Veil Of Greed: Hunt For The Numbers!
Chapter 8: Chur Attacks Vash Naroom
Date: August 25th, 2022
It has been several months since the Final Dreamers defeated Agram by merging the Guardian Hyrens of all the realms of the Moonlands into the Final Hyren. That hyren was the only creature powerful enough to end Agram's cruel plots to conquer the Moonlands, a small planet inhabited by many diverse cultures with technology that would be seen as mostly simple to our standards. People have settled in basically all but one of the lands that make it up and are even able to tame Dream Creatures. Dream Creatures are like the Pokémon of the Moonlands, when a human tames one, they are sent to another dimension called The Dream Plane to rest and can summoned again through their ammonite.
The Final Dreamers are the prophesied heroes who ended up saving the Moonlands twice but now, they will have several problems to deal with in a short time. It's bad enough Agram escaped to Earth and that his former 2nd in command Chur is amassing an army to conquer the Moonlands himself. But, some number cards have fallen into the Moonlands following the battle to stop Gorganan and the Shadow. Now please enjoy the recollection of what happened on a day just months after Edyn, Tony, Strag, and Furok were crucial in stopping Agram and sending all void energy into space. I woke up to a gentle knock on the door. I yell with knowledge of who's knocking: "I'll be right there, Bray! Today's the day. We're going to the Moonlands! Give me a few minutes to get more ready!" The armor I have used for years was broken on a short but dangerous adventure just a week ago so I've had to get some new armor. That adventure called for an expedition to a possible future of Miitopia where the ice and snow of Powdered Peaks covered the entire world, even far beyond Miitopia in the Tomodachi islands. And during it, we battled tough ice monsters. I took most of their hits to protect everyone else. Normally, damaged armor could be fixed easily but the ice monsters unleashed special ice that has unique properties. These properties make it impossible for science or magic to repair anything that is damaged by them. My new armor is really interesting. It took brain and magical power to create it but we did it.
The boots are made of orange colored leather on the inside while the outside is of course, metal. They are mostly white with green accents and yellow and red swiggly lines all over. The leggings are also metal with a leather inside and extra padding for the knees. They are colored several forms of red as is the chestplate except it features some white here and there as well. All of the armor not just the leggings and boots feature leather insides that were made from air molecules. The new armor even has a helmet, it's colored pure black with some artistic carvings in it. I doubt I will wear it often but I will today for sure. I put all of my armor on, most of which is above the lightweight and simple but strong armor developed by Dominic. It looks like chainmail in color and appearance. It itself is over white pajamas with little furry animals on them because I didn't feel like taking them off.
My bright and long red cape is the perfect final touch. In the wind, it flies everywhere and really pulls off an epic warrior's look. Okay, enough armor talk. I finish preparing for the mission and head with Bray to the meeting room like always. Upon seeing no one else in the room, I ask: "Bray, where's everyone else? And who are our teammates for this adventure?" "They'll be here soon. As you know, I shall be joining you on this one as well. The Moonlands is a world full of magic after all and I as the Great Sage will be needed." "That's good to know. But shouldn't we have breakfast first before going on this mission? There's plenty of food in the Moonlands but it'll be good to go in there with stomachs that aren't rumbling constantly." She like a trickster magician pulls out a whole plate of food for me from behind her. She does the same thing again 3 times for her own food and our drinks: "I did not see that coming! Wow! You picked out great stuff for the both of us! Even some fresh grapes from Greenhorne! Yum!" "I knew you would be happy!" The 2 of us sit down and begin eating. After that, we drink our waters and discuss various topics.
That's when I decided to finally tell somebody about that morning I saw the life of Gofast: "On the topic of enemies we have dealt with, I have something I have neglected to share until now. On the 31st of last month, I had visions of what turned Gofast into well, Gofast." "No wonder you wouldn't tell anyone even though we all knew you were hiding something. It was best to give you space about it. I shall listen intently on what you remember. With those visions, we will have an advantage when we finally confront Gofast as you have hoped." I finish recalling just in time for the others to arrive. So besides me and Bray, there's also Shope, Judai, Julia, Anna, and Yu. I smirk: "We got ourselves an interesting team lineup today. I like it, we're all going to have a lot of fun together especially if we make it out of there alive." Yu replies: "This is going to be awesome! Me and Libra are going to go hypersonic! It's too bad Gingky couldn't come! He's helping investigate a mysterious blader who's been going around hurting people and their beys. Oh well." "Of course you'd say that! Anyway, in case you were wondering about why I don't really use Burn Wolf anymore, here's the deal. In his spare time, Dominic is developing an avatar of sorts for the spirit of Burn Wolf to use to conduct themselves in battle. This avatar is not unlike the AI developed by the Ignis Lightning like Boman."
Anna jumps in: "Come on! I'm ready to roll over some enemies with my trains! And then blast them myself!" Shope adds: "This is going to be as exciting as a science fair. Tyler, Kevin, and Roach are going to be so jealous when they hear about this! I can't tell my parents but I'm sure the Xr4ti will enjoy going over it with me! I will literally shock our enemies today." Judai puts his fists into the air: "I'm so ready to throw back with my heroes and Yubel!" "Judai, I must remind you that there are no duelists in the Moonlands or the connected Earth or Dream Plane. You'll have to think more complexly." "I know that!" Julia speaks: "I think that's enough! I'm so excited to go there I can't stand it! Let's go! Let's go!" As expected, an energetic mii once again pumps us up. That's kind of their thing, especially if their job is a Pop Star. I swear energetic pop stars, kind warriors, cool vampires, and laid back scientists are the ultimate combinations for miis. After Julia's words, Bray teleports us right by the obelisk of Vash Naroom. I put on my Swiftdrawer costume real quick: "So this is Vash Naroom, one of 11 realms in the Moonlands! It's even better than it is on a electronic screen! Look at all the trees, it's so beautiful here. This kind of beauty isn't something I can truly capture in my art or writings. But we must be careful, who knows what kind of new dangers there are around. That and I'd personally like to move around here without being mistaken as an invader of the Moonlands. I would forgo my costume but the United Mining Company has increased their surveillance greatly ever since they failed to invade UA High School earlier this month."
Bray agrees: "It is risky to enter a settlement where people are suspicious of new individuals they've never seen before. It's not so bad in a place like Vash Naroom but we still must be careful and give off a friendly vibe." Judai speaks up: "That reminds me of the stigma I mostly ignored at Duel Academia. It was due to me being an Osiris Red." "And don't forget napping in class all the time." "Hey! I just wanted to throw down, that's all!" Yu laughs: "Just like Gingky years ago! But he never went to school. I can't tell you how many times he was snoozing on a bench or rooftop!" "Yuma is the exact same! Katori told me once about how much he sleeps at school! When he isn't sleeping, he's dueling, eating, or trying to be successful in gymnastics." Shope groans: "Boys." Bray gives a small snicker as we continue walking towards the settlement of Vash Naroom: "Not all boys are like that. For example, I don't think I've ever seen Austin take a nap. His energy is nearly boundless. Same goes for you, Julia." "Hehe! Can't help myself!" Yu has really nice and big/long orange/blonde hair, his green eyes really stand out against the primarily white shirt he's wearing and his brown jeans. Anna has reddish magenta and orange hair that sticks out a bit at the ends, her caramel brown eyes display her hunger for battle and she's currently following the rest of us on her hovercraft. The pink and white shirt and shoes she wears alongside her black pants could deceive our enemies into thinking Anna's not tough. Judai's hair is very similar to Anna's except it's shorter and brown and orange. Those warm brown eyes of his makes Judai much more approachable.
As always, he wears his Osiris Red school uniform proudly as his primary outfit. As we continue talking, I get the feeling we're being watched: "Hey, does anyone feel like we're being watched?" Bray looks around and casts a revealing spell: "There seems to be no one around here except us. We'll be in the city soon." "Guess my world is making me paranoid again. I've occasionally worried over nothing before." We easily handle the rest of the walk to Vash Naroom but when we get there, the Final Dreamers Edyn, Tony, and Strag, Orwin, and Evu are waiting for us. Edyn has long orange hair tied into a massive ponytail, yellow green eyes, tanned skin, and an outfit of a scarlet shirt, leaf skirt, green pants, and brown/white boots. Tony looks pretty average for a human with his brown eyes, light skin, and short brown hair but it's his outfit that's interesting. He has on a red shirt with the logo for his school's track team on it that is covered by a brown vest that features a sack. It matches his brown boots. Then there's Strag. He has purple and light blue fungus hair, tan skin, a white headband, purple eyes, light yellow sleeveless shirt, chocolate brown pants, and spiked light brown, maroon, and darker brown shoes. A long dark green cloak is among the first features of Orwin that we noticed. It is over several shirts of different lengths. One is mostly white, the other two are yellow green and light lime. Orwin has calming blue eyes that fit his tanned skin and his dark brown hair, beard, and mustache. Evu's white hair is tied up into a bun while her own blue eyes remain as bright as ever and her skin is pretty tan as well.
A stick is in her hair as a fashion choice that reflects her lime green hooded cloak and black green shirt well. Additionally, her skin is not unlike the color of sand despite being from Naroom. They are expecting us. Orwin speaks: "Welcome all of you to Vash Naroom. I'm Orwin, leader of Naroom. Evu tells me some of you hold unimaginable power inside. Here in Naroom, we are open to outsiders but you must tell us who you are and why you're here. Over to my left are Edyn, Tony, and Strag. If you make yourselves our enemies, we will not hesitate to stop whatever your intentions are." Bray replies while slowly pulling out her staff: "We are not here to attack you. I'm Great Sage Bray and these are *gestures to each of us* Julia, Swiftdrawer, Anna, Yu, Judai, and Shope. We are here on an important mission." I add grimly: "It concerns the fate of not just the Moonlands but everything that has ever and will exist. May we discuss this somewhere more private? I won't take my mask off out in the open like this. You aren't the only heroes who have to worry about enemies coming back to haunt you. It's a long story." Edyn decides to speak: "Hold on, you could be lying to us. There isn't any void energy anymore but you could be working for the Shadow Magi! I cast Reveal Spell." Her spell reveals we're being truthful: "Wow, you really are telling the truth." Orwin was just about ready to summon Shirdor: "In that case, let's go to the library. Also, what kind of contraption is that friend of yours on?" Tony answers as we all work to the library together: "I think it's some hovercraft from one of those Sci fi movies back on Earth."
"That would be true if Anna weren't from a timeline where tech like that is pretty common. We are from different worlds, it's confusing but we'll get to that. The library is a good place to do this. Anyone trying to see into it can't really see the back and because of the bookshelves, any sound coming out is somewhat muffled as they block many of the soundwaves from escaping into the surrounding area. It's the same line of thinking as crying into a pillow." After that, we walk in silence. I'm too busy admiring Vash Naroom to continue speaking. All the houses are in the trees and there is no litter or pollution around. It'd be the perfect place to live. On my Earth, I live in a bluegrass/forest environment. It has a temperate climate that gets less temperate by the year due to the climate crisis. The walk to the library isn't that bad because the city is quite small by the standards of where I'm from but damn does it feel good to get a bit dirty. Society is too much about perfection, money, and artificial happiness in my home of Cincinnati and beyond. Here, transportation is mostly through Dream Creatures, walking, simple boats, or ships no more advanced than the ones used by pirates centuries ago. Roads aren't paved with tar or concrete, here they're imperfect, dirty, and bumpy. Enough about that. We enter the library together. Bray and I are easily transfixed by all the books. We even say in unison right before getting serious again: "I could spend a lifetime reading all these books!" "Jinx! Ha! Anyway, we must focus on these urgent matters at once. At any moment, chaos unlike anything you have ever seen could unfold here in the Moonlands."
Evu replies as we are led into the study in the library: "Well then, let us begin. How do you know so much about the Moonlands?" "It's complicated. But I know Tony will at least understand. Myself and Bray are the best for explaining. I watched most of the notable events between Tony's summoning to this world and the party put together after Agram's defeat through a method known as a show on a TV. It's called Magi-Nation in reference to you Magi. A TV shows a sequence of images more detailed and complicated than Edyn's paintings for each show. There are far more than 1 that play in a second. A show is basically a structured showing of many chunks of these image sequences that fall under the same name and general timeline." Tony opens his mouth in shock: "You explained it better than I could!" "Yes, that is true Tony. Before we further introduce ourselves and our intentions, let me clarify to you how that's possible. I'm like you'd call an artist and nerd. I have created animations, stories, thrilling machines called roller coasters, paintings, drawings, and more in the past. I also understand a great deal about certain subjects and have a large vocabulary." "So you like video games too?" "Very much so." Bray starts talking: "With that out of the way, we must discuss the threats this world faces. The Shadow Magi Chur is out there still as are the others. That's obvious. But did you know that Agram escaped to Earth? It's why we even planned to come here along with something else." "That's not good. From what Tony has told us of Earth, who knows what kind of damage he's doing there."
"We shall assist you as much as we can as those threats are going to be amplified by something that is partly our fault. You're well aware of different dimensions and worlds. But what if I told you anything that you can imagine and more has happened, is happening, or will happen within existence? There are special flat rectangular objects made of cardboard paper that threaten the safety of the Moonlands. They are cards called number cards. Swiftdrawer will take it from here." I take off my mask and cloak: "As long as we are inside somewhere, you can call me by my actual name, Adam. It's a pain but these number cards can easily cause so much damage. If picked up by someone with even the smallest of grudges, a number card can possess them and amplify any negative feelings they have to the point they might be able to get their host to summon them in battle. And numbers are hard to destroy without your own numbers to rely upon. A crisis is going on where mayhem is happening because of hundreds of these numbers and a rival group to our cause called the United Mining Company seeking them for their own selfish purposes." We end up explaining other important info like stuff about ourselves before Orwin says: "We trust you. Do any of you need any dream creatures to help you in battle? As you seem to know, that's how we primarily battle here in the Moonlands." We shake our heads no and Tony asks: "What kind of fighting do you all do then? Without dream creatures, you will lose here!" "No need to be rash, Tony. We must respect the ways of our new allies. Just last night, Shimmer informed me that Chur has been spotted recently with a large army of dream creatures. We could use all the help we can get wherever he chooses to attack."
"It's alright, Orwin. The brains of a lot of humans don't fully develop till around mid 20s. Due to this and hormone levels increased thanks to puberty, it doesn't shock me that Tony and the others can be likely to act rash. It's the sad truth but inevitably, experience is the best teacher. My fighting style involves using a sword disguised as a paintbrush, occasionally using other tricks like playing guitar to distract, attack, and annoy the enemy, and summoning life forms through various cards." The others discuss that too and everything keeps going smoothly until a loud boom is heard along with screams of terror. Orwin is especially worried: "Chur must be attacking or perhaps even Agram himself is attacking! We must evacuate the city immediately!" All of us spring into action. I put my mask and cloak back on: "Don't worry, I'm used to the heat all that I'm wearing generates. My strongest attack is much hotter than it. I will be fine. My style is focused on direct attacks and planned moves from a distance. I will help hold off the attackers. Orwin, you should lead your people to safety. You do not seek to discriminate against or oppress any lifeform so I trust your leadership." Bray adds: "I shall help evacuate the city and those who cannot defend themselves such as the innocent children who deserve to have happy childhoods. A close friend of ours wasn't that lucky, it would mean a lot to them if they heard what I plan on doing." We split up into 2 groups. Evu, Orwin, Bray, Julia, and Strag focus on defending innocents and evacuating everyone. The rest of us will fight against the invaders.
That's when we hear the voice of Chur: "Hello Vash Naroom! It's time for you to appoint a new leader, me! Surrender now or else I will burn this city to the ground! But if you just give up the Final Dreamers to me, I will let you go for today! With their powers, the Moonlands will be mine! I will succeed where Agram failed. And with some friends who were at first reluctant to join me, this will become reality!" And to make things worse, he has amassed not just an army of shadow creatures but he's also somehow managed to recruit a few of Agram's former servants. It must have been nice to spend several months just helping with small problems throughout the Moonlands for Tony, Edyn, and Strag. That sounds really nice but also kind of dull. But hey, it'd be not nearly as dull as somehow getting bored during a panel at a furry convention. After I fall asleep next, I will be going to a furry convention. Can you believe it? I'm going to another one and this time with a greater awareness of safety and how royally fucked the world I'm from is. Anyway, Tony yells to him: "What do you want us for? You didn't even want to become a Shadow Magi again!" "Oh that? My mind has changed since I helped you take care of Mercenarie! I'm not Agram's Shadow Magi anymore, the only person I serve now is me! Once I have you all to myself, I will use you to find the hyrens so they may become under my control! Do you have any idea how long I searched for the hyrens after you formed the Final Hyren? You'd think by now that hyren would have split back up but no! Are you ready to help me like your father did, Strag? Emperor Chur will crush all of you if not!"
Strag comes to us after evacuations are complete: "Even if you helped us in the past does not mean I will help you of my free will! With this ammonite, I imagine Freep!" He pulls out the purple colored ammonite with a mini Freep inside of it and Freep emerges from it as it fades away: "Whose noggin needs knocking?" As this happened, Yu says upon seeing a bunch of creatures coming for us: "Let it rip! Go, Libra!" "Yu! You better be careful not to destroy the village with sonic waves. *I see him nod* Now who wants to see how they fare against an artist following the warrior's path?! I'll give you enemies one hell of a fight! Observe! Super Spin Slash!" The yellow and green stamina type bey is launched from Yu's bey launcher and just as he's about to use one of Flame Libra's moves, I yell: "Cover your ears! This is going to be defeaning!" Anna replies while activating her duel disk: "Not as defeaning as my trains! I summon Rocket Arrow Express by sending all other cards in my hand to the graveyard!" She then gets on her hovercraft/rocket launcher and flies up in the sky with a big train with 5000 attack points following her. Once that's done, Yu grins and I cover my ears in time: "These shadow creatures are jerks! This is going to be so fun! Libra, Infernal Fire Blast!" An incredibly loud and frightening sound made of sonic waves is heard as Libra spins in one place and does so so fast a green light/flame reaches up high into the sky. It even changes the air pressure and sends several shadow creatures to the Dream Plane. Chur must have an allegiance relic because the void energy was taken off the planet and formed into a ball in space.
An allegiance relic allows a Magi or Shadow Magi to change the allegiance of someone if they are willing. But if they aren't willing, the user changes sides instead. The sound coming from Libra has my heart racing. I'm so glad Yu didn't have Libra use Sonic Buster too or else, we'd all be sinking in sand, Shadow Magi, Magi, other, whoever. Those sonic waves would have knocked me down if it weren't for all the training I have put myself through. It's a good thing we don't have to worry about Damian and his bey Hades because that bey is absolutely terrifying. Once Infernal Fire Blast has concluded, Yu grins seeing the number of creatures that were defeated. Chur demands: "What was that? Did one of your dream creatures do this, Final Dreamers?" "No dream creature could do that! Look over there!" Chur looks to where Strag is pointing: "Oh another brat who's getting in my way. You must be responsible for that horrible sound!" "Yup yup. Me and Libra!" "Get that kid! He could be useful to my plans just like the Final Dreamers!" Chur has blue green skin, a yellow gem in his forehead, magenta eyes, and black and white animal fur armor with spikes and magenta outlining. The cruel smile on his face is so upsetting to Edyn: "Why can't you just become good again, Chur? You enjoyed learning about the cultures of the Moonlands so much. You even had so much fun with other people. How could you conquer a world with cultures that brought you so much joy?" "I don't have time for this! Look, I forgot how much fun it was to cause destruction on my own! And I missed all the power being an emperor gave me! I could take anyone's ammonite at will and no one could or would stop me! My first goal is to get my revenge on Agram after getting you Final Dreamers!" Freep, the blue skinned turtle dream creature with orange eyes and an orange and purple shell exclaims: "Chur needs his noggin to be knocked!" Just when Chur was about to ditch fighting us to cause more chaos by having Ashio attack in his place, I say: "Chur! You ain't going anywhere! The Final Dreamers won't let you just leave and neither will I! I'll take on Ashio myself!"
To prove my point, I single-handedly defeat a dream creature on my own without much trouble: "Fine! It'll be better if I deal with them myself anyway! Prepare to be defeated with your city in charred ruins!" Ashio cackles: "So I get one of the allies of the Final Dreamers all to myself? This is going to be fun! With this ammonite, I imagine Dark Minion!" This guy has really long blonde hair, an orange headband, green skin, gray pants, grey and dark grey shirt, and magenta eyes. He commands Dark Minion to attack me: "This will be incredibly easy! You're defenseless without a dream creature to summon! Go Dark Minion! Attacked this masked Magi with Void Pounce!" The shadow creature charges up with void energy from who knows where and then literally pounces on me: "Get off of me! Please get off! Or I will have no choice but to make you!" Dark Minion doesn't let off of me so I take matters into my own hands while Ashio cackles about how funny it is to him that I'm being attacked and pinned down. With my weapon still in my right hand, I wait for the right opportunity. When I figure out the timing as my armor absorbs most of the damage I'm taking, it is go time. Just when Dark Minion was about to attack me again, I stab the creature with my disguised sword: "I don't really enjoy hurting other life forms but if it's the only solution, then I will do it! A creature like this is not enough to stop me nor is it enough to break my armor in a short amount of time." "How dare you defy me! *cackle* Dark Minion, attack harder!" The creature does and starts trying to break through my mask too. All that's happening is some paint is getting chipped off because of the lack of coordination from Dark Minion:
"If Dark Minion focused on just one area, they could do a lot more damage. I see the stab I made wasn't enough to send them to the Dream Plane. That's okay. It's my turn to play now. And with my turn, I shall design and execute the formula that at least sets up the road to your shadow creature's defeat and then your own defeat! Haaaa! Darkeye Slash! A well equipped and prepared warrior must have their attack, defense, stamina, and dexterity all up really good. I will show you what that partly looks like even more!" I wrestle myself free of Dark Minion just long enough to jump into the air and deliver an uppercut like attack that deals significant damage. They in response attack me and grab hold of me much more tightly: "That's right! You won't defeat me so easily! I betrayed Agram once so I was thrilled when he suggested we team up! Now go, Dark Minion, destroy this Magi!" "I am no Magi. I am not of this world and all magical power I used to have is gone! But that doesn't mean I've lost yet! Observe! Extreme Risky Spin Slash!" Ashio is in shock as I form a small version of my attack that knocks Dark Minion back and sends them to the Dream Plane. Orwin, Bray, Julia, and Evu have also joined the battle. I hear Evu shout: "With this ammonite, I imagine Krilliain Titan!" That was before Ashio tried to summon more creatures but I wasn't having it: "A serious weakness of Shadow Magi and Magi alike is that you often let other organisms fight for you. Yes, you clearly have your own offensive skills but at the same time, you rely heavily on your creatures. It is smart because then you can use your brains without being bombarded but it leaves you up to other attacks. Compared to my current greatest enemy, Dark Minion was nothing. It's time for you to go down. Please don't even try considering escape because you are already done and this battle's still pretty young. Defeat is something I refuse to bare easily today."
In the blink of an eye, I restrain Ashio and snag his ammonite: "You won't be needing these anymore. Your creatures deserve to be freed and helped. Individuals like you are part of why I consciously reject the idea of being better than everyone else. Or being a part of a movie or something. *pause* Okay, that last sentence makes no sense. I wasn't thinking properly. It's more like being a part of a horrible plot. Now then, you are going to be defeated and can come back to yell about it another day. Extremely Risky Spin Slash!" Ashio yelps as my attack sends him flying far. My arms are kind of burning from all that but it's not that big of a deal yet. Anna complains: "There are too many creatures! Fine! I Xyz summon Superdreadnought Gustav Max! You're in a lot of trouble now. I don't even need to blast anyone myself!" Yu also complains: "They just keep coming! This is getting so boring and hard! But I'm not going to give up! I will show Tsubasa what the past few years has done for me and it's going to be great!" I sigh: "Damn it. At least Ashio is dealt with. In that case, it's time for draw a plan to stop all these monsters. I was so busy with him I couldn't account for there being all these monsters. It's amazing that the city hasn't burnt to the ground yet but it's starting to get really bad. We are fighting in the midst of all of that and that's not good! I must take a risk and hope it's worth it. I won't help just yet until I can extinguish the flames with my skills alone. When a place like this burns and is left to burn, lots of biodiversity is lost and countless creatures who have no ill will towards people are the ones who suffer most. That's not okay!" I dodge a bunch of aggressive shadow creatures before going from area to area that I see fire.
There, I just keep using Super Spin Slash after Super Spin Slash to keep what's left safe from more damage at the moment. Shadow creatures kept attacking me as I did this but that wasn't enough to stop me. I've purposefully let myself get swarmed by monsters on some missions and training sessions. The new armor helps too because it is stronger than my old armor which means it has more defense to it: "Do you really think you can prevent me from carrying out this task? I'm an artist, I don't like quitting even when I want to quit. If I quit on something that is important to me, I don't enjoy doing the quitting. Witness my resolve in action! Super Spin Slash!" I make sure to move fast when I can and stay stationary to put out the fires. After I eventually succeed, I look around and see the creatures are overwhelming everyone and that they are bigger than they should be. Edyn notices this too: "Hey guys, Vash Naroom is a magic boost zone now. I don't understand, where did it come from? I cast Wind Spell! And Ugger, Tree Merge!" Tony runs over to her: "Let me and Furok clear you a path! Furok, Color Blast!" Furok has 2 orange horns, orange eyes, blue and white fur with lots of floof, and is unlike any other 4 legged furry life form I've ever seen. Ugger has a tan body, large yellow green horn, blue eyes, brown legs, leaf mane, and little tan tail with a leaf at the end. The result of the attack sends some smaller monsters to the Dream Plane and allows Edyn to knock more back. However, Chur just laughs: "So you defeated just a few creatures. But it doesn't matter! I haven't shown you my whole army yet! I will reign supreme and conquer the Moonlands with or without the Final Dreamers!" *The same time in space* The Final Hyren has been watching over the Moonlands for months. They've also have been keeping an eye on the void energy they banished from the world which is now further away from the Moonlands than the Moon is from Earth.
A strange minor ripple in space time shakes the hyren to the core, forcing them to split into the hyrens of Nar, Bograth, The Weave, Pawdywn, Oroth, and the other realms plus the Dream Plane. As a result, the hyrens are forced to return to the Moonlands. The Core Hyren is confused but relieved: "I'm free? At long last! After so many years, I'm finally free!" In the Core, he found the remains of Agram's castle. Inside were 10 blank cards with black frames and such: "What are these? Did Agram leave them behind before the Final Dreamers defeated him again by forming the Final Hyren? *picks them up* No! Someone else is trying to control me!" In moments, the Core Hyren is possessed and even changes to look exactly as he did after Agram captured and thus corrupted him. Up in space, the void energy out of nowhere quickly began to flow down into the Moonlands to Naroom's obelisk which contains a vortex relic, allowing for travel between Earth and the Moonlands. It enters that vortex where a certain Shadow Magi is on the other side having taken control of a random person's body. After he absorbs it, he laughs: "I am more powerful than ever! The Moonlands will be mine now that all it's void energy is inside of my new body! I can finally return to conquer it and get my revenge! The Final Dreamers won't stand a chance! Especially if the Final Hyren is no more!" *Back to the battle* It is I who replies this time: "Not without battles that might cost you your life! Hardly anybody likes you as you are now! It's too bad there wasn't another way to accomplish what you allowed to be accomplished when you were turned from being a Shadow Magi." "Creatures, destroy all these friends of the Final Dreamers! Without them, their spirits will be crushed!" Judai sets up his game: "It's a good thing most of my hero friends are just chilling in the Duel Monsters Spirit World! I use O-Oversoul to summon Elemental Hero Neos to my field! Next, I summon Neo Spacian Flare Scarb! And the best thing about Neo Spacians is that they can come together! Go Contact Fusion! Appear! Elemental Hero Flare Neos!" Just then, some "friends" from the sky dive on all of us.
There are so many of them that I can't focus on anything but keeping a bunch of them from sinking into me and eventually killing me: "Damn it! There are so many flying shadow creatures! So many! Take that! And that! Haaaa! Haaaa! Get off of me you! *slash slash slash* Keeping them off of me and trying to save some of my stamina at the same time is a big pain! Make it stop! Make it stop!" After several minutes, I start getting exhausted from keeping them off of me because they were bombarding me and forcing me to exert most of my muscles constantly to stop them: "Enough of this! All of you can burn and return to the Dream Plane at once! You are stressing and tiring me out! It's time to paint your defeats with something I can do as if by nature. Extremely Risky Spin Slash! Go away please! I'm trying to help save this world!" My attack comes so fast, many of the flying shadow creatures trying to break my armor and eventually me immediately get sent to the Dream Plane. Finally, I can do something else: "Okay then. I'm sweating my cells out at this rate. I cannot allow that to continue at the amount it has. It's time! Duel disk, activate! Let me just skip to the final step in the design plan in terms of this monologuing! With all these various cards I use, I summon a trio of nightmares whose stares are enough to horrify a tough person with ease! Regnes! Terror Fairy! And don't forget Jammer! Now my friends, please show our adversaries the most terrifying hospitality you can provide! We need our help to win this battle." With them summoned, a huge strain is quickly lifted off of me. Most of our comrades are beat after fighting off all these flying shadow creatures and some are still fighting them. But now, I can help them. Even with Libra, Yu is having a hard time with the creatures. I run to him: "Hey Yu. Would you like some help? It looks like Libra is running out of stamina.
When that happens, one of those jerks can snatch Libra with ease.." "Yes, please help me! There are too many of them!" "Yeah like no joke. It's almost as if Chur had almost every dream creature corrupted into a shadow creature. If that's true, this battle is much worse than we already think it is. And look at that. One falls, another comes to replace them. That's a bad sign." A few creatures are trying to snag Libra but aren't even close to succeeding yet. Not taking any chances, I decide to suspend using the paintbrush disguise for a while for my sword and so, I pull it out of the sheath: "It's time I get really serious. The one disadvantage to that sheath is that it slows my attack speed a little bit." My first instinct is to see how the creatures are moving to figure out when I want to charge. Then I seize the right opportunity and run in at them while staying a safe distance from Libra: "Your session to terrorize others has expired. Please don't come again. For all I care, you could eat my shit!" The shadow creatures are easily provoked and they turn my attention towards me with hungry looks in their eyes, looks that tell me I should run away and never come back. But I'm not backing down. You can't truly succeed without taking at least one risk, one gamble that could make or break your goal all on its own. My arms are getting sore from having to fend off so many creatures and using my 2nd best attack several times. Now with several creatures on my ass, it's getting more unpleasant to fight but I don't like to back away from a promise unless it is absolutely necessary to. In fact, I let the creatures try to destroy me by not doing anything for a few seconds to rest and catch them by surprise too. Just when I have them believing they will now easily take me down with their claws and energy attacks, I hold up my sword and start blocking: "Energy is a funnier thing than even some surreal artworks. With the right material, a weapon can send it right back! I'm not into sports all that much but let me take a page from sports anyway."
As if I were playing baseball, I use my sword like a bat to deflect some of the attacks and cause some chaos. After that stops working, I block and counter every attack I possibly can while being rained down on by hostile attack after attack. Yu asks me: "Are you okay?! You're taking so many hits!" "I'm okay! Part of the point of being a warrior is taking the hits so others don't have to. This new armor is incredibly strong. Against someone like Beerus, it would do no good but here, it makes a huge difference. However, I know from experience how easily someone could break through everything that protects me if they were strong enough to. Yappa Yappa went through my old armor and nearly killed me. I think it's time I fight a little bit harder. Extremely Risky Spin Slash! And that's the last one I can do before I have a rest." In 30 seconds, I form the attack while tanking all kinds of attacks. The force of the attacks that none of the armor absorbed hurts a lot but I'm too focused to care about that right now. Pain is horrible but if I give in now, I will be in for a world of serious hurt that is far worse. As a result of my attack, the shadow creatures are defeated and I see that Evu is in trouble. Her dream creature was defeated and her spells can only do so much against a huge army of shadow creatures. Yu thanks to my help was able to have enough time to get Libra to use Sonic Buster to put some sand in the ambitions of some of our opponents. I also rush over to her: "Evu. We barely know each other personally but I desire to help you. You look like you're very winded from using spell after spell. I used to be a mage so I know how that feels. Please let me help you. I'm more than aware how well you do on your own but as far as I know, we could be facing nearly every dream creature who lives having been turned into shadow creatures. Have you ever seen so many?"
"No, I have not. Alright, I will allow you to help me. I cast Wind Spell!" I take care of the monsters that manage to get close to Evu despite her barrage of spells that is gradually slowing over time. I can only imagine how swamped the others are. We might end up losing by default due to exhaustion. Where are the other Magi when you need them? Not even Ranger Dex is around and he's one of Naroom's top Magi. Right now, I'm just hacking at creature after creature in an attempt to slowly rest enough to pull off some stronger attacks. Regnes, Terror Fairy, and Jammer are bringing the terror among shadow creature after shadowq creature, giving us some breathing room and less to deal with. Evu is impressed by how I'm fighting off the shadow creatures: "Well young warrior, I've never seen anyone this skilled with a sword in all my years." "I appreciate that sentiment. But I don't fight so I can get complimented. I fight because it's either that or let suffering happen. If reality weren't so full of conflict like contesting the right to even exist for certain groups of people, I probably wouldn't have picked up a sword ever. Oh and there's like no one on this planet who uses a sword as far as I'm aware so I'm not totally surprised you said that." "Those are the words of a true hero." "Hmm, that's an interesting thought. To be honest, glory is not my thing either. I'm just doing my best here. It is debatable whether someone like me is even a hero, especially in some circles. I kind of border anti hero and villain when I really think about it. Also, fighting with a sword is not as easy as it looks. So much effort and concentration is required. And it looks like the amount of creatures targeting you has gone down quite a bit. My friend Shope seems to be in quite the pickle. I'm sorry but she needs my help more right now. Also, could you get some help from your allies? I wonder why they haven't shown up to help." "I understand completely. Thank you for your help. I cast Communication Spell!"
As she does that, I go over to Shope who just rang out of energy in her battleball: "I can't do anything without my powers and there's nothing to charge my battleball with!" I defend her with my sword: "Please don't say something all fairy tale like like my hero or something. Nevermind. You don't ever say that cliché. Anyway, I'm going to help you now. It would be great if we could finally wrap this up but Chur amassed an incredibly huge army that is hard to fully comprehend. It's too bad no one has gotten to making an energy transfer thing with the Quantum Leap bands successfully yet. I saw Dominic try and fail to transfer energy from one to a roller coaster multiple times. You'd have to get really creative to keep fighting back. Like Kevin's dumb ideas creative." "This is so annoying! I wish the Xr4ti were here." "Don't we all? Also, this armor is much more durable than I expected. It's new. It was created with science and magic. And I was the one who painted every part of it. We should definitely get your battleball battle suits upgraded. Correction: we should upgrade all armor worn by our comrades to be stronger. The enemies are in general getting tougher to beat over time." "That's true. Mr. Wertz's latest scheme was the toughest one yet. He tried to bring back Wertzberry." "And he tried harder I'm guessing. Moving on, you better think of something else to fight with. Hey, don't you have one of those blasters on your person as a precaution in case the Creators and the virus someday return?" "Oh yeah! That's right! I Jennifer Shope think ahead!" "Wow. I just remembered how draining it can be to talk and fight at the same time. Please use that blaster for now on." And then, a bunch of shouting is heard as basically every strong person ever befriended or allied by the Final Dreamers, Evu, or Orwin show up through various means.
I turn to them and yell: "Where have you all been? We really could use your help!" One of the realm leaders Shimmer is the one to answer. Her hair is mint green and her eyes are a violet color. She wears a blue top, pale green bandana, pale yellow skirt, and more: "The loss of so many dream creatures got our citizens panicking. It took a while for all of them to be calmed down. We had to be focused solely on consoling them and didn't notice Chur's invasion of Naroom until Evu contacted us." Bray uses Giga Lightning on several creatures to defeat them effortlessly and joins the conversation: "Well, it's good that you're here finally. Did Evu tell you about us? If not, I shall introduce myself and the others later after we stop Chur's plans." "No, she didn't have time to." "That's okay. Don't worry about it." Now with reinforments on our side, the tide of the battle finally turns towards us. Their arrival makes a huge impact right away. In the midst of everything, the city got pretty darn battered I'm afraid. I hope we have enough to rebuild it once Chur is taken down. I also hope that we could win by turning him from being a Shadow Magi. Having someone like Chur on our side would be very beneficial with Agram still plotting to take over the Moonlands or something like that. More importantly, I myself resume battling in an instant and as I do, I overhear the fight between the Final Dreamers and Chur: "Furok! Energy Shield!" "Freep! Shell Guard!" "Ugger! Root Reach! I cast Enlargement Spell!" It seems that the magic boost zone wasn't enough to make us get totally beat down by the enemy. Chur is annoyed: "Why can't I just get a victory for once for myself and myself alone?! It was too easy to gather all of these creatures! Let me win already! Emperor Chur will rule all of the Moonlands soon enough! I will do what I must to win this battle even if it means totally destroying all of my enemies!"
Strag replies after mumbling "Moonsense.": "You will not find that to be easy as the number of shadow creatures in your army is declining rapidly now. Tony said that on Earth, they say quality over quantity. Looks like you picked quantity and now you're going to lose." "Says the one who is distantly related to Agram and has ancestors who were Shadow Magi! And you're even a Shadow Stalker!" "I don't choose my ancestors. They made mistakes I will never make. I am able to make choices of my own including not becoming a Shadow Magi." "Well, that's too bad. It would have been so fun to have you as an ally. I'm just going to destroy you and everyone else here so that way, no one will ever stand in my way again!" Tony speaks up: "But don't you miss being good? We all laughed with you when you dropped that ice brick on yourself in Nar. And what about the campfire? And the tree healing ceremony? We made memories with you that we will always cherish. You may be our enemy now but I think you'd enjoy being our friend much more. I know there's good in you, you just have to embrace it!" "I don't have to embrace anything! You are all going to be destroyed along with this city since you Final Dreamers still won't come with me willingly! With my dominion over the Moonlands, Agram won't stand a chance against me!" Chur then gets into an all out battle with them and it's quite the sight. While that happened, I slowly plowed through shadow creature after shadow creature with my sword. When a dream or shadow creature would be seriously hurt, they are sent to the Dream Plane automatically and there, even shadow creatures are regular dream creatures. That even applies to Gorath, the shadow creature of choice for Agram himself. Up in the sky, Orwin is riding Shirdor, his main dream creature and leading the charge on the flying shadow creatures to finish them off.
Shirdor is a teal and white spiked dragon with blue eyes and large wings: "Shirdor! Flying Vortex!" My awareness of my surroundings is really nice in times like this where I can fight and overhear other fighting going on at the same time. Several minutes later, I helped take down the last shadow creature within a pretty sizable area before helping out elsewhere. It seems like the magic boost zone moved since the start of the battle when it was an actual problem since I was able to handle being ganged up on by a bunch of shadow creatures okay. In any event, I'm just glad it feels like the curtain is closing on this specific battle very soon. The Final Dreamers managed to knock Chur out of commission for a bit and are able to help the rest of us for a couple of minutes. During that time, Strag makes his way to myself and Bray as Bray and I had ended up fighting side by side: "Hey, now that I understand you're from different worlds, I have a question. Are either of you able to make a allegiance relic more effective on someone like Chur?" Bray responds with a smile: "There are multiple ways we both could but there's a lot more I could do with some magic alone. You want to return Chur to being a regular Magi once more when the time is right?" "Yes, Tony has been pestering me about it a little bit. It would be nice to have him working with us instead of against us." I add: "I confirm what Bray said. On occasion if I try hard enough, I can be quite persuasive. Bray and I are both good at understanding the feelings of others. We can anticipate how others may react to something specific which is kind of a duh. Hello, we're empathetic ya know. It's surprising that you came to us when you have Evu, Shimmer, Edyn, and the other spellcasters around."
"I have seen and heard the way you fight. You do not let your own wants overpower your desire to protect others. I wish we had your help when Agram was still causing trouble for all of the Moonlands." "Yes, that is very true. However, we generally do not let ourselves get involved in the conflicts of other worlds unless those worlds are dealing with problems that they shouldn't even be dealing with like time traveling villains or villains from very different universes attacking. That is a promise we have taken and only break it when things get really bad. The problems we're helping deal with have caused us to go visit some other universes to recruit more allies to increase our collective combat power. Do you still have an allegiance relic on you?" "I do. It will take a lot to use it successfully on Chur." Bray replies: "We're also both well aware of that. Do you need a distraction? Swiftdrawer isn't the best we can offer at it but they can be abnoxious when they really feel like it." "I think Tony has the distraction covered." "Well then, I shall along with Swiftdrawer help stave off Chur and his army more while you try to use the allegiance relic on him. When the time comes, I will use my magic to empower it. After all, it as Swiftdrawer told me needs to be fully charged to take away a massive amount of void energy. You won't need anyone to jump into the vortex relics to charge it." Strag thanks us and Tony gets Chur's attention: "Hey Chur! I bet your mom thought you smelled like onion when you were born!" "How dare you say that! I'm going to destroy you first for that!" "But you don't remember life before becoming a Shadow Magi!" "So what?! I know you were trying to insult me through my mom who I don't remember! I as emperor will make sure no one dares to insult me ever again! And if Agram returns, he'll be greeted with and crushed by my army! He cast me aside so now it's time for payback!" Tony along with Edyn, Furok, and Ugger keep Chur busy while Strag figures out when to best use the relic. Meanwhile, Bray and I stick together, fighting off shadow creatures one after another.
As we do this, Bray speaks urgently: "Most of Chur's army has been defeated but a powerful creature tainted by the corruption of 10 number cards is slowly coming this way. He'll be here soon." I successfully defeat another creature: "Damn it! That's a record! If 3 is more than enough to make a normal man go crazy about his supposedly strongest dislike and think every other animal is a dog, I fear what they would do to a dream creature or a hyren. You go tell everyone who is fighting with us, I'll hold off these creatures here on my own for a little bit." "Thank you once again, my friend. I shall do so right away." She tells everyone else through her own communication spell while I turn my attention to stopping the creatures who are hungrily attacking me with pure rage in their expressions. I struggle against them but I do hold them off long enough for Bray to succeed. Once she returns to battle, the remaining creatures by us are a breeze to defeat. Chur outloud declares: "I hear a powerful creature is coming this way. I will capture that creature first! I bet it's a Guardian Hyren! None of you will stop me from conquering the Moonlands! Just you wait Agram! I'm going to destroy you myself!" He continues to overconfidently state his ambitions. As a result, Strag slips under him unnoticed until it's too late. Most of us are exhausted by the time the critical point finally comes. The remaining shadow creatures even began to overwhelm us again. But, Strag throws the allegiance relic right by Chur after Furok defeats his flying shadow creature: "An allegiance relic? You really think that will work against me with all of the void energy inside of me? Strag, I know you're much smarter than that so what are you planning?" Strag smirks: "You'll see."
Bray shouts after casting a spell: "Magic Transfer!" This causes a ball of green magic to be sent to the relic. The relic absorbs it and glows slightly to signify its now fully charged. Chur laughs: "But I don't want to become a Magi so welcome to my side, Strag!" "I wouldn't count on it just yet! The extracation of your void energy is going to take a little time. Tony, remind Chur how great being a Magi is!" "On it! Chur, remember how nice it was to not have to get jailed in every realm we went with you? Making others happy is so much better than making them suffering. When you have friends you treat kindly, you can never be truly alone! Look at me and Furok! We are so close and I would never let anything or anyone hurt him if I could help it. Doesn't that all still mean something to you? If you willingly change, you won't ever feel so angry ever again! And you'd have more allies to battle Agram with if he ever returns to the Moonlands." Chur is literally speechless especially as several others like myself pitch in. It's like he deluded himself into becoming a fully dedicated Shadow Magi to accept that fate after he turned back to one in helping Tony, Edyn, and Strag. There were some other Shadow Magi who allied with him but they were clearly defeated a while ago because I never saw them besides in a brief glimpse at the beginning of this battle. More and more void energy is sucked out of Chur. He sighs and gives in: "It would be nice to know a life other than the life of a Shadow Magi. I'm sorry for everything I've ever done." Seconds later, Chur is a regular Magi again. Additionally, all the creatures who were tainted by void energy to become part of his army have the void energy sucked out of them or their ammonite too by Strag's relic. However, the energy escapes the relic and is about to infect somebody else when Bray and Julia step in: "We won't let anyone else turn! Collaboration Spell: Duo Ancient Miitopian Energy Seal!"
And just like that, the energy is sealed right inside of the aliegance relic. But this is no time to celebrate. We do all cheer as the battle concludes and Chur switches to our side but Evu warns us once we quiet down: "The powerful creature coming our way is corrupted and a Guardian Hyren!" Tony reacts: "But how is that possible? We formed the Final Hyren and never saw any Guardian Hyren ever again!" "That I don't know. Perhaps the Book Of Elders can tell you." The Book Of Elders is an ancient book with slots for each of the dreamstones of the realms protected by Guardian Hyrens on the front cover. Inside, there is information like spells and every so often, a blank page opens and words appear in it for the Final Dreamers to read. It happens today too. Tony reads it aloud: "The fight to save the Moonlands for a third time will feature much tougher challenges that will have to be overcome before the sun sets. If the sun sets, your quest will fail." To be continued..
Outro: Thank you for reading this as well! It was quite the chapter to write! I kept getting distracted and stuff but it's finally here! I've been waiting basically a year to write this adventure and now I have done a third of it! How exciting! I hope my detailed explanation of Agram, the Moonlands, and so on was helpful for those unfamiliar with Magi-Nation. Anyway, that's all! See you next chapter!