This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions (especially the duel layout for the story), and especially for the entire chapter itself. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Song used in Intro and Outro (c) Unknown
Entire Chapter Outline by AaronCottrell97
WARNING: This particular story is rated for fantasy violence and some language.
NOTE: This scene is more of a "What If?" scenario from "Road to Disaster" in Season 4.
Title: Fire of Anger
"You're WHAT?!" Percy exclaimed in shock.
Opening up inside the lobby of the big hotel, Thomas and the others had returned to rest up for the night before returning to Boxford Land for round two of the tournament. Unfortunately, this night was about to go very wrong for several people in this very lobby...
"Lady, please tell me and everyone else that this is a joke."
Lady looked down. "I'm sorry, Percy, but it's not a joke."
"But why? Why are you leaving us?" asked Percy, growing extremely upset. "We all just want to help you."
"It's for the best." answered Burnett, knowing that this was something Lady needed to do. "She wants to go on a journey to find herself. I've already spoken to Sir Topham Hatt, and he accepts Polly's decision to leave the school."
"After all that's happened in a short period of time-" continued Lady. "-I just can't call myself a friend towards any of you at this moment."
"Lady..." whispered Emily.
Suddenly, the beautiful blonde-haired girl turned towards Emily and Thomas.
"Thomas... Emily..." she began. "I'm so sorry for how I acted, and how I lied to you about my nightmares."
"Why did you lie to us instead of confining in us for help?" asked Thomas.
"We want to know the answer." added Emily.
Lady, swallowing hard, took a deep, shakey breath and decided to explain...
"I thought that if I had told you about my nightmares-" The beautiful blonde-haired girl confessed. "-I would end up worrying everybody. I didn't want to do that and look like a weak person, especially after everything you've been through. I was just trying to be brave like you."
"We're only brave when we HAVE to be." Emily pointed out. "Being brave doesn't mean you have to lie and pretend you're not afraid of anything."
"Even then, while we accept your apology, it doesn't change the fact that you still went and said that stuff to Emily and I." added Thomas. "It will take a very, very long time for both of us to truly forgive and trust you again."
"I... I understand." Lady smiled sadly, before turning towards Percy. "Percy, I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, but I'm afraid I am going to have to break up with you... I will always love you, but I just cannot be with you at a time like this."
Percy felt like he wanted to cry. "Please don't leave me..." he begged through his tears.
"I have to." said Lady with a tear in her eye.
"It's not fair!" The green-haired boy protested, shaking his head in denial. "You were gone for most of the summer while the rest of us were fighting in the Duel Monsters spirit world. And now that we got some time together, you have to leave again? It's just not fair!"
"Percy..." soothed Edward, stepping forth and placing a hand onto his younger friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this is Lady's choice. If she feels she cannot face any of us right now, then there isn't anything we can do about it."
Lady, with a very sad look on her face, then turned around towards the exit of the hotel. It was a sign it was time to depart.
"Burnett, let's go." she instructed her Guardian. From there, without turning around, the beautiful blonde-haired girl spoke to her friends one last time... "Everyone, I will miss you all very much. But I will assure you that when I finally return one day, I will be someone you can all be friends with."
"Let me go with you!" insisted Percy. "I don't want to lose you forever!"
"No, Percy, you must stay behind. Besides, I won't be gone forever... When I return, I will finally be someone you can truly be with... Just like how Thomas and Emily are together."
Thomas and Emily both said nothing when they heard that sentence about them.
"Lady..." whispered Liz. "Will you at least write to us whenever you are able to?"
"Of course." nodded Lady, still not turning around. Finally, she started to walk towards the exit. "Goodbye, everyone... Until we meet again..."
With that said, the beautiful blonde-haired girl and Burnett both left the hotel.
"Lady..." whispered Mavis.
"We wish you the best..." added Stanley, comforting Rosie.
Percy was devastated. "Lady... Lady, please don't go! Come back! Lady! LADY!"
But alas, there was nothing Percy could do. The one girl he ever loved...was gone. The green-haired boy fell to his knees in despair and cried. He couldn't believe this had happened. He didn't WANT to believe it.
"It'll be alright, Percy... She will be back." Emily pointed out. "When she does, everything will be okay."
"Besides, if you do love Lady, Percy, then you'll let her go." Thomas coldly added. "As Edward said, she made a choice, and is sticking to it. There isn't anything that can be done about it."
Hearing his best friend's tone of voice caused Percy to clench his fist as his sadness over the breakup turned straight into anger.
"You... This is all your fault, Thomas Billinton!" he hissed. "You deliberately broke us up!"
"What?"
Percy stood up and pointed at his best friend accusingly. "You were too hard on Lady when she told you to get over what happened in the Duel Monsters spirit world!" The green-haired boy was saying. "I know it was wrong of her to say, but you could have been calmer about it rather than acting like a pissed off jerk!"
Thomas frowned and said nothing.
"Well?! Aren't you gonna say anything?"
"I never intended for your relationship to be damaged, Percy." Thomas insisted, not sounding very caring. "That was Lady's choice alone."
"Well, you could have at least tried to talk her out of it!" snapped Percy. "You knew how much I loved her, but you did nothing to save our relationship! You didn't even care how badly it hurt me! If you hadn't thrown that temper tantrum of your's, maybe she'd still be here! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE SO HARSH TO HER AND NOT HAVE THE DECENCY TO FORGIVE HER WHEN SHE APOLOGIZED!?"
"It's called Tough Love." answered Thomas, not losing his cold look as he spoke in an surprisingly calm tone. "You can't always expect everything to be fixed with a simple apology. All this time, Lady was suffering mentally. She could have told us what was happening, trusted us, and we would have helped her with it. But not only did she act like a complete hypocrite, she deliberately lied to her own friends."
The rest of the group was staring at the argument in complete shock. They had never seen Thomas and Percy fight like this before. Sure, there were moments in the past where they would argue, but this time it was much more personal. Unfortunately, it was about to get much worse. How so? The answer is very simple; Percy, who was shaking hard, finally lost all control of his emotions.
"You...BASTARD!" The green-haired boy screamed out, charging forth and throwing a punch towards the blue-haired boy.
Did Thomas move out of the way? Nope, he instead...caught Percy's fist without even trying. Percy's look of rage turned into a look of brief surprise, before turning into a look of brief fear when he saw Thomas's cold, piercing eyes glaring straight through him.
"W-Wha-?"
"If you call yourself a duelist, express your anger not through your fists, but through your dueling!" declared Thomas, before he threw Percy backwards.
Percy, upon recovering from the initial shock, felt his anger boiling once more as he glared at the person he once considered his best friend.
"I won't forgive you! Let's duel, Thomas!" The green-haired boy insisted.
Everyone else in the lobby was shocked even more by this declaration.
"Whoa, Percy, you can't be serious about this, right?" asked Ryan in disbelief.
"Sorry, but you all stay out of this! This is my problem!" ordered Percy to everyone else besides Thomas, before pointing at the latter himself. "Thomas! If I win, I'll hold you responsible for everything and make you grovel before me! If I lose, I'll accept that it's my fault that Lady is gone!"
It was that particular condition that shocked the rest of the group once again. Percy was willing to accept that he was responsible for Lady departing instead of Thomas? It was clear that Percy was letting his rage control his words. Thomas, however, was unfazed by these conditions.
"Fine. I have no objections." he replied calmly.
(elsewhere...)
Outside in the hotel parking lot, Thomas and Percy had taken their positions and were ready to begin their duel. The rest of the group, however, especially Liz, were filled with a sense of dread and discomfort about this entire ordeal, considering it was not gonna end well...
"There has to be someway to talk them out of this, isn't there?!" pleaded Liz, not wanting her Little Brother to let his emotions destroy his friendship with Thomas.
"Thomas and Percy have been closer than brothers for nearly their whole lives." added Toby. "Are they really going to put their bond in jeopardy over something like this?"
"Hey, Emily, how the hell can you be okay with Thomas going through with this?" demanded James.
"Leave them be." replied Emily. "Until Percy duels Thomas, he can't sort out his feelings. They can't resolve anything if Percy harbors ill will towards Thomas."
Most of the group wanted to object to Emily's claim, but they realized that trying to argue against it would be as pointless as this duel seemingly was. In the duel field, Thomas and Percy both had their Duel Disks activated, ready for their match.
"Let's go!" shouted Percy, as he and Thomas drew their opening hands.
Before long, the match commenced...
"DUEL!" Thomas and Percy both announced at once (LP: 4000) x2.
Both players carefully observed their opening hands. Thomas' hand contained 'Magician's Valkyria', 'Thousand Knives', 'De-Fusion', 'Buster Blader' and 'Polymerization'. Thomas could see that his Deck had been quite generous with him, like it wanted him to win...
"It's my turn!" declared Percy, drawing his card. "Draw!"
Turn One: Percy Avonside (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): "Red-Eyes Insight", "Black Dragon's Chick", "Red-Eyes Burn", "Red-Eyes Spirit", "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and "Lord of the Red"
His drawn card was the 'Lord of the Red' Ritual Monster Card. Percy was very satisfied with his opening hand; he had everything he needed to burn Thomas into submission. From there, he finally made his move...
"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Red-Eyes Insight'!" The green-haired boy declared, holding the mentioned card out. "It lets me send a 'Red-Eyes' monster from my Deck to my Graveyard to add a 'Red-Eyes'-named Spell or Trap Card, other than 'Insight', from my Deck into my hand!"
One card ejected from Percy's Deck for him to send to the Graveyard, before a second card ejected out from the Deck for Percy to add to his hand.
"I send 'Red-Eyes Wyvern' to the Graveyard to add the Ritual Spell 'Red-Eyes Transmigration' to my hand, which I'll now activate!" he shouted, before he slotted the Ritual Spell into his Duel Disk, causing the aforementioned card to materialize face-up onto the field. "I tribute monsters from my hand or field, or Banish 'Red-Eyes' monsters from my Graveyard to Ritual Summon 'Lord of the Red' from my hand!" Percy then held out two cards from his hand and sent them to his Graveyard. "I tribute Level 7 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' and Level 1 'Black Dragon's Chick' from my hand!"
The two aforementioned dragons appeared briefly before they were consumed by two pillars of blue fire that merged together.
"RITUAL SUMMON!" cried Percy. "Appear, Level 8 - 'Lord of the Red'!"
The surging flames died down to reveal the monster in 'Red-Eyes' armor that brought Percy victory against Knight of Dark Dragon in the Duel Monsters spirit world (Level 8/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). Thomas knew this particular monster all too well, being the only one currently present who had seen that duel (he also knew that the effect of the 'Red-Eyes Transmigration' Spell Card had been changed since Percy last used it).
"'Lord of the Red'..." Thomas thought to himself. "I bet this isn't all Percy is aiming for..."
Knowing that Thomas would most likely be able to deal with 'Lord of the Red', Percy took the two remaining cards in his hand and slotted them into his Duel Disk.
"I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"
Two facedown cards appeared behind 'Lord of the Red'. Even with it being the End Phase, Percy wasn't done just yet...
"During the End Phase, the effect of 'Red-Eyes Wyvern' activates!" declared Percy, as the 'Red-Eyes Wyvern' card emerged from his Graveyard before fading away into oblivion. "Since I didn't Normal Summon or Set a monster this turn, I can Banish 'Wyvern' from my Graveyard to Special Summon a 'Red-Eyes' monster from my Graveyard... Resurrect - 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'!"
With a fierce roar, 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' returned from the Graveyard in a burst of flames (Level: 7/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). In the 'audience', the rest of the group were amazed at how much Percy had been able to set up on just the first turn.
"Both 'Red-Eyes' and 'Lord of the Red' out from the start? Goddamn! Percy ain't screwing around." remarked James.
"No kidding." agreed Gordon. "I've never seen Percy make such an aggressive opening play."
"Well, just look who he's up against." remarked Matt, referring to Thomas.
Liz, however, was still the most concerned for Percy, and against this entire duel in the first place, and desperately wanted to talk Percy out of it before doing something he would regret.
"Percy!" The young woman called to her younger brother, causing him to glance over at her. "You're letting your emotions take you over, irresponsibly challenging Thomas to a duel that could destroy your relationship. Don't you understand what this could lead to in the future?"
"I don't care about the future." replied Percy crossly. "I'll crush him, and get revenge for what he did to Lady!"
"I know how you feel, but you should-" Liz tried to argue, but Percy wasn't having it.
"If you're worried that I'll lose, don't worry!" he yelled out.
The blonde-haired young woman could see that Percy clearly wasn't going to listen to her, so she reluctantly gave up trying to help him.
"My turn... Draw!" announced Thomas, drawing his card.
Turn Two: Thomas Billinton (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): "Magician's Valkyria", "Thousand Knives", "De-Fusion", "Buster Blader", "Polymerization" and "Illusion Magic"
Thomas' drawn card was the 'Illusion Magic' Quick-Play Spell Card. His Deck was being VERY generous with him tonight...
"What will Thomas do?" asked Ashima nervously.
"The way Thomas is now, he's not the type of duelist who'll go easy on a challenger." said Edward. "He'll take this seriously."
Moments later, however, Thomas still hadn't made a single move, and it was beginning to annoy Percy even more.
"It's your turn!" The green-haired boy called out. "Hurry up!"
What happened next, no one could have expected...
"I pass my turn." said Thomas, closing his eyes.
"SAY WHAT?!" bellowed Percy in utter disbelief.
Over with the others...
"Wait, what? For real?" blinked Rosie. "Thomas ends his turn without playing a single card?!"
"There goes my theory." muttered Edward to himself.
"What's going on?" asked Carlie.
"He-a didn't do-a anything... Is-a Thomas intending to-a lose?" put in Gina.
"Or, you know, he could've just bricked?" suggested James R..
"Bricked?" asked Molly in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"It's a slang term for drawing cards that are useless in a particular situation." explained Discord, who a slight suspicion on what Thomas was doing. "I highly doubt that is the case with Thomas-boy."
Emily, however, knew exactly what Thomas was doing; he hadn't bricked at all.
"What's the meaning of this, Thomas?!" Percy demanded, furious at Thomas' lack of action.
"Didn't you hear me? I've ended my turn." Thomas replied calmly, refusing to answer Percy's question.
This only pissed Percy off even more... "STOP MESSING AROUND!" he roared, before fiercely drawing his next card. "My turn! DRAW!"
Turn Three: Percy Avonside (LP: 4000)
Deck: 51
Current Hand (1): "Cards of the Red Stone"
His drawn card was the 'Cards of the Red Stone' Spell Card, a card that was useless right now since Percy couldn't meet it's activation requirements. Right now, though, Percy didn't care that he had just bricked. Both 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' (ATK: 2400) and 'Lord of the Red' (ATK: 2400) had enough strength to win him the duel for him, and the group knew it...
"Percy's monsters have more Attack Points than Thomas' Life Points!" exclaimed Zack.
"That, Zack, is an understatement." muttered Michael dryly.
Back on the field...
"Thomas! I don't care if you don't want to fight! My anger hasn't subsided yet! With the fire of anger, I'll burn you to a crisp!" Percy screamed vengefully, entering the Battle Phase without a second thought. "BATTLE! 'Lord of the Red', DIRECT ATTACK!"
'Lord of the Red' charged forward and enveloped in flames before striking Thomas hard in the chest and setting him on fire, pushing Thomas back, before digging his heel into the ground to stop himself as the flames died down, while his Life Points took a huge drop (LP: 1600).
"Thomas' Life Points..." murmured Mavis.
"The next attack will end this duel." said Ashima.
Thomas, meanwhile, had recovered from the attack, but he still looked unfazed by anything Percy said or did, and he still wasn't doing anything to stop it, making Percy even angrier. Clenching his fist, Percy prepared to make the final command...
"'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'-!" He tried to finish the command, but then he came to the realization. Instead of finishing the command, Percy gritted his teeth and gave the biggest skyward scream of rage, frustration, and grief he could ever hope to give. "RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
Once he stopped, Percy collapsed onto his knees, clenching his fists and shaking with heavy emotion, while the holograms of 'Lord of the Red', 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' and Percy's two facedown cards faded away.
DUEL RESULTS: No Results
Needless to say, the rest of the group were glad that the duel was over, but staggered by how it ended.
"The duel...ended with no results?" blinked Henry. "Percy had it won!"
"I knew he couldn't attack." said James, pretending that he knew how it would end.
Emily, however, did know why Percy didn't go through with the last attack, and she understood why Percy was so upset about it.
"If I win like this, it won't look cool at all!" shouted Percy in frustration. "I won't accomplish anything by winning this way!"
"Oh, NOW he finally gets it." groaned James, facepalming.
Emily got mad. "James, do me a favor and just shut the hell up."
"What? What did I say?"
Back in the duel field, Percy continued to sulk as Thomas approached him.
"Satisfied?" he asked, rhetorically.
"Of course not!" exclaimed Percy. "How am I supposed to be satisfied when you won't even duel?!"
Thomas finally decided to come clean. "Even if I dueled, you still wouldn't have defeated me." And prove his point, he revealed to Percy all six of the cards in his hand. When Percy saw them, he nearly staggered back in shock.
"What?!" Percy cried out in disbelief, seeing that Thomas's hand contained 'Magician's Valkyria', 'Thousand Knives', 'De-Fusion', 'Buster Blader', 'Polymerization' and 'Illusion Magic'. "No way! You would've won!"
He began to envision the true outcome of the duel...
(vision...)
Earlier in the duel, it was Thomas's turn...
"I Summon 'Magician's Valkyria' in attack mode!" declared Thomas, placing a card onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk.
Appearing onto the field was the teal armored female Spellcaster-Type monster (Level: 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800).
"Next I activate 'Polymerization'!" On cue, upon saying those words, the 'Polymerization' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field. Thomas wasn't even close to being done... "Then, from my hand, I'll activate a Quick-Spell Spell Card - 'Illusion Magic'!"
"What?!" recoiled Percy, watching as the 'Illusion Magic' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field, beside the face-up 'Polymerization' Spell Card.
"I tribute 'Valkyria' to add 'Dark Magician' from my Deck to my hand!"
'Magician's Valkyria' exploded into tiny particles of light, while the 'Dark Magician' Monster Card ejected from Thomas's Deck for him to add to his hand.
"From there, with 'Polymerization', I'll fuse 'Dark Magician' with the 'Buster Blader' in my hand!" Thomas went on, holding two shining cards up.
The purple-haired, male Spellcaster and purple-clad Warrior both briefly appeared on the field before fusing together.
"FUSION SUMMON! Appear, Level 8 - 'Dark Paladin'!"
The mighty combined form of 'Buster Blader' and 'Dark Magician' appeared on the field in place of the two previous monsters (Level: 8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400).
"'Dark Paladin' gains 500 Attack Points for every Dragon-Type monster on the field and in our Graveyards." Thomas explained. He then pointed forth at his opponent. "There are two Dragons in total. Therefore 'Dark Paladin' gains 1000 Attack Points!"
'Dark Paladin's' Attack Power rose to much greater heights (ATK: 2900 - 3900).
"At this moment, 'Lord of the Red's' effect activates!" declared Percy, while 'Lord of the Red' began to get surrounded by blue flames. "When two Spell Cards are activated in the same Chain, all other monsters on the field are destroyed!"
Upon rising high into the sky, before giving an almighty scream, 'Lord of the Red' charged down and punched the ground right before 'Dark Paladin', causing the blue flame to shoot all around the field. 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' was destroyed first, and this was followed by 'Dark Paladin' in a massive explosion of blue fire.
"Trap Card - 'Red-Eyes Burn', activate!" Percy declared amongst all the fire and smoke. "Since a 'Red-Eyes' monster was destroyed, both players take damage equal to it's original Attack Points!"
'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' returned to the field before being enveloped in flames.
"Burn in the fire of my anger!"
'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' fired its deadly 'Inferno Fire Blast' attack at Thomas, before it exploded and engulfed Percy in it's flames, dealing major damage to him (LP: 1600). Although Percy was pained from the death of his ace monster, it did nothing to seize his anger towards Thomas.
"THIS IS FOR LADY! TAKE THISSSS!" he roared with unrelenting fury toward Thomas.
The 'Inferno Fire Blast' finally hit Thomas and exploded on contact, covering his field entirely in fire and smoke as he yelled in pain (LP: 1600). At last, the flames finally began to die down.
"How's that?!" panted Percy. "There's still far more to come!"
But once the smoke finally was gone, Percy gasped in horror. There on Thomas' field...were 'Dark Magician' (Level: 7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100) and 'Buster Blader' (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2300).
"WHAT!?"
"Are you really that surprised?" asked Thomas condescendingly, as he held up a card in right hand and flipped it over so that Percy could see it. "Your efforts to defeat 'Dark Paladin' and myself were in vain."
"'De-Fusion'?!" Percy cringed.
The green-haired boy finally realized everything; Thomas had activated the 'De-Fusion' Spell Card in middle of 'Lord of the Red's' effect just before 'Dark Paladin' was about to be destroyed, and since he immediately used his 'Red-Eyes Burn' Trap Card afterwards, he wasn't paying enough attention to Thomas' side of the field and allowed Thomas to act while Percy didn't notice.
"'Buster Blader'" gains 500 Attack Points for every Dragon on your field and in your Graveyard." said Thomas, snapping Percy out of his thoughts. "So 'Buster Blader' gains 1000 more Attack Points!"
'Buster Blader' grew much stronger (ATK: 2600 - 3600). Percy, knowing that he could survive this turn, immediately took action.
"I activate a Trap Card - 'Red-Eyes Spirit'!" he shouted as his remaining face-down card flipped up. "With its effect, I Special Summon 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' from my Graveyard in defense mode!"
On cue, 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' returned to the field. Percy was sure that he would make it to his next turn; Thomas could only deal damage with one of his monsters, and neither of them could wipe out his life points in one hit.
"This may seem ironic." commented Thomas, snapping Percy out of his thoughts again. "But like our last duel, you've sealed my victory with your own hands."
Percy flinched, but didn't say anything. "No way! This can't be real!" he thought to himself, as the green-haired boy remembered how their promised duel after Battle City had ended, and how he had unintentionally given Thomas the win.
His fears, however, were proven true once Thomas took the final card in his hand and slotted it into his Duel Disk.
"From my hand, I'll activate a Spell Card - 'Thousand Knives'!" While speaking, the mentioned Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself. "When I control 'Dark Magician', I can target one monster on your side of the field and destroy it!"
'Dark Magician' turned towards a horrified Percy as several knives materialized around 'Dark Magician'.
"And now, a chain of destruction starts on your field... Burn in the fire of your own anger!" declared Thomas menacingly, before finally giving the command. "I target 'Lord of the Red'!"
With a thrust and yell, the knifes were thrown towards 'Lord of the Red', piercing through his armor and causing him to cry out in agony as he got skewered alive. Percy however was far too horrified at what was happening to respond.
"BATTLE!" Thomas finally announced, entering the Battle Phase. "'Buster Blader' slay 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'... !"
'Buster Blader' leaped into the air and dived down towards 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'. As the attack drew closer, Percy began to realize had easily he had walked right into Thomas' devastating trap. If he hadn't let his anger completely corrupt him and had paid attention to Thomas' actions, he wouldn't have activated his 'Red-Eyes Burn' Trap Card.
"Damn... Back then..." Percy thought to himself.
If hadn't activated 'Red-Eyes Burn', he would have survived. That one mistake was the final nail on his coffin, and it was too late to go back.
"DESTRUCTION SWORD FLASH!" shouted Thomas.
'Buster Blader' finally struck 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon', slashing it with it's deadly sword. 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' roared in agony as it exploded into flames and surrounded Percy's field.
"Burn in the fire of your own anger!"
Thomas' words echoed inside Percy's head as the flames danced around him. "Thomas knew exactly what I was going to do from the beginning...!" he thought to himself, not being able to believe how easily he let Thomas defeat him.
"This will end it!" declared Thomas. "'Dark Magician', direct attack!"
'Dark Magician' obeyed and began to charge up the attack, waiting for the final call...
"DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"
...and 'Dark Magician' fired the blast of black magic from his scepter towards the defenseless Percy. As the blast approached him, Percy could do nothing but unleash one final scream of 'DAMN!' before the blast finally hit and sent Percy flying through the air before he landed HARD on the ground (LP: 0).
DUEL RESULTS: Thomas Billinton wins!
(End vision...)
The vision came to an end... Percy finally stood back up. He thought that Thomas was taking pity on him by not going through with the duel.
"Just because you didn't go through with it you think I need your-" he started ranting, before he was interrupted by Emily.
"Percy-" she said, while walking over to the two boys. "-Thomas wasn't taking pity on you. He never intended to go through with the duel. He only provoked you and agreed to the duel so that you could vent out your anger."
Percy's expression seemed to ease up slightly upon hearing this, while Thomas remained silent once again.
"He knew that you wouldn't hesitate to go all out from the beginning, and he willingly let himself take the brunt of your attacks so that you could let everything out." explained Emily.
"You let me use you as a punching bag? Just so I could get it all off my chest?" Percy asked Thomas in disbelief.
"Percy, you know it's not Thomas' fault for Lady's condition." continued Emily. "Everything Thomas said to her was correct, and she recognized her mistakes. That's why she didn't hold anything against us and made the decision to leave herself. You know it's true, Percy. If you're going to be angry with somebody, then point your anger towards the monster responsible for putting Lady in this condition."
"But he's already dead!" protested Percy.
"He's dead, yes, but his legacy lives on through Lady..." Emily grimly pointed out. "Look at yourself, Percy. Is this how Lady would want you to act while she's gone? I understand your anger over what happened, but you, more than anyone else, should know the pain Thomas has been through."
Percy said nothing, letting Emily continue...
"You've experienced the pain of losing the person you love, and not being able to protect her. As painful as that was for you, you should know that Thomas has lost me far more times than you've lost Lady, and what the heartbreak has done to him..." She became noticeably sadder as she brought that up. "You should understand Thomas better than anybody, Percy..."
Percy, processing everything Emily had said, combined with his still conflicted and troubled feelings, was frustrated that he couldn't take out his anger on Dark Marik for giving Lady such PTSD.
"Damn!" The green-haired boy exclaimed, his emotions overwhelming him. He buried his face in his right hand. "What's going on?"
"Percy." said Thomas at last, grabbing Percy's attention.
"What?!"
"Lady may have left us in order to recover, but in order for her to truly make a recovery from the trauma, she needs to know that she has your trust." Thomas spoke in a calm and gentle voice, before turning his gaze slightly towards Emily. "In these moments, the love and support from the person you love most of all are the most important things you need. As long as Lady knows that you have full faith in her and still love her, Percy, it'll give her strength to overcome the hurdles in her way, no matter how far apart you are. Could you try doing that for her?"
Percy actually found himself feeling touched by Thomas' words. "Thomas..." he breathed.
The green-haired boy realized that Thomas was talking from the heart about his own recovery process, and that giving Lady his full support was the best way he could help her get better. He had to accept that Lady wasn't with him anymore, and that for the sake of letting her sort herself out and get better mentally, he had to let her go and give her her own space.
"I... I'll do that for her..." Percy said at last.
"I never wanted you two to break up, Percy." insisted Thomas honestly. "But when Lady told me to get over my trauma, Emily and I both had to let her have it."
"I know that, now."
Percy knew at this point that pinning his anger on Thomas would be pointless, so he decided he would just accept what had happened between Lady and Thomas, and do what he could to show his support and believe in his beloved, and hope that someday she would make a successful recovery...
END DREAM
Before long, Emily woke up, feeling the suns rays shining through the window of her and Thomas's hotel room touching her face. Sitting up, the dark green-haired girl looked over at Thomas, who was still asleep. She finally realized that it had all been a dream; a way that things could have gone after Lady left. A way where Thomas and Percy's friendship would've been repaired sooner than later... A much more peaceful solution than what happened.
"Hmm..." Emily mused, wondering if what she dreamt would have truly been the better way for those events to play out.
Shaking her head of sleepiness, she decided to make sure she remembered this particular dream while getting up and preparing for the next round of 'The Great International Duel Cup'.
End Scene