I just realized that, despite thinking I had, I had in
fact never sent in the first chapter of Defending to
the list.  So please bear with me.  This is the last
time I'll do something like this.  Probably.  I
promise.

Once again, I own none of these characters, and only
the fact that I'm tiny and insignificant shelters me
from getting sued.  Rumiko Takashi, Stan Lee, and
Steve Ditko are the big ones this time around.

Enjoy.

-----

The first event happened in 1939. A German U-Boat 
exploded en route, killing the entire crew. A later 
investigation recovered their bodies�as well as 
five more bodies that resisted all efforts at 
identification. The examining doctor's autopsy of 
the bodies was sent to German High Command, 
which quickly fired him on grounds of incompetence, 
and destroyed the report.

Later rumors had it that the Germans had 
performed mysterious bombings in the middle of 
the Atlantic, though these were highly denied. 
After the war, a series of secret documents 
suggested that they had, though the object of 
these bombings remained unfathomable.

-----

The second event happened in 1963, when 
a car in New York crashed, killing its driver 
instantly. As opposed to the first event, 
(which would have a book written about it) 
there was very little mystery and about as little 
interest in this event. The driver had been a 
prominent neurosurgeon, and thus ranked a 
sizable obituary, but he wasn't a well-liked man, 
and very few people came to his funeral.

-----

The third event actually happened before the 
first and second, if you want to get technical, 
since it happened before the start of what some 
people might call time. Because of this, almost 
nobody who would actually live in what people 
generally refer to as the universe noticed that it 
happened. Also because of it, it is nearly impossible 
to describe. Suffice to say, things were discussed, 
a decision was made, and this decision had 
fascinating ramifications on the universe at large, 
which resulted in there being a lot more planets, 
and a few more civilizations. At least, for a little 
while, anyway.

-----

In his throne room at the Center of Time, Kang 
the Conqueror frowned. He'd hoped that after 
his first alteration, the universe would have 
stabilized. But no. Instead alterations were whipping 
up and down the timeline, shifting things in a manner 
even he was finding hard to predict. This was not 
how it was supposed to be. Each change added 
more variables, more uncertainties�more threats 
to his plans. The tiny part of Kang's mind that could 
be called sane was almost frightened. But it was too 
late to go back now. Indeed, such an attempt on his 
part might damage his own existence beyond repair. 
Already, he felt another timeline shift.

And the world changed, once again...

-----

Defending

Chapter 1�"Strange Days Indeed"

An "Avenging" Universe Spinoff

By David Dee

-----

Hikaru Gosunkugi was having a bad day.

Mind you, for Hikaru Gosunkugi almost any given 
day was bad. This was because Hikaru was one of 
those unfortunate young men who seem to be born 
with no luck, and whose pathetic existences pass 
them by leaving them with nothing better to show for 
it then the national award for self-esteem, and third 
place in the local spelling bee. Life had given Hikaru

no real advantages. He was smart�but not that smart. 
He had the build of the boy in the Charles Atlas ads, 
who gets sand kicked in his face and humiliated in 
front of his girl, before Charles Atlas made him a 
real man. Not that Hikaru could even get a girl, mind 
you. Not with his complexion, which made him look 
like he had just risen from the dead, and was 
considering going back on that choice.

No, most of Hikaru's days were bad ones, but some 
reached greater depths of suffering than others. You
see, 
most days, people did Hikaru the great favor of
ignoring 
him. As opposed to today, when four young toughs were 
explaining to him why they were offended by his having

the audacity to walk on the sidewalk through their 
neighborhood. 

"And take that! And that, you freak!"

The reason for this reception was, apparently, that
they 
thought that Hikaru had looked at one of their
girlfriends 
in a manner they thought was inappropriate, or
possibly, 
because they thought he was a homosexual. Hikaru
wasn't 
sure which it was, and he had his doubts they really
cared.

It was as their boot heels were colliding with his
ribcage 
that he heard the voice. The horrible, horrible voice.

"Let him go, punks."

The so-designated punks immediately stopped the 
important business of beating Gosunkugi to a bloody 
pulp to stare in terror at the owner of the voice.

"Oh shit!" muttered one. "It's Nabiki Tendou!"

A pathetic whimper issued from Hikaru. Everyone else 
present assumed it resulted from his injuries and so 
didn't pay it much mind. And they were all wrong, 
except in the most metaphysical of senses.

The biggest, surliest, stupidest member of the gang 
(who was, by these virtues, the leader) immediately 
spat on the ground. "I hearda you, Tendou. Everyone 
says yer tough, but it sounds like bull ta me..."

Nabiki gave a very calm smile that was as thin as a
knife's 
edge, and about as unpleasant. "Care to try your luck,
then?" 
she stated, cracking her knuckles.

The leader immediately rushed forward. "Come on, guys!

It's just one girl!" His friends seemed to be on the
verge of 
following him when Nabiki's knee collided with his
stomach. 
This was followed by her right fist crashing into his
nose, 
her left fist socking his jaw, and her right foot
stomping on 
his toes. 

As their leader collapsed, the other punks ran off.
Hikaru 
watched them go as he lifted himself off the ground,
then 
turned to look at his... savior. Nabiki eyed him with
the 
cold, cocky smile that is the personal property of
those 
who are just a little too sure of themselves. Looking
at it, 
Hikaru had to suppress an urge to deck her in spite of
what 
she'd just done, an urge that was only kept in check
by the 
facts that: a) only a real heel would hit a woman;
and; b) if 
he tried, she would probably break both his knees, and
use 
his spinal cord as a xylophone. 

Hikaru sighed. There was something inherently
humiliating 
about being saved by a girl to his mind, even if she
was a 
master of the martial arts. Still, there were worse
things... 

Nabiki raised a mercenary palm. "So, Gosunkugi, do you

have my fee?"

Such as having to pay her protection money. Hikaru 
reached awkwardly into his pocket. "I've got�five 
yen on me..."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Honestly, sometimes it's 
like you think I'm some kind of charity. I mean, 
you're already paying my preferred customer rates!"

Hikaru gave a pained nod. "I'll get the rest to you. 
Soon."

Nabiki gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. 
"You do that." With that she turned to walk away�
then glanced over her shoulder. "You know, I'm 
starting up a service I call "the gold level". For
just 
fifty more yen, you get a vital signs monitor, which 
will notify me the moment someone lays a finger on 
you..." Nabiki's shut her eyes, smiling softly. "I can

count on your patronage, at least..."

A wave of anger swelled up in Hikaru that would 
have been terrible to behold if he were not an utter 
wimp. Checking it in, he merely took a deep breath. 
"I'll consider it." With that, he strode off in
measured 
defiance.

Or would have, if that banana peel hadn't been there. 
Hikaru was still trying to get Nabiki's chuckling out 
of his head when the cane came crashing down on 
his hand. Its owner glanced calmly to the side, and 
regarded him with a mildly apologetic gaze, as she 
moved it. "Oh. Sorry, Hikaru."

Hikaru felt his spirits lift, even as his hand was 
suffering from near-crippling pain. "It's all right, 
Akane. I'm fine." he replied as he gazed into the 
eyes of Akane Tendou, the girl�no, the woman 
for whom he'd gladly cut off his own head, and 
serve it on a silver platter, with a sprig of parsley 
as a side.

She nodded. "Well, that's good," she stated 
levelly, and then walked away.

He'd gotten a positive response from her. 
Hikaru rose determined to take advantage of 
this moment. What he needed was some way 
of saying, *'Akane, I worship the very ground 
on which you tread. I know that it's an 
imposition beyond all reason to ask a goddess 
like you to even deign notice a grotesque 
creature like myself, but would you maybe, 
perhaps, consider going out for a bite to eat 
some time?'Only shorter, and more succinct. 
And then it hit him.

"Nice weather, isn't it?"

Perfect.

Akane gave him a look that mixed annoyance 
with boredom and pity, all in equal measure. 
"No. It's hot, and muggy, and the sun is too 
bright."

Hikaru gulped. Already he was ruining his 
chances. There was only one thing to do. 
He gave a quick nod. "I suppose you're right."

Akane gave a frustrated groan. "No, Hikaru. 
I'm not. The weather's perfectly fine. The 
problem is me." She glanced down at the 
ground, her expression bitter. "It's just�
seeing Nabiki take down that thug�and then 
making you pay her for it�it made me wish I 
could still practice martial arts. I'd use them to 
protect people, not to make money. But 
instead I'm a useless cripple." A tear rolled 
down her cheek.

Hikaru tried to convey the thought, *'Akane, 
I'd think you were the most perfect being 
imaginable even if you were a blind, deaf, 
mute quadruple amputee. You're so smart, 
and so pretty, and so kind. Please don't cry,'* 
as best he could.

"That's too bad."

Akane nodded, moving quickly away. 
"Yeah. It sure is." Hikaru thought about 
following her, but decided against it.

-----

Later that day, during lunch, Hikaru was sitting 
by his usual table by himself, reviewing his 
conversation with Akane. (Most other students 
gave Hikaru a wide berth, largely out of the fear 
that whatever he obviously had was contagious.) 
He gave a sigh. All right, so eloquence wasn't his 
forte�still he had persistence, and that had to 
count for something, didn't it? After all, he had 
sat at the table next to hers for years, risking 
occasional notice from Nabiki, on the off-chance 
that Akane might one day realize he existed. And 
then one day, she had approached him and asked, 
"Do you have any salt?"

"Yes," he had replied, hands shaking, as he 
nervously picked up the pepper shaker before 
he realized his mistake, and wound up having a 
ten minute sneezing fit. True, it wasn't _Camille_, 
but still it was something. 

Hikaru glanced over to the side. Lately, Akane 
had been leaving school early to work as a nurse 
when she could. While she seemed a lot cheerier 
now, the truth was, he disliked that she was gone 
so often. Akane seemed to be taking an interest in 
her new job that was bordering on the obsessive. 
Hikaru shook his head. He really couldn't say that 
for certain. Not until the pictures from his spy 
camera were developed.

Suddenly, his ears perked up. Nabiki had just 
uttered Akane's blessed name, and that merited 
his immediate interest.

"...horrible crush on him." Nabiki stated. Hikaru 
almost bolted up in his seat. Who was this 'him'? 
What horrible Lothario had stolen his precious 
Akane's heart? Suddenly, a thrill passed through 
his entire body. Could it�might it possibly be that 
all his attentions had finally paid off? Was Akane 
actually interested in him?

"Akane's in love with Dr. Tofu?" squealed Sayuri. 

Hikaru fell back in his chair, much to the amusement 
of a good portion of the cafeteria. Ignoring their 
laughter, he shut his eyes. He should have expected 
this. There was no way that Akane would ever be 
interested in a wretch like him. He stood no chance 
of ever winning her heart. Well, there was only one 
thing to do about that.

-----

As Hikaru stood on the dock with a pair of 
sandbags tied to his waist, and his suicide 
note in a plastic bag taped to his chest, he 
wondered why nobody seemed to be the 
least bit interested in stopping him. Was he 
so pathetic that everyone agreed with his 
decision to do away with himself? Was that 
the reason they all carried on their business 
like he wasn't even there?

The answers to these questions could be 
gleaned from the whispered conversation 
of the onlookers.

"Keep your distance, everybody, and 
don't try to attract his attention. I don't 
like the look in his eyes..."

"He's a madman, a madman!"

"Think that's a bomb strapped to his chest?"

"That or maybe some nerve gas..."

"Shhh. He's about to say something."

Hikaru looked around and coughed. "Well, 
this is it. Goodbye, cruel world."

Everyone in the vicinity took a step away 
from him.

Hikaru took a deep breath and stepped 
forward. So he was right. Nobody cared if 
he lived or died. That was fine. It just proved 
that he was making the right choice. He was 
a failure at life, at love, at everything. Death 
at least promised to be something he could 
succeed at.

He looked down. The water looked awfully 
cold. And damp. Hikaru shut his eyes.

It occurred to him then that he did not want 
to die like this, drowning on the docks with 
a suicide note written on "Hello, Kitty" 
stationery on his body. 

The onlookers were at this point were 
getting restless.

"He's just standing there..."

"Why doesn't he do something...?"

"Sure is a strange looking one..."

"STRANGE?" shot out a loud, piercing 
voice whose general tone was similar to 
fingernails dragged across blackboards. 
"You want to talk about strange? I know 
strange..." Everyone turned to look at the 
maker of this bold statement, even Hikaru. 
That individual was an old man who looked 
like the Gorton's fisherman, if he'd been stranded 
on a desert isle for a decade or so, and had only 
made it back to civilization last week. "Me name's 
Joe, though most call me Old Salty. I been all over 
the world, an'seen all sorts of strange things�St. 
Elmo's fire on the ocean, the pyramids of Egypt, 
the great snakes of South America�and once in 
England, I saw a man with three buttocks. But the 
greatest, most strangest thing I've ever seen, was 
in Sri Lanka. I met a man who possessed powers 
far beyond the mortal ken�Dr. Druid, he called 
himself. And he insisted that he was only the 
least student of the Ancient One, a mighty 
sorcerer who lived in the mountains of India�
perhaps the mightiest in the world." Old Salty 
shook his head. "It's an experience both 
marvelous, and humbling to know such powers 
exist."

Hikaru shook his head and chuckled. There'd been 
a time in his life when he'd believed in magic. But 
that had been long ago, before Nabiki Tendou 
had proven to him time and time again his own 
shortcomings. He knew now that power and success 
were things that lay forever beyond his grasp, that no

magical shortcut existed to overcoming that fact.

*But what if you know wrong?* a small voice within 
him said. What if the old man were right? In that 
case, he had simply been looking in the wrong places 
before�and now he knew the right one.

Hikaru shut his eyes, and took a deep breath. It was 
madness. Chances were this was just another fraud. 
But still�any chance, no matter how slight was better 
than what he had now. Utter despair. And perhaps�
perhaps the trip would do him good. "India" he 
muttered. The syllables seemed to reverberate in 
the air, as promises of wonders and mystery.

Yes. He would do it. He would go to India, seek out 
the Ancient One, and ask him for his help. Hikaru
 gave a confident nod. This was a new start for him. 
>From now on, he was going to live life on his terms. 
With that, he took a great step forward.

After a moment, the onlookers shook their 
heads.

"Would you look at that?"

"After standing there so long, he just..."

"Just stepped right off the pier..."

"Aye," nodded Old Salty. "He's lucky it's low tide. 
There's only about three feet of water, so a man 
would have to put a whole lot of effort in to 
drowning."

That was when they heard the sputtering. "Would 
someone please throw me a rope, or something?"

-----

As he stood on the mountainside, staring up at the 
forbidding palace before him, it occurred to Hikaru 
that if he were ever to make a travel guide to India, 
there were five or so points he'd try to get across.

The first was that India was crowded. There were 
over a billion people living there, and rather large 
portion of them were crushed together in the cities. 
This made for a horrific sprawl in places, with all 
the resulting problems�scarcity, pollution, pests, 
and of course, crime. Hikaru had lost nearly a third 
of his funds to a pickpocket on his first day. 
Fortunately�and this was point number two�a 
little bit of money goes a long way there. In his 
search for the Ancient One, he had paid for food, 
lodging, and numerous bribes with an amount of 
money that would have bought two cups of coffee 
and a doughnut back home.

The third point he would have to make was that 
as one went into the hinterlands, one had to do 
without certain modern conveniences. Like 
electricity. And indoor plumbing. 

He really missed the indoor plumbing.

And all that tied into the fourth point�India is 
not the land of happy mystics that popular culture 
imagines it to be. Of all the people he'd encountered 
looking for the Ancient One, not one was a wise 
old sage with a long white beard who dispensed 
fragments of wisdom with casual aplomb. Most 
were travelers and merchants�and he suspected 
that some of the aforementioned were actually 
criminals. Others were street performers, beggars, 
and traveling storytellers�three professions that 
tended to blend into each other. It was from their 
twice-told tales and vague rumors that he had finally 
encountered the handful of people who might 
qualify as "sages", and they usually had a rather 
crazy look in their eyes, and a tendency to trail 
off midsentence during the course of a conversation. 
And the three or four people that might have possessed

genuine magical powers did not strike him as the most 
pleasant characters. 

The fifth point, Hikaru thought, as he looked around, 
was that when it rains in India, it rains. For days on

end. Without stopping. It had started two weeks ago, 
and in that time, every bit of clothing that Hikaru
owned 
had been soaked through. He was miserable, and cold, 
and he feared opening his suitcase lest the resulting 
mildew had achieved movement, and perhaps a 
rudimentary sentience. 

After a week, the rain started showing up in his 
dreams.

And one night, he'd had the strangest dream�nightmare�
dream, that he'd ever had in his life.

-----

He was in a rainstorm, and saw a cave. Rushing in, he 
was surprised to see a bonfire was burning there. He 
sat down, and warmed himself. That was when he 
heard the greeting. "Hello."

He looked up. A woman sat there, in a green silk 
dress, with pale skin and long, black hair who had 
certainly not been there a moment before. She was 
poking the fire idly with a stick. "Hello," he replied

nervously.

She glanced back up at him, the fire shining in her e
yes. Hikaru shifted uneasily. There was something�
off, about the woman. "So, where are you going?" she 
asked, calmly.

"I don't know," he replied.

The woman chuckled. A flame shot up, and briefly 
covered her hand, before burning out. Her hand 
was not even singed. "An admission of ignorance! 
That's a rare thing! For that my gift is wisdom!" The 
woman leaned forward, her expression amused, and 
arrogant, and predatory, all at once. "Ask three 
questions. You'll receive three true answers."

Hikaru's first question sprang to his lips unbidden. 
"Will Akane ever love me?"

The answer came like a gunshot. "No." 

Hikaru gulped. The cave seemed unbearably hot. 
"Will�will I ever find what I'm looking for?"

The woman laughed at that one. "No."

Hikaru shook his head. He had to use his last 
question wisely. "Will the Ancient One help me?"

The woman thought a moment for that one 
before replying, in a hoarse whisper. "No."

Hikaru stood up angry. "You promised me 
three true answers, but only gave me the same 
one over again."

The woman stood up gracefully, and chuckled. 
"Is it my fault you asked the wrong questions?" 
She placed her hands on her hips, and gave 
Hikaru a look of condescending pity. "However, 
since I did promise you wisdom, know this�
beggars can't be choosers, and cold iron is most 
useful against spirits."

Hikaru wiped his forehead. It was getting 
very hot. "That's�that's nonsense..."

"Of course it is!" the woman gloated. "Nonsense 
is the only sense there is and negation the only 
wisdom!" Flames burnt high behind her. Hikaru 
realized with a start that the fire had surrounded 
him on all sides, blazing out of control. 

"Oh, crap," he muttered, before the flames burned 
through his clothing, and then his flesh, while the 
woman strode forward, gazing at him hungrily 
and laughing the entire time.

Hikaru woke in a cold sweat, grateful that he 
didn't have to change his sleeping bag. It took 
him several hours to get back to sleep and when 
he did, his sleep was deep, and dreamless.

-----

But that was behind him. He was finally here�the 
sanctuary of the Ancient One. Staring at the immense 
castle, Hikaru wondered how anyone could build 
something like that in the mountains. 

And how they'd pay for it if they could. 

And why they'd do it in the first place. 

He walked forward. As he reached the gateway, 
the immense doors opened on their own.

That was, he decided after a moment's thought, 
a nice touch.

-----

The Ancient One, Hikaru decided, may have 
been the greatest mystic in the world, but his 
judgment in interior design was highly questionable. 
In all honesty, his sanctuary was proving the greatest

monument in the world to bad taste outside of 
Graceland. Giant abstract murals covered the walls, 
their clashing colors bringing nothing to mind so much

as a hangover, made visual. Gigantic torches, burning 
with a purple flames, lit the corridors, and would 
flicker on as he approached. 

It appeared that restraint was not one of the Ancient 
One's virtues.

Finally, Hikaru entered a great hall, dominated by a 
giant throne in the center of it. Seated on the throne

was a little old man, his serenely shut. "Hello,
Hikaru 
Gosunkugi," he stated, his eyes not opening.

Hikaru coughed. "Am I supposed to reply with a 
shocked question of how you know that, even 
though I can think of half a dozen ways you 
could...? Because I'd really like to skip that 
part..."

The old man's eyes opened. They stared at him 
with a faint, compassionate amusement. "What 
business have you with the Ancient One, that has 
carried you over this great distance?"

Hikaru gulped. The man may have talked like 
someone in a bad old historical movie, the kind 
where Roman Centurions talked like they'd just 
come out of a weekend in Hell's Kitchen, he 
had a sort of presence that was hard to shrug 
off. "Well�sir�I�I've had a�well, a pretty 
miserable life, and it always seemed that if I 
could just get a break I could�maybe�improve 
it�a little. But that's never happened. And then 
I heard about you, and I thought you could�
make it better. Somehow." 

The words seemed petty and ridiculous even as 
he said them. *I have no chance here,* he thought, 
as the Ancient One's eyes narrowed. "So 
Gosunkugi" the sorcerer stated calmly, 
"is this how you ask for my secrets? Secrets that 
can shake the very foundations of the cosmos?"

Hikaru glanced down at the floor. "I guess 
that's a no." He sighed. "All right then. I was 
sort of expecting something like this. Don't bother 
getting up�I'll see myself out..." It appeared this 
trip was a waste. Still, it'd been a precious month 
or so without Nabiki. That was almost worth it. 
Suddenly, it occurred to him. 

He turned to look back at the Ancient One. "I was 
just wondering... I�could you�help out a�friend 
of mine... A-Akane Tendou...?"

The Ancient One quirked an eyebrow. "I see. You 
wish her cured of her limp�and thus, properly 
grateful." The image came instantly into Hikaru's 
mind�a joyous Akane, embracing him in thanks. 
And almost as quickly he discarded it. That was 
nonsense. A restored Akane was even further out 
of his reach. "Look, it's only because�she's the 
only person I know who's more miserable than I 
am�and just once�it'd be nice to see her smile 
is all..." He sighed, thinking thoughts of Akane, 
which were five times more pleasant, and ten times 
less lucid than his usual ones. "You don't have to 
even mention me�just do whatever you can for 
her..."

He continued to the door. A slight chuckle came 
from the Ancient One. "I don't recall giving you 
permission to leave�apprentice."

Hikaru started. "What was that?"

The Ancient One shrugged. "I'm taking you on 
as an apprentice. It's a whim of mine."

Hikaru immediately took a deep bow. It was a 
virtual miracle he didn't lose his balance. "T-thank 
you, sir." 

"Do not thank me, Gosunkugi." The Ancient One 
shut his eyes. He looked very tired, all at once, and 
very old. "I've done you no favors." He turned to 
the corner of the room. "Mordo."

A man appeared from them, who had most 
certainly not been there before. A tall, stately 
aristocratic man wearing a blue cloak, in his 
early twenties, with long black hair, and a 
handsome, refined face. "Yes, master?" he 
murmured in a voice that was as silky and 
polished as the rest of him.

The Ancient One gestured in Hikaru's 
direction. "I will need you to escort Mr. 
Gosunkugi to his quarters." He turned to 
glance at Hikaru. "This is Baron Klaus 
Willigott Mordo, my senior apprentice."

So it appeared that human Adonis was 
his upperclassman. Nothing ever really 
changed, it seemed. Hikaru suppressed 
an urge to scream. 

The Ancient One seemed oblivious to his 
discomfort. "Mordo will answer any 
questions you have about this place. I 
will see you again tomorrow." He shut 
his eyes.

Hikaru turned to find Mordo already at 
his side. Staring at him with an expression 
that suggested studying an annoying insect 
more than regarding a fellow student. "Follow 
me," he uttered, that perfect voice a perfectly 
cold expression of contempt. Hikaru found he 
really didn't appreciate Mordo's tone of voice. 
In fact, he really didn't appreciate Mordo, 
period. Still, he obviously knew his way around, 
and Hikaru suspected he didn't want to get lost 
in this place. He followed quickly, noting that 
Mordo made little effort to see that he was 
keeping up.

It was a long walk down the hall. Hikaru 
made an effort to strike up a conversation. 
"So, how long have you been here?"

Mordo didn't even look at him. "Long 
enough." Hikaru allowed the conversation to 
die a premature and horrible death. All in all, 
he was rather glad when they reached a heavy 
stone door, and stopped. "Your..." began Mordo.

"Yes, I know, my room..." muttered Hikaru, 
walking forward. He could have sworn that 
Mordo growled at him for that remark, but 
when he glanced back at the Baron, he 
seemed as placid as ever. As Hikaru entered 
the room, Mordo glanced at him. "I should 
warn you," he began, "this place is most�
dangerous at night. It would be wisest not to 
stir from your quarters.

Hikaru blinked. "What's the danger from?"

A rather smug smile spread over Mordo's 
far too handsome face. "You're better off 
not knowing." With that, he strode 
majestically away.

That night, as he lay in bed, listening to 
things slither and drip by his room, Hikaru 
decided that Mordo was probably telling 
him the truth.

-----

The next day, a tired miserable Hikaru 
found himself woken up at the break of dawn, 
and escorted by a smirking Mordo to a large 
room that looked like someone had been 
designing a theme restaurant based on medieval 
torture chambers. It was lit by more of the 
purple torches, which Hikaru was finding more 
and more irritating. The Ancient One sat on the 
floor his demeanor calm, and rather abstracted.

"So young Gosunkugi," he began after a rather 
lengthy silence, "you have come to learn the 
ways arcane from me�and now your lessons 
begin..."

Hikaru gave a weary nod. "Uhh, right�say is 
there�any way I could�get maybe another 
hour of sleep..."

"The awakened mind treasures each moment 
of awareness..." replied the Ancient One in a 
horribly chipper voice.

"And so�do I, but I like to have them...! I'm 
probably going to nod off in another second..."

The Ancient One gave a dismissive wave. 
"Relax, child. The wonders I will show you 
will shock your mind to peak wakefulness."

Hikaru shuddered slightly. "Wonderful."

The Ancient One beamed at him. "I am happy 
to see you are getting into the spirit of things. 
And now for your first lesson�flight!"

Hikaru glanced up at that. Flight? That 
sounded�almost pleasant. As a child, 
Hikaru used to dream of flying high in the 
air, above the problems that faced him on 
the world below.

At least, he had until the day Nabiki had 
offered to give him flying lessons for twenty 
yen. And then shoved him off a cliff. 
Admittedly it was a rather small cliff, but 
to Hikaru's mind it was the fall that counted.

Hikaru looked down at the floor. It seemed 
rather hard.

The Ancient One gave a sage-like cough. 
"Flight is perhaps the simplest of all magicks, 
the most easily learned�and yet the techniques 
that it teaches are the building blocks for even 
the most complicated spells." 

Hikaru gave a quick nod. "That's fascinating. 
Now, excuse me, I need�a drink. Of water."

The Ancient One shook his head. "The needs 
of the body are illusory�a cage to bind the 
spirit." He pulled something from the folds of 
his robe. "Now, then, as a novice, you will 
need aid with this technique." He unfurled 
the bundle. "From this Cloak of Levitation." 

Hikaru stared at the cloak. It looked like 
someone had taken a greatcoat, fed it 
anabolic steroids, and then exposed it to 
a massive dose of radiation for good 
measure. It was large. And red, with a 
golden fringe. And not a pleasant red, 
with a thin fringe�an eye-stabbing red, 
with a fringe that would have kept an 
army of drag queens in spangles for 
years. And finally, there was the collar. 
Hikaru could see that if he wore it, it 
would overwhelm his head. Actually, 
the thing looked like it could overwhelm 
a fair-sized civilization, and then go on 
to destroy Tokyo for good measure.

Hikaru glanced away, fidgeting, as he 
tried to get the eyesore out of his head. 
"Do you have anything quieter?" He was 
hoping for something in black, or grey. 
Hikaru liked black and grey. They went 
well with anything. Especially black and 
grey.

The Ancient One laughed. "Why, this 
cloak was the one I used as an apprentice."

Hikaru eyed him suspiciously. "Was that 
during the 70s?"

The Ancient One gave a casual nod. 
"Around 1370, or so, yes..."

Hikaru blinked. "Ah."

"Here," said the Ancient One, handing 
him the cloak. "My gift to you."

Hikaru quickly put it on, hoping that he 
didn't look as ridiculous as he felt, and 
suspecting that he did. "So how does 
this work?"

"Merely direct your will towards flight, 
and the cloak will carry you."

"Ah." said Hikaru, with a nod that 
indicated that he naturally believed 
every word he'd just been told. He 
shut his eyes, and pictured himself 
flying. In this cape.

It was a depressingly silly looking 
picture.

"This�really doesn't seem to be 
working, sir..." he commented 
quietly.

The Ancient One's voice came up 
at him faintly. "It's working exquisitely. 
Indeed you exceed my expectations." 
Hikaru opened his eyes. The Ancient 
One stood on the floor, far below him, 
and dwindling in size at a rather startling 
rate. Hikaru let a startled chuckle escape 
his lips. This was amazing! He was 
rising effortlessly! Almost as if he was 
born to do this! Suddenly, Hikaru realized 
that he had better figure out how to stop 
before he hit�

WHAM!!!

�the ceiling. Hikaru blacked out for a 
second. When he opened his eyes, he was 
falling away from the ceiling, to reacquaint 
himself with his old childhood friend, the 
floor.

Hikaru did what came naturally. He shut 
his eyes again, and whimpered.

After allowing his pupil a moment to 
recuperate, the Ancient One walked 
forward, and tapped Hikaru lightly 
on the shoulder with his foot. "Very 
good, Gosunkugi. Now try it again. 
We must work on control..."

Hikaru groaned.

-----

That night, Hikaru lay in bed, nursing 
his battered and bruised body. He had 
practiced flight for several hours, before 
being allowed a break. Once that was 
out of the way, he had practiced flight 
for several more hours. During all this, 
the Ancient One had praised his 'enduring 
spirit', which Hikaru took for took to be 
mystic cant for "surprisingly fast recovery 
time". Now doing a mental review, Hikaru 
noted that he was sore in places that he 
hadn't even known existed, thoroughly 
exhausted, and much, much too terrified 
to go asleep.

He let out a sigh. Somehow, this was not 
how he pictured being taught the ways 
arcane. It made sense to him how the 
Ancient One had gotten his formidable 
reputation�anyone who gave out this sort 
of training was either powerful beyond
 belief, so as to avoid being killed by a 
disgruntled student, or completely insane, 
so as not to care. Or quite possibly both, 
which Hikaru suspected to be the case. Still, 
it could be worse. He could be out there with 
whatever was making those noises.

At just that moment, Hikaru felt a�familiar 
stirring. He groaned. Of all the times to have 
to go to the bathroom, this ranked among the 
worst. He shook his head. Forget it. He would 
just wet his sheets, if it came down to that. 
That definitely outranked be shredded to pieces 
by ungodly monstrosities. That was when he 
realized he had�the other sort of business, as 
well. Hikaru cried. Why him? He wasn't an evil 
man. Just a slightly pathetic one.

Still, even he had his limits. If it was�befouling 
his sheets, or dying horribly, he'd take dying 
horribly, thank you very much. He rose and 
went to the door, then paused a moment, and 
cleared his throat. "Look�unholy beasts of hell, 
and acquaintances�I know you're out there, so 
if you're going to devour me, just do it, all right? 
No lurking, no stalking, no twisted mind games�
just grab me and get it over with, okay? Because 
I am really NOT in the mood to mess around." 
He opened the door.

The hallway was empty.

Hikaru sighed. He hoped he wasn't getting set 
up.

-----

It was funny, thought Hikaru. When he'd been 
heading to the bathroom, the way had seemed 
quite certain. However, heading back, he was 
hopelessly lost. At first, he'd tried to get his 
bearings by finding some bit of decoration that 
he recognized. After a short time, he realized 
that this was impossible. There were NO 
decorations in the Ancient One's sanctuary 
that a sane human being would be even capable 
of recognizing. That's not to say there were no 
decorations�it was just that everything was the 
same godawful, garrish, pseudo-moddish abstract 
stylings that were so utterly random that the 
human mind simply ceased to notice any 
difference in it. 

At the moment, Hikaru's plan was to amble about 
randomly and hope that he found his room. Given 
the place's size, this would probably take him sixty 
years, at an optimistic estimate.

It was enough to make him want to cry.

Hikaru glanced around. He was presently in a long, 
dark hall with three identical looking doors. Hikaru 
shrugged. Really, what were the chances that 
something soul-suckingly horrific lurked behind 
whichever door he chose?

Pretty damn good, so he might as well get it over 
with, and bear his punishment like a man. He 
opened a door.

Inside Mordo stood before a huge golden altar, 
decorated with a malefic-looking horned demon 
head. A brazier of sickly greenish flame burned 
before him. Mordo was holding a bloody knife, 
and chanting in a low, dire voice that sounded 
like it came from a graveyard. "Oh, Lords of 
Anguish, Twin Monarchs of Despair, I call on 
the power that you bear. By fire and pain, blood 
and death, wrack the body, and cease the breath."

Hikaru got the distinct impression that this wasn't 
his room.

Mordo was now raising his left hand, a long cut 
visible on the palm. "Dread Dormammu! I invoke 
thee! By thy power shall I destroy the Ancient One! 
By thy power, shall he die!" The green flame towered 
up, and gathered around his hand, absorbing itself 
into it. 

That was it, Hikaru decided. He was getting the 
hell out of here. Hikaru turned around quickly, 
and started to sneak out. He was fairly certain 
he did not want to be caught by Mordo.

"You there."

Oh, crap.

Hikaru turned around, slowly. Mordo stood there, 
watching him, almost motionless. His eyes bore into 
Hikaru's skull, their gaze one of icy command. "What 
did you see?"

"Oh, nothing." Hikaru could feel his knees shaking. 
"Just the whole�death spell thing. It�really didn't 
strike me as too important..."

Mordo chuckled. "You will not tell."

Hikaru gave a nervous laugh in reply. "That's right. 
Absolutely right. The way I see it, if you have a 
problem with the Ancient One, that is absolutely no 
business of mine. So goodnight, see you tomorrow. 
Hope everything works out for you..." He began to 
head out again.

Mordo simply smiled. "Your desperate attempt to 
bluff me is noted." Hikaru gritted his teeth. He was 
toast.

Much to his surprise, Mordo merely stepped 
forward. "You misunderstood me, however. I 
was neither asking for, nor confirming your 
cooperation. I was COMMANDING it." Mordo 
glanced away, quietly amused. "I have placed a 
mental block in your mind. You will say nothing 
I do not want to be said." Mordo glanced at Hikaru 
again, his expression now openly mocking. "Go 
on, try."

Hikaru tried to reply with a hearty "You are a 
freaky psycho who terrifies beyond all measure, 
so may I please go now?" but found he couldn't. 
It was as if his larynx had been surgically removed�
try as he might, the sounds would not come out.

Mordo gave a silvery laugh. "So you see�I have 
no reason to fear you." He calmly turned away. 
"Goodnight, Hikaru Gosunkugi. Pleasant dreams."

Hikaru left the room, in a sort of stunned daze. 
Oddly enough, he found his room with no trouble 
after that, though his dreams that night were far 
from pleasant.

-----

The next morning, Mordo seemed even more 
self-satisfied than usual. Hikaru watched his eyes. 
They had the same predatory gleam he associated 
with Nabiki, when she announced some flimsy 
reason for him to pay her more money. It was 
the look, he thought, of those who have everything 
before them to gain, and nothing behind them to 
hold them back.

He didn't like that look.

Mordo smiled at him, calmly. "Tell me, Gosunkugi, 
why do you suppose I'm going to kill the Ancient 
One?"

Hikaru gulped. "Well," he said, after a moment's 
hesitation, "I'd say�and this is only a rough 
guess�that you want to move up the whole 
magician totem pole�thing." Hikaru gave an 
awkward laugh. "Which is of course a show 
of admirable ambition. So, why don't you lower 
the magical compulsion, and let me�?"

Mordo snickered. "As usual, you try to hide a flicker 
of courage behind a show of cowardice. You are such 
a strange, sad creature, Gosunkugi. I find you quite 
amusing."

Hikaru braced his shoulders. "Well the feeling isn't 
mutual. I find you frightening and irritatingly smug."

Mordo gave his head a rueful shake. "I will have to 
keep you alive when Dormammu grants me this place 
as a kingdom. You are most amusing, and quite 
harmless." He shut his eyes. "And as for your 
reason�it is partially accurate�but only partially. 
There are other matters here. My father was a 
student of the Ancient One." A grim tone came 
into his voice. "He was dismissed because he 
dared to go further than the old fool! It shattered 
him. I have spent my life waiting for the opportunity 
to avenge him, and now it is here." An unpleasant, 
vicious smile came to his lips. "And it tastes 
sweet." He opened his eyes, and chuckled. 
There was a world of hate behind those eyes, 
a world of hate that had been growing steadily 
for many years.

Hikaru shut his eyes, and shuddered. Life really, 
really sucked, when you got down to it. Good, 
if somewhat mad men like the Ancient One got 
killed so that insane monsters like Mordo could 
laugh about it. He'd traveled thousands of miles 
to get away from the phenomena, and instead 
had stumbled into it written about as large as it 
got.

It wasn't fair. But neither was being born looking 
like a zombie, and no one had consulted him on 
that particular matter either.

The doors to the Ancient One's chamber opened. 
The Ancient One sat on his throne, his expression 
meditative. He smiled kindly. "Ah, Mr. Gosunkugi. 
Thank you, Mordo." *That poor man has no idea 
what's going to happen,* thought Hikaru.

Mordo gave a low bow. "I am pleased to be of 
service, Master." He raised his left hand slowly. 
*He is going to die,* Hikaru thought. The Ancient 
One was going to die.

What he did next happened so quickly, it 
surprised even him, even when he thought 
back on it. In one motion, he pitched his 
body into Mordo's, knocking him over, 
and screamed, "He's trying to kill you! 
Mordo's trying to kill you! Mordo's trying 
to kill you!"

Mordo glanced at him, looking both 
shocked and offended. "You broke my 
control? I-impossible..." Mordo raised 
his hand, the green flame shimmering off 
of it. "You�you will die for your insolence..."

Hikaru began to scoot away as quickly 
as possible. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..." 
he muttered to himself. The green flame struck 
forward in a serpentine swirl, and then was 
dissolved into nothing by a bright golden 
light, inches away from Hikaru's face. The 
Ancient One stood next to him, all frailty 
gone, now calm and powerful.

"That is quite enough, Mordo. It seemed 
you have overestimated your own might�
and underestimated the power of Mr. 
Gosunkugi�and myself." The Ancient 
One stepped forward, the strength radiating 
off of him. "I have know of your dealings 
with the Dark One for some time now, Mordo, 
but I allowed you to believe you were 
succeeding both to allow me to keep a better 
eye on you, and as a test for the apprentice I 
knew was coming."

"And did you know about this?" snarled Mordo, 
pulling out a small purple shard from what looked 
like a jewel that cast a pale light in the chamber.

The Ancient One's eyes went wide. "It cannot 
be..."

Mordo smiled grimly. "A gift from my Master, 
to be used when needed."

Hikaru winced. "Umm, this is very bad, isn't it?"

Mordo chuckled, placing the jewel against his 
forehead. "For you, yes." The jewel seemed to 
recede into Mordo's flesh. "Soon, Ancient One, 
you will be nothing more than a mem�" Mordo's 
eyes went wide. "No." He fell to the floor with an 
ear-piercing scream, writhing in agony.

Hikaru got up, and glanced at the Mordo, whose 
flesh was palpating in a manner that brought to 
mind something about to explode. Hikaru looked 
at the Ancient One, which was far preferable to 
looking at Mordo. "This just got WORSE, didn't 
it?"

The Ancient One gave a grave nod. "Indeed it 
has." He grabbed Hikaru by the shoulder. 
"We must go. Quickly." Much to Hikaru's 
surprise, the chamber immediately began to 
fade out of view, accompanied by the feeling 
of being strained into a million pieces, and then 
being hastily reassembled. Hikaru tried to 
suppress his urge to vomit.

He failed.

Once he was finished he looked up at the 
room he was in. It was stone chamber, 
oddly sedate compared to the rest of the 
sanctuary, with a greenish door inscribed 
with strange symbols. A large stone pillar 
stood towards the end of the chamber. 
Hikaru turned to the Ancient One, the fear 
and frustration obvious on his face. "Okay�
I'm just a little slow on some topics�like, you 
know�demons, and evil plots, and funny 
names�and I'd really appreciate it if you'd 
kindly explain WHAT THE HELL IS 
GOING ON?"

The Ancient One shut his eyes. "Mordo 
has bargained with beings far beyond 
him in power, and become their pawn." 
He gave a deep sigh. "He is now a hand 
of the dread Dormammu."

Hikaru gave a nod. "And this means�
what? What's Dormammu?"

"Dormammu is the ancient ruler of the 
Dark Dimension, a hellish being of 
immense power, knowledge, and guile."

Hikaru sighed. "And yet he chooses to 
go by the name Dormammu."

"Do not mock!" The Ancient One eyes 
spread wide, his expression severe. "Dormammu 
is perhaps the greatest enemy I possess. He 
has for centuries tried to gain dominance over 
Earth. But the way is locked to him. Still, he 
tries to open it, to conquer this world as he 
has the Dimension of Darkness..."

Hikaru gave an awkward cough. "I'm not 
doubting his power, sir�it's just�well, 
that doesn't even sound like a viable cough, 
much less a name..." The Ancient One 
continued to gaze at him stonily. "I'm sorry. 
Please continue. What's Mordo going to do?"

The Ancient One turned away. "Mordo�is 
going to let him in."

Hikaru gulped. "Okay, that does sound like a 
crisis... So what are you going to do?"

The Ancient One shut his eyes. "We are going 
to stop him."

Hikaru blinked. "*We*...?"

"He will come to this chamber, for the tool 
he needs to open the gate." The Ancient One 
stepped back to the pedestal, and picked up 
a leather bound book. He rubbed his hand 
calmly over it. "The Book of Vishanti. 
Repository of the lore of those that watch 
over the worlds."

Hikaru coughed loudly. "Excuse me, did you 
say 'we'...?"

The Ancient One turned to Hikaru, holding up 
the book. "With the spells written here, Mordo 
could tear a hole in the foundation of the world. 
And humanity could drown in what rushed 
through that hole."

Hikaru nodded. "Ah-hah. I see. Now, did 
you use 'we', as in 'you and I'...?"

The Ancient One nodded. "Indeed." A quiet 
smile came to his face. "Are you frightened?"

Hikaru glanced around the chamber. "Just�a 
bit, yes..." He looked at the door ruefully. It 
appeared to be the only conventional way in 
or out of the room, and looked also to be 
exceedingly heavy.

"I am sorry, child, that you have to face Mordo." 
The Ancient One stated apologetically. "But I 
have grown old, and am not what I was."

Hikaru was about to say something that he hoped 
would have been vaguely reassuring when he heard 
the sound of a heavy object being wrenched out 
of the ground, and torn into pieces. And so his 
message of hope was transmuted into, "What was 
that?"

"The first wall of wards," replied the Ancient One 
calmly. There was another torrent of sound. "And 
that was the second." The Ancient One nodded 
slightly. "Mordo is certainly making good time."

Hikaru gave an awkward cough. "So�supposing 
Mordo does release�Dormammu, what will 
happen...?" 

The Ancient One shrugged. "In all likelihood, 
the damnation of all humanity." He sighed. 
"Indeed, we will probably prove fortunate in 
being among the first to die."

Hikaru winced. His plan on improving his life 
was definitely looking worse, the longer it went 
on.

There was a third rending, louder then the other two.

"The..." began the Ancient One.

"Third wall of wards," interrupted Hikaru. 
"So, how long until he gets here?"

"Not much longer," replied the Ancient One.

At just that moment, the doors to the chamber were 
torn open.

Unholy power, it seemed, had not agreed with Mordo's 
good looks. His once slender form now bulged and 
contorted like the flesh of some grotesque,
hunchbacked 
weightlifter. His face had become a gaunt, cavernous 
thing dominated by a huge gaping mouth. His tongue 
seemed to be sprouting fingers. A third eye was
sprouting 
from his forehead, while two more seemed to be growing

behind his ear. His hands, meanwhile, were
backtracking 
along the evolutionary path, and seemed to have given
up 
thumbs in favor of lobsterlike claws.

The Ancient One strode defiantly forward. "Now 
Gosunkugi, we must�! "

Hikaru never got to hear what it was that they had 
to do, as Mordo grabbed the Ancient One with amazing 
speed and hurled him against the wall. The Ancient 
One gave a gasp, and passed out. Mordo gave a dry 
heaving laugh. "So�master�it seems your pathetic 
form has reached the limit of its powers. Do you see 
now the foolishness of defiance?"

Hikaru was aware suddenly, that his legs were 
moving him. 

Then he was aware that they were moving him 
*towards* Mordo.

"You evil�cowardly�bastard!" he yelled, 
and then struck Mordo in the side with his fists. 
While there was a sort of metaphysical 
impressiveness in the action, the facts were 
that Hikaru's arms had a hard time mustering 
the strength necessary to crush an insect, and 
thus were completely unsuitable for attacking 
a great demonic beast.

Mordo turned and regarded him with eyes that 
had now sprouted tentacles. "Ahh. Gosunkugi..." 
It leaned forward, its expression baleful. "You 
irritate me, do you know that? You have defied 
my edict, and mocked my power, and for that 
I will kill you..."

Hikaru gulped, as Mordo's hot, stinking breath 
poured over him, and reached into his pockets, 
almost on instinct. It was still there, like a lucky 
rabbit's foot you keep on you even though you 
don't believe it works, because somehow, you're 
just used to it being there. For a moment, he 
recalled the first day Nabiki had broken through 
the solitude that surrounded him, only to disprove 
everything he believed. Grasping it, Hikaru did the 
only thing he could do.

There were a thousand actions Hikaru could have 
taken that Mordo would have immediately 
recognized and thwarted. And thus it is fortunate 
beyond measure that Hikaru did the one thing that 
Mordo was definitely not expecting.

He drove an iron nail right into Mordo's forehead.

"ARRGH!!" screamed Mordo, as he backed away, 
screaming in anguish. Hikaru was surprised how 
easily the nail had gone in, more like a knife through

butter than something facing flesh and bone. He 
backed away as Mordo clawed desperately at his 
forehead. "BLAST AND BUGGER YOU, 
GOSUNKUGI!WHAT DID YOU DO TO 
MEEEEE?"

The flesh near the nail, Hikaru noted distractedly, 
was beginning to smoke.

*'Cold iron is most useful against spirits'*, thought 
Hikaru. He glanced at the Ancient One. The old man 
was still out cold. And that was when he saw it, lying

there, right by his hand. The Book of the Vishanti.

He picked it up, quickly. An image of Nabiki stole 
through his head. "You actually think that voodoo 
crap will work, Gosunkugi? You're crazier than 
I thought!"

A grim smile came to Hikaru's face. "Maybe, 
Nabiki, but you were wrong about the hammer 
and nails, for once." He flipped open the book. 
All he had to do was find some spell for dealing 
with hands of Dormammu, or something to that 
effect. There had to be at least one.

The spell on the page the book opened on 
read, 'For the Destruction of Servants of the 
Dark Lords.'

Hikaru nodded. That seemed about right.

"Oh, holy three, monarchs of light, I call on 
thee�destroy the foulness that lies in my sight..."

Hikaru felt a jolt pass through his body, as if 
some great force was moving in him.

Mordo turned to Hikaru grimacing in a manner 
that showed much more of his mouth than 
Hikaru wanted to see. "What are you doing?"

Hikaru continued. "I am the key, and the gate�
the road and the song�the scroll and the law." 
He could feel himself gathering energies, 
preparing to unleash them. It felt good�as 
if he was using parts of himself that he hadn't 
known existed.

Mordo snarled, his entire body bristling, and 
distorting. "Dare you defy me?" He swiped 
at Hikaru with his malformed claw. Suddenly 
a great flash of light emanated from Hikaru, as 
much to Hikaru's surprise as to Mordo's, whose 
claw jerked away, and then began to crumble, 
like a stale cracker that's had the slightest bit of 
pressure applied to it.

"And yours are the power and the glory, the 
name and the rank..."

Mordo stared at Hikaru wheedlingly an action 
rendered exceedingly grotesque by his mockery 
of a shape. "Please cease your casting. I... I see 
now I misjudged you. Cease your casting, hand 
me the book, and you will sit in glory at the Master's

right hand." An image formed in Hikaru's mind, 
so quickly that he knew it hadn't started in him. 
Hikaru sat upon a throne, Akane at his side gazing 
at him adoringly, while Nabiki lay supine before him, 
begging for mercy. And the expression on Hikaru's 
face was the look of those who have everything 
before them to gain, and nothing behind them to 
hold them back.

*That's not me,* thought Hikaru. *And you know 
what? I'm actually glad about that.*

"By the power of righteousness, may the evil be 
vanquished!" Hikaru said authoritatively. Raising 
his hand, a great wave of light swept forward, 
engulfing Mordo. The erstwhile magician's form 
twisted erratically, desperately searching for a shape

that could survive or escape Hikaru's blast. And he 
failed, being torn to pieces and disintegrating into a

fine powder. Finally, all that remained was a tiny 
jewel shard, glowing dully.

Hikaru stared, shocked. He had no idea exactly how�
but it seemed that he had saved the world. He should 
have been happy about it, but somehow the audacity 
of what he'd done numbed him. Hikaru may have 
dreamed of actually being powerful, but he'd never 
envisioned being able to tear someone apart with a 
phrase.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt an 
urge to lie down. Quite possibly for a decade or 
so.

And that's when he heard it. "You've done well, 
disciple." Hikaru turned. The Ancient One stood 
behind him, smiling gently.

Hikaru began to scratch his head bashfully. 
"Umm�yes�urr�thank you."

The Ancient One continued smiling. "Believe me, 
Gosunkugi, I should be thanking you. Your actions 
have corrected my own dire failure. Mordo should 
never have been allowed to get this far. But like his 
father before him�he showed such promise." The 
Ancient One glanced at the shard. Almost on its own 
accord, it levitated towards him, hovering before his 
face. "Beautiful, is it not?" He glanced at Hikaru. 
The shard followed his gaze and floated towards 
Hikaru, and stopped just level of his eyes. "Do you 
want it?"

Hikaru looked at the jewel. His casting of the 
spell seemed to have improved his perception�
he could feel the power radiating off of it.

It was a not-nice power.

"Umm, no thank you," he answered.

"A wise choice" chuckled the Ancient One. He 
blinked at the jewel and it was immediately 
covered in a fine white silk. "It is a dark power, 
that gem, a little piece of hell." He shook his 
head and sighed. "However, I'm afraid you'll 
have to be its keeper. For a little while at least."

Hikaru took a step away uncertain. "Look, I'd 
really rather not..."

The Ancient One shook his head. "In this you 
have no choice. Child, look at this world. It is 
in tumult. The order on which it relies is 
disintegrating. It is like an egg placed in a 
vise that is being slowly, and surely tightened. 
It is cracking, and things are entering through 
those cracks. You know this to be true�you 
have seen it, and you have felt it, in your heart." 
The Ancient One's face was a severe mask, all 
the good humor Hikaru was already used to 
gone. "If it is to endure�perhaps if all the 
universe is to endure, then we must fight this 
power that is turning all askew."

Hikaru grew pale. This was quite an 
accomplishment for a man who already lacked 
most of what was generally called 'skin tone'. 
"We? Did you just use 'we' again?"

"Yes, Gosunkugi, "we"! Those destined to pit 
their strengths against the evils that would thwart 
all ripeness. Those who must fight in the shadows, 
so that the light may endure." The Ancient One 
gazed at Hikaru calmly, a glowing nimbus 
surrounding his head.

Hikaru took a deep breath. "Umm, well�sir, I'm�
honored that you think I�measure up to�those 
standards but�well, I don't think I do..."

The Ancient One smiled at him. "Hikaru Gosunkugi, 
I know your thoughts in this matter�and I know 
they are wrong. Listen to me�you have traveled 
all the way to be here�you were found worthy 
to be my apprentice�and both of these are no 
small feats�and you defeated the commands of 
a sorcerer of far greater experience than yourself, 
and called upon the powers of the Book of Vishanti. 
You're attributes are more than adequate for this 
purpose�I'd argue, they are extraordinary." He 
paused here. "Still, this is your choice. Will you 
rise to your world's defense, or damn it to perdition?

Will you be my sword, Hikaru Gosunkugi?"

Hikaru gave a deep sigh. "There is no way I can 
answer 'no' after that buildup and not be a jerk, 
is there?

The Ancient One beamed. "So you accept?"

Hikaru shrugged. "Well, I don't think I had that 
long a life expectancy anyway."

The Ancient One nodded and took his shoulder. 
"Then follow me, Gosunkugi." The pair walked 
off. "Now, I will have to give you what knowledge 
I can in a very intense burst of exhaustive training."

Hikaru winced. "And even that way not quite prepare 
you. Still we must hope..."

Hikaru whimpered. 

-----

In a small flickering chamber, the entity called 
Dormammu swore. To a witness, he would resemble 
a man wearing elaborate robes, a radiant fire 
surrounding his head. And in fact there was a witness,

though to her, he resembled nothing, and simply was. 
"That old fool! He practically throws the gauntlet
down 
before me... Well, he shall pay, oh, yes he shall..."
A 
deep, dark chuckle came to his lips.

There was a stirring from behind him. "Honestly 
Onigumo, I do wish you wouldn't mutter to yourself. 
It makes me worry about your sanity."

Dormammu (who was known to a small circle of 
beings by his true name, Naraku, and by one very 
irritating being by the name Onigumo) glanced 
behind him. A beautiful woman in a rather risqu� 
green silk dress stood there, a mocking light in her 
eyes. "I have told you not to call me by that name."

The woman gave a long mournful sigh that 
Naraku did not consider too sincere. "But 
what am I to call you? You have so many 
names these days, I have a hard time sorting 
them out." She walked to his side and gave 
him a rather sharp pinch on the cheek. "Besides 
all long-term couples need affectionate private 
names for each other." She paused for a moment. 
"In fact�I must insist you call me 'sugar dumpling'."

Naraku gave her a sidelong glance. "Why?"

The woman shrugged. "It has long been a fantasy 
of mine."

Naraku shut his eyes in irritation. "Kikyo�has it 
occurred to you that your actions have grown 
increasingly erratic over the years...?"

Kikyo gave a playful toss of her head. "Occasionally. 
And then I cry out in torment at the horrific thing
I've 
become and swear to destroy you and turn all your 
dreams to dust in vengeance. And then I find 
something amusing and it passes." She gave him a 
flirtatious grin. "Tonight I found you. Lucky boy."

Naraku stared at her. "You are aware of the setback 
I'm facing, are you not?

Kikyo patted his head. "Of course, Onigumo. 
That's what makes it so amusing."

"Listen, witch!" Naraku snarled. "If you had killed 
the boy as I asked, we'd be free!"

Kikyo laughed and shook her head. "I tried, 
darling, but he was too strong for me." She 
smiled at him. "I'm hardly omnipotent, 
after all. Just highly flexible."

Naraku frowned. "I will have to begin 
my secondary plan then..."

Kikyo nodded. "And then your tertiary 
plan, and then your quadriary plan, and 
then your quintery plan..."

Naraku ignored her. "That means more 
waiting. I hate waiting."

Kikyo snorted. "I'd think you'd have 
learned to get used to it by now." She 
turned to leave. "Goodnight, Onigumo." 
She paused at the door. "Or perhaps good 
morning. It's really impossible to tell here." 
And with that she left him.

Naraku leaned back against the chamber wall, 
and cursed the power Kikyo had to vex him. 
Still that would change soon. Very soon...

Kikyo meanwhile was grinning to herself. The 
game was continuing�and had gained a new 
player. Kikyo loved games. They kept her from 
getting bored. And thinking about herself.

And so the relationship of the two co-monarchs 
of the Dark Dimension continued much as it had 
for the last few centuries. It was fairly dangerous 
for those around them, but they both considered 
that its primary virtue.

-----

Next Chapter:

 

HIKARU:  Umm, look, I don't think this a good 
idea�I'm really not any good at public speaking...  
What do you mean I'm on?

                        (shocked)

AHH!  

                        (coughs)

Umm, hello�gentle readers.  Well�that was 
exciting�wasn't it?  

                        (sighs)

Please don't answer that.

                        (reading)

Next chapter promises to be loads of�fun, 
with more�villains, more heroes, and�more 
excitement.  So�hold onto your hats because�

                        (angered)

Oh, come on�who writes this garbage!  
You can't honestly expect me to read that!

                        (surprised)

What do you mean�"other interested 
parties"?  I'm the main charac�

                        (quiet)

Oh.

                        (coughs)

Because next chapter�yours truly will gain 
a pair of�stalwart companions�oh, come 
on that sounds like some sort of homosexual 
catchphrase!  You know I'm right...

                        (back to business)

So be sure to catch our next exciting chapter--
"Satan Met a Lady�Lady Met a Warlock".  
It's�

                        (exasperated)

fiendishly clever�look, can I least get some 
control over what's in the rest of these�I cannot 
take doing another one this stupid�No, I didn't 
mean it like that...

-----


		
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