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The two brothers listened, unsure what to do. The creator of the world itself was offering them a wish. What could they wish for? Power beyond imagining? No, that felt wrong. They made it this far on their own strength, they could continue to grow even stronger. Overwhelming riches? No, they didn't want money. At the end of the day, Denku at the very least knew what he wanted. Taking a step forward, Denku made himself know. "Can you heal my heart disease?" the older brother asked. "I mean, it might be possible Xerenas already healed it, but I don't know for sure, and I rather not risk passing up a chance to be rid of this damned disease forever," Arceus looked at him and nodded to Denku's utter relief. It seemed he didn't have to worry anymore about it. The older brother turned to the younger brother, tilting his head and waiting to see what Kazo would wish for. The Gabite didn't say anything at first, his mind whirling with ideas. In the end though, he really only wanted one thing, a single wish that could never be granted... he wanted to have a race with Latios. But Latios was gone now, and the dead wouldn't rise again. Nothing else really came into his head. "I... I guess I'll pass on that wish," Kazo said sheepishly with a shrug. "Everyone else made the wish I would, and... the only thing left can't be granted," He smiled though. "But, just seeing the world go on and seeing it become better is reward enough for me," Was Kazo an idiot for passing this once in a lifetime opportunity? Probably. The Years Pass By After saving the world, the two brothers did many more things, perhaps not worthy of legend, but grueling to them nevertheless. The two of them joined Randy in wrestling, becoming a popular tag team for several years. They had grueling training and hellish fights, but it was exciting to them, and they were together. After five years however, the two retired, and they went their separate ways. Denku, using his savings he gained from his winnings, had moved back to Juyu and opened an orphanage, where he took in many kids and helped them find new homes. Meanwhile, Kazo went to train even more, to become stronger, to become faster, to become better than he ever was before, and eventually, became a Disciple of Ideals himself. Ten years later Denku took a large sip of his drink to hide the smirk on his face. He was now a Tyranitar, with a big and sturdy body that was nearly a mountain, yet every kid in the orphanage was climbing all over Kazo, who desperately just wanted to get a drink of the hot chocolate Denku's wife gave him. While Denku hit a major growth spurt and his hair changed to a healthier shade of green, these changes seemed minuscule compared to how Kazo changed. The now Garchomp was even taller than he was before, and unlike his old scrawny self, the Garchomp had some muscle on him. The most drastic change on him however, was that his hair had partially turned white, apparently due to a mistake during his training under Zekrom. The kids seemed to think it was cool though, so Kazo didn't care too much. "Uncle Kazo, tell us another story!" a Joltik clinging to the dragon's arm begged. "Yeah, yeah! Come on, tell us!" A Totodile on his shoulder added. "It's been a whooooooooole month!" "Hey, hey, I'm runnin' outta stories here, you know?" Kazo joked. "I don't go around doing amazing things 24/7," "The most amazing thing you could do right now is get a girlfriend," Denku teased, not even reacting to the dirty look Kazo shot him. "Uncle Kaz doesn't have time for things like that!" The Totodile claimed. "He's too busy being a super hero!" "Oh, but what if Kazo had a partner to help him with the superhero-ing?" Denku asked. "Maybe someone like... I dunno, Latias?" "I should have never told you about that kiss," Kazo groaned. "That happened a long time ago... and... well... you know, I don't... well, I don't...," "Kaz," Denku sighed before looking at him. "You need to stop beating yourself up. Latios's death wasn't---," "Wasn't my fault, I know, I know, that's what everyone tells me," Kazo muttered. The two kids, sensing their uncle's discomfort, let go of his arms and wandered into a different room. With a sigh, Kazo picked up his cup of hot chocolate and took a sip. "Look... I just... it probably wouldn't work anyways, okay? Legend and all," Denku nodded as he took another drink, a thoughtful look on his face. "... Zygarde," He said simply as Kazo took another sip, causing the dragon to spittake, a bright blush on his face. "I JUST SAID THAT LEGENDS AND----," "You should of wished for some courage with women back when we saved Arceus," Denku interrupted with a smirked, causing Kazo to scowl. "Nope, nope, nope. I can't, I just can't, I'm out," Kazo said as he stood up. "Later kids!" Kazo yelled into the house. "Uncle Kazo's heading out!" Grabbing the tip of an invisible hat, he moonwalked away, heading out the door and heading outside. Kazo sighed to himself as he ran, the world just a blur around him as he moved. After all his training, he could run much faster and for much longer, letting him travel across the continent in a record breaking time. His current plan right now was to check in with Weynon first and figure out the rest of his week from there. He was coming up to the city of Oasis when he decided to slow down. He wasn't expecting to see Mac here or anything, but he could check in on her folks for her for the next time they met. As he slowed down however, he noticed a band of bandits attacking what looked like a group of two or three families. "Well... that won't do," Kazo thought as thunder rumbled in the distance. He walked forward with purpose, cracking his knuckles as he approached one of the bandits, grabbing the man's head and tossing him to the side as easily as one would throw away garbage. The taunting and jeering the bandits were doing to intimidate the families died down as everyone realized what had happened, all eyes landing on the Disciple of Zekrom. "Oy, who the hell are you?" One of the bandits snapped, causing Kazo to smirk. "I get called a lotta things, but right now, I'm feeling like... I'm the storm that's approaching," Kazo felt pretty good about that one, especially as thunder rumbled just as he finished his sentence. Even Zekrom would have to think that was badass, right? Each bandit began to move towards Kaz, but faster than they could blink, they felt Kazo's fist bury into their guts, causing them all to fall to the ground in less than a second. "Heh, not even using any attacks. You wanna just leave now or make me use a Draco Meteor?" The bandits were quick to run. Cowards. Still, that made it much easier. With a smile, he turned to the families. "Oasis isn't much farther, a ten minute walk at best! Safe travels!" Before he could run off however, someone called out to him. "Wait!" Turning, Kazo could see it was a small Bagon that had called out, barely looking over eight years old. "Do... do you think that I could grow up to be a hero like you?" Hero. He hadn't been called that in awhile. It brought back some good memories of some old friends though. "A hero, huh?" Kazo asked as he rubbed his chin playfully. He turned around, showing his back to the kid before looking over his shoulder. "Well, can you keep up with me?" The Bagon, to their credit, didn't back down, in fact, it seemed a fire was lit inside of them. "I'll keep up with you! In fact, I'll surpass you!" They answered with the confidence of a Helioptile from days long past. "Good answer," Was all Kazo said before he ran off, the dragon rushing to his next adventure. The Guardian and the Hero FIN

not going to brag or anything but shout outs to me

Keep It Together “Go home,” Emily had been told. Well, she was going home, she was just dragging a watchdog along with her. She would not call herself reinvigorated by any means -- the most she could do was disguise her fatigued shuffle as best she could -- but the alternative was, well… She’d had this whisper in her head since the previous night (since her mother… if she really wanted to dwell on that some more), something daring her to give up. The whisper was not somebody she recognized; it certainly wasn’t hers. There was a crowd gathering outside Taros’ temple, and Emily resisted the urge to wonder just what was going on that a second (or was it third? She was having a hard time keeping track) mass of people needed to gather. Surely those attracted must have been annoyed at the very least, right? Maybe they wondered why they’d bothered dispersing after Simon had died in the first place if they were just going to be called back, Emily thought. She resisted the urge to grab at the Taros watchdog’s wrist, trying to trust that he would follow her instead of being sucked in by anything else. Fortunately, her home was close, and even in her rattled state she wasn’t about to forget the path. But Emily didn’t go in, she stopped at the threshold. Even being near the house provoked this indescribable feeling in her. What was it, nausea? Vertigo? A mix of both? She knew she had to continue -- the whisper in her mind was still there, perhaps even louder than before -- and yet just like in Dia’s temple her willpower could not manage to overcome her weakness. “You are going to have to observe what remains of my parents without me. I…” She leaned against her door frame to avoid collapsing completely. “I cannot. Even with Simon Weatherson dead and their souls laid to rest, perhaps I cannot bear to look again.” One of Us What pleasant negotiation and interview session that was! Rose and Gil certainly thought so as they exited Medeis’ shell -- husk, even -- of a temple. They were a religion!... at least, in the sense that Nuumu had indeed provided them a stable place to preach and worship. There was still the fallout of Simon Weatherson’s death to deal with, but the added stability could only help in such matters. There was a crowd gathering. Curious. “I wonder if somebody else is about to die,” Gil said. “Though we would have known if another one of ours had gotten in the way of these watchdogs, correct?” “We would have known,” Rose affirmed. “Or we would have known about anyone of consequence.” “Nevertheless, we should see what is going on,” Gil said. “Just because Simon does not need to be told of Galatea’s goings-on does not mean we should not still be aware. Perhaps we should even more so now.” “Yes,” Rose said. “I will go inform Nuumu’s temple of our agreement with his watchdog. I will catch up in but a moment.” Rose turned off, away from the center of the Temple Square, but Gil stopped them. “A thought occurred, Rose. Just making sure, when Simon met with Dia’s watchdog last night… Do you still…?” Rose nodded and patted their chest. “Yes. I assume you do as well?” Gil reciprocated both the nod and the gesture, feeling the pocketed stone against their breast. “Do not be long, then. See you soon.” OOC

The sheer amount of effect damage Peter took at the end of Laurie’s turn staggered him. He was still in the duel and he still had a few options, he thought, what with four cards in hand before his draw phase, but he still needed to collect himself before he moved past the end of Laurie’s turn. The cheering from both sides didn’t help either. He wasn’t expecting it to be completely quiet, but there was a different atmosphere back when he’d dueled Charlie that he couldn’t seem to find in this foreign gym. Not that he was about to blame anything other than his play if the trend continued; the voices of his parents in his head wouldn’t let him. “Draw,” Peter said. He didn’t look at the card right away, though, instead shuffling it into his hand to see his full set of options without regard to his previous inclinations. He had to find the line here. “I’ll start by summoning Master with Eyes of Blue,” he said. “It lets me get back another level one tuner from my Graveyard. I’ll choose…” Even as the wizened master stepped onto the battlefield Peter hesitated, double-checking to the fullest extent. But he did know which he had to choose, and why. “I’ll choose Sage, but I’ll send it right back along with Master. You remember my last turn when I did that, right? I can’t get a bunch of Blue-Eyes like with Priestess, but I still get to summon the one, and that one is Dragon Spirit of White!” The dragon that stepped forth was more ethereal than the other ones Peter had summoned in the duel thus far, or even in any duel any of the spectators were likely to have seen. It radiated power, it seemed, which, along with the normal hologram effect, certainly made the “Spirit” name seem apt. “Dragon Spirit of White always counts as a Blue-Eyes monster,” Peter said. Indeed, anyone paying closer attention than most could see through its radiating miasma and notice the dragon’s tell-tale blue eyes. “That’s how I was able to summon it. But it has another effect when summoned, too: I can banish a spell or trap of my choosing. “And there’s really only one target for that, isn’t there?” A part of the dragon’s essence split off from the main body and flew forward, headed straight for Laurie’s face-down. Frowning, Lauriel said, “Well, I didn’t want to use this so readily, but here. I activate my trap card, Red-Eyes Spirit. Now, this lets me revive one Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard and bring it to the field, so Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is coming back yet again. In defense mode.” As the dragon came back onto the field, Laurie smirked. “And you remember what this guy does, right? So, unless you’ve got a lot more in the tank seems I’m going to be safe from damage for another turn.” He did, in fact, have more in the tank. “I have some more tricks in my Graveyard,” Peter said. “White Stone of Ancients has this ability where I can banish it from there to get back a Blue-Eyes, and you so helpfully put my Alternative Dragon there, so let’s just make that happen.” A faded afterimage of that gleaming white egg appeared on the field for a moment as Peter moved his cards around. Even after the exchange was finished it remained on the field, though, seemingly anticipating what Peter was about to do next. “I still have that Blue-Eyes in hand that I got last turn, so why not just show you that again and just bring it to the field? Here’s Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon once again!” The egg shook and cracked for a few moments before exploding, creating a cloud of smoke that obscured Peter’s side. It was only for a moment -- the smoke dissipated quickly -- but then, in the egg’s place, was that same Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon. “It’s not as strong as your Archfiend,” Peter remarked, “but, then again, it doesn’t have to be. With Alternative Dragon, I can just forgo attacking with it to destroy it with its effect. How’s that?” Shrugging, Laurie said, “Can’t be helped, I didn’t expect him to last that long. But” -- she said this as the destruction followed, Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon sending a ball of energy straight through her Archfiend -- “I’ve still got Baby Dragon on my board.” “Right. Well, I’ve one final play,” Peter said, “then I’ll get to attacking. I have Chaos Form in hand. I have Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon in hand. By playing the former, and banishing this Blue-Eyes White Dragon you also destroyed, I can summon the latter. Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!” Ocean Coast’s gym was bigger than Horizon’s but that just meant that when Chaos MAX Dragon dominated the room, it really dominated it. Peter wasn’t sure even he had seen it this large, and yet there it was, towering over everything else. “It does double piercing damage,” he said. “Let’s send it right at your Baby Dragon.” Laurie’s nonchalance broke away as genuine shock filled her expression, as the dragon reared back its head charging its breath weapon. Then, with one explosive blast of white lightning, Laurie’s Red-Eyes Baby Dragon was instantly destroyed. Laurie 8000 LP → 1400 LP Standing there for a second, the girl cleared her throat trying to recollect herself. “Well, um, that was a lot. But, Baby Dragon’s effect still goes off, and I can now summon Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact onto the field in defense mode.” As the dragon was brought out onto the field, Red-Eyes Baby Dragon came back, equipping itself to the burning black dragon. “It’s not as big as your Spirit Dragon but it’ll still take it on, I’m sure.” She had a nervous smile on her face as she said it. “Yeah?” Peter said. “Let’s see. Spirit Dragon, you’re up.” Dragon Spirit of White roared its assent, rising up to challenge Laurie’s new monster, bringing a ghostly claw swiping down diagonally, cutting Red-Eyes Impact in two. “Looks like it’s his loss then, but he did his job well to protect me,” Laurie said. “And because Baby Dragon went from the field to the graveyard, I can add the Black Stone of Legend in my grave back to my hand. Anything else?” The “anything else” part of the question had a significantly more nervous tone than the rest of the statement. Peter took that as a dare, even though he couldn’t follow through with taking it any further. He surveyed the board and the one card remaining in his hand one final time. “No, I think that’s it,” he said. “Do your worst.” Laurie let out a large sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” Looking back to Peter, the girl cleared her throat trying to regain her composure before saying, “Right, uh, my turn!” As she drew though, a confident smile appeared on her face, and she began to play. ”Just like last time, it’s my turn to counterattack,” Laurie said. “First, I activate the Fusion Substitute in my Graveyard. By banishing it I can draw a card from my deck and put a fusion monster in my grave back into my Extra Deck.” Taking Black Skull from her graveyard, she placed it back in her Extra Deck before drawing and continuing. “Now, I activate the spell card Dragon’s Mirror. With it, I can banish monsters in my field and Graveyard to summon a Dragon Fusion Monster. So, I’ll use the Meteor Impact you just sent and the Black Flare dragon as the materials, and then...” A mirror appeared on Laurie’s field, and the two dragons were sucked into it before the mirror started to glow black and red. Suddenly, the mirror ignited, exploding into black and red flame bringing out a different large dragon than the one before. “I Fusion Summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon! “Here comes Black Comet’s effect:” Laurie continued, “When it’s Fusion Summoned, I can send a Red-Eyes Monster from deck to the grave and deal half of its attack to you as damage. So, I’ll take another Red-Eyes Flare and deal 1200 points of damage to you.” The dragon roared, conjuring a few small meteors that peppered the field around Peter. Peter 5300 LP → 4100 Peter grit his teeth. Just because it didn’t sting as much as last time didn’t mean it didn’t sting. Laurie wasn’t finished, though. “Now to set up the final piece,” she said. “I summon the Black Stone of Legend, and, using its effect, I can tribute it to bring out Red-Eyes Black Dragon. And now, by tributing a Red-Eyes monster, I can Special Summon my very own Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon!” The Black Stone appeared, breaking for the namesake dragon of the Archetype to appear, only for that too to be engulfed in flames, as if using them to evolve into the alternate form. “Now everything’s set up. Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon attacks Dragon Spirit of White!” Hold on. “Twenty-four hundred attack to twenty-five hundred,” Peter said. Laurie was so confident that he was the one nervous now. “You sure?” Laurie answered immediately, the smile never fading from her face. “You bet I am! See, as you might be aware my dragons are pretty tenacious and he’s no different. Because when Alternative Dragon is destroyed, I can special summon a Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard onto the field.” As she called this out, Alternative Dragon let loose a breath of flame towards the Spirit Dragon, only for both the attack and itself to be destroyed by the dragon's ghostly white claw. Laurie 1400 LP → 1300 LP “So now, I bring back Red-Eyes Black Dragon! And that’s not all. If the monster that was summoned was Red-Eyes Black Dragon its original attack is doubled!” Laurie said. As she declared this, a plume of flame erupted from behind her, the namesake dragon of her deck arising from it. As it did, though, it was clear that the dragon was far larger than it had been the first time it was summoned, now seeming to even surpass Chaos MAX. Red-Eyes 2400 ATK → 4800 ATK “Now, with two dragons on the field that are bigger than yours, there’s only one thing to do. I end my battle phase!” “You what?” “I don’t attack. I can’t win if I do,” Laurie said matter-of-factly. “Because even if I brought down your dragons now, it wouldn’t be enough to win this turn. And who knows what else you’ve got. So instead, I’ll do this. I activate the Spell Card Inferno Fire Blast. Which means that when I have a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field, I deal damage to you equal to its original attack. Which just happens to be 4800 right now.” Looking up, the large Red-Eyes began to charge its breath attack, letting loose an enormous ball of flame towards Peter and striking at him directly. Peter 4100 LP → 0 LP “And that’s my win.”The blast had knocked Peter off his feet, but he didn’t hurry to get back up. He stared at the gymnasium ceiling as his dragons dissolved around him, immediately going through and picking apart various aspects of his play. Surely there had to be something he could have done differently, but if he acknowledged that it meant he had been outplayed somewhere, and his mental parents -- maybe even his real ones if they found out -- would never let him hear the end of it if that were the case. At the moment, at least, they were only reminding him to be gracious in his defeat. He did have to stand up for that, lurching himself back to standing before trundling along to the center of the gym where Laurie was waiting for him. “Good game,” Peter said, offering his hand. He almost added “I’ll beat you next time,” though he just managed to stop himself. “You put up a good fight,” Laurie said, reciprocating the handshake. “I got a little scared there for a moment. Thanks for the match.” Peter still felt numb as he walked back to Horizon’s side of the gym, back to the rest of the team (most of them winners, too, which made it worse), and he was still trying to place why. Was it the holograms, maybe? His loss to Makoto hadn’t felt nearly as terrible. Peter dismissed that reason with a shake of his head. Coach Clara had been right when she’d said that the disks and the visual cues were ancillary to the actual cards themselves. His parents would probably agree with that too, not like he was about to ask. Was it having victory snatched away, the jaws of defeat crunching down just as it escaped his grasp? Maybe, but, like, Charlie had seemed pretty okay when Peter had done it, so if that was the reason it just made him feel worse for how much he still had to grow up. Maybe it was the inherent rivalry in the cards, then, Red-Eyes versus Blue. Maybe it was… “I need to take a walk,” Peter muttered to himself. Well, he needed to face Coach Clara first, probably. But he did need to do at least something to get out of his funk.

coward

I heard only Chads know about Igorrr. Brutal Swing remains GOAT