Shadowchasers: Conspiracy

by 0ccam's Razor

A fanfic of the Shadowchasers by Cyber Commander. Odd things are happening, and Shadowchasers all over the world are encountering criminals with strange and peculiar goals. Is a conspiracy afoot, or is some deeper plot in the works?

37. The Cold Hard Facts of Life

A quick recap for those just joining us.

Over a one-month period, the Shadowchasers had encountered many criminals of questionable mental states, all of whom believed in some untrue conspiracy theory. They had later found that most of these criminals were linked by an experiment possibly involving subliminal messages transmitted through a computer, the evidence guarded by what seemed to be a specter. After Sofia met with an old boyfriend who belonged to a group who seemed to be just as concerned about this as she was, she was kidnapped and ransomed by someone with powerful abilities in clockwork technology and nano-technology, and also skilled in the incredibly hard-to master discipline of axiomatic magic.

Meanwhile, Shadowkind mob boss Fanciullo Cattivo had escaped an ambush by a rival gang, ran into what he believed was a thug assaulting a young girl, and rescued her, only for the girl to shove a strange journal into his hands and flee. The next thing he knew, he was a marked man, and two of his henchmen were dead.

What was the connection? There was only one individual you may be familiar with who was not confused at it all. Terra Ironhoof.

And if you think such knowledge may have put one's life in danger, well, you're right.

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Chapter Thirty-Six

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The Cold, Hard, Facts of Life

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Back at the dark place, where Bonnie and the Damned Magician Girl had last spoken to the dark figure, he was watching the monitors again, along with many devices transmitting and measuring data in the form of numbers.

Bonnie limped into the room, shivering. She saw one very prominent reading, the Meleager Timepiece, set to her vital signs.

She knelt. "I, I understand if you're angry," she started, "and I would like to say –"

"I do not get angry," he replied, not turning around. "Anger is a human failing that I am better without."

Bonnie felt relief for a few seconds, but he went on: "As are the feelings it causes. Obsession, carelessness, overconfidence, and desire for revenge. It clouds judgement and leads to failure."

As he turned his head slightly, she closed her eyes tight. This was it. He was going to kill her.

Then she screamed. It was like her heart and lungs were trying to break out of her chest.

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Terra woke up to the sound of alarms. Not especially loud ones, more like alarms some distance away. She was groggy and dizzy, but her mind was clear enough to know she was in trouble.

"Ugh, mgh, uhng," she grunted. She started to strain against the straps holding her down.

"Don't bother," said Baroq's deep voice. "They have you on enough sedatives to keep five minotaurs down. Don't try yelling for help either. I changed the digital lock on the door, and the nurses and orderlies on this floor are busy responding to three emergencies. A cardiac arrest, a septic shock, and one unfortunate allergic reaction to a medication."

"Because you hacked the computer and changed it, I suppose?" growled Terra, giving him a death glare.

"What?" asked Baroq. "The three patients are terminal cases anyway, and come Monday, the doctor who will take responsibility will face a malpractice review board who will very likely strip him of his license. You see, Ms. Ironhoof, unlike you, we try to avoid attention at the moment."

"So you're going to kill me now?" she asked, her expression changing to a sulk.

"Afraid so," he said. "Seeing as your intentions are rather obvious."

"You wouldn't talk so tough if I wasn't strapped down," she growled.

"Yeah, well, seeing that you are," he replied. He cracked his knuckles. "I can do more than talk tough."

Terra was about to say something else, but was cut off as he grabbed hold of her throat.

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A very large industrial-sized metal door lifted up, and the three Boston Shadowchasers and Hank, along with Fanciullo and his remaining henchmen, entered a loading dock.

"Nothing like walking into the fine, poignant aroma of Diesel fuel," snarked Drago.

"Will you shut up?" snapped Uomo.

"Both of you be quiet!" ordered their boss.

As the doors closed and the lights came on, the leader of the Shadowchasers stood in front of them, his expression looking anything but pleased. Several others whom Fanciullo recognized were behind him, including Voltaire, Z, and Karl.

"Well, Stormbringer, we seem to have done this all safely," said Fanciullo. "Despite some – issues."

He lifted his hand, as if to shake. Jalal didn't react for a minute.

"Simply calling would have been easier," he said. "Listen closely, Fanciullo. I don't know what you want or what exactly your stake in this is, but we're going to set some ground rules before we agree to anything."

Fanciullo nodded, and Jalal went on. "One, we don't keep secrets from each other. You share the information you get, we'll share ours."

The mob boss nodded.

"Two, if you use resources I wouldn't approve of, I'm holding you personally responsible for any crisis that happens as a result."

Smart, thought Fanciullo. He knew enough not to simply say "illegal".

"Wouldn't think of it, Stormbringer," he said, nodding again. "Enough blood has been spilled as it is."

"And three," continued Jalal, "this deal is temporary, got it?"

"Got it," said Fanciullo. "You're the boss. Just remember one thing. A man who leads a squad of troops has to trust them enough to turn his back to them."

He lifted his hand again. Jalal still hesitated.

"Chief," said Hank, "I can vouch for him this time, these guys had about twenty chances to shoot me in the back so far."

Finally, Jalal returned the handshake, not that his expression changed.

"Point taken," he said. "This way."

As they walked to the main complex proper, Jeb whispered to Dante, "I'll wager a Kit-Kat they start arguing within ten minutes."

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"Come on, come on," sighed Baroq. "This takes forever these days."

Terra was still holding onto life, trying her best to struggle despite being strapped down. Baroq was seriously considering breaking her neck to do it quickly, despite having been told otherwise.

"LEAVE 'ER ALONE!"

"What?" he said. "Who's –"

Before he could get the next word out, he was startled as a chair hit him over the head from behind. He let go of Terra, not hurt, but startled a little.

As he turned around, Jennifer – the young Shadowchaser in the spandex crop top and slacks – hit him again, on the side of the head.

"Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted.

Baroq looked at her, then straightened himself out, to his full 6'10" height.

"Okay, guess that leaves me out," she said.

"Ah, my fault," he muttered. He knocked the chair away with one backhand. "Should have known he wouldn't have left without someone watching her."

He tried to throw a punch at her, but she somersaulted, backwards, landing on the couch behind her.

"Slippery, are you?" he asked. He grabbed hold of his collar, and with one stroke, doffed the overcoat, throwing it aside.

He was a hideous, reptilian Shadowkind, somewhat resembling a lizard man that was the shape of a green-scale but as big as a grey-scale. Somewhat. Lizard men tended to have smooth scales and a svelte body, but this one had rough scales and was hulking, looking more like he had come from alligator stock than that of lizards. Most importantly, not all of his body was flesh, some of it, including part of his face, half his torso, and most of his right arm was metal. He wore a pair of grey jeans (obviously size XXXL) held in place with a belt with a very large buckle, and little else besides a Duel Disk. He had a huge, square-shaped jaw, and a broken nose under brown eyes that seemed to sparkle a little.

Jennifer squinted her eyes her face scrunching up in confusion. "...Giga Gagagigo? Since when are Duel Spirits used as hired guns?"

Baroq's eyes twitched at this, his tail lashing against the wall next to him hard enough to crack it. "That joke was almost funny the first twenty times I heard it." he said. "Now it just pisses me off."

"Well sorry!" she responded. "Not like we've got a surplus of robot lizard people running around these – YEEP!" She ducked in time to avoid Baroq's fist as it slammed into the wall behind her.

"Stay still!" he demanded, getting a little angry.

He turned around, and saw her standing in front of the bed in a fighting stance, egging him on.

Baroq looked at her closely, his eyes turning metallic blue again. He tapped his ear. "Yes, yes, I understand," he said. He turned to Jennifer. "Okay, human, if that's how you want it."

Then he tapped his wrist, and there was a soft beep. "Auto-destruct has been initiated," said a voice.

"What, what's that?" gasped Jennifer. "Auto des – A bomb?

"What do you think it is, kid?" groaned Terra.

"I make one remark about how you look like a Duel Monster and your response is to blow yourself up?" shouted Jennifer. "We're in a hospital you basket case!"

"Unfortunate, yes, but necessary," replied the cyborg. "The timer is set for it to go off in one hour, or sooner, should I simply tap that button there." He pointed to a blue switch on his Duel Disk. "Which I'll do should you scream or try to sound any other type of warning. Not that it would help."

Jenn stopped to listen, and yes, at least one of those sirens was still going, meaning the "all clear" hadn't been given yet.

"Don't worry kid, he's bluffing," said Terra.

"You'll be killed too," remarked Jenn.

Baroq tapped the side of his head. "This isn't my actual body, Shadowchaser, it's more of a shell with a great deal of the unneeded organics replaced by bionic implants, including the brain. I can download my consciousness into a remote mainframe with less than a minute's preparation. I'd actually welcome the chance to discard this one."

"Okay, maybe he isn't bluffing," sighed Terra.

"What happened to," started Jenn.

"It's original owner?" asked Baroq. "He was a foolish and overconfident apprentice to a great warrior who fancied himself even better than his mentor."

Of course, what he was implying could only have been too plain. He looked at her,then lifted his left arm, and the odd gears on it started to spin, extending the same strange Duel Disk.

"You want to duel?" she asked. She started smiling again.

"Not particularly, but if you want to get out of here alive, Ms. Szardos, you'll have to."

"You'll stop that thing if I win?" she asked. She lifted her arm and her Disk tray swung into position.

"Possibly," he said. "If you'd rather try to come here and disarm it some other way, be my guest. I would think this is the best you could hope for."

She waited to see if he'd say anything else, but he didn't. Well, fine, this she could handle.

Just breathe easy and take it one card at a time, she thought. Her Disk tray unfolded and the VR effect from the D-Gazer covered the room.

Of course, one thing the Shadowchaser apprentice never considered as the duel started – she had never told him her name.

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"Let me see if I have this straight," said Penelope.

Philip was sitting across from her and Red Feather, slowly sipping coffee and picking at a grilled cheese sandwich.

"The Kennedy Assassination, 9/11, the Oklahoma City Bombing," she continued. "Crop circles, the Norwegian Spiral, all the major events that spawned conspiracy theories were created by one group with the intention of spawning them?"

"That's impossible," added Red, "no one group could have done it all, at least not unnoticed."

"No, no," said Philip. "Ladies, see, they did not cause any of that, but they spawned the theories that grew out of them, or helped do so. Lee Harvey Oswald should never have been considered anything but a common thug, but all it takes is a much-publicized crime, disaster, or accident to start a rumor going, a rumor turns into a lie, and that lie snowballs into more and more lies. Before you know it, the simple and most likely explanation is cast aside in favor of the lies."

"But why?" asked Red Feather. "What do they accomplish?"

"Exactly what they do accomplish," replied Philip. "They lies to start chain reactions to form into bigger lies, which over the years, form whole societies of distrust and suspicion, where the populace doubts what they see. They start believing the wrong things, and belief is a powerful weapon. Believe lies, they may actually become truths.

"Lies have gained power in the Age of Information, where the media spreads them faster than before, and lack of Truth threatens peace on a global, possibly universal scale. The one behind this all, we aren't sure what he is exactly, as he's only been mentioned a few times. He calls himself Antisthenes."

"Come on, Philip," said Penelope, "you can't expect me to believe that people are that gullible."

Philip looked around, towards the counter. The diner had become quiet, except for some beeping and whirring. "Uh, tell me something," he said. "You like video games?"

"WHAT?" she shouted, clearly thinking he'd lost his mind.

"Seriously," he replied. "Rhoda found an old game at some warehouse clearance last week." He pointed to an old arcade cabinet near the counter. "It's from 1981, practically an antique to most Mundanes."

The two Shadowchasers looked at him funny, but he simply fished into his pocket, and then tossed her a quarter. "Try it out, on me."

"This is silly," she said. She grabbed the coin stood up.

Then she froze. Her voice turned angry. "Philip, where did you get that?" she demanded.

"What?" asked Philip. "Go on."

Still, Penelope did nothing.

"What?" he asked.

Her eyes were fixed on the game's title.

Polybius.

"Philip," she said sternly. "Where did you get that thing?"

"What's wrong?" he asked. He stood up. "Just an old video game, right? Nothing to be scared of, right?"

"Uh…" she said. "Sure, uh…"

"I mean, it's not like this is some devious contraption built by government agents," he continued, "a game that teenagers were known to fight over while odd men in suits and sunglasses took notes. Which, later caused those same players to experience odd symptoms like nausea, migraines, memory loss, nightmares, and in some reports, the 'inability to become sad'.

"Didn't some people later claim that whoever played the Polybius games, that supposedly vanished overnight, were subliminally brainwashed into killing themselves or becoming mind-controlled slaves?

"Come to think of it, didn't someone eventually start thinking this may have had something to do with the old story about Shub-Internet?"

He smirked evilly at Penelope. She frowned

"Nah, just a crazy conspiracy theory," he said. "Go on."

As he said that, he gave her a slap on the tush, then sat down again. Of course, Penelope would have punched his lights out for doing that any other time, but she was too fixated on the game with the notorious title.

Indeed, she had heard the stories. She knew it was only some crazy myth. The demo screen looked harmless enough. Just some eighties shoot-em-up. And if this was some accursed artifact, Jalal would have mentioned it.

Damn it, I'm stronger than this dumb thing, she thought.

She walked up to the machine. She lifted the coin and –

"RUN, COWARD! HA, HA, HA!"

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"I'm drawing!" laughed Jennifer.

(Jennifer: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Baroq: 8,000)

Now she felt better. With her opening hand in front of her, she really felt the wind at her back.

"I'm sending my Fluffal Bear to the Graveyard," she exclaimed, "to use its effect, and take a certain Spell Card from my deck, then set it." As she discarded the card, one appeared in front of her, facedown. "But he's coming back now, 'cause I'm playing Suture Reborn!"

She threw out a card, and a huge sewing machine as big as she was appeared behind her, stitching together pink fabrics with purple ones. Then a chubby, pink teddy bear with small, feathered wings and a scarf tumbled onto the field. It smiled broadly, then plumed down in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

"Isn't he the cutest thing?"

Baroq didn't answer. She giggled, then she set one of her cards on her Monster Zone, and another in her Spell Zone. "I'll throw down a couple face-downs, and I'm done.

This dame is pretty green, thought Terra. Does she think that bomb is a toy?

"I draw a card," said Baroq, "and then summon Marmiting Captain."

The Warrior he summoned was a very familiar one. Jennifer knew about Marauding Captain, of course, but now he was wearing an apron over his armor, and a wrap on his head. (1,200 ATK)

"Confused?" asked Baroq. "Fighting isn't his only talent."

Before he could elaborate, there was a sizzling sound, and Jennifer could smell… roast beef? The Captain had somehow produced a large haunch of meat on a spit over a fire – using a spear as a spit, of course – and was now turning it while slowly basting it with a brush.

"While he's doing that, I can use his effect to take one card from my hand, and send it to my deck." He chose one card – Giant Rat – and fit it into the middle of the deck, and it shuffled. "I then get one draw, and if it's a monster, the smell of cooking beef might attract something."

As he drew, Marmiting Captain stepped backwards, and the lights dimmed. There was a loud roar, and two bestial heads surrounded by fiery manes lurched from behind Baroq, snapping at the roast and then pulling it apart quickly. The rest of the Beast, a large, flaming centaur with burning palms stepped out of the shadows, its two heads swallowing the small – and clearly inadequate – offering quickly.

Then the Twinheaded Beast looked at Jennifer. (1,700 ATK)

"Uh, napkin?" she offered.

Ugh, idiot, thought Terra.

A spear – clearly thrown from Marmiting Captain – flew and skewered the Fluffal Bear before Baroq could answer.

"You may have a defense, apprentice, but this monster can attack twice," he continued.

And to prove it, the Fire Beast's breath honed onto her set monster, and an odd metal thing burst into singed steel blades.

"Now attack her –" he started

"I activate Designer Frightfur!" she shouted.

As her Trap lifted, Fluffal Bear appeared a second time, but now, his expression was grim and unpleasant. There was a sinister sheen to the buttons that formed his eyes… (800 DEF)

Again, the flames hit it, burning it to cinders.

"Intriguing technique," he commented. "I will also set one card, and end. Just so you know –" He placed the card, and it formed behind the two monsters. "You have forty-five minutes left."

"Eh?" she said. "Oh, the bomb, right." She swallowed hard, then drew a card. "Uhm –"

"Nervous?" asked Baroq. "To succeed in your chosen career you have to think on your feet. If you can't, you're dead."

"Buddy, seriously, I get this enough from Rebecca," said Jenn, a little amused. Her other set card, which she had set using Bear's effect, lifted and shone as it activated, then turned into a gashapon machine shaped like a frog-like toon, a large transparent globe holding capsule toys making up it's huge, oversized head, on a smaller body with arms, forming a pedestal. The globe had two large eyes on each side, a small top hat perched above, and a slot for the mouth to dispense the toys, a long, tongue-like chute protruding from it. The whole thing looked rather demented and surreal, not likely something a child would expect toys from.

"Not that I can't think on my feet, y'know. If I discard a card, I can give this guy a go, and if the top card on my deck is a Fluffal, I get a prize! But first, since you killed my Edge Imp Sabre last turn, I can Special Summon it, so long as I put one of my cards on top of my deck."

As she chose a card from her hand and fit it on her deck, and a nasty blade stabbed up through the floor. Snip! Snip! The blade snipped through like scissors and the floor tore open like paper; a frightening metal creature hopped through the tear, a Fiend made of six large pairs of scissors bonded to each other side-by-side, with two evil eyes in the center. The scissors snipped again threateningly a few times. (800 DEF)

"So let's see what we've got."

The Toy Vendor made a silly chuckle and the capsules inside started to hop and bounce, and once of them fell from the slot, opening as it hit the floor. Purple smoke started to spew from it, and then a large stuffed Owl appeared, phantom like, flapping its wings and hovering in place.

"Seems I got a monster," she said. "That means I can Special Summon it from my hand. I could summon someone else, but…"

Fluffal Owl landed, then adjusted its spectacles – yes, spectacles – before folding its wings. (1,000 ATK)

"…think I'll go with him anyway, cause can use him to Fusion Summon with no Polymerization. No Spell Card at all, actually! Show him what you've got, guys!"

What happened next was, well, macabre. Edge Imp Scissors split into its six component scissors, and one of them made a single snip, bisecting the stuffed Owl cleanly in two. Then the expression on the Owl's face started to change from avian to mammalian, its fur from brown to blue. Then the six scissors stabbed into the two pieces of it, and as it continued to change, the evil red eyes of Edge Imp Scissors replacing the cute button ones.

The Fusion Monster appeared, fully created, a toy stuffed tiger – well, sort of. Maybe a toy tiger made by some toymaker in an insane asylum. It was covered with sharp metal edges, including its teeth and claws, its covering was worn and moth-eaten. Most shockingly, it was separated at the waist, it's upper half hovering slightly above its lower, with those huge scissors in the center, the blades menacingly jutting out in front. (1,900 ATK)

Terra blinked twice just to make sure she wasn't still hallucinating from nearly being strangled. This guy outright admitted he killed someone and is using their body for a wetworks remote control, she thought, and thatthing is still the most disturbing thing I've seen since I woke up.

"What do you think of this?" asked Jenn. "Frightfur Tiger not only gains 300 Attack Points for each Frightfur and Fluffal I have, he gets to destroy one card for each monster I used to summon it!"

Each card? thought Terra. All of a sudden, she became more optimistic of her chances of surviving this.

The huge scissors in the center elongated, and with one mighty snip, cut both Marmiting Captain and Twinheaded Beast in two.

Slowly, Baroq started to clap his hands.

"Bravo," he said. "That was a powerful move. Still, perhaps you didn't use that monster's effect to it's fullest potential."

"Listen, pal," said Jenn, "I don't need –"

Then she stopped. He noticed his facedown card.

Wait, she thought. Maybe it would have been a better idea to have destroyed that card. She looked at him. If I – Ah, he's messing with my head.

"Attack directly!"

Again, the scissors made a powerful cut, and to Jenn's surprise – she admitted – he just defended himself with his forearm, rather than his set card.

(J: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 5,300)

"Go ahead," she told him. "I'm starting to like this."

Baroq simply drew a card, saying nothing. Disregarding what he drew, he set three cards, placing one in front of the other two. He now had three reversed ones in his Spell Zone and one hidden monster.

Terra started to strain against the bindings again. She was starting to think a little clearer now – she still felt sore from her bruises and sick from the sedatives, but now she was more focused.

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"HEY, HEY, easy, easy!" shouted Philip.

Red Feather was holding him off his feet – by the collar – while Penelope was munching on his sandwich. Neither of them had found Philip's little "joke" very funny. Meanwhile, the digital horned skull from the machine – actually an old Sinistar machine with the label covered – continued to laugh evilly.

"Your call," said Red.

"I'm sorry!" he begged.

"Okay, okay, let him go," said Penelope. "But only for Sofia. Honestly, I have no idea what she sees in you." She looked at the sandwich again. "This is cold."

"Look, I," he said. He started to stand up.

"You proved your point, okay?" said Penelope. "Now get to the bigger point!"

Philip huffed as he sat down again, Red keeping a very close eye on him. "Sorry I had to scare you like that," he started again, "but the mortal mind can never be completely free of doubt because mortals aren't perfect. If they ever became perfect, they'd no longer be truly mortal. So no matter how certain you think you are that something is a big lie, you might have second thoughts if you hear about it enough. You see –"

"BEWARE! I LIVE!"

Philip got up, and with a swift yank, unplugged it.

"As I was saying," he sat down again. "Conspiracy theorists, for one reason or another, want to believe such things. For well over a century our group has been trying to expose the truth behind it, mostly without success. We're like Mythbusters, but we realize, more than anyone, that actions speak louder than words."

"I don't understand," said Red Feather.

"Do you know what artistic license is?" asked Philip. "Suspension of disbelief? To give JFK as an example again, Occam's Razor supports the theory that Lee Harvey Oswald was just some white supremacist loner who acted alone. But the idea of a government conspiracy with multiple layers of secrets behind it is something people actually want to believe. It's far more, well, interesting."

"I still don't get it," said Penelope.

"Tell me the truth, Penelope," continued Philip. "would anyone have watched Oliver Stone's movie if it had been about some loon with a gun who just didn't know better? The more attention a story gets, the more interest people have in it, regardless of how much actual importance or truth it has. And the more embellished it is, the more interested people are in it. The conspiracy theory tells a far more interesting story and attracts more attention.

"Another example; the Italian, ahem, Satanic cult the Order of the Rose that was believed responsible for sixteen murders back in 1985."

"I don't remember a dark cult by that name," said Red Feather, curiously.

"That's because there wasn't one," said Penelope. She rolled her eyes. "Some nutty prosecutor in Florence thought the deaths were connected, like the Son of Sam, and eventually claimed it was the work of some modern-day cabal of witches who were also into child pornography, organ theft, bestiality porn – pretty much the vilest crimes you can think of."

"Right, the guy was trying to gain a promotion," said Philip, nodding, "and there was no cult, but if it had been a cult, he could have written a book and it would have sold like hotcakes. A more realistic book that described the average homicide cases in Florence would have been rejected with a form letter."

"Now, Antisthenes has been doing this for centuries, and his progress was slow at first, but the internet has become a godsend to axiomatic magic. He and his relatively small group has progressed more in the past thirty years than they have in their entire history."

"Wait," said Red. "Wait, wait, wait. How could this have all happened without Jalal even noticing?"

Philip leaned back in his chair. "How long was it before he found out about Paradias?" he asked.

Red was about to answer, but then stopped.

"Mmm-hmm," he said nodding. "This was an organization that was founded ten millennia ago, and nobody realized what they were up to until they put their grand plan into motion. Not even Yliaster."

"Wait a minute," said Penelope. She was starting to see where this was going.

"Yliaster and Paradias were two organizations that functioned for centuries completely independent of one another without Mundane authorities, the Shadowchasers, or any Shadowkind organization knowing they had access to power capable of causing destruction on a global scale. And neither knew about the other either. Hell, Paradias supposedly had stock in every single company in the world, and owned a lot of them, probably through dummy corporations, while Yliaster, they, uhm, did whatever they did.

"That's the point, my friends, nobody ever realizes that when you're behind a real conspiracy you just don't let people know about it. Guys blathering on the radio about the President being a Communist who worships the devil and how there are plans to turn convenience stores into prisons for political opposition, never seem to wonder why they're still alive to tell folks that.

"Guys who uncover the real conspiracy and pry too much are silenced. Fast. Guys like stupid old Clem McMahan."

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"Let's see," said Karl. "Can you describe this Antione guy?"

Tormento was watching as she typed – with Francis watching Tormento – imputing data into their cross-referenced criminal data-base (the "mugshots", so to speak).

"He was kind of hard to forget," replied Tormento. "Tall, thin, male, about thirty. Black hair in a very large Afro."

"An Afro?" asked Karl, looking at him strangely.

"That means –" started the mobster.

"I know what it means," he interrupted. "What about his eyes?"

"No idea, he wore those weird shades that make you wonder how anyone sees through em," said Tormento, as Karl continued to type. "And he had silver pants, and a jacket." Karl made the weird look again, but didn't stop. "A lot of gold jewelry, and those shoes with the really thick soles, I think."

"Please don't tell me they had goldfish in them," said Francis.

Before he could answer, Karl turned the screen. "Is this the guy?" she asked.

"That was fast," said Tormento. "Yeah, that's him."

"He kind of stands out," said SAL's voice.

Tormento was startled – he was not used to that, even less so than everyone else was.

"If it makes you feel better," continued the AI, "we've seen weirder. Not much weirder, mind you."

"Hmm, Antoine Fisk," she muttered. "Born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, attended prep school, earned a scholarship to Brown…"

"Brown?" asked Tormento. He leaned over to get a better look, causing Francis to raise his hand a little. "Ain't that a big deal?"

"Says that he was a 4.0 student for two years majoring in political science, but dropped out after that," continued Karl. "Three months later he was arrested by the Providence Police Department for running numbers for a bookie who specialized in Duel Monsters tournaments. Then we arrested him a few times for other 'short cons' pulled on kobolds and goblins, hustling Duel Monsters and selling counterfeit cards."

"The guy went from Head of the Class to Down in the Dumps overnight?" asked Tormento.

"Apparently so," replied Karl. "Maybe we should go check and see if our boss is making any progress with yours..."

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"It's your move, apprentice," said Baroq.

"I have a name, you know," said Jenn. Again, she drew. "First I'll summon Edge Imp Saw."

As she used the card, another evil-looking metal Fiend appeared, a very large circular rotary saw with several equally-large coping saws crisscrossing it. It had those same sinister eyes that Edge Imp Sabres did. (500 ATK)

"By summoning it, I can draw two cards, so long as I first discard a Fluffal," she explained. She slipped one of her remaining cards, Fluffal Mouse, into the tray, then made two draws. "Then I have to take one, then place it on the top or bottom of my deck."

"Then you use Toy Vendor," said Baroq.

"Bingo!" laughed Jenn.

Like before, the machine chuckled, and a new capsule tumbled out; Jenn caught it as it bounced upward. "Now that I have my Fluffal Cat, I'll use this Polymerization card fuse it and Edge Imp to bring out a guy who's a real cut-up!"

Where did she learn this stuff? thought Terra. Watching the Spinal Tap movies?

The Spell Card produced its orange and blue portal, which dissolved into motes, doing the same to the two monsters. Again, a stuffed toy loomed out of the shadows; claws shone and teeth clicked under maddening eyes…

The new Frightfur was a lion, the same demented style as the Tiger, with a mane of sharp blades, and arms and legs haphazardly bolted to a torso that was little more than the rotary saw, bigger and sharper, and spinning. (2,400 ATK)

"In case you forgot," she continued, "Tiger's effect grants both of them 300 Attack Points per Frightfur."

(Frightfur Tiger: 2,500 ATK, Frightfur Leo: 3,000 ATK)

"Frightfur Tiger, get that monster! Swift Slash Cutter!"

This time, the Fiend made a leap, as the opposing card flipped topside, revealing a young, handsome, blonde man in a leather shirt and trousers, his right leg and right arm covered in cloth bandages. Tiger bull-rushed him, and like before, there was a loud SNIP, bisecting him.

But as the pieces shattered, Baroq's first set card finally lifted. "I activate Unfinished Time Box," he announced.

The Trap Card gave way to a strange-looking rectangular metal device, standing upright. Tiger looked at it curiously. Then a slotted lid on the side facing Jennifer slid open, and a red light peered at Tiger with a humming noise, and then the Fusion Monster was sucked into it, as if drawn through a funnel. The lid closed.

"Uh, give my regards to Egon Spengler," said Jenn. "what the –"

"An Unfinished Time Box, apprentice," answered Baroq. "And your comparison is actually quite accurate, it's holding your monster for safe keeping. In the meantime, I draw once."

As he drew, Frightfur Leo growled angrily, even as its Attack Score fell back to 2,400.

"Well now I can –" she started.

"Before you do anything rash," he added, his second set card lifting, "I'll also use my Baiter Bluffer Trap Card. It requires you to draw cards until you have six, but I gain 1,000 Life Points for each one you draw."

Jenn hesitated for a moment or two, glancing at her watch before she started to draw.

"That's right," he said. "Check to see how much time you have left. Nothing like a little pressure to inspire you, is there. Well here's more."

His third card lifted. "I'll use Talisman of Reversal. Because my hand size is now less than yours, I get to draw until they're equal."

"At least you can't use them now," replied Jenn. "Get 'im!"

Frightfur Leo's rotary saw spun faster, and then spun across the room with a violent flash, tearing through her opponent…

(J: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 8,900)

"I couldn't then," he said, as if nothing had happened, "but now, I can summon Conundrum Caller."

He placed a Monster Card widthwise on his Disk, and an eerie, ominous hum accompanied colored lights as… something appeared. If Jenn had witnessed Eden's duel with Mathmatica, and didn't know about his Conundrum Creature, but if she had, she might have compared it to this monster, a large, green prism shaped like a gemstone with spindly arms and a featureless, odd-shaped head. (A dodecahedron, actually.) (3,000 DEF)

As it crossed its arms, Jennifer concentrated on the face, as if trying to stare it down, even though it had no eyes.

"What?" asked Baroq.

"Nothing," she replied. "I think I may have seen that thing in a nightmare I once had before a geometry exam."

Is this kid ever serious? thought Terra.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

I'm alive? thought Bonnie.

"Come on, get up," said Damned Magician Girl's voice.

As the Duel Spirit helped her stand, Bonnie weakly opened her eyes enough to see that clock. It had been fast-forwarded. It read 47:59:37 now, and was still counting down. Antisthenes – for indeed, that was the name their mysterious master called himself – was gone, clearly having left after she collapsed.

"He told me to tell you have one more chance," said DMG, "but you've got two days."

Bonnie looked at the clock for a minute. Then her stomach growled loudly, and she realized how famished the strain of her body aging a week in seconds had made.

"Hungry, huh?" asked DMG. "I think we have some sandwiches left in the other room."

"I'm going to need something more than that," replied Bonnie.

Specifically, she wanted what condemned prisoners were given before execution, because she was pretty sure that would happen soon.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"So Clem was murdered because he knew too much?" asked Penelope.

"He knew too much, and he worked for Red Shroud," explained Philip. "Red Shroud heads the most powerful espionage organization in the world, and she knows things that, if gotten out, could be embarrassing, scandalous, or potentially career-ending.

His voice sank to a whisper again. "Ever wonder which professors at Ivy League medical schools don't have legitimate licenses? Which Senators are accepting bribes? Which rich and respected Wall Street tycoons are bigamists who own sweatshops in the third world? Red Shroud pays a great deal of money for scandalous secrets, because she uses them to gain power, and folks like Clem who just want money work for her to find that stuff. And they're safe from retribution, because Red Shroud knowns too much about their victims. Why do you think Clem was able to dodge justice so long?

"Clem finally discovered a gold mine, or so he thought. He stole information belonging to someone who wasn't afraid of Shroud at all. He paid for that mistake with his life."

"Okay then, so why?" asked Penelope. "Why does this, uhm, Antisthenes want humans to believe things that aren't real? Don't tell me he can make things real if enough people believe in them?"

"Not quite," said Philip. "From what I can fathom, he is dedicated to Law in a way that overshadows even the most stringent members of the Fraternity of Order. He believes that if Law suppresses Chaos, the universe will be in harmony."

"They want to preserve law by spreading distrust and suspicion," stated Red, looking doubtful.

"Not man-made laws," answered Philip. "Those are important to them, but not a priority. They believe that natural laws of the universe, the axioms that hold it together, must be mended to keep it safe."

"Don't tell me we're going to get into the old 'fight the bad guys to create spiritual glue' thing," groaned Penelope.

"Don't worry, I'm not," replied Philip. "You see, these folks think that if a world is 'broken' with regards to its adherence to Law, it's their duty to fix it. And they view our world as sorely in need of repair, but not beyond repair.

"They think they can fix it if they simply remove the Veil that prevents Mundanes from perceiving Shadows."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"That thing is pretty tough, but I've seen tougher," said Jenn. She looked at her hand which was now seven cards, looking at her watch again quickly. "I'll throw a card face-down and end."

"Then I will draw, and set one monster and one face-down card," said Baroq "And I think that's all I'll do this time. If you can get past it, by all means, try."

"Uh-huh," said Jenn, "As a great warrior said, 'I try not, I do, or do not. There is no try'."

Terra groaned again as the Shadowchaser drew.

"And I will do," she said. "Christmas may be almost two months away, but it seems Old Nick is coming early this year."

"I believe you meant 'St. Nick'," corrected Baroq. "Old Nick is actually a term for the Devil."

Jenn smirked, and flipped one of her cards around.

"Okay," said Baroq, "maybe you did mean Old Nick."

Indeed, the monster was a Fiend called Santa Claws, a demon with long claws, diabolical horns, and reindeer horns, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, a horrid caricature of Chris Cringle.

"That's right, but hey, he may be evil, but he's all about giving," said Jenn.

The card in her hand glowed, and there was a loud thump as the Fiend leapt from the ceiling, throwing a sack over Conundrum Caller as he did so. He smirked at Baroq before turning towards Jenn and kneeling. (2,500 DEF)

"You sacrificed my monster?" asked Baroq.

"You got it, but don't get too attached," replied Jenn, "because in this case my Remove Brainwashing Trap works better than milk and cookies!"

Her set card snapped up, and Santa Claus slid across the floor, towards her.

Impressive, thought Baroq.

"Now I'll use this Polymerization to fuse together Edge Imp Chain and Fluffal Rabbit!" she announced. "Ever wonder where steel wool comes from?" The two monster cards hovered over her, then the Polymerization card blasted both into cracked pieces. "Here's Frightfur Sheep!"

As the Spell Card drew the two monsters into itself, there was a horrible din that sounded like someone slamming on cymbals; Terra would have covered her ears if her hands weren't tied down. She bent her neck up to see the new Fusion Monster… then quickly reclined it again. This one was unnerving even for her. It only vaguely resembled a sheep, its face consisting of a mouth full of sharp gears and two doll's eyes that looked like they had been sewed on at the wrong angle. Its torso was encircled by barbed chains and flanked by appendages made from bronze gears and chains that had been cobbled into small block and tackles, mounted with pairs of them that clanged together causing the terrible sound. (2,200 ATK)

"If you think that's impressive, I'm not finished. Because I sent Fluffal Rabbit to my Graveyard just then, I can take Fluffal Bear from it. And because I sent Edge Imp Chain there, I can take Frightfur Fusion from my deck."

There was a double click and both cards appeared in her outstretched hand. She used one, and Fluffal Bear appeared again. (1,200 ATK)

"Now I'll sacrifice him again to get a Polymerization again!" she shouted, her enthusiasm growing as the stuffed bear disappeared. "Then I'll use Frightfur Fusion to banish him and Edge Imp Sabres!"

Again, the Fairy and the Fiend flew over her head, the demon scissors splitting into several component scissors, one of them cutting Fluffal Bear in half with one chop, the others jabbing themselves into its cloth exterior.

This Frightfur was even worse than the previous ones. It remained bisected at the waist, the top half of it tied to the lower half with some taunt cords, and those same nasty scissors between the two halves. Even worse was its mouth. It had no hinge, the upper part of the jaw completely separated from the lower, and in-between, behind razor-sharp teeth, a second pair of eyes, those same evil ones from Edge Imp Sabres. (2,200 ATK)

Two Fusion Monsters in one turn? thought Terra. Kid's not bad.

"Keep going," said Baroq. "I can hardly wait to see what comes next."

"Oh, I'll bet," said Jenn. Then Frightful Bear's scissors started to snip, and like Frightfur Tiger's did, elongated towards the set monster. Magical Merchant appeared on the card briefly, then was cut in two.

"Thank you," said Baroq. "I assume you were hoping to use Frightfur Bear's effect to Equip my monster to itself and prevent it from staying in the Graveyard, thinking that would help, but its Flip Effect functions nonetheless."

He discarded three monsters from his deck, Mataza the Zapper, Blade Bounzer, and a Level 5 Fiend-Type before taking the third, a Spell Card.

"Maybe," said Jennifer.

Actually, I was, but I'm not telling him that. Oh well.

"He still gains a thousand points because of it," she said. (3,200 ATK) "Now for you."

Frightfur Leo's blade started to spin again, and Frightfur Sheep's cymbals clashed together. They launched themselves at Baroq…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Interesting," said Voltaire.

In a large conference room with computer monitors set up, Voltaire was looking at the purple alchemic powder Nitro used on the journal, with the journal and a notebook in front of him as Jalal Nitro and Fanciullo watched, both asking questions now and then. Z was going over other criminal files with the other gang members at the opposite side of the room.

"A bit crude, but very effective magical solvent," he said.

"Thanks," replied Nitro. "I don't have access to the same materials that they got in the floating City of Zerth, but –"

"In English, people!" interrupted Fanciullo.

Voltaire cleared his throat. "As Mr. uhm, Nitro realized, if whoever this girl was trying to protect the book from was using Axiomatic magic, they'd likely be warier of Wild Magic than most magic users, as they'd be more vulnerable to it."

"Astounding," replied Fanciullo, clearly thinking the opposite. "Next you'll explain to me why vampires avoid the place that sells the garlic soup."

Voltaire looked over the edge of his glasses at Fanciullo his expression somewhere between bemused and annoyed. "I enjoy a bit of snark as much as the next person little one, but on the off chance you want to learn something tonight, might I suggest you save for it for another time?"

The crime boss looked at him as if Voltaire had just slapped him upside the head, his expression changing from stunned to angry very quickly. "Why you condescending –" The rest of his statement was muffled as Voltaire held his mouth shut.

"Uh-uh-uh, rational thinking first, emotional outbursts later," Voltaire scolded in the gentle tone of a schoolteacher, "in fact the reason why you happen to be in this mess is because the latter is no longer working, so bearing that in mind let's move on!"

As he slowly released Fanciullo's mouth, it was clear the mob boss was far from eager to do that, but after taking a deep breath he gave the slightest nod of his head, but not before giving a death glare at Nitro, who had a hand over his mouth trying (and failing) to muffle his laughter.

"As I was saying," Voltaire continued as though nothing had happened. "While most people CAN agree that it's a good rule of thumb to avoid Wild Magic, this book has been specifically treated to serve as a double edged trap. If one were to cast a powerful spell of Law to disarm one half of the countermeasures, doing so would trigger the other half."

"So, you're saying regardless of how someone might go about disarming the spells protecting the book the end result would still be the same, namely a complete disaster?" asked Fanciullo, rubbing his chin. He seemed to regard Voltaire with a touch less irritation as he started to understand.

"Yup, they'd try to protect themselves, and their own spells would trigger something that blew him into chip dip!" laughed Nitro. "Once I figured that out, I was able to undo the Phantom Chaos Aura with the same Solvent of Revealing, used to decipher scrolls associated with Loki, Susanoo, Olidammara, that whole crowd."

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Jalal. "Let's see if this works again."

"On it," said Nitro. He picked up the small jar and started to spread it on the page proceeding the one he had already revealed."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Ouch," said Baroq.

Ouch? thought Terra.

(J: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 4,500)

The guy is facing down half of Freddy Fazbear's band and just took a direct hit from two of them and all he can say is "Ouch"? Who is this guy?

"I'm setting one facedown card and ending my turn," said Jennifer, "so now Santa here can finally deliver that gift."

Santa Claws rummaged through his bag, then lobbed a small gift package over his shoulder, landing on Jenn's deck as she reached out with her left arm. It vanished in a silvery twinkle, and she made a draw.

"Cute," said Baroq. "I draw, and it's now the conditions are exactly right to use the true effect of my Conundrum Caller." The monster card he mentioned appeared to his side, and then melted away into thick, purple smoke. "By banishing it now I can Special Summon two monsters of the same Type but different Attributes and Levels from my deck, each Level 4 or lower. Thus, I first summon Chain Thrasher."

As he placed the card in his coat, a Warrior flipped forward from behind him, the same one as the one hiding under the set card earlier, a young, blond fellow in a leather vest and shorts, with his right arm and leg wrapped in bandages.

Jenn smiled sweetly at him, and he smirked slightly, then pulled a length of spiked chain taunt in front of him. (1,000 ATK)

"Ugh," said Baroq. "If we can get on with this, the second one –"

He used another card, and a grim-looking man in dull green oriental armor holding a katana blade that shimmered in the dark. He grinned as he lifted the weapon, a smile not nearly as nice as Chain Thrasher's, and Jenn saw her reflection – and that of Frightfur Sheep – in the shiny metal blade. (1,300 ATK)

"That's Mataza the Zapper," she said.

"Much like the other one I sent to the Graveyard last turn," replied Baroq. "As for why that's important –" As he played another card, Mataza's sword disappeared and a long, golden spear replaced it. "The Phalanx Pike grants him 900 Attack Points for every monster in my Graveyard with the same name."

(2,200 ATK)

"And next I'll boost his Attack Score even further with the Spell Card, Blind Spot Strike. It grants him Attack Points equal to the Defense Points of your defending monster." He pointed to Santa Claws. "It more than doubles it."

(4,700 ATK)

"Wait," said Jenn.

Unfortunately, he did not wait. Mataza leapt at Frightfur Sheep, stabbing down in mid-jump and skewering it.

He leapt back as it shattered, spinning the weapon as he looked Jennifer in the eye.

"I use Sheep's effect!" shouted Jenn. "I –"

"I'm afraid you won't," replied Baroq. "I use the Spell Card, Forbidden Graveyard."

He discarded one of his cards and lightning flashed from the Quickplay, catching what looked like a phantasmal Frightfur Sheep emerging from the shadows and shattering it.

"Noble attempt," he said. "That monster's effect lets it revive itself once per turn with 800 more attack points, but my Spell Card prohibits all effects that activate in the Graveyard for the remainder of the turn.

"Now then, since you're familiar with this monster, I take it you know he can attack twice?"

Not waiting for an answer, Mataza quickly proved able to, stabbing Frightfur Bear between those glowing eyes. Jenn shrieked as it burst.

(J: 3,800) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 4,500)

"Hey, that really hurt!" she cried.

"You'd best build up your threshold for pain, apprentice," replied Baroq, "as well as your resourcefulness, else your first task as a Shadowchaser may be your last. I use the Tailor of the Fickle Quickplay Spell Card."

The Spell appeared, and Mataza threw the weapon to Chain Thrasher, who dropped his own to catch it. (2,800 ATK)

"Not only does that Equip Spell make him even stronger than Mataza was due to the two Chain Thrashers in my Graveyard, including the one I just discarded, but via his own effect allows him an extra attack for each one. How good are you at math?"

Truthfully, she was excellent at it, having gotten A's on trig last semester. And as he leveled the Pike at her, she kind of wished she wasn't…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"There we go," said Nitro.

Fanciullo bent over, as the purple smoke cleared, and words written with an odd alphabet appeared. Drago, Uomo, and Z were behind him now, trying to get a look.

They heard the door open behind them, and Jalal turned, nodding to Karl and Francis as they entered with Tormento.

"What kind of a language is that?" asked Drago, looking very, very surprised.

"Ooh, now that IS interesting," Voltaire murmured. He pulled something that looked like a gem dealer's eye piece over the right side of his glasses and tapped a few lenses into place. "I'm not exactly an amateur in the study of ancient languages but this writing is old, very old, impossibly old!"

Noticing the looks everyone was giving him and then one another Voltaire gave a meek shrug. "Well to be fair in this crowd, 'impossible' may be a relative term but you get the idea."

"So you're saying you can't translate it?" Jalal asked.

"Not to the specifics we'd need in order to learn anything useful, BUT!" The old Shadowchaser whirled around so quickly Nitro had to duck out of his way to avoid being bowled over. "Luckily for us we have one of the most versatile and resourceful young ladies around. Miss Emmerich, if you would be so kind as to download a translator for extinct Indo-European languages?"

Fanciullo, Drago, Nitro and most of the other Shadowchasers, Jalal included, seemed to do a double take at this, looking around as if expecting to see someone else in the room. Meanwhile Karl simply sighed. "He means SAL, it's... kind of a pet name, long story. Well SAL?"

"Well since Voltaire asked so nicely it would be my pleasure," the little computer said, and even Jalal's eyebrow had to tilt at how SAL had somehow managed to crank the sensual purr in her voice up a notch in response to Voltaire's flattery.

She hummed softly and a holographic screen appeared as she started to search the net. As she was doing so, everyone looked at the strange journal, puzzled.

"This is nuts," said Uomo, "what'd she write in this, the secret recipe for Coca-Cola?"

"You're not helping, Uomo!" scolded Fanciullo. "Why in the world would it be written – that way?"

"The most potent magic is in very old texts," answered Jalal, "written before the printing press was invented, and they tend to be too fragile to copy with some photocopier. Wizard have to learn these languages before they can scribe these old texts and decipher them."

"And she couldn't translate this all into one language?" asked Fanciullo.

Before anyone could answer, SAL chimed, "File Done."

"She's such a show off," said Karl.

"Let's take a look," she said.

As Karl positioned his palm over the book, the screen shifted, and words, first in the Latin alphabet, changing to English, started to form.

This is what she wrote out:

The following is an excerpt from The Book of Inverted Darkness, penned by the dimensional historian Ice the Trice Born:

In the mist-shrouded days of eons long past, a race dwelled on a world in another reality. They were a people not unlike humanity with sturdy limbs, fair complexions, and handsome faces. They were known as the tiere, a word which meant "purpose" in their now-unspoken language.

They were warriors and wizards of wondrous skill, their craftsmen, engineers, and architects building technology and structures that were miracles for the time. But the most remarkable of the tiere were their spiritual leaders, who led their people's faith in a god whose name is lost, probably forever.

The tiere focused their energies and resources towards a task that most then and most now would declare impossible. They would construct a massive temple for their god unlike any seen before or any seen again. Their goal was to construct a palace so large, so beautiful, and so perfect, that their god would come and live in the temple, if only for a short time.

And so, they toiled at this task for untold generations until it was finished. Whole empires and civilizations were founded and collapsed in the time it took to construct the massive temple, but the unwavering tiere were true to their name.

When the temple was finished, its size and grandeur surpassed anything that they, and indeed any mortal being had ever created. It was so immense that a dove could fly straight down the center for days and not touch a wall in the enormous shrine. The windows had been constructed by rainbows and fountains filled the air with the music of a nymph's song. The god of the tiere was so pleased that he did indeed make the temple his home.

But as news of the grand temple spread, others were envious of such a magnificent work. So it was on a dark day an enemy with a grim army advanced on the tiere, intent on seizing temple for his own.

The tiere gathered round the temple in hopes that their god would protect his loyal followers. The deity within feared more for his own safety, however, and refused to help his mortal followers.

So it was that the tiere came face to face with the true nature of the being they had labored so long to please. The face of an ungrateful coward.

Instead of weeping at this cruel betrayal, at the knowledge that the work of generations was for naught, the tiere held hands, and began to chant Words of Power, Words of Belief. Words laced with the cold sting of Revenge. Words to repay an act of infidelity so great that it would curse and condemn them forever. These mighty words sealed their enormous temple, imprisoning their once-beloved god within. The god of the tiere was trapped forever in the temple his people had created.

What happened then? Most say that the tiere were consumed and eradicated by this act and that if any remained, they were slaughtered by the grim army. Whatever the case, their temple with the Captive God within has not been seen since.

But… In the savage, wind-torn wastes of Minethys on Carceri, where usually only the exiled and banished live, one mortal race of nomads wanders the deserts. A sullen folk with skin toughened from years of living in such a harsh environment, who live a primitive simple life of hunting and gathering, despite a cunning that is uncanny for mortal races, necessary for survival in such a place. While not hostile to strangers, they shy from them, avoiding contact or communication with other races. And they live in Carceri willingly; no curse or compulsion keeps them in the Great Prison, making them unique in the universe.

Their name? The gautiere. It is a name that, in the ancient language of the tiere, would have simply meant "without purpose".

There was dead silence for about two minutes.

"Dear God," Voltaire finally said.

Nobody said anything else. Those two words were enough.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Chain Thrasher made three violent slashes across Santa Claws, diagonally left-to-right, right-to-left, and then down the middle, and it shattered. He stepped back, pivoted, spun the Phalanx Pike, and thrust, impaling Frightfur Leo.

"I activate Option Hunter!" screamed Jennifer. Her facedown card lifted up, and as Frightfur Leo was blown to bits, the shards turning to soothing mist. She breathed in deeply.

"Now I gain Life Points equal to its Attack Score. I'm not done yet."

"You've got a lot of spunk, kid," said Baroq. "You've also got a lot of nerve."

With nothing left in his way now, Chain Thrasher made his third attack, stabbing at Jennifer directly at her midriff. She screamed louder, and fell backwards…

(J: 600) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 4,500)

Well, almost. Somehow, he caught before she collapsed, lifted her slightly, and then kissed her gently. Then he smiled before dropping her on her back and returning to Baroq's side.

As Jenn sat up, her cheeks were flushed and a little red. "Meh, humans," muttered Baroq, shaking his head. He set his final two cards, then said, "Go on."

Jenn stood up, drawing, looking a lot more serious. Then she straightened up. "Okay, maybe you got a little better, but I've got this! Double Cyclone! It destroys one of your cards, and one of mine. So I'll destroy your Unfinished Time Box, and my Toy Vendor!"

Twin cyclones, one red, and one green, poured out of the card, the first blasting into the Continuous Spell and the second to the Continuous Trap, and they shattered. There was a shudder and a hum as the Unfinished Time Box appeared again, opening and releasing Frightfur Tiger. (1,900 ATK)

"If you think that's something, because I destroyed my own Toy Vendor, I can take Edge Imp Scissors from my Graveyard. Now I'm gonna use this!"

Her last Polymerization, obtained from Fluffal Bear the next turn, appeared alongside an adorable-looking toy dog with wings.

"I'll fuse together Edge Imp Sabres, Fluffal Dog, and Frightfur Tiger!"

A Fusion within a Fusion? thought Baroq.

As he watched, Frightfur Tiger roared, and dark magical lightning ran over its fur as it started to change shape, falling to the floor on all fours, its arms changing to front legs. It's face became even more bestial, its eyes more maddening. Tusks sprouted from the sides of its mouth, then its cheeks, and then its forehead, and its tail became a scimitar, pointing inward.

It looked at Baroq's two Warriors and licked its lips at the anticipation of prey, as they clearly knew. It was Frightfur Sabre Tooth now. (2,400 ATK)

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"WHAT?"screamed. Red Feather. Then she quickly looked around, lowered her voice, and sat down, but was still angry, and horrified, as she spoke, and Penelope was the same. "He's going to dispel the Veil? He can't!"

"What exactly do you mean by 'can't'?" asked Philip. "You mean 'can't' because it's morally and ethically wrong and would cause conflict that would end the world? Or 'can't' as in, you don't think it's possible?"

"I would think both," answered Penelope.

"Well, as for the first type," he explained, "why do you think we've been trying to stop him so long? Let me explain this slowly. As you know, the Veil is less an actual barrier than a psychological defense that most humans have; when a Mundane sees a Shadow-related phenomenon, his mind refuses to accept it and hides it from his view with an image he finds palpable, turning the bugbear into a tough construction worker or turning the hellhound into a mean guard dog. With this subliminal Veil in place, humans are able to coexist with Shadows without conflict arising between them, and Shadows are safe from those who might exploit them. And both groups are protected from the madness that a revelation would cause.

"Antisthenes is a guy dedicated to Law in an alien and incomprehensible way that makes him dangerous. He sees the Veil as a violation of physical laws. Common sense says 'a 21st Century human shouldn't see a displacer beast in its true form because he'd be scared to death and would spook the beast'. Antisthenes and his followers would say, 'a human should see the displacer beast in its true form because you shouldn't see what isn't there'. Very, very single-minded.

"Thus, this is why his plans work the way they do. If it was actually discovered that the Warren Report was a lie and someone in the U.S. government did order Kennedy's death, people would wonder, 'Well okay, they weren't crazy. So, if they were right about that, what else were they right about'?"

"And consequently," said Penelope, "if a group of elves went public and everyone knew about her, they'd start wondering, 'Well if elves are real, what else is out there?' They'd start looking!"

"See? You're learning," said Philip. "He's trying to forcibly induce mass Awareness on the entire planet through gradually encouraging belief in hidden secrets that aren't there. And if successful, he believes he could step in amid the chaos it would cause and restore, to his mind, true Law and Order, because clearly the beings of this world aren't capable of it themselves.

"Naturally, he's insane, but don't forget, some of the worst dictators the world has ever seen believed their own actions had some benefit.

"Now, as for the second part goes, most would agree with you. Yes it does seem impossible to destroy something that is, in effect, a metaphysical concept. The thing is, the Veil has been damaged a lot already by things so overwhelming that they couldn't be hidden. Leviathan, Darkness, and the Arc Cradle have all been poking holes in it for years."

He started spreading a large piece of paper out in front of himself. "Stopping them requires getting here before they do."

The two Shadowchasers bent over to look at what appeared to be, at first glance, the floorplan of a large shrine with Greco-Roman architecture. But when they looked at it closely, it didn't seem to be a floorplan or even a map, at least not drawn by any cartographer. It was like a sketch of an interior map done with display purposes in mind, tracing a path through jumbled corridors and odd rooms towards an important spot at the far end. And while the architecture resembled Greco-Roman in design, clear themes dominated each part of this odd structure. The corridors closest to the arbitrary entrance had grassy décor and gardens, then watery, icy rooms, then a rocky, mountainous theme, and finally an area with black stone and fire before the presumed goal.

Written on the side was a few words; Penelope read them: "Stroll down memory lane, walk down the road of regrets, and enter the doorway to oblivion –" She stopped reading for a moment, then went on, " – where the sage sits and pens the book that writes reality."

"Where is this place?" she asked sternly again, looking up.

"Well," said Philip, "we're not exactly sure it can even be called a place. You see, that's where our group enters the fray. We became an actual group sometime after the American Civil War, and several years afterwards, the first Determined discovered we had an enemy to focus on, and after about ten years, our founder found out Antisthenes was looking for this place. She made this drawing and assembled a lot of notes on the 'temple'. The year was 1892.

"Nothing was heard from her for decades. Then, in 1935, she came back briefly."

"Wait, wait, whoa," said Penelope. "This founder of yours, was she human, elf, what?"

"Human," replied Philip, "and by then, she should have been about ninety years old, but hadn't seemed to have had aged a day. She didn't say how or why she had kept young, but was clearly different. The members of the Determined belonging to races that lived long enough to remember her described her as colder and less friendly, but more dedicated to her task than ever.

"She had discovered the means to find the place, the four Memory Crystals, the first of which Sofia recently helped us find. But I'm getting ahead of myself. She described a ritual that had to be done to get to the 'temple' requiring all four of them, saying that Antisthenes had to be prevented from doing so, as he'd be able to corrupt Truth so that it would be indistinguishable from lies in his mad plan. She bid us to look for them, but also said she was continuing on her own.

"And that was the last time any member of the Determined saw her, at least in person. The group has searched the world for Memory Crystal Alpha since then, coming close many times, only for it to flee when we came near, but at very least, we've kept them from it.

"Their very last contact with our founder was shortly before the Battle City tournament."

He placed two cards on the table, the City of Eternity and Bridge Over Eternity Field Spells.

"Her message included the first card, with instructions on how to replicate it and orders to use it should we ever have to duel, saying they'd guide us towards Alpha, and that finding it would create a new card."

"And Beta will give you a third?" asked Penelope.

"We assume," he said. "From what we can figure, the cards might represent a journey or pilgrimage towards that place, each card showing a step forward. But it wasn't until Sofia helped us that we took the second step.

"Her message stressed finding the Memory Crystals, claiming she believed now that they and possibly the temple itself held the key to his undoing. Unfortunately, her message also delivered her resignation, and also said she would not be returning, her final order forbidding us from looking for her, claiming it would be detrimental if we did. We have no idea where she is, or whether or not she's there by choice.

"So the abbreviated plan is, we have to find the remaining three Memory Crystals before these guys do, hopefully get to this place and, well – " He sighed a little. "To be completely honest, that's where we hit a snag, until, ironically, we did something we don't normally do."

"Accepted help?" asked Red Feather.

"Didn't you see what happened to Clem?" asked Philip. "Antisthenes is a very dangerous man. He's not scared of us, and he's not scared of Stormbringer either. I guess staying hidden sounded like, well, a good idea at the time."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"It may be strong, but Chain Thrasher is stronger," said Baroq.

"You didn't really think this guy didn't have an effect, did ya?" asked Jennifer.

Frightfur Sabre Tooth let out a low, spooky moan, and a mass of metal ribbons and pipes ripped out of the floor, twisting around each other and forming a rough, man-like shape, like a rusty animatronic exoskeleton. Then, Edge Imp Saw's eyes appeared in the center again, and there was that same awful snipping noise. Frightfur Tiger's endoskeleton covered the framework, becoming whole again. (1,900 ATK)

"He's back!" said Jennifer. "And thanks to Sabre Tooth's other effect, both my monsters gain 600 Attack Points! While Tiger's effect raises them by another 400!"

(Frightfur Sabre Tooth: 3,400 ATK, Frightfur Tiger: 2,900 ATK)

"Next I can Sabre-Tooth's effect to destroy one of your monsters." She looked at Chain Thrasher. "Sorry bout this," she said. Then the saw spun again, and a flashing blade launched towards the Warrior; he shattered, and the Phalanx Pike dropped with a clatter before shattering.

"That's not all," she laughed. "Because he had 1,000 base Attack Points, you take that much in damage right to the kisser!"

Sabre-Tooth howled loudly, and this time Baroq felt it. His shirt jacket ripped and frayed as the sonic waves hit him.

(J: 600) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 3,500)

Almost free, thought Terra. She felt the hospital bed creak and strain, as she forced herself to sit up straighter, and felt the numbness and dizziness going away. The medication was wearing off.

"Now you're really gonna get it!" shouted Jenn. "I attack Mataza the Zapper with Frightfur Tiger!"

As Tiger's blades started to spin again, Baroq hit his Duel Disk, and his Trap Card opened. "That's far enough," he said. "I activate Memory of an Adversary! This card banishes Frightfur Tiger in mid-attack, at the cost of damage to myself equal to its Attack Points."

"HUH?" gasped Jenn.

Terra was just as surprised. Still, Baroq was clearly serious. A seem in his chest broke and sputtered as a fuse shorted, causing him to hold it with his free hand. Still, there was an outpouring of weird light and Frightfur Tiger was gone.

(J: 600) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 600)

"Boy, that was a stupid move," said Jenn. "Mataza has only 1,300 Life Points, and mine has 2,900."

"Which means you'll be victorious if your attack succeeds," replied Baroq. Then his other Trap lifted up. "Assuming it does. You see with that situation, I can now use Eleventh Hour!"

A dark chime ringed somewhere, and Mataza dropped his sword.

"What's going –" Then Mataza clutched his chest and burst outward, like sand scattering in a violent wind.

Something was coming.

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"Okay, Penelope, okay," said Jalal. " I'll get back to you." He winked, triggering a command on the Google Glass and turning off the phone.

He was walking down a hallway quickly with the other Shadowchasers following him, Fanciullo and his men keeping up.

"Things have just gotten a lot more complicated everyone," he said, turning his head slowly.

"So what's our next move?" asked Fanciullo.

"You and Voltaire will keep working on the journal and see what else is there," explained Jalal. "As for the rest of us for now, it's very likely this girl who gave you this thing is one of these gautiere, which means we have to find her, quickly. I don't know whether she's a victim or criminal, but she's dangerous either way."

"So how are we gonna do that?" asked Drago. "The dame could be anywhere."

"We may not know how to find her, but possibly this group that's out to get her, assuming that's their goal, does," replied Jalal. "And a few who work for them are in custody. There was that assassin that they sent after Z, that imp that helped Yolanda and her son escape –"

"Isn't Joka working for them too?" asked Sal.

Everyone stopped. Then everyone looked at Z.

"I was just getting to him," replied Jalal, reluctantly.

"All right, all right, I'll go question him again," said Z, the look on his face indicating he did not want to do that.

Jalal winked twice, and the floorplan of the detention facility came up on the screen of his google Glass. "Okay, seems he's in B-wing. Karl, Francis, you two back him up."

"Yes sir!" said Francis. The three of them broke from the others, down a separate hallway.

Francis stopped for a minute, then briefly rolled his left sleeve up, glanced at one of the tattoos. Then he rolled it back and hustled to keep up.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Okay, th-that's creeping me out!" gasped Jennifer.

The… thing Baroq had summoned with the Trap Card was a vaguely egg-shaped ghost with stubby arms, no legs, and a very big grinning mouth, full of large, blunt teeth. Its eyes were large, saucer-shaped, and completely blank, and a chain was shackled to each wrist, connected to a broken three-handed pocket watch as big as itself that floated behind, with four symbols on its face of four different colors – blue, purple, silver, and black – suggesting numbers. (0 ATK)

"Yes, undead gear spirits have a tendency to do that," said Baroq. "Now let me explain how Nightmare Metronome works; it's Attack Score automatically changes to that of the Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, or Xyz monster on the field with the highest Attack Score, assuming there is one. Unfortunately, with your Tiger gone, it's counterpart loses 600 Attack Points."

(2,800 ATK)

"Well, that sucks, but I got news for you," said Jenn, "my monster can't be destroyed in battle! Get it!"

Sabre-Tooth pounced, and to her surprise, the weird ghost fought back. Not very well, though. It caught the Frightfur by the wrists, and there was a struggle for a few seconds, then a loud slamming noise, before both monsters shoved themselves away from each other, Sabre-Tooth skidding on its claws.

"My monster can't be destroyed either," said Baroq, "seeing as I summoned it with the Trap Card."

Jenn checked her watch quickly. Only five minutes left, she thought.

"Okay, okay, I end my turn."

"Then I draw," said Baroq, "and due to the second effect of Memory of an Adversary, Frightfur Tiger returns, but to my side of the field."

Tiger started to phase into view again, a ghost at first, but then slowly started to solidify. But as it did, Jennifer smiled broadly, and her Remove Brainwashing Trap tossed a lasso of glowing golden rope from the center, wrangling Tiger and dragging him back to his mistress' side.

"Did you forget about that?" she asked.

Tiger looked Nightmare Metronome in the eye and snarled angrily.

"How rude," said Baroq, his tone turning haughty and stuffy. "He should really be more polite to his fellow unholy abominations."

"Stuff it!" snapped Jenn. "You can't attack both of them, and next turn I'll –"

"I don't have to attack either of them," said Baroq, cutting her off, "seeing as you have more monsters than I do, and both are Fusions. He will attack however."

"But how –" she started.

Then she realized what he meant. It wasn't going to attack her monsters. It was somehow able to get past them to her.

The sudden realization came with another – she had nothing to stop it.

The terrible spirit howled as a shroud of ghostly ectoplasm with binary ones and zeroes interspersed inside covered it and it swooped, its toothy mouth wide open and its hands outstretched. The two Frightfurs tried to shield Jenn, but were bowled aside effortlessly by the thing, as it rushed at the Shadowchaser. She screamed, the chill of the grave and nails on chalkboard combining with the evil embrace…

(J: 0) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 600)

She collapsed on the floor. "No," she sobbed. "No, no, no…"

"Bomb countdown deactivated," said a familiar voice.

"What?" she said. She lifted her head up. Yes, Baroq had stopped the countdown, with a minute and fifteen seconds left.

"You show potential, apprentice," he said. His Disk deactivated and folded. "So perhaps I can gain more from this trip than I had thought."

His eyes changed color again as he looked at her; Jenn scooted backwards. She didn't know exactly what he meant, but as he approached, it was clear this wouldn't be good.

"Uh," she said. "Oh. Behind you!"

"Sorry, kid, you're gonna have to try better than that," replied Baroq. "How dumb to you think I am?"

"Pretty dumb," said Terra's voice.

He turned around quickly, realizing a little too late that his true intended victim had finally gotten free, only to be broadsided by a solid sucker-punch from Terra. There was a CRUSH and a CRACK, and his faceplate was torn off, and a second punch where the torn seam from the fight had burst knocked him over.

"Real smooth, stupid! You want an abomination? I got your abomination right here!"

Jennifer crawled away quickly and watched, the angry minotaur grabbing the same chair she had used to ambush him. "I'm gonna break your fucking arms, then call the doctors and tell them to set them, and then I'm gonna break them again!"

Ouch, thought Jenn. The worst part is, Terra actually hit him, and then again, beating him with the chair and smashing the cyborg body to broken pieces, stopping only when a much, much closer alarm started ringing.

"Oh, now they find out what's happening!" she yelled.

"I think you just let them know about it!" shouted Jenn, at the top of her lungs so as to be heard.

Terra looked at her, then at Baroq, or rather, what was left of what he had claimed was a temporary body, which he seemed to have officially abandoned now.

"Great, I'm beating up a blender," she said.

Still snorting in exertion as she stood over Baroq's broken remains, she threw the chair aside (or rather, what remained of it) then turned to Jennifer again, who flinched at the wild look in the minotaur's eyes, but what happened next left her completely stunned.

The minotaur leaned in and kissed her, not on the cheek or forehead, but right on the lips before coming back up leaving the Shadowchaser's face as red as a beet.

"Thanks hun, wish I could stay but I've got places to be. I owe you one!" Then she turned and gave the door to the room a single kick of her hoof and it broke open outward off its hinges, hitting the other side of the hallway. She looked back and forth, then took off down the hall.

Still half-sitting-half-collapsed where she had been when Terra had first kissed her, Jennifer put a few fingers on her lips before giving an almost idiotic grin. "Okay that was so worth how long it's going to take before the sexual confusion wears off..."

Still, the alarms kept going off, and right now, Jennifer knew it was cold comfort given that she had lost the duel, nearly gotten killed, let Terra get away after being told to watch her, and the colossal wreck they had turned the room into. Not to mention how much trouble she'd be in with Rebecca later…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

In the townhouse in Raleigh, Sofia was trying so hard to do what the chief had suggested. She was sprawled out on the couch, the DVD player showing a movie she had downloaded last year (Queen of the Damned was the title) but had never watched for some reason.

Halfway through it, she suddenly remembered why. She sighed, and hit the remote, putting it on Pause.

Then she tilted her head to the side a little. "Orchid, can I ask you something?" she asked.

The djinn was behind her all right. Orchid hadn't said anything since she had entered the room, but Sofia knew she was there

"You can ask," replied the djinn.

"Well, you're a genie," started Sofia.

"Last time I checked," said Orchid.

"I'm sure you know quite a few good stories about, well, bad genies."

"Bad genies?" asked Orchid. Slowly, she sat down close to her.

"You know," said Sofia. "A guy wishes for a bottle of beer that's never empty, and the genie gives him one, and he can never manage to open it?"

"Oh, oh, right, that type of genie," said Orchid. "Hmm, well, I know a couple. One woman a few decades ago really wanted to be famous. Wanted everyone in the country to know who she was. What was her name?" She thought for a minute. "Elizabeth-something or other, I think they called her – Black Delilah?"

"Elizabeth Short?" gasped Sofia. "Black Dahlia?"

"Right," said Opal. "She was a struggling waitress who wanted people to notice her, and she –"

Then she saw Sofia's horrified expression. "All right, all right, I'm sorry," she said. "Come here."

Opal hugged her, and she started to feel a little better. "Calm down. Djinn do not condone that sort of thing."

"I guess stories like that aren't always funny," said Sofia. She pulled away, and leaned back on the couch.

"Well, some are rather profound," added Opal, "if you're willing to listen."

"Go on, I could use the laugh," said Sofia.

Opal stopped for a minute or two, then leaned on the armrest as she looked at Sofia. "A young woman wakes up, and finds an old oil lamp on her bedside table, which she could swear wasn't there before. Out of curiosity, she picks it up and stokes it, and a huge, rather intimidating genie emerges.

"And he says, in a deep, booming voice, 'What is your third wish?'

"Confused, the woman says, 'Third wish? I never asked you for a wish'."

"The genie replies, 'Oh, you did. You see, after making your first wish, you found the results unpleasant, so you used your second wish to undo the first wish'. So I still owe you one'."

"So she thinks for a minute, and says, "Okay, my lover has been missing for years. I wish for him to return'."

"The genie gives a sinister chuckle as he starts to make some magical gestures to prepare the spell he uses to grant wishes, and says, 'Very well, but I should tell you – that was your first wish'."

Sofia looked at her, the blank expression still there, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Good night, Sofia," she said. She stood up. "Pleasant dreams."

Sofia sat looking at the screen for a while. She turned her head, wondering – again – where she went when she disappeared.

Miss Subtlety drives home another hint, she thought. She was about to hit the Play button with her thumb, then changed her mind and turned it off instead.

Maybe I should turn in, she thought. Not like I'm solving any problems watching bad movies…

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UNFINISHED TIME BOX (Trap Card)

Continuous Trap

Image: The box itself, a strange rectangular device covered with spindly mechanical arms, on a digital background.

Effect: Activate when your opponent destroys a monster you control by battle; banish the attacking monster, then draw 1 card. If this card is removed from the field, return the banished monster to your opponent's side of the field in Attack Position.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

BAITER BLUFFER (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: A cartoonish picture of the Goblin of Greed picking up a trail of gold coins leading to an alley, where evil eyes are watching.

Effect: Your opponent draws cards until his hand consists of 6 cards; you gain 1,000 Life Points for each card drawn via this effect.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

CONUNDRUM CALLER (Monster Card)

Rock/Light/Effect/Lvl7/0/3,000

Effect: If this card is sent to your Graveyard from your hand or deck, shuffle it into your deck. You may Special Summon this card from your hand if your opponent declares an attack with a Special Summoned Level 6 or higher monster or any Xyz monster. You may banish this card from your Graveyard to select 2 Level 4 or lower monsters of the same Type but different Levels and Attributes from your deck and Special Summon them. If you do, you may not Summon or set any other monsters that turn.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

ELEVENTH HOUR (Trap Card)

Continuous Trap

Image: Fiery meteors streaming across the sky over Clock Tower Prison as it hits eleven o'clock, a mysterious figure with a sword standing at the apex.

Effect: Sacrifice 1 monster you control to Special Summon 1 "Nightmare Metronome" from your hand, deck, or Graveyard. A "Nightmare Metronome" you control cannot be destroyed by battle if you control this card. You can only control 1 "Eleventh Hour".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

NIGHTMARE METRONOME (Monster Card)

Fiend/Light/Effect/Lvl8/0/2,000

Effect: If there is 1 or more Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, or Xyz monster on the field, the ATK of this card becomes equal to the ATK of the Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, or Xyz monster with the highest ATK. If the only cards your opponent controls are Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, and/or Xyz monsters, and your opponent controls more monster than you do, this card can attack directly.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Jemorille: Poor Jennifer had tired her best, after a mistake she had made had nearly brought an angry hellwasp swarm down on Hanover, the event which had brought Rebecca to consider having Z give her some "pointers" (mostly on not to be so impulsive). Now she had let Terra get away and had almost been killed, and was not looking forward to the tongue lashing she would get from her mentor.

Still, at least she had lived, and Baroq's attempted murder had been thwarted. It seemed Philip and Fanciullo had combined their information with the Shadowchasers, and more parts of a puzzle were starting to piece together.

One factor remained – Eden.

Next chapter, the goal Philip spoke of comes clearer down the road as "Great Balls of Fire" comes next.

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Shadowchaser Files

Personalities: Kuchisake-onna

Urban legends know no boundaries, and are as popular in Japan as they are in America. But they do have a noticeably different theme in the East. Where American stories like this tend to be about serial killers who prey on innocents who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Japanese ones focus on killers motivated by anger and revenge, and often involve supernatural beings. As a result, many of them have some basis in the darker parts of Shadow. And as many Shadowchasers know, some of these legends are terrifyingly true. Kuchisake-onna ("Slit Mouthed Woman") is one such urban legend that many had wished was just a story.

Make no mistake, however, this spirit is real, and her targets have included four members of the Shadowchasers, two of whom didn't survive. All of them, it should be noted, recognized the threat and had every intention of ending it.

The popular story, as told by Japanese students on dark nights (which can only be assumed to be true, for now), is how a girl was murdered and mutilated by her abusive husband and became a malevolent spirit as a result, preying on random victims, usually children. (Or other teenagers, an admittedly common theme in stories like this.) Most versions of the story say she resembles an ordinary woman, maybe wearing a stylish office dress or schoolgirl's uniform, but always has a surgical mask covering her lower face. (Which is actually common in Japan for cold and flu sufferers.) Given what survivors know, she's a local, and seems completely human at first glance, even to the point of looking solid and tangible. Nothing about the story limits her appearances to night, and indeed, daylight does not seem to hinder her at all.

Typically, a confrontation is as follows: She approaches a victim and asks a simple question: "Am I pretty?" Answering "no" causes her to produce a pair of scissors and stab the victim to death. Answering "yes" is worse; she rips the mask off, revealing the horrific wound that caused her death, slashes from knives from each corner of her mouth to each ear. (Commonly known in the underworld as a "Glasgow Grin" or "Chelsea Smile".) Then she'll ask, "How about now?"

Answering "no" then results in a far more brutal death for the victim, while a second "yes" may be worse; she then mars the victim's face the same way. And trying to flee from or fight back against Kuchisake-onna doesn't work. (She is a ghost, after all.)

Some stories suggest there is a way to escape unharmed. Answering her question in a neutral way (like by saying "you look so-so") might confuse her enough for a victim to actually run, and there is a rumor that she can be distracted by a fleeing victim that throws fruit or candy while running (suggesting she might be a preta, or "hungry ghost") and a recently confirmed rumor states that she will excuse herself and let a victim go who claims he has another appointment; this in fact, led to one confrontation with the Shadowchasers that may have pinpointed a weakness. Possibly.

The first confrontation with her and a member of the organization ended very badly. Tokyo Shadowchaser Netero Miki tried seeking her out and using the diplomatic solution, thinking what works for a revenants or valpurgeist (that is, finding a ghost's killer or otherwise completing the "unfinished business") would work should he discover it.

Miki's optimism had always been his greatest fault, and in this case, facing her alone seemed to be another mistake. A few terrified witnesses to what happened (that resulted in Kuchisake-onna cutting him in half, literally) claimed his attempts only infuriated her.

Reaction by his teammates were rather quick; knowing they has a malignant and dangerous spirit to deal with, they called in an expert on ghosts from Switzerland. Chiara Benz was a hedge mage skilled at banishment magic, and this time, she wouldn't be searching alone. It was easy to pinpoint Kuchisake-onna this time, the indelible imprint clearly on her face due to Miki's murder (the incredibly powerful spell not hindered if a killer is undead).

Unfortunately, a big part of Chiara's plan depended on Kuchisake-onna taking time to ask her question, and she did not; upon hearing the words of the spell she was starting, she just made a rush at Chiara, stabbing her. Her partner tried to fight the monster, but she vanished quickly.

Now realizing that this spirt – who, if she was ever a victim, was clearly not an innocent victim – was out for blood, Jalal forbade any further experiments and ordered this case treated like the typical Shadowkind serial killer. The next encounter, however, recorded only recently, was one that confirmed the rumored weakness and added another.

Ueda Jori's first meeting with Kuchisake-onna was by accident, but she recognized the spirit quickly; claiming she was late to meet someone worked, as the spirit let her by, but Jori noticed an odd addition since last time – a Duel Disk. Whether that meant Kuchisake-onna actually wanted to confront them or not, she didn't know, but Jori decided to find her again, this time with backup – American Shadowchaser and Arnis expert Eddie Slattery, who came armed with special butterfly daggers treated with powdered jade, a substance effective against Japanese spirits.

The two confronted Kuchisake-onna in the Akihabara district and in the duel that followed, Jori gained something she didn't expect – a cheering section. The obviously male voice started as a laugh that made Kuchisake-onna visibly nervous, which got louder whenever she lost Life Points, eventually turning into shouts of encouragement when Jori managed a direct attack.

Finally, Kuchisake-onna decided to scrap the duel, lunging at Jori with her scissors drawn. This of course, brought a response from Eddie and even more cheers from the mysterious supporter, who shouted, among other things, "All right! Someone finally has the guts to fight her!"

Eventually, Eddie delivered a wound that made her flee; Jori survived the encounter with "only" the ugly Glasgow smile as a reminder. As of yet, the results of cosmetic surgery to heal it have yet to be seen, and whether Kuchisake-onna can be brought down, only time will tell.

Story Ideas: It seems now that Miki may have had the right idea; Kuchisake-onna has an enemy and identifying him may be key to defeating her, assuming this enemy isn't even more dangerous. His identity is left open for authors to explore.

Those who want to explore this plot device further are encouraged to watch the series Constantine (episode 5 especially), the movie Kokkuri, and the manga Hell Teacher Nūbē. These works either actually feature the Kuchisake-onna or convey the general feel of Japanese urban legends associated with such beings. (Or both.)