Taming the Veil- Chapter Eleven
Another World
His head was spinning with confusion as he felt the cool soil beneath his touch. Everything was dark as a loud voice forced its way through the silent darkness.
"Aiden, you have to get up! If you die on me, I will kick your butt up and down the street!"
"Marci?" he asked at a loss for words. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, now open your eyes you idiot!"
His body was aching, but he forced himself to open his eyes and once he looked up, he let out a fearful scream as he gazed into the intimidating eyes of a ten foot tall lizard. If its intimidating silver and black armor hadn't been frightening enough, the long and dangerous blades on its arms were more than enough to send a grown man into a panic.
"What the heck is that thing?" he yelled backing up into Marci's leg.
"Relax, he is a friend."
Aiden hadn't seen the man behind the lizard until just now. He was tall and appeared friendly enough. His hair was dark and his bangs nearly covered his dark and experienced eyes. His skin was fairly dark and he had a scar that ran diagonally on his right cheek. He looked like a normal person, but something was different about him… aside from the giant lizard.
"Who are you? And where am I?"
Marci helped Aiden to stand as Zane made his presence known to Aiden with a cheerful smile. He hadn't noticed it until just now, but there was something different about his surroundings. The sun was setting on an entirely different world! He looked around and saw many trees and strange beings. Were they aliens or monsters? The man approached Aiden with a kind smiled and held out his gloved hand.
"I am Derrick Juan and this is my partner, Gilaflame the Assaulter and you are in the creature realm."
As Aiden grasped his hand and felt a surge of power as he caught sight of a strange vision. He saw eyes, glaring back at him from behind a veil of fire. They hadn't belonged to Derrick. Whose were they? The vision faded as the earth below them began to tremble from a massive force as urgency filled the eyes of Aiden's new ally.
"What's going on?" Zane asked as he caught Marci and Aiden as their footing faltered.
"It's another creature! And a big one to say the least. We must return through the veil!"
Derrick struck a series of complex poses as a small tear in reality opened up before them. Marci and Zane were the first ones through the portal as Aiden stood slack-jawed and amazed by the size of the lumbering beast. He remembered that monster. It was a tank on drugs. It had two long necks with two angry heads and another vicious mouth on its body. Its slimy tentacles crushed trees with the simplest of ease as it approached them in a blind rage. It was the darkness creature Gigargon.
"Aiden, you must hurry! We don't have much time before that creature reaches us!"
Aiden sat, paralyzed by fear and the memory of the very creature that had shattered his perception of reality in the duel with Breaker. Gilaflame used his great speed to grab Aiden and throw him through the portal as Derrick followed and Gilaflame occupied Gigargon as best it could. Moments later, everything was normal again. Aiden was in his world and things made sense again…if he ignored everything that hadn't he found himself inside a small and unimpressive room with blue mats and cheesy motivational posters. Marci was behind him, but not for long. She stepped in front of her injured friend who was sitting on the ground in shock and slapped him across the face as the sound filled the room and Aiden fell over. The power of that hit was even enough to make the tall and strong Derrick flinch.
"Aiden, are you crazy?" she fumed. "You would've been killed by that thing! When someone tells you to get to safety, you move your dumb butt before you get eaten alive and end up leaving the people who care about you!"
"Marci…"
Aiden gazed at her in confusion and began to feel really guilty as Derrick stepped into the middle of the situation and prevented Marci from delivering another brain rattling smack.
"So… is there any chance you'd believe this is all a dream?"
Zane, Marci, and Aiden stared at the young adult angrily as he gave them a sheepish smile and opened a door that led to the back room of a cheap dojo.
"Follow me and we'll get you fixed up and I'll explain everything."
The back room had a very small and modest appearance; a few flyers, a couple of books, a large mirror, and a pretty woman sitting behind a desk. She had long and crimson red hair, soft green eyes, and a gentle smile. She wore a casual light green top and a black skirt; while Derrick wore an odd outfit that made him look like a ninja. What kind of place was this?
"Who are your new friends Derrick? Are they our new Acolytes?"
"Possibly, I rescued them from a dangerous Kaijudo duel. I need to attend to this one's injuries though."
The woman smiled and pressed a button below the desk as the mirror shifted to one side, revealing a large set of stairs.
"Are you sure we should trust these people? We don't know where those stairs could lead or what kind of people these are." Zane whispered cautiously.
"That's true, but it's not like we can get very far with two injured duelists. They have monsters on their side, so let's at least hear what they have to say first." Aiden said following Derrick.
"But wait, we don't know if this is safe." He said as Marci passed him by.
"Dude, aren't you even in the least bit curious about all of this?" She asked skeptically.
"No! I'm completely fine just forgetting about all of this!"
"Well not me, if Aiden can handle this, I can too."
Zane reluctantly followed his friends as Derrick and the woman from the desk walked behind them.
The trail had gone completely cold. I'd surveyed the entire area of the duel, and even followed them to the other realm, but they'd managed to barely escape. The saving grace behind this failure was the discovery of a possible solution to my lord's problem. My wrist watch beeped as his face appeared on the screen.
"Did you immobilize the target young one?"
"No sir, I didn't. I was one step away from completing the mission, but a little pest got in my way, but I do have some interesting news for you."
"Well, spit it out Breaker, I don't have all day."
"I discovered the identities of two somewhat powerful Kaijudo duelists while working the tournament angle and one of them just might be the duelist we've been looking for."
"You don't say… Administer the test to these new duelists and report the results back to me."
"Am I still to pursue the previous target?"
"That shall not be necessary. She'll be her own demise. Proceed to giving them the test and please, pull no punches and be sure to take care of any bystanders that happen to see it."
"As you wish my lord." He said as the connection cut out.