Chapter 8: Hello Drakness My Old Friend
Author Notes: Special thanks to user, Nitro zeus for the chapter idea!
"...and then I came flying in with this huge drop kick, it was epic!"
"Mhmm"
""That coded him obviously, so now I'm up to six wins in the Amzen Drome. One more, and I get to face Codemaster Amzen herself"
"Cool"
Jacob gave Hank a worried look. "Are you still mad?" he asked his friend.
"Am I still mad that you went to a super-rare, brand new location, saw creatures no one else has, scanned unknown battlegear, then deleted said location, all without telling me you were going, resulting in you going with Krystella of all people, getting mind-controlled then arrested?" Hank took a loud slurp from his cup. "Nope."
"Okay. one: I didn't know it was Krystella. I'd never seen her before, only heard about her. Two: I was frustrated, no one else knew anything and I was tired of sitting on my hands waiting for news." Jacob explained for what felt like the hundredth time. "I was being impatient, and I'm sorry. Besides," he gave his Hank a knowing glance "I would've hated to have interrupted your date"
Hank face turned a light shade of red and he coughed into his drink. Recovering, he said "It was a tour, not a date. And don't change the subject".
"I'm not," Jacob said, taking care with his words. "If our roles were reversed, I was out with someone else, and you REALLY couldn't wait to check out a new location, would you have gone without me?"
Hank sighed, knowing it was true, he would have. "Not with some strange girl I'd never met"
"Lesson learned" Jacob conceded. "Where is Monica, by the way?"
"She had a family thing to go to. She's a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding."
"Oh, that's nice. Do you think she'll-" Jacob was interrupted by the chiming of his scanner. Tapping a button, an unfamiliar face appeared on the screen. It was a boy around his age with black hair and a red shirt under a suede jacket. "Uh, hi?" Jacob said, Hank looking over curiously.
"AirRazor, right? I'm Ron. Nice job in Amzen earlier"
"Oh! Thanks, man. I appreciate it."
"I just got my sixth win in the Amzen Drome earlier today," Ron said through the scanner "how about you?"
"Yeah, it was six for me too" Jacob glanced over at Hank, as if you ask 'You know this guy?'. Hank shrugged.
"Really? Great! I thought it'd be cool to find another player with six wins and have a match, make it interesting, you know?" Ron put on a dramatic Sports Announcer voice. "Winner Gets a Codemaster Match'. You're the first player I've called today to have six wins. So, what do you think? Interested?"
"Yeah, actually," Jacob perked up at the idea. "That sounds great!"
"Awesome!. I'll send the challenge right now, and meet you the drome in, what, an hour?"
Exchanging farewells, they ended the call, Jacob's scanner beeping a moment later with a challenge match request for a six on six match. Accepting the request, he and Hank walked over to one of the card stations to brainstorm his deck strategy.
"Gonna mix it up, or go solid this time?" Hank asked.
"Full Overworld minus one, I think." Jacob scrolled through a lit of his cards. "I don't have any really powerful hitters like Maxxor or Heptadd, but Xaerv, Tangath Toborn, and Bladez should make a solid front line." He brought up scans of said creatures and placed them on a mock battleboard.
He moved his next selections in place. "Gespedan and Lomma in the middle row for support, and just for you" he gave Hank an exaggerated wink, getting a punch on the arm for it, "Mommark in the back for Mugic"
"Hey, I can't help it; I like Mipedians, but there's something about Mommark that makes me super comfortable in his form." Hank said somewhat defensively.
"Not knocking it. Bladez is my favorite creature, even though he's not an Overworlder." Jacob started cycling through battlegear next. "Bladez and Xaerv are getting Torweggs to boost their air attacks"
"Yeah, yeah, you and your air attacks" Hank joked. "What about that armor you picked up in the Coralsmithy?"
Jacob shook his head. "I don't know what it does yet. Haven't had a chance to run it though the Beta Drome and test it or anything. Help me with that after this match?" Hank agreed and they went back to the task at hand.
"Tangath Toborn is gonna be packing a Cyclance to give him air attacks" he shot Hank a look, daring him to comment "while Lomma gets a Riverland Star for healing and Gespedan will use a Scout's Monocular. Mommark..." Jacob paused. "I dunno, man. What works with him?"
Hank looked thoughtful. "A Mugician's Lyre is always good, or something to boost his stats. Mommark is smart, but not great in a straight fight. Ooh!" Hank got out his scanner and tapped a few buttons. A card appeared on Jacob's scanner, a battlegear that looked like a statue with sinister energy emanating from it. "Picked this up on my last trip to Khybon's Scrapyard. I've got a few scans of it, so you can have that one."
"What's it do?"
"Drains the opponent's stats when you deal damage. It's gotta be a hard hit, and it only works on one stat at a time, but it works."
"Good find" Jacob placed the statue under Mommark "Get some good hits in, lower their stats to get stronger hits to lower the stats more. I like it."
His spell selection was fairly basic, full of healing and defensive Mugic to keep his creatures in the fight, while Locations were equally straightforward; Overworld areas to increase the power of certain attacks or ones that were familiar enough to gain a terrain advantage.
A little under an hour later, Jacob was recreating the same setup in Battledrome Amzen. Ron was cordial, eagerly greeting Jacob when he arrived. With his black cargo pants, boots and fireball-adorned shirt, Jacob jokingly complimented his fashion sense, the outfit similar to his customary black tee and tan cargos, though Ron was wearing a nice suede jacket with a fur collar.
The drome announcer requested the two lock their decks in it's droning monotone voice. Doing so, Jacob saw Ron's team was entirely made up of Underworlders, with Magmon, Ragetrod and Tharax at the front, with Skreeth, Kraade, and Drakness filling in the back. Jacob involuntarily shuddered at the pair of crablike Underworlders, reminded of the similar creatures in the Coralsmithy.
"AirRazor, since you have been challenged by Redfury, you will be the attacker. Please spin the Location Randomizer."
Giving the dial a firm swipe, locations cards whipped past, finally slowing and settling on a curved canyon filled with swirling winds.
"The Storm Tunnel. Choose your attacking and target creature"
"Xaerv attacks Magmon" Jacob declared, he and Ron pressing their hands against their cards. Immediately, swirling blue vapors of letters and numbers enveloped his body from the ground up, Ron transforming into a bulky lava monster, Jacob changing into a pale blue humanoid with long white hair, loose pants, and wild eyes.
"Looks like you're-"
"Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it" Hank was praying.
"-about to get Xaerved"
"I hate you" Hank banged his head against the table. Around him, other players were groaning at the pun.
The Storm Tunnel lives up to its name, air whipping through the canyon, eroding the rock into a smooth tunnel. Constant howling winds and dust from the perpetual storm can disorient visitors. Xaerv is one of the few creatures to live there, and many Overworlders think it's the reason for his...unique mindset. For Jacob, it was a rush.
"What's the matter, Magmon? Looks like you're a little 'under the weather'" Xaerv laughed uproariously at his joke, his jetpack-like Torwegg pushing against the storm while he watched Magmon's heavy body trudge along the bottom of the tunnel, resisting the powerful gusts.
"Funny, coming from someone flying blind. Smoke Surge!" Opening his wide mouth, Magmom expelled a massive cloud that blanketed the area with thick, black smoke. Xaerv started coughing furiously, unable to see. The smoke cleared quickly, blown away by forceful breeze, leaving Xaerv open to a blistering spear of molten rock hurled by Magmon.
"Whoa!" Killing the throttle of his Torwegg, Xaerv let the natural course of the tunnel pull him away from the attack before countering with one of his own, a sizzling bolt of lightning that collided painfully with Magmon.
"Shocking eh? It's almost like-"
"No more puns!" Magmon bellowed, unleashing a furious salvo of fireballs, striking Xaerv with enough force to short out his battlegear. Spiraling out of control, Xaerv awkwardly reached behind him and banged a fist against the casing of his Torwegg until it reactivated with a sputtering cough. By that time, he had flown quite a ways down the tunnel and Magmon was a glowing speck in the distance. A speck that was growing larger?
"Uh, oh" Xaerv pulled a rough about-face and took off, flying from a swarm of burning embers that was quickly filling the canyon. Below, Magmon was traversing the tunnel in long leaps, using the winds to push him along while his heavy mass kept him from blowing away. Another Ember Swarm was blocked by a storm of freezing hailstones propelled through the Storm Tunnel with Xaerv's powerful areokinesis. The cloud of steam the colliding elements created dissipated quickly, leaving Magmon looking for his opponent.
The winds increased in strength; Xaerv was behind him now, arms outstretched and increasing the force of the storm. They pushed against Magmon, hard, and try as he might, the Overworlder's power of air proved too much, picking him up and sending him hurdling down the tunnel and into a wall where the canyon walls curved, smashing him into code.
"Well played." Ron said in the drome as Xaerv changed back into Jacob. "Bad location for me, I guess"
"It happens. To be fair, I've never seen a non-flyer put up such a good fight there"
Ron activated his Randomizer at the prompt of the Drome announcer, the location displaying a mutli-leveled cavern of ramps and barred cells.
"Ragetrod vs Tangath Toborn at The Pits" Ron decided, a tap of his card morphing him into a tall, brown-furred creature with four arms and two bestial heads. In two hands were large spiked flails, while the other two were holding sturdy shields. Jacob was wearing the form of a humanoid lion in armor with a large sword.
Tangath Toborn leapt from ledge to ledge, attempting to gain higher ground in the Underworld prison. If Jacob remembered correctly, Ragetrod was a guard here and would know the place inside and out. He'd also heard some stories about the inmates, how some were so far gone, mistreated and abused by the Underworlders, that they became something other than the creatures they once were, more akin to hostile environmental hazards that could be picked up on a Chaotic players scan. With this in mind, he made a point not to get to close to the cells.
Ragetrod found him first, one of his flails replaced with a gleaming steel battleaxe that set Tangath's fur on end. While the Underworlder looked intimidating of the best of days, the overall effect of the environment and his weapons left the normally brave Overworlder downright terrified. This wasn't helped at at when Ragetrod released a red specter from his body into a Mugic crystal with a shout of "Song of Fury!"
Coarse and menacing notes pounded through the air, reducing Tangath's energy. The same song caused Ragetrod to seemingly swell with power, and he lunged at the leonid warrior.
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Tangath!" Ragetod roared with glee, swinging the sharp metal blade. Tangath ducked under the weapon and leapt backwards away from it's follow-up attack.
"What happened to 'No more puns'?" he asked, drawing his sword with one clawed hand, his Cyclance with the other.
"What can I say? It's a lot less irritating on the giving end. Ash Torrent!" With a single mighty exhale from each mouth, Ragetrod expelled a blast of blistering, burning ash. Tangath tried to blow the cinders away with the Cyclance, to no avail. Between the Mugic, Ragetrod's strength, and his mastery of the attacks individual elements, Tangath Toborn quickly found himself reduced to a shower of code in a single attack.
"A One-Hit KO? Really?" Jacob was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Can't say I've seen too many of those before."
Ron chuckled. "Yeah, Ragetrod's a beast" he paused. "Th-that pun was an accident."
Jacob laughed along, giving the Randomizer a quick spin. A massive stone temple with equally large stone faces carved into it's front would be the battlefield for Xaerv vs Skreeth, a purple-skinned humanoid with a skeletal tail instead of legs. The former inhabitants of Gigantempopolis had vanished mysteriously, leaving many treasures behind for those brave enough to travel the halls and rooms meant for creatures hundreds of times their own size. But like any good dungeon, it also had it's fair share of traps and defenses to guard the valuables within.
"Seriously? AGAIN?" Xaerv was dodging and flying around a series of saw blades on mechanical arms that had come from a hidden panel in the wall. Zipping through the spinning hazards was a lot easier with a Torwegg and enhanced reflexes, but that did nothing to alleviate the irritation at being caught in the same trap twice. Skreeth was nearby, having just been caught on the edge of the trap and darting out of harm's way. He quickly started summoning wailing spirits to attack Xaerv, the phantoms easily sailing around and through the blades to find their target.
"For the love of-!" Xaerv shouted in exasperation. "Symphony of Shielding!" A pair of mugic vanished from Mommark; Rich, melodic tones filled the halls, creating a semi-transparent bubble around Xaerv. The angry spirits crashed against it's surface, unable to penetrate the shell, while the serrated edges of the trap skidded off it, allowing the Overworlder to fly out of range of both.
The protective mugic fizzled out shortly after, leaving Skreeth and Xaerv on either side of the flailing razors. Until, with a cry of "Rustoxic", Skreeth opened his mouth, spewing out a haze of red particles that instantly corroded the trap in a way that a thousands Solons of passing time couldn't. The mechanism controlling the blades ground to a halt with a high-pitched screech and collapsed.
"Seriously?" Xaerv asked. "You couldn't have done that earlier?"
"It wouldn't have been as funny earlier." Skreeth shrugged, pushing his way past the broken arms.
"Paral-eyes!" Thin beams of light shot from Xaerv's eyes, striking Skreeth and freezing him in place as his joints locked up. His eyes darted around, panicky in their sockets.
"Lightning Burst!" A shower of electrical books struck the rusted metal and followed the path of least resistance, traveling down the framework and shocking Skreeth who still had his hands placed on the arms to move them aside. A grunt of pain escaped from Skreeth's clenched teeth and an explosion of electricity and code sprayed outward.
"That," Jacob said, changing back to human "was funny"
"For you" Ron grumbled, albeit with a grin. "Ragetrod is moving back a square to block in Xaerv. I've got him surrounded, now." He placed his hand on the card, and moved his creature back onto his side of the field, sealing off Xaerv from the others. "And now..." He swiped the Location Randomizer, clenching a fist in victory when a tower made of scrap metal and haphazardly welded junk appeared.
"Drakness attacks Xaerv. Battlegear doesn't work at Iron Pillar, so no more Torwegg."
"That goes for you too, you know" Jacob said, placing his hand against Xaerv's card.
Ron had vanished from the drome with his transformation, a creepy raspy voice the only indication of the boy presence.
"You assume I need it"
Even without his Torwegg, it was a farly simple matter for Xaerv to get around, summoning gusts of wind to propell him upwards. Occasionally, a bit of metal or scaffolding would creak or bend under his weight, but he would be gone before it could collapse. Ron watched through Drakness's eyes from the cavern's ceiling, far from any supports or beams; after the last match, the crafty Underworld player wouldn't be anywhere near a huge steel conductor if he could help it. A sneak attack would be best, damage Xaerv without giving away his location. Concentrating on the desired effect, he felt a mugic vanish from Kraade.
Harsh, deep notes echoed through the cave, a column of blinding light announcing the casting of a Cannon of Casualty mugic. Xaerv tried to dodge, but the beam caught him in midair, sending him tumbling to a platform below. Looking around wildly, the Overworlder made what would have otherwise been a winning move: channeling a massive amount of electricity into the tower, most likely hoping to fry anyone else nearby. Too bad Drakness hadn't moved from his perch, biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
The bright light of the attack faded, Drakness still safe in his pool of shadow. Xaerv was stooped over, hands on his knees, head still turning every which way.
He stood. Perfect. Drakness reached out with an appendage of pure blackness and fired off an orb of pure night. Xaerv never knew what hit him as the bolt hit him in the back of the head.
Jacob was wiped from the attack, breathing heavily and on the lookout for Drakness, when he felt something hit him. The next instant, he was back in the Amzen Drome, thoroughly confused.
"Wait, I was- and then I-" he pointed in a few directions, trying to figure what happened. "Where were you?" he asked Ron, equal parts lost and impressed.
"Trade secret" Ron said with a wink. "Your move."
The Randomizer chose Kiru City for Jacob's next battleground. "Bladez attacks Tharax" he announced warily.
Kiru City. Comfortable. Safe. Maybe not for Underworlders in general, but Jacob knew it as well as his own hometown. His last two losses may have been single-attack KO's but not this time. "I'm on to you now" he thought. "Weaken with mugic, then hit hard"
Bladez tightened his grip on curved blade, waiting for the telltale sound of a mugic that never came. "Maybe he's out of mugicians?" Ears strained against the eerie quiet of the normally bustling city, he heard it. Not mugic, but a scuttling, tapping sound. The warrior's blue skin paled just a shade. A reflection of a spiked shell in a window made him do a double-take as large crab with a scowling face and four pincer-ended arms scuttled into view.
"Whirlwind Scythes!" Bladez yelled in a panic, swinging his blade with enough force to create shockwaves that went careening off into the town, shattering windows and stone alike. Tharax looked taken aback by the wild shot, recovering quickly and countering with a blast of disgusting slime fired from one of his claws. Bladez tried to activate his Torwegg to fly away and gain the high ground, but it made a wet sputtering sound, refusing to lift off.
Taking an alternative approach, Bladez jumped into the air and landed on Tharax's back, gripping the edge of his shell awkwardly with his shield-hand.
"Ah! What're you doing?" the crab shouted, thrashing about about to remove his new rider.
"Safest place around, far as I can tell" Bladez held right while Tharax' claws snapped upward, unable to reach.
"Shows what you know. Rain Spears!"
"Rain-what-now?"
With a crack of thunder, the sky opened up over the battlers, sending down a hail of long liquid shafts. One of these struck Bladez hard in the back with the force of a fire hose, knocking him loose from his makeshift mount. Several more crashed to the ground, soaking the area and Tharax had to scramble away to avoid being struck by his own attack.
Eyeing the new sodden terrain, Tharax fixed a beady in on Bladez. "Don't do it" he warned.
"Don't do what? he asked wickedly, letting arcs of electricity dance over his sword before snuffing them with a laugh. "Just kidding. No fun in the same strategy over and over."
'That and the fact that I'm soaked too', Jacob thought. 'And I can't fly because he scummed up my Torwegg'
The rest of the battle was a fairly brutal affair, the two trading heavy physical blows back and forth. Despite his hard exoskeleton, Badez was far more maneuverable than the slow Underworlder and came out victorious. From there, it was a total beatdown. Bladez easily swept though Ragetrodd when the beastman attacked him at Fear Valley. Terrifying visions beset them both and Ragetrod went into a fuy, attacking both enemy and location with abandon.
Bladez attacking Kraade at the Overworld's Forest of Life didn't go much better for Ron. Before Jacob's attack, he moved all of his creatures forward to keep the pressure on. Within the Forest, Bladez was able to draw on the natural energy within to make himself more resilient amd came out the winner, despite the crustacean using a Discord of Disarming to completely destroy his Torwegg.
"I hope you enjoyed you little winning streak" Ron was saying in the Battledrome. "Because it's about to end."
"Not to sound rude, but it's four on one" Jacob pointed out. "All you have left is Drakness, and no mugicians."
"You know what they say about saving the best for last."
"Redfury, it is your move" the drome reminded the players.
Ron nodded at this, spinning the Location Randomizer. The result was a series of heavy steel platform situation atop and over a giant pool of lava.
"Kyhbon's Forge"
"Alright" Ron said with visible glee. All four of Jacob's remaining creatures were in striking distance. "Eenee, meenee, mynee... Drakness attacks Gespedan."
A blue blur streaked through the workshop, leaving trails of dust and metal shaving kicked in its wake. Gespedan was one of, if not the fastest Overworlder around and he could search the entirety of Kiru City for someone in just about an hour. And after several solid once-overs of the Forge, the gazelle-like human was coming up with nothing. No other creatures, and certainly no Drakness.
Gespedan summoned his battlegear and peered through it. The Scout's Monocular was similar to a pair of high-tech field glasses, able to pick up the smallest movement over long distances and even they weren't getting any readings. A sudden sharp pain caused the Overworlder to spin around, grabbing at a wound on his calf. Just like with Xaerv, there was no visible source for the attack.
"Really? Sniping like a coward?" Gespedan shouted out. Drakness didn't rise to the bait, however, instead staying wherever he was. "Great..."
Ron was right about his winning streak. Gespedan went down when a pipe "mysteriously" burst, coating the ground in slippery lubricant that sent the speedster sliding off a platform, over a railing, and into the lava below. Lomma tried to avenge him at the Runic Grove, only to fall deaf when several of the rune-carved trees started screaming, overwhelming the antelope-woman's sensitive ears. She didn't see the finishing blow either.
A colossal pillar of stone help up the cavern where Bladez was defeated, battered with a Cannon of Casualty powered by the angry spirit residing within the location. Blasts of flame, bolts of lightning, even a brief manifestation of Baldez' own skeleton to frighten the shadow couldn't draw Drakness out of hiding.
"Not even kidding, dude: how are you doing that?" Jake was stunned, the matched having turned from a nearly clean sweep to a one-on-one match. "I've never seen a player use Drakness like you do, it's so broken!" Despite his tone, Jacob was thrilled by the course the battle had taken.
"It just comes naturally, I guess" Ron said with a shrug.
Jacob nodded in understanding and activated the Randomizer one last time. The multi-story blue and white Overworld Library would be the location of their final match.
"I've heard of 'Silence in the Library', but this is ridiculous" Mommark made no effort to keep his voice down, finding the eerie quiet too much for him as he walked amongst the stacks. He stuck out like a sore thumb, lime green skin, bright red hair, wearing a purple suit and lab coat; it was no surprise when the shadows in the dimly lit rows started to pool around him, extinguishing the lamps one by one.
"Okay, that's bad." Mommark turn coatails and ran, lights going out behind him in sequence. A jet black claw grabbed at his arm, shredding the material, and he jerked away, running until he found a reading room and dashed inside, slamming the door. There were a few light sources in here, a small lamp on the desk, and two larger lights on the wall. Turning these up to maximum brightness, Mommark listened at the door for any unusual sounds beyond.
Hearing nothing, he heaved a sigh of relief. The room was small, but brightly lit, and it was only the work of a moment to upend the desk and move the chair so no darkness could collect under them. From there, Mommark could finally take a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts. Drakness could literally be anywhere at any time, and all he had to fight with was a creepy statute. A quick mental check of Mommark's attacks let him develop a plan.
Focusing his enegy, Mommark starting glowing. The Flash Mend attack was generally used to heal an injured user, with a interesting side effect of creating a bright light when used. The healing powers of the move repaired his lab coat, even. An angry hiss came from the floor as the light from the move purged the darkness from the smallest cracks in the enclosed room and Drakness himself materialized.
"Ha, I knew it! Viper Lash!" Conjuring a trio of serpents, Mommark cracked them like a whip to attack the Underworlder, who winced at the mystical attack.
"Not bad" the shadow monster grudgingly admitted. "About time we wrapped this up anyways. Shadow Stike!" The creaure's black claws slashed out to connect with Mommark, who grunted in pain. The scientist lashed out with powerful psychic waves in retaliation. Drakness recoiled from the mental assault, striking back with an orb of energy that smashed a section of wall.
Mommark stepped back with a shout of "Flash Mend!". Drakness flinched away from the oncoming brightness, but it never came. Instead, he felt a sharp sting on his torso.
"Psych" Mommark winked, firing off another Sleep Sting that reduced the shadow to code.
"Is that even allowed?" Ron was asking in the Drome.
"I don't see why not" Jacob said. "It's not like we need to call out our attacks. I doubt anyone will fall for that again, though"
"I know I won't. Still," he held out a hand "Good game"
"Thanks, you too."
The two left the drome, chatting amicably, while a figure in white robes trimmed in blue and yellow watched from a monitor.
End Notes: Drakness was a ton of fun to write. I've always had the idea that the living shadow would be incredibly powerful in the hands of the right player, and I'm glad I got to bring that idea to the page. I also had a blast with the final battle. A scientist (one might say a "Doctor"?) fighting living shadows in a library? That sounds familiar...