Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! But you know that already.
Chapter 8: Jailbreak! Part 4: Freedom Fight
"Oh this is quite lovely," Aundren said sarcastically. He backed up as the five Magic Swordsmen advanced, swords ready. Cy, Svrion, Celton, and Hufanse agreed silently. They each had different things going on in their heads. Let's have a look, shall we?
Oh dear, this is quite a challenge to overcome, isit not? I imagine that we are going to have a tough time with this too. Perhaps Hufanse and I should nothave tried to come over to the Light Kingdom, but what choice did we have? It was either die, escape, or join the Dark forces like our brothers. At least we had some adventure this way, though I still wish I had longer to live.
Oh…man, we're going down! There's no way that the five of us can tackle the five of them. Maybe me, Aundren, and Celton have the skill, but Cy and Svrion, especially Cy, might not stand a chance…but I will not let Cy get hurt! No way! I will protect her…hopefully…
This is perfect! Just perfect! I can't believe I let Cy talk me into this. I knew I shouldn't have listened to her from the start. Her idea to rescue Svrion and the others was stupid, I knew that. Now look what happened. I'm not even going to get my Staff and be a Dark Magician now. All thanks to Cy…next time, if there is one, I'm not listening to her and her stupid rescue plans.
Well…I guess this is going to be fun. Yeah, right! First Tanks, then columns of light, and now Magic Swordsmen. Wonderful…I hope I remember some of the basic spells Grandfather taught me, cause I know Cy, and it's highly likely I'm going to have to do some of the fighting for her. Oh well, at least she came to rescue me…
Can today possibly get any worse? Come on…okay, rescuing Svrion by myself was probably not the best idea, even with an annoying brother tagging along. But seriously, how did today end up so messed up? I want to start over…but it's too late. Well, it's fight the Magic Swordsmen, or die. Gee, that's a cheerful thought.
"May I ask," queried one of the Magic Swordsmen, "why are three teenagers of the Light Kingdom breaking into the Labyrinth – of all places, the Death Dungeon – to rescue a pair of evildoers? The times have already become dangerous with threats of war coming over the border everyday. Now we have trouble at home too?"
"There's a reason, sir," Svrion boldly answered. "And it's because people are so concerned with their safety that they don't stop to erase society's stereotypes. Not all from the Dark Kingdom are bad, and that's why we're helping Hufanse and Aundren. They are two of the few that can help us." The Magic Swordsmen looked at each other. Cy bit her lip.
Nice convincing, though, I doubt it will work. I know Magic Swordsmen… they can be stubborn…and very attached to the law…
"Look, times of war call for strict rules and policies. The two are imprisoned here for gathering intelligence, you are for helping them, and now the other two are going to be tried for trying to break you all out. And therefore, we will need to be taking you…"
"Not without a fight you won't!" Hufanse challenged. His voice echoed unsupported through the walls of the Labyrinth, ending all thoughts of peaceful negotiations. Svrion, Celton, Cy, and Aundren grimaced. The Magic Swordsmen became serious.
"Five on five, a fair deal!" Hufanse nodded, and he was the only one who did. "Two minutes to prepare." The Magic Swordsmen turned the corner for a few moments. Svrion wheeled on Hufanse.
"Now look what you did!" he hissed. "You've challenged them to an official Duel!"
"I was nervous!" Cy sighed and looked at the two of them.
"Well, we better think of a strategy then," she suggested. The others nodded grimly. What choice did they have? Cy's already thought of it: Fight or die… well, then there was always… running…
"Guys!" Celton suddenly said. "I just thought of something. Magic Swordsmen patrol the area, yes, but they always stay close to the exit… hurry, look around, the exit's around here somewhere!" Hufanse's eyes lit up.
"Perfect! We can finally get out of here!"
"We do not have enough time!" Aundren protested. "Two minutes is not sufficient for this task. We need to distract them, make some sort of diversion, and then only can we scan the area."
"What do you suppose we do?" Svrion asked. The question set the five of them pondering for an answer.
"I got an idea," Cy said. "Hufanse, Aundren, Celton… our best fighters. The three of you take them on. I know, three on five is not fair, but Svrion and I will try to find the exit. When we give you the signal, hurry and come over to us…" Hufanse and Aundren bit their lip.
"Risky, yes, but worth it…" they finally decided. "Now, everyone, agreement!" The five of them put their hands together and pulled back with a shout. Soon, they heard the same from their opponents. It was time to begin.
The Duel started out by the Formation. Hufanse, Aundren, and Celton – as it was agreed – stood in the front row as Cy and Svrion took the back. On the other side, the Swordsmen took a circular form. The two teams nodded. Ready…
As with every Duel, the process continued to a period of silence where the opponents merely stared at each other, trying to mess up the other guys' brains. It was the moment of psychological attack, quickly followed by the verbal assault, and then finished by the physical onslaught.
"You five are going to eat our dust!" Celton said, starting the ceremonial insulting procedure.
"Not if we can slap you upside the head first. And then you'll be left eating your own dust!"
"By the time we're through, you'll be covered in it!"
"By the time we're through, you won't have any dust left!"
"I'll have plenty of dust, you better watch your own!"
"We're going to finish off your dust and you'll be sorry!"
"Celton!" Cy motioned for him to stop. The Magic Swordsman doing the attack slightly turned red from embarrassment before preparing. The final stage was about to begin.
Since it was definitely Cy and her little comrades that had the disadvantage, they pulled off the first attack. Hufanse and Aundren started things of with a bang, quite literally. The Magic Swordsmen coughed and backed up as the explosion didn't make its target, but still sent a smoke diversion into the air. Seeing it as her chance, Cy took Svrion's hand and rushed into the nearest path.
Two simultaneous shots blasted through the smoke and forced Celton, Hufanse, and Aundren to duck. The smoke cleared. The Magic Swordsmen looked around.
"Where are the two younger ones?" they demanded. Hufanse shrugged.
"I don't know!" The head of the Swordsmen cocked his head to the side and two of them nodded. Then, they went off in search of Cy and Svrion.
"Oh no!" Celton muttered under his breath as he chased after them. Hufanse and Aundren barely had time to protest before the remaining four opponents rained sparks on them.
"Two on four… this is really not fair!" Hufanse whined.
"Come on, Hufanse. Muster up your courage. There is no way we can fight this battle divided."
"Even united, it's hopeless…"
"Destiny chooses not to help the faint at heart… believe that you can do it, Hufanse… you take the right and I'll take the left." Hufanse rolled his eyes.
"Okay, let's carry on, shall we?"
………
"You really think we'll be able to find the exit, Cy?"
"Don't be doubtful, Svrion. You just might make the only thing driving me disappear." She stopped to catch her breath. Cy and Svrion had been running like the devil was behind them for a few minutes now. Now, they stopped to orient themselves. They were of course, still in the wretched Labyrinth. However, the brown walls had started to melt into a green faded appearance and their height had started to shrink.
"I think we're close," Svrion observed. Cy nodded.
"But… how exactly are we going to target in on the escape route."
"Ask the Labyrinth."
"Very funny…"
"No, I'm serious. When I wanted to change the walls to save you, that's precisely what I did." Cy turned to face Svrion with a surprised expression.
"You asked the Labyrinth."
"Yeah…" Before Cy could exactly figure out how, the wall behind her exploded into tiny pieces. With a yelp, she fell into Svrion's arms.
"Thought you could escape, think again!" Cy and Svrion whipped around. One of the Magic Swordsmen stood there, a ball of magic ready in his arms.
"Please, don't do it!" Cy pleaded. The Swordsman smiled insanely.
"You are so pitiful you know… I recognize you… you are my friend, Neo's, daughter, aren't you?" Cy nodded. The Swordsman threw his sword to the side.
"Humor me… I give you… let's see… three seconds… pull off your best attack." Cy looked at Svrion with a quizzical expression.
"Attack?" Svrion asked. He looked at Cy.
"Why are you looking at me for?"
"A staff?"
"What made you think I had-,"
"Time's up!" The Swordsman, without warning, lunged for his sword. Another quick leap brought him in front of the pair. His sword flashed dangerously. Cy and Svrion couldn't have asked for a better hint to start running.
A bright flash whisked past them. Instinctively, Svrion pushed Cy to the ground. The ball hit their opponent, throwing him to the floor. Celton stood on the opposite side, smiling at his accomplishment.
Cy looked up and smiled at her brother. Celton looked down and nearly burst out laughing.
"You two… are you sure you can handle this… come on, I thought you were just friends!" Cy looked behind her and then only did she feel Svrion's weight. He was crouched protectively on her back.
"Oh…um…ahem…sorry," he flushed, getting off. Cy nearly melted with his warmth. Awww… such a touchingly embarrassing moment! I'm nearly bubbling over with excitement myself, but the Swordsman just got up, and I better remind Cy and Svrion to run for it.
………
A jab to the right. A punch to the left. Hufanse had abandoned magic entirely and reduced himself to fighting like a normal human being. The Magic Swordsmen's swords had been thrown into the air and landed on the other side of the wall a while ago. They thought it would be fair if they didn't use magic. Now they got their punishment: they were being whipped. Like cream.
Aundren was smarter. He was using magic, but in small spurts. His quick sparks of energy both blinded and stunned the Magic Swordsmen. Their swords lay broken… Aundren was quick to shatter it once the fight had begun.
Now that the fact that they are okay has been established, and of course, that half-witted last Swordsman is no match for Celton, Cy and Svrion seem to be the only priority.
No… wait! A new development. It seems Hufanse has finally knocked some sense into those two Swordsmen. Their thought right about now: this hurts like hell… okay, enough being "nice law-abiding people". To hell with "no magic". I don't care if it is not battle etiquette.
So, the two fused their powers together and created a net of chains. Not expecting it, Hufanse was thrown against the wall and bound there.
Aundren turned to try to help, but the other two Swordsmen copied the same move. The Dragon Master Knight found himself strapped to the wall alongside his friend. The four Swordsmen nodded their heads in satisfaction.
"Now, after the two young ones!"
………
I guess now it is more important to go back and check on Svrion and Cy. They were running away from the Magic Swordsman that was now getting creamed and whipped by Celton. Okay, that's one down. Cy and Svrion hoped Hufanse and Aundren - obviously not knowing the truth - kept the other four busy.
"The exit must be around here," Svrion concluded, finding an area where the grass had started to appear and the walls were lined with flowers.
"So…ask the Labyrinth already!" Cy urged. Svrion turned to her.
"Now?"
"Yeah… how long can it take? How hard can it be?" Svrion shook his head with a chuckle.
"Oh, sorry… I remember now. You didn't quite hear the rest of what I was saying. I forgot to mention that asking the Labyrinth requires a lot of concentration." Cy gaped.
"Forget to mention? Dude, this is like major importance right here. Well, then, what are you waiting for? Concentrate? Wait… what exactly are you going to do?"
"The same triangle thing that the others did earlier. I don't know exactly how they did it, but it does require a lot of concentration."
"Right…then, go on." Cy stepped away, folded her hands behind her back, and waited impatiently. Svrion just stared at her with a confused expression.
"Now?"
"How many times do we have to go over this?" Svrion was about to say something when the four Magic Swordsmen suddenly entered their path. Uh-oh! Cy and Svrion gaped at them.
"Exactly…how much concentration do you need?"
"At least five minutes!" Cy bit her lip. It was time for the diversion, except she had no idea how to do one. She didn't have much power either. There was not much room for escape, now that she thought about it. The tall walls still blocked them, and they were facing a dead end with two branches on the other side. One led away from the escape back into the barren part of the Labyrinth. The other housed four anxiously waiting Magic Swordsmen.
"Right…" Cy muttered. She looked around. The walls were made with flowers. Not a good enough weapon. The floor was lined with grass. Not a good enough weapon. Svrion was behind her with his eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed. Not any kind of threatening weapon.
I could always do the martial arts I learned from my brother, though these guys can use magic, and I won't stand a chance. Cy thought hard about all the things her brother had said. He had told her a lot about power and spells. She learned her first spell from him, even if it was way too high above her level. And there were over nine hundred of them.
Wait…wait…hold on…Celton told me there was nothing called Dark Magic Attack. He said it was only to connect with the staff…but if you don't have a staff, you don't need to connect. Doesn't the magic come from us and not the staff? It's like the words. The inner strength is what matters, not how fancy we make it on the outside. Cy grinned. If this didn't work, she would regret it. But she might have just gotten on to something.
It makes perfect sense with what I learned. I thought Dark Magic Attack was the real spell, but it was just to build up the image of those words. Really, we have to concentrate a lot more and get the spell from inside our heads. And if there are over nine hundred, my blabbering should be able to find a few that work. Cy decided however random her attack might be, or however foolish she would sound, she had to try.
"So… we meet again," one of the Magic Swordsmen said, in his hand a ready ball of fire. "We've conquered your two Dark friends. Now… it's your turn." Cy narrowed her eyes. If they dared to even harm Hufanse or Aundren, they will fear my wrath!
"Burst Stream!" Cy commanded, thrusting out her hand. Nothing happened. "Oh… um… Burst of Energy. Burst Bubble. Burst Away!" This is embarrassing. How can they fear this?
It's true, how could they fear that? In fact, the four of them were stunned. And confused. This wasn't very… deadly. Come on. She was Neo's daughter. The famous Magic Swordsman. Didn't she have some talent?
"Dark Burst Flame!" Cy suddenly felt very weird. All of a sudden, a dark column of energy shot up around her. The Magic Swordsmen fell back with worry. They knew this attack. This was like… level four. No novice material.
Four blasts issued from the column. Each Swordsman was knocked back against the Labyrinth wall. Cy fell to her knees. That sucked up a lot of her energy right there.
………
"Dark Burst Flame!" Celton turned around. He knew that attack. It had taken him four weeks to learn. It was most frustrating. All of a sudden, a dark column of energy shot up to the perpetual darkness of the ceiling. Celton's eyes narrowed.
That had to have been Cy. Damn it! She's learning all the hardest spells in five seconds and I took forever. This is quite ironic. How did she even know it in the first place? I don't think I'm giving her enough credit. Celton didn't stand there to think about it longer than that. It was too embarrassing. Instead, he triumphantly took the sword of the unconscious Magic Swordsman he towered above and broke it in half.
Four shots echoed in the silence he stood in. Celton gasped.
Four? Oh no! The others have gotten to her. What happened to Hufanse and Aundren? Celton worriedly rushed over back over the path he had followed to get here. It led him right to the place where the two were chained to the wall.
"Celton! Oh my gosh, man! Too good to see ya!" Celton stood there, eyes narrowed, jaw hitting the floor.
"I suggest that instead of standing there like an idiotic moron, you actually come here and free us of our bonds," Aundren advised. Celton shook himself and took the hint. With a sharp shot from his staff, the chains clanged to the hard ground. Hufanse shouted in the air and jumped into Celton's arms.
"I love you, man! I thought we were toast from those Labyrinth Tanks that were sounding in the distance." Celton winced and tried to edge away from the embrace.
"We apologize, Celton. Unfortunately, those Magic Swordsmen got the best of us. Fear not, I am sure we will be able to find Svrion and Cy and help them." Hufanse's eyes widened. He quickly pulled Celton back and shook his shoulders.
"Where's Cy?" he demanded concernedly. Celton pushed him off.
"I thought you guys would know. That one Swordsman was chasing them. I defeated him, but in the process I had to let them go. They were supposed to find the exit. I'm not sure if they got anywhere."
"Celton! Those other four were after her! She'll die out there!"
"Don't worry. We can find them; they'll be fine! Didn't you see that one attack? That column of energy was them."
"Still… we better find her."
"Wait… I just noticed. You mean them. What… is your best friend not important enough?"
"I'm sorry… but I happened to have this thing for Cy, if you haven't noticed yet."
"So?"
"I'm sorry, Celton and Hufanse, if I am interrupting this brotherly love here, but I do believe that Cy and Svrion both are in danger, whichever one you prefer to support. If we do not go to their aid, I doubt they will be able to fight off the Magic Swordsmen. If Cy or Svrion used that attack, such a powerful one at that, then we can safely conclude that they are in danger."
"Beautifully said. Now, let's go!"
………
Svrion squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block his mind from what was happening out there. He had to concentrate. His concentration was extremely vital for their escape. He needed to make that stupid triangle come into his head. Somehow.
Unfortunately, the only thing in his head was Cy. No… he wasn't necessarily thinking of her skipping through his mind while petals rained on her from the heavens. He was hoping that she would be able to distract the two. And the thing he was thinking of was her safety.
Arg…concentrate. What has Grandfather taught me? I must concentrate only on my goals and ignore the lesser distractions. He heard some words… obviously Cy trying to use some magic spell. Svrion had to plug his ears.
Okay… imagine a golden triangle. One that connects all of us. Cy and me… Hufanse, Aundren, and Celton, and the exit. Okay…I can picture it. It's glowing. Suddenly, four shots pounded the air. Svrion felt his eyes itch. He desperately wanted to open and make sure Cy was okay. His left eyelid was slowly rising. His concentration was dwindling by a hair. His brain was sending emergency signals to shut down the eyelids. The only way to do that: pain. Svrion felt something sharp in the corner of his eye. His lids slammed down immediately. The water system was on… tears were pouring.
Oh… it's no time to worry about what Cy will think to see me cry. I must cry… I mean, concentrate. The triangle… the triangle…oh Labyrinth, I seek your help. Show me the exit.
And as Svrion's concentration battled on, he slowly saw victory in the horizon.
………
Cy breathed heavily. The four Swordsmen shook their heads and moaned, slowly getting to their feet. They were banged pretty hard by that attack. However, they still recovered with mild cases of lack of coordination. It would stall them for a couple of minutes at least.
While they got back on track with their brains, Cy shot out a series of small bullets by shouting Fire Shot. This would stall them further. Then, hopefully, Celton, Hufanse, and Aundren would make it.
Cy felt a small breeze blowing. She looked around for the source. The past few times she had felt wind within these walls, some magic was brewing. Her suspicion was confirmed. Above her materialized a giant golden triangle. She realized that she and Svrion were right below the left point. She turned. Svrion had just opened one eye to look above, seeming skeptical that his plan had worked. That is… until he saw the golden triangle floating above them. It seemed to be convincing enough.
"Hey… I did it!" he cried. Cy nodded.
"What do we do now?"
"Follow the side of the triangle to the top point, which of course marks the exit. If I am correct, it is the one that branches to the right of us." Cy nodded and the two took the branch from which the Magic Swordsmen had come out a while back.
………
"Look…a triangle! Floating in the sky!"
"Now…Hufanse. This is no time for childish games. Please stop trying to trick us or we willnever find our two friends."
"No…seriously, Aundren. There's a triangle floating above us. The lower right point seems to be where we are located. It makes best sense seeing the odd shape of the thing. But who cares!" Celton and Aundren chose to look up at that point. They did see the geometrical figure Hufanse mentioned.
"You are right…maybe Svrion did this. I know my sister definitely couldn't. Anyway, what do we suppose we do?"
"Follow it, of course. Perhaps following the side of the triangle up to the top point would lead us to the exit. It makes perfect sense." Celton nodded. "Okay, let's go. We have an escape to finish!"