Chapter 14; life and death duel
Sonic arrived at the parking of the zoo and parked and dismounted his duel runner. Then he looked around him trying to notice Amy but no one was there. He started walking close to the walls of the zoo. He thought Amy was close to the walls so she wouldn't be seen. Then he saw an open door for staff. That looked suspicious. Amy wasn't a burglar. There was no way she could unlock a door like that. He immediately called Knuckles.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice was heard from the phone.
"Knucks it's me Sonic."
"Do you know what time is it?" Knuckles said angry
" I know but check this out."
He sent Knuckles a screenshot of the email.
"Why would Amy act like this?"
"I don't know."
"Have you tried calling her?"
"No. but I have no time to waste. Someone is in there and baited me here. I'm going in."
"Sonic I think we should better wait. It may be dangerous."
"Relax Knucks. I'll be ok. But if I don't call back, call the police and sent them to the zoo."
"Ok but still Sonic. Take care. It may be the champion in there wanting to have his so called revenge."
"He doesn't scare me. I'm going in Knucks. You know what to do." Sonic said and closed his phone. Then he stepped through the door and entered the zoo.
The place was dark and really creepy. Even the smallest of sounds gave Sonic the creeps. His path crossed sometimes with night guards but he avoided them. Then close to the reptile house he heard a voice similar to Amy's.
"Sonic, this way."
Sonic looked where the voice came from but all he saw was the door of the reptile house opened and swinging back and forth. Determined he went that way and opened it. Suddenly a pillow fell from above. The pillow touched the ground next to Sonic and released a big puff of smoke. Sonic before he could breathe it held his breath and moved on. The reptile house was as he remembered it. A big building like a gallery. The snakes were in boxes hanged on the walls. He noticed that some of them were hitting the glass like trying to get out. Ignoring it he walked to the middle of the room. Then he saw a duel disk in front of him. He tried to go pick it up, but after he made one step closer to it something big fell behind him. He turned around and saw a wall of glass in front of him. He looked up. It was like a cage made of glass. But it had 8 glass walls very thin. Then he heard steps behind him. And a maniacal laugh.
"AHHAAHHAHAHAAHAHA"
That voice was familiar but it was definitely not the champion's.
"Who are you?" Sonic asked angry.
The stranger kept laughing as he walked into a part of the ground that for some reason was a bit deeper like if it was dugged. Then he opened a bottle and filled the 'trench' around him with a liquid. Sonic smelled it and recognized it.
"This is…. GAS!" he thought scared
The stranger threw the bottle away and lit a candle.
"What are you doing?" Sonic shouted at him " you're going to set us on fire?!"
The strager threw the candle in the gas and a ring of fire was created around him. The fire made everything more visible. And Sonic was able to see the face of the stranger.
"You!" he said angry.
"Me" he answered.
They spent a silent moment looking at each other. Sonic and the lucky joe.
"What are you doing here? And why did you drag me along?"
"I came here so I can have revenge on you."
"Yeah like I would duel a cheater."
"I won't cheat this time. The proof…"
He emptied his pockets. Sonic saw tons of only-heads coins. And Joseph threw tem all into the fire. He only kept one which was a normal one with tails also on it.
"Ok but why in here?" Sonic asked " Why in the reptile house of the zoo?"
"So that nobody will find your corpse!"
"My what?!"
"This is not a duel. it is a battle to death!" he said while revealing a remote control and pressed a button. Small explosions occurred all around the building. When the smoke was cleared, Sonic saw in horror that the explosions had destroyed the cages of the snakes. And the worst. The snakes were roaming free. Then they looked at him and started roaming around the glass cage.
"What is going on here?! Tell me!"
"AAAAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If you lose the cage will open and the snakes will enter and eat you alive! AAAAAHAHHAHAHAHA!"
"But why eat me? I'm not a threat to them."
"You don't have to be. The cloud puff that you were engulfed into was a snake pheromone that makes snakes highly aggressive!"
"Slight miscalculation! They will eat you as well!"
"No they won't. Don't you know what snakes are afraid of?"
Sonic's eyes widened " the fire!"
"Exactly. I will be spared and you will be eaten alive in a hell of poison! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
"And what will happen if I refuse to duel?"
"At that very moment I will open the cage with my remote control."
"And if I win?"
"A path of fire will be created to the exit and you will be able to leave."
"Then let's get on with it."
"LET'S DUEL!"
"I'll start this. I draw. I summon blackwing shura the blue flame. Then I set a card. Your move."
"Is that all? My turn, I draw. I the equip spell mask of the accursed. Your monster can no longer attack and every one of my turns you lose 500 life points! AAAAHHAAHAHAHA!"
"Get on with it."
"With pleasure! I set 3 cards. This end my turn."
"Ok then. Time to get rid of this card. I summon forth, blackwing gale the whirlwind!"
"Not so fast Sonic. I activate the trap vanity's emptiness! Noone of us can special summon monsters now!"
"Say what? No synchro summons?"
"Precisely!"
"Darn. Gale direct attack!"
"AAH" (Joseph LP 6700)
"This changes nothing hedgehog."
"I end my turn
"My turn. Draw. Here they come Sonic. 500 points of damage."
"And what will 500 points of damage do to me?" (Sonic LP 7500)
"Look behind you"
Sonic looked and saw one of the 8 glass walls that made the cage was beginning to shatter.
"What's going on here?!"
"MUHAHAHAHAAHHAHA! The more your life points drop the more this cage will destroy itself. When you lose all of them, it will be feeding time! MUHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!"
"You're a sick man!"
"Thank you. Now on with the duel. I set a monster. I end my turn."
"Fine. I'l just destroy vanity's emptiness by destroying something on your field."
"No you won't. I activate the trap macro cosmos. Any card destroyed is removed from play instead of going to the graveyard. And that means that vanity's emptiness cannot be destroyed! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!"
"Oh no!"
"MUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!"
"Mark my words, I will defeat you!"
"Let's see you try."
"My turn. I draw. Perfect. I summon blackwing bora the spear. Bora attack that face down monster!"
"You fell for it! MUHAHAHAHAHA! Blast sphere equip to his bora!"
"What?"
Blast sphere equipped to bora.
"Is that the super rare blast sphere?"
"Exactly. In your next turn your monster will be destroyed and you will lose its attack points from your life points. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Still now you are defenseless. Gale direct attack!"
"AAh" (Joseph LP 5400)
"I end my turn."
"My turn then. Draw there goes another 500 of your LP." (Sonic LP 7000)
"Now watch."
The first glass wall of the cage shattered leaving only 7 remaining between the snakes and Sonic.
"As for my turn, I set a monster and activate the continuous spell wave motion cannon. Every one of my turns this cannon will get 1 counter. I can send it to the graveyard any time after its activation during my main phase and for every counter you take 1000 points of damage!"
"What? A one shot kill?"
"MUHAHAHAHAHAHA exactly. But since you will lose 1000 points every turn in 6 turns it will be over. Now make your move hedgehog."
"Grrr my turn. I draw."
"Right now your bora is destroyed and you lose 1700 LP"
"AAAAH" (Sonic LP 5300) the second wall of cage exploded in a rain of glass
"Darn" Sonic thought " his combo is almost flawless. And if I lose I'll…" He looked at his right and saw a snake looking at him. He got up.
Suddenly a siren's sound was heard all over the place. the door behind them opened and Knuckles along with Amy and a couple of police officers and entered. They saw the cage and the snakes around it.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed in horror.
"This madman has trapped him." Knuckles said shocked.
"Don't you move!" Joseph said grabbing his remote control "Sonic has a snake pheromone on him. If you step anywhere close I will destroy the cage and the snakes will kill him!"
Amy's tears started leaving her eyes. Knuckles didn't know what to do.
"Knuckles Amy go out."
"But…." They began saying
"Trust me. I will beat this guy."
They looked at each other. Then they exited the reptile house.
"Now where was I? Ok. I summon another bora the spear. Attack that monster."
"Like you can destroy marshmallon. Also because it was attacked you take 1000 points of damage!"
"AAH" (Sonic LP 4300) the third part of the cage shattered. The snakes were now looking double as aggressive.
"Still you take piercing damage."
"Hmph it is nothing." (Joseph LP 4200) "Anything else left?"
"No. I'm done with my turn."
"My turn then. I draw. I set a card. Then I add another counter to my cannon. Also you take 500 more damage!" (Sonic LP 3700) Now half the cage walls where destroyed.
"I end my turn."
"My turn. Draw."
"Hold on. I play the trap spirit barrier. Because I control a monster I won't take any battle damage. It's over. You can't do anything anymore."
"No. I can do a lot. As long as I believe in my deck. Something you never did. But still this turn I can do nothing. I end my turn."
"My turn. 1 counter for me and 500 points less for you!"( Sonic LP 3200)
"It's over. Next turn I win. I hope you're not afraid of gruesome deaths hedgehog cause you're about to experience one MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I have to draw that card. Or I lose. And then… NO! it won't end like this" he thought.
"My turn."
His mark started shining.
"What trick is this?!" he shouted
"I draw!" he looked at the card he drew "Thank you my deck. Activate! The magic card hurricane! Your cards are set!"
"WHAT?!"
"And that's not all. I have the delta crow anti reverse trap into my hand! It activates since I have exactly 3 blackwings out! All your sets are destroyed!"
"Not that card again!"
"And I'm not done at all. I tribute my gale for sirocco the dawn. Sirocco add the attack points of all blackwings to bora. Bora attack his marshmallon and end this duel!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" (Joseph LP 0)
"I win. You can never become a duelist of my caliber, lucky joe. You don't a heart that believes in your deck. You will never win."
"Even if I lost…" he said in rage "I'll still get the last laugh. Goodbye hedgehog!"
He grabbed he remote control and pressed a button. The glass started breaking. And it shattered. Sonic covered his head to take cover from the falling glass. But when he lowered his hands he saw all the snakes approaching him with pure evil in their eyes. His heart started beating supersonic fast. He kicked a snake that tried to get close to his shoes. But then he felt a python wrapping him up. And he started pressuring him. Sonic felt like he was drowning. The python was too strong. He saw it raising his head and opening its mouth ready to devour him in one piece. He closed his eyes waiting for the poisonous teeth to sink into his flesh. It was really the end.
But suddenly his mark started shining. The shine became stronger and stronger like a blue sun. The snake let him go and retreared, Sonic saw the other snakes still looking at him while above him something blue was seen. When he got undizzy he saw the lunar dragon scaring the snakes. Then he touched Sonic with his fang. With the same fang he approached Joseph.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Joseph screamed.
The dragon kept the fang in front of his face and released a blue flame. The flame engulfed Joseph but it didn't burn him. When the flame extinguished joseph noticed that the flames around him were also extinguished. And then he sniffed as if he was smelling something.
"This dragon just…. SPRAYED ME WITH THE PHEROMONE!"
Sonic was speechless.
The snakes began making their way towards Joseph.
"NO! STAY.. STAY BACK! STAY AWAY FROM ME!
The same python that grabbed Sonic grabbed Joseph and started strangling him. Then he devoured his head. Joseph's screams could no longer be heard.
Amy and Knuckles entered the reptile house again.
"Guys." Sonic turned around to see them.
Then Amy's eyes widened
"SONIC BEHIND YOU!"
Sonic turned around and slightly managed to see a snake jumping mid air before it sank its big teeth in Sonic left arm.
"AAAAAH" Sonic screamed as he grabbed the snake and threw it down crashing its head. He noticed it more carefully. His eyes widened in horror.
"Sonic? Are you ok?" Amy asked with an unsteady voice.
"No." he said witt an unsteady voice as well "I've just been poisoned by a taipan!"
"Taipan? You mean.." Knuckles said scared
"The most poisonous snake on the planet!"
Sonic then started feeling too heavy to carry himself. He fell to the ground.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Amy screamed.
She ran to his side.
"SONIC! SONIC!"
His eyes didn't open.
She turned to Knuckles.
"AN AMBULANCE! FAAAAST!"
10 minutes later they were on the ambulanced while Sonic still unconscious was given a periodical anti-poison. But it wouldn't work for a long time. Its job was to slow down the poison. They reached the hospital and the doctors started trying to cure him. Amy and Knuckles informed the others and they arrived as fast as they could. Minutes passed. 1 hour passed. A doctor came out. Amy approached him instantly.
"How is he doctor?"
"I am very sorry. But we can't cure the taipan poison. The cure is only found in Australia. We contacted everyone we could. No one has a cure. He won't last more than an hour. I am really sorry."
And he left. Amy started shaking. Then she collapsed and started crying. The others abandoned all hope. All they could do now was to wait for their friend's death. it was over.
Then Amy thought of something.
"Guys. Maybe we can save Sonic." She said trying to hold her tears.
"What? How?"
" Remember how we can control our decks according to our will. Maybe if we wish for Sonic to be cured the lunar dragon will heal him."
"We have to try." Knuckles said.
"Ok. Knuckles Jet Wave hands in the middle"
They put their hands in the middle.
"You too guys."
The rest put their hands on top of the 4 hands.
"Now all say loudly inside of you 'Heal Sonic Please' "
"Ok"
They closed their eyes. They started thinking very hard for Sonic to be cured. Their marks started shining. They all looked in awe as the shine created a ray that flew into the room Sonic was in. They looked inside from the door window. The ray entered Sonic's mark. The doctor came back a minute later. And then they heard him shouting…
"MIRACLE! MIRACLEEEEE!"
He came out and informed them that Sonic was somehow healed from the poison. Amy's heart was filled with gratitude to the lunar dragon.
The next morning Sonic was allowed to leave. His heart was filed with happiness when he saw everyone waiting for him. They left the hospital but at the parking they were informed by Sonic's phone thanks to a message that the final match against the champion would take place at midnight.
"Sonic please don't duel." Amy begged him.
The others tried to discourage him as well.
"Guys.. "he said " I have a score to settle. I appreciate the fact that you don't want me to get hurt any further… but I want stop until we have Tails again. And so. I 'm gonna duel tonight. And you won't stop me."
The gang looked at him.
Knuckles spoke first
"If I can't stop you.. I will follow you. I'll be there tonight."
"So will I" Amy said as well
The others promised to be there as well. Sonic then rode his runner and left. He had to rest. For tonight's duel would be the most important of his life.
