It's that time again, for more card game goodness, despite the fact that there won't be any duels in this chapter, but you know what I mean. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter for what it's worth.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic. They're the property of their respective creators.
Note: Any made-up cards/skills will be underlined and will get their effects explained in their introductory chapters.
Chapter 37: A traitor revealed
Throne of the Grandmaster: Palace of the Hegemon
News of the failed raid on Tsukiji Kongangi reached the ears of the Divine Conspiracy; though disappointed that the Divine Powers weren't exterminated for good, they were more than pleased to hear that they suffered immensely, especially with Jaern's surprise announcement. Tressa has ordered a quick gathering with her Octoguard to put in any thoughts on this turn of events.
"If I may, I would like to input my doubts about allowing the traitors to join us after their betrayal; who knows when they'll point their knives at our backs." Big Smoke commented.
"Considering how we ourselves are traitors, it seems hypocritical to chew them out on it. Regardless, I do understand the point you are making." Primrose casually replied, twirling her half-full wine glass in her hand. "The real issue at hand is Dagda; he had only made his first move and already the Hunter Association and the Divine Powers are panicking."
"Dagda always was an issue in the grand scheme of things; you think he'd ally with us given our lady's goals, but he chose to work alone." H'aanitchimed in.
"He's not the only threat; there's also that Cult of Kosmos that's been causing trouble throughout the world. Who knows when they'll strike next." Alfyn added. "I would suggest forming a temporary alliance with them, but it'll cause us trouble in the longrun. What do you suggest we do next, my lady?"
"The fangame creators will have their hands full with Dagda and his puppet, giving us sufficient time to prepare our next move." Tressa began, unfurling a large sheet of paper on the table. "I have here a series of plans that I initially discarded as they opposed Krishna's goal, but since we're not his puppets anymore, we can go to town on them. However, of the ones I accumulated, only two of them seem useful to us."
"Hrm…your first plan is to simply shift our forces into the Kamihime Dimension, stage a takeover and usher in Ragnarök in order to wipe out all other universes. Interesting, but it seems highly implausible." Cyrus said the first plan out loud.
"I figured it would be implausible; even if I did have the power to open up a pathway to the realm, we'd have to go up against 150+ Kamihime and I can't say I like our odds of coming out of a scrap alive." Tressa calmly replied. "I do have a way that we can make it work to our advantage; summon the individual Kamhime from their world and have them fight for us."
"I like it, especially since they are blessed with the power of the gods themselves." Big Smoke supported the idea. "But what'll we do in the event that one of our followers decides to have their way with them?"
"The Kamihime would be granted permission to use lethal force in the event of an unwanted advancement." Tressa answered, her eye's shifting over to the second plan. "I do see some real potential with this second plan though."
"Create our own Pokémon fangame, with or without assistance from the traitors." Ophilia read it out loud. "Not bad, but how exactly will it help us out?"
"Have you not seen how devoted the fans of Reborn are to it? They've formed an unofficial army, protecting it from critics and corporate law makers, not including that Astolfo and his pack of warriors. And that's just one game; the armies of SEVERAL fangames, likely the ones made by Starlight Studios have joined forces to combat the Divine Powers." Big Smoke began, a grin plastered on his face. "Imagine if we had that sort of fire power under our command; we'd be nigh invincible!"
"I'd take them over half the idiots we got clamouring in our ranks, especially that contemptable Tayama. On another note, did you know that he left the organisation and vowed to destroy Lady Tressa?" Therion drawled out.
"Like I'm frightened of that lowly weasel; I can break him in half as if he were a toothpick!" Olberic bragged, eliciting a chuckle from a few of the others.
"Considering how much of a non-threat that tosser is, we can leave him to do his own thing." Tressa stated. "I'm really liking the fangame idea, especially since I hired those supervillains from Gotham to nab the original copies of the games for me. Once I've got them, I'll merge a few of them together to create super games, packed with twice the content, twice the story, and since this next one's really profitable these days, twice the diversity!"
"Well I like the idea, but I'm no game designer…ehehehehe." Alfyn chuckled nervously.
"No matter; we've got the traitors on our side now. I'm sure they'll help us out for a cut of the profits." Primrose replied. "Furthermore, I can convince Plasma Tech to cut their deal with Starlight Studios and help us out. After all, I'm sure they have copies of the software in their databanks."
"Hmmmm…I like your idea, Primmy. I've been playing Fusion Generation 2, and it's a fun game. However, my merchant sense is telling me that I can make it much, much better. More fusions, more areas to explore, a more detailed story, heck I can even make up more Ultra Beats. I've got bags of ideas for a third instalment, and I'm confident that Plasma Tech's CEO would salivate over them." Tressa chimed in, chuckling to herself. "Ahh…this is gonna be great!"
"Indeed, my lady. However, it'll take a day or two to organise a meeting with their CEO. In the meantime, I'll talk it over with the traitors to see if they're interested." Big Smoke informed his boss.
"That's fine. Right now, we've got an encore to watch over. Oh boy, I can tell this would be great!" Tressa replied, a sinister smirk on her face.
Starlight Studios: The next morning
Astolfo wasn't in the best of moods right now; he had been woken up from a most pleasant dream he was having and found out that he and his friends had to attend a trial that was set up by the Hunter Association.
"Remind me Boudy, why do we have to go to this trial? I just wanna sleep for the entire day after what we went through yesterday." Astolfo complained, lounging about in the waiting room.
"We have to support the prosecution's case regarding Nanashi's guilt; he did tell us of his master plan the other day." Boudica reminded the young man, the latter yawning loudly.
"Well couldn't they have held the trial at a later time, I needed my z's." The pinkette replied.
"Look, here's a Snickers bar you can have. You're not you when your hungry." The redhead commented, throwing a chocolate bar at the latter, who scooped it up and started eating it. "Better?"
"Much better." Astolfo replied, back to his cheery mood. A bit later, Chevalier, Blair and Roland entered the room and sat down with their companions.
"Oh, good morning you two." Chevalier smiled at them. "Ready to see Nanashi hang for his crimes?"
"Didn't take you for one who enjoys executions." Boudica commented.
"Normally I don't, but I received the news from Isabeau last night; over 20 hunters dead, with Flynn sustaining a serious injury as well. It isn't life-threatening, so that's a small relief, but that isn't even the worst offence committed." Chevalier began.
"Apparently the interrogators found out that Nanashi was responsible for releasing Krishna from his prison, in the ark buried under Kanda-no-yashiro." Blair finished off her boyfriend's statement, surprising the rest of the group.
"Seriously?! You mean to tell me this entire war we're facing is all thanks to that little brat? Oh when I get my hands on him…" Boudica growled, clenching her fist tightly.
"Get in line; I ought to teach that shit a lesson in pain for nearly getting Ame killed back then." Astolfo chimed in, before a puzzled look appeared on his face. "On another note, where are Miccy and Sothe? They're usually up around this time."
"Those two were pretty close together when they went off to their room last night. Call it a hunch, but—" Roland began, before the sound of frantic moaning echoed through the building. "Well I guess you got your answer then."
"I guess I'll get them then, I'll be back in a minute or two." Astolfo replied, heading up to the source of the moans.
0000
"Ahh, ahh!" Micaiah panted in bliss from Sothe thrusting into her supple bubble butt, the young rogue sporting a lustful grin on his face. "Fuck, you feel so good."
"I-I know!" Sothe grunted, his thick cock all snuggled up insider his lover's ass as he continued thrusting into her warmth. "Y-You're so tight; it's phenomenal!"
"You're so big, Sothe; It's filling me up completely!" The silver-haired maiden replied, with Sothe thrusting harder into her than before "D-Damn, you're pounding me hard!"
The two lovers continued fucking each other's brains silly, neither of them aware that Astolfo was spying on them, stroking his massive cock with his smooth hand. A few minutes later, the two lovers let out a unified moan, coating each other's legs with copious amounts of steaming hot jism, as Astolfo blasted his own load onto the two lovers.
"O-Oh! Sorry about that…" Astolfo apologised sheepishly, stepping into the room with them.
"It's all good; would've been better if it had been the three of us this morning, but there's always another time." Micaiah replied, as she and Sothe began wiping the sweat and cum off their legs. "So why's you call us?"
"We've got a trial to attend; the Hunter Association are planning on punishing Nanashi for his crimes against humanity." The pinkette answered. "The way I hear it, he's most likely gonna hang."
"True, but I doubt it'll be the end of him. After all, Dagda could just keep reviving him over and over again." Sothe chimed in.
"I'm sure they'll perform a ritual to seal Dagda before executing Nanashi, to prevent such an occurrence from happening." Micaiah replied.
"I'll let you two finish getting dressed; we'll leave in around fifteen minutes if that's alright with you." Astolfo told them, exiting the room and closing the door, leaving the two to themselves.
Supreme Court of Japan
The atmosphere inside the courtroom was filled to the brim with raw, unbridled anger. Hundreds upon hundreds of hunters are seated in the pews, infuriated over the betrayal they experienced the other day, and had dark thoughts on what to do with the traitor; as the room was in the midst of final preparations, Astolfo and his friends reported their arrival to Fujiwara.
"On behalf of the Hunter Association, we greatly appreciate your presence during this most trying day." The bespectacled man expressed his gratitude, while a young woman wearing samurai garb went over the written testimony Astolfo and his friends presented for her.
"No problem; good to see that justice will be served for that vile traitor." The pinkette replied.
"Hmmm…you just copy pasted the same story seven times, but with minute differences." Isabeau noted, having finished analysing the papers.
"Well what can you say; all seven of us were there when it happened." Astolfo playfully poked his tongue out, punching the top of his head. "Anyway, we best get seated. Trial's about to begin."
Everyone soon got to their seats and waited patiently for the guilty party to arrive. A few minutes later, two hunters escorted Nanashi to the glass booth and threw him inside, locking the door to ensure he doesn't escape, with the kid shooting them a twisted smirk. Most, if not all the hunters present glared daggers at the young kid, who was completely unapologetic for his actions.
"Thank you all for coming; I apologise for the surprise trial, especially since we all wanted some time to recover from the botched raid on Tsukiji Kongangi." Fujiwara apologised to the crowd, hopping up into the judge's booth and initiated the trial.
"Let's just get this over and done with." Skins commented, not wanting to waste more time than necessary on this trial.
"Why do we even need a trial? The kid's guilty as sin!" A hunter called out in anger.
"You got my friend killed, you bastard!" Another one shouted.
"It's thanks to you that our saviour's in the hospital; you're gonna pay for this!" A third hunter threatened Nanashi, who merely smirked in response.
"Pffft, like I'm terrified of a bunch of peanuts." The young boy retorted, with several of the hunters shouting in furore, only getting silenced by the sound of a fist slamming down on a wooden surface.
"Quiet down!" Skins demanded, silencing the enraged hunters. "Now Fujiwara, if you'll proceed."
"Thank you. I'd like to go over the testimony you wrote while we're here. You said that you were part of a small band of hunters operating in the Kinshicho district. It was there you were ambushed by demons working for Luci—Faphand, resulting in the entire squad's demise. You soon made a pact with the demon Dagda to come back to life and do his bidding. Am I correct so far?" Fujiwara began reading the testimony.
"Yes, but you forgot to mention that I killed those treacherous cowards, who all ran away when I called out for help." Nanashi chuckled ominously.
"Nikkari would never run away from an injured comrade, you filthy liar! You killed him and the entire squad you murderer!" Isabeau snapped, the usually calm woman enraged by the false accusation.
"Heh, I guess you got me there. Killing them was my very first order; first was Nikkari as you said. I would've let him go, but he just had to play the hero. Next was that worthless tosser Manabu; my god was he so annoying, always going on about nonsensical conspiracies and that jazz. Which leaves us with Asahi; ohohohoho, did I enjoy killing her. The best part was when she begged for mercy, trying to use the "we're childhood friends" card. I then proceeded to slit her throat." The kid grinned creepily, sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Oh my…" Chevalier gasped, fainting from the shock as Blair quickly grabbed him.
"…I see." Fujiwara continued, struggling to hide his disgust. "As I was saying, after you were revived by Dagda, you received a request from Odin, masquerading as an old man to release Krishna from the ark under Kanda-no-yashiro, something you were more than happy to do."
"It was all part of the plan; we free Krishna and act all chummy in order to bring the Divine Powers out of hiding, enabling us to hunt them down. Of course, our efforts were hindered by Krishna's stupid war against those shitty fangames." Nanashi glared at Astolfo and his pals.
"You—I'll make you eat those words, motherfucker!" Astolfo hissed, lunging towards the arrogant kid, with Roland and Boudica struggling to keep him restrained.
"Settle down mate, you'll get your revenge soon enough." Roland grunted, the pinkette squirming about in his grasp.
"The pink-haired guy's got a point; I wanna see him smash that kid to a pulp." A hunter called out.
"You're in league with the demons!" Another hunter pointed at Nanashi.
"Honestly, you fangame addicted tossers are what's killing Tokyo. Rather than save the world from megalomaniacal gods and demons, you waste your time playing crappy games and spend hours talking about which bunch of pixels you want to fuck. Honestly, you all have shit taste in waifus." Nanashi chuckled.
"Oh that's it!" Roland snapped, letting go of Astolfo. "You mind if I join you?"
"Certainty; the more the merrier I say." Astolfo grinned, only for the two men to get bonked on the head and winced in pain.
"Honestly you two need to calm down and go about this logically." Boudica sighed at them, the duo shooting pained glances at her.
"That about does it in my eyes; your verdict?" Skins called out, glancing over at Fujiwara.
"Nanashi, your treachery lead to the deaths of over twenty hunters, and the wounding of dozens more, including Flynn. This combined with the fact that you freed Krishna from his prison leaves me no choice; you are to be executed for your crimes, after we exorcise Dagda from your body." Fujiwara declared, the hunters cheering wildly.
"Yeah! You rock Fujiwara!" A hunter called out.
"Let's gut the miserable little—" A second hunter grinned, before a small earthquake shook the building, the lights going out as a result. "W-What now?!"
"Hehehehe…Krishna's seeking retribution. He'll invade your hideouts and kill everyone inside. As for me, I've got other business to attend to…" Nanashi grinned evilly, breaking free from his chains and disappearing in a blanket of smoke.
"Goddamn it!" Skins roared, punching the glass window. "I'll get that traitor if it's the last thing I do!"
"Nanashi can wait; right now we need to save the townspeople from the Divine Powers and their army!" Isabeau called out, with everyone inside rushing out to save the day once more.
Palace of the Hegemon
The traitors were watching footage of the Hunter Association taking on the armies of Krishna, singing in disappointment upon witnessing the latter getting decimated by the heroic forces.
"So this is what the Divine Powers has been reduced to; a collaboration between outdated deities and shameless porn peddlers. Pathetic…" Lin scoffed coldly, watching the chaos on television.
"I-It's a good thing Tressa was kind enough to let us join her; she'll even let us make her ideal game once she gets the data of the original build." Jaern called out. "Of course, the Divine Powers also lost their Godslayer, though it does mean that my ruse has been found out."
"It served it purpose, so it's no longer needed in the grand scheme of things." Zenith brushed the plan aside. "Instead, we should focus on remaking the games in Tressa's image."
"B-But how are we supposed to do that?! We don't even have the required data to begin!" Professor Larkspur protested, only for the older man to start chuckling ominously to himself. "W-What's so funny?"
"Just the fact that I already have the data." Zenith chuckled, reaching under his jacket and pulling out a 10TB hard drive, showing it to the surprised traitors. "I had a hunch that Ame would try to cut content out in places, so I secretly copied it onto my hard drive and kept it hidden from her. Of course, Nora kept her eye on me the following day, watching my every move. So I took some assets from Rejuvenation, dumped it in Tri-Master and "alerted" Ame about the theft, ensuring our subsequent sacking so that it'll keep the heat off of me."
"Yo, that's not cool man. I was really enjoying Tri-Master!" Redi pouted at the older man.
"Insignificant whining; after all he still has the data for Tri-Master. You can continue from where you were before your dismissal." Nastasia retorted dryly, directing her gaze to Zenith. "That was some impressive scheming you pulled of; certainly explains why the Infernal Cult lasted as long as it did."
"W-Wait a minute; since we have the game shit already, then why do we need to keep the Gotham crazies around?" Connor inquired.
"For a supposed genius, you really aren't all that…" Lin scoffed, the redhead fiercely glaring at her in anger. "Ame and her mindless flock of sheep will think their games are safe as long as they fend off the supervillains, oblivious to Zenith's brilliant stunt. So long as they keep attacking Starlight Studios, they'll assume that we still need the data."
"But won't they get angry if they find out about how we have the data already, rendering their services unnecessary?" Geara chimed in.
"So long as the criminals get paid, they wouldn't give a damn whether we have the data or not." Zenith answered, tucking his hard drive back under his jacket. "Now who to use as our scapegoat? I nominate Professor Maple; so sick and tired of that guy rambling about his precious Deltas. I wish he'd shut up for good."
"Oh piss off! At least his knowledge on Delta Species can be put to use. Madelis on the other hand, was and will always be the most irrelevant member of Team Xen." Geara retorted. "Besides, that idiot didn't even realise that Ren wasn't with us."
"Huh? B-But I comforted him when we first met Krishna!" Redi exclaimed in surprise.
"Evidently, you're as slow as your deceased father. The Ren that was with us was actually an agent for some group known as the Cult of Kosmos. What they wanted with the Divine Powers is unclear, though I assume they got it given that the real Ren was welcomed back to Starlight Studios." Jaern answered.
"But why invade us in the first place; what could they possibly gain from allying with a bunch of fangame creators?" Connor asked out loud.
"I don't know and I don't care; we've got more important things to do than worry about some Cult of Yahoos." Lin called out to the rest of the group, the doorbell to the castle soon echoing throughout the room. "And someone's at the door…great. Sirius, you can get the door this time."
"As you wish." The stocky man replied, making his way to the door and opened it, only to be confronted by a tall, middle-aged man with billowing blue hair and ware a fancy outfit. "And what exactly are you doing here?"
"The cards foretold your victory; your destiny is absolute. Allow me to follow my destiny and stand by your banner." The strange man bowed before Sirius, an eerie, empowered look in his eyes. Sirius, unsure on what exactly to do, allowed the man to step inside and notified Tressa of the man, escorting him towards her with a few of the traitors directing their gaze to the newcomer.
"Just who on earth is this kook?" Connor frown to himself.
"Sartorius Kumar; well-known fortune teller and champion tier duelist. His wizardry with Arcana Force monsters is said to be legendary, as if he himself knows what effects they'll be granted upon getting summoned." Lin answered, intrigued at the arrival of someone who's power could rival hers.
"And why exactly do we need another card player in our ranks—" Geara protested, before being smacked upside the head.
"Were you not paying attention? He basically foretold out victory over Starlight Studios; keeping him with us will be most beneficial to us all!" Nastasia snapped at her sub-ordinate, the young man rubbing his head in pain.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" he retorted bitterly. "Back to a previous topic, who are we gonna—"
"Baron; he has failed us three times, and I'm in no mood to see him fail again." Lin cut Geara off.
"E-Excellent choice; I heard Baron participated in a few tournaments before joining us. Perhaps this could provide the new guy with an opportunity to impress us." Jaern replied.
"That's a decent idea; I'll inform Tressa about the hard drive and our plan once Sirius is done with her." Zenith informed his comrades, bowing before them and exiting the room, with the rest continued to watch the chaos from the television.
Sorry if this chapter's shorter than usual, but the next one will more than make up for it by having two duels in it. I know that Sartorius' introduction was a surprise, but he was a fairly impressive villain, and I have several more ideas for improved Arcana Force cards. Anyway, I'll see you all in the next chapter everyone.
Astolfo's group:
Astolfo
Roland
Chevalier D'eon
Boudica
Blair Flannigan
Micaiah
Sothe
Jack Frost
Dawn Brigade:
Micaiah
Sothe
Nolan
Edward
Leonardo
Laura
Aran
Ilyana
Meg
Pelleas (not an actual member, but is a close associate of them)
Pokemon Fangame Community/Starlight Studios:
Ame (W.I.A)
Kymmi
Cain
Aya (Pearl Hairpin reclaimed)
Hardy (Reborn)
Titania
Amaria (Sapphire Bracelet stolen)
Julia
Alice
Charlotte (Diamond Earring reclaimed)
Laura (Not associated with the Fire Emblem Laura)
Saphira
Luna (Emerald Brooch stolen)
Serra
Bennett
Adrienn
Anna/Nostra (Amethyst Pendant stolen)
Noel/Nomos
Radomus
Corey
Heather (Ruby Ring stolen)
Shelly
Dr. Connal
Melia
Venam
Saki
Amber
Aelita
Nim
Erin
Crescent
Ren
Maria/Mariannette
Valerie
Scarlett
Shiv
Aurora
Garret
Richard
Rosetta
Hardy (Desolation) (K.I.A)
Amelia
Nora
Damien
The MS Loyalist Army:
General Nikita
Perche
Ami
Ulala
Marco
Tarma
Eri
Fio
Grazia
Loretta
Norah
Allies:
Sanaki
Sephrian
Oliver
Clover
Light
Akame
Kurome
Fujiwara
Skins
Commissioner Gordon
The Forces of Heaven:
Merkabah/Jonathan
Gaston (K.I.A)
The Forces of Hell:
Lucifer/Walter
Plasma Tech:
Ghetsis Harmonia
N/Natural Harmonia Gropius
Anthea
Concordia
The Divine Powers:
Krishna
Odin
Maitreya
Zhong Kui (Defeated)
Medusa (Defeated)
Loki
Quetzalcoatl
Seth
Baal
Elysion
Alma
Amber
Izabella
Aisha
HMT (K.I.A)
Beecham (K.I.A)
Aswang (K.I.A)
Agalia (K.I.A)
Arsinoe (K.I.A)
Halle (K.I.A)
Mahiru (K.I.A)
Chunyan (K.I.A)
Molly (K.I.A)
Ichima (K.I.A)
Louise (K.I.A)
Gisee (K.I.A)
Emma (K.I.A)
Franke (K.I.A)
Teresa (K.I.A)
Julia (MS) (K.I.A)
The Divine Conspiracy:
Tressa Colzione/The Grandmaster
Ophilia Clement
Cyrus Albright
Olberic Eisenberg
Primrose Azelhart
Alfyn Greengrass
Therion
H'aanit
Shesha
Missy (Defeated)
Harold (Defeated)
Bandit Keith (Defeated)
Flamvell Dilly (Defeated)
Maximillion Pegasus
Sartorius Kumar
Varis
Specter
Lekain (K.I.A)
Hetzel (K.I.A)
Valtome (K.I.A)
Numida (K.I.A)
Jarod (K.I.A)
Tayama (Left the group and has gone solo)
General Wolfgang (K.I.A)
Big Smoke
Ryder
Sweet Johnson
Carl 'CJ' Johnson
Niko Bellic
Roman Bellic
Johnny Klebitz
Mario (CEO of Nintendo)
Gentarou Hongou
Nagisa Nijisaki
Teruaki Kubota
Kagechika Musashidou
Dio (Zero Escape: VLR)
Senator Armstrong
Admiral Greyfield
Anvil (K.I.A)
Meathook (K.I.A)
Colt (K.I.A)
Greasy Steve (K.I.A)
King Dick
Triple 6
Pretty Boy
Caesar (Ride to Hell)
Junko Enoshima
Yasuke Matsuda
Mukuro Ikusaba
Nagito Komaeda
Yuuto Akimaya
Jaern
Zenith
Professor Maple
Lin
Sirius
Blake (P.O.W)
Cal (P.O.W)
Fern
Madame X
Nastasia
Madelis
Neved
Geara
Professor Larkspur
Rick (K.I.A)
Professor Gobline
Radius (K.I.A)
Redi
Sam (K.I.A)
Elia (K.I.A)
Lavius
Lavia
Baron
Connor
Texan (K.I.A)
The Joker
Harley Quinn
The Riddler
Two-Face
Bane (Arrested)
Mr. Freeze
The Penguin
Mr. Zsasz
Clayface
Killer Croc
Deathstroke
Deadshot
Firefly
The Electrocutioner
Shiva
Maxie Zeus
The Mad Hatter
The Ratcatcher
Hush
Scarface
The Ventriloquist
Killer Moth
Scarecrow
Black Mask
Prometheus
The Great White Shark
The Calendar Man
Ra's al Ghul
Talia al Ghul
Poison Ivy
Professor Strange
The Freedom Cult:
Dagda
Nanashi