The Days That Will Come, The Day That Never Came

Chapter 4: Dark Magician
By: animeinsanity
Ages: Ash: 16; DM: Too old to record, same with the rest of the Duel Monsters. (@_@)
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Pokemon. If I did, it'll be total chaos.
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   The darkness began to worry Ash. Who knows how long he has been down there. 
Probably hours. Maybe even days. " Pikachu, do you still have some energy left?" he 
asked, hoping that the answer was a yes. A reply came from the electric mouse. " Of 
course. Do you want me to use flash?" Pikachu said. There was some sparks, and then a 
powerful light exploded from the Pokemon's cheeks. ' Much better,' Ash thought. It 
seems like they're in some kind of pyramid. There were a few fresh footprints here and 
there in the layer of dust. Ash could see where he and Pikachu landed. Obviously the 
footprints weren't Ash's. They were way too big. Pikachu shook off the dust in his fur, 
causing Ash to sneeze. " Let's explore. We'll maybe have some luck and find a way out 
of here. First, let's follow the footprints," Ash said calmly. 
   " It seems like the Pharaoh's curse over his pyramid is true," Ash thought out loud. So 
far the duo encountered booby traps, fake doors, mirages, mazes, and puzzles. " Who 
ever's footprints we're following must be a pure genius," panted Pikachu. " He never 
slowed down his pace." Squinting, Ash saw a door. He ran towards it, knowing that the 
trail will lead there. The spy placed a hand on the door, turning the knob. Surprisingly, it 
opened. The sight made the duo's eyes widened in wonder as they gazed in awe at what's 
on the other side of the door silently, unaware of the sense of danger in the room. It was a 
chamber made of white marble. Torches with a blue flame lined a walkway made of gold. 
Carvings in the wall told stories that many only dreamed of. " Those carvings remind me 
of Pokemon, except some of them look more like humans," Pikachu inspected. At the end 
of the walkway, there was a huge slab of rock with chains coming out of it. And tied to 
the chains-
   What do the chains tie? He looked human, but he radiated an aura that Pokemon 
radiate. Ash ran over to him, careful not to disturb him since it looked like he was asleep. 
Pikachu, who got to the stranger first, lifted up the man's head. He was dressed in purple 
armor, wearing an equally purple shirt. A blue-green staff with an emerald jewel in it lay 
besides him. Long lavender hair flowed out of the opening of the helmet where the whole 
face was showing. He looked young, around Mirage's age, and he was defiantly 
muscular. His tan skin shows some scars that just healed and scars that hasn't yet. " What 
is he?" asked Pikachu, sniffing the stranger's face. Blue eyes that seem to freeze time 
greeted him. The stranger was awake. He got up slowly, observing Ash. " Who are you?" 
The voice was a little on the deep side. Ash gulped. Seeing that he'll have no answer to 
that question, the stranger asked another one. " Are you Yami's friends?" ' Who's 
Yami?' Ash thought. Pikachu answered shakily, " No." The duo found the staff in their 
faces. " What are you doing here, then?" Another question from the man. The spy 
glanced at the stranger. He was tall. Maybe more than average tall. The man caught a 
glimpse of Ash's face and immediately his expression softened. Putting down his staff, 
the man sat down on the floor, calm. " You look like him, for some reason." ' Look like 
who?' Pikachu began rubbing his scar again. The stranger gave a sad sigh. " I hope he 
visits me soon," the man said.
   " Who?"
   " The person that you looked like," replied the man. Pikachu sniffed his hand. Then, he 
cocked his head to the side. " You don't smell human," he observed, inspecting the man's 
staff. " Does this thing work?" The stranger nodded. Ash went towards the wall, 
inspecting the carvings engraved on it. There was something odd about them. Some of 
them resemble magical creatures. Others look like knights, queens, paladins, etc. The 
stranger gave a cough, distracting Ash from the carvings. The man didn't look so well; 
his scars and wounds that haven't healed yet were starting to gush out enormous amounts 
of blood, and by the looks of it, he also seemed a little sick. Putting his paw on the 
stranger's forehead, Pikachu exclaimed worriedly, " You're burning up. Maybe you 
should rest for a while. I'll get you something to eat, if you don't mind." " Wait. I…" the 
stranger tried to say before he collapsed in pain, breathing heavily, blood soaking through 
his shirt. Ash was pretty sure that there was a major chest wound on the stranger, judging 
by the soaked shirt. He was about to leave the pyramid to find food when the stranger 
weakly asked, " The way out; there's a shortcut behind that rock. You, the one with the 
tail, the market should be beyond those four sand dunes in the east. And you, the one with 
black hair; can you help me find some people I know? I need to ask them something. 
They're sort of captured right now. Follow your friend to the market. Keep walking until 
you see a palace. Sneak into the guards' training grounds, which is surrounded by a large 
rock wall, and there should be bars in the wall, forming several doors. My friends are in 
there. Both of you won't mind, right?" Pikachu gave him a thumbs-up, then raced behind 
the rock. Ash, glancing one last time at the stranger, followed his buddy.
   The market was a little crowded, but not too much. Sniffing the air, Pikachu detected 
the smell of food. " I guess this is where we split up. See ya, Ash." The spy gave a nod, 
and then ran out of sight. The Pokemon saw a fruit stall and decided to start there. ' But 
how do I pay for the food?' Pikachu thought. He saw some coins drop out of a person's 
hand. Inspecting the coins, Pikachu remembered their looks, and he began to concentrate. 
Soon, he had a whole bag full of them. ' The beautiful wonders of Pay Day,' smirked 
Pikachu. ' Okay, now to get my prize.' With a jump, he landed lightly on the stall's table. 
Taking some fruit slyly, he emptied a quarter of the coins out of his bag, and then jumped 
off. The stall owner was confused when he saw some of his fruit gone, but even more 
confused when he saw money on the table.
   Ash, however, was totally lost about what he was going to do. Yes, he made it to the 
palace, and yes, he made it to the guards' training grounds, but how was he supposed to 
sneak in there? There was obviously an important spar going on in there, judging by the 
cheers and screams that can only come from an entertained audience. ' Okay, maybe if I 
join the audience, I might get a plan,' he thought. Walking casually into the training 
grounds, Ash stood out of the crowd, getting a very lucky front row view. 
   The training grounds were just as the man described it. A tall wall, near the palace, and 
in the wall, bars to form doors. A person dressed in usual attire except for a painted red 
stripe on his shirt raised up a hand. Immediately, the guards stopped sparing and the 
crowd stopped cheering. ' He must be the referee,' Ash thought. " It's the time you've all 
been waiting for," the ref boomed. " Bring out the Shadow Monster!" The people around 
the spy gasped as one of the bar-formed door lifted, giving enough space for the thing in 
it to escape. A white wolf, huger than any Absol Ash ever seen, prowled out of its 
confinement, growling, hairs bristling at the same time. Its yellow eyes observed the 
surroundings, carefully picking out its next target. Red claws scraped the sand under it. 
The teeth in the wolf's mouth are now bared, revealing a dangerous killing tool that only 
the most lethal weapons can match up with. Muscle tense, it began to slowly walk 
towards the audience. Suddenly, it pounced and attacked. An unsuspecting guard was 
thrown backwards as the wolf's paws pounded him with an extreme amount of power 
like a bulldozer. Heavily winded, the guard got up and slashed at it with his sword. While 
the ref, guards, and crowd was focused on the wolf, Ash decided to seize his chance. ' I 
just have to be quiet. Alright, easy does it.' Slinking away towards the bars, Ash silently 
ran behind the crowd. 
   ' I wonder why they call that wolf a Shadow Monster. Maybe it's a nickname for the 
creatures around here,' concluded Ash. Taking a look into one of the confinements, he 
gasped at what he saw. A warrior, no an elven warrior, was standing with his eyes closed, 
leaning against the wall of his cell. The elf's eyes snapped open, and he turned to Ash 
with an annoyed look on is face. " You've been staring at me. Am I that interesting to 
look at, or do you want me to introduce you to my sword?" he asked coldly. Ash, looking 
embarrassed, said, " Sorry. I was just wondering what this bar is made of." The elf 
stepped out of the shadows. He had on green armor and blonde hair. His eyes were amber 
brown and two navy blue striped markings started from the bottom of his eyes and ended 
at his cheeks. Two long elf ears poked out between his hair. The elf was strongly built, 
giving Ash the impression that he works out a lot. The elf cocked his eyebrow, replying, 
" It's regular metal with a powerful spell out on it to repel Shadow Monsters and their 
attacks. Why'd you ask?" At this, Ash pulled out his backpack (you didn't think he'll 
forget that, would you?), and took out a Pokeball. The device opened and out popped a 
Typholsion. " Flamethrower," Ash whispered in its ear. Giving a little roar that was 
drowned by the commotion in the background, the fire Pokemon blew fire at the bars. 
The bars melted, leaving an opened cell. " I'll take it that this Typholsion is not a Shadow 
Monster," the elven warrior stated. Typholsion just gave him a mysterious smile before 
using slash attack on the wall so he and his master could get to the other cells without 
burning any more bars.
   In the last cell, Ash met the last of the group of friends. The resident was a skeleton that 
still has muscle, horns, claws, and wings. " Who sent you here?" he asked, looking at 
Ash. " A friend of yours. He has on purple armor, lavender hair, and blue eyes. Oh, and 
he has this staff…" The elven warrior's expression turned from calm to shocked. " He's 
still alive?" he whispered. Another elf, which has blue skin and was dressed in a light 
green outfit, commanded, " Led him to us." " But we can't leave without Silver Fang!" a 
floating brown puffball squeaked, waving two of its four green paws. The elven warrior 
made an odd growling noise, catching the white wolf's attention. Getting the message, 
Silver Fang slapped its paws against the ground, spraying sand into the guard's, crowd's, 
and ref's eyes. Ash returned his Pokemon, who was panting, and ran towards the 
pyramid. The others followed.
   Pikachu nuzzled the stranger's cold hand, trying to make him feel better. The man's 
breathing was shallow, worrying the Pokemon. ' Ash, please say you're coming,' pleaded 
Pikachu mentally. Some footsteps and a " Hey, Pikachu!" answered his prayers. " Ash!" 
The yellow mouse rushed to his human buddy. " You better come quickly! I don't think 
he's making it!" Pikachu shouted, hysterical. Ash, hearing the news, rushed towards the 
chamber. The elven warrior gave Pikachu a confused look.
   " Who won't make it?"
   " Your friend!"
   At that, Pikachu raced to join Ash. The creatures that Ash rescued also raced towards 
the chamber.
   Putting her hand delicately on the man's forehead, the blue elf chanted something in an 
unknown language. A green light came from her hand and pulsated for a moment before 
disappearing. " I healed his wounds temporarily. His scars are, unfortunately, too severe 
for my magic to heal. His sickness should get better, though. It was caused by the lack of 
blood, energy, and some infections that entered his body because of his wounds. He 
should be recovering. We do have some spare bandages," the elf maiden reported. Silver 
Fang, the wolf, gave a sigh of relief. The skeleton silently relaxed his former tense 
muscles. " What is his name?" Ash asked. " Humans refer to him as the Dark Magician. 
They call me Celtic Guardian. Mystical Elf here is the one that healed Dark Magician. 
Summon Skull is the skeleton. Silver Fang you already met. Kuriboh is the floating pom-
pom…" Kuriboh puffed up with anger. " Neo the Magic Swordsman, Dark Magician 
Girl, Curse of Dragon, and Feral Imp are the rest. They call us Shadow Monsters," 
finished Celtic Guardian, ignoring Kuriboh who is now furious. " Why?" Ash was now 
confused. They radiated off a sense of darkness, but they don't seem to be ruthless killers. 
" That's just as we are. We're creatures from the shadows. But humans kindly refer to us 
as monsters because of our talents," the one called Neo explained. He was dressed in 
armor as well, but the armor was not so heavy looking as Celtic Guardian's. Pale blue 
eyes, light gold hair, and a sword; yep, he was a Shadow Monster. 
   Feral Imp took on a cat like appearance with huge ears, red claws green fur, and wings; 
yet, he still looks like an imp. " I suppose I have to tell you everything. I hate it when I'm 
the smart one," he said, sighing. Ash sat on the pyramid floor. Pikachu sat right beside 
him. Taking a breath, Feral Imp began. " We came from this place called the Shadow 
Realm. Despite its name, it provides everything we needed and wanted. There was 
shelter, food, etc. You can almost call it another Earth, only with Shadow Monsters and 
not humans. Really, it's an alternate dimension. Anyway, we lived in peace. Until, the 
humans came." Feral Imp grimaced as he said 'humans'. " They inhabited Earth. Of 
course, we weren't interested into warring with them. Instead, we were fascinated by 
them. They're almost like us, well some of us, only without the talent to make fireballs 
and such. The troubles all started when we noticed that some humans give off an evil 
energy, the exact kind that made the Shadow Realm react. A huge hole appeared in our 
dimension, allowing us to walk on Earth. But the humans that give off the evil energy 
found out about our home. We knew that our paradise wouldn't be a safe haven any 
more. So we left and went separate ways. Having a strict code of honor, one of our many 
beliefs was: If one saves your life, help them in any way they can, for you're forever in 
debt by then. That was our downfall. Some humans, now known as dark sorcerers, set up 
fake scenarios in which they injure us purposely, and they pretend to find us lying hurt on 
the ground. Then they act like they're taking care of us while they're just using us to kill! 
They even use us at entertainment! Yet, because of our beliefs, we stuck to their side, 
doing whatever pleases them. And they gave nothing to us IN RETURN!!!" he yelled, 
banging his clawed hand on the floor. Ash, who was unprepared for the sudden outburst, 
felt pity towards the Shadow Monsters. They were betrayed by their own code when the 
sorcerers used it for their advantage.
   A movement behind Pikachu made him turn around, only to find Dark Magician getting 
up. Celtic Guardian grabbed him by the shoulder and started shaking him hard, 
screaming, " You baka (Japanese for idiot. Can also be used as 'stupid' for describing 
things)! Why didn't you tell me that you were alive? I was worried like heck every time I 
remember you doing that stupid stunt! You- you- …" The eleven warrior's voice broke 
into a sob, a hardly suppressed one. Dark Magician let him cry on his shoulder (he's a 
head taller than him), and he noticed Ash. " Thank you," he muttered, quite embarrassed 
that he allowed himself to look that weak in front of another human. Pikachu rubbed his 
head against Celtic Guardian's right leg. " What happened to him?" Ash asked, watching 
Dark Magician Girl bandage Dark Magician's arm. She had blonde hair, blue armor with 
a pink skirt with matching boots and staff. " Feral Imp told you that we have strict codes. 
Well, it just so happens that one of the very few nice people rescued him. That person 
was our master too. But then, the person's uncle wanted to kill him so his cousin can take 
the throne. It just so happens that Dark Magician over here risked his own life to protect 
him. As you can tell, our master is in the royal family," she explained. " Then why didn't 
he do something about the guard's when you were-…" Ash began, then he reconsidered. 
Maybe it wasn't the best time to ask that question. " He was basically locked in his room. 
I think the only time he comes out is when he studying, or eating," Summon Skull said 
from a corner. ' Gee,' Ash thought, ' Life must be hard for him and his Shadow 
Monsters.' 
   There was a laugh. " What?" Ash inquired because he didn't see anything funny about 
the situation. " Now Dark Magician owes two people with his life," snickered Silver 
Fang. There was a clonk, and the wolf was out cold. Apparently, Dark Magician, who 
couldn't use magic at the time, bonked Silver Fang on the head with his staff. " Even 
when you're injured, you're still deadly," sighed Kuriboh. Neo backed away from the 
magician, slowly, but surely. The spy had to fight down a laugh; maybe Shadow 
Monsters aren't that bad at all. And maybe, they can help him find out why he landed 
here through a portal in the first place. Pikachu, however, was unaware of the whole 
incident. Perking up his ears, the electric mouse heard a faint movement outside the 
pyramid. " Someone's coming!" he warned the others. The whole group went still. 
Outside, they can hear a pair of feet crunching against the sand on the ground. The sound 
was getting closer, and Ash felt himself stiff up as the door behind the slab of rock was 
opened.
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   Cliffhanger. Yugioh fans out there might have a decent guess of who the person might 
be. Those who are not Yugioh fans and pretty much know nothing about Yugioh, I tried 
to make as explanatory as possible. If you are still confused, maybe you can get it better 
once I type the next chapter. Just a warning: This will be a HUGE crossover fic. The 
chapters when Ash enters a new dimension, there will be more explaining and less action 
so you can get the idea about the anime. This one is a no-action. The next chapter will be 
much more interesting. And those who read my other fic Suppose To Fly, don't expect it 
to be very long, and sorry for the mistakes in it.
   These chapters are kind if long to type, so please don't kill me if there is a long delay.