The arena was buzzing. The bleachers were almost full, and most of the people sitting in them the kids had never seen before. They had known this was important, but not that it was this important.
Master Chavez, Toji, and Master Kimora were standing at evenly spaced points around the arena, and Ray, Allie, and Gabe sat down near Chavez.
"So, I know this is supposed to be, like, a really big deal and all," Allie asked him. "But why are we here?"
"You've noticed Michaela uses a different creature every time she duels?"
"I wanted to ask about that," Gabe said. "Doesn't she have a partner creature?"
Chavez shook his head. "We've been looking for years, but we haven't been able to find a creature that she can consistently summon and control. We're testing one now."
"Do this many people always show up when you test creatures?" Ray asked, looking around at the full stadium.
"This one is a bit different," Chavez said.
Before the kids could ask what the heck that meant, the lower door to the arena opened, and Michaela walked in, followed by Masters Nadia, Brightmore, and Jaha. Jaha stayed by the door, but the other three walked to the middle of the arena.
"You'll be fine," Nadia said quietly to Michaela. "If you can't control her, there are at lease fifty duelists in here who can banish her." Michaela nodded, and Nadia walked away towards the wall of the arena. Brightmore squeezed her shoulder and gave her a one-sided smile, which she returned. Then he too walked to the side. Now that all the Masters and Toji were in place, the kids could see why they were standing where they were. They now formed a circle, with each Master an even distance from the next, alternating between being in the stands and being in the arena.
"I take it you three are new to this," said a voice behind them, making them all jump. Turning they saw a man probably in his early thirties, with messy dark brown hair and freckles all over his face. He stuck out a hand and each of them shook it as he introduced himself as Ryan. Once they had said their names, he started to explain what was going on.
"There's this one creature, a really really powerful one, and it's sort of become a tradition for up and coming Water, Light, and Darkness duelists to try and control her. No one ever has, not even for a moment, but you know us duelists," he grinned. "Stubborn as hell."
"But if no one's ever controlled it, then what are the chances Michaela will?" Ray asked.
"Yeah," Gabe said. "She's great, but she can't control even the least powerful of creatures for long."
Ryan's grin didn't falter. "That may be true, but from what I've heard, she's got some strengths of her own."
A sudden hush fell over the stadium. Master Brightmore made a signal to Master Chavez, and he activated the mana shield, enclosing Michaela, Nadia, Brightmore and Jaha in the arena.
Michaela took a deep breath. She had never managed to summon a creature this powerful. She went through the movements in her mind; it was an unusual kata, a combination of those for summoning Water, Light, and Darkness creatures. Then she began.
She moved her arms in a windmill motion, stopping with one arm stretched in front and the other behind. Then she twisted to her right, bringing her back hand to the front and pulling her right elbow back. She twisted left, and switched her arms, completing the kata.
"Athena, Storm Bringer!" she yelled.
Nothing happened.
After a moment, a disappointed mood came over the still silent stadium, but Michaela did not move. She stood there, one arm out and the other bent, breathing evenly, focusing every thought on the air in front of her. Finally Master Nadia moved forward to have her start again.
"SCREE!"
An eagle's cry pierced the air. An enormous Darkness breach had opened in front of Michaela, and as the stands erupted in cheers, a bird-like creature soared out of it.
She's beautiful. Michaela thought. And she was. She had the shape of an eagle, but her feathers were all a dark, almost greyish brown. Her beak was a dark brass color, and seemed to be made of metal, as did her talons, of which there were four on each foot. What struck Michaela, though, were her eyes, which were a beautiful shade of gray blue—almost the same shade as her own.
Athena, however, was not nearly as happy to see the humans as they were to see her.
"Again?" she screeched, though her beak didn't move, "AGAIN?! When will you idiots learn? When will you understand I will not be controlled?"
"Michaela!" Master Brightmore yelled. "Control it! Control it!"
"I'm trying!" She was, but Athena didn't even seem to have noticed her. She did, however, notice Nadia.
"You!" The giant bird stopped swooping around and halted just in front of Nadia. "Has your kind regressed so much? You at least were intelligent, and they've convinced you to try again? You are wasting time, yours and mine! I will not be controlled!"
Suddenly, Athena jerked back with a screech. Whirling around, she saw Michaela, gauntlet outstretched.
"Hi," Michaela said. "Person who just controlled you here! I was just wondering, how are things in the Darkness realm?"
"What does that have to do with you?" Athena landed a few yards in front of Michaela, who didn't seem the least bit scared about the enormous creature standing so close.
"It has everything to do with us. Our worlds used to be one, and there's still a connection. The attacks on the creature realm have been happening here, too. But here we have a way of fighting back." She motioned to the full stadium seats. "You see everyone here? They can all protect our world. You don't have anyone who can do that."
"We have plenty of warriors."
"Ah, but a warrior and a protector are two very different things. How many of you are there who can see that the attacks don't come from your known enemies?" Athena didn't speak. "We have to work together against this. It's the only shot we have."
"I will not fight for you," Athena snapped. "I will not become a Duel Master's fighting pet."
"I'm not a Duel Master."
"Near enough." Athena turned away from Michaela and addressed the stadium at large. "Send me back! I will not fight for you, and if I am not returned to fight my own battles, I will have no problem with destroying your temple, as I did once before."
Michaela looked over at Nadia, but she didn't nod or shake her head to tell Michaela what to do. It was her choice.
"Control it, Michaela!" Nigel shouted again. This did not make Athena happy. She took off and began soaring around, looking for a weak point in the mana shield. Nigel only made things worse by summoning his creature, Ra Vu.
Now there was a full-fledged battle going on. Allie was shocked when Athena shot a bolt of electricity from her beak at Ra Vu.
"I thought that was a Darkness creature!" she yelled.
Ryan shouted something back, but no one could hear.
"What?" Ray shouted.
"Hybrid!" Ryan yelled again.
"A Darkness-Light hybrid?" Gabe asked. Darkness and Light were sworn enemies.
Ryan shook his head. "Darkness-Light-Water hybrid. Born Water-Light, raised in the Darkness civilization."
"How the heck did that happen?" Allie asked, but her voice was drowned out by a loud screech. Ra Vu had made a direct hit to Athena's right wing, and she had been forced to land rather clumsily. Just as Master Brightmore stent Ra Vu forward to finish the fight, Michaela grabbed his arm.
"Let me finish this!" Brightmore yelled.
"Why? You didn't let me finish!"
"You couldn't control it!"
"Did you really think I'd be able to?" Nigel stopped fighting for control of his arm and looked at Michaela. "We tried this because the rules don't work for me, and they don't work for her either. If you were expecting this to work according to the rules, there was no point in trying this!" Neither one said anything for a moment. "Give me two minutes." Michaela said. Nigel didn't move for a moment, but then he nodded.
Michaela walked right up to Athena. "Your wing will heal once you're back in the Kaiju realm. I'll send you back there now, if you want me to."
Athena looked at Michaela, trying to figure her out. Finally she spoke. "What did you mean, the rules don't work for you?"
"I can't control creatures." Michaela explained simply. "Sometimes I can control one that isn't very powerful for a few seconds, or if they aren't paying attention, but not more than that."
"Then how would you control me?"
Michaela shrugged. "It would be more like guiding you, I guess. You'd have to want to do something before I could tell you to."
"And how did you plan on getting me on your side?"
"You're already on my side." Michaela said. "We're fighting the same person, just on different fronts. But getting you to trust me?" she thought about it for a moment. "I guess I thought we weren't that different, and if you could see that…. It wasn't the most thought through of plans, that's for sure."
"In what ways aren't we different?" Athena asked.
And Michaela started to tell the creature about her past, how she had no idea where she came from, and how she had to learn to be good at the things others did naturally. Two minutes went by, and after a few more, Nadia walked up behind Michaela. Athena bristled when she saw the Duel Master, but Michaela's calmness seemed to be contagious.
"Your wing isn't going to get any better here," Nadia said to Athena.
"Why should you care?" Athena asked.
"I am a Master now. I have learned to respect those who know more than I do."
"Do you want me to send you back?" Michaela asked.
"Yes. Pink is right, I'm not doing myself any good here. But I would like to talk to you again. You're right. The two of us aren't that different."
Michaela grinned, and dismissed Athena back to her home. Then she turned to Nadia and hugged her. She had seen so many acolytes join the temple, learn the basics, and quickly find the creature they worked best with. Finally, after four years, she had found hers.