Chapter 30:
Blake couldn't help but smirk when he saw Sheppard's shocked expression. Even Zane looked surprised, but he had the better poker face. So, he waited, drumming his fingers against his arm, until Sheppard responded to his question.
"How do you know about those cards?" The chancellor inquired with a sharp gaze, a grimace forming on his face. "They are a secret of the Cyber Style school."
"Chancellor, please." Blake rolled his wrist towards the man. "You know my past, the people I was around. I have my connections. Or do you think every student of your school that failed to earn a deck never spoke out about the cards of your school?"
Zane shot a look towards Sheppard. "He's got a point, Chancellor. Even I have heard of them, if only in passing."
"Even then, the Cyberdark cards are a completely different matter from the others. They should never be used, even less so by someone outside our school." The man turned and looked out of the windows. "They aren't your regular, everyday cards. Not only do they have a will of their own, they can and will hurt their user, they-"
"Give off a dark, violent aura?" Blake interrupted. "Some might even say brutal?" His spirit partner laughed lowly. "Isn't that exactly what you claimed my aura to be? The very reason you kept me in check by essentially blackmailing me with the info you have on my past? Pretty sure that's what you would've done if I had declined earlier." He spat the last part at the man, who sighed in return.
"I understand where you're going with this, Blake, believe me, I do." Sheppard said eventually, rubbing his forehead. "But even if you perfectly aligned with the Cyberdarks, which I doubt their very nature even allows, it's too much of a risk."
"For who?" Blake asked.
"… what do you mean?"
"Is it a risk for me or is it a risk for you?" Blake explained. "You know, giving the super-secret forbidden cards of your special Cyber Style school to an outsider? Wouldn't that reflect bad on you?"
"This isn't a matter of image-"
Blake slammed his hands on the chancellor's desk, growling in an even voice. "Don't act like you care about my wellbeing all of a sudden, Sheppard. If it hadn't been for my recurring lack of sleep that made me visit Fontaine I'd still deal with my body on my own. Isn't the reason you make this unnecessarily drawn out what I did in the past? My style of dueling? The way I treat the trash like the thrash they are?"
He jabbed his thumb over at Zane. "That's what your favorite pupil called me out on too. What of it? He idolized you, that's why his style and way of thinking aligned to yours. I idolized Kaiba, so I'm a pretentious asshole that can actually back up my words. It ain't my fault I ended up having to duel and wreck my bodies for years to get out of the hell I was living in. It sure as hell didn't make me a nicer person, but unlike your favorite Obelisk Blue students, I don't go out of my way to be a nuisance to others."
"That said, can you stop pretending to care what those cards may or may not do to me and think about this rationally? If the enemy has intel on us – which let's be honest they likely have – they know that after Zane, I'm the biggest threat. But I also don't have a real deck right now, which makes me very easy to pick out early. Even if I build a deck from the cards left in the store, we both know it won't compare to the personal decks all your other guardians have. Giving me the Cyberdarks is the 'optimal solution', as Bastion would say."
"Hell, if we're lucky I won't even have to use them, 'cause Zane will just stomp everyone that comes at us. But even if he doesn't, I doubt I will have enough duels for the cards to actually threaten me. So, do everyone a favor and give me the tools to take care of this threat quickly, then we can all go back to a normal school life." Blake finished his rant.
Sheppard said nothing for a while, instead staring at the dark sky outside.
"Chancellor, if I may?" Zane cleared his throat. "Given our current situation, I admit I can't disagree. All of us are in harm's way anyway, and while I don't know these cards as good as you do, I doubt whatever they can do will be as bad as what happens if any of us loses. I understand your reserve about this, but given what you told us about these Cyberdarks, I think that if anyone could handle them, it's Blake. I would know, I've duelled him dozens of times up until now."
Blake met Zane's eyes in surprise, the older student giving him a brief nod. 'Huh. Didn't expect you to back me up after all the shit I threw at you.'
"The Cyberdarks are said to destroy the body of any duelist using them." Sheppard eventually said in a strange, almost mourning voice. "Many have tried to use them, all of them have failed. Some managed to use them for months, others had mere weeks before they broke down."
"I dueled underground for what, five years? Maybe six now? Every hit to my lifepoints accompanied by an electric shock that got worse the higher the damage was?" Blake said. "Almost got burnt to a crisp when one guy had fucking flamethrowers installed for our match. Flame-throw-ers." He loudly jabbed against the wooden desk with every syllable. "Aside from a limp in my leg, a spasming left hand, some scars where the collars were put on, and a whole lot of traumas, I'm perfectly fine." He let out a shallow laugh at that. It felt like Zane's eyes bored into him from the side. "Adding some spooky cards hurting me on top of that won't change much."
Seeing as the Chancellor still didn't seem convinced, he tried something else. "And it's not like they can just do whatever they want to me. I've got a neat little spirit that can surely keep them in check."
"What?" That got Sheppard to turn around.
"I said, I'm completely fine-"
"Not that. What was that about a spirit?" The man interrupted him.
"Uuh … I've got a spirit that can keep them in check?" Blake replayed. "You know, duel spirit? Those guys that look like Duel Monsters?"
Sheppard stared at him for what felt like an eternity. "Perhaps …"
"One would think you'd notice, given you're the big boss around here. Didn't take Jaden nor Chazz long to notice, at least. But that's probably because my partner likes to pick fights." Blake shrugged. 'And stop staring at me like that for fucks sake.'
The chancellor's eyes flashed briefly before he looked up and turned towards the windows once more. "Zane, if you'd be so kind as to accompany Blake to the card shop? Ms. Dorothy will be informed about our arrangement, but surely your presence will disperse any kind of doubt she may have. I'll … think about your proposal, Blake."
Blake clicked his tongue and turned around. "Don't blame me if everything goes to shit just because you refused to use everything at your disposal."
They'd been at the card store for only half an hour. In that short time, Zane had assured Miss Dorothy that he was allowed to rent cards from the shop before the message from Sheppard finally arrived. While his senior was busy dealing with that, Blake skimmed through the single cards being sold, making a list of worthwhile cards not just for him, but the other guardians as well along the way.
'There goes my plan to just Future Fusion into F.G.D for the Cyberdarks, fuck. Would've made things all too easy, I guess …' Blake sighed, looking over the list he'd made. 'Gotta take a look at what's in the booster packs and the handful of structure decks laying around. What to do if Sheppard stays stubborn, though … I can splash Jinzo and DAD into everything, so that's not much of an issue …' While his newest spirit partner hadn't yet abandoned his physical form, he had given him his corresponding card. And having a Jinzo never hurt.
'Maybe a sort of Jinzo-Beatdown? No need to worry about traps, boosting his attack is easy enough too … ooh, what about some good old Horus-Lockdown … urgh, would have to pull that out of the boosters …' He put the list down and pinched his nose in annoyance. 'No wonder most students' decks are shit, there're few good cards in stock. Or maybe someone bought them all up? Maybe Banner skimmed through to keep our decks at the same level? Nah, doubt he'd think that was necessary …'
A vibration going off in his jacket caught his attention. He pulled out his PDA and sighed when he saw he got a message from Kami to meet up. 'She really can't wait, can she? Guess I'll come back later then.' Taking the few cards he'd picked out already, he made way to leave the store. Zane had left already, but before he could too, Miss Dorothy stopped him.
"Found something good, dear?" She asked, eyeing the small bundle of cards he carried.
A bit put off by the sudden attention, it took Blake a moment to respond. "A few cards. I was hoping for more, though." 'Especially staples, there were basically none aside from one MST …'
Miss Dorothy sighed, putting a hand on her cheek in worry. "I knew I should've stopped that lass from her shopping spree, but she had the money …"
"What 'lass'?" Blake blinked.
"The blue-haired one that has challenged Miss Kohinata for her title. Umino was her name, I believe."
Blake resisted the urge to facepalm. 'Urgh, couldn't she at least have waited for me on that? I get that she wants to get her deck to be perfect possible given our situation, but why throw out all that money without thinking first? Oh, right, because she can.'
"Is everything alright, dear?" Dorothy asked with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah … just got a lot on my plate right now."
"I can imagine after everything that happened to you in such a short span of time." She patted his arm reassuringly. "But don't worry too much. I'm sure these false rumors will be gone soon enough. And if I can't get all your cards back via vendors, I'll have the Chancellor call Mister Pegasus. I'm sure he'll help out if need be."
"Erm … thank you, Miss Dorothy." Blake said eventually, surprised by her attitude.
"Now, don't let an old woman keep you too long. You're going to meet up with someone, aren't you?" She handed him a little bag. "These sandwiches are for you and your friends. I'm sure there's something for everyone in there."
"I will … and I'll probably come back later, if you don't mind."
"I won't, this is my job, after all. Go along now, don't keep them waiting."
'Huh, maybe I should come over more often when she's around. Definitely the most supportive staff member I've met …' Blake thought as he made his way up to the classroom Kami wanted to meet in. 'Now, how to get the little princess out of the whole guardian-thing?'
It wasn't often that Kami felt she'd made a mistake. Due to her meticulous planning, there were rarely if any bumps on her road to success. That's what her father taught her, after all; minimize risk but maximize profit – a strategy that needed extensive knowledge and experience if it was to succeed. She'd always prided herself in how she flawlessly executed what was expected of her.
Which was why she panicked now, feeling that she made a decisive miscalculation. Perhaps it was her pride that finally got the better of her when she'd accepted to help out the Chancellor with guarding these weird keys. Or maybe it was a calculated move from the current Queen to throw her off her game. Kohinata had declined, instead wanting to focus on securing her title, after all.
No, it was something else. Those points certainly played into her decision; she wasn't perfect – she knew that, despite how she presented herself. This was way riskier than she normally acted, but she had a feeling that it was necessary if she was to achieve true greatness. But how would she explain her reasoning to the person that made such a big impact on her and why did he look so angry-
"What the fuck where you thinking?!" Blake shouted at her as he stormed into the room.
Caught off-guard, she made a few steps back and found herself with her back against the wall. A hand slammed against it just to the side off her face, the loud noise making her wince briefly. It was almost the perfect kabedon, just like in the manga she'd grown so fond off now that she could read them without the fear of her father discovering it. Unlike in her manga, Blake didn't look like he was flirting in the slightest.
She nevertheless stared up defiantly, only now noticing the clear difference of a full head in height between them. She always had Blake sit down in front of her, in a submissive position. But now? Now she was the small one, the weak one. She'd always hated it when her father made her feel like that. Then why didn't she seem to mind it now?
"Hand over the stupid key and be done with it." He said and flexed his free hand.
"W-what?"
"You heard me." Blake's eyes bored into her as he leaned in closer. "Give me the key."
"Do you doubt my capabilities?" She asked sharply, meeting his glare head on.
"Yes."
The way and tone of his immediate answer almost threw her off her game. "I imagine you have taken the key from Rhodes already then? She lost against me, after all."
"True, but she's got personal reasons for joining. What reasons to you have other than trying to one-up the current Queen?"
"I-"
"Shouldn't the good little Umino princess stay out of harm's way and focus on her own business? Or have you forgotten what happened at the Abandoned Dorm already?"
She felt a shiver down her spine, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of showing any physical response. Not when he came at her like that. "Is that how you talk to your well-paying employer?" She pushed back.
And he even had the gall to snort at that. "If she's being stupid? Yes."
"Oh?" She glared at him. "Pray tell me what's so stupid about what I'm doing."
"Dunno, maybe the fact that you have no idea what you signed up for? That the last time you had to deal with a way tamer version of what's to come you couldn't even walk by yourself?" He said in his usual sarcastic tone. If it wasn't directed towards her, maybe she'd have laughed. "You saw how Jaden almost got knocked out, how I got another scar back then. Do you really think you can handle anything like that, princess?"
He was mocking her! Her, of all people! He did raise some valid points, but he mocked her! That's it. "You better shut your mouth! I've got enough of people treating me like I'm some porcelain doll that's only there to look pretty and do as she's told!" She jabbed her finger against his chest while shouting at him.
"I'll have you know that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed with the situation back then, but that was a one and done thing." She continued poking him, which probably hurt herself more than him, but she was too angry to care. "I don't need you, or Crowler, or anyone else to baby me. It's bad enough that I can barely go anywhere myself outside of this academy. Do you have any idea what I have to deal with on a constant basis? The expectations? The stress? The disgusting looks of old businessmen and their slimy sons that treat me than nothing more than a quick way to power and wealth? A prized piece of meat?!"
She took a moment to calm down after raising her voice like that. "I'm not just another Umino, I'm the Kami Umino. The rightful Queen of this bloody academy who can make her own decisions, and you better remember that!"
There was an uncomfortable silence once she was done shouting at him, but she felt just a little lighter after that. She was so used to bundle up everything, to think that letting out all of her frustration like that could feel so good …
After what felt like minutes, Blake pulled back from her with a sigh, although she heard him almost chuckle in there. "This would've been so much easier if you were just another rich girl, you know?"
"Hmpf. You should know better by now that those kinds of girls are nothing like me." She crossed her arms. He's furious but a moment ago, was this just some scheme to make her pull out? Why?
"Heh, true. And here I was thinking why I cared to begin with, guess I have my answer."
He … cared? About the key, or about her? No, it had to be the job. Who else would pay him so generously if something was to happen to her.
"Alright, fine. Keep the damn thing." He waved her off before plopping down on a chair in front of the desk where she'd laid down all the cards she'd bought earlier. "Don't say I didn't warn you, though."
She blinked a few times, her heart slowly calming down as she sat down opposite of him. She hadn't even realized it was beating that fast. "Hmpf. You should worry about yourself rather than me. How are you going to deal with these attackers without your deck, after all?"
"Pretty damn easy if Sheppard pulls his head out of his own ass." Blake laughed. "If he doesn't, I'll just keep raiding the store. As long as someone else doesn't buy up all the good cards, that is." He threw her an annoyed look that caused her to smirk back at him.
"Oh, is that why you stayed longer? Poor me, and here I got all of those so you could build a new deck. Now what am I going to do with all these cards …" The stunned look on his face was priceless. This time, she couldn't help but laugh. "Ohohoho~, did you really think I'd leave my most valuable partner on his own?"
When he didn't respond, she pouted. "Really now? Just what do you think of me? I didn't put damage control on those stupid rumors for nothing, you know."
"… why?" He asked lowly.
"Why what? Why I don't drop a troublesome person like you before you dirty my prestigious image?" He cringed ever so slightly. "Why I continue to meet and support you despite knowing full well about your past?" This time he flinched more noticeably. "Despite what you might think, I don't really care about that. Your positives outweigh the negatives, if you ask me. Not that I'd worry about you doing anything to me in the first place."
"Really now?" Blake raised an eyebrow at her. "You know, I could've done a lot of things in the position I got you in earlier."
"A lesser man might've done so." She replied, the image of Shinji briefly flashing in her mind. How satisfying it had been when Blake punched him in the face. She didn't condone physical violence, but she could make exceptions. "But unlike your little girl friends, I know that I can trust you." It seemed like Blake was weak against positive reinforcement if the way his eyes widened at that was anything to go by. How cute.
"So, what. You build be back up and keep me on a tight leash to do your bidding?"
"It would be rather fitting, wouldn't it, Hound?" She giggled but shook her head. "No. I believe there's more to gain if we go about all of this in a different manner. If you were just another piece on my board, I wouldn't bother. If the two of us work together in harmony, however, we can shoot to true heights. Isn't that what both of us want? Me, the next prestigious CEO of Umino Enterprises, and you, the duelist that will go up against people like Kaiba and Muto himself?"
If anyone had told her that she'd such a promising ally such as Blake in her first year, much less a student that was put into the Slifer dorm when they'd arrived, she would've laughed in their face. But she'd long since learned to trust her gut feeling. After Blake took care of every target she gave him in the blink of an eye, after how he'd supported her at Abandoned Dorm, after he had her back in Sheppard's office, and how he kept his head high and defiantly pushed forward despite having lost deck, she couldn't be any surer that this was the right course of action. She didn't need another pawn. What she needed was a right hand, no … an equal.
"Mind you that you're the first and likely one of the few people I'd ever offer this. So, what do you say?" She curtly held out her hand towards him with an honest smile. "Shall we reach the stars together, partner?"
He looked away from her and towards the pocket she knew he kept his PDA in. He looked hesitant, as if looking for an answer from someone else, no doubt the woman that had taken him in. She hadn't received reports about that one yet, but that little move confirmed just how dependent Blake was on her. She'd have to treat careful around that woman, at least until she'd gotten him completely on her side.
"You're not pulling my leg here, right?" He asked.
"No, I meant everything I said." Which was just as surprising to herself than it was to him.
Blake took a deep breath and locked eyes with her once more. "Alright then." He took her hand in a more tender way than she'd thought he would. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he's scared. "To a successful partnership."
"Indeed." Once they shook hands, she got straight back to business. Something in her brain was trying to distract her, but she couldn't afford it right now. "Now, take your time looking over the cards I bought. Whatever you might need is yours."
"Okay … you know that Bastion and I will go over everyone's decks to try and fix any problems before anything bad happens, right?" Blake began scanning over the wide selection she'd laid out.
"Do you imply that my deck is anything but perfect?"
"No deck's perfect, I'm afraid." He said before chuckling. "And considering what I know the other guys to run in theirs? Looking at it won't hurt."
"I guess I can make an exception for you then." She replied and got up from her seat to take a look over the cards herself, looking over his shoulder as she did so.
"How gracious of you." Blake replied and she noticed how the tension had left his shoulders. "And here I thought I was just your handsome lapdog, waiting to be mess up anyone that looked at you the wrong way."
"If it's people like Shinji, feel free to do so. Just do it without witnesses." She said, before she giggled once more. "The eye candy is just a bonus." Just when was the last time she could act so freely?
"Funny, that's the same thing I told the others when they asked how I could stand working for you."
"Excuse me?!"
'Today's a weird day. Is the feeling of a possibly imminent apocalypse affecting everyone that much or why's everyone so … supportive all of a sudden?' Blake thought to himself as he wandered through the dark woods. The sun had set completely by now, and the smell of the clear forest changed into something less pleasant the closer he got to the Abandoned Dorm.
'You think you got that old dimwit?' Dark Armed growled from his side. 'I've heard about these Cyberdarks before. Wonder if they'll put up a decent fight.'
'I've thrown everything at him, so if he thinks with his brain rather than his heart, I think I got him. Considering the fact, he's thinking about it he must have them somewhere nearby.' Blake answered back, now that he could do so without talking. 'Which means if he doesn't, I'll just have Jinzo find a route to and take them from him. He can cry about it afterwards.'
'He lacks will. A weak, complacent man, that Chancellor. If he tried to fight us, he'd stand no chance.'
'No doubt about that. Remember to stay silent and preferably out of sight once we're in there. We don't want them to know too much.' He couldn't remember if Banner could see duel spirits, but considering that the Dark Scorpions were hired canonically, he wasn't taking any chances. They were spirits, so it would be weird if they wouldn't notice. And wasn't the amazon lady a spirit tiger?
'You know we could take them by ourselves.'
'If I had my deck, yes. But I don't, so we're trying to be smart here. Besides, no need to deal with the small fries if someone else can do it, right?'
His partner laughed at that and vanished once he was in front of the dorm. He made his way down to the basement, back to the room where he and Jaden had fought Titan and Panik. Where there was a simple wall last time, there now was a door, which he promptly knocked at. It didn't take long for Banner to open it. The man hadn't yet changed in his appearance, but considering that Blake could see some cracks forming in Banner's hands as he closed the door behind him, it shouldn't be long until he did.
"Glad you could make it, Blake. I hope security didn't give you too much trouble?" Banner asked while leading him to a large table that was dimly lit. Dark figures sat around it, but due to the poor lighting, they were all but silhouettes.
Blake shook his head and sat down at the seat Banner stopped at, a spot at the lower end. The man continued his walk and took the seat at the heads table. Once Banner was seated, the candles in the room shone brighter, revealing the other people around.
To Banners left sat Nightshroud, wearing his dark cloak and iconic black half-mask, who eyed him with more interest than he liked. What surprised Blake more than the interest Nightshroud took in him, was the fact that he wore a complete golden pendant, rather than a half one. What did that mean?
On the other side perched a small cartoonish-looking bat, projecting the image of the tall, green-haired Camula in her revealing red dress. She looked amused at their latest addition, but didn't comment just yet, instead opting to adjust her golden choker.
Next in line was the muscle-bound amazon Tania, who looked bored out of her mind as she rested her head on her propped-up hand that wore a black and golden gauntlet. That was until she saw him and suddenly straightened in her seat with a grunt he neither could nor want to place.
Opposite of her was a fully equipped Don Zaloog laying back in his chair, feet on the table, playing with a knife, his golden eyepatch reflecting the candles fire. He didn't seem to even notice Blake.
The last person and the one sitting in front of Blake was no doubt Abidos the … second? Third? It didn't really matter. The 'unbeatable pharaoh' was in full gold and blue regalia, a mask hiding his face. A golden circlet rested on top of his head, sharing the same Eye of Anubis as the other charms.
"Now that everyone's here, I believe it's time to introduce our latest member." Banner began, his eyes now open and revealing their red color to everyone around. "This is Blake, who while being only a first-year at the academy here is also the champion of the underground duelist ring spanning all of Domino City. Or was, until someone must've leaked information." The man seemed amused by this.
"A child? Really now, Amneal?" The heavy accented voice of Camula finally raised.
"Both me and our leader have agreed that he's more suitable for us than what the alternative would've been." Banner shut her down with a sudden change in mannerism. He then took out a small box that rose out of his hand and slowly hovered towards Blake. "In order for you to fulfill your part of the deal, our leader sent this Shadow Charm. I'll teach you how to use it once we're done here. And since your deck has been lost, I decided to add one you might be familiar with."
The box landed in front of Blake, the sharp gaze from Banner prompting him to open it. Inside lied a bracelet akin to the sweatbands he wore before they were destroyed by Panik, with the addition of a golden Eye of Anubis on it. He took it out and put it on his right arm, where it tightened painfully and shot a sudden pulse of dark emotions through his body. Gritting his teeth, he tried to move it away, but the Shadow Charm was unmoved. It made him feel almost as angry as when he did in his duel against Shinji. 'Fuck. Hopefully Jinzo has an idea on how to get this thing off of me.'
Besides the spot where the charm had been was a deck, with a familiar blue-rimmed card on top of it. 'Panik's deck, huh. Better than Titan's, I suppose.' He took the cards and put them into his deck box, before looking back to Banner.
"Now that that's settled, we can get onto the plan. Blake here doubles as our plant within the schools Spirit Guardians, who hold the keys we need to gather for our leader. While there's been some … unforeseen altercations, they shouldn't impact us in any way."
"We don't need a plant, or spies, or anything like that. They're nothing but children." Nightshroud voiced with a smug look on his face. "I can take them out easily."
"I agree." Tania purred. "Let's just go in and get this over with."
"Didn't you say something about an upcoming large-scale battle between the students, Amnael?" Abidos questioned. "I'm excited to see how that plays out … we can use it to our advantage too, of course." The pharaoh added bashfully.
"You sure we can't just whack them with a stick and take the keys off of them?" Zaloog prompted.
"If you offer yourself to take the fall in order to use them, you can." Blake shot at the spirit. "They won't unlock the gates if they're not won in a Shadow Duel, dipshit."
"Hah? What was that, you brat?" The man rose to his feet, the tip of his knife aimed towards Blake.
"Silence." Amnael said in a calm but commanding voice. "I already have a plan in mind to secure the first couple of keys. Given your eagerness, Nightshroud, I believe it's a good chance for you to prove your worth."
"Pah, nothing easier than that." Nightshroud laid back in his seat.
Banner continued. "Given the fact we have our own spy among them, I believe your power can be used in more effective ways than spying on them, Camula." There was a certain undertone to that notion that Blake couldn't quite place.
'Can she do more than send out her bats to spy on people? I don't remember …'
"You have a lot of faith in the whelp, Amnael. Who's to say your boy isn't acting as a double agent?" Camula questioned, her projection looking at Blake.
'Alright, she's obviously the dangerous one.' Blake thought. Thankfully his years of living with his guardian had taught him how to keep his thoughts to himself. The situation with Kami before was an exception. "I like the hot vampire lady. She's got a brain, unlike some others here." He eventually said, resting his head on his fist.
Said vampire lady cackled at that in an entirely unpleasant way that didn't match her otherwise flawless exterior.
"Penny for your thoughts, Banner?" Blake asked. The man looked at him expectingly. "I've dueled and beaten every of the other guardians safe for one, so I'd say I'm pretty confident in judging their capabilities. I could make some suggestions on who to target in what order."
"While I've kept my eyes on them as well, you may have better insight indeed." Banner confessed. "You have no ideas of what your fellow Shadow Riders are capable off, however."
'Oh, I most certainly do.' "Let's compare notes then." Blake offered. "Since hot vampire lady said I'm not exactly trustworthy, I don't expect you to tell me what the others can do. While I can't make any certain judgement right now, I'd say Nightshroud should go after Rhodes, given their connection." 'Not that she's a valuable asset in the first place. Whether Kami or Crowler doesn't matter; Alexis's the weakest right now. But it's also easy to have Zane stick to her, so that's an easy fix.'
Both Banner and Nightshroud looked at him. "What? You think I'm blind? They've got the exact same hair. We even found a picture of Atticus in the other room. Obviously, it isn't the real one, otherwise he would've probably taken my head off for saying that, but still. She'll be shaken, so an easy win and first key. Besides, she's the worst duelist of the guardians."
"Capitalizing on your advantage and taking out the weakest link is a solid strategy in warfare." Tania chimed in. "It'll decrease the other guardians' morales as well. I like it." She purred the last part into his general direction.
"I agree." Banner finally said. "We're short on time due to curfew, so I'll teach our youngest member how to use his Shadow Charm now, we'll reconvene in half an hour." He announced. The other Shadow Riders left in various amounts of time, with Camula and Nightshroud being the first to go. Tania took a few curious looks at Blake before she eventually was the last to go.
"Since we're going in together anyway, I'll tell you the further plans once I lead your group to our destination, Blake. For now, let me show you how to use the gift our leader has bestowed upon us." Banner got up and walked over. "I suggest you try it out at your earliest convenience. There's someone you want to take revenge on, after all, isn't there?"
"You know it." Blake grinned darkly at that. "Setup's already done, just needed the tools to make it perfect." He almost pitied the guy for what's to come, but then again; he'd totally deserved it. The only question was on how painful he could make it for him. What's a few broken bones against a Shadow Duel, after all.
Banner chuckled. "I see I didn't make a mistake with you."
And isn't that an ominous note to end off on. Spirit Key? Check. Shadow Charm? Check. Cyberdark cards? To be decided. Hotel? Trivago.
Blake sure is playing a dangerous game being double agent, hopefully nothing bad will happen because of that ... But he's found some newfound support from unlikely sources, like Zane going "against" Sheppard, to Dorothy just being Dorothy, and Kami wanting more than just a pawn. But how will his interference influence the Shadow Riders ...
I'm happy last chapter got such positive responses, from the heartfelt moment of our bros to the whacky idea of allying with Jinzo and bringing up some ... unconventional ideas to Sheppard. Reading your reviews always make my days. Hope you guys liked this one as well, writing the exchange between Blake and Kami was probably my favorite part.
As always, thank you for reading ~
P.S. I changed Kamis surname from Umeno to Umino, as it came to my attention that I've written it wrong the whole time ^^" I retroactivelly changed the name in all chapters, sorry for the inconvenience.