Max saw the signs that were posted, showing where tournament participants should go to for the ranking tests. Max followed the signs and they brought him down to the stadium floor. On the floor there were special hologram projector stations with Clash officials supervising over the tests for the rankings.
Max talked to one official and got his registration checked. Soon he was ready to start the tests. The tests they had Max do with Sandalphon were simple things. Like how fast could he make Sandalphon run, or if he could make him fly. They tested if Sandalphon had weapons and if he did; how strong they were. Max did not know how to make Sandalphon bring out his weapons or wings so he failed those tests. Max was so nervous that during a lot of the tests he lost control of Sandalphon and ended up doing poorly on them. Except for the weight lifting test; Sandalphon did manage to lift a whole lot.
“Wow, your avatar is really strong. That is the largest amount I have seen lift today.” the official said to Max. That had been true, until later when an earth elemental type beat Sandalphon’s.
When Max had finished, he checked out the other contenders doing the tests. He recognized a few people from school.
The official told Max it would take some time to draw up the tournament brackets, based on the rankings. There were sixty-four contenders in total, making thirty-two fights total. Sixteen would take place today and the other sixteen tomorrow on Sunday. The first round of fights always went by quickly. The higher ranked people would pummel the lower ranks and end the fights pretty fast. Next week there will be sixteen fights from the remaining thirty two people.
It was typical tournament elimination. The people who won would go on to next week’s fights and the people who lost were out.
tableofcontents
Chapter 5
Introduction to the tournament!
After the ranking tests Max wandered around the stadium to look for some of his friends, he spotted Jonathan and went over to talk to him. When he got closer he saw that Jonathan was hanging out with some other people from school. He could hear them talking about last year’s champ.
“I really want to see how much Femur has improved,” Jonathan said.
“Yeah,” Chris said. “I played him at the Clash Center, and asked Kurk what new moves Femur has gotten lately, he wouldn’t say.”
Jonathan saw Max walking up to them. “Hey Max, how did you do in the tests?” He asked.
“I did terrible,” Max said “I just hope they don’t put me in last place that would be so embarrassing.” The others were a little surprised he was in this year’s tournament. Most of them knew that he had only recently gotten his Clash arm band.
“Jonathan was telling us about that,” Chris said. “It takes most people weeks to learn how to control their avatars just right. He says your guy is really strong, can we see him?”
Max turned on Sandalphon having him appear onto the table.
“The strength test was the only one I was good at,” Max said.
After a while an announcement went out over the PA, “The tournament brackets are now all set. Would all the Clash player contenders please confirm with the posted brackets for your match schedule.”
Max said goodbye to his friends. He headed over to see the results, he mainly wanted to see where he was placed in the bracket.
Max could not believe it; Sandalphon had scored the lowest overall in the rankings. He was set to fight in the first match of the day, against Jason, with his avatar the werewolf Gervasee, of the necro type. Max would have to fight the top ranked contender first. He could overhear everyone talking about how it was no surprise that Jason got ranked first. Gervasee was known for being undefeated at the Clash Center and that this was his first time entering the tournament. He had won the inter high school tournament last month and was currently the best player in the district. He was the favorite to win the tournament.
Max was called on the PA to the prep area for the contenders. Max signed himself in and it was all set up for him to fight with Jason. Before any of the fights started the announcers went over the rules of the tournament. On all the screens around the stadium, a presentation of how Clash works started.
“There are four types of avatars; necro, elemental, robotic, and celestial. The avatars are holographic and are not real no matter how much they look it. Their life-likeness is due to the effects of the holographic-projectors. During the battles no one is hurt and no one can be hurt by the holograms. Every year the great Clash tournament is held lasting six months and the number of participants is unlimited. At the end of the local, state, and national tournaments; the person who is left undefeated will be the supreme champion. If you want to make it to the top, you have to win them all!”
The screens from the presentation changed to clips of past champion’s battles. Max recognized the national champs that were shown first. After them the state champs were shown, none of whom were from Collis. Finally, the local champs were shone. Max recognized them all from the past Collis tournaments.
Max knew all of this already, having been to the tournaments before as a viewer. He noticed none of the champs were of the celestial type. Soon it was time for him to enter the stadium, and have his first official Clash tournament fight.
Chapter 6
Start of the tournament!
Max walked up to the stage entrance. He knew he was not ready; he could barely make Sandalphon walk, let alone fight properly in a Clash match. He had beat Jonathan, but he was only a beginner compared to these tournament guys. Jonathan did not know any advance moves. He was not sure Sandalphon was going to cut it in a real fight. If he does not get Sandalphon to learn how to use a special move during the fight, there will be no hope of him winning. The announcer said Max’s name, and then his opponent’s, both Clash players walk out onto the stage floor.
Max could see the other contender walking up to the stage, from the other side. He was the one everyone was talking about. How he was going smash through this tournament, and represent the town in the state tournament. Max looked around at the stands. Not a whole lot of people filled them. He saw his friends over to the side and nodded to them. He was glad there were not more people. With just this many he did not feel nervous.
So I am just a stepping stone for this guy. Everyone already thinks that this fight is decided and that Sandalphon will lose, Max thought.
“NO!” Max said aloud.
I can’t let myself believe that Sandalphon would ever lose.
Jason was staring at Max. Jason knew this fight was going to be an easy one. He could see the troubled look all over Max’s face. A look he had seen many times before. Jason was the highest ranked and had an undefeated record. They called him a prodigy player in Clash, using moves and techniques that only pros could do. His plan was to stay undefeated all the way up to the national tournament. Against this kid, he would not have to use his advance techniques, he would save those for later in the tournament. The less the other contenders knew about his avatar’s abilities, the better he would do.
Jason laughed at the other Clash player. A low ranked celestial type was going to be easy. Jason felt sorry for all the saps that got celestial types as their avatars. He wondered why the creators even made them to begin with. There had never been a Celestial type that had made past the state championships. He wondered if the creators try to balance the idea of good and evil in Clash, so to counterbalance necro types they added celestial? Young kids would cheer for celestials, but everyone knows they are always a disappointment; they always lose in the end.
Chapter 7
Conclusion to the first tournament fight!
“Oh, wow, the poison is working faster than ever; I guess this match will be over after just a few seconds rather than in a minute,” Jason said, teasing Max.
Seeing Sandalphon fall had made Max’s head spin, but he shook it away and looked at Sandalphon. It may have appeared that the poison was already affecting him, but the reason Sandalphon fe
ll was because Max had lost focus. He had been looking at what was hanging from Sandalphon’s side. It was a golden mace that had been there during the scanning in the Clash Center. Max knew Sandalphon was not done yet and forced him to stand up, ready to take on Gervasee.
“Huh, not finished yet?” Jason said a bit shocked. “Guess I can give you a little more attention, to finish this match faster.” Gervasee stalked closer to Sandalphon getting in range for another strike.
Max had Sandalphon draw the weapon and activated its special property; healing and cleansing Sandalphon from all damage once a fight. It was Sandalphon’s weapon known as Medens. Max was not sure how he activated the powers of the mace, but could see that the wounds on Sandalphon’s back healed. Max sent Sandalphon into a flurry of swings at Gervasee. Forcing the werewolf to jump back, to avoid being hit by the golden mace.
“You are wrong if you think defeating Sandalphon will be easy,” Max said, taunting back at Jason
“Ha! Talking big, Jason said. “Your swings are so slow I could have Gervasee dodge them with my eyes closed. The fans want this over, so it is time to end this once and for all”. Gervasee jumped way back from Sandalphon, bent over, and grabbed the chains hanging off the manacles on his ankles. Gervasee pulled the manacles right off. “Imprison him Gervasee,” Jason directed. The chain’s links extended, growing longer. Gervasee whipped the chains out towards Sandalphon. The chains extend more in the air, and then wrapped up around Sandalphon. The manacles anchored to the ground, holding Sandalphon in place.
Sandalphon was trapped.
“Now, once the poison has finished running its course, this fight will be over,” Jason said, as he turned smiling and waving to the cheering crowd.
Jason had not seen that Sandalphon was healed, this was Max’s chance. Come on Sandalphon you must break free. Max pleaded. Max knew Sandalphon was strong, or at least stronger than most avatars, but breaking out of those think chains may be a little too much for Sandalphon.
“Ha, escaping from these chains requires a strength only the greatest Clash avatars have,” Jason said, turning his attention back to the arena floor and seeing Sandalphon struggle. After a while the smile disappeared off Jason’s face as he looked closer at Sandalphon. The one minute mark had past since Sandalphon was poisoned. “Did you… somehow remove the poison?” Jason asked Max. “Or is your avatar immune to it? There are some avatars that are. I guess I will have to finish this with another attack.” Gervasee moved closer to Sandalphon, claws forward and ready to strike again.
Max was in trouble now. “Sandalphon, you must get free!” He yelled at his avatar. For a second it looked like Sandalphon had turned and smiled at him. Hope grew in Max, and he pleaded harder for Sandalphon to break the chains. Sandalphon’s strength was still proving to not be enough though. Max refused to give up.
A light began to glow from Sandalphon.
“Whatever you are doing, it is useless,” Jason said, as Gervasee was almost upon Sandalphon.
Suddenly the chains holding Sandalphon were burst apart, the links flew away from Sandalphon in pieces, as an intense light flashed from Sandalphon. Then from his back unfolded two angelic wings, glowing white, bright with pure intensity. Sandalphon stood with an aura that made everyone in the crowd suck in their breath, stunned at how majestic he looked.
Jason was stunned as well. Gervasee had backed away a few steps from Sandalphon. Max, seeing Jason stunned, took the initiative. Grabbing Medens with both hands, Sandalphon, using his wings to add speed to a dash, dove forward with blinding speed. He landed a blow against Gervasee right in his chest, knocking Gervasee flying all the way back into the arena wall. There Gervasee remained motionless and soon began to break up into holographic fragments. The crowd was shocked at first, from the change of events, but let out a cheer for the underdog winner.
Jason was bewildered; he sputtered saying, “this-is-is-im-impossible.” He paused, unable to believe his eyes in what just happened. “Why were you so low ranked?”
“And it is over! Gervasee is out of the match. Sandalphon is the winner,” the announcer said, leading to more cheering from the crowd.
“This can’t be, over from just one hit? My Gervasee isn’t that weak, to be taken out with just one hit.” Jason sat on the floor, putting his face into his hands unable to believe his defeat.
“Yeah Sandalphon!” Max cheered at his avatar. Sandalphon turned to face the crowd with his wings spread full and his golden mace, Medens, held high. Max then had a dream, a vision of Sandalphon being on the top, the undefeated champion of Clash. A burning desire started to grow in Max to have Sandalphon become the best; never losing a single fight.
The announcer started talking again “Today, we have a first, never in the Collis tournament’s history has there been such a win. A lowest ranked has caused an upset and beat the highest ranked contender.” This had the crowd cheering even more.
Chapter 8
The champions notice Max!
High up in the stands, overlooking the battle of Sandalphon verse Gervasee, stood Kurk and Decon, two past champions of the Collis tournament.
“What was Gervasee ranked in speed?” With a concerned face Decon asked Kurk.
“He was ranked first overall, and second in agility. Gervasee should have been able to dodge that attack. I could have, and my avatar is ranked second in speed.” Kurk responded. After a second, “that is crazy, how was it that none of his attacks worked? I doubt that Jason would let some kid beat him on purpose”
“He didn’t. That kid, I think I know him, isn’t he Davis’s brother? We are going to need to find some more information on that one’s avatar. We don’t want to be caught surprised like Jason was. Celestials types are never ranked high, and rarely do they beat someone of higher ranking. His next fight should be against an earth elemental type, assuming there is not another upset. The one that was the one who was ranked highest in strength. Before we worry, let’s see how he does after that fight.” He then sighed. “I was so sure Jason was going to make it to the semifinals. Looks like one of us will be going to the finals again.”
Chapter 9
Big man on campus!
When Max showed up for school Monday, everyone wanted to talk to him about the battle against Gervasee. His fight had been replayed, over the Clash holographic channel, a number of times over the weekend. His was the most talked about fight from the first week. Max received a few Clash challenges from people; they all wanted to play him after school. He had to decline because he had not brought his band to school. After classes started everyone seem to calm down. His fifteen minutes of fame seemed to be over.
During lunch break. Max bought his lunch from the school kitchen, and headed over to the cafeteria tables. He saw Jonathan wave him over so they could sit together.
“I knew you were good Max.” Jonathan said, slapping him on the back. “You destroyed Gervasee. I heard the Clash club here at school talking about getting you to join.”
“The Clash club? Any of them in the tournament?” Max asked.
“Well, they all entered the tournament. Most of them have already lost. The club leader, Lizzy, ranked pretty high, she won her first match.”
“What kind of avatar does she have?” Max said.
“She has a water elemental type. I went to a club meeting once and fought her. Got beat pretty bad. You should just go to their meeting today and just beat them all.
“I didn’t bring my band to school.”
“Max, you got to bring it tomorrow then. Everyone has been talking about how they want to fight you.”
Chapter 10
The Clash club!
The next day when Max arrived at school his fifteen minutes of fame were really over, no one said anything about Clash to him. His friends had moved on to talking about other things already as well. It ended up being a normal school day.
After school, he showed up to the Clash club’s meeting. The club was held in a cla
ssroom that was unused during the day, set up just for the Clash club to use. Max walked into the room and saw a kid he did not know.
“Can I help you?” The kid asked. He was sitting at a table with his avatar standing on the desk. It was a fire elemental type, Max guessed, it had red skin and fire for hair. It wore black leather armor and on his back was a large sickle. On the table was an arrangement of blocks with boards running across them. It was a miniature obstacle course, set up for training Clash players in better control over their avatars.
“Yeah,” Max said. “I had recently gotten a Clash band and I was wondering if I could hang out at this meeting today.” Max eyed the course, as he talked.
“I bet you are here to fight Lizzy. Well, anyways I’m TJ”
“I’m Max, do you mind if I test Sandalphon on this?”
“Sandalphon? Are you the kid that beat Jason’s avatar Gervasee? Oh man, I saw that fight. I talked with Jason; he is in the high school Clash club. He is the only one who Lizzy can’t beat. He was so angry that he lost to you. He was here yesterday wondering if you were going to show up. I think he wants a rematch. But yeah, if you want to use this go ahead.”
Max pulled up a chair and put on his Clash band. He switched it on and Sandalphon materialized on the table. All Clash bands have built in scanners that can read the layout of the surrounding area and allow avatars to interact with the real world. Sandalphon would not be able to physically move the blocks on the table, but he could climb on them.
Sandalphon scrambled up onto the blocks, Max had trouble trying to maintain Sandalphon’s balance. Once at the top he had Sandalphon then try to jump from one set of blocks to another. Sandalphon just fell over and landed on the desk. TJ watched him intensely.
“How long have you had your band?” TJ asked, puzzled, wondering why Max so poorly maneuvered the course.
“I got Sandalphon last week, as a birthday present,” Max said. He had Sandalphon climb up another set of blocks. He tried having Sandalphon walk across one of the boards. It was fairly narrow, about no wider than Sandalphon’s foot. Sandalphon fell off the board. Max just could not maintain Sandalphon’s balance. Max glanced at TJ seeing the confusion on his face. “I know what you’re thinking: How did he beat Gervasee when he can barely do this course?”