The concept of money is a fact of life, but also a weakness of sentient beings. A society where citizens are measured by the distribution of wealth (or worse, one where it is horded and collected for its own sake) is a degenerate society.
I'm sure most everyone reading this has often complained about how much things cost and how much prices for even necessities like food and fuel tend to go up. There are times when obsessions by the most miserly of consumers start silly rumors about why prices are high.
Maybe you read the old one about how someone invented a generator that could create enough electricity to power a whole city for free, but that General Electric (or someone similar) bribed or blackmailed him into keeping quiet about it so they could still make money the old way. Or how someone supposedly invented an automobile that could run on water, but how OPEC blackmailed him (or even killed him) in order to keep it under wraps. Stories about free energy and fuel (often safe and pollution-free) that people don't want you to know about due to greed turn up all the time.
Let's ignore for a minute that an internal combustion engine – like the ones most cars had in the 20th to early 21st Centuries – fueled by water is impossible. (Water, along with carbon dioxide, are products of combustion, and can't be burned any further. That's why you use them to put out fires.) Here's the reality. In most worlds and dimensions, nothing is free. (Maybe in a few places in a few of the Upper Planes some things are, but it's rare to find truly free things even there.)
Maybe you've seen car and furniture dealers who offer free financing. That's actually a very common form of deceptive marketing. If it were free, who would pay the bank? In reality, the financing fee is included in the item price. (It's not truly false advertising, but it's close.) Usually, whenever a company offers you something for free, there's a catch to it, meaning you have to buy something first.
Even if it were theoretically possible to create unlimited, cheap energy by means of some perpetual motion machine – like the Momentum generator supposedly was – it would still cost money to maintain, service, protect, and occasionally, repair. And given the trouble Momentum caused – and what it might have caused – no expense is too great to remain vigilant.
I hate to disappoint, but the thought of a sinister government conspiracy keeping consumers paying for energy and fuel is absurd. And how can you blame the energy companies? They have to make profit to stay in business!
And often, the price of some things is more than money…
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Chapter Nineteen
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Particle Man
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Clouds covered London as Judy drove into Piccadilly Circus, and brought her D-Wheel to a halt with a screech. She lifted her visor and looked around. The normally bustling marketplace was nearly empty.
"Judy LaBaron…" said a low voice.
She turned, and saw a mounted D-Wheeler ahead of her. It was hard to see any features as he dismounted… He was a dark-looking figure completely covered with a black, leather outfit, most of his face covered by his visor.
"I see the family resemblance…" he said.
"Domino, I assume?" she asked. She hopped off her bike. "What do you know about this? You said you knew where it all was."
"Oh, the key word is 'was'," said the biker. "Believe me, it was interesting reading… Names, dates… And you wouldn't believe the signatures on them… Very damning…"
"Do you have it with you?" she asked, more than a little upset.
The man she had named Domino looked back and forth. Then he opened the front of his jacket.
"You bet I have it with me," he said. He started to pull a large manila envelope from it, and Judy almost made a dash for it, but he held his hand up.
"One minute there…" said Domino. "I just have to ask… Why did your father want this kept a secret? Do you realize the power this information holds? What he could have done with it?"
"He could have caused so much shame to befall several good people who had been just doing their jobs, they would have been driven to suicide," replied Judy. "He could have ruined the reputation of the British government to the point where its influence on the world in the early 20th century would have been crushed. Even if it got out today, the scandal rags would have a field day. And I don't mean the typical scandal rags, I mean the ones with no morals at all, the ones who would sink so low as to publish unapproved nude photographs of celebrities taken by paparazzi. They would pay through the nose for those documents."
"And your dad didn't see that as power?" asked Domino.
"What do you want?" ask Judy. "I want those papers incinerated, and you said you were willing to barter."
Domino made a low, evil laugh. "Well…" he said. He pushed it back in his jacket. "All we want is a few favors you could obtain due to your close, uhm, association with the Shadowchasers…"
"You're dreaming…" she snarled.
"Am I?" he replied. "If I did give this to those 'scandal rags' you mentioned, I'm sure everyone who actually signed them would get a mulligan by the public. They all died so long ago… But I'm not sure the Shadowkind community would feel the same way about the folks who kept it a secret for so long…"
The next second Judy had him. By the collar. With a long stiletto blade by his face.
"You know, buster," she hissed, "your definition of 'bartering' sounds a lot like 'blackmail' to me."
"Well, 'blackmail' is such an ugly word…" he chuckled.
"You're just lucky my father isn't still around, you bastard," she growled back at him. "Dragons tend to just take what they need from scum like you. Now gimme those papers or I'll…"
Then Judy felt a blow in her torso, clearly from his foot, and she fell on her back.
"Actually, you're more like your father than you think," he replied, a flashy, toothy grin on his face. "Impulsive, careless, always rushing into a situation when you don't have the slightest idea what you're up against…"
With that, he reached into his coat again, and drew twin Chiappa Rhino revolvers… But before he could aim, there was a fierce slash, cutting them both in half, lengthwise.
Judy stood before him, her sword drawn (exactly where she had drawn it from was anybody's guess), the surface glowing with eldritch draconic runes.
"Ah-heh," said Domino, with a nervous smile. "Always wondered why nobody ever bothers to draw a gun on you guys..." Then he frowned. "Oxford must have some lax campus security…"
He ran back to his D-Wheel, and leapt on, and then, by simply pulling a lever, sped out of the alley. This was the first time Judy got a good look at the thing, and it seemed a very improbable design. It had a frame that seemed even more primitive than the one Team Taiyo had used at the WRGP all those years ago, if such a thing were possible, but somehow, it sped past her, turning deftly at a sharp angle.
She wasn't going to let him get away. She leapt on her own D-Wheel, driving the sword into a special slot between the frontal shield and the dashboard as she did so, and as it sped after him, a transformation started to occur. The frame turned to silvery, almost liquid steel, with the same glowing draconic runes, the tail changing shape fins resembling dragon-like wings, and the frontal shield developing a softer glow. She tore down the road, skid marks of enchanted flames in her wake.
Even so, it was amazing how fast her enemy's Wheel could go. He chuckled a little as he saw her in his rearview mirror.
"You got spunk, kid, I'll give you that," he said. "Wanna duel me, huh?"
Judy activated a command on her ride and the dash changed. "Duel mode, engaged," said the computer, as a map of Greater London appeared and the West Coast Main Line started to highlight.
"I'll take that as a yes!" he laughed, as he switched on his. Then he tapped his visor, and it turned completely opaque.
"Plotting course for crosstown racetrack. Awaiting approval from central grid," it said, as the Speed World 2 card appeared in both screens. "Approval granted."
Like Interstate 95 had for Sofia and Ferdinand, the Main Line transformed to create a racetrack, flashing lights appearing as the walls rose to warn the other drivers. "Turbo Duel underway," said the voice on the loudspeaker now, "all traffic must vacate dueling lane."
Judy and Domino sped into the dueling lane, and both hit the gas hard.
(Judy: 8,000, SPC: 0) - - - - - - - - - - (Domino: 8,000, SPC: 0)
"You won't give them to me, I'll take them!" she shouted. As she drew her first card, flames blasted behind her, turning briefly into the shape of a roaring dragon… But it quickly dissipated into smoke.
"Oh, I'm so scared!" he said, sarcastically.
"I'll throw down a face-down and summon Meltiel, Sage of the Sky," she mumbled angrily. As the set card appeared, an angelic choir started to sing. Then the set card faded, and a robed figure with garland wrapped with orange and blue ribbons floated down in front of her. (1,600 ATK)
"End," she said.
"Just two cards?" he asked. "You know, you can do more…"
"What's it to you?" she asked.
Her opponent drew, causing the Speed Counters to move up to one apiece. Then he set a monster on his dashboard… Then to Judy's complete surprise, two set cards appeared to his left, two more to his right, and one in front of him, between himself and the monster.
He set every damn bloody card in his hand? she thought.
"I'm all out of cards, so now it's your move…" he said.
Judy drew, and the card was Bountiful Artemis, a powerful card for this deck. Still, she wasn't sure if she wanted to summon it now…
"Attack his monster with Dictum Aura!" she commanded. Meltiel flew and did a 180 as its garland turned into a sharp disk of light. It held up its hands and gestured as the disk sliced through the air towards the set monster.
The Absorbing Jar appeared briefly before it was smashed.
"WHAT?" shouted Judy.
Her set Trap Card, Black Horn of Heaven, and all five of Domino's set cards exploded into grey and brown triangles.
"Don't judge to hastily, my young friend," said Domino. "First of all, one of those Traps you destroyed was Statue of the Wicked, so I can now summon a Wicked Token."
A huge serpent with small arms and an Egyptian headdress appeared in front of his bike. (1,000 DEF)
"Another of those cards was called Dormant Volcano, and it deals 300 points of damage."
Judy held onto her handlebars as three eruptions of flame spouted up from the pavement.
"Next, each player draws a card for each of his cards that was destroyed."
Judy drew one card, while Domino grabbed the top five off his deck.
"Well now that the coast is clear," said Judy, "I'm summoning Bountiful Artemis."
She played one of her cards, and an angel with metallic, silvery skin, a cape, a serene expression, and a pointed spire in place of legs slowly drifted from above. (1,600 ATK)
"Now I'll set three of my own cards," she said, as three reversed cards appeared in front of her bike. "So now what?"
"You haven't seen a thing!" he laughed, making a draw.
(J: 7,700, SPC: 3) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 8,000, SPC: 3)
"First," he said, "we deal with the second effect of Dormant Volcano. We each get to take a Fire monster from out decks."
Representations of every Monster Card in Judy's main deck lined up on her screen, nineteen in all, one of them highlighted.
I only have one Fire monster, she thought, as she touched the one that qualified. The representations disappeared, and the card she had touched floated out of the screen so that she could take it.
"I think I'll summon my guy right now!" he laughed. "Meet Charging Chuck!"
There was a sound like an arena horn, and an android that looked like a football quarterback surrounded by a wave of fire rushed between the two D-Wheels, somehow keeping up on foot. (2,100 ATK)
"Charging Chuck is so good at charging, he can never sit still," laughed Domino, "can you, Chuck!"
The Machine rushed past them, then turned, then charged at Bountiful Artemis.
"Guess not…" he laughed.
The robot athlete aimed a punch at Artemis, but it slammed into a protective shield.
"Nice try," said Judy, "but I had Negate Attack set. Not only did I end the battle quickly, I was able to activate three effects."
"Three?" shouted Domino. But Judy kept going, pointed to her other Trap.
"I also had this one ready, and it's called Synthetic Seraphim. It summons a Synthetic Seraphim Token every time I use a Counter Trap."
An odd-looking robot with huge forearms was spat out of the Trap Card. (300 ATK)
"Plus, I draw one card because of Artemis," she said, as she made a draw, "and I gain a thousand Life Points from Meltiel."
(J: 8,700, SPC: 3) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 8,000, SPC: 3)
"Okay…" he mumbled. "More of a… challenge…"
He took five of his six cards, and one by one, fit them into the Spell Zone slots, causing them to appear set, just like the last time.
Again? thought Judy. Now what?
"Go on…" he said, with a sneaky tone.
Judy drew swerving to the left as her ride sped up slightly. "I sacrifice my Token," she said, as the small Fairy disappeared, "for Tethys, Goddess of Light!"
A lovely woman in a white robe and angelic wings, long, blonde hair, and a tiara. (2,400 ATK)
She waited for a second or two.
Still nothing, she thought. Time to go for broke…
"Get 'im," she said.
Tethys cupped her hands together as she flew high over the highway, creating an orb of light that she slammed down in a fiery burst, hitting Charging Chuck and blowing the android to scrap. Domino ducked as its helmet flew at him and bounced off his D-Wheel's windscreen.
Meltiel followed, its blade of light soaring at the Wicked Token and slicing it in half at the waist.
"You're next!" warned Judy. "Artemis…"
The eyes of her third monster burned as it lifted its hands.
"Attack directly!"
"From my hand…" interrupted Domino, "I summon the Snow Plow Hustle Rustle!"
There was a blaring horn as a portal opened, and a giant locomotive with a rotary snowplow on the front sped out. (2,500 ATK)
"What the?" said Judy again.
The horn from the huge Machine blared twice more followed by two clangs, and its rotary blade started to spin. All five of Domino's Trap Cards were sucked into its maw… Then Judy shouted in surprise as it sped past her and snow shot at her through its throwers.
(J: 7,700, SPC: 4) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,700, SPC: 4)
"My Traps may have all been destroyed," said Domino, "but you take 200 points of damage for each one."
"May I ask why you're pitching all your Traps into the Graveyard?" asked Judy.
"Sure, you can ask," replied Domino. "But don't expect answers…"
This guy is gonna be a tough one… she thought.
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Meanwhile…
"They got out through the garbage chute?" exclaimed Jalal.
He was leaning on the front of his desk, his hands behind him, with a look of fury on his face.
"And nobody tried to stop them?"
"Sir, nobody, uhm, expected them to try to go out that way!" insisted one of the two security officers in the room. He and his partner looked ready to run at any minute, given the look on their boss' face. "The portal in that room is only supposed to transport garbage, living things can't enter it. This should have been…"
"Impossible?" asked another voice.
Both guards had been high strung to begin with from Jalal's dressing down, so suddenly hearing another voice in the room was enough to make them almost break composure and jump straight up in the air.
Sitting in one of the chairs facing Jalal's desk, which had been empty a few seconds ago, was a young man whose skin was so pale it bordered on sickly. This contrasted with the glossy black fabric of his rather well tailored attire, consisting of a coat, trousers, loafers and vest topped off with a wide brimmed hat, the angle of which was angled down to conceal the visitor's face.
"Impossible is a word used by people to give boundaries to their understanding of the world around them," the young man continued, his face still hidden beneath the shadow of his hat. "But as tempting as it is to seek solace in the idea that there are things that cannot be done, Shadowchasers cannot afford that luxury in a world where magic runs rampant and all manner of creatures walk amongst us.
"So to be honest the real question isn't so much 'how', as it is..." A slender finger lifted up and pushed up the edge of the hat, revealing a boyish face and emerald green eyes were partially hidden behind a pair of very old spectacles and several locks of silver hair. "Why?"
Having been far better able to mask his surprise then his security team, Jalal's mood seemed to lift a little at the sudden arrival of the strange young man, nodding curtly with a small smile. "Mr. Amore," he mused, "still as reluctant to simply using the door as ever, I see."
"Oh but where's the fun in that?" said young man – who was, indeed, the renowned Voltaire Amore. "In any case I suppose for the benefit of your men a quick explanation as to how it was indeed quite possible for Drumer and his companions to escape would be polite. One quick question: Could a corpse have been transported through this portal?"
"Uh, I suppose so," said the one who hadn't spoken. "It's a safety feature, the portal won't transport a living being because of what's on the other side. I mean, we really never expected anyone to be stupid enough to take a portal that led to a garbage dump the size of a city. That place has flies, maggots, and lice the size of rats, and as for the actual rats…"
"Yes, yes, not exactly a nice place," said Voltaire, "but it seems some people are desperate enough to take any option, and for a necromancer like Drumer, fooling such a portal is rather simple. He clearly used a spell called Death Mask on himself and his fellow escapees.
"It's a simple spell that hides the recipient's aura of positive energy. Useful for a necromancer who wants to get past the rank and file of an undead horde without a fight. Most zombies and skeletons are actually completely deaf and blind; if they have the right parts, they don't work anymore."
He pointed to his ear as he said that.
"But they can detect the positive flow coming from living beings, which is how they fight. The Death Mask incantation shields that flow, so they don't know you're there. And unfortunately, it's very good at fooling computers and some other security systems."
"So how in the world did he gain access to his spells?" asked Jalal.
"As I said, Mr. Stormbringer, this is a spell that even an apprentice necromancer could cast," continued Voltaire. "He'd just need a copy of it on a small piece of paper and five minutes to memorize it.
"But again, returning to my earlier point, the means as to how Mr. Drumer and the others managed to escape isn't nearly as important as to the motive behind the escape to begin with. What would the common thread be between a necromancer driven to clear the name of an infamous historical figure, a young woman convinced she was sketched for a painting by an extraterrestrial life form, and her volatile son have that would justify going to such lengths to free them?"
"Uh, all three are insane?" suggested one of the officers.
There was a moment of silence as Voltaire peered over the rim of his blood red spectacles at the two guards before giving Jalal an expression that seemed to say. 'Your best and brightest I presume?' Jalal's cheeks seemed to redden slightly before Voltaire continued.
"An... interesting possibility, but unfortunately far too vague as to prove a worthwhile investigation without any recurring psychological conditions between the three criminals in question. No, my suggestion is to dig deep into their backgrounds until something can be found that connects them, however distantly to one another and then go from there. I wish I could provide more of a 'smoking gun' if you will but when all else fails, sometimes we have to rely on following the breadcrumbs."
The phone rang, and Jalal went to pick it up.
"Yes, that's exactly what Dr. Freely was trying to do," he stated, "and he was actually getting through to Yolanda before this mess happened…"
He picked it up and spoke sternly into it "This better be important, Jabels…"
He listened for a minute, and his other hand balled into a fist. Now even Voltaire looked nervous.
"WHAT?" he yelled. "I'll be right there…"
He slammed the phone down.
"Mr. Amore, continue what you were doing, hopefully I can get back to you soon."
He rushed for the door, grabbing his coat on the way out. Voltaire stood up.
"All of a sudden," said the leader of the Shadowchasers, "I feel like that kid who spent the whole day wanting to go to Australia…"
As the door slammed shut, the two security officers looked at each other. Voltaire looked at them.
"Ah, that would be an old children's book called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day," he told them, "a little before your time, but I think he may have hit the nail on the head."
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"I'll throw one card face-down and end," said Judy, as a set card appeared next to her bike, then faded from view.
As both D-Wheel's started to increase in speed, Domino drew once, then grimaced. He set that card, and it appeared in his Spell Zone.
Smoke poured from Hustle Rustle's exhaust pipes as it rammed into Tethys from behind. She tumbled a few times before disappearing.
(J: 7,600, SPC: 5) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,700, SPC: 5)
"Sure you don't want to reconsider?" he asked. "Face it, kid, you may be half-dragon, but…"
"But I'm not even half the fighter my father was?" she replied. She fiercely made a draw.
"How many times has a half-dragon heard that? I agree with you, and every half-dragon knows she has big shoes to fill, and has to start somewhere. So it may as well be here with you.
"I don't know where you found out about those papers or how you got them, but one way or another I'm taking them."
"You have to beat me first…" he said.
"I activate Speed Spell – Flashpoint!" she exclaimed. The Spell appeared, and Bountiful Artemis started emitting an overwhelming light.
"What's going on?" shouted Domino.
"By choosing one of my monsters and discarding one that's the same Type," explained Judy, "and you can thank your Dormant Volcano for helping with that…"
She discarded the card into the slot in her dashboard.
"…your strongest monster's Attack Score is reduced by the Attack Score of the one I discarded. And since Command Angel has 1,200 points…"
Hustle Rustle started to shiver and shake. (1,300 ATK)
"Now that I've made your monster weaker, I'll make mine stronger… I use Call of the Haunted to summon Command Angel!"
The Trap lifted, and a new Fairy appeared, a tough-looking lady with blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a Green Beret's cap, a midriff-bearing top, leather gloves, and camouflage pants. She had shimmering, white, feathered wings. (1,200 ATK)
"With her on the field, all of my Fairies gain a boost of 400 Attack Points."
(Meltiel: 2,000, Artemis: 2,000, Command Angel: 1,600)
"But my monster is still Level 10," sneered Domino, "and I have the Trap Card, Proof of Powerlessness!"
His Trap spun around.
"With my high-Level monster…"
"It destroys all low-Level ones," said Judy, with a shit-eating grin on her face. "I was hoping you'd try that…"
Then her Trap lifted up, the rather old one, Seven Tools of the Bandit.
"Seems my monsters aren't as powerless as you thought," she said. "It may cost me 1,000 Life Points, but I gain it back immediately due to Meltiel, and you also activated the effects of Artemis and Synthetic Seraphim."
As the Trap was blasted to pieces, Judy drew once, and another Token appeared from out of the card. (300 DEF)
"Bitch…" grumbled Domino, softly.
"I heard that," said Judy, "and you can consider yourself lucky that, because of Flashpoint, Artemis is the only monster I can attack with right now."
The Fairy's hand became awash with a silver light, and she flew towards the Plow, then jammed her hand in the front, cracking the whole contraption in two and into a flaming wreck.
(J: 7,600, SPC: 6) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,000, SPC: 6)
"I'll set one card and end," she said, as a new face-down appeared. "Give it up, flyboy!"
"Never…" cursed Domino, as he made a draw. Then his eyes turned golden and very inhuman as he looked at what he had drawn.
"I have enough Speed Counters to use the second effect of Speed World 2, and draw one card," he said.
Is it my imagination, she thought, or did his voice just turn raspier and gravely?
Domino drew, and his D-Wheel fell behind hers. Judy lifted up the visor on her helmet to look in her rearview mirror better…
"Because I have no cards on the field," he continued, "I can use Charging Chuck's effect, and summon him from the Graveyard…"
Chuck appeared, crossing its arms in Defense Mode. (0 DEF)
"But I can only do that once… Next I sacrifice him…"
The football android turned to particles, and flew into the air.
"…to summon Metal Shooter…"
With a series of beeps and whirs, a droid shaped like an upside-down teardrop levitating on a hovering platform with laser cannons at the end of its arms flew in front of him, bobbing and weaving as it followed its D-Wheel. (800 ATK)
"Since I Normal Summoned it, it gains two Counters, each of which gives it 800 more Attack Points…"
(2,400 ATK)
A golden assault rifle appeared in Command Angel's hands as she turned to face the weird robot. It pointed at her with its right arm.
"Attack with Photon Pulse Ray!"
"I use the Trap Card, Widespread Ruin!" exclaimed Judy. Her Trap revealed itself, and flames started to shoot down the road towards Metal Shooter.
"I use Metal Shooter's effect!" called Domino. "By getting rid of one of those Counters, it can survive being destroyed by a card effect!"
Wait a minute… thought Judy. If it loses one of its Counters…
Indeed, Metal Shooter fell to 1,600 Attack Points. As it fired its Pulse Ray, Command Angel fired her weapon…
Everyone driving on the highway turned their heads towards the Duel Lane as the destruction of both monsters simultaneously caused a mighty explosion.
Okay, thought Judy, he obviously meant to do that…
"Now that the coast is clear," said Domino, "because you used a Trap Card this turn, and I have at least ten Trap Cards in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon my greatest monster… I summon the Genocide Key!"
The highway started to shake as fire spouted to all sides of both D-Wheels…
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Meanwhile, Jalal was speeding through the streets of London on his own D-Wheel, having gotten to the city much faster than his ward had. (It was pretty easy, given the permanent portal set up in his true manor house at Headquarters and the smaller, mostly empty one he had in the city that was listed as his legal residence to satisfy Mundane officials.)
This just isn't like Judy, he thought. Forgetting to turn on her computer's security, going off on her own, not even telling us when she gets a threat in the mail…
What could that verse mean to frighten her so much?
A light on his console flashed, and he hit it.
"Go ahead."
"Mr. Stormbringer," said an authoritarian-sounding voice, "we've found her, and we've sent some officers to investigate. But her opponent…"
"Yes?" replied Jalal.
"We have no idea who he is," said the voice. "His D-Wheel seems to be unregistered. It doesn't even have a license plate."
"Terrific," he muttered. "Let me know when you get visual feed."
He shifted gears, and sped towards the West side of the city.
"Mr. Stormbringer?" came Jabels' voice from the same part of the console. Jalal paused, and then hit the switch to reply.
"Column A or Column B, Jabels?" he asked.
"A, it seems, and we seem to be making progress," replied Jabels. "It didn't take long for Mr. Drumer to get back on his feet. Our division in Cleveland was contacted by the museum."
"He actually went back there?" replied Jalal.
"All they know is, someone snuck into their restoration lab and tore two pages out of that journal," replied Jabels. "The assistant curator has confirmed that the journal did indeed belong to Benedict Arnold, but he wasn't working on that project personally.
"He said he'd locate whoever was. In the meantime…"
"Have Mr. Amore head over there," said Jalal. He checked the digital clock on his dashboard. "And once the sun sets, look into contacting Mr. Luther and Ms. Nyte.
"If he's planning a repeat of last time, we're going to stop it before it starts."
"I'll get on it," came the response.
Jalal switched off the receiver and concentrated on the road ahead.
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Soaring down the highway alongside Domino's D-Wheel was an imposing figure eight feet tall, an android eight feet tall, covered with black steel armor with brass seems and a visored winged helmet. Sharp spurs adorned his knuckles, shoulder guards, and boots, and he wore a crimson cape.
The weirdest part was the weapon he had, a metal key the size of a sword, with jagged teeth, and a grip like a carpenter's saw. Exactly how he used it, Judy had no clue. (1,600 ATK)
"Of course, I may have needed ten Traps in my Grave to Special Summon it," continued Domino, but if I keep the number above five, his Attack points are doubled."
(3,200 ATK)
"Keep the number above five?" she asked.
"You heard me," repeated Domino. "There might be a chance it will go below that. I'll let you in on one of his neat effects.
"See, if he would be destroyed or targeted by a Trap Card, I can banish a Trap in my Graveyard to protect him.
"That means he won't fall into a Bottomless Trap Hole, won't drown in a Torrential Tribute, won't be blasted by a Phoenix Wing Blast… Traps just aren't gonna hurt him.
"Heh, heh… Your move…"
Judy drew a card as she looked at the monster with caution.
(J: 7,600, SPC: 8) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,000, SPC: 1)
"I think I'll use the second effect of Speed World 2," she said.
Her Counters plunged to 1, and she decelerated until she was driving alongside her opponent.
He can counter a Trap that affects his monster? she thought. That makes him a little harder to defeat, nut I can still do it…
"I sacrifice my Seraphim Token and Meltiel…"
The two Fairies turned to pulsating wisps that spiraled upwards.
"…and summon Athena!"
More celestial music started to sound, and she appeared. The Goddess of Wisdom appeared from above, her stern face under her helmet focused on Domino and his monster, a silvery breastplate covering a pure, white toga, with a long spear and shield to match. (2,600 ATK)
"I'm so scared," snarked Domino.
"Next I'll use her effect," continued Judy, "and send one of my Fairies to the Graveyard to summon another one from it."
Bountiful Artemis turned into silvery sparkles, and then Command Angel appeared again, howling a challenge to Genocide Key. (1,200 ATK)
He didn't look impressed, even as hers and Athena's Attack Scores rose to 1,600 and 3,000, respectively.
"And just by summoning her, Athena deals out 600 points of damage!"
Athena pointed her spear, and sparks flew at Domino. He only grinned as they hit him.
(J: 7,600, SPC: 1) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 6,400, SPC: 1)
"Keep smiling like that," she said, placing her last card on the dash. "I'll set one card, and my turn is done…" The 3D image on her screen shifted, giving her a view as if it were a dueling mat.
This is gonna take perfect timing… she thought.
"I forgot to mention…" said Domino. He drew a card, and the two D-Wheels started to accelerate again. "Genocide Key has another effect… If I banish a Trap Card from my Graveyard, I can look at one of your set cards, and if I don't like it, he can get rid of it, so long as I pay 500 Life Points.
"Say WHAT?" shouted Judy.
Genocide Key flew upwards and forward, tracing the odd key-shaped sword he had in the air and creating a flaming circle. A game card appeared inside it.
"Covering Fire, huh?" chuckled her opponent. "Well, can't have that…"
The android cut widthwise, slicing the image in two, and Judy's Trap burst. Then Domino played the card he had drawn, and Cyber Phoenix flew from the portal behind him. (1,200 ATK)
"Not that I really need to do this, but…" he laughed, "from my Graveyard, I activate the Skill Successor Trap Card, to increase my Phoenix's Score by 800!"
(2,000 ATK)
"I'm on fire!" he laughed, as the robot bird exhaled flames, hitting Command Angel and burning her to a crisp.
Athena's Score fell back to 2,600 but she barely got a chance to turn around before the sharp key-sword was thrown, spinning like a deadly airborne saw. Even Judy was shocked when it cut her in half at the waist.
(J: 6,600, SPC: 2) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 5,900, SPC: 2)
It continued to spin, then turned around 180 in midair, returning to its master, who caught it. Judy was still visibly shaken.
Even her death in God of War II was more dignified, she thought.
She looked at her hand of two cards on her riding gauntlet. Two Traps that could make a good combo, but…
With no monsters to play and that thing's effect… Next turn…
Domino chuckled as he discarded both Skill Successor and Dormant Volcano into a special slot under his Spell Zone meant for banished cards.
"A shame, really," he said, "this whole thing could have been avoided… But there's still plan-B… Your move…"
"Plan B?" shouted Judy.
"Well, if you won't listen to deals, then maybe there are others who will," replied Domino. "You say that your father would have just taken these from me… But what if I had something that some others would be willing to barter for? Something like…"
Before he could finish, flames blasted out of the exhaust pipes of Judy's D-Wheel, scorching the front of his.
"HEY!" he shouted.
"Keep dreaming, asshole!" she cursed at him. "Blackmailing Jalal is one of the few reasons that's been known to cause him to resort to physical violence!"
She drew, and the counters clicked up.
"And besides, how do I even know that the envelope you have even has what you claim they do? For all I know, they could be long-debunked theories that the tabloids would consider worth about as much as the prize in a Crackerjacks box."
"Is that what you truly believe?" he asked.
Judy set all three of the cards from her hand, three cards in her Spell Zone.
"I'm starting to have my doubts," she grumbled. "Take your damn turn."
"No monsters?" laughed Domino, as he drew a card.
(J: 6,600, SPC: 4) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 5,900, SPC: 4)
"Unbelievable… You actually used all your best monsters in the first fifteen minutes?"
"No, as a matter a fact I didn't!" she yelled back.
I've got a couple left, she thought, but he's more right than I'm willing to admit.
"I'll banish another Trap Card to use Genocide Key's effect again," he said, as the Statue of the Wicked card appeared behind him and crumbled into dust. "The card on the left!"
The flaming circle appeared again, and an odd Trap appeared in it.
Hmm, Crevice into the Different Dimension? he thought. Mmm, that might be a problem…
His Life Points dipped another notch as Genocide Key swung the weapon, and the Trap broke into little bits.
"Just to be on the safe side," he said, "I'm going to use Speed Spell – Speed Force! Now, until the beginning of my next turn, all my cards can't be destroyed by Spells and Traps, so I may not even have to use Genocide Key's effect!"
As he said that, Cyber Phoenix blasted its flamethrower at Judy, but she simply shielded herself with her wrist.
"Nice…" said Domino. "Try blocking this. Attack her directly with Dark Judgment!"
Judy looked up at Genocide Key, only to figure out, too late, that looking him in the face was a bad idea. She did not like the look of fury in his eyes…
Then a ball of blue plasma was projected from that terrible key, and sure enough, she couldn't block it. In fact, it didn't hit her, it surrounded her. Surrounded her and her bike like some energy field…
And a few seconds later, she felt it. The powerful energy felt sharp, like it trying to flay her. She could feel her clothes shredding apart, and her epidermis follow… She was about to scream…
Fight it, Judy, fight it… said a voice.
The scream was cut off.
It's in your head, Judy… said the voice. And as for his threats, I would have told him to do his worst.
"But the papers…" whispered Judy.
"What?" asked the voice, which she now clearly recognized as Jalal's. "You want to fill me in on what the big deal about this is? What terrible secret that is that silly verse he sent you linked to?"
Judy stopped, and so did the sharp stabbing. A tear ran down her cheek.
"My dad…" she sobbed, softly. "He knew… He knew stuff… Jack…"
"Jack?" asked Jalal.
Judy started to say something. At first she couldn't say the name, but then whispered it softly.
"Jack the Ripper…" she whispered.
Jalal didn't answer, so she went on.
"My dad told me that a member of the House of Lords that he met in a bar about sixty years ago had told him he knew of some papers somewhere, stuff that said that the Royal Family in Victorian England had…"
Then Jalal interrupted her.
"Did he, perchance," he asked, "tell your dad that the Ripper's five victims all knew that the heir to the British throne was illegitimate, had some embarrassing parentage – maybe, say, Catholic – and that the Ripper was an assassin hired to silence them?"
Judy didn't answer. She looked shocked.
"I suppose this guy who told your dad claimed he was part of a group dedicated to guarding this secret?"
"Yes…" said Judy. "Dad told me about it because… He needed to share it with someone…"
"Judy, everyone knew that old story after the murders had happened," said Jalal. "I heard about it. It's only the most common ludicrous story people spread about the Jack the Ripper.
"The guy who told your father that was either fooled by a swindler who didn't like the Royal Family, or he was such a swindler. If he truly was a bona fide member of the House of Lords, my guess is, had fallen on hard times, and was using his symbolic but truly worthless title to impress people and make easy money. The folks who spread that dumb story didn't know that the British crown can't be passed to an illegitimate offspring. That's one of their rules."
"And this criminal you're dealing with… I'd wager he's a swindler too…"
Judy's eyes burned with rage. She threw up her arms, and the field smashed apart.
She looked at herself. Her clothes were whole, and there were no scratches. She looked at Genocide Key.
Was it in my head? she thought.
Maybe it was. This was something else her father had told her about, illusions that were not just visual and auditory, but tensile as well. They Solid Vision holograms could already make a duelist feel like she was hit, but some dark phantasms could make a victim believe she was suffering horrible pain that wasn't truly there.
It was rumored it could even do more than that, but no more needs to be said right now.
The sound of police sirens were around them. Judy turned around and saw Jalal's D-Wheel with the police motorcycles, giving her a thumbs up.
"Criminy…" said Domino.
"Your head is going in a box you bastard!" she cursed.
"What's this?" he shouted.
"This is my move," she said, as she made draw. "And that 'evidence' you brought? I don't want it anymore, I just want to take you out."
(J: 2,200, SPC: 5) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 5,400, SPC: 5)
"I use Speed Spell – Angel Baton!" she exclaimed.
She whipped the top two cards off her deck, looked at them quickly, and then discarded one.
"Losing that Trap you destroyed last turn was only a minor inconvenience," she continued. One of her other Traps lifted, and a shifting orb of dark matter oozed out of it.
"I use Trap of Darkness," she stated. "With my Life Points below 3,000, I can spend another 1,000 of them so that the effect of this Trap duplicates one in my Graveyard."
"You're going to duplicate Crevice into the Different Dimension!" he gasped.
"You got it," she said, "which requires me to name one Attribute, then banish two monsters from either Graveyard of that Attribute.
"So I'll name Light, and banish Metal Shooter, and one of mine…"
Her third Trap Card lifted up.
"Finally, I'll use Miraculous Descent!"
A radiant, glowing orb started to appear behind her.
"I'm going to summon the monster I just banished…" she declared. As the songs of cherubs and holy choirs sounded over the highway, a tall, intimidating form started to emerge from the orb.
"Not her…" gasped Domino. "NOT HER!"
But it was. The Splendid Venus was staring him in the face… And she didn't look happy… (2,800 ATK)
"With her arrival, all monsters except Fairies lose 500 Attack Points…"
(Genocide Key: 2,700, Cyber Phoenix: 700)
"What's more, she prevents my Spells and Traps from being negated, so Genocide Key can't protect himself that way… In fact, I think I'll hold off on him for now…
"Attack Cyber Phoenix with Holy Feather Shower!"
Venus spread her wings and flew skyward, and a flurry of glowing feathers darted from her wings like knives. Domino struggled to hang on as Cyber Phoenix was sliced apart, and fell on the road beside him with a crash.
"I get to draw once due to its effect…" he murmured, flipping a card off his Disk.
"Then I'll set my last card, and end," said Judy, placing her card on her Spell Zone.
"BAH!" cursed Domino, drawing.
(J: 1,200, SPC: 6) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 3,300, SPC: 6)
"I can still use Genocide Key's other effect, which means…"
"Oh, Domino?" said Judy, sweetly this time. "Don't forget, if you don't keep the number of Traps in your Graveyard above five, Genocide Key returns to his base Scores."
Domino froze. He did a quick count.
I started with eleven, used his effect twice, and used Skill Successor… he thought. Eh, eight left, I have enough…
"Genocide Key, reveal the card!"
The flaming circle appeared, and a familiar Counter Trap appeared inside it.
Dark Bribe? he thought.
He looked at his two cards that he hadn't used yet.
That one might actually benefit me a little…
"Leave it alone, big guy…" he said, as the flames faded. He proceeded to set the two cards on his two Zones.
With her down to 1,200 Life Points, he thought. This may be all I need to finish her, but every little bit helps…
"Mmm!" he said to her.
Judy drew, and her Counters edged up to 7.
"Again, I'm using the effect of Speed World 2," she said. She drew once, and she decelerated, falling behind Domino. He spun his D-Wheel around, skidding sideways to face her with the wheels making sparks on the pavement.
"How's the view from there!" he laughed.
Ignoring him, Judy played one of her cards, and Royal Knight appeared next to Venus. (1,300 ATK) The metallic, mechanical angel drew its sword, spread its wings, and flew towards the set card.
"Gotcha!" laughed Domino, as the card flipped right-side-up. "Get 'im, Blast Sphere!"
The dreaded, spherical Machine propelled itself at Royal Knight, using its metal grippers to latch itself to the celestial soldier's chest.
"Too bad," he said. "As soon as I start my turn, Blast Sphere will explode and take your monster with it, dealing you 1,300 points of damage.
"And just in case…"
His Trap Card lifted up and spun around.
"I'm using Fiendish Chain to put her out of commission!"
Dark shackles flew from the card and snaked towards Venus…
"I use Dark Bribe!" shouted Judy, as her Trap Card revealed itself. The chains were blown to dust, and Domino drew.
"Big deal!" he laughed. "Attack Genocide Key, it still won't…"
He was interrupted by a loud roar…
"…matter?"
The roar had come from an evil looking eight-foot-tall and vaguely man-shaped Dragon with scales blacker than night, a sixteen foot wingspan, and a diabolical face, flying over Judy's D-Wheel. (2,800 ATK)
"What in the name of the Eight Cogs of Regulus?" shouted Domino.
"Since I used a Counter Trap to counter one of your cards, it let me summon this little guy," replied Judy. "Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord. And Van'Dalgyon has a different effect depending on whether said Trap counters a Spell, Trap, or monster Effect.
"Because Fiendish Chains was a Trap, he destroys one of your cards. I choose… Well… guess."
She pointed, and Van'Dalgyon belched shimmering, purple fire at Genocide Key. The android cringed for a brief second before vanishing in a plume of smoky ash, the nasty key-sword falling on the pavement with a clatter.
"Of course, because Van'Dalgyon isn't a Fairy, Venus' effect knocks off 500 of his Attack Points…"
(2,300 ATK)
"But at least he can attack, and because I countered your Trap, so can Venus!"
The Splendid Venus and Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord turned to each other and nodded, then flew high…
This isn't over… thought Domino.
The two monsters pointed, and beams of Light and Darkness spiraled around each other before hitting the D-Wheeler in a mighty blast…
(J: 1,200, SPC: 0) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 0, SPC: 0)
Domino fell on his side with little but a thump. Judy slammed on the breaks and looked at him, taking off her helmet.
"Judy, back away from him!" called Jalal's voice.
As she turned to see him, the sirens grew louder. She leapt off her bike as they approached. Domino started to get up.
"You stay right there," warned an officer with a bullhorn. "You're under arrest. Put your hands…"
Then, with a flick of his arm, the criminal threw three canisters in their direction. Jalal grabbed Judy and the police covered themselves before they exploded.
When everyone looked again, he was taking off, continuing the way he had come. Sirens started to sound again as police motorcycles started to pursue.
"Judy…" said Jalal.
"I'm an idiot, right?" she said. Then she hugged him, and he held her close.
"Trust me," he said. His voice sank to a whisper. "The Ripper was no assassin. He's long dead, and so are any threats he posed. I know the man who brought him down and he made sure of it…"
Judy looked at him in shock. He nodded.
"It's not something we like to broadcast," whispered Jalal. "Maybe he was a little more than the typical serial killer, and maybe if you ask the fellow politely, he'll tell you the whole story… Sometime when you're not wound so tight…
"But I assure you, your father was fooled into believing a silly tall-tale…"
As he hugged her, he looked in the direction Domino had gone. Then his headset cellphone beeped.
"Go on," he said.
"We're in pursuit, sir," said a voice on the other end. "This guy isn't getting far."
"Good," he replied. "Make sure he doesn't!"
Because whatever reason this tinfoil hat club has to suddenly turn violent, he thought, they just made it personal…
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
COMMAND ANGEL (Monster Card)
Fairy/Fire/Effect/Lvl4/1,200ATK/1,900DEF
Effect: Increase the ATK of all Fairy-Type monsters you control by 400.
Note: "Command Angel" was first used by Hondain the original anime episode "Mechanical Mayhem".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
DORMANT VOLCANO (Trap Card)
Normal Trap
Image: An ominous-looking mountain with snow on the top.
Card Description: When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, inflict 300 points of damage on your opponent. During the next Standby Phase, both players may add 1 FIRE monster from their respective decks to their hands.
Note: "Dormant Volcano" was first used by Iwamaruin the Yu-Gi-Oh GX episode "J-Dawg and T-Bone".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
SPEED SPELL – SPEED FORCE (Spell Card)
Normal Speed Spell
Image: Pink lightning radiating out of a central energy orb surrounding a glowing card
Effect: Activate when you have 4 or more Speed Counters. Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent's Spell or Trap Cards until your next Standby Phase.
Note: "Speed Spell – Speed Force" was first used by Crow in the "Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds" episode 126.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
SPEED SPELL – FLASHPOINT (Spell Card)
Normal Speed Spell
Image: Top Runner dashing through the vortex of Speed World with Gradius following overhead, both towards an unseen foe.
Effect: Activate when you have 4 or more Speed Counters. Select 1 monster you control and discard 1 Monster Card from your hand that is the same Type as the selected monster. Your opponent's face-up monster with the highest ATK loses Attack Points equal to the base ATK of the discarded monster until the End Phase of the turn. This turn, only the selected monster may attack.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
CHARGING CHUCK (Monster Card)
Machine/Fire/Effect/Lvl4/2,100ATK/0DEF
Effect: This card must attack if able, and if your opponent controls face-up monsters, must attack the monster with the highest ATK. If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control no other cards, you may Special Summon it from your Graveyard in face-up Defense Position. If summoned this way, its Battle Position cannot switch and if it leaves the field, banish it.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
GENOCIDE KEY (Monster Card)
Machine/Fire/Effect/Lvl10/1,600ATK/1,600DEF
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned or set. Can only be Special Summoned (from your hand) during your Main Phase 2 if your opponent activates a Trap Card during the same turn. If you have more than 5 Trap Cards in your Graveyard, this card's ATK and DEF are doubled. If this card would be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's Trap Card, you may banish one Trap Card from your Graveyard to negate the effect of that card and destroy it. Once per turn, you may banish 1 Trap Card from your Graveyard to reveal 1 set card in your opponent's Spell/Trap Zone; if you do, you may pay 500 Life Points to destroy that card.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Jemorille: Jalal had been trying to keep a calm, professional image throughout this whole crisis. After all, he couldn't lose control or get angry while dealing with the City of London Police… Even though this was, for him, a nightmare come true.
Right from the moment he had signed the papers making him Judy's legal guardian, he had feared this would happen, that someone would try to strike at him or the Shadowchasers in general through her. It's a dark fear that everyone who fights the forces of evil has to face if they have siblings, lovers, or children. Fortunately, most criminals didn't sink so low…
…it seemed he had met one, or a group of them, who would.
The worst was over now, but he couldn't let Domino get away if he could help it. It was clear now that whoever he answered to was dangerous. This crisis had now turned into a chase…
Fortunately, one of his closest allies in the city was on it.
"I Fought the Law" comes next, as this Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Very-Bad Day for all involved continues, and just seems to get worse.
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Shadowchaser Files: Artifacts
The Codex of the Infinite Planes
Quick, what's the most dangerous spellbook of dark magic known?
If you said The Necronomicon, wrong. That one isn't even the most powerful one associated with the Great Old Ones. The Book of Vile Darkness maybe? Nope.
The Black Scrolls of Ahm and the Demonomicon of Iggwilv are often mention, as is the Book of Keeping, but these books, while containing evil spells, aren't really magical and are copied often.
The Tome of the Stilled Tongue is an incredibly dangerous book, said to be written by Vecna himself. It can only be read safely by a worshipper of Vecna, and to drive the point home, is always found with a human tongue nailed to the cover to show what happens to those who betray Vecna's secrets.
Still, it's at most second place to a book that is profiled in the infernal Dictionary of Pain between the sharp sting of discovery and the salted wounds of failure. The Codex of the Infinite Planes.
No-one knows where this cursed book came from; the only clue is that it is sometimes referred to as Yagrax's Tome. The best physical description of the Codex come from what could be recovered from the notes of the mad archmage Tzunk, it's most successful known user. (And in this case, "most successful" does not mean "used with success", it means "didn't fail right away".) To start off, the Codex is bigger than most books have a right to be; no measurements were given, but Tzunk required four strong men simply to lift it, and used two creatures called dyophs (a now extinct beast of burden native to the Elemental Plane of Fire) to carry it. The cover is made of obsidian, and the pages are made of gold that have been beaten to the thinness and flexibility of paper. The writing is in an alien language that few are able to understand, and have horrific illustrations that are strangely beautiful.
Some believe that the Codex has infinite pages, but that is impossible to tell. The only way to use the Codex's magic is to start from the beginning, and some stories tell of would-be users being burned to ashes when they simply open it. If they manage to read it, they find powerful spells capable of opening portals to any world or dimension, summoning eldritch abominations, and raising the dead.
After reading about fifty pages or so, the reader discovers powerful reality warping spells. This is where Tzunk's notes started to show signs of his descent into madness, and the reports of witnesses say that his experimentation with these spells caused minor cataclysms, earthquakes and planar storms. It also started to change Tzunk physically, giving him a demonic appearance.
One can only guess what might have happened if Tzunk had read it further, because he then decided to pursue his lifelong goal, to conquer the City of Brass, the home of the efreet. With an army of summoned horrors at his command, he besieged the great edifice, but despite the power granted him, his army was no match for millions of efreeti.
Tzunk wasn't killed, and he still lives; the efreet Sultan ordered him crucified and disemboweled, but the Codex had granted him a horrible type of immortality, rendering him unable to die. Ever since that day, centuries ago, his screams have echoed through the dungeons of the Sultan's palace, where helhounds and other beasts gnaw at him. The Codex had gotten what it needed from him, and left him to his fate.
The Codex is an intelligent device, and anyone who thinks it is controlling its magic is actually its slave. It feeds on the dreams and the imaginations of others, drawing visions of infinite planes from its slaves and forcing them to write what they see upon the pages. By doing so, the Codex has become a universe onto itself which continues to exist and grow. Eventually, the slave gives up his own life and becomes and empty husk, and the foul thing abandons him.
Story Ideas: The Codex may be something sought by a villain in a story, but in many ways, it is a villain. It has plots of its own, and is incredibly dangerous. As an artifact, it's almost impossible to destroy, but it can be locked away somewhere, probably a temporary solution, but the best one can hope for.
Wizards who are egotistical and creative may be drawn to it. The spells are powerful and tempting, and the spells one eventually gets to might make a megalomaniacal wizard think that reshaping reality is possible. Unfortunately, terrible things tend to happen when this book is used; volcanic eruptions, demonic invasions, possibly even the awakening of an Elder Evil. The Codex cares little, so long as it gets what it wants from its slaves, but said slaves would be deadly enemies for the duration. (Compare the anarchist Reynard from the movie The World is Not Enough. This villain had an untreatable head injury that would eventually kill him, but he got stronger, tougher, and more evil each day as death approached.)
Its true goal is up to the writer. Maybe it is capable of enacting Belief Made Manifest (which will be discussed later in this work) should it absorb the creative thought of enough victims. Of course, whatever this warped spirit would do with it is anybody's guess.
But one thing to keep in mind: No good can EVER come from this book! While it's sometimes possible to use an evil device for good purposes, the Codex will never cause anything but suffering, destruction, and death should anyone try it.