Now this was a fun chapter to write. I really enjoyed it! The others should be just as entertaining, so I'm looking forward to it!
John: Thanks. Let us see, shall we?
Demon Fan: You'll get those answers soon enough.
Chapter 17: Is That Your Final Answer?
The trip through the forest was uneventful. They emerged from it shortly, and went to the lake edge.
"Well, we're here," Gaston stated. "Anyone have a vessel?"
"Yeah," Brandi replied, inserting a card into her Duel Disk. A Skull Blood Pirate Ship appeared in front of them.
"That works. I'll steer," Draken volunteered, leaping onto it. The others followed, and they made a swift departure.
The water was calm that night, much to their relief. Draken knew the way to the island, so their only worry was running into another trap one of Vlad's henchmen might have set up. But Draken soon announced that they were already halfway there, and by that point they had still found nothing to halt their progress.
Most of them were waiting in silence, although Larka took off her Duel Disk and began going through her deck for one last time, in case she would have to use it soon.
They were about three quarters of the way there when Draken suddenly called, "There's a ship ahead! I can't tell whether it's friendly or against us from this distance, but I think we should be ready for the worst."
The group came over to where he was to see the ship in question.
"It's approaching us," Hope realized. "Should we let them come up to us or flee?"
"They'll catch up to us eventually," Gaston told her. "We might as well see what they want."
"Alright. Hey, Zack, could you drop the anchor? We'll wait; if they want to talk, they'll come to where we are," Draken decided.
Sure enough, the ship began to approach them. When it came up to the side of their ship, a man leapt onto their ship's deck, his own vessel vanishing.
The man wore an official's standard outfit, consisting of the black suit, a white shirt and black tie underneath, and black pants, with black hard shoes. He had light-brown hair that was kept back in a ponytail, with a goatee that was the same color. He also had light-brown eyes that eyed them cunningly, but with a hint of fear in the backs of them.
Larka gasped as she saw him. "You!"
The man flinched, stepping back. "So you are here… I was afraid of that."
"Huh? Do you know him Larka?" Brandi asked.
"It's strange… I feel as though I have seen him before," Zack stated. "But I can't recall where."
"Remember that time that Fell, Daine, Malon, and I were separated from all of you?" Larka asked. "The official who captured me is this same man."
Zack nodded. "That explains. I probably saw him at a distance."
Malon sniffed the air, and then barked inquiringly at Daine.
"Malon is asking why you have the stench of fear clinging to you," Daine told the official. "I would like to know as well."
If you had witnessed what I have, you would be frightened of her as well," he said. "Larka… that is your name, correct? She escaped somehow; at the time, I did not know how. Now it makes sense though. Apparently, your cyborg friend found you. But the point is, she came back later that night." He shivered. "I'll never forget those eyes… they were filled with so much blood-lust… I was the only one in my group to survive."
Larka paled. "The group of officials I killed… when I was affected by the full moon… I had no idea you were in it as well."
"I was terrified by what I had witnessed, and fled. Malady contacted me though, and I went back to serve her. Now, it has come to this."
"You plan on trying to stop us then?" Darche assumed.
"Yes. I am the last duelist standing in your way of the base. After I am dead, you will face no more duelists until you step into it."
"That's nice to know," Mana commented. "But we still have to get through you, right?"
"Correct. I don't like it at all… I still fear the memory of that night…" he stated. "But I will be able to defeat anyone when it comes to cards."
"I guess we have no choice but to accept," Draken said. "Larka, do you want to face him? You know, for revenge?"
Larka shook her head. "No, not me. I'm not one for having vengeance… why don't you, Draken? We haven't seen you duel for a while."
"I was hoping you'd ask," Draken grinned. "I could use a warm up for what's ahead. Ready Darche?"
"Of course," he replied.
"I have no Soul Monster," the official told him. "You are Draken, I assume. My name is Abram."
"Meet Darche," Draken introduced, indicating to his Soul Monster. "So, what are the conditions? Just that the loser dies?"
"Yes."
"Good enough for me. Let's go!"
Draken: 8000
Abram: 8000
"If you do not mind, I will go first," Abram stated. He gave Larka one last, nervous glance before turning his attention completely to the duel. "Not a bad first hand. I summon Thunder Sage in attack mode. (1500/1300) Then I lay two cards face down and end my turn."
"Alright… wow, what a hand! I'll start by summoning Knight of White Dragon! (1900/1200)"
"Wait a minute… isn't that a ritual monster?"
"Yeah. But due to Darche's Deck Master ability, I don't have to use a ritual to summon him. Then I play Stomping Crash. I can activate this magic card when I have a Dragon Sub-Type on my field. It destroys one of your magic or trap cards, and causes you to lose 500 Life Points. I'll destroy the one to your left!"
"Then I'll chain with the trap you tried to destroy, Result of Kozakkii's Research. This allows me to look at the next three cards on the top of my deck and rearrange them as I wish to."
"Curses," Draken muttered. "Well… I'll risk your other trap. Knight of White Dragon attacks!"
The knight easily cut down the Thunder Sage, who vanished with an expression of pain on his face.
Draken: 8000
Abram: 7600
"Since my Thunder Sage has been sent to the Cemetery, his effect has been triggered," Abram told him. "I lose 5000 Life Points."
Draken: 8000
Abram: 2600
"Whoa whoa whoa! What did you just say?!" Draken yelped. "You lost 5000 Life Points, all for that pathetic monster? There has to be a catch!"
"If he had been reverse summoned, I would have gained 3000 Life Points," Abram said. "But that is it. There is no catch, as you put it."
"Hmph… this still makes me suspicious," Draken stated. "I lay one card down and end my turn."
"I don't understand," Larka murmured. "Why would he decrease his own Life Points so drastically?"
"To be honest, I have no idea," Brandi answered. "But he's got to have something up his sleeve."
Abram did not even look at his card as he drew it. "I have already won."
"What do you mean by that?" Draken asked, tensing at the words.
"Let me show you what I mean. First, I will use Cyclone to destroy your magic or trap card."
"Darn. You destroyed my Attack Nullification."
"Good. Now I activate my trap card, Sealing Wall of Light. Do you know what this does?"
"Yeah. You pay an amount of Life Points, which has to be a multiple of 1000, and none of my monsters that has that many attack points or lower can attack you."
"Correct. So I pay 2000 Life Points."
Draken: 8000
Abram: 600
"What is with you?!" Draken demanded. "Even if I can't attack very easily, you're not going to last very long with that amount of Life Points. What are you playing at?"
Abram smirked. "I suppose now would be the best time to activate it. So I play The Reverse Quiz."
"The Reverse Quiz?"
"Yes. This magic card forces me to discard all of my cards to the Cemetery, and to destroy all cards on my side of the field. So I lose my Sealing Wall of Light, Metamol Pot, and Seal of Time. Then I call monster, magic, or trap, and draw the next card in my deck. Thanks to Kozakkii's Research, I am well aware that my next card is a trap card, Destruction Ring." He showed Draken the card. "Since I was correct, we now switch Life Point values."
"What?! No way!" Draken exclaimed, looking at his Life Point counter as it rapidly decreased.
Draken: 600
Abram: 8000
"Now I'd say you are at quite the disadvantage," Abram pointed out.
"Damn it all! He may not have any cards, but this is still definitely not a good situation to be in!" Draken growled. "You based your whole deck around this, didn't you? Trying to use Reversal Quiz to its maximum effect?"
"That's exactly right."
"Then that means your Destruction Ring will kill me next turn!" Draken snarled. "Not good…"
"My gosh," Hope said in awe. "I can't believe how quickly the tables turned…"
"Hang in there Draken!" Mana encouraged. "It may look bleak but you still have a chance!"
"Actually, he still has a very good chance," Zack stated.
"What do you mean?" Larka inquired.
"Draken still has three cards in his hand, and his Knight of White Dragon. When he draws, he will have four cards. That opens up a lot of options for him. Abram, on the other hand, will draw Destruction Ring next turn. If he can get his Life Points low enough, then Destruction Ring will result in a draw. If he can destroy him this turn, all the better. But if he can't…"
"Then that's it," Larka said nervously. "All we can do is hope that it works out…"
Draken looked at his hand. "This won't work, will it? The odds of me drawing what I need are too low. But it's the only way I can win… I have to hope that this works!" He drew, and looked at his card with wide eyes. "Now that is what I call luck! It's time to start defeating you!"
"How do you expect to do that?" Abram asked.
"First, I will use my Knight of White Dragon's ability. I sacrifice him to special summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck! (3000/2500) Then I activate Fusion!"
"Fusion?!"
"That's right. By fusing together my two Blue Eyes White Dragons and Fusion Sealed Life Form-Light, I can bring forth my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! (4500/3800)"
The three headed beast emerged, roaring as all three sets of eyes glared at Abram.
"But how? You have to have three Blue Eyes White Dragons to form the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
"My Fusion Sealed Life Form-Light is a Fusion Sub monster. It can take the place of any other card I need in a fusion."
Abram relaxed. "Not bad, but you still can't win. It will be a tie, and I can win easily enough in the next game."
"Afraid not!" Draken grinned. "I won't let you get away with a tie! For now I sacrifice my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to special summon Blue Eyes Shining Dragon! (3000/2500)"
The blue glowing dragon emerged, giving a high-pitched screech. Malon yelped, ears going back as Daine growled irritably. Everyone else stared in awe at the beast. It looked very similar to a regular Blue Eyes White Dragon, except for two major differences. One was that it had no arms. The other was the huge blue jewels that were on its legs, wings, stomach, and forehead. They gave off a beautiful light as the dragon stretched out its wings, which looked strange as well. They seemed to have feathers, but they were actually scales. The creature gazed down at the amazed Abram. But soon he came back to his senses and began laughing.
"You sacrificed your strongest monster for one that's even weaker? You're stupider than I thought!"
"Am I? We'll see next turn, won't we?" Draken said. "But for now, I'll explain what Blue Eyes Shining Dragon's effect is. For every Dragon Sub-Type in my Cemetery, it gets 300 more attack. Since I have four-my Knight of White Dragon, my two Blue Eyes White Dragon, and my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon-that's 1200 attack points! (4200/2500) Now it attacks!"
Draken: 600
Abram: 3800
"Argh… oh well. I'll still settle for a tie! I lay one card face down and end my turn!"
"Hm… doesn't really matter what I draw, since I've pretty much won," Draken stated.
"You're wrong, because now I activate Destruction Ring, destroying your Blue Eyes Shining Dragon! We also each take 4200 damage, which kills us both!"
"Are you sure?" Draken asked.
"Of course I am! Just watch!"
The ring of grenades appeared around the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, and then the ring exploded. Smoke blinded everyone, so they could not see the results. But finally they managed to look up.
The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon hissed at the stunned Abram.
"B-but that's impossible!" he stammered.
"Actually, no, it isn't. My Blue Eyes Shining Dragon has the ability to negate any magics, traps, and monster effects that target it. So your Destruction Ring was completely useless." Draken smiled. "I think it's about time we wrapped this up. We are on a time limit, after all; Will's counting on us. Blue Eyes Shining Dragon will finish you off!"
Draken: 600
Abram: 0
Abram got up slowly. "Argh… alright. I can see you won. But I was ready for that!" He drew out a card, putting it to his Duel Disk. "I may die, but I will take all of you with me! By activating…"
That was when Larka lunged, the Duel Disk she had never put back on falling to the deck of this ship with a clatter as she went at Abram, slamming into him. They crashed into the railing, falling overboard.
"Larka!" Hope cried, running over to where they were, the others following. They looked over the edge to see the two figures falling towards the water.
Abram looked up at his attacker, and froze with fear. For although the full moon had already passed, and Larka's eyes were still their strange yellow, he saw them as the blood-thirsty red eyes he had seen a month ago. As he went into the water, he still could not bring himself to move. So his last sight, before he ran out of oxygen and sank towards the depths, was those eyes that had filled him with so much horror.
As Larka went underwater, she fought to keep from panicking. Giving Abram a last look, she twisted away from him and began struggling to swim in what she hoped was up. Her sense of direction was being confused by the water, so she could only guess at where she should go.
Fell was about to leap in after them, as was Malon, but Daine stopped the puppy by putting his large paw over him. "Master, do not risk yourself! You know full well that you would be in just as bad as a position as she is!"
Fell stepped back from the area, looking away.
"I'm not just going to stand here and let her drown because of some pathetic duelist!" Brandi exclaimed.
"Brandi, stay here as well," Zack requested. "There is no need to risk more than one person." Then he leapt off the boat as well.
His descent was cut short as the device to hover was activated. He closed his eyes, concentrating on where he could feel Larka.
He suddenly went to an area over the water, right as Larka emerged from that location. Before she could sink again, he grabbed her and went back to the deck. He barely had time to land before his device shut off automatically, making him aware of how close that had been.
Brandi came over to them instantly. "Larka? Are you alright?"
She coughed for a few seconds before regaining her breath. "I think so…"
"Hey, that was pretty cool," Draken commented to Zack. "It was like you knew exactly where she would emerge."
"I did know. I can read heat signatures," Zack stated. "So I focused on where hers was."
"What about Abram?" Hope asked.
Mana glanced at the deep waters. "Why don't you go down there and find out for yourself?"
"That isn't funny," Hope said, shivering. "But it does answer my question."
"You're sure that you're ok?" Brandi asked.
"Yeah… although I nearly wasn't. I don't really know how to swim," Larka confessed.
"Geez, I can see why," Draken winced. "Never had the time, huh? Well, we had better teach you how to later. We don't want that happening again."
"True…" Larka looked over at Zack. "Thanks for helping me."
"I'm glad I could help," he responded. "Draken, I advise you get back to steering the ship. We really don't have much time to waste."
"Good point. Would you please get the anchor?"
"Don't bother, I will," Brandi said to the cyborg, going over to where it was. In a few seconds, they had set sail once more.
When Brandi left Larka to do that, Malon leapt over to her, yipping anxiously. Daine followed, looking over the soaked girl. Fell came as well, handing her the Duel Disk she had dropped.
"Oh, thanks," she said, accepting it carefully. "Although I should probably wait to put it on…"
Draken overheard that. "I forgot, you're probably freezing to death! Why don't you go below the ship?"
"Alright. Thank you," Larka replied before leaving. Malon followed her.
"I'm still a bit concerned," Brandi said. "I'm going as well." Before Draken could respond, she was gone.
Zack glanced at the area that they had entered. "I would like to have some time to regain my energy before we reach the island."
"Go ahead," Draken responded. "Just be ready when we get there."
"Sure." Then he went as well.
As he entered, he saw that the lower deck was basically nothing more than an empty room. Larka was leaning against the wall in it, while Brandi had sat next to her. Malon was in her lap, whining in discomfort due to her wet clothes.
"Not much to look at, huh?" Brandi commented.
"True," Zack said before also going against the wall. "When we are about to reach the island, would one of you please approach me? I'll wake up instantly."
"Alright," Larka agreed. "Um… just a question. But you're a bit damp now, aren't you? Will that… affect your body somehow?"
"Only if I went into the water completely," Zack answered. "I am a bit resistant to water, but not enough to go into it."
"Oh. I was just curious," she said.
He pressed something on his wrist, and the closed his eyes, falling into unconsciousness.
Brandi broke the silence. "Is something wrong? You've been quiet."
"Well… I just killed someone. I've killed people before, but only when it was a full moon. It's something I have known that I would probably have to do, but it still does not make me feel any better," Larka confessed.
"Don't worry about it. I don't know what Abram was hoping to activate, but it was going to kill everyone, including himself. So you saved more lives than ones that were lost."
"Heh… thanks," she replied, stroking Malon. "I guess that's true."
"Of course it is. Don't feel guilty over that guy. Just relax so that you'll be ready when we reach the island."
"Alright…"
-----
"Land ahoy!" Draken called after some more time had passed. "Hope, would you get those three-eh, four with Malon-to come out here?"
"Aye aye captain," she joked before running off.
"If I ever get a real ship, she's going to be the deck scrubber," Draken muttered as he directed the Skull Blood Pirate Ship towards the island.
Hope ran down the stairs. "Hey, we've just about reached land! Come on up!"
"Be right there," Brandi said, standing.
Larka went over to Zack, who opened his eyes instantly. "Are we there?"
"Just about."
They went up, and looked up at the huge volcano on the island that they were approaching.
"And we've arrived!" Draken announced, bringing the side of the ship up to the island. "Everyone off please!"
They abandoned the ship, and then it vanished.
"So, now where do we go?" Hope asked.
"We can't see the base, so it's probably behind the volcano," Gaston stated.
"And we didn't go behind it while still on a ship… why?" Brandi questioned.
"Because if we had, we would have had our ship torn to pieces by the sharp rocks I saw over there," Draken stated.
"Ah."
"Well, let's get moving," Mana suggested. "How should we do this?"
"We're going to have to go through the crater of the volcano," Gaston winced. "There's no other way to get to the backside of it."
"But what if it erupts?" Hope said nervously.
"There isn't much of a chance of that happening," Brandi answered. "Madura was the one who triggered the eruption last time. Normally, it would not do so. And if Vlad tries to pull it on us, then his base will be destroyed as well."
"That's true," Hope nodded.
"According to Abram, there aren't any more duelists," Darche stated. "I'm not sure if I trust him though, so be on guard."
Climbing to the crater was easy for them. They soon arrived, and descended to the ground within it, being careful to avoid the lava inside it.
"Now we just have to get to the other side…" Draken muttered.
Suddenly, they heard a loud roar. A creature jumped in front of them, blocking them.
"Grendel!" Hope gasped.
The metal monster growled menacingly at them as it approached.
"That explains why they didn't need any other duelists," Draken muttered.
"But what can we do? We don't have anything that can stand up to him!" Hope said.
Brandi stepped forward. "Actually, we do. Please stand back everyone."
They did so, watching her as she pulled out a card. In a second, a huge monster that looked to be about as tall as a story was hissing at Grendel.
"Masque! How did you get him?" Larka asked as Mana went to the very back of the group, as far away from the demon as she could get.
"Matt gave him to me, saying to use him if needed," Brandi explained. "Masque! Kill that Metal Devilzoa now!"
Masque instantly leapt forward. Although Masque was bigger, and Grendel was made of metal, he was still swift. He leapt out of the way of Masque's claws and came forward, striking him. Again Masque tried, only to miss once more as Grendel struck his shoulder.
"It's no use!" Draken exclaimed. "Masque just isn't able to keep up with him!"
"Just watch," Brandi commanded. "He'll surprise you."
"Still, I want to be on the safe side," Draken stated. "Darche, would you please call one of your friends?"
"No problem," he replied, holding up his glowing sword.
Grendel leapt at Masque, claws bared once more. But Masque suddenly swung at the Grendel with astonishing speed, grabbing its left arm. The Metal Devilzoa screeched in pain as Masque tore the arm off and jumped back. Masque let the arm drop into the lava nearby him and braced itself again. Grendel stood up once more, snarling in anger and going completely offensive. It was much faster now, but Masque was not holding back either. The two creatures exchanged several blows. Both seemed weary but refused to give in.
Then Grendel dodged a slash, and leapt right up to Masque's three masks and slashed. The masks cracked, and Masque let out a roar of agony.
Brandi held up the Soul Card. "Come back! Return to your Soul Card before you die!"
Masque vanished, leaving the angry Grendel glaring at the group.
"He's weakened, but he can still kill us easily!" Gaston warned, drawing his sword. "Be careful guys!"
"You're going to fight that thing? You'll never win!" Mana exclaimed.
"What choice do we have?" Gaston asked.
Then another roar echoed through the crater. A Blue Eyes White Dragon came diving down, and shot a stream of white lightning at Grendel.
"Alright! He made it!" Darche said in relief.
Grendel yelped as it slammed into its chest. But it was unfazed, and before the Blue Eyes could react, charged at the group.
"No! It's immune to it!" Draken exclaimed. "Guys, watch out! The Blue Eyes can't hold it back!"
The Soul Monsters leapt in front of the group, knowing it was futile but ready to die defending their companions. The group members stared on in horror as it rushed towards them.
Then the Blue Eyes shot another stream of white lightning. But as it did so, they also heard yet another screeching roar, and a huge red fireball came flying at Grendel with amazing speed.
The two shots did what one could not. A hole tore straight through the Soul Monster's chest as Grendel let out one final, piercing scream. Then it fell backwards into the lava, sinking into it.
The group members were too astonished by the scene to do anything but stare on as their saviors landed in front of them. The Blue Eyes hissed gently as it looked at the other creature.
It was a slender, pitch-black dragon. It had three huge claws on its feet and three even bigger ones on each of its hands. Its tail, which whipped through the air, was amazingly long. Its wings were gigantic, and were much larger than the Blue Eyes White Dragon's wings. It had sharp white teeth and blood-red eyes.
"No way," Draken muttered, walking over to it with a look of disbelief. Darche strode forward confidently, while the others followed at a wary distance.
The dragon bent down, allowing its rider to jump off of it. It was a girl that looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. She wore a long, blood-red dress with short sleeves and black shoes. She had long, black hair that fell about midway down her back, and emerald-green eyes.
"Draken? May I ask what is going on here?" she said softly, her vivid eyes filled with concern.
To be continued…