Memnarch's Apprentice ---------------------------------------------
"... So then this Karn fellow told you to get a girl to join you." said Jess skeptically.
"And here we are." said Kirby.
"Will you join us?" asked JJ. "It'll be fun"
"Fun?"
Jess pushed up her glasses. " 'Fun' is me kicking the crap out of you
two in Super Smash Brothers Melee. 'Fun' is staying up till odd hours
of Sunday morning watching anime. But this? I don't consider this 'fun"
"Come
on, Jess." JJ got onto his knees. "Look, if it makes you feel better,
we'll be sleeping in separate tents." That comment brought Jess' hand
to his face.
"Perv." she said, dusting her hand off. JJ, sporting a
nice hand print on his left cheek, sat up. "I'm still not going with
you. It sounds like a bunch of lies to me"
"But, it was real!" said Kirby. "I saw it with my own two eyes"
"Yeah, and pigs fly"
"They do! The Enquirer said so!" ((Barrump-bump--pssssh)
"I'm
not going, and that's final." said Jess, crossing her arms. She turned
back to her computer. "There's nothing that you can do that can make me
change my mind"
"Oh yeah, Tsunade-sama?" said JJ, mockingly. "Then
let's make a bet." ((For those of you who don't know, Tsunade is a
character in "Naruto" who a) is horrible at gambling, b) is monstrously
strong, and c) is very attractive to men)
JJ wiped his brow. 'This might be costly...' he thought. 'But we need Jess with us'
"I
challenge you to a game of Magic. We'll use each other's decks." He
offered up his Blue/Black deck. "If I win, you come along"
"And if I win?" Jess' question reverberated in JJ's head. 'I don't like this, but'
JJ sighed. "I'll go on a date with you"
"What?" said Jess mockingly, cupping her hand to her ear. "What would happen if I win"
JJ's face reddened as Kirby snickered behind him. "I said... I'll go on a date with you!" he exclaimed, staring at the floor.
"Alright." said Jess. Kirby was rolling on the floor, laughing. JJ turned around and kicked him in the shin.
"So, I'll use your deck, and you'll use mine." said JJ. "To make things fair"
"No,
keep your deck." said Jess. "I'll whup you either way, so I'd like to
fight you're at your strongest." She sat down and began shuffling.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked, looking up at him. "Let's go
already"
"Fine." said JJ, sitting down. Kirby leaned down and whispered in his ear.
"You'd better win." said Kirby. "I wanna go on this, and I don't feel like being left at home while you go on a date"
"Same here." said JJ. He finished shuffling. "All set"
"Same." Jess placed her deck in the middle of the two. "Cut it"
The two cut each other's decks, and returned them.
"Let's go!" they said in unison. JJ drew his first hand.
'Okay... not too shabby.' thought JJ. His hand wasn't that bad. In it, he had:
Darksteel Ingot
Platinum Angel
Whispersilk Cloak
Two Swamps
Dross Prowler
One Island
"You can go first, JJ." said Jess. She was furrowing her brow as
she surveyed her own hand. 'Must not have too much...' thought JJ,
excited."Okay. I'll play a Swamp and end my turn"
"I'll play Ancient Den, and end my turn." Jess placed the card on the field. JJ drew again, getting an older card, Wall of Air.
"I'll play another Swamp." JJ set the card down.
"I'll play a Plains." said Jess. It happened to be one of the 5 legal cards from the recently-released Unhinged set.
JJ drew a third Swamp, but opted instead to play his Island.
"Now," he said, turning them on their sides. "I'll summon the Dross Prowler!" He set the card down.
What
happened next, no one was expecting. The land cards glowed their
respective colors, then an orb of energy appeared above each. The
Island's was a small blue ball appeared to be made of swirling wind,
and the Swamps' energy was a black ball, slightly larger than the
Island's, that bubbled and splattered. The two energy balls merged,
creating a blue-black mixture. It then turned into a beam which shot
upwards, curved as it neared the ceiling, and fell back down onto the
Prowler card. There was a flash, and then, a living, breathing Dross
Prowler, about 5 inches tall, was standing on top of its card. It held
its rusty golden dagger in one hand, and was issuing what JJ assumed to
be noxious fumes from the tubes sticking out of its sides.
"What the...?" said Jess, staring in wonder.
"See?" said Kirby, pointing. "This is what we were telling you! This is the result of Karn's magic!"
"No." said a familiar disembodied voice. "I did not do this. JJ proved
that he has it within him to truly summon a creature." Karn's image
faded in, then solidified. He stood at a foot tall, and he looked up at
Jess. "You didn't believe in what your friends have told you. Now do
you believe?"
"Y-Yeah..." said Jess. She went to put her cards away. "I'm coming with you"
"Hold it." said Karn. "I believe you are in the middle of a game. You cannot just give up, as you have a bet at stake"
"That's
right." said JJ, emboldened. "We have a bet. I challenged you, I expect
you to see it through to the end." Jess smiled. "Okay then. But don't
expect me to back off because of this new development." She drew her
next card, as JJ was obviously finished with his card. "I'll play a
Plains, and summon the Emissary of Hope!" She placed the card on the
floor. The Plains cards glowed white, and a large white ball formed
above them. It resembled a ball of pure light. It shot upwards, arced
down, and splashed onto the Emissary. In a flash, the Emissary of Hope
was standing there, opposite the Dross' summoned fiend.
"Heh." JJ grinned evilly. "Now, let's get down."
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What better a way to end a chapter than with a cliffhanger? This ensures that you'll be back (maybe it doesn't, I dunno.). Anywho, will JJ win, or will Jess trounce him? Either way, stay tuned for the next episode of, "OffWorld"!
-Memnarch's Apprentice