Inside a white room, lit by the sun light pouring in from the windows, a young boy with luscious white hair sits in his hospital bed watching cartoons on the wall-mounted TV, one of which is about a blue cat chasing a brown mouse. Just then, there's a knock at the door. "Makoto?" a female's voice comes from the other side.
"Come in." the boy replies. The door opens and a young woman with long black hair, wearing a nurse outfit, and carrying a tray of food walks in.
"Your breakfast is ready." The woman says.
"Thank you Taiga." The boy tells her and she sets the tray on the table next to the bed.
"So how's your rehabilitation going?" the girl asks him.
"It's going well. The doctors say I should be out of here in a few months."
"That's great!" the girl gives him a cheerful smile, but then the boy notices tears starting to form in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing…" she replies wiping the tears from her eyes, "it's just… you're the first patient I've taken care of since I started working here. I've enjoyed taking care of you over the years, so it's going to feel lonely without you here."
"Well I can't stay here forever. I've got to get back to the real world. I've missed out on so much."
"Speaking of which, where are you going to go when you leave here? Both your parents are dead." The girl tells him.
"I know…" the boy replies, "I'll probably just go live with my grandpa and my brother."
"You have a brother?" the girl asks.
"Yeah, he actually survived the crash that killed our parents and almost me."
"What's his name?"
The boy smiles and lifts his head as he says his brother's name. "Yusuke."
TURN 28 – Over Stride
Meanwhile at Card Capital Z, Yuji is sitting at the front desk on a laptop as the front door opens. "Hey Yuji." Saki says as she walks in and walks behind the desk. Yuji greets her back. "What are you doing?" she asks.
"I'm looking for information on this Makoto, Stella told us about at that quest." He tells her, "and sure enough, I did find a Makoto Katsunori at the same hospital Stella gave us." Saki sets down the bag she was carrying over her shoulder and looks at Yuji's computer screen. "He was admitted there around about 7 years ago. He was severely injured in a car accident along with his parents who are now deceased. He was in a coma from the accident and recovered from it a few months later. However, when he woke up, he had amnesia and didn't recover from it until about 2 years later."
"That was around the time we formed Exodus with Yusuke." Saki observes.
"After recovering from his amnesia," Yuji continues to read, "he was in recovery from his many surgeries. He was finally admitted to a standard room about 2 years ago, where he is now going through rehabilitation."
"The pour boy." Saki mourns. "You really think he's the key to defeating Yusuke?"
"It's our only lead right now, so it's better than nothing." Yuji explains, "Besides, gathering all 12 Zodiac Time Beasts will be difficult, especially since we have no idea on where any of the remaining ones are and that Exodus has some." Saki nods silently in agreement. "I'm going to visit Makoto." He tells her, "You stay here and watch the shop."
"No. I want to go with you." Saki tells him.
"I would if I could, but someone needs to watch the shop."
"I can do it." The store manager, a middle-aged man, comes out from the backroom.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were here manager." Yuji says.
"What am I? I ghost to you?" the manager asks.
Yuji chuckles and tells him, "No. Thanks for looking after the shop."
"No problem. Good luck in your search you two. It sounds important." The manager says.
"Thank you sir." Saki bows to him, grabs the bag she set down, and walks out of the shop with Yuji.
Meanwhile outside the shop, Chrono and Tokoha are walking toward it when they see Yuji and Saki exit the building. "Yuji?" Chrono questions, "What are you two doing here?"
"Remember that Makoto Katsunori I told you guys about?" Yuji asks him.
"You mean Yusuke's brother?" Tokoha confirms.
"Turns out he's real, Yuji and I were going to visit him." Saki tells them.
"He may be our one lead to defeating Yusuke's Shadow Blazers." Yuji explains.
Chrono looks down in grief, but quickly raises his head and says, "We're coming with you."
"Chrono?" Tokoha questions.
"If this guy really is the key to defeating Yusuke, I'm all for it!" Chrono tells them with determination in his voice, "I don't want to continue to let his powers corrupt Vanguard any more than it already has. I want to put an end to this, and get your friend back!"
"Chrono…" Yuji mutters and smiles at Chrono's desire to help him, "Thank you." Tokoha looks at Chrono and gives him a kind hearted smile. "Let's get going." All four of them then start walking off on their way to the hospital.
A little while later, they arrive at the hospital Makoto is stationed at. It's a standard size hospital with several tenants and other people just walking around outside in the front courtyard. "There are a lot of people here." Chrono observes, "How are we going to find Makoto in all of this?"
"There was a picture of him on the website I saved to my phone." Yuji tells him as he pulls out his phone and brings up the picture of Makoto, a young boy with luscious white hair. The gang then starts glancing around the courtyard looking for anyone that matches the picture, but they can't find anyone.
"Let's ask the receptionist, they might know." Saki suggests and everyone walks inside the hospital.
They walk up the girl at the front desk and she looks up at them with a smile, "Good morning. How can I help you?"
"We're looking for a Makoto Katsunori." Yuji tells her.
"Can I have your names?" she asks and they all introduce themselves. The girl types some keys on her computer and then back and says, "I'm sorry, we don't have you all registered in our system. You have to initially be invited by one of the patients to visit them. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we're just trying to keep our tenants safe."
"I understand." Yuji says.
"But what are we going to do?" Tokoha asks in concern. Just then, they hear a voice behind them.
"You're looking for Makoto?" They turn around to see a young woman with long black hair, wearing a nurse outfit carrying some pill bottles. "I'm his nurse, Taiga. I can take you to his room. I was just on my way to give him his medicine."
"You sure that's fine?" Chrono asks.
"Sure." Taiga replies with a smile, "Besides, you all don't look like you're here to cause trouble."
"Thank you miss." Yuji tells her.
"Please, call me Taiga." She insists. Taiga then takes the group up to Makoto's room on the third floor of the building. They arrive at the room and she knocks on the door, "Makoto, I brought your meds." She says loud enough for him to hear her, "You also have some people here to see you." There's no response. "Makoto?" Taiga grows anxious and outwardly shows it. She opens the door, but when she does, Makoto is nowhere to be found.
"He's not here." Saki obverses.
"I think I know where he is." Taiga says with a tone of anger in her voice. "Follow me." She then takes the gang up to the roof. When she opens the door to the roof, they see several clothes lines with clothes and bed sheets out to dry. They also see a young boy with fluffy white hair. "MAKOTO!" Taiga shouts and the boy turns around in slight fear, "How many times have I told you to not leave your room without tell me?!" she asks him puffing her cheeks at him, "I was worried sick!"
"S-Sorry Taiga…" the boy replies, "I was just admiring the beautiful day."
"Th-That's fine… just make sure you tell me you're going out next time." She tells him.
"So you're Makoto Katsunori." Yuji walks up from behind Taiga.
"Yes, and who are you?" the boy asks.
"I'm Yuji Kyouto, a friend of your brother."
"My brother? Yusuke?" Makoto asks and Yuji squints his eyes. Soon, they all head down to Makoto's room. They introduce themselves one-by-one and Yuji explains the whole situation to Makoto. "Are you serious?! Why would Yusuke do stuff like this?"
"We think it's because of the clan he uses," Yuji explains, "Shadow Blazers." Makoto's pupils then shrink at these words.
"Big bro… is using Shadow Blazers?"
"You know about them?" Chrono asks and Makoto hangs his head in worry.
"Yeah…" Makoto begins to explain the story, "you guys might want to sit down. This is a long story." Everyone gathers chair and sits around Makoto's bed as he tells the story. "Thousands of years ago on Cray, there was a war fought between the nations of Cray and their Zeroth Dragons, against a dark god that was threatening to overtake all of Cray, Zion. Zion had corrupted many of the units on Cray and made them into his army, the Shadow Blazers. However, Cray's most powerful warriors, Amaterasu, Dragonic Overlord, and even the King of Knights Alfred couldn't stand up to the power Zion had infused into his army. Even the Zeroth Dragons could barely stand up to Zion's overwhelming power. The Zeroth Dragons gave the units on Cray the power to call upon their futures, but even that wasn't enough… Chaos reigned for years until a miracle finally happened. The chaos had disturbed the twelve ancient ruins left by the long lost clan, Gear Chronicle, and the deities sleeping within had awoken, the Zodiac Time Beasts. They assisted the units of Cray by giving them a new power that even the great Messiah didn't think was possible."
"A new power?" Chrono questions.
"Yes…" Makoto confirms and opens his eyes with determination, "Over Stride, the ability to tap into the ultimate limitless futures. One of the Time Beasts, Chronojet Dragon, lead the final strike against Zion and his army. The power of Over Stride was too much for Zion to withstand, and he was defeated. The Time Beasts then sealed him in the deepest bowels of the Dark Zone, where he remained for generations to come."
"How do you know all this stuff?" Yuji asks him.
Makoto begins to speak, "Because that war as also fought here on Earth… with my parents." Everyone is shocked by this.
"Your parents fought against the Shadow Blazers?!" Chrono exclaims.
"As well as my grandfather." Makoto continues to explain, "Many people were corrupted by the Shadow Blazer's promise of power and my parents and their friends fought hard to protect Earth and Cray, but it wasn't enough. Until the person came, wielding the twelve Zodiac Time Beasts and ended the war. His name was… Rive Shindou."
Chrono is in utter shock from this. "Rive Shindou? Isn't that your father?" Tokoha asks him.
"So Rive's your father huh?" Makoto asks Chrono.
"Y-Yeah…" Chrono nods hesitantly, "but he's been missing for years."
"Regardless, because Yusuke is using the Shadow Blazers as a clan, it's possible he broke the seal on Zion."
"But why would he do that?" Yuji questions, but before Makoto could answer, Yuji gets impatient and grabs him by the collar of his gown, "You're his brother! Tell me! I need to know!"
"I-I'm sorry… I don't know." Makoto tells him.
"Yuji! Calm down." Saki pleads and Yuji complies and sits back down in his chair.
"You said that before, the Over Stride is what defeated Zion right?" Yuji asks and Makoto nods, "Is it possible to learn this power?"
Makoto is hesitant, but answers, "Yes. In fact, I can use this power myself."
"You can use Over Stride?!" Tokoha exclaims.
"Yes." Makoto says, "My brother has been corrupted by Zion's darkness, and if this Over Stride is what it takes to set him free and seal Zion again, I'll be willing to teach you this power." He then looks over at Chrono, "Chrono. As Rive's son, will you Cardfight me." He says with resolve in his eyes.
"Hold on! Let me fight!" Yuji exclaims, "Yusuke's my best friend! Give me this power!"
"I'm sorry Yuji, but Chrono has the power to wield the Zodiac Time Beasts as Rive's son. It would be best if I were to give him this power instead." Makoto explains. Yuji clicks his teeth and backs down.
"Fine…" he says in both anger and frustration.
"So Chrono? Will you fight me?" Makoto asks once more.
"Yes." Chrono says and they all head back up to the roof for the fight, with Makoto remembering to leave a reminder for Taiga.
"I'm not going to go easy on you Chrono." Makoto tells him, "I want you to give me everything you've got!"
"Okay." Chrono replies as they prepare to fight, but Saki interrupts.
"Are you sure you should be doing this? The doctors said not to over exhort yourself.
"I'll be fine. Besides, it's not every day you get to fight with the son of Rive Shindou."
"Tell that to yourself." Tokoha says with a smug face and Chrono and Makoto start their fight.
"Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Chrono Dran (G0/6000)!" Chrono declares.
"Aiming for the Stars, Artemis (G0/6000)!" Makoto declares.
"A Genesis user? You don't see that clan much nowadays." Yuji comments.
"What's Genesis about?" Chrono asks.
"It's about utilizing the Soul for Soul Blasts, and depending on the timing of my Soul Blasts, I can get special effects." Makoto explains. "I'm up first! Ride! Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis (G1/8000)! Using my other Artemis's skill! I draw 1 card."
"Ride! Masergear Dragon (G1/8000)! Chrono Dran moves back. Boosted by Dran, Masergear attacks (8000-14000)! Drive check (Critical). Critical Trigger!" (Makoto: [] []).
"Ride! Angelic Wiseman (G2/9000)! I call Swift Runner of Clear Skies, Achilles (G1/8000) and Battle Maiden Shitateruhime (G2/10000)! Shitateruhime's skill ([X] [])! The next time I would Soul Blast, the cost is reduced by 2, also add 3000 power to Angelic Wiseman (10000-13000)! Achilles's skill! Send to the soul (Soul 1-2) and add 3000 power to Shitateruhime and Angelic Wiseman (10000-13000)(13000-16000)! Angelic Wiseman attacks the Vanguard! Wiseman's skill ([X] [X])! Three of my front row units gain 5000 power! Normally this skill would also cost me 2 Soul Blast, but the cost was reduced to 0 with Shitateruhime's skill (13000-18000)(16000-21000)!"
Chrono clicks his teeth, "No guard."
"Drive Check (Draw (Sentinel)). Draw Trigger. Power to Shitateruhime (18000-28000) and I draw." (Chrono: []) "Shitateruhime attacks!" (Chrono: [] []).
"Ride! Glimmerbreath Dragon (G2/10000)! Using Chrono Dran's skill! Send to the bottom of the deck and Ride Chronojet Dragon from my deck!"
"Interesting. Able to get your avatar out right away." Makoto observes.
"Ride! Chronojet Dragon (G3/13000)! Imaginary Gift: Force! Apply to the Vanguard (13000-23000)! Glimmerbreath's skill! When rode upon I draw a card. I call Steam Sniper Lishma (G1/7000) and Gun-bezel Dragon (G2/9000)! Boosted by Lishma, Chronojet attacks (23000-30000)!" (Makoto: [X] [X] [])! Lishma's skill (Chrono: [X] [])! At the end of a battle she boosts a Grade 3 unit, I can bind her and call a Grade 2 unit from my deck and it gains 3000 power! I call Lost-break Dragon (G2/10000-13000)! Lost-break's skill! I can bind a card in my hand and draw a card. Also, if I have a face up card in my bind zone, he gains 3000 power (13000-16000)! Lost-break attacks!"
"Guard (15000)!" Makoto declares.
"Gun-bezel attacks! Due to Gun-bezel's skill ([X] [X]) he gains 5000 power for each Grade of my Vanguard! Chronojet's Grade 3, so add 15000 power (9000-24000)!" (Makoto: [X] [X] [] []).
"Four damage already." Tokoha comments.
"Yeah, but now Makoto's going to ride to Grade 3." Yuji says, "Time to see what this Over Stride is about."
"Ride! Oracle Queen, Himiko (G3/13000)! Imaginary Gift: Force! To the Vanguard (13000-23000)." Everyone braces for Makoto's next move. "I call Battle Maiden Mihikarihime (G1/8000)!"
"What? You're not going to Over Stride?" Yuji questions.
"I can't. All the conditions haven't been met yet." Makoto explains.
"All the conditions? Yuji wonders.
"Mihikarhime's skill! The next time I would Soul Blast, the cost is reduced by 3!"
"By three?!" Chrono exclaims.
"I activate Shitateruhime's skill ([X] [X] [X] [])! The next time I Soul Blast, the cost is reduced by 2! Now I activate Oracle Queen Himiko's skill! This lets me Soul Blast 5 to take a Critical or Draw trigger from my drop zone and put it on the bottom of my deck. Then I can activate that trigger effect once for each Grade of your Vanguard!"
"No way!" Chrono exclaims.
"Chrono's Vanguard is Grade 3! So that means he can get a trigger effect 3 times!" Tokoha exclaims.
"Not only that, but because of the effects of his rear guards, the cost of the skill has effectively been reduced to 0." Yuji explains.
"A free triple trigger?!" Saki exclaims.
"I return Battle Maiden Kukurihime in my drop zone to my deck, and I get to apply a Critical Trigger 3 times!" Makoto explains. "I apply two to Himiko (23000-43000/Crit 1-3) and one to Shitateruhime (10000-20000/Crit 1-2)! I call Strong Bow of Starry Night, Ulixes (G2/10000)!"
Board State
(G2/20000/Crit 2) – (G3/43000/Crit 3) – (G2/10000)
(G1/8000) – (XXXX) – (XXXX)
"Himiko attacks the Vanguard!"
"Himiko already has a Critical of 3… If he gets a another critical trigger, it's over. I can't take that risk." Chrono thinks to himself, "Complete Guard!"
"Twin Drive (none/Critical)." Everyone is shocked by the sight of a Critical trigger, but they all take a sigh of relief as Chrono blocked the attack. "Critical to Shitateruhime (20000/Crit 2-3), and power to Ulixes (10000-20000). Boosted by Mihikarihime, Shitateruhime attacks (20000-28000/Crit 3)!"
"No guard." (Chrono: [X] [X] [] [] []).
"Ulixes attacks!"
"Guard (15000+10000=25000)!"
"I end my turn." Makoto states, "Not bad Chrono, maybe I underestimated you."
"What does that mean?!" Chrono exclaims in anger.
"All I'm saying is you're a good fighter, I'm not trying to put you down." Makoto explains, but Chrono carries on with his turn.
"You're a good fighter too Makoto. I didn't expect that free triple trigger. Stand and draw!"
"Thank you Chrono." Makoto says.
"Liberating… the Generation Zone! Generation… STRIDE! Interdimensional Dragon Knight, New World (G4/38000)! Imaginary Gift: Force! To the front left circle! Chronojet's Stride skill ([X] [X] [X] [] [])(Soul 2-1), send Shitateruhime to the bottom of the deck! I call Steam Maiden Elul (G3/13000-23000) and use her skill! I can discard a total of Grade 3 cards or greater and Stride a unit on Elul! Not only that, but any of the unit's skills that activate on the Vanguard circle activate on the rear guard circle instead."
"What?!" Makoto exclaims in shock.
"It's Chrono's specialty," Tokoha tells him, "he can do things with G Units no one else can."
"Seriously?!" Makoto says, "That's exactly what my father told me Rive could do…"
"Rear Stride! Interdimensional Dragon, Chronoscommand Dragon (G4/38000)! Chronoscommand's skill ([X] [X] [X] [X] [])! I call two units from my bind zone! I call Lishma (G1/7000) and History-Maker Dragon (G2/10000)! History-Maker's skill (Soul 1-0)! I can call a unit from my deck with an equal or less Grade than my current Vanguard. I call Chronojet Dragon over History-maker (G3/13000)! Chronojet's skill! Like Elul, I discard a total of Grade 2 or more cards and Chronojet gains 15000 Power, 1 Grade, and 1 Drive! Pseudo-Stride (G3-4/13000-28000)!"
"Incredible! Amazing Chrono!" Makoto exclaims in joy, "I only ever heard about this kind of power to manipulate the G Zone! I had no idea it actually existed!"
"That's not the most of it. I call Steam Maiden Memenne (G1/6000) and Steam Maiden Melem (G1/8000)! Memenne's skill! I draw a card and discard a card, and then 3 of my front row units gains 5000 power (applied in board state)! New World's skill ([X] [X] [X] [X] [X])(G-Zone 0-1)! He gains 5000 power for each Grade 3 or greater unit I control, and if I control 3 or more, add 1 Critical as well (38000-53000/Crit 1-2)!"
Board State
(G4/38000-43000) – (G4/53000-58000/Crit 2) – (G4(3)/28000-33000)
(G1/6000) – (G1/7000) – (G1/8000)
"Boosted by Lishma, New World attacks (58000-65000)!"
"Complete Guard!" Makoto declares.
"Triple Drive (none/Draw (Sentinel)/Critical)! Draw and Critical Trigger! 10000 to Chronoscommand and Chronojet and critical to Chronojet (43000-53000)(33000-43000/Crit 1-2)! Boosted by Memenne, Chronoscommand attacks (43000-49000)!"
"No guard." (Makoto: [X] [X] [X] [] []).
"Boosted by Melem, Chronojet attacks (33000-41000)!"
"Guard (15000+15000=30000)!"
"I end my turn… with this, my three G Units return to the G Zone (1-4)."
"My turn, Stand and Draw." Makoto states. He looks at the card he drew and smiles. "It's time." He says and everyone's expression drops, "I'll show you the power of Over Stride at its fullest!"
"Here it comes!" Yuji states and everyone tenses up.
"Dragon of the heavenly cosmos with radiance of the shining star, cut through the darkness, and eradicate the forces of evil! Ride! Silver Sun Dragon… HELIOS (G4/15000-25000)! Imaginary Gift: Force (25000-35000)!"
Everyone is shocked by Makoto's unit, "A Grade 4 Normal Unit?!" Yuji exclaims.
"I'm not done!" Makoto exclaims, "If my Vanguard is a Grade 4 Normal Unit, I can pay the normal Stride cost, and Stride a Grade 5 unit!"
"GRADE FIVE?!" Everyone exclaims.
"Now witness! THE POWER OF OVER STRIDE!" Makoto yells and a bright aura starts to form around him. His hair begins to glow an even brighter white that it was and his eyes glow a bright yellow. "Generation… OVER STRIDE!" On Cray, Chrono as Chronojet looks up to the sky the clouds part and a giant heavenly figure with no legs and large angelic wings descends from the light above the clouds, "God Father of the Celestial Timeline… SOLARIS (G5/55000)!"
Everyone is in awe at the sight of Makoto's Over Stride, however, right as Makoto is about to use Solaris's skill, he feels a painful sensation in his body and collapses to the ground. The aura disappears and the image is broken. "Makoto!" Chrono exclaims and they all rush over to him. He picks up Makoto's unconscious body and turns to Tokoha, "Tokoha! Go get Taiga! Hurry!" she nods and rushes down stairs as Yuji and Saki help Chrono carry Makoto back to his room.
Several hours later, Makoto weakly opens his eyes, having returned to normal, and looks to see everyone leaning over him in his bed. "Oh thank goodness you're alright!" Taiga says with great relief.
"Taiga? What happened?" Makoto asks as he sits up in his bed.
"You tried to use Over Stride while you were fighting Chrono," Yuji explains, "but you collapsed as soon as you did it."
"I did?" Makoto questions and holds his head in pain, "Everything's so… blurry."
"It's okay. Don't push yourself even more." Taiga tells him and lies him back down.
"Thanks Taiga. Listen you guys…" Makoto struggles to speak from exhaustion, "Over Stride is really powerful. It will take a lot of energy out of if you're not careful, so you shouldn't use it unless it's absolutely necessary, like fighting these Dark Striders."
"But how do we even get this power?" Chrono asks.
"You have to evolve." Makoto tells them, "Once you've found resolve, your Vanguard on Cray will also evolve, into Grade 4."
"Grade 4…" Chrono repeats.
"This will allow you to access the power of Over Stride, and grab hold of your ultimate futures."
"But how do we evolve?" Yuji asks.
"You'll know when the time comes." Makoto tells them and his eyes then shut.
"Makoto?!" Tokoha exclaims in fear.
"It's okay…" Taiga reassures them, "he just fell asleep."
"That's fine, we should be going anyway it's getting late." Yuji says and everyone agrees.
"Fighter's Royal starts next month." Tokoha says.
"I know. We need to be ready." Chrono tells them.
"Evolve huh…?" Yuji questions in his mind. "I won't let Zion win! Yusuke… I WILL save you!"
Next Time:
There's only a week left until Fighter's Royal begins, and the association is throwing a fancy party as an opening ceremony. Chrono and the gang are invited to this party, however, things get heated as they run into many rivals...
TURN 29 – The Verge of War…
