The end of this chapter will introduce a new category of Shadowchaser Files: Beasts. This differs from Races; to give an example, if we were to use Star Wars to compare, the Tusken Raiders would be a race, while the krayt dragon would be a Beast. This sort of Shadowkind fills the same ecological niche as most predators, but in this case, may or may not have at least rudimentary intelligence. In any case, if it is a threat, you can't deal with it by negotiating or dueling. Stories about "hunting the most dangerous game" might arise in such cases.
Now, on with the show.
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Now, the reason I mentioned the Klan last time was because I now feel I need to mention one reason why, conspiracy theories form, which is a proportionately bigger reason than others, and it's a big reason as to why the Shadowchaser exist. Quite simply, many of them grow out of bigotry, intolerance, and hatred.
I debated whether to include this one or not, because some argue whether it is a conspiracy theory at all. Of course, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, but even the most innocent people, who became pioneers of the movement by accident, face unfair accusations.
You know the story of Rosa Parks. A simple seamstress who, after a long day at work was, in her own words, "tired of giving in", and refused to give her seat to a white passenger, was arrested for civil disobedience, an action that started a public outcry leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and starting a turn of events leading to a new era in American Civil Rights.
Ms. Parks likely never woke up that morning thinking her actions would be so far-reaching, but some say otherwise. Some groups of… questionable reputation claim that she was told by the NAACP to do it intentionally to anger the black community and gain them support.
First of all, if it were true, this would only count as a conspiracy in the eyes of hate groups who wanted to prevent the boycott and keep blacks as second-class citizens. After all, if a member of such a group told a non-racist white that Ms. Parks had done it intentionally, his likely reply would be, "So that's a bad thing?"
But even if this did count as a conspiracy theory, there's little proof of it, even though Ms. Parks did do volunteer work for the NAACP (as did much of the black population of Montgomery at the time). The only "proof" that leaders told her to resist is a single vague sentence in her memoirs saying she was "selected" to do the right thing at that point in time. She didn't say by who, but being a religious woman and a churchgoer all her life, she likely meant God.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of conspiracy theories caused by hatred, which is why the Shadowchasers strive to keep Shadows behind the veil. The problem would be far worse if humans and Shadows had to live side by side.
Don't believe me? Among Aware humans and Shadowkind, there are plenty of conspiracy theories that Mundanes have never heard of.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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Every Breath You Take
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Now, many people may have wondered by now just where exactly Sofia lived, or just which Shadowchasers she associated with on a permanent basis, if any. Those following the exploits may have taken note that she was seen in New Mexico and Texas during the time when the Dark Signers made their move on Neo Domino, and now, she was hundreds of miles away from that part of the country, in Memphis and now Cape Cod.
Well, she did belong to a team of Shadowchasers, and a large one at that, but it was different than most. The majority of towns and cities in America (and a greater majority elsewhere) weren't big enough to warrant a full team of Shadowchasers, and the organization wasn't all that big. (Truth be told, Aware humans with the ability to handle the job and desire to do so didn't just appear every day.) There were a few "floater" teams available whose members were able to go out to any location in a geographical area, either on their own, or to assist members of "stable" teams, as Sofia had done here.
So where did Sofia's team keep their base? Well, Baltimore wasn't a town that currently required a full team, but it certainly did in the Prohibition era, where supernatural activity there was a big problem.
Well, that was an understatement. Truth be told, it had the same problem Sunnydale did. Fortunately, because Baltimore wasn't founded with the intention of being the hunting ground for demonic beings from a major portal from the Lower Planes, nuking the city wasn't necessary (as Buffy and the Scooby-Gang ended up having to do to their town). Sofia's group still hung out in Baltimore, both to keep an eye on the place (the portal had been shut, but you never know with such things) and also because the team that eliminated the crisis had set up a complex portal grid that made moving from there to most other locations in North America fast and easy.
It was about the time that Jabels was talking to Karl, and while Sofia could have gotten home quickly, she decided to drive at least part of the way. She had stopped to recharge her D-Wheel and buy a sandwich at a station on the New Jersey turnpike, and while doing so, she finally got a good look at that receipt.
The receipt was dated only six weeks ago, and the order, which had been paid with a bank-issued credit card (not the bank she remembered him using), was for one serving of choucroute garnie and a glass of V8.
It took her a few minutes of searching her mind to remember what choucroute garnie was. (It was a general term for any entrée made up primarily of sauerkraut, sausages, and potatoes; it could have other ingredients, but that depended on the region of France and the whims of the chef.
She may have seen Philip eat something like that once or twice, but the mention of V8 was what made her certain it was him; he and his father had a thing for tomato juice (their favorite non-alcohol beverage) and V8 was usually the closest you could get to "straight" tomato juice in a restaurant.
She turned the receipt around, and looked at what was written on it.
"Meet me at Frankfort, outside Clayton' place, the usual time."
Frankfort… That was in Kentucky… It was hard to tell whether or not the note was written in Philip's handwriting, but… At least it was a start.
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"A Good Place to Live".
So said the city motto of Crystal Lake, Illinois, and it was simplicity at its finest. It was a quiet place, known for its pottery-based art, it's large, Park District, and naturally, its clean, unspoiled lake. Suburbs had grown out from the main city, and the city, while lacking any major industries, was well known for recreation, and most recently, places where people spent their retirement.
Karl was there early the next morning, in a coffee shop that doubled as an internet café. He didn't need to use the computers, of course, but making coffee was something SAL couldn't do (yet).
"Hey there, Martin," he said, as the well-dressed Englishman walked in, not turning around. "New sports jacket?"
"Why… yes," replied Jabels. "I say, don't tell me you have eyes on the back of your head?"
Karl smirked as he turned around, moving the coffee pot in front of him as he did so, showing the very shiny surface on it that was a practical mirror.
"Indeed," said Jabels, as Karl stood up, and the two shook hands. "You can't imagine how glad we are to have you back, Mr. Hudson."
"Humph, no mention of me, I see," snapped SAL, in her usual sultry voice.
"Easy!" scolded Karl. "I think he brought something for you…"
SAL hummed a little, as if anxiously, as Jabels handed Karl the package he had gotten from Copek. Karl carefully opened it, and withdrew a tiny microchip inside a plastic card.
He proceeded to roll back his sleeve, revealing his entire elbow-length glove – SAL's physical form – and carefully fit the small chip into a small indentation that seemed to have been sized perfectly for it. There was a click, then a hum.
"Ooh…" moaned SAL, happily. "Now THAT'S what I need!"
Jabels looked at SAL for a minute or two. Then he sat down.
"Just between you and me, Mr. Hudson," he said, with a sly smile, "considering how long you and SAL have worked with each other, maybe you should just cut out the middleman and propose."
Karl chuckled a little.
"Jabels, seriously," he said, even though he knew the guy was joking, "I built her… She's more like a daughter to me." His voice sank to a whisper. "And I'd rather not start any crazy debates over what constitutes theoretical incest…"
He chuckled a little again.
"Besides," interrupted SAL, "I'd like to think I could do better than Karl."
Jabels laughed a little harder now, as Karl leaned on his hand. "Maybe I made you a little too lifelike!" he snapped.
"Anyway, Mr. Hudson," said Jabels, clearing his throat, "we have business to attend to. I was up late looking up some of these Creepypasta things, and…"
"Wait, you read them?" asked Karl.
"Is that a problem?" asked Jabels.
"Uh…" said Karl. "Usually, it's best for a beginner at those to start slow, during daylight…"
"Great elephants, Mr. Hudson, I've been working with Mr. Stormbringer for the past thirty-eight years," said Jabels, rolling his eyes. "I have a degree in psychology and I've worked with the Church of Pelor as a therapist so much I have access to their archives. Do you honestly think some shoddily-written ghost stories are going to make me lose sleep?"
"He's got a point, Karl," replied SAL, as Karl nodded.
"Anyway," continued Jabels, as he sat down, "they are quite… Macabre, but some are just… amateur. I'm reminded of something Stephen King once said…"
"Let me guess," replied Karl. "It was when he said, I quote, 'I'll try to terrify you first, and if that doesn't work, I'll try to horrify you, and if I can't make it there, I'll try to gross you out.' Unquote."
"Mmm, yes…" said Jabels. He sipped his coffee. "Trouble is, most of these, uhm, Creepypastas go for 'gross-out' rather quickly."
"Yeah, well, like any type of literature, there are good Creepypastas, bad ones," said Karl. He stopped to sip his coffee. "And ones that really suck. Excessive gore for its own sake is one of the major signs of a poorly written Creepypasta."
"One of them?" asked Jabels.
"Yeah, there's a whole list," replied Karl. "There are a lot of ways to not start the story. These ways include starting it by writing, 'You're never going to believe this' or 'I used to be a skeptic', or 'I don't have much time to left'…"
"Implying that the writer is about to die or go mad, I assume," asked Jabels.
"Right, big clichés," replied Karl. "The worst way to start one is to warn people not to read it, saying the story is cursed or something. Not a way to get fans. Using the words 'no escape' too much in the body of the text is bad, and so is ending it with someone saying, 'And you're next!' Talk about corny.
"If the author overuses the number 666 or 13, bad author. If he uses the first letters of the paragraphs to spell out a message, that's silly, not scary.
"Stories about people waking up in labs strapped to tables were scary for about a month before they got old.
"And an author that uses excessive blood and gore for its own sake isn't going to win any points. That's not a Creepypasta that's a low budget slasher movies.
"All these are signs of a bad author."
"I never realized there was such a…. science to it," replied Jabels.
"Well, it's all unofficial," replied Karl. "Like I said, 'legitimate' Creepypastas that see actual print release were very rare. But the thing is, I did some Shadow-Jacking through the old Creepypasta blogs, and I found out who this Ghislane Fion was. Seemed she used to write stories like this back when before their popularity started to wane, about ten years ago, and she was a pretty good writer. She had at least five pseudonyms – there may be more, I didn't find any others – and a rather loyal fan following under each of them."
Jabels thought for a minute.
"She could very well have written some of the things on those locked files," he said.
"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Karl. He stood up, and threw a five dollar bill on the table.
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Frankfort, Kentucky.
Sofia looked up at the large business that had been built to resemble a log cabin: Grizzly Adams' Trading Post.
It hadn't taken her very long to narrow down the name Clayton in the local phone book – it wasn't a very popular name – but apparently, that was the name of the owner of this place, a rather unique store that sold camping and outdoorsman gear.
And by that, not the type you'd buy to take your wife and son on a weekend trip. This store sold things for serious outdoorsmen who stayed out a long time in dangerous areas. It was mentioned in magazines read by lumberjacks, prospectors, survivalists, and the NRA. People who came here to shop often had a better reason to climb a mountain than, "because it's there".
She opened the door to a musty smell, to what looked like a combination of a general store, an army supply store, and a hardware store all rolled into one.
Sure seems like the type of place Philip would like, she thought looking at the floor, then the shelves, and then the ceiling. Everything's made of wood!
Then she heard… snoring. She turned towards the front counter, where an elderly clerk with a red flannel shirt, glasses, and grey hair, dozing behind it, a copy of this week's TV Guide held to his chest.
"Is the new season that boring?" asked Sofia. "Uh, sir?"
She nudged the man. "Sir? SIR!"
He woke up with a start, then scrambled for his glasses.
"Uh, wha, buh…" he sputtered. "Uhm… Probably best you didn't see that…"
"I'm sorry," said Sofia, as he sat up straighter.
"No worries, young lady," he replied, straightening his glasses, "at my age, the old ticker can use a jump-start now and then… And… uh…
"Say… Who're you?"
Sofia looked at him for a minute.
"You always ask customers that?" she asked.
"Well, I don't get new customers all too often…" he replied. "Kind of rare that someone new comes in without calling first. My business spreads by word of mouth, and the folks who spread it, well, they tend to be odd types…"
"Are you Barclay?" asked Sofia.
"Depends," he said, suspiciously. "Oh, and by the way, for new customers, I insist on two forms of ID. Unless you're paying cash, of course."
Sofia looked around, just to make sure no-one was there.
"Listen," she said, "I was wondering if you had seen anyone named Philip. Philip Dunbar."
The old man looked at her closely over his glasses.
"Philip Dunbar…" he mused. "Tall fellow? Blonde hair? Very fair skin?"
"Yes…" said Sofia.
"Plays Duel Monsters using a deck focusing on the Wind Attribute?" continued Barclay.
"Yes!" shouted Sofia, getting excited.
Barclay picked up the TV Guide again. "Well, I might have seen him… Maybe…"
Sofia groaned. She dug into her pocket, then held two bills up to his face. The old clerk's eyes almost popped out of his head. He put the magazine down, reached for the two bills, and took them.
"Forty dollars?" he gasped. "Sweet Mother McCree, lady, I would have told you for a five-spot! Why is he so important?"
She put her hands on her hips with a death glare. He shook his head and stuffed the money into his shirt pocket.
"All right, all right…" he said. "I guess you have… reasons… To be honest, I really only know a little. Phil comes in here every two weeks – on average – and buys enough nonperishable goods to last a man for months. It's like he's buying for an army. He also occasionally puts in strange orders for equipment. Like hunting gear, mountain climbing gear, and most recently, spelunking gear."
"You sell that stuff?" asked Sofia.
"Well, not on the premises," he said, "but I know people, and they know people too; I can arrange to have stuff delivered here if someone needs something unusual… Part of being a survivalist is being an opportunist, as my old CO in the Marines used to say."
"Congratulations," replied Sofia.
"Thank you," replied Barclay. "So I can get things like soda dispensers, propane grills, ice cream machines… Give me two weeks' notice and I can get you a great deal on some deep sea fishing gear that can yank a basking shark off the ocean floor!"
He leaned over and his voice sank to a whisper.
"You really want a bargain, I can let you have five hundred boxes of Halloween candy for half the wholesale price that I happen to have in the freezer in the back…"
"Some paper pusher who works for your supplier put an extra zero on the order form, huh?" asked Sofia.
The old clerk let out a long sigh, and nodded.
"Anyway, getting back to Philip," he continued. "The strange thing is, he always pays with cash when he comes in here. It seems crazy. Some of the things in this store cost thousands of dollars! Who in the world walks around with seven grand in his pocket? I don't even think you can get that much from an ATM at one time!"
You can't, thought Sofia. You can only get five-hundred every twenty-four hours.
She looked around at the stuff displayed on the walls and the shelves. Indeed, the emergency generators didn't look cheap, nor did the hunting crossbows (weapons used by sportsmen who really regarded hunting as a sport) It was little wonder he was worried when she caught him asleep.
"When do you expect him next?" asked Sofia.
"Well, uh… It's hard to say," he said. "But, uh, if I see him again, I'll be sure to tell him, uh… What did you say your name was?"
"Didn't," replied Sofia. "Tell him his So-So misses him."
Sofia had no idea that someone had been listening the whole time. As she exited the store, a tall, muscular man was leaning against another D-Wheel – actually a Harley Davidson motorcycle modified into one – and reading a newspaper – well, pretending to.
Ferdinand peeked over the paper as Sofia headed for her bike. He really didn't need to hide from her, seeing as they'd never met, and he really wasn't the type to eavesdrop. But he had seen the mark on her face, unlike Barclay, who couldn't, and when Philip's name came up, well, he couldn't help but listen.
Who'd have ever thought I see one who was a lover and a fighter? he thought. As she drove out of the parking lot, he reached for his helmet.
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"Interesting…" said Karl. "You sure this is the place?"
The building Jabels had led them to looked deserted and in ill-repair. It was a large brownstone covered with vines that seemed to hold the cracking, crumbling building together. And it didn't seem to be holding well. The building seemed ready to fall apart at any minute.
"This was the address…" said Jabels. "But it seems this is a condemned building, how could anyone live in such a place?"
"Actually, Jabels," said SAL, "accessing the public records seem to show that the electricity and water were turned on in this building, as was a broadband internet line, about three years ago, all of them paid for years in advance."
"Seems our friend is stealing cable and using it to steal utilities," said Karl. "But that still leaves questions… She wouldn't be able to eat without someone noticing. Food would have to come from somewhere, and she'd have to dispose of trash somehow."
As he was saying this, Jabels was checking something on a small, hand-held device resembling a compass.
"That another of our new toys?" asked Karl.
"Usually it is," replied Jabels. "A sort of all-purpose device to store divinations. But it's not working. I was afraid of this."
He pocketed it, and looked at the building.
"I think this building may be protected by some form of anti-scrying magic," he said. "Clearly, this woman values privacy."
"Yes, my own stuff isn't doing any more than confirming that," replied SAL. "This has to be big."
"Let's find out…" said Jabels.
He opened the front door, and it opened with a loud, creepy squeak.
The closest Karl could compare walking into the place to stumbling into a tomb. The windows had been boarded up so only a few slits of sunlight filtered into the house. Dust clung to everything, hanging so thick in the air the tiny light coming from SAL dissipated into the air like a searchlight poking through fog.
"How could someone live in such squalor?" Jabels murmured, running a fingertip over the surface of a radiator, then bringing it up and looking at the amount of dust that had collected on his fingertip with an expression of disgust. "I feel like I'd need a gas mask if I wanted to stay here for more than a minute."
"To be honest, I'm not so sure Ms. Fion's been worried about the upkeep to her home," Karl muttered shining the beam of light at something on the wall, his face a little pale.
"What makes you think... oh my," started Jabels. He looked at the scribbled snatches of writing that not only covered the wall they were looking at, but seemed to cover every surface of the house's interior. Walls, floor, even the ceiling.
Some of them were in a dialect neither recognized, but the ones they could understand were even more unnerving.
"IN THE WOODS IT WAITS IN THE WOODS," was written in one spot.
In another, "Are my children dead…. please tell… tell me he hasn't…"
And, "Alwayswatchingalwayswatchingalwayswatching..."
"Mr. Hudson, do you remember when I said it takes more than some horror movie clichés to make me lose sleep?" Jabels said, reading more and more of the scrawlings. "I...may need to reevaluate that stance."
"I'm not scared of writing, Martin," said Karl, as he shined the light around. "Maybe I'm a little wary of meeting whoever wrote all this, but…"
Then they were startled by scurrying in front of them.
"Ugh, roaches," muttered Jabels, looking at the insects in front of them. "As if the writing wasn't bad enough. Vile creatures…"
Karl made a face too, but it was more like one of curiosity than disgust. "SAL, Disjunction Level 3," he said, holding out his palm.
"Pardon?" said Jabels.
Then electricity flashed from the palm of Karl's hand, and the vermin collapsed, dead.
"Uh, Mr. Hudson, nobody likes bugs," said Jabels, as Karl bent down to pick one up, "but… wasn't that unnecessary?"
"Look at it closely," said Karl, holding it up. "This is a clockroach."
"A clockroach?" exclaimed Jabels.
Jabels' frown turned into a look of wonder as he realized what Karl meant. This wasn't an ordinary roach, but a mechanical device made of metal shaped like a roach.
"My word…" he said.
"Wizards sometimes build these things to clean up their laboratories," replied Karl. He threw it aside. "The wizard sets them out at night, and they use some alchemic mixture to dissolve any trash and residue that their experiments tend to produce. Some of that stuff you can't get rid of with Mr. Clean.
"There's obviously more to this woman than we imagined…"
They turned to the stairway in front of them. A faint sound of typing was coming from upstairs.
Slowly, they walked upwards, onto a landing. A door was halfway open, and the sound of fast typing was louder. A scrap of paper was lying in front of the door.
Jabels slowly picked it up, and read the single typed sentence written on it as Karl shined the light:
"When it took me, I cried for three days. I tried to escape, but each time, its arms… Its long arms that were both horrid and comforting at the same time, pulled me back, with never a word, its stony silence drowning out my screams. I started to wonder if, perhaps, I was supposed to be here, supposed to learn something… And learn I did."
Jabels made a face then he placed it in his shirt pocket and turned to the door.
"Hello?" he said. "Ms. Fion?"
There was no answer, so they peeked inside the door. The studio apartment inside was dirty and cluttered, and had some strange décor. Newspaper and magazine clippings covered the walls, most of them showing shots of either well-known horror and science fiction movies, or ones known for being surreal. (Karl recognized Hellraiser, Edward Scissorhands, and Tremors, as well as a few horror-comedy B-movies like The Stuff and Ghoulies.
Only one part of the room seemed orderly. A desk in the corner, and the woman sitting at it.
The desk was neat and tidy, and the chair looked comfortable. A well-maintained laptop computer with several accessories was mounted on it.
The woman seemed okay from here, and being an eladrin, was beautiful, if a little sad. She had long, straight, raven hair, tanned skin, and pointed ears, even longer than that of a typical elf. She wore a long, sky-blue dress that seemed very out of place, like something you'd expect a woman going to a fancy dinner party to be wearing, along with long, velvet gloves. Thing was, it wasn't in good shape. It was torn, ragged and stained, some of the stains clearly made by blood.
She was typing at the computer, either unaware they had come in or uncaring.
"Ma'am…" said Jabels, "uhm, forgive this…"
The lady let out a long, sad moan and closed the laptop.
"So he finally sent someone to get me," she sobbed. "Bastard…"
"Ma'am…" said Karl.
"Go back and tell him that if he wants me he can come himself," she snarled, not turning around.
"Ms. Fion…" said Jabels.
"Karl!" screamed SAL.
"You tell the bastard," said the woman, as she stood up, "that he sure as Heaven isn't taking me without a fight!"
Her voice rose to a scream as she said that, and to Jabels' shock, she lifted something – a shotgun, and quickly pumped the shaft as she turned around. Fortunately for them, Karl recognized SAL's warning, and as he lifted his palm, SAL was already implementing the plan to use against an armed suspect. There was a flash and a ripple of energy, and a powerful repulsion field knocked the gun away, knocking her down. Unfortunately, it knocked Jabels down too.
Karl helped the older man up, as the eladrin let out a scream and ran for the other side of the room.
"I'm getting too old for this…" said Jabels. "The fire escape!"
Karl looked. She had indeed gone out that way, but was climbing up.
"Let's take the hallway stairs to the top," he said.
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Florence.
Tranello actually had his own office in Fanciullo's mansion, but he didn't use it much anymore. Practically every surface was covered with stacks of hard copies of records, some of them over two years old, that he kept meaning to copy and store on a hard drive, but never seemed to find the time.
Especially now. As he sat in the lounge at a table across from the fireplace – seeing as it was rather chilly in Italy this time of year – exchanging looks between three notebooks and the mysterious journal whose cover the boss wanted him to decipher, he knew he likely didn't have time for any pet projects.
He had figured, of course, that the elven writing was in some sort of code. He had already tried all the common codes that could apply to any language and those unique to elven. Now he was starting on the unusual.
Vincenzo walked into the room, then stopped at the doorway. The hulking mobster closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked over to the accountant.
"Uh, Tranello," said Vince. "Listen… I'm… I'm really upset about how I blew my top the other day… You know how I can get…"
"It happens," replied Tranello, not looking up.
"I'm sorry," said the devil swine.
"Apology accepted," said Tranello, continuing to write.
"Uh, great, yeah," said Vince, with a slight smile. "Look, uh… Just to show there's no hard feelings, it's a slow night, and that movie you wanted to see is playing… Wanna go?"
Tranello's finger slipped, and his pencil broke. He stopped, put it down, and picked up another one.
"Uh…" he said. "Maybe some other time."
"I'll buy?" offered Vince.
"No thank you," replied Tranello,
"How come?" asked Vincenzo.
Tranello clenched his teeth, then took his reading glasses off.
"Well if you must know," he said, sounding upset and looking up at him, "every time we go there, you never buy enough popcorn and end up eating mine, which I really wouldn't mind if you just washed your hands more often… And you always fall asleep halfway through the picture, which makes people yell at me because you're snoring too loud…
"And need I remind you about why Mr. Fanciullo told us the two of dare not go within a mile of the Galeria delgi Uffizi after what you did when we the two of us went there?"
The lycanthrope looked at him again, with a cold, emotionless glance. Then he stormed out of the room again, slamming the door even more violently than before.
"Copa dosta," said Tranello. He put his glasses back on.
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As Karl and Jabels rushed through the door onto the roof, SAL screamed "Incoming!"
They covered their heads as the woman started throwing rocks and sticks at them, all the while cursing and standing dangerously close to the ledge.
"Cowards! Kidnappers!" she half-screamed-half-sobbed. "It's not enough that you take my hopes, my purpose… my children… Now you want the only thing that's left!"
"Ma'am, calm down!" shouted Jabels. "Please… Step off the ledge…"
Ghislane – because it was becoming very, very likely that was who it was – didn't step down, but she sobbed softly.
"Let them go, please…" she cried. "You want me, I'll go, but please, let them go…"
"Ms. Fion…" said Karl. "If you would just calm down, I'd be glad to listen. I really think you mistook us for someone else here. You see…"
"Uh, Karl, if I may butt in here," said SAL. "While we were down here, I was able to take a quick stock of everything that was in that apartment. Being that it was a one-room studio helped. I think I know why she's so… jumpy."
"Do tell," replied Karl.
"Well, for starters, there was enough canned food to last about a year," replied SAL, "but she also had a lot of coffee and high-caffeine soda, about enough to last three years."
"Say what?" said Karl.
"Along with enough Maxatine to supply a small pharmacy," said SAL.
"WHAT?" shouted Karl.
He knew what Maxatine was. A very potent stimulant used to treat narcolepsy, but only prescribed in the most extreme of cases because of how addictive it was.
"You don't like sleeping, lady?" asked Karl.
"Uh, Karl, I also saw what she had written on her screen," said SAL. "Much of it was gibberish, but she had typed this limerick, apparently right before we came in."
A holographic image of a screen with a verse appeared on it. Karl and Jabels read the short – and ominous – poem:
A young girl with dark hair and fair skin,
Knew her beau was, to utter chagrin,
Whether hiding at night
Or in day in plain sight
A Man who was Slender and thin.
SAL answered the question before he could ask it: "I think the words 'Man' and 'Slender' there were capitalized intentionally. Although, I have been wrong… From time to time."
Karl looked at Ghislane. She wasn't exactly "young" now, at least not physically, but…
"The Slender Man?" whispered Jabels. "I read a few of those stories last night…"
"And I think she may have written a few of them…" whispered Karl back.
As Karl had said, the Slender Man was a character upon whom a whole franchise of Creepypastas had been built around. The stories had started with themes like The Blair Witch Project, where the night and the woods were places to avoid if you wanted to live, but many stories had the eponymous character evolve later. Eventually, daylight wouldn't hinder him, and he was free to leave the woods. (Although, in some stories, he was the woods.) Some stories made him out to be a killer who mutilated victims, others a kidnapper of children, still others a destructive force of nature.
But while the stories of the Slender Man (or "Slendy", as some fans called the character) were as varied as the authors, it all came down to this: He was a dark figure who was unseen to any but his victims as he stalked them, a tall, thin humanoid with long limbs in a black formal suit and no face to speak of. His origins were a mystery as were his goals, if he even had any. His presence was often accompanied by delusions, paranoia, madness, and even physical illness. What was known about him was often gathered from the hastily written-down messages and shoddy sketches, made by victims who went mad right before he killed them. And even reading these messages was often dangerous.
At least that's how the stories usually went.
"She thinks the Slender Man took her children?" asked Jabels. "But…"
"I try to avoid sleep…" she said, with small sobs. "Sleep terrifies me. As soon as I close my eyes, I see Todd and Michael, begging me to help them… Then I see him… Taunting me with his… Eerie silence, like as if to say he'd like to see me try it…
"The pills, they can… Delay it for a while, but not forever…"
"This is nuts," said Karl, under her breath. "I've heard of people taking stories like this too seriously, but not ones they write themselves."
"Karl, be careful," said SAL. "Given the change in her heartbeat, at least she's calming down."
"Look, Ghislane," said Karl. "Uhm, you mind if I call you Ghislane?"
She didn't answer, so he went on.
"We don't want to hurt you, and you need help… You're sick. Whatever's happened to you, we can solve it. If you would please move away from the ledge…"
Then Ghislane looked at him, then at Jabels. Then she lifted her left arm, and to Karl's shock, a Duel Disk unfolded on it. Just like the one Strings had used, the first things to appear were three gears from a bracelet she was wearing, which turned in synchronization with each other, slowly producing a three-foot long metal strip, which turned into a sword-shaped Disk with a flash and an odd hum.
"Wait…" said Karl.
"Mr. Hudson, be wary," said Jabels. "Both Mr. Connors and Ms. Witt described a similar Disk being used by that… phantom yesterday."
"At least she seems much calmer now…" whispered Karl.
He stepped forward, and held his glove – which was SAL's physical body – in front of him. He didn't use a true Disk anymore, with one of SAL's new features being able to function as one and build a deck by logging onto the I2 website any time he wanted. The only cards he needed to keep on hand were a few important ones like Jalal's card and some other special ones.
The glove's palm glowed, as the image of forty cards with no fronts appeared in front of him, then rearranged themselves quickly in a shuffle, then disappeared into the palm. Then five larger images of cards appeared, the front sides to him.
"I'll duel you if that's what it takes to knock some sense into you," he said. "But… You think you can step away from the edge?"
She shook her head, and then fit a rose-colored D-Gazer over her left eye. Karl had no need for that either. SAL simply activated a code, and the VR link was established through Karl's special sunglasses.
"Duel…" said Ghislane.
(Karl: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Ghislane: 8,000)
Ghislane simply made her opening hand of five cards as she bowed her head, but didn't do anything else. Her left hand hung limply after doing so.
"Okay…" said Karl. "I'll go first I guess…"
He waved his hand, and a sixth card came into existence to the right of the others. He looked at them, then pointed to one. It flipped around, disappeared, and a robot with a bullet-shaped head, a metal sledge for one hand, and disk-like object shaped like a frying pan on the other with tank treads instead of legs chugged out in front of him. (1,600 ATK)
"Turn end," he said.
Hopefully, Helping Robo for Combat will help me see what I'm up against, he thought.
Ghislane quietly drew a sixth card, then set two of them. In her Spell Zone. She nodded sadly.
"No monsters to summon?" asked Karl.
"Maybe, maybe not," she replied. "It's your move…"
Karl looked with worry as another card appeared with the others.
Got to be careful here, he thought. If I strike here too hard…
He looked nervously at where she was standing.
"By sacrificing," this monster, he said, as the Robo dissolved into particles, "I can play the Spell Card, Tribute Ticket."
A Continuous Spell with the picture of an odd-looking cosmic being appeared in front of him. But then the Spell disappeared too.
"I can use the Ticket itself as a sacrifice to summon a monster," he said. "And it can count as two sacrifices. So behold, her majesty…"
One of his other cards spun around.
"Cosmo Queen!"
In a dark, ominous shadow, a grim-looking lady who stood seven feet tall, wearing a long, violet robe with a flared green and yellow collar, and most remarkable of all, a large, exotic headdress, appeared. She looked at Ghislane, stoically. (2,900 ATK)
"Good show, lad!" said Jabels. "Glad you've still got it…"
"I hope so…" said Karl. "This deck is a lot different than the old Ice Barrier one, and hopefully it will do the job."
He turned to his opponent, who had barely reacted to the intimidating sorceress.
"Attack directly!" Karl shouted. Then he suddenly remembered the situation, and added, "Gently…"
Cosmo Queen nodded, and the ball of pulsating light that surged from her palms wasn't all too big; Ghislane didn't react too much as it struck her in the stomach…
(K: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 5,100)
Until, that is, one of her Traps opened up.
Hostage Shield? thought Karl. What the…
Then there was a tremendous suction from the Trap Card, as a decorative cage appeared out of it. Karl was shocked – that was the Cursed Prison. Even worse, Cosmo Queen was caught in the suction as its doors opened. She tried to fight it, but then shrieked as she was swept off her feet.
The doors of the cage slammed shut, and unfortunately, Cosmo Queen was on the wrong side of them. (2,450 DEF)
"Karl, this is bad," said SAL. "I looked up Hostage Shield, it's a very rare Trap. It's kind of like Heartfelt Appeal, but longer lasting. As the name suggests, the Trap uses the hostage as a shield, preventing you from attacking any monster except Cosmo Queen."
"Lovely…" said Karl. "I get one of my best monsters out and she grabs it."
"At least she can't do anything with Cosmo Queen but defend with her," said SAL. "As the name suggests."
"I use another Continuous Trap Card," said Ghislane, as her other set card lifted. "Counter Force."
A weird contraption, shaped like a letter C with four nodes, rolled out of the card.
"Oh, just perfect," said Karl, who didn't need to be told what that one did. "Seems we have a Stall/Burn player here."
"Still, I would suggest the card at the far left," said SAL. "Just in case."
Karl nodded, then touched the card, and an odd-looking futuristic frigate made of blue steel with layers of sails both above and below the main hull, floated out. (2,400 DEF)
"Since you have a monster and I don't," he said, "I can Special Summon Solar Wind Jammer in Defense Mode, so long as I reduce its Score in half."
(1,200 DEF)
"And I end my turn…"
"I draw," said Ghislane, sounding a little more energetic, "and I summon Bountiful Artemis."
She played the card, and a serene maiden made of steel with metallic wings and a violet cloak, perched upon a spire in place of legs, floated in front of Ghislane to the sound of celestial music. Its expression was calm and emotionless. (1,600 ATK)
Okay, it's obvious now what kind of deck she's using, thought Karl.
Then burning red rays shot from the "eyes" of Bountiful Artemis, carving Solar Wind Jammer down the middle. The two halves shattered.
Didn't expect that… thought Karl. Seems she's a little more aggressive now… Still…
"Since you destroyed my monster," he said, "I can summon, from my hand…"
He stopped. He couldn't help but giggle a little when he said this.
"The Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon!"
A cloud of sparkling, purple haze issued from the card as it turned around, and a monster that… Well, its name kind of described it perfectly. It was a purple Dragon with a thorny hide, clearly of alien origins. (2,200 ATK)
Ghislane stood up straighter as she looked at the thing. "What the hell is that?" she said.
"Uh, an interplanetary, purple, thorny, Dragon," replied Karl. "If you want me to be more specific, I have no clue."
She shook her head and fit two cards into her Disk, both in her Spell Zone.
"Your move…" she said.
Karl looked at those cards with worry as he made a new draw. It was pretty obvious what kind of deck she was playing now, but he had to try.
He pointed to one of his cards, and it glowed before it appeared set vertically behind the Dragon.
"Seeing as he can't beat Cosmo Queen's Defense Score, it's your move…" he said.
Ghislane closed her eyes and drew. She opened them again, and a sunbeam fell from the sky, celestial figure appearing where it touched down, a handsome angel with golden, metallic skin, and wings on his feet, holding the Horn of Heaven in his left hand. (1,800 ATK)
"I summon Harvest Angel of Wisdom, and move Artemis to Defense Mode," she said, as the first Fairy folded its wings and clasped her hands in a praying position. (1,700 DEF)
"And I'll be taking Cosmo Queen back!" shouted Karl. "I use Dust Tornado!"
His Trap Card lifted up, and a furious cyclone tore towards the jailed Spellcaster. Ghislane moved quickly, and yet another of her cards turned upright and around.
"I use Seven Tools of the Bandit!" she shouted.
Karl's Trap shattered, and the Tornado's howl shrank down to a whimper before dying completely.
"Well, it… Could have been worse…" said Jabels.
"Actually, Jabels, it's worse than normal…" said SAL out day, her usually seductive voice sounding worried. "Seven Tools of the Bandit is a Counter Trap, meaning both the effects of Artemis and Counter Force activate."
Ghislane drew one card, and as she did, electricity crackled over the weird Counter Force device as one of its nodes extended.
"Well, I knew what Artemis did, but Counter Force?" asked Jabels.
"Counter Force can hold four charges, and it gains one each time a Counter Trap is used," muttered Karl. "At any time, she can send it to the Graveyard to deal 1,000 points of damage per charge."
"You're only helping me," she said. "Just like he tricked me into helping him… Who knows, maybe he's tricking you into helping him.
"But I'm going to take back what he took with interest… It's only a matter of time…"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Right now, Sofia, who again had decided to take the long way home in order to think, was nearly to the Baltimore city limits. She wasn't completely oblivious to the D-Wheel that had been behind her most of the way, but he hadn't done anything uncouth.
Until, that is, he accelerated, and pulled up in front of her, causing her to swerve to a stop.
"HEY!" she shouted. "What are you trying to do, stupid, get us killed?"
Ferdinand lifted his visor up. "Thought never crossed my mind," he said. "Sofia, was it?"
She looked at him closely.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"Nah, but I but I have a friend who's a friend of one of your friends," he said with a chuckle. "Name's Ferdinand… Call me Ferd."
"What do you want?" she asked, her finger edging towards an emergency call button on her D-Wheel.
"Not much…" he thought. "I had some time off, when I couldn't help but hear you were looking for this Philip Dunbar person…"
Her eyes opened suddenly.
"Calm down, calm down…" he said. "Before you ask, I'll give it to you straight… The friend of mine who's a friend of your friend is Barclay. Of course, Barclay really isn't a 'friend', quote-unquote of Philip or myself… The guy would sell-out his own mother if the price were high enough."
"Listen, you…" said Sofia, coldly.
"Calm down," said Ferd. "I have no idea what Philip's deal is, but… I do know just what he planned to do with that spelunking equipment that the old miser mentioned. Seems he wanted to do some cave crawling out of town. Way out of town. He plans to be somewhere with it all in two days."
"Where?" demanded Sofia.
Ferdinand started up his D-Wheel and lowered his visor again.
"Tell ya what, sweetcakes," he said. "I rarely do anything for charity, but… I like your spunk. Duel me, and if you're up to snuff, I'll tell ya…"
"And if I lose?" asked Sofia.
Ferd stopped. He was about to start off but he stopped, looked at her, and thought for a minute as he rubbed his chin.
"Hmm, tough question…" he said. "Do we really need a wager?"
"Then do we really need a duel?" asked Sofia, starting to lose her patience. "Why do things like this always have to be complicated?"
"Tell you what, sweetcakes," he replied. "I win, then… uh… You owe me a favor, kay?"
As he started the D-Wheel again, Sofia muttered an expletive under her breath. It seemed ridiculous. It was like someone had once told her, sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and sometimes it throws you a knuckleball covered with pine tar.
Then she remembered who told her that: Philip.
She knew that she had to be crazy to accept such a challenge from a complete stranger. So why in the world was she following him now? Was she crazy?
Maybe the guy who said "Love makes you crazy" had a point.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"In case you forgot, Ghislane," said Karl, a little upset now, "using Seven Tools of the Bandit isn't free… It costs you a thousand Life Points."
(K: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 4,100)
"And you're a little short on them as it is."
"What else am I going to do with them?" asked Ghislane. "You know, that's the mistake a lot of people make when he's after them…"
"What?" said Karl.
"No-one's ever managed to hurt him… But very few people have even tried. A few people luck out and find supplies of dynamite, grenades, or nitro… Stuff that would explode. At first they think maybe, just maybe, they might be able to slow him down and flee to safety if they use it set a trap…
"But they get nervous when they realize they only have one chance with it. If it doesn't work, they won't be able to try again, and they'll be dead in a few hours. They always think living those few hours is worth saving the stuff. So they don't even try, the idiots."
"Uh…" said Jabels.
"You know, I'd wager nine times out of ten, the stuff was left by a bigger idiot who made the same mistake. A soldier lost in the wilderness might think it's smart to conserve his rations, but if he starves to death with half his supplies unused, whoever finds him is going to think he's an idiot.
"I set another card face-down and the turn is yours."
She flicked another card into her Disk, and it appeared behind Artemis.
Another Counter Trap most likely, thought Karl.
His palm hummed, and a new card appeared. It was a monster called Parsec the Interstellar Dragon. He couldn't summon it this turn, nor would it help him if he could, but…
"I'm using Trade In," he said, as the Spell Card in front of him spun 180. "By discarding this Level 8 monster, I can draw twice…"
Parsec vanished, and two cards replaced it.
Well… he thought. Maybe I can fight fire with fire, to quote a cliché.
Both cards appeared in his Spell Zone, set. Then he waved his hand.
Ghislane frowned as she drew, then set yet another card. She had three set cards total now.
This is like a game of chicken, thought Jabels. Hopefully, Karl has more nerve.
"Just try to get to me," said Ghislane. "Move."
Karl drew, and then looked at her with a far more confident look.
"I don't have to try," he said. "You see, because you have a monster on your field with at least 2,000 Attack Points, I can Special Summon the Schwarzschild Limit Dragon."
He played the card, and a black hole – not a vortex, but an actual black hole – opened behind him. Still, a Dragon – or more like a large serpent with a Dragon's head – defied its overwhelmingly powerful gravitational pull, flying out of the void. (2,000 ATK)
"I activate the Counter Trap, Black Horn of Heaven!" shouted Ghislane.
With those words, a dark horn with bat-like wings on it appeared in mid-air. Harvest Angel started to reach for it.
"With this horn he can…"
Then a huge fist crashed down from above, knocking Harvest Angel over and crushing the black Horn into little pieces.
"What?" said Ghislane, as the Fairy sat up. She turned to see that Karl was standing in front of his activated Counter Trap.
"I know exactly what Black Horn of Heaven can do," he said, smugly, "but fortunately, I had the perfect foil… Smashing Horn."
And whatever he has planned had better work, thought Jabels. He looked at the Counter Force Trap. Karl had protected his monster, but two more Counter Traps meant two more of its nodes activated.
"I activate the Spell Card, Destiny Overlay!" shouted Karl, as his last card was played. "For this turn only, I can Xyz Summon a monster using one of yours."
"That means…" said Ghislane.
"You got it," said Karl.
Cosmo Queen's eyes started to burn with anger. Finally, she broke through the bars of the jail, bursting through.
"She's free!" shouted Karl, as the Spellcaster flew back to his side. "And with the Overlay Network built, I can use her and Schwarzschild Limit Dragon…"
The portal opened like a spiraling galaxy, and as the sorceress and odd Dragon faded away, the sky darkened…
A large craft started to emerge from the portal. It looked like an old galleon made of a metallic blue substance that wasn't wood or metal, but something that strangely seemed to combine the properties of both;, it had sails the color of silver, the Eye of Wdjat painted on the both sides of the bow, and strangest of all, two large wings in the shape of fins on each side, flapping back and forth to propel it forward. (3,000 ATK)
"The Blackjammer has arrived said Karl," and it's just itching to fight.
Indeed it was. Hatches opened on the front, and old fashioned cannons emerged, aiming at Harvest Angel of Wisdom.
"Attack with Raging Eldritch Storm!" he shouted.
Both the Shadowchasers could barely hear what Ghislane said as the craft launched its artillery in the form of flaming, burning cannonballs, but when the smoke cleared, both her monsters were still there.
Jabels was shocked to see what had happened.
She protected herself with nothing more than… Negate Attack? he thought.
"I don't think I have to remind you that this is a Counter Trap…" said Ghislane.
She drew a card, and the fourth and final node on Counter Force extended.
"Actually, Ghislane, I was kind of hoping that was what it was," said Karl. "You see, when Blackjammer's attack is blocked, its effect activates!
"My Battle Phase is over now, but by giving up both its Overlay Units, Blackjammer can enter a special second Battle Phase, so long as I shave off a thousand of its Attack Points for the rest of the turn…"
(2,000 ATK)
"But not only can it attack again, it can attack both your monsters!"
The huge ship aimed its guns again, and Ghislane's face contorted into a sneer. She grabbed a card from her hand.
"I send Battle Eater from my hand to the Graveyard!" she screamed.
As she threw the card away, a fat magician wearing a fancy robe, a cloak, and a tall, pointed hat appeared in front of the two Fairies, holding a large device that, for lack of any better description, looked like a cross between a trumpet and a perfume dispenser. As the artillery fired again, he chanted in an eldritch language, and the lethal firepower was sucked into the bell of the horn.
Then he and the horn burst, and Ghislane clutched her heart.
"Because your monsters' Attack Score was less than Battle Eater's, I was able to halt the attack," she gasped, "but I take damage equal to Battle Eater's Attack Score."
(K: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 1,600)
"Why the bloody hell did she do that?" shouted Jabels. "She would have taken less damage if she hadn't used that card!"
"And since I took effect damage…" gasped Ghislane again, "I can Special Summon Damage Mage from my hand…"
A soft, female figure in a black robe, a hood, and a veil over her face with one feathered wing gracefully floated onto the field, and then knelt. (1,200 ATK)
"And I gain back all the damage I took by doing so…"
(K: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 4,100)
"I have to end my turn…" replied Karl.
"Oh, trust me…" said Ghislane, as she drew, "the end is coming fast, because now the horror of my deck is about to show itself… But first, with four Counter Traps activated, Counter Force can now use its effect."
The machine exploded, and Karl let out a scream as electricity stabbed into every pore of his body. Ghislane chuckled a little bit.
"You think that's funny?" yelled Karl.
(K: 4,000) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 4,100)
"Maybe I still have a bit of a sense of humor," she replied.
A Spell Card appeared in front of her.
"However… The monster I'm about to summon has no sense of humor whatsoever."
"That Spell," said SAL. "It's Harmonic Wave, it changes the Level of one monster to 4. She's obviously using it on Damage Mage."
"Which means…" said Karl.
"All three of her monsters are now Level 4…" replied SAL.
Indeed, the Overlay Network opened, but again, the vortex was different. Like in Emily's case, it seemed like a portal to some infernal realm, but now the hellish landscape could be seen even clearer.
"I Xyz Summon the symbol of my rage," cried Ghislane, "Unformed Void!"
There was dead silence.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
In his office at Copek, Addams was busy at something, typing on a calculator with his left hand as he wrote with his right.
Emily walked in again, having changed clothes again, now wearing a midriff-bearing tube top and long, very tight pants, both made of white spandex, her hair in a ponytail.
"This better be important, Emily," he said, not looking up as she plumped down on the couch.
"Thought you should know, hon," she said. "A couple of the Shadowchasers went to that restaurant and got rid of Strings."
"I'll write a thank-you note to the Shadowchasers as soon as I can," said Addams, with a sigh of relief. Strings had outlived his usefulness, and the guy creeped him out every time he went there.
"And they took the laptop," continued Emily.
"Not a problem," said Addams. "The spell on it wore off weeks ago."
"And a couple of them are dealing with Ghislane," she said.
"Okay, now you're being paranoid," said Addams, looking up. "Ghislane can barely remember her own name right now, and she doesn't remember ours. The guys in charge would have gotten rid of her if she could tell anyone anything."
"Well Lee thinks so," said Emily, "he went over there to…"
"WHAT?" shouted Addams, standing up quickly, and nearly falling over in the process.
"Uh, Lee went to Crystal Lake to see what was going on," replied Emily. "He's there now, and…"
"By Vecna's beard, Emily, you really should have told me that first!" he screamed. He ran for the door and rushed out, slamming it closed.
"Touchy…" she said.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Karl wasn't someone who was easy to surprise. He had seen a lot in his young life, and the ordeal in the Temple of All Consumption made him hard to scare.
But some things… Some things just defied description.
The… thing in front of Ghislane didn't resemble a mobile, living thing at all, and was hard to describe. Start with a void of light colored burnt rose shaped like a dish, and surround it with a jagged metal ring. Extend two spires from each side of the ring, each with a crescent moon shape in the middle, the points pointing inward towards the void. Then add a metal spire on the top and a far longer one on the bottom that the whole thing balanced on. Finally, add dozens of strange bumps to the metal parts.
If you can envision all that, you might get a clear picture of Unformed Void. (0 ATK/0DEF)
"It's powerless…" said Jabels, looking at it strangely.
"Let's not get overconfident, Jabels," said Karl. "If I remember correctly, you have a rather useful monster in your deck with zero Attack Points."
"I doubt it's better than this one," said Ghislane. "I end my turn."
Okay, okay, don't panic, Karl, thought Karl.
His palm glowed, and a new card appeared in front of him. Then he looked at Unformed Void.
"Ugh, so lemme guess, this thing's supposed to be a Fairy, right?" he grumbled. "Seriously, between Zeta Reticulant, the Arcana Force and the Vylon, people have some messed up ideas of what constitute as the Fair Folk in this game."
"Actually Karl," said SAL, "my databases say this thing's a Light attribute Aqua type."
Karl looked at her, then looked at the monster with a weird expression.
"...Somehow that raises even more questions…" he muttered.
He used the card he drew right away, setting it with the other one.
Sure it's… Creepy, but you've handled creepier…
"I use Unformed Void's effect," said Ghislane, interrupting. "During your Main Phase, I can use an Overlay Unit…"
A mote of light flew into the central void of the large thing, and Karl's shock, it's Attack Score shot up to 3,000.
But that wasn't all. It was clear now what those "strange bumps" on it were – eyes. Cold, inhuman eyes, extending out on long, writing, rubbery tendrils. To make it worse, the void in the center was starting to take on a shifting, almost fluid texture.
"This effect lets Unformed Void gain Attack and Defense Points equal to the combined Attack Scores of all your Xyz Monsters," said Ghislane.
"Did you know she could do that?" asked Karl, turning to SAL.
"Yes, and I'm questioning her strategy, Karl," replied the computer. "We have to be cautious here. Seeing as you only have one Xyz monster now, it might have made more sense for her to summon it in Defense Mode."
Karl nodded. But he knew he had to try something…
I'm gonna regret this but… he thought.
"Blackjammer, attack Unformed Void!" he shouted, as the cannons started to extend again.
"I use the Trap Card, Dark Spirit of the Silent!" screamed Ghislane, throwing her hand forward. A ghost flew out of her Trap as it flipped up, and flew towards Karl's monster with a howl.
"Now your Blackjammer's attack is stopped, but your other monster has to attack for it!"
The Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon roared, and made a lung for the abomination. Karl moaned.
Usually I like it when I'm right… he thought.
As the Dragon flew, the void in the center of Ghislane's monster turned dark, and a transparent phantasm resembling the Blackjammer soared out of it. Cannons blasted again, and the Dragon roared again…
Karl struggled as it blew to atoms.
(K: 3,200) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 4,100)
"Mr. Hudson!" yelled Jabels.
"I'm fine, Martin!" shouted Karl.
For now… he thought.
"I have to end my turn," he said.
He watched as his opponent drew, still clutching her chest. All she did was set one of her two cards. She shook her head again, sadly.
Karl drew, and grunted.
This? he thought Not exactly…
"I use Drastic Drop Off!" cried Ghislane. "In other words, drop it!"
The card shattered into bits. Karl's expression was one of surprise, to say the least.
"Well?" she asked.
Karl actually smiled a little. He turned his arm a little, and Blackjammer's sails shifted, the cannons retracting and a shield erecting on the bow. (2,300 DEF)
"Your move," he said, sounding a little cheerier.
"You're mocking me now?" she cursed, angrily. "I'm using Unformed Void's effect a second time!"
(6,000 ATK)
"Dear God, that ludicrous…" gasped Jabels.
"Calm down, Martin, I know what I'm doing," said Karl, holding his hand out.
Then he turned to Ghislane and spoke up…
"You know, Ghislane, you're so angry at Sl…"
"Don't say it…" she hissed.
"I'm just saying…" he said. "You claim some… eldritch abomination is stalking you, haunting you… That it ruined your life, kidnapped your family, and took everything you had… Well, this… Unformed Void you're using seems like a rather horrid abomination itself. I mean, isn't using this thing as the 'symbol of your rage' kind of, well, counter-intuitive?"
"Counter-intuitive'? she said, her tone full of bile.
Then the cannons blasted again, blowing Blackjammer into burning timbers and splinters of wood.
"Are you calling me a hypocrite?"
"No, and I apologize," said Karl. "I just had to make you angry enough so you'd take the bait… Since you destroyed my monster, I can summon, from my Graveyard, the Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast!"
A dark hole opened on the floor, and a lion-like creature pounced out of it. Like the Dragon, its hide was purple and thorny, as was its mane, and it had an alien-looking face, with spikes on its shoulders and huge claws. It sat in Defense Mode. (2,200 DEF)
"Before you ask, I really have no idea what the hell this is either."
"You think you're so smart…" she replied. She lifted a Spell Card that Karl and Jabels recognized only too well. Not because the card itself was notorious or rare, but due to the rather… immoral nature of a duelist known to have used it.
"I activate Impact Revive!" she shouted. "Your monster returns to the field with 500 more Attack Points."
Blackjammer rose from the ground again, seemingly as good as new. (3,500 ATK) Unfortunately, it wasn't defending now.
"Maybe it wasn't too good an idea to make her angry, Karl," said SAL.
"But now I get to attack it again!" cursed Ghislane. "Blow it to smithereens!"
The phantom duplicate's cannon blasted, ripping the Blackjammer apart a second time and causing Karl to crash against the floor of the roof, on his side.
"Now I'm sure it wasn't," added SAL.
(K: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 4,100)
"Okay, SAL, okay," he whispered. "Maybe I didn't expect that, but… This idea can still work… Hopefully…"
Ghislane played the last card in her hand.
"I set this monster, and end my turn," she said, as it appeared horizontal underneath Unformed Void.
"And before I draw," said Karl, "I'll use this…"
His Trap Card, Call of the Haunted, opened, and Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon lifted itself out of the ground, positioning itself next to its Beast counterpart. (2,200 ATK)
"Now, I draw…" said Karl, as a single card phased into view in front of him, "and then I use the Overlay Network once more…"
The galaxy vortex appeared once again, and in a spinning spiral, the two alien monsters were swept up.
"I use my two Level 5 purple guys here to bring out a new Xyz Summon," he announced. "A guy called the Ampire Bot M-113!"
A fifteen-foot-tall Machine landed on the roof with a crash. It had the same body shape as the Helping Robo – a stout torso, bullet-shaped head, and tank treads instead of legs – but with black steel plating, an iron grill where a mouth might have been, and a horizontal, glowing red slit for an optic sensor. It had powerful arms ending in two large pincers. (2,500 ATK)
"Another Xyz?" asked Ghislane. "Not a fast learner, are you? I use the effect of my Unformed Void!"
As the fluid mass in the abomination's center started to churn, the robot lifted its arms and its sensor glowed brighter.
"Power Siphon!" shouted Karl.
"What?" said Ghislane, in shock. "What's happening?"
"I'm using my monster's effect," replied Karl. "Whenever an effect is activated that would increase the Attack Score of one of your monsters, my Ampire Bot can steal that bonus for himself. And since your Unformed Void would have gained 2,500 points right there…"
(5,000 ATK)
"Clever…" replied Ghislane. "But as strong as it is, it's still a thousand short."
"That's what this is for," replied Karl, pointing to his last set card. It lifted, revealing a Trap.
"Xyz Soul," he said. "If there's an Xyz monster in my Graveyard now, like Blackjammer is, my other monsters gain 200 Attack Points times its Rank. Blackjammer is Rank 8."
(6,600 ATK)
"So it's just enough…"
The Ampire Bot M-113 lifted its arms, and rockets launched from what might pass for its palms, one after another. They struck the Unformed Void in a relentless assault, and while the first few were absorbed into the thing's liquid mass, it eventually turned brittle, until it finally, shattered, and the whole contraption collapsed into pieces of black… stuff.
(K: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 3,500)
"I'll set this card facedown, and I'm done," he said, as the one card he had appeared behind the Ampire Bot. "That means my monster's Score goes back to 5,000, and due to the second effect of Xyz Soul, I can return Blackjammer to my Extra Deck."
He paused.
"Ghislane?"
"I… I…" she said.
"Yes?" he asked.
"I won't give up…" she whispered.
She drew a card.
"Maybe… Maybe using that… thing was going about it wrong…" she thought. "Well… I'll finish without it…"
Her set monster turned forward and flipped into Attack Mode, revealing a tattered, yellow mask. (900 ATK)
"Mask of Darkness?" said Jabels.
The Negate Attack card fell out of Ghislane's Disk, and she took it, then set it again.
"See here, young lady," continued Jabels, "stalling all night won't help…"
"Who's stalling?" replied Ghislane, as she played the card she had drawn. A fat cannon covered with switches, dials, and lights appeared in front of her.
"Wave Motion Cannon!" shouted Karl.
"Uh, Karl, not to state the obvious," said SAL, "but that card can inflict 1,000 points of damage for every turn it's on the field, and seeing as you have less than 1,000 Life Points…"
"You are stating the obvious, SAL," he replied.
"It's your move…" said Ghislane. She looked at him closely.
And one way or another, this is gonna be my last draw, thought Karl.
He sighed. He knew it was hard for science geeks like himself to believe in stuff like the old 'Heart of the Cards', but…
A new card appeared in front of him. At first he thought he had struck out… It appeared to be unusable, but….
Wait…
His set card lifted up, revealing an odd-looking Trap depicting a shield with a unicorn's face – complete with horn – on the front.
"I use Spikeshield with Chain," he declared, "which increases the Attack Score of a monster by 500 points. The monster I choose… Will be Mask of Darkness."
"Huh?" said Ghislane. "What in the world…"
"But I'll use Ampire Bot's effect," he said, "and use the second Overlay Unit to steal those 500 points."
(5,500 ATK)
"That was the stupidest move I've ever seen!" replied Ghislane. "You could have just used it on your monster to begin with….
"…unless…"
"That's right Ghislane," said Karl. The card he drew turned around.
"…Energy Attractor! My Xyz is now able to get one Unit by taking one of your set cards."
A slow-moving tractor beam shot from Ampire Bot's eyes. Ghislane looked down as it pulled her Negate Attack away from her, then disappeared.
Of course! thought Jabels. Energy Attractor is an ideal way of getting rid of a Trap Card, but it can only work when the player's Xyz monster has no Overlay Units, so Karl used his own Trap and used it on her monster so he could expend the other one. Now Negate Attack isn't in the way.
"Then finish it…" said Ghislane.
"That was my plan…" replied Karl.
The whole world seemed to slow, and turn grey as the Machine blasted its ray. Ghislane didn't scream as Mask of Darkness was atomized… In fact, it seemed like a brief look of sanity appeared on her face…
(K: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (G: 0)
"Ghislane?" asked Karl.
She didn't reply. She just stood there with her head bowed, silently as smoke rose from the spot where Mask of Darkness had been.
"Ms. Fion, please," said Jabels.
She sniffed a little, then nodded. She finally stepped down from the ledge.
"That's it," said Karl. He held out his hand. "No-one is going to hurt you… Trust us…"
Then… Something happened. Even as she walked towards them, all three of them felt… cold.
The look on Ghislane's face combined panic and fury. Karl and Jabels felt confused and tense.
"SAL, what's going on?" asked Karl.
No answer.
"SAL?" he shouted. "SAL!"
In the meantime, Ghislane was turning her head quickly from side to side. She swore she saw… Something in the corner of her eye, but catching it in full-glance was impossible.
"Ms. Fion, please!" said Jabels.
"It's here…" she cried. "Can't you see it?"
She lifted her Duel Disk, and screamed in pure rage, then rushed back towards the edge of the building, swinging it like a club. Karl reacted quickly, running after her with the intent to stop her with a tackle…
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
IMPACT REVIVE (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: An ugly, muscular ogre bursting out of the ground.
Card Description: Activate during your Main Phase 2. Select an opposing monster that was destroyed by battle this turn, and Special Summon it to your opponent's side of the field in Attack Position with its ATK increased by 500. You may repeat your Battle Phase.
Note: "Impact Revive" was first used by the Dartz in the original anime episode "A Duel With Dartz (Part 5)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
COUNTER FORCE (Trap Card)
Continuous Trap
Image: An odd machine shaped like a thick, metal "C", with yellow lights on the inner part, surrounded by surging electricity.
Card Description: Each time a Counter Trap is activated, place 1 "Charge Counter" on this card (Max. 4). During your Standby Phase, you may banish this card to inflict 1,000 points of damage per Charge Counter.
Note: "Counter Force" was first used by the Guard Robot in the "Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds" episode "Get With the Program (Part 1)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
BATTLE EATER (Monster Card)
Spellcaster/Dark/Effect/Lvl10/2,500ATK/0DEF
Effect: You can activate this card's effect by discarding it from your hand when your opponent declares an attack with a monster with an ATK lower than this card's ATK. Negate the attack and end the Battle Phase. Then, you take damage equal to the ATK of this card.
Note: "Battle Eater" was first used by Kazama in the "Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds" episode "Primo's Plan (Part 1)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
TRIBUTE TICKET (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: An odd, vaguely triangular being with gentle eyes (who or what it represents is hard to say) in an astral void.
Card Description: Tribute 1 monster you control to activate this card. If you would Tribute any number of monster, this card can be used as 2 monsters for the purposes of the Tribute.
Note: "Tribute Ticket" was first used by Astral in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal" episode "The Dark Mist Rises (Part 2)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
DESTINY OVERLAY (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: Gagagigo confronting another monster in a desert at night (it's hard to tell who) with the Overlay Network opening above both of them.
Card Description: Select 1 monster your opponent controls. This turn, you may use the selected monster to Xyz Summon an Xyz Monster if it conforms to that Xyz Monster's required Xyz Materials.
Note: "Destiny Overlay" was first used by Kaito in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal" episode "Put to the Test (Part 2)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
ENERGY ATTRACTOR (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: Snowdust Giant standing in front of three set cards, two of which are being lifted off the ground by lightning.
Card Description: If the only monster you control is 1 Xyz monster with no Xyz Materials, select 1 set Spell or Trap Card your opponent controls. Attach the set card to your Xyz monster as an Xyz Material. You cannot Summon or set monsters this turn.
Note: "Energy Attractor" was first used by Mizael in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal" episode "Sphere Cube Calamity (Part 2)".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
HOSTAGE SHIELD (Trap Card)
Continuous Trap
Image: Dark Girl kneeling inside the Cursed Prison (as in the card). Strangely enough, she seems oddly accepting of her imprisonment.
Card Description: Activate when you are attacked directly. Take control of the monster that attacked you directly, and then move it to Defense Position with this card equipped to it as an Equip Spell Card. The Battle Position of the monster cannot switch, and your opponent cannot attack any monster except this one. The Equipped monster cannot be Tributed or used as a Synchro Summon, Fusion Summon, or Xyz Summon. If this card leaves the field, return control of the equipped monster to your opponent
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
THE BLACKJAMMER (Monster Card)
Machine/Dark/Effect/Rank8/3,000ATK/2,300DEF
2 Level 8 monsters
Effect: If this card's attack is negated, you may activate this card's effect during your Main Phase 2 by detaching 2 of its Xyz Materials and reducing its ATK by 2,000 until the End Phase of the turn; you may enter a second Battle Phase in which this card may attack every monster your opponent controls once. This card is the only card that can attack during this second Battle Phase, and may not attack directly at this time.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
AMPIRE BOT M-113 (Monster Card)
Machine/Dark/Effect/Rank5/2,500ATK/1,500DEF
2 Level 5 monsters
Effect:If a card effect is activated that would increase the ATK of a monster your opponent controls, you may activate the effect of this card by detaching 1 of its Xyz Materials. Negate the effect of the card, and then increase the ATK of this card by the amount the opposing monster would gain. (This is a quick effect.)
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Jemorille: Was this dark being that Ghislane claimed had been tormenting her so long, ruined her life, haunted her waking hours, and even kept her from pleasant sleep real, or was it simply a product of her madness?
Right now, Karl and Jabels really didn't know one way or the other, but they did know it was real to Ghislane. This phantasm existed at least in her mind, and as such, it could hurt her. Clearly, it had long been engaged in a battle of wits with the poor woman, which she could not hope to win.
Something bad was coming, maybe sooner than they thought. And the outcome will have to wait…
"Born to be Wild" is coming soon.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Shadowchaser Files: Beasts
Living Dumpster
Residents of the inner city are often fond of using the terms "urban wasteland" and "urban jungle". Few realize how accurate this can be sometimes, as dangerous predators from beyond Shadow often lurk in dark alleys, or in some cases, are often created by the byproducts of such. One dangerous hazard of the inner city is the living dumpster, a Native Shadowkind found in large cities with rather obscure origins.
The creature's name pretty much describes what it is, and very few can fathom how they originated, although many believe they might have come about through some accelerated natural selection of the various types of mimics. (An underground shapeshifter known for taking the form of chests or boxes to attract prey, often called the "man-eating treasure chest".) Somehow, evolution caused them to take this form to fit in urban areas, but clearly, magic was likely involved for such a fast rate. (The old "mad wizard's experiment" excuse is often mentioned, for lack of anything better.)
A living dumpster looks like any other dumpster at first glance, although some signs might give it away if it is studied closely. Splattered blood on nearby walls or unfinished graffiti on a dumpster might suggest it's more than just an immobile receptacle for trash. Still, the creature doesn't attack anything it sees, acting as any other dumpster most of the time. But being carnivorous, it can't survive on garbage alone (unless it's lucky enough to take up residence behind a butcher shop) and has to hunt about two nights out of every week, on average.
Most living dumpsters rarely stray far from the place they are situated, and never attack large groups. When a lone prey – preferably something human-sized, but it isn't fussy otherwise – comes by, it tries to attack by ambush, doing so by using its wheels to charge at the prey at full speed and try to crush the prey against a wall, doing so as many times as possible. Seeing as they're made of steel, actually fighting them is hard. (A Shadowchaser's advice to city dwellers: run as fast as you can while screaming at the top of your lungs. It's likely to stop chasing you if you attract attention.)
These creatures are not as smart as humans, but they are smart enough to know that hunting too often in one area will raise suspicion, so it tries to move to a new location every two or three months, doing so on foggy nights when it can remain inconspicuous.
Contrary to popular belief, a victim is usually dead – or at least unconscious and dying – by the time the dumpster is able to drag him inside its maw. While many frightening stories told by inner-city gang members exist of them being able to grab victims and swallow them while screaming and struggling, it lacks the manual dexterity to do that. Of course, if, one of them has a humanoid accomplice to help it, a victim could well be thrown inside… In which case the victim's death is not pleasant.
Why would a carnivorous garbage receptacle have accomplices? Most of them don't, but a few are smart enough to know the value of alliances, and some unscrupulous humans or Shadows actually make bargains with these creatures. Mobsters often have use for them, as they very often have a body to dispose of, and the creature makes a decent guard for the back door of a headquarters.
Crooks with less professional pride than mobsters (like violent street gangs) might make far more sinister bargains, using the dumpster as an executioner as well, throwing members of rival gangs into it, or maybe even anyone that made them angry. A living dumpster's predatory nature could well turn into the type where killing for pleasure becomes just as important as killing for sustenance in this case, at which point the gang might create a true monster that they might lose control of. (It's happened more than once.)
In either case, a living dumpster has no real loyalties, and if neglected for a long time, it would sell out its partners to someone who offered a steadier supply of food in a second…
Story Ideas: A living dumpster can usually just provide an obstacle for a small part of a story, maybe a chapter or two. If the biggest crimelord in the city owns a nightclub that the protagonists have to get into, but bribing the doorman is difficult, they might think about sneaking in through the back door – only to find one of these horrors there. Even talking to a creature like this usually requires magic, and like most entries in the Beasts of these Files, a living dumpster is hard to deal with. It plays the same role in nature that tigers and wolves do, the drastic change of habitat being the only difference.