Card Apocalypse 1, Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two: Allying the Spurned

            “Wait, wha—” Was all Noah managed to get out.

The two vampires lunged forward, teeth out, but Noah had been in these fights a lot recently. He took a step back and to the side, almost falling off the edge of a platform but putting one attacker in front of the other. He made a command decision and touched his chest rather than grab his pistol, using his remaining arm to keep the damage done to him at a minimum.

            The vampire’s teeth sank into his arm rather than his neck, but Noah still howled. He pushed his splayed hand out, over the vampire’s shoulder, summoning his cards. He kept turning as he did to keep his current attacker between himself and his enemy, and ended up reversing their positions.

            Four cards were presented to him. He had his realm card as a null card, which couldn’t be played. The three that could be played were his mantle, Technomancer’s Mein, Derek Tang, Technomancer of the Storm, and Blitz Bolt.

            Noah’s first instinct was to hit his mantle, but he had a sudden thought about the patterns of their fight.

            “No one else join the fight, just get back!” Noah yelled out, his voice a hoarse scream from the pain of the vampire chewing on it.

            It spoke to his teams trust of him that they all stepped back from the fight.

Noah summoned Derek just to the side of the fight, on the connecting platform that Kishara was on, the one that led to her mansion. Then he stepped back himself, ripping his arm from the vampire’s mouth as he did and push-kicking it a step back. A quick dart of his hand triggered his Blitz Bolt card. The speedy keyword it possessed allowed it to fire as an additional action in the round, and unlike most immediate powers, it could target anything, not just a creature or deckbearer. He slammed the bolt into the support under the platform that the two vampires were now the sole occupants of, a bolt empowered by Derek’s modifiers.

The place where all three of the support poles keeping the platform up, where they were lashed together, exploded. The poles, while still mostly intact, simply dropped, and the platform followed a half-second later. The vampires waved their arms for balance, but the whole thing fell down to the platform below with a resounding crash, taking Noah’s enemies with it. A few ratkin and another vampire were also hit by the falling platform, but miraculously, nothing died.

“Finish them,” Noah said to Derek, pointing.

He also called forth RED’s Flachette Gun from its side deck, while keeping an eye on Kishara. She was still leaning against the pole on her support structure, her arms crossed over her chest.

Derek simply fired his lightning attack at the vampires, and RED used his now nine true damage flachette gun to hit them. Neither had a flight ability, and they quickly perished as they attempted to get back to Noah to fight him.

A card dropped from each one.

Blood Mercenary

 Uncommon Tier-1 Undead [Vampire, Warrior] Creature

1 Undead Power, 2 Any power

Health: 20

Attack: 9

Defense: 7

Magical Attack: 7[Death]

Magical Defense: 7

Special: Ronin [Vampire]: Counts as any Vampire clan for purposes of cards that benefit from clan cards on field.

Special: Blood Boost: Any blood vial grants an additional +2 attack and restores 10 extra health to these creatures, or a single blood vial may be used to pay the entire play cost of this creature, but it leaves combat in 60 seconds if played that way.

Special: Flammable: +100% damage from Fire

Special: Sunlight Weakness: This card takes a true damage every fifteen seconds in sunlight, and all its stats are halved.

“Perhaps they don’t have loyalty, but they at least they have an understanding of our tactics, and for a short while, they’re cheap.”—Liao Chen, progenitor of the Jade clan.

            “Get those,” Noah said, pointing, and RED leapt down to the platform below.

            Kishara came off the pole, slashing her hand out to grab Noah’s neck. Noah flipped his deck, briefly regretting that he hadn’t gotten his mantle on, and with his other hand, grabbed his gun and buried it in the almost gothic dress over Kishara’s stomach.

            Kishara leaned her beautiful face to within inches of Noah’s own, her red eyes staring deeply into his, her fangs barred.

            “Those are mine, deckbearer,” she said, her voice a feminine half-growl. “You cannot take them from me.”

            Noah didn’t touch any cards, just poked the gun inward a bit harder and pointed to where she gripped his throat. He didn’t want to kill her, since he apparently needed her, according to Lisa.

            But he would if he had too.

            Kishara let go and took a tiny half-step back, still crowding him. His team looked on from about ten feet away, across the gap that the falling platform had made.

            “They became mine when you sicked them on me,” Noah said. “I have need of vampire cards.”

            “You can’t win, you know,” Kishara said, flashing her fangs again. “If you go against me on this, you’ll die.” She pointed around at the numerous vampires now observing Noah and his team.

            Noah leaned in, close to Kishara’s ear, his gun still pressed to her stomach, and whispered. “If you go against me, then whatever happens after that, I’ll make sure you go down first. But I’m letting you know quiet-like, so you can save face. I need those vampire cards.”

“Is your need supposed to make me care, mortal?” She hissed back, dropping her hand to her own two guns.

Noah ignored that and just continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Far more importantly, I have a proposal for you, one that you won’t want to miss out on. Since your card text makes me think that you want vengeance more than anything else anyway. I know how you can gain the upper hand in your war on Avicii.”

Kishara hissed at the name. “It was her war on me!”

“However it happened.”

Kishara let go of her guns and leaned back again, her red eyes never leaving Noah. The platform shook a bit as RED started climbing back up.

“If you have a real plan, I’ll let you keep the cards. So tell me more, mortal, and make it good.”

“I want to steal the Crimson Clan’s Clan Heart.”

Kishara threw her head back and laughed scornfully. “So would I, mortal. It would be a deep blow indeed to Avicii, after our millennia long war. But I don’t know where it is, and it’s guarded besides, from what a few people I trust tell me. How would you find it?”

Noah was struck by the incongruity of entities that had apparently come into existence within the last month or so having a ‘millennia long war,’ but shook it off. It wasn’t important.

“A vampire of the Silver clan, named Lisa, claims she knows where it is, and that she needs you to steal it. Conveniently, she’s waiting outside.”

RED pulled himself back onto the platform next to Noah and held the cards out to him. Noah pocketed them, otherwise ignoring his companion as Kishara visibly contemplated his statement.

Kishara spoke after a moment. “How do you know it isn’t a trap? The Silver clan may be part Divine, but they’re still vampires, and bastards like the rest of us.”

“I don’t. In fact, I’ve wondered the same thing myself. But it’s the best I’ve got to go on at the moment, and I think it’s less likely it’s a trap, per se, and more likely she is buying m aid with false promises she can’t deliver on.”

Kishara stared at him. “I hate those that don’t carry through on their deals, like Avicii, who has wronged me beyond reason.”

“Hmm…” Noah replied, his mind running. He had a thought about something he would talk to Kishara about later, the glimmer of a plan. But for the moment he needed to make sure she was on board.

            “So, I can trust you to join us then?”

            Kishara nodded.

            Words flashed across Noah’s view. He stared at them, ignoring what was around him.

Congratulations on discovering a secret quest in the Night City zone called Kishara’s Revenge. This quest may be completed by either slaying Avicii or by stealing or destroying the Crimson clan’s Clan Heart while Kishara is still alive. If either of the conditions are met, the legendary card Kishara the Avenged will be created. Additionally, the Under Market will cease to exist, all non-card people will be expelled to the surface, and you will gain a rare Under City realm card.

            “Well, isn’t that something…” Noah muttered to himself.

            “What?” Kishara said, staring at his face. “Are you looking at your charts?”

            Noah focused on her face, dismissing the notifications. Does she not see the quest? Is she even aware of it?

            “Sorry, didn’t mean to get distracted.”

            “It’s fine, take me to your companion, that I may speak to her and ascertain the truth of what she is claiming.”

            “Sure, I’ll get right on that, as soon as I can,” Noah said, then grinned at her. “Which will be as soon as you have someone bring a board or something, so I can cross back across to my team’s platform.”

            Kishara rolled her own eyes, but headed briefly back toward the mansion the platform they were currently on led to.