Well, here's the second chapter that should have been up yesterday. The third one should be up soon, or so I hope.

Dragran: I'm glad you liked that, thanks.

John: Thanks. It is indeed happy for me.

Chapter 9: The Final Chase Begins

It was a rather rude awakening that they had that morning. Inspired by how well he had made them arise the previous day, Malon decided to wake them up using the same method. He had let them sleep a little bit later, since they were all very tired from the previous day, but finally he could not stand being still any longer. His yapping caused everyone to bolt upright instantly. Malon even jumped onto the bed Rue was occupying, landing on his broken leg by accident. Rue's yell of pain and rage made Malon run to Larka instantly, where he cowered in her arms.

Brandi walked into the room a few minutes later, hitting Rue over the head.

"OUCH! I've already been hurt today, dang it! What was that for?"

"You woke me up. That's what." Then she went into the kitchen, greeting Hime on the way.

A few minutes later, Chasity came out of her room as well. Malon instantly ran over and began to lick her.

"Hey, stop! Get down!" Chasity scolded. Although she was trying to be stern, she couldn't help but laugh. Then she looked around. "Where is Ender? I thought he'd be out here by now."

"He's sick," Hime said simply. "He had to go to the hospital to be looked over. Hopefully, he will be back soon."

"That's too bad," Chasity replied, petting Malon over the head.

Malon left her in a few minutes when Brandi called over to them to come and eat. It was around that time that Fell and Daine entered as well. Soon everyone was eating what was most certainly their favorite food by now-bagels.

"If I wasn't so hungry, I would have skipped breakfast," Rue grumbled, staring at his bagel.

Fell and Larka were the fortunate ones, and were spared from having to eat the bagels; instead, they got to have bacon again, something that neither of them were sick of yet. The others got a few pieces as well, which helped them make it through breakfast.

After that, they went back to the living room to go over their plans one more time.

"We need to bring Rue to the rehab center first," Brandi stated. "Then we'll go to the hospital. You guys can visit Will and Miles while I tell mom about… what happened last night… I doubt we will be able to see Ender yet…" She broke off for a few seconds before continuing. "Then we'll come back here for any last minute preparations, and then we will go to try to find Thanatos."

"Sounds like a plan," Gaston replied.

In a few minutes, they left, Rue riding Perseus again. About half way to the hospital, Brandi halted.

"This is the rehab center," she said, beckoning at it. "I'll be back shortly. Rue, are you ready?"

"Of course."

Brandi, Claire, Rue, and Ruecian went inside, Rue using the crutches to the best of his ability. Claire was going to stay with Rue until visiting hours were over. She had decided not to come to face Thanatos, since she was concerned about Rue. She was also secretly afraid of facing him again, but she did not say this out loud.

By the time visiting hours would be over, Perseus would come and bring her back to the condo. He would be staying there, since the staff would probably not have been thrilled to have him there. So Perseus left, going back to the condo.

After a few minutes, Brandi came back out.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," Hope commented.

"I would have been back quicker, but Rue happened to fall over. It wasn't very pretty," she said, grinning.

"Ouch. Poor guy," Hope murmured as they went on.

Soon, they had arrived at the hospital and went in.

"I'm going to my mom's room," Brandi told them.

"Alright. We'll meet you in the waiting room," Hope said.

Brandi went off in a different direction, while the others headed to Will's room.

Neo looked over at them as they entered. He seemed exhausted, but sat up when he saw who they were. "Hi."

"Hi. How is he?" Gaston inquired.

"No better, no worse. He did say something else last night though."

"What?" Hope asked.

"It was something about Draken. He was asking Draken who someone was."

"We don't even know what Draken has been doing," Larka pointed out. "So what Will said might make sense, or it might not. We have no way of knowing."

"True," Hope nodded. "Neo, we're going to go after Thanatos, and not stop until he's defeated. So I don't know when we'll be able to visit again."

"You're going after him?" Neo thought over that for a second. "Well, I can't do much besides wish you good luck. Come back safely."

"I hope that will be possible," Gaston replied.

Then they went to Miles' room. Gen seemed just as tired, but still got up to greet them. "Hey."

"Has he woken up yet?" Larka asked.

"No. It's just a matter of time…"

"Then we can only hope for the best," Daine stated.

"Gen, we're not sure when we'll be back," Hope told him. "We are going to go after Thanatos and continue chasing him until he is destroyed."

"That seems pretty risky," Gen said.

"We're getting desperate," Hope responded.

"You have a point. Then I shall pray for your safe return."

"Thanks. See you later," Gaston said as they left.

They went back to the waiting room, and sat down. Brandi wasn't back yet.

-----

When they arrived outside of Abby's door, Mana looked back down the hall. "I think I'm going to go back for a bit." She wanted to give Brandi and Abby some time alone.

"Alright. Thanks," Brandi replied as Mana walked away.

Brandi opened the door, and halfway shut it behind her, not paying much attention to it. "Hi mom."

Abby looked over at her and smiled. "Hi. How are you?"

"Um… I'm doing alright," Brandi lied.

"What about Chasity and Ender?" she questioned.

"Well… Chasity's fine…" Brandi hesitated.

"What is it? Is something wrong with Ender?" Abby persisted.

Brandi sighed. "He… he got beaten up by someone. Very badly. So badly that he will probably be crippled for life."

Abby went pale when hearing this. "What?! But how?! What happened? Where is he?" She suddenly broke off, coughing harshly.

Lilian, hearing the commotion down the hall, ran in. Mana had come to, but stayed right outside. "Brandi, please stand back. I was afraid something like this would happen…"

"What is it?" Brandi asked, worried.

"Well, she's been in bad shape. I was concerned that it could get worse any second. Maybe you could come back later?"

"Sure," Brandi said half-heartedly, and left. Mana followed her silently down the hall.

Soon they arrived back in the waiting room, where everyone else was.

"Are you ready to go?" Larka inquired.

"…Yeah," Brandi nodded.

The trip back was brief, and soon they were walking into the condo.

"Welcome back," Hime said. "How long will you be staying?"

"Not too long," Hope replied. "We just need to decide where we are going to go."

"We last saw Thanatos in the forest," Gaston stated. "So maybe we can look there?"

"It's as good a place as any," Mana shrugged.

"Then let's go," Hope said. "I think we're as ready as we can get, right?"

Brandi looked over at Hime. "You can all go ahead. I'll be right there."

They went, leaving Brandi and Hime alone.

"Hime, what is it? You seem kind of distracted."

Hime sighed sadly. "It's Ender. I promised Abby that I would look after Chasity and Ender. And look what happened to him… it's my fault. I should have looked after him better."

"It isn't your fault," Brandi told her firmly. "Ender's smart. He would have managed to get past you eventually. He was determined to face Thanatos… probably because he released Thanatos in the first place. I can't think of any other reason he would. So don't blame yourself."

Hime considered, and then gave a small smile. "Thanks Brandi. I'll try not to."

"Remember, you have Chasity to still look after," Brandi pointed out.

"Right. Good luck, to you and the others. Oh, by the way…" She paused.

"Yes?"

"I'm sure you'll do the right thing against Thanatos. Just follow your judgment." Then she went back to the living room, where Chasity was watching television.

Brandi, pondering over what Hime had said, went outside to join the others. Then they went towards the forest.

-----

Once again, the three figures had been waiting for the conversation to end before speaking.

"So it has begun," the second stated.

"Let us see how they fare. I am curious about just how strong they are," the first stated.

"I will wait for now… but not for much longer…" the third snarled.

"You will wait as long as necessary," the first told the third. "You know this, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Then there will be no problems."

-----

They wandered through the forest, encountering no one. It was very quiet though; even the birds did not seem to be talkative today.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this…" Gaston commented.

"I know what you mean," Larka replied. "It's too silent."

At last, they heard something. They soon discovered that it was a river, and stopped next to it.

But then Malon growled, and Daine let out a fierce bark. They looked up at once, towards the trees.

They braced themselves as Thanatos emerged. His bloodshot eyes traveled over them, while they watched him warily.

Everyone except Hope, that is. She looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"So, you decided to finally come after me," Thanatos stated.

"That's right," Gaston replied, tightening his grip on his sword handle.

Thanatos looked over at Brandi. "It seems you have recovered. Just as I expected."

Brandi stared back grimly. "You've gone too far. That's why I finally decided to fight you."

"A good decision," Thanatos stated. "You won't be able to survive if you do not. But I am not interested in fighting you yet. My next victim… shall be Hope."

"What?!" Hope said in alarm, looking up. She realized her mistake right before she met his eyes. She collapsed to her knees, clutching onto her head again.

"Hope! What's wrong?" Larka asked, going over to her.

"How can you expect her to duel you when she can't even make eye contact with you?!" Gaston protested.

"Heh… that is her concern, is it not?"

Hope slowly brought her hands down, but as she did, she saw a dark glow coming from underneath her shirt. She brought out the orb, and saw that it was glowing black.

Holding on to it, she looked cautiously over at Thanatos, seeing into his eyes. But to her surprise, she did not feel any pain. His eyes were certainly fearsome, but they did not hurt her.

She slowly let go of the orb. His eyes remained the same.

Hope thought she saw something cross over them though; an emotion she did not catch. "So, that is what the orb is. Either way, it will not help. Are you ready?"

"No, but let us begin anyway," Hope stated, turning on her Duel Disk.

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 8000

"We don't know what changes Hope made to her deck," Larka noticed. "Now we finally get the chance to see."

"I will start," Thanatos stated. "I will summon Infernal Queen Demon (900/1500), and lay two cards face down. That's it."

"Alright… first I play Jar of Greed, to draw two cards. Then I activate Calling Reinforcements so I can put one level four or lower Warrior Sub-Type into my hand from my deck." She selected one, and shuffled her deck. "Then I summon Mystic Swordsman Lv 2! (900/0)"

"Mystic Swordsman Lv 2? I've never even heard of that card," Larka commented.

"I equip him with Thunder Sword, raising his attack by 800. (1700/0) He attacks your Queen."

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 7200

"I lay two cards down and go to the end phase of my turn. That means I can activate my Swordsman's other ability, since he killed a monster. I sacrifice him so I can search through my deck and special summon Mystic Swordsman Lv 4. (1900/1600) Then it is your turn."

Ah… now I recognize what these Swordsmen cards are. There is also one that is called Mystic Swordsman Lv 6. She must be trying to summon it. I will just have to stop her from doing that.

Thanatos looked at his newest card. "Well, isn't this just a lucky coincidence?"

"What do you mean?"

"First, I will activate Kozakii's Research. That allows me to look at the top three cards on my deck and rearrange them." He did so. "Then I play Demon's Declaration. This is a permanent magic card. Once per turn, I can pay 500 Life Points to call the name of a card. Then I draw a card from the top of my deck. If it is the same card, then it will be added to my hand. If not, then it is sent to the Cemetery."

"But you'll get it right for sure, since you used Kozakii's Research," Hope realized.

"Exactly. So I call Lair of Ten-Thousand Demon Lords.

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 6700

"Then I play it."

Hope apprehensively watched the field emerge.

"We can handle it, right Hope?" Gaston said confidently.

"Yeah, of course," she nodded, trying to make herself feel more confident.

"Then I activate my other trap card, Demon's Cry. By paying 500 Life Points, I may special summon a monster with the word 'Demon' in its name from my Cemetery. So my Infernal Queen Demon comes back."

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 6200

"Be careful!" Gaston warned. "Remember what he did to Will with Demon's Cry!"

"You are right to act cautious. However, there are more uses for Demon's Cry than you might think. I will summon Genocide King Demon. (2000/1500)"

"Oh… so that's why he used Demon's Cry," Brandi murmured.

"I don't understand," Larka said.

"Genocide King Demon can only be summoned if there is another monster with the word 'Demon' in its name on the field. So he revived his Rook for that purpose," Brandi explained.

"Close, Brandi. But I have another reason," Thanatos smirked. "I activate Degradation on your Mystic Swordsman Lv 4."

"This isn't good," Hope muttered as her Swordsman left her field to go to Thanatos'.

"Then, all three attack you."

"I'm not letting you get away with that!" Hope declared. "I activate Cry of the Living Dead, bringing back my Mystic Swordsman Lv 2. Then, in response to that special summon, I activate Tidal Wave. This destroys all of the monsters on the field."

"Not bad," Daine commented. "She has the advantage, since Thanatos has no cards in his hand."

"Hm… I end my turn…"

"Wait a minute. Don't you have to search your deck for two monsters, since two of your Demons were destroyed?" Larka inquired.

"What do you mean?" Hope asked.

"His Lair lets him get more Demon monsters when his Demons are destroyed by a method other than battle, right?"

"I have the choice to," Thanatos corrected. "I just decided not to."

Hope tensed at that. If he was that confident, then that must mean that he was confident by what his next two cards were.

"Hope, we have to hit him hard now," Gaston stated.

"I won't argue there. I summon Troop Commander! (1200/400) His effect lets me special summon a monster that is level four or lower, so I'll bring out Familiar Knight! (1200/1400) Both of my monsters attack directly! Then I end my turn."

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 3800

"I will start by paying 500 Life Points to activate Demon's Declaration, calling Shadow Knight Demon."

Hope: 8000

Thanatos: 3300

"Then I summon him. (2000/1600) Since Troop Commander's effect forces me to attack him before I can assault other Warriors, I will have my Knight destroy him. You only lose 400 Life Points though, since Shadow Knight's ability halves the damage he does to you."

Hope: 7600

Thanatos: 3300

"After laying one card down, I end my turn."

Hope looked over at the Shadow Knight, considering her options. "I'll switch Familiar Knight to defense mode, and end my turn."

"I summon Infernal Queen Demon. (900/1500) Then I attack with Shadow Knight to destroy your Familiar Knight. Then Infernal Queen attacks directly."

The Familiar Knight was sliced in half easily. Then the Queen rushed at Hope, claws bared. But before she reached her, a large group of goblins appeared in front of her, all armed with clubs. The Queen stopped abruptly in front of them, leaping back over to Thanatos.

"You triggered my Familiar Knight's ability when you destroyed him from battle," Hope told Thanatos. "He allows both of us to special summon a level four monster from our hand. So I brought out my Goblin Strike Team. (2300/0) Still want to attack?"

"…I end my turn."

"Alright… I activate Cyclone on your face down card!" Hope said.

"I will chain it. It is another Kozakii's Research."

"Not good," Gaston muttered.

"In that case… I summon Command Knight! (1200/1900) Her effect raises all of my Warrior Sub-Types attacks by 400. (2700/0) (1600/1900) Goblin Strike Team destroys Shadow Knight, and Command Knight goes after the Queen! That is all."

Hope: 7600

Thanatos: 1900

Even with his Life Points falling rapidly, Thanatos seemed unworried. "I activate Demon's Declaration, calling Demon Soldier."

Hope: 7600

Thanatos: 1400

"Then I summon him. (1900/1500) After that, I lay one card down. Hm… I cannot attack Command Knight if there is another monster on your field, correct?"

"That's right."

"In that case, Demon Soldier attacks Goblin Strike Team. Then I end my turn."

Hope looked at her next card. "I switch Command Knight to defense mode, and end my turn."

"I will summon another Genocide King Demon. (2000/1500) He attacks Command Knight, and Demon Soldier attacks you directly."

Hope: 5700

Thanatos: 1400

Hope recovered from the blow she had received quickly, and drew her next card. "I play Hammer Shoot! This magic card destroys the monster on the field with the highest attack strength, so Genocide King Demon is gone. Then I summon Getsufuuma. (1700/1200) I lay one other card face down, and end my turn."

"I activate Cry of the Living Dead on Genocide King Demon. Demon Soldier attacks Getsufuuma."

The Getsufuuma was slashed by the Demon Soldier. She stabbed the Demon Soldier in response, and both faded away.

"What happened?" Larka asked.

"Getsufuuma destroys any Demon or Undead Sub-Types she battles," Hope explained.

"Which is why I attacked her with Demon Soldier. Now Genocide Demon King attacks directly."

"I activate Magic Cylinder! This negates your attack and deals equal damage to your Life Points!"

"Then my Genocide King Demon's effect comes into play. When he is targeted by one of your cards, I roll a die. If it lands on a two or five, the card is negated and destroyed."

The die fell on the field, clattering around until it stopped on…

"Dang it!" Gaston snarled as he saw the two.

"Your Magic Cylinder is negated and destroyed. You are still hit by my King's attack. I end my turn after that."

Hope: 3700

Thanatos: 1400

Hope looked at her next card and sighed. "I lay one card down and end my turn."

"I summon another Demon Soldier. (1900/1500) Genocide King Demon attacks."

"I activate Holy Life Barrier!" Hope countered. "I discard my Mystic Swordsman Lv 6 so that all of your attacks do 0 damage."

"Then I end my turn."

Hope tensely drew, looking at her card. Then she shook her head. "That's it for me…"

"What do you mean?" Gaston asked, looking at her.

"Look," she said, showing him her card. "I've lost. If I had a monster, maybe I could survive, but I don't…"

Gaston looked over at the monsters on the field. "But you do have one."

"What?"

"You have me!" he told her, stepping onto the field. (1400/1200)

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that rule," Hope replied. "But it gives us a chance!"

"Just hurry up," Thanatos growled.

"I equip Gaston with The Fused Weapon, Murasame Blade! This raises his attack by 800! (2200/1200) Gaston will attack the Genocide King Demon!"

With his new sword in hand, Gaston had no trouble slicing apart the King.

Hope: 3700

Thanatos: 1200

"A pathetic attempt to stay alive," Thanatos sneered. "I sacrifice Demon Soldier for Swift Lightning Demon King-Skull Demon. (2500/1200) He attacks your Elven Swordsman."

"This is going to hurt…" Gaston muttered as the lightning went soaring towards him. Then it hit, sending him flying off the field.

"Gaston! Are you alright?!" Hope exclaimed, kneeling down beside him.

"Ow… I'll let you know in a moment…" Gaston replied, trying to stand but failing. "Forget about me… get back to the duel."

"Duel? What duel?" Thanatos inquired.

Hope looked up, to see that the field was empty. Looking at her Duel Disk, she saw her Life Points were 0.

"What happened?!" Hope asked.

"It was your Deck Master," Thanatos smirked. "Since he was destroyed, you lost immediately."

"I knew there had to be a catch somewhere…" Brandi muttered.

Hope: Deck Master Destroyed

Thanatos: 1200

"Now, to deal with you…" Thanatos said, coming towards her.

Gaston managed to rise, hand going to his sword. "Hope, get behind me!"

"But you're injured!" she protested.

"You think that's going to stop me?"

But Hope was remembering what had happened to Neo. Even in full health, Thanatos had easily disposed of him. If Gaston got into a fight with him while he was injured…

Hope leapt up, charging towards Thanatos without a second thought.

"Hope! What are you doing?!" Gaston shouted.

"So, you want to save your friend? Fine with me-my current prey, after all, is you," Thanatos stated, grabbing Hope by the arm. Then, before the others could react, he leapt into the river, pulling Hope into it with him.

"Hope!" Gaston ran to the side of the river. He was about to jump in after them, but Larka grabbed him.

"Don't!" she exclaimed. "You're hurt, remember? You couldn't swim anyway, with all of that armor on!"

"But I can't just stand here!" he responded.

Mana went over to them. "She's right. Just stay here. I'll take care of it!" Then she flew over the top of the river, looking for Hope and Thanatos.

Malon, seeing her go, howled and leapt into the water. Daine followed him.

"Malon! What are you doing?" Larka called.

"We will be fine!" Daine assured. "Remember, we are good swimmers!"

"Alright then…" Larka said nervously. "But be careful!"

It was cold and dark underneath the water. Hope couldn't move, her arms being pinned down by Thanatos.

I'm going to die… I'm going to die… oh God, this is the end… someone, help, please!

Mana abruptly halted. "There!" Then she waved her staff, sending out a ball of black magic into the water.

Suddenly, Hope felt herself being released as Thanatos was sent flying back by something. But she felt so weak… she knew she had to swim, she knew she could swim, but she had no strength left to do it…

Then she felt something grabbing her neck collar and pulling her up. At last, they were out of the river. Hope coughed, trying to breath as quickly as possible, aware she could be pulled under any second…

But then she realized that whoever had pulled her up still had a grip on her. She looked over, and saw it was Daine, his teeth holding onto her shirt.

Seeing this, she grabbed onto his fur, and he released his grasp on her. "Hang on Hope. I am going to try to get to shore before Thanatos can attack again."

She couldn't respond. She was still trying to breathe.

Before Daine could move though, Mana yelled, "Watch out!" Then Hope felt Thanatos grab onto her leg. But before he could pull her under again, he released her abruptly. She looked down, and saw that Malon had sunk his teeth into Thanatos' right arm, where he had already been wounded by Will's kunai, and was pulling him away from Hope and Daine to the best of his ability.

Thanatos was in no mood to deal with the puppy. He grabbed Malon around the throat, choking him. But Malon refused to release his grip on Thanatos.

However, Malon had managed to get Thanatos far enough away from Hope and Daine so that Mana could help again. She sent another ball of black magic at him, sending him back once more. He let go of Malon, and the puppy swam frantically towards the surface.

By this time, Daine had managed to get back to the side of the river, Hope holding onto him. As Daine got into the shallow area, Gaston took Hope from him, letting the dog get onto land easier.

When he was hit from the second attack from Mana, Thanatos realized that these were affecting his body, even if he could not feel the pain. He needed time to regroup. So he went to the surface, leaping onto the shore and running off into the trees.

Malon emerged from the water, trying to stay up, but with barely enough strength to.

Mana descended, grabbing him before floating to the shore. She handed the exhausted puppy to Larka, who took him instantly.

"Malon! Are you ok?"

Malon whimpered, licking her hand.

Hope knelt on the river bank, coughing and trying desperately to breathe. The others waited for her to recover.

Finally, she stopped, breathing slowly. "I don't know… how to thank you all…"

"As if we were going to let him kill you," Mana replied.

Daine looked over in the direction Thanatos had run. "He got away. We should pursue him as soon as Hope is ready to continue."

Larka seemed worried. "Hope, are you sure you want to go on? You could go back if you want to…"

"No," Hope said firmly, forcing herself to get up. "I can keep going. We agreed to do that, remember? We aren't going to stop until Thanatos is defeated."

"You're right," Larka nodded. "I was just concerned."

"I'll be ok," Hope replied. In truth, she did feel fine, except for being cold. But she would dry off pretty quickly, she knew.

"Are you sure?" Gaston asked anxiously.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I've recovered, so I shouldn't slow us down too much. Larka, how is Malon?"

"He'll be fine. I'll carry him until he's recovered."

Daine stepped forward. "Then follow me. I will lead you to him."

To be continued…