Chapter 7: King of the Jungle Gym
As you read in the last chapter I have to face Jerry to reach the Final Four. I still can't believe Jerry is into Vanguard. Last I saw him with cards, he was about to stomp on them. Whatever clan he uses, it better be strong. Or he's going down, hard!
"Fighters, please head for the Central Fight Table!" Kotetsu announced.
Me and and Jerry went to the table in the middle of the store. He gave me this dirty look that he always has when he sees me. It freaked me out a bit. We both set our starting vanguards. My hand had Oasis Girl, Brutal Jack, Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, and Cannon Ball. I didn't redraw. I'd get a Grade 3 eventually. Right now I need to focus on defense. Who knows what Jerry has up his sleeve.
"Cardfighters, ready?!" Kotetsu asked.
"I will crush you!" Jerry exclaimed.
"Let's hurry up and finish this..."
"Then, you may begin!"
"Stand Up, The Vanguard! White Tiger!" I yelled.
"Stand Up and Fight, My Vanguard! Mecha Trainer!"
Just great! Another clan I don't know about! Worse part: Jerry's using it...
"I'll go first! Draw!" Jerry started turn. "I Ride Commander, Garry Gannon, move Mecha Trainer to rear-guard and end my turn!"
"I Draw!" It was Ring Girl, Clara. "Then, I Ride Oasis Girl and move White Tiger. Then, I'll have my vanguard attack Commander (7000)!" "I don't guard!"
"Drive Check!" It revealed Twin Blader. Sweet, Now I can guard two vanguard attacks! "Damage Check!" It revealed Highspeed, Brakki. "I'll end my turn."
"I Draw. Now I can finally pay you back for all the years of torment I've suffered because of you, Mason!"
"Dude, just let it go! We were in grade school!"
"That doesn't make it any less painful! What you did to me that day labeled me a loser! Everyone called me the biggest wimp in the entire city. My parents wouldn't even do anything to stop it. They said it was part of growing up. Bull, that was all a bunch of bull!" You can tell he hates me.
"I Ride Treasured, Black Panther and then Call Wonder Boy!" He must want to keep his defenses up too.
"Now Wonder Boy will attack, with support from Trainer (8000+5000)!" "I don't guard." My damage check revealed Azure Dragon.
"Next is Panther (10000)!" "I guard with Cannon Ball (7000+10000)!" His drive check revealed Dudley Dan.
"I end my turn."
"I Stand and Draw." The card I drew was Mr. Invincible. "Now, I Ride Jack! I'll use his Counter Blast to get rid of his Restraint ability. Then, I Call Hungry Dumpty, and flip the card I just used face-up."
"Of course! What will you do next, oh Great Mason of the Jungle Gym?!" I ignored him and continued my turn.
"I'll have Hungry Dumpty, boosted by White Tiger, attack your vanguard (9000+5000)!" "I don't guard!" His damage check revealed Cheerful Lynx, a Draw Trigger. "I'll give the 5000 to my vanguard and I draw."
"Why can't you just leave the past where it belongs? We're in high school, you shouldn't let that define you." "Says the guy who was feared throughout the city!"
"Key word: WAS! Since I became friends with Sai, there have been no problems at school or on the streets. I let the old me go. Why can't you?"
"I just can't! You humiliated me in front of everyone! The other kids, the Teachers, even the freaking Principal stood there when you beat me up!"
"If you can't let the past go on your own, then I'll just make you! I'll attack with Brutal Jack (11000)!" "I don't guard. There's no way in hell you'll get a trigger" "We'll see about that, Drive Check!" My revealed card was...just Black Tortoise. "Hah, knew it!. Not even you could be that lucky." "I'll end my turn..."
"Now I'll show you the pain you showed me. I Stand and Draw." "Why did you get interested in Vanguard anyway?" He couldn't just want to play for no reason.
"I heard people talk about how you started playing a couple of days after Sai moved into town. There were rumors going around that you became friends with him. How you have changed. And you know what? I don't believe any of it! Someone like you can never change, at least not entirely."
"Yeah, well, I did. Sai and me are friends and this game is the best thing to happen to me. I cleaned up my act, I'm finally starting to pay attention in class, and I don't cause any trouble. What's so wrong with that?"
"You were never nice to new kids before, why this one?!"
"Because you were messing with him. Why'd you do that anyway?"
"I wanted street cred, is all."
"You couldn't get street cred if there were a class on it. And that can't be all. I heard you in the hallways that day. You said you were going to beat him up, take his stuff, and throw it into the river outside of town. That's just wrong, man!"
"He made me look stupid in front of the class. I had to teach him a lesson. I'm done talking about this. I will beat you. I will show you that I am stronger than I was back then! I Ride General Seifried!"
Already at Grade 3, huh? Not bad. But it's gonna take more than that to take me down.
"Next, I call Highspeed, Brakki (in place of Mecha Trainer) and Dudley Dan. Switching Wonder Boy and Brakki. Now Brakki with support from Wonder Boy attacks. Then, I activate Brakki's Souls Blast, giving him 5000 Power (14000+8000)!" "I don't guard." My damage check was Battleraizer. "I'll give the 5000 Power to my vanguard and stand Hungry Dumpty."
"Next is Seifried with support from Dan (10000+4000). Seifried also gets 3000 Power when being boosted by another Spike Brothers (14000+3000)." "I guard with Twin Blader." I discarded Black Tortoise.
Good, this is his last attack. Now I can take my turn.
"I forgot to tell you about the General's ability. When his drive check reveals a Grade 3 Spike Brothers, I can call it to open rear-guard." WHAT?! "Twin Drive! First!" Just Wonder Boy for the first. But the second: "Juggernaut Maximum has been revealed. I Call!" It was bad enough playing against a clan I didn't know anything about, but they can call during a drive check.
What else can this clan do?! "Now Maximum attacks, with his Soul Blast (11000+5000)!" "I-I don't guard!" My damage check revealed King of Sword. "I'll put Brakki and Maximum back in my deck and end my turn."
I'll admit, he's better than I thought he would be. But, I have to get to the Final Four. No other way around it, I have to beat him. "I Stand and Draw." It was NGM Prototype. "I Ride Mr. Invincible! Then, I Call NGM Prototype. Hungry Dumpty attacks, with support from White Tiger (9000+5000)." "I don't guard." His damage check revealed Gyro Slinger.
"Next is Invincible (10000)!" "I guard with Cheer Girl, Marilyn!" He discarded a Seifried in his hand. "Twin Drive! First!" It was Shining Lady. "All effects to NGM." "Big deal. I can take two damage next attack. Besides, it's near impossible to get a second trigger." "Grr...Second Check!" At that moment, I saw green. "Heal Trigger, 5000 Power to NGM and I heal one damage."
"Hmph, figures you get what you wanted. It's kindergarten all over again!" "I've had enough of you. I attack with NGM (18000)!" "I don't guard." Both of his damage checks revealed Devil Summoner, then Cheer Girl, Tiara. "Heal Trigger, I'll put one damage in the drop zone."
I let out a big sigh and asked him: "What can I do for you to just forget what I did?" What he said after that made me wanna clobber him more than I usually do.
"Quit playing Vanguard." "WHAT?!" "And I want you and your mom to leave Capital City, for good!"
"You can't be serious!" "I am. If you want me to forgive you, you'll do it." "NO! You're asking me to leave and quit the one thing that changed my life for the better."
"You've always done better than me at everything. If you continue to play, I'll never be good. After this, if you beat me, you'll probably just take my deck away from me!"
"What makes you think that?" "'Cuz that's how you are!" "No, it's not. You forget who showed me the game in the first place. Sai. When I saw how much he loved his cards that you were about to destroy, I had to stop you. I didn't take anything from him or you then, I told him to head home and I told you not to mess with him anymore."
"Was...I really that bad?" "You were about to stomp on his deck. You called them a worthless heap of cardboard."
"...Huh...I guess I became the very thing I hate the most...I became you, from kindergarten." "This game changed me. But...You must ask yourself if it has done the same for you."
"My turn yet?" "Go ahead." "Alright! This is gonna be epic! You ready? 'Cuz I Stand and Draw! Now I Call Sky Diver. Then, he attacks (11000)!" "I don't guard." My damage check revealed Clay-doll Mechanic.
"Now, I'll use his skill: By putting him in the soul, I can Call a Spike Brothers from my hand. I choose Dudley Douglass, then use his Counter Blast, giving him 5000 Power. Now, he will attack (14000)!"
"I don't guard!" My damage check revealed Cannon Ball. "Next will be Seifried, with his skill, supported by Dan (13000+4000). "I'll guard with Twin Blader!" I discarded Clara Next, I'll use Dan's Counter Blast: Paying two from my damage zone, to search for a Spike Brothers and call it to open rear-guard. And Juggernaut takes the field!" "Twin Drive! First!" It was Black Panther. "Come on, Second Check!" It was Seifried. He could use his vanguard's skill, but it would be in the back row.
"Finally, Mamimum, with his Soul Blast, attacks with support from Wonder Boy (16000+8000)!" "I guard with Lady and Clara (10000+20000)!" "I'll put Maximum back into my deck and end my turn. Last chance to make a come back!"
"You don't have to worry about that! I Stand and Draw. The one card I wanted, Gold Rutile. "Alrite, here comes my ace in the hole! I Ride Gold Rutile!" If I'm right, he won't have much to guard with.
"Now, I attack with Hungry Dumpty, supported by White Tiger (9000+5000)!" "Douglass intercepts (10000+5000)!"
"Next is Gold Rutile!" "I don't guard!" Knew it! "Twin Drive! First!" It was Azure Dragon. "Second!" Come on, just a Stand Trigger would help. I did get a Trigger. But it wasn't a Stand. "Critical Trigger, I'll give the Critical to Rutile and the 5000 to Hungry Dumpty!" "Hah, what luck! Damage check..." It's too bad we both can't win, but... "Aww well, Draw Trigger revealed. I lose."
"The match has been decided! Mason shall be moving on!" Kotetsu announced. Cheering could be heard from outside, it was so loud. Jerry was clapping in the background.
After it was over, he tripped and all of his card fell out of their case. "Hey!" "Ahh!" He folded his arms over his head, almost as if he thought I was gonna hit him. "You okay!" "Y-yeah. Oh crap, my deck!"
I went to to pick them up, but Jerry went berserk: "Please don't take them!" When he said that, I just laughed: "I just want to look."
I looked at his cards. "So, what was the real reason you wanted to play?" "I just gave it a chance like you did. Me and the guys made decks and we practiced outside school. At first, I wanted to see if these cards were really that special. They didn't at first. But...when I got more cards, saw which ones would work well together, and tried it out, I got hooked. I didn't want my hard work to go to waste, so I entered the tournament."
"I guess we both were more excited than we thought we'd be after trying it."
"Why'd you enter?"
"Well, I wanted to see how good I got. That turned out well. Even though, during practice with Sai, I lost to him like 20 times in a row the day after I started playing."
"TWENTY TIMES!? But, you have to be one of the best players here!"
"I'm not there yet. I've only been playing for a couple of weeks and I'm still trying to figure some stuff out. Your deck didn't help matters any."
"Wow, I caught YOU off guard?"
"Yeah, weird, right?"
"Way beyond, dude!" Exactly what I was thinking.
"Well, there's only one thing to do now."
"What?" He asked.
" First thing to do is apologize to what I did to you that day. Second thing, give you a free shot."
"You'd let me punch you?"
"Yep, I have it coming after 11 years. Go ahead, right here." I pointed at my cheek.
He was just about to give me a shiner, until: "I'll save you, Mason!" Sai rammed into Jerry.
"Ow!" Jerry landed on his side. "Leave my friend alone!"
"He's my friend too, jerk!"
"Then why were you gonna punch him?!"
"He said I could!"
"Is that true, Mason?" Sai asked.
"Yeah, it's collateral damage for what I did to him in kindergarten on his first day of school."
"Oh. Sorry, Jerry!"
"Don't worry about, I don't blame you. I can be a jerk sometimes. Sorry about almost destroying your deck."
"It's okay, I already forgot about it. Hey, what clan'd you use just now?"
"Spike Brothers."
"Nice! That clan's offensive beatdown style is awesome!" Oh great, now I'll never hear the end of it.
Their conversation ended when Kotetsu announced: "Will the Final Four please head for the the podium!".
Sai ran to the podium, as instructed. He almost tripped on the way. I walked there. Jerry went into the audience to listen for the pairings.
"These are the tournament finalists: Mason Shepard, Sai Yamato, Abbey Vulcan, and Trevor Holtsworth!" Of course we won...
"Pairings for the semi-finals have already been made. Sai will be facing Abbey. And Trevor will be up against Mason. These matches will determine who fights in the final match."
"Come on, Mason!" Jerry yelled "You can do it, kid!" "Yeah, beat that meany to a pulp!" Wrecking Ball and his daughter yelled out.
"There will be a 15 minute intermission. Please, take that time to prepare your decks."
15 minutes? Finally! I can take a nap! The next chapter will be epic. So stick around for more. ZzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZ.
