Chapter 6: The Second Task

Note: Aylonn is a figment of my imagination. If you are wondering how to pronounce his name, it's A-lawn. :) felt like mentioning that before we began…

It was the day of the second task. However, this one took place in the evening; but you really couldn't tell the difference since it was always dark in space. The people gathered on the empty planet, bunched together, as they waited for Aylonn to explain the rules.

Aylonn stepped up to the group, and opened his arms out to present himself. "Welcome everyone to the second task. Before we begin, let's recap how our players are doing!" He screamed into a microphone. "In first place, we have Kakiri Kisanoa. Second, we have Hazlin Yanes. In third, we have Fred Nerk. Fourth place is Aldo Rodriguez. Taromo Laz takes the sport for fifth place. And In the last two spots, we have Joris Kersnick and Jake Long."

"The second event will combine psychical and strategical traits. You each will race through a meteor shower." He said, and pointed to the space behind him. There, you could see a vast of space full of coming and going meteors. "At the end of this field, is the finish line. However, there is a catch. On hundreds of these flying meteors, we have placed wooden dummies on top of them. Along the way to the finish line, you must try and destroy as dummies as you can. You are allowed to use any available weapons or abilities to demolish your dummy, but it must be completely off the holding stick, in order for it to count. Each dummy gets you 5 points. You may spend as much time out in the field; however the first person to cross the finish line will get an extra 200 points. And the 200 will reduce down 50 points, after the next players reach the finish line. Even if you are first, a person can beat you by their dummy count. The person with the most points in the end wins!" He rejoiced.

The players were a bit, overwhelmed by these rules, but they all nodded in agreement. The players set across a line, and waited for the signal to start.

Jake looked over at his competitors; each had on a face, a type of face that meant they really wanted to win. Jake, personally, just joined this for the fun of it. But ever since his story Gramps told him, he decided it would step it up more. Help gain some dignity, and show his grandpa what he can really do. He faced forward now, with the same serious attitude everyone else had on.

Aylonn went up to the line, and shot out a bullet. It was the start of the leg, and everyone dashed out into the open space.

Jake was first out into the meteor shower. It seemed like he had a good lead against the other players. But soon, Joris whizzed right by him. "See yah later, American loser!" He yelled from behind, as he gained the lead. Soon, Fred Nerk came dashing by in front. Jake found himself between them, trying to control his speed.

Now only did they have to search for these dummies, they had to dodge any meteors that came toward them. Jake, flew in and out, evading any upcoming rocks. This task seemed to get easier, the more he did it.

As Jake went deeper in the shower, eventually saw the dummies. There where HUNDREDS, scattered hundreds of the meteors. Jake looked over, to his competitors. Each used their strong points, to get each of the dummies.

Kakiri used her trustful swords. With one pound into a meteor with both in her hand, she could cast fire out from each, in great lengths. If she could aim properly, she could get three dummies in a row easily.

Taromo's strong points were his own two fists. He zoomed past every meteor, pounding his claws into any nearby dummies. Jake Long watched him fly by, as he headed toward a close by dummie. "Outa my way, American Scum." He said, as he pushed Jake aside.

Joris, though he could fly fast, was not the skillful fighter. He used his fire skills, to get to each dummie. However, he would often have to slow his speed down, so he didn't go past it. And his fire was as weak as his strength, so he spent a little more time at each dummie to make sure it was fully destroyed.

Hazlin had mostly icelandic powers, where were very helpful in this race. She could breath out icy fire, which frozen all nearby dummies. When the dummies are frozen, she could easily pound them down, giving her more time to reach more dummies. However, her flight was not as good as the other dragons, which slowed her down.

Fred Nerk, however, was skilled at both flying and fire. He had a powerful fire beam, which he could blast at dummies and destroy them quicker. He could reach far away dummies, quicker than a regular firer attack. However, Joris and Fred were often next to each other, fighting to get each dummy. And combined with the dummy race, and the meteors; Fred could not keep focus at each task. At times, he would get hit by an approaching meteor, which put him down at times.

Aldo's strongest muscles were in his tail. With this, he would go up to each sticking, holding up the dummy, and pound right to it. The dummy would fall over, and shatter into pieces. However, this move was very ineffective, as it took a lot of time to stop and aim at the stick. But… Aldo believed it was his only shot at winning, so maybe this could be enough for the win.

Jake zoomed through the meteors, thinking of something to do. He didn't really have any qualities that were better than the other, so he really did have an edge. Come on Jake, what can you do!!! He thought to himself. He tried to think of anything his Gramps had taught him that could be useful right now. He had thought of something he had just learned not to long ago. It hadn't perfected it yet, but it was all he could think of.

Jake paused for a second, and summoned two of his doppelgangers. Out appeared two people, that looked exactly like Jake. Once they appeared, Jake stared right at them, and thought of up an idea. "Check it, I gotta plan." He called over to his look alikes. He hadn't perfected his psychic connection with his doppels yet, so he had to speak to them aloud to tell them the plan. "You Jake Long, get the dummies on that side. And you take the left side. All go by the finish line." He said, and they were off.

Doppelganger Jake Long number 1 went to the right side of the field. Along the way, he used his fist to destroy and nearby dummies. He flew far enough, out past the main coast. Most of the contestants stuck to the main route; so out here, he was free from everyone. This meant he had all these dummies to himself.

Doppelganger Jake Long number 2 went the opposite way. He attacked the upcoming dummies; however he used his fire ability. Which a quick blow, he could obliterate at least two of them in a row. Doppelganger number 2 took the same approach as the first one, going out into the open where no one dared to go. There, he was able to get any of the dummies out there, without competition with the nearby contestants.

Finally, the real Jake Long stood by the finish line. Many of the dragons saw him pass right by. They thought he was already going to the finish line; which was a foolish move. However, Jake stood in front of the finish line, and he did not to enter it just yet.

An hour into the competition, the dummies were starting to disappear. Everyone knew the game was about to end soon, so it was the race to reach the finish line first. Kakiri was the first to head down there. She thought with her two swords, she had way more dummies than any other dragon out there. She streamed down around each meteor, heading toward the finish. Jake Long looked over to see Kakiri not to far from him.

Jake knew, it was time to take actions. He winked from afar to his doppelgangers. They saw his signal, and zoomed over to him. Just as Kakiri was right in front, Jake rose up his arms, and absorbed his copies. Once they were gone, Jake flew right into the finish line, making it five seconds before Kakiri could.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE, I LOST!!!" Kakiri screamed aloud, as she hated coming in second place. She believed anything under first place, was considered a loser.

"Face it, the Amdrag beat you." Jake bragged to her. But he stopped, once he saw the fire in her eyes.

Soon after, Joris flew right into the finish line. Following him, were Taromo, then Aldo, then Fred, and last was Hazlin. Aylonn talked over to his 'alter egos' to announce the winner of this race.

"As you all no, the American Dragon finished first, so he gets award an extra 200 points. Combined with his total score of 1036… he is our winner!!" He rose up Jake's arm, but no one was cheering except Lao Shi and Fu. "In second place, we have the African Dragon, with total score of 1200 points! After that, we have the Japanese Dragon with 1135 points, the Danish Dragon with 1063 points. Next is the Australian Dragon, with 1000 points, the South Pollen Dragon with 945 points. And lastly, we have the Ecuadorian Dragon, with only 734 points."

No one was happy with their effort. As long as the American Dragon was at top, they could not celebrate. "And now, this is the current leader boards after the second task." Aylonn announced once more. "Kakiri, still in first place." He spoke. Kakiri gave a yell of excitement, as she pictured herself leaving the first place marker. "In second place, we have Taromo! And… this is strange. We have a three way tie! For third place, we have Hazlin, Jake, and Fred!!!" Aylonn exclaimed.

"Say what now!?" Jake yelled, as he could not believe there is a three way tie for third place.

The crowd went ballistic over this news. "People, people settle down. The scores are calculated all according to math. And since we are never wrong at a math problem, it is certain that the three dragons are tied for third. Now, let's continue the scoreboard please!" Aylonn tried to press on. "Now, in fourth place, we have Joris! And in last place, we have the Ecuadorian Dragon, Aldo."

No one was really happy about the results, except Jake. He came from dead last, all the way to third place. If anything, he had to be happy about that. "Now people, the next event will start in two days. If you are disappointed at the results, use all of your strength, and try to go farther. I'd advice you all to use this time wisely, and train. Till then," were Aylonn's last words of the night, as he disappeared away from the crowd.

Another long chapter :)

Just to let you know: I actually did some math, and calculated (sp?) the scores :P

Hint: If you are wondering about Aylonn's sercret plan, try to look at everything he had said. It might foreshadow his secret plot. MUHAHAHAHA :P -For avatarjk137 xD