Yes folks, it's another chapter! I'll be writing these things pretty quickly for the next few days, since school starts next week. I have to get as many done as possible before then.
Epyon: Wacky is not the word I would use for Juno. But yes, yes, the plot once more thickens.
John: Hehe, you would enjoy their expressions.
Captain Obvious: Juno… perhaps. You'll have to wait and find out. As for Juno's reaction, you shall see shortly.
Demon Fan: Sorry, but Bolt is notorious for losing to Sarius, although they often draw when it comes to fighting. I had a great vacation, thanks. Sorry about the typo, I didn't even notice until you pointed it out! I usually type author notes last, in case I think of something new to add in it or a person reviews at the last minute. Many apologies.
Chapter 18: Soul Bond
When Sarius stepped into the church, he saw that only one person had arrived so far. He went over to her and the Child at once.
"So you arrived already, Aya?" Sarius said as a greeting. "How long did I keep you waiting?"
"I have only been here for a few minutes," Aya replied. "Not very long, in other words. But I came early to tell you something."
"Yes?"
"I didn't get the chance to test one of the group members," Aya explained. "She seemed ill, so I held off for the time being. I plan on leaving shortly to see if I can find her again."
"Who was this girl?" Sarius asked.
"Judging from the descriptions you gave, I believe she was the one you called Hope," Aya stated.
"Hope, eh…" Sarius said. "She's an odd one. I feel as though something is unique about her, but I can't exactly pinpoint what." He shrugged. "Either way, go ahead and try to find her. In fact, keep the whole group in one place. Adene, Mach, and Shadow will follow you after I tell them what to do."
"All right. See you soon." Aya went over to the doors and pushed them open, leaving in a flash of light.
The Child looked up at Sarius as he sat down next to him. Guessing what his unspoken question was, Sarius said, "Bolt is not a bad duelist, but I had experience."
In response, the Child nodded, but he remained silent, gazing at the golden ball he held. Occasionally, it would begin glowing, only to fade.
"The time to release it will be soon," Sarius said. "What that means for this world is what I do not know."
The Child gazed at him questioningly.
"I will use it when I face the Limiter," Sarius told him. "I know I will have to be the one to face her. To motivate her into wanting to fight back, I will have to wager something."
After considering his statement, the Child nodded again, and no more words or gestures were exchanged between them.
…
Bolt could immediately tell that something had ticked Juno off. He had an annoyed look as he went over to them, Zorc remaining a bit away from the four of them.
Gale looked around the area. "None of the others are back yet?"
"No. And they will not be coming back," Juno stated.
"What? Why not?" Gale asked, confused.
"They're dead," Juno spat, looking disgusted. "Gaia, Wave, Tundra, and Dark were killed."
Gale's eyes widened. "Dark was killed? No way!"
Even Flame seemed surprised, while Bolt blinked a few times. "That's a shock. I thought he had the most chance of succeeding out of the rest of them."
"Will you be bringing him back to life?" Gale inquired.
"Of course, but not at this moment. I assume all of them lost their bodies, so it will take some time to revive Dark," Juno said. "Hard to believe that he died in such a manner. I won't be letting him forget it any time soon."
"What about the other three?" Bolt asked.
"I have had enough of their failures. They will remain dead this time," Juno stated. "I am sure we will be able to find much more suitable replacements later."
"I can't exactly say I'll miss any of them," Gale muttered.
Juno ignored him. "Bolt, it seems you were unable to defeat the Limiter."
"Not with cards," Bolt said. "She beat me, so I'm not going to be able to go against any of them again."
"It seems that way." Juno turned to the other two. "Flame, Gale, did either of you win against your opponents?"
"No," Gale sighed and Flame shook his head.
"I must have underestimated them," Juno said as he considered this information. "I had thought at least a few would fall, but I was wrong." He paused as he thought, and then said, "All of you are to remain near this area."
"So you're going after the Limiter?" Bolt assumed.
"I will search for her," Juno stated. "First, I plan to check on Light's progress, but then I shall find the Limiter. If the three of you are bound on honor to not fight any of them again, then there is no need for any of you to come. So stay here."
"Ok, we'll do that," Gale said as the other two nodded.
"Then I will set out at once," Juno concluded as he walked away, Zorc following him.
When he was gone, Bolt said, "How about you give us a recount on how your duel with the group idiot went, Gale?"
"How about you shut up before my katar makes you?" Gale growled, turning away.
"I was just making a suggestion to pass the time," Bolt laughed, but he did not press the matter. He knew he could probably win in a fight against Gale, but with half of their members already dead, there was no sense in taking risks.
…
"It seems like we're back where we left off," Max commented as they realized they had arrived in the damaged area of the forest.
"Still, we should be able to leave here quickly," Gaston said, still carrying Hope.
Max brought out Tenma, who glanced around the clearing before turning to his master.
"I need you to keep a look out," Max ordered. "If you sense anyone coming near us, tell me."
"As you command, master," Tenma said, sniffing the air. Then he took the lead, going into the trees, as everyone else went after him.
…
"All right, last chance… do you have any fours?"
"Go Fish."
"GO FISH THIS!" Rue snarled, throwing the cards in his hand at Draken.
"Someone has a temper problem," Draken grinned as he collected the cards and shuffled them into the deck.
"You would have won that anyway," Rue grumbled.
"At least you admit it," Draken said.
Will put his bookmark in his book and closed it. "You might as well put those away, Draken. It's about time to search for them."
"What, it's ten already?" Draken asked, surprised at how quickly the time had gone by.
"Just about," Zack said.
"Hang on, we're about to deck out anyway…" Claire said, pointing at her deck, which had only a few cards left. Amy's was in the same condition.
"We really should be going soon," Kazel pointed out.
"We're nearly done," Amy assured. "We've been playing this same duel the whole time, so we want to see who will finally win."
Draken looked at the field, and said, "It looks like a draw to me. You both decked out at the same time."
"Huh? That can't be right," Sakura said, turning her gaze to where Draken's was. Then she blinked. "Um… where did they go?"
Noticing the remainders of their decks were missing, Amy's eye twitched. She stood up and turned to Miles. "Very funny. Now give them back."
"What? I didn't do anything," Miles said innocently.
"Then what are those supposed to be?" Amy asked, pointing at the stack of cards next to him.
"My own deck," Miles replied.
Amy glared at him. "In that case, what do you have in your Duel Disk?"
Miles grinned nervously. "My… secondary deck?"
"You could have made a better lie by saying the cards beside you are your side deck," Sakura pointed out.
"Oh… that's true. Well… it was all Gen's idea!" Miles said before bolting towards the forest.
"Thanks, friend," Gen muttered, picking up the cards he had left on the ground and handing them to Amy. "Put all the blame on me when you were the one who did it."
Amy separated her cards from Claire's and gave them back to her. "Now I know why I didn't get any of my Drug Reactions. They were the last three cards."
"Ouch," Claire said, collecting the rest of her cards and shuffling the deck before sliding it into her Duel Disk. "That was good for me though; I would have been slaughtered if you had gotten one out."
"Possibly," Amy shrugged. "But it was too close to be able to tell who would have won."
As the rest of them started to follow Miles, Larka noticed that Kisara seemed to still be pained. "Kisara? Are you feeling better or worse?"
"…Worse, I am afraid," Kisara whispered. "It is kind of hard to walk…"
"Do you want to ride me?" Kazel asked, lying down and spreading out her wings.
"Yes, thank you," Kisara said softly, pulling herself up onto Kazel's back.
"It must be convenient, to have a Soul Monster that you can ride," Miles commented as he came over to them when they got closer.
"You may think so, but what about providing an area in the real world for that Soul Monster to stay in?" Kazel pointed out. "It is not an easy thing to accomplish."
"Ack… I didn't think of that," Miles winced.
"Otherwise, yes, it is convenient," Kazel concluded.
Before Miles could respond to that, Amy came up behind him and punched him in the back three times.
"OW! What was that for?" Miles exclaimed, jumping away from her.
"One for me, one for Claire, and one for Gen," Amy grinned, walking past him and heading to the forest once more.
"I cannot say you did not deserve it," Gen commented.
"Gee, thanks for making me feel better," Miles muttered, grimacing as he felt his back. "That'll definitely leave a mark."
"Rule number one for a thief: don't get caught," Gen reminded him as they continued on.
"That is a really good rule, and I should actually make some effort to remember it," Miles sighed.
As they approached the forest, Daine abruptly stopped, growling. "I hear something approaching."
"What? Where?" Perseus asked, looking around.
"There!" Amy said, pointing at a bush that was rattling.
They all held their breaths, wondering what would come out. Would it be Max, Hope, and Gaston, one of Sarius' companions, or one of the Mavericks?
Whatever they were expecting, it did not come out. Instead, a small white rabbit hopped out, looking up at them with one eye. The other was covered by an eyepatch. Standing on its hind legs and counting its ears, it went up to about their knees.
Draken nearly facefaulted. "That's all it was? Just a stupid rabbit?"
Rue paled. "Just a rabbit? Rabbits are the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodents you'll ever set eyes on! And that's a Blade Rabbit!"
"Oh no…" Claire groaned as Ruecian put his hand over his eyes.
"Blade Rabbits have a vicious streak a mile wide! They're killers!" Rue ranted. "I mean, just look at that one! It's got huge, sharp teeth, it can leap about, and it has an EYEPATCH! A FREAKING EYEPATCH!"
"Oh for the love of God," Draken said in exasperation. "What is it going to do, nibble our fingers if we attempt to pet it?"
"Let's see you try to defeat it!" Rue shivered. "After my first encounter with one of those things, I'm not stupid enough to try again."
"You're right, you're not stupid; you're beyond stupid," Draken sighed. Then he brought out a support card, The Fused Sword, Murasame. The sword appeared in his hands at once. "Fine, I'll get rid of it if it's that important to you." Then he charged at the Blade Rabbit.
Seeing a threat coming towards it, the Blade Rabbit squeaked, and then opened its mouth. Its front teeth, which were already larger than normal, suddenly grew at an amazing rate. Soon they reached all the way to the ground, with edges as sharp as knives. Then it leapt up from the ground, slashing at Draken's neck. Luckily for him, it hit him just below his throat, or he might have been dead right there. As it was, he collapsed, bleeding, while the Blade Rabbit calmly leapt over his body.
"Jesus Christ!" Miles yelped, stepping back with wide eyes.
"I warned you!" Rue shouted. "But did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it? Well, it's always the same, I always warn them…"
"Rue, shut up," Claire said.
"But do they listen to me? Oh, no…" Rue rambled on.
"Please, Rue, be quiet already," Sakura growled.
"They always think they know better than me…" Rue continued without noticing.
Amy finally couldn't take it anymore, and yelled, "IF YOU'RE SO KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT RABBITS, THEN TELL US HOW TO KILL IT!"
"Huh? Oh, right," Rue said, reaching towards his card pouch. "I have a flawless method to kill them. Luckily, I have the cards to do it. Darche, you'd better get Draken out of there, or he'll be killed too. Everyone else, back away."
Seeing that the Blade Rabbit was far enough away from Draken to not be a threat, Darche rushed over, lifted him, and ran out of the way, while everyone else retreated a short distance.
Seeing that they were out of the way, Rue placed three cards into his Duel Disk. A grenade and a cross appeared above him. Then they began to shift, going into each other with a flash of light. When everyone could look up again, the grenade was golden, with a small cross emerging from it as the pin.
"I cannot believe I'm seeing this…" Zack muttered. Fell looked as though he was sharing those thoughts, while Larka simply seemed bewildered. Malon cocked his head, but continued to watch the scene.
Kisara had gotten off Kazel and was trying to get Draken to drink a Red Potion. He finally managed to swallow it, and sat up, breathing heavily. "What happened?"
"You got owned by a rabbit," Miles said, still seeming shocked.
"What the hell?" Draken said in confusion.
Then their attention was brought back to Rue as he began to count. "One… two… three!" Then he pulled out the pin and threw the grenade at the Blade Rabbit.
Everyone was forced to cover their eyes again as a huge explosion occurred. Finally, as it cleared away, they could look again. What greeted them was a crater, with fur and blood everywhere.
After a few moments of silent disbelief, Will walked up to Rue and smashed him over the head with his book.
"ARGH!" Rue yelled, his hands flying to his head. "Hey, I just saved all of your lives, and this is how you repay me?"
"That was the stupidest imitation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail that I have seen," Will informed him.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Rue muttered, wincing. "You didn't have to hit me that hard, at least."
"I would have knocked you out if we didn't need to keep moving," Will said.
"So that was supposed to be a Holy Hand Grenade?" Neo assumed. "What did you use to make it?"
"Thieving Smoke Bomb, Offering to the Dead, and Fusion," Rue replied.
"And you've done this before?" Gen assumed.
"Unfortunately, he has," Claire sighed.
"Now I know why most people run away when they see you," Amy said thoughtfully. "As if I didn't know already though."
Before Rue could reply to that, another voice said, "What the hell is going on?"
They turned to see Max come out of the forest, staring at the scene, while Tenma walked beside him. He had heard the explosion and had come to check out the source, only to find the companions he had been searching for.
Rue was the first to react to Tenma, shouting, "AAAAAHHHHHH! IT'S THE BLACK BEAST!" as Malon ran behind Larka and whimpered.
Will smacked him again with the book. "Shut up and quit referring to that movie."
"Did I miss something?" Max asked, looking completely lost.
"You don't want to know," Sakura stated.
"But it's about time that we finally found you!" Miles exclaimed.
Kisara looked around the place where he had emerged, feeling anxious for a reason she did not know. "Where is Hope?"
"And who is that supposed to be?" Draken asked, indicating towards Tenma.
"He's my new Soul Monster," Max clarified. "He is not Olympion, even though he has all of his previous memories; call him Tenma."
"Hooray! I'm not alone anymore!" Neo said happily.
Max glanced at the group, and then turned his gaze to Will. "Neo?"
"Neo," Will confirmed.
"That explains," Max muttered. Then he turned to the forest. "As for Hope… well…"
"She's in bad shape," Gaston said as he emerged from the trees. "And we don't know what to do about it."
"What do you mean by that?" Larka asked, looking concerned.
Gaston went over to where everyone else was and laid Hope down. "You know what Max's condition has been like. Since Olympion has been gone, he's lost a vital part of himself. Hope helped him get back that part, but ever since then, she's been… like this."
Amy went up to her at once. "Sis? Can you hear me?"
"…Yes…" Hope whispered, opening her eyes.
Amy was shocked to see just how much agony Hope seemed to be in. After a moment, she said, "Hang in there. We'll find some way to help you."
"But how? This is something I've never even heard of," Gen said. "I doubt any of you have either. We really have no leads to go off of."
Knowing the truth of Gen's statement, nobody else could find anything to say. As much as Amy wanted to disagree, she knew she had no better idea of what to do than he did.
Then a noise caused them all to look up. It was Kisara, and she was walking towards Hope. But what was odd about this was that until this point, she had been moving slowly and trying to avoid unnecessary actions that would only cause her pain to get worse. Yet now she seemed unaffected by that as she approached.
"Kisara? What are you doing?" Amy asked warily.
"…I need you to stand aside, please," Kisara said after a moment.
"Uh… all right," Amy replied, surprised by the request. She moved out of the way, and Kisara kneeled next to Hope.
"What is the meaning of this, Kisara?" Kazel questioned, coming up to her.
Kisara paused for a moment, and then said, without looking up, "Gaston must be here as well."
Kazel blinked, and then looked over at him. She nodded. "I understand." Then, without warning, her tail shot out, wrapping around Gaston and pulling him over.
"Kazel! What's the meaning of this?" Gaston managed to gasp out, having lost a good amount of breath from her tail ramming him.
She released him from her tail's grasp, but only to hold him down with her claws. "Hold onto Hope. It will be necessary for the two of you to maintain this connection until it is over. Do not let her go."
Although very confused by what was happening, Gaston figured that arguing with a dragon that was twice his size and had him pinned down was not the wisest thing to do. Without argument, he reached over and took Hope's hand.
"Good." Kazel reached over with her tail and wrapped it around Kisara's waist. "Now we may begin."
"Begin what? What's going on?" Rue asked.
"We can only watch," Zack said.
"It'll be fine. We can trust Kisara," Draken assured.
"That's great, but Gaston looks like he's about to be pierced through by Kazel, good intentions or not," Miles pointed out.
"Kazel knows what she is doing," Darche stated. "Do not worry."
"I believe it is too late for that," Perseus said dryly.
Max was a bit wary on the whole matter himself, but if it had any chance of helping Hope, he wasn't about to interfere. Tenma glanced at him questioningly, but Max shook his head. "Let her do what she has to."
At first, Hope could not see Kisara's eyes, as she had bent her head and shadows had hidden them. But as her head rose, her green eyes, normally enhanced by a soft sorrow, were now blank. She lifted her hands to her heart, and said, in a monotone, "My role is to be carried out today. After this, my servitude is complete. Although it saddens me, I am also happy to have been able to help in any way that I could."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rue muttered.
"If you'll just be quiet, maybe we'll find out!" Sakura hissed.
As these words ended, white light began to flow out of her chest. Most of it went into her hands, but some curled around Kazel's tail, and went around the dragon's body until it reached the clawed hand that held Gaston down. More of the light seemed to come from her chest as well, mixing with Kisara's, but it made it look no different. Gaston eyed the white light cautiously but did not say anything.
"I've seen this!" Will said suddenly. "This was another one of my visions!"
Rue wanted to turn his gaze to Will, but his eyes were fixed on the scene in front of him. He settled for saying, "What? You saw this too? If you've seen it before, can you explain what's going on?"
"I myself don't know," Will replied, falling silent.
Kisara looked at the white light she held, and then, in the same voice as before, said, "All of this is yours. I was merely holding onto it until you were ready to accept it. Now is the time for you to take it." Before Hope could respond to this, Kisara swiftly thrust her hands over Hope's heart.
A long flash of light and four screams were all the others were aware of. Then, as abruptly as it started, the light vanished.
Kisara nearly fell over, but Kazel's tail supported her. Kazel lifted away her claws to let Gaston up, and then lay down, looking exhausted herself. Gaston seemed to be fine, and managed to stay standing.
It was Hope that completely surprised them though. After Kisara had released her grip, Hope had sat up instinctively to see where she had gone. But when she noticed this, she also noticed that she felt no pain. She nervously attempted to rise, and was completely relieved when she managed to with no problems.
"Hope! Are you all right?" Max exclaimed, running over to her. Draken instantly went to Kisara, trying to keep her from collapsing once Kazel's tail fell limply to the ground.
"I think so," Hope replied, gazing at her surroundings. "I don't feel pained anymore, at least."
"I actually feel better than I have in a long time, if not ever," Gaston stated. "It's like I finally gained something that I was missing, but I never knew it was gone until now."
"But what did you do, Kisara?" Draken asked worriedly. "You look completely drained…"
Kisara thought for a moment, and then said quietly, "I don't know. I knew what I had to do at the time, but I do not know why…"
"Either way, take it easy," Draken said. "Are you actually hurt?"
"No, just tired," Kisara answered.
"I feel as though I could certainly use a good sleep," Kazel stated. "My bones are more weary than I can ever remember them being. It feels like I tried to fly through all of Teknisk Wereld in a day!"
"However, the pain is gone," Kisara said. "It is better this way. Hope is healed from whatever it was that was hurting her, and I would prefer to feel exhausted instead of in agony."
Draken nodded. "That's good news…"
"You're sure everything is all right now?" Max asked Hope.
"Yes, I feel fine," Hope said.
Miles couldn't take it any more, and finally said, "Why don't you guys just shut up and kiss each other already?"
Complete silence met this statement.
"Well, come on, it's completely obvious that Hope and Max, Draken and Kisara, and Zack and Larka all love each other," Miles said. "What's wrong with wanting them to admit it?"
Now it was Miles who was hit over the head with the book. "That isn't something you just say so bluntly," Will said. He examined his book. "I might have to buy a new binding for this when we're done here. It has been doing well so far though… Anyway, it would be more customary to let them admit it themselves." This statement was backed up by the fact that all three of the girls in question seemed to be feeling very awkward at the moment.
"Even Miles knew? I feel so left out," Rue sighed.
"Just now? You were left out from the start due to your stupidity," Miles said, quickly covering his head in case another strike was coming his way.
"At least I'm smarter than you in matters that don't involve love," Rue retorted.
"Want to bet?"
"How much?"
"A quarter."
"…You have that little faith in your own common sense?"
"No, that's all the money I have with me."
"Are you really that poor?"
"Yes, actually. It's not like I'm going to get a job or something."
"Why not?"
"I already work hard enough by stealing and playing justice hero for Teknisk Wereld!"
"You are seriously lame."
"So I've heard, but that doesn't stop me, does it?"
"For someone whose art is geared towards being quiet, you sure are loud."
"I learned all my good qualities from Gen."
"Being loud is not a good quality."
"I never said it was. That came from me naturally."
"Unfortunately."
"But wouldn't I be completely boring to talk to if I wasn't like this?"
"You'd be much more pleasant to talk to."
"Boring too, and I prefer unpleasant to boring."
"Would you two just shut up so we can get a move on?" Amy growled.
"Yes, sorry," Rue and Miles chorused. Then they turned to each other and said, at the same time, "Quit copying me."
"Just be quiet, both of you," Claire sighed.
"We must decide what we are going to do next," Larka said, looking as though she had gotten over the uncomfortable moment.
"I would prefer that you stay right here," they heard someone say.
Looking at where the voice had come from, they saw Aya, her Soul Monster next to her. Taken by surprise, their hands went to their cards instantly.
"Who are you?" Draken demanded, getting in front of Kisara in case this woman attacked without warning.
Hope recognized her instantly though, and stepped forward. "You're…"
"Hope, I assume? It seems you are back on your feet," Aya said.
"You know her?" Perseus asked.
"We met her this morning," Gaston explained. "She said that she kept Dark from getting to us last night. If it hadn't been for her, we would have been murdered in our sleep."
"I'm Aya," she said to the rest of the group. "I am on Sarius' side, so you do not need to worry about being killed at my hands. However, I still expect you to take this duel seriously." She turned to Hope. "I wish to face you, as an evaluation of your strength. Do you accept?"
"Yes," Hope answered without hesitation.
"Are you sure about this? You've barely had any time to recover," Gaston said worriedly.
"I'm fine. You can feel it too, right?" Hope replied.
"…If you are experiencing what I am, then yeah, you should be fine," Gaston agreed. "All right then. I'm ready if you are."
"I expect you all won your duels against the Mavericks," Aya said as she turned on her Duel Disk.
"Each of our groups fought one, I think," Gen said. "We faced one called Wave Trident."
"We were against Bolt Katana," Larka said.
"Gaia Axe was our opponent," Amy put in.
"Gale Katar for us," Rue stated.
"Flame Buster," was all Will had to say.
"Dark Scythe caught up with us but was defeated," Max said. "And I think my father met up with another. He knew her as Tundra."
"Your father? Whoa, wait a minute. I thought he was… dead?" Rue inquired.
"Not anymore, but that can be explained later," Max stated.
"That means you have met and defeated seven out of eight Mavericks," Aya told them. "Tundra Flail was the one you must have been referring to, Max. The last one is a woman called Light Cross. She is the most gentle out of all the Mavericks, although she will kill if Juno orders it. Do not let your guard down with her, even though she most likely means the least trouble for all of you. How many Mavericks died at your hands?"
"Bolt lived, but he left immediately," Zack stated.
"Gaia tried to kill us anyway, but Matt saved us by having Masque kill him first," Sakura said.
"Gale did too, but he won't be attacking us again," Draken assured.
"Fell killed Wave when he tried to slay me from bad temper," Miles said.
"Flame also lived, and did not remain for very long," Claire stated.
"Dark and Tundra both died," Max concluded.
"Interesting results," Aya said. "They will not make much of a difference in the end, but for now, they do help." She turned on her Duel Disk. "But enough on that. Shall we begin?"
"Right." Hope did the same. "My Soul Monster will be Gaston, an Elven Swordsman."
"Sahaqiel, a Shine Angel," Aya introduced.
"Wait! Are you testing Hope like the other guys under Sarius did to us?" Claire asked. "The Child faced me in a duel, but I barely managed to win."
"We faced nobody under Sarius' command," Zack said. "Although we did encounter someone called Lario who seemed to be working for his own goals." He looked away. "I'm afraid I lost rather badly…"
"Don't feel too ashamed about that," Kazel replied. "Kisara and Matt faced two men called Shadow and Mach. They lost as well."
"I didn't win against Adene; that was the person who came against me," Draken grimaced.
"…Sarius came. I won," Fell said shortly.
"Sarius himself? Man, just what is it that he sees in you?" Rue wondered.
"…You are Fell?" Aya asked.
Fell nodded.
"I see." Once more, she turned her attention to Hope. "Enough stalling. Let's start."
Hope: 8000
Aya: 8000
"Do you have a coin to decide who goes first?" Aya asked.
"I have that quarter I mentioned earlier," Miles said with a grin. He brought it out. "Call heads or tails, either of you."
"Tails," Hope decided.
Miles flipped it up in the air and caught it, slapping it on the back of his hand. "Sorry, but it is heads. Aya gets the first turn."
"Fair enough," Aya said. "I lay a monster in defense mode, one card down, and end my turn. Show me just how strong you are."
"Don't expect to be impressed yet," Hope replied. "I'll do the exact same thing by setting one monster down, laying a card face down, and ending my turn."
"Many times, it is vital to wait," Aya stated. "I place another monster on the field, and that is it."
"You're right; I often do stall. Still, this is one opportunity I cannot pass up," Hope said. "I summon Surprising Matasa! (1300/800) Then I equip him with The Fused Sword, Murasame Blade! This raises his attack by 800! (2100/800) After that, I flip summon Mystic Swordsman Lv 2! (900/0) Surprising Matasa attacks the first defense monster you set!"
"It's a Shine Angel. (1400/800) Since he was destroyed in battle, I can special summon a Light Main-Type with 1500 attack or less from my deck," Aya said. "I choose to bring out Mokemoke." (300/100)
"And here we have the new Skull Servant," Rue commented as the cute monster appeared. "Unless it has an effect?"
"It does not have one, which is actually a good thing," Aya informed him before going back to her explanation. "Sahaqiel's Deck Master ability also activates. It's actually very similar to what Shine Angel does in the first place. When one of my monsters with 1500 attack or less is destroyed in battle, I may special summon a Light Main-Type with 1500 attack or less from my deck onto the field in attack mode. I choose Marshmallon." (300/500)
Hope considered the monster before her. "It won't do damage to me since it wasn't played in face down defense mode, but I can't destroy it in battle. I have Mystic Swordsman Lv 2 attacks your Mokemoke!"
"I will not special summon anything," Aya said.
"In that case, Matasa attacks Marshmallon! At least it will do a good amount of damage!"
Hope: 8000
Aya: 5600
"I'll go to the end phase of my turn. That's when my Mystic Swordsman Lv 2's effect activates," Hope explained. "If he destroyed a monster in battle, I can sacrifice him to special summon Mystic Swordsman Lv 4 from my hand or deck! This time, he'll come from the deck. (1900/1600) I'm done."
"You have a good lead, but the key is maintaining it," Aya said. "Let us see if you can stand up to this. First, I flip summon Cannon Soldier. (1400/1300) Next, I play Early Burial. This magic card costs me 800 Life Points, but brings back a monster from my Cemetery to my field in face up attack mode. I choose Mokemoke."
Hope: 8000
Aya: 4800
"Then I activate my trap card, League of the Likened Alliance. I choose a normal monster that is level two or less and special summon as many cards with the same name as possible from my deck to the field. I will get two more Mokemoke."
"We're being overrun by these things," Neo commented.
"But they seem so useless…" Rue said. "If she's going to have some master plan with them, she'd better start it quickly."
"That is what I was planning on," Aya stated. "I now play a magic card, Delta Attack! If I have three normal monsters with the same name, they are allowed to directly attack this turn. Then I play another magic card, Triangle Power! This increases all of my level one or higher monster's stats by 2000." (2300/2100)
"…Well, as sad as it is to say it, this could be bad," Miles said.
"Now my Mokemokes will attack directly!" Aya declared.
"I can stop at least one of them!" Hope said, flipping over her face down card. "I activate Magic Cylinder! It negates your monster's attack and does damage equal to its attack to your Life Points."
"My other two Mokemokes still hit you."
Hope: 3400
Aya: 2500
"Then I activate Cannon Soldier's effect. I can sacrifice a monster to deal 500 damage to you. This works especially well this turn, since my monsters would be destroyed by Triangle Power on my end phase anyway. I sacrifice all three Mokemokes and my own Cannon Soldier."
Hope: 1400
Aya: 2500
"I switch Marshmallon to defense mode and end my turn," Aya said.
"Geez! If Hope hadn't blocked one of those attacks, she'd be dead!" Sakura exclaimed.
"She is still not in a good position," Zack stated. "If Aya has at least one Cannon Soldier, she probably has more. If she could get it onto the field with another monster…"
"Then it's over. That means Hope has to act fast," Darche said.
"Which is nearly impossible, due to Marshmallon's effect. It can't be destroyed in battle; after using it enough, I know that by heart," Claire sighed.
Ruecian shook his head and indicated to Gaston.
"What are you trying to say?" Miles asked.
"Ah, I understand what he means," Gen said. "If this turn works out well for Hope, you will know in a minute."
Hope examined her hand, trying to see a way to get around Marshmallon. She quickly found her solution, and after double-checking her calculations, she placed a card on her Duel Disk. "I can win this turn, but to do that, I need a particular monster. That's why I'll use this magic card, Calling Reinforcements. I search my deck for a level four or lower Warrior Sub-Type and add it to my hand." Hope found what she was looking for and swiftly shuffled her deck. "Now I summon the monster I got, Command Knight! (1200/1900) She raises the attack of all my Warrior Sub-Types by 400!" (2500/800) (2300/1600) (1600/1900)
"If you could attack me directly, that would help you," Aya said. "However, I do not see how it will assist you now."
"That's because attacking directly was my plan!" Hope told her. "I activate Gaston's Deck Master ability! By paying 1000 Life Points, one of my monsters has the ability to attack directly for this turn. Matasa will be the one I choose! He attacks!"
Gaston tossed Matasa his sword. The warrior caught it and leapt right over the Marshmallon, descending towards Aya. His blade connected, cutting through her.
Hope: 400
Aya: 0
"Impressive," Aya said, shutting down her Duel Disk. "It was not wise of me to let my guard down, but you still managed to pull off an excellent victory."
"Thanks," Hope replied, doing the same.
"It's a good thing she won, or I'd never let her forget that she lost to a bunch of square puffballs," Rue grinned.
"You be quiet," Hope growled.
Zack was more concerned with Aya. "Did you only come here to duel against Hope, or is there another reason?"
"Well… yes, I did have another reason," Aya answered. "I was trying to keep you in one location."
"Huh? Why?" Claire asked.
"So that we could catch up," they heard someone reply.
They all turned to see three figures: Shadow, Mach, and Adene.
"Looks like we arrived just in time," Adene said. "No thanks to you, Shadow."
"Shut up. We made it, didn't we?" Shadow retorted.
Mach looked over the group. "Aya, are we to begin? We were instructed to start at your signal."
To be continued…