UNIVERSE BOWL VI: CHAPTER I: MYSTICISM IN THE MARSHLANDS

           

            The muted smell of decay permeates the air.  The undead scour the area and hear whimsical banter between two alleged combatants.  Black Lantern Yoda and Dracula trudge through the murky waters beneath their feet and peak from the mossy cypress trees camouflaging their whereabouts.  Their prey has been located as they focus on both Yoda and the Phantom Stranger.  The diminutive Jedi and paranormal warrior face each other as they play a heated game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors.”  Although unknown as to actually how Yoda is rendering his effects on the Stranger, the wizened creature uses his Jedi mind tricks to push the Phantom Stranger to repeatedly throw “Rock” which Yoda easily beats every time by throwing “Paper.” 

             “Our chance, this is” whisper BL Yoda to Dracula.

            “Yaaahhh.  I vant to kill dem!  Ah-ha-ha-ha,” responds Dracula.

            “The Count, you are?” asks BL Yoda.

            Dracula scoffs at the rebuke and focuses upon his enemy again.  The two Horsemen know they are at the Graveyard’s precipice as they each are down to their last death in the league.  Destroying the mighty Yoda and Phantom Stranger in the Universe Bowl would be a gloriously historic way to finish their lives and “go out.”  BL Yoda and Dracula rush the two Highness teammates and act quick enough to take the Phantom Stranger by surprise.  BL Yoda uses the Force to push and subsequently hold the Stranger to the  spongy ground. Dracula springs into action as his instincts arouse him to immediately focus on the Stranger’s neck.  Time passes in less than a blink of an eye as Dracula is upon the Stranger and he immediately begins to feast. 

            As the vampire king dines upon the blood spewing forth from the Stranger’s collar, BL Yoda barely has enough time to react and block a retaliatory lightsaber strike from Yoda.  The two incarnations of the Jedi Master are locked in a fantastic dual.  Each copy anticipates the moves from the other with excellent precision.  Trees and foliage bend and singe as the duo bounce, spin and wield their lightsabers.

            Dracula slowly raises his head above the newly deceased as he has finished his snack.  He immediately moves in to assist his teammate, but suddenly hesitates.  The two Yodas move so quickly that the aged vampire cannot tell which Yoda is his friend and which his foe.  He decides to wait for a better opportunity to make his decisive move.

            BL Yoda jumps back from the skirmish and throws a blackened ball of energy at the living Yoda.  Yoda quickly drops his lightsaber and twists in the air, showing his agility as he uses both hands to block the scorching energy being pushed at him.  As Yoda lands on the marshy floor, he stands firm as the energy pulsates between the two, rendering colors ranging from the entire spectrum.  The harder BL Yoda pushes, the harder living Yoda resists.  The strain becomes evident on the faces of the duo and they slowly slog toward one another.  The ball of energy between the two grows larger as the two come closer.  The two Yodas are only a few feet apart as the glowing aura becomes almost overwhelming.

            Dracula knows he needs to intervene, but the spurning light between the two now plays tricks on his eyes as he is still unsure of which Yoda is his brethren.  The undead prince strains to look for the ring on one of their hands, but the ball of energy prevents him from doing so.  A glimmer of a smile rises to his lips as he thinks of an idea that he knows only the living Yoda will respond to.

            “Looook!  It's George Washington!” Dracula yells.

            Dracula’s plan seems to work as he notices a slight reaction from one of the Yodas who desperately wants to look at his former leader.  Dracula immediately rushes at his enemy and sinks his sharpened fangs deep into Yoda’s neck.  The shock experienced by the living Yoda at Dracula’s attack breaks the resistance he has over the energy.  The amplitude of the explosion throws BL Yoda across the swamp, while consuming both Yoda as well as Dracula, who has made a selfless sacrifice in order to defeat his enemy.  Dracula has sent himself to the Graveyard to take down the powerful Yoda.  BL Yoda recovers and stares at the decimation caused by the blast.

            BL Yoda quietly mumbles, “Remembered, my comrade, you will be.  You will be. . .”