Chapter 3- The Unexpected
"What do you mean 'they got away'?" Necros yelled, infuriated. The
hoards of demons that had attacked Sakura and her friends were presently
groveling at the high ranking demon's feet. Necros was one demon best
described in two words: razor blade. A metal mask covered his mouth and
nose, a mechanical replacement for wounds inflicted to him by a mighty
ArchAngel. Likewise he had steel-like armor that contoured like spandex
to the form of his hideously, almost Cyborg body. Metal shoulder guards
like claws reached over his shoulders to attach themselves to his chest
armor, giving off the look of a metal hand almost three times the size of
his own three fingered claws resting on his shoulder. Attached to those,
sticking dangerously straight up in the air, were what looked like
several crosses between sword blades and fish hooks, numbering about four
on his shoulders, two to each, and two more attached to his lower arm
guards, allowing him to slash and hook an opponent with the same swipe,
then throw their limp body after he ran them through with his other hand.
The ones on his shoulders held no real purpose except intimidation, which
they served to do very well. His skin was like that of a Raptor, his oily
black hair flowing down his neck like a horse mane. His eyes, one of the
creepiest features about him, were the color of purple alabaster smoothed
out to perfection with no pupil or iris existing in them. Truly, he would
make Freddy Krugger look like a whimp. "I should run you all through for
your inability to complete even the simplest of tasks!"
"It was our fault not, master Necros!" One of the demons spoke up
suddenly. All eyes turned on the small reptilian creature. "Gabor! Gabor
attacked us! We had to flee! He invoked the name of the Lord of Hosts
against us!"
Necros was suddenly across the room, holding the small demon high up in
the air by it's throat. One of his arm-blades was pressed against the
creature's neck, inches from what would probably be a fatal injury. The
demon shook in fear, it's eyes almost glazed over.
"Listen up and listen good, scum." Necros yelled. "When I send you out
on an assignment and put half of my forces in the line of fire so you can
destroy those 'Cardcaptors', you'd better stay and fight until you either
win or every last one of you has had his head severed from his body! Do I
make myself clear?"
The demons all nodded in agreement, the one in Necros's claws the most
enthusiastic of all. He threw the small creature to the ground with a
mighty heave, leaving a dent in the black crystalline floor.
"I am Overlord Balera's liaison to Lucifer's council, I can not be seen
as being in the slightest bit weak, understand? If word of this failure
after all this planning and preparation gets out, it'll be very bad for
my reputation with the council. And what's bad for me-" He barred one of
his blades.
Suddenly, clapping sounds were heard in the room. All eyes turned to see
Phalyn enter.
"Bravo, Necros, bravo." He clapped his hands obnoxiously. "I hear you
and your rag-tag band here fouled up. You must admit, it was a long time
coming."
"Where did you hear that, Phalyn?" Necros growled angrily at his rival.
Phalyn wore the basic armor setup he himself had, only minus the razor
blades. Also Phalyn had five fingers on each hand instead of three. His
skin tone was like that of mercury, a deep liquid steel color, his hair
neatly trimmed in much the fashion most humans wore, and he had elongated
upper shoulder struts that gave off a similar effect to Necros's blades.
"Oh, don't worry, I haven't been spreading rumors..." He grinned. "The
council knew about your screw-up almost as soon as it happened. I heard
they dropped a promotion they had in line for you because of this. Isn't
that just too bad?" He scoffed, then burst out laughing. "I've been
waiting for this day for a long time! In your face, Necros!"
"Why you little imp! You're nothing but a lowly mercenary, you and the
rest of the Vrakil. I'd like to see you destroy those kids with *Gabor*
on the loose."
"I'd love to, buddy, you know I would, but I've kinda got my hands full
right now. Seems Ryan and the twerp squad are working on a way to rescue
Serria, and I just can't let that happen. You know how it is." He said
with a smirk. "Business comes first."
"Ha! You'll lose her just like you lost the Borg Sphere. You're
hopeless, Phalyn."
"We'll see about that, Necros. How about we make a little bit of a bet."
Phalyn said smugly. "First one of us to destroy our targets gets ten
choice warriors from the other's forces, permanently. Deal?"
"Ha! You'll have to do better than that."
"OK, loser serves under the winner, permanently. How about that?"
Necros could almost imagine Phalyn waxing his armor for him daily. He
knew that wasn't much, but he'd have eternity to figure out what else he
could put Phalyn through after he won this little wager.
"You've just made the biggest mistake of your life, Phalyn." He shook
Phalyn's hand.
"Maybe. Maybe it's the biggest mistake of yours." Phalyn chuckled a
little bit.
Long after Phalyn had departed, Necros paced around in the dismal black
room with a lot on his demonic mind. If Phalyn did end up destroying his
targets first, Necros would be in big trouble. A deal made between two of
Lucifer's more visible warriors was one he'd be forced to honor, whether
he liked it or not. He may have just signed his own tombstone. Or he may
have signed Phalyn's. He'd have to make absolutely certain those two kids
die, and soon.
But what of Gabor?
He'd been asking himself that question for hours, trying desperately to
come up with a foolproof plan. He had so many idiots under his command
that foolproofing his plans had become a necessity. Somehow, though, they
always seemed to bungle things up anyway. He went over the facts in his
head. His target's Grey Crystals were deep within enemy territory, and
there was no way he could penetrate that far into the Host's strongholds.
So that left him with only a few options: attack them in the physical, or
besiege them in the spiritual. The physical was likely to be the more
effective approach, but he'd have to watch out for Gabor and find a way
to keep his troops from ruining everything. He needed something
special,... and suddenly he knew just the human for the job.
Catsy Imatto sat in a dark room of her apartment, a single candle
illuminating the darkened space. In front of her were several different
kinds of cards, laid out in fans on the floor next to a Dungeons and
Dragons game board she had designed herself. Her eyes were shut, her
long, fiery red hair streaked with black dangling in small strands in
front of her face. She wore a long robe with many patches and designs
stitched into it; moons, pentagrams, astrological signs, and such. The
cards were extremely varied, ranging from Tarot cards to Magic cards and,
their real power unbeknownst to her, special dark colored Cards with
pictures of monsters and delicate scroll work decorating the borders and
blank sides of the cards. These were a recent acquisition, something she
had won from a friend in a battle of psychic powers, and now she sought
out her spirit guides to help her find out what these cards that her
friend so treasured were and why they were so important to her.
She was in a deep meditative state when the room around her suddenly
started to darken. She suddenly heard voices in her head, voices she was
not familiar with. She had heard the voices of her spirit guides before,
but this time...
... It was very different.
"Who are you?" She called out, snapping out of her trance. The voices
were still all around her, some familiar, some not. 'This isn't supposed
to happen', she thought to herself. 'The spirits are supposed disappear
when I open my eyes; what's happening to me?!!'
"Don't be afraid." One voice suddenly cut through to her, silencing the
rest. "You, my dear, have simply reached the next level of oneness with
the spiritual realm. My name is Necros, a liaison to the great council of
spirits, and I have a message for you." He said, his voice suddenly soft
and seductive. "The Cards you hold are no ordinary Cards, Catsy. Your
friend was serving the universal mind when she gave them to you, and we
have need of you to use them."
"W-w-what? Use them how?"
"These Cards contain great powers indeed, Catsy, powers that you were
destined to have. Your oneness with the universal mind has made you
strong, stronger than many who have come before you. The next step sits
before you." A soft, grey mist slowly appeared around Catsy. She sat up
in surprise and shock. "Do not be afraid, Catsy. I am coming here, to
you, to teach you how to use the Cards. These Cards are powerful,
powerful indeed, for within them they contain creatures, beasts of old
that will serve you and obey your commands. You see, the universal mind
has an enemy, an enemy we wish for you to fight, so that you may go to
the next level and become one with the universal mind."
"Fight, an enemy of the universal mind? How can I?"
"I will give you the knowledge to use the powers inside of you, and
teach you to use the Cards with great skill and power. You will become an
emissary of the universal mind, our representative. The power you are
ready to receive will be more than you have ever imagined..."
"Sounds right up my alley." Catsy said with a grin. The mist slowly
disappeared inside her, and her pupils suddenly went dark with demonic
possession. "Yeah, I think I'm going to enjoy this..." She stated,
picking up the stack of black Cards.