Twilight Bridge: Immersion (Volume 1)

Chapter 9: Midnight Duo

"So, we have to go East!" Libruou said.
"The tracker better not be broken!" Herc yelled.

The members of Team Nora headed out to chase after Jaden in a convertible. "What's the best bet in these situations?!" Maqi cried hopelessly.
"Why would he take the Cyclone to a deserted area outside the city!" Jeremiah asked.
"You two better quit whining!" Herc shouted. "Libruou, check the map for a shortcut!"
"On it!" she was checking the map on a floating monitor. "Take a left, and head uptown! There's a gateway that'll get us there faster!"
"Alright!" Herc nodded. What in the hell are you up to, Jaden?, he thought.

Meanwhile, in the last chamber at the Tomb of Horror, Jaden was facing an unexpected challenge.

"Artemis!.." Jaden uttered.

He wasn't able to focus on his situation, and the question at hand: What was she doing here?, Jaden thought. It was highly improbable that we'd both discovered the Copper Key's hiding place on the same night. Too big of a coincidence.

"Cat got your tongue?" she asked. "I said: Who. The hell. Are you?"

Clearly, she doesn't recognize me from the Grand Prix, Jaden wanted to
remain anonymous, especially under the circumstances. Couldn't she seriously take the hint?!

Artemis wore a suit of scaled gunmetal-blue armor that looked more sci-fi than fantasy. Twin blaster pistols were slung low on her hips in quick-draw holsters, and there was a long, straight elvish sword in a scabbard across her back. She wore fingerless Road Warrior-style racing gloves and a pair of classic Ray-Ban shades.
Overall, she seemed to be going for a sort of mid-'80s post-apocalyptic cyberpunk girl next-door look, Jaden tried to clear his head.

"Greetings," he said, bowing slightly, but she gave him a cold shoulder.
"So, spill it. How did you do?" she muttered.
"Do at what?" Jaden asked.
"Finding this place?" she said, as if it were obvious.
Suddenly, he understood. This wasn't the first time she'd been here. wasn't I the first person to decipher the Limerick and find the Tomb of Horror?!, he thought.
Artemis had beaten me to it. And since she knew about the demi-litch, she'd obviously already faced the lich herself. But if she already had the Key, there wouldn't be any reason for her to come back here.
"I was just wandering around, and then I looked for a shelter from the rainstorm.." he replied.
After hearing that, Artemis's body got loose for few seconds before she said "Oh, I see!" She tilted her head slightly and smiled. "I suppose there's only one way to find out."
She drew her sword, lightning fast, and turned into a clockwise spin, bringing its glowing blade around and down at him, all in a single blur of
motion. At the last second, Jaden managed to tilt his own blade upward to awkwardly parry the attack. In a split second, they locked blades.

~Clank!

Artemis was smiling viciously. Jaden was able to push her away.
"You've got hands of a warrior, huh?!" Artemis said as she got off, and jump at a distance from him. She then, took one of her laser pistols out, and aimed it at Jaden, ready to pull the trigger. "But I can't just let you leave after you saw this." she said. But the moment she was about to fire, the large gate got suddenly shut.

~Vohom!

Both Jaden and Artemis were shocked. Jaden looked up at the ceiling. The moon is aligned!, he thought.
A second later, the ground started to shake in the chamber. Jaden noticed the demi-litch king already floating above them. "It's the appointed time.." the litch said. "I see that you have brought company! Very well.."

"Looks like it's starting!" Artemis smirked, and drew her sword out. With her around, maybe I'd have a shot!, Jaden thought. But the litch surprised them with something totally new, at least for Jaden.