【13 - DM-14: Generation Gear! What's What with the Evil Plans of World Domination!】
Heidi stood amidst the ruined warehouse, a few metres from her unconscious and broken friend while a uniformed bad guy watched from the upper walkway. He had his hands on the railing, a rather delighted expression at having watched her duel. Just as the scared girl opened her mouth to say something tough, suddenly the man's entire body ignited with black fire. The cold, void flames that'd teleported her there. The black fire burst from a point above the ground, in front of Heidi. She stepped back as the flames condensed and then a few seconds later they cleared, General Urobach now standing a few feet in front of her.
"Y-you are…"
"The General, Urobach. Soon to be governor of your planet." He strolled away from her, stepping over rubble and broken beams. "And you are Heidi Hirazumi, the chosen fire duelist."
"What do you want? You're going to kill me if I don't agree to join you?"
"Of course not." He came to a stop before the downed Penelope, eying her motionless form. "At least… not right away. It will take time for us to transform this world into a proper source of Kaijudo energy."
"How?" Heidi also stepped around, scanning the building for exits. She doubted she could run very far.
"It just will. Aurellia has not adapted to sustain higher power from the creature world. So we're here to boost that process. Power has a cost… up to a point. Your legendary phoenix for example," and as he spoke Heidi looked back at her card which was glowing red-hot on the floor amongst her others "Supernova Mars Disaster is cyclically infinite, the power fuels itself and makes more of itself indefinitely, a process that doesn't yet comply with the weaker physical laws here that govern power. Not yet. No power is ever lost, it recharges itself by exerting more of it…" He raised his head "Don't run. You'll only embarrass yourself."
Heidi stopped backing away and felt a flush of anger.
"I'm never joining you!"
"Ideally you and the other chosens will help me boost this planet's energy capacity to its highest potential for my masters, but that is not necessary. You will be killed along with everyone else if you don't accept my generous offer to save yourselves." He was looking back at Penelope with disgust, like she was a broken insect. He stooped down.
"What are you doing?" Heidi felt fear trickle down her like ice. "Stay away from her!"
General Urobach scooped the unconscious girl up by her neck, raising her off the floor. The broken leg hung limply, she didn't wake up.
"You're still just a girl, Heidi."
"Let her go!"
"You don't have to join now. But one day, when you realise how hopeless it is, so long as it isn't too late by that point. I'll allow you to join us. I must say I find it impressive you beat two of my lieutenants with only the DM-13 or less. Typically when a subordinate fails me the consequence is execution…" his eyes were back on Penelope's unconscious face.
"Don't hurt her!" Heidi stepped forward with growing rage, it took all her restraint not to charge at him.
"Agree to join me now and track down the other chosens or she dies." Urobach looked at her boredly.
"You wouldn't dare!" Heidi roared.
Snap. He broke Penelope's neck with a casual turn of his wrist, dropped her body into a slump by his feet. Heidi's arms fell to her sides, she couldn't believe what she'd just seen. She stared forward in utter disbelief.
"So now you know," Urobach continued "how little patience I have. It would take little effort for us to track down your family or anyone you used to be close to. But we don't want to give you chosens a reason to hate us. We'd rather you joined us and grant me a little extra favor from my masters. Kaido and Urusai were meant to bring you to me so we could have this talk in person. And now we have."
Heidi stared at her dead friend at his feet, orange hair strewn and covering her face. A great loss stabbing her chest "…You just gave me a reason to hate you." She glared at him murderously.
"She was a spy."
"She was my friend!"
"Well in that case, that was rather unfortunate."
"Kettou da!"
"I don't accept."
"Coward!" she leaned forward with fists raised, furious tears trailing down her face.
"Even if you weren't emotionally unbalanced right now, even if you weren't drained from your last duel, you couldn't pose a threat to me… yet. It takes time for us to increase Aurellia's power capacity, so we've only been able to transport some cards from the higher DM sets. But my deck is full of them. You can't even comprehend how Duel Masters has evolved from where I'm from."
Heidi was looking around the room, suddenly she raced over to her cards and gathered them all up. She raced to her rucksack and shoved them inside. Urobach simply watched her. Heidi packed all her things safe for the tracking beacon. She stood up and before she could think of escaping she stopped and stared at her downed friend with hopeless longing. As if she weren't actually dead, as if Heidi still couldn't leave her behind...
The scarred Urobach remained watching her "We are still in the early stages, Heidi. You and the other chosens still have some time to make up your minds. Engyo and his forces have made themselves a threat to my plans so that wretched academy of his will be dealt with. For now, I'll return you to the city and you can think a little bit about your choices."
The man's body was consumed by his black fire once more, burning for several seconds before he fizzled away. Heidi was alone. Hopelessly she fell to her knees, alone in the ruined warehouse except for the corpse of her friend. Everything around her ignited with blackness, her body felt as cold as her heart as she was sucked through the void of space, staring up at streetlights and the corner of a building. Now she was kneeling in an alleyway outside a parking lot, before her Urobach stood with a stern and emotionless gaze. He caught black fire to teleport himself away. Heidi snapped – launching herself up and diving at him. She reached out to grab and the black fire scattered. Instead she fell forward into a muddy puddle beside a dumpster. Her pajamas stained and wet.
Heidi rolled out of it and lay in the cold outdoors, she started crying.
Heroes fight the bad guys… but they're not supposed to feel this powerless…
While lying on the dirty ground she spent several minutes thinking about her friend Penelope who she'd only known for a week. Her studiousness, her drive to help her grandmother. Her skills and their camaraderie and sense of humor. Heidi kept crying and shivering in the night, her skin going clammy. Then she made herself sit up and retrieve her deck, there was wafting smoke and the material inside was singed. Heidi rifled through her deck so the glowing Supernova Mars Disaster was visible. Her face still wet with tears she reached out and touched it.
Floating in space once more, turning to stare up at the red-orange phoenix with its blazing white eyes fixed on her.
"I don't know why you chose me!" the small girl suddenly yelled "I don't know why the five of you appeared on Aurellia to start with! There's nothing we can do to stop them!"
The huge fire phoenix turned its head, studying her with a single eye. Then it reared back its neck and gave a mighty cry that seized and shook her. Red light faded back to night and Heidi was sitting in the alleyway again, a new set of glowing cards in her hand fading to normal. The DM-14s, Generation Gear. She was holding about twenty cards though most of them were copies. She flicked through quickly and found a new armored dragon, some spells and four cross gears. Two copies of Fire Blade, a cross gear that cost two and made her creatures speed attackers. Two copies of Crimson Rifle, a cross gear that cost one and gave her creatures a tap ability that'd let them instantly destroy another creature with 2000 or less power.
Heidi packed her cards away and stood up on stiff legs. She left the alleyway, the parking lot, broken beer bottles glittered under the streetlights. She passed a tire store and read the upcoming street sign, and then further down the quiet road she found a payphone. She didn't know the taxi numbers here so called Narciel and he answered on the second try.
"Hello?"
"Narciel it's Heidi, they got me. Penelope's dead."
"Where are you?"
She gave him the street address and answered his urgent questions. She was sure he'd never met Penelope but she couldn't help her grief.
"How did you get out of the academy?"
"They teleported me out. They got one of the students to put a tracker on me. As long as General Urobach knows exactly where something is he can teleport it to his location."
"Stay where you are, Heidi! We'll be there in fifteen minutes!"
She wasn't too far from the DMA. They took an automobile instead of the chopper. Heidi waited by the road in the cold under the full moon. Racoons and wild cats skirmished in boxes nearby and lone cars drove leisurely along. Narciel's vehicle skidded around the bend as Heidi was sitting on the curb. She stood up and stepped back as they veered over and the door flew open.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" The bearded man jumped out to assess her personally.
"No… I'm fine." She moved to get in the back of the car; cold, tired and scared.
"God… Joseph! Give her your coat!"
Heidi was shivering in the back even with the coat around her shoulders. They had the heating cranked up and Heidi had to explain everything in great detail. Penelope's betrayal, what happened, what Urobach told her and his teleportation powers.
"Those powers aren't his." Heidi said as the driver got them through the academy's gates. "He's borrowing it from his masters. Otherwise he'd just be another lieutenant."
"How are we supposed to combat this?" Narciel remarked. "We can't just put you in lockdown to keep you safe."
"We'll have to start screening people…" one of the agents said.
"You mean 'more of a lockdown'?" Heidi remarked.
"Exactly. How do we know they won't do this again?"
"No, no." Heidi shook her head. "This took them a lot of co-ordination to pull off. And honestly it was luck… and my own stupidity. Penelope had to plant the tracker on me somehow and hope I wouldn't find it. Then a few days later she and the lieutenant… I don't know who, she said something about a samurai… they coordinated with Urobach to make a plan. Penelope convinced me to come with her at night, she knew about the motion sensors, and then the two of us needed to be very close…" her breath hitched as she recalled the redhead hugging her so tightly "to teleport us both. Then because Urobach could ping my location, because he knew exactly where I was supposed to be at midnight exactly, cause that was their plan… he tried it and it worked."
"Why did you go with Penelope?"
"Cause she befriended me."
"Heidi… the reason I wanted Timothy, Soroban and Iwate around was to keep an eye on you but also because I wanted to keep you safe from situations like this." Narciel said as the car drove them into a secure steel garage. "The academy itself may be fortified but the students go out into the city all the time. Recruiting duelists is what the lieutenants do. I know it's suffocating for you to stay put-"
"I'm so sick of people dying because of me!" Heidi shrieked and the adults went quiet. The car parked, Heidi pushed open her door and slammed it behind her. She stormed over to the garage's exit.
"…let her go." Narciel could be heard speaking calmly to the other workers.
Principal Engyo and his consorts discussed the events of what happened in a meeting without her. Heidi locked herself furiously in her room. Although they tried a few times to get her to come out as the hours went by they made sure to leave her be. They knew the situation well: Heidi wouldn't help them if she didn't want to be here anymore. She could run away to the authorities, or just run off like all the chosens before her did. Supernova Mars Disaster would only let her use it. They didn't impose themselves on Heidi, never pulled ranks because they wanted her compliance. For that reason they'd never outright force her to stay. Likewise Urobach wasn't hunting down her family or forcing her into an ultimatum too soon because he also wanted her compliance. That's why he was 'kind' enough to teleport her back to the city.
Heidi cried and didn't come out for breakfast next morning. After the sun was up she was still lying on her bed, cradled in the fetal position. There was a soft knocking at her door.
"Go away!" she shouted.
"Heidi…" it was Timothy.
Unfurling she sat up and wiped her eyes. She put on day clothes and then opened the door a crack. He was holding a tray with two croissants, fruit and glasses of juice. "It's just me."
She opened the door and let him walk in. Closing and locking it afterwards. Then she strolled back to her bed and curled up, facing away. He sat on the edge and put the tray on the bed.
"I freaked out when they told me what happened." he confessed. "I wanted to see you straight away. Soroban and Iwate saw how riled up I got, they may know now… that I have feelings for you. I wish you'd come straight to me… but I know you're having difficulty knowing who to trust, especially after Penelope. But you should've messaged me, I would've come right here. You can trust me, Heidi."
Slowly she crawled up her bed, wrapping her arms around her bent legs "…Who are you more loyal to, me or Narciel?"
Conflict played across his face and Heidi knew it was an unfair question to ask. He'd spent his life in that temple, made oaths to the Dawn of the Phoenix. It was the only life he knew, and there was probably nowhere else for him to go. Reaching out Heidi took his hand; whatever it was they had was so foreign, so unknown and exciting. Her heart beating very quickly in her chest. She looked at his face and felt like if she closed her eyes she could still know all his features as she'd begun to memorize them, something she'd never done for a person before. As time wore on Timothy was becoming less and less of a weird temple kid to her. He was respectful, gentle and also inexperienced. Through his hand she could feel his pulse was going as fast as hers.
Heidi rephrased her question "Do you believe Narciel has everyone's best interests at heart?"
"Yes. If nothing else, he has the greater good in mind. He's been the leader of our organization for decades, longer than I've been alive."
Heidi closed her eyes and relaxed "I trust you. And I'm sorry. I'll message you first when something like this happens again."
"Heidi," his brown eyes were full of deep emotion again "I know I'm not like normal boys-"
"That's why I like you." Heidi started thinking of every drippy scene or relationship displayed on TV that she'd pulled a face at and turned away from as an immature kid. She just needed a script so she knew what to work with "…kiss me."
He stared at her and then leaned over, this time Heidi kissed him back. They kissed atop her bed and afterwards lay close and hugged while picking at the tray food. There were mango slices, purple grapes and passionfruit with a little knife and gold teaspoons for them to eat out of. The croissants were cooling so Heidi ate hers quickly. Timothy picked off the corners and popped them into his mouth. They lay together until the afternoon and talked about their lives before they met. Timothy told her what growing up in the temple had been like, how closed-off they were from the outside world. They talked lots and didn't say anything about the mission at hand.
Later in the day they left and reunited with Soroban and Iwate in the cafeteria. Apparently there'd been an assembly informing the other students and a press release. Penelope was missing but not confirmed dead as her body was yet to be found. She was found in the later afternoon though, the warehouse had been one of many situated on a suburban outskirt of the city, twenty-five kilometers away. A worker riding a cart found pieces of metal roofing so unlocked the nearest warehouse, finding the huge hole overhead and a dead girl. Penelope's friends had wanted to know what happened but thankfully the disciples deflected and explained on Heidi's behalf, she was still processing and grieving what she'd experienced.
It took time for her to regain some semblance of normality. In the nights that followed Heidi dreamed of impossible god-monsters that ate planets and stars. Big black masses with wide mouths and rows upon rows, millions of teeth. Opening up and using their own gravity to pull planets in and consume them.
She'd now been living at the academy for three weeks. In that time Narciel began to involve the other disciples in her training. Heidi had more Kaijudo duels against them with her cross gears and other DM-14 cards. She dueled each of them and managed to win every game, the duels that always challenged her the most were against Timothy. He'd come quite close but not yet managed to beat her. They'd take a cart along to the far edge of the school grounds, over a grassy hill covered in patches of wildflowers. And when she wasn't training Heidi spent time with Timothy under the willow trees in the breeze and sunlight, at one point showing him all the new cards Mars had given her. Him leaning against the trunk while her head was resting in his lap and he brushed her hair.
Heidi also hung out with Penelope's friends and the others she knew, about three of which she got closer to. One day Narciel and Engyo showed her and the other disciples the memorial part of the school. A grassy zone with shiny granite slabs with black plaques on them. Not as big as tombstones but nevertheless pretty. Heidi didn't have to be present for the assembly about Penelope's death, but she'd eavesdropped outside the big arched door and started crying, needing to leave.
"Wembley Klatz's ashes were shipped back to the temple, it is customary for followers to be buried there." the white-robed Narciel explained.
"However." Principal Engyo had his arms behind his back, face unshaven and Heidi assumed it was stress "He died in service of the academy and the temple. He may not have been a student but we decided to honor his sacrifice regardless."
Heidi looked at his shining plaque as did the other three disciples with mournful expressions. Heidi turned to the one next to it 'Penelope Clearwater' and found her eyes brimming. She'd never been much of a crier, never, and yet something about Penelope's story was just too sad for her. She wiped her eyes and felt Timothy's hand on her shoulder. While Narciel wasn't aware of their romantic entanglement, Soroban and Iwate had certainly noticed by now and were keeping quiet about it. They'd let Timothy and Heidi have their frequent moments alone the past few days.
"Principal Engyo…" Heidi looked over at him "If I write a letter to Penelope's grandmother can you get it to her?"
He looked at her in surprise "yes… I can do that."
While tear-stained, smudging the ink in a few places, Heidi made sure to only write comforting words. Then she'd put it in an envelope and personally handed it over to Engyo, knocking on his office door to deliver it.
It was on the last night of Heidi's third week of stay at the Academy that one of their dance parties were being hosted. Celebratory balls in which all the girls wore dresses and the boys were in suits. Narciel had asked what colour Heidi wanted her dress and after giving him her size she said something simple and dark. That evening she'd entered her room to find a brown-paper package on her bed. The dress was knee-high and dark crimson velvet, you could only tell it wasn't black when the light hit it. It reflected dull red, subtly classy. Spaghetti straps and a ribbon-like sash around the middle. It looked good, he had a good eye. Her shoes matched but even the slight heel elevation wasn't her thing, she would've preferred flats. Later that night Heidi would see her dress wasn't as ostentatious as the other girls who wore bright-pink, teal-blue or emerald-green. Full-length and strapless. She was fine with what she had.
Iwate's suit stood out like his aqua hair, it was silver like the scales of a fish. Soroban's black dress looked proper and modest, falling to her ankles and showing nothing below the neck. Heidi didn't realize how skinny the girl was until she saw her in that dress. As for Timothy his clothes were sky-blue and he had a bowtie. Heidi smiled and blushed, they linked arms on their way to the party. Soroban and Iwate did as well, though Heidi was pretty sure they'd agreed to go as friends.
The party was on an outdoor patio on the second level. Fairy lights wrapped around stone banisters and pillars. Punch in big crystal bowls and shrimp served on the long white-clothed tables. Even the teachers were nicely dressed. Live musicians were playing classical instruments indoors. When they walked in, past perfectly-trimmed potted plants, Heidi looked around at the laughing and chatting and dancing teens. She saw Tottori Weeb in a silly gold tuxedo, the chubby guy seemingly up to mischief with his other geeky friends. Piling the shrimp into a bag and looking around, pushing his thick glasses up his nose. Amanohashidate was leading on the dancefloor, wearing a white suit and twirling Koizumi whose purple hair was done up in loops and matched her dress. There was a lot of diamond jewelry sparkling under the lights, even Soroban had small studs in her ears. The other girl had put some of her makeup on Heidi but otherwise she felt plain.
"Shall we dance?" Timothy asked her.
"I don't know how!"
"It's a party, we have to dance! I'll lead…" she was nervous as she let him lead her onto the squared-off space where couples were dancing. He was quite tall and she was rather short but they moved slowly and Heidi went along with it, soon she was enjoying herself. Iwate and Soroban danced nearby. As Heidi leaned back and Timothy held her waist she spotted Narciel with a champagne glass in hand, staring at them in shock. He'd finally caught on. And even here he was wearing his traditional white cloak with the black phoenix insignia on the back. Let them know… It was too exhausting to worry about hiding their relationship. Heidi continued to dance with Timothy to the piano keys and cello strums and enjoyed herself.
Afterwards they grabbed punch and Heidi laughed with the other girls and boys by the food table. They carried edibles out to the arching veranda overlooking the star-scattering lights of the estate, stretching to the fence borders and then the rest of the city beyond. Warm night breezes fluttered their hair and as Heidi gazed out at the view she felt a friend prodding her shoulder.
"Heidi!"
She turned and saw Tsukumo approaching with his troupe of preps. Konnako Hoshiin was not among them, had he not come to the party? The blonde, annoyingly-perfect-looking guy had not a hair out of place as usual, bright blue eyes narrowing with smug contempt. His suit was regular black but his good looks made him stand out anyway.
"Good evening Heidi." He greeted.
"Ugh! What do you want?"
"It's been brought to my attention that we'll be dueling again. Rumors have gone around that your deck's had another upgrade, DM-14 cards now? Sounds very impressive. You also challenged each of the prefects one-by-one, though you never actually dueled Konnako."
"I'd rather him not misinterpret anything." Heidi said scathingly "I don't want to talk to that creepy persistent guy ever again."
"Ouch." he snickered. "I know for a fact that Konnako is an expert duelist. Congratulations by the way… Timothy." The tall boy besides Heidi silently nodded. "However unlike Konnako I've never lost."
"You lost one time." A chatty girl beside him spoke up, an ornate flower brooch in her hair "Remember that one time in the mid-semester exams when you kept drawing spells?"
Tsukumo's jaw flexed and the chatty girl quickly looked down, chastened. Tsukumo worked his mouth a bit and let the rage pass before continuing "Be that as it may, even the teachers would be excited to see me and you duel just one more time. You've gotten stronger. So tomorrow at midday they'll let us use the school arena reserved for exams. It will be a spectacle match. That is, if you finally feel ready to duel me a third time?"
"I'm absolutely ready!" Heidi fired up, stepping forward and raising her fist. "I'm not gonna lose! I'll see you there at twelve o'clock sharp!"
"Excellent." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "I've knocked you down twice already but you still have fight in you."
"Bastard!"
"Vulgar as always. Oh and Heidi…" he half-turned his body away from her, ready to leave "I'm not taking this lightly… I will be giving it my best tomorrow. I've reviewed the play-by-plays of our duels and I'm sure you have too. If you'd managed to not be so hot-headed and made intelligent moves instead… I'm not saying you would've beaten me but you would've done a lot better. I look forward to tomorrow." And with that he walked off and his crowd of fancy-dressed preps followed after him.
Heidi lowered her fist, staring after him.
"Tomorrow you duel Tsukumo again, huh?" Soroban quietly murmured and Iwate drained his glass of punch.
"In the school's arena no less…" Timothy murmured.
"What's the arena?"
"Do you remember when we arrived here in the helicopter? The arena was that huge blue glass dome in the very centre between the four walls." Timothy answered.
"And by the sounds of it the whole school will be there." Iwate piped up.
"Mannnn!" one of the girls cupped her face "I can never speak when Tsukumo's around! He's so cool and handsome!"
"I knowww!" another friend agreed, them both in pink and purple dresses "And the fact he's DMA's finest pupil! He's like a prince!"
"He's going down!" Heidi exclaimed with her eyebrows twitching, she swept her arm and knocked the girl's elbow and she squealed, spilling her drink. Heidi's glare was still forward "I look forward to tomorrow as well Tsukumo…"
『AN: How dare I? I have some frickin nerve to bring out a chapter in which a character doesn't verse another character in a children's trading card game. I actually wasn't sure I'd even have one of these, but there was a leetle time skippage here so it was necessary. So I did get a review from ShiningAzureEmporer but he's still way back at chapter five and there isn't much point in responding to it here. We're lagging worse than internet explorer! Anyhoo Heidi has versed Timothy and Soroban, two players who don't use fire. But yes, in every duel so far, even in the ones Heidi didn't have a part in SOMEONE was using fire. Though this IS the Fire Arc we're in. Thanks for the kind words. Arigatou ~』
。
