Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures or Yu Gi Oh.
Betaed by: The reliable Zim'smostloyalservant.
Third Age (Part 4)
The Villain
aka: Yade Khan: The Final Duels!
Five Episodes Later, Grand Shadow Palace, Not Quite Entirely In Either Realm:
The remaining Shadow Walkers stood in attendance, their ranks not even half filling the room, as two of their number tended to the great smelter in which molten gold bubbled. Heat pervaded the atmosphere, chills going through and cold sweat running down the humans in attendance. Amidst noxious fumes, the shadow serpents swam lazily, their eyes lingering on nothing in particular. The only noise was the sounds of the liquid metal bubbling and the two attending it.
From the deadly shining pool, a voice rose.
"They have arrived, the last Sun Soul and his merry cohorts. Even Alonso's little sister and Brenner's dice nut fan boy," Yade Khan's voice echoed up from the bubbling gold imperiously, "The final battle is at hand, the end of the world, and the beginning of the world. The subject of so many stories; reflections in mirrors upon mirrors with hundreds of variations on the same theme. And now it comes to fruition in truth.
"And it is the end of the Shadow Walkers as well. Yes Zaben, even you. With the end of the barrier separating me from the Earth, your order is obsolete. I can extend my own will!" The chamber thrummed wth her pleasured exclamation.
Shadow began to rise like steam from the bubbling gold as a pair of large arms dripping with gold emerged and gripped the rim. Yade Khan spoke on as she pulled herself upright in the molten metal.
"But do not fear, I am not an ingrate. You are better prepared to survive the transformation of the world than any others. Those who survive can see me for service in the new order. Or… any of you who choose to face one of Trace's companions and take their souls, you shall be rewarded. Strip him of those who come to support him, leave him to face the end alone. But each of you need only take one. Take that one, and I will not only guarantee your survival, I will improve upon it," The gold was hardening and shifting on Yade Khan as she rose clear into the air. The drips were ceasing and the gold flowing over her, a perfect coating of splendor hiding her true colors, save for her eyes.
She rose before them as the game's emblem come to life, lacking only the items held in hand.
"The victors I shall personally carry through the transformation of the world and make anew as demigods to reign only below me! You shall no longer be Shadow Walkers, you shall be reborn, Shadowkhan! But these divine prizes shall belong only to the worthy, and to be worthy is to be victorious! To the vanquished, an eternity in the Well of Souls.
"Now go forth, Shadow Walkers, to the final battle!" Yade Khan commanded, as they fell to a knee as one.
A Thrilling Arc Later:
Zaben stood before the gate in the shadow of the statue of a Chinese warrior, whose sword was raised in defiance of an unseen foe, and looked over Trace and his friends. He was one against them all, but stood as proud as ever. Surely he knew that behind them they had left only the empty shells of his followers and the charred remains of Yade Khan's serpents? Finally, he spoke.
"Yade Khan was right to discard the Shadow Walkers; not a single one of your band taken. Old Blood, New Blood, it would seem only I am worthy to stand reborn as a true prince of the Shadow World to come. But first I know which I will duel-"
"No, you are not worthy of the game, Zaben. We have made our way through the maze and the monsters, human and otherwise. Open the way, there have been enough delays," Trace said. Even now, he could see the column of light piercing the Netherworld, the trail left by the soul shards making their way to the Well of Souls. The place Yade Khan had condemned even her followers to without hesitation.
Yade Khan awaited there, the fate of the world awaited what would happen when he reached her. And Zaben was monologuing, as if his words carried weight!
The sword was still a symbol, and magic flowed through it. The symbol of King, as Trace had known him. The stranger and friend that had made him more than he was, both as a teacher and a student in turn.
Zaben pulled up a shadow barrier like a cloak. It held, but Zaben was still carried back by the impact of Trace's blast.
Into the gate.
Through the gate.
Tumbling across the barren plain of stone.
The cultist leader was getting to his feet as Trace walked up to him. His eyeliner was mussed and his shaved head scratched from some part of the tumble where his shield failed. Zaben was a mortal man after all. Trace had worse to deal with than bad men, even those who needed to be dealt with.
"I have no more time to waste on sadistic puppets, stand aside or die where you stand," Trace commanded.
Zaben sneered for a moment, but the others joined Trace. And not far off, Yade Khan was laughing, the sound carrying over the plains. Zaben turned, looking toward the laughter, and seemed… hurt.
Looking back to Trace, he cloaked himself in shadows and leapt into the air. He seemed to fly like a bat with the cloak flapping, but then faded out, back into the Earth-based half of the interstice, Trace expected.
The way was open before them, the plains empty, the glow distant but not so far. Distant laugher faded, and the stones before them crumbled and blew away, revealing a cobblestone road toward their goal.
"Well, this is it, isn't it?" Jon said.
"Yade Khan herself is at the end of this road, the Well of Souls. The Final Duel," Trace said. He looked to his friends, and… no, no qualifiers. Even if there were degrees, how would he define a friend if it didn't include someone willing to stand here and now?
"It will be a duel, one-on-one, and even if not, her power… You've gotten me this far when the Shadow Walkers sought to drain me of strength and break my spirit. There is nothing more-"
"Stop right there, bro. We didn't come this far to bow out. Maybe Luke has to face Vader one-on-one, but that don't mean he has be alone," Tai broke in.
Gracia spoke next, "This shadow has touched us all. We're going to be there, even if only to witness."
Mildred stepped forward, tapping with her cane until she found Trace's hand.
"You got this," she told him.
Fukuro grunted agreement and stepped onto the road, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah, like you said to the a-hole before. No more delays, Trace. Let's go together and finish it; finish with her."
Meanwhile:
Yade chuckled, letting the spying spell disperse, reducing the picture to a dissipating shadow mist. Yade Khan sat glittering in the light of the Well of Souls, alone here with the instrument of Brenner's design that was going to deliver the world to her.
"My, that one is as spunky as ever. Still, he will suffer quite harshly for destroying so many of my snakes. Oh yes. And Zaben, running without a fight after all those declarations of loyalty. Well, I suppose I am done with him then, even if he comes back later. Audacity is no substitute for substance," she mused.
Still, she thought, they would not reach here for a bit yet, and she was fresh out of minions when wanting a chat.
She looked over the captured Sun Souls feeding the spells with their might. Save the one vacant spot, of curse. Selecting one, she wove a spell on it, and a handsome face came into view.
"Yade Khan," Alonso Gragas said, "You're looking tacky."
"You're just jealous because you can't pull off gold," Yade waved her hand.
"What do you want?" Gragas demanded.
"What? You have places to be?"
"Yes I have a full day planned staring either into the void of cascades or the broken visions of reality. Double booking, the fear of every socialite."
"Heh. We'll see how long this attitude lasts. Anyway, Trace is on his way to challenge me. Maybe once the fusion is complete I'll hook up the Sun Souls so you can spend eternity losing to him in games?"
"Trace? Heh, well that's it for you, then."
"What?"
"Much as I hate to admit it, that boy has a strange knack for not losing when he should."
"Oh, think he's the Prince Charming to save the damsel you?" Yade asked with a smirk.
"What, n-" Gragas sputtered.
"Well, too bad. In this story, Prince Charming does not slay the dragon. The dragon has already sunk his castle, eaten his horse, tied him to the wall for her coils' pleasure, and made friends with his dog!"
"…What?"
"Ahh, I needed this. All loosened up now for the epic showdown of fate. Thanks Gragas, if I had a bone to throw into a more literal cage, I would do it. Later!" Yade Khan said, closing the spell on the befuddled looking young man.
Soon:
The light of the flow of souls did not reach the ground; like a rainbow, it tapered out in the air. The Well of Souls, though, glowed through the large open doorway in its shrine, its silvery light mixing with the enshrouded radiance of the Sun Souls.
The road to the shrine ended at a dueling arena. Similar to Brenner's models, but rendered in black and red, cut from stone rather than metal or plastic. No elevator; Trace walked up the small staircase to the player station.
"You have come. I had hoped you would. You stand as the last champion of a world on the brink of doom. Such a hero should come forth to battle even if it's hopeless, not cower in hiding from the unavoidable," Yade Khan spoke. She was in the shrine, but he could not see her.
"You speak from experience," Trace said.
"…I provided seating for your friends. The duel will proceed to the rules," she said. With a rumble, the ground rose up to the left and took the shape and style of bleachers. Trace glanced to the other side — no one and nothing was here to cheer on Yade Khan. He even wondered if any of those snakes had survived Fukuro's trap?
A shape obstructed the doorway, and glittered in the light. The symbol of the Yade Khan game made real slithered forth, Yade Khan herself plated in gold. There seemed to be no stairs on her side; she reached the station coiling around a pegged pillar. Reaching into her body (some kind of pouch?), she pulled out her deck.
"Check out Blingzilla," Fukuro cracked. Yade Khan glanced to him.
"Laugh all you want. Soon I will be goddess of the Earth, and it will fall to me to decide what is worthy of mockery and praise. The time of cults, secrecy, and villainous plotting ends. No longer will I be a Dark Queen whose favor is sought by men of desperation and dark ambition. I will be the Golden Goddess, venerated by all," Yade Khan declared.
Trace raised an eyebrow as he shuffled his deck.
"All? If there is any freedom, that won't be the case. Even among the grateful and respectful, be it to a cause or a person, there will be those who will not venerate it. It's not even a question of worth. Some love this game despite all the darkness you have worked with it. And others hate it utterly even when they know nothing but what is widely known of the game. People, the world…"
Yade Khan loudly cleared her throat, cutting off the speech. Trace gave her a small glare but didn't try and resume.
"Yeah, yeah, I am sure you have a great speech. But I cut your deck, and let's get started," Yade Khan said.
When offered Yade Khan's deck, Trace tapped it. The decks made their ways back to their owners, one smiling, the other stoic. Placing a hand atop their decks, they met each other's eyes.
"Yade Khan!" they said in tandem, beginning the match.
Drawing his cards, Trace considered his hand. Yade Khan sighed, looking over her own.
"I have looked forward to this. The game of proxies has been fun, but to set myself against you, the adversary, is grand for all the waiting," She said.
"I play Highlander Warrior in attack mode. And place one card face down," Trace said.
"Ah, don't think you can resist the banter, I have watched you, after all. But let's get started. I play Screaming Cad in attack mode, and will also place one card face down," Yade Khan declared.
While Trace drew his card and considered his hand, Yade looked to his gathered companions, rubbing her chin.
"Hey, you lot! You may have heard I was considering a few demigods for my new realm. Seeing as the Shadow Walkers didn't measure up…?" Yade left the question hanging.
"Oh f*ck you," Mildred said.
"I said demigods, not demigoddesses," Yade huffed.
Trace cleared his throat, drawing her attention, and the game continued.
Most Of A Five Part Special Event Later:
"It is done then," Yade Khan chuckled, stretching her arms upward, handing her hand off to a tendril.
"Not yet," Trace said. But still, it looked poor. Between Weaver Spider God-Queen, and the affect of Chains of Might, nothing could attack, and on her next turn both of his monsters would be destroyed by Weaver. Unless the next card he drew changed his options.
With a silent prayer, he drew the last card.
"…I play Green-Eyed Remembrance," Trace declared.
"What? That?" Yade Khan frowned.
"With this card, I can summon a non-monster card from your graveyard to my hand. I summon back, Arrival of the Cavalry," Trace said, as the card appeared in his hand. The army of blue coats charging over a hill, sabers and revolvers drawn, dissolved as he activated it.
"I call forth the card-" he almost called forth the smartest choice, but an image popped into his head.
"…I summon, Kid Hero!"
"What?" Yade Khan demanded, grabbing her cards back into hand.
The image of the card appeared on the field, and the Kid Hero rose from the gold light. A small Chinese girl, with wild spiky hair and prominent spiky bangs. She didn't dress exotically or memorably, a simple orange hoodie, blue jeans, and red sneakers. But she smiled as if she was up to mischief, her eyes showed a keen interest and understanding, and her stance conveyed readiness and utter confidence.
The Chains of Might she evaded easily when they lash out at her, too low-powered to be ensnared. But she kept going, towards the Weaver.
"What? How can she? That card is pathetic. She can't beat that monster! It's not possible!" Yade Khan objected.
"She doesn't have to. Kid Hero gains a special bonus if a hero character is bound. She can either escape binds herself, or as in this case, she can bypass any enemy or trap and deal one quarter damage directly at the opponent's life points," Trace explained.
"That's-" Yade Khan's eyes went wide.
"Exactly the points you have left! Kid Hero! Attack Yade Khan directly!"
The Kid Hero slid under Weaver and charged at Yade Khan, who dropped her cards. She held up both her right hands.
"No. No! You! You will not! YOUUUUUUU!" Yade Khan screamed at Kid Hero.
"HiYaaah!" Kid Hero said, jumping into a flying kick.
"NO! I WIN!" Yade Khan roared.
Kid Hero vanished in a blink, and the other monsters and effects as well. Trace watched in confusion as his life points plummeted to zero.
"Trace? What's happening?" one of the guys called. Trace couldn't answer.
'How?'
Yade Khan breathed a deep sigh, and with a snap of her fingers, the arena dissolved gently beneath them. Trace fell to his knees, cards still in hand, the ones laid set on the ground before him now.
"So, at last on your knees before me? Good, better to learn respect late than never," Yade Khan chuckled, "But you deserve an answer before you join the others."
"What are you playing at!?" Mildred shrieked, "He beat you! This is not Yade Khan!"
"Oh, but it is. You really thought I would risk everything on a game? That I would not just get serious and brutal if there had ever been a real chance that you could stop me? That I would gamble my liberation on a bunch of cards?
"The last thing I really needed was the Sun Soul Detection Network that Brenner built before you dueled Gragas the first time. And even that was a matter of ensuring things would proceed in a timely fashion. But I drift into tangents. You see, Brenner had the idea for the card game building off the ancient magics. It was his baby, but I was also a parent, and had my hands and tendrils in a lot of the later drafts of the game design. Oh, I played it as idle curiosity, making a few alterations here and there, and a few bigger suggestions to make sure he would not pay enough attention to the little ones. Brenner was smart, but he assumed he was just dealing with an ancient being, he never thought I might outwit him in the fine print and wording like a lawyer.
"The official rules, which are both public and binding in the magic, declare that the will of Yade Khan will decide who is the victor and vanquished. Everyone who read that, due to the context, assumed it meant Yade Khan the game. That luck, skill, or even your Spirit of the Game, was what determined the winner and loser. But the rules never distinguish the game from me, the author, in this case."
Trace glared, pulling himself to his feet.
"Uh huh, I beat you now, BECAUSE I SAY SO! The Shadow Walkers, Brenner's Eliminators, the Big Three themselves — I could have put my finger on the scale at any time. This game, since Brenner unleashed it on the world, has never left the palms of my hands," Yade Khan cackled.
"Then why hold back?" Trace whispered. It carried in the horrified silence, where even the wind seemed to have vanished before Yade Khan's deception unveiled.
"Because this way was more fun," She looked at him as if he was an idiot for even asking, "But you ruined it by making me feel bad just now with… by almost beating me. So, game's over. Throw your cards away or pack them up, they don't matter; they never did. Now, my prize. I have a new age to usher in."
"So the rules are nothing to you, to this place?" Trace demanded, as the dueling arena, bleachers even, faded into shadows. They stood on the empty plains, the Shrine of Lost Souls behind Yade Khan, and the shadows of her Grand Palace behind Trace and his friends.
The Sun Souls shined bright through the shadowy shrine. Or was it so shadowy? Was it more solid now? No, she needed to claim his soul, the final Sun Soul. He felt it moving within him, as if he was about to throw up himself.
"No," he commanded. And his soul stilled, and settled.
"What?" Yade Khan demanded.
"If you will ignore the rules so, why not me? After all, is it even mine to wager?" Trace held up the sword, letting the power of the elements flow into it. Even here in this place that was and wasn't, the power flowed. And yes, even shadow, the true shadow beneath Yade Khan's power, born of the world itself and not the flow from the outsider that crusted over that element like a glacier of cancer.
The sword glowed pure white, all of the colors attuning to one.
"You said nothing could stop this, Yade Khan? I can think of at least two things that can avert this selfish apocalypse of yours."
"Whaaat? Hope and love?" Yade Khan cackled, slithering in place. She was swaying on her spot, and either running her tentacles through her fingers or her fingers through her tentacles. So very pleased with how clever she was.
"For one, you," Trace declared.
She stopped her dancing, or whatever it was, and was left holding four of her tentacles.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I saw the message your friend left. Much was lost, but what was most important came through. He saw the flaw and knew what it meant. He did not just leave us a way to possibly seal it. He left it decades after your sealing, when he discovered it. He hoped that if the day came when your prison was compromised, you would no longer be the destroyer he had been forced to imprison. He believed in you still, after everything. He still hoped his friend was not beyond redemption."
"You lie! He had no regrets! He chose to condemn me to a life of ages in lonely darkness! He hated me! I made him hate me!"
"His name was Tohru."
That made her go rigid.
"A giant of light, but once cloaked in darkness. You redeemed him, or rather guided him to redeem himself. Your name was lost, but I saw you, a being of crystal and green light, crowned with onyx. Till you drank deep of evil's cup. You did it save your world, and to save the companions you could not bear to live without. But the darkness deceived you, and you lost them anyway.
"If your true wish is to not be alone, then you don't need this! This nightmare plan makes you the enemy of the world — the people and world you would make from it will hate and fear you. It will be worse than what you have with the Shadow Walkers!
"Let it go, let the world go, and let this bridge you want be built by something other than war. It's not too late to change. Your story doesn't have to be a tragedy," Trace said. Her tendrils went limp and she lowered herself to his eye level.
Small things, but they made her seem as if she could be human alongside her expression.
"…unexpected. But naive. I am Yade Khan, the destroyer and remaker of your world and more. I have come too far to be anything else to you. Or me," she said. She rose up to tower on her tail, and the tendrils came to seeking, grasping life. She spread her arms wide, as if to seize all before her.
Trace pulled the sword back and swung, releasing a blazing crescent of magic. The crescent of white light broke on Yade Khan's raised tail harmlessly, the rest of the attack continuing onward.
"…Are you ready to witness true darkness?" Yade Khan asked. Darkness sprang up around them; Mildred called his name, only to be drowned out by silence. He was alone in the dark.
Yade Khan's eyes opened, lighting up her face, looming over his. He could hear her moving, feel it, smell it, but only that face could be seen.
"You are alone."
He raised the sword against her, willing its light to rise.
"You are strong, boy. And cunning. But I am beyond strength, and beyond the games of your cunning. FALL," She commanded.
And he did. His body gave out, falling to the ground. The sword slipped from his hand. It did not clatter, it fell down through the black, a star flickering in the endless void.
Unseen tentacles wrapped around him, lifting him up. Even propping his head to look into the face dyed red by its eyes' light.
"You have struggled well and long. But it is like the mortal man on the field screaming defiance and pleas to the coming night and the setting sun. No matter the might or ingenuity, you cannot affect the outcome.
"Your world was mine the moment it touched me. I have passed beyond mortality as you understand it. I neither consent to the world's whim nor force my will on it. These are the two ways of mortals toward the mother that is the world they live in — to accept what is offered as a civil being, or to forcibly take as the defiling bandit with his list of self-justifying grievances.
"But I am beyond such meekness or vulgarity. I am a world, a god, I neither surrender nor force. I simply command, or rather, I am. You have failed, as you always were meant to. Your world shall be my grand experiment, and even if it all crumbles in my hands, I will learn much. And the veil so weakened, I will take another. And another and another.
"For this darkness is my truest shadow. This is the abyss of my loneliness. I will not wait, nor will I trust. The games are done, so I will do what I must. I will take your universe like candles plucked from the ether one after another. Until I am no longer alone forever, or your universe has all been snuffed out in my efforts.
"I will spare you this, with death. Rejoice, knowing that in losing it was the only possibility. And I will remember you, and your story down to its tragic end."
"My… story… is not the tragedy," Trace managed, his voice growing stronger.
The darkness moved, slithering, shades intruding on the absolute black.
"What? What is this? What are you doing? This can't- What are you doing!?" Yade Khan roared. The sword flew back up as the darkness tore, trailing day cut from night on its point.
Yade Khan dropped him, and Trace felt his body answer him. He landed on his bottom, next to where the sword lay on the ground.
"Trace!?" Mildred cried out, kneeling about a foot to his left, reaching out, her glasses gone, revealing the sunken sockets. She was a beautiful sight, and he grabbed the nearest hand with his own.
"No. No," Yade Khan said. Ignoring the glomp, Trace looked to the shrine, which was in ruins, the Well of Souls exposed to them, and cracking, letting voices and ghostly light spew forth. Yade Khan had her back to them, raised up, calling shadows, trying to stem the flow. The shadows formed from the air, seeking the breaches, stoppering them like fingers against a high pressure leak. The flow was not stopped, hardly even slowed. But there was no time to be passive.
Trace raised his free hand as the other held Mildred close, and called out to the six Sun Souls imprisoned within.
"I can! I can! I caaaan'tt!" Yade Khan screamed, as six suns flared before her. They outlined her, and made her finally look small.
A great wind kicked up, roaring in his ears but not touching him, even as the atmosphere of darkness was caught up in it.
"TRACE, WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Jon yelled, as he and Tai came up beside them.
"My target was the Well of Souls, but Yade Khan assumed it was an attack on her. I realized when she cheated, I could only beat her by the same tactic. And I figured like with Domino, she would be too arrogant to stop the attack, taking it without even considering there was any purpose besides her in it. Then it was just a matter of provoking her enough that she would not notice the fountain was damaged until it was too late," Trace said. Giving Mildred's hand a final squeeze, he stood, and at unspoken instructions, his friends pulled her back toward the others.
"I can hear you!" Yade Khan yelled. He watched stoically as her shadows wrestled with the Sun Souls, trying to engulf them. And as they slipped past her efforts, to orbit around him, she faced him once more. Roaring, she made her way forward, slithering against the wind buffeting against her.
The orbs expanded to the size of crystal balls, revealing the owners' faces, from Kara's jubilation to Alonso's sullen scowl. Holding his glowing hand high, Trace let it glow bright with his soul's light. A beam of light shot forth to the approaching Yade Khan.
She caught it in the palm of her lower left hand. And the next beam from Alonso's soul with the lower right. She ran out of hands before catching a beam with a meshing of her tendrils, hiding her face from sight as it was shielded from the attempted head shot.
And with that, the ancient darkness of Yade Khan strained to move forward, and did not advance.
"Can you see it, Yade Khan? All the souls, and all the slivers of souls stolen by you and yours, they flow like a great river now back to those emptied and maddened by the addiction you and Brenner engineered. The power that held the Sun Souls, that gave you the power to draw our world into your Netherworld. It is gone."
"So I'll just start over!" she snapped, still straining against the onslaught.
"No. Can't you feel it? This is no mere banishing of an avatar or world walk. You bridged the gap in the past, but this time you put a load on your strings, pulling against the current that keeps dimensions apart naturally. Had you locked them together, that current would have been your ally to keep us trapped. But now, our worlds are torn asunder like a chandelier and a ceiling when the chain is snapped.
"It is beyond your strength or intellect, Yade Khan. It is simply a natural force taking its course. Dimensional gravity. And it will be the ideal moment to perfect the seal on your prison — you have created the scenario of isolation and brought together the Sun Souls in one place and united intent against you.
"The outcome is inevitable," Trace declared.
Yade Khan growled, then laughed.
"Forget to count? Not every Sun Soul has rallied to this 'your colors combined' trick, foolish hairspray addict!" Yade Khan cackled. Trace realized she was right. One Sun Soul was near to his side, but not in orbit or on attack.
"Brenner," Trace addressed his fallen foe. The face came into sight. But not the familiar visage. It was like that brief moment in the corridors of Brenner's castle; the soul stealing schemer looked… exhausted.
"Trace, how you've grown," Brenner greeted.
"Help us. We need all the Sun Souls to end this!"
"End it? All I've done, all I stooped to, it wasn't simply malevolence. It was means justified by the end, Trace. But Yade Khan is the key. The other Elemental orders, they spurn the very ideas of immortality, of conquering death. Their vision is of acceptance of the flow of life and death, not seizing destiny to write an ending which is better for not being an end," Brenner said. He turned his attention to King in his own orb.
"Can you tell me, King of a vanished kingdom? That I will ever meet my beloved again?" Brenner demanded.
"Pathetic," Alonso cut in.
"Shut up, jerk!" the ever jovial Kara actually snapped.
"Brenner, something lies beyond, I can't say what. Or if one can return," King said.
"Aid me, Brenner!" Yade Khan said, her tendrils shifting enough to show a smile, "I can see now how mistaken I was to value you so little. Together, we will make your paradise real. No more endings, no more suffering. Your will can triumph over the universe itself — I am proof of that, aren't I?! All you have to do, is stop them NOW!" Yade Khan commanded. Trace sighed, looking at the broken man wreathed in light. Yes, Brenner broke long ago, didn't he, and darkness filled in the cracks to disguise weakness as strength.
"Brenner. Would she want this?" Trace asked.
Brenner Flashback:
"It's perverse. I could pay enough to have a city torn down and rebuilt to my design. Yet these tiny cells defy me? Defy civilization?! What is the point of all we've achieved if we still act like mere organisms in a petri dish, expiring?" Brenner had ranted.
He paced, the latest papers bearing the same messages crinkled in his fist. But the patting sound got through to him. Anything from her could always get through. He came to the bedside chair, and she drew her hand back. So very thin.
"Jo, you are so strong, and can be so kind. You once said you'd do anything for me," she reminded him. He took the offered hand, though its weakness sent chills through him.
"And you said love means you'd never take advantage of such generosity," he recounted. Oh, her smile… despite everything else withering away, that was still a sunrise.
"Well, I hope you can forgive me for asking for something hard."
"Anything."
"Be strong enough to let me go," she said. She shed a tear. As all else faded, the tear remained bright and clear. Eternal, yet already fading. He had made her cry, with something she saw in him.
Holding the tear in hand, he looked upon the Well of Souls. No longer silent, screaming, from that trapped within and unaware in its torment, and those hidden in darkness, bereft, bereaved, and maddened with no idea why.
"I… don't want this. A man who did this, can't be trusted to be a god," Brenner said to himself.
X X X
"Brenner! Brenner? Brenner!? BRENNER!?" Yade Khan screamed as the Sun Soul of the man who freed her the second time took its place in the array.
"YOU NEED ME! ALL OF YOU! THAT GAME YOU LOVE IS JUST EMPTY CARDS WITHOUT ME! YOU'LL BE NOTHING!"
"The cards were created by you. But they have never served you, you gave them no reason," Trace declared, as the Sun Souls began to flare in sync. They all spoke in tandem, souls pulsing as one, "They outgrew you and you never noticed, because you never cared to see more than a tool. This world does not want or need your madness.
"Begone!"
The beams dispersed, and the world seemed to shift into barely split images, the Netherworld and the material world, with the former starting to fade. But Yade Khan was still crisp and clear, shadows writhing about her like a fractured hurricane.
Trace began to chant the words from long ago, a simple mantra which come to him in Chinese, of all things. Golden characters began to form in the air, appearing from hiding in the very fabric of the world. And they started to change, rearrange, the seal heard and moved to the spell of its long-lost weaver, powered by the seven Sun Souls to shift reality itself.
"I WILL NOT! AT LEAST NOT ALONE!" Yade Khan roared. One of the raging shadows shot out; a barrier rose around the Sun Souls, but they were not the target.
"BLUFFED YOU BACK, BOY!" Yade Khan cackled. She was laughing horrifically, tone across the scale as the shadows tore Mildred from Trace's friends and carried her to Yade Khan's embrace like a bungee snapping.
"Trace! It hurts!" Mildred screamed, as Yade Khan pressed her in a bear hug. Shadows started to form around Mildred, as Trace watched. King's image blinked out even as his orb flared still.
"CHHAHAHA! YOU WILL STOP, OR IF I GO SHE COMES WITH ME! RELEASE ME! WORSHIP ME! SURRENDER TO ME! OR YOUR GIRLFRIEND WILL SPEND ETERNITY AS MY UNDYING RAGE PILLOW!"
"I see where Zaben got it from!" Trace snapped.
The sword, where it laid forgotten amidst the deep darkness and radiant light, rose into the air, and quickly floated toward Yade Khan. A hand faded into sight, holding it in place.
"NO SASS! GIVE UP NOW!"
"Magician of Night!" Trace called out.
"Pale-Eyed Blue Dragon!" Alonso commanded.
Each Sun Soul called out their favored monster card, and each manifested, charging towards the evil monster.
"HOW! MANY! TIMES! MUST! I SHOW! I CAN'T! BE BEATEN!?" Yade Khan raged, three of her arms lashing out, shattering the incarnations sent against her.
The Sun Souls fired off beams to Yade Khan's left, and something ignited, burning white and angry. Yade Khan turned her whole body to face the blaze before her. The sword, held by King Cheherazad.
"Yade Khan…" Cheherazad said. Screaming murder, Yade Khan reared back, fangs bared, finally starting to fade at the edges. She raised three hands filled with writhing magic.
Kid Hero appeared before her, standing defiant, brown eyes glaring into red. Yade Khan hesitated.
Cheherazad leaped through the apparition, and struck Yade Khan's face, biting into her right eye.
"Fall," Cheherazad commanded.
"UGhhhh!" Yade Khan cried, as her attacker was suspended in the air, and the sword was lodged in her face.
Light burst around the blade, and Yade Khan was hurled back onto her own tail, screaming as light erupted from the wound. Bright, shining purple liquid flew in the air, fading and pulled by the same unfelt wind that was wiping the Shadow Netherworld away. She tossed Mildred aside in blind agony, and King swept her up, dashing back to the light as Yade Khan righted herself, her one unbroken eye wide with terror as she was pulled backwards, fading by the pace.
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE IN THE DARK ANYMORE!" she wailed, flailing about, already like a ghost. Whatever purchase she sought, she did not find; already, she was the only thing of her world left in sight.
The sun was shining down on the meadow, a beautiful day. Her light-bleeding wound and red orb were the last to be seen of her. Her wail did not fade as she did, though. Trace shivered; no malice remained, only a despair that he felt more understanding of now than her shadow had been able to convey.
When the sound cut off abruptly, they felt the spell click into place. The golden characters flared green and vanished from sight. The seal was complete, and set. Trace's head bowed, not only in relief, but in pity.
"I am sorry, stranger, you left us no choice," he said.
The Sun Souls flared, and the bodies of the hosts appeared by the magic, garbed even in their preferred attire, the wagered soul returned.
"It's over, then?" Trace managed to ask, falling to his knees. The sword glowed slightly, Cheherazad gone from sight, but his voice was coming from the blade.
"For her, but Zaben escaped. I fear we may not yet be done with her legacy."
"Well, that later," Trace's eyes rolled up in his head, and he face-planted onto the very soft grass.
Author's Note:
Well the Third Age finally ends. Its been a long time coming, but was fun. The "Yade Khan" characters and story really grew beyond what I intended originally. Just fun, you know.
And I hope it was fun for you the readers as well.
Anyway I think its time to get back to "Queen of all Oni" and see that tale finally wrapped up. But first, an interlude chapter here so as to give a fond farewell to Trace and the Gang, and to leave our favorite eldritch protagonist in a better position.
Well, long days and pleasant nights to you all.