Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow Realm: Fifteen ❯ Discoveries ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Night was beginning to fall on the Central Shadow Realm, the place of monsters. The Whiptail Crows settled on their perches, and the dragons flew to their lairs in the steep cliffs of the west. A chill wind blew; the Kuribos huddled together in their nests, and the creatures of the Pyro and Thunder Living Complexes retreated into their heated chambers. The Green Phantom King bid his subjects goodnight and, as the plants closed up, led his wife, the Queen of the Autumn Leaves, into the royal bedchamber. The zombies and the fiends began to shift in their respective complexes.
A train still chugged around the tracks circling the Central Shadow Realm, its running lights turned down. Aboard it, a Witty Phantom that went by Fifteen sat on the floor, catching his breath from the exertion of evading arrest. Next to him, a Magician of Faith by the name of Tessia took her seat once more, smirking at the exhausted fiend.
Once Fifteen had his breathing under control again, the Magician of Faith looked at him a bit more closely. "What's wrong with me having a name?"
"Well," Fifteen muttered, before regaining his volume, "it's just not that common. I mean, most low-levels don't dare take a name, what with the mobs stamping about... Hell, I've got a number, and that's that. I'm Fifteen, by the way."
Tessia giggled. "I see you're still using a number," she said once her giggling was under control.
"It's worked for me for my lifetime." Adjusting his hat, Fifteen glanced up and down the Magician of Faith beside him. "So... what jobs can a low-level Spellcaster take?"
The train was beginning to slow down, so Tessia stood up and retrieved a small bag from the luggage rack overhead. As she did so, she said, "I tend bar at the Missing Number. It's a little place on the edge of the Level Four Spellcaster Living Complex. Say..." Pulling the bag over her staff arm, she smiled at him. "Since you can't go home tonight anyway, I think you're best off coming with me."
Silently, Fifteen dashed off a quick prayer of thanksgiving to the Gods. "That sounds lovely," he said aloud. The train pulled to a stop, and he regained his feet just as the doors opened up.
"Level Four Spellcaster Living Quarters!" came the shout, all in one breath. The two disembarked.
***
As it turned out, "on the edge" meant "a block from the train station". The sign on the Missing Number's roof showed twenty lights, blinking on and off in orderly progression. There was a Warrior Dai Greipher at the door, indicating that the bar had enough class to need a bouncer. He merely nodded as Fifteen and Tessia passed him.
To Fifteen's surprise, the first thing he saw in the bar was a sign saying, "Level Six or Higher Monsters Not Admitted". Underneath it was a picture of the Summoned Skull in a circle with a line through it. And looking through the crowd, he realized that the limit was strictly kept - none of the monsters at tables, on barstools, or playing pool were above Level Five. A Shadow Ghoul was lining up a shot at one of the pool tables, while a distinctly-unimpressed Amazoness Swordswoman watched it. Two Sangans chattered at each other, apparently arguing over a game of dice. One of them grabbed a chair and was about to swing it before a club knocked the chair apart. A quick growl from the Lava Battleguard holding the club caused the Sangan to bounce back into its chair and act nonchalant.
Seeing that, Fifteen looked over the bar and... yes, there was a Swamp Battleguard near the back, waiting to be needed. Where one was found, one always found the other.
The Witty Phantom and Magician of Faith wandered further into the bar, before Tessia suddenly let out a shriek and charged across the floor, Fifteen's arm in her deathgrip. A Witch of the Black Forest looked up from where she was studying a tablet and returned the shriek, heading towards them. The two embraced, and Fifteen took the opportunity to massage blood back into his arm.
A moment later, he turned back to them, and took the chance to speak up. "Either she's a friend of yours or one of you is acting."
"I'm Naomi," the Witch answered, blushing a little. Her third eye, like most of her kind while in public, was shut. Having once shared an apartment with a Big Eye, Fifteen didn't care one way or another. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister..."
"Fifteen."
Tessia giggled again - he found that both pleasurable and annoying - and slid behind the bar, taking up a glass and almost automatically setting about cleaning it. There was someone else at the other end of the bar, a bald man in a labcoat and goggles, busy arguing over tabs with a Penguin Knight. "Can I get you anything?" Tessia asked Fifteen.
"Whiskey on the rocks," he replied, sitting down and looking toward the front of the bar, where a lone Thunder Nyan Nyan provided the bar's entertainment.
The whiskey arrived, and he nursed at it, pondering how long it would take for the cops to arrive. After all, the train's route was posted at every stop, and there weren't that many places to hide in the Central Shadow Realm.
***
A Blast with Chain thudded into the wooden door, and the Union Rider that had activated it leapt back, signalling for his fellow officers to retreat. Three clicks were heard, and then an explosion tore through the Level Four Fiend Living Complex.
Before the dust could settle, three Mysterious Guards leapt into the room, staves at the ready. This was, after all, the apartment of a dangerous suspect, accused of inciting mass murder. You couldn't be too careful.
Close to a minute later, the Guards realized their suspect wasn't home. Two of them began to conduct a sweep of the apartment, while the third pulled out his two-way radio and flipped it on before muttering, "This place is empty. There's no sign that the suspect returned to it after escaping at the train station."
"Damn it. Keep looking," the police captain replied. Nodding, the other monster shut off his radio and joined the search.
If there was once something to find, it was long gone, without a clue to its whereabouts being found. There was the rack of suits, a few assorted magic and trap cubes (the usual Red Medicines and Wabokus), a folded Phantom Strike cloth, and a fridge of box lunches. Nothing even close to explaining the charges could be found.
The only thing of interest, which one of the Mysterious Guards found on the nightstand, showed their suspect - Witty Phantom #15A, formerly of the Soul Processing Block 1-H - posing for the camera with an Ogre of the Black Shadow in front of the Blue Nemuriko. Within an hour, Ogre of the Black Shadow #9B was wanted for questioning.
***
An uncertain amount of time passed. Staring at the stage, working on his twentieth whiskey (fiends like him only got drunk when they wanted to), Fifteen heard a familiar cobbling noise. Then a voice, one that sounded like it had just escaped its tomb, spoke up: "Wanna buy some Stim-Packs... oh, it's you again!"
Looking down, Fifteen let out a tremendous sigh. A Skull Servant had once again found him... and judging by the caulk between its skull and neck, it was exactly the same one from the train station. "What are you doing in this bar, you waste of calcium?"
"I was going to ask the same," the sniveling undead muttered. "This is my hangout, not yours. By the way..." It cackled slightly. "What's it like, being a wanted criminal?"
Unconsciously, Fifteen's hand swung back, only to bounce off the air in front of the Skull Servant's skull. As he rubbed his hand, the skeleton snickered and held up a pendant around his neck. "The Heart of Clear Water!" it snorted. "Makes me impervious to all attack."
Noting the activity at the end of the bar, Tessia pressed a small button concealed behind the liquor bottles. There was a gust of wind, and the Heart of Clear Water exploded. All parties blinked, and then the sound of Fifteen cracking his knuckles was audible over the music.
Thirty seconds later, a skull went flying out the door, bits of caulk still clinging to the bottom. Its body was pitched out thirty seconds after that. The Warrior Dai Greipher merely smirked.
The Swamp Battleguard returned to his position as Fifteen returned to his whiskey. Sidling up to him from the other side of the bar, Tessia asked, "He a friend of yours?"
"Hardly. That makes three times in two days I've decapitated him. Pity it isn't permanent. Was he right about coming here often?"
The other bartender, the bald man in the labcoat, joined them and snorted. "Yes, but we've thrown him out every time for pushing Stim-Packs. If it weren't for the fact that they don't listen, we'd have called the cops on him months ago. My name's Cordner, by the way."
"Interesting name," Fifteen muttered.
"I stole it wholesale from a mortal world sci-fi flick." There was a pause, as the Magicial Scientist studied Fifteen's aura, and then he smiled. Fifteen realized the other monster hadn't seen any wanted posters recently. "Just relax and make yourself at home... assuming you have a home."
Fifteen grunted and said, "I used to." He then turned to Tessia and asked, "If I may pry, how long have you known that Witch of the Black Forest?"
The Magician of Faith giggled a bit, explaining, "Naomi's my roommate. She picked me up after my apartment was infested with Kuribos and I couldn't afford an exterminator. She's a nice girl, but kind of shy. Good with magic cubes - she works at one of the factories. Guild-approved, too."
"Guild-approved, huh?" The Witty Phantom looked to the female in question, who had returned to her tablets after the initial greeting rush. Guild approval - which allowed monsters the right to create and sell magic cubes - was rare among Level Fours; either Naomi was very good at her job or she had connections. The Big Eye Fifteen had lived with had worked in a Magic factory, but hadn't had approval; it died in a Labyrinth Tank accident without even taking the exam. He then asked, "If she has approval, why does she still work in a factory instead of a shop?"
"You know how expensive it is to set up a shop anymore?" Tessia replied. "Besides, she likes the factory - there are several of her kind in there, and nobody bothers her about having a name."
Fifteen - who had begun to grow self-conscious about still going by his number - nodded, and then turned to Cordner and asked, "Do you have a phone here?"
***
Three figures moved down the hallway of the Level Four Beast-Warrior Living Complex. One floated, the others walked. The one who floated stopped in front of a certain door and concentrated. Turning to the taller of the two figures that walked, it thought, [This is the one. Take the shape I described to you.]
Bowing, the figure began to change. Its hands shrank and grew smooth, its clothes became a purple suit, and the mirror that was its head collapsed, transforming. After a minute or so, it was the spitting image of a Witty Phantom. Another minute and its aura changed. Now it matched the Witty Phantom known as Fifteen in every way possible except its thoughts.
The floating figure receded, pulling back on a leash that restrained the Amphibian Beast at its side. [Do as I told you,] it thought to the shapeshifter.
Pounding on the door, the faux-Fifteen shouted, "Nine, let me in! The cops are after me, you have to help me!" It then turned and ran, changing shape again as it moved.
There was a clicking noise, and then the door swung open. The Ogre of the Black Shadow leaned out and yelled, "Fifteen! That y-"
His flesh ripped under the Amphibian Beast's claws just before the creature tore out his throat. There was an explosion of triangles.
The floating figure now focused its mind, and the beast was sedated as it picked up the leash. The shapeshifter moved into the apartment, examining the shelves. Just as the floating figure followed it, the phone rang. "I'll get it," the shapeshifter said.
"Nine! Are you there?" was the first thing the shapeshifter heard. Its reply, in a voice like cracking glass, was only nine words.
"We're sorry. The person you are calling is dead."
It then slammed down the phone and broke into maniacal laughter.
***
The phone dangled in Fifteen's hands for a moment before he set down the receiver. "What the hell was that?" he asked himself.
A hand clutched his shoulder, and the Witty Phantom spun to see the Lava Battleguard bouncer holding a wanted poster. He could sense a copy of his aura radiating from it. "You the one on this poster?" the beast-warrior asked.
With a soul-draining sigh, Fifteen replied, "I'm afraid so." He began to plan his next moves after being thrown out of the bar.
Instead of grabbing his collar and pitching Fifteen into the street, as was expected, the Lava Battleguard turned to Cordner and grunted, "He's the one, boss. Should I pop the hatch?"
"Not yet, Tempus," the Magical Scientist said, turning back to the glass of whiskey he was pouring. The Kojikocy he was pouring it for merely snorted. Seeing this, the fiend realized there was more going on in the Missing Number than he thought there was. He moved from behind the bar and looked for Tessia, eventually finding her putting up another one of the wanted posters.
"I wonder who they get to draw these things," he muttered both to himself and to her, studying the almost blocky features of the poster's Witty Phantom. "Either way, why am I not being thrown out on my rear?"
Tessia giggled once again, stepping back from her pasting work. She replied, "This place is neutral territory - the cops never come in, and in return we don't let in anything that could be a threat. That's why we don't let anything over Level Six into this bar. Either way, my shift's over..."
Fifteen interrupted her with, "This early?"
"It's been four hours," she retorted. "By the way, your tab is now about a hundred bucks. How's your friend?"
"I don't know. Either he's dead or his phone's disconnected." Fifteen felt a slight pang of regret at the possibility of Nine's death. Although the two had never gotten close, fiends rarely make many friends, and Nine had proven to be someone worth talking to - a rarity in the Central Shadow Realm.
Tessia frowned and then said, "That's too bad. So... If you don't have any place to stay, Naomi and I have a couch in the apartment you can crash on."
"Are you sure about that?" Fifteen asked, head tilting. "Wouldn't people get the wrong idea if you have a male fiend living in your place?"
"I'm Level One, Fifteen," Tessia replied with a huff. "We don't have much dignity to begin with, so you might as well stay with me."
"Point taken. In that case, why not?" A loud creaking noise was heard, and the Witty Phantom jumped before turning and spotting a long, clean tunnel opening next to the restrooms. "What's that?"
The question was answered by Cordner, who said, "This is the escape hatch. It leads to the heart of the Level Four Spellcaster Living Complex, and we use it when one of our customers is in less than perfect condition with the law. That happens to be most of the low-leveled clientele here..." He shook his head and then went on, "Odds are good none of them would get fair treatment if the police caught them, so we use this escape tunnel to get them out without having to pass by the main train station - it's where the police wait for them. Now, hurry along - I don't want to let flies into this thing, it's hard to scrub them out!"
Tessia and Naomi had already started walking down it, so Fifteen pulled his hat back up and followed them into the tunnel. The door shut behind them, and Cordner pulled the false wallpaper back down.
***
Examining the wreckage left in what was once Nine's apartment, the Unfriendly Amazon #A-737 shook her head and sighed. Several of the other denizens of the Level Four Beast-Warrior Living Complex had heard loud noises coming from the apartment, but by the time anyone got there, all that was left were small, quick-melting shards of the Ogre of the Black Shadows that once lived here. Which left the police with little to go on.
Ay-Seven-Three-Seven (she preferred to go by Aysev) was a detective with the Central Shadow Realm Police Force, a rank even most Level Sixes never reached. This signified that she was one of the force's best... and today, she was staring at a crime scene that seemed likely to make all that utterly meaningless.
The reason? No aura evidence. None. Even the most well-prepared murderers always left a hint of their aura behind, and while hints didn't allow full identification, they were a good starting point. Whoever had taken out the Ogre of the Black Shadows knew what they were doing.
Aysev couldn't answer the most naggling question in her mind: why? Who would kill such an insignificant monster? She had done a quick scan in the city's records on her (still relatively new) personal notebook computer, and the late #9B was as nondescript as an ogre could get - just another construction worker. All that left was a personal vendetta, and he had no known enemies. There was nothing to go on.
Across the room, Aysev's partner, a Sasuke Samurai ID#G-481 (she called him Geefor), had finished searching the downed bookshelf. Whoever had reason to kill Nine had left the place an absolute mess. "Nothing here, Aysev," he called over.
"They're going to eat my badge for this," she muttered under her breath. The Central Shadow Realm Police Force had no mercy for failures. Audibly, she called back to Geefor, "Keep searching! There's got to be something in this mess!"
Nodding, Geefor went over the nightstand and then stopped. Taking a tongs from his sheath (having no use for a sword in this job), he picked up a thin piece of cloth next to the phone. Aysev saw this and dashed over, giving it a quick look. It was a Witty Phantom's attack cloth...
The two-way on Aysev's waist went off with the police captain's voice, "All personnel! This is an All Points Bulletin! Be on the lookout for a Witty Phantom with the aura 15A! He's wanted on charges of inciting mass murder in last night's Blue Nemuriko killings! He may be in the company of an Ogre of the Black Shadows with the aura 9B! Repeat, this is an All Poin-"
Grabbing the radio, Aysev flipped it on and said, "This is A-737 in L-4 B-W. I'm in 9B's apartment - he's already dead, and I think I know who did it..."
***
A short walk and three flights of stairs later, Fifteen was standing in an apartment in the Level Four Spellcaster Living Complex. It was tastefully decorated, but much of the furnishing was out of style, and the rest was old - the signs of someone who could afford to live this way, but not afford to do very much of it. Tessia was over to one side, adjusting the couch into its "bed" form. And Naomi...
Naomi was correcting a tilted picture of a Lady of Faith. Spotting this, Fifteen walked up beside her, saying, "Odd choice of decor." She blushed furiously.
Tessia came up on Fifteen's other side and said, "That's Liselle, one of Naomi's coworkers. They're both saving up their money..."
"For what, a better apartment?" Fifteen asked. Naomi blushed even more, her third eye blinking rapidly - apparently out of embarassment.
Tessia grabbed Fifteen's collar and turned his face towards hers as she finished. "...for a Polymerization cube."
Suddenly Fifteen understood. The rarest form of magic cube was Polymerization, the fusion trigger. The reason it was so rare was because of the materials required to make it - some of which could only be found in Toon World, others which could only be found in the Dragon Lairs. But many monsters wanted it, because fusion was a time-honored way to get up the social ladder in the Central Shadow Realm.
Naomi finally found the strength to speak, whispering, "When I met Liselle, she told me that she'd dreamed of being a Musician King, and none of the other Witches had wanted to fuse with her... Once we're fused, we'll be as one,and we'll never have to worry about anti-name groups again..."
"You think it's bad living in Level Four apartments?" Tessia was saying behind him. "Try being Level One. If Naomi hadn't found me, I'd still be in that Kuribo nest and wishing I was dead..."
Not for the first time in Fifteen's life, the name Witty Phantom didn't suit him - he had no clue what to say. The awkwardness was broken up as Tessia said, "Good night," and headed off to the bedroom. Naomi followed, and Fifteen was left alone. Taking off his hat, he set it on a coatrack and threw himself onto the couch, which creaked in response. Closing his eyes, he ran through the day's events in his mind, trying to figure out the exact moment his life turned the wrong corner.
***
In the Central Shadow Realm Police Headquarters, Aysev was busily filling out paperwork, as Gefoor went in for debriefing. At a new apartment down the hall from his predescessor's, Witty Phantom #15B was settling in. In the Missing Number bar, the business was beginning to settle into its nightly rhythm. The last of the night trains pulled into the depot, on the edge of Central Shadow Realm space.
And a tall, floating figure, leading a snarling Amphibian Beast, floated past the Level Four Spellcaster Living Complex. Looking into a specific apartment, it gave a low chuckle before floating off.