Kai beamed as he saw the Side Mission's Time Limit.
-/Rest,/- he told Meg. -/You will have your part to play tonight./-
"Yes, master," she grunted a reply, helping herself to the bed. "First, let me write the names."
Kai snapped his head back at her. -/Oh!/- he exclaimed, obsessively. -/Have you thought them through? Remember, I won't tolerate any more surprises like Professor Elm. Take your time, if you aren't sure. I will not rush it./-
Meg seemed to have decided. "Waiting longer is pointless, master," she said, picking up paper and pen. "I was a 13th-floor Contestant once. Though I didn't ascend to the 6th Set, my knowledge isn't lacking compared to those monsters. Being a Priestess had its own merits too."
Meg scribbled down on the paper hastily but deliberately as she addressed Kai.
When she was finished and flicked away the pen, Kai couldn't control himself any longer. He rushed to her and snatched the paper off her hands. His heart was thumping against his bones. He walked to the chair, which was shining golden under the full brunt of the noon sun, and sat down.
The first name was according to his instructions.
In front of those names, she had mentioned their worlds. Seven…
Seven tales to rule the world.
"First, Orochimaru from the Naruto World, master." Meg's words reached Kai. "Second, Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach. Third, Kisuke Urahara, also from Bleach. Fourth, Rintaro Okabe from Steins;Gate. Fifth, Reed Richards from Marvel Universe. Sixth…"
Kai picked up from there. -/Sixth, Senku Ishigami from Dr. Stone,/- he said telepathically. -/And seventh, Dexter from… What the fuck?! Which Random World is this?!! You never mentioned it to me before./-
Meg took a deep breath.
"The Graveyard of Kings!" she blurted out. "I didn't mention it before because I didn't think that even you could survive a single hour in that world, master."
Kai's eyes widened. "What… did… you just say?!"
"In the Multiverse, only the Graveyard of Kings is a cluster of different Random Worlds," Meg continued. "Its name was given to it by Contestants, not by the Systems. The reason is simple, no matter how absurd it looks. Hundreds of King-level Contestants are known to never clear the missions from this place, dying there like pigs. All their power, Skills, Items, and Abilities are useless when faced with the logic of those worlds."
Kai's soul shuddered. What place could be so terrifying that could claim the lives of so many top-class Contestants? They were Kings. Kings! Kai couldn't even fathom their power, much less the nature of this place Meg was talking about.
-/What is it?/- Kai asked, steeling himself. -/Which Random Worlds can be so dangerous that they even changed the name of this group to such a horrifying degree? What twisted logic are you talking about?-/
Meg's half-closed eyes matched Kai's.
She was trembling before even uttering the words.
"The Worlds of Cartoons." Meg's voice echoed as a lone cloud slid under the sun, darkening the room. "Everything is useless when one faces the Cartoon Logic, the Killer of Kings."
*
*
11:00 pm, June 26th
No. 64, Surfer Street, Near New Bark Town's Port
-/Tell me what you can and can not do, again,/- Kai said, his breath rattling around him.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
The moon was grinning thinly today. Bright yellow street lights lit up Surfer Street like tiny suns lined on a single path.
Far at the end of the street, into a corner claimed by the shadows for themselves, Dementor-Kai's tattered robes billowed noiselessly behind him. He levitated above the ground like a mass of foul black mist, as a thin layer of frost crawled about him, freezing anything and everything.
Meg was standing behind him, lost in awe of Kai's appearance.
She had her signature Akatsuki robes on her, the color of her hair matching the blood-red clouds perfectly. There was a time when Kai did not know the meaning of these robes. Now that he did, he wondered if he would have handled things differently.
No. The answer was a plain no.
Her master had commanded her, and she must reply. Such thoughts passed through her head as Meg snapped out of her mooning expression.
"I have a Master Ability," she told Kai. "I can control paper figurines within a radius of 800 meters, depending on the size and their numbers. There is no limit on numbers, either. Once given an initial command, they can function on their own. To get live feedback, though, I must use a combination of MP and SP."
-/A Skill?/- Kai asked.
Meg shook her head. "No, master," she answered. "In Elementary Abilities, you lay the foundation. In Advance Abilities, you explore the depths of the Ability. The further one can explore the Advance Ability, the better one will become. Master Abilities are the cornerstone of the higher floor's Contestants' power. In this stage, one must learn to combine the Ability with Stats and Skills. Before I fell to the 1st floor, I had just mastered imbuing Chakra and Mana into my paper figurines."
No wonder, Kai reflected. No wonder she is so strong.
"If I haven't lost my Chakra Manipulation and Magical Aptitude Abilities, I could do much more using my paper dolls," Meg continued. "Now, they are only good for fooling and spying. I can use my HP to solidify one paper figurine, though."
Kai remembered the huge Shuriken and how it had cut the Gatling gun's barrels and Mariah's hands like butter. Then, one more possibility struck him.
-/Can you make paper dolls of me?/- Kai asked, expectantly. The things he could do with a bunch of him running around an enemy…
His breath rattled unknowingly.
The dark of the night hid the blush on Meg's rosy cheeks. "I can," she whispered. "But I must examine every single detail of your body first, master. How you walk, sit, run, think, and the many facial expressions. I must take every little detail of your body, from head to toe, into account. Even then, I am not sure about the results. I have never done it before. It's easy to make paper clones of oneself. I had Arcanine Pokemon before, so I know it too. But…"
Kai had already stopped listening to her. He smiled. -/Do whatever it takes. Before that time comes, you must have at least one paper clone of all my forms./-
Meg kneeled, accepting the command gracefully.
Suddenly, hundreds of tiny paper insects came crawling from all directions.
They went to Meg and whispered in some unknown language into her ears, before disappearing into her Inventory. No, they weren't Items, or so Meg had told him. The size of her Inventory was already big enough to surpass an entire mansion.
The only things she lacked were Items to fill it up.
"It's a man," Meg told Kai the obvious first. "He is on the No. 64 house's roof."
A moist, salty night breeze found the corner they were hiding in. Kai turned to look at her from under his hood. She stepped back.
-/Bring him out./-Kai said, melting into the shadows.
*
*
"Haha! I didn't know I would have big tits for dinner today." A thick, manly voice echoed in the surroundings.
Meg, wearing a black overcoat and black trousers, was running down the alley, close to Jimmy's house. A brown-haired, gaunt man chased her, catching up to her with every next step. There was a Pokeball in his hand, just on the verge of being thrown out.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Don't make me do this, love, or both of us will regret it."
Meg sent back a disgusting look. When it seemed like she was about to take a turn, she paused and threw a Pokeball.
"Cyndaquil, I choose you!"
Surprised, the Order's Contestant threw his Pokeball too. "Come out, Seviper!"
Both Pokemon materialized out of a blue flash. This end of the street was deserted, with only one lamp lit some dozens of meters away. It wasn't dark, but the vision wasn't clear enough to notice the exact coloring of the Pokemon, either.
"Cyndaquil!" The Pokemon squeaked timidly but stood his ground.
From the opposite end, a hiss echoed.
"Seviperrrr!"
This hiss had come from over 8 ft tall snake-like Pokemon. It was covered in black scales, with several markings on its body that looked like yellow hexagons and purple-colored scars. It had elongated red fangs that protruded from its upper jaw and fierce red eyes. Its tail was partially red and had a blade-like shape.
The Pokemon Trainers shout out almost simultaneously.
"Cyndaquil, use Flamethrower!"
"Seviper, dodge, and use Poison Tail!"
A long, powerful stream of flames shot out from Cyndaquil's mouth. But Seviper slithered away effortlessly. Its long body covered the distance between them in one long sweep, and then it whirled, lashing out with its tail, which was now glowing purple.
The tail hit Cyndaquil head-on and sent him flying.