【58 - A Trusted Group Still Fighting to Win this War: the A-Team Good Guys!?】


YouTube: Incredible Jungle Sounds 8K - Exotic Birds Singing in Tropical Rainforest 8 HOURS - Part #3


"I don't understand it…" Kanoa said breathlessly while pressing forth into the jungle.

"Maybe you should try meditating on Jupiter again?" Meilani said from behind him, brushing branches aside.

"I've done that many times already. My connection to Mars is just gone." Abruptly Kanoa stopped and his head bowed low. Meilani rubbed his shoulder in a comforting manner. His voice was low "I know we don't want to think it… but it most likely means Heidi is dead."

"But that would mean everything is lost, right?" Meilani asked.

"If Heidi was killed then whoever did it would now have Mars. They would hand it over to their lieutenant. But if we got Mars back maybe he would choose another… No." He raised his head. "This has just got far too risky. I can't even sense Heidi anymore. We should go back to the beach, find a canoe and sail to the next populated island we find." He turned around decisively and was shocked when Meilani pushed him.

"No! We cannot!" She spoke emotionally. "If we leave without Mars we might save ourselves today. But we'll have doomed everyone. We need that card!"

He stared at her for a while and then ran a hand through her hair. After all the tribulations of the last 2 days only a single frangipani remained scrunched in a tangle of her hair. She looked back at him with those brown eyes.

"Alright." He conceded. "We'll keep looking."

He turned and they pressed on. It was coming on later in the afternoon, probably 5 o'clock based on the sun now hanging at a quarter distance in the sky. A sharp tremble made them stop, almost shaking them to their knees. Everything around them, trees and plants were all shaking. Birds flew off in flocks.

They looked up. The volcano which they were rather close to, had erupted again and was spewing more smoke into the sky. Lava came dripping down its top and pouring toward them.

"We have to find higher ground!" Kanoa yelled and they ran.

The two of them sprinted for the next jutting outcrop they could see. They sprang over grass and rocks, quickly climbing as soon as they reached its base. Terrible rumbling could be heard from behind them and they didn't dare look back. Kanoa got over first and then pulled Meilani up after him. A wall of lava slammed against the rocks and they backed away. The edge of the drop started to crumble and fall before them. The flow of lava was cut in two and forking around them. Their fearful steps back had them bumping into another rockface, this one didn't look like it'd be any good for climbing though.

There was movement in the corner of Kanoa's eye and Meilani jumped in front of him. A big man swinging on a vine grabbed her instead and they flung across the lava, landing on another outcrop that Kanoa couldn't reach. Meilani beat at the guy's chest and he released her with a frown.

"You're not the one I wanted." He had monochrome crimson eyes.

"You're a lieutenant…" Meilani backed away from him and stumbled, then turned to keep away from the edge and the burning lava below.

"I'm Denaris Ryoshi. The greatest hunter in the world. And you sure are pretty prey, who might you be?"

Meilani clamped her mouth and clenched her fists.

Kanoa could barely see them since their outcrop was slightly taller and seemed to stretch further along. A great terror seized him as he realised he'd been separated from his beloved. She'd been snatched while right by his side, and now she was stranded helpless with that brute of a man.

"Meilani!" He shouted after her.

"Meilani, is it?" Denaris smirked. "Pretty name for a pretty girl."

"I won't let you hurt my love." She spoke with the protectiveness of a lioness. She fetched her deck and it burned white in her hand.

"I'd hope not…" His deck shone green and he smiled. "Now that little Heidi is dead, all I got to take care of is you and your lover then my work here is done."

Kanoa could see orange splashing up near him in blobs from the rushing lava. The heat was making him sweat and causing the air to flex. He stared up with a desperate expression. It already felt like he was sinking into the depths of despair.

Several minutes earlier...

It had to be the densest part of the jungle. Tsukumo was moving at a crawling pace but soon the map on his visor and the transmitter indicated that he was at the ruins. M-006's camera with its zoom and x-ray features had saved them again. The sheer multitude of poisonous-looking bugs and snakes was making him nervous. He'd seen at least three yellow spotted snakes since entering the marsh. Tsukumo was suited up with a helmet on but still, he didn't like gross and vulgar crawling things. This mud made it hard for the wheels on his bike to grind through. However it was specially designed to work in most terrains and that had kept it moving so far.

He finally saw something peeking through branches. The colourful birds trilling and chirping was something pleasant, he could admit. The temple ruins were a soft yellow with vines weaving throughout. It looked like half of it had broken away from age. Tsukumo saw someone lying at the top of the stairs and sped fast again, leaning back and bouncing up to the top with his runner then swerving around.

"Oh god, Heidi…" She was lying there like she'd been defeated in a duel, but Tsukumo couldn't see any blood. Instead she was turning purple, her breaths short and sharp. Bitten by something - maybe she brushed a web or had a parasitic jungle tick land on her? Either way it looked bad and all he could think to do was get her back to the tribe. He climbed up and hauled her over the passenger seat, the rarely-used cargo belt finally serving a purpose. "Hold on." It was pointless saying that to an unconscious girl, but he kicked the engine and flew off, swerving into the thick muddy jungle once more.

As soon as he could go fast again he floored it, following the tracker back to Engyo.

He called in over the com-link "Listen, I have Heidi. But she's been bitten by something. I don't think she has long but I'm taking her straight to you."

"Good god…" Engyo said. He started talking to someone in the background and a sudden shake made the bike swerve and Tsukumo struggled to regain control.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Ah, that'd be the volcano erupting again. They said they have anti-venoms here so yes, come straight here. Do you know what bit her?"

"Ah… no."

"Well that is a problem." Another pause on his end of the line. "Do you remember the kind of animals you saw when you found her?"

"Um," Tsukumo wracked his brain. "I saw a few yellow spotted snakes. And blue-tipped spiders. I don't know, there were lots of things."

"We'll check for the bite when we see her. You just get her here as fast as safely possible."

"Roger." Tsukumo said and the call was cut off.

Engyo was walking with the tribe up the sacred mountain. The chief was beside him.

"Now you see why we have to keep moving. Another eruption and who knows what else is coming, we need the higher ground." Tenakoto said.

"You were right." The old man agreed. The walk was exhausting him and he was sweating inside his suit. "If we can just save Heidi and find Kanoa we might have a chance to get them off this island."

"I won't abandon my son and I won't abandon my people." Tenakoto said, his stern gaze forward. "So I have no intention of leaving."

Engyo studied the bright feathers of his headpiece "well… that is very noble of you. When I was headmaster of my academy I felt the same. I feel grateful each and every day that none of the students were hurt in our attack." Then he was breathing too hard so decided to conserve his strength.

He received another call in his earpiece then and recognized the chosen water duelist's voice "We're getting shut out. It's starting. Even Mercury can't keep me jamming their systems for long. We have an hour tops before this all goes South."

"I understand." Engyo said and the call cut off abruptly, as was the chosen duelist's usual fashion.

Some time later they heard the speeding roar of the turbo runner. Everyone turned and parted as Tsukumo sped through. A few islanders helped him carry Heidi off and lower her to the ground. She looked like she was on death's door. Someone ran in with the silver anti-venom case and undid the claps while others checked Heidi over, turning her arms and neck.

"Snake bite," someone said and lifted her ankle.

A yellow vial was loaded into a syringe and the woman looked at Tsukumo "you said yellow with black spots?"

"That's what I saw a few of in the jungle…"

"Then let's hope this works." The needle was poked into her hip and injected. The people stepped back and watched on tensely.

Dominic came over and crouched by Heidi's right side. Sione did the same at her left, brushing the hair out of her face with sad eyes.

"We still don't have time to stand around I'm afraid." Engyo said to Tsukumo. "Where are we supposed to find Kanoa?"

"When Kanoa left it was late this morning and Meilani was with him, they were trying to find Heidi." the elderly Kaleo recited from memory.

"And if nobody saw him since then?" Tsukumo said while turning around, various people shook their heads. "All I can do is go back to where I found Heidi and drive around until I see anyone, or until he shows up here."

"I was told we don't have long. 45 minutes max."

"Then it's crunch time, if I'm not back by then you know what to do." The turbo runner roared to life and Tsukumo spun around, gunning back down the slope.

He cut across until the ground was level, looking around as the runner whipped by and tried not thinking about the fact this was like finding a needle in a haystack. With all this coverage around he'd never find Kanoa unless he was heard or by some miracle, dueling. He saw more streams of lava cutting across the landscape and pooling into dips and valleys. Tsukumo stuck to the higher land. His runner went over a slight drop and flew, but when it hit the ground it halted and Tsukumo came flying off.

In that split second he thought he was going to hit the ground and die, that his own front wheel would ride over the top of him. But instead Tsukumo fell against a muddy surface. There was soreness, but as he blinked he realised he wasn't injured.

"What the hell...?" he turned back and saw the duel runner was half-sunk in the grey mud. He'd never get it out. This was a problem. Tsukumo moved his leg and immediately sank down to his waist and froze.

Quicksand. He'd rode into freaking quicksand. Trying not to panic he tried to look around for something to grab onto but there was mud splatter on his visor. He saw a root and reached over, the movement sinking him right down to his chest. His fingers flicked desperately against a little leaf on the root, he went down further to his neck. Tsukumo threw himself forward and sank under completely.

The muddy surface swayed. Then he pulled himself out by the root, dragging himself to the edge until he could heave himself out entirely. Tsukumo lay back, unclasped then threw off his helmet.

For things to go from bad to worse... now Tsukumo had only two choices. Go back to rejoin the others and save himself, or keep looking for Kanoa on foot. He wouldn't have the time to do both. If he found Kanoa, which was unlikely, then maybe the Carmen's Comet would be able to make two stops and still escape the airships swarming around the island like buzzards. And yes, they named the bronze flying saucer after that comet that comes by every 75 years. Tsukumo got up and decided to press on, flinging the muck off his body with a disgusted expression. He was probably going to be left behind and die. All to maybe save someone who would help others to maybe save the world.

Well wasn't that the attitude a chosen was supposed to have anyway, even if he wasn't technically one of them?

So Tsukumo went on foot and resolved to shouting out Kanoa's name. It could lead to danger, or maybe he'd find the nature duelist alive and well. He heard rumbling and saw another stream of lava rolling on by. Tsukumo kept going and shouted louder. Soon someone stepped out from ahead and it wasn't Kanoa, it was an Anemeon being followed by two others. Their blank stares were intimidating but Tsukumo steadied himself then fished out his new deck, hand igniting with white. A duel might get the chosen's attention as well.

Tsukumo loosened his shoulders "let's do this..."


+ Mad Max: Fury Road | Spikey Cars


The tables appeared between them and they stepped up.

His opponent charged fire-light, but more than that Tsukumo recognized it as a Dispector card with EX life. This guy had a good deck, he was at least a head taller than his fellows too.

"Did you know I went to the most prestigious dueling school in the world? My win ratio was 99.9%. I only lost twice, once in a mid-term test and second to a loudmouth girl who couldn't shut her trap. Well that was back in the TCG days, let me show you what my famous lockdowns can do now!" he charged fire.

The brute grunted and charged a costly light-water creature.

Tsukumo drew and took a moment to compulsively arrange his cards. Then he charged light "I summon Testa Rossa, Survival Star!" The fire cyborg was a 2000 power-attacker. "I've locked down your ability to put creatures into play using abilities, you can only summon them normally on your turns. End."

"Me play Justice Shaper and reveal 3 cards, light ones go to hand." All the cards flipped up were light. There was Hades from the Gekko kingdom and Heaven's Gate too. Even if this guy talked like he was stupid his deck sure wasn't. "Go."

"I summon a second Testa Rossa and end my turn." Tsukumo said.

"Me play another Justice Shaper." Again all cards were light and all went to his hand. "Go."

"I summon Schrieber, Vizier of Strictness!" A light robotic magician of sorts joined his creatures. "Now non-light spells cost 2 more to cast." Another small step in the gradual locking down of his opponent's moves.

The big guy simply charged a monocoloured card and tapped 5 for a third Justice Shaper. Again all were light and he was now holding 8 cards.

"I summon Disturbing Chuusa!" A mouse shot by on rocket-propelled rollerskates. He wore a spiked metal helmet. "Testa Rossa breaks a shield!" The cyborg leapt out and glass flew. He didn't want to take any more risks by attacking until his board looked better. "Turn end."

"Me summon Spirigaria, Connected Dark Spirit!" A tri-coloured dispector emerged. It was a mechanical totem of nature, darkness and light. "EX life! Me get a shield and if Spirigaria destroyed that shield go instead." A blue panel materialised behind it. "Spirigaria mach fighter and slayer, attack Schrieber!" The weaker initiate was punched into parts. "You go now."

"No charge. I summon Rhapsody, Guard of Hope and evolve it into Silence Topaz! Now neither player can cast spells that cost 4 or more on their turns." The 6000 robotic torso had multiple arms and twin cannons on its shoulder, charging up with violet lights. "Disturbing Chuusa, shield break!" The mouse sped forth and head-butted through glass. Those watching stepped back from the flinging shards.

"Shield trigger, Arcadia Spark to tap all!" The light-water spell refused to activate.

"When Disturbing Chuusa is tapped nobody can play spells! How's that for a lockdown? Silence Topaz break 2 shields!" Another 2 panels burst and his enemy snarled at also receiving a Heaven's Gate which he couldn't activate now or play on his own turn either. "Testa Rossa, shield break!" Electricity generated on its hand and the cyborg jumped, palming a shield. Shockingly it was another Heaven's Gate. "And again!" The cyborg's twin joined in and kicked a fifth shield. The panel protecting Spirigaria was gone along with all his other shields too. "Turn end."

"Me summon another EX life! Nevershidend, Concatenated Purple Sky!" A blocker samurai with two swords entered play and a shield sprang to life behind it. The swordsman glimmered with sparkling colours. 8000 power. "Nevershidend untap twice each turn. Spirigaria attack Silence Topaz!" The first Dispector suicided with Tsukumo's double-breaker, thus breaking free of the lockdown on spells. "Go!"

"Gladly. I summon Magnum, Fast Attack Puppet!" A cowboy doll complete with boots and a hat lifted two old handguns. "A speed attacker. Also now you can't play any creatures without tapping mana cards, even on my turn, otherwise they go to the graveyard. Here we go! Testa Rossa, shield break!"

"Nevershidend blocks!" The warrior waited for the cyborg to get close then slashed it through the middle. Then his card untapped and he straightened up.

"Second Testa Rossa, shield break!"

"Block!" Another creature explosion.

"Disturbing Chuusa, final shield break!" The mouse skated out, going around the jungle trees before lashing a kick and sailing gracefully back. A wide grin appeared on the doll's face as he stood there expectantly. "Magnum, todomeda!" He jumped back then sprang off the table, guns raised but he used the heel of his boot to kick the guy. He shielded with his arm and there was a sickening crack as the bone broke. He stood nursing it and hissing breaths. 3000 power hadn't been enough to completely incapacitate him, only enough to make the three men angry.

Tsukumo sighed "okay, who's next?"

Heidi started to blink herself awake. She was being carried bridal-style by a strong tribesman as they climbed the sacred mountain. His deep voice resonated from his chest to her ear.

"...attacking another member of the tribe is a serious offence. And considering she wasn't born one of us either..."

"Did her head just move?" That sounded like Dominic.

"She's waking up! Heidi!" That sounded like Sione rushing to her side.

She looked up at the tribesman who was staring back down at her.

"Am I dead?" She asked in a dry voice.

"No, you were bitten by a snake. You should watch where you walk in the jungle Heidi, I'm sure we told you that."

"I'm so thirsty..."

"Here, have some of this." Someone passed Dominic a kettle of water and he held it for her.

They must have boiled it at one of the regular rest-stops that go up the mountain. She recognized it as she poured the water in. It soothed her dry throat so well that she moaned, then choked from swigging too much. The man carrying her slowed but didn't stop, and his steps jostled her so water ran down her chin.

"We can't stop now, I'm afraid." He said. "The volcano has erupted again and we have to go high, lest the fumes or fires reach us."

The kettle was pulled back after she'd had her fill. Heidi turned her head to see Dominic and Sione were keeping pace with the big man's strides "you two... I thought I saw..." Her mind flashed back to that horrible lieutenant smiling down at her as she lost consciousness. She could've sworn she was a goner. "How did you find me?"

"Tsukumo did." Dominic said.

"Did you just say-?"

"I'm sorry about how we parted, Heidi." An old face joined them and she recognized those twinkling blue eyes. Principal Engyo looked weary, he'd aged years since she last saw him what, six months ago?

"Engyo..."

"The chosen water duelist filled me in on what happened after you disappeared from the hospital that day. I arranged to have Timothy use the prototype for my Starbolt Cruiser to free you from that prison facility, all with his help. But I couldn't get involved. I had to disappear and make sure I wasn't being followed, so did Tsukumo and so did the other few rebels in our group whom we've come to trust. Urobach has spies in the government that are watching everyone, so we had to disappear first."

There were gentle rhythmic thuds as the man holding Heidi took his steps up the moutain. She squinted at the old man and said nothing.

Suddenly he looked emotional, blinking back tears "I've also heard about everything you've been through... I am so... humbled by the determination of everything you tried to do. The government themselves detained you for testing, and after getting freed I thought you'd go into hiding. But all on your own, you took it upon yourself to try tracking down the other chosens. It was just you and Timothy I believe, and I'm so inspired by what you tried to accomplish with no one experienced to guide you."

"But we didn't accomplish anything... I found Amira and helped her, then she ran. I found Kanoa and he didn't want to leave the island, so I just stuck around here cause I didn't know what else to do." Heidi grumbled, still feeling faint and not herself.

"You flew across the north coast of Augus in the prototype cruiser, crashlanded in the coal province, saved Amira and survived the warring triad gangs. You escaped the atom bomb. You even took out a few lieutenants-"

"I didn't. Others did."

"-Then you left the city and caught a boat all the way here."

"It was a pirate ship too. And we hit a hurricane. And I got stranded on an island, I had to make a signal fire before Malo saved me and Dominic here. Then we finally came here."

"Exactly. The struggles were immense and you never gave up."

"I have given up. What's happened to this island, it was the last straw for me."

"Well you don't have to do it without guidance anymore. Provided we get off this island, we will help you and Kanoa in whatever ways we can. It was why we formed our group, to strike back at the terrorists who tore down our school."

Heidi didn't even have the strength to roll her eyes. She didn't know how to even say how over everything she was. If there was still any hope she'd shut her eyes to it. She was willingly walking in the darkness. Fighting for hope would drive you crazy after a while. The words she heard from Amira back then still rang true. The Gatekeepers couldn't be beaten, so what was even the point? Heidi felt her head falling back, she didn't even have the strength to keep her neck up. She wanted to tell Engyo it was stupid, all of it was. But she couldn't speak.

"She's tired. Let her rest..." The man carrying her said in his rumbly voice before she was sucked into darkness once more.

Afterwards she even lost her memory of their talk. She came in and out of consciousness, like bobbing underwater. Her face would break the surface and she'd blink awake, seeing a myriad of walking dark-skinned feet as they all travelled. Ferns and trees, jostling by. Then she'd go back under, not returning for another few minutes. The next time she woke up some kind of hubbub was going on, people sounding panicked and running about, but Heidi lost herself and her thoughts again before she could try to figure it out.

Tsukumo was running, a spear flew by just as he rounded a tree. His breath hitched as it crashed into a rock. He just kept running, panting and cursing everything about this situation. Bad enough he'd lost the turbo runner and failed, but now he was going to be killed before the tsunami flooded through and drowned everyone. This is just fucking perfect. He had one hope and that was making it back to the quicksand and hopefully taking these savages by surprise.

They were islanders yes, but they weren't from this island. At any rate Tsukumo wasn't sure he could outrun them or hide. This was the only chance he had.

His new deck was partly to blame. While he'd won both duels he played, he didn't have many powerful finishers. Mostly his deck relied on weaker creatures that each had little lockdown abilities that worked in synergy once he built up a big field. His strongest attacker was Silence Topaz, a measly 6000 double-breaker. After dishing out a second loss to the tribesmen with a mere 2000 creature the loser got up and convinced his fellows they were better off just chasing him down and poking their sticks through his intestines instead. Tsukumo was sure they didn't care, but it sort of felt like cheating.

"Vulgar barbarians…" he came to a large rock and pushed off, trying to lose as little speed as possible.

To think he'd come from being the princely high-society top-ranking student to this. Well he'd been serious about his extra credit, and fancied seeing himself as headmaster of the academy one day. That was until they let him in on a secret - the world was ending. He was still the best duelist to ever walk through those now-demolished halls. He committed himself to being the best agent trainee Engyo ever had under his wing. And now he was part of an elite few, the only ones still trying to save the planet and he wasn't about to let it all end here!

He pushed to his limit. Beside him he could see the islander running adjacent, cradling his broken arm but managing to keep up. These freaks seemed to be capable of blocking out pain. Maybe they walked on hot coals and had pins stuck through their skin at a young age. Something about them was monstrous, a silence in their expressions that screamed like an instinctual warning signal. Another tribesman was running on Tsukumo's other side and they were both closing in. The third guy was probably behind him.

Then Tsukumo saw the grey stretch of ground. His runner had sunk all the way to the handlebars. He readied, hands flat as his arms swung. Then he sprang off a log like he was doing long-jump, his foot reaching the runner and pushing off, over the quicksand and landing on the dry edge. He heard shouts and turned to see disbelief from the two tribesman as they sank down to their chests.

However the third one was a little further back then he'd thought, cradling his ribs from his duel loss. He too leapt out, springing off the motorbike and flying across. Tsukumo spun with a trained roundhouse kick, getting the guy in the middle. His eyes bulged in mid-air, he fell back spread-eagled with a splat and was completely covered in the quicksand. He struggled but sank deep below.

The other two sank to their chins and stopped struggling, instead they glared wordlessly at him. It was somehow comical and creepy at the same time. Tsukumo gave a little wave and then cut across the jungle.

No point going forward when he'd already been that way. Even so, soon enough he'd come across the stream of lava but maybe Kanoa was on the other side? Jumping over quicksand was much different to jumping over lava. With such little time left to him he needed to go to the highest cliff-face he could find and try to spot Kanoa. It was the only option he had left.


AN: Yayyyy Acuma read and reviewed my latest six chapters in one hit. I'm actually glad he could go through it in one sitting and give me his reactions throughout. This certainly did become a crazy installment. I can only hope Azure gets back into reading this too. But maybe he will once it's complete. Anyway there's so much to reply back to that I wouldn't know where to start. If anyone checking the review thread was confused, we still don't know what the water chosen looks like and we shall receive no hints until their respective arc! Thanks to all.