Shadowchasers: Tournament of Shadows
is a Crossover fic from the Shadowchasers Series which is a joint project written by Occam Razor, MultiplePersonas, Lux-Nero, replaced by 7th Librarian as of Chapter 9.
With the PR of the Shadowchasers at an all-time low, Jalal accepts the offer of Jean-Claude Martin - the CEO of Lessuix Media Unlimited to co-host with him a 2nd Duelist Kingdom tournament containing 50 Shadowchasers and 50 Pro Duelists (dubbed the Blue Knights Legion for the sake of the tournament) as an attempt to restore some of their PR.
This fic features several characters who had made prior appearances in other Shadowchaser fics written by the three authors making return appearances as well as the addition of some new characters. The main characters of the fic include: Ember (from the original fic and Power Primordial), Nichole Belvins (from Torment), Ace (from Risen Nemesis), Bruno Von Klein (from Miscellaneous Files), Kenshin (from Backwater), Masakaru Gomi and Leroy Schwarz (two new characters).
This fic contains the following tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Bruno to some extent, his main appearance prior to this fic was in an anthology series. Here, he is one of the main characters.
- Continuity Nod: Several. This fic containing several character from previous Shadowchaser stories helps.
- In Chapter 1, Ember is shown to still miss Jetta, who left with the other Primordial Titans in Power Primordial.
- In Chapter 2, when Ember first meets Gomi, he mentiones her battle against Sonja from the original fic.
When the pair first meet Hakata and Hakozaki, Hakata brings up the time Ember defeated Mukuro Enjo, which was during her third test as an apprentice back in the original fic. - After watching Gomi's first duel in Chapter 6, Ember remembers the time she was almost splattered by Ccapac Apu's fist during Power Primordial.
- Nichole makes a brief reference to the Cult of Tharizdun (the antagonists of Torment) in her narration in Chapter 8.
- Maddie recalls her and Edgar's ordeal with Scath which happened also happened in Torment.
- Teodhar the Ascending Star, the shadar-kai that defeated Bruno in Miscellaneous Files is brought up by Ace and Kyon in Chapter 5.
- In Chapter 7, Ace laments on what has happened to her team ever since Hyde left after the events of Risen Nemesis.
- The Cameo: Other Shadowhchasers that have appeared in other stories such as Douglas and Maddi also make an appearance as participants on the tournament.
- Crisis Crossover: This fic features characters from different Shadowchaser fics in one storyline.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Shichiro, Jinx, Gears, Dugan, and Rebecca Schafer only make cameo appearances during the start of the fic. Other characters such Karl, Hyde, Faye, Barron and Tsubasa are only mentioned briefly.
- Played around with Kyon. At first it appears that his only role in the fic is to help Ace train for the tournament, but later on it turns out that he is also participating - as a Blue Knight.
- Also the case with Leroy after his Game-Breaking Injury in Chapter 9 leaves him unable to compete in the tournament, but to what extent remains unknown.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In Chapter 13, Bruno, Gomi, and Ember are kidnapped by their first opponents, who threaten to kill them because their loses resulted in the loss of their sponsors (and in McGuiness' case, far worse; it's obvious that the three Blue Knights are blaming the heroes for what is obviously their own faults. (And because they obviously Didn't Think This Through, it only becomes even worse for them; the three Shadowchasers barely even take the whole encounter seriously.)
- Fandom Rivalry: In-Universe example. Ace and Kenshin get into one of these in Chapter 12, arguing over who among Vergil or Sephiroth is the better Bishounen villain, with each of them citing things against the other character. The argument even boiled down to them clashing in armed combat.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: As a result of Lux-Nero resigning from the fanfic, Leroy is injured in Chapter 9 and unable to compete, resulting in Kenshin being selected from a reserve list of Shadowchaser contestants as a replacement. (Kenshin is a character from 7th Librarian's ''Shadowchasers: Backwater".)
- Scheherezade Gambit: Sort of. Bruno considers the two-on-two duel that he and Gomi are forced into as this, even though he didn't initiate this. In fact, he even mentions Scheherazade by name when Gomi asks him why they're agreeing to the duel (confident that their abductors won't understand the reference, which they do not).
- Shout-Out: Lots of them:
- Pirates Keith calls Duel Monsters a Children's card game when he talks to Ace on the ship. Leroy also calls the game this out of frustration in one of the chapter previews.
- Jill Chambers is one to Celty Sturluson.
- In Chapter 12, Ace and Kenshin make a lot to the Devil May Cry series and Final Fantasy VII, when talking about their respective villains.
- Ace even makes a reference to this very site!
- Bruno makes Shout Outs to Lewis Carroll constantly, which is pretty much the point.
- Suggestive Collision: Ace and Kenshin get into one of these after another argument, causing Ace to land on top of Kenshin. Needless to say, she was embarrassed over the situation.
- Take That!:
- In her first duel in the tournament, Ember duels against someone who uses an Inzektor Deck, an incredibly powerful deck in the real game which was incredibly overpowered during the March 2012 format (the list Tournament of Shadows uses). Gomi, the sole live spectator of the duel snidely remarks "sportmanship in this game must have died when Pegasus did".
- In Chapter 12, Ace and Kenshin make several towards Sephiroth and Vergil respectively. Ace in particular makes one about the time Sephiroth was voiced by Lance Bass of *NSYNC fame during the first Kingdom Hearts game (a decision that was negatively received by the fanbase). Kenshin quickly reiterates that it was only
a one time thing.
- Tournament Arc: And in Yu-Gi-Oh! tradition, it appears that they might be something sinister afoot... More clues to this arise in Chapter 9.
- Unknown Character: In Chapter 9, Zanth and Xander's mysterious employer - or at least someone who acts as an intermediary for whoever it is - makes a brief appearance, but much is still unknown about him. He appears before them as two sinister eyes in a blue fire, and his voice is haunting. Also, when he appears, the surroundings turn chillingly cold. (This goes away when the vision does.) Very little of his plan is known right now, but strangely, he has ordered the two of them to do their best to prevent any injuries or fatalities during the tournament. (And Zanth is clearly very frightened of making him angry if that actually happens.)
- Given information gained in Chapter 13, it is likely that this employer is either Archduke Levistus or someone who works for him. It is still too early to make assumptions.
- Win Back the Crowd: In-Universe example. Part of the reason why Jalal agrees with the idea of the 2nd Duelist Kingdom tournament in Tournament of Shadows. With their public relations with Shadowkind faltering lately, the tournament would be a great idea to re-establish themselves in the eyes of the Shadowkind community, especially if a Shadowchaser wins the tournament.
