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Chapter Four: The New Chaotic Part Three
The Overworld Library was eerily quiet even by regular library standards. The library was always busy so being inside the building while only two occupied it was a bit unsettling. Mary was placed in the southern part of the building which was the section of pre-Kiru history books. This is not the first time Mary has walked through these archives. She has been to the famous library several times to do research. Most players liked going here to look up interesting facts about Perim or to do research for clues to find new scans. Though it can be a headache translating the Perim letters into English. Good thing Chaotic provides translation guides to players.
Mary was trying her best to make as little noise as possible while she walks down the isles in search of the Overworlder Nivenna. The majority of the building was one massive room that had thousands of bookshelves. It is not easy to sneak around here unless you are a Mipedian. Even the lightest of steps can be as loud as yelling. It also did not help that Nivenna's feet were hooves and she was walking on polished tiles. At least Shinwan also had to deal with the clacking noise made by the hooves.
She passed section after section but surprisingly has not run into the other Nivenna yet. No longer in the pre-Kiru section, she found that she had traveled to more recent history.
Okay, this is weird. She read the titles of the books which had unfamiliar names of battles and creatures. The last time she was at this library was only two months ago and she also had looked in this area of the library. It is not surprising that she would not remember every book but given the circumstances she is pretty sure many of these books had not existed the last time she was here.
Just great. More evidence that battle gear somehow transported me to an alternate timeline. Or somehow created a new one. She has been trying to deny that possibility, but it was the only explanation that could explain everything. The gear was literally named Orb of Time. If it were not for the fact that time travel is possible in Perim then Mary would not have believed the gear would have the power.
Wait, did I change history? She asked herself, thinking back to the Underworld invasion. If the Orb sent her back forty years, then she might have done something to cause the timeline to change. But I was only there for a few minutes and I did not do anything. She tried to think of what she could have done that caused such a drastically different future where Viqtarr no longer had his arm and Nivenna is now an Overworlder. But nothing came to mind.
As she studied the books, an idea occurred to her. After this match is over, I can come here and research what went wrong! Although this library may not contain every bit of Perim knowledge, it is still perhaps the best place to learn history and possibly find information about the Orb of Time.
"Rip Tide!" A blast of water engulfed Mary from behind and sent her crashing into the bookshelves. The large shelves were knocked over and hundreds of books were now soaking wet. Without thinking, Mary pushed herself from the ground and faced her attacker. "Well, you look like a grumpy cat who just took a bath." Shinwan teased in a voice that was so familiar and yet so different. The sound was quiet and volume low. Like a shy person talking, which did not fit Nivenna at all. And Mary knew the timid nature of the voice was not because of Shinwan.
No, Shinwan was an outgoing individual. So, some of Overworld Nivenna's personality must be showing through her voice. That happens with some creatures. It is why courage is one of states that is important for the game. Even though it was the player controlling the body, the creature's mind could still have some influence over the player's actions.
For a few seconds, Mary just stood there staring at the new Nivenna. It was freaky to look at a creature who looked the same as her scan of Nivenna but obviously has a completely different personality. She finally stopped her gawking when Shinwan moved to attack again.
"Shadow Strike!" Shinwan shouted the attack's name as her shadow came to life. Mary barely managed to jump out of the way. She ducked behind bookshelves that were still standing. At this point Nivenna has lost a lot of health. She already started the match with Nivenna at half her health. That Rip Tide probably did at least ten damage.
I probably only have five energy left. One hit is all that'll take for my Nivenna to be a goner. She doubled checked her math to make sure she was right. The only mugic she had that could heal was Final Fugue, which would give her fifteen more energy at the cost one mugician but then she would become reckless and loss five energy every time she attacks.
Nivenna had three mugician to being with and I've already used up one. I could use my Improvisational Melody instead to deal ten damage to Shinwan's Nivenna. But I do not have enough mugician to use both mugix.
She thought over her options as she continued to run away from Shinwan. It was not looking good for her at this point. Her Chaor card has three mugicians, so he could use both mugix. Mary knew she would have to use Chaor to win since her Nivenna was so close to being coded.
I should leave my mugix for Chaor. Too bad I didn't give Nivenna a useful battle gear. Then she remembered what battle gear her Nivenna had and felt like slapping herself. The only reason she gave Nivenna the Orb was to test it in the drome. Now would probably be her last chance to use it in this match. Well, I've got nothing to loss. Shinwan is going to win this one so I might as well try this thing out.
She ducked under a librarian's work desk to hide from Shinwan. Since she does not know how to activate the battle gear, she might need a few minutes to figure it out. She waited a few seconds to see if she could hear her opponent, but it seems like she managed to escape.
Satisfied that she could not hear footsteps, she summoned the Orb and it appear in her hands. Looking at the thing again, she could not help from frowning at it. This is what caused everything to go wrong. She wanted to break it in anger for all the trouble it has made for her, but she refrained from doing so. Instead, she examines it for something that could trigger its ability.
But there does not appear to be any buttons or switches.
Hmm, maybe it's like the flux bauble. That gear activates when the creature holding it wills it to do so. She thought and then decided to try it out. Holding it up by the chain, she concentrates and thinks of what she wants it to do.
To her surprise, it actually works, and the same blinding light as earlier erupts from the Orb. And like before, she had to close her eyes from the sudden brightness. Though she cannot see what is happing, she could still feel a change. The tiles under her disappear, and now she feels dirt and rocks. Considering this gear can transport a person through time, Mary had an idea of what happened to the floor. The light subsides and she opens her eyes.
The Overworld Library is gone. In fact, the whole city is gone and in its place is barren hills.
"Cothica what happened!" She hears Shinwan yell. Standing up, she turns to where she heard the yelling and sees the Overworld Nivenna a few yards away. Shinwan had her back turned to her, so she did not know Mary was watching her. Mary was located lower on the hillside than Shinwan which helped keep her from being spotted.
Seeing this was the best time to attack, she used another fire move since Nivenna still had the fire element.
"Perplexing Heat!" The torrent of plasma hit its mark. Causing Shinwan to fall and loss ten energy.
She must only have fifteen energy left. I might win this one after all.
She could not think of any attacks that Nivenna could do that would take away the remaining fifteen energy, but if she could just dodge her attacks, and hit her two more times then she would win.
Shinwan recovered from the attack, but she still looked uncertain on what to do next. It appears that the change in the scenery has her on edge. She was now facing Mary not far from where she had been standing.
"Is that a Flex Bauble?" Shinwan asked, pointing to the Orb of Time that Mary was still holding.
"Nope!" There was not a rule that said a player has to say what their battle gear is during a battle. Seeing as Shinwan was not going to attack, Mary fired an Amber Swarm. Despite looking straight at Mary this time, Shinwan was not prepared for the second attack and did not react fast enough.
"Might should use Improvisational Melody now. She cannot dodge mugic and it should be enough to finish her Nivenna."
She summoned her mugic the same time Shinwan sent out a blast of water from Nivenna's hands. Mary could only watch and hope she had been quick enough.
The melody played as the water came rushing towards her. When the water was just an inch away from Underworld Nivenna's chest, the mugic hit its target and ended the match.
Back in the drome's normal surrounding, Mary knew from the look on Shinwan's face that she wanted answers.
"What happened to Kiru City?" She demanded to know.
Mary had to answer before the drome explained what happened. Unlike Shinwan's previous questions this one had to do with how she won. If Mary refuses to answer then by the rules, the drome will answer for her.
"I recently got this new battle gear. Not sure what it does exactly but it is this weird Orb thing, and it can change the location." She said, trying to be vague about it but also giving enough information to satisfy the rule requirement. Before Shinwan asked a follow up question, Mary spun the randomizer since it was her turn.
"So that thing you were holding changed the location to another location? Just like a Flux Bauble." Shinwan asked.
Mary was hoping she would drop it, but it was probably foolish to hope for. Her explanation was not a good one so in hindsight she should have known it sounded just like a Flux Bauble. Part of the rules is that she must clarify any misconceptions.
"Um, no it was still Kiru City, but the landscape was changed." Explaining without revealing that it is a time machine was not easy. The Drome AI has not spoken up so she either explained enough to satisfy the rule requirements or the AI does not know enough about the Orb to think she should give more detail.
"Location is Gigantpaplis." The Drome informed them the moment it stopped on the location.
"Really! Now you have new locations too. Seriously Mary, you have got to tell me where you're getting all these new awesome cards." Shinwan said while studying the location scan. It seems the location has distracted Shinwan from thinking about the Orb for now. Mary would be relieved by that if it were not another change to the timeline.
Gigantpaplis was a difficult scan to get but most players knew about the giant ruins. It is very famous among the Tribes, especially the Overworlders since they control the territory its located in. For Shinwan to not know about it must mean it has not been discovered by the Overworlders yet.
Wasn't it Laarina who found Gigantpaplis? Or was it Blazier? Might have been both. Unfortunately, Mary could not remember the story of how it was found by the Overworlders, but she was fairly certain Laarina and may be Blazier were the Overworlders to first come across the abandoned city.
With the location picked, Mary now had to think what her next move should be. Shinwan's Viqtarr was badly hurt, but he might be able to defeat her Nivenna scan since she was just one hit away from being coded. Even an attack from Bodal would be enough to end the Underworlder. However, Nivenna has the Orb of Time which has proven to be a game changer if used at the right moment.
Her Chaor card was at full health since he has not been used in the match. Plus, he has ten extra energy because she gave him the battle gear Mind Prism. He could also use her last mugic and her Nivenna could not since she used up all her mugicians.
It was a no brainer which one she should pick.
"Chaor battles Viqtarr in Gigantpaplis." She declares then touches her Chaor card. Her body grows and she feels like she gained a thousand pounds of pure muscle. She wonders how anyone could move with such a massive body, but Chaor moves gracefully in battle. As if he is in a musical play and everything is choreographed beforehand.
"Really didn't need to think hard on that choice." Shinwan comments, touching her last creature on the screen and then turned into him. Viqtarr's arm is still broken and does not look like Shinwan will be able to use it. The pain must be high, but creatures are able to handle more serious injuries better than humans. Shinwan is not showing many indications that the floppy arm is causing her discomfort. Though Viqtarr might just be good at hiding them. His robotic arm looks like it is in working condition even with the new scratches decorating it. Some of the brown fur was singed and there are most likely bruises hidden under the coat.
"Hmm, very intimidating creature you have there." Shinwan said in Viqtarr's deep voice.
Yep, there's plenty of stories about Overworlder soldiers shitting their pants at the sight of the Underworlder. Mary wanted to say what she was thinking, but knew Shinwan would not believe her since Chaor is unknown in this world.
While she was thinking about Chaor, a question popped in her mind.
Wait, if Chaor is not famous in this alternat universe then does that mean he isn't the Underworld ruler? It would not make sense for Shinwan to not recognize the Underworld leader. But if he's not then who is?
Before she could speculate about the new Underworld hierarchy, the Chirrul Drome AI decided it was time to start the last battle of the match.
In a blink of an eye, Mary found herself at the footsteps of the main entrance of one of Gigantpaplis's buildings. It appears to be the largest building, but that was difficult to judge since all the buildings are bigger than Kiru City.
Chaor's knowledge of Gigantpaplis was all from secondhand reports from other Underworlders. He never personally visited the location, or at least not when Mary's scan of him was created. He might have come here sometime after the scan was made. This might have been a disadvantage for Mary under normal circumstances but right now her Chaor had more information about the place then any Overworlder in this timeline.
Based on Shinwan's comments, it is safe to assume that the Overworld has not found Gigantpaplis and therefore every Overworlder would have no knowledge of it.
Chaor may not have explored the ruins himself but other Underworlders have given him plenty of information on the location. Plus, Mary has not only been to Gigantpaplis in person, but she has also used this location scan in Chaotic matches before. It would be just embarrassing if she did not win with all the advantages she has now.
Since the drome put her here at the front door it most likely means Shinwan is inside this building. With a location this big it could take literal days for the players to find each other. So the drome AI will normally transport them somewhere close together to keep the battle from lasting too long.
With a mighty jump, Mary got onto the first step. Then she continued to jump step by step. Chaor is able to jump two or even three steps at a time, but Mary did not want to risk waring herself out so soon into the battle. So she took her time going up the giant steps while paying attention to her surroundings for any sign of Shinwan.
It took about five minutes for Chaor to make it up the steps. For Chaotic players, it would have taken them two hours. Mary did not even feel tired afterwards.
I shouldn't be surprised it's this one. This particular building is the one where Mary found that tunnel. When she was at the bottom of the stairs, she thought it might be the same one but was not sure.
Now standing at the front doors, she knew it had to be the same building. It had the exact same hole on the left door as she remembered. Mary did not know how the hole got there, but it is safe to guess a creature used some kind of attack to bust their way through. Whoever it was must have not been a big creature. Mary had to duck as she went inside and Chaor's horns still scrapped the top of the hole.
As expected, the hallway was large. Mary went through Chaor's memories for a comparison and found that the tallest point of Chaor's Castle is not as tall as the ceiling. It would only be about three quarters of the height.
Shinwan was still nowhere in sight, so she might be inside the walls. The Giants had created passages in the walls, floors and ceilings that would be the right size for other creatures. They are filled with traps and many treasure hunters have gone missing. Most creature schoolers think the pathways were made to capture and kill intruders, but others think the Giants made them so their average sized slaves could get around their master's home more easily. The problem with the second theory is that there is no evidence that proves the Giants had slaves even though slavery existed when they were still around.
Mary walked down the hallway at a slow pace.
Since Shinwan's Viqttar is low on energy, it is likely she may try to ambush her. But Viqtarr nor Shinwan would know of any good places to set up an ambush, so she might just try her luck by attacking head-on.
One of the Giants' traps might finish the match for me. Mary thought as she was thinking of ways to win the battle. The chances of that happening were high. Even in the normal timeline players would often be defeated by the Giants' traps rather then at their opponent's hand.
That underground tunnel the Orb was in is not far away from here. I could go down there to investigate for clues and wait for Shinwan to get coded by one of the death traps. The Drome AI probably would not like that course of action, but she would not be breaking any rules. Mind made up, Mary went to the tunnel's entrance and started the long walk to where she discovered the Orb.
The journey was just as boring as she remembered it. Though at least it did not take as long to get to the spot as it did the first time. Thanks to Chaor's long legs and stamina, Mary was able to get there in half the time it took her. She was not even running at Chaor's full speed. Just walking at a fast pace.
Since the match has not ended, Shinwan must still be in the game but Mary was not concerned with her at the moment. It was unlikely the Overworld player would come down here. Once Mary was done investigating the tunnel, she would head back up and finish the match. That is if Shinwan does not get herself coded before then.
Examining the floor, she found the spot where the Orb would have been at if this were not a simulation in a Chaotic match. Battle gear and mugic will either disappear or become useless in Chaotic matches unless they are the players' cards. The Code Masters probably made it that way to make it more fair for the players. If players could use battle gear and mugic in the location scans then they could go to Perim, stash powerful items somewhere, scan the location, and then be able to use more than one battle gear per creature.
Mary was not sure why some battle gear and mugic would just vanish while others would just be rendered useless, but players have made a few theories about the subject. One theory was it has to do with aesthetics. For example, it would look odd for the Overworld Arsenal to be empty of all weapons. So instead of getting rid of everything, the weapons just become unusable. Mary was not convinced of that explanation, but it would explain why the Orb is not at this spot. Afterall it would not be odd for there to be nothing in this cobweb riddled tunnel.
Does it matter though why the Orb isn't here? Mary asked herself, as she looked around. There was nothing else out of place from what she could remember.
She did not know what she was looking. She just wanted some kind of clue about the Orb's secrets. Like why had it been here in a place like this and who brought it here? But there was nothing that would shine a light on the mysterious battle gear. If anything, it just confused her more about the whole situation.
Now, what do I do? Go further and see if there is anything else here or go back and finish the match. The Drome is probably getting frustrated at how long this match has lasted. It gets so snappy when the battle schedule gets backed up. After a minute of thinking she decides to go back up. If she needs to examine this area again then she will still have the scan to do so. Besides, it's rude to keep another player waiting so long.
About twenty minutes later, the world around her vanishes and she is back inside the drome.
Shinwan is back to her normal human self, but she looks pissed.
"Where the hell were you!" Was the first thing Shinwan demanded to know. Her finger pointed aggressively at Mary.
"Um," Mary mumbles, not sure how to respond. It sounds weird coming from Chaor.
Before the battle ended, Mary was still in the tunnel trying to make it back up top to find Shinwan. The abrupt change was disorientating.
"ButterflyMary015 has won the battle by not doing anything of notable skill and thus has also won the match." The Chirrul Drome AI announces. And yes, the tone it was using clearly indicates how unhappy it was by the outcome. It then turns Mary back to her human form. "Please exit the drome now so other players can have their turn." It used the word please but it did not sound polite.
O, Shinwan must have been coded by a trap or something. Could ask what happened but I need to go to the Kiru Library asap.
Mary quickly undocked her scanner, adjusted her backpack straps on her shoulder, and then headed towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going." Mary turns her head around and sees Shinwan jogging towards her. Still looking upset. "You still owe me answers."
"I do? But I won the bet." Mary points out, but part of her knows that's not going to work for Shinwan.
"Doesn't matter." Shinwan then grabs her by the arm as though she's preventing an escape attempt and practically drags Mary.
"Hey, what's your problem." Mary shouts, angry at the rough treatment. But she does not push Shinwan off her. Shinwan does not answer back right away, and just takes her outside.
"My problem? You're the one who's been actin…." She says as they exit the drome, but stops speaking when she notices all the players staring at them. Mary, also surprised at all the players, does not say anything else either.
There must be at least a hundred players, all looking directly at the two. For a second neither group says anything. And then the hundred players all start shouting questions all at once. Mary could not understand what any of them were saying, but she caught a few things like Underworlder, Ulmar, Nivenna, red buff guy, and giant city.
Mary did not know what to do and just shut down. Frozen in place, she could not think straight. On instinct, she tries to back away from the crowd, but that seemed to have triggered the loud group to step forward and the distance between them was quickly being erased.
Shinwan stepped in front of Mary making herself a human shield.
"Back off!" She commanded with such authority that some of the mob actually heed her warning.
Mary, scared half-to-death, takes this as her chance to get the hell out of there. There was a gap between the crowd and the drome, so she bolts through it.
She runs to the transport pads, heart racing and adrenaline pumping, she does not pay attention to anything else around her. Her mind was only focused on leaving. She did not dare to look back but could still hear the mob chasing after her. Shinwan must have only bought her a second or two of a head start.
When she gets there, she presses the first location scan that comes up and does not even know which one it is. Her body glows in a silver light and disappears from Chaotic.
So, I don't know if damage on a creature transfers to the next battle. I think it does for the card game but matches in Chaotic are different than the card game. An example would be the attack cards not being needed. In the episode where the gang find out that Hoton learned Allmageddon, they needed a scan of him and not the attack itself. So, I have a headcanon that Chaotic battles are a mix of how the card game works and how real battles in Perim work.