Narrator / November 29th
Watching two expert magicians duke it out was probably one of these most confusing things someone could watch.
Unfortunately, that was what was about to happen. Our current protagonist, Layton entered the vast chuck of land on Egypt that touched the sea.
Our antagonist, Xander wore a dark robe that concealed his identity, but his age could be guessed at due to his posture. From our protagonist's view, Xander seemed to be using some kind of magical fishing rod to reel in the Majin Lamp.
Quickly springing into action, Layton summonsed a magical playing card that he chucked like a frisbee, and it cut straight through the rod. Xander looked around until he spotted the person who dared interrupt his business.
"Well, a son of Hecate" Xander greeted
His voice was raspy like how an old person should sound, but it was still loud and carried a certain echo that could be considering terrifying to some demigods.
"You're not getting that lamp" Layton replied
"Yet, fate wills it so" Xander said
"Who are you to decide fate's will" Layton retorted
"I'm simply making an educated conclusion based on statistics. You cannot beat me" Xander explained
"Actions will speaker loud than words here, old man"
Layton held out his palm and a column of fire shot out of it. Usually, this is the first move he used in a battle in order to determine the best way of taking them out.
Xander simply waved his hand and the fire evaporated into the thin air, as if it had never appeared.
"Simple elemental spells is far from the way to beat me" Xander chuckled
"We'll see"
Holding his two fingers out like a finger-gun, a bolt of electricity shot out from Layton's hand. Xander held out his palm and a large checker-patterned mirror appeared that completely stopped the attack.
The mirror charged forward but Layton quickly smashed it to pieces, knowing what the result would if he were to come into contact with it.
"Mirror dimension, been there, done that" Layton said
Xander held his palms up to the sky and gravity seemingly flipped upside down. Not being use to the upside-down view, as if he were hanging from a ceiling, Layton staggered back.
Three holes were magically dug into the ground in a triangular formation around Layton, and skeleton warriors clawed their way out of the sand. Whatever they were, they knew how to fight and were accustomed to the upside-down playing field.
The skeleton warriors continued to slash away, with Layton blocking using the toughest part of his armor, the gloves. This left neither sides being able to hit the other.
"You wield the ancient metal, but it won't save you" Xander warned
Suddenly, Layton remembered a spell that the Sorcerer Supreme taught him. He snapped his fingers and the gravity began to roll as if god (or gods) had decided to fold up the world like a tortilla.
The speed kept on increasing until Xander was forced to stop it and return gravity to normal. As soon as he did, Layton struck the air in front of him which sent a cylinder-shaped shockwave that hit Xander straight in the stomach, making him stumble and the skeletons disappear.
"You might have your old spells but there's been a lot of new ones made since your time" Layton said
"Then let's see if you can keep up"
In a single second, Layton found himself standing in a dark open area with absolutely nothing around him. The floor below him was a ghosty green and the sky was as black as it could be.
Then, a train sped in from the right side and slammed into Layton, continuing to accelerate for a few seconds until it reached a tunnel with no floor.
He fell through the floor until he landed in bright white area that was nearly blinding. Before he could cast a spell, a large sea serpent erupted from the ground and stood before him. It curved downwards and swallowed him up.
After being disgustingly swallowed, Layton was in a wide jungle area with tall trees and vines for the creatures that inhabited the place to swing from. The vines shifted into a purple color and wrapped completely around him, even covering his face and mouth.
Falling sideways, Layton struggled against the vines but they got tighter and tight the more he did. Despite not being able to see, he could tell Xander was approaching him from his left side.
"Don't tell me you've been defeated by simple illusion magic" Xander cackled
Layton attempted to reply but it came out muffled. Xander lifted his hand up and the vines squeezed so tight that a normal demigod's head would explode within a few seconds.
Around Xander, everything was replaced by green shattered glass like a window that had been hit by a fast-pitched baseball, but the ball had bounced off instead of making a hole. Sensing a presence behind him, Xander jolted around and was met by a punch to the face that sent him crashing into a tree.
Reality was restored and they were back on the beach, Xander on the ground and Layton catching his breath and itching where the vines had left a somewhat rash.
"I have my own tricks" Layton assured
"You're too late, I can feel the lamp coming to me, and you're almost finished" Xander stood up
"There's more coming. And some of them more powerful than I am. Release The Majin, and he'll be defeated. I don't doubt it" Layton promised
"Defeat The Majin? You modern time demigods lack the resource and the power to do such a thing"
"You'd be surprised how much the times have changed"
"Don't you get it?" Xander exclaimed. "I already foresaw my future threats, you of all people should know I'm right. The gods deserve to be destroyed, they rule like monarchs. The world requires balancing where only the superior may survive"
"I don't get it"
"Because of their filthy rule, society has been transformed into a dystopia. When Majin Kai awakens, he will absorb the gods and become the supreme ruler of Earth"
"Gaea is rising, she'll reject Majin Kai and destroy him too along with the rest of us. If anything, you should be helping, or you'll never have a chance either"
"But with the combine power of the olympians, no one could possibly stop Majin Kai. Not even the earth mother herself"
"And what? Don't you know that as soon as he absorbs the Olympians, he'll turn on you too. No one could possibly handle that much power"
"Nonsense. I've made sure that he would always stay loyal to me, and do my bidding"
"If you say so, cocky wizard"
A giant hole opened up in the space between the two. A large skeletal hand gripped the edge and began to pull the body up.
As soon as the large skeleton, that stood at about twenty-five feet tall stepped out onto the beach, the hole closed.
"Majin Kai is not the only dangerous creature that I've created"
The large skeleton punched the ground and Layton barely managed to roll out of the way, but the shockwave that came from the force still sent him flying back a couple of feet.
"While you die at the hands of my warrior, I'll be off to find that lamp" Xander taunted
The evil sorcerer turned and began to walk away, presumably in the direction of the lamp.
"Not so fast" Layton placed two fingers on his forehead and appeared behind Xander
However, the large skeleton turned and around and grabbed him, lifting him up into the air and holding him still.
Xander stood about twenty feet away and summoned up another magical fishing rod that worked its way at reeling in the Majin Lamp from the depths of the sea.
"I've changed my mind," Xander announced," I will grant you the privilege of being the first to witness Majin Kai in centuries. Meanwhile, Kuzmos will hold you in place"
"You named your giant pet skeleton?"
His sarcastic remark was ignored by the dark sorcerer who continued to work their way at the fishing rod.
"Fine then"
For a split second, reality once again shifted into that green shattered glass until it reverted to normal, with Layton standing on top of the giant skeleton's right shoulder.
Layton used all of his force and punched the giant skeleton with all of his strength. If he hadn't had super durable gloves, his hands would have shattered easily upon the impact. Luckily, they were made from the strongest material known to man, or well, not know to man.
Kuzmos's jaw dislocated for a couple of seconds as he tumbled to the side with Layton barely managing to hold on. The skeleton grabbed his jaw and forcibly shifted it back into place.
Then, Kuzmos attempted to grab Layton from his shoulder but the demigod quickly jumped on top of his head and slammed his two fists down.
None of the attacks seemed to do real damage to Kuzmos however, and Layton barely managed to hold on from his attack by gripping the edge of the skeleton's empty eye sockets.
"Puny demigod" Kuzmos creaked
"You cannot harm Kuzmos, even with Vibranium, he's virtually indestructible"
"I already told you old man, things have changed"
Layton spread his hands out and his silver wristbands summoned what the Sorcerer Supreme had called the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.
The dark red ropes that shot out of his bands wrapped around Kuzmos's wrists. Naturally, Layton didn't have the physical strength to do what he was about to, but like Kuzmos, these bands were nearly indestructible and offered versatility.
He pulled his hands towards his chest which pulled Kuzmos's arms towards his head. Once they were close enough, Layton detached the bands from his wrist one at a time and made a knot that permanently left Kuzmos with his arms as a headrest.
Without hesitation, Layton quickly shot a column of fire at Xander while he was distracted. But yet again, the fire evaporated into thin air without the dark sorcerer needing to make any hand motions.
Despite having an empty skull and no available free hands, Kuzmos could still do one thing. He titled his head back and Layton gripped his eye sockets again. Using all of his strength, the giant skeleton rocketed his head forward without enough strength make the demigod that had been on his head go flying a good forty feet away.
He tumbled and rolled a few additional feet until he stood, stomach flat on the ground and his vision hazy.
Nearly squeezed to death twice, hit by a train, eaten by a large sea serphent and being launched that far away, Layton was unable to continue battling, as his bones felt one inch of pressure away from completely breaking.
"You've finally had enough, and my delivery is almost here" Xander said, loud enough so that his opponent demigod could here
Layton tried and tried but his hands were unable to move, he was simply forced to watch the events play out in front of him as his eyes flickered, struggling to stay awake.
Percy
"What's going on over there" Piper pointed to a side of the beach where a small storm was moving towards the land
"That has to be it!" Annabeth exclaimed
Frank transformed into an eagle, most likely to get better eyesight, and when he turned back to normal, he had a worried look on his face.
"What do you see?" Jason asked
"Um, guy in a robe with a fishing rod, and a giant skeleton standing next to him" Frank revealed
"Don't know about the skeleton, but that sure sounds like Xander" Annabeth said
"Leo! Get in here!" Piper called
In seconds, Leo emerged from his room and entered the balcony where they currently stood, wearing a Christmas hat.
"Dude, what's with the hat?" I questioned
"It's about to be December bro, I'm getting into my Christmas spirit" Leo answered
"We're about to fight a dark sorcerer and if we're unlucky, a super powerful entity that even the gods fear, and your going to wear that hat?" Hazel said
"Yep" Leo replied
"Whatever," Annabeth dismissed, "Leo, get us closer"
Leo nodded his head and in about five minutes we found ourselves hovering over a few feet away from the giant skeleton.
It attempted to swipe its hand at the Argo II, but he wasn't tall enough to reach us. Maybe if there was a brain inside its hollow shell, it would be smart enough to jump up and grab us.
"So what's our battle plan?" I asked Annabeth
"The giant skeleton doesn't look like it's going to let us through, so half of us will distract him while the others tackle the sorcerer and stop him from reeling in the lamp"
"This is going to be so exciting!" Leo exclaimed
"We'll see about that after we get that lamp" Jason said
"We have no other choice but to get it" I readied Riptide. "Or we could be in major trouble"
Frank exhaled nervously. "Let's do this"