Chapter 26: Almost Easy Pickings

Gisele was battling in the Oron Drome. She was one battle away from winning her 7th win. She was battling as Mallash while her opponent was battling as Blazier. They were battling at Iron Pillar, so they couldn't use BattleGear. Mallash had slung a Plasmarrow from his tail, striking Blazier and knocking him off the iron beam he was standing on. "Got you now, Blazier!" Mallash shouted. 'And I'm finally gonna score win number 7 in the Oron Drome.' Gisele thought. But Blazier wasn't done yet. "Pebblestorm!" He fired a barrage of pebbles from his chest, hitting Mallash.

Meanwhile, Sidney and the others were watching from the Port Court. "Man, Gisele is getting her butt pounded in there." Nika said. "No duh. Mallash is a pretty tough Danian, but since they can't use BattleGear at Iron Pillar, Blazier has a small advantage." Sidney said, handing Robbie a tube of mustard. "That's right. That pillar is one of the trickiest Locations in the whole UnderWorld. Even was before the Gigantropers almost destroyed it." Minnie said. Just then, as he tried to squirt some mustard on his hot dog, Robbie knocked the whole lid off, causing all the mustard inside to cover the entire hot dog. The girls glared at him. "Oops." Robbie said sheepishly.

Blazier dodged several Power Pulses while trying to hide in Iron Pillar. But Mallash caught him and blasted him with Earth Pulse. Blazier nearly fell down the drop, but he managed to grab onto an iron beam. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide." Mallash said, preparing to finish off Blazier. But Blazier smirked. "Vine Snare!" He shouted, sprouting vines from his fingers and wrapping them around Mallash's legs. Mallash was shocked by this. Blazier then pulled Mallash by the vines off the platform and down the drop.


(Intro)


Mallash screamed as he fell to his doom. 'Not again!' Gisele cried in thought, closing her eyes as she hit the ground, getting coded.

After losing the match, Gisele joined her friends and sulked down at their table. "Why me? Why am I always losing like this?" She asked, crying into the table. "What're you talking about? You've been on a big winning streak." Nika said. "In all of the other Dromes except one, Nika. For the past month, I've lost every match I've played in BattleDrome Oron." Gisele explained. "I've tried everything to break the jinx." She then set out a series of trinkets on the table. "My lucky earrings, my lucky nail polish, even my lucky dental floss." The last one almost made the group sick. "The floss has never failed me…until NOW!" Gisele cried. "Come on, Gisele. Quit being such a puss about this. Why don't you just stick to the other Dromes for a while? Stay away from BattleDrome Oron." Robbie suggested. "But I only need one more win in that Drome to challenge the CodeMaster!" Gisele whined.

Minnie then got an idea. "I know. You need challenge someone who has even worser luck than you." She said. "Like who?" Gisele asked. "How about that kid, Darwin? His screenname's DardeDoom, but a lot of players call him Darwin the Doomed. Kid hasn't won a single match since he came to Chaotic." Minnie suggested. "He's perfect! Challenge him to a match in BattleDrome Oron." Nika said. "Whoa, whoa! I've seen that kid play. He's a bloody disaster! That wouldn't be fair, taking advantage of someone like that." Robbie objected.

Gisele started to think about this. "What do you think, Sidney?" She asked. "I don't know. It's kinda cheesy. I mean, my Uncle Peyton and Aunt Lulu were practically in this very situation when they met. But it's up to you." Sidney said. Gisele thought really hard about this, until finally she decided. "I'll do it! I'll send Darwin a challenge and put an end to my losing jinx once and for all." She said, sending a challenge request through her scanner. Minnie and Nika gave a high-five, while Robbie just slunk in his seat.

In the Oron Drome, Gisele and a nervous looking Darwin had already assembled their teams and were going their selection of BattleGear. 'Okay, this is it. This is a no-lose deal. A clean slide to win number 7.' Gisele thought. 'Wait. That's what I thought the last time I lost. And the other 8 times before that. No, Minnie's right. I better play strong.'

"Players, lock your decks." The Drome Master instructed. Gisele and Darwin locked their decks and revealed their teams. Gisele had Junda, Ibiaan, Kebna, Vollash, Dasalin and Odu-Bathax, while Darwin's team was put together rather poorly. He had Garv, Drimesse, Ettala, Borth-Mojar, Laarina and H'earring.

"No wonder this kid's never won any matches. Look at his deck." Minnie said. "I know. He picked Drimesse, who's a Mipedian Conjurer, but he doesn't even have a Warbeast on his team." Robbie pointed out. "And he can't use H'earring's special ability since his H'earring doesn't have any Mugicians. What a waste." Sidney said. "You guys think that Darwin doesn't know how to play the game?" Minnie asked. "Actually, I checked his stats. He's pretty good at the card game and online, but his game goes to shreds when he comes to Chaotic." Nika said. "My Aunt Lulu was just the same." Sidney said.

"DardeDoom, you will attack first. Activate the Location randomizer." The Drome Master instructed. Darwin spun his randomizer, stopping at the first Location. "The first Location, Glacier Plains. Choose your attacking Creature and target Creature." "Uh, Ettala attacks- Ibiaan?" Darwin declared. He tapped his Ettala and transformed into the one-eyed ogre, getting a little freaked out by this. Gisele tapped her Ibiaan and transformed into the big bug as everything went white.

In Glacier Plains, Ibiaan trailed the snowy grounds. "Brr! Should've worn my winter jacket for this Location." He said, shivering from the cold. Just then, he heard a scream and a thud. He hustled to investigate. He peaked over a nearby hill. There he saw Ettala trying stand and keep his balance on the ice. "Geez. This is gonna be almost too easy." He said, forming a Plasma Pounder in his hand. Ettala managed to regain his balance, only to get blasted by Ibiaan's Plasma Pounder. 'Ha-ha! GazelleGisele's getting the spring back in her step!' Gisele thought. Ettala struggled to get up as Ibiaan got closer. Then, Ettala formed a Gauntlet of Might on his left arm and prepared to attack. "Fearocity!" But he shot was a few short breezes of wind. "Ugh! What was I thinking?! Fearocity is an air attack! And Ettala is only good at using earth attacks!" He complained. "Gotcha!" Ibiaan said, seeing his chance. He fired his Plasma Pounder, coding Ettala on impact.

"Yes! I really got the spring back in my step now!" Gisele cheered as she transformed back. "You make it look easy. Wish I could battle the same way." Darwin said sadly. Gisele felt her heart sink a bit, but she shook it off and spun her randomizer. "The next Location, Fear Valley." "Kebna attacks Garv!" Gisele declared. She tapped her Kebna and transformed into her big bug. Darwin tapped his Garv and transformed into Lake Morn's manatee caretaker, once again looking a little weirded out by the transformation.

Kebna scurried across the wasteland area, being careful not to get any surprises from the Location. He spotted Garv from over a hill. Garv jumped back when he thought one of the mountain caves was gonna eat him. Due to having less courage than Kebna, Garv lost energy from the scare. "This is really almost too easy." Kebna said, feeling sorry for the poor guy. Garv managed to recover from the scare, only to get blasted by a Torrent of Flame. Kebna leapt out and formed a Diamond of Vlaric in his hand. He fired Iron Balls from the diamond. Garv ran as he dodged the attack and fired Sludge Gush from his hand, hitting Kebna in the face and making him drop the Diamond of Vlaric. Seeing his chance for a counterattack, Garv picked up the diamond and aimed it at Kebna. "Earth Pulse!" He shouted. But nothing happened. "Uh, Granite Balls?" He said, trying again. But again, nothing. "Mineral Mayhem?" He tried again. Still nothing. Kebna fired Lavalanche from his chest, hitting Garv and coding him.

As Gisele transformed back, she got a call from Minnie. "Alright! Way to play, Gisele! You're really getting back in the game now!" Minnie said. "Ugh! Of course, the Diamond of Vlaric wouldn't work for me! It was her BattleGear! Stupid Darwin! Stupid!" Darwin cussed to himself. Gisele now really felt pain in her heart seeing Darwin like that. "I don't know, Min. Darwin's starting to get to me." Gisele said. "What are you getting at, Gisele?" Minnie asked. "The kid's been a total wreck since he first walked into the Drome. He's got huge Chaotic issues." Gisele said. "A bit late to feel sorry for him now." Nika said, coming into view. "I think there's a way I can help him." Gisele said. "You're in the middle of a bloody match! What're you gonna do? Give him pointers?" Robbie asked. "He doesn't need pointers. What he needs is a win." Gisele said. "You're the one who needs the win!" Minnie said. "I know! But the kid needs some confidence. I'll let him have at least one win, then I'll obliterate the rest of his team." Gisele said, ending the call.

Darwin spun his randomizer, landing on the next Location. The Forest of Life. Darwin chose Drimese to attack Ibiaan.

Ibiaan carefully wandered through the forest, looking for Drimese. 'When Darwin finds me, I gotta act surprised.' Gisele thought. Then, he found Drimese, trying to pull his foot out from a tangled root. 'I can't make this look too easy! I'll hit him once, then I'll let him demolish me.' Gisele thought as Drimese pulled himself free. "I got you again, boy." Ibiaan said, coming out of hiding. "Iron Balls!" He fired Iron Balls from his eyes. Drimese ducked as they flew over his head. 'Come on, Darwin! Attack me!' Gisele thought. "Spirit Gust!" Drimese called, summoning 2 wailing spirit heads and throwing them at Ibiaan. The attack it Ibbian, but the other head redirected itself and hit Drimese right back. 'Geez. This kid must be accident prone.' Gisele thought.

Just then, as the 2 started to recover, the trees started falling. The attack caused the trunks to give out. Ibiaan saw that the trees were about to fall on top of Drimese. 'Darwin's code if those trees hit him first!' Gisele thought. 'I have to switch places fast!' Darwin thought. "Song of Reversal!" They both called, casting their Mugicians at the same time. But since they activated the same Mugic, both Songs of Reversal cancled each other out. Drimese screamed as the trees fell on him, coding him.

"You canceled out my Song of Reversal with another." Darwin said as Gisele transformed back. Gisele just sheepishly smiled. Then she received another call from her friends. "Nice work. That must've really boosted his confidence." Nika said sarcastically. "I tried to let him win, but our Mugics canceled each other out!" Gisele whispered. "Forget it, Gisele. It's not worth it." Sidney said. "Yeah. Just beat the kid and move on." Minnie said. Gisele looked at Darwin, who sighed sadly. 'I can't let the poor kid walk out of here so bummed down in defeat. I gotta let him win once!' She thought.

Gisele spun her randomizer, landing at the next Location. UnderWorld City. "Junda attacks Laarina!" She declared, tapping her Junda.

In the city, Laarina walked along the street. She peeked out from behind a building and saw Junda relaxing next to a statue of Chaor. "I'll never get used to being a Creature." Laarina groaned, summoning a Plasma Pounder. Junda watched as Laarina tried to shakingly take aim. "That's right. Aim right at me." He whispered. Laarina finally steadied herself and took the shot. But she missed by a mile and the plasma started bouncing off the ground and the buildings. Junda shook his head as the plasma hit Laarina, coding her.

Darwin's attack. He chose Borth-Mojar to attack Kebna in Ravanaugh Ridge. Borth-Mojar was backed up against a ledge. "Oh no! My BattleGear isn't working! I sure hope Borth-Mojar doesn't try to attack me now." Kebna said, acting like his Diamond of Vlaric was broken. Borth-Mojar was about to attack, but he slipped and fell off the edge. Kebna facepalmed himself as Borth-Mojar was coded after he hit the bottom.

Gisele's attack. She chose Kebna to attack H'earring in Castle Bodhran. H'earring kept on falling down the stairs. "Boy, he's even stubby as H'earring. Here we go again." Kebna groaned as he watched from another stairwell. He made his appearance known. "Inferno Gust!" H'earring called, firing the attack rather poorly. Kebna moved at his best, allowing the attack to hit him. "I- I actually hit him?!" H'earring asked in shock. But then Kebna shook it off. "Bring it on, UnderWorlder!" He shouted, readying Flame Orbs in his hands. "Smoke Surge!" H'earring blew clouds of smoke from his hands. Kebna coughed as the smoke hit him. "If you keep hammering me like this, I'm code!" He said. "Over here, Danian." H'earring said, appearing behind Kebna. 'That's it. Do it!' Gisele thought. "Lavalanche!" H'earring shouted, firing Lavalanche at Kebna. "Finally." Kebna said as he was coded on impact.

Darwin was so happy as he transformed back. "I can't believe it! I won! I actually won my first battle!" He cheered. Gisele even cheered silently, but then she got another call from her friends. "Well done, Gisele. Congrats on your loss." Minnie said with disappointment. "Yeah, you've done your good deed for today. Now beat him and call it a day already!" Nika said. "Come on! Don't you guys see how happy he is? I just made his day. His week. His life. I gotta let him win." Gisele said, seeing how happy Darwin was. "You're gonna let him win the match?!" Robbie asked. "No! Just 1 more battle. 2 or 3, tops. Just to pump him up." Gisele assured. "So, you can knock him back down." Minnie said.

Darwin spun his randomizer, landing on the next Location. Crystal Cave. "H'earring attacks Junda!" He declared.

Junda scurried around the crystals through the cave. H'earring fired a Torrent of Flame, hitting Junda and coding him.

Gisele's attack. "Vollash attacks H'earring!" In Mount Pillar, H'earring blasted Vollash down with an Inferno Gust, coding him.

Darwin's attack. "H'earring attacks Dasalin!" At Stronghold Morn, H'earring blasted Dasalin with Magmamite, coding him as he hit the wall of the stronghold.

"This is amazing! I actually won 4 battles in a row! This my first winning streak!" Darwin cheered as he transformed back. "I nearly thought I had you that time." Gisele said. "Did you see when I cooked Dasalin to a crisp with my Magmamight?" Darwin asked. "See it? I actually felt it!" Gisele said. "And the way I scorched Vollash with that Inferno Gust!" Darwin said. "Yeah. It looked like you were about to graze me, but then I tweaked into it at the last min-" Gisele stopped herself, hearing what she just said. "Uh, I mean-" "What do you mean you tweaked into it?" Darwin asked, getting suspicious. Gisele just laughed sheepishly. "None of your Danians activated Hive ability in the battles I've won." Darwin pointed out. Gisele stuttered a bit. "And you didn't use your BattleGear or activate any of your Mugics." Darwin added. "My bad?" Gisele said. "You've been letting me win! Haven't you?" Darwin asked. Gisele sighed sadly. "You got me." She said.

"You let me win all those Chaotic battles!" Darwin accused. "I was only trying to help you!" Gisele assured. "Oh, you helped alright. Helped me look like a big fat loser." Darwin said. "Well, you are known as- uh-" Gisele tried to say. "Go ahead. Say it. Darwin the Doomed. You think I don't know that's what players have been calling me?!" Darwin said angrily. "Okay. Uh, Darwin the-" Gisele started to say. "SHUT UP! No one's ever gonna call me that again! Once I beat you!" Darwin yelled. "Oh dear." Gisele whimpered.

Gisele's attack. She chose Ibiaan to attack H'earring in Everrain. H'earring chased Ibiaan throughout the Location, throwing fire attack after fire attack. Ibiaan fired a Pebblestorm, but due to the special effects of Everrain, the attack was just a few measly pebbles landing in the puddles. H'earring fired Ember Swarm, surrounding Ibiaan and coding him.

Darwin glared as he transformed back. "Everyone knows earth attacks don't do well in Everrain! You're still letting me win!" He accused. "No! Honestly! I just forgot! You know what that's like!" Gisele objected. "Oh, I suppose that's your idea of a joke. Well, let's see if you're still laughing after I humiliate you like you humiliated me!" Darwin said angrily.

The gang watched this drama from the Port Court. "Okay, the kid seems upset." Nika pointed out. "Yeah, I kinda figured that." Sidney said.

Darwin spun his randomizer, landing on the final Location of the match. The Passage. "H'earring attacks Odu-Bathax!" Darwin declared angrily.

At the passage, Odu crawled about the side of the walls. "I'll keep out of sight. Catch the kid by surprise." He said, continuing on. H'earring ran close by, listening for any sounds of Odu. Odu quietly climbed up and prepared to attack. 'H'earring's gonna go deaf when I hit him with my Thunder Shout.' Gisele thought. H'earring slowly backed up, being prepared for anything. 'That's it. Just a little closer.' Gisele thought. Unfortunately, H'earring was able to hear Odu's breathing. He turned around and blasted the High Danian Commander with Ember Swarm, knocking him into the wall. Odu recovered and glared. "Rock Wave!" He slammed his fist in the ground, creating a Rock Wave and knocking H'earring down. H'earring quickly recovered and fought back. "Sudden Flare!" He fired Sudden Flare from his hands, but Odu wasn't there when the attack hit. H'earring looked around and held his ears up, preparing for anything that might come at him. Just then, Odu dropped down from behind him and blasted him down the stairs with Earth Pulse.

Odu loomed over H'earring from the stairs. "Sorry Darwin, but I really need this win." He said with sorrow. H'earring recovered and hit Odu with Paral-Eyes, freezing him into place. H'earring chuckled at this. Odu struggled to get free. 'No good. Only Mugic can save me now.' Gisele thought, casting one of her Mugics. "Purge Dirge!" The Mugic played in key as a beam of light hit H'earring, knocking him and his energy down. Odu finally managed to free himself from the effect of Paral-Eyes and summoned a Pyroblaster as H'earring recovered. "I still got a Mugic left too." H'earring said. "It won't do you any good, kid. Your H'earring doesn't have any Mugicians to cast." Odu said, taking aim at the little UnderWorlder. "Maybe so. But one thing I learned from my many losses is that it's not just the Creature that wins battles. It's also the BattleGear you give him." H'earring said, forming a Mugician's Lyre in his hand. "A Mugician's Lyre?!" Odu gasped. "That's right. And I'll bet you can guess what's about to happen next." H'earring said. He stroked the strings, and on the board, a Mugician appeared over his picture.

The others watched from the Port Court. "What Mugic does Darwin have that he thinks can help H'earring?" Nika asked. "I don't know." Robbie said. "We're about to find out." Sidney said.

H'earring cast the Mugician and activated his Mugic trump card. "Song of Asperity!" The Mugic played in key as it activated and a beam of orange light shined over the little UnderWorlder. As it disappeared, H'earring roared as he felt charged up.

"The Song of Asperity? What's that?" Sidney asked. "Pretty bad. It's an UnderWorld Mugic. When it's activated, H'earring's fire attacks are gonna be as ferocious as Chaor's now." Nika said. "Plus, it also let's H'earring use air attacks." Minnie added.

Odu started blasting H'earring with his Pyroblaster. But H'earring blew them away with a Cyclone Slam. Odu prepared to fire again, but H'earring knocked the Pyroblaster out of his hands with Windslash. Then H'earring blasted Odu over the edge with Hail Storm. Odu managed to grab onto the ledge and tried to pull himself back up. But H'earring wouldn't allow him to. "Voltorch!" He fired a typhoon of fire into the air and it redirected itself at Odu, coding him on impact.

Afterwards, Gisele sat with her friends, sobbing hard again. "Jinxed! Jinxed! Jinxed!" She sobbed. "Hey, at least you came close. Sort of." Robbie said, trying to cheer her up. "Yeah. There's always next time." Sidney said. "Gisele." Darwin called. Gisele looked up and he was standing right at their table. "Look, Darwin, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you win all those battles just to make you feel good. It won't happen again." She said. "Actually, I wanted to say thanks." Darwin said. Everyone was shocked to hear that. "I've got another match coming up. And instead of having a knot in my stomach, I'm really looking forward to it." Darwin explained. "Sorry if I got intense in the Drome. I'm still trying to figure out the whole tapping into the Creature deal. It's tough, but really cool." Gisele smiled. "Well, bye for now." Darwin said, turning to leaving. But then he turned around and kissed Gisele's cheek. "And thanks again." He said.

Gisele held her cheek as Darwin left, blushing hard. The others 'oohed' from the sight. "Wow, Gisele. I guess in your own messed up way, you actually did help him." Nika said. "Not to mention that you just landed yourself a boyfriend." Robbie said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Yeah, I guess I did." Gisele said, feeling embarrassed. "Well, now it's time to help yourself. You still need that 7th win in the Oron Drome." Minnie said. "Oh! Right. I forgot about that for a while." Gisele said. "Well, I'm prepared to make you an offer. Battle me and I'll let you win." Nika offered. "Ugh! Nika! I can't believe you would even consider something like that! What am I?! A loser?!" Gisele asked, walking away while feeling insulted. The others just grinned at each other. "Meet me in the Drome in 5 minutes?" Gisele asked, zipping back.