The subterranean chamber pulsed like the interior of a colossal, dying beast. Blue mana veins throbbed beneath the ground, sending shocks of luminous energy spiraling across the cracked stone floor. Floating platforms drifted through the air in unstable patterns, orbiting around no clear point. Gravity wavered. Heat and cold fought across the cavern like feuding spirits. Everything shimmered with the chaotic instability of magic pushed to the edge of collapse.
The fighters who had survived the fall into this place understood one thing immediately:
The arena below the arena was alive.
And it was waking up.
A pulse of blue light rippled outward from a deep fissure. Swift staggered as it washed over him. Even in his Half-Silver Dragon form, covered in shimmering silver scales and dripping frost from his claws, the vibration shook his bones.
"Jake—brace!" Swift called.
Jake tried to brace.
Jake failed to brace.
The Bronze Dragon humanoid rolled several feet, bounced off a mana crystal, yelped, and then scrambled upright with a wide-eyed shake.
"I—I'm okay! …I think," Jake wheezed. Sparks crackled over his bronze-scaled forearms.
Swift gripped one of the floating platforms as it drifted down. "Stay behind me."
Jake stumbled behind him. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
The two dragons weren't alone. Jade Killington and Shadeclaw emerged from behind a smoking pillar as a new mana pulse lit their surroundings. Jade racked his arms—CH-CHNK—igniting bright, gold chi across his forearms.
Shadeclaw's eyes glowed eerily in the dark caverns, his claws radiating blue-white light from the mana amplification. He sniffed the air, ears twitching.
"Something's wrong," Shadeclaw growled.
Jade laughed. "Mate, we fell into a magic death cave. Everything's wrong."
Another pulse thundered outward. Stone cracked. Hard-light remnants blinked into existence—then shattered like glass. A floating platform spun violently before stabilizing.
Somewhere above them, Danny and Wolf King were still separated by emergency partitions. Their power hummed faintly from the upper level, distant as the rumble of storm clouds.
Down here, the fighters knew better than to worry about the titans.
They needed to survive the subterranean battlefield.
—
Meanwhile… far away from the arena…
In a pocket dimension beyond physical space, the Magic Kid sat cross-legged inside a prism cell made of shifting runes and anti-reality chains. The chamber around him resembled a shattered rainbow held together by starlight. Time stuttered and looped in microbursts. Space folded and unfolded around him as if trying to breathe.
Magic Kid looked tired—thin, pale, nearly translucent. But his eyes blazed with cunning and excitement.
A crack zigzagged across the crystal prison wall.
Magic Kid touched it gently with his glowing fingertip.
A hum vibrated.
"That waffle…" he whispered with a grin, "…is doing excellent work."
Shackles of multi-colored light tightened across his arms. He ignored them. He whispered an incantation, long-forbidden and older than the arena itself.
The crack widened.
Magic Kid leaned back, grinning with dangerous delight.
"They'll never see it coming."
—
Elsewhere, in the Enforcer Vault…
Bones stood in a chamber lit by black braziers. Before him, three elite Dark Buddies knelt, each cloaked in a different shade of nightmare.
Nightblade — tall, silent, mask carved with a red slash, dual shadow-katanas across his back.
Grimstitch — shorter, twitching, body covered in moving stitch-hexes that crawled like living thread.
Fangwire — sleek, crackling with venomous electricity, eyes glowing neon blue.
Bones's voice cut through the darkness like a knife.
"Magic Kid's prison weakens. The waffle feeds on it. You three will infiltrate the vault."
He handed Nightblade a glowing shard.
"Use this to breach the dimensional seam. Bring the prison back. Do not open it."
Nightblade bowed once. "We obey."
The Dark Buddies vanished into swirling shadow, beginning their infiltration mission.
Bones stared into the dark. "Soon."
The war beyond the arena had begun.
—
Back in the subterranean gauntlet…
A new mana pulse slammed the chamber. Floating platforms broke and reformed in erratic patterns. Fighters screamed as they lost footing.
A squad of five aerial fighters swooped toward Swift and Jake.
Swift flexed his claws. "Here they come."
Jake sparked. "I DON'T LIKE FLYING PEOPLE—THEY'RE FAST!"
Swift, having no patience for panic right now, grabbed Jake by the collar and flung him upward.
"WAIT—SWIFT—NO—AUGHHHH!"
Jake collided with one aerial fighter midair, electricity bursting outward. Two fighters were stunned instantly, teleporting out.
Swift leapt up after him, freezing the other three's wings in mid-flight. Gravity did the rest.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM.
Teleport flashes lit the cavern.
Swift landed gracefully. Jake landed like a screaming bowling ball.
"Swift," Jake panted, "next time—WARN ME—"
Swift shrugged. "It worked."
—
Nearby, Shadeclaw and Jade Killington tore through another group of fighters who had formed a temporary alliance to eliminate the deadly duo.
A spear flew toward Shadeclaw.
He caught it in one hand—snapped it in half—and threw the spearhead back so fast it knocked the wielder unconscious before he teleported.
Another fighter swung a rune blade at Jade.
Jade blocked it with his forearm and detonated a chi burst that sent the fighter rocketing backward.
Shadeclaw snarled, "We're drawing too much attention."
Jade grinned. "I always draw attention. You're welcome."
Shadeclaw growled louder. "I'm not thanking you!"
Jade's next headbutt detonated like a grenade.
The fighter teleported.
—
Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx moved like elemental warfare incarnate.
A group of Glimmer Troops—crystal-armored mana warriors—emerged from a crack in the cavern wall. Their mirrored armor refracted spells, bending attacks around them.
Tundra Lynx formed towering walls of ice behind the Glimmer Troops.
Ember Claw launched streams of flame at the ice.
The heat struck the ice, forming a roaring steam wave that blasted the Glimmer Troops forward—straight into Ember Claw's fiery claws.
Three teleported.
Two tried to run.
Tundra Lynx froze their legs mid-stride.
Ember Claw finished it.
They stood victorious in freezing steam.
—
Giga-Ronin lumbered forward, glowing brighter with every step. Blue-white circuit patterns pulsed across his body. His eyes glowed with barely-contained energy.
Four fighters attacked him at once—spells flying, blades swinging.
He absorbed every impact.
His fists thrummed with power.
He struck the ground—
BOOOOOOM.
A shockwave blasted through the cavern, disintegrating a floating platform and teleporting seven fighters instantly.
Jake stared. "He's gonna explode someday."
Swift whispered, "And we're too close when he does."
—
Mira-the-Silent drifted through the shadows like a spirit.
Every time she emerged—
A fighter fell.
Every time she vanished—
A whisper followed.
"Quiet."
She eliminated three elite fighters in under ten seconds.
She even stepped through a mana pulse without being pushed, slipping between the energy like mist.
Shadeclaw muttered, "She's unnatural."
Jade: "She's bloody terrifying, that's what she is."
—
Then there was the builder bot.
Its decline had reached new levels.
Its damaged torso sprouted spidery mana limbs.
Its welding arm fired at random.
Its audio output alternated between binary and terrified screaming.
"ERR0R! ERR0R! INITI—SPARK—REPAIR—FAIL—FAIL—FAIL!"
It attempted to "fix" Shadeclaw's claws.
Shadeclaw tried to kill it.
Jade intervened because he wanted to keep it.
The bot blasted a welding beam through the floor.
This caused a mana geyser.
This shocked Jake.
This made Swift panic-freeze half the chamber.
This caused Ember Claw to slip.
Which caused Tundra Lynx to crash into her.
Which caused a fire-ice explosion.
Which knocked out three fighters.
Sedge Hat screamed happily, "CHAIN REACTION!"
Shadeclaw shouted, "SHUT UP!"
—
Then—
The waffle appeared.
Upside-down.
Glowing gold and blue.
Runes spiraling rapidly.
Jake screamed, "NOT AGAIN—"
The waffle pulsed.
Mana veins pulsed back.
The cavern vibrated.
Swift whispered, "This is because of Magic Kid."
Jade cursed. "Bloody hell—what is he DOING?"
—
CUT AWAY — Magic Kid's Prison
Nightblade, Fangwire, and Grimstitch reached the fractal cell.
Cracks crawled across its surface.
Magic leaked.
Magic Kid smiled.
Nightblade struck.
The prison shattered.
Magic exploded outward.
—
BACK TO THE GAUNTLET
The cavern's mana veins erupted in unison.
Platforms rose.
Shadows screamed.
The waffle vibrated harder.
Giga-Ronin reached critical mass.
The builder bot overloaded.
Every fighter braced.
Something below the chamber cracked open.
A single voice echoed through the cavern—
Weak.
Distant.
Playful.
Dangerous.
"Found you…"
Everything went white.
Fighters Remaining: 235 / 500