Chapter 013: The Shadow Fighter

''It's Day 5 of the Tournament of Champions. Nothing of note happened at Day 4, simply because the winners of that day's matches simply dominated them. Let's recap the final turns of those matches, shall we?''

"Attack! Demonic Madness Dragon, Kuromi! Drive Check, Double Critical!"

"Damage check... No trigger..."

"Dragonic Overlord the Conquest stands up! Attack!"

"Guard!"

"Check the drive trigger... Critical Trigger! Get!"

"Damage check... no trigger..." I'll never get to the finals now...

"Let's go! General Seifried! Attack the vanguard! Skill activated! Stand a rear-guard!"

"Guard!"

"Twin Drive! Critical Trigger! All effects to Juggernaut Maximum! Attack!"

"That's six. Looks like I lose."

The next day, Rex Kido decided to change some things up. Mainly, he decided that the order of the fights would be changed. Instead of what would have been originally planned, the first fight of Day 5 would instead be Asahi Yuto vs Miko Kagehana.

This was the first time Makoto heard that Jun was actually participating in this tournament. He and Asahi were discussing deck strategies when they heard a voice quickly getting louder.

"Hey, Makoto-kun! Asahi-kun!" Jun shouted as he ran towards them.

"Jun?!" Makoto asked, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Participating in the tournament, of course!" Jun responded. "You didn't know that? I figured some official fighting would be a nice change of pace."

"I've slept through half of it," Makoto joked. "Hana-chan tells me all the time I need to see a doctor."

"Have either of you seen Reiji-kun?" Jun asked them. "I've got some catching up to do before I fight him."

"I've not seen much of Reiji lately," Asahi answered, while Makoto nodded in agreement.

"You haven't spoken to him in what, two years?" Jun replied back. "Of course you won't see much of your best friend while you're out traveling the world."

"We're not friends," Asahi answered him.

"Come on, Asahi," Jun insisted, "You've got to let go of what happened. The three of us, we used to rule Japan..."

"I'm not interested in any of that," Asahi interrupted. "I'm only interested in defeating Reiji."

"I think everyone is, Asahi," Jun replied. "Besides that, you don't want to let go of the glue that kept the three of us together."

"I'll admit," Asahi began to respond, "I'm a little jealous of you, Jun."

"How so?"

"You might defeat Reiji before I do."

"There will always be chances for that, Asahi. Right now, we need to focus on becoming friends again." Asahi didn't budge, though.

"Who is this Miko Kagehana?" Asahi asked them. Makoto certainty didn't know. Jun claimed he didn't know either.

"Might be related to Sakura Kagehana," Jun pondered. "There's so many names I've never heard of I wonder how Rex decided who got invited..." Jun began to walk on. Awkwardly, he said, "Well, see you around."

"Jun," Asahi said. Jun stopped walking for a moment. "Defeating Reiji is what I need to do to make him come to his senses. If I can do that, I might be able to mend some broken fences."

Jun smiled, though Asahi couldn't see it. "That's the Asahi I know." He then continued to look for Reiji.

"Asahi Yuto, please report to the fight room," a voice said over the intercom.

"Well, Makoto," Asahi said, "Wish me luck."

"Will do," Makoto agreed.

Asahi and his opponent slowly approached the fight table.

"I'll be honest," the girl said, "I was wanting to fight Makoto Sakaki here."

"I'm sorry that I'm not him," Asahi replied. "That doesn't mean I have to go easy on you though."

"It seems Destiny was right," the girl replied. "There is a dark power here."

"Here?" Asahi asked her. "As in, right in front of you?"

"I am not sure," she answered. "Some days it grows, others it recesses."

This girl knows Destiny... Asahi thought to himself for a moment. I must keep my guard.

"Are you ready, Asahi?"

"About as ready as can be."

"Now, Stand Up! The Vanguard!!!"

"Ride! Lizard Runner, Undeux!" "Ride! Fullbau!"

"I'll let you go first," the girl said to Asahi. "I must gauge your skills. I'm Miko, by the way."

"Well, Miko," Asahi answered, "I'll be happy to show you what the Euro League champion can do! Ride! Flame of Hope, Aermo! With Undeux's skill, draw one card. My turn is over."

Miko nodded with fascination. "Ride! Blaster Javelin! Attack!" On Cray, Blaster Javelin charged towards Aermo with all the fury he could muster.

"No guard." The attack landed. Asahi didn't check a trigger.

"Back to you, Asahi."

"Draw. Ride! Dragon Knight, Nehalem!"

"Go ahead, Asahi," Miko teased a little, "Show me the power of the Euro Circuit champion."

''She's running a Shadow Paladin deck. Asahi began planning in his mind. Can't recklessly call rear-guards...'' "I call Dragonic Panzer behind the vanguard. The vanguard attacks!"

"No guard," Miko answered with a smile.

"Checking the drive trigger," Asahi then said, before pulling a Draw Trigger. Miko also pulled a Draw Trigger for her damage. "After it boosts, Dragonic Panzer goes into the soul. Then i check the top seven for a card with Overlord or Waterfall in its name. Since there is one, I add it to my hand. My turn is over."

"A catastrophe is incoming," Miko said as she drew her next card. "We must stop the Dark Power..."

"Will you stop with the cryptic messages?" Asahi tried asking politely. "You keep saying there's this evil thing here, but you won't say what it is."

"Ride."

"How can people help you if you won't ask them?"

"Darkness is the sword of determination. Thunder forth, Blaster Dark!"

"Are you listening?!" Asahi finally shouted.

Miko finally sighed in disappointment. "I don't even know what it is. Destiny will not tell me."

"Destiny is your boss, isn't she?" Asahi asked.

"Until noted otherwise."

"So you're helping her out and she can't even be honest with you?"

"She's only not telling me to protect me. Same reason she's not telling anyone. People can't know that their favorite card game is hiding some ancient evil." Asahi fell silent.

"This is bad," Makoto told Agrise, "She's using the same tricks Destiny has been using in her fights."

"Blaster Dark's ability gives it an additional drive so long as you have no rear-guards." Asahi looked at his empty board.

She played me...

"Servants of darkness, join me in battle." Miko then said, calling several rear-guards to join the fray. "Blaster Dark attacks!"

"No guard."

"Twin drive! First check, Critical Trigger! Power to Blaster Axe, critical to Blaster Dark. Second check, Critical Trigger! Power to Blaster Axe, critical to Blaster Dark." The attack landed, suddenly leaving Asahi with three damage.

"Got it! Draw Trigger!" Asahi said as he checked his third damage.

"Blaster Axe attacks Nehalem!"

"Embodiment of Spear, Tahr! Guard!"

"Turn end." The damage was four to one.

"It's not looking good for Asahi," Makoto observed.

"I think you're overreacting, Makoto," Agrise answered, "Asahi is only at four damage and he was able to keep a decent amount of cards in his hand."

"I guess you're right."

"Ride the Vanguard!" Asahi boldly declared. "Appear before me, Flames of Apocalypse! Dragonic Overlord! Imaginary Gift: Force II! Then call! Dragonic Panzer! Wyvern Strike, Nix! Flame of Hope, Aermo!"

"The army of Kagero approaches," Miko then said. "But are they friend or foe?"

"They're foes to anyone getting in the way of my victory!" Asahi answered her. "Overlord's skill activate! Soul Blast to give Overlord 10000 Power. Attack!"

"No guard!"

"Check the drive trigger. Got it! Heal Trigger! Power to Overlord. Second check. Got it! Draw Trigger! Power to Overlord and draw."

"Damage check. Got it! Heal trigger! Power to Blaster Dark."

"Dragonic Panzer goes into the soul, so I look at the top seven once again. An Overlord was among them, so it goes to the hand." Asahi explained again. "Then, Overlord's skill. Counter Blast and discard two hand cards to restand Overlord. Attack once again! Eternal Flame!"

"Perfect Guard! Dark Shield, Mac Lir!"

"Check the drive trigger, Got it! Critical Trigger! All the effects go to Wyvern Strike, Nix on the right. Boosted by Aermo, Wyvern Strike, Nix on the left, attack Blaster Axe!"

"No guard."

"Wyvern Strike, Nix on the left attacks!"

"Guard!"

"My turn is over." The damage was tied at three.

"You're making this more difficult than it needs to be, Asahi Yuto," Miko then said to him. "No matter, this Vanguard fight will be over soon. Ride!"

"I hope it's not what I think it is..." Makoto said to Agrise.

"The shadowy king of knights enters the battlefield. Rise up, The Dark Dictator! Imaginary Gift: Force I! Call, Blaster Axe, Lacerate Crescent! Skill activated, retire Nix and Aermo."

"My intercept!" Asahi protested, but Miko wasn't done.

"Skill of The Dark Dictator, Counter Blast, then superior call Darkness Maiden, Macha. Add 5000 Power. Retire the other Nix."

"I'll admit, Makoto," Agrise finalky agreed. "This is getting pretty bad."

"Macha's skill," Miko continued, "Counter Blast, then superior call Black Sage, Charon. Draw one. Macha gets 5000 Power. Charon's skill, Soul Blast, Counter Charge 1, and Charon gets 3000 Power. The Dark Dictator attacks Dragonic Overlord!"

"Guard!" Asahi threw down two critical triggers.

"Twin Drive! First check, second check, Critical Trigger! The effects go to Macha. Macha attacks!"

"... No guard." Asahi now had five damage. However, his last check was a Draw Trigger, which prevented Miko from declaring a third attack. Her turn was over. The damage was five to three, but Asahi managed to keep six cards in hand. Miko had three.

Breathing heavily and beginning to show signs of exhaustion, Asahi began his turn. "Ride the Vanguard! The scourged world is yours for the taking! Rise up, Flames of Apocalypse! Dragonic Overlord! The Conquest!"

"There it is!" Makoto shouted. "Asahi's ace card!"

"Imaginary Gift: Force II! Call! Dragonic Overlord! Wyvern Strike, Nix! Dragonic Gaias! Overlord's Soul Blast, add 10000 Power. The Conquest attacks The Dark Dictator! Dragonic Gaias' skill. It goes into the soul so The Conquest gets another critical."

"No guard."

"Check the triple drive!" Asahi declared boldly.

"T-t-triple drive?!" Miko was shocked.

"When The Conquest attacks," Asahi explained, "if Dragonic Overlord is in the soul, it can perform three drive checks. Now checking! Heal Trigger! Critical Trigger! It's over!"

"It's not over yet!" Miko said defiantly. "Damage check, Draw Trigger! No trigger... Heal Trigger! That's 20000 Power to the Vanguard and I stay at five damage."

"That's unfortunate," Asahi replied. "The Conquest activates its skill. Counter Blast! The Conquest stands back up, drive-2! Attack!"

"Guard!" Miko remained defiant, but she began to grow weary.

"Check the drive trigger, no trigger." Asahi then looked at his board. He had no cards that could punch through The Dark Dictator's 33000 Power. "Turn end." The damage was five to three.

"Stand and draw..." Miko tried to say. "Ride. Spread darkness across this land, dragon born from the shadows! Darkburst Dragon! The Vanguard!"

Makoto felt something cut through him. Agrise noticed, and asked if he was okay.

"There's something familiar about that card... I don't know what it is though..."

"What is that card?" Asahi asked.

"This is the embodiment of the darkness within everyone," Miko answered. "Just as Starburst Dragon is the embodiment of the light."

"So it's like my Starburst Dragon card..." Makoto said as he overheard their conversation.

"Imaginary Gift: Force I! Call! Skull Witch, Nemain! And her skill, call another Skull Witch, Nemain! Then, Darkburst Dragon's skill: Counter Blast and retire Charon, you must retire one of your rear-guards."

"Looks like I'll retire this one," Asahi said, opting to retire Dragonic Overlord and keep his intercept on the field.

"Darkburst Dragon gets 15000 Power and Critical+1!" Miko continued to explain. That was when Asahi noticed something: Miko had put her Force markers underneath her rear-guards.

So this was her plan...

"Further, Darkburst Dragon's skill. For each rear-guard I retire, Darkburst Dragon gets 10000 Power. I retire two Nemains."

"That's 48000 Power and 2 Critical..." Makoto observed.

"Macha attacks The Conquest!"

"Guard!" Asahi said defiantly. "Embodiment of Spear, Tahr!"

"Darkburst Dragon attacks!"

"Asahi needs to do something!" Makoto said.

"He still has Nix on the board," Agrise corrected him.

"What is one intercept going to do?" Hanako asked.

"Nix intercepts," Asahi responded. "Skill activated. Iron Wall!"

"Iron... Wall...?" Hanako asked.

"The Iron Wall is a skill that activates when a particular card intercepts," Makoto began to explain.

"The skill allows Asahi to choose from among the top seven cards of his deck to call to the guardian circle," Agrise added. "He can only call up to five cards, but he can add a card to his hand as well."

Asahi called just one card to the guardian circle using the Iron Wall skill: "Perfect Guard!"

"He called a Perfect Guard from the deck?!" Hanako was stunned. She would be, of course, since she was still learning the game.

"Checking the twin drive," Miko then said. "No trigger. Critical Trigger! Power to Blaster Axe and he attacks!"

"Blaster Axe has 30000 Power and an extra critical..." Makoto observed.

"Dragon Monk, Gojo!"

"Turn end..." The damage was

"Stand and draw," Asahi began his turn. "FINAL TURN!"

"He used Reiji's Final Turn!" Makoto said.

"Overlord the Conquest attacks!" Miko simply hung her head low. Asahi had won. Miko then collapsed onto the floor. It turned out she was wearing those gloves. Asahi also fell to the floor, but he caught himself in time.

Reiji and Jun then entered the room. There would be no break in the fighting today. Reiji ignored Miko laying on the floor in pain. Jun politely helped Asahi off the floor.

"Why would you help that traitor off the ground?" Reiji asked Jun. "I'd kick him while he was down."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Jun answered. "After all, Asahi is your friend."

"We are not friends," Reiji answered back.

"Is there a chance we could be?" Jun then asked.

"I don't have time for this. Let's just fight."

"Alright then."

"Stand Up! (My!) Vanguard!!!"