Chapter 9: Vendetta of the JetBlaze Knight
The steady beep of the heart monitor repeated through her eardrums as the young girl skimmed through the news report on her tablet. Hunter College's courtyard was completely decimated, and EMTs and firefighters were still searching through the wreckage pulling whoever they could from amongst it. She turned to Allison, who laid unconscious, but stable in her hospital bed. In a normal situation, Allison definitely owed her one. Or rather, maybe not. She made it too late to warn her that the woman who killed her father was in the school building posing as a professor to get to her. The least she could do was protect her from the final blast. The sacrifices you do for your best friends… Jamie Martin knew that feeling all too well.
"How much longer do you plan on staying with her?" the holographic Bolshack Dragon perched itself on her shoulder.
"Until her brother arrives. I'm not leaving her unprotected, especially with Melanie roaming NYC." She replied, checking her watch. "Besides, Karon already observed how he duels."
"And you mention this because…?" the Dragon inquired.
"He's an A-Rank, but he has the hidden ability to be on par with an S-Rank. Reminds me a lot of how C.J. was way back when." Jamie answered. "Also, if Allison ended up like this, then her brother could also be targeted. I don't want to take the chance of him getting caught up in this mess."
"You clearly don't know your own kind." Bolshack Dragon chucked. "Fire Duelist always tend to jump into trouble. Your track record is proof of that enough."
"Which is why I'm going to do everything in my power to keep that hotheadedness under wraps as best I can."
"Once again, you don't know your kind well at all…"
"Oh shut up Blaze." Jamie tapped the side of her deck case and the Bolshack Dragon disappeared in a stream of red data, entering back inside. As she returned to looking back at her tablet, the door flew open, revealing Mrs. Taylor, frantic and out of breath.
"Is she alright?!" She asked, emotional and scared.
"The Doctor said she'll be fine. Aside from some head trauma and a few fractured ribs, she'll make a full recovery." Jamie reassured her, causing the mother of two to ease into a sobbing state. Jamie instinctively hugged the mother of her best friend, as an added comfort to try and calm the woman down.
"I swear I thought I was going to lose her too…" Mrs. Taylor cried.
"I know my best friend; it'd take an army to bring her down to one knee." Jamie comforted. Little did Mrs. Taylor know, Jamie was being literal when she said that; Back when the duo first met, in their senior year of High School Jamie and Allison were on the same all-girl basketball team. The two had perfect synergy on and off the court. When Jamie realized that Allison was the Daughter of one of the DCA's top Creature Hunters, Nathan Taylor, she and her team, the other members of Kaijudo Generation learned about another part of the DCA that they didn't know existed. While they spent their time saving the world, Allison came from a part that specified in encountering breaches caused by criminals with knowledge of the Kaijudo Arts and the world around them. And after watching Allison take down a group of criminals single-handedly, she knew, that behind the face of a beautiful young woman, hid the personality of a firey-souled warrior who was determined to get what need to be done, done. And in this case, if its to get revenge on her father's murderer, then she will force herself to survive until they were taken down.
That's just the kind of duelists that Allison, and by extension, her brother Kyle are. Both come from a line of duelist who will see something through to the very end, even if it destroys them.
"Allison!" Kyle's voice broke the tension in the room, followed by Maxi's heavy panting, just now catching up to Kyle.
"Didn't bother to wait up for me… Some friend you are." Maxi said between breaths.
Maxi's words fell on deaf ears as Kyle slowly walked to his sister. "She's…"
"Alive. She's been through a lot, but she's a tough fighter that's for sure." Jamie answered.
"Whoa… Aren't you…?" Maxi began to ask.
"Yeah, I'll give you my autograph later. For now Kyle, can we talk outside for a minute?"
"Changing your mind are you?" Blaze said through the deck case.
"It's about time for him to learn about what happened to his sister, and his father…"
Kyle hesitated. "How do you know…?"
"Outside." She motioned to the doorway.
Jamie, Kyle and Maxi walked through the front of the building, leaving Mrs. Taylor to remain with her daughter. By the looks of things, the woman was so torn she didn't notice, let alone care that the three of them left.
"Right then, I'm guessing you know who I am right?" Jamie asked them both.
"Jamie Martin, member of the 2016 D-Fighters Championship Team, and also Allison's best friend." Kyle answered.
"Dude, why didn't you tell me that you knew her?" Maxi snapped.
"I only met her once, and that's when I was younger. I didn't really care at the time so I didn't think it was important that she was a dueling celebrity.
"You cared when you found out that Amy was though." Axel responded through Kyle's case.
Kyle blushed slightly. "Oh shut up!"
"Guys, back on topic." Jamie stepped in. "I'm guessing that Allison didn't tell you about what the DCA really does…"
"We've heard rumors here and there." Maxi noted. "Like how it was weird that WoTC bought the rights back and revamped the game right after the tournament back in 2016."
"There was a reason behind it. The DCA, is in actuality a secret agency that monitors the duelists in the world and at the same time investigates cases involving anomalies between here and the Creature World, which they have dubbed: the Kaijin no Sekai. My friends and I, have been involved in many of the major cases, all of which have been covered by the DCA to keep from alerting the immediate public. The ones who are enlisted by the DCA are mainly S-Ranks, Kaijudo Masters who have mastered the art of dueling and fighting alongside the Creatures. Your father, Nathan Taylor and Allison, they are both S-Ranks and they've been involved in missions over the last few years together."
"So then what you're saying that whatever happened at the Campus earlier, was caused by a real-life creature?" Maxi asked.
"Not just any creature; she goes by the name Megaria. She's a Dark Lord, who has a history of collecting things that she decides are her property. And she's so dangerous that she will get what she wants, no questions. She saw your father, a powerful S-Rank at the time, and one who could bring everything she's worked hard on down, so she decided that she wanted his life. She manipulated Melanie Chase, a fellow DCA Agent to betray the DCA and in turn, take your father's life. When Allison encountered her on campus, she decided that she wanted to take Allison away too, and she would've if it hadn't been for my intervention at the last second."
"But how is that even possible? This is just a card game." Maxi said.
"Oh trust me, I will tell you this is much more than a game you guys play during Lunch. There is a whole war behind these pieces of cardboard. A war that's been transpiring over years upon years, between here and over there. My friends and I nearly were put on the path of death numerous times trying to save our world. Everything from ancient creatures coming back to take over, to terrorists attempting to create a weapon of massive destruction, to a band of crusaders and the deities that they served. You name it, we've encountered, and beat it."
"I don't believe that." Kyle spoke up. "There's no way any of that is true."
"Where did I lose you at? I made sure I was crystal clear on it." Jamie replied.
"Real-life creatures? Terrorists? My father died in a car accident and Allison was injured in a gas explosion at the school. There's no such thing as a Creature World, and the DCA isn't some secret organization."
Jamie raised her eyebrow. "You're… you're serious?"
"Very serious." Kyle answered. "I may have had to deal with a lunatic kidnapping my friends, but that's about as crazy as I will ever get. There's no such thing as any of that stuff."
Jamie snickered. "Stubborn kid. I didn't want to resort to this, but I guess I have to resort to—" Jamie froze and her expression shifted.
"Princess Amaterasu…" Melanie said as she stepped forward towards the group. "I had a feeling that was your doing back there. Oh and look at what we have here?"
"Who's she?" Maxi said. "I have a bad feeling about her… Kyle?" he turned to his friend for confirmation and what he saw was a boy who was trying every attempt to restrain his anger. Maxi looked down and saw his hand sparking violently, only this time, his dueling glove wasn't on his hand.
"Kyle… how are you doing that without your dueling glove?" Maxi looked at his friend.
"You're the one…" Kyle spoke. "My sister and father may have fallen to you, but I will not. You are going to pay for what you did!" Kyle shouted and a massive amount of power exploded from the ground beneath.
As the red and green sparks leapt out from under his feet, Melanie stood, with her arms crossed with an amused demeanor about herself. She was getting excited to see this display before her. "I take it this is a challenge?"
"More like a statement." Kyle said. "You will fall by my power, and I will avenge my family." He retrieved his deck from his case and held it out before him.
Melanie smiled and snapped her fingers, her respected power emerging and canceling out Kyle's wild fury. "Sounds like fun. I accept your challenge.
"Kyle…" Jamie said, imagining the thoughts racing through his mind at that moment.
Kyle and Melanie swung their arms in a particular pattern, mirroring one another before they slammed their palms on the asphalt. Doing so, their respected energies erupted and out rose two slabs for them to set their decks.
Maxi was left speechless at the demonstration and Jamie crossed her arms, intent on examining what was about to take place before them.
The five shields materialized on each side and Kyle and Melanie drew their hands.
"DUEL START!" They both announced.
Melanie set mana and ended her turn. "I wonder how long it's going to take for Empress Megaria to make you one of her playthings.
"I refuse to become a puppet like you." Kyle said, drawing his card. He set mana and tapped it. "I summon Prickleback!"
A green mana crystal appeared behind Kyle and it broke, emerging prickleback. The porcupine hovered over Kyle by about a foot and it roared. Maxi found himself doing a double take of the creature, finally confirming its authenticity.
"Tech confirms creature is 100% organic in structure." Tech said cowering behind Maxi's shoulder.
"No kidding?" Maxi said stepping back.
"You act as if you never seen a real-life creature before." Jamie pointed out. "What, did you not believe me when I said the DCA is full of creature hunters?"
"If I had any doubts they're gone now." Maxi shook his head. "Although, What I am curious about is how Kyle knew how to do that."
"Seems as if he's holding some secrets of his own." Jamie pointed out.
Melanie drew her card and set it as mana. She tapped two and revealed a card from her hand. "I summon Jackalax."
A combination of what sounded like a howling eagle rang in the air, causing Jamie and Maxi to look up. Up above they saw the purple and green crystals spin around one another until they clashed and transformed into a winged-bear-like creature. Jackalax landed and howled one again, staring down prickleback.
"Just try attacking me." Melanie said. "With 4000 power Jackalax here will turn prickleback into a pin cushion."
"We'll see about that." Kyle smirked and drew. He set mana and tapped both. "I summon Moonhowler Tribe!"
With that another more familiar roar was heard followed by the appearance of a brown-furred cat creature holding in its arm a smaller tree.
"Now let's see if your theory holds out. Prickleback, break her shield, Ike!" he tapped the card and as commanded Prickleback leapt over and unleashed his pins like arrows. They shot towards Melanie and she shielded herself as the first of five shields broke to bits.
Melanie pulled her arms down and the card popped into her hand. She looked up and the teal shards faded, signifying that no trigger came from it. "That rodent's going to—what?"
Kyle smiled, holding Prickleback in his hand as the creature disappeared from behind him. "Good luck trying to land a hit on it. It's 'Hit and Run ability' sends him back to my hand after he breaks a shield. Should've opted for a blocker or something."
"Mocking me are you?" Melanie asked him, annoyed by the setback. She drew her card and set mana. "I summon Slyth."
Smoke began developing from under their feet as a ghostly figure rose from it and next to Melanie.
"Slyth has the ability to thin Kyle's deck." Maxi noted about the creature's ability. "Hopefully it won't take out something important."
"He should be fine." Jamie reassured. "As long as that factor doesn't intimidate him he can recover if pushed back."
Kyle drew his next card and set light mana, completing the trio of colors in his deck. "I summon Star Lantern."
Said mana materialized behind him and came together, turning into a gold alien-like structure that hovered behind him.
"Moonhowler tribe, attack, Ike!"
Moonhoweler heeded his masters command and, armed with the tree, leapt over and hurled it through the shield. The shield shattered and the tree bounced back and into Moon's arms as the shards scattered about. it was then the shards glistened and began to reform, sending a chill through Kyle's spine.
Melanie smiled evily and held her hand in front of her as the card leapt up to her. "Shield Blast: Bone Blades! Destroy Star Lantern!"
As commanded the blades came down on the creature and it exploded behind Kyle catching him off guard. He recovered and got back into focus, trying to block out Melanie's laughter.
"You're in way over your head kid." Melanie said. "You talk a big game but truth is you're improvising aren't you? You're learning about this power as this duel goes on."
Kyle smiled. "Yeah, you got me. I'm a prodigy when it comes to Kaijudo Dueling, it runs in the family. But honestly I've always been afraid of it, which is why I'm not as good at it as I should. Nonetheless, after what you've done, the pain you've caused to my family, I'm turning that fear, and that anger I have towards you into power! The power it'll take to beat you!"
"There you go, talking a big game again." Melanie crossed her arms. "Let's see you talk that after this." She drew her next card and set her mana. "I cast Reap and Sow. With this spell, I look at the top two cards of my deck and add one to my hand and the other to my mana zone." She drew the top two cards and smiled, sliding one of them to her mana zone, increasing it to five. "And speaking of top cards, Slyth, break his shield, Ike!"
The cloud of smoke sunk and traveled towards Kyle's side, reappearing and tapping one of his shields, the shield turning black and corroding, before shattering completely. Slyth looked down and tapped the top card of Kyle's deck, it following a similar fate. Kyle turned the card over and dropped it in his discard pile, snickering at the sight of it.
"No way…" Maxi said equally surprised.
The card that Slyth topdecked was Evo Fury Tatsurion; Kyle's trump card.
"Judging by your expression it seems my creature done something favorable for me." Melanie said.
"Yeah. Allow me to return the favor." Kyle looked up at Slyth and a sudden flash took them by surprise. The next thing was a pillar of fire taking over Slyth in a spiral and the creature fading out. "When there's smoke, there's Tornado Flame! Shield Blast coming at ya!" Kyle revealed the broken shield as he cast that into the grave as well.
"Clever boy." Melanie said. "You will make an excellent trophy for Empress Megaria."
"Like I said before, we'll just see about that!" Kyle readied himself. His body was straining. He knew the amount of concentration it took to bring creatures into this world and it was wearing on his body. But he didn't care. This wasn't about him, this was about his family.
And he sought to it to bring this woman down if it was the last thing he did…