= Hypercon | A Fantasy Story =

【 Episode 5 - Up, Up and away 】

= Recap =

The contestants leaped into the portals as soon as the timer started ticking, trying their absolute best to show off their talents and were faced by a trial of obstacle courses. Some of them were a piece of cake, while some others were not going well. Who will be announced the victor in the first game of the contest?

Back in the red portal, Ren was still struggling to pass the chamber.

"Come on! Why won't I just reach?!" Ren stomped on the floor in rage. He summoned a wolf spirit, which spun around him and stopped at his shoulder. "Tell me Leonard, what should I do?" He asked the spirit. The spirit, looking around at the environment, sprung from Ren's shoulder to the button, hitting it with its head.

"Ohh!" Ren exclaimed. "Why have I never thought..." He chuckled at his own silliness and summoned another spirit to hit the hexagon on the other side, which pushed the front wall backwards, revealing a tunnel. "All right! Thanks, guys!" Excitement filled his voice. He raised his hand and the spirits flew back to him and disappeared.

"Worthless as expected." A voice echoed in his mind.

Ren shuddered and shook his head. "Why do these thoughts like to come out at these kinds of moments? I can do a lot of things, and I know it." He huffed to himself, faintly frustrated. One of his wolf spirits flew past his shoulder, lighting up the hallway. "Now hurry up. They're gonna arrive sooner than me at this rate!"

—

In the yellow portal stood a confused griffin. The chamber had nothing but the tunnel leading to the next part. Though there was a long hallway between him and it.

"Strange, I have a feeling it is not going to be this easy." Chase muttered while keeping himself on high alert. He walked towards the tunnel slowly while listening to his surroundings, always ready to move. Suddenly a high-pitched noise rang from the room, making Chase cover his ear tufts, a painful expression crossing his face.

"I knew it!" He yelled. As the noise stopped, lasers flashed inside the chamber, moving in different directions. Chase leaped from the floor and into the air, spreading his wings to dodge the lasers coming his way. He grabbed hold of the ceiling with his claws and pounced through the chamber at the right timing, dodging all lasers and landing in front of the tunnel with a pant.

"Whew. Nothing I can't handle," He stood up and ran into the tunnel.

—

The floor rumbled in the purple portal as Bianca lost her balance, tumbling onto the floor. She looked up in shock to see the walls slowly closing in. She leaped up with claws unsheathed, her powers of superspeed making her dash. She ran like a wild animal, with hands on the floor gripping it with every step for speed boosting. Now I kind of wish Scarlett was here, she thought to herself. That way, her shield could at least slow the walls from closing in.

There were only fifty meters left until she had reached the tunnel.

"Cmon, you can handle this!" Bianca yelled as she ran faster. In a blink of an eye she ran into the tunnel just as the walls closed off. She looked back, panting.

"That... was close..." She sat down, still facing the closed off wall. Moments later she stood up with a grunt and ran into the tunnel.

—

When Bianca arrived at the end of the tunnel, she was stopped by an invisible barrier. Looking out, she saw other contestants coming from other tunnels on the walls. In front of her was the inside of a gigantic tower. There were floating plates in the air, a huge transparent window on the roof, making the sunlight leak into the dark hall.

There, the Victory Totem! She thought as her focus shifted towards the Victory Totem on one of the highest plates. Touch it and the winner will be decided.

Izzie was looking around. All of her rivals were here. She was not going to let anyone get in her way, and so are they.

"Welcome to the last chamber of the first game!" A familiar voice sounded across the hall, making echoes. It was certainly Davy's voice. "The Victory Totem is right there. All you have to do to win this game is to be the first to touch it. Now that this is settled..."

Scarlett glanced at the others as Davy paused. "The barrier will disappear in three...

"Two..."

"One...!"

"Now!"

Izzie leaped from the floor alongside the others. She landed on one of the plates, looking around for the next destination as Chase got onto the same plate. "We meet again, BunnyRace," Chase greeted, waving.

"It's IZZIE!" Izzie yelled as she tried to push him off the plate. Chase dodged, making her trip, facing the floor.

"Catch me if you can!" Chase said in a playful attitude as he scooped up into the air, gliding towards the Totem. He was stopped as Scarlett stepped onto his head as a boost and pounced off, making her way to a higher plate. Chase got pushed back onto the ground and landed with a grunt.

As Scarlett was chuckling at her success, Nova teleported behind her and summoned a Scythe, swinging it towards her.

"Woah! Take it easy!" Scarlett exclaimed as she rolled to dodge the attack. Nova ignored her and opened her wings, flying up towards the Totem. Bianca saw the situation and pounced onto Nova, pinning her on one of the plates.

Meanwhile, Ren was in his wolf form running. Izzie ran next to him. As their eyes met they gave each other a warning stare. 

Izzie's boots powered up as she leaped into the air onto a plate just underneath the one with the Totem. Ren transformed back to human and summoned his wolf spirits and swung them towards Izzie. Izzie dodged them, but then they changed direction and headed towards the Totem.

"Please tell me this works!" Ren prayed as he swung his hand towards the Totem, leading the spirits there and making them touch the Totem. Unfortunately nothing happened.

"Aw, come on!" Ren exclaimed as a relieved expression hung on Izzie's face. She continued to bounce towards the Totem plate. "Oh no you don't!" Ren yelled as he transformed again into his wolf form and followed Izzie.

Scarlett loaded her gadget and pulled her zipline, swinging herself towards the Totem. Izzie took out her crossbow, attempting to shoot Scarlett, yet Scarlett used her wrist gadget and summoned her paw-shaped shield, blocking them with no sweat.

In the blink of an eye, Nova teleported onto the Totem plate. The others were shocked. They panicked as they tried to stop Nova from touching the Totem.

But then another hand reached out and landed on the Totem first. It was Chase, who reached it just in time while the others were kept busy. He put on a smug face as he peered down on the others.

"Congratulations!" One of the Hyperbots spoke. "The winner of the first game is... Contestant 99-05, Chase!" The audience cheered while the contestants stood in awe.

Chase laughed proudly. "Now you have all learnt to never underestimate us Griffins!"