Snow day today! Hooray! I got to spend the whole day writing, and it was quite fun!
Captain Obvious: Thanks. It will get better, hopefully!
John: Actually, Draken had fewer changes than most of the group members. But he did improve it a bit.
Demon Fan: -Buzzer sound- Wrong! Vlad is not working for anyone but himself. There may be more people on their foe list than the group thinks, but when it comes to Vlad, he is certainly not working for anyone.
Chapter 18: Hatred's Marks
Vlad stared at the device in disbelief. "They defeated Grendel? They're much better than I thought they would be." He got up. "It does not make much of a difference though. Viken, Malady, get ready to intercept them. We'll see how far they manage to get through this base."
"It should be quite interesting," Viken stated.
"I look forward to facing her… the one I have desired to kill for so long…" Malady hissed.
Viken took out another syringe. "Sir, are you sure we should stick with our original plan of being on separate stories? I doubt Malady will be able to keep herself under control without constant uses of these."
"Then let her be the first one to fight them," Vlad decided. "That way, it will be easier to make her calm down. But really, I see no problem if she shows her insane nature in this duel. She can still think well enough to duel. In a way, it will be more beneficial-they will surely be worse off trying to face her like this, after all."
"Alright then." He injected some of the liquid into Malady, causing her eyes to become clear once more.
"How long will it last?" Malady asked him.
"Long enough for you to get down there. I suspect it will stop affecting you when you see… her," he stated, wisely avoiding saying Hope's name.
"Ah. Then that will be fine. I will report as soon as I have dealt with them," Malady told them, walking away.
Viken waited until she was gone before speaking again. "I don't know how long she will last, but I do have a few ideas to try out. Some specimens need testing, and I am sure this will be my best opportunity to do so."
"Go ahead then," Vlad shrugged. "Whatever you think will stop them."
"Fine." Then Viken left as well.
Vlad grabbed his Duel Disk and put it on his arm, and then went out of the other door.
-----
They all stared at the girl, who seemed nervous to be under their gaze. But she continued to stare at Draken, waiting for an answer.
She wasn't the only one who wanted answers though.
"Draken? Do you know this person?" Hope asked. She looked over at her again, and felt something.
I feel as though… I have met her. But how can that be? How can I know her? I've never seen her, until now.
She took a look at her aura. It was darkened with sorrow, but brightened by another feeling that Hope could not identify.
Draken looked very uneasy at the situation. He looked away, unsure of what to say. "Um… well…" He sighed, and turned back to them. "I knew I would have to tell you guys eventually, but I didn't think I would have to so soon. Oh well, it can't be helped." He looked over at the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Thanks for your help. You can leave now."
The Blue Eyes hissed softly one more time before flying away.
"Let's go back for a few minutes, to the top of the crater," Draken suggested. "Then we can talk."
The girl grasped onto her Soul Monster's large hand, and the dragon leapt up at his words, easily flying to the designated area. It landed and lay down, folding back its wings and blinking at them. The girl sat down, leaning against one of its huge wings.
"Show-off," Gaston muttered as they set off.
In a few minutes, they reached the location the girl was in and sat down as well.
Hope was still staring at her. The girl looked up at her, and froze.
What is this? I have never seen this girl, yet I think we know each other. That cannot be though…
Draken looked at a loss. "I don't know how to begin…"
The girl examined the group members. "They're the ones you told me about?" Her voice was still quiet, and it seemed as though it would hardly ever rise.
"Some of them," Draken nodded. "The others are elsewhere-I can explain later. But for now, why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Alright…" She smiled shyly at them. "I am delighted to meet you all. I have heard so many wonderful things about all of you. My name is Kisara. My Soul Monster is a Red Eyes Black Dragon, also known as Kazel."
"I am honored," Kazel said. The voice of it was very surprising-it sounded sweet, almost song-like.
"Whoa!" Gaston exclaimed. "You can talk?"
"You thought I couldn't?" Kazel asked, eyes flashing with amusement.
"To be honest, no, I didn't," Gaston replied. "But judging by your voice… you're a female, right?"
"Correct," she responded, in a pleased tone. "Not many catch on to that."
"Nice to meet you as well," Hope replied. "I'm Hope, and this is Gaston. That's Brandi, her Soul Monster is Mana. Fell and Larka are those two, they're brother and sister. Their Soul Monsters are Daine and Malon, respectively. And that's Zack; he doesn't have a Soul Monster. It seems you already know Draken and Darche."
"That we do," Kazel confirmed. "So, now that we know each other, shall we begin telling each other our tales?"
"Well… I guess I'll start explaining to them how I met you two," Draken began. "A while ago, before all that madness with Thanatos began for you guys, I had decided to enter at nighttime to see if anyone was on. I had left earlier that day to read for a bit, but I was bored after a while so I went back in. None of you were on though, so I just wandered around the mountains area."
"But as we were walking, a Blue Eyes White Dragon suddenly came diving down. It told us that it had seen another dragon in trouble, with a girl, and that he wanted my help. So we boarded him and set off."
"He took us to a location nearby the woods and landed softly behind some trees that were a fair distance away. Darche and I approached on our own."
"It turned out that there were two men, with a Zera and Animal King Behemoth as Soul Monsters. They had attacked Kazel, and with their abuse of support cards, she was unable to continue fighting. One of the men was keeping an eye on her while the other was beating up Kisara. Seeing this, I attacked him by using The Fused Sword, Murasame Blade. I ran him through the heart, which shocked me. I had thought that the safeguards were still up to prevent deaths, but it looks as though they are still down… either way, Darche took care of the other guy. The Soul Monsters seemed weakened with the loss of their masters, so the nearby Blue Eyes White Dragon killed them as well."
"But both Kisara and Kazel were in horrible shape, especially Kisara. Kazel was still conscious, so she managed to give me directions to where they live. Kisara's parents died when she was young, so she lives alone except for Kazel. They had no family or friends to look after them, and knowing she couldn't help Kisara much by herself, she agreed with my idea of coming to assist them."
"I gave them a few medication cards-you know, Red Potion and the like. Then after I helped Kisara teleport out, Kazel left, and we instantly went to North Carolina-that's where Kisara lives."
"I never would have guessed," Brandi said sarcastically.
Draken ignored her. "We arrived shortly, and I soon realized that the injuries that had been inflicted on Kisara were too much for a few days work to heal. She also had a fever, which definitely had me feeling anxious. The good news was that Kazel was healing quickly, so at least she would be ok soon. But I knew I couldn't leave long enough to tell you guys where I was. I'm sorry I worried you all."
"It's fine. We understand now," Hope assured. "Please continue."
"After about three days, Kazel was almost completely recovered. The problem was that Kisara still hadn't woken up. I was very worried by this point. But at the end of the fourth day, she finally came around." He laughed. "She was a bit shy at first, but after getting to know each other we spent most of the next day just talking. I told her about you guys, and some of the things we had done."
"Did you tell her everything we did?" Zack inquired.
"Nah, I knew better than that," Draken replied. "On the sixth day, the fever was completely gone and she was good enough to get up and around. So I decided to see how you guys were doing, and entered Teknisk Wereld to try and find all of you."
"When I saw what the situation was like, I knew I had to try and help you guys, so I told Kisara I had to go and that I'd come back in a few days, if I could. I also said that Teknisk Wereld was dangerous at the moment, and that she should stay out of it since she was still a bit weakened. It looks like she didn't care though," he added, looking over at her.
Kisara nodded slightly. "I was worried about what you might be facing, and wanted to see if I could help somehow."
"After all you had done for us, it only seemed fair," Kazel stated.
"Why did those guys attack you in the first place?" Larka asked.
"I was just traveling through the forest when I ran into the two of them. They thought I had overheard them, and in truth, I did hear a bit. They had been talking about a virus of some kind, and how their boss was spreading it…"
"Lackeys of Vlad?" Gaston inferred.
"Most likely, by the sounds of it," Draken confirmed. "But what a coincidence!"
"They attacked, but I fled. When I got outside of the forest Kazel was able to fight, but they overpowered her. I barely managed to stay conscious long enough to see Draken kill them."
"You guys know what else has happened," Draken finished. "I took a taxi here from North Carolina with Darche. Believe me, it was one large fee. Everything since then you've seen as well."
Brandi grinned. "So, is Kisara your girlfriend?"
"What?! Hey! That's not true!" he protested.
Kisara looked alarmed. "We just met… isn't that a bit too serious to consider at the moment?"
"Aw, why not? You two would make a cute couple," Mana teased.
"If you don't shut up now, you're going to join Grendel's corpse in that lava," Draken threatened.
"You're no fun," Mana muttered.
Draken gave Kisara and Kazel a quick summary of what was going on.
"That sounds terrible," Kisara murmured as Draken finished.
"It's dangerous though," Draken stated. "Are you sure you don't want to go back? We can handle this on our own."
"After flying all the way here, we aren't about to leave," Kazel said dryly.
"I guess so," Draken sighed. "Alright then. If you two want to join us, go ahead. Is that ok with the rest of you?"
"Why not?" Larka replied for all of them.
"Then let's get to the other side of this crater," Hope said.
"You won't hear any arguments against that," Brandi replied as they got up.
Kisara stayed with them this time as Kazel flew above, on the lookout for any ambushes that might be waiting. She shortly returned though.
"I saw their base. There appears to be no guards on the outside, but I am not sure what it will be like once you enter."
"Thanks," Hope responded. "So it's just over this crater?"
"Yes."
They soon climbed out, and stared in awe at the building before them.
It was a very tall, light brown building that stood before them. The base was a pentagon, and looked to be about five stories tall. On the top of that building were five towers that were aligned with the corners of the pentagon. They went up to about the top of the volcano, but still could not have been seen by just looking at the volcano. This explained why they had not seen it the first time they had been here.
"It's huge!" Larka gasped.
"And we have to go through it," Draken declared. "You all ready?"
Kazel eyed the building. "I am afraid I will not be able to get in. I will have to return to my Soul Card until you are done in there."
"Alright. We'll see you in a bit," Darche said.
Kisara took out the Soul Card, and Kazel vanished. Then they went up to the door, nervous yet determined.
As they came to the door, they realized it had an electric lock.
"Zack, could you take care of this please?" Hope asked, looking at the number pad.
"Of course." He stepped up to it, holding his left hand over it. It began to glow blue. After several seconds, he input the code, and the door slid open.
"I didn't know you could do that," Brandi commented.
"He did it when we were saving Larka from Viken," Hope explained.
Zack eyed the open doors. "Are you sure you want me to come? This is the last chance for me to leave. If I don't, I may be forced to turn against you."
"We'll take the risks," Larka said.
"Don't you want to kill Vlad?" Draken reminded him. "You are the one who has been most deeply affected by him, after all."
"Yes, that is true," Zack replied. "Very well then. I must thank you all for giving me this chance."
They entered, the door shutting behind them. They had come into a black hallway with emerald green lights on the sides of the walls. They gave the room a shallow illumination, but it was a very creepy atmosphere.
"Nice place," Draken muttered sarcastically.
"Should we activate a Dark Piercing Light?" Hope asked. "I have one if we need to."
"That would give our location away," Zack pointed out.
"But we can barely see!" Mana protested. "So if they ambushed us, we'd be finished!"
"Do not worry," Daine said. "Malon and I will know when someone is waiting for us."
"If you say so," Brandi murmured. She didn't like going on when it was so hard to see, but she saw the wisdom in not having a light.
They went down the hall slowly. As they neared the end of it, Daine and Malon halted.
"There are some soldiers up ahead," Daine said quietly. "Three of those mechanical soldiers and three wolf soldiers. What do you suggest we do?"
Zack brought out his switchblade. "I'll take down the mechanical soldiers. They caught me on surprise with their speed last time, but I should be able to defeat them now. Fell, can you get the wolf soldiers?"
Fell nodded.
"Hope, Kisara, stay towards the back," Gaston ordered. "We'll go first. Draken, you up for some fighting?"
"Let me at them," Draken said, inserting a card into his Duel Disk. The Fused Weapon, Murasame Blade appeared in his hand.
"Don't try to fight them unless they go specifically after the rest of you," Zack ordered. "You could probably destroy the mechanical soldiers, but only Brandi, Fell, and Larka are fast enough to kill the wolf soldiers. And we can't have Brandi go after them unless we're desperate; this is not a good place to be dealing with side effects for tearing your muscles."
"Mana can heal me," Brandi stated.
"True. But let's save those until we get to some higher floors, at least. If Mana runs out of energy, we'll have to resort to support cards, which aren't nearly as effective."
Brandi still looked displeased, but she nodded.
"Let's go then," Zack said, going forward with Fell.
Then Fell lunged forward, going into the room ahead. It was easier to see in, due to the bigger lights there. But the green color still made it hard to see.
But it was all the more advantageous for Fell. His black form melded into the darkness perfectly, and he was able to kill one of the wolf soldiers before it even knew what had happened. Zack also disposed of a mechanical soldier, cutting into the back of its neck. Apparently, just like Zack, that was one of its weak points.
The others realized what was happening and attacked. A mechanical soldier tried to get to the group, but Zack leapt in front of it, halting it. A wolf soldier went after Fell, and they leapt at each other, claws flashing in the air. The other mechanical soldier made it to the group, but Draken was ready. He dodged a blow it sent at him and killed it the same way Zack had.
The last wolf soldier lunged at the group too, but Larka went forward, slashing at it. It jumped back, easily dodging her attack. But while it had been distracted, Brandi had gone behind it. Now she slammed her fist into its head. Its neck snapped as it fell to the ground.
Zack spun aside from his opponent, causing it to stumble past him. That was when he brought down his switchblade, destroying it.
Fell leapt right over his opponent, and as it turned, he brought his clawed hand through the creature's heart.
"That wasn't too bad," Brandi said, ignoring the corpse at her feet.
"Let's hurry on," Hope suggested. "The quicker we get through this place, the happier I will be."
-----
Max looked up as he heard the door open. He felt his mouth go dry as he saw who it was.
"Max…" Abby said, walking in.
He forced himself to speak. "Hi mom."
She sat down on the side of his bed. "How do you feel now?"
"It's painful, but it will go away eventually. Or at least, the physical wounds will."
"But the others will not fade as easily," Abby said softly. "They never do, after all."
Max stared at the ceiling.
"Max, I wanted to tell you something."
"Hm?"
"Don't kill yourself."
Max turned to her. "Why not? I'll die soon enough anyway. Why not stop the pain now?"
"Don't you see how many people depend on you?" Abby said. "All of your friends, Matt, Brandi… they need you, and so do I. You cannot give up on life. If you are still considering it, remember that you will be giving the pain you have to others. Is that what you want?"
Max thought that over, and then sighed. "Alright. I'll stay alive for as long as I get to then, I suppose."
She embraced him very gently, so his wounds would not hurt him any more than they already did. "Thank you." Then she got up. "Matt said he did not want me staying up for too long, so I should probably leave now."
"He has a good reason to worry," Max stated.
She smiled. "I guess so. I'll see you later." Then she left.
Max lay back, thinking over what had occurred.
-----
The group had found a staircase in the next room, and went up it. It led to another dim room with green lights. They stepped into the next hallway and made their way forward.
Daine sniffed the air. "There are more mechanical soldiers ahead. This time, they are in the hallway though. Let us be careful, as we have little room to fight."
"Maybe Fell could sneak up on them again?" Mana suggested.
In response to that, Fell went quietly forward. The others waited.
A crash broke the silence. Fell came bolting back through the hall, stopping a fair distance from the group.
Three more mechanical soldiers ran up, charging at Fell. Zack ran up to assist instantly, while the Soul Monsters went as well.
Fell leapt out of the way of one, and tried to slash the back of its neck. He missed though, scraping the machine's shoulder with a harsh screeching noise. But before it could attack Fell, Daine lunged on it from the behind, sinking his teeth into its weak point.
Mana sent a ball of dark energy flying at another one. To her shock, it did nothing to the mechanical soldier. It went forward to strike her, but halted, and fell to the ground before her.
"It may not have affected him, but it was a good distraction. Thanks," Gaston said, pulling his sword out of its neck.
"No problem. But they must be made with some pretty strong stuff if they can stand against my magic," Mana commented.
Draken slashed at the last mechanical soldier, but this was no better than Mana's attacks. It gave Zack the opportunity he needed though. The switchblade sunk into the thing's neck.
"That was close," Hope commented.
"I don't get it. Weren't you going to ambush them? Yet you came running back here," Brandi said.
"They were expecting me," Fell stated.
"So it looks like all of the soldiers know we're here now," Draken sighed. "That makes things a bit harder, but we can still pull this off."
"I guess that means there's no chance of ambushing them," Gaston inferred. "We should be careful; they move more quietly than us, and know this area better than we do."
They moved on in silence, listening for the smallest hint of the enemy.
Soon, they reached a grey metal door that slid open as they approached. They stepped inside, and it closed as the last person, who happened to be Kisara, came through.
This room was lit up with dark purple lights, which made visibility even worse. However, as the door shut, a red light came down on the group, and another one on the sole person that had been waiting for them.
"Malady…" Hope said softly, stepping forward. A red light followed her as she went closer to her foe, and away from the group.
"So at last, you have arrived," Malady growled.
Gaston ran forward to join his companion. "Hope, get back there! She might attack at any second!"
"You have no need to worry yourself over that," Malady stated. "I will not kill her instantly. No, I have something more painful in mind…"
She closed her eyes, and Hope suddenly saw her aura again. Before, it had been filled with so much hate that Hope had been unable to look at it. But now, even as she flinched away, dropping it, she felt the increased level of detestation at her stab at her fiercely.
Then Malady's eyes opened. Hope stared in horror at them. Her pupils and irises were pure black, and the whites had become red.
"Good God," Draken whispered. Everyone else was too stunned to say anything.
She looked over at Hope, her mouth twisted in an insane grin. "Do you see what I have become? A being that exists to torture others, and lives off of their despair. But it has not been enough. You are the one I want. Now that you are finally facing me, do not expect to leave this room alive!" She reached over to her Duel Disk, turning it on. As she did so, the watchers realized her Duel Disk looked just like Thanatos'.
They must have given it to him after all… Hope realized, turning hers on as well.
"It looks like we have no choice," Gaston said. "But I don't like this at all."
"I don't either," Hope replied. "It would be worse to turn away though. As long as she lives, I will be frightened that she could appear any minute… this time, as much as I am against killing, I will make sure she is dead!"
Hope: 8000
Malady: 8000
Another red light appeared, showing the battle field their cards would appear on.
"You think you can beat me? Highly unlikely," Malady said. The calm words were much more threatening than they usually would be due to that expression of a maniac still on her face. "However, I underestimated you last time. It will not happen again."
Hope did not respond.
"Since I lost last time, I will go first. I lay one monster in defense mode. That is all."
"Alright..." Hope was slightly suspicious; from what she remembered of Malady's deck, there were several magic and trap cards. Yet she had not played any; was she saving them? "I summon Mystic Swordsman Lv2! (900/0) He attacks your monster!"
"He is far too weak to destroy my Stealth Bird. (700/1700)"
"His effect makes up for that! Whenever he attacks a monster in face down defense mode, damage calculation is skipped, and your monster is instantly destroyed."
"Just like that blasted Severing Samurai…" Malady muttered.
"I lay one card down and end my turn!"
"What's with that Mystic Swordsman?" Draken asked. "I've never seen Hope use it before."
"I have not either," Zack stated.
"Oh, that's right… Draken, you weren't here when Matt stopped by, and Zack, you were unconscious at the time," Brandi explained. "He came by and helped upgrade their decks. Actually Zack, I think he might have left you some cards that assist Machines."
"So that's where these came from," he realized, taking out the stack of cards Matt had left. "Hm… this might be my last chance to adjust my deck. If you do not mind, I will do that while Hope is dueling."
"Go ahead. You should have enough time," Darche said.
Hope and Malady had not been listening to the exchange though.
"I lay another monster in defense mode, and place two other cards face down. That's it," Malady told her.
"So you finally laid down a few cards," Hope stated. "I'll activate my face down card, Tempest! This destroys both of your magic or trap cards."
"Afraid not," Malady sneered. "I activate Judgment of Anubis. This counter trap can only be activated when you try to destroy my magic or trap cards with your own, and it requires that I discard one card from my hand to activate it, so I will get rid of Bowgunian. Your Tempest is negated and destroyed, and I choose one of your monsters. You lose Life Points equal to its attack. I will, of course, destroy your Mystic Swordsman."
Hope: 7100
Malady: 8000
"Argh…" Hope growled. "It may not have affected my Life Points that much, but I still needed him… oh well. I'll summon Surprising Matasa! (1300/800) Then I equip him with The Fused Weapon, Murasame Blade. This raises his attack by 800. (2100/800) Matasa attacks!"
"You have destroyed my Death Koala. (1100/1800) However, his reverse effect still activates. You lose 400 Life Points for each card in your hand."
"I have three cards," Hope told her. "So that's 1200 Life Points…"
Hope: 5900
Malady: 8000
"However, Matasa's ability allows him to attack twice. So he attacks again!"
"I will activate Babel Tower in response to your attack. I trust you remember what this does?"
Hope winced. "Yes. Each time one of us plays a magic card, your Babel Tower gets a magic counter on it. The person who adds the fourth magic counter to it loses 3000 Life Points."
"Correct. But your attack still goes through."
Hope: 5900
Malady: 5900
"I can only hope for the best… I end my turn by laying one card down," Hope said.
Malady smirked as she looked at her next card. "I play Jar of Greed, to draw two cards. This also adds a counter to Babel Tower. Then I play Level B Restriction Map."
"That name sounds familiar… I think Amy had it in her deck," Mana commented. "But I don't know what it does."
"Me either," Hope replied.
"It is a permanent magic card that changes all level four or higher monsters on the field to defense mode," Malady explained.
"Hm… well, Matasa is level three, so I don't have to worry about that yet," Hope stated.
"I would think again. I lay a card face down, and play Black Snake Sickness! This adds a third magic counter to Babel Tower as well. Then I end my turn."
Hope paled. "Black Snake Sickness already? I should have known I would face it sooner or later…"
"What does that do?" Kisara asked softly. "I have never seen it used in a duel before…"
Brandi looked over at her Duel Disk, noticing it for the first time. "How often do you duel?"
"Not that frequently," she admitted.
"I see. I think I know what it does, but I'm not sure. I wasn't there when Hope first dueled Malady," Brandi explained.
"I was," Draken said. "On Malady's standby phases, both of them will lose 200 Life Points. On her next one, they'll lose 400, then 800, 1600, and so on. Malady has several cards that do direct damage, so she will usually have higher Life Points. That means she'll manage to live against the Black Snake Sickness while Hope's Life Points fall low enough to be fatal."
"Oh…" Kisara watched anxiously as Hope drew.
Hope sighed in relief at the sight of it. "Whew… I think I just may be able to pull this off."
"I'm afraid not," Malady stated. "If you play any magic cards, you will be on the verge of losing. For now, I activate Destruction Ring on Matasa! This destroys him, and deals Life Point damage equal to his attack to both of us."
"Not to both of us!" Hope declared. "I activate my trap card, Holy Life Barrier!"
The ring of grenades detonated, throwing Malady back. But a clear barrier appeared in front of Hope, stopping the blast from reaching her.
"I have to discard a card to use it, so I'll choose my Sealing Swords of Light. For the rest of this turn, all damage received from you becomes zero."
"Alright! Not only is Hope pretty much immune to damage from Destruction Ring, but she can get rid of Babel Tower now!" Larka exclaimed.
"It also doesn't prevent Malady from taking the damage from her Destruction Ring," Zack pointed out.
Hope: 5900
Malady: 3800
"You still will not be able to win…" Malady growled.
"We'll see about that! I play Calling Reinforcements. This magic card lets me search for a level four or lower Warrior Sub-Type and add it to my hand. It also triggers your Babel Tower, but thanks to Holy Life Barrier it won't do much to me."
The tower exploded, but the barrier came up once more, nullifying the blast.
"Then I summon Silent Swordsman Lv3! (1000/1000) He attacks you directly!"
Hope: 5900
Malady: 2800
"Another level card. What is up with these guys?" Draken muttered.
"I end my turn at that," Hope stated.
"I draw… and Black Snake Sickness activates."
Hope braced herself, but she could not help but cry out as she felt the tattoos burn into her.
"Hope! Are you alright?" Gaston asked anxiously.
"I-I think so…" She forced herself not to scream out again as she felt the agony coming from it. "But it's so much worse than last time…"
"It feeds off of my hatred," Malady smirked. "So now you know just how deep that hatred for you runs."
Unable to support herself on her burning legs, Hope fell to her knees. This is just for my legs… if Will even felt half of the pain I'm feeling now, and through his whole body, I can't imagine how he has managed to live this long… it would be such terrible torture… we have to get a cure for him, we have to!
"Can you stand up?" Gaston questioned.
"Yeah…" She shakily rose.
"We each lose 200 Life Points this time," Malady stated. The Black Snake Sickness marks all over her body were glowing a vivid black as she said this.
Hope: 5700
Malady: 2600
"Then I lay one card down, and end my turn."
"I draw, and now that it is my standby phase, I can activate my Silent Swordsman's effect!" Hope announced.
"His effect?"
"Yes. I sacrifice him to search my deck and special summon Silent Swordsman Lv5! (2300/1000)"
Everyone stared at the warrior as he emerged. He wore a dark blue trench coat and white gloves that nearly reached his elbows, along with a black helmet that covered the top portion of his head. He had blond hair, but it was impossible to see his eyes-they were hidden in the shadows, although his confident smirk was not. He carried a blade that was as long as he was tall, if not longer. It was quite wide as well, yet he amazingly held it with just one hand.
Malady did not seem very impressed though. "He may look strong, but it is pointless when he cannot attack."
"That doesn't really matter, seeing as he can attack," Hope grinned.
"What? How?!"
"Silent Swordsman Lv5 isn't affected by your magic effects. Now, he attacks directly!"
She smirked. "It is lucky I had this down then. I activate Magic Cylinder."
Hope: 3400
Malady: 2600
"Dang it…" Hope muttered, getting up from where the blast had knocked her down. "I end my turn."
"I draw, and the Black Snake Sickness activates."
Hope blinked back tears of pain as the snakes coiled upwards. By this time, they had reached her chest.
Hope: 3000
Malady: 2200
"Then I lay one card face down and end my turn."
"I attack with Silent Swordsman!"
"I'm afraid not," she replied, flipping over her face down card. "I activate Gravity Bind, so that no level four or higher monster can attack. Your Swordsman is useless against traps, is he not?"
"Dang it…" Hope muttered. "I end my turn…"
"And Black Snake Sickness activates again."
Hope: 2200
Malady: 1400
"But you'll be dead next turn due to Black Snake Sickness," Gaston pointed out.
"True. But Hope will go with me. I play Hellfire. It deals 500 damage to me and 1000 to her."
Hope: 1200
Malady: 900
"I don't mind losing; my body is adapted to the Black Snake Sickness, after all," Malady smirked. "Hope will not be as lucky though. I end my turn."
"Oh geez… she has to draw something this turn, or it's over!" Draken exclaimed.
"Come on Hope…" Larka whispered. "You can win…"
Hope raised her hand to her Duel Disk shakily. The tattoos had now coiled around her arms, and her whole body was filled with pain. But she drew, and felt relief seep through her.
"I play Cyclone, destroying Gravity Bind!"
"Impossible! How could you manage to draw that, out of all things?!"
"Because I have to win this, but not for just myself! Will needs help, and you were in the way. Silent Swordsman finishes you!"
The swordsman's attack was so fast that Malady did not realize what he had done until he vanished. Pain coursed through her chest, and barely managed to stay standing.
Hope: 1200
Malady: 0
"Nice way to end the duel," Darche commented.
"Awesome! You beat her again!" Draken exclaimed. "I'm having a hard time deciding which of them was better!"
Hope felt the tattoos fade away, as Malady's burned into her. But she staggered towards Hope.
"I have waited too long for this moment… I will not be deprived of the revenge I seek!"
Then the red lights vanished. Alarmed, Hope stepped back.
"Hey! What's going on here?" she heard Mana say.
Hope suddenly heard someone behind her. She turned, and managed to see that it was Malady lunging at her; those insane eyes filled with hatred were the only thing she could see though.
Then she abruptly halted, eyes widening. And as she fell, right before her eyes shut forever, Hope thought she saw peace within them.
"Who was that?" Larka's voice said.
Hope took a few minutes trying to speak. "It… it was Malady."
"Damn it! Where did all the lights go?" Draken complained.
As he said that, the red and green lights came back on, illuminating the room. Hope saw the corpse of Malady lying in front of her, the black glow of the snake tattoos dying away. There was a sword buried in her back, between her shoulder blades.
"Gaston? Did you do that?" she asked as he approached the corpse.
"Yes. I heard her coming and didn't have much time to think. I'm sorry I was so reckless though… what if it had hit you?"
"It's alright. I trust you," she assured. "You did the right thing. If you hadn't, she would have killed me."
"You threw that in the dark and still hit her? That isn't an easy feat," Zack commented, putting away the cards he had decided he would not use and sliding his refined deck into his Duel Disk.
"Gaston's certainly good with the sword," Draken commented. "But I wasn't aware he could throw it."
"I practiced a bit," Gaston explained. "After seeing Will's skill with the kunai I just thought it might help someday. I'd prefer not having to rely on it though."
"I don't blame you," Darche agreed. "Swords are meant to stay in your hand, after all."
Kisara was staring at the corpse of Malady. Draken noticed what she was looking at. "Hey, is something wrong?"
She looked up at him. "I have never seen someone die until you killed those two men that were attacking me, and until now. The soldiers were different… they were mindless killers. But this… it's just something I am not used to."
"I doubt you ever will be used to it," Draken said. "I've killed several people, and I still don't like it. But sometimes, we have to kill some to save many."
"That is true…" Kisara murmured. But she still looked saddened.
"Well, shall we go on?" Brandi asked. "It's good that Malady's out of the way, but we still have to deal with Viken and Vlad."
Gaston had wiped the blood off his sword with Malady's shirt, and put it back onto his belt. "Yes. Let's go on."
They proceeded through the door on the other side to another hallway, this time with the green lights. They continued down it until they found another room, with another staircase. This they went on, Zack first and Kisara last.
-----
Vlad raised an eyebrow as he listened. "So, Malady is dead… I almost regret that. She was quite useful, despite her flaws. But I have all of the Black Snake Sickness from her that I need anyway… so I suppose it does not matter." He smiled coldly to himself. "I wonder how Viken will fare."
To be continued…