Knightfall
By 7th Librarian
Chapter 2: All The World's A Dueling Stage
"So lemme get this straight." Despite Nebraska having been long settled by the time the 'Old West' had come into existence, Gritzoban Bulbourus had never lost the accent or affectations that had become stereotypical of the era. A custom cowboy hat was perched on the dwarf's head and as he leaned back in his chair, spurs clinked as he rested his boots atop the desk. "We've got some kind of ancient knight proclaiming this town the site of his last crusade in of the name his gods, some mealy-mouthed card-sharks suddenly becoming the dang-blasted Delta Force for the guy and they have untraceable means of magically escaping us."
"That about sums it up." Rayearth was seated on the other side of the desk, a cigarette dangling from a corner of her mouth.
"Well, shee-oot." Gritzoban tugged at the brim of his hat in a resigned fashion. "And here I was a-hopin' we'd at least make the decade 'fore this kind of horse pockey happened."
"It could have been worse. From the impressions we gathered from our fight and Maria's duel, I have a feeling that Skeleton Knight isn't in any shape to actually wage an open fight with us. His 'crusade' will probably be nothing more than hit-and-run strikes and we've dealt with plenty of those before." Rayearth breathed out a wisp of smoke. "Once we learn his pattern and his ideal targets, baiting him will be easy."
"You both seemed to be taking this rather lightly. A rather powerful magical being just declared war on us." The third person in the room was a tall, bear of a man in a policeman's uniform. His long mustache twitched as he spoke. "And his Crusaders are a match for our Shadowchasers, never mind my police. We're not going to stop him."
"Derrik, you're recently new here and while I admire your record as a police chief and your ready acceptance of Awareness despite the shock, I'd like ta level with you." Gritzoban focused the chief with a lazy stare. "Backwater has been invaded more times in its history than I can remember since I've been the mayor. And since that's been since the town was just my sod house in a hill, it's been a darn long time."
The mayor readjusted his position and crossed his legs. "We've been hit with everything from minotaurs to demons to elves to zombies to the Sons of Tyranny and we're still here. Heck, that big invasion during the Civil War involved a couple of dragons, some giants and even an ent. Damn near wrecked the place, but I'd be lyin' if I didn't say that it was blasted fun punching a giant in the male pride."
"What our mayor is trying to say, Derrik, is that its best to keep in mind that everyone is far from helpless. We're a city of Shadowkind and Aware, magic and technology. Skeleton Knight is a threat, yes, but he is not something we have not dealt with before." Rayearth informed the Aware around her cigarette. "Many of your policemen have been so for longer than you've been alive."
Derrik let out a breath, making his mustache flutter. "I suppose you are right. If I can accept magic, then I must accept my perspective on things must change as well. I just don't think we should underestimate this Skeleton Knight. From the sounds of it, he's got nothing left to lose and the only thing more dangerous than someone like that is someone like that with a cause."
"Good words, Chief." The dwarf nodded approvingly. "That's part of why I brought you in – this town is old, and we're kind of set in our ways. Fresh blood keeps us from getting soft and yellow-bellied. If you think me or the lady here aren't doing our jobs right or with the seriousness we ought ta have, you come right out and tell us however you think you need to get the point across."
If the human was surprised by the open candor his instructions allowed him, he didn't show it. "Thank you, Mayor. I'll keep that in mind." Rising, he grabbed his hat from his lap and put it on. "I should return to the wreckage of the warehouse. We should have found something by now."
"Keep us in the know, Chief." Griztoban watched him leave. "The youngster is still a bit straight-laced and uptight, ain't he?"
"He's only been an Aware for a few months. I am surprised that he's taken everything so far as well as he has. Very resilient." Rayearth paused a moment to puff on her smoke and then tap the ash away. "He will need it in the coming days."
"Eh? You think this Skeleton Knight character is going to do more than rough us up?" The dwarf asked casually, opening the top drawer of his desk and producing a bottle of brandy.
"Perhaps...as Derrik said, Skeleton Knight has nothing left to lose and a cause that drives him. A dangerous combination." The Incantifer watched the mayor down a third of the bottle in one go.
"Reasonable enough. I ain't gonna lie that most of our big troublemakers have been of that sort." Gritzoban passed the bottle over to his guest. "We've always come out on top before, though. Even if it has been by the skin of our teeth."
"Just because we've never lost before doesn't mean we can't." Rayearth plucked her cigarette free to take a pull from the bottle. "Experience is no defense against bad luck."
"I know, I know. We're both getting on in years and it ain't exactly like in the old days where we could just blast our problems away. All we need is one guy to screw-up and a cell phone and the whole damned masquerade comes down." He took the bottle back for another drink. "But at the same time, we're better off than we've ever been. It ain't no longer just you and me keepin' the peace and being judge and executioner no more. And given how we're still here today, I say we counter bad luck with our good."
"Not many have been as lucky as we, Gritzoban. Shadowchasers may live longer today, but more still perish in the fight than live to retire like you did." Rayearth puffed out a ring of smoke and they both watched it float up before dispersing.
"I know." The dwarf pulled out a second bottle of brandy and slid it over to her, raising his own bottle in a toast. "To our absent friends. May they rest in peace."
"And may our peace here stay at rest." Rayearth returned the gesture and they both drank.
TTTTTT
"Well? What's taking so long?" Tsubasa hovered anxiously in the Shadowchaser's garage, rocking this way and that to peer over Rave's green-and-pink haired head as she inspected his D-Wheel. "Can you fix it or not?"
"Fix it? Tsubasa, you used it to ram a demon knight and block his sword." Rave had her hands inside the gash from said sword slash in the vehicle's frame, the grease on her face and clothing indicating that she had been at it awhile. "There is no 'fixing it'. We're going to scrap it."
"What? Again!?" Tsubasa waved his arms in frustration. "Then why have you spent the last thirty minutes working on it!?
"That's because while the bike frame itself is trashed, the guts are still mostly in one piece. Like the duel computer core and the gemstone power core. Speaking of which..." Rave grunted and metal inside the vehicle made a noise before she jerked her hand. On the third pull, she let out a noise of satisfaction and her hand emerged. It was clutching it a long, hexagonal-cylinder shaped clear gemstone. "You're very lucky that this didn't get hit. These things eat up a huge amount of my budget and if I had to get a new one, it'd be at least a couple of months before you got a new D-Wheel."
"Seriously?" Tsubasa frowned at her. "We work for Jalal, who's got like, an infinity sign in his Zurich bank account, doesn't he? And Fayte and Rayearth and Tsukihime all have like ten zeros and stuff in their accounts."
"Okay, first, none of the people mentioned have unlimited wealth despite appearances otherwise. Second, getting a gemstone this big and of the proper quality is not only expensive, but time consuming. Third, it's enchanting this that would take nearly two months – not like gems are just batteries you can swap in and out." Rave studied the gemstone, which would occasionally gain a sheen of inner light. "Not to mention that I'm guessing that Skeleton Knight's sword was magical and if it had hit this thing, it probably would have caused it to explode or something."
"Seriously!?"
"Well, yeah." Rave stood and looked at him in mild surprise. "It's acting as a power generator and if another kind of magic interrupted that, all that energy would have to go somewhere. Hell, some of the gems can be so volatile that I wouldn't be surprised if dropping one caused it to go 'boom'."
Tsubasa stared at the seemingly innocent gem in her hand with a mixture of surprise and fear. "And...and I was driving with that under me all the time?"
"Yep. You were pretty lucky. Brake too hard and you'd knock this sucker loose. Then the Springweather line would have been abruptly ended with you." The psychic snickered at Tsubasa's expression and then flicked the gem at him casually. "Here, catch."
As Tsubasa yelped and juggled the gem in a panic, Rave turned back to the D-Wheel and rapped it with her foot with a sigh. "Such a mess... Okay, Kenshin, bring up the schematics for the Mach Wing IX. I want to see what I need to try and salvage out of this mess before ordering new stuff."
"Mmm...yeah...uh-huh..." Kenshin was currently seated at Rave's workbench, legs swinging slowly as she started steadily at the Gameboy in her hands. "Do the dishes, right..."
Rave sighed. "No, I said bring up the schematics. You know, by interfacing with that nifty device right next to you?"
"...water the garden, feed Fayte's horsie...?" A wrench ruffled the spirit's red hair as it embedded itself in the wall behind her head. "...kay, won't forget to bring home milk..."
"You don't even have a job out of being a Shadowchaser." But Rave grunted in satisfaction as Kenshin idly swept her hand over the appropriate device, bits of green light and coding flying from her hand into it. A moment later the garage's lights dimmed and a pair of holoprojectors warmed up quietly. A second later, a sleeker looking version of Tsubasa's D-Wheel was revolving slowly in the air in front of her. "Thanks. Now let's see...the IX is gonna need the two cores, obviously...and looks like that honeycomb-frame design can be expanded to more than just side frame..."
"Huh? Honeycomb frame?" Tsubasa looked at her curiously, scratching his head and then started at a sudden realization. "Hey! Why do you have the IX version of the Mach Wing already designed? And why was I stuck with VII?"
"I've designed up to the Mach Wing XIV, actually. And you got the one you did because that was the one I could afford to build at the time, not to mention you have a habit of your D-Wheels being destroyed." Rave stepped forwards and peered at the design, rubbing her chin. "And the honeycomb frame is something new I'm trying. A normal frame and pipes on things like a machine are hollow so you can let fluid and wires go through them. But its not all that strong – once it breaks, it breaks. But a honeycomb is strong and if the interior of the frame mimics that, it'll be more resistant to damage."
"Fascinating." Tsubasa said blandly and moved to Rave's opposite side to get a good look at his new ride. "Okay, you've built me eight D-Wheels and how come none of them have a cup holder like I keep asking for?"
"Cup holders on a motorcycle are impractical." Rave murmured, eyes roving over a schematic that only she really understood.
"Impractical? Maria's D-Wheel has a parasol storage compartment, Tsukhime's can transform into a Turbo Mode and Kenshin's is a Duel Board you souped up to travel at well above maximum safety speeds for those things!" Tsubasa thrust a finger at the mechanic, the hologram warping and sparking around the digit like it was taffy. "Compared to that, a cup holder is nothing!"
"Your finger will be nothing if you don't get it out of my hologram." Rave scowled at him as he retracted the finger. "And having a cup holder means you will want a drink, meaning you'll be driving a high-performance motorcycle with one hand. Impractical, stupid and would just lead to you wrecking another one. Plus a mailbox."
"Hey! That only happened once and its not my fault that the they don't build mailboxes like they used to!" The male Shadowchaser grumbled and glowered at his comrade. "I think you're just being petty about that duel I won against you for that free vacation."
"It was a vacation to Japan, of course anyone would be sore about losing that and you just got lucky! If you hadn't had that damn Mirror Force- I mean-" Rave controlled herself and gave him a falsely sweet smile. "No, no, I'm much too professional and open-minded to ever consider getting revenge upon you by denying you a stupid accessory that would most likely result in your death, the death of innocent people and the bike."
"Ha!" He pointed at her again, not caring as the hologram warped again. "You do admit you're doing it for revenge!"
"...you fought the Stork and broke a dark elf slave ring just by walking around, but you can't detect sarcasm?" Rave's eyebrow flew into her pink and blue hairline, then came down to join the other as she glared at him. "And. Finger. Move it or lose it!"
"Oh come on, it's not like-" He quickly retracted the digit as she raised a wrench. "Okay, okay, sheesh. It's a holographic projection. It's not like I can damage it."
"It's more than a projection." Rave told him, pointing with a wrench to emphasis. "It's a work of art!"
"It's a hologram. Holograms can't be art." Tsubasa insisted.
Rave huffed and shook her head, glancing over to the third team member in the garage. "Kenshin?"
"Just a sec...googling..." Kenshin's eyes flickered for a moment. "August 22nd of two years ago. One Edward Calliope is recognized by several national and international organizations as a top artist and pioneer in the field of modern holographic art and is awarded the first ever 'Modern Art Ingenuity' award. His gallery exhibit, entitled The Fluidity of Stability was not only the first interactive exhibit of its kind, but drew record attendance and is considered the moment that the general populace fully embraced the idea of holographic art. Futhermore-"
"Alright, alright, I get it!" Tsubasa waved his hand to cut off his teammate's explanation and folded his arms, grumpy. "That is totally not fair, using the walking search engine like that..."
"Yeah, well, tough tamales. I'm still right." Rave smirked proudly and then huffed as he stuck his tongue out at her. "Oh, real mature. You're twenty-eight and that's such an appropriate response to lose an argument."
"You're right." Tsubasa smirked himself and stuck both of his hands into the hologram. "This is."
"What the hell!? Stop that!" Rave scowled angrily at him as he wiggled his fingers, making the schematics spark and warp weirdly. She leapt forwards, snaring his throat in her hands and shaking him."Tsubasa Springweather, you're a dead man!"
It was also at that moment that the hologram warped, becoming the Shadowchaser leader. Jalal blinked and glanced down at the strange image of two of his agents grappling inside his holographic form."Rave, why are you strangling Tsubasa in my chest?"
"Huh?" Rave released Tsubasa and stepped back. "Oh hey, Jalal. He was being a jerk and – hey! Where'd my beautiful piece of art go!?"
"There wasn't anyone near the fireplace, so I moved the signal out here because-" Jalal didn't flinch as Rave hurled a wrench through his face grumpily. "Yes, well, I'll only be a minute."
He turned towards Kenshin, who was still absorbed in her Gameboy. "Kenshin, we've recently raided a criminal hideout with connections to Yliaster. Inside, we discovered a powerful computer and the encryption is very, very good. Given how fiercely it was defended, it's safe to assume there's something inside that they really don't want us to know. Time is of the essence and so I'd like you to-"
Jalal broke off as he realized Kenshin wasn't listening to him. "Excuse me..."
"...save the world, French Toast and waffles, got it..." Kenshin murmured in reply, her eyes never wavering from the screen as her fingers were nearly a blur as they pressed the buttons.
Jalal lifted an eyebrow and then glanced at the other two agents in the room. "I've known Kenshin most of her life. She's usually a bit more...energetic about things."
Rave shrugged. "Yeah, she's been falling into gaming trances every-so-often. We think its spiritual puberty or something. Maybe her equivalent to the time of the month."
The look on Jalal's face at such a proposition could have been used as a picture definition of the word 'incredulous.'
Tsubasa spread his hands helplessly. "Hey, if you've got a better explanation, boss man, we're glad to hear it. But she'll snap out of it in a little bit."
"I am on something of a tight schedule, Mister Springweather." Jalal told him. "Perhaps one of you should remove the distraction of her Gameboy."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Maria informed him as she entered the garage. She was dressed in a crème-and-gold dress that was not quite as poofy as her regular choices. A hat was still perched on her head and she carried a covered plate in one hand. "We tried that once and Kenshin flipped out on us. Tsubasa wouldn't go near her for a full day afterwards. Hello, Jalal."
"Hello, Maria." He returned and glanced over at Tsubasa. "What exactly did she do, Mister Springweather?"
"Candy Crush. She made me play Candy Crush over and over again...and you don't want to play her version of Candy Crush." Tsubasa shuddered at the memory and then glanced at his teammate. "What's on the plate?"
"Something that should snap our favorite spirit out of her trance." Maria pulled the lid off with a flourish. "My special recipe of homemade-"
"BROWNIES!" Rave and Tsubasa found themselves flattened as Kenshin used them to vault herself forwards, flying through Jalal's holographic form. Outstreched hands each snared a brownie off the plate, the spirit skidding to a stop and happily chowing down one.
"That's all you get until you listen to what Jalal has for you to do." Maria warned her, the spirit nodding around a mouthful of chocolate goodness. Turning back to her teammates, the Kyubi extended the plate in their direction. "Here, guys. We had a rough day yesterday. Have a pick-me-up."
"Pick-me-up? Maria, your brownies are so good that more like 'hurl-me-up'. Into the stratosphere. Like a rocket." Tsubasa pulled one off the plate, frowning. "Okay, that analogy didn't work well. Maybe what's better than pick-me-up is shoot-me-up? No..."
"How about 'shut up'?" Rave shoved his brownie into his mouth and then grabbed one for herself, chowing down on it happily. "Thanks, Maria."
"You're welcome." The Kyubi chuckled as she caught Jalal's look at the plate. "Don't worry. I already sent you a care package of brownies and other goodies before I came in here."
A mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Though, I think it was Judy I spoke to before I sent them. And you know how hungry she can get sometimes..."
"Oh? Right, yes, yes." Jalal turned to Kenshin. "Just report to HQ tomorrow morning at the Research Department's computer and we'll link you into the Yliaster harddrive we found. If anything changes before then, I'll send a message to your inbox."
At the spirit's acknowledging wave, as her mouth was still too full of brownie to answer, Jalal nodded. "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day, Shadowchasers. Best of luck. Cheerio."
Tsubasa swallowed the rest of his brownie as Jalal vanished and the image of the Mach Wing IX returned. "Did he, like, just ditch us to go after Maria's cooking?"
"What can I say – the man knows what he likes. And he likes my cooking." A smirk tugged at Maria's lips. "Especially the spicier things I make for him..."
"Okay, I'm going to eat another brownie before my brain realizes how many different ways it can interpret what you just said." Rave suited action to words, snatching up another treat and taking a bite. She used the half-eaten brownie to gesture at her teammate. "So what's with the fancy dress? I thought you were pretty worn out from your duel yesterday and were gonna sleep."
"I did, but got bored with my dream, so I woke up. And this isn't a dress." Maria smoothed out the folds of the outfit with her free hand. "These are my pajamas."
"...you sleep with a hat on?"
"Of course not – I'd never be able to rid myself of the bed-head. Oh!" Maria straightened suddenly. "That reminds me!"
She reached up and tugged at her hat couple of times. "Time to wake up, Theodore. You said you wanted to talk to us?"
The other three Shadowchasers in the room stared a bit as her hat's decorations rustled and then a stuffed elephant in a vest and glasses pushed them apart, stepping free with a yawn. "Oh, oh, thank you, Miss Temorline. Your hat's foliage reminds me of the jungles of Africa, though I've never been. It was a wonderful place to rest."
"Not a problem, Theodore." Maria carefully pulled the stuffed animal off her head and set him down on Rave's workbench. "I've got to clean up the mess in the kitchen before I head off to sleep again, but these three should be able to help you."
"Oh, indeed, yes, quite." Theodore smoothed imaginary ruffles on his vest as Rave, Tsubasa and Kenshin moved in front of him. "Hello, Shadowchasers. I'm glad to see you all are well."
"Same to you, Theodore. Though it's been awhile since we've seen one of you actor-types down here." Tsubasa said. "So what's up?"
"As you know, we of the Toybox Theater Troupe are of little world renown, but great experience. But however small of note are we, it can be said that our performances are an orchestra, a masterpiece. A family we all are, whether we be stuffed partners, statues that breathe or any manner of the menagerie of mundane that life can make extraordinary. And the patriarch of this family is none other than the masterful Don Remy, who's small stature only heightens his creative genius and talent." Theodore explained patiently. "However, as of late, that genius has seemed to rather obscure edge to its creativity and we, as family and troupe, wish to dull the edge of such endeavors for they cut too fine."
The three Shadowchasers regarded him with confusion.
Theodore used his trunk to push his glasses up his nose. "I see I was ultimately verbose to the point of stupefaction. An altogether unhealthy habit that I have fallen from grace into – too many speeches of the Bard, yes? Yes. I will endeavor to be more trenchant."
The little elephant began to pace back and forth across the workbench, arms behind his back. "Don Remy, a director of no small talent and no small pride, recently has been bedeviled by an affliction most curious and his sanguine bouts of supernova-esque creativity and imagination has seemingly gone beyond to a collapsed white dwarf, a prelude unsightly that will lead inevitably to a black hole, an ennui that will swallow him up and affects him most adversely, that not even the Bard's rousing elegance could not rouse him from. And with that, we worry not unduly of his mental clarity and perspicacity."
He again regarded his audience, peering at them expectantly from behind the none-existent lenses of his plastic frames.
Tsubasa scratched his cheek in thought, Rave looked a little lost. They glanced at one another, shrugged and turned back to look at Kenshin. The spirit held up her hands helplessly and spoke around a mouthful of brownie. "I dunno what he said, either."
Theodore stared at them and the three stared back at him.
A cricket chirped. Once.
The elephant waited a beat more, then spoke again with a sigh. "Don Remy is acting really strange and we need your help to snap him out of it."
"Ohhhhh..." The three Shadowchasers said in unison, understanding dawning on their faces. Then they all looked another and took a step back. "Rock...paper...scissors!"
Tsubasa swore as he realized the two girls had selected paper and he had gotten rock. "Blast it...okay, I'll take it this time." He stowed his hands in his pockets. "But I don't have a ride, so I'mma need to borrow someone's."
"Well...Gurren's is too big for you...Kenshin's and Tsuki's aren't meant to be driven by humans, Rayearth doesn't have one, I still need to fix the Borderline...and Alexandre would just as soon as stomp on you if tried to ride...same with the Watchguard Unicorns..." Rave sighed as she realized what that list left in terms of options. "Okay, you can take the Cyber Star."
"Really? Sweeeetttt..." Tsubasa turned towards the Psychic's D-Wheel. It was a similar model to his own, but bulkier and more-sturdy looking. Its name came from the fact it was patterned with the star-blue and silver that Rave's Starsteel monsters had. He took a step towards it, then was yanked by a hand on his collar. "Urk!"
Rave grabbed his shirt front and waved a wrench dangerously in his face. "But not one scratch on my baby, Tsubasa. Not one scratch." Her eyes glowed like prisms. "Or I'm going to manifest one of my blades inside your body."
"Right. Gotcha." Tsubasa nodded vigorously. "Not one scratch." Then he was dashing out the door, grabbing Theodore as he passed.
Kensihn swallowed her brownie as they watched him go. "Didn't you make your D-Wheel, like indestructible?"
"Yes, but I don't want him to know that. Last thing I need is him going terrace jumping or something." Rave grabbed for a brownie and frowned when her hand hit plate. "Kenshin!"
The spirit looked at her, her mouth still smeared with chocolate. "What?"
TTTTTT
The Cyber Star skidded around the corner at something far exceeding the speed limit, leaving a small track burnt rubber before Tsubasa revved the engine and it roared forwards at double its speed without even a lurch.
Neo's form appeared alongside the speeding vehicle, keeping pacing through means unknown. (Aren't you going a little fast?)
"Are you kidding, Neo? Rave's D-Wheel is incredible – insane handling, glides over the road, quiet engine and all these buttons..." The Shadowchaser spared a second-glance down at the numerous buttons that were all over the front dash. "Think one of these triggers a rocket launcher?"
(Considering her rather potent threat, I would suggest that you do not attempt any such thing.) Neo cautioned him as Tsubasa took another corner like a street racer. (Doesn't the Mach Wing satisfy you?)
"Oh, yeah it does. But you gotta remember, a mechanic doesn't spare anything for their own ride. And I've always wanted to see what she's skimped out on putting on the Mach Wing." Tsubasa told him and grinned. "If I could get handling like this, I'll be having the cup holder yet."
(And adding 'danger to pedestrians' to your list of dubious accomplishments...) Neo sighed at his partner's line of thinking. (So who is this Dom Remy we've been requested to help?)
'Don't you know?" Tsubasa frowned at him through his helmet's visor. "You've been here for over ten years with me and I attend the Never-Born's performances just like everyone else. So you should be there with me."
(Just because you keep my card, doesn't mean I am always present, squire. I am, after all, capable of traveling through dimensions.) Neo pointed out.
"Right, fine..." Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "Okay, over the years, there's been a lot of people doing things with magic like creating unique creations, bringing stuff to life and all that kind of stuff. Called 'Never-Born', since they don't have a birth. When we arrest the perps, there's not a whole lot we can do with the new creations despite them falling under the Treaty."
(I can imagine that incorporating a talking, living doll into Mundane society would difficult, yes.)
"Dolls are just some of things – try statues, trees, even paintings. But we do our best, and a lot of them end up here in Backwater and we try to give them lives, jobs, whatever they think we can do. The Never-Born Theater Troupe is one of those places. They aren't exactly traditional actors, but they do some creative stuff. And Don Remy is a big reason for that. He's the director, manager and everything else that keeps them together."
(So if he is in trouble, so is the troupe?)
"Probably, but we'll see." Tsubasa brought the Cyber Star to a screeching halt in front a large mansion. Emblazoned above the massive double doors in tall letters were the words Backwater Theater."We're here."
Neo folded his arms and studied the building as the Shadowchaser dismounted. (We drove across the city to yet another mansion. Just how many of them are here in Backwater?)
"More than you'd think." Tsubasa stowed his helmet in the bike's storage compartment and then ducked as a pair of fluttering wings swooped over his head. "Hey, watch it!"
"Apologies." A clockwork bird landed gracefully near the bike and Theodore slid out of the saddle, patting it on the side. "A smooth ride as always, Pigeon."
The bird cawed mechanically at him.
"Right, Eagle. Sorry, you all look so alike."
The bird cawed in a manner suggesting a huff and with a beat of its wings, took the air again. A moment later, it vanished around the mansion's roof.
Tsbuasa watched it go. "Metal birds flying without magic. Crazy..."
"I understand their creator is that junk golem in the junkyard. He's rather touched in the head, but a master smith." Theodore started for the doorway. "Come, come, Mister Springweather. Time and tide waits for no man. Or stuffed animal."
The elephant approached the doorway and then pulled on a bell-rope hung just for those at his height. "Maurice, Maurice! I've returned with one of the Shadowchasers! I bid you, let us enter!"
The door creaked open and the pair entered, Tsubasa turning back to face the door way as it closed. "Hey, Maurice. How's it hanging?"
"A life of a doorman is never sad." Maurice was literally a relief statue carved into the workings of the stone archway, his arms carved to hold the door handles. His voice was ponderous and deep. "A service I provide to those who dwell within and without, for good or bad. But this life is no curse-"
"'-for you are the gate to the mystical and wondrous.' Yeah, I know. Save it for the opening night." Tsubasa waved at him and then picked up his pace to keep up with Theodore.
The elephant was scurrying down the hallway as fast his legs could carrying him. "This way, this way-he's holed up in his room."
"Theo!" There was a skittering noise above the pair and an adorable plush spider-girl in a dress swung down on a length of robe to join them. Readjusting her hat, all remaining six legs were a blur. "I saw your bird from the clocktower! Who did you bring?"
"The latest of the Springweather line, Miss Tuffet." Theo informed her as they rounded a corner into another tiled hallway filled with paintings and statuary. "An odd duck, to be sure, but perhaps odd enough to snap our director from his fugue."
Miss Tuffet glanced over her shoulder at Tsubasa, blinking at him with wide and cute eyes. "Oh, I see what you mean. So...effervescent."
"I don't know what that means, so I'll take it as a compliment." Tsubasa muttered as they weaved their way through the mansion.
"Oh it is dearie, it is!" Miss Tuffet assured him, a swing of her robe catching something. A moment later, she swung herself onto his shoulder. "The Springweather line has always produced the most interesting people! You're Gerald's son, aren't you? Oh, he and his brother were such fine gentlemen when they were your age. Though... a bit stiff with their acting..."
"Yeah, well, we can't be good at everything." Tsubasa slowed to halt as they approached another set of great doors. Crowded around it were nearly a couple-dozen of toys of various makes, models and types. They were all chattering excitedly, but fell silent as the Shadowchaser approached.
Miss Tuffet hopped down from his shoulder, waving her arms excitedly. "Let him through, let him through!"
The sea of toys parted as Tsubasa made his way to the door. The door itself was massive and he regarded the massive Greek Statue in front of it. With their arms spread, they made an effective barrier and lock. "Hey, I need in there. Could you move, please?"
The statue's eyes glowed as he 'spoke'. "Director Remy has ordered Atlas to fulfill his role as lock. Atlas will not move."
"Atlas!" Tsubasa glanced down to see a wooden toy soldier that was barely up to his knee stride up and lift an arm towards the statue. "We need to help the director! I am ordering you to open this door!"
"Commander Cracker, Atlas will not move. Director's orders."
"Come on, you blasted rock! You know as well as I do that the director's not himself. He wouldn't listen to us and now he's locked himself in the room. That's not right! As his number two, it's my duty to go in there and kick some sense into him!" Command Cracker rapped the butt of his rifle against the floor. "Open up, I say!"
"Cracker's right, Atlas." Miss Tuffet scuttled forwards. "I know you're worried about him just as much as we are. Don't you think the best you can do is let us in so we can see what's wrong?"
"Director's orders...Atlas made to fill role, Director give Atlas role..." But the statue's words were uncertain.
"Hey, Atlas." Tsubasa snapped his fingers, then realized the statue couldn't 'look' at him for the gesture to work. "If he gave you a roll as a lock, you've done a pretty good job so far. But the way I see it, the roll of a lock in a story is to either stay locked or picked, however someone can do that, right?"
"Atlas thinks this makes sense..."
"Of course it does. So, since I seem to be the hero of this story and you're the lock to the final dungeon, doesn't it stand to reason I can 'pick' you? The dramatic tension is heightened as far as its going to get, otherwise."
Atlas remained silent for a moment and then, with a rumble, he lowered his arms. Then his pedestal hovered up a few inches and floated silently out of the way. "Good luck, hero. Help Director..."
"That's what I'm here for." Tsubasa pushed the door open partway and slid inside. The room was nearly pitch-black and he had to squint to make out a few shapes as he advanced slowly. "Director Remy? I'm Tsubasa, one of the Shadowchasers? Your troupe is awfully concerned about you. You need any help?"
"I know you are. Easy enough to recognize a Springweather. And show some manners and shut the door, will ya?" The voice was one would expect from a stereotypical 20s gangster film, smoky and each world almost running together. "And as for help? Kid, you wouldn't know where to begin to help me."
"I can try." Tsubasa shut the door as requested. He remained where he was, waiting for his eyes to adjust. But even as it was, he could see the cherry-red ember across the way. "I can start by suggesting you not smoke."
"Bad for my health, is it?" Remy laughed. "Kid, I ain't got lungs to wreck with this stuff."
"Oh, I know." Tsubasa, now able to see appropriately, leaned back against the door and folded his arms. "But considering you're a teddy bear, I'd think you catch fire from the ash."
"Bah." Remy was dressed like the gangster he sounded like, fiddling with the brim of his hat. "I'd sooner die from a pair of cement shoes than fire. And water don't ruin my stitches, either."
"Well, something's ruining your attitude, there, Director, so spill the beans." Tsubasa waved a hand in his general direction.
"Tch. Nothing's good enough."
"You mean your plays-"
"No, I mean the Empire State Building!" Remy snapped suddenly angrily. "Of course, I mean my plays! There not good enough for me! Not them or the actors!
"Whoa, whoa, slow-down." Tsubasa held up a hand. "You're a hardcore guy about this stuff, but that kind of talk isn't like you. You care like no other about the other Neverborn and your work! And now suddenly none of this 'worth' you?"
"Exactly! It's not going to be any good, because I waste my effort on all of it!" The teddy bear grumbled. "So why should I bother if there's nothing to do anything for me?"
The Shadowchaser narrowed his eyes and Neo appeared alongside him. It was faint, but both of them could see a thin black outline surrounding the Director. "Hey, did you get any new cards recently?"
"What? No! No cards are worth me and I-"
"Okay, shut up now." Tsubasa ignored Remy's jaw-drop look of surprise and whispered to Neo. "He's possessed."
(Yes.) Neo nodded in agreement after a moment's pause. (But they aren't doing a very good job. All they've done is just manipulate Remy's ego.)
"Yeah and I recognize that spirit energy signature, too. One of our old friends."
"Hey! What are you whispering about over there?" Remy scowled at them. "You think you're better than me or something?"
"Oh, sure I do." Tsubasa turned to face him, waggling a finger. "I'm a better duelist than you, at least."
"What?" Remy's eyes narrowed. "I happened to come third in the City Tournament this year, you know! You didn't even rank!"
"I couldn't participate, thanks to being a Shadowchaser." Tsubasa shrugged casually. "Of course, that just means we're too good, you know?"
"You're writing checks with your mouth I'm going to make you cash with your body." Remy growled.
"Yeah, right." Tsubasa waved it off. "C'mon, mister I'm-soooo-important. Put up or shut up if you're that confident. Otherwise, just admit I'm better."
He grinned as Remy started to fume angrily, the dark aura growing bigger. (That's it...take the bait.)
"Alright, then, Shadowchaser." Remy said suddenly. "I'll grace you with my prowess just this once."
"Good." Tsubasa reached for the door. "Now let's find a nice, big open space to-"
"Nope, I've got the trapdoor."
"Well, that's nice, but I-" Tsubasa froze. "Wait, a trapdoor!?"
The floor fell out from underneath his feet.
TTTTTTT
The Theater's stage was a precinium-style, meaning it had a great big archway at the front, with sweeping winds and an apron extending past the arch that could be lowered for bands to sit.
It was constructed out of the best wood money could buy and was very solid, able to support several tons worth of weight.
It was also very hard, as one Shadowchaser found out as he fell screaming out of the trapdoor in the ceiling and landed face-first onto the stage.
Tsubasa groaned and peeled himself up off the stage carefully. "Who the hell puts a trap down in their own office...?" He rubbed at the red mark on his face in annoyance and then blinked. "Wait – the office and the stage are on the same floor! How did we-"
"Shut your yap and get your deck ready, kid!" Across the way, Don Remy dropped out of his own trapdoor, landing neatly into a highchair that placed underneath. "And don't question the magic of the stage! Some of its secrets are that for a reason!"
"Then why don't you enlighten me as to how it's going to let a teddy bear-" Tsubasa was cut off as Remy produced a deck from his jacket and slapped it down on the highchair's tray. It immediately lit up, the lines of light revealing it was a duel tray like the kind you could get for wheelchairs or tabletops. "Heh. Not bad. Let's see what I got..."
He popped a deck out of one of the holsters on his hip and fanned out it briefly. Grinning, he snapped the cards back into a single stack and shuffled it up before slamming it home in his disk. "Congratulations, you're about to be the victim of my latest brainchild!"
"Considering your family history of such great mental prowess, I don't think I'm going to need to be worried that much." Remy drawled sarcastically as he drew his opening hand. (RLP: 8000)
"We'll just see about that! As challenger, the first turn is mine!" Tsubasa drew five cards, then snapped up a sixth. "I activate the continuous spell card Dragon's Hoard for starters – each time I Special Summon a Dragon-type monster, I can place one Horde Counter on this card!"
As a small pile of gold coins, jewels and even a golden goblet appeared off to the side nearby, he was already grabbing another card from his hand. "I activate Traitor Amidst the Ranks! Now one Traitor Token is summoned to your side of the field!"
Remy lifted an eyebrow as a shady-looking man in a tuxedo appeared in front of him, glancing around furtively. "So what happens if I get rid of this Traitor?" (500/500)
"You'd take five hundred damage and it doesn't matter how it leaves the field. But that's not why he's there – I just needed you to have a monster so I can special summon Vice Dragon from my hand!" With a roar, a grey/purple-scaled dragon with ragged green wings appeared. Meanwhile, the pile of wealth grew slightly as a Hoard Counter was placed on the card. "Of course, since I summoned him this way, he's at half stats." (2000/1200-1000/600)
Then the dragon vanished, replaced a larger, blue-scaled dragon. It's cry was musical and a silvery glow flickered about it majestically. "But I can still sacrifice him for my Lightpulsar Dragon!" (2500/1200)
Tsubasa shuffled his two remaining cards around and then grinned slightly. "I set one card face-down and call it a turn. You're up, Director."
"You're playing like we're in the finale, kid, but we haven't even gotten past the prologue yet! And it's going to cost you!" Remy drew for his turn, then slapped down a monster card. In a flash of light, a golden statue with countless arms sticking out of his back in a fan shape appeared in front of him. "Let me show you how you do a proper set-up! Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands lets me add my Advanced Ritual Art from my deck!" (1400/1000)
Pulling his deck up, he fanned it out, found the card he wanted and then, clenching it in his mouth, shuffled it before turning it home. That done, he threw the ritual spell card down in front him immediately. A second later, a large tank filled with a shadowed-figure and strange liquid rose up nearby. "This card lets me send Normal Monsters from my deck to my graveyard to fulfill the requirements for a Ritual Summon!"
The teddy bear held up a fan of cards in his free hand with a smirk. "This should do nicely, don't you think?"
Tsubasa stared as he placed the stack into his graveyard. "Six cards!?"
"You got it and since that is equal to my Lycanthrope's level stars, I can Ritual Summon him to the field!" The tank shattered, letting a blue-and-silver furred wolfman leap free. Various parts of his body were covered cybernetics and it's roar carried the distinct sound of being synthesized. "Destroy that dragon! Howling Steel Claws!" (2400/2000)
"You can't beat my monster that...oh, Rush Recklessly." Tsubasa finished lamely as a red surge surrounded the charging monster. He watched as the wolfman charged across the field, cleaving his dragon to pieces with two swift slashes of his claws. "When Lightpulsar Dragon is destroyed, I can-"
The rest of the sentence failed as the wolfman kept coming, raking a set of mechanical claws across his chest and driving him back a step. He clutched the hit as the Ritual Monster jumped back to his field. "What the hell was that!" (TLP: 6200)
"Did I forget to mention that when Lycanthrope destroys a monster, you take two hundred times the number of Normal Monsters in my graveyard?" Remy chuckled mockingly. "You didn't think I summoned just because he's such a looker, did you?"
"Thought had crossed my mind..." Tsubasa grunted out as he straightened, then pointed at the remains of his dragon. They had burst into sunrise-colored flames. "As I was saying, when Lightpulsar Dragon dies, I can bring back a dragon in my graveyard."
The flames condensed, morphing into the form of Vice Dragon. A second later, Tsubasa's set card lifted and with a roar, Lightpulsar Dragon was back on the field as well. "So not only does Vice Dragon come back, but thanks to my Immortal Dragon trap card, so does the one you just killed."
"And two more counters for your spell card..." Remy chomped down on his cigar as he watched the pile of wealth expand again. "Alright, hotshot, so you weren't blowing smoke with that move. Let's see you keep it up. I'll set two cards and call it a turn."
Tsubasa drew and then pointed at the pile of wealth in front of him. "I send Dragon's Hoard to the graveyard when it has two or more Counters to draw two cards!"
The wealth vanished and he snapped up two more cards. "Then I'll set one card face-down and activate A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!" Vice Dragon roared as it spread its wings and they were enveloped in a golden glow. "By returning a level five or higher dragon to my field, I can destroy all spell and trap cards in play!"
Remy watched as Vice Dragon beat its wings, unleashing golden waves of energy that tore their set cards to bits. "I assume that you wanted to destroy your own card?"
"You got it – that was Magical Blueprints and that lets me move a continuous trap or spell from my deck to my hand. 'Though I can't use it or set it this turn. I'll add a particular continuous trap card to my hand." Tsubasa tucked the card alongside his remaining two cards, then snapped up a hand. "Lightpulsar Dragon! Rising Sunburst!"
The dragon took the air, swooping forwards and incinerating Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in a blaze that forced Remy to shield his face from the heat. "How's that for keeping the show interesting?" (RLP: 7100)
"Nothing more than a one-liner, kid." Remy dusted a bit of ash off his sleeve and at Tsubasa's nod, drew for the start of his turn. "'Specially since you just left yourself open."
The Traitor Token vanished, replaced by a wizened old man. He adjusted his glasses and smoothed his green vest. Producing a pipe, he puffed on it as he began to work some string between his fingers. "It may have cost me some life points, but your token was the perfect tribute bait to summon out my Dollmaker in attack mode!" (2200/1200) (RLP: 6600-5800)
"Hey, what gives? Why did you lose eight hundred more life points?" Tsubasa frowned as the Dollmaker suddenly produced a good-sized block off wood from out of nowhere and began whittling on it. "And what's he doing?"
"Those life points went towards my Dollmaker's effect – namely letting me summon one Doll monster from my deck." Finishing his work, the Dollarmaker threw his new creation into the monster space next to him. It was a pair of rudimentary doll arms – as they hit the floor, they cracked and chipped in several places. "Doll Part Gold, give yourself a hand. Ha!" (0/0)
"Doll Parts...so those are what you sent to the graveyard for Lycanthrope." Tsubasa regarded the creation curiously. "I tried to make a Doll Parts deck once, but getting Chimera out was way too much of a pain. What makes your deck so different? But before you answer..."
The Shadowchaser slid a card into his graveyard and it immediately slid back out, releasing a blast of white light that resolved into a glittering ice dragon-man with heavy black wings and a skull-like face. He stretched himself out, then knelt swiftly on an image of his own card. "Since you Special Summoned a monster from, I can do the same with my Dragon Ice so long as I discard a card. Like itself." (1800/2200)
"Tch." Remy looked displeased at the new dragon's presence as he glanced down at his hand. "I'd love to show you what they can do, kid, but for now, I'll have Lycanthrope turn that cool blue dragon into ice cubes! Howling Steel Claws!"
Lycanthrope dashed forwards, its claws not quite during Dragon Ice into ice cubes so much as leaving it a rapidly-melting puddle of ice chips. "And now that thing is dead, I'll move to my Main Phase 2 and activate my Creature Swap."
Tsubasa just smiled slightly as the Doll Part Gold and his Lightpulsar Dragon both glowed slightly before they swapped places. "Good thing I had Dragon Ice in hand, huh? Otherwise you could have finished me off."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're luckier than a monkey in a banana forest." The teddy bear growled at him. "But now you're at a big disadvantage since I have three strong monsters and all you have is a pile of zero attack points. All I've seen from your brainchild is a quick way lose."
(I'm afraid I agree with our host.) Neo appeared behind Tsubasa, arms folded casually as he peered over his partner's shoulder. (And the contents of your hand don't appear immediately useful.)
"Hey, give me some credit here. I've been dueling since I've been able to talk. This deck is going to work out just fine." Tsubasa scowled as Neo lifted an eyebrow at him. "What's with that look?!"
(It's just that you said the same thing about that Snapesnatch deck and look what happened with that sorcerer...)Neo said lightly.
"Oh no, you don't." Tsubasa thrust a finger in the spirit's face. "The deck worked fine, I beat him with the OTK combo like I was supposed to! You didn't get past his spirit friend in time to help me catch him!"
(That's because you were too beat up from taking too many unnecessary hits in from the Shadow Game to chase after him yourself.) Neo countered. (I don't know what you were thinking with that deck...)
"You said it was a good idea!"
(You should know better to listen to me when I've been out in another dimension all night!)
"Yeah, about that! What do you do on those trips? Working on your 'Compendium of Best Bars Across the Multiverse'?"
Neo's eyebrow began to twitch. (Don't take light of my sojourns, squire. I've drank some drinks that would burn your mortal throat to ashes and not even flinched!)
"That's impressive, but it's not! That's like saying I should be proud of the fact today, I got through breakfast with only four cups of coffee!"
(You are proud of that! You usually drink ten!)
The two glowered at one another fiercely, then lost their anger as the sound of clapping and cheers reached their ears. They both turned to find the rest of the Toybox Troupe had crowded into the seats up front.
"Good show, jolly good show!" Commander Cracker and apparently a whole battalion of other toy soldiers of various makes and models were crowded onto a few seats, cheering and waving their weapons about.
"You two are marvelous! Such a wonderful dynamic!" Miss Tuffet was clapping all of her hands.
"If you two are done playing the peanut gallery for this little improv, why don't you get back to the script?" Remy's voice drew the Shadowchaser's attention back to the playing field. He had an irritated expression his face and the black aura was faintly visible around him.
"What's the matter? Can't stand not being the center of attention, director?" Tsubasa mocked as he drew and smirked slightly as he saw the aura get a little bigger. (Whatever is controlling him has got some pride...) "Well, then let's give the audience a show! I activate Draconnection! This card lets me reveal a Dragon-type monster in my hand, then add one of the same level from my deck to my hand, while the revealed the monster goes back to my deck."
He held up a monster card. "Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King is level six, so back to the deck it goes..." He placed card atop his deck and it was shuffled back into it, followed by another card whirring free. "And a new monster comes to my hand."
A spell card appeared in front of him. "But let's go with another fun dragon card – Dragon Shrine. I can send a Dragon-type from my deck to the graveyard and if that monster happens to be a Normal Monster, another one follows." Two cards slid free from his deck and he held them up. "Darkstorm Dragon is a Gemini monster and since that's a Normal in the graveyard, two are put to the eternal rest."
He dropped the two monsters into the graveyard and the Doll Parts Gold on his field vanished, replaced by another roaring Lightpulsar Dragon. "Attack your brother!"
The two dragons roared and unleashed their attacks at the same, the collision sending ripples back along the attacks to their origins and both monsters vanishing into pixels. Then the pixels swirled together, turning black in color and became a pair of tornadoes of pitch-black wind. With a dark screech, two figures formed out of the wind. Ethereal dragons with red-eyes and tattered, hole-filled wings that did nothing to impede their ability to fly. "And since they both went to the graveyard, I can call forth two dark dragons! Like the Darkstorm Dragons!" (2700/2500x2)
Screeches filled the air as the dragons didn't even bother to be ordered to attack, each beat of their wings unleashing pulverizing waves that crushed Lycanthrope into a mess of metal and fur before he exploded. Shortly after, the Dollmaker was blown off his feet and hurled hard behind the Director into the darkness of the stage wings. (RLP: 5800-5100)
A card flashed into existence behind the whirling tornadoes and Tsubasa folded his arms confidently. "That wraps up my turn. Impressed yet?"
"Oh, I am, kid. And allow me to return the favor by leaving the impression of my surprise on your nightmare!" Remy snapped and drew sharply, slapping down a spell card. "Tri-Wight selects three level two or lower monsters from my graveyard and special summons them. Let's see some new Doll Parts strut their stuff! Red, Blue and Gold all return to me!"
In short flashes of a light, the broken doll arms returned and were joined by broken arms and a head. "And now Polymerization will fuse my Doll Parts on the field with the Doll Part Red in my hand together!"
"A Doll Fusion? Oooooooo..." Tsubasa watched eagerly as a swirling portal opened on Remy's field and pulled the four monsters into. With a flash of light, the portal snapped shut to reveal a towering new figure in play, and the Shadowchaser grinned. "That looks awesome!"
"You think my Doll Franken is the bee's knees, do you?" Remy chuckled obnoxiously and gestured to the behemoth on his field. Doll Franken was a seven foot tall teddy bear. The massive amount of stitches covering its body suggested it had been repaired many times. It growled quietly, an irritated look on its face. "Well, you won't be saying that when you see his effect. It'd first nuke all of my spells and traps, but I ain't got any, so I can get right to the good stuff!"
One by one, he slid Doll Parts cards into place behind his fusion monster on his Duel Tray. "Doll Parts equip to him and power his effects, but the one you should be worried about is that he gains one thousand attack points for each one!" (0-5000/0)
With a dangerous 'shing!' sound, nasty-looking claws extended from Doll Franken's right hand as it roared and charged across the field. With one mighty blow, it smashed one of the Darkstorm Dragons to dust. "And by ridding it of a Doll Part, it can attack again!" (5000-4000)
Tsubasa grimaced as the fusion rent his remaining dragon to pieces and then glanced down at his disk. "No damage..."
"Of course." Remy rolled his eyes and took a puff on his cigar. "He's a stuffed animal. You really think he could hurt someone?"
"Could have fooled me..." Tsubasa shrugged it off, then pointed at his set card and watched it flip up. "I reveal the continuous trap card Hieratic Seal From The Ashes! While this card is in play, once per turn, I can send a Hieratic monster from my deck to the graveyard. I use it now to sent Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King to the graveyard!"
"Do whatever you like, it's not going to do you much good." Remy watched him drop the graveyard into the proper slot. "You're not going to be able to get past my Doll Franken easily."
"Just watch me!" Tsubasa drew for his turn, then slid it into his disk. "Trade-In lets me discard a level eight monster to draw two cards!"
Snapping them up, he grinned. "Your monster may outmatch my strongest dragon in brute force, but you forget that dragons are creatures of magic, too! I activate Monster Reborn, reviving Lightpulsar Dragon!"
With a flash and a roar of light, the dragon was back in play while a continuous spell card appeared in front of Tsubasa. "Advance Force lets me tribute a level five or higher monster to tribute summon for a level seven or higher one, so meet my deck's second rarest monster!"
Lightpulsar vanished and then the shadows behind Tsubasa erupted as a titanic form emerged. It loomed over the playing field, its body all angular curves while its metallic body gave off a deadly sheen, black and red playing together to give it an evil coloration. "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is here!" (2800/2400)
A pillar of black wind erupted on his field, forming into a Darkstorm Dragon. "I sent Lightpulsar to the graveyard again, so I get one of my dragons back. And thanks to my Metal Dragon's own effect, the second one returns!"
Remy growled as the second Darkstorm Dragon returned. "You can bring all of the dragons together you want, they're still not strong enough!"
"I told you, I wasn't going to take on power with power." Tsubasa waggled a finger and then lifted it into the air. "I plan on a little magic! Open the Overlay Network!"
The two Darkstorm Dragons dissolved into light that poured into the swirling nexus that opened up in front of him. It spun rapidly before shrinking into a glittering white-and-gold armored figure that appeared there. A scalloped-cape that resembled a wing swept out behind them as they pulled a massive curved blade out of the either. "Felgrand, the Divine Dragon Knight is here!" (2800/1800)
"So what's he going to do? He's not strong-" Remy faltered as he saw Felgrand point his blade at Doll Franken. Both blade and fusion glowed, then the doll monster sagged considerably. "What did he just do!?" (4000-0)
"He negated your monster's effect at the cost of one his Overlay Units...and now he's going to destroy your monster at the cost of looking amazing!" The Xyz, despite the heaviness of his ornate armor, charged forwards and cleaved the giant teddy bear in two with such forcefulness that shockwave shot back and nearly sent Remy's card's flying. (RLP: 2300)
The director snared his hat before it could fly too far off his head and then looked up as a shadow fell over him. Phantom red flames were leaking from Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon's mouth as it loomed over him and its eyes gleamed with eagerness at what it was about to do. "Oh, this ain't gonna be a barrel of monkeys..."
Tsubasa flinched slightly as the dragon unleashed its fury, completely hiding the Director and his seat from view. "Wow, that's gotta hurt..."
"Not as much as you think." Explosions rippled suddenly in front of Tsubasa's dragon, actually hurling the beast back to his field. Smoke billowed away to reveal Remy sneering slightly. "Kuriboh does wonders to protect someone's life points."
"Mmph...not all that surprised to see a cutsy monster like that in a Doll deck, I suppose..." Tsubasa watched as Red-Eyes picked itself up with an angry roar, its metal body smoking and dented slightly. "Still, it's kind of prolonging the inevitable, don't you think?"
"What?" Remy's face twisted in a frown.
"Well, look at it." Tsubasa faced the audience with a grin on his face and they all cheered. "You're going to lose, Don Remy. No question about it and like I said, I'm the hero. They're here for me to win and knock you back to your senses. You?"
He cast a glance at the Director with a mocking grin. "You're just a bad guy at the moment. This little mess, it'll be nothing but a footnote compared to what you've already done."
"What did you just say, kid?" Remy's frown took an ugly turn.
"You heard me, bear." The Shadowchaser folded his arms, still grinning. "You say you're all worked up, but it's over nothing. You're washed-up, done, kaput. All your best material is behind you and this little thing for attention?"
He snorted. "You went to all this trouble to get your people all worried and get all this attention you want, but all you got is me. And me? I'm like, the lowest guy on the Shadowchaser totem pole here. I'm a human, I don't get all fancy magical powers or super abilities or even a unique weapon. All I got are some bad jokes, a duel disk and a Duel Spirit who hangs around for me no real apparent reason other than he's bored."
Behind him, Neo raised a hand. (I can vouch for the bored part.)
Tsubasa ignored the spirit, while Remy was looking angrier and angrier. "But being me still puts me above you, since I'm a professional Shadowchaser, duelist and all-around awesome guy. You, though...you..."
A harsh mocking smirk. "You're a professional has-been. How's that been working out for you?"
"That's IT!" Remy roared and the dark aura that been simmering around him before erupted fully, prompting the audience to scream and yell in surprise. "I am not going to take this from you, you little brat! I'm going to crush you!"
The Shadowchaser just chuckled. "If there was anything backing that threat up, I'd be worried..."
"You're going to be dead!"
"Big words, little man." Tsubasa lifted his head and tapped his chin with a finger. "Come on, show me what you got. One free shot on your turn. Then I smack you down hard."
"I'll show you...!" Remy snarled, the dark aura around lashing wildly as he practically tore his card from his deck. "I summon Manju The Ten Thousand Hands yet again and this time, I'll use it to fetch out a Ritual Monster!"
"Ooh, another one? I'm soooo scared." Tsubasa mocked and grinned as the teddy bear held up the card he had searched for. To anyone else, it looked normal, but to him there was a dark sheen to it that was identical the aura round Remy. (There's my target…)
"I activate a second Advanced Ritual Art, sending four more Doll Parts to my graveyard to summon out your death, Shadowhaser!" Remy crowed as he dumped the four cards into his graveyard and slapped down his ritual monster. "I summon Stitches the Patchwork Clown!"
A worn-old treasure chest appeared in front of him. The lid creaked open ominously, revealing the chest to be stuffed with plush animals. But all of them had creepy, crude smiles stitched on their faces and buttons over their eyes. Then the pile shifted, shuffled and a dark form burst violently free. (1000/1000)
"'Bout time you showed up, Stitches." Tsubasa watched as the form came hurtling down at him, wielding a massive, serrated cleaver. There was a blur of fabric as Neo interposed himself between the pair. Metal shrieked as the spirit's own blow deflected the cleaver and sent its owner hurtling back to Remy's field. "I knew if I poked that thing you call an ego, you'd come out of wherever you were hiding."
"You're just adding to the list of reasons I'm going to carve you like a turkey, Shadowhaser!" Stitches was foot-tall stuffed clown. It was easy to see his namesake, given how his body looked like it had been patched together from various other stuffed beings. His face was a permanently sewn on nightmare grin and didn't move when he spoke. The cleaver, easily bigger than Stitches, glittered dangerously as he pointed it at Tsubasa. "Another body for my mountain of death!"
"Yeah, right." Tsubasa shook his head. "You may have been a big name killer all those years ago when you were human, Stitches, but right now? You're nothing more than a C-Lister we use to let the rookies practice on."
"You'll regret those words!" Stitches waved the cleaver around angrily. The dark aura was still burning around Remy, but the Director was motionless as the energy trailed off of him into the Duel Spirit. "In case you hadn't noticed, it's still my turn and I'm going to take your free shot and gut you!
He held out a hand and phantasmal images of all eleven Doll Parts in his graveyard appeared behind him. "See all of these!? They power my effects! The more I have, the stronger I am!"
Tsubasa and Neo's eyes widened slightly. "That's not your card's effect at all!"
"Then someone taught this old dog a new trick!" Stitches cackled wickedly as the Doll Part images all flowed into him and he double in size, his cleaver still retaining its ridiculous proportions. "Ahh, that's the good stuff! Right up there with virgin blood and twenty-year-old-scotch! Krryaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Yeah, well, it's not happening! I can use Felgrand's effect negation power on your turn just as easy as mine!" Tsubasa dropped the material card into his graveyard and Felgrand pointed his blade at the Ritual Monster. A second later, both of them began to glow.
"Ohhh, that tickles!" Stitches snickered as his dark aura swallowed up the glow. "Sorry, but since there's at least five Doll Parts in the graveyard, I am immune to your card's targeting effects!"
He dashed across the field, leaping up and driving his clever through Felgrand's face. "Krrryaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha And having at least six means I kill any monster I battle regardless of our scores!"
The Xyz exploded and Tsubasa howled in pain as the pieces of armor smashed across him. "And seven means anything I kill has its attack points ripped right out of your life!" (TLP: 3400)
With another cackle, he was moving and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon's screech of anger was cut short as its head was separated from its body. "And eight gives me a second attack! So taste the pain!"
The monster's body rippled, then erupted with powerful waves of dark energy. Tsubasa howled again as he was buffeted and only Neo's hand on his shoulder kept him from sliding back more than a foot. Black steam rose from him in wisps as he slumped slightly. "Christ, that hurt..." (TLP: 600)
"Trust me, that was just the opener!" Stitches jumped back to his spot and tossed his cleaver from hand to hand eagerly. "And before you think you're going to recover from that – puppet! Play that nice, fun spell card in your hand!"
Remy jerked, pulling the card free and slapping it down. Stitches cackled again as Doll Franken rose up beside him. "Guess what, Shadowchaser? His effects triggers when he's Special Summoned!" (0-5000/0)
Tsubasa was holding his chest in pain, but managed to grin all the same. "Is that all?"
"Whaddya mean, that's all?" Stitches barked. "You're almost dead!"
"Almost, but not quite." Tsubasa straightened determinedly. "And I told you- you got one free shot. If you didn't put me down, I was going to put you down."
"Like you hell you can! I am Stitches! I'm a freaking immortal Duel Spirit and I can skin you alive!" The Ritual monster glared and danced around angrily. "I was killing before you were even born, you punk brat!"
"Save your trash talk for garbage day, clown." Tsubasa snapped a card up from his deck for his turn. "I'm a Springweather, I'm a Shadowchaser and I live in freakin Backwater! You think a talking evil card is going to scare me? Or that because you're evil and magical, I'm going to panic? It's my job to deal with everything like you."
"So what?!"
"So that mean I'm going to bust your ass in this duel and throw you in discount bin with the rest of the useless dollar cards!" Tsubasa slammed a spell card into his disk. "Swing of Memories revives one Normal Monster in my graveyard and since my Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King counts as one in the graveyard..."
A golden glow appeared in front of him, resolving into a large golden sphere decorated with elaborate carvings. Stitches laughed at the sight. "Oooh, a big egg! I'm so worried! I'd be more concerned if you summoned the chicken that could lay something that size! Kyrraa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Joke while you can, Stitches. This egg, as you call it, is level six. And that means, thanks to Advance Force...I can tribute it to summon this deck's rarest card!" Tsubasa slapped down the monster as the Hieratic Seal vanished into sparkles of light. Immediately, a dark pillar of coruscating dark energy erupted in front of him.
What emerged was a towering dragon in heavy black scales. Egg-sized rubies glittered in the stage's lights, running down the sides of its neck and the rest of its body. Its roar shook the air and it glared down at the field hungrily. "Grandora the Dragon of Destruction! At the cost of half of my life points, it destroys and banishes all cards on the field besides the field to gain three hundred for each one! And with exactly eight cards, that means its twenty-four hundred attack points are more than enough to crush you! Boundless Giga Rays!" (TLP: 600-300)
Stitches stared up at the dragon as light began to spill from the rubies on its body, brighter and brighter. Soon it was a solid glow and Doll Franken roared as it was destroyed instantly by a beam hitting it. "I'm not going down like this!"
His form became ethereal and the darkness pouring from Remy into him began to reverse course, the spirit himself sprinting straight for the Director. Then a sword severed darkness and a foot slammed into his side, hurling him into the upstage wall.
There was an explosion of brilliant red light and roar as Grandora's effect went off, but the Duel Spirit ignored it to scramble to his feet to see Neo standing over him. "Cheap shot, pretty boy...!"
(More than enough lives have paid the price to keep you entertained, Stitches) Neo held the tip of his sword to the clown's throat as Tsubasa deactivated his duel disk and approached the pair and the Toybox Troop crowded around their slowly stirring Director. (It's over this time.)
"Really? I don't think so – while I was possessing that Director, I did more than make him lunch!" Stitches sneered up at the pair. "Patches! Time to play!"
"Patches..." Tsubasa tilted his head, then he and Neo hurled themselves backwards as group of five cables shot out of the darkness above the stage. They punched through the floorboard sharply, the wood destroyed like it was tissue paper. "What the hell are those!?"
"Fly cables – strong and thick steel cable meant to hold scenery and crap during a play." Stitches grabbed one and swung himself up around onto them. Behind him, the curtains tore themselves free of their mounts and began to twist and weave into new shapes. "But when they're fired by my cloth golem at more than twenty miles per hour, they'll cut through your body like it was balsa wood!"
Tsubasa drew his sword as the curtains wove themselves into a rough humanoid shape that towered nearly sixteen feet, Stitches taking up a spot on the construct's shoulder. "Cute, but cloth is still cloth and I've got a nice, sharp, sword!"
He dashed forwards as Patches swung a hand around at him, the fly cables whipping through the space he had been standing. Twisting around a lumbering kick, Tsubasa drove his blade straight into the creature's gut. "Let's give you a new belly button!"
Then he watched as his blade merely sank into the curtains like they were water, the fabric not even showing the slightest tear. "Uh-oh..."
"That's not the half of it!" Stitches' voice nearly drowned out Tsubasa's yelp as one of the whirling cables snared the Shadowchaser's ankle and Patches hoisted him up to level with the clown puppet. "It's freaking magical cloth, brat! Even if you drew it taut, your blade wouldn't do nothing to it all! Patches, crack the whip!"
Tsubasa screamed as the golem did so, releasing him at the arc of the throw and sending him crashing into and through a couple of seats in the audience. Patches took two great steps forwards and whipped out a lanky arm, the cables forming its fingers snapping forwards miniature rockets. "Who wants some Shadowchaser shish-kabob!? Kryaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!""
Stitches' laughter cut off as he glanced down at the wreckage and his eyes bugged out. "You got to freaking kidding me!"
"Nope, but I'm still the only one laughing..." Tsubasa coughed as he tried to do so. Impossibly, his body was contorted and twisted at near impossible angles to avoid the cables that had pulverized the floor around him. "Well, as much as I can with a few cracked ribs..."
"Let's see you try it with broken ones!" Patches retracted his fingers and roared, snapping out for a second a time.
Tsubasa rolled out of the way and impressively threw himself into the air with a single hand on the back of a seat. Even as the cables arced for him, he twisted in the air to avoid their ends by a hair's breadth. He even caught one and used it to twirl himself up and around the second set of cables hissing for him. "You guys couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!"
"What the hell are you doing!?" Stitches watched in frustration as Tsubasa actually sprinted down one of the cables towards the golem's head, each part of his body moving independently from the rest to avoid the remaining ones as they attempted to pierce him. "No human can move like that! You're like a freaking-"
"Snake?" Tsubasa didn't seem bothered as the cable he was running on lost its tension, snaring another one and practically slithering around it to swing himself up into the air.
He grinned as he landed foot first into Patches' face, the blowing sinking into the cloth slightly. But it was more than enough to stagger the creature and send it reeling into the wall. "I've got an ophidia girlfriend. She taught me a few tricks."
Then he flipped away as a hand swiped at him futilely, landing on the back of a seat with perfect balance. "I can't really do any of the cool moves, since I don't have a snake body, but it's done wonders for my flexibility!"
Wood flew as the floor underneath him blew apart and the cables snared his arms and legs like vices. Patches rumbled, yanking that arm up as he stood. Tsubasa grunted in pain as he was slammed against the floor. "Okay, she likes it this way, but scales feel better than steel..."
"You'll be finding yourself dead in the next minute!" Stitches leapt off of his creation's shoulder, hurtling down with cleaver raised over his head with both hands. "Say your last goodbyes!"
"Like hell you're killing him!" Don Remy came flying out nowhere, tackling Stitch to the ground. His cigar seemed to burn in time to his anger as he started slugging the other toy being repeatedly. "You posses me, worry my people...'
He hoisted Stitches above his head and hurled him away back on the stage ferociously. "And most importantly, you wreck my theater, and disrespect my stage!"
Stitches landed hard, but bounced to his feet and twirled his cleaver eagerly. "That's not all I'm going to wreck, snuggles! Let's see if you're made of the right stuffing! Kyraa-ha-ha-ha-ah-"
Don Remy's hat hissed through the air and Stitches watched his cleaver-holding arm drop off that shoulder with wide eyes. "...ha?..."
Steel glinted on the hat's edge as it whirled back to Remy's hand. The rest of the Never-Born gathered behind their leader determinedly. "Toybox Troupe, these two things just damaged our home and gave a horrible showing for it."
He flipped his hat onto his head and chomped on his cigar with a predator's grin. "Take the admission outta their hides!"
"YES, DIRECTOR!" The toys all surged forwards. Commander Cracker and his troops were first in the lead, riding on nearly two dozen clockwork birds and other animals. They swarmed around Patches, firing as they came. Despite their small size, each bullet exploded with blue and yellow blasts as they struck, hammering the golem.
Patches roared and tried to swipe the clockworks animals, but they were too small to grasp in his hands and the lashing cables were easily dodged. As he stumbled about, a group of transforming toys were charging from behind. In unison, they all switched to vehicle modes and poured on the speed. As Patches took a step forwards to try and grab at clockwork birds, they zipped down underneath his foot.
With a mighty crash, Patches toppled over. Cables hissed through after the vehicles, but then Miss Tuffet's own cable wrapped around and bound them together. With a mighty pull, she and the dozen other stuffed animals helping her yanked the cables taunt.
Tsubasa groaned as he gingerly picked himself up, taking Neo's proffered hand as the spirit appeared in front of him. "Thanks..."
(You will have to thank your girlfriend for her lessons, squire.) Neo said playfully. (The lady's training has served you well today, and in servicing her...)
Tsubasa groaned, though it was more from the pun than pain. "Lame wordplay, man...but you're right. I'll give Hebi-Na a call when I'm done."
"Shadowchaser!" Commander Cracker, riding the back of a clockwork armadillo, skidded to a halt next to the pair. "Are you uninjured!? We need you to help finish that bloody fabric titan off!"
"Yeah, I can see that..." Tsubasa watched as Atlas and a number of other smaller statues all dropped themselves across the golem's body. But the magical fabric weaved, rippled and slithered free to reform into the golem once again. "At least Stitches didn't manage to make it intelligent..."
(But how are we going to kill it? Our blades aren't effective...and I assume that the curtains it's made out of are firepoof...) Neo grimaced as Cracker nodded.
"Yeah...we need to stop it from being able to..." Tsubasa suddenly smiled and gestured for Cracker to get off his mount. After the toy soldier had done so, he picked up the little animal. "Hey, you're mostly magic proof, right?"
The clockwork being chattered an affirmative.
"Good." He turned to his partner. "You remember that one place we got dumped in? All white and stuff?"
Neo's narrowed slightly and he nodded with a smile as he grasped Tsubasa's plan. (I do.)
"Good. Open a portal there. And you, little guy..." Tsubasa put the armadillo down and patted it on the head. "Just run right through it and coming out the other side in a ball."
It chattered at him again and vanished into the portal as Neo slashed it open. (Go! I can only delay the portal's opening for so long!)
Tsubasa took off, running across the seat backs before leaping onto the stage. "I need a lift!"
Cawing, several of the rider-less birds flew towards him and he used them like stepping stones, vaulting himself higher into the air. "HEY! PATCHES!"
The golem, who was busy in another tug-of-war with Miss Tuffer and her crew, glanced up at him with a roar.
"Time to chill, bro!" The portal opened right above him and out came the balled up armadillo, glittering blue and covered in frost. Tsubasa's bicycle kick smashed into it perfectly, rocketing the construct through the air and right into Patche's open mouth. "He shoots, he scores!"
Patches didn't seem to be affected by the attempt, rearing back an arm to whip Tsubasa out of the air. But there was a suddenly, horrible cracking sound and ice erupted out of Patches' body. In seconds, the golem was frozen solid.
Everyone stared at it for a long, silent moment. Then Don Remy huffed and flicked his hat at it.
As the accessory bounced off, Patches toppled over backwards and shattered into infinitesimal pieces that rapidly melting to nothingness and left the armadillo to safely scuttle back to its comrades.
"You bastard, do you know how much work I put into that?" Tsubasa turned to see a battered, single-armed Stitches lurching towards him. The cleaver was held tightly in his hand and his button eyes were narrowed in anger. "I'm going to murder you, but good."
"Kind of hard to murder someone from all the way down there, doll." The Shadowchaser smirked at him. "Would you like a stool?"
Stitches' response was to raise the cleaver, give an enraged, maniacal shriek and rush forwards as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"Enough." Stitches had barely crossed a third of the necessary distance with the voice suddenly echoed. "You are through, spirit."
Tsubasa and the Troupe stared as dozens of blank, black, Duel Monsters cards flew out of nowhere and become tornado that swallowed Stitches up.
The cards all froze in midair and seemed to melt together, morphing into a tall, dark-haired man. He wore a heavy greatcoat buttoned all the from neck-to-feet and thick, sturdy-looking sunglasses. Lifting a hand, he watched as Stitches' card appeared in his grasp. "You failed to grasp the truth of yourself...and it is as the Shadowchaser said. You are a has-been choking on past glories."
"What are-? No wait-" Tsubasa watched as the man casually tore the card in two, magical shriek erupting as the two pieces simply dissolved into nothingness. "What the hell!?"
"Why are you excited, Mister Springweather? I thought you would be pleased to be rid of an annoying, minor enemy." The man readjusted his sunglasses and stowed his hands in his pockets. "That's the truth, isn't it?"
"Truth..." Tsubasa grit his teeth, Neo bracing himself alongside him as the Toybox Troupe gathered behind him. "I suppose you'd know what this is, right, Trueman?"
"No, I know several truths, but I do not know the Truth, Tsubasa Springweather." Trueman seemed unconcerned by the force arrayed against him. "I gave that human-turned-spirit a new card body and effect to help me discover what the Truth is, but alas, he failed."
"The Truth? You're an aspect of Nightshroud! The only thing you want is to see his return to this world!" Tsubasa gripped his sword. "The Neo Domino Shadowchasers didn't finish you off all those years ago, but you were stuck working for that aboleth."
He pointed his blade fiercely at the other man "You working with Skeleton Knight now, are you?"
"Skeleton Knight? " Trueman shook his head and then smiled slightly. "I have been here in Backwater for nearly eight years. I do not know anything more about that being than you do."
"You've been...here..." Tsubasa grit his teeth while behind him, the Troupe gasped. "What the hell have you been doing here!?"
"Watching. Listening. Studying. Learning. Living amongst the species of this world has been enlightening...for with Nightshroud and Darkness, there is only a singular existence. Here, there is nothing but variety." His smile grew wider. "And in this world, I have found my real purpose, the reason I give myself to exist. The truth to my name!"
"I'll be glad to hear you exposit in a jail cell!" Tsubasa's blade came down at the being, but as it bit into Trueman's shoulder, he simply erupted into a swirling tornado of cards. "God dammit!"
"This city...it is unlike any other in existence. Here, where magic, mundane, life and death and everything else collides, I can find it. I can find the Truth." Trueman reformed a few yards away, spreading his hands wide. "Existence was born in darkness...and to darkness it will return. Nightshroud wished to make darkness absolute and the aboleth wished to use it create something new...I exist in this same darkness..."
His smile was broad, strong and delighted. "What is darkness...the answer to that question will be the Truth, Mister Springweather! The Truth of why anything exists at all and it will undeniable, irrefutable and undying!"
His hands came up and he deftly caught both Tsubasa's and Neo's blades. "But I do not expect you to understand. Nor do I care if you do or not. In reality, I only desire one thing from you Shadowchasers."
Neo and Tsubasa grunted in pain as they were smashed together and Trueman's fist snapped Tsubasa's blade in half as he landed a powerful punch on the human's gut. The force of the blow through Tsubasa back into the seats hard enough to wreck them. "Fight me. Do not hold back. Come at me with everything you posses."
Trueman relaxed, watching as Tsubasa picked himself up. "You eight, who somehow know the whole truth of your own existence without even realizing it, can show me what the darkness is."
"Give me five seconds...we can have throwdown right now..."Tsubasa and Neo glared at him as they stood.
"No, I do not seek simply mindless fighting...to be solved, any equation must be held down to a single variable... Trueman burst into cards, all of them vanishing into the darkness. "I have scattered my gifts across this city, Tsubasa Springweather. Enjoy them as you like..."
Tsubasa watched the cards fade and swore, throwing the remains of his sword at the ground in frustration. "What the hell now!? Seriously, yesterday it was that walking pile of bones and now its a guy made out of blank cards! What is it, 'Buy one, get one for free' sale on villains? It's almost like a bad fanfic!"
(Or a good one.)Neo rubbed the back of his head gingerly. (Straight up hero on villain fights are predictable. Throw another villain in there and things get interesting.)
"Yeah, well, we didn't need the one who just told he's been hiding out here for eight freaking years and has littered the city with cursed cards!" Tsubasa growled and folded his arms in a huff, kicking at a piece of debris. "Now what do we do?"
"Pretty simple, kid." Remy walked up him, brushing off his jacket. "And thanks for saving my hide from that damn card spirit. I just took the thing to look at it and then he tried to jump inside."
"You're welcome." Tsubasa sighed in a tired fashion and glanced down at the teddy bear. "So what do we do?"
Remy smirked around his cigar. "We take bets on who wins in Skeleton Knight versus Trueman."
Tsubasa buried his face in his hands.
(I put my money on Skeleton Knight.)
"NEO!"
TTTTTTT
A/N: Well, I just keep pulling out surprises, don't I?
So let's keep them rolling. And learn a little more about Backwater's more eccentric residents in the process. Next Chapter: Duels, Junk and Rock'n'Roll!
As a side note, Tvtropes entries for Stitches and Patches should be one entry, if anyone was wondering.
For everyone else, Tsubasa's Dragon deck contains no level four or lower monsters and has no way to generate such monsters.
Backwater Case File #1: Edgar Hummond A.K.A 'Stitches'.
Fifty years ago, Backwater was plagued by a series of serial murders that seemed to have no real rhyme or reason behind the targets, though all the victims were desecrated in the same manner- their lips stitched into grins and buttons sewn onto their eyes. Hence the media dubbing the killer 'Stitches'.
Edgar Hummond, however, was finally revealed by to be the man behind the name after he unluckily selected a Springweather as a random victim. He was beat off rather violently and was wounded, though he managed to escape.
But thanks to blood he lost, the police were able to place a magical trace on him and tracked him down to the toy store he owned. With the police breaking down his door and not a lot of life left, Edward attempted to complete a ritual that would transfer his soul to a phylactery and give his physical body immortality.
He screwed it up.
Instead, just as he died, his soul was transferred into a doll nearby. The police found his dead boy and the failed ritual and assumed that he had been unable to complete it. The case was swiftly closed.
It was years before 'Stitches' awakened, the toy have been sold with many others in the intervening years. He found himself in a toybox and promptly crawled his way free, much to the delightful glee of the little child who was his owner. Surprised by his circumstances, but not stupid, Stitches played up the charming magical companion.
At least until he was to try his ritual again. Missing only the blood necessary to draw the glyphs in, he brutally slaughtered the child and their family with a cleaver he stole and set to work.
He screwed it up again.
His soul was again transferred, but this time to a Duel Monsters card located in the child's room. Moreoever, he had screwed up the ritual so badly that it had exploded on him, hurling the cards everywhere and a gust of wind snatched his new home up and sent it fluttering over the city.
Since then, Stitches has never again been able to kill. Not for lack of trying. He often would masquerade his card as a different one and worm his way into his host's mind, trying to take over. He even mastered possession after a point and started doing that to ensure his card would be played and he could take physical form on the duel field.
But his luck remained horrible. His original effect was lackluster, especially for a Ritual Monster. And his control and strength over his hosts was weak and tedious, with even children often overcoming his attempts. About the only thing he remains lucky in that his card always seems to escape from the authorities' grasp.
Over the intervening years, his credence as any kind of threat hit zero and then plummeted into the negative digits. As Tsubasa said, Stitches is often something the team lets Shadowchaser apprentices deal with to ease them into the more terrible things they would have to face.
How he encountered Trueman is unknown, but it appears not even a boost from a force of darkness could help Stitches become something dangerous. With his destruction at Trueman's hands, it seems his luck has finally...unraveled.
Created Cards
Stitches:
Doll Franken
DARK
6 stars
Zombie/Fusion/Effect
0/0
Effect: 2 or more 'Doll Parts' monsters.
This card cannot deal Battle Damage under any circumstances. When this card is Special Summoned, destroy all Spell/Trap cards you control. When this card is Special Summoned, equip as many 'Doll Parts' monsters from your Graveyard to this card as you can. This card gains the following effect(s) depending on the number of 'Doll Parts' monsters equipped to it.
1+: This card gains 1000 ATK for each 'Doll Part' equipped to this card.
3+: When this card would be destroyed, you may send one 'Doll Part' equipped to this card to the Graveyard instead.
5: When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, you may send one 'Doll Part' equipped to this card to the Graveyard. This card may attack again immediately.
Tsubasa:
Dragon's Hoard
Continuous Spell Card
Effect: Each time you Special Summon a Dragon-type monster(s), place one Hoard Counter on this card. You may remove 'Hoard Counters' on this card to activate the following effect(s), depending on the number removed.
2: Send this card to the Graveyard. Draw two cards.
4: Add one Dragon-type monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your Hand.
6: Special Summon one Dragon-type monster from your Deck. It cannot attack during the turn it Special Summoned by this effect.
Note: This card is Limited.
Traitor Amongst The Ranks
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Special Summon one 'Traitor Token' (EARTH/2 stars/Warrior/500/500/Effect: When this token leaves the field, inflict 500 damage to its controller.) to your opponent's side of the field.
