Castle Crashers vs Shovel Knight
White. All he could see was white as far as he looked.
The man in blue armor rose to his feet, standing on blindingly white clouds, an air of weightlessness taking over him. He looked down to find his trusty shovel in his hand, its head sharpened to a razor edge. The man, the champion of Shovelry, the Shovel Knight, began to walk aimlessly in this heavenly void.
Something pulled at the back of the knight's neck, an instinct almost, as he cranked his head upward. A faint red glimmer, high in the sky, hurdled toward the cloudy earth amongst a peppering of stars. Deep in his heart he knew, somehow, it was his partner, lost forever to the Tower of Fate, that now hurtled to her death.
"Save her…" a disembodied voice echoed through his ears.
Shovel knight leaped to action, sprinting as fast as he could in his cumbersome armor to center himself under the falling red knight. As she fell further and further, Shovel Knight's legs churned, kicking up puffs of cloud as he didn't seem to get any closer to his falling lady.
Shovel Knight's thighs burned as he put all of his force into his jump, leaping into the air arm outstretched to catch Shield Knight. Time slowed as they inched closer and closer, his fingertips within inches of grabbing his long lost love's hand, before a blinding light shook him from his daze.
Shovel Knight woke with a start, his feet striking hard ground as he remembered where he was. His small campfire before him still smoldered with dying embers, their trails of smoke whisping into the air, broken only by the hanging branches above his resting place.
"T'was but another nightmare," Shovel Knight reassured himself, taking a step forward to re-stoke the fire. His leg brushed against something metallic as he stepped, making him stumble. He turned quickly, shovel raised in defense, but his jaw dropped as his eyes befell on his hurdle.
Laying next to the flattened grass where Shovel Knight was resting was a figure he thought he would never see again, the crimson armor and its accompanying habitant, tufts of errant tan hair poking out from the exposed face of her helmet.
"…Shield Knight?" Shovel Knight gasped in surprise, cautiously reaching his hand out and nudging her shoulder. His hand connected with her, reassuring himself that she wasn't an illusion.
The shoulder brush woke the maiden from her sleep, her eyes peeking open. As her eyes caught sight of Shovel Knight, a smile cracked on the corner of her mouth.
"You're safe," she sleepily murmured, reaching her arms upward in a stretch. "Black Knight kept his promise."
Shovel nodded wordlessly, taking a moment to collect himself from this dream. The sun began to rise as Shield took her time to wake up, her armor glowing in the morning sun.
"Talk over a bite to eat?" Shield Knight broke the silence between the two, spreading dirt over the remains of the fire's embers.
"That would be wonderful, m'lady," Shovel Knight stammered, extending his hand. Shield smiled once more, taking his hand as they ventured to the township on the horizon.
The two adventurers arrived in the small settlement mid-morning, passing the guard with a nod as they journeyed past the buildings to a large catapult in the center of the town.
"Easiest way to get to the Gastronomer is by catapult!" Shovel Knight said proudly, arms outstretched in showing off the large wooden contraption. Shield smiled excitedly as she eyed the catapult, the sinews and wooden beams creaking under the stress of simply existing.
"Usually there is an attendant," Shovel scratched the chin under his helm, briefly looking around to see if he could spot the typical usual man.
"First!" She exclaimed, leaping atop the bucket of the catapult. Shovel grinned ear to ear, realizing how much he missed Shield's enthusiasm.
He swung his shovel at the firing mechanism of the catapult, not wanting to wait for the technician. The catapult arm threw itself forward, sending Shield Knight flying over the horizon with a twinkle.
"Noooo!" came a shout from behind. Shovel Knight turned to see a man wearing a leather vest over a white frilly shirt, a panicked look in his eyes.
"The catapult is not ready!" the man shouted as he approached, examining the siege engine frantically. "It was undergoing calibrations, there's no knowing where it is aimed at the moment!"
A lightning bolt struck through Shovel Knight's heart, quickly turning to peer into the distance. He had just been reunited, and now she may be gone forever.
"Prepare to fire again," Shovel declared, clambering into the cup of the catapult.
"You will be gone, just as Shield Knight!" the attendant said with a quivering voice.
"Exactly." Shovel responded, now sitting and ready. The young man at the base of the catapult wiped the sweat from his brow and, not one to question the hero of the Valley, launched the blue knight over the horizon.
The sound of the lyre and harp bounced off the stone walls of the dining hall, the smell of freshly cooked meats wafting across the partygoers. People bustled back and forth, enjoying the merriment of the victory over the Evil Wizard.
The crowd formed a circle around a single figure, the only knight that bothered to stick around at the party for this long. The surrounded knight threw his balled fist in the air, two of his fingers outstretched in rocker horns, angrily headbanging to the music.
The Green Knight gritted his teeth in anger, dancing his rage out amongst a mix of civilians and old enemies turned friendly as their minds were cleared of the Evil Wizard's influence. He stomped his foot, feeling a small amount of anger leave his body with each stamp.
Each other knight had paired off with the rescued princesses over the course of the night, but Blue Knight just had to nab two of the princesses for himself, leaving Green with none.
As Green Knight raged, a crash rattled the dining hall, halting the music immediately as small stones were dislodged from the impact. Partygoers, stunned, huddled themselves into a corner as the thundering continued, seemingly crashing through ceiling after ceiling before coming to a stop behind the door to the bathroom.
'First the princess thing, and now I can't even enjoy this party?' Green Knight thought, gritting his teeth. He drew his straight sword, clenching it tightly as he creeped toward the bathroom.
The door flung open, smacking the approaching knight in the face. Green Knight cursed, brow intensely furrowed as he glared at the assailant beyond the door. On the other side of the open door stood another armored figure, clad in blue and wielding a shovel.
'BLUE.'
"You picked the wrong day to get on my bad side, chump!" Green Knight shouted at the top of his lungs, brandishing his sword.
"You mistake my intention," Shovel Knight retorted, hands outstretched. "I only seek a fellow knight, red and shielded."
"Red?" Green hesitated, before his eyes lit up with anger. "Red Knight is no better than blue!"
Green Knight swung his blade, swinging high as Shovel Knight ducked the swing.
"If combat is what you desire," Shovel began, fist tightening around the handle of his shovel, "then steel thyself! You shall face justice!" Shovel Knight thrust his shovel forward, striking Green Knight in the chest and sending him sliding backwards.
Green Knight began to glow, green magical energy flicked like flames off his silhouette. He held his hands out, expelling a billowing green cloud in the direction of the knight in blue.
Shovel, however, was no stranger to dodging projectiles as he leapt high, shovel pointing downward as he sailed over the cloud of poisonous smoke. He landed squarely on the Green Knight's head, denting his helmet with his spade and landing behind the emerald warrior.
"That was my favorite helmet!" Green Knight shouted, eyes ablaze, his body glowing with green energy once more. He charged Shovel, throwing green blobs of poisonous magic one after another with his sword held high.
Shovel Knight sidestepped the first few blobs, the gelatinous orbs plopping against the stone brick wall behind him. He was finally struck with one of the blobs as it seeped into the cracks of his armor, burning his flesh with poisonous energy. Shovel staggered, only looking up in time to see his green opponent swinging his sword.
Green Knight's sword struck Shovel Knight in his shoulder pauldron, tearing through it like tin foil. Shovel Knight stepped backwards in pain once more, but this time holding his shovel over his shoulder to charge his swing.
Green charged once more, his sword raised high once again, but Shovel Knight's shovel blade caught him across the helmet, the blunt side of the shovel knocking him to the ground unconscious.
"Shovel justice." Shovel Knight smiled, peering at his downed opponent.
Shovel Knight looked toward the crowd in the corner, cowering in fear. He placed his shovel on his back and held out his hands non-threateningly.
"Fear not, I mean you no harm," Shovel said, keeping his distance. "I did not want to hurt your champion, I only seek to find my friend, Shield Knight. Have any of you seen her?"
A knight in gray armor stepped forward, nervously keeping his hand on his sword.
"Green Knight may have been the only one here that could help you," the gray knight muttered, motioning to the emerald warrior face down on the ground.
"Seeing that's not an option," Gray Knight continued, eyes flashing to Shovel Knight, "there are three other hero knights who might know, but they left a while ago, may be on their way to the barbarian village by now."
"I thank you for your information," Shovel Knight nodded in appreciation, pulling a few gems from a pouch on his waste and handed it to his informant in good faith. Shovel turned to leave the dining hall, leaving the Green Knight on the stone floor, to make his way to the barbarian village.
"Why would they know where his lady knight is?" a robed lady asked from the back of the crowd as Shovel Knight left.
"They wouldn't," Gray Knight responded, calling down an owl as he scrawled a note on a small piece of paper. "But they will know this monster is coming for them now."
Shovel Knight trotted across the war-torn battlefield, corpses of brown-cloaked barbarians and gray-armored knights alike littering the scorched earth. Civilians on either side of the war loaded bodies onto carts, ferrying them back to their respective sides to be buried, civility having returned as the sway of the Evil Wizard was lifted.
Shovel walked mostly unnoticed, even those that noticed didn't care, keeping their heads down as Shovel Knight made his way to the barbarian village. Although he wanted to help, he could not risk losing the trail of Shield Knight again.
A wooden palisade surrounded a village of ramshackle huts, vague trails of mud leading between the buildings. In the middle of the muddy path stood two knights, one in blue with a sheathed sword at his hip and the other in red wielding a large metallic mace.
"Hark, knights!" Shovel Knight waved, approaching the duo in red and blue. Both knights turned with their weapons raised, eying Shovel Knight with suspicion.
"I mean you no harm," Shovel Knight continued, placing his shovel upon his back. "I was told you heroes may help me in finding my partner, Shield Knight. We happened upon your lands by accident and I fear for the worst."
"You're the one looking for the lady knight?" Red Knight asked, answered by Shovel's nod.
"We got a messenger from the castle about you," Blue Knight said, motioning to an owl flying high, a piece of paper in its talon.
"Word is that you weren't as friendly toward Green Knight." Red continued Blue's thoughts, his eyes sparking with electrical energy.
"T'was nothing of the sort," Shovel panicked, instinctively reaching for his shovel.
"We won't make Green's mistake!" Red shouted, holding out his mace as a bolt of electricity shot forth from its head. Shovel leapt out of the way, his eyes focused for combat as his feet touched the ground once more.
Blue Knight glowed with a frosty energy, letting loose a ball of ice from his offhand. Shovel Knight swung his weapon like a bat, hitting the icy ball with his spade. The orb bounced back, only to be shattered by another bolt of lightning from Red.
The two parties charged each other, lightning bolts and ice balls being hurled from the chromatic knights. Shovel Knight was able to dodge or block many of the magical blasts, but as the projectiles picked up rate a couple collided, creating a large puff of explosion smoke where Shovel Knight once stood.
"Easy enough," Red Knight smiled beneath his helm, turning to give his blue friend a high five. Blue reciprocated, but was suddenly crushed beneath a falling anchor, pinning him to the ground.
Red Knight looked up in surprise, seeing a ghostly vision of Shovel Knight, giant anchor in one hand and putting a small blue and gold locket into a pocket on his waist.
Shovel hurled two more anchors into the air, arcing high before falling with incredible speed. Red Knight glanced briefly at his downed companion Blue Knight, before realizing he did not have enough time to revive him. He rolled out of the way of the falling anchors as they thudded to the ground with tremendous force.
Red began running at his enemy, his mace raised high as Shovel Knight pulled from his belt another tool, a scepter capped with a red ball. He held it forth, launching fiery red blasts toward the knight in red.
Red Knight ducked and dodged each of the fireballs with ease, slowly closing the distance between the two. As he reached his shovel-wielding opponent, he brought his mace low, aiming for his legs.
The mace connected with Shovel Knight's armored thigh, although the blow dented his armor heavily. He grunted as Red Knight wound up for another attack, raising his shovel to catch the mace.
Red Knight swung once more, causing Shovel Knight to jump high to dodge. As he plummeted back to earth, he pointed his shovel downward, ready to pogo onto his enemy's head. Red Knight was not phased by his enemy's preference for aerial combat, charging up his lightning and calling it down from the heavens. Shovel Knight was struck by lightning from above, electricity coursing throughout his body and sending him spiraling to the ground, smoking with charred energy.
Shovel Knight rose to one knee, looking Red Knight in the eye, his brow furrowed beneath his helm.
"Stay down, fellow knight," Red Knight commanded, pointing his mace threateningly. As he spoke, a fellow knight in orange peeked out from one of the huts, a double-bladed axe in his hand, his eyes wide as he saw the field of battle.
"You didn't think you'd need my help?" Orange Knight shouted, focused on the blue knight on the ground in front of Red Knight.
"I always had it under control!" Red Knight gloated, a toothy grin spreading across his face under his helmet. As Red was distracted, Shovel reached for his belt, pulling out a small red vial, pouring it directly into the cross opening in his helmet.
Shovel Knight's blue armor was revitalized as he downed the ichor, a newfound strength in his muscles, as he rose to his feet, shovel at the ready. Red looked back as he saw a blue figure rise in his peripherals, surprised as Shovel Knight swung his mighty shovel-blade.
The spade connected with Red Knight's torso, sliding him backwards in the mud. Red Knight's eyes lit up with electricity, slightly diminished from the pain but still filled with rage.
"Feel free to jump in!" Red Knight shouted to Orange, leaping back into the fray with his mace held high. He hurled lightning bolts from the sky in quick succession, striking the ground all around the grounded master of shovelry.
Shovel reached into his belt once more, activating his small amulet, phasing slightly out of existence as he quickly faded into translucence. Bolts of lightning passed through Shovel Knight's incorporeal form, striking the muck below as Shovel jumped once more into the air, his invulnerability running out as he reached Red Knight's height.
Shovel Knight was able strike Red Knight twice with his shovel blade before being struck in the back by a fireball, launched by Orange Knight entering the battle. Shovel Knight struck the muddy ground with a splash but rose quickly as he turned to see both Red and Orange Knights charging him.
As Orange Knight swung his axe down, Red lagged behind a second, pulling a sandwich from a pouch and shoving it into his face. As he ate, Red began to hulk out, muscles rippling through the cracks of his armor as he doubled in size and dropped his weapon, his overgrown hands balled into fists.
Orange Knight continued to wail on Shovel Knight with his axe, some blows striking a blocking shovel and some making their way to the blue armor. Shovel Knight was not one to accept the wounds without answer, however, as he countered every axe strike with a shovel blow of his own.
In the middle of this battle, however, Red Knight reached in and grabbed Shovel Knight by the leg, raising him high into the air before slamming back down, his face burying deep into the muck. As he was lifted again, Shovel reached for his Phase Amulet, but it was blasted out of his hand as Orange Knight launched a fireball with deadly accuracy.
Shovel could do nothing but wait for the relentless beating to cease, as he was continuously slammed into the ground over and over, light fading from vision in the muddied eye slit in his helmet.
He was let to the ground as his assailant returned to normal size, laying face-up in the mud to see the Red and Orange Knights standing over him.
"I plead you," Shovel eeked out, coughing up blood as he let go of his shovel, "find Shield Knight. It is all I ask. Be sure she is safe and returned to our homeland."
"Wait," Orange Knight held Red back, curious. "Return to your homeland? So you aren't here to conquer us?"
"I wish for no such thing," Shovel Knight coughed, "I did not wish to burden you with our presence for longer than needed, only long enough to find my companion."
Orange Knight fished through his pack, pulling out a fresh apple to give to the fading knight. Shovel hesitantly took the gift of food, eating it to replenish a bit of health.
"I'm sure this was all a misunderstanding, and I'm sure Green Knight had it coming for whatever you did to him," Orange smiled, nodding Red Knight toward their fallen companion, still stuck under the anchor on the other side of the village. Red nodded, going over to Blue Knight to assist him. Orange extended his hand to Shovel Knight, helping him rise to his feet.
"I did him no permanent harm, except to his ego!" Shovel Knight jested, a hearty laugh reverberating in his armor. Orange Knight echoed Shovel's laugh, taking the knight under his arm.
"Now, tell us of this Shield Knight and we'll have you home by dusk," Orange Knight said, joining his other knights as they marched out of the village onto their next adventure.
Winner: Castle Crashers
Stay tuned for a suggestion by IronTiger26, the Goon (The Goon) vs Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)!