I'm glad everyone enjoyed the funny chapter. ^_^
LunaticChaos: Aw, how could Miles do that? _
Whispering Hope: o_O;;; Aren't you a little… obsessed? _
*Chapter 11: World's Wanted*
Hope glanced around at her prison cell yet again, but saw nothing new. Just the same stone walls, and the iron bars in the front. They were extremely well crafted, and Hope knew she stood no chance in getting through them. And even if there was a way, the manacle around her leg would stop her from getting too far.
I don't understand… why arrest me? That official said it was due to massacre and… destruction of safeguards? But I didn't do anything like that. Sure, some Generals of Hell died by me defeating them in duels, but it certainly wasn't massacre! Besides, I doubt they would know about that anyway. I guess I have no choice but to wait, and hope that someone will tell me what is going on later…
What worried her the most was that Gaston would probably go crazy trying to find her, and the others would be concerned as well. Without any way to get a message to them, they would have no idea what had happened to her. The fact that they were in Teknisk Wereld, while she was in the outskirts of Springfield in Illinois, did not help the situation. The only good thing was that Claire would probably begin to get worried, and inform her friends that she had never come home.
She heard the door on the left creak open, and soon an official walked in front of her cell. It was a woman with long, black hair and green eyes that glittered with a wicked sparkle. She wore the same black suit all officials wore, minus the tie, and a crisp, white shirt underneath. Her pants were black as well, and her black shoes had a nice shine to them. Hope would have guessed she was on the same rank as the other officials she saw, but a closer look at the gold badge she wore proved her wrong. It said, 'Top Employee'.
"You are Hope Gales, correct?" Her voice was chilling.
"Yes. Why have I been arrested?"
"We have evidence that you were part of the group dubbed Generals of Hell, who slaughtered hundreds, by lowering the safeguards around Teknisk Wereld. You are one of the ones that we have pinpointed, and soon the others shall be caught as well."
"I'm not part of the Generals of Hell!" Hope protested.
"You sound like you know of them, yet nobody is supposed to have any knowledge on them," the woman pointed out.
Hope mentally kicked herself for allowing herself to be fooled so easily. "That's because I faced some of them in duels! I would never have joined them!"
"All evidence speaks against that. We have confiscated a General's cloak and orb of fire nearby the lake. They are covered with your fingerprints, so we have discovered from records."
That's right! I used those to enter the lake, and left them at the lake shore! I always wondered what happened to them, but didn't think much of it until now. But I can't tell her why I really had them… who would believe me?
"After dueling a General, he vanished. I checked his cloak and orb to see if they had any trace of how it had happened. It should still have his fingerprints…"
"I am afraid not. Yours are the only ones we found. Besides that, we also have a witness that states that he saw you kill his friend, only missing him because he hid."
"That can't be true!" Hope disagreed. "Whoever said that must have either seen someone else, or is just flat-out lying!"
"A possibility, but not a likely one. All facts point against you, and for that, I'm afraid you stand little chance of leaving anytime soon." The woman thought for a minute. "Unless you told us where some of the other Generals of Hell could be located. I think you should know some of them, such as Rue and Claire Klaus, Max and Brandi Driger, and Will Brown."
How does she know all of this?! Hope thought, shocked.
"They are just friends of mine! None of them were Generals of Hell!"
"Words cannot change fact. Where are they?"
"Even if I knew, why would I tell you?!" Hope demanded.
"As to be expected…" The woman walked out, calling back, "It matters not. We will find them soon enough." Then the door slammed shut.
Hope looked at the ceiling, worrying all the more.
The woman walked down the passage with a smirk. Everything is going according to plan… soon, those others will be in our grasp.
*****
Hope's mom hung up the phone with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"That was an official from Teknisk Wereld, saying that Hope came with them for some questioning. I wish she would have told me earlier, but I guess that can't be helped. At least I now know where she is."
Still, something doesn't seem right, Claire pondered. I thought Hope said she was only going to get more supplies? Why would she go for questioning when she knows the others are waiting?
A cry of pain came from upstairs. Claire immediately ran towards the steps.
Time to wonder about that later… Max still needs help.
*****
Rue finally got up, managing to get his laughter under control at last.
"I can't tell what's funnier; the first time we dueled them, or this time," Neo commented.
"It was indeed hilarious," Larka said. "But shouldn't we keep searching for Hope now?"
"I agree," Gaston seconded.
They walked around the mountain, still looking, when Rue suddenly pointed to a cave in the side of the mountain.
"I recognize that place… it's where Zenith took Hope before," he told Will.
"Now that you mention it… should we look?"
"Why not?"
They told the others, and were soon entering. With Brandi's Dark Piercing Light to guide them, they made it all the way to the back cave area, only to find nothing.
"Rats," Mana said. "Looks like this was pointless."
"Oh well," Miles shrugged. "Let's just go back."
Before anyone else could say anything, Fell spun around to the doorway.
"People are coming this way. Many of them."
That was when about ten officials ran in, each one carrying a gun, which they pointed at the others.
Miles had a card already in his Duel Disk, while everyone else braced themselves.
A man came out of the tunnel then. He wore the same official suit, with short, cropped black hair, and a neat mustache. His brown eyes seemed to be calculating the situation. He looked very dignified overall.
At his side was a green turtle, with a silver, metal shell. The shell was pointed upwards, somewhat like a small pyramid. It had several yellow circles of light around the base of the shell.
"I trust this is all of them?" the man asked one of the other officials.
"Yes sir!"
The dignified man turned to the group. "You are all under arrest. Relinquish all of your cards and weapons immediately, or we will be forced to shoot."
Miles flipped over the card he had put down. "Just try to do it when the earth itself is against you! I activate Gravity Bind!"
Everyone in the room collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
"YOU IDIOT!" Brandi snarled at him. "Gravity Bind affects us too!"
"I just realized that…"
"And I thought Rue was stupid," Will commented.
"HEY! You're lucky I can't move!" Rue yelled at his insulter.
The other men had suffered the same fate, and were unable to shoot now.
"Alright… I can see force will not work here," the man said, struggling to rise but failing. "Fine… we'll settle this in a duel. Just get rid of that Gravity Bind!"
"If I could, I would!" Miles groaned. "I can't even move my hand well!" He barely managed to reach his deck, and grabbed a card, slamming it down with a gasp of pain. "Cyclone!"
They were now not being driven into the ground, and got up. As soon as they did, Gen whacked Miles over the head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"That's for disregarding my warning about Gravity Bind."
"Well… so sue me!"
"I'll be sure to when we get back to the real world."
"Can it you two," Rue said. "We're not out of the danger zone yet."
The man had stepped forward, and was preparing his Duel Disk. "My name is Carlo, and my Soul Monster is a UFO Turtle, called Blake. Who will be dueling me?"
"Hold on one second!" Will protested.
"It's been a second," Miles pointed out.
"Very funny," Will snapped. "Anyway, what did you mean, we are under arrest? What's with that?"
"All of you are to be arrested for massacre and destruction of safeguards."
"What the hell? Since when did we do anything like that?" Draken asked.
"For being former Generals of Hell, we are to take you into custody, and…"
"Hold the phone!" Neo interrupted. "Are you saying WE are Generals of Hell?"
"Yes."
"But we dueled them!" Mana protested. "They tried to kill us!"
"We have concrete proof that you are the criminals, as you will soon be shown. Already we have caught one of your number, Hope Gales. As we cannot find you in the real world, we were forced to come here to find you."
"What?! You arrested Hope?!" Larka said in disbelief.
"Correct. Like I said, we have evidence…"
"Screw that!" Rue snarled. "None of us have ever been with them! Hope is one of the last people who would ever join those religious freaks!"
"It does not matter what you say, for you cannot convince us that easily. Now, which one of you will face me?"
"I will!" Rue growled. "What are the conditions?"
"If I win, all of you are to surrender all of your possessions, including decks, and then will be arrested. A trial will occur, and most likely an execution afterwards. If I lose, the men in my group, and I, will die. Sound fair?"
Rue eyed him suspiciously. "I guess…"
"Then let us begin. You may go first."
Rue: 8000
Carlo: 8000
"Alright. I lay one monster in defense mode, and end."
"I will summon Critter. (1000/600) Then I lay one card down. It is your turn."
It's like he wants me to attack, but why? Rue wondered. A trap probably… but I'll risk it anyway.
"I summon Gemini Elf! (1900/900) They attack Critter!"
"Very well. I search my deck for a monster with less than 1500 attack."
Rue: 8000
Carlo: 7100
"I also use Blake's Deck Master ability. By having one of my monsters with less than 1500 attack killed in battle, I can search my deck for a Fire Main-Type monster with less than 1500 attack, and special summon it to the field in attack mode. I choose Fleeing People. (600/600)"
"Fleeing… People? Does it have an effect?" Rue asked.
"No, it does not."
"Then what the hell is it good for?"
"You'll see…"
"I'm sure. I lay one card down, and end."
"I summon Oppressed People. (400/2000) Then I lay two more cards down."
"What's with these things?" Rue muttered. "I play Skilled Black Magician. (1900/1700) He attacks Oppressed People!"
"I activate Attack Nullification."
"Then I'm done."
"Now I summon Dragonfly. (1400/900) Then lay one more card down."
"I have no idea of what you are trying to do," Rue said.
"Oh, it will all become clear soon enough."
"I'm sure… Gemini Elf attacks Dragonfly!"
Rue: 8000
Carlo: 6600
"My Dragonfly, when destroyed in battle, allows me to special summon one Air Main-Type monster with less than 1500 attack from my deck in attack mode. I get United Resistance from my deck. (1000/400)"
"Skilled Black Magician attacks it!"
"I activate another Attack Nullification."
"Right… end turn, I guess."
"Now you will understand," Carlo said. "I draw, and enter my Main Phase. Now behold my trap card, Strong Revolution!"
"What does that do?"
"I can only activate this card if I have Fleeing People, Oppressed People, and United Resistance on my field. It forces you to discard all cards in your hand, and destroys everything on your field."
"Damn it!" Rue cursed. "I'm lucky that I had a Black Forest Witch down. I get to search my deck for a monster with 1500 defense or less and add it to my hand."
"It won't do you much good. Now I equip my Oppressed People with Power of Teamwork, increasing their stats by 800 for each face up monster I have. (2800/4400) Now all of my monsters attack directly, then I end."
Rue: 3600
Carlo: 6600
"This will be tough… I draw…"
"And I activate Lost Property! You are forced to discard the card you drew."
Rue looked at it, and began to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You forced me to discard Killer Snake!"
"Damn you!"
"I get it back on my standby phase! Now I summon Magic Warrior-Breaker! (1900/1000) He attacks your United Resistance!"
Rue: 3600
Carlo: 5700
"That's not good enough! I summon Grizzly Mother! (1400/1000) Oppressed People attacks Breaker, and my others attack directly!"
Rue: 700
Carlo: 5700
"I need a miracle here," Rue muttered, drawing. "Bingo! I activate Black Hole!"
"Argh!"
"Now I lay this monster in defense, and end."
Carlo looked at his next card. "That has to be your Killer Snake… if only I had drawn a stronger monster! I play Dragonfly, (1400/900) and attack."
"Yep, that's Killer Snake. (300/250) Now I draw, getting back Killer Snake…" Rue shuffled around the cards in his hand quickly. "And I set this monster. Your turn."
"I hate gambling," Carlo stated. "I summon Fleeing People, (600/600) and attack with Dragonfly."
"Just my Killer Snake."
"Darn it! Attack with Fleeing People, and end."
Rue: 100
Carlo: 5700
"I will first use Jar of Greed!" Rue looked at his hand, and burst out laughing. "I play Black Magic Curtain, to special summon Black Magician!"
Rue: 50
Carlo: 5700
"Then I play another Black Magic Curtain, to special summon another one!"
"What the hell?!"
Rue: 25
Carlo: 5700
"Now I lay one card down, and attack Fleeing People and Dragonfly!"
Rue: 25
Carlo: 2700
"I special summon United Resistance. (1000/400) Now I draw, and equip them with Demon Axe! (2000/400) Then I add Power of Magicians, raising their attack by 500 for each magic and trap I have!"
"I'm not letting you get away with that!" Rue announced. "I discard Killer Snake to activate Ruecian's Deck Master ability, negating and destroying your magic card."
"DAMN IT!"
"Both of my Black Magicians attack!"
Rue: 25
Carlo: 0
"No!" he cried, stumbling back. "I lost?!"
Suddenly, a flurry of arrows whistled through the air, cutting through all ten men and Carlo. Even Blake's steel shell couldn't protect him from death.
"That's brutal," Neo winced.
"It's like his people revolted on him," Will said, picking up one card than hadn't been shot. It was United Resistance. "Just a theory."
"What does it matter?" Gaston asked. "The most important thing is what we are going to do now, with Hope captured."
"Indeed," Zack said. "We're going to have to think hard on this one."
To be continued…