Magic: the Gathering
Chronicles, Volume 23
"So, um… who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" Devin joked feebly, staring transfixed at the Ascendant State Delta standing twenty paces behind the charging Theta and Omega.
"Stop… your joking!" Kelly gritted, as her Grixis Slavedriver blocked Theta and Omega, its rusty barbed-wire whip straining against the pressure of the twosome's swords backed up by their masters' unnatural strength. The Zombie Giant was assisted by Makoto's Nagao, Bound by Honor, the white samurai weaving his katana in a complex pattern and batting aside Theta and Omega's blades, creating a brief opening as they staggered back.
"But… it really freaks me out," Devin whimpered, still watching Delta, gripping a trio of cards in his only hand.
"Why is that?" Viktor asked, his Acidic Slime rushing forth with wet, slopping sounds to extend its corrosive feelers toward the demi-Hunters. They cut off its feelers but cried out as the Slime's burning blood splashed on their hand and arms.
"Cause I thought I was the only red-green master around here," Devin explained, his Giant Growth-enhanced Raging Goblin racing forward to engage the demi-Hunters as they writhed in pain from the Slime's blood getting on them. The Goblin's ax descended, narrowly missing them as it made a huge gouge in the floor.
"But you are!" Ashley encouraged him, her Withstand protecting the Goblin from a sneak attack by Theta, who attacked the Goblin's blind spot.
"I… I am? But Delta…" Devin started, looking confused.
Ashley smiled. "Can't you tell yet, Devin?" she asked. "No matter how strong the Hunters are or what they do, we'll always be better! They fight for evil, trying to help Elena conquer the entire Multiverse for herself. But we, we fight for good, we fight to protect everyone and maintain balance in the Multiverse. Even though it isn't our native world. That's why we'll always be stronger."
Devin hesitated, listening to his friend's words. Then he grinned. "Yeah. We're stronger. Way stronger!" he cheered, as a blazing red Volcanic Dragon erupted to life, the monster screeching its hunger and rage in the confines of the Eiganjo Castle throne room.
"Just don't get carried away, all right?" Kelly supported him, her Nightmare taking up arms along with the Dragon. Both beasts flew over the staggered demi-Hunters' heads, charging right at Delta.
"He'll launch the fire lances again, so get ready!" Kelly told her sister, and Ashley nodded, her Water Elemental joining them and spreading itself out to form a wavering, malleable shield with Viktor's Jump card to give it flying.
"Ah-woooooo! Not good enough!" Delta howled, taking a heavy step back and swishing his skull staff through the air. Once again, hundreds of fire streamers erupted from the staff, all headed for the attacking creatures.
"Get 'em!" Theta shouted, but the Water Elemental thought otherwise. To Delta's annoyance, the Water Elemental shifted around to take the brunt of the fire streamers, its watery body bubbling and boiling as the fire struck it. The Elemental was swiftly killed, despite Ashley's extra mana pumped into it and Viktor's Regeneration, but its job was complete. The Nightmare's hooves and Volcanic Dragon's claws smashed Delta about, making him cry out as they landed.
Viktor's first impression was that Delta was mostly a distance fighter, but that impression was dispelled: the Wolf Shaman's bulging, furry biceps weren't just for show.
"Hahahaha. Sorry, horsie, but you're gonna die! You too, dragon boy!" Delta shouted, as the Nightmare's hind hooves tried to smash his face again. His paw-like hand flashed out and seized the Nightmare's leg and he used it like a handle, swinging the neighing Nightmare at the Dragon. Viktor tried to Unsummon the Nightmare but was too slow: the horse crashed into the Volcanic Dragon in a gout of seething fire, apparently Delta's own addition to do extra damage. Both creatures were demolished, bursting into countless wisps of mana.
"And that's why you don't charge at Delta! Damage to the face!" Omega declared, getting back to his feet and wiping blood from his brow; Theta was likewise injured, the two of them unsteady on their feet, their grips loose on their half-swords.
"Wanna make something of it?" Devin challenged them, rolling up his sleeves before Tohru gripped his arm.
"Must not fall for taunting! Dangerous to fall for that tactic. Keep cooler temperament," the wizened Planeswalker warned.
"But I'm red-green! I lose if I hesitate," Devin pointed out.
Tohru raised his eyebrows. "Ahhh, but only if you hesitate when the time is right. Usually, must wait for the time to be right. Otherwise, certain failure. Cooperate with teammates to make that opportunity."
Devin's eyes widened, then he grinned again. "Let's make this work, guys," he said. "Delta and the others can't keep pushing us around."
"And I want to get them back for tormenting me, too," Makoto added, giving Theta and Omega a hard look. "While I was their captive."
"Wh-what did they do to you?" Ashley asked, concern in her voice.
"Nothing too bad," Makoto assured her. "But –"
"Hey! Look!" Viktor warned, and the six of them turned to witness Theta and Omega still standing there, but side-by-side with a set expression on their faces.
"Delta, you're about to get some serious help," Theta told the big Hunter.
"We're doing that," Omega added grimly.
"Doing what now? I forgot the ability Alpha gave you guys," Delta said frankly, scratching his head.
Theta and Omega sighed, their shoulder slumping. "You forgot? Then we'll just have to show you! All of you!" they said in unison, then raised their half-swords, joining them at the cutoff sides to make a whole broadsword. Instantly, blue and black mana flared up, rumbling in strength as a vortex of it enveloped Theta and Omega.
"What are they doing?" Kelly wondered nervously, peering at the spectacle. "Surely they don't have an Ascendant State too! They're only part-time Hunters, but…"
Tohru frowned, then his eyes bulged. "Prepare!" he shouted over the noise. "Their mana auras just combined! Very strong now. Unusual phenomenon!"
"Combined…?" Viktor started, before the black and blue mana made one final surge and faded away, revealing a lone figure standing where Theta and Omega had been. The newcomer was bulky, almost as big as non-Ascendant Delta, but wearing blue and black armor with a cape. His face was heavy, with long, tangled black hair that went to the small of his back, and a short beard on his chin and jowls and a mustache to match, giving him a rugged look. His eyes were hard and serious, and in both hands he held a whole broadsword, the complete version of the half-swords Theta and Omega had wielded. A sparkling, spherical diamond was set in the pommel of the broadsword.
The newcomer looked down at the defending kids and Planeswalker. "I am Upsilon, spawn of Theta and Omega," he said in a deep voice. "And I don't play nice like they do. I exist only to eradicate."
"Are you… a summon from Theta and Omega?" Kelly asked. "Or did they combine their bodies and minds to make you, with you having their memories and experience?"
Upsilon shook his head. "Some of both," he said. "All of us are the spawn of Lady Elena's flesh and will – we are not truly alive, only independently-moving extensions of Elena's flesh. Theta and Omega were 'returned' to her to create me, Upsilon. An exchange, of sorts, an exchange only they could perform. I do, however, have their memories and experience. That, and my unstoppable broadsword, Soul Drive, will render you dead within minutes."
"Jeez, he's a jerk," Devin commented, and even Kelly had to agree. "But we have to be even more careful with him than Delta," she warned in a whisper and Upsilon spun his sword and started walking toward them. "Blue and black are tricky colors, and we haven't seen any of what he can do yet."
Then, Delta raised his voice. "A little test. Shock!" he shouted, and crackling blue lightning raced toward Upsilon, who blinked flicked his wrist to allow his sword blade to knock the lightning away. He continued to walk unimpeded.
"Elvish Warrior!" Viktor cried as Ashley's Sky Hussar and Makoto's Battle-Mad Ronin all charged to meet Upsilon, all of them defeated by his broadsword, cutting off all their heads.
"No use!" Upsilon snarled, still approaching. "Delta, back me up."
"I never thought you'd ask," Delta grinned, zooming to the battlefield with a blur of red and green mana, moving super-fast for his size. Delta's countless fire streamers were launched once again as Upsilon swung his broadsword right at Viktor's head.
"Too much at once!" Tohru cried, his shielding gold magic nullifying a few fire streamers. Distracted by Upsilon's swing, no one was able to cast a blocking spell in time, and the fire streamers raged everywhere, slamming into the floor and creating balls of fire everywhere they struck. Meanwhile, Upsilon's sword edge was an inch away from Viktor's nose.
"Ice Cage!" he shouted, and blue-white ice seeped into existence, growing on Upsilon's arm and body like a fast-growing crystalline fungus. The fusion Hunter looked shocked as the ice stopped his swing, rendering his arm useless.
Devin's Entangling Vines laced themselves into a living shield, taking the brunt of Delta's fire, keeping Viktor safe as he worked his Ice Cage magic. However, there were too many fire streamers; Viktor growled in pain as fire seared his skin, the shock of the fire detonations buffeting him and sending him sprawling, along with everyone else. The floorboards were charred and cracked, and the two Hunters weren't done yet.
"Not good enough. You only bought yourself some time," Upsilon said grimly, flexing his arm and breaking off the ice, allowing the chunks to fall to the floor and shatter. He pounced, aiming his broadsword for a deadly point-thrust. Delta's fire streamers were launched again at the same time, providing cover.
Damn, it's only the fire streamers over and over but they're too hard to avoid! Especially with Upsilon charging! Viktor cursed, nevertheless getting an Assault Zeppelid out in time to block the sword thrust. Ashley's Safe Passage diverted some of the fire streamers, but the rest had to be blocked by chump creatures, the heat making the air waver.
Meanwhile, Upsilon's broadsword closed in on the thick armor of the Llanowar Behemoth, the wood-and-vine siege vehicle buffed by a surge of blue-green from Viktor, its summoner. Viktor was certain that Upsilon's sword would require at least a few seconds to get through it, but he was wrong: Upsilon's broadsword tip touched the Behemoth's armor and slid right through it, as though it were an illusion.
"What in…?" Viktor sputtered, watching. Upsilon's expression didn't change as his sword plunged unimpeded right through the Behemoth, not injuring it but at the same time unaffected by it, practically ignoring presence. Viktor scrambled out of the way as the sword tip came close to him, threatening to impale him. Viktor scrambled to his feet as the Llanowar Behemoth attacked Upsilon, only to miss as the fusion Hunter teleported out of the way with a puff of blue mana.
"Is that an illusionary sword?" Makoto asked on awe, having witnessed Upsilon's bizarre move. He gripped his cards tight. "You know, since he's blue and black. Theta and Omega were tricksters enough."
"You'll never know the secret. It is not for you to know," Upsilon told them firmly, lowering his broadsword and extending a hand. "Perish."
A cyclone of freezing cold dark blue mana burst from Upsilon's hand, chilling Viktor's body to the bones and making his brain feel heavy and slow, his body swaying as his mind went fuzzy. A remote mana-leeching attack, I'll bet! Viktor thought doggedly. With equal determination, he forced his arm high enough to cast his Vital Surge card, giving him the vitality to fight back.
"Get him!" Viktor ordered his Behemoth, and the elf siege vehicle charged again, aided by a man-pumped Fighting Drake and Assault Zeppelid, both further enhanced by Battlegrowth.
"Hmph! So you can resist," Upsilon commented with a grunt, fending off the Fighting Drake's claws with his sword. However, he had not expected an Elvish Warrior to slip through the creatures' ranks, flitting close and smacking its sword against Upsilon's armor, forcing the fusion Hunter to stagger. Assault Zeppelid rammed him, driving Upsilon into the floor with a loud crunch.
"Yeah! Superior numbers!" Devin shouted, and his Boggart Ram-Gang and Makoto's Battle-Mad Ronin charged in to help, sped up by red mana to finish off the vulnerable Upsilon. They were stopped, however, when Delta made his move.
"Not so fast, not so fast!" the wolf shaman Hunter declared, setting a paw-foot back to brace himself to cast a powerful spell. With a straining grunt, he swung his wooden staff in a wide arc, and to Viktor's shock, several green and red forms surged from the staff, materializing out of nowhere.
Then, Viktor saw a quartet of bulky wolves with moss-green pelts charge to intercept the attacking creatures, the wolves' paws on fire with unnatural flames to give them speed and power. With chilling howls, the beasts pounced on the attackers, tearing into their flesh with powerful jaws.
Viktor wasn't about to let Delta re-gain the upper hand. Gritting his teeth, he channeled more green and blue mana into his creatures as Makoto and Devin did the same, and the Fighting Drake, who had lost an arm to a green wolf, bit at its wolf adversary and chomped it in half, avenging its lost limb.
"Ah-woooooo! You fell for it!" Delta howled in joy, and Viktor's eyes bugged as he saw the severed wolf's body explode violently, swallowing the injured Fighting Drake in a seething fireball. The rest of the creatures were knocked back from the force, and when the flames died down there was nothing left of the wolf or Fighting Drake.
"It… exploded when it died! A volatile mana reaction in its body?" Kelly wondered in shock.
Tohru nodded, consulting a scroll of his that had updated info flow across its rice paper surface. "Exactly right, Kelly," he said. "Most unusual. Most effective. Quite red-green, I must say."
"Not that it's a good thing," Devin muttered as Boggart Ram-Gang impaled a green wolf, the goblins on it cheering in victory. Their cheers were changed to squeals as they flew away from the resulting explosion, the log battering ram demolished. Battle-Mad Ronin faced a similar fate, slicing through one wolf and stabbing the last one. Both wolves detonated like the rest, vaporizing the Ronin.
"Jeez. There's got to be a way around this," Viktor gritted, watching Upsilon approach again. "Ashley, do you have anything?"
"Um… Turn to Mists, probably," she said uncertainly, examining the said card. "I can turn the explosions into mist clouds and make them less effective."
"Hey, that's not how the card works –" Makoto started, before Devin gave a warning as the two Hunters started another attack.
"Greet your death," Upsilon snarled, leaping into the air and whirling in place, not unlike the Theta and Omega demi-Hunters who had spawned him. Makoto's Silverstorm Samurai and Ronin Houndmaster were there to greet Upsilon's blade, the broadsword moving even faster than the half-swords that had fused to create it. Only Ashley's Withstand and Viktor's Twiddle slowed Upsilon's assault enough to allow the two defending creatures to drive him back, aided by a shock and Makoto's Yamabushi's Flame.
"Whoa, he's fast," Devin said in awe. "How strong do you think he is compared to the other Hunters? Whoa!"
Upsilon had attacked again, slipping past the samurai to reach him. His Giant Ambush Beetle and Scythe Tiger were there to protect him, driving Upsilon back again.
"Do it, Delta," Upsilon grinned, and Delta stomped forward, waving his staff again with a gleeful howl. Viktor tried not to panic as over two dozen green flaming wolves leaped into existence, charging in packs toward the defenders.
"Wall of Denial!" Ashley declared, and the shimmering blue and white wall wavered quickly into existence, barely in time to stop the wolf horde. The Wall was rather close to the kids, but the wolves were stymied, snapping and scratching uselessly at its impenetrable, ethereal surface. Upsilon, on the other hand, walked forward and stabbed his broadsword at it.
Useless. Ashley can pump more mana into the wall and I can enchant it, Viktor thought confidently, preparing an Oakenform to bolster the Wall's toughness. He was proven wrong, however, when Upsilon's massive broadsword slid right through the Wall with a stabbing motion, its point going through the Wall as through it were not even there.
"Sister!" Kelly exclaimed in alarm when Upsilon's blade went through the Wall and stabbed Ashley in the chest, making her cry out and fall to her knees, bleeding. The Wall flickered, losing coherence until it fell completely, allowing Delta's wolves to resume their attack.
"Shit!" Viktor growled, his Elvish Warrior and a new Fighting Drake advancing to hold off a few of the wolves as Upsilon backed away from a Branching Bolt sent his way. Most of the wolves, smelling Ashley's blood, went after her and intended to tear her apart. Still able to fight, however, Ashley fell back, a white card in her hand.
"You fell for the trap, wolves," she muttered weakly, and Viktor recognized Arrow Volley Trap in her hands. The white Trap instant normally dealt 5 damage divided as its caster chose among any number of attacking creatures, and Viktor cast Regenerate on Ashley to close her wound and undo the damage. Meanwhile, hundreds of arrows flocked through the air from Ashley's card, the wooden projectiles impaling the wolves by the dozen, stopping them where they stood.
"Get back!" Kelly warned, dragging her sister out of the blast radius. All dead, the wolves' bodies exploded almost at the same time, shuddering the room and breaking the floor as a wall of fire enveloped the room, obscuring Viktor's vision of Delta and Upsilon.
"Yeesh. Good going, Ashley, that bought us some time," Viktor told his friend, quickly kneeling by her side. "Listen, are you okay? You were stabbed…"
"It's okay. Your Regenerate is helping," Ashley told him, her voice's strength returning. Her shirt had a tear in it, but her skin underneath was smooth and unbroken, with no trace of Upsilon's stab. "But thanks, Vik."
"Prepare. They are not done yet," Tohru warned, and he was right; out of the fire came Upsilon, whirling in the air as he was attacking again, and Delta was not far behind.
"Ah-woooooo! This is getting more fun as it goes!" the wolf shaman howled, tilting his head back as Elvish Warrior blocked with Upsilon's blade with difficulty. "I almost don't want this battle to end, but Upsilon and I need to get that Konda Key Creature and get it back to Lady Elena. She's getting impatient."
Then she and you are going to be disappointed. We're not going to lose, Viktor thought doggedly as he and the other kids rallied to fight back. But this is going to take some doing. We've got to figure out how Upsilon's sword works, or he'll keep going through our defenses as Delta lays covering fire with his flame streamers and wolf summons. But we can do this. I know it.