Opening File: Flying Galleon
The Flying Galleon is a rare type of Grimm, perhaps the only one of its kind. For it is a Grimm fused with a ship. It resembles an old style sea ship with dark sails and wings attached to the side while a Grimm dragon head fused into the bow of the ship.
The only one to exist is the prized possession of Sammael.
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Opening File: Muscular Arms
Muscular Arms is a quaint apartment building located in GrimmFall.
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Opening File: The Arcane Archives
The Arcane Archives is the name of an ancient library built sometime during the Forgotten Age by a group of monks and scholars. These used an ancient form of magic to travel around the world, finding any form of knowledge and then bringing it back to the secret library that was built with its location unknown and impossible to find. For centuries this group would work to find and preserve any knowledge they could find and it was not limited to forms of magic but to all forms of knowledge: History, Science, Literature, Poetry, Music , Biology and so much more. Eventually though, rumors spread of this group and the library they created and became hunted by opportunists who sought to claim the library and the knowledge it possessed.
The secret order was hunted to extinction as any who were in danger of being captured for interrogation chose suicide over revealing the location of the Archives. The last one is said to have died out fifty years ago but there is a rumor that their successors, a group of magical users knows the location of the Archives but are not its owners. Rather the caretakers of the Archives recognize this group as their allies but Arcane Archives has no true allegiance to anyone and is open only to those who seek knowledge to learn for the sake of learning…
Or supposedly for the good of the world.
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Opening File: Box Demon
The Box Demon was hiding in Horst's moneybox. Courage found the box and Eustace opened it, even after Shirley and Horst warned him not to. Shirley and Raven forced the demon back into the box, saving Muriel and Eustace.
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Xxx
"Ever heard of riding in style?" TOM asked, leaning back in his chair. "We all have our dream rides and what we want it to look like. The shape, the color, what we want it to represent and what statement we want to make. Just remember some people can take offense to certain messages, no matter how benign they might be."
Xxx
"Gah! Darn it! Gosh hand huckleberry honey suckle darn it!"
Gideon Gleeful paced back and in his cell, grunting and grumbling from the fact that his one chance to get out of prison had been sunk.
"Prison is a nightmare!" Gideon slammed his fists down. "I eat the same slop everyday! They have no hair products in here! I can't sleep 'cause my cellmate took my pillow for a wife!"
Ghost-Eyes came up from the background with another prisoner. "Hey, best friend!"
"Don't be late for friendship bracelet class!"
"I have finger painting at the same time!" He slammed a fist on his desk and the prisoners left. "Whew! The mayor dying is my one ticket out of here."
The only problem was his dad, Bud Gleeful wasn't answering his calls and without a candidate under his control he couldn't get his sentence revoked.
He needed a way out.
So what could he do if his daddy wasn't going to help?
"Just Pines and Tyler." Gideon grumbled to himself. "Guess I'll have to go with Tyler."
Xxx
After taking Double D's parents to the hospital Miss Spell had gone to her home.
It wasn't the Hall of Heroes.
It wasn't some magical sanctuary.
It was an apartment building called: Muscular Arms.
Just as Miss Spell reached the door, she stopped just short of unlocking it. "I was wondering when you would appear…Miss Juniper Lee."
She turned around, facing Juniper Lee who stood just a few feet away.
"Miss Spell of the Justice Friends." June greeted. "There's some things we need to talk about."
"I see." Miss Spell opened the door and made a welcoming gesture. "Care for some tea?"
"I'll take Earl Grey."
Xxx
"Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to be home of the Sorceress Supreme."
June and Miss Spell, who was out of costume now and preferred to be called by her real name, Kath Rouge, were seated at the table with cups of tea placed in front of them. Kath wore a simple top with red pants while her hair fell down to her back.
"So what is on your mind, Miss Lee?" Kath asked, taking a sip of her tea.
"You know what I've been up to the last few weeks?" June asked.
Kath nodded. "Supposedly, you betrayed the magical Elders, renounced your position as Te Xuan Ze, allied with a Lady of Chaos and then used a magical wish granting item to regain your powers and more if I am not mistaken."
"Yeah. I wished to become a Sorceress Supreme." June nodded. "That crown dumped all the knowledge and skill you need for the job and then some into my head. Came in pretty handy when I was up against the Ice Queen."
"So why come to me?" Kath asked.
"First off, why didn't you show up to stop the Ice Queen?" June asked.
"Well there are a few reasons why. The first would be I was helping this city and several others deal with the weather. The Ice Queen's power reached its zenith before she was defeated and if not for me, many people would have frozen to death." Kath answered honestly.
"Okay, that's a good reason." June admitted.
"Another was I was asked not to interfere by a friend of yours: Nis, the god of wisdom and divine inspiration."
June was surprised by that. "He asked not to come help us?"
"Admittedly I heard about your actions in Orchid Bay I knew the Elders would appoint a new Te Xuan Ze to hunt you down and give you the maximum punishment. However I've seen enough to know that in this case the Elders were more than unfair, especially since you were chosen at such a young age." Kath explained. "Obviously Nis wanted to see if you were truly going to forsake the path of a magical guardian and join with this Lady of Chaos called Nyx. You were also close enough to the two Elementals at the time that you could protect them if you truly wished to make amends and save the world."
"And if I hadn't?" June asked skeptically. "Would you have shown up?"
"Possibly once I had the chance. No offence but I wouldn't have the fate of the world in the hands of children if I had the chance." Kath admitted.
"None taken." June took a sip of her tea and sat it down. "So how does this work now? I asked for the Crown to make me into a Sorceress Supreme. Does that mean we have to fight for the true owner of the title?"
"Not really. The Crown made you into your idea of a Sorceress Supreme. What was your idea?" Kath asked curiously.
June took a moment to answer. "Someone…skilled in all areas of magic, even the forbidden kind but is smart enough to handle all of them. Someone with all the powers of Te Xuan Ze but not trapped like I was and could go anywhere I wanted but still ready to deal with those threats out there. It was a spur of a moment thing, brought on pure desperation to stop the Ice Queen and save the people I became friends with so fast."
Kath smiled a bit. "Well, I say this much. You heart is in the right place."
"Is it?" June was frowning now. "Nyx might have been wrong and misguided about some things, but she was right about the Elders and the whole messed up system that is the Te Xuan Ze mantle. Why hasn't anyone tried to change it?"
"What makes you think no one has tried?"
That made June pause, watching as Kath stood up. "Will you follow me into the center of the room?"
June stood up, following Kath into the center and watched as a circle lit up around them. "A transportation-"
There was a flash of light.
"-circle." June blinked and looked around, seeing they were now in what looked like a massive library. "What is this?"
"The Arcane Archives." Kath answered. "Long ago, an ancient order, predating the magical order that we are now part of began collecting tomes, scrolls and other forms of knowledge around the world. It was likely around the Forgotten Age, considering how old it is and the cataclysm that happened during that time. Due to the loss of life a group of monks and scholars built this library to house any and all knowledge they could find and preserved it here. This was before Aura was introduced by the Emperor but the monks somehow had access to earlier forms of magic that aided them greatly."
June look around, seeing the massive chamber filled with books and scrolls. She noticed a balcony and walked over, gasping when she looked down and saw a vast chasm with dozens or so more levels on her side and the other side cavern that had hundreds of bookshelves that looked to be over twenty meters high and all of filled with scrolls and books.
"These are all magical things?" June asked.
"Actually no. The Arcane Archives originally began as preserving knowledge so it has levels solely dedicated to other things like History, Literature, Biology, Music, Language, Science and a lot more." Kath answered with a smile. "We only call that because of the nature of how it was built."
"This is amazing." June turned around to face Kath. "But what's this got do with me?"
"Years ago, your grandmother Jasmine Lee sought me out when I was still a student and convinced my teacher to let her see the archives. She wanted to find a way to lift your curse." Kath stated, shocking June. "I believe it was sometime after your training was complete and you were trusted to handle trouble on your own did she start traveling."
June recalled how Ah-Mah would start going on vacations around the world and remember what Ah-Mah had told her when she found out about the barrier keeping her trapped in Orchid Bay. "But she never found a way?"
"It's not that simple, Juniper. The Magical Elders gave up their forms to create the balance between mortals and magic in Orchid Bay because your city is closest to a point in space and time where the rift between worlds is weakest. That's how all the magical creatures you've faced have found their way there." Kath explained. "The Veil keeps them from being seen and the Te Xuan Ze keeps them from harming the people in Orchid Bay. Jasmine Lee wanted to change that but the problem is the Elders have no ability to alter what they have done. Their bodies and minds were forfeit, leaving what's left as, for the lack of a better word, a dam. The Te Xuan Ze exists to handle the cracks that form in that dam."
"Hence the barrier that keeps the Te Xuan Ze in Orchid Bay." June frowned. "So Ah-Mah couldn't just break the link without breaking the Veil and the dam."
"Exactly. The flow of magical energy would wash over Orchid Bay and not only allow the magical community to be seen but the barrier keeping the town safe from the Grimm would be gone." Kath nodded and continued.
June brought a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, I understand why the barrier is needed to keep the Grimm out." She narrowed her eyes. "Still, they can't be trusted and they never cared about us, all our family is to them are weapons and servants, and it's time to end it, it has to end!"
"…I do agree with you on that." Kath said, surprising June. "I don't agree with how the Elders set the system up and I would change it if I knew how. Unfortunately the Archives are vast and I have a full time job as a hero. Jasmine kept coming back over the years, researching a way to safely allow you to leave the city but she never could find a way without distorting and harming the balance in such a way it would cause catastrophe for the entire city and perhaps the rest of the states."
"Can you show me what she looked at?" June asked.
Kath nodded and led June to a room that resembled a private study. June noted the small piles of books near desk and a picture on it.
Of her, Ray-Ray and Ah-Mah.
"This is one of many studies in the Archives. Jasmine studied and wrote up several proposals for altering the succession of the Te Xuan Ze but she never found a way that would interfere or harm the Veil." Kath explained, activating a lantern with her magic.
Juniper sat down and picked up a book on the desk, seeing Ah-Mah's handwriting on it. "…According to this Ah-Mah was working on the idea that the power of the Te Xuan Ze could be passed to a willing successor instead of waiting for someone in the family to awaken the power on their own."
"There have been attempts to remove the Te Zuan Ze's powers before by many enemies but none succeeded." Kath brought up.
"But it proves the powers can be transferred." June brought a hand to her chin. "It just doesn't show a way around the barrier so even if a successor is chosen they would still be trapped in Orchid Bay until a new one is chosen."
"But Jasmine wanted the powers to be passed with the chance for them to still live normal lives." Kath said. "There was also the danger of being tempted to choose more than one successor and the possibility of those powers being abused."
"The heir and the spare." June sat down and opened another journal. "So the Elders wouldn't allow for more than one magical warrior to be chosen. But it can be done. My brother Ray-Ray accidently received a small amount of power when those goons tried stealing my powers the day I got them."
"May I caution you, Juniper? Trying to alter the cycle of the Te Xuan Ze can be very dangerous, especially in choosing who receives the powers next down the line." Kath stated. "And what will you do about this Nyx person?"
"Yeah, I get that it could be a recipe for disaster but this method of forcing it one kids and making them fight their entire lives is wrong. I know my dad was supposed to get it as a young adult but it skipped him and went straight to me for some reason. Maybe it's a sign there has to be a change. As for Nyx, I know she wants to destroy the magic of the Elders, no doubt because she wants chaos to reign." June stated. "I'll deal with her when it comes to that. Besides who knows when the next Te Xuan Ze will be chosen?"
"Oh, you didn't know." Kath gasped lightly.
"About what?"
"About the new Te Xuan Ze. It's-"
A second later.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
Xxx
Okay, you have a team of Hunters standing by but what's the deal?"
Eustace had brought everyone down to the basement with the box placed on a stool before he answered Keanu's question. "My good for nothing brother left some sort of guardian to the box."
"A guardian?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah. Some weird mystical mumbo jumbo that he meddled with to keep people from finding the money he got from all his adventures." Eustace explained.
"Uh…What kind of mumbo jumbo are we talking here?" Rino asked, holding up his suitcase. "Because we're kind of on the clock, Eustace."
"Just kill the dang thing that comes out of the box." Eustace said, holding up the key.
"You should heed your brother's words." Shirley, who had remained present, cautioned.
"Do we even need you anymore?" Eustace retorted.
Shirley rolled her eyes but said nothing else as Eustace inserted the key into the box. Courage was trembling as Eustace slowly opened the box and the entire basement was lit up in a green glow.
"It had to be green." Rino muttered.
That was when two giant black arms glowing green emerged from the box and lashed out, grabbing onto the closest things they could find.
Namely Eustace and Muriel.
"Look out!" Keanu pulled out his sword and slashed at the nearest arm as it grabbed at Muriel.
In the meantime Rino fired at the arm that tried to grab Eustace but had to duck and roll away as the arm swiped at him.
Raven focused her powers and saw the demon for what it was. "It wants to take everyone inside to where the money is…But it's a one way trip."
That's why Horst warned Eustace not to open the box.
He had made it so that whoever found his money wouldn't be able to get out, even if they had the key.
If they had any chance at getting out of this the Box Demon had to be destroyed.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted, releasing a burst of white light at the demon arms, burning away at their skin and causing their own to scream in pain.
Raven's powers, having been fully purified by unlocking her seven chakras now had the power to purify other demons much like she had done so against Trigon. Her powers seemed to be working as they burned through the demon's arms and right into the box.
Shirley walked over with a sigh. "You had to open the box."
SLAM!
With one kick of her feet, Shirley slammed the box shot…
And a single Techno bill flew out which she caught.
"So…is it over?" Keanu slowly asked.
Eustace walked over and opened the box…seeing a gaping hole where the interior should have been. "Where's the money?"
"That's the thing. The interior of the box is a pocket dimension." Raven answered as she floated down. "The demons purpose was to drag anyone who opened the box to where the money is but the problem once you're in you can't get out."
"So in other words, Uncle Horst made the perfect trap. One way in that leads to the money with no way out." Alexis stated.
Eustace growled. "So what was the point of this then?!"
"Well, maybe you can go in now." Keanu pointed out. "You just need rope to climb down and climb back up with the money."
That made the farmer pause. "…That might work."
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Everyone looked up to the sound of shots being fired and the farmhouse exploding.
"Now what?!"
"What the-"
"It's collapsing!"
Everyone quickly huddled together as the house collapsed into the basement.
Xxx
Bell was holding the unconscious Buttercup as she landed on the ground, having retrieved her before the attack began. "One more."
Scaramouche grinned as he stepped forward. "This is too easy. You sure you needed us…Or them."
The others in question had arrived to meet up with Scaramouch, Chuck and Hidekazu to help retrieve Buttercup and Raven.
Grodd and Rampage.
"Let's get this over with." Grodd said, annoying at having to do such a menial chore.
Xxx
After explaining to an angry June about her brother being chosen as the next Te Xuan Ze, Kath had donned her Miss Spell outfit again and walked to another part of the Archives. She entered a room with a strange and ornamental mirror hanging on the wall. With a wave of her hand, the mirror showed her a disturbing vision.
Vast numbers of Grimm leaving the Darklands and being led by several Fallen: General Skarr, Monkey Fist, Velvet Black and Granny.
Overhead was a massive dragon Grimm with eight heads and giant wing/arms.
And flying above this beast was something else.
A ship with a head matching the faces of the eight headed Hydra sticking out of the bow. Dark sails and Grimm substance seemingly fused with the wood. The dragon head embedded in the ship let out a roar with all the other Grimm and Miss Spell knew it what it was.
"He is moving at last." She muttered in dread.
This was Sammael's personal ship.
His Galleon which meant he was personally leading the army.
"I have to warn the others." Miss Spell said, dispelling the image from the mirror.