I failed… The thoughts flew around Serena's mind. All she could see was Archlord Kristya and Darklords Superbia and Asmodeus looming over her. I lost the duel… my friends would be dead if not for a fluke. I'm not even worth my salt as a duelist…
The images flashed through her mind again. Kristya's sword, an inch from her neck. The energy blasts of darkness disappearing before her eyes because of Kaiba's bullet. The gust of wind as Joey did what she could not, saving her friends from death. She started at the noise of footsteps.
"…Serena?" Rebecca asked. Serena turned to her sullenly. "You cool?" She asked. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I failed, Rebecca. Interrupted or not, I lost that duel. I barely even scratched her life points, for God's sake! I had my best cards out and I failed my friends. They… are ok?" She asked fearfully. Rebecca thought for a moment, debating with herself before she finally answered.
"…Your friends were killed," She lied. Serena's eyes widened. She thought they'd been saved! "Yugi survived, Atem managed to catch him. Tears leaked from Serena's eyes. Rebecca hated lying to Serena, especially about such a sensitive subject. But the girl needed to regain her pride, her confidence and her drive. Rebecca had a plan to do just that.
"I… thought they were saved. Oh, my God…" Serena whispered. Rebecca took a deep breath.
"Listen, Kaiba split with the cards. Atem went to check on Joey, so let's go find them. I think Joey flew into the church," She said. Serena gasped. She paused for a moment before finally letting Rebecca help her to her feet.
"Go on ahead, I'll meet you up in a sec," Rebecca said. Serena didn't question her; she just nodded her head and took off down the stairs. Once Rebecca was sure Serena was gone, she transformed to normal and whipped out her phone. "Atem? Get the Scouts out of there. I need Serena to think that everyone but Yugi died just now. Yes, Atem, I know it sounds cruel. I'll explain later. If she asks, you caught Yugi. Just do it," She said before hanging up.
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Atem closed his phone, looking at it very strangely. He thought for a moment and finally decided that he trusted Rebecca. "Scouts. Rebecca has some sort of plan that requires Serena to believe you all dead. Yes," he said, cutting off Amy, "I know it sounds cruel. I think she may have some way of restoring Serena's confidence. She must be in depression over failing to win…" Atem trailed off.
"Well… Girls, let's get out of here then. Atem, we'll see you later," Amy said. The others nodded and made their way out the back just in time.
'Atem! Joey!" Serena yelled, rushing over to the pair with Rebecca in tow. "Is he dead too?" She asked sadly. Atem shook his head. "Thank the moon… Atem, I can't do this," She said. "I've allowed myself to become possessed for the will of evil, injured others in the process and now my friends are dead because of my failures. Please… take it," Serena begged, lifting her disk and deck to him.
Rebecca grabbed her by the shoulder. "Are you that much of a little bitch?!" She demanded. "You lose one damn duel because someone played a perfect counter strategy? Come on! Your friends are gone. Bakura saw to that. He rigged that duel. Are you REALLY that much of a scared little girl? I expected better from the one named Sailor Moon!" She lectured, getting up in her face.
"I tried my best! It wasn't good enough, ok?! People died because I'm a screwup at this game! I couldn't even save my friends when they needed me, and now they're all dead because I'm a failure!" Serena shot back through tears. Rebecca narrowed her eyes.
"If you really are so quick to give up, to call yourself a failure over a loss you were doomed to have, then Luna went to the wrong person with this," She said, holding the Moon Prism.
A cold silence filled the air as Atem watched the proceedings. What did Rebecca think she was doing? "Rebecca, maybe-"
"Butt out, Atem. You know what? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you were just too weak to save anyone. You shouldn't have stepped out of your league if you already batting less than perfect," Rebecca said with a smirk. She smiled inside as Serena's face warped from defeatist sadness to rage.
"I am not weak! I just wasn't strong enough to get the job done, ok? I thought I was better… that I could take her… I am in no way weak!" She yelled. That's it, Serena. Defend yourself. Get mad at me. Come on, Rebecca thought.
"You know what, Serena? Prove it. You say you're not weak? Prove it. I may not be King of Games, but I've held and hold several championships in Duel Monsters. If you really aren't weak, you should be able to take me down, yeah?" Rebecca challenged.
Atem smiled to himself as he realized what Rebecca was doing. Massive reverse psychology was making Serena defend her strength. He frowned when Serena turned her back.
"I… no. Atem, just take my deck. I'll drop from the tournament, take the Prism and see about finding some way to maybe stop Beryl," she said sullenly. Rebecca snorted.
"Oh. So. Just going to turn your back again, huh? Too weak to fight for what's important, so you turn tail and run. Just like you turned your back on your friends because you were too weak to save them?" Rebecca's words were ice-cold daggers. She froze and slowly turned around.
"I.. was not too weak to save them. They died because Bakura gave Beryl a greater power than what I had, a better deck. She had me out gunned and countered at every turn. I'm not weak!" She growled.
"Then prove it!" Rebecca shouted back. "Think about what the other Scouts would want! Would they have you just run? Or would they have you fight and defend yourself?" She demanded.
The faces of her friends raced through Serena's head. Memories of their battles, their good times and bad. She felt as if Rebecca was right; it wasn't just her honor on the line, it was the good name of the Sailor Scouts she was defending.
"…Fine. FINE! Let's do this!" Serena finally said.
Rebecca smiled inwardly again. That's right, girl. Get pissed. Show me just what you're made of. Get at me, she thought as they raised their disks. She shot a sideways look at the sound of Joey waking up. Rebecca froze, realizing that Joey had probably seen the Sailor Scouts and would ruin the illusion of their death. Atem understood the look she gave him and nodded.
"Joey, listen to me. Serena needs to regain her duelist's pride, confidence and heart. She has been depressed with her recent issues, being possessed by Dreadroot and losing to Beryl. Rebecca is forcing her out of the funk, but she's told Serena that the other Scouts are dead in order to anger Serena enough to fight," He said quickly in a low voice.
Joey made a face but nodded. "So no giving away that they're still alive and well," he finished just as quietly. Atem nodded. "So… Rebecca's doing da same thing to Serena that you went through when you dueled Yugi to conquer your evil from da Seal?" He guessed. Atem grimaced at the memory but nodded.
"She's become overwhelmed not with darkness, but with fear and shame. She feels as though she's failed as a hero and a duelist. In reality, I'm certain Bakura knew that you were going to be the one dueling so he had Beryl use that Kristya card," He said. Joey nodded and shook his head in disgust. "By the way, are you ok? You did fly off of a motorcycle from about 30 feet up and crash through a window," Atem added. Joey grinned weakly.
"I'll be fine. You're talking to da guy that was still standing after The Winged Dragon of Ra fried him AFTER being dripped on by a giant lava monster AFTER feeling the pain of his monsters dyin' in a Shadow Game. It takes more den a lousy cross to stop me. No offense to anyone up there," he added.
"Alright! I'll start off with Gladiator Beast Laquari in Attack Mode with two facedown cards!" She said. She opened her mouth to end her turn but froze. What stood before her was not the sword-wielding lizard; rather, Rei had risen to the field. Her eyes widened as she stared. "Rei?" She whispered.
Rebecca shot a confused glance to Atem. To her it looked like the same old Laquari. Why was Serena saying Rei's name? "Serena, are you done?" She asked. Serena snapped out of her trance and nodded.
"Alright… I'll play a card face-down and Summon Injection Fairy Lily (400/1500)!" Rebecca said. A winged nurse flew down, holding a syringe and waving cheerfully. Serena rose an eyebrow. 400 ATK? Something wasn't right here.
"I'll draw and play Gladiator Beast Murmillo," She said. Again her jaw dropped as Amy came to the field rather than the fish she usually saw. "What the hell… are your spirits in my deck now or…?" Serena wondered. She had to be seeing things, because Rebecca and Joey were looking oddly at her again. "Sorry," She said. "I'll attack Lily with Am- I mean, Murmillo!" She declared. Rebecca smiled.
"By giving up 2000 life points, I'll pump Lily's ATK up by 3000 in the damage step!" She responded. The syringe suddenly quadrupled in size, but Serena maintained her cool.
"My Gladiator Beast War Chariot activates! When I have a Gladiator on the field, I'm allowed to use this card to negate an Effect Monster's activated ability. And since it's a Counter, I can use it even in the damage step!" She added. Rebecca was impressed, and her face showed it even as her monster was destroyed. Serena smiled sadly as she watched the Shabon Bubbles destroy Lily, knowing that she'd never see that for real again.
Atem furrowed his eyebrows. Why did Serena keep referring to her Gladiators as the Scouts? Some after-effect of Dreadroot messing with her head? "I wonder why Serena keeps talking about her monsters that way," He murmured. Joey held up a finger.
"I think I know. Remember back on the blimp when I lost to Marik and you were fightin' Kaiba? And when I had dat vision of duelin' that kid while Tristan tried to wake me up?" He asked.
"I remember you telling me about it, yes," Atem said.
"Well, dat was my mind tryin' to tell me that I had da strength to get back up. Dat duel was a tough one, and that kid represented da struggle of tryin' to get outta da Shadow Realm so I could back ya up. I think Serena's mind is lettin' her know dat no matter what she does, whether she wins or loses, fails or succeeds, her friends are always gonna be dere. Even when she thinks them dead, she sees 'em coming to her aid in the form of her monsters," Joey theorized. Atem nodded his head, surprised at Joey's level of insight.
"That…is a very sound theory, actually. I'm glad that you've reached that level of understanding the true meaning of being a duelist," He said. Joey smiled.
"It's been a long road, buddy, but how could I lose havin' you guys with me?" He asked. Atem smiled and turned his attention back to the duel.
"I attack directly with Laquari!" Serena continued. A tear ran down her face as Rei readied her bow and fired at Rebecca. She grinned as she flipped her other card.
"Not so fast. Gravity Bind will stop all of your Level 4 or higher monsters from attacking!" Rebecca said. Serena grimaced as Rei appeared to lose her grip on the bow due to the force pressing down on her.
"End of Battle Phase, tag out A- Murmillo for Bestiari and destroy your card!" Serena commanded. Amy turned, smiled and to Serena's shock spoke.
"Good luck, Serena. I'll be here if you need me," She said before fading. In her place rose Lita, who took out Gravity Bind with her Lightning Whip. Serena's mouth formed an "o" as it clicked. Laquari, a FIRE monster was Rei. Murmillo, WATER, was Amy. So Lita, who though wasn't wind-oriented but wore green, was Bestiari.
"I end my turn," She said. Rebecca smiled as she drew. Not because she had a killer play to make; she had good plays alright, but she was happy with the fact that she could see Serena start to leave her defeatist attitude in the dust.
"See, Serena? Would someone so weak as you say you are being faring this well against a Duel Monsters champion? You even beat Atem once, remember?" Rebecca reminded her. Serena bit her lip and thought about it. Rebecca was right; She'd beaten one champion and was on her way to defeating another. It was seeming less likely by the moment that she truly was weak and more so that she'd been tricked.
"I…" Serena didn't know what to say. She'd still lost when it mattered most; when her friends' lives were at stake. Rebecca grinned. Time to finish off the massive mind-screw.
"If you'll recall, it took a direct counter-strategy AND a whole swarm of angels to take you down. And you know what? Even if they did cheat and stack the deck against you, they got robbed in the end. I told you the Scouts were dead, right?" She asked. Serena closed her eyes in mourning and nodded. "Well… mission accomplished. Their 'death' gave you the drive to power out of your funk and realize that you're as tough as ever," Rebecca said.
Serena blinked, confused. "Mission accomplished?" She echoed. Rebecca turned to look at Atem; she knew she was gonna dread this part of the plan. Atem smirked. She was going to pay for lying at some point… he thought.
"Well…I, er," Rebecca was trying to think of a nice way to put it. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you were, she didn't have to.
"Details of our death may have been slightly exaggerated," Serena spun around so fast that Rebecca could swear the girl had suffered whiplash. Lita stood with the other Scouts, a rather amused look on her face. "You know, that was a mean trick, Rebecca," She called over Serena's shoulder.
Serena narrowed her eyes as she put two and two together. "You mean to tell me that you lied about my friends being dead just so you could psych me out of depression?!" She yelled, marching right around the hard light holograms to tower over Rebecca.
"Uhm… er… yeah," Rebecca squeaked. Serena looked more terrifying to her at the moment than anything Bakura could ever have summoned. Even Amy couldn't help but chuckle at Serena's reactions.
"You… you…" Serena was so mad she couldn't even think of words to describe it. She heard the chuckling and whipped back around, outraged. "You guys think this is funny?! I thought you were dead! I thought…" Rebecca could swear she could see steam emitting from Serena's ears.
"Serena," Luna said, leaping from Amy's shoulder and jumping up to hers, "you must understand that it was the only thing that would provoke you hard enough into defending yourself and," She said, eyeing Rebecca, "falling right into her mind-screwing." Seeing that Serena was no more calm, Luna sighed. "The fact is, you've learned your lesson. This," She said, leaping over to Rebecca and unfastening the Moon Prism, "proves it," she added, handing Serena the gem.
Serena laughed as the Prism shone instantaneously, transforming her to match with the other transformed Scouts. She sighed and looked at Rebecca with an unreadable expression.
"Alright, fine. You win. But don't you EVER lie to me about stuff like that again," She said after a moment. Rebecca grinned and nodded. "You know something? I'm tired as hell from the massive amount of bull-" Atem cleared his throat loudly and pointedly, pointing to the cross. "Oh. OK, all the crap that's happened tonight. Kaiba got his deck back, Joey trashed what we pray is Valon's bike, Bakura's royall pi-" Atem coughed again. "Ticked off," She amended.
"Amen to that. Let's get out of this joint," Lita agreed. Atem sighed.
"Are we going to show any respect to the church here? Maybe, you know, not curse and refer to it as a "joint", maybe actually fix the damage we did?" He asked, exasperated. Serena realized that yeah, they kind of broke a stained glass window.
"…Well, we are 'employed' under Kaiba. We'll tell the church it was collateral damage as part of doing our job," Amy said after a moment. Joey grinned.
"You mean let Moneybags pay for it?" He asked. Amy nodded. "Sounds good to me," He said cheerfully. The cheerful demeanor fell when he tried to stand. "Ow. Okay… Ow," He said again.
"Tell you what. You girls head to the hotel and get some rest. Be careful, please. We'll get Joey to the emergency room and make sure he's alright," Atem said.
"Sounds good. Let's try not to get into any mortal duels this time though," Serena added. Besides, I think we'll have plenty of duels to play tomorrow, She thought.