Vanguard: Light Speed
Chapter 28
SGZ
In short after an intense (and what some would dare to call a one sided fight) between Jacob and Isaac... the former of these two powerful fighters emerged victorious it what is still considered even today a major upset in Vanguard History.
"It... it's over." Dr. O mumbles as his constant self-inflicted pinching only seems to prove that he indeed isn't dreaming.
"Wi... winner of the first fight, Jacob Edwards of Team Star Ocean!" the judge declared as recent events were so shocking that he had trouble speaking straight.
"Isaac... lost?" Teresa mumbled as the shocked expression on her face was akin to someone witnessing their beloved murdered right in front of them.
"I can't believe that son of a bitch let someone other than me beat him." Preston mumbles.
Preston shirks back as if expecting some kind of violent response to be directed towards him, but than when nothing happens Preston looks at Teresa's face and realizes that she probably didn't even register what he just said.
"They're really not faking it are they? The concept of Isaac really is new to them." Sakura thought as she hid her surprise at both recent events as well as her teammates behavior.
Make no mistake Sakura was still surprised to see Isaac be defeated just like the rest of us, but given the fact she hasn't been a member of Team Strike Shadow for very long... her reactions lack the same emotional impact that everyone else was hit with due to the lack of the team bond.
"I... I don't believe what I just saw, but it is reality. Jacob Edwards has indeed put the first loss on Isaac's record." Sara announced as she and her colleague slowly regained their composure.
"Could this be the start of a new era for Vanguard? Will the rest of Team Strike Shadow be able to play normally after this unexpected turn of events?" Dr. O follows.
Dr. O was right about how we're on the precipice of a new era of Vanguard, but it isn't Isaac's defeat that puts us over the edge. The event that does however in fact occurs today. I won't say any more as that would be spoiling.
"There's no way Isaac could lose when you've never beaten him before!" one hard core Isaac fan yelled.
"Yeah he's right... so how did you do it you cheater?!" another hard core fan yelled.
More words like this are directed towards Jacob as in the minds of several people here... the concept of "Isaac losing" doesn't exist in their mind set. Jacob doesn't care either way, but a certain someone else is taking the words of the crowd to heart.
"Silence!" Isaac yelled as he turned towards the loudest section of the angry crowd.
Much like during my match with him at the expo, the burst of Isaac's loud booming voice instantly silents the crowd. It all became as if another word spoken would incur the wrath of god upon them.
"The battle was fair, and I lost because of a simple difference in strength. If you can't accept the occasional defeat that comes your way believing it to be the result of unsportsmanlike conduct... then you have no right to call yourself a Vanguard fighter!" Isaac yelled.
Any reaming bits of anger and disbelief are forced back down the throats of the people that had them upon Isaac's words. Then once they swallow Isaac's words... they all look at each other with guilt filled expressions as they acknowledge he's right.
"I may be willing to accept the loss, but that doesn't mean I won't return the favor down the road." Isaac says to Jacob at a volume low enough to avoid being heard by the crowd.
"It's fine if you want to try again, but don't forget about the terms of our deal." Jacob retorts as he matches his recent opponent's volume.
"I haven't forgotten, but not here seeing as how our team still has matches to play." Isaac said as he's already back to his usual stoic self.
"Then when?" Jacob whispers.
"The table from earlier... go there as soon as our match is finished here." Isaac explained.
Isaac returned to his team's dugout and then the next match was shortly underway. It was between Teresa and Nolan of whom the former was seriously thrown off their game due to recent events, but thanks to a lucky trigger Teresa was able to turn things around for a win. Then the last match was between Cloud and Sakura, of which the former of the two lost but that was because Cloud was horribly grade stuck rather than a difference in skill. The winner was declared and ceremonies were started, and soon enough Jacob was free to collect his prize.
"Where is he?" Jacob thought impatiently tapping his arms with his fingers as he waits for Isaac to make an appearance.
He was sitting at the table where he met Isaac earlier in the day, and now there were more people watching him wanting to approach the man who did what some thought impossible. No one actually did as even the most mood insensitive fighter could tell he didn't want to be bothered for anything short of an emergency.
"I can see you're not in a good mood, but do you mind if I sit here?" a certain person asks.
"About time... what took you so.." Jacob was yelling when he suddenly stops after realizing just who he was talking to.
The person he was looking at wasn't Isaac, but rather a flaming red-haired idol known as Teresa Weaver. It seemed as though she got over Isaac's loss rather quickly with a win under her belt or if she hasn't she's hiding it very well.
"I have to be on the road in the next few minutes to make it on time for a concert so I'll make it short. I just wanted to thank you for beating Isaac." Teresa points out with that honest smile of hers.
"You wanted to thank me for beating Isaac? Really?" Jacob asks as he was caught off guard by the concept of someone being happy and their teammate's defeat.
The sight of Teresa and Jacob started all kinds of rumors of course.
"Oh don't get me wrong I feel a dislike towards you for defeating Isaac, but it's been a long time since I've seen him have that much fin in a fight. He's fought many people that pushed him to the edge of defeat, but it was more than a necessary exercise to him. This time he had fun... this time he finally met someone his own age he could call a rival, and so again for that I thank you." Teresa explained as a mother's kindness permeated throughout her voice.
"But where's the man himself?" Jacob retorts.
"He wanted to be here, but he was suddenly called back to Team Strike Shadow's headquarters and asked me to give you a message. First... there's something I want to ask you." Teresa explained.
"Deja Vu isn't it?" Jacob mumbles to himself, "Go ahead."
"I know what Isaac said to light a fire under you... how your looking for your sister who went missing when you were kids even though there's no record of you having one. Just why are you so motivated to find her?" Teresa asks for a reason more than just curiosity.
"First of all she didn't go missing... she was kidnapped." Jacob said with a quiet angered tone that looked as though he were about to kill Teresa where she stood.
Jacob quickly calms down, however it's not because he's swallowing his emotions but rather... something about being in Teresa's presence seems to put him in a state of calm he hasn't felt in a long time.
"Normally on the off chance someone asks about that... I'd tell them where they could go, but for some reason I don't have that desire with you. Very well... but it's a long story so you might end up being late to your concert after all." Jacob said as he speaks with an ever rare kind smile of his own.
Thus begins a flashback sequence that actually isn't related to me for once... at least not directly, but it takes place in a beautiful suburban home in a wonderful neighborhood years ago. The little Jacob was happily playing with a couple of toys in his room.
"Vroom vroom." Jacob whispers as he quietly makes engine noises.
"Onii-chan, there you are!" a little girl with long black hair yelled.
The same little girl ran into Jacob's room and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug.
"You don't need to call me that. We don't live in Japan anymore." Jacob mumbled out of annoyance as he pushed his sister off of him, but he still secretly enjoyed all of the attention.
"But I have to if people are going to see your heritage. You've lost the accent unlike me, and you don't even look Asian save for your black hair." the little girl points out.
"Fine... keep calling me that, but what do you want?" Jacob sighs.
"You forgot one of your Vanguard decks at Tina's birthday yesterday. Her older sister dropped it off for you. I have it here in my back pocket." the little girl explains with her voice full of energy.
At that note the young Jacob instantly perks up as if a carrot had been dangled right in front of him.
"Really? Why didn't she ask to see me?" Jacob asks as it was quite clear he has a crush on this girl's older sister.
"I told her you weren't at home." the little girl said as if she was rather proud of herself for her recent action.
"What... why?" Jacob asked as it looked as though he wanted to strangle his sister.
"She's not good enough for you onii-chan. You deserve a girl who can understand how magnificent you are." the little girl points out.
"Why you...!" Jacob yelled as he looked though he was about to swear out his sister.
"Irie Amori Hisashi, get in here and clean your room!" Jacob and I guess now Irie's mother screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Oops... I'll be right back onii-chan." little Irie says as she gets up on her own two feet.
"Get in here right..." Mrs. Hisashi was about to yell or was already yelling depending on your perspective when a loud noise drowned her out.
The source of the loud noise was an explosion and it was powerful enough to shake this simple house to its foundation.
"What the... who are you people?! Why did you..." Mrs Hisashi was yelling as she was once again drowned out by another loud noise.
That noise wasn't an explosion... no they weren't going to be that lucky. Little Jacob's mother was drowned out by the sound of gunfire... something children should never have to hear outside of a movie or a cartoon.
"Mommy!" the little Irie yelled as she was about run to her mother's aid.
Run to her mother's aid indeed she was, but her brother stopped her by wrapping his arms around her and forcing her to to the ground.
"What are you doing? We have to go help mommy." Irie attempted to say despite Jacob covering her mouth for her own good.
"If you go who knows what kind of bad things will happen to you. Someone has to have heard that, so we're better off hiding until help comes." Jacob whispers as he struggles to keep his sister from bolting.
A second later someone runs into Jacob's room, but thankfully it was the father of these two siblings rather than whoever was responsible for these wanton acts of destruction.
"Kids, are you in..." the father of the siblings was about to say when even his voice was drowned out by the horrible monotony of gunfire.
It took all of the willpower these two siblings possessed not to scream as they witnessed their father's lifeless body hitting the ground with blood coming out of him. Shortly after that however... two pairs of black boots started to stomp about Jacob's room. It doesn't take an idiot to figure out that these two are responsible for all of the chaos going on inside what should have been a happy home.
"You check under the bed, and I'll check under the closet." one of the two boot wearing gunman ordered.
Soon enough Jacob and his little sister are pulled by their ankles out from under the bed kicking and screaming. Irie was practically crying her eyes out due to having a gun pointed at her, but Jacob was keeping on a strong face for his sister's sake.
"What do you want from us?!" Jacob yelled as he decided to act out a form of verbal resistance.
But the two gunmen ignored the you Jacob's outcries, of whom were both wearing all black to the point where not even a square centimeter of skin could be seen. It was as if Jacob and Irie's home was being raided by a pair of Spec Ops soldiers.
"Which one is it?" said the taller of the two gunman.
"You seriously don't know?" the other gunman said as if shocked by his colleague's question.
"Hey don't blame me... management put me on this job last minute so I haven't had the time to look at the file." the taller gunman said in a defensive manner.
"Whatever... it's the girl. I'll take her and you take care of the boy new guy... remember no witnesses." the shorter gunman ordered.
Jacob and Irie try their best to resist with their tiny bodies, but they simply can't overpower a grown man and soon enough little Irie was tossed over the man's shoulder crying her eyes out. All Jacob can hear is little Irie screaming out his name asking to be rescued, but the taller man has him by the neck preventing him from doing a thing.
"Sorry kid... if it means anything she's going to a place where her talents can be put to use." the taller gunman said in an oddly sullen tone of voice despite recent events.
And the last sight the young Jacob saw of his loving home was the butt of a gun knocking him out cold.
"Afterwards I woke up in a hospital with a detective wondering what was going on, and that's when I discovered that somehow records of my sister were some how erased. I was worried that the people who did this would find out I was still alive so I ran from the hospital as soon as I could, and since then I've been living on the street... at least up until Mr. Elchart found me and took me in." Jacob said as he concluded his sad tail.
Though I mentioned it in the flashback since the man himself told me later, but for Teresa's own safety Jacob doesn't say his real name in the recounting of this tale.
"... wow." Teresa quietly whispers as she's amazed by the sadness of Jacob's tale.
"I don't blame you if you don't believe me... it is quite the sad tale after all." Jacob chuckles in a sad tone.
"No I believe you. It's obvious that you're not a liar, and that you're a good person through and through." Teresa retorts.
"You might change your mind if you heard about some of the things I've had to do to survive on the street." Jacob mumbles as his mind is still focused on the events of the past, "Still... what makes you say that?"
"Because you've never stopped looking for your family, and you've found people to help fill the void of what you've lost. Where as after all this time assuming... that she's still alive... she's probably lost all hope of seeing anyone she cared about." Teresa points out as she felt unusually happy in response to Jacob's words.
"Ha... perhaps she has... but that will make the reaction she'll have when I find her all the more worth it." Jacob whispers as he gives off a small honest chuckle.
"Now then... I really do have to get going." Teresa points out as she gets up from her shared seat.
Jacob was already about to say something in objection demanding that he be given what's owed to him, but Teresa raised her finger silencing him and showing that she hasn't forgotten.
"He told me to tell you to check your cell-phone." Teresa reveals.
"How does he..." Jacob mumbles as he immediately reaches for his front right pocket.
Jacob pulls out his cell-phone and looks up to find Teresa already at the food court's entrance/exit being hounded by a mob of fans, but loyal members of the red-haired idol's fan club were quick to assemble and act out the role of bodyguards so she could be on her way. Once she was gone... the young butler turns his attention back to his cell-phone, turns it on, and finds a text message from an unknown number.
That text message reads as "She will be at this year's National Tournament as a member of one of the competing teams. If haven't figured out which team by the next time we meet... I'll tell you what team and who if you can beat me again."
"Ha... I'll chalk it up to Team Strike Shadow's ability to gather information, but you've given me a reason to fight that I can put ever fiber of my being behind. For that I'll thank you." Jacob whispers to himself as it lights a fire even stronger than the one that was burning in his fight against Isaac.
With new-found resolve Jacob has even more of a reason to magnify the intensity of his future training, but don't forget that there are still several other regional tournaments going on at this point in time. In fact Team Destiny Breakers next match would begin very soon or technically has already happened at this point in time. I swear verb tenses when it comes to matter of time get very confusing, but for the sake of rectifying that confusion let's turn back the clock to just after the moment Isaac lost from my old team's perspective.
"I don't believe it... that Isaac Barrett seriously lost." Raphugio mumbles.
"Yeah... no kidding. Talk about a major upset man." Virgil mumbles back.
"Damn it damn damn it." I thought as I vent my frustrations by kicking the table where we were all sitting at.
"Umm... what are you doing?" Virgil asks as he finds my sudden behavior a little disturbing.
"Sorry." I say to my friends as I sit back down.
"Here me out, but Isaac losing might actually work to our advantage in getting through the regional tournament." Dalette points out as she has to pause occasionally between words.
It's not as though Dalette has some sort of stuttering problem, but even someone as cool and professional as Dalette was completely immune to shock.
"What do you mean boss lady?" I ask out of curiosity for the sake of the rest of our friends and I.
"Isaac losing and the prospect of facing Jacob Edwards... the thought of being part of that reality is making it hard for even me to think normally. I don't wish to make it sound like I'm speaking ill of other fighters, but the lesser teams are no doubt being tormented by that prospect." Dalette explained.
Her stressed and ragged tone... it only made it clear that she wasn't joking in the slightest about the seriousness of the situation, however for that very reason the guys and I payed attention to everything Dalette was saying.
"I see what your saying... if we can put the shock behind us before the others do that we at least have a shot at making it into nationals." I point out so as to make sure I'm understanding Dalette's point correctly.
"Correct, but just as there are teams that may get shut down by this news there are teams who won't be affected at all. I can tell no one sitting at this table is over the shock just yet, so if we end up getting paired against any of those teams we'll have a problem." Dalette points out as she decides to make the reality of the situation apparent to us.
"Would the members of Team Destiny Breaker and Team Aero Dreamers please report to hall B. Your next match is about to begin." an electronic voice announced over the convention center' PA system.
"Hold on." Virgil mumbles as he pounds his fist on the table out of shock, "They haven't even finished all of 1st round matches and they're starting the second?"
"I see you really don't follow the regional tournament scene." Raphugio pointed out as he gathers his breath to explain further, Because so many people enter regional tournaments every year and by proxy the national tournament... it's simply impossible for them to hold matches at a reasonable pace and expect to stay on schedule."
"So in other words as soon as the pairings for one round is decided... they'll start the next the moment a spot opens up regardless of the matches that still have yet to played. Am I understanding that correctly?" Virgil asks.
"Yeah that's correct." Raphugio answers as he throws away what's left of the snacks we were munching on during Isaac's fight.
With that out of the way we head to our assigned hall, and we all find that it's both a little larger and more filled with people than it was in our match against Team Blitz Break. That too was actually for a very good reason.
"Wow it's a lot louder than I expected it to be." I mumble.
"I'm not surprised really... Team Aero Dreamers are always in the top 16 at nationals ever year, so it's to be expected that they have some kind of fan base." Dalette points out.
"And I take it they'll also be one of those teams who aren't as easily affected by Isaac's losing?" Virgil asks.
"Yeah." Dalette quickly answers as she seems to have no problem with ignoring the crowd.
As we set down at our bench turned dugout; we could see the three members of Aero Dreamers sitting at their own bench across from us, but we can't see their faces as they all seemed to be focused on a tablet in the tallest member's hand.
"Check it out... they're pointing at us without looking while looking over that tall guy's shoulder." Raphugio points out.
"Probably trying to dig up some useful dirt on us before the match starts." Virgil retorts.
But as always right before a tournament match starts... whatever we want to say next is downed out by the sound of someone speaking into a microphone.
"Hello Vanguard fans everywhere! For those of you who don't know me... I'm MC hammer and I'll be commentating for this second round fight!" MC Hammer yelled.
For those watching at home, there was a closeup on this man acting as an MC.
"To our right we have a powerful team that's made it to nationals every year... let's here it for Team Aero Dreamers!" MC Hammer yells.
First the crowds were yelling, and then the camera that were broadcasting what was going on in this room quickly changed directions to focus on the other side... namely little old us.
"To our left we have a new team entering regionals for the first time with the hopes of rising to the top! Team Destiny Breaker!" MC Hammer yells.
And then the camera in the room focuses its back on MC Hammer.
"Now I know there are still first round matches going on, but we have to keep things on schedule. For that reason management has decided to make all matches single fight elimination." MC Hammer announces.
"What the hell... they've never done that before in previous regional tournaments!" one of the three members of Team Aero Dreamers yell.
"Calm down... it can't be helped... what with the ever growing popularity of Vanguard and the lack of spaces to hold large scale tournaments in." another member of Aero Dreamers points out.
"What does that mean boss lady?" I ask.
"In other words one representative of both teams are put forward, and the team of the losing representative is kicked out of the tournament." Dalette explained.
"But we don't want to make it feel like one sided for any team, so for that reason this round will be decided by a single match tag-fight with representatives randomly selected from both teams." MC Hammer announces, but oh wait the surprises don't end there "To increase the excitement the tag fight also include a special rule. The name of that special rule will appear on the screen behind me."
There was a large flat screen TV resting behind MC Hammer just as he said. It lights up by playing a video of an animated explosion, and once the animated smoke clears the three letters "SGZ" were revealed.
"SGZ?" was what was on the mind of Team Aero Dreamers as well as our own Team Destiny Breaker.
"It stands for Shared Generation Zone. This special rule will affect that match in two ways. The first change that representatives will be able to 'stride' G-Units from their partner's G-Zone." MC Hammer explained.
"I see... certain clans would be overpowered if they can draw upon the power of other clans of a similar nature. In that case how well one player's deck can work with another player's G-Unit will be key... but there's still the matter of the second part of this rule." Dalette thought as she was already calculating the possibilities of this rule.
"The second part is that the total number of face up cards in a player's G-Zone is shared with their partner. For example let's say someone decides to play Super Cosmic Hero, X-Tiger with 3 cards already face up in their G-Zone, and their partner has 2 face up cards in their own. When that player activates X-Tiger's skill that makes 7 face-up cards between the both of them, and in turn that raises X-Tiger's power by +28000." MC Hammer explains as he gaps for a little air after that long-winded explanation of his.
"That means clans with a numerical advantage like X-Tiger will be more powerful than normal, but that also means after our partner brings out a G-Unit... we can bring out our heavy hitters once it gets to our next turn." I mumble.
"Enough explanations... let's get down to announcing the competitors! From Team Aero Dreamers... Audrick and Kale Bison versus Dalette Grayson and Kiba Nakashima of Team Destiny Breaker!"
"I'm looking forward to this... this SGZ thing will let bring out by Gold Paladin deck's true potential." I say aloud as I already start stretching my arms in excitement.
"Actually... about that Kiba... as you Sky Paladins... or rather the way I play them aren't suited for tag-fights." Dalette points out as it seemed like she was about to bring up some bad news.
"I know... you've said that to us all before, but that's why you told us about the deck you use only for tag-fights. Why bring this up?" I ask as I try to figure out where Dalette is attempting to lead this conversation.
But in hindsight where she was trying to lead it was actually quite obvious. Looking back, I was a little embarrassed that I didn't realize sooner.
"I need to borrow your Gold Paladin deck since it's a clan I know only second to the Sky Paladins. That's what my other deck happen to be anyway, and I grew up fighting a Gold Paladin user so I'll knw what I'm doing." Dalette explained.
"Alright... if that's what you think is best." I retort as I use an underhanded toss to pass Dalette my deck.
With that out of way the four of us (and by that I mean the two members of the opposing team) walk up to the MF Systems directly in front of them, but then the pressure starts to get to me... a different kind then our last opponents. Unlike before where I was trying to keep hope alive... I'm just as responsible as Dalette for making sure we live to fight another day from start to finish. The pressure itself... it's almost suffocating.
"Ouch... hey what was that for?!" I say to Dalette as she flicked me in the ear with her thumb.
Believe me that actually really hurt... it was actually a little amazing that she could pack so much power in those two appendages. Just what kind of body does she have? Ahem... for the record I did even remotely mean that in the way it may have sounded.
"Relax... we're more than capable of beating them, so just play your normal game and we'll be fine." Dalette said as her eyes were completely glued to her opponent.
"Yeah... phew." I mumble as I take several deep breathes to try and relax, "It looks like I'll have to use my other new deck sooner than I thought."
"Don't think you'll be able to beat us just because you tossed your teammate a deck." Audrick points out with a smug grin on his face.
"Yeah... we're not that weak." Kale follows.
I would be facing Kale and Dalette would have to clash swords with Audrick, so no it's time for you to see who will land the killing blow... or at least that was the plan until Dalette turned around to face Raphugio and Virgil.
"How long until the math between Team Resurgence and the guys ripping off the world champs team name?" Dalette asks.
"About... 15 minutes." Vigil answered after looking at the clock on his phone.
"You two go and watch and leave things here to us. I'm getting a bad feeling about that match, and I hope you two can make sure it's just my imagination." Dalette ordered.
Raphugio was willing to go along with it, but I was expecting Virgil to make some kind of objection. Then again... since they don't have to worry about fighting this match there's no reason for them to stay here.
"That's a little arrogant to think you can beat us without your teammates to cheer you on." Kale points out.
"It's not arrogance... it's pragmatism. I don't see your team's fourth member here." Dalette points out as a sly grin appears on her face, "I highly doubt I'm the only one curious about the team that has the guts to name themselves after the reigning world champions. In fact I bet several teams here have at least 1 person already in the hall they'll be fighing."
"Ha ha... I like that attitude of yours. The truth is if she was here one of us would have volunteered, but we're not here to talk about our personal lives." Audrick chuckles having approved of Dalette's coy remark.
"No...no we did not." Dalette retorts as she too approves of Audrick's tone of voice.
Now that the side conversations were out of the way... this time we could really begin. First we placed down our starting vanguards, then we drew our starting hands, next we returned what cards among them we didn't like only to draw again, and with that we've finished the predatory motions for this fight.
"Are you all ready to begin?" the judge asks.
To this question we all only respond with a simple nod.
"Then let the fir... ahem excuse me. Let the match begin!" the judge yelled.
All of this must have been seriously last minute for an official to make that kind of a verbal error, but no matter.
"Stand up, Vanguard!" the four of us yell.
Of course we say that as it's both a time honored tradition of the game and an official tournament rule, but as we truly and utterly got underway... yet another thought had pierced it's way inside my mind. Don't worry though as this time it was a good one.
"Isaac Barrett isn't the only one with a never before form of his ace. It might not be the right stage, but... let's go Abraxas, we'll show them all your new power!" I yell within the confines of my own mind.
To Be Continued
Dalette: So this is your mother's legacy? I approve Kiba.
Kiba: I'm glad you like it, but wait... I've never seen that clan before. They're all dressed in kimono's and samurai armor.
Dalette: Don't worry I can handle it.
Kiba: And my opponent... why... why does his clan make me feel like I'm experiencing the same nightmare twice?
Dalette: Next time on Vanguard: Light Speed "SGZ Strikes".
Kiba: Let's go and show them why you're called the Eradicator of Hope!