Chapter 14: First Strike

"Nikki's dead…"

C.J. and Sarina looked at Dylan like he was insane. They were all together the day before, they were the Avatars… Who… or what had the power to possibly do that?

"You're kidding right…?" C.J. asked.

Dylan shook his head. "Drake ambushed them during their training session and Nikki attacked him because Drake said that you two were killed; However a Red Phoenix saved him and demolished Cruel Naga. Nikki passed out along with it and hasn't waked up, nor is she breathing, so…"

"You're lying…" Sarina told him. "Nikki… can't be dead."

"Sarina…" C.J. turned to her.

"She can't die… She can't leave me and Wyatt." She dropped to her knees and cried. "She just can't!"

Wyatt and Maria walked over, noticing Sarina in a devastated state.

"What's wrong with her?" Wyatt asked. "I didn't think my joke would make you cry. Come on, you know I was kidding. You don't have to tell Nikki. Oh crap, please don't tell her, she's still on me about that 40 year old troll comment from last week!"

Wyatt's comments concerning her, just made Sarina cry even more.

"Um Wyatt…" Dylan walked up to him. "Adrian just called me…"

"And…? How's the training going?" Wyatt asked as he wrapped his hands behind his head.

"Not good…"

"Well, that's a shame. Guess we just gotta clean up their mess then."

"Nikki's dead you idiot!" Sarina screamed at him. The whole store heard her and turned to the group.

Wyatt's demeanor slowly changed as Sarina's words ran through his head. "Say what…?"

"Drake's team destroyed Cruel Naga through Blaze Phoenix…" Sarina sobbed. "Nikki's gone Wyatt…"

"No she's not…" Wyatt replied. "She can't die…"

"Wyatt…"

"Stop lying Sarina this isn't funny!"

"But I'm not lying it's the truth."

"No it's not, you're lying!" Now Wyatt was in tears as well. "And I'll prove it!"

Wyatt busted through the doors of the card shop on a mission to try to find proof that Nikki wasn't dead.

"Wyatt, wait!" Maria called out to him.

Dylan turned to the others. "I'll go after him. C.J., what do you wanna do?"

"I'll…" he turned to the sobbing teen next to him as he put his arm around her and picked her up. "I'll take Sarina back to my house, let her calm down a bit before we meet up with the others."

Dylan nodded in agreement. "OK then. Come on, Maria."

The two of them ran out as C.J. got Sarina on her feet.

"Come on, let's go." C.J. told her, to which she nodded slowly.

That night, C.J., Sarina and Tsume sat in his room, quiet as it was. Fortunately, Sarina was out of her hysterical state and was willing to talk.

"Feel any better?" C.J. asked her.

Sarina nodded and pushed her black hair from her eyes. "We Avatars… We consider each other like family. Nikki… When I first became the Avatar of Unity… it was her that accepted me first. Wyatt was a brat who didn't like the idea that Drake was being replaced, by a girl no less… and Adrian was fearful that I'd betray them like he did, as a sort of revenge scheme.

"But what about Nikki…?"

"Nikki knew of my situation. My Father, Totto Pippichi, Vortex Evolved with the King of the Fire Civilization during a War between the Fire and Light. Uberdragon Bajula was born from an Egg that my Father raised, so My family has strong ties with the Fire Kingdom. When Drake was left for dead by the Avatar of Life, Darkness creatures took the bodies and experimented, using their technology to create a Pseudo-Avatar, to use in future Battles with the Civilizations. Since they considered this to be a Resurrection of a Deadly Warrior, falling to the forces of Light, they dubbed him: Death Phoenix, Avatar of Doom. Once he awakened, the only objective he had in his mind was destroying the ones who took him out. However, he decided to test his might on Blaze Phoenix.

"So he attacked his own Father…?" C.J. realized.

"Not attacked… murdered." Sarina corrected in a guilt-like tone. "Blaze Phoenix was wiped out. But Drake, having a tough time battling against it, decided that Blaze Phoenix could be used as a possible Weapon of Mass Destruction."

"That's exactly what Adrian told us before…"

"Losing both my Older Brother and my Father in such a short time truly devastated me. Not only that, but I was obligated to become the Next Soul Phoenix. So with my newborn Terradragon Regarion I, a Cocco Lupia, Vortex Evolved into the Next Soul Phoenix. Nikki more or less adopted me; I was alone in the world, but she reached out to me. Wyatt accepted me and he became like a little Brother to me, despite being thousands of years older than I was. Cyber Lords are really immature for their age. Finally Adrian accepted me as well, hoping that I would become someone who can fulfill the Title of 'Avatar of Unity'."

Tsume whistled. "Wow, I never knew the Avatars went through all of that."

"You didn't?" C.J. turned.

"We were taught from babies that the Avatars were the rulers of the Creature world, Deities more or less. Each possessed two civilizations, and each one represented a Trait that was unique between the two. Unity, Life, Fate, Hope, and the Rumored one: Doom. Basically with them around, or just believing in them for that matter, we could understand the relationships between neighboring civilizations, going so far as creating alliances with them, despite conflictions between our allies.

"You mean how Nature is allied with Fire and Light, but Fire and Light are natural enemies?" C.J. pointed out.

"Exactly; But other than that, the Avatars were just folk tales that we grew up on."

"But as we can see, that's not the case, far from it. We gotta come up with something, who knows what they have planned next."

Just as C.J. finished saying that, his Cellphone goes off. He reaches over to his desk and answered it.

"Hello? Are you sure? Yeah we'll be over ASAP." C.J. hung up and turned to them.

"Who was that?" Sarina asked.

"Jake, he needs us to get over to Central Park as soon as possible."

"Central Park?" Sarina looked at him with a confused look. "Why do we need to go over there."

"I don't know, but considering the situation we're in, it might be best to get over there now."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Tsume asked.

Sarina looked at the two of them and nodded. "OK then, let's go."

Around the same time, Jamie rested on the balcony of the Dragon's den, watching the Hybrid Duelist go nuts down below. The last few hours have been met with excruciating guilt that she couldn't shake off. She was starting to question Drake's motives at this point.

"Hey there puppy…" Dante walked up to her.

Jamie looked at him, but went back to the duels below. "What do you want?"

"Just curious is all." Dante joined her. "What the hell were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?"

Jamie glared at him. "Excuse me?"

"I know what you did back there."

"I didn't do anything. I destroyed the Avatar of Fate, end of story." She got up and began to walk away.

Dante grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving. "Hold on, we're not finished talking."

Jamie noticed this giving him a deadly glare. "Let go…"

"Or what…? You can't Spiral Gate yourself out of this situation…"

Jamie gasped in fear.

"Gotcha…" Dante smirked. "I watched you during Blaze Phoenix's attack…

FLASHBACK

Cruel Naga suddenly broke through the clouds unleashing an energy beam targeted specifically for Drake.

The other members of Team Zero instantly bounced back from the attack to avoid getting hit.

As the smoke cleared, Blaze Phoenix was shown, holding Cruel Naga at bay.

"Kill me huh? That's funny." Drake turned to her. "Jamie, Let the Avatar met her fate."

Jamie looked at Nikki, her tired eyes forcing whatever water was left in them as she looked back at Blaze Phoenix holding Naga's mouth wide open.

Jamie reached into her back pocket and pulled out a Spiral Gate card, sending Kaijudo Energy into it, hoping no one noticed it.

Blaze Phoenix opened its mouth and shot a spiral of flames at the Naga, making it disintegrate in front of them.

END FLASHBACK

"It was faint, but I saw the Evaporated Water mixed in with the Spiral of Flames. You made it that Blaze Phoenix forced Naga back into the creature world, rather than destroy her; Very clever indeed."

"Then answer me this… Why did you tell Drake that Sarina and C.J. were killed?"

This peaked Dante's interest. "I said that they were dead; I never said who finished them off. And with that question I answer it with this one: They're still alive aren't they?"

Jamie realized that she gave herself away. "What are you after?" she snarled.

Dante lets go of her and took a few steps back. "To make it all end."

"To make it… All end?" Jamie asked.

"This Game, the creature world… I want it all to end, to be gone for good." Dante clarified. "This game, that my Father brought back, nearly killed me two years ago. It's not surprising that I haven't seen him since then. All he cared about was this game; his obsession with the Kaijudo Arts completely shut me out from him. So I decided that enough was enough. The reason why I joined Drake was so that I could continue my quest to destroy the Creature world… Starting with the Avatars is the perfect stepping stone. And of course anyone who defies me of my goal will die along with it… That includes C.J.!"

"Why you…!" Jamie dashed for him and was ready to punch him off the balcony. Dante grabbed her arm before she could do that though.

"What's this…? You seem to be worried. Are you really going to stand up for the one who lied to you about everything these last few months; the one who's more than likely never going to forgive you for attacking his friends, for siding with his enemy; the one who replaced you?

"Shut up!" Jamie with her free hand was ready to beat him senseless, however she was stopped again by Riley.

"Riley…?" Jamie looked at the older teen.

"He's not worth it." She told her.

"Well look at that; the Dragon Slayer is saving the Pup." Dante lets go of her wrist and shakes his suit jacket straight. "Well this was a nice conversation, but I should be leaving now. After all, I have some hunting to do. Starting with the Soul Phoenix…"

"Why you…!" Jamie tried to break out of Riley's grip but she couldn't break loose.

"Calm yourself down!" Riley ordered.

"Let me go! Please, let me go…" Jamie dropped to her knees and cried. "God I'm so confused…"

"Don't worry about it…" Riley hugged the younger girl as she cried.

"I don't know what to do anymore, either way someone gets hurt in the end…" Jamie sobbed. "And now one of my best friends is going to die because of me…"

"Just relax, it's no one's fault." Riley told her softly. "Just calm down…"

Drake meanwhile watched from the security cameras upstairs in the dance area, intrigued by all of this, rather than upset.

"My poor Jamie…" Drake said to himself. "Soon all of the Avatars will be destroyed. Then finally you won't be confused any longer my dear. Because there will be no right or wrong: Just my decisions."

Sarina and C.J. make it to the park, the Street lights skimming across them as they raced through the busy streets. They made it to the open area where the others trained earlier, finding Jake and Karon bandaged up from their trip to the hospital prior.

"Where are the others?" C.J. asked.

"They're over there. What happened to you guys, we heard you were killed."

"Well we were going to be but…"

"That Jamie girl saved us before it could happen." Sarina interrupted C.J.

"Jamie saved you guys?" Jake asked surprised.

"Well, it makes sense now doesn't it?" Karon asked him.

"What do you mean?" C.J. asked as well. He looked over Karon's shoulder and saw Wyatt, Adrian and Dylan helping a bruised up Nikki walk towards him.

"It's…"

"NIKKI!" Sarina blitzed through them and tackled Nikki off her weakened feet.

"Oww! Jeez, Sarina, not so hard next time!" Nikki scolded.

"You're alive!" Sarina tightly gripped. "I'm so glad… My mom's alive."

Nikki realized that Sarina was crying again. "Yeah; My baby girl's alright as well…" Nikki wrapped her arms around her and tried to give a tight hug, despite the injuries.

"How is she…"

"Jamie." Karon replied. "She must've slipped something in the Phoenix's attack that forced Cruel Naga back into the creature world rather than kill it. And considering that she's a water duelist and the Pattern of the flames…"

"She used Spiral Gate in her attack? Is that possible?" C.J. asked.

"Well of course it is. You used Aura Blast that time we faced against Neo back in March remember?" Jake brought up.

FLASHBACK

"Tsume! Let's finish this off!" C.J threw two 'Aura Blast' spell cards into the air, causing a mysterious green pillar to shoot from the sky. Tsume was caught in the radiation as it's sword began to glow fiercely, the same emerald lightning developed around it as well as on C.J.'s Glove.

"TODOMEDA!" C.J. Shouted.

Neo Bolshack Dragon ignited his Claws as the two charged each other. The clash caused a midair explosion, which lit up the dark sky.

When the light cleared, Tsume dropped his sword which disintegrated before hitting the ground.

Neo turned back and laughed at them. "This isn't the last time you'll see me. I'll be back… and when I return… I'll be after your head!" Neo suddenly fell forward as it dispersed into red data.

Tsume turned to C.J., giving him a thumb up. C.J. returned it back as Tsume turned into green data.

END FLASHBACK

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" He thought again.

"But why would she do that?" Dylan asked.

"You think she's feeling guilty?" Jake wondered. "After all, it is her nature to, that's why we didn't want to tell her about the Neo Incident at the tournament."

"Well whether or not she is feeling guilty, the fact still remains that Drake's plans are finally coming to its climax." Adrian brought up.

"Why what's happening?" Sarina asked, helping Nikki up.

"Drake's giving us one week to stop him. If not, he's gonna unleash a legion of creatures onto the city. To make matters worse, his Team's gonna be hunting us down one by one."

"Well that's just perfect." C.J. sighed.

Tsume materialized on C.J.'s shoulder. "I told you this is gonna be a Michael Bay movie with Trading Cards."

C.J. turned to him and smirked. "Wow, for once I don't wanna yell at you for that."

"Because you know it's true. So then Kid… Ready to save the world again…?"

C.J. nodded. "I'm up for it."

"I'm in." Jake nodded.

"Same here." Dylan added.

"And of course, I have to keep you guys out of trouble, so count me in as well." Karon added as well.

"Well then…" Adrian clapped his hands together. "That's settled. One more thing; Drake mentioned that if we defeat 3 of his duelist, then he'll reveal where is location is. It may be a trap but… It's our only lead. So keep your eyes peeled and be careful… If they find you, then they'll more than likely force you into a Do-or-Die Kaijudo Duel… so if you get involved: Don't Die!"

The group nods in complete agreement.

"OK then. Just to be safe, I also suggest that we cut almost all communications with each other, just to keep them fron finding the other understood.

Once again, they all nod.

"It's a big risk, but we can handle it." Jake nodded.

"After all, we defeated Neo Bolshack Dragon. This is no different." C.J. said confidently.

"I admire your enthusiasm." Adrian replied. "Just be safe; and good luck."

The group then goes their separate ways after that…

The next Day, Jake lays on top of the roof of an apartment building near the center of the city. For some odd reason, whenever he needed to mediate on something, he always found height to be relaxing, making him feel closer to the sky; could be because he's a Light Duelist after all.

"Alphadios; Or rather Tenshi…" Jake held the card up into the air, the card glimmering in the sunlight. "We did it my old friend. You finally achieved the power."

"Speaking of old friends, know where I can find C.J. and that Soul Phoenix Brat?"

Jake saw the shadow hovering over him as he looked up, seeing Dante and Ryukuma over him.

"Oh crap, already?" Jake said.

"Jake Wilson… I don't think we ever met. I'm C.J.'s old friend from Cali; the one who taught him Kaijudo Arts; Dante Roman… "Now then, I'll ask again: Where are they…?"

"Sorry, but I'm obligated to keep that information from you."

"Is that right…"

Dante jumped off of Ryukuma and looked to his left, seeing a lone K-Terminal sitting in the middle of the rooftop.

"They pick weird places to install these things don't they?" Dante noticed.

"So I'm assuming that you want to duel then?" Jake asked.

Dante smirked. "Kinda an understatement, isn't it?"

"You're right…" Jake clutched his fist, the white lightning going wild around it.

Dante held his hand in the air, Sparking Green and Black Lightning. "Kettou da…"

"Yoshi…" Jake accepted.

[END]