Chapter 4: Fury of the Evos

[Tokyo, Japan 2016…]

The Tokyo dome erupted in applause and cheering as the giant holographic shield shards shattered to bits, not fazing the young man standing before them. The Caucasian teen moved the brown hair from his eye and smirked at his opponent, a dark skinned boy who's baseball cap hid his eyes.

"Fighter Dual Fang, Attack Genji Double Cross Blastdragon!" The dark skinned boy ordered as the Giant horned feline creature roared and lunged forward to clash blades with the lean red dragon samurai warrior. Their blades clashed, but the blonde-haired dragon was no match for the Beast Warrior. He took one fatal hit and dispersed into red data that faded away and sent the crowd in an uproar.

"AMAZING! Now this is what I'd expect from the two strongest teams in the world! Team Kaijudo Generation, fighting their way through tournament after tournament, and not only that, but saving our lives and making headlines throughout the four corners of the globe! Facing off against their predecessors: Team Kaijudo Monarchs, the first Kaijudo Masters to ever set foot on this glorious World of Duel Masters… Can you all show how much you fans out there are enjoying the display of pure excitement that these two leaders are demonstrating?!"

The crowd responded with an erupting roar of excitement, causing both duelists to smirk.

"You've come quite far in the last year C.J." The brown-haired boy said. "To think you started out as a newbie at the Kaijudo Arts. And now a year later… you're inches away from becoming an S-Rank. I'm extremely proud of you; all of you. We all are."

C.J. smirked. "That means a lot coming from you, Jason. After all that we've been through…" He set his hand on the remaining fire card on the Red and Green card that sat on the K-Terminal.

"Finish it." Jason nodded. "Your journey to S-Rank… ends here."

The boy nodded. "Super Dragon Machine Dolzark… Todomeda!"

The Robotic Dragon roared and extended its chest forward, the Dragon Head opening and unleashing a beam of blue energy at his opponent. The wave passed through him, the duelist unharmed as the creature disappeared and the projectors powered down. The crowd roaring at the results of the duel as the boy held his fist up in victory.

A young sixteen year old Blake cheered with the crowd, excited as well of the turn of events that took place. He was a huge fan of Team KG, following them since the NYC Duel Circuit Tournament a year prior when they made their debut in the Tournament scene. And now, they became S-Ranks… The Title of Kaijudo Master endowed upon them, becoming one of the hundreds of thousands of Duelist around the globe. He would've given anything to have the same opportunity as they received.

As he watched the five duelists' wave at the crowds and receive their medals and trophy, he made it a goal to be on that stage someday…

[Present Time…]

"You think Kyle can beat your brother?" Maxi asked Kim.

"I don't know…" She replied worried. "I haven't seen him in over four years… There's no telling how much stronger he's gotten since I last seen him."

Kyle grunted at the sight of the holographic spiral of flames devour his essence elf as his Drakon Weaponsmith landed back from breaking Blake's first shield.

Blake returned it with a smirk of triumph. "A true duelist recognizes the traps and doesn't foolishly walk into them. He drew and set his 3rd card, darkness mana.

"I summon Gigastand."

The two darkness mana and the sole fire mana materialized and reformed into a gray gorilla-like monster with two horns, swamp-green fur and decaying flesh.

"Drakon Weaponsmith, destroy his Drakon Weaponsmith!" Blake tapped his creature as his creature nodded and lunged forward towards Kyle.

The two creatures traded claws with each other, but with Blake's creature's powerful attack ability triggering, it was able to overpower Kyle's creature. Blake's creature sent a spin kick into Kyle's the ladder flying backwards. It finally lunged forward and slammed it into the virtual ground, causing it to disperse into data.

Kyle moved his creature into the grave and looked back at Blake.

"I hope you don't think this is all it takes to beat me, right?" Kyle told him.

"I certainly hope not." Blake replied. "After your demonstration in your match against Amanda, I expect to see you show me everything you have to offer… even if it's clearly not enough to beat me."

Kyle grunted. "We'll just see about that!" He drew and set nature mana, totaling four.

"I summon Bronze-arm tribe and send the top card of my deck into my mana zone!"

Bronze-Arm Tribe materialized into the battle zone, and readied its pitchfork and shield to make a move on Blake's creatures.

Blake drew his next card and set it. "I summon Blastforge Slaver, and Jetflame Bodyguard."

The two fire creatures materialized, Slaver resembling Weaponsmith but more muscle-toned and slightly darker-skinned, while Jetflame Bodyguard resembling a lava-covered lizard man.

"Weaponsmith, break his shield!" he ordered it, as Weaponsmith broke from the group and slashed a shield.

The card popped up in Kyle's hand taking a glance at it.

"Gilaflame! This is perfect. Now all I need to do is—"

"Gigastand, break his shield! And use your Dread Gaze to discard a card from his hand!"

Gigastand roared an eerie, abnormal howl that broke a shield. Before that, Kyle shuffled his hand and threw the top card of the two-card pile into the discard pile. To his horror, it was Gilaflame.

"Shoot!" Kyle said, feeling himself return to his disadvantage. The shield shot up afterward and he looked at this one. "Shield Blast: I cast Sprout and add the top card of my deck into my mana zone!" he took the card and flipped it, revealing Roaming Bloodmane.

"I end my turn." Blake said.

"Kyle's in a tight spot with that Gigastand. He won't be able to keep a hand if it keeps being emptied by Gigastand." Amanda added her input as she leaned on the cage with her arms crossed.

"Who asked you?" Kim snarled.

"I was talking out loud…" Amy replied.

"She's right though…" Maxi supported. "Whatever card Kyle would intend on using, is going to go to waste. He would either turn it into mana or let it be discarded."

Kim rolled her eyes. "How did I know you'd take her side?"

Tech materialized from maxi's deck case. "Tech thinks that Kim is smarter than average cookie by 20%."

Kim grew a smirked. "At least the rinse cup has my back."

Kyle drew his next card and a wave of relief washed over him. "You pull through just when I need you!" he tossed his remaining card in his hand into mana and tapped all seven cards. "Break the Chains: Tatsurion the Unchained!"

Tatsurion materialized into the battle zone and locked his turret on Gigastand.

"Howitzer, go! Destroy Gigastand!"

Tatsurion unleashed the flurry of bullets that made the chimera crumble into bits.

"Bronze-Arm tribe, break his shield!"

Bronze pulled its arm back and threw the pitchfork into one of the shields breaking it.

The card popped into Blake's hand and he added it to his hand.

"I end my turn there." Kyle then looked down at the Terminal where the smaller Tatsurion looked back. "Let's turn this duel around Axel!"

It nodded and looked back at Blake's remaining creatures, letting out a massive roar only a Dragon Beast could make.

"And there's our answer." Amy said becoming more interested in the duel. "Go Kyle!" she then turned to the two who were staring at her, more confused than ever.

"I never said I was rooting for Blake." She defended herself, with slightly red cheeks.

"How are you related to my brother…?" Kim asked her.

Amy stood quiet, trying to come up with a response. "It's a long story…"

"Trust me, we have time." Maxi added.

Blake drew his card and set mana, tapping all five of his cards.

"Jetflame Bodyguard… Evolve into Blastforge Captain!" he set the card on top of his Jetflame Bodyguard as the five mana crystals materialized overhead. They joined together to form one crystal, resembling red-colored radiating flower pedals.

Jetflame looked up and reached for it, feeling the energy coursing through it. Its entire body lit up in a bright light as it transformed into a taller, leaner red Drakon. His right arm was covered in a giant four-barreled cannon and his right arm a small cannon with his fingers covered in iron claws. The Red Evo Crystal hovered around him as he fixated his eyes on Tatsurion.

"I didn't see that coming…" Kyle admitted.

Blake smirked. "I've noticed that you don't use Evolution Creatures in your deck. Why is that so?"

Kyle grunted. "That's none of your business."

"I noticed that too…" Amy noted.

"Kyle has some animosity against Evo creatures…" Maxi explained. "It's a long story."

"It amazes me that an A-Rank such as yourself doesn't use Evos…" Blake commented. "…You only sealed your fate. Blastforge Captain: Craterize!

The Captain aimed its large cannon at the two creatures but then locked its sight on Bronze. It launched four missiles, one that launched the vulnerable creature into the air, with the remaining three missiles hitting it and forcing it to become green data. It then aimed for one of Kyle's shields and shot at it, breaking it.

The card shot into Kyle's hand and he suddenly got an idea on how to rid himself of the Evo.

"Slaver, Break another shield!"

The larger of the duo roared and ran forward, shattering another shield.

The shield popped up and it made a smile grow on Kyle's face. "Just what I was hoping for; Shield Blast: Rock Bite on Weaponsmith!" he revealed the card to his opponent.

The ground opened and the rock head swallowed the creature whole.

Blake, for the first time in the match scowled at the sight of it, with Kyle having a familiar smile of triumph written on his face.

"No matter." Blake's demeanor returned. "Just prolonging the inevitable..."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Kyle said as he drew his next card. He set his 8th mana and tapped five.

"I summon Raging Goliant!" Kyle said as he set the Nature creature into the Battle Zone.

The crystals materialized and formed a slim green beast warrior with beetle-motif armor and twin gold-colored crossbow gauntlets. It hovered next to Tatsurion as said creature began to glow green.

"You have your power booster, I have mine." Kyle noted. "Raging Goliant gives all of my Beast Kin +2000 power due to its Pack Leader ability, adding to Tatsurion makes him 8000 in total power!"

Blake snickered, knowing where this was leading.

"Tatsurion, Take out Blastforge Captain!"

Tatsurion howled and ran towards the Captain, who began firing at Tatsurion as it ran towards him. Tatsurion got close to him and slashed its cannon to bits before aiming it's howitzer pointblank in its chest. After sending a set of fire bullets into it Blastforge captain flew back and dispersed into red data. Tatsurion then set its sights on Slaver.

"His Who's Next ability activates; Whenever he wins a Battle for the first time in a turn, he can untap." Kyle untapped his card and tapped it again. "Once more, attack Slaver!"

Tatsurion roared and charged slaver, his head this time igniting in flames. He rammed the creature and despite his resistance, Tatsurion overcame the creature with very little effort, cleaning out Blake's Battle Zone.

"I end my turn." Kyle said, the thought of being in the clear advantage bringing him joy.

Blake drew and dropped his card into mana. "I end my turn."

"What's the matter? Dead draw?" Kyle asked as he drew his next card. "Tatsurion, Double Break!"

Tatsurion aimed his gun and shot down two shields, reducing Blake's numbers to 1.

The two shields popped into the air and Kyle swipped his hands across to catch them.

"It's not wise to be overconfident…" he smirked. "Shield Blast: Terror Pit on Raging Goliant!"

The shield Shards glimmered and turned into the familiar dark hands that crushed the beast kin.

Kyle grunted at the sight, but his expression turned sour when he realized that he hit another shield blast that Blake revealed.

"Shield Blast: Return from Beyond! With this card I can bring back one level 4 or less non-evolution creature from my graveyard. And I choose Gigastand!"

A giant red skeleton rose from the ground under Tatsurion and clasped its claws on its ribcage. Pulling them apart, a purple vortex began to generate as Gigastand walked out with its familiar decaying body.

"I thought I was rid of you…" Kyle said disappointed.

Blake smirked at the sight. "Not quite… Like myself my creatures all have the ability to come back from the dead…" he then drew and set the facedown card hovering over Gigastand.

"Gigastand, it's time for you to reveal your true form: Evolve into Hydra Medusa!"

Gigastand howled as the purple Evo crystal descended in front of it, said object illuminating it's body and mutating it into a giant purple chimera. Mouths covering its entire body and two tentacle-like heads extending from the body, one resembling a dragon and the other a white-masked humanoid creature, possibly a Dark Lord.

"Medusa, Eradicate Tatsurion the Unchained!"

Medusa roared and unleashed a purple sonic wave that shot through Tatsurion. It's eyes widened and it fell back, slowly disappearing.

"TATSURION!" Kyle shouted in disbelief.

Blake shook his head. "How pathetic… Medusa, Break his shield!"

Medusa followed his command and attacked the shield with another sonic wave. It broke and shot to Kyle's hand, leaving them even at 1 shield a piece.

"If you like, we can quit now and save you the pain of losing once again…" Blake suggested.

Kyle glared at him. "Bite me…" He drew his next card and tapped Four. "Gilaflame the Assaulter!"

Gilaflame materialized and didn't hesitate to charge forward to break Blake's last shield.

"Next turn, it's over…"

"Indeed. But who said it would be your turn?" Blake replied.

Kyle was taken aback by that comment.

Blake drew his next card and he tapped six mana; "I summon… Dark Scaradorable…"

Kyle's expression grew dire as he watched the dark wolf-like creature materialize on Blake's side.

"It's… the same eyes…" he said freaked out.

"Go, Terrifying Gaze! It's an ability that breaks one of your shields."

Dark Scaradorable's eyes lit up as the shield cracked slowly before shattering into shards.

The card bounced into the air and landed next to Kyle on the K-terminal, revealing it to be Tornado Flame.

"Judging by your expression, you're too frightened to activate that Shield Blast… Hydra Medusa, Todomeda!"

Medusa roared and unleashed one more sonic wave, ending the duel.

Kyle dropped to his knees, the fear of his nightmare haunting him all over.

Blake turned to Amy. "Take them out."

Amy nodded and unlocked the lock on the cage, the duo flying out of the cage and getting to Kyle.

"Are you ok?! What's wrong?" Maxi asked.

"Those eyes…" Kyle whispered.

Kim looked at her brother and snarled. "You did something to him…"

"I have done no such thing. Maybe he's feeling the effects of a bad nightmare or something." He smirked.

"You're unbelievable…" she added.

Kyle forced himself up, getting Maxi to latch off.

"Blake… I swear we'll have a rematch. This isn't the last time you'll face me, understand?"

"I refuse to fight weak duelists such as you. It's a waste of time and effort on my part."

"Then I'll work to become stronger!" He shot back. "I don't care I won't rest until I defeat your Evolution Creatures!"

"Oh, now that's what I like to hear…" Blake said excited. "Alright then… Become stronger and then we'll have our rematch."

"Deal…" Kyle nodded.

"No deal!" Kim intervened. "Kyle, you have no clue how dangerous my brother is he's—"

"A very strong opponent that I would love to go up against once I perfect my deck. Mind helping with that?" he asked her.

"You sure…? Why don't you ask your eye-candy over there?" Kim pointed to Amy.

"Because I want you to help me…?" Kyle replied. "I didn't ask her, or Maxi for that matter.

Kim rolled her eyes with her cheeks turning slightly red. "Fine…"

"Oh and Maxi, Amy, you guys can tag along for the ride as well. This is a team effort, right?"

"Of course bro!" Maxi said easily.

Amanda on the other hand, was caught off guard by the acceptance. "I'm sorry…?"

"You're a part of team Victory Drive, remember? Well, technically you are anyway."

"How can you be so easygoing…?" Amy asked, not understanding what's going through Kyle's head at the moment.

"Because I have a lot of patience, everyone's safe and sound, and I have a new goal, one that involves a skilled duelist to help make happen."

"Well in that case… you don't need my help then. You already have Kim for that part."

"But I don't know much about the Nature Civilization so…" Kim intervened. "I insist…"

Blake smirked and turned, walking out of the room unnoticed.

"That kid… he just might… no, they just might be what I need…"

With everything settled, Kim and Maxi safe and sound, the four members of Victory Drive returned to Kyle's house that afternoon, going over Kyle's deck. Maxi, Kim and Amy all stood around the deck carefully examining every inch of it. After a minute they all turned back to him and gave him a unanimous decision.

"It needs Evos!" they said in unison.

"Nuh-uh no way! Maxi, you know full well why I wouldn't use them."

"Oh dude, come on! Get over it it's been 3 years!"

"What's with him and Evos?" Amy asked curiously.

"Well… when we first got into the game, some vets trashed his first deck with evolution creatures and they were real jerks about it. On that note, he has a bit of a hate towards them since they almost got him to quit the game all together. Up to this point he's managed to get to his A-Rank without using them.

"Amazing…" Kim noted, impressed.

"But now time's changed. I don't think I can beat Blake with the deck I'm using now…"

"So… heed our advice and use Evos then?" Maxi suggested.

Kyle sighed. "Fine… got any specific ones in mind?"

"Well… let's start with this. What civilizations do you plan on using?" Amy started.

"Well Fire obviously since I have Axel here." He held up Tatsurion the Unchained.

Maxi nodded. "And I'm assuming that you're keeping Nature for the Mana accel too right?"

Kyle nodded.

Kim pondered the two suggestions and continued to examine the deck. Her eyesight locked on Bolt-Tail and it hit her.

"SABER-BOLT!" She exclaimed.

"Saber what…?" Kyle looked at her oddly.

"A Saber-Bolt deck…" Allison, Kyle's sister said as she walked through the living room. "It uses a Beast Kin engine to ramp up mana to summon Bolt-Tail Dragon as a finisher, using Bronze-Arm Sabertooth as an early beatstick; Simple, fun and easy to build."

"I like the sound of that!" Kyle nodded. "Even though it involves Evos…"

"Oh get off of that will you?" Allison scolded. "Mastering Evos will make you a better duelist in the long run. Holding a grudge against some won't accomplish anything."

"The real problem is that Saber-Bolt decks normally have a 3rd Civilization to support it." Amy said pondering the thought. "Which one would you want to use between Light, Water and Dark…?"

"Which are the two combinations that are used the most?"

"Water and Dark, why?" Maxi replied.

"Light it is then!" Kyle exclaimed.

"How about…" Kim started to say. "Let's start you off with Aqua Saber-Bolt, just so you can get used to the whole tri-civ deck aspect. It's the easiest combination, what with its draw power and all."

"Fine…" Kyle sulked.

"Hey, I don't have to help, you know." She told him. "You can at least be a bit more grateful."

"Let's see if the deck can actually run, miss 'Zero and Two.'" Kyle joked.

"Excuse me!? Need I remind you that I let you win our match?"

"And not for nothing Kyle, but you lost twice today…" Maxi further added.

"No one asked you…" he snarled at him.

Amy and Allison looked at each other and back at the trio arguing with one another.

"Um… let them know I had to leave, OK?" Amy said standing up from the couch.

"Already…? It's only 6pm, stay for dinner."

"Trust me, I love to, but I have a big day tomorrow… rain check for sure though."

Allison nodded. "Have a good night then."

Amy nodded and grabbed her bag, heading out the door.

As Allison looked at the trio going at it she turned and headed upstairs to her room, leaving them to continue…

The next day, the trio all walked into their 3rd period class, Math, tired from the night prior. As it turned out, they spent more time arguing then actually deckbuilding…

"Last night was a waste of time…" Kim yawned as she took her seat.

"Thank god it's math. I can actually fall asleep and have a legit reason to." Kyle leaned his head on the desk.

"Um dude… might wanna hold off on that nap…" Maxi said.

Kyle opened his eyes and they widened shocking him by the sight at the front of the room.

"Class, I'd like you to meet a new student in our class: Amanda Earhart; she's a new student who just recently moved here from Florence, so please treat her with the upmost respect and welcome her into our beloved school.

Amy smiled as the guys in the classroom locked sights on their new object of affection and the girls as well, mainly as a new rival.

"Nice to meet you all…" she smiled.

"Well then… Definitely didn't see this one coming…" Kyle said, leaning back in his chair…