Magic: the Gathering
Chronicles, Volume 38
Alpha made no cry of pain or shock as Viktor's Trusty Machete was plunged into his stomach, nor did he resist an any kind of way. Instead, the Ascendant Hunter stood still, looking down at the blade with his dark, cold eyes and his sharp teeth exposed in a silent snarl. Viktor had the full strength of his green-blue mana aura flared up, giving him the strength he needed to strike his blade into Elena's most powerful Hunter. It had taken a huge toll in Viktor's strength to perform this feat, but it was done. Alpha was critically injured now, Viktor figured. This fight was almost over.
"Is that... is that it?" Makoto breathed. Like everyone else, he didn't move a muscle. "Is Alpha going down?"
"Better be sure! Here goes!" Devin cried, raising a card into the air. His Lord of Shatterskull Pass erupted from the card, the towering Minotaur bellowing its rage as it charged toward Alpha. Devin had already set the ball rolling, so everyone else helped – Kelly's Nightmare, Ashley's Water Elemental, and Makoto's Silverstorm Samurai all charged with the Lord of Shatterskull Pass, and Sarkhan summoned a quartet of red-scaled dragons to help out. Epsilon hung back, keeping his plant warriors close.
Viktor could sense the horde of friendly creatures charging to finish the injured Alpha off. "Get ready to die, Hunter," he whispered. Alpha didn't do a thing.
As soon as the creatures got within striking distance, however, Alpha moved. In a flash, he leaped back, allowing Viktor's Trusty Machete to slide out of his stomach. Alpha moved both far and fast with his backwards leap, and the horde of creatures all crashed down onto empty ground in a confused pile.
"Come on!" Viktor urged the creatures, brandishing his Machete like a sword as he led the creatures on a resumed attack. Makoto's Unnatural Speed helped the creatures quickly recover from their failed attack, and they charged toward the waiting Alpha. The blue-black Hunter had other ideas.
"Too bad you all are so foolish," he glowered, raising a hand palm-out with the fingers held apart. "You think you can destroy me with sheer force?"
Ashley's Safe Passage came into play in order to protect Viktor and the creatures from whatever Alpha was planning, but it was for nothing. Alpha didn't intend to cast any offensive magic: he changed the nature of reality.
Dark blue mana swirled around Alpha's hand like a tiny hurricane, bending and warping the space around him like the edge of a black hole. The very air seemed to bend and tear apart as Alpha's magic dominated the nature of reality, and a bizarre howling sound tore through everyone's eardrums. Viktor felt his world bending and twisting like he was buffeted in underwater currents, and the next thing he felt was his own Trusty Machete vanish from his hands and re-appear in his back, piercing him all the way through.
"Gaaaaaaaah! Ugghhh..." Viktor gurgled, feeling his lungs punctured by the Trusty Machete's sharp edge. He coughed up hot red blood, stunned at what had happened. What did Alpha do? Telekinesis? He managed to turn around and saw that all the summoned creatures were starting to emerge from their startled owners' hands, as though they were never cast in the first place. Did Alpha reverse time?
"Surprised? You should expect such a thing from blue and black mana," Alpha lectured Viktor as the boy fell to his hands and knees, trembling. Alpha took a few steps forward, curving his hand's fingers like claws. "I can warp reality when in this form. I reverse the space and time of whatever objects I choose. Those creatures are now reverted back to being cast, and I can stop them from being cast."
Alpha fired a thin bolt of purple mana that struck the emerging Nightmare, effectively countering its casting. The black-mana horse whinnied as its mana source was crushed, and the horse was blasted into vapors of black mana in a stunned Kelly's hand. Alpha promptly did the same for everyone else's creatures, countering their summoning. The counterspell also stunned the casters, frazzling their spell-casting abilities for now. Alpha went back over Viktor, relishing in his superiority.
"As for you, leader of the children, I reset your machete to an earlier state. You were going forward in a straight line with your machete raised, so I re-set the machete to a split-second's earlier state, which was right where you are. How does it feel to fall on your own blade, child?"
Viktor managed a spiteful laugh as his head started to grow light. "You stabbed me again, Alpha," he choked out, giddy with blood loss. "This time with my blade, as you've said. And you're even doing the kindness of explaining your power?"
"There is nothing you can do to stymy or redirect my ability," Alpha boasted angrily. "I want you to feel the despair of knowing your enemy, but failing to slay him!"
"Then try this!" a new voice cried, and Epsilon leaped through the air with a fastwalk, closing the distance between him and Alpha in a split-second. Epsilon swung his ivory blade through the air with incredible force, aiming right to Alpha's neck. Alpha raised his left arm to block, letting his wrist take the brunt of the sword strike. Mana sparks flew from the point of contact and Alpha's arm trembled from the effort of resisting Epsilon's sword, but he kept his ground.
"You again," Alpha commented, sounding amused. "How many times will you try and fail to defeat me, Epsilon? Even with Gamma's power in you, you are helpless before me. I have power you cannot even dream of obtaining."
Epsilon glared back. "I don't want your power, slave of Elena. I want you dead!"
"That's another thing you'll never have," Alpha retorted, vanishing from sight as he teleported in a flash of blue mana. The vampire spirit re-appeared right behind Epsilon, thrusting his hand forward to gouge out Epsilon's flesh with his claw-like fingernails. A plant warrior was summoned to block the blow, and Alpha's hand plunged into the plant's tangled body of vines and flowers. Alpha fought to get his arm out as the plant released acidic pollen, and Epsilon took his chance. He swung his blade again, slicing Alpha's shoulder, landing his first real blow against Alpha in some time.
"Not too bad," Alpha conceded as several more plant warriors were brought over to surround Alpha. "but not good enough!" Alpha raised his mana-leech aura, withering all the plants as he drained their mana. He poured the mana into his own body, using it to heal the wound that Epsilon had given him. Then, he did the reality warp again on the plant that held his hand, forcing it back to its moment of being summoned.
"I won't give you any respite, creature!" Epsilon swore, thrusting his hand forth. "Freezing Attack Level 2!"
"Ah, Gamma's power," Alpha commented before he vanished, teleporting out of the way. Epsilon's Freezing Attack went through empty air, the blue-white mana spell striking the ground harmlessly. Epsilon landed on the ground, bringing his plant warriors close as protection. He swiveled his head this way and that, searching for where Alpha would appear from next.
He got his answer: from above.
"Too weak!" Alpha derided Epsilon as he landed, crushing Epsilon against the ground and tossing away the ivory sword. Alpha flared up his mana leech aura again, weakening the surrounding plants. Restraining Epsilon, Alpha exposed his enemy's neck and prepared to bite, exposing his long, pointed fangs.
"Epsilon!" Devin cried, sending a super-powered Branching Bolt at Alpha. Makoto added his Comet Storm to the mix, sending red-hot space rocks crashing down all over the place. Alpha weathered the storm, but was unable to do anything besides defend himself from the barrage of red mana-based attacks. Kelly added her Consume Spirit, sending tendrils of hardened black mana at Alpha while Ashley cast Curse of Chains, pinning Alpha down with blue and white shackles.
"Easy," Alpha muttered, after taking a pounding from the combined assault. His body was beaten up from the attack, but now it was his turn to hit back. He raised both arms and used his reality warp with both hands, reversing the spells back into their casters' cards. His body started to mend the damage it had taken, but it didn't heal completely, making Alpha frown in irritation.
"Now, Devin!" Kelly cried, urging Devin to carry out the plan she had told him while the spell barrage was being cast. Devin nodded and used Reverberate, which was a red Instant that could copy an instant or sorcery spell and choose new targets for the copy. Alpha's reality warp was the target, and Devin aimed his borrowed reality warp at the dying Viktor, throwing the bizarre blue magic spell at his friend.
The borrowed reality warp washed over Viktor, restoring him to an earlier state: before he had tried to attack Alpha, which meant that his injuries were mended and that his spend mana was restored. Viktor blinked and shakily got back up to his feet, amazed at what had just happened.
"A minor success," Alpha growled, throwing his counter-magic at the kids' cards to cancel the spell barrage that was restarting. Viktor cast his Cancel, disabling Alpha's spell to allow the re-cast Comet Storm, Branching Bolt, Consume Spirit, and Curse of Chains to resolve. The combined force struck the area all around Alpha, and he used his mana leech aura to stave off the worst of the damage. He couldn't stop it all, however, and his body sustained further damage. Then, Epsilon came up from behind, gripping his sword.
Epsilon's sword thrust missed, but it did force Alpha to use another teleport, delaying a teleport tactic for another 5 seconds. Alpha re-appeared and tried to swing at Epsilon, but a few of Epsilon's plants got in the way to block the attack. Alpha's claw attack easily tore the plants apart, but it gave Epsilon a chance to throw a Freezing Attack Level 2, freezing Alpha for just a few seconds. Normally, Freezing Attack Level 2 would restrain a foe for several minutes, but Alpha's tremendous power wouldn't allow the freezing to go on that long.
"Take... that!" Epsilon grunted, slashing his sword across Alpha's chest, gashing a huge wound across his enemy and spurting blood into the air. Alpha winced at the pain, and Epsilon raised his booted foot to kick Alpha away. The vampire spirit was sent flying and crashed to the ground, tumbling across the ground until he came to a halt. He lay face-down, not moving an inch.
"Now to finish it!" Epsilon roared, fueled by his successful attacks. Ashley shouted a warning, but Epsilon would not be stopped; he fastwalked right over to Alpha, raising his sword for the finishing blow.
"Still a fool, I see," Alpha grinned, springing to his feet much faster than Epsilon expected. He seized Epsilon's arm halfway through a sword strike, disabling Epsilon's attack. Panicking, Epsilon tried to punch Alpha with his other hand, until Alpha caught his hand and tried to crush it.
Only the arrival of Sarkhan's dragons kept Alpha from breaking Epsilon's wrist and hand. The dragons bathed Alpha in fire, forcing him to teleport away. Alpha re-appeared a dozen steps away, incensed.
"Let me show you -" Alpha started, raising his hand to warp Sarkhan. Before he could, an otherworldly bellow shook the air, chilling everyone to the bone. Everyone, even Epsilon's plant warriors, turned to see Viktor's Ulamog's Crusher standing there, the towering 8/8 Eldrazi spoiling for a fight. The faceless monstrosity lurched forward on its mass of tentacles, reaching out with its humanoid arms to crush the relatively tiny Alpha flat.
Alpha teleported into the air right in front of the Crusher, only feet away from its faceless, bony head. The Eldrazi rumbled and backed up, giving it enough room to swing. Devin's Shock distracted Alpha for just a second, giving the Crusher enough time to swing its arms. Its Annihilator effect came into play, making Alpha start to dissolve into ashes. Flakes of gray ash peeled off of Alpha's skin from the nightmarish effect, making Alpha curl up in midair to resist it.
"Okay! Now crush him! Do it!" Viktor yelled up to his Eldrazi, and the huge Crusher nodded and brought its hands together to swat Alpha like a bug. Ashley's Withstand was cast onto the Crusher's hands to protect it from anything Alpha tried to do. The Crusher's hands clapped onto Alpha, squashing him. The Crusher rumbled deeply with satisfaction as it parted its hands to examine its handiwork.
"Not too bad, big one," Alpha commented, who was not very crushed. His body trembled from the force that had hit him, but he was able to fight back. He flashed forward in a blue-black fastwalk and plunged right through the Crusher's head, tearing a hole through it. The Crusher bellowed and crumbled back, clutching at its injured head.
"And now for you," Alpha glowered, looking down at Sarkhan. He teleported right in front of the dragon-worshiping Planeswalker, taking him by surprise. Before anyone could react, Alpha raised his hand to Sarkhan's face and used his reality warp, capturing the Planeswalker in its awesome power.
"Sarkhan!" Ashley cried, but she had her hands full trying to mend the Ulamog's Crusher's head with Holy Day. Gerbie and Ike emerged from their respective pockets to cry out Sarkhan's name, but it did no good.
"Go back to where you came from. Enjoy starting it all over," Alpha leered at the terrified Sarkhan, and the Planeswalker vanished from sight, not a trace left of him.
"You! What did you do to him?" Kelly shouted. "Where did he go?"
"Back to his home Plane. I re-set him as far back as I could," Alpha answered simply. Everyone, even Epsilon and Ulamog's Crusher, were wary of attacking Alpha now.
"What... do you mean...?" Viktor gasped, realizing what Alpha had done.
"That's right," Alpha nodded with satisfaction. "I have the power to affect the space and time of an object or person to put them back in an earlier state. For Sarkhan, that is the moment of his creation."
"H... huh?" Devin squinted, not understanding.
"It's simple," Alpha elaborated haughtily. "Sarkhan is back home with his family. His mother is giving birth to him right now. He is of no further danger to me, and of no further assistance to any of you. What could a newborn with a dormant Planeswalker spark possibly do?"
No way... Sarkhan got warped all the way back to being born? Viktor was astounded, feeling light-headed once again. Ulamog's Crusher didn't understand a word of this, but the towering Eldrazi managed to restraint its "attack each turn if able" effect by Viktor's will.
"And now... your turn," Alpha said. "Go back to where you came from, children."
"This place," Elena added, walking forward to join the battle with a big smile. She spread her harms wide, and a series of huge, purple portals appeared in the air. Viktor looked into them, and saw sprawling cities on the other side. Skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and city streets were at the other end, with countless cars and people in them. Earth!
"This Plane is called Earth, isn't it?" Elena glowed. "My conquest of the Multiverse is impossible to stop now! I will now conquer this Plane called Earth and make it mine! It pays to be thorough. Watch."
Viktor could only watch as thousands of Enslaved creatures were summoned, and they all went through the portals to reach Earth. Countless dragons, demons, elementals, goblins, and wizards started rampaging around the cities, wreaking havoc.
"How do you like that?" Elena taunted. "Major cities all across Earth are being ravaged! When the native humans are gone, I will establish my rule on Earth. Potentially, any human there with enough willpower can use those cards to oppose me. No more! Look at how much power five card-using kids have. I must destroy the source."
"You demon!" Kelly shouted. "You... everyone... our families..."
"Calm yourself, child," Alpha said, walking forward and raising his arms. "This Earth is being ravaged, but you won't ever see it. I'm warping all of you back to an earlier state on Earth, where you'll be trapped forever! This Earth will fall, but you'll be in a different one. This is a permanent farewell."
"No –!" Viktor started to protest, but there was no resisting Alpha's plan. As cities across Earth were being ravaged by creatures from the Multiverse, Alpha fired up his reality warp, which enveloped Viktor and his friends in dark blue mana. The last thing Viktor saw was Epsilon leap forward to attack Alpha with his ivory sword, before Viktor was whisked away from Jund and lost consciousness.