Chapter 015: The Fake Starburst Dragon

''Makoto wasn't sure what to do. Standing in front of him was the Copycat Fighter, a boy who made it this far into the tournament not on his own merits, but rather by copying the merits of his opponent's decks, casually shuffling his deck. One thing Makoto was never good at was strategizing on the fly. He had also seen two fighters who were much better at it than he fall victim to the Copycat's copy and paste strategy. This made him worry. A lot.''

"So, you defeated Sakura Kagehana and you defeated Regina Stratos," the Copycat noted. "Let's see if you can defeat me, Makoto."

"There is no 'I can"," Makoto replied. "I will defeat you." A blank stare responded back.

"Are you ready?"

"Now, Stand Up! Vanguard!!!"

"Starburst Dracokid!" "Starburst Dracokid!"

Meanwhile, Destiny could be seen walking towards the hospital where she was told the fighters who fainted were. She wished to deduce what caused their fainting spells.

In the master bedroom at the Kido Estate, Rex was watching the fight and shipping tea.

Soon... Rex said to himself, Soon, everything changes...

Reiji was busy working on his deck. His next opponent, according to the bracket, was Asahi. For some reason, Rex never enforced the rule that fighters who were fighting on a certain day all had to be gathered in one place. Reiji glanced over at a different deck: his old Royal Paladin deck.

Where do all these idiots get the idea that Vanguard is supposed to be fun?

He then saw Demonic Madness Dragon, Kuromi.

It was never fun for me...

"Ride!" Makoto declared. "Silent Archer, Tenma! Skill activated! By placing a card in my soul, I can check the top five for a grade 2 or higher to add to my hand. This one will do." He shows the Copycat a copy of CEO Amaterasu. "Attack the rear-guard. Starburst Squire boosts."

"I'll guard that attack with Luck Bird!"

"Drive check, Draw Trigger! Power to the vanguard and draw one." The attack landed. The damage was two to one. Makoto already had eight cards in hand. So did the Copycat.

"Ride!" declared the Copycat. "Silent Archer, Tenma!" He was no longer just copying other fighters' decks. He was copying even Makoto's mannerisms. He would look at his hand just like Makoto would. He would copy Makoto's usual strategy. He would twitch when he got nervous just like Makoto.

"Why won't Makoto deal any damage?" Hanako asked Asahi. "He should be finishing off that creep in a hurry!"

"No one knows Makoto's deck better than Makoto," Asahi replied. "He's damage denying the Copycat as a means of stalling for time."

"Stalling for time?"

"Indeed. Because this fight will literally be decided by whoever gets Starburst Dragon to activate first. Right now, Makoto has two open damage, but he needs that dragon in his hand."

"Silent Archer, attack!"

"No guard!"

"Drive check, Critical Trigger! Power to Starburst Squire, critical to the vanguard!"

"Damage check," Makoto replied, "no trigger. Draw Trigger!"

"Tch," the Copycat was not pleased. "Turn end."

"Makoto's already at four damage!" Hanako complained.

"Listen, Hanako," Asahi responded, "Your brother is going to find a way to win."

"Asahi is actually right... For once..." a voice said behind them.

"Reiji..."

"Reiji?!"

"He is going to win," Reiji continued. "Because the only person who's going to defeat him in this tournament is me!"

"That's not true!" Hanako protested. "Makoto beat you once! He can do it again!"

"How adorable..." Reiji said with a smirk. He got in closer so he could whisper in her ear. Makoto heard Reiji's voice and glanced over his shoulder. "Nothing will get in the way of me getting what I want." Reiji then pushed Hanako to the ground.

Makoto tried to run over to confront Reiji, but he was stopped by a "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"You know the rules, Makoto," the Copycat reminded him. "Leaving the fight table signals your forfeit." Makoto glanced over his shoulder again.

Reiji left the room with this to say: "You fools aren't worth my time."

Makoto clenched his fists. "You want to play, Copycat?" Makoto asked rhetorically. "Let's play. Stand and draw! Then ride CEO Amaterasu! That's an Imaginary Gift: Protect I! Call Torte, then CEO's Counter Blast! Draw, then check the top card of the deck and place on top or bottom of the deck. This one goes to the top."

"Must be a critical trigger..."

"CEO Amaterasu attacks your Vanguard!"

"Ha! Got you! No guard!"

"Drive Check, Draw Trigger! Power to the Vanguard and draw. Critical Trigger! All effects to Torte! Attack!"

"No guard!" The Copycat finally got under Makoto's skin. Not intentionally, of course, but he got what he wanted. The damage was now five to four.

"Stand and draw!" The Copycat began to laugh maniacally. "I ride the Starburst Dragon!!! Dragon born of starlight, spread your wings and take flight!"

"That's my line!"

"Not anymore!" the Copycat retorted. "This game is mine! Call Torte and another Torte! Starburst Dragon attacks! Starburst Pulse! Check the top 5 of the deck and add all the normal units to the hand cards!!"

"Imaginary Gift: Protect! Complete Guard!"

"Twin Drive Check!!! Critical Trigger! All effects to Torte on the left! Critical Trigger! All effects to Torte on the right!"

"With the skill of both Torte and a trigger on each of them," Asahi noted. "They're both at 28000 and 3 critical."

"Attack!"

"Sphere Magus!"

"Attack!"

"Oracle Guardian, Nike! Starburst Squire!" He managed to prevent any more damage, but Makoto had lost five hand cards to that onslaught. He really needed a lucky draw to gain the upper hand.

"Makoto..."

"Stand and draw," Makoto said as he began his turn. Suddenly, he saw an image of Reiji in his mind. The image angered him to the point where he slammed the card he rode onto the table. "I ride the real Starburst Dragon!"

"Ooo! I'm so scared!"

"You should be," Makoto retorted, "Because this game is over."

Rex was watching the whole thing.

"That's it, Makoto... Show me what a true Vanguard fighter can do..."

"Call! Torte, Luck Bird, Weal Crane, and Amaterasu!"

He's down to three cards, the Copycat thought to himself, Torte will never activate...

"Luck Bird's Soul Blast 2, draw a card, then add 5000 Power to itself. Weal Crane goes into the soul, add 10000 to Amaterasu and Torte. And now, Starburst Dragon, attack the vanguard! Skill activated, Counter Blast 2, and Soul Blast a grade 3, check the top five of the deck, place the triggers on top and the normal units in the hand."

This is fine...

"Oh, there's no triggers in here. Looks like I put all the cards in my hand. Starburst Pulse!!!"

"I'll guard that! Oracle Guardian, Nike! Oracle Guardian, Gemini!"

"Twin Drive Check!"

"Makoto..."

"He had to put all the cards in his hand, so he has no idea what he will check," Asahi observed, "It's going to come down to pure luck whether he checks what he needs or not..."

"Luck..." Somehow Makoto heard what Asahi was saying. "First check..."

Everyone in the room was nervous. Everyone watching elsewhere was nervous. Makoto was nervous.

"Draw Trigger! Power to Amaterasu and draw one. Second Check... Critical Trigger! All effects to Battle Sister, Torte!"

"A double trigger..." Rex noted to himself. "That's quite a lucky draw..."

"That's more than ten cards, so Torte gets 10000 Power and an extra critical." He wants to psych me out? I'll just have to do the same to him... "Torte attacks!"

The Copycat was actually scared now. "G-g-guard!" He threw out way more cards than he should have. Makoto noticed this.

"I've got you right where I want you! CEO Amaterasu attacks!"

"Ahhhh!!! What happened to my cards?! I can't guard!!!" The Copycat Fighter lost at his own game. He began to freak out. "How??? How did I lose?!" Makoto, having calmed down, walked over to him. He was visibly exhausted. Whether from the anger or from the fight, he wasn't sure.

"You lost because... because the deck you played with... was just a shoddy copy of something someone else made.."

"But..." the Copycat wanted to protest. "The whole point of Vanguard is to take the best deck to every tournament and win!"

"The point of Vanguard..." Makoto's vision began to get blurry. "Is..." Things started to go black. "Is..." Nothing. Makoto had fainted before he could finish what he was about to say.

Rex took notice of this.

"Strange... I've never seen the winner of a Vanguard fight faint before... That's something I'll have to take note of."

Makoto had awoken in a hospital bed. Laying in the bed next to him was Agrise. Her butler was standing watch over her. Watching Makoto was Asahi, Hanako, and, strangely enough, Destiny.

"This is not good..." Destiny said. At this point, Agrise woke up and began to listen. Destiny noticed the situation unfolding and beckoned them to listen to her.

"What did you say?" Makoto asked her.

"It seems the Dark Power is already afoot at this tournament," Destiny answered him.

"Just what is the Dark Power, exactly?" Agrise then asked.

"I didn't want anyone to know," Destiny tried to dodge the question. "But it seems I was too late."

"What is it?"

"It is something that is afflicting Cray units," Destiny began to explain.

"Afflicting Cray units?"

"Yes," Destiny answered, "Planet Cray is a real place. It's difficult to explain, but long story short, the Dark Power has made its way here and taken an Earth unit host."

"Earth unit?" Makoto was confused. "Do you mean human?"

"Oh yes," Destiny corrected herself, "Human." Good, they didn't notice... "I only entered this tournament to try to prevent the Dark Power from taking root on Earth. But it appears we were too late."

"We?" Agrise was confused now. "You and Miko?"

"Destiny and I," Destiny attempted to correct herself, but failed, "Uh... Me and Himiko, NO! Yeah, Miko and I."

"Himiko?" It was again Makoto's turn to be confused. "Oracle Queen, Himiko?"

Destiny sighed. "Guess the secret is out. Himiko and I share a body." Agrise and Makoto looked at each other, then looked at Destiny. "Just as Earth units, uh, humans, ride Cray units in the game of Vanguard, Cray units can ride humans. And Himiko is riding me."

"Okay," Makoto continued, "What is the Dark Power doing?"

"See those gloves?" Destiny asked in response. "Those gloves seem to have something to do with it." At this time, Asahi jumped into the conversation.

"Those gloves hurt my hands," Asahi then told them. "And my brain hurts right now."

"I've observed that people who wear the gloves when they fight become exhausted," Destiny told them. "Usually, it's the losers who faint. But Makoto... He won his match, you said?" she asked Asahi.

"He did," Asahi answered her.

"I need to be going." Destiny then attempted to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" Makoto asked her.

"I need to speak to Mr. Rex Kido," she answered him. "He has some explaining to do. This tournament is much too dangerous to let continue." With that, she left the room.

In the laboratory, Rex Kido and Tetsu Shinjou were discussing recent developments.

"People have been fainting after using the gloves?" Tetsu asked.

"Indeed," Rex agreed. "We are going to have to discontinue the testing."

"So it seems," Tetsu agreed. "But we got enough data anyways."

"Agreed."

"So," Tetsu began to ask, "What is this new secret project you're working on?"

"Who told you about it?" Rex asked in response.

"One of your interns. But all anyone can say is it's a secret."

"Well," Rex began to respond, "It's designed to take all the research we've done over the years and apply it towards achieving our actual goals."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say, that I've caught a glimpse of the future." At that moment, Destiny entered the laboratory.

At the moment she spotted Rex Kido, she shouted to him, "Rex Kido! We need to talk!"

Rex noticed the hooded figure shouting at him. "Hello, Himiko."

How did he know about Himiko??? "What is the purpose of these gloves?"

Rex beckoned Tetsu to let he and Destiny to have their moment. "Why, they're the conduit that powers the future!" Rex answered her.

"Show me this future..."