By: M Monroe Casey
Part One
Quietly sitting in their prairie-land-paradise, Marche Tadala had almost no worries on his mind.
But still, something bothered him. Something that wasn’t a part of his new normal. Lately, life was almost like the best dream. For the first time, he finally found the eternalized and internalized peace he always was looking and searching for.
Sure, he had to cross dimensions of space and time and stop multiple world and universe ending threats to find it but he still found it and that’s all that mattered to him. He found his sweet Veronica once more on the end of his incredible, unlikely, painful but still very worthwhile journey.
A journey that still wasn’t over yet though it seemed like because despite all of this that he found true and dear to him sitting on the couch, holding his hand and playing with his blonde and brunette hair, there was something off in his mind. It was hard to describe but something was different in that otherwise perfect moment.
He was just a tad more anxious and a little less peaceful.
Not trying to think too much about and ruminate on it, the two lovers continued the debate on what was for dinner that “night” as CJ and Monica’s own timeless-beach-island world showcased the newest epic saga from the Windowsill on full display in Los Angeles, California. Their hands interlocked too as the images played out in front of them.
Click.
As I was reaching for my deck, I knew another struggle was just about to begin. For years, it felt like I was just trying to understand who I am and after I finally found it, that same self-definition was then immediately challenged by not only Bubbles but a whole stadium of people too.
Now, it was this group of hooded, probable, whackjobs who judged me too.
Like seriously, who are they to judge me when they dress like that? Gross.
Then, as my whole deck prepared itself to unite with the Power Amplifier, I knew my dragons and I were going to declare a war of fire and smoke once more but just before I could do that, a very different kind of smoke entered our vision and other senses.
Directly creating a dark and silvery thick wall between our two disagreeing groups.
With everyone disappearing in different directions to try and find us, we made our way through the exit then, escaping to the outside world despite their best efforts to stop us.
It seems like we had a guardian angel or maybe something close to that because I don’t know whose laugh it was or if I was going crazy but I could have sworn I heard a cackle in it too. An intense and deep cackle of someone up to no good. But either way, they saved our skin so I guess they can’t be all bad. Or at least I hope. Getting outside and then out into the streets, the three of us gathered in a small circle for a quick group hug and some introductions.
Ranging from around 12 years old to 40 or so, we were an eclectic group of people with different reasons for being there. At-Las heard about the Voice and wanted to see for himself if the legends were true. As a researcher and scientist on the massive societal and cultural phenomenon of portals and other planets, it only made sense he wanted to explore the Cosmos more in his life’s work of research. Not to mention his literal doctorate thesis was about Pyroclastia itself.
Whereas Heldum Luisa was the younger sister of THE Star Goddess herself and middle child of the Calgarian legendary family. But Heldum didn’t quite agree with everything the other two did, as middle children often do. She didn’t quite get how they couldn’t have been so up-in-arms about defending me when it seemed like the whole world wouldn’t. They just wanted to see how it would play out and see who I was instead of assuming the best of me and then defending me.
Then, they obviously both knew me. Very well. So, yeah, for the first time in my life, it seemed like everyone and their grandmother knew everything about me. The good, the bad, the ugly and the real.
And I wouldn’t have that last one any other way.
“So… ummm… we are basically fugitives from them and MANY other forces now… so… what do we do now?” Chimed in the youngest Heldum.
“We must find a way to Pyroclastia.”
“How about a portal?” Heldum asked.
“No… they’ll be expecting that and they are far too regulated on Earth…” added in At-Las, “We’ll be found almost instantly… ummm… Lillie, why are you smirking?”
“Because my friends, I just had an idea and you’re never going to believe what we were studying in my History & Legends class last week…”
Part Two
Moving as a unit through the south part of Los Angeles in the direction of Anaheim, we knew that it was really up to the luck of the Pyroclastian gods that we could connect with At-Las’ contact and they panned out to be exactly who we wished and dreamed they were.
Because if they weren’t, we as a whole team were in for some serious doodie.
Me the most.
Passing through the shadows of the backalleys with our hoods up and new attire found in an abandoned donation bag on the street, it was almost like we were on the run from everyone, not just the law itself.
Every social network post, coffee-shop debater and high school pop culture enthusiast alike was attempting to track our every movement at this point and we all knew exactly why.
Because despite how you felt about Bubbles and whether or not she deserved that fate she was dealt, I was still a “Delanie-level-threat, unstable and possibly mad with a nearly uncontainable amount of power.”
Adding on top of that, sadly, just because not everyone wanted to hurt us doesn’t mean that they liked, trusted or wanted to be near us. Well, me, in particular and now, these two “wonderful defenders of my honor” by association.
So, as I was running with my new black sweatshirt, black pants and different black shoes in the cover of the night, I knew life would never be the same and having friends like this was slowly becoming not just nice but an absolute necessity.
And yet, with this in mind, I still couldn’t believe it.
They stood up against all odds for me. These two people who I learned the names of like literally a few hours ago. They were fugitives from a system now too that wanted to hunt me down for some sort of combination of a vigilante justice or freaky science experiment. They saw that, disagreed with it and did something about it. Without even truly knowing me. Which is so crazy. But honestly, the truly craziest thing is how fast it spread.
It seemed like everyone alive could only talk about one thing and one thing alone now. Just who was that girl and why/ how can she do what she did? More importantly, can I do that if I somehow take it from her? Don’t mention I have the most valuable, sought after and rare card on the planet too. Also, by random circumstance. I thought I had some targets from Thunder, oh boy, that was nothing compared to this.
But… honestly, just how random could this all be? For me to have both of those? Am I really an Heir or whatever like that dude was talking about? Is that why I can do this stuff? Is that why destiny gave me Thunder in the first place? What about the other 27 dragons the Voice mentioned? Is he part of them? I need more answers… but now, I should just focus on getting to Pyroclastia and to some safety…
“Hey y’all, turn left here,” muttered At-Las in his all black outfit as we finished progressing down the smallest alley yet. A tiny garage sat in front of us. Behind that was a small traditional Mexican style home. A couple bedrooms and one bathroom were in its design while no lights were on but yet, the brightly colored stained glass in each of the windows housed a great and mysterious aura to them.
Walking through the back meshed metal gate to the left of that one car garage, we cautiously and quietly moved through the early springtime budding green grassed backyard. Going me then Heldum and At-Las in the rear, the three of us meandered and moseyed closer and closer to whatever weird pressure was exuding from those eerie paned artpieces. It was almost like they themselves were exuding it too which had me feeling all sorts of creeped out yet intrigued. All the while as we progressed, the thick black clouds above shadowed out any sort of light from the heavens that could reveal us to the natural looker.
With At-Las going to the front of the group, he then did the ceremonial six knocks on the door in a certain position and order as it opened from the inside. But it was then and there that I knew something was seriously off about this seemingly unassuming house in Sante Fe Springs, California.
Because as we opened the door, it wasn’t the inside of your average house that we saw.
In fact, it wasn’t even an Earthly home at all. That door was a portal and it led somewhere else.
Somewhere like I’ve never seen before.
As far as my snow-white eyes saw, there was meters upon meters of rainbow colored stained glass covering everything the warm alien sunlight touched.
Part Three
Walking through that strange world like it was merely a hallway, another door on the glassed out hut on the right awaited us. Open already to the outside world and back to Earth, it seemed like no one was even around to open it or our first one. It was almost like this entire planet was empty and void of all life but also, strangely alive too. I could feel it as my black shoes softly tread upon the glassed over path, it was indeed alive. Someway, somehow. Curious on how it all came together so perfectly, I asked the resident expert as we progressed quickly and powerfully through the area.
“Hey, At-Las, where are we?”
Smirking while looking back, I could tell he was so proud of the next few lines that came out of his mouth. Proud and happy that his seemingly life’s work was coming to a beautiful fruition finally.
“This, my friends, is Scania. A foreign planet in which the legendary Star Goddess once had her home base on. Deciding to return to Earth after a one Lighting goddess attempted to kill her and everyone she loved, including our very own Heldum there, Baleigh left that all behind so she could spend more time closer to those she loved. So, fast forward to the end of the War of the Goddesses when she and Delanie reconciled, and the planet was perfect for another member of their little group to claim.”
Shuttering at the bad memories from Norway, Heldum offered a best guess, knowing and seeing just what happened with some of it but still unclear for parts, “wait… you mean Nathaly?”
“Ding ding, the Goddess of Beauty a.k.a. Stained Glass. She was given this empty planet to coexist with after hers was lost in the great war many eons ago.”
“So, that’s why it’s like this? And how did you get us here?” I asked yet again.
“Yep and I made a deal with her. You know, typical offering and ritual communicational stuff. We would get to pass through and I would bring her a delicacy from Earth. As you can probably imagine, she isn’t exactly the most popular Goddess there. You know, glossing part of it over at least once and attempting to do worse at least a few more times. So, let me just grab this…”
Reaching into his backpack which stored his Power Amplifier and deck of cards too, At-Las pulled out a small package of salmon with avocado sushi wrapped in white rice with a packet of soy sauce. Along with it, two massive handrolls of the same inner content design.
Setting it down next to the hut that read “The Estate of one Nathaly Queen,” he knocked on the door on the hut to the left as we went away pretty quickly and abruptly. Still focused on our mission, meeting her in the fleshy glass would have to wait. Basically serving as her delivery service for some seafood in exchange for safe passage from Los Angeles to our newest destination.
Walking through the open one and then closing the door behind us, the magical portal side of it all faded as it then just became a doorway like any other in the city of Antofagasta, Chile.
Emerging at the south end of town near to the roaring ocean waves of the night, we quickly found ourselves standing in line outside of our destination just down the street. Going from left to right, it was Heldum Luisa, At-Las and myself.
Staring ahead at the Ruins of Huanchaca, we entered the red and brown boulder covered front gate towards whatever fate lay ahead. Walking into the old and worn down orange and brown factory with the swagger like it was a “full on fortress breaching.”
Donning its usual clear skied night with a whole multitude of stars above, we knew the backdrop of Crowopolis too wasn’t by coincidence. Their greatest players were on the hunt for us but that didn’t mean we didn’t want to see where this ultimate destiny might just take us. Not knowing yet how we would even get off this planet, all we knew was that my history book claimed this place was one of the few natural portal spots left on Earth. So, maybe if we combined it with my “freaky glowy hands,” something could happen, right? At least we thought it was our best option at the stressed out time of inception.
Walking into the main red and brown dusty and dirt covered lawn with my fingertipped glow on full display, there was nothing reacting. No movements in the auras and no pressure changes. Nothing was happening. Literally nothing. Nooooo…
Sensing a possible dead-end and having to go back to the drawing board once more as still worldwide fugitives lurking in the shadows, a familiar soft and muffled cackle then entered the surrounding soundwaves. Befitting the eerie “horror movie style” full blood red moon above.
“Hellooooo Heir…”
Peering through the thick of the night darkness to see a figure slowly approaching us, they stood across from us three. Eyeing us up with an evenly balanced mix of stability and instability, his blue eyes not quite spelling, “friend.”
“… ummm hi? Who are you?” I replied.
With a matching black sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes to us, he chuckled and replied, “Now, now, Gollaknor… that is no way to treat a friend… now is it?”
“Who? Gollaknor? What?… Ummm… so you’re saying you’re a friend?”
“Yes. Why else would I have helped you escape from the stadium… like I said… a friend.”
“That was you…? Thanks but… ummm… why are you helping us?” I muttered back to him as his silver gloves cracked their knuckles. Still not giving off friend vibes, no matter what he was saying.
“Maybe I can get you all to Pyroclastia. Maybe I can not. Want to find out?”
“How?”
“Face me in a match.”
“Now?”
“Absolutely, you want to go to Pyroclastia, do you not? There is only one way to know… hehehe…” reaching for his cards and deck, his silver mask shone all too creepily with the intense and strong “devilish” moonlight above.
“Okay, fine. Deal. But… just who are you? I want to know…”
“Me? I am no one. I’m just the sixth of many… so, you can just call me Sixth and that’s all you need to know for now.” responded Sixth.
“Okay, Sixth. Bring it,” I strongly replied as I equaled his Power Amplifier and deck with my own set. Knowing in our world of games, my best chance to make him just go away was to absolutely thrash him and if I could learn some stuff about interplanetary travel too, it would be a win-win.
Drawing my six cards for the first turn, I knew then and there that this was not just an ordinary opponent. It wasn’t like when I met At-Las or Heldum recently. Or even that Order of nutjobs were probably closing in on me as we were still setting up. His vibe was almost… inhuman. It’s hard to describe but it wasn’t the mask or the gloves. It wasn’t even his creepy way of speaking.
Then as we made eye contact once more, it hit me and I knew it for sure. Something was indeed not right and it was radiating from those blue appendages of nothingness staring back at me.
There was just something about his eyes and I sure as maple syrup is delicious didn’t trust them.
Part Four
Looking across my opening hand, it was nothing but the usual suspects.
With The Hopeful Pink Dragon, I the Dragon’s Friend, III the Dragon Walker, The Cosmos Dragon, The Kind Yellow Dragon and V the girl who can transform into a dragon there and ready to be used when I needed to be called on.
A few weak Characters and a few strong ones but since I didn’t know or trust anything about this unusual person-like humanoid in front of me, I knew I couldn’t play it too safe. But to be fair nothing about what I was currently doing, or even recently if you want to go back as far as when I began talking to this Voice to begin with, has been safe.
Yet it was undeniable how real and good it felt. Even if I haven’t heard from the Voice in a few hours… I reached out into the void that separated us but nothing replied but I can’t focus on that too much right now. Still getting a little worried about this, I knew my new friends would just have to help me for now. Regardless of what’s going down with that.
Even despite those new slight complications, I loved the way it all felt. To finally just throw “caution to the wind” and do what makes Lillie happy. It wasn’t like I was trying to be selfish but why did my own happiness have to come at my own high expense any longer? It hardly seemed fair that I was the only one to sacrifice in that unequal equation. Why can’t they stop instead?
Playing The Hopeful Pink Dragon, The Cosmos Dragon and The Kind Yellow Dragon, I decided to grab Thunder with that effect that allowed me to search out any Unstoppable Character. Not knowing what to expect, it could almost never hurt to have my biggest supporter ready whenever he was called on. With a total of 400 power on my field, I passed.
With a devious and creepy chuckle, Sixth took over next. Drawing his six cards in turn too, he played the first Location of our current match, The Temple of the First Brukev. With an ability to add 1 Concept from his deck to his hand, it was already off to a great start as he then followed it up with a few weak Characters, still totaling higher than mine though, with a similar name. Something that sounded close to Doenca. I think that was it. Yeah, Doenca.
Wait… why does that sound familiar?
Where have I heard of that name before?
Hmmm… weird. Was that also in my history class? Hmmm… noo… later. I need to focus now because he’s about to take the lead…
As our fields were both cleared in his bombardment, all seven of our Characters swiftly went to our respective discard piles. Leaving only his Location to stand the test of our energy blasts exploding in every which way. Bringing the score successfully to Sixth 3 – Lillie 2.
Passing it back to me, I watched him almost immediately activate the effect of his Location and grab one more Concept from his deck, shuffling afterwards. That empty look still hauntingly sitting in his eyes as he did it. Drawing three more cards to replace them, I got II the Dragon Tamer, IV the Dragon Representative and VI the Infinite Dragon. Cementing my next move in place.
Laying down a whole group of the numbered dragons from 1 to 4, it totalled 575 power and I almost instantaneously slammed every bit of it into one big hit to his total. Dropping us back to an even two. Sixth 2 – Lillie 2.
With more of my Characters going away, I smirked knowing what was coming next as I passed the turn back to him. Playing V the girl who can transform into a dragon for a 400 powered defense in the process.
Drawing a few more cards, all he did was refill his field pretty quickly with many weak Characters. More of these Doenca again. But this time, they weren’t high enough to eclipse my one dragon. If he couldn’t surpass this, there was no way he could overcome the literal Infinite in my hand. Wait… is he maybe losing this on purpose?
Seriously… Doenca… where have I heard that name? I don’t trust any of this…
“Hey Voice?”
Nothing responded.
“Lillie, what do you need?” asked Heldum.
“Nothing… It’s just weird. I feel like I heard that name from somewhere… Doenca… At-Las, what do you know?”
“I… hehehehe… can answer all of your questions and more. I only ask for one thing in return, Heir.”
With At-Las shaking his head at the prospective question given to him, Heldum was at a loss too as I decided to ask our very untrustworthy opponent the question he so clearly wanted to answer, “… okay, I don’t even care what a Doenca is but enough secrets and hush-hush, what do you want?”
His dead eyes smirked then, becoming a bit more alive but still void of what seemed like a soul.
“Simple. Let. Me. Give. You. Power. And… I will bring us all to where we want… I have all the plans and instructions we need.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“You want me to freeze you like I did Bubbles…?”
“Bub… bles… Bubbles… I know that name,” he smirked under his silver mask, “You bested her. Good… good… goooood… yes. yes. yessssss… the Heir of Crowopolis, Gollaknor… freeze me. Do it, my liege.”
“Ummm… what? Why do you keep calling me that name?” Not trusting this change of demeanor or his obvious memory loss, I didn’t know how else to react. Call me old-fashioned but I never trust someone who advocates to be frozen like a statue on purpose. There was something that was just off about this all. From the start. It’s like he wanted to lose to me… baiting me into hitting him then backing off so he wouldn’t hit back too hard… but why?
“Do as is your right. Use my energy… my master…”
Charging in with clearly weaker Characters, Sixth then purposely lost his and took 1 hit to his score. Sixth 1 – Lillie 2. Losing only his field in the process. Not understanding anything happening or why but just wanting to get rid of his creepy vibes, I followed through on his wish and then ended the match in the very next turn, thanks to a quick and powerful saying of:
“Rise up, Thunder the Constellations Dragon!!!! End this!!!!”
All the while, as he took his last hit of damage bringing it finally to Sixth 0 – Lillie 2, Sixth pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. To clutch and hold onto as he defeated. Muttering one last line before he received what he wished for, “… through Gollaknor the Destroyer of Worlds is the realest peace…” he then unclenched his left hand.
Freezing him in time like I did with the other but with a different hue of a lighter golden energy surrounding his eerie form, Sixth’s milky white tattered piece of paper fell to the dusty ground as I walked over to pick it up. Curious on what all the fuss was about, I about just dropped everything I held onto and leapt off the ground in glee. Ignoring all the distrust and weird vibes in the air in an instant.
Because in my hands, there were now step by step instructions on how one can channel the “Energy of Possibilities,” into something known as an “Interplanetary Bridge.” That energy must be my weird “glowy hands…” annnnnnd… that’s how we would get to Pyroclastia… that’s it.
A Bridge.
Turning around to my friends with a smirk on my face, I looked past them in sudden horror as seven of those hooded nutjobs from the stadium were charging in on us with a great velocity and speed. Only mere meters away.
Then, just as quickly as I could warn him, Da-Q pulled out her deck and Power Amplifier, challenging the “one who stares so lovingly,” to a match in the dusty lawn of the Ruins for the highest stakes imaginable.
Part Five
Staring back at his MASSIVE crush like a “deer in the headlights,” At-Las merely stood there and refused, “… No… I will not face you.”
“Coward! First… you stare! Then, you sulk! Why?! Who are you and why do you look at me like that?!” Barked back the usually quietest member of the 16 Group. Granted their little group’s name is probably in some long and interesting native Crowopolis based language so not knowing any of this while frankly and sadly focused on bigger issues at hand, I just resorted to calling them that.
“My name is At-Las and you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen… that’s why I stare…”
With Heldum and I looking at each other with a weird look at this budding romance, her blushing was on full display as her hood fell down, her eyes staring back this time.
“Oh… My name is Da-Q andddd… I think you are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen… But my group… noooo… we must fight and I must win… I have too. Our leader demands this… We must stop Gollaknor…. So face me! For the Cosmos.”
“But… Lillie isn’t a bad person, you have to believe me… she is just misunderstood…”
“She froze someone solid in time… You saw the same as I did… Face me, coward!!”
Interrupting the developing sweet meet cute at the ‘Ruins of Fate’ in this Chilean oceanside gem, I knew I must defend myself, just like the Voice told me to do, I promise you that I did it by accident and out of self-defense… Please help us and me…
Looking across our hodgepodge group of “freedom fighters,” Da-Q’s “lack of ironclad will” was beginning to show even stronger than ever now. Adding to the fire, she muttered, “but… my leader… in all of our briefings… he highlighted nothing but her shortcomings and how she is unfit to be the Heir… He made so many points… you have so many shortcomings…”
“Well… first off, ouch. Secondly, why do they think they know my life so well? Just because you know facts about me doesn’t mean you know me…”
“He has studied all the portals, all the planets and all the timelines… so, it makes sense he would feel this way… our Grand Writer. I think he must know best…”
Sensing a wavering in her voice, we knew it was only a matter of moments before our group grew to 4. Because like most groups hooded wearing whackjobs, not everyone is as devoted to the cause as others. It looks like we might indeed have a wondrous traitor who is now crushing hard enough to join our side.
“Your leader? Isn’t that him?” Nodding in the direction of Tom as the others finally reached us with an ominous malice growing in the air. Not quite as much as mask-wearing-statue-man over there but you know… still creepy.
“No… not our real leader. That’s just Tom. None of us orchestrated all of this… that’s someone far far worse… an all powerful puppeteer who plays with our stories, legends and ideas like they are nothing… Even if I wanted to, I could not stop him. No one can…”
At-Las reached his large and powerful left hand to grab her smaller left as they stood across from each other. Muttering to her while she looked in the direction of her teammates as they prepped their equipment of card-game-based-war, “then… join us. Why would you choose to fight for someone like that? I don’t know you that well but I can tell that you are a warm soul. Don’t fight for them, fight with us… please.”
Looking back at him, I could tell her that her mind was going off into a moment of flashback nearly instantly. Joining her mind there and seeing it all through her eyes using my wonderful “glowy hands,” I could learn more about the older life of one Da-Q. In real time now, she was quickly analyzing everything she was told and thought she knew and everything she was learning now about who Lillie really was. She was going through and remembering what life was like growing up in Houston, Texas before that fateful email on one late summer evening.
Choosing to ignore it, two years ago, she couldn’t ignore the many more that came after that and all the other signs too. Like the literal eight billboards put up in every direction from her house telling her to check her email. Finally going to one of those meetings, she met the others then and learned just what had happened and what was going to happen.
Due to the actions of two souls in the Cosmos, Marche and Bubbles (yes, the same one I froze solid for being a grade A jerkface), peace was temporarily spread across all while at the same time, an alternative to war was also spread too. Marche brought the peace and Bubbles brought the game. Together, they reshaped reality as we know it. Not believing all of that hokey-pokey nonsense though, her 38-year-old mind was officially blown when she read the “classically sealed and stowed top secret world government documents,” that backed it all up. Regardless of how actually stolen they were. Some members of society actually did remember what the rest of us believed to be a dream and now, we knew that the “past life we all experienced in a dream a few years ago” was actually, somehow, true. This is indeed not our first timeline.
Learning all of this, she saw one more name in the file but there was barely any information about her and of course, it was me. Which explains so much. I just had to be in their weird hitlist folder… oh and they didn’t have the decency to choose a flattering photo of me. Jerks.
Seeing the name, “Gollaknor the Destroyer of Worlds a.k.a. The Heir of Crowopolis” written in the folder too, that would be the next question I have for the Voice once I can get them to reply.
Shaking herself free from that quick mental indecision, Da-Q has officially joined us and just as the traitor made it official, I looked on with her in real time as both At-Las and Heldum were in the midst of their own challenging matches. At-Las versus a man named Timmy while Heldum squared off with a pair of twins, Blessed & Cursed.
And of course, as our awesome group does, they were winning.
Part Six
With a few members of their little club evacuating the nearby city center in case things got even more messy tonight, Timmy offered a comment mid-match about how it was very necessary to do all that because they were “dealing with a lunatic after all.” Scowling back at their term used, I merely sat and watched it all unfold on my behalf. Partly paying attention to the moves they made or the cards they played as I mulled over what they just said instead.
Watching on as At-Las brought the balance of his Characters in his discard to an even 10, he then declared bombardment towards Timmy’s Alloys. Not knowing the previous adventures of “Santi & Bubbles” for myself, I was unaware of the sheer power that he was overcoming with near ease. But I suppose so is the nature of an Infinite Unstoppable Character.
One of the rarest cards in the game, a certain and fairly long combo required it to come to fruition, not to mention some luck that Timmy couldn’t find his own Infinite defender, but as At-Las has proved in this 3 – 0 win, it can be oh so worth it sometimes to plan a little ahead.
With me reaching up my left hand to freeze Timmy in time then and there in his defeat, I could feel the increase of “Possibilities” power now coursing through my hands as the “kind of battery” was building up more and more juice.
With another organic statue now standing in the dusty and dirty field, Heldum proved her own skills in the global game then and there too.
Crushing both Blessed and Cursed in the final turn of a match all her own, they fell victim to something truly rare that resided in her deck. Having one of the few Locations that could declare a bombardment, her Home card ended things with a large one eclipsing 1,000 over their fish and birds respectively. Especially after she tossed out one more Concept, powering up her behemoth slugger even more, letting her swing at both of them at once.
With Heldum winning 1 – 0 – 0, my right hand did its thing and froze them solid too.
Now, 4 organic statues joined us there as the surging power in my hands was going higher and higher. But before I could start to try and shape it in the early stages like the instructions talked about, three more hooded whackjobs crashed the party, yet again. But as my amazing guardians continued to do and did successfully before, they protected me from whatever may come.
Watching Da-Q turn on her former teammates with the most sincere form of flattery, her “imitation and copy based” deck turned all of the effects of Tiff’s Gods against her. One by one.
Using the deck once made popular by Surnor’s Very Own Punk Princess, Bubbles, its reputation of great power clearly wasn’t helping its new owner much now. If Tiff doubled her Character’s power, Da-Q did it too. But not just once. Bringing 200,000 power to 100,000 power, it was clear which deck won the match up that day as the match didn’t last longer than a few rounds. Unsurprisingly.
Happy to know she is on our side now but still debating how I could overcome her copies if I sadly somehow had too, I froze the Order member originally hailing from Calgary, before she ventured to Crowopolis like all the others.
With the organic artwork growing like an ever-creepy army, At-Las now waged his personal war against Albert to my right while Heldum faced off against Tom on his right.
Bringing The Essence of Engineering to an Infinite level once more, At-Las’ well-deserved victory had come with 1 hit of his own still remaining as Albert and his deck of massive and destruction-focused fists joined his frozen brethren.
With all three of us turning our attention in the chilled and sinister moonlight to Heldum Luisa, she brought the power of her Home down upon her opponent in a whole new way.
Using the Concept combination that allowed her to slam down an auto-win against Tom and his Doom Tree deck, Adirondack’s favorite bruisers of the olden days, it didn’t matter that he swelled up to 5 hits and she only had 1. That was apparently all she needed to very quickly drop him back to 0. Freezing him on the spot as well, the four of us quickly caught our breath as my power levels were growing higher and higher now. Almost ready to be fully molded soon.
Catching our breath and gazing around at the seven of them who once defied us.
Seven members of the Cosmos who, much like Da-Q, followed their signs to Crowopolis to join this little Order. Believing they truly were doing the right thing.
Seven people who were about to be saved from one MJ as she walked up to challenge me now.
Or as I can tell you with the sheer confidence I have in my dragons and me, seven people who were going to be let down by MJ in just a few minutes more.
Part Seven
As we both placed our decks in the deck slot on the Power Amplifier, I eyed her up and began to start demanding some answers. Alright… tell me, two things.
“Oh? What do you wish to know, oh great Heir?”
Just who are you all and who is this Heir you keep talking about? I’m just from New York. That’s it. I’m here and weirdly powerful but I’m still human and still just a regular girl. You clearly lost your minds with all of this Gollaknor nonsense but I want to know what you think you might possibly know. Even as ridiculous as it all is.
Playing her first few cards going first as the challenger, she played a few weak Characters with a total of 350 power and a Location which can stop attacks as she passed the turn to me with a response to my comment and question.
“Oh, my name is MJ and oh dear, it’s not ridiculous, child. It’s all true. You are welcome to come to Crowopolis and see it yourself in our tombs and tomes. You are Lillie LaDestino. Full name of Liliana. You are the owner of an ancient birthright known as the ‘Heir of Crowopolis,’ the prophetically decided and natural born ruler of our great city and civilization. With this birthright comes two more things as well though. You are the guide to that wonderful glowing power on your hands there. Oh yes, the same power that you misused to freeze my innocent friends who merely just want to stop the other thing you are known to do. Your real legacy.”
Oh yeah? And just what is that? Drawing my six cards for turn, I added I the Dragon’s Friend and II the Dragon Tamer to the mix with my The Fire Filled Skies. Replacing her defensive Location with my own like I did to Bubbles not too long ago, I doubled the power on my field and crushed the 350 power of her law based cards with the 450 based equivalent of dragonic fiery pressure.
MJ – 2, Lillie – 3.
Standing in the billowing ash, MJ coughed harshly as some it entered her lungs. Her brown hair and brown hairs matched the robe she had covering the rest of her middle-aged bodily features as she finished the cough and responded, “… that. It’s exactly that. You are a destroyer. Your real legacy… oh, Gollaknor, Destroyer of Worlds. Legends spoke that there would be a being from Crowopolis who comes to decimitate all. For years, we believed it to be Brinay the Doom Tree. But it was not… oh, it was not.”
And you think it’s me? Passing my turn to her, she attempted to do the same thing through a combination of different geographical features trading in and out in forms of Locations. Replacing mine first then her own two more times, MJ ended with a card that surprised even me.
Adding MJ, The Master of Law to the field, after answering with an emphatic “YES,” its 1,000 power easily overpowered my few weak dragons that I was using as defense. With only her resurrection focused Location left standing, I was beginning to sense a theme here. Weak cards. Weak cards together making combos, primarily focused on defense and delaying the match, then looking down at my hand as I drew, I knew exactly what I should do now.
MJ – 2, Lillie – 2.
Well… you are partly wrong, MJ. You do NOT know me. Maybe I may be some Heir. It would certainly explain some stuff but I can tell you that I’m definitely not a great destroyer. At least not on a global or cosmic scale. But I will DESTROY your deck and your hit total. That part is DEFINITELY true.
“Oh, is it now? Just go, great destroyer child.”
Grinding my teeth in frustration with this person who clearly had no desire to hear me out, I drew only a few cards and then added my own seemingly weak cards to the ever-muddying mix.
One was a standard of mine, III the Dragon Walker. Power: 150. But the second was anything but ordinary for me or most players to ever play the game.
Bridges the Time Dragon. Character. Power: None.
Using his effect of picking a number between 1 and 6 instead of boasting an attack power, I activated it immediately by declaring the number 2. Now, for the next 2 turns, we could each only play 2 cards in our combined given turn. No more elongated combos. No more pilling up Characters to get a high number. No more silliness.
Just two cards only.
With a smirk on my face, I slammed my attack into her defenseless field. Unable to resurrect a single thing since the 2 card maximum was already met by me.
MJ – 1, Lillie – 2.
With only the Characters of my field emptying out, MJ added 1 more Character with a total of 100 befitting her own law theme. Well, one Character and a comment that really set me over the edge.
Solidifying I was doing the right thing.
“Oh, Lillie, you know, I had a special dragon card of my own before. But I had to let him go. He belonged somewhere else so it was only right. It’s a part of growing up. I had to mature and give him a new home then I found some new cards… It’s okay. You can let go too… ”
Ummm… what?
“Oh, I’m just saying that I had a friend inside my deck too. I know your cards are your friends and he was mine but one of my teammates needed him so I gave him to Roget. So, please… Just surrender your Thunder card. You won’t like where this journey ends. Are you willing to burn all the bridges you have just to prove something? Please… just trust me… I know how you feel… I can help.”
Bringing a bombardment to me this time, we ended up at an even score but as our conversation continued on, I realized just how uneven and different we really were.
MJ – 1, Lillie – 1.
Soooo, you are saying that I must give up everything and they give up nothing? How is that fair? You gave up your dragon because you had other options. You had other friends. I DO not.
“Oh but it’s called a compromise for the good of the Cosmos… like I mean…”
No. It’s NOT a compromise. It’s a surrender. A surrender of EVERYTHING I love. And I refuse to believe that the only way to benefit the Cosmos is to sacrifice everything I love. I won’t ask nicely again. Now, I’ve been patient enough with you and your collective insanity. So, for the last time… MOVE.
With the intensity in my eyes growing over even thinking of surrendering Thunder to them or anyone else for that matter, I could feel the literally swelling powers of the glow around us. Growing like a bowl of pure energy on every side of the Ruins.
“Oh, please don’t do this… just please hand me your Thunder card. You don’t want to do this.”
Oh, I think I do. Verrrry. Verrrry. Much.
Playing the 1st of 2 cards for that turn, that was all I needed with Thunder the Constellations Dragon and his 10,000 power to end the match then and there. And with his Unstoppable reign continuing on, it was only made better by reminding myself that I did in fact warn her.
MJ – 0, Lillie – 1.
Rocking her off her feet and into the cold, dark orange dirt below, MJ just laid there knowing not a single card in her hand could have prevented this, as I approached slowly. My pulsating hands felt the immense and universe-shaking power they were now containing.
“Oh, Lillie… What did you do…? You can’t fight us all… you can’t fight the whole Cosmos…”
Watch me and we both know, I did nothing wrong. You were the one who challenged me when you clearly had no business doing so. But I do have some good news… Now, I can show you. Show you just how it felt to be me before Thunder and why you never really knew me at all… Despite your ridiculous mentality that you somehow did.
“Oh oh oh child… What do you mean? I was just trying to help you stop this madness…” muttered back my exhausted and defeated opponent.
Shhh… Just be still. Perfectly perfect and frozen like I was for all of those years…
Holding up my hands and freezing her in time by stealing away the kinetic energy she could and would produce from every decision she could ever make between now and when her life will undeniably and eventually end, I smirked as her smugness and “know it all attitude” would bother me no longer. As that weird Doenca fella’s bridge instructions said, it was like I took the power of every possible choice she could ever make. For next week’s dinner, the movies of the following weekend or the work of next year. Every option she could have made would produce energy. Energy that was now mine. With those as just a few examples because it didn’t just stop there. Literally all of them were mine. Borrowed and used for whatever purpose I seemed fit.
Softly chuckling at the irony of what this meant for who I used to be, I offered one more smile and headnod to her as I walked back to my group who was still standing there waiting for me.
Then, with the completed and built-up donations of “Possibility” energy from our 8 witnesses here and the 1 back in California, I began to build my bridge.
Part Eight
Watching their main character from Glens Falls and her crew of “diehard supporters made from recent yet strong connections” quickly take out and dismantle a small group of the Six Point elite, Monica and CJ curiously and a little concerningly, watched on.
Watching as Lillie worked harder and harder to get closer and closer on making every dream she ever wished for to come true.
Watching as they realized that not even CJ herself could stop her now.
Watching as they knew not much could ever truly stop her. She was holding onto the most powerful card in a Cosmos designed for it while holding onto and controlling the strongest force in the whole universe too. Just one was difficult to contend with but together, it was truly a threat on a new level than ever before. But that’s where they were confused. Was she actually a threat? Or was she merely just fighting for what she felt that she deserved. And was she right?
Watching her ascension from the very beginning not too long ago, that’s all they could do now.
Keep watching and wait for the distress call that CJ sent out amongst the Goddesses’ mental chat lines to arrive to them each. So, that they may come and try to change the tide of it all. Together, maybe they could help. Calm down the madness brewing and the rage of dragon fire that is clearly and slowly overtaking Lillie’s very existence.
All the while, the remainder of the “rebellious ones” stood across on a dusty mountain to the northeast. Peering down at their worst nightmare formulating and creating the scene down below. Their brown shaded hoods were up, hiding their disgust, shame and anger at what had come to pass. The Heir neared her destiny and with that, all the Cosmos itself would soon be paying the price. Or so their absolutist dogma would have them believe.
But as I built my bridge, I didn’t care what they thought or what they would say. I didn’t care about any of that. All I cared about was modeling and molding this clay-like energy into the shape I wanted and yet, it’s truly crazy and amazing how easy it is to do. Well, once all my annoying enemies are left literally speechless and unable to distract me any longer.
Looking up to the night sky, I could scan through the Cosmos to find our destination by using a bit of the power in my eyes. Snow-white with a hew of a glowing golden brown color shone through them as I did it. Sure, I could have used “Possibilities” to jump from planet to planet or whatever but I came too far with these wonderful souls to my right and left to do this alone. We did this together so together… we shall journey on.
So, if that means I have to create a massive magical based bridge for us to walk across from one planet to another with a vacuum of breathable air surrounding it permanently, then so be it.
I’m not going alone anymore. Never again. Now… just let me add a little more to the far end…
“Hello, Lillie.”
Stopping for a second, I couldn’t believe the inner ears of my brain. The Voice WAS BACK! Hey! How are you? I missed you!
“I’m very sorry but I’ve been very weak lately. It’s been hard for me to contact you but trust me, I will be okay… come to… the… Thunder Plateau, Pyroclastia. In an area known as the ‘Lakes of Lightning.’ That… you’ll find me. Please… soon, Lillie. I need… conserve my energy…”
Go ahead and rest. I’ll be there soon. Hang tight and stay strong, my friend.
“Thank you and see you soon…..”
Deal.
Quickly finishing the sculpting of my glorious glowing golden brown artwork with a newfound vigor and energy, I knew it was finally time as I set down the entrance directly in front of the 4 of us. Those “hooded whackjobs” may chase us but that doesn’t matter. I was going to Pyroclastia and this was going to take me there. We’ll deal with whatever may pass when it does.
So, with a deep breath, my dusty black shoes made contact and I then began marching on even further ahead.
The End.
Castle Johnson Publishings 