Disclaimer: I do not own Huntik: Secrets and Seekers. It would be nice if I did, but I don't.
Hello and welcome. For those who may have followed me over from one of my other stories, welcome back, and welcome to the world of Huntik. Given the relative lack of Huntik stories on this site, I will conduct a brief explanation of the Huntik universe for anyone who hasn't already seen the show. Anyone familiar with the show can skip the next paragraph.
Okay, Huntik is sort of like a mash-up of Pokemon, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones. Strange, but it works. Very, very, very well. In the Huntik Universe there are certain objects called Amulets. These objects usually take the form of a pendant or ring, although they've been known to come in other forms. Within each Amulet resides a creature known as a Titan. When someone picks up an amulet and successfully bonds with the Titan inside, that person becomes a Seeker. As a Seeker, that person has access to numerous magical abilities, and gains the ability to summon, or Invoke, the Titans within any Amulets they may possess. This is not as easy as it sounds however, as Invoking Titans draws upon the strength of the person invoking them. The stronger the Titan, the harder it is to Invoke it, and the harder it is to keep it invoked. Titans tend to resemble mythological creatures. For example, Medusa, the Golem, and Fenris the Wolf were all Titans. Many famous people throughout history were Seekers. The show specifically states that Joan of Arc, Jason of the Argonauts, and Thor were all in fact seekers. There's a fairly extensive backstory for the show that I won't get into here, but suffice it to say that when they sealed away the ancient evil, they may not have put a strong enough lock on the door.
I'd give a quick overview of the characters, but that would take up too much space, so let's move on to this story. As always, review are welcome. I'm always glad to hear readers' thoughts and, if I have the time, address said thoughts. I think that's everything. Time to roll, or as Dante would put it: "Seekers, we have a mission."
Tristan MacBaen was having a bad day. This was supposed to be a routine mission, and the last one before his teacher set him loose. Instead he'd gotten into a fight over some useless kid who'd had the bad luck to find an Amulet. He'd been walking along the streets of Vancouver when he'd run across three men who'd cornered the kid in an alley way. Normally he'd have stayed out of it, but the bright red robes were not typical of street thugs. No, these were Seekers.
"Give us the Amulet kid, and we'll let you live." One of the robed figures said.
"A-a-a-and what-what if I d-d-d-don't?" The kid stammered out. He looked younger than Tristan, maybe seventeen years old.
"Then we'll have to take it." The man didn't seem at all unhappy about this. "Embrace madness! Harlequin!"
A pink demonic clown appeared. The kid broke down and curled into a ball, muttering "It's all a dream, this is just a dream."
"Dance with the night, Shadow Cat!" Tristan whispered. A black cat the size of a person appeared beside him. Standing on her hind legs, she held a pair of daggers in her clawed hands. "Hide yourself." He whispered. The anthropomorphic cat vanished into the shadows of the alleyway.
"Give us the Amulet, NOW!" The robed man demanded, the pink horror moving forwards.
"Curse my conscience." Tristan muttered. "Leave him alone." He stated in a voice that seemed to echo through the alley. The three robed thugs turned towards him.
"Who are you?" The man demanded, looking the newcomer over. His dark hair was the same color as his clothes, pure black. Despite the warm summer air, he wore an equally black jacket. His eyes were just as dark, and the look in them sent an involuntary chill down the man's spine.
"Doesn't matter. Leave the kid alone."
"No one speaks to the Elementals like that!"
"Elementals? Who are they? You look like Blood Spiral remnants."
"The Blood Spiral is dead! The Elementals promise power!"
Tristan sighed. He'd heard this sort of thing before. "I take it you're going to fight me now?"
"Get him!"
"I thought so. Shadow Cat!" The cat-like form appeared from the shadows and slashed her twin daggers across the demented clown, reducing it to a ball of light which flew back into the amulet it had come from.
"What?" Tristan took advantage of their brief distraction to dive into their midst. A quick elbow to the chest drove one to the ground, gasping for breath. A spinning kick caught the woman in the head, knocking her out instantly. The leader threw a solid punch, but Tristan ducked under it, grabbed the mans wrist, and hit his arm with a series of quick jabs. when he released the arm, it would no longer move. He repeated the process with the man's other arm, finishing it with a blow to the head which knocked the man out cold. A swift kick to the head knocked out the first man he'd hit.
Twelve seconds. Not bad, but still two seconds short of his best time against three opponents. The boy just stared at him.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Teacher is going to call me every kind of idiot in the book when he finds out about this. "What's your name?"
"E-E-Evan. Evan Haley."
"Evan, you'd better come with me. I know a place where we can hide that Amulet." Tristan went to touch the small pendant Evan held in his hands, but was forced to pull his hand back when it shocked him. Hard.
"What's the matter?" Evan asked, regaining his composure.
"It's bonded with you. That makes things more complicated."
"Bonded?"
"Come with me. I'll explain as we go."
"Where?"
"To Mount Saint Helens."
Cecilia Lambert-Casterwill was having a bad day. Go to Mount Saint Helens. Retrieve the Titans from the volcano. Preferably without setting it off in the process. A simple mission. But now her brother Adrian was late and these idiots wanted to go in too. She was getting angry, and she was not known for handling her anger well.
"Let us through!" The lead woman commanded.
"Please, let us pass, or we shall have to use force." The man beside her said.
"You are still soft Edward." The woman said.
"Master Kiel told us to keep a low profile, Mistress Ivain."
"Well you're not passing and I don't care if you use force. Bring it on!" There were only five of them. They barely even outnumbered her.
"As you wish." The man reached into his sleeve and pulled out an amulet. "War Smith!" He shouted. An armored man with a flaming beard appeared, wielding a hammer in each hand.
"Good!" The woman smiled a predatory smile. "Pyrothon!" A snake made of fire appeared before her. It uncoiled and reared up, its head five feet off the ground.
"Redcap!"
"Mind Drone!"
"Marauder!"
A grey skinned beast with vicious claws, an insectile creature with giant eyeball for a head, and an armored figure with blades attached to its forearms joined the other creatures.
Cecilia grinned. This was going to be fun. She reached into the pouch at her belt and pulled out three amulets.
"Freelancer, Iron Squire, Titania, fight with me!"
Two soldiers, both of whom carried a shields and one who carried a lance appeared before Cecilia, but the Titan that truly commanded attention was the one in the middle. Like some Amazon warrior, but made of living steel, the Titan towered over the battlefield, a javelin in each hand.
"Impressive." The man named Edward said. "But how long can you keep three titans invoked?"
"Let's find out." Cecilia said, a feral smile upon her lips.
"So there's a secret world of magic, monsters, and artifacts?" Evan asked.
"Yep."
"And now I'm part of it."
"Yep."
"Because some stupid amulet decided it liked me."
"Yep."
"This sucks."
"Yep."
"Is that all you're going to say?"
"No, but you're just restating the obvious."
"I-"
"Look kid, this isn't a game. This is the real thing. And now you can't escape it. It sucks, I know."
"Kid?" Evan bristled, his short sandy blonde hair trembling as he shook with pent up emotion. "I'm not a kid! And you're not that much older than me!"
"If you're as old as I think you are, I'm four years older than you, and I have not had an easy life. I grew up an orphan, and for the last twelve years, this has been my life. Compared to me, you are a kid."
"Well I- What's that up ahead?"
"Sounds like a fight."
The two crept up to a ridge that lay within sight of the volcano's base. Peering over, Tristan saw quite the battle going on. One girl, her long, bright red hair streaming in the wind, facing off against five of those robed creeps from before. She had three Titans fighting with her, against five from the other side, but even at those odds, she clearly held the upper hand.
She spun through them, feet lashing out in a beautiful split kick to catch two of them in the chest. They went down and didn't get back up. The battle between the Titans was going well too for her. The Iron Squire and Freelancer had tag teamed the Marauder, crushing it between their shields before splitting up to fight the Mind Drone and Redcap one on one. The metal warrior was giving a virtuoso display of skill and speed, much like her seeker. She danced between the snake and smith, battering at both.
"She's amazing!" Evan remarked.
A knee to the chin brought down a third robed figure to the ground, and the Mind Drone and Redcap were soon nothing more than balls of light, returning to the amulets from whence they came. The battle seemed to pause for a second as the two sides squared off again.
Tristan shook his head. "She's a fool. This is a trap."
"Ready to give up yet?" Cecilia's smile had become a full fledged grin. Her hair was tangled, she had dirt all over her clothes, and she was having the time of her life. Her three Titans stood beside her, facing down her enemies.
"Very good Cecilia Casterwill." The man named Edward said. "The rumors of your skill did not do you justice."
"I go by Lambert." Cecilia scowled.
"Ever your father's daughter I see."
"Leave now or you'll find out just how much my father and I have in common."
"We already know." Ivain said. "You're both easy to fool! Elementals!"
Ten more robed minions appeared from various hiding places.
"Salamandros!"
"Pyronite!"
A pair of fire breathing lizards and a creature made of flaming iron rods appeared.
"Attack!"
"Fireswarm!"
"Flamestrike!"
Jets of fire and dark embers bored down upon Cecilia.
"Armorbrand!" She shouted, raising a forcefield around herself. Freelancer and Iron Squire did their best to hide behind their shields, but the barrage was relentless.
"Titantia, Javelin Throw!"
The metal warrior threw her javelins at the two lizards, completely impaling them and returning them to their amulets, but leaving Titania utterly defenseless.
"Ender Flame!" Ivain yelled, a powerful jet of flame shooting from her hands and annihilating the unarmed titan. Freelancer and Iron Squire both joined Titania as their shields finally gave out. Cecilia fell to her knees, gasping for breath as she struggled to maintain her shield.
"Null Curse!"
A ball of black and red energy slammed into the shield, utterly shattering it. Cecilia was tossed backwards where she lay moaning.
"You four!" Ivain commanded. "Keep an eye on her. We're going to take her back to Master Kiel in person."
"Our mission is to retrieve the Titans." Edwards said.
"No reason we can't bring Miss Casterwill here as a present for Master Kiel. After all, he still has a score to settle with her parents." Ivain turned to the open end of the lava tube Cecilia had been guarding. "The rezt of you come with me. We're going to find those amulets."
"We have to help her!" Evan said.
"Why am I cursed with a conscience?" Tristan muttered. "Time for your first lesson." He turned to Evan. "You're going to invoke your first titan."
"What? How?"
"Focus on the amulet, and your bond with the titan within. Ask for its help."
"I- I'll try." Evan scrunched up his face, peering at the amulet in his hands. "Its name is... Lightning Ant?"
"Strange name for a titan, but whatever. Invoke it."
"Swarm! Lightning Ant!"
A small creature burst from the amulet in a blast of light, coalescing in front of Evan. It was maybe the size of cat, and it appeared to be made of thin metal rods held together in the shape of an ant by arcs of electricity.
"Good. It's not much, but it'll help." Tristan pulled an amulet from inside his jacket. "Forest Ranger!"
A human like figure clad in a blend of browns and greens formed in front of them. He held a bow in his left hand and a quiver of arrows hung from his back.
"Let's do this." Tristan said.
A/N: So, that was the first chapter of my new series. Right now, I expect five "books" to come out of this, so this is going to take a while. And now for the Holotome segement!
The Holotome segment is going to be a fairly regular feature, giving some information about each new Titan I introduce, and if there's something else I feel ought to be explained, that will go here too. So, without further ado, I give you the Holotome!
-Shadow Cat. Attack: 2. Defense: 1. Type: Gaia-Titan scout. Size: Average. Special ability: Shadow Blend. Seeker: Tristan MacBaen. Possibly the simplest Titan introduced here, Shadow Cat is basically Catwoman from the Batman series taken a bit too literally and armed with a pair of daggers. Her Shadow Blend ability allows her to literally become part of a shadow. She's not very strong fighter, relying on stealth and surprise to get the job done.
-War Smith. Attack: 3. Defense: 4. Type: Draco-Titan warrior. Size: Average. Special ability: Flame Immunity. Seeker: Edward Ralon. War Smith is a beast of a Titan, built around smashing the enemy until something gives. While not the brightest fighter, War Smith's durability and perseverance allow it to keep going long after most Titans would have called it quits.
-Pyrothon. Attack: 4. Defense: 2. Type: Meso-Titan warrior. Size: Large. Seeker: Ivain Lewis. Pyrothon is exactly what you'd think it is, a python made of fire. There's not much else to say about it actually, so let's move on.
-Titania. Attack: 6. Defense: 4. Type: Draco-Titan warrior. Size: Average. Special ability: Dual Wielder. Seeker: Cecilia Lambert-Casterwill. Titania is living statue made of solid steel. Despite her weight, she is astoundingly agile, and is capable of holding her own with even the most powerful of titans. A close relative of Dante's famous Caliban, Titania has a more European look to her armored body, and is Cecilia's signature Titan.
-Salamandros. Attack: 3. Defense: 1. Type: Litho-Titan sorcerer. Size: Small. Special ability: Flame Breath. Seeker: Generic Titan among the Elementals, issued to low level recruits. Salamandros is a fire breathing lizard the roughly the same height and length as a medium sized dog. Capable of spewing fire from its mouth, this small beast packs some serious firepower. (I apologize for the stupid pun. I couldn't help myself.)
-Pyronite. Attack: 2. Defense: 3. Type: Meso-Titan warrior. Size: Large. Seeker: Generic Titan among the Elementals, issued to low level recruits. Pyronite can be best described as a shambling pile of metal and fire. It's very durable, but its clumsiness impedes its offensive abilities.
-Lightning Ant. Attack: 1. Defense: 1. Type: Swara-Titan warrior. Size: Small. Special ability: Lightning shot. Seeker: Evan Haley. Lightning ant is a small and relatively weak titan, whose only redeeming feature is its ability to fire small bolts of electricity at its enemies, which most titans can shrug off fairly easily. Overall, a very weak Titan.
-Forest Ranger. Attack: 4. Defense: 3. Type: Gaia-Titan warrior. Size: Average. Special ability: Sharpshooter. Seeker: Tristan MacBaen. Forest Ranger is Robin Hood. I think that's really all that needs to be said.
This ends the Holotome segment. I hope you liked this chapter and I plan to have more soon. See everyone next time.