「Kaijudo Generation Arc: Team Zeta. 009 - Conclusion! Rematch of the Century!」


Late and a school night. CJ was going to be in so much trouble if he ever got busted for this. Of course Heidi wouldn't have to deal with it, she was leaving soon and since staying with them she'd been an honorary interdimensional guest. From his Mom she got unwavering hospitality and from his Dad unending fascination. Actually she reminded him of something. In a flash of green the teenagers appeared at a grassy cliff-side, both clutching his Dimension Gate while green and red sparks flew off them.

"You know what you remind me of?" CJ said as he slipped the card into his back-pocket. "Those exchange students from other countries. Last year we had Japanese students come to live with some families. I never hosted one but I always wondered what it'd be like."

"Didn't do that at my school." Heidi replied.

It was coming on eleven at night. She'd convinced him to sneak out, which wasn't something CJ had a habit of doing. But when she'd said this was her last request before leaving how could he refuse?

Heidi ran past the public seat to the ledge "Wow… you're right! It does look gold at night!"

CJ walked over to join her with hands in his pockets. The strip of road along the Golden Gate Bridge shone bright yellow, casting a glow on the two piles at either end. For a moment he felt a strange bout of homesickness and couldn't help but wonder how life would be if he'd never left California.

Heidi broke him out of it "okay I take it back, this bridge looks pretty cool." Then once she'd had her fill of staring she turned to face him. "You ready to do this?"

"Alright. I hope you appreciate the risk I took. There'll be hell to pay if I get caught abusing the cards, especially after everything that happened with Team Zeta." They walked back to give themselves enough room.

"Stop worrying. It's time for the rematch of the century! This game is more important than any of those we had against Team Zeta. It's an interdimensional duel between two heroes of different planets!"

"So that makes me the hero of Earth then?" CJ stopped and faced her.

"And me, Aurellia." Heidi was serious so CJ dropped his smile to focus as well, matching her determination.

Then both snapped out their hands like a Wild West showdown, columns of green and red shooting up and arcing around into a dome that covered them both. The colour gleamed prettily against the starry sky above, which was only broken by a few strips of dark clouds. The gate stood beside them both, shining gold on red amidst the dark landscape.

Their tables and shields sprung to life. Hands were drawn.


Soul Eater - My Star (Instrumental)


"Me first!" Heidi yelled and charged mana.

"That's fine, seeing as you did lose last time." CJ charged as well.

"This time I'm used to this deck and the TCG again, so you're gonna eat those words!" Heidi charged her second mana without summoning and passed back.

"I cast Faerie Life and boost one mana." CJ dropped the spell after use.

"I summon Totto Pipicchi!" The flaming sparrow soared around her half of the dome, returning to flap in one place.

Totto Pipicchi

Civilization: Fire

Power: 1000

"I cast another Faerie Life. I end my turn."

"No you don't, I cast Crisis Boulder!" The mechanical orange sphere whirled in place before crashing against CJ's table. His mana was whittled back to 4, a card flicking off the end into his discard pile. "Totto Pipicchi, shield break!" The sparrow flicked its goggles down with a cheep, burning hotter before streaming into a line through his panel.

CJ

Shields: 5-4

His card popped off the table and CJ swiped it, then drew for his turn. "I summon Raging Dash-Horn!" The yellowed muscle-beast trudged forth, it had a ferocious horned face. "Cause my deck is all nature he's a 7000 double-breaker.

Raging Dash-Horn

Civilization: Fire

Power: 4000-7000

"Strong, I remember that guy in the old TCG…" Heidi drew. "I summon Brawler Zyler and Choya the Unheeding!" She lay out the cards which shone red in turn. The ogre human leaned up on his cannon-arm, the other all in orange and bouncing on spring-shoes.

Brawler Zyler

Civilization: Fire

Power: 1000+

Choya the Unheeding

Civilization: Fire

Power: 1000+

"Totto Pipicchi, shield break!" It was clear she was aiming to fight his strength with a swarm. Once more the sparrow flared up and streaked through another panel.

CJ

Shields: 4-3

But soon enough she was going to hit…

"Shield trigger! Natural Snare on Totto!" CJ said triumphantly. His opponent scowled as a trunk broke the surface and ensnared the frightened bird, pulling it underground.

It's good Totto is dealt with, CJ thought. That fire bird has the ability to make her dragons speed attackers. He recalled her first duel against him, where she'd have won if only she hadn't charged Bolzard for mana earlier. Also her duel against Tafiya where Astrocomet Dragon could keep attacking even while it was being bounced. She could certainly find another copy, but this made it harder for her to rush him.

"I evolve Dash-Horn into Niofa, Horned Protector!" The beast shone, growing until it was a monstrosity with a wide and intricate horn-plate over its head. In the centre its evo-crystal rotated beams of green.

Niofa, Horned Protector

Civilization: Nature

Power: 9000

"I add Barkwhip the Smasher to my hand." He fished out a copy and shuffled his cards back. "Now, double break!" It charged but didn't have far to run because of its great size. Smashing into Heidi's table and making her legs wobble. Two panels broke and with one hand she swiped the cards that popped up at eye-level.

Heidi

Shields: 5-3

Damn, Tornado Flame has no target… Then she noticed the other card and her expression became more serious. I wonder… time to see if this will work after all.

"Alright CJ, here I come!" She charged her seventh mana. "I summon Mini Titain Gett! Then I fuse it with Zyler and Choya…"

"Something's coming…" Tsume's hologram flashed to life on CJ's shoulder.

"Oh yeah it is!" Bolt agreed from hers with a rodeo enthusiasm.

"Supernova Mars Disaster!" Heidi slapped the card down and her three humans slid together beneath it. Fire exploded around her table and a red glow swept by to swallow everything within the dome. Waves of heat made the air hazy. The fire combined, the three humans stretched together by gravity and suddenly the phoenix from her card emerged. Steaming white eyes, a rotating molten sphere beneath its body and two celestial ones under both wings. In each shone the three red evo-crystals.

Supernova Mars Disaster

Civilization: Fire

Power: 13,000

Heidi pumped her fist "I did it! It worked! This is awesome!" She jumped around for a bit and CJ closed his mouth.

"Don't you think using Mars might be cheating!?"

"I… want to fight you with everything I have! How could this mean anything if I don't give my best?" Heidi said back.

"This is crazy, but okay."

"Mars is a 13,000 triple-breaker." Heidi crossed her arms to explain. "Every time he attacks I can send one of his three evo-baits to the graveyard and destroy every creature on the field with power 4000 or less."

"Thank you," CJ took a breath. He could see the determination in her eyes. It wasn't that she really wanted to beat him, winning was the secondary goal. What she wanted most was to give their rematch her absolute best. Especially since she would soon be leaving for her world.

"Mars attack Niofa!" At Heidi's order it let out a bird-cry that hurt his ear-drums. A stream of fire erupted from its beak and burned through Niofa who dropped, flesh sizzling before it dispersed into green light.

Supernova Mars Disaster: 13,000

Niofa, Horned Protector: 9000

"My move!" A card from the DM-19. Okay, time for my best too. As CJ drew his K-waves spiked, green sparks dancing around his body. He charged his seventh mana. "I summon Torcon and evolve him into Barkwhip the Smasher!" As quick as the blue beast emerged it was engulfed, another shining evo-crystal hovering by its shoulder.

Barkwhip the Smasher

Civilization: Nature

Power: 5000

The four-armed muscled fighter swung both hammer and whip. "Break her shield!"

Glass broke into pieces and Heidi hid her face under an arm.

Heidi

Shields: 3-2

CJ might now be leading in shield count but that was all about to change. He was running out of tricks and needed to draw something good. Going up against a creature as strong as Mars was arguably his biggest challenge yet.

"I summon Astrocomet Dragon!" Heidi yelled.

Astrocomet Dragon

Civilization: Fire

Power: 6000+

"Yahoo!" Bolt rose his serpentine head, the full-sized armored dragon stomping forward with flames flickering out his mouth.

"You might wanna duck for this next part! Supernova Mars Disaster, triple-break CJ's shields!" The phoenix was still plainly the biggest creature in the battlezone. It spread flaming wings and fire rained down. CJ took Heidi's advice at the last second, crouching down as heat and glass flew over his back.

CJ

Shields: 3-0

He straightened back up and took his floating trigger. Not what he wanted but better than nothing "Mana Nexus to rebuild a shield." He took one of the Natural Snares he'd charged and a blue panel rebuilt itself.

CJ

Shields: 0-1

"You're in trouble." Tsume said, now appearing on the table in miniature to face him.

"I know… but I'll keep fighting until the end. We wanted this to be epic." CJ drew, a memory flashed behind his eyes of Jamie at his place while they made this deck together. Don't fail me now. He was stunned by his draw then grinning hugely. He turned the card over "I cast Natural Snare on Mars!"


Breaking Bad - Dead Fingers Talking


"Nuts."

"Sorry but I'm not out yet!" It was shining green as he dropped it down. A tree rose up to latch onto Mars, followed by an entire grove. The phoenix cried loudly and struggled but the nature persisted, soon swallowing and dragging it under. It took some time but then the giant was gone, then its red aura followed it out and CJ could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Her chosen card might be gone," Tsume commented while staring across at Heidi and Bolt. "But it gave her a lot of momentum, she brought you down to one shield and beat Niofa."

"I use my remaining mana to summon Torcon." The blue wolfish beast folk clutched a sturdy loop of boulder-beads.

Torcon

Civilization: Nature

Power: 1000

"Barkwhip, shield break!" The whip was expertly weaved overhead before snapping clear another panel.

Heidi

Shields: 2-1

"My turn! I summon Bolzard Dragon!" Lava swirled into a pool then her gleaming silver dragon emerged.

Bolzard Dragon

Civilization: Fire

Power: 5000

"I cast Relentless Blitz! This turn armored dragons can attack untapped creatures! Go for his Torcon, Bolt!" With a mixed human and dragon roar, Bolt streamed fire that swallowed his beast folk. "Okay, your turn."

"Trying to slow my entry, huh?" Tsume spoke across battlezones.

"Just try to take me on!" The big dragon challenged.

"You got it!" CJ yelled "I evolve Barkwhip into Fighter Dual Fang!" His hologram vanished and then the real thing stood tall, slowly rising into the great big bipedal cat with exaggerated horns and four-arms wielding weapons.

Fighter Dual Fang

Civilization: Nature

Power: 8000

Tsume and Bolt took stances as they squared off against each other.

Heidi felt the grin working up her face and couldn't fight it if she tried "oh man… this is awesome! Now this is a duel!"

"Heck yeah it is! Tsume attacks Bolt!" CJ turned the glowing card.

The dragon reared up and caught the giant's hands with his talons. They hissed and growled, pushing against each other with brute strength. When attacking Astrocomet Dragon was 2000 points stronger, but while Dual Fang was attacking the opposite was true. Eventually Bolt was forced down and slain by a huge sword.

Fighter Dual Fang: 8000

Astrocomet Dragon: 6000

"You win this battle…" Bolt said before fading out into red light. He reappeared as a miniature hologram standing on Heidi's table.

"I summon Garkago Dragon!" A third dragon emerged that CJ hadn't seen her use yet. This one was coated head to toe in red armor, excessive even for a dragon. Long shredding blades were on either of its arms.

Garkago Dragon

Civilization: Fire

Power: 6000+

Heidi stood between her two dragons and smirked, not yet issuing an attack. "I end my turn."

The giant Tsume glanced back as CJ drew Muscle Charger and winced. He'd almost run out of cards in hand by now. He charged his twelfth mana. Heidi still had one shield left so he couldn't win without giving her that extra hand advantage. She already has board advantage, and she knows my last shield is Natural Snare so she's not attacking yet. I can't delay this for long.

"Tsume, break her final shield!" With a battle-cry he swung his sword overhead, the impact almost knocking her over.

Heidi

Shields: 1-0

"No trigger. My move, I summon Mini Titan Gett!" The rollerskating kid joined her dragons and bounced playfully between knees.

Mini Titan Gett

Civilization: Fire

Power: 2000+

"Guess what, CJ!? Garkago Dragon-!"

"Gets 1000 extra power for each of your creatures…" CJ muttered.

"Hey! You gonna let me do my own turn!?"

"Sorry, go ahead." Inside CJ was struggling. Her dragons had come to her right when she needed them. Unless his deck came through again like it did before he was toast.

"Garkago Dragon attacks Fighter Dual Fang!" She shouted and there was another battle between huge double-breakers.

Garkago Dragon: 8000

Fighter Dual Fang: 8000

This time both fighters perished and Tsume also reappeared on CJ's table, staring across at Bolt on Heidi's. "And from here on everything plays out predictably… Bolzard Dragon breaks your last shield and I send that other Natural Snare in your mana zone to your graveyard." It spewed lava and the glass burst from the heat.

CJ

Shields: 1-0

"And I use my fourth and final Natural Snare against Mini Titan Gett…" CJ recited for her. The tree burst up and pulled the struggling human from play. He didn't want her to evolve it next turn.

"And now neither of us have any shields and it's your turn, but with no creatures in your hand you can't evolve anything." Heidi stated. CJ turned over his next card and almost dropped where he stood. Heidi's eyes widened "what? What is it!?"

Five of his eleven mana cards tapped "I summon Rumbling Terahorn."

Rumbling Terahorn

Civilization: Nature

Power: 3000

A great rhinoceros with a flattened shell top stomped out. "I can choose a creature from my deck and add it to my hand."

Heidi stared, counting "You do know Niofa's already in your graveyard?"

"This deck has seven evolution creatures in it. One Dual Fang, four Barkwhips and two Niofas!" His six remaining mana turned by themselves on his table. The green giant returned, allowing him to find another card. With one draw he was able to pull three cards, all thanks to his mana ramp. "Niofa, direct attack!" It charged but his excitement was replaced by horror "no wait, stop!"

Heidi clenched her eyes shut, hair blew past her face. She opened them and blinked up at the big creature blowing air out its nostrils. CJ slid his cards together and his creature vanished, Heidi did the same and their duel dome receded. Both of them fell down on the grass.

"Can't believe I almost killed you there. Goes to show how fun dueling you is." CJ admitted.

"I'm pissed as hell that I lost again… but that was a good game." Heidi said back.

The two blinked up at the stars which were mostly hidden by city lights. They decided to go back after that.

Inside Heidi felt like something was shook loose, a blocked memory seeping through in a dream...

Heidi could remember walking a trail made of stone blocks. It formed steps which after climbing led through a tall red Tori gate. It was the entrance to the closest shrine in the village, and the one home to an incident solver who was renowned in the land. Heidi could've used magic to fly, but it was more beautiful to walk. The serene landscape was soothing to one's mind and soul. She could almost hear the atmospheric strings and flute as she passed by. The cherry blossoms shed beautiful pink petals that fell softly in the wind, sunflowers bordering the path swayed. Heidi remembered the clonk of wooden sandals replacing the runners she thought she was familiar with.

Soon she came to the courtyard and buildings. There were other villagers in pale yukatas or bright kimonos, but not so many visitors this early in the middle of the week. She looked to a far corner where a shrine maiden could be seen facing away and sweeping leaves. She had a big red bow in her dark hair. Heidi continued along and her memories must have blurred again because next she was kneeling indoors at a table without seeing how she got there.

Steam rose from her tea. She could feel the tatami mats against her legs, feel a cool breeze from the sliding paper doors which were open to the grass and trees. There was a rhythmic plonk from a sōzu outside, a bamboo tube that filled with water before turning against a rock and emptying itself. Heidi remembered picking up a clay cup without handles and blowing on her tea. There was something else too… she felt a peace she'd never experienced in her home. The dimension of her origin.

When she wasn't fighting to be the hero, she'd been struggling with school and future prospects. And yet here she felt at peace, like she belonged in this environment. Another era, a new world she was a part of. Her guest was not human but a youkai, though as the owner of this region her remarkable powers had many consider her a goddess instead.

It was Yukari. Raising a cylinder mug to her lips with gloved hands, blowing on her tea before sipping. Her power allowed her to manipulate boundaries, the spacial limits of things. She wasn't known to show her strength directly and rumours had it she slept an awful lot, but she was the most informed of any resident and achieved her goals through subtle manipulating of events. Yukari lowered her drink to the table then snapped open her fan to breeze herself. To Heidi she felt more than human, sitting graceful in her lilac and soft-pink garbs.

"Ne, Yukari-sama." was how Heidi began to address her. "Please tell me about the multiverse."

"You're so curious about it all of a sudden, Heidi-chan." the woman commented.

"I know we can affect the future normally with the choices we make," Heidi said with eyes in her lap. "But there aren't separate dimensions that exist for every individual choice we could've made differently. There are times when things branch off, like how my home world had vortexes to different iterations of my planet. Worlds where the continents were different. Like Earth, or places that still have dinosaurs. Those weren't created by simple decisions people made but by astronomical things happening millions or billions of years ago."

"Yes." Yukari answered patiently.

"So… how come there aren't an infinite number of timelines for every little decision, all happening at the same time?"

"Because universes require a lot of power to exist. They cannot all be sustained. Like smaller twigs that sprout off from a main branch, many run out of power and end. It's at that point that most encounter heralds of destruction. Whether these be Shangri-La, the likes of Shishima, or cosmic level deities like the Lovecraftian pantheon or the Gatekeepers." When she saw Heidi's rapt attention she brought a hand to her mouth and giggled. It sounded like chimes from a silver bell.

"And the incident solvers and the café owners, they got to go to other worlds?" Heidi asked in a rush.

"They did," Yukari answered through her fan. "It was about the time of the annual Duel Masters tournament last year, and after Shangri-La was defeated by Reimu after his return. They passed between echoes, the dreams of lost worlds."

"Reimu is pretty amazing. Marisa too." Heidi admitted.

"You want to be an incident solver like them, right?"

"Yes." Heidi answered with certainty. "And I feel ready. To see more of the world like I wanted to." Then she corrected herself "Worlds."

"Gensokyo is a haven. It's not always so safe outside our borders, as I'm sure you know."

"I do, but now I've got good enough that I can beat Michael and Jonathan and Selene sometimes. I reckon that means I'm strong enough to be out there. Also I can fly now."

"As it happens I may have found a suitable first mission for you. Though putting you there will be a delicate matter. You may not have to try too hard, and your mere presence could be enough to help correct the deviation to a safer path. Think of it as a tester for what's out there. But if you don't agree, I could just as easily correct the deviation by manipulating a few small events-"

"I'll do it!" Heidi turned so she was facing her. "I want to help people like those girls do. I want to fight and get stronger."

"I see. Then this will be a mission you will be able to succeed in well enough." Yukari set her fan down. "The planet's store for Kaijudo energy is low, like your home once was. You won't be able to take the deck you have now. And to prevent more deviations, I will have to block your magic and memories while there. You'll need to stay quiet about many things to not disrupt the paths of those who live there. But after the mission is complete I will return for you and your memories can come back."

"You'll block out my memories…?"

"It will be fine so long as you don't stay too long. I will leave you with a sense of purpose so you won't be afraid. Then when you come back you'll have a deeper understanding..." she sipped her tea with a peaceful expression "Of what the multiverse is like, and what it takes to be someone who solves important incidents."

Upon waking the next morning Heidi gazed at the ceiling. She didn't remember everything, but she was aware that she'd remembered more than she should. Heidi decided to keep her mouth shut. She could do that before any more important revelations came. And if the wall Yukari set up in her mind was breaking, she would definitely be returning for her again soon. Heidi pushed the blankets off her and stood.

CJ was tense that morning, wondering if his Mom knew he'd been out and was going to confront him when he was alone.

"Hope you weren't up late on that computer?" Catharine commented when she caught him yawning for the umpteenth time. She was wiping up the counter after breakfast.

"No, just didn't sleep well."

"Understandable considering all that's happened," Nate said with his nose in the newspaper.

Heidi turned away before picking at the crust in her eyes.

A gap opened in their living room and out came Yukari. She was dressed in purple and white. With her frills and bonnet, bows and blonde curls. To everyone there she seemed the most interdimensional of anyone they'd seen. Embodying such natural grace with that eccentric style made her like a TV character. But she wasn't just some expert cosplayer, she was a real-life magical girl.

Yukari rested her parasol against her shoulder and gave them an apologetic smile "I beg your pardon, Henderson family. It's been some time since I used a doorbell. Heidi, you must come home now."

Heidi smiled and went to her "Mission success." She turned back with a smile "Thanks for having me. See ya, CJ."

By the counter her deck case flashed, Bolt appeared to see her off. Nate and Catherine managed to stop looking bewildered and give smiles of farewell. CJ stood up.

"Bye, Heidi. Next time we meet we'll have another duel, promise."

"Maybe then you'll play the OCG and we'll have a real match. Until then, it's been fun…" She walked to the black opening, Yukari and her vanished in matching steps. Then the gap sealed up.

Nate went to his son and put a hand on his shoulder "You two ended up getting along after all."

"Yeah…" CJ smiled.

As freaky as the idea of ultra-dimensional beings were, it did make things a little safer. No insane threat could cause too much destruction to humanity so long as they were being looked out for. It made the job of safekeeping the Duel Masters world a little easier to bear. It brought some levity to their duties, added confidence to his team and all those fighting for good.


⟨author's note⟩

I could've given Heidi the win and made things even, one win apiece, but I pity CJ. Heidi has won heaps of duels and CJ hasn't. I get that he started a noobie, and I also get that Heidi has experienced her fair share of misfortune, but yeah I just wanted to give CJ this win as a gift to his character. Seeing that his rewrite universe may be over since his author transitioned to Digimon. Anyway here it is! The mini-arc is complete! This is what I envisioned while reading Shuriken's fic and yes as Acuma says this does mix in some of the teen psychological darkness we explored in our Youth Coven stories. I'm quite satisfied and Shuriken enjoyed it, so that's good. Also Acuma could enjoy it too before I get started on the next arc which will be in the Twilight Kingdom! Stay tuned!