OG: Interlude: Meanwhile, With the Other Champions VI

Emma Yung had been having an interesting past few months. Firstly, she'd effectively been voluntold into helping with White Council Wizard Training as soon as the White Council had realized what she could do with Chi and Magic. Not only that, but she had also been pressed into helping some of the White Council's non-Wizard Allies as well, such as Catherine Taylor and Anna Ischenko of the Venatori Umbrorum or Knight of the Cross Shiro Yoshimo, who had only accepted the Chi Training, since training in Magic would be a step too far for him. She'd already trained a number of notable White Council Wizards, some of whom had a lot more talent than others. At the same time, some Wizards had talent in different areas from others.

Take the differences between Warden Steele, who was her primary contact with the White Council, and Harry Dresden. Pierce Steele had a phenomenal facility with Chi, having already been familiar with the concept from growing up in British Hong Kong back before the Handover, and whose expertise as a Warden was in spells that enhanced movement, complementing his sword work. Harry, on the other hand, was only ever able to grasp the Basics of Chi, but was far more capable with certain out-of-context magics, mostly the ones from Cagliostro's Library, especially ones associated with fire, like the Phoenix Flames of Mitra.

Of course, that was fine and all, especially as she learned just as much from training others as she did during self-study. Unfortunately, it was during one such training session that she wound up being dragged along for an adventure before she was supposed to actually be in the field. She had been training Harry in Chicago, doing a leisurely bit of parkour to force him to further develop his Chi reserves, when they'd been attacked by what looked like a giant, four-eyed, six-legged, horned, Grizzly Bear. The Fallen Angel Ursiel, who had apparently attacked based on a case that Harry was currently working on.

Of course, Emma had immediately used her Chi-enhanced Physical abilities to dodge its rush, kicking it down off the rooftop and into the alleyway with a Chi-enhanced kick that would have broken the ribs of any normal bear, even one that size. Seeing it was still up and able to fight, Emma had leaped down after it and used the Chains of Krakkan to bind it. Once bound, Harry had unleashed the Phoenix Flames of Mitra to kill the thing, leaving behind a corpse and a blackened silver coin. Shiro Yoshimo, of all people, showed up moments later to collect the coin and explained things. By that point, however, Emma had gotten tangled up in the Plot to steal the Shroud of Turin and Harry's current case.

Fortunately, thanks to her outside context capabilities, they managed to fairly easily track the shroud, finding Anna Valmont before the Denarians did and avoiding an attempt to capture them by Valmont's gang of thieves by dint of being able to use Chi Enhancement to break out of the handcuffs that had been put on them. That had been a bit of a show of force on Emma's Part that had pretty well cowed the so-called Churchmice. They'd willingly parted with the Shroud after that in order to escape whatever retribution they thought Emma, Shiro, and Harry would deal to them for trying to capture them. Emma and Company had then managed to get the Shroud out of Chicago ahead of the Denarians, and Emma had even managed to cure Shiro's Cancer with one of the Senzu Beans she had acquired thanks to her powers, at least once he had mentioned that fact. She'd thought it had been odd that he'd been so insistent on staying to fight the Denarians when they already had the shroud and could get it to a safe location without even dealing with another Denarian.

Of course, that hadn't been the only entanglement she'd managed to get herself into thanks to her association with the White Council, as her current predicament could attest to. She had found herself effectively drafted in a raid on a Red Court Compound in the Mountains of Michoacan, Mexico, close to Lake Patzcuaro. It was suspected to be one of the Compounds that the Ortegas kept, but nobody had said anything about it being the Primary Wartime Compound of Arianna Ortega herself. If it had just been the White Council sending this strike team of mixed Venatori Agents and Wardens, it would have been a massacre. As it was, they were holding together thanks to her outside context capabilities.

"Qué estás esperando? Mata a la Puta!" Snarled Arianna Ortega, pointing right at Emma.

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a legitimate Businesswoman, not a whore!" Retorted Emma.

"You're blood that hasn't been drunk yet, that's all!" Spat Arianna Ortega.

As she did that, however, a surge of Red Court Vampires, bereft of their flesh masks, charged forth. Apparently, only the High and Mighty Duchess got to wear her Flesh Mask today. Go figure. Emma rippled her Chi as she blurred forward in a snap kick that smashed into the fanged maw of the lead Red Court Vampire, snapping its neck and breaking its fangs from the force, sending it reeling backward to trip up the two behind it.

"I call forth the Flames of the Faltine! Burn!" Invoked Emma, blasting extradimensional fire at the piled-up Vampires. A Red Court Vampire could heal from a snapped neck in under a minute. Fire, on the other hand, killed them dead just as much as it did any other thing. Unfortunately, as those three burned, four more pressed forward, two of which clambered onto the walls using their talons to gouge out handholds. Fortunately, Emma was fast enough to leap backward, incanting the spells in archaic Chinese to form a Barrier of Tao Magic. The leading Vampires smashed against the Barrier, bouncing off it to little effect.

As she focused her willpower on maintaining the Barrier, Emma looked back at the Warden who had accompanied her into the heart of the Compound, Jean-Paul Thibault. Warden Thibault was an assistant to Warden Commander MacDonald of Central Canada and largely handled things in Quebec more or less independently. He'd been the only Warden on the Strike Team veteran enough to survive the initial, first frantic skirmishes, before it had become clear exactly what they had all just stepped into. By the time they knew, a new plan had to be worked out. See, Emma and Warden Thibault had raided deep into the heart of the Compound in order to draw the attention of the Red Court Vampires away from the Venatori Agents who were, even now, planting demolition charges in the foundations of the Compound. Once they blew the roof off this place, the Sunlight would deal with most of the remaining Vampires, but until then, Emma and Warden Thibault were on their own.

"How is it looking, Jean-Paul? Are we good to leave yet?" Questioned Emma.

"Non. We need more time." Informed Warden Thibault.

"Fine, I'll get us more time. How's the gut wound?" Queried Emma.

"Much better, thanks to your potion. How you managed to get that much power into a basic healing potion, I have no clue, though." Huffed Warden Thibault.

"You wouldn't ask a lady to reveal her secrets, would you?" Asked Emma Cheekily.

"Périssent la pensée. I would never. However, if you would share them willingly, perhaps over wine?" Chuckled Warden Thibault.

"No time for that, I'm afraid, it looks like they're almost through the barrier." Intoned Emma.

Indeed, the mass of Red Court Vampires had only doubled, and her Tao Magic Barrier was cracking and beginning to come apart as eight supernaturally strong opponents battered away at it with claws, legs, and wings. Fortunately, though, Emma had something for this. She reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a folded-up napkin. As the Red Court Vampires finally broke through her Tao Magic Barrier, Emma summoned her happy thoughts and shook out the napkin. As she did, a burst of honest-to-gods sunlight flared out in the darkened corridors of the underground compound, burning the eight charging Red Court Vampires to death and even traveling far enough to strip the flesh mask off of Arianna Ortega.

"You bitch! I'll kill you myself!" Snarled Arianna as her hulking, batlike, true form barreled down the corridor toward Emma.

Emma lurched backward, avoiding the rake of Arainna Ortega's claws, only for her to launch her prehensile, piercing tongue at Emma from afar. The tongue of a red court vampire of Arianna's Age and Pedigree could punch clean through an athletic adult, but the Red Court Duchess made one fatal flaw, she aimed for Emma's Heart. That wouldn't ordinarily be a problem for a Red Court Vampire. They were, after all, effectively the Bloody Gods of Ancient Mesoamerica and their children. To beings like that, the heart, or more specifically, the Heart's Blood, was one of the best meals they could get. However, Emma was currently wearing armor under her coat, and not just any armor either, but Dragon's Mail, made from the scales of an Old and Powerful Dragon. Against protection like that, even Duchess Arianna Ortega's tongue would fail to punch through.

As her tongue bounced off the Dragon's Mail under Emma's Coat, the Red Court Duchess paused for a fraction of a second, stunned momentarily for the first time in centuries. She got over it quickly, but not quickly enough, as Warden Thibault, now fully healed, struck back with a conjured blade thrown from range, opening the Duchess' belly and causing blood to seep out, making the Duchess lose strength. Emma continued that line of attack, casting a spell of Absorb Strength, sapping some more of Duchess Ortega's strength and transferring it to her before blurring forward in a bout of Chi-Enhanced Movement and lashing out with a punch. This Chi-enhanced punch was further enhanced by the plated glove that Emma had slipped on while Warden Thibault had momentarily engaged the Duchess. With this glove on, each punch burned with the heat of a wildfire, searing into Arianna Ortega with flames as well as the crushing force of Emma's Chi.

Duchess Ortega was blasted back down the hall by the punch, flaring her wings out to stop her from crashing through the rear wall. That proved a mistake, as Warden Thibault launched a pair of conjured metal stakes at Duchess Ortega, pinning her to the concrete wall. Duchess Ortega was forced to tear through her own wings to avoid the incoming Daggers of Flame that Emma sent her way, the bloody chunks taken out of her wings still pinned to the wall now sapping her strength further. Arianna Ortega charged back down the Hall, still coming after them even after all of that, but Emma had a solution to that.

"I call upon the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to bind you!" Intoned Emma, summoning bands of crimson force that snapped around Duchess Ortega's wings and legs, rendering her immobile once again. Her tongue, however, was still unbound, and she flicked it out, this time aiming at Emma's head. Fortunately, Emma was not alone, as Warden Thibault's Sword, an eighteenth-century-style Cavalry Sabre, flashed out, the silvery metal carving through the rubbery flesh of Duchess Ortega's Tongue, severing it in a spray of blood and narcotic saliva.

"Let's finish this, Non?" Questioned Warden Thibault.

"Sure. Do you want to do the honors or should I?" Queried Emma.

"You are better suited to it, I think. I don't have the facility with fire you do." Offered Warden Thibault.

"If you're sure?" Asked Emma.

"I'll kill you!" Snarled Arianna Ortega, severed tongue already healed enough to form coherent sentences.

"Not like that you won't." Snarked Emma.

"Nukani ijñani, ningarikua!" Howled Arianna Ortega in what must have been her native language from back before the Conquistadors showed up.

"Sorry, I don't speak whatever that is." Retorted Emma.

"Purepecha, I think. I'm no expert." Shrugged Warden Thibault.

"Whatever, let's finish this. I call upon the Flames of the Faltine! This is the end!" Incanted Emma, thrusting her hands out.

As she did, extradimensional flames boiled forth to engulf Duchess Arianna Ortega, roasting the Red Court Noblewoman to death with the heat of a burning star. As she died, Duchess Ortega let out an unearthly shriek. One that Emma figured definitely alerted any remaining Red Court Vampires still in the Compound. She turned to Warden Thibault, whose face was ashen as he realized that, too. Only for a buzzing noise to go off from the communication stone that Warden Thibault had been using in lieu of a radio, thanks to Magic in this universe not playing nice with technology. As it did, a look of relief washed over both of their faces.

"Time to go." Nodded Warden Thibault.

"Great, let's get the hell out of here." Agreed Emma.

Warden Thibault grabbed onto her as she produced a small, tarnished, bronze key. In actuality, this was a Portkey that she had enchanted using the knowledge gained from the Potterverse Tomes in her Library. As she held it up in her hand, a roar echoed from down the corridor as if bellowed from more than two-dozen throats. The magic of the portkey took hold, and Emma and Warden Thibault were whisked away to the boat on Lake Patzcuaro that was serving as the strike Force's temporary staging area, where they had another set of portkeys to take them back to the White Council Headquarters. Ten minutes later, a smaller, Military Surplus Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat came speeding away from the shore nearest to the compound just as the demolition charges went off, blowing the Ortega Compound sky high and exposing the tunnels to sunlight. A keening screeching noise like the cry of dozens of wounded bats echoed out from the mountains across the lake, the knell of the remainder of the Red Court Vampires in the Ortega Compound.

Ten minutes after that, the entire Strike Force found themselves in the White Council's Headquarters, their portkeys taking them straight to the Worry Room, where Ebenezar McCoy, the White Council's Blackstaff, was waiting to debrief them. As soon as he got their report, however, he rushed out of the room. Emma later found out that he had rushed out of the room in order to accelerate his plans for destroying Duke Paolo Ortega's Compound in Casaverde, Honduras by forcing an Old Soviet Satellite to crash into it from orbit as a Kinetic Kill Vehicle. Apparently, the risk of reprisal from the Duke had been too high to risk leaving it any longer.

Either way, the Ortegas wouldn't be Emma's Problem anymore. . .

XXXX

In the months afterward, Emma would continue her work with the White Council, managing to train up many Wardens and Allies in her out-of-context magics or in the powers of Chi Manipulation. Occasionally, she went along for more attacks on the Red Court. By the time a year had passed, however, the Red Court was firmly on the backfoot and Emma had trained a large swathe of various people. It was just after that point, the day after helping Harry kill a Scourge of Black Court Vampires and their Renfields that had been using the tunnels under a Homeless Shelter as their base, so that he could focus on his case involving the Raith Family, that Emma found herself suddenly transported away.

She had finally jumped out after a year and a half in the Dresden Files Universe, waking up in a world she was completely unfamiliar with, in a City called Brockton Bay that she had no frame of reference for. She would learn quickly, however, as within the week, she would be visited by a group of Gang Members claiming allegiance to someone calling themselves Lung. They demanded she pay protection, and she answered them with spells. The Gang Members fled after a minor display of spellwork, calling her a Cape.

Apparently, this was a universe with various superheroes, though it wasn't Marvel or DC. Unfortunately, those were the only ones Emma knew of. She would have to learn all she could quickly enough to get her bearings.

"Maybe this so-called Lung will be able to point me in the right direction? I'm sure I can handle whatever he can throw at me." Mused Emma as she pondered her situation.

She had no way of knowing at the time, but her interaction with Lung would set off a chain of events that would leave the City of Brockton Bay in Chaos for months. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next interlude. Emma finally manages to jump out of the Dresden Files Universe after a year and a half there. Unfortunately, her luck isn't that great, as she managed to jump into Worm instead. Fortunately, Magic is an outside context problem for the setting, as Wildbow explicitly wanted everything to be rooted in Shard Bullshit. That comes with certain advantages, like being effectively untrackable with precognition, among other things. Unfortunately, Emma doesn't know shit about the universe, so in using her advantages, she's liable to make things worse before she gets her bearings enough to make anything better. Which, given its Worm, is pretty par for the course, actually.

Another note on the time scale here. You may have noticed that different SIs are spending different amounts of time in different universes. This is because time doesn't move at a consistent rate between universes. What might be a Year and a Half for Emma in the Dresden Files Universe is just a couple of months for the MC in Cyberpunk. This effect is even more pronounced in universes with wonky timescales, such as both Marvel and DC. Basically? Don't expect time to pass at the same rate in every universe.

At any rate, the next chapter will be an interlude with Tanaka Yumi, Champion of Kubera, and how she made out in the Fullmetal Alchemist Universe, then we'll see how Kiera Rangi, Champion of Whiro, made out in Dragonlance.

Stay tuned. . .