Hello folks.
As usual, I must give credit where credit is due. Special thanks to 7th Librarian and Mei1105 for writing the subplot of this chapter.
And so, onward.
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Now, I'll admit I'm not much of a movie-goer, but I have studied the history of the filmmaking industry of your modern world. While brief, compared to other forms of such media I have seen, it tends to change rather quickly.
The "slasher genre" (as low-budget horror movies containing gratuitous and graphic violence are called) is a rather simple one with, well, to use the kindest words possible, many recurring themes. They depend more on shock value and gore than suspense. They almost always focus on a serial killer motivated by an unquenchable desire for revenge. Said killer is usually indestructible and unstoppable, often with unexplained supernatural powers, and a penchant for unique and violent methods. (Never simple shootings.) Victims are almost exclusively teenagers or young adults, often guilty of minor vices that are disproportionate to what happens to them. The heroine - and it's always a heroine - is always the one he goes after last, is always "morally pure" and can sometimes find the one flaw her friends could not.
The biggest reason for that is because the writers seem to equate moral purity with intelligence. The "final girl" is the only one with enough common sense to maintain self-preservation. Most other victims are either too stupid to flee before the killer appears, and when he does, flees right into their grasp.
Karen had seen a few of these films in her time, viewing them as fluffy satire. As older veteran Shadowchasers had told her, panicking in the face of opposition was unwise, and running in terror from such a foe would likely make it worse.
The fact that she was now disregarding such advice completely was not lost upon her….
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Chapter Forty-Three
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Brave New World
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Karen had no idea how she had gotten outdoors, or how Liverpool had suddenly turned to night, or how it had suddenly become a humid moore full of dead trees, but she didn't care. She barely dared to look backwards as she ran, stumbling every so feet over muddy and slick ground.
Barely. Every ten feet or so, she screamed and swung her weapon at the hands trying to grab at her. Not human hands, sinewy, inhuman ones. Finally, she struck against one of them hard.
The blade shattered.
She stopped, and gasped for breath. Tears fell as she bent over. Her stomach cramped. "No… please…" she sobbed.
Then she screamed again. One of the hands had grabbed her foot this time. Then a second one.
Then she wailed louder. Something had grabbed her neck. And it was starting to pull. Upward. Even as the hands let go of her feet….
He was going to hang her!
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Beatrice's gait was only slightly slower than Karen's had been as she entered a room full of monitors and computer screens, mounting a swivel chair as she did and almost falling over. She started to type a password in, and despite not having changed it for years, misspelled it once before the "access approved" message appeared on the second try.
"Domino, where are you?" she shouted.
"I'm exactly where I was when you left," came the reply. "Five minutes ago."
"Make sure," she said, nervously. "This is going to take perfect timing."
"Fear not, as of last upgrade, I'm accurate to one five-hundredths of a second."
In truth, Beatrice would have liked him to upgrade it further, to a thousandth, but there was no time.
"I can do my job," he assured her. "Be ready to do yours, Damned Magician Girl."
Of course, Beatrice knew why he had emphasized the last three words, to remind her - again - that she was expendable. She changed the subject.
"You sure nobody is going to interrupt you?" she asked
"Nearly positive," he replied. "Mr. Richards is currently in Norway, and Mr. Karr is in Morocco. Even if they return unexpectedly, I have three backup plans to draw their attention."
She nodded nervously, and glanced at the clock, the one constantly counting her life down. Seven hours and twelve minutes left….
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"No… NO! Please! PLEASE! Let me go!"
It wasn't a scream, this time, it was more like a horse whine. The last two words barely came out as the noose choked her. Everything was turning red...
"Let you go?" asked Freddy's voice. "Eh, what the hell... Okay."
Next she knew, she fell on her behind with a thud and an "OOF!"
"See?" he said with a sly chuckle. "All ya had to do was ask."
Karen held her throat. She had read a few times how some condemned victims had survived hanging, and seen movies where it was the plot point. (Michael J. Fox was one survivor, a bungled take of Back to the Future III causing him to rethink doing his own stunts.) A botched execution or aborted lynching was never easy to recover from. Victims often had a scar or a deformed neck, at least…
So why was the pain fading so fast?
"Wh-why?" she groaned. "You…"
"Cause I got bored," replied Freddy.
Karen was cut off from her next comment as those same hands yanked her to her feet. He - as in Freddy Krueger, the notorious dream haunting killer - was sitting on a rock in front of her, his arms behind his head in a slouch.
It was certainly him, even if he didn't look as malevolent as usual, same hat, striped shirt, leather glove (with long, sharp razor-like metal claws) and a horribly scarred face, a reminder of how his mortal body died, burned alive by the angry residents of Elm Street after being revealed to be a child-killer and acquitted via technicality.
She looked around. The area around them was blocked off, the trees having formed a wall around them, and those creepy hands were holding her ankles again. Clearly Freddy had something else in mind now.
"Yeah," she stuttered, "that was, uh, the setup, huh? What are you waiting for? Let's have the punchline?"
She shrieked as a fist slammed into her face and knocked her over.
"Happy?" he asked, with a laugh.
Well, can't say I didn't ask for it, she thought.
The hands violently pulled her up again, and he leapt from the rock. She rubbed her nose, which was bruised. What now? she thought. She went over all the death scenes from those old movies in her head, how victims were shredded, roasted, and dismembered, wondering what his plan was now. Then she was shocked to see a Duel Disk on his arm.
"Huh?" she said. "Duel Monsters?"
"Hey, it's how you guys do this, right?" he asked.
"Aren't you usually more, uh, creative?" she asked. "You know, like that thing with the roach motel? Or the -"
She stopped quickly, as she realized what she was saying.
"Nah," he said, "did all that already. Not as funny the second time, y'know. I got a little something new I wanna try." His Disk flipped up. "Sides, it's no fun doing it the old way with you guys. Like a dog with no teeth, too easy."
"Yeah, no good without the Disk," mumbled Karen. "Kinda like how one lazy police officer kept you from being just another pedophile married to the inmate with the most cigarettes."
Flames erupted to every side of her, and she shrieked and covered her head. She screamed louder as the noose grabbed her neck again, and pulled taunt.
"Just don't get comfortable, kid," he replied. "Once this is over, you're gonna be just as dead."
"I take it back!" she pleaded. "I take it back!"
"I mention I ain't givin' you a choice here?" he said. The noose squeezed.
Karen nodded quickly, the noose relaxed, lowing her to the ground, the flames lowering to campfire size.
"You're insane," she muttered.
"Well, DUH!" he laughed.
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"You know, Lyrius never sends us anywhere nice." The woman's voice crackled over the comm, more amused than anything as her and her three companion's D-Wheels barreled across the open desert. "I mean, he's always talking about the hotels he stays in, the spa resorts he just happens to be needed at…"
"Spas are overrated," a sardonic tone countered. "If I wanted men to rub me in oil and herbs, I'd turn myself into a steak."
"We do have a copy of his credit card," a new voice interjected thoughtfully. "Maybe once we're done here we should find a nice resort to chill in."
"Careful now, ladies," the fourth speaker put in, her voice husky and rich. "I still have control of the money and going all-out on a resort is going to put us out another fortune."
"...and that little birthday weekend you took down Rodeo Drive was totally justified, was it Mai?"
"Of course. Every woman needs designer shoes in her life!"
"You know, Mai," he third voice put in. "Dad has enough money that you could just… oh, I don't know… design your own custom shoes."
"Oh please!" Mai adjusted her speed as she replied. "You know Lyrius. Anything he designs has to have some practical purpose...like turning into a weapon...or exploding. Who wants exploding shoes?"
"I would. They'd be useful in an ass-kicking contest."
"Okay, not exploding shoes…" the first voice spoke up slowly. "But considering nearly all of our clothes are enchanted and we're traveling across a desert to break into a tomb full of death traps and gods know what else, I would think something that explodes would be very handy."
"Mora's temper counts, right?"
"Bite me, Melissa."
"No thanks. Don't know where you've been!" Melissa snickered, causing static through the comm.
"Okay kids, the first voice put in. "Put a sock in it. We're here."
The four bikes slowed to a crawl and then dead stop at the edge of a valley, the riders dismounting and dusting sand off themselves.
With a snap, Mai popped the tabs on her helmet and pulled it off before shaking out her blonde-silver gray curls. "Ugh, helmet hair…"
"Mai, your hair always looks like that. Well, except each time you get a gray hair, its more distinguished." Melissa practically tore her helmet off and hung it on her bike's handlebar. "Mora's, on the other hand…"
"I told you to bite me," the drow reminded her, doing her best to smooth the tangles out of the shoulder length black locks.
"Shame you had to lose the blue, hun," Mai commented as she popped a compartment on her D-Wheel and started tossing water bottles to her companions.
"I looked like a fucking peacock," came the brisk reply. "Besides, it's easier to hide in the shadows when I'm all black."
"We brought you along to see in them, not hide."
"Well I didn't think you'd brought me along for the scenery," swallowing a gulp of water, Mora's voice was droll. "I thought Pharaohs got buried in pyramids?"
"Not in this time period. By the start of the New Kingdom, they were burying them here in the Valley of the Kings. According to my notes, the tomb we're after should be somewhere around here, with the rest of the Pharaoh's of the eighteenth dynasty…"
"...Melissa, have you been eating your textbooks again?"
"I had to read something on the flight over," Melissa pointed out as she unscrewed the lid to her bottle. "Especially since two of our group seem to have educations that comprised of 'find problem, smash problem, dance on problem's grave'."
"Hey, I have education! I'm doing my A Levels now, thank you! And I don't smash my problems. I stab my problems."
"Point still stands."
"You question my methods, but you do not admit that I have so few problems, kid." The remaining rider pulled off her helmet, revealing mess of curly brown hair that was graying at the roots. A scar zig-zagged across her face, having passed through her right eye and probably resulted in her having to wear the eyepatch. "The only one I have right now is that none of my group is busy getting out their gear."
"We just drove two hours, through the desert, Francesca," Melissa pointed out and leaned on her back, crossing her arms. "Not to mention we have to wait until nightfall to find the tomb's entrance."
"All the best things happen at night," Mora finally cracked a wicked smile.
"You jinxed us. You went and said that and now we're going to get attacked by zombies." Mai pointed a mock-accusing finger at the drow. "If it happens, I'm telling you 'I told you so, bitch'. And shoving you into their waiting clutches."
"And that's a bad thing?"
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"Be my guest, kid," said Freddy, "not like I'm in a rush here."
(Karen: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Freddy: 8,000)
"Yeah, I saw how patient you were in the fourth sequel," she remarked. "Or maybe it was the fifth." She drew her sixth card, used one, and the Disk projected an angry-looking barbarian with a lion's head and claws, wearing a pelt, waving a sword. (1,500 ATK)
"I kinda lost track. I mean, they can milk one premise for all it's worth, but it goes dry eventually. Turn end."
Unfortunately, it was hard for her to believe her own words, and it was obvious he knew she was lying, the smirk on his face never changing as he drew. He set two of his cards, one hidden monster and a card behind it.
"Defending?" added Karen.
"I'll save the offensive for later," he said. "Move."
"Yeah, you're the most offensive guy I've ever seen," she added.
She went to draw, but then screamed again, the flames to her sides blasting upwards again.
"Don't press your luck, kid," he said.
She gulped, then drew again as the fires started to subside, slightly. She looked over her six cards, which consisted of Cattle Call, Bronze Maiden, Canistaur, Lady Panther, Shogi Lance, and Pitch Black Warwolf. She went for the last.
Best stick with old reliable for now, she thought. The wolfman appeared, howling upwards, then snarling at her opponent. (1,600 ATK)
"Leotaur, you first," she ordered. "Get it!"
The lion man needed little encouragement, charging at the set monster with a feral snarl. A small, batlike imp with a siren on its head holding a bullhorn appeared, and was cut in two quickly.
Stygian Security? She thought. He's using Fiends, WHAT a surprise.
However what came next was very much a surprise.
"From my deck, I summon House Duston!" he exclaimed.
There was a shrill chittering noise, and a cloud of dust shot up from the ground, turning into a swirling, billowing cloud. As came into focus, she could see little… critters flying around in it, the word "critters" being the only way she could describe them. (1,000 DEF)
She shrugged, and turned to Warwolf, who drew his weapon and pounced, slicing through the cloud. It dissipated, sort of.
"Bad idea, kid," he said. "See, when House Duston gets gibbed, I get to summon a few of its pals."
Six dusty motes flew from the spot where Warwolf's blade had struck, splitting into two groups of three, three of them flying to Freddy's side, turning into three little imps. They almost looked cute, like three white cubes with small eyes, stubby limbs, and a thick, short tail. (1,000 DEF x 2)
Then three more of the little guys appeared on her side, which looked slightly different. One was red, and had crooked horns and pointy teeth. The second was green, had one horn, one eye, and a very big grin. The third was blue, and had one horn, one eye, and a jagged frown. (1,000 DEF)
"Wow, it's the Ojama's extended family," said Karen. "Your move, Fred."
"Freddy," corrected the villain, his voice sounding a little irked as he drew a card. He opened his set Trap Card. Karen's eyes opened wide when she saw what it was….
Five sharp blades darted from the Just Desserts card, and she hollered as they stabbed into her chest and torso….
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It was something always wondered by Sensitive humans and young Awares how alchemists got most of their materials. You couldn't exactly go into a drugstore and buy eye of newt and tongue of toad, let alone the stuff they needed for more powerful concoctions, like water drawn from the lungs of drowned men and mummy dust.
While this was true for the most part, quite a lot of powerful stuff was actually easy to find at the corner drugstore or supermarket, and could actually be relatively cheap.
Still, Ferd never liked going shopping for Emily, especially when she changed the list or asked for more than usual. Today she had done both.
"PEE-YEW!" he shouted. "Either that stuff is really potent, or you're making lasagna again."
Of course, the former seemed far more likely, as the acrid smells coming from the bubbling tubes on her workbench in the small room didn't smell remotely like pasta.
"Funny," she said. "Uhm, you might want to put one of those on."
She was indicating a particle mask on the wall near the door, something clearly provided for him and anyone else coming in the room. Ferd shook his head in disbelief, but put it on quickly.
"You get what I needed?" she said.
The question was answered as he plopped some large bags down on the table nearest to him. He really didn't like being in here when she made the "poison milkshake".
"It wasn't easy to get live daffodils this time of year," he said, "which by the way, aren't going to survive long in here."
"S'okay, just need the roots," she said.
"The florist looked at me strange when I said I needed this stuff," he added, indicating another bag. "Is it really this dangerous?"
"The white snakeroot?" she asked. "Let's put it this way, know how Abraham Lincoln's wife died? She drank milk from a cow who had eaten them. It's that potent."
"And you're going to drink it now," he sighed.
"You got it, big guy," she said, she stood up and looked at him. "The more potent the poison, the more potent I am." She turned, her cute smile turning to a WAY more evil one. "Here, let me show you…"
"Wait," he said. "WAIT…"
Then she grabbed him by the waist, and planted a huge kiss on his lips.
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Karen held her chest, breathing heavily.
(K: 5,500) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 8,000)
Of course, she had been no stranger to Shadow Games. The one she'd had with Dybbuk had been brutal. But this, this was different in some way.
The knives had pierced her chest, and burned. Like a hot blade tempered in water, except it wasn't water. It was blood. Her blood.
Still, even as she struggled to get up, she still managed to grin through sweat and tears. "That all you got, ugly?"
For the first time, he seemed a little irked. "You got guts, bitch," he said. "Gonna be real funny seeing them spilled all over the floor."
Karen tried to pull herself up, Then fell on her knee while straining. .
"Take your time, kid, I got all day," he gloated. "In the meantime, I'll Overlay these three guys."
The White Dustons flew upwards, circling three times, flying into the Overlay Network. The Xyz monster stood up, or rather, shoved himself up weakly. It was the Goblin of Greed, but he had clearly seen better days. He was covered with filth and grime, his once-rich and expensive clothing reduced to rags, and the trousers held up by a cord. He had lost weight to the point of looking emancipated. He still clutched the Pot of Greed, or rather, the half of it that included the handle. The infamous device seemed to have been broken. (0 ATK)
"I'll set two, then use the Continuous Spell Card, Zerozerock," he said, "and it's your move."
Karen stopped for a minute. She looked rather unnervingly at the two set cards.
"What?" he asked. "Not afraid of these, are ya?"
"What's it to you?" she snapped.
Of course, she was. Not that she'd tell him. Having to take another hit like that wasn't something she was looking forward to.
She closed her eyes tight, and drew a card. She waited…
Nothing. She opened them.
Then she took a deep breath and went on. Her earlier crack about Ojamas was actually rather accurate, but these were actually worse.
I can't use these to fuel a sacrifice, Synchro summon, or Xyz summon, she thought. And if….
"I activate the Trap Card, Earthshaker!" shouted Freddy.
So that's his game, Karen thought. Well, let's see if I can fix that.
He pointed to "That means I can -"
"Hold the phone, crater-face," she interrupted. "I've got earthshaking for you! From my hand, I activate Cattle Call!" she held the card up to the dim light, and a shimmering gate appeared behind her and the Beast-Warriors. Then, the ground shook as a herd of Dark Zebra thundered through it.
"What's going on?" demanded Freddy.
Karen waited, as the herd stampeded to either side of her. It subsided, and when it did, Warwolf was gone.
"By getting rid of that guy," she said, "I get to summon someone from my Extra Deck whose the same Type. But different Attribute. Like Celestial Wolf Lord Blue Sirius!"
A geyser of pure brilliance broke from the ground, and a hunched over wolfman with scintillating blue fur rose and howled. (2,400 ATK)
The dark clouds above seemed to heed him, parting and clearing, revealing a full moon and a multitude of stars, turning the murky night into a lovely twilight.
"Ugh," said Freddy.
"Figures," she said. "Shine some light on the darkness, and guys like you run for cover. Just like any bad dream, it's only as real as you make it."
"Oh, I'm very real," growled Freddy.
"Just get on with it," she demanded. "I believe you were about to name two Attributes, but we just went from four options to five."
"Awright, awright," he said. He looked over at the three Dustons, then at Leotaur and Sirius. "Fire and Wind!" he snapped.
Karen nodded with a smile. "Clever plan there, fellah, sort of. At least now I don't have to choose between killing both of my monsters and being slammed by one of those guys effects. By the way, I'll choose Fire."
As the ground trembled, Red Duston turned and grinned wickedly at Karen, bowling flames and hitting her in the bosom and knocking her over.
(K: 5,000) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 8,000)
"Two points!" laughed Freddy. He gave her a two finger salute as she lifted her head..
"Sure, laugh," she said, "I managed to hold onto them, and here's where it counts. I'll sacrifice him to summon Kaiser Vorse Raider!"
The Synchro Beast-Warrior crossed its arms, then faded and dissolved, causing a feral savage to appear that was about a head taller. It was Vorse Raider, of course, but he had... Changed. His armor now included shoulder guards and knee guards with sharp horns; his axe had a jagged blade with a shaft taller than he was. (1,900 ATK)
Unfortunately, getting rid of him caused the light to dim again slightly. She nervously held her chest then placed another card on her Disk, widthwise.
"Because I just summoned a Beast-Warrior, I can also Special Summon Bronze Maiden in Defense Mode."
True to her name, the Warrior who appeared had a rich, bronze tan, and was dressed like she was a friend of the Amazoness tribe. Her limbs, torso, and parts of her face were covered with tattoos and war paint. Still, her outfit was fancier and more elaborate, with a blue cape and orange skirt with a symbol that looked like a crescent moon on its side. (500 DEF)
But I can't do much with her until next turn, she thought. Let's hope she can survive until then.
She turned the three other monsters on her Disk. Leotaur knelt, placing its sword in its lap (1,600 DEF), while the Dustons, well, they didn't seem to change much. (1,000 DEF x2)
"Go on," she said.
"Think you're safe defending with those guys?" he hissed. He grabbed his next card, and then pointed to the Xyz. "During each of my Standby Phases, Brash Goblin loses an Overlay Unit."
As he deposited the card, the Goblin seemed to get healthier and cleaner. His clothes mended a little, and he gained some weight, his malnourished look improving slightly. The Pot of Greed he was holding looked in better condition too, still cracked, but now all the pieces there.
He used one of his cards, causing dark mists to waif up from the spot The ground around it started to rot and crack, causing the healthy grass and soil Karen's card had created to decay.
"I summon Memory Crusher!"
Karen was a little nervous to see the demon that appeared, an ugly thing with huge wings, mauve skin, and a toothy, vertical jaw flanked by mandibles that made it resemble some love child of Cthulhu and the Worms. (1,000 ATK)
Then she calmed down a little.
"Oh, really scary," she said. "Of course, it's all for show unless it can…"
"Attack directly?" he asked.
Karen's eyes shot open as she saw the Spell Card he was palming. Secret Pass to the Treasures.
The Fiend lunged at her, and for the third time, she screamed…
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One would think that a man who had been poisoned on purpose with something that had just minutes ago brought him to the brink of cardiac arrest while causing him to puke his lungs out would be a lot angrier than Ferd was now. Still, in Emily's opinion, Ferd was acting better than usual.
"Think you can warn me the next time you do that?" shouted Ferd.
"Will you pipe down?" she said. "You're the only one I can test it on. Here, drink."
That was, indeed, true enough. The incredibly slow metabolism dwarves are known for could protect a mul from toxins that tended to kill the average human instantly. Still, being a test subject never appealed to him.
"How long this time?" he asked. He slowly drank from the juice carton as she checked a notebook she had been writing in.
"Twenty-ten," she said, with a disappointed tone.
The "twenty" she spoke of was the amount of time - in seconds - it had taken him to collapse; the ten was the amount after then that his pulse had actually started to slow. (And the time she applied the antidote; as yet, she didn't dare wait longer.) This meant, in a nutshell, her own toxic kiss was now about three-fourths of a second faster than it was last time. Slightly more potent, but barely an improvement.
"Damn," she said. She opened another notebook on the desk. "Maybe if I tried using Asian hemlock here."
"There's a bottle of lye under the sink, y'know," he asked. "Would it help if you drank that?"
"Tried it already," she muttered, not noticing the obvious sarcasm.
"Starting to wonder if this is actually doing something to you," he remarked. "
"Do something?" she asked. "Come on, I can controll it."
"Yeah, Hornung's last words, I bet," he answered. "That's not what I'm worried about I mean - well, I saw The Invisible Man once."
"That," said Emily. She stopped for a second or two. "That's just a movie."
"Same with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," he continued.
"Okay, okay," she said, quickly. "Touche, I get it."
"King Midas," he continued.
"Quit it!" she said, her jovial attitude fading fast.
"All I'm saying is -" he said.
"Yo, Wingus! Dingus!" shouted Dunstan's voice.
The door opened, and he coughed, then covered his mouth with his collar. "A word?" he said. "Finish it later, something's up."
Ferd threw the carton in the trash and followed him out. "What I'm saying is," he said to Emily again, "one of these days someone is going to offend you, when you're doped out on that stuff, and you're gonna go off the rails, forgetting how strong you are."
Emily giggled again. She started to lock the door. "I like to think I have self control," she said. "I'm not…"
Then she shrieked as Ferd slapped her. On the ass.
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Memory Crusher's claws raked across Karen's chest, then across her midriff, leaving three nasty scars.
"You know, kid, doin' it this way is kinda fun!" he laughed. "Kinda wish I'd thought of this sooner. And it's about to get better, cause you take 100 points of damage for every card in your Extra Deck."
Karen felt the demon grab her by the shoulder and lift her forcing her to look into its eyes. As they met, she screamed louder, fourteen sharp stabs ripping through her very soul...
(K: 2,600) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 8,000)
As she opened them, she saw a hand reaching down. She at first assumed it was one of Freddy's tricks, but then she saw that the hand was Bronze Maiden's. She took it, and lifted herself up…
She blinked, and the haze cleared away. Bronze Maiden was still crouching to defend, but Freddy's wicked chuckling had subsided.
"I'll set these two cards, and then I'm finished for now," he said through a dour frown. "So whatcha gonna do with her, kid?"
He had clearly indicated Bronze Maiden, whose eyes now looked feral and cat-like as she stood up.
"She already did it," said Karen. She drew, and there was little mistaking it now; Maiden's eyes were neither more nor less that of a feline. "If you remember, I was able to Special Summon her because he was still on the field," she pointed to Kaiser Vorse Raider, "but because of that, I couldn't make any other Special Summons. I can now, however, and -"
"Big deal," he cut in. Then he noticed something. "Wait, unless she -"
Karen smirked again. "As I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted, yes, her Level is now the same as his. In case it didn't sink in, big guy, that means both she and Raider are Level 5.."
The realization hit fast, and the network opened again, this time brighter and more intense, the two monsters breaking apart and vanishing just as the White Dustons did. There was the sound of an even louder cantor, but this time, only one hooved monster appeared.
"I Xyz summon Noble Warrior Mina!"
At first, the monster looked like Centaur Mina, but she had considerably upgraded her raiment. The plate armor was now shiny brass, accented by a violet tabard and a mask similar to Bronze Maiden's, but more elaborate. A coat of arms depicting an odd symbol - the same as the one on Bronze Maiden's skirt was printed on both her shield and tabard.
She smirked at Freddy, revealing tiny fangs (2,400 ATK)
"Now lets see what she can do, shall we?" continued Karen. "By using an Overlay Unit, I can bounce all my monsters except her, and in return, destroy and equal number of your cards."
"Wait, you mean," he said.
As she discarded one of the three cards from under the Xyz Monster Card, the golden orb of light was absorbed into Noble Mina's shield, and she turned to the two Dunstons. A swift kick from her rear hooves, and the two small Fiends spiraled towards their master, turning into cards before his hand increased by two.
Then she cleaved downward with her sword, slashing right through Brash Goblin and Memory Crusher with one swift horizontal a cut.
"What?" she said. "Didn't you just say this was fun? Well, let's see if Lady Panther can liven this party up."
As she used the card, a far older Beast-Warrior, one with toga, shield, spear, and panther's head on a woman's body, emerged next to Mina. (1,400 ATK)
"Then I'll Overlay her and Leotaur," she continued, the two Beast-Warriors soaring into the still-open Network, "to Xyz summon Diamond Dire Wolf!"
There was a howl, as if it came from Sirius, only louder. A huge wolf with a shiny silver pelt and barding on its shoulders and wrists pounced and howled again. The remaining clouds overhead vanished, revealing a fully moon and thousands of shimmering stars. (2,000 ATK)
"Very pretty!" growled Freddy.
"Gonna be prettier once I get rid of the ugly," added Karen. "Attack directly!"
The bloodcurdling shriek that came from the demon as Mina struck across his chest, tearing the sweater to little bits, was disturbing. Even Mina was shaken a little as she backed away from him.
(K: 2,600) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 5,600)
"Of course," said Karen. "Don't like it, huh? All you really are is some common punk."
As she expected, the noose grabbed her neck again - or rather tried to. She grabbed it first, then gave it a swift yank, ripping it down with a loud snap.
"See?" she said. "You can dish it out but you just can't take it. Sirius, your turn."
"Not gonna happen, bitch, I use Damage Condenser!"
Karen had seen this card in use before, and usually, the Solid Vision interpreted it with the strange "generator" pictured on the card. But that's not what happened this time. That huge furnace appeared again, flames spilling from it and igniting the brush around them.
A dark Fiend started to walk from the flames, was vaguely similar to the previous one, but even more horrific. It had no eyes, but did have a toothy mouth, and the head itself looked like an exposed brain, with three horns, two curved ones pointing backwards and one straight horn pointing forward. Its torso was gaunt, while its wings were leathery and tattered. (2,000 ATK)
"Memory Crush King, huh?" remarked Karen. "Kinda looks like you, just not as ugly. I'll set two cards, then I'm done."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Eden flipped one of her cards over. "As a wise duelist once said," she said with a small laugh, "and I use the term loosely, that's game!"
"Aye," said Wells. He started reconstructing his own deck again. "I was worried that you weren't even capable of laughing."
"Well, not much to be happy about, you know," she replied. "I've been doing this thing so long, and never really had anything to feel good about."
"And 'this thing' would be?" asked Wells.
Eden closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds. He wanted more detail. Why she was taking these risks and how she had gotten into the mess in the first place.
Of course,it was very, very rare that she trusted a human - or any species - enough to confide with such matters, but,,,
She looked around, outside the cell, surveyed the golems and the powerful security apparatus.
It's as good a time as any, she thought.
There was a "bloop" noise from the laptop next to him, indicating incoming mail. "Uhm, hold that thought."
Eden stopped, having been interrupted as she was about to talk. She noticed his sudden change of expression as he clicked on the icon. "Let me guess," she asked, more deadpan, "you've been willed a billion dollars from some guy you don't even know? Or is it your uncle in Nigeria asking for bail money?"
"Ah heh, actually, Eden, no, this network I'm on can only be accessed with a specific computer that has custom-made software."
"Like Tor?" she asked.
"Sort of," he said. "Except only Shadowchasers have access to it. Thing is…" He clicked on the mail. "I have no idea who this guy is."
"Uh, and you've been here how long?" she asked.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Okay bitch, I'm through playing," said Freddy.
"That mean you're gonna fold?" she asked. She wasn't sure, of course, whether she'd be better off with a "yes" or "no" response there.
"Not a chance," he said. "See, because my Brash Goblin lost one Overlay Unit before you eighty-sixed him, I get to take a Level 2 monster from hy deck, and then set it."
A card appeared reversed in front of him, and he mumbled something under his breath before making his draw. He set two cards behind it, then one of his already set cards flipped up.
"Multiple Destruction!" he announced.
Karen gulped as the ground cracked, and literally split open. "HEY!" she shouted. The exclamation was in response to a pair of ghostly hands grabbing the cards and yanking them into the fissure. Freddy, on the other hand, simply tossed his
"Oh, pipe down, you get five more to replace them."
"And you take 1,800 points of damage, big guy," she answered.
There was more incoherent mumbling from him for a few seconds, before he spoke up again. "I've had worse. Now I'm using the Spell Card Soul Taker to ice your Diamond Wolf!"
Karen couldn't help but be startled this time, and neither could Mina, it seemed. A huge, gruesome claw reached out of the smouldering crater and seized the Beast. It whimpered, and was yanked under.
(K: 3,600) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 3,800)
"I got something special for her," he said, pointing to Mina. His set monster flipped up into Attack Mode. "My Dark Eyes Illusionist!"
Now, this card was even older than Lady Panther, by several years. But it was far more notorious. An evil-looking harlequin with very large hands, clothing in gaudy and unpleasantly dark hues, and a face that, well, no face. Where its face should be was a golden eye of Wdjat. (0 ATK)
Mina angrily strained, trying to resist at it starred at her, the eye appearing on her forehead.
"She can't attack now, and my Shooting Star Bow means she can't defend either. Hooking it to Memory Crush King cuts his Score down, but he can go to town on you directly."
(1,000 ATK)
Karen tensed. Not out of fear (although, she did feel that), but purposely to brace herself. Memory Crush King's central horn lengthened, and started to crackle with evil magic.
"Get er," ordered its master.
Karen was gritting her teeth harder than the Fiend was when it hit, the bolt of dark eldritch power hitting - or rather, stabbing - directly through her torso…
Still, as much as it hurt, she knew she had to stiffen even harder. What came next would be worse….
"This monster's effect banishes every Synchro monster from your Graveyard, then hits you for 1,000 points of damage apiece."
Karen screamed again, and everything around her started to turn red…
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"I can't believe we found the entrance so easily."
"If you mean by 'easily', we had Fran and Melissa smash through the stone lock because we couldn't figure out the riddle…"
"Will you two stop narrating our lives and get your gear?" Fran grumbled as she produced a long glow rod and bent it. With a crackling noise, it slowly gained a pale blue-white glow that illuminated a good five feet around it. Moments later, her companions had done the same with theirs. "Raise'em, ladies. Let's see where we are."
All four women held their lights aloft and spread out slowly, revealing the antechamber. Mora eyed the drawings and carvings. "Melissa, what's all this mean? Whose tomb are we in?"
"You think they put the name in the first chamber?" Melissa asked, completely deadpan. "That's like a celebrity writing their name out in flowers on their front lawn for the paparazzi to see. These are funerary texts. Given the amount of them, I will concede that it's probably a Pharaoh. Nobles would never have got this much detail."
She traced the carvings with a finger, casting her light upward to view the ceiling. "There shouldn't be any traps this early, so we'd better move on. This is the eighteenth dynasty, so we're probably going down and in a loop."
"When you say there's no traps…" Mora's voice was echoing as she stuck her head in through the next door. "I guess you weren't counting long drops?"
She gestured with her glow stick as her companions crowded around her. Mai whistled, the noise bouncing down the deep dark shaft that had been dug into the floor.
"That's not a trap, really," Melissa explained. "It's a well. Most of these tombs have them.
They're supposed to stop any flood water from reaching the deeper chambers."
She swallowed and peered down into the darkness. "Though I will admit, that's an effective deterrent to any tomb robbers who don't watch their feet."
Jumping lightly over the gap, Mora turned a full circle, examining each and every corner of the room. In the darkness, her red eyes glowed like those of a cat. "This bit is safe. It's the top of a corridor. You can all jump over."
She stepped back and allowed them to make the leap with varying degrees of elegance while she examined the walls, her eyes scanning the images and ridges for something that only she could see.
"Now we're getting into the fun stuff," Melissa said, running her eyes over the walls. "Less about the Gods now. We start getting into the Pharaoh's life...wow that chick has pale hair! Their artists were on something in this corri-"
She gave a gurgled shriek as Mora seized the back of her jacket and yanked her back.
"Okay, ow!" the younger woman protested.
"You brought me here to sniff out traps," Mora said pointedly, lifting her glowstick and bringing it down through the air in front of them. To all of their surprise, it snagged at neck level, and the drow rolled the illumination back and forth across the thinnest piece of wire any of them had seen. "Behold, good ladies, our first trap."
Lifting their own glowsticks and squinting, the others followed the faint shimmer of thread that ran the width of the corridor. Fishing in her bag, Mora pulled out a half eaten bag of jerky, and tossed a piece at the wire. It barely made a sound as it hit the wire, severing into two pieces, which clattered to the floor.
All three humans in the room gulped.
"How the hell did you see that?" Fran asked, studying the trap, apparently impressed.
"I felt a disturbance in The Force," the drow deadpanned, pulling a set of wire cutters from the other side of her rucksack, and snipping the hazard cleanly.
"Are you kidding me?" Mai cackled.
"I shit you not. Eli's obsessed with Star Wars at the moment."
While the other three took cautious steps, allowing Melissa to stop and read the scenery, Mora squatted down at the doorway where the corridor turned into another small chamber. Strung over the threshold was another wire, this one at ankle height.
"The Egyptians are devious," Mora declared. "And that's me talking." Spotting something in the shadow of the wall, she reached out and snagged it with a grin. "The foot bone's connected to the…?"
"They were devious," Melissa told her, not taking her eyes away from the text on the walls for a second. "You're just creepy"
"I know. That's why I take so many pills." Tossing the severed ankle bone over her shoulder, the drow clipped the wire and crossed the threshold into the small chamber. Another wire hovered at stomach-height, and she snapped it with her cutters before waving her colleagues in. "Rest of the room is clean. Just take it very slowly. Could still be snakes down here. Nice and cool and dark for them."
They fanned out further, with Melissa making a beeline for the back wall, her eyes skimming the text with rapt fascination. She was not the only intrigued member of the team however. Mai gazed at the ancient paintings, with an expression somewhere between fondness and haunted.
"You okay?" Fran asked quietly, nudging her gently in the side. The blonde woman started at her companion's interruption.
"Yeah. This Egyptian stuff just brings back some memories is all."
A frown materialised on Fran's face. "It's not like you to dwell on the past."
Mai let out a bark of laughter. "Good thing you didn't know me when Lyrius and I first met," she said ruefully. Seeing that Fran was apparently unconvinced, she patted her on the shoulder.
"Don't mind me, hun. Let's just get down to the bottom of this."
Folding her arms, she turned to the other blonde. "Melissa, anything useful in the chicken scratch?"
"Not really…" Melissa confessed, her fingers tracing a line of hieroglyphs in the stone. "Just tells me where in the eighteenth dynasty we are, and the origins of this Pharaoh and his queen." She gave a whistle. "It's actually pretty dramatic stuff. Bit of childhood romance, and rising above your station-"
"Does it say anything about traps?" Mora interjected. "If I wanted to read a cliched romance I'd have bought myself some trashy chick lit in the airport."
Looking a little abashed, Melissa pulled out her phone. "Sorry. I find this kind of thing interesting."
"And I find mechanics and the X-Factor interesting - but I don't blather on about them when I'm on a job."
Melissa snapped another few photos before allowing Mora to lead them through the next doorway. It angled off to the right, sending them down a short flight of steps. Mora checked each and every one for a trap before allowing them to descend.
Francesca spoke up after a long period of uneasy silence. "Sooo is anyone going to explain to me why our fearless leader isn't here? I know you know Melissa - you've got that look on your face. And Mai I'm guessing you do too since you had sex with him last night-"
Mora, who had been taking a swig of water, spewed it all over the staircase wall. "You what?!" forgetting all about the potential traps up ahead, she rounded on the blonde, her eyes narrowing.
"I had a great round of sex with Lyrius last night." Mai seemed more amused than intimidated by the drow. "We danced with Eilistraee and then put the bearskin rug to good use."
"I am going to burn that when we get home." Melissa muttered and winced at the images her brain was producing. "I don't like imaging Father doing that. Even if it's you, Mai. Just...eww."
"Putting the squick aside," Mora insisted, with a wave of her hand. "What does this mean? Lyrius doesn't have a sex life. It's like how he doesn't have color in his wardrobe. He just...doesn't. Fundamental fact of life."
"And why was it you, Mai? I mean, you look like amazing thanks to Potions of Youth, but I always thought you guys were like brother and sister." Francesca put in and lifted her good eyebrow when the other three women looked at her. "Lyrius is hot."
"Eww…" Melissa threw in. But Mai's face had shifted to a grave expression that made all of them stop where they were at the bottom of the staircase.
"When Lyrius and I met, neither of us were in a good place and we had...umm...pity sex a couple of times. It made the pain easier to cope with." Mai hugged herself in an effort to ensure she could keep meeting the gazes of the other women. "It was about bonding and trust and love. Last night was the same...except it was for 'good-bye'."
Nothing registered for a minute, then Francesca's hand shot out and she hauled Mai close furiously. "He went, didn't he!? He sent all four of us here so we couldn't stop his stupid ass from going into the Abyss! That son of a bitch!"
She glared at Mai, who just looked back levelly. "You knew and didn't tell us? You didn't tell him to wait!"
"We can't help him on this one and you know it." Mai countered quietly. "We aren't strong enough."
"The fuck we aren't!" Francesca shoved Mai back with a growl. "We've all been doing this for nearly two decades! You can duel circles around anyone, Melissa's a freaking angel, I can bench press his freaking Nightmare and Mora kills anything that bleeds!"
"The Abyss is different! If we went with him, all we'd do is be targets! Lyrius already has Graz'zt and Lolth wanting to kill him, he doesn't need anything else to worry about!" Mai shot back and pointed at the drow. "You want to know what it's like in the Abyss, you ask the other person who's been there!"
As all eyes hit her, Mora squeezed her eyes shut. While Fran had been throttling her companions, the drow had staggered back into the wall for support, and pressed both her hands to either side of her head. Her breath was coming faster and shallower as her chest began to tighten, and behind her ribs her heart began to thud painfully.
Fran took one look at her and then rounded on Mai again. "Mora's tougher than nails and if the Abyss did that to her, then why did you let Lyrius go!?"
"He went because he promised my mo-Iris that he'd rescue her." Melissa cut in. She sounded vacant, as though part of her soul had fled the tomb to scream and rage at the desert outside.
"And Father always makes good in his promises."
"And what about his promise to be there for us?!" Fran snapped.
"He was and he is!" Mai's voice was still in control, but a level of heat had entered it. "He's always come back after going off on things like this and this time is no different! So our job is make sure we're here when he gets back and that we're still working! So let's stop wasting time getting our rage on at each other and conquer this tomb!"
Francesca still glared at her and then growled, folding her arms and stepping away to brood as much as the stairwell would allow.
"Fine, we'll all take five and pull ourselves together." Mai ignored Fran and knelt down next to Mora, putting a hand over one of the drow's trembling ones. "Mora, hun...I'm right here, okay? You're safe."
It was impossible to see her face, for Mora had curled up on the ground into her knees. Instead she squeezed Mai's hand so hard that her nails dug into her skin. There was nothing to do but hold on.
There was suddenly a soft chime and impossibly, pale moonlight filled the stairwell. Melissa blinked out of her stupor and Francesca turned from her corner to watch as a little glowing moth flitted down the stairs. It was emitting far more light and warmth than any naturally occurring creature should and it circled all of them briefly, dancing and darting erratically.
"Those aren't native." Melissa pointed out for lack of anything else to say.
"No shit. We're down a hole in the ground." Fran scoffed, but still unable to take her eyes off it.
It zipped back and forth in a little dance and a gentle warmth flooded the chamber, like something giving them all a big hug. The moth danced a little above all their heads, showering them with little bits of dust.
"It's from Eilistraee…" Mai watched with a smile as the moth did loops around her head. "It's a moon moth. She sends them to comfort and strengthen weary travellers who are lost in dark places. She must be concerned about us."
"Or Lyrius asked her to send one." Francesca murmured as the moth did another dance. "I swear, he's got all the gods on speed dial."
"I'm not sure that Father would make-" Melissa broke off as the moth circled Mora and then gently alighted on the drow's knees in front of her head. "It's touching Mora and not dying. He sent it."
The moth's wings beat gently, sprinkling the drow's hair with moonlight and it scuttled forwards, tapping her on the head like it was giving her a kiss. Like magic, she seemed to calm, and her face reappeared from behind her knees. Encouraged, the moth floated towards and landed on her nose.
"Alright," wrinkling her nose, Mora brushed the moth away, though it was a gentle dismissal, lacking her usual brashness. "I get it."
The moth did a happy little twitching dance and then darted down the stairwell partway before pausing and bobbing expectantly, waiting for them.
"See? Faith is a good thing. C'mon, girls. Let's get this job done so we can get paid." Mai gestured and Mora and Fran followed her instructions, carefully making their way down the steps after their brand new night light. "Melissa?"
"Coming." Melissa glanced at Mai worriedly. "You really think Father is going to come back with my moth- with Iris?"
"I don't know, kiddo. Lyrius always said he couldn't bring Iris back to life, only let her soul be free from Graz'zt." Mai put a hand on her shoulder.
"Okay." Melissa closed her eyes and nodded. "I don't think I could take seeing Iris again. She is a terrible person and a terrible mother. I have a hard time reconciling how I see Lyrius as my Father...and Lyrius as the one who slept with Iris."
"Don't worry about it. Trust me, we've all had that issue. He had a hard time reconciling the women he loved more than anything to the fact she was also an evil megalomaniac and he was complicit in everything she did." Mai patted Melissa comfortingly. "He got over it eventually. You will too."
"You sound so certain…" the half angel muttered. Mai let out a bark of laughter.
"What's the alternative? Dwell on it? That won't help you or him. Ask any of us."
She gestured down across the bottom of the staircase, where Mora was carefully examining the doorframe for some unseen danger. Seeing Melissa's contemplative expression, she nudged her gently.
"Come on. You're our brains down here. Egyptians are sneaky bastards, so we'll need all the wits you can muster."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Ferd had proven two things in the past ten minutes. One, that his comment about Emily being dangerous if she got angry while under influence of her concoction was justified. Two, that the shatterproof glass that the display case in the Copek building lobby (holding the Dreadnaught) was not as shatterproof as Dustan had believed it was. Seeing as Emily had just slammed his head into it.
"Congratulations, Ferd, I hope it was worth it," said Dunstan. "By the way, that's coming out of your salary."
The mul rubbed his forehead as he sat up. "I guess going to ask to kiss and make up is out of the question," he moaned.
"You might want to leave off talking to her again until you get back," continued Dunstan. He threw a manilla envelope at him. "We have a new lead, the info is in there.
"By the way, I heard Valarian roses grow there, and I also heard that's the type she likes to get."
"Super," growled Ferd, clearly thinking it wasn't so super at all.
Of course, it was not. Valarian roses were a "cuter" name for Devil's briars, also known as corrupted flowers that grew in places where a large amount of dead bodies were interred after being killed in the same incident. Murderous despots, plagues, wildfires, and natural disasters could cause it, especially when traditional burial rites are neglected for sake of time.
"Just get there and give the place the usual run through," said Dunstan. "If all is well, come back ASAP. If it isn't well, come back if you can."
"And if I can't?" he asked.
"Then I'll spot you for the display case. Move it!"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Nobody! Move! A Muscle!"
Everyone froze under the archway, Fran and Melissa stuck in poses that were almost comical. Mora's own stance was tense, her eyes scanning the long narrow chamber ahead. The ceiling had dropped surprisingly low, and hidden in carved out niches in the walls were dusty wooden chests, that looked for all the world as though a slight breeze would knock them over. In fact, the entire room looked as though it could do with a good sweep.
"...can we move now?" Fran asked. Her suspended leg was starting to twitch.
"Shut up!" Mora insisted. Slowly she crouched to the floor, pivoting on her toes as she examined the floor. Slowly waving her glowstick ahead, caused the dust to shimmer in the illumination in a way that made the drow hiss.
"Get back!" she sprung upright and pushed them all back into the narrow corridor. "Masks on! No not the cheap shit Mai - we need the heavy stuff."
The blonde lifted an eyebrow, but tossed the flimsy white paper back into her rucksack before pulling out a black respirator. The others wasted no time in securing their own over their faces.
"And the hazmat suits if we want to cross," Mora's voice was muffled behind her mask, and she rolled her eyes as her companions stared. "Did I fucking stutter? Suit up!"
The hazmat suits were a bit of a joke to the others - one of those things that you were required by health and safety to bring with you but which nobody ever expected you to have to wear. They consisted of a PVC overall, rubber boots, gloves and safety goggles.
"...so are you going to explain?" Fran asked, snapping her gloves on. "Or is this a fashion statement?"
"This is many things hun," Mai concluded, squinting as she drew the drawstring tight around her face. "Fashionable is not one of them."
"Fine. Take it off and breathe in the nasty present the Egyptians left on the floor," Mora invited, sarcastically. Seeing everyone's expression of alarm, she elaborated. "The floor's been coated in a layer of hematite. Very fine powder. You breathe enough of that in, it's a nice slow and painful way to go."
Melissa smacked her forehead with an open palm. "There was an expedition in the Bahariya Oasis back at the beginning of the century - the team of Egyptologists found a tomb covered in about eight inches of this stuff. They had to abandon it until they had the appropriate gear."
All four of them gazed across the room. It was narrow, but long, with no convenient ways of getting around or over the dust-covered floor.
"Take it nice and slowly..." the drow advised, before stepping gingerly onto the floor. The dust swirled around her feet, but did not rise higher than a couple of inches. "...and gently."
She was willing to bet that any running or stamping footfalls would cloud the room in seconds. Sure enough, Fran's heavy steps plumed the dust up to her waist where it swirled through the air. Mai was no twinkle-toes either, as they moved deeper into the chamber.
"It really is quite clever," Melissa was saying, her eyes eagerly scanning every hieroglyph and pictograph. "These walls contain all of the most important and interesting aspects of the deceased's life - you could stay in here for hours just reading. And that's not to mention the tantalising chests in these alcoves. They basically designed this entire chamber to distract you for as long as possible while the poison worked. It's genius."
"No, it's creepy," Mai corrected. "An enemy who can use psychology to attack you is the most dangerous of all."
"Preach," Mora muttered, her eyes skimming the room. "Maybe it's a race thing, but I'll never understand why the dead warrant so much paranoia. In the drow, we just threw our dead bodies out and had done with it."
"It's not about paranoia," Fran corrected. "It's about respect. Most people don't like the thought of their loved ones being desecrated, even after they're dead."
"...so lack of respect is a good reason to poison someone?" Mora asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. "Or slice them into lunch meat?"
"No, that's an Egyptian thing," Melissa explained. "Most cultures believe that when you die, the soul leaves for the afterlife, and the body is empty and useless after that. Egyptians thought that the body - particularly the heart - still had a connection with the soul after death."
"So...if I were Egyptian," Mora asked. "And I had some unfinished beef with a dead guy, I could hurt his soul in the afterlife by stabbing his corpse?"
"If you believe that sort of thing," Melissa shrugged. "Yes. Or you could go round and erase their name - that also has power over the soul. But yes, that's why these tombs are so...paranoid...as you put it. They're not just protecting the body - they're protecting the soul that's tied to it."
Behind her mask, Mai's eyes fluttered closed, and pain crossed her face. "Damn..."
"You're telling me!" More piped up cheerfully. She was not paying any attention to her teammates, or to Mai's expression. Rather she had slipped into one of the alcoves, and was examining a partially decomposed skeleton with unabashed glee. "Check it out - xylophone ribs!"
And she picked up a finger bone and tapped it against the ribcage. It sounded nothing like a xylophone - more like teeth clacking together. Fran rolled her eyes.
"Really? After what we just said about respecting the dead?"
"You're talking to the woman who has her mother's teeth on her mantelpiece," Mai pointed out.
"That's what's in that box?" Melissa exclaimed in disgust. "I assumed it was a swear box!"
"Don't be daft," Mora snorted, placing the bone carefully on top of the chest, so as not to disturb the dust. "My swear box is too big to fit on the mantelpiece!"
Emerging from the alcove, she padded gently over the floor to examine the arch that marked the exit. "Looks clear to me. Just another corridor ahead. Come on ladies."
It was indeed just another corridor, only this time, with rooms branching off to the sides, in addition to dead ahead. Melissa clapped her gloved hands in delight.
"This must be where the treasure rooms are - all the equipment that the Pharaoh's might need in their afterlife would be kept in these rooms for their use."
She peered her head into the nearest one. It was overflowing, but not with gold - magnificent tables and chairs had been wedged into the room, along with chests of all sizes. Several woven rugs were rolled up in a corner, and blankets and cushions were stacked neatly around the furniture.
"It's like an ancient Egyptian IKEA," Mai muttered, dryly.
"This one has clothes in it," Mora called from the next room. "And oils and perfume and - holy crap, that's a lot of bread!"
"Barely moldy as well," Fran added. "No air, no moisture - it must have kept really well down here."
"Wanna put that to the test?"
"Screw you - I'm not eating that!"
Peering cautiously through the final door at the end of the corridor, Melissa's eyes scanned the chamber. It was incredibly beautiful, with highly detailed paintings and hieroglyphs covering every inch of the walls. The low ceiling was supported by two pillars, also engraved with writing. High above the sarcophagus, a woman with winged arms was spread out over the ceiling - the goddess Isis, extending her protection. The sarcophagus itself was embellished with gold, inlaid intricately with lapis, coral and jade.
Mai whistled. "Damn, that's beautiful."
"Hmm..." leaning against the door frame, Melissa's forehead wrinkled into a frown. "It is..."
Glancing at her shorter companion, Mai felt that she was about to be disappointed. "But...?"
"...but not beautiful enough," Melissa concluded. Behind her, Fran stuck her head out of the nearest treasure room to listen. Mora was rummaging around behind the baskets of bread - probably looking for more slightly mouldy things for Fran to taste, Mai thought cynically.
"This is all too...generic." Melissa declared. "And utterly impersonal. There's no soul in here. No this..." she pointed at the room, excitement entering her voice. "This is a decoy room."
"Did Egyptians do that?" Fran asked.
"All the time," Melissa was already retreating from the ornate chamber, poking her head back into the nearest treasure room. "I told you - the body is still connected to the soul. They go to any lengths to protect it. A secret burial chamber was almost standard practice with a lot of Pharaohs."
"How the hell do we find a secret burial chamber in this mess?" Mai asked, waving a hand at the treasure-filled room.
Melissa frowned, her eyes flitting between the treasure rooms, scanning for any clues. Across from Mai, Fran tapped her foot. Mai had to agree with the sentiment - she did not feel like digging around through ancient supplies for the dead in order to find a secret burial chamber. She was already sweating inside her hazmat suit - manual labour would not make it any more pleasant.
The silence was broken by a sudden crash and a heavy crumble of rock from the smaller treasure room.
"Found it!" Mora chimed. Darting into the chamber in alarm, they found the drow beaming with pride at the small hole she had blown in the bottom of the back wall. "And Ellen whines that I don't use her shit. I'm going to start making these magical charges myself."
"How did you find it?" Mai asked, picking her way over the piles of clothing, which were now covered in a light film of rubble.
"Tapped along the wall," Mora shrugged and rapped a knuckle against the stone. "It's hollow back here behind these soup jugs-" she toed the remains of the beautifully decorated jugs. "-then I spotted the marks where they filled this section in."
She trailed a finger along the stone. Mai could not see a thing in the dark, but that was the whole reason they had brought Mora in the first place.
"Nicely done," Fran smiled.
"Yeah..." Melissa's words were forced - clearly she was pained at the casual destruction of historical artifacts. "Those aren't soup jugs, by the way - that's beer."
Fiddling with her torch, Mora examined what was left of the offerings. "Seriously? Wow, the Egyptians were party animals."
She snapped a fresh glowstick, and tossed it into the hole. It bounced on the floor, down and down sloping steps, before rolling to a stop down the corridor. Smirking, Mora elbowed the hole wider, before wriggling through it.
"Still carrying baby weight, Mora?" Fran smirked.
"Bite me. It's the suit!" Sure enough, the plastic scraped against the rock as it's owner squeezed into the corridor. "It's safe!"
One after the other, they slipped through the hole and into the staircase. Mora was already creeping ahead on light feet, pausing only to kick the glowstick further down the stairs. It threw shadows against the walls, etching darkness deeper into the decorative carvings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mai was the first to see them for what they were.
"Duel Monsters," she nodded to the walls. Fran lifted her own glowstick higher, examining the long line of creatures that stood side by side in the stone.
"It's like a guard of honour," Melissa stated, reaching for the nearest image. "Watching over their king as he sleeps-"
"I wouldn't touch it if I were you," Mai warned sharply, causing Melissa to yank her hand away. "You might wake them up."
Fran's expression was sceptical, but she could not help but notice that Mora, the most cynical of their group, was nodding in agreement as she checked the last few steps. She took Melissa's hand and lead her down the rest of the staircase before any temptation could be yielded.
From the doorway beyond the staircase, Mora whistled.
"Damn...you were right Melissa - that first burial chamber was nothing..."
The other three clustered behind her, and their eyes went wide. This chamber was wider and taller than the first one, and not an inch of wall or ceiling was bare. While the ceiling held the more traditional Egyptian depictions of the gods and life of the Pharaohs, the walls were something else. Stone tablets with duel monsters carved into them lined the chamber, with the largest at the head of the room. It looked far too large for the square of stone to which is had been committed.
"Is that the Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Fran asked. She was almost breathless with awe.
"Yup," Mai nodded. "Watching over them both forever."
Indeed, the tablet did appear to be watching the two caskets before it. Both were inlaid with silvery metal and the most brilliant lapis to match their death masks, but the one on the left was more humble, with fewer adornments.
"Completed in a hurry," Melissa concluded sadly. "Usually means the life was cut unexpectedly short. She must have died young."
"Is that the queen then?" Mora asked, examining the mask, as Fran and Mai split up to examine the rest of the room.
"No, his queen is buried somewhere else in the valley," Melissa explained. "You usually only got buried with your spouse if you were really close to them. The word they've been using here for this young lady is-"
"Guardian."
The unfamiliar voice sent a chill down all of their spines. Mora was nearest at the head of the caskets and she yelped and stumbled back into Melissa away from the striking figure stood before the tablet of the Blue Eyes White Dragon.
"Told you you'd wake them," Mai muttered to her friends. The newcomer tilted her head curiously in her direction, and she felt herself retreat slightly under the unwavering gaze of bright blue eyes.
"I do not sleep," came the reply. The voice was clear and firm. "Why are you here? This is Seto's resting place."
"We meant no disrespect," Melissa said, weaving her way to the front of her group of friends, and shooting Mora a deadly look as she opened her mouth to make a snarky comment. "We're looking for something that should be a part of this place. A crystal not of this world."
The young woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "There are many crystals in this tomb. And not a single one has been yielded to thieves before."
"And what about ones that invite themselves?" Francesca gestured with her glowstick towards the Blue-Eyes tablet, where at the base was seated a eight-sided crystal. It was impossibly perched on a single tip, standing without any visible support. Two lidded 'eyes' drifted inside its otherwise solid depths. The whole thing looked decidedly out of place. "I don't think that's standard issue for the afterlife."
This seemed to draw the guardian up short. Her eyes flicked between the stone and her uninvited visitors. "This...is no different to the rest of the treasures here. These items are for Seto's use in the afterlife, and I cannot allow a single one to leave."
"Even one that stares back at you all the time?" Mora asked, pulling a face. "I don't know about you, but I find being watched a little creepy."
She found herself on the receiving end of another glare. Clearly her opinion had not been asked for.
Mai nudged Fran. "Did it hit you that she's talking to us in English, right?"
"Mmmhmm." Fran nodded quietly. "These Memory Crystals are just basically Alien Google, having traveled through time and dimensions. It'd be like trying to understand a book in a foreign language just from using the pictures."
"She's had enough time to sit and figure it out." The older woman made sure the guardian spirit wasn't looking in their direction before continuing. "Odds of stealing it and running?"
"And get eaten by the tablet monsters? No thanks." Fran murmured with a shake of her head.
"Enough whispering," the guardian ordered, shadows creeping in at the corners of the tomb. "You are trespassing. Leave. Before I am forced to move you myself."
Mora gave a derisive snort. "Sweetie, we did not come this far to leave without what we need. And we've all had a really bad day. So sure - we'll leave. But we're taking the crystal with us - OW!"
She limped around to give Fran a hurtful look. "What was that for? That was my arse kicking foot!"
"That was for because we're in a chamber of monsters she can summon to eat our souls. And Nebraska was bad enough, thank you. I don't need to feel that again." Fran shouldered past the drow and regarded the spirit. "I challenge you to a duel for that crystal! The four of us against you for that crystal and a promise to seal this tomb so no one may disturb your Pharaoh's rest."
"And when I prove victorious, your souls shall guard here for all eternity." The guardian seated herself in front of the Blue-Eyes tablet on a throne that just appeared out of the ether, the tablets of monsters glowing before the entire space was swallowed up by a thick, inky purple and black darkness. "The Shadow Realm will enforce the terms of our battle."
She swept out her hand and five sheets of glowing light appeared in front of her. "Who shall begin?"
"I'm the challenger, so I will!" Fran finished shucking her hazmat suit and produced a Pocket Duel Disk before sliding her deck home. "Now Let's Duel!"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
It can be odd what one thinks of at the most inopportune times. She was dying, a maniac was trying to kill her, and yet, the thing at the front of Karen's mind right now was an old skit from The Carol Burnett Show.
She remembered it plainly, as if she was watching it now, how an incompetent dentist kept missing the patient while trying to administer novacaine, jabbing himself several times, each time making parts of his limbs numb, becoming clumsier with each attempt and making each consecutive attempt a bigger fail.
It was a riot, of course. But like most slapstick, it could stop being funny quickly if stopped to analyze it too much and and realized what the experience could be like, of losing the feeling in parts of your body bit by bit by painful bit...
Kind of like what was happening to her now.
Then, a surge of warmth came through her body. She saw Bronze Maiden's face again, and snapped back awake, the face quickly shifting slightly to Mina's.
(K: 1,100) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 3,800)
"Go on," said Freddy.
Karen went to draw a card, trembling a little. She surveyed the new cards she had gotten via the Trap. Ironically, while he had one of the oldest Flip Monsters, she had a very modern one.
That annoying Zerozerock is the big issue, but Pot of the Forbidden could blow it off the field. But… I'd need to swap two monsters just to set it first.
She drew a card, then went for the monster closest to where she put it. I summon Caninetaur."
This monster was an odd variant of a centaur. Rather than a horse, its lower body was that of a large dog, its face also dog-like. It wore a knight's armor on its upper half, the helmet sporting a scarlet plume, and it had a sword. (1,500 ATK)
It gripped the hilt in both hands, and with one mighty swipe, bisected Memory Crush King.
(K: 1,100) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 3,300)
"I never liked that guy anyway," he laughed.
"Why, jealous of his looks?" asked Karen. She stabbed her thumb down to end her turn, and the demon clenched his fist right before drawing.
"Your face ain't gonna look too pretty either in a minute!" he shouted. "Neither is his, cause you got two monsters, and I got Power Invader!"
The furnace belched fire again, and Karen watched closely, a muscular, face-less - again - Fiend with blue flesh leaping from it. (2,200 ATK)
C'mon, she thought, c'mon you ugly son of a -
Power Invader marched forward with outstretched hands towards Caninetaur, Karen smirking again.
"Gotcha!" she shouted. "I'll use Caninetaur's effect, and send a Beast-Warrior from my deck to the Graveyard, and increase his Score by 100 per Level!" She flipped a card around to show him - it was Beast King Barbaros. "Think I'll send this guy."
"Level 8?" he shouted.
As she discarded it, Caninetaur grew to almost three times its size; Power Invader halted, then tried to turn and run, but it didn't get more than two steps, the Beast-Warrior's sword crashing down and smashing it to little bits.
"Okay, bitch, this just ain't funny anymore!" cried Freddy, and emphasis on the second word.
"Then you shouldn't have tried comedy," she replied. "By the way, ever think of getting a new line there? You can only use the word 'bitch' so many times before it gets stale."
"Ah, what's it to you?" he growled. "Here, deal with these. I use Tri-Wight. It's a Spell that summons three Normal Monsters from the Graveyard. Not the best ones, but these work."
The furnace blew flame again, and the three White Dustons leapt out again, one of them with its tail on fire, leaping around with a frightened "Yip! Yip! Yip!" and trying to douse it.
"Aw, shut up, you," snarled Freddy. "I end my turn."
Karen drew, then held her chin.
"Aw, bad draw?" asked her foe.
"Nuh-uh," she said, shaking her head. "Just trying to decide who to get rid of, 'cause this guy has a pretty big cost... Aw, whatever."
She took Leotaur and Lady Panther from her Disk and stuffed both her pocket, then played the card, causing Akz the Pumer the leap out brandishing his axe towards Freddy and his four small monsters. (1,500 ATK)
"Big deal, he still can't attack my Dustons," he sneered. Then his expression improved a little. "Heh, neat outfit, though."
Given the monster's expression, he was no more fooled by the false compliment than she was. "He's not going to attack them, he's going for you," she answered. "By discarding a Beast-Warrior like good old Barbaros here, he can attack directly. GO!"
Ignoring the Fiends and Illusionist, Barbaros leapt, swung his axe in a full circle, then slammed the weapon into the maniac, knocking him into the side of the furnace with a loud, metallic SLAM.
(K: 1,600) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 1,700)
"And that was for the ten bucks I wasted on Wes Craven's Darkest Nightmare," she added. "Honestly, two things wrong with that title. I'm ending my turn here."
She looked very, very closely, at the three Dustons and trying to figure out just what he was planning . She had seen Wells use the few Rank 1 Xyz she knew of, but none seemed to fit.
Baby Tiragon? she thought. No, not exactly his style. Twin-Tail Cat Lady? Nah…
"Trying to figure out what the little secret is, huh?" he asked. "Well… My little secret ain't so little." He flipped a Spell Card around. "Star Blaster. I can use this to reduce Dark Eyes Illusionist from Level 2 to Level 1."
Why in the world, she thought.
He ripped the top card from his deck, and then the furnace opened again, and the flames roared out as he lifted his arms and cackled, the fire wafting over him and consuming the four monsters, turning everything in front of Karen into a hellish inferno.
She nearly toppled over as a din echoed through the whole dark arena, a gigantic abomination looming over the fire. It was hulking, a giant, muscular beast hunched over, sculpted out of what looked like solid darkness. Its face was vaguely human, twisted into a bestial scowl, with a mane of sharp spires. It was hunched over, but still towering, with a shell-like plate on its back surrounded by sharp ridges.
"The last monster you'll ever see," mocked freddy, "Dystopia the Despondent!
"I got no idea what either of those words mean, but I like the sound of it anyway."
(5,000 ATK)
The great beast's dark shadow loomed over the young Shadowchaser as its mighty roar shook the ground, ripping through her psyche to the very pit of her soul...
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Brash Goblin (Xyz Monster)
Fiend/Dark/Effect/Rank1/0ATK/1,000 DEF
3 Level 1 monsters
Effect: During your Standby Phase while this card is in Attack Position, detach 1 of its Xyz materials and place 1 Dark Flip Counter on this card. (Max 3) If this card is destroyed by your opponent (via battle or card effect) select 1 Flip-Effect monster from your hand or deck and Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position. The Level of the Special Summoned monster must be equal the number of Dark Flip Counters this card had plus 1. You can only control 1 "Brash Goblin".
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Noble Warrior Mina (Xyz monster)
Beast-Warrior/Earth/Rank5/2,400ATK/1,000DEF
2 Level 5 monsters
Effect: Once per turn, you can detach 1 of this card's Xyz materials to return all monsters you control except this card to their players' hands; for each card returned this way, destroy 1 card your opponent controls. The effect of "Noble Warrior Mina" can only be used once per turn.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Bronze Maiden (Effect monster)
Warrior/Earth/Effect/Lvl4/1,800ATK/500DEF
Effect: You may Special Summon this card from your hand in face-up Defense Position by selecting 1 face-up Beast-Warrior you control; if you do, the Level of this card becomes that of the selected Beast-Warrior. If you Special Summon this card in this manner, you may not make any other Special Summons that turn.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Jemorille: Now, I doubt Freddy had ever been able to identify a dictionary, much less use one, so he may not have been lying, but if he did look those two words up, he'd find his dark humor rather appropriate.
See, "dystopia" means a society where the entire citizenry is mistreated and as a result, are in a perpetual state of hopelessness and fear, while "despondent" is the best adjective to describe such citizens. In a way, this monster was the living embodiment of hopelessness, and ideal for a man - like Freddy - who desired to instill such a feeling.
With that, I'll sign off for now. "Fade to Black" is next.