Disclaimer: I do not own Trollhunters or any of its characters.
Chapter 11
Tiebreaker
Claire v. Toby (Tied 1-1)
Energy sparked all around the market.
The Quagawumps bellowed. Claire's supporters roared. It was quite a spectacle.
Along with Jim, Merlin, and Aaarrrgghh, the remaining semifinalists gathered in the contestants' stands.
"Fight in close range with hammer. Maybe try new platform again." Aaarrrgghh stood next to Toby, discussing tactics at a quiet grunt. "Claire use staff to keep you off-balance. Use new platform to make her tired. If Claire tires, no more portals."
In the other corner, Merlin coached Claire.
"As far as I'm concerned, the key aspect to this fight is distance. Don't let Tobias get close enough to swing his hammer. The Skäthe-Hrün has uses as a pike, a sword, and most of all a portal generator. Facing the Warhammer, distance is paramount."
Claire nodded. "Which location favors me the most?"
"The Forge," said Merlin immediately. "Try for Krel's platform. It worked well in the last fight, and your quickness grants you an unmitigable advantage."
Merlin could no longer be heard. Blinky had stood up to speak, and the roar that accompanied the motion drowned out all other voices. The fight was about to begin.
Claire started the action with aplomb. Stabbing the Shadowstaff towards Toby's chest, she stopped short and opened a portal under his feet.
Toby shouted in surprise as he crashed into the Forge wall. Claire skipped out of another portal, staff arcing towards Toby's head.
The Warhammer rose in time to block the swing.
Toby made up his mind. Levitating off the ground, he flew up to Krel's platform. Claire followed through a portal with a grin.
The stocky human leapt forward, preparing to swing. Claire opened up a portal in front of his face.
Toby timed it perfectly, rising over the portal with brilliant speed. Diving backwards, a startled Claire managed to avoid a blow from the Warhammer.
Toby pressed the advantage. He marched forward, hammer spinning in complex maneuvers. Claire defended herself from all strikes but the last.
The mage felt a sharp blow to her stomach. She fell into a sitting position. With a triumphant grin on his face, Toby pointed the Warhammer at her chest.
The Quagawumps roared.
"Do you yield?"
Claire shook her head.
The mage rolled out of the path of an incoming blast of fire. Her unsuspecting opponent threw himself to the ground in time, but the advantage now belonged to Claire.
It was now the mage's fans cheering in delight.
Leaping to her feet, Claire charged forward. Toby received no time to rest, as calculated strikes by way of the Shadowstaff required his full attention.
Toby felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. His right leg and chest followed. The boy couldn't keep up, knocked on to his back from the onslaught.
Once again, Krel's inventions saved the day by accident. As a serrator whizzed into the gap separating the fighters, Toby was able to return to his feet.
The stocky human was forced to float above a portal, courtesy of the mage.
Toby started to move ahead. Trying a different tack, Claire launched into the air and tackled Toby into the portal.
The fighters fell through the air high above the platform.
Toby righted himself while Claire bombarded through a sequence of portals to either side of him.
She landed a kick at his left leg, knocking him off balance. As a result, Toby was unable to avoid the portal that opened up underneath him.
Once again, Tobias Domzalski crashed into the wall of the Forge.
The mage didn't waste time. Portaling behind her opponent, Claire pinned Toby to the Forge wall, Shadowstaff poised.
Toby knocked it to the side with a swipe of the Warhammer. The mage stumbled for a split-second, but that was enough.
With a shout, Toby reversed the course of the fight. Within seconds, the Warhammer pinned Claire's right shoulder to the wall. Toby grunted.
"Now do you yield?"
The mage shook her head, and slipped through a portal under her feet.
Claire emerged behind Toby, securing a choke hold.
Faced with a constricting windpipe and a lack of oxygen, Toby elected to tap out.
"I yield."
As Claire raised her arms in victory, Blinky roared over the crowd.
"Moving on to the final. . . Claire Nuñez!"
"Well done, well done indeed!" Merlin's thrilled reaction left Jim amused. The Trollhunter, Merlin, and Claire had gathered in Blinky's library for a brief celebration. That, and an attempt to find any last-minute advantages to use in the fast-approaching final round.
"So you do care," Jim teased.
His armor temporarily dismissed, the Trollhunter stood off to the side of the towering mess that Blinky sometimes called a table.
"Whatever gave the impression that I didn't?" The old Merlin showed in his indifferent response.
"Maybe turning Jim into a troll," Claire muttered.
"That was a necessary—yes, what do you need?" Merlin broke off mid-sentence to answer his phone. "I'll be right with you."
Merlin motioned towards the phone. "I have to take this. Talk amongst yourselves."
As the elder mage walked out of the library, the younger stood.
Claire waltzed toward Jim, eyes sparkling.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Wh—what are you doing?"
"Testing a hypothesis," she responded in a honeyed tone.
"Which is what, exactly?"
"That the supposedly undetectable chink in your armor," she pecked his cheek, "is me."
"The fact that we are dating doesn't cloud my judgement, if that's what you mean to imply," Jim retorted.
"Is that so?"
"Of course."
Claire seemed to acquiesce. Sauntering away, she looked back with a grin.
"Then where's your Amulet?"
Notes
Sorry for the delay between chapters! Life has gotten a bit busy as of late. The last few chapters will release every five days or so.
Unmitigable: Not able to be mitigated, removed, equalized. It's a word Merlin might enjoy.
If you're having trouble picturing that last part of the fight, remember when—spoiler—Captain Marvel puts Thanos in a choke hold in Endgame.
"Tap out": Submit, yield, admit defeat. Recall M'Baku after he got stuck in a triangle choke in the first fight of Black Panther.
Thanks again to Forever-Foruba for the wonderful assistance in improving this chapter.
Please review! I'd like to know what readers think of the story.
