Episode 90. - Faith, Determination, Destiny!

The tension in the room had risen to an almost unprecedented level, since the moment Remni Yokura had stepped into the card and comic shop known to the locals simply as 'Sens'. Allen Juravis had decided not to run from his fate.

Remni's eyes scanned over the group of people standing around Allen. They had all been chatting with him, quite jovially, but all eyes had instantly fixed on him when he entered. Of them all, he recognized only two directly. Luni Matthia and Nazca Weaver. The others mostly seemed to be other 'students' of the duelist.

He walked slowly toward them, the Kaijudo pressure from the group almost pushing him back, and finally pulled out the chair opposite Juravis and sat. The group shifted position a bit, forming a quarter circle behind their 'leader', and some other curious onlookers moved to the space left, forming a bit more than a semicircle of humanity. No one... not one person, stood behind Remni. He exhaled, preparing himself. That was good. No cheating, that way.

"Allen Juravis. Kettou da."
The words caused another wave of rebellious Kaijudo from Allen's supporters. Remni gave him a look of disgust, and spoke again.

"And could you have your cheerleader squad lay off a bit? Or are you afraid you might actually lose again?"

Juravis shook his head as he finished shuffling his deck and placed his shields.
"Remni, Remni, Remni... you still don't get it. I'm probably going to lose. These people are my friends. They just don't want me to. Where are your friends, Remni? Why did they let you come all the way here by yourself?"

Remni was taken aback, suddenly. Here was the person that he clearly considered the villain in the matter, giving him the equivalent of a campy television show's 'power of friendship' speech. The irony of such a role reversal did not escape him.

"Just duel!" he finally exclaimed. Juravis nodded, and placed his first mana card. Miraculous Meltdown. Remni was able to clearly see Juravis' world for the first time. A dormant volcano perhaps, was the mountain that now appeared before him, looming dark and foreboding. The mouth of a cave was visible, and reddish light glowed eerily within. A few bats seemed to be flying around outside. All this imagery from one card...

"Was he holding back before?" Remni asked himself now, with some slight concern. Juravis seemed different with his friends behind him, even though they were not augmenting his Kaijudo with their own. Remni wondered if it were possible to do so subtly, without his notice.

"Quixotic Hero to mana. End turn."
The change in mana caused the jungle to appear, and with a little effort, Remni could bring at least the shore into being, but still, barely any illumination, and little sign of the ocean though one knew it had to be there.

"Azaghast, Tyrant of Shadows, to mana. End turn."
This act caused a surge in Kaijudo within Juravis again, but it did not press against Remni's. It simply caused his world to come into sharp focus in their minds, clouds of wispy smoke gathering around the mountain, and denser clouds appearing above it, so that even when Remni put his own Pyrofighter Magnus in mana on his turn, the blazing sun that illuminated his own shore and jungle, did not penetrate the shadows around the black mountain.

"I summon Gonta, the Warrior Savage!" he declared, and his front line creature appeared as it almost always did. Best start. His Kaijudo surged with confidence, pushing back the wisping smoke. Allen drew a new card, and seemed to sink into deep thought for a short while.

"Bat Doctor, Shadow of Undeath, to mana. Summon Wisp Howler, Shadow of Tears."
The smoke seemed to suddenly gain will, and took form with a screaming howl that pierced their minds. Remni scoffed at his opponent as he drew his own next card.

"You even use cards to counter me, and you still talk about how you expect to lose? You expect me to fall for such an obvious trick? Crystal Paladin, to mana. Summon Aqua Hulcus!"
The water came to life, shimmering with beautiful reflections as the water card entered his mana zone. The Aqua Hulcus rose up out of it, and as it walked up onto the shore, a new powerful wave swept up around Remni's feet. He seemed to absorb energy from it, and as it receded, the Hulcus reached his side. Gonta still stood silently on the other, watching.

"Counter you? Don't be so vain. Try to remember. This deck has always had Wisp Howlers. They are one of my favorite creatures!"
Remni again found himself pressed back by a strange Kaijudo force. The emotions Allen Juravis gave off now, seemed a stark contrast to what he had been expecting. He considered the possible fate of his Warrior Savage, were he to attack, and decided not to.

"Sapian Tark, Flame Dervish, to mana. Summon Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade!"
The darkness around the mountain again became tangible, and this time, the creature that appeared seemed to bring even more darkness with it. Remni had a chance of destroying the Shadow Moon, with his altered deck, but all wondered what he would really be able to do. Juravis ended his turn there, causing the tension in the onlookers to spike higher. Neither duelist had moved really, yet the clash between them seemed more intense than ever for it.

Now, Remni's communication with his opponent continued only through their linked minds. His lips did not move again, and his serious expression did not move even the tiniest bit.

"You're too slow. You're never going to be able to hold me off with little tricks like that."

"I believe in myself, and in my cards..." came the response. Remni twitched slightly. This was playing out in a way that somehow seemed so wrong. A few moments later it became clear to him, why. Allen Juravis really was the underdog here. With creatures as fast and powerful as Gonta and Bombazar, against a deck with such low defenses, he himself, seemed to be...

"Don't you dare try to make me out to be the bad guy here! Not after what you did to Hikari! You're going to pay for what you've done!"
With that declaration, he placed a Soulswap into his mana zone, and summoned a Bronze-Arm Tribe. The Spiral Gate energy from the top of his deck allowed him to summon a Quixotic Hero alongside it. The two Beast Folk stepped out of the jungle, their eyes serious.

"There's talk that you've come far, Remni..." came the thought.

"I go as far as I can for what I want!" Remni's answer blasted back into Juravis' mind.

"Yes, I know. No matter who you have to step on or crush in order to get there. Is that all I am then? One more duelist that you have to crush? Is that really the person you are?"

"Don't try to play mind games with me, you twisted little... Gonta, break shield! Ikei!"

Gonta's mighty swing of his alloyed javelin, shattered the shield instantly. Juravis picked it up, the energy in his mind still gathering at the spot of the strike, as he contemplated.
"You always cause me the same dilemma. Strike fast? Or play the roulette..."

"You can't be faster than me. So you know what that means."

"Yes. I gamble today," Juravis sighed, the dark energy coming alive, and snaking along the ground down the shore. Remni could easily guess what was coming.

"You can't always win when you gamble!" he declared now, expecting the Terror Pit to swallow up his Aqua Hulcus and end his turn for him. Instead, the dark circle stopped beneath his Quixotic Hero. The black tendrils shot up around it, and dragged it into the void, in an instant. Remni's mind began to analyze why his opponent had done that.

"You can't always lose either..." Juravis interjected, "So let's gamble..."

"When you choose to gamble against someone out to get you with a vengeance, I beg to differ!" Remni declared, "I don't care that you're going to get more cards. You're still finished! I'll overcome you before you can even do anything about it. Aqua Hulcus, ikei!"

The shield shattered without trigger under the liquid one's attack, and Juravis smiled gently.
"In the end, your vengeance doesn't matter to me. I believe in my skill and in my deck too much for talk of 'vengeance' to scare me. My gamble paid off. Watch!"

He charged more Darkness mana. Another Bat Doctor. The wisping smoke began to coalesce again. A new Ghost was coming into being. This one, was the one Allen Juravis expected to turn the duel around at least a bit, for him. A second Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade!

"Wisp Howler! Destroy the Warrior Savage! Ikei!"
Remni was now acutely aware of the emotion behind Allen Juravis' moves. He viewed himself as the hero in their little clash, even if just for this duel. The fact that he was the one wielding the darkness... the fact that he was the one whose avatar was the deadly Tyrant, did not seem to matter in his mind. The Wisp Howler flew into battle with all the righteous fury of a creature fighting for its leader's existence, or perhaps honor...

Gonta's powerful swings would normally have been enough to dissipate the ghost, and though he would still have fallen due to the effect that the Wisp Howler could have on the minds of Light or Nature creatures, today, that was not the case. Today, the Shadow Moons' power gave the Ghost strength, and that strength was enough to make even the Wisp Howler emerge from such a clash with an almost uncontested victory.

"Shadow Moon, attack the Aqua Hulcus! Ikei!"
The darkness flowed forward again, and again, there was no contest. The Shadow Moon was now far stronger, thanks to the presence of its twin. The Liquid one slashed at it, dissipating its essence, but it was not enough, and a dark spell consumed the Aqua Hulcus before Remni's eyes, causing it to lose all coherence and fall into a puddle that quickly seeped into the sand. Juravis fixed Remni with a determined glare.

Luni Matthia placed her hand on the man's shoulder.
"You can do it, Allen. I know you can. Just stay calm and don't let his speed confuse you."

Remni's rage immediately surged within him. Her gesture could be seen in the mindspace as well, and so, he assumed she would be able to 'hear' when he vented.
"What is with you people? Can't you see that he's the one who started all this? The one who caused all the trouble? I'm here because of what he did!"

"All I see is a vengeful, selfish Dragon, who wants to defeat Azaghast..."
The words of Dava Torey caused a mixture of extreme disbelief, and extreme fury, within Remni's mind. Juravis had all of these people under his spell...

"He's fooling you all! He locked my girlfriend's mind away! That's what your great 'leader' did! That's why I'm here to duel him, to end this and get her back!"

"I know that."
Dava's answer stunned the young duelist. She knew? Just how twisted was this girl, to know what Juravis had done, and not only stand by him, but have the nerve to call him, rather than his dark opponent, selfish?

"He's lied to you!" Remni insisted, "He hasn't told you the whole story! If he did, not even you all could remain friends with him! He's a monster!"

"You're the only monster here..." came the response from a Moontear, Spectral Knight, somewhere in the group of people clustered behind Juravis. Remni fumed.

"I guess the only way to get through to you all and break whatever hold he has on you, is to defeat him! Soulswap, to mana! Summon Pyrofighter Magnus. Magnus, break his shield! Ikei!"

A red flash, a shattering sound, and Allen Juravis' shield vanished back to his hand. The crowd made a sound of lamentation. Remni shook his head. He would not be deterred, no matter how many 'friends' Allen had with him.

"I am the Tyrant of Shadows. The commander of Ghosts. Your 'Hikari' needed to be taught a lesson about taking friendship too far... about letting love make you so weak that you do not think clearly and end up giving your power away to the very person you should be protecting with it, just so that they do not feel weak themselves. What kind of way is that to exist in a world!? The strong either protect the weak or dominate them! She did neither! She weakened herself in order to strengthen your ego!"

"We are bonded!" Remni retaliated, parrying the Kaijudo spike that Juravis had sent at him, with a barrier of heat, "And you took that away from us!"

"Her foolishness 'took that away' from you. If you are so bonded, then why doesn't her love for you win out and free her? Why doesn't your love for her break my seal and free her!? Because you're both weak, and think too sentimentally! The strong lead the weak! Protect them! And through the strong, even the weaker can show their power! Go, Galek!"

The Shadow Warrior appeared at the entrance to the cave, and activated its glowing sabers. The movement of the half ghost, half human could be followed through watching that glow as it moved swiftly toward Remni, and parried away the spear thrust of the Bronze-Arm Tribe. A cloud of dark power engulfed Remni, and he cried out as the searing pain tore a card out of his astral form... Bombazar, Dragon of Destiny.

Remni dropped to his knees, and a mental cheer filled the 'air' around the mountain as Juravis' friends celebrated the fall of the Dragon. It was only when they realized how solemn their leader was, that they fell silent again.

"Allen?" Nazca asked, "What is it... what's wro-- oh... Oh no! It's the wrong card!"

Juravis nodded. Galek's power was unstable, and could not control which of the two cards in Remni's hand would be lost. One Pyrofighter Magnus was already in mana. Putting another into the grave would have been far more effective than robbing him of Bombazar.

Remni rose again, his eyes glowing, burning with the inner fire that made him so hard to stop. The unquenchable flame that Shu Lon had spoken of. He snatched the top card off his deck.

"You've lost. And you were always going to lose. I beat you before, and I will do it again. Pyrofighter Magnus... to mana."
The flare of Kaijudo that filled the mindspace dissipated the clouds around Allen Juravis' mountain. Juravis' friends shrank back in confusion, expecting another Bombazar. Fortunately, it was not quite that bad. Another Pyrofighter now appeared, and shattered another shield.

"Bronze-Arm Tribe, final shield! Ikei!"
This one did not trigger either. It surprised no one. Allen Juravis was not much of a fan of Shield Triggers. The group with him buzzed. Remni braced himself. If either of those shields was a Miraculous Meltdown, he could be in trouble. Even his Ten-Ton Crunch triggers currently could not harm anything in Juravis' battle zone.

"But that means... that there's a chance he could win..." came Bombazar's observation, "And if what Gigazald said is true... if he somehow 'could' win, then we have not defeated him..."

"No way! Not after everything I've gone through because of this maniac! He's going down! I can feel it! My shields will trigger, and he'll be finished, even if he does have Meltdown!"

"You're right..." Juravis sighed, his Kaijudo falling, "I've seen no Aqua Surfers... not one. And... I haven't drawn Meltdown... so you only need one... All I can do... is this..."
Beside him, two red Dragonoids appeared. They began to run circles around him, kicking up dust, obscuring him, then, suddenly, one of them shot off like a bullet toward Remni Yokura.

"Shield Trigger! Aqua Surfer!" Remni declared triumphantly. The wave surged against the Ghosts, sweeping away the Shadow Moon. There was no chance left. Juravis had lost.

"Yes... I would have needed Meltdown... or Galek... and perhaps not even then..."
He placed his cards on his deck, his Kaijudo faltering instantly, and completely dying away.

"Wait... wha? What are you doing?!" Remni asked, his voice wild and bewildered.

"Obviously, I forfeit, Remni Yokura... You've won. To free your Hikari, let your bond break my seal. Go to her, and return him to her. That is all you need to do."

"What? What are you talking about?! I've already tried that! She just looked at me like she didn't know me, and looked at the card the same way! What are you trying to pull here?!"

"Not the card, you fool..." came Moontear's melodic hum yet again, "You had to discover the true Bombazar, and you have, or so I hear. Take him to your 'Hikari' and she will be free. Now begone from here. Leave our leader alone."

Remni's rage burned powerfully within him again, but it was clear that he was going to get nothing further out of Juravis. A barrier of multicolored Kaijudo had been placed in front of the man, by his 'friends'. Any attempts at physical altercation would probably be similarly stopped, not to mention getting him thrown out of the store, probably forever. He slammed his fist into the table, then picked up his cards and stormed out the door.

He drove now, like a wild man, ignoring speed limits whenever he could manage, ignoring the angry horns and yells of other drivers as he cut them off or such. He was going to Hikari, and nothing... nothing... would stand in his way.

Remni drove for hours. To him, it felt like days. He did not care if Juravis actually had been lying in the final thing he had said. He was going to make it true, even if he had to do it by determination alone. When he knocked on the door of Hikari's apartment, finally, and proclaimed to the mother within who it was, he was totally sure of it. This would work.

She opened the door, and he bounded in, with a cry of "Hikari!". Hearing no answer, he instantly turned back to her mother with the question; "Where is she?"

She pointed behind him, to the small corridor, where the dishevelled girl now appeared. Remni bounded around the sofa, nearly knocking over the lamp, and hugged her tightly against himself, his Kaijudo radiating powerfully, pressing into her body.

"You're... warm..." she noted now, one of the first such acknowledgements she had made in a very long time, "You're warm, Remni... it's nice..."

His Kaijudo surged again, and the flicker of life in her eyes was now followed by a strange 'shattering' of the glassy look she had been wearing on her face for the last month. Still, there was nothing new there, no joyful reunion yet. Just emptiness.

"Come on! We're going to her! We're going to finish this! We won't fail!"
Remni nodded determinedly as he closed his eyes and let reality melt away. Bombazar swooped down, landed powerfully, and lowered a wing. Even the extreme heat did not bother Remni's psychic self image as he climbed up that wing onto the back of the Dragon. Bombazar took flight again without hesitation.

"Where are we even going?" Remni wondered aloud. Bombazar pointed to the remains of a glass pyramid in the distance. It had been mostly shattered, and as they approached, Remni could make out the shape of his beloved, sitting quietly amidst the broken glass.

"Hikari!!" he shrieked, over the wind rushing past him due to Bombazar's speed. She looked up, and her eyes lit up with elated relief.

"Remni! Bombazar! You came! You really came!" The dragon swooped down, and the heat radiating from him made Hikari smile and turn her face toward it, murmuring contentedly.

Remni leapt off Bombazar's back, sliding down one wing, directly into an embrace. He held her closer than ever in that moment, resolving right then, to never let anything separate them in that way again. He smiled, looked into her eyes, and said simply, "Let's go home, Hikari."

She beamed a smile of pure love at him, then pressed lips against his in a fiery, passionate kiss that he would remember forever. Finally, she broke away, and answered breathlessly...

"Yes, let's go home..."
Now, they climbed the wing of the Dragon that now was 'avatar' of both. Bombazar lifted his head and roared in triumph, the mighty sound dissipating the darkness that was left in Hikari's mind, clearing away the gloomy clouds high above. The blazing sun shone down on them again, and the Dragon of Destiny took flight, Hikari and Remni now astride his back, holding tightly to him with one hand, and to their mate with the other... together again at last...