Chapter 1: Magic? Only in Cards!
"I don't know how long I've been here, but I do know that this place is, in a weird way, hostile. If you are reading this, it means my message got to civilization safely. What I'm about to tell you is the truth, as much as I wish that I could have made it up. This island is full of things you wouldn't believe, and the inhabitants...well, I don't know what to say about them. It all started on a cruise ship to Hawaii from the mainland…"
Darkness…
That's all there is. Nothing is around to light it up.
I can't see.
I can't hear.
Just...nothing.
…
…
"Boy…"
...What?
"...Boy…"
...Who's there?
A glow shows a female figure, feathered wings spread completely, standing in front of me. She wore a hooded coat that seemed to connect to different snake-like tassels toward her waist.
"You need to save them," she spoke quietly.
Save who?
"Beware the creatures of the island."
What do you mean?
"You aren't defenseless. You have all you need with you."
What are you talking about?! Who are you?!
"...It's time for you to wake up."
Ow...my head. Who hit me? And for that matter...where am I? These were just some of the questions floating in his head as he slowly regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes, he immediately closed them as a bright light practically stabbed through his eyelids. He tried opening them again, though slower to let his eyes adjust. The first sight to greet him was a sandy expanse leading to a forest in front of him and to an ocean behind him.
Memory check: my name is Cameron, I live in the outskirts of Seattle, I'm 17, and I'm a big sucker for video games and anime. Yep I remember everything. He looked down to check his body for injuries. His green t-shirt with a 1-up mushroom had no signs of damage, nor did his stomach or chest. His dark blue jeans showed some wear-and-tear damage along the knees, but were still wearable. The white Skechers he wore were covered in dirt, but otherwise alright.
After blowing the sand off his glasses, he slowly stood up, bracing himself for the slight head-rush that lasted about 10 seconds.
So what do I remember happening? I was on a cruise with my sister, my parents, and my cousins, the ship was passing by some islands when...some kind of alarm went off...then I got nothing...
Try as he might, Cameron couldn't remember what happened after the alarm went off. He eventually decided to put it at the back of his mind and came up with some form of a plan.
Ok, main priority, find my family, find anyone else from the ship then find a way off the island. Okay, now what all do I have with me? He felt around in his pockets. I have my phone (which surprisingly still works but has no service right now…), my wallet, my MP3 player (also in working condition somehow).
He looked around the beach and saw a camouflage colored backpack not five feet away from him. Crawling up to it, he unzipped the largest pocket, finding three boxes with varying designs on them that looked related. Wait a sec, how are my Magic cards here? His arm reached in and pulled out a purple deckbox with a goblin creature on it. Inside were two custom-made decks of 60 Magic Cards that he collected over the years. Another box was a slightly bigger, yellow, leather bound box of 100 cards from varying sets. The third was a longer purple themed box that depicted a woman in a purple gown, eyes and body glowing with power. Well then...I don't know why that's still here, but if I find anybody else here, I might be able to keep myself occupied by teaching them how to play...but that's only if I find anybody.
The feeling of metal against his skin prompted him to reach under his shirt and pull out the necklace he wore. A silver medallion depicting a male figure with wings and a spear stabbing down at a snake-like monster stared back. Inscribed around the picture was sentence calling the angelic figure by name, "Saint Michael, Pray For Us". Next to that medallion was another, this one depicting a woman in robes and a veil with a shine behind her head. It said nothing, but being a Catholic, he knew this one was the Virgin Mary.
After taking one more look around the beach, he decided that the only way to go was into the forest. My best guess is that whatever happened to the ship wasn't natural. Therefore, the best option is that someone made the ship crash and I might be the only survivor. But was it an inside job? Or was somebody hacking the ship's system to make it crash into a reef or some rocks? And better yet, why kill so many people and leave any survivors stranded on an island?
And so he tucked his necklace back into his shirt and walked. I have a really bad feeling about this.
"Is that all of them?" A harsh, female voice yelled as her servants dragged their findings into a pile of various knick-knacks and clothing. One of the servants looked at the small bundle of survivors they had taken as prisoners from the wreck.
"Yes, my lady," a sharp-toothed humanoid creature with rotting skin answered. "These were the survivors from the wreckage. Once again, your power has drawn in quite a crowd."
The female voice was attached to a figure shrouded in shadows, the only details standing out being her blood red eyes and a black and red armored hand that held a glass of a red liquid, though whether it was blood or wine was anyone's guess. She smirked, showing off her own sharp, white teeth. "And I can already see many that I will enjoy. Count all of the men and separate them from the women." The servant nodded before roughly pushing the women away from the men. After counting them, the servant came back with his report.
"We have 30 men and and 28 women, not counting any of the little ones. There are a total of 13 little males and females."
"Leave them to fend for themselves on the island," she replied simply before chuckling. "I'm sure there are many others that would love some human children." The children in question, most of them ranging from 7-13 years old with a couple of 14 year olds and five year olds here and there, were all hugging each other in fear. One of the other servants ushered the children into another corner of the small cave-like prison before stopping over one girl.
The 12 year old had her brown hair in a braid that went down to her waist, messed up slightly from the crash. Her green eyes were wide with fear as the ghoulish servant sniffed her pink and white striped shirt before glaring. He shook his head and walked back to his master, making the girl sigh in relief. Big bro, she thought desperately, wherever you are, I hope you're safe and find us. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the female voice bark out orders again.
"Now then," she began, glaring impassively at a group of zombies. "I want you five to go back to the wreckage to see if there are any bodies left. Whatever is found on the bodies is up for grabs." She directed that same look to another group, only this was a group of ghosts, "Take the children and spread them around the island. I don't care where you drop them, just as long as they're out of here." One of her ghouls approached her before she could finish giving her orders. "What do you want?"
"I think we're missing one," the ghoulish servant rasped.
The red-eyed glare intensified. "Do you want to repeat that? I don't think I heard you right."
"There may be one more from the wreckage that we missed during our raid on-"
The sound of glass breaking echoed through the cave. "WHAT?!"
The ghoul ducked his head in terror. "Forgive me, my lady!" he begged fearfully. "We didn't notice it until one of the others sniffed this girl. If this one has the scent of another on her, then the one we missed is still alive. They must have been separated from the rest of the survivors. Or they may have washed up somewhere else on the island."
The female figure relaxed slightly before giving her response. "In that case," she began calmly, "I can be merciful this time."
The servant bowed gratefully. "Oh thank you, my lad-GAK!" His gratitude was interrupted by the black armored hand grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air.
"You know I don't tolerate failure. My mercy goes as far as making your death quick and painless." She tightened her grip, completely snapping his neck. The figure turned to one more monster. "If one gets away, then they all have a chance of escaping the island, which is what we want to avoid! Am I clear?"
The other monster nodded before smirking. "I'll find him the best way I know how," it replied almost viciously. With that, it stalked off to begin its hunt.
The female figure turned to the rest of her prisoners, more specifically, the men. "Now then, who shall be my first of the day?" she asked with lustful smirk.
Cameron didn't know how long he'd been walking. All he knew was that his feet hurt and he was hungry. He stopped at a nearby fallen log to sit down and rest his feet for a few minutes before looking for a town of some sort on the island. He sighed in relief as the weight went off of his feet. I wonder if any of my cards are still in good condition. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the purple deckbox and opened it, taking out the deck that was behind the separator first.
The face of a man in a blue hood with blue markings on his face greeted him. The man was holding a book in one arm while in the other hand was a blue ball of light, giving the card a somewhat eerie appearance. This card was known as Jace, Unraveler of Secrets. Behind that card was another like it in appearance, but white and depicting another man. This man had long brown hair going down to his back and long sideburns the nearly met at his chin. He wore a silver torso armor plate and gold gauntlets on his arms, the one on his left arm extended into a thick, bladelike shield. The scarf he wore around his neck was barely visible underneath his armor, and his face spoke grim determination to take down all enemies. This card was Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
Cameron smiled at the cards for a minute before looking through the rest of his deck. The cards in it consisted of counter spells, enchantments, and a few creatures, the foremost being the most abundant. This is what one could expect in a control deck. They looked to be in the same condition as when he got on the cruise, which surprised him, since he was expecting some kind of water damage. This only raised more questions as to how things happened when the crash happened.
He shook his head and placed the Blue/White deck back in the box before pulling out another deck, this one in black sleeves. At the top of the deck was another card in a similar style to Jace and Gideon. This card was gold bordered with red on the left side of the border and green on the right. The picture depicted a woman with her brown hair tied into a low ponytail hanging over her shoulder. She wore some kind of leather armored fur dress that hung mostly in the back and had one sleeve going down her left arm. Her right forearm and both of her calves had straps wrapped around them and her nails were extremely sharp. On her face, her smirk was one that promised pain; a lot of pain. This card was Arlinn Kord, from one of the more recent sets. Behind her card was an aggressive deck built around land entering the battlefield to give creatures a boost. The Red/Green deck had been one of his favorites and he loved every card he put into it.
After making sure no water had gotten into the sleeves, he put the deck back in the box. Though he could've sworn he saw his three Planeswalkers wink at him as he did. As he put the box in his pocket, his thoughts drifted.
Who was that I heard in my dream? I know I've seen her somewhere before, but where? And for that matter, what did she mean when she said I had all I needed to defend myself here?
With these thoughts, he drifted off to sleep.
He was woken up when the tail end of a noise reached his ears. The sun was just setting and twilight was setting in, giving the forest an almost eery, yet calming atmosphere. Looking around, he was about to shrug it off before he heard it again, only this time, it was a little louder. It sounded like a panicked...moan?
What is that? Is that someone in trouble...or is someone going at it? He listened for it again and began to follow it, against his better judgement. If there was one thing that was true, it was that his curiosity was currently outweighing his fear of the unknown. Though in this case, it wasn't a good idea. The sounds got louder as he continued to walk, while his mind tried to figure out what the sounds could be. A sweet smell entered his nose and his mind began to get hazy. He didn't know what it was, but it smelled like honey and it made him smile.
He got his answer when he saw what looked to be a girl in a bee costume making out with another girl, this one standing in a flower covered in green foliage from her hair to her skin. But they weren't just kissing, no, they were groping each other as if one touch would make them forget the other, and centering most of their touches on three spots in particular. If your mind was in the gutter, you were correct.
Holy crap, what am I even seeing?! He was rooted in place in shock. Never had he seen this level of...affection...between two people before (and hearing it was bad enough when it came to how often his friends did it).
Vibration in his pocket caught his attention as he fished out his phone, raising an eyebrow at the page pulled up. It looked to be some form of pokedex on the beings in front of him, complete with pictures and descriptions.
Alraune: A plant type monster with the form of a beautiful woman covered in enormous flower petals that inhabits forests. Normally, they don't move around very much. They're always releasing sweet fragrances that attract human men, and they wait for their prey. This fragrance is released from their bodily fluids, and the fluid is called "Alraune Nectar". It acts as a powerful aphrodisiac and stamina enhancer.
Honey Bee: Bug type monsters that make an enormous hive centered around a queen bee. The honey bees whose role it is to gather nectar from flowers and Alraune are called worker bees. Other than looking for food, if the queen bee doesn't have a husband, they also have a duty to look for a human man to become the queen's husband. When they spot a valuable man, they fly at him and have sex with him to check whether or not he'd be a suitable husband for the queen.
Cameron looked between the two girls in front of him and his phone's monster pokedex. I think I've seen these somewhere before...at the very least, the artwork looks familiar. Eventually, the shock wore off, and he slowly started backing away from the two girls, intending to leave like he was never there.
SNAP!
The resulting sound of Cameron stepping on a twig made the girls stop their make out session, and look in his direction. The only thing that went through his mind was the one thing he said out loud.
"Okay, so...I'm gonna back away slowly and come back when there's less weird shit."
"Oh this really is my day," the bee girl giggled. "Not only do I get some much needed Alraune nectar, but also a new mate for the queen."
Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Uh, are you alright there?" I really don't want to be abducted by crazy monsters.
"Oh I'll feel much better once I've brought you to the hive."
Oh triple shit, time to RUN! Taking his own advice, he turned around and sped off, hoping to get as far away as he could from the hormone driven women. Not two minutes later, he heard a buzzing noise behind him. The kind of buzzing you usually hear from a big bug with wings. Risking a glance behind him, Cameron immediately turned his head back and began running faster. The bee girl was flying, not running, after him! He didn't know how she was doing it, as those wings really shouldn't have been able to support her weight, but she was flying. And gaining ground quickly.
He suddenly felt the urge to make a sharp turn to the right and did so, just barely avoiding the nectar covered hands of the bee girl.
"Oooh, this'll be so much fun! I can't wait to test you out for the queen!"
Not good, not good, NOT GOOD! He continued to run as the bee girl began to gain ground again. The trees became larger and thicker the further he went, but with each turn, he was half a second away from being grabbed by the bee girl.
THUD!
An impact on something furry sent Cameron back to the ground, spilling a few of his cards out of his backpack. As he shook his head to regain his bearings, he noticed the buzzing that was following him had stopped and was replaced by what sounded like a deep, female growling noise.
"Who just slammed into me?" the wall-like woman asked tiredly. She wore what looked like a brown, sleeveless, furry leotard with a small puff at the...posterior. On her limbs were gloves/shoes that looked like bear paws, one of which was covered in honey. To top it off, she had a pair of bear ears on her head.
Cameron's phone vibrated again, causing him to fish it out once again.
Grizzly: A type of beastman with the characteristics of a bear. They are normally dopey, but when it comes to attacking human men, they are dangerous monsters that exhibit freakish strength. Their favorite food is Alraune Nectar, especially the sweet honey it becomes after being processed by Honey Bees. They frequently attack Alraune and Honey Bees to lick this honey, all while getting their faces and paws covered in the sticky honey.
Once she saw the teen boy, she smiled dopily and brought the honey covered paw to her mouth. "I didn't think there'd be a man here, much less a human one."
What is with the girls in animal costumes? "Sorry for bumping into you," Cameron apologized quickly before standing back up. "But I'm on the run from a crazy bee girl trying to jump my bones!" He was about to start running again when a sharp tug on his shirt sent him back to the ground. Looking at the bear girl's face sent more shivers down his spine. The smile was more ferocious and lustful.
"Oh it's not the Honeybee you need to worry about, little boy…" the bear girl giggled pinning him to the ground with her clean paw. It was here that he realized that they weren't just costumes. The strength used to pin him down was practically otherworldly, and the claws were poking through his shirt, nearly breaking the skin. She raised her honey covered paw like she was about to hit him. He curled up and waited for the hit.
And waited.
And waited.
Why haven't I been hit yet? He was about to open his eyes when a loud roar broke through the air. Immediately, the weight pinning him down was off of him as the sound of something growling was heard in front of him. The girls both backed up in fear, if their gasping was anything to go by. He slowly opened his eyes, only to gape in shock at what was in front of him.
The only thing that even closely resembled a normal animal that he's seen stood, ready to pounce. The large animal was a leopard with two large fangs similar to a sabre-toothed tiger, large, curved blades on its front legs, extremely sharp claws, and two yellow, angry eyes that bored into the bear-girl.
Wait, huh? Cameron thought. I know what I'm seeing, and I don't want to believe it, but since the girls both backed off, I can definitely say that I'm looking at a Scythe Leopard. But where did it come from? Something on the ground caught his attention. One of his spilled cards showed the stats of the creature in front of him, but the picture that had it was missing the actual creature. He connected the dots quickly, coming up with an idea.
Well, I have nothing else to lose, so I guess it's time to duel. Cameron quickly picked up his cards, then took out the rest of his Red/Green deck, placing it in front of him and to his right. He drew seven cards and shifted to a sitting position, looking to his opponent. "Your move, Care-Bear."
Red eyes looked up from their victim in shock. Something was using magic, and it wasn't a monster. She didn't know what was tapping into the mana of the island, but she had a feeling that it wasn't good for her.
"Send for my assistant," she ordered one of her new minions. "Someone's dabbling in arts they know nothing of."
"Of course, my lady," the new incubus bowed and left.
Whoever you are, she thought maliciously, I hope you put up a decent fight if you can use Magic. That will make my victory all the more sweeter.
The bear girl stuttered in confusion. "How? How do you have a summons contract? How can you use it?"
"Shut up and duel! Unless you're just a scrub!" That got her attention.
She growled and ran forward. Immediately, the Scythe Leopard leapt to defend him. It tackled the bear girl to the ground, then disappeared in a glass shattering effect. Damn, that must mean that he's blocked and went to the graveyard. He looked at the card again, and the cat was back in the picture. He placed the card behind the deck face up and began his turn.
"I place a forest down, then tap two to play Snapping Gnarlid!" Cameron placed the card down, and in a flash of light, the beast took its place in front of me. It looked like a horned mixture of a bear cub and a badger. But it looked no less dangerous. "I'll end my turn here."
The bear girl growled again. "Honey bee, help me."
The bee girl looked at the bear girl and back at the animal in front of them. I probably shouldn't. This is more suited for one of those hornets. At the same time though... She figured that she might as well, if the young man was putting up this much of a fight. Then when it's over, I'll bring him back to the hive. The queen will be so pleased with me! She nodded and took a position next to the grizzly. If they attacked together, then they could try to do more damage to knock him out.
The nodded and attacked together, making the Gnarlid tense in anticipation.
"I'll soak the damage," Cameron said. The two monsters landed their blows, causing a life meter to appear over Cameron's head. It counted down from 20 until it stopped at 16. Okay, if I had to make an estimate, Cameron strategized, Bee-chick is probably a 1/1 or a 1/2, while Care Bear is more likely a 3/5 at the most. Either way, I need more creatures to block them should they attack together again.
He looked at his hand, then drew a card, bringing his hand back up to seven cards. "I'll place a Mountain," a small, glowing pile of rocks jutted from the ground next to him as he did this, "then I'll play Valakut Predator." In a flash of red light, a four-legged beast of molten rocks and fire appeared next to the Gnarlid. "And because I played a land card this turn, my Gnarlid is a bit stronger until the end of my turn. Speaking of, Snapping Gnarlid, attack the Care Bear now!" The beefed up beast snarled and leapt, slashing at the bear-girl across the stomach. The Grizzly flinched, then lashed out with a few slashes of her own, making the beast disappear in a glass shattering effect.
Any wound the Grizzly might have sustained disappeared when the Gnarlid shattered. However, she still brought a hand to her stomach as it still ached.
Cameron noticed this and glanced at his hand, seeing one card that could immediately end the fight. The problem was, if he played it, he couldn't ensure they'd survive. As much as he didn't like the girls for trying to rape him, he wasn't trying to kill them.
"I'll ask you only once," he pleaded seriously. "Leave now, and I won't hurt you anymore. If you continue to attack me, you will not like the end result."
The two looked torn. They knew he wasn't kidding when he said they wouldn't like the results. He'd proven himself capable of defending himself from two monsters with summons. But at the same time, they knew if he was strong now, his offspring would be enhanced by the monsters' magic. The thought sent shivers down their spines. But was it really worth it for them?
"Fine," the Honey Bee sighed, dropping to the ground. "I give up. I won't take you to the queen."
The Grizzly looked in shock at the bee girl's actions before thinking it through some more. The more she did, the more certain she was in the fact that it wasn't worth the risk. "You're strong, boy. I don't know how you got this strong, but I know I can't win. I'm done."
In a flash of light, the Valakut Predator was gone, and Cameron sighed, picking up his cards. "If you had chosen to continue fighting, I would've had to play a board wipe."
"A board wipe?" the Honey Bee asked.
Cameron nodded. "Rolling Thunder. If I had placed down another mountain, I probably would've had just enough mana to play it."
"What does it do?"
"At the cost of two red mana and X, Rolling Thunder deals X damage divided as I choose between target creatures and/or players."
"What do mean by 'X'?"
"I mean that depending on how much mana I pay, that's how much damage I deal. Anywhere amount as low as one, and as high as…" He looked through the deck, muttering to himself. "25 damage. After seeing what a 3/3 could do, I doubt the place would've been in as good a shape as it is now." The two girls shivered. "But maybe there's something you can help me with. I'm looking for any other humans that may have been washed up on the island. We were all on a cruise to Hawaii when some alarm went off, and the boat crashed. Next thing I know, I'm waking up on the beach with my cards and my phone."
The girls looked at each other in thought. The Honey Bee spoke up first. "I saw something moving around my hive earlier while I was heading out for more nectar. I didn't get a good look at it, but while I was leaving I thought I heard something crying. I didn't have time to check it out because I was on orders, but I'll be looking for it when I get back to my hive."
"Probably a good idea," Cameron replied, before looking at the Grizzly. "What about you?
The Grizzly shook her head. "I haven't seen anything around here or my cave."
"Damn...Oh well. I'm going to be walking around the island looking for a way off that doesn't involve me becoming somebody's lover/toy/food, as well as any other humans to accompany me off the island. If you see anything, be it a human, or something carrying a human, find me and let me know. In fact," He began fishing around his backpack of cards for something. After a few minutes, he pulled out two cards that looked almost identical. "Use these cards to send a message to me. From what I've seen, they go back to their cards when their job is complete or they die."
"What are these?" the bee girl asked. The card depicted a bird with pink and orange wings and a set of long, almost rainbow-like tail feathers.
"It's a Bird of Paradise card. Summon that and write a note to let me know if you find anything. It's a flyer so it should get to me pretty quickly." The two monster girls nodded before going their separate ways, leaving Cameron alone. Only one common thought went through his head, among all of the questions in there.
What the hell just happened?
A/N: So, a few creative liberties were taken, but most of the monsters in here will be based off of the MGE universe. However, they will always be completely driven by lust as the normal universe would depict. As for where/when this takes place, it will be hinted at in the next chapter. In terms of updates...don't expect too much on this front.