Signs of Renewal

by Donjusticia

Tragedy strikes when Ruri and Rin both lose their lives in a desperate escape attempt. Lost to the underworld, Ruri is about to give up when a mysterious force makes her a tantalizing offer. Witness the thrilling tale of revenge, sacrifice, friendship, and redemption as the Dark Signers rise once again to rule over a universe crumbling into war and chaos.

36. Part 1: Chapter 17 (Part 1)

Opening A/N: The day you have all been waiting for has arrived. Rejoice in the familiar sight of death, shadow, and ruin!

Part 1: Chapter 17 – Mark of the Nihilist

(Heart of the Underworld)

Nazca Lines, Peru

Aki's finger brushed against the yellow-grey soil making up the body of Ccarayhua's geoglyph, memories of a past battle flashing through her thoughts. So much rage had possessed all the Earthbound Gods and the human vessels they chose, yet even as she knelt in the midst of their marks, Aki could not help but notice how ironically tranquil the Earthbound Prison seemed. Not even a speck of the hot desert dust stirred in the windless landscape and not so much as one ghostly familiar lashed out against her and her companions, though the sight given to her by Quetzalcoatl enabled her to see literally tens of thousands of the creatures drifting about the plains. The serene desert might have seemed like a wonderful site for a future vacation, were it not for the cries of anguished spirits she sensed coming from the wandering souls.

"I will find a way to heal you." Aki whispered to them before rising to her feet and approaching one of her companions, a short girl wearing a bright red hood and sunglasses while kneeling against a sleek red duel. Lupa Okami, a skilled duel mercenary who had fought against the Phoenix Guard before growing sympathetic to their cause, was polishing her duel disk, which she had mounted atop a slender sniper rifle. Judging by the way she was polishing her disk, she did not enjoy waiting around inside a nest of demons. When she noticed Aki approaching, she immediately set aside her duel disk, attaching it to her D-Wheel so that the rifle was facing forward, before adjusting her cloak and crunching across the dry sand to face the signer.

"Nothing very interesting to report." Lupa began, speaking with a slight Eastern-European accent. "There is a small terraced pyramid sitting at the center of the spiral mark. The familiars are all gathered around it, but they don't seem to be doing much, just marching around. It's frankly creeping me out. Are we really going to waltz right up to them?"

"The familiars are blind to our presence so long as I am with you." Aki reassured her companion, holding up her arm to show her foot mark, before looking across the desert to spot the small pyramid, which, despite its small size, stood out against the flat desert plain like a blister on smooth skin. All around the pyramid, familiars of every shape and size drifted around the spiral and marched up the terraced steps to the center top like moths to a flame.

"Besides," Aki continued, turning back to her friend, "these familiars don't seem willing or able to fight. I had thought Yuu might be gathering an army…but now…"

She did not like to think of what the familiars' march to the temple might mean to the tormented souls who had once been human.

"Now…what?" Lupa asked.

Aki closed her eyes.

"In ancient times, the native people would build temples like that for one reason." She explained. "Sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Lupa asked, looking out towards the temple. "All of the familiars? What for?"

"That," Aki replied, face growing dark, "is what we are here to investigate. But to do that, we will need to go deeper. Where is Bakari?"

"That weird Tomb-keeper who wanted to douse me with sand and say a prayer over me?" Lupa replied, rolling her eyes. "He wandered over towards the spider mark a while ago and has been acting weird ever since. Do we honestly need him around? I'd almost call him crazy were the world not already even less sane."

"His spiritual expertise is invaluable." Aki replied, mounting her D-wheel, Bloody Kiss, before turning on the engine. Off to her side, Lupa mounted her own D-wheel before pulling up to Aki's side. "Besides," Aki called over the roar of her engine, "if Bakari is crazy, then I'd dedicate my life to curing the sane."

Aki and Lupa took off, dust kicking up from their D-wheels as they passed by various geoglyphs on their approach to the spiral geoglyph just north of the spider geoglyph. Despite being the mark of the Earthbound's creator god, the spiral was remarkably small in relation to the other geoglyphs. Nevertheless, its likeness could be seen in many other geoglyphs in Nazca such as Cusillu's tail, the spiral on the flower geoglyph, a swirling vortex in the center of one of the avian geoglyphs, and multiple other replica spiral geoglyphs scattered throughout the plain. However, only one of these rested beneath the foundation of a small terraced pyramid, which had recently appeared seemingly out of nowhere. In contrast to the typical pyramid with a square base, this temple fit neatly within the bounds of the spiral mark with each terrace composed of a circular segment, reminiscent of pancakes stacked neatly atop one another. Eight sets of stone stairs set up equally around the perimeter of the temple spiraled up like the grooves of a screw towards a roofed apex filled with shadow. Legions of familiars slowly marched around the temple, slowly filtering into eight lines leading up the steps towards the apex before disappearing into the veil of darkness. Looking closely, Aki could see streams of black tar-like essence flowing down the bricks of the temple into liquid pools like blood. Standing before one of the pools unnoticed by the familiars was a figure garbed in thick desert clothing and a turban, Bakari Elmahdy. Parking their bikes, Aki and Lupa stepped through the crowds of marching familiars before approaching him.

Bakari was holding a clay spiral towards the temple while chanting and painting hieroglyphics on a sheet of papyrus. Decked in the robes of his Gravekeeper order, Bakari looked like he had been pulled through time from the age of pyramids and mummies before being dropped into the present. Like Lupa, Bakari was not a member of the Phoenix Guard, though his goals aligned with theirs. Part of Aki's reason for calling two non-Phoenix Guard members was a tactical one. It was harder for the Earthbound to sense people without Quetzalcoatl's marks. Her own signer mark would draw the Earthbound to her like mosquitoes to blood were it not for her continued effort to conceal their presence. Even with her protective aura, a journey into Earthbound territory was dangerous, which brought up the second reason she had chosen Lupa and Bakari to accompany her. They were elite duelists.

Bakari finished writing his hieroglyphics on the piece of papyrus and began chanting. Seconds later, he produced a small bright red clay pot from deep within his robes before violently throwing the spiral figure into the vessel so that it shattered into a thousand pieces when it hit the bottom. Bowing his head, Bakari stood silent, not looking at either Lupa or Aki.

"Uhm…are you done?" Lupa asked after a very long and uncomfortable pause.

"Please." Bakari replied in a deep heavily-accented voice, "Allow me this moment. The prayers for the wicked must not be interrupted."

"I don't think your prayers are doing them much good." Lupa commented, looking up at the legions of familiars who were continuing to march into the blackness of the temple.

"I was not speaking of them." Bakari murmured before finishing his prayer. "Now, let us destroy this abomination and release the trapped spirits."

"Finally speaking my language." Lupa replied with a smirk. "How do you want us to go about this, Aki? Explosives? Or is it more of your magic stuff?"

Aki raised her right arm to the temple, examining the structure.

"That would be pointless." Aki sighed. "This structure, like the geoglyphs themselves, is merely a manifestation of something far greater in the Underworld itself. Any damage we inflict on the structure here wouldn't last so long as its version in the Underworld remains."

"And the spirits?" Bakari asked. "Can they be purified from here?"

"I am NOT fighting a million of those things at once." Lupa scoffed. "Even with Aki's cover, I doubt we'd stay invisible if we suddenly started dueling them en masse."

"A good point." Aki agreed. "And unfortunately, even if we managed to defeat all of them, we would not release them or stop what is going on."

"Then we withdraw?" Bakari asked, tone indicating neither disappointment nor relief.

Lupa looked to Aki expectantly.

"I came here to learn what Yuu is planning." Aki replied, "Our mission was to gather intel and then leave. Jack wouldn't want us putting ourselves in danger unnecessarily."

Lupa sighed.

"Well, I guess I can't complain about this being a difficult job." Lupa decided before turning the wheel of her bike as if to drive away.

"So considering how absolutely necessary it is for us to defend the universe against the Earthbound threat, I'd say danger is unavoidable." Aki finished, stopping Lupa in her tracks.

"You're crazier than Bakari." Lupa whistled, turning around with an eager grin on her face. "Taking on all the Earthbound in their own territory? Tell me I'm actually getting paid to fight alongside a Signer and I'll know I'm dreaming."

"Your reward will be the happy contentment heroes have over doing the right thing." Aki replied with a smug smile.

"So I am still awake." Lupa sighed. "Oh well, I suppose it was too much to hope for."

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" Aki asked.

"You kidding me? After how many times you saved my life?" Lupa asked. "I'd say I owe you more than a bit of pro bono work."

"I am yours to command, noble Signer." Bakari promised, bowing to Aki. "Until my own life expires, I shall serve to keep the peace of the dead."

"You're weird." Lupa sniffed, rolling her eyes at Bakari's display.

"Such is the nature of the Gravekeepers." Bakari calmly replied before rising to his feet. "What is our plan?"

"I don't know what this temple is designed to do," Aki explained, "but considering what Rex attempted to do with his own temple, I'd say I have a fairly good idea."

"And what exactly did Rex try to do?" Lupa asked.

"These temples are essentially conduits, allowing energy from different realms to enter this world and vice versa." Aki explained. "When Rex created his temple, he attempted to unleash the dark energy from the Underworld on the physical world in order to wipe out the planet and rebuild it according to his desires."

"Pleasant thought." Lupa murmured.

"Yuu is using this temple to accomplish something similar." Aki continued. "He's also been sending disciples and new Dark Signers into The City, who have been forcing us to fight them rather than focus our attention here. Knowing Yuu, if he's exposed this temple at this time, it means that he's almost ready to use it."

Lupa and Bakari's expressions darkened as they looked up at the foreboding structure, looming over them like a circular tombstone.

"We have one advantage." Aki pressed on, revving up the engine of Bloody Kiss. "In order to manifest his temple here, he needed to breach the barrier between the physical world and underworld. My guess is that he's been quietly using his servants to dig at the barrier for years until he was able to manifest his temple here. That would mean that he would have had to bring a significant amount of his power near the border between the two worlds."

"That would be the other temple you mentioned earlier." Lupa replied.

"Exactly." Aki agreed. "In this case, it's something like two sides of a bridge. One bridgehead is built on one side of a river, with a road connecting to the bridgehead on the other side of the river. Even if we managed to destroy the temple on our side, Yuu would be able to construct another one. But, if we were to destroy the temple on his side…"

"Then the temple on this side would be useless, cut off from Yuu's power in the Underworld." Bakari finished.

"And the temple on this side is our gateway in." Lupa observed. "Only problem I see is…how do we get out of the Underworld after we destroy Yuu's bridge?"

"Do you have a D-Wheel?" Aki asked, turning to Bakari.

Bakari hesitated for a moment.

"…yes, that is how I traveled here." He said after a pause before pointing to a pile of rags, underneath which was a rusty motorbike. "Though…I don't think I like where this is going. I am not a good D-wheeler."

"You'll be even slower on your feet, unfortunately." Aki replied, revving up her engine. "Everyone stay close to me. Once we enter through the temple, it'll be a quick race to the other temple to destroy it and then get out before the bridge collapses."

"I wonder who will win that race." Lupa teased, revving up her engine. "Oh wait! I already know the answer."

Bakari muttered something under his breath in Arabic before retrieving his own bike and starting the engine.

"Speed is the key here." Aki replied, lining up Bloody Kiss so that it was just outside one of the sets of steps. "I won't be able to keep us hidden from the familiars forever, especially once we begin attacking the temple itself, so we will need to move fast while still staying together to coordinate our attacks. That being said, I am winning that race."

And before the other two could respond, Aki proceeded to rocket up the spiraling steps before blasting through the inner sanctum of the temple and passing through the veil into the Underworld.

…

Inside the Underworld

Yuu sat within his temple issuing orders to his disciples. His war had officially escalated and his enemies were making their moves. Thus far, nothing significant had occurred to hinder his plans, yet a burning pain on his right arm warned him of an unwanted presence very near his base of operations. On one of his screens showing him the eyes of familiars he created to monitor the world, he could see his former comrade, Aki, now one of his most threatening enemies, approaching his temple.

In the room with him were two of his family members, Satoshi Hashimoto, his father, and Mirai Hashimoto, his elder sister. He had not told either of them what he was observing, though he knew it would not matter. It was remarkable to Yuu how little their death and conversion to his disciples had changed the two of them. Father was still calm, calculating, and demanding. He would be able to deduce their current situation regardless of whether or not Yuu decided to keep him informed. Mirai, on the other hand, continued to act like his second mother, despite her inferior rank and position. Even now, it seemed to Yuu like she had a sixth sense for when something was bothering him.

"Something is troubling you, Yuu." Mirai insisted, as if on cue "I can tell. What has happened, brother."

Yuu frowned at the screens, wondering how he should answer her. What exactly was his relationship with his family now? Did it even matter? Her feelings were irrelevant. As were his. She was just another of his servants created to do his bidding, even if she was an especially powerful one. Part of him wanted to berate his sister for speaking out of turn, but a more reserved part of him decided against the disciplinary action. She was, after all, still his sister. Whatever that meant.

"It is nothing you can help me with, sister." He replied with a sigh while unconsciously rubbing at the throbbing mark on his arm. "I can only move forward with the plan, addressing the problems that come our way one by one, such as this one."

He showed them the screen of Aki and her companions approaching the temple.

"So she's decided to come to us." Satoshi sighed. "I always knew Aki was headstrong, but I never expected her to take on an entire legion of familiars by herself. Surely she can't be so foolish."

"No, she is not." Yuu thought to himself. "Brash though she can be, I have never known her to be reckless."

"Her intent is not to vanquish us." Yuu replied, before sharing the rest of his conclusions with them. No other course of action for the Signer made sense. Still, it would not bode well for his and Ch'askancha's plans should he allow her to return to Jack Atlas with such valuable intel.

"You want us to eliminate her?" Mirai asked, tone and posture seeming to say, "Will killing your friend finally give you peace, Yuu?"

Yuu again had to pause at Mirai's question. His sister had no concern for her own existence, that much was clear. Whether she was destroyed by Aki or forced to live with the guilt of murdering her former ally, she did not seem to care. Her concern, again, was for his welfare, physical and spiritual. Yuu wondered if he should feel enraged or insulted by his sister's worrying. He was not a mere child hiding behind her skirts anymore. Still, perhaps he ought to be pleased by her devotion. It was certainly true that none of his other servants showed anything close to his sister's loyalty.

"She wants to protect me. Why? When this is over, none of us will exist anyway."

Thoughts of Ch'askancha's upcoming renewal flashed through his mind. His God would rewrite reality itself when his work was completed and nothing that happened before would matter. Loyalty, devotion, and love along with hatred, apathy, and indifference would soon become concepts without meaning. An intelligent move on his part would have been for him to send his Father and Sister to either crush the interlopers knocking at his gates or die in his service. And yet, even knowing this, Yuu's next decision surprised him once again.

"I do not wish to risk your safety unnecessarily." Yuu sighed, resting his chin against his hand before finding his sister a less dangerous task to perform.

"You still cling to your humanity even though it gives you pain." Ch'askancha whispered within him. "How much longer must I wait until you give yourself wholeheartedly to me?"

"My sentiments are irrelevant, Great Will of the Universe." He thought back to her while giving instructions to his disciples. "Regardless of the hour I choose to cast off my pathetic existence, all shall become a compound in one as you desire in the end. My family will serve thy divine purpose regardless of their actions, as will I."

"Secure my heart against the invaders." Ch'askancha whispered in reply."The two of us shall move against the Destroyer and bring him to heel."

"As you desire, so shall reality be." Yuu thought back preparing himself for more murder and annihilation.

…

Aki dove down with her companions through a pitch-black void, a stream of multi-colored light being the only road leading from the entrance of the temple down into the Earthbound dominion. Deep within the upper level of the Underworld, Aki could make out the immense glowing geoglyphs mirroring the Nazca lines just above, though these marks sprawled across a span of miles through the vast emptiness. At the center of these glowing multi-colored marks was an unimaginably immense spiral mark, rotating through space like a swirling galaxy.

Aki twisted the accelerator of Bloody Kiss, speeding towards the central spiral mark, where the stream of light led. As she and her companions neared the mark, Aki could make out other streams of light weaving through the darkness before converging on a much more immense version of the surface temple built within the center of the spiral mark. Beneath the widest terrace of the circular pyramid was another stack of circular terraces mirroring the ones above so that the structure looked like an immense sphere. Just above the spherical pyramid temple was a rumbling stone structure, which was connected to the pyramid by the weaving streams of light. Packs of ghostly familiars flew, slithered, and skittered amongst the veins of light, carrying piles of stones, repairing and building new roadways, and beating and slashing lesser familiars, who were not working hard enough. Though they swarmed around the Underworld, none of them seemed to notice Aki and her companions, instead choosing to continue with their endless menial tasks. One of the groups of working familiars they passed suddenly stopped in its tracks when one of the familiars collapsed beneath the weight of stones it was carrying on its back. A larger more brutal-looking familiar with a spiral pattern on its body quietly approached the fallen worker before brutally beating the underling in an effort to get it to resume its task. The exhausted familiar could barely cry out, much less move, and was soon beaten to a messy pulp of black liquid before melting away entirely, its body seeping into the roadway it had been travelling along.

Aki looked down to examine the roadway beneath her wheels. Looking through the gleam of multi-colored light, she could make out a river of dark fluid flowing inside an inner tube just beneath the surface, like a blood-filled vein just beneath the skin. Looking back at the structure floating above the temple, Aki could see the veins of light weaving through rectangular chambers leading to the inside of the stone monolith, which, as she drew ever nearer, she could hear and see undulating softly. She had seen the structure's like before from her battles with the Earthbound, though never as large as the one she saw now.

"It's an Earthbound heart." Aki said aloud to her companions. "Yuu is feeding the creator god of the Earthbound herself."

"And what happens when he fills that heart?" Lupa asked, riding just behind Aki.

"That," Aki replied, "is something we do NOT want to find out."

"You can feel the raw power, no, the grave evil emanating from that monstrosity, can you not?" Bakari asked from behind Lupa. "It defies any sort of demon I have encountered before. No mortal weapon could harm it and there is no way even our combined power could execrate it. Perhaps it would be better for us to turn around now and focus our attention on the lesser temple in our world."

"The power of that temple is connected to the one in our world." Aki called back. "The whole system is like a gigantic tree with the roots here and the trunk growing in our world. Unless we kill off the roots here, the trunk will continue to grow back and spread until it is too late."

"But do we even have enough power to kill off the roots?" Bakari asked.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Bakari on this one." Lupa sighed. "Even if I could somehow pack a nuclear bomb underneath my skirt, I somehow doubt that would so much as scratch that behemoth, and that's not even considering the guards surrounding that temple, who will most definitely start to notice us once we start desecrating their temple. Here, check it out."

Lupa tossed Aki a spyglass, which Aki caught before looking through it. Beneath the shadow of the distant temple, Aki could make out a massive circular wall surrounding the central ring of the temple. Like the temple itself, the wall was built with a bottom and upper half, as if the structure had been placed on top of a mirror. Above and beneath the spiral mark cutting directly between the upper and lower halves of the structure were eight mirrored gates with groups of three colossal familiars with spiral patterns on their bodies standing just outside each gate on each upper and lower mirrored half for a total of forty-eight of the immense gate guardians, twenty-four on the upper half, with twenty-four more defying the laws of gravity by walking upside down beneath the spiral mark.

"Of course, in this place, I doubt the laws of physics from our world have much applicability." Aki thought to herself before examining more of the temple. Design-wise, the structure was well-built, both above and beneath, with smaller familiars thronging about the ramparts and towers set along the wall and more familiars patrolling and working within the wall. The circular shape of the temple inscribed within the square wall caused more familiars to gather in the corners of the wall where the edges of the circle didn't pinch close to the gates.

Seeing this gave Aki an idea.

"What do you know about the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis?" Aki asked Lupa, tossing her back the spyglass.

Lupa caught the spyglass and thought for a minute.

"The first was a land battle, the second was a naval one." She replied. "They both occurred during the Persian invasion of the Greek city-states. At Thermopylae, a force of three-hundred Spartan soldiers accompanied by roughly one-thousand Athenian soldiers held off a vastly larger Persian force with a Phalanx formation of spears. In the battle of Salamis, a small navy of Greek ships led a much larger navy of Persian ships into a narrow channel before outflanking the Persians and destroying many of their ships."

"And what do these two battles have in common?" Aki asked.

"A smaller force managing to inflict a lot of damage against a vastly larger force?" Lupa guessed.

"Narrow passages." Aki replied, pointing to where the wall nearly touched the circular temple. "Overwhelming numbers are meaningless if they can't all be used at once. If we can quickly breach the gate there, and enter the temple grounds, we can form up in that narrow space between the wall and temple, leaving the familiars on the outside where they will be forced to squeeze through almost single file between the wall and bottom terrace. The two of you can stall the familiars on either side of the narrow passage while I work on dismantling the temple."

"It's a good plan," Lupa replied. "but what about the flying familiars? It'd be one thing if all the familiars were on foot, but if they can get above us, they could easily outflank us."

"I may be able to ward them away." Bakari replied, pulling out an ivory boomerang-like object carved with hieroglyphics. "But I still don't know if I like this plan. At Thermopylae, the Greeks had three-hundred Spartans and one-thousand Athenians. They were killed to the last man. We are but three. What do you think our fate will be?"

"We are not alone." Aki replied, foot mark flashing on her arm. "The Crimson Dragon Himself, and all His allies fly with us, lending us their strength. Besides, even if it were only us three, we can't allow the Earthbound to do as they please. We will stop the Earthbound here, or die trying."

"Well, that is certainly a binary choice." A tittering female voice sang off to Aki's left.

Aki softly cursed.

Casually walking through the void while managing to remain exactly even with the speeding D-wheelers, Qhawa, the first Dark Signer, casually regarded Aki and her companions, not a trace of concern on her face.

"I thought you said your wards made us undetectable!" Lupa exclaimed, angrily unholstering her sniper rifle from her bike and aiming it at the Dark Signer.

"A firearm? Here?" Qhawa inquired, golden jewelry on her neck and ears clinking together as she leaned closer with an expression of curiosity on her face. "Forgive me, little one, but I don't think our dear Dr. Aki Izayoi explained to you how things work here."

Lupa fired.

The bullet traveled swiftly through the empty void, hitting nothing and sinking down into infinity. Qhawa casually sat on the back of Bloody Kiss far from where she had been when Lupa fired, acting as if she had always been there. Lupa trailed her rifle to point at the Dark Signer, but hesitated when she saw Aki directly behind the Dark Signer.

"Merciful Horakhty protect us." Bakari murmured to himself, clutching figurines of Obelisk, Ra, and Osiris, the three phantom gods, around his neck.

"Those gods are not here, young Gravekeeper." Qhawa teased, "Though, if you are looking for someone similar, I think I saw one of the Jashin skulking about one of the deeper levels."

"As if I needed more evil gods to deal with." Bakari shuddered.

"Tell me about it." Qhawa sighed with exhaustion before resting her hand on Bakari's shoulder while riding on the back of his bike. Reflexively jerking in shock, Bakari nearly lost control of his bike and crashed right then and there.

"How did you know we were here?" Aki asked, turning to face the seemingly youthful, diminutive woman, who returned her gaze before stepping off Bakari's bike and walking into the open void.

"Oh you don't have to worry, little Signer. I haven't called the familiars yet." Qhawa reassured, while dodging the question. "They won't be able to sense you…provided you do nothing reckless."

"Yes, because nothing would be more convenient for you than us running away without a fight." Aki thought while twisting Bloody Kiss's accelerator and continuing on her way to the heart.

"Oh come now, little Signer." Qhawa sighed. "There's no need for such coldness. I wouldn't be approaching you and your friends like this if I wanted to harm any of you. I just wanted to talk."

"You haven't answered my question." Aki curtly replied.

"How I found you?" Qhawa scoffed, tossing back her long, braided ponytail. "You're wards are working just fine, if that's what you were worried about. You probably would have snuck past me as well, were it not for my great great great and so forth grandson." She finished with an indifferent wave of her hand.

"Yuu?" Aki asked. "How did he know?"

"It's as you said before, little Signer." Qhawa explained. "Quetzalcoatl and his marked servants are all connected with each other, regardless of their true allegiance."

"Our marks!" Aki exclaimed, looking down at the sign on her arm. "He can still sense us even as a Dark Signer?"

"There haven't really been that many dual Signer/Dark Signers, so none of us know too much about how it works." Qhawa conceded. "Roman's dual marks drove him so mad that he cut off his arm and Rex simply didn't live long enough with his marks for anyone to see what the relationship would have done to him over time."

"Yuu has been completely overshadowed by the Earthbound Gods…your Earthbound God." Aki growled, glaring at Qhawa.

"Yuu carries my blood and the blood of Akllasumaq." Qhawa replied. "He was always destined to carry the power of Signer and Dark Signer. He has simply chosen to follow his calling for the good of existence as I chose long ago to follow my destiny for the sake of my family."

"You and your gods exterminated an entire civilization." Aki replied. "You would have destroyed the entire world had you not been stopped. You haven't changed since then. You and your Earthbound masters still want to destroy everything."

"Ah the People of the Stars." Qhawa replied, tapping her chin in thought while looking into the distance. "The people chosen of the Gods to rule existence with Quetzalcoatl's power. The greatest civilization that ever was or ever would be. My people had the privilege of beholding their divine capitol city…The Eternal City, if I remember correctly. It was an honor for lesser peoples like myself and my family to become sacrifices to their venerable god, though, in my case, I missed out on the honor when I was deemed preferable as a sex slave. My master, the same who ordered the sacrifice and enslavement of my people, was a Signer chosen by Quetzalcoatl, so I suppose Quetzalcoatl must have approved of our suffering. I wonder, Aki, has your god changed?"

"I know the history of The People of the Stars." Aki replied. "They were like any civilization that has ever existed, with good and evil people. The fact that they were conquerors who abused the people they conquered, like any other empire of the time, does not change the facts of today, nor justify what the Dark Signers and Earthbound gods did in vengeance. I have spoken face-to-face with Quetzalcoatl. I know what he thinks of the deeds you spoke of. I am not your old slave master, but I am an enemy to what you and your gods represent."

"Oh, but I don't see you and your friends as my enemy." Qhawa replied. "I know you are not anything like Quetzalcoatl's ancient Signers. Quetzalcoatl is the one I can never forgive, but you I consider more like…an opposing team in a ball game."

"In the ancient ball games, the losers were sacrificed." Aki murmured dryly.

"Oh trust me, I know." Qhawa replied. "I was told it made the sacrifices more fun, though I can't remember enjoying myself too much when I was forced to watch my father's and brothers' hearts torn out for failing to throw a ball through a hoop. I wonder if that's the only true rule of the universe. Winners live, losers die."

"I will not let you win." Aki promised. "The Phoenix Guard will stop you."

"A shame it really has to come to this." Qhawa sighed. "I actually heard that you'd become a doctor recently. It surprised me, considering your past as the Black Rose Witch. But then again, I also worked as a healer after the Signers defeated my armies and destroyed my husband. Perhaps destroyers like ourselves deep down cannot escape the inherent desire to mend what is broken. If only the two of us could agree on how to fix things, then maybe I wouldn't feel the need to stop you."

She stretched out her hands and ascended into the void, spiral mark on her midriff glowing like a beacon to the Familiars who suddenly stopped with their tasks to turn and look.

"The servants of Quetzalcoatl threaten your god!" Qhawa called in an amplified goddess-like voice. "Fulfill your duty! Defend your god!"

Roaring back at Qhawa in acknowledgement of her order, the familiars immediately abandoned their tasks before dashing along the lines of light to intercept Aki and her companions.

"I will leave the way to the outer temple gate open in case you wish to leave with your lives." Qhawa promised. "Otherwise, I suppose I might as well try to enjoy another ball game. Try not to lose."

"Incoming familiars!" Lupa shouted, blasting one of the flying creatures with her rifle before it could reach her. More flying familiars rushed in from the sides, while familiars who had to either run or slither scrambled along their respective lines of light to merge with Aki and her companions where the streams connected and intertwined ahead of their trackway. Just as Qhawa promised, the only path clear of any familiars was directly behind where the outer temple exit remained open.

"I'm not running, not when that's exactly what she wants!" Aki thought to herself before calling, "MOVE!" to her companions and rocketing ahead on her D-wheel. Lupa and Bakari followed suit, Bakari chanting Gravekeeper chants of warding while Lupa picked off Familiars one by one with her rifle. Ahead of Aki, a group of bulky faceless humanoid familiars with spiral marks on their chests and whips in their hands blocked her way.

"Come forth! Rose Tentacles!" Aki commanded, drawing a card from her deck and holding it up like a warding charm. Overhead, a squid-like rose with a flower head and thorny plant tendrils like tentacles appeared before lashing out against the familiars, knocking them to the side and off the track before Aki and her companions rode through. This manifestation of her monster was not merely a solid vision hologram with energy converted into mass. This creature was a living being summoned through the use of Aki's psychic powers directly from the outer universes all duel monsters dwelled in. In the past, her brutal use of her signer and psychic powers had earned her the nickname of "Black Rose Witch," a monster to be feared. Now, thanks to the compassion of the Phoenix Guard, she had come to use her powers to protect others.

More familiars gave pursuit, no longer bothering to leave a path of retreat for Aki and her companions. Apparently, Qhawa's offer had had a time limit. Now that she knew Aki and her companions would not be dissuaded from their mission, she would focus on destroying them. Fortunately, since Qhawa was little more than a disembodied ghost with barely a shadow of her former Dark Signer powers, she would choose not to risk herself in any kind of duel with even the weakest of an opponent. This, however, did dissuade the spirit from intervening in other more aggravating ways.

"So, tell me about little Jack Atlas. How has he been doing lately?" Qhawa asked while sitting cross-legged on the hood of Aki's bike, just barely managing to block Aki's view of the road ahead. "Still holding his title of King? I do hope he finds himself a wife eventually. The poor man desperately needs a woman to help him."

"Rose Tentacles, on my hood!" Aki commanded, to which the hulking plant squid swiped at the Dark Signer spirit. It didn't, of course, hit Qhawa, but it did clear Aki's vision when the diminutive woman was suddenly sitting on the rear of Bloody Kiss, her back against Aki as she continued talking like nothing had happened.

"I fear the man's been on the decline since what happened to poor little Carly." Qhawa sighed. "Still, I suppose he can at least be grateful he's alive, unlike those poor dear little twins, Rua and Ruka."

Aki angrily swerved her bike along a curve on the stream of light in a fruitless effort to throw Qhawa off, but the Dark Signer didn't even seem to acknowledge the laws of physics, much less obey them.

"I was truly sad when the two of them perished." Qhawa continued, sounding genuinely remorseful. "They were far too young to suffer what they did, not that I suppose there is a good age for that, but still."

Aki deliberately drove into the side of a familiar, forcing Qhawa to float alongside her bike, just a little to the right so that they were eye-level.

"I honestly don't know who to pity more." Qhawa mused to herself. "Ruka saved her brother from the brink of death by turning him into a Signer, only to have her brother snatched away from her a few years later. Of course, the two of them are together now in the spirit world, that little girl always had such an affinity with the spirits, but I wonder how Rua is doing? After vowing to protect his sister until his last breath only to fail in the end? Such a burden of guilt is not something someone should have to carry with them the rest of their existence. I know this. I have carried my burdens with me for over five-thousand years."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM!" Aki roared, turning towards the Dark Signer, who floated in the air mockingly just out of reach. "Since the beginning of this war, you've been trying to kill all of us! Rua, Ruka, Mirai, Seijun, Satoshi, Yuu, all their blood is on your hand as much as if you had drawn the blade yourself!"

"Yuu chose his own path when he came to me begging for the power to save everyone in the universe, including his fellow Signer friends." Qhawa called back. "Once he had learned the truth and shared it with his family, Satoshi and Mirai chose to follow him willingly. I am not accountable for their decisions."

"You twisted Yuu's mind when you gave him your mark." Aki retorted. "I swear, I will free him and everyone else you have enslaved!"

"Ah, the little Signer Dr. Aki Izayoi, vowing to heal her patients." Qhawa mocked. "But all good healers must beware of diagnosing the disease incorrectly, and no matter how skilled they are, they must learn when it is too late to save their patient. Speaking of which…"

She pointed behind Aki.

Aki turned just in time to see what looked like a long tendril of pitch-black liquid goo lash out before slicing off Rose Tentacles thorny tendrils in one blow. Gasping in shock, Aki held up her card, recalling the monster back to its own world before barely managing to dodge another tendril of slime, which lashed against the rear of Bloody Kiss. Above her head, the tendrils of slime twisted up into the body of a hooded familiar vaguely shaped like Yuu Hashimoto, multiple Earthbound marks adorning its body in the same way as its Dark Signer creator.

"Yuu's been working on some new breeds. I think you will find this one to be a suitable challenge." Qhawa commented, looking up at the faceless familiar before speaking to it. "Do as your master has commanded you, little familiar, and make it entertaining for me."

"Flesh…bone…blood…I…must…FEAST!" the spirit rasped in a voice that sounded like water poured on hot ash.

"Turbo Field activate!" Qhawa declared, raising her hand to the air before conjuring the image of a field spell depicting the dark world with vein-like trackways Aki and her companions were riding upon. "Speed Underworld!"

"DUEL!" Aki and the familiar declared in unison before Aki rocketed forward with Bloody Kiss towards a distant pillar of light on the trackway. Above her head, the familiar blasted forward with astounding speed, tendrils blasting jets of black liquid from their tips like ink from an octopus, allowing the creature to overtake Aki and pass through the starting point first.

"By the rules of Speed Underworld, the familiar gets to choose who goes first." Qhawa declared off to the side like a duel commentator.

"My turn…begins…NOW!" the familiar roared, stretching out an arm that was little more than a mass of twisted tendrils of slime and bone. "Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha's effect! I reveal…this card…in my hand…to FORCE…my opponent…to reveal one card…in their Extra Deck!"

"Ah, an interesting opening." Qhawa commented with a nod of her head. "I do wonder what the little familiar could be planning. Well, I suppose the ball is in your court now, little Signer. What card will you reveal in your Extra Deck? I do hope you make the right decision."

Aki quickly removed her Extra Deck from its holster in her D-Wheel mounted duel disk before showing the familiar one of the cards.

"I reveal the Synchro Monster, Splendid Rose." Aki declared, revealing the card before returning it to her Extra Deck.

The familiar twitched in reply, tendrils of slime writhing against the surface of loose bones held just beneath the surface of its body.

"The effect…of Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha…resolves!" the creature hissed. "I summon…my monster…from my hand! COME FORTH!"

Erupting from the glowing spiral mark of the familiar's slimy body like puss from a boil, the monster, a glowing multi-colored spiral carved inside a circular stone, appeared before floating just in front of the familiar.

Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha / DARK / Level 1 / Fiend / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha's effect!" the familiar roared, "Since a Synchro Monster…was revealed for its effect…I add one Dark Tuner…from my deck…to my hand. I add…the Dark Tuner…Earthbound Hand of Ch'askancha…from my deck…to my hand! Furthermore…because I control an 'Earthbound' monster…I can Special Summon this card…come forth!"

The familiar slammed a tentacled arm into the ground. Exploding out of the slimy arm was a long, thin, desiccated clawed female arm with a multi-colored spiral mark on the hand. Another arm clawed its way out of the familiar's arm before a skeletal hooded woman with no lower body pulled itself out of the arm and rose into the air, holding its hands over the familiar's other monster like a puppeteer.

Earthbound Hand of Ch'askancha / DARK / Level 12 / Fiend / Dark Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"I dark tune…the level 12 Hand of Ch'askancha…with the Level one Glyph of Ch'askancha." The familiar rasped. In response, the desiccated woman wrapped its overgrown claws around the circular stone before exploding into twelve spheres of light and sinking into the stone, which faded into nonexistence. Two spheres of light merged together before the remaining eleven spheres turned black and began orbiting a region of empty space, black lightning crackling between the spheres.

"The shadows…obey…my call!" the familiar rasped, raising its arms into the air. "The almighty king…of the familiars…rises! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Arawayo…Level minus eleven…Earthbound…Netherlord…HORROR!"

A pillar of pure darkness exploded from the center of the black stars, blowing back the familiars hood and exposing a fleshless human skull covered in black slime. Opening the skull's mouth so wide that the lower jaw disconnected from the upper jaw, the familiar regurgitated a mass of slime and shattered bones far larger than its own body onto the trackway, which rose up, molding itself into a vaguely draconic monster with glowing white eyes, four slimy legs, mangled teeth and claws made from human ribs, and wings supported with spinal chords.

Earthbound Netherlord Horror / DARK / Level -11 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"That creature…" Aki murmured, recognizing its likeness from a past battle.

"Very similar to what Rex summoned." Qhawa agreed. "Though this one is far easier to tame and control than the construct you and your fellow Signers faced. This should be very nostalgic for you."

Aki highly doubted that.

"Earthbound Netherlord Horror's effect!" the familiar gurgled though a broken human jaw. "Once per turn…I can Special Summon…one 'Earthbound monster…from my Extra Deck…with its effects negated…on the condition…that it is destroyed…during the End Phase. Come forth…Earthbound…Netherlord Spawn!"

Roaring in response, the familiar's monster regurgitated a ball of slime and bones from its malformed gullet, which took shape on the trackway until it resembled something only very vaguely human.

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -1 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Setting three cards…facedown." The familiar rasped, three tentacled arms of bone and slime erupting from its spiral mark chest and depositing three face-down cards in front of itself. "Turn…end. At this time…the effect of Earthbound…Netherlord Horror…applies. The Netherlord Spawn…is destroyed! And when it's destroyed…Earthbound Netherlord Spawn's effect…inflicts eight-hundred damage…to your life points!"

Roaring with a vaguely human voice, the humanoid slime creature's body suddenly erupted with what looked like immense red boils growing out of the black slime. Dashing forward, the familiar leaped at Aki before exploding like a grenade, scattering slime and bone across the track and into Aki, who shielded her face from the impact of debris. A crimson shield appeared in front of her foot mark, protecting her from the splinters of bone, but a few particles of slime still managed to splat against her body.

Aki: 4000 – 800 = 3200 LP

"Effect damage right off the bat." Aki thought to herself, wiping some of the black sludge from her suit. "And I doubt I have seen all the effects of its Netherlord Horror. Otherwise, the familiar wouldn't have been so eager to summon that thing in attack position when it only has zero ATK. Even worse, it has three face-downs, so I will need to play carefully."

"Ah, it looks like some more familiars have caught up with your friends." Qhawa commented, drawing Aki out of her contemplation. Sure enough, a blue wolf familiar was pursuing Lupa, a pack of three ferocious-looking Earthbound Wolf creatures snapping at the Mercenaries heels while Bakari fought off a swarm of bat-like familiars.

"I wonder how they will do." Qhawa continued, observing the duels. "That girl who seemed so eager to shoot me seems to know her way around a speed duel, but I can't help but feel that Egyptian child doesn't have much experience. Ah well, I suppose this duel must continue. The effect of Speed Underworld is applied. During each End Phase, you both gain Speed Counters."

Aki: 1 Speed Counter

Familiar: 1 Speed Counter

"Hopefully your duel will be more entertaining than your companions' duels." Qhawa commented, floating into the distant void to get a better view of the duels. "Those two don't seem to be doing very well."

"Atashi no turn, draw!" Aki declared, ignoring Qhawa and beginning her turn. She could not allow the Dark Signer to distract her. She had to trust that her companions would be able to handle themselves against their familiar opponents. For now, all she could do was focus on her own duel and defeat the enemy standing before her.

"Continuous trap card open!" the familiar roared. "Netherworld Accelerator! Once per turn…I can send one monster…from my Extra Deck…to the graveyard…in order to gain…one speed counter! I send another Earthbound Netherlord Spawn…from my Extra Deck…to the graveyard…in order to increase my power!"

Familiar: 2 Speed Counters

"It's building up speed counters and sending more cards from its Extra Deck to the graveyard." Aki thought to herself. "It must be part of a larger strategy. Fortunately, if I can damage its life points by one-thousand or more, it should lose Speed Counters."

"Speed Spell activate, Tuner Launch!" Aki declared. "I special summon one Tuner Monster from my hand whose Level is equal to or lower than the number of my Speed Counters. Come forth! Glow-Up Bulb!"

Through a blue portal, a small plant bulb with a flowering top and a single purple eye in its center appeared to the field next to Aki's bike.

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100

"Next, I Normal Summon a monster." Aki continued, slamming down another card. "Come forth! Bird of Roses!"

Appearing next to Glow-Up Bulb was a parrot-like creature with a bird beak and feet and a body and wings made up of leaves and rose buds. Unfurling its wings, the creature let out a small avian shriek.

Bird of Roses / WIND / Level 4 / Plant / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1500

"I tune my Level one Glow-Up Bulb with my Level four Bird of Roses in order to-…" Aki began before Qhawa began loudly interrupting her.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Qhawa called, floating directly in front of Aki while frantically waving her hands in front of the Signer's face.

"What?" Aki snapped, not interested in more of the Dark Signer's games.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies for the interruption, little Signer," Qhawa sighed, smacking her forehead, "but…and I am so embarrassed to admit this…but you see…I think the familiar and I forgot to mention a very important thing about Earthbound Netherlord Horror's effects."

"Which is…?" Aki asked.

"While I control…this monster…" the familiar rasped in reply. "my opponent…cannot summon…monsters…from the Extra Deck!"

"No!" Aki exclaimed in shock. In reply, the immense slime creature unfurled its wings, unleashing a spray of darkness from the membranes, which coalesced around Aki's Extra Deck, creating a shadowy barrier.

"I do apologies for this, little Signer." Qhawa fretted, patting Aki affectionately on the head. "I do know you were so looking forward to summoning your Synchro Monsters…but I suppose those will just have to wait for a later time. Hopefully you have a backup strategy…right? Oh dear, and Bakari's having trouble again. It really wasn't a good idea for him to come here."

"I activate the effect of the Fallen Angel of Roses in my hand!" Aki declared, cutting through Qhawa's noise. "I return Bird of Roses to my hand in order to Special Summon this monster. Come forth!"

Appearing to Aki's field in a flurry of black and purple rose petals was a tall darkly beautiful angel creature with thorny wings made of black rose petals, long straight black hair, a tight leather vest that left her shoulders exposed, short white skirt, and leather boots, and a whip made of a thorny vine. Upon appearing, the monster cracked its whip at Qhawa, who just as quickly shifted out of the way.

Fallen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 7 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1300

"Furthermore," Aki continued, "Since I summoned a Level five or higher Plant Monster, I discard Lantern Seed from my hand in order to add one Level five or higher Plant Monster from my deck to the hand while also gaining an additional Normal Summon this turn. I use this effect to add the Level seven Queen Angel of Roses from my deck to my hand."

In front of Aki, a glowing Chinese Lantern seed appeared before sinking into a black portal, a beacon of light shining into the black void as Aki added a card from her deck to her hand.

"I next tribute Glow-Up Bulb in order to Tribute Summon Queen Angel of Roses, who can be tribute summoned by tributing just one plant monster with its effect. Appear now!" Aki commanded, summoning the card she had added from her deck to her hand.

Appearing next to Aki's other angel was a masked, blonde-haired seraphim with wings made of red rose petals, an elegant black-and-gold dress, and a rose-decorated lance.

Queen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 7 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1300

"Impressive monsters." Qhawa remarked. "So you had a backup plan against the lockdown. But I wonder if it will be enough…"

"Setting a card face-down!" Aki continued. "Battle! Fallen Angel of Roses attacks Earthbound Netherlord Horror! Retribution Thorns!"

"Continuous Trap Activate!" the familiar countered. "Earthbound Spirit Barrier! While there is…a field spell card…on the field…this card is unaffected…by other card effects. Furthermore…I take no…battle damage…from battles…involving my Earthbound monsters!"

"But your monster is still destroyed." Aki countered as her monster lashed out against the immense slime-and-bone construct with her whip.

"Are you so certain of that?" Qhawa retorted, appearing directly in front of Aki's face.

"Earthbound Netherlord Horror's effect!" the familiar roared. "Once per turn…if my monster…would be destroyed…I can send one random card…from YOUR Extra Deck…to the graveyard instead! YOUR SYNCHRO MONSTERS ARE OUR POWER NOW! FEED!"

Opening its immense slimy maw, the familiar's monster launched a gooey frog-like tongue into Aki's Extra Deck, drawing out a copy of Aki's Garden Rose Maiden before absorbing it and batting away Aki's monster.

"But that effect only works once!" Aki retorted, before stretching her hand towards her other monster. "Queen Angel of Roses, attack Earthbound Netherlord Horror! Queen's Thorn!"

Leveling her lance at the familiar's monster, Queen Angel of Roses launched herself towards the monster, lance held out like a deadly thorn.

"Again, Aki?" Qhawa teased. "What's the phrase…fool me twice…you're completely hopeless?"

"Continuous trap activate!" the familiar rasped. "Earthbound Speed Barrier! This card is destroyed…if there is no card…in the field zone. While it is active…no player can activate field spell cards…and field spell cards are unaffected by other card effects. This card…cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects…while I control…an 'Earthbound' monster. Furthermore…if an opponent's monster attacks…I can remove one Speed Counter…to negate the attack! I remove one of…my speed counters…to negate your monster's attack!"

Before Queen Angel of Roses could hit the familiar's monster, an energy barrier suddenly formed in front of the monster, blasting the angel back.

Familiar: 1 Speed Counter

"Don't worry, little Signer." Qhawa soothed. "Your attack was not completely useless. The effect of Speed Underworld is applied since the familiar removed one of its counters. Whenever a player's speed counter is removed, that player takes three-hundred damage."

A jolt of black lightning suddenly coursed through the familiar's body, causing it to spasm with pain until the shocking stopped.

Familiar: 4000 – 300 = 3700 LP

"Now you only have to attack about thirteen more times and you'll win!" Qhawa encouraged.

"It's a delay strategy." Aki thought to herself. "Qhawa doesn't truly think this familiar can defeat me, but she is hoping to delay me long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Speaking of which, where is Yuu? If he already knew I was here, why has he not shown up? Whatever the reason is, I can't let Qhawa win this game."

"Turn end." Aki declared, twisting her accelerator to catch up to the familiar.

Aki: 2 Speed Counters

Familiar: 2 Speed Counters

"My…turn…" the familiar gurgled. "DRAW! During my Standby Phase…the effect of Netherworld Accelerator…activates! I send Earthbound Netherstalker…to the graveyard…to gain one Speed Counter!"

Familiar: 3 Speed Counters

"Earthbound Netherlord Horror's effect!" the familiar roared. "I Special Summon…Earthbound Netherlord Spawn…from my Extra Deck! Appear…my minion!"

The familiar's monster spit out another glob of slime and bone, which formed into a twisted humanoid figure, waiting to bulge with pustules and explode.

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -1 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"The effect…of Earthbound Netherstalker…activates…from the graveyard!" the familiar growled. "If a Dark Synchro Monster…is Special Summoned…I can Special Summon…this card from…my graveyard. TEAR OFF THE SIGNER'S FLESH! EARTHBOUND NETHERLORD SPAWN!"

Erupting from one of Netherlord Horror's slimy legs was a large hound-like construct of bone and slime with multiple human skulls poking out from its body. Opening an immense mouth, the creature revealed a maw filled with broken human femur and humerus bones for teeth.

Earthbound Netherstalker / DARK / Level -5 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 2500 / DEF 0

"While Earthbound Netherstalker…is on the field…other Earthbound Monsters…I control…gain one-thousand ATK!" the familiar gurgled.

Earthbound Netherlord Horror: 1000 ATK

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn: 1000 ATK

"It summoned a monster stronger than either of my monsters, yet its ATK boost is nearly meaningless. It can't just be planning to destroy one of my monsters and inflict one-hundred damage to my life points." Aki thought, looking at the familiar suspiciously.

"BATTLE!" the familiar cried. "Earthbound Netherstalker…devour Queen Angel of Roses's flesh…and suck the marrow from her bones!"

Roaring with madness, Earthbound Netherstalker charged towards Aki's monster, opening its mouth wide to swallow the angel whole.

"Trap activate!" Aki declared. "Trust Tag-Out! If a monster I control is attacked, I return that monster to the hand in order to gain life points equal to that monster's ATK before Special Summoning a different monster from my hand in attack position. The monster summoned by this effect cannot be destroyed by battle once this turn. I return Queen Angel of Roses to my hand in order to gain twenty-four hundred life points and Special Summon Bird of Roses from my hand! Come forth!"

Unfurling her rose petal wings, Queen Angel of Roses rose up into the air before vanishing in a flurry of rose petals, which parted to reveal Bird of Roses.

Bird of Roses / WIND / Level 4 / Plant / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1500

Aki: 3200 + 2400 = 5600 LP

"Continue the battle!" the familiar snarled. "Earthbound Netherstalker…attack Bird of Roses!"

Netherstalker pounced forward, attempting to catch the plant bird in its mouth. Bird of Roses dodged out of the way of the attack, but the slime creature lashed out with boney slime tendrils, which struck against Aki, leaving a gash in her helmet and a bloody laceration on her side.

Aki: 5600 – 700 = 4900 LP

"Well…that's not too bad." Qhawa observed. "I think you'll be able to make it this turn."

"Earthbound Netherlord Horror!" the familiar continued. "Attack Bird of Roses! The effect of Netherlord Horror activates! When it attacks, it gains one-thousand attack for every Extra Deck monster in the graveyard! Summoning Essence Feast!"

Earthbound Netherlord Horror: 1000 + (1000 X 3) = 4000 ATK

"So that's why it was focused on sending so many Extra Deck monsters to the graveyard." Aki realized. "It was powering up its monster for this attack!"

Opening its malformed mouth wide, Earthbound Netherlord Horror unleashed a beam of dark purple light into Aki's monster, vaporizing it and nearly knocking Aki off her bike as she braced against the blast with the shield she summoned from her mark.

Aki: 4900 – 2200 = 2700 LP / 0 Speed Counters

"Speed Underworld's effect!" the familiar roared. "You lost two Speed Counters…since you took more than two-thousand…damage. Now you take more damage…for that loss! SUFFER!"

Aki: 2700 – (300 X 2) = 2100 LP

"Bird of Roses's effect!" Aki declared. "Since this monster was destroyed by battle with an opponent's attacking monster while in face-up attack position, I can summon two Plant Tuner monsters from my deck! Come forth! Arisen Angel of Roses and Rose Thorn Fairy!"

Appearing to Aki's field in a flurry of rose petals were two-winged plant monsters. Arisen Angel of Roses looked like a mixture of Fallen Angel of Roses and Queen Angel of Roses with two left wings the same color as Queen Angel's wings and two right wings the same color as Fallen Angel's wings. Arisen Angel of Roses had a mane of curly blue hair adorned with a glowing golden halo and multi-colored roses, and wore a white mask over half her face, leaving the other half of her face exposed for her to stare out with a deep brown eye. Over her body she wore a deep purple-and-red toga pinned together with golden roses and carried a straight golden trumpet tipped with a white rose for its bell. Rose Thorn Fairy was a much smaller barefoot diminutive sprite wearing a thorny blindfold around her eyes, a pink vest and short skirt made of rose petals, and a pair of black thorn-claw gloves. Like Fallen Angel of Roses, she carried a thorny whip in her hand, though hers was much smaller and tipped with a black rose at its end.

Arisen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 8 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 2900

Rose Thorn Fairy / EARTH / Level 2 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 1000

"Impressive!" Qhawa congratulated, clapping her hands. "You managed to turn the familiar's aggression to your advantage."

"USELESS!" The familiar roared. "I banish a spawn from my graveyard…to activate its effect…enabling me to summon…another Spawn…from my graveyard…but it is destroyed…during the End Phase! Appear!"

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -3 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 + 1000 = 1000 / DEF 0

"Setting a card face-down! Turn end!" The familiar growled. "During the End Phase…the effects of Netherlord Spawn…and Netherstalker…activate! Both my Spawns and Netherstalker…destroy themselves…and the Netherlord Spawns…each inflict eight-hundred damage…while Netherstalker inflicts…one-thousand damage! DIE!"

The two Spawns swelled with blood-red boils before charging at Aki. Netherstalker similarly bulged, spikey broken bones erupting from its slimy body. The Spawns reached Aki first, each one exploding against Aki's Signer shield while she struggled to maintain control.

Aki: 2100 – (800 X 2) = 500 LP

"Come now, little Signer, is this really how you're defeated?" Qhawa mocked as Netherstalker exploded in a blast of slime and boils, razor-sharp bone splinters flying towards Aki.

"Rose Thorn Fairy's effect!" Aki declared. "Once per turn, if I would take damage, I can negate that damage while increasing Rose Thorn Fairy's Level by one!"

Zipping in front of Aki, the diminutive fairy slapped away the bone splinters with her thorny whip, saving her master at the last second.

Rose Thorn Fairy: Level 3

Aki: 1 Speed Counter

Familiar: 4 Speed Counters

"Atashi no turn, draw!" Aki declared, beginning her next turn.

"Netherworld Accelerator's effect!" the familiar growled. "I send a monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard to gain an additional Speed Counter!"

Familiar: 5 Speed Counters

"It can block five attacks now." Aki thought to herself. "Furthermore, its Earthbound Spirit Barrier protects it from battle damage and its Netherlord Horror can protect itself from destruction once per turn. I need to dismantle its defenses, otherwise, even if I manage to survive its next attacks, it will have delayed me long enough to stop our mission."

"I send the top card of my deck to the graveyard in order to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb. Come forth!" Aki commanded, summoning her small plant-bulb tuner.

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100

"Speed spell, Deadheading Draw, hasudo!" Aki continued. "By removing one Speed Counter and tributing two or more Plant Monsters I control, I can add one Plant Monster from my deck to my hand whose Level is equal to the Level of the monsters tributed before drawing two cards and discarding 1 card. I pay one Speed Counter and tribute Fallen Angel or Roses and Glow-Up Bulb in order to add Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel from my deck before drawing two cards and sending White Rose Dragon from my hand to the graveyard!"

Aki: 0 Speed Counters

"Speed Underworld's effect!" the familiar roared. "You take three-hundred damage!"

Bracing against the pain, Aki gripped the handles of Bloody Kiss until the shocks of the black lightning passed.

Aki: 500 – 300 = 200 LP

"Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel's effect!" Aki declared. "I banish Queen Angel of Roses from my hand and Arisen Angel of Roses on my field in order to Special Summon Rosaria the Stately Fallen Angel! Come forth!"

Next to Arisen Angel of Roses, Queen Angel of Roses appeared before the two of them dissolved into a swirling cloud of rose petals. Merging together, the petals formed a humanoid cloud before parting when four pairs of rose-petal wings, the right ones black and the left ones red, burst from the cloud, parting the rest of the petals to reveal a pale male angel wearing a white toga with golden jewelry.

Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel / EARTH / Level 8 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2900 / DEF 2400

"A strong monster." Qhawa commented. "Is it strong enough?"

"Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel's effect!" Aki declared. "I negate the effects of all other cards on the field until the end of this turn. I cannot negate the effects of Earthbound Spirit Barrier since it is unaffected by other card effects, but your other cards will lose their power! Ekay! Second coming of roses!"

Stretching out his hand, Rosaria conjured a storm of black and red rose petals, which covered the other cards on the field, causing the monsters to relax as if pacified while the face-up Trap Cards, except for Earthbound Spirit Barrier, faded to a dull grey.

"Hmmm, that could work." Qhawa mused.

"Continuous Trap Card activate!" the familiar roared. "Earthbound Speed Barrier!"

A second copy of the defensive trap card flipped face-up, creating a new energy barrier around the familiar's monster.

"Then again," Qhawa continued. "It would seem the familiar had a backup plan. Now, what will you do, little Signer?"

"I switch Rose Thorn Fairy to attack position and Normal Summon Explosive Tumbleweed!" Aki declared, switching the battle position of her fairy and slamming down a card before a rolling ball of spikey tumbleweed with glowing red thorns and heavy-lidded blue eyes poking out amidst the dried vines appeared next to her bike.

Explosive Tumbleweed / FIRE / Level 3 / Plant / Effect / ATK 300 / DEF 1800

"Furthermore," Aki continued, "I activate the effect of the Garden Rose Maiden sent to my graveyard! I banish this monster in order to Special Summon a Rose Dragon monster from my graveyard! Appear! White Rose Dragon!"

Emerging from a black graveyard portal was a tall elegant woman wearing what looked like a white wedding dress made of roses. Spreading out her hands, the woman vanished into the air before a diminutive dragon with a black body and white roses sprouting from the back and head, appeared in its place.

White Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 4 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 1200 / DEF 1000

"I next move on to my Battle Phase." Aki declared. "And activate the effect of the Phoenixian Bulb in my graveyard. During the Battle Phase, I can Special Summon this card from the graveyard before adding one Level eight or higher Plant Monster from my deck to my hand! I Special Summon Phoenixian Bulb and add Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my deck to my hand."

Joining Aki's other monsters was a flaming plant bulb with a single eye in its center and a plant sprout shaped like a baby phoenix sprouting from its top.

Phoenixian Bulb / FIRE / Level 2 / Plant / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 600

"Five monsters…" Qhawa mused, tapping her chin. "Rosaria, Explosive Tumbleweed, Rose Thorn Fairy, White Rose Dragon, and Phoenixian Bulb. Enough to use up the familiar's speed counters…but not enough to break through."

"BATTLE!" Aki declared. "All five of my monsters attack Earthbound Netherlord Horror!"

All five of Aki's monsters rushed forward, lashing out with thorny vines, petals, spines, and angelic power before all the attacks were deflected by Earthbound Speed Barrier.

Familiar: 0 Speed Counters

"The effect of Speed Underworld inflicts fifteen-hundred damage to your life points since you lost five speed counters." Aki observed before the familiar began thrashing in pain from the black lightning.

Familiar: 3700 – (300 X 5) = 2200 LP

"I…am not…defeated!" the familiar rasped. "Your attacks…meant nothing!"

"Phoenixian Bulb's monster effect!" Aki declared. "During the Battle Phase, I can tribute this monster in order to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my hand! Come forth!"

In front of Aki, the small plant bulb began swelling in size, the small plant bird on its top growing into a large flowering plant phoenix.

Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis / FIRE / Level 8 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2200 / DEF 0

"The sixth attack." Aki declared. "You could only block five. This attack will end you. Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, destroy Earthbound Netherlord Horror!"

Rising up into the air, Phoenxian Cluster Amaryllis burst into flames before charging into the familiar's monster, causing the slime and bone construct to explode into flaming bones and sizzling slime before falling apart.

"Earthbound Spirit Barrier!" the familiar growled. "I take no battle damage! Furthermore, since a Dark Synchro Monster I controlled was destroyed by an opponent's attacking monster, I discard Effigy of Ch'askancha from my hand in order to Special Summon Dark Synchro Monsters from my graveyard whose total Levels are equal to the Level of the destroyed monster, but those monsters are destroyed during the End Phase! Come forth! Two Earthbound Netherlord Spawn and Earthbound Netherstalker!"

Above the familiar, an idol of an eight-armed woman with a spiral mark on her head, chest, belly, and the palms of each of her hands, and an elegant feathered headdress on her head appeared before glowing with energy and stretching its stone hands towards the remnants of the familiar's monster, fashioning the scraps of slime and bone into two new Spawns and a new Netherstalker.

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -3 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 + 1000 = 1000 / DEF 0

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -3 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 + 1000 = 1000 / DEF 0

Earthbound Netherstalker / DARK / Level -5 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 2500 / DEF 0

"You lose…SIGNER!" the familiar roared as its three monsters began swelling, preparing to explode.

"Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis is destroyed after it battles!" Aki countered. "And when it is destroyed, you take eight-hundred damage!"

"RaaaaaaaaaaaUUUUUUUUUGH!" the familiar growled as the flaming remnants of Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis hit against the familiar's body, setting its cloak ablaze.

Familiar: 2200 – 800 = 1400 LP

"Explosive Tumbleweed's effect!" Aki proclaimed. "During a turn a Plant Monster I controlled was destroyed, I can tribute this card in order to destroy one other Plant Monster I control and inflict damage to my opponent's lifepoints equal to half the attack of that destroyed plant monster! I tribute Explosive Tumbleweed and destroy Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel for this effect!"

Rolling forward, Explosive Tumbleweed engulfed Rosaria the Stately Fallen Angel, before the angelic plant creature began running within the ball of thorns like a hamster in a ball, charging towards the familiar. Crashing into the familiar, the angel and tumbleweed exploded in a ball of flames and thorns, ripping the familiar's body of slime and bone into pieces.

Familiar: 1400 – (2900 / 2) = 0 LP

"So close." Qhawa sighed. "Ah well, perhaps the other familiars are faring better."

"Canis Lycan - Wolf Queen Shirokari," Lupa ordered, speaking to a tall wolf-woman with a mane of black hair, white fur with blue markings, and a blood-red cloak draped over rusty claw-raked armor, "direct attack!"

On command, the wolf creature leaped forward before racking her claws against the wolf familiar, cleaving the creature in two before the spirit faded away.

Familiar: 1050 – 2900 = 0 LP (LOSE)

Lupa wins!

"And the Gravekeeper?" Qhawa asked before turning her attention to Bakari, who was facing down a cluster of bat familiars with a trio of monsters wearing Egyptian robes.

"Gravekeeper's Embalmer's effect!" the middle-eastern man declared, blood staining his dusty robes. "By returning this card from my graveyard to my hand, I send one Level four or lower 'Gravekeeper's' monster from my deck to the graveyard in order to give my other 'Gravekeeper's' monsters that monster's effect until the end of this turn. I send Gravekeeper's Vassal from my deck to the graveyard for this effect!"

Through a black graveyard portal, Gravekeeper's Embalmer, a slender female Egyptian physician wearing white robes wrapped with gauze appeared before Gravekeeper's Vassal, a smaller simpering Egyptian man with an enlarged nose, appeared next to her. Clamping her hands over the man's mouth, Embalmer fastened a white cloth over the man's face before deftly ensnaring him in a cocoon of gauze. That done, the physician sliced open the cloth over Vassal's allowing an ethereal ghost-version of Vassal to escape from the opening before splitting into three pieces and entering the bodies of Bakari's other monsters.

"Earthbound Spirit Barrier prevents me from inflicting battle damage, but it does not prevent effect damage." Bakari explained. "Thanks to my monsters all gaining the effects of Vassal this turn, any time they would inflict battle damage, that damage is treated as effect damage instead! Go forth now, servants of the dead! Gravekeeper's Chief, Gravekeeper's Assailant, and Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist, free these spirits of their torment!"

On command, Bakari's monsters sprang forward, slicing through three of the ethereal bat familiars before blasting and cutting at the central commanding bat familiar, which faded into dust.

Familiar: 4000 – (700 + 1100 + 2600) = 0 LP

Bakari wins!

"Of course." Qhawa sighed. "Still, there is much more for you all to face. I wonder how you will do against the next challenge, little Signer."

"Looks like our path to the temple is mostly clear up ahead." Lupa commented, blasting a few more familiars out of the way with her rifle.

"But the rear does not look so good." Bakari complained. "Our path out of here is completely blocked off, and they are closing in!"

"Keep moving forward and don't look back!" Aki called. "We need to reach that temple before those other familiars!"

"Once we reach that temple, our path will be blocked by those gates!" Bakari protested. "We'll be pinned between the familiars at the gates and the swarm behind us!"

"Leave them to me!" Aki called back, holding up a card before using her powers to summon a living version of Rose Witch, who lashed out against the familiars with a pair of thorny rose tendrils hidden beneath her red-and-green stripped sleeves.

"We're almost there!" Lupa called from her own bike. "And it looks like we've got familiars ready to welcome us!"

"Everyone stay behind me!" Aki called, looking ahead to spot three immense blocky familiars standing in front of one of the tall gateways. "I'll deal with the familiars in front of us. The two of you be ready to deal with any familiars who manage to break through the barrier I'll throw up!"

"Barrier?" Lupa asked.

Aki twisted the accelerator of Bloody Kiss, speeding up before crashing onto the spiral platform holding up the Earthbound temple. As if suddenly teleporting into another world, Aki suddenly found herself within a vast sandy desert with the multi-colored spiral mark glowing beneath her feet rather than the empty void of the Underworld. In the distance, Aki could still make out the towering temple and heart, though they were now illuminated with light from an immense spiral mark in the sky. Behind Aki, Bakari and Lupa was an utterly immense swarm of familiars of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Aki gunned forward, charging headlong towards the immense familiars in the distance, which braced against her charge, preparing to meet her head-on. Continuing her charge, Aki suddenly skidded to a stop just a few feet from the familiars, which were standing just outside the gate, before Bakari and Lupa stopped on either side of her. Behind them, the familiars continued their chase, fangs bared and claws outstretched.

"Trap hasudo!" Aki declared, holding up a trap card, mark on her arm glowing brightly, "Wall of Thorns!"

In front of the charging familiars, a thick wall of immensely thick, twisting thorn-covered vines erupted from the sandy ground before stretching into the sky and curling onto the nearby walls and gate towers so that Aki, her companions, and the three guardian familiars were encased within. Outside, the charging familiars crashed into the vines, some of them shrieking in pain while others attempted to claw and bite their way through.

"In front of you!" Bakari warned as one of the immense familiars brought its blocky fist down on Aki. Roaring like a dragon, Aki threw out her right arm, creating a crimson barrier, which deflected the blow from the familiar, causing the creature to briefly stumble back before it and its companions suddenly braced their right arms, displaying carvings that looked like duel monster zones.

"DUEL!" the three familiars rumbled in unison, commencing a duel between the three of them.

"They're fighting each other?" Bakari asked, confused.

"They're abusing the intrusion penalty!" Lupa spat in disgust, detaching her rifle from her bike to fire at the clawed paw of a familiar trying to dig through the vines. "They know we can only go forward by defeating them in a duel, so they're starting one between themselves, forcing us to lose life points right off the bat!"

"Not all of us, just me." Aki replied, "Keep your attention on the familiars outside. I'll accept their challenge."

"Our turn." The first familiar rumbled in voice that sounded like boulders falling on top of one another. "We discard Earthbound Temple Acolyte from our hand in order to add an 'Earthbound' Field Spell Card from our deck to our hand."

Atop the nearby temple wall, the lone spirit of an ancient Incan Priest with dark violet Earthbound marks on his body appeared before raising a wooden staff into the air and chanting while the familiar added a card from its deck to its hand. Chant complete, the spirit faded into the air before the familiar began glowing with power.

"The sanctity of the Creator God's temple shall not be defiled." The familiar rumbled. "We discard our hand in order to activate Earthbound Temple Gate!"

Behind the massive familiar, the nearby gate lit up with multi-colored energy, a spiral mark and four orbs of light illuminating the heavy metal of the circular doorway.

Earthbound Temple Gate: 4 Earthbound Counters

"Earthbound Temple Gate gains an Earthbound Counter for each card discarded for its activation." The familiar rumbled. "We activate the effect of Earthbound Temple Gate. During our Main Phase one, we can summon two Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens in defense position."

The gate of the temple opened, the circular doorway rolling away into the walls like a wheel before a pair of immense familiars identical to the dueling familiars emerged from the entryway and formed up in front of the first familiar, the door of the gate closing behind them.

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 1 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 4000 / DEF 4000

F2 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 2 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 4000 / DEF 4000

"The ATK and DEF of Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens summoned by the effect of Earthbound Gate are equal to the number of Earthbound Counters on Earthbound Gate." The familiar explained. "These tokens also cannot attack. Turn end."

"Our turn." The second familiar rumbled, immediately after the first familiar ended its turn. "Instead of conducting our normal draw, we activate the effect of the Earthbound Temple Acolyte in our other self's graveyard, adding this card to our hand. We next discard Earthbound Temple Acolyte in order to add Earthbound Temple Wall from our deck to our hand. With this action completed. We discard all cards in our hand in order to activate Earthbound Temple Wall and place Earthbound Counters on this card equal to the number of cards discarded!"

Behind the dueling familiars, patterns of multi-colored spiral marks swirled into existence along the face of the imposing temple wall before a central spiral encircling five multi-colored orbs lit up, the five orbs filling with multi-colored energy.

Earthbound Temple Wall: 5 Earthbound Counters

"Earthbound Temple Wall's effect." The familiar rumbled. "We summon two Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens with ATK and DEF equal to the number of counters on Temple Wall."

Up above, two more of the immense familiars appeared on top of the wall before forming up in rank like sentinels.

F2 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 1/ DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 5000 / DEF 5000

F2 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 2 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 5000 / DEF 5000

"Turn end." The second familiar concluded before the third familiar immediately picked up from where its counterpart left off.

"Our turn." The familiar declared. "Draw. We begin our third turn by discarding our hand in order to activate Earthbound Temple Ramparts and place Earthbound Counters on Temple Ramparts equal to the number of cards discarded to activate this card."

The nearby towers and fortifications atop the wall grew patterns of multi-colored spiral marks before a central spiral symbol and five orbs of multi-colored light lit up along with it.

Earthbound Temple Ramparts: 5 Earthbound Counters

"Earthbound Temple Ramparts second effect." The familiar continued. "We summon two Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens with ATK and DEF equal to the number of Earthbound Counters on Ramparts."

In two of the towers lining the wall, an immense familiar appeared before manning a large ballista set within the tower and pointing them down at Aki.

F3 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 1 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 5000 / DEF 5000

F3 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 2 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 5000 / DEF 5000

"All who dare to trespass upon the temple grounds shall be cleansed." The final familiar intoned. "With this, our preparations are complete. Turn end."

"Are you kidding me?" Lupa growled before firing another round at a familiar trying to tunnel through Aki's wall of rose tendrils. "That's what Yuu has guarding this stupid temple!? Not only are their decks and strategies exactly the same, but it's nothing but a freaking defensive wall!"

"Clearly they aren't interested in defeating us outright." Aki replied. "They just want to keep us out until much stronger reinforcements arrive."

"An apt observation, little Signer." Qhawa commented, sitting on a wooden chair before a small backstrap loom next to a simple stand with a single cup of steaming Aztec chocolate resting on a saucer placed on its surface while using the loom to weave an elaborately decorated square of cloth. "Yuu did not see fit to design the temple guardians with any particularly powerful offensive capabilities, so he settled with stall tactics. This duel will be absolutely riveting, so be sure to interrupt my weaving when Yuu arrives."

"Not happening." Aki growled to herself before stepping forward. The last thing she was going to do was let herself get stuck in a never-ending stall duel until Yuu returned from wherever he was to prevent her from disabling the temple. "My turn! DRAW!"

"INTRUSION PENALTY! TWO-THOUSAND LIFE POINTS!" her duel disk sang as Aki took the damage from intruding into the familiar's duel. Ignoring the pain, Aki quickly recovered before continuing with her turn.

Aki: 4000 / 2 = 2000 LP

"Field Magic Card activate, Black Garden!" Aki declared, slotting a card into her duel disk's field zone. In response to the activation of the card, the surrounding thorny tendrils began blooming with enormous red roses, many of which began blocking the ferocious snapping and clawing of the familiars outside the barrier.

"Next, I activate the magic card, Rose Bell of Revelation!" Aki continued. "With this card's effect, I add one Plant Monster with twenty-four hundred or more ATK from my deck to my hand!"

"Earthbound Temple Gate's effect!" The first familiar countered. "We remove one Earthbound Counter from Earthbound Temple Gate in order to negate the activation of your effect and force you to draw one card."

One of the orbs of light on the gate fired a beam of multi-colored light into the holographic image of Aki's Rose Bell of Revelation, obliterating the spell card. Sniffing with disgust, Aki drew a card from her deck before examining the rest of the temple fortifications.

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token: 3000 DEF

Earthbound Temple Gate: 3 Counters

"Stall tactics. These familiars powered up their respective field spell cards not just to give their tokens high stats, but because the counters grant their cards secondary effects. Temple Gate can negate my card effects. If this is the power of the Temple Gate, then I have a fairly good idea how the Temple Wall and Temple Ramparts work. But first, let's experiment."

"Magic Card activate, One for One!" Aki declared, activating her next Spell Card. "I discard Rose Lover from my hand in order to Special Summon a Level one monster from my deck! Come forth! Glow-Up Bulb!"

This time, the first familiar did not counter her Spell Card's activation, allowing her monster to appear to the field through a blue portal.

That's when the second familiar stepped forward.

"Earthbound Temple Wall's effect!" the second familiar rumbled. "We remove a counter from Earthbound Temple Wall in order to negate the summon of your monster and return it to your hand."

One of the tokens on the temple wall raised a large bow into the air before loosing an arrow, which flew through the air before striking Glow-Up Bulb, causing the monster to deteriorate into a card before returning to Aki's hand.

Earthbound Temple Wall: 4 Counters

F2 Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens: 4000 DEF

"One card to negate effects and one card to negate summons." Aki thought to herself. "Completing the trifecta, I'd have to guess that Earthbound Temple Ramparts negates either attacks or damage. Whatever the case may be, I cannot waste my time trying to play through all their negation effects. I need to get rid of those defenses by my next turn."

"Setting one monster face-down on my field and setting two cards in my magic and trap zones." Aki declared. "Turn end."

"Is that all?" Qhawa commented as she began weaving a new pattern into her cloth. "Normally, your turns are much more elaborate, little Signer. Have you lost your touch all of a sudden?"

"Our turn." The first familiar declared. "Instead of conducting our normal draw, we activate the final effect of the Earthbound Temple Acolyte in our graveyard. This turn, Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens we control can attack."

The ethereal priest appeared on top of the Temple Wall before raising his staff into the air. In response, the first familiar's tokens lifted their heads into the air before letting out a rumbling roar.

"Earthbound Temple Gate's effect." The familiar continued, "We summon two Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens in defense position."

Two more token monsters emerged from the Temple Gate before forming ranks directly behind the first two tokens, forming a defensive wall.

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 3 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 4 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki declared. "I halve the attack of the monsters you summoned and summon a Rose Token in attack position to my field!"

Snaking through the sandy ground, a swarm of thorny rose tendrils wrapped themselves around the newly summoned familiars before pulling the down to the ground. In front of Aki, a single red rose bloomed into existence from a different vine.

Rose Token / EARTH / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 3 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 1500 / DEF 3000

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 4 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 1500 / DEF 3000

"The effect is irrelevant." The familiar replied. "Switching our first two tokens into attack position." The familiar declared. As the front two tokens rose to their feet before assuming a battle stance.

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 1 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

F1 Earthbound Linebuilder Token 2 / DARK / Level 8 / Fiend / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

"Battle! Linebuilder one attacks your Rose Token! Crush the interloper!" the familiar commanded.

Charging forward, the token monster brought its immense fist down on Aki's Rose Token, crushing the flower.

"Counter Trap!" Aki declared. "Ice Rose Inferno! If a Plant or 'Rose Dragon' monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can activate one of this card's effects depending on the battle position that monster was in when it was destroyed! Since my Rose Token was destroyed in attack position, I negate the battle damage and decrease the ATK of my opponent's monsters by the amount of damage negated!"

In a flash of deep red, the roses on Aki's field suddenly burst into flames, scatting their blackened petals into the air so that they flew into the faces of the familiars and their tokens, driving the monsters back.

F1 Linebuilders 1 and 2: 800 ATK

F1 Linebuilders 3 and 4: 0 ATK

F2 Linebuilders: 1800 ATK

F3 Linebuilders: 2800 ATK

"Since I also negated more than two-thousand damage," Aki continued, "Ice Rose Inferno also allows me to draw two cards to replenish my hand."

"Continue the battle." The familiar commanded, undeterred. "Linebuilder Two, attack the face-down monster!"

Obediently, the second token launched its fist forward, however, on contact with the card, a small black dragon about the size of a dog, with red roses sprouting out of its head and back and a thorny tail, appeared before snapping at the token and lashing with its tail, forcing the token monster back.

Red Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 3 / Dragon / Tuner / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 1800

Familiar 1: 4000 – 1000 = 3000 LP

"Turn end." The first familiar groaned before its counterpart stepped forward.

"Our turn." The second familiar declared. "Instead of conducting our Normal Draw, we activate the effect of the Earthbound Temple Sanctity in our graveyard. For every Linebuilder Token on the field, we can place one Earthbound Counter on face-up 'Earthbound' field spell Cards. Since all three of our field spell cards have a limit of five counters, we place two counters on Earthbound Temple Gate and one counter on Earthbound Temple Wall."

Earthbound Temple Gate: 5 Earthbound Counters

Earthbound Temple Wall: 5 Earthbound Counters

"The power of the Temple's defenses will never be exhausted." The familiar intoned. "We summon two Linebuilders in defense position. Turn end."

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki declared as two more token monsters appeared on the temple walls. "The respective ATK of each of those tokens is halved and I summon a Rose Token."

F2 Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens 3 and 4: 2500 ATK / 5000 DEF

Rose Token / EARTH / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800

"It couldn't attack since my Red Rose Dragon's defense is too high." Aki thought to herself. "So it instead opted to replenish their field spell cards' counters. Hopefully, this familiar will take the bait."

She glanced over at Qhawa, who was still weaving at her loom, a look of total unconcern on her face. Aki decided that she ought to be grateful for this. Had Qhawa made an effort to lead or control the familiars, they no doubt would have made much more intelligent plays.

"Our turn!" the final familiar declared. "Instead of conducting our Normal Draw, we activate the effect of the Earthbound Temple Acolyte in our graveyard, enabling our Linebuilder Tokens to attack this turn. We next summon two more Linebuilders in defense position."

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki countered as two new tokens appeared in the towers surrounding the gate. "I halve the ATK of those tokens and summon another Rose Token to my field!"

F3 Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens 3 and 4: 2500 ATK / 5000 DEF

Rose Token / EARTH / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800

"Switching our first two tokens to attack position." The familiar declared. "Battle! Earthbound Linebuilder Token One! Attack and destroy the Signer's Rose Token!"

F3 Earthbound Linebuilder Tokens 1 and 2: 2800 ATK

"Twenty-Eight Hundred ATK, just enough to wipe out the rest of Aki's Lifepoints…is what I would say if I were a complete fool." Qhawa commented to herself before taking a sip of her chocolate and returning to her weaving.

"Counter Trap activate!" Aki declared. "Black Garden Winter! If I control a face-up 'Black Garden,' I can tribute Black Garden and all Rose Token on the field in order to destroy cards on the field equal to the number of cards tribute for this effect! I tribute Black Garden and my two tokens in order to destroy Earthbound Temple Gate, Earthbound Temple Wall, and Earthbound Temple Ramparts!"

Roaring in shock, the familiars could only cover their faces with their blocky hands as the rose tendrils of Aki's field spell card suddenly wrapped around the defenses of the temple before freezing over, the tendrils turning themselves and the defenses into ice before shattering to pieces, leaving the entryway into the temple wide open.

F1 Tokens: 0 ATK / 0 DEF

F2 Tokens: 0 ATK / 0 DEF

F3 Tokens: 0 ATK / 0 DEF

"Mmmm." Qhawa murmured to herself. "I wonder if I should turn this handkerchief into a sweater now."

"You have no cards in your hand, and no field spells to power up your tokens." Aki declared through the swirling vortex of snow, ice, and rose petals. "End your turn."

"Turn…end." The familiar groaned.

"And now the ball is in your court once again, little Signer." Qhawa mused to herself. "The question is, can you make the most of this opportunity and strike while the iron is still hot…or are you already too late?"

"My turn, draw!" Aki declared, a shockwave blasting from the epicenter of her body as she drew a card from her deck. "Rose Bell of Revelation's graveyard effect! I banish this card in order to Special Summon Queen Angel of Roses from my hand! Come forth!"

Appearing in a flurry of red roses, Aki's angelic monster appeared to her field before unfurling her wings and leveling her lance at the Familiars.

Queen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 7 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1300

"Rose Lover's graveyard effect!" Aki continued, "I banish this card from my graveyard in order to Special Summon Twin Bulb from my hand!"

Rising up from a black graveyard portal, Rose Lover, a lovely blonde-haired woman wearing an elegant red rose-decorated dress, appeared to the field before holding out her hands. From the palms of her hands, a single rose bloomed into existence before unfurling its petals to reveal a small pair of fused plant bulbs sitting inside.

Twin Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100

"Because a Plant Tuner was summoned, I activate the effect of the Dark Rose Fairy in my hand!" Aki continued. "I Special Summon this monster."

Next to Aki's Glow-Up Bulb, a diminutive green-haired fairy wearing a dress shaped like a black rose, appeared before raising a lantern to the air.

Dark Rose Fairy / DARK / Level 2 / Fairy / Effect / ATK 800 / DEF 1000

"Twin Bulb's effect," Aki continued, "It can be treated as a non-Tuner for the Synchro Summon of a plant monster! I tune the Level three Red Rose Dragon to the Level 1 Twin Bulb and Level two Dark Rose Fairy in order to Synchro Summon!"

Rising into the air, Red Rose Dragon morphed into a set of three green lights, which encircled Twin Bulb and Dark Rose Fairy, transforming them into three spheres of white light, which aligned with the center of the green rings before Aki began her summoning chant.

"Hunter of splendid thorns hidden in the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Arawayo! Level six! Splendid Rose!" Aki commanded, the ring and spheres exploding into a column of white light. Twirling onto her field in a flurry of vines and rose petals was a blonde-haired fairy-like gentleman wearing harlequin and roses for his uniform. Four tendrils of thorny rose vines stretched from the monster's back, waving in the air like whips.

Splendid Rose / WIND / Level 6 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2200 / DEF 1100

"Red Rose Dragon's effect!" Aki continued. "Since it was sent to the graveyard as a Material for the Synchro Summon of a Plant Synchro Monster, I add Frozen Rose from my deck to my hand and Special Summon Blue Rose Dragon from my deck! Come forth, Blue Rose Dragon!"

A single bright-red rose erupted from the ground next to Splendid Rose. Petals suddenly turning blue, the rose unfurled to reveal a small dragon curled up inside, with wings made of blue rose petals.

Blue Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 4 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 1600 / DEF 1200

"Twin Bulb's additional effect!" Aki continued, "I banish this card from my graveyard and pay half my life points in order to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb from my deck. Come forth!"

Aki: 2000 / 2 = 1000 LP

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100

"Here it comes." Qhawa mused to herself, kneading together a pair of separate threads.

"I tune the Level one Glow-Up Bulb with my Level six Splendid Rose!" Aki declared as her tuner and synchro monster rose into the air just as the mark on her arm lit up with power. As the two monsters began synchronizing to one another, Aki clamped her hands together and closed her eyes before begin her summoning chant.

"A red flame glows within a dark fire! Unfurl the dark petals of destruction and rebirth and bloom to your fullest!" Aki called as a column of white light exploded in front of her, causing the sandy ground to tremble. "SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Level seven! Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom!"

"I BLOOM ONCE MORE!" A powerful feminine voice roared in Aki's mind as Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom emerged from the column of white light in a flurry of black-and-red rose petals. Unlike most scale-covered dragons, Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom looked like its skin was made of immense vivid red-and-black rose petals. Proportion-wise, the dragon was similar to a swan, with an immense body, long neck, stubby legs, and enormous wings made almost completely from the enormous rose petals and thorns. Thorny rose tendrils snaked beneath the monster's body like tentacles, while a long, thick, black, thorny tail whipped at the air. The dragon's eyes were a blood-red color and its head was crowned with three thorn-and-petal-covered horns. Sprouting in the center of its back was a single immense black rose, which opened up to expose its vibrantly-colored red, pink, gold, blue, and white innards.

Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom / FIRE / Level 7 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1800

"It's good to see you in the flesh again, old friend." Aki whispered to the dragon, reaching up to pat the bottom of Fullbloom's smooth black neck.

"If only I could say the same to you!" Fullbloom snapped, glaring down at Aki. "You completely ignore me in the last duel when there is actually a significantly powerful familiar fighting you, and now you call me forth just to clear out some minor trash!?"

"I would have summoned you, but I was being blocked from Synchro Summoning." Aki complained.

"Excuses, excuses." Fullbloom complained. "I swear, you've gone soft since you put the mask away. I remember when you would have been much fiercer than you are acting now."

"Considering I was a pawn for a mad psychic back then, I'll settle with becoming a mild-mannered doctor over that life any day." Aki dryly replied. "Now, if you don't mind, we're in a bit of a hurry here."

"Oh of course I'll destroy them." Fullbloom replied, beating her wings against the ground with indignation. "But it doesn't mean I'll enjoy it!"

"Could you two maybe hurry it along?" Bakari asked, barely managing to parry the slash of a familiar, which had crawled through the remains of the barrier that had been destroyed when Aki had tribute her Black Garden.

"Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom's effect!" Aki declared, raising her hand into the air as Fullbloom unfurled the petals of the central rose on her back, causing a tornado of wind, petals, and thorns to form around the field. "When she is Synchro Summoned successfully, I can destroy all cards on the field!"

"BLOOMING OF THE FULLEST ROSE!" Aki and Fullbloom declared in unison as the tornado intensified, obliterating everything in its path before Fullbloom herself exploded in a cloud of sparks, thorns, and rose petals. Ducking in cover, Bakari and Lupa managed to shield themselves from the blast. The familiars outside the duel, on the other hand, did not fare so well as they were tossed into the air, some of them getting shredded into black bits.

"Blue Rose Dragon's effect!" Aki declared, "Since it was destroyed, I can target one Plant Monster in my graveyard in order to Special Summon it! I use this effect to Special Summon Queen Angel of Roses! Return!"

Erupting from the ground in front of Aki, a large blue rose sprouted into existence before turning red and opening up to reveal Queen Angel of Roses inside.

Queen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 7 / Plant / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1300

"I next activate the effect of the Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom in my graveyard." Aki continued, "Once per turn, if she is in the graveyard, I can tribute one Plant Monster I control or in my hand in order to Special Summon Fullbloom from the graveyard. I tribute Hedge Guard in my hand in order to Special Summon my monster. Return now, Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom!"

"I always do!" Fullbloom laughed as a forest of thorny vines erupted from the sandy ground before the immense dragon rose up from beneath.

Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom / FIRE / Level 7 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1800

"Finally," Aki continued, "I Normal Summon the monster, Rose Paladin. Come forth!"

Appearing next to Aki's other two monsters was a tall female warrior dressed in armor reminiscent of rose petals and wielding a large lance like a thorn.

Rose Paladin / EARTH / Level 4 / Warrior / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 200

"Your attacks will not deter us." The familiars chanted in unison. "You may be able to destroy one or two of us, but we will complete our mission. You will fail to destroy all of us in time. Instead, we shall trap you here until the other familiars tear the flesh from your bones and you join us to dwell in the Underworld…forever!"

"I don't think he was exaggerating about tearing our flesh from our bones!" Lupa warned, managing to fire a few shots into the swarm of scattered familiars that was regrouping and charging towards them once again.

"Of course…if you wanted to surrender…" Qhawa idly suggested.

"Never!" Aki spat in reply. "Black Garden Winter's graveyard effect! During the turn when one or more cards on the field is destroyed by the effect of a 'Rose Dragon' monster I control, I can inflict three-hundred damage to my opponent's life points for each card destroyed with that effect! Since Fullbloom, Queen Angel, Blue Rose, and twelve Linebuilders were destroyed, I inflict forty-five hundred damage to my opponent's life points!"

"INSUFFICIENT!" the familiars countered in unison, all three raising their hands into the air. "Our master prepared us with many contingencies! The graveyard effect of Earthbound Spring enables us to banish this card from our graveyard in order to gain life points equal to half the damage we would take! Each of us banishes one copy!"

Unfurling her wings, Fullbloom unleashed another tornado of petals and thorns, which froze into particles of ice before crashing into the bodies of the familiars, which managed to brace themselves against the storm.

Familiar 1: 3000 + (4500 / 2) – (500 X 15) = 750 LP

Familiar 2: 4000 + (4500 / 2) – (500 X 15) = 1750 LP

Familiar 3: 4000 + (4500 / 2) – (500 X 15) = 1750 LP

"You're all out of defenses." Aki replied. "BATTLE! Rose Paladin, attack Familiar One! Paladin Thorn!"

Charging forward, Aki's warrior jammed her lance into the body of the first familiar's blocky body, the tip of the lance piercing straight through the familiar before the familiar began to disintegrate.

Familiar 1: 750 – 1800 = 0 LP

"Queen Angel of Roses, attack Familiar Two directly! Queen's Lance!"

Rising into the air, Queen Angel dive-bombed the second familiar, piercing its head with her lance and disintegrating the creature.

Familiar 2: 1750 – 2400 = 0 LP

"Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom! Direct attack!"

Rearing back her head, Fullbloom lashed out with her thorny tendrils, which pierced straight through the familiar's body before the creature faded away with a groan.

Familiar 3: 1750 – 2400 = 0 LP

"Move!" Aki called to her comrades.

"Great Sangenshin, protect us!" Bakari called, pulling out a boomerang-shaped wand before using it to draw a protective circle around Aki as she reached toward the temple with her power. Once done, Bakari and Lupa each dismounted from their bikes before engaging a group of familiars at Aki's flanks.

"We don't have much time!" Fullbloom called through Aki's mark. "Father! Help us!"

"Great dragon father, lend us your strength!" Aki roared, mark and eyes blazing with light while sweat beaded on her forehead as she fought against the temple's dark power, trying to dismantle the structure.

"Now is the time!" A powerful ancient voice called through Aki's mark. "I am here!"

A pair of phantasmal crimson dragon feet appeared around Aki's shoes, their claws digging into the ground to anchor the signer in place. With a determined roar, Aki pushed against the temple with renewed vigor, causing a crack to form at its base.

"Hmm, well, that is unfortunate." Qhawa mused. "I had hoped the familiars would do better. Time to end this nonsense."

…

Yuu had never felt power such as this. As Ch'askancha reached out to claim the power of Pendulum Summoning for herself, he could see the creator god's vision begin to manifest. All summoning forms would bend to their will. Creation and Destruction would bend to their will. Already, Zarc was about to be destroyed.

"Shut up and begin your turn!" Zarc snarled.

"As you wish, Demigod of Destruction." Yuu replied, relishing the look of fury on Zarc's face. He was just about to proceed when something else caught his attention. Suddenly, he was seeing not through Sergey's eyes, but through the eyes of his master. Before Qhawa's gaze, he could see Aki and two of her followers on the temple grounds. Worse still, he could feel Qhawa's mark burning from the immense pain caused by Quetzalcoatl's presence.

"I'm afraid this takes priority, Yuu." Qhawa called in his mind. "Release yourself from Sergey and handle this in person."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Yuu snarled through Sergey's lips. "Do we really have to do this now, Aki!?"

"She threatens our work! The impudent Black Rose Witch!" Ch'askancha rumbled. "We must go! NOW!"

Yuu bowed Sergey's head before regarding Zarc.

"Soon." Yuu thought to himself. "Soon I will have you. Just not now."

Zarc began complaining of Yuu's withdrawal. Yuu replied with one final quip before withdrawing his spirit from Sergey. Soaring through the planes of the underworld, he returned to his body resting within the temple. Upon awakening, he felt the temple shaking.

"So, this is how you have chosen to die Aki." Yuu mused to himself. "At the hand of someone who was once your friend."

…

Aki felt Quetzalcoatl pouring his power into her as she unleashed her own psychic powers, enhanced by the Dragon Father's will, against the abominable Earthbound Temple in the center of the spiral geoglyph. In spite of the dark energy radiating from the geoglyph, in spite of the legions of familiars crying out against her and her comrades, she planted her feet firmly in the desert plains, renewing her Signer-enhanced psychic attack against the ziggurat's foundation until the pitch-black stones began to tremble.

"Its energy is fading!" Quetzalcoatl called from within Aki's mark. "Now, my daughter! Unleash your fury! Execrate this horror from the mortal plain!"

With a determined roar, Aki felt a rush of energy as her spiritual dragon companion, Black Rose, appeared in the air above her, before unfurling her petal wings and unleashing a gale of energy against the walls of the terraced pyramid.

"BE PURGED!" Black Rose roared from up above before unleashing a stream of black flame into the structure.

"ENOUGH!" The enraged voice of a primordial creator god mixed with the voice of her former comrade roared from the depths of the structure before a pillar of pitch-black shadow erupted from the top terrace of the pyramid. Around the pyramid, the spiral geoglyph lit up with multi-colored energy before an identical phantasmal mark appeared in the air above. Emerging from the pillar of shadow, Yuu appeared, eyes burning with rage. Raising a hand into the air, Yuu's marks lit up with energy before an invisible force pushed back against Aki's and Black Rose's attack, dispersing the black flame and pushing Aki back.

"To me!" Aki called to Black Rose, who obediently swooped down before transforming into a shower of gold dust and merging with a card in Aki's extra deck. Activating her duel disk, Aki looked up at the former signer before stepping forward.

"So, you've finally emerged from the Underworld." She called up. "It took you long enough."

"This was not an intelligent move, Aki." Yuu breathed, activating a circular duel disk with a multi-colored spiral mark on its face. "I warned you all what would happen if you trespassed here."

"This was inevitable, Yuu." Aki icily replied, "You knew we'd never stand by and just let you and your god destroy the universe."

"True." Yuu replied. "And now for the sake of that same universe you claim I want to destroy, I must eliminate you, old friend."

"DUEL!" Aki called.

"MAQANAKUY!" Yuu and Ch'askancha called in Quechua as the spiral mark in the sky swelled to ten times its size.

"Ladies first." Yuu invited, motioning for Aki to make her move.

"I'd say you'd regret that decision, but I don't even know if there's even a human part of you that can feel regret anymore." Aki replied.

"That's where you're wrong, Aki." Yuu countered. "My entire existence is filled with regret, regret that I have to continue dealing with the existence of people like you."

"So much for everything we did together when we fought on the same side." Aki sighed.

"Hamsters on a wheel. That's what we were. Blind creatures running in an endless cycle for the pleasure of an indifferent universe. Forgive me for not wanting to remain in the cage." Yuu spat.

"Is this what this is about then?" Aki asked. "You're carrying on Rex's mission to end the cycle of wars?"

"Rex's vision was too limited." Yuu replied. "He only wanted destroy the world so he could rule over the ruins. I'm not looking to build a throne for myself. I'm not looking to build anything. All I want is to end this. All of this."

"You're trying to commit suicide." Aki spat with disgust.

"Hardly." Yuu laughed. "I already tried that once, and it didn't really work out for me. I'm going for total annihilation this time."

"Don't do this." Aki breathed.

"Why not?" Yuu asked. "If I succeed, nobody but Ch'askancha will be around to care. And if I fail, well, the universe is already messed up anyway. Now, stop trying to talk me out of this, Aki. I've been through this before with you and the other Signers. I am not possessed and I will not be persuaded to abandon this path. Your only choice is to defeat me."

"So be it." Aki replied. "Atashi no turn! Magic card, One for One, hasudo! I discard Red Rose Dragon in order to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb from my deck. Come forth!"

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100

"Next," Aki continued, "I Normal Summon White Rose Dragon. Come forth!"

In front of Aki, her small white dragon appeared to the field, unfurling her small white rose petal wings before roaring at Yuu, who glared down at the dragon with contempt.

White Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 4 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 1200 / DEF 1000

"White Rose Dragon's effect activates!" Aki declared. "I Special Summon Red Rose Dragon from my graveyard! Return now!"

Pawing at the ground, White Rose Dragon conjured a black graveyard portal through which her red sister dragon crawled onto the field.

Red Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 3 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 1800

Once her third monster had entered the field, Aki raised her hand into the air.

"I tune the level one Glow-Up Bulb to the Level four White Rose Dragon!" Aki declared before beginning her summoning chant.

"A maiden of beauty waits to be wed in the garden of roses. Arise and cultivate a brand-new world of thorns and petals! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Bloom! Level five! Garden Rose Maiden!"

In an explosion of white petals, Aki's Garden Rose Maiden, a young woman wearing a wedding dress made of white rose petals, appeared to the field before closing her eyes and clasping her hands together in prayer."

Garden Rose Maiden / DARK / Level 5 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 1600 / DEF 2400

"Garden Rose Maiden's effect!" Aki declared. "If she is Special Summoned, I can add one 'Black Garden' from my deck or graveyard to my hand. Furthermore, the effect of White Rose Dragon activates since she was used as a Synchro Material. I send a Level four or higher Plant monster from my deck to the graveyard. I use this effect to send Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my deck to the graveyard."

"And so the sowing begins." Yuu remarked. "Yet I wonder if you can reap victory this time, Aki."

"The first step is preparing the field." Aki replied. "I activate Black Garden!"

Around the base of the pyramid, an ancient garden filled with large thorny rose vines entangling stone statues appeared, tendrils creeping up the pyramid and around Yuu's feet.

"Thanks for the field spell." Said Yuu. "Are you going to give me Rose Tokens now to make it even easier for me to summon my gods?"

"Well yes, but no." Aki replied with a mischievous smile. "I know how much you like bouquets, so I thought it would be a shame if you were to callously discard the one I'm about to give you. I send the Plant Tuner, Copy Plant, from my deck to the graveyard in order to activate my continuous Spell Card! Black Garden Chorus!"

Erupting from the middle of the garden was a set of four statues, one depicting Fallen Angel of Roses, one depicting Queen Angel of Roses, a third depicting Rosaria, and a fourth depicting Arisen Angel of Roses. Upon being activated, a field of roses bloomed at the bases of the statues before music began emanating from the monoliths.

"Black Garden Chorus is unaffected by other card effects while I control 'Black Garden and Black Garden cannot be destroyed by card effects.'" Aki explained. "Furthermore, while this card is active, 'Black Rose Dragon' and Plant Synchro Monsters I control are unaffected by 'Black Garden.'"

"Meaning that their ATK will not be halved by your own field spell's effect." Yuu yawned. "Please allow me to express my amazement with a slow sarcastic clap."

He clapped his hands together once.

"Hold your applause until you see what this card is really capable of." Aki warned before continuing with her turn. "I activate the effect of Glow-Up Bulb, sending the top card of my deck to the graveyard in order to Special Summon this monster. And since I have summoned a monster, Black Garden halve's Glow-Up Bulb's ATK before summoning a rose token to your field."

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 50 / DEF 100

"Thanks for the free tribute fodder." Yuu replied as a rose bloomed into existence on his field. "I might even let you choose which Jibakushin kills you."

"Take another look at your token." Aki replied.

Yuu did so, a frown appearing on his face.

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800 / (Cannot be tributed or used as Material)

"Your Black Garden Chorus's effect." Yuu growled.

"While it remains on the field, my opponent cannot tribute their tokens or use them for a Special Summon, so you can expect them to stick around." Aki confirmed. "And we're just getting started! I tune the level one Glow-Up Bulb to my Red Rose Dragon in order to Synchro Summon again!"

"Rose petals catching the sunlight unfurl! Catch the eye of the beholder before striking! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Come forth! Level 4! Dazzling Rose!"

Double front-flipping onto Aki's field was a short female jester wearing white roses on her harlequin black-and-yellow outfit. In her hands was a long throny whip with a blood-red rose at the end.

Dazzling Rose / LIGHT / Level 4 / Plant / Synchro / Tuner / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1600

"The effect of Black Garden and Black Garden Chorus both activate." Aki declared. "Black Garden summons another token to your field. Black Garden Chorus's effect activates whenever I summon 'Black Rose Dragon' or a Plant Synchro Monster, enabling me to place a rose counter on Black Garden Chorus."

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800 / (Cannot be tributed or used as Material) X 2

Black Garden Chorus: 1 Rose Counter

"Furthermore," Aki continued. "The effect of Red Rose Dragon activates! I Special Summon Pink Rose Dragon from my deck before adding 'Frozen Rose' from my deck to my hand."

In front of Aki, a large enclosed pink rose sprouted from the ground before unfurling to reveal a slender dragon with a large pink rose sprouting from the end of its tail and the side of its head.

Pink Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 2 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 2000

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki continued. "I halve the ATK of Pink Rose Dragon before summoning a third token to your field!"

Pink Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 2 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 50 / DEF 2000

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800 / (Cannot be tributed or used as Material) X 3

"The effect of Pink Rose Dragon activates since she was Special Summoned!" Aki declared, "I can Special Summon one Plant Tuner from my graveyard! Return now, Glow-Up Bulb!"

Glow-Up Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 50 / DEF 100

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800 / (Cannot be tributed or used as Material) X 4

"I am not appreciating where this is going." Yuu remarked as a fourth rose sprouted to his field.

"Then I don't think you'll like this." Aki replied. "Dazzling Rose's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Plant Monster from my hand. Come forth, Lonefire Blossom!"

Lonefire Blossom / FIRE / Level 3 / Plant / Effect / ATK 250 / DEF 1400

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800 / (Cannot be tributed or used as Material) X 5

"Now the traitor can't summon anything." Rose remarked from within Aki's mark. "Look at Yuu's face. He looks like we wants to rip his rose tokens out by the roots."

"We can't count on them holding him back for long." Aki replied. "I activate Lonefire Blossom's effect, tributing Lonefire Blossom in order to summon a second Lonefire Blossom, which I will tribute to summon a third Lonefire Blossom. Finally, I will use that Lonefire Blossoms effect to summon Evil Thorn from my deck."

Evil Thorn / DARK / Level 1 / ATK 50 / DEF 300

"So much sacrifice and death." Yuu remarked. "And here I thought you were to fight against the Underworld. Are you sure you don't secretly want to be a Dark Signer?"

"I'll pass." Aki curtly replied. "Evil Thorn's effect. I tribute this monster in order to inflict three-hundred damage to your life points and Special Summon another Evil Thorn from my deck!"

Aki's Evil Thorn exploded, thorn shrapnel bursting from the seed pod to pierce Yuu's robes.

Yuu: 4000 – 300 = 3700 LP

Evil Thorn / DARK / Level 1 / ATK 50 / DEF 300

"Did that feel good?" Yuu hissed, removing one of the thorns from his cloak.

"It was a little funny." Aki admitted, the corners of her mouth twitching. "It was the kind of thing you used to laugh at. Remember when Jack shut up Rex's monologue?"

"A meaningless memory." Yuu spat. "How many more of your friends am I going to have to kill before you stop trying to convert me? Or does your nostalgia make you forget how Ruka looked smeared with her own blood and entrails? Or Rua with his head fifty feet away from his body?"

"I will never forget that." Aki replied. "I only wish their deaths meant more to you."

"Keep praying." Yuu sneered.

"I will." Aki sighed. "Despite everything, I will."

"Such dedication to such pointless faith." Yuu replied. "I don't know if I should praise you or puke."

"I know what I will do." Aki replied. "I tune my Level four Dazzling Rose with my Level one Evil Thorn!"

Leaping into the air, Aki's jester morphed into a set of four green rings, encircling Evil Thorn as Aki commenced her summoning chant.

"Through the blazing embers of the garden fire, take root! Arise from the ash as the flower of victory! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Arise! Level five! Radiant Rose!"

In a burst of rose-colored flame and black petals, Aki's Radiant Rose, a male knight wearing burning red-and-gold roses on his fiery magma-black armor appeared to the field before raising a rose-vine decorated lance into the air.

Radiant Rose / FIRE / Level 5 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 1800

"Dazzling Rose's effect." Aki declared. "If she is sent to the GY, I can draw 1 card. Furthermore, the effect of Black Garden Chorus activates, gaining another Rose Counter."

Black Garden Chorus: 2 Rose Tokens

"Radiant Rose's effect!" Aki continued, "Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Plant Monster from my graveyard. I target the Copy Plant in my graveyard in order to summon it."

Copy Plant / WIND / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Copy Plant's effect!" Aki declared. "I target the Level 2 Rose Token on your field in order to change Copy Plant's Level to two."

Copy Plant: Level 2

"I tune my level two Copy Plant to my Level two Pink Rose Dragon!" Aki continued as her monsters synchronized together. "The old blooms clear away to allow ultimate beauty to spring forth! SYNCHRO SHOUKAN! Behold! Level four! Fabulous Rose!"

Arising from the ground was a regal woman wearing a mask, a midnight-black dress with Black Roses, and blood-red gloves. In her hands, she carried a pair of dripping pruning shears while tendrils of black roses writhed around her like tentacles.

Fabulous Rose / DARK / Level 4 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1200

Black Garden Chorus: 3 Rose Counters

"Pink Rose Dragon's effect activates!" Aki declared. "I send Yellow Rose Dragon from my deck to the graveyard in order to gain one-thousand life points."

Aki: 5000 LP

"Fabulous Rose's effect." Aki continued. "I sacrifice Garden Rose Maiden in order to gain Life Points equal to half her ATK or DEF, whichever is higher. Rejuvenating Pruning!"

The tendrils of Fabulous Rose reached out to grab Garden Rose Maiden, who fainted in their grasp before dissolving into dust. The dust particles gathered around Aki, raising her Life Points.

Aki: 6200 LP

"Yellow Rose Dragon's effect!" Aki declared, "Since a plant Synchro Monster was sent from my field to the graveyard, I can shuffle Yellow Rose Dragon into the deck in order to Special Summon the monster sent to the graveyard. Yellow Rose Wreath of Rebirth!"

Appearing in front of Aki was a petit baby dragon wearing a golden wreath of yellow roses. Unfurling its yellow rose-petal wings, Yellow Rose Dragon dissolved into sparkles, which coalesced into Garden Rose Maiden.

Garden Rose Maiden / DARK / Level 5 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 1600 / DEF 2400

Black Garden Chorus: 4 Counters

"Frozen Rose, hasudo!" Aki declared, "I send Garden Rose Maiden to the graveyard. During the End Phase, I will be able to draw two cards before discarding one card. I set two cards face-down before proceeding to the End Phase. The effect of Frozen Rose resolves now along with the effect of Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis. I banish one of the Lonefire Blossoms in my graveyard in order to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis."

Bursting onto Aki's field was a large bird-like cluster of flowers.

Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis / FIRE / Level 8 / Plant / Effect / ATK 1100 / DEF 0

"Turn end." Aki declared as her three monsters gathered together, rose vines encircling them while Yuu glared down at them, a look of utter loathing on his face.

"Pathetic." Yuu scoffed. "All that work and for what? You are nothing but weeds grasping for a miserable life before the inevitable winter. You cannot avert the end, but since you won't believe my words, then I will show you."

He placed his fingers on top of his deck, shadows gathering at his fingers.

"Kouboku no turn, DARK DRAW!" Yuu roared, eyes and marks glowing brightly as he ripped a card from the top of his deck before holding it up in the air. Aki took a step back as she looked upon the card, which had a ghostly translucent body infused with multi-colored light.

"Beware!" Quetzalcoatl called from within Aki. "I sense the Earthbound creator god's own essence within that card."

"Is it Ch'askancha?" Aki asked.

"No." Quetzalcoatl replied. "But I sense something just as dangerous. Be on your guard!"

"Order of Ch'askancha's effect!" Yuu declared, revealing the card, which depicted a multi-colored spiral mark enveloping the multiverse. "Since this card was added to my hand while I do not control Jibak Daitōryō P'Alta Muyu Ch'askancha, I must shuffle this card into my deck while taking damage equal to ninety percent of my life points!"

"WHAT!?" Aki exclaimed in shock as black lightning suddenly rained down from the multi-colored spiral mark in the sky before striking Yuu, forcing the Dark Signer down on his knees.

Yuu: 3700 - 3330 = 370 LP

"What is he doing!?" Fullbloom exclaimed. "Is he giving up?"

"No." Aki replied, mouth agape. "He used his Dark Draw to obtain that card. He wanted to lose those life points."

"Power comes at a great price." Yuu grunted, before rising to his feet. "To obtain absolute power, one must pay the absolute price, a fact that the Signers have failed to appreciate. My turn continues. I discard Earthbound Soul Advent Witness to activate its effect. I can add one 'Earthbound God' or one Field Spell Card from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I use this effect to add the field spell card, 'Earthbound Plane of Existence,' from my deck to my hand."

A single card popped out of Yuu's deck before Yuu added it to his hand. Holding up the card, Yuu placed the card in his disk, causing the spiral mark on the shield-like device to begin glowing with light.

"Earthbound Plane of Existence, HASUDO!" Yuu and his God proclaimed in unison as a shroud of darkness encircled the immense step temple, forcing Aki to cover her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the middle of an empty void, the immense multi-colored spiral mark shining in the sky above. Above her head, Yuu and the immense temple he stood upon floated in the sky so that she could see the underside of the double-sided pyramid. Her cards and monsters remained on the field, but her companions, Qhawa, and all the familiars were now gone.

"Just you, me, and our gods, as it should be." Yuu sighed from atop the pyramid while slowly descending its immense steps until he was standing on top of the central terrace. "Here the two of us alone shall determine the course of existence in a battle between life and death. No pressure."

Aki clenched her fist.

"Earthbound Underworld Magic hasudo." Yuu declared. "If there is a card in the Field Zone, I can draw one card before discarding one Spell Card from my hand, or my entire hand if I have no Spell Card. I draw before sending the Spell Card, Sign of Ch'askancha from my hand to the graveyard."

With a flick of his wrist, Yuu cast the spell card into the void, where the card vanished into nothingness before a small spiral mark appeared in front of him.

"Sign of Ch'askancha's effect." Yuu declared. "If it is sent to the graveyard, I can destroy one card on the field before activating Sign of Ch'askancha from the graveyard. I destroy one of my rose tokens before activating Sign of Ch'askancha!"

A bolt of black lightning rained down from the spiral mark, striking one of the rose tokens, which dissolved into dust. In front of Yuu, the Spiral Mark grew in size until it was twice his height.

"He's created an opening." Fullbloom warned. "Now he can summon again."

"When Sign of Ch'askancha is activated," Yuu continued, reaching into the center of the spiral mark to pull out a card, "Its effect allows me to add one 'Earthbound' card from my deck to my hand. I choose to add Earthbound Soul – Future Seer from my deck to my hand. And now that that's done, Earthbound Soul – Paradox Loop's effect! Since I control a face-up Field Spell Card, I can Special Summon this card from my hand! Come forth!"

Descending from the spiral mark in the sky was a snake statue made of black stone with dark-blue lines of energy running through. The snake was biting down on its own tail, creating a circle.

Earthbound Soul - Paradox Loop / DARK / Level -4 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK -1000 / DEF -1000

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki declared. "I halve the ATK of Paradox Loop before summoning a token to my field!"

Earthbound Soul - Paradox Loop: ATK -500

Rose Token / DARK / Level 2 / Plant / ATK 800 / DEF 800

"As if that's actually helping you. Earthbound Soul – Paradox Loop's additional effect!" Yuu continued. "I destroy another one of my Rose Tokens in order to add from my deck to my hand one monster whose Level is the same as the monster destroyed with this effect. I add the Level two monster, Earthbound Soul – Rapture Partaker from my deck to my hand! Paradox Destruct!"

Releasing its tail, Paradox Loop pounced on one of the rose tokens, entwining its stone body around the flower before biting down and destroying it. Biting its own tail again, a multicolored spiral mark formed in the middle of the circle created by its body before a card floated out and into Yuu's outstretched hand.

"Earthbound Soul – Rapture Partaker's effect. If I control an 'Earthbound' monster, I can Special Summon Rapture Partaker with its own effect. Come forth!"

Diving down from the spiral mark in the sky, Yuu's next monster, a lithe young girl with blood-red marks adorning her body, leaped onto Yuu's field before raising her hands into the air and screaming, eyes rolling into the back of her head in ecstasy.

Earthbound Soul – Rapture Partaker / DARK / Level 2 / Psychic / Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 1200

"Black Garden's effect activates again!" Aki declared, "Summoning another token to my field."

"And the other effect of my Rapture Partaker activates in turn." Yuu replied. "Since she was Special Summoned while I controlled another 'Earthbound' monster, I can add two Earthbound Gods from my deck to my hand."

"Here they come." Rose warned.

"Obey the call of your master and creator!" Yuu and his god called in unison while a large green parrot mark missing its lower half on Yuu's left shoulder and a pair of golden llama marks on Yuu's right knee began glowing with light, "Jibakushin Phiri Wakamayu and Jibakushin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay!"

A pair of cards, one glowing bright green and the other glowing bright yellow, popped out of Yuu's deck before floating into the Dark Signer's outstretched hand.

"Two monsters and a field spell." Aki mused. "It's coming."

"You wish." Yuu sneered. "My strategy is not so pedestrian as that. I activate the effect of the Earthbound Soul – Future Seer I added to my hand earlier. I can discard this card and any number of Level five or higher and/or level -5 or lower 'Earthbound' monsters from my hand in order to draw the same number of cards discarded with this effect plus one. I discard Earthbound Soul – Future Seer, Earthbound Soul – Multiverse Destroyer, Jibakushin Phiri Wakamayu, and Jibakushin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay in order to draw five cards!"

Yuu chucked his cards into the void before drawing five cards from his deck. Upon being added to his hand, one of the cards began glowing with multi-colored light.

"Order of Ch'askancha's effect!" Yuu declared, holding up the glowing card. "I shuffle this card back into my deck in order to take damage equal to ninety percent of my life points!"

Another bolt of black lightning rained down from the sky before striking Yuu in the gut, causing the Dark Signer to crumple to his knees in pain.

Yuu: 370 – 333 = 37 LP

With the instincts of a doctor, Aki wanted to rush forward and help her old ally, but she knew all too well how foolish that would be in Yuu's current state of mind. The Dark Signer was not to be underestimated, even with his embrace of such a suicidal strategy.

"Earthbound Soul – Multiverse Destroyer's effect!" Yuu gasped, staggering back to his feet. "I can Special Summon this card from my graveyard by tributing two monsters I control!"

With a superhuman leap, Yuu ascended to the upper half of the pyramid before obliterating both his monsters with a savage back-hand. The corpses of the monsters dissolved away, a black graveyard portal forming in their place through which in immense floating stone creature with a body fragmented into four pieces rose into the air.

Earthbound Soul - Multiverse Destroyer / DARK / Level 10 / Fairy / Dark Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Earthbound Soul – Multiverse Destroyer's effect!" Yuu declared. "When it is summoned, I can send any combination of four Ritual, Dark Rite, Fusion, Dark Fission, Synchro, Dark Synchro, Xyz, Dark Xyz, Pendulum, and/or Dark Anchor monsters from my deck or Extra Deck to the graveyard! I send the Dark Synchro Monster, Earthbound Disciple Manco Cápac and the three copies of Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck to the graveyard!"

"Your old deck!" Aki exclaimed in surprise as a black hole formed in the center of Multiverse Destroyer's four fragmented segments before sucking in the spectral images of a tall Incan noble with orange Earthbound markings and three small robotic fairies with multi-colored wings and a pair of long legs.

"The effects of my three Heralds and Manco Cápac activate!" Yuu declared. "Manco Cápac allows me to add one Earthbound card from my graveyard to my hand since he was sent to the graveyard, while each of my Heralds allow me to add a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell Card from my deck to my hand! I add Jibakushin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay from my graveyard to my hand while adding The Ritual Spells, Mystic Fire Ritual and Majestic Ritual, and the Ritual Monster, Mystic Fire Ritual Dragon from my deck to my hand!"

A crimson light suddenly burst to life on Yuu's right arm. Screaming in agony, Yuu began clawing at a bright red dragon-head mark glowing through his Dark Signer robes. Cursing and foaming at the mouth, Yuu attempted to smother the light, but it kept shining through.

"Sister!" Fullbloom screamed in horror.

"My daughter." Quetzalcoatl rumbled with barely restrained fury. "What have they been doing to you!?"

"You kept her!?" Aki exclaimed in confusion. "Even after all this time, you still hold on to her?"

"YOU WILL BEND TO MY WILL AS ALL THINGS WILL!" Yuu and his god rumbled at the mark in unison, causing the light to fade. "Now see, Signer, as I make use of even my enemies to accomplish my divine will! I set four cards, including those two Ritual Spells, face-down. Now be silent, dragon, and be grateful that I allow you to witness the end of all things!"

The light from Yuu's spiral and head mark both faded before the Dark Signer rose to his knees, a sadistic smile on his face.

"Why?" Aki asked, horror-struck.

"To accomplish the great renewal, I will need to master every summoning technique." Yuu replied. "That means mastery of darkness and light. All forces in opposition shall come together and become compound in one. Then and only then shall this horrible existence of choice, opposition, and individuality come to an end! And speaking of ending things, Mystic just recently put me in a very bad mood, so I'm feeling like lashing out destructively. Earthbound Soul – Multiverse Destroyer's final effect! I dark sacrifice my monster in order to send a random card from your Extra Deck to the graveyard! Quantum Multiverse Collapse!"

All four of the monster's segments collapsed in on one another before a burst of dark energy erupted from the singularity, striking Aki's Extra Deck and sending a card to the graveyard.

"Earthound Plane of Existence's effect!" Yuu continued, "If I took two-thousand or more damage this turn, I can Special Summon 1 'Earthbound God' from my hand, deck, or graveyard!"

The green parrot mark on Yuu's shoulder began glowing with light as Yuu and his God began their summoning chant. Above their heads, a massive stone heart appeared in the air before slowly beating.

"Great god of the storming winds who mocks the voice and works of mankind, broken thou art and broken thou shalt remain till the end of time! From the fragments of your broken mark and body give birth to rage and delight in the wonton destruction of all who stand in your way! ADVENT! Jibakushin Phiri Wakamayu!"

In an explosive pillar of light, the heart vanished before an immense black parrot with a gigantic beard-like wattle under its lower beak, spindly line-like wings, glowing green markings, and a lower body that was slightly translucent like a ghost, appeared in its place, the immense green orbs of its eyes glaring down at Aki with raw hatred.

Earthbound God Phiri Wakamayu / DARK / Level 10 / Winged Beast / Effect / ATK 2900 / DEF 2700

"I…AWAKEN!" The Earthbound God cried, flapping its immense wings and creating a storm of wind in the process.

"Jibakushin Phiri Wakamayu's effect!" Yuu decalred. "When he is summoned, "I can destroy any number of cards I control. I destroy my four set cards and the last three rose tokens! Cataclysmic Self-Destruction!"

Releasing an earth-shattering shriek, Phiri Wakamayu twisted in the air, creating a wave of tornadoes that ripped through Yuu's field, obliterating most of his cards.

"Phiri Wakamayu's continuous effect!" Yuu declared. "Each time a card is destroyed, I gain three-hundred life points!"

Yuu: 2137 LP

"Furthermore!" Yuu continued, "The other part of Phiri Wakamayu's effect resolves. "Since seven of my cards were destroyed by this effect, I can destroy seven of your cards! Say 'goodbye' to your two set cards and five monsters!"

With another flap of his wings, Phiri Wakamayu redirected the tornadoes towards Aki's field. As the storm approached, Aki stretched out her hand.

"Fabulous Rose's other effect activates since one or more of my Plant monsters is about to be destroyed! Furthermore, I chain the activation of my face-down cards Rose Rebirth and Ivy Sanctuary!"

An immense sphere of ivy vines exploded from the ground around Aki and her monsters, forming a protective barrier as the tornadoes slammed against its boundary.

"Ivy Sanctuary prevents each of my Plant monsters from being destroyed by battle or card effect once per turn!" Aki screamed against the roaring storm. "Furthermore, Rose Rebirth cannot be destroyed by card effects. Finally, the effect of Fabulous Rose enables me to negate the destruction of my Plant Monsters by tributing one Plant Monster I control instead and inflicting damage to my opponent's life points equal to half that plant monster's ATK or DEF, whichever is higher! I tribute Phoenexian Cluster Amaryllis in order to inflict eleven-hundred damage to your life points! Life Preserving Cropping!"

Bringing her shears down on Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, Fabulous Rose destroyed the fiery plant bird before lashing out with her rose tentacles, breaking through the storm and striking Yuu in the chest.

Yuu: 2137 – 1100 = 1037 LP

"But your Ivy Sanctuary is still destroyed." Yuu growled as the tornadoes overcame the barrier of ivy, obliterating the barrier before dissipating.

Yuu: 1037 + 300 = 1337 LP

"Ivy Sanctuary's effect activates since it was destroyed," Aki declared. "I can add one Level five or higher Plant monster from my deck to my hand. I use this effect to add Arisen Angel of Roses from my deck to my hand!"

"So, you've managed to survive the first wave and even deal damage to me in the process." Yuu sarcastically applauded. "If only my turn were done then you'd probably win. Earthbound Soul Advent Witness's effect! I pay one-thousand life points in order to Special Summon it from the graveyard! Return to me now!"

Black electricity sparked across Yuu's body as Advent Witness, a tall priestess with a feathered headdress and violet markings adorning her body, arose from a black graveyard portal.

Yuu: 1337 – 1000 = 337 LP

Earthbound Soul – Advent Witness / DARK / Level -4 / Fairy / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 1900

"Black Garden's effect!" Aki declared. "I halve the ATK of Advent Witness in order to Special Summon a token to my field!"

"Cute." Yuu sniffed as another rose token bloomed to Aki's field. "Quick-Play Magic Card, Earthbound Slumber, hasudo! I target one 'Earthbound God' monster I control in order to set that card face-down. Begone, Wakamayu! You have served your purpose."

"What!?" The god exclaimed. "But I was promised-…"

"Obey your god, broken one!" Yuu's god thundered.

Bowing its head in resignation, Phiri Wakamayu sank to the ground, dissolving into dark mist before coalescing into a face-down card.

"Once this is done," Yuu continued, "I am allowed to excavate the top five cards of my deck in order to add one excavated 'Earthbound' card to my hand while sending the other cards to the graveyard. I add Earthbound Worship to my hand while sending all other cards, including Order of Ch'askancha, to my graveyard."

"Finally deciding that destroying yourself isn't the best idea?" Aki asked.

"Oh, I'm hardly done with that card." Yuu replied with a grin. "I'm just storing it for later. Now then, it's time for the fun to begin. Earthbound Soul – Advent Witness can be treated as two tributes for the Tribute Summon of an 'Earthbound God' monster."

Bowing her head, Advent Witness morphed into two spheres of multi-colored light, which merged together before rising into the sky and conjuring an immense Earthbound heart, which began beating as Yuu knelt on one knee to expose the twin llama mark before commencing his next summoning chant.

"Born together, you will now both serve me! For one to rise, another must bow. Together, you shall bear up the rising of your creator! Advent! My most loyal worshippers! Jibakshin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay!"

A pillar of white light erupted from the heart, lighting up the sky. When the light faded, Aki was surprised to see, not a towering Earthbound God, but a pair of golden-haired twins, one small beautiful girl, and one immensely tall muscle-bound boy, clasping each other in an embrace. The twins looked vaguely native American, with llama fur wrapped around their bodies and long necks and yellow war-paint adorning their bare skin.

"It seems that we have been called, dear brother." The girl murmured, head still buried in her brother's chest.

"So it would seem, dear sister." The brother replied, eyes closed as he rested his chin on his sister's head. "A shame that there can only be one god on the field at once."

"Fear not, dear brother." The girl replied. "She has promised to make us one. Then we can be together forever."

"Then I shall bow to you, dear sister." The brother replied, kneeling before the girl before prostrating himself to the earth.

"And I shall rise, dear brother." The girl replied, before opening her lids to reveal solid gold eyes beneath. "Until my time comes to bow to you in turn."

The boy faded into the shadows while the girl began rising into the air, body ballooning in size and transforming until an immense four-hundred meter tall black llama with golden markings on her body stood in the girl's place, hooves planted against the stones of the temple as it gazed upon Aki with a look of quiet indifference.

Earthbound God Huacra T'ira Urquchillay / DARK / Level 10 / Beast / Effect / ATK 1100 / DEF 3000

"T'ira." Said Aki, nodding her head towards the god.

"Black Rose Witch." The immense god purred. "How delightful to finally meet you in person. Ruka spoke highly of you. I wonder who you will praise before you die."

"Not again." Aki promised, a tear coming to her eye. "You will not get that satisfaction from me!"

"But you must know what my coming means." T'ira replied. "Yuu never calls us unless he truly wants someone dead. It's something of a guarantee we provide."

"I will stop you." Aki promised."

"Too late." T'ira replied, the lines on her face curving into a smile.

Yuu began smiling as well.

"Jibakushin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay's effect." Yuu declared. "I set my monster face-down in order to Special Summon one Jibakushin Huacra Mirku Urquchillay token that can attack directly and prevent my other monsters from being targeted for attacks. Kneel so that your brother may rise!"

Dissolving into a cloud of dark mist, T'ira coalesced into a face-down card before the taller twin brother appeared before growing into an even larger Earthbound llama with a muscle-bound body.

Earthbound God Huacra Mirku Urquchillay / DARK / Level 10 / Beast / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 1100

"We you're most loyal have gathered to offer our bodies now!" The twin god bellowed to the spiral mark in the sky. "Accept our sacrifice so that you may take form!"

"We are almost ready." Yuu whispered, eyes glowing with multi-colored light. "Now I only need your card. "Magic Card, Earthbound Séance, hasudo! I send up to two monsters from my side of the field or hand to the GY and up to two monsters from my deck to the graveyard in order to reveal one monster in my deck whose Level is equal to the total levels of the monsters sent to the GY times one or negative one. I send the Level eight Mystic Fire Ritual Dragon and Level 4 Earthbound Soul Timestream Breaker from my hand to the graveyard in order to reveal the Level twelve, Jibak Daitōryō P'Alta Muyu Ch'askancha, and place this card on the bottom of my deck!"

A soft roar sounded from Yuu's dragon head mark as he threw the dragon into the void before extracting a card from his deck, which glowed with a dark multi-colored light, before placing the card on the very bottom of his deck.

"I next activate Earthbound Worship." Yuu declared. "If I control an Earthbound God monster, I can declare one card name before excavating cards from my deck until the declared card is excavated. The excavated card is added to my hand while all other excavated cards are sent to the graveyard."

"You can't be serious!" Aki exclaimed. "You won't have any cards left in your deck!"

"I declare, Jibak Daitōryō P'Alta Muyu Ch'askancha!" Yuu proclaimed, eyes and mark glowing with light.

Clutching his deck, Yuu proceeded to toss all but the very last card into the empty black void before extracting Ch'askancha's glowing card and adding it to his hand, leaving a deck slot that had once contained sixty cards now completely empty.

"Earthbound Séance's effect." Yuu declared. "If the revealed card is added to my hand, I can reveal the card before banishing Séance in order to add one 'Earthbound' card from my graveyard to my hand. I choose to add Earthbound Salvation from my graveyard to my hand. Now, say your last prayer, Aki. It is time!"

Rising to the very top of the pyramid, Yuu raised the glowing multi-colored card to the sky. In reply, the spiral mark overhead began spinning around as an immense Earthbound Heart, ten times larger than the others, descended from its center to float above the temple.

"In order to call forth the creator of all Earthbound, three Earthbound Gods must be sacrificed!" Yuu proclaimed. "I offer the bodies of Jibakushin Phiri Wakamayu, Jibakushin Huacra T'ira Urquchillay, and Jibakushin Huacra Mirku Urquchillay to be your life force!"

The three Earthbound Gods on Yuu's field appeared in their massive godly forms, a pillar of light matching their respective colors forming around their bodies as the three of them rose into the air before being absorbed by the heart, which began violently beating, each beat shaking existence itself.

"From the beginning was I when all existence was one! When Eien thought to stain the perfect existence with new creatures, I arose in opposition! Through the passing of ages, I have beheld Eien's mistake as all of existence has been torn asunder again and again! As sovereign of the universe, I have acted as creator and destroyer! From me came the Dark Sacrifice! From me came the Dark Rites! From me came the Dark Fission! From me came the Dark Synchro! From me came the Dark Xyz! From me came the Dark Anchor! From me came the gods who would be known as Earthbound! Today, I come to set the universe right, to renew it to its former perfect glory! My will is law! My order is absolute! Behold my advent! I am the heart of the Underworld! I AM, JIBAK DAITŌRYŌ P'ALTA MUYU CH'ASKANCHA!"

The shadows from the infinite space began coalescing around the immense heart, forming into the astronomically large body of an immense eight-armed goddess wearing magnificent robes and an elegant headdress. Lines of multi-colored energy ran throughout the goddess's body and clothing, with spiral marks forming on the goddess's forehead, chest, belly, and on each dark pupil and palm. Affixed to her back was an even larger multi-colored spiral mark, which shimmered slightly as various smaller Earthbound Gods rose up from the mark only to be sucked back into its depths. Rising to her full height, the goddess towered over a mile high, as she looked down upon Aki, who felt like a speck of bacteria in comparison.

"Your end is nigh, little Signer." Ch'askancha rumbled. "Bow before your destroyer and god!"

FEATURED ORIGINAL CHARATERS

Name: Bakari / Original concept by: Epsilon Tarantula / Allegiance: Gravekeepers / Status: Active / Deck: Gravekeepers (And no, he is definitely NOT related to Ishizu and Merik Ishtar so stop proposing this blatantly absurd theory!)

Name: Lupa / Original concept by: thetiger39 / Allegiance: Mercenary, but loyal to the Phoenix Guards / Status: Active / Deck: Canis Lycan

Name: Qhawa / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Allegiance: Earthbound / Status: Active / Deck: Unknown

Name: Yuu / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Allegiance: Earthbound / Status: Active / Deck: Formerly Heralds now Earthbound Soul with some aspects of his former deck as tech options.

Name: Ch'askancha / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Allegiance: Earthbound / Status: Completed her Advent

FEATURED FAN CARDS

Earthbound Familiar Monsters

Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha / DARK / Level 1 / Fiend / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / You can make your opponent reveal 1 card in their Extra Deck: Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, apply one of the following effects depending on the monster revealed for this effect.

Fusion: Add 1 "Yami no Kakubunretsu" from your deck to your hand.

Synchro: Add 1 Dark Tuner from your deck to your hand.

Xyz: Special Summon 1 "Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha" from your deck, and if you do, declare a Level from -12 to -1; The Level of all "Earthbound Glyph of Ch'askancha" become the declared Level.

Earthbound Hand of Ch'askancha / DARK / Level 12 / Fiend / Dark Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) if you control an "Earthbound" monster. (You can only summon "Earthbound Hand of Ch'askancha" once per turn this way).

Effigy of Ch'askancha / DARK / Level 1 / Fiend / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / If a Dark Rite, Dark Fission, Dark Synchro, or Dark Xyz Monster you control is destroyed by battle with an opponent's attacking monster or an opponent's card effect: You can discard this card; Special Summon Dark Rite, Dark Fission, Dark Synchro, and/or Dark Xyz Monsters from your GY with their effects negated whose total Level/Ranks equal the Level/Rank of the monster destroyed, but destroy those monsters during the End Phase.

Earthbound Temple Acolyte / DARK / Level 4 / Fiend / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 1000 / You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Temple Acolyte" once per turn. Cannot be Normal Summoned. You can discard this card from your hand; Add 1 "Earthbound" Field Spell Card from your deck to your hand. During either player's Draw Phase, instead of conducting their Normal Draw: the turn player can activate 1 of the following effects.

● Add this card from the GY to your hand, but discard it during the End Phase.

● "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" you control can attack this turn.

Familiar Extra Deck

Earthbound Netherlord Horror / DARK / Level -11 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / 1 non-Dark Tuner – 1 Dark Tuner

Must be Dark Synchro Summoned and cannot be summoned other ways. Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Earthbound" Monster from your Extra Deck with its effects negated, but destroy it during the End Phase. Your opponent cannot Summon monsters from the Extra Deck. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed, you can randomly send 1 Monster from your opponent's Extra Deck to the GY instead. When this card attacks: It gains 1000 ATK for each Monster in the GY that started the game in the Extra Deck until the end of the Damage Step.

Earthbound Netherlord Spawn / DARK / Level -3 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / 1 non-Dark Tuner – 1 Dark Tuner

When this card is destroyed: Inflict 800 damage to your opponent's LP. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 "Earthbound" monster from your GY with its effects negated, ignoring its summoning conditions, but destroy it during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Earthbound Netherlord Spawn" once per turn.

Earthbound Netherstalker / DARK / Level -5 / Fiend / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 2500 / DEF 0 / 1 non-Dark Tuner – 1 Dark Tuner

If a Dark Synchro Monster is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon this card from the GY, ignoring its summoning conditions, but destroy it during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Earthbound Netherstalker" once per turn. Other "Earthbound" Dark Synchro Monsters you control gain 1000 ATK. If this card is destroyed and sent to the GY: You can banish this card from the GY; Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent's LP.

Familiar Spells

Speed Underworld / Spell / Turbo Field / The player who reaches Checkpoint 1 first decides who goes first. Unaffected by other card effects. During each End Phase: Each player places 1 of their own Speed Counters on this card (Max. 12). If a non-Speed Spell is activated: That player takes 2000 damage. Each time a player's speed counter is removed: That player takes damage equal to the number of their speed counters removed X 300. If a player takes Battle Damage: That player removes 1 of their speed counters for every 1000 points of damage they took.

Earthbound Temple Gate / Spell / Field / When this card is activated: Discard all cards in your hand; For each card discarded, place 1 Earthbound Counter on this card (Max. 5). Once per turn: You can Special Summon 2 "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" (Fiend/DARK/Level 8/ATK ?/DEF ?) in defense position. "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" ATK and DEF is equal to the total number of Earthbound Counters on this card X 1000, also, they cannot attack. If an effect is activated while you only control this card and "Earthbound Linebuilder Token(s)": You can remove 1 Earthbound Counter from this card; Negate the activation of that effect, and if you do, the player whose effect was negated draws 1 card.

Earthbound Temple Wall / Spell / Field / When this card is activated: Discard all cards in your hand; For each card discarded, place 1 Earthbound Counter on this card (Max. 5). Once per turn: You can Special Summon 2 "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" (Fiend/DARK/Level 8/ATK ?/DEF ?). "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" ATK and DEF is equal to the total number of Earthbound Counters on this card X 1000, also, they cannot attack. If a monster other than Earthbound Linebuilder Token(s)" is summoned: You can remove 1 Earthbound Counter from this card; Negate the summon, and if you do, return it to the hand.

Earthbound Temple Ramparts / Spell / Field / When this card is activated: Discard all cards in your hand; For each card discarded, place 1 Earthbound Counter on this card (Max. 5). Once per turn: You can Special Summon 2 "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" (Fiend/DARK/Level 8/ATK ?/DEF ?). "Earthbound Linebuilder Token" ATK and DEF is equal to the total number of Earthbound Counters on this card X 1000, also, they cannot attack. If a player declares an attack while you only control this card and "Earthbound Linebuilder Token(s)": You can remove 1 Earthbound Counter from this card; Negate the attack, and if you do, the player whose attack was negated gains 1000 LP.

Earthbound Temple Sanctity / Spell / Normal / During the Draw Phase of either player's turn: The turn player can add this card from the GY to his/her hand instead of conducting their normal draw, but discard this card during the End Phase. Distribute Earthbound Counters amongst face-up "Earthbound" Field Spell Cards on the field, up to the number of "Earthbound" Monsters on the field.

Familiar Traps

Earthbound Speed Barrier / Trap / Continuous / Destroy this card if there is no card in the Field Zone. Field Spell Cards cannot be activated and they are unaffected by your opponent's card effects. While you control an "Earthbound" monster, this card cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. If an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can remove 1 of your Speed Counters from a face-up Turbo Field instead.

Netherworld Accelerator / Trap / Continuous / During Each Standby-Phase: You can send 1 card from your Extra Decks to the GY; Place 1 of your own Speed Counters on a face-up Turbo Field.

Earthbound Spirit Barrier / Trap / Continuous / Unaffected by other card effects while there is a card in the field zone. You take no battle damage while you control an "Earthbound" monster.

Lupa's Extra Deck

Canis Lycan - Wolf Queen Shirokari / LIGHT / Level 9 / Beast / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2900 / DEF 1600 / 1 "Canis Lycan" Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuners

This card gains 300 ATK for each of its Synchro Materials. Defense position "Canis Lycan" monsters you control cannot be targeted for attacks. If this card is destroyed: Special Summon 1 Level 6 or lower "Canis Lycan" Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck.

Bakari's Monsters

Gravekeeper's Embalmer / DARK / Level 3 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK 300 / DEF 1500 / (Quick Effect): You can discard this card; Gain 100 LP for each "Gravekeeper's" monster in your GY. If "Necrovalley" is on the field: You can send 1 Level 4 or lower "Gravekeeper's" monster from your deck to the GY; Add this card from your GY to your hand, and if you do, face-up "Gravekeeper's" monsters you control gain the effects of the monster sent to the GY for this effect until the end of this turn. (This effect is unaffected by "Necrovalley"). You can only use one effect of "Gravekeeper's Embalmer" per turn and only once that turn.

Aki's monsters

Lantern Seed / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Effect / ATK 200 / DEF 200 / If a Level 5 or higher Plant Monster is Summoned: You can discard this card; Add 1 Level 5 or higher Plant Monster from your deck or GY to your hand, and if you do, you can Normal Summon 1 Plant Monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set this turn. If a Level 5 or Higher Monster you control is destroyed: You can add this card from your GY to your hand. You can only use one effect of "Lantern Seed" per turn and only once per turn.

Arisen Angel of Roses / EARTH / Level 8 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 2900 / If a Plant Monster(s) you control is destroyed by a card effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) with its Level changed to 4, and if you do, you can Special Summon as many Plant Monsters that were destroyed by card effect this turn as possible from your GY. (Quick Effect): You can Synchro Summon using monsters you control. You can only use each effect of "Arisen Angel of Roses" once per turn).

Rose Thorn Fairy / EARTH / Level 2 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 100 / If you take damage while you control a face-up Plant Monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. If you would take damage while this card is on the field: You can negate that damage, and if you do, increase the Level of this card by 1. You can only use each effect of "Rose Thorn Fairy" once per turn.

Explosive Tumbleweed / FIRE / Level 3 / Plant / Effect / ATK 300 / DEF 1800 / During a turn a Plant monster(s) you controlled was destroyed by battle or card effect: You can tribute this card to target 1 Plant Monster you control; Destroy it, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to half the ATK of that monster. You can only use each effect of "Explosive Tumbleweed" once per turn.

Phoenixian Bulb / FIRE / Level 2 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 600 / (This card is treated as "Phoenixian Seed" while face-up on the field). During the Battle Phase: You can Special Summon this card from your GY, and if you do, add 1 Level 8 or higher Plant Monster from your deck or GY to your hand. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis" from your hand. You can only use each effect of "Phoenixian Bulb" once per turn.

Twin Bulb / EARTH / Level 1 / Plant / Tuner / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100 / This card can be treated as a non-Tuner for the Synchro Summon of a Plant Monster. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Plant Monster from your deck. You can only use this effect of "Twin Bulb" once per duel.

Pink Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 2 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 2000 / If this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Plant Tuner Monster from you GY. If this card is sent to the GY as a Synchro Material for "Black Rose Dragon" or a Plant Synchro Monster: You can send 1 "Rose Dragon" monster from your side of the field, hand, or Deck to the GY, and if you do, gain 1000 LP. (You can only use each effect of "Pink Rose Dragon" Once per turn).

Yellow Rose Dragon / DARK / Level 1 / Dragon / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 400 / If this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Rose Dragon" Monster from your GY to your hand. If a face-up "Black Rose Dragon" or Plant Synchro Monster is sent from the field to the GY: You can shuffle this card from your GY into your deck; Special Summon that monster. (You can only use each effect of "Yellow Rose Dragon" once per turn).

Aki's Extra Deck

Dazzling Rose / LIGHT / Level 4 / Plant / Synchro / Tuner / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1600 / 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuners
Once per turn, you can Special Summon one Plant monster from your hand. During either player's turn, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves; Synchro Summon 1 monster from your Extra Deck using monsters you control, including this card. If this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, you can activate this effect; Draw 1 card. (You can only use each effect of "Dazzling Rose" once per turn).

Radiant Rose / FIRE / Level 5 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 1800 / 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuners
Once per turn, you can target 1 Plant monster in your graveyard: Special Summon it. Once per turn, if a Plant monster you control attacks an opponent's monster: You can send 1 Plant monster from your Deck or Extra Deck to the graveyard; the attacking monster gains ATK equal to half the ATK or DEF (whichever is higher) of the monster sent to the graveyard with this effect.

Fabulous Rose / DARK / Level 4 / Plant / Synchro / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1200 / 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuners
Once per turn, (Quick Effect), you can target 1 Plant monster on the field: Destroy it, and if you do, Gain LP equal to half the ATK or DEF of the destroyed monster (Whichever is higher). Once per turn, if a face-up Plant monster you control would be destroyed (by battle or card effect), you can tribute 1 other Plant monster on the field instead, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to half the ATK or DEF of the tributed monster (whichever is higher).

And the star you've all been waiting for!

Black Rose Dragon – Fullbloom / FIRE / Level 7 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 1800 / 1 Tuner + 1+ Non-Tuners

(This card is always also treated as a plant monster). When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can destroy all cards on the field. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 Plant Monster from your GY to target 1 monster your opponent controls; Negate its effects. Once per turn: You can tribute 1 Plant monster you control or in your hand; Special Summon this card from the GY.

Aki's spells

Tuner Launch / Spell / Normal / Speed / Special Summon 1 Tuner Monster from your hand whose Level is equal to or lower than the number of your Speed Counters.

"

Deadheading Draw / Spell / Normal / Speed / Pay 1 Speed Counter and Tribute 2 or more Plant Monsters you control or in your hand; Add 1 Plant Monster from your deck to your hand whose Level is equal to the Level of the Tributed Monsters, and if you do, draw 2 cards before discarding 1 card.

Black Garden Chorus / Spell / Continuous / Unaffected by other card effects while you control "Black Garden". Black Garden cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. "Black Rose Dragon" And Plant Synchro Monsters are unaffected by "Black Garden". "Rose Token" your opponent controls cannot be Tributed or used as Material. Each time you summon "Black Rose Dragon" or a Plant Synchro Monster, place 1 Rose Counter on this card. If a monster(s) you control is sent from the field to the GY: You can remove any number of Rose Counters from this card; Special Summon 1 monster from your GY whose Level is equal to the number of Rose Counters removed from this card. (You can only use this effect of "Black Garden Chorus" once per turn).

Aki's Traps

Trust Tag-Out / Trap / Normal / If an opponent's monster declares an attack against a face-up monster you control: You can return that monster to the hand; Gain LP equal to the ATK of the monster returned to the hand with this effect, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Monster from your hand in attack position with a different name from the monster returned to the hand for this effect. The monster summoned by this effect cannot be destroyed by battle once this turn.

Ice Rose Inferno / Trap / Counter / If a Plant or "Rose Dragon" Monster you control is destroyed by battle: Activate 1 of the following effects depending on the Battle Position of the monster that was destroyed.

Attack Position: Negate the battle damage and Reduce the ATK of all monsters your opponent controls by the amount of Battle Damage negated, and if you do, and you negated 2000 or more damage, Draw 2 cards.

Defense Position: Special Summon that monster from the GY, and if you do, it cannot be destroyed by battle until your next Standby Phase, also, draw 1 card.

Black Garden Winter / Trap / Counter / Activate only if you control a face-up "Black Garden": Tribute "Black Garden" and all "Rose Token" on the field; Destroy cards on the field up to the number of cards Tributed for this effect. If this card is in the GY during the turn a card(s) on the field was destroyed by the effect of a "Rose Dragon" monster(s): You can banish this card from the GY; Inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each card that was destroyed by the effect(s) of that monster(s).

Yuu's monsters

Earthbound Soul – Advent Witness / DARK / Level -4 / Fairy / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 1900 / You can discard this card; Add 1 "Earthbound God" Monster or Field Spell Card from your deck or GY to your hand. If you control a face-up Field Spell Card: You can pay 1000 LP; Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of an "Earthbound God" monster. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Soul – Advent Witness" once per turn.

Earthbound Soul - Paradox Loop/ DARK/ Level -4/ Spellcaster/ Effect/ ATK -1000/ DEF -1000/ If you control a face-up Field Spell Card, You can Special Summon this card from your hand. (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 monster on your side of the field or your hand: Add 1 "Earthbound" monster from your deck or GY to your hand with the same Level as that monster. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Soul – Paradox Loop" once per turn.

Earthbound Soul – Rapture Partaker / DARK / Level 2 / Psychic / Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 1200 / If you control a face-up "Earthbound" monster: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card is Special Summoned while you control another "Earthbound" monster: You can add up to 2 "Earthbound God" monsters from your deck or GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Soul – Rapture Partaker" once per turn.

Earthbound Soul – Future Seer / LIGHT / Level 10 / Spellcaster / Dark Tuner / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / You can discard this card and any number of Level 5 or Higher and/or Level -5 or lower "Earthbound" monsters; Draw cards equal to the number of cards discarded for this effect + 1. You can place 1 card from your hand on top of your deck; Special Summon this card from your hand or GY. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Soul – Future Seer" once per turn).

Earthbound Soul - Multiverse Destroyer/ DARK/ Level 10/ Fairy/ Dark Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can tribute 2 monsters you control; Special Summon this card from your hand or GY. If this card is summoned, you can send any combination of 4 Ritual, Dark Rite, Fusion, Dark Fission, Synchro, Dark Synchro, Xyz, Dark Xyz, Pendulum, and/or Dark Anchor monsters from your deck and/or Extra Deck to the graveyard. You can Dark Sacrifice this card: Send 1 random card from your opponent's Extra Deck to the graveyard. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Soul - Multiverse Destroyer" once per turn.

Mystic Fire Ritual Dragon / FIRE / Level 8 / Dragon / Ritual / Effect / ATK 2500 / DEF 2000 / Effects unknown

Earthbound God Phiri Wakamayu / DARK / Level 10 / Winged Beast / Effect / ATK 2900 / DEF 2700 / Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the summon of this card. Negate this card's effects if there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field. Your opponent cannot tribute, dark sacrifice, or use this monster as a Material. Unaffected by the effects of your opponent's Spell/Trap Cards and the effects of your opponent's monsters whose Level/Rank is lower than the Level of this card. Cannot be targeted for attacks but does not stop your opponent from attacking directly. This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card is Summoned: You can destroy any number of cards you control, then, you can destroy an equal number of cards your opponent controls. Each time a card(s) is destroyed, gain 300 LP for each destroyed card. If this card is destroyed: You can Special Summon it during the End Phase.

(Trivia: "Phiri" is Quechuan for "Broken." "Wakamayu" is the Quechuan word for "Parrot" or "Macaw." This monster's corresponding geoglyph is the parrot geoglyph, which tragically had its lower half destroyed when a highway was built through it. Fortunately, I am pretty sure Wakamayu is totally over that bit of blasphemy by now. Maybe it's still not too late for Rin to choose this guy over Yene.)

Earthbound God Huacra T'ira Urquchillay / DARK / Level 10 / Beast / Effect / ATK 1100 / DEF 3000 / Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the summon of this card. Negate this card's effects if there is no face-up Field Spell Card. Your opponent cannot tribute, dark sacrifice, or use this monster as a Material. Unaffected by the effects of your opponent's Spell/Trap Cards and the effects of your opponent's monsters whose Level/Rank is lower than the Level of this card. Cannot be targeted for attacks but does not stop your opponent from attacking directly. This card can attack your opponent directly. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can set this card face-down; Special Summon 1 "Earthbound God Huacra Mirku Urquchillay Token" (Beast/DARK/Level 10/ATK 3000/DEF 1100). Your opponent can only target "Earthbound God Huacra Mirku Urquchillay" token for attacks, also, it can attack directly.

(Trivia: "Huacra" is the Quechuan word for "Llama." Urquchillay was the Incan god of animals. "T'ira" and "Mirku" each are Quechuan words for "Twin." The geoglyph this god is based on is an interesting one depicting two llamas facing each other. One Llama is lying on the ground with its legs tucked under its body while the other stands over its companion. I read a whole lot of lore into this little detail, and thus, T'ira and Mirku were born. Since their Quechuan names are hard for English speakers to remember, I have decided that their official canon names are Cersei and Jamie Llamaster respectively. Their relationship is not incestual so bladeWriter3, stop accusing their love of being as such!)

AND NOW THE ONE ONLY THE MOST EVIL HAVE BEEN AWAITING!

Earthbound Matriarch P'Alta Muyu Ch'askancha / DIVINE / Level 12 / Creator God / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0 / Must be Tribute Summoned by Tributing 3 "Earthbound God" monsters and cannot be summoned other ways. Ignore the effects of cards that say there can only be 1 "Earthbound God" monster on the field. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the summon of this card. Negate this card's effects if there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field. Your opponent cannot tribute, dark sacrifice, or use this monster as a Material. Unaffected by the effects of your opponent's Spell/Trap Cards and the effects of your opponent's monsters whose Level/Rank is lower than the Level of this card. Cannot be targeted for attacks but does not stop your opponent from attacking directly. This card can attack your opponent directly. During either player's turn, you can banish 1 "Earthbound God" monster from your GY: Until the end of this turn, this card's name is also treated as that monster's name, it gains ATK and DEF equal to the respective ATK and DEF of that monster, and it gains the effects of that monster. If your opponent Special Summons a monster(s): You can Special Summon 1 "Earthbound God," Dark Fission, Dark Synchro, Dark Xyz, Dark Rite, or Dark Anchor monster from your GY, ignoring its summoning condition.

(Trivia: "P'alta Muyu" is Quechuan for "circle." "Ch'askancha" means "universe." Its corresponding spiral mark is one of the most common figures found in the Nazca planes.)

Yuu's Extra Deck

Earthbound Disciple Manco Cápac / DARK / Level -8 / Warrior / Dark Synchro / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 3000 / 1+ non Dark Tuners – 1 Dark Tuner

If this card is Special Summoned: You can add 1 Field Spell Card from your deck or GY to your hand. You can Tribute Summon 1 "Earthbound God" monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of an "Earthbound God" monster. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Earthbound" card from your GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Earthbound Disciple Manco Cápac" once per turn.

(Trivia: This card is named after the founder of the Incan civilization.)

Yuu's Spells

Ch'askancha's Order / Spell / Normal / If this card is added to your hand while you do not control "Earthbound Matriarch P'Alta Muyu Ch'askancha": Shuffle this card into your deck, and if you do, take damage equal to 90% of your LP. You can only activate 1 of the following effects of "Ch'askancha's Order" per duel and only once that duel.

● YOu cannot decipher this nonsense

● This is also complete and total nonsense

● Can you possibly decipher this lunacy?

● insanity itself breathes within this passage.

Earthbound Plane of Existence / Spell / Field / You cannot activate other Field Spell Cards the turn you activate this card. Cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects. You can Normal Summon 1 "Earthbound God" Monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. Once per turn, if you took 2000 or more damage this turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Earthbound God" Monster from your hand, deck, or GY, but it cannot attack and it is shuffled into the deck during the End Phase. During your End Phase: Inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to the number of Field Spell Cards in your GY with a different name X 300.

Earthbound Underworld Magic / Spell / Normal / Activate only if there is a card in the Field Zone. Draw 1 card, then discard 1 Spell Card from your hand, OR if you cannot, discard your entire hand. (You can only activate 1 "Earthbound Underworld Magic" per turn).

Sign of Ch'askancha / Spell / Continuous / If this card is sent to the GY: You can destroy 1 card on the field, and if you do, activate this card. When this card is activated: You can add 1 "Earthbound" Card from your deck or GY to your hand. If you control a face-up Level 10 or Higher "Earthbound" monster during your Draw Phase: You can add 1 card from your GY to you hand instead of conducting your Normal Draw for your Draw Phase. You can banish this card from the GY; Return up to 5 of your banished cards (Except "Sign of Ch'askancha") to your GY. You can only use each effect of "Sign of Ch'askancha" once per turn.

Earthbound Slumber / Spell / Quick-Play / Target 1 "Earthbound God" Monster you control: Set that monster face-down, and if you do, you can excavate the top 5 cards of your deck: Add one excavated "Earthbound" card to your hand and send all other cards excavated by this effect to the GY. (If no "Earthbound" cards are excavated by this effect, shuffle all excavated cards into your deck instead).

Earthbound Séance / Spell / Normal / Send up to 2 monsters from your side of the field or hand to the GY (Min. 1) and up to 2 monsters from your deck to the GY (Min. 1); Reveal 1 monster in your deck, and if you do, activate 1 of the following effects based on the Level of that monster.

● Its Level is equal to half the total Level of the monsters sent to the GY: Place that card on the bottom of your deck face-up.

● Its Level is equal to half the total Level of the monsters sent to the GY with this effect X -1: Place that card on the top of your deck face-up.

If that face-up card is added to your hand: You can banish this card from your GY; Add 1 card from your GY to your hand.

Earthbound Worship / Spell / Normal / Activate only if you control a face-up "Earthbound God" monster: Declare the name of 1 monster in your deck; Excavate cards from your deck until you excavate a monster with the declared name, and if you do, add that monster to your hand and send all other cards excavated by this effect to the GY.

Ending A/N: This chapter has been a long time in the making, and much more is coming very soon (just ask bladeWriter3, who has been my faithful beta reader.) Thank you all for your continued support despite the reality of my schedule as a 7th and 8th grade teacher limiting my writing time. Without further ado, let's kick off the new year with a response to your reviews!

Royal2 chapter 35 . Dec 8, 2018

Good duel can't wait for the next one

Thanks for waiting one year. Here are two duels along with a fraction of the epic duel! (Part 2 coming out soon!)

Epsilon Tarantula chapter 35 . Dec 8, 2018

If I do not see Aki in the next chapter, one of the boys playing a card game in GK will be suffering a very, VERY VEERRRRY bloody fate come File 6. Fun fact, it deals with a cult!

Sebastian: No, NO, NOOOOO. NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!
Odd: I don't wanna be taken by a bunch of a cultists!
Le cultists: He can see into the future! He is our goddesses prophet!
Odd: There's a hot undead biker chick who could do it for you!
Le cultists: We don't worship the Earthbound. We worship *spoilers* (Even though Donjusticia knows of these spoilers)

(Subliminal message to read GK when you get the time)

Now then, to the actual chapter, AKIAKIAKIAKIAKIIFYOUKILLAKIIWILLMAKEYOUPAY.
Ahem

First and foremost, Bandit was a waste of time. Not going to lie. Pointless fangirl in every regard, aside from the parachute scene because the idea of a small girl in a parachute fills me with delight almost as much as seeing a royal procession devoted to a tarantula. But at least we know that Yugo is a delightful idiot, mistaking english for a demonic tongue...wonder how he'd view the French?

The Duel Chaser's soul was probably taken by Lain after Yuri killed him and is in the Wired now, free to enjoy the wonders of getting high off of the Cloud!
Gamma 626: *snort* Aw man...what was I missing, being under Roget...
Lain: I've got a lot *hic* more where that came from.
Gamma 626: Why's the bottle all squiggly?
Lain: I HATE THINGS THAT AREN'T COMPLEX ALIEN DESIGN!
Earth: What about me?
Lain: You're a special case *Hugs the Ignis*
Earth: I am socially awkward.
Lain: We all are.

Was that a jab against Ray's passivity in canon after Selena's Awakening was done? Because it was accurate. (Headcanon: Ray could easily blown up the Parasites, but didn't because of canon-stupidity. Guess what will not happen in Dimension Dowsing?) I wonder if we'll see the new Lunalight support in future chapters...

Back to the duel of Zarc vs. OP OC #1 and OP OC #2 (Let's have Yuu and Aliesha engage in naked slime wrestling to decide who gets which number). The banter was quite the highlight, I must say. Two arrogant a**holes duking it out...annnd the Chas got Pendulums and made Dark Anchors...WELP THE UNIVERSE IS DOOMED! GAME OVER! The only way it could be worse is if Rudolf figured out how to do it...

Rudolf: Welp, I've completed the theory to make Dark Anchors...the only question is they'll actually be useful to me...or just be a gimmick...

And he figured out how to do it...yay (Did I ask for Dark Anchors for OmenwhichturnedintoDimensionDowsing? No? I shall ask now).

Seeing Zarc fall like that makes him quite pitiful. My condolences to the poor dragon boy. If he thinks his status as a Demigod here is bad enough, wait 'till he learns how he was born in Dimension Dowsing...

Zarc: No, no it can't be...
Rudolf: Yes, Zarc, for you see, I *spoilers*

And Sergey's true power has been unleashed! Oh, happy days! Sadly, in the in-between time of my last review, I had to throw out VISER DES for Diabolics...but seeing Sergey with his personality intact still makes up for this. He was always a highlight of Synchro.

Overall, a most satisfying chapter that deserves a 9.6! (It lost .4 points because of Bandit wasting everyone's time. May Akato set her on fire after forcing her into a doujin scenario).

THAT'S what this chapter was missing! *Writes down note to somehow shoehorn Bandit into the next chapter*

Glad you enjoyed the chapter. And LOOK! I didn't kill Aki…yet!

SakushiRyu chapter 35 . Dec 8, 2018

Cool chapter as always (even if we had to wait... "some" time for it, but some people are busy with their personal lives and I understand that because... well, I have one as well) and it was amazing to see Serena and Ray teaming up against poor Barrett (who, for some reason, was forgotten in the anime which was NOT UTSUKUSHII!)

Between the options you gave us... WHY DID YOU MAKE IT SO HARD TO CHOOSE!? I can't wait to see some more OCs (including my own) but how can we pass down a beach day!? OR AKI DUELING!? HOW COULD YOU!? Just make a chapter will all these mashed up in it: we see one-third of YUU and AKI's Duel, some new OCs introduced, and finally, we go to the beach... just because we can and you're the creator of the story!

Keep up the amazing work!

OH MY GOSH! I completely forgot that this was supposed to be the beach chapter! Here you guys go! Please enjoy.

"So…why are we suddenly in our swimsuits on the beach when, last I checked, an epic multiversal war was taking place?" Yuya asked.

"Because fanservice." Ray explained, who was also inexplicably there and dressed in a bikini.

"This is so dumb and gratuitous." Yuri griped while Selena buried him under a mound of sand.

"I disagree!" Yugo shouted while he and Rin surfed a massive wave while riding the same board.

"Let's just hope the fanservice doesn't get too out of hand." Ghost Yuto sighed.

"YUTO!" Dark Signer Ruri called, "Would you mind smearing this tanning lotion on my back while I lie down on the sand topless?"

"Not now, Ruri." Yuto replied. "There are more important things to do than mindlessly titillating our fans."

"Please help us, Yuya." Dark Signer Yuzu begged. "Ruri punishes me if I don't thoroughly rub lotion onto every surface of my body!"

"We said not now, Yuzu!" Yuya replied. "There are more important things to deal with, like Zarc, or Yuu, or our impending deaths, or…ah forget it! DON'T WORRY YUZU! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE COMPLETELY LUBED UP!"

"We are so both getting seduced to the dark side." Yuto sighed before joining Yuya.

bladeWriter3 chapter 35 . Dec 8, 2018

Don you typed in the original version of Moonlight Fennec, not the finalized version. Also you used "Lunalight" in Gold Lynx's card text. Plus you forgot to mention the 'once per turn' line in Karma Paladin's text. And you've put Skiel Top Mark II twice instead of Sky Core Mark II.

Oh, and the reason for my lack of updates is because I've been helping YOU, as well as some other people.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Edits, edits, edits! NOW GET BACK TO WORK WASTING YOUR LIFE HELPING ME!

ThePLOThand chapter 35 . Dec 9, 2018

YES INDEED ALL CAPS WILL GET ABOUT AS OLD AS INSERTING JAPANESE WORDS INTO ENGLISH DIALOGUE! YOU GOT IT SENPAI, ARIGATOU!
OPTION, I mean Option A is redundant because everyone and their mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers and their whole clan is Tier 0 Already. Could totally Stomp One Above All, Yog Sogoth and Kami Tenchi just by drawing a Card and everyone else on VS Battle wiki's actual Tier 0 page too.
Also average Humans are normal Monsters and Deed was Action Cards
EKAY, next part of my review!
Enlgish? What is this forbidden language?
One Problem in this Story, is that is has way too many additional dueling mechanics.
Most importantly the Addition of Speed spells, expecially in Serena's case, to put it in a LK-style lampooning:
Barret: Can you please not use your pendulum Cards?
Serena: Don't you have that OP Crimson Chain Card? If that Thing is Canon, why can't you cook up a Card that just prevents me from using them?
Barret: We'll Play with Speed Counters and I won't tolerate objections!
Serena: What, am I supposed to Play with only one spell the whole duel?
Barret: Nah, I'll give you some Speed spells, just so I can be suprised About you using one that I didn't give you!
Serena: ….really?
That's how I feel About it.
And About the dark versions, only Synchro, Fusion and Xyz are needed, the rest feels like forced expansions, even Rite.
Now to the Action Cards, one Thing the anime and manga didn't do wrong with them, is keeping their effect very simple and to the Point (except that Haunted Legion pair-thingy fromt he 1st duel in the manga.) they shouldn't act like support cards.
While Yugioh has more leeway with convenience during fight Scenes, you are really pushing it by making everyone OP af and if that wasn't the case, it makes the actual OP Cards less Special and you're not trying to apply Syndrome's plan from the incredibles to the strength of your Cards, are you?
EKAY, time for a Brief Moment of levity!
Is there a Moon light Potara earrings Card? ( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡)
Also, the duels would be a lot easier to comprehend (though to be fair, they could feel that way to me, because I am a fast Reader and should take a lot more time to read this story) if Attention between them would switch less, evenif there is some artistic or dramatic Purpose for it, it won't work if you do it too often
and Saishuu!
Starve Venom's dialogue is a bit too silly, perhaps you're trying to make him look like a lunatic, but it doesn't work imo.
Now, while I probably have at least one of the flaws mentioned here in my own Story;
the expensive kettle doesn't turn Magenta if the Shoddy pot calls it black.
JA NE!
PS: You could probably cut down the chapter length considerably if you would only list debuting OC Cards and not copy-paste the Reviews you respond to; People would just go to the last chapter and look up what the review you're responding you is, if they really wanted to know.
BGM:
start: Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire - Battle! Wally Music (HQ)
for Yuri smashing Ai... I mean some AI bot in a destructive and non-sexual way: Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire - Battle! Zinnia Music (HQ)
for Serena vs Barret: Harvest December- Himegeki
for Lord Zarc: Pokémon Mashup v2: "Battle! vs Ultra Necrozma!" (USUM/IntenseSymphonic/Remix/Orchestra)
back to Yugo vs Fem!Mr. In America!: Daichi Miura -「 Blizzard 」 Dragon Ball Super: Broly Main Theme Song HQ
for Yuri vs who cares: Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Ultra Recon Squad Battle Theme Remix
for Ray's awakening?: Mystic Land (Extended) - Hunter X Hunter 2011
for Ray's power in Serena's duel: Avengers Suite (Theme)
back to Zarc: Champion Cynthia Battle Remix [Diamond and Pearl]
for Zarc Breaking the crazy Limits: DRAGON BALL SUPER "Ultimate Battle" (FULL ENGLISH Cover) DAVE

*Takes notes to not adhere to ANY of ThePlotHand's advice* GOT IT!

thetiger39 chapter 35 . Dec 9, 2018

Aki: I used to be Elite but then I took a Crow Hogan in the knee

-
Aki Izayoi is going to be in the next chapter. And boy will she be elite in SOR. Why are the female Signer Dragons Level 7? Will SOR fix that error? We'll see.

Pfft. Typical Female Character Treatment.

-
Very well, I will keep adding over 500 posts of PMs in your inbox regarding my three OCs as usual.

-
Selena won her match against the OP Barret whom Yuya could not beat. By the way, new Lunalight cards were released. And I thought that was the last of the bracelet girls in the TCG.

-
That is all. Good luck

I was so happy to see new Lunalights. And NOPE Aki's ace is Level seven because the levels of the monsters are IRRELIVANT! What's important is the impact the character has on the story.

Jtblake chapter 35 . Dec 10, 2018

Awesome chapter, option A please.

You get an Aki chapter.

shadowsharkds chapter 35 . Dec 25, 2018

Great chapter, some things:
1_ Option b please with summer holidays already starting and all the action and revelations of the last chapters it could be good to have a chapter that was lighter and funny to give us a small break from so many duels and conflicts before going back to the main story .

2_Could it be possible to get a clue if one of these duels could happen in the story ?:
_Ruri and Rin vs Yuri
_Ruri vs. Jack the rematch
_Yusu vs. Sergey the rematch
_Bracelet girls vs Leo Akaba
_Dark signers Bracelet girls vs Ray
3_With all the new additions of counterparts of types of cards in this fic is there any possibility that we see NUMBERS and Supreme King Z-ARC added to the list of dark counterparts in the future?

4_I know that there are authors who are not fans of this but could there be a day that someone makes a reading of this fic as with how good it is and all the AU elements watching the Arc-V characters reacting to the events of this fic sounds interesting at least for me especially if they are their versions of the end of the show or some of the characters from the previous series and their reactions to discover that their world is going to be destroyed in the future and there is nothing they can do to stop it because they are all dead when it hapens?

5_ One thing that I really liked have been the characters because they have depth and personalities that are interesting to read instead of being one dimension characters .

PS English is not my native language so I apologize if something in my comment sounds offensive and/or trying to demand that you do something that I want that was not my intention I love this fic and I hope to continue reading this and other of your fics for many more years .

P.P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year I hope you have a great time at these festivities with your family and friends and 2019 is a good year for you.

No problem! Thanks for your review. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Hopefully you enjoyed that short joke beach chapter.

NauticaI chapter 35 . Feb 13

So there is a lot to breakdown this chapter, and since I'm writing part of this at 1 in morning its gonna be fun. So to make this easier for me and you to understand, I'll break it down via each duel then I'll add a few personal thoughts at the end.

Yugo vs Bandit:
I absolutely love this duel. I absolutely love Bandit. Its perfect, how did you come up with this. Bandit's character is literally perfect to go with Yugo; despite the fact that she's from academia, the duel feels lighthearted because of the interactions between bandit and Yugo (srsly the language barrier between Yugo and bandit and Yugo's reactions plus Bandit's were great). I feel this lighthearted feel to the duel fits very well with yugo's character and if it were a serious duel like what we get later on, it wouldn't have worked as well. If I'm being honest, this was my favorite duel out of all of them.

Serena vs Barret:
I don't really have a lot to say about this one. The duel is pretty good as most of the duels are. Some of the stuff that I liked about it is how Ray is introduced, it is much better than arc-v since she actually did something. The relationship between Barret and Serena is also pretty cool too. I guess the only thing I would have changed would be to add more the character into the duel sorta like how Yugo vs Bandit went. Otherwise, it was good.

Yuri vs meklord duelbot thingy:
Again with this one, not much to say. Honestly the duel felt kinda pointless, like it was only there to show starving venom evolving which probably isn't a good thing.

Yuya/Yuto/Zarc vs Aleisha vs Sergey/Yuu
Now for the main duel/climax! This duel, for being the climax was pretty long and was decent. However there were a few issues that kept it from being as good as Serena's main issue would be how fast paced the duel was. When the chapter first started, the duel was between Zarc, Aleisha, and Yuu and as the chapter progress, I was thrown for a loop as Aleisha almost ended the duel for Zarc to not only save the duel but then to progress from odd-eyes rebellion to odd-eyes raging but then for Yuu/the Matriarch to steal Pendulum from Zarc while at the same time dumping info about Zarc being a demigod and ray being a god of creation with the duel ending in Zarc being sealed back into yuya/yuto in draw against sergey. To summarize what I just wrote, basically there was so much going on at such a fast pace that I had to reread the duel so I could understand what was going on. Another issue I had was cards of the duel/ the duel itself. I was fine with Zarc and Aleisha's cards but Yuu's cards seemed to perfect in a sense; perhaps it was due to the fact it was expected for Zarc to get cards to make his boss monster while Yuu was focusing on stealing Zarc's monster. It just felt like Yuu's plan was too perfect to me. While the duel was plot relevant, these issues kept me from enjoying it as much as the other duels. Also one last thing; there was so much screaming, how did Yuu not blow out his throat?

Extra Stuff:
Overall this chapter was decent and I've been enjoying how the story is progressing(the cliffhanger with Aki and Yuu is getting me interested). :D, now for kitten fan art, I have been working on it, its just that I'm getting sidetracked by schoolwork. Have no fear however, it shall be completed(one of these days), and you may receive soon probably. Also that OC I was thinking of making might come soon too; man a lot of the things I think of doing are "coming soon". At this rate who knows when they will happen? I will at least put a lot of effort into the kitten fan art for your sake.

KITTEN FAN ART! KITTEN FAN ART! KITTEN FAN ART!

Guest chapter 1 . Mar 18

Option c because i want to see yuu's deck

Whaddya think?

weedle013 (who posted a ton of reviews)

Thanks for enjoying the story!

DestinysTacos chapter 2 . Nov 8

Love the orchestra-related cards! They were amazing and I love the detail you used for them! As a flutist myself I had to respect the detail for the Synthphonist Flutist and would love to see these cards in real life. I might decide to make them myself someday.

I absolutely loved making Rin's Dark Signer deck. I was in band as a clarinetist, so yes, this deck has a special place in my heart. Thank you for enjoying the story.

Happy upcoming 2020 everyone!