KLONDIKE, CP Army Headquarters – Welcome back to another edition of Short Stories! Previously, the Resistance found themselves defending the Embassy from a full-scale assault launched by Herbert. But with the arrival of Sensei, the return of Tusk, and an introduction of a new hero named Lotus, who will stand while the other falls?
“On March 13th, the Club Penguin Embassy faced a large-scale attack authorized by Herbert P. Bear, the mastermind behind the eternal winter as it continues, and a league of villains, the Frozen Strikers. New reports claim that Sensei has arrived at the battle to assist the Resistance in the defense. However, there is also a report that Tusk has been spotted making his way towards the battlefield. At this time, the Club Penguin Times cannot confirm whether this is true. The community has been heavily affected by the shocks of this war that should’ve ended years ago. But even if we stand in just the early stages, we must pray for hope and that the Resistance will take down Herbert for good.”
The forest, originally a large garden of lush green now plagued by war for the Embassy, was quiet except for the soft crackling of flames around them and the crunching of snow beneath Tusk’s feet as he approached Sensei. “I never expected much from you, except you believe that I was dead at last. But you forgot that I always come back,” he snarled at Sensei, who stood with his straw hat continuing to cover his stare.
“And this will be the last time you will. Years of reign and terror you’ve brought to the island end here. One will stand, but one will fall.” Tusk broke into an evil cackle. “Oh, Sensei, all of your little prophecies such as my great demise are nothing but fairy tales you expect everyone to believe. But not anymore!” The two figures, good and bad, stood a great distance from each other but held a stance as if they were close-up.
“There’s just one thing we need from you,” Sensei declared to the brute that stood in front of him. He slid his foot back and leaned forward, sliding out the Fire Card from his deck. Then, his fist tightly clenched. “And that’s where Alderam is being imprisoned!” Sensei leaped forward at Tusk, a ball of fire emerging from his fist as he drew the Fire Card. Tusk approached with the Water Card to counter Sensei’s attack but was suddenly met by a Fire Hammer that the master summoned.
“You’re not getting any intel from me, and if you do, catch me if you can before I blow up the nearest power plant! Tusk immediately faced the other direction and made a mad dash towards where the power plant could be. “Stop him before he gets to the power plant; we must defend it!” The Resistance army started chasing Tusk, using everything to stop him.
However, Tusk was just too mighty. Tusk grasped each fighter jet that locked its aim on him and violently hurled them at each other. The trees were being uprooted and destroyed by the war that was already happening and because of the Card-Jitsu powerhouse’s catastrophic rampage. Sensei dashed through the trees, jumping from one branch to another, using his Snow Card to create ice barriers. But nothing was working. “You are nothing but pathetic,” Tusk growled to Sensei as he jumped in front of him. The brute slammed Sensei into a nearby rock and approached him as soon as he did. “You are worthless. A degenerate usurper. The last thing Alderam wanted: a hypocritic burden like you!”
Sensei looked up to see Tusk approaching him and immediately pulled out his Water Card to keep him away with a Tidal Wave Attack, but was blocked by Ice. “Card-Jitsu was supposed to be locked away after our decades-long war, but you decided to bring it back.” Tusk clenched his fists and swung punches at the downed teacher, switching between Fire and Water before grabbing and raising him in the air. “Change is inevitable. Either you avoid it and die like your stupid, good-for-nothing, self-proclaimed master student Alderam, or you accept it and never face me in war again. Your choice.” Sensei peeked with one eye barely open and looked at Tusk’s face as he stared more into his eyes. “You made a nice monologue for yourself, but there’s one small issue,” he said, almost choking from Tusk’s grip.
As the Resistance army surrounded Tusk grabbing Sensei, a mysterious voice called. It sounded feminine, with a slightly raspy, high-pitched voice. “Who dares walk in my wonderland?!” They demanded. Then, splashing was heard, and one of the Snow Minions immediately deteriorated from a brown liquid. “Now who the-” Tusk’s sentence was again interrupted by the voice. “Cluster-heck dares bring these minions in MY LAND?” Suddenly, a shadow zipped through Tusk’s view. Now he was being agitated by his question remaining unanswered. He dropped Sensei and summoned his Fire, Ice, and Water Cards with different attacks to use. “Who are you? Show yourself immediately! Deep down, you have fear. Turn away while you can!” And suddenly, the person who made the voice had jumped out of the shadows. “Here I am!”
They immediately jumped forward into the sky with a jetpack, equipping hot sauce and coffee bean rockets launchers. “Jackal 5 – delivering the package!” they cried, placing their fingers on both triggers and firing the rockets. They shot through the air and aimed at Tusk, who leaped out of the way to dodge the newcomer’s attacks. He tried pulling his Ice Card to make a barrier, but the hot sauce splashing all over the place broke it. The Snow Minions and robots revolted into retreating from the attack as it was far too much for them to handle. Finally, they stopped firing rockets and landed on the ground with their jetpack assisting them for an easier landing. “Watcha standing there for? That’s the guy ya after, right?” They turned and asked Gary, standing within the crowd of Resistance soldiers. “But who are you?” He replied in question.
“No time for that! Hope y’all are fast on ya feet because this bogey’s gonna get away,” they signaled the Resistance army to follow them as they boosted into the skies again, chasing Tusk. “You heard her–I-I mean, THEM, after Tusk before he reaches the power plant!” Jacques told the army. Sensei followed behind the brute, using his Cards to try and slow him down. “You’re never gonna find out where Alderam is, none of you will…and not even this little brat that can fly!”
Tusk was referring to Lotus, not knowing where they had come from. Sensei felt it coming. This was because of the prophecy he had researched. Lotus was one of the five heroes. So far, only Alderam and Lotus were the only ones uncovered. What was left was the knight and whoever was determined to have been the fifth hero. Who could it have been? That question remained.
“Holding a prisoner of war is one more thing your leader will answer for!” Sensei told Tusk, throwing his Fire Card at him to summon a Fireball. Tusk was reaching the power plant, but then, he was stopped by Lotus jumping in front of him. Now he was surrounded by the Resistance, Sensei, and Lotus, the coffee waitress. “Face it, Tusk, your end is here,” Sensei told the member of the Frozen Strikers. “Face me like the master you are or admit that you’re a disgrace to the art of Card-Jitsu.” Tusk gave a toothy grin, grabbing his deck of cards. “This ends here, Sensei. The last one standing wins. Anything goes.” Tusk wanted to play dirty with the showdown between the two.
Sensei shouted, “Begin!” and threw his Water Card to counter Tusk’s drawn Fire Card. The two began throwing punches powered by their Cards, pushing each other back as the cards hit them. Fire, Ice, and Water elements flashed everywhere as they continuously attacked without end. Sensei froze Tusk in place and used his Fire Card to slam him. In the midst of this, it was difficult to tell who was winning. And suddenly, Tusk decided to pull out the biggest Water Card he had: the Tsunami. This was his trump card for winning against Sensei and defeating the Resistance. But Sensei knew what he was about to pull. “This is the end, Sensei; I am the true master of Card-Jitsu!” He roared, summoning the Card and distributing it. Sensei, however, used an Ice Card to counter this attack: the Sword of Peace.
He softly dipped the sword’s tip into the snow and began slowly turning in a circle. The sword traced a perfectly made circle as he spun slowly, and the mist of the fluffy snow became airborne. It was that one trick he learned with the attack while inventing Card-Jitsu, generally known as Snowstorm. Nobody had known of it until he performed that exact finisher against an enemy.
Sensei raised the sword into the air, with the particles of snow following in its direction. As the giant wave of water came among him, he pointed the sword straight onward, and a giant cloud of snow clashed against the water. Sensei was lost in the fog of water and snow elements battling for supremacy against one another as if the air and time both froze solid for a few seconds. The wave’s crashes and snow crunch disturbed the ambiance together. And then, it quieted down into silence. The snow fog began to clear and showed something nobody had seen coming. The tsunami wave that Tusk had sent to attack Sensei was frozen solid in the exact shape as it was as soon as it almost crashed down to the ground.
“W-what?! Did you counteract the Tsunami? Nobody has ever done that before!” Tusk said in shock. Sensei climbed on top of the frozen wave of water. “Who’s the real master now?” Sensei replied, pulling his Fire Card to punch Tusk back into the ground, with a ring of fire emitting from the impact. After doing so, the villain lay in a world of pain, as if he was meeting his end. However, it was his end. “Tell me where Alderam is right now!” Sensei grabbed Tusk’s head from behind and raised it so he could look him in the eyes. “…Thermal,” the brute choked. “He’s in Thermal…t-t-the Molten Arsenal. Y-you have no idea what you’ve just done to the Frozen Strikers now,” Tusk continued. “Alderam’s whereabouts are all we need to-,” Sensei started.
“No, they’re not,” Tusk interrupted Sensei. “Herbert will make you pay for taking away one of his members. H-he will dominate the island forever, and my presence will forever haunt you,” Then, Tusk had only so much breath to speak three more words, a few that wouldn’t faze Sensei. “Never…f-forget…me.” The brute laid on the ground, and soon he was motionless.
“Damn, talk about a hard fall. Looks like he forgot his landing gear,” Lotus commented. “I also should’ve come up with a proper intro.” They stretched their hand out to Dr. Gary. “Name’s Lotus, a waitress from the Coffee Shop and Pizza Parlor who’s now an air fighter. and yours is?” Gary shook their hand and replied, “Dr. Gary, the greatest scientist alive. These here are the Resistance leaders.” Lotus gave the nod towards the Resistance leaders as they waved to them. Zion stepped forward. “U-Uhm, hi. I felt like introducing Shadow to you. He’s a nice boyfriend but sometimes a bully.” Even though he whispered the last part, Shadow gave him an elbow in response.
“Hey, you guys are not the only fruity ones of the bunch. I don’t wear this badge just for show,” Lotus replied, pointing to a pronouns badge attached to the left side strap of their jetpack. “But hey, there’s no time to waste; we got a hero to break free. An old-school jailbreak is my kinda action. Now enough limin’ around, let’s get going.” They equipped their helmet and began flying upwards towards the sky, signaling the Resistance army to follow them. With Tusk’s final defeat, hope was beginning to grow for the defending army and those in the shelter waiting for a hero to save them. Surely enough, more heroes would join Alderam, Lotus, and Sensei to take down Prima Morgana and Herbert before Operation Frost became permanent.
End of Part III.