The motorcycle hummed as it traveled over the smooth surface of the highway at a speed most would consider highly unsafe. Elias had decided to follow the address on the old identification card he had found in the man's wallet. It was his only lead, but it would take him several hours to travel the long distance there.

He still had many questions about the individual. There was no proof that he was in league with the enforcers who had decided to make off with Pyramid property.

He had no intention of killing someone based on an assumption. He was no longer averse to killing if necessary, but everyone needed a line. Elias had no intention of becoming a murderer for hire.

Elais weaved between a pair of semi-trucks that blocked his path forward and once again found open road even as he considered his thoughts.

None of it added up. Why was he there in that alley? What was his relation to the enforcers? Why did he take the arcane slates?

Elias' earpiece buzzed. "Pyramid for Shogun."

"Go for shogun," he almost shouted into his headset to overcome the roar of his motorcycle engine.

"We have a positive identity on your subject. Over."

Finally, he thought, he needed a break in this case. "Where at? Over."

"Noctua has identified the individual at the hotel. Over."

"The Festival Hotel he had a room at? Over"

"Affirmative. Over."

"Acknowledged. I can be there in two hours. Keep him there. Over."

"Copy. We'll send in Noctua. Over."

"Good idea. Feed me her audio. Over."

"Patching you in now. Signal to override. Over and out."

Elias soon got the audio from the young woman assigned to play lookout over his earpiece as he took the next off-ramp. It took a bit for her headset to come up, and she kept fidgeting with it.

Elias, or rather Shogun, was already headed back towards East Lake City at high speed as she prepared for her breach.

"He's using summons," Elias muttered as he listened in on the battle. The Rabbit of Tomnadashan was a mid-level card and reasonably practical for its age. A decent card for assassination but limited in a stand-up fight.

All cards in Summon Monsters were pretty limited in number. Even prevalent and iconic cards, such as the Death Knight that Noctua was using, only had limited production. The prices were high due to the game's popularity, the rarity of the cards, and the fact that groups like his existed and were depleting the supply. Elias had theories on why that was considering the goals of Pyramid, but nothing concrete. If the public knew of the secret he and the rest of Pyramid did, then no cards would be available at all.

It looked like the battle between Noctua and James was reaching its end as her second monster dispatched his Giant Python. James had put up a decent enough fight, but-

His thoughts were cut off as a scream came over his earpiece.

"GAH!" he heard Noctua yell through the device, and the battle turned for the worse for her. Events progressed quickly from there. James overpowered Noctua, and Elias grew worried. He pulled off the highway and pulled a card from its place inside his long coat.

"So he is a thief," Elias said to himself after James relieved Noctua of her arcane slate. "I should have figured."

Elias hesitated to use the card in his hand. It was a use-and-lose card called: "Doorway of the Heavens."

But his mind was made up once he heard Noctua speak directly to him.

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"He's getting away."

Elias frowned as he played the card on his slate and revved the engine of his motorcycle.

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

"Defend me!" James yelled as he backed away. The swirling mists coalesced into the Bushiodo Frog. It was a rare tier seven monster, the same he had seen in the alley several days prior. The shogun series was one of the earliest ones released, and the cards were no longer tournament-legal.

"Surrender," the motorcyclist said to be even as the portal finally collapsed. The eerie light that had bathed the room disappeared with it.

"No offense," James said, placing a finger on a card in his pocket. It was the one he had considered earlier. "But why the fuck would I trust you."

The helmeted man looked about to say something, but James interrupted him. He pulled the card from his pocket and slapped it onto his slate. "Daybreak."

The Rabbit of Tomnadashan burst into flames just as James pointed at the frog monster. "Attack."

The rabbit ran forward, leaving a fire trail in its wake. It streaked toward the Bushido Frog. James turned and ran from the room as the fire began to spread across the vines and wood of Cornucopia.

"Attack!" He heard the man yell from the room as he ran down the hallway to the elevators before thinking better of it. He ran past them to the stairwell and pulled at the door. But it was locked.

"The fuck!? Who locks stairwells!?" James yelled as he kicked at the door, only hurting his foot.

"Fuck."

It must have been the woman, probably for this exact reason. He cursed and went through the cards in his hand. The Daybreak spell card had burst into flame and crumpled into dust as he left the room, his rabbit having gotten in an attack. But he probably only had moments.

"Okay, stupid idea, go!" he said in a panic as he slapped the card down.

Green mist swirled about and formed into a wolf almost as tall as he was. It was the Dire Forest Wolf, and it stood there with the same vacant stare as all the other monsters before it.

"Uhm... Help me escape?" He tried as he looked at the door and back at the monster, who remained unmoving. There wasn't any way it would break down the door in time, right?

"Break the door! Open the door! Down the stairs! Ride? Mount? Carry?" James said rapid fire as the other two cards on his arcane slate crumbled and broke apart, their remains sliding onto the carpet.

To his great surprise, the Dire Forest Wolf lowered itself to the ground. This was crazy, but he threw caution into the wind and pulled himself onto the monster's back.

He heard a crash from behind him and turned to see the futuristic red motorcycle walking out of the room almost casually. A blue barrier of swirling water surrounded the rider, the woman, and the bike itself. He watched as the rider, who supported the mousy-haired woman, placed her down against the wall and said something before turning to look at James.

"Fuck." James said and looked down at his mount. "Run!"

The wolf got to its feet and began to move, and James urged it onward as it began to pick up speed, sprinting down the hallway. It was none too soon as he heard an engine revving behind him and urged his mount onward, even as he struggled to hang on.

But he felt the wolf begin to slow, and James glanced up and noticed they were quickly running out of hallway. He spotted the large window at the end of the hall and had an idea.

"Through the window. Jump through the window!" James yelled as he hugged the monster closely as it began to move quickly once more. This was it. He had a chance. There was no way the motorcycle could make it through the window. It would crash into the wall below it.

The monster he was riding crashed through the window, almost jostling him loose as he had a last-second thought. Wasn't his room on the third floor?

He hung on tightly to the wolf, but a traitorous eye peeked open as they were airborne, and he instantly regretted it. Yes, his room was on the third floor.

He had no time for further thoughts as the Dire Forest Wolf collided with the dirt and grass below. The wolf let out a whimper as its legs took the strain of the impact. But James was thrown from the back of the creature, and the world tumbled around him.

James' head swam as he tried to get his bearings. He was on the ground. Right... Why? The sky he gazed into gave him no answers, but the large green and brown-furred wolf beside him did as it knelt down next to him.

Right. Monsters.

"Oh fuck," James said as his head began to clear from the surge of adrenaline still going through his system. He felt like shit. His chest hurt, his leg burned, his back hurt, his head hurt. It was probably easier to list what wasn't in pain, but his leg was the worst. He glanced down at it and noticed his foot was twisted around backward, blood was seeping through his pant leg, and the agony hit him all at once.

He glanced up at the hotel and noticed the rider standing at the window before disappearing down the hallway.

"Right," James managed to gasp as he pulled himself toward the wolf. He braced himself against the massive furry animal when he heard a loud engine roar from the hotel.

James glanced back up to see the red motorcycle flying through the air, surrounded by small white feathers in a glowing field around it. It landed a dozen meters from him and left a large skidmark where the back tire slid around.

"Oh fuck," James said as he grabbed onto the wolf and urgently dragged himself stomach first onto its back. "Run!"

The Dire Forest Wolf returned to its feet and began to run even as James tried to orient himself on its back.

The last thing he saw before he pulled himself straight was the Bushido Frog jump from the window and land beside the motorcycle.