Krystal and Prince stood before Droh. Droh didn’t feel anything threatened by them in the slightest.
“You sure you can take on this guy, Krystal?” Prince asked Krystal, turning towards her.
“Are you doubting me?!”
“Remember the last time we faced him. Even with Neil and Heer’s help, we couldn’t do anything. This guy is dangerous.”
“You know you really shouldn’t be advising me. I’m the ringmaster after all. We’ll take him out like we’d do with any dark beast.”
“All right. Just don’t make any stupid moves.”
“Ha! I can tell you the same!”
Droh shook his head in annoyance. “Are you two fools going to continue bickering or should I just kill you both now?!” Droh asked Krystal and Prince, frustrated.
“Says the guy who’s going to get his butt kicked! No way!” Krystal exclaimed. “Prince! Transform now!” Prince nodded, transforming into his beast form.
Droh transformed as well. Krystal drew out her wand and positioned herself in alignment with Prince. Okay. How do I make my first move? Krystal thought. Maybe I’ll go for my usual moves. After all, he’s not doing anything right now. Prince can just attack directly and then follow it up with a Sonic Roar. That’s perfect!
“Prince, let’s go for a direct attack!” Krystal ordered. Prince made his way forward, pouncing at Droh. As he grabbed hold onto Droh, Droh bit on him at his neck, causing him to fall off.
“Prince! Get up!” Krystal told Prince. But before Prince could even move, Droh’s tail suddenly gave off an eerie purple glow and he smacked it directly at Prince, injuring him further.
“What?!” Krystal cried. “What was that?!”
Droh suddenly transformed back into his human form and said, “That was one of my special moves, Shadow Tail. It uses a combination of dark and negative energy and sends in a real punch. And it looks like the mighty lion over there didn’t take the heat too well.”
“Prince! Get up and use your Sonic Roar!” Krystal ordered Prince. Prince slowly tried to get up and he commenced in giving a mighty roar that emitted sound waves towards Droh, who transformed back into his dark beast form. However, the sound waves weren’t as strong as Prince had already been weakened by Droh’s earlier attack. Droh tried to resist the Sonic Roar as much as he could.
Damn it! Prince’s Sonic Roar isn’t strong enough! Krystal thought. I’ll have to use my sonic bell to boost his power! Krystal drew out her wand and tapped it to transform it into her sonic bell. She placed it forward and emitted a sound wave attack from the bell to enhance Prince’s own Sonic Roar.
Droh continued to hold back as the sound waves continued to hit him. That was when his tail gave the same glow again and he used the Shadow Tail move and slammed his tail to the ground, sending off a wave of dark energy as it deflected the sound waves and hit both Krystal and Prince at the same time. The two of them fell against the wall with Krystal looking at her outfit in horror.
“Are you kidding me?!” Krystal cried. “Now my outfit has marks all over it!”
Of course that’s all she cares about at this point, Prince thought.
“Why do I always end up in a fashion mishap during these battles?!” Krystal said as she got up and started batting her outfit to rid of the dust on it.
Prince transformed back into his human form. “What are you doing?!” Krystal questioned Prince. “We’re supposed to be fighting here!”
“How can I fight when my partner is complaining about her stupid outfit?”
“You call this stupid?! Like it wasn’t enough that Sana had to drench my entire dress in water! And now this whole ensemble is completely ruined!”
“To hell with the drama.”
“And of course! You always say that stupid one-liner of yours in every situation! Gosh! You’re such a pain sometimes!”
“The only pain around here is you.”
While Krystal and Prince were still bickering, Droh transformed back into his human form and watched the two argue back and forth like cats and dogs. Pathetic kids, Droh shook his head. This would be the right moment to dispose of them.
Droh closed his eyes and waved his hands upward before Prince and Krystal, who weren’t paying attention. He aligned both of his hands in a triangular formation and a wave of dark energy began to unravel around his hands. As the energy began to flow, Krystal and Prince turned around, confused. And that was when a force field of some sort formed around Krystal and Prince, trapping them inside.
“What the hell?” Prince said, frustrated.
“What is this?!” Krystal cried as she tried to get out.
“An energy force field. That should keep you fools in long enough for me to go get the orb,” Droh said.
With that, Droh left, leaving Krystal and Prince helpless. Krystal kept trying to push against the force field as an attempt to break it, but it was of no use.
“Whatever you’re doing is not working,” Prince told Krystal, annoyed.
“At least I’m trying here! You’re such a pessimist!”
“I’m just saying the truth.”
“Ever thought of being positive for once?!”
“You really think we can be positive when we’re in a force field created by negative energy?”
“Gosh! You’re so difficult!”
“We wouldn’t have gotten in this mess if you weren’t so obsessed with your clothes all the time.”
“Excuse me! Is it wrong to want to look good while battling?!”
“If that’s all this is about, then maybe you shouldn’t even be a ringmaster.”
“What?! How dare you say that to me?!”
“I can. Because you should know being a ringmaster is more than just looking nice for shows and being the lead of the act. Just like in the circus, the ringmaster has to be the one who can take the lead and know what to do.”
Krystal wanted to say something back. But she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to reply. She sat down on the floor, confused.
“Have you always been this deep and I just never noticed?” Krystal asked.
“This only happens when I get annoyed to the max.”
“I guess…I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you.”
Suddenly, Krystal could feel her head beginning to pound. She could feel this weird tension rising.
“Is it me or am I starting to have a major headache here?” Krystal asked.
“I’m feeling it too. It’s the negative energy of the force field. The longer we stay in this, the worse it’ll get. I bet this was his way of giving us a slow death while he goes to get the orb.”
“Well, if we don’t get out now, he’ll definitely get there. We need to do something. I got it!”
“What?”
“Remember what Aiden was saying about the equilibrium thing?”
“You were actually paying attention?”
“Shut up! He said it was when both the ringmaster and human-beast’s energy levels are in sync. So, if we can stay in sync, we should be able to have enough power to break out. After all, it should come naturally.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive! Now hurry up and transform!”
Prince nodded and transformed into his beast form. At that moment, Krystal drew out her sonic bell.
“Here goes nothing,” Krystal said.
At that moment, Krystal’s sonic bell began to emit strong sound waves, which hit the barriers of the force field. And as it was in motion, Prince got ready to give a grand roar. His energy levels began to maximize, matching up to the power of Krystal’s sonic bell. She could feel the difference in their powers now. Everything was different.
“Savage Sound Roar!” Krystal called out the attack.
And so, Prince let out a mighty roar that had even stronger sound waves than ever before. The sound waves began to combine with one another, going up against the force field. And the longer they held on, the more power they had, which soon weakened the force field further. And within moments, the force field broke down, freeing Krystal and Prince.
“It worked!” Krystal cheered.
“Good job,” Prince said after he transformed back into human form. “Now we have some unfinished business to get to.”
***
On the other end, near the basement, Droh was just heading down the halls, taking out his duplicate key.
“Don’t even think about it!” a voice exclaimed. Droh stopped, confused. And that was when Krystal and Prince had jumped before Droh.
“How the hell are you fools still alive?!” Droh questioned. “You both should have died a slow death by now!”
“That’s the thing though!” Krystal exclaimed. “You baddies clearly never get it! The good guys always win!”
“To put it in simple terms, your force field wasn’t indestructible,” Prince added.
“No matter,” Droh said. “I’ll kill you two right here. It’ll be another triumph for me while I get the orb.”
“Yeah, right!” Krystal exclaimed. “Prince, transform!”
“Right,” Prince said as he transformed into his beast form.
Droh transformed into his dark beast form. Krystal stood her ground, trying to be careful. Okay, Krystal. This time you have to focus. After all, I can go to the dry cleaners after this, Krystal thought.
“Prince, pounce him to the left!” Krystal ordered. Prince leaped forward, and then jumped up, pouncing at Droh’s left side. Droh used his Shadow Tail move and hit Prince into the wall with the great force.
“Prince! Are you okay?!” Krystal asked Prince. Prince nodded as he tried to get up. That tail of his seems to be his strong point, Krystal thought. I have to figure out a way to make it his weak point so we can have a better shot at taking him out. Then again…there is that one move Prince has that we barely use. But, we have to make sure we have him locked down so it works. Right! There you go, Krystal! Just make Prince pounce him again and I’m sure that croc will use that attack again!
“Pounce him to the right!” Krystal told Prince. Prince nodded and leaped up again, hitting Droh at his right side. Droh got ready to use his Shadow Tail move again. “Prince, use your Sonic Scar move!” Krystal ordered.
Prince raised his paw and the claws of his paw began to give off a bright white glow as Droh commenced to use his Shadow Tail move. But before he could hit, Prince hit Droh’s tail with the Sonic Scar attack, leaving a scar on his tail. Suddenly, Droh could feel a strange feeling inside of his tail go around in his body. They were odd vibrations that were hitting him inside back and forth. What’s happening?! Droh thought.
Prince transformed back into his human form. “Smart move,” Prince told Krystal. “That Sonic Scar is able to send sound wave vibrations that affect the entire nervous system, which temporarily disable the opponent’s ability to attack. He’s down for now.”
“I know! I’m a lot smarter than I thought I was!” Krystal exclaimed. “Now hurry up! We gotta wrap this up before the vibrations die down!”
“Right,” Prince agreed and transformed back into his beast form.
“All right! It’s time to do this again!” Krystal exclaimed as she drew out her sonic bell.
Krystal activated her sonic bell’s full power, emitting super sound waves at Droh, who remained helpless against the attack. “Savage Sound Roar!” Krystal called out the attack.
Prince commenced with his mighty Savage Sound Roar attack, combining the sound waves of his roar with the sound waves of Krystal’s sonic bell. And when both sound waves combined, power was at optimum and the attack was so strong that Droh could not do anything to fend for himself.
Once the attack was over, Droh was left completely injured and defeated. He transformed back into his human form, lying helpless on the floor. Krystal went up towards him, while Prince transformed back into human form. She reached down and grabbed the duplicate key from the pocket of his coat.
“I’ll be taking this,” Krystal said. “And I guess it’s the dungeon for you.” Krystal turned to Prince.
“All right! We did it! High five!” Krystal exclaimed as she raised her hand. Prince looked at her, tired and relieved that they were done battling.
“One time,” Prince said as he high-fived Krystal.
“And the best part is…I didn’t ruin my outfit this round!”
“Good. Now I don’t have something to cringe at.”
“So, now what?!”
“We’ll have to get someone to put this guy in lockup.”
“I just wonder how the others are doing right now.”
***
On the other hand, in the center hallway of the academy, Runa was standing alone in the hall, calm and confused. And that was when Neil and Heer appeared before her, startling her. She looked at them and said, “So, you are the ones I’ve been told to kill.”
“Heer, it’s time to take this kid on!” Neil told Heer. Heer looked at Runa, unsure of what to do. I don’t know about this, Heer thought.
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 