Episode 87. - Staring Into The Draconic Void

Allen Juravis sipped his latte, and fixed his eyes again on the brunette woman sitting opposite him in the booth. She was flipping through a magazine as she sipped her own hot chocolate, and was not apparently paying too much attention to him at all. He sighed, and his Kaijudo nudged her, causing her to fidget slightly, her dress swishing around her ankles.

"Nazca..." his voice carried the slightest hint of exasperation. She looked up at him again, seeming to suddenly 'remember' that he was there.

"Oh! Hm. Yes? You were saying?"
Even as she said it her eyes drifted momentarily back to the computer magazine. He sighed.

"Ever since you got that card it's like you've been a different person. I've never known anyone to shift so completely with just a progression in form. Now listen to me for a minute or two, hm? This is important."

She nodded, causing the decoration that kept her hair up, to shimmer in the light from the window. Allen acknowledged being the current focus of her attention, and continued.
"The information we got from Marina indicates that my latest toy has discovered 'Destiny' after all. I have no doubt that he will be returning to face me again. I need that duel to occur on my terms, and at my time."

She regarded him with shimmering green eyes that seemed to shift to gold and back again.
"Why are you bothering to duel at all then? Just ignore the child."

"Naz!" he exclaimed sharply, as her attention began to drift back to her reading, "It's become more complicated than that now. He could have friends, people that he could send to duel me without me having any idea who they are, and those people could be aiming to use their own abilities on me somehow. There are many better duelists than me out there."

"So Allen's new toy threatens his ability to duel freely altogether. How fun. Alright. What exactly is it that you want me to do? Surely you don't expect me to somehow mislead him?"

"Not 'mis'-lead. I want you to lead him into my trap. I need you to wait for him at Sens, and when he starts asking about me, which I'm sure he will, offer to take him to me. You don't even have to deceive him since that's what you'll be doing. Then just take him to the old warehouse and keep him there."

She laughed at this remark, and fixed him with her gaze again.
"And just how am I supposed to do that? Bash him in the head with something and tie him up? I prefer my criminal record to remain spotless, thank you."

"Just duel him, Naz. I'll have 'security' to keep him there physically, but I don't know how much power he's accumulated, nor what the ability he gets from Bombazar is. I need you to keep him from doing anything too... unexpected, and escaping early. I can't keep dodging him forever, and I can't use mine in Sens and leave him in that state. I need somewhere to do it, where we can just leave him."

"And what exactly am I getting out of all this, Allen? Or is this just a personal favor to you?"

He sighed, but reluctantly nodded, indicating that it was, indeed, the latter. Nazca finished her cup, and turned the magazine to him, pointing out something in it.
"I want one. I do this for you and you get it for me."

"Wha?! Naz, that thing costs--!"

"Done deal," came the voice of the Tyrant of Shadows, from within Allen Juravis' mind. Nazca picked up the magazine and smiled at him. Allen knew that grin. That Cheshire Cat grin. He had, indeed, made a 'good deal'. She stood up now, and turned to leave.

"Just leave everything to us..." was the reply that Azaghast now received. Within Juravis, the Dark Lord 'nodded' to the ghostly assurance, and with a flourish, she was gone.

Three days later, as predicted, a familiar figure stepped into the card shop and duelist hangout known mostly to the locals simply as "Sens' shop". Familiar, that is, to Nazca Weaver, who had been given a very clear mental image of what Remni Yokura was like. She sat, watching him for awhile, as he questioned other duelists, until it seemed reasonable that she could have overheard him normally. At that point, she rose, and wandered over to him.

"You're looking for Allen? He's not here today but if it's important I can take you to him."
Remni was immediately on his guard, and yet, looking into the eyes of the woman standing in front of him made him feel calm soon. After all, he had been asking. Being suspicious of the one person who actually seemed to have an answer was slightly silly. Still, he was wary.

"What do you mean by 'take me to him'?"
She regarded him with what seemed to be confusion, and turned to go back to her seat, as if somehow either less interested or offended.

"How many things could that mean? I know where he is, I can take you there."
Remni found himself of two minds immediately. Here was someone offering him more or less exactly what he wanted, and yet it seemed far too... easy. Nazca had already sat back down, displaying almost total nonchalance.

"Uh, yeah. If you don't mind," he said finally, wondering if she was paying any attention to him at all anymore. She turned to him and smiled. Remni involuntarily shuddered. That grin was somehow ever so slightly sinister, but it did not seem like a good idea to back out of it.

"I drove here, so--"
Nazca cut him off by pointing to her own sleek white car. Remni felt less and less comfortable with this plan of action by the minute, but it was quite likely that she did know the area better than he did, and might want to leave after showing him where Juravis was.

"Um... can I just follow you in my own?"

Nazca gave him another of those 'looks'.
"Well obviously. I'm not planning to stick around, you know. It's not that far from here anyway, so just stay close behind, and watch carefully for when I change lanes."

He sighed slightly, his body relaxing. This was just a woman who was willing to take him to find his target. Nothing more. He slid into the driver's seat of the 3000 GT, and instantly felt calmed again. The white Lotus Elise's engine roared to life an instant later, and Nazca guided the vehicle smoothly out into open road, with Remni's own vehicle directly behind.

As promised, they did not drive long. There were many turns, and the trip taxed Remni's concentration quite a bit, but he considered this good. A warm-up for his mind, if he were going to confront Juravis and extract the information on how to save his beloved Hikari.

The old warehouse was not even really in that type of district, for the most part. Remni even wondered, for a few moments, if the woman had another reason for stopping there, but she soon got out of the Elise, and motioned to him that he should follow. He locked up his own car, and followed her into the building, still looking around cautiously, taking in the area.

"Al-len!" Nazca called out into the large empty building. The sound echoed slightly. Remni stepped inside, noting the sound of her shoes echoing also. He followed her a bit, then spun with a start as the door closed, plunging them into darkness.

"I think someone's in here with us!" he hissed to Nazca. He had sensed two odd pulses of what seemed to be Kaijudo, just before the door closed. Could be two people, or even more.

"It seems Allen isn't here yet. You'll wait for him."
The statement carried no inquisitive lilt. It was a statement of fact, not a query. Remni immediately knew. He had been set up.

"What do you want?!"
The only sound that came back to him was the echo of his own voice, and the approaching sound of Nazca's heels on the warehouse floor.

"You'll have to forgive Allen's odd ideas of hospitality," she laughed, "Lights!"

Someone turned them on, at her command, and now Remni could see more clearly. There was a table set up, further in. Nazca turned and began to walk toward it.
"Why don't you duel me while we wait for Allen, hm? Get your blood flowing or whatever it is you all say these days."

"I'm getting outta here, lady! I don't know what crazy game you're trying to play here--"

"Oh, but you know exactly the game that will be played here. And I'm sure you don't think of it as crazy. I assure you that Allen is coming. He just wanted a... private duel."

Remni had, by now, noticed the two men standing at the door. One large and burly, the other, a small wiry Asian looking fellow. He instantly realized that they were not about to let him just walk out of the building.

He opened his mouth to yell for help, then felt a Kaijudo surge from behind him that seemed to make him unable to speak. No other notable effect, but a clear loss of voice, or, moreso, it felt, an inability to get his thoughts to his voice.

"Come play..." Nazca grinned. She knew Remni had brought the deck in with him. It was obvious. She stood at one end of that table, shuffling her cards, long nails manipulating them deftly. Suddenly, to Remni, she seemed far more sinister altogether.

"I came to duel Juravis, not you!" he exclaimed, a bit more loudly than he had intended. The release of her 'lock' on his vocal ability had come as a slight surprise.

"Oh come now. You know it doesn't work like that. If Allen is the Big Bad, then I'm definitely his Dragon. So come on, 'Hero'. Let's see if you can slay me."
Her earrings glinted eerily in the light, and Remni found himself slowly walking toward her.

He was about to panic when the reassuring voice of Bombazar echoed within his mind.
"Dragon, hm? We'll see who is the Dragon here."

She produced a coin from a small slot beside her in the table, and flicked it into the air with a cry of "Call it!"

"Heads!" Remni responded boldly, his confidence, and smoldering rage, rising. She caught the coin deftly, and smacked it onto the back of her hand. Tails.

"Me first. Daidalos, General of Fury, to mana."
The card caused Remni to twitch. She had already started to remind him of Taimi enough. Adding Daidalos to her mana zone only made it worse. Still, it was obvious that this card was not Nazca's avatar, and so, he steeled himself for the path ahead, and charged nature mana.

"Energy Stream, to mana. Summon Pierr, Psycho Doll. End turn."

Remni drew his card and charged mana. Missile Soldier Ultimo. He was going to get off to a good start regardless of the coin flip...
"Gonta, the Warrior Savage!"

In his mind, Gonta charged out of the forest, onto the beach. His imagery was stronger than hers. Pierr was definitely there, but the area around it hazy, indistinct, almost as if there was no world to be seen. Nazca drew her card and placed another darkness mana, but no more.

"Aqua Surfer to mana. Cast Spiral Gate on your Psycho Doll, and attack with Gonta! Ikei!"
The distinction was a bit easier now. Her Psycho Doll seemed to have been standing on the hull of a strangely designed submarine, which was very close to his shore. Gonta leapt forward without hesitation, his powerful muscles making it easy to move through the water and shatter the first shield. The teleporter activated in response. Crystal Memory...

"In a hurry to get somewhere?" Nazca laughed, retrieving her chosen card.

"To the top," Remni replied coldly. He ended his turn with a wave of the hand, and Nazca drew a new card. Pierr went directly into her mana zone, and from the submarine, a dark energy emerged, coalescing finally into Daidalos, General of Fury.

"Your move..." she grinned. Remni scowled. He had not been slowed, but he could already feel the need to be careful. Another duelist who seemed to have no remorse. He drew his card and placed his Scarlet Skyterror into his mana zone.

"I summon Pyrofighter Magnus! Pyrofighter! Break shield! Ikei!"
The Dragonoid ran so quickly that it never sank beneath the waves. The shield shattered with no trigger. Gonta charged again, and this time...

"Shield Trigger, Terror Pit!" Nazca cackled, "Today just isn't your day. I'll destroy your..."

For some reason she went silent at this point. Remni felt a strange shift in her energy, and then her voice, as she declared... "Gonta."

His turn ended, and the Kaijudo around her seemed to shift from spiking darkness to liquid tendrils, then slowly morph back again. Then, when she drew her card, it spiked remarkably.
"Zombie Carnival to mana, summon... Melnia, the Aqua Shadow!"

The overwhelming piercing pain in his mind left no doubt in Remni. For whatever reason, this little hybrid creature was Nazca's avatar. A Propeller Mutant almost instantly followed, and Daidalos chomped down on it, causing him to discard the Soulswap card from his hand, but the two shields that Daidalos' power shattered went back to Remni's hand without trigger, negating that minor loss. Remni could feel Nazca conversing with her avatar.

"Something's wrong. Why did we choose to have the Terror Pit hit the Warrior Savage? We could easily have... no... not now!"
Her Kaijudo instantly went through another rapid shift from darkness to liquid and back again.

Remni did not hesitate to charge more mana, and summon Pyrofighter again, as well as a new Gonta. The Dragonoid again slashed through one of her shields, and it shattered without trigger. Remni felt calm, and in control. She did not know it, but her psychic oddness could not affect him. Not whilst Bombazar was in his hand.

"Aqua Soldier to mana. Let's play one of my 'crazy games', hm? Hide and Seek!"
Gonta could not avoid the giant icy hand that grabbed him and literally tossed him back into the forest. Nor could the forest do anything about the dark ghostly hand that now entered it and rose into the sky with a spirit, which it instantly crushed, shattering it into nothing.

Remni choked momentarily. The discarded card... was Bombazar, Dragon of Destiny.

"Oops. I hope you didn't need that..." Nazca grinned. She was about to end her turn when another odd shift in her power occurred. This time, even the Melnia in play seemed to shift slightly in form. Her voice became soft again, as she declared Melnia's attack.

"Is that all you got? Really?" Remni scoffed, "You've just created your own ending. Shield Trigger! Aqua Surfer! Away, Daidalos!"

The wave came in from the side, sweeping the General of Fury away and making the dangerous double break of his last two shields, impossible. Now, with a new creature there, and a Pyrofighter definitely in Remni's hand, the advantage was clearly his.

"Missile Soldier Ultimo, to mana. Summon Pyrofighter Magnus! Pyrofighter, ikei!"
The shield shattered, and the Locomotiver appeared, dragging Gonta away as well, but it was too late to change the outcome...

"Aqua Surfer! Todomeda!"
As the wave washed over both Nazca and her submarine, Remni noted it again. A definite change in the appearance of the Aqua Shadow. Its liquid and cybernetic aspects showed far more clearly now, yet Nazca did not seem to have taken the defeat in the way Remni had expected, given the amount of power he had put behind it. She merely blinked at him.

"Very well played," came the softer voice again, "Congratulations, though it was rather short. Perhaps we can play again at some point once you've done what you came here to do. Or perhaps not... if Allen manages to somehow defeat you. I'm sorry she brought you here. I have not been able to stop her recently..."

"Her? Who? What are you talking about?" Remni asked, perplexed and frustrated all the more at the odd effects and behaviours.

"Oh, pardon me. I should introduce myself. My name is Kaithar. The woman that brought you here is Nazca. Pleased to meet you, and sorry you had to meet her."

Remni blinked at her in disbelief.
"What? Am I supposed to buy this? You're the woman that brought me here!"

"In a sense I am, and in another sense I'm not. I want to help you get out of here before Juravis arrives, if you're willing to leave. I don't suggest dueling him here. He will use his power on your mind, and there will be no escape if you lose."

"That's easy then. Just tell the muscle by the door that we're leaving," Remni scoffed, thumbing over his shoulder in their general direction. Kaithar shook her head.

"It's not that easy. Both of them have powerful enough Kaijudo that we would have to weaken them somehow in order to use any sort of suggestive ability on them. They're more or less Allen's students. They're not going to just do what I say..."

Remni's eyes narrowed. This was altogether too bizarre.
"I say we trust her. The woman... the Melnia here now is not the Melnia that was here before, somehow. Maybe this one isn't balanced right, and the Water and Darkness are still fighting for dominance somehow..."

Remni was about to say something in response when the answer came into his mind.
"Yes, that's right. I only wish to live my life with nothing in my way. She wants to destroy all opponents, no matter what the cost. So similar, and yet..."

"Not the same..." Remni finished aloud, wondering to himself if somehow that same 'conflict' could ever be present in Bombazar. Developing a split personality through a card game was not something he was too inclined to risk. This game had become far too strange and intense already. That much was certain.

"If anyone had told me, a month ago, that I'd be trapped in a warehouse because I needed to duel to save the girl I love... I'd have laughed in their face until I could hardly breathe, caught my breath, and then laughed at them again..." he grumbled.

"And yet, here you are..." Kaithar said, gathering up the cards on the table and putting them into her deck case. She put it away, only to produce a new one moments later, open it, and begin to shuffle the cards, her Kaijudo rising again as if nothing had happened.

"So what are we supposed to do? Are you going to be a distraction somehow while I make a break for it and get help? I seriously doubt I can unlock the car in time if those guys are chasing me, and you don't exactly look like you could buy me a lot of time if it came to that."

Kaithar motioned to Remni's cards, still laid out on the table.
"We're duelists. We do what we always do..."

Remni's skeptical look was in no way unexpected. He began to gather up his cards anyway, and shuffled them slightly before putting them back into their case.
"And how are we even going to get them to come all the way over here? If we could do that, then I really probably could just make a break for it."

Kaithar took position at one end of the table, gripping it as if to lift it, and motioned to the other side with a flick of her head.
"If you can't bring the cow to pasture, bring the pasture to the cow."

Remni made an almost whimpering 'why me' sound, and moved to the other side of the table. It was surprisingly light, between the two of them, and they were able to move toward the door without much trouble. The two men were instantly on guard, even as the pair placed it down, in front of them, and stayed on the other side, making no move to attack physically.

Remni now stood opposite the smaller of the two, and Kaithar faced the larger. He turned to her, and together, they nodded, then turned back to the confused men and spoke in unison.
"Kettou da!"