The Ice Dragon and the Nine-Tailed Sugar Rush Fox - Cards of Power #75

0:04 Hello friends from across the nation and around the world. I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories. And tonight, we're finally headed back to the Cards of Power universe. And for those of you wondering why I haven't headed back to the Dragon Knights universe for a little while, there's a really simple answer to that. I just haven't got the right suggestion yet. to figure out what happens at the Air Dragon Stronghold. I set everything up, but I just can't decide what's going to happen next.

0:41 So I'm waiting for the perfect idea for that. If you have one, send it to me on Speakpipe. That would be amazing. As for this episode, I did get some suggestions. Lots of cards of power suggestions, but at the end of the day, I decided to choose this one, mostly so I could bring back a somewhat... long-forgotten character.

1:06 Hi, my name is Janvi, and I'm from Ontario, Canada, and I would like a story in the Cards of Power series where you and Magnus have to beat someone with an ice dragon that can freeze the whole stadium so all the cold air turns warm, and can also make icicles that that can drop from the ceiling and there's also a nine-tailed fox but it is made of candy so it can trap you in sticky chocolate or and it can also shoot hard candy from its mouth and it might get a sugar rush so it can run faster and that's it bye.

1:54 Now janvi i like that idea And I, too, am from Ontario, Canada, as you probably know. Likely a different part of Ontario, because it's pretty big, but Ontario nonetheless. What got me about your idea was the candy nine-tailed fox, because when Roro and I were working on the Cards of Power game, which you can buy on GameCrafter and find the links to on my podcast website, by the way, dadsbedtimestories.com, Well, we needed some balance in the game, and we needed to find another animation-type character. I believe it was either a deity-level character or a mythic-type character. Anyways, we went back through the files, and we found a character, deity-level, named Food Dude. And as far as thinking of the perfect...

2:52 perfect opponent for this particular nine-tailed candy fox, I thought Food Dude would be the right one. Also available in the Cards of Power game, or card game, on GameCrafter. Order in advance. Takes a while to get printed and sent to you. In other news, I want to let everybody know that I just finished the very first volume of Cards of Power the graphic novel. Story by Martin Gage, that's me, illustrated by your future robot overlords. That's right, I can't draw, so I decided to spend a lot of time and effort in getting ChatGPT to create the right number of fingers for dragons, which was really, really hard, and shout out to Busy Dad, who went through the first volume and counted all of the fingers and toes

3:52 and let me know which ones needed to be changed after I did a draft. Anyways, you can get to the link on my website, you can search for Cards of Power the graphic novel on Amazon, or you can actually check out a digital version on Patreon, including the second volume, which I'm still editing for the correct number of dragon fingers and toes, because for some reason, artificial intelligence doesn't like keeping toes and fingers. Correct. Number-wise. Anyways, it's about 102 pages of a graphic novel, and if you want it, it's there. You can check out a little bit of a preview first to see if you want it. And if you're looking for the Kindle edition or, like, the e-book edition, that will be coming shortly. I just

4:42 haven't had a chance to create it because you have to kind of select each panel. It's a long story. And speaking of stories... it's definitely time to get on with this one. And since I basically did an advertisement for myself, I will not insert one here. So there you go. Just get as comfy as you can in that bed, close your eyes, and imagine yourself doing what the kid in the story does. Now, if you don't recall already, you, my friend, have somehow ended up participating in a deity-level card tournament on a distant moon that specializes in battle. You find yourself in a luxurious alien hotel room where you've been staying ever since the beginning of the tournament, and you are now in the semifinals.

5:45 The last match before the final match. You stretch your arms and legs before looking over at the other bed where Magnus is curled up into a little ball. Good morning, Magnus. Is it? he asks without opening his eyes. Well, I think today's the semi-finals. Magnus's eyes shoot open. Semi-finals? Finally, a real battle. And this time you're actually going to use me, right? Well, honestly, that depends on what we're up against. Magnus jumps up into the air and floats beside you. Oh, come on. Dominic got to defeat both opponents last time. You can't possibly leave me out again.

6:40 You laugh. All right, buddy. You're up first, even if the other opponent makes absolutely no sense for you to be against. Excellent. I hope they've prepared a trophy with my name on it. Because despite what you say, there is no opponent that makes sense for me to be up against or doesn't make sense for me to be up against. Right. You respond. You get dressed and head downstairs for your usual continental breakfast, something you can never forget in the Cards of Power universe. And after enjoying some of your favorite foods, both your favorites from Earth and your new, well, alien favorites, you head over to the tournament computer and scan your identification card. Semi-final match confirmed. Opponent,

7:40 Jan Vee. You open Janvi's profile. It shows a girl about your age standing beside an enormous dragon. A white dragon. That looks like an ice dragon, Magnus exclaims. Oh, this is gonna be fun. Uh, aren't you, like, super weak against ice and water types, you say? Well, most fire creatures are, but as you know, I'm more diverse and, well, I've completely disintegrated several lakes in my time, which kind of takes away their advantage, if you may remember. Right, yeah, I guess I do remember that. You step outside and activate your magic wings, and together with Magnus... You fly across the alien city towards the enormous battle stadium. Luckily, this time you're able to avoid most of the crowds by flying and heading for the tournament entrance rather than

8:56 the main one. Before long, you've checked in, passed through the change rooms, and stepped out into the gigantic arena, since today... Your match is first. The crowd explodes with cheers. Ladies and gentlemen, aliens from across the universe, welcome to the semi-finals of the Galactic Deity Card Tournament. On one side, our surprise competitor from Earth, Accompanied by the legendary dragon, or deity-level dragon, Magnus. Magnus waves toward the audience and the audience cheers. You're pretty sure it's going to his ego.

9:52 And on the other side, Janvi, known throughout the galaxy for her incredible powerful and somewhat strange magical creatures. Janvi waves to the audience before smiling across the arena at you. Good luck, she calls toward you. You too, you respond. the referee floats into position. Remember, competitors, one creature active at a time, the first to defeat two opposing creatures wins. Now, select your cards. Magnus doesn't wait a second. He flies into the arena and begins to evolve, moving through all of his forms. An upright dragon, into a very powerful looking dragon, into an even more powerful and, well, pretty well gigantic dragon covered in magma, and then he shrinks back down a little bit into a very large black

11:06 dragon with veins of pure sunlight energy. More condensed than the mythic form, but definitely more powerful. Janvi summons a card of her own. Well, I think it might be a mistake going with a fire type, at least if you know what I'm famous for. Blue energy shoots across the arena and begins forming into an enormous dragon. Its scales are almost completely white, with brilliant blue veins glowing throughout its body. Gigantic icicles protrude from its back, and its enormous wings look almost like sheets of frozen glass. Wow, you whisper. The dragon lets out a roar, and its breath alone sends frost creeping across the ground. Ready, competitors, the referee asks. Three, two, one.

12:20 BEGIN!

12:20 The ice dragon immediately unleashes a blast of pure cold energy. Magnus doesn't even bother dodging. The blast hits him directly, covering his entire body in a thick layer of ice. MAGNUS! You shout, but then you hear laughter. REALLY? ICE? Magnus' veins begin glowing brighter and brighter. The ice cracks before exploding off of his body. Let me show you some real elemental power. He breathes in deeply and begins absorbing heat from the surrounding area. Strangely, well, for anybody who doesn't know Magnus... The arena becomes even colder. Wait, he's absorbing heat while that thing's already trying to freeze everything?

13:29 The ice dragon spreads its wings and unleashes another blast. This time, the cold expands in every direction. The floor freezes, the walls freeze. Even the ceiling becomes covered in gigantic icicles. And outside the arena's protective force field, you notice something incredible. The spectators are shivering. The Ice Dragon's powers are so intense that even the audience is beginning to freeze. Emergency heaters activate throughout the stadium.

14:12 Then.

14:13 The dragon roars. Hundreds of enormous icicles break away from the ceiling and begin raining down directly towards Magnus. Though, raining down might be the wrong word since they somehow point directly at him, targeting the dragon. He looks up. Oh, that's adorable. Then, His entire body lights up brighter and brighter and brighter until he's surrounded by an enormous sphere of pure sunlight energy, so bright that you can barely look at it without squinting almost entirely. It's like someone has placed a miniature sun directly inside the stadium. Magnus really isn't holding back. The icicles melt before they even reach him. The frozen floor begins turning to water, then steam.

15:20 The audience can feel the heat returning and, well, in fact, they start to get a little bit warm. The emergency heaters switch direction and start pumping cool air in instead. The ice dragon unleashes another tremendous blast of cold, pushing against Magnus' solar energy. For a moment, the two powers seem evenly matched. Then, Magnus grins. You know, I've been practicing my other elements, too. He slams a foot into the ground. Huge vines burst upward, wrapping around the ice dragon's legs and wings. The ice dragon tries to freeze them, but more vines immediately replace the ones that break. Next, Magnus summons enormous pillars of stone, which shoot up around the dragon's legs and solidify, locking it in place. Now,

16:30 how about a little taste of electricity? Storm clouds appear overhead. With booms, gigantic bolts of lightning crash down onto the trapped dragon, one after another. The dragon roars, struggling to escape. Magnus floats higher into the air. His sunlight energy gathers around his chest and pours towards his open mouth. Time to wrap things up. he unleashes a beam of pure heat energy. It crashes into the ice dragon with unbelievable force.

17:19 You almost forgot how powerful Magnus had become. For several seconds, all you can see is brilliant white light. Then, the light disappears, and the ice dragon is... A stream of blue energy flies across the arena and returns to Janvi's card core. First point awarded, the referee announces, and the crowd goes wild. Magnus looks toward you. Well, that was easy.

18:00 Don't get too confident, buddy, you say. but Magnus is already waving at the cameras. Janvi smiles. That was impressive, but let's see how your dragon handles this. Another card appears. This time, the energy forms into a gigantic, nine-tailed fox. Its fur is bright orange with white markings. and its nine enormous tails each have a different color and texture.

18:38 One sparkles like crystals of sugar. Another looks as though it's covered in melted chocolate. Another glows bright red like spicy hot sauce or something. That's a strange creature, you say? Magnus chuckles. The fox?! After that dragon? Come on. The referee raises his hand. Round two, begin. Immediately, one of the fox's tails points toward the ground. A stream of sparkling white sugar shoots out of it, floating through the air directly towards the fox's mouth. The creature opens its mouth and gobbles up the sugar. Then, it disappears.

19:36 What?

19:37 Magnus asks. And with a bam, something hits him from behind. Another whack, another strike connects with his shoulder. Another bam? and the fox appears briefly in front of Magnus, smacks him across the face with one of its tails, and disappears again. It's moving too fast, like the sugar gave him some sort of super speed sugar rush? Ah, yeah, I noticed and I was thinking the same thing. Magnus unleashes a huge blast of sunlight energy, but the fox is already somewhere else. Then another tail raises into the air when it stops for just a moment and a stream of thick, melted chocolate shoots up in the sky straight towards Magnus. Chocolate? Chocolate? Magnus laughs. Seriously? The chocolate splashes across his wings and chest. Magnus lights up his

20:49 body to burn it away. But strangely, it doesn't disappear. His, well, otherwise bright glow starts to get dimmer. and the chocolate starts hardening into a thick shell around his scales. That's annoying, Magnus mutters. He tries to move his wing, but it's becoming stiff. And, stranger than that, Magnus stops moving normally. Ah, kid, what's wrong? I don't Feel very good. You watch as Magnus wobbles. My paws feel funny and I can't really think straight. The fox appears beside him and strikes again.

21:58 Magnus tries to defend himself but his movements are slow and clumsy. Wait a second. You look more carefully at the chocolate. Tiny streams of glowing energy are moving through it towards the fox. It's stealing energy from Magnus. Then you realize what kind of energy. Sugar. It's stealing sugar from his body. Blood sugar.

22:34 Sugar.

22:35 People need that to survive. The magical chocolate is draining Magnus' blood sugar, weakening him from the inside. Magnus tries to summon another blast of solar energy, but only a little tiny puff of light appears. That's not good. He mumbles and then collapses. His body transforms into blue energy and returns to your card core. Second point awarded. The match is tied. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the announcer says.

23:22 I believe Jan V has just used her candy nine-tailed fox's signature move. The sugar rush ends. Followed by sugar steel. Now, if you've never experienced low blood sugar, it's probably difficult to imagine what an incredible effect it can have. But, well, if you know somebody with diabetes, just ask them. It doesn't feel very good. And it also doesn't feel very good that you have to choose one more creature... You consider Dominic, but this fox is also incredibly fast, and its attacks can weaken almost any living creature. Then, an idea pops into your head. If your opponent wants to fight using food, well, why not fight back with food?

24:26 You reach deep into your card core. SEARCHING FOR A CREATURE YOU HAVEN'T SUMMONED IN A VERY LONG TIME. ONE YOU ALMOST FORGOT WAS THERE. ALL RIGHT, YOU WHISPER. THIS MIGHT BE A BIG CHANCE, BUT LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT. YOU SUMMON THE CARD. BLUE ENERGY SHOOTS INTO THE ARENA, SWIRLING TOGETHER INTO AN ENORMOUS FIGURE. A gigantic, round-bellied giant wearing a chef's hat. Food, dude, he says. Which, as far as you know, is the only thing he can say.

25:12 The audience goes completely silent. Then, someone starts laughing. Soon, thousands of spectators are laughing. Janvi looks confused. That's your final creature? You smile. Yep. Food dude. The referee raises his hand. Final round. Begin. The fox immediately unleashes a stream of hardened chocolate. Food dude looks down as it splashes across his enormous belly. The chocolate begins to harden.

25:56 Food Dude looks at it for a moment. Then he opens his mouth. A gigantic sucking force begins pulling the chocolate away from his body. Every last bit of it flies straight into his mouth. He swallows.

26:15 Food Dude.

26:18 You laugh, though you're not entirely sure if, well, it can still absorb his sugar from but hopefully not. The fox growls and unleashes another attack, this time a stream of flying hard candies. Food Dude raises a hand, and suddenly a series of enormous pizzas appear in front of him, each one surrounded by a different elemental power. One catches fire, Another begins crackling with lightning. A third freezes solid. Food Dude sends all three spinning toward the fox. The fox jumps aside as the flaming pizza flies past, then dodges the lightning pizza. But the frozen one explodes beside it, sending enormous chunks of magical ice in every direction. The fox yelps. and jumps backward. It shoots a stream of

27:28 sugar into the air once again, opens its mouth, gobbles it down, and moves faster than anyone can see. Food Dude spreads out both hands. Hundreds of enormous spaghetti noodles start to shoot out of the ground somehow, wrapping themselves in every direction. trying to create a sort of net for the fox. For a moment, the fox gets caught in it, and Food Dude sends a bolt of electricity through every piece of spaghetti. The fox shakes for a minute before disappearing from sight again. It starts racing around the arena, ripping apart the noodles faster than Food Dude can replace them. Then, it begins striking the enormous giant.

28:28 Food Dude stumbles backward. His eyes suddenly glow purple. The fox rushes past, and Food Dude tries to lock eyes with it, but the creature moves too quickly. Again, Food Dude turns, trying to catch its gaze. The fox is already behind him. you suddenly remember something very important about your gigantic food-powered friend. His psychic powers. I almost forgot he can hypnotize creatures. Food Dude's eyes glow brighter as he attempts to focus on the fox, but even though he can sense where it's going, it simply moves too fast for him to hold eye contact long enough. The fox hits him again. sending him staggering across the arena. Food, dude, the giant says, sounding almost confused. The fox races away,

29:33 gobbles down another stream of magical, speed-enhancing sugar, and prepares to attack.

29:40 Again.

29:42 Food Dude instead spreads his enormous arms. This time he doesn't summon one or two foods. He summons hundreds. Gigantic meatballs appear overhead, each one surrounded by crackling lightning. pizzas burst into flame and begin spinning through the air. Enormous frozen vegetables shoot up from the ground while gigantic spaghetti noodles swirl around like enormous little wisps. The food starts circling around Food Dude faster and faster. Before long, the entire arena is filled with, well, an enormous tornado of elemental food. Whoa, you say? The nine-tailed fox tries racing through it, dodging the flaming pizzas and spinning around the meatballs.

30:44 Its sugar rush is still unbelievably powerful, but the tornado keeps expanding. More foods are added, and they spin faster and faster. There's Less and less room, even for a super-speed fox to move around. The fox jumps over a gigantic frozen broccoli, ducks underneath a flaming pizza, narrowly avoids an electrically charged meatball. It lands on the ground, gobbles up another stream of sugar, and shoots forward again. But Food Dude is waiting. He directs the tornado inward, surrounding the fox with hundreds of different attacks all at once, with almost no space between them. And finally, a gigantic lightning-charged meatball crashes into its side. With a boom, electricity sparks in every direction. The fox flies out of the tornado,

31:54 stumbles across the ground... and lands on its back. For just a moment, its nine tails stop moving, and the creature looks up. Food Dude is standing directly in front of it. His eyes begin glowing brilliant purple, and the fox eyes turn purple too. Oh, he got it, you yell, and the crowd goes silent. The fox struggles to stand, trying to activate the sugar rush once again, but the strange purple glow in its eyes begins growing stronger. Its enormous tails slowly settle onto the ground. It blinks, then blinks again. Its eyelids become heavier and heavier. and the fox's head droops. And finally, it curls itself into a little ball, closes its eyes, and falls fast asleep. The magical tornado disappears. All the pizzas, noodles, meatballs, and other

33:18 foods dissolve into energy. And for a second... The arena is completely silent. Then, the nine-tailed fox begins glowing blue. Its body transforms into energy and shoots directly back into Janvi's card core. The referee raises both hands. Second point awarded. Match complete. Ladies, gentlemen, Strange alien creatures, we have our first finalist. The crowd goes absolutely bonkers. You leap into the air cheering as your force field disappears from around you.

34:10 We did it. We actually did it. Food Dude looks towards you.

34:17 Food Dude.

34:19 Yeah, buddy.

34:20 You were amazing. Sorry for keeping you in my core so long. For dude, he says. Which somehow you take to mean that he actually likes being in your core. Probably no surprise that something that large prefers to rest a lot. You recall him into his carred. and recall it to your card core before turning toward Janvi, who's walking across the arena. I have to say, that was pretty incredible. I never thought someone could defeat my fox with a tornado of food, but come to think of it, I guess it sort of makes sense. Fighting fire with fire, or food with food, I should say. Honestly, you respond, neither did I. You shake her hand, wave goodbye to the audience, and head back toward the change rooms. Once inside,

35:28 you summon Magnus. He's back in his little black dragonling form, but he still seems pretty tired. What happened? Well, we won, you say? as you pull a little granola bar out of your back pocket. But I think you might be a little low on the blood sugar. Eat this. Magnus unwraps the bar and shoves it into his mouth, chewing rapidly. Ah, this is wonderful. I've never felt something that actually sends a sort of warm sensation through my entire body. What happened? Well, as far as I can tell, something about the other creature's chocolate absorbed your blood sugar.

36:27 What?

36:28 I didn't even know I had blood sugar. I think we all do, you say. I was defeated by chocolate? And then a giant chef won the tournament? Magnus says. Ah, Well, technically we're not done yet, we still have the finals. Magnus looks up. Oh, well good, because I plan to win that one without any help. You laugh. I hope you do, buddy. Together, you make your way out of the arena, activate your magical wings, and fly high above the alien city. To avoid the huge crowd of reporters waiting outside your hotel, you once again fly straight for the balcony. You land, open the door, and head inside.

37:25 Magnus immediately stretches out on one of the hotel beds. You decide to do the same. You pull the covers back, slip inside the freshly made bed. and then pull the covers up to your chin. You close your eyes, and just begin to focus on your breath. With each breath, you allow your body to relax a little bit more, sinking down deeper and deeper into the mattress. And before long, Your mind wanders off to thoughts of new dreams, new adventures, and new strange magical creatures to come. Good night, everyone.

38:47 Thank you.

39:20 Thank you.

40:44 Thank you.

41:26 Thank you.

42:20 Amen.

43:28 Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you.

48:30 Thank you.

49:27 Thank you.

50:35 Thank you.

51:26 Thank you.

52:08 Thank you. Thank you.

54:59 Thank you.

55:40 Thank you.

56:34 Thank you.

58:33 Thank you. Thank you.