Thoughts of Medan from Reaper of the Cards at some unknown point.

Medan hadn’t liked his former Deck Owner, if fact he hadn’t been sorry when, after losing to Yugi, who at the time had been little more to a lot of Duel Monsters then the ‘Pharaoh’s vessel’, Arkana had been driven insane by Marik, in fact he’d given Mana some of his own power in order to help her defeat his former master, but having had a taste of the powers of the graveyard, he had found that he wanted more and Mahado’s two year vanishing act had given him the perfect opportunity to find out more.

When Mahado, the so called ‘Lord of the Dark Kingdom’, had returned, it had been with much fanfare and celebration, which had only increased among the masses when he and Kisara had announced that the war between them was over.

Oh there were malcontents. Those who had enjoyed the constant battles and the way they could get away with a lot more under the pretence of war, were furious that after thousands of years of battle, Mahado and Kisara had just called a halt to it, just because some humans had gotten into another Shadow War, but generally most were sick of the battles and welcomed the peace.

Of course without the war to distract him, and with the upcoming Shadow War threatening the man who he had sworn to serve beyond death, Mahado had started focusing on his Kingdom, training his guards, strengthening defensive spells and increasing the shields around his own palace, knowing that the Pharaoh was likely to draw from his people and that the Light Prince wasn’t exactly going to ignore them either.

Once Mahado had stopped focusing on the battles and more on those people within his palace, those who could help the Dark Pharaoh or the Light Prince, like Soraya, Medan’s Apprentice, whose card had been in Yugi’s deck for months by that point, it had only been a matter of time before the Lord of the Dark Kingdom found out what Medan was up to.

Within weeks, even with Medan being extremely careful, Mahado had found out about Medan’s research into the powers of the Reaper of the Cards, and the pair of them had fought, Dark Magician verses Dark Magician, in the courtyard of the Dark Palace in the fiercest battle that had been seen since Kisara and Mahado had battled just after what was known to those who had been there as ‘the Castle Duel’.

Medan hadn’t known before then how much stronger Mahado was. The ‘first Dark Magician’ had powers that Medan could never imagine. His own abilities were mere shadows of those that the Purple Dark Magician used against him, and as impressive as the battle looked to those on the outside, both he and Mahado knew that in the end, it would be Mahado who won.

And they were right, even with a last minute attempt at using Thousand Knives, Medan had lost the battle.

Only after judgement had been passed and exile decreed, had he found out who had betrayed him to the Lord of the Dark Kingdom.

Not one of the ever so nosy spellcasters who had no hope of ever matching the power he wielded.

Not one of the Blue Dark Magicians who followed the rules and laws of their ‘Lord’ to the letter.

Not even Mana, Mahado’s apprentice, the ‘first Dark Magician Girl’.

No, it had been Soraya, his own Apprentice. The Red Dark Magician Girl had betrayed her Master’s secret to the Lord of the Dark Kingdom and once he’d fallen in battle, she hadn’t followed her Master, nor had she followed Mahado, which, even as he would have been annoyed, he would have understood, after all, after such a demonstration of power, he would understand her seeking a stronger Master, no, she had pledged her loyalty to ‘Prince Yugi’ and only to ‘Prince Yugi’ and in doing so, thrown away everything.

The end of the war was just an excuse after that.

Exiled from the Kingdom of the Dark Element, Medan had gathered those who believed that Mahado and Mana had grown weak, those who believed that the limitations on what could and couldn’t be learnt were ridiculous, those who had been exiled, those who were sick of the same people being in charge after so long an absence...

Those who followed his banner no longer numbered a few and more than half of them were willing to go to any lengths to avoid another Shadow War, refusing to bow to humans ever again.

And it was from this half of his group that he was pulling together a team.

While they waged guerrilla warfare against those of the palace, there was a way to weaken those who had chosen to put their chips in with the humans in a way that would be irreversible.

And the best part was, it had been Mana who had, unknowingly, given Medan the idea.

The Shadows of Friendship: - Spirit of the Puzzle first description

Nightmare Moon couldn’t help but watch in fascination as the light from the Puzzle died down to reveal her opponent not only still standing but transformed.

The young mare, once a unicorn, now stood as a tall, proud and furious alicorn. Sharp, ruby red eyes glowered at her as she took in the change. The ex-unicorn was taller now, her mane and tail both wilder and longer. The other alicorn’s wings were battle damaged, to the point Nightmare Moon somehow doubted the other would be able to lift off of the ground. Despite their ragged appearance however, they still looked regal, sweeping back over the other alicorn’s back and hanging down. The feathered wings somehow reminded Nightmare Moon of the capes that some of the nobles had worn before her imprisonment.

“So,” Nightmare Moon started, with an amused and slightly vindictive smile, “My sister had another alicorn hiding in the wings? How long did she make you wear that disguise? Weeks? Years? Centuries?”

“She didn’t.” Shadows swirled around Twilight as she replied, eyes narrowing slightly. Nightmare Moon’s own Shadow magic flared up in response, the two powers clashing in a blaze of dark purple light that lit up the entire room, casting their shadows in about six different directions. “Now return the sun, Nightmare Moon, before I have to make you.”

An Ennead Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, and through all Domino
There was a great battle of Shadows and snow,
Bakura on one side, and Yugi on the other,
They chased through the streets, pelting each other.

With Jou, Honda and Anzu joining the fun,
They fought and they played till the battle was won.
Then back to the shop they travelled together,
To escape from the worsening weather.

When all were inside and the snacks all given out,
From downstairs there came a great shout.
Down to the shop, Yugi shot like a dart,
Hoping against hope that there were no dark arts.

Down on the ground floor, Ojiisan was pale,
As morons bagged up things that were not for sale.
The Pharaoh took over and drove them away,
But they swore to come back yet another day.

Unwilling to let them ruin the holiday season,
Oneesan gave chase despite rhyme or reason.
She cornered the group while hunting her prey,
Insistent that for their crimes they would pay.

The gang turned on her, each much bigger by far,
One picking up a huge metal bar!
The Pharaoh didn’t flinch, she knew what to do,
And warned the gang that from now they were through.

They laughed and they laughed, doubting she was a threat,
Until she called forth the Shadows and challenged the set.
It took little time to beat them, they were just that thick,
And none of them had expected that trick.

Switching back with her light side, the Pharaoh retreated
Ready to relax now her task was completed.
They headed for home, through the dark and the snow,
Though now with the weather their journey was slow.

Her friends met her halfway home, having been worried,
And out of the storm they hurried and scurried.
Once back at the shop, the festivities did start,
Easing the worry in the Mutous’ hearts.

Gifts were exchanged and snacks were demolished,
The worry from earlier was completely abolished!
And by the time her friends left, Yugi was quite ready,
For tomorrow’s holiday. She wished it was here already!

Once friends were all gone and mess tidied away,
Yugi went to bed to await Christmas Day.
So completely exhausted from the earlier fight,

That before too long she was out like a light.

She wasn’t awake when there were sounds from the roof,
With a thud and a jingle, she missed foot and hoof.
Oneesan however woke in a flash,
And headed to find out what would make such a big crash.

In the living room near the tree, she found a strange man,
He obviously had some evil plan.

Dressed all in red with a white beard and a sack.
She watched as quite quickly he started to unpack.

Confusion flowed through her as he left behind toys,
And vanished away with a great deal of joy.
And as she headed back to check on her light,
She heard him call "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sneak Peek of a Distant Future: Ennead: Battle of the Gods

When the Millennium Necklace had revealed to her that the Pharaoh had been female she had found it incredibly difficult to believe. Every story she had been told, every legend passed down through her family’s history had spoken of the nameless Pharaoh who had given his life to save the world, surrendering everything he had and any chance of making the journey through the afterlife to do so, and who would be reborn when the Shadows once again launched an assault against the world.

Nothing had ever been said of he being a she.

And yet here she was, in all her glory, the nameless Pharaoh, the Queen of Games, here in the museum, looking for answers.

And Isizu was torn as to what to do. She’d seen the future, she’d seen herself telling the Pharaoh and her consort everything they needed to know, that was what she had to do to in order to have even the slightest chance of saving her brother. 

That possibility was remote though, she’d seen the future after all. She knew how everything was going to unfold. The Pharaoh would be told everything she needed to know in order to force her onto the necessary path and then she would compete in Battle City, believing she was on the route to getting her memories back, never knowing that she was on the path to her own destruction.

If Isizu was truly loyal to her Queen, as she should have been, she would have warned her about the danger, told her about the mental and physical torture that was to come, how Marik, Isizu’s patricidal brother, would cause both the spirit of the nameless Pharaoh and the vessel, Mutou Yugi, agony so great that they would wish for death long before it came, but she couldn’t, not while there was a chance that she would get one last chance to save her brother, even if...

She knew the future. By the time he moved onto the Pharaoh, Marik would be guilty of sororicide too.

She was supposed to have faith in the nameless Pharaoh, faith that he would be able to defeat evil and restore balance to the world, but he had turned out to be a she and now Isizu wondered how many of the tales that had been passed down through her family for the last five millennia were actually true.

Was it really possible that this tiny girl was the Pharaoh of the legends? The one who had protected Egypt from so many dangers? The one who had battled Anubis and won? The only one who could control all three Egyptian God monsters at the same time?

If the Pharaoh had looked more like her consort, Isizu would have been happier. A tall, powerful looking male Pharaoh would have been much more reassuring than the short, tiny framed girl that now stood before the tablet, absorbing every detail of it...

Even without the visions she’d had from five thousand years ago, when the Pharaoh had stood before the tablet, she’d sensed the magic that had been loosed and recognised the girl in front of her as the same woman from her visions.

“Oneesan?” The Pharaoh’s consort asked, surprising Isizu, as she’d ‘seen’ the blonde kissing the Pharaoh, and causing her to wonder if it hadn’t been the nameless Pharaoh she’d seen him kissing, but the young vessel, “Are you alright?”

Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension WHATIF

“Now I have you!”

Perry wheeled around at the triumphant cry unleashed by the alternate dimension version of his incompetent nemesis.

Phineas was in trouble. The evil Doctor Doofenshmirtz had gotten a hold of the boy’s baseball launcher and had it aimed at Perry’s owner, backing the boy up towards the edge of the Other Dimensioninator’s platform.

The playpus didn’t know what to do. If he leapt up there, the Doctor might fire and Phineas would go tumbling over the edge. The secret agent had been up there. He knew full damn well that the Other Dimensioninator’s platform hovered over the edge of the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated skyscraper. If Phineas fell, there was no way he could get to the boy in time to save his life.

“All you’ve accomplished here is that I’m going to have a new Platyborg, maybe a new Boyborg too.” The evil doctor was crowing as Phineas got too close to the edge for Perry’s liking.

Why oh why had he brought the boy up here? He could have handled it alone, the secret agent lied to himself as he tried to work out a way to save his beloved friend and owner.

Then it hit him as his tail brushed against the baseball bat Phineas had happened to leave there when they’d been there hours ago, before they’d been trapped in the second dimension. If he could get that baseball bat to Phineas, the boy could hit the baseball away and defend himself.

Perry only had a split second to act as the doctor went to fire. He moved, trying to knock the bat flying, only to get hit by a blast from Perry the Platyborg’s laser cannon that sent him flying into the Other Dimensioninator, breaking the control panel and sending the machine out of control.

The second dimension Doofenshmirtz had already hit the trigger on the baseball launcher before he had actually reacted to the flying platypus, and the high speed baseball hit Phineas in the stomach, causing the boy to let out a pained yelp and stumble back, before letting out a second, much more terrified cry as he stumbled right over the edge.

Perry chittered in fear as he launched himself past the evil Doof, ignoring the complaints of how and why and ‘this isn’t possible’ that were erupting from the man as the machine started to explode, in favour of trying to save his owner. He leapt off of the platform, following his owner down, figuring that if he could get close enough his grappling hook might save them both.  

What he saw next shocked him. Ferb, who had been climbing up the side of the building using a pair of plungers, had grabbed onto Phineas’s arm as his step-brother had gone plummeting past, holding on desperately to Phineas with one arm and a plunger with the other even as he cried with the pain and stress of the situation and the weight of his step-brother.

The platypus’s heart skipped a beat when he realised that the plunger that Ferb was hanging off of was pulling away from the window.

He wasn’t the only one who saw it either, Phineas, who was already pale with the fear and shock had gone whiter still when he had realised that Ferb was going to fall if he didn’t get the green haired boy to let go.

Perry never heard the words that passed between the boys, only saw Ferb shaking his head and caught the pleading look on Phineas’s face.

Then, to Perry’s horror, Phineas gave his brother a reassuring smile and wrenched his arm from Ferb’s grasp. Ferb cried out in fear for his brother as Phineas continued his freefall to the ground.

Just moments later, as if mocking Phineas’s sacrifice, the suction cup on the plunger Ferb was clinging to released its hold on the window.

Perry couldn’t save Phineas, but he was damned if he was going to lose Ferb too. He managed to get close enough to Ferb to grab onto the boy and fired off his grappling hook, which swung him and Ferb over to the nearest building, dropping them both on its roof.

“PHINEAS!” Ferb practically screamed, darting for the roof edge, with more emotion in his voice than Perry thought he’d ever heard from the normally mute one of the pair.

Perry wasn’t sure he could bring himself to look.

He knew what he’d see. Phineas wouldn’t have survived the fall. He’d have hit the ground and...

The platypus let out a grieved wail of a sound, giving into the pain he felt at losing one of the boys, and suddenly found himself scooped up into a pair of shaking arms and drawn into a rough hug, water dripping onto his head as his owner wept and sank to his knees.

Phineas was gone. Phineas was...

“Ferb? Perry?”

Perry froze at the sound and felt his remaining owner tense up too. It wasn’t possible...

“Hey guys? We still have things to do today...”

Ferb practically exploded from the spot, pushing Perry away and tackling the speaker in a hug that knocked both of them over.  “H...How?”

Perry already knew though and even as Phineas tried to sit up to explain, Isabella dismounted from the flying robotic unicorn that Phineas and Ferb had made her at the start of the summer and rushed over to hug both boys.

“Guess those old inventions of ours had more than one use left in them.” Phineas commented in a much softer tone than normal, hugging both carefully, mindful of the shoulder Ferb had practically wrenched out of place when he’d tried to save him from certain death and of any injuries Isabella might have gained during the fighting. “Perry?” Phineas invited him into the group.

As he leapt into the pile and joined the group hug, Perry thought of all the trouble he and the agency had gone to to locate, recover and reproduce all of the things the boys had invented over the summer and couldn’t help but think that it was totally worth it.

Guardians Short Part 4: Prompty prompty prompt

Jack let out a low hiss as he examined the former site of the portal. Tiny fragments of glass and the familiar look to the portal told him what had caused it. Jamie had informed him earlier that he and his friends had found one of Santa’s snow globes after the big battle in the streets and skies of Burgess a few months ago. Jack had been planning on taking it back to North after he had finished playing with his friends.

Unfortunately that wasn’t going to be an option any more since the snow globes North created exploded when they were activated, the magic disintegrating the glass as it spread out to create a portal to wherever the person who had shaken the snow globe had told it too. Jack just wished he knew where this particular one had sent the kids.

He hadn’t been able to catch much of what had been being said over the noise of the children all shouting at once, the only possible hint he had was that Jamie had mentioned that the globe was Santa’s. Jack both hoped and feared that the portal had led to Santoff Claussen, the home of Santa Claus, or as Jack knew him, Nicholas St. North, the Guardian of Wonder.

Hoped because if the children had been dropped off inside, they would be warm, safe and easy-ish to find. Feared because if they had been dropped off outside, they could be children-sicles before he got there.

That train of thoughts made up his mind for him. He shot outside, calling on the wind to carry him to Santoff Claussen as he took his first steps back onto the porch. Picking up on his urgency the wind blew him towards the North Pole as fast as possible.

It took longer than Jack would have liked to get up to the workshop where North was busy working away, making him cuss himself out for not picking up the tiny emergency snow globe that North had been trying to give him since Easter when he had first signed up for the Guardian gig. However when he flitted in through the window that had no glass and was the Man in the Moon’s access to the Globe Room of Santoff Claussen, he was greeted by a sight that lifted his spirits.

North’s globe, which was brightly lit by the glows symbolising all the children who believed in the Guardians, had gained a small group of little lights right here at the North Pole.

“Okay, so you know they’re here.” Jack told himself as he let out a relieved sigh and balanced on the railing near North’s control panel, ignoring the looks he was getting from the yetis who still weren’t used to not trying to kick him out of the workshop after a couple of centuries of him trying to break in. “The question is where.” He got down and started looking around as he tried to remember which way North had led him during the brief tour, “I mean they have to be inside and if they’re inside you’re only in trouble if they got caught and...” Jack paused his monologue as the nearby double doors burst open and North entered the room, followed by an ecstatic looking Jamie and an ever bouncy Sophie. “I’m in trouble.”

“Jack Frost.” North looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or not, probably because it was Jack’s band of believers who had invaded his workshop a month before Christmas, “Is good that you are here.” North patted him on the shoulder. Whether he knew his own strength or not, Jack staggered at the impact, “You can help find other children, no? And then we can be having words.”

Definitely in trouble, Jack decided.

 -------------------------------------------------------------

And that's all I have written so far.

Guardians Short Part 3: Promptimus

Pippa had taken cover behind Mrs Bennet’s currently empty greenhouse and poked her head out from behind it as Cupcake and Jack were pelted by the ‘ammo’ of Jamie’s squad, who were all loaded up with freshly packed snowballs.

“Get them!” Jamie laughed as he pelted the pair with snowballs, the other non-zombies following his direction. Jack managed to avoid the worst of it by taking off into the air, but poor Cupcake got hit by at least four. The girl let out a growl and darted forward even as the other of the two boys complained that “flying zombies were cheating.”

“Run!” Monty screeched, turning and doing just that as the huge girl barreled forwards. Sophie, who had been hiding behind her big brother, grabbed Jamie’s arm and pulled him away just before Cupcake careened into the group, tagging Monty as the others legged it, laughing as they did so. The bespectacled blonde joined Jack’s steadily growing zombie army as the leader of said army swept back down to the ground and grinned at his forces.

“Brains.” Jack pointed in the direction the other kids had gone.

“BRAAAAAINS!” Pippa, Cupcake and Monty replied loudly and chased the others around to the front of the house only to find that Jamie and his diminishing forces had prepared for them. Jack paused momentarily to wonder where Sophie had gone before he was under fire again, Jamie’s troops not bunching up this time as the ‘zombies’ went after them, having learnt their lesson from Cupcake’s charge.

“Jack. Jack. Jack.” Jack didn’t have time to react before he was tackled by a small, giggling blonde who latched onto his side and refused to let go, slowing him down enough for Jamie to escape being beeped on the nose. “Hi.” Sophie giggled at him.

“Brains.” Jack tapped her on the nose instead of her older brother.

“Cold!” Sophie complained, before letting go, giggling again and chasing her brother around the garden, “Brains, brains, brains, brains, brains...”

Jack grinned as Jamie dodged his sister then yelped and narrowly dodged around Cupcake who was in fact chasing the boy who seemed to live in basketball tops no matter how cold out it was. At this point of the proceedings he could probably bow out and watch the insanity unfold, sometimes it was fun to see how his small pack of believers could draw the other children in the area into his games, however today he had no intention of bowing out. Not until he had tagged Jamie at least.

He took off, aiming to swoop round behind his friend only to get pelted by snowballs from most of Jamie’s remaining squad who were determined to keep their friend out of the clutches of the zombies. Jack tumbled in midair, knocked off balance by the impact as the three remaining ‘human’ members of the group escaped back into the house.

“Brains, brains, brains, brains, brains...” Sophie happily warbled as she followed her brother inside.

It took a moment for Jack to right himself but Pippa was holding the door open for him when he managed it. He nodded to her as he drifted through, listening for the sounds of the ‘battle’ continuing. He could hear the sounds of the kids running around upstairs and he drifted that way, moving to one side so Pippa could shoot up to join the others after she shut the front door.

Alighting on the landing, he followed the sounds, his concern piqued when he heard Jamie yelp, “No, that’s Santa’s!” and saw a bright flash. He darted towards the door, only to arrive in time to see Sophie giggling as she ran through a portal to Jack had no clue where.

“Sophie! Wait!” Jamie darted after her, his friends in hot pursuit.

“Wait for...” Jack shot forward only for the portal to close before he could get there, “Me.”

Guardians Short Part 1: In response to a prompt

After everything was said and done, when North's workshop was put rightway up, Pitch appeased, the children returned home and the last of the 'infected' elves rounded up, it was decided that it was all, as per usual, Jack's fault.

The Guardian of Fun had been hanging around his favourite believers waiting for them to be done with their zombie movie so they could go and play in the snow. Jack had seen the film before, being invisible had its perks after all and sneaking into cinemas was one of them but it was a whole different atmosphere with the kids. Especially with the curtains drawn, the lights off and a couple of them hidden behind pillows.

As the film reached its climax, Jack leant forwards, aiming to put his hand on the back of the sofa only to put it on Jamie's shoulder by accident. The boy yelped in shock and bolted off of the sofa, causing all the other children to shriek and scramble away as fast as possible.

"Guys, I'm a spirit, not a..." Jack trailed off as the thought struck him. He had died and come back to life, so was he technically a zombie? Then an idea hit him and he smirked evilly, unnerving the children slightly, "Alright, you caught me." Jack informed them, "Now I'm going to have to eat your brains."

The kids looked at him, confusion on their features. At least until he took a step forward. Then with a delighted but terrified shriek of the variety that normally was only heard from kids on roller coasters, the children darted in every direction, giggling as they dodged around Jack, narrowly missing his attempts at catching them as they passed, darted out of doors and escaped any other way they could manage.

“Well at least that got them outside.” Jack chuckled to himself, “At least some of them.” He turned towards the kitchen door, listening for the sounds that would give the hiding children away.  He stalked into the kitchen silently, not needing to float to be able to move without making a noise and grinned as he saw Pippa’s ever-present white hat hiding behind the bin. “Braaaains.” He groaned, only just refraining from chuckling when he heard the girl squeak. “Braaaaains.”

Pippa exploded out from her hiding place, pushing past the bin and narrowly avoiding knocking it over, though by the time she had ensured the bin wasn’t going to tip and send its contents across the kitchen floor, Jack had tapped her on the nose.  Pippa yelped at the touch of frost on the tip of her nose and rubbed it quickly, before grinning at Jack for a moment before ambling out of the room slowly, groaning “Braaaaains,” as she did so.

Jack blinked after her, still a little surprised when the children joined in with whatever game he wanted to play and changed the rules without him even noticing so they could ensure he had as much fun as they did, then the winter spirit turned pretend zombie carried on looking for the other kids.