Happy New Year everyone!
John: It's nice to know that at least someone was surprised! Yay for plot twists.
Captain Obvious: Thanks. I'm pretty sure you'll find the changes to be interesting ones.
Demon Fan: Glad you think so; I agree.
Chapter 16: Finding the Foes
"This has got to be the craziest plan that we've ever made," Draken stated as Hope finished writing down something in a notebook. She had disconnected from Teknisk Wereld in order to retrieve the black notebook and a pen from her backpack. She always carried a notebook and pencil around so that she could practice drawing, and sometimes writing. But in this case, a pen was a better writing utensil; the last thing they needed was to run out of lead.
"You're forgetting Miles' idea about how to defeat the officials with kitchenware," Hope pointed out.
"Yeah, that's true… oh well. This is still pretty crazy. But it's going to be fun to try to pull off!" Draken grinned.
"We can only hope it works…" Gaston sighed.
Malon suddenly leapt up and began barking excitedly. They looked over to where he was gazing and saw Zack and Fell approaching.
"There you guys are," Hope greeted them. She looked over at Fell. "Are you alright?"
Fell shrugged.
"Well, we've decided what we're going to do next," Hope told them. "When Larka, Brandi, and Mana get back, we'll explain."
"…Should I leave?" Zack suggested, looking uneasy.
"No, it's alright," Draken assured. "It won't matter if they overhear us or not."
"You're already decided what we're going to do? Without consulting us first?"
They looked over to see Mana coming over to them.
"Don't worry, I think you'll agree with our decision," Darche told her. "Where are Brandi and Larka?"
"They'll be here shortly."
They waited in silence for their two companions to arrive. At long last, Malon jumped up and tore over to the approaching figures, barking excitedly as he leapt into Larka's arms.
"Hey, stop it! It's alright, I'm fine, you can quit licking me now…" Larka laughed as she pried Malon away and put him back down on the ground, where he ran around her.
"How do you feel?" Daine asked her.
"As though I had never been injured. I'm completely healed; Brandi's idea worked perfectly." She looked away. "I overreacted by trying to attack Vlad. I could have gotten all of you hurt as well for my rashness… I'm sorry about that."
"It's alright," Hope responded. "You're fine now, and we're fine as well."
"Yeah…" She went over to Fell. "Are you injured?"
"…No." He paused, and then continued. "I'm relieved… to see that you are alive…"
Larka looked surprised at first, and then smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad you're ok. I was worried for both you and Zack…"
"Wow. It looks like Fell finally got a heart somewhere," Draken commented. "I wonder how long that will last."
"We really don't have time for any arguments," Hope told him.
"Yeah… sorry."
"I must apologize as well," Zack said to them. "I had no idea that I was letting them overhear everything we said… if I had, I would have left a long time ago. I'm more of a danger to all of you than anything. I was completely unable to resist that override code… if Vlad activates that again, who knows what will happen? So I think that I should leave…"
"No, you shouldn't," Larka told him. "We need all the help we can get. More importantly, you're our friend. After all we've been through together, how can we just tell you to leave?"
"Larka's right," Hope agreed before Zack could respond. "We won't have you leave just because of a few set backs."
"Besides, with our plan, it won't matter if you're here," Draken stated.
"What is this plan of yours?" Brandi inquired.
"Well… we've decided that we're going to surrender," Draken explained.
"What?!" Larka exclaimed. Brandi and Mana stared at him in disbelief while Fell's body went tense. Zack seemed startled, but did not say anything.
"Wait a minute… that isn't what we decided!" Hope protested as she opened the notebook, putting it in front of her companions before turning to Draken. "You agreed that we would try to find a way to take out Vlad!"
"I did not! Look at the facts Hope. He'll be able to track us no matter what. If we try anything, Vlad will take us down! I don't like it any better than you do… I don't want you to have to face Malady, or Fell and Larka to face Viken, or Zack to have to be with Vlad… but we have no choice!"
While they continued arguing, Larka carefully opened the notebook. When the others saw the writing on it, they went next to the notebook to read it.
This is from Hope, although Draken, Darche, Gaston, and Daine helped plan this. Malon knows what is going on too.
Although the fact that they can overhear us is a serious disadvantage, I found a flaw in their technology. They can't see through Zack's eyes, so we can pass messages through writing!
We decided to try and confuse them with arguments about what we will do while you're reading this. Please be quick, because I don't know how long we'll be able to keep a convincible act up.
We'll pretend to want to think it over while resting, and spend about ten minutes in one area, completely silent, and hope that they believe this. At around this time, we'll begin searching for them, but we cannot speak at all, or else they'll catch on. It might seem a bit extreme, but this is the only way we could see to get around the device inside Zack.
For communication purposes, we'll have to pass notes. If anyone wants to write down something, I'll be carrying the notebook and pen.
We're going to start in the forest, since that is where they left. It's not the best lead we have, but we'll have to hope for the best. Draken will lead the way.
If anyone has any better ideas, write them down now. Otherwise, we'll go with this one.
Larka glanced at everyone else, offering the pen to them. Nobody responded, so she shut the notebook softly and put the pen in the spiral of it. Then she went over to Hope, who was currently ranting at Draken once more.
"It will be worse than death for them if we surrender! They've been tortured for ten years, ten! You have no idea how it would be to have to go back to that!" Hope shouted, taking the notebook from Larka and casting a quick glance at it. When she saw nothing was written, she nodded to Draken.
He grinned before responding. "No, I don't! But I do know that I for one do not want to die! I doubt you do either!"
"I won't back down on this issue!" Hope snarled.
"Fine! I'm tired of arguing about this. Let's have a vote," Draken growled.
"This is a serious issue. Why don't we rest for a while, so that we can consider while we do so?" Larka suggested.
"Yeah, let's do that," Mana agreed.
"Oh all right!" Draken snapped, sitting down on the ground. The others did as well, except for Hope, who went over to Draken and showed him her new message.
I think you overdid your act as a heartless guy.
He quietly wrote a response.
Ah, shut up.
They waited for about ten minutes, as planned. At last Draken got up, which was a signal for the others to follow. They quietly walked towards the forest, making no noise with their footsteps.
-----
The trip through the forest was completely silent. There were no wild monsters around, much to everyone's relief. So as long as they remained quiet, they thought that they might be able to pull it off…
They continued on, passing through the forest and clearings. But it was in one certain clearing that they stepped in where it all fell apart.
Hope had been mainly keeping her eyes on the ground so she could avoid stepping on anything that would cause a noise that would make their enemies suspicious, and so that she would not trip over anything. As they stepped into a new clearing, she was still looking at the ground. That was how she saw the white design that appeared on the ground that looked much like a spider's web.
The rest of the group saw it at almost exactly the same moment she did. But before they could react, a huge explosion sent them flying, all of them instantly falling unconscious.
-----
Hope slowly opened her eyes, gazing at her surroundings.
They were still in the forest, but in a different location than they had been in before. This clearing was much bigger, but the reason for this was soon clear when Hope looked to her side.
She was attached to what appeared to be a gigantic spider web. Her limbs were stuck to the strands of it, making her Duel Disk completely useless. That meant that using support cards was basically impossible.
Fighting down the panic that she was starting to feel, she examined the other areas of the web more closely. Her other companions were attached to it too, as were the Soul Monsters. They were starting to come around as well.
Gaston gave the web a look of disgust. "Looks like the game is up."
"So they had a rear guard in case we'd somehow get past their other defenses?" Zack assumed, glancing over at his left arm. The area where his switchblade normally came out of was blocked by the webbing, which meant that his arm was in a very uncomfortable position.
"It appears so," Brandi responded.
"They did a good job," Draken commented. "We're stuck-pun intended."
Darche sighed. "I can't reach my sword… what about you, Gaston?"
"Whoever got us wasn't careless," Gaston replied. "I can't either."
Mana glanced down at her own weapon. "My staff isn't about to be able to be moved… so I can't do anything."
Daine looked over at the strand next to him. "I cannot even reach a part of the web to try to bite through. I am afraid that we are completely trapped this time."
Malon gave a fretful howl at his words.
"Talk about a sticky situation," Draken said.
Larka looked at the web worriedly. "So does that mean we will die here?"
"It's possible," Brandi said grimly. "Unless anyone has any ideas on how to get out of here?"
"Without support cards or our Soul Monsters' weapons, I don't see any way it can be done," Hope replied slowly. "But there has to be a way… are we overlooking anything?"
"Not that I can tell," Draken called over to her. "This is an irritating position to be trapped in… it's really beginning to bug me."
"Would you stop using those corny puns?" Mana said in exasperation. "This is a life or death issue!"
"What I want to know is who our captor is," Gaston stated.
Fell looked into the woods. "…He is over there."
They all turned their gazes to the man as he stepped out. Zack, Draken, and Darche did not recognize the armor he wore, but the others did; it was exactly the same as Thanatos'. He had dark brown hair and very pale green eyes, which observed the trapped group with much interest.
"So you are the troublemakers she warned me about," he said as a greeting.
"She? Who do you mean by that?" Brandi demanded.
"Well, she is my boss, but you would know her as Malady."
"You're a subordinate of Malady's?" Gaston asked.
"That's right. I'm one of her most trusted subordinates, as a matter of fact. I'm one of her two main guards. Actually, you could say I'm her only guard now-the other one was killed by Thanatos."
"Thanatos!" Larka exclaimed. "So you've met him?"
"I did not talk with him, but I was there when Thanatos met Malady. She gave him a syringe of her blood, with the Black Snake Sickness inside it, and a new Duel Disk."
"The syringe he used on Will…" Hope whispered, horrified.
Darche had made a conclusion as well. "You say Thanatos killed another guard? Did he wear the same armor as you?"
"Yes. How is that important?"
"That explains where Thanatos got his new outfit…" Brandi muttered.
"I would say you have more important things to worry about at this moment," the guard stated. "Malady was sure you would pursue them, so I was to remain here to stop you."
"So you were the one who… activated that thing? What was it?" Mana asked.
"A Landmine Spider," the guard explained. "You walked right into a trap. Now, you have one last chance to surrender. It is a little bit ahead of schedule, but we can deal with that."
"I guess the forest was not the best place to begin looking," Hope sighed.
"Actually, seeing as we ran into one of their guards, I would say we are in exactly the right area," Gaston responded.
"Not really," the guard disagreed. "You're actually on the wrong piece of land."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Hope asked.
Zack caught on instantly though. "They're on one of the islands… I would guess the one with the volcano."
"Good guess," the guard said. "You're correct; that is where their headquarters are located."
"I don't understand. Why would they want to be next to a volcano?" Larka inquired.
"It's a source of geothermal power for them," Zack explained. "They can get all the power they need for no cost, so it's a reasonable location."
"That's great," Draken said in disgust. "We now know where to go, but we have no chance of getting there."
"Exactly," the guard smirked. "Now… make your decision. Will you surrender? Or will you accept death?"
He took out a green whistle from around his neck and blew into it. The high-pitched sound pierced through them, but that was the least of their concerns.
From the top of the web appeared a huge monster that resembled a spider with a human face. She was at least two times bigger than any of them, and she did not look the slightest bit friendly.
"Well, I'd say we're screwed," Draken commented.
The guard stopped blowing into the whistle. "You may either submit, or be this Insect Queen's dinner. She is quite hungry, after all, and she's more than willing to consume all of you. It is your choice."
"She'd eat someone made mainly out of metal, such as Zack? How desperate is this freak when it comes to eating?" Draken muttered.
Hope looked over at the Insect Queen nervously, but did not back down. "Death is certainly not something we'd want to face, but we can't just surrender!"
"Fine," the guard shrugged. "I expected that." Then he blew another high note into what they now recognized as a Jade Whistle. The Insect Queen began to slowly come towards the one nearest to her, which happened to be Draken.
"Why can't we have a third option?" he complained. "Geez… if I get out of this, I am never surfing a website ever again."
"You're about to be eaten, and all you can think about are more dumb jokes?!" Brandi said in exasperation.
"This is my way of dealing with my panic!" he retorted. "And believe me, I am indeed about to panic!"
Suddenly, a yellow net-like electric barrier appeared around the trapped group. The guard's eyes widened, and he hastily changed the note he was playing into such a high-pitched note that Malon howled in pain. The Insect Queen halted instantly, hissing at the barrier.
The guard took the whistle away from his mouth. "An interference?"
"You could say that," was the response.
The two of them came out of the trees, and everyone in the group instantly recognized them.
"Amy?" Hope said in disbelief.
"Right on the first try!" her sister responded.
"Great timing," Draken said, looking over at the infuriated Insect Queen.
"How did you find us?" Gaston questioned.
"I tried to call Hope, but her mom said she was in South Carolina again," Amy explained. "I was concerned, so I decided to try to find her, along with you guys, in Teknisk Wereld. That idiot gave away your location with his whistle."
The guard seemed very annoyed. "You just happened to have an Insect Barrier?"
"I hate bugs," Amy replied. "Yeah, I despise them. So I always carry around a few Insect Barriers."
"Believe me, they've come in handy more than once," Sakura commented. She had summoned her staff to her hand and was ready to attack if necessary.
"I assume you will not lower the barrier," the guard said.
"No chance," Amy responded.
"Then I suppose we will have to have a duel to settle this," the guard decided.
"Fine by me." Amy let down the Insect Barrier, seeing that the Insect Queen would not try to kill them until the duel was over. "What are the stakes?"
The guard considered. "If I win, then the Insect Queen has the privilege to devour all of them, along with the two of you. You win, and I will be her next meal, along with my Soul Monster."
"That's disgusting," Mana muttered.
Amy winced. "Um… I have a request for your condition on losing. Have it so that she eats you two somewhere far away from us, alright?"
"If you want," the guard smirked. "It doesn't matter, seeing as I will win."
He took out his Soul Card, and a huge blue beetle emerged. It stood on two of its legs, and its other two grasped a huge javelin with a red pole and a gold top. It had small red eyes that fixed on what it thought to be its prey, and its pinchers that could easily chop off another's head clashed together menacingly.
"This is Spear, a Javelin Beetle. And my name is Scrab. Yours?"
"My Soul Monster is Sakura, a Big Bangirl. And I'm Amy." She glanced at the Insect Queen. "Let's get this over with, so I don't have to watch that ugly creature up there any longer than necessary!"
"Amen to that!" Draken agreed. "I'm the one that has to be stuck next to it while you two are dueling!"
"That's what you get for all your cheesy puns," Mana joked.
"Be quiet you."
Amy: 8000
Scrab: 8000
"I'll go first, since you challenged me," Amy declared. "I lay one monster in defense mode and two cards face down. That's it."
"Alright. I lay a monster as well, and end my turn at that."
Amy looked over the cards in her hand. "This should be fun. I sacrifice UFO Turtle (1400/1200) to summon Fallen Angel: Mari. (1700/1200)"
Scrab raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem strong enough to sacrifice a monster for."
"You'll see why I use her soon enough. She attacks your defense monster!"
"You have destroyed my Skull-Face Ladybug. (500/1500) When this monster goes to the Cemetery, I gain 1000 Life Points."
"Afraid not!" Amy grinned. "I activate my trap card, Drug Reaction! Whenever you would normally gain Life Points, you lose them instead. So you've just lost 1000 Life Points."
Amy: 8000
Scrab: 7000
"Damn it…" Scrab growled.
"I'll end my turn at that," Amy stated.
"Alright, enough playing around! I summon Insect Knight! (1900/1500) He attacks Mari!"
"Not happening," Amy responded. "I activate Gravity Bind. This makes it so that no monster that is level four or higher can attack."
"Ugh… but wait! That puts you at a disadvantage too!" Scrab protested.
"Not really," Amy grinned. "I usually don't attempt attacking."
"Then you won't live for very long." He eyed a card in his hand. "Hm… why not? I can't leave that Drug Reaction on the field anyway. So I activate Evil Energy Explosion!"
"I've never even heard of that card," Amy told him.
"It's an instant magic that forces me to discard a card from my hand to play it. So I will get rid of Howling Insect for that cost. In return for that, all permanent trap cards on the field are destroyed."
"But that means…"
"That your Drug Reaction and Gravity Bind are gone. Too bad; it looks like I took away two important parts of your strategy. I lay one card face down and end my turn."
"Not good," Hope said. "Amy depends on Drug Reaction, and she has to have some card to block attacks… without them, I don't see any way she can win."
"What, you're saying it's as good as done now?" Mana asked.
"No, she can still win. It will just be much harder."
"That's reassuring," Brandi muttered.
Amy seemed troubled by her loss of the two traps, but was nowhere near ready to give up. "I switch Fallen Angel: Mari to defense mode. Then I lay two cards face down…"
"And I activate my trap card, Shin Tsuen Fu."
"Try saying that three times fast," Draken commented.
"It is a permanent trap card that allows me to select two set magic or trap cards on the field. Of course, I will choose your two. Now, as long as Shin Tsuen Fu remains on the field, you cannot activate those two cards."
"That's really annoying," Amy grimaced. "Well… I have no choice but to end my turn."
Scrab smirked at his next card. "Perfect. I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"I'm not going to be lured into attacking," Amy stated. "I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Then it is time to begin," Scrab declared. "I flip over my face down monster, Parasite! (500/300)"
Amy looked appalled at the creature in front of her. "That thing looks disgusting… what does it do?"
"Well, it lives up to its name," Scrab told her. "His reverse effect will now activate."
The Parasite suddenly leapt at her, its tentacles shooting into her deck. She yelped as the Parasite swiftly vanished into her deck.
"What the heck was that?!" she exclaimed.
Scrab took the Parasite card off of his Duel Disk and tossed it over to her. "Shuffle that into your deck, face up. When you draw it, I'll explain what it does. For the meantime, I lay one monster in defense mode, and attack Mari with Insect Knight! Then it is your turn."
Amy still looked sickened by what the Parasite had done, but drew her next card. "Since it is my standby phase, Mari's effect activates. When she's in the Cemetery during my standby phase, I gain 200 Life Points."
Amy: 8200
Scrab: 7000
"That's a pathetic amount," Scrab pointed out. "It certainly isn't worth using that monster to get it, anyway."
"You really don't know anything about my kind of deck, do you?" Amy asked. "Please, until you realize what my strategy is, shut up about my choice of cards."
"…"
"Thank you. I lay another monster in defense mode and play a permanent magic card, Magic Absorption!"
"What does that do?"
"Every time one of us plays a magic card, I gain 500 Life Points. That's all I'm going to do."
"Now the fun really begins," Scrab sneered. "I flip over my face down monster, Emissary-Eating Insect. (900/1200) His reverse effect allows me to destroy two monsters on the field. So say goodbye to your two monsters."
"My Quick Squirrel (1000/100)… and another UFO Turtle… both of their effects rely on being destroyed in battle."
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Draken interrupted. "I thought Emissary-Eating Insect was a level five monster!"
"It is," Scrab confirmed.
"But you didn't sacrifice for it!"
"That's because of Spear's Deck Master ability. I do not have to sacrifice to summon any of my Insect Sub-Types," Scrab explained.
"That could pose a serious problem…" Zack commented. "If he has any more of those, or high attacking insects that he won't need to sacrifice for, then Amy really won't be able to defend herself against it."
"Exactly right," Scrab smirked. "Now I activate a magic card, Jade Whistle!"
Amy: 8700
Scrab: 7000
"I know all too well what it does when activated outside of a duel," Amy said with a wince. "But what does it do inside a duel?"
"You choose one Insect Sub-Type in your deck and then shuffle your deck. When it's shuffled, you put that Insect Sub-Type on the top of your deck."
"But I don't have any Insect Sub-Types…" Amy trailed off, realizing what he was doing. "The Parasite. You want me to draw it?"
"Correct. Now retrieve it."
Amy glared at the card before slipping it on top of her deck. "Is that it?"
"I lay one card face down, and then yes, that is it."
Amy looked at the Parasite. "Ok, I've drawn it. Now what happens?"
"It is special summoned to the field in face up defense mode, so go ahead and do that."
Looking as though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she laid it on her Duel Disk. The Parasite appeared instantly.
"When it comes to your field, you lose 1000 Life Points as well."
Amy: 7700
Scrab: 7000
"And when you special summon him, I will activate my trap card, Holy Radiance. As long as this card is on the field, neither of us can play any monsters face down. If you want to play a monster in defense mode, you'll have to play it face up."
"Alright then… I also gain 200 Life Points from Mari."
Amy: 7900
Scrab: 7000
"Then I play White Magician Pikeru in defense mode. (1200/0)"
The Parasite instantly shot a tentacle at her. It came out of the dazed mage's shoulder, giving it quite a gruesome appearance.
"That's just sickening," Amy grimaced. "What did it do to her?"
"As long as Parasite is on your field, all of your monsters will be treated as Insect Sub-Types."
"Ugh… I end my turn."
"I activate Jar of Greed…"
Amy: 8400
Scrab: 7000
"Excellent. Now I play Insect Barrier!"
Amy: 8900
Scrab: 7000
"That means that I won't be able to attack you at all," Amy realized.
"Correct. Then I play Hatching."
Amy: 9400
Scrab: 7000
"Hatching?"
"I sacrifice one of my monsters. In this case, I choose Emissary-Eating Insect. Then I search my deck for an Insect Sub-Type that is one level higher and special summon it to the field. So I choose my Insect Princess! (1900/1200)"
As the Insect Princess appeared, the Parasite and Pikeru suddenly stood.
"They're changing to attack mode? But why?!" Amy protested.
"When Insect Princess is on the field, all of your Insect Sub-Types are forced into attack mode. Insect Princess attacks Pikeru!"
Amy: 8700
Scrab: 7000
"Also, for every Insect Sub-Type she destroys, she gains 500 more attack points. (2400/1200) I end my turn at that."
Amy looked over at Sakura. "I may have more Life Points, but we're still at the disadvantage. If we don't get something good quickly, then he'll be able to completely annihilate us."
"Then we'd better start hoping we get something good!" Sakura replied.
"Figured you'd say that," Amy muttered.
Amy: 8900
Scrab: 7000
Amy looked at the monster she had just drawn. Hm… this changes everything. But if I summon her, she'll be destroyed by Insect Princess… oh! Maybe this will work…
"I pass," she said.
"What? But if she doesn't play another monster… then he'll overrun her!" Larka realized.
"No, he won't," Brandi grinned. "I think I know what she's trying to do."
"How irritating of you," Scrab growled. "I pass as well."
"Huh? Why didn't he attack?" Larka asked, confused.
"Scrab couldn't kill her in a full assault this turn," Zack explained. "And he knows that his Parasite is giving him the biggest advantage at this moment. So until he can destroy her in one attack, he won't destroy the Parasite."
"That's clever," Larka responded, satisfied with his answer.
"But that won't work for long," Brandi said grimly. "If he gets another monster, he has this match won."
"I don't understand. Even with another monster, he won't be able to destroy all of her Life Points, will he?" Hope pointed out.
"Right, but he also has his Javelin Beetle," Brandi replied. "If he brings him out as well, then that will be the end of it."
"Oh yeah…"
"I'm depending on this next card…" Amy murmured, drawing.
Amy: 9100
Scrab: 7000
She blinked at it. "Ok… actually, I'm depending on my next two cards. I play my own Jar of Greed."
Amy: 9600
Scrab: 7000
Amy looked at the cards and sighed in relief. "This is perfect! First, I summon Big Bangirl! (1300/1500) Then I play Cyclone on your Shin Tsuen Fu!"
"What? Damn it!" Scrab swore.
"This also triggers Magic Absorption. But it's going to be a bit worse for you this time," Amy grinned.
The Big Bangirl waved her staff at Scrab. A stream of fire shot out of it, slamming into him.
"Argh! What the hell was that?"
"Whenever I gain Life Points, Big Bangirl makes you lose 500 Life Points," Amy explained.
Amy: 10100
Scrab: 6500
"So your deck is based around that?" Scrab realized.
"Big Bangirl and Drug Reaction, really," Amy smiled. "You're a bit late in figuring that out though, aren't you? I've already won, pretty much. I activate another magic card, Emissary of Peace!"
Amy: 10600
Scrab: 6000
"This permanent magic card makes it so that no monster with 1500 or more attack points can attack. I do have to pay 100 Life Points every standby phase to keep it up… but that isn't a big loss, seeing that I have more than enough Life Points to spare anyway."
"But that means that I can't destroy your Big Bangirl!" Scrab snarled.
"That's right. I lay one card face down, and end my turn."
"Alright. I draw…"
"And I activate my three trap cards in response!"
"All three?!" Scrab said disbelievingly.
"Yep. My first one is called Blessing of God. Every time I draw a card, I gain 500 Life Points. My second one is another Drug Reaction, and the third is Eye of Truth!"
"Eye of Truth?"
"You have to play with your hand revealed to me. Also, whenever you have a magic card in your hand on your standby phase, you gain 1000 Life Points."
"But with Drug Reaction…"
"That's right."
"Damn you…" He showed her his hand, which now had Plasma Insect Armor and Metal Armored Bug.
Amy: 10600
Scrab: 5000
"She's got him now!" Hope grinned.
Amy gazed back at the seething Scrab coolly. "Now you have three options. One is to keep your magic cards in your hand and suffer the damage from my Eye of Truth. Another is to play it, giving me 500 more Life Points and making you lose the same amount."
"And the third one is to set it, filling up my magic and trap card zones," Scrab snarled.
"Yep. I assume that is what you'll do?"
"Obviously. I lay one card face down and summon Metal Armored Bug. (2800/1500) Then it's your turn…"
"Alright, now it's time for some fun. I draw, gaining 500 Life Points due to Blessing of God. I also gain 200 more due to Fallen Angel: Mari. You lose 500 for each one, so that's another 1000 Life Points you've lost. I also lose 100 Life Points for Emissary of Peace."
Amy: 11200
Scrab: 4000
"Then I play Rich Goblin. This lets me draw one card, and you gain 1000 Life Points while I do so. Of course, with Drug Reaction, you're losing that amount instead. And because of Magic Absorption, I gain and you lose 500 Life Points."
Amy: 11700
Scrab: 2500
"How could I have gone from offensive to defensive so quickly?!" Scrab growled. "It's impossible!"
"I'd say it's very possible, seeing as you just did. I'll end my turn at that."
He drew, cautiously looking at his card. "No! Another Insect Barrier…"
Amy: 11700
Scrab: 1500
"Damn it all… I lay one card down and end my turn…"
"Blessing of God and Mari activate, and I pay for Emissary of Peace…"
Amy: 12400
Scrab: 500
"And now it's over," Amy declared. "I now activate Sakura's Deck Master ability! By discarding a card from my hand-in this case, my Level B Restriction Map-I gain 1000 Life Points. This also means that my Big Bangirl's effect is activated for the last time!"
Amy: 13400
Scrab: 0
"She got him!" Draken exclaimed.
Larka sighed in relief. "I was tense that whole duel…"
"But… but…" Scrab stammered.
"Face it; you've lost. And now you'll have to go through the penalties for it," Amy stated, looking over at the Insect Queen.
The Insect Queen eyed the group members for a minute, before making another hissing noise. At that sound, the group suddenly felt the web lose its stickiness, and fell off it. Zack, Brandi, Larka, and Fell landed safely, the latter two catching their Soul Monsters as they came down. Mana floated down easily. Gaston grabbed Hope while they were still in midair and landed with her safely. Darche landed on his feet as well, but Draken hit the ground stomach first.
"Stupid spider…" he groaned, sitting up. "She just had to put me at the top of the darn web and drop us without warning."
"Well, in truth, you did have a warning," Hope pointed out.
"Not a very good one."
The Insect Queen was now scurrying down the web, towards Scrab and Spear. Seeing the danger heading their way, Spear instantly ran into the forest. Scrab, face pale, followed a few seconds later. The Insect Queen was surprisingly fast though, and crashed after them until they were out of sight.
"I'd hate to be them at this moment," Mana shuddered.
"We would have been them, if Amy and Sakura hadn't shown up," Draken pointed out.
"Yeah. We owe you a lot for helping us," Hope said to her sister. "Thanks."
"I think we all agree with that," Brandi stated.
"We're glad we could help," Amy replied.
Suddenly, a piercing scream sounded from the forest. It sounded as though Scrab had not been able to run fast enough.
After a few seconds, Sakura spoke up as though nothing had happened. "So what kind of trouble are you in this time?"
Hope was about to speak, when she remembered that their enemies were probably listening to them this very minute. She had lost her notebook and pen too, which meant they were going to have to deal with being overheard. So she changed what she was going to say. "We're trying to save a friend. He'll die if we don't get him help soon." And technically, that was the truth.
Amy glanced around at them. "You are missing a lot of people, aren't you? Is there any other way we can help?"
"I'm sorry, but this is something we should do alone," Hope replied firmly. "We were careless this time… we'll be more careful from here on out."
"Still, this worries me," Amy murmured.
"Yeah… I wish you could come," Hope said. "But really… there's no way you can. Sorry…"
Amy glanced up at the sky. "I guess we should be going home anyway. It's getting late."
The others were shocked to see that the sky was darkening.
"It's nighttime already?! How long have we been unconscious?" Draken exclaimed.
"A pretty long time, apparently," Gaston replied.
"Then we must hurry," Zack stated.
Hope looked over at Amy. "Please, trust us. We'll be fine."
Amy reluctantly nodded. "Ok. I wish you the best of luck."
"Thanks, we'll need it," Draken joked.
"I'll contact you when it's over, alright?" Hope said.
"That sounds good. We'll see you later," Amy responded.
"Bye until next time," Sakura called as they teleported out of Teknisk Wereld.
Larka broke the silence. "So, now what do we do? Go to the volcano island?"
"Yep," Brandi answered. "We need to take down Vlad quickly."
"And we will," Draken stated. He turned to Zack. "You hear that, you three?! We're coming to kill you all, so just stay where you are and wait for us!"
"I don't appreciate being used as a telephone," Zack said dryly.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," Draken replied sheepishly.
"Then let's get to the lake," Hope suggested.
With their next course of action settled, they set off.
-----
"Quite bold of them," Vlad commented, amused by the threat. "But they'll never even make it in here." He looked over at Malady. "How strong is this man you sent out?"
"Not nearly as strong as I would have liked," she said distastefully. "But he might be able to lessen their numbers by a few."
"It doesn't really matter though, does it?" Viken asked Vlad.
"In no way whatsoever," he smirked. "They won't be able to make it through our last defense, after all."
-----
Neo woke up instantly, thinking he had heard something. Furious at himself for falling asleep, he went over to Will.
The teen was stirring restlessly, the vivid black marks glowing softly while his forehead shone with sweat. He moaned softly, and Neo realized that was probably what had woken him up.
Neo gingerly touched his forehead, and he drew it back quickly. He was used to it being hot, but this was much worse than usual. He instantly got up and went into the hall.
Lilian was leaving Max's room when the swordsman came running up to her. "Neo? Is something wrong?"
"It's Will. He's getting a lot worse…"
"Alright, let's see him."
She went inside, and her face darkened as she saw his condition. "I need to see something before I can be sure, but if I'm right…"
Taking his temperature only took a few minutes, but they seemed to take forever for the worried pair. Then Lilian looked at it.
"There's no denying it now," she said sadly. "He's dying."
"Dying?" Neo whispered.
"Yes. When victims reach this point, they live for about twenty-four hours before dying."
"But…" He trailed off, knowing it was useless.
"We can only pray that they will find the cure for this virus before it's too late," Lilian stated. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. You will have to support him for these last hours of his."
"Yeah…"
"I will come in to check on him occasionally, but like I said, I can't help. So hang in there for his sake." Then she left, shutting the door softly.
Neo went next to Will, closing his eyes as a tear escaped him. "Will… you have to hang on… please, you just have to. You can't die… not when they're trying so hard to save you."
His only response was silence from his pained companion.
To be continued…