Clash The Greatest Tournament

by Shawn Stack

“Do I know you?” Logan asked Davis.

  “No, but I know you. You’re a member of Team Gold.”

  Logan’s eyes grew wide. “How do you know that?”

  “I was asked to join, but I turned them down. I don’t play in the tournaments.”

  “You were asked to join?” he stood there thinking for a moment. “Okay, I’ll duel you.” Logan said.

  “What is Team Gold?” Max asked his brother.

  “They are a group that is trying to stack the state tournament brackets. They each have gone to different tournaments around the country to try to win the qualifiers for states.”

  Davis linked his band to the table. His avatar, Trebor, materialized on the table. Max remembered the avatar having seen Davis play with him in duels before. Trebor was a robot type; he had a gray blocky metal plated body. He had black blaster canons, on each arms He had long legs that made him a very tall avatar. He wore a gray helmet around his head and his face was human-like, gray with red mechanical eyes.

  Right at the start of the fight Trebor began shooting his blasters canons at Degoth. Degoth held one of his maces out in front of himself and created a black wall that absorbed the blasts. From under the wall Degoth’s shadow could be seen creeping along the floor towards Trebor. Trebor used his blasters on the shadow shooting holes into it, forcing it back.

  “Not too bad. I may have to make Degoth move for once,” Logan said.

  “If you think you can pull that stunt with me, you are wrong,” Davis said. Trebor opened up his chest plates and released a salvo of missiles, they arced high towards Degoth. Trebor ran to the side and quickly followed up with some blasts from his arm canons. Degoth created a black wall up high to block the missile salvo. The blaster bolts came from around the first wall and forced Degoth to dodge to the side to prevent from getting smoked. “Looks like I forced you to move.”

  Logan glanced at Max then back to the holographic-field. Degoth started flapping his wings and took to the air. Trebor started firing at him again. Hitting an airborne speedy target was much harder, most of the blasts did not even come close to Degoth. He flew directly above Trebor causing his Shadow to be right under the robot.

  “Davis watch out,” Max said.

  The shadow spiraled up Trebor’s legs and around his whole body locking him in place. Degoth went into a dive ready to smash his maces on top of Trebor’s head.

  “No,” Max said. Degoth’s maces collided with Trebor breaking his hologram to bits.

  “I can’t believe you fell for that. Are you sure they asked you to join Gold?” Logan asked, smiling.

  “Maybe they didn’t,” Davis said as he shrugged his shoulders. “Want to play again?”

  The smile faded from Logan’s face. He could not read Davis and was thrown off by what he said and how he said it. “No, I think I am done for the day.” Logan looked from Davis to Max. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 27

  Final training!

  Max and Davis got home and Max had a bunch of questions.

  “Degoth is strong; He may go all the way to the nationals. If you are going to beat him Max you are going to have to learn how to bring out all of Sandalphon’s powers”

  “I try to,” Max said. “But when I practice on my own I can’t get Sandalphon to bring out any of his gear or abilities. Most people I duel are not any good. I don’t have to use Sandalphon’s abilities to beat them.”

  “Well, you are going to duel me.” Davis said.

  “Sandalphon verse Trebor. Okay, let’s do that. Sandalphon is going to destroy Trebor though.”

  “Talking big are we? You and Sandalphon are a hundred years too young to be thinking you could beat me.” Davis pulled out his arm band and turned it on. Trebor appeared.

  Max turned on his band and Sandalphon appeared, dressed only in his white fighting tunic like always. Davis sent a duel request to Max’s band. He accepted and started the fight.

  “Trebor, dominate them all!” Davis said.

  “I got the will, you got the power, Sandalphon,” Max said his battle cry.

  A holographic 3D counter appeared between the avatars. The counter counted down from five then flashed ‘Fight’ and the brothers began the duel. Trebor began to fire his twin blasters at Sandalphon. The blasts traveled slowly through the air and Sandalphon sidestepped and dodged them. The blasts kept coming and Max had Sandalphon totally on the defensive, just dodging the blasts. Davis would wave his arms around and the blasts would come in from all around. Max had to completely focus on avoiding them.

  “Come on Max, you got to do something other than run away,” Davis said.

  “Well stop firing your lasers and I’ll do something,” Max responded.

  “Okay, how about some missiles instead?” The chest plates on Trebor opened up revealing the hidden missile silo. The missiles shot out in all directions at Sandalphon leaving smoke trails. The missiles were fast and Sandalphon would be unable to dodge the spread of missiles.

  Light swirled around Sandalphon’s left hand and Max had Sandalphon grab at it. Medens materialized out of the light and into his hand. He held Medens in the path of the missiles to block them. The missiles landed all around Sandalphon in a series of explosions. Medens had saved Sandalphon from any direct hits.

  Davis noticed the light bubble around Medens. “Is that a shield?” Davis asked, pointing at Medens. “Block these attacks with it.” Trebor shot out a few blasts from arm mounted blaster canons at Sandalphon. Sandalphon held up Medens and the light bubble deflected the blasts. “That is interesting. Most weapons are meant to have an attack of some kind. That mace acts more like a shield, than a weapon.”

  “I won a lot of battles using Medens as a weapon,” Max said. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “Here is what I am thinking Max, I think you can summon a different mace, that you could use to attack better with.”

  Max thought about that for a while. Back on his birthday when he had first seen Sandalphon he did have two maces. “I think you are right, when I was in the Clash Center picking up my armband Sandalphon was dual wielding maces. I kind of forgot about that.”

  “Degoth has two maces as well, I am willing to bet you two are opposites of the same coin.”

  “Huh?” Max said, a little confused.

  “Degoth and Sandalphon have probably the same attacks. The only difference is Degoth is necro and Sandalphon is celestial. I have seen this happen a few times before. When the creators of Clash set up the powers of the avatars they copied a lot of abilities. They had to, there are so many Clash players there are going to be avatars with similar abilities. I think that we can assume that anything Degoth can do Sandalphon can do as well.

  “Can Sandalphon produce fire from his mouth like Degoth?” Max found that idea a bit amusing.

  “I doubt that, breathing fire makes sense because his avatar is part dragon. Sandalphon would have another way of shooting out flames for sure though.” Davis said. “Anyway, let’s finish this fight.

  Sandalphon chased after Trebor. Trebor’s attacks were having no effect on Medens. Trebor tried to run, but Sandalphon finally caught Trebor and took the robot out in a two handed swing from Medens. “Undefeated huh?” Max said. He raised his chin up and gave his older brother a look down his nose. Trebor’s holographic image broke up and faded away.

  “I haven’t been undefeated in a while. You know Max, the way you fight is so frustrating to watch. If Sandalphon has these abilities you should be using them from the start of the match. It looks like you are teasing your opponent. Finishing the battle sooner is better. Dragging it out like you do will result in you making a mistake.” Davis said.

  “I wish I could make Sandalphon start 100 percent, but all that comes out his him in his tunic and if I am lucky sometimes Medens.”

  “Yeah, celestials really do work differently from everyone else. Most necro, elemental and robotic types start battles with their weapons out. And the
players don’t have trouble making them doing so. The research I’ve done shows celestials won’t start that way unless you learn how. Here is what we are going to do Max. We are going to train you to learn to start with your full powers. Because if you go into the fight against Degoth like you did against me, you are going to lose, fast. Degoth is crazy strong. But Max, you know what I think? I think that Sandalphon is stronger.”

  “How can you say Sandalphon is stronger after this one duel?” Max asked.

  “I watched all your battles over the holographic-net. There has been a lot of talk of the number one ranked losing to the lowest ranked in the Collis tournament. Last week they showed a replay of your match against Gervasee over the net.” Davis said.

  “What? Sandalphon is now nationally known?

  “Yeah, there was been big talk about how you had only registered Sandalphon the day before the match. So they didn’t challenge your rankings. It is pretty rare to have a lowest rank beat a top rank. Even more so if the lowest is a celestial.”

  Sandalphon is famous that is so cool, Max thought. “Maybe Sandalphon will make it all the way to the nationals.” Max said.

  “He is strong enough.” Davis said with a smile. Then the smile vanished as he said “Max I have a request.”

  “What?”

  “Well, I was going to join the tournament for the first time at the stadium near my college, in protest of the ranking scale I did really badly on purpose at the rankings. When I won my match, they challenged my rankings and had me removed from the tournament. Saying I had stacked the match. Sandalphon is strong enough so I know you can do this. I want you to do as bad as you can in the tests that determine the ranking at the state level. If you do that they will put you up against the last year’s champion. And I want you to crush him.” Davis said. “I want you to show everyone that the rankings are unfair.”

  “I know Sandalphon is strong, but do you really think I can beat the state champ?” Max said.

  “Well, I think I am asking a bit much. Defeating Degoth is going to be a lot of work and you are going to have to do that first. Talking about getting to states is getting a little ahead of ourselves. Degoth and Sandalphon are like complementary opposites. More so than any two necro and celestial types I have ever seen. Degoth uses dark shadow attacks, and Sandalphon bright light attacks. Any attack that Degoth can do, I am guessing that Sandalphon can so as well. So some of the things we are going to practice are having Sandalphon copy Degoth’s moves.”

  “Okay, let’s do it.” Max said.

  “First step is going to be getting Sandalphon to start with all his equipment out. So go ahead and turn on your band and try to imagine Sandalphon wearing all of his gear.”

  Max started up his band and Sandalphon appeared before him in his normal white tunic. “Shoot. Come on Sandalphon,” Max said.

  “Hmmm, try to imagine his wings unfolding out from his back.”

  Max imagined Sandalphon growing wings, but Sandalphon did no such thing. “When I am in battle I don’t always imagine these things happening. I just need them to happen and they do. Every time Sandalphon gets trapped the wings pop out and free him.”

  “Okay, let’s try beating Sandalphon up then.” Davis turned on his band. Trebor appeared in front of him. “Let’s duel. But you are not allowed to fight back. Sandalphon will have to stand there and take the damage until he loses or you bring out his equipment.”

  “What do you think? That I am going to let you beat on Sandalphon?” Max said angrily. Sandalphon’s tunic began to glow and his golden armor materialized.

  “What did you just think of?” Davis asked

  “I thought of Sandalphon being hurt and that I didn’t want you to hurt him” Max answered.

  “I think I am starting to understand. I think it must be something about Celestial types. The way you imagine Sandalphon using abilities is a little different from everyone else.” Davis paused for a second thinking on how to describe what to say next. “Instead of imaging the wings coming out I want you to think that Sandalphon is tied up. His arms and legs are tied up with rope and he’s struggling to break the bonds.”

  Max imagined all of that. Sandalphon remained standing there, no difference. “Maybe we should tie him up for real,” Max said.

  “No. Close your eyes and try imagining it again.”

  Max closed his eyes, he thought of Sandalphon tied up.

  “Nothing still,” Davis said. “Let me think here for a second.” Davis looked at Trebor for a moment and then turned off his band. “Let’s change the way you are tied up. Instead of your hands and feet tied up, you are tied to a post. Now a truck is speeding towards Sandalphon. He has got to break free. The truck is coming. You got 10 seconds to get out of the way. 9 seconds; it is a big semi. 8 seconds; it is an angry trucker he had been through a divorce and he wants Sandalphon dead. 7 seconds; he doesn’t care who is smeared on the front of his truck. 6 seconds he is picking up speed.” There was no reaction from Sandalphon yet. “Here he comes five, four, three, two, ONE!” Sandalphon wings burst out and he took to the air. “Open your eyes Max”.

  Max opened his eyes and looked at Sandalphon flying through the air before him. As always he thought that Sandalphon was the most amazing avatar he had ever seen.

  “Remember that feeling of urgency. Turn off your band and remember that you need Sandalphon to appear with all of his equipment, then turn it back on.” Davis said.

  Max switched the band off, and Sandalphon faded away. Remembering the need for Sandalphon to have all equipment out he turned on his band.

  Chapter 28

  Pre-game confrontment!

  The final day of the tournament had come. Everyone who was a fan of Clash in town, had come to pack the stands at the Stadium. All the tournaments from across the state would be ending today and would be broadcast live on the arena floor before and after Collis’s Final match.

  “So, Max, did you hear?” Came a voice from behind.

  Max turned around and saw Gervasee’s player Jason standing there. “I’m sorry, no I didn’t.” Max said a little confused.

  “I am in third place in this tournament. The only person I lost to was you. I won the ‘losers’ tournament.” He referred to the tournament that goes on for all the people who did not advance through the tournament brackets. “The one that takes place before the real tournament made up of all the people who lost a fight in the tournament. I beat all those other losers.” Jason took a very threaten pose and poked his finger right into Max’s chest. “If you lose to Degoth you and are going to have another rematch. I underestimated you twice now. I will never do that again.” Jason abruptly turned and walked away.

  “I will win Jason,” Max said, watching him walk away. He thought back to that first battle. He recognized that he did not know how to control Sandalphon very good at all back then. He and Sandalphon had grown a lot in the tournament. His next opponent was strong and he would need to use all that he had learned in his previous fights to beat him. He may not have had a real purpose when he joined the tournament; nothing more than wanting to see just how strong his avatar really was. Now he had reasons to fight. He was fighting to prove to the people that he beat in this tournament that he could represent them best in the final fight. He owed it to them to show that they were not weak, that they deserved to be in the finals just as much as him. He was fighting to prove that the ranking system is wrong and it is just a system used to rig fights in favor past champions.

  Chapter 29

  Fight for the Champion title!

  Max walked out to the stadium floor ready to start this last fight. He was not nervous. He was never nervous before the fights. All he thought about was how Sandalphon would mop the floor with the opponent. Sandalphon could not lose, would not lose.

  “I’ve got the will you got the power, Sandalphon,” Max said his battle cry, for the last time this tournament. Davis had worked Max hard the day before. The results of that hard work cou
ld be seen on stage. Sandalphon appeared in his full set of armor, glowing white wings out, and Medens hanging from his side. Starting a fight with full gear was only the beginning. He still would have to use all of Sandalphon’s powers if he wanted to win this final match. Degoth was crazy strong. He knew that. He had re-watched Degoth’s fights; they were all terribly one sided in his favor. Max knew that Sandalphon was stronger.

  “Death to those that oppose us, Degoth!” Logan said. Degoth appeared on the opposite side of the arena floor. It had both its maces out and was leering at Sandalphon. All over its body, black scales shimmered. A black serpent like tongue rolled out of its mouth. It raised its maces up high and its leathery black wings stretched out wide. That devilish shadow of its could be seen below it, solid black, absorbing all the light around it.

  The announcer started the count down “Five, four, three, two, one. Clash!”

  At that start, Degoth’s shadow crawled out towards Sandalphon across the arena floor. It wrapped itself around Sandalphon binding him by the arms and legs. It seemed to the crowd that in the first moment of the final fight it was already over; Sandalphon had been trapped like all the others and would not escape. Then, Sandalphon’s wings began to glow, the shadow shattered and broke off Sandalphon, falling like water into pools of black goop onto the floor. The shadow pieces retreated back to Degoth’s feet forming into its shadow once again.

  “Hmmm,” Logan started to speak. “Somehow that didn’t work on you. Now that I think about it whenever your wings are out you break your entrapments. Wings of freedom?” He guessed while laughing. “I’m not so stupid, to not research my opponent before a fight.” Degoth started flapping its wings and took flight. Not wanting to be left behind Max had Sandalphon take to the air as well.

  The crowd cheered at the spectacle of two avatars taking flight in a battle. Degoth flew towards Sandalphon swinging its maces at him. Sandalphon caught Degoth’s hands in his gauntlets stopping the attacks. Degoth opened wide its jaws and let loose its terrible black flamed breath weapon. Dodging low, Sandalphon kicked up at Degoth’s head redirecting the flames and dove under the draconian. Degoth followed him in a deadly dive, swinging its maces towards Sandalphon. Max had Sandalphon draw Medens and blocked the blows, as both avatars landed on the arena floor, a distance apart.