"Welcome to the moment you've all been waiting for, the battle challenge of the Power of Three Tournament! Before we begin, I'd like to announce the Audience Points from the previous round," Gabriel said from the booth. "Dream Walkers earns four points, Forest Fighters earns four points, Ladies of Victory earns four points, Animal Instincts earns two points, King of Beasts earns three points, Team Chaotic earn five points, incredible 3 earns three points, and Brian's Team earns three points."
The raven smiled before pulling up a tournament bracket. "Now then, like was previously said, the times each team got in the puzzle challenge last round will determine the initial battles in this tournament. And speaking of which… Here are the first battles for the tournament!"
A screen popped up, showing off the order of battles:
Ladies of Victory VS. Incredible 3
Forest Fighters VS. Team Chaotic
Brian's Team VS. Dream Walkers
Animal Instincts VS. King of Beasts
"These are sure to be some intense matches! Good luck to all the teams competing today!" Gabriel said.
[***]
"Give a cheer for the Ladies of Victory!" Almyra announced as her team entered the field. The crowd cheered and whistled, clearly enraptured by the beauty of the three women. Stitch could be seen on the sidelines with a big sign supporting his girlfriend.
"I must admit, it's… nice having people cheer for me for once," Mirage admitted. "Though I have doubts if it's for wholesome reasons or not…"
"Just enjoy the moment!" Angel giggled. "I'm used to crowds like this during my concert tours!"
"You're not the only ones basking in this moment," Melody declared, making a superhero landing in the middle of the arena, now decked out in her full armor. She grinned behind the visor as she readied a riot shield and plasma sword. "Time to show the world just what this suit can do!"
"Oh please, everyone is here for me!" Gaston declared, flexing his muscles for the ladies in the crowd.
"We love you, Gaston!" someone in the crowd shouted.
The hunter laughed. "And I love you too, random citizen!"
"Aw geez…" Max sighed, rolling his eyes as he pulled out his own skate-shield.
With both teams lined up, Gabriel came back on the announcements. "Okay teams, here are the rules: No attacks that will purposely cripple or maim your opponents, though each of you have been outfitted with a miniature force field to mitigate that happening. You'll still feel pain, but you'll find you're a lot more durable than normal."
"Second, your goal is to knock out or incapacitate your opponents until one team is completely out. This can be done by either knocking them unconscious, or keeping your opponent pinned for ten seconds."
"Finally, each match has a time limit of ten minutes, so if time expires before either team is completely knocked out, whichever team has the most members standing will be declared the winner. If there is somehow a tie, we'll leave it up to the audience to vote on the winner."
The raven nodded before pressing a button, causing the arena to transform in terrain. The field was now that of an oasis, but with the normally lush desert sanctuary being covered in snow instead of sand, with the pool of water in the middle of the arena being frozen over. "Here is our first battlefield: the Frozen Oasis! If both teams are ready, then let's… BEGIN!"
"Max, with me! Gaston, hang back and take shots when you can!" Melody ordered, rushing forward into battle.
"This snow is going to be troublesome…" Mirage muttered. She flicked her hands, using magic to create a fur coat to wear. "There, much better."
"I think we should focus more on battle than looking fashionable…" Angel sighed. She pulled out a microphone, singing a few notes into it and causing physical music notes to appear around her. "You can than Stitch's friend Beth for whipping this up for me. Let's do this, girls!"
"I couldn't agree more! Let's melt away this snow with our fiery moves," Almyra nodded, tapping her feet on the ground as she called on her dance magic. A Samba beat started playing, with the peahen moving to the beat as she went about confronting Melody, dodging the first hit from her plasma blade.
"Right, you have that dance magic that lets you dodge my attacks," Melody muttered.
"Oh, it can do more than that!" Almyra declared, doing a spin before posing, causing snow to kick up around her and create an icy train that floated behind her. "Behold, my newest skill: Elemental Train! With it, I can both dance and fight at the same time."
The two team leaders when at it on one end, while Angel and Max had the frozen lake all to themselves. Max had the movement advantage with his skateboarding skills and his shield, but had to stop and kick his shield in order to attack, which left him vulnerable to Angel's music note barrage.
"Samba De Janeiro is classic. Good choice, Almyra!" Gabriel called.
"It's not even a real Samba song…" Pedro muttered bitterly from the stands.
"Just let it go, bro," Nico comforted his friend.
Back with the battle, Gaston lined up his gun to fire at Angel, only to have his weapon suddenly ripped from his hands by Mirage's magic. "Now then, what do we have here? A fellow villain?" the cat mused. She sized up Gaston before shrugging. "I'm much more for someone with wit and cunning, like Aladdin."
"Please, no one is wittier than Gaston!" the hunter boasted, trying to grab Mirage, only for her to slip away from his grasp.
"Like a meathead like yourself has much brains," Mirage shook her head. "Anyone can train to be physically strong, but then it comes to magic…" She powered up a spell, sending a blast of darkness into Gaston's back, shooting him straight into the oasis, breaking the ice and freezing Gaston in a block of ice.
"That's the first knock out! Gaston has been put on ice!"
"Getting dangerous out here…" Angel said with worry, rushing back to the shore before the ice could break any further. She gasped as she was sent flying by Max's shield, the alien curling up into a ball to protect herself as she landed in the snow.
"That's a bullseye," Max cheered, before focusing his attention Almyra and Melody. The two girls were evenly matched, with Melody's technology keeping her protected from the peahen's magical swings of her icy tail.
"This is going nowhere… Time to step it up!" Melody declared. She powered up her gauntlets, letting electricity flow through them and into her shield, electrifying it. "Max, now's the time for our team attack."
"You got it!" her partner called, rushing over with his shield out. Throwing it down, Max jumped up and did a flip over Melody, catching her arms and pulling her into the flip as well. "Electric Slammer!" they called, smashing into the ground and sending out a wave of electricity.
Almyra twitched in pain as lightning shot through her, disrupting her dance magic. "Ack! It's hard to move now," she grunted.
"Back off, shield bearers!" Mirage shouted, summoning some more dark energy to blast at the duo, Melody blocking the shots as they came in.
"Yeah, Almyra is our friend! She's not going down that easily!" Angel called, firing off more music notes.
'Looks like we're at an impasse,' Melody thought. 'They have ranged attacks, but we're in a position where we can still block their attacks.' She reached to her belt and pulled out her plasma pistol, attaching her plasma blade to the top of it like a scope. "Max, when I say "Go", I need you to kick your shield towards the pond. I'll handle the rest."
"Got it," he nodded.
As the two planned their next move, Almyra managed to shake off the lightning, though some of her feathers were smoking from the shock. "Reminder that electricity and birds don't mix…" she said to no one in particular. The peahen looked to see her partners were in a standoff, before noting a glint in Melody's eye. "What do you have planned, hyena girl…?"
"Max, let's GO!" Melody shouted. Her partner dropped his shield to the ground and kicked it, the hyena hopping on and riding it all the way over to the pond. Digging her heel into the board, Melody whipped around and held up her gun, the combined weapon firing off a large blast that managed to catch Mirage off-guard, stunning the sorceress to the point of unconsciousness.
"And that gives Incredible 3 a point in their favor!"
"Yes!" Melody pumped a fist.
"Not so fast," Almyra said, running towards Melody. With a swift kick she disarmed the hyena of her gun. "I thought you might do something, and I bet that your special shot right there used up a lot of energy, didn't it?" The peahen smirked, before delivering a hip check to Melody, pushing her off the board and into the frozen water.
"Hah! I have heating systems to keep me from freezing!" Melody shouted.
"But not from this," Almyra said. Holding up a wing she summoned her Elemental Train, but this time crackling with electricity. The hyena only had time to whimper as the lightning touched the water, sending out shocks across the waves that took Melody out of the fight. As Almyra gave a bow, she turned around to see Angel had managed to pin Max to the ground, meaning…
"Ladies of Victory take the first victory!" Gabriel declared as the arena returned to normal. Both teams were back to normal after that, with Almyra and Melody sharing a handshake.
"Man, I really wanted to win this…" Melody said. "But I guess your dance moves and magic got the better of me."
"I think you did pretty well for a newcomer," Almyra said with a smile. "Plus, I see some of your friends are cheering for you."
Melody looked up to the stands to see Big Hero 6 cheering for her, with Hiro cheering the loudest. "Heh, you guys…" Melody blushed. "I'm going to continue improving my gadgets, and someday I'll be a Dream Defender just like Adam!"
"I wish you luck in your goals," Almyra said.
"To lose to a woman…" Gaston grit his teeth.
"Oh, get over yourself, you brutish pig," Mirage said, zapping the vain hunter and transforming him into a fat boar. Gaston gave a squeal before running off in fright.
"You're going to turn him back, right?" Angel asked.
Mirage shrugged. "Eh, he deserves to be humbled. Let him see what it's like being one of the animals he prides himself on hunting for a few days, then get back to me."
"Right, you're still an evil sorceress. Can't forget that…" Angel said with a nervous chuckle.
[***]
"Oh yeah! Let's get this started!" Tomada declared with a grin as he entered the arena.
"Yes, it's time for a feast," Shere Khan grinned.
Bambi nudged the tiger. "No maiming, remember?"
"Yeah, this is a fun match," Tomada nodded.
On the other side, Roman and his team strode out in confidence. "It almost seems unfair… a team of hunters versus a couple of animals," the wolf said.
"Confident in our victory?" Ventress asked.
Roman shrugged. "Despite the confidence, Logan has brought Tomada over to train with us in the past. The two are on a similar level in terms of power, so I'm going to need you guys to play on offense while I do my thing."
"You got it," Ralph nodded, Ventress doing the same.
The arena's transformation system was then activated, turn the area into a thick brush of tall grass. "The arena this time is called: High-Step Fields! Lots of places to hide, but nowhere left to get above the grass either. If both teams are ready, then let's… GO!"
"See you at the end," Shere Khan said, slipping into the grass.
"Bambi, let's stay on alert," Tomada said, getting close to his partner.
"Coming on through!" Ralph shouted, rushing forward with his fists swinging. Tomada and Bambi quickly dodged out of the way, letting the large man race on past them.
"He moves pretty fast for a big guy," Bambi noted. His ears suddenly flicked, letting him have time to jump away as Ventress appeared from the grass, lightsabers swinging.
"Bambi!" Tomada called, but the falcon soon found that he was now alone. He hummed as he kept his posture low, tomahawk in hand as he tried to find anything off in the grass. "Come on, spirits, I could use some help right now…"
"Oh, I can surely help you out," came a giggling voice. Tomada looked to his side to find a wind-like creature with the head of a coyote had appeared next to him. "Please to meet you, shaman. Call me Coyote."
"Coyote? As in the trickster spirit?" Tomada raised an eyebrow.
"Relax, I'm one of the good guys. Even helped out the Manhattan Clan on one occasion," Coyote said. He held out a paw and gave grin. "So then, if you're going to take on a master hunter, I think you'll need some of my mischief to even the odds. Whattya say?"
Tomada thought about it, before accepting the paw for a shake. "Deal."
"Good answer!" Coyote said, disappearing into a whirlwind that swirled around Tomada, transforming his tomahawk into a dagger with a coyote head on the handle.
"Woah, didn't know my weapon could do that," Tomada mused.
"You've got a lot of stuff you didn't know you can do, kid," Coyote said from within the dagger. "But focus on not dying right now. Oh, and watch your step!"
Tomada flinched, looking down to see that the ground underneath him looked a bit uneven from the rest. "Right, Roman is all about traps…" he muttered. Putting his foot down on the other side of the trap, only to suddenly get tackled by Shere Khan, the tiger having been thrown his way by Ralph.
"I gotcha, you big cat!" Ralph called as he barreled through the grass.
"This human is more trouble than I thought. More like facing an elephant," Shere Khan growled.
"Hm… Perhaps we can use that trap to our advantage," Coyote voiced. "Tomada, to your left, please!"
The falcon nodded and stepped to the side, before tossing his dagger at where the trap was. This set it off just as Ralph ran by, causing a small explosion that sent the large man up into the air. Seeing an opportunity, Bambi suddenly jumped out from the brush, calling on his nature powers to wrap up Ralph in vines, making him unable to move.
"Oh, and with a clever use of one of Roman's own traps, Forest Fighters takes out a member of the opposite team!"
"Great job guys!" Tomada cheered.
"Yeah… good job…" Bambi said, before suddenly falling to one leg.
"Woah, careful there!" Tomada said, rushing to his friend's side. He looked to see that Bambi had taken some slashes to his side.
"Sorry Tomada… Ventress and Roman teamed up on me… I use the last of my strength to call on my magic to help out…" Bambi said.
"It's okay, Bambi. You did great. Rest now," Tomada said, soothing the deer as he went unconscious. Giving a nod, Tomada stood back up before looking to Shere Khan. "We took out Ralph, but Ventress and Roman still have a homefield advantage here. We have to look out for traps as well."
"I may be able to help with that," Shere Khan said. He lowered himself to the ground, feeling the earth beneath his paws. "Ugh… as much as I detest it, I need you get on my back, Tomada."
"Oh, sure," the falcon nodded, hopping onto the tiger's back. Shere Khan then growled, before letting out a fearsome roar, sending out a tremor over the ground and setting off various traps across the arena.
"Woah… he's got a roar almost on par with your own, Kion," Bunga said from the crowd.
"And mine is better than both of you," Vitani boasted.
Shere Khan chuckled as the explosions went off, before turning to see familiar red blades appear from the grass.
"Looks like the cat is a bigger problem than we thought," Ventress said. She rushed forward to fight, but Tomada hopped from the tiger's back and slashed with his dagger, sending out a gust of wind to push the Sith back.
"You'll be taking on me first!" Tomada exclaimed, clashing his mystical weapon against lightsaber slashes.
"And I'll be hunting the apex predator," Roman said, suddenly appearing from his cloak. Shere Khan growled as the two slowly started to circle each other, before clashing with arm blades against claws.
"We're down to the last minute! Keep fighting on, teams!"
Tomada and Ventress clashed, the Force against whirlwinds. Roman and Shere Khan battled against each other as well, not wanting to give in as they got hits in on each other. Tomada watched his partner as they battled, then suddenly jumped over to clash with Roman. "Now's the time for us to clash, here and now!"
"If that's how you want it, so be it," Roman said. He pulled out his Cursed Blade, pouring his energy into it so he could ready his attack. Tomada did the same, charging up wind magic within the Coyote Dagger. The two then ran at each other, calling out their attacks.
"Cursed Slash!"
"Coyote Windstorm!"
"And time!" Gabriel called, making the two boys suddenly stop, their attacks colliding in such a way that the mix of wind and darkness blasted outwards, knocking both of them back. "Oh… That looked bad. You two okay down there?"
"We're fine!" Tomada called, holding up a thumbs up. Roman gave his own sign as well while the arena faded away.
"I guess that ends us with a tie," Roman said, shaking off the blast and sheathing his weapons.
"It will be down to the audience to determine which of us moves on," Ventress mused.
"Not the best outcome, but this battle was more about waiting in the wings for one side to slip up," Shere Khan nodded. "Perhaps a more direct approach overall would have been better…"
"Nah, that's not really my style," Roman said. "I can fight well, sure, but using hunting tactics to wear down my foes is more preferable. I didn't expect you to turn my traps against me, or get rid of them all in one move, though."
"Well, I did have a little help…" Tomada mused, tossing his dagger in the air and releasing Coyote from his call. "You and Ventress had us on the ropes as well. If time didn't run out, who knows which side would have come out on top!"
"Hehe, glad to see that optimism in you," Coyote mused, appearing at Tomada's side. "You know, young falcon, the spirits will be there for you if you just call. I'd suggest going to spiritual places here in the Magical World. You never know who you might find." And with a laugh the spirit departed.
"You know, he's pretty cool for a trickster spirit," Tomada mused.
[***]
"Let's do this, guys!" Hunter encouraged as his team entered the arena.
"Yes, let us crush our enemies under our feet!" Lord Dominator proclaimed.
"Um, let's save that for… never, okay?" Brian said timidly.
"I believe our chances of winning are fairly good," Violet said. "You two remember the strategy we came up with, right?"
"Yes, and we will fulfill it with ease," Venom nodded.
"Good. Then let's go," Jameson nodded. He looked up to the crowd to see his friends cheering for him.
"Okay teams, this time the battlefield is going to be a bit… floaty," Gabriel said as the field transformed into free-floating platforms. The teams all started to float as well as gravity became negated. "We call this stage: Orbital Platforms! So, if you guys would like, let us… BEGIN!"
Hunter started by teleporting forwards with Brian at his side, the human pulling out his sword and bathing it in shadow magic. The two went right for Violet, seeing her as the weakest link, but were surprised when she caught both of them in a gooey tendril.
"I see that our calculations were correct," Violet chuckled as Venom revealed to have merged with her body. "You assumed that we were the weak link, when in actuality, we are the one to be most worried about." The hummingbird slammed the two boys into the ground, dazing them as Jameson appeared from behind his partner, slamming a hand into the ground to call on a dream portal.
"KO Kabuto!" Jameson called, summoning a beetle Dream Eater to his side. The Spirit grabbed onto Hunter just as the boy tried to teleport away, performing a suplex hold that incapacitated him. Brian was still stuck in Venom's hold, unable to do anything as the timer ticked down for his submission.
"Incredible! Dream Walkers have taken out two opponents in one move!" Gabriel exclaimed.
"Don't think I'll go down as easy as those two peons!" Lord Dominator shouted, using her ice powers to create a bridge for her to cross. She started tossing lava at the team, making Venom hiss as the heat made his body bubble up.
"Fire burns bad!" Venom shouted.
"Then let's scatter, make her focus on trying to get to us!" Jameson said, using KO Kabuto to toss himself to another position. Venom and Violet swung off to another platform, the low gravity allowing their swings to take them much farther than usual.
"Try to run, but you won't get far!" Lord Dominator said, using her lava to start burning away the platforms that Dream Walkers jumped across.
"The field of play is getting smaller! Lord Dominator looks to be smoking out her competition. This battle isn't as one-sided as it seems, folks!"
"Man, for a villain from a comedy series, she's seriously powerful," Jameson muttered.
Sending KO Kabuto away, the owl called on a different Dream Eater, an Eaglider, to take to the air. Pulling out his baseball bat, Jameson started using Balloonga to knock away the magic attacks Lord Dominator was firing at his team, creating fireworks in the center of the arena.
"Now noise is happening too," Venom growled as the soundwaves messed with his form.
"Venom, I have a plan," Violet said, pulling out a pink potion from her belt. "If you can get me close enough to Lord Dominator, we can end this while Jameson has her distracted. Think you can do that?"
"We will try," Venom said. The symbiote launched himself over their hiding spot, diving through the fireworks despite the pain it brought him. Once they were high enough, Venom launched Violet from his body, the hummingbird skydiving as she aimed for Lord Dominator.
"Give up, puny owl! Your magic is nothing compared to my might!" the despot shouted.
"Oh yeah? Well then, you haven't tasted my Red Phoenix Blast!" Jameson called, firing off his signature attack.
Lord Dominator smirked underneath her helmet, holding out her hands and catching the spell in her grip. She crushed the flaming bird in her hands, brushing it off like ash in the wind. "Hah, and Magica said you were a threat, when you're nothing more than an annoying flea," Lord Dominator said, making Jameson gasp. "That's right, Jameson, I know what you really are, and soon I'll prove that your worth is nothing! Now then, let's finish this: taste my-!"
"Suck on this!" Violet suddenly shouted, tossing down her potion at Lord Dominator's feet. The hummingbird landed carefully just as the potion broke, sending up pink smoke around the tyrant. Once it cleared, Violet emerged holding a very angry looking green chihuahua. "There you go, a more fitting form for you, I'd say."
"Violet… thank you," Jameson sighed, landing next to his friend. "I didn't know you had transformation potions."
"That was my only one. Lena managed to "borrow" one from Yzma," Violet said. Lord Dominator, now a small dog, tried to bite her, but Venom simply used a tendril to put a muzzle on her. "I think this counts as incapacitating someone, right? I am holding her down, after all."
"indeed it does, making Dream Walkers the winner!" Gabriel called as the arena turned back to normal.
"Aw man, I really wanted to do something cool," Brian sighed. "But we underestimated Violet's brains, it seems."
"We could have gone for a more strategic approach," Hunter nodded. He frowned and looked down at his staff. "You know, ever since I left the Emperor's Coven, I feel as if I've let my fighting skills fall to the wayside. My friends can defend themselves, but I want to be stronger from them and myself as well. After this, I'm doubling down on my training with Rachel and Poe."
"Good plan. Here, you can have your teammate back," Violet nodded, handing over Lord Dominator to Brian. "You can get the human potion from Yzma. I know you have those villain connections, Brian."
"Will do," the human nodded. He held up Lord Dominator and chuckled. "You know, you're pretty cute like this- Ow! That's my nose, stop biting it!"
"Looks like we're moving on," Jameson smiled.
"Hm… I do have to wonder what Lord Dominator was saying back there about Magica," Violet questioned. "Jameson, what was that-?" But the little owl had vanished before she could ask. "Curious. Where did he go?"
"Perhaps he needed to use the bathroom?" Venom guessed.
"I feel like he's hiding something," Violet muttered.
[***]
"Okay gang, we've got this," Seth said. He and Reptil were riding on top of Carno into the area, waving to the crowd as they entered.
"You guys ready?" Ben asked his team.
"Give us the word, kid," Rocket nodded.
"I can't wait to try out these new powers," Nuka grinned, playing with the shadows that flowed off his claws.
'This is a battle to prove my strength, like my sister,' Seth thought.
'This is a battle to prove that I'm worth standing out,' Ben thought.
'I won't accept a loss here!' they thought at the same time.
"For the arena this match, it's time to turn up the heat!" Gabriel called as the arena shifted, turning into a minefield of lava geysers and rocky terrain. "This is the Cretaceous Meltdown battlefield! Don't worry about the lava, by the way: it's actually just really hot jelly."
Curious, Nuka poked a paw into the "lava" wincing at the pain but licking at it all the same. "Wow, this really is jelly!" the lion said. "Still scalding hot, though."
"If you're ready, then let's do this-!" Gabriel started.
"Wait!" Ben shouted. He looked around before saying sheepishly, "Do you think we could… get some cool battle music for this round?"
"Uh… Only if Seth agrees to it as well."
"Sure dude. That's an okay for me," Seth nodded.
"Then let me just… here we go!" Gabriel flipped a switch, and some fitting music started playing over the speakers. "Both sides are ready. Prepare for a fight in three… two… one… GO!"
Both sides charged forwards, with Carno roaring as Rocket fired a grenade into his mouth, making the dinosaur caught. "Heh, looks like that battle against Sauron a few months ago is paying off!" the raccoon boasted.
"Let's do this!" Seth shouted, summoning his Keyblade and locking it with Ben's staff.
I don't wanna know your name
'Cause you don't look the same
The way you did before…
Nuka yelped as he dodged aerial dives from Reptil, who had from pterodactyl wings to attack from above. The lion ducked into his own shadow, rushing over to Ben to help break his friend out of their stalemate.
Okay, you think you got a pretty face
But the rest of you is out of place
You looked alright before…
"Thanks Nuka," Ben said, before the two had to dodge Carno rushing at them with a biting attack. "Okay, who wants to take out the big guy first?"
"You'll have to deal with us if that's your plan!" Seth said, shapeshifting into a cheetah and rush around the gang.
Fox on the run!
You scream and everybody comes
"Geez, speedsters are always a pain," Rocket said. He loaded up his blaster with ice rounds and started freezing the ground, making it hard for Seth to run around. This also had the added effect of making Carno slip up as well, the dinosaur used to rocky terrain instead of ice.
A-running
Take a run and hide yourself away…
(Foxy on the run!)
"Good work, Rocket! Now that they're distracted, we need to bring down Reptil as well," Ben said.
"Oh, oh, let me do that!" Nuka said eagerly. "I just need a little boost up there…"
Ben nodded, aiming his staff at the ground and charging a wind spell. "You better hold onto something, Rocket," the wolf warned before sending out a blast of air underneath Nuka. The lion rode the wind in his shadow form, rematerializing just as Reptil did another fly-by, landing on his back.
F-foxy
Fox on the run
And hide away…
"Get ready for an unexpected landing!" Nuka laughed, forcing Reptil to faceplant in one of the "lava" craters. The Superhero sputtered as he pulled himself out of said crater, now smoking comically.
"Not cool dude… Not cool at all…" Reptil gasped before flopping onto the floor, knocked out.
You, you talk about just every band
But the names you drop are second hand (second hand!)
I've heard it all before…
"Flark yeah! Take that!" Rocket laughed. His laughter died when a growl came from behind him, the raccoon's ears lowering as he realized Carno had snuck up behind him. "Oh flark…" he cursed before getting chomped on, knocking Rocket out of the competition.
I don't wanna know your name
'Cause you don't look the same
The way you did before…
"An eye for an eye," Seth said, shifting his form into that of a velociraptor to have a better grip on the icy terrain.
"W-We're not scared of you!" Nuka said, only to flinch when Carno roared. "Okay, maybe a little bit…"
Fox on the run
You scream and everybody comes
Ben jumped around as he battled against Seth, casting basic magic that was matched by his opponent's Keyblade spells. Nuka meanwhile tried to keep Carno away from his partner, the two playing a deadly game as they twisted between the superhot jelly geysers.
A-running
Take a run and hide yourself away…
(Foxy on the run!)
Nuka ducked behind one of the geysers as it erupted, but Carno used his wind powers to blow the jelly away. Meanwhile, Ben concentrated his magic, pointing it at Seth and shouting, "Air Bullets!" Pressurized bullets fired out, but Seth was ready for that.
"Reflectga!" Seth called, putting up a dome barrier that reflected the magic back at Ben, forcing the wolf to lose ground as he dodged his own attack. "You'll have to try a different method, Ben!"
"And you should watch where you use your reflect spells," the wolf smirked, pointing behind the human. Seth turned around to see that he'd accidentally reflected the lava Carno had tossed around back at his partner, causing the dinosaur to get burned.
"Now's my chance… Shadow Claw Uppercut!" Nuka shouted, delivering a rising shadow slash that managed to knock out Carno!
F-foxy
Fox on the run
And hide away…
"Fine, have it your way…" Seth said. "I can still take both of you on, here and now!" With a shout Seth's outfit changed color, turning green with blue speed arrows over it. "This is my Drive Form: Speed Form!" His Keyblade flashed, transforming into two claw gauntlets as various animal spirits surrounded Seth. "And this is my Form Change ability: Jungle Fury!"
"I understood that reference!" Ben said. As the two clashed.
Seth was a lot faster now, and with his animal spirits could attack from more angles than before. Nuka rushed over and joined Ben, the two using their weapon/claws to push back against their attacker's barrage. Seth rushed in with a flying kick, but Ben quickly used a wind burst to do a high jump, bringing Nuka along for the ride.
F-foxy
Fox on the run
You scream and everybody comes
"I think we need to use our own ultimate move as well, Nuka," Ben said.
"Then let's try it out… and hopefully we don't fall to our doom," Nuka said, a bit nervous. The wolf and lion locked arms before Ben used his wind magic to make the two start spinning rapidly.
A-running
Take a run and hide yourself away
(Foxy on the run!)
"Shadow X-Claw!" Ben and Nuka called, turning into a whirlwind of air and shadow slashes as they fell towards Seth.
"Okay, let's end this then…" Seth said, pointing his Keyblade skyward. "Spirit Stampede!" he shouted, sending all of his animal spirits up at the duo.
F-foxy
Fox on the run
and hide away!
The spirits all rushed in, with Ben and Nuka's attack being slowed down as they slowly cut though the finisher. Both sides we're giving up, putting their all into this last attack to see who would win.
Fox on the run!
Fox on the run!
"We just need… a little more…" Nuka grunted.
Ben then suddenly gasped. "Or maybe… we need to disappear…" he said. The wolf then activated his secret technique, Shepard's Wool, which put out a field of neutrality around himself. The animal spirits suddenly moved out of the way, as if Ben was the least interesting thing in the way.
"What the-?" Was all Seth could get out before Shadow X-Claw landed, hitting him square in the chest and leaving a crater in the ground where he stood.
Fox on the run!
Fox on the run!
Ben and Nuka both panted as they stood up, looking down to see Seth laid out on his back, eyes swirling with confusion as he remained unmoving. "So… Did we win…?" Nuka asked.
"And in that last display, King of Beasts is the winner!" Gabriel announced, the arena returning to normal as he said that.
"You two did it!" Rocket laughed, jumping onto Ben and giving him a noggie. "I knew you could be clever if you thought about it, wolf boy!"
"Heh, thanks Rocket," Ben said bashfully.
"Ugh, what was that last attack you did?" Seth asked, standing up from the ground. "It was like I suddenly didn't want to attack you for some reason…"
"That was Shepard's Wool, my special ability that allows me to make myself the least interesting thing in the room," Ben explained. "I used to use it as a crutch in battle, but now I'm limiting myself to at most 15 seconds per match to keep things interesting. Pretty strong when used right, huh?"
"Yeah, it was," Seth said, stretching a bit. "I can already her my sister giving me a hard time for losing in the first round, though…"
"I think you did pretty well, all things considered," Ben complimented. "Plus we're both still young, so we can train to get stronger. Heck, why don't we train together after this tournament is over. Sound cool?"
Seth blushed at the warm smile Ben gave him. "Sure, why not?"
"Aw man, and I really wanted to win too…" Reptil sighed.
"Don't worry kid, I'm sure you'll get your spotlight someday," Rocket said.
"Really?" Reptil asked.
The raccoon shrugged. "Sure. I mean, they are building up to a Young Avengers team, right? They could use a shapeshifter on their team with cool powers."
"That would be so cool to get into the movies," Reptil beamed. "Not that I'm a stranger to the spotlight, but being in the MCU is different to the Super Hero Squad Show, you know?"
"I wouldn't actually, since I wasn't in that one," Rocket said.
Carno suddenly gave a snort. "Oops, sounds like Carno is hungry," Seth said. "We better go get him some food before he decides to try and eat some of the guests…"
Author's Note
And with that the first round of battles is complete! I hope you enjoyed these matches.
Almyra pulled the first victory with her team, though Melody was no slouch either. It really just came down to Almyra's magic being a bit more versatile than Melody's gadgets could keep up with, though luckily for the hyena girl she did impress her friend/mentor, Hiro. The song Almyra used "Samba De Janeiro" is actually created by a European band Bellini, which is why Nico and Pedro commented on it not being a "real Samba" song.
Tomada and Roman were actually evenly matched, both getting one knockout before the match timed out on them. Shere Khan's quake ability canceled out Roman's traps, but the wolf in return has trained with Tomada before, meaning the two are more even in hand-to-hand combat. Tomada also got some help from Coyote, a Native American spirit that appeared in an episode of "Gargoyles." Looks like our falcon friend has a new quest to find some more hidden spirits in the Magical World to boot!
Jameson and his team pulled a swift victory against Brian's team, thanks in part to Violet planning ahead. The hummingbird would have looked into the other teams and figured out certain strategies to defeat whichever one they had to fight. Lord Dominator did get into Jameson's head by bringing up Magica, however. Hopefully the little own can be honest with his team before it all bubbles up into someone much worse. Hunter also got a moment of self-reflection and resolve to become stronger under his mentors, Rachel and Poe.
Finally, Ben and Seth battled it out to the tune of "Fox on the Run" by Sweet. Both are newcomers so I knew it would be hard to decide which moved on, but ultimately it was Ben's perfectly timed use of Shepard's Wool that secured a victory. Him and Nuka's finisher move was inspired by a move Sora and Simba use in "Kingdom Hearts 2," while Seth's finisher was inspired by my favorite Power Rangers series "Power Rangers Jungle Fury."
For voting this time, you get to decide who moves on: Team Forest Fighters (Tomada) or Team Chaotic (Roman)!
Next Time will be a bit closer than usual, since summer has given me some more free time than usual. So then, tune in this Friday to see the next round of the tournament in the semi-finals!