Call of Darkness
XXIII: Tremendous Fire
"You left a permanent garden in that town!" Uncle Kiryu's screams could still be heard echoing through the desert.
"I'm sorry..." Nii-chan whispered.
"That's not the problem!" Uncle Kiryu was still waving towards the run-down town, or the transformed town. "How? This place is desert for a hundred miles around! And there's even an oasis now!"
Vines entwined around the ruined wood walls, the tiled roofs, the corrugated steel rusting under the sheen of green. Nearby, a brook bubbled up near the well, flooding into a well of clear water. The temperature already felt cooler in the transformed town, whatever magic there was in its inception more than welcome as a change to what would be dying, a patch of life in an otherwise barren area.
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Rex muttered. "I mean, now there's access to fresh water-"
"And the fact that the geography of the desert just underwent a major overhaul by unnatural means won't be noted?" Uncle Kiryu crossed one arm as he picked a rose from a nearby bush to make his point, especially missing the thorns.
"If I may suggest..." Ryuusei considered. "The Arcadia Movement can take the credit for this. Seeing as the camps are held here every year, I do not think it would be noticed if the incident is shuffled under the file of unusual happenings that gather around the Arcadia Movement's members each year."
"And if we claim as such, this rose-garden can be taken under the wing of Satisfaction Town and developed, as well as provide fresh water," Kaido considered.
"True..." Uncle Kiryu considered. "Exactly... who owns the land, anyway?"
"I'll get on it when we're back in Neo Domino City," Kaido easily replied. "Chibi Boss, we've got to put out the-"
Boom...
"Fire!" Satoshi-san called at the top of his voice as a couple of acolytes ran towards the well.
"You idiot!" Kaido screamed.
"Oh, yeah," Uncle Kiryu crossed his arms. "Actually, we've got a guy who's headed to Neo Domino City but he doesn't have a D-Wheel. We don't have one to spare for him. So, could I ask for a favour from your guys to let him ride along?"
"Why did you bring this up only now?" Chase-nii waspishly commented, and got smacked for his trouble.
"Idiot disciple, why not?" Uncle Kiryu snapped back. "Anyway, I promise he's a nice guy and everything."
"To get that from someone who actually knows Fudo Yusei, that must be really high praise." Kaido commented. "So-"
Boom...
"Satoshi you bastard, put that fire out!" Kaido yelled without missing a beat. "So, where is he?"
"What a consummate multitasker," master and student commented simultaneously.
"Sorry, Kiryu-san, I got slightly lost- why is there a garden in the middle of the desert?" a man's voice asked as I turned around to see him.
He was very tall, standing perhaps equal to even Rex-nii. His black hair was cut short with the back and sides in a buzz-cut and the fringe a little longer and waved in the front. Most unusual were his eyes; one a sapphire-blue and the other was gold, and yet from them there was an aura of quiet strength, like Nii-chan own strength; immovable as a mountain and steadier than the earth. A fitted white short-sleeve shirt with a wide collar, under a gold vest worn unbuttoned covered his excellent muscle tone, and a white and gold newsboy cap, blue bell-bottom jeans, off-white Beatle boots, and a gold medallion that looks like the head of Exodia finished the ensemble. There was a tattoo in the shape of Exodia's head on his right forearm that gleamed in the desert sun as he stared in surprise at the new flora-covered town.
"Remodelling," was the short reply. "Everyone, this guy is Orion Hunter. Hunter, these guys are with the Arcadia Movement, who was holding their Camp Kaboom here. They'll be taking you along with them when they return to Neo Domino City later."
"Orion-san?" Nii-chan blinked. "Hey, it's really you, Orion-san!"
"Ryuusei?" Orion blinked. "Then..."
Slowly, his gaze turned to me. "...Seika?"
"Y- Yes," I nodded. "Erm... do we know each other?"
"Yes, we certainly do," Orion nodded. "I'm Setsuka's cousin! Don't you remember me, Seika?"
"I- I'm sorry... I don't," I shook my head. "You're Setsu-chan's cousin?"
"Oh, right, you were about five then," Orion nodded. "Yeah, I'm her cousin. Diana-san, or the Madame as we knew her, was my father's sister."
"You're Apollymi Hunter's-" Kaido did a double take. "You're... Boss's cousin?"
"She's still the head of the Movement, I take it?" Orion conversationally asked.
"N- No," I stuttered. "I- I am."
Silence. More silence. The kind of forcibly extended awkward silence where Orion looked like he needed some time to wrap his head around the concept.
"I- I see," Orion answered, his voice having taken on a strangled quality. "Then... Setsuka... what happened to Setsuka? Ryuusei? Seika? What's been going on?"
There was a pause. Kaido shook his head. "Let's get on the bus. I'll try to explain what I can."
DNA is frigging amazing. I mean, no matter how you look at it, it's a string of stuff written in quaternary code that's made up of four chemical compounds attached to a simple sugar-phosphate backbone that pretty much dictates our entire body. It's the personal coding language of biology itself and its structure was pretty much the number one medical discovery of the twentieth century. It can heal, and it can kill, and it's all dependent on a unique combination of chemical compounds whose unique order only comes up in astronomical odds.
DNA can make, once in a while, some really unique individuals whom you just... know. Know what, exactly, I have no clue, but there's something about them that either endears them to everyone, or freaks the hell out of everyone else. Sometimes, that specific facet of a person becomes your entire impression of them and it remains.
Take, for example, Shimotsuki. Even though the old girl was responsible for fifty thousand members of the Movement in Neo Domino itself and approximately fifteen thousand and counting worldwide – which pretty much meant that she used to control the city in the world with the highest ratio of Psychic Duelist to population, with only New York coming second with a paltry five thousand or so – I always had the impression that she'd sprung from the earth already fully formed with a poker face and cold glares and an equally glacial aura that just freaks the hell out of me. The details of her family, the equally legendary Madame Shimotsuki and the father who once beat the King of Games, Yuugi Mutou himself (and some say the Nameless Pharaoh as well) were... background. There, but unimportant. It's a lot like Batman; he's a vigilante hero of the night, and she's the badass Mafia princess of the Arcadia Movement. There wasn't much else I'd cared to take note of...
…until I recalled that everyone had a story behind them.
Ryuusei had the shadow of his mother's Black Rose Witch and now the mantle of incredible power on him. Rex had the worry for his mother and sister given Jack Atlas's usual absenteeism. I had my parents dying, running away fro home, and to Satisfaction Town where a kairotic moment happened for me. Kiyoshi... Kiyoshi had his abuse, Ophion killing his foster family and causing him to run to the Summer Court of the spirits, until he saw how they treated their 'guests' and got insane and decided to spare us all by killing us through ice ages or global warming. Seika had her father dying, her adoption into the Fudo family, and her relation with the Shimotsuki family, as well as her recent appointment as the new head of the Arcadia Movement.
It was very easy to be batshit terrified of Shimotsuki Setsuka, just staring into her eyes and into a soul as barren and cold as the frozen tundra. It was very easy to pay attention to the very awe her presence inspired just by mentioning her, and anyone who knew her would immediately pause to wipe sweaty palms on the nearest available surface and force that fight-or-flight reflex down unless she was in view, at which they just hunkered down and prayed not to be eaten. Family didn't seem to be an integral part of her; she was, and is, and would be, Shimotsuki Setsuka, and family was a background concern.
To have living family, though... that meant that she had a past too. That meant that she was a living being, with hopes and dreams and emotions. That meant that she too, once upon a time, had family, someone to stave off the emptiness and quiet pain and the feeling that no one cared about you at all. That she had family, but we didn't quite know, meant quite a lot of things.
"You're the Madame's nephew, then?" Kaido was asking Orion. We were on the coach, all occupied in our seats for the long ride back to Neo Domino City and there was barely anything to do besides wait.
"Yes," Orion answered. "I know... my father wasn't really around. I was found when I was eight and she claimed me. I went to Duel Academia and then started travelling, so I wasn't really in Neo Domino when she was setting up, but I did have an honorary membership."
"Oh, right," Kaido nodded. "You're a member of the Hunter family."
"And what of it?" Orion asked.
"Boss had you declared dead," Kaido bluntly answered. "Since you're technically alive, you'll be revived in the eyes of the law. With that, the Madame's will should be reactivated, which therefore means that there will be another contender for the position of head of the Arcadia Movement. Chibi Boss is the invested head right now, with actual power but no legal standing because of her status as a minor. Therefore, you have the strongest legal standing to take over the Arcadia Movement."
"I was declared dead- of course I was," Orion sounded deflated. "As expected of Setsuka, she really works fast... so I've been legally dead for eleven years, huh?"
"Yeah," Kaido shortly answered. "Are you intending to rejoin the Movement?"
"Well, I was intending to challenge Setsuka and win, so... yeah, I guess," Orion chuckled.
Kaido continued to study him, from his seat across that little hallway between the seats on a coach. Speaking as someone who had been under that stare, I knew from experience that it would be unsettling.
"You have no intentions to take over the Arcadia Movement," the bespectacled Duelist finally said. "It's just the result of the end. And I don't think you have the temperament of handling the Movement the way it is now, anyway."
"I'm flattered," Orion crossed his arms, barely reacting. "So... since Seika is the head of the Arcadia Movement, where is Setsuka?"
"She's... gone," Kaido answered.
Orion looked at him, and then at Satoshi and Rodriguez, who were keeping the baby Psychics calm if not actually in order. Then he got up and turned to Ryuusei. "Where. Is. My. Cousin."
Although Orion was the exact opposite of Shimotsuki in terms of aura, him being somewhat close inspiring hope and cavities in everyone and she being the coldly malicious entity I've always known, it was at times like this that I truly saw the family resemblance, the grace of their shared features and the steely resolve hidden within.
Shimotsuki was a Mafia princess. This was a prince.
Ryuusei considered. "She's in Australia on the honeymoon right now."
There was that look on his face again. Usually it involved people doing crazy and improbable things and you can't believe that they actually got away with it but they did with the kind of aplomb that you envy them for, that some people can manage something this daring and get away with it for being human. That was the exact reaction of Orion Hunter upon hearing about his cousin's marriage. I mean, sure, Jimmy Cook and Shimotsuki Setsuka weren't the couple everyone was expecting, but he could have taken the news as someone related to Shimotsuki might be.
"What?" he yelped. "She got married?"
"Yes." Ryuusei answered. "James Cook II."
"Oh, that guy," Orion nodded, still with that stupefied look on his face. "So his persistence won out, huh? I guess he was serious about that crush..."
Anyone who regularly kept up with the grapevine of the Movement knew about Jimmy Cook and his crush on the ice queen. It was the butt of jokes until a few years ago, and then they became the envy of almost every Psychic. It might sound funny, but the ice queen had someone to love. The very fact of it was... rather heart-rending when she disappeared.
"Why did you leave, Orion-san?" Ryuusei asked, deciding to change the subject.
"...it got bad," Orion groaned, a series of expressions crossing his face, along with a quiet regret. "Eleven years ago... it started. Setsuka turned for the worse, she became what everyone kept calling her. A monster, a witch... and she took it even further. I didn't even know until Nakamura-san called me... and by then, Shimotsuki Setsuka already had her own Interpol file under suspicion of annihilating the Elysium Circle and its allies. Can you imagine... a ten, no, eleven-year-old girl, being a criminal at that age?"
"Eleven years old?" I yelped. "She-"
"Madame's death affected everyone in the Movement," Ryuusei stoically answered. "That contract with Dewloren gave an already powerful child too much power. That's why, when you challenged her publicly, Orion-san, and you were beaten down horribly. And after that, you left the Arcadia Movement to travel. During that time, Shimotsuki had you declared legally dead, and therefore claimed your material possessions under Madame Shimotsuki's will. With no one else to challenge her after that, Shimotsuki expanded the Arcadia Movement and became its benevolent dictator until she gave it up to Seika."
"What was she thinking...?" Orion groaned, putting his face into his hands. "Setsuka... is, was precocious, headstrong, and like Diana-san. She was a dangerous combination, and the fact that the Madame kept teaching her as well was even more so. Was I too late...?"
"Orion-san, what did you leave for?" Ryuusei questioned.
"After... I was horribly beaten," Orion admitted. "I was in the hospital for two weeks. During that time, I realised that to have any hope of reaching Setsuka, I needed power. Even though I had Psychic powers, and from my mother the Sight, I couldn't persuade or move Setsuka because she was precocious and headstrong. I couldn't defeat Setsuka or make her listen because she had so much more power and will than me. So, with my mother's archaeology journals, I traced the origins of Duel Spirits all over the world. I needed to find a way to break the contract."
"You were too late to prevent the deaths of the Madame and Rafael-san," Ryuusei nodded. "You were too late to stop her from making that deal with Dewloren that sealed her fate. And now, you are too late to defeat her. The distance between the two of you have increased further."
"So she's in Australia..." Orion sighed. "Well, I can ask her when she comes back."
"She's not coming back," Ryuusei quietly answered. "And you know it, servant of the Forbidden One."
The gold eye flashed, and there was a haunted shadow about Orion's features. "So do you, Lord of the Ever-Green."
The coach rumbled, and stalled, drawing groans from most of the people as they got up and out, onto the streets of Neo Domino City once more. Overhead, the Arcadia Movement building loomed, a spectacle of black and forbidding but curiously safe.
"Welcome..." Nakamura-san's words died as he laid eyes on Orion. "...Orion-sama?"
"Nakamura-san!" Orion laughed, reaching over to give Nakamura-san a friendly embrace and handshake. "You're here!"
The older man's face fell. "Indeed... if only it were not so." He turned to Seika. "Seika-ojou, you must be tired."
"Welcome back, everyone!" Aki-sensei called cheerfully, reaching over to give Ryuusei a hug. "I hope you all had fun at Camp Kaboom!"
Kaido groaned openly. "You too, Izayoi-sensei?"
"Let's face it, Basic Burn Damage isn't a very interesting camp name," Satoshi teased.
"Get back here!" Kaido drew swiftly and flung a violet blast at him, which Satoshi dodged and ran.
"No one got hurt, Ryuusei turned the town into a rose garden, overall we're okay," Rex reported.
"Good!" Aki-sensei nodded as she gave Seika a hug. "Uzuki-san?"
"Say..." Uzuki's face fell suddenly and comically. "I forgot about the test!"
"Uzuki..." Seika sighed. "The test is Dueling 101..."
"You still need to study for that test?" Rex and I spoke together.
"I did study for it last time," Ryuusei answered.
"That's because you're a nice guy and Shirahane hates you," I waspishly replied.
"What's the test about?" Adrian asked.
"Alternate Win conditions," Uzuki sighed. "We didn't have a nice presentation like Princeton-san's year-"
"Oi, I didn't ask Kiryu-sensei to come over!" I hotly protested.
"Duel!" Orion snapped his fingers. "Is it just you two? We can have a practical lesson! After all, we have the famous Viper Duelist, Adrian Rodriguez here, right?"
"I'm famous?" Adrian's eyes sparkled.
"Amongst the Duel Spirits," I supplied. "They call you 'the loud-mouth snake bastard'."
"Oi!" Adrian glared at me, but something said that he was teasing. "So, a shower first, and then I'll team up with this guy in Duel Marathon on Alternate Win conditions, huh?"
It is amazing, the speed at which the younger Himemiya sister can be forced to move when faced with the prospect of a Duel. It was done and over with in a flash, as the two girls faced both Duelists.
"This is a friendly Duel," Seika nodded. "Uzuki, don't go overboard, okay?"
"Yes, Seika!" Uzuki waved as she faced Adrian. "Ready, senior?"
"You make that sound old," Adrian joked.
"Duel!"
Uzuki: LP 8000
Adrian: LP 8000
"Draw!" Uzuki called. "I'll set a card. Turn end."
"Draw!" Adrian called. "Our lesson begins now. I'll activate Trade-In to discard a level eight monster and draw two cards. Then, I'll set four cards and end my turn."
"Draw!" Uzuki declared. "I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket and summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]." The witch appeared in a cloud of pink hearts, readying her fork-broomstick. "Madolche Magileine, direct attack!"
Adrian: LP 8000 → LP 6600
Uzuki: LP 8000
"Trap card, Damage Condenser!" Adrian called. "By discarding a card, I'll special summon a monster with equal or less attack power than the damage I took. The snake king's wrath shall be unleashed once more! His body uncoiled, he will crush all in his way! Arise, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!"
It wore green robes under a sweeping purple cloak, and bore a golden crown the shape of the top half of a cobra's head to cover its face. Snakes of a greenish hue hissed from all around it's body, and everyone would swear that he could see a forked tongue dart out occasionally [0/0].
"Vennominon? But... its attack power is zero..." Uzuki murmured. "Turn end!"
"Draw! And then, I activate the Trap card, Offering to the Snake Deity!" Adrian called. "By destroying my Vennominon, I can destroy two cards you control. I'll destroy that Madolche Ticket and your set card! Now, I activate my own Trap: Rise of the Snake Deity! The serpent goddess has at last awoken! Her venom shall weaken and wither away all who oppose her! Awaken, Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes!"
Snake-skin slithered about, her head of poisonous snakes arose, covering her with that very same malevolent air that was lent to all monsters. The wicked witches, the evil queens, the mad enchantresses. Think of the alluring sirens, the hungry ogresses, the savage she-beasts. Think of them, and remember that somewhere, sometime, they have all been real[0/0 → 500/0].
"Next, I activate the Spell, Snake Rain," Adrian declared. "I mill four Reptiles of my choice into the graveyard to increase the power of Vennominaga [500/0 → 2500/0]. My last trap of this turn, Ojama Trio!"
"Ojama... Trio?" Uzuki repeated as the infamous three stooges of Uncle Jun's deck appeared [0/1000].
"O-"
"-JA-"
"-MA-"
"TRIO!" they cheered as they occupied the field.
"W- What?" Uzuki looked deeply offended.
"I'll set a card, and turn end." Adrian nodded.
"Draw!" Uzuki called.
"Trap card, Battle Mania!" Adrian called. "Now, all your monsters are switched to attack mode and must attack this turn!"
"W- What?" Uzuki panicked as her cards changed. "W- When Madolche Marmalmaide is flipped face-up, I can take back Madolche Ticket."
"But, you'll be forced to battle," Adrian nodded. "See, the three stooges are already at it. Vennominaga, counter with Absolute Venom!"
Indeed, the ugly trio flung themselves as Vennominaga, whose snakes lashed out. As she killed each and every one of them, three little snakes gathered at her feet, or where she touched ground.
"Each time Vennominaga inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I gain a Hyper Venom Counter," Adrian nodded. "When she has three Hyper Venom Counters, I win the Duel!"
Adrian: AUTOMATIC WIN
Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 7100 → LP 0
"As usual, the Viper doesn't hold back even in a practice session," Satoshi commented from the sidelines.
"I don't want to hear that from the Spartan teacher called the Trailblazer," Adrian snapped right back. "Anyway, that was one of the Duel Winners in action."
"Duel... Winners..." Uzuki echoed. "Cards that can win a Duel by other methods. Exodia, Exodius, Final Countdown, Last Turn, Destiny Board, Horakhty, and... Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes. Incredibly powerful cards... Cards that can win a Duel in a single move... the Duel Winners."
"Nice," Orion began clapping. "Then, shall we?"
The floor began to rumble as he proposed it, and the doors opened. Ryuusei and the Professor dived through in time as the explosion sounded.
"Dad, next time, less," Ryuusei commented as he unlocked his DuelDisk.
"What happened?" Uzuki snapped as a mass of black feathers scattered through and some malevolence in the air seemed to seep in as we all faced it.
It's coming! Rei warned. That power...
"You opened a door to a world you don't know." The whip glanced through the air, and bit through concrete as the white-haired entity in red and black armour that did everything to enhance her attributes appeared, snapping her whip. Ryuusuke flew from its grip to bump and bounce on the floor towards us. The Professor caught him. "Right into the heart of Winter. Prepare to pay the price, impudent worm." Her voice was cracked and oddly canted, like she was talking underwater.
"I'll do something about the dimension tear," The Professor nodded. "Ryuusei, I'll need you as well. Can one of you take care of Ryuusuke-kun and occupy that monster?"
"Winter... just nice, then," Orion stepped up. "You monster, I challenge you to a Duel. If you win, then you'll be able to do what you like. If I win, you'll tell me everything about your boss."
"I am the Chaos Hunter, and as a boon the Queen in all her glory has granted me the name Nemesis, as her retribution," the Chaos Hunter replied as her left arm glowed and the armour fanned out into a DuelDisk. Right now, the Fudo father-son team made a run for the laboratory. "As you wish, I shall fulfil it."
"Duel!"
Orion: LP 8000
Nemesis: LP 8000
"Draw!" Orion called. "I'll summon Vortex Trooper [0/600] to the field. Now, I can return two cards from my hand and return it to my deck, shuffle, and then draw two cards. With that, I activate Pot of Duality, which allows me to check the top three cards of my deck, and add a card of choice to hand. I'll choose Defence Draw. So, I'll set a card, turn end."
"Draw," the Hunter studied the field. "When my opponent controls a monster and I do not, I can special summon from my hand the tuner monster, Unknown Synchron [0/0]."
"Synchron?" I could feel my eyebrow rise as the lump of metal appeared on the field.
"I shall then activate the Spell, Charge of the Light Brigade." she continued. "By sending three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a Lightsworn monster. I shall choose Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. Now I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin [1800/1200] to the field. Jain, attack that Vortex Trooper."
"Trap card, Defence Draw!" Orion countered. "All battle damage here becomes zero. And then, when Vortex Trooper is destroyed, I can draw a card," Orion nodded. "And then, I can draw another card thanks to Defence Draw."
"I shall set a card, turn end." the Hunter rumbled.
"My turn, draw!" Orion called. "I summon Sangan [1000/600]! Sangan, attack Jain!"
"Jain has the higher attack power!" Nemesis called as the Critter did a suicide run.
Orion: LP 8000 → LP 7200
Nemesis: LP 8000
"Yeah, I know," Orion shrugged. "But my real aim is this card, Right Arm of the Forbidden One. Now, I activate Upstart Goblin. You gain one thousand life points, but I get to draw a card."
Nemesis: LP 8000 → LP 9000
Orion: LP 7200
"Right Arm of the- I see." the Hunter allowed. "Such a risky proposition has not been seen since the days of the mortal Sugoroku Mutou and the traitor. You have made the worst decision of your life, dog of Exodia."
"Dog... of Exodia?" I blinked.
"I need power for something," Orion growled in answer. "If it means making a deal..."
"Mortals. You never understand until it is too late." Nemesis intoned. "It is your turn, Exodia's servant."
"I draw!" Orion called. "I set two cards, and then I activate the Continuous Spell, Swords of Blazing Light!"
Blue flames flickered, and swords of the same flame stabbed into the ground around the Hunter's field.
"As long as I control no monsters, monsters my opponent controls cannot declare an attack," Orion nodded. "And furthermore, this card doesn't have a time limit. Unless my opponent have five or more cards in hand, or I control a monster, it will not run out."
"Protecting himself while he's collecting the Exodia pieces..." Uzuki murmured.
"Draw!" Nemesis called. "When I control a tuner monster, I can special summon Boost Warrior [300/200] from my hand. Tuning, level one Boost Warrior and level four Jain to level one Unknown Synchron! Synchro summon... Goyo Guardian [2800/2000]!"
"Synchro summon?" I frowned as the Japanese kabuki samurai monster appeared.
"Turn end." the Hunter murmured quietly.
"Draw!" Orion called. "Now, I'll activate the trap, Hope for Escape! By paying one thousand life points, I can draw one card for every two thousand difference between our life points. This will be the destiny draw! I draw!"
As he drew, his tattoo gave off a bright glow.
"The pieces are here," Orion nodded as he showed his hand, literally. "Forbidden One, I break the seal upon your strength. In the covenant of our forging, bring me victory! Come, Exodia the Forbidden One!"
Giants hands appeared first as the hexagram trapped in the circle appeared as a whirling circle. The pharaonic head-dress and chest appeared, followed by the rest of Exodia. He was... a great beast, on equal powers with maybe even Summer and Winter, and he was here now.
Orion: AUTOMATIC WIN
Nemesis: LP 9000 → LP 0
"Exodia..." the Hunter collapsed in awe as her body began to fade. "So that is the beast on the level with the Emissaries that the rulers command... I will remember this. What shall I tell the Queen, dog of Exodia?"
"Tell her Orion Hunter is coming to depose her," Orion challenged. "Knowing my cousin, she'll have a challenge waiting for me one way or another."
"Are you... you challenge us?" the Hunter roared, now desperately trying to cling on. "Our Queen will not be defeated by the likes of you...!"
You... you... the echo continued to hold as she faded, her scream one of barely masked rage.
"What..." Uzuki swallowed.
The Fudo father and son walked in. "We've solved the dimension distort- what just..."
"Just happened?" Adrian finished for them, his expression heavy as well.
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