The bus came to a stop and Pepper couldn’t help but giggle when he saw Brent’s eyes lock onto Summer. Pepper started to get up out of his seat and move across the aisle. Summer reached for his arm in an attempt to keep him seated next to her, but she failed and quickly acted like she was just shifting in her seat.
Brent sprang at the opportunity and crashed into the spot Pepper had just vacated. “Hey, Summer! Wow, I haven’t seen you ride the bus in years. What’s new with you?”
Pepper still giggled as he looked out of the bus window. He was sure Summer was glaring at him with eyes of hatred and death, and that made him savor the moment even more. The rest of the ride to school was nothing but Brent pestering Summer with questions.
She tried to get some revenge by jabbing Pepper in the ribs once they arrived at school. But it only made him laugh even more. She quickly parted ways with them and the two boys continued to walk towards Mr. Dean’s class.
“Oh, dude. I forgot to tell you. I met Timo Burnham the other day,” Pepper informed his friend.
“What? No way!”
“Yeah, over at the shop. He was really cool.”
“How could you not tell me sooner?”
“I guess I forgot. Long days of school and long nights of work. Heck, I don’t even remember if I have homework due or not.”
“Man… that would have been so cool to meet him. I just watched one of his matches last night. His samurai cut a minotaur right in half! It was epic.”
They piled into Mr. Dean’s class and took their seats. Brent continued to lay out all the details of Timo’s match. It wasn’t long before Mr. Dean arrived and closed the door. The room slowly faded into a slow rumble.
Mr. Dean folded his arms. He paced from side to side and his black tie scrunched up against his sage green button-up shirt. He shook his head and then stroked his beard. “I don’t know how to say this. I’ve been a teacher for a long time, and there are certain moments when you question things. You question your decisions. Why you chose this path in life. If you are really making a difference or not. I had a lot of these questions that I asked myself over the last couple of days leading up to today.”
The noise in the room went from a rumble to a dead silence while their teacher spoke. Pepper was puzzled as to what could have caused such a reaction. He glanced around the room and felt that everyone shared his confusion.
Mr. Dean cleared his throat. “So yeah… I have questioned a lot, but after I saw this, I knew.” He reached down and grabbed hold of a stack of papers from his desk. He lifted them up for the room to see and then tossed them back down. “I knew I made the right choice… because you all passed your finals!” He extended his arms and cheered.
The room erupted with a mixture of cheers and laughs. A sigh of relief came over Pepper. He fist bumped Brent just as Mr. Dean motioned for them to quiet down.
“So of course… there is only one way to celebrate. How about we watch this Immortals League match?”
Before long the holoscreen was on and the theme song was playing. Mr. Dean turned the lights off and Pepper smiled. He was one step closer to being out of the confines of Status Academy. The finals out of the way, he only needed to complete his work study program and write his thesis paper to be graded by a teacher of his choice. He had already chosen Mr. Dean; he was his favorite teacher. The professor was far more critical of the thesis papers a student submitted than anything else, but Pepper still felt he was the best choice.
JD Glasscock walked into frame. His hair was slicked back and it looked like he was on a sandy beach. In stark contrast though, he wore bright baby-blue earmuffs. His sunglasses lenses had an orange and pink gradient, and a navy-blue scarf was wrapped around his neck, while a giant soft billowing winter coat was wrapped around him. “I have a question for you, Nick. Why did the snowman call his friend?”
His coanchor entered on the opposite side of the frame. Nick was wearing a red scarf but still had on a winter coat that complimented his business attire. “I don’t know, JD.”
JD pointed to him. “Because he was feeling a little frosty and needed some “chill” time. Ha!”
Nick let out a forced chuckled in response. “I see what you did there, JD. A fitting joke for a fitting arena. Ladies and gents, we welcome you to the Frost Arena, just on the outskirts of Breheimen, Norway.”
The camera panned out to show a massive mountain range. Jagged peaks pointed towards the heavens, while white snow and ice blanketed everything. There was a gusty breeze that swept snow particles around in flurries.
“JD, this matchup is certainly one that can be epic, as Lars Machmüller faces off against Dimitrios Gkirgkiris. Two amazing gladiators who know how to compete but also put on one great show.”
“You are absolutely right, Nick. Just like an epic chef, it’s not just the flavor of the meal but the plating and presentation that goes along with it,” JD followed up.
“Now, JD, please don’t tell me you’re going to make us suffer through another comparison of food and golem fights.”
JD looked straight into the camera with a deadpan expression. “I wouldn’t bet on it, Nick. I am a frozen popsicle at this point.”
The camera scanned over the arena and narrowed in on a tall figure in a bright red snowsuit. He stood in the center of his gladiator’s platform at the top of one of the mountain peaks. A spiked purple mohawk confirmed the figure as Lars, and he wore large black goggles. They looked more like something from a steampunk outfit than a snowsuit. A navy-blue mask covered his face, but he stood like a statue, fighting against the arctic temperatures.
The camera zoomed out to show Lars’s metal golem. The massive black dragon walked slowly across the valley floor. Its wings were curled inward, but they still grazed the high canyon walls on either side of it. Its bright red eyes blazed with hellfire as it entered the arena.
Pepper then saw a smaller figure dressed in yellow arrive on the opposite platform. The helicopter dusted off from the platform while Dimi began to walk to the center. He placed his gladiator command interface helmet on and pounded his fists together. A faint orange glow soon wrapped around his hands, but the camera didn’t show his golem right away.
Dimi was on the far right of the screen. A second later, Pepper saw two large claws reach up and sink themselves into the ridgeline of the mountains. The gray head of a dragon quickly appeared and pulled the rest of its body up into view. Its chiseled metal wings extended.
“That is one savage frost dragon if I have ever seen one, JD!” Nick cried out in unison with the classroom. Pepper and his classmates were now on the edge of their seats.
“Dimi has given us a new masterpiece! He’s traded in his traditional berserker and gone with this epic dragon. I’m shaking, Nick! I’m shaking, and it’s not just from the cold but from the excitement surging through my veins.”
The frost dragon reared its head back and let out a massive roar. The dragon’s battle cry cut through the whistle of the wind that whipped through the valleys. It turned its head down and looked to be narrowing in on its opponent.
The countdown timer began. It ticked its way to the start of the round and Dimi’s dragon launched itself forward. The frost dragon glided into the canyon. Its wings extended and a bright blue light began to glow from its mouth.
Lars’s dragon reared back onto its hind legs. It stretched out its wings; a portion of the canyon wall crumbled away as the sharpened metal dug in. The bright red energy surged upwards and began to magnify within its mouth. The black dragon opened its mouth, exposing its sharp metal teeth. A giant fireball swirled within its mouth and then launched—directly towards its opponent.
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“It’s a massive fireball to kick things off!” Nick cried out.
Dimi’s frost dragon continued its trajectory, quickly closing in on the fireball as it streaked towards it. The frost dragon opened its mouth and released a giant swirling sphere of frozen energy. The attack streaked across the remaining distance. The two spheres of magical energy clashed into each other and erupted. A thunderclap rang out and a shockwave rippled across the arena.
“That blast was so powerful that I can feel it up here, Nick. Frosty the Snowman is shaking in his boots over this one.” JD chuckled.
The frost dragon landed and skidded across the arena floor. It charged forward and began to challenge the black dragon, performing a quick jump and launching a vicious strike with its mouth, as if it were a serpent.
Lars’s black dragon tilted its head and neck, evading the strike. The black dragon then twisted and latched its mouth around the frost dragon’s neck. It began to pull its opponent in close, but the frost dragon countered. A quick slash with its front claws raked across the black dragon’s chest plates.
Pepper could hear the screech of metal as the two golems clashed. He and his fellow students cringed in unison; it was like nails on a chalkboard. Yet he couldn’t turn away as the two massive beasts clashed in such a catastrophic fashion. The frost dragon continued to slash at its opponent while it was being dragged closer to the canyon walls.
“Look out, JD. It looks like Lars might be trying to pin his. A brilliant move if he can pull it off,” Nick declared.
The frost dragon was slammed into the canyon wall. Rocks and snow fell from above and coated their bodies as they wrestled each other. The black dragon looked like it was powering up to launch another magical attack, but Lars caught sight of the frost dragon’s tail turning around. The tail sprang forward and attempt to strike like that of a scorpion.
The black dragon launched one of its wings out and deflected the attack. A quick pump of its wings and it took flight. It let go of the frost dragon’s neck and protected itself by launching a fiery beam of energy. A defensive wall of flame now surrounded the frost dragon, and it retreated to a mountain peak nearby.
The frost dragon appeared to snort. Its blue eyes glowed, then it launched an arctic blast out its mouth that snuffed out the flames that tried to contain it. The gray coloration of the golem looked to have changed to a shadowy white. It appeared more realistic than ever before.
“Not so fast, Nick … Lars is trying to bring the heat, but Dimi is trying to bring forth a new Ice Age!” JD countered his cohost.
The black dragon began a power-up sequence. It extended its wings. A warm glow of orange and red energy rippled over them. The dragon flung its wings forward and launched two spinning disks of energy. They sliced across the arena.
With a firm tilt of the frost dragon’s head, metal flaps sprang open and launched a pulsating beam of blue energy. The magical energy quickly formed into a massive wall. The spinning disks slammed into the wall and continued to rotate, trying to cut their way through. Both attacks finally burst, shattered light particles fading down towards the ground.
The frost dragon raised its head and let out a massive roar. The built-in speaker performed as expected, for it added to the realism as the war cry echoed within the walls of the canyon. It launched a frost beam towards the black dragon, but that was easily evaded by a small lean to one side.
Pepper was sure this magical attack was more of a challenging jest—a dare to return to the valley floor and duke it out fist to fist. A strategy which, he felt, was familiar to Dimi from when the gladiator had wielded his berserker. Pepper’s eyes narrowed in on the fact that the black dragon was not simply standing on the mountain peak; it was generating and preserving energy.
With a flare of the black dragon’s wings, it began to descend from on high. A blazing fireball streaked across the sky towards the frost dragon, but Pepper could see that was just a ruse. The frost dragon began to turn and fade the fireball.
The black dragon’s neck plating flared out. The gaps in-between the metal exposed an intricate pattern of spherical shapes that now glowed in a deep blood-red coloration. It quickly released a psionic attack, which shot out and bathed the frost dragon. Lars brought his dark dragon down into a landing that slammed into the frost dragon.
The frost dragon skidded backwards and lost its footing on the frozen ground. Lars’s dragon reared around, whipped its metal tail across, and let it slam into the body of its opponent. Pepper could see Dimi’s hands shifting around while he tried to work through the disconnection.
Lars’s black dragon began to step backward, gaining distance. Pepper’s leg was practically dancing up and down with anticipation and nerves. His hands gripped the side of his desk while the black dragon flared its wings out. The energy wave rippled across and the spinning disks were launched forward.
The frost dragon was staggering and trying to keep its balance while its systems struggled to regain a solid connection and communicate with one another. Pepper could see Dimi doing everything he could to avoid the magical attack. The disks cut the distance in a flash but blazed with intensity as they cut the wings straight off the frost dragon.
“Oh snap!” Brent cried out.
“Well, now we have a frost lizard on the field of battle,” JD said with a chuckle.
“Don’t count him out,” Pepper muttered. “There’s still a lot of competition left in this fight.”
The blue light was flickering through the frost dragon, but it finally came back to a steady pulse. Rather than retreating and regaining his composure, Dimi charged straight ahead. A bright frozen white coloration began to seep upwards from each dragon claw as it raced across the arena. It then brought its front section up and slammed its two front claws onto the ground.
The arctic ice blast launched into the earth and shot out towards the black dragon with lightning speed. Lars attempted to launch his golem into the air when he saw what was happening. It looked like the dragon may have gotten a foot off the ground. Then the ice appeared to reach up and grab hold of the golem, preventing its escape.
The black dragon was frozen in place. Lars looked like he was attempting to heat the ice with either a fireball or a fire beam. His power core was working to generate enough power for the attack, but there was no time. The frost dragon came charging through as if it had the spirit of a rhino. The frozen attack hardened the black metal and it shattered.
Metal shards were flung out and pelted into the snow as the limbless dragon was launched backwards. It crashed to the arena floor, and Lars was now the one to quickly figure out how he would adjust. Dimi continued to march his golem confidently ahead. He did not appear swayed by what had happened merely a minute earlier.
“These two are going at it, JD! If you didn’t know any better, you’d say these two were bitter enemies. But that just isn’t the case,” Nick’s voice roared into the mic.
“These two are good friends, and when you have to face off against one another, you don’t want your friend to hold anything back. Two true competitors. You know what I mean,” JD responded.
Lars’s black dragon was struggling to walk. Large pieces and metal rods began to scatter below it as it attempted to move around on nubs. It looked as if Lars was trying to keep his golem at a safe distance. The metal flanges on its neck shuttering gave a warning that Lars was preparing for what Pepper guessed was another psionic attack.
The frost dragon continued to stalk its prey but soon picked up its pace. The frost dragon adapted to its wingless figure and now appeared to run like a Komodo dragon. A final run and then the golem leapt into the air. Its mouth opened wide with a ferocious bite, inching closer towards its target.
A red light surged down the black dragon’s spine. The light traveled towards its tail, while its body began to spin rapidly around. The tail whipped around at the same moment the energy arrived. The combination smashed against the frost dragon, and red energy sprang out in shockwaves. The power-imbued attack launched the frost dragon to one side and sent it slamming into a canyon wall.
The black dragon didn’t waste any more time. It powered up a massive fireball and launched it towards its opponent. The attack erupted against the metal rib cage of the golem. The camera drone hovered around, and when the smoke cleared, they could see that the frost dragon’s midsection had been left exposed.
It appeared as if Lars saw this opportunity as well. The black dragon lunged towards the weakness. The golem’s head smashed directly into the frost dragon’s midsection, as if it were an ancient battering ram.
Snow and rock began to fall on the two golems from above, while the frost dragon continued to be driven into the heart of the mountain. The black dragon reared its head back and began to radiate the red energy it was building within its mouth.
The black dragon’s jaws opened and it latched onto the side of the frost dragon. Pepper could see the red energy within it now seeping into the frost dragon’s body. It poured over it like it was molten lava.
“This could be it, JD! This looks like it might be it, folks,” Nick declared.
Blue energy pulsed out of the frost dragon’s eyes, as if the beast inside had awakened from a deep slumber. Its first reaction was to rear its head, and a bright beam of freezing arctic energy poured out and coated the back end of the black dragon. The same sensation that had frozen the black dragon’s limbs in place now appeared to be covering it.
Pepper dared not take his eyes off the screen. The black dragon, which was in the lead, was now frozen in place, but it still had a death grip on its opponent. Steam billowed around the two dragons while the clash of fire and ice unfolded before the world.
The black dragon reared its head back for a split second but then dove down and latched on again. There was no doubt in Pepper’s mind that Lars was going for a death blow win. Each chomp of the black dragon’s jaws looked like it was trying to dig and melt away at its opponent’s golem to destroy a critical component. It was straining with effort, but Lars didn’t give up on trying to achieve the death blow.
Blue light streaked out of every exposed pore of the frost dragon. Its body seemed to shimmer and shake. A white coating appeared on its exterior. The tail began to tilt upward. Pepper’s eyes widened. The classroom gasped. The black dragon was now coated with the same white crystalized appearance. The frost dragon’s tail streaked down and pierced the base of the black dragon’s neck.
There was a cataclysmic rupture of blue and red light. The holoscreen flashed as the camera feed was washed out by the brightness of the explosion. A second later the only scene left for them to take in was a large smoldering crater. Giant chunks of steaming metal lay scattered on the snow.
“What in the Golem League just happened, JD? I cannot believe it. We have a draw!”
“Nick … my man … if I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”