Hey, I'm back. And as I promised, our "interquel" continues…

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Shadowchasers

Blue Blood

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Interlude

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Souled Out!

Part 5

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The trap had been sprung, the two Shadowchasers had fallen into it.

The Crystal wedged in the crack had been of a different design, one triggered to explode not after a set amount of time, but when it was tampered with, and the force of the explosion much less than the one given to the Shadowchasers at the Pavilion. It was enough to split open the crack in the already damaged wall, but little else.

It was only through hindsight that Sonya and Red Feather realized what had happened, that the small explosion had released a torrent of sewer water into the room, knocking them backwards, through the drainage hole behind them, unceremoniously dumping them through a sewer line.

For several seconds, they were mercilessly tossed back and forth while dragged through a pipe like a reed in a stream. Abruptly, they heard a series of loud, metallic crashes, like the sound of gates falling, and they were unceremoniously dumped into a large underground chamber.

Sonya stood up, spitting out water. "Ugh…". She and Red were knee deep in grimy water in a manmade and - oddly - fully lit room. "What an interesting smell we've discovered." Red was looking at her funny. "What?"

Red didn't know what was in this water, but it seemed to be enough of a solvent to finally make whatever body makeup Sonya was using start to run. She was looking more like a zombie now than a sexy Orion slave girl.

The room they were in was square, and about 30 feet to each side. Each wall had an opening in it, the north, west, and south openings blocked by a set of iron portcullis bars. Most remarkably, there was a small, cylindrical platform in the center, with another Fire Crystal resting on it.

Taking it would be incredibly easy, but while it seemed they had found the last one, they were trapped, and with that realization came another. When it exploded, something that would happen - according to Sonya's watch, which miraculously still worked - in just under 20 minutes, it would take them with it. Had they been the targets all along? Had the whole point been to lure them to their doom?

"Are you ladies enjoying the game so far?"

Seemed they were about to find out. They recognized the telepathic voice quickly and were not happy about it.

"What's the big deal, Jigsaw?" demanded Sonya.

"I decided to up the ante a little. Oh, you're angry I suppose. You didn't honestly think I wouldn't use a small bit of deceit?"

"Small bit?" shouted Sonya.

"I assure you of one thing, I never make this sort of thing truly escape proof. There is a way out of this room, and you can save yourselves by finding it. If you can't… Well, you can figure that out.

"Oh, and just a safety tip, I wouldn't try throwing it through one of those gates. Such an act might help you survive the explosion, but the poor structural integrity of this part of the sewer would cause the very large building above you to collapse and crush you. The building in question, by the way, is Cauldron's hospital, specifically the pediatric wing. I hear the city is in the midst of a mumps epidemic right now."

"You poisonous snake."

"You seem to have a poor sense of priorities, Red Feather, you have 19 minutes left and you're using them to insult me?"

"Good lord, 19…" gasped Sonya.

"Actually, it's closer to 18 now. Adieu, heroes."

And then as a final jab, the scroll Red had been holding that had been guiding them all this time caught fire and caused her to drop it, reduced to ash before it even hit the water.

"Sonya, do not panic!" Red warned. She grabbed the final Crystal and stuffed it in her pouch with the others. "Go check out those two gates." She pointed to the north and west walls. "I will check the others."

"What if he's lying and there is no way out?"

"We will curse his name with our final breaths and guide those poor children into Arvandor."

A rather dramatic and inspiring oath there, even though Sonya really didn't know if humans were allowed in Arvandor. Regardless, they had to try to the very end.

The first gate she looked at, the west one, seemed to be the one they had fallen through. It sloped upwards about 45 degrees with water quickly rushing down, emptying into the room. The passage was blocked by three other gates; the second one (counting the one she was looking from as the first) about 10 feet away, the third 15 feet away, and the fourth and farthest, 20 feet away. Beyond that, it was too dark to see anything. She squinted, barely seeing a key dangling from the third gate. She estimated that if she could get past the first gate, she could just reach it from behind the second. but for now, she couldn't.

She crossed over to investigate the north one and saw that the corridor behind was about ten feet long before ending in a solid stone wall. Clearly this was not the way out, but on the wall was a lever - one she could not possibly reach. On the left side of the corridor, she could see a sort of winch or wheel - again, it was too far for her to reach from the gate.

Meanwhile, Red Feather investigated the south opening first. She saw stone steps that rose above the water, then made a sharp turn left. Craning her neck as best she could, she saw it - daylight. This one was the way out. Unfortunately, the gate leading to freedom was locked with an iron padlock.

Finally, she went to examine the east opening, the only one not separated from the room via a grate in the wall. The floor descended three shallow steps covered by water, which led to another gate. What was behind it was… unexpected. The roughly 20-foot corridor was blocked by another gate; a human (presumably) skeleton wearing the remains of a uniform like the type worn by the town guard. It was in a sitting position, facing the gate, holding a long spear - or rather, a halberd - pointed upward, the shaft of which was about eight feet long. The top above the blade has a hooked end. Behind the skeleton it seemed the corridor had collapsed on itself, another dead end.

"Red!" shouted Sonya. "See if you can find a length of wood or something."

The solution was falling into place. Red tried to move the grate, then discovered that it didn't reach the floor, there was a small space between the floor and the bottom. She held her breath, then dove under and crawled through the small opening.

"Ugh!" she gasped when she surfaced. She looked at the skeleton and said, "Hope this helps us more than it did you," and pulled it free of its hand. Sonya of course, saw what she was doing, and ran over, taking it from Red as she passed it through the bars.

Sonya moved again to the north gate, carefully pushing the long spear through the gate and stretching her arm as far as possible, and after a few seconds of trying, snagged the lever with the hook on the end of the weapon. A swift yank threw the lever downwards with a "click"! The same gate started to move up, giving her access to the winch. She heard Red Feather (who had to swim under the gate again) taking a breath as she surfaced. "The key!" she shouted.

Red Feather nodded then made her way to the west gate. Sonya strained and slowly turned the winch, and the west gate started to lift. No sooner was it halfway up than Red crawled through, almost slipping on the rushing water once, then grabbing onto the bars of the second gate pushing herself against them, then stretching her arm, reaching for the key…

She almost slipped a second time, but Sonya was able to help, pushing herself against Red's back to brace her…

"Just a little more, Red," she urged. "I know you're afraid, we all are…" "We're going to make it… Don't fear failure, fear being so successful at something that the gods themselves get upset. Psyche and I can tell you stories you wouldn't believe."

"Almost there…" grunted Red Feather. "GOT IT!" Her hand closed around the key. A strong tug and it pulled free - both of them collapsing backwards, onto their backs with a loud splash.

Red Feather cursed in elvish as she stood up. She was soaked to the bone, not just from the rancid water, but her own sweat. After briefly making sure Sonya was okay (she was on her knees, holding her forehead and groaning) she staggered over to the south gate.

Her heart was pounding and the sweat falling down her brow was starting to blur her vision. Would it truly work? Her hand was trembling with both fear and doubt, so much she could barely fit the key into the padlock.

But she did.

And it opened with a click.

The gate started to rise, but the effort was so much, she almost passed out…

… "STAY FOCUSED, RED!" Sonya caught her before she fainted, and the loud cry from her friend snapped Red back to consciousness.

"Come on, we're so close…" Sonya assured her. She hefted Red up and half-dragged hobbled up the rough stairway. "Have I ever told you I was the master of Heqet Hop? It was one of the craziest board games imaginable."

"N-never heard of it,'' groaned Red Feather.

"Yeah, I know, Khonsu threw a fit after I beat him and erased all memory of it from the world."

Usually, Sonya would share her stories at the drop of a hat, but her reasons for doing it were very different from usual - keep both of their minds focused to keep them from passing out and keep them both sane. She had no way to check her watch now, she could only pray she had enough time left. The thoughts in her head were almost contradictory to her cheery outward attitude.

One step at a time, one step at a time… Dear God, don't let the bastard win…

Finally, with one shove of her shoulder against the remains of a door, tumbling out into an alley behind the hospital. They had escaped!

…for all the good it had done them.

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"It is time."

Cammy was again shackled to the wall of a cell, one much like the one she had been moved from, just a long way down the hall. Her face had fresh bruises on it - she had struggled a little as they moved her, but only a little. She knew they might have gotten suspicious had she given them no trouble and knew they wouldn't have shot her unless there was a threat to their lives - certainly couldn't deny the jeering crowd and the pigs in charge a chance to see the notorious traitor dangle on the gallows.

Fat chance of that happening, because one way or another - whether their long-prepared escape plan worked or it failed and she died in the attempt, their party was going to be canceled.

Her hands were shackled above her head, which put her teeth within easy reach of her left arm's bicep, where she had placed a small patch of false skin, both the patch and the glue that held it there were made via alchemy, as was the small pill it concealed. She used her teeth to rip the patch off, then swallowed it with the pill. It tasted disgusting, but that was the easy part.

She could already feel it, the pain as her flesh started to stiffen… It would be worth it… she hoped…

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It seemed Jigsaw had gotten one more jab at them, as this is where Red Feather and Sonya saw a flaw in their efforts they had not yet noticed. Possibly, you noticed it a while ago and were questioning how they couldn't have - blame the stress on a task they were unprepared for. Indeed, they had recovered the six crystals, and were now carrying all six of them, had no idea what to do with them, and they would still explode when the clock hit four o'clock.

As if to mock them, the clock tower was the first thing they noticed as they got their bearings when the realization hit them both, the minute hand moving from 3:58 to 3:59…

Sonya fell to one knee. It was over, the bastard had won. No safe place to dispose of them here… She lacked the strength to even run for her life. It was -

"Sonya… What is that?"

Red's sudden revelation made Sonya's eyes snap open. Red was pointing to a large rectangular object sitting among the junk and refuse is the alley.

A coffin… A lead coffin.

It wasn't until later that they figured out why they had stumbled upon such a stroke of luck, and not until later still that they realized it had not been luck at all. The alley they where they had emerged was right next to the hospital's morgue, and when a patient died of a deadly and contagious disease, the body was put in one of these nigh-indestructible lead coffins, so that transport to the city mortuary (usually to be cremated) could be done without accident.

In a sense, Jigsaw had, through his choice of targets, provided them with aid.

As the final seconds of their allotted time ticked down, they stumbled to the casket; a small twinge of fear hit Sonya as she tried opening it and it seemed jammed, but a solid shove caused it to open.

That was when they heard another voice they recognized, a much friendly one. "Ms. Clarkson?" called Lieutenant Zhent behind them. "What -"

"Uhm, Lieutenant, sorry for being brash, but -" she slammed the lid of the coffin shut, and the latches sealed it closed. "HIT THE DECK!"

If there was one thing Zhent had learned in basic training, it was how to react to such a warning. He and his entourage of three sentinels dove for cover as Red and Sonya did the same, almost reaching the outside of the alley as the clock tower's hands hit four o'clock. A thunderous blast from behind them caused a shockwave and a rush of heat that knocked the two Shadowchasers forward…

…but that was all it did. They still lived, the building still stood… The lead coffin had been torn apart by the blast, but it had held the explosion and contained it.

"We did it…" said Red Feather, slowly. They, Zhent and the guards, stood up. "We did it!"

She and Sonya simply could not avoid squealing with glee like they were schoolgirls, grabbing and hugging two of the sentinels in their joy. "Easy girls, easy!" shouted one of them.

Then they heard Baern's voice, but as annoying as it was, it almost sounded welcome. "HAHA! In your face, Jigsaw!"

Again, he alighted on Sonya's head, but she didn't mind as much now, as she was able to calm down. laughed Sonya. Then she calmed down. "Seriously, when we find that bastard, I'm going to kick his goddam ass."

"Believe me, Ms. Clarkson, once you're done kicking it, I'm going to kick it harder. And I know about a dozen of my men who are going to want to do so."

"So, how did you find us?"

"When your little friend told us where you went," he nodded to Baern, "it was easy to figure out what the true target was. I mean, a terrorist placing a bomb in a sweet shop with a hospital two blocks away? It was obviously -"

Zhent was cut off as they exited the alleyway… Several blocks ahead of them, a far larger explosion detonated.

"What?" shouted Zhent.

"Sir! That's the Jail!" shouted one of the sentries.

"No…" gasped Zhent. "NO! By the gods! Why didn't I see this before?"

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It was now clear what Ferid - or Jigsaw, as they had named him - intended as his true plan. There was yet another crystal placed at the wing of the Jail where Cammy was detained, this one set to go off at 4:05. His "game" with the Shadowchasers had been done with the intent to alert the city guard and spread them out all over the city, leaving only a handful to guard the Jail, and leave less to prevent him from enacting his true goal - breaking his imprisoned ally out. In this part, he had succeeded, but he had also intended the other attacks to be a distraction. Had they gone off as planned, the panic and emergency alarms would have caused this one to go unnoticed.

Which meant that now, of course, everyone noticed it. His own overconfidence and underestimation of his chosen pawns had been his undoing. Almost.

He could salvage the plan, but now had to work faster - and sloppier - than he intended. He spryly leapt from his perch on the roof, floating down via his magical cloak, and as he landed, tossed the cloak aside. He quickly checked the canteen on his belt, the side pouch, and the larger pouch Aszithef had given him; if his contact was truthful - and if said contact wasn't suicidal, he was - these low-powered magical items would be below the security system's notice.

This wouldn't be easy, but it could have been a lot harder.

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As Red Feather, Sonya, and Zhent were trying to figure out just what to do - managing it themselves was clearly not an option given their condition - they heard a buzzing sound, or rather, two buzzing sounds. Sonya's Duel Disk and the one Zhent had borrowed was registering an incoming call.

"Maddie?"

"Yeah, it's me, how are you two holding up?"

"Maddie, we'll tell you later, we have to -"

'Yeah, I know, I'm heading over to the Jail right now. You two take it easy, and if you get back to the church, tell Francis and Nichole not to worry."

"All right!" cheered Sonya. "You go, Maddie! May the Force be with you!"

"Uh, Sonya, uh…"

"I couldn't think of anything else, go get him!"

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This was the worst day of Cammy's life, and not because she had expected to die at the end.

Ferid had expected Cammy to be in a cell at least 200 feet from where he had placed the crystal he was using to demolish the wall of the cell block - the last-minute decision to move her had put here about 15 feet from it.

She was very lucky she had kept that pill she had hidden, something the alchemist who invented it called "concentrated basilisk essence", and the one she bought it from called a "praxeus potion". Whoever had invented it wanted to create a stronger, longer lasting version of the magical boon, stoneskin. He succeeded, but not without side effects. The user of this balm would at first suffer soreness, stiffness, and extreme thirst. But that was the first stage, as only a few hours later, the user's body would literally start to calcify, turning to stone in a long, slow, agonizing process over a couple of days, eventually spending weeks as an immobile statue before crumbling into dust. The worst part was, as related by users who were cured before that happened, they were conscious the whole time.

It's amazing the things that prove useful when you know there's nothing left to lose. The explosion had already killed one guard and most other inmates in the wing, but Cammy was still standing and stronger than ever, and when one of those giff tried to stop her, it only took one punch to crush his - infamously thick - skull.

Unfortunately, the blaring alarms as she tried to find Ferid indicated he had run into problems too, which he had. Despite checking and rechecking the items that Aszithef had provided him with, making sure they were the low-powered items the wards would not react to, the magical security system had still reacted, knocking him over with a powerful bolt of energy and reducing those items to inert junk.

Fortunately for him (sort of), Cammy noticed him groaning on the floor, right before the formian guard noticed them both. "Stop in the name of -" shouted the insect man, but one punch and a "Shut up," from Cammy brought him down.

"Dare I ask what happened?" she asked. She noticed the canteen on his belt and grabbed it as she helped him up.

"I don't understand, I checked them all, they shouldn't have -"

Cammy wasn't in the mood to listen, and the special herbal tea in the canteen tasted even worse than that fake skin did. This stuff wouldn't cure the effect of the praxeus but would nullify its effects for a few hours.

"Worry about that later." She threw the empty canteen away. "I suggest we leave ASA-Now."

"Agreed." Ferid handed her the smaller pouch, and she nodded.

As the two fugitives fled from the building, however, they heard the loud roar of an engine - an unfamiliar sound in Cauldron to be sure - and Maddie sped towards them on the salvaged D-Wheel.

"Think FAST Cammy!"

Not fast enough, as Cammy barely had time to even acknowledge her before Maddie's boot slammed into her torso, knocking her prone on her back. Maddie skidded to a halt and fixated her eyes on Ferid.

"Jigsaw, I assume?" she said with a snarl.

"Stay back!" he shouted. As Maddie dismounted, he drew a long dagger from his belt.

"You cannot be serious," she said.

Ferid lunged and slashed with the dagger, but it took almost no effort at all for Maddie to dodge aside and grab him by the wrist. A quick pivot and spin, and she threw the criminal to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

Maddie cracked her knuckles. "I'm going to clean your clock, fella."

"Eh?" groaned Ferid. "Oh, that's a joke, right?"

Then he gasped as Maddie grabbed him by the collar. "Here's a riddle for you, what has two blue eyes and one black eye."

Of course, that was an old one, so rather than wait for an answer, slugged him one.

"Ferid, you idiot!" shouted Cammy. "We have to -"

"Don't use my real name!" he cursed. He tried to say something else, but Maddie punched him again.

"Actually, pal, your name is mud."

Well, looks like it's up to me, thought Cammy. Opening the small pack, she withdrew the contents - Duel Monsters cards. This was a trick that, ironically, she had been inspired to learn when the Shadowchasers had first introduced the game to Cauldron, and it would prove very useful now.

As Maddie went to hit Ferid again, she was surprised as something coiled around her waist and then yanked her backwards. She stumbled, but stayed standing, and…

"No way…"

She had been snagged by what looked like a long, sticky no-pest strip, which was a sort of tongue for a cottage with a mean-looking face that was now trying to pull her towards it. Cammy had used the card to conjure up a House of Adhesive Tape!

"Well, that's…" said Ferid, "a novel method, I must say."

"Just get moving!" shouted Cammy. Maddie was, of course, struggling to reach her weapon, and the Hand of Hextor chose another card, one she had specifically told Ferid, at least four times, to bring. She held it to the sky and exclaimed, "I call you forth, Kasha the Fire Wagon!"

You have got to be kidding me, thought Maddie.

Cammy was definitely not. There was a flash of lightning and eerie, ominous fog covered the street, and then a demonic, flaming conveyance was brought into being. It was like an old-fashioned stagecoach with no horses, two large, flaming wheels, a gargoyle's face in the front, and most disturbingly, two green arms with clawed hands, each of them holding a lantern.

Cammy quickly climbed up upon the coachman's chair, but Ferid was more hesitant. "Uhm, Cammy, are you sure we -"

"Would you rather hang?" she asked him. "Unless you feel like fighting the constabulary, MOVE!"

Ferid briefly questioned whether dealing with the town guard was safer or not, but then sighed and started to climb up the demonic coach - or tried to, at least. It seemed just as impatient as Cammy was; Ferid screamed loudly as one of those claws grabbed him and threw him up into the coach shotgun seat. "Hold on," said Cammy, "we're out of here!" and Kasha tore down the street heading southward, leaving flaming streaks in its wake.

"I don't… think so!" shouted Maddie. She managed to draw her weapon, cleaving the sticky "tongue" in one swipe, then slashing through the crazy cottage itself and reducing it to shards.

As he mounted the D-Wheel again, she suddenly remembered Bethany. She was a girl she knew in junior high school, a friend of a friend, who was always at slumber parties, barbecues, socials, and all those other parties she went to back then. Whenever they told ghost stories - which at such events, was inevitable - Bethany would always overanalyze, asking comparison questions like whether a unicorn could win the Kentucky Derby, whether the Power Rangers' Megazord could defeat Cthulhu, or in this case, whether the hinoguruma could outrun a D-Wheel.

Hopefully, once this crummy day ended, Maddie would be able to write to her and give her the answer.

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Ferid may have had a point when he showed reluctance to use this Duel Monster as a getaway car. Cauldron's streets weren't made for fast-moving vehicles (least of all demonic chariots from the underworld) and Kasha was not a safe vehicle. Cammy's "hold on" order was ironic, as there was precious little on this thing to hold on to. Not helped by the fact that Kasha seemed intent on causing as much destruction as possible. That might account for the lack of safety - it didn't usually take passengers, as it despised life. Fortunately, if there was one thing it did not have was subtlety, and most civilians were able to get out of its way - most, that is.

Of course, there was one other problem that Ferid noticed quickly. "Cammy, she's gaining!"

"So, start praying that the four-foot-tall mental case didn't botch his part of the plan!"

Kasha started slowing down. For a minute, Maddie thought they were turning around to fight her, or even (wishful thinking) about to surrender.

But then, something happened. A huge eye appeared in the road just ahead of Cammy and Ferid!

Maddie slammed on the breaks, skidding to a halt, and saw the eye fade into what looked like a simple outline of itself, like an oval on its side with a dot in the center, and an upward-pointing arrow through it.

She had no idea what this weird symbol was supposed to represent, but its purpose became clear when Cammy waved to her and say, "See you on the flip side, Madelyn!"

Then, she, Ferid, and the Kasha itself seemed to… dematerialize, dissolving into particles that were oddly drawn into the center of the odd symbol.

They were gone…

But the symbol was still there.

This was a turning point of Maddie's career, but she didn't know it. Yet. Was the symbol some kind of portal? Could she use it to follow them?

If it was, she had no idea where it would lead, or whether she could use it to go back. For all she knew, Cassy and Ferid were on the other side, waiting to ambush her.

But… She also knew that they both were going to make a clean getaway if she didn't follow them, and given all the misery they tried to cause today, she was not going to let that happen.

"Once you enter this portal, my analysis indicates a 0% chance that you will be able to return, unless you are able to vanquish your foe. Are you ready to proceed?"

Fi's annoying little voice didn't dissuade her ten years ago when she was playing Skyward Sword, she certainly wasn't going to listen now.

She shifted gears, speeding towards the strange symbol.

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"Souled Out!" will be concluded next chapter! Maddie versus Cammy in a Riding Duel on that long Road Paved With Good Intentions – I'm sure you know where that leads to, right?

See you then!