Now we get more serious. Forget free dueling-there might be ONE, at max. That's pretty much it.
*Chapter 33: Have I Met You?*
The girl was walking home. She wore a green t-shirt, and blue jeans. Her brown, hair was tied back in a ponytail, which was about a foot below shoulder length. Her eyes were a calm brown. She looked to be a young adult.
Home? Actually, that wasn't exactly correct. But she called it home anyway. She would be going to her real home in a few years… or so she believed. For now, she was in college, living in an apartment.
She was wondering what had happened to Teknisk Wereld. While it was not her biggest priority to visit there, she did like to visit there in her free hours. But something was going on there… something she didn't like.
She shrugged to herself. Probably nothing she could fix. She would just have to be patient.
So instead, she was taking a long walk in the close-by park. A pretty place that was currently empty. She liked it that way-it gave her some time to think.
Soon her thoughts came to an abrupt halt though. She suddenly saw someone. She was curious-this person was wearing a long, black cloak, yet the night was warm. Why wear such a cumbersome thing?
The person then began to walk toward her. She considered leaving then, but decided to see what this person wanted.
The person simply walked up to her. He was a few inches above her, and seemed to be staring at her. Of course she couldn't tell-the cloak concealed his face.
"Good evening," she said politely. "May I ask who you are?"
"Good evening indeed. I think you are the person I wished to talk to."
The girl frowned. "What?"
The man walked toward her, and whispered something in her ear. She suddenly grew pale. The man simply stood back, and with a smirk, brought out an orb that seemed to glow with fire. He quietly spoke a few words.
The girl stared in shock before collapsing.
*****
"Well, that is that," Will stated. "Shall we move on?"
Hope tried to avoid looking at the corpses. "Let's please do so."
Rue however couldn't tear his eyes away from the figures. Something was wrong… he wanted to get closer… make sure they were dead… taste the blood they spilled…
"Rue? Is something wrong?" Claire asked.
He shook his head. "I'm alright. Yeah, we'd better get moving."
That look in his eyes… the moment of freedom it had gave it the chance it wanted… now it cannot suppress itself… Claire sighed. I will have to tell him eventually… but when?
"Shall we leave the forest?" Max asked. "We never crossed the lake, did we? That could be our next destination."
"Sounds good to me," Will agreed. "Brandi, Mana, you fit to walk?"
Brandi nodded, rising. "I've rested enough."
"I am fit to go," Mana assured.
With that being said, they began to walk in the direction of the lake. The trip was mainly made in silence, aside from one point in where Neo tripped over a fallen tree trunk. The crash of armor echoed throughout the forest.
"What is it with tree trunks today?" Hope wondered. "It seems like Neo keeps getting owned by them, one way or another."
"Aw shut up," Neo grumbled, picking himself up.
*****
After some time, they finally arrived at the lake. Brandi was able to find the boat she had used, but immediately realized a problem.
"We're not all going to be able to fit in this small thing."
Max brought out another card. "That's why I brought a Ship to the Sunset along with me." He summoned the monster, a huge boat-like structure. "We can't depend on this to stick around very long, but it will be long enough to get to the other side of the lake."
With that said, they all boarded the ship, and Max went to the front. "Is everyone ready?"
"Aye aye captain!" Rue joked, making a mock salute.
"Yeah yeah, very funny." Max began to give commands on how to steer the ship. After a few minutes of this, they each grabbed a paddle, and away they went.
*****
A little while later, Max called a halt. "The ship's time is about to expire. And this is a good point to stop."
Everyone else came over to look over the side of the ship, and saw what he meant. They were at land; unfortunately for Hope, it was covered with snow.
"Ack! Cold! I hate the cold!" she shivered.
"Deal with it," Rue said as they jumped off the ship.
"Let's see YOU deal with it after living in Texas for most of your life! It was actually WARM there!"
"Break it up," Claire interrupted. "Hope, you'll get used to it soon. Just keep walking, to warm up your blood."
"Easy for you to say…" she muttered, but ceased complaining after that for about five minutes.
They began to cross the snowy field. With no land marks, it all looked the same to Hope. And just to make things worse for her, it began to snow heavily.
"I HATE THIS!" she said as she stumbled yet again. "How much farther do we have to go?"
"A lot farther," Will said without turning around.
"Yep. So just keep being a pedestrian for a little while longer," Max called back to her.
"Um… ok. Just one thing… what is a pedestrian?" Hope asked.
Everyone facefaulted.
Rue got up slowly, wiping snow from his face. "Are you sure you are in eighth grade?"
"Huh? What's the matter?"
Neo shook his head. "Geez, even I knew what pedestrian meant!"
"It means someone who walks," Gaston added for her benefit.
"I was supposed to know this?"
"I learned that… in like first grade," Brandi commented. "As I'm sure most people have."
Hope sighed wearily. "Well, excuse my limited vocabulary!"
"Don't you mean VERY limited?" Rue teased.
"Hey!"
While they were arguing, Ruecian had been keeping watch. He suddenly grabbed Rue's arm.
"What's the matter?" Rue asked. Then he noticed something nearby. "Well, it looks like we found our opponent."
Just in front of them was indeed a black cloaked figure, who had previously been invisible due to the snow. Although the winds whipped the cloak around, it still concealed everything about the figure.
"So you are the General of Hell in this area?" Max inquired.
The person spoke back, with a harsh, grating voice. "That is correct. I will be dueling, and I have already chosen my opponent. Hope Gales, step forward, and prepare your Duel Disk."
"What?" Hope looked at him doubtfully. "Why me?"
"Oh, I have my reasons… now, are you ready? There are no Life Point loss conditions, but the duelist who loses will die."
Gaston glared at the General. "I don't trust this person… that voice gives me the creeps. I mean, I can't even tell if that's a male or female! And did you notice that he or she has no Soul Monster?"
Hope's eyes widened. "You're right! So that's what looked so wrong about you!"
"I have certain reasons… now enough stalling! Do you accept, or just choose to die?"
Hope sighed. "Fine, fine, I accept. Let's hurry though-it's freezing out here!"
"You should have just chosen death… for whether I win or lose, I still emerge the victor."
"What?"
"You'll see soon enough..." the figure said, giving a bone-chilling laugh.
Hope: 8000
General: 8000
"You challenged me, so I'll go first. I set one monster, and end my turn at that." Hope wasn't especially worried, even though she had no traps down.
"A poor move… I summon UFO Turtle! (1400/1200) Now it attacks your monster!"
"You ran into my Twilight Zone Female Warrior! (1500/1600) I won't activate her special ability yet."
Hope: 8000
General: 7800
"I will just lay two more cards."
Hope examined her hand carefully. "Hm… I summon Gestufuuma! (1700/1200) I attack your UFO Turtle with it!"
"I chain your attack with Blessing of God. Each time I draw, I get 500 more Life Points. I will let UFO Turtle die, so that I can search my deck for a Fire Main-Type with 1500 attack or less and special summon it. So I special summon Big Bangirl. (1300/1500)"
Hope groaned. "Just what I need. A Big Bangirl."
"What does Big Bangirl do?" Claire asked.
"Whenever its controller gains Life Points, the opponent loses 500 Life Points."
"I get it! With Blessing of God out, the General will gain 500 Life Points each turn, and Hope will lose 500 Life Points in addition! How cheesy is that?" Claire murmured.
"With luck, he will only get to do it once," Rue reassured. "While Big Bangirl has a good effect, her stats are pitiful."
"That's true…"
"What surprises me is that Hope knows what it does," Will commented. "She just started, so she usually needs to ask what certain cards do."
Hope: 8000
General: 7500
"I will lay one card down and end my turn…"
"I draw. I gain 500 Life Points, and you lose 500 as well."
Hope: 7500
General: 8000
"I will activate my trap card, Drug Reaction!"
"Oh great…" Hope snarled. "A Drug Reaction and Big Bangirl deck. Blast it!"
"Drug Reaction? Huh?" Brandi wondered.
"Whenever Hope gains Life Points, she will lose them instead. Like… let's say she played a Red Potion. Instead of gaining 500 Life Point, like usual, she would lose 500 instead," Will explained. "It is a pain to have your opponent use that when you have a Blessing of God out, let me tell you."
"But what good will that do against Hope?" Claire inquired. "I mean, she doesn't even use recovery cards, right?"
"That's true," Hope confirmed. "I don't have any recovery cards. That doesn't mean that my opponent won't though."
"Say… what?" Claire gave the General a confused look.
"As you can see, Hope has had some experience with this type of deck," the General said. "She is right; I can force her to recover with some cards. My Blessed Rain is a good example! It raises both of our Life Points by 1000. However, with Drug Reaction, Hope will lose those Life Points instead. Also, since I gained Life Points, my Big Bangirl's effect activates!"
Hope: 6000
General: 9000
"I'm not done either. I also play Rich Goblin! I draw one card, and you gain 1000 Life Points. Wait, did I say gain? I mean lose!"
Hope: 5000
General: 9000
"So there is a use for Rich Goblin," Claire realized. "I always wondered why it was restricted to one…"
"Now I lay two cards face down, and summon White Magician Pikeru! (1200/0) I switch Big Bangirl to defense mode, and end my turn. And when you draw, I activate my trap; Eye of Truth! You have to show me your hand. If you have a magic card in it on your standby phase, you would gain 1000 Life Points."
Hope drew, and then showed her opponent her hand. "I have Warrior's Return, Calling Reinforcements, The Fused Weapon; Murasame Blade, Iron Knight: Gear Freed, and Blade Knight."
Hope: 4000
General: 9000
"I summon Iron Knight: Gear Freed and attack your Big Bangirl!"
"I activate Gravity Bind! Now no monster above level three can attack!"
"Argh… I lay three cards down, ending my turn."
"Trying to avoid my Eye of Truth? That will lead to disaster. First I gain 500 Life Points from my Blessing of God, then I gain 800 more."
"How?" Hope then remembered the monster the General had summoned. "Oh yeah… your White Magician Pikeru! She gives you 400 Life Points on your standby phase for each monster you have. Since you have her and Big Bangirl… that's 800 Life Points…"
Hope: 3000
General: 10300
"Now I activate Harpy's Feather Sweep! There go all of your magics!"
"Nice try, but I activate Imperial Decree!"
"So you were ready… I switch White Magician Pikeru to defense mode, and end my turn."
Hope drew, and sighed in relief. "I drew Magic Cylinder, so your Eye of Truth will not affect me. Now, I activate Calling Reinforcements! I search my deck for Falcon Knight, and summon it! (1000/700) I equip him with my face down Murasame Blade, raising his attack by 800! (1800/700) And because he is only level three, he has the ability to attack; twice for that matter! Go Falcon Knight! Attack twice, eliminating both monsters! Then I lay one card down."
"Alright, you get away with that. Now it's my turn. I draw, and get 500 Life Points."
Hope: 3000
General: 10800
"I play one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."
Hope drew slowly, and nodded slowly. "I drew Lightning Blade."
Hope: 2000
General: 10800
"Falcon Knight, attack the defense monster!"
"You attacked my Burning Weeds. (500/1500) When this monster goes to the Cemetery, you gain 1000 Life Points."
"But with Drug Reaction out… dang it! Falcon Knight, attack directly! Then I lay one card down."
Hope: 1000
General: 9000
"I draw… and set one monster. It's your turn."
Hope: 1000
General: 9500
If I draw a magic card, I lose! Hope drew cautiously, and grinned. "I drew Initiate Troops! I summon them, and then sacrifice them to kill your defense monster!"
"My Quick Squirrel…"
"Now, Falcon Knight attacks twice!"
Hope: 1000
General: 5900
"I draw… and lay one card down…"
Hope: 1000
General: 6400
"I draw… and it is my Goblin Strike Team! I activate Warrior's Return to get back my Initiate Troops, and summon them as well! (1000/1000) I equip them with Lightning Blade! (1800/1000) Now Initiate Troops attacks!"
"I activate Drain Shield! Your attack is negated, and I gain that many Life Points!"
"I attack twice with Falcon Knight! Then I end…"
"And I draw."
Hope: 1000
General: 3300
"I play Jar of Greed, drawing two cards. Then I play Black Hole. That ends my turn."
"I drew Surprising Matasa! I summon him! (1300/800) He too can attack twice, so I do so!"
Hope: 1000
General: 700
"This is growing irritating. I draw…"
Hope: 1000
General: 1200
"The duel is almost over," Hope declared. "Are you even going to tell us who you are?"
The General shrugged. "Maybe. You will have to beat me first though… an impossible feat now. I drew the card of your destruction. I first play Black Hole, eliminating your loyal soldier. Now, I summon White Magician Pikeru! (1200/0) Unfortunately for you, her level is only two. So she is strong enough to finish you off easily! White Magician Pikeru, direct attack!"
The magician released a wave of light magic. It rushed toward Hope, but was suddenly blocked by a cylinder.
"I activate Magic Cylinder! The target of the attack… is now you! And it is just enough to wipe you out!" Another cylinder appeared, and the energy blasted back at the General.
"So… you are the winner of the duel. But in truth, I won."
Hope glared. "What are you talking about?"
"You want to know who you have killed?" The General snickered. "Fine then… you can see her… one last time!" Then the cloak was flung off.
Hope gasped in horror at who was in front of her. A girl, with long, dark brown hair, soft brown eyes, wearing a casual green t-shirt and blue jeans faced her. Her smile was sickening, and her eyes blank. Yet Hope swore that for less than a second, she saw something… a sad look in her opponent's eyes… just briefly…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hope screamed. "Stop the attack! Now! STOP THE ATTACK!"
"It's too late…" the girl said, in a monotone voice. "You cannot stop a trap once it has been activated. So you see now, Hope? You have just killed one of the most important people in your life."
Then the blast consumed the girl. It faded away, leaving just one thing. A card fluttered to the ground, somehow escaping the explosion. A card torn in half.
Hope's cry of pain and sorrow echoed throughout the entire area.
"AMY!!!"
To be continued…
