Kitten Knight: Apologies for falling into my old habits of not updating in a while. But things have been a bit hectic at work and I've had to work a few extra shifts.
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Shadowchasers: Salvation
Round Two: Ancient Rules
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What do you get when you take a Kenku, a Bugbear and Tabaxi?
Well aside from a bad joke, you'd get a trio of Shadowkind that were currently trudging amongst the crowd in central Sydney. Thanks to the magic of the veil, no one batted an eyelid
The Kenku, a bird-like race of Shadowkind, was leading the trio. His glossy black feathers glistening in the sunlight, while his baggy yet sleeveless clothes (to accommodate his wing-like arms) flapped about in the dry Summer breeze.
Behind him was the Bugbear, a beastly race of Shadowkind related to goblins, but much larger and hairier. He stood over a head taller than most humans he passed in the crowd, the thick layer of brown fur covering his entire body turned the Summer heat into a sweltering oven, forcing him to fan himself with a clawed hand in a desperate, but futile, attempt to cool down.
At the back of the pack was the Tabaxi, a cat-like race of Shadowkind. Stripped black-and-grey fur covered her body, which like her Bugbear partner, made the Summer heat almost unbearable, while sharp claws protruded from her paw-like hands.
"Alright birdbrain," the Bugbear grumbled, sweating dripping out of his fur, "what's the big idea dragging us out here in this heat."
The Kenku turned to face the Bugbear. "You want to impress our new boss right?"
Both the Bugbear and Tabaxi nodded.
"Well," the Kenku continued, "ya know how he likes Kobolds right?"
The Bugbear shuddered, trying to purge his mind of the thought. "Don't remind me."
"What does the boss want those smelly little lizards anyway?" the Tabaxi muttered.
"You know," the Kenku answered, lowering his voice to a whisper, "how they're really good at working in their mines. The boss could make a fortune selling them to those Duergar in Malaysia."
The Bugbear blinked a few times in confusion. "Oh, you poor, sweet, not-so-innocent little moron."
The Kenku gave his Bugbear partner a bewildered look as if that insult flew right over his head. But the quizzical look quickly faded as something crept into his field of vision.
"Look over there!" the cried, pointing across the busy with a feathered finger.
The Bugbear and Tabaxi quickly snapped their heads around to see what had caught their partner's attention. It was another Shadowkind, reptilian and barely a metre tall, with a slightly too-long yellow flowing dress dragging at her heels, with a tail poking out from the bottom.
It was a Kobold, a race of Shadowkind, that were (very distantly) related to dragons. Unlike dragons, Kobolds were known for being physically weak and not the most threatening of Shadowkind, but more than made those shortcomings in cunning and sheer numbers.
And speaking of sheer numbers, the Kobold wasn't alone. A dozen of children following closely behind, walking paired up in a line behind her.
"Alright, guys," said the Kenku, earning a glare from his Tabaxi partner, "and girl," he amended.
"We need to make this quick."
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Back at the Sydney Shadowchasers base, neither Matari nor Wendy had spoken to each other since Rowan stormed out.
Matari was watching television, occasionally flicking between channels to see if any other important news had cropped up. Roscoe was lying on the couch beside him, relaxing in a sunbeam that pierced through the gap in the curtains.
Wendy, meanwhile, was repairing a large gash in the side of the saddle. Meticulously threading the needle and thread in her hands through the thick leather of the saddle.
She had done this plenty of times before, but she still needed to concentrate it was a delicate task after all. All she needed was a few more minutes of silence.
Which unfortunately she wouldn't get. Not because of the other members of the team (for once), but because the house phone began to ring.
The phone wasn't used very often, the Shadowchasers used a holographic projector or video links to communicate with headquarters and other Shadowchasers. But on the rare occasions where it did ring, it would defiantly be important.
Not that Matari realised that, as he merely continued to channel hop.
Roscoe groaned and rolled over. "Aren't you going to get that?"
"Why don't you?" Matari muttered.
"Oh hold on," Roscoe sarcastically replied, "I'll just go get the ladder..."
"Matari just answer the phone," Wendy grumbled from the table, not even bothering to look up from her craft.
"Oh fine," Matari grumbled as he leapt up and trudged toward the phone, "probably just
Feeling too lazy to actually pick it up, he simply hit the speaker button. Both Shadowchasers were immediately greeted by a series of short, panicked breaths.
"Pleassse... pleassse, help me…" the pitched voice begged between gasps for air.
Both Shadowchasers instantly recognised the hiss of a reptilian Shadowkind, it wasn't always present often only making an appearance in those new to human languages or in times of distress...
"My daughter hasss been kidnapped."
This would be the latter.
"A group of Ssshadowkind took her."
Wendy almost dropped her needle. "In broad daylight?"
"Yesss," the voice sobbed, "pleassse help."
Matari crossed his arms. "Where are you right now?" asked
"I'm usssing the payphone," the voice answered, "at C… C… Circular Quay. Just by the docksss."
Circular Quay was the port station just outside the Sydney CBD, it ran multiple ferries that transported thousands of people across the bay every day.
"Alright," said Matari, "just stay put for now, we're on our way."
He hit another button and dropped the call.
"Alright then Wendy," said Matari, hopping back onto the couch, "better hurry up and that stupid saddle fixed
Wendy just glared at Matari and pushed her chair out from the table.
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A minute later Matari, now with a rather large bump on his head, entered the garage muttering swears under his breath all the way.
He quickly picked up a helmet and pulled it over his head, the swearing intensifying as it slipped over his newly obtained lump.
He quickly grabbed on the rest of his gear; a black riding jacket, red helmet and his own duffel bag full of equipment, then hopped on his bright red D-Wheel and jammed the keys into the ignition.
The D-Wheel roared to life, then roared even louder as Matari revved the engine as annoyingly loud as possible before he tore out the garage door.
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No matter what time of day, Circular Quay was always bustling with people, being the hub of the city's ferry system certainly helped that fact.
Despite that, Matari was lucky enough to find a parking spot.
He hopped off the vehicle and pulled his helmet off his head… and blinked several times as he was immediately greeted by the sight of a dozen Kobolds gathering around him.
It was quite clearly the Mother Kobold, accompanied by almost a dozen of her offspring.
"Thank-you thank-you thank-you," Mother Kobold stammered, wrapping her arms around Matari's leg (as that was all her short stature allowed her to reach) in a tight embrace.
Matari cringed as her claws dug into his flesh. "Do you mind not doing that?" he asked, "your claws are like tiny little daggers."
Instantly Mother Kobold let go and backed off. "Sssorry," she apologised.
"It's okay, "you're not the pointiest Shadowkind to latch onto me," Matari replied, thinking back to the time a where an (appropriately named) thorny devil Lizardfolk got a little too trigger happy with the hugs.
Mother Kobold snivelled. "We were going to the market to shop, then these three goons jumped out of nowhere and snatched my daughter and ran off."
Matari raised an eyebrow. "There were three of them and they only snatched one child?"
"Yes," Mother Kobold nodded, "there was a Kenku, a Bugbear and a Tabaxi. They snatched up poor little Gertie and ran off."
"Don't worry, I'll find the one that took your daughter," said Matari, scanning his vision over Mother Kobold and her dozen or so children. A sly grin the came over his face, "now, are you sure you haven't just miscounted?" he added with a small chuckle.
But his attempt to break the ice with a simple joke didn't go so well with Mother Kobold. Her worry for her daughter was quickly replaced with burning anger, if her scaly hide wasn't already a dusty red it would be now. "I saw what happened you imbecile!" she snapped, kicking Matari in the shin, "and even then, I know I have twelve children and right now there's only eleven!"
"Are you really sure?" Matari asked again, receiving another futile kick as he began counting the Kobold's children.
Then he lost count, as the children shuffled about. The fact that they were all dressed similarly didn't help either.
"Oh how the Hell does Ms Clavel do this?" he wondered aloud.
"Imbecile!" the mother Kobold roared, as she kicked Matari in the shin then began stomping on his shoe.
But Matari shrugged it off, Kobolds weren't exactly known for their strength and he'd been kicked by stronger Shadowkind before, one little Kobold wasn't going to do much damage.
Ignoring Mother Kobold's futile assault, Matari held his chin in the classic thinker pose, trying to figure
Right… So these three snatched a Kobold right off the street in broad daylight, so I'm guessing that they're not very bright…probably too dumb to use teleportation magic and driving out of the city in the middle of the day would be a nightmare. The train would likely take too long as well...
He looked out over the bay, his eyes following. Could they have used a ferry to get away?
Matari 's thoughts began to stray away from the situation, but he snapped back to reality as his eyes wandered to something out of the ordinary. Something that more than likely wouldn't have even appeared on the radar of a normal human.
Carefully weaving his way through the crowd of people, he made his way to the object of interest. A pitch-black feather, one that looked far too big to belong to a normal crow or magpie, wedged between the wooden planks of one of the many benches that dotted the area.
He quickly turned to Mother Kobold, who had followed him through the crowd berating him the entire way. "Who did you say took your daughter again?"
"I told you!" Mother Kobold growled, "there were three of them, a Kenku, a Bugbear and I think the third was a Tabaxi."
"I know that sounds like the beginning of a bad joke," said Matari, "but..."
"But what?" snapped the mother Kobold, kicking him in the shin again, "my daughter being kidnapped isssn't a joke."
"That's not what I meant," the Shadowchaser snapped, "I was wondering why three very different Shadowkind would be working together..."
After all, Shadowkind tended to stick to their own races and Bugbears, Kenku and Tabaxi were three very different races of Shadowkind.
Matari twisted the feather in his fingers. "Did the Kenku that attacked you have black feathers?" Matari asked.
"It had black feathers, like a crow," the Mother Kobold answered, her cold-blooded demeanour disappearing as Matari looked be taking this seriously now. "It was a crow-like Kenku."
A second feather sticking out of a pot plant used for decoration outside of a small coffee shop. He quickly dashed over to the second feather, before noticing a third feather sticking out of a rubbish bin further down the street.
"Alright," Matari muttered to himself, "looks like I'm hot on these punks trail."
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"Ouch!" the crow Kenku cried, as the kidnapped Kobold plucked out another feather, "will you stop doing that you little brat?"
Young Gertie started to cry and jabbed the feather into the side of another rubbish bin.
"Can one of you two carry her," the Kenku complained, "she keeps pulling out my feathers.
"Plus your the muscle here," he added, jabbing the Bugbear with the feathers that made up his 'hand'.
"Hey it was your idea to kidnap this kid," snarled the Bugbear, "you carry her."
"Hey you want to impress the boss and get out of being a glorified delivery boy," said the Kenku, "and you know how he likes Kobolds…"
"Ugh..." the Bugbear shuddered, "don't remind me."
Gertie began to cry again at that remark.
The Tabaxi turned her head around, her cat-like eyes narrowing at her two companions. "Will you two cut it out..." she complained… "You're making the kid cry…
"And the more she cries the more attention we get, so quit ya arguing and shut her up already!"
Then her eyes narrowed in an instant and her jaw dropped open. "Oh shit."
"What?" both Shadowkind asked as they turned around…
To see Matari pushing his way through the crowd behind them, eyes locked straight on the trio. They instantly recognised the Shadowchaser.
"Run for it!" the Kenku cried, picking up Gertie in his wing-like arms and bolting off.
"For once in your life, you have a good idea!" said the Tabaxi.
"Thank you," the Kenku nodded, missing the obvious insult.
The trio, plus hostage, ran into an alleyway between two buildings, both sides dotted with rubbish bins and cardboard boxes …
And a sturdy looking chain link fence that divided the alleyway clean in two.
Which wasn't a problem for the Kenku (even while he clutched Gertie) and the Tabaxi who nimbly leapt up along the bins and boxes then over the fence with a finesse that only the greatest of human gymnasts could achieve.
Unfortunately for the much less nimble Bugbear, he couldn't do that, so he didn't even bother trying. Even trying to tear the fence down would be a waste of time
"Like Hell I'm gonna get anywhere running," the Bugbear said with a roll of his eyes, "at least I'll hold the big lug off. Or even better, win my freedom.
"Besides it's too damn hot to run, I'd die of heatstroke by the end of the block."
"You beat a Shadowchaser? I doubt that!" the Kenku cackled before disappearing into the crowd in the street.
"Good luck," the Tabaxi gave a quick salute before dashing off in a different direction.
"Oh thank you guys so much," the Bugbear rolled his eyes. Before turning around to see Matari standing at the end of the alleyway, one hand clutching the hilt of his sword.
"You know," the Shadowchaser scolded, twirling a large black feather in his free hand, "if you're gonna kidnap someone, it's probably a good idea to move faster than walking pace. Probably shouldn't have left a trail either."
"Damn it," the Bugbear cursed, immediately realising where the feather came from, "that stupid Kenku..."
"So?" Matari asked, tossing the feather aside, "are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"
"What do you think?" the Bugbear snapped.
"Oh good," Matari grinned as he began to pull his sword out of his sheath, "I like that way..."
"Not that way you dimwit!" yelled the Bugbear, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a duel disk.
"Oh," Matari shrugged, letting go of his sword, "well I like that way too." He un-clipped his duel disk from his belt and attached it to his wrist. Like Rowan before him, there was a method to his madness.
"You got a name pal?" Matari asked, pulling a deck of cards out of jacket pocket
"Elvin," the Bugbear muttered.
"Elvin… the Bugbear?" Matari chuckled, "that's not something you hear every day."
"Like you're one to talk Shadowchaser," Elvin snapped, "your name sounds like someone slapped an 'M' in front of an old Nintendo console."
"Oh real funny," said Matari, rolling his eyes "like I never heard that one before.
"Actually," he corrected, nodding his head in approval, "I haven't. Usually, you guys just skip straight to calling me things that I shouldn't repeat in public, or even in the darkest corners of the internet.
"Also, how the Hell you know my name?"
"You're a Shadowchaser moron," Elvin spat, "you and your pals are pretty infamous in our little circle."
"And that little circle would be?" Matari prompted.
But Elvin simply shook his head. "Gonna keep my mouth shut about that, the boss will have my ass on a silver platter if I blabbed too much info. Loose lips sink ships ya know."
"Yeah," Matari answered, "the others have all got some stuff they don't like me talking about.
"Like how Rowan still buys porno magazines, I mean who does that these days? Just look at it online like Arika does. Or how Wendy..."
"Oh I don't want to hear about your teammates… nasty little habits," snapped Elvin, activating his duel disk, "let's just get this over with, before I end up drowning in my own sweat."
Matari shrugged and activated his duel disk.
"Duel!" the two of them yelled, each drawing fives cards from their decks.
(Matari LP:8000/Elvin LP:8000)
"If you don't mind Shadowchaser," said Elvin, "I'm starting things off with one Monster face down," said Elvin, as a reversed Monster appeared in front of him. "That'll be it for now."
"That's all?" said Matari, "usually you guys are about as subtle as the highway at five o'clock."
"Funny that someone like you would be into stereotyping," Elvin grumbled.
"Eh," Matari replied with an apathetic shrug, "I'm just surprised is all."
The Shadowchaser drew a sixth card and slammed it onto his duel disk. "Let's go! Jurrac Velo."
In a burst of red flames, a skinny dinosaur appeared on the field. Red and yellow scales that formed a flame pattern that ran from its neck and hindquarters, while several flaming spines stretched from the top of its head down to the tip of its tail. (1700/400)
"Guaiba take out that face down Monster," Matari ordered.
The dinosaur charged forward, snapping its jaws around the reversed Monster. The card flipped to reveal a small brown-furred flying squirrel which was quickly shattered between Guaiba's jaws.
"That was my Nimble Monomonga," Elvin declared as two cards poked out of his deck, "which when it bites the dust, gives me both a thousand more life points and lets me bring out two more Monomonga's from my deck on top!"
The Bugbear was showered in a golden light as two more reversed cards appeared in front of him. (Elvin LP:8000-9000)
"Oh yeah," said Matari, "I have an effect to activate too! When Guaiba destroys one of your Monster by battle, I can get another Jurrac Monster from my deck!"
Matari pulled out a card from his deck. "I think Jurrac Iguanon would do nicely right now."
In another burst of flames, a second Dinosaur appeared. The new arrival had purple and blue scales across its body, while its beak-shaped head was covered in turquoise scales. (1700/700)
"Fortunately for you, a Monster summoned by Guaiba can't attack this turn."
"Ha," Elvin chuckled, "should've used Hydrogeddon instead."
"Chemistry ain't my speciality," said Matari, slipping one card into his duel disk. "I end my turn with that."
"My turn," Elvin announced, drawing a card and bring his hand up to five.
"I'll simply set another Monster and one card."
Another reversed Monster joined Elvin's ranks, while a fourth card appeared behind them.
"That's it for my turn."
Matari raised an eyebrow. Is he stalling? Or just drawing crap.
Well, only one way to find out.
Matari drew another card and slammed it onto his duel disk. "I summon Jurrac Velo."
In another burst of hot flames, another Dinosaur appeared on the field. True to its name, it resembled a velociraptor with red scales covering its head and yellow scales tapering down its body to the tail. (1700/1000)
"And now I'll have Iguanon attack one of those Monomongas of your."
Iguanon raced forward and chomped down on one of Elvin's set Monsters, which was, sure enough, another Monomonga which shattered in the Dinosaur's jaws.
"Are you really that dense?" Elvin chuckled, "now I gain another thousand life points!
The Bugbear laughed as the golden aura appeared around him (Elvin LP:9000-10000)
"Yeah but when Iguanon destroys one of your Monsters," Matari retorted, "one of your face down cards gets sent back to your hand."
Elvin's eyes widened. "That's… that's not good."
The other set Monomonga turned into energy and shot back into Elvin's hand.
Elvin let out a small smirk. At least he picked that one, he thought.
"Now Guaiba, attack that other face down Monster!"
Guaiba leapt forward once more, sinking its sharp teeth into the reversed Monster, which flipped up to reveal a large grizzly bear with blue-tinted fur and sharp claws. (1400/1200)
But it was no match for the Guaiba's jaws and shattered between them.
"Then I'll use Guaiba's effect to bring out Jurrac Bracchis from my deck," said Matari
In another burst of fire, a Brachiosaurus with purple scales and red-hot flames pouring off its body. (1000/1000)
"You're not the only one who can bring a Monster from their deck," said Elvin, "I use my Mother Grizzly's effect to bring out another copy of itself."
A portal opened up and a second grizzly bear emerged from it, taking the place of the first.
"Fine! Velo, you take it out."
Velo leapt forward, headbutting the grizzly bear and shattering it like glass. (ELP.10000-9700)
"I'll use that one to summon one of my best Monsters, Atlantean Pikeman," Elvin said with a grin."
A second portal appeared and a blue-scaled fish-man emerged, twirling a piked between its webbed claws. (1400/0)
Matari cocked his head to the side. "Atlantean Pikeman? That's one of your best Monsters?"
And if it is, he was better off running.
"Well then," Matari chuckled, trying to hold back a full-on laughing fit at his opponent's so-called ace monster. "If you're bringing out your best, then I'll bring out one of mine!
"I tune the level three Bracchis with the level four Iguanon!"
Both dinosaurs flew high into the air and turned into seven shining stars.
"Synchro Summon! The powerhouse of the late cretaceous! Jurrac Giganoto!"
A beam of light shot through the stars. Then a large Dinosaur, resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex (though it was actually based off a Gigantosaurus) crashed to the ground. It was twice the size of the other Juuracs under Matari's control, with smooth blue scales and a coat of flames enveloping its body. (2100/1800)
"And if think that's bad enough, Giganoto gets two hundred points stronger for every Jurrac in my graveyard," Matari added.
"Oh, and Giganoto here is a team player too, so all my Jurrac Monsters get that boost!"
All three of Matari's Monsters roared in unison as the flames around their bodies intensified. (ATK:1700-2100) (ATK:1700-2100) (ATK:2100-2500)
A cocky grin appeared on Matari's face. "Let's see fish face stand up to that!"
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Back at the Sydney's Shadowchaser's base, Wendy had finished repairing her saddle. It had been a rush job, but it would have to do. She had to get out into the field before Matari could screw things up like usual.
Holding the repaired saddle under her arm, she slid open the sliding glass door in the kitchen and stepped out onto the wooden deck, which overlooked Port Jackson bay and the city centre.
She quickly scanned the beach, before sticking two fingers in her mouth and whistling as loud as she could.
Wendy rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath. She prepared to whistle again, only to stop at the last moment as a light brown blur soared overhead, before looping around in the air and dropping gracefully to the ground.
The blur in question was a gryphon, a creature with the head, forelegs and wings of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. The creature folded its feathered wings to its sides and sat down in front of Wendy, its talons clacking against the wooden decking.
Normally any sane person would be terrified of a Gryphon, as one could easily shred through a human like a sharp pair of scissors would paper. But Wendy simply narrowed her eyes at the creature, noticing a few white feathers sticking out of her beak.
"Zephyr," she grumbled in a low, scolding tone, "Have you been eating seagulls again?"
The Gryphon, Zephyr, froze for a second before quickly blowing the feathers out of her beak.
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Well, at least you're not attacking the neighbour's drone again."
Zephyr's eyes darted to the side, over to one of the many bushes that lined the backyard, which definitely didn't have the remains of the neighbour's missing drone hidden beneath it.
But thankfully Wendy didn't notice, instead holding up the saddle in her hand. "Hold still girl, I need to put this thing on."
She held up the saddle and Zephyr let out an exasperated huff, she'd always hated wearing that thing. It felt degrading, the ruffling of her carefully preened plumage, the leather chaffing against her fur, not to mention that Wendy could stand to lose a little weight (in Zephyr's own opinion).
Wendy quickly threw the saddle over Zephyr's back and began buckling it up before doing another round to make sure everything was properly buckled.
Then she checked them all again, not wanting to plummet to her death (or at least waste a Featherfall spell) was a powerful motivator to do so.
"Alright girl," said Wendy, dusting off her hands, "we've got to get to work."
Wendy quickly leapt atop the saddle on Zephyr's back, surprisingly, Zephyr seemed to be mostly undisturbed under her rider's weight. "That I presume Matari is in the process of screwing things up."
Zephyr nodded and stretched out her wings and with a powerful kick off the deck, took to the air.
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"Fish don't have lips moron," Elvin laughed as he drew another card, bringing his up to five. "Looks like I can end this duel right here Shadowchaser. First off I activate my face down card, The League of Uniform Nomenclature."
"Nomen...what?" asked Matari.
Elvin shrugged. "I dunno what that is, but I do know that this card lets me bring out two more Pikemen from my deck!"
Two more Pikemen appeared alongside the original.
"Next I activate the Spell card Tuning, which at the cost of the top card of my deck, allows me to add a Synchron Monster from my deck to my hand."
He discarded the top card of his deck, a Monster named Tenshin, then pulled another card from his deck.
The Bugbear flipped the card around. "I choose Junk Synchron."
"Oh..." Matari hissed through his teeth knowing what was coming next, "this can't be good..."
Elvin chuckled. "Yusei Fudo may have been one of the world's best in this game, but even he overlooked Junk Warrior's true potential."
"Fudo's style of play is more defensive," Matari pointed out, "at least from what I've heard."
And besides, thought Matari, didn't most of his strategies revolve around that Dragon card of his? Maybe I need to watch some of those old World Racing Grand Prix videos I recorded.
"Oh, but there's nothing defensive about my playstyle," Elvin chuckled rubbing the Junk Synchron card between his claws.
"Says the guy who's spent the last two turns setting bears and squirrels face down," Matari cut in.
"Shut up," the Bugbear growled, "that's called strategy." He then played the card, and the small robotic warrior in an orange jacket and white scarf appeared on the field. (1300/500)
"And I think everyone here knows what happens next," the Bugbear chuckled.
"I know, I know," said Matari, "you get to revive a level two Monster from your graveyard and you've got a fabulous choice of one rodent or the other."
True to Matari's words, a Nimble Monomonga appeared alongside the iconic Tuner.
"Then I'll do as Yusei says, and have Junk Synchron give my Monomonga a tune-up!"
"Does Yusei says that?" Matari wondered aloud as both Junk Synchron and Nimble Monomonga flew up into the air, turning into five shining stars.
Then Matari snapped out of his thoughts and refocused on the duel. "Oh no you don't!" he yelled, "I activate Metaverse so now I can activate a Field Spell from my deck."
"What's Jurrasic World gonna do?" Elvin snorted, "three hundred points ain't gonna make a difference here!"
"Who says I was playing that card?" Matari said with a grin as he snatched up the card, "I activate Lost World!"
The buildings around the duellists disappeared, as the city landscape was transported back millions of years to the age of dinosaurs. The concrete beneath both duellists feet turned into grass while the buildings were replaced with cliffs and prehistoric fauna.
"And as long as this card is on the field," Matari explained, "anything that isn't a Dinosaur loses five hundred attack points!"
The three Pikeman seemed to shrivel up in the heat. (ATK:1400-900) (ATK:1400-900) (ATK:1400-900)
"So now not only are your Pikemen sapped of their attack points," Matari said with a cocky grin, "your incoming Junk Warrior is as well!"
Then the stars from above aligned and erupted into a bright light.
Then, the iconic Synchro Monster flew down from above, its blue armour it scarf flowing in the wind, while the glass lenses glinted in the harsh sunlight. (2300-4500/1300)
"Looks like that nipped your little plan right in the bud, didn't it?" Matari asked, his grin still plastered on his face.
"A little," admitted Elvin, "but Junk Warrior is still the strongest Monster on the field by a wide margin."
"You call two-thousand points a wide margin, I'd call it pathetic," said Matari.
The Bugbear huffed. "You keep telling yourself that. While I activate this card, Delta Attacker."
The Spell card appeared in front of the Bugbear. "This card lets all three of my Pikemen attack you directly this turn, they may not be as strong as normal, but this will still hurt quite a bit."
"Aw… crap," Matari swore as the three fishmen stepped forward.
"He's all yours boys!"
The first of the Pikemen leapt at Matari, jabbing the Shadowchaser in the face with its spear. (Matari LP:8000-7100)
"Ow! Not the face!" Matari cried, shielding his head with his arms.
Then another jabbed him below the belt. (Matari LP:7100-6200)
"Okay maybe the face," he winced as he hands dropped to protect his 'vitals'.
So the third jabbed him in the face. (Matari LP:6200-5300)
"Okay, that… that… at least it was better than the crotch," he said, dropping to one knee...
Mere moments before Giganoto landed on top of him, via a powerful punch from Junk Warrior, knocking him flat onto the ground and flattening him under his own Monster. (Matari LP:5300-3300) (ATK:2100-1700) (ATK:2100-1700)
The Dinosaur shattered, and Matari slowly got his feet. "Glad I had Metaverse face down, that would've knocked me right out otherwise.
"I think," he added, "math is not my strong suit."
"Yeah," snarled Elvin, fiddling through the three cards in his hand, "lucky you Shadowchaser. I end my turn."
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Elsewhere in central Sydney, the Kenku was making his through the city, Gertie still held tightly by his side.
He'd lost his Tabaxi partner when the left Elvin behind in the alleyway. But he still had the child, all he had to now was make to the hideout… which was quite far away.
Well the Tabaxi at least, he wasn't sure if Elvin had any hope of winning.
But he'd been running from the Shadowchaser for a while now and was now lost amongst the midday crowd.
In fact, he was lost entirely, not even being sure what street he was on.
"Damn it," the Kenku swore, "can't find anything in these human's stupid cities. Who even designs buildings that tall!" He grumbled, pointing to one of the many skyscrapers that dotted the city centre.
As her captor struggled to find his bearings, Gertie realised that this could be her chance to escape. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and chomped down right on the Kenku's arm, her small but sharp fangs digging into the skin concealed by his feathers.
The Kenku screamed, his beak opened wide as he shook his feathered arm in pain. "You little brat!" He lifted his wing-like arm to slap the young girl…
Only for Gertie to duck under the blow. His black feathers striking nothing but air, he'd also swung so hard that the momentum threw him off balance.
Which was the opening Gertie needed to break free of the Kenku's admittedly weak grip and disappear into the crowd.
"Come back here you stupid brat!" the Kenku snapped, as he tried to follow her...
Only to bump into another human, who, being the heavier of the two, knocked the Kenku backwards.
"Hey watch it, buddy," said the human, who was thanks to the veil, completely oblivious to the kidnapping situation.
"Out of my way smoothskin," the Kenku cursed, shoving his ways past the man.
The man watched as the Kenku (who looked like a rather spindly human to him) disappear into the crowd. "Smoothskin?" he wondered aloud, completely bewildered at the seemingly strange insult.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"But thankfully duelling is one my of my strong suits," said Matari, as he drew a card, "I summon Jurrac Dino."
In a burst of red hot frames, another Dinosaur appeared. The new arrival looked more cartoonish than its brethren, with a rather portly belly combined with short limbs and a large head. (1700/400)
"Now I'll have these three attack your Pikemen!"
The three Dinosaurs jumped at three Pikeman, who could even fully turn around to flee before they were shattered in their attackers' jaws. (ELP:9700-8900-8100-7300)
However while Elvin's life points dropped, Junk Warrior's attack remained the same.
"Did you really think you could weaken Junk Warrior that way?" Elvin asked.
"Hey I've already weakened it once," said Matari, "who said I can't do it again?"
"The people who make these rules for this stupid game?" Elvin answered.
Matari opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again without a word. After a good five seconds, he opened it again. "Touche."
"You really are the kind of person who acts without thinking, aren't you?" said Elvin.
Matari shrugged. "Thinking isn't one of my strong suits either."
"Obviously," Elvin replied with a roll of his eyes.
"But you know what," said the Shadowchaser, "unfortunately for you, duelling is one my strong points. So don't think you've won because you've got that neutered beaststick on your side.
"And speaking of duelling," he pointed at Guaiba. "Since this guy destroyed one of your Monsters, I can summon Jurrac Aeolo from my deck."
In another burst of flames, another Dinosaur appeared. It was only a baby, the remains of its egg still surrounding it. It quickly picked off a broken piece of shell and began chewing on it. (200/200)
"Then I set one card face down and end my turn."
Another face down card appeared behind Matari's Monsters.
"And since I'm ending my turn, Dino's effect activates! Since he destroyed one of your Monsters this turn, I can tribute my Aeolo to draw two cards."
Aeolo disappeared into a trail of golden lights as Matari drew two cards.
I think I just drew my way out of this mess, he thought, eyeing the two cards.
"Draw everything you can Shadowchasers, you still can't match my strength!" said Elvin, drawing a card and immediately pointing a clawed finger at Guaiba. "Junk Warrior att..."
"Oh no you don't!" Matari cut in, "go Threatening Roar, no attacks for you this turn."
The Trap flipped up and the pink-furred head of Behemoth popped out of the card and roared, making Elvin jump back in fright and even the stoic Junk Warrior shuddered.
"Fine," Elvin grumbled, "I'll just set this face down an end my turn."
A reversed Monster appeared next to Junk Warrior.
Five bucks says that his Nimble Monomonga, Matari thought, so it's easy pickings for Guaiba.
The Shadowchaser drew a card and looked at it. Or better yet.
"I tribute both Velo and Dino to bring out one of my heavy hitters, Jurrac Tyrannus!"
Both smaller dinosaurs disappeared and were quickly replaced by a much bigger Dinosaur. It was clearly based on the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Orange scales covering its body and tail, thick blue scales cladding its leg, while small flames burned around its head, neck and spine. (2500/1700)
The tyrant lizard roared loud enough to shake the earth beneath its claws, even the stronger Junk Warrior seemed to ever-so-slightly cower in its presence.
"A double tribute, in this day and age?" laughed Elvin "You and your Monsters are really stuck in the stone age aren't you?"
"Alright, first of all," said Matari, wagging his finger, "Dinosaurs went extinct a long time before the stone age, like a million years ago."
"Sixty-five million dumbass," corrected Elvin.
"And second of all," the Shadowchaser continued, ignoring his opponent, "since I summoned a Dinosaur Monster to my field, my Field Spell summons a token to your side of the field!"
Several streamers of light converged together next to Junk Warrior, creating a small cream-white egg. (0/0)
"Now as long as you have a token out, you can't target any other Monsters with card effects. But then again, it's not gonna last when Guaiba's around."
Guaiba raced forward and clamped down on the egg with its jaws, shattering it into millions of pixels.
"And since Guaiba destroyed a Monster in battle, I can bring out Jurrac Monoloph from my deck."
Another burst of flames erupted on the field, bringing with it a young-looking theropod with smooth blue scales covering its body and thick armour-like scales on its head. (1500/1200)
"Then I'll have Tyrannus take out that face down Monster of yours since I have a pretty good idea of what it is."
Tyrannus raced forward, and stamped down hard on Elvin's set Monster, momentarily revealing it to be the third Monomonga, which shattered like glass underneath Tyrannus' foot.
"I gain another thousand life points!" Elvin shouted as golden lights rained down on him. (Elvin LP: 7300-8300)
"Yeah but you're out of rats to summon," said Matari, "and thanks to Tyrannus' effect, he gains three-hundred more attack points!"
Tyrannus let out a mighty and triumphant roar, making Monoloph and Guaiba shudder in fright. (ATK:2500-2800)
But that was nothing compared to what happened next, as the two smaller Dinosaurs were scooped up by Tyrannu's gaping, flame-spewing maw, where they were quickly shattered by a quick chomp of the larger Dinosaur's jaws. (ATK:2800-3300-3800)
"What the Hell was that?" shouted Elvin, eyes wide open in shock at the sudden brutality.
"Oh that was Tyrannus' other effect," said Matari, "which lets me tribute another Dinosaur Monster to increase his attack power by five-hundred apiece."
"That's your strategy?" scoffed Elvin, "sacrificing all your Monsters to power up your ace, doesn't seem like a strategy a Shadowchaser would use."
"Hey, prehistoric times were a dog-eat-dog world, or should I say dinosaur-eat-dinosaur world," Matari answered with a cheesy grin. "And besides, I only need two more sacrifices to overpower Junk Warrior." He then grabbed two cards from his hand, "and just in case you think about trying to stop that, I'll set these face down before ending my turn."
Two more set cards joined the lone card in Matari's back row, for a total of three.
"I bet their just bluffs," snarled Elvin.
"You're free to take up that bet," Matari replied with a shrug. "But as I said, I only need to tribute two more Monsters to power up Tyrannus enough to overpower Junk Warrior. So you might want to think about what happens if you leave Tyrannus alone...
"But what if they're not bluffs?" he added with a sinister grin, "and you charge headfirst into a trap and get Junk Warrior destroyed? Tough decision, ain't it?"
"My turn," said Elvin as he drew a fourth card, his cocky facade beginning to crumble.
The Bugbear looked over his cards, Giant Germ, Inferno Reckless Summon, Synchro Explorer and his recently drawn Graceful Revival.
I got nothing to destroy those face down cards, he thought, but, as that twit said, he only needs to tribute two more Monsters to make Tyrannus stronger… And I have nothing to protect Junk Warrior with if that happens.
He seems to be baiting me into attacking him, so he can use one of those cards to destroy Junk Warrior, bet at least one of them is Sakuretsu Armor, Mirror Force or something like it.
But what if that's what he wants me to think, so I just sit around and let his Monster get stronger than mine. One of those cards was even on the field when I summoned Junk Warrior before so that one is probably useless…
But what about the other two cards?
Aw forget it, it's too confusing. I'm just gonna attack.
The Bugbear pointed a claw at Tyrannus. "Junk Warrior, take it out!" he ordered.
Junk Warrior flew forward and raised its fist at the giant lizard.
"That's just what I wanted you to do!" Matari grinned, "I activate my Trap Card, Roar of Pride!"
The Trap flipped up and Tyrannus let out a massive roar as it gained a blazing aura.
"At the cost of a couple hundred lifepoints," said Matari, "this card lets Tyrannus close the gap between our Monsters, and then some."
Tyrannus charged at the attacking Junk Warrior, catching the Synchros arm in teeth. (Matari LP:3300-2600) (ATK:3800-4800)
The tyrant lizard than swung Junk Warrior around, letting it smash against the ground repeatedly. Bits and pieces flew off the Synchro as it was savagely and repeatedly beaten into the ground by the now more powerful Dinosaur.
The bruised, battered and broken Junk Warrior finally gave in and shattered into a million pixels.
"Aw… shit..." the Bugbear swore as the remains of Junk Warrior rained down on the field. (Elvin LP:8300-8000)
Matari broke out into a chuckle. "Told you two-thousand wasn't that big of a gap.
"Oh, and while Tyrannus may only have the boost from my Trap for one battle," said Matari, "he did destroy another Monster…"
Tyrannus roared as its blazing aura dissipated. (ATK:4800-4100)
"I set one Monster and one card and end my turn," said Elvin, almost despondent as the face down cards appeared in front of him.
"My turn," said Matari, tearing a card from his deck, "and the perfect time for a counterattack!"
He grabbed a card in his hand. "First up I'll use the effect of Gilasaurus to special summon itself from my hand."
In a bright-flash, a brown Velocoraptor with tiger-striped scales leapt onto the field.
"And since I summoned it with its effect, you can bring back any Monster from your graveyard if you want."
Elvin grit his teeth. "I revive a Monomonga in defence position," he grunted, as the rodent appeared in front of him.
"Big mistake," said Matari, as one of his set cards flipped up, "since a Monster was summoned to your field, I can use my Hunting Instinct to bring out Jurrac Herra."
The Trap card flipped up, and another Dinosaur appeared in a burst of flames. It wasn't quite as large as Tyrannus, but still larger than the average Jurrac. Smooth green and thick yellow scales covered its body, while what appeared to be a pair of flamethrowers were attached to its back. (2200/1500)
"You baited me into summoning a Monster with Gilasaurus, didn't you?" Elvin grumbled.
"What can I say," Matari replied, "I'm a master-baiter."
Elvin's face scrunched up at that remark. "I can't tell if that was a joke, or if you really don't think before you speak."
"It's whatever you want it to be," Matari replied, as his other set card flipped up, "like my Fossil Dig Spell can be whatever I want it to be.
"Well, as long as its a level six or lower Dinosaur, like Jurrac Gallim."
He grabbed the card as it jutted out of his deck, and played it on his duel disk.
In a flash, yet another Dinosaur appeared. Orange and blue scales covered its body, which somewhat resembled it distant relative, the common chicken, in shape (if not size) as well as a ring of flaming orange feathers circling the base of its neck. (1200/0)
"And I know your thinking why I bothered grabbing that one, well let's just say he and Gilasaurus make a good pair."
"A Tuner," Elvin snarled.
"Pretty much."
The two smaller Dinosaurs flew up into the air and turned into five shining stars.
Then another Dinosaur dropped down from above, landing on the field with a crash. Its body covered in thick purple scales, with an oversized sickle-like claw on each of its hind legs. (?/?)
"Say hello to Jurrac Velphito," said Matari, "and in case you were wondering, his attack and defence scores are equal to the combined attack of the monster's I used to Summon him!"
Velphito let out a mighty roar as the flames around burned brighter. (?-2600/?-2600)
"So here's a whole twenty-six hundred worth of Dinosaur charging straight for that set Monster of yours."
"Oh so now you can do the math," Elvin muttered.
Velphito roared and charged at the mystery Monster.
"Oh, and when Velphito attacks a set Monster," Matari added, "it doesn't even bother fighting it."
The fire-wreathed Dinosaur bit straight through the set Monster, shattering the card like glass.
"My Giant Germ," Elvin gasped.
"Ooh, that could've been pretty bad for me," Matari smiled, "but too bad. Because now it's gonna be worse for you! Herra take out that dumb squirrel."
Herra charged forward, smashing into the reversed card and sending the Monomonga flying.
"I gain another thousand life points!" Elvin growled as he was surrounded by the golden aura for the third time. (Elvin LP:8000-9000)
"But just like last time you don't have any more to bring out from your deck," said Matari, "Tyrannus, attack this chump directly!"
Elvin's eyes almost popped out of his skull as Tyrannus charged straight for him. He tried his best to shield himself with his arms as Tyrannus spun around on the spot and slapped him with its tail, knocking the Bugbear back a good couple of metres. (Elvin LP:9000-4900)
"You'll pay for that," the Bugbear panted.
"I doubt that," said Matari slipping one final card into his duel disk, leaving his hand empty.
"You're up," said the Shadowchaser, "unless you want to forfeit now that your Junk Warrior's gone."
"You think I'm just gonna give up," snarled the Bugbear, drawing a card, "well you're sorely mistaken. I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Avarice, shuffling five Monsters back into his deck and drawing two cards!"
He took five cards from his graveyard; the three Monomonga's, Giant Germ and Junk Warrior and shuffled them back into his deck (and Extra Deck, in Junk Warrior's case).
He looked at the two new cards and grinned. "And speaking of sorely. That's what you're gonna be when I use my Mystical Space Typhoon to blow your Field Spell away."
A fierce wind kicked up, battering the landscape. Trees were uprooted, cliffs crumbled. The ground beneath the two duellists shattered and they were returned to the modern-day alleyway.
"Next I activate my set card, Graceful Revival, which lets me bring back a low-level Monster, like my Tenshin."
In a flash of heavenly light, a new Monster appeared. An angel in heavenly white armour, several golden rings floated around its limbs and body while a small pair of wings stuck out from its back. (800/100)
"When did that get in the graveyard?" asked Matari, "also, what is that thing, some sort of angel?"
"First of all," Elvin answered wagging a claw in the air, "I was lucky enough to mill it when I played Tuning earlier. And yes, you're right, Tenshin is a Fairy-type Monster. In fact, his name means angel in Japanese.
"And you'll be getting a good look at him because I'm using Inferno Reckless Summon to bring two more from my deck."
The Spell flashed onto the field and a sickly black smog poured out of it and curled around Tenshin. Then two pitch-black portals opened up either side of the angel and two more copies flew out, landing on the ground right next to their brethren.
A bit ironic to be using that card to summon Fairy monsters, thought Matari.
"Of course," Elvin added, as the black smog drifted over to Matari's field, "you get to summon any more copies of a monster you control."
The Shadowchaser then pulled a card from his deck. "I may only have one copy of Tyrannus and I can't use that card on Velhito." said Matari, "but I do have a second copy of Herra!"
A third portal opened up, and a second Herra appeared alongside the first.
"And let me guess?" asked Matari, "you're gonna use them to power up Junk Warrior, aren't you? But those things have only eight hundred attack points apiece, so even if you brought out Junk Warrior again it would on have four-thousand seven hundred attack points, so even if you attacked one of my Herra's..."
He did some quick math with his fingers. "I'd survive with a couple hundred life points and plenty of fodder to power up Tyrannus next turn."
But Elvin just gave his opponent a devious look and a sly grin. "Is that so?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Matari.
"Why do you think I summoned Tenshin instead of my Pikemen?" Elvin asked.
"Because you're just a one-trick pony who dresses up said one trick?" Matari answered.
Elvin let out a monstrous growl. "That was a rhetorical question," he snapped, somewhat offended at Matari's remark, "but the real answer is that while Atlantean Pikeman is one of the strongest level two Monsters going by attack power alone, some others have abilities to let them surpass it.
"And Tenshin just so happens to be one of those Monsters."
Matari just stared blankly and Elvin. "It's not a rhetorical question if there's an actual answer."
Elvin just snarled. "Don't care about that," he answered, "but I do care about the fact that my Tenshins gains four-hundred extra attack for every level two Monster I have out.
"And I'll give you one guess what level they happen to be!"
The three angels posed as heavenly light rained down on their bodies. (ATK:800-2000) (ATK:800-2000) (ATK:800-2000)
"You're forgetting one thing," Matari said with a confident grin, "you're missing one little itty-bitty card, Junk Warrior itself."
Elvin broke out into a laugh. "Are you daft Shadowchaser?" he said, "do you think I'd go to all that trouble of summoning my Tenshins if I couldn't bring out the big guy."
Hr flipped around the second-to-last card in his hand. "I summon Synchron Explorer."
an odd-looking red machine, and a pitch-black void in the centre of its round body. (0/700)
"And when this guy is summoned, I can revive a Synchron Monster from my graveyard."
A swirling portal opened up next to Synchron Explorer, and Junk Synchron flew out.
"And I think you know what happens next," Elvin added.
Both Monsters then flew into the air and turned into five shining stars. A bright light then pierced the stars, and Junk Warrior flew down onto the field once more.
"And I don't think I need to tell you what happens now, do I Shadowchaser?"
"No," Matari grumbled.
Once again Junk Warrior surged with power. (ATK:2300-8300)
"Junk Warrior, let's show him what really wiped out the dinosaurs!"
Junk Warrior raised its fist and flew at Tyrannus.
But Matari's scowl quickly turned into a triumphant grin as the finishing blow closed in. "Funny you should say that," he chuckled, as his lone set card flipped up.
"Go! Jurrac Impact, since I have a high-powered Dinosaur on my field, this card does what an asteroid does best and wipes out everything unfortunate enough to be in its path!"
"Everything? the Bugbear stammered, his jaw-dropping.
"It's a meteor, what do you think it's gonna do?" asked Matari.
Elvin helplessly looked up to see a large meteor pierce through the Earth's atmosphere, hurtling right toward the field. The entire field went into a panic, Tyrannus and Velphito's jaws dropped wide open and their tongues sticking out, while both Herras hugged each other as tears streamed down their faces, the trio of Tenshin's clasped their hands together and prayed, while Junk Warrior watched on, its stoic facade betrayed by its limbs going limp.
The Bugbear couldn't do a single thing but shield himself in panic as the meteor collided with the Earth, creating a massive fireball that incinerated everything in the vicinity...
Well, everything virtual in the vicinity.
"Man," Matari chuckled, as the fireball died off, "every time I use that card or Jurrac Meteor my opponent wishes they wore their brown pants that day."
Elvin peeked through his fingers, seeing the smouldering crater that was once the field. "Sss... shut up," he muttered, his voice still shaky.
"So are going to use that card you've got?" asked Matari, "or are just gonna stand there and try to will your underpants clean?"
Elvin looked down at the lone card in his possession, Rush Warrior, he was going to discard it to double Junk Warrior's attack to over sixteen-thousand and pulverise that smug Shadowchaser and his precious Tyrannus into a fine paste. But now there was no Junk Warrior to use it on, so the card was practically useless now, he couldn't even use it to defend himself.
But then again, at least he had a card, Matari had no cards in his hand so his Trap destroyed everything he had. The only card he would have would be the card he drew next turn.
Elvin cracked a grin, realising that as bad of position he was in now, Matari was a worse one. "I end my turn."
"And that means its mine," said Matari as he tore the next card from his deck and taking a good look at it.
"This duel ends here and now fur-face," he smiled, slapping his card onto his duel disk.
"I summon Souleating Oviraptor."
In a flash, a new dinosaur appeared. It was greyish-blue in colour with several black markings throughout its body whiles its limbs and tail stained with blood. A ghostly blue flame ran down the creature's spine, which matched the flickering lights in its eye sockets. (1800/500)
"Now," said Matari, "I can take any Dinosaur from my deck, and either add it to my hand...
"Or I can dump it straight into my graveyard," he added, doing just that.
"And the point of that was?" asked Elvin.
"This," said Matari as he pulled the card he dumped, plus Velo, Guaiba and Igaunon from his graveyard and placed them in his jacket pocket, "I can banish Miscellaneousaurus and a bunch of other Dinosaurs from my graveyard, "then I can summon a Dinosaur from my deck with a level equal to the number of Monsters banished!"
"If you could banish as many as you'd like, then why didn't you banish more?" asked Elvin.
"Because four is all I need to finish you off," said Matari, as a card poked out of his deck. "I summon Tyranno Infinity"
In a flash, another Tyrannosaurus appeared. Its scales a more realistic dark green as opposed to Tyrannus' red and yellow and it wasn't on fire to boot. Instead, sparks of electricity crackled around its body. (?/?)
Elvin widened his eyes and grit his teeth.
"Oh good," said Matari, savouring the look on his opponent's face, "so I don't have to tell you that Tyranno Infinity gains a thousand attack points for each of my banished Dinosaurs. And since I just banished four of them..."
"Yet you did it anyway," Elvin sighed as a bead of sweat rolled down his head.
The green dinosaur roared, the electricity surrounding it intensifying. (?-4000/?-4000)
Elvin held up a small white flag, Matari wasn't sure where it came from. "I surrender! I surrender! Please have mercy."
"Oh no, you don't get off that easy punk," Matari answered with a mischievous grin, "Souleating Oviraptor, attack directly!"
Souleating Oviraptor dashed forward and sunk its teeth right into Elvin's shoulder, tearing his clothes. (ELP.4900-3100)
"And now Tyranno Infinity finish him off!"
Tyranno Infinity roared and charged at Elvin, with a quick but powerful spin of its body the Dinosaur used its tail to bat the Bugbear straight into the brick wall. (Elvin LP: 3100-0)
Sirens blared as both Dinosaurs disappeared.
Elvin muttered under his breath as he slid to the ground, stunned by the blow.
His vision refocused finding that Matari was now standing over him, a bright blue gemstone in his hand.
"Alright buddy," said Matari, "you're under arrest for..."
"Save the rambling," Elvin cut it, "I know what I did."
"Oh good," Matari shrugged, "can't remember all that crap anyway." He held the gemstone closer to Elvin, it began to glow as a bright white light shot out of the jewel and wrapped around the Bugbear.
The gemstone then let out a blinding flash and Elvin disappeared. He'd been magically transported to the Shadowchasers Headquarters half a world away, where he'd be processed for his crimes.
Matari then slipped the gemstone back in his pocket and, with a triumphant grin on his face, span around on his heel and dusted off his hands, completely satisfied with his work.
Until he saw Mother Kobold and her children standing at the end of the alleyway. The sight of which wiped the grin off his face in an instant.
"So have you found my child?" Mother Kobold asked, but the scowl on her face made it clear she already knew the answer.
"Oh..." Matari stammered, "You see they split up and… well I went after the Bugbear...
"Moron!" the mother Kobold cursed stamping on Matari's foot once more.
"Hey it didn't work the first time lady," said Matari, taking a defensive step back from the angry lizard, "it ain't gonna work a second one.
"And besides the Kenku has her," he added, "he couldn't have gotten too far.."
Then he shuddered as a large shadow flew over him, quickly followed by a gust of air race past him.
He didn't need to turn around (or see the Kobold family's terrified faces) to figure out what was behind him. All he needed was the feeling of an ice-cold glare creeping up his spine.
"So I can assume that you've sorted everything out?" an all too familiar voice asked.
Matari turned around to face Wendy and Zephyr and opened his mouth to answer, but Mother Kobold beat him to the punch. "He caught one of them," she answered, "but not the one that had my child!"
From atop Zephyr's back, Wendy pinched the bridge of her nose. "I didn't think so," she muttered.
"Then why'd you even ask?" Matari grumbled.
"There's two more of them," Mother Kobold chimed in, "a Kenku and a Tabaxi, I think the Kenku has my daughter."
"Do you know where they went?" Wendy asked.
Mother Kobold shook her head.
"Did you see what they looked like?"
"Hey, I'm the one on this case" Matari protested, attempting to shove himself between
But Wendy and Mother Kobold simply ignored him, the latter ducking through the gap in his legs to approach Wendy.
"There was a Kenku and a Tabaxi," Mother Kobold answered, "the Kenku had black feathers and the Tabaxi was black with grey stripes."
"Or was it grey with black stripes?" Matari chuckled, earning himself another kick from Mother Kobold.
Wendy scowled and gave a cold glare to Matari. "Can't you be serious for five minutes?" she grumbled, "a child is in serious danger and you're making jokes?"
"Well excuse me for trying to lighten the mood, gotta keep morale high."
"A kidnapping isn't the place for jokes."
Matari crossed his arms and turned away from Wendy. "At least I know how to tell a joke."
"When has a joke ever helped us?"
"Remember that time with the Sphinx?
"That was a riddle, not a joke."
"But the riddle was based on an old joke."
"EXCUSE ME!" Mother Kobold shouted, barging in between the two bickering Shadowchasers, "but I think there'sss sssomething a little more important than whatever the Hell you two are arguing about!"
"I apologise for getting… distracted," Wendy muttered, shooting a glare at Matari.
"Yeah… sorry about that," Matari grumbled under his breath.
"I'll accept your apologiesss when you return my daughter to me sssafe and sssound," Mother Kobold growled, actually managing to sound somewhat intimidating for someone of her stature.
"Don't worry," said Wendy, looking down at Mother Kobold as she gently scratched Zephyr behind her ear, "with the two of us, we'll find your daughter and get her back to safe and sound."
"Finally," Mother Kobold grumbled, "someone who is taking this seriously."
"Hey," Matari protested, "I am taking this seriously."
"If you were taking this seriously then you would've gone after the criminal that had my daughter instead of staying here and arresting the Bugbear!" yelled Mother Kobold.
Matari opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of anything to say. "He…. He helped kidnap your daughter, he needed to still be arrested."
But Mother Kobold only stamped on Matari's foot once more. "You could've arrested him after you rescued my daughter."
Matari lent down, getting right up in Mother Kobold's face, and opened his mouth to reply. But unfortunately for Matari, that was as far as he'd thought. He couldn't think of anything to say to defend himself against Mother KJobold's accusations.
Mother Kobold just narrowed her eyes at Matari. "Get out of my face human," she hissed, "your breath smells."
Matari clamped his mouth shut and quickly jumped back. "It's not like you can talk," he grumbled, "did you have dog food for breakfast or something?"
Mother Kobold reeled backwards, offended by the remark. "I'll have you know that 'dog food' contains several vital nutrients and minerals."
"That stuff is not meant for human consumption!"
"Do I look human to you?"
"The same principle still applies!"
"You try feeding twelve kids on a budget!"
From atop Zephyr's back, Wendy simply closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Seriously," she grumbled, "he's arguing with the victim again."
Zephyr let out an exasperated huff in agreement.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Meanwhile, Gertie had escaped from her captor and had put quite some distance between them. She had found a small alleyway between two stores and was now cowering behind a rubbish bin, occasionally peeking out from behind it to see if the coast was clear.
Unfortunately, the Veil had one unforeseen side effect of segregating humans and Shadowkind. That ordinary humans would not pay a lick of attention to Shadowkind, even if one could use the help of a Mundane. Even other Shadowkind tended to stick to their own kind, the few that passed by gave Gertie nothing more than a quick glance and continued on their way. It seemed that no one would even lift a finger to help poor Gertie.
Well, almost no one.
Gertie looked (though not exactly as far as one would think) up to see a pair of bright blue eyes of a human boy staring down at her.
"Hey there, are you alright," the boy said softly, trying his best not to scare the already frightened child.
Gertie scanned the human in front of her, mother had warned her about trusting strangers
"I… I lost my mummy," she sniffled, "and there's a bad man after me."
The boy's comforting smile faltered for a moment as if he realised that this was probably a worse situation than first thought.
But then it quickly returned. "Come with me," he said, offering his hand. "I'll take you to mall security. They can help find your mother and the bad man won't get you."
Gertie looked at the boy once more, in his white shirt and khaki pants he looked much less threatening that the trio of thugs that had kidnapped her.
She reached out and took his hand. The boy flinched, her hand felt cold and rough. What? He thought, but quickly it shook off.
"Thanksss missster," Gertie snivelled, the boy noticed that her accent sound strange, who on Earth drags their S's out like some sort of lizard person on TV?
"Um…" Gertie asked, "what'sss your name?"
The boy smiled back. "Ezekiel," he answered, "now let's get you to the police so they can find your mother. "I bet she's even there right now, asking them to help find you."
Ezekiel held Gertie close to him, but couldn't shake the feeling that there was something… off about the situation. It seemed like there was more going on than simply a lost child.
He decided to push that thought to the back of his mind, he could just take her to the police station in The Rocks, it was only a couple of blocks away - a few minutes walk at the least.
But little did either of them know, that off in the distance, a familiar black-feathered Kenku had spotted them.
"Damn," the bird swore, "looks like this might get complicated."
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Kitten Knight: Well that just about wraps up that Chapter, hopefully, there won't be so much of a wait on the next one.