Magic: the Gathering
Chronicles, Volume 14
By Louis Kemner 2008
When the time is right, and I have gathered the power I will require, Epsilon thought as he strode swiftly down Ravnica's crowded and bustling streets, Alpha, and Elena too, will be dead, and I will lead a righteous conquest of my own!
Hundreds of pedestrians, ranging from humans, vedalken, elves to large beasts of burden laden with trade goods packed the streets and alleyways wherever Epsilon went or could see. Among them were signs of the endless ten-way guild war, with Boros knights in crimson and silver armor, Golgari necromancers, Rakdos thugs, and Orzhov recruiters here and there in the swarm of citizens. Various shops and businesses lined the street, including anti-spirit charms, authentic dragon teeth of old, Simic-engineered pets ("Get your glow-in-the-dark rabbits today!") and fortunetellers were present as well. Even with this endless array of city life, Epsilon tuned it all out as he made his way to his goals.
It wasn't long before a large Gruul territory came into view, with barbarians, beasts, and Viashino all milling about, playing crude gambling games, boasting about their kills in gruff tones, or napping. Epsilon was greeted by suspicion and affront, causing dozens of Gruul warriors to rise quickly and brandish their assorted weapons at him. Epsilon, however, was not deterred; he dismissed the aroused warriors with a wave of his hand, and walked on until he was face-to-face with the leader of the Burning-Tree clan, Borborygmos the Cyclops himself.
"Who is this puny morsel?" Borborygmos demanded loudly to his poised troops. "Did I tell you worthless runts that strangers could waltz in here whenever they want? Well?" The Gruul troops merely winced and looked nervously at each other, at a loss for words. They were afraid to actually attack the newcomer, for good reason. Their instincts bode them well.
"I am no threat to you, great one," Epsilon bowed. "I come merely as an envoy of my own."
"Meaning what?" Borborygmos huffed, turning over his massive stone ax in his meaty hands.
"It means I'm here to help you, and your entire clan and guild," Epsilon informed him. "You and the Rakdos guild have been sparring for control over this quarter of the city, haven't you?"
"Heh. You're right about that," Borborygmos confirmed with a nod, his single eye fixed hungrily on Epsilon. "We're ten times as great as those sadistic party-demons, and have been trying to impress that on everyone. Problem is, the Boros and Azorius have been making sure we don't get too far, or the Rakdos. Damn them!"
"I have a solution to offer," Epsilon said in convincing tones, standing tall and imposing, even though he was barely eye level with the Cyclops' knees. "The Azorius guild has been feeling pressure for some time now to hold down these hostilities, and others too. I can arrange events so your own clan and the Rakdos may take down the Azorius for good! I can create turmoil elsewhere to get their attention, and you and the Rakdos can storm Prahv itself in a joint assault and crush Grand Arbiter Augustine IV's skull under your mighty ax!"
Borborygmos gave a deep, animalistic chuckle, his mighty chest heaving. "I like your thinking, tiny one," he praised. "Just when I thought we were doomed to only dream of that. How do I know of your skills to carry this out, though? Prove yourself to me that you're not just words."
"I can do that," Epsilon agreed. Though the matters he had proposed relied on intelligence and manipulation rather than combat ability, he knew that only impressive fighting skills would gain him Borborygmos' favor. At the Cyclops' command, a number of Viashino and human berserkers parted from the crowd, eager to rip apart the robed newcomer, who appeared as helpless as an old, studious scholar.
"Well. Let the test begin!" Borborygmos shouted, thudding his ax into the dirt.
Ten Gruul warriors leapt as one toward the encircled defender; four strokes of an ivory sword later, four were dead or wounded, and Epsilon tumbled gracefully out of harm's way. He had one knee on the dirt and the other foot planted on the ground in a sturdy stance, his sword held defensively. The surprised Gruul warriors charged again in a furious attack, and Epsilon cut off the hand of one, kicked the jaw of another, and stabbed a third. The Gruul warriors were visibly taken aback by Epsilon's graceful and deadly capabilities; it wasn't long before the survivors were groveling for their lives, begging to have their lives spared, which Epsilon consented by sheathing his sword.
"Ah ha! Ah ha ha ha ha!" Borborygmos boomed in laughter, taking a few earth-shuddering steps closer, grinning fiercely from ear to ear. "Wouldn't you know it! The little robed man is a deadly warrior at least. You have my respect, you do. Why don't you finish them off?"
"They are my enemies no more," Epsilon said, looking down at the submissive Gruul. "I don't kill the innocent."
"Interesting," Borborygmos commented. "Yes, I agree to your little arrangement. You say that you can arrange a joint assault on the Azorius stronghold with the Rakdos? Consider it done! I look forward to it. I demand your name, notable one."
"Call me the Outsider," the rogue Hunter told the Cyclops firmly. "Now, I must depart. Farewell, great leader."
"I'll see you with the Arbiter's head in my pocket and his blood on my lips!" Borborygmos called back as Epsilon walked away, with the other Gruul warriors and mages bowing in respect. Epsilon's fingers ran over the cool, broken emerald on his forehead, taking in the deep crack that split it in half height-wise. His allegiance to the foul Elena was shattered, and his own righteous ambitions would eclipse her wretched and withering dominance assertions soon enough, not to mention claim the Key Creature here to become stronger. He would make sure of all that.
"I hope your parents aren't still throwing a fit about this whole thing," Viktor said lightly to Devin as he and the other met with Kelly and Ashley in his room four days later. "You know."
"They're cool with it now," Devin assured him, taking Ryusei's card out of his pocket. "Finally. Whew, my parents wouldn't shut up about 'don't risk your life over this' or losing my job or flunking college. I mean, what's college and work when you have the whole Multiverse at stake?"
"Devin, you're such a delinquent," Ashley joked, and the other laughed.
"I'm so terrible," Devin said humorously as the four started to touch their cards together, including Georgi's to make the number five. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"To Ravnica," Kelly answered simply. "Remember Ajani meeting us before we left Bant? He warned us of a new development, and a sighting of my Key Creature."
"I thought they couldn't Planeswalk there," Devin frowned.
"Ajani said that he overheard two Hunters conversing at some point about it," Kelly said. "He didn't catch anything besides that, but we can be sure that we won't be the only ones after it."
"Let's get number three, then," Viktor said, and the familiar portal blossomed into being.
Seconds later, the four had their ears assaulted by the noisy clamor of a busy morning street's crowds in Ravnica, with its imposing skyscrapers and countless churches, offices, and apartments. It was almost exactly as they had remembered it.
"Whoa. Last time we were here, we were totally clueless," Devin noted, looking all around. "Remember that? When we joined the Selesnya and I went to the Orzhov and fought you and stuff?"
"How can you take this so lightly?" Kelly snapped, encouraging the group to press onward, narrowly avoiding a Boros giant holding a wooden club and walking a massive dog on a leather leash. "You know how high the stakes are. There are the Hunters around, and maybe Elena herself. She's not exactly shy."
"Whatever," Devin shrugged, following her lead. The foursome found little of interest, until they reached the market division with all the shops around. One shop caught Viktor's attention, and he halted the group, standing before a particular and familiar vendor.
"Get your Simic-created pets today!" the Vedalken vendor called into the crowds. "We've got everything from horned parrots to glow-in-the-dark rabbits to talking —"
"Let me take a look," Viktor cut in, leaning slightly over the large basket of gerbils. The assorted animals gamboled around or napped, or else groomed themselves. After scanning their ranks, Viktor reached out and scooped up a smaller gerbil with tan fur and white patches and white paws.
"Hey. Um, what's up?" the gerbil greeted in a lazy tone, its eyes half-closed in disinterest in its surroundings. His voice was more like an ordinary teenage male's.
"That's how you talk?" Viktor asked it. "You're nothing like Gerbie. I thought they all would be like him."
"Gerbie? Who's that?" the gerbil asked, looking around. "Dunno who you're talking about."
"That would be me," the other gerbil exclaimed proudly, emerging from Ashley's pocket. By a verbal request, Ashley held Gerbie in her hands and held him eye level with Viktor's gerbil. "Greetings and salutations, fellow bio-vat mate. I am Gerbie, or else the greatest Simic creation of all. Remember that!"
"Uh, sure. Whatever, dude," the other gerbil shrugged. He looked back at Viktor, an intense gaze on his beady black eyes, ignoring Gerbie's looks of affront. "You gonna name me?"
"Oh. That's right. The pets are named by their owner," Viktor realized out loud. He asked Ashley to summon her money-creating creature, and handed the vendor some gold coins to seal the transaction. Then, he pondered a name for his gerbil.
"I don't think I should name you after a guild leader," Viktor said. "That would be silly, wouldn't it?"
"Um, yeah. The wisdom of the enigmatic sphinxes should not be doubted, even by those of greater learning," the gerbil answered. Viktor blinked at the random statement, and then his mind clicked. The gerbil's smaller size, beady stare, and random sentences were reminding him of someone.
"All right," Viktor proclaimed. "I henceforth name you Ike."
"Sure. That's cool," Ike shrugged again. "So are we gonna hang somewhere or should I grab a nap?"
"We're going to do a bit of exploring first," Viktor told Ike, now transferring him into his jacket pocket. "You can 'hang' in there."
"Cool. Later," Ike said, then instantly fell asleep.
"Wait a second," Devin said to Viktor, hurrying to catch up with the other as the four set off again. "Where did you get the name Ike?"
"From TV," Viktor answered. "This reminds me of that other one."
"You mean the Ike from South P —" Devin started, when Kelly interrupted, "Look!"
Ahead was a single Golgari agent, clad in tattered black robes splotched with thick green moss. He appeared to be orating before the crowds, standing on a pedestal, drawing attention. Not wanting to miss any clues, the four kids hurried to join the throng and hear the orator's words.
"…The natural undercurrents of our concrete and stone metropolis can be ignored, can be dismissed, but never denied," the orator was saying. "The weaker and more inefficient ones will always die and benefit the fitter ones, allowing the life cycle to carry on and sustain the order. For the Azorius guild has been met a terrible blow, good citizens! The Gruul and Rakdos guilds have finally recognized common ground and assaulted their mutual foe, leaving wreckage and death in their wake! Now the two guilds compete openly for supremacy, and even our Golgari guild is taking part in this climatic chain of events! Life and death go hand in hand, every day and everywhere, from mushrooms leeching nutrients from corpses to guilds destroying each other and benefiting from it. Thus our Golgari Swarm is righteous, thus…"
"I didn't expect anything like this to happen," Devin commented, listening to the Golgari guildsman rail on. "Two guilds ganging up and beating another?"
"It doesn't sound that strange, but it's still probably influenced by the Planeswalker war," Kelly said. "I don't really know that, but still… I get that feeling."
"I thought Planeswalkers couldn't go here," Devin pointed out.
"They can't," Ashley put in. "But so far, seemingly ordinary things have led to Elena getting something out of it, often because she causes the events to happen. Like Grellis meeting us in Lorwyn and having us save the Kithkin women from the giant slavers. That doesn't seem to strange, but you know what happened afterward."
"That sounds about right," Viktor agreed. "This is definitely fishy. I bet a Key Creature's involved. We should check it out."
"Further, another guild seeks to make sense of this drama," the Golgari orator shouted. "The Simic Combine, for one, senses wicked or enigmatic undercurrents under this event, and is after a solution to what is really at work. Of course, the Rakdos and Gruul insist this is their inner nature asserting itself over order and nothing more, but there are those who object. It is natural and right to question and speculate, but to what end?"
Viktor blinked. "And that's where we start," he grinned. "Hear that?"
"Yes! Yes!" Gerbie hooted, coming out once more. "Let's go! It's a clue, it's a clue! Come on!"
Not wanting to dampen the gerbil's enthusiasm, the four departed for Novijen, Heart of Progress.
"Oh, a terrible tragedy this is," the Azorius guard captain moaned, leading Epsilon through the wrecked halls of Prahv, the main building of the Azorius. "Long have we sought to maintain order and the law, only to be fallen by the wretched Gruul and Rakdos. You have our humblest thanks, Epsilon, for doing your best, as an outsider, to protect us from those monsters."
"I, too, wished to see your guild triumph," Epsilon replied, as he and the guard captain were led to the massive, beautiful, and church-like room that was Grand Arbiter Augustine IV's throne room. The room was in tatters; some pillars fallen, the floor with craters and scars, the walls cracked, and dried blood from countless bodies. Dust still covered some portions of the room. At least the throne o the Arbiter was still standing, imposing and undamaged, as well as the surrounding area. It could almost be considered a symbol of a lone piece of order and law surrounded by the chaos and clamor of the unending city around it.
"And here is the throne where our beloved Arbiter sat for decades," the guard captain said, coming closer to the throne. "We wish to place a new Grand Arbiter here very soon, to prevent the total destruction of the Azorius Senate. A few candidates have stepped forward, though none seem too promising so far."
"Then perhaps," Epsilon suggested, "you add me to the ranks of the potential successors? I have a number of followers and several leads on the mysterious demon beast lurking in the city." That Key Creature will be easier to catch if I have the entire Azorius Senate under my command, Epsilon added in his head. Better I find it than that foul Elena or Alpha, or even Delta or Beta.
"That's… not a bad idea," the guard captain agreed, his features lightening somewhat. "If you wish, I could arrange to include you in the election and educate you in the ways of our guild. Is that agreeable?"
"What I would find agreeable," Epsilon said, his ivory sword point resting against the guard captain's throat, "is a unanimous vote in my favor. Doesn't that sound better?"
"I… well…" the guard captain gulped, trembling against the cold sword point threatening to take his life. "That is… you would dare threaten me?"
"I hate to take the life of innocents," Epsilon stated, not lowering the sword and checking that no one else was present. "You're not innocent, captain, but valuable. Please make this easy." He summoned a single plant, and upon his command, it launched an infection spore. That spore drifted in the air and planted itself in the guard captain's head, undetectable. "If you object or tell anyone of this, that spore will spread a poison in your body and take your life upon my command. No remedy in Ravnica could save you."
"V-very well," the guard captain stuttered, drawing himself to full height. "I can sway the vote officials and assure you victory. Just p-please… lower you blade."
Epsilon consented, sheathing it silently. "Thank you very much."
"Try not to drag your feet like a dioxy-membraned worm-slug! Why do you think we pay you?!" the overseer shouted. Dozens of biomancers jumped and hastened to work faster, adjusting feeding tube valves, keeping groups of test subjects in their pens, and other menial tasks. "Come on, now, the Boss wouldn't approve of this slow work! Do it like you mean it! You there! Elgar! Don't you dare touch that mist-pod again unless you want to get thrown into the Rakdos slave pits! Jeez!"
The overseer, a gray-green skinned vedalken with a scarred right eye, whipped around, clutching his knobby, pulsating staff and took in a quartet of newcomers making their way to the entrance gates of Novijen, Heart of Progress, and frowned.
"Well, what do we have here?" he asked out loud. His voice was rapid, demanding, and impatient. "Four new young'uns for the self-replicating mouse business downstairs? What do you tykes want? Let's hear it already!"
"We offer our services in a different way!" Viktor shouted to him over the countless noises of the room; dozens of bizarre animals, plants, and other living things made a wide array of noises, as well as sizzling vats of acid and organic ooze, and the calls and shouts of the Combine workers. The overseer scratched his head.
"And what do you mean by that?" he demanded. "You don't look like any kind of mercenaries or mages I've ever seen. And believe me, I've seen them in every shape and form!"
"It concerns the fall of the Azorius!" Kelly told him. "Please let us speak to Momir Vig about this. He will find us worth his time."
"And what do you think you're looking at, eh?" the overseer roared to a curious young biomancer who was craning his neck and ears to eavesdrop. "Turn away or you're our next test subject for the Memory Ooze!" to the kids: "Oh, fine, come in. You just may be more than you look like, I suppose." The overseer squeezed a membrane pod at the tip of his staff, and the massive, mossy iron gates swung open, admitting the four.
In a massive room, with a wide, oval vat of mysterious substances in the middle, Momir Vig leaned slightly over the oval vat, gripping the edges with his hands. The Vedalken's intense eyes were fixed directly on the vat, probably with countless wise, enigmatic thoughts whirring in his mind. The overseer stepped forward and said, "Boss, four children have arrived seeking your service."
Momir Vig took a few seconds, and then slowly raised his head until his black eyes were now burning holes through Viktor and the others. "I see. Well, overseer, you may return to your duties. I can handle it from here."
The overseer bowed and dashed from the room. Not a second after he left, Gerbie burst out of Ashley's jacket pocket and shot through the air like a brown rocket into Momir Vig's hands, squealing his delight to meet his idolized guild master.
"Master Vig! Boss! It's really you! I am awash with your holy presence!" Gerbie exclaimed.
"Well, what's this?" Momir asked, studying the gerbil in his hands. "It looks like the Companion Pets gerbil line, fourth edition with increased metabolism and created with the latest brain-flesh capsules that now have fewer harmful leaks. Though the Undulator acids were a bit unbalanced for your model."
"I am your prime creation," Gerbie said proudly. "Even the Undulator acid leaks couldn't disrupt the pyruva tendrils from bonding with the bone hardener supplement or throw off the chemical formula fresh out of the basement. Though maybe the Giga Bases and memoratic waves would have helped."
"The memoratic waves were tossed, in favor of rapidly spinning the Stage 1 vials to prevent settling at the bottom and initializing equilibrium between the amino groups and the Giga Base reactions," Momir Vig responded. "Though it may be a good idea to bring back the memoratic waves for the Telepathic Octopus I've been making on the side. They agree well with the brain implants that…"
"Beg pardon," Viktor called to interrupt. "We're here for business."
"I am sorry, newcomers," Momir Vig apologized formally, letting go of Gerbie, who scampered back to Ashley. Ike managed to wake up, take a look around, and say, "Nice. I'm back," before returning to sleep.
"Another talking gerbil, I see?" Momir Vig commented. "Perhaps the market for them is greater than I thought. But that is for another time. Why do you four come to my guild hall?"
"We're after something," Viktor began. "It's rather delicate information —"
"All information is the same to me," Momir dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Are you referring to the 'black demon' that has been haunting the back alleys and terrifying the average citizen?"
"That's it," Viktor agreed. "We are trying to capture it before someone else does. If it falls in the other party's hands, it will help bring about the ruin of all of Ravnica and more."
"Really," Momir said, rubbing his chin, while his eyes glittered. "And who is this other party that will bring about this city's doom, as you say?"
"A super-powerful sorceress," Viktor told him, "By the name Elena. She comes from lands beyond, spreading terror and destruction wherever she goes. There were four loose, powerful creatures out. We've gotten two, and this is the third. There are mighty beings called Hunters searching for the creatures, like us, who serve Elena. There are probably Hunters here, too."
"I know that unusual and ground-breaking events have taken place recently," Momir said after a moment, "And they may tie in to what you say. Nothing like this happens by fate's whims, children. The Gruul-Rakdos assault on the Azorius was most disturbing. And my spy agents already report a prominent new figure in the Azorius halls, seeking to rebuild the crippled guild. Most interesting."
"So what are we going to do?" Devin asked.
"Don't rush me!" Momir snapped. "Well, first, you will all become Combine Mages and answer directly to me. Don't worry, I won't permit you to be used as experiment subjects! Prove yourselves worthy, and you will aid us break this unnatural chain before it gets too long. It's easier to kill an infant monster than a full-grown, now isn't it?"
"…Join the Simic?" Devin repeated. "Bad stuff kind of happened last time we joined a guild."
"We've got no choice, dude," Viktor told him, shrugging. "It'll be pretty hard to do this without the Simic's help. We know the signs of Elena's influence and warping by now. We can handle it."
Devin, Ashley, and Kelly all nodded their agreement, sealing the deal. Once Momir Vig sent them to an orientation and garbed them in comfortable green and blue robes, they were set to work.
"Okay… so what's this?" Devin asked in cautious disgust, staring at a wide tray of red-glowing maggots six inches long each an hour later.
"Feeding time. Ever hear of it?" Momir Vig explained in a well-duh tone, rubbing his hands together. "That Psycho-Cephalopod-Inverter Version III isn't going to feed itself. Hop to it, mages!"
"Yeah. I can't really tell this thing has heard the dinner bell," Viktor said, eyeing the massive beast they were going to feed. In the middle of a chamber half-full of swampy water, there was a squid-kraken like creature big as a house, with ten long tentacles that were each held up by a thick gold chain. The beast had gray-green skin with blue specks and eyes as big as a car tire, currently half-closed and dull. The Psycho-Cephalopod, as Momir Vig called it, gave a quiet grunt and shifted slightly, making its chains rattle a little.
"Nonsense. It merely needs a prodding," Momir Vig said. "It hates to eat without encouragement. Just get the neuro-shock cables going and you're set. What are you waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for the dang thing to get its appetite up," Devin complained. The apathetic creature didn't seem very hungry. "Where is its mouth, anyway?"
"Allow me to assist," Momir Vig stepped in. "Be grateful you get personal help from me, children; I have many duties at all times, all of them being more important than helping demonstrate how to feed the Psycho-Cephalopod. Watch."
With that, and with Gerbie's unwavering attention, Momir Vig pushed up on a lever on a table, and then wavy lances of blue lightning flowed down several thin silver wires connected to the squid-kraken's back. The beast shuddered and squirmed, and then it flared up and revealed a circular, fleshy mouth with rings of hundreds of sharp teeth.
"Now! Toss the maggots!" Momir Vig shouted over the beast's indignant roars. Viktor scrambled to grab a handful of giant red maggots and pulled his arm back, hoping to get them all in the squid-kraken's mouth. However, he and the others were too slow, and the squid-kraken lowered its body and hid its mouth once more. Viktor felt disappointed at failure, then felt his right hand tingle and itch with a thousand needles, then go limp and drop the red maggots back onto the tray.
"Fools!" Momir Vig cursed, waving his arms in exasperation. "Why did you hesitate? Why did you take so long? Those maggots' special body fluids in their skin cause numbness if you hold them for too long. And the Psycho-Cephalopod isn't going to stay up for long. Try again!"
This time, Viktor pulled the lever on the dashboard, and the squid-kraken again squirmed and revealed its horrendous mouth. Viktor quickly seized a few maggots and hurled them with everyone else's; over a dozen of the little red creatures flew into the squid-kraken's reluctant maw, and the mouth slammed closed on them and swallowed.
"Was that better?" Kelly called over to Momir Vig.
"You did it right that time," Momir Vig praised. "Good. Keep it up. The inversion is impossible without this food source."
As he worked, Viktor had to satisfy his curiosity with Momir. As he tossed another volley of red glowing maggots into the creature's maw, he asked, "Why is this called the Psycho-Cephalopod Inverter?"
"Version III," Momir Vig added. "It's our only one so we value it very much. It has strong psychic and area-scanning abilities, acting as our entire intelligence bureau by itself. However, it is, by nature, incredibly stupid. It basically eats, sleeps, and defecates. Any being requires massive intelligence to even have basic psychic abilities, far more than this creature does."
"Then how the hell does this thing do it, then?" Devin asked as he took a turn pulling the lever.
"If we use a creature with intelligence low enough and feed it these special maggots," Momir Vig explained, "We can use inverting chemistry to get the psychic powers. These maggots are very good for the body but make the consumer lose intelligence and become beast-like. This creature is already tiny-brained, so we lower its intelligence so much that chemical reactions happen just right to pass a special barrier and start making it smarter, at least in some areas of its brain. The brain is the size of my fist but is super-powerful."
"Is that like reverse psychology?" Ashley asked.
"That's an incredibly primitive and simple way of putting it, but yes," Momir Vig said. Viktor just concentrated from keeping his head spinning by contemplating the implications.
Deep, blue water rushed loudly over the edge of the waterfall, descending thousands of feet toward the water below, creating mists and continuous noise. Keiga, the Tide Star floated in the water before the falls, using his flipper-like sides to roam back and forth in the water in lookout for intruders. Inside Minamo Academy, important events played out.
One flash of blue light later and the blue-black robed Alpha appeared in the headmaster's chambers, giving a small bow at the waist to his lady who sat on the overthrown headmaster's chair. "My progress in Dominaria has already been set into motion, My Lady," he reported. "I have incited widespread witch hunts in the major city in Oneah, and has progressed enough that I may leave the Oneans to corrupt themselves."
"I see! Good work," Elena praised, sitting a little straighter. Beside her sat Makoto cross-legged on the wooden floor, unbound. He could easily get up and attempt to run away, yet he knew it was useless; all of his cards had been taken and kept in a locked treasure box, hidden where only Elena knew where it was. "Then the Enslavement of Oneah is coming very soon, once the terrors have spread far enough."
"Right," Alpha said, looking at Makoto and Delta. "I have more grim news, however. Epsilon has expressed his dissent and declared his allegiance to you severed. I attempted and failed to destroy him. He escaped to an unknown location."
"Yes, I'm aware of what he did," Elena said, gripping the chair's arms tightly. "I can detect loyalty loss, Alpha. The fool doesn't know what he's doing. What will he accomplish by himself? The last two creatures will be mine and not his, or the children's. Especially since I have one here, who will help me claim his creature."
"As if I'd do that," Makoto said defiantly. "Even if I die, I'm not helping you conquer everyone. No way."
Delta looked down at Makoto and grinned. "Pretty sharp, huh?" he commented.
"He won't be like that for too long," Elena assured Delta and Alpha. Then she raised her voice: "Beta!"
The red and black Hunter tromped into the room and asked what was required of him.
"It is time we make up for our losses," Elena said, getting up and taking a few steps forward. She raised her right arm, and it began to shift and contort like all the muscles gained wills of their own.
"What is this?" Delta asked. "What is wrong with your arm?"
"Be silent and watch," Elena told him. Her arm continued to writhe, and now began to inflate and grow thicker and bigger, losing its texture and becoming a mass of molten flesh. As soon as it was nearly as big as Elena's body, she ejected the twisted mass, and it thunked to the ground and morphed even more. The mass began to split apart into several large pieces, and even those broke up into more chunks. The individual parts hardened and attained a shiny surface, and lost all fleshy fluid and softness. The parts raised themselves and began to swirl like a slow whirlpool, going faster even as a core of pale green energy formed, crackling and spitting. Finally, all the pieces became hard metal of all shapes and sizes swirled around the core, with a single head-like piece near the front. The head piece had two glowing blue slit eyes and a green emerald on the forehead, just like the other Hunters.
"This is our newest brother," Elena announced, walking toward the metallic mass. Her right arm had regrown and she raised her left one to touch the new Hunter on the forehead with her left index finger, tracing the cold metal with her long nail. "This… is Kappa."
"Thank you for the name, My Lady," Kappa responded in a hard and mechanical voice. He had no visible mouth. "Thus I have identity."
"Now, what can you do?" Elena asked him. As answer, Kappa's many parts moved all about; not in the swirl, but in different places, like pieces of a puzzle flying together to make the final result. The pieces assembled themselves by Kappa's will, resulting in a bipedal body. The head sat atop a somewhat long, animalistic neck, with wide, large shoulders and claw-like hands and feet like a reptile's. A long tail ending with a curving, crescent-moon shaped blade swung back and forth. Kappa moved his limbs all about, testing his body. "I am many in one, my Lady, able to assume an infinite array of forms. This is but one."
"So, you're a shapeshifter?" Beta said. "Useful."
"Yes, he is most delightful," Elena agreed with a smile, stepping back and telling Kappa, "Why don't you and Beta become partners and find out where Epsilon ran off to? I'd much rather not have a powerful opponent like him running around. Who knows what mischief he could get to? Oh, and he probably went chasing after a Key Creature, too. If you find it, capture it and send it to me before Epsilon gets it. Do you understand?"
"We do," Beta and Kappa confirmed, then vanished two flashes; one red, the other silver.