1 Teutsui's Gambit

Scene: A small, tropical jungle island is shown from high above; a large fish-shaped tower rises from the center. Lazing about inside the main chamber of the tower is Teutsui, a small black cat who is the demi-god ruler of the small island realm of Fish. Her gnawing on fish bones by the fireplace is interrupted by a knocking on the interior chamber doors.

"Lord Teutsui! The envoy from the Realm of Flames has arrived! Shall I send him in?"

Teutsui pops her head up attentively while she stares down the door, "Yes, send him in"

The chamber doors slowly open up to reveal a phoenix with imposing height dressed in a hooded flame-red cloak.

"Hello, please come in", Teutsui says as she hops down from her pile of bones, "I must thank you for meeting with me, envoy. I know it is not easy to travel to this realm."

"Yes, of course, it is a pleasure to finally meet you Teutsui. You may call me Sose, by the way. May I set my bag down on your table?"

Sose gestures toward the fishbone table in the center of the chamber. Teutsui ushers him over and Sose takes two items out of his bag and lays them out on the table; he gazes down to meet Teutsui in the eye.

"Now, I trust you've thought this through, Teutsui? He is your brother. You cannot turn back once you do this."

"Trust me; I've been sure about this for the last 100 years or so. That damn Ice Dragon thinks he can just leave me to rot in this realm! There's more to this universe, there's more fish in this universe! I mean, really, this realm has a natural portal to the Squirrel Realm but he refuses to let me cross, saying it would break our treaty. Why even have treaties with them if we are starving to death!?"

"It's okay, I understand. It is simply my job to make sure you understand, that is all."

Sose picks up the first item on the table: a small ornamental hatchet with a glowing red blade.

"This... will enable you to cut the collar off of any demi-god in the Greater Universe. It has tremendous 'anti-mana' properties," Sose says, being sure to emphasize his air quotes, "so please use it with care... and do NOT lose it. Creating a blade like this requires a virtual army of mana channelers and draws an immense amount of mana to from the Universal Pool of Fire Mana. Needless to say, Lord Buddy will have both my head AND yours if it is lost."

The phoenix envoy places the hatchet down, and points to a red glowing collar.

"That also goes for this."

Teutsui's eyes peer down, fixated on the two items on the table.

"Now I know that you, like I, wear a collar, and are well aware that these allow the wearer to channel mana at-will from the Universal Pool of Mana the collar is aligned with, and in the case of this collar that'd be the Fire Pool. You are hopefully also aware of the sheer amount of mana that is required of a god to craft a collar..."

Sose starts to take notice of the desire in Teutsui's gaze.

"...and by the way: don't get any ideas about using these on yourself. This is a test of your loyalty to Buddy, the great Fire Dragon, and he will know immediately if the collar is placed on anyone but the intended target. There would be an army on your doorstep by nightfall if you were to try, despite the moderate difficulty in reaching the Realm of Fish."

Teutsui's gaze breaks as she looks up to meet the eyes of the phoenix envoy. He continues.

"We need the power your brother Dandan possesses. The ability to cross realms with the ease that he does..."

"Enough about Dandan! I know about his abilities. You think I'm not haunted by dreams of him rolling around the Greater Universe with his nipples hanging out, while I'm trapped here in this dying realm!?"

"Alright already, calm down. So, you understand the plan then? You will remove the collar Dandan wears, and put on this one from Buddy, the great Fire Dragon. I will be monitoring this area, and as soon as that collar is placed I'll return with a small force to escort your brother to Realm of Flames."

Teutsui starts eyeballing the bone pile from before.

"Yes, yes. I got it. I'll subdue and secure Dandan; you'll appear once the collar is placed, yadda yadda. Big dangle. All I want to know is: once you have Dandan, will I have unfettered access from this realm to the rest of the Flaming Empire?"

"That is the plan, Teutsui; deliver Dandan to us with the collar from Duff removed, and Lord Buddy's collar in its stead. If you succeed then you will remain the demi-god ruler of Fish, and once Lord Buddy incorporates this realm into the Flaming Empire you will have free access to pass through our vast network of realms. "

Teutsui's eyes light up as she grins. Sose the phoenix continues talking as he looks off to the side.

"Now, Lord Buddy was very specific about making sure that collar is placed. As you know, while most collars do not 'bind' the will of the wearer to the god who created it, they nevertheless have a unique mana signature that allows that god to essentially track the whereabouts of the wearer throughout the Greater Universe. However, this collar will give Dandan the ability to channel from the Fire Pool. We do not yet know if Dandan is able to perform the mana weaving required for his warping using mana from the Fire Pool, but ability to track him is something we do know, and thus we are willing to risk him being able to escape as long as we have that constant feed of his whereabouts in the Greater Universe. We can always track him down afterwards with a much larger force, but we NEED that collar placed on him, Teutsui... Teutsui?"

Teutsui's eyes return to looking at fish carcasses, as she is back on top of her bone pile, sniffing around.

"Teutsui, if I may ask: you are awfully carefree for someone who is about to commit treason, do you not worry about Duff's response to what you are about to do? Most gods and goddesses are known to handle such acts by putting the traitor to death. And if you fail in what I just told you, Lord Buddy will not help you. And hopefully this goes without saying, but if you try and double-cross Lord Buddy, well, let's just say he handles treason like most gods do. Do you understand the situation, Teutsui?"

Teutsui looks at Sose from her bone pile and sits up, looking regal.

"Duff lost his spine centuries ago. I do not fear him in the slightest, my friend. I want off of this rotting realm... I want to see the Greater Universe... and bend it to my will."

"Well, I cannot say I do not understand your motivation, however do you understand that in the event you fail, we will have to re-evaluate your role here in Fish once it is under Buddy's control?"

"Ugh, re-evaluate my foot why don't you? I'll get you Dandan, don't worry about it."

"Alright. I'll be returning to the Realm of Flames then. Don't let me down, Teutsui."

Sose carefully kneels down, and unsheathes a tanto.

"...and sorry for the mess."

The phoenix envoy then uses the tanto to disembowel himself where he kneeled. Once dead, his body is engulfed in flames, leaving just ash behind. Scene ends with Teutsui investigating the ash with her snout and nonchalantly licking bits off the ground.