The Frozen North
Approximately Five Hundred Miles from the Crystal Empire
Across barren fields of infinite snowflakes, a lone figure chased another. One flew via wings, the other atop a ice-encrusted boulder: far enough that she could only be seen if she wished. A black cloak she wore flapped in the wind, yet her strange, exposed black eyes remained unimpeded by it. It didn't matter, however: the cold around her was nothing she wasn't used to. She had been numb for many years by other means.
The Black Orb... that horrible, yet beautiful abomination. It called to her every day, from some ancient corner of the world. A thing that none could understand, but what none needed to. A thing that defied the very will of the universe.
Stolen...
Hidden...
By the one man who had ever bested her master.
"Captain Black... where the hell are you hiding?" she whispered.
She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the figure in the distance. They approached a massive mountain range, and it became a dot among their forms. Yet as they grew closer, she realized what her target had travelled all this way for: a small, unnoticable mouth of a mining shaft, long since covered in snow.
One that her target was eager to open for them.
The chaser couldn't help but grin. This was the moment of moments... and nothing would get in her way... not even her master's former second in command.
The Mines
Shadows...
...
Ancient rails...
...
Memories... a time of a tyrant...
...
...
...
...
Voices...
...
"What the hell do you want?! I don't even know you. And while you know my name, do you have any idea who the hell I am?! I KILLED THE DOCTOR, GOD DAMNIT!"
A male.
""Yet you chained yourself up," she said. "A hint of remorse got through all that hate - all of that darkness, didn't it?"
A female. Definite changeling. Her target.
...
...
...
SNNNNNCKKKKKKK!.!.!
Slade...
The apprentice grunted, blinked thrice, and opened up a communication channel with him. A miniature device called a 'thought translator and transmitter' had been implanted directly into her mind, allowing her to communicate with him anytime, anywhere...
"Apprentice. Status."
... It could get annoying.
She gave a groan. "Slade? I'm a little busy... Requiem is right by me..." She then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you know this! You have your little babysitting probes with me..."
"I'm aware of this, my dear. I'm just calling to remind you that you are not to engage your target unless I give the specific order. Am I clear?"
"Yes, I know..."
"Good. And once she's gone..."
She nodded. "I stay."
"Good girl. You are already proving to be much more useful than your... predecessor, could I say?"
"Hah!" she scoffed. "She was a capable fighter, and decent at manipulation... but her heart was too pure. She didn't know the Black Orb... pitiable, really.
"Indeed," Slade chuckled. "But I wouldn't sell yourself short, apprentice... it takes not only an enormous will, but an enormous mind to resist being driven insane by it immediately... be proud of what you've accomplished."
She smiled. Compliments from Slade were a bit... unusual. He must have been in a good mood. It was no surprise, really: he had only been hunting Captain Black for about three centuries. It was only by luck that he was able to find him
"Thank you, master," she whispered.
"You're welcome. Still - this is only more reason to take caution when dealing with Captain Black... though his atypical type of immortality may prove useful. Don't hold back when you attempt to extract the information we need from him..."
She nodded again.
The conversation continued down in the depths...
"The device is just a tool. With a strong mind anyone could use it for both sides of the fence. If you can resist it, what about someone who's practiced dark magic all of her life? With it - I can lead my people to a better era."
"I can barely resist it! All I want to do right now is kill you... these chains are the only thing holding me back. And this is after TWO THOUSAND YEARS of practice."
Slade chuckled. "It's amusing, really. Requiem always hinted she knew where he had gone to. I had always assumed he had entered the artifact, but it seems his ties to this world are too strong."
"It was a good idea that you ordered me to follow her..." the apprentice whispered.
"It was inevitable," Slade said. "Requiem, though she hates to admit it, has an obsession more than even I. Sure, she may have started as an idealistic fool: hoping to overtake Chrysalis' hive and lead it to a 'better' future - but she's lost her way. Amusing what dark magic can do to you without a little guidance... The funny thing is that I would have provided aid in this endeavor, even at her defeat at Garfield Logan's hooves, but it seems she has other prospects in mind. She always did have interest in the Orb..."
The apprentice raised an eyebrow. "Why don't I just follow her further - she'll lead me right to it. Or even better, send one of your probes..."
Slade grunted. "A decent prospect, but I don't want to risk her getting even near it. The Black Orb, if put in her hooves, could be an incredibly powerful tool. I do not want to risk an already corrupt being using it. She could become a threat to even me if she's as ambitious as she seems to be... a chaotic, unpredictable, and uncontrollable threat. I will be sending assets to neutralize this threat once she has left the Frozen North."
"Very well. But are you sure you can trust me to get near it, though?" the apprentice mused.
...
There was a deep, low chuckle.
The apprentice raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny? It's kind of creepy hearing you laugh...."
Slade took a deep breath. "Is it? I'll have to do it more often..."
"You still haven't answered my question..."
There was a pause. Nothing but the conversation down in the mines could be heard, before Slade finally answered:
"You wish to know the reason I'm amused? It's quite simple. I am merely glad to say that you are everything I had wished her to become. You are the legacy she should have been proud of, not shunned away by ties with her so-called friends. I trained her hard, I punished her severely for her mistakes, but it was all to make her stronger, and more importantly: all to make her hate me. Hate breeds incentive to improve one's self for the ultimate goal of besting what ills you... yet unfortunately, when she finally figured out how to defeat me, it was for all the wrong reasons. For once, I had not expected something. I had not expected her to be on the side of good after all. Yet sometimes, the universe throws us curveballs, doesn't it?" A beat. "...But sometimes, it also throws us gifts we don't deserve... second chances to overcome previous follies..."
A grin slowly came to the apprentice's face.
"You're smiling at this right now, aren't you?" Slade asked.
She chuckled. "I just love your dark, creepy speeches sometimes. And not in a weird way."
She could practically see Slade grin at this - behind the mask, of course.
"And that is why you are the perfect apprentice for me..."
...
"... Terra."