【21 - The Disasters of a Running Girl and a Falling One!】


The bloodshed massacre in the apartment complex made her pocket ice-cold, it was Supernova Pluto Deathbringer amidst her deck as it soaked in the energy of murder. She took the steps up silently, over blood puddles and hanging limbs. She didn't like death, or violence, or decay. Her chosen phoenix on the other hand weighed her cards down like a burning block of ice – an electric thrill. It was soundlessly singing with joy.

Amira stuck her head around the bend, frost-blue eyes sweeping the length of the hall. More dead bodies, bullet-holes and blood on the walls. She mentally tapped into Pluto's energy again and was now quite sure everyone in the building was dead, except for her and one other boy. She was less careful now but still silent as she stepped to the open window at the end of the hall. The dark, dirty city lit up by streetlights and bonfires. She watched tiny car-lights go by and didn't turn when she heard him approach.

"…Amira?"

She lowered her black hood, revealing stringy caramel hair before turning her face to a lanky blonde boy.

"Oh good, it is you." He walked up to the view beside her, wearing ripped jeans and a ragged jacket. There was a dirt smudge on his nose. They watched the city "I'm amazed you came here. Usually you run away from danger, not towards it."

"…I needed to know if he was dead."

"Well I haven't seen his body. Did you?"

"No."

"Pity. That means he's still alive. Do you think part of you would be sad if he'd died here tonight?"

"…he's the reason I have to keep running so much. The main one anyway."

The boy got bored of the view, turning away and putting hands in his pockets. Leaning against the banister. He asked "Do you even know which of the triads did this? You've got to be out of the loop, I'm the only person you talk to."

"Who cares, Simon." She also left the view and stepped away. Their city was a depressing slum. "The Swords, the Axes, the Knives. They're all the same."

"You know they found the last chosen? The fire one, another girl. A few weeks before the Duel Masters Academy was demolished."

"Well we all knew that was coming."

"What about the girl, do you want to find her?"

"No. I don't even want to know her name. I'm fine leaving that stone unturned."

"Well alright then." Simon shrugged and let it drop. He never pushed anything with her, it was why she'd tolerated him as much as she had. But even one person knowing who she is was more than she liked, too bad he had a knack for finding her. She'd got close to someone before, and that had been her biggest mistake.

She stood slender and stooped, head lowered. Not saying anything as Supernova Pluto Deathbringer continued its eager, cold throbbing in her pocket.

Simon's face turned back to the night air "If he didn't die here then he's going to arrive very soon. You can double-check all the bodies, or get yourself a head-start. Running and escaping, it's what you do best after all."

She quietly considered her options, though the desire to flee felt urgent.

Simon turned more to the window "I think that's a car pulling up…"

Amira headed off without another word. She left him and didn't look back, stepping down another corridor toward the fire escape. Things like building inspections hadn't been mandatory for over a decade, so she took care letting herself out. Donning the hood. Zig-zagging down metal stairs before testing the railing, climbing over and making a jump to the next roof. Curling over with a whump and swinging her legs up parkour-style. She stood and dusted herself off, turning to look up at the apartment complex before fixing her hood and taking her leave.

Amira never lingered if she could help it. She always stuck to the shadows when travelling. The only time she went looking for information was if it pertained to her direct survival. The only other times she went anywhere was because she'd spent enough time in one spot and it was time to move on. She limited human interaction as much as possible. Amira considered all this as she ran-jumped to other rooftops, beside streetlights. Picking herself up and pressing on.

This is what kept her safe. However tonight she wasn't so lucky.

"I can see you, Amira!"

His voice literally made her shiver. Pluto had quietened down but this sent a new chill sinking through her. Oh no, oh no, oh no. She quickened her escape. He'd seen her, that meant her chances of getting away were slim. What she did in the next few minutes would be critical. She flew through darkness and night air, scrambling over another alleyway drop.

"You're not getting away this time!"

His voice was closer. It made her ache. She'd learnt somewhere that when people heard their abuser's voice or saw their face it was enough to kick in their fight-or-flight response, or trigger a panic attack. She hoped that wasn't about to happen now. So far her survival instinct outshone the ache.

Amira cleared a gap to one more building. She ran before skidding loose gravel and a beer can, beyond this drop was the street. Before she could consider running to the other side a grunt and thud told her that he was already here. She tensed before turning. A tall man rose, his hair was spiked and orange. Eyes reflective in the dim, a brighter monochromatic orange. He was fixated on her with a terrifying intensity, a victorious euphoria bordering madness. He was an alien, a being from another dimension. He'd said he was a lieutenant. He was also her ex-boyfriend.

"Magris…" her timid voice tried at a greeting and fell flat.

"Hello, my love."

He started walking one way and she walked the other, circling a space she wanted desperately to keep between them. Her jumper had been stitched in places, the ends of her trousers were frayed. He was wearing an all-black suit similar to the other gangsters but with a few details that made it just a bit… eccentric. Like the small bow-tie. He stopped walking and so did she.

He smiled "I've been searching for you for so long. And now finally, finally I have you."

"Still not moved on, I take it?"

"You left me in a pit of despair! You promised you'd be there but you ran, just like you run from everything else! Ran from the duty of being a chosen. You always run. You're a coward!"

"Don't suppose you're seeing someone new? A nice girl, I hope."

"I told you I'd find you, didn't I? No matter where you run I'll always find you."

"See this was our problem. You were an emotionally manipulative control-freak."

"I wouldn't have to do these things if you'd just behave!" he roared.

"You're delusional!" Suddenly the pretence was gone and Amira found herself shouting back "I can't believe how well you tricked me in the beginning! Why do you think I have to run so much? It's because of you!"

"To think I was going to betray my General, the Gatekeepers, for you…" Magris shook his head, suddenly quiet. "It's always been inside you, you were always a runner. But you can't run this time." His left hand, the dominant one, ignited with a ghostly purple flame.

Amira resolved herself. With nowhere to run she had to fight. A cold breeze whipped off her hood and played with strands of her hair. The wind was an eerie whisper, making the temperature drop further. The eye-level streetlights seemed to darken. Then Amira's body was entirely cloaked in purple gloom.

"Kettou da, my love." He challenged.

"Yoshi." She took out her deck and two tables appeared between them.

After they shuffled, called their shields and played mana Magris was the first to summon.

"BloodRayne, Start Dash!" A cowboy mounting a purple tusked beast stomped forward. 1000 power but it could reduce the cost of his other creatures, Amira needed to get rid of it.

She whip-drew "I summon Sealed Devil Ronovel!" A crustacean scuttled forth. A 2000 blocker that couldn't attack.

"I charge fire mana and generate Flame Sword – Pierce Accela!" The jagged blade emerged and ignited, with no other fire mana he couldn't cross it "Turn end."

"I generate Hell Double Claw!" Amira placed her own cross gear into the battle-zone. Two dual-bladed claws. "Turn end."

"I don't think so." He quirked his lip. "I cast Drill Bowgun and destroy it." A mechanical crossbow fired and Amira's cross gear broke apart violently. "Your move."

"I summon Zamaru, Treasure of Darkness!" A multi-hued treasure chest opened, shadowy limbs emerging to lift it up, shadowy tails swishing and sparking electricity. "Since I play mono-darkness it has 4000 power and you randomly lose a card in your hand when it attacks! I end."

Magris sneered before drawing "I play Zorvaz the Bonecrusher for four mana." A giant quadruped stalked forward on 8000, armoured in bone. "I cross BloodRayne with my Flame Sword, it now gets power-attacker 3000. Ike!"

"Ronovel blocks." Amira turned her card and purple rippled outward, it was met by a ripple overlayed with red and her card flicked out from under her fingers and onto a graveyard pile. The crustacean squealed in its combustion, wilting to nothing and revealing the mounted cowboy with his flaming weapon.

Amira drew "I generate Demonic Protector and cross it to Zamaru. Ike, break a shield!" Skeleton armour spread along the edges of the chest, it sprouted wings of darkness and took flight. It curled its hands and sent a volley of thunderbolts toward a far shield before-

"Zorvaz block!" His demon command reared up, tearing through the magic box and dying afterwards as per its effect. Amira's cross gear became a spiked, skeletal suit of armour – thanks to its effect she drew an extra card.

Magris continued "I summon Cannoneer Bargon!" A blue robot with cannons in all directions trudged forward. "Turn end."

Her mana magically untapped itself, then tapped two "Emily, Injection Doll!" A pretty, blue-haired puppet carrying a huge syringe appeared. "I generate and cross her with Hell Double Claw!" Her last mana tapped and the 1000 creature became a double-breaker. "I'm not going to lose to you."

Magris dipped his head and shook it slowly "…You have no clue what's going on do you?" He looked up at her quizzical gaze "I can see why you were drawn to this province. It's filthy, dying, full of crime and evil like your own civilisation. You thought you could hide and survive here? Well all of this is about to be wiped off the map. It's going to be the start. Why do you think General Urobach sent other lieutenants here? It used to be just me and Dojo looking for you, he was alright and took a backseat, let me do my own thing… But he was called away, and the others aren't looking for you. They're getting things ready."

He gave her a creepy smile "So you're all mine. Cannoneer Bargon break her shield, ike!" The robot hummed before firing missiles that flew out before converging. Amira dropped behind her table as glass shattered and flew into the night.

She pulled herself back up and plucked the glowing card drifting downward "Terror Pit takes out Bloodrayne Start Dash. I tap three and graveyard-evolution Dorgedos, the Reaper Drake!" she picked a random creature from her graveyard and put it into play, putting the 5000 evolution on top. A pale lizard with purple blades fanning its body. "I cross it with Demonic Protector! Now Emily double-break, ike!" The puppet giggled and flew, clawing apart two shields. She weakened afterward, fading into death. Magris picked his two cards up and a random one started glowing purple, telling him to discard it. He put it on his graveyard pile and she continued "Dorgedos break a shield, ike!"

He turned away as another panel broke, picking the card up "No trigger." He drew and started under her cold gaze "I cast Screw Rocket!" the spell glowed red in his hand "Thanks to its metamorph I destroy your two cross gears." Her floating claws and skeletal armour was broken apart by twin missile-tools. The explosions made her ears ring. "I summon Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude." A pale ghast howled "I generate and cross it with Quake Staff to make it a slayer!" The ghost aimed a purple toothed spear. "Cannoneer Bargon, break her shield!"

"It's another Terror Pit!"

"You bitch!"

A multitude of hands dragged another creature under, causing Lone Tear to also vanish into whisps. Only his two cross gears remained.

Amira started "I summon Vorg, Ogre Puppet!" A purple toy swung its electric mace fiendishly. "Dorgedos break another shield, ike!" The lizard reared and fired lasers. The shield pieces finally reformed into a card for Magris to use.

"Demon Wolf, Howling Moonlight Castle." A skull-faced moon appeared, spires of white sprouting up and moving toward her creatures. "I give Vorg -3000 power and destroy it. Thanks to Mana Arms 5 I destroy Dorgedos as well." Five of his seven mana cards were darkness. Amira watched her creatures get impaled, their cards flew and dropped into her graveyard pile.

He drew "Now I fortify my last shield with Super Shachihoko Castle!"

The latest game abstraction from the future that Amira learnt about. A giant tank shaped like a temple rolled from his shield-zone. It had turrets and a monster statue on its roof with flames and smoke billowing from the mouth. It was like a spell, only it remained in play by bonding to a shield. Amira had one type of castle in her own deck, it was the last future card her phoenix had given her.

Magris clenched his fists with anticipation "As soon as you attack, all creatures with power 2000 or less get wiped out!"

Amira drew. It was probably pointless but "Jenny, the Suicide Doll." A white-haired doll in red-black Lolita fashion appeared, holding a giant scalpel-blade. It was only 1000. "Turn end."

"I summon Dragon Ultimate God Geki!"

"Fuck." While castle cards were straight-forward, they weren't the newest game abstraction after cross gears. There was one before them: God creatures with their ability to God Link. This spiritual-looking dragon was patterned with ornate gold over black and orange. It leered at her with 7000 power.

"I told you this was the end of the line, my love."

Amira couldn't risk losing her death puppet yet, she had one card that could defeat his linked God. She drew "Sealed Devil Ravaal, the Reaper!" A bird mutant appeared with multiple faces leaking radioactive sludge from its eyes. Another creature on 1000, it gave a hoarse cry.

"Even if you could block Geki you'd lose all the cards in your hand. But I'm afraid its worse than that…" Magris's fiery eyes were deranged with excitement "I summon Dragon Ultimate God Metsu!"

"No!" Amira couldn't help shouting.

"God Link!" As the lieutenant shouted the armored dragon counterpart of Geki manifested, dressed in ornate gold over blue and orange. The lower bodies of the dragons naturally fit together in a terrifying display of blue lightning that struck power-poles, streetlights and split the cement roof. Amira crossed her forearms to shield herself, squinting until the fusion was complete.

The darkness half wielded twin sabres of ghostly blue while the fire half held a big flaming sword. In being conjoined it shared all abilities, civilizations, races and most importantly the power of its two parts. At 14,000 it was stronger than her phoenix. And worse…

"My God is a quattro-breaker, wipe out her final shields!" Two sword-slashes as it leaned forth, ghostly and blazing lights clearing her panels into dust and throwing her off her feet. Amira winced and sat up, a single trigger floated overhead and waited for her to grasp it. "If you block you lose your hand, if you don't block I destroy one of your weaker creatures. I choose Jenny."

She splayed her hand and the card drifted over "Death Hands Misfortune Emporer!" The 2000-power dark lord had a red cape and carried a scythe. "I use its effect to wipe out your God!"

"Then you know when a linked God is to leave the battle-zone only one part goes and I get to choose which? I'll leave Metsu." The scythe cleaved and separated the dragons, the left divine flashed and faded.

Amira got to her feet, fighting to be steady and not give into the fear hazing the edges of her vision. She touched her deck and felt a cold spike. Sure enough she added Supernova Pluto Deathbringer to her hand.

"I summon another Sealed Devil Ronovel and another Emily Injection Doll! I vortex evolution them with Sealed Devil Ravaal, the Reaper!" the cards slid into a pile and the darkness intensified "I summon Supernova Pluto Deathbringer!"

Ghostly blue lit up a giant phoenix that was part skeletal and part machine. All joy and hope was suctioned like it was doom personified. Its eyes were flat circles above its beak, head crowned in black and pale blue. It looked down upon the duel and shadows stretched from its visage. Her 13,000 chosen phoenix. Its call was a deathly howl.

Amira felt rejuvenated by the power of darkness, like being possessed "Attack your last shield and meteorburn! Instantly destroy Dragon Ultimate God Metsu!" The howl became a fierce cry. Black shrouded wings stretched, the blue sphere beneath its body spun with energy. Four skeletal limbs flexed and a wave of death energy sucked the life from his armoured dragon. A pillar of darkness spun like woven fabric from its beak and shredded his last defence. In all the chaos Amira almost missed his castle gunning down her dark lord before it vanished.

"We both messed up…" Magris's face remained hidden in his elbow. "I didn't realise Sealed Devil Ravaal the Reaper would make your phoenix only cost three mana… And you forgot Super Shachihoko Castle was still in play."

Amira's whole body was throbbing with a cold chill that strengthened her like electricity. Magris plucked his shield trigger from the air "My cross gears are better than yours. My spells are too. And while I prefer my Howling Moonlight Castle or Death Gate, Gate of Hell… a simple Terror Pit will work just as well even on your legendary phoenix."

He showed her the card and with a start Amira felt the cold darkness getting dragged out of play. She was stripped of the power and left bare, her evolution and the creatures stacked under it fell into her graveyard.

Magris continued "I summon Brock, the Screw Soldier! I cross it with Flame Sword – Pierce Accela and Quake Staff!" Another armoloid with giant drills for hands became upgraded with a flaming blade and toothed spear.

He had no cards in his hand, though shaking she could still win this "I summon Sealed Devil Samijal and Sealed Devil Beelzebub!" Amira emptied her hand. A purple lumpy blocker and mutant fly deity drifted down into play.

Magris drew and stared at his only card before furiously raising his eyes to her, revealing his defeat "I will find you, Amira. No matter where you go I'll hunt you down."

Amira gained some confidence "it's a shame you didn't die in that shoot-out your gang was involved in, back in that apartment building. It's a shame I couldn't use Pluto to stop you once and for all. Have your men surrounded us on the ground yet, I wonder?"

His eyes blazed "BloodRayne Start Dash! Brock, ike todomeda!"

"Samijal block!" Her purple grand devil caught fire and was slain. Her 3,000 creature would give her a chance to escape "you didn't catch me tonight, Beelzebub todomeda!" The giant fly whizzed forward, appendages unfurling and Magris was barged, tumbling to the edge without falling. That was quite a hit – he lay slumped. Amira contemplated rolling him off but instead gathered up her cards as the creatures faded.

She took off adjacent to the new street. Cleared a few more building drops before manoeuvring down a drain to another fire escape, sliding its rails and dropping to a grimy street. She'd tested each fixture before putting her weight on it, knowing how breakable everything in this city was. She panted in place for a few seconds, turned and bumped into a trench-coated man with yellow eyes. He hit her, then caught her in a choke-hold. She thrashed blindly before losing oxygen and going slack.

In the darkness of a nearby alley, Simon watched with a racing heartbeat. He saw the unshaven man push the unconscious girl into his van. He slid the door shut and got into the driver's seat. The engine rumbled as the van took off in the night. Simon clenched his jaw and turned away.

Over two weeks had passed since their exeunt from the ruins of the Dawn of the Phoenix's temple. The spaceship was full of hot air, so to speak. Heidi was growing accustomed to feeling simultaneously guilty and pissed off.

She sagged on the circular sofa, her head and black hair hanging off the back. Her black eyes blinked at the ceiling. Timothy was in the bedroom avoiding her, he often said he couldn't stand to be around her after they fought. It'd started quickly after they decided to leave and find the other chosens. Being around each other twenty-four/seven wasn't the only thing that made them snappish.

Timothy had lost dear friends in the space of two months alone. He'd been excommunicated from the temple which was the only life he knew. He'd found out their leader was a traitor to their planet. He'd watched his home collapse into rubble before his eyes.

Heidi had also seen someone she knew rupture and got coated in her blood. She'd been held at gunpoint and kidnapped by the government of all people. And now she'd had to run away from family again to pursue a dangerous mission that everyone else thought was pointless. She'd finally become a hero but everyone thought there was no hope. She had nightmares about the blood and kidnapping every night and was lucky if she got a few hours sleep.

Both teenagers were tired. They knew they were being unfair to each other but were too apathetic to do better. Heidi's guilt always vanished when her temper flared up, only to return once they spent enough time apart. He hated the way she exuded arrogant dismissiveness even when the fighting was done, it was why he always walked out first. It was a small and petty victory for her whenever he had to do that. Both of them had started and escalated fights, but Heidi was probably to blame for most of them.

She'd retracted herself but was still defensive when he came back out to check the co-ordinates. Heidi had never bothered to learn how to work the ship, it was something Timothy always did. He went around pressing buttons without looking at her.

"Getting ready for the next land?" she asked in a tense voice and he grunted. "When are we landing?"

"Two hours."

"Great. I could do with more fresh air." The hum of the ship filled the silence. Heidi raised her head but remained slouched "It feels like we've explored every major city along the north coast of Augus. We've still not found any clue about where the chosen water duellist is."

Heidi had always found apologizing difficult. Nowadays she didn't even bother with Timothy, instead she kept talking until he mellowed somewhat.

"I couldn't send messages once our conversation ended. And remember you couldn't respond to that email. The chosen water duellist probably doesn't want to be contacted or found."

"But the chosen water duellist is also the only one who is actively doing anything to fight Urobach." She stated and merely got another grunt in response. She continued "So if our searches keep failing we cross the ocean to the northern islands for the nature duellist. We don't want to look for the light duellist in the middle of Augus, who outright refused to help. And last of all the darkness duellist who is the only one completely missing and could be anywhere."

"What's the last set Mars gave you?"

"DM-23."

After realising that substantially increasing her phoenix's power or using all three meteorburns was what powered it up sufficiently to send her new cards, they'd played many fake duels together. Timothy didn't try to win, they merely stalled until Heidi could summon Supernova Mars Disaster and basically trick it into powering up enough. It was the only real accomplishments they made when landing and doing futile information searches of different cities. No duellist groups or card shops knew anything about the chosen duellists. It obviously wasn't safe to ask the police.

Heidi's deck was now remodelled with new cards. The new fire races Tyranno Drakes and Dreammates made it easier than ever to bring out her trump card.

Heidi broke the silence again as Timothy finished up "I still don't like the idea of the other chosens staying on this spaceship with us. Sure that hydrogen fuel cell battery will keep us up for several years - that's great - but there's not enough rooms or beds. And more importantly, I searched everywhere for a tracker, no dice, but what if there's one under the metal plating? They could just be waiting for us to gather everyone in one place then Urobach snaps his fingers and says 'decision times over you five, what will it be? Help us destroy the world or die pointlessly'?"

"You're talking about if we find all four of the other chosens." Timothy snapped, sick of her rambling.

"You don't think we will?" her voice raised a bit, she sat forward.

"I didn't say that. I'm merely saying that we need to worry about everything we have to do to find the others before we worry about when we're all together."

"And it doesn't matter that us finding the others could also be part of their plan?"

"Stop putting words in my mouth. We have to find them either way, and unless you want to use trains and boats we have to keep flying in the Starbolt prototype."

"You got a bad attitude."

"And you're a selfish brat!" he erupted again. "Tsukumo was right! He may have been a manipulative asshole but you're vulgar and immature!"

"You go off for no reason too, so get off your high-horse!"

Heidi craved the fight. Timothy was still exhausted from their last match so he shook his head and left her. The condescension of him not even bothering with her, as if she were an unreasonable child made her seethe. He shut himself back into one of the tiny bedrooms. Heidi's anger faded back into a flicker of mean satisfaction before returning to guilt. Her boyfriend Timothy who'd rescued her and was the only one willing to accommodate her on this dangerous quest. She cared about him so much.

Everything will be alright soon, she promised herself yet again. This will pass and we'll go back to being how we were.

Later that day Heidi was napping on the sofa with her deck spread out in piles. An alarm went off, everything flashing red and Heidi jumped to her feet. The screen lit up with text and suddenly the ship veered so sharply that she stumbled. Outside the window-band a missile flew by. Timothy ran out with eyes wide. He raced to the controls while Heidi quickly repacked her deck out of habit. The blue orb on the centre-podium flashed holographic viewports of outside. The screen said 'Enemy fire detected. Automatic pilot override for evasive manoeuvre'.

Below them was the coastal line, a long military vessel had its turrets aimed at them. Timothy was freaking out, pressing buttons uncertainly.

"Don't we have some way to communicate with them?" Heidi yelled and Timothy was flicking through options on the screen.

The missile curved back around. The flying saucer made another automated turn, Heidi gripped the centre pillar while Timothy staggered. The projectile whizzed by closer before exploding into a purple bubble. The strange shockwave made purple race along the wiring, the holograms began glitching like crazy. The spaceship jerked and tried to steady itself, Timothy directed them closer to land. They started to gain speed after shuddering along when a second missile launched. They whipped up at the last moment but this explosion was close enough to fry all the lights and screens entirely black. Their trajectory drooped, they'd lost all control.

"Hang on to something!" Heidi yelled at Timothy who was on all fours. She was hugging the pillar.

Wind was roaring outside, they were gliding over a forest. Timothy had time to scramble under a control panel before the world shook as they crash-landed.


AN: What the ever-loving frick happened to this game? It was like we blinked and then suddenly: graveyard evolution? Fortifying shields with castles? Linking God creatures? Well I did say there was a LOT to cover if you're going from the TCG to the up-to-date OCG. Try to keep up, ja ne ~ And of course welcome to my new arc, the Arc of Darkness! I have plans to make it rilly cool. Thanks to Acumashindorballomu and ShiningAzureEmporer for the consistent reviews! I hope you guys especially are entertained and like where I go with this. Until next time!