Episode 6: bruising an ego
"All right, enough playing games," Haley announced as looked across the trading table to her brother, his familiar cocky smirk beginning to wear down her patience. "What is it going to cost me to get that Cadence Clash mugic off of you?"
"How about your scans of that ice cloak and the really cool spot at Cordac falls?"
"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed, "they took me two months to scan, not to mention royally ticking off Arias when he spotted me in the armoury. All you did for the mugic was open a booster pack"
"She does have a point" Shiho interjected.
"I guess" Linus muttered as he focused his attention onto the scans in an attempt to hide the red hue forming on his cheeks. At this Haley just chuckled. Ever since Shiho started hanging out with them in Chaotic, Linus had been making an effort to act nicer around her, a valuable tool for Haley when she was dealing with her brother's more annoying antics (or just wanted to mess with him).
"So what's it going to be bro?" She asked, her lips mimicking the same smug smile her brother had seconds ago.
"Fine, I'll trade you for just the location scan"
"Great" she cheered as she reached to complete the trade before her brother's hand reached out.
"But, your also taking over dish duty at home this week"
"Oh, come on" she whined but the look in Linus's eyes made it clear that part was non negotiable.
"Take it or leave it Hales"
"I hate it when you do that" the young girl muttered as the trade went through.
"Huh, figured you'd hate the fact I had an extra scan of that mugic" Linus said absent mindedly as he pocketed his scanner.
"YOU WHAT" Haley shrieked. "I am going to pulverise you".
"Now, let's not get angry" Shiho offered but by that point the pair were already running across the plaza, Haley practically snapping at her brother's heels.
"Come on sis, all's fair in love and war" panted as he sidestepped between tables.
"Oh, I'll show you war," she snarled in reply.
With a quick dash, Linus slipped behind a pillar, the sounds of his sister's wrath getting quieter and quieter.
"Sorry sis" he muttered to himself. "But I think I should leave you to cool off". Just then a loud cheer caught Linus's attention, looking to his left he could see a large crowd gathered around a table, the excitement buzzing fiercely among them.
"Hey man, what's going on?" he asked one of the kids as he walked up.
"Bruiser sharing some of his stories" the kid responded excitedly.
"Who?"
"Bruiser 33, he's one of the best players around and he also always takes challenge matches to win more cards"
"Interesting" Linus said as his usual smirk formed on his face.
"Found someone else to try and rip off dear brother?" a frighteningly familiar voice announced behind him.
"Crud," Linus whispered in fear.
"So how big a bruise am I going to give you?"
"Sis, I know you're mad but I think I can make it up to you"
Before she could reply, Linus grasped her wrist and pulled her to the front of the crowd where a pale blonde boy in a brown hoody sat on a table.
"You bruiser?" Linus asked.
"Who wants to know?" the boy sneered, clearly irritated at having his little show interrupted.
"Names Linus Fischer, want to see if you're up for a friendly little wager. You know, if you have the right cards"
"Don't think so loser, I've seen your matches and anything in that worthless underworld freakshow you call a deck couldn't compare to mine" he said back, his cronies all laughing at that comment.
"What did you say to my brother?" Haley said as she began to approach him with white hot fury in her eyes.
"Oh, is his big bad sister coming to the rescue?" he replied, getting up from his perch and meeting her toe to toe.
"First of all, he doesn't need me to but since I really don't like bullies, I'll do it anyway. Second, you would be lucky to have won something from his deck and third, if you're willing to give up a chance at having anything from that deck because of something as flimsy as what tribe it's mostly made up of, maybe you're actually scared".
At that, the whole crowd went silent, watching the two stare each other down until a lone voice erupted into laughter.
"Damn Hales" Linus managed to choke out before nearly keeling over from the force of his joy.
"All right girlie, you want to settle this?" Bruiser stated.
"Fine by me" she spat back. "Battle drome Hotekk, six on six. I win, you have to apologise to my brother in public"
"And if I win?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Then I have to hunt down a scan on your wishlist, no matter how rare".
"Deal, see you there in twenty minutes"
"Well this should be at least interesting," Linus said.
"Shut it" the pair bellowed in response
"And that's how we got to this point, '' Linus explained.
"I am not familiar with this Bruiser person," Shiho said.
"I am," Coley stated. "And if Haley decided to go up against him in a match, she'll have her work cut out"
"I should have stepped in," Linus said glumly as he picked at his food. "She always goes crashing in when she sees someone being a jerk, ever since we were kids"
"Oh, her match is starting now," Shiho exclaimed, pointing up to the screen in front of them.
"Players lock your decks" the drome voice announced. "Because of his impressive victory streak, Bruiser 33 will be the first to attack, activate the location randomiser"
With a quick flick of his wrist, Bruiser's spinner went. "The first location will be Castle Bodrann, please choose the attacking and target creature"
"Frafdo attacks Katarin" he stated, quickly turning into the feathered creature.
"You'll be losing that smile soon enough" Haley announced as she morphed into the horned muge. "Let's get chaotic"
Haley couldn't help but gaze in awe at the strange and overlapping stairs and structure of the castle's inner workings.
"This place is incredible" she whispered to herself only for something to blast into her chest and nearly send her out of a nearby window as she just barely grabbed the ledge.
"I'm glad you like it" a voice cackled from somewhere around her. "Because against me, your never winning in this location"
"Pebble storm" Haley cried out as thrusted her hand forward and let a barrage of stones fly towards where the arrow had come from.
"Nice try, but I mastered attacking in this location, you'll never no where an attack is coming from"
A barrage of arrows suddenly burst forward from all angles, catching haley in different parts of her body. Desperately she jumped out the window, digging her fingers into the mortar lines of the castle.
"Gotta get him out into the open somehow" she said through gritted teeth before narrowly dodging another shot taken at her and leaping up to vault through another window.
"Let's see how well you do with this trick. Fanfare of the vanishing". Just then the air was filled with the booming notes of mugic as Haley disappeared into thin air.
"Wait, that's Mipedian Mugic" Bruiser exclaimed as he glanced around for any sign of his foe.
"Power pulse" Haley yelled, a pair of green energy fists catching the side of bruiser's face. He quickly dived for cover before pausing his eyes glancing for any sort of tip off as to where she could be. "Care to fill me in on how you can use Mipedian mugic"
"You forgot Kinianne is on my team" a voice echoed from the empty space". She can cast Mipedian mugic"
"Nice trick girly," Bruiser admitted as he nocked an arrow. "It's just too bad I've come up with a lot of different ways to counter invisibility in castle Bodrann. With that he let the arrow fly, ricocheting it across half a dozen spots before slicing through a support rope, dropping an iron light fixture down on the floor.
"UUUGHH" Haley groaned as she pulled herself free from the wreckage as the mugic just began to wear off.
"One down" Bruiser sneered as he approached his partially trapped opponent with another arrow pointed at her head. "Five to go".
"Not yet, Parel eyes" she cried out as the beams shot out from her head and stuck her opponent still. Pulling herself free from the wreckage she hauled him up to the window and with a smirk shoved him out.
"Got anything to say about that" she joked to herself only to hear some words that made her blood turn to ice.
"Song of reversal"
Within an instant she was suddenly in free fall, only just being able to fully comprehend what had happened before hitting the ground hard and exploding into code.
"Like I said" Bruiser retorted as he fully shifted back into his human form. "Five to go"
"Oh that's it" Haley snarled. "You are going down"
"Athena 07, the attack is yours. Please spin the location randomiser"
At that Haley practically slapped the randomiser into spinning.
"The next location is the forest of life, please chose the attacking and target creature"
"Aivenna attacks Loderool"
All that could be heard in the forest was the stampeding of Bruisers hoofs as he barged through the canopy. Stopping to peer out for any sign of his opponent.
"Didn't you already try this disappearing act" he announced to the surrounding fauna. "Come out and fight me already"
"Okay, your choice" a voice above him said. "Ectospasm"
With that, a blast of energy forced her opponent's face into the dirt.
"Lavalanche" he bellowed back as an eruption of molten fire and rock came from the ground, forcing Haley to jump back into one of the nearby tree's.
"So were you trying to damage me or the local flora?" Haley asked as her foe glared at her from across the pool of lava he had released.
"Iron balls" he screamed as said attack fired forward, cutting down the tree she was in, causing wooden shrapnel to fly in all directions.
"Cyclone slam" she cried back as a cyclance appeared in her grasp. Within an instant, the turbine of air and sent Bruiser flying into the air.
"Lightning burst", with that cry, bolts of electricity coursed out from her arms and struck him in the chest. His now smoldering body hitting the ground with a crash.
"Aren't you meant to be tough?" Haley mockingly asked as she sauntered up to her opponent.
"You want tough, I'll show you though! Vine snare"
Haley could only gasp then cry in pain as the ropey plant life wrapped around her and her opponent used it to swing her into a nearby rock.
"And like that, another one bites the dust"
"Don't count on it" Haley exclaimed as she pulled free of the now loosened vines.
With the pair lunged at each other, trading blow after blow, punch after kick.
"That's it, you're going down" he screamed as he raised his fists to bring them down on her head before being suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked down to see her Cyclance firmly shoved through his chest and under his rib cage.
"Like I said, don't count on it" she stated just before he exploded into code.
"That about even's things up" Haley stated happily.
"Oh you're going to regret that" Bruiser uttered, his anger being very clear by that point.
"Bring it"
"Arrthoa attacks Simalin"
The pair trade blows at cordac falls before A burst of fire from bruiser crashes into Haley, coding her.
"Kinianne attacks Arthoa"
Quickly he leaped from rock to rock at the lava pond, narrowly dodging attacks.
"Pebble storm" she cries, firing the sharp rocks from her hand.
"Song of Geo nova" he shouted back, the notes announcing her end before the blast knocked her into the lava"
"Kalt attacks quadore"
Bruiser peered out from his hiding spot in the storm tunnel, watching his opponent desperately try to flutter against the force hitting her.
"Tidal wave" he cried out as he leapt from his spot, the water shooting out from his hands.
Haley's face took on a form of shock only to instantly morph into malicious glee before she quickly darted down, letting her opponent go crashing into the maelstrom of debris behind and getting crushed in an instant.
"Aivenna attacks Wytod"
A deluge of energy pinned Haley under her cover in Gloomuck swamp, bruiser overhead with the trigger of his Destructozooka pressed firmly down
"Fortissimo" Haley shouted, growing to massive size before bringing her heel down straight through her opponent"
"Frafdo attacks laarina"
Haley drove full speed at bruiser in her Levitar, shots fired from the cannon mounted to the front of the vehicle that were quickly dodged.
"gotcha" he said as he pulled back the string on his bow, the arrow hitting the engine of the battle gear and causing an explosion that took the driver with it.
"Quadore attacks Tartarek"
"Tornado Gust" Haley shouted as she blew her opponent into the cave wall, forcing him further and further into it before he was blasted right through it and the surrounding rocks flattened him.
"Arthoa attacks quadore"
Quickly, Haley zipped between the buildings of kiru city, dodging ball after ball of fire before one eventually clipped her wings and sent her crashing to the ground.
She looked up, only able to let out a gasp before another burning orb was thrown right into her face.
"Aivenna attacks Arthoa"
Bruiser had haley pinned, one arm held behind her back and her face being forced unpleasantly close to Kybon's main forge.
"Just give up already" he whispered in her ear, you put more of a fight then any one thought you would"
"I have more fight than you could possibly handle" she snarled back before slamming the back of her head into his nose and flipping him over her shoulder directly into the forge's flames.
"Got you back for the lava pond" she said cheeky as she returned to her natural form"
"Ready to finish this?" he asked as he spun the randomiser.
"Ready to finish you" she shot back.
"The final location is Castle Bodrann, choose your attacking and target creature"
"Well isn't that fitting" he said with a smile.
"Let's do this," Haley replied.
"Frafdo attacks Aivenna".
"All right, I know his tricks with this location" Haley thought as she made her way up the tower. "I should be able to find him first"
Just as she reached the top, something clocked her in the back of the head. Quickly she ducked behind cover, her eyes spotting the arrow now responsible for the stinging headache she had.
"Do you ever get tired of shooting those things?" she cried out. "Or did you just like playing green arrow as a kid and never grew out of it".
"I don't need a stupid superhero to feel tough, it's all creature baby.
Haley couldn't help but smirk thinking about how that comment on superheroes was probably ticking off her brother.
"Besides, these arrows are what's going to win me this fight". With that, another series of arrows flew at her, making her jump from her cover to dodge them, one clipping her shoulder.
She then ran as she continued her ascent, dodging as many arrows as she could, her energy being chipped away more and more.
"Come on, come on" she muttered as she finally made it to the top floor, kicking open a hatch to get on the roof of the castle.
"Quickly, she scanned the surrounding desert, peering out for any sign of her opponent right till she spotted the tell-tale blue spark of her opponent's arrow.
"Found you" she thought before diving back down the hatch and bolting to the ground floor.
"One good hit and she's done for" Bruiser whispered as he tried to spot where she was, the muscles in his back tensed and his mind practically crackling with excitement.
Just then, he saw a blur of movement through one of the ground floor windows, a smirk manifested on his face. "Gotcha".
With that, he let the arrow fly, the sound of it sinking into something, making it hit the ground hard.
"And that makes six" Bruiser said to himself as he relaxed his posture waiting for the code to erupt out from the castle but nothing happened.
"What the?"
"Thought you had me there?"
Within an instant, Bruiser was clocked square in the jaw and knocked flying into the dirt.
"Surprising what a little smoke and mirrors can do", she quipped, leveling her cyclance at his chest.
"Power pulse" Bruiser shouted as he let the fists of energy fly out, causing Haley to duck behind some nearby rocks.
"For an archer, you sure do need to work on your accuracy" she said in a tone that made her opponents blood boil.
"You sure about that" he spat as he grabbed his bow and shot another arrow, this one bouncing from rock to rock, eventually crashing into Haley's side, making her collapse to the ground.
"I've learnt how to do trick shots from anywhere in this location, face it girlie. You've lost"
"Wind slash" she cried out, a tornado blasting out from her weapon and forcing him to duck.
"Seriously, you're trying to take me out with a cheap shot?" he asked to which Haley simply grinned maliciously. Just then the attack shot back and hit him, sending his body crashing into the rocks where it exploded into code.
"The winner is Athena07"
"How? How did you?" Bruiser asked dumbfounded.
"What?" Haley asked innocently. "All I did was keep track of where you were aiming for your trick shots. Figured at least one of them would work for me. Now I believe you owe my brother something".
"I'm sorry for insulting you" Bruiser said to Linus as his fan base watched on, half confused and half horrified.
"Eh, don't sweat it man" Linus responded as he offered out his hand for him to shake. "I aint always the nicest guy either"
At that Bruiser tentatively accepted the hand shake. Noticing the look of pride on Haley's face at this sight before her attention snapped to his entourage.
"As for the rest of you, I catch any of you encouraging that kind of behaviour and you'll be dealing with me, got it" she announced which received a wave of panicky nods.
"Your sister's kind of intense, isn't she"
"She gets it from out mother, I've gotten use to it"
"Linus" she growled.
"Uhh, something wrong sis".
"Do you have something to say about our little trading incident earlier"
"Well I was going to win you something from battling him to make up for it but I think you thrashing him was gift enough"
"WHAT?" she shrieked before chasing after her brother once again.
"Those two are worth keeping an eye on," Bruiser thought as he watched the pair's antics. "Definitely worth keeping an eye on".
Hey, something different with this chapter, trying to mimic what the show did with six on six matches (that kind of rapid fire explanation of what happened in each battle) let me know what you think.