Blane(stretches his arms and yawns): You know, I always thought that Subaru had it hard being the oldest and the most responsible of the chosen duelists… Ok, maybe not that responsible, but he did go through lots of hardships, you can't deny that. And even though he doesn't want to admit it, he does have that aura of a leader. But anyway, at this recent Duel Masters Tournament I also formed my own team of friends, and boy are they hard to tame! Don't believe me? Go see for yourselves.
Tiger tapped his foot impatiently as he sat in front of the changing room waiting for Blane. The stings coming from the X-shaped scar on his chest were starting to bother him. They had arrived at the tournament building an hour ago and he still could not forget the humiliation that the samurai had inflicted upon him. All that he wanted was to find the wandering warrior and make him pay for what he had done the other night. But sadly he knew he had to wait, for both he and his friend had a tournament to participate in.
"Alright, dude, I'm done." Blane spoke as he walked out of the dressing room. "Well what do you think?"
He was dressed in a black T shirt with its sleeves rolled up, black leather pants that were held by a red belt with a gold buckle, his hands were covered by red gloves and the sword he received from Eternal Phoenix was in a black scabbard with a red chest belt. Tiger whistled and gave his verdict with a thumb up:
"Nice looks you got there! Now let's go get signed up."
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere looking like that!" Blane protested and grabbed Tiger's arm pulling him inside the dressing room.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" the blonde shouted surprised.
"It's time for you to change your looks as well, kitty cat."
And thus Blane closed the room's door and started searching for some suiting clothes for Tiger.
The morning sun was slowly and steadily taking over the sky with its bright light that was reflecting upon the metallic buildings of the city. At the tournament arena there was a long crowd waiting to either buy tickets or sign up. The large number of people caught the attention of the wandering samurai who had just finished eating a breakfast consisting of a stolen chili dog and a cola. Yes, after all that time that he spent in Feudal Japan feasting only on fish and rice, the taste of modern food was a great relief for him even though he knew it was not as healthy. But he did not care. All that he cared for was the sound of the rockets' engines, the sight of the shiny metropolis and the tensioned atmosphere of the big city. A week ago he would have sworn that all those were nothing but dreams and he would never experience them… again. And now here he was, back where he came from, almost as if he had woken from another dream. But that was the lesser of his concerns. His real mission was to find Tabitha and avenge the blood of his clan. And yet the life he once had seemed so tempting. For a moment he wished to simply take his mask and vest off, throw his sword and sheath away and join the crowd to either buy tickets or sign up for the tournament. But no, he could not allow himself to think like that. The fires of revenge that burned inside him were too strong.
"Is something the matter, master?" a low otherworldly voice whispered to his ear.
The samurai looked down and saw the image of Genji Double Cross sitting on his right shoulder and looking up at him with concern.
"It's nothing." he replied dismissively.
"Oh no, master, I have known you long enough to feel when something is bothering you." the samurai dragon insisted. "So will you please stop with these childish games and just spit it out?"
The samurai turned his red eyes to his deck's avatar and stared at the dragon with a small grudge. Genji sighed, lowered his head down and said:
"Fine, be that way. I do not wish to cause any kind of grudge between us, so I will take my leave."
With the creature disappearing from his shoulder, he returned his focus to the tournament arena. Then in his mind the images of the same building hosting the same tournament a year ago flashed. He remembered signing up with his other four fellow chosen duelists and seeing all of their enemies signing up as well. Instinctually he put his left hand on his sheath and his right hand on his sword's handle but then he took a good look at the weapon and said:
"Maybe I should take a look, it won't last long."
Fifteen minutes later the samurai found himself hiding behind a decorative plant looking at the sixteen contestants that were signing up. Among them there was a dark red haired brown eyed teenage boy dressed in a pale blue T shirt covered by a black jacket and in black pants and brown boots. The boy's hair was spiky and at the back he had a short pony tail. He was immediately signed up in the tournament computers simply as 'Pyro' and when he turned around he had the surprise of seeing a red haired eleven year old boy dressed in a red shirt with a black vest that had red and yellow flames, black pants, golden boots that had the letter T and a black headband pulling his red flame like spiky hair backwards. The little boy looked up at Pyro with his red eyes and big smile.
"Hey there, long time no see, Tamma!" Pyro greeted him. "Did you grow in height these past months?"
"Haha, thanks for reminding me that I'm short." Tamma suddenly turned grumpy and crossed his arms.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to do that. Don't worry, in a couple of years you will be as tall as us all, I guarantee you!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Tamma jumped and caught the edge of the table where he was supposed to take a paper and write down his name. Pyro sweated and spoke to his younger friend:
"Say, don't you want me to help you with that?"
"Don't worry… I can handle myself!" Tamma dismissed him and looked at the lady that was typing the information of contestants into the computer. "G-good morning…"
"Good morning, young one. I am afraid that you have mistaken the singing up line with the ticket one." the lady replied.
"Madam… I want to sign up." the red haired child breathed heavily.
"So you do? You know very well that children under the age of ten are not…"
"I am eleven!"
In the next moment Tamma pushed his identity card to the surprised woman and she began filling on the information. In a couple of minutes the job was done and Tamma was officially a contestant just like Pyro.
"So how is life for you?" the teen asked.
"Oh it's fine." Tamma replied and crossed both his arms and put them on the back of his neck to support his head. "I've trained a lot this summer with brother Subaru. He wanted to be sure that I will be able to win this tournament."
"How sweet of him, though you should be aware that there are many challenges that await both of us."
"I am aware. Oh and speaking of challenges, Pyro, look who's coming!"
Tamma pointed at the rest rooms out of which Blane and Tiger walked out, the blonde teen now being dressed in dark green boots, white pants, a green jacket with black sleeves that revealed his shirtless chest with the X scar and a green bandana with the Nature civilization symbol on it.
"Blane, Tiger, over here!" Tamma shouted and waved his hands in the air.
"Hey there!" Blane waved back and walked to the duo along with Tiger. "What's up boys?"
"Oh we have signed up at the tournament." Pyro explained. "What about you two?"
"The same thing." Tiger shortly responded and went to the lady sitting in front of a computer putting his identity card on the table. "Tiger King."
"So yeah, how's life for you two?" Blane asked while putting his hands in his pockets.
"Pretty fine, I've visited some areas close to this city. I must say that for a place located near the seaside you guys have some great forests." Pyro said.
"Didn't really do much on these summer holidays, I just trained with brother Subaru." Tamma added. "I'm pretty lucky that Wally-sama allowed me to participate at the tournament and excused me from missing some of his classes."
"I see. Well in that case I say we all hang out a bit until the tournament begins, what do you say?" Blane suggested and received nods of approval. "Good, after I sign up we'll go at…"
But before he could finish his idea he noticed that two more people walked in the tournament building. They were of the same height, in their early twenties and both were red haired and had green eyes. One of them was a girl dressed in a white shirt with a brown vest, blue jeans, brown boots and a cowboy hat, her hair being arranged in a ponytail. The other was a man wearing a red shirt and purple suit. His long hair was left free on his back and his hands were covered by two gloves, the left one having a bull skull and the colors black, green and red, while the right one was white and had the symbol of the Zero civilization. The girl hit him in the rib with her elbow and spoke with an obvious Texan accent:
"Now don't ya dare cause any trouble, got it?"
"Of course, dear sister, you know me well." he scratched his head innocently.
"It's because Ah know you that Ah told ya this." the girl replied and then she left him alone.
Now Blane turned around to greet her and spoke in a rather loud voice that caught the attention of his comrades as well:
"Well hello there, ex-anti-chosen fire duelist!"
"Oh please Blaney, ya know very well that Ah am over that whole thing. Ya'll may just call me Rita." the red haired girl replied laughing.
"Got it, cowgirl." he replied winking at her.
"Rita, it's been like forever!" Pyro exclaimed upon seeing her.
"Yay, sister Rita is back!" Tamma shouted even happier.
"Oh yeah, Ah am back in business, boys! It's nice to see y'all safe and sound!" the red haired confessed. "So what did Ah miss while Ah was gone?"
"You don't even know how much." Blane joked.
"If you're done chit chatting, you might take your time to sign up before the tournament begins." Tiger sourly suggested.
"Gee, ya still have that stick up yer pooper?" Rita reminded him sticking out her tongue. "And oh boy, what in tarnation happened to yer chest?"
"Let's say that I had an unfortunate accident." Tiger said while turning his head away from Rita, Tamma and Pyro that were all looking with curiosity at his X scar. "That's none of your business. Now let's get down to actual business, shall we?"
Once they all signed up the group decided to all go at the arena and each take their seats. However Blane decided to kill some time inspecting the building's area. Even though it was the standard tournament building, what really interested him were not the looks but the security system for he did not wish to have any troubles around.
And so he wandered all alone down the corridors taking an occasional look at the refreshments machines and various fast foods. But his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about Subaru, Tsugumi and Edo. He may have stalked them in the past couple of weeks but he did not talk to them for almost two months. The reason was that they were busy with their own activities and he was mostly concerned with their safety. After all, that is the job of a guardian angel. Yet the idea of participating in and winning a tournament was highly tempting for him. He would gain fame and he would make Subaru and his friends proud of him. And even if he did not win, he still had the chance of showing everyone what he truly had in him.
Suddenly he stopped from walking and stood still in the middle of the corridor. A sly smile appeared on his face as he spoke with a provocative tone in his voice:
"You can come out of your hideout, this if you are a man."
That's when he heard some heavy footsteps that most likely belonged to boots. When he turned around he saw none other than the wandering samurai approaching him discretely from the shadows. Blane analyzed the warrior's looks and then he remembered the words of Tiger. The description matched perfectly. There was no doubt that the one standing in front of him was the same person that stole his friend's cards. Even so, he decided to ask him to see what answer he would get:
"Are you the one that stole Tiger's cards?"
"So Tiger was his name? Such an unfitting name for a weakling like him." the samurai coldly replied.
"Hey, watch out who you call a weakling, samurai boy!" Blane got angered.
"And what do you care, stranger?"
"The guy you just insulted is my friend. And let's just say that nobody insults and humiliates my friends and gets away with it!"
Blane reached his hand on the sheath from his back and he pulled out the sword that he received from Eternal Phoenix.
"Let's see if you're as strong as your words." Blane challenged.
"You got it." the samurai replied and pulled out his red bladed sword.
"Oh, nice weapon you got there. I thought those were only made in Japan a long time ago. Did you rob a museum as well, you card thief?"
The samurai ignored Blane's mockery and simply took an attacking position preparing to rush at him. His opponent did the same and then silence fell upon them.
Meanwhile inside one of the building's room, the brother of Rita sat on a chair playing on a black piano in an elegant manner. The song that he was interpreting was Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, first movement. The melancholy of the piano's notes was filling the air of the empty room. The man continued playing entranced by the atmosphere that he did not notice when someone else entered the room as well and kneeled in front of him.
"Roger-sama, I have come to bring you news…" a young male voice awoke him from his trance.
The pianist turned to the one kneeling, still playing his piano, and saw that it was a boy nineteen years of age with long white hair that touched his shoulders, deep blue eyes and who wore a yellow T shirt with the symbol of the Light civilization on it imprinted in white colors, a silver jacket and blue jeans.
"What is it, Ren?" the pianist Roger asked in a calm manner while he was still playing.
"All eight of us have been successfully signed up in the tournament. As for its prizes, they are two Victory cards belonging to the Zero civilization, each will go to the participants in the finals, depending on who wins and who loses." the white haired boy explained.
"I see. And where are the others?"
"They are all in the arena. The host should arrive in half an hour and then the tournament should officially begin. This is all that I know so far."
"Good. Go back and join your teammates. I will be sure to arrive soon."
"But Roger-sama, I do have a question."
"What now, Ren?"
"Your twin sister Rita has some friends of hers participating in the tournament as well. Do you not fear that she might tell them about us?"
"Even if she did, she does not know about our plans, so they will not pose a problem. However, if by some chance Rita and her friends would stand in our way, then we all know what to do with hindrances, don't we, Ren?"
"I understand, Roger-sama."
"Good, you are now dismissed."
With a nod, Ren got up, turned around and walked away from the room, the gentle and romantic melodies that were being played by his master on the piano still being caught in his head.
The sounds of battle cries resounded in the other side of the corridor as the samurai and Blane rushed at each other and their swords clashed. The two looked each other in the eye and both saw determination in each other. However that was just for a moment as the samurai jumped back and took a couple of breaths.
"That's weird; my attack didn't even faze him." Blane thought.
Taking the opportunity of Blane's lack of attention, the samurai rushed at him once again and in just a second the sword slashed. Blane was lucky that he had barely noticed that his opponent attacked him again and made a late reaction which kept the red blade away from his neck. However he felt blood fall from his right cheek down to his neck. The samurai also admired the few blood stains that his sword had.
"He's mine." the warrior in red thought with overconfidence.
He then turned around and attacked his opponent once again. However this time Blane was ready and he responded by stopping the samurai's sword with his own before he would reach him. Afterwards he started hitting the red blade with his own repeatedly, confusing and making the red haired fighter back off.
"Damn, he isn't giving me one chance to react or attack him!" the samurai thought.
After ten more repeated attacks, Blane swung his sword in such a way that when it hit that of the samurai, it threw the red blade in the air and left his opponent unarmed. Afterwards the brown haired swordsman tried to hit him while he was without a sword but the samurai quickly jumped in the air and retrieved his weapon. Then as he fell back at his opponent he tried to drive the blade in him but Blane backed off and it ended up being thrust in the ground like the sword of Arthur.
"I've got to say, you're a fast fighter, I'll give you that. However, your ability to wield the sword is terrible."
"What do you know?" the samurai bitterly replied.
"Well for starters, the only time you actually managed to hit me was when I was off guard. But besides that you couldn't handle any of my attacks and for a few moments you were left without your weapon." Blane explained his criticisms. "Heh, you put the good name of samurai warriors to shame."
His words made the samurai remember of the days in which he had trained at the Genji camp.
Rad fell in the dirt on his back, shirtless and full of sweat, his tiredness being obvious from his heavy breathing. The edge of a sword appeared next to his neck, the weapon's wielder being a tall muscular man in his thirties that had a disappointed look on his face.
"You can run all you want, but if you are not able to properly use your sword then you're not fit to be a warrior!" the man spoke with a harsh voice.
"But Musashi-sensei, he managed to dodge most of your attacks perfectly." a Koji dressed in a battle kimono intervened. "And he also had pretty quick attacks."
"Speed is not the only important element in swordsmanship, Koji-kun. When you end up in a one-on-one fight you must be able to predict your opponent's moves and know how to properly counteract them. In the same time you should focus on his strengths and weaknesses and plan a way to defeat him." master Musashi explained to the young warrior and then he turned to the tired Rad. "This is not a race, this is a battle where your own life is at stake. If you wish to become a true warrior, then you need to wake up and learn how to properly fight!"
The sword's edge retreated from the young red haired teen's neck and ended back in the master's sword. The man then turned around and walked to other warriors that he had to train. Koji helped Rad get up and then he tried to motivate his friend:
"Don't worry about what the master said; you were actually pretty good in that battle."
"I don't know, Koji. This whole samurai business seems to be too much for me. I just am not fit to be a swordsman." Rad replied with disappointment and took a good look at his sword.
"I believe in you, Rad-kun, you do have the potential to become a great warrior one day." Koji assured him and grabbed his right hand. "And it will be an honor to fight by your side, my friend!"
Remembering the friendly smile of Koji, the samurai got more determined than ever to defeat his opponent. He shouted all his anger as he pulled out his sword and once again rushed at Blane. The swords collided once again, but this time it was the red haired warrior who was attacking and pushing the brown haired one in defense. His attacks were faster and he was channeling all of his rage in his sword's attacks. However Blane was not intimidated one bit. The samurai was finally stepping up his game a bit, but his moves were predictable and easy to deal with. If he were not entertained, Blane would have chosen to end their confrontation already. But he preferred to tease the angered warrior a bit more.
"You call those moves? Even my grandma could wield her butter knife better than you can wield that poor excuse of a blade." Blane provoked him.
The samurai angrily growled and charged once again at him, this time aiming for his chest but Blane blocked the attack with his own sword. Seeing that the samurai started meaning business, the brown haired swordsman leaned a little down and tripped his opponent making him fall on his back. Afterwards he put his sword's edge at his neck in a victorious pose.
"I guess I won this one." Blane declared and he received an angry glare from the defeated one. "Heh, you'll never become a true warrior if you don't manage to know yourself."
"Don't you lecture me about being a warrior, you good for nothing…" the samurai replied but then Blane's sword approached his neck a few more centimeters.
"Still have the courage to talk, eh? And yes, I think that I can lecture you about being a warrior having in mind the situation we're both in."
"Tsh… just tell me what you want from me."
"Tiger's cards, give them back at this instant!"
"Oh sure." the samurai started looking in his jacket's pockets. "Let me take them out of my…"
Taking advantage of the fact that Blane had lifted his sword's blade a little above his neck, the samurai immediately rolled away and got up with his deck in his hands saying:
"…pocket."
"You son of a bitch…" Blane uttered with surprise.
"Let's see if you're a worthy enough duelist to get the cards back!" the samurai challenged back and his deck glowed with a bright red aura shaped like bursting flames.
"Oh I am more than worthy!"
Blane sheathed his sword and took out his deck as well that was enveloped by a burning red aura. Two dueling tables rose from the floor and the duelists put their decks on them, set their cards and began their match.
Meanwhile in the room where Roger was playing the piano, the delicate notes of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major were creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for whomever wished to enter. And the doors did open, this time the person entering being another teen with yellow eyes, black hair wrapped in a pony tail, who wore a black tuxedo with a red rose in the chest's pocket. He kneeled down in front of the pianist who was still playing the song and said:
"Roger-sama, there are a total of sixteen participants. The shuffles for the duels are now being made. Between the participants there are Tamma Gochi and Tiger King, who were also known as the chosen fire and nature duelists. They might mean trouble for us, sir."
"Chosen duelists, eh?" Roger turned his head to his minion, not interrupting the piano playing. "I suggest you and Ren keep an eye on them. They might actually become a challenge for us if any of our members were to face them."
"Maybe we could make it so that they do not even reach their dueling tables and are disqualified for absence?"
"I like how you think, June, but I suggest we stray away from tricks so far. We should keep all our aces up our sleeves for the semi-finals and the finals."
"I understand, Roger-sama. Is there anything else that you wish to find out?"
"So far nothing, you may go join the others now."
June nodded to his master, got up and left the room while humming the piano's melody.
"Ah, if only more people could appreciate the beauty of the great classics." Roger sighed and kept playing along.
Back on the corridor, the duel between Blane and the samurai had begun.
"I cast Mendelssohn!" Blane said and he revealed the top two cards of his deck which were Hustle Castle and Cerulean Dagger Dragon, the first landing in his graveyard and the second tapped in his mana zone.
"I summon Dreaming Moon Knife!" the samurai said and then he also placed Bolbalzak Ex tapped in his mana zone.
"I summon Eco Aini!" Blane said and the top card of his deck that landed in his mana zone was Faerie Life. "Dang it, I'm not having luck with mana boost today."
"Speaking of mana, how about I slow you down a bit?" the samurai slyly asked. "I cast Faerie Gift and then I summon Geo Crashing Miranda, the Dimensional Force, and also by its effect I put Victorious Ryusei Kaiser in the battle zone!"
A blue armored dragon with a fire horn as his nose and a flaming sword wielded by its tail appeared in the hallway behind the samurai and roared.
"And now all the cards that you put in the mana zone are put tapped." the samurai concluded with satisfaction.
"Tsh…" Blane spat and put Bolshack NEX in the mana zone tapped. "I summon Mach Lupia and end."
"Is there a problem? I thought that since you were an all powerful warrior you would also live up in dueling too. Guess I was mistaken." the samurai happily mocked his opponent and then he placed a Water card upon one of his Nature creatures. "I evolve Dreaming Moon Knife into Cosmo Cebu Lambda, the Super Electromagnetic!"
A dark blue robotic Alien that lacked a head and had three pairs of light blue wings appeared in the battle zone joining Victorious Ryusei Kaiser by the samurai's side. Their owner then sent the card under it to the graveyard and said:
"Meteorburn, I send Dreaming Moon Knife to the graveyard and draw three cards. Now go, Cosmo Cebu Lambda, double break his shields!"
"Argh!" Blane shouted as he took cover from the robot's attack that broke two of his shields.
"Victorious Ryusei Kaiser, break two more shields, ike!" the samurai ordered and the blue armored dragon swung its tail and the flaming sword slashed off two more of Blane's shields.
"Shield trigger, I cast Faerie Life!"
A tapped Infinity Dragon landed in Blane's mana zone.
"Geo Crashing Miranda, break his final shield!"
The elephant like Alien swung its hammer and used it to smash the brown haired boy's last shield. With that the samurai ended his turn.
"How do you like that?" the samurai asked as he crossed his arms. "In the fourth turn you lost all your shields before you were able to summon any Dragon."
"Yeah, you may be a speedy one, but that can't compare to the force of my deck!" Blane replied and then six cards in his mana zone tapped themselves as he showed a Fire card. "I summon Codename Balga Ragon! Mach Lupia reduced his cost by one and it also turns him into a speed attacker, so I attack Victorious Ryusei Kaiser with Balga Ragon!"
The top card of Blane's deck revealed itself as Bolshack Cross NEX and since it was a Dragon, Balga Ragon's effect put it in the battle zone. The red giant horned Armored Dragon materialized behind Blane and roared at the samurai as Codename Balga Ragon took down Victorious Ryusei Kaiser.
"Bolshack Cross NEX…" the samurai uttered and stared at the magnificent dragon as if he had seen a ghost from the past.
"Yeah, he was the former chosen fire card but since it has no more power Tamma gave it to me." Blane explained with pride.
"Wait a minute, who is Tamma?"
"Oh, he was the last chosen fire duelist, but now the chosen duelists are no more."
"Chosen fire duelist?" the samurai murmured and then he thought. "Did he replace me?"
"Anyway, Bolshack Cross NEX, destroy Cosmo Cebu Lambda!" Blane ordered and the dragon swung its sword and slashed the robot in two making it explode. "Then Eco Aini suicide with Geo Crashing Miranda!"
The parrot-like green bird attacked the elephant Alien and the two fought until both were destroyed. Then the two giant dragons disappeared and their cards returned into Blane's hand.
"Mach Lupia returns Codename Balga Ragon and Bolshack Cross NEX to my hand at the end of my turn. Let's see what you've got now."
"I've got to say that you put a nice show with your Dragons, but now let me show you one of mine!" the samurai replied while tapping six of his mana cards. "I summon Genji Double Cross, Blastdragon!"
A red dragon with a golden mane that was wearing samurai armor and wielding two cross shaped swords appeared behind the samurai and took an attacking position waiting for the final blow order.
"What a shame that all of your shields are gone and my Genji is a speed attacker." the samurai ironically stated. "Oh well, I guess that the cards of your friend Tiger will stay in my hands."
"Hey, no fair, I defeated you in that sword fight!" Blane reminded him.
"It's true, but from what you said I am not a real samurai. If that is the case, then I don't need to honor any agreement, especially those that I did not even make to begin with."
Once his little speech was over, the samurai tapped the Fire card and shouted:
"Genji Double Cross, todomeda!"
What followed next was a small explosion that stirred the building's alarms. As the security robots made their way through the smoke, the samurai rushed out of the corridor as quick as he could in order to not get caught. But once he reached the building's reception he ended up face to face with Subaru.
"And just what on Earth do you think you're doing here?!" the black haired teen asked.
"We meet again…" the samurai remarked.
Blane(sitting at a table drinking a beer): Yeah man, the nerve of that guy to run away like that after I beat him fair and square in a sword fight! Well ok, he also beat me fair and square in that duel, but still, I proved him that I would make a far better samurai than that pathetic excuse that he is! Oh well, I hope that someone teaches this guy a lesson soon, because I'm fed up with his attitude.
[In the next chapter]:
Subaru and the wandering samurai face off in another duel as the tournament begins. Tamma, Pyro and Rita go off on their first duels against three of Roger's minions while the pianist watches their matches and analyzes their strategies. What could the mysterious brother of Rita be planning?
