to their original form as the corruption of the king was lifted. Discord, Celestia, Luna, and the element bearers took a quick moment to look at themselves and then, upon realizing that they were no longer squids, swam up to the surface to gasp for air.
The light continued to sweep across Canterlot, frightening its hiding citizens at first, but causing them to rise up and cheer when they saw that it was destroying all of the annoying squids.
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Steve had just finished a long journey of swimming when he arrived at a small pond outside of Canterlot. "It's finally over!" He said happily, "Now I'm free of that idiot and I can do all the things I've always wanted to do! Today is the first day of the rest of my life!" His celebration was cut short when he saw the ring of squid destroying light fast lay approaching him.
"You know what?" He sighed. "That lasted a lot longer than I expected."