It was long drive to the hotel and Swiftshadow was exhausted. She never had to hold an illusion for half this long. The moment the car pulled into the underground parking stall she let the illusion shatter. The cars original navy blue paint reappeared in a shower of silvery sparks. The others were too busy escaping the sardine can of a car to comment on it.
She took one shaky step out of the vehicle only to realize that her legs wouldn't hold. "Somebody catch me," Her legs buckled out from under her. Fortunately the french man caught her. He supported her weight as they travelled through the lobby into the elevator. She caught glimpses of Wilson being carried delicately by the woman in glasses. She was finally set down on a soft hotel bed.
It wasn't the ritziest places but it was cozy enough. The room they had all crowded in had two queen sized beds. She guessed that they had other rooms booked. The old Japanese man settled down on a desk side chair. Carmen had already pulled out a first aid kit and helped him tend his wounds. Fortunately they looked to be simple flesh wounds but they probably hurt like hell.
She unslung her backpack as she flopped down on the mattress. She drug her gloved hands over her face. She felt Wilson sit next to her. Groaning from both exhaustion and frustration as she did. Today was one hell of a day. Heck, it has been one hell of a week. She desperately wanted one day to do some R and R. Unfortunately today wasn't over yet. She had about a half dozen faces demanding answers about todays events.
"Question, what was tonight?" Said the redheaded brother, "Like, seriously, what the heck happened?"
"We've got a lot of questions and your going to answer them," The french man jabbed a finger in Swiftshadow's face.
"Can I at least have a full meal before I spill my entire life story to a bunch of strangers?" Swiftshadow said swatting the mans hand away.
"We could all use a bite to eat," said Carmen, "Got any preferences,"
"Anything so long as it doesn't have mayonnaise,"
"I saw a pizza joint down the street, we could order a few pies," Said the sister redhead.
"Oh boy, I cant remember the last time I had pizza," Said Swiftshadow.
"I'll go order it right up," Said the brother.
"As we wait we should introduce ourselves," Said glasses, "I'll start, I am Julia Argent."
"Chase Devineaux," Sighed the french man.
"I'm Ivy," Said the read headed sister, "And the guy ordering the pizza is my brother Zack,"
"I'm Carmen," said Carmen, "Carmen Sandiego. And this is my former teacher Shadow-san,"
The man stared at her intently as if pondering several thing at once.
Sighing deeply she spoke, "Swiftshadow. You can call me Swiftshadow. And the robot dinosaur here is Wilson Hart,"
"Swiftshadow? Is that some sort of codename?" Said Chase, "Are you a part of VILE?"
"Part of a of a vile what?" Said Swiftshadow raising a brow.
"VILE. Villains International League of Evil," Said Carmen, "It was crime syndicate that spanned the entire globe,"
"Name seems a little on the nose, don't you think?" Said Swiftshadow, "I mean the word vile doesn't exactly conjure images of lollipops and gumdrops,"
"I think we are getting off topic," Said Shadow-san sternly, "We should be discussing this evening's events,"
Carmen sighed, "I guess we should get the easy question out of the way. I hope you don't mind me asking but what are you?"
"Human. Mostly," Answered Swiftshadow, "Well, I was human until I got abducted by aliens and experimented on. Now I'm an impossible human space dragon hybrid,"
"Aliens? Like little green men from mars?" cried Zack.
"More like giant transforming robots from the planet Cybertron," Said Swiftshadow, "As far as I know Mars is a lifeless hunk of rock,"
"Cybertron? Is that where our muscle car friend is from?" Stated Carmen.
"You mean Lockdown. and yeah."
"Is he the one who…?" Started Carmen.
"Experimented on me?" Swiftshadow finished, "Nah, He's just a bounty hunter hired to 'return' me to the guy who did."
"Who is?" Said Chase.
Swiftshadow hesitated, "Shockwave," Images of his single red eye scouring into her soul still echoed into her mind. Wherever she went the nightmares of him followed. She could barely remember the hell he put her through. The pain however remained clear as day.
"If he gets his hands on you…?" Said Zack.
"Let me put it this way. The only reason I survived the first round of his experiments was because a magical wolf spirit decided I'd make a 'divine' champion. Unless The Wolf Spirit decides to pull another miracle out of her ass, I won't survive round two."
"The Wolf Spirit?" Asked Ivy after a moments of silence.
"Ah, yes The Wolf Spirit," Said Swiftshadow, "Which kindly segues us into the bullshit that pendent has going on."
"Could we keep the swearing to a minimum," Said Shadow-san sternly. A frown etched deeply into his wrinkles.
"Sorry, I've been having a heck of a week and it's been what? Three? Days since I had a full meal,"
"Closer to four actually," Said Wilson, "Your last meal was in Metro City before Lockdown netted us. Then there was two days of flying over open ocean after crashing his ship. You then slept for a day and a half after. Which then leads us into today,"
"God, no wonder I feel so miserable,"
"Good thing pizza should be here any minute," Chuckled Zack.
"Focus," Said Carmen, "Wolf Spirit, Pendent, Neal,"
"Alright. Alright. The story as I understand it to be is that ages ago there was a band of great warriors each chosen by one of seven beast spirits. Then a great evil known as Malic Korvoth descended upon the land. The warriors battled the rising darkness valiantly. Eventually the managed to seal Malic Korvoth away inside a collection of seven pendants. One for every Beast spirit. Unfortunately victory came at a price as all but one warrior was killed and all but one spirit was extinguished."
"And how did you come by such information?" Said Chase.
"A yeti ghost monster from another dimension told me,"
"GHOST?" Yelped Zack. "You've met actual GHOSTS?"
"Dude ever since I escaped Shockwave's lab I've been confronted with all sorts of things that are quite literally out of this world. Were-cats, aliens, divine beings beyond mortal comprehension. Ghosts aren't that out of the ordinary for me. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if a flying pink unicorn descended from the sky and licked me on the nose."
"You mentioned that this Malic Korvoth was sealed inside several pendants. Am I correct in assuming the gem that Neal is one of these seals?" Said Julia. Swiftshadow nodded. "Am I also correct in assuming that you have found a few of the others?"
"A few of them. But I haven't been able to keep any of them."
"So You've been letting Insanely dangerous magical relics slip right through your fingers?" Said Ivy.
"Hey! There's not exactly a school for this stuff. So I have been learning on the job since day one. By the time I found out what their true nature I'd already let a couple go. Since then I've been trying my hardest with what little I have. Which amounts to me, Wilson, and a book of magic I cannot read,"
"Book?" Piped Julia.
Swiftshadow reached into her backpack and pulled a worn leather-bound tome. "This old thing."
"May I see?" Julia asked. Swiftshadow glanced at Wilson who nodded slightly.
"Knock yourself out," Swiftshadow handed the book to the woman. Julia in turn gently held the book in her outstretched arms. She carefully set it down on the nightstand next to her. The cover creaked as she opened it up. Julia methodically flipped the first couple of pages. Julia traced a finger over a passage her sharp eyes studied the strange letters.
"It's written in an ancient Arabic dialect," She said.
"Can you translate?" Said Wilson.
Julia cleared her throat, "Hello, my name is Merlin Osgar. Though my name may not mean much to you, my successor. Though we may never grace each others presence or share a cup wine I know you'll be grand. Never forget The Stag Spirit chose you for a reason. And he never chooses wrong.
I hope my writings find you well. I do not know what language you will speak or what realm you'll hail from so I suppose i'll just write in all the languages i know and hope you'll know at least one of them. I know the other champions will teach you as good as I had taught them. Though it wouldn't hurt to write down my knowledge to share with you. It should be noted however that this material is no substitute for a good teacher.
In some strange way never getting to know you hurts worse than my inevitable death. Ironic it is that the one champion that I will never train is the one who will replace me. Yet time marches forward and my old bones can only hold out for so long and Charon's raft waits for me. The Spirits will only choose another champion once their old one enters the afterlife.
So my little champion, be brave, be strong, be intelligent and may The Stag find you well."
Swiftshadow swallowed. "How about a deal, You translate that book and I'll help wrangle that eel,"
"Deal," Accepted Carmen.
Gray walked along the boulevard. Tall skyscrapers stretched on forever into the sky. The old him would've considered this prime real-estate for a bit of pinching. Lots of fancy boutiques and expensive jewellers. He could not find it in his heart to pilfer their riches. At least not today.
A scarlet ram hung from his neck on a golden chain. A receipt was crumpled inside his pocket.
An intricate golden necklace in an jewellers window caught his eye. Bedazzled with a dozen precision cut diamonds with high quality rubies and sapphires braided into its design. It was a work of art. An expensive work of art and the price tag didn't lie.
'You could take it,' A voice whispered into his ear. Gary swung his head around trying to locate the voices owner only to find no one. The street was sparsely populated in the evening darkness. Anyone who was on the street was nowhere near enough to speak to him. 'All you'd have to do is reach out and grab it,'
It took all of Gray's self control to keep from jumping out his skin. "Who's saying that?"
'I am…'
Neal wasn't quite too sure what had happened or why. One minute he was in a castle in Scotland fighting a fire breathing dragon the next he was in the midst of of Stonehenge. The shimmering wolf gem around his neck had something to do with it surely.
He dangled the jewel in his fingers. A bright glow emanated from its heart. He wondered what else this thing could do. What powers it possessed.
He knew one simple thing. With its power he could do whatever he wanted, be whatever he wanted.
Take whatever he wanted.