This arc is drawing to a close… hooray!
John: That is beside the point. The point is that trap card ROCKS when you have one Sub-Type decks. And yes, I'm happy.
Demon Fan: Maybe you do, maybe you don't. And I already have an insect deck in mind, but thanks anyway.
Chapter 28: Gateway
The next hour or so was spent talking over where they could search for Rue, but nobody was able to come up with a good suggestion. Their only option, they all agreed, was to wait for Ruecian to come around. That didn't make the situation any better.
"I can't stand this!" Miles exclaimed, slamming his fist into a tree trunk. "OUCH!" He rubbed his hand gingerly.
"Just for future reference, hitting something solid with all your might usually hurts," Will informed him.
"Gee, I never would have guessed… ow…" Miles sighed, sitting back down. "But seriously, isn't there anything we can do besides sit around?"
"If you have any bright ideas, we'd love to hear them," Draken replied.
Miles was about to retort, but Gaston interrupted their conversation. "I think he's waking up!"
They all fell silent as Claire went over to him. "Ruecian? Are you ok?"
Ruecian forced himself to sit up, nodding slightly.
"Do you remember what happened? Zack found you, Rue's deck and Duel Disk, and your Soul Card. But Rue wasn't there. Do you have any idea where he is?"
Ruecian slowly shook his head.
"Then we're out of leads," Gen stated.
"So we're just going to give up and go home?" Draken snarled.
"I never said that," Gen responded. "I'm just saying that it could take a while to even find out where he is."
Malon suddenly leapt up, barking fiercely.
"Malon? What is it?" Larka asked.
Daine stared at the trees. "Someone is coming. But it is alright. I recognize them."
"Who…?" Brandi began to ask, but was cut off when the two people in question emerged, their Soul Monsters following them.
"Sarius!" Hope exclaimed.
"Yep," Sarius nodded. "It's funny that we keep running into each other at the most appropriate of times."
"What do you mean?" Mana inquired.
"The Commanders of Heaven… I assume you know of them?" Sarius questioned.
"Of course," Darche confirmed. "What about them?"
"They are ready to make their move," Sarius explained. "I am not sure what they are exactly planning, but whatever it is, they are about to put it into play, and that can't be good."
"Maybe it has something to do with Rue?" Neo suggested.
"Rue? What about him?" Sarius gazed at the surroundings. "Where is he, anyway?"
"We think the Commanders of Heaven took him," Will told him. "But whether he is dead or alive, we do not know."
Sarius shook his head. "I don't see why… wait. Oh damn it. If they are doing what I think they are… then this is really bad."
"What is it?" Perseus queried.
"Rue… is probably still alive. But he won't be for much longer. They will kill him in due time… we have to save him before they can do that," Sarius said.
"But they could be anywhere by now," Matt pointed out.
"I have a good idea of where they are," Sarius replied. "In the lake."
"The lake? You mean we have to go back to that creepy evil area AGAIN?! Once was enough!" Neo protested.
"You won't be going there," Sarius assured him. "That lake is the portal to more than that one area. You unlocked the General of Hell's area by using their orb of fire as a key. So what would you use to find the Commanders of Heaven?"
"One of the golden crosses they wear?" Will guessed.
"That's right. That should unlock the lake for you."
"But we don't have any of those crosses," Max pointed out.
"We'll probably run into a Commander sooner or later, hopefully sooner," Amy shrugged. "So, shall we make our way towards the lake?"
Before anyone could answer, Malon began savagely barking again.
"What now?" Miles moaned.
Daine snarled. "The enemy! We are being surrounded!"
"Then let's get out of here!" Amy said.
"Easier said than done," Gen pointed out. "How will we get out of here without being stopped by the Commanders?"
"I have an idea," Amy announced. "How about some of us stay here to distract them while the rest of you go to rescue Rue? Sakura and I can stay, but we'll need some help."
"I can definitely be of assistance," Matt volunteered.
"Allow me to help as well," Sarius said. "The rest of you should leave now."
"Hold on, I have just the thing," Matt stated. He pulled out a trap card and inserted it into his Duel Disk. "This should provide enough cover for you all to get away."
Violent winds began blowing through the trees, accompanied with snow…
"A blizzard!" Perseus realized.
"It's called Snowstorm," Matt explained. "Now get moving! We'll hold them off."
"Ugh… I hate the cold…" Hope complained, but followed the others as they left the clearing.
"I'm going to play my part by going over there," Matt told the others, nodding towards a high, leafy tree. "What about you guys?"
"I'm one for close combat," Sarius stated, bringing forth a card.
"I'll be down here too. Will you get rid of the Snowstorm when you're done getting into position? It's just as harmful to us as them," Amy told him.
"Sure." Matt climbed swiftly up the tree, hiding behind the leaves on a branch. He took out the Snowstorm card, causing the blizzard to die down, and then inserted a monster card called Commander. "Heh… this'll be fun…"
Amy was also preparing by inserting several cards into her Duel Disk. Sakura held out her right hand, and a wooden staff appeared from midair. She grasped it, and it began to glow a slight red.
Sarius simply inserted one card into his Duel Disk. Two swords appeared, one in each of his hands. They had elegant gold handles that spread apart like wings, and a thin silver blade.
"Twin Swords of Flurry-Toraisu," he explained to Amy, who was watching.
"I see." Amy caught sight of the Child, who was standing by another tree. "Who is that?"
"Let's not even start with it," Sarius interrupted. "An explanation would take too long. You might think this odd, but he will be fine there. He will be able to look after himself."
"Uh… alright…" Amy said doubtfully.
"Enough talk, they're coming!" Sakura warned.
A gunshot echoed through the silence. Amy barely ducked in time to avoid the bullet as several Commanders of Heaven entered the clearing. Amy estimated that there were at least twenty, or at least twenty-one counting the leader, but could not be sure.
"This is it?" one asked in disgust. "I thought there would be more than just two."
"Three," the leader corrected, nodding towards the Child. "The others must have gotten away-we'll catch up with them later. For now, slay these ones first!"
All of the Commanders had a sword and a gun, so whether it would be at long range or short range fighting, they would be ready. But the leader was the main concern, since he had a Duel Disk. The others didn't, probably to keep their arms free for swordplay. But a variety of cards would probably provide more dangerous than any of the other men.
And then they leapt forward. But before the one with the Duel Disk could do anything, he collapsed, blood flying from his chest. Amy and Sarius didn't see how it was caused, but the other Commanders did not seem to notice their leader's death.
Amy immediately activated one of the cards in her Duel Disk, causing some of the air to become a purple mist that floated around the area. Then she activated another, causing rain to come down. To her and Sarius, it felt cool and refreshing, but the Commanders didn't seem to have the same reaction. The rain burned their skin as though it was acid that was coming down instead of water. Many of the Commanders stopped in shock from the sudden pain, which caused them to cry out as each drop burned them. One Commander desperately brought forth a Red Potion, but instead of healing him, he fell to the ground, in too much pain to even move. Strangely, the rain seemed to strengthen Sakura rather than weaken her. The fireballs she shot out of her staff were not dampened at all by the rain, and any Commander who was unlucky enough to be in the way was burned instantly. Some died from the burns, while others were distracted long enough to be chopped apart by Sarius or Cyrus. Amy stayed nearby Raid, and any of the enemy who was unfortunate enough to go back there met their end to Raid's fangs.
One of the Commanders leapt after the Child, who had been calmly watching the battle. The Commander obviously thought that he would be easy to slay, but was quite mistaken. When he was close enough, the Child suddenly threw the golden ball he often carried at the opponent. With amazing speed and accuracy that was beyond anything Amy had seen, it flew straight at the Commander and slammed into his head, rebounding to the Child, who caught it easily. He looked at the man's corpse as though it was nothing more exciting than a rock. But Amy was stunned. The Child had just killed someone with a simple object that should have, at the most, stunned someone, and he didn't even seem to mind. Who was this kid?
Sarius didn't seem to notice. He was moving like a whirlwind, going from one Commander to the next, swords flashing as they pierced their prey. Cyrus was also quick, and his strength far surpassed any Commanders that tried to stand against him. Also, for some unexplained reason, Commanders all over the field kept falling for what appeared to be no apparent reason. It wasn't because of the rain either, for they would be bleeding from their head or neck or chest or some other location. Although concerned about what was causing it, Amy did not have much time to concern the matter.
One Commander actually managed to get up in front of Amy and slashed at her. Amy barely dodged the blow, but was cut across her right arm. Before he could strike again, Sakura was on him, smashing him with her staff before burning him to death.
By then, the fight was almost over. Sarius neatly skewered the second to last Commander, and the other one collapsed for what again seemed to have no cause. Amy shakily took out her two cards, causing the fog and rain to vanish. She also brought out a Red Potion, and the cut on her arm healed. It still pained her though, and she kept it as still as possible.
"What did you use?" Sarius asked as his swords vanished.
"Drug Reaction and Blessed Rain," Amy explained. "Normally, Blessed Rain helps others, but with Drug Reaction it acted the complete opposite. The one that tried to drink a Red Potion must have felt like he was trying to consume acid. A very painful and slow death… I feel kind of sorry for him."
"You don't need to worry," Matt told her, jumping down from the tree when he had climbed down close enough to the ground. "I put him out of his misery quickly."
That was when Amy noticed the rifle he was carrying. "You sniped some of them?"
"At least half went down because of my mad shooting skills," Matt said. "But enough on that. We should catch up with the others."
Amy staggered up, clutching her arm. "You guys go on ahead. I'm still in pain… I don't think I can keep up well."
"We'll go slowly," Sarius assured. "Just tell us when you need to rest and we'll halt for a few minutes."
"Alright, thanks."
With that said, they started to try and find their companions by taking the route to the lake.
-----
After a few minutes, the blizzard finally abated.
"About time!" Hope exclaimed.
"It wasn't that bad," Miles shrugged.
"Maybe not to you, but I can't stand the cold!" Hope snapped.
"No need to bite my head off," Miles muttered.
They walked on for a few more minutes, and finally broke through the trees. The lake shore was now in sight, along with the person on the shore.
She had on a white cloak, but left the hood down, which revealed her dark blonde hair that went to her shoulders. She also had startling blue eyes. Around her neck was a golden cross.
This girl… she looks familiar! Brandi thought, startled.
Hope was also surprised, but for a different reason. She saw a faint black aura that seemed to be made of both sorrow and rage.
She caught sight of them. "So, you actually figured out where we were. My master was afraid that this might happen, and sent me to guard the portal."
"Who are you?" Perseus inquired.
"My name is Undine," she replied. "And I am here to slay two of you."
"Say… what?" Darche said in confusion.
"I'm not surprised that neither of you recognized me, Max and Brandi," she told them. "But you should know who my parents are. Does the name Aurora ring a bell?"
"You're Aurora's daughter?" Brandi asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Now do you see why I hate both of you? And I will avenge my parents by killing both of you!"
"You know, this gets old after a while," Max said, looking unimpressed.
"What?"
"We're sick of having our past brought up," Brandi stated. "You're not helping matters at all."
"And you think I care? You can't get into the portal until you duel me, so you can't just ignore this challenge!"
"On the contrary, we could," Max opposed. "But we won't. Unfortunately, there is two of us and only one of you."
"I'm lost," Larka complained. "What's going on? Who is Aurora supposed to be?"
"Oh… you've never heard about their past, have you?" Hope realized. "Well, I'll give you a brief version on it… if that's alright?" she asked Max and Brandi.
"Just make it short," Max said impatiently.
"Their father was killed by a bank robber," Hope explained. "And the bank robber was executed for it. His wife, Aurora, tried to kill Brandi in return by joining up with the Generals of Hell and dueling her. She lost though, and died for it. So this girl, Undine, hates Max and Brandi because, in her eyes, it looks as though it is all their fault."
"I see," Miles nodded.
"Can we just get on with the duel?!" Undine shouted.
"Fine. But how do they decide who duels her?" Draken questioned.
"Coin toss?" Will suggested.
"Nah, we'll do rock-paper-scissors," Max decided. "Ready?"
"Yep."
They turned to each other. "Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Rock for me," Max stated.
"Paper, I win," Brandi told him.
"Nah, rock rips paper. You have to duel her."
"Alright… hey, wait!"
"Then it's decided!" Undine said, activating her Duel Disk. "Face me Brandi!"
"Max, I'm going to kill you for this!" Brandi yelled at him before activating her own Duel Disk. "Mana, a Black Magician Girl, will be my Deck Master. What about you?"
In response, her monster appeared. It was a blue penguin that looked to be about five feet tall. It wore a black tuxedo and black top hat, with a red bow tie. His eyes were brown.
"Hokai, a Penguin Nightmare," Undine explained. "Shall we get started?"
Brandi: 8000
Undine: 8000
"I'll go first, since you challenged me," Brandi chose. "I lay one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."
"Well, my hand's pretty much perfect," Undine stated. "I play Terra Forming, to put a field magic card from my deck to my hand. And now I play The Legendary City Atlantis!"
A tidal wave hit the field instantly. Brandi gave the water a ticked off look. Mana, on the other hand, was swept away, and managed to yell, "NOT AGAIN!" before being engulfed by water.
"This raises all of my Water Main-Types' stats by 200 points, and lowers their level by one. Also, Hokai makes all Water Main-Types get another 200 point attack power boost. So my monsters will be quite difficult to stop. Now I summon Water Configuration Bakross MK-3. (1900/1500) With Atlantis on the field, my monster is allowed to attack directly! And I will have it do so!"
Brandi: 6100
Undine: 8000
"I lay one card down, and end my turn."
By this time, Mana had managed to swim back to the surface and was now floating above the water. Brandi flipped over her monster. "Well, at least I can pull off my monster's effect. Meet my Swarm of Scarabs. (500/1000) When I flip them face up, one of your monsters is destroyed. So your MK-3 is gone. Then I summon Executioner Makyura. (1600/1200) Both of my monsters attack directly."
Brandi: 6100
Undine: 5900
"I will activate my Scarab's other effect to flip them back face down. Then I end my turn."
"Fine by me. I will summon Mermaid Knight. (1900/900) Then I activate Compensation of Blood. This trap allows me to pay 500 Life Points to special summon a monster from my hand. So I pay 500 Life Points to special summon Giga Gagagigo. (2850/1700)"
Brandi: 6100
Undine: 5400
"Now I will have Mermaid Knight attack your Scarabs. Mermaid Knight can attack twice when Atlantis is out on the field, so I'll have her attack your Makyura as well."
Brandi: 5800
Undine: 5400
"After that, Giga Gagagigo attacks directly!"
The beast moved forward to attack, only to suddenly be restrained by black chains.
"I activated Curse of Darkness, binding your monster and causing him to lose 700 attack points," Brandi explained. (2150/1700)
"But you had no traps down!" Undine protested.
"When Makyura is destroyed, I am allowed to activate traps from my hand for that turn."
"I see… in that case, I end my turn."
"I summon Giant Orc. (2200/0) He attacks Mermaid Knight. After attacking, he's forced to go to defense mode though."
Brandi: 5800
Undine: 5100
"I lay one card down and end my turn."
"I'll summon Fortress Whale of Darkness. (2500/1400) Then I pay 500 Life Points to special summon Spear Shellfish. (1200/1000)"
Brandi: 5800
Undine: 4600
"Since Spear Shellfish is unaffected by magic cards when Atlantis is on the field, it won't get a stat boost from Atlantis. But that doesn't really matter, since I will be sacrificing him for my Whale's effect. Whenever I sacrifice a Spear Shellfish, a magic or trap card is destroyed. So your card is now gone."
"That was my Torture Wheel…"
"My Whale will attack your Giant Orc. Then I end my turn."
Brandi looked at her new card. "Whew, got lucky. I activate Enemy Controller! This forces your Whale to go to defense mode! Then I summon Blood Vors. (1900/1200) He attacks your Whale and destroys it! I'll lay one card down and end my turn after that."
"Nice try, but not good enough! I pay 500 Life Points to special summon Gagagigo! (2250/1200) Then I sacrifice him for Leviadragon-Daidaros! (3000/1700) I will now activate his effect as well. By sending Atlantis to the Cemetery, all cards on the field other than Leviadragon are destroyed. Then I play another Atlantis from my hand. Now I will have Leviadragon attack directly!"
Brandi: 2800
Undine: 4600
Brandi sighed as she gazed at her hand. "I'm going to have to use Mana's Deck Master Ability. This allows me to look at a certain number of cards from the top of my deck. This number is the amount of monsters that are in my Cemetery. I have Scarabs, Makyura, Giant Orc, and Blood Vors, so that's four. Then I pick one card to go to my hand… excellent, this one will work well. Alright, I lay two cards down and end my turn."
"You can't beat Leviathan that easily! I attack with him!"
"And I activate my face down card, Cry of the Living Dead!" Brandi declared. "That brings back my Blood Vors in attack mode! (1900/1200) Do you still wish to attack?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then I activate Shrink. This cuts your monster's attack power in half! (1500/1700) Now it doesn't stand a chance against Blood Vors!"
Brandi: 2800
Undine: 4400
"Argh… you'll pay for that. I summon Legendary Fisherman! (2050/1600) Then I end my turn."
"I'll equip my Blood Vors with Power of Teamwork! This raises his stats by 800 for every monster I have in play! (2700/2000) Blood Vors attacks Legendary Fisherman!"
"No can do. While I have Atlantis on the field, you cannot attack my Fisherman."
"Oh yeah… in that case, direct assault! Then I lay one card down."
Brandi: 2800
Undine: 1700
"I sacrifice my Fisherman for Water Guardian Suga! (2900/2600) Suga attacks!"
Brandi: 2600
Undine: 1700
Hope looked over at Zack. This might be her only chance…
"Zack? Can I talk to you for a moment?"
He looked over at her. "Alright…"
They drew back a few steps so that nobody would hear them.
"So what did you want to tell me?"
"Well…" Hope thought carefully over about how to say it. "Zack, I explained that I am not sure on what this orb's powers are, correct?"
"Yes."
"Back when you dueled Heather… right before the duel… I heard a voice, and thought I saw someone. I'm not sure who it was, but that person didn't want you to die. That's one reason why I've wanted you to continue living. Because someone else is depending on you to. I wanted to tell you now, in case I don't get the chance later."
He stared off into the distance. "And you don't know who it was?"
"No. But just remember that I care about you, whoever that was cares about you, and the others do as well. As does your family and friends in heaven."
They would want you to live on, and enjoy the rest of your life. Zack recalled those words that Larka had said.
"…Thanks. I'll think over it."
Then they went back to the group.
Brandi held her breath as she drew her card, and slowly let it out. "I'm saved. I summon Critter! (1000/600) Then I activate my face down card, Deck Destruction Virus of Death! By sacrificing Critter, all of your monsters that have more that 1500 attack in your hand and on the field are destroyed!"
"But that means…"
"That you are wide open for an attack! I play Raise Dead on Blood Vors, bringing him to the field for the third time! (1900/1200) He attacks directly!"
Brandi: 2600
Undine: 0
"This can't be… no… I can't fail!" Undine said desperately.
But mere words would not change her fate. A large tidal wave of water slammed into her, driving her and her Soul Monster into the lake, never to be seen again.
"…I guess that's it," Brandi stated. "What now?"
"We can mourn later," Mana said. "But we need to save Rue before it's too late."
Malon yipped and ran down the hill, towards the lake. Nobody could see what he was trying to do for a few seconds, and then he came back, proudly carrying the golden cross that had been around Undine's neck.
"Good job Malon!" Larka congratulated, taking the cross from him. "It must have come off of her neck when the tidal wave hit her."
"Then that means we can get into the lake portal, right?" Miles inferred.
"Yep." Larka handed the cross to Hope. "Why don't you do it?"
"Alright…" Hope went to the lake edge and dipped the cross into the water.
For a minute, it just hung in the water, the sunlight glinting off of it.
Then it began to glow white. The whole lake, for a second, became pure light… and then it was back to being water, with one difference.
There was now a hole in the water, one of blinding light.
"This is it," Hope said. "We need to go down there."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Darche inquired.
"Well…" Hope turned to Claire. "Claire, this whole mess with the officials started because they found the orb of fire after we went into the General of Hell area. I don't want that to happen again. I want you to take this cross, and tell Amy, Matt, and Sarius where we are."
"No!" Claire protested. "I want to help! Rue is my brother! I care about him! Let me be there for him!"
"Claire, this is important!" Hope told her. "Really important! We need you to do this. There's another reason as well… Claire, we don't know what will happen down there! If we don't come back, we'll need someone to tell the others where we are! Please, help us!"
But there was another reason Hope didn't state. If Rue was… already… well, she didn't want Claire to have to deal with it. If it happened. Which she prayed it wouldn't.
Claire glared at her for a few moments before snatching the cross. "Fine. I don't like it, but I will. Good luck."
"Thanks." Hope looked over at the hole. "So… who should go first?"
"I went first for the Generals of Hell, and I'll do it again," Max volunteered. And without looking back he leapt into it, Olympion going as well.
Before anyone else could move forward, Fell jumped in, Daine following.
"I'll go next," Larka suggested. She lowered herself in as far as she could before she lost her grip on the ground and fell. Malon ran into it as well.
Then Zack leapt in. Will went after that. Neo tried to jump in, but tripped and fell head first.
"Typical," Draken muttered before going in himself, Darche following.
Then Brandi went down, and Mana dove in gracefully. Miles and Gen went in after her. Ruecian wasted no time hanging around after they were in. Now only Hope and Gaston were left.
"We'll try to be back soon," Hope assured.
"Alright. I hope you succeed."
"I do too," Hope agreed. Then she leapt in, Gaston following.
Claire watched as the hole sealed shut. "I wish I could have gone…"
"It was necessary to remain here," Perseus reminded her. "Don't worry. They can do it. You know that."
"Yes," Claire nodded, staring at the lake. "I do know, full well."
To be continued…