Disaster: No End In Sight - A Future Card Buddyfight Story

by BurningCard

Kyoya Gaen's defeat, at the hands of Gao Mikado and Bal, did not mark the end of Disaster. Even after his fall, many others follow in his old footsteps. Chase Hallows, working in the field of monsters relations, is thrown into the fray as more monsters and people act in Kyoya's name. Alongside the Fifth Omni Lord and his Cavalry, they will keep fighting to end the Will of Kyoya.

4. 4 - The Siege For Power

September 8th, 3:00 pm

Shattered glass shook the cores of fleeing pedestrians as we rushed into the fray. A warzone had only just emerged five city blocks away from Tokyo's airport. It was not safe for anyone. Groans of fighting monsters filled the air as an officer struck the human-sized beast-man with a large, electric baton. The monster's body twitched and tensed as the electricity coursed through his body. After the strike, the monster's body began to glow a bright yellow before dematerializing. What remained was his buddyfight card. A comrade officer appeared, hastily demanding that the creature is stored before he can get the chance to regain strength and fight again. In a way, humans from this planet are put in a horrible advantage. Because the monsters arrived in their card form, fatal wounds were impossible to deal with them in this world. The only way to kill them, while in our world, is by destroying the card. But they're officers; there's no way they're going to kill the beast, especially since it was only following the demands of his human, buddy partner.

People theorize it was because of the world's laws that we became the 'Card Hub World." Many monsters discussed joining our universe for the sake of that extra protection. Illegal monsters can get through sometimes, and there are times when they buddy up with people illegally. The Buddy Police is responsible for granting normal Core Deck Cases to those who receive an actual buddy, while those who illegally obtain one are brought in. What happens next depends on the severity of the crime and why the illegal transfer even occurred. Together, the two illegal buddies can either live, secretly, in peace, or, because of the illegal acquisition of a buddy monster, the human is able to use it to commit crimes.

We rushed up to the officers. They were wearing what I recognized to be standard Buddy Police uniforms. The orange vest and black shoulder pads were hard to miss, and under that, the two officers wore what looked to be a dark, cyan blue jumpsuit. Their black boots were covered with soot and dust, covering the orange slit pattern along the sides. Before they warned us to head back we showed them proper clearance. I took the initiative, for I got to them first and was the one who ran the fastest alongside Arkaid. "It's fine, we're from the DMW of New York. You must be the Buddy Police."

"Yeah, that's right," the older woman spoke up. I quickly assumed she was the superior out of the two. As the others caught up to me, the Buddy Police Officer continued to speak. "It started off like normal; we got a criminal buddyfighter caught in a Police Barrier. We forced them to play the game, giving them a chance to escape but, really, it was just to stall for time. We couldn't really subdue him due to the type of monster we had. We were waiting for reinforcements, as usual. Then three more people and their buddy monsters showed up outside the barrier. Then more, and more, until it was just too much for us. By the time our reinforcements came, they had to call in even more!"

Abigail's eyes peered over across a corner. She saw another monster, with their human partner, turn to face them. The dragon and his partner both grinned cruelly as they began to approach. "We got this one," Abigail stated firmly. She and Bozo rushed off until the dog began to glow. His form shifted from his puppy-like appearance to that of a humanoid dog goliath. The armor on this dragon concealed his torso, but across his back was a cape. Each cape flutter seemed to echo as Bozo pulled out his large, blue sword. He was not Bozo anymore; the ten feet tall goliath was the Demon Dog Lord, Borzoi Cobolt Lord.

The white-furred lord smashed his right paw of a fist into the opposing buddy. The dragon cried out as he was struck down in a single blow. The amount of force from Borzoi's punch was so massive that the dragon was airborne for the next two blocks. The human partner saw the fate of his buddy. Immediately, as soon as he saw the fangs on the dog's snout, watching as angry saliva drizzled from the bloodthirsty Dog Lord, the criminal put his hands up and surrendered. The partner officer rushed over to subdue the criminal and retrieve the buddy monster's card when Borzoi lowered his head to Abigail. She smiled as Borzoi started huffing excitingly as his tongue dangled to the side. "Good Boy, Bozo. Good Boy!"

The woman officer smiled. "Good hook, but I doubt that will get you far in the main zone," she continued. "That idiot walked to the outer rim. We're only here because our buddy monsters got knocked out; went back to their card form and all that. We can handle cleanup duty just fine, but if you plan on going closer to the zone, you'll be fighting in a war zone. It doesn't matter how strong you are; numbers beat strength every time."

Arkaid, wishing to get the most information as possible, spoke up. "How many criminals and monsters are there?"

"About twelve of each, at least that's what we believe. That doesn't include the ones we took out already and arrested."

"How many officers and allied monsters are still in there?"

"We only have about eight of each now. Our forces are stretched thin because there was a threat of this happening at the main Buddy Police Office." She pointed to the largest building in the city. Our attention was brought to an amazingly tall and well-built building. Windowpanes of glass and steel beams kept the intense building high. It maintained a justice color of blue and, around the base of the building, kept fountain that acted as some sort of fancy trench. Bridges extended from the base. It carried such a grand experience. "We can't lose that. If we took everyone we had away from HQ, then that building is a giant target."

"How big is the perimeter?"

"Six by Six city blocks."

"Blockades?"

"One at the end of some blocks; about two per side of the quad. All officers facing the middle."

Alvis nodded. "Makes sense. It's like you're circling and surrounding the center area."

"But here's the problem; the blockades are only two blocks in per side of the quad. After that, if no one is in the center fighting off the main group, you're on your own."

Arkaid got back into her questioning. "Any weapons we should be worried about?"

"No, but that's, apparently, what started the problem," the officer continued. She sighed in a gruff tone as she shook her head. "Apparently, there was a transporter bringing this group some Dark Core Deck Cases."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, but it was intercepted."

"Do you know who?"

"Nope, and apparently the transporter is missing, or possibly being protected. Either way, they got pissed and are throwing a tantrum because of it."

"So this isn't a common thing?"

"Normally, it's scattered. Day to day we find one, maybe two criminals doing things solo in random areas. This is the first time in a while where these many criminals grouped up for a full assault."

"Thank you, and my apologies for our interruption," Arkaid bowed. She turned to me with a stern look. After nodding, she turned away and started rushing into the perimeter. My friends and I were astounded, but we immediately followed suit. There was no way we were going to leave Arkaid alone to deal with this. As she was rushing in, she headed for the first blockade. One officer was standing guard at the gate as, just beyond the barrier, a woman officer and her buddy were holding off another monstrous beast. She wore the same attire as the others, but one thing that stuck out was her red burette. The obese, hog-like beast carried a giant ax. The officer was barely holding her own, holding only her electric baton. However, her buddy, which appeared to be a rainbow-colored robot, rocket-punched the hog-man away. The blue-skinned beast snorted as he was sent to the wall. However, he did not degenerate back into his card form. "An Armorknight Ogre, from Danger World… You will witness the punishment for your heinous act!" Arkaid leaped on top of the barrier, maintaining great balance. She stretched out her hand which soon emitted a strand of light. From that magical energy, a staff emerged with a crystal filled with sand at the very top. The crystal began to glow as she chanted inaudible words. Finally, she exclaimed the final act of her spell. "Sand Alchemy; Arrow!"

The staff sent out blue sparks of light that struck the Armorknight Ogre in multiple areas. The beast reeled back from the pain, giving the robotic buddy one much opening from a strong punch. The beast cried out as he began to glow, soon returning to his card state. The blonde officer turned to me. Her glasses nearly fell off her face, but she managed to press them back into place. Her hair was pressed back in a ponytail which she had to brush away from her shoulder. Even so, she looked extremely winded, and it looked like she's been fighting for quite some time. I turned over to notice that the other officer present was watching over a subdued criminal buddyfighter. The blonde officer spoke up. "Stella Watson, Buddy Police."

"Chase Hallows, District of Monster Welfare."

"I know that name; you and a few others were supposed to meet up with us at HQ."

"Well, my friends and I are here now, but … Fuck."

"Agreed, this situation got out of hand," Watson returned. She looked over to Arkaid. "Thank you. Card Burn and I were having a rough time with that guy."

"I'm fortunate to be of service," Arkaid bowed modestly. "I'm just glad we came when we did; you and your buddy must have been exhausted."

"Thank you, but he isn't my buddy. He's actually-…" Watson's ears twitched. She and Card Burn turned away from us as soon as she began to hear cries from her fellow officers. Cries calling for a retreat were coming from our side of the quad. "They're forcing a push!"

Arkaid took a readied stance. "They must have found out our side is at its weakest."

Watson nodded. "The other officer here was at the blockade ahead. They must've realized it earlier and were planning the counter attack."

"I'm guessing his buddy was knocked out too?"

"Yes… and they're all coming our way for one, final push. We need to hold our ground until Tasuku gets here!"

Monsters rampaged up the street, trampling intersections and leaving nothing but broken pavement and glass behind. Arkaid's eyes maintain focus on the enemy as they were advancing. Based on my guess, eight monsters and their human buddies were rushing towards us with everything they had. They were trying to break out of the closed-off perimeter, and there was nothing we could do about it. Arkaid turned to Sitri. The anthropomorphic black panther tensed up. "What's your means of attack?"

"U-um…. Punching and gamble magic."

"Gamble Magic?"

Alvis interjected. "His magic is unstable. His range is something useless or something monstrously powerful."

"A gamble… huh…," Arkaid noted. I turned to her and watched her eyes zone out at the advancing foes before us. Her staff was tucked under her right arm as she pressed her fingers together. She was getting nervous, but she was hardly showing it. Her stone cold expression didn't hide the nervousness she displayed in her hands. Or, that's what I think. Her concentrated eyes closed. "I'm not one to gamble. However…." What I perceived as her nervousness was, in actuality, her way of thinking with a racing mind. She quickly pulled out her staff and raised her staff towards the group of advancing monsters. However, she aimed it more to the right, pointing it to the wall. "Sand Alchemy: Bolt!"

An intense lightning bolt struck the side of the building, creating a massive explosion of energy. Debris from the building started to rain down where the crowd of monsters was about to reach. Arkaid repeated her act, this time directing the bolt at the smaller, older building on the left. Bricks and sizable shards of broken glass blew from the explosion of her attack. Its weak foundation was blown apart, sending out shreds of wood through the air. "Will they flee … or storm through?"

The airborne debris heavily rained on the advancing monsters. Their focus was thrown out of wack; each monster and human tried going in random directions in hopes of evading the hard and sharp debris. Some monsters charged and turned on each other, slamming each other into the walls by mistake. One monster, which appeared to look like an eight-feet tall humanoid and armor-clad bear, nearly got struck in the eye with a big piece of glass. The sudden dodge caused a chain reaction, hitting another massive monster on the side. The two monsters fell against the old, wooden building's base. The base from the right side of it was completely destroyed. The building tumbled over, crushing the monsters and returning them to their card forms almost instantly. Human buddies and monsters screamed as they struggled to evade the falling building. Pieces of wood flung across the street as the crowd dispersed. Seeing that their path to us was blocked, and seeing that at least three monsters and three humans were knocked out or wounded, the main group dispersed. While most of the monsters and humans sprinted to the right, one pair of what appeared to be two people sprinted to the left. I couldn't get a good luck at them.

"I'm comfortable with a bit of both," Arkaid stated. She turned to our group, watching as we just stared at her, amazed what her quick thinking granted us. "Please, this isn't impressive. It was a gamble. If their morale was as strong as I feared then they would've rushed through and ignored the distracting debris. We were lucky some were cowards." She turned to me. "CJ, let's take the left."

Officer Watson pulled out her radio. "Available Officers, crowd of criminals reaching open intersection between buildings 21 and 22. I repeat, the intersection between buildings 21 and 22!"

Arkaid and I rushed over the barricade. We took off after the pair of people as Watson and the others ran after the main crowd to act as a flank. However, our focus wasn't on them anymore; the only thing that mattered was catching the two criminals in front of us. Arkaid sprinted right alongside me as the two of us chased after the fleeing men. The two men made a hard right, making us turn wide. We didn't want to make a sharp turn and be greeted with an immediate strike back from our blind spot. We needed to make sure there was no one at the edge of the other side of the wall waiting to attack.

We saw the two men rush into an alleyway. At that moment, I figured that they were trying to get into the building and try to evade us through countless hallways and corridors. Arkaid must have figured the same too, for she took off with such an unrealistic speed that she nearly knocked me off balance. To think that she wasn't even running at her peak speed when she rushed in beforehand. She must have been saving it for this sort of moment.

By the time I caught up with her, she was standing at the entrance of the alleyway. The two men were facing away from her, focusing solely on opening a locked door. One man was dressed in casual, ripped attire. His jeans, sweatshirt, and undershirt were torn up, barely hanging on to their threads as the criminal continued to wear them. Arkaid took the initial step and raised her staff. "My friend and I are a part of the District of Monster Welfare. Stop this senseless nonsense or be willing to face the consequences."

Suddenly, the guy ceased struggling to open the door. He looked over at us while the other man, who appeared to dress completely in white, continued to look away. Arkaid turned her staff to the unknown man. "Reveal yourself, immediately!" The suited man didn't respond. However, the sound of quiet chuckles came from the thug. His laughter grew louder until his intense, red eyes glared back at Arkaid. He stopped laughing but gave off a wide smile as he revealed his cut, sharp teeth.

"You have no idea how fucked you are." He flicked his finger. The suited man turned.

He wasn't a human at all.

As soon as the man dressed in white turned around, we learned the truth. His skin was pure black. He lacked any true eyes at all; pasty, glass like ridges where his eyes should be were what remained. His mustache was the same kind of white as his suit, but the red rose in his suit pocket was the last thing I saw. He vanished instantaneously. Before we even had time to react, the monster reappeared right in front of Arkaid.

Her eyes widened from shock. She only had a millisecond to pull herself away when a hard punch from below sent her ten feet away from the alley. When I tried to reach out to her, the monster reappeared in the center of my line of vision. I could only flinch. It was then I saw that mysterious punch from below. The monster's… shadow; his shadow took a physical form as it slammed against my head. The force of the blow was enough to send me back, tumbling across the pavement as I ended up by Arkaid's side. The punk chuckled as he approached his buddy monster. The being's physical form shook, showing weakness. "You're growing weak from that power. Call your friends."

When I looked to Arkaid she was still lying on the ground. Her eyes weakly looked over to me as she tried to support herself with her left arm. Weakly, she reached out for her staff. "Sh-Shadow Shades…. I can't believe I didn't expect that. There's no way a human would've left with a monster to protect them."

I had banged my elbow pretty hard on the pavement. Every part of my body around there continued to pierce my soul with an intense sting. "F-Figures…."

With the flick of a finger, the Shadow Shades monster called forth other monsters with similar abilities. Shadows raced along the pavement until reaching the side of the punk and his buddy. Six shadow-like creatures emerged from the ground as the punk continued to laugh it up. "Cops, met Silhouette Balun, one of the most physically powerful shadow shades. He may not have much magical energy, but his raw power makes up for that, doesn't it?"

Arkaid gritted her teeth. "A Magic World Monster…. I should've been more careful."

"You should've."

In an instant, the other Shadow Shade monsters vanished. Within a blink of an eye, the monsters were before us. They surrounded us, preventing us from escape. No matter where I looked, the Shadow Shades never left my vision. Arkaid tried to catch her breath as she tried to scan her surroundings once more. She looked like her mind was racing for a possible solution as her eyes darted around her. Whenever she tried to inch her hand toward her staff, the shadow shades would grow closer.

The punk snickered. "This is what happens when you mess with my shadow shades. Seven buddy monsters are under my control. Isn't that just insane?! Hahaha-!" His laughter was cut short. The shadow shades sensed something. They turned their heads and immediately retreated back to the punk's side. The punk, in pure confusion, looked at his frightened allies. "W-W-What are you idiots doing?! Get back out there and end them!"

A proud voice boomed from the sky. When Arkaid and I looked up we saw a proud, armor-clad dragon with brown scales. A pale human rode on his back as the two raced through the air to the scene. "You fool; they KNOW to fear US!"

The brown dragon, with a great amount of force, landed on the ground. Each beat of his wings created a small gust of wind. Arkaid's staff was blown back into her hands. Regaining her courage, she forced herself back to her feet. She extended her hand and helped me back to my feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but… who are they?"

The pale human climbed off his brown-scaled buddy monster of a dragon. The dragon unsheathed his large, claymore-esque sword. The human walked over to us, soon reaching into his pocket to pull out a Core Deck Case. However, it wasn't like any of the others I had ever seen. It was then that I noticed the horrific and red eye that was placed where the crystal should be on any other deck case. The pale man, who looked only a bit younger than me, offered the item. "This is a Dark Core Deck Case," he began. He carried a rather thick Irish accent as he spoke. "If ye want to fight, use it. It'll make your spell and item cards real."

"Who are you?"

"Take it," The man replied. He pressed the Dark Core Deck Case against my chest. After he released it from his grip, I reached out and caught it. Arkaid looked over to me, showing extreme concern. "I'm not with them, don't worry."

The punk gritted his teeth. "How the hell do you have those?"

The bipedal brown dragon spoke up. "We had the luxury of meeting your transporter."

"It was you?!" The punk screamed out. "You're the ones who took them?"

"And we just anonymously put him under Buddy Police protection. We came here after we heard some goons were throwing a tantrum. Now, I have one question from you, and I'll ask the others later, but…." The brown dragon raised his blade to the punk. "Do you carry the will of Kyoya?"

"Go screw off!" The punk exclaimed. "I just wanted to get those deck cases. We had a seller contact us and we bought them, only for you to fucking take them?!"

The dragon's voice boomed. "Who did you buy them from?"

"An anonymous guy from the Black Buddy Market. Didn't give me a name," the punk replied aguishly. "All I know is that he went through with the deal, only for you to screw it up. And, to be honest, it was you that caused all this in the first place!"

The dragon turned to his buddy. "Liam, what do you want to do?" For a moment, my mind seemed to click. 'Liam? There was no way…. Why would he even be in Japan? He's in Ireland! He told me that!' I shook off the thought, realizing just how ludicrous of a thought I just had.

Liam turned back to his buddy. "Demios, this guy is … a complete and total gobshite." A voice from Liam's deck case signaled the activation of the disaster force. Dark, purple aura surrounded the man until a blade materialized out of thin air. The blade looked exactly like the one Demios used. He got himself into position, wielding the sword and preparing for an offensive attack.

"Say no more," Demios returned. The dragon turned to me. "Are you going to help?"

"… Definitely."

Arkaid was startled as I inserted an item card into the deck case. A dark force emanated from the case's gem as the Fifth Omni weapon became a reality. The deck care activated, turning the item card I inserted into raw energy. When it finally took form, what took shape was a gold and red ceremonial sword. It appeared to carry a great weight as I observed the light-green gems within the middle portions of the black. The grip was laced with gold and red string, practically calling for me to take it. I reached out, taking the sword in hand. It didn't feel like a magical hologram like in a normal buddyfight; it carried weight like true metal. I had turned the item card into the item it showed on the card; the Fifth Omni Dragon Sword, Emperor Fang. I turned to Arkaid, watching as she observed the golden glow of the sword. "This time I'll fight with you."

Arkaid, glad that her fears weren't realized, nodded back to me with a confident grin.

The four of us faced the punk as he and his Shadow Shade allies quivered with fear. However, they knew they couldn't flee now; they all looked weary from having to teleport multiple times. Their shadowy figures looked distorted, almost like they were barely being kept together. Even though the Shadow Shades showed fear, Liam and Demios were relentless in their assault. The two of them charged with blades drawn. I soon followed while Arkaid acted as the ranged attacker from the rear. "Sand Alchemy; Arrow!" To get the Shadow Shades moving, Arkaid released a barrage of energy towards the foes. The shades tried to leap out of the way, though some were inevitably hit by the attack. Liam and Demios were the first to take an extreme offensive. After the shades tried to recover from the attack, Liam slashed his blade through one of the shadows, causing it to vanish and degenerate back into its card form. Demios unleashed a savage war as his wings brought him into the sky. In one fell swoop, the beastly dragon swooped down and slammed into two of the shadow shades, knocking them out.

Now it was my turn. I swung the golden sword through the recovering shadow shade, relentlessly slashing through its form. Before I could reel back for another swing, a shadow shade appeared from behind. By pivoting my feet, I prepared a turn. Spinning my back and gripping my sword tightly, I swung my body around with my sword in tow. What resulted was a spinning sword slash; an unconventional attack used in an average sword fight but fitting for the scenario.

The punk knew that he was losing his allies fast. He looked over to his buddy only to see that he was still trying to compose himself. He still wasn't ready to teleport. "I don't care if you can't use magic, just hit them hard and hit them good! We're losing our guys!"

Silhouette Balun slithered his way to the battlefield. The shadow shades that were degenerating back into cards were still regenerating their form. We knew that we had to keep fighting until they retreated back to their cards to recover. Because of this, Arkaid rushed in close to get in a better position. As she rushed in, she prepared another spell from her staff. She unleashed another one of her Bolts, sending it straight towards the incoming Balun. Balun was able to evade the attack, weaving around it as the two kept advancing at each other.

This didn't stop Arkaid. As we and the others continued to fight off the minion shadow shades, Arkaid kept her focus on Silhouette Balun. Once again, she released another one of her spells. Using her Arrow spell, she unleashed a torrential rain of energy bolts from her staff. Balun tried his best to avoid the attack, for he weaved around some of the bolts. However, he was now too close in terms of range, and the arrow bolts covered too much room. He coughed as he took two energy bolts. They rushed through his shadowy body and left from the back. He continued to run but struggled to maintain his form.

He armed his shadow into a giant hand. Punching Arkaid was not an option; he was going for full on constriction. Silhouette Balun had his shadow reach out to Arkaid. He was finally in range. He was finally able to make contact. However, Arkaid stood her ground. She didn't falter, and her staff was aimed straight at him. "Sand Alchemy; Fire." A swift, precise stream of fire surged from her sand staff. The flames sprayed from her staff were so precise that the stream went through the head of Balun and continued, consistently, outward. The shadow couldn't contain its form any longer; he degenerated away, retreated back to the protection of his card.

As the battle was drawing to a close, Arkaid picked up the monster's card. "Silhouette Balun," she read. "… To think, if I wanted to, I could destroy your card and end you here."

The last Shadow Shade had degenerated back into their card. The punk had nothing left; his buddy monsters were defeated. There was nothing he could do now. Demios understand this as he approached the little punk and held his sword to the man's head. God knows what he would've done. The only thing that stopped him was the sound of a familiar wind. His body tensed up as he turned his head to face the sky. From afar, he could see two figures that were familiar to him. He hastily turned to his buddy. "Liam, let's get out of here. That's Tasuku and Jackknife!"

"Gotcha." Liam turned to me and nodded. He raced onto Demios's back and took off, leaving without a trace in a few moments. When I looked back to Arkaid, I noticed that she was keeping a close watch on the criminal before us while collecting the monster cards. It's going to be quite a while before the monsters regenerate back to their usual form. At this point, I doubt they wanted to, for now, they would have to deal with the Buddy Police.

A matured voice was soon heard from above. It came from the source of the nearby wing beats. "That had to be him. That was Demios."

Another mature voice responded. However, he sounded closer to that of a child. There was a calming, sincere aspect to his voice that seemed to calm his partner's worries. "At least we know he's here. We need to check on the others first." When I was finally able to make the two of them out, I was able to see the appearance of the boy's buddy. The dragon rivaled in size in comparison to Demios, though this dragon was more dinosaur-like in terms of stature instead of being humanoid. His green scales contrasted to the neon blue armor he wore on his back. It glowed as if energy ran the armor itself. The green dragon's head wore a helmet that stretched back like a light-blue crest. The boy, who looked about thirteen or fourteen, crawled off his dragon companion. The way he crawled off heavily implied a strong bond, for he was careful, gentle, yet still quick with his dismount off the large dragon. His blue hair seemed to stretch outward. Like the Buddy Police I encountered before, he wore the standard universe with the same color and boots. It was almost surreal seeing a kid wearing such a uniform. "I'm glad to see you two alright. Are you hurt?"

I nodded slowly. It was still weird seeing a young child ask if I was alright. He was acting like this was all normal for him. Was he really a Buddy Police Officer. "Y-yeah, but we were tossed around for a bit."

He raised his pointer finger towards the sword. "I recognize that sword. The way you're holding it implies that it has actual weight to it, not just a hologram." Was I really being analyzed by a kid? "A Dark Core Deck Case?"

I was now certain he knew more than I previously thought. His knowledge was enough for me to decide and see him, truly, as an officer. "Demios and his buddy gave it to me. I activated Disaster Force to make the blade truly real." Because I could tell this was making the officer uncomfortable, I deactivated the power. The Core Deck Case stated its deactivation. Immediately, my sword lost an unrealistic amount of weight to it. It now returned to its normal state. With a wave of my hand, the image of the sword faded away, leaving only the card in my hand.

"So he told you his name?"

"His buddy did."

"Do you know him?"

"… I'll be quite honest with you," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. "I have no clue. He certainly didn't act like he knew who I was."

"What do you mean?"

"The guy I ran into sounded Irish, and his name was Liam. Now, I know a friend of mine named Liam. Here's the thing though he's also Irish, and he didn't recognize me at all. I figured that there was no way that he would've just forgotten what I looked like, so I dismissed the possibility, especially since, last I talked to him on Skype, he said he was still in Ireland."

"Do you mind if you give me his name, just in case?"

"I believe it wasn't him, but whatever," I replied nonchalantly. "My friend's name is Liam Kieron."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Tasuku replied. "You must be Chase Hallows. Your friends from the other side of the perimeter told me about you. My name is Tasuku Ryuenji, and this is my partner, Star Dragoner, Jackknife Dragon."

The dragon grinned. "Though he calls me Jack. It's mature of him to stick to formalities."

"Of course," Tasuku replied. "Anyways, if you and your buddy could come with us then that would be great." He turned his attention to Arkaid, watching as she lowered herself to pick up the remaining cards. "I knew I remembered that name." Arkaid, just as she picked up the last card, turned her head to face Tasuku. "You fought alongside Gao against Yamigedo. I thought you left Earth with Tenbu and the others."

Arkaid smiled. "Fortunately, how the Omni Lords are doing things is changing," she replied. "I don't want to bore you with the details, but I am partners with CJ now. I plan on staying on Earth until we are needed."

"Still, it's great to see a familiar face," Tasuku replied. "I'm sure the others will be happy to know you're both alright."

It wasn't long before we were brought back to where we started. Abigail, Alvis, Bozo, and Sitri were all standing next to each other. They were being questioned by Buddy Police Officer, Watson. Jack had since gone into an SD form. However, he lost his glowing armor, with it being replaced with black-coated type. A retracted knife was on the dragon's head and, even though he was once a gigantic dragon, his SD form had him carry the size of a large cat. When we approached, Alvis and Abigail were the first to notice. They rushed over to me with their SD buddies in tow, eager to see that Arkaid and I were doing well.

However, as I looked past them for a moment, I saw someone I was definitely not expecting. I saw my boss. Her normal, suave and calm voice was enough to make my skin crawl. It was the type of voice that made you always know that she had you by the leash. "Hello, happy to see that my employees are street capable." The others turned around and collectively tensed up. Our boss continued to approach as her buddy monster revealed herself behind her shoulder. It was a resident from Danger World. To me, it represented just how dangerous of a person our boss could be; she's the type to fuck up your coffee for a laugh. Her buddy was Armoknight Eagle "A" (Ace) which she named Halia. The two were basically inseparable. Normally a giant eagle my size clad in blue armor and small cannons under her wings, Halia's SD form had her without such accessories. She looked like a small white eagle with red eyes that like perching on her friend's shoulder for fun. "Tasuku, what's the status?"

"All of the criminal buddyfighters, as well as their monsters, are now secured. Thankfully, your friends were able to help us out."

"Odd," my boss replied. "I guess it's a good thing no one from your HQ or Tokyo's DMW left themselves to deliver the documents." Her voice stung like a laced knife. Tasuku laughed nervously with Watson while everyone else just waited to see just how awkward things could get. Alice Fridrik was not someone to mess with, and we all knew it. "Still, it's great to know that my C-man is doing well with the A's."

I knew what she just did. She could feel my body tense up with a shock of anger. Fortunately, I was able to contain myself. "I had a 3.7 GPA. Anyways, what are you doing here, boss?"

"Oh, you just love bringing up that GPA of yours," my boss replied with a casual grin. "I simply 'decided' to take the next plane over. I wanted to see one of the more recent buddy monster scuffles myself, especially since it is one of the more larger ones that Tokyo has had in a while." She snickered before turning her attention back to Tasuku. "So, anyway, you couldn't just send someone over due to lack of available hands?"

"By the time you called, other events were being dealt with," Tasuku replied nervously. He was slowly regaining his cool. However, he was still having a rough time talking to the seemingly unappeasable Ms. Fridrik. "Even now, we had to stretch patrols and resources very thin, and we were still short. It's good that your employees came when they did."

"If that's the case," she began to say. She walked up from behind us and stretched out her arms. She walked between us and stretched her arms across Alvis and Abigail's shoulders. Even though she wasn't looking directly at me, her eyes scanned all of her employees, including the buddy monsters. "If that's the case, then I have a GREAT idea that you guys will all just love." In response, there was a collective "Oh God," throughout everyone except Arkaid. Since she barely knew our boss she had no earthly clue what was going on. "Since there appears to be some staffing issues, why don't you guys cover the empty spaces?"

"W-W-Wait!" Abigail screeched. "You're asking us to move?"

"Well, it is a good opportunity," Ms. Fridrik replied. "I can have your things shipped over here in a few days if you like. I can do that sort of stuff."

"But our lives are back ho-"

I interjected. "I'm in."

This time, Arkaid was stunned from my sudden proclamation in addition to everyone else. Thing is, they could never truly know why I wanted to take this sudden action. This was my ticket out of the United States. Unbeknownst to them, I needed to get away. I needed to get away from certain people; people that are tied to me by blood. My boss turned to me, entertained at the fact that I showed no resistance at all. "Then it's settled. I'll talk to you guys later, bye."

Sitri's face was frozen stiff as Alvis tried to reason with her. "Y-You can't just do that!"

"People have to move due to business all the time," Fridrik retorted playfully. Halia simply chuckled to herself as the two continued to move farther and farther away. The only thing that we all could hear now we the sounds of Alvis muttering to himself nonsensically as our boss just demanded us to move. "I'll take care of the classified documents. You six just spend the next few days settling in." And, with what felt like a simple gesture of our hand, we were now instructed to stay in Japan.

Alvis turned to me with his face completely red. "Why did you have to say yes?!"

I knew my reason, but I couldn't tell them. Instead, I went with the answer he'd normally give me. "She was going to get her way anyway."

Alvis's rage immediately subsided. What replaced it was nothing but grief and sorrow. His head moped downward as his buddy, out of emotional support, patted Alvis's back. "This can't be happening. How the fuck does she ALWAYS GET AWAY WITH THIS?!"

Abigail sighed. Bozo and her knew that nothing was going to stop her as usual. "That's just who she is. "

Jack looked completely serious as he turned his attention to us. "I'm glad she's not with us."

For an instant, I wanted to strangle that dragon.

I may appreciate the move, especially more than Alvis and the others, but dealing with a boss like that on a normal basis is just tiresome. What if this was her plan all along? What if she had this idea as soon as she realized it was impossible to get the documents to her last night? What if, after hearing that, she decided not to tell me that she planned to have us move to Japan because she figured Alvis and Abigail would protest? At that moment I had a strong feeling that she already filled out the paperwork for the transfer before she came here or, at the very least, had someone else to do it. She had to. Of course, she had to. That's what she does!

Suddenly, a moment of curiosity hit me. "Hey, Arkaid, does this get in the way of anything for you?" Arkaid looked back at me. She didn't appear deterred from having to move away or anything; the only reason why she reacted before was due to my lack of resistance. "Does this get in the way of any of my new responsibilities?"

"Technically, the requirement is that it is necessary to be able to return to Dragon World when needed," Arkaid replied. "We can do that anywhere. In actuality, it may be more convenient to be over here if anything; the largest branches of the DMW and the Buddy Police are both in Tokyo. Anything that happens here would spread to the others, so being the closest to such locations could be useful for us."

Tasuku cleared his throat, trying to regain his bearings on the conversation. "Now that things are… settling down, we need to talk about you, Chase." Tasuku directed his finger at my deck case. "That Core Deck Case isn't like the others; we do not how its uses could affect you mentally. The dark powers that come from it originated from Azi Dahaka. It's a possibility that the power could corrupt you if you're not careful, or worse."

Alvis and Abigail turned to me. Sitri and Bozo simply looked at my waist to see the Dark Core Deck Case hanging from my belt. Arkaid watched as I reached for the item, soon bringing it close to my face. I kept looking at it, watching as the red, eye-like gem seemed to stare back at me endlessly. "… Tasuku, I don't plan on using the Disaster Force often. I used it when I did because I had to."

"Because you're now working with us, it's possible you'll feel like you 'have' to again and again." Tasuku approached me, sincerely looking into my eyes. "That power can hurt people. It hurt my friends and, to some extent, it even hurt Jack."

The green dragon felt their bond in those words. "Tasusku…."

"Because of that, I need you to surrender that Dark Core Deck Case," Tasuku pleased. "The last thing I want to see happen is you accidentally hurting your friends or even Arkaid."

My tone grew dark. "If you think I'd hurt her, trust me, I wouldn't dare."

Jack intervened. He could sense that his human partner was incredibly worried. "Tasuku," the green dragon pleaded. Tasuku turned around to face his beloved partner. "Listen to me, I understand that such fears may continue to dwell in your mind, but I want you to look at Chase one more time." Tasuku, as instructed, turned to face me. "Chase, why did you activate the Disaster Force? Did you want to hurt the criminal?"

"No," I replied. "What annoyed me was… midway into the scuffle, I felt helpless. Arkaid was fighting alone. I couldn't do much to help her at all. When… When those criminals charged at us, only she was able to do anything. And even then, she said we only got through it because of luck. Why is that? Why did she have to put all of that pressure on herself? I hated it!"

The passion in my voice seemed to affect everyone around me. Arkaid's eyes communicated a sense of surprise and awe. Her eyes innocently blinked as she continued to feel just how much I meant those words.

"Tasuku," Jack continued. "Unlike the others, power was not his goal. He wished to protect, just like when you had to use Disaster to protect me." Tasuku bit his lower lip. He knew that his buddy was right.

However, I could tell that this was still hurting Tasuku. Because of this, I was more than welcome to offer a compromise. I approached Tasuku and showed him the Core Deck Case. "I don't want you to worry, so please listen to my offer." Tasuku turned back to me. His watering eyes showed the pain he once felt. It told me that he had a horrible history with the Disaster Force. "I use the Core Deck Case, but, every Friday morning, I'll get psychologically analyzed. I'm willing to be an experiment to see just how much this affects me."

Watson, reluctantly, replied back with affirming words. "That's quite the offer. We could use this knowledge to help us see if we could ever utilize the Disaster Force in a manner like your Future Force, Tasuku."

Jack intervened. "Tasuku, I don't like the Disaster Force as much as you. You know more than anyone how much it nearly tore us apart." The two buddies pressed foreheads. "As we speak, the Dark Core Deck Cases remain scattered across the world when they were first released. Although illegal now, who says we can't use the new knowledge to have it so more people like you and Chase can protect people?"

Tasuku, reluctantly, understood everyone's position. "… Only because they're still out there," Tasuku caved. "I don't like to admit it, but we may need more people to combat against the Disaster Force, but only after I know they don't affect us." The officer looked at me with determined eyes. "I accept your offer. However, if there's any evidence that shows that the Dark Core Deck Case is poisoning your mind, I'll have no choice but to destroy that case just like the rest."

"Understood," I replied. "If it does affect me, I'll need people like you to keep me from hurting my friends."

After saying our goodbyes, everyone had dispersed. Abigail and Bozo wanted to see if they could find a nice hotel to sleep in while Alvis and Sitri simply went into a restaurant to unwind. They did not appreciate the forceful move. Then again, I did feel a bit bad that I was the only one happy to be a permanent resident of Tokyo. Besides, it was nice to finally get away from 'them.' My aim right now was to find a hotel, but a cheap one with decent internet so that I could inform my landlord that I was practically thrown to Japan.

It was beginning to get dark outside. The night sky arrived like a sudden blanket that stretched across the city. My lack of attentiveness made it so night time came as a surprise. Even so, I didn't mind the change. The air was slightly cooler and, fortunately, this gave me more reasons to buy new clothes when I get the chance.

Arkaid was walking right next to me in her Super Deformed form. She didn't say anything since my sudden outburst, but I didn't think it was truly bothering her. I didn't think that I possibly offended her in any way. Still, her not talking to me began to eat at me. After walking only a few blocks I finally found the confidence to ask her questions. "Arkaid, is everything alright?" Arkaid blinked and tensed up as she heard my voice. She must have been zoning out. "You've been quiet the whole walk."

"I'm sincerely sorry," Arkaid urged. "I seemed to have zoned out. I'm sorry to have made you worry."

"No-no-no-no-no, it's fine, really fine!" I quickly reassured her. "It's just that, well, we usually talk quite a bit, so it's weird that you just seemed so… distracted."

"I was thinking about what you said back there," Arkaid began. She stopped walking, soon lowering her head as I felt small drips of rain pelt my face. She took in a deep breath before exhaling, calming herself down as she continued to stare at the ground. "At first, I simply thought back to how I engaged Silhouette Balun and his buddy, practically alone. I immediately thought that my only problem was that I misjudged the situation, putting you in danger… but," Arkaid shivered. "Then I realized that I put you in danger the entire time."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Arkaid repeated. She sounded like it was ridiculous for me to ask such as thing. "What do you mean 'What do I mean?!'" Although her voice carried a strong feeling of emphasis, Arkaid retained her low, mellow voice. However, at times, her voice strained. "Back at the perimeter, I rushed in and expected you and the others to follow. I put everyone in a situation where we had to confront a gang of crooks with only a few of us being able to fight. I did something out of a gamble; if those crooks didn't panic and start running into each other, what would've happened? What if they kept going forward and rushed for the barrier?"

"We could've just avoided the charge by going in one of the buildings, I don't know," I hastily replied. "There are so many things we could've done, but you decided to take the initiative. Besides, if it didn't work, we could just go in the building."

"What's stopping crooks from wanting to tear down the building, trapping you inside?" Arkaid asked. My mind went through possible scenarios in my head, but my body was frozen stiff as I watched my buddy eat at herself. "What if you got caught, or worse? I only just had you join us Cavalry Dragons, so there was no way you would've been trained enough. I knowingly put you in a situation where you weren't prepared for."

"But now we have the Disaster Force," I replied. "We can-"

"I don't want you to use that!" Arkaid pleaded. Her sudden scream shut my mouth up. "I don't want you to act as someone's guinea pig, I don't want you to be the test that determines if that power is safe. If it isn't, what happens if it permanently damages you? I don't want you to take that risk!"

"I think you're over-thinking this."

"I'm one of the servants and protectors of the Fifth Omni Dragon Lord, Tenbu!" Arkaid screamed back. "I lived for over 400 years! What makes you think you and your 24 years could possibly know compared to me! You haven't seen what I've seen!" I was taken aback from such words. Arkaid knew it too, for she immediately returned to her more modest self. Realizing what she had said, she shivered as she seemed to stare into nowhere.

I knelt down to her, making sure that she and I were now looking directly at each other. Once I was in her vision she was able to snap out of it. "Arkaid," I began. Arkaid nervously looked away. "You're right, you know more than me. Compared to you, I'll never have the kind of knowledge that you have. You spent so many years analyzing texts that I'll probably never even read." Arkaid nervously looked back at me. "Still, just like how you're choosing to eat yourself over this, I'm choosing to go through with this. I want to fight alongside you."

Arkaid nodded before looking down again. "I cannot believe that I'm acting so foolishly," she mentioned morosely. "I managed to give too much control to my emotions there."

"We all go through that," I replied. "I over-think too; there are so many things I continue to think about that it drives me crazy sometimes."

Arkaid laughed softly. "I guess that makes both of us."

"I appreciate it, though," I replied with a soft smile. "I'm happy that you care."

"How can I not?" Arkaid asked obviously. "We're buddies."

"Listen, I think we both had a really, really rough day. I think we should listen to the boss and spend the next few days settling in, maybe getting a new apartment settled. For right now, we should just get a hotel. Does that sound alright to you?"

"Certainly," Arkaid replied back in a collected manner. "Though, before we find a temporary residence, I remember the Takoyaki being quite delicious here.