Scarecrow woke to the most massive hangover he had ever experienced. His body felt like it was on fire, and he could immediately tell that several ribs were broken, along with his right arm. As if that weren't enough, the DarkCloak was also missing. Normally, Scarecrow would be quite dismayed by his current position. However, he had no time to be dismayed. Footsteps were approaching fast, less than ten feet away by his best guess. Scarecrow rolled to the side, ignoring the pain that lanced through his arm as he did so. Leaping to his feet, he turned to face whoever it was that was approaching. Even injured as he was, the longsword came smoothly into his left hand as he studied the newcomer. It was a young man, probably in his early twenties. Garbed in an akward-looking blue robe, he had a stance that showed the robe would probably not slow him down. Blond hair cascaded in waves to his muscular shoulders. But the most interesting thing about him was the blazing fire in his bright blue eyes. The young man was the first to break the silence. "Who are you?" he asked. "I might ask the same of you," responded Scarecrow. "I..." the young man hesitated, holding a hand to his head. "I don't remember. Call me... Tellah." Tellah's eyes narrowed. "Your turn. Who are you?" "Give me a minute," Scarecrow wheezed. Those ribs were getting more painful by the second. Scarecrow blinked as nothing happened. The magical energies had just... dissapated. Still no effect. After a moment of hesitation, Scarecrow sheathed his sword and whipped out a potion, which he downed in one gulp. Scarecrow grinned as the healing energies took effect. At least SOMEthing still worked. "As to your question, some call me Scarecrow. Now... where are we?" Scarecrow glanced around briefly. It appeared to be night, though the sky gleamed oddly... if it was sky. There was an immense stone tower only a few feet away from where he stood. There was also a key, a translucent crystal, and various other bits of paraphernelia strewn about the ground nearby. Speaking of the ground, it appeared to be made of some type of black crystal, and gave off a faint glow. Tellah grinned. "I might ask the same of..." He broke off as deep, booming laughter filled the air. "Well, well, well," the booming voice echoed, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "You survived, eh, Scarecrow?" Laughter rang out again. "Congratulations. You are now one of the only two who have the strength to survive the call of the Void. I must confess I had no idea you were so powerful." Scarecrow closed his eyes, trying to remember where he had heard the voice before. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember exactly what had happened for the last few hours, and had no idea how it was that he had come to be in this place. The last thing that he remembered clearly was riding on his chocobo... and then... someone had attacked him. Scarecrow held a hand to his head, trying to remember. "Having trouble remembering things, Scarecrow?" the unseen speaker laughed. "I guess you're not completely immune to the effects of the Void." "Enough of this foolishness!" Scarecrow responded. "Show yourself!" "I doubt even you would survive such an experience. But very well, a... physical incarnation." A haze of darkness formed, coalescing into a vaguely human shape. The dark form glanced around a moment before striding slowly to stand before Scarecrow. "Interesting that all this," the figure broke off to gesture at the odds and ends on the floor, as well as the tower, "all this escaped the Call of the Void. The most interesting things can be found when you Call." The dark shape took a few steps closer. "And you," it began, gesturing at Tellah. "You most certainly were not in the area I... altered. It will be most interesting finding out just who you are. I am afraid, however, that for the moment, I would like to speak to Scarecrow alone. Good night." Tellah didn't even have time to move as the gust of wind knocked into him, smashing him back against the wall of the tower. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. Scarecrow rose one eyebrow from beneath his black mask. "Good. I have a rule about not involving innocents in my work. Now, let's get down to business. First, what should I call you?" "You, and all other mortals, may call me Master. Whether or not you do now, you WILL call me that eventually." "I doubt it. Perhaps, instead, you will be the one to call me master. Until then, I will call you Worm." 'Worm' laughed. "Amusing. I don't think anyone yet has had the raw stupidity to insult me. But I suppose it takes courage as well. A highly overrated virtue, I might add." "Did you come here for a reason, or were you just planning on chatting? I do have better things to do." The black figure laughed again. "Arrogant, even in the most dire of situations. I like your style, Scarecrow. You have great power, and I can offer you even greater. You have proved yourself stronger than anyone else I have yet to know. And so, I offer you the greatest privelege any mortal has ever been offered. You will stand one step beneath me as together we conquer the world. I will give you all the power necessary to do as you wish. In time, perhaps your power will even grow to equal mine, and we will become partners. I offer you immortality, Scarecrow. I offer you EVERYTHING!" The figure lowered it's voice to a whisper. "I ask only one thing in return. Kneel before me now. Serve me. Think of the power, Scarecrow. You can have it all." Scarecrow paused a moment before applauding, slowly. "An excellent performance, Worm. I couldn't have lied through my teeth better myself. Perhaps your offer would be better if you actually had everything to offer me. As I see it, you don't even have the power to off one pathetic assassin, much less what is necessary to conquer the world." "You DARE insult me?" A raging inferno burned in the black figure's eyes. "I have killed men for far, far less! Perhaps you do not realize the precariousness of your situation. You are trapped inside a Black Crystal, with no way to escape short of me. Perhaps you have not noticed, but there is a time shift in effect, and for every second you are in here, hours pass in the outside world. Even if you somehow survived my wrath, you would never escape. You will serve me, or you will DIE!" Scarecrow paused. "So be it. I serve no man save one." Twin longswords slid out of their sheaths. The dark one smiled. "Very well, I will play your game." It intoned strange words, and a massive sword of fire appeared in its hand. They circled each other for a moment, mentally testing each other's defenses. Without warning, Scarecrow closed in, slashing from opposite directions with his two longswords. 'Worm' hopped backward, just out of reach of the slicing blades. It retaliated with a vicious downstroke that Scarecrow stopped only inches from hid face. 'Worm' pressed down harder, straining Scarecrow's muscles to their limit. "You can't beat me, Scarecrow," the phantasm laughed. "This is only the tiniest portion of my power. I could kill you with a thought. You cannot win." "Shut up and fight." "If you insist." 'Worm' added pressure, forcing back Scarecrow's blade, closer and closer to his face. Closer... sweat beaded beneath Scarecrow's mask... closer... Scarecrow's knees buckled, yet he forced himself to remain standing... closer... "Da'kazo!" Scarecrow shouted as he let himself fall to the ground, pushing with his swords such that the dark figure went sailing over him, and slammed into the tower's wall. To follow through, Scarecrow used his hands to flip himself backward and into the air, crashing down with two of his knives into the phantasm's chest. That should be more than enough to kill any opponent. Just to be sure, though, Scarecrow slammed his fists against the thing's skull, smashing it to pieces. Or, that was the intention, anyway. The phantasm's hands stopped Scarecrow's just before they connected. "Did you really think it would be that easy to win, Scarecrow? Not quite." With that, a burst of energy roared into Scarecrow, sending him reeling to the side. He was on his feet in an instant, but not before the phantasm. Time to change tactics, Scarecrow thought. Before 'Worm' moved, he cut loose with an Aurabolt. The dark form didn't even attempt to escape the blast. The Aurabolt hit full force, and yet the dark one didn't even move. "You'll have to do better than that, Scarecrow. Something like this, perhaps." A small flame appeared in its hands. Scarecrow knew better than to stand around. He dove to the side, just in time to avoid the flame thrown at him. He hadn't counted on the flame exploding, however. The blast knocked him even farther to the side, straight into the explosion of another missile. Shot after shot was thrown, detonating with perfect accuracy. When the dust settled, Scarecrow lay on the ground, unmoving. The black figure smiled. Scarecrow was good, but not that good. It laughed as it gazed around the room. All these interesting things, how had they escaped the Call? Even a young man... For the first time in a great while, the Master was surprised. The young man had vanished. Where could he... Tellah crashed down from above him, metal rod clutched in hand. The force of the blow was enough to smash the rod through the self-proclaimed 'Master's head. They crashed to the ground, but only Tellah came back up. Tellah breathed. It had been a while since he... Tellah barely had time to react as the phantasm's hands went up, smashing hard against Tellah's skull. Tellah rolled backward, landing against the wall of the tower. "You dare to attack me? Die, mortal, DIE!" Tellah struggled to regain a fighting posture as the black figure leaped at him, fiery sword raised. Tellah raised his hands to ward off part of the blow, though he realized what a futile effort that was. As the sword crashed down, Tellah noticed a quick movement to the side. Just in time, Scarecrow leaped, swinging his sword in a wicked arc that landed deep in the thing's chest. The phantasm fell backward, then rolled to its feet. For a moment, everyone paused, doing nothing. Then the dark one broke the silence. "Well, well. The two mortals have decided to join together to attack me. This could be most amusing. However, this battle draws away a small portion of my power, that I have a better use for. Besides, I grow tired of this game. It is time to end it." As it spoke the last words, the black shape made subtle motions with its hands, and the fiery sword glowed with an eerie new light. The phantasm slowly strode forward. Without warning, Tellah leaped, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye. Scarecrow and 'Worm' ignored him, concentrating on each other. 'Worm' made a quick slash, which Scarecrow easily parried... And then the fiery sword slashed through his longswords. He tried to dive back, but the blazing weapon scored a good hit. Pain lanced through Scarecrow's chest, and yet he managed to dive aside to dodge another blow. A spit second later, the sword crashed down again, this time cutting deep into his left leg. Scarecrow rolled to the side to dodge yet another strike. The sword flashed down again... But this time, it met with a solid defense. The Guardian. Sparks rang out as the molten blade dashed against the white glow of the weapon of an ancient warrior. The phantasm blinked in surprise, hesitating for an instant. An instant was all Scarecrow needed. Pressing his advantage, he knocked the dark one's blade to the side, and drove the Guardian deep into its chest. Before he even had the chance to make another attack, the phantasm's arms came up, smashing into Scarecrow with force enough to send him sprawling. Even as Scarecrow struggled to stand, 'Worm' pulled the Guardian from its own chest, holding it up to examine it. "Interesting. Too bad you aren't the actual owner of this weapon. If you were, you might have actually had a chance. A pity." 'Worm' turned it around in his hands, inspecting it carefully. "A weapon like this could conceivably be a danger to me. I think I will destroy it." The black form began chanting, then raised the sword in the air. Scarecrow was too far away to have any chance of stopping the spell, and noted with despair that his most powerful magic item was about to be destroyed. And then Tellah came crashing down, burying his weapon in the phantasm's chest. The Guardian sword flew to one side as both Tellah and the dark one went down in a heap. They wrestled for a moment, but the phantasm's massive strength soon won over, and Tellah was pushed to one side. Tired of Tellah's interference, 'Worm' cast a quick hold spell on Tellah before turning to face Scarecrow. Scarecrow, who had been moving as fast as his badly bleeding legs would carry him, made one last, desperate leap for the Guardian sword... In almost he same instant, the phantasm leaped, flaming sword aimed perfectly at Scarecrow's neck... Scarecrow's hand grasped the sword... The blazing blade came crashing down... And the two magical weapons clashed together again, inches from Scarecrow's throat. The heat of the molten blade so close to his neck neearly caused Scarecrow to black out, and only years of training saved him. He pushed harder, trying to force back the fiery blade... And, abruptly, the dark figure leaped backward, just out of sword reach. Scarecrow only had an instant to prepare himself before the onslaught came, his enemy's blade whirling with deadly efficiency, stroke after stroke aimed perfectly to kill him. And yet, stroke after stroke, Scarecrow parried, hands moving with speed even he had not realized he possessed. The dark one's face contorted with impotent rage that Scarecrow was able to survive, and yet the attacks kept coming. And then, as quickly as the onslaught began, it was over. The black figure drew his sword back, chanting ancient words under his breath. Wheezing with stress, Scarecrow only barely had time to bring his sword up to parry when his enemy's sword came streaking at him suddenly. Yet, again, Scarecrow parried perfectly. This time, however, it was exactly what was expected. The two swords crashed together, but the phantasm's blade hit off course. Moving with spellbought speed, the dark one made slight alterations to the motion of his sword, spinning it around Scarecrow's... ... and the Guardian sword came out of Scarecrow's hand, whickering over to land near Tellah. With one fist, the phantasm pounded the disarmed Scarecrow to the ground. It raised it's sword. "You see, Scarecrow?" the dark one began. "Your weapons are futile against me, and even that sword does you no good. There is no way you can win. And so I give you this last chance: kneel before me now, or in the spirit world!" Massing up all his remaining energy, Scarecrow stood. When he spoke, determination and raw power were evident in his voice. "I think you will find that I have one more weapon left. The only weapon you have no power against." Slowly, Scarecrow removed the glove of his right hand. The dark figure stepped back against the crystal wall, fear forming in its eyes for the first time. "It cannot be! Who ARE you?" Scarecrow said nothing, only approached. The figure lashed out with his fiery blade, but Scarecrow was unscathed. A light flashed as Scarecrow drew back his hand. "In memory of what was lost," Scarecrow whispered, low enough that not even his opponent heard. He connected with the phantasm. For a moment, the dark figure was paralyzed, screaming in agony; then it dissapated.