Chapter 017: The Road Ahead

''Makoto was making his way to the Kido Estate after a brief stint in the hospital, where he had been treated for fainting spells after his fight with the Copycat Fighter. On the bus with him were Asahi Yuto, who had made it to the semifinal with him, as well as Agrise and Hanako, who were coming to cheer them on.''

"This is it," Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. "It's almost over." Everyone else was just hoping Makoto had recovered enough to continue fighting. If what Destiny said was true, then continuing to fight in this condition could be dangerous.

"Well, when we meet in the final, don't expect me to go easy on you, Makoto," Asahi replied. "I've got a new card from an old friend and he's expecting to see it in battle."

"Does this friend happen to be Toshiki Kai?" Makoto asked. Everyone started laughing.

"So what if it is?" Asahi asked back, somewhat embarrassed.

"I'm just playing around, Asahi," Makoto admitted. "Honestly, it would be really cool to have someone like Toshiki Kai helping me out."

Asahi turned away. "It's a real burden sometimes."

"What do you mean, Asahi?"

"What do you think it means, Makoto?" Agrise cut in.

"How do you think it feels living in someone else's shadow?" Asahi added. Makoto began to think for a moment. Suddenly, an image of his father, Naito, appeared in his mind, playing the Starburst Dragon card.

"Actually," Makoto replied, "I know exactly how it feels."

"What do you mean, Makoto?" Agrise then asked.

"I just have this feeling that everyone expected me to be exactly like my father. But I'm not. I just have his cards."

"Listen, Makoto," Agrise interrupted him. "Those cards are yours now. Just keep using them the way you want to."

Asahi would have agreed, but his mind was somewhere else at that moment. Images of his last defeat by Reiji flashed in his mind. He began to wonder whether he wanted to use this new card or not, even whether he wanted to use Dragonic Overlord or not.

Agrise's mind started wandering as well. In her image, she saw her domineering parents, forever disapproving of her desire to play Vanguard. And even though she had been eliminated, it was the most fun she had in years. It was pretty clear they were each thinking of their motivations for entering the tournament.

Reiji was making some important decisions of his own. He began to consider playing his old deck instead of his current one, when he began to remember how he acquired that deck.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late for school!" Reiji said in a flashback, as he was running down a street. He's probably played this image back many times, trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

Suddenly, he noticed a blue haired man walk in front of him. They collided. Cards were scattered everywhere. Reiji landed on his back.

"Ow..."

The man offered a hand to him. Reiji then realized who the man was.

"A- A- Aichi Sendou!!!" Reiji quickly got back on his feet, before bowing before his idol. "I am so sorry I didn't see you there! Please forgive me, sensei!"

Aichi paid little attention to the boy's attempts at begging for forgiveness, only giving a "That's okay..." for a response. Then he began to pick up cards, and noticed that some of them weren't his.

"So you play Vanguard too?" Aichi asked him, as he continued to arrange cards. Reiji joined him in cleaning up the mess.

"Yeah..." Reiji started to reply. "But..."

Aichi stopped in place. "But... what...?"

"I'm not very good at it," Reiji answered. "I've only just started playing."

After all the cards were collected, Aichi stood back up, both decks in hand. "I see you play Royal Paladin. Excellent choice."

"Easy for you to say," Reiji responded. "I haven't won a single game yet."

Aichi thought for a moment, before saying "Let me take a look at your cards." As he saw them, he quickly noticed Reiji was missing an important piece. "You had better hurry to school. Then, after school, come to Card Capital."

"Card... Capital...?"

Aichi responded by quickly drawing a map that would get Reiji to Card Capital. He handed the map to Reiji and went on his way.

"According to the bracket, your next opponent would be Reiji," Agrise commented as they made their way to the Kido Estate, referring to Makoto's next match. "And Asahi would fight Destiny. So before we get there, we need to discuss possible strategies."

"Destiny is a closed book," Asahi responded. "Every fight I've seen of hers, she brings a deck that, while it looks slightly different from before, is actually very different in execution."

"Reiji, on the other hand," Makoto added. "He's got one strategy: Fill up on soul, ride Kuromi, swing for game."

"That part of him hasn't changed in years," Asahi agreed.

"It's too bad we can't switch opponents," Makoto then said. "At this point, Destiny is a more interesting opponent than Reiji." Everyone began to laugh.

"Destiny is a very mysterious character," Agrise agreed. "All this talk about dark powers and fate and stuff."

"Sorry, but this is as close as I can get you to the Kido Estate," the driver told them. They had stopped at a large gate, the entrance to the walkway that led to the Estate. As they approached the Estate, Makoto began to recall a memory of his from long ago.

"Give the world a big ohayou, and if the world says it back, a miracle happens," his father would always tell him.

"What does that mean?" Makoto would ask in response.

"It means that no natter what you imagine, it can be done. Just give the world an ohayou for good luck."

"I always thought you didn't need luck," Makoto answered. His father began to laugh.

"Everyone needs luck in their lives, Makoto," his father replied. "Nothing in life is certain. Especially not the outcome of a Cardfight."

"In that case, can we have a Cardfight?" Makoto asked.

"Of course we can," his father answered. "Can't wait to see the new secret deck you've been working on."

Some time later...

"Aww man, lost again..."

"Don't worry about it, Makoto," his father comforted him. "You almost had me there."

"Yeah, but look who has six damage..."

"You'll never actually enjoy the game if all you think about is who has more damage," his father began to explain. "If you and your opponent fight with all your strength, your imaginations won't be fighting each other. They'll be working together."

"Working together...?

"It's difficult to explain," Makoto's father continued. "I'm not sure if I even understand it all. But what I do know is that more people get enjoyment out of Vanguard when two people sit at a table and create something magical."

That must have been what Makoto had been missing all this time. He decided at that moment that being more like his father wasn't such a bad thing. After all, he realized, he was trying to forget he even had a father at all.

The night he realized his father wasn't coming home, Makoto couldn't sleep that night. He had been told by his Uncle Kenji that his father was living in the stars now.

Makoto apparently took that a little too seriously, as he spent the night on the roof, wishing for a way to get to the stars. And he's spent most of his nights on the roof ever since.

As they entered the Kido Estate, they were met by three people: Rex Kido, Tetsu Shinjou, and Reiji Midorihara. They were standing in their exact positions they were the first time Makoto and the others entered the Estate, six days ago.

"I'm so glad you made it back in time," Rex greeted them. Despite his greeting, one could feel the tension in the air. "I have some interesting news you may like. As of this moment, the bracket doesn't exist."

Everyone was shocked to hear this. What little planning that could do beforehand was now practically useless.

"Now, the next matchups will be decided by the four finalists. You may have noticed one is not with us at the moment. She will be joining us shortly."

Makoto and Reiki stared each other down. Reiji was filled with an unspeakable rage. Standing before him was the boy who had taken his life's work away from him. Rex decided to take full advantage of the tense atmosphere.

"I've also decided to add a little extra incentive," Rex told them. The lights came on all at once, revealing the machine.

"No way!" "What is that?" "What can it be?"

"This machine will grant the deepest desires of the winner of this tournament," Rex explained. "Thanks to my years of research, I've discovered a way to make all dreams become a reality, to craft the perfect future for each person in the world."

"How do we know if it works?" Agrise asked him.

"That is a very good question, Agrise," Rex responded.

Agrise was stunned. She had been found out. "How did you know my name?"

Rex began to laugh maniacally. "Did you really think your cover would hold water against this machine? I know everything about you, Agrise Bengoshi!"

"Bengoshi?!" Makoto asked in shock. "As in the number one lawyer in the country, Takeshi Bengoshi?!"

"Correct, Makoto." Rex answered him. "In fact, he is her father. A father who would be very disappointed to hear that his baby girl is clear across the country playing a children's card game he so greatly disapproves of." Rex by this time had a dark purple glow surrounding him.

"Why would you reveal her secret to the world like that?" Asahi then asked.

"To demonstrate my new power," Rex explained. "This tournament is still being broadcast all over the world, you see. If Agrise so wishes, I can make the entire world forget who she even is. However... this machine still requires more power. The connection between Earth and Cray has not yet been fully awakened yet. This is why the four of you will continue to fight until there is one winner."

"Why would we do that?" Makoto asked.

"You mean to tell me you don't want your deepest desires fulfilled?" Rex asked in response. "When you take a look at that machine, tell me, please, what do you see?" Makoto did as Rex told him..

"It's just a swirling vortex," Makoto answered. Rex was not impressed.

"Maybe to you, but not to me," Rex insisted. "I see your parents."

"My... parents...?"

"Playing around and smiling at you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Makoto insisted. He was fighting the image Rex was creating for him.

"Because you're not thinking creatively," Rex responded. Eventually, the image appeared in Makoto's mind as well.

"Makoto!" Reiji shouted from behind him, before spinning him around and grabbing him by the collar. "You're the one who's been haunting my nightmares. You ruined my chance at perfection." Makoto, having gained some strange strength after seeing the image of his parents, grabbed Reiji's arm and forced him to left go.

"You've done that yourself." Reiji was shocked to hear this.

"What did you say to me?"

"You heard what I said, Reiji," Makoto continued. "You lost by your own doing. I didn't make you lose."

"If this is true, Makoto Sakaki," Reiji then said, "Fight me." Asahi and the others were all shocked, even Rex, although the bracket would have had this fight happen anyways. "If we fight right here, right now, it can be decided just how good of a Vanguard fighter you are, and if I could truly lose to the likes of you."

Reiji and Makoto once again stared each other down. However, Asahi stood in between them, facing Reiji.

"Don't leave me out of the fun, Reiji," he told him. "I haven't had my chance to defeat you yet."

"You are in no position to make demands, Asahi," Reiji answered back. By this time, it was clear that all three of them had been influenced by something. "Don't get me wrong. I admire the lengths you've taken to improve your game. But you are still no match for me."

"Now, don't you get me wrong," Asahi responded. "I came here to defeat you. I only joined this tournament because you've been poisoned by your sick, twisted obsession with absolute victory. Poor Reiji, never able to be recognized as equal to his idol and his greatest rival, respectively." He was referring to Aichi Sendou and Naito Sakaki, respectively. Reiji remembered something.

Reiji had arrived at Card Capital as planned. Aichi Sendou was waiting for him.

"It's pretty simple," Aichi explained. "You have most of the cards needed for a fully functioning Alfred deck."

"What am I missing?" Reiji asked him.

"You don't have any Blaster Blades in your deck," Aichi explained further. "It's like having a Tsukuyomi deck without Tsukuyomi or a Beast Deity deck without Illuminal Dragon. Four Blaster Blades will do the trick."

Reiji nodded in agreement. "But... I don't know if I have the money for them. Blaster Blade is an extremely rare card."

"Don't worry about it," Aichi replied. "The cards are on me. Go ahead and see if there's any other cards you might like."

And that's when Reiji saw it for the first time. Beacon of Hope, Kuromi.

"I'll take four of these, too," Reiji told Aichi. Aichi went over to see what Reiji had chosen.

"That's weird," Aichi observed, "I've never seen that card before. Must have come from the new set."

Reiji had that card in his possession ever since. "You're right," he said to Asahi. "I've always wanted to exceed them. Not just be equal to them as the inheritor of the title of First Vanguard. I wanted to be above them. I'll obtain that image, no matter who I have to defeat to get there. I will defeat you... and Makoto, and achieve perfection!"

The machine had powered down.

"You've truly forgotten how much fun Vanguard really is," Asahi observed. At this time, Destiny, now fully recovered from the events of the previous night, walked into the room. "I will find a way to save you from that fate. I have got to save you, Reiji."

"Save me?" Reiji asked rhetorically. "You're the one who will need saving after I've defeated you. Let's do this." Both fighters stared each other down as a table came out from the floor.

"Vanguard fight!" they both shouted.

"How convenient that they chose that spot for their staredown," Rex noted.

Destiny was not pleased with how events were proceeding. "This is even worse than I imagined," she said to herself. "They're eating out of the palm of his hand."

"Who's eating out of whose hand?" a little girl asked her. It was Hanako, the only one in the room unaffected by Rex's influence besides Destiny.

"Your friends have been manipulated into playing a twisted game by that man over there," Destiny answered her, pointing to Rex Kido.

"I was worried that this would happen to Makoto," Hanako replied. "Even he didn't want to go because of this."

"Oh?" Destiny asked. "There may be hope for us yet..."

Meanwhile, Asahi and Reiji were ready to begin their fight, both fighters overcome by their inner desires. Rex smiled an extremely wicked smile.

"Let's begin, Reiji."

"Of course, Asahi."

"Stand up! The! Vanguard!" Asahi declared. "Lizard Runner, Undeux!"

"Stand up! My! Vanguard!" Reiji answered. "Vermilion Gatekeeper!"

As they rode their first vanguards, the machine powered back on. Rex was ever so close to achieving what he desired most.