NOTE: Welcome back to another chapter! Sorry for the wait!

Review and Enjoy!

Chapter 22: Reunion

Emi stopped in her sprinting, the young heroine bent over to catch her breath. Running as fast as she was probably wasn't the smartest idea, though she wanted to find Chrono as fast as possible for Misaki.

"That was the 2nd time I've ever seen Misaki that distressed. Dammit, I'm not doing any good at helping people at this rate! Chrono's gone missing and I'm still nowhere close to fulfilling the promise with my other self," Emi sat down on a nearby bench. The young heroine felt her spirits lowering again as the situation dawned on her even more.

"I wonder what Ibuki is doing right now. He's probably deleting even more Cardfighters, while I'm just sitting here all depressed. What should I do?"

"I'll tell you!"

"What!? Who said that!?" Emi jumped to her feet instantly. Her eyes scanned the area around her to find the mysterious noise that talked to her.

"That was me."

Emi looked to her left to see a glowing figure of a young male floating in front of her. She wasn't lost on who this person was though, it was Takuto Tatsunagi as a spirit.

"Hello, young Sendou."

"KYYAA!" Emi scrambled away in fear of the spirit. "G-G-G-Ghost!"

Takuto sweat dropped at Emi's reaction. "Well...kinda...I'm not actually dea-" He stopped talking when a rock was thrown through his body. The astral projection gave her a blank stare. "Really?"

Emi gave a nervous laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "It was worth a shot?"

"Look, Sendou, I'm not a ghost. It's me, Takuto Tatsunagi," Takuto said.

"Well, yeah, I can see that. But, why are you a ghost?" Emi asked. The projection resisted the urge to face palm, figuring she wouldn't stop referring to him as a ghost.

"Look, I need you to listen to me. I need your help and it's of utmost importance that you listen to me," Takuto said to her.

Emi approached the projection slowly, her face showing confusion. "My help? What could you need my help with?"

Takuto didn't answer immediately, it seemed that he was hesitating for some reason. An inner conversation taking place in his mind. The projection released a sigh, he opened his palm to reveal an orb. "With this."

Emi peered inside of the orb with hesitation, fearing that it was some kind of ghost trick. Her blue eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at the image inside of the orb.

"Kourin…" Emi said slowly.

Within the orb was an image of Kourin Tatsunagi, the young woman floating in the air with red runes wrapped around her. Kourin's eyes were flashing between blue and red at a rapid pace. Within Kourin's hand was a Vanguard card, however it was only half of it. As if the card was still trying to materialize itself.

"W-What happened to her?" Emi asked, fearfully.

Takuto's gaze hardened into a fierce glare, something that wasn't usually present on his face. "My brother happened," Takuto spat. Emi could feel the venom oozing off of Takuto's words.

"He believes that he can make the world right by using Kourin as a vessel! An expendable piece in a game, forcing her to undergo a false reality to evolve her heart!" Takuto clenched his fists in anger.

"Evolve...her heart?" Emi asked, afraid of what Takuto would say next. The plan sounds eerily similar to her's, except she was going to connect hearts instead of evolving them.

Takuto calmed himself down so that he could explain his brother's motives. "Earth and Cray have both suffered immensely from that event a couple weeks ago. The connection between both planets has been weakened greatly, as if it was slowly turning to dust. This...this was never supposed to happen," Takuto explained.

Emi nodded her head, she was aware of that. Alfred and Blaster Blade had told her of such back when she first gained her Psyqualia. "What does this have to do with your brother?" Emi asked.

"After the defeat of Link Joker and when I had taken my Reversed counterpart into the void, my brother took over my position. That normally wouldn't be much of an issue, except when the connection of Earth and Cray almost shattered on a dime, he grew frantic. That's when he summoned me from the void, because of that weak connection. He figured that the only way to fix that connection would be to use one of the vessels to rebuild it," Takuto explained.

"Vessels? Kourin's a vessel?" Emi questioned.

"Suiko, Rekka, and Kourin were all vessels summoned by me. They had no family prior, so there were no complications. Each one of them holds a connection to Cray, so my brother decided he wanted to use them. But, Suiko died and Rekka's too young. Kourin was the best possible option in his eyes!" Takuto growled.

"But, what's the issue? What will happen to Kourin?" Emi was afraid to know.

"When Kourin discovers that the reality she's currently in is false...she'll break. The pain will be so much that it could kill her. My brother plans to use the power of her heart's evolution to restore the connection and then toss her to the side once her purpose has been filled!" His eyes burned with fury.

"What!? No! I can't just let that happen!" Emi shouted. The young heroine felt her heart burn with rage at what Takuo's brother had planned for Kourin. To just use someone and then throw them to the side like garbage was just plain evil!

"That's why I need your help, Emi Sendou! Let's hurry now!" Takuto said.

"Right! Let's-wait...I can't go now, Misaki needs my help," Emi remembered that she needed to find Chrono.

"Tokura? What could she possibly need help with?" Takuto asked.

"Her little brother, I guess. Had run off after a friend of his got hurt. We're all looking for him at the moment," Emi explained.

"There's not enough time for that! We need to-" Takuto stopped mid-sentence. His eyes snapped over to the left, he felt something. Something sinister. "What is that? I should know that feeling, but it feels off. Incredibly off," Takuto whispered.

"What do you mean? What do you feel?" Emi asked.

"Danger...incredible danger…"

Toshiki Kai felt the weight of his feet increase with each step. The young man's spirit had been knocked down by his conversation with Misaki, her words stabbing deep into his heart. "Have I really failed all of my friends like that? Have I really caused Aichi nothing, but pain?"

If he had, then why had Aichi always tried so hard to be near him, why had he tried so hard to save him from the Reverse?

"Can I do anything right?" He asked himself, miserably. The Kagero user felt a humming in his pockets. He reached within and took out his deck, a dark red aura surrounding the cards. "What?"

"HURRY."

"Dragonic Overlord, what are you-?"

"HE'S NEAR."

"Wait, you mean…"

"KOUJI IBUKI IS NEAR!"

Everything regarding Misaki could wait, right now Ibuki was more important. Kai's Psyqualia turned on and the Kagero user sprinted in the direction that his Vanguard was telling him to go.

"Ibuki! I'm coming and I'll save you!"

"Are you, Chrono Shindou?" Ibuki asked the boy.

If you were to ask Chrono how he was feeling a couple of minutes ago, the young boy would tell you he had felt miserable. However, his short conversation with his new friend Shion Kiba had helped lift some of the worry off of his shoulders. He had made a mental note to introduce him to Tokoha once he had the chance.

But, right now, all the boy could feel was a giant sense of foreboding. That the teenager in front of him was like a vile of poison, something to be avoided at all cost. His Aunt Mikuru had always warned him about strangers, and this man in front of him was just that.

A stranger.

But, something inside of him was telling him that the teenager was familiar. It was the same feeling he got from Tokoha and Shion. The difference was that the feeling he got from them was that of a warm blanket.

Whatever it was that he was feeling from Ibuki was the exact opposite.

"It's rude to ask for someone's name and not give your own first," Shion interjected. Ibuki's blood ruby eyes shifted to the blonde's sky blue ones.

"I didn't ask for your interjection, kid. Shut up and run home," His attention changed back to Chrono. "Are you Chrono Shindou?"

"Ye-yes…" For some reason, Chrono felt like he couldn't deny the teenager.

Ibuki's face morphed into a sinister smirk, a black aura-like tendril protruded from Ibuki's body. It inched forward towards Chrono, like a snake ready to snack on its prey.

The young boy saw it clear as day, the tendril reaching for his face. He felt Shion grabbing onto him and pulling him away from Ibuki.

"Keep away from him!" Shion didn't know why he felt protective, but he felt that he knew. Chrono was important and that was enough for him to know.

"I told you to mind your own business, boy. Don't blame me for what happens next," Ibuki's eyes glowed purple, his Psyqualia turning on.

"Wha-" Before Shion even realized what happened he collapsed onto the ground.

"Shion!" Chrono gasped at his fallen friend. Was this his fault again? Did he hurt another friend like Tokoha?

The tendril shot at Chrono at incredible speed. "Give it to me! GIVE IT TO ME!" A voice that wasn't Ibuki's roared at Chrono.

FWOOSH!

A stream of fire only visible to them, wrapped around Chrono's body, preventing the tendril from getting closer. It flinched back from the heat of the flames and retreated back inside of Ibuki. "That fire...I know that accursed fire!" The warped voice screeched.

Ibuki turned around to see a face that he hadn't seen in a long time. The Deletors' Vanguard couldn't prevent the wide smile from spreading across his face. "After all these years you've finally returned to my sight. KAI!"

Toshiki Kai glared heatedly at Ibuki. His own Psyqualia burning with extreme passion of pain and fury. "Ibuki...what happened to you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm the same as before," Ibuki answered.

"No...you're not as brilliant as before," Kai moured.

"You're wrong, Kai. I haven't felt this good in a long time," Ibuki reached into his pocket and pulled out his deck. "I've been dreaming of this moment since I gained Deletors. The day that I delete Toshiki Kai!" Ibuki had completely forgotten his previous objective. His focus now aimed entirely at Kai.

Kai clenched his fists at the sight of his childhood friend. Memories began to resurface within his mind. Two images of Ibuki appeared in front of him.

"Vanguard is a game where the player's image explodes to life!"

"I hate Vanguard."

"I'll save you Ibuki. I'll show you the image that you showed Miwa and I all those years ago," Kai promised. The two stood across from each other, a fight table between them both.

"STAND UP!"

"THE!"

"VANGUARD!"

Chapter End

NOTE: Next chapter is the explosive confrontation between childhood friends! Emotions will be high and words will be exchanged! But, what will do the talking are the units in battle! Find out next time on From Cards to Dust! "Vortex of Fire and Death!"