Author's Note Part 1: Thanks to Ulrich362, iloveyugiohGX93, and mcdinh for reviewing the previous chapter!
As it turns out, this was quite a fun chapter to write. See, there's a second Dark Signer that kind of gets introduced in addition to the obvious one. Want to know why? There are going to be more Earthbound Immortals of my creation in this story. *Evil grin*
Anywho, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I do own my OCs! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 13
I stare up at the looming tower, trying to calm my nerves. Excitement and nervousness bubble around inside of me. On one hand, I get to see Toby again. On the other, if we fail at the raid… Eek.
"You have ten minutes," Jack says to me and my small group.
It had been decided that the best course of action would be to send Yusei in first, in order for him to take out the security system. Sherry would be showing him where the control room is. At the same time, Crow and I would be running in to warn Toby, Shoshan, Akiza, and anyone in the Green Faction.
The Green Faction is the least loyal to Sayer, after all. And it's also the one that Sherry runs. Therefore, the Greens would be given an option to help us.
"We know, Jack," Crow says, annoyed. "You don't need to repeat yourself."
"Maybe I was just trying to get it through your thick skull," the blonde retorts.
"If anyone has a thick skull, it's you, Jack," my brother replies.
"Hey!" I shout, catching their attention. "You two can fight later."
The two exchange glares until Crow makes a face and turns back to face Arcadia Tower. "Fine. Let's do this!"
XXX
The moment I enter the building, I'm expecting Sayer to appear out of nowhere and put a giant hole in our plans. Either that, or the people loyal to him to attack us. But the hallways are empty, like I know they should be this late at night.
'This late at night…' I think. 'That means… Ah, they're probably playing random board games with Opal and Keria.' I take off for the elevator, waving for Crow to follow me. He does, and we make it to the elevator practically moments later. I press the button for the basement, and our ride lasts only seconds.
Ding. The doors open, and I step off the elevator. Sure enough, Toby and Shoshan are playing an extremely old edition of Monopoly with Keria and Opal. All of them look up, likely to see who showed up.
Toby stares at me for only a second before exclaiming, "Angel! You're alive!" He jumps to his feet and sprints at me.
In what seems like slow motion, Crow steps in front of me and holds out a hand. Toby faceplants into it and falls backwards. "H-Hey! What're you doing?" Toby protests, rubbing his forehead and standing up from the floor.
"I'd like to ask you the same question," my brother replies.
Great, this is actually exactly how I imagined the meeting going. If it continues to go that way… I kind of imagined them fighting… "Crow!" I shout, catching his attention. I sigh; this is a lovely way for him to find out. "Please don't manhandle my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?!" Crow looks between me and Toby, and he opens and shuts his mouth wordlessly. "That's… uh…" He blinks. "Boyfriend?!"
"Oh, so you're deaf now?" I reply sarcastically. "Yes, Crow. Toby is my boyfriend. You can hate on him later; right now we have a job to do."
"Uhm… I don't mean to interrupt this, but… what job?" Shoshan asks.
"We're going to bring down Sayer," I explain. "There's a bunch of Psychics that stayed away from the Movement, and they're all going to be storming this place right around… now."
The moment I finish speaking, the lights flicker and die out. My mark and Crow's both start glowing. I look at Crow, 'Hey, can you hear this?' I think, trying to direct my thought like I used to be able to.
'Loud and clear.' He grins and gives me a thumbs up.
'I've missed this ability,' I think. Being able to know where my friends are and what they're thinking, all because of the marks we share… that was a fun power. I branch my thoughts out; I can sense Jack's impatience, Leo's excitement, Luna's nervousness, and senseless numbers from Yusei's end, which I ignore. But Akiza, the only Signer left out… it's like there's a barrier preventing me from sensing anything but fury from her.
"Oooh! I'll go tell the others in Green what's going on!" Opal declares.
"Same here," Keria adds.
"Good, we'll need all the help we can get," I say. "Also, Greens were the only ones we were going to let in on this."
"Does Miss Sherry have anything to do with that?" Opal's blue eyes flicker with curiosity.
"Sherry's one of us," Crow responds. "Now, why don't we go kick some Arcadian butt?"
"I'm more than happy to help!" Toby exclaims. "Do you know what the Blues did when I switched factions? I have a score to settle with some of them…"
XXX
We leave the basement (with Crow making sure Toby stayed away from me), only to arrive in what seems like Hell on Earth. Even with the security systems taken down, those loyal to Arcadia must have found out about the raid anyways.
And oh, the Arcadia Movement has the resistance outnumbered almost three-to-one. No one is even Dueling: the entire lobby is just a mess of the strongest Duel Monsters everyone has all fighting each other in a free-for-all.
"Yuu!" Toby shouts.
The blue-clad replacement for Misty whips around, glaring at my boyfriend. "Hmph, if it isn't the little backstabber. You're on their side, aren't you?" Without waiting for an answer, Yuu directs his Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in our direction.
Toby laughs, "Like I'm going to let you hurt us…! Judgment Dragon! Descend from the heavens and rain down your wrath!"
The white-feathered, red-clawed dragon with four legs, two wings, and a crest fanning out behind his head appears and strikes the armored beast head-on. Both the creatures, having the same ATK, shatter upon impact.
"Tch! Let's settle things with a good old-fashioned Duel, then!" Yuu shouts.
"Fine by me," Toby says. "You guys go ahead; I'll catch up as soon as I wipe the floor with this idiot."
"THAT DOES IT! NO ONE CALLS ME AN IDIOT!" Yuu roars.
I want to stay and watch the rest of the Duel, but Crow grabs my arm and pulls me away. We end up on the complete other side of the building until the ground starts shaking. Not good. My arm burns even more then, but I have no idea why.
The answer comes shortly after, in the form of a panicked thought-message from Luna. 'Guys! One of those purple flame marks just appeared outside! It's in the shape of a curled-up bird and… and… It surrounds Arcadia Tower almost perfectly!'
That means that a Shadow Duel is taking place here. While something tells me Akiza is not in the Duel, I'm still worried for whoever it is… and for that matter, what a Dark Signer is doing here that doesn't involve trying to take down one of us.
No, wait… The earth rumbles a second time. "Agh!" My arm burns even harder, if that's possible. Now I can feel that Akiza is in a Shadow Duel, but where? With whom? Is she alright?
'Two of them… there is a second Geoglyph…' Luna's voice echoes. 'You guys need to find Akiza and get out of there!'
I look up; I can see Black Rose Dragon hovering over one of the many inside balconies. That means… Akiza is there, and so is whatever Dark Signer she's Dueling…
XXX
By the time I get up there with Crow in tow, the Duel seems to be reaching the end. I mean, Black Rose Dragon is merely a statue, and Akiza has no cards protecting her dragon. The Dark Signer has no face-downs, but a Field Spell like some sort of colosseum in play, along with two odd brown lizards in front of her.
Wait a moment, those two lizards are Reptilianne Tokens! That's the Deck that…! Gah! The Dark Signer is Misty, just like I feared!
But… who the heck is the Dark Signer next to her? There is a teenage girl with blue hair and brown eyes, with what seems like a headband with cat ears on it resting on her head. She has on the Dark Signer robes, but her shirt leaves her midriff exposed. The lines on her robes are a pale pink.
Misty looks up, her blue-grey eyes surrounded in black. Just like Kalin's… She frowns, but quickly shrugs and returns to a neutral face.
The other Dark Signer grins. "Nyeheheh! Looks like the backup came a bit too late!"
Akiza whips around, and as soon as she realizes that I'm here, she scowls. "Great, you're here…"
'Not a big fan of yours, huh?' Crow's voice echoes. 'I thought you said she was your friend.'
'Yeah, keyword was,' I think back. 'It's a… long story. I'll tell you later…' Or maybe never… I really don't feel comfortable talking about what happened to Sky, especially since Crow knew her for, what? Half a day?
"Look Akiza, you might not like me, but this Duel you're in… If you lose, your life is on the line!" I say.
"Like you care!" Akiza retorts. "You didn't care when… when… Gah! Why am I justifying myself to a murderer?! Just stay away from me!" She whips back around, and I swear I can see the anger leaking out of her. "It's your turn Misty."
"Then this is the end! I release both of my Reptilianne Tokens! O God which resuscitated my life, now I offer you my soul! Break free from the spell held over you for so long! Advent, Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua!"
Her two tokens turn into spheres of light and vanish, but no monster takes their place. For a moment I'm confused, but then I remember that Kalin's Earthbound Immortal was nearly eighty feet tall; much too large to fit inside the building. A chill runs up my spine and my mark aches, so I turn around. At the end of the hall is a large window… with a black eye lined with green staring into it.
Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua ATK: 2800, DEF: 1800, Level 10
"What… what is that thing?" Akiza asks.
The teenager replies, "That creature is one of the great Earthbound Immortals, the beings us Dark Signers are helping to bring down your self-righteous dragon! Nyeheheh!"
"What Mia says is correct," Misty says. "This Duel ends now! For everything that you've done to me…! Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua, attack—"
A familiar gasp sounds behind me. "Sister?!" Toby exclaims.
Instantly Misty's demeanor changes from aggressive to what looks like fear. "Ngh…! Toby, get away! I don't want to hurt you!"
"That's it? You aren't dead and that's all you have to say to me?!" he replies.
"It… it's much more complicated than you think…" Misty replies, closing her eyes and clenching a fist in front of her chest. "Please, Toby. You aren't a part of this war…"
Suddenly everything starts to shake again, and my mark sears with even more fire. Wherever the other Shadow Duel is, the Dark Signer must have Summoned their Earthbound Immortal…
The shaking intensifies as something slams into the building, hard. An explosion resonates from above; if I had to guess, the top floor of the building. Someone screams, and I only have to look into the center of the building, over the edge of the balcony, to watch Sayer plumet to the ground.
"NO!"
It takes me a moment to realize that Akiza and Misty had both shouted out in anguish. Both of them run to the ledge and look down. Akiza stays there but Misty backs away, a look of horror still on her face. "…I TOLD THEM TO LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"Aw man, she's gonna lose it…" the teenaged Dark Signer—what was her name? Mia?—comments. "Nyeheheh! Looks like it's time to go! Be seeing you, Signers!" She laughs one more time before grabbing the angry Misty and vanishing in a cloud of purple smoke.
My mark stops glowing, since both Shadow Duels seem to be done. I can't believe Sayer was in the other… and lost… It feels like a great amount of weight is gone from my shoulders, and yet replaced with another. What if he becomes a Dark Signer? Would it even be possible to defeat him? Or any Dark Signer for that matter? The Earthbound Immortals are way too strong…
The building starts shaking again, snapping me back to reality. Well, that and Crow grabbing my shoulder, saying, "This place is coming down!"
"Yeah, I figured," I reply as a chunk of the ceiling falls a few feet behind Toby. I swallow and walk up to Akiza. "Akiza, we need to go. Now."
She glares at me and backs away. "No! Not with you…! Sayer! SAYER!" And then something must shift in her head, because instead of blasting me with a powerful gust of wind, she pitches forward, unconscious.
The building continues to fall apart, and I grab Akiza's arm. I nod to Crow, and we all Teleport to the entrance. From there, we run back to the street corner we'd left Luna at, because she wasn't going to participate in the raid itself.
The other Signers are there already, but Jack is clearly seething with rage. When he spots us, he instantly demands, "Have any of you seen Carly?"
"No," I reply. "We found Akiza, though." I gesture to the unconscious woman in Crow's arms.
Jack swears under his breath and takes off for the collapsing building.
I go to stop him, but Yusei shakes his head and stops me from running after him. "Don't bother; you know how he is."
"Yeah…" I look back at Arcadia Tower, whose top is now almost completely destroyed, and windows even at the bottom shattered in millions of pieces. 'I hope Carly is alright…'
To be continued…
Author's Note Part 2: Don't worry, you'll be seeing more of Mia… eventually. She's actually really fun to write, for some reason. Even though she's only spoken like, three times.
I hope no one was OOC in this chapter. If you saw anything wrong, please point it out! I greatly appreciate constructive criticism! I also love to hear just what you guys have to say! So, whether you loved this chapter or hated it, please leave a review!