#someone forgot to take the joker out the deck though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stereksecretsanta · 6 years

Text

Merry Christmas, @jeangvrey!

I hope you enjoy this Jeangvrey!!!

Read on AO3

*****

Batman Has Bunny Teeth

Chapter 1: Firescapes & Batman Capes

“I am the night!” Comes the booming voice behind him and Stiles turns, flailing a bit as he stares up at the towering shadow of a man, bathed in darkness, cape billowing despite the lack of wind. All Stiles can do is cover his mouth to hide his laughter once his mind, as usual, zeroes in on the exact wrong thing to focus on.

Batman gives him a quizzical stare, still looming over him like a storm cloud of glowering anger. “Usually the only laughing criminal I have to deal with is the Joker,” Batman quips, and that only makes Stiles erupt in more titters.

“I’m sorry it’s just… it’s just I never noticed Batman had bunny teeth,” Stiles chokes out, fully preparing for Batman to deck him. But he can’t, all that darkness and rage and Stiles instantly settled in on the most adorable part of the man, one of the only parts he could really see of his face.

“I’d say you should worry about your own teeth, the dentists at Blackgate aren’t very good at their job.” Batman continues to stare at him, like he’s looking through him to the rather poor graffiti littering the brick wall behind him in the dank alleyway.

Stiles rolls his eyes, hitting the window he was currently jimmying open softly. “Hey, listen Mr. Bats; this is my apartment I’m breaking into. Do I really look like the kind of idiot that would break into an apartment on the shittiest block in the city, during a thunderstorm?” Stiles asks blithely. “Seriously, I’d track rain and mud in everywhere, the police would have no trouble identifying me through shoeprints. And sure the crack of thunder might be all well and good to hide the shatter of glass, and yes the average person on this street is more likely to call their friend to gossip about what’s happening than call the police, but it’s still a terrible target for burglary or petty larceny.”

When the boy finishes rambling Batman isn’t sure what to say, it’s very rare for him to make a mistake when it comes to criminal activity, and while low level crooks aren’t always his M.O. he’d noticed this from the rooftop above and decided to investigate.

“So… are you going to arrest me for breaking into my own apartment or can I get in before I’m actually entirely drenched to the bone? I think my underwear might still be dry if I can get inside soon…” Stiles says, and there’s a smirk on his lips.

“Why exactly should I believe this is really your apartment? And don’t give me the intelligence excuse, because I’ve met some very idiotic criminals in this city,” Batman replies, voice less imposing now, but still skeptical.

Stiles stood for a minute to contemplate what he can say to placate the vigilante on his fire escape. “Ok… how about you let me get inside, then I can prove it’s my apartment? If I can’t then you can take me to the cops, I won’t resist. My dad used to be a sheriff so I have respect for the police. Well, not so much the Gotham PD, but you’re sorta police. I guess,” he laughs.

Batman stills, deciding before giving one short decisive nod.

“Cool, cool, just gimme a sec to work this out,” Stiles answers, holding up a finger as he tried to get the window open. After a few minutes of fumbling Batman pushed him aside and does it himself, almost effortlessly. Stiles turns with a frown, “I almost had it.”

“Sure you did,” Batman deadpans, then motions towards the window. “Now prove it’s your house.”

“Alright, alright. I’m going, don’t sick your pet bats at me man,” Stiles jokes as he ambles through the window, tripping and faceplanting on the rug he’d just bought last week. “You saw nothing!” He calls back behind him as he straightens up and grabs a picture frame on the nightstand.

“See? That’s me, and my dad and my best friend Scott.”

Batman takes the photo and holds it up next to Stiles’ face. “You look different.”

“Well duh! I was like, 18 in that photo. I’m an adult now, my hair grew out, I put on a bit of muscle, or at least I like to think so. I mean it’s nothing compared to all this bondage muscle god stuff you have going on here,” he gestured to Batman’s suit. “Unless are these fake? Did you have abs made into your suit?” He asks, reaching to touch and having his hand slapped away. Hard.

“Fine, I believe you. Why exactly did you break into your own apartment though?” Batman asks almost as an afterthought.

“Oh? Well you see I ordered a pizza because I just got back from night class and I was swamped with work and I just wanted to stuff something into my mouth greasy and cheesy and well, anyway, so I hear the delivery guy pull up so I race downstairs to get it and, well, I forgot my keys. So I end up eating the pizza on the stoop and giving the leftovers to a homeless guy on the corner, and then set about finding something to pry my window open. And then you show up and nearly give me a heart attack. And that’s what you missed on, Glee!” He jokes, cutting off his rambling explanation and staring back. It’s only now he begins to process the fact Batman is in his house, that he’s been talking to the caped crusader for the better part of ten minutes.

Batman huffs, not a laugh, but something akin to mild amusement. “Have a good night and try not to have to break into your apartment again,” he says in that gruff tone.

“Oh this is a weekly occurrence. Why do you think I’m so good at it?” Stiles laughs, pointing finger guns at Batman before thinking better of it.

“Then next time don’t let me catch you,” Batman says, turning and for a moment Stiles thinks he catches the barest hint of a smile before the man grapplehooks away from his fire escape. “Why am I suddenly turned on?” Stiles asks the night, shaking his head and laughing, one hand dragging down his face as he strips and heads for a well-deserved hot shower.`

Chapter 2: Nananananananana Batcave!

“Ah, Mister Hale, you’re home early,” Deaton says blithely, eyes tilting up to meet the gust of wind kicked up by the Batmobile’s entrance.

“Slow night. I think all the villains are either locked up, licking their wounds or out of town,” Derek scoffs, almost sounding offended at the lack of crime.

“Or maybe,” Deaton surmises, standing and crossing towards Derek, “one of your young wards has taken care of things so you can have the night off?”

Derek pulls the cowl off and glowers at Deaton. “Justice doesn’t take the night off. Besides, you know I don’t like them out on their own.” His voice is tinged with a hint of worry, a tone most unusual for Derek aside from speaking of the kids.

“Well you’ll be glad to know Isaac is still here, Vernon took Erica out on a training mission however.” Deaton announced it with the same dispassionate tone you’d use for reading a grocery list.

Derek sighs, rubbing at his eyes and staring back at Deaton. “At least Boyd will likely stay safe,” he says, albeit begrudgingly. “So Isaac is?”

“Asleep I believe. As should you be. Unless you plan on going out and playing the part for tonight?”

Something deep within Derek stings at that, how Deaton so casually lays bare that his public persona, Derek Hale philanthropist and billionaire playboy heir, is all an act. Most nights he thinks Batman is who he truly is and the putting on the mask isn’t hiding his identity, but completing it.

Shaking off the thought he heads towards the gear room, reassembling the costume on its mannequin before taking the proffered robe from Deaton.

“I better turn in actually. Tomorrow is that ribbon cutting ceremony for the new research facility, and the trip to the orphanage, barring no more interruptions.” Both were points of pride for Derek, working on both his persona’s goals at once to improve the city.

“And don’t forget the gala fundraiser tomorrow evening…” Deaton reminds.

“Again, provided there aren’t any nefarious plots afoot.” That makes Derek crack a smile, something Deaton is happy to see.

“Yes, we must be ever vigilant for those dastardly villains,” Deaton deadpans.

“Goodnight Deaton.”

“Goodnight Derek.” Deaton waves him off, going back to his studies.

Derek stops by Isaac’s room and a soft smile spreads on his face. The kid’s wiry, but he has heart. He’s going to need that if he plans on following in the family business of crime fighting.

Sometimes Derek wonders if bringing them into this life was for the best, if he’s not putting them all in more danger than they were before they’d met him, but when he sees how they’ve all grown, Boyd finally having friends, Erica coming out of her shell, and even Isaac no longer skittish and drawn in. That’s how he knows he’s doing something right.

Chapter 3: Disbelief & Deliberation

“You did not meet Batman!” Scott argues from his place on the couch.

“Uh, yeah, I totally did. He nearly arrested me for breaking into my apartment.” Stiles feels personally offended his best friend doesn’t believe him.

Scott gives him that same look of disbelief. “And why would you be breaking into your own apartment? Wait… Never mind, you forgot your keys again right?”

“Yes and since someone…” He looks at Scott, “who shall remain nameless wasn’t home. I had to Jimmy the lock and nearly get carted away by the Gotham knight.”

Scott rolls his eyes again and turns on the T.V. “Say I believe you. Does this mean you might have a new obsession and will stop drooling over Derek Hale? Including this scheme you’ve dragged Lydia into?”

“Please, I dragged her into nothing.” Scott raises an eyebrow. “There was no dragging! Maybe some slight hand tugging and a bit of pleading and volunteering to work at the greenhouse all next summer when I have time but there was definitely no dragging.”

Scott doesn't have time to reply to that because the news comes on and none other than Derek Hale shows up. “Oh no…” Scott sighs; putting his head in his hands before Stiles jumps over the couch and nearly knocks him out of the way

“God he’s so handsome! And generous! He’s such a great guy.” Stiles gushes about Derek as Scott pretends to vomit.

“I hope this ends once you meet him. I don’t want you actually going full stalker mode. I might have to, you know, be concerned for your mental health.” Stiles gives him a look of derision for that.

“Stopping trying to headshrink me Doctor McCall. I have a perfectly normal attraction to and interest in Derek Hale.” Scott snorts at that. “I do! And after this party where I hopefully meet him we’ll fall in love and get married and I’ll live in Hale manor while we have ridiculously hot sex and eat caviar off each other’s chiseled bodies in a bath of champagne.”

“I’m too sober for this… alright, well I have to go home and you know, actually sleep since I have work tomorrow.”

“Have fun at the asylum!” Stiles jokes.

“I told you not to call Arkham that. We’ve rebranded,” Scott rebuts, indignant.

“Look you know my distrust of places like that. Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I like it anymore.”

Scott doesn't argue, just heads out on his own leaving Stiles to his thoughts. Thankfully that means Stiles has time to plan his infiltration of the benefit gala. Of course, even he doesn’t suspect that he’ll actually get seated with Derek Hale and have to try not to make a mockery of himself.

Chapter 4: Revelling & Revelations

The night is going great; for once Derek is actually enjoying this benefit, if only because of the charming man seated next to him. It takes him until halfway through the second course for him to realize where he knows him from, the man he’d caught breaking into his own apartment last week.

He’d known the others manners weren’t befitting the Gotham elite, but ignored it since nouveau riche often immigrated to Gotham to show off to their friends back home. But now he was wondering how the seemingly uncoordinated man he’d stumbled upon had conned his way into one of the most elite functions of high society.

A wry smile split his lips as he watched Stiles regale anyone that would listen with a plethora of facts about history, culture, art, almost any topic he could manage to drag kicking and screaming into the discussion. It seemed the more obscure the better, with Derek even doubting a few of the stories before Stiles offered to Bring up proof on his phone.

“That’s quite alright; I think we all believe you Mr.…?” Derek said, putting a hand over Stiles to stop him getting his surely older phone that might have given him away.

“Stilinski. Mr. Stilinski, but you can call me Stiles,” he said, and the faintest blush seeped into his cheeks at the direct contact between him and Derek. He had to hold it together, because he’d been doing so well distracting himself with rambling.

“Well Stiles I think we’d all love to hear more of your anecdotes, but I hear the band starting up and, well,” Derek stood and offered his hand, “I thought you might care to join me?”

Stiles’ brain may have short circuited for a moment, and his heart not so much tripped as face planted right against his ribs, but he nodded, licking his lips as he took the offered hand and stood. He was smiling, not bidding a second glance back at the table they’d left before following Derek out to the dance floor. “You’ll have to lead, I’m not the best dancer, of course I’m sure that’ll be no problem for you and…” He quieted as Derek put a finger to his lips.

“I’ll lead, don’t worry,” Derek said, smiling what at first seemed to be the same vapid, guileless smile he always wore plastered on his face at these events, but slowly began to morph into something real.

They danced for a few songs, Stiles only stepping on Derek’s toes once after the first song. They’d both focused on the movement of their bodies, of keeping time and flowing with the other dancers that there was little room to talk until a slower number came on after the third song. “I know you’re not supposed to be here,” Derek said, a smirk crossing his lips as Stiles nearly stumbled, Derek quickly turning it into a dip to save face.

“Oh, really?” Stiles asked, laughing nervously. “And where should I be then?”

Derek thought of the dingy apartment, the rain soaked fire escape and smiled. “Well now I think you should be right… Here,” he said, leaning in as if to kiss him, whispering the words before yanking Stiles back up and into position. “But really, how did you get in here? One year my companies stock fell and I didn’t even get an invite.” Derek was smooth, waltzing them around the floor as he spoke, not even winded. Stiles struggled to keep up, but at least dropping the pretense he belonged would help. He hoped.

“Honest answer? My best friend Lydia, well one of my best friends. Her ex is Jackson Whittemore? She pretty much bribed him to let me in.”

That made Derek pause. “What could she possibly have that Whittemore wanted?”

Stiles grinned, flicking his eyes back and forth. “An introduction to her boyfriend’s twin brother.”

Derek’s eyebrows rose at that, he wasn’t the type for gossip since he rarely spoke to anyone outside of these events, but his family had dealt with the Whittemores in the past. “But isn’t he with that app designer? Mahealani?”

“Oh he is. I should have clarified; he AND Danny wanted an introduction to the twin.”

Derek smiles, not out of any real happiness, but because he should here, and they continue to dance. By the end of the night Derek is, despite a halfhearted attempt at the contrary, thoroughly charmed by Stiles.

The gala finished, Derek walks through the lobby with Stiles, shoulder to shoulder. “So this was… fun,” Derek confesses, not sure when the last time he said that and actually meant it was. Certainly with the kids he thinks, but even then that’s more fun for them than it is him most days.

“I had a great time. Totally worth the bribery,” Stiles replies, laughing not so politely. His eyes trail towards Derek’s lips almost imperceptibly.

“Let’s go out the other way,” Derek interjects, holding up his hand to shield his eyes from the flashing lights of the paparazzi outside. It’s at precisely that moment Stiles looks over and he’s hit by a wave of deja vu.

That jawline, those bunny teeth, the light flickering. It’s so eerily similar that he has to stop for a moment and remind himself it’s preposterous to even consider. It’s just a passing resemblance, that’s all. He’s silent on their way to the back, Derek asking him if he needs a ride home twice before he notices. “Oh, uh, no. No, thank you though,” Stiles says, and it’s only after it’s been vocalized he realizes that he just passed up one of his actual bucket list goals.

It surprises Derek that he’s a bit disappointed by Stiles declining, the offer but he reminds himself that it’s for the best. He’s already gotten entirely too friendly. And sure, keeping up the act as Derek Hale, playboy was a necessity. The problem was by the end of the night Derek wasn’t sure if he had been acting.

“This was… This was honestly one of the best nights of my life,” Stiles finally speaks, running the back of his neck, eye doing something between a twitch and a wink that Derek can’t help but find amusing. “But I’m sure you have plenty of rich people things to do like order a new yacht and build schools in Uganda or something so… I better get going. Thanks for the dancing, and for not ratting me out.”

Derek rolls his eyes at that, huffing a short laugh. “Of all the crime and corruption in this city, I think sneaking into a charity gala is far from the worst thing. Besides I saw you write a check to the charity. I doubt it even covers the price of the entree you had, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Stiles turns red at that, a mixture of embarrassment and something he can’t quite explain. He looks up from beneath his lashes at Derek one last time, smiling. “Well, we can’t all be as righteous as the caped crusader,” he says, and there’s something about the way Derek doesn’t react, almost as if he’s schooling himself not to that sets off alerts in Stiles overactive brain.

“Anyway… I better be going. I’ll see you later. Well, I’ll see you on like, television or a newspaper, you probably won’t see me,” he laughs, chewing on his bottom lip, trying to decide if going for a hug is too much. In the end he settles for an awkward wave before heading down the street and away from Derek.

Derek watches Stiles go, mentally mapping the freckles on his neck, the moles on his cheek, the color of his eyes and the timbre of his voice. He says it’s so he won’t be surprised again if he sees him like he was tonight, but even he isn’t that deluded.

“Goodnight Stiles,” he says, words taken by the brisk night air. He gets in his car and goes home, his last stop before taking his nightly duties.

Across town Stiles sits at his computer with a photo of Derek Hale and a sharpie, practicing drawing Batman’s cowl over it and analyzing how it looks. Beside it there’s written just one thing. “The bunny teeth match.”

Chapter 5: Investigations & Invitations

Stiles convinces himself it’s just a coincidence, that any two people could have similar looking teeth.

Or at least he honestly tries too.

When he can’t get it out of his head he decides he needs more research, and not just looking up photos online. No. He needs to see Derek again up close. And maybe Batman too. But definitely Derek.

And so what if, like Scott says, he’s using this as an excuse to indulge his crush even more. It’s not like Derek didn’t seem at least somewhat interested in him.

Besides, there were some gossip bloggers talking about the mystery man Derek danced with at the gala. He was pseudo famous already; he might as well keep it up.

Lydia wasn’t up for asking Jackson for anymore favors, especially considering him and Danny had absconded with Ethan to a private island somewhere. That meant it was all up to him this time.

When Derek noticed him a real smile split his lips and he moved towards him, abandoning the conversation he’d been feigning interest in without a second thought.

“We meet again,” Derek says, voice low and deep. Not the gravel of Batman, but a seductive timbre reserved for, well, seemingly just Stiles right now.

Stiles had spotted Derek from a ways off, had seen him wading through the crowd and didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t ecstatic.

“So we do Mr. Hale,” Stiles replies, trying to be as seductive in return but not quite managing it.

“So, who did you bribe to get in this time?” Derek asks, trying and failing to suppress a grin.

Stiles’ eyes look back and forth, shifty before leaning in. “I posed as a waiter to get in…”

The deviousness in Stiles should be a red flag, but he in fact finds it charming. Derek deals with so many criminals intent on harming innocents that someone simply sneaking into formal events seems almost wholesome in comparison.

“Why exactly are you sneaking into all these events?” Derek asks, bemused.

“To see you, duh,” Stiles answers immediately and for all Derek is used to telling lies, he genuinely can’t tell if it’s a joke or Stiles being flippantly honest.

After that they talk, they dance, they spend the night in each other’s pocket practically. Derek knows this is more than he’d intended when Stiles tells him he has to leave and he actually grabs his wrist, asking him to stay.

“Sorry, I gotta go. Glass slipper, carriage that’s a pumpkin and, well you know the drill,” Stiles laughs, smiling at Derek.

“I want to see you again…” Derek says before he thinks better of it. And that’s all Stiles needs to hear.

“You will,” he says, quickly pecking Derek on the cheek before slinking off towards one of the exits.

What followed was a series of ever more elaborate and ridiculous ways for Stiles to sneak into charity events to see Derek. He actually started to admire the criminals of Gotham as he noticed how much time and effort it took just to plan something like this, much less a bank robbery or similar crime.

Maybe not their evil deeds, but at least the time and energy it took to plan them out. As he felt more and more certain that Derek really was Batman it only seemed to make those ideas grow.

Derek for his part felt himself drawn more and more to Stiles. In a way he reminded him of some of his villains, not so much in demeanor, but in his intelligence, flamboyance and, increasingly, his ridiculous schemes to get into these parties.

That’s why one day he decides enough was enough, the kids had been badgering him, even Deaton had left cut outs of gossip pages mentioning Derek and his mystery suitor, and he did something he should have done a long time before.

The envelope arrived at his doorstep, or more importantly slipped beneath it late at night. Stiles almost slipped on it as he carried in some blueprints and other equipment he’d gathered for his next gala crash.

When he saw it his heart did a weird flip and he bent with shaky hands to pick it up.

Opening it he took out the glossy embossed card and read it aloud.

“You are cordially invited to attend the Gotham High Society Excellence in Charity awards fundraiser as the guest of Derek S. Hale!”

Stiles nearly passed out reading that, jumping up and down on his couch and whooping with joy. Especially since he was basically being asked out by Derek Hale. By Batman.

They’d spent a lot of time together, even if it was just at these dinners, but he'd gotten to know Derek. Gone were the days he marveled at his beauty, at his accomplishments and wealth, even just his philanthropy.

No, now Stiles couldn’t get the look of determination Derek had when talking about turning Gotham around, the way his lips quirked in a smile like they weren’t used to it but wanted to be, the scent of his cologne or the way his body felt pressed close during a dance out of his head.

He realized that he was falling for Derek and maybe, just maybe, Derek was, as impossible as that seemed, falling for him too.

Chapter 6: The Dark Night

The date is everything Stiles wished for and more. Derek arrived with a perfectly tailored suit for him to wear that complemented what the other man was wearing.

The paparazzi were a surprise, even if Stiles should have expected it, what with him arriving on the arm of the wealthiest man in town. Still it was hard to fathom anyone might want his photo. But then Derek would look back at him, smiling that gorgeous smile, those ever present bunny teeth on display, and he’d forget about anything else.

They danced, they talked, they ate expensive food and drank expensive wine. It was the perfect date. A night to remember for sure. He felt their bond growing, every ridiculous thing he did seemed to only charm Derek more.

Derek knew he was falling hard, knew that Stiles was more than just a date, than just a fling. Tonight wasn’t meant as a test, but Stiles was passing anyway. Yes, this wasn’t his life, not his real life, but with Stiles by his side sometimes, for a few moments, he felt like it was. Like it could be.

For those brief seconds Derek would forget the other part of himself, just a moment, and be this part of him. Live this life, with Stiles, and it was terrifying and wondrous all the same.

It would never be who he was, not fully, but maybe if he had Stiles; it would anchor him to this life. Keep it from slipping away until all he was, was the cowl and the cape. And the thing that scared him most was that he wanted it. For the first time since he’d adopted the kids, he saw a chance at normalcy, at love, at things he had denied himself so long, and his hands itched to grab it and hold on for dear life.

The night wound down, and Derek led Stiles to a secluded spot. “Thank you for being my date,” he said, all charm and class, holding Stiles hand the same way he’d done all night. Except now it felt different, charged.

“Thank you for inviting me. It was a nice change not having to concoct some elaborate plan to sneak in. But I would have, to see you,” he laughed, knuckles grazing Derek’s cheek, staring into his eyes.

Derek stared at him and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He kissed him, hands cupping his cheek and the side of Stiles neck, lips pressed against his. It was chaste at first, soft but passionate, but then Stiles pressed further, deepening it, letting their tongues dance. And Derek had to admit, Stiles tongue was a much better dancer than his feet.

“Let me take you home…” Derek breathed, eyes locked with Stiles as he held him close.

And this time when Derek offered him a ride he didn’t decline. They sped off in his luxury car, but they weren’t headed towards Stiles’ place. They pulled up at a high rise penthouse and Stiles had to crane his neck to look to the topmost floors.

“This is yours, isn’t it?” He breathes, staring up before glancing back at Derek.

“It is. You want to come up? The view of the city is… Amazing.” Derek smiles, and he knows Stiles is going to say yes, knows that this night is leading somewhere he never anticipated, but can’t stop.

“I’d like nothing more,” Stiles said, and he took Derek’s hand and ran off towards the building.

They wasted no time once they were in the elevator, bodies wound around each other, lips clashing. Derek’s suitcoat hit the floor first, followed closely by Stiles jacket and then his tie.

When they reached the top floor Stiles already had one leg wrapped around Derek’s back, shirt unbuttoned giving Derek easy access to lick and bite at the cluster of freckles at the juncture of shoulder and neck.

Derek hiked the other leg around him, effortlessly carrying Stiles through the penthouse and towards the bedroom, never breaking contact.

They fell over the side of the bed, kicking their shoes off as they made out, hips grinding together. There was no need to ask, the desire was clear in their gaze, in the heated touch.

Stiles hands went underneath Derek shirt, rucking it up to feel the warm muscle, the chiseled abs. When Derek pulled it all the way off he licked his lips as he stared at the shock of chest hair, his mouth darting up to lick and nibble at a nipple.

Derek groaned, the noise rough and uncontrollable as his hand carded Stiles’ hair. He rocked his hips, desire clearly evident before pulling back.

Standing up he quickly undid his belt as Stiles the same. His pants fell to the floor, leaving Derek in just his tight black briefs, a designer label of his own brand that left very little to the imagination. Even one as wild as Stiles’.

For his own part Stiles had flannel patterned trunks on beneath his suit, kicking his pants onto the floor for Derek to brush aside.

Derek toed off his socks before climbing into bed over Stiles. They kissed for what felt like hours, trading positions as Stiles rolled on top, slotting their hips perfectly to rut against each other’s thigh.

When Derek finally rolled Stiles onto his back again and began to kiss down his jaw, his neck, towards his chest and abs Stiles’ body shuddered in anticipation. Derek stilled, kissing a line along Stiles waistband before the other man nodded. A grin split Derek’s lips and he hooked his fingers in the fabric, slowly tugging it down, kissing his way all down Stiles thighs and legs before tossing the underwear away.

He planted kisses back up Stiles firm legs, across both his thighs before coming to rest between them. Derek smirked as best he could as he heard Stiles whimper and moan at his ministrations, looking up to catch the way the flush spread from his cheeks down to his pale chest, only covered by a smattering of hair there.

Stiles fingers curl into Derek’s hair at the same time his other hand clutches the sheets. “Fuck!” He groans, feeling on edge already. He’s almost relieved when Derek pulls away to slip that last piece of cloth off.

Now Stiles has never thought little of himself in the bedroom, but seeing Derek in all his glory he realizes it’s not just Derek’s endowment for the arts that is sizable. He bids Derek to straddle his chest, and once he does so reaches up to take him in his mouth. Stiles allows Derek to set the pace, his hands on the man’s well defined cheeks, keeping it steady.

“I wish… I wish we could…” Derek moans, trying desperately to embed the image of Stiles like this in his mind, even as his eyes try to clench shut in pleasure.

Pulling off, Stiles uses his hand for a moment as he looks up at Derek. “We can.”

“But… are you…? Because I’m not…” Derek trails off, tips of his ears pink.

“Yeah,” Stiles answers, “I mean I wasn’t expecting but… a man can dream right?”

Derek laughs at that, bending down to kiss Stiles, playful and overjoyed. He reaches to the nightstand, grabbing what they need as the lovers continue to kiss and caress, bodies pressed together in sensuous bliss.

He opens Stiles easy, pace languid and relaxed. When he’s ready, Derek kisses him, makes sure he’s comfortable before taking his place between his thighs. Stiles pulls Derek into a fiery kiss, gasping into his mouth as his body accepts Derek inside. They make love slowly, gently at first, like nothing either has ever experienced with another.

Derek caresses him, soft and gentle in a way neither of them expected. As he moved within Stiles, the younger man quiets for the first time in the night. Of course, Derek should have known it wouldn’t last for long.

“Shit, I can’t believe I’m in bed with Derek Hale,” Stiles sighs out on a moan, fingernails dragging down Derek’s back, miniscule red lines tracking behind them.

Derek just huffs out a laugh as he thrusts harder, his lips finding a spot in the hollow of Stiles neck, just above a cluster of freckles and sucking hard enough the bruise.

“Can’t… can’t believe I’m getting dicked down by Batman,” Stiles gasps. “You’re so fucking good, damn!”

It takes a moment to sink in, but once it does Derek stills entirely, bodies still locked together intimately. He stares down at Stiles in shock; face a mask of confusion in the dark of the night, only illuminated by pale moonlight streaming in through a crack in the curtains.

“I’m not Batman,” he says seriously, too seriously he realizes after a beat. “That’s ridiculous!” He laughs, but the sound is hollow, forced. It doesn’t do anything to sway Stiles, not that it would have even if it were believable.

“Yeah, you are…” Stiles finally replies, lying on his elbows to get a better look at Derek. “It’s pretty obvious up close, and makes a lot of sense.”

“I’m not Batman…” Derek repeats; he’d pull away, but Stiles legs are still locked tight around his waist, his hips kissing the man’s supple ass.

Stiles rolls his eyes, chuckling to himself. His hand runs up Derek’s chest, catching on a nipple for a moment before sliding to cup his cheek. “It’s ok; I’m not going to tell anyone. Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me Bats.”

Derek grits his teeth; he’s getting angry now because this is the closest anyone has gotten in a long time. He’s not sure if it’s the closeness to him or to finding out his identity that he takes most concern with. “I’m NOT Batman!” He says once again, more forceful now.

“See, right there. It’s when you get intense; your voice drops all emotion. Your eyes are analyzing me, like you see through me. I’d know these lips anywhere, your little bunny teeth. You remember? That was the first time I met you, the first thing I noticed up close. And then I met your other half, Derek Hale, and it was the first thing I noticed then too. Some five o’clock shadow, a fake smile and a tailored suit doesn’t change what I can see.”

Stiles’ smile is soft, knowing as he looks at Derek. “Besides whoever is Batman has all these gadgets and cars and shit. They’d have to have a lot of money. They’d need to be in insanely good shape. They’d have to be free to do whatever they want without people watching their movements. It all adds up, I was surprised it took me so long to put it together and actually believe it... And then when I did, well, I wanted you to know you could trust me Derek. That I wouldn’t rat you out. I care about you, what you’re doing for this city is something great. It’s a burden you didn’t need to put on yourself, not with all that you already do outside of the cape. But you do it anyway.”

Derek should leave. He should deny it again, get up and never look back, but all he can see is earnest concern and affection in Stiles’ eyes. All he can feel is the same pull that drew him here tonight growing stronger. For all that could go wrong, the little part of him that is Derek Hale the man and not Batman yearns for something normal. Something that’s all his, and not his counterpart’s, and maybe, just maybe, that’s Stiles.

Without saying another word Derek dives in for a kiss, passionate and deep. His tongue twists around Stiles, battling for dominance before Stiles gives as good as he gets and they find a sensuous balance. His hips pull back before snapping forward, the moan that rolls off Stiles’ tongue and down Derek’s throat a small victory.

He pushes Stiles to his limits, tests his own endurance and keeps him occupied as much out of genuine desire as to stymie the other man’s incessant chatter. For all his playboy status Derek doesn’t indulge in these carnal delights often, but even he can’t deny this is the best he’s ever had.

Stiles is the best he’s ever had.

When it’s over, when their bodies are stuck together from more than just sweat, he doesn’t leave like he usually would. Derek stays; he looks at Stiles and for once really sees him, for all his parts and not just as a potential threat, as another mark, as a citizen he has to protect, but as something else. Something hard to define for someone like him, but so important he can’t ignore it.

When he finally rolls off, Stiles is still riding the tail end of his high, sated and fucked out, a bit exhausted but in the best way possible. He turns to speak and Derek puts a finger to his lips. “Tomorrow, please… let me just sleep next to you. I don’t want to ruin this.”

Derek’s voice is softer than Stiles has ever heard it, cautious, optimistic he thinks. It makes him smile and nod, licking the man’s finger playfully before cuddling closer.

Stiles rests his head on Derek’s chest, fingers scratching at the hair there. His lips kiss one firm pectoral, soft and delicate. A smile crosses his lips as he looks up at Derek once more before settling down. It doesn’t take long for Stiles to drift off to sleep, one leg thrown over Derek casually. What’s most surprising is how fast Derek falls asleep with Stiles in his arms. How easy it is to let the rest of the world fall away, to quiet that nagging voice in his mind and for Derek to just relax into the bed, close his eyes, and sleep restfully for the first time in a long time.

Chapter 7: A Bright New Day

Stiles wakes up slowly, fingers clenching around empty air and bed sheets. A disgruntled noise bubbles up from his throat and his eyes flutter open, blinking against the first rays of light. When he finally can see he notices Derek is missing and his heart drops, only to turn his head to the window and notice Derek is still there.

He stands in all his glory in front of the full length window, gloriously toned ass on display as he looks out across the city.

Derek doesn’t move to turn around, but he says “good morning” all the same.

Stiles sits up in bed, still luxuriating in the downy blankets, relieved Derek isn’t gone after last night.

“Morning Derek,” he says, a soft smile spreading on his cheeks. He slips out of bed and walks up behind Derek, letting his arms encircle the slightly broader man, resting his head between those sculpted shoulder blades.

One hand comes to rest over Stiles’, holding it firm to his middle. Derek smiles, starting slow and cautious before relaxing into something deeper, something open and honest. He turns in Stiles arms, cupping his cheeks and kissing him.

It’s delicate, not like the steamy, impassioned kisses of last night, and not like the cautious and reserved kisses before sleep. No, this is something entirely different.

“I think I’m falling in love with you…” Derek whispers against Stiles lips, feels the other man smile as they kiss.

“I think I’ve been in love with you,” Stiles answers, his hand sliding up Derek’s toned back, feeling the expanse of smooth muscle as he pulls back just enough to look into his eyes. “I’m in love with all of you Derek. You don’t need to hide anything from me.”

It still catches Derek off guard how simply Stiles puts it, like him being Batman is just another night job. The absurdity of that make him laugh, a low chuckle that has him shaking his head.

“I know you are. And I… I don’t want to hide anymore, at least not from you. But there is so much about my life you don’t know, so much to learn, to deal with. There is danger, for me and my family, for those in love if who I really am ever got out. You will… you will worry about me when I’m gone, and I don’t know if you’re ready to deal with this Stiles.”

Stiles makes an offended noise at that, smacking Derek’s chest lightly. “Derek, my dad was a cop. You think I don’t know what it’s like to worry that someone you love might not make it home each night? Yes, I’ll be worried, and I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know. But one thing you should know is that when you love someone, you’re always afraid for them. That doesn’t mean you stop loving them, it means you love them more, love them harder, keep them close and enjoy every minute because you never know when it could be your last. And as for learning, well, I’m a quick study.”

Derek shakes his head, casting his eyes away before he’s pulled right back to those whiskey eyes. “How? How can you make me feel this way after all this time? Like maybe, like maybe Batman doesn’t have to be the only side of my life. Like maybe there can be more…”

“Because I’ve totally fallen for you Derek Hale. Batman. Whichever moniker you want to use, I’m here. I know what it’s like to lose family, to feel powerless. I know what it’s like to see the law fail, to wish for someone or something to bring justice where it’s deserved. I may not be able to understand everything about you, not yet anyway, but I know what’s inside here,” he rests a hand over Derek’s heart, “and I want to know more. I want to know everything. I will never try to change you or make you stop your mission. All I ask is to be allowed to come along for the ride Derek.”

And that’s all it takes. He thought it would be harder, impossible even for someone to break down his walls, to make him feel this way. But Stiles is a master of the impossible, and even if he knows it will take time, that there will be bumps along the way, he can’t imagine anyone else trying so hard for him. Can’t imagine feeling this way about another person.

“Come home with me. Meet my family, see the Hale mansion,” he says on a whim, surprising himself.

Stiles eyes light up and he's nodding before he can even speak. “I’d love to!” He says, kissing Derek excitedly. “Waiiiiiiiit, does this mean I get to see the Batcave?!”

Derek should have expected that. He just laughs and kissed Stiles, heading him towards the shower.

“No, seriously, I want to see the Batcave. I’ve heard stories…”

“Play things cool and I might even let you inside the Batcave,” Derek laughs.

“Well you’ve already been in my Batcave, I think it’s only fair I’m returned the favor,” Stiles teases, wiggling his eyebrows.

Derek raises his own in response, giving him a skeptical look before breaking into a grin. “I’d like for you to come in my Batcave. Both of them.” He smirks and winks at Stiles and it’s probably the dorkiest and hottest thing he’s ever heard.

As they get in the shower, hands exploring each other’s bodies as their mouths do the same, the water cascades over them.

“I love you Derek,” Stiles whispers.

“I love you too Stiles,” Derek answers, and he knows it’s true. And for the first time in a long time Derek feels something new, not just love, but hope. For the city, for the future, and most importantly, for himself.

#jeangvrey #stereksanta17 #*fic17 #*gifts17

16 notes · View notes

real-life-pine-tree · 6 years

Text

Seed of Darkness: Hopes, Dreams, and Wishes (9/?)

All it takes it one bad seed to spoil the whole bunch. An AU collab with @violetganache42.

Although things were beginning to look bleak for Yuya, he wasn’t the only one dealing with the harsh reality of the Reverse conflict. Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia were all taking refuge on top of a building in Iceberg Zone, still trying to calm down after witnessing Celina “liberate” Zuzu. Even though they were all upset by what they were forced to watch, Sylvio and Julia were both confused and lost on why this happened and if it relates to Dipper and Reed not getting a chance to have their duel and how Yuya’s duel with Iggy ended. Dennis overheard their wonders and had a feeling these events must be connected with what was going on, so he explained to them everything he knows so far about the Reversed Duelists.

A few minutes passed and their conversation was almost done wrapping up, but it was cut short thanks to the arrival of a certain someone. A light blue light glowed in front of them and it revealed the silhouette of a young male teen. The light faded away to reveal Yuri and Dennis couldn’t be happier to see his friend again. Sylvio and Julia, on the other hand, were more baffled on how he looks exactly like Yuya and this other lookalike they saw when the Battle Royale started.

Dennis faked a smile. "Oh hey," he told Yuri. "It's you. So how's it going, Yuri?"

"Did you find her?" Yuri asked, referring to Zuzu.

That caused Dennis' façade to slip. "I did," he answered. "But..."

Yuri knew what his friend's hesitation meant. "Celina got to her, didn't she?" he asked.

"I tried to protect Zuzu!" Dennis explained. "But Celina was able to Reverse her, just like when she confronted Lulu and Rin!"

Unfortunately for him, the bad news did not sit well with Yuri; in fact, he was showing signs that he was livid about this. His eyebrows and lower right eyelid were twitching, his hands had the urge to clench into fists, and he felt his arms—and maybe his entire body—tremble. Dennis had only one job to do and it was all wasted; before he could have time to yell, Julia interjected by stating what happened. The way Celina Reversed Zuzu was unlike the usual method of Reversing Duelists; she transferred Reverse energy to her Standard counterpart instead of dueling her and it left Dennis with no time to counteract. It was most likely how she Reversed her other counterparts, but it wasn’t like he was doing a bad job at protecting her; he knew what he was doing, so seeing a different Reversing technique caught him off guard. He thought the Pendulum cards were the Reverse Duelists’ weakness, but it looked like they were fooled about it all along.

"Why did Declan even say Pendulum cards are their weaknesses?" Yuri questioned.

"He explained his reasons to me when he gave me my new Abyss Actors deck," Sylvio answered. "He actually confronted Celina, but before her associate could duel him, she stopped him and said he has Pendulum cards."

"WHAT?" Yuri asked.

"Those were apparently her exact words," Sylvio said. "Declan was the one who came to the conclusion that they're the Reverse's weakness."

Yuri let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his brow. "My gosh, what an idiot..." he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Julia asked.

"Don't you get it?!" Yuri asked. "Celina used those words on purpose to trick Declan! She wanted him to make more Pendulum cards!"

"For what?" Sylvio asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Yuri admitted. "But perhaps we can get a Reversed Duelist to..." He held up his Starving Venom Fusion Dragon card. "...cough up some information."

Julia and Sylvio looked a bit unease at Yuri's suggestion. "Don't mind him," Dennis said. "Yuri's my childhood friend. I learned to tell when he's joking."

Meanwhile, Yuya had taken cover somewhere within Jungle Zone to hide himself away from the public, fearing the Void could take over any moment to fulfill its plans further. Surrounded by dozens of trees, he was hidden away just enough for him to be alone with his thoughts. He was holding a card in his hand, which was shown to be Queen Dragun Djinn, the same card Yuto gave to him shortly after regaining consciousness. She meant a lot to him because from the moment the two boys crossed paths with each other a couple days ago, it had already evolved into a much deeper connection with them. He could feel it. The link he shares with his XYZ counterpart. Even though it was shrouded by the fear and sadness of recent events, he could sense how strong their bond is.

"Geez, can you lighten up already?"

The mysterious voice caused Yuya to look away from his card and sharply raise his head to see where it came from. He looked around to see where it came from until he saw a mysterious teen standing next to his left, staring at him with his red and green heterochromia eyes. Yuya was more focused on where he came from instead of why his coloring felt oddly familiar.

"Who are you?!" Yuya asked, alarmed. "And where did you come from?!"

"Calm down, Yuya," the teen said. "It's me, Odd-Eyes! Well technically I'm Double Iris Magician in this form, but it's still me."

Yuya examined the colors Double Iris Magician had and realized the latter was right; the hat resembled the upper half of his head, the shoulder blades were similar to his torso, the lower body mirrored his dragon legs, the gauntlets were reminiscent to his 'wings', and his dual-colored eyes retained the same red and green hues. Heck, he even has a sword based on his dragon form! He was amazed by this discovery yet curious on how Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon can transform into this Double Iris Magician person.

"How did this happen?" Yuya asked.

"I'm not even sure," Double Iris admitted. "I heard you feeling sad about this Reverse stuff when suddenly, poof! I gained this second identity." He looked at his hand as he flexed his fingers. "It kinda feels weird having a human body..."

Yuya, however, didn't respond. "I also heard this weird voice in the back of my head telling me to 'unite as one'," Double Iris continued.

“Unite as one?” Could it be this Void’s doing? Well, maybe not because it has already chosen its human host, but what about Odd-Eyes—or Double Iris, in this case? Could there be another creature of some sort persuading him into doing a dark cause? Is this creature owned by the Void? That could be a possibility because it was gradually getting stronger as the time passes by, so there was no telling what danger would unfold for his Performapals, especially his signature ace.

"Oh, stop worrying about that," Double Iris said. "Maybe that voice is suggesting us to unite as one, which could explain my new form."

Yuya let out a massive sigh of relief at this hypothesis; if that voice was telling Odd-Eyes to work together with his owner as a duo, they could stand a chance against the Reversed Duelists and maybe even the Void. It was actually neat that he was granted the ability to transform into his magician variant in the heat of the moment, possibly due to wanting to give Yuya a nudge to get one step ahead of the new enemy. Does that mean Yuto and Yugo's signature dragons also unlock something similar to what Odd-Eyes can now do?

"Is that why you unlocked this new form?" Yuya asked. "To help me out?"

"Sort of," Double Iris admitted. "But I mostly want to tell you that you're not the only one dealing with a demonic being inside your heart. I feel it too."

"How?" Yuya asked.

"It's the Void's main Unit, Omega Glendios," Double Iris explained. "Every time the Void takes over your body, Omega Glendios does the same thing to me. So far it happened twice: once during your duel with Iggy and once when you revealed yourself to Yuto and Shay. And just like how hearing Sora allowed you to fight back, it allowed me to fight back as well."

Realization struck Yuya's face. "So you're in the same spot I'm in."

"Pretty much," Double Iris replied.

This wasn’t good at all. Whenever the Void takes over Yuya, Omega Glendios does the same to Odd-Eyes—well, currently Double Iris Magician—so he becomes Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon? This was, without a doubt, a serious case of double trouble because a demon and a Unit are both working together to control an aspiring Dueltainer and his odd-eyed dragon. No wonder Joker Dragon vanished after Iggy was defeated; his Pendulum incarnation seems to be just like Yuya, transforming into a darker variant of himself before reverting to his original state.

"So this is how you're going to stop it?" Double Iris asked. "Sit and hide away from everyone else?"

"It's the only way to prevent anyone else from getting infected," Yuya explained.

Double Iris let out a small chuckle. "Then I guess you forgot the whole reason why we're here."

"Huh?" Yuya asked. "What reason?"

"To win the Arc League Championship," Double Iris explained. "Before that incident with Iggy, you wanted to win so you could become a pro. But you can't become a pro if you refuse to duel."

"But the Void-" Yuya started to say.

"Forget about that demon for once!" Double Iris interrupted. "We can't let it distract you! You need to get your head in the game so we can complete the Battle Royale and win!"

Double Iris has a strong point; the Void and the Reversed Duelists might be starting to make themselves known, but they have a tournament to win. Right now, they have to concentrate on winning the Battle Royale so that they can set their future forward, regardless of what stands in their way. It’s like what Yusho said; he has to keep pushing himself forward in order to obtain victory; that is what reminds him of a pendulum: if it swings one way, it’ll swing back, so persisting in these challenges will have a positive result for Yuya.

"I guess you're right," Yuya said, finally smiling again.

"That's the spirit!" Double Iris encouraged. "Now let's find our next opponent!"

Back with Yuri, Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia, they had inadvertently found an opponent of their own. From on top the building they were on, they saw a person walking through Iceberg Zone with an activated Duel Disk and they all made it out to be an Obelisk Force soldier, but Dennis and Yuri both knew he was no ordinary member of the Obelisk Force. The base of his Duel Disk was no longer shaped like a shield but now had the Link Joker emblem tattooed on the oval design; additionally, the blade was changed into a longer and skinnier jagged shape instead of the usual sword shape. The two Duel Academy students instantly recognized it as a Reverse Academy-issued Duel Disk, meaning this soldier was Reversed. Sylvio and Julia couldn’t determine if he really was Reversed or not, but they were informed his markings were concealed underneath his helmet, so it would be harder for everyone else to tell. The only way for them to identify the soldier as Reversed is the Duel Disk they were carrying.

Seeing how there was a good chance more Reversed Duelists could pop up any minute, confrontation was probably the best option at this point. Right now, Yuri was quite glad they chose to confront the Reversed Obelisk Force soldier because he backed him into a corner and was prepared to further back him up with the help of his trusty pet. With the required materials and conditions met, he whipped out his Polymerization Spell card in order to fuse his two Predaplant monsters since their Attributes were DARK.

"Arise, my beloved pet!" Yuri announced. "Emerge in all your wondrous glory!"

Shortly after the two Predaplants swirled around in two brightly colored aura, a dragon exited out of the “Fusion portal”, stretching his head out and opening up his mouth with streaks of saliva stuck in between the jaws, a dark yellow-green orb lighting up as his tail extended, and raising his body up to let out a roar as his red and yellow orbs and toxic green eyes began to glow on his body, joints, and face before locking into his attack position. That monster was Yuri’s ace monster: Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, a Level 8 DARK Dragon-Type monster with 2800 ATK and 2000 DEF. Requiring two DARK non-Token monsters as Fusion materials, he can gain ATK equal to an opponent’s special summoned monster on the turn he was Fusion Summoned until the End Phase. Also, once per turn, Level 5 or higher opposing monsters can be targeted and have him obtain its name and effects. Lastly, if he was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, all of the opponent’s special summoned monsters get destroyed.

"Now talk," Yuri ordered as his pet snarled at the Reversed soldier. "Why were you ordered to not duel anyone who has Pendulum cards?"

"How should I know?" the Reversed soldier asked in response. "The Void didn't say why. All it said was to leave the Pendulum users alone until its master plan was complete."

"You liar!" Yuri shouted. "Now talk before I rip your head off!"

Dennis was alarmed by the threat. "That's enough, Yuri," he said.

"No, it's not," Yuri replied. "Don't you recognize him?"

Dennis looked at the soldier. "Should I know him?" he asked.

"You should," Yuri said. "It's Chazz Princeton of Obelisk Force Branch OK-BLD."

Dennis looked alarmed at that reveal. "So?" Julia asked.

"Obelisk Force Branch OK-BLD is home to the more ruthless Duel Academy students," Dennis explained. "They were all deemed as sadistic and twisted, preferring to kill instead of card people."

"Precisely," Yuri agreed. "The only way to get through their thick skulls is to speak their language."

Throughout his years growing up at Duel Academy, he became aware of how lethal the OK-BLD branch is, especially during the time when plans were being made to conduct their first Invasion to commence the Arc Area Project. Of course, despite it being a huge success, there were very few fatalities caused by these heartless students, including Chazz. Whenever Yuri and Dennis thought about it, it admittedly boggles their mind on how a dueling branch as cruel and torturous as them would even be permitted to conduct these murderous actions, especially since they were part of Leo’s duel school at the time. Julia and Sylvio agreed with the students because resorting to murder was just as bad as—if not, worse than—carding people; they’re both terrible tactics, but one of them certifies the fact the victim never comes back to life. Despite this, Yuri has developed enough knowledge on how to…interrogate them, to say the least, and today was the perfect opportunity to test what he learned and acquire why all Pendulum users were to be left for last.

"Now then," Yuri said, looking back at Chazz. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." A twisted grin appeared on his face. "But I hope you refuse to corporate because I prefer doing the hard way."

A frustrated sound came from Chazz's throat. "Fine," he said. "The Void wants to encase this whole planet in its dark shadow. It gets stronger with every person who receives its gift."

"But why leave all Pendulum users alone?" Yuri asked.

"I told you, the Void never told us why," Chazz repeated. "It's almost like it's deliberately hiding information from all of us. Even asking the entity itself doesn't work."

That was an unexpected reason as to why Void told the Reversed students to avoid the Pendulum users, but at least Yuri, Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia now have a reason as to the reasoning behind Celina telling Barrett to not duel Declan. It’s not that Pendulum cards are their weakness; there’s something about them that makes them stand out above the Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ cards, but what is it? Is it because they're immensely powerful? If so, then is the Void using it to its advantage to cloak the world into darkness? Does he have something special planned for the Pendulum users to help further achieve his goal? Just when it seemed like one question was answered, more seem to pop up. Now it seems the group has to find a way to get to the main source, confront the Void, or even both. After all, it’s not human, so who knows where it’ll be.

"I see..." Yuri said. He snapped his fingers, commanding Starving Venom to grab the Reversed soldier. "Now take us to the Void or I'll have my pet snap your neck!"

A dark laugh came from Chazz. "You really think I'll do that?" he asked. "I don't even know where it is. And even if I did, I wouldn't want to ruin its master plan."

"What are you saying?" Yuri angrily asked.

"If you want to speak to the Void, go find it yourself," Chazz answered.

Using the powers given to him by the Reverse, Chazz flawlessly escaped from Starving Venom’s grasp and vanished from Iceberg Zone, leaving the dragon and the four Duelists behind. Yuri always knew the latter was arrogant under the Professor’s command, but this was just ridiculous. How on earth were they going to find the Void if they have no clue where it is?

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard nearby, with the source of the sound coming from two Duelists.

"Vat's the last time...you steer," a Russian girl said.

"Me?" an India boy asked. "I thought you were the one steering!"

"Well vat would explain how we got here," the girl said.

The boy noticed the nearby group. "Hey look, we happened upon some Duelists!"

Julia and Sylvio knew who the duo was; even though they never faced off against them, they watched their impressive duels and they had an idea on who they both were. The Indian boy was Halil and his partner for the Battle Royale was a Russian girl named Olga. They must be looking for other Duelists to face off against after Zuzu and Gong won against them. Seeing as they must have obtained Pendulum cards since then, the four were worried about them for two reasons: they’re unaware of the looming new threat from the Reversed Duelists and they’re uncertain why the Void isn’t targeting the Pendulum users, but they know it’s going to be bad and they don’t want them to fall the same fate as everyone else or worse.

"Uh... Sure did," Dennis said, faking a smile. "Care for an autograph?"

"N'yet," Olga replied. "I care for a Pendulum card."

"Sorry, but that'll have to wait," Dennis said, glancing around in case Reversed Duelists showed up. "We're in the middle of something- Yuri, what are you doing?"

"Saving their lives," Yuri said as he typed in something into his Duel Disk. Then he activated the communication feature. "Did you receive my current coordinates?"

"I did," a voice spoke from Yuri's Duel Disk. "I'm picking up on some unknown Duel Disk IDs. Which ones do you need us to transport?"

"Those two," Yuri answered, gesturing his Duel Disk towards Halil and Olga.

"Thanks Yuri," the voice spoke again. "I'm activating the transport setting...now."

Just then, the pair’s Duel Disks’ screens lit up an icy blue glow that rapidly cloaked their bodies; right before they disappeared, they heard Dennis telling Halil and Olga what was currently going on was for the best for them and that everything will be explained once they appear at the desired location. And with that, the light grew brighter from where the duo were standing before vanishing them away from the Standard Dimension. A crisis has been averted; if things go well, they will be teleported to the Fusion Dimension momentarily.

"Are you sure that was the right thing to do?" Dennis asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Yuri replied. "As we speak, Aster is helping those two adjust to their temporary living arrangements."

"What?" Sylvio asked. "That's all?"

"There's nothing else we can do," Yuri explained. "With just about every Duelist transported to the Phoenix Resistance, the Void won't find any more potential recruits."

Of course, that was just in the Standard Dimension alone and there were still only about a handful lingering around the Action Field. One of them managed to stumble across Yuto, Gong, Shay, and more importantly, Sora, who was shocked to see that they had encountered with Syrus, one of the Void’s commanders. Devastation had crept up to the former like a shadow casting above someone because he couldn’t believe that one of his Obelisk Blue classmates had fallen victim to the Reverse; they had known each other for years and had gotten closer with their companionship, so discovering the Void had sucked it away from them shattered his heart into pieces.

But that was the main reason why Sora decided to be the one to take on his classmate; he wanted to rescue him from his Reversed prison because Obelisks have to stick together and look out for each other, even in the toughest situations. He was determined to get his friend back and the combination of his persistence and his Fluffals, Edge Imps, and Frightfurs was paying off as their intense duel progressed. He always knew Syrus became a strong Duelist under the Professor’s guidance, but seeing him with Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse on the field gradually made him livid up to the point where he was absolutely furious. Furious that the Void would do something this heinous.

With only a couple hundred Life Points left and two monsters on the field, Fluffal Mouse and Edge Imp Sabres, he began his turn by drawing a card, revealing it to be Polymerization. He then activated Fluffal Mouse’s effect; because it’s in attack position, two more copies of it are special summoned onto the field. Three Fluffals and one Edge Imp. He has the right number of Fusion Materials to bring out another Frightfur monster, one that his allies have never seen before.

"Alright, you Reverse scum!" Sora said. "Here comes the good part! Good for me, that is. I fuse Edge Imp Sabers and my three Fluffal Mice. Edge of sharpness and mayhem of mice! When the four come together, you will pay the price! I Fusion Summon Frightfur Tiger!"

A plush body was cut horizontally in half by a giant pair of luminescent scissors that glowed light purple with hints of light blues as the blades snipped shut. A plush head resembling a tiger turned around with its menacing green eyes and let out an evil laugh, with two glowing magenta eyes glowing from inside its mouth. It landed onto the Monster Zone to reveal itself to be Frightfur Tiger, a Level 6 DARK Fiend-Type Fusion monster with 1900 ATK and 1200 DEF. Its Fusion materials consist of Edge Imp Sabres and at least one Fluffal monster. If it was Fusion Summoned, it can target cards the opponents controls up to the number of Fusion materials used and are destroyed. Every Fightfur monster gains 300 ATK for every Fluffal and Frightfur monster Sora controls and he is allowed to control only one Frightfur Tiger.

"And now, Frightfur Tiger's special ability activates!" Sora continued. "So that hunk of junk is going straight to the dump!"

Frightfur Tiger extended its scissor blades forward and surrounded Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse in between them, clamping them shut to destroying it from the field. Syrus was left in a major pickle; without his Joker monster, he won’t deal 400 damage and attack directly for every Locked monster on the field…and it terrified him. He has never seen anyone muster up enough strength to take on a Reversed Duelist, let alone push them on the brink of defeat.

"Next my tiger gains 300 attack points for each Frightfur monster I have," Sora continued. "And I have one right now! So that's 300 extra points. Now, for the real Duel Academy, time to end this! Frightfur Tiger, attack! Bash some sense back into Syrus!"

Frightfur Tiger lunged itself towards the other side of the field and bared its plush fangs down on a scared Syrus. It got onto a nice grip and used its paws to lock itself into place before going out with an explosion that sent him flying past Yuto, Shay, and Gong before tumbling down a nearby ancient staircase, with his circular glasses falling off his face and landing near the stairs. Once he landed face first on the ground, all his Life Points depleted to 0; the outcome was quickly followed by Sora rushing towards the stairs, grabbing the glasses, and running down to see if his friend was okay. His allies followed him to double check if defeating a Reversed Duelist really does turn them back to normal.

"Syrus?" Sora asked out of concern. "You okay?"

Before he could have time to receive an answer, Sora and the others stopped about three-quarters of the way down to see Syrus wincing and groaning in pain. His body was coated in the same dark red aura, but something different was going on. The aura started rising up into the air from its host and briefly unveiled its bold, blood red, demonic face, complete with a short screech as it continued expelling itself. Just then, a rapid jolt sped up the process further, fully getting rid of it and leaving behind what might have looked like an unconscious Syrus.

Sora quickly climbed down the rest of the stairs and ran to where the latter laid, flipping his body over and holding him in his arms to see if he wasn’t badly injured. Based on what was shown, he suffered a minor arm injury, so it wasn’t too serious; however, there was something more attention-catching on Syrus’ face. The markings he once bore were now gone and there was no longer a shadow covering from his forehead to underneath his eyes. Speaking of which, did they also showed signs of him finally free from the Reverse? Sora lightly shook his classmate and called his name to at least try and help him regain consciousness and it felt like it would last forever until Syrus’ eyebrows started twitching. His eyes were also tightly shut, but they began to open, revealing a remarkable sight: they no longer appeared soulless and his pupils and white highlights have returned, and the first thing he saw was Sora, who was so relieved and overjoyed to see his friend had returned.

"Sora?" Syrus asked, sounding a bit drained. "What... What happened?"

"Syrus!" Sora happily exclaimed. He hugged the Roid user. "You're alright!"

"No seriously, what happened?" Syrus repeated, pushing Sora back. He noticed Yuto. "And when did Yuri grow out his hair?"

Shay and Gong turned their heads to face Yuto, who was scratching the back of his head and has shifted his eyes off to the side because he wasn’t sure if he should explain that he happened to be Yuri’s XYZ counterpart. This is now the second time that there are still people who may not be able to tell the difference between himself and the other counterparts even with his glasses on, much to his unfortunate disappointment with a hint of embarrassment.

"It's complicated," Sora said as he proceeded to type something into his Duel Disk. "Commander Phoenix should be able to explain everything to you."

"I do remember hearing something about the Professor's murder," Syrus recalled as he put his glasses back on. "But everything else is a blur- Wait, did you say Commander Phoenix?"

"I sure did," Sora answered. "I just sent him a message explaining how I freed you, so he should be activating the transport system any minute now..."

Syrus was at a loss of words after what Sora said. Freed him from what? Did something terrible occur at Duel Academy after Leo was killed? What is Aster doing, holding some kind of refuge base somewhere in the Fusion Dimension? Whatever happened, was it also responsible for making him forget what happened after learning the unfortunate news? At least he was grateful to know one of his classmates was there to rescue him from being used a puppet of some sort. He suddenly felt a small yet sharp pain coming from where his arm was barely injured; he hoped Aster was able to round up some surviving doctors to help form a medical clinic for any other survivors.

But that was what made him realize Duel Academy could still have a chance; whatever enemy it is that’s threatening all four dimensions any survivors and reverted Duelists will band together to settle the score that once caught them off guard. With this revelation in mind, he mustered up enough energy to lean forward and give Sora a hug for saving him, in which the latter returned. As they continued to embrace each other, a bright blue light flashed from Syrus’ Duel Disk and engulfed him, transporting him to the Phoenix Resistance. Sora got up from his knees and wiped away any lingering tears that might have formed; he then looked up to the sky, knowing one of his closest friends has escaped the clutches of the Reverse and there is still a spark of hope somewhere in the Fusion Dimension.

#Seed of Darkness #yugioh arc v #Yuya Sakaki #cardfight!! vanguard #Link Joker

6 notes · View notes

universitykpop · 7 years

Text

Lead Me On

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Songfic

Member: Suho

Words: 2,102

A/N: It’s 4 am and i’m tired so i’ll proofread later oops

So don’t call me baby Unless you mean it Don’t tell me you need me If you don’t believe it So let me know the truth Before I dive right into you

“Baby, come on. You’re so slow.” Joonmyeon laughed as he glanced over his shoulder at you.

Little does he know, that made your heart flutter. You could die hanging on the words he says. Did he mean it as a flirty name or just a name for a friend? He was so hard to read.

“Maybe if you helped me carry something.” You squinted your eyes at him, the cake in your hands feeling like it would fall.

“I was seeing if you’d try to carry all the birthday stuff by yourself.” He grinned and took the cake.

His smile was so cute. You wanted to pinch his little cheeks. Ever since you met him in that math class in high school, you swore to yourself you wouldn’t fall for that stupid smile. But the closer you became, the easier it was for him to unravel all resistance you had built up.

As you walked into Baekhyun’s apartment, you heard several friends ask Joonmyeon about his vacation trip with Sehun, Minseok, and Jongdae. It was a guys only holiday, so you kept up to date with their adventures through social media. They spent a week and a half at a gorgeous resort. You were pretty jealous to say the least.

“How you holding up, champ?” Chanyeol teasingly asked you, resting a hand on your arm.

“I will set you on fire.” You warned, and his touch was gone.

“Sounds like somebody didn’t confess.”

“Hush!” You hissed, making sure no one heard, “If he hears you, I promise I’ll kill you, and it’ll look like an accident.”

“God, you are so violent today. Who lit the fuse on your tampon?”

“You know there’s no way I’d tell him.”

“I’ll do it for you. Where did he go?” Chanyeol looked around the kitchen as you glared even harder at the tall boy.

A hand suddenly pinched Chanyeol’s ear and yanked him back.

“If looks could kill, Y/N would commit capital murder. Quit teasing her, you ass.” Kyungsoo shooed Chanyeol away and turned back to you, “Why does he even know?”

“In high school, he took my diary out of my backpack thinking it was my notes. He has yet to let me live it down.” You sighed, placing the gift bag on a counter.

“But he does have a point.”

Your glare returned quickly, finding a new victim.

“What? You really should confess. What if he feels the same?”

“I can tell he doesn’t. I’ve been friendzoned ever since he called me ‘bud’ and finger gunned me.” You rolled your eyes at the memory.

You remembered that night you had a project to finish and Joonmyeon got a text from a girl saying yes to his date offer. Of course, he didn’t want to leave you to do the rest of the work, but you assured him it was fine. “Thanks, Bud.” Bang. Bang. You would be even saltier if she hadn’t stood him up last minute. You also remembered how upset he was when he came back over and how quickly he brightened up when you suggested watching his favorite movie. That adorable little smile and those actual peachy cheeks… kind of like how he looked right then talking to Jongdae. God, you were in deep.

“Please stop staring. You’re being embarrassing.” Sehun huffed next to you, knocking you out of your daze.

“Shut up. I wasn’t staring.”

“Sorry, ogling. You got a little drool right there on your chin,” He pretended to wipe it away as you swatted at his hand, “But there is something I need to tell you.” His voice lowered.

“What? About Joonmyeon?”

“Yeah… Um, on the plane, Jongdae and I were bothering him, and I happened to glance down at his phone. A picture of you and him was his lockscreen. So we-”

“I’m his lockscreen?” You felt excitement bubbling up in your chest.

“He was in the picture too. Calm down. Anyways, we started teasing him about it and asked if he liked you or something.” Sehun looked down at his hands for a moment, and you knew Joonmyeon’s answer.

That excitement fell to the pit of your stomach, and you wanted to throw up. The room was suddenly warm. The air was thick; you couldn’t breathe correctly.

“Why would you tell me that?” Your voice cracked.

“I don’t want to see you pining after someone who doesn’t like you back. It felt selfish not to tell you. Now it’s starting to feel selfish telling you. You shouldn’t waste your time on something that’s not going to happen. I’m sorry I told you.”

“But- How- I don’t understand. He’s been so sweet to me, calling me ‘baby,’ paying for my food, surprising me with candy.” You grasped at words but couldn’t comprehend the situation. Every hug, every hand held, every lingering glance, none of it was real. Was it only in your head the whole time?

“Y/N, he’s just really friendly. You’re one of his best friends, so he’s going to be like that with you.”

“As much as I want to die right now, thank you for telling me.” You turned your head to peek at the man you had fallen for. Maybe you had looked too deeply into everything. Even Joonmyeon had told you that you do that.

“I need a drink.” You dismissed yourself to grab a bottle of some fruity mix that Baekhyun bought and mope in the living room with the rest of the party. Hopefully, Jongin’s birthday would distract you from the thing that was now hurting you so much that you couldn’t even look at your best friend.

Best friend. How could you have been so stupid to think someone like him would even consider you anything more than a friend. He had the looks, personality, and money; he could easily attract someone like that. The more you thought about it, the quicker you drank. Once the bottle was empty, you felt a little loose. This wouldn’t be so bad, right?

“What’s wrong? Did Sehun tell you about that girl and Joonmyeon?” Jongdae asked, wedging himself between you and the armrest.

“What girl?” Your attention snapped to the boy.

“Oh, shit.” A look of panic flashed across his face. As he tried to escape your wrath, your hand caught the back of his shirt and returned his ass to the couch.

“Now, you have to tell me since you brought it up.”

“Fuck… While we were on vacation, we met some girls at the resort bar. Joonmyeon ended up going back to one of the girls’ rooms…” Jongdae shifted on the cushion, “He was gone for a while and met us back at our room. He wouldn’t tell us what happened, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out though.”

“You guys have such a way with words today. You all are making me feel like an idiot.” You growled, grip tightening on his shirt.

Maybe your friends were right; you should have confessed to him already. Maybe you waited too long. Maybe there was no chance for you now.

“Y/N!” A voice shouted from the dining room.

Your eyes trained on the birthday boy.

“Are you going to play this card game?” He asked, completely oblivious to your sour mood.

You headed to the table despite just wanting to curl up in a corner and disappear. “What game?”

“I forgot what it’s called, but we pass out the cards and each person will slap down a card. For every ace, joker, or jack laid out, that person has to answer a question. For every king or queen, that person has to do a dare.” Jongin smiled and made you feel very little happiness. The boy was usually a ray of sunshine that could shine through any gray cloud, but it just wasn’t working today.

After another drink and several weird dares consisting of Jongin kissing Baekhyun’s cheek and Sehun licking Minseok’s abs, Jongdae threw down an ace causing Baekhyun to crack up. He had a smug grin on his face as he assured everyone that he had a good question.

“Out of all the guys here, who would you sleep with?”

“Can I take my card back?” Jongdae joked, “Probably Minseok. He’s really quiet when he’s asleep and doesn’t toss and turn.”

“That’s not wha-”

“Next person!” Jongdae interrupted Baekhyun and nudged you.

When you flipped your card on top of the deck, your body tensed. A joker.

“I’ve got a question.” Joonmyeon giggled as Sehun tried to compose himself and hit Joonmyeon’s shoulder.

“Who was the last person you had a wet dream about?” Joonmyeon grinned, putting you on the spot.

Your face burned with embarrassment, and Sehun began laughing.

“Was it me or something?” Joonmyeon teased.

The joker was you. You couldn’t not answer him because that would give you away. You couldn’t say you didn’t want to answer because you’d be pegged as the new party pooper; you didn’t want to strip Kyungsoo of that title. You held your breath in anticipation for the dumb answer that was about to blurt out of your mouth.

“Don’t flatter yourself. It was about Sehun.”

As the words flew across the room, Sehun, who had just leaned his head back for a drink of his beer, choked loudly, the liquid dribbling down his chin. You stood up from the chair and headed for the kitchen.

Chanyeol was sat on the counter texting and talking to Kyungsoo and Yixing when you hurriedly grabbed his arm and asked him in his ear to take you home. He gave you a once-over before nodding and jumping down to get your jackets.

At the front door, you could hear Joonmyeon talking to Kyungsoo.

“What’s wrong with Y/N?”

“Dunno. She just asked Chanyeol to take her home. They’re getting their jackets right now.”

Not wanting to hear any more, you pushed the door open and headed out without Chanyeol. Once in the elevator, you repeatedly pressed the close doors button, but a hand shot between the doors at the last second. Joonmyeon stepped inside with a concerned look. The elevator tried to resume its way to the ground floor, but Joonmyeon halted it.

“What’s going on?” He asked, searching your eyes for an answer.

“Nothing. I just want to go home.” You looked away from him.

“You were fine when we got here, and you suddenly started giving me a death glare.”

Maybe this was the moment you needed to tell him. There wasn’t any other excuse you could think of. You didn’t know if you could still be friends with your heart broken. If only Sehun and Jongdae didn’t say anything to you, you could continue living your life in ignorant bliss. You were about to jump into freezing waters, helplessly watching the inevitable pain get closer as you fall helplessly.

“Do you have a tendency to lead people on?” Your voice was harsher than you intended.

“What?”

“Don’t call me baby unless you mean it, and don’t tell me you need me if you don’t believe it.”

“Are you- Y/N, do you like me?” He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“Yes… I apologize for that.” You spoke in defeat.

“You know… you’re a mystery. I’ve traveled the world, and there’s no one like you.” He quietly chuckled to himself.

“That girl you slept with on vacation seemed pretty special too, right?”

“Girl I slept with? I didn’t sleep with anyone. What are you talking about?”

“Jongdae told me you went back to a girl’s room.” You finally looked at him again.

“Babe, I didn’t do anything with her. She was really drunk, and I walked her there because it wasn’t safe for her to do so by herself.”

Your eyes widened and moved to the floor.

“I feel so stupid.” You whispered to yourself. Tears stung the corners of your eyes.

“How would you feel if I told you I love you?” His gentle hand lifted your chin.

“Even more stupid.”

A grin broke out across his face as he leaned down to your lips. His kiss sent a spark down your body. When he moved away, you could see the emotion in his eyes.

“And actually, I’ve been known to give my all,” He corrected your statement from earlier, “I’d never lead you on. I was being obvious because I just couldn’t form the right words.”

“So you do really like me?” You needed to hear him say it.

“I love you, Y/N.”

Your heart warmed at his words as his gaze bored into yours.

“I love you, too.”

222 notes · View notes

fanficjjigae · 7 years

Text

Something to say

Here’s something a little different! As a birthday request for our dear friend Crookedlydeepcolor, a fellow friend and fanfic writer Tservo and I wrote this little Namjin drabble. I hope you like it!

HAPPYBIRTHDAY!

Synopsis: Nothing but Namjin happily ever after fluff here.

You don’t notice things now, but there’s somethings to be said….

Dusk had fallen outside casting dark shadows throughout the small hall. The attendees, dressed in all their versions of finery laughed and joked amongst themselves, the volume of the room had settled at a mid-sized roar. Jin, ever the perfectionist, had decorated the wedding hall down the smallest detail, until the visual he’d carried around in his head, right from the very first moment he’d seen Namjoon (okay, not the very first moment, as that had predictably gone horribly wrong, but at least by the second or third sighting) came to life. He realized he was going to have to live with Yoongi’s mocking for the rest of his days even before he’d seen his friend take in the pink and white tulle covered room, but that was an eventuality he was willing to live with. He wanted pink and white fluffy clouds, he was going to get pink and white fluffy clouds.

Unless of course, Namjoon hated pink and white fluffy clouds and even then...well… he knew exactly the right moves to get him on board. And he was okay with that too.

The cameraman wandered the room, picking out moments to capture on film, doing his best to bring his A game, knowing how particular this groom could be. Hoseok mugged for the camera every chance he got. It got so the photographer tried to clock him wherever he went, as he was sure Jin wouldn’t appreciate having all his wedding photos filled with a grinning goofball. Realizing Hoseok had wandered towards the bar where Yoongi sat on a stool, casually leaning back on his elbows, taking in the whole crowd with a slight sneer (yeah, another thing for the poor cameraman tried to avoid memorializing on film), the man and his camera, swung around and headed in the opposite direction. This only served to get him tangled up, yet again, with Jungkook, who, in his own infinite wisdom, had decided to bring his own monster sized camera, ensuring that half of Jin’s photos would be filled with a goofy Hoseok and the other half with a camera almost as big as Jungkook’s head.

“Toast! Toast! Toast!” Taehyung called out to the room. “Pretty sure it’s time for the groomsman to make a speech.”

“Shut the fuck up, Taehyung.” Yoongi snapped from the bar.

But the excited man, the man who, naturally took all the credit for the couple getting together (okay, he played a little part, but it wasn’t like he was instrumental in the deal, Namjoon would grumble) would not be swayed. He was here to see his best friends, who were grossly in love and absolutely perfect for each other (again, as he brought them together, he was fairly positive they were destined to b the best couple ever, it was like, written in the stars or some shit like that.), get married. And part of getting married was speeches.

Jimin, realizing the crowd wasn’t quieting, jumped up on his chair and hammered a knife into his champagne glass. “SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!” he grinned.

Grumbling, realizing there was no way out, Yoongi pushed himself away from the bar and ambled towards the microphone front and center in the room, shooting death stares at Taehyung.

Yoongi grabbed the microphone from the stand, bringing it to his lips and cleared his throat, “Yeah, so, I guess I’m the one who gets to tell you all about what we already know. Namjoon and Jin are disgustingly in love and we get to watch it for the rest of our lives.” He lazily swung his eyes up to the front table, taking in his oldest friend and his loveliest friend, first watching him begin the speech and then turning, as if by magnetic pull, to gaze into each other’s eyes. “Turn on the slide show, Kook.” Jungkook jogged to the AV table in the back of the room and un-muted the video on the projector. The screen behind Yoongi shown with a candid snapshot of the two grooms, so obviously enamoured with each other.

“I have known Namjoon, or Joonie, if you want to get decked, for most of my life. He was…” He paused, considering his wording carefully, “He was a trainwreck of a human being from the time his mother let him out from under her skirts.” Yoongi turned to look at the woman in question, “Sorry, Mrs. Kim, you know I think of you as a second mother, but I’m pretty sure you were much more successful at raising me than you were with Namjoon.” The woman bowed her head in acceptance and resignation before smiling up at Yoongi and blowing him a kiss. Yoongi turned back toward the head table and continued, the photo on the screen replaced by a gawky picture of Namjoon “This guy was socially awkward, painfully clumsy, hideous to look at, and one of the most loyal, supportive, and kind friends a guy could have.”

Yoongi smiled sweetly at Namjoon, revealing his perfect row of small teeth. Namjoon scowled, shaking his fist at Yoongi in a threat before breaking into a wide grin, his dimples pressed deeply into his cheeks. Yoongi began speaking again, “I was always afraid that I would have to spend the rest of my life taking care of this asshole. We all know he wouldn’t be able to survive on his own for very long. But now, now we know he will not only be kept alive, but cherished.” He turned his focus to the man in question. The picture on the screen shifted again, this time to an image of a young and beautiful Jin.

“This perfect human being, this angel, has not only vowed to spend the rest of his life caring for our Joonie, but he has done it with his eyes open. Jin’s first experience with Namjoon, and I won’t go into too many horrible details to protect our friend’s pride, was….let’s just say that it involved a sizeable gas fire, the overhead sprinklers turning on, and a trip to the hospital in the back of an ambulance as the guardian for a man he had just met. You can imagine how he must of felt when not two weeks later, this clown was foisted upon him as Tae’s idea of the perfect blind date. Turns out Tae’s got a pretty good eye for this shit.” He turned to look at Taehyung, sitting at one of the tables near the front of the room, jacket slung over his chair and top button undone.

“It was even him that coined the fucking phrase ‘Namjin’”. Yoongi gave an exaggerated shudder. “Ugh. How can you root for a couple who has their own nickname.” Tae shouted out at him in protest, while Namjin themselves chuckled. “But what Tae won’t get through his thick skull, is the fact that he really had nothing to do with it at all. It was Jin that persisted, even after that disaster of a first date. Even after Namjoon had never called. How was Jin supposed to know that this loser had, yet again, dropped his cell phone down the toilet. And yet, he persisted. He made it work.”

The crowd groaned as, they were all unfortunately, familiar with Joonie and his ways by now. “Do you know what it was like having to live with this idiot after that? ‘Yoongs—this guy was so hot.’. ‘Yoongs, his shoulders were so broad.’, ‘Yoongs, what am I going to do if I never find him again.’.” Yoongi whined into the mike for the crowd. “He looked pretty much like this for two weeks.”

“As his best friend, it was, of course, my duty to tell him, no Joonie, you done messed up this time. You’re never going to find him again and even if you did? You’ve outed yourself as the massively awkward, nerdy, klutz you are. Nope, Jin had obviously taken one look at you and run for the hills.” Namjoon launched a roll at his friend, who easily dodged it, as awkward Namjoon was a terrible shot. Jin leaned over and whispered in Namjoon’s ear bringing out the flash of dimples Jin loved so much.

“Who knew Jin would have a thing for massively awkward nerdy, klutzs?” Yoongi shrugged his shoulders and chuckled to himself. “Thank god he does though.”

He looked over his shoulder at a screen, which had changed yet again to a photo of the two men hanging all over each other. “It wasn’t long before these two were ready to introduce their friends. I mean, that shows fucking commitment. Who would want to show the man they are newly in love with the assholes they choose to hang around. Who would want to get these two sets of jokers together knowing full well they have so many delightful,” he paused, his eyebrow shooting up, “stories to share. So much photographic evidence of the highpoints and low points of their lives”

“But they took the risk and it was like fucking magic. I hate all of Jin’s friends just as much as I hate my own. In fact, they have become my own.” Hoseok shouted his affection from the bar as Jin shushed him with fluttering hands. Jimin stood from his seat next to Taehyung, bringing his arms up in the shape of a heart.

Yoongi shook his head and sighed loudly. “But where does someone go from that? What’s the next step? Well, for these two is was dragging Namjoon’s cardboard box Ryan stuffed animals and hoodies from his shoebox of an apartment over to Jin’s place to create a home together. A home that we all now look to for comfort, security, friendship, and Jin’s cooking.”

“Feed us, Jin, feed us!” Jimin and Taehyung shouted, both jumping onto their chairs, pleading with Jin.

“Shut your faces!” Yoongi shouted. “Can’t you see I’m trying to be all poetic and crap up here?” The room laughed and Taehyung and Jimin hopped down from their chairs. “Even during the bad times, whatever happened with us, with them, we knew that they were our pillars. We knew whatever they went through-- like the time Namjoon got caught up in mixing that song and forgot to come home for three days...”

“Or that time that Jin adopted not one, but two dogs without talking to Joonie first.”

“Despite these things, we knew they were going to get through, because they had to, for all of us. They were the living proof that some things are just meant to be. That there is someone for everyone, no matter how weird, or awkward, or how far out of their league someone might be.”

The screen lit up with a video of Namjoon caught, just a few days before, staring at Jin, staring at him as though he were his whole world, as if nothing else existed for him. Even after all this time, the years, the long days, the tight budgets, the daily grind, even after all that, he looked at Jin as though he were his everything. Because he was.

Everyone paused, their eyes drifting from Yoongi to the head table where the men sat, Namjoon, reaching over to clasp Jin’s hands in his, while Jin wiped away the tear which had spilled down his cheek.

“And so,” Yoongi said, lowering his eyes, looking at his feet for a moment, as if gathering himself, “They decided to make it official.” He swallowed, looking up at the head table, eyes shining. “Our Joonie did something right for change. He tricked Jin into agreeing to be with him forever. He pumped Jimin for information on Jin’s dream date. He needled Hoseok into finding out what type of proposal Jin wanted. Hell, he even let me and Kook pick his clothes so he didn’t come off looking like a clown on the most important night of his life. And it was important. It was everything to him.”

“That night brought us here. And here we are.” Yoongi grabbed a champagne flute from the tray being offered up by a waiter in a black suit. He raised it toward the head table, smiling widely again. “Here’s to our Joonie for finding the man of his dreams and here’s to our Jin for not realizing quite what he’s getting himself in for. May they forever be happy, healthy, and as in love as they are at this moment.” He lowered his glass and brought it to his lips as the room broke out into cheers of congratulations and well wishes. He slipped the mic back into the stand as the slide in the presentation changed one last time, revealing a photograph of the young couple so clearly in love.

#Namjin #Namjoon #Seokjin #BTS #Fanfic #Drabble #Birthday wishes

42 notes · View notes

rpchive · 6 years

Text

112th Encounter-- Two of a Kind

temporary detour time!

Azreldeh guides the group back onto the road between districts. Halfway between, a cart is stopped in the road. Sitting on the edge, upright, like a person would, is a large, black cat, a singular green eye watching the group approach, the other scarred shut. Around his neck is a large bow made from intertwining red and white ropes, a large, golden bell in the center. Of note, the cat seems to have a tail that splits into a Y-shape, nearly becoming two separate tails. Blinking slowly, he addresses Azreldeh first, his voice as smooth and soft as his inviting fur seems to be.

"So you've come to me again? It's been a long time; I thought you'd found somebody else to play with. I've been escorting a couple of your friends; I apologise for the inconvenience, miss Azreldeh. I'm assuming you've all come to get them back?"

Azreldeh: Yes, Sake; we have. I'm...sorry we haven't talked in so long...

Sake: Think nothing of it. Now then, would you kindly create a deck of cards for us? I've no time for a proper trial with Sír being so...quick to the draw.

A little reluctant, Azreldeh hands Sake some cards. Daedalus: Wait, really? Are we literally gambling for our friends' lives now? Sake: You could say that. Which of you will be doing this? Fawkes: I suppose it's time for me to get off the sidelines. What's the game? Sake: We both draw a single card. We can choose to keep the card, shuffle it back, draw a new one, or blindly replace the card the other person drew. The higer value wins. Fawkes: I believe someone other than the two of us should shuffle the deck then, to prevent any doubt of card dealing. Does this sound fair? Sake: Perfectly reasonable. Then one of your friends should do it.

Paprika takes the deck from Sake's cart, shuffles the cards, then returns it a way away from Sake.

Sake: You draw first. Fawkes: One last question before I draw. Are aces highest or lowest? Sake: Second highest. The jokers will be higher. Fawkes: I had a feeling that'd be the case, somehow.

Fawkes' visor completely fills with different patterns of moving light. He reaches out and draws his card from the deck, then quickly holds it up in front of his face. Fawkes draws his card, the ace of spades, and Sake draws his own as well. Patiently, he looks at Fawkes.

it’s funny, Daedalus gets this card in a much later log for a “similar” situation

"Your verdict?" Fawkes: I assume I can only take one action, yes? Sake: Correct. Fawkes: Then I'll keep. Sake: How confident. Very well, let's flip our cards, then.

Sake reveals his card, the ace of diamonds. Fawkes turns his hand around to reveal his card as well. "Interesting. A tie. I don't think a condition was stated for that." Sake: Seeing as how we both seem to be in a bit of a hurry, I'll call it a win. You and your friends are free to go.

Sake produces two more dolls, Silky and Firefly, who return to their proper forms as he places them upon the ground. Standing up, Sake walks around to the other side of his cart, and rides away. Fawkes drops his card and quickly hurries over to the pair, putting a hand on their shoulders to steady them just in case they need it. "Phew, talk about luck! I forgot to ask how many jokers were in the deck so my probabilities were completely skewed. Are you two okay?" Firefly: I...think so? Where even are we? What's happening? Fawkes: We're back in the mirror world right now. It turns out that Azreldeh is actually royalty here, but when she refused to return with the person who showed up at our door, they turned most of us into dolls and then brought us here as leverage. Now it's a matter of challenging the people in charge here to get everyone back before they stay that way forever. Silky: S-so what kind of time limit do we have here? Fawkes: I'm not sure if there's a strict one. The only condition I know of is that if we fail the challenge, they can do...something to them before they return them to us. Azreldeh: Right now, we're trying to intercept one of the council members we lost to, or else they'll wind up handing Collin over to his counterpart.

Firefly: Wh-what?! We need to go now then! Daedalus: Well if we're done playing catch-up, then let's get the hell over there. Carrying on along the road, the group finally reunites with Sír on the border of the two districts. Standing at the edge of the border of the 8th district are three of FaWKES' guard captains; one in red armor, one in blue, and the final guard being Collin's reflection. Retrieving Collin's doll from his current resting place, Sír dusts him off once or twice before returning him to his proper form in the middle of the two groups. Collin staggers slightly as he puts one hand to the side of his head and tries to regain his balance. He blinks a few times as he looks around, trying to get his bearings again. "W-Wait, where...? What... What just happened?" The captain in red speaks out, Demo's voice muffled by her helmet. "You've been brought to the edge of our territory. We aren't technically allowed to fight you until you're on this side of the wall, but we're still allowed to do whatever it takes to get you here. Not like we want to hurt you given who you are; I'd say it's pretty convenient that you brought everyone we needed to one place." Looking in her direction and seeing his counterpart so close, he instinctively takes a step back toward Jay and the others. "W-What? How did we- ... Look, I don't get how the hell this happened, but there is no way I'm coming with any of you." SDemo: You don't have to come willingly. You don't even need to move. Collin doesn't need anything other than himself to take you in. Collin slowly shifts into a more defensive position as he starts glancing between the trio. "Whatever that's supposed to mean. I know what it means if I go with you, and that is not happening." Shaking her head, Demo's shadow glances over to the other guards. "Looks like he's not gonna walk; who wants to play fetch first?" Collin's counterpart huffs in annoyance and then reaches forward with one hand. His hand seems to push through reality itself like a paper wall as it reaches into a dark void. His hand suddenly bursts out from mid-air right in front of Collin and grabs him by the collar and then pulls him back through. The hole in space closes back into normalcy as Collin appears in his counterpart's grip right in front of him. Mirror Collin grabs him by the neck with both hands in one swift motion and a blast of dark energy wrack's Collin's body as he cries out in pain before going limp. Throwing his body over his shoulder, the counterpart looks over to the others next to him.

M!Collin: Look at that, I didn't even have to step over the border to get him. alienrabitt: L-let him go!! Demo: Seriously? What, do you think they're gonna be like "oh yeah, okay!" and just set him down and walk off? Fuck's sake, Jay.

Summoning forth her candy cane, Demo shoulders her weapon as she stares at her counterpart. "Look, I know what'll happen if we get too close and personal, so I'm not about to try and throttle you, but this is gonna get really fucking messy if I start swinging."

SDemo: Don't even bother. We know you idiots will chase him to the ends of time and space itself so long as that Jay's with you. Why buy milk when you can get the cow for free? Anyway, you know where to find us.

Turning around, Demo's shadow takes her leave. Daedalus' counterpart glances in her direction as she leaves, then looks back at the others to give a half-hearted theatrical bow before following suit. "Looking forward to seeing you. Don't keep us waiting too long, now..."

Collin's shadow shifts Collin around slightly as he starts to turn back as well. He stops for a moment to look over his shoulder at the others. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Try not to disappoint me."

With that, he turns and follows the other two away. Demo: Ugh...we don't have the time to be storming some stupid castle...c'mon, let's get your boyfriend back...

The group carries on to the 8th district, Jay continuing to bring up the rear. Daedalus: This is just a constant chase, isn't it? Do you think they'll have multiple castles too? Azreldeh: Nah, they've only ever had one. Daedalus: ... They actually have a castle? Azreldeh: They do; but FaWKES can't leave it. Originally, neither could Collin's reflection...before all that weird god stuff happened, anyway... Daedalus: And uh... what exactly happened after that? Azreldeh: He woke up, climbed out of the floor, and made FaWKES regret putting him down there. FaWKES put him back in his place eventually, though, but nobody knows what he did. After all, it's pretty obvious that this Collin isn't exactly a friendly guy. Daedalus: You're telling me. He's making the old me look like a little ball of sunshine... Azreldeh: He doesn't exactly look like a pushover either...what're you guys gonna do? Daedalus: Best case scenario? Collin wakes up and surprise attacks him before he has a chance to react, and then we do cleanup. Pretty much every other scenario, though... Hell if I know? If he's still reliant on his magic bullshit, then he shouldn't be too physically tough. We've just gotta get close and take him out before he can do anything too crazy, right? Azreldeh: Easier said than done...dude sounds like a lunatic. Daedalus: What, you don't wanna flirt with that one too? Azreldeh: Look, that's not the way I want to get impaled, okay? Daedalus visibly shudders. "Fucking hell, why do I still try to mess with you when it always ends like this? You're almost as bad as that hellish swimsuit model." Azreldeh: Hahahaha! Don't ask questions you're not ready to hear the answers to, Sunny Dee. Daedalus: I- You- If you-

His speech devolves into a frustrated groan as he starts walking faster, taking the lead from the rest of the group.

LOL, idk what you expected

Giggling, Azreldeh probably looks the happiest she's been since all of this started as she carries on with the group.

The group approaches FaWKES' castle; though nobody is waiting for them outside. Despite there being no crowd, the atmosphere remains anything but inviting.

alienrabitt: ...I still remember the layout of this place...I doubt FaWKES would be anywhere else... Daedalus: Congrats, you're the new tour guide then. Slipping through the group, Jay leads them through the castle. They manage to get up about three floors before Jay slows to a reluctant stop.

Demo: ...Seriously? Save the emotional breakdown for, I dunno, maybe a few hours later, will you? They're right down the hall...

alienrabitt: ...Demo, I don't know if I can do this...

Demo: It's gonna be just like fighting every other bad guy...

alienrabitt: ...I saw your reflections, but...I killed mine the first time around; if they're back, then...why weren't they with everyone else?

Demo: Well, we're not gonna find out standin' in the hallway; let's get moving!! Fawkes: Just stay with us, Jay. We'll keep you safe if things start to get... out of hand. Taking a deep breath, Jay grabs his scarf uncomfortably as he slowly heads up to the big double doors. Letting it out, he legs go and shoves the doors open to what had previously been his own reflection's throne room. At the back this time, however, is a massive mess of machinery and metal; an array of wires, cables, and pipes intertwine and spider around large slab of glass and black steel. The screen flickers to life, a simple, large purple circle in the center; a singular eye staring down at the people intruding into his chamber. Below the screen are the three guards and Collin, who is lying on the floor beneath FaWKES' screen. Standing a few feet away from the group is Jay's reflection; quiet, somber, and hesitant, only daring to look at their counterpart in the tense atmosphere.

Breaking the silence, FaWKES addresses his company. "So you've come at last. It's been a long, long time..." Daedalus: Sorry to keep you waiting, big guy. You're a bit taller than I imagined. FaWKES: Spare me the short talk. We all know what you're here for. Let's get this over with. Daedalus: Well, he's way more blunt than the real thing, at least... SDemo: So, who's next? Or should we kick this off already? I'm already sick of waiting on you people.

Daedalus: What, you really wanna throw down that badly? SDemo: Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't all of us? Do you have any idea what this place even is? Daedalus: I mean... it's the mirror world, right? SDemo: There's more to it than that...all of this started when that dumpster fire of a devil decided his son was too soft. As a punishment, he sealed his son away from all the other dimensions, and surrounded him with the secrets of the world. See, everything has a shadow, whether they're organic or not; living or dead; intelligent or an object...and so everything that exists in the light exists differently in the darkness... Daedalus: So... you're like our opposites, then. I had figured that much already, y'know. SDemo: But we exist exclusively to keep one person captive and torture them for the rest of eternity! We'll never see the sun, and our entire lives are bound to your own! Someone who's meek and timid down here could wrap their car around a tree, murdering a perfectly innocent person here; someone up there could kill themselves when their reflection was perfectly fine! Someone's counterpart could die in a freak accident, and their reflection would just...vanish! We don't have a choice, we can't protect ourselves!! Daedalus: I... uh... Shit, that's...

Fawkes: Unfair or not, your situation doesn't make what you're trying to do here right! SDemo: What else are we supposed to do?! If we can't find the devil that did this, we'll never leave the mirror; and if something else gets to them first, we all die!! Daedalus: So what, you'd rather we just hand over our lives to you instead? SDemo: Something /has/ to be done. If we don't get out of this mirror, everyone will die. We might be constructs, but we're alive; and we're doing whatever the hell it takes to stay that way; even if it means equivalent exchange. I will gladly sacrifice a handful of people for an entire dimension's worth of lives; can you look me in the eye and say you'd do the same? Daedalus: I don't want to kill anyone! I've got enough blood on my hands, I don't need to add to it if I can avoid it! I'd rather strike at the source of the issue rather than just keep punching down! SDemo: And we do too! But the devil isn't here. They abandoned us. Left us to kill and be killed. We only have one way out, and it is literally through you people; so either hand yourselves over to the proper cause, or we're taking you by force!! Daedalus: That's not happening. Clair and the others are still dolls, and I'm sure as hell not planning on leaving them that way. SDemo: Then we're done talking. We don't even need all of you. Collin should've gotten started the instant we got on castle grounds. Take him; we'll hold the crowd.

Drawing her weapon, Demo's reflection races towards her counterpart, who frantically counters with her own Candy Cane. Jay's reflection remains in the back with FaWKES and the true Collin, staying as far away from the fight as possible. Collin's shadow wastes no time and merges with his counterpart, causing him to cry out once more as his body trembles and convulses. Daedalus charges forward at him but is quickly intercepted by his own shadow, who conjures forth a large pillar of ice to block his path. Fawkes makes a wide arc to get around the others and makes a break for Collin while the others begin fighting. Long, thin, wire-like cables with claws on the end shoot out from behind FaWKES' monitor; only four at the moment; two lashing out like arms, and two firing bright, blue lasers from the center as the claws spin. Fawkes deploys his hard light shield and manages to block the claws, but the lasers pass straight through the shield as if it weren't there at all. One laser grazes the side of his shield arm, forcing him to turn his attention to the laser claws to avoid taking more hits. Lashing out towards his counterpart, FaWKES converges his two lasers into one slightly larger laser. In the meantime, the Demos continue to clash and shove each other away, Demo desperately trying to keep her counterpart from making any ounce of physical contact. Jay's reflection continues to silently watch their counterpart, who is currently weighing their options as they assess the situation. Fawkes deploys his machine gun from his other arm and begins firing on the laser claws as he tries to dash to the side from their attack, aiming to damage the firing mechanisms. Daedalus' arms burst into flames as he begins slinging balls of fire in his counterpart's direction while his shadow attempts to close in with an icy spear, occasionally deflecting projectiles and refreezing his weapon as he tries to close the gap between them. Daedalus looks over at Jay and the others and yells out before dodging a spear thrust.

Daedalus: Any time you guys wanna jump in and try to salvage the situation would be great-! As the claws become damaged, the wires themselves split apart into twice the amount of the previous wires, rapidly reforming any size and function they could have lost. Where there had previously been only two lasers merged into one, there are now four into two; and four non-lasered claws now attempt to grapple Fawkes.

Still a little confused by everything, Silky draws her weapons and rushes into the fray, attempting to provide Fawkes backup, while Maya draws her guns and heads for Daedalus, opening fire in his reflection's direction.

Among the chaos, Jay manages to slip over to the side of the room, where his reflection follows suit, approaching as cautiously as a deer. Barely audible among the sounds of machinery and gunfire, he speaks gently to his counterpart: "...You should go home...there's somebody here you don't want to meet..."

alienrabitt: ...Who? What could possibly be worse than what's already happening?

SJay: ...Not everything on this side of the mirror is as equivalent as you think. Even if somebody's partially destroyed, if a part of them still exists...

so I wrote Jay and his reflection’s dialogue like those cutaway scenes you see in shows and movies where exposition happens during a Big Fight and stuff; even if it happens at the same time in the same place as the chaos, it’s “separate”

Fawkes retracts the machine gun and shifts his shield arm into some form of energy cannon instead, firing electrical pulses at the claws in an attempt to short them out while Silky backs him up.

Daedalus' shadow shifts tactics and rides a small pillar of ice up into the air and then hops off. He throws the spear at Maya in midair, causing it to burst into smaller shards of ice that rush toward her, then freezes the ground underneath him as he lands, allowing him to slide back further. As Jay slowly registers his reflection's implications, Silky grabs a handful of FaWKES' cords and begins to pull him, shifting his monitor forward as she does so. FaWKES, however, wastes no time in electrifying the lines she's grabbed, which is only intensified by the armor she's wearing, causing her grip to lock as she screams in pain, but keeping all of FaWKES' cables busy.

Crashing to the ground in a roll, Maya attempts to dodge out of the way of the ice, refusing to allow herself a glance towards Silky as she continues to fire upon Daedalus' reflection.

There is a low rumble coming from the righthand side of the room that cannot be heard over the commotion, but draws Jay's full attention as he feels it. In the instant that he turns away from his reflection, they waste no time in lunging for him, making sure to force him down upon his injured arm, which collapses under his weight, instantly rendering him helpless. His counterpart, however, makes no effort to merge, and instead takes the ends of Jay's scarf in both hands and pulls as tightly as possible.

Demo adds a swift kick at the end of one of her deflections, giving her just enough distance to make a break for it. As she attempts to make her way towards Jay, her reflection shifts the Candy Cane to a harpoon, and begins to take aim. Fawkes charges closer to FaWKES' monitor and dumps as much power as he can into his energy cannon. He unleashes a series of rapid electromagnetic bursts directly for him, attempting to short out his systems and force a malfunction or crash.

Daedalus' shadow raises a wall of ice between himself and Maya, then shoves the whole thing toward her with a kick. He then turns his attention to Daedalus himself, who has turned away from the fight to see Demo's counterpart preparing to throw. Daedalus slams his hands together in a loud clap and sends a column of roaring fire toward her shadow while his own counterpart charges toward him while his back is turned. Desperately shoving herself off the floor, Maya cries out "Daedalus; move!!" before reaching for the gun slung across her back. Though she has no time to line up a proper shot; though she has no time to properly dodge the wall of ice coming for her, Maya fires a singular round, but does not shoot to kill. A singular bullet passes through the ice wall, losing none of its momentum as it flies straight and true with the very same force it was fired with. It aims for Daedalus' counterpart, and seems to move when he does, leaving a long, blue streak in its wake.

and with the parallels, Maya shoots Daedalus’ reflection with the same gun she intended to shoot him with in Lobotomy had things gone sour

As Demo's reflection starts to make her throw, she seems to lose a bit of heart as she hears the crackle of the flames approaching her, and her aim falls quite a few feet short as her armor becomes engulfed in Daedalus' flames, causing her muffled cries to ring out.

FaWKES cannot move from his position, and takes the onslaught in full, causing his cables to lose power, allowing Silky to collapse and leaving Collin unguarded.

As Demo barrels towards the two Jays, Jay barely manages to choke out the word "Why?" around his own strangulation.

A section of the wall slides aside. Somebody is standing in the gap.

Choking around his tears, Jay's reflection shakes his head as he pulls so tightly the fabric rips slightly. "...I don't want to go to the surface...I don't want to fight...everything you do is for revenge...everything you do is for someone else's sake...everything you do is for Collin; but I...I don't want to live for anybody else...if you only exist for him...if I wind up becoming a part of you...we'll never be free...we'll never be happy...this has to end...your struggle; your lies; it all has to end here...so stop talking to me, and just...just let me help you! Just let go already...! Let us both go..."

From the wall, a familiar voice speaks over him... Zenith: ...It doesn't work like that! Let him go!! Daedalus' shadow takes Maya's shot in the arm and screams in pain as he's knocked to the ground by the impact. Daedalus and Fawkes both turn to the source of the shouting. The reappearance of Zenith stuns Daedalus for a moment, but Fawkes immediately looks back down to the Jays and rushes toward them to try and break the shadow's stranglehold. Collectively, Zenith and Demo manage to pull Jay's reflection away from Jay, who rolls over and gasps for air.

Holstering her rifle, Maya abandons her persuit of Daedalus' reflection and instead tags out with Firefly, who had been staying back with Paprika to keep her safe in the commotion.

With a clear shot to Collin, Firefly rushes forth, aiming exclusively to tear the pair apart. Seeing that Jay has been taken care of, Fawkes doubles back to check on Silky while Daedalus tries to snap himself out of his own bewilderment.

Firefly manages to reach Collin and pry the two halves apart once more, although his counterpart recovers with almost unnatural speed. He lets out a strange, inhuman sound of frustration as an enormous purple spike forms over the entirety of his right arm. He lunges forward and swings to plunge the spike right through Firefly's chest, then snaps backwards and flies through the air before he can make contact as a massive blast of lightning booms forth from Collin's hands. Collin's shadow slams into the wall on the opposite side of the room and topples down to the floor face down. Firefly: I'm gonna try something a little hasty; prepare to be disoriented!

A pulse of green light shoots out from beneath Firefly; small, green circles appearing beneath anyone familiar and safe, Zenith included. Within the instant the pulse touches the walls, the entire group is teleported back to the border of the two districts, bringing Firefly to her knees. "Are...are you okay? Is everyone...?" Daedalus quickly glances around himself and makes a headcount. "I... think we all made it, by some fuckin' miracle. Anyone hurt?" Paprika: Silky looks like she's in some pretty bad shape, but Jay looks like he'll recover...

Demo: ...You...why are you...how are you...?

Zenith: Adzeth had no soul. I have no body. I'm also not tied up with all those other ghosts, so...I'm just me. Daedalus: That's... Fuck, why isn't Clair here? This is insane. So you're really just... you? Do you remember what happened when...? Zenith: I, uhh...sorta? It's weird; I know...flashes of things? I remember, well...trying to stop my...and then I remember Adzeth waking up in Lobotomy...but I saw...before that, and...

Paprika: You...you saw them make a Sephirah? I'm so sorry...

Zenith: It's such a blur it doesn't even really bother me...I just know that, in comparison to Adzeth, I'm...really vulnerable, and not very strong. What about you guys? You were getting kicked around pretty hard in there... Daedalus: We'll live, hopefully. I think Collin and Silky took the worst of it back there.

Collin: I've... lived through worse. I'm just a little sore and... really disoriented more than anything. What about Silky, is she...? Paprika: She's...a little burnt; hurt for sure, but not dead. She probably shouldn't be moving any time soon... Daedalus: That's sort of a problem given our current situation, isn't it? Paprika: Azreldeh can take her back to the IT, but then she'll be alone...I could stay with her, but if someone tried to hurt us...

alienrabitt: ...I'll go back. Don't worry about it... Collin: W-Wait, is that safe? Just you and Silky on the IT in a place like this? alienrabitt: ...I mean, it has to be, right? You've still got trials to do; better to just lose one person than a whole bunch again...

Azreldeh: You sure about this?

alienrabitt: ...It needs to happen. Somebody's gotta do it... Collin: Jay... Are you okay? I don't even really know what's happening, but I feel like I've missed something big. Demo: ...Some...really obnoxious demon had your doll, and Jay lost the trial he was supposed to get you back from. Fawkes got out of it fine, but she took you to the border and basically handed you over to your shadow as your punishment. Collin: My... doll? I'm not really sure what that means, but... I guess that explains why I suddenly wound up there. But whatever, I'm just glad everyone got out of that place okay; I don't care if you lost the... trial or whatever. I'm just glad you came back to get me the hell out of there. alienrabitt: ...Why wouldn't I? I'm always gonna be there for you. It's kinda what I do, right?

Fawkes: In that case, why don't you let me go with Silky back to the IT? It's the least I can do for her after she helped me. Azreldeh: ...Makes sense. Alright, then I'll take you and Paprika back if there's no objections. Obviously I'm gonna...have to come back here, but yeah. Fawkes walks over to Silky and carefully picks her up while his servos audibly strain slightly. "I'm ready when you are. Get everyone back in one piece, okay?" Nodding, Azreldeh pulls Fawkes, Paprika, and Silky away into the shadows, and returns mere moments later on her own. "...Right, so there's...only two people left, right? No big deal..." Daedalus: I... think three, actually. We've had to deal with four people so far, right? Demo: Yeah. Four down, three to go. So, who's the closest?

Azreldeh: From here? We'd have better luck backtracking to my dad's castle... Collin: Your... dad? Azreldeh: Yeah, the king of district 7. Collin: That's... a little crazy to think about honestly. Why did you never say anything about this, anyway? Azreldeh: About what, my dad, or the council? Collin: About you! I mean, did you think that this whole royalty thing wouldn't ever come up after you came with us? Azreldeh: ...What does it matter? I mean...it definitely matters now; but I just didn't wanna seem like that big of a deal, y'know? I mean...it's pretty rare for a shadow to be able to leave the mirror and stay out without having to merge with their counterpart; but it's even rarer to not even have a counterpart. That's what makes us demons such a big damn deal; there's nothing like us anywhere else. Collin: I... guess I understand what you mean, but- Daedalus: A princess can't exactly play hooky without consequences, can they? Azreldeh: I mean, can anyone really? Collin: Maybe not, but... Listen, Azreldeh. You don't have to keep secrets, okay? We're not gonna treat you weirdly or anything just because you're a princess or whatever. Azreldeh: Maybe I don't, but...I don't know, I just didn't want you guys getting in danger. Guess I seriously messed that up... Daedalus: I mean, technically this was that Merri chick's fault, but a heads up would've been appreciated. Azreldeh: Regardless...I'm sorry you guys had to go through all this... Collin: Well... You help us get everyone back safely and we'll call it even, alright? Azreldeh: I don't think that's how it works, but okay... Collin: Look, let's just worry about getting everyone else back for now; the blame game can wait for later. So... everyone got turned into dolls, and we have to do trials to get them back? At least, that's what I'm understanding... Azreldeh: Yeah; win or lose, they have to give us all the dolls they have back, but if we lose, they're allowed to punish somebody before they give them back. Collin: That sounds... ominous. And your dad is our next stop? Azreldeh: I hope not. He's not even on the council, they just do what he asks. I don't even wanna think about what my dad would do if he found out about all this... Collin: Well, let's uh, hope we don't run into him then. Azreldeh: Anyway, the two guys left are...uhh...Lula and Hox. ...But there should be seven...so who's...? Who am I forgetting...?

Azreldeh gets lost in thought as she stares at the ground reflectively.

I think the next one should be the remaining trials o:

#[S4]

0 notes

thebladeblaster · 3 years

Text

Digimon Tamer ZERO (ver.2) Chapter 1 The Digimon Phenomenon (part 1)

(The differences are more noticeable towards the end)

A few days after the Link Joker incident...

Inside of Card Capital a familiar light purple haired girl sat behind the counter reading a book. She wore a white dress shirt and a red apron. A little black and white cat slept soundly on the counter. There wasn’t quite as many customers in as usual. The girl lifted up her book revealing her blue eyes as she heard someone walk over. It was a blond teen with grey eyes and a white and red hoodie.

“Slow day huh?”, the blond teen questioned putting his elbows on the counter and leaning in.

The girl sighed in response.

“Well, business has gotten a bit slower lately because of the release of that new digital pet line, Digimon. Many kids have been playing those rather than playing card games.”, the girl replied before sighing again.

“While, that is a bit sad I have a feeling that’s not the thing really bothering you.”, the blond surmised which caused the girl to sigh again.

“Well, I guess there’s no point in trying to hide it from you’ll just keep asking until I tell you, Miwa.”, the girl replied sighing again.

“That’s what friends are for so what’s really wrong, Misaki?”, Miwa asked.

Misaki’s gaze seemed to linger over to the door as she started speaking.

“It’s Aichi.”, Misaki answered.

“I thought so he has seemed a bit distant lately...”, Miwa trailed off.

“I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of everything that happened with Link Joker. He was fine at first but well three days ago he started acting a bit weird. He seems to be a bit spacey, he’s been avoiding cardfights and...even us.”, Misaki elaborated.

“Maybe he just needs some space. To be fair this isn’t the first time he’s been a bit moody.”, Miwa assured.

“The last times he was like this were after he found out about Kai joining Link Joker and...before...”, Misaki trailed off looking down with a bit of a nervous sweat.

The two suddenly turned there heads to the door as it slid open and gasped in surprise.

A man with green hair and grey eyes wearing glasses walked backwards in holding a cardboard box that seemed packed to the point it was close to bursting.

“Look who I found!”, the man said.

Saying that they almost expected Kai to walk in after him. However instead they saw there was another person helping the green haired man with the box. It was a blue haired teen with blue eyes. He was wearing a white jacket with a black trim and a light purple under. He also wore blue jeans and black shoes.

“Aichi?”, Misaki questioned genuinely shocked to see him.

Aichi looked over towards Misaki and Miwa.

“Oh h-hey.”, he greeted a bit awkwardly.

“That box looks pretty heavy. Have you been working out a bit?”, Miwa questioned.

“Not really Shin’s is carrying most of it.”, Aichi replied.

“I think you might be selling yourself short here.”, Shin replied as they noticed the way the box was tipped.

Shin who was walking backwards and holding it in the front had the box tilted downwards. While Aichi in the back had the box tilted upwards.

“I didn’t notice it felt so light I thought you were carrying most of the weight.”, Aichi replied with a bashful chuckle sweat dropping.

The two set the box down on the table as Shin sighed tiredly.

“Thank god I ran into you I don’t think I could have carried it alone.”, Shin thanked.

“Aichi um...”, Misaki trailed off as Aichi returned his attention to her flinching a bit.

“I uh...”, Aichi trailed off as the two shared a bit of a awkward silence.

Aichi sweated nervously as he turned his gaze over to the box.

“So, what is in the box anyway?”, Aichi asked changing the subject.

Miwa sweat dropped looking at Aichi a bit worriedly.

“Something must have happened.”, Miwa thought.

The three looked down at the box as Shin opened the it revealing a bunch of differently colored square objects with a little screen.

“You know...I think I’ve seen these things around before...Aren’t they called Digimon? Emi told me it was getting rather popular at her school.”, Aichi said.

“Yep! I was thinking since this new Digimon thing has been getting so popular this would be the perfect time to capitalize on it. Though it’s a bit different from our usual products Digimon is a game not to mention I heard they may make a card game soon.”, Shin said as he held up one pointing to the device.

“You see these are Digimon V Pets. This model is called ZERO. Digimon is short for digital monsters. Their a bit similar to tomagatchi in the way you raise a digital pet and that pet is your partner Digimon. With these you can evolve them and battle with your friends. It can even allow you to battle online.”, Shin explained.

“Oh cool, they sell Digimon here now!”, A kid said as a few walked up.

“See we have more customers already.”, Shin said as he looked towards Misaki.

“Oh...uh...”, Misaki trailed off as she looked towards Aichi then the group of kids before going to work.

Aichi, Shin, and Miwa looked on as Misaki served the kids. Aichi was bit caught off guard as Shin placed something in his hand.

“What?”, Aichi questioned looking down as he it was a blue V-pet.

“I was thinking it might be nice to give you a little digital pet of your own. Think of it as thanks for helping me out.”, Shin explained.

“You don’t need to do that. Besides I don’t even know how to work this thing.”, Aichi replied sweat dropping.

“Then, I’ll show you!”, Shin offered.

Miwa smiled as Shin showed Aichi how to work the device.

“He can tell too can’t he?”, Miwa thought.

When, Aichi turned on the v pet there was a egg which shortly hatched into what looked like a black pixel blob.

“So, this is the Digimon, Choromon?”, Aichi questioned.

“Yeah, right now it’s at its baby stage. After that there’s in training, rookie, champion, ultimate, and mega. There’s countless Digimon who start out as a Choromon it could become almost anything depending on how you raise it. You could say it holds infinite potential.”, Shin explained.

Aichi looked at the little unassuming little pixel blob Digimon.

Shin pulled out a folded peace of paper which revealed what looked like over 100 branching possibles.

“T-this is a bit much...”, Aichi said as he and Miwa sweat dropped looking at the paper.

“Well, it can be made a lot easier if you know which Digimon your looking to obtain. The final forms are on the right side of the page. On this ultimate guide I gave it even has a profile on the Digimon to make the choice easier.”, Shin explained as he placed it on the table for him to look over.

Aichi sat down at the table as he started to read over some of the descriptions before he stopped on one.

“You seem interested in that one. Well, it is a knight after all like your Gold Paladins.”, Shin said.

“Yeah. I think I’ll go for this one.”, Aichi replied as he pointed at it.

He read over the steps required to achieve the Digimon a few times before just taking a picture with his phone.

“That definitely will make it a lot easier than remembering all that stuff.”, Miwa said.

Then Aichi’s phone rang.

“Oh it’s Emi...wait I forgot I’m supposed to help her with her homework today! Uh thanks Shin! Bye guys! See you later!”, Aichi said with a bit of urgency as he remembered how mad Emi was the last time he forgot to help her.

“See ya bud! You should stop by more so Misaki doesn’t look so mopey.”, Miwa said as he waved goodbye.

Aichi waved goodbye as he rushed out of the store.

“Mopey huh?”, Misaki said as Miwa jumped turning to her looking at him menacingly.

Later...

“I’m here.”, Aichi said as he walked into Emi’s room.

Inside the room sat a girl with orange hair and blue eyes. She wore a pink shirt and a skirt.

“Aichi you forgot.”, Emi said pouting.

“I’m sorry I ran into Shin and he needed my help. It just kinda slipped my mind.”, Aichi apologized.

“Oh, the shop manager. Wait...did you talk to Misaki?”, Emi asked.

Aichi raised his eyebrow at the question as he sat down next to his sister.

“No. Why?”, Aichi questioned.

“Ah...it’s nothing anyway...”, Emi trailed off as she noticed Aichi’s V pet.

“Oh, Shin gave this to me for helping him out.”, Aichi explained as he pulled out the V pet.

“So, does that mean Card Capital are going to sell Digimon now too?”, Emi asked.

“Yeah, Shin had a whole box of these. The moment we brought it out a bunch of kids already lined up to buy them.”, Aichi replied.

“Maybe, I’ll go buy one when I get my allowance.”, Emi replied.

Later...

After finishing up helping out his sister Aichi went to his room and sat down in his chair. He placed the V pet over on the desk before pulling out a deck box. He took out the cards and laid them out looking over each one of them carefully. He narrowed his eyes as they landed on one card in particular into a bit of glare. The card art depicted a white cybernetic dragon with red glowing lines. The dragon had a black visor and menacing jagged red glowing eyes. It had gold spikes on its back. It’s name was Star-Vader, Imaginary Plane Dragon.

Aichi put down the card and had a relived sigh. Aichi put the cards back into the deck box.

“Good thing there isn’t any more of these. If I avoid cardfighting I will have some time to think of some way to get rid of it. I don’t know how though since simply beating it isn’t enough.”, Aichi thought.

“That’s the point. You can’t get rid of Link Joker. We will return and destroy this world.”, a distorted voice said.

“I’ll find a way!”, Aichi thought as he then turned his attention over to the V pet it seemed his Digimon was had pooped a bit.

“That’s what they all said before we took everything they held dear.”, the distorted voice replied.

Aichi grabbed the device and cleaned up after the Digimon.

“Well, at least this Digimon will be a good distraction until I can think of a plan.”, Aichi thought.

“Oh, ho so you want to ignore me? You know if you ignore your problems for too long you never know they may consume you. Oh wait...that’s already happening. I wonder how long you intend to avoid your friends. You know those fools will eventually get fed up and try to find out what’s going on with you whether you like it or not. Who knows if you’ll even still be yourself by then...”, the distorted voice said.

Aichi said nothing but the voice could tell it was frustrating him. It it had a form it would have a shit eating grin.

“Well, you can play the silent game all you want. I can’t wait to see when you inevitably explode.”, the distorted voice said.

“Okay...So, the Digimon is alright now I should at least wait till it’s grown up a bit more before leaving primary village. Especially since all the encounters seem completely random though the chances are low for all I know I could run into a mega. Apparently, the best way to level them is through battling other people’s Digimon or wild Digimon.”, Aichi thought as he continued to take care of the baby Digimon and ignoring the voice.

Two weeks later...

Four teens were walking around to the city as they talked.

“Ah! No!!! Sukamon again!”, a teen with spiky black hair and brown eyes cried holding a purple V pet.

“That’s what happens when you keep forgetting to clean up after your Digimon.”, a teen with brown hair and brown eyes said.

They both had blue blazers and pants.

“Maybe this is a sign Izaki maybe me and Sukamon are connected by destiny!”, the black haired teen replied.

“Morikawa, so your saying your destined partner is a poop monster?”, Izaki questioned.

“I’m saying maybe it’s actually the strongest and that’s why it has chosen me! Maybe this is the Digimon that will allow me to defeat The Blaster!”, Morikawa replied.

“The Blaster?”, Miwa questioned wearing a blue blazer like the others but with a red hoodie underneath.

“Have you not heard of him Miwa? Some people say very soon he’ll be the number 1 tamer. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started beating a lot of upper tier tamers. Their partner is some weird variation of Knightmon last time I heard, but for all we know it could have became a mega by now.”, Izaki explained.

Miwa’s eyes widened as he heard the name of The Blaster’s partner.

“Is something wrong?”, Izaki questioned.

“It’s nothing.”, Miwa said with coy smile.

“Ah! Do you know who The Blaster is Miwa?”, Izaki questioned.

“Maybe.”, Miwa replied coyly.

“Is it you?!”, Morikawa asked gazing at the blond fiercely.

“No no see.”, Miwa said as he revealed a yellow V pet and showed them his partner.

“Woah, you have a ultimate Miwa?! It looks pretty cool.”, Izaki gasped.

“This is Groundramon and yeah he’s pretty cool.”, Miwa replied.

“What!? How did you get one of those?!”, Morikawa questioned.

“I read the guide you should try it sometime.”, Miwa replied.

“There’s a guide!?”, Morikawa gasped.

Miwa and Izaki sweat dropped.

“You didn’t know that?”, Izaki asked.

“No!”, Morikawa replied with comedic tears.

“What about your partner Izaki?”, Miwa asked.

“Oh, mines Tyrannomon.”, Izaki answered as he held up a green V pet.

“What about you Kai? Are you gonna get a Digimon?”, Miwa asked the fourth member of their group who had been silent up till now.

Kai had spiky brown hair and green eyes. He also wore a blue blazer like the others.

“Hmph...I’m not interested in a pet.”, Kai replied looking away.

“Well, you know Kai there’s something I didn’t mention Aichi has a Digimon.”, Miwa replied with a smile.

Kai then turned his attention to Miwa at the mention of the blue haired teen.

#cardfight vanguard #digimon #digimon frontier #aichi sendou #kai toshiki #taishi miwa #misaki tokura #shin nitta #emi sendou #yuta izaki #katsumi morikawa #sukamon #choromon #tyrannomon #groundramon #link joker #imaginary plane dragon #my crappy writing

2 notes · View notes

blaster-aichi · 7 years

Text

Override: Legion Mate plan

Days after the Link Joker invasion and all seems to be well in Hitsue. Kai goes about an ordinary day; attending school with Miwa and getting dragged along to the Cardfight Club after-school without any apparent lasting damage from his time under Reverse’s influence.. After getting out from school, the two of them trek home, and travel through the park where they used to play as kids with Ibuki. Miwa reflects on the day they last played, the day Kai first used his Royal Paladin deck, and asks Kai what he did with the cards afterwards, given his change to Kagero shortly after. Kai stays quiet, not answering immediately but trying to recall what exactly he did with the Blaster Blade which had been both the heart of his deck and the reason why it was dismantled. He shrugs it off, and finds himself led by Miwa to Card Capital, where they find Misaki at the counter and Kamui in the midst of a fight. The scene resonates as something vaguely familiar, but he brushes it off given his quest to become stronger than Ren a year earlier, which might have brought him across the shop, but his extensive training across various locations makes it difficult to tell.

He and Miwa continue on their way, Kai returning home and setting down for the night. He dwells on the sensation he's been followed since Card Capital and heads out for a walk, intending to see if he can find out the culprit. When he reaches the roadside by the park where he remembered running on the last day he saw Miwa and Ibuki, a light shimmers despite night settling on the city. Perplexed, he's uncertain what move to make but the light gravitates towards him, and whispers his name, though without a voice, he can feel it calling out to him.

Raising his hand, his fingertips come into contact with the light and his vision becomes engulfed in brightness. With no such words, he can feel the need to fall onto the old practice of envisioning himself on Cray, as was the case during his fights before High School and begins to channel his energies into doing so. By the time his vision clears, he indeed finds himself on the planet Cray, and before him standing the same Blaster Blade that he played with as a child. He asks Blaster Blade about why he was urged to touch down onto Cray, also puzzled by being summoned by a unit he’s not seen for some time; confirming the knight's assumption that Kai has also been affected by the phenomenon which has taken place, he tells Kai to think back to the day they parted. By Blaster Blade's instruction, Kai tries vehemently to understand what it is he's missing. Blaster Blade leads Kai to understand the voice which called him from the light wasn't his own, but of someone who needs him. Kai notices a darkly-clad figure in the distance; Aichi, with his back to him, but he doesn’t recognize him to begin with. Only when Aichi turns his head, peering over his shoulder back at Kai does he recognize him.

Suddenly, it dawns on him that Aichi had been absent from the past few days and tries to reach out to the figure, who just forces the dream to an end. With the crack in his falsified life, he quickly tears open the illusion, bringing Aichi back into his memory. As a result, the forced memory is swept aside, it dawns on Kai that Aichi has been missing for days and it comes back to him that something is terribly wrong.

With Blaster Blade's card in hand, he heads to Card Capital, to find it closed, but Misaki appears from her window by the strange appearance of the boy well after closing time. Kai asks for her time, she finds it puzzling but comments that he's come by the shop so rarely that she can't understand what he'd want with her. He calls for her to open up and he'll explain. She begrudgingly heads downstairs without disturbing Shin and meets with Kai through the glass doors, asking what exactly is going on. Kai states that the two of them are friends, which Misaki finds difficult to believe as she doesn't recall befriending him and tries to dissuade his story. Unsure how to convince her, Kai pulls out his phone, punching in a number and raising the phone to call. Misaki's phone begins to vibrate, to her surprise, and answers it - on the other end, she hears his voice, asking that if they weren't friends, how did he know about her number?

Misaki pulls a face, but decides to hear him out. Letting Kai into the store, the two of them converse about the absence of Aichi and the effect it's had on their lives; Misaki claims she doesn't play Vanguard that often, though has come to terms with the passing of her parents through means of her own. Kai states that both on a memorial and physical plane, there has been no trace left of his existence, something which troubles him as to what precisely they’re dealing with coupled with its intentions and means. It appears as though he’s chasing nothing, but he has a means by which to change that, and requests a Cardfight. Tired from the long day and curious where this is all leading (or to prove him mad); Misaki humours him and begins the fight. Kai plays with his Kagero deck, rebuilt after the Link Joker affair, which Misaki has a vague recollection of; she claims to have dealt with Reverse fighters and met with the others at the Tatsunagi tower in their individual attempts to stop the epidemic, but her series of events don't match his. Kai reminds Misaki that he was Reversed, and alone on the rooftop of the tower when the Gate opened, with the agent of Void, Misaki comes to the conclusion that Kai had been the one to stop Takuto, but Kai refutes that, asking how he could have when he'd been Reversed himself. Misaki, puzzled, presses on - she's the first one to Legion, having been able to reconstruct her deck with the newest stock in the shop and takes on Kai's arsenal. Through the fight, Kai comes to learn that without Aichi, Q4 is non-existent, Kamui is simply a kid who occasionally plays at the shop and many other elements parallel that of Asia-hen’s world, leading him to understand how Aichi must have felt at the time before they’d found one another. In the back of his mind, he begins to ponder if another power has carried him to an alternative world where Aichi simply never existed to begin with and a pang of loneliness strikes him, if there should be such a world.

With a space cleared on his front line, he throws out his own surprise - Blaster Blade. Misaki can't fathom how or why Kai would have a lone Royal Paladin in a Kagero deck, but Kai pushes that it's the card that ties Aichi to them, and inwardly reflects on the usage of Blaster Blade Spirit and Blaster Dark Spirit when facing Vanguard, with the same intention of getting Aichi back. Adamant to undo the spell which has erased all trace of Aichi’s existence, Kai’s campaign starts with the same unique tactic. The line-up jogs something in Misaki’s memory – the combination of Blaster Blade and Dragonic Overlord has always reflected Aichi and Kai, which leads to her recalling their first fight and triggering it all falling into place.Using the imagination theme, Kai and Misaki meet on Cray and, within Blaster Blade, Misaki begins to see the flickering face of Aichi. With the memories flooding back to her, she calls time on the fight, and intends to minimize the risk of causing Shin to come down to find them. She asks what Kai intends to do, he answers that he hopes to gather a force that can help find Aichi, and restoring her memory is the evidence he needs that he can do it. He asks Misaki to meet with Ishida Naoki and Komoi Shingo at Miyaji the next day, and he'll deal with their friends at Hitsue. Looking at her phone, Misaki re-enters Aichi's number and tries to ring it, unsuccessfully. She lets Kai out of the shop and the pair agrees to exchange regular updates. Kai heads home, texting Miwa to come over, while Misaki heads back upstairs, meeting Shin along the way. He comments about her unusual behaviour, sneaking in a friend, or something more, and asks like a proud mother. Misaki smiles and shakes him off, claiming it's something like that, but tells him not to get involved or embarrass her with his zealous nature.

Across the city, Miwa arrives at Kai's apartment complex and, as he enters the flat, comments on how odd it is for Kai to invite anyone over. As per usual for Miwa, he takes the situation light-heartedly and teases what Kai could possibly want, but he’s met only with the challenge of a cardfight. An occurrence which leaves the blond puzzled and asking why exactly it was vital to fight at night rather than wait until tomorrow. There’s no answer as such, but Kai pushes that it’s important; there’s something he needs to test and Miwa’s the only one he can entrust with the task. Kai encourages Miwa to recall who Aichi is, pushing various instances in time, alluding to the parallel world that the three of them had been taken to, and the events on Cray. Miwa intervenes the despairing thoughts he senses Kai mulling over in spite of failing to recall the absent party and highlights the fact that Kai speaks so passionately about the matter that he has no reason to doubt him, or that Aichi exists. If anything, it makes him happy to know there’s something which Kai can take such a vehement stance over and makes clear he understands why Kai wanted to fight so immediately; aware how it's the way Kai always clears his head, and wants to see if it would have the same effect on it; to remove anything unnecessary and find the memories of Aichi which have been buried within him. Kai uses the same Legion mechanic that Misaki had against him, and with Blaster Blade on the field. Kai pushes Miwa into a corner both within the fight and regarding their missing friend. Miwa does begin to recall seeing the similar sight on Cray in the fight against Vanguard. And whatever spell was cast is broken. They spend much of the night discussing what happened, why they forgot and where Aichi could possibly be. Kai frowns, because he remembers that they had become aware of Aichi's absence before whatever took their memories, but were never able to find him. He adds that Misaki is aiming to recruit Naoki and Shingo, so they should do the same with Kamui, and see who else they can rekindle those memories within; a plan which Miwa naturally agrees on.

Misaki confronts Naoki and manages to drag him into a fight – largely out of fear that she might do worse to him should he refuse, but during the game, she’s able to pick apart the isolation into which he pushed himself, which Aichi and Vanguard brought him out of. Naoki understands that something lately has been different after thinking about it, and he couldn’t understand, but now he registers that he’s lost something important; thus returning life to its boring state. Her efforts pay off and Naoki recalls everything, immediately beating himself up over forgetting Aichi and everything he brought into Naoki’s life, Misaki consoles him as best she can, and asks for him to get Shingo on-side, while she follows Kai’s plan, and visits Fukuhara. Meanwhile at Hitsue, Kai and Miwa lure Kamui to the gym, where Kai Reversed him and the inter-school competition took place, hoping that he can produce the same results on the remaining Q4 member. At Miyaji, Naoki is approached by Pennyworth while investigating the former-Cardfight Club room and Misaki confronts Suiko. By the time Final Turn is called, Kamui’s memories are also being undone – urged by their union under Q4 and Kamui’s familial feelings towards the Sendous. Kai texts both Misaki and Naoki for a rendezvous at Card Capital afterschool. At Fukuhara, Suiko claims Kourin took off on her own and no-one’s heard from her since, though it reinforces that she seems to be alright. Misaki leaves, with Ren watching as she departs from the area. Between Suiko remembering Kourin while Emi doesn’t recall Aichi, Misaki’s fears that he might have been kidnapped grow.

Grappling with his fears of losing Aichi, Naoki finds himself faltering in the fight with Pennyworth and difficulty in moving forward; he worries that Aichi might leave them behind if something’s happened to him, even that he might be vulnerable to whatever is in store for him, reflecting on how not long ago, he was fighting off Reverse, fearing for his friend’s safety. Pennyworth overwhelms Naoki and brings him to the brink of defeat when Shingo appears in the clubroom, having been drawn by an unusual sensation to visit the Physics room and then hearing the commotion inside. While he doesn’t recall anything to do with the Cardfight Club, he urges Naoki to fight and push back against Pennyworth; a sensation he puts to his closet passion for Vanguard, bemused that Naoki is a player, though leaves questioning him about it until later. Outside the room, Maki happens upon the fight, remaining outside and hidden, but listening with intrigue as, she too, has her affiliation with the game that remains hidden from her peers. Naoki hollers his resolve to stop whatever Pennyworth and his colleagues have planned for Aichi and swears to get him back, reiterating what he introduced to his life through Vanguard – something which touches both of those listening in on the game. Though his efforts fall short of finishing off his opponent and the fight has no conclusion, as Pennyworth escapes, though it leaves the two with an ominous feeling.

Naoki reinstates the Cardfight Club and asks Shingo to guard it, claiming it’ll make sense afterwards. Although he can’t understand the meaning behind it all, Shingo begrudgingly agrees. Naoki leaves, catching sight of Maki nearby and asks if she heard everything that happened inside, the Council Secretary confesses that she had, and fears that someone like Naoki would expose her for having an attachment to something perceived as so childish by her peers, but he instead assures her that he wants to help her out ‘this time’, and pleads for her to have to be seen the Physics room isn’t taken by another club until he can come back with his club’s leader. Like Shingo, Maki is perplexed by what exactly Naoki’s talking about, but goes along with the idea, capable of telling that his behaviour is no simple act. Naoki heads off, leaving Shingo and Maki to their duty.

QUATRE KNIGHTS

The team gather at Card Capital, anxious about the situation and put their heads together to consider others who might have recollection of Aichi. While immediately, Emi comes to Kamui’s mind, the others recommend against involving her, wishing to keep her out of danger. Naoki offers to visit the Middle School branch of Miyaji to talk with Rekka, if she might corroborate Suiko’s story – with Kamui quickly piping that he wants to tag along. Kai and Miwa volunteer to visit Ren while Misaki tries to make contact with Leon. The respective parties go about their way – at Miyaji, Naoki and Kamui find the Middle School’s club engrossed in their activity, and when asked about Kourin, Rekka simply chirps that she’s likely stormed off in a mood over the price they paid for Link Joker’s defeat. Kamui asks if Rekka’s really alright with losing her past, to which she confirms because she’s gained Emi and Mai as friends. Emi then recognizes Kamui and Naoki as familiar faces, which raises Kamui’s hopes for a moment, but she replies that she can’t recall having a brother. Hopeful to find a blip in the story, Naoki questions Rekka on who stopped Takuto, which she claims was Kai alone – Naoki asks further how Kai got himself unReversed if it had just been the two of them on the roof, and Rekka gives the answer that he simply turned on Takuto once everyone else was beaten to make up for his earlier loss. To Naoki’s dismay, he recalls that Kai had used such a motive as one of many reasons to fight Takuto. At Fukuhara, Kai and Miwa confront Ren, and although they press him to remember the Nationals against Q4, Ren claims to be oblivious to everything. There’s no apparent shifting him and they have to concede that he’s as in the dark as they have been. Just before they take their leave, Kai asks Ren to let him know if anything strange happens.

On the way back, they encounter a man who claims to know Aichi – naming himself as Raul Sera. Though the fact that a stranger claims to know Aichi keeps the pair’s guards up; and it’s clear as to why when he reveals he was the one responsible for the attack by Pennyworth. Sera unleashes his power – Millennium Blizzard Prison, trapping the pair inside the frozen scape. With no alternative, Kai steps up to fight Sera – who drops malicious hints that Aichi is in danger and being held against his will, though gives no clear answers when the duo press him. Growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of answers that they can make heads or tails of, Kai launches full-force with his Kagero-Seeker deck, asserting that Blaster Blade reaching out to him means that Aichi’s in danger and they need to get him back; the deck and Clan are something that he and Aichi share and he intends to reach Aichi regardless of the obstacles set in his way. But the conversation plays its role in serving as distraction, costing Kai the game and his best shot of getting to Aichi as soon as possible. What he realizes though is he feels the scene to be something similar, as though he’s experienced it before, but can’t clearly recall it. Sera delivers Judgement on Kai, watched in horror by Miwa when his best friend is tortured and collapses. Sera turns towards another figure – dressed in a similar uniform, with a stoic expression. His vision blurred and consciousness fading, Kai weakly reaches out to the smaller enemy, hoarsely whispering Aichi’s name before passing out. Miwa hovers over Kai, adamant neither of their foes will get anywhere near him, though they appear to have no intention of doing so. With a smirk from the pair, they depart, leaving Miwa dismayed that he couldn’t do anything for his friends, as much as alarmed at their power, if they could best Kai with little effort.

Miwa hauls Kai back to Card Capital, shocking Misaki by the turn of events when they return, and together, they move him into the upstairs of the shop, placing him in the guest room where Aichi had been after his failed attempt to help Ren escape Psyqualia’s influence. Miwa discloses about Raul Sera and his commentary, which leaves Misaki as disturbed as he and Kai were. On high-alert, they have the others rendezvous at the shop where Miwa can fill them in. None can report that any of their respective targets have any understanding of what’s happening and they come to a consensus that they’ll have to be more careful, with it known they’re on the move by an apparent enemy. When Kai comes to and the strategizing continues, he confesses that he believes what’s happening is punishment for what he did under Reverse’s influence – an outcome they so nearly faced where Aichi passed away and he had been so far off that the consequences hadn’t resonated with him. With the spanner in the works that Judgement throws, he’s hesitant for anyone to get caught in the line of fire for helping him atone for his personal mistakes. Miwa shrugs off the proposal of dealing with things alone, seeing as that was what led Kai to Link Joker’s clutches in the first place, and none of the others have any intention of stepping down, so Kai would be stuck with them regardless.

The group retire for the day, going their separate ways. Remembering that they live in the same neighbourhood, Kamui travels with Kai and Miwa, lamenting his fears and doubts about what might happen or letting Aichi down when he went above and beyond to reclaim the three of them from Reverse. The older pair assure him they’re prepared to go to the very same extremes, as they owe it to him, and help to build his confidence about their chances. By the time they separate, Kamui’s spirits are reinvigorated and in much better shape along the last stretch home. However he happens upon a young girl once safely alone, she claims to have been trying to find the money to buy some doughnuts.

Kamui offers to help her out, thinking a treat might be in order after such a rough day, and they share a box. The girl stealthily leads the conversation towards what he’d been doing before, so Kamui says that they were looking to make arrangements to meet up with a friend, sugar-coating the search for Aichi. She giggles and stands from the bench, twirling around before stopping and claiming with a sweet tone that Kamui won’t be able to meet that friend. Suddenly on edge about the implication of her words, Kamui faces her to get answers, she introduces herself as Rati Curti and confirms that she knows Aichi and she won’t let Kamui split them up, intending to cut him down inside her Imaginary Fairy Prison. Much like the last effort, attempts at acquiring answers are met with vague comments and jests from the girl, whose demeanour sends chills racing down Kamui’s spine – furthering his worries if the personalities around Aichi are all so warped. Despite his best efforts, Kamui struggles to stand his ground and Rati decimates his Nove Grapplers, dealing her own brand of Judgement. Once the vines untangle their pocket dimension, Rati picks up the box of doughnuts, sweetly thanking Kamui for them and scurries off, leaving her battered adversary kneeling behind her.

Misaki reflects on Kourin’s attitude throughout the Link Joker campaign and wonders what she could be up to, if she’s also vanished but without any apparent erasure of her being. Her memories circulate around Kourin’s venom towards the others during their fight and how, even afterwards, she seemed torn between who to stand behind. The more she considers it, the more troubled she feels. That’s when she gets the call from Kamui that there’s another of Sera’s people lurking around, and tells her to be vigilant, in case she were to slip into Card Capital some time.

Naoki skips school the next day to venture to Fukuhara (which prompt Shingo and Maki to get into contact with Misaki over), pulling Suiko aside. He questions why she isn’t more concerned about Kourin, after promising Rekka they would become more like a family. To which Suiko does admit she’s quite concerned, but she’s running out of ideas as to how she can locate her sister, who has cut all contact. She admits that after Takuto, they were worried that their family was beginning to unravel and fears that Kourin has initiated just that, leading to Suiko’s reluctance to worry Rekka by pulling out all the stops to find their sister. Naoki finds himself astonished that Suiko’s softened so much, how far she’s opening up as a person after trying to play the mysterious harbinger of news in the past, after what he heard of her prior, and assures her she’s doing the right thing – he was simply ignorant of the pressure she must have been under, with the Tatsunagi family being torn apart as they are. He assures her that he intends to bring Kourin back, both for her sisters and the Cardfight Club to repair.

In the far-off lair under a starry sky, Sera apologizes that he had been caught by the enemy and sparked their retaliation. The quartet, with Pennyworth also present, discuss the leak in memories which collected Aichi’s closest friends, dismayed that Blaster Blade had, not only escaped, but thrown a wrench into the works so effectively. Between them, the gathering comes to the conclusion that it was perhaps bound to happen, but after dealing with the problem once before, they’re in prime position to stop the enemy in their tracks again – once and for all. Sera looks in the direction of the towering throne under the looming Earth where Aichi’s body is, and muses with a smirk that he’s certain it’ll all work out.

On her way to catch Naoki, Misaki happens upon the Anjou siblings. Tokoha hurries towards her, thanking her for handling the Reverse plague. Misaki hesitates and asks vaguely about when they first met, hoping Tokoha might stumble onto an inconsistency, but the girl claims it had all been Misaki who assured her. Mamoru also thanks her for helping them, and relays his being a follower of the Q4 members’ fabricated campaigns, of sorts, throwing in that Tokoha has been eager to drop by Card Capital some time. It’s news which Misaki welcomes, and they part apparently cheerfully, though once away, she grapples with the impact of losing someone important, when she’d sworn not to face that very same fate again. At Miyaji, Maki wonders if everything’ll be alright, with how strangely things around Naoki are, Akari assures her that Misaki’ll handle it and invites her and Shingo to share lunch, to keep themselves busy and for some company. Maki hesitates, unsure why the others are reaching out to her after she Reversed them; which isn’t a big deal according to Akari, because she was in such a lonesome place. Shingo bolsters the points by reminding her that they fought because they wanted to help her, then pauses because he feels as though there was something else to it, but can’t put his finger on it.

Misaki finally locates Naoki, relaying that Shingo and Maki were asking about him, leading to a synopsis of their witnessing his fightwith Pennyworth and what they’re doing to help him preserve the Cardfight Club’s room. Its while theyre putting their heads together that a third enemy makes himself known before them – one with an apparent vengeance against his fellow man. Naoki and the man, Neve, do battle, with Misaki standing by. Miwa and Kai look over their decks at the latter’s home, wondering what more they can do to strengthen themselves against the enemy, who appear to have mastered the Legion mechanic; Miwa receives a call from Misaki, but it serves only for them to listen in. Naoki gets no further in acquiring answers; which serves only to aggravate him even more. At some point during the fight, Neve twists the knife by alluding to seeing Aichi in a similar position, goading Naoki by pushing him into a corner and waiting for him to look the very same as he did. Whatever the meaning behind his words, it crosses the line for Kai who takes off, with Miwa scrambling after him. Equally fired-up, Naoki throws everything he can think of against Neve’s Metalborgs in hopes of making some headway on the team’s behalf, all apparently in vain as Neve seems to have as little problem dispatching him as his colleagues prior. Misaki asks about Kourin; if their enemy has anything to do with her apparent disappearance, but gets no answer to suggest she’s involved. Neve makes clear his frustrations that the group are opposing what would be best for the sake of the world; another cryptic message which leaves Naoki and Misaki scratching their heads, as he refuses to elaborate. Just as Kai and Miwa arrive, Neve takes his leave, leaving them with his malicious feelings towards other humans and the irony that his duty with the Quatre Knights counters them.

Worse for wear, the four retreat to Card Capital and mull over what little they have to work with. By the title of the faction, there’s one more knight who’s yet to make themselves known. Kai ponders if it could be the same whom he saw with Sera; something Miwa can confirm, although he never heard anything of a name or any detail which might them locate or contend with him. Which leaves Neve’s ominous words to decipher. Kai latches onto the insinuation that whatever’s happening is for the sake of keeping the world safe, then considers all the power which will have built up in Aichi’s body over the past months, likening Takuto’s warnings to his belief that he himself had been a dangerous force. To counter the measures taken to contain any threat Aichi could bring, Misaki wonders if drastic action was taken, uncertain what said action could have been, but that doesn’t explain how the Quatre Knights could be aware of the situation or know of him in the first place.

While skulking about the streets, Kamui passes the Sendou house and takes a moment before daring to knock at the door. Shizuka and Emi answer, inviting him in once the youngsters exchange pleasantries. The atmosphere is tranquil, although with the understanding that they’re a family member short, it feels somewhat empty to Kamui; at some point, he excuses himself to use the bathroom, and travels to the upper level of the house, pausing outside what should be Aichi’s room. In a safe moment, he takes a glance inside, finding what resembles a guest room more than what it had previously been; it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Emi ascends to the upstairs when it transpires Kamui’s taking his time and wondering if he’s alright. He asks her how and why she first got into Vanguard; Emi ponders her answer and comments that she remembers seeing Kamui fighting at Card Capital, but why exactly she was there is something she struggles to recall. Kamui takes his leave shortly afterwards with the words “Keep playing long enough for me to bring Onii-san home”. It’s a request which has Emi bemused, as being questioned about someone called Aichi is still clear in her mind.

During the night, Kai ventures to Fukuhara and asks Ren for a fight, for the sake of sparring. Tetsu observes the fight, surprised somewhat that the two are simply practicing like old times. Though Ren comes to understand rather quickly that the fight isn’t just about practice, as he identifies Kai’s halfhearted playing, which allows an easily, albeit unsatisfying victory, for him. They share a heart-to-heart afterwards, where Kai gives a general summary of what’s on his mind, without any specifics, after how Ren could shed no light on the situation, though he’s quick to fill in the blanks between the two approaches. He reinforces really not remembering anything, claiming that Aichi’s accomplishments in dealing with Psyqualia and Link Joker were Kai’s, as far as he can recall. That said, he muses that if there’s someone who’s gotten Kai to open up and more like his older self, then he’s happy to know of it, and wishes him the best. The matter of Blaster Blade stands out to Ren, who knows of Kai’s original affiliation with the Royal Paladins, however finds it strange that he incorporated the card into a deck with Kagero, highlighting the mismatch; even if it is poetic of Kai’s character to introduce his original cherished card. Unable to remove Blaster Blade, with the significance the card holds now more than ever, Kai questions what he should do, Ren muses about playing Royal Paladin – he’s never seen Kai wield the Clan he learned how to play with and he can imagine it would suit his quest for redemption after what went down with Link Joker. Kai appears slightly taken aback and takes the suggestion to heart. Miwa, on his way home from a local store, has his attention caught by the movement of something and believes he sees Aichi. The figure takes off when he calls out his friend’s name and gives chase. A short one which leads to a dead-end and ‘Aichi’ discovered as the Quatre Knight who was with Sera. Miwa frowns at having been fooled, but note the partial similarities between Aichi and the young man in front of him. The silver ring on the other’s finger glows briefly, as if to indicate it’s more than a simple accessory. Miwa demands answers from the knight, about where Aichi is and why they feel the need to attack anyone who pursues him. The knight smugly comments that Miwa should know how business is done on this battlefield and engulfs them within his Holy Prominence Prison, reminding Miwa of the consequences of losing; so if he wants an interrogation, he’d have all the time in the world if somehow he wins.

On his way out, Kai crosses Asaka’s path, and asks her to keep an eye out for Emi. Though they’ve grown somewhat closer since the National Tournament, Asaka confesses they’re still not particularly familiar with one another, but jokingly warns him that if he keeps slacking, she’ll surpass him easily as Ren’s regular rival. The quip doesn’t seem to inspire any light-hearted response, so she points Kai in Leon’s direction, as someone who was also heavily involved in opposing Link Joker, if there’s really something unusual going on. He wishes her luck with the upcoming National Tournament, which she thanks him and carries on her way.

In the silence following, Kai has Q4’s triumphs and still future potential front and centre in his mind. Miwa’s fight against the Quatre Knight rages fiercely; between his slight resemblance to Aichi and usage of Gold Paladins, Miwa wonders if it’s all deliberate tactics to throw him off. However the knight appears to be driven more by irritation at Miwa’s closeness to Kai, in the heat of the moment, questioning venomously how he could remain beside the root of the Reverse epidemic after all the suffering he caused. In spite of all that, Miwa makes it clear he has no intention of deserting Kai, and Aichi wouldn’t have either – leading to the discovery of why the knight feels so viciously towards Kai. The Reverse which spread across the world tore many lives apart; and he had seen it attack the most innocent of fighters first-hand at the orphanage in which he grew up and worked. To protect theose children, and ensure nothing so terrible happens again, he’s vehement in declining any audience with Aichi and his friends. Not about to allow much of a defence in Kai’s favour, the knight is quick to Ride Alfred and finish off Miwa, who is left with the worrisome implications of Alfred being wielded by someone other than Aichi. While on his way back from Fukuhara, Kai happens upon a dishevelled Miwa, whose knees buckle right as the brunet reaches him and passes on what happened.

Following Asaka’s suggestion, the group seek Leon out. Misaki researches what she can about the known Quatre Knights through any resource that Card Capital can offer her; allowing her to find Sera and Neve’s histories, although Rati is proving much harder and, without a name, the fourth cannot be traced. Naoki request Leon train him after a conversation which leads to their dealings with the Reversed Ren. Although unable to recall anything other than the world’s perceived reality, Leon agrees and the two begin to spar. With the team busy, and wanting to be able to offer help of their own, Shingo and Maki track down Pennyworth and begin to keep tabs on him. Kai spends his time occupied by building his Royal Paladin deck at Card Capital, present when Tokoha and Mamoru stop by to chat with Misaki. Even though they’re all occupied in their own way of contributing to the effort of finding Aichi, each member of the team struggle with the feeling that they’re wasting time which could be put toward actively searching for him, Suiko gets back to them that she’d managed to establish contact with Takuto, whom has reverted to his Ezel form and searching for answers across Cray. He reports that, thus far, he’s seen no affect on Aichi’s erasure on other worlds, allowing some degree of relief that the problem is contained to one universe.

The day of the National Tournament comes and Kamui finds himself dejected while watching the event when, by all accounts, Q4 should have been a part of it. Kourin remains missing from Ultra Rare’s appearance, which sparks unrest in some pockets of the audience (Morikawa kicking up such a fuss that he gets his moment in the spotlight). While the players in the city have their sights set on the tournament, Kai keeps himself occupied. Wandering into the park, he reflects on the events that have transpired over the past days, weeks and months, bringing with It trepidation about just how much those around him have to face, and how dangerous it’s going to get, as the stakes seem to escalate.

While looking over his deck, a young boy happens upon him, curious that another player isn’t invested in the tournament broadcast by the fact that he, too, is out in the park. The boy answers that his schedule doesn’t allow him a full weekend off to spectate, and becomes intrigued by the Royal Paladin deck, asking briefly about it. When Kai confesses that it’s a work in progress, the boy offers a fight to see how it’s coming along in Kai’s image of it, presenting his own Royal Paladin deck, with units also recently released. The two sit down and exchange blows, learning a little about one another and their reasons for using the deck (even if Kai’s are a little deceptive) - the boy, Shion Kiba, reveals that he uses the game as a means of enjoyment in the midst of a hectic schedule and upbringing as a prominent heir to the vast Kiba empire; aware that perhaps one day in the future, he won’t have any spare time to enjoy Vanguard. Kai considers it a daunting future, but begins to reflect upon his similar lack of enjoyment – much like in the lead-up to Reverse’s epidemic, he plays it as a means to stay close to people, to push himself, and it has contorted Vanguard into anything but a game to him. Still, even after coming to terms with his shortcomings, it isn’t what it should be, and has become a means of warfare. At the same time, as he watches Shion, he’s reminded of the younger Aichi, who came from such different walks, with a different image of the future, but found sanctuary with the Royal Paladins. Kai wonders if, given his life began to fall apart after parting ways with Blaster Blade, that the battle to reclaim his friend and reunion with the Clan, might allow him the chance to return to the right road and find the way forward which suits him best. As the fight progresses, he finds himself simply having fun; the dire priorities beyond the game fall to the back of his mind, even if just briefly, and he’s reminded of the fun he felt was restored after first returning to Hitsue and playing with the people who would come to grow as his friends. By the time the fight reaches its conclusion, Kai is satisfied with the deck, and with a refreshed look on both the world around him as well as his future. He thanks Shion, and assures him that he’ll go far as a Vanguard fighter; they part with equal invigoration towards what lies ahead.

Maki and Shingo’s surveilence of Pennyworth finally pays off and they gather the Mates in the Miyaji Physics rooms, Akari also tags along. They report that they’ve recently seen Pennyworth visiting a totem of sorts, hidden in the shadow of the Tatsunagi tower, underground, and he vanished, leading them to the conclusion it’s connected to wherever the Quatre Knights are hiding. The team formulate a strategy and take off into the city. Shingo and Maki observe the totem, awaiting the appearance of Pennyworth – sure enough, he does manifest as dusk approaches, mumbling about running errands. Through messages and calls; Shingo, Maki and then Akari; Miwa and Kamui are able to track Pennyworth’s route, relaying it to one another and their fellow comrades. [shout out to Courtney for helping figure out the portal totem thing and sparing another, probably lengthy block]

In the midst of his errands, Pennyworth catches sight of Misaki, to whom he gloats about the Quatre Knights’ success and how the Mates will get nowhere, she shows no apparent reaction, allowing an eerie silence before challenging him to a fight. He smugly declines, which provokes her to grow forceful, scaring him into a frantic retreat. While fleeing her, he runs into Kai, and then Kamui, furthering the sense of entrapment. Ultimately, it’s Naoki who corners the attendant and forces him into a fight, determined to get revenge for the torment Pennyworth thrust onto him last time and their unsettled score. The combination of preparation and time to fortify their decks proves crucial as Pennyworth is easily overwhelmed and trounced, granting the Mates a much-needed confidence boost. Claiming Pennyworth to be a prisoner of their own, Naoki and Misaki threaten him with nothing more than intimidating appearances and tossing the idea around of holding him as hostage to lure the Quatre Knights to come out of hiding. In his panic, Pennyworth pleads for mercy, met with the condition that he has to take his captors to the Quatre Knights’ lair. Seeing little alternative, that’s what he does – the group return to the totem, which Misaki notes has not only a Vanguard emblem on its top face, but space for six cards, into which Pennyworth inserts one of his own, and then twists the plate onto which the emblem is carved. A light begins to glow under the group, spreading out into the same pattern as a Vanguard circle. Akari, Shingo and Maki opt to stay behind to keep an eye on things and cover for the Mates should they be gone too long; with well wishes, they see off their friends. Once they’ve been sent off, the three see little harm in reporting back to Suiko, Ren and Leon, as they look to the broadcast of the Nationals to see AL4 in the final against Team Caesar, with a sense of satisfaction.

The Mates arrive in a strange marble corridor. Pennyworth tries to duck out, but Naoki and Misaki’s intimidation tactics keep him fulfilling his role as an escort. He begrudgingly leads them down the hallway. Sera appears along the way, infuriated that his attendant has been used against him and demands a fight. The one who steps up in opposition is Miwa, who had to watch Sera belittle and torture Kai. Like Pennyworth, Sera witnesses how a short amount of time and preparation propels the Mates onto the same level as the Quatre Knights and struggles to hold his own. Using a deck that combines his own and Kai’s cards, Miwa quips that he has to keep the reputation of the Kagero users in good light, and charges through whatever his enemy puts up in the way. His forces decimated faster than he can keep up with Miwa’s newfound aggression, Sera is defeated before too long, and Judgement cast upon himself. With his strength drained from the punishment, Sera scowls at the infiltrators not to get cocky – as any loss will see them sent right back to square one, and then collapses. With the ominous warning fresh in mind, they march forward. Along the way, they find themselves confronted with yet another familiar barrier, however to their astonishment; they find it not to be any of the Quatre Knights, but Kourin. Misaki asks what she’s doing in such a place.

Through the corridors, a frantic Aichi runs, desperate to get distance between himself and the scene behind.In his usual attire and watching over his shoulder every now and again, he finds himself lost in a supposed labyrinth. His limited stamina running low, he pauses to catch his breath, never lessening the fear which drums his heart furiously. Shortly after resuming his escape, he crosses Kourin, whom he’s srurprised to see and pauses in front of her. He asks if she was brought against her will and offers to escape with her, feeling somewhat at ease that there is someone to help should he be caught. Much more casually, he walks to and past her, expressing his hope that they can find a way of helping with things back home. Before he can get very far in expressing said wishes, he’s grabbed from behind in a rear naked choke and is horrified to realize Kourin’s the one administering it, without any show of emotion. All his efforts to break out of the hold fail and within a matter of seconds, his consciousness dwindles. When she’s satisfied he’s passed out, Kourin lets go and Aichi’s body crumpled onto the floor; from behind, Neve, Sera and Gaillard catch up, thanking Kourin for salvaging the situation.

When her silence persists, the Mates have to face the likelihood that Kourin is sided with the Quatre Knights, which pushes the question as to why. Despite the multitude of questions put to her, she seems reluctant to say much, forcing Misaki to step up and challenge Kourin. Aware of the blonde’s grips towards their lifestyle in contrast to her own, Misaki relays Suiko’s wishes for the Tatsunagis to simply continue as a family, to look forward, and laments that Kourin clearly didn’t hear her during their last fight when she was telling her to move forward instead of anchoring herself to an uncertain past. In stark contrast to aforementioned fight, Kourin shows little to no emotion, much like she’s detached herself from the human feeling which gave her so much passion previously. Misaki notices the unnerving air around her, how distant she is, almost as if she’s not human. Kourin argues that it’s best that Aichi stay where he is and she intends to make sure it stays that way, further aggravating the others. Naoki vents his frustrations that Kourin could have taken off with such a twisted motive, abandoning her friends and family – Kourin dictates that she doesn’t remember choosing anyone as either, they were forced upon her. She has one objective: to reclaim and preserve what went missing. While doing so, she recalls watching from the Tatsunagi Tower as Gaillard and Neve met with Aichi.

As far as the Mates are concerned, it’s another cryptic comment. Strangely, as much as she’d determined to get Kourin on a better path, Misaki can’t seem to break through, and with the threat of what Sera claimed hanging over them, the Mates start to feel concern creeping in. Kourin berates Misaki about the importance of a past – criticizing her for lecturing when she spent so long bound by her own – and claims that a future isn’t possible without a past as a foundation to build upon and ultimately comes out of the fight the victor. When the subject of the threat comes up, Kourin explains that a barrier around the fortress is the spell which removes all trace of Aichi beyond its reach; so triumphing over the Mates should reverse their puncturing the power and revert them to the same reality as everyone else. The infiltrators approach Kourin, intending to keep her from withdrawing, however steel poles seal the way and Neve appears in front of them. Neve states that he admires the Mates’ feelings for Aichi, but that it’s best that they stand down, lest more people suffer. The Mates agree to split up to lessen their time in the fortress and take off in separate directions – Naoki stays to deal with Neve, Kai searches for Gaillard, Misaki and Miwa hunt Kourin and Kamui seeks Rati – all with the intention of bypassing their respective obstacles. All, but Misaki/Miwa, are able to find their respective targets and initiate fights of their own.

Naoki and Neve butt heads over their respective gripes with people, but their separating beliefs as to how far humans can grow and change. Neve informs Naoki of the strife his country has suffered – with civil war plunging their livelihoods into ruin, their families in danger and is onlyone of many conflicts which will continue to fester as long as humanity continues on its destructive path. Naoki questions why precisely Neve is doing something which apparently will protect them; he grumbles it was a duty handed to him, nothing more. Elsewhere, Rati and Kamui argue over the value of having friends; Rati’s past was that of travelling, without ever settling and no-one whom she could safely become friends with. It was only on Cray that she could feel some stability, but even that was plunged into darkness and anarchy. She grew distant and taunted the idea of having friends, seeing them unnecessary and temporary – rather than be harmed, she would rather harm, and became twisted in the process of cutting herself off from ordinary feeling, relishing in causing others the same pain which she herself grew up experiencing over and over. Kamui feels uneasy to have heard the tale and Rati’s peculiar personality unravel. Between them, the youngsters come ta consensus that Rati doesn’t possess Psyqualia to carry her to Cray, as she has a reason to keep fighting and no intent on giving up. But that drives Kamui to help her untangle herself from the thorny vines which have become her shell. Within the blue flame prison, Kai and Gaillard come to blows over Reverse; Gaillard tells the same story that he did to Miwa, reopening Kai’s wounds over bringing about the initial Reverse wave. Gaillard vehemently swears to stand by his duty of preventing another catastrophe, and vows to take down Kai to do just that. Between the three of them; Neve, Rati and Gaillard tell the story of how it was Takuto who approached them, requesting their power as guardians if he should come under attack as a result of his role as Cray envoy on Earth. While Rati was quick to catch on, Neve and Gaillard required a little more explanation, and it was because of their individual strengths that Takuto could deem them suitable solders for the job. When Link Joker invaded, they were too late to reach Takuto before he was consumed and the world was overrun by the warped power. They all witnessed suffering and strife as a result, understanding why Takuto had chosen them. And when they could finally converge in Japan, the Gate was broken. To be safe, they sought out Takuto but found nothing of him.

Though how that links to Aichi, they don’t reveal, nor do they show any intention of cooperating with the Mates, despite their united goal of keeping Earth safe. The knights stand by that their method is the only way. At which time, Misaki and Miwa arrive at the throne room and are astonished to find Earth looming over the throen situated in the centre of the chamber – learning only then that they’re on the moon.

VOIDAICHI’S CRUSADE

Kamui and Rati’s fight comes to a head, and telling is own story of being alone, Kamui tries to make Rati see that they can be helped out of a dark place by having others around them. His focus turns to Q4, and the friends he’s made beyond them; as a result, he feels more accomplished, stronger and wholesome than he ever could on his own, by his own strength. Even then, Rati refuses to believe his words, until it turns it on her. By banding with the Quatre Knights, Kamui states that Rati has given into the human tendency to grow close and attached to the people around her, relying on them as a team; weren’t they all required to seal and guard Aichi? She’s not doing it for Cray or herself alone, but for many people, even if she hasn’t come to acknowledge or accept that. Left unbalanced by the news, a hole opens up in Rati’s game, which allows Kamui to charge through and seize victory. Rati crumples to her knees, and then endures the same gruelling punishment that she forced onto Kamui. Resigned to her fate of always being alone, her head hangs and waits for whatever should come after her loss, only to see Kamui’s hand enter her field of vision. Despite everything, he reaches out to her, offering to help her up, as if nothing happened. It’s a behaviour that Rati struggles to understand. She shakily takes his hand, Kamui pulls her into a hug and promises not to leave her alone; if she wants a friend, he’ll gladly become one.Thrown aback by the kindness she feels from him, Rati allows herself to sink into the embrace and feel warm for the first time in a long while.

In the throne room, Misaki and Miwa find themselves unable to get closer to Aichi as the result of a barrier which has been erected. One layer of the forcefield suddenly cracks and shatters – suggesting that one of the other Quatre Knights has fallen. They come to understand that each of the four knights has a responsibility in the form of these layers – so between Sera and the second’s loss, they’re halfway to unsealing Aichi. Behind them, Sera looms in the shadows.

Gaillard muses teasingly why Kai and Miwa might have seen him as so much like Aichi – a subject which hasonly lingered in the back of Kai’s mind. Gaillard presents the silver ring he sports, claiming that he carries Aichi’s will. It’s not an explanation that Kai can wrap his head around. So Gaillard reflects back on his and Neve’s arrival in Hitsue City, meeting with Aichi for the first time; he appeared friendly and helpful, but by the information he’d gathered, Gaillard began to speak ominously about the boy. By the eerie ambiance which soaked the air, Aichi could tell he was in trouble and attempted to flee when Gaillard activated his Holy Prominence Prison, locking Aichi inside the battlefield. Uneasy with the situation, Aichi found himself forced into a fight – pitting Gold Paladin decks against one another. Without understanding why he was being targeted, Aichi tried to plead for an explanation and cooperation. Like the present, Gaillard gave a summary as to why he had been recruited and was hunting Aichi. But the final statement puts Aichi into a frozen state – horrified by what he’s heard, his already unsteady game falls apart and Gaillard finishes him off. At that point, Gaillard reveals to him what the prison is all about and Aichi is subjected to Judgement. Once it’s over, his body buckles, Gaillard looms over and smirks at having fulfilled their objective. Maybe out of spite or for fun, he hangs his right hand beside Aichi’s head, sealing a portion of his willpower – the thing which gave him strength and lured people to him – inside. Neve expressed distaste with the action, and that it might jeopardize their plan, but Gaillard swayed the concerns – if none remembered Aichi, than any sensation surrounding his willpower would be rendered void. The two recovered Aichi’s body and made their way onto the next phase. With it confirmed that Aichi was abducted against his will, Kai’s fury intensifies and he goes on the offensive unlike anything before, even as Gaillard’s own over Reverse lingers. The Royal Paladins, spearheaded by Blaster Blade, cut through Gaillard’s forces and the knight contends with his king, striking him down to secure Kai’s victory. Gaillard endures his own Judgement and crumples onto the ground, Kai wastes little time, recovering Alfred from Gaillard’s deck and then racing on ahead to catch up with the others.

In the throne room, Misaki and Miwa are elated to see not only another level of the barrier break, but the forcefield which encompasses the entire fortress beginning to falter. Exchanging their excitement to have Aichi back as soon as the last fight is finished, they’re unaware of Sera’s presence until he uses his Millennium Blizzard powers to freeze their legs, rendering the two immobile. With it seemingly safe, he emerges from the shadows, gleeful that his plan is coming together smoothly; although it takes them a moment, Misaki and Miwa come to realize Sera is betraying the Quatre Knights. He confirms their suspicions, stating that by allowing Pennyworth to become captured, he brought the Mates right into the knights’ territory where their defeats would be allow the seals around Aichi to weaken and ultimately crumble. Neither is sure why Sera is eager for Aichi to be released; he divulges his family’s history and the fates of those both weak and strong – claiming himself to become the strongest ever once Aichi is free. Kourin interrupts the scene and challenges Sera to a fight, furious at his betrayal. Kai arrives partway through the fight, catching sight of Aichi in the midst of the fight raging nearby; Miwa and Misaki warn him that Sera’s also looking to have Aichi released – which instills concern as to why his objective would align with theirs. Sera beats Kourin, dealing Judgement onto her just before the seals begin to cave in. As the forcefield dissipates, Emi freezes up in class – an act which puzzles Mai. Giving no explanation, she bolts out of the classroom, which leaves her class and teacher scratching their heads, but as she runs through the corridor, she has only one thing on her mind – having just remembered Aichi.

Sera’s arms rise, hailing the awakening of the transient king, but as soon as the barrier falls, Kai races over to check on his friend. With Kai beside him, Aichi’s body begins to stir, and rise from the throne. Unease is strong in the air as Aichi stands in front of the throne, sights fixed on Earth. Kai utters Aichi’s name, hoping to get a typical response from him. But Aichi stares at him with a blank look, his eyes devoid of life, speaking one word – “move” – in a monotone. Two digits extending from his right hand unleashing a blast identical to the one which almost killed him atop the Tatsunagi building and throws Kai back. Gaillard’s words which he told Aichi during their fight resonate – that Aichi harbours Link Joker’s Seed within him Kai crashes onto the floor and knocked unconscious. Miwa and Misaki yell to their friend, and plead for Aichi to stop. For them, it’s a surreal sight to see Aichi looking down at Kai with no sign of human emotion.

Sera hails the waking of his king and approaches Aichi, swearing his allegiance by offering up the Earth to Void, then leads the vessel past their resistors and on their way to the totem. Kourin laments that Takuto’s fail-safe of only the knights being able to use the totem has been rendered useless; where Aichi would have remained contained on the moon, he’s no longer bound by any restriction.

Miwa gripes about the irony that it was a Quatre Knight who proved most dangerous in the end, but Kourin herself protests that it it hadn’t been him, then the Mates would have unleashed the very same threat. Misaki and Miwa place the blame on the knights for not informing them fully, but Kourin snaps back with the question of it they would have stopped if they’d known the full extent of Aichi’s plight, to which they can’t bring themselves to respond. Instead, they have a whole new crisis to face – a second Reversal. As one of few who evaded Reverse, Misaki fears unleashing a new wave across the city, with flashbacks to what Kai, Kamui, Akari, Miwa and various others were like back then, and it sends a chill down her spine. Kourin assures them she’ll have Gaillard help them out and takes a brief leave, to return with him moments later. Using his flame, Gaillard liberates Miwa and Misaki, who immediately hurry to Kai. It takes a moment for him to stir, and the remnants of both sides present find themselves begrudgingly working together.

On Earth, VoidAichi Reverses Sera, who gives himself over to the power, and commands him to spread it (comparing the act to that of vermin spreading a disease). The Mates and Knights return to Hitsue and split up; Kai gets a call from Ren about recalling remembering everything, Kamui also hears from Emi, who tearfully claims she understands what he was trying to tell her and can’t forgive herself for forgetting Aichi. Misaki and Kamui rendezvous with Emi, Akari, Shingo and Maki while Kai meets with Ren and Leon, each giving the grave news that Void is on the loose on Earth. When Leon questions what Kai will do when they find it, he doesn’t give an answer, Leon reminds Kai that Takuto was going to have himself sealed as a means of protecting Earth, but if the Seed can transfer between hosts, then there’s no easy way of solving the problem other than to follow suit. Gaillard catches up with VoidAichi and Sera, challenging the former to a fight by way of activating his prison. Sera gleefully mocks Gaillard’s intentions, with their immunity from the Seed’s transfer by use of their gifts from Takuto; Gaillard retorts that he’ll subdue Aichi and have him put back to sleep so the planet can be at ease. It’s far easier said than done, as VoidAichi reveals his Link Joker deck, which taints the units whom he began fighting with and warped them into the malevolent force’s units.

Gaillard reflects on the events after his last fight with Aichi and his attempted escape – the Quatre Knights explained in full the circumstances by how Aichi came to possess Link Joker’s core, and Takuto’s plan. By pushing him into a corner, they broke down his will to resist by emphasizing on the peril that the entire world could be in should Aichi return. Donning the attire of Void’s vessel, Aichi reluctantly made his way inside the throne room, but when questioned about the knights looking out for everyone else, only then did they reveal Aichi’s existence would be wiped as a precautionary measure. A revelation which throws Aichi into turmoil, and unable to escape, he reached up for the Earth, wishing to be able to reach his friends, and as he did, a glimmer fled the sanctuary – Blaster Blade escaped from the sealing process to warn the others while Aichi’s body collapsed into the throne and fell into the deep sleep. Not about to let down the children whom he cared for in France, Gaillard charges in. It’s a battle in vain, as VoidAichi shows no evident struggle, regardless of what Gaillard uses, aware that he’s lost Alfred. When the battle is sealed, Gaillard suffers his own Judgement. With his prey weakened, VoidAichi raises his hand.

A brief hesitation and his arms withdraw, holding his body as if it were about to split apart – for a matter of seconds, the real Aichi is able to break through and tell Gaillard to run – it’s a sigh that stuns Gaillard, who couldn’t begin to imagine why Aichi would care about him, after all he’s done. Aichi’s unable to hold back Void long enough before it resumes control and Reverses Gaillard, whose final thoughts are of the children he swore to protect. Rati arrives just after the process is complete, Sera takes leave at the same time. Gaillard and Rati simultaneously unleash their prisons to hold one another to their mercy, creating an amalgamation of the two. As the fight progresses, Rati asks Gaillard how he feels towards other people; she’s been mulling over Kamui’s words and figures she wants to believe, even if just a little longer – she doesn’t want to be alone anymore. She notes how Aichi reached out to Gaillard right before his Reversal and how it affected her former-comrade. But ultimately, she asks what happened to his fight against Reverse; he wouldn’t be so easy to put down as the power has done to him, and tries to get him to wake up. None of her arguments seem to have any effect on Gaillard as he continued to crush her defiance until she succumbs to defeat. Both Judgement and Reverse rain down onto her, but she smiles wistfully, glad that she won’t be alone, at the very least.

Suiko, Rekka, Asaka and Tetsu rendezvous with Ren, Leon and Kai, just as a broadcast breaks out on the news about a phenomenon striking various people in the city remescient of that just weeks ago. After the mayhem the previous epidemic caused, the newsreader advices people to stay away from anyone behaving strangely, and police forces are preparing should riots break out. Ren grumbles about Reverse’s revival and the incredible with which it’s spreading; within a matter of hours, it’s reared its head enough for even those unconnected to the game to recognize the patterns of the first wave. Neve locates Sera, scowling that the sinful ways of humanity are the same as ever. Sera claims that if there was going to be a wrinkle in his plan, it would be Neve. Even though he stands the sole remaining Quatre Knight, there’s little he can do, as the matter of Reverse is already far out of anyone’s control other than Aichi’s. The two engage in a fight – for Sera, it’s the completion of his scheme, and for Neve, his duty as a knight, to keep the wickedness of humans like Sera from succeeding.

Escorted by Gaillard and Rati, VoidAichi returns to the district where the totem is hidden, preparing to return to his sanctuary and watch humanity tear itself apart as though an overlord. Kourin blocks the way, livid that everything had been undone and defiant against it continuing. While Gaillard offers to put her down, VoidAichi decides to take up the challenge himself and transforms the space around the four of them to resemble that of dead space. Sera and Neve viciously exchange blows; the former mocks Neve’s attempt at sympathy, but Neve brushes off the taunts, adamant that all he’s doing is his job – he’s not about to see the ill-intent of humans condensed into one form wreak havoc; intending to oppose VoidAichi directly once their fight has concluded. Sera brags about his position in the scheme he’s unleashed – intending to be the puppetmaster which dangles VoidAichi from strings, he considers himself the strongest force to be reckoned with, achieving the ultimate of his family’s ideals. To drive it home, he pulls off the victory needed to Reverse the last of the Quatre Knights. Meanwhile, Kourin tries and fails to overthrow VoidAichi and suffers the same, recalling the moments as Suiko Reversed her previously.

The resistance find Aichi and fend off any Reverse along the way. Ren and Leon lead their respective squads of Asaka, Tetsu, Maki, Suiko and Rekka + Sharlene, Jillian, Shingo, Emi and Akari while the Mates head off as a unit. VoidAichi’s six core soldiers gather at the totem, from where VoidAichi broadcasts a brief message – re-introducing himself as the force which spoke to cardfighters previously through Tatsunagi Takuto and reaffirming his intention of returning everything to nothingness. Kamui becomes alarmed because of the site from which VoidAichi is speaking – the totem, with all the Quatre Knights under his command. The team realize that if VoidAichi returns to the moon, they’ll have no means of reaching him or stopping the spread of Reverse, sparking panic among them. The three parties split up to cover much more area in the scramble to reach the totem before they lose the enemy’s commander.

Anarchy rules the streets, Misaki calls Mamoru to ensure he and Tokoha are alright, after recalling their first meeting. She can hear Tokoha frightfully asking about everyone while speaking with her brother; the fact that it had been Aichi who assured Tokoha previously comes up, souring both Misaki and Mamoru’s tones as they share in the discouragement that he has been seized as Link Joker’s new lead. The Quatre Knights use the portal system to return VoidAichi to the moon and stay behind themselves to further besiege the city. After they’ve taken off, a figure walks towards the totem, resting their hand onto the Vanguard insignia atop and sighing how they made it too late.

Misaki reunites with Mamoru and Tokoha, whose concerns are on everyone else. Misaki assures them they’re fine and promises this time they’ll save Aichi. Tokoha feels some comfort to hear the reinstated promise. Elsewhere in the city; Leon, Maki and Emi come face-to-face with Neve, Gaillard and Rati respectively, with fights breaking out between each pair. Maki contends with Gaillard’s hatred of Kai and argues that if he has beef with anyone, it’s her, as the puppet who truly introduced Reverse to Earth, and she won’t stand by without taking responsibility anymore. Rati meanwhile teases Emi about Aichi and becomes far more unhinged than her fight with Kamu. Emi voices her thanks that Kamui would fight so hard for her brother and try to help Rati, affirming that she’s always been the sibling who took care of Aichi as opposed to the opposite, so she has a duty in getting him back. Unfortunately, all three fights swing in Void’s favour and the three are Reversed.

Sera and Pennyworth find Ren and Asaka, triggering a tag-fight between the four. Naoki arrives at the totem, finding no trace of Aichi and calling around to pass on the message, although figures Maki is behaving oddly on the other end of the line and is horrified while fearing the worst. Sera and Ren exchange blows with their power-hungry agendas the front and centre of discussion, while simultaneously, Pennyworth mocks Asaka for blindly following a man whom sees her only as a sidekick. Reflecting upon their fight when she was the Reverse, Asaka bites back against any claims the servant makes, while Ren makes clear his pity towards a man like Sera who is naturally driven by greed and a lust for power. Admitting that he himself is far from perfect and has been warped into such, he’s growing to become a better person, though quips he wouldn’t dare give in completely and become a mature adult (jesting that’d just be boring). Rekka runs into Kamui, they exchange what little updates they know of the others, and the priority to find and unreversed a Quatre Kngiht, but Rekka gets a call before they part ways from Emi. Eager to see her again, Kamui opts to tag along and they find the younger Sendou – something immediately comes off as odd. It’s not long before her behaviour gives away to the pair that she’s become Reversed, and each offer themselves up as opponents, arguing between themselves briefly about why they should be the one to help her. What they understand are their feelings overlap greatly and decide instead to team up for Emi’s sake.

To counter Sera’s claims about being the strongest, Ren coolly points out that he hasn’t been using VoidAichi, but the opposite is very much true – despite how he’s interpreted the situation, it’s Sera who’s on the front lines doing the work to further any influence, and Void won’t acknowledge him as anything more than a foot-solder; yes, he unleashed VoidAichi and began the epidemic, however if all continuted to Void’s plan, he wouldn’t become the strongest, and ultimately only Void would win. There is no great power from within that has been unlocked, but only potential which lies within the people themselves, undermining Sera’s intention of becoming a force which outmuscles any other. Keen on proving Sera wrong, Ren leads the charge to overthrowing both the knight and his underling, undoing their Reverses without much difficulty. Sera becomes horrified at having been bested by Ren and makes a swift retreat. With the escape, Ren playfully laments that he got away before they could get him to take them through the portal.

Rekka and Kamui’s combined power puts an end to Emi’s Reverse; the three embrace, with apologies and tears. Kamui asks Rekka to look after Emi and prepares to take off, Emi pleads with him not to do anything dangerous – which Kamui shrugs off as fine, he has a promise to her that needs keeping and heads on. Maki locates Kai and urges him into a fight; with the both of them primary sources of the previous incident, each feels there’s unfinished business between them. Naoki finds them in the midst of the fight, requesting Kai step down and let him take over, but it’s a call which is declined, Kai stating it’s something he needs to do. They both see themselves as responsible for a catastrophe when they were both taken advantage of and wants to help Maki move on, even if he himself hasn’t; something more which he interprets as the price which needs paying for having spurned so much chaos. They exchange their likenesses prior to and during their time fighting for Link Joker, and Maki relies once more on Venus Trap Reverse, but Kai meets the relapse with resolve to never go backwards, in turn strengthening that to save Aichi, so no-one need suffer from Void’s agenda.

Naoki protests that Kai needs to go on ahead, because Aichi’s waiting for him. Kai looks to Naoki, puzzled as to why he’s seemingly giving up on reaching Aichi; Naoki shakily states that he’s still lagging behind in standing on the same stage, and blames himself for unsealing VoidAichi, as the last one to beat his opponent in the sanctuary, on top of the fact that he barely pulled through. Kai calmly refutes any guilt that Naoki feels he should bear, stating that because he lifted the seals, he’s made it possible for them to save Aichi; unsure what exactly Kai’s getting at, Naoki asks him if he knows how to, to which Kai nods, but says nothing of an explanation and resumes the fight with Maki. He asks of Naoki to remember the morals he stood by during their last war; how he wanted to search for the Vanguard Kai offered him years ago and the one which Aichi showed him; not to lose hope but keep fighting for that. Naoki stands by and watches the fight, refraining from jumping in while Maki and Kai exchange blows both verbal and through their units, until it ends in Kai’s victory. Naoki rushes to catch Maki once she’s purged of Reverse, she apologizes for causing trouble yet again, but both Naoki and Kai assure her she’s done anything but. They understand that she’s been making amend for what happened. Naoki tells Kai to go and find any of the Quatre Knights and he’ll catch up, which is met by Kai asking him to stick to that.

At the time that Kourin meets with Suiko, Leon also hones in on Misaki, Mamoru and Tokoha. Kourin demands a fight for Suiko, with motivations stemming from their previous fight and resentment not unlike Rekka’s previous gripes. Suiko gladly accepts, noting she had been hoping they would have an opportunity to talk and the sisters face off. Misaki stands in opposition of Leon, who muses how Misaki is perhaps the only one who has escaped Reverse’s clutches so far, and ready to fight in order to keep him away from the Anjou siblings, when a voice interrupts, leading all the parties present to turn in the direction of the source – seeing Tatsunagi Takuto. Misaki and Leon are astonished, after the extent to which Takuto’s body had been Link Joker-infested and how little time has passed since. Takuto assures them he’s alright, and he had help in recovering – as Cray and Earth’s bridge, he feelts it impossible to simply stand back and leave the work on the shoulders of cardfighters. Standing between the trio and Leon, he urges them onwards; to carve their way through the madness and find the end. Apprehensive about leaving Takuto behind to hold off Leon, Misaki hesitates to leave; to which he responds with a smile that he needs to speak with the Souryuu; he put a lot onto his shoulders last time and would like to make amends, assuring her that he’ll be alright.She and the Anjou siblings take off, allowing Takuto his moment to apologize to Leon for burdening him so much by using him as an anchor through which to remain attached to Earth and placing him firmly in the line of fire.

Suiko and Kourin clash fiercely, as Kourin lays the blame for much of her hardship; criticism which Suiko, once more, takes on the chin and accepts as fault her own. But makes clear she isn’t about to fall back and stop fighting just because she’s gone the wrong way about it previously. Instead, she reaffirms her intention to become a more understanding sister and think about their family, not to let herself get swept up in dealing with inter-planetary matters, as Takuto has stepped forward to fulfil that role which he entrusted to her while seeking out Psyqualia. For Kourin, however, Takuto himself is a figure of resentment – as he still embodies their lost memories, and while Suiko and Rekka might have accepted their pasts being gone, Kourin herself hasn’t. Suiko calmly points out Misaki has urged Kouin to live her life for herself and not for what she’s lost on numerous occasions, Kourin emotionally protests that it’s easy for Misaki because she knows where she comes from. But without changing her stern attitude, Suiko asks Kourin if it is really. With the blonde confused, Suiko goes to make clear that Misaki is someone with trauma in her past which she struggled for a great deal of time to come to terms with and will never truly get over, as is the case for many people – Kai Toshiki, Sendou Aichi, Suzugamori Ren, Souryuu Leon and countless others – but for Kourin, Takuto might have deemed it safer to remove her past, to spare her the same trauma; asking how Kourin would feel if she uncovered the secrets of their pasts and was left only disappointed or scarred,with nothing to return to.

It’s an argument that unbalances Kourin and opens up a window for Suiko, who dives in, tells Kourin to stop living in the past, and live in the present, for the future – before landing the critical blow that ends their feud. Kourin is set free and slumps, becoming propped up by Suiko who embraces her and apologizes for having her priorities wildly skewed in the past, promising to do her best to make it up to her. Rekka and Emi arrive onto the scene, the youngest of the sisters racing in and embracing the others as their reunion is finally achieved. Emi is touched at the scene, but finds herself looking skywards, her thoughts and worries turning to Aichi, hoping to be reunited with him soon.

Ezel and Aqua Force go at it with one another; Takuto swears to liberate Leon and do what he needs in order to restore order – noting how he always manages to place a hefty burden onto the shoulders of the people whom he intends to protect. He commends Leon for handling intense pressure so well, making references to the alternative world’s Souryuu Child in the process, although the meaning behind it is lost on the Reversed. Utilizing Grand Ezel’s Unlock ability, Takuto crushes the seals which tie to Leon’s stresses in relations to his clan, his past and contending with the world, allowing him to rid the Souryuu of Reverse and bring him back. With the two of them on the same side, Takuto thanks Leon for everything he’s done and apologizes yet more, making it clear that he can’t stop long, as he has to attain a means to travel through the portal he created and reach Aichi. Leon asks about the alternative world; Takuto gives a brief summary; how Void began to taint the fighters on Cray, how he and Aichi became targets of intense efforts by the nothingness and turn into weapons, both against each other and Earth. He laments that he seems to mess up a lot, and wonders if he’s fit to serve Cray in the role he does, but Leon attempts to lift his spirits by stating it was Ezel who was chosen to, nobody was forced to entrust him with the position. Feeling his confidence restored, Takuto thanks Leon once more and requests for him to take care, of himself and Earth, then takes his leave hastily, leaving Leon to wonder precisely what he intends to do and why he spoke so morbidly.

Kamui and Kai reunite and encounter Gaillard, who uses his ring storing a portion of Aichi’s willpower to lure the brunet to him. Kamui insists on fighting, stating that Kai needs to ready himself for whatever awaits on the moon. Although reluctant at the idea of standing back and leaving everything on Kamui’s shoulders, Kai tries to assure the younger that he can handle Gaillard, though Kamui states Kai had his win over Gaillard, and he wants a piece of revenge for what Gaillard put Aichi through. Kai relents, albeit still begrudgingly. Gaillard mocks Kamui’s spirit and intentions, stating that he won’t lose again, not with his enhanced power and once he’s finished, he’ll tear Kai down. The older of his adversaries bites back at how hypocritical Gaillard is, to have given into Reverse and forgotten the curse it brings, the suffering it caused. The Gold Paladin player scowls that Kai has no right to criticize, being a lead figurein the last incursion, even if Maki claimed to have been the original root. In an effort to wake up the real Gaillard, Kai tries to turn his attention to the orphanage he grew up in; what the kids he cared for endured and felt, asking if he intends to inflict that upon them a second time. If Aichi wills it, Gaillard claims, then he sees no problem with it – they can become a part of the empire they’re building, where they can be protected.

Kamui pipes up that Aichi would never wish for harm onto anyone else; what Gaillard is following is a twisted scheme concocted by something wearing Aichi’s body like a glove. Kai iterates additionally that Void has no intention of simply stopping at consuming the world, but intends to take all existence and return it to nil; something Gaillard can’t protect his children from. While reflecting on all those who would come to harm, and the innocence of young players which would be lost, Shion comes to mind, and Kai can only hope silently that he’s alright. Along the way, Misaki and the Anjou siblings come across Rati, prompting a fight between them; the Anjous see for the first-time the level of stakes; an experience throughout which Mamoru puts Tokoha’s safety and protecting her as his utmost priority. Misaki confesses to Rati that she, likewise, began as someone who couldn’t bond with others after the passing of her parents, but has come much further since uniting with her friends and letting people in, growing to leagues which she could have only imagined on her own. Both fights become much more intense as Kamui and Misaki push themselves to the limit in order to reach through to Gaillard and Rati, They manage to overcome the hurdles erected against them and undo the spell, granting them both a means of making it to the final stage. Rati agrees to help Misaki, who tells her to stick with Mamoru and Tokoha, apologizing to the siblings over the fact that she won’t be able to hang around. Mamoru thanks her for everything and assures her that he’ll handle things now, as they’ve leaned on her an incredible deal already. Kamui and Kai make clear their case for wanting to deal with Aichi to Gaillard, who’s hesitant to cooperate, making it clear that Link Joker needs to be sealed away again. Kai swears that it will, they’ll find a way. The Quatre Knight still seems as though he wants convincing, but agrees to give them the means of travelling there. The three make it to the totem, where Gaillard activates the portal, sending the two onward. At the same time, Misaki calls on Miwa and Naoki to meet up with her; letting them know she has the means of going on after the others – Naoki tells them he’ll catch up.

THE FINAL STAND

Kai and Kamui manifest on the moon, beginning their way down the familiar route. At the totem, Rati opens the way for Misaki, Naoki and Miwa, who leave the girl with Mamoru to take care of. Gaillard reveals he’s been waiting since sending the others on, and vows to stay with Rati; as colleagues and more, as friends, no matter what the outcome. The Mates reunite on the way to the throne room and march together as a single unit, where they find VoidAichi, watching the Earth. The six of them are finally alone, Naoki then realizes that they’ve gotten no way back, so they’re also trapped, so if VoidAichi refuses to fight, they’ll have no contingency plan. Kai confidently announces that Void will fight, facing the vessel with a stern look. In a rare break from his muteness and blankness, VoidAichi smiles, as if impressed by Kai’s deduction and the two ready themselves.

The fight begins and it transpires that VoidAichi and Kai were bound to fight due to the latter’s role in its last campaign, how Kai ultimately resisted and aided to bring down Link Joker. It’s a motive likened to revenge, although without malice, Miwa deems that Void is more seeking control and increasing the odds of succeeding this time. With one of the strongest fighters on the planet firmly under its control, by recruiting another, the morale and success of the resistance might easily dwindle away to nothing. The Mates try to break through to Aichi, nothing of which passes the possession which moves him against his will. Within his mindscape, Aichi’s mental image lays on the ground; surrounded by nothing but vast emptiness. Since being forced back down by Void, his existence has been stripped away bit by bit; he has no memories, no words to speak – which in turn silences his voice – no identity. In the blank air, the view of Earth from the throne room glows; as something which stands out, Aichi picks himself up and remains seated, leaning forward with one arm reaching up, despite the great distance. Around the extended limb, the essence of Link Joker glows. Without any thoughts, Aichi cannot determine it’s anything of threat, or even something different than himself and resumes reaching up, allowing the power to claw up his arm.

In the physical realm, the markings of Reverse appear on VoidAichi’s cheeks and he claims that Sendou Aichi is an existence no more. Horrified by the implications, the Mates reel from the news, but Kai is adamant to stand firm. Kai persists with the fight regardless, during which, an image of Aichi appears around him, encouraging him to keep pushing forward. With the fate of the looming world which hangs behind Void’s vessel in the balance, he does just that and matches whatever the Link Joker deck throws – batting away any insinuation that he deserves what’s happening with the protest that even if he does, Aichi doesn’t. And he intends to relieve him of that immense burden. At the same time, Gaillard, Rati and Neve arrive, watching from the edge of the throne room. Naoki is astonished and then asks if this was what Kai meant when he insisted he’d save Aichi. Kai confirms his fears – the Seed transfers to the successor who triumphs over its current host – so he intends to offer himself up as a sacrifice; he who brought about so much anguish, even long before Reverse, will seal himself and allow Aichi to live as he should have always been able.

Miwa struggles to hear the proclamation; something Misaki notices, and rests her hand onto his fist in hopes to comforting him through the fight. On Earth, Ren leads the resistance, quipping to Leon not to push himself too hard. The Souyruu claims he isn’t about to, though he has to contribute to undoing the mess that he was a part of, even if briefly. Ren smiles, noting how Leon’s more emotionally invested in Aichi and the others than he would have expected; Leon reminds Ren that it was down to them that he and the twins were rescued. It’s simply a matter of wishing to see Aichi saved from his own closed-in solitary world, and the current to last long enough that he can explore it fully.

On the moon, Kai reflects on the happenings they experienced on Cray and wonders if the same solutions as back then will apply now. Facing units such as Blaster Joker and Chaos Breaker, he answers with those of Blaster Blade Seeker and units which Aichi would have typically used, pooling his energies into joining with Blaster Blade Seeker, so that he, too, can wield the image of the sword itself. With the final turn well underway, Kai hesitates with the decisive strike a matter of seconds away, afraid that if anything were to go wrong, Aichi could become a casualty. The image of the boy lingers behind him, urging him with a soft voice. Kai braces himself, launching the final attack and seizing victory over his personal demons and Link Joker. VoidAichi begins to withdraw, with Aichi’s body reacting to the separation of the Seed. With the thoughts and hopes of those watching, and those waiting on Earth, Kai charges at VoidAichi and thrusts the sword forward; for the first time, VoidAichi shows something resembling human emotion – worry – and freezes at the image of Blaster Blade’s sword pierces through him. The onlookers also become still in disbelief, and eased by there appearing to be no physical wound opening up.

The Seed emerges from Aichi’s back, hovering inches from the tip of Blaster Blade and shatters, splitting in numerous shards which embed themselves in those on the moon, as well as a significant number falling to Earth. Kai pulls back the sword, which vanishes, and Aichi’s body crumples. The Mates rush over, eager to see how he is, and piece together what happened at the end of the fight – the truth comes to light; how the Seed was fractured and divided into pieces far too small or weak to do damage; without Void leading them, the clans of Cray hope to manage some form of peace treaty with them and grant them somewhere to call home, when taking into consideration they were forced from their own homes. Aichi stirs, seeing the faces of his closest friends above him, they take it easy, and it’s when Aichi tears up, and begins embracing them that they see he’s returned for real.

On the outer face of the sanctuary, Takuto lingers as in a spiritual form, musing how perhaps peace may settle. He voices his regrets at troubling the kids so much, and hopes that both planets can move forward, with Void’s offensive force mght separate. He questions though, if the image Kai had been seeing was the true Aichi reaching out from deep within. The form beside him denies it, stating that all along, Aichi has been encased within Void’s possession. The secondary figure appears identical to Aichi from the Circuit, although also transparent and with a multitude of colours to the ambiance around it. It claims that it’s a deduction made through sensing Aichi��s Psyqualia, as it has taken on the form to survey matters from beyond Cray’s core – one which Takuto states must have come out of fondness for him. Psyqualia states that it was more intrigue, but it has come to feel more content with humans, and claims it will drain Aichi of the majority of the power within him; not completely wiping out his Psyqualia, but at least ridding him of the build-up, so to ensure that he needn’t require saving, and sparing him the fate of overloading again in the future.

It asks what Ezel will do, Takuto responds that he’ll need to return to Cray in order to help with relations, however before that, would like to prepare Kourin to take over the Tatsunagi Corporation, as she seems to have distanced herself from Ultra Rare. A satisfying answer, as Psyqualia deems it, adding that they should prepare as the Messiah will soon awaken, and the need for Vanguard should no longer apply, meaning it, too, will have served its purpose. The two depart from the moon and begin their preparations for the future. Kai picks up Aichi and the Mates, with the remnants of the Quatre Knights, who bury the hatchet, with no threat remaining.

The sanctuary begins to disintegrate, which prompts concerns given the barrier around it protecting them from the moon’s true atmosphere will also vanish. The party head towards the portal, viewing the opening view of the Earth above the hallowed hallways. Each of the Mates begin to grasp one another’s hands, with Kamui reaching out to Rati’s, and the knights embracing the invitation to a truce. The portal transports the teames back to Earth and no trace of the sanctuary is left. Once back on Earth, everyone reunites at long last.

[insert Neon Messiah, with them tweaks to make it fit the changes since writing the original plan, here]

EPILOGUE

More than a year following events of the second incursion, everyone prepares for Kai, Miwa, Misaki, Akari, Ren and Suiko’s graduations. The second-years ponder the future as everyone begins to consider their lives beyond school and where they’ll each go. Kamui expresses concerns that they’ll all go off on adventures and grow apart by the time he’s out of school, but they assure him that won’t be the case. Shin and Naoki plan a special event for the friends at Card Capital once the graduation ceremony has concluded. In the wider scope of things, Suiko and Rekka continue Ultra Rare as a two-piece group while Kourin has gone through with succeeding the Tatsunagi corporation, as per Takuto’s wishes. Ezel continues to help with matters on Cray, however returns now and then to check up on everyone and report that things are also normal in the alternate world/s. As the day draws near, Aichi finds himself concerned at the idea of becoming separated from Kai again, as fate seems to toy with them whenever their paths diverge, coupled with the stresses of wanting to pen a worth farewell speech for the senior students. He, Kamui and Naoki learn about each graduates intentions with high school out of the way, and where they plan to go, helping to smooth unease about the immediate future. Misaki and Miwa plan to attend the same university, Ren wants to stay and look after Fukuhara, though has no actual plans to speak of, Suiko will tour with Rekka and Akari plans to attend another university not too far away so she can come back and check in on Misaki at any time.

When the big day comes, Kai arrives to school and finds a note in his shoe locker, opening it to read a request to meet in a particular location in the evening. The ceremony omes and goes without a hitch; with the extended circle of friends gathering at Card Capital, where they meet with Leon, Ren, their respective teams, Suiko and Rekka, Naoki manging to drag Maki along. They share a party as celebration over the past three years, where they’ve come to be in the present and ready for the future. Miwa teases Kai on the letter he got during the morning, wondering if he should tag along and play wingman, Kai shrugs off the attempt, shifting the blond’s sights to Misaki, who smiles, as if amused, but also tender in appearance.

There’s some sadness in unknowing when everyone can converge again when the time comes for them to go their separate ways. On his way home, Kai takes a detour to the location the letter requested him to meet at. He stops outside the park, taking a glance at the sakura trees in full bloom and contemplates the significance of the place. When the other party arrives, Kai states that he figured they had been the one to call him out, and sets his sights on Aichi. The younger confesses that he couldn’t even plot a speech to express what he wanted to say before Kai left, but he wanted to share one last occasion in the place where they met, if they have to part somewhere. He gets choked up in trying to congratulate Kai on his achievements and wish him well on the travels he’s to be experiencing over the next year. Kai closes the distance between them and assures Aichi that they’ll stay together, even if they aren’t by one another physically. It soothes the younger’s spilling emotions, and helps him to steady himself. He exchanges how important Kai is, and how much he treasures that day when they met in the very same spot where they now stand; how it was because of that which means he can be there in the present. Kai assures him the same is the truth with him, and he isn’t about to let all that wither simply because of leaving a year earlier, or heading out to see the world beyond, he swears that he won’t miss the very same occasion when Aichi and the other second-years graduate. Aichi asks for Kai to come back to the same spot in a year’s time, when he follows, which Kai agrees with. A year later, he keeps that promise.

#Override #forgive it getting messy and disorganized #it's been three days of power writing and Legion Mate is tough to work with #didn't want to just rehash Link Joker or drag it out because all these fights need writing #and that is not a strength of mine rip #and real world events sent everything into upheaval mode #at some point in the future this can get tidied up just wanted to have it written down and done even if it gets tweaked again some day #aaaaaand breathes out

16 notes · View notes

rutisup-blog · 7 years

Text

Spring Skiing with the Silver Surfer

04/29/17 – Bed, Fort Badass. 5:40 AM

The alarm clock fills the room with FM radio, waking me up–It’s time to get dressed quickly, I have a ride to Tahoe picking me up at 06:00 AM. It’s my friend and co-worker Rachel, someone who tells coders what to do. As expected, she’s on San Francisco time…that is, she’s running late. I’ve anticipated this, one of the many characteristics you develop after moving to California.

She arrives around 06:30, and she’s overshot it a little down the block–no worries. In the mean-time I have eaten breakfast–Siggi’s plain skyr style yogurt with a handful of almonds. I lug my board, boots, backpack, and duffel bag down the sidewalk, loading it into her boyfriends Gray Nissan Altima. There’s an extra California license plate in the trunk, caked with years of accumulated dirt. We’re both tired, loading my gear in the back.

“I forgot my pass, we need to swing by my place” says Rachel, looking sorry. I don’t mind, I always expect delays in SF. I direct her to Townsend Street via the ol’ under the freeway 13th Street route and once we arrive, her boyfriend drops off her forgotten items. Time to rock.

We hit the road, and soon we’re over the Bay Bridge and headed east to Tahoe. The sun’s rays streaks through the girders on the outsides of the lower deck of the bridge, hitting the car like a strobe light as it’s rapidly obscured by the girders. I search Rachel’s pack for her sunglasses, finding a hip pair with wooden arms–nice.

We’re getting close to the Carquinez Bridge when we realize we need coffee. “Pull off here” I say, quickly getting us lost. My sense of direction is pretty awful sometimes. I pull up Google Maps, and navigate back to the freeway, driving through some farmland and past some sort of carbon plant–whatever the hell that is. We’re in the boonies.

“You’re not bringing me out here to kill me, are you?” asks Rachel, somewhat joking but not 100% certain. Five minutes later we’re rolling through the Starbucks drive-thru for some joe–two black coffees. Rachel offers me some of her croissant as we motor on east–it tastes delicious.

I cringe as we drive past Folsom, realizing that I’ve just missed the last Chic-Fil-A on the way to Tahoe. Fuck. Placerville is the next and only stop for decent chow. We try to stop at the In-N-Out besides Schlotzysky’s Deli–the one on Hi-Lo Drive–to find both sadly closed. Sad!

We settle for the Carl’s Jr. in the strip-mall across the freeway, where I grab a jalapeno thickburger. Rachel branches off to grab a veggie sub from the Subway across the parking lot. There’s this cool motorcycle with a sick sidecar parked in the lot. I emerge with a Carl’s Jr in hand and return to the car, but find no one there.

I walk up to the Subway, swinging to door wide open. My nose is blasted with an assault of the dreaded ‘Subway smell’ of yeast particles floating through that place like some sort of bread power particle accelerator. I quickly switch to mouth-breathing.

Without shame I sit down and start chowing down on my thickburger as I wait, but I only got two bites in before she approached with her sandwich in hand. “I don’t mind if you eat in the car” she says tactfully, so we jump back in the Nissan and hit the road, the foothills coming upon us as we clear through “Old Hangtown”.

All there is to see is pine trees on either side of the road as we drive up up up into the mountains. This is the all too familiar ride to South Lake Tahoe on US-50. Soon, the majestic beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains would be upon us. The air thins out as we climb up into the mountains, the speakers of the Nissan filling that empty space with the sounds of house music.

Some more banter and office politics talk, and next thing you know we’re driving through the mountain pass, a steep drop-off over the side to a forest of pine trees. Snowy mountain-tops span off into the distance. We round a curve on the pass to behold the beauty of Lake Tahoe in the background, and an airstrip down below near the foot of the lake, surrounded by a forest of pine trees.

“I’m gonna get my wings soon. Someday I’ll be landing on the airstrip” I remark, blue eyes wide as I dream big and talk bigger. No joke though, I will land there someday.

Whatup

We get to South Lake and park in the back lot of Harrah’s. I put on this amazing silver morphsuit my roommate Jonny lent me, and then start to gear up. We walk over to the gondola and wait 5-10 minutes to get on a gondola up the mountain. It’s me, Rachel, some raver chick, two other raver dudes, and some older guy wearing a Heavenly uniform that is an off-white shade–I’ve never seen this uniform before.

PSssscchhhh, the sound of a beer being opened echoes through the gondola a few seconds after we lift off out of the depot–raver dude has cracked a beer.

“Hey, come on. You can’t drink that on the Gondola.” says the old Heavenly dude. I notice his uniform again, it’s such a different color than the Helley Hansen jackets, and it looks barely worn. His name tag says Pete and he’s been ‘serving great experiences’ since 1984. He’s gotta be about 50, looking clean-cut with a cleft chin, helmet, and brand new white ski-boots.

“Ahhh..Come on man, it’s already cracked! “No.” the Heavenly guy responds. “Ah man…Hey, what do you do at Heavenly?” “I’m the Chief Operating Officer here at Heavenly” he says, nearly deadpan. “Oooohhh shiyyyyyeeeeetttt tighhhtt helllaa” say the raver kids, laughing at their dumbass friend.

I realize I was onto something with that peculiar jacket. The situation is somewhat awkward, but we get by, asking questions about Heavenly. Myths were shattered on that ride. We were sharing a six person gondola with who could be the true king of the mountain for all anyone could be concerned.

“Yo this is the last weekend because it’s a lease from the forest service right?” “No, we close in May because that’s just because people stop coming” responds The King. “Oh shit ok, but then that’s why Bo Real closes” “Bo Real…Oh Boreal? Nope, that’s not why they close.” “Oh man I thought that’s why” “No, people just stop coming…”

Well that settles that myth. We also find out after some probing that electricity is the biggest cost on the mountain–cool. We’re making our way up the face of the mountain now and the raver chick is totally enamored with the view. Raver dude seems to see his second chance.

“Ah so man, lemme drink this ya know, so it’s not looking like I’m coming off the gondola with a full beer you know.” “Dooonn’t Do it! chimes in one of his friends” “No.” responds The King “Come on man, it’s the _mountain_ man” says raver kid, bringing the can up to his lips “Don’t do it” he says, the seriousness echoing through the gondola. “Ah ok…”

The gondola comes up to the sky deck lookout point, and the King encourages the troublesome trio to check out the view if they’ve never seen it. Sly. They disembark, and I have a little freak-out as I can’t find my snowboard. Luckily I look behind our gondola and see it’s just in the one behind us–phew.

As the gondola pulls out of the sky deck stop and hurdles towards the top, we all breathe a collective sigh of relief to be rid of those three. “Some people don’t think. They just do. And unfortunately it’s usually those people that end up getting into trouble on the mountain” remarks the COO.

A few minutes later the gondola cruises into the station, and we disembark. I’ve really got to take a piss now. I walk into the bathroom, shuffling over to the urinal and opening the fly of my snow over-alls. I try to pull the dragon through the fly and then realize that I’m wearing a morphsuit. There is no fly. Fuck.

I can’t reach the zipper on the back of my morphsuit, hanging out in that awkward space between your shoulder blades. I ask a stranger to help unzip my morphsuit for me. I laugh at the oddity of this situation. I’m taking a piss now in the toilet as my newfound assistant is unloading a gnarly shit in the stall beside me–time to get out of here. Can’t even wash my hands with this suit on.

Okay, ready to rock. We descend the tall metal stairs from the gondola station, our boots making a sweet slushy crunch sound. I’m back on the snow. We go up Tamarack lift, ride down to Dipper. The snow is a little icy right now. I end up going through this shitty icy bowl near the lift. I realize I’ve entered the yard sale corridor, an area you often see skiers losing their skis as you ride up the lift.

I get some good air on some jumps in the woods, and I realize it might already be time to ditch the jacket and pants and just go full silver body suit. We go up dipper and I take the sleeves off my jacket. We do milky way bowl and it is just OK. Rachel has skis and is definitely faster than me. The only way I can remember to recognize her is by her orange socks. After a few runs on Dipper we go down Comet like 4 times.

Snow is soft, conditions are good. I’m doing lots of jumps, fuck yeah. We take a break to ditch some layers down at East Peak Lodge, and find the scene electric. There’s a snowcat mobile DJ booth set up, and they’re playing the hits of the 90’s. Tons of people hanging out in deck chairs in the snow, many people tanning… It’s gotta be like 65 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, we both realize that we want a beer.

Naturally, there’s a big line at the bar. No beers on tap, three bros tending to the bar.

“What do you have on tap” asks a patron

“Mmm…” says the bartender, kind of looking quizzically at the taps, and then with a sweeping motion of his hand over the handleless taps and a coy smile he says “None!”

These lads were having a grand ol’ time. I get a Guinness while Rachel gets a dirty snowman, the bartender saying “Okay, but there’s no snow for me to go roll around in outside”. The next bartender confirms her order, asking “One inappropriate snowman?” What a bunch of jokers.

Finally, we’re back outside. The tunes are pumping, and there’s like fifty or so plastic deck chairs just hanging out in the snow, full of people drinking, tanning, and generally being merry. We grab two chairs and then cheers, taking that first sip of that sweet alcoholic nectar–ahhh. So good. I take a taste of her dirty snowman and realize that it’s fucking awesome, my new favorite hot drink.

So we sit there a while and have some banter, getting a pretty decent buzz off of just one drink–that altitude will get you. I peel off my morphsuit and just tan there bare-chested in the sun, laying back in the chair and using my goggles as sunglasses. I’m careful to keep the strap low on my head, so that I don’t get a weird tanline on my bald head. Rachel has a tank-top or something like that and considers going down to a sports bra but wusses out. I share stories about my former workplace and the moral dilemmas of working with 90% females. Whenever I went out to eat with them they never finished their meals, they would just push their half eaten plates towards me and expect me to finish them.

It’s like 13:45 now and I decide it’s time to shred the mountain full morphsuit. Now it’s just me in a full silver morphsuit, sparkling in the sun. People get a nice show of my butt as I struggle to get my feet back in my red riding boots. This old couple takes photos of me, and apparently a lot of people were doing the same. I was getting a lot of attention and I liked it.

Full silver surfer mode now, I stashed my jacket and pants behind the outdoor bar, looking pretty obvious. You tend to stick out when you reflect the sun. We go up Comet like five time, some nice runs down Comet, Orion, Aries Woods, and others. We meet some characters on the lift ride up. There’s two old Tahoe dudes who have a pipe, weed, but no lighter.

“Heyyy man, silver surfer!! Can you reflect the sun to light our bowl!?” says one, laughing in his old hippie way

They offer us some, but four of us were on a lift and none of us had a lighter. One of those moments that makes you questions just what the hell you think you’re doing with your life. I talk about motorcycles with them the whole ride up. Those guys were cool shit.

On the next lift up we meet this old salty dog, he’s got to be one of the most jaded people I’ve ever met on a lift. “Dating is more fun, I’ve already been married twice.” he says, looking off into the distance to ponder the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He goes on a tangent about having sex with the lights on or off. “You should have your own dating hotline man” I tell him, somewhat joking.

We shred some gnarly slush until about 15:00 and then decide to get one last epic run in and then call it. We ride over to the milky way bowl, and then decide to hike up to the top. I barely ride up it much before I have to unstrap and start hiking. I walk for ages, taking a few breaks. I look back to see an amazing view of Lake Tahoe, and a long row of footprints from what now seems like so far down below. We stop near the top where it gets all rocky.

I stick my board in the snow and start to pant a bit. Wow, I’m fucking exhausted. I hear a plane flying by loudly, and I look around trying to find it. And then I realize that it’s flying right by, but I’m looking up instead of down. We’re higher up than the plane is flying–how fucking cool is that. I sit down in the snow and just take it in, watching the plane cruise through the Heavenly Valley headed eastbound through Nevada.

True beauty up here. I get my phone, needing to lick my silver morphsuit fingers to let the haptic sensor register my finger–welcome to the future. I take a snap and see that I’m at 9,964 feet right now–wow. It’s breathtakingly beautiful up here. I realize that this is the most beautiful view of Lake Tahoe I have ever seen. You see the snow and that beautiful basin that is Lake Tahoe to the left, and then to the right it drops off all the way down to no snow and the flatlands of Nevada. It gives a true perspective of how Tahoe is just this weird big basin of water at high altitude. The Dipper lift runs off in the distance.

We’re sitting in the snow taking it all in, the beauty of Lake Tahoe, the snow, the Heavenly Valley. That idyllic beauty of it all. The sounds of the mountain–or lack thereof. Just a light breeze, warm sun, and sparkling blue lake. You can see the frost line visibly on the mountains right by the lake–it’s true beauty.

My silver bodysuit reflects the sun, and now that I’ve spent about three and a half minutes enjoying the beauty of nature, what else is there to do but have a photoshoot? You can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy. Rachel gets some action shots of me as I pose in front of the lake.

“Work it, work it” she says jokingly, although I’m taking it quite literally. Goggles on, goggles off, board and no board, just generally having some fun with the four accepted wardrobe changes in the paradigm of snowboarding photos. I end with a blue steel pose, and then really jump the shark and put the morphsuit hood over my head and do some creepy zombie crawling towards the camera. At this point Rachel’s had just about enough of my shit and gives me back the camera.

She clips in, I strap in, and then we ride down the huge bowl–it’s steep and crunchy. I’m still in love with the fact that my silver body suit is still providing me enough warmth. We get back down to East Peak Lodge and everything is closed up–what a bummer. I was hoping to listen to more 90s music and drink a beer. I run down to the outdoor bar and lean all the way over the counter to grab my jacket, snow pants, and other stuff I stashed. It’s all there–phew. We’re desperately in need of a beer at this point.

We’re the very last people to get on the chairlift out of East Peak–we closed ‘er down. There’s a bunch of Japanese tourists asking us to take yet another iconic Heavenly photo. They do a few poses, and then we’re ready to get that final run in for the season. I’ve balled my snow pants up with my H&M Hawaiian t-shirt, carrying this big bundle of clothing in my left hand. I try to do some tricks, but realize that it’s really hard to do that when you’re off balance. I have a nice ride down to the gondola.

The music is pumping outside of Tamarack Lodge, and everyone’s trying to get a last beer in. Alright, let’s do this. We find a slanted metal picnic table in the sun, and leave our stuff on the table. It’s a bit of a madhouse here, so Rachel gives me her ID and credit card and holds down the table while I order. “What is this, the East Coast? I’ve only needed multiple IDs in New York” I say as I walk towards the lodge. “I’ll have an IPA” says Rachel as I walk inside.

“Space man!!!” “Silver Surfer!!” “Take me to outerspace!” “I love your suit!”

I’m known by many names at this point, but everyone inside is loving my outfit. They’re probably a little drunk to be fair. Three large lines snake out from the bar, everyone trying to get one last beer in. By the time I get to the front of the line, I realize that it’ll be slim pickings. All that’s left are some dark beers–a milk stout and a porter. I grab two of each, and I’m surprised to see that they want to see the other ID for the other two drinks–Rachel was right.

We enjoy the last drinks of the season out there infront of Tamarack Lodge. At some point an Australian comes up to the table and enthusiastically says “Oy! You’ve got a nice dick. She’s a lucky girl”. I nod my head and say “Thanks bud”. Not sure why everyone thinks we’re a couple, but I’ll take the dick compliment. I realize at this point that my tight silver suit probably gives a pretty good outline of my package, but I don’t really care.

Soon we’re once again the last people drinking. Everyone has left, but I resist the herd mentality and just relax and enjoy my beer. Eventually they shut the music off and we decide it’s a good time to bounce. In the meantime the gondola line has dwindled from a 30 minute wait to a zero minute wait, and I’ve got a nice altitude buzz again–that’s called doing it right. We’ve closed the lodge down–AGAIN. Infact, we closed the whole mountain.

I enjoy a nice scenic gondola ride down to lake level, and then we walk over to the back lot. Ahah, the shirtless hippie crew is hanging out by their shiny restored VW bus, drinking Sierra Nevada and playing guitar. A bohemian couple cuddles in the grass. It’s kind of weird to think that I was walking in the snow 10 minutes ago, and now it’s all lush green grass down here. One of them got me with a snowball earlier on the mountain–he had a great arc on it.

We pack the our gear into the car, and it feels nice to get out of the silver surfer suit. I could eat a horse at this point. Basecamp Pizza is like a whole five minutes walk away. “Would you judge me if we drove a minute to get that much closer to Basecamp Pizza” asks Rachel. I thought she would never ask. We drive down the block, finding an easy parking spot. It was pay to park, but the meter was broken–perfect.

The Heavenly village is fucking LIT. There’s a bunch of 18 year old couples walking around in Tahoe prom attire–interesting. We see the crew in the four gaper suits breaking it down on the outdoor dance floor of some bar Oh man, I just want to stay here and rage with the old people. ‘The craic is 90’ as an Irish person might say. Suddenly I worry that there might be a wait for food.

We wade through throngs of people, seeing a many lingering near the entrance of the restaurant. “I’m not completely married to eating at basecamp” says Rachel tactfully. Just then the White Sea seems to part as we walk up towards the entrance and it’s only a five minute wait for a table outside–fuck yeah.

Two beers in, both of us really need to pee. The quest for bathrooms begins, and we walk past some tables with absolutely delicious looking pizzas on them–man this is going to be great. After taking my first pee without a spandex suit on, I return to the hostess and our table is waiting for us–perfect. I order a ‘Java the Hut’ coffee drink, while Rachel gets the Deschutes Pine Drops IPA. Damn, I was thinking about getting that. I give it a sip and it’s pretty tasty, but I still think I prefer the Freshly Squeezed IPA. More hops, less pine drops. I guess that explains the name.

We split a small Greek salad and a medium veggie medley pizza. It’s fucking DANK. Rachel’s eating slows down, and I know what’s coming next. “Have some more pizza” she says, ever so slightly pushing the pizza towards me. “Aha, see! I told you, girls never finish” I retort. I had reinforced my story from earlier in the day.

We hit the road right after, getting back to San Francisco at 11:15 PM. I grab my stuff out of the Nissan and wave goodbye. I drop it all off in my room and them immediately head over to a housewarming on Sharon street. They had a bunch of cheese and crackers out–fuck yeah. No meat though.

I didn’t want to point it out, but you’re not supposed to eat fine cheese with crackers. It hides the taste and feel of the consistency of the cheese in your mouth. It’s better to use fruity or crusty bread.

It was a a pretty ‘epic day’.

Spring Skiing with the Silver Surfer was originally published on RUT-IS-UP

#California #Heavenly #Lake Tahoe

0 notes