Shadowchasers: Twice-Told Tales
By 7th Librarian
A/N: And we're back here again, aren't we? Good, because I've got another fun story for you all. I hope you all enjoy and find it worth reviewing.
If not, then let me waste your time with a lovely joke!
A jogger is jogging down a dirt road and passes by a field with a horse in it. The horse trots up to the fence and tells the jogger. "Hey, buddy! I used to be a Kentucky Race horse, but now I'm stuck pulling this farmer's dumb plow. I've still got good legs on me! If you buy me off him for ten thousand, I'll win you a hundred grand in a week!"
The jogger thinks 'Wow, a talking horse!' and jogs on up to the farm house and knock on the door.
The farmer answers and asks him 'Whaddya want?"
"Sir, I'd like to buy your horse for ten thousand dollars, right now, on the spot. What do you say?"
The farmer says. "Buddy, let me save you some trouble. That horse has never been to Kentucky."
Ahhh, that was hilarious, wasn't it?
I say it was. Ahhh, I crack myself up...see, now your time reading this is validated! You have learned something- never trust a talking horse! Whoever said fanfiction doesn't teach you anything is a liar. Go tell them that.
Now then, on with the show...
TTTTTT
"There has to be something here about it...he's got books on everything else! And its not like its top-secret or anything, so he better not have it under lock and key!" Judy LaBaron groused to herself as she slid her fingertips along the spines of the books that were nearly stuffed to overflowing on their bookshelf. "And just because I open one demonic, talking book is no reason to lock the office!"
For that is indeed where Judy was- Jalal's primary office in the Shadowchasers Headquarters. While, as his ward and technically Shadowchaser-in-training, she had a bit more access to the facilities' areas than most members of the organization, Jalal was slowly learning a few things.
One of which was that despite his many, many years of experience as negotiator and diplomat, few things had prepared him to argue and cope with the stubbornness and determination of a single teenage half-dragon girl.
Another was that when Judy was determined to do something, she was determined. And that by training her in various martial arts, espionage, magic and all manner of other, necessary skills for a Shadowchaser, he had invariably given her the tools she could use to get herself into all manner of trouble to attempt to satiate her curiosity.
Or in this case, dig around in stuff she really wasn't meant to know in order to find a wholly original topic for a school assignment.
Granted, the books in Jalal's office were not inherently dangerous and many were just titles that he kept handy for references and information on the spot. Apart from the one time he had carelessly left a clearly evil book on the desk while dealing with an abrupt crisis that Judy had opened, there wasn't a whole of lot of trouble she could get into while in her patron's office.
Except...Jalal was not looking forwards to another call from the Headmistress of Judy's boarding school about how the girl needed counseling yet again, due to more papers and presentations on unicorns, dragons, demons and devils and something called 'Woolworth's Sheep of Cotton Nightmares and Apex Predatory Instincts'. A spell Jalal had never even heard of, yet Judy had discovered amongst his books and written a report on how, if given the chance, sheep were going to take over the world.
With wool.
And apparently, the bunny slippers were in on it, as he had found Judy had destroyed his favorite pair after completing her report.
So he had given her a firm lecture on the necessity of sticking to mundane subjects for school assignments, no matter how she might actually know otherwise about magical ones and had taken to locking his office door while he was out and about to drive the point home- his books were not proper research material.
This would have worked well with another adult.
But as previously-stated, Jalal was rather new to the experience of dealing with teenagers.
Judy let out a huff of frustration as she moved up a shelf, glancing over the titles as she searched for anything that might sound what she was looking for. "There has to be at least one book on it! And given how the cards half of these styles purport seem to be cursed or something, it should be in with the magical stuff!"
But her scanning of the shelves eventually proved fruitless and she scowled, smacking a palm against the side of the bookcase. "Why doesn't he have an index for this thing!? The reports due tomorrow and I don't have time to sit and look through every blasted book!"
The bookcase wobbled in protest at her abuse and to her surprise, a single tome slid free from it shelf and crashed to the ground at her feet, as if the structure was giving her a peace offering.
Pulling the book from the free, Judy turned it over in her hands. It was a simple black tome, with a quill pen tucked into the spine and tied to the book via a string. Written on the cover in elegant violent cursive was the words: Pocket Codex of Index: The Guide To The Answers You Want.
"Huh."
Opening and it flipping through the pages, she was surprised to find that they were all blank except for the first five or six. And those pages, written in Jalal's neat handwriting, were a variety of questions.
Curiously, she paged through the questions. "'What is the Reverse of Forwards?' 'How do you find the Black Library?' 'Who is this generation's Shadowchild?' 'Why does the homeworld of the shadow send things to Earth?' Gee, Jalal likes to ask some weird stuff..."
And he had apparently gotten answers, for all of the questions had a single black line through them that suggested the leader of the Shadowchasers had gotten the answers he desired. "I don't get it. It's supposed to provide answers, but all he does is list questions...seems like a funny book to use for a diary."
Then, to her surprise, violet lettering appeared below the last question Jalal had written.
Please write your question in the space provided.
"Ooohh, I get it!" Judy plucked the quill from the spine. "It must just write out the answer in the rest of the pages. Pretty nifty way of saving space..."
Tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, she quickly scrawled her question on the page and winced at how scraggly it looked next to Jalal's prime and proper lettering.
What happened to all of the Dueling Style schools?
She waited for a long moment, but the book did not do anything. "How long is this going to-?" She paused in mid-word as her question flashed slightly and she felt a lurch behind her navel.
The word spun and blurred together and she felt nauseous, light-headed and off-balance all at the same time. Then she was stumbling backwards as the world snapped back into definition and her symptoms were replaced with a pounding headache. "Ooooooogggg...good thing I didn't eat first..."
Blinking to clear her eyes and to help steady herself, the teenager opened them again and felt her jaw drop slightly. "Whoa..."
She was now standing in a large, two-story room whose walls were filled from floor to ceiling with titanic bookshelves. The floor was hardwood and there a few coffee tables and plush chairs scattered about. The shelves themselves were only broken by a small handful of doors scattered about. And despite the fact she could see no light fixtures or windows, the place was very well-illuminated.
Then something smacked into the back of her head and she yelped. "Hey! What gives!" Then another yelp as something else smacked into her. "HEY!"
Stepping aside, she stared as she realized that the objects that had hit her were books.
Books that were floating in the air with no visible means of support and judging from the lump on her head, were hardcover. As she watched, the books swooped up to the second level, followed by a half dozen more. A door opened of its own accord and they vanished through it as a stream of magazines came through in the opposite direction. They swirled around a line of paperbacks and then moved to the ground floor before neatly filing themselves away on an empty shelf.
It was the same thing everywhere she could see-literature of all shapes and kinds floating and shelving themselves or moving through a door way. And as she watched, light flashed and a stack of creepy black books that were possibly covered in flesh dropped out of the sky, only to catch themselves before they hit the ground and join their fellows in organizing themselves.
"You alright, dear? You look a little lost."
Judy whirled at the sound of the voice coming from behind, her jaw dropping the rest of the way.
"You know, I get that a lot..." The speaker said bemusedly. She was tall, probably about six-one at the least. Floor-length hair was a mix of pale greens and blues. The fact it was dripping wet and she had a towel wrapped around her indicated she had just stepped out of the shower. Despite this, she still looked like some kind of godly supermodel, with flawless skin and legs that went on forever. And curves that looked like they should have been inhumanely possible. "Not often enough from pretty young ladies, though..."
Judy felt herself redden and spluttered incoherently, the fact she was standing in some kind of strange room with floating books, teleported by another book catching up with her and she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "You're hot!"
The woman laughed, mirth showing in her strikingly violet eyes. "Why, thank you! What a nice young lady you are. Not the best conversation starter, but points for honesty." Still chuckling, she put a hand on her hip. "Let me go get changed into something more appropriate before you have a nosebleed and I'll help you get thing sorted."
TTTTTT
Though Judy would have thought it impossible, five minute later, they were both seated across one another at a coffee table. The woman had somehow dried her hair, done it up in a long braid, slipped into a sexy, curve-hugging, yet tasteful silver and black dress and made utterly delicious hot chocolate in those five minutes.
Leaning back on the couch and throwing an arm over the back, she crossed her legs and took a drink of her hot chocolate. "So you're Jalal's ward. Adrian mentioned that youngster had finally picked up a kid."
"I'm not a kid. I'm sixteen, thank you." Judy said with a small huff. "And I'm not actually Jalal's daughter, just his ward. He hasn't officially adopted me." Then she blinked. "Wait- Jalal's nearly a thousand years old! He's not young at all!"
"Compared to you, yes. Compared to other immortals, he's not. Adrian and I have nearly have two thousand under our belts." She smiled around her drink at Judy's expression. "I know-I look amazing for my age."
"I'll say." Judy took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Jalal told me once Adrian got married back in the eighties. Are you his wife?"
The woman laughed in reply. "Nope. He's married to a lovely twig of a blonde British woman. I'm just Phoenixia- confidante, best friend, living computer program, mother of the most adorable baby in the Multiverse and mistress to the Librarian and his wife."
The teenager nearly spat out her hot chocolate. "Mistress? Baby?!"
"It's not his, kiddo. And we immortals have a different perspective of relationships than mortals do." Phoenixia explained. "If things like that are surprising you, you're going to have an interesting time trying to get used to the Library Arcanium."
"Is that where I am?" Judy glanced around, comprehension settling in as she remembered the few times Jalal had mentioned the place while talking with her about Adrian. "It seems kind of small..."
"You're in just one room, my dear. The Library itself is infinite." She gestured with an idle hand to the space around them. "So you're lucky I was passing through when you showed up. You could have gotten lost very easily. We could have found soon enough, but some of what we keep here is very dangerous and doesn't even need to be opened or read to cause you no end of grief.
Judy blinked at the explanation. "So wouldn't this stuff be better kept in the Origin Universe, so Morgana's Kin can watch over it?"
"Mmm, no. The Origin Universe has all information of existence in its walls, but the Library is different. We're not exactly meant to be accessible to anyone but a few for very important reasons. One of which is that we are holding the originals of many, many dangerous pieces of literature and artifacts. Things that are too potent to be left simply lying around, regardless if they're used for good or evil."
"And you need an infinite place to store all this?"
"Of course you do. The Library serves all of the multiverse and with an infinite number of dimensions, you therefore have an infinite number of books that need to be stored." Phoenixia explained patiently. It was obvious she had this conversation before. "It's part of Adrian's job to collect this books and upon orders of his superiors, place them where they need to be or dole out the information in them to the necessary individuals."
She took a drink of her hot chocolate. "In short, think of us kind of like the Elvis' Magic Shop from Bruce Coville's books- we're there when you need us and never in the same place twice, but we move the story along."
"That makes sense, I suppose..." Judy scratched a cheek in thought. "But who bosses Adrian around? Jalal told me that the gods answer to really no one but themselves and you'd think that some of them would get kind of pissy when another god told him to grab a book they wanted."
"Adrian is may be on the same power-level as many divine beings, but he's not a god himself and since he does not have belief in any, none of them have any authority over him. He answers only to his boss and no one wants to mess with his boss. Though Adrian does go out of his way to avoid upsetting any of them. Gods hold grudges for a long time, as we've found out about Dominel." Phoenixia waggled a finger as Judy opened her mouth. "Sorry, but that's all you're getting about it. I'm not going to tell you anymore and since you're going to be immortal someday, you'd best get used to accepting that being immortal means you simply aren't going to get all of the answers."
Judy huffed and sank back into the couch cushions grumpily. "I'm going to be immortal teenager if I don't pass this class. Jalal will have to just pass it onto me so I don't die of old age while I'm stuck in it."
"And what's keeping you from passing?"
"Teacher doesn't let me write my essays on what I want and when I finally get a chance to, I can't find anyinformation on it at all!" Judy muttered and took another drink of her hot chocolate frustratedly. "It's relative to Duel Monsters, so why can't I find any information on the Dueling Styles?!"
"Dueling Styles?" Phoenixia lifted an eyebrow slightly. "That is a bit an obscure topic. They were a fad thing, though. Combining the physical and mental disciplines of real martial arts and Duel Monsters was supposed to a result in a better, more mature and focused duelist. But given how most people just wanted to play the card game and not do all that work, most petered out. And the ones that were left wound up destroying each other in battles for supremacy."
"yeah, but no history about them at all!? In any archive? I can't even find any live practitioners! Ryo Marufuji has been dead for years and Sho is kind of hard to get a hold of since he's a Pro Duelist!" Judy groused. "There are rumors of a Psycho-style duelist, but so far, they're just rumors and I can't find them. And supposedly, there's some kind of Dueling Style in the Underworld that the current top duelist and his crew use, but there's no way in hell that Jalal would ever let me out of my room again if I went there."
"That is quite an issue...but you are in the right place, Judy." Phoenixia jerked a thumb to point a nearby bookshelf. "That book you wrote is a means of accessing the Library and it will take to the section you can find your answers in."
"Really!? That's great! Now I can..." Judy's enthusiasm slowly faded as she glanced around the room and its stuffed to the limit bookshelves as it dawned on her just how much information there was to shift through. "This is going to take forever!"
"Not really, kiddo. You've got me and I know the Library just as well as Adrian. Not to mention the books are organized by dimension so you don't have to read everything." Phoenixia leaned forwards to put her drink on the table and Judy couldn't help but admire how the woman filled out her dress and then some. "But you really shouldn't have to do all of that. There's a Shadowchaser who's also a Style duelist."
"Say what?" Judy's head snapped up with a blush to focus on Phoenixia's face. "How do you know that?"
"Oh, I met her once on while helping Adrian with some things." The older woman tapped a slender finger against her lips in thought as she dug for the memory. "Oooohh, its a bit of a secret how I met her, given it being a top-secret one, but I can tell you her part of how she stumbled into the Shadowchasers lap. She wound up involved in that tournament on Arcadia a couple of years ago."
"We learned about that in school recently-I always thought it was odd that such a closed-off nation would suddenly used Duel Monsters to introduce itself into the wider world, but there's no denying that it worked." Judy said. "Jalal mentioned that there was some stuff going on behind the scenes there once or wice
"There was and this particular Shadowchaser wound up part of it." Flipping a length of sky-blue hair over her shoulder, Phoenixia sat back and crossed her legs, ready to tell her story. "If you know anything about Psychic Dueling, then the biggest thing to know about it is that for anyone wanting to find one, the first place to stop was the Arcadia Movement..."
TTTTTTT
The Psychic's Tale
TTTTTTT
"Your operation is rather impressive, Divine. I am amazed that you are able to have such a visible headquarters for your group here in Tops." The speaker was a blonde-haired elf dressed in an immaculate violet-and-gold suit. Piercingly blue eyes studied Divine's office carefully as the two men entered.
"If my organization is going to expose Goodwin for what he is and bring forth an end to the discrimination between Tops and Satellite, then we will need more than words. A physical presence that is a constant reminder to the people of the new future can be far more effective a dozen speeches." Divine told him as he sat down at his desk, the elf taking the seat opposite. "So if we're going to be bringing down the tyranny of Sector Security, we need to set an example for what the Neo Domino will look like after we do so, Lan'tao."
"A new golden age for Neo Domino, equality and peace for all and headed up by the visionary Divine." Lan'tao noted dryly with a smirk. "How...generous of you to enact the change necessary for such a future."
"Well..." Divine smirked back. "One must have power to bring forth change and said power should be shared with those without in a...careful manner..."
"Indeed." Lan'tao said. "Though I have had one question burning on the tip of my tongue since I have arrived- just how do you afford all these wonderful toys? Your organization is hardly something one can simply invest in and except a return somewhere down the line."
"Ah, but we do have investors. The Arcadia Movement has one thing to invest it- our pool of...ah...unique talent." Divine laced his hands together in front him as he spoke. "It's an arrangement elegant in its simplicity- we provide duelists for those we deem needing one of our particular specialty and in turn, we receive funds and our duelists receive necessary experience."
"I see, though that can't be all of it." Lan'tao leaned back in his chair easily. "I found out about you when your organization started pulling duelists off the streets of Miami. What you are dong is hardly...above the board. Just what exactly are you blackmailing Goodwin with?"
"Ah, my apologies about that rather unfortunate incident in your city, Lan'tao. As for Goodwin..." Divine smiled. "Let us just say that everyone has a few skeletons in the closet and leave it at that."
"Very well, though I am wondering if you would be willing to share that particular skeleton with me." Lan'tao said. "It could be an arrangement that would end up very profitable for both of us, Divine."
"I find that hard to believe, as the philanthropist and head of the Pinata Mafia Charity Lan'tao makes his millions through trading and selling rare artifacts. An enjoyable endeavor for a select few, I'm sure, but hardly a place my Movement needs connections to." Divine told him carefully. "Even if you are more than you seem to be."
"More than I appear to be?" Lan'tao looked airily amused. "And how does that work?"
"To begin with, there is a reason that that the tabloids address you as 'Death's Right Hand." Divine gestured to the other man's right arm.
"Ah, just the usual of taking something out entirely out of context and attempting smear my name with it." Lan'tao produced his right hand, shaking down the ruffled sleeve and Divine had to work not to flinch at seeing it.
The elf's hand was nothing but jet-black bone, missing anything resembling flesh. One could count the bones in his palm, wrist and fingers. Moreover, the first knuckles on that hand all been replaced with rings with various gemstones taking the place of the actual knuckle bone. And though the rest of it was hidden in his sleeve, Divine knew that the remainder of his right arm was just like the hand. "Frightening, I'm sure, but hardly anything to be worried about. Just a prosthetic."
"Even if it is, there is the fact that I like to know the histories of anyone I'm dealing with and your name pops decades ago with an odd regularity, such as you providing the storyboard for video games like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and more. Given that you look no older than I do, that leaves one to wonder just how exactly that is possible..." Divine trailed off suddenly, his eyes slipping out of focus for a moment.
"Mmm, yes, its amazing how a name can be passed down from grandfather to son, isn't it?" Lan'tao suggested, smiling as he saw the effects of the spell his arm generated kick in. However clever Divine was, it didn't matter because he was only Mundane. The spell would simple cause him to believe the easiest explanation for any inconsistencies in Lan'tao's history or appearance and then ignore it from that point on.
The leader of the Arcadia Movement shook his head suddenly and then continued as if the last few moments of conversation had never happened. "You are more than you appear to be, but why should it concern me what you do?"
"Let us be frank, Divine." Lan'tao smiled easily. "We both know who we really are, so you know that I run the largest drug cartel on the Eastern Seaboard. But lately, my territory has been hacked and taken away by federal agencies. So I feel it is time to expand. And where better to begin in the false utopia of Goodwin's Neo Domino City?"
"Even my protection wouldn't keep Sector Security from stomping you out in the Tops region." Divine pointed out. "You would be better off starting in Satellite."
"Fully my intention. I didn't get to where I am by being stupid, after all." Lan'tao told him. (And the fact that Satellite and by extension, much of Neo Domino has a rather wayward Shadowkind population, means that I can spread my influence to areas you've never heard of, you foolish man.)
But Lan'tao knew when he could get more out of a deal than most and he decided to press Divine's buttons a little further. "I hear you are trouble with a crime lord named DaPen. If you can extend the protection you have from Sector Security to me, I will take care of him for you."
Divine gave him a tight smile. DaPen had always bothered the Psychic Duelist whenever they had spoken, as something terrible about the man was just lurking beneath the surface. More to the point, the fact he couldn't dig up any history on the crime lord was frustrating him to know end. "An interesting proposition, but Satellite is run by Duel Gangs and I don't doubt several are in DaPen's pocket."
"Which is why we will use our own duelists to do so. A joint effort once I cripple DaPen's outside resources. Once he is left with nothing but duelists, it should be an easy matter to sweep the trash aside. Why, put the right spin on things and the Arcadia Movement could be heralded as the group that turned Satellite into something acceptable to the rest of Neo Domino and Goodwin." Lan'tao smirked as Divine's interested expression. The public relations benefits of turning that rundown slum into something resembling society was too tempting to resist. (I have you now.)
"...agreed. I grant you protection and you remove DaPen for me." Divine extended his hand and Lan'tao shook it with his regular one. "This arrangement will be a profitable one, Lan'tao."
"Indeed." The elf nodded. "Now, Divine, since I have come all this way, I would like to see one of your Psychic Duelists in action if its all the same to you. I've heard a lot about it and given our freshly-minted partnership, I can't help but feel it'd be nice to know exactly your group is capable of."
"Certainly. Always happy to show off the progess we here have made." Divine punched a button on his desk, activating the intercom. "Could you send in Rave, please?" (And when this fool sees exactly how strong a Psychic Duelist is, he'll know that all he's done is made himself my puppet and not a 'partner' at all.)
Those thoughts still going through his head, Divine put on a polite smile and focused on his guest. "Would you like something to eat or drink while wait?"
"No, thank you. Forgive my paranoia, but I bring my own food and drink when I travel. One too many close calls, you see." Lan'tao gestured with a beckoning finger. "One of my daughters happens have a thermos of my favorite tea on her."
Divine nearly started when the dress-clad young woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere and produced a thermos out of the sleeves of her billowy dress. Lan'tao had brought his daughters with him for this visit, but they were all so quiet and unnoticeable that had faded into the background.
The daughter finished pouring her father a cup and he nodded at she smiled and bowed to him briefly before the thermos disappeared up her sleeve and she rejoined her four siblings standing near the back of the room politely. "Are you sure it is wise to bring them along with you?"
"Of course. Not only are they going to one day run the family business, but they serve as my bodyguards as well. Who better to protect you than family, eh?" Lan'tao took a sip of his tea and smiled contentedly.
"Quite." Ignoring how the silent smiles of the man's daughters bothered him, Divine decided a change of topic was in order. "Have you heard about the tournament that is going on in the island nation of Arcadia at the moment?"
"Who hasn't? That island has been closed off for centuries to the rest of the world and suddenly opens its doors to duelists?" Lan'tao took another drink of his tea. "One would think that they're trying to pull another Duelist Kingdom."
"It certainly seems to be succeeding, The rumors coming from the island, of duelists with strange powers and of hidden treasures and wealth, however..." Divine laced his fingers together thoughtfully. "It seems like an ideal place to test out our partnership by trying to get a foothold there, doesn't it?"
"It does." Lan'tao smiled again, though this time it was at Divine's foolishness. (You foolish human. That island is far more dangerous than you could ever realize...)
They were saved from further smalltalk as the door to the office opened, letting in a man dressed in the Arcadia Movement's standard uniform. Alongside him stood a shorter girl, dressed in a gray hoodie and sweatpants. Her expression wasn't flat, but altogether neutral. Both clothing and expression conflicted with the vibrant pink and blue hair she had.
The man bowed to Divine as they moved up to the desk. "Sir, I've brought Rave as you've requested."
"Thank you." Divine nodded, accepted a Duel Monsters card the man handed him and then the lackey exited. "Lan'tao, meet Rave, one of our more interesting forays into the research of Psychic Duelist potential."
"A pleasure to meet you, young lady." Lan'tao lifted an eyebrow as the girl shifted her gaze to him, nodded and then returned to facing forwards. "Can you not speak?"
"She can. However, we would rather she not. Rave has an annoying flippant tongue and we got rather tied of hearing it." Divine explained. "She is also a powerful Psychic Duelist, but again she has a habit of being rather aggressive with them. She did not seem to understand exactly how good our goals are when we tried to recruit her. We had to...ah...persuade her."
"I take it this has something to with the card that you were handed, then." Lan'tao pointed to said object in Divine's hand.
"Yes." Divine flipped it around to reveal that it was the spell card Brain Control. "Particularly powerful Psychic Duelists can manifest Duel Monsters cards in the real word, though with the case of Spell and Traps, it is difficult to much more than, say use a Hinotama card to fling a fireball. However, we've been researching a way to change that-Rave is the current result."
"So you've brainwashed her, then?" Lan'tao lifted an eyebrow again, this time skeptically.
"If you care to use such a dirty word, yes." Divine waved the spell card a bit. "This card is what keeps her docile. As I've said, she's aggressive...we had to make sure she didn't have access to anything with an edge before we started our research. She is a Style Duelist and a trained fighter- absolutely dangerous with a sword."
"A Style Duelist and a Psychic Duelist in one package? A rare find."
"Style Duelists are something you can learn, Psychic Duelists have to be born, Lan'tao." Divine slipped the Brain Control card into his breast pocket and then opened his desk drawer, producing a Duel Disk. "Now then, you said you wanted a demonstration..."
"I did." Lan'tao turned to his daughters and then pointed at one of them. "You. Duel the young lady, please."
The daughter nodded and stepped forwards, producing a Pocket Duel Disk out of her dress and sliding it onto her wrist. "Yes, Father."
"Rave, give our guest a good show, please." Divine tossed the disk in his desk to her and smirked slightly. "Try not to injure her permanently."
"Whatever." Rave caught the device and slid it into her wrist, moving to stand opposite of the daughter. "Do you have a name?" (RLP: 8000)
"Father calls me Secondus." The young woman replied politely and activated her own disk. "Let us begin the game!" (SLP: 8000)
A giant coin appeared between the two and flipped itself into the air. Then it came crashing down, revealing a blank side. Secondus nodded at the result. "A tails means that I go first."
Drawing, she tossed the card onto her disk. "I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh in attack mode position." A blue humanoid robot appeared on her field. However, its arms and legs had been replaced by electrodes and it hummed as it hovered in front of her field. (1900/1200) "Then I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"I draw." Rave did so and like her opponent, tossed the card onto he disk. "I summon out Starsteel Alsafi in attack mode." Her monster was..unusual. A machine warrior built entirely out of a strange blue metal, it clenched a fist and pointed it at Rai-oh as it appeared. "Attack Rai-Oh! Star Punch!" (1900/800)
"Our monsters scores are equal-they will be destroyed together." Secondus blinked as the machine charged across the field, fist cocked back to strike and then froze midway across the field. "I beg your pardon?"
"When Alsafi attacks, I may check the top card of my deck. If it is a Starsteel monster, I may send it to the graveyard. If its not, the card shuffled is back into my deck." Rave flipped up the card and held it up. "A Starsteel, so it goes to the graveyard and then Alsafi gains five hundred attack points!" (1900-2400)
The machine continued his charge across the field, a blue glow wreathing his fist. The blow smashed right through Rai-Oh, leaving the machine to spark rapidly before exploding. (SLP: 7500)
Rave grabbed a card from her hand and slid it into her disk as her monster returned her side of the field. "I set this face-down and end my turn."
"Draw." Secondus tucked the card in her hand and then slid another onto her disk. "Nothing I have can beat your monster's boosted score. One monster in face-down defense mode completes my turn."
"Draw." Rave pointed across the field. "Star Punch!" As Alsafi attacked, she flipped up the top card of her deck, revealing it to be a spell card. Without changing her expression, she simply shuffled the card back into her deck as Alsafi punched the set monster in two.
"That was Naturia Cherries. Since it was destroyed in battle, I can set two more of it from my deck in face-down defense position." Secondus watched as two animated cherries appeared in front of her, giggling before they were replaced by brown-backed cards.
Rave studied the two cards for a moment, then nodded. "Turn end."
Secondus drew and then one of her set cards vanished in a burst of light. "I tribute one of my monsters to summon out Naturia Bamboo Shoot." The monster lived up to its name, being a teardrop-shapped piece of bamboo with short arms and legs. "When Naturia Bamboo Shoot is summoned via tribute of a Naturia monster, my opponent becomes unable to use any Spell or Trap cards." (2000/2000)
A spell card appeared in front of her. "With the card Burden of the Mighty in play, all of my opponent's monsters lose one hundred attack points times their level." Alsafi slumped as his power dropped. (1900-1500)
Rave watched dispassionately as the Bamboo Shoot came across the field and body-slammed her machine to dust. (RLP: 7500)
"To complete my turn, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my own set card." A wind howled and the card shattered. "That was Spell Groundwork and when it is destroyed, I can select one continuous spell card in my deck and add it to my hand. It cannot be activated this turn." She held up a second Burden of the Mighty. "End of turn."
"Draw." Rave did so and then glanced at the card before tossing it onto her disk. "I set one monster in defense mode. End of turn."
Secondus drew and plugged a card into her disk. "I activate a second Burden of the Mighty and then normal summon King Tiger Wanghu in attack mode." With a low roar, a Siberian tiger appeared on the field, its body covered in armor. "With this monster in play, any monster that has fourteen hundred or less attack points when it is summoned is destroyed." (1700/1000)
The Psychic Duelist watched, almost without interest, as the tiger slashed her set card to pieces and a cackling came from said pieces. "Morphing Jar requires both players to discard their hands and draw five new cards."
Secondus complied with effect, as did Rave and then pointed across the field. The Bamboo Shoot flew across the field and smashed into Rave headlong, sending her staggering a step. (RLP: 5500) "I set one card face-down. End of turn."
Divine almost seemed to scowl as Rave got back to her feet. "A lock deck..."
"Yes. I find it is a rather effective way to deal with my enemies." Lan'tao crossed his legs with a smirk. "Thanks to the Burden of the Mighty Cards, there are no monsters Rave can summon that will have above fourteen hundred attack points and thus will be destroyed by the Tiger. And thanks to Naturia Bamboo Shoot, Rave can not break the lock or defend herself with Spells and Traps."
"And to make that little combo complete, that set card is Light of Intervention, isn't it?" Divine narrowed his eyes.
"Correct." Lan'tao cast a critical eye at him. "Your Psychic Duelist is hardly what I have heard and when you talked about all this research you were putting into her, I expected something far more impressive." He folded his arms and turned his attention back to the duel. "She is nothing more than puppet."
"A puppet that I am pulling the strings of." Divine pulled the Brain Control card out and spoke directly to his duelist. "Rave, Lan'tao just called you a puppet. Are you going to let an insult like that to your duelist pride slide?"
Rave clenched her fist, her body trembling as a soft blue glow flickered to life around her body, fading and in out. "Di...vine..."
"Don't try to resist my control, Rave, I'm only helping you." Divine murmured and the card in his hand glowed softly as he put some psychic force behind his words. "Don't let Lan'tao try to steal your duelist's pride...that's the most important thing to you, isn't it?"
"Y-yes..." The trembling increased slightly, the aura dimming to a faint glow, but finally locking into visibility.
"Then stop him. Win the duel. Use your power and crush the duelist before you." Divine commanded.
"Yes...I have to win!" The blue aura darkened and Rave's head lifted, her eyes brimming with determination and pride. "It's my turn, draw!"
She swept the card free of her deck and everyone else in the room felt their clothes ripple from the wind the action produced. "Your lock is powerful...but I'm going to tear it and you down in this turn!"
"You cannot even play any cards. Especially now that I am activating my Light of Intervention card." Secondus pointed out as the trap flipped up, calm despite the girl's aura and ferocity. "You have no options."
"Oh, yes I do!" Rave's graveyard slid out cards. She grabbed them and held them up in a fan to reveal their total number was five. "By banishing Starsteel Alfasfi along with three Starsteel monsters and a special Spell card known as a Constellation Engine from the graveyard, I can Fusion Summon your defeat!"
Secondus and Lan'tao stared in amazement as four of the blue-metal machines appeared in the air above her, then were pulled together in a flash of light. What crashed hard onto her field as made out of the same metal as its components, but something far, far larger in size. It most of its body was coiled around Rave in order to fit into the room and five heads roared together as they awakened. "Starsteel Hydra!" (2700/0)
Rave pointed at the two Burden of the Mighty cards as they glowed. "My monster is level six, so it only looses twelve hundred points and that means at fifteen-hundred attack points, you can't destroy it. But its a moot point anyway, since when Hyrda is summoned, all face-up Spell and Trap cards on your field are destroyed!"
Three of the Hydra's heads flashed out and devoured the cards easily. "For each one, it gains one extra attack this turn!"
She pointed up at her monster's chest cavity, which Secondus realized was simply an empty hole, like a screen or a window. "The Constellation Engine I banished was the Leo constellation and since I used it to fusion summon a Starsteel monster, it gains one thousand attack points!" An image of the Leo Constellation appeared in the chest cavity and the Hydra roared again as its power rose. (2700-3700) "Destroy Naturia Bamboo Shoot! Star Shoot-Leo Charge!"
The center head spat out a blaze of blue energy that morphed into a lion and smashed into the Naturia monster, burning it away to ash easily. Secondus cried out in real pain and staggered backwards as the energy lion slashed her across the chest, tearing her dress. (SLP: 5800)
She lifted her hand and stared at with wide eyes to find it stained slightly with droplets of blood. "What...how...?" Then her gaze lifted and fear filled her eyes at the card she saw Rave holding up. "Limiter Removal...!"
Lan'tao had to shield his eyes from the flash as the Starsteel Hydra launched its last two attacks, the power rocking the office. There was a scream of pain and then only silence.
Lowering his arms, he couldn't hide his surprise as he saw that the two attacks had hurled Secondus into the bookshelf behind her, the bookcase itself utterly broken and the books piles of paper scattered around. The wall was cratered slightly from the impacts and though he could tell his daughter was still breathing, it looked she had several broken bones.
Rave was smiling as she surveyed the wreckage and the duel's holograms faded away, but then the expression dropped from her face to be replaced by one of surprised horror. "What...No! No! My powers aren't supposed to be used like this!"
She whirled on her heel, launching herself towards the desk's occupants, Duel Disk drawn back to strike. "Divine! You bastard!"
Then she was eating carpet as Lan'tao's remaining daughters all tackled her, pinning her to the floor and emphasis that they meant business with several pointy weapons that Divine was surprised could fit in their dresses. "I don't have time for you-let me go!"
The aura returned to life around and her eyes glowed blue, but Divine swiftly held out the Brain Control card and exerted his own will. Instantly, Rave shook her head desperately. "You bastard...!"
"Harsh words will do you no good, Rave...I'm just trying to help, after all." Divine watched as her head slumped, followed shortly by her body. "You may release her. She is no threat..then or now."
Lan'tao gestured, his daughters stepping away from Rave with one of them going to gingerly pull Secondus out of the wreckage and help her out of the way. "I can see what you mean by aggressive. Why did your control slip like that?"
"It wasn't a loss of control, more like a redirection of aggression. Rave is a powerful Psychic, but she also an equally powerful pride. By loosening the restraints on it, she becomes a strong duelist due to the natural instinct for battle all duelists share." Divine watched as Rave stood up, neutral and docile once again. "As you saw, though, if she is not given an appropriate target..."
"Yes. I understand." Lan'tao clapped his hands. "Color me impressed, Divine. Psychic duelists are something to not be underestimated, a mistake I won't be making again."
The elf gestured towards Rave. "Given this fine demonstration, I would like to borrow her from you to help me with a Duel Gang that is plaguing my own territory."
"Oh? This is rather sudden..." Divine chuckled. "Well, I'm sure we can work something out. After all, what's a small loan between friends?"
"Nothing, nothing at all is what it is." Lan'tao extended his good hand and the two men shook, each feeling they had gotten the better of the other.
TTTTTTT
Days later...
It was a beautiful sunset, coloring the calm ocean a mix of oranges, red and yellows. Even as Rave watched, a series of fish suddenly broke the surface and dove back down. Each splash looked like a drop of molten liquid.
"Enjoying the view, are you?"
She turned and smiled at the speaker. "Yes, Lan'tao. It is very pretty."
"Isn't it, though?" The elf smiled back and walked up behind her as she returned to watching it as his rather large yacht plowed through the water. He rested his bone hand on her shoulder. "Are you excited for the job I have for you?"
"Yes, Lan'tao!" She nodded vigorously and then paused, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "Only if the opponent is as strong as you say! I won't forgive you if I have to duel somebody weak!"
"Oh, your opponent will be strong, Rave. Very strong, indeed." Lan'tao squeezed her shoulder. "I'm counting on you to win."
"I won't let you down!"
"I know you won't, my dear." With that, Lan'tao left her staring at the ocean and made his way back along the deck to his cabin.
As he entered, a shadow detached itself from the wall and fell into step behind him. "Why did you insist on bringing that girl, my lord?"
"I bring her because she is an edge I can use, Gregory. Something my enemy knows nothing about." Lan'tao accepted the wineglass Gregory offered him. "Did you accomplish everything I asked?"
"Yes, my lord." The shadow produced the Brain Control card that Divine had given Lan'tao when the Arcadia Movement leader has loaned her out. "We have replaced Divine's ineffiecent psychic controls with a powerful spell. She knows nothing but that she is yours and will do as you command her."
"Excellent." The elf took the card and slid it into his interior breast pocket. "With magic controlling her and not that idiot's brainwashing, her powers and dueling intellect are unrestrained. She will be able to duel at full power. I doubt she has ever even countered something like Rave before, so her arrogance in underestimating Rave will be her downfall."
"My lord, are you sure this is wise?" Gregory followed Lan'tao as he made his way farther into the boat's interior. "It has been one thousand years, but our spies report her powers are still very formidable."
"My spies tell me only what their eyes tell them. I know the Shadow Queen personally." Lan'tao told Gregory and took a drink of his wine. "She is at a crisis now, thanks to her little tournament plan failing to do anything to stop her enemies. There is no way she will not accept my help."
"But sir, you killed her Champion! The one you said she loved before all others!" Gregory protested. "Her wrath will be more than terrible and-"
"Silence." Lan'tao scowled in the shadow's direction and it retreated slightly. "The Champion died one thousand years ago, but she doesn't know that I was one who did it-how could she? That blasted unicorn maiden is the more likely suspect and even that hero knew I did, I doubt she'd be inclined to tell the Queen anything."
The pair entered the crime lord's room-ornate, luxurious and dark. "And even she found me suspect as to why I am returning right now, what I bring with me will ensure that she accepts me." He walked over to a cloth-covered pedestal and gripping it, he whipped it off with a flourish. "Behold, Gregory, the key to my plan."
On the pedestal lay a longsword. The blade was well over a yard long, the mirror-like surface of its blackness almost seeming to negate the light around rather than reflect or absorb. The handle was also black and was a simple cruciform, but long enough that the weapon could have been wielded with one or two hands with ease. Only the crossguard had any color to, a gold detailing of two sapphire-eyed wolves fighting that extended into a lattice-work that made its way up a foot of the blade's length before tapering off. "The sword Steadfast, once called Oblivion and the Champion's personal blade."
"The Champion's weapon?" Gregory's body rippled in surprise, swirling around the weapon to peer at it from various angles. "I thought it was lost in that final battle."
"It was and the heroes took it with them they left. Five hundred years ago, a knight and a rather funny magician found it and used the weapon to defeat the Queen's spawn then. It wound up in the knight's family, but I had it stolen." Lan'tao took another sip of his drink and watched Gregory inspect it.
"Why?"
"That sword was tempered and forged with the Queen's own magical blood. The Champion and the Queen used it to slay a powerful demon that was immune to magic and could not be slain by ordinary means- it acted as channel for her power once the Champion was able to pierce the demon and her magic destroyed it from the inside out." Lan'tao moved over to the sword, running his eyes over the magnificent weapon's length. "And when the knight used it five hundred years later, the same properties made it a lethal weapon against the Queen and her spawn."
"Is this why you want it?" Gregory's amorphous end that served as his 'head' peered up at his master. "So you may kill her with it?"
"Too easy, Gregory and hardly worth the effort. No, you see...the same properties that make this sword a channel for her power can work in reverse. As a siphon." Lan'tao smiled darkly. "All I need to do is stab her with this blade and I can drain all her magic, all of her immortality, into myself."
"A thousand years is a long time to wait for such a chance, my lord. Are you sure that you will be able to get it?" Gregory reached a tendril to pluck the weapon off the pedestal, then shrieked and withdrew it as black fire burned to life around the weapon.
"Idiot- do you think such a magical weapon would just let anyone wield it?" The elf scolded the living shadow and reached with his bone arm. His fingers clicked and clacked as they wrapped around the hilt and he lifted the weapon free. "I had to promise the Queen's soul to Demogorgon in order to receive this arm that would allow me to hold the weapon. The soul of the proxy of Graz'zt was too much to resist."
He slashed the sword through the air a few times, twirling it expertly. "And yet, the weapon's secrets are still kept form me."
"Master?" Gregory peered at him curiously.
"It is a powerful weapon, Gregory, but it is not as powerful in my hands as it was in the Champion's. Its ultimate technique, the Mugetsu, remains out of my reach. And since Oblivion became Steadfast, it has gained a holy power rather than a dark one. At this point, I don't think even the Champion could use it to its full potential again unless they could convert it back." Lan'tao replaced the weapon on the pedestal. "But it doesn't matter. It will serve me for the purpose I need."
The elf sat down in a luxuriously recliner, swirling his line. "I have sold my daughters' souls to Squarefoot for my extended life and now it seems that history is inclined to repeat itself, Gregory. The Queen's island balks at her power, her enemies stand at her doorstep and desperation plays at all sides..."
Wine spilled over his hand as the glass shattered with one powerful flex of his grip. "Except this time, I will win."
TTTTTTT
In the darkness of the Shadow Queen's bedchamber, a pair of silver and black eyes snapped open.
Lyrius rose from the bed, deftly making his way to a balcony. He stared out over the island, watching the lights of Petalburg twinkle in the distance. The wind was chill, tugging at his dark prismatic locks, but he ignored it as he scanned the horizon. No ordinary human would have been to see anything, but he had long since ceased being ordinary.
"Lyrius?" The Queen's voice floated out after him and he heard her slid out of bed, padding across the stone floor after him. "Beloved, why are you up?"
"Oblivion is returning to the island." He told her, still scanning the ocean waters carefully.
"Are you sure?" She regarded him carefully.
"Oblivion is my sword. I would know its power anywhere." Lyrius pointed out in a seemingly random direction. "There-that light in distance. It is on that vessel."
"A vessel approaching the island?" The Queen frowned and her eyes shone a bit brighter as she reached with her power to get a feel for what was in her territory.
A dark hiss slid from between her lips and she grabbed the balcony's railing violently, angry strength causing it to creak and groan. "Lan'tao! That traitor dare show his face to me!?"
Lyrius' face darkened slightly. "Lan'tao still lives...such an oversight needs correcting."
"It is not for lack of trying, beloved." The Queen growled, the railing bending and twisting. "He is slippery and I do not know how he has achieved his immortality, but he has avoided my grasp for centuries..."
"And now he walks right into it, brazen as ever." Lyrius watched the dot of light. "He does not know that because of our bond, you knew that he had killed me one thousand years ago."
"So he returns because he knows of my situation and seeks to regain favor by showing up at the last minute..." The Queen smiled with absolute viciousness. "So let us play his game when he arrives, let him think that he has his path to victory. And then...he will understand new meanings of suffering in exchange for taking you from me."
He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her body firmly. "But I am here now, malthena."
"Yes. And let us not waste the present." She slid from his grasp, pulling him back into their bedroom with a lascivious smile. "A thousand years is a lot to catch up on..."
TTTTTTT
Judy blinked in surprise as Phoenixia stopped talking. "Hey! You can't stop the story there! It can't end like that!"
"Oh, it doesn't." Phoenixia assured her. "It's just that the rest of the tale is someone else's to tell."
"That totally sucks!" Judy groused at her. "Why can't you finish it?"
"Because, Judy, I like to tell what happened to me next myself."
Judy whirled in her seat. "How did you-I mean-"
"What?" Rave looked like she hadn't aged beyond a day from what Phoenixia had described her as looking, save for the Shadowchaser mark on her face and the fact her hair was now violet and green and quite a bit longer. "You wanted to learn about my Dueling Style, didn't you?"
"Yes, but how did you get here?" Judy gestured to the Pocket Codex she held in her hand. "I kind of have the magic book."
"That would be me." Jalal appeared from around a bookshelf, a stern expression on his face. "I thought I warned you about messing with my books, Judy."
"Uh-oh..." Judy gulped and offered him a weak smile. "It was an honest research topic this time?"
"Why do you think I went to trouble of getting Rave in the first place?" Jalal asked. "If you had been patient, you would have learned that I wasn't in my office because I was getting her."
"Okay, okay, I'll be more patient and stuff in the future." Judy promised hastily and then fixed her attention on Rave. "How does the story end? Tell me!"
"Wellllllllll..."
TTTTTTT
A/N: The stage is set, the actors all converge to play out their parts...but even if the script is ancient history, history can be changed...
This story's conclusion will happen in Cyber Commander's Thousand Year Door Redux! Don't miss it!
My thanks to Cyber Commander for letting me tie my own work into his like this and for being patient for me as I flip-flop back and forth on how I wanted to do it.
A complete list of Rave's card will be available in the chapter she debuts in TYDR.
For anyone who cares, Lan'tao's daughters are named Prima, Secondus, Tertia, Quattra and Pentanna. If anyone can tell me which book/film I got this naming theme from, you earn a gold star!
I apologize for anyone who felt the duel was short- I didn't want to reveal too much of her strategy. And I apologize to anyone who felt this chapter was kind of of out-of-place. As I mentioned when I started 'Tales' I was hoping to experiment with writing choices I wouldn't get to otherwise and this is one of those experiments. Also, I like to strengthen continuity between Shadowchaser stories, so anyone who can catch all the references to various ones in this story gets another gold star.
Later Dayz, y'all.
