FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The usual hustle and bustle of the card shop had long since died down. Not surprising since there was only a few minutes until closing. The only ones left there were the manager, who was checking inventory, a young feline hybrid named Slade, and his ferret friend, Jason. Slade had a slightly odd coloration due to his heritage. While his father was a panther, he had a serval for a mother. At first glance, you might just think he to be a pure serval. His base fur coat was a tannish-brown, similar to that a cheetah's. His coat was littered with black spot and short stripes running vertically down his body, each one no longer than a couple inches. It's not until you look at his legs and tail do you see the panther in him. His tail is much longer than any serval's could get, and shortly after the base it changes from the tannish coat to midnight black. That panther fur also appears on his legs, specifically starting at around his calves. At first glance, you might even think he were wearing boots if his paws were bare of any clothing.

Jason, on the other hand, was a pure blaze ferret, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him. He had his fur heavily dyed to fit his fiery personality. He dyed his fur so that his arms, legs, tail and back were a bright red. His hands and paws were dyed orange. Most of his face remained the natural white with a black mask over his eyes, but he'd dyed an orange stripe that went from just above his mask to over and to the back of his head. His front was dyed the same orange as the stripe on his head.

Jason had been perusing the selection of booster packs for a while and finally decided on a couple of mystery packs. He brought them up to the register. He smiled at Slade as he placed two packs on the counter. "Thought I'd get one for each of us," he said.

Slade grinned as he started ringing them up. "Well, isn't that thoughtful of you," he replied. The two of them had met five years ago in high school and had been friends ever since. Actually, more than friends for a while, not that they'd let anyone else know. Slade's family wasn't fond of those kinds of relationships, and while he wouldn't let that stop him, he also wasn't going to let them know.

"You say that like I'm never thoughtful," Jason replied in a tone of feigned hurt.

Slade rang up the cards and chuckled at his boyfriend's joking mannerism. "I know you can be quite thoughtful," Slade said, "when you want to be."

Jason paid for the cards and took one of the pack, getting up on the counter to sit in front of Slade. "What do you think the odds of me getting the last fire fist card I'm missing?" he asked with a smirk.

Slade chuckled and took his own pack. The mystery packs contained ten cards from every possible booster pack or deck that had been in production before the pack was made. "Incredibly low," he answered. "Although, maybe the heart of the cards will give it to you."

Jason chuckled a bit. Slade had really been into the "Heart of the Cards" philosophy from the manga he'd been reading since he was a kid. Jason found it amusing, but didn't really get why he put so much stock in that kind of thing. He played along, "Yeah, maybe. Let's see." Jason tears open the pack and begins looking through the cards. Slade tore his open at the same time to look through his gift. "Well, I got a fire fist, but it's just a spirit." Holds up the "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Spirit" card with his index and middle finger.

"Aww," Slade said empathetically, "it's almost worse when you get a copy of a card you already have from the archetype you're building."

"Yeah, it kinda does," Jason said, not upset by his luck. "You get any good ones?"

Slade looked through his new card. "Wow, I got a lot of really old cards. Oh, wow!" Slade turned over a card to show Jason. "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame! This was the first card shown in the anime adaptation of the manga I love! I've been trying to get this card for ages!"

Jason smiled and tousled Slade's head fur. "You're welcome, kitty," he said cockily, clearly proud of his luck at picking packs. "Looks like your card's heart was fond of you."

"Thanks for buying me the pack, Jace," Slade said gleefully, carefully examining his new card. It was odd, though, it almost looked as if were glowing. He could suddenly hear a faint voice calling to him and the card grew brighter, blinding him. He heard Jason calling to him in surprise before everything went black.

Slade groaned as he woke up. Rather than the feeling of his comfortable bed and the warmth of his ferret friend next to him, all he could feel was the cold, hard ground. He sat up and looked around. He sure as hell wasn't in Crown Heights anymore. He seemed to be in a large, grassy field.

"Hello," an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind the feline hybrid, causing him to nearly jump out of his fur. Slade quickly stood up and turned around to see a very familiar figure was kneeling in front of him. His skin was a ruddy red matching his hair, that was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore only a pair of green pants and had a sword placed in its scabbard on his side while a staff was neatly placed next to him. His head was low in a deep bow as he waited for Slade to address him. Behind him was some sort of stone altar that appeared to be recently charred.

"The hell kind of crazy dream is this..." Slade muttered to himself. The being before him was none other than the monster depicted on the card "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame."

The monster spoke once again, remaining in his kneeling pose, "My apologies, my emperor, but this is no dream. I brought you here to seek your aid." His head remained bowed, keeping his eyes on the ground. "But before I explain, might I suggest you clothe yourself. A change of clothes has been placed on the altar."

It wasn't until that moment when Slade noticed that he had been stripped of his clothes. Embarrassment flushed through the feline causing him to blush heavily, enough to be visible through his light fur. Slade silently walked behind Kagemusha and took the clothes.

While they were not Slade's exact clothes, they were strangely similar to his style, despite their non-modern look. A dull-blue short-sleeved shirt, a pair of comfortable, baggy pants, and a black jacket for when it gets cold. There were also a pair of gold cuffs. Slade examined them a bit and put them on as well, pleased with the contrast they had to his fur. They fit perfectly. There was also a belt with a card holder, almost identical to his, except this one had two sections for cards, one on either hip. The final item was a pendant. He quickly snatched it up and examined it. It was his own pendant, a silver chain with a custom-made silver coin attached to it. On one side of the coin was an engraving of a sword, while the other had a flame. Slade gripped the coin tightly as he turned to Kagemusha.

"Where is Jason?" Slade demanded.

Kagemusha stood up and turned to face Slade, his staff in his hand, "He's at the base of the volcano." He pointed towards a lone volcano in the distance. Slade looked at it intently. "He is safe. The volcano is of no danger at the moment. He is being looked after by another."

While the worry about Jason was still not quite quashed, it was slightly diminished. He at least knew where he was. Slade placed the pendant around his neck. "Alright, what the hell is going on?"

"I have brought you to this place, a place that you've heard of many times if what we saw is true," Kagemusha said calmly and slowly. "I don't know if you're aware, but there are twelve dimensions. This is one of them. You may know it by the shadow realm or the world of darkness, a misnomer if you ask my humble opinion. It's not much different than any other dimension where we 'duel monsters' still live." He stopped after that to give Slade time to process it.

Slade was very confused. He knew those terms were from the manga and the anime that he was very much invested in. He'd spent a large portion of his time reading and watching the events that occurred in that fictional world. But it was supposed to be just that. Fictional. How could something fictional from a book and a show come to actually exist. It had to be a dream, right?

"I know this may be difficult for you to believe," the duel monster spoke again, "but this is reality. We performed rituals to summon you and several others here in order to assist us."

After a bit more time thinking, Slade asked, "Alright, let's assume that this isn't a dream or some sort of delusion or hallucination. Why would you bring me here?!"

Kagemusha explained, "There are very few people who have the spiritual fortitude to maintain themselves during the summoning ritual. Even fewer that have the skills required to survive and assist us. I am deeply sorry to have had to pull you from your world like this, but there was no other option."

"And what exactly would you need me for?" Slade demanded. "If this is anything like what the Shadow Realm has been portrayed, then there should be plenty of powerful creatures here that can do just about anything I could and more."

"While it is true that there are many creatures that can do what you can't," Kagemusha explained, "we need duelists. Duelists with strong minds and who wouldn't be corrupted by this world. "

Slade's mind went back to what should've been a fictional show said about the Shadow Realm. If they were at least partially accurate, he assumed that Kagemusha might need him as someone who could summon monsters and use spells and traps in ways that most monsters are incapable of. "And you think that I fit this description?"

"Yes, my emperor," he said with a nod. "And the fact that you are still standing and sane proves that we were correct in your case. We have summoned several others from your world with similar attributes. They had to be summoned in places that their hearts are attuned to."

"That explains why Jason's near a volcano," Slade thought to himself. "With his love of fire type monsters, a volcano would be quite apt for them. But why am I in a meadow." He took another look around at the grassy field. He could see a forest not too far away, and beyond that was the volcano. He also noticed what looked like a large pillar somewhere between them. "Wait a second."

"This looks exactly like the Sogen field card," he said in realization. "That explains it. Warrior types gain an advantage here."

"That is correct," Kagemusha responded. "The creator of your duel monsters game was quite accurate with their research and creation of their cards. They mirrored most aspects very well in the game they created. But, they were not perfect. We assume that they changed some of the laws of this world to make their game easier to play, or he might've simply misinterpreted them. But I digress." The warrior paused. "Please, hold out your hand, palm up."

Slade did as he was asked, straightening his arm and showing his furry palm to the duel monster. A faint light appeared and shimmered over it, soon fading into cards identical to the duel monster cards back from his world. He looked through them and saw nine cards, five monsters, two spells, and two traps. Another detail caught his eye; they were all the cards from the mystery pack he had just opened before having been teleported from his world. The only one that was missing was the "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame" card.

Kagemusha spoke again. "Nine. Not bad. Allow me to explain. These cards are physical representations of the creatures you can conjure, the spells you can cast, and the traps you can set. The cards themselves do not hold the true power; they are merely tools to allow you to ease your access to what people like you are able to do. You can control which selection will be available whenever you wish. To make it easy, all you'll need to do is separate the cards you want and don't want. That's why there are two slots on your belt for your cards." He paused.

"This world is governed by ancient magic that enforces its laws," the warrior continued. "Breaking its laws, while possible, is costly and painful. I'd strongly advise against it."

Kagemusha went on to explain the magical laws of the shadow realm. Shadow duels were quite similar to those that Slade was used to, and they were used to decide conflicts. Duelists would put up stakes on the outcome of the duel before they start, and the magic of the world would treat it as a contract. Much like the duels in Slade's world, duelists would take turns drawing cards and playing their cards, although they didn't use the physical cards. Rather, the cards become, as Kagemusha put it, spiritual apparitions which look quite similar to the holograms that so many people use for duels.

The spells, traps, and monsters, however are not at all like the holograms. They are quite physical and very dangerous. While attacks from them won't generally kill a duelist, they'll sap their strength quite a bit. When Slade asked about how duelists could go around sending their summoned creatures into battle to be killed, Kagemusha assured that the creatures summoned during duels like that are merely replicas and don't feel pain like everyone else does.

Kagemusha explained that the main rule difference between their worlds was that spell cards can be played on either turn so long as the card is set to be sprung. He explained how standard duels give an agreed upon life point counter as a safeguard to protect against accidental death from overtaxing a duelists strength. Depending on the battle area, certain monsters will gain a power boost based on their original strength.

After he finished explaining how the duels in this world worked, he gave Slade some time to process the information. "Outside of duels, though," Kagemusha continued, "things are different. Many of the creatures are not as friendly as I or my associates are. The lands outside of the cities are dangerous. We cleared out the areas where we performed the rituals to summon you and the others, but the path to the closest city will be fairly dangerous.

"Even outside of duels, you're able to summon and order monsters. You can even bring out their spirit to speak and interact with them. It can become difficult maintaining them the longer they are out, though, so it is advisable to pace yourself. While there are no turns outside of duels, there are still refractory periods between gaining new cards to use and the ability to summon more monsters. Likewise, sacrificing is still advisable and traps need time to set up before able to be activated. Only break the refractory periods or sacrifices in emergencies, as it can be quite taxing."

Slade was still trying to memorize all the information that was forced upon him. It wasn't too confusing, but there was a lot of it, and Slade knew that it would be dangerous to forget it. He looked down at his nine cards. "I'm going to need more cards. How do I get them?"

The red-skinned warrior took a handful of cards from his pants, handing them to Slade. "These are capture cards. You can use these to copy replicas of monsters you are near. Once you get stronger, you may even be able to bring forth the spirits of those you are connected to. The samurais that you are so fond of."

Slade looked at the capture cards. The back of the cards appeared to be normal, but the front was a blank white. "I understand how that works for monsters; they are very tangible. A lot of spells and traps are intangible, though. How do I get those."

"Sadly, most of those you will have to buy from spellcasters or vendors," Kagemusha answered. "The currency of this land is much different than yours. This world uses the spiritual power of slain monsters as a type of currency. The power can be used as energy to power spells or a replacement for electricity, which is why it's so valuable. That bracelet on your left arm collects the power they leave behind. You can also buy more capture cards from them as well."

"Alright, how do I use these capture cards?" Slade asked.

"Easy," Kagemusha replied, "simply hold up the card towards the creature you want to make a replica of and the card will do the rest. It'll only work on real people, though. Trying to copy a card of someone else's wouldn't work."

"So," Slade took one of the capture cards and held it up with two fingers in front of Kagemusha, "like this?" The card emitted a faint light before it dimmed. The face of the card now resembled the same card that Slade had been admiring right before this had started.

"Exactly," Kagemusha nodded. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you to bring the replica out, so even if I need to leave for a while, you'll be able to summon me for any advice or guiding you need."

Slade looked back up to him. "Do you plan on leaving?" Despite not really knowing him, Slade wanted the warrior to stay with him. The strange world sounded dangerous, and having someone who knew the area would be an advantage that he would very much enjoy.

Kagemusha bowed deeply. "My sincerest apologies, my emperor," he said, his voice full of respect and regret, "but there are many things that we must do while you and the others fill their decks. You'll be able to ask the replica you summon anything you wish and he will be able to answer anything that I could."

Slade was silent for a short time. "How do I summon you or him or whatever?" he asked. "I'll need to know that before you go."

"Place the cards in the right card holder on the belt," Kagemusha answered. "Those cards will be available during duels and outside of battles. Cards you don't want to use for the time being go on the left. Be sure to snap it shut tap the button for the magic to activate."

Slade placed all ten cards in his right pack, filling the left section with the capture cards. Soon after he secured the button fastener on it and tapped it lightly, the ten cards appeared in front of him, very similar to the holograms he was so used to, but without any of the technology that should make it possible. "Woah..." Slade muttered. "So, then I'd just do this?" Taking a guess, he tapped at the image of the "Kagemusha" card. The image expanded to a much larger version while the others disappeared. He had thought that touching it would activate the summon, but evidently was incorrect. Taking a chance of looking like a fool, Slade called out, "I summon Kagemusha of the Blue Flame!"

The card turned into a bunch of bright shimmering lights, which rushed forwards several yards. They swirled together and formed the shape of the same monster standing before me. The same red-skinned warrior appeared in the lights as they faded, holding the same staff and sword.

The original kagemusha spoke. "Good. You clearly know what you're doing. Now you simply focus on him, and he should be able to mimic me. Your destination is the town past these woods. We will meet again." Kagemusha walked off in a direction away from the city.

After he was a fair distance away, Slade looked back to the replica, who was still kneeling as he faced him. He still wasn't certain of how things worked here. He still half-expected to wake up at some point. The serval decided that until that happened, he should at least see where things went, and the first thing he needed to do was see if he really could bring out this sort of replicated consciousness from what looked like just another hologram at the moment.

"Uh," Slade closed the gap between them, "can you speak?" The replica only looks up at me, his eyes blank. Slade sighed. "Well, I guess that would've been too easy. But I've read enough fantasy books to figure this out." Slade thought back on all the literature he'd read on things of magical nature. It generally came down to a matter of willpower and focus and sometimes certain words like incantations. He figured that the latter probably wouldn't be as mystical as in the books. If it were anything like summoning him, it would simply be a command. Deciding to give it a shot, he spoke in a commanding tone, "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame come to life and speak to me."

Slade felt a bit silly and thought he looked like a bit of a fool, but it surprisingly worked. Kagemusha rose to his feet. "Greeting, my emperor," he said, "how may I assist you?"

Slade said in a surprised tone, "Well damn, it actually worked." Kagemusha smiled kindly as he waited for Slade's answer to his question. "I was actually just testing this replica thing. But since you're here, I am kinda curious about this. You remember everything that the other guy experienced?"

"Yes," Kagemusha answered. "All his experiences up to the time of the capture are in my mind. Anything after that are only his and my experiences with you will not be transferred to him."

Slade nodded. "I thought that might be the case. Um, I don't think I caught your actual name. I only know you as the card name 'Kagemusha of the Blue Flame.'"

"Ah, well, I've simply been going as Kage," the warrior replied calmly. "I don't really recall my original name." He didn't seem at all concerned about that fact. He made it sound as if it were a common occurrence.

Slade gave Kage a quizzical look as he asked, "How can you forget your own name?"

Kage looked as if he were about to answer, but stopped for a moment before replying, "Perhaps we should start walking while I explain this. If it pleases you."

Slade nodded. He had a long walk ahead of him, and he wanted to make as much distance before night as he could. "Yeah, agreed." The duo started walking through the empty, grassy field towards the forest. "So, continue."

"Ah, yes," Kage nodded. "How do I explain this? You know how each species in your world has different characteristics while each individual person for that species looks similar but also different?" After Slade nodded, Kage continued. "Well, it's not exactly like that here. Similar to how you've created a replica of the original Kage, he is merely an imitation of the original Kagemusha of the blue flame. The magic of this world continually creates more of our kind and every other type of monster."

Slade gave a confused look. "Wait," he said, "so there are dozens of the same kind of creatures here? Like, Irou of the six samurai could actually meet another Irou?" He scratched his head, right behind his ear, trying to understand how it would be possible.

Kage nodded, "That is correct. We don't know why or how it happens, but it does." His nonchalance about the subject speaks volumes for just how widely accepted this fact is for the world, but Slade still wanted to know more.

"So, they just suddenly appear wherever?" he asked. "What about procreation?" They soon managed to reach the edge of the forest. Kage showed Slade the path that had been cleared for traveling through.

"Procreation can still happen between males and females," Kage replied, "but the result would appear as a sort of clone of one of the parents. Occasionally there'll be some noticeable difference, but it's uncommon. Some spellcasters believe it to be some variation of the replicate spell merged with a universal field spell, but that's just conjecture."

Slade took a look around. The forest was thriving with plant life, but he'd yet to detect any signs of any monsters, which he was thankful for. The area was silent as an empty graveyard. The more he looked around and thought about it, the more he started getting creeped out. Trying to fill the silence, he asked, "So, Kage, I thought this place was supposed to be dangerous. Right now, it just seems empty. Did you clear this place out, too?"

Kage shook his head. "No, this place was much more active before. Perhaps there is a hunter here." Kage began to scan the area looking for any signs of danger.

"What do you mean by a hunter?" Slade asked. He had a feeling that it was exactly the same thing that he was thinking of.

"Hunters come out into these sorts of areas to collect the energy of monsters they slay," Kage answered calmly. "They are vital to our economy to replenish the energy that's lost when powering spells or other things. Only the strong monsters come out to hunt. Or sometimes the weaker ones will buy equipment to give themselves a better chance if they really want to be- AGH!"

Slade quickly turned to see what happened to Kage. A long blue vine had shot straight through his chest. A few more of those thorn-covered vines shot straight through him, and with each strike, Slade could feel a jolt of pain. The replica of Kage shattered and disappeared, leaving Slade feeling drained. Slade quickly jumped away from where the vines were coming from. It didn't take him long to spot and recognize the monster responsible: a Darkworld Thorns.

"You won't get away with that, you overgrown weed!" Slade yelled. He felt slightly foolish for talking to a plant, but it clearly understood him and was not happy. Slade quickly brought up his card display, tapping on the first one he knew should be able to beat it. "I summon Tiger Axe! Chop it down to size!" Just before a thorny vine could reach Slade, a large anthropomorphic tiger wearing armor and wielding an axe appeared, slicing off the vine that was coming at his summoner.

"Keep it busy," Slade ordered. "Once I capture it, finish it off." The tiger nodded. The plant didn't seem to get the message that the tiger was stronger. Vines continually shot out at the tiger, each one being chopped off. During that time, Slade grabbed a capture card and held it out. It shone softly as Slade captured a replica of it. "Now!" The tiger dashed forward slicing straight through the creature, which shattered to pieces the same way that Kage had. Rather than just disappearing, however, they then flew over to the serval and get absorbed into one of the bracelets he had on.

Slade looked down at the bracelet. A soft light appeared on the front in the shape of the number "twenty-four." Slade spoke aloud to himself, "So, I guess that's what he meant when he said it absorbs their energy." Slade looked over at the tiger who was now standing upright with the butt of his axe resting on the ground.

Slade couldn't help but stare at the mighty tiger in front of him. He'd seen the creature as a holo before, but it felt altogether different having a physical tiger warrior in front of him was different. He could feel the strength radiate off that muscular body. He could smell the light sweat and musk the axe-swinging caused. Those were possible to replicate with the technology they had, but there was something very different, very distinctly real about this one. Something that he'd never experienced with any hologram. A distinct presence that holos lacked.

It was no secret that Slade had found many of the creatures in the card game attractive. He and Jason had often discussed which ones they found most attractive and what they might do if they were actually real. Slade was very tempted to live out one of those fantasies at this very moment. He was very tempted to see just what that tiger looked like under that armor. As much as he wanted to though, he wanted to find Jason first, though. "Tiger, return to your card." With the simple command, the tiger became the blue lights again and disappeared.

Slade sighed and adjusted his pants a bit before continuing on. He could already feel his mind becoming slightly tired from the battle. He was glad that he was quick to summon another creature. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of injury might've occurred had the thorny creature landed that direct attack. He concluded that it wouldn't be anything good and made a mental note to be vigilant for attackers.

Slade continued his walk through the woods. He was thankful to still have his sense of direction. It wasn't long before he heard some growling. He looked around and saw the glowing eyes of several wolves. Slade was quick to bring up the cards again, bringing forth his tiger axe while never taking his gaze off those bright, gleaming eyes staring at him. He waited for a minute, expecting them to suddenly attack, but they seemed content to wait.

"Fine," Slade muttered, "if you won't come to me, I'll simply have Tiger Axe hunt you down." The feline was quick to take the order. He gripped his double-sided battle axe and rushed towards the beasts. A quick slash decimated one of the wolves, but he was then descended upon by the other three hiding behind the trees. The first one grabbed the axe with its teeth while the other two jumped on his back and tore into him. With the better view, Slade was able to recognize the wolf creatures he was dealing with: Silver Fang, a normal beast type monster with one-hundred fewer attack points than the tiger.

This fact was very much in Slade's mind when he watched the wolves swarm him. Under normal duel monsters rules, Tiger Axe would've easily been able to beat them. This wasn't normal duel monsters, though, which threw Slade through a loop when he saw one of the wolves yank away the axe while the other two destroyed the feline fighter. Slade could feel a mild pain in his chest as another one of his monsters was destroyed. He didn't have time to falter, though. He brought up his cards again and quickly tapped the next card he could think of. "Alligator Sword, protect me!"

In a flash of light, a green and yellow scaled reptile wielding a curved sword appeared in front of Slade. With a slash of his sword, he sent the wolves flying back. Knowing how few cards he had, Slade took this opportunity to grab three capture cards and capture the three copies of the wolf creature. They weren't particularly strong or even the type of card he usually used, but he couldn't be picky at the moment. With them captured, he focused on the battle. The gator was surprisingly agile. The wolves tried to tackle the gator, but were deftly avoided. The gator quickly counter-attacked with a strong slash, cutting straight through one of them. The remaining two were quick to try to avenge their fallen comrade. The two of them weren't a match for the gator's quick flurry to strikes. They both vanish into lights and get absorbed just as the plant did, increasing Slade's point counter by nearly one hundred points.

The forest was filled with those silver fangs. Slade could barely walk a full hour before he had to stop to summon another one of his monsters to strike them down. He could feel the weariness from the travel and summoning already, but he pressed on until nightfall. It was a chilly night, and Slade regretted not asking Kage where he could get camping supplies. He didn't even have a simple blanket to cover up. He was tempted to summon Tiger Axe again just to share some body heat, but he felt a bit odd about doing that. It seemed like a very selfish way to use his cards, not something an honorable duelist should do. Besides, he knew that if he decided to summon the tiger to warm his non-existent bed, it could very likely lead to more than just snuggling, and he would much rather talk to Jason before doing anything like that.

Slade's thoughts turned toward Jason. He wondered how Jason was faring with all this. Slade chuckled a bit as he realized that Jason was likely completely fine. He was always the braver of the two. He had probably cleared out his area of all the monsters and racked up enough of that currency to buy a town by now. The thought warmed his heart and helped calm him down. All he had to do was meet him in the town he was pointed to and everything would be fine. He knew it would.