Author Comment: I want to thank my Beta-reader for giving the time to check this chapter.
It took a while for this chapter to be done. So far, I have advanced each week until chapter 48 done. Chapter 46 and 47 are done and all it needed is to be spell-checked by FollowerOfAnhamirak.
As Peyton and Kaz were in the Beta Drome getting ready they couldn't help but notice how strange it was to be aware they were the center of attention of two rulers.
"Nervous bro?" Peyton asked as he checked the settings for their match.
"Of course. I mean, Chaor will be pissed if I lose." Kaz replied, letting out a nervous chuckle at the thought.
"Surely, but we can't do anything about it." Said Peyton, shrugging uneasily. Despite his usual go with the flow attitude it was difficult not to feel some pressure for this match.
"Anyway, what type of match should we do?" Kaz asked, glancing at his board.
"I think it's best to leave it at a one on one. Too bad I don't have Theb-Saar scan or it would have been a big battle. The battle of the kings." Peyton said, making it sound like a title.
Kaz snickered and nodded, "Yeah, that would be funny. One creature, one mugic and one battlegear."
"Oh. And pick one location and go with it." Peyton added.
"Forest Of Life?"
"Yeah."
"But let's cut the bonus the location gives. I'm sure they want a real fight without all that strategic part."
"For sure bro. The battle wouldn't be fair in the first place if we went that way." Peyton replied with a smile.
He checked on his screen and pressed on a few switches to pick his cards. The two were about to finish their preparations when they were interrupted by a ring from their scanners.
"Got a call too bro." Peyton said, answering.
Kaz sighed and opened the screen, "What is it Tom?"
"Well… they talked a little more about the matches and there is something else they want." Tom replied, looking a little nervous.
"What now?"
He heard Sarah answering, "They want a duel with creatures only. They want to see raw strength only to prove themselves. Like, you know, the stronger without an item being the best, I guess. You know, some stupid boys' stuff." Sarah muttered.
"What did you say?" Chaor grunted, his heard to Sarah's side.
"Sarah." Peyton warned.
"Anyway, guess you have to reconsider everything." Sarah replied.
Kaz was frowning at the demand, but simply nodded. Couldn't they have told them about this extra rule before they finished their strategy.
"Back to the drawing board it seems." Peyton said, a little dejected.
The two took away their battlegear and checked for another creature who wasn't reliant on mugic to win a match. They went to their most appropriate creature for the match.
"Ready?" the Underworlder player asked.
"Ready!" The Mipedian player replied.
They pressed on the switch and the creature they had each picked appeared on the screen.
Kaz put his hand on the screen and said, "Chaor attacks Mudeenu!"
The two boys took the forms of the creature they had chosen and went into the Forest of Life for the upcoming battle.
Chapter 45: Chaotic Match
Meanwhile, the creatures watched the transformation the two boys took as they used their strange battlegear to take the form of the two creatures. It was mostly strange for Chaor to see himself on the screen, but have a little bit more of the human body language.
For Theb-Saar, the feeling was similar, as he saw Mudeenu looking constantly cheerful. If this had happened at his palace, he would have thought that his nephew had taken drugs or imbibed in too much drink as had happened a few times.
Tom and Sarah watched and spoke to each other quietly about it, "What do you think their plan is Tom?"
"I don't know. They have no battlegear or Mugic to turn things around. The Forest is pretty big and they could use it as an ambush. Since Chaor has no Spectral Viewer, Mudeenu could be anywhere and not worry about anything given that he's going to be invisible." Tom replied thoughtfully as he crossed his arms.
"So Chaor gave Peyton a big advantage." Sarah replied, smirking.
The creature in question cursed himself as he overheard them, as they hadn't forbidden the usage of invisibility.
The Mipedian let out a small smile as he crossed his arms. He saw the two in the battlefield at different locations. The screen focused on Chaor who proceeded carefully in the Forest Of Life. It made sense when the enemy was surely invisible and preparing an ambush.
Alexandre let the two teenagers speak their minds as he knew little of him.
Sarah said her comment, "If I was Peyton, I would use this to my advantage to attack from above. Even here, most creatures don't really look up, unless they know they are fighting a flying creature."
"So, Peyton will hide at the top of a tree," Tom asked.
"It's Peyton we're talking about, he might try to attack from below for all we know," she replied.
"He is so unpredictable. He might not even use the invisible and just stood somewhere and gave peace signs." the boy commented.
The four creatures were now wondering what might happen in the fight as more and more possibility of Peyton's strategy might be.
Theb-Saar listened closely as they discussed the match. Just hearing the two humans made him curious. It might be something he could take into account if his soldiers entered into battles later on. It might be funny to break their predictability, if the boy was going that way.
On the screen, they saw Kaz as Chaor raising his claws and got ready to attack at any second, his blue eyes going left and right.
When Peyton went to the offensive, the creatures chuckled at his reaction, except for the Underworlder ruler who crossed his arms and grunted furiously, "I would never do that!"
Kaz searched carefully for Peyton. He knew that as Mudeenu, he might try anything. He could sneak around him, be in a tree and wait for him or anything else. He had to listen to any sounds in his surroundings, "Where are you?" Kaz asked with Chaor's voice. He just loved to sound powerful and threatening. Maybe it was a part of Chaor's personality affecting him.
He searched around and suddenly, he saw Mudeenu appearing in front of him, upside down with his long tail holding on the branch of a tree and said, "Boo!"
Kaz yelped as he jumped back and almost lost his balance. Not wasting a second he recovered and quickly tried to burn the Mipedian with fire, but Peyton swiftly jumped out of the way.
When the fire exploded on the tree, strange sounds resonated in the forest as it seemed to take life. Kaz gulped, "Yeah. Forgot about that.". He remembered that he shouldn't burn those trees. He and Tom had researched the lore of this forest and it was a pretty scary one.
He chased for his friend and stopped when he lost traces of him. He used Chaor's eyes to search for any footprints. He used his ears to listen to any suspicious sounds. There was nothing. The sound of rustling leaves was quiet and wouldn't hide anything. There were no animals to hide the reptilian creature sounds.
Kaz knew it was a match that would require patience and vigilance to stay ahead of his friend. He couldn't predict anything and had to trust his guts and Chaor's instinct, except the one focusing on crushing the one who made him a little jumpy. That one was buried deep inside the creature's chest.
"What are you going to do now?" The voice of his friend as Mudeenu asked, "You can't see me and I can be anywhere?"
Kaz knew his friend was on his left, but there were a few trees. He didn't want to enrage the forest and lose the match because of it. He waited to be certain of it.
"Maybe I'm behind your bro?"
A lie Kaz concluded as the boy went in front of him. He waited for the perfect chance. He did play along and gazed behind him.
"Maybe I'm in front of you," Peyton suggested next.
That one was true. Kaz played along and cautiously looked forward, charging his hands with fire. He slowly took a step forward, before taking one backward.
"Nervous are we bro? Not your fault. They didn't want us to use battlegear." His friend sighed.
Kaz knew his friend wasn't mocking him. He was at a disadvantage. He still kept waiting.
"Anyway, I'm sure Chaor and Theb-Saar are getting impatient. Let's finish this bro," Peyton said.
"Agreed." Kaz knew where the invisible creature was, "Power Pulse!" He threw a blast of energy in front of him and exploded in contact with his adversary.
The other boy suddenly appeared and rolled on the ground. He grumbled as he stood up and said, "I talked too much."
"Yes! Lavalanche!"
The creature dodged and spun his body as he kicked in the air, "Flash Kick!" He struck the red Underworlder on the chest and sent the creature against a tree.
Kaz grumbled as he shook his head. He stood up and saw another attack coming at him and rolled on the left. He countered with Iron Balls, but his adversary was invisible and couldn't find him. The blue eyes of the Underworlder searched for any traces. He heard something behind him and rolled on the ground, avoiding something coming at him at the last second. He jumped on his feet and countered with more Iron Balls, but hit nothing.
He calmed down and planned his next plan. He wondered where his friend might be. His eyes searched for the creature, but nothing in his sight. He grunted painfully as he felt an attack strike his back and countered with his tail, hitting nothing.
As the battle went on, it was clear Peyton had the upper hand. Any counter attacks from Kaz missed the target.
In the Court Room, Tom commented, "Kaz is in trouble."
"Of course, without a Spectral Viewer, the battle is harder for him." Sarah replied.
"He will defeat Mudeenu." Chaor grunted as he scratched the table with his claws.
"You are the one at fault here for taking away any way of countering my tribe advantage," Theb-Saar commented with a small smirk on his face.
Lore and Attacat watched the battle. It was getting intense despite the low start and it was strange to see the form of the creatures, but not acting as they did. There was something strange about it.
"Tom. Think Kaz can fight back or not?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah. He managed to get Peyton at the start. He just needs a chance to do it," he replied.
"Good luck with that. Chaor energy is running low and he might get coded soon."
"Energy?" The creatures asked.
Alexandre pointed at the number besides the image of Chaor that was declining, "That number is how much a creature can take as damage, or hurt, before the battle is over. It's more like how long until you ended up knocked out or dead. There are others for Power, Courage, Wisdom and Speed. The higher the numbers, the better you are in those elements."
"Your power is put into numbers. When you are wounded or sick, it changes everything," Tom added.
"Really?" Chaor asked as he crossed his arms. He wouldn't let himself scanned, but it was intriguing to see their abilities with those scanners. The human's technology was even greater than he thought. No wonder they came from the Cothica, he thought.
The other creatures thought the same thing.
"They can drop if anything affects you too. Like sitting here." Sarah pointed out at the ruler of the Underworld.
He didn't take the bait. It wouldn't be for that long and training would compensate for that, he asked instead, "How low would the numbers would be on you human?"
The girl replied, "Probably higher courage since we can't fight against you if you attack us. We'll still run away, but we won't panic."
The red creature grumbled.
Lore nodded, "Can't disagree with that. You have lots of guts to try and enter in Mount Pillar no matter how many times we chased you away."
"Unless you have low wisdom." Attacat added.
"Power is obviously low," Theb-Saar commented.
No humans could disagree with that.
"No matter. We aren't the same basically and… it's getting interesting now," Alexandre commented.
Their attention returned to the match they temporarily forgot.
Kaz went into hiding. He knew he couldn't fight the 'Chaor' away and had to find a plan to either restrain Mudeenu's movement or prevented the creature from surround him. Things going as they were, he needed to be able to see the attack. He couldn't let anything come behind him.
He went into a small cavern near the trees and gazed around. He rested his back against the wall and waited, the sound of his breathing echoed inside and nodded to himself. He wouldn't have trouble hearing the Mipedian when he would be around. There wasn't any pool on the ground to show where the creature might be. Still, the walls were slippery, so Mudeenu couldn't climb.
Listening carefully, he heard as Peyton was grumbling with Mudeenu's voice.
"Watch out Peyton. Walls are pretty slippery!" Kaz chuckled.
"Yeah. I hit my nose on this damn wall." His friend and currently rival replied.
He heard nothing and focused. It was all a waiting game now. Footsteps echoed in the cavern. Kaz knew the creature was slowly approaching him. He prepared himself. The large muscles of Chaor tensed under the red skin, ready to strike his enemy down. He had little chance to win. It was all or nothing. The boy knew that more than anyone. This was his only chance of victory.
The waiting was soon over when he knew the creature was near him. He made sure to not whisper anything or it would be over.
"Fla-" Peyton was caught off-guard when Kaz grabbed him and threw him against the wall. He turned visible and grumbled as he hit head first.
Kaz raised his arms and yelled, "Incinerase!"
He used everything he had and burned the Mipedian until he turned into codes.
The battle was over and Kaz raised his arms as he celebrated his victory as he turned back into his human form.
Peyton sighed on the side and chuckled, "Got me there bro. No wonder you just stood still like that."
"It was either that or losing. I was at my limit," the Kaz replied as they walked out of the Beta Drome.
"How do you think the creatures took it?" his friend asked.
"I don't know. Maybe Chaor isn't that angry because I won." Kaz said. He sure hoped so anyway.
They returned in the Port Court and saw Chaor on his feet and grinning at the Mipedian, "…and that's why your tribe lacks strength!"
Theb-Saar gazed at the side. They could see a vein on his forehead. Whatever Chaor had said really left an impact on the king. That was something Peyton wasn't expecting.
"What happened?" Kaz asked.
"You really don't want to know. Just trash talk." Tom replied.
"Where's Alexandre bro?" Peyton looked around.
"He decided to port in Al-Mipedim for something when he saw Chaor being a… terrible winner," Sarah replied.
"I can see why." Peyton replied.
Kaz made no comments on it. Somehow, he knew it wouldn't be the end. At least, he wasn't in trouble if Chaor was just celebrating his victory by showing the superiority of his tribe over the Mipedians. He would never say that his plan was an all or nothing. He won by pure luck.
"I'm… going to port out." Sarah said as it went on and on.
"Yeah. The day is ending soon and I have to give my report." Attacat agreed with her.
The others followed soon after. The only two creatures who remained were Theb-Saar who found no chance to escape from the verbal insults he got and the one who assaulted him.
Peyton noticed the king was hitting his head on the table, as if he wished to knock himself out. That was something he never thought the Mipedian would do in his life.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Hidden In Antarctica.
Alexandre discovered a few secrets inside the base of Antarctica. The secrets he found gave a few answers and more questions to the man.