Disclaimer: I don't own Magic: The Gathering or any other product mentioned in this fic.
"So Chikuro lost?" said Eva "How angry is he?"
"On a scale of one to ten? I'd say twenty-five," said Arrathir "He's currently beating his read repetitively against his Soul Room walls. If he had his way, he'd be tearing this place up to vent his frustration."
And I'd damn well be right to! I lost!
Everybody looses sometimes, Chikuro.
Yes, but it was against a blue deck!
Yeah, I know what you mean. I never really liked them.
I can't stand them! I hate them almost as much as white decks!
"Hey, I'm going to go check out the D&D games," said Eva "Wanna come?"
"I'll pass," said Arrathir "How about we meet back here in an hour."
"Sure thing!' said Eva, running off. Secretly, she was planning to visit the person who had defeated Chikuro.
(If he defeated the Keeper of Black Mana, he's got to have a really good deck.)
Arrathir spent the next hour browsing the tables. There was so much to see and do that the hour flew by. Arrathir was drooling over a preview for the upcoming Zelda Gamecube game when his watch alarm went off.
Guess I'd better go meet Eva.
When he got to the meeting point, Eva was not there, so Arrathir sat down on a bench and waited, watching the people walking by. He counted no less than a dozen D&D players dressed up in their characters. He shook his head in disbelief at how obsessed these people were.
Arrathir had never been a big fan of RPGs. Sure, he'd played a few of the Final Fantasy games as well as some MMORPGs, but he'd never managed to get into paper and pencil RPGs like D&D. There were just so many pain-in-the-neck steps involved for every little action. He preferred video game RPGs where everything was automatically calculated.
Your girlfriend sure is taking a long time.
She's not my girlfriend! We're just friends!
Yeah, and I'm sure friends kiss under the stars.
Some do…
Sure. What you say.
I wonder where she is? It's not like her to be late.
She's probably at some table playing Magic or something.
Yeah, but I'm still gonna take a look around.
Arrathir got up and headed for the D&D tables, expecting to find Eva arguing with a DM about a spot check roll. As he scanned the tables, he saw no sign of her. Shrugging, he crossed the arena to the Magic tables on the other side, but no sign of Eva. He hurried back to the meeting point, hoping to find a furious Eva waiting for him, but she wasn't. Now Arrathir was starting to feel a bit worried.
Relax. You can just sniff her out.
Arrathir tried to find a familiar scent in the crowd, but all the smells were foreign to him. He began walking along the rows of tables, hoping to run into Eva.
"Looking for something, mate?" said Charles. Arrathir saw he'd been walking past his table.
"Yeah, have you seen a brown-haired girl with green eyes?" he asked, "She was wearing a blue t-shirt and jeans. She's a bit shorter than me."
"Yeah, I saw her," said Charles "She dropped by about an hour ago, said she heard I'd beaten you and wanted to play me and I won. She left and I saw her a bit later. She was with some guy, sort of leaning on him. It's almost like he was dragging her. I called out to her, but she didn't say anything."
"What did he look like?"
"What, they guy? He was wearing this brown cloak. I didn't get a good look at his face because he had his hood up. I thought I was weird, but given all the weirdoes who dressed up today, I didn't think twice about it."
I don't like this.
A hooded man plus a disappearance rarely means good news. I feel a great disturbance in the mana nearby.
You mean…
I think we have ourselves another Planeswalker.
Anima?
No, this one's mana radiations are different.
Where are they?
Let me take over, I'll find whoever it is.
"Hey, you all right?" asked Charles "You kind of blanked out there."
"I've got to go," said Chikuro, walking away "She's in danger."
"Who? Eva? Hey, I'm coming!" said Charles, jumping over the table and running after Chikuro.
"I don't mean to be disrespectful," said Chikuro "But I don't think you're ready for this."
"You can't stop me from coming," said Charles "It's a free country."
Chikuro sighed and focused on the Planeswalker's mana radiations. They seemed to be coming from under the ground.
The basement!
Chikuro located the door to the basement in a back hallway of the arena, but it was locked. Frowning, the Keeper of Black Mana grabbed the doorknob and ripped the door open.
"How did you do that?" asked an astonished Charles.
"Long story," said Chikuro, bounding down the steps. Charles followed suit. As they walked through the hissing pipes and piles of cardboard boxes, Chikuro felt the Planeswalker was close. As he opened a metal door in a deep recess of the basement, he saw Eva tied to a chair. He head hung limply on the side, but he could tell she was breathing. As Charles entered the room, the door slammed and locked behind them.
I should have known…it's a trap!
"Greeting, Keeper of Black Mana," said a voice. A man stepped out from the shadows. His hood was up so Chikuro could not see his face.
"What did you do to her?" he growled.
"She is fine, for now," said the man "If you duel me and win, she will be spared." He held up a hypodermic syringe filled with a yellow liquid. "I've injected her with a powerful sleeping drug, so powerful in fact that if she doesn't get the antidote within fifteen minutes, she will never wake up! If you win, I'll give you the antidote, but if you loose, you will both die!"
"Whoa!" said Charles "What is going on here?"
"Long story short," said Chikuro "The world of Magic: The Gathering is real and he's a Planeswalker."
"Well?" said the man "What do you say? Time is ticking. We're down to fourteen minutes."
"Fine!" said Chikuro "Charles, I suggest you get out of here. Things are gonna get ugly."
"Too late!" said the man "Your little friend is going to share your fate when I kill you."
"Charles!" said Chikuro "This is going to be a mana duel between Planeswalkers. The creatures are real and you will feel the pain from all attacks. Just bounce his stuff back to his hand and I'll take care of him."
Charles pulled out his deck, a bit unsure of what was going on.
"Am I to assume you are the successor to Anima?" asked Chikuro.
"Anima was a weak fool," said the man "I am Numa and I will not fail to defeat you and stop the Awakening!"
Someone is trying to stop the Awakening…but whom?
Doesn't matter! Hurry up and kick this guy's ass!
"Let's get this started!" said Numa. He chanted a spell and suddenly Chikuro found he couldn't move his feet anymore.
"What did you do?" he roared.
"It's just to make sure you don't run off," said Numa.
"As if!" said Chikuro "I wouldn't condemn the girl!"
"Speaking of which," said Numa "She'll die in ten minutes if you don't defeat me. Who goes first?"
"We'll Rock Paper Scissors for it," said Chikuro.
"Fine, said Numa and Charles.
Good old rock. Nothing beats rock.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" said the three duellists.
"Rock!" said Chikuro.
"Scissors!" said Numa and Charles.
"I'll start then!" said Chikuro. Waving his hand, seven cards appeared in it. "Swamp! And I summon Putrid Imp (1/1), discarding a card to give him flying until end of turn!"
Charles gasped as the creature came to life. So this was what a real Magic duel was like!
"End turn!" said Chikuro.
"I play a Mountain," said Numa "And I summon Raging Goblin (1/1, Haste)." A small green goblin appeared on the field. "Now, attack Charles!" The goblin pulled out a sharp pole and ran at Charles. It poked him sharply in the stomach before retreating to its side of the field. Charles was bent over, gasping for air.
CHIKURO: 20
NUMA: 20
CHARLES: 19
"As your body takes more damage," said Numa "It will become harder for you to concentrate because of the pain!"
"I play an Island," said Charles "And I end my turn."
"You're going to have to do better than that!" said Chikuro "Our lives are on the line here! I play another Swamp and play Vampiric Tutor. End turn." He winced in pain as the spell shaved off two of his lifepoints.
If he's got more haste creatures, I'll be able to block.
CHIKURO: 18
NUMA: 20
CHARLES: 19
"I play a Swamp and summon Goblin Piledriver (1/2, Pro Blue)," said Numa.
Oh shit!
"Now I attack the Keeper of Black Mana with Raging Goblin!"
"I block with Putrid Imp," said Chikuro. The goblin and the imp killed each other, exploding into mana.
"End turn."
"I play an Island," said Charles "And I Boomerang your creature back to your hand!" The goblin vanished and another card appeared in Numa's hand.
"End turn."
"Third Swamp!' said Chikuro "And I play Exhume, bringing my Havoc Demon (5/5, Flying) to play!" The ground crumbled as the demon rose from the ground. On Numa's field, Raging Goblin reappeared. "End turn!"
"Heh, you think your creature can stop me?" said Numa "I play a Mountain and I play Goblin Grenade, sacking my Raging Goblin to deal 5 damage to your Havoc Demon!" The goblin jumped onto the Havoc Demon with a wild cry and exploded, killing the demon as well as itself. "Finally, I summon Blood Pet (1/1)." A small thrull appeared on the field. "End turn."
Hmm, Blood Pet. He can sack it for one black mana.
"I play an Island and summon Cloud of Faeries (1/1)," said Charles "End turn." A small faerie appeared on the field.
"I play a Swamp and summon Putrid Imp (1/1)," said Chikuro "Next I play Duress! Let's see your hand." Numa's hand contained: Sparksmith, Goblin Turncoat, Swamp, and Goblin Warchief. "End turn."
"I play a Swamp," said Numa "And I summon Goblin Warchief (2/2). All goblins I control have Haste and cost one colorless mana less to play! Next I summon Sparksmith (1/1) and sack my Blood Pet, adding one black mana to my mana pool to summon Goblin Turncoat (2/1)." A goblin with a circular whetstone and a cloaked goblin appeared on the field while the thrull exploded into black mana that flowed into Numa's body. "Now I attack the Keeper with all my goblins!"
Damn! This is bad! Now he's going to rush us with goblins! I need to get something to bring my Havoc Demon back so I can sack it to kill them off
"I block your Turncoat with my Putrid Imp," said Chikuro. The goblins gleefully attacked him, slashing with their claws.
CHIKURO: 15NUMA: 20
CHARLES: 19
Won't be able to take much more of this! I'm more worried about Charles. He's never been in a real mana duel before. He may not be able to handle the pain.
"I play an Island," said Charles "And I play Intuition, taking three cards from my library. My opponent chooses one, which goes into my hand and the rest go into my graveyard. I choose three Accumulated Knowledge!"
"Well, put one of them in your hand," said Numa. Charles discarded two of his cards.
"Now I summon another Cloud of Faeries, untapping two lands due to its effect and I end my turn."
"I play Dark Ritual, adding three black mana to my mana pool!" Three black skulls appeared and entered Chikuro's body. "Next, I play Vampiric Tutor!" said Chikuro as a new wound opened on his face "Next I play Night's Whisper and finally play Reanimate, putting my Havoc Demon back into play!"
CHIKURO: 4
NUMA: 20
CHARLES:
19
Chikuro fell over as pain wracked his body. He felt as though a Plated Slagwurm had trampled over him.
"Finally," said Chikuro, getting up, "I play Cabal Therapy on myself, discarding Avatar of Woe and I Flashback Cabal Therapy, sacking my Havoc Demon!" The demon exploded, taking out all the creatures on the field. "End turn."
"I play a Mountain," said Numa, cackling wildly "You're killing yourself for me! Soon this due will be over and your girl will be dead along with you! She only has five minutes left to live! I summon Raging Goblin (1/1, Haste)!"
"Don't think so!" said Charles "Go, Counterspell!" A blue beam enveloped the forming creature and crushed it.
"Exactly what I needed!" said Numa "I knew you had a counter spell ready, so I made you waste it so I could play this! Cover of Darkness!" A dark cloud enveloped the duellists, cutting all light off from the outside.
It's like we're dueling in the Shadow Realm again.
"When this enchantment comes into play," said Numa "I choose a creature type. This creature type has Fear, so I'll say goblins!"
WHAT?
"I end my turn," said Numa "Make your move."
To be continued…
Author's note: Well, a new Planeswalker who's after Chikuro. Who's trying to stop the Awakening? When the Hell is Khell going to show up? ('Cause I know that what you're all waiting for) On another topic, be sure to look at my profile for a link to some cool fanart for The Awakening. And now, answering the questions time!
Technomagus: Man! You've nailed me every time! One day, however, I will write a duel free of errors! Just you wait!
Yawgmoth: (Backs away slowly)
Demonslayer: Only time will tell.
Professor Curly: Yeah, I know the feeling. I've actually managed to convert a few Yu-Gi-Oh players to Magic! As I mentioned before, the duels are all thought up by yours truly. However, I couldn't do it all without someone who's been an enormous help to this fic and its prequel, Lu Chao! He's the brain behind many of the decks as well as providing plot ideas. Honestly, this fic wouldn't be half as good without him. As for tournaments, well, let's say I'm still trying to win one. I did not receive your e-mail; my junk mail filter must have caught it. If you send me fan mail, be sure to put the subject as "The Awakening" so I'll catch it when I look over the junk I get.
Armongo: Domo Arigato, Mr. Armongo.
Khell: I share your hatred for blue decks and you were right about getting into a fix. Chikuro's got less than five minutes to save Arrathir's love interest and his reputation. So people stop asking me this, Khell's not going to be around until at least chapter 30. Start looking for him after that.