Data does not dream; cannot dream. This world is real. For the longest time, I had not the slightest idea where I was - that I had already wandered far off the path. All that time, I had become trapped inside the nightmares I gave myself, all the while without ever knowing that I had made my heart a prison - even if I was not the prisoner. All the data I have collected - I cannot bring myself to destroy it, even after everything that has happened. Hidden away, perhaps now I can begin to clear my consciousness - Spectra will forever dissapear.
Entry #?
Chapter 7:
GAME OVER! WINNER: Sofia Sakharov!
The automated voice declared as the Buddyfight game ended. Sofia looked as bored and plain as she usually did, her expression holding as many tells as a brick wall. The large barrier surrounding the Buddyfight field quickly began to fade away. Even the audience seemed stunned, as hushed whispers muttered left and right around the grand room.
"This is completely unbelievable! The great ninja, Kanahebi, was barely able to make a single move!" The Gaen Cup's announcer, Paruko, declared as the fighter in question, Kanehebi, dropped down onto his knees in defeat, his eyes wide in sheer amazement of the result.
"Ugh... S-she's strong!" Kanahebi still seemed to be in shock as he stared blankly at the ground in front of him.
"But, he's good," Zanya protested back in Team Balle du Soleil's waiting and observation room, "Way better than he was before! How'd she defeat him so easily?" Zanya seemed, for lack of a better term, flabbergasted.
"Who would have thunk it?" Paruko continued her announcement, as the solemn Sofia's platform began to descend into the lower levels, "In a surprising turn of events, the former Vice-President of Aibo Academy's Middle School is one top-notch Buddyfighter. She gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Girl Power'!" Paruko continued, her vibrant pink hair bobbing a bit in her excitement. Still on his knees, Kanahebi's platform mirrored Sofia's and began to descend downward, until he was out of sight completely.
"Next up from Team Purgatory, a friendly foe and former student of Sengoku Academy, the formidable Rouga Aragami!" Paruko announced as Rouga and his Buddy, Armorknight Cerberus, rose with the platform to replace Sofia, with Cerberus transforming into his regular, much larger and imposing form upon doing so.
"It's gonna be a tough one for our team from SenCad, they need to win both of their next two matches to move on. Representing them is the oh-so powerful competitor, Shosetsu Kirisame! Let's see how this one plays out!" Paruko continued her expected narration, as the silver haired boy from Sengoku Academy arrived upon his own platform. But... strangely Rouga didn't even seem to have noticed Shosetsu's arrival yet. This was odd, as Rouga wasn't someone to usually be distracted, especially right before a Buddyfight.
'What's got his attention?' The silver haired Shosetsu thought to himself. Tracing Rouga's line of sight, the Legend World user observed that he seemed to be looking up at - Kyoya Gaen? Yes, he was definitely staring up at the white and red haired boy up in the grand spectating seat...
"Kyoya... I wish I knew what you were up to..." Rouga muttered quietly, too immersed in his thoughts to even pay attention to his upcoming match or his opponent.
"You ready?" Armorknight Cerberus barked out towards Rouga, looking quite eager for the upcoming battle. At the sound of the Buddy's words, Rouga seemed to snap out of the stupor that he was caught in.
"Let's do this." Rouga spoke, and although his words were quiet, his tone was firm.
Now that his opponent seemed to be ready to fight, Shosetsu clenched his fist, 'I've been waiting a long time for this.' he thought.
"The power of the Ace will destroy you! Dark Lumenize! Ace Defeat!" Rouga declared, twirling his spear and lumenizing his cards for their game, Cerberus behind him roaring in agreement.
"A thousand swords, defeating the enemy with a thousand vows! Lumenize! Fortress of Swords!" Shosetsu was swift to follow, using his Buddy/blade, Immortal Sword Durendal, to lumenize his own hand as well.
"OK everybody, say it with me! Buudddyyyy~" Paruko began.
"FIGHT!" The audience shouted out.
"Well now, I think that this should shape out to become a very interesting match," Roa spoke, him and Axia in prime front row seats to observe what would hopefully be a good game, "I just wonder, which one of them will claim victory, do you think?"
"Well, back when Gao-wow and Drum were up against that Sengoku Academy, that boy, Shosetsu, was really powerful. Gao~wow barely managed to defeat him," Axia spoke in between munching on popcorn, "He even had the power to bring his cards into reality, until that Tasuku boy stopped him and broke that Dark Core Deck Case. Idunno, what do you think, Roa?"
"It's hard to say... this match is going to be a close one, I think. If my instincts are correct, then both of their strengths and powers are very similar similar right now. And whenever such a twosome crosses paths as opponents, the match will always end up with one pulling ahead of the other at the very last minute. Predicting who will win ahead of time is usually impossible," Roa explained, "Although..."
"Huh? What is it?" Axia asked, hearing the definite pause in Roa's words.
"Well, I understand that boy, Rouga, is currently in possession of a Dark Core Deck Case. From what I understand of its mechanics, it gives him the power to actualize not only his Monsters, but the power of his Spells and Item cards into this world as well by tapping into a latent power source of some kind. And I think that may be what gives Rouga the edge here. That Kirisame boy failed to control its power in the past, so, at least at the time, his inner strength couldn't match up to Rouga's."
"I guess so..." Axia muttered, although he still didn't look terribly thrilled.
Roa noticed this, "What's wrong, Axia? You don't look very happy..." He pointed out, correctly.
Axia flushed a bit, before looked down, "Oh, it's nothing... I guess, all this talk about Dark Core Deck Cases, and seeing those Team Purgatory members are just bringing up some real bad memories, that's all..." he replied, recalling the time he spent in Kyoya Gaen's captivity with a certain amount of dread and fear.
"...That time on the cruise ship, huh?" Roa asked quietly, remembering how Axia went into great detail about that cruise of horror. What with him nearly being given away like some common fair prize, to Axia's break toward freedom and a Buddy of his own choice, to that ведьма Sofia nearly burning and throwing Roa's Buddy overboard. How Drum had heroically swooped down to save the damsel of a Dragowizard, to Gao doing the same for Drum in turn. How Axia had developed... feelings toward his savior, Drum, upon rescuing him from what Axia described as "certain doom", none too different, he thought wryly, from when Roa had saved Axia on the streets just the other day.
And who says history doesn't repeat itself?
Roa closed his eyes and sighed softly, "I understand how you must feel, Axia. I'm sorry if this is bringing up any bad memories, I wanted this day to be a memorable one for us both." Roa apologized, "But, if it makes you feel any better, I believe that Gao and Drum's team should be fighting tomorrow. We can cheer them on together, right?" He placed a reassuring hand on the Dragowizard's shoulder, trying to put a positive spin on the situation for his Buddy.
Axia seemed to perk up at the mention of Drum and Gao, "That's right, we'll both be rooting for 'em together! Although knowing them, they'll show up at the last minute in a really showy fashion, though." He finished with a smile and a wink.
Roa chuckled, "I wouldn't put it past them, but we'll see."
However, Shosetsu was not the only one to notice Rouga's long stare-down with Kyoya; Roa too his his own thoughts, and a plan too, "I'll be back in a minute Axia; I'm going to take a bathroom break."
On the way to the 'restroom', Roa faintly heard the end of Rouga and Shosetsu's match, with Rouga being declared the winner the game. As he expected. Well whatever, whoever would be playing in the next team match was irrelevant to Roa, he had much bigger fish to fry. It was time that he went straight to the source; no more snooping on bottom-feeding underlings.
Walking all the way across the stadium, Roa quietly slipped toward his destination, making certain to keep in the shadows and corners and that the few people that were out and about didn't so much as notice him. Call it a habit from his childhood, but if there was one thing that Roa considered a positive lesson from his early years, then it was to put caution first and trust second. Additionally, sneaking in and out of places was a boon that he had to admit came in quite handy at times - learning how to predict the way people's heads would turn when, being light on your feet, ans as well, as quickly identifying the path fewest people would see was a deadly combination for traveling unobserved.
He could tell he was missing an interesting match-up, but this would be completely worth it in the long run, in his own opinion. Watching an interesting Buddyfight was one thing, but a chance to spy on Kyoya? That was a treat all in of itself. If he wanted to take the chance to spy on Kyoya, then he needed to do it when the time was right - to strike the iron when it was hot, as it was.
A twinge of guilt struck him for making Axia sit there alone while he was off on his personal vendetta; he had promised to make their first day together memorable... but he shook it off after a moment or two. He's spin a yarn about how he got caught up doing something or other, that was always what he was best at; making up stories and putting on faces... Finally he had arrived, and at the end of the next match, if the loud cheering from the inside of the stadium's seating was any indication.
"This wasn't part of the plan at all..." Kyoya muttered, looking quite bored as he slumped lazily in his rather throne-like chair.
"I-I'm very sorry, sir. I have no idea how a stray cat - I mean, tiger - wandered in like that." Sueroku Shido apologized, bowing and fumbling highly awkwardly, nigh reminiscent of his son, "W-what's that?!" Sueroku suddenly yelped as three small dragon heads appeared, glowing with an ominous looking red-black fire. Kyoya didn't seem startled at all, more annoyed at the appearance of his Buddy.
"There'd better be a good reason for this." Kyoya warned threateningly, not at all in the mood for any bad news. Things had already gone bad enough, and he wasn't in the mood to hear any more failures.
"Indeed," Kyoya's Buddy, Azi Dhaka rumbled, "my battle arena has been completely destroyed." Kyoya frowned, making sure to keep the majority of his frustrations bottled tightly within. This was surely a major setback to his plans. But, who could it have been?
'Battle arena?' Roa thought, listening in on Kyoya and his underling's musings from just outside the room. From the context of things, the outcome of the last match hadn't gone according to Kyoya's plans, much to Roa's delight. And this mention of a battle arena... Could this have something to do with that Grim Reaper that, until recently, had been stealing the Buddy Monsters and Core Deck Cases from those he defeats?
'It was possible,' Roa considered, 'But now, the arena is apparently destroyed...'
This required further investigation.
The conversation between Kyoya and Azi Dhaka died out, although Roa was certain that no one inside the room had detected his presence just outside. Having apparently heard all there was to hear, Roa slipped back to Axia, and to the end of this day's matches.
"You're finally back from the bathroom, Roa? Where were you? You missed the whole last match!" Axia almost accused, " I had to watch it all alone."
Looking a bit sheepish, Roa scratched the back of his head, "Sorry , there was a long line and I had to wait a while. On the way back, I bumped into an old... friend, and an interesting conversation took place. But, I heard from somebody else that boy with the kitten shirt won the last match." Roa half lied, before he decided to subtly change the subject, "You know what? I bet if we hurry, we can catch Gao's team before they head out of here. What do you say we try and see them off?"
Axia quickly perked up and grinned, "Oh, I can't wait to see Drum~kins and Gao~wow again! Let's go, Roa!" Axia quickly took off, effectively leaving Roa in the dust.
"H-hey, wait up Axia! Do you even know where you're going?" He shouted out as he tried to catch up, somehow failing despite the massive difference in their leg lengths.
"Man, I'm beat!" Gao yawned, stretching his arms up in a stereotypical tired fashion, "What a day!" The Balle du Soleil Team had just exited the Gaen Stadium, and were nearly ready to head back to Gao's place for a victory party/celebration.
"It is time for dinner yet?" Drum asked in his usual hunger focused way.
"We're throwing a small dinner party back at home," Gao answered, "We'll head back any minute."
"Oh, come on, let's go already, I'm staaarrrviiinnnggg~!" Drum wined. Everyone sighed, although they were long since used to food being the only thing on Drum's mind. But, then...
"Drum-kins!" A familiar voice shouted out, just before a swift blue blur slammed into Drum.
"A-Axia?" Gao stuttered, looking surprised at seeing the Dragowizard that had previously left to find his own Buddy. And if everyone else's expressions were any indication, then they were too, "What are you doing here?"
"That's what I'd like to know! Get him offa me!" Drum struggled with all his might to pry Axia off himself, but Axia's grip was as good as iron, for as little as he budged.
"Oh, I missed you so much Drum~kins!" Axia hugged Drum as if he would disappear at any moment, "I'm so glad to see you all again so soon!"
"...But Axia, I thought you left to go find your Buddy. So,why are you here?" Gao asked. Had Axia not been able to find a Buddy for himself, and decide to make Drum his 'Buddy' again? It honestly wouldn't surprise Gao, what with Axia's mannerisms and feelings for Drum...
Disengaging himself from the Bunker Dragon, much to Drum's relief, Axia answered the boy, "That's exactly why I'm here! You see, I did meet my rightful Buddy, and we get along really great! He wanted to make our first official day as Buddies together important. So, when he heard that you and Drum~kins would be here, he bought us tickets to see you both in action!" He exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart.
"So, then... where is this 'Buddy' of yours, then?" Drum asked, sounding a little disbelieving that anyone sane could stand being Buddies with Axia... Then again, better anyone else than him, so he really didn't care.
"Oh, uh... hehehe, I guess I outran him. I was just so excited to see you both again, that I just, kind of... well, took off." Axia looked a bit sheepish as he looked around, Roa nowhere in his visible sight range. Only now recalling how he took off and faintly hearing Roa's shouts to wait up, Axia sweatdropped nervously.
"Well, don't expect us to help you go and look for him or anything," Drum snorted, looking distinctly annoyed at their current situation.
Axia seemed to miss the barb, "Well, he certainly shouldn't be too far off..." He trailed into silence as he saw someone tall in a long, blue coat approaching them through the somewhat thick crowd outside of the Gaen Stadium, "There you are, Axia! You just took off like that, next time wait up for me-" Roa stopped as he saw Axia's company, "Well Axia, it looks like you're two steps ahead of me. it seems that we meet again, Gao and company."
"Hey wait, you're that guy from back before!" Gao exclaimed, remembering the somewhat out-of-place boy from earlier before, back when Rouga and Purgatory Knight had their little spat.
Drum, on the other hand, was looking upwards at the tall, slightly imposing figure that Axia was showing off like a shiny trophy. He was Axia's Buddy?
Axia grabbed one of Roa's hands, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Roa Ciel, my Buddy!"Axia introduced Roa to them all, a beaming smile on his adorable face.
"We've already met, before." Zanya interrupted, gazing slightly warily of the newcomer through his glasses, which he then adjusted with a lens flash.
"Huh? When did you meet them, Roa?" Axia turned toward his Buddy, seeming to be lost.
"Well, we just bumped into each other a little while back, just before the first matches began. We only had the time for a brief introduction, though, so we didn't have very much time to talk." Roa explained quickly, though he was careful to leave out some particular details of what exactly happened in front of Axia.
"...How is that someone like you is his Buddy?" Drum sweatdropped, looking positively scandalized how a cool guy like that could stand being Buddies with anyone as annoying as Axia. Affixing Drum with a somewhat scolding glare for his bluntness, Gao turned to Roa, wanting, ironically enough, to know much the same thing.
"So, Roa, if you don't mind me asking, exactly how is it that you two met?" Gao asked, making a conscious effort to be more polite than Drum.
"You know bro, why don't we invite him back to the celebration we're going to have? We could talk back there. I mean, it IS getting kinda weird just standing around talking here," Baku offered. He was already friends with Axia, so he should be OK to be around with, "What do you think, Gao?"
Well, any friend of Axia's is a friend of mine," Gao smiled good-naturally, "How about you come celebrate with us man? We've got a party lined up and everything!"
Roa blinked, "Really? Is that OK with all of you?" He asked, looking across the group, the only signs of even minor distrust or reservation coming from Zanya, Asmodai, and Drum, although Drum's annoyed aura was most likely caused by Axia's presence than anything else.
If it was up to Roa, then he would have probably said no, as not only wasn't he a party-type person, but he also wasn't particularly thrilled about spending his day with a group of younger kids. Still it wasn't up to him; today was Axia's day, especially after he had been away for half of it, he thought with the guilt returning once more.
And if it would make his new Buddy happy, then Roa would gladly bend over backwards, "Well, it's fine with me if it's good by Axia," He looked toward his Buddy for final approval, "Is that OK with you, Axia?"
"Why, of course it is! Let's go, everyone~!" Axia declared, as the now two-man larger group began to make their way back toward Gao's house and the awaiting celebration.
Fin! This marks the end of Chapter 7. Ugh... Darth Real Life has been kicking my butt! Still, I'm SO glad that I finally got around to doing the next chapter, it's been weighing on my mind for some time now. As you can tell, I'm trying to adapt Roa into the cannon lines and plot, which is kinda difficult to do. As always, Reviews and suggestions are much appreciated, and flamers will have Axia sicked upon them. XD I kid, I kid, I love Axia WAY to much to ever do that to him; he's awesome.
I feel like I might have made Drum a bit too much of a jerk, but whenever Axia's around, he does kinda tend to act all rude and nasty... please, tell me if I got the characters right or not! I can never tell if everyone is in character in anything I write or not. It's a curse, I tell you! T-T
See you all next chapter!
