Airvenge

Chapter 16: Eternal Hatred

Calliope had her crown and staff placed on the table, but she was not letting the group get to them. They wouldn't use them for now since their power was so low, but in time they would have to get them away from her so she wouldn't be able to use them. She did have that ancient sword she got from Driftwood, so might as well use that to hold them all off until the moon rose. Calliope could also use her wings to blow the group away, even off this blasted place if she wanted to. She did have some rebel Skylings left for her to call, but the number was very small, somewhere around ten to twenty Skylings.

Team blue ran around her while Breeze and her Skyling forces flew up. Calliope couldn't let those Skylings get close to her, even with team blue's attempt to distract her by shooting ink and using sub weapons on her. She used her wings to blow Specs to the wall when he tried to charge at her. He crashed into the wall, but got some help from Ban, who flew down to him. The Nitro blade user, having been waiting for this moment for a very long time, rushed up at Calliope, but she was too quick and flew out of their way.

Calliope then noticed Headphones aiming her charger at her, and was about to charge at her with her sword when Goggles threw two burst bombs at her. That got her attention and turned to Goggles. Headphones used this opportunity to shoot her. The shot hit, and Calliope was thrown at a nearby rock wall.

"Enough of this!" she shouted.

She then flew up and started flapping her wings repeatedly. Team blue noticed this when they regrouped.

"What's she doing?" Goggles asked.

"I think she's trying to make a huge gust of wind that will blow us all away! We need to get out of range!" Breeze shouted.

The group retreated and got back with the S4 and Monarch duo as Calliope flapped her wings. The wind spread throughout the cave, blowing away loose pebbles and dirt. The group managed to find cover, but they still had to hold on to some nearby surfaces. Pretty soon, the wind subsided, and the S4 and monarch duo went back to fighting any rebel Skylings who Calliope sent after. Team blue, along with their allies went back to where Calliope was. They needed to figure out a way around that if she did that again, they couldn't keep coming back here to hide.

They could always shoot her wings to get her to stop, but then there was the issue of distance and range. Sure, her wings were large targets, but they had to make sure their attacks actually counted. The Nitro Blade User on the other hand, did not give up in trying to stab Calliope. They wanted those wings OFF, Calliope FROZEN, and all the Skylings here DEAD. They rushed forward, clashing blades with another Skyling before pulling a fake-out and slicing their stomach, freezing them.

Nitro then hacked off their wings and proceeded to Calliope, not caring about the dropped Skyling Sword. Those tiny winged squids thought they were sooo powerful with those "razor sharp" blades at their disposal, but honestly? They were pathetic, and could break just as easy as any regular sword. These Skylings really thought they could cut through anything, just like the scordians on dragon tails or something. Well, both were still weak in his mind, he'd seen plenty of creatures get into fights and shatter the things like dried air-dry clay, but that was besides the point.

Team Blue started shooting at Calliope while Breeze commanded the other Skylings to tackle Calliope's Skylings once more. Nitro leapt up to stab Calliope in the head, or slash at any part of her body, but Calliope quickly backed away and knocked TNBU back with her wings. Nitro simply fell back onto the ground until some Skylings fighting low to the ground rammed into them, hard. They were knocked back so hard that they hit a rock and seemingly got knocked out.

"Nitro!" Goggles shouted.

"You'll pay for that...I think!" Headphones yelled at the Skylings, unsure because that Nitro guy had some weird tendency of murdering Skylings regardless of their alignment.

Calliope was ready to brag in Nitro's face, but was interrupted by Team Blue shooting ink at her from all directions. Her loyal followers were too busy being occupied with the other Skylings, so they couldn't come to her aid. The sun was almost out of sight, but Team Blue was too occupied with fighting. Headphones kept aiming for the wings as she sniped, constantly keeping Calliope on her toes in the air. She was constantly dodging, yes, but Headphones was tiring her out while not having to move much herself.

Goggles had turfed the field and gotten his special weapon, but he didn't want to use it yet. He couldn't just get a Skyling to come pick him up and drop him onto the battlefield because Calliope could dodge that way too easily. He decided to resume attacking Calliope by targeting her wings with burst bombs, because Headphones seemed to be doing that too with her weapon. Their ally Skylings were trying to put cuts and tears in Calliope's wings as well, but the soldier Skylings made it a bit harder to get too close. Luckily for them, Bobble was watching their attacks to see if there was a way to attack better.

Bobble had seen Goggles get his special weapon, and decided to turf for hers too. After all, it could hit multiple targets, and could prove to be extremely beneficial to her allies. Headphones and Specs covered for her while distracting Calliope, and Bobble went as fast as she could. She had to turf some sides of the mountain, but that was okay because she eventually got her special weapon. She locked onto Calliope and all her Skyling followers, and fired.

Calliope and her crew were too busy clashing with Ban, Cloud, and the others to see them coming, so it came as a surprise to her when the missiles started coming down hard. Several of her soldiers had been struck in the back and taken down, and while Calliope tried to dodge the missiles, she found that her wings were too large and she couldn't make quick, precise movements. A missile landed on her face, and while it didn't splat her, it certainly blinded her. Specs looked up at Calliope, who was flailing about wildly as she tried to get the ink out of her eyes. This was their chance to get another good move in, and they couldn't waste it.

"Goggles! Get over here, and I'll fling you over at Calliope!" he shouted.

Goggles remembered that Rider had done that with him back at Sky Peak and nodded, remembering how the attack went. Specs grabbed onto Goggles in his squid form as Calliope was struggling, and threw him through the air as hard as he could. As Goggles neared Calliope, he turned into his humanoid form and Splashdowned her in the stomach, knocking her back by a drastic amount. Bobble caught Goggles as he superjumped back, but Calliope had now gotten the ink out of her eyes, furious at falling for such a similar trick from before.

Shakily, she made her way to the ground, but slowly. Team Blue immediately made a dash for the crown and scepter, but Calliope and her remaining guard Skylings landed in front of them before they could reach it. Calliope then collapsed onto the ground from taking such a hard hit to the stomach. Team Blue stood over her, weapons aimed at her head.

"Give up Calliope, it's over now!" Headphones stated.

"Yeah, we've beaten you so give up your reign!" Bobble added.

"Oh...I don't think so..." Calliope sneered.

"Wha...what do you-"

But Goggles was interrupted as he felt a chill go down his (nonexistent) spine. Bobble felt it too.

"Wh-what's going o-on?" Bobble stuttered.

"What do you mean, I..." Headphones cut herself off as she too felt a chill.

"Is it just me, or did it get a little colder here?" Specs asked the group.

Everyone looked up at the sky, including the Skylings. The moon was rising, and it definitely didn't look normal.

Calliope laughed a wicked laugh as she slowly got up. A blue glow started to surround her and her allies.

"FOOLS! The fight has only just begun!" she cackled.