033 - sway

Pardatto narrowly dodged the sharpened candy cane. It had been months since he and his mortal foe, Colonel Apatax had been mysteriously transported to Candyland. Pardatto had no idea how long his enemy had worked at sharpening the giant candy cane into something more akin to a sword than a sweet, but it was certainly now an exceedingly lethal weapon.

He wished that he had thought to do the same, but there wasn't much time for hindsight as he strafed left and narrowly avoided yet another blow. He knew that if he were to merely be on the defensive it was only a matter of time. His armor was no match for a weapon like this, and eventually Apatax would be able to make a swing connect.

Pardatto needed to attack. He grabbed at one of his oversized lollipops, handling it like a club. It was immensely heavy, but the hero had been training many hours every day to be able to handle it with agility and grace. He made his first move.

The lollipop had a weakness, however: its thin handle. Colonel Apatax capitalized on this fact and countered by using his candy cane to slice through the lollipop's stick. Pardatto did not miss a beat at this though, he had planned for it all along.

While Apatax had been focused on destroying the first lollipop club, Pardatto had been working another one from behind in his other hand. Sure, he was a little less powerful with his non-dominant hand, but he had a chance, and he took it.

The lollipop came down on Colonel Apatax's head, which was shielded by the upper portion of a blue candy shell. The shell cracked and fell off of Apatax's head, but it seemed to have done its job of protecting the Colonel's noggin, as he quickly shook the blow off. His head was unshielded now, but otherwise remained fine. His golden-colored locks now shimmered under the peppermint Candyland sun.

Pardatto was somewhat aghast that his successful maneuver did not result in any noticeable harm to his foe. And during this moment of disbelief, Apatax returned the blow. Pardatto moved to avoid the candy cane sword, but it was too late.

The blade of red and white cut its way through Pardatto's gummi armor, and for a moment it appeared that it would not penetrate, but at the very last moment, it did. It was not a critical wound, but it was painful enough as the tip of the blade pulled across Pardatto's chest.

He let out a cry of pain.

As his scream echoed through the Gumdrop mountains surrounding them, a low rumbling came in return. The two combatants paused. The rumbling was slow and soft at first, but it was getting louder and stronger. Suddenly, in the hills above them, they saw what had been causing the rumbling.

A syrupslide was heading towards them at an alarming rate. The two began to run in the opposite direction as fast as their legs would carry them. The battle would not end today.