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Chapter Three: The New Chaotic Part Two

The cart smashed into her, crushing her body against a stone wall. Ulmar wasn't used to taking hits like that and Mary found it very difficult to gather enough strength to push the wreckage off herself.

"Ha, you would've been better off using a regular Ulmar scan." Shinwan laughed, as Mary struggled to her feet. Shinwan had abandon her hiding spot and was now standing out in the open. Her successful sneak-attack had upped her confidence enough to where she thought she no longer needed to hide. Shinwan must have thought this scan of Ulmar had a secret ability. After-all why would Mary use an Ulmar card that was so different than what he normally looks like? But after seeing Ulmar get knocked down so easily and had a hard time getting up, it made it seem like this version of Ulmar wasn't very powerful.

"Ulmar may not be a big, muscular creature like Viqtarr, but he has his own strengths to make up for it." Mary said, defending the Underworlder out of habit. So many Chaotic players see Ulmar as a weak Underworlder no matter how many times players win using him.

Shinwan snorted, clearly not believing what Mary said. "What are you talking about? Ulmar is just as big as Viqtarr."

Mary bit back her own correction. Ulmar was small even by human standards and he was nowhere near the height of Viqtarr, but clearly that wasn't the case anymore. She didn't know why the creatures have changed, but she did know that to Shinwan and assumedly every other Chaotic player, it was her scan of Ulmar that was weird and wrong. She had to remember the world wasn't the same and she had to be careful what she says because of it.

"Thanks for coming out." She said, smiling. "It'll help the battle to be over quicker."

Shinwan's eyes narrowed and her snout wrinkled as she got ready to send an attack, but Mary summoned her battle gear before she could be hit again.

Mary found a small bit of satisfaction at seeing Shinwan' surprised face when the dread tread materialized in front of her. She then of course floored the paddle.

"Shit!" Shinwan yelled. She barely jumped out of the tank's way.

"Damn. I thought with her being so close she wouldn't move out of the way in time." Mary muttered, looking at the tank's back screen to find where the large grizzly went.

Something massive had landed on top of her dread tread, making a loud bang. The impact had created a dent in the machine's armor. Mary quickly turned the cameras towards the roof to see what Shinwan was up to.

The screen showed that her opponent had her claws attached to the roof and was slowly crawling her way to the hatch.

She's going to try to get inside! That would be game over for her if she got into the vehicle. In these close quarters, Ulmar would not be able to dodge any attacks and she would be trapped inside. No way Shinwan would let her escape.

She has to get her off the tank before it's too late.

The vehicle almost flipped over when Mary hit the brakes too hard in her attempt to throw the grizzly off. It didn't work. The bear's claws were like magnets. She hit the paddle again, but the sudden movement didn't work either. She then tried swerving, but the bear was able to hold on.

This was bad. She was risking crashing in order to get Shinwan off, but nothing was working. Kiru City's streets were not the best place for her to be doing these maneuvers either. There were some open places, but for the most part the city was made up of narrow streets that the dread tread could barely fit through.

If I can find a sign or something to go under then maybe it'll get her off. But where can I find something like that? She continued to drive dangerously, but Shinwan kept getting closer to the door. It's locked from the inside but Viqtarr is strong enough to force it open or use an attack on it.

Mary was running out of time. I could just un-materialize the dread tread, but with how fast I'm going I could code myself.

Shinwan made it to the hatch.

Mary knew she had no choice anymore.

She made her battle gear disappear while she was driving at an insanely high speed. She tossed and tumbled on the cobblestone road. If she were in her human body, then over half her skin would be missing. Unfortunately, it still caused damage.

"Uugh …" She groaned. It felt like her whole body was bruised. She was also pretty sure some of her ribs were broken.

"You look terrible." Shinwan said. For a moment, Mary thought it was the real Viqtarr, but then remembered she was in a drone match.

Using her remaining strength, she got up. Well, sort of. She could not fully stand up and was instead on her hands and knees. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Shinwan holding a battle gear. It was some type of gun, but she doesn't know what it is. Guns in Perim can do all kinds of things and she's never seen this one before. It could be a flamethrower for all she knows.

"Y-you … don't look so hot yourself." She somehow managed to say. It hurt to breath.

She wasn't kidding about her not looking good. Shinwan's left arm had a bone sticking out. Good thing for her that Viqtarr is right handed. Though it was bad luck for Mary.

Shinwan then smirked before pulling the trigger. It wasn't a flamethrower, but the beam of energy was just as painfully hot.

In a flash, Mary was back to her normal human body. The buildings of Kiru City were no longer around her. Instead the walls of the drone were surrounding her. Shinwan was standing there as Viqtarr, her arm still looking bad, but she was clearly happy.

The form of Viqtarr dissolved until it was only Shinwan standing.

"Well that was quite the joy ride wouldn't you say?" She was still smiling. Mary was not smiling. She wasn't happy with the outcome and she wasn't happy with Shinwan acting like they were close friends when they just meet two months ago.

"It's my turn to pick." Is all Mary had to say. Shinwan clearly didn't like that response.

"Hi what's with you today?" She asked, frowning. Mary didn't answer. Without waiting for the drone to tell her, she spun the randomizer. It stopped on Iron Pillar. The scan was one of her older ones, so the pillar hadn't been replaced with that giant robot.

Iron Pillars special effect on battle gear can be a blessing or are curse depending on the circumstance. In this case it might be the former rather than the latter. Mary knew what battle gear Shinwan's Viqtarr had, but she didn't know what her other creatures had in their arsenals. Fighting in Iron Pillar would take away that unknown variable.

The battle gear she selected for Nivenna was that orb of time thing. She wanted to test it out in a drone to get a better understanding of how it works. She wouldn't be able to use it though at Iron Pillar. Not that that really mattered since the thing wouldn't give her any advantages.

Her choices of who to fight were also limited. Right now she could only use Nivenna against either Viqtarr or Aivenna. To her knowledge, Nivenna has gotten into more fights with Aivenna than Viqtarr. Nivenna was one of her favorite Underworlders so she tended to keep an ear out for any news involving the muge and she doesn't remember hearing any stories of the bear fighting her. For the most part, it's better to pick the creatures who've already fought before in real life so the player could have that knowledge of their opponent.

But Shinwan's scans weren't the same creatures. According to Shinwan, Ulmar should have been just as big as Viqtarr and he apparently didn't have a body? Sounds impossible but a lot of things in Perim shouldn't exist. Nivenna is supposed to be an Overworlder which would mean her upbringing was completely different now. With all these changes there's no telling what Shinwan's creatures could do or what they knew.

"Nivenna attacks Aivenna at Iron Pillar." She finally decided.

Shinwan sighed. She looked concerned about Mary but apparently decided to continue with the match.

They transformed into the creatures.

"It's so freaky looking at an Underworld Nivenna. Just doesn't seem right." Shinwan commented. It was freaky for Mary to hear that sentence from Aivenna's lips. If they were the real thing then Nivenna would have probably tried to kill Aivenna for saying that.

Their surroundings changed and now Mary was standing on top of a large pipe. Looking around she couldn't see the Overworlder.

Iron Pillar wasn't as big as Kiru City but there are still plenty of places to hide and wait to ambush players. Places that only on Underworlder would know about. She took a moment to look through Nivenna's memories of the location.

There is a hidden control room not far from where she's from. It's not a good place to create an ambush spot but it did have security cameras.

Getting there was easy but still nerve-racking since she had no idea where Shinwan was at.

The hidden room's entrance blinded into a wall. Even if someone knows it's there, they wouldn't be able to see the outline of the door. Wires and pipes hide everything that could clue someone of the room's existence.

To get inside one just needed to know a code which Nivenna knows. The keypad was disguised as an electric meter box. She typed in the code, the door unlocked, and she went inside. The room was small. Chaor would have to be crouching in order to stand, but thankfully Nivenna was just short enough to avoid doing that. The room wasn't designed to house more than one creature at a time. Guards would sometimes be assigned to monitor Iron Pillar from this room. If they see anyone who wasn't supposed to be here, then they would contact the nearest outpost for backup. In that situation the guard couldn't leave the room because it would risk revealing the room's existence to the enemy.

She sat down and began going through the different cameras. There were hundreds of hidden cameras, but only ten monitors so she had to flicker through the different cameras.

Where is she? After going through a few dozen cameras, she still couldn't see where the Overworlder was at. She was starting to get impatient. The cameras weren't perfect. There were a lot of blind spots that Shinwan could be hiding at. If that was the case, then this battle could last awhile.

That sometimes happens. Both players may decide to wait for their enemy to show up instead of going out to look for them. Eventually though one of them would have to venture out of their hiding spot so they can get the match started. But sometimes the players would be too stubborn to abandon their ambush spots and that can drag out the match by hours.

Shinwan didn't seem like the type to set an ambush though but she doesn't know the girl well enough to know what her strategies normal are like.

Mary was safe hiding inside this room. It would be disadvantageous for her to leave. But as the minutes ticked by, her resolve to stay inside were wearing thin. Then finally she found her.

"Crud." She grounded. There on the monitor was Shinwan examining the hidden door to the security room. "Must have been following me." She said to herself. From the looks of it, Shinwan didn't know how to get inside. She was running her hands on the smooth surface of the wall, probably trying to feel for any hidden switches or buttons.

"That's not going to work." She mumbled as she stared at the screen. Aivenna's face was scrunched up in frustration. How long have you been trying to get inside? Marry wondered. The answer doesn't really matter though. What she really should be asking is what her next move should be.

Shinwan shouldn't know what was behind the door. It would be dangerous for her to blast her way inside, which is probably why she hasn't tried that yet. But it's only a matter of time until she does, and Mary needed to act before that happens. She couldn't sneak out since there's only one way in and one way out. That leaves her two options. One was to set up an ambush and wait for Shinwan to brute force her way inside. The other was to open the door and go on the offensive.

Both options weren't great. If she goes with an ambush, then she might get cornered in the small room. Nivenna was not the best at hand-to-hand combeite. Her fighting style being better at long ranged attacks. If she goes outside, she might be able to get some distance between herself and her opponent, however the damage she might take from the encounter could be too costly.

Taking in a big breath, Mary blow it out to relive some of her stress. What to do, what to do. Every second was going by too fast. It was like taking a test with half of the questions still not complete and over half of her time was already gone. In the end, she couldn't stand to be trapped any longer.

If she has a major migraine, then maybe she won't react in time. A mischievous smile spread across Nivenna's face. With a quick press of a button, the door opened and before Shinwan could react, Mary attacked.

"Confusion!" A purple beam shot out from Nivenna's forehead and hit directly between Aivenna's eyes.

"Ahh!" Shinwan yelled in pain, clutching her head as the world tilted around her. Without hesitating, Mary ran past Shinwan and jumped up onto a nearby ledge. She now had the high ground.

"Vine snare." Thick green vines erupted from Aivenna's hand. But Mary was now too far away for them to reach her.

"Uh, what's the matter? Too far away for that pathetic attack?" Mary mocked in Nivenna's sarcastic voice. In truth, the vine snare wasn't a bad attempt, but it was more fun to pretend it wasn't. After-all, part of the thrill of matches was the smack talk.

"No, just getting warmed up is all. Why don't you come down here and I'll show you some powerful moves."

"No thank you. An Underworlder like Nivenna does not associate with weaklings."

"But Nivenna isn't an Overworlder."

"So you admit you're weak?"

"No! Ugg, you know I didn't mean that." Then without warning, Shinwan fired an Ash Torrent attack. Overheated rocks smashed into Nivenna's chest, knocking Mary down off the ledge. Her body landed on one of the smaller pipes, knocking the air out of her lungs. She barely managed to grab a hold of the pipe, keeping her from following again.

At least no ribs are broken this time. She had closed her eyes in fear the Ash Torrent would hit them. She even had them closed while she was falling and had hit the pipe purely by luck. And when she reopened her eyes, she realized how lucky she actually was to have landed where she did. Below her was a huge pile of scrap metal. If she had fallen onto it then it would have been an instant death for her Nivenna card.

She was still in danger of getting coded by the scrap metal. The pipe was too thin and one good hit to it would make it sneap. What was worse was the fact that there wasn't anywhere safe for her to jump to. She will have to use the pipe to get close to the nearest stable platform. With no time to lose, she pushed her body off the pipe and was now dangling from it. If she were still in her human body, then she wouldn't have been able to do this. But Nivenna's arms are just as strong as a chimpanzee's so this was nothing to her.

With swift and graceful movements, Mary was swinging her way to safety.

"Aaahhhhaaa!" Out of nowhere, some kind of sonic attack hit the pipe causing it to wobble.

"Shit." Mary cursed, having to stop her movement momentary. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Aivenna a few yards away. At least she didn't use an attack that could destroy the pipe, but I can't stay around for her to pick a better attack. Even though the pipe was still wobbling, she picked up her pace again. This time though she was taking greater risks by taking longer swings. It's allowing her to move faster, but at the risk that another attack would be more likely to make her fall.

"Prelude to Dominance, take away her energy!" Shinwan summoned her mugic.

Damn it! Mary wanted to look back but knew she had to keep going. There was no way for her to dodge a mugic but at least it would not break the pipe. The mugic played its music and then white energy engulfed her body.

Being negatively affected by a mugic is never a pleasant experience. It can be difficult to explain the feeling. Different mugix do not feel the same. Some cause pain, others nausea. There's even some that can make a person have an out-of-body experience. Mary's been hit with this generic mugic before, so she knew what to expect when Shinwan shouted out the name. Still though, the nausea was not a welcomed feeling.

Okay, there goes another ten health. How much do I have left? She wasn't keeping track of the damage done to Nivenna's body, but it was safe to say she already lost half her health. Just one powerful attack from Shinwan would be the end of this battle. I need to think of a strategy fast before it's too late. If I lose Nivenna then it'll be Chaor against all three of Shinwan's creatures.

In a way, it was probably a blessing that Shinwan choose to use her mugic instead of an attack that could have knocked Mary off the pipe. Because even though the mugic took her health away, it didn't slow her down and she was finally able to jump from the pipe onto a safe platform.

Looking back to see what her opponent was doing, she noticed a way for her to win. If she can time it right that is. Shinwan wasn't stupid enough to use the pipe to travel to Mary's location. Instead she was taking the long way to get there. A walkway was attached to the side of Iron Pillar and it led the way to the platform Mary was standing on. Hanging from above the route was a crane holding up an assortment of crates in a large chain-linked net.

If I sacrifice my mugic then I can give Nivenna the element of fire. Then I can use Ember Swam to melt the chain holding up the crates while Shinwan is directly under them. She activated Nivenna's special ability and now had the fire element. Nivenna wasn't a master of fire unlike her mentor Takinom, but she does has enough skill to pull this plan off.

First, she fired some generic attacks as a ruse. If she just stands here doing nothing, then that might tip off Shinwan that she was planning something. She didn't use any fire attacks so Shinwan wouldn't figure out she now had the element.

Shinwan fired back attacks of her own, forcing Mary to dodge. Mary had to be careful how and where she was moving to. She needed to be close enough to hit the crane and dodging without thinking of her placement could put her out of range.

Finally, it was time to execute her plan's last step.

"Ember Swarm!" She yelled, as flaming embers fired out of her hands. It was clear Shinwan was surprised of the fire attack. The attack hit its mark and then the whole load came crashing down on the Overworlder.

A jolt of excitement went through Mary as she watched the creature explode into code.

A second later, the Underworld location dematerialized, and she was now back in the drome's normal décor.

Shinwan was of course on the other side and was back to normal. Her mouth was hanging open in a comical way. Eyes wide and staring at Mary.

Mary was exhilarated about the win. Using a tactic like that was a very risky move. Most players who try something like that normally fail. I might actually make the play of the day. Mary thought. She hasn't been skilled enough to have one of her battles make the special honor, but what she just did might be good enough. The epic victory she pulled off had significantly brightened her mode, and she even forgot about the weird situation she was in.

"How did you use a fire attack?" Shinwan asked, still shocked.

"Oh, Nivenna has a special ability that allows her to sacrifice one of her mugic so she can gain an element." Mary explained, not thinking it was an odd question. A lot of players didn't know Nivenna could do that, so it wasn't the first time she had to explain the ability.

"But she can't do that." Shinwan protested, then tapped on one of her cards.

Mary couldn't see which one she tapped but given what Shinwan just said Mary made an educated guess that it was her Nivenna scan. The Overworld Nivenna scan.

Oh right. The creatures have changed so this Overworld version of Nivenna probably doesn't have that special ability. Mary realized. Her mode dimmed at remembering how Chaotic and Perim wasn't normal at the moment.

"There's nothing on my Nivenna card about a special ability like that." Shinwan confirmed Mary's guess. "Seriously Mary, where did you get these cards?" She asked, looking away from her deck. Mary didn't know what to say. The truth was that she had scanned Ulmar in Underworld City, bought the Nivenna card from a grocery store, and traded a Lord Van Bloot for Chaor. But she knew Shinwan wouldn't believe that she got them through normal means even though it was the truth.

"I'll explain if you win, which you won't." She smiled, hoping the light banter would get Shinwan focused back on the match. This would buy her some time to think of a reasonable explanation for her creatures. And if she was lucky then she will not even need to explain anything.

"Alright then. Avoid the question for now but there's no way I'm losing this match." Shinwan agreed. It was her turn to pick the creatures and location, so she activated the randomizer.

Please be a location good for fire attacks. Mary hoped, though she knew it was unlikely. Being an Overworld player, Shinwan wouldn't pick many locations that would be good for Underworlers. And since Underworlders are known for their mastery of fire, she wouldn't want to have locations like Lava Pond in her deck when battling an Underworld player.

The randomizer stopped on the Overworld Library. A location better suited for water element attacks than fire ones.

Well it could have been worse. She thought as she looked at the location. The text at the bottom of the card said, "From cookbooks to Cothica clues, every book written is within." Mary inwardly scuffed at the notion one library could have every written work in Perim. She knew for a fact that the Overworld Library did not carry some Underworld works. Although maybe they keep those in the back where no one can read them. Propaganda is just as common among the Tribes as it is on Earth. It was difficult to figure out who was telling the truth when it comes to the Tribes' conflicts. Books from the other Tribes' perspective were rare to find in the Overworld. Especially books written by Underworlders.

It was still a very impressive library though and it is probably the largest library in Perim.

Shinwan was taking her time on deciding what creatures should battle in the library. Since both her creatures are Overworlders, they have the home advantage in this battle.

"Nivenna attacks Nivenna in the Overworld Library."

Author's Notes:

My original plan was to get through the whole match in this chapter but then my word count got high after only getting halfway through the match. I didn't want this chapter to be longer than 6,000 words but at the rate I was going it looked like that would be case. Next chapter I will definitely get through the match.

I don't really know much about how the card game works besides what was explained in the cartoon so apologies if I got something wrong.

Throughout the battle, I switched using the human character's names with the creatures' names. I hope that wasn't confusing. The reason I did it was because I was referring to the creature's body since Mary and Shinwan were transformed into them. If you don't think that's a good way to write Chaotic battles, then tell me so I can know to not do it again.