EchoGirl: Well, here I am, back with chapter 28. It's not particularly long but it is the bit that you've all been waiting for and I assure you that the next chapter will be longer! Oh, well, don't want to keep you waiting so hit it, Goldie!
Goldfish: Don't call me that! EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
A Rose in the Stars
Chapter 28
Destiny smirked beneath the mask as she heard the screams of street duellists and passers-by alike as the ground rumbled above her, ripping open as she emerged, making her grand entrance. Glittering frames surrounded her as she rose up, Red Destiny under its guise of Dark Destiny shrieking as it rose up into the air, flexing its inky black-spiralled wings.
Through the mask, she glanced around her surroundings, taking in the dull, concrete scenery and the faces filled with a strange mixture of terror and awe, staring up at the sky as magnificent dragon took flight. She let out an otherworldly cackle to add effect.
Jeez, she thought inwardly, I must sound like a complete psychopath.
Having already made three appearances in different areas of the city that day, and having taken out five different duelling goons, she had decided that this was the last stop. She had promised the rest of the gang that she would meet them in the nearby alley – their rendezvous point – in under twenty minutes. They wouldn't be particularly pleased if she were late.
She scanned the crowd for a few moments, flinching momentarily as one of the camera flashes caught her in the eye. There didn't appear to be any shady characters around here, one's that would cause trouble for the other duellists (thieves, double-dealers, launderers, etc.). She would never hurt the innocents, after all – no one was except those who really deserved it was going to get hurt on her quest.
The strange thing, though, was that the public seemed to have noticed this. That she wasn't like the Black Rose who had just hurt anyone, she seemed to actually select targets in the crowd; the troublemakers that people actually wanted gone, and boy did she teach them a lesson.
She was still a witch, and for that she would still be discriminated, but maybe, just maybe, she was a good witch; despite the malicious name.
If only they knew, she chuckled. Yes, if only they knew that the Witch of Dark Destiny was actually their beloved future duel queen. That little piece of information would definitely knock them off their feet; not to mention that she was the daughter of the feared and dreaded Black Rose.
There are so many things about me that people don't know.
After double-checking and confirming that there were, in fact, no unsavoury characters around she permitted her dragon to show off a little and flaunt its abilities before the two of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving only ash sprinkled with stardust behind.
The spectators were dumbstruck and could only blink in surprise, the witch had only revealed herself for less than five minutes, after all.
Yet, what Destiny had failed to notice was that there was in fact a shady figure hanging around, hidden in the shadows away from the street duels, waiting for her to reveal herself and leave again; watching her entire performance.
Impressive.
Unfortunately for her, though, he was all too used to the disappearing tricks that she was playing and knew exactly where she was headed. It was the exact same alley that her predecessor had always run to, after all.
With a small, almost demonic smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth, the mysterious figure let loose a silent chuckle and headed in the direction of the spot that he knew the witch would soon arrive at.
Destiny exhaled loudly as she reappeared at the alley she would be meeting Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa at. Everything was silent apart from her own breathing, too loud to her own ears as the sound bounced off the mask, which she hadn't yet bothered to remove.
So much for punctuality, she thought irritably, crossing her arms over her chest, no one's here yet.
Just as she began to reach up to remove the mask, she noticed the outline of another figure in the originally abandoned alleyway. At once her senses were on high alert.
"Hello?" she called into the darkness, raising the arm that held her duel disk slightly into an offensive position. "who's there?"
The figure merely chuckled in a low and, if anything, dangerous tone, only putting the young duellist even less at ease. Something wasn't right.
"So you're the Witch of Dark Destiny," the man, for the voice was definitely male, stated the obvious.
"You just worked that out?" she snapped back sarcastically, her voice efficiently disguising her terror, masking it with irritation, "what do you want?"
"My, my," the man tutted, still not moving forward from the darkness, "such a sharp tongue for one as young as you. She was right though, you are little more than a child."
"What of it?" she asked, though by now she was beginning to tremble she still refused to let her fear show, "and who's this 'she' that you're talking about?"
"So many questions," came the response, "I'm afraid I can't answer them all here."
Having a feeling about what he was getting at, and not liking it one bit, Destiny slowly brought her right hand to her duel disk, resting her middle and index finger on the top card of her deck. "What do you mean?"
"Let's go somewhere that we can talk more… openly, shall we?"
Immediately, Destiny shook her cloaked head. "Nu-uh, no way. Talking with you in an alley is freaky and dodgy enough. I'm not going anywhere with you. Street safety rule 101: stranger danger, hello. If you don't mind, I'm gonna leave now."
As she moved to depart, something incredibly unexpected happened: a ring of flames appeared around her, blocking off all chances of escape unless she wanted to be scorched. The figure stepped forwards and, for the first time, Destiny caught a (sort of) glimpse of his face. She didn't see much, just that he was wearing a hair that covered most of his face and long trench coat; she could also make out some dark red, almost brown, hair peeking out from beneath it.
"What the hell?" she exclaimed, leaping backwards from the flames which were already beginning to lick at her.
The figure chuckled darkly once more. "You're not the only one with psychic abilities, my dear."
"I'm not your 'dear'!" she hissed at him, "and whether you have psychic powers or not means nothing to me. Let me go!"
She drew the card that she had been touching and glanced at it. White Magician of Fate.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," the psychic replied, tossing something into the flames and standing back. "And your attitude is beginning to grate on my nerves."
Before she could give a snappy response, she saw what the man had thrown into the now rapidly extinguishing flames. It was a tiny bottle, which had smashed on impact with the cobbled ground, and a liquid/gas was now rapidly leaking out of it, heading towards her. She began to feel light-headed and dizzy as she involuntarily breathed it in.
She was rapidly losing consciousness.
Chloroform! She realised as she fell to the ground, fighting desperately to stay awake.
She blinked continually as she struggled with effects of the chloroform. The strange man knelt down beside her and removed her mask. She squinted at him through her rapidly blurring and dark-spotted vision but could only make out a pair of fuzzy green eyes.
"Destiny Fudo," the man murmured, touching her face, she tried, unsuccessfully to glare at him, "just as I suspected."
"Chloroform," she struggled to get the words out, "that was the dirtiest trick in the book."
"Dirty it may be," the man replied, smirking, as her eyes finally closed, "but it's one of the best."
White Magician, Destiny's mind echoed as she lost the fight for consciousness and felt the stranger lifting her up, show the others what's happened to me.
The card fell from her grip as she fell into darkness and landed silently on the dirty alley floor as she was taken away.
I will, mistress, the spirit's female voice answered as it lay, waiting for the rest of the gang to find it.
EchoGirl: DUNDUNDUUUUUUUUUUN! Suspense! Anyways, tell me what you think and I'll have the next chapter up soon. Everyone who reviews, good on you! Everyone, who doesn't... well... you're just letting the goldfish get one step closer to his lifelong dream of ruling the world...
Goldfish: Mwahahaha! Support the anarchy! Down with the humans!
EchoGirl: So please, please, please review unless you want to live in a world ruled by a 4-inch long yellow fish!
Goldfish: I'm GOLD DAMMIT!
EchoGirl: And...?
Goldfish: You said yellow!
EchoGirl: And...?
