Magic: the Gathering

Chronicles, Volume 27

Author's Note: This chapter was written shortly before the Magic 2011 core set came out.

*o*o*o*o*

Nicol Bolas blinked his eyes open, aware of his eyes itched and ached even after his long nap, how his muscles felt cramped and sore, how his tail felt too heavy to even lift. The black-white energy of Grixis and Bant colliding with each other did little to help the massive headache the Elder Dragon suffered.

Bolas yawned widely, stretching out his claws and arching his long neck to raise his head to observe the scene around him. He turned and saw the actual collision of Grixis and Bant, the two Planes that Elena couldn't affect with her bizarre magic; the mini-Maelstrom resulting from their collision was far cry from the full-colored Maelstrom that Bolas wanted, a sad thought indeed. He saw Naya, Jund, and Esper floating still and unmoving, like a crowd watching Bant and Grixis go at it.

As long as Elena's enemies still defied her, she would hold back the Maelstrom and keep Bolas from becoming a real problem for her. By her word, she would restore the Maelstrom once she achieved victory. He hated it, but Bolas had no choice but to abide by her will and wait. He would not dare strike Elena down; only she could restore the Maelstrom, and killing her would not undo her spell, quite the opposite. If she died, then the only person who could restore the Maelstrom would be gone, and Bolas would be condemned to die a weak old dragon.

Bolas couldn't resist a snort, having received mental updates from his many servants scattered among the Multiverse. He didn't even look at Elena. "Having trouble, are we?"

"Nonsense, dear Bolas," Elena assured him, but the Elder Dragon could hear the anger and desperation in her retort. He knew that she was struggling by now, with most of her Hunter underlings dead. Only Alpha and Epsilon remained, and Epsilon had turned traitor and joined Elena's enemies! Her Enslaved armies abounded, but they were unwieldy to move about, and could not capture Key Creatures. Besides…

"I believe you have lost your grip on those Key Creatures?" Bolas taunted Elena, enjoying watching his tormentor squirm. That defiled bitch.

"Yes, they have eluded my dear Hunters," Elena snarled, fury crossing her otherwise attractive human features. She bit her dark lower lip, frowning as her eyes glared at nothing in particular. "All five are back in the children's hand, and I have no doubt that they will come for me next. And Alpha, too."

"They will not slay me, my Lady," Alpha told her coldly, turning to face her. "I will not let you down like Beta and Gamma and the others have."

Ahhh, that one, Nicol Bolas commented to himself, hearing Alpha speak. The most powerful of Elena's minions indeed! I sense horrific power coming from him. He could move mountains on a whim.

"I have faith in you, Alpha," Elena told her minion sweetly, holding his face with one of her hands. She lowered the hand and backed up. "Yet I feel ready for another attempt."

"More Hunters?"

Elena smiled. "You are sharp, Alpha! Yes, I have collected enough energy to defy the children one more time. They have proven themselves with brute strength, so I will employ a new strategy. That, and my new Eldrazi pets, will defy them long enough to allow me to gain even more power and influence! Stand back, Alpha."

The blue-black Hunter backed away as Elena extended her right arm, the limb swelling and bulging into a huge, confusing mass of flesh. The bulge swelled even further as Elena strained with the exertion, baring her teeth and the cords bulging in her neck. The effort paid off, however, as the mass split into two and fell to the ground in a loud noise of tearing flesh. The masses writhed and squirmed, slowly growing taller than they were wide and growing limbs and taking shape. One of them morphed into a lovely young woman with light green skin and thin but strong fairy wings on her back, and her shoulder-length hair was the color of a sapphire. A green, thumb-sized emerald rested in her forehead, proof of her allegiance to her creator. The fairy Hunter wore a rag from halfway down her thighs up to and over her breasts, her only adornment. her bare feet hovered a foot above the ground as the fairy Hunter's wings began to buzz, keeping her aloft.

The other mass became a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, wearing a red and blue gentleman's coat and poofy, jester-like trousers. Large copper boots were on his feet. His face was a bizarre one, with a pointed nose and an overly wide grin exposing dazzling white teeth, and long red eyebrows that extended off his head like moth antennae. His hair was sky-blue and flowed backwards, giving him a streamlined appearance. A bulky barrel-shaped attachment encased his left forearm, over a foot in diameter and made of hardened copper. Brass tubes and gears were on its surface, working to keep the thing powered. Countless weapons and tools lay hidden inside, like a giant Swiss army knife. Like all other Hunters, he had a green emerald set in his forehead.

Elena approached her two newest children, tracing her finger along the man's chin. "Welcome, Rho, Sigma," she said sweetly to them, meeting their eyes. "You will fight well for me, won't you?"

"Of course, my Lady," the fairy Hunter, Rho, bowed her head.

"I gotcha, I gotcha!" the steampunk Hunter, Sigma, saluted with a wide, goblin-like smile. "A-ha ha ha! I can't wait for this!"

"Then go, my children," Elena smiled at Sigma's enthusiasm. "I imagine that the children and Epsilon are going to group together to strike me down, and the Planeswalkers too. Find a way to separate them to gain the advantage. I want no mistakes."

"I've already got a few plans in mind, my Lady," Sigma said gleefully, rubbing his hands together as Rho watched silently. "I'll try out the most evil one first."

With that, he vanished in a flash of blinding cerulean and scarlet, Rho similarly vanishing with a flash of blue and green.

*o*o*o*o*

"Aaaaaaargh. Why couldn't I go to the Earth Plane, too?" Gerbie complained loudly as Viktor, Devin, Makoto, and Ashley teleported to Dominaria to meet Epsilon and his Azorius army in preparation to confront Elena at last and liberate the Multiverse from her tyranny.

"Why would you want to go there with Kelly?" Ashley asked her pet. She and the others except Kelly had teleported to a hilly part of Dominaria, near a large town surrounded by a stone wall. Mountain ranges and forests extended into the distance in the early morning light.

"Because! Earth is so much fun," Gerbie said fondly, motioning with his little paws as the foursome approached the ruins of an ancient temple where Epsilon would meet them. He had sent an Azorius messenger to Bant to relay the message. "It's got everything! Movies, 'air conditioners', those metal 'car' things, all that good stuff! I was halfway through a really good TV show on that 'computer' thing when Ashley dragged me off last time."

"What were you watching?" Viktor asked out of curiosity. He expected Kelly to rejoin them soon from Earth, having gone there to buy a few new powerful cards from the local hobby store before confronting Elena for the last time.

"It was 'streamed' on a site on the Web, and was about these cowboy bounty hunters in space," Gerbie recalled with a little gerbil grin. "They were hunting after people worth lots of money all over the solar system! Makes me think of the Hunters chasing our Key Creatures, but they're no match for us."

"I think I know what show that is," Devin realized, clapping a hand to his forehead.

"A hundred gold coins to whoever says it first," Gerbie challenged everyone.

"Hold on. Gold coins?" Devin repeated with a frown.

"Yeah! Or else a pass to get into Orzhov churches for free for a month," Gerbie added, raising the stakes. "Darn Ghost Council charges admission for getting into church! Forget collection plates."

"But I don't want to pray at an Orzhov church," Devin complained. "Why would I?"

"Well, they say it's good luck and the Orzhov gods look favorably upon those who bow in utter submission," Gerbie suggested. "And good fortune happens to find you afterwards! In business, as long as you work in the Orzhov's benefit…"

"So basically, you kiss their butt in order to get permission to help them more and somehow feel good about yourself in the process?" Devin said with disbelief.

Gerbie faltered. "Eh, wait a minute… now that you put it that way… aaaaaargh! I'll kill that guy who convinced me to get a life-long membership! Rip-off!"

"You're making that up, aren't you?" Viktor asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I admit it," Gerbie said slyly. "That's a lesson to you, kids: don't kiss butt unless it benefits you too!"

"That ain't any real advice, man," Ike argued from Viktor's pocket. "Real lesson: take everything with a pinch of sugar."

"Salt! Salt!" Gerbie corrected him, eager to one-up the other Simic pet gerbil.

"Whatever. Gonna nap now…"

"But that could have been a fun argument! Get back out of that pocket!" Gerbie ordered.

"You get back in your own pocket," Ashley commanded, and Gerbie slunk in her jacket pocket, mumbling to himself. Then, they reached the temple where Epsilon had promised to meet them, but Kelly hadn't arrived yet.

"Do you think something happened to her?" Ashley asked, concerned about her sister.

"I can't see that happening," Devin frowned. "That card shop's in a nice part of town. I bet she's just wondering what to get or something. Or it's just our nerves; big boss battle coming up and all…"

"That's not funny," Ashley argued, until Epsilon emerged from the temple to greet them. His ivory sword was sheathed at his left side, his broken forehead emerald dull with the lack of Elena's will in it.

"There you all are. It's good to see that you arrived without any trouble," Epsilon greeted Viktor's party. He wore the same gold and green armor he always did, shiny and flawless despite the damage he had sustained fighting Elena's hordes at Kamigawa. Apparently, Hunter armor could regenerate like flesh; in fact, Viktor suspected that the armor was part of their bodies and could not be easily removed.

"Did you expect any particular trouble? We haven't been here long," Makoto asked.

Epsilon gave the landscape a quick check; all was serene and still except for a flock of exotic birds that had taken flight from the depths of a nearby forest. "Elena's armies grow more restless as time goes, you see. Their master is frustrated and anxious, something that her troops reflect. You children are instrumental in her downfall, even more than the Planeswalkers. Even Dominaria here is partly Enslaved; it was here where I turned on Alpha and his Enslavement process."

"But there aren't any enslaved around here, are there?" Viktor asked, suddenly feeling very exposed. Epsilon would know better than almost anyone where the biggest populations of Enslaved creatures were.

"All of Oneah is Enslaved," Epsilon stated. "I watched as Alpha used terror and heresy to turn the people against each other, allowing Enslavement to take root at a high speed and spread to other lands."

"Where are your troops?" Devin asked. "All those Azorius guys…"

"The Planeswalkers would rather that I bring my troops after they show up to meet me," Epsilon said frankly. "Their trust in me is minimal and some may suspect a trap if I had my troops here first. Within minutes, I expect, a majority of the Planeswalkers will arrive here, and at their word I will teleport in my Azorius legions. And speaking of reinforcements, where is the last child? I count only four among you."

Viktor was a little tired of always being called a child, but that was a minor issue. As though summoned by command, Kelly warped into being, holding three of the Key Creature cards to let her get to Dominaria. She gave the cards back to their original owners, then held up a plastic shopping bag.

"What's in there?" Epsilon asked, stepping forward. "And what's that bag made of? I don't recognize the material, or the guild name imprinted on it."

"Oh – it's a shopping bag. From where I come from," Kelly explained, and Viktor could see the blue and red name of the card shop he and his friends used to frequent on Earth. With a rustle, Kelly took some items out of the bag, handing them out.

"Hey. I thought this guy wasn't out yet!" Devin exclaimed, his eyes bugging out at the card he held in his only hand. Viktor looked over his shoulder to see that it was Inferno Titan, a mythic rare red creature from the Magic 2011 core set.

"The pre-release must have been a few days ago," Kelly shrugged with a grin. "I saw a few M11 cards being sold separately at the shop, so I got this one for you. I guess someone got it in their sealed draft and didn't want it. I got it for only $5! Great deal."

"Someone sold this? Sold it?" Devin sputtered, and Viktor couldn't blame his reaction. Inferno Titan was a 6/6 Giant that could get +1/+0 for one red mana, and whenever it entered the battlefield or attacked, it dealt 3 damage divided as the controller chose to up to three target creatures and/or players.

"So. Got new paper toys?" Gerbie commented from Ashley's pocket.

"They're not toys. Without these cards, we would have been destroyed long ago," Ashley sternly told her gerbil.

"Oi oi! I was just joking! It's neat how you kick ass with little cardboard sheets," Gerbie protested. "Not just anyone could do that. I bet Epsilon over there couldn't hack it."

"I'll leave the card use to you, children," Epsilon muttered, looking away.

Viktor received a few cards from Kelly and looked them over. He now held Faerie Swarm, a */* flier whose power and toughness equaled the number of blue permanents he controlled. Viktor was about to ask why he got this particular card when he saw Painter's Servant right under the Faerie Swarm. With Scatter the Seeds and Doubling Season, Viktor could make a large number of 1/1 blue faeries after turning the Saprolings blue with the Painter's Servant. He and Kelly indeed thought along the same lines!

Viktor also received Hibernation, a blue Instant that returned all green permanents to their owners' hands. After tweaking that Servant's color-changing power, Viktor could remove large numbers of enemy creatures at once! The last card was Khalni Hydra, a Rise of the Eldrazi mythic rare that was an 8/8 green trampler that was cheaper to cast for every green permanent Viktor had. Another good use for those Saprolings!

"Ooooooh, I remember seeing this guy before," Ashley commented with a sigh, and she showed Viktor her Godhead of Awe, a 4/4 blue/white flier that turned all other creatures into 1/1's. "I never wanted to use it in my deck, but against Enslaved armies…"

"It's a masterstroke if we keep our own creatures safe from that effect," Viktor finished for her, certain that Ashley would tweak the Godhead's power to only shrink enemy creatures to 1/1 status. Ashley also received Baneslayer Angel, a 5/5 flying Angel with first strike, lifelink, and protection from dragon and demon creatures. On top of that, Ashley received a Worldpurge, a Shadowmoor white/blue hybrid rare that returned all permanents to their owners' hands, then they players returned all but seven of those cards to their libraries and shuffled them.

Kelly had bought herself an Xathrid Demon, a 7/7 flier and trampler that required a creature sacrifice during each upkeep. The Demon could make each opponent lose life equal to the power of the sacrificed creature, and if no sacrifice was offered then the Demon would become tapped and make Kelly lose 7 life. She had also bought herself an Incremental Blight, a Shadowmoor uncommon that put a -1/-1 counter on a creature, two -1/-1 counters on a second creature, and three such counters on a third creature. Viktor was confident that with alternate effects of cards being used, that Blight would become far more powerful than in the normal paper game.

Then, Makoto was given a Yosei, the Morning Star, even though the original was Enslaved at Kamigawa. Most likely, this one would not be affected by the original as long as it was cast on a Plane other than Kamigawa, Viktor surmised. Makoto also got a Coat of Arms, since his deck was based on the creature type "samurai."

Along with those cards, Kelly had bought a few Zendikar cards for heavy-hitting spell effects. Viktor knew that Zendikar was a plane of wild and super-powerful magic, and cards from that block were not to be used lightly. Even so, Kelly had secured one good Zendikar card for everyone: a Butcher of Malakir for herself, a 5/4 flying Vampire that forced each opponent to sacrifice a creature whenever the Butcher or another of Kelly's creatures died. Devin was given a copy of Lord of Shatterskull Pass, a level-up minotaur that could deal 6 damage to every creature his opponent controlled whenever the Lord attacked.

"Hey. I don't think we've used any level-up creatures before," Devin commented, looking over his Lord of Shatterskull pass. "Have we?"

"I don't think so," Ashley said. "How would that work in combat? Just pump mana into it until it gets to the full level?"

"That's what I'm assuming," Kelly nodded, then winked at Devin. "Show us some on-the-spot ingenuity, okay?"

Devin was heartened. "Yeah! I'll lead the way with my level-up guy," he promised, handling his Lord of Shatterskull Pass card affectionately. With a grin on his lips from the humorous scene, Viktor accepted his new Zendikar card from Kelly, then did a second-take when he saw an Ulamog's Crusher in his hands, an 8/8 Eldrazi with Annihilator 2 that had to attack each turn if able. It cost 8 colorless mana to cast.

"What the – what the heck, Kelly?" Viktor cried, showing her the card. "This guy?"

"Well, we need to borrow the power of the Eldrazi to stand a chance, after all," Kelly defended herself. "Besides, that guy is the cheapest Eldrazi to cast, so he wouldn't be as much of a strain to create as the others, and he's powerful for his low cost. I think it's pound-for-pound the best Eldrazi there is except Kozilek, Butcher of Truth himself."

"Well, yeah," Viktor had to agree, looking over the horrific creature depicted in the art box of the card. He remembered the power of the Eldrazi from the battle of Kamigawa, and would be grateful to have that kind of power on his side for once. "Thanks, Kelly. I wasn't complaining, I just..."

"Don't worry, I know," Kelly grinned. She passed out the last few cards to the others, handing an Archon of Redemption to Ashley, her sister. The Archon was a Worldwake 3/4 flier whose effect was "Whenever Archon of Redemption or another creature with flying enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain life equal to that creature's power." Without a doubt, that Archon would be useful not only as a capable flying warrior but a way to recover Ashley's strength and vitality whenever she cast any of her numerous flying creatures.

Makoto was given an Instant for his Zendikar powerhouse card, since there were no Samurai in that block. He got his hands on Comet Storm, which cost X and two red and had multikicker 1 colorless. That card would deal X damage to a target creature or player, then deal that same damage to a number more creatures or players equal to the number of times Comet Storm was kicked. Viktor got the feeling that Makoto would make explosive use of that Comet Storm, providing perfect cover fire for his deadly Samurai to charge into the fray of any battle.

"So, is that everything?" Kelly asked, checking her bag. "Uh-huh, that's all of them."

"Jeez. How much did all that cost?" Devin asked in amazement, aware of how many rares and mythic rares Kelly had brought along.

"I'd... rather not say. Let's just say that it helps to have a part-time job," Kelly admitted, not giving away the final total. "The important part is that we're well-quipped enough to take down Elena and Alpha for good, along with the Enslaved army."

"Indeed! I look forward to doing battle with you all," Epsilon agreed, stepping forth. "I take it that you all are ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Viktor assured the blue-white-green Hunter. "Now we just wait for the Planeswalkers to show up, and -"

As though summoned by the very mention, Jace Beleren appeared out of nowhere, looking a little hassled.

"Jace! What is it?" Viktor asked him, finding strange that the blue Planeswalker had arrived alone.

"Something is wrong. Chandra is missing, and it is unlike her to forget something this important," Jace informed him.

"Aw, man. She's still goofing around?" Gerbie complained. "Can't trust red powerhouses..."

"No matter what, you must find her," Jace told Viktor and the others sternly. "I would help, but I am needed elsewhere. Most likely, Chandra has run into trouble on Zendikar. The Enslavement process there was been accelerating, and the Eldrazi are on the loose there. I wish you the best of luck."

With that, Jace vanished, and Devin and Gerbie were quite indignant.

"He just shows up and dumps an errand on us before running off!" Devin cried.

"Good-for-nothing mystic boy. Let's kick his arse next time we see him!" Gerbie added.

"Quiet! We've got a job to do," Viktor interrupted, silencing his friend and the gerbil. "Come on. This shouldn't take too long, as long as Alpha is staying by Elena's side."

"I wish to follow," Epsilon added, stepping forth. "Let us depart."

"Yeah," Viktor agreed, and he and the others touched their Key Creature cards together to warp to Zendikar before something rather strange happened.

Whoa. How come I feel so... lightheaded? Viktor wondered lazily, his whole body swaying. He blinked a few times, then saw that vivid blue-green pollen spores were drifting down from the sky like snow, affecting his mind. Everyone else noticed them too, growing more drowsy by the second. Even Epsilon staggered back, slapping himself to stay awake.

"Wh-what's going on?" Ashley voiced her fear, the teleport half-way through completion. Then, she yelped and dove out of the way as a dark green fairy zoomed past her, intent on impaling her with the stinger on its abdomen. The fairy buzzed past, stopping and turning in midair, its insectoid wings flapping rapidly.

"Oh! It seems that you dodged it, dearest," a cooing voice said, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Viktor wheeled around and saw a much larger, human-sized fairy approaching through the snowstorm of blue-green pollen. The newcomer settled a few feet in the air above everyone else, observing the scene.

"Hey. She's another Hunter! There's no mistaking it!" Kelly exclaimed, pointing with all her effort against the sleep-inducing pollen. Viktor had to agree: the fairy had a gentle shade of blue-green on her skin, and dark blue hair. She wore a rag over her breasts that went down to halfway down her thighs, her only garment. The most telling sign was the thumb-sized emerald shining on her forehead, making it clear whom she served. The fairy also had large insectoid wings on her back, buzzing loudly to keep her aloft.

"I am Rho, a child of Lady Elena," the fairy Hunter said enticingly, tracing a finger across her lips and her eyes fixed on the kids below. "I am sorry, but it is my duty to kill you all. Chandra Nalaar is soon doomed, fated to meet her end against fellow Hunter Sigma on Zendikar. Will you join me in the world of dreams, or fight against me like brutes?"

Wait. Another new Hunter? "Sigma"? Viktor realized. "Guys. Makoto, Epsilon and I will get to Zendikar to save Chandra. The rest of you, fight this Rho girl. There's no time to waste."

Thankfully, the others were quick to agree to Viktor's plan, and he and Makoto and Epsilon hurried through the teleport zone to reach Zendikar to retrieve Chandra before Rho could stop them. Viktor was confident in his remaining friends' abilities, but there was always reason to worry. Elena didn't like to play nice.

*o*o*o*o*

A/N: The TV show Gerbie was referring to earlier is Cowboy Bebop.