Sayo stepped out of the train station and took a deep breath, enjoying the clean air of the province city. Sagakin was easily recognized as a coastal city since her sharp nose could detect the discreet scent of saltwater. After a busy work week in Tokyo, the sudden shift in landscape was more than welcome. Having changed from her priestess garments into her favorite blue yukata with flower patterns, she was ready to set aside all worries and fully enjoy the weekend. Making no effort to conceal her cheery attitude, she hung her travel bag's stick over her shoulder and hummed to herself as she headed towards Count Kage's mansion. It was a long walk since she had to basically traverse over half of the city to reach its outskirts, but she did not mind getting some exercise.
It was a wonderful sunny Saturday morning. Though the weather was getting slightly colder as autumn progressed, to her it was the perfect time to go outside. Great was her surprise when she saw the number of people wandering the streets being smaller than usual. The Spawns of Shishima must have definitely cemented their own brand of fear into the general populace, so much so that the average citizens were locking themselves up in their own homes as long as they felt safe. It was an unfortunate reality, but one that would not persist much longer if everything went according to her plan. There was still hope for mankind, as long as Hajime still drew breath.
Looking back at the past few days, Sayo realized that she had never felt so much inner peace in ages. Settling down at the Musashi Shrine, rekindling her friendship with Yoichi and Mikio, befriending Aiko and Minako, it all helped her out of her own social shell. Now that she could finally live a normal life, it was time to catch up with all the modern advancements of mankind. Shopping at the mall was a prospect she was definitely eager to revisit, but she was also growing increasingly interested in technology and especially networking. If social media could be used for more than just business issues as Aiko once said, perhaps there were other advantages she had to learn about. All was well in her world, and once Shishima was convinced to spare humanity forevermore, there was a multitude of wonderful prospects for her to look forward to.
Time's flow seemed to have ceased as she advanced on her journey and immersed herself in the city's picturesque sights. It was when she passed by Sagakin University's campus that certain memories began to resurface and fill her heart with guilt and shame. She tried blocking them out, there was no use having one's heart wallow in the past when a bright future lay ahead. Out of the blue, Hajime ran from around the corner and stopped ahead of her, a foot's distance between them. He wore an expensive turquoise tracksuit and white sneakers, sweat racing down his face. Most likely he had been out on his morning jog. An awkward silence reigned upon them as they stared at each other in disbelief. Deep inside, Sayo was relieved to see him safe and healthy, but at the same time she worried over the questions that would undoubtedly arise. Little did she know that Hajime was also relieved to see her again, but her and Borof's presence only served to fuel his lingering worry that Shishima had indeed returned. Not wasting a second, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun, aiming it at her forehead and saying, "You're under arrest!"
Much to his surprise, Sayo kept her cool and she replied, "On what charges?"
"Cooperation with Shishima, deceit and the fact that you are an actual youkai."
"Then why are you so confident that you can restrain me, let alone shoot me?"
"I've been training for this ever since you left. This time around I won't hesitate!"
He pulled the trigger and Sayo immediately jumped into a tree, dodging the laser which ended up melting a billboard with a Coca Cola ad.
"Hajime, I beg of you, let go of this grudge!" she pleaded. "I'm on your side, not Shishima's!"
"If that were true, you'd have actually tried to exorcise Shishima out of this world! But you won't do it because you're still in love with your 'bad boy' prince!" Hajime yelled back at her.
"Why this sudden tone in your voice? Don't tell me... are you actually jealous that Shishima and I-"
She did not get a chance to finish her sentence as Hajime shot her once more. She quickly jumped away and the tree branch was burnt off. Performing an acrobatic spin that would have made circus performers jealous, she gracefully landed on the street and ran away. Hajime hid his gun and followed suit, ignoring the elderly who passed by and gave them weird looks.
The chase was long and exhausting; they went through random marginal roads, going through Sagakin as if they were traversing a maze. What truly surprised Sayo was that Hajime was actually managing to keep up with her; he was definitely in better shape compared to five years ago. Just from a single glance she could tell that he had a much more athletic physique. All of a sudden, she made a wrong turn to the left and collided against the metal bars of the Shirayama mansion's gates. Hajime's shadow soon fell upon her and she turned to confront him.
"My colleague told me all about his visit to the Musashi Shrine and how Shishima is now going to let humanity's fate be decided by my conflict with his death cult. Let him know that I don't want to play any part in this 'game' of his! You both have been a plague infesting my world for far too long and I'll rid humanity of you once and for all!" he declared and again aimed the gun at her forehead. Silence once more fell between the two as those moments seemed to pass like an eternity.
Sayo stared at him with seemingly no reaction, despite the obvious threat to her human body. Then a sympathetic expression grew on her face as she finally spoke with concern in her voice, "Why are you hesitating, Hajime?" He said nothing in response, his arms stiff as he once more kept the gun pointed at her. "Why won't you just pull the trigger? Could it be that on some level you still love me despite everything that happened back then? Or perhaps I was right to assess that you are feeling a tinge of jealousy over me and Shishima?"
"That's not true!" he quickly denied. "Now tell me where Shishima is hiding so I can finish this!"
"If you want this kind of answers, then you must defeat me," Sayo sternly replied as she took out her deck. She took quick notice of the eye twitch which denoted Hajime's frustration and as he was about to pull the trigger, she threw a small seed from her sleeve at shocking speed which hurt his hand and made him drop the weapon. Before he could even attempt to pick it up, she kicked it right into the mansion's electrified fence, breaking it in the process. "Don't forget I still have my own moves," she reminded him while shooting a cold glare on par with his own.
Hajime hated being one-upped as it gave him the sensation of losing control and giving in to weakness, something he swore he would never allow himself to experience ever again. Still, he had already given in to emotion and thus he ended up underestimating his opponent - a mistake which needed to be corrected. Pulling out his own deck from his pocket, it glowed with a bright gold and blue aura and caused two dueling tables to rise from the ground between them both. They both went to them, set their cards and materialized their shields, thus beginning their match.
"Galaxyshield 2, I set Jyuu Ni Shin Ki as a face up shield," Hajime said.
"I cast I'm going to Afro!" Sayo said and tossed Gigandydanos, Big Tree King in her graveyard, after which she drew two cards.
"Since it's face up in my shield zone at the start of my turn, I cast Jyuu Ni Shin Ki. With its effect, I check the top four cards of my deck, add one to my hand the rest go to the bottom of my deck. Then I expand DG Parthenon ~Where Dragons are Created~ and draw a card." Their surroundings changed to those of a temple resting on marble pillars, the faceless head of a dragon made of purple crystals floating in the middle. "Now we're only allowed three creatures and three spells per turn."
"I cast Beginning of the End." The top three cards of Sayo's deck went into her graveyard, those being Tsuruhashi Doji, Dakliedrange and Spiner, Shock Doctor, the first of which was recovered.
"I cast Goten! Ginga MAX and set Absolute Shield Knight as a face up shield! With his effect, I check the top two cards of my deck, draw one and set Lightning Sword Paladin as a face up shield too."
"I summon Rymer Druid." A green-skinned humanoid appeared in the battle zone, wearing an orange loincloth, a necklace with painted eyes, golden bracelets and earrings and a witch hat, and wielding a wooden staff with a skull on its top. "I check the top four cards of my deck, add Jukushite Inai Zombiebanana to my mana zone and send Brachiodrange, Crossfire, Millionaire and Belladonna, Demon Faerie to my graveyard. Then the Rymer Druid I summoned gets destroyed." The creature then vanished in a small explosion.
"My turn begins, I summon Absolute Shield Knight and Lightning Sword Paladin as if their costs were paid!" A round robotic knight donning pale golden armor and sitting in the lotus position appeared in the battle zone alongside a golden-armored knight wearing a helmet shaped after a cone and wielding a sword made of blue lightning. "With Absolute Shield Knight's effect, I check the top two cards of my deck, draw one and set I Am Justice If You Want as a face up shield. Galaxyshield 3, I set Azure Rising General as a face up shield as well and draw again. Now while I Am Justice If You Want is face up in my shield zone, all of my shields gain shield trigger!" Hajime declared, trying to intimidate his opponent into not attacking.
"Since I have 9 creatures in my graveyard, I summon 5000GT, Riot for 3 mana!" A winged red-skinned humanoid with dragon features, donning a formal black suit with a blue tie and its left arm replaced with a giant buzz saw and a sharp blade arose by Sayo's side. "Fushigiverse, I send 5000GT to my mana zone and revive Gigandydanos, Big Tree King for 2 mana!" The creature got enveloped in a green aura and vanished, its place being taken by a giant tree creature with moose features, a glowing halo above its head and toxic purple fumes coming outs of its skull face. "With his effect, you must send all the cards from your hand to your mana zone!" She watched her opponent gulp as he lost Absolute Shield Knight, Emeral Trickster, Lightning Sword Paladin and Joe Star of Hope to his mana zone. "Also, your creatures weaker than my Gigandydanos's 50000 power can't attack me!"
As always, her lockdowns were always annoyingly effective. She may have changed her deck, but her strategy of bringing out big finishers from the graveyard always remained the same. His only way out was to draw a removal. Willing to try his luck, the blond began:
"At the start of my turn, I summon Azure Rising General and I Am Justice If You Want as if their costs were paid!" A blue robotic warrior wielding a glowing lance and a small blue robotic humanoid sitting in front of a giant golden golem both appeared in the battle zone. "I draw a card from Azure Rising General's effect and while I Am Justice If You Want is in the battle zone, my creatures can't be attacked or blocked!" He checked the card he drew and a sly smile grew on his face. "It's time for you to meet one of my old finishers - I summon Kirazeus Savark!" A slender serpentine dragon made of gold and dark purple crystal, its wings made of sharp golden spears, a red eye glowing on its chest and a brilliant sword of light in its sharp claws appeared as well and gave a proud roar. "With his effect, I send your Gigandydanos on one of your shields face up!" The dragon flew towards his tree-like counterpart and used his sword to hack him into pieces, causing the bigger creature to disappear and his image to appear on one of the opposing shields. "I attack with Absolute Shield Knight and use his effect again to check the top two cards of my deck, draw one and set Mage of Cursebreaker as a new face up shield, then... double break!" The rotund knight created a prism of energy in his hand and tossed it towards the opponent, tearing through two of her shields.
"Shield trigger, I summon Trap Giant and send Lightning Sword Paladin to your mana zone!"
"Not so fast - Kirazeus Savark's effect kicks in! Whenever one of my creatures would leave the battle zone, I may send a face up card from any shield zone to its owner's graveyard instead - I burn Gigandydanos off your shield and save Lightning Sword Paladin!" The horned giant with a small forest growing all over its mountainous body appeared and tried to use his dual-bladed sword to cut off the golden-armored knight, only for the attack to be intercepted and blocked by the crystal dragon's light sword. "Lightning Sword Paladin, double break her shields!" The knight then rushed forward and used his blade to hack away two more shields.
"Shield trigger, I summon Jukushite Inai Zombiebanana and destroy I Am Justice If You Want!"
"Kirazeus Savark's effect again - I burn my own Mage of Cursebreaker shield to save my creature!" The anthropomorphic rotten banana appeared and fired its toxic purple fumes upon the robotic duo, only for that attack to be intercepted and blocked by the crystal dragon's sword once more. "And now I'll end my turn," Hajime passed.
"Since I have 9 creatures in my graveyard, I summon Obuza 08, Demon Dragon Armored by paying a single mana." A tall mechanical creature covered in spikes and chains appeared by Sayo's side, a cannon sticking out of its mouth and a dragon's skull on its head. "With his effect I give -9000 to Lightning Sword Paladin, destroying him!" The creature fired a laser beam from its cannon which obliterated the golden-armored knight. "Then I summon a second Obuza 08 and give -9000 to Azure Rising General as well!" The same fate fell upon the blue robotic warrior. "Then Fushigiverse, I send Zombiebanana to my mana zone and revive Gigandydanos, Big Tree King with 5 mana!" The rotten banana got enveloped by a green aura and disappeared, the tree dragon returning in the battle zone much to her opponent's chagrin, who was forced to place Goten! Ginga MAX and Mage of Cursebreaker from his hand into the mana zone.
Hajime clenched his fist in frustration as he once more had to deal with that annoying lockdown which stopped his attacks. Unfortunately for him, the top card of his deck did not prove as useful as last time. But still, it was better than nothing.
"Gravity Zero, I summon Xf Croce Fuoco, Dragment Symbol and shuffle all cards in our graveyards back into your decks!" A more humanoid dragon donning an elegant blue armor appeared, causing both players to lose all cards in their graveyards. "Let's see you try to pull off your Fushigiverse tricks now!"
"Merely a minor setback - I summon Rymer Druid." The green humanoid reappeared and she checked the top four cards of her deck again, sending Tsuruhashi Doji to her mana zone, while Domanmodrange, Belladonna, Demon Faerie and Piodoro, Dragon Armored Car / Toxic Juice fell in her graveyard. "Since I played him from my hand, Rymer Druid gets destroyed." Once more the creature vanished in a small explosion. "Then since I have a multicolored creature in the battle zone... Rainbownus, I summon Jukushite Inai Zombiebanana for 5 mana instead of 9!" The rotten banana donning a golden necklace reappeared. "With his effect I destroy I Am Justice If You Want!" Once more it spat toxic purple fumes upon the robotic duo and this time nothing could prevent their fate of being molten away by them.
"You may have gotten rid of my finisher, but now I'll return the favor - I summon Lightning Sword Paladin and send Gigandydanos to your shield zone face down as a new shield!" The golden-armored knight reappeared and used his blue lightning blade to hack the tree dragon, making him disappear from the battle zone a second time. "I attack with Kirazeus Savark and Dragon Double Breaker, I set Azure Rising General and Absolute Shield Knight face up on my shields! I draw a card from Azure Rising General's effect and then with Absolute Shield Knight's effect I check the top two cards of my deck, draw one and set Mage of Cursebreaker as a face up shield. Go, Kirazeus Savark, break her final shields!" The dragon made of purple crystals flew ahead and hacked the two remaining shields with his sword of light.
"Shield trigger, I summon Tsuruhashi Doji!" A small blue oni wielding a pickaxe appeared, causing the top cards of Sayo's deck to go into her graveyard, those being Gigandydanos, Big Tree King, Brachiodrange and Crossfire, Millionaire. "I won't recover anything. But Tsuruhashi is slayer and thanks to Onitime, he also gets blocker!"
"That won't stop me! I attack with Absolute Shield Knight, check the top two cards of my deck, draw one and set Goten! Ginga MAX as a face up shield. Since I have 7 shields, Onitime is no longer activated and Tsuruhashi loses blocker. Now go and finish her, todomeda!"
"Ninja Strike 4, I summon Hayabusamaru, Lightfang Ninja and turn Tsuruhashi into a blocker again! Tsuruhashi blocks the attack and both creatures die!"
"Kirazeus Savark's effect - I burn the Mage of Cursebreaker shield to save Absolute Shield Knight!"
The small blue oni stood and blocked the prismatic attack of the round knight, but when he tried to retaliate by throwing his pickaxe back at the bigger creature, the crystal dragon intercepted said attack and tossed the pickaxe back into the tiny creature, marking him as the only casualty.
"Very well then, my turn begins anew. Fushigiverse, I send Zombiebanana to my mana zone and revive Gigandydanos again with 5 mana!" Once more the banana disappeared and was replaced by the gigantic tree dragon, Hajime groaning in frustration as he put Emeral Trickster, DG Parthenon ~Where Dragons are Created~ and Xf Croce Fuoco, Dragment Symbol in his mana zone. "Then Fushigiverse again, I send Trap Giant to my mana zone and revive Brachiodrange with 4 mana!" The horned and mustached giant also got enveloped by a green aura and disappeared, his place being taken by a slender bipedal dragon whose limbs and tail were leafed tree branches, its body decorated with precious sapphires. "While Brachiodrange is in the battle zone, you can't activate any of your creatures' enter the battle zone effects!"
Another lockdown, exactly what he did not want to see. Not having much of an option, Hajime began his turn and said, "I summon Azure Rising General and Absolute Shield Knight as if their costs were paid." Both creatures reappeared, even if he could not activate their effects. "I expand another DG Parthenon and draw a card. Then I cast Jyuu Ni Shin Ki, check the top four cards of my deck, add one to my hand and put the rest on the bottom of my deck. Lastly, I summon Emeral Trickster and end my turn." A small blue Cyber Lord donning a white suit appeared next to his army of knights.
"I summon a second Gigandydanos, Big Tree King and end as well."
Hajime clenched his fist in frustration. He had three big creatures with lockdown effects to deal with if he wanted to win the game. Unfortunately for him, his own deck could not help him much.
"I summon Mage of Cursebreaker." A small robotic humanoid in a golden white armor with a circle of light surrounding his waist appeared in the battle zone, but like his comrades was unable to use his effects.
Sayo suddenly smirked, catching him by surprise. That newfound confidence of hers was definitely not a good sign. "It's time to begin the counteroffensive then - Gravity Zero, I summon Crossfire, Millionaire! Then I also summon not one but two 5000GT, Riot and destroy all creatures with power 5000 or less!" A humanoid with dragon features and an elegant mechanical suit reappeared, followed by two winged red-skinned humanoids with dragon features, donning formal black suits. Hajime's Mage of Cursebreaker and Emeral Trickster were hacked into pieces by the latter two's buzz saw arms. "Gigandydanos, break all of his shields!"
"Xf Croce Fuoco blocks the atack!" he was quick to intervene and the blue dragon rushed in the path of the rampaging tree dragon, getting crushed underfoot.
"My other Gigandydanos, break all of his shields!"
"I block with Azure Rising General!" he announced and the blue robot held tight onto his lance as he jumped in front of the gigantic creature's attack, getting crushed by its wooden leg.
"I won't give you any card advantage, so I'll end here."
"Alright then, I cast Goten! Ginga MAX and send a Gigandydanos back to your hand!"
"A futile attempt! I cast Assault, Onifuda Kingdom to destroy an Absolute Shield Knight. Gigandydanos, break all of his shields!"
"My other Absolute Shield Knight blocks the attack!" The rotund knight was also stomped to death by the tree dragon.
"Then Brachiodrange, quattro break his shields!" The slender plant dragon flew headfirst through the opponent's shields, shattering four of them. "Judging by your silence, you've gotten no shield triggers. If that's the case, I break your last shields with 5000GT!"
"Lighting Sword Paladin's effect - I discard Emeral Trickster and save one of my two shields!" He immediately checked the other one. "Shield trigger, I cast Goten! Ginga MAX and since I have a Light and Water creature in the battle zone, I use both its effects! I send Brachiodrange back to your hand and set I Am Justice If You Want as a face up shield!"
"I break your last shields with my other 5000GT!"
"That won't happen! I discard Paranormal, Task Produce and Xf Croce Fuoco, Dragment Symbol to save both shields!"
"Obuza 08, break his final shields!"
The mechanical creature fired a laser beam from the cannon in its mouth and Hajime crossed his fingers that the other shield would be something to help him stop both of her remaining attacks. He checked them and...
"Shield trigger, I summon I Am Justice If You Want and Lightning Sword Paladin! With the latter's effect, I send Crossfire to your shield zone face down!" Still not enough, just one removal short.
"My other Obuza 08, todomeda!" Sayo ordered and the second mechanical creature fired a laser as well, its attack blasting Hajime and his cards away, cementing her victory.
Although victorious, she was about to collapse and she used her elbows to balance herself against the dueling table. She caught her breath and regarded her defeated opponent, making no effort to hide how tired she was after such a long and complicated duel.
"Congratulations, Hajime. You've grown much stronger since I last saw you. No wonder Shishima views you as his most worthy adversary," she complimented him, cracking a smile.
"Sayo, please, think about mankind's well-being! Do the right thing and betray Shishima!" he begged while trying to get back up, ultimately failing to as he crashed once more with his back against the ground.
"I can't do that anymore. Shishima has changed for the better during our absence. If you wish to see this for yourself, then you must go along with his game and defeat the Spawns. I'm afraid it's the only way."
With those parting words said, Sayo packed her cards and took her leave, slowly disappearing in the horizon.
"Sayo, wait, don't leave me!" the weakened Hajime called but did not receive any response. The duel had taken a toll on him as well, his vision starting to blur as his consciousness began to slip away. The last thing he could distinguish was Ben rushing out of the mansion's gates to his rescue...
In less than half an hour, Sayo found herself in front of the mansion resting on the hills of Sagakin's outskirts. Before she could even knock at the door, it already swung open and Count Kage welcomed her with a loving embrace which was reciprocated immediately.
"I missed you, my beloved," she whispered and the two shared a passionate kiss.