[Kaijudo Corner]
Shuriken16: OK readers, starting off w/ chapter 2 of Vortex Wars; it's time I'd introduce some new cards for the American audience who never heard of the quite just yet. On that note, it's time to jump into chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Shattered Hearts part 2
Two weeks passed since The Tournament, with Jamie recovering from her injuries. And it's the end of June.
C.J., Dylan and Jake walked out of their high school that early morning, finally out for the summer; In two months they were moving into their senior year; but for now, they we're gonna do what they did best: Spend the morning hanging out in TCG towers upon hours on end dueling.
"Hey, did you guys hear about the DCA announcement about the C-Ranks deck build?" Jake asked his friends as they got off the subway car.
"No what was it about?" Dylan asked, curious.
"They announced last week that they're expanding the deck build for C-Ranks to the 'Creation of the Zero Gear' Set."
"Zero Gear?" C.J. asked.
"Set 16. In Japan, it's known as 'Origin of the Perfect Gear.' The DCA named it the Zero Gear Set because they introduced creatures with the G Zero Ability and expanded more on Cross Gears." Jake replied.
"You realize that I never went passed the 13th set right?" C.J. told them. "I have no clue what Cross Gears are."
"Great, then I know what we're doing today."
"Speaking of which, what's Jamie up to?" C.J. asked.
A Fighter Dual Fang materialized on C.J.'s shoulder. "For the last time, stop worrying about your Girlfriend, man, you act like her father."
"For the last time, she is NOT my Girlfriend!"
"You sure about that…? I seem to remember you: Buying her food, looking for her when she went missing, and to top it all off, risked your butt to save her from a possible apocalypse." Dylan counted. "And that happened all in one day."
C.J. sighed and continued to walk. "I swear I can't hang out with you guys; I'll die of embarrassment."
"Don't worry bro; we'll moderate it that way you'll die slowly." Jake reassured.
Around the same time, Jamie walked out of her apartment, as she had to get something before meeting her friends at TCG towers. With the item set, her and Blaze started to move out.
"You seem to be in a happy mood." Blaze commented on Jamie's calm demeanor.
"Well yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked the Bajula hovering on her shoulder. "It's the last day of school, I should be happy. Two months of dueling! This summer's gonna be a blast."
Jamie ran into someone causing her, and the stranger to fall. She didn't know how that happened, but she saw the hand of the stranger being held out to her.
"Are you OK Miss?" He asked her.
Jamie looked up to see a young Japanese teenager, with short black hair, dressed in a crimson colored shirt under a black vest, black khaki's and black boots.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention." Jamie apologized.
"No it was my fault. My Deck Avatar was being a nuisance and I tried to shut him off, which of course made me run into you."
Jamie giggled. "I had a friend whose deck avatar is the same way sometimes.
"So you're a duelist too huh?" The young teen boy said as he ate his Chocolate Ice cream as he and Jamie sat on the bench close to the edge in Central park.
"Yeah, my Brother's name is Jason Martin; he's the S-Rank known as the 'Skyfire General'." Jamie told him. "When I was about 9, he got me into practicing with him. From there I started to learn on my own and began to participate in tag tournaments with him, eventually becoming an A-Rank myself when I was 14. So what about you? It's kind of weird that I'm eating Ice cream with a guy that I've only known for 20 minutes, let alone not knowing his name."
He realized that and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry. My name's Daisuke Saito. But my friends call me Drake, for using Tyranno Drakes in my Japanese Deck. I'm a Japanese A-Rank, visiting a Friend and doing a little sightseeing in NYC.
"Drake huh… that's a cool nickname."
Drake smiled. "Yeah well, my friends said I've earned it. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure you're known in the Dueling World as 'Lady Amaterasu', am I right?"
Jamie nodded. "How did you know that?"
"When I was a kid in Japan, I remember when The Skyfire General and Lady Amaterasu tag teamed in a DM Tournament, wiping the competition out without a problem. In truth, I'm actually a big fan of the two of you."
Jamie blushed.
"Which actually leads me into my next question: Can we have a duel?"
Jamie was snapped out of her trance. "A duel?"
Drake nodded. "A duel; me and you just for fun; I'm just curious as to see if I can beat my childhood hero is all. Up for it…?"
The trio of guys walked into TCG Towers, which is crowded due to the fact that school's out for the summer.
"So Karon, having fin babysitting a bunch of: Jr. high school kids?"
Karon rolled his eyes. "What took you guys so long to get here anyway?"
"Trains delayed." Dylan admitted. "But we're here now."
"Time for a new lesson;" Jake mentioned. "With the C-Rankers gaining access to the cross gears, C.J. needs info on them. Mind if you help?"
Karon looked at his friends. "Give me a little while, you guys caught me off guard with this one, so I'm gonna make test decks that we can use for a demonstration. For now go and watch some of the Jr. High kids duke it out."
Karon went under the counter and pulled out his Ipad and began to trace his finger across the screen, building a virtual deck, before he made a real one.
"Give me about 15 minute's tops." Karon said.
"You got it." Dylan said. "Come on, we got 15 minutes, let's go practice a bit."
"DUEL START!" The shields popped up inside the K-Terminal that Jamie and Drake stood at opposite ends.
Drake sets Darkness mana and ended his turn.
Jamie drew and set Fire mana to start.
Drake drew and set Fire mana as well, ending his turn.
Jamie Draws and sets water mana. "I summon Aqua Guard."
Aqua Guard materialized from the lone sapphire crystal that appeared in the Battle Zone.
Drake drew and set mana. "I summon Cocco Lupia."
A small red bird with a crown on its head, materialized from the three crystals.
Jamie drew, realizing that this situation could go downhill if she's not careful.
"I summon Aqua Hulcus." Jamie said as she set the card down.
Hulcus appeared and supplied Jamie with an extra card as she drew.
Drake drew and set mana. "I summon Two Necrodragon Gilands"
Drake's side of the Battle Zone began to turn swampy as two black serpent-like dragons emerged from the sludge, both having piercing yellow eyes.
Jamie drew and set her fourth mana. "I summon Mezger, Commando Leader. Break his shields, Ike!"
Mezger materialized and took no time to race over to break Drake's shield.
"Shield Trigger…" Drake said.
"Let me guess: Terror pit?" Jamie asked.
"X." Drake finished.
"Shield Trigger… Cross?" Jamie repeated.
"I Generate: Inferno Scissors; Inferno Scissors, Cross onto Necrodragon Giland!"
The Fire cross gear suddenly shifted over to the dragon and slid under the card, the name popping up over Gilands.
In the Battle Zone, a volcano-like geyser erupted in the swamp, as Giland was equipped with the Inferno Scissors, a machine-like structure adding metallic pincers on to his sides.
"Hold on, Only B-Ranks and higher are able to use Cross Gears in their deck, so why do you have them in yours?"
"The DCA decided to add sets up to 16 for all C-Ranks, so this is a legal play. This rule went into effect shortly after the Duel Circuit ended."
That comment hit a spot in Jamie's heart suddenly, and Drake noticed it.
"Did I… say something wrong?"
"No it's nothing, just play." Jamie said, shaking her head.
Drake nodded and drew his next card. "Awaken from your deep sleep: Super Necrodragon Abzo Dolba!"
Drake set the card on top of the Cross-less Giland as that one roared, its face developing a white and red Dragon skull-like mask. The rest of the body became greyish-blue and red, resembling a Dragon skeleton with raw muscles and fur.
Its roar was terrifyingly eerie, even for a dragon as it sat patiently for orders.
"Giland Double Break; when a creature with Inferno scissors attacks, I can destroy any number of your creatures with a total of 3000 or less. So with that, Giland destroys Guard, leaving your defenses wide-open.
Guard moved in front of the shields, but the Inferno Scissors grabbed it, getting it out of its way. Guard was destroyed and Giland shattered two shields.
"Abzo Dolba, Triple Break!"
The king of Zombie Dragons roared and ran it's spiked tail across the last three shields.
"Cocco Lupia, Todomeda!"
Cocco Lupia flew in and dealt Jamie the final blow.
Jamie looked at her five shields: "Energy Stream, Tornado Flame, Spiral Gate, Aqua Guard and Transmogrify…"
"You had three triggers, why didn't you activate them?" Drake asked as the K-Terminal powered down.
Jamie looked at him. "I don't know… I guess I just choked."
Drake then noticed the tears building in her eyes. "Are you OK?"
Jamie shook her head. "I'm not…"
The two return to the bench where they were earlier. Jamie cleared her throat so she can tell him.
"Two weeks ago during the NYC Duel Circuit, there was a freak accident, where some were killed and dozens were injured. Apparently there was a mechanical error and an explosion came out of it somehow. I didn't know what was happening. One minute my head was being split apart by a never-ending headache, and then the next thing I know I'm the hospital for getting sick during the tournament.
"So why are you upset?"
Jamie wiped her eyes. "It seems that my best friends are keeping a secret about what really happened that afternoon. I overheard them talking about it; they said that I was the one who caused the accident. During the Final match was when it happened, but I don't remember what happened."
"I heard about that on the news." Drake replied. "It sucks that your friends won't tell you what really happened though, and you had to learn the hard way."
Jamie nodded. "The guilt's killing me inside; I hurt so many people that day…"
"But what proof is there that you were the cause of the accident?" Drake asked.
Jamie froze.
"Think about it for a second. The DCA calls it a freak accident. Your overheard you team say that you're the one who caused it. They even lied to you, saying that it was a freak accident and that you were sent to the hospital prior to that incident. Something doesn't add up."
"But why would my friends lie to me?"
Drake shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know the answer to that. To protect you; to not put the pressure on you; I don't know. If I were you, I'd confront them, just to be safe. After all, only they know what really happened that day."
Jamie looked towards the ground, and nodded. "Guess there's no other way but to ask them huh?"
"Seems like it." Drake stood up. "Listen, it was nice meeting you Jamie; but I gotta go take care of something, maybe we can catch up later on?"
Jamie looked up at Drake. "Are you asking me out?"
Drake turned a bit red. "Well when you put it like that, it seems like it. But more like, if you wanna duel again, or if you need someone to talk to… And occasionally see a movie or two."
Jamie smiled. "Definitely; I'm free tonight, is that okay?"
Drake nodded. "Yeah, that's perfect. So I'll meet you back here at about 7pm?"
"It's a date…" Jamie said.
"So I think I got it." C.J. said as he stared at the situation between his deck and Karon's. Using their NYC Tournament decks, C.J. has on the field: Gonta, the Warrior Savage, and Fighter Dual Fang, 8 mana and two shields, while Karon had 3 shields and nothing defending him. C.J. needs to beat Karon in this turn without using a Speed Attacker.
"You better get it, this is simple."
"Well in that case, let's see what I learned." C.J. began by tapping 3 of his 8 mana.
"I Generate: Terra Stallion." C.J. set the Nature Cross Gear into the Battle Zone. He then tapped 3 more mana.
"Now in order to Cross a gear to a creature, the Gear's cost needs to be paid again. I Cross Terra Stallion onto Fighter Dual Fang."
The Gear slid under Dual Fang as Tsume jumped onto the Horse-like Gear. Tsume drew his sword ready to charge.
"Terra Stallion gives the crossed creature double the amount of their power. If their power hits over 6000, it gains double Breaker, but if it hits 15000, then it has Triple Breaker. Since Fighter Dual Fang's base power is 8000, Terra Stallion doubles it to 16000. Tsume: Triple Break his shields!"
The horse whinnied as it charged; Tsume slashed the three shields to pieces, with Gonta spinning his twin-bladed spear.
"Gonta, Todomeda!"
Karon nodded in agreement. "Nice work, it's looked like you picked up on that quick."
C.J. collected his card and reluctantly handed Karon the Cross gear back. "Cross Gears are insane, I wanna edit my deck and throw some in there."
"How about you go research Cross Gears first, before you start chucking them in." Jake told him.
Jamie finally made it inside TCG towers, not as happy as she was when she was with drake.
"Hey, what took you so long?" C.J. asked. "We were starting to worry that you weren't going to show up.
C.J. heard one of the people behind him (Tsume) make a comment, but he ignored it.
"C.J., I need to talk to you in private." Jamie told him.
C.J. was caught off guard by the sudden request. "Um… Sure."
The two went outside the store and started walking down the block.
"So, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"The truth…" Jamie replied.
C.J. Froze up and turned back.
"The truth about what happened these last few months. I want to know what really happened when you guys went to get my Bolshack Dragon and what happened at the tournament; Everything…"
C.J. was speechless; he didn't know what to say. "I…I…"
"What happened to me during the tournament? What was it that you and Jake didn't want me to know?"
"Me and Jake…? What are you talk- It then hit him. "You heard that conversation…?"
"What are you guys hiding from me? Answer me now!" Jamie was getting ready to shout.
C.J. really didn't know what to say at this point; so he decided to reply by saying this…
"OK, I'll tell you everything: After Luke took your Bolshack dragon, I went after him, losing his trail. We found where he and his team was and we went. Karon, Jake and Dylan dueled against Luke and his team, just so we could get Bolshack Dragon back. Come to realize, that Blaze, was turned into a Black Bolshack Dragon named Neo. We defeated it and we get it back. Now at the tournament, you never came back from the bathroom after we parted ways. During Dylan's duel, I ran into Cindy of Team Neo and she said that she'd go and look for you. She found you and you guys talked for a bit."
"I don't remember that." Jamie said. "I don't remember talking. I just remember going to the bathroom and ending up in the hospital."
"Between those times you went to duel against Cindy. You were involved in a Kaijudo Duel with Cindy, and by using the Neo Bolshack Dragon; you nearly killed Cindy when you attacked her directly. That Dragon had complete control of you and sure enough He was the 'freak accident' that was believed to be a machine error. MSG was wreaked due to his and a few other of your creatures but we managed to contain it. Afterward you ended up in the hospital, telling you that you got sick during the tournament, but in reality, it was because I knocked your mind-controlled consciousness on its butt."
"And why was it so hard to tell me all of this in the first place?" Jamie asked, kind of furious.
"Because I was worried that you'd think that everything that the guys and I went through was your fault. That's why I didn't want to tell you."
Jamie looked into C.J.'s eyes, realizing how sincere he was. She began to tear up.
"I'm sorry…" C.J. said.
She looked down towards the ground and said something under her breath as the tears fell.
"I hate you guys…" Jamie said louder.
"I know…" C.J. replied, feeling guilty. He attempted to put his hand on her shoulder, but she swatted him away like nothing.
"Get the hell away from me…" She hissed all of the sudden. "I can't stand being on a team where I'm lied to every second I'm there."
"But-
"What, are you gonna tell me something else that you lied about?" Jamie asked him. "Is it that Cindy 'let me win' that match; or how about Luke took my other Bolshack Dragon, because frankly, I seemed to have lost it back in the tournament when I was under 'mind control'."
"What's your problem? You told me to tell you what happened so I did." C.J. retorted.
"It's the fact you lied to me!" Jamie shouted. "Not just you; all of you guys; for what? Did you think you were going to protect me?"
C.J. couldn't take this anymore. "Jamie, just get to the point, what are you trying to say?"
Jamie balled her fist up. "I'm Quitting KG; that's my point."
C.J.'s heart skipped a beat. "What did you say…?"
"I can't be on a team where I'm lied to all of the time. My days with Team KG are done with, go find another gullible girl for you to deceive, because I've had it."
Jamie turned and stormed off farther down the street as C.J. watched.
"I like you." C.J. finally called out. "That's the reason why I didn't tell you what really happened; the reason why I talked the others into risking our lives for Blaze; The reason why I went out of my way to save you from Neo."
Jamie turned and looked at C.J. "How do I know that you're not lying about that…?"
C.J. didn't reply and watched Jamie continue to storm off.
C.J. came back into TCG Towers extremely frustrated.
"Hey are you OK?" Jake asked him.
"Oh yeah I'm great. I told her the truth, she's pissed at us, she quit the team, and I got rejected. All of that in five minutes." C.J. said in the most sarcastic way possible. "I really screwed up…"
Later in that night, Jamie walked up to her meeting spot where Drake waited.
"Great, you made it." He smiled.
Jamie smiled, but couldn't hold her emotions in as Drake imitatively comforted her. "I'm assuming that you found out the truth huh?"
Jamie nodded, sobbing.
"Don't worry; I'm here for you… I promise that I'll be truthful to you…
Drake's shadow shows the silhouette of a flaming bird-like creature, as he hugged Jamie.
"Always…" he finished his sentence.
[END]
[Kajudo Corner]
Shuriken16: For the love of god I really need to get back into my Kamen Rider Fanfics, because Duel Masters is taking up way too much time at this point. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you guys in Chapter 3.