Episode 85. - Endless March Toward Oblivion

Remni sighed slightly as he hefted the bags, and walked up to the automatic doors of the supermarket. They slid open as they always did, and he walked out into the parking lot. His heart was heavy, and his mind troubled. There had still been no real change in Hikari, though she had started to act more normal towards him, in particular, again. He was not sure why. Now, he was on his way to spend some time with her, and had stopped to pick up some snacks and such on the way.

To say that he was surprised to find a dark haired, swarthy teenage girl sitting on the hood of his car, when he finally reached it, would have been an understatement. She greeted him with a large grin. He raised an eyebrow.

"It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you from Allen!" she smiled, hopping off the car. He winced as the metal button on the back pocket of her black jeans made a scraping sound on the metal.

"Oops!" she exclaimed, turning back to check, then back to him, still smiling, "Don't worry! No damage! Whew."

"I'm kind of in a hurry, Miss... who are you and what do you want... are you another 'friend' of Juravis?" he asked, getting right to the point, as he put the grocery bags into the back seat of the 3000 GT.

"Marina Elsus! You don't remember me from the World Championship Tournament? How sad. Though I guess I should admit I didn't really pay attention to you while I was there either..."

Remni opened the driver's side door, completely willing to disregard her if she was not going to get to the point. She tapped on the passenger side window when he started the engine. He sighed and rolled the window down.

"What?" he asked curtly now. He was in no mood for this. He wanted to see Hikari.

"Unlock so I can get in," she smirked. He was tempted, in that moment, to simply floor it, but the space was too small for peeling out like that. Instead, he simply gave her a dark glare...

"And what on earth would make me want to do that?"
His tone made it clear that he was in no mood for playing around. Marina's tone suddenly became serious as well.

"Because you want to hear what I have to say. I've come to give you a message from Allen about how to save your little girlfriend."

Remni felt his anger surge, but he immediately checked his response, and unlocked the passenger side door. Marina smiled, returning to her jovial manner, opened the door, and easily slid her light frame into the seat.

"So! Where are we off to?" she asked, buckling herself in. Remni did not look at her, he simply swung the car out of the parking space, and a few moments later, out of the lot, onto open road. It was only when he was cruising that he spoke to her again.

"What's this message, and why couldn't you just give it to me in the parking lot?"
Marina's Kaijudo shifted form immediately, seeming to wrap around him, wisping, like Juravis' had. Her voice softened as well, becoming almost hypnotic in tone. She did not seem at all like the girl who had been sitting on the hood of his car a moment ago. Remni found himself feeling, of all things, slightly intimidated.

"It isn't as easy as that, dear. You should know it by now. If it were just something someone could tell you how to do, I'm sure one of your friends, or one of their friends, would have done so. I'll bet not even hypnosis works on your beloved girl, does it...?"

Remni growled, and shook his head. That had been one of the first things Hikari's doctor had suggested trying. She had gone from dull and lifeless, to no responses at all. Getting her out of the trance state had been quite the challenge, causing Hikari's mother no end of panic.

"That, dear Remni, is because she was silly. She was so close to finding her avatar... and then she stupidly gave it to you. After that, it was easy for Allen to lock her inside her own mind. Do you know what you have to do to get to her? You have to take her old friend to see her. You have to pay her a visit inside her head... you... and Bombazar."

Remni growled again. This girl definitely knew a lot about what had happened, and what she was saying added up with what Taimi and Christopher had told him. What he had witnessed against Roland also made her words ring true.

"So... is that all you came to tell me? What help is that?! I have no idea how to even begin doing what you're talking about!"
The car swerved off to the side of the road and came to a halt. He glared at her.

"Haha, you don't expect to just leave me on the side of the road like that, do you? As if. Besides, if that was all Allen wanted you to know he could have found another, much easier way of getting the message to you, couldn't he now...?"

Remni gritted his teeth. He hated being teased. If she was not going to get to the point, then he saw no 'point' in having her in his car when he had someplace to be.

"If you want the rest of the message, the demonstration part, you're going to have to duel me for it. It's the only way for me to deliver the rest of the message to Bombazar... hehe."

Remni scowled. Now, her ranting was beginning to become a little farfetched.
"If Bombazar is Hikari's 'avatar', then how is dueling me going to give it any messages?"

"Oh, you poor dear. You have so little idea of how this works. How about you just trust me, mm? I came quite a ways just to 'help you', the worst that can happen is that I'm lying to you, and that would be no benefit to me either, now would it?"

Remni seemed to grudgingly accept the logic in that, and the car moved off again. He was no longer heading for Hikari's. Instead, he was going to the best place he could think of to deal with exactly this sort of situation...

"A school? When I told you that there was something I had to teach you, Remni, I didn't mean that we had to--"

He fixed her with another dark glare. She went quiet, and instead, simply followed him into the building. It was mostly quiet. There were a few clubs that met on Saturdays, but mostly the school was deserted. He led her directly to the cafeteria, and moved to one of the far tables, near one of the high windows. The cafeteria staff did not generally work on Saturdays, save the one volunteer who would clean up the place and watch over any weekenders who ate lunch in the huge room.

"Ooh. Our own little private get together. It's so romantic," Marina laughed. Remni's anger surged again, but still, he did not give in to it. She seemed to sense this, and laughed more.

"Oh, it's fine. No one will ever know all the delicious things we get up to in here. Did you actually bring your deck out of the car, though, or did you just lead me in here for nothing?"
His answer was to produce the deck of cards from its case in his bag, and start shuffling.

She nodded, taking her own cards out of the bag she was carrying, and shuffling them also. The single volunteer worker peeped over the counter, waved, and went back to whatever he was organizing or cleaning. He would not bother them.

"You go first," she said, deploying her shields, "After the craziness I've put you through already for the day, it's only fair."

He narrowed his eyes, but accepted the offer, charging Nature mana first. For the first time, he could feel something in his own energy shift when he did so, and realized that this was because Marina's own Kaijudo had receded almost completely.

"Come to me, little one. I won't bite..." came a sultry voice into his mind as she charged her first mana card. Uliya, the Entrancer.

He placed an Aqua Hulcus into his mana zone, and felt a gentle nudge on his mind, from Marina... or perhaps Uliya. He felt... a forested shore. When he summoned his first creature, Emeral, the Cyber Lord seemed to interface with one of the shields along the coast, and then submerge slightly into the waves again, still there, just waiting.

"Good... just like that..." came the voice again, as she placed her second mana card. A Dark Reversal. The sound of strange music filled the air, but no more. No 'world' of Marina's appeared to clash with or even interact with his.

"Bombazar, Dragon of Destiny, to man...a..."
The rage that had surged within him before, now seemed to simply 'slide' into some natural part of his mind. The sand suddenly appeared to become searing hot, and the sun blazed high above, heating the air as well.

"Yes... so close... you're almost there!" was the encouragement from the Dark Lord.

Remni summoned a Torcon. This one came into being with even more vivid imagery than the Emeral. It stepped calmly out of the edge of the jungle, or forest, it was still not clear which. Emeral moved forward through the water, finally revealing just where Marina's place in the current mindspace was. A bit down the shore, black foreboding rocks, and what looked like a campfire. Even with his own world blazing with sunlight, somehow her own seemed dark.

Emeral shattered the shield. Dark energy vanished into the ground, causing the Cyber Lord to turn back and instantly emit a shriek of warning over the waves and coast. Of course, nothing could be done. Torcon met its fate stoically, chanting as the darkness appeared around its feet and swallowed it up. Terror Pit.

Marina nodded, drawing another card, and simply charging mana. Water mana. The waves around her rocks seemed to get a little rougher, but no more. Remni could feel it. She was still leaving him 'room' to concentrate on his own world. It made no sense for any friend of Juravis' to be this nice to him, however, so he resolved to remain on his guard.

"Crystal Paladin to mana. Summon Emeral, to replace shield..."
The Cyber Lord's appearance and action were much like that of the first, and that first one broke another shield. This one, without any trigger. Marina drew her card, and charged more darkness mana, before summoning.

"Gregoria has lent me the use of her Worms. Be a good boy and feed something to it for me, hmm?" Uliya laughed into his mind as Marina summoned the creature. She ended her turn there, still making no move to encroach on the shore.

"Muscle Charger to mana. Emeral, ikei!" --no trigger on this shield either-- "Emeral, ikei!"

One huge wave came of this, washing over the black rocks. A moment later, standing on one of them, board in hand, was Marina's Aqua Surfer. Surprisingly, neither of Remni's Emeral had been swept away by the wave. The reason was momentarily obvious.

"That's perfect. Cyber Lords are such wonderful nutrition for Worms..."
Marina simply charged mana again though, summoning nothing, not even that same Charge Whipper that had just been placed into the mana zone. The Gregorian Worm surged forward with surprising speed to devour one Emeral, and the Aqua Surfer leapt into the water, quickly catching up to the other and dispatching it.

"Is she holding back?" Remni now found himself thinking. The possibility enraged him further, though he was not sure why. Even more interestingly, his rage did not seem out of control, but rather, simply smoldered around him, as he focused on the Bombazar card in his mana.

"That's it... good boy... bring it out. Bring it out and show me. She's going to be so proud of you when she realizes what you went through to save her..." Uliya smirked.

"I summon Torcon. End turn."

"Benzo, the Hidden Fury, to mana. Summon Emeral. Swap shield..."
The image was similar to his own. Remni did not even notice much difference between their Emerals in behaviour or appearance. Was she simply mimicking him, or were cards not so strongly affected by their players as he had been taught?

"Cast Proclamation of Death..."
The new Torcon suffered a similar fate as the first, its chant getting weaker and weaker as the dark power aged it into a shriveled corpse, then to dust, that scattered over the sand.

He drew his card. Just a Comet Missile. He placed it into his mana zone and ended his turn. His rage still moved within him, his world remained strong and vibrant, though he had no creatures there, and no power he could easily perceive.

"Let's see... that's one Comet Missile out of the way, so... Uliya to mana, summon Bloody Squito, and Aqua Jolter... Evolve Aqua Jolter into Crystal Spinslicer! End turn."

Those two words brought forth the rage in Remni. That rage spoke... with the unmistakable roaring voice of a dragon.
"Are you toying with me!? Or is this your way of battle? You can move, yet you do not!"

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out. Nonetheless... it is good to see you awake, my dear. Perhaps this little trip will be worth it after all..."

"I am more than awake. I am upon you!" Bombazar answered, as Remni now summoned Gonta, the Warrior Savage, and Soulswap came into play a moment later. Gonta knelt, and bravely vanished into the portal. It swelled with great power, the sand rumbled, and with a mighty roar, the creature Marina had apparently been waiting to see, burst forth from the dimensional distortion. His mighty wings flapped, sending waves of heat toward her and her black rocks. Bombazar was awake.

"Bombazar, ikei!" Remni declared. There was no time for any other action, and if the final, set shield was not death waiting... if it were instead simply an Aqua Surfer or Spiral Gate, this would be sealing her fate. Neither the Squito nor the Spinslicer was powerful enough to stop the great Dragon of Destiny. The flaps of his powerful wings sent waves of superheated air at them, driving them out of his way, as he descended powerfully upon Marina's last shield.

"Oh, my poor adversary. So much power in you and yet it is not yet enough..." Uliya said now, sounding truly sympathetic, even if only for a moment.

"Brace yourself for this, Remni..." Marina muttered quickly, a subtle mirth in her voice. She was not, after all, very benevolent. The Proclamation of Death began to age even the nigh-immortal dragon, its power slowly waning, its armor rusting, its body crumbling to dust even as it roared its rage and agony into the sky. Remni found himself struggling to breathe, as his chest constricted. The power of having an avatar, was always balanced by the pain suffered by a duelist when losing it...

A few moments later, it was over, and Bombazar had been reduced to nothing more than a few rusty bits of scrap metal littered across the sand.

"That... that power..." Remni managed to choke out, "Is that... what it feels like for everyone? Is that... really what I've been missing all this time?"

"No, little one. We're all different... you... you are great power, and incredible speed. Your rage and drive can match even the mightiest demons of my world. Your speed is among the greatest of the creatures of your own. Still... we have our ways... even a speed demon such as you... cannot outrun death."

Remni was no longer finding it at all strange that Uliya spoke to him so. Now, it made more sense than ever before. Marina decided, a bit later, that she had waited long enough for him to catch his breath and recover. After all, there was not much chance of a full recovery now, with her own forces so firmly in control of the battle zone. The only thing to fear was another Bombazar, and if Remni won with that, she would still have succeeded.

"I summon Benzo, the Hidden Fury. End turn."
Still, she did not attack him. In this case, a definite tactical decision. He was relying on the top card of his deck only, and she had two blockers, one of which was powerful enough to stop most things he could summon.

That blocker was shattered and crushed a moment later by a Comet Missile falling from the sky. She winced at the event, but seemed to become calm again a moment later when she drew her own card and summoned it. Another Bloody Squito.

"I... understand now..." Remni noted, looking at the card he now drew, "The drive... the passion for life... I always had it. I live off that power! That's why you all seem so boring to me sometimes. That's why Juravis seems so empty to me... and that is why the only woman I could ever love is Hikari!"

Marina tilted her head and gave him a quizzical look. The speech seemed very sincere, but she did not understand the relevance of it just then.

"Summon Aqua Hulcus!"
The water swirled, drawing a second Hulcus immediately into being along with the first. She had been relying on his topdecking, to an extent, but now, not only had he summoned two creatures, but he had one card left over in hand...

"No... it's too fast... I can't handle it when it's that fast..."
Marina bowed her head sorrowfully, even as she cast the Terror Pit to swallow up one of the Hulcus. It was almost assured that this would not be enough. Whatever happened now, he would have two cards, probably both creatures. She had little or no way of being rid of them all in time to save herself.

"I summon Bronze-Arm Tribe, and Quixotic Hero Swine Snout! End turn."
The two Beast Folk emerged from the Forest together, and the Hulcus saluted them, as they assembled into what was probably going to be the final strike force against Uliya's band.

"You will not beat me..." Remni said calmly, though the heat from his form still caused the air around him to ripple oddly. Marina simply drew her card. If it was not a way to move one of those three, it was over.

"Summon Emeral. Benzo, ikei..." the wave that now swept in, sent the Gregorian Worm right out of the battle zone. She had purposely struck one of the shields his Emeral had set.

"Aqua Surfer, ikei--" she continued, with no trigger from this shield, "Emeral, ikei--" nor this one, "Gregorian Worm, ikei!"

The water again did its work. The Spiral Gate sent away the Bloody Squito. As soon as his turn began, Remni showed that victory had been his, regardless. Another Aqua Surfer rode in on its swell, sweeping away the second Bloody Squito.

"Aqua Surfer, todomeda!"
Remni felt the power, truly, for the first time. The surge of water swept over Marina's form, drenching her, and her now materialized avatar, completely, causing them both to sputter and cough when it was over. This carried over to reality as well, and Marina took quite awhile to stop coughing before she finally spoke.

"Good... good to see you're on your way. Juravis was worried that you might be learning a little too slowly to save your girlfriend. You're not quite ready yet, of course, but at least it probably won't be too long now..."
She went into another coughing fit at this point, as she stood up and collected her cards. Remni started to feel a bit awkward. It was hard to tell if she was truly in league with Juravis outright, or if she genuinely wanted to help him.

"Hey, do you... um... need a ride anywhere? I mean, I don't even know how you got here..."

"You don't worry about that, dear. You have a damsel in distress to save. Stay on this path and don't stray. When it is time, you will know. Azaghast will probably pay you another... visit..." Uliya said quietly.

Remni immediately got the feeling that Marina Elsus was far more a friend of his, after today, than she ever had been, or probably ever would be, to Allen Juravis.
"What's he got on you...? Maybe I can help..."

"You can help us, by defeating him when the time comes. Focus on that. And on Hikari..."