The wall of purple fire erupted around Lise and Roman. There was no backing out now. The spider mark erupted across the city and Roman's spider mark shone brightly in the dark night. Even the energy trapping Yusei in its grasp glistened purple.
Lise's dragon marks blinked on too. Only they were joined by the curse mark's webbing. Throbbing as it pulsed its sickly purple color.
Roman smirked. "Having trouble, my dear?"
"What's this thing doing?" Lise wheezed.
It wasn't making her weak so much as creeping her out. The edges of the curse mark twisted, warped and stretched. Like it was a live animal looking for flesh to feast on. She was a little relieved to slip the duel disk on to put the majority of the mark out of sight.
"Spreading mostly. The pain gets worse the more it covers," Roman's smirk turned into a venomous sneer. "Oh, and the more lifepoints you lose, the more it spreads."
"Of course it does," Lise grumbled.
"Let's duel!"
Lise: 4000
Roman: 4000
"The first move is mine, then," Lise decided. If she was already at a disadvantage, she might as well try to strategize from the beginning.
"I draw. I summon Flame Alchemist in defense mode! And I'll end my turn with a facedown."
"Interesting, we'll see how long you can last," Roman commented. "My move. I'm activating the Spider Web field spell."
"Here we go," Lise remarked dryly.
White, silky threads that mirrored her curse mark enveloped the playing field.
"Now I summon Spider Cocoon, and the reason I'm able to summon this monster is because my field is empty and you have a monster on your side of the field."
(Spider Cocoon: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)
"With that done I'm summoning Dark Spider!"
(Dark Spider: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)
"Now until the end of my turn Dark Spider can harness the shadows in its web and grant power to an Insect monster on my field. Which means Spider Cocoon's level grows to level seven. And now Spider Cocoon will return the favor by giving Dark Spider a tune-up!"
Roman's Spider Cocoon turned into white lights that encircled his green spider. But instead of creating a flash of light, the lights plunged into the spider, turned black and consumed it. Six black lights circled the field.
"When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals a world without light! Come forth: Underground Arachnid!"
(Underground Arachnid: Atk: 2400 Def: 1200)
"Oh great, another spider," Lise muttered.
"Say goodbye to your Alchemist, because I plan on taking him for my own!"
"What?!"
A sticky line of spider silk shot out of Underground Arachnid's abdomen that ensnared Flame Alchemist and dragged him over to the Dark Signer's field.
"You see, once a turn Underground Arachnid can use one of the monsters on your field as an equip card to gain more power. And now that you have nothing on your field to protect you, Underground Arachnid attack Elizabeth directly!"
Lise: 1600
Roman: 4000
Underground Arachnid shot webbing from its mouth that hit her square in the stomach. Lise was thrown back up against the wall of the webbing. The dull, bruising pain of the duel monster's attack was nothing compared to the curse mark.
Biting, burning pain scraped up Lise's arm. The mouth of the curse's reach eating up her arm. Past the elbow it stopped. Ready for the next attack.
When she came back from the curse's episode, Lise found herself shaking. She'd never felt any physical pain like this before.
But it was nothing compared to how her whole heart and soul ached at the sight of Yusei at Roman's mercy.
Roman smirked, indifferent to Lise's pain. "I'm placing one card facedown and ending my turn. It's your move, if you can actually make it."
"Yes," Lise grit her teeth. Her jaw ached from the strain of getting back up to her feet. "I can. It's my turn, and I draw! First up, I can special summon Inferno Wolf from my hand to the field because you have monsters on your field and I don't!"
(Inferno Wolf: Atk: 2100 Def: 600)
"Next I play Lost and Found! This spell allows me to search my deck for a tuner monster that I can instantly summon, and I choose my nuclear friend Ener-G!"
(Ener-G: Atk: 100 Def: 300)
"Not only that, but I'm tuning Ener-G with my Inferno Wolf in order to Synchro Summon Fire Gryphon!
"If you thought that wasn't enough, I play his ability. He can special summon a Synchro monster that's level eight or below, and guess what? My Flamekeeper wants to join the party!"
Roman lifted an eyebrow. "Really, child? You'll have to do better."
"Is this what you had in mind?" Lise quipped. "Once per turn Flamekeeper can give me four hundred extra lifepoints for every other fire type monster on my field."
Lise: 2000
Roman: 4000
"Now before we battle, a little insurance never hurt anyone! I summon Pyrus Starburst to the field in defense mode. Now Fire Gryphon, attack!"
With an enormous boom, the gryphon's claws sunk into the spider's body. Now Roman gritted his teeth and shielded his face as it was his turn to lose some life points.
Lise: 2000
Roman: 3700
When the smoke cleared Underground Arachnid was still standing; Fire Gryphon's attack had hit Flame Alchemist instead! The monster exploded in a cloud of yellow shards.
"But-"
"Underground Arachnid used your Alchemist to save itself from your attack. And now due to the Spider Web field spell, Fire Gryphon is forced into defense mode, and it's stuck that way until your next turn."
"Shit."
All my moves are backfiring!
"If Underground Arachnid manages to weave its web around your monsters on my next turn, then your field will be empty, Elizabeth. And when you take the damage from my direct attack, you will finally join me," Roman smiled evilly at the thought.
"Yeah, I'm not interested. There's no making up for being a deadbeat by killing me," Lise's face stony as her voice. "Or attacking my friends.
"Anyway, I activate my facedown, Urgent Tuning! I tune Pyrus Starburst and Flamekeeper together to synchro summon Crimson Starburst Dragon!"
Lise had thrown up her hand for the synchro summon, and brought it down to point directly at her father. "Now attack with Blazing Inferno, and pound Underground Arachnid into the dirt!"
Lise: 2000
Roman: 3600
Roman's eye barely twitched. His spider went up in a cloud of yellow sparks.
"There it is!"
"Over there!"
The voices of the two boys carried over.
"Hey Lise!"
"No!"
"It's too late for your friends! I'm playing the trap Altar of the Bound Deity! Now once a turn during my standby phase, for every monster on the field in defense mode, the Altar gains one Earthbound Immortal counter. When all four of the Altar's counters have been lit, the Bound Deity will grant me the power to summon one Earthbound Immortal from my deck!" Roman countered, smiling particularly wickedly.
"Oh no!"
Lise's eyes darted between the Dark Signer, Yusei, and the young boys. What do I do?!
"This was a mistake!" One of the boys cried, tears running down his cheeks.
/
Martha and Trudge ran as fast as they could into the city. They had noticed the boys were missing and had to get them out of there as soon as possible.
John, Mitch, Taka…
/
"Man where are those guys?" Taka complained. He could see part of the spider mark on the ground from the window. "I totally lost them!"
/
"It looks like my web has caught some flies," Roman commented placidly.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself. The terror in the little boys, their tears. Delicious. The complete and utter torture on Elizabeth's face. Not just from her curse mark, but she'd been backed into a corner. She couldn't save the boys, much less Yusei, and even less so herself. It was only a matter of time before the best moment. The moment the hope and life drained from her eyes.
A moment coming right up.
"I activate Altar of the Bound Deity. Now for every monster on the field in defense mode I gain an Earthbound Immortal counter. Next I summon Ground Spider in defense mode!"
(Ground Spider: Atk: 0000 Def: 1500)
This brown spider with spindly legs just barely seemed to hold itself up. Its beady little eyes stared back at Lise. Her battered reflection staring back at her.
But Lise didn't have any answers. She couldn't just focus on winning. She had to make sure Roman didn't hurt Yusei or Mitch and John. How was she supposed to get them all to safety when she could barely stand?
Breathe. Lise commanded herself. She did so, forcing herself to do it slowly. You're no good to anyone if you can't think.
She surveyed the field, the cards in her hand. First things first, if we get to Roman's standby phase with the field like this, he'll light three more torches, and risk those boys getting absorbed! I need a different approach.
"It's my turn, and I activate the spell Pot of Avarice! I take five monsters out of my graveyard, add them to my deck, shuffle, and I can draw two new cards."
Roman rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "They won't save you or anyone, Elizabeth."
"We'll see. I'm setting two cards facedown and ending my turn."
"Is that all?"
/
Martha and Trudge stopped running when they had made it a good distance into the city.
"That purple wall of mist looks like it goes on forever and ever," Trudge commented.
"Where are the boys?" Martha worried, her priorities in order. The two ran up the stairs of a building until they were high enough to look out the window to find out what was going on. "Lise?"
"Down there!" Trudge pointed to John and Mitch.
"My boys!" Martha realized it was worse than that. Yusei unconscious and wrapped in Roman's clutches. Lise's body glowing red and purple. "They're all trapped! Lise!"
She turned at the sound of her name.
Martha cupped her hands like a megaphone. "Don't even think of losing this duel!"
Despite there being even more people in danger, the parental love was a comfort Lise desperately needed now. "I won't!"
Roman laughed mockingly. "How touching, but it's my turn, which means-"
"Which means I can play my trap Compulsory Evacuation Device! Now my Crimson Starburst Dragon can go back to my extra deck, and you can't light the last three torches needed for your Immortal!"
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter, my child. You've tried your best to delay the inevitable, but I'm afraid that it's just too late. I play my trap card Offerings to the Bound Deity! Now if I take my life points and divide them in half two more torches are suddenly lit!"
Lise: 1600
Roman: 1800
"That's all four!"
"The four counters are ablaze!" Roman announced, his face filled with manic happiness. "Let the summoning begin!"
A giant beam of purple light reached from the ground all the way to the Spider hieroglyph in the sky. A large evil heart pulsed amidst the purple beam. Black smoke poured into the heart, consuming life itself.
Mitch and John groaned as their souls slowly separated from their bodies. Becoming purple wisps of light.
"Oh no, my boys!" Martha panicked.
"No!" Lise tried to race over but her bloody shoulder and curse mark seared with halting pain. But she couldn't stop and let them be taken! "Hang on!"
There's no way I can get there in time… It'll take a miracle to save them now…
"Did somebody order a miracle?" Jack quipped. The flamboyant boy broke into the scene aboard his white runner. It was almost angelic, if the vehicle had been less mechanical and he could actually fly.
Lise found her voice. "I did!" A tear leaked out. Two more people wouldn't be hurt because of her.
"My boys!" Martha called out to Jack. "They need you!"
"Who doesn't?" Jack smirked as he plunged through the purple mist. "I can't let some of my future fans get sucked up now can I? Heads up!"
Quickly Jack landed and pulled Mitch and John close to him. The two boys' souls changed from purple to red and retreated back into their bodies.
Martha sighed with relief. "Oh Jack, you saved them!"
"I never thought I'd say this, but thanks Jack," Lise sighed. "For someone who doesn't want to be friends, you've been a pretty good one lately."
"If you tell anyone, I will deny it."
"So I won't get any more sacrifices, it makes no difference," Roman sneered. "I still have him-Earthbound Immortal Uru!"
The purple light beam vanished, and in its place rose a spider as tall as a skyscraper. Its knobby legs as tall as six of Lise, and twice as thick. It opened eight purple eyes, the color matching Lise's curse mark exactly.
(Earthbound Immortal Uru: Atk: 3000 Def: 3000)
"Lise, how about you squash that bug so we can all go home?" Jack proposed.
She took a deep breath. It was just a spider. And spiders got squashed when they went where they weren't supposed to, like Jack said. Lise smiled and held her hand over her deck. "Hopefully I get something big enough to step on this creepy crawlie."
Roman tsked tsked at her. "I wouldn't do that, Elizabeth. Not only is it practically family, but I do still have your boyfriend."
"You wouldn't." Lise's eyes widened.
Blue and black eyes twinkling, Roman made another circular gesture. The energy holding Yusei slammed the boy into the dirt at Roman's feet. Even unconscious the boy could feel the pain, his face contorting with it as Roman stepped on Yusei's chest. Body seizing.
"Stop! Don't hurt him!"
"You cheater!"
Roman stepped off the boy. Yusei's body and face relaxing again. He laughed at the broiling emotions between Jack and Lise. The tears running down her face. Elizabeth couldn't save Yusei and herself.
"So that's your ploy?" Lise's voice shook with the weight of her crying. "Make me stand here and take your attacks so you don't kill Yusei?"
"It wasn't plan A," Roman admitted with a shrug. "But I've never been one to pass up a win. No matter how I get it."
"Wow, and I thought Goodwin was slimy."
Blue light joined the purple and red illuminating no-man's-land. Roman's hair whipped around from his head swiveling around so fast to find the source of the new light. He took a step back when Rua, Ruka, and Aki joined Lise and Jack.
A fountain of water smacked Roman in the face. He stumbled backwards, screeching.
Gentler, blue waters swirled beneath Yusei. Lifting him gently away from Roman's grasp. The water brought him safely behind Lise.
"Fish!" She threw her arms around her friend.
"Yeah, yeah, I saved your boy. You're welcome."
"And Crow!" Jack grinned.
Crow waved at the Signers, who waved back. Everyone had decided to come for the spider squashing.
Provided Lise won, that is.
She was already kneeling next to Yusei. His chest rose and fell steadily so he'd be okay. Relatively speaking. The blood on his head and cheek had already dried.
I'm so sorry… You weren't supposed to get hurt like this. Lise couldn't dislodge the pit in her stomach. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd been afraid of. She traced the marking on Yusei's cheek with her thumb. He'd probably never want to see her again. At least he'd be safe.
Lise?
She startled. Not expecting Yusei to answer. Nor for his hand to come up and keep hers on his cheek.
Yusei's eyes slowly opened. To a scene more ghastly than he'd imagined. Lise's hair matted with blood, more dripping down her face, from her head, lip, and nose. Covered in dirt and dust from head to toe, cut into by tear tracks on her cheeks. And the curse mark on her arm. Frightening in its contrast to the redness of the Dragon marks, and how intrusive it looked. Spiders using her very soul to expand their webs.
"Oh god, Lise," Yusei gasped and sat up. "Is your nose broken?" Based on the fleeting gentle touches he examined her nose with, it wasn't broken. Just bloody. He wished he had something better to clean up her face with than his gloves. She was a mess. All thanks to-
"Not that this little group huddle isn't touching, but I have a schedule to keep," Roman huffed. He brushed off imaginary dirt from his robes. "And a duel to win."
"No," Lise slid out of Yusei's hands. Her face weary, and every muscle screaming for a break. But she still got up. "I have a duel to win."
Roman burst out laughing. "Oh yes, I'm sure you'll win now that you have your army of children behind you."
"She's got a better chance than a cheater like you!" Aki shouted.
"Yeah, that spider's going down!"
"Especially since you don't have your human shield anymore!"
Yusei swallowed. "Human shield?"
Roman picked up on the boy's discomfort. "If you destroy Uru, there goes Professor Fudo's life's work. Which means it's true Yusei's dad helped free the Immortals."
"No way," Lise breathed.
Yusei grit his teeth, clenching his fists. He'd never met his father. He wanted to believe his father had become a professor to help people. But what if Roman was right?
"If it weren't for the Fudos then I never could have gained this power. Then I heard the prophecy of how my own child would oppose me, and I knew what I had to do. What destiny had chosen for me!"
"Destiny?!"
"I'd love to stand around and chat all day, but I can't wait any longer! Earthbound Immortal Uru attack! Fulfill the prophecy of the Spider Curse!"
"Keep waiting!" Lise countered. "I play my trap Iron Resolve! Now if I cut my lifepoints in half, I get to stick around and fight for another round!"
A red shield surrounded Lise, protecting her from the attack. Not her curse mark. Sticky threads creeping up her arm at the loss of more lifepoints. Lise held onto her arm, kneeling and gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.
Lise: 800
Roman: 1700
Uru's attack ricocheting off the shield, hitting the edge of the building Martha and Trudge stood upon. They staggered as the skyscraper teetered but managed to keep their balance.
"Don't forget the damage is real for everyone, not just you, Elizabeth." Roman's grin grew even wider.
Lise's eyes combed through her friends. Doing a head count. Who was missing? Who was in trouble?
"Trudge, the building!" Martha exclaimed. The skyscraper was moving beneath their feet.
"I gotcha," Trudge reached out and grabbed Martha's hand before she slipped and fell.
"Thank you, Trudge."
A boy's screams came from the roof.
"Did you hear that? Up above!"
"It must be Taka," Martha said.
Taka clung to the edge of the building. It was tipping so badly, one wrong move and Taka would be absorbed into the purple flames. His safe hiding place had become a literal nightmare.
"Taka!"
"Where are you?"
"Martha!" Taka shouted when he caught sight of her and Trudge. "Please help me! I'm scared!"
"Hold on!" Trudge advised.
"I'll save you," Martha promised.
"Get back!" Trudge ordered, but Martha ignored him.
"I've got you," she said softly, trying to calm Taka down when she had reached him.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help!"
"Don't worry. But whattaya say we try and help from the ground? Let's go."
Together Martha and Taka set off carefully back up to Trudge.
"Be careful! Grab my hand!" Trudge held onto the roof door frame and reached towards them.
"The boy goes first, here," Martha pushed Taka into Trudge's arms just as the building shook again.
Martha skidded backwards across the roof.
"Martha!"
"Hang on!" Taka cried fruitlessly as Martha attempted to crawl back up.
"My hand, take it!" Trudge shouted, and Martha slipped even further until she was up against the roof's ledge. "No! Hold on, I'm coming!"
Martha's brown eyes watered. Bright with her own light. She sniffled, getting one last look at Trudge and Taka. At all her kids below. She shook her head no.
"Martha, keep trying!"
"Promise me one thing, please: watch over my kids when I'm gone," Martha asked. She smiled through her watery eyes. She knew she couldn't escape.
"You're not going anywhere! Got that? Your kids-they need you, Martha! You can't just give up!" Trudge knew too. His eyes watering too. He held on extra tightly to Taka.
"Martha!" Lise called up to her.
Jack was already running for his duel runner. "Hold on!"
"Don't give up!"
"Oh boys, it warms my heart to see you as friends again. One more thing: Lise, win this duel. Beat this darkness and make it quick, cuz I'll be waiting for you."
"MARTHA!" Yusei yelled.
And then she fell… Down into the purple mist… Before she could hit the ground her soul became a small purple flash that plunged into Roman's Earthbound Immortal.
Yusei and Jack stared in silent horror. Mitch and John cried quietly. Rua and Ruka did their best to hold the boys in their grief, but there was only so much they could do. Fish, Crow and Aki shook their heads at each other. What could they do?
"Martha…she's… NO!" Lise screamed into the darkness. Red light and a new, orange light engulfed her.
"Aw, miss your nanny?" Roman taunted with a snicker.
"She's gone…" Trudge said.
"But where?" Taka wondered.
Trudge and Taka started to fall as well! Trudge ground his fingers into the building's roof, silently praying it wouldn't crumble further. He held tightly to Taka until they stopped.
Jack's fists trembled. "Lise, take care of that spider right now!"
"What're you waiting for?"
"Kick some shadow deck and beat him!"
"Don't just stand there, Lise!"
"Make him pay!"
"Roman, I don't give a fuck who you are. Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!
"I summon Solar Butterfly in attack mode, and because I successfully summoned her, I can draw two more cards from my deck. I set one card facedown and end my turn."
Finally Trudge managed to pull himself and Taka to safety. "Hey Lise, we're safe!"
She nodded. "You're not getting anyone else!"
"That's fine. See," Roman vanished in a flash of purple light and in his place stood… Rally! "I already have so many!"
"Rally!" Yusei gasped. "This isn't good!"
"Oh no!" Jack's eyes widened disbelievingly.
"Rally…" Lise didn't think her heart could take much more. First Yusei, then Martha, now this!
"Miss your friend?" Roman stood a good distance away from the duel. "I freed his spirit so he could duel you instead of me."
"You can't! I won't duel my friend!"
"You have no choice. What'll it be? Are you going to battle your friend and win? Or are you going to be a good little girl and lose to be my Dark Dragon?"
"You fucking coward!" Lise roared. The swirling colors of red, purple, and orange picked up in intensity. She was running on pure rage. "Get down here and duel me! I won't duel Rally!"
"Lise, you don't understand," Rally explained. "He's got so many people, he can do whatever he wants. You're the only one who can stop him."
"But-"
"You can't become the Dark Dragon," Rally's hands were shaking, and a tear leaked down his cheek, but he drew his card. "If you lose, then we all lose."
"Please don't, Rally!"
"Oh, he will duel, even if it means beating you!" Roman grinned wickedly.
"I summon Turbo Rocket."
(Turbo Rocket: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)
The little red monster had giant missiles for arms.
"Rally, no! I know what you're doing! I can just surrender! It'll be okay!" Lise insisted, unable to hide the desperation in her voice.
Aki, Rua, Ruka, and Fish were less acquainted with Rally, but even they had tears in their eyes. Roman had created a situation impossible to win. No matter what choice Lise made, there was another wall to crash into.
"Don't make this harder! The world needs its Crimson Dragon. Me and Tank and everyone are trapped. I'm sorry."
"You can't do this!" Lise screamed up at Roman.
"I can, and I have. Checkmate, Elizabeth."
"No, I'm ending this duel on my terms!" Rally cried.
"NO!"
"Good luck guys," Rally smiled at each of them. "I'll be watching from the shadows.
"All right, let's get it over with! I attack Fire Gryphon with my Turbo Rocket! Find a new pawn Roman!"
Rally's monster was instantly vanquished by Lise's Gryphon. The little boy protected his face as the shockwave from the attack sent him sprawling into the dust and dirt.
Lise: 800
Rally: 0000
Lise couldn't move. She'd won the duel, but at a cost. A terrible, immeasurable cost.
"Rally! Oh, no…" Yusei ran forward and gathered his friend in his arms.
"Hey," Rally said like nothing bad had happened. "You can bring us back. I know you can…" He turned stone gray and blew into dust.
"Rally!"
The spider web field spell and remaining duel monsters vanished. Everyone ran up to the empty clearing. Signers and not all looking up at the Dark Signers.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect that outcome," Roman commented.
The other Dark Signers had joined him. Everyone, Signer and Dark Signer, was accounted for.
"No wonder the human race is going extinct. No one's selfish anymore."
All of Lise's powers flickered to blinding intensity. Red and orange spinning gracefully around messy purple. "You monster!" she spat, taking off. Her eyes glowing a red more intense than ever before.
"Lise, no!"
Roman laughed at her grief, and raised his hand. "I'd look in the mirror before making wild accusations, Elizabeth."
He fired a beam of purple energy. Lise hesitated. Why was his aim so off? She was roughly ten feet from him. He wasn't that bad a shot…
Purple light fell on Yusei's chest. His empty hands that he hadn't moved since Rally blew away. "Huh?"
Roman's target wasn't Lise. It was the only person isolated slightly from the others. Because he'd run to his fallen friend.
It was Yusei.
There was no time to move. The only thing faster than Roman was…
Lise zooming back impossibly fast. Shoving him out of the way. Taking the full brunt of the attack instead.
"So predictable," Roman smirked. He stepped through the shadows. "You know what to do."
The Dark Signers leapt into action. Each targeting their respective Signers. There would be no help from their friends.
The Dark Signer still cloaked in black and a darker yellow swept the twins up. He towered over their tiny forms. "I have something the little girl might be looking for." He pulled out a card.
"That's Ancient Fairy Dragon!" Ruka gasped.
"I believe this card should be in your deck. Now if you want to get this card back, you'll have to come battle me. And in case you're wondering who I am, my name is Devack and I bear the mark of the monkey…" Devack rolled back his cloak sleeve to reveal a purple monkey marking on his right arm.
The other woman Dark Signer jumped on Jack. Cackling in his ear as he struggled to get her off.
"Hey! What're you doing?!"
"Don't tell me you don't recognize me, Jackie?"
"Carly?!"
She moved gracefully into Jack's line of sight. "That's me!" She winked and blew him a kiss, cackling at his nonplussed expression.
"What's going on here? You can't really be a Dark Signer."
"Oh, but I am!"
"Misty, let me go!" Aki struggled against the Dark Signer's grip. She'd caught Aki by surprise, locking her hands behind her back.
"Oh no, Miss Aki. I can't have you rescuing your pathetic little friends. After all, your powers would just make things worse! I know they did for my brother!"
"For the last time, I- Aaagh!"
"Out of my way, Kiryu," Yusei growled. He didn't care that he was no match for Roman. Lise had already been through so much, and he was not going to lose her too.
"Going to offer her up to the chopping block too?" Kiryu taunted with a nasty sneer. "Please, Yusei, we both know you can't save her."
"Not if I don't try!"
Lise was just getting to her feet when Roman reached her. He kicked at her injured shoulder, making it bleed again.
"If you won't die here, then I'll drag you back with us!"
"No!"
Roman snagged Lise's wrist, thrusting it up against a purple energy wall he conjured. "So you can die a proper death!"
Purple lightning crisscrossed across Lise's body. Her curse mark throbbing and elevating the pain. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Salty, corrosive, and sweet.
"Get off!"
But Roman snagged her other wrist. Pinning her against his own energy wall. His dark energy literally shocking her from the inside out. Roman laughed at her screams echoing out into the night.
"You made yourself weak," Roman spat. "You care about your worthless friends. You destroyed yourself for love.
"Well, I'm not weak. Your mother made me weak, and you would have made me weak too.
"But you're mine. Mine to do with as I please. And I choose death for you."
Lise's eyes rolled up in her head. She collapsed in Roman's hands. Both their powers blinked off.
He let Lise drop to the ground in a heap.
"NO!"
Yusei threw Kiryu off, kicking him away for good measure.
"Roman!"
"What?"
With Roman distracted, Yusei had his window. He raced over and threw himself over Lise. Shielding her body with his own.
Roman glared at Kiryu, and directed his attentions back down to his daughter and Professor Fudo's son. All the Dark Signers and Signers froze. All eyes on Roman and what he would do next.
"You're shaking, boy. Your end doesn't have to come here. Move."
Yusei leveled a glare of pure hatred up at him. Hands clenching into the dirt. He stopped shaking. "No."
Roman's fists clenched. How dare they, these teenagers, show more bravery than he…
He couldn't look at them anymore.
"I see Destiny has a different path in store for our next battle. Come." Roman gestured for the other Dark Signers to follow him into the foggy darkness.
They fell in line. Dropping their struggles with their select Signers without question.
The Signers hesitated. What did this mean?
Yusei sat back to gently examine Lise. Adjust her body to a slightly more comfortable position. Her shoulder was bleeding again. And of course, she wasn't conscious, but her chest still rose and fell with her breathing.
Fish was already next to them. Her blue healing aura aglow. Crow right behind her, bringing Trudge with the three young boys.
"You all shall settle this at the four points of Destiny," Roman was saying. He turned around, hand outstretched, purple marks glowing. "But I want my prize now!"
Lise's body jolted like she'd been zapped again. A sharp gasp escaping her lips at her curse mark reigniting. The web's strands had reached so far they looked like purple veins on her neck.
Roman snickered, his eyes glowing purple. "If I can't bring her body to my Destiny, I'll settle for her soul."
"What?" Yusei's blood went cold.
"What did you do to Lise?" Aki demanded, finally finding her voice again.
The Dark Signer didn't answer. He vanished into the night, leaving behind his laughter and the glow of his purple eyes.
Lise's eyes snapped open. But she wasn't seeing her friends around her. Instead, she clutched at her head, body convulsing, and screaming her head off.
And her eyes glowed the wrong color.
Cursed purple.