【06 - Unleash the DM-13! The Annoying Lieutenant Strikes!】
Heidi stepped out onto the smooth grey concrete of the high-rise building's roof. Stepping across to the green-eyed villain smiling wickedly in her silly bow-tie and vest. Heidi was wearing her red-and-white striped jacket over her black skirt and bulky joggers. Hand fizzling with red energy at her side on approach. Urusai was walking backwards so they'd have enough space for their duel.
"Kettou da!"
"Yoshi…"
"You two are gonna pay for what you did to Wembley… Hear me!? I'm taking you down and then you're gonna tell me where to find him! Got it?!"
"I already told you I don't know where Kaido is… he may have already left the city." Those lime eyes opened on her "You don't strike an imposing figure, but you sure are demanding, for a kid."
"Just get your deck out already!" Heidi shouted, getting proper mad again.
"Hmph." The woman gracefully plucked her deck from a case strapped to her belt. She wore fingerless gloves, when she raised her cards they became imbued with hazy blue light from her palms. Between them two dark tables rippled into being.
Heidi stepped forward and set her cards on the table "Good, we can start. Ikuzo." Five glass panels lined up before her as the Kaijudo magic was summoned from the other world. "I've beaten a lieutenant before. And this time you won't be getting away."
"Koi." She gracefully drew her hand as the shields projected, studying her cards and giggling. "You were the challenger, the field's all yours."
"I charge fire mana!" Sparing no time Heidi slammed down a high-cost creature and it glowed red.
Urusai drew "and I charge water mana~!" with a flourish she deposited the card, emitting a deep blue glow.
Heidi took a moment to calm herself down before drawing a card. Her anger worked against her in duels, that'd be why Tsukumo was able to defeat her so easily. If she'd been calmer she would've targeted his creatures instead of sending her attacks directly at him. He was right that her temper wasn't conducive, as much as she hated to admit it. In this duel her safety was on the line and she had to play at her best to get to Kaido. Unfortunately she didn't have any cost 2 cards in her hand either.
"I charge mana and end!" red light flashed before fading out.
"and I charge water mana and end!" the woman theatrically arced a card into position, giving Heidi a strange smile under the blue glow. What is she playing at? Is she not taking me seriously? Her mistake! Heidi thought as she whipped out a card from her deck.
"Okay I charge and summon Baby Zoppe!" A fiery chicklet still wearing half its blue egg burst into the fray as the first creature.
"I charge fire mana and summon Aqua Hulcus!" A flash of red and then the blue-green alien whipped out fluidly, tail whipping and raising its pointed arm guards. "I get to draw!" she sang gleefully.
"But it's not a blocker and only half as strong as Baby Zoppe!" Heidi kept up her intensity to mask her confusion. Could it be that she's… not actually good? I'm not going to lower my guard anyways! She drew and smirked "I charge and tap two to cast Crimson Hammer! Baby Zoppe ike, break her shield!"
As red swirling liquid formed a mallet and slammed Urusai's only creature the fire bird waddled its way over. With a cheep it leapt up and pecked through the glass, the woman's smile didn't fade even as she shielded herself from the debris. She was at a slow start and Heidi just cleared her field, unperturbed she drew and charged more water mana.
"I cast Prism Brain from the DM-25!" she held out the card as it shone.
"What does that do?!"
"I draw two cards, if one of them is multi-coloured I get to draw another!" she sang.
"…it just lets you draw cards?"
Heidi watched in disbelief as her opponent hummed, pulling out the cards and looking "Oh drat, no rainbow cards. Oh well that's me done."
"We're playing a duel here!" Heidi yelled "or didn't you realise? You had seven cards in your hand, why did you waste all your mana on a dumb spell that makes you draw more!?"
"It's your turn, little girl."
Heidi growled and drew "This'll teach you to underestimate me!" she added mana "Mini Titan Gett! And now Baby Zoppe ike, attack her again!" As her favourite humanoid skidded into view on its rollerskates the fire bird waddled forward before blasting off, shooting through another shield with a vigorous cheep. She's using the water civilization right? Why isn't she playing any blockers?
With her arm up and wrist aloft, the shield pieces joined together to form a shield trigger "Brain Serum!" the woman announced as the high winds billowed through her straw-coloured hair "I draw two and now my real strategy can begin!"
Heidi huffed from behind her two creatures "Well it's about time!"
Urusai charged "I summon Luna Cosmoview! Normally it costs nine but its G Zero lets me summon it for free when I have nine or more cards in my hand!" The 5000-power creature emerged, a strange race Heidi had never seen before. It was blue with shining gills but neither human nor fish-shaped. Definitely another future card; Urusai examined the eight cards in her hand "And now I get to draw an extra card at the start of all my turns…"
This is bad, Heidi ground her teeth. When she gets enough mana she's going to bombard me with all the stuff she's holding! In the back of her mind she wondered, did Urusai really give her an early advantage just to bring out that one card?
"I tap one and summon Medetine, New Year Electro-Knight!" A single 2000-point blocker raised itself, a rounded robot. "That's me done!"
"So there's either more to this strategy or she really is just a nut…" Heidi commented while drawing; Urusai merely giggled. Heidi examined the two measly cards she held. Wanting to save her double-breaker for next turn she merely charged mana then began her attack "Baby Zoppe ike!"
"Medetine block!"
"Mini Titan Gett ike!"
The hyperactive chicklet bounced between its little feet, then launching forward and making short work of Urusai's robot. That quick beak pecked into wires while the humanoid rocketed forth, up and spin-kicking through a shield.
Heidi fist-pumped, if I just finish her off before she finishes her weird strategy I'll be done in no time!
Urusai drew two cards "So now I shall cast Spiral Gate and return Mini Titan Gett to your hand!" she flourished an arm dramatically, a liquid whirlpool splashing the young humanoid up and away. The card flicked off the table and Heidi snatched it from mid-air. "Then next I will generate a cross gear!"
"You're going to what a what?" the black-haired girl blinked.
"Final Dragarmor!" What looked like a wingless red dragon with claws appeared in the battle-zone, but on further inspection it was just an empty suit of armor. "Cross gears are actually quite outdated, but I can't help my nostalgia!" she cupped her face with both hands and whimpered.
"Annoying freak…"
"I don't have the mana to cross it this turn so I'll leave it for now… Luna Cosmoview ike! Destroy Baby Zoppe!" The big blue thing lurched, shuddering forward before unleashing an arch of white light, carving through Heidi's squawking critter. "Turn end!"
Heidi drew and paused. What the hell is that thing? She examined the cross gear floating lifelessly on the field. It has no power, it can't attack or block. It must be a newer game abstraction, I'm not going to know what she can do with it until she uses it. No point worrying now anyway, I finally have enough mana to play something good! She charged and whipped a flaming hand over her tabletop "I summon Metalwing Skyterror!"
"So it's not just dragons that are your heavy hitters, that's useful information to know…"
"Not just dragons and phoenixes, no."
The red-skinned armored wyvern was as big as her other dragons, throwing back its horned head with a snarl, mechanical wings gleaming in the now setting sunlight.
Urusai drew another two cards "I charge and then cross Luna Cosmoview with Final Dragarmor!"
Heidi watched with wide-eyes as the empty suit drifted toward her strange creature, and then in a flash of red it was custom-fitted. Urusai lowered her head and snickered "Now in addition to being an armored dragon my Luna has 10,000 power while attacking and breaks an extra shield."
"So it makes other creatures stronger…" Heidi narrowed her eyes at the boosted enemy.
"Luna Cosmoview break two shields! Ike!" A ripple of blue and red whooshed out from her table, that white arch of light shattering two of Heidi's shields into glimmering dust. She still had more shields than her opponent, but for how long? Heidi added the cards to her hand and with a jolt of pleasure recognized her Supernova Mars Disaster.
"So there you are… hiding in my shields were you? Okay let's do this." She started her turn, cards untapping "I charge then bring back my Mini Titan Gett alongside Explosive Dude Joe!" the red-geared humanoids landed on either side of Heidi's bigger creature "Metalwing Skyterror ike! Your creature only has 10,000 power while attacking so my creature can destroy it!" She watched with a victorious grin as her monster lay waste to its enemy, slicing it with sharp wings.
Instead of being disappointed Urusai seemed strangely indifferent, drawing a single card from her deck as her cards untapped. Heidi was shocked to see her opponent's cross gear was still visible on the field, the empty armor back to its original shape. Destroying the crossed creature doesn't get rid of them? She hadn't been paying attention to Urusai when she raised her next card.
"I tap seven to summon Change the World, Blue Divine Dragon!" a dark aquatic glow accompanied the arrival of this creature. A sea dragon equal in size to Metalwing uncurling, surrounded by glowing magic circles.
"So other civilisations have dragons now too…?"
"Welcome to the DM-30. After summoning this creature I discard my hand, draw my shields, then add as many cards to the shield zone as were in my hand."
"No way… you had six cards!"
"I feel like a bit of a refresher, don't you?" Urusai giggled wickedly again. Her shields blew apart, six forming to defend her. She studied her new hand. "You didn't like how I was playing at first so let's bring my shields back so we can start again~"
"All the time you were drawing cards… it was for this!?" Heidi couldn't believe it. She'd broken most of the madwoman's shields and now there was more than what they started with! Heidi was still two shields down. It seemed like Urusai had known what she was doing after all. "These future cards… they're too strong!"
On top of its ability the card was also a 6000 double-breaker. Urusai giggled "Your move, chosen fire duelist."
Heidi's cards untapped and she drew. It was a spell; she still needed one more human to evolve her phoenix. "I'm not giving up!" All it took was remembering Wembley's frightened last moments before her hand caught ablaze again, burning red with her fury. "Mini Titan Gett ike! Break a shield!" A flash-jump and a kick, pieces scattering. "Explosive Dude Joe ike! Break a shield!" That whirring yoyo blazed apart another glass shield. "Metalwing Skyterror ike! Break two shields!" as she turned her last creature-card she watched her biggest monster close its two wings together. It was a more even playing field now, Heidi had never seen so much breaking panels in one game.
"Impressive…" Urusai added the four new cards to her hand with delight, drawing and beginning her turn. "I summon Medetine, New Year Electro-Knight and King Coral!" the two blockers entered the fray either side of her blue dragon. The familiar robot and white whale leviathan. "With my remaining mana I cross my blue divine dragon with Final Dragarmor making him a triple-breaker with 11,000 power!" The same evil aura that Kaido possessed was visible in her lime-green eyes. "Ike! Destroy all her shields in one hit!"
The blue dragon gave a squealing roar, now fitted with the red armor. It stepped forward with a webbed hand, tail swishing before emitting a stream of blue fire. All Heidi's shields broke apart under the intense pressure leaving her defenseless. Heidi cried out and cringed against the onslaught. Urusai snickered "What do you think? Reckon you'll survive a direct attack from an 11,000-power triple-breaker next turn? Or think you'll perish just like your friend did?" The snickering turned into a mad, obnoxious cackle.
Heidi was no longer scared however, the extra cards she received were just what she needed. Nestled in there, a third humanoid. With determination she swept her blazing hand over her deck, creatures untapping and raising up to fight again. "I tap two and summon Brawler Zyler!" The cannon-armed zombie roared amidst its brethren. "I evolve him with Mini Titan Gett and Explosive Dude Joe to summon Supernova Mars Disaster!"
"Oh no!" Urusai stepped back in shock as the small girl lifted her arm directly overhead, the card shining brighter red than ever before. Flames circled her and went skyward, condensing and exploding before the red-orange phoenix was back. From beneath, her armored wyvern and the blue dragon were dwarfed in comparison. The field was covered in a mirage of heat-waves, red light as the creature descended into play.
"Okay Mars, let's clear the field!" Heidi roared and her white-eyed companion lowered its head in agreement "Meteorburn! Wipe out her blockers!" A card underneath flicked harshly away and the phoenix burned bloody-red, sweeping flaming wings that seared Medetine and King Coral from play. "Now ike! Attack Change the World, Blue Divine Dragon!" the phoenix unleashed its full wingspan, soaring forth and annihilating its target before they even touched. Urusai screamed, the rooftop quaking, the hem of her sleeves and bowtie singeing. She opened her eyes afterwards, smoke wafting off her clothes and the surrounding concrete. Her creatures were all gone.
Heidi moved her hand to her other card, still ablaze with red "Metalwing Skyterror ike, break her last two shields!" The smaller giant flew forward from beneath the phoenix's wings, doing its job and slashing the final two shields.
Her opponent wasn't giggling anymore, she drew from her deck with a shaky hand, sweating from the heat of Heidi's monsters as she read each of her cards in turn. It didn't seem like she had anything that could help her.
"It's too strong… she can destroy all my blockers automatically…"
Heidi wasn't grinning. She merely stood determinedly fixed, staring down her opponent from below both her impressive creatures.
"I summon Illusionary Merfolk…" Urusai finally managed, a desperate move that meant nothing. It wasn't a blocker and it'd be gone the moment she used meteorburn again. She didn't try to cross it with Final Dragarmor which was surprisingly still floating in play.
Heidi's cards untapped and she lowered her head, still cloaked by the red ripples of her newest creature. "…you bastards." she murmured, raising hateful eyes "You murderous bastards! Tell me where Kaido is!"
"I don't know anything!" Urusai yelled back, tears now streaming down her face.
"You're lying!"
"I didn't kill your friend! And I wasn't going to kill you! I was only going to beat you enough to take you back to General Urobach! Please…"
"You know who else begged for his life… Wembley! The man you two killed!" she whipped a card from her deck. "I cast Magma Gazer to increase Supernova Mars Disaster by 4000 power!" The red light intensified, the phoenix burning hotter. "I cast Burning Power, bringing him up further to 19,000 power!"
"No… no please…" wide, tear-streaked eyes staring at the phoenix glowing as bright as a burning sun. The entire city would be witnessing their showdown now.
Heidi clenched her fists, remembering Wembley's last moments. This is what she'd craved, unleashing more power than she'd ever wielded before. Aiming it down and utterly obliterating her enemy. There was a chance she'd survive an encounter with a 6000-power creature, though be seriously injured. An attack from Supernova Mars Disaster would incinerate Urusai and her surroundings in seconds, a divine fiery rapture from above. She let her hand rest on the table while the lieutenant continued to whimper "…please no…"
It was addicting to stand there in possession of so much raw power, more than most fire duelists were capable of holding at one time. The raw waves of energy were unbelievable. With her head lowered darkly Heidi had to confess to herself… she wasn't a killer. But she did need to stop Urusai and win this duel. Again she chose the weaker creature "Metalwing Skyterror ike, todomeda!"
The woman gasped as the armored wyvern sailed forward, ripping through air with its metal wings before extending a clawed foot to hit its smaller target. Slamming into her body and throwing her through the air, she hit the concrete hard and rolled. The fire burned out. The creatures faded and Supernova Mars Disaster gave one final furious songbird-call, raising its head nobly before fizzling out. The heat waves dissipated and left an empty roof. From Heidi's tabletop only her phoenix card was still glowing, red-hot and bright. Urusai looked down for the count – her light-brown hair strewn wild, motionless body in an uncomfortable sprawl. After gathering her cards together the tabletops vanished.
"Ouch!" Heidi's card was still glowing, still burning hot amongst the others. "…what's the deal, why won't it go out?" after staring at it for a while as the glow refused to fade, she put her deck together and pocketed it.
Heidi strolled to the edge of the roof to study the city below. The busy traffic of the metropolis, the high-altitude winds playing with her hair as she stared neutrally. She didn't know if her opponent was dead and she didn't go over and check. She kept watching the city as the streetlights switched on, billboard signs and lights everywhere. The last of the sunlight was only a glow above the horizon. She heard propeller blades, spinning around to see a chopper coming her way. The duel had been seen, they were coming for her. Heidi stepped back when the wind buffeted her from the helicopter's landing. Once it was down she approached; a door opened and a black-uniformed man leaned out.
"You're in a lot of trouble, Heidi Hirazumi…"
She glanced back at her downed enemy "That person over there is Lieutenant Urusai Torcan. She's most likely still alive. You should send an ambulance chopper to get her as well, I'm sure she'll be able to answer a lot of Principal Engyo's questions."
The men in the front spoke into their radio, relaying information back to base. Heidi boarded and they closed the door after her, lifting off into the air again. Throughout the journey she was again wrapped up in her head. Dragons from the water civilization, cards that can swap your hand and shields around… also, cross gears?! She should've recovered Urusai's deck when she had the chance, it had been just lying there in a messy pile after her table vanished. It hadn't occurred to her at the time, and for all she knew the chopper's propellers had sent the cards sky high, fluttering down separately to the city below. It was proper dark when the familiar Duel Masters Academy came into view, that light-blue dome no longer shining. The view of the city was astonishing with all the lights, the moving ones being the cars still stop-starting along the busy roads and overpasses.
The helicopter landed in the same spot, there was no principal Engyo to greet her. There was a disgruntled Narciel, crossing his arms beneath his white cloak.
"That was extremely irresponsible." He began as soon as she was out and in hearing range.
"Yeah, yeah." She walked past him and he followed beside her.
"We almost lost you. None of this has been easy, you wouldn't be the first chosen duelist to be non-compliant with us but please understand…" his tone made her finally look him in the eyes despite her guilt at running off. "The fate of Aurellia is truly at stake here. That is one billion people, one billion lives we're trying to save."
"I get it… sorry…" It was hard for her to apologize, but it was still something she made herself do when she knew she was wrong.
"To think they found you before we did. Good thing you won. Why on earth did you leave?"
"I'm… a bit of a sore loser." She confessed to the bearded man. "I hate losing… I never took it well. Even when I was a kid I could go for hours not talking to my sisters after they beat me…"
"Well try not to run off alone again. At least let Timothy, Soroban and Iwate escort you." He watched her nod without slowing. "…and don't beat yourself up over losing. Tsukumo is top in all his classes after all." Her teeth ground together at the mention of that blonde pretty-boy. The older man stopped suddenly by a door. "Here is where you'll be staying. It's late. We need to debrief and figure out what to do with our… suspect. You should get some sleep. There will be more for us to tell you in the morning."
"Thank you, Narciel…" she looked up and he gave a curt nod.
"Goodnight," he strode off to address the business at hand.
"Night…" Heidi doubted they'd let her in on their discussions after her stunt. There was still more for them to tell her. But for now she really was tired. Opening the wooden door with its ornate handle and stepping into a nicely furnished room. She had a maroon double-bed with clear coverings beside an arched window that looked out onto the gardens. A desk and reading lamp. Her rucksack of clothes and toiletries was by her pillow, she'd been separated from it after their car crash. It really had been a busy day.
Stretching she gave a yawn and then reached into her pocket for her deck.
"Ouch!"
Withdrawing her hand Heidi blinked in shock. Closing the door and locking it, she went to sit on the bed and more carefully extracted her dueling deck. Amidst the dull cards one was still burning brightly red and hot. She arranged the cards so she was staring at her Supernova Mars Disaster. "…after all this time you're still glowing. Why? Was it something I did? Powering you up by 6000. Are you mad because I didn't finish her off with you?"
She could sense her creature giving its songbird call, her eyes glazed as she slowly reached, fingertips lightly touching its surface and then she was gone.
The room and her cards were gone. Heidi blinked, floating in space once more. She turned and there was the red-orange phoenix, celestial spheres beneath its burning wings. Again, it wasn't the phoenix she'd seen in her very first dream. That one had a more gold-flame colour than the reddish being before her.
"Mars… what is it?" she stared into its smoking white eyes. It lowered its head as if to say something, then in a flash Heidi was back in her room.
She jolted, blinked. When she lowered her eyes there were several glowing cards now in her hand. Six cards in fact, they were fire cards Heidi had never seen before. She examined them closely and saw from the bottom text, surely enough DM-13. The next set that had not been released. Somehow Mars had transported cards from its creature dimension right to her. She was astounded and looked at the first one. Joe's Toolkit was a xenopart that cost two and had 1000 power. Whenever it was attacked its controller could automatically destroy an opponent's creature with power 2000 or less. There were two copies of it. Likewise there were two copies of the next card, a humanoid that would fit in perfectly with her deck. Jiruba, Precision Shooter. A steel-armored figure with a gun for an arm. It cost 3 and had 2000 power, a silent skill ability that said if you chose to not untap it all your other creatures could attack untapped creatures.
Heidi was impressed, but if she thought those cards were good they paled in comparison to the other two. One copy of Spiritual Star Dragon, an orange armored dragon wielding a glowing gold staff. It had 8000 power and let its controller search their deck and take a card that evolves from a dragon. The last card was a shining super-rare: Eternal Phoenix, Phoenix of the Dragon Flame. Another phoenix with 11,000 power that evolved from one fire bird and one armored dragon. It was called vortex evolution. It had double breaker, it allowed your dragon and phoenix creatures to attack untapped creatures, and when it was removed from the battle-zone it'd let Heidi return all non-evolution fire creatures from her graveyard to her hand.
"Woah…" she turned the card in her hand, reread it. "Woah…" she said again. The next set was strong, though after seeing Kaido and Urusai's cards she'd expected that. The image was of a six-winged orange being with twin swords and adorned with gold. Her cards were no longer glowing, she flicked through until she was looking at Supernova Mars Disaster again "That's what you can do? You can send me better cards?" The card was dim and silent. It turned out phoenix was a new race of creatures that were to be released in the next set. Narciel had said they belonged to all civilisations, not just fire.
Heidi piled them together and set them inside the drawer of her bedside table. She got up and undressed, stopping when she caught sight of her reflection in the arched mirror of an ornate dressing table. It was her exposed hip, he walked closer and lifted her shirt and could see light bruising that went all the way up to her torso on the right side of her slim body. Hovering her fingers over the purple she lightly prodded, it was a little sore. Bound to hurt more in the morning. There were also scratches and cuts from the car crash.
The fire duelist was forced to again acknowledge the dangers of true duels. Kaijudo games were dangerous, an attack from Tsukumo's 1000-point creature had left her with this injury. A single swat from a machine eater's mechanical arm. Urusai would be much worse for wear. Heidi turned to switch the light off, creeping back to bed and under the covers. She lay thoughtful and comfortable, the mattress was soft and molded to fit her weight. She was soon pulled down by the cool pillows into slumber.
『AN: I am totemo (very!) grateful for my latest two reviews by acumshindorballomu and the ShiningAzureEmporer! Such lovely reviews! Azure probably won't get to this point until I've reviewed more of his stuff, tit-for-tat reviewing is a good way to ensure your works get feedback and are - hopefully - being enjoyed. Yees Azure as we can see the villains do have SOME future cards but their decks aren't entirely full of them, I'll be able to get into stuff like this later on. I hope you are seeing the desired character development acumashindorballomu. I need more brutally honest reviews from Shuriken16 to ensure I'm still on the right track!』
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