Chapter 34: Triple Duel Pt 1

Sidney, Minnie and Nika were at Kiru City's Forgery. Maxxor and Verlina called them to tell them about a new BattleGear Bodal and Olkiex came up with. The girls met up with Verlina up in the rafters. "Wow! I've never been to a forgery factory before." Sidney said. "Pretty cool, right? Bodal and Olkiex make all kinds of new BattleGear here when they're not too busy at the Barracks." Verlina said. "I can't wait to get a scan of this new BattleGear and find out what it can do!" Minnie said gleefully. "Me too! It's been a while since I've scanned something so cool!" Nika said. "Yet you 2 already have such cool scans in your decks." Sidney said. "Yeah, I suppose." Minnie said. "Good point." Nika said. "Trust me, guys. This scan is gonna be worth the wait." Verlina said. Just then, a soldier hustled up to them and saluted. "Apologies for the interruption, Lady Verlina. But Lord Maxxor is still negotiating with Bodal about showing your friends the BattleGear." He reported. Verlina sighed in frustration. "That Bodal! He is so stubborn sometimes!" She complained.

"Look, Bodal. I get it that you don't trust these humans, but they've helped us through thick and thin situations in the past." Maxxor said. "In fact, they've probably saved you more times than even you could ever count." Olkiex chuckled at that joke. "Like the time you actually helped Tom when he was protecting the Aerodrone from Spyder. And the time Tom braved the Labyrinth of Linsinc to save my life. And what about when-" "OKAY! Okay! They can scan the Soulplate for their Chaotic game! Just please, just let me do my job, Maxxor." Bodal complained in defeat. Maxxor nodded and called the soldier on his calling crystal. "Alright, send them in." He said.

"Yes, sir." The soldier said as the call ended. "What's happening?" Minnie asked. "You kids are all clear to go scan the Gear. Go on in." The soldier said. Verlina nodded to the soldier and started to lead Sidney, Minnie and Nika towards Maxxor, Olkiex and the BattleGear.

But little did the girls know, A.J., Marshal and Fry had followed them, having learned about the new BattleGear from eavesdropping on them. "You sure about this, A.J.?" Marshal asked. "Trust me. Just follow my lead and we'll get those scans before those alliance losers can even get scans themselves." A.J. said. Marshal and Fry chuckled sinisterly.

The girls met up with Maxxor and Olkiex, and they led them to a cabinet. Maxxor typed in a code on a keypad, unlocking it. "Okay, girls. Get ready to scan our newest, scariest piece of BattleGear." Maxxor said as Olkiex opened the cabinet. "It's the one, the only, Soulplate!" The Soulplate was a huge silver plate, big enough for Maxxor to grab with both hands, with 4 scared expressions with different colored eyes carved on it. The girls were in awe.

A.J., Marshal and Fry had made their way to a control panel on the upper rafters. There, they found their enemies and the Soulplate. "There it is." Marshal said. "And nobody's scanned it." Fry said. "Yet." A.J. said, operating the controls. "Oh, this is gonna be fun." Fry said.

"It sure looks cool. But what does it do?" Sidney asked. "Uh, I think it's supposed to drain your opponent's courage or something. Makes them see crazy illusions like you're at Fear Valley. Or at least, I think." Olkiex explained. "We've never tested it ourselves, but it's just as dangerous as the Phobia Mask." Maxxor said. "Let's just scan it. We can find out what it does in the Beta Drome." Minnie said. "Good idea, Min." Sidney said. But before the girls could scan the Soulplate, there was a mechanical whirling noise. The group turned and saw A.J., Marshal and Fry. "I hope you Alliance scum like heavy metal!" A.J. called, laughing like a maniac. A mechanical claw snatched the Soulplate away from the group and a carrier of hot liquid metal poured right on top of the group.


(Intro)


As the metal poured, the group backed away before they could get burned alive. "Guards! We have rogue Chaotic players operating the forge controls! We need help in here! ASAP!" Maxxor reported on his calling crystal. Just then, the bridge they were on gave out, causing them to fall. Maxxor and Olkiex grabbed the ledge and held on as hard as they could. Sidney, Minnie, Nika and Verlina held on to their legs. To make matters worse, they were dangling over a series of gears. "We better port out, girls! We can try again later!" Nika said. "But if we port out, what'll happen to them?" Sidney asked, concerned about Verlina and the others. Meanwhile, A.J., Marshal and Fry brought the Soulplate to them and they scanned it.

Maxxor and Olkiex struggled to pull themselves and the girls up, but their grips just kept slipping. "Can't you guys use an attack to stop the machine?!" Minnie asked. "We could, but then Bodal will really have a fit!" Verlina said. "She's right. As much as I can't stand Bodal, I really don't want to face him when he's having a fit!" Olkiex said. Verlina started slipping. "Hold on, Verlina!" Maxxor called. "Believe me, Daddy! I'm trying!" Verlina exclaimed.

A.J. laughed, making the group turn to them. "We've got to give you losers credit. You Alliance sleazeballs have very excellent taste in BattleGear." A.J. said. "Yeah! We can't wait to try out the Soulplate!" Fry shouted. "Too bad you won't be able to." Marshal said, preparing to toss the Soulplate. "Halt right there!" A voice called. The 3 turned to see 3 soldiers aiming at them with Pyroblasters. "Drop the Soulplate! NOW!" The lead soldier demanded. "With pleasure." Marshal said, dropping the Soulplate into the gears, destroying it. The soldiers glared at the 3 and prepared to fire. "See you girls back in Chaotic. Or not!" Fry said. "Later, losers!" A.J. said as all 3 of them ported away before the soldiers could hit them with their attacks.

Verlina couldn't hold on any longer. She slipped off Olkiex's leg and fell towards the gears. "Verlina!" Maxxor and Sidney cried. Luckily, Verlina managed to land safely on the gears and tried to avoid getting crushed. But it was hopeless. Sidney looked away, not wanting to bear the sight of her best friend getting crushed. But then, the gears shut down. Verlina fainted from the close call. The others looked up and saw the lead soldier at the controls, saluting them. Maxxor and Olkiex successfully pulled themselves and the girls up the ledge. The soldier grabbed Verlina with the claw, brought her up and set her with the others. "You kids better port back to Chaotic and deal with those 3 rogues. We'll handle Bodal." Maxxor said. "Thanks, Maxxor." Sidney said, transporting away with Minnie and Nika.

Back in Chaotic, A.J., Marshal and Fry looked over their new stolen Soulplate scans, smiling proudly. "You 3 just hit your all-time low!" Sidney shouted as she, Minnie and Nika stomped over to their enemies. "Yeah! You skunks shattered the slimeball barrier! We almost got slaughtered back there!" Minnie exclaimed. "We never would've been able to come back to Chaotic again!" Nika exclaimed. "And to top it all off, you stole and scanned the Gear we were going for and then destroyed it!" Sidney finished. "Buzz off, lousy skanks." Marshal said.

"We're not leaving 'til you dumbbells give us those Soulplate scans!" Sidney said, poking A.J. hard in the face. "Yeah! Fair's fair!" Minnie said, poking Fry's shoulder just as hard. "Fair?! Who the hell cares about fair?!" Fry asked rudely. "We do whatever it takes to win!" Marshal said. "Yeah, that's what separates the winners from the losers." A.J. said, flicking Nika in the nose.

"Those scans should be ours and you know it!" Sidney said. "They belong to us, officially." Fry said. And there's nothing you 3 can do about it. Officially." A.J. said. "Maybe not." Nika said, giving a hard glare. "But there's something we can do UNofficially. Meet us in the Beta Drome. You against us in a 3-on-3 match." "The winners keep those Soulplate scans." Minnie said. "We already got the scans. Why should we risk losing them?" Marshal asked. "You're always dissing us every chance you get. Let's see if your as good as you say you are." Sidney said. "Or are you 3 scared that 3 cute girls are gonna hand you your butts on a silver platter?" Nika asked, causing the crowd around them to get riled up as Fry whispered something into A.J.'s ear. "Fine. You're on." A.J. said.

"If the ladies win, we get our scans back." Minnie said. "Fine. And when the guys win, we each get to take any 3 scans from each of your decks." Marshal said, causing Sidney, Minnie and Nika to jump back a little in shock before they turned to each other and nodded. "Deal." Sidney said. "Meet us in the Beta Drome in 1 hour. We're going to destroy you just like my dad and uncle destroyed your parents." "And make sure you bring our scans with you." Nika said. "Oh, don't worry, we will." A.J. said.

As the girls walked away, Nika turned to Sidney. "Any 3 scans from each of our decks?" Nika asked. "Was that really a good idea, Sid?" "We had no choice, Nika. Mom and Dad told me about A.J.'s parents. They're 2 of the dirtiest players in Chaotic history and he's just as bad." Sidney said. "We called them out and they raised the stakes. Let's just plan out our strategy. It's gotta be a good one." "Hey, you're basically Chaotic royalty and your family is archenemies with that guy's parents." Minnie said. "If anyone can come up with a strategy to destroy him and his goons, it's you."

Later in the Beta Drome, all 6 met up at opposite sides. "Okay." Sidney said as the 6 players inserted their scanners. "Here's how it works. We each choose one Creature, one BattleGear, one Mugic and one Location." "But none of you can't choose the same Location!" A.J. said. "You'll all just choose somewhere we can't use our new scans!" "We already agreed to that because we're fair!" Nika said. "And the same goes for you!" "We're not as dumb as we look, Punkstar." Fry said.

"Whatever. We'll transfer our selected Locations to Fry's randomizer and Nika will spin it to choose where we battle." Sidney said. "Got it?" All players nodded. "Okay. Let's build our decks." Everyone chose their Creature, BattleGear and Mugic. "Everybody set? Then lock your decks." Sidney said. Everyone locked their decks and revealed their teams. Sidney picked Verlina. Minnie picked Takinom. Nika picked Skithia. A.J. picked Iflar. Marshal picked Hiadrom. And Fry picked Prantix. "Well, well, well. Verlina, Takinom and Skithia." A.J. said. "How surprising." Fry said mockingly.

"Send your Locations to Fry's board." Sidney said. 'Those 3 won't be able to use the Soulplates at Iron Pillar.' Nika thought, choosing Iron Pillar. 'But then we won't be able to use any of our Gear either.' 'If Nika's Iron Pillar scan doesn't come up, my Runic Grove scan's a good backup.' Minnie thought, choosing Runic Grove. 'They can use whatever Gear they want, but it'll limit the Mugic they can use.' 'If neither Iron Pillar or Runic Grove come up, the Riverlands will be a good backup.' Sidney thought, choosing the Riverlands. 'At the Mipedim Oasis, Iflar will pack a bigger punch.' A.J. thought, choosing the Mipedim Oasis. 'At Mt. Pillar's Reservoir, Hiadrom's water attacks will make a bigger splash.' Marshal thought, choosing the Mt. Pillar Reservoir. 'If we battle at Fear Valley, Prantix can strike bigger fears into those 3 losers.' Fry thought, choosing Fear Valley.

Nika walked over to Fry's board and spun the Randomizer. After a few seconds of anticipation, the randomizer landed on the chosen Location, Runic Grove. "Yes!" Minnie cheered. "Runic Grove!"

Sidney tapped her Verlina and transformed into her. A.J. tapped his Iflar and transformed into the albino Mipedian prince. Minnie tapped her Takinom and transformed into the beautiful humanoid bat-winged UnderWorlder. Marshal tapped his Hiadrom and transformed into the giant insect. Nika tapped her Skithia and transformed into Takinom's pale rival. Fry tapped his Prantix and transformed into Maxxor's creepy cousin. "Which one do you want to destroy first, A.J.?" Hiadrom asked. "It doesn't matter. They're all code." Iflar said. Prantix chuckled wickedly.

By then, Robbie and Gisele had just arrived at the Port Court. "Check it out, Gisele! It's a 3-on-3 match! Bloody freaky!" Robbie said. "No, duh. This should be very-" Gisele started to say. "Chaotic?" Robbie guessed. "Oh yeah." Gisele said.

"On the outside, one is the daughter of Perim's greatest 'hero', and the other 2 are 2 of the fiercest UnderWorlders in Perim." Iflar started. "But on the inside, they're the 3 greatest freaks in Chaotic!" Prantix finished. "We'll see! Let's get Chaotic!" Verlina declared as everything went white.

At Runic Grove, Verlina looked around the Location from on top a hill. "I haven't battled in Runic Grove much since my first match with Minnie. I just hope the 3 stooges don't know this Location better than we do." She said to leapt down the hill and into the dead woods. Just then, she heard a rustle. "Riptide!" She fired Riptide towards a few trees. "Whoa, whoa! Stop shooting! It's only us!" Takinom said, revealing herself and Skithia. "Oh. Sorry, guys. Force of habit." Verlina said. "It's all good." Takinom said.

Iflar, hiding nearby, dropped his invisibility and observed his enemies. 'I better attack those dopes before they destroy each other and ruin our plan.' A.J. thought. He was about to engage them, but then he was blasted by a Torrent of Flame and an Earth Pulse, sending him crashing into a tree. Hiadrom and Prantix revealed themselves and rushed over. "Nice shot, you 2. But you hit the wrong target!" Iflar scolded. "You got in our way!" Hiadrom blamed. "We had a good shot until you came in!" Prantix said. Iflar groaned. "Just stick to the plan and we won't have any more problems!"

Just then, they were hit by Power Pulse, Flame Orb and Ember Swarm. "Bullseye, girls!" Skithia said, giving a thumbs-up from behind a tree. Verlina gave another from the other side. Takinom gave another from above. "Now let's pull a Squeeze Play!" Verlina said. All 3 girls charged for the 3 guys, shrouding them with Mistfreeze, Ash Torrent and Smoke Surge. But Iflar, Hiadrom and Prantix scattered out of the way, causing the 3 girls to crash into each other. The girls groaned as they recovered. "My dad was right. Battling together isn't easy." Verlina said. "But losing together is!" Iflar called, attacking them with Lightning Burst. Hiadrom followed with Hydro Balls, and Prantix attacked with Pebblestorm.

Back at the Port Court, Gisele just came back to Robbie. "I got the intel from MugicMeister." Gisele said. "A.J., Marshal and Fry scammed our girls out of some new BattleGear scans. So, they challenged them to a 3-on-3 match to get them back. How're they doing?" "Not so good apparently." Robbie said.

The guys continued to pummel the girls until they stopped to gloat for a bit. "You go left, you go right, I'll go low." Verlina said. "Right." Takinom said. "Got it." Skithia said. "Heat Rage!" "Steam Rage!" "Rock Wave!" Takinom hit Hiadrom with Heat Rage, Skithia hit Iflar with Steam Rage, and Verlina hit Prantix with Rock Wave. The 3 ran in opposite directions. The 3 girls celebrated like a K-Pop group.

Robbie and Gisele watched this ridiculous display from the Port Court. "Wow. Embarrassing." Robbie said. Then a robot hovered over to them. "Can I bring you anything?" It asked. "Yes. 3 hot dogs each." Gisele said. "With hot sauce." Robbie added, fist-bumping with Gisele.

"We're getting the hand of this teamwork." Takinom said. "What's next?" Skithia asked. "Well, we can't track A.J." Verlina said. "Knowing him, he'll use his invisibility and his Mipedian instincts to travel across the trees." "So, that means we're going after Marshal and Fry, because they're easier to track, right?" Skithia asked. "Right. Except Fry's a much looser cannon. Even for all 3 of us." Verlina said. "I can vouch for that." Takinom said. "So, what's the plan?" Skithia asked. "We split up, take them both by surprise." Verlina said. "I'll take Marshal. I've had much experience dealing with his Hiadrom before. You 2 tag team Fry." "Sounds good to me." Takinom said. The 3 took off, chasing after their separated targets. Iflar watched them from a tree, chuckling with pleasure.

Prantix continued to run. "A.J.? Marshal!" He called, looking for Iflar and Hiadrom. 'Those 2 probably got themselves coded already.' Fry thought. Just then, there was a sound. Prantix lit his hand on fire and went to investigate. Just then, Iflar appeared, scaring him. He fired another Torrent of Flame in surprise. Iflar dodged, laughing at his joke as Hiadrom appeared and joined them. "That's mature." Prantix said. "Just a little payback for hitting me with that attack earlier." Iflar said. "You totally deserved it." Hiadrom said. "Well, I'm not laughing! Those 3 losers have us playing defense now!" Prantix exclaimed. "I'm not worried about them. Not as long as we have these." Iflar said, forming his Soulplate in his hand. "Who knows what that does. I thought the plan was to get their energy down before we use our new Gear." Prantix said. "Plans change, Fry. My new strategy will work. Trust me!" Iflar said, freezing Prantix with Paral-Eyes. "We're about to catch these rats, and you are the bait." Hiadrom then locked Prantix in place with Flashwarp. "Wish us luck." Iflar disappeared, chuckling evilly. Hiadrom followed. "A.J.! MARSHAL!" Prantix shouted.

Meanwhile, Verlina searched for any signs of Hiadrom, but found nothing. "Looks like I just hit a dead end." She said. Then she looked up, seeing that she was at the First Tree. 'The First Tree. This is where Tangath Toborn risked his life to destroy Vitog.' Sidney thought. She bowed her head andplaced her hand on the tree. She decided to channel her inner Verlina with a heavy sigh. "Uncle Tangath, I don't know if you're listening. But if you are, please. Grant us the strength to bring down those who took your sacrifice in vain." She prayed.

Takinom and Skithia, using stealth and strategy, tracked Prantix to where Iflar and Hiadrom stuck him. They hid behind a tree as they spotted him, struggling to get free. "Sid was right! Let's get him before he spots us!" Skithia said, charging towards him. "Nika! This doesn't feel right!" Takinom called silently. "Nika, wait!" Too late. Skithia was already in range to attack Prantix. She fired a Flame Orb, but a rock shard popped up and blocked the attack. Skithia was shocked as Takinom caught up to her. Iflar reappeared, held up his Soulplate and fired a ghostly soul from it. The soul inserted into Takinom. Feeling it entering her, Takinom turned to where Iflar was, but all she saw was a monstrous hallucination of the M'arrillian, Ihun'Kalin. She screamed at the sight of it.

"Minnie! What's wrong?!" Skithia asked, trying to snap her friend out of it. "M'arrillian! M'ARRILLIAN!" Takinom screamed, pointing at Iflar. "M'arrillian? What M'arrillian? That's A.J.!" Skithia said in confusion. "Oh, it's not him you have to worry about." Hiadrom said, making his appearance. Skithia turned to the big Danian, just as he released a soul from his Soulplate, entering Skithia. Then, all Skithia saw in Hiadrom's place was a monstrous version of Morotuve, making her scream. Both of them then turned to Prantix, who had gotten free from his trap. But all they saw was a monstrous version of Lord Van Bloot. Both of them screamed and backed away from all 3 of them in fear.

Robbie and Gisele watched in horror. "What's going on with Minnie and Nika? They look like they've been watching a horror movie." Robbie said. "It's those weird plates A.J. and Marshal are holding. They're draining their courage!" Gisele said.

Verlina, still mentally praying for Tangath Toborn, came back to her senses, hearing the screaming of her 2 friends. "Minnie and Nika! They've been ambushed!" She jolted quickly to where the fighting was. She leapt up into a tree and saw what was happening. Takinom and Skithia, under the effects of the Soulplates, were getting bombarded by Iflar, Hiadrom and Prantix. Iflar hit Takinom with an Airize, sending her into a tree. Hiadrom hit Skithia with Rockwave, sending her next to Takinom. All 3 bad guys laughed evilly at their work. 'Oh no! If I don't think of something to help them, Minnie and Nika will be coded and they'll be able to outnumber me!' Sidney thought as she looked on in horror. There had to be something she could do

To be continued…


New Card:

BattleGear: Soulplate

Drains 50 Courage from target Creature