Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX. I own the insanity that spawned this storyline, however.

The Infinite Chronicles; Hero's Life Arc

Chapter 53: Trapped

His muscles were burning, and every effort to move brought with it the sound of the sky above them about to collapse. "Well this is just dandy," muttered Valor Savior, his arms held over his head to help even out the weight of the good ton of bedrock that was piled atop him. "I always wanted to die crushed under a bunch of rocks."

"At least you're alive, so don't complain." Vortex Savior was in a similar position just a foot or so away, their respective loads of rock propping up against each other. If either of them moved more than a couple of inches, they'd bring the entire load of stone down and flatten themselves in the little cave that had been created. "I wonder how long until our muscles give out though…"

"The chances of us dying because of this are pretty high…" Valor sighed loudly, resting his forehead against the hunk of smooth rock in front of it.

"I said stuff it with the pessimism, we'll be fine!" Closing his eyes, the spiky-haired Savior tried to call out with the minor telepathic abilities he had. Those abilities weren't there. "Oh great, while I'm wearing this stupid suit I'm human, and the abilities I have as a demon are sealed."

"Well then we seriously are finished, since if I use my Mega Ray while I'm in here then the blast will just bring the rest of the rock down on us. So for now, we're just going to have to stay under here and wait for help." Valor closed his eyes and tried to regain his strength.

"So," Vortex muttered, "You know any good tunes we could sing?"

"I don't sing."

"What about jokes?"

"I don't make jokes either." Eyes still closed, the long-haired hero concentrated deeper on storing his power and figuring out a potential strategy behind how they would defeat the V2 if they somehow escaped.

"Then you are officially the most boring guy I've ever met." Vortex Savior's arms shifted slightly to take some of the strain onto his back muscles instead.

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Fantasy Savior sighed sadly as she listened to the sweet sounds of El Mariachi Verdadero's guitar. "So we're stuck in here?"

"It seems to be that way." The Spaniard played his fingers masterfully along his instrument, the music filling the small enclosed cove that the two of them were stuck in. There was very little room to move, but that was no problem to the Mariachi. He had worked his magic in much worse conditions.

"Hey Mariachi Verdadero-san?" Fantasy Savior rested her back against a section of smooth stone and pouted. "Why do you always show up to help us?"

"Why do ask?" The musician's guitar went silent, leaving a very awkward void for her to fill in.

"Well, it's just that it seems really weird that you always show up with that guitar like you do. Is that just your method of an entrance?" She closed her eyes and tried to get at least a little comfortable. They probably weren't going anywhere for a while.

"My guitar has been my companion since I was a small boy." El Mariachi Verdadero turned to look at her. "It had been passed down through my family for generations, representing a wanderer's need to find where he belongs. This costume was something my father established when I was but a boy to sneak past country borders. Since then I have adopted it into my identity. After all, no one will pay a wanderer any mind. However, they will be more than certain to pay El Mariachi Verdadero the respect required."

"Really?" Fantasy Savior cuddled her cape. "All of this costume on and costume off stuff, why does everybody have to wear a costume? Isn't it alright if we just be ourselves?"

"In your case I would guess it is necessary since the lot of you apparently seem to get stronger as your costumes upgrade," The Spaniard adjusted the cloth covering his eyes and popped open the hatch of his instrument, inserting a new load of grenades. "In my case it is tradition. Much like the Zorro so famously illustrated in American culture, I wish my name to become a symbol across the world for a defender of romance, music, and peace."

"You carry high explosives in your guitar though…" She said, sweatdropping, "Isn't that kind of going against the whole peace thing?"

"It is a necessary evil. Without such things I would not be capable of fighting creatures like these Vengeances." Removing his hat and running a hand through his hair, El Mariachi Verdadero had to laugh a little bit. "If only my poppy could see me now, fighting aliens using the disguise that was once his method of being a thief. It would be quite the tale to tell my own children…if they'd believe me."

"Why wouldn't they believe you?" The female Savior opened her mouth and yawned, using her cape as a blanket. "Ever since I was a child I knew that there were worlds beyond our own. Just look at Ichigo-san and Adriel-san. They're demons. That's all kinds of impossible, but I knew that supernatural stuff existed."

"That is true." He closed his eyes and started to play again, this time the song being a lullaby. "Sleep well, guardian of dreams. I have a feeling that you'll be needed soon."

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Starlight Savior groaned and opened her eyes slowly, seeing nothing but darkness. "Where am I?"

"Oh, you're awake finally?" Captain Zeta, his suit torn and his mask damaged, sat with his back against the wall of the small pocket they were trapped in. "I've already tried moving the stone, but it's no good. We're stuck under way too much of it to escape."

"Is that so?" She sighed and tried to get comfy, but it was impossible. "This stupid armor is too bulgy."

"I think the bulgy one is you, Ichigo." The masked hero said this calmly, though deep down inside he still found it rather surreal of a situation. ("So Ichigo Pilkington, the guy I have apparently befriended, is also Starlight Savior, one of my biggest fans, a fellow hero…and a girl. Ah, will this school never cease to amaze me?") A wave of dizziness hit him and he rubbed his eyes worriedly.

"That's right, you saw me transform." The heroine sighed and shrugged it off. "It can't be helped, it was that or let all of those Vengeances overwhelm us. So, do you intend to do anything with this information you've learned?"

"Huh?" Captain Zeta rubbed at his forehead weakly. "Oh, that you're Starlight Savior? No, what would it accomplish? Besides, it seems that you guys are the real heroes around here. If things like that metallic monstrosity are what you have to fight on a regular basis, then I'm out of luck. My source of superpowers apparently makes me as strong as you are when you're Ichigo Pilkington."

"What?" Closing her eyes, she leaned in towards him in the darkness and sniffed the air. "Hey, you're a demon!"

"Yup, that I am." A low chuckle came from his mouth. "Though compared to what the rest of you are I'm apparently just loser in a cape who can't hold his own against anything." He tried to laugh it off, but failed miserably. "Wow, it's like dreaming of being a…" There were no analogies for his situation. "My situation is so bad I can't even compare it to anything. That's sad beyond description."

"Oh come on," She motioned to her face, now that she knew his vision was advanced enough to distinguish basic things even in pure darkness. "At least you don't turn into a girl when you need to be a superhero."

"Psh, big deal," he muttered under his breath. ("Masami Morioka's no stranger to looking like a girl, and being one isn't that different.")

"….." Starlight Savior crossed her arms across her chest and thought about something for a few moments. "Wow, that's the first time I've ever got that response from someone."

"Oh that's right, you can hear me." Captain Zeta scoffed and crossed his legs. "You heard me then, it's no big deal."

"Really?" The heroine was truly intrigued now. "Where I come from we tend to believe that stuff like that is strange."

"Take a look around you, Ichigo." Captain Zeta sighed. "You're a superhero fighting aliens whose main medium of energy is blood. Do you think turning into a girl is that strange anymore?"

"You make it sound like you like that all of this is happening." She lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Yes!" He threw up his hands in success. "Finally someone gets it! Yes, I love this stuff! Do you think normal life is something worth living? I've tried that already, and let me tell you right now that it results in a whole lot of plain old-fashioned uninteresting stuff that is a waste of time!"

"…..You are the strangest superhero of all time, just so you know." Starlight Savior noticed that he slapped his face roughly in response to this. "Now what?"

("Sure Masami, let's just psychoanalyze myself until he figures out who I am. Brilliant!") "It's nothing at all." He let out another depressed sigh. "So, how will you beat that thing? It seems like it is a whole lot stronger than you are."

"It is…" She sighed loudly. "It defeated all of us at once. Maybe if we had the last Source we'd be able to win against it. Or maybe if I had more symbols up my sleeve."

Captain Zeta had no idea what she was talking about, but he kept his curiosity down for the time being. "I'm betting that there is a way to make you stronger, you just haven't thought of it yet."

"Huh?" Starlight Savior snapped her fingers. ("Maybe the Infinity Mind would know how to help?") Suddenly something brushed past her face and floated into her lap. "What's this?" Picking it up, she instantly recognized it as a Duel Monster card. "How'd this get here?"

"Good questions…" Captain Zeta glanced around the very tight area. "There are no openings I can see."

Her eyes widened as she recognized the picture of the card. ("It looks like Polymerization, but why is it glittering so much?") Suddenly the card disappeared in a burst of gold light, blinding the both of them. After lowering her arms from the moment she instinctively brought them up to shield her eyes, the heroine scratched the top of her head. "So…what the heck was that all about?"

"I have no clue," Captain Zeta pointed at her chest. "Errr, you happen to be glowing though."

"I am?" She looked down at her chest and eeped at the fact there was a zodiac symbol shimmering on her armor. "Wow, I wonder what…"

Both of them disappeared.

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"…this does." Starlight Savior glanced around and realized that she and Captain Zeta were back in the clearing again. "Oh, teleportation? Snazzy…"

"I think that was the symbol for Capricorn," Captain Zeta noticed that she wasn't listening to him though. "Eh, I'm betting you knew that already."

"Awaken Capricorn, Soul of Dislocation!" The heroine felt a pull through the air, and suddenly Vortex, Fantasy, Valor, and El Mariachi Verdadero appeared in front of her.

Valor and Vortex both instantly ate dirt as they were suddenly no longer using their weight to support anything, while Fantasy fell onto her back and was jostled awake. El Mariachi stood up and brushed himself off. "If you will excuse me, I'm not in much of a condition to battle against that thing."

Nodding, Starlight Savior watched him leap off. ("Later Carlos and thanks for showing up.") Glancing behind her, she wasn't surprised to see Captain Zeta gone as well. "Alright Capricorn, one more time!"

"Wait wha…" Valor Savior was about to say something but suddenly the four Saviors all disappeared.

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The V2 stomped past a pair of trees, easily vaporizing them into ash with the electricity surrounding its body. ("I must destroy them all before my time is up. I will bring them all with me to…") It stopped in surprise as it sensed a very familiar prescense.

Starlight Savior smiled slightly and motioned behind her, as she was standing in the creature's path. "Before you go any farther, you're going to have to get past me, along with the rest of these guys!"

"That's right!" Fantasy Savior bounced into view from where she had been hiding behind a nearby tree. "We'll defeat you now that we're ready for you!"

"Exactly right," Vortex Savior said, coming out of hiding on the V2's other side. "We are a team, and you can't defeat us when we work together."

Valor Savior stepped into place about ten feet behind the creature, though he didn't say anything.

"You actually think you can stop me?" The V2 snickered and the electricity around its body began charging. "Nothing you can do will put a dent in me!"

"That's why it's a duel challenge we're offering you instead." Starlight Savior knew this was a gamble, but at least they stood a chance by doing this. The other possibility didn't sound too appealing, which was fighting the freak. "If we win then your powers will disappear, if you win we'll let you destroy us."

"What's to stop me from doing that right…" The V2 watched the heroine seem to flicker, and suddenly it felt her at its back, and then everything was as it looked again. ("Teleportation? It had to have been…")

"Get it? I can move all of us to anywhere I wish easily. Therefore you won't ever be able to destroy us unless we allow you to." Starlight Savior pointed at him, trying to conceal the fact that she was exhausted to the point of collapse. ("Capricorn is really taxing on my energy, but if it learns that then our gamble will be useless.")

"Very well, you have yourself a deal." The V2 lifted up one arm, the metal there flowing outward into a duel disk shape. "Who will be my opponent though? You?"

"No!" Vortex Savior leapt in front of Starlight. "I'll be your opponent for this duel." His duel disk appeared with the deck already in place. "Now, are you ready?"

The V2 shrugged its rounded shoulders. "As you wish, I will brush you aside instead." Its green metal duel disk activated. "Duel!"

"Brush me, Adriel-sama, aside? Don't be insolent, fool!" Vortex activated his duel disk as well. "Duel!"

Vortex Savior- 4000

V2- 4000

Vortex Savior drew first, while the other Saviors moved out of the way. Even though they weren't dueling in a clearing, he knew the duel disk technology would work around it. "I'll summon Twilight Golem in defense mode!" A giant black crystal golem appeared on his field, barely fitting between the two trees on its sides. (1900/2000) "Also I'll place two cards face-down. End turn."

The V2 looked down at its hand sadly. ("Even this deck is a constant reminder that for all my power, I am destined to die.") Then it drew and added the card to its hand. "If I have no cards on my field, I can special summon this monster from my hand to the field. Emerge now, God of Limited Vitality!" A giant grey-winged demon appeared on his field, its bright red eyes glowing in contrast against its grey-scaled skin. (5000/5000)

"5000 attack points?" All four of the Saviors said at once in disbelief.

"Also, when God of Limited Vitality is in play, I can special summon Avatar of Limited Vitality from my hand to the field!" The V2 pointed at its field as a mix of human and the same kind of demon that the God of Limited Vitality was appeared on the field. (3500/3500)

"A 3500 as well?" Vortex Savior stared at the two monsters in fear. ("What kind of insane rush deck is this thing running?")

"This is the power of a creature with a three hour limit on its life! This is my hatred for you all, those who birthed me and those who I was created to destroy! I hate you all!" It grabbed another card from its hand. "From my hand I summon Soldier of Limiter Vitality in attack mode!" (2000/2000) A grey-armored warrior holding a battle-axe appeared in play. "In this one battle phase I will crush you in the duel, and then I'll slaughter you all!"

To be continued…