"So, I guess this means we won't be gettin' a trophy or anythin'…" Tim sighed, clenching his left hand into a fist several times. His right hand was on my chest, holding me at his side as we were surrounded by a small group of Sector Security officers. "Whose doin' is this?!" he called to the group.
"Tyler Nochi, Dimension D-521, you are under arrest for the murder of Kobi Banzu, Dimension S-534." Officer Kurihara spoke, his voice low and devoid of all emotion, the clarity of his eyes distorted by the smoke that covered the formerly clear sky.
"Tim Ihansha, Dimension E-199999, you are under arrest for the murder of several individuals, including but not limited to-" a Dimensional counterpart of Tetsu Trudge started to speak, his voice just barely able to be heard over the sounds of sirens, Tim cutting him off regardless.
"Yeah, listen, mate, it's about to be a lot more than 'several' if you don't get out of our way, 'kay? I'm warnin' ya…" Tim said softly. "Stand down." He told them, but they didn't. Tim sighed once more. "Fine. Don't. Tyler, close your eyes."
"Mhm." I nodded, doing exactly as Tim said, and when I opened my eyes again, the officers were… well, they were either unconscious or dead. My heart skipped a beat. "Tim, d-d-d-d-do y-you have any idea what's going on?" I asked.
"Shit's hittin' the fan, that's what. Those paratroopers I took down after our first Duel today – reconnaissance from the Fusion Dimension. They have way more people here than I thought they did, but these guys… they were all Sector Security, right? So…" Tim shook his head. "Never mind. We gotta get you outta here…!" Tim knelt forward before quickly moving back, causing me to topple over as Tim caught me, basically forcing me to piggyback on him. "No offense, but it'd pro'ly be easier to carry you around like this, instead of having you lag behind me."
My eyes widened as Tim suddenly took off from the Duel Field, turning and running back the way we came through the hall toward the elevator.
"Mr. Nochi, Mr. Ihansha!" a voice called from an intersecting part of the hall, Tim and I turning to see Mokuba approach with a militia of KC Guard following behind him. "I was just coming to get you." Mokuba's voice was quick.
"Mokubro, what the Hell's goin' on?!" Tim snapped.
"I'm sorry," Mokuba apologized, "Rogét's practically gone and declared Martial Law. I think he's totally lost it. He's sent Sector Security out and they're rounding up everybody, Commoner and Topsider! We were able to move the boat from the Securities' Storage Facility to KaibaCorp, and the High Council have barricaded themselves there, waiting for Mr. Akaba and his group to arrive. Not only that, but it looks like more soldiers from the Fusion Dimension have arrived too. They've started carding civilians."
"I know," Tim looked back to the other side of the hall, "I took out a couple paratroopers after our Duel with Yuyaas and ZoomZoom."
"I'm really sorry you two had to get caught up in all of this. None of this is your fight. We need to-" Mokuba dropped to his knees as the hall suddenly shook, the globes of the overhead lights suddenly blowing, glass shards raining down on us as I covered my head and turned down.
"Mokuba Kaiba, Dimension S-534, you are under arrest for committing the act of treason…!" the monotone voice of a Sector Security officer carried from down the hall, four men in blue uniforms approaching from the direction of the Duel Field.
Mokuba put a hand to his head and sighed before pointing to the group of officers. "I have to take these two back to KaibaCorp. Hold them off!" Mokuba ordered, his KC Guard rushing forward to take on Sector Security. Mokuba turned to Tim and I. "Follow me…!" he ushered before taking off down the hall.
"You know, if it was just me here, I'd stay and fight." Tim told me, before following after Mokuba.
I just couldn't believe what was happening. In one moment, the City had been thrown into chaos. I just wanted it all to be over. I thought it was! I did everything that everyone wanted! I didn't complain, I didn't argue, I didn't get up on a soapbox and tell them how fucked up their society was, and now the whole world was turning to shit. And it wouldn't just be here – wasn't just here. If what Declan told me was true, the Xyz Dimension fell to the forces of Fusion in much the same way as what seemed to be happening here. Even if I escaped, I asked myself, then what?
Mokuba skidded to a stop as we reached an elevator, thin red light coming out from the bottom of the door. Mokuba let out a staggered breath as he went to hit the button to open the doors, but another voice called out to him, this one brimming with emotion.
"Going somewhere?" the voice asked, its tone taunting us as we turned to see four glowing circles approach from the darkness. It was only when they came closer that I was able to recognize the familiar masks, blue Duel Academy uniforms, and shield-shaped Duel Disks that the two soldiers wore, their eyes obscured by the red gemstones embedded in their masks. Tim eased me down off his back and cracked his knuckles.
"You're…" Mokuba trailed off.
One of them suddenly stopped, their smile vanishing from their face. "Wait a minute, that's…" I couldn't see their eyes, but they must have been locked on Tim, as they seemed to be facing him. "Hey, we should go…"
His partner turned back to him and scoffed. "You can't be serious."
"N-no, that's… He killed three of our men."
"Well then we card the three of them."
"No way… you can stay if you want, but I'm getting out of here!" the first Duel Soldier seemed to panic, slamming his hand down onto his Duel Disk before disappearing in a flash of blue light.
Tim cocked his head to the side. "Your buddy has the right idea. You should make like a chicken and run."
"I'm not scared of you!" the remaining Duel Soldier snapped, activating his Duel Disk.
"'I'm not scared of you!'" Tim mimicked, imitating the voice of a young child. "That's how you sound, punk-ass bitch…!" Tim spat.
Mokuba put a hand out in front of Tim. "I'll handle this, Mr. Ihansha. You guys can take the fight to them if you want, but this is my Dimension, and while they're here, in my City, I'll be the one to take them down!" Mokuba said proudly, activating his Duel Disk.
"Mokubro…" Tim muttered.
"You will, will you?" his opponent smiled, baring his teeth. "Then let the hunt begin! Duel!"
[Mokuba: 4000 LP]
[?: 4000 LP]
"I activate Instant Fusion! By paying one thousand Life Points, I can Fusion Summon my El Shaddoll Winda! The Goddess pulls the strings of the Priestess, infusing her and her beast with darkness! Come forth, El Shaddoll Winda!"
[?: 3000 LP]
A blue swirl appeared behind Mokuba's opponent, a green-haired puppet-like priestess easing out through the vortex, standing atop a distorted wyrm [ATK: 2200].
"Next, I activate the Equip Spell Nephe Shaddoll Fusion! This card not only lets me change my Winda's Attribute to Light, but I'm also able to Fusion Summon once again! I fuse El Shaddoll Winda on the field with the Shaddoll Hedgehog in my hand! The powers of light and darkness pool themselves together to bring forth the one true Goddess! I Fusion Summon! Come forth, El Shaddoll Construct!"
Winda and Hedgehog rose up into the air, becoming spheres of light and darkness respectively, swirling around each other and growing, mixing together as the conjoined sphere grew. Mokuba's opponent smiled callously as the three of us stepped back, the sphere pressing up against the walls and ceiling of the hall until it all came crumbling down.
I gasped, eyes wide as a piece of the ceiling came straight for me, but Tim moved his right hand out hard and fast, slicing through the debris and batting it away.
"Thanks, Tim…" I breathed quickly.
"Don't mention it." He smiled, though his eyes were fixed on the ever-growing sphere. It had reached a truly titanic size when the sphere cracked, a purple light seeping through. The crack turned into a split and the sphere broke apart, drenching the four of us in purple light. When the light cleared, a monolithic Monster 'dressed' in blue and gold stood in its wake, her form climbing up into the cloudy sky, standing as though she had taken possession of the Earth [ATK: 2800].
I was breathless, the serene expression on her face not at all taking away from her imposing presence. She was probably almost as tall as the Earthbound Immortals. She truly towered over all of us, standing still with her arms outstretched, purple light dripping off her form.
"Now, I activate my Construct's effect: when she's Summoned, I get to send a Shaddoll card from my Deck to the Graveyard. I'll send my Shaddoll Beast to the Graveyard, and now his effect activates, letting me draw a card. Finally, I'll Set one Monster face-down. Your move."
Mokuba exhaled, eyes focused solely on El Shaddoll Construct as he drew. "From my hand, I activate the effect of my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon: by showing you a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand, I get to Special Summon it to the field!" Mokuba revealed a Blue-Eyes to his opponent only for another to fly in from the sky as he threw an Effect Monster version of the card down onto his Duel Disk, the white dragon roaring [ATK: 3000]. "Now I activate another one of my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon's effects: once per turn, I can target and destroy one Monster on the field, so guess what's happening to your Construct!"
The Duel Soldier grimaced as Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon roared once more, blue light glistening from its scales and engulfing the comparatively humongous Construct in light, the Fairy vanishing from the field. "All that build up for nothin', hey?" Tim smiled.
Mokuba's opponent grumbled. "When my El Shaddoll Construct is destroyed, I can return my Nephe Shaddoll Fusion card to my hand!" he explained, retrieving the card from his Graveyard.
"You won't need it. I activate the Spell Card Ancient Rules, which allows me to Special Summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand!" a second dragon appeared beside the first, letting out its own roar [ATK: 3000]. Mokuba smiled. "And now, I Normal Summon Lord of D." a caped Spellcaster adorned in armor fashioned from the bones of dragons appeared between the two white behemoths, holding one hand out before Mokuba's opponent [ATK: 1200]. "I enter my Battle Phase! Lord of D. Attack!"
Lord of D. threw both his hands out, a powerful radiance flowing from his fingertips and flipping up the opposing side's Set Monster and destroying it [Shaddoll Squamata: DEF: 1000].
"You attacked my Shaddoll Squamata, which means its flip effect activates: I can target a card on your field and destroy it!"
"That's too bad. All you can target is my Lord of D. After all, thanks to his effect, my Dragon Monsters can't be targeted by card effects." Mokuba explained with a grin as Lord of D. was destroyed, leaving his Blue-Eyes free to attack. "Go, Blue-Eyes! Burst Stream of Destruction!"
Blue-Eyes roared once more, a stream of white light erupting from the Monster's maw, knocking the Duel Soldier to the ground, his hair singed and his body badly burned.
[?: 0 LP]
A broken squeak passed his lips, his mask broken to reveal the eyes of a terrified teen. He moved shakily to touch his Duel Disk, disappearing in a flash of light just as his partner had done.
"Yeah, that's right! Get the Hell out of my Dimension, you lunatic!" Mokuba spat before sighing, turning back to us, "Are you guys okay?"
"Y-yeah…" I muttered.
"That was awesome, Mokubro!" Tim praised as the Monsters disappeared. "You made that guy your bitch!"
Mokuba cracked a smile, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks, but it was nothing. Anyway, we have to keep moving." Mokuba turned back to the elevator, hitting the button to open the doors, but nothing happened. Mokuba hit the button again. "Come on…!" he cringed. "Damn it! The power to the elevator's gone!" Mokuba slammed his hand down on the pad. "The backup must have been messed with during the Duel!" Mokuba exhaled.
"Why do we even need to use the elevator? Thanks to that guy's bae Monster he basically created an exit for us. We can just go out the giant hole it made."
Mokuba shook his head. "If we go out there right now, we'll get caught in the crossfire. I'm sure the Summoning of El Shaddoll Construct has alerted more soldiers from the Fusion Dimension to our positon. It would have been safest if we could have taken the elevator and try to avoid them for now, instead of fighting them directly."
Tim shrugged. "A'ight. Well just 'cause the elevator ain't workin' doesn't mean we can't still use the shaft." He said, kicking the doors in and staring down into the abyss of the shaft. "Long drop…" he muttered, shrugging. "Well I'm game to jump."
"Tyler…!" I heard Apple Magician Girl's voice in my head. "Use me, use us. I'll take you wherever you need to go." She told me. I gasped, looking down at my counterpart's Deck.
"Fizdis… thank you…" I whispered, removing the tournament Deck from my Duel Disk and replacing it with my counterpart's before activating it.
"Mr. Nochi, what are you doing?" Mokuba asked.
"W-we can use our cards. Use Real Solid Vision and have them help us." I said, drawing and placing Apple Magician Girl's card onto my Duel Disk. The dark-haired Magician Girl appeared with a reassuring smile.
"Hey, that's…" Mokuba trailed off. "You didn't tell me you were a fan of Yugi's." he said, drawing a card from his own Deck. "Well if you're going to rock a magician, I'll do you one better! Goddess of Sweet Revenge, come out!" Mokuba called, placing the card onto his Duel Disk as a beautiful green-haired staff-wielding Fairy appeared beside him. Mokuba got down on bended knee, taking the free hand of his Monster in his own. "I request your assistance, My Lady. If you'd please be able to help us reach the Kaiba Corporation by way of the Underground Access Network, it would be much appreciated."
Mokuba's Monster gave him a warm smile and nodded, taking him into her arms. "We'll follow your lead." Apple Magician Girl told them, wrapping her arms around me. I looked up at her, and she looked down at me and smiled.
"Mr. Ihansha, what about you?" Mokuba asked. "You should Summon one of your Monsters too."
"Nah, I'll just jump it." Tim said, and I knew he could do it too.
"Alright." Mokuba looked up at his Monster and nodded as she jumped into the shaft, and even though I was safe in Apple Magician Girl's arms, my heart did race a bit as she walked over to the edge of the floor and the shaft seemed to disappear endlessly down into the abyss.
"It's alright…" Apple Magician Girl cooed, allowing herself to fall forward as she held me to her chest. My heart jumped into my throat and her wings suddenly caught the air, our descent slowing as we followed after Mokuba and the Goddess of Sweet Revenge, themselves barely visible in the darkness.
There were no lights or anything like I'd assumed there would be. In fact the only sources of light that I could see were the hard light blade of my Duel Disk and the staff of Mokuba's Monster, the eyes of which glowed a faint green.
"This way!" Mokuba called up to us, the eyes of his Monster's staff suddenly emitting a great burst of light, illuminating the area in a wash of green. My eyes widened as Goddess of Sweet Revenge suddenly turned, and Apple Magician Girl glided after her, the four of us heading into a passageway.
"Are you okay? I'm not holding you too tight, am I?" Apple Magician Girl asked softly.
"No, no, you're fine. Thanks." I said, patting her arm with one of my hands, refusing to look down at the gap below us or think about how her chest was pressing into my back.
The dulled sounds of explosions, sirens and screaming had disappeared by now, and I noticed the ground quickly coming up to meet us. Mokuba and his Monster had drawn in closer to us.
"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Mokuba smiled. "Almost the entire City is honeycombed with deep tunnels. Most of them are used to transport waste and such to the recycling plant in the Commons to get processed, but this passageway here leads to KaibaCorp. This way, we can evade all the Obelisk Force and Securities running about the City. We've got our own guards stationed at KaibaCorp at the moment, as I suspect Rogét's after the High Council, but I have sent token forces to try and subdue Obelisk Force. They're our highest priority at the moment."
"Obelisk Force…?" I mumbled.
"Duel Academy's most elite group of Duel Soldiers. That's who we fought before." Mokuba explained, sighing. "To think they'd use the name of an Egyptian God in such a blasphemous way…" Mokuba shook his head. "Anyway, we're almost there." He said, moving ahead just a little before he and his Monster came to a stop, staring up at the confines of the passageway as a red light came down, scanning across Mokuba's face before the top of the passageway opened up and Mokuba pushed himself up through the opening, Goddess of Sweet Revenge unable to fit through due to her unwieldy staff. "Thanks for that, My Lady. Your assistance was much appreciated. You deserve a rest." Mokuba's voice called down to her as she disappeared in a burst of golden light.
Apple Magician Girl moved us closer to the opening before she helped me up through it, unable to get through herself due to her wings. Mokuba grabbed one of my arms and helped me to my feet before I turned back to her. "Fizdis, thank you…" I smiled, removing her card from my Duel Disk as her physical form disappeared in a shower of gold, her spirit form remaining. "Y-you're…" I had no idea what to say to her. I wanted to thank her so much for her support, but I just couldn't figure out what more to say other than "thank you…"
"You're welcome…" she whispered back, smiling at me, Tim coming up through the passage and moving through her transparent form.
"That was fun." Tim grunted, pulling himself up. "Anyone else smell apples?"
I turned away with a smile. "We'll… talk later…" I told Apple Magician Girl, and she nodded, her form fading away. Mokuba deactivated his Duel Disk before sealing the passageway.
"Okay, now we'll just…" Mokuba suddenly stopped.
"Mokubro, what is it?" Tim asked.
"We're alone."
"What do you mean?"
"We're alone." He repeated. I looked around and there wasn't a single KC Guard in sight. Mokuba suddenly took off down the hall, and Tim and I followed after him.
It was true. We were alone.
There was no one else around aside from the three of us. Reception was empty and the only sound I could hear was the sound of our own footsteps as we made our way through the same set of rooms we'd gone through when we'd first arrived at the Kaiba Corporation. Eventually, we came upon the doors to the High Council's room, open and inviting unlike last time.
Unfortunately, the sight of what was actually in the room was not at all inviting, the three of us standing outside it, looking in in horror.
"Oh my God…" Mokuba muttered.
The four members of the High Council were seated in their chairs, bodies limp and eyes vacantly staring at nothing. There were hand marks around Taki's neck, indicating he'd been strangled, Gurei's throat looked like it had been slit, Azul's legs were missing, a puddle of blood underneath her seat and running down the walls, and Bordeaux had an Axe of Despair lodged deep in his chest.
"What kinda floppy-wanded Dementor-buggerer could've done this…?" Tim muttered. "Cool axe though."
Mokuba inhaled sharply, slipping on a headset and attaching it to his Duel Disk before activating it once again. "This is Mokuba Kaiba, can anybody read me? Come in. Over."
"Look at the axe." Tim motioned to me.
"I-I'd rather not…" I whimpered.
"The angle." He continued. "The way it's pointing into his chest like that. It was thrown, probably by someone with really good upper body strength."
"Damn it…!" Mokuba hissed, discarding his headset to the ground. "Where the Hell has everyone gone?!"
"Wh-who could have done this?" I asked.
"It couldn't have been the Fusion Dimension. They would have carded them. Someone else must have gotten to them." Mokuba scratched his head, throwing his hands down. "They could still be here. We have to move." He said suddenly. "I'll take you to the boat right away."
"Are you sure? I mean, if there's a murderer here-" Tim began to speak but Mokuba cut him off.
"If there's a murderer here, I will deal with them. It's nothing either of you have to concern yourselves with."
"Well, I mean, there are Fusion-"
"Mr. Ihansha, I will take care of it. Now, please, follow me."
"What about Declan? I'm supposed to help his lot-"
"They were supposed to be here, Mr. Ihansha, and they're not, and I can't get hold of them. For all we know, Mr. Akaba and the others have already been carded by soldiers from the Fusion Dimension. The two of you need to get out of here while you can. It's not safe."
Tim ticked, and I knew he could have argued with Mokuba all day, but he looked at me, and I guess I must have looked pretty shaken because Tim just sighed and nodded, Mokuba turning away from the carnage as we followed him out of the High Council's room.
Once again, we didn't know where Mokuba was taking us, I mean, we knew it was to the boat, but we didn't know where that was. We passed through several doors that were supposedly off-limits to the public, and had it been any other circumstance I would have been absolutely elated, but of course at this point I only felt consternation.
The path stretched on, and every hallway or intersection looked and felt the same to me, but as we moved to head around a corner, Mokuba suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "Stop," Mokuba hushed to us at the sound of footsteps drawing closer. Tim pressed a hand gently against my chest as he kept me back, staring intently at the corner of the wall, probably readying himself to attack whoever or whatever it was that stepped out from the other side.
The two of them relaxed immediately at the sight of the gray-haired young man as he came around the corner. Mokuba sighed with relief. "Mr. Akaba…!"
"Mr. Kaiba…!" even Declan sounded surprised to see us. But it wasn't just him. No, behind him stood Yuya, Zuzu, Gong, Riley, Sylvio, and that blue ninja guy whose name I didn't know.
"It's great to see you guys. When I couldn't get hold of you, I thought you might have been carded. What took you so long getting here?"
"We were trying to track Rogét." Declan explained. "We broke into The Facility to rescue Celina and the others, but he made off with her and we saw him head here."
"You saw him come here? But what could…" Mokuba trailed off before his eyes widened, turning to Tim. "The boat!" Once again, Mokuba took off. "Follow me, quickly!" he urged, and we all ended up following him. To be honest, it was sort of reassuring to be in a group. There were at least ten of us, so if there was a murderer lurking in the Kaiba Corporation, on top of the Duel Soldiers and Sector Security fighting throughout the City, we at least had the advantage in terms of closely-knit numbers, and I doubt we could have been taken by surprise.
Tim, Mokuba, Yuya and Declan were talking about how we'd found the High Council murdered in their chambers, and how the person who killed them could still be lurking somewhere within KaibaCorp, along with the threat of the Fusion Dimension, and what Rogét could have been planning, but I wasn't really focusing on any of it. I just wanted to get to the boat.
We passed through several more doors until we came upon the entrance to another room, a locked steel door blocking the way. It stood out to me because it seemed to use a different security system than the rest of the doors from what I'd seen in KaibaCorp.
"It's locked. Okay." Mokuba said aloud, reaching in underneath his suit and pulling out a card which he scanned into a card reader sticking out beside the door. A clicking noise sounded and the door unlocked, opening by itself as light spilled into the room, drawing itself over the floor and stopping at the feet of Rogét, and the hands and knees of Celina, the termagant looking weak and defeated, her eyes glazed over and a gag forced down her throat.
"Celina!" Yuya and Zuzu shouted.
"Rogét?!" Mokuba's eyes were wide. "How the Hell did you get in here?!" he snapped as he quickly threw the lights on, the whole room becoming illuminated in an orange glow, and while everyone else was probably blinded by the sudden change in light, my eyes were caught on the central fixture of the room.
A pillar.
It reminded me so much of the Original Momentum Reactor, and, of course, Infinity. Not in its size, it was obviously much smaller, but in shape and design it was almost identical to what I'd seen. I could make out indents and 'lanes' in the pillar that Momentum, or whatever the Dimensional equivalent to it was here, would have probably ran through when or if it was or had ever been active.
Off to the side of that was our boat, the crystal ball resting in its holder, capturing some of the room's artificial light. Rogét stood between the both of them, Celina's hands and feet bound together by hard light.
"Damn it!" Rogét snapped. "I was hoping to leave before you all got here." Rogét suddenly turned to us, his tone softening. "But I guess, in a way, it's good you're all together… now I can get rid of all of you at the same time…" Rogét smirked.
"I've had enough of this. Prepare to die, you Goddamn wadjela-ass crackerjack motherfucker!" Tim shouted, raising his hand to Rogét, who simply continued to smirk in response.
"Oh? Raising your hand to me? I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ihansha…" Rogét spoke softly. "I know of your power, how you killed Banzu, but if you were to try to do the same to me, well, dear Belfri here wouldn't escape unscathed now, would she? No, you'd kill her too…"
"You think I care about some kid?" Tim asked with a smile.
"Tim, no, you can't!" Zuzu pleaded with the redhead who seemed to pay her no mind.
Rogét took a step toward the boat, his controlling smile not leaving his face. "What about the boat?" he snickered, Tim uncharacteristically hesitating. Rogét's smile widened. "From where I'm standing, the boat might just get caught in the blast…! And you need the boat to get home, don't you?" he asked.
"Tim…" I breathed. I'd never seen Tim so hesitant and conflicted about anything. There was a moment where I thought he'd do it, kill Rogét and Celina the same way he'd killed Joel, possibly destroying or damaging the boat in the process, which meant I'd probably never get home, but he didn't. Tim moved his hand back down to his side, hand clenched into a fist.
"Thought so… Too strong for your own good…!" Rogét continued to smile. Celina groaned through her gag, eyes heavy and glazed. "Shut up!" Rogét snapped, slapping his captor across the face, Zuzu immediately activating her Duel Disk. "Uh-uh-u~uh…" Rogét taunted. "I wouldn't do that either if I were you. If any of you take another step, Summon any Monsters or play any cards, I'll activate the Dimensional Domain Emulator and plunge this City into the afterlife!"
"Dimensional Domain Emulator?" Yuya asked.
Mokuba gasped. "Y-you wouldn't!"
Rogét's eyes narrowed. "I would. Do you really think I'd allow myself to be taken so easily?"
"So that's what you were going to do…" Declan muttered, adjusting his glasses. "You were going to use the Dimensional Domain Emulator to transport this City to the afterlife, and then use the boat to escape." Declan shook his head. "Declaring Martial Law, throwing Neo Domino City into a panic just as the Fusion Dimension attacks while you try to slip off undetected… It's what you wanted from the very beginning, wasn't it? Why you arrested Yuya and the others, took them to The Facility, so that you could use them to bargain if you ever had to return… to Duel Academy…!"
Mokuba, Yuya and the other Lancers (apart from Declan) gasped, Tim doing a mock gasp as I'm sure he, like me, either didn't really know, care, or understand the significance of what was going on. "Y-you mean all this time…? You were from another Dimension?!"
"The fact that we had to drive you to this means you've already lost, Rogét. Step away from the boat-" Declan stopped as Rogét chuckled, before his chuckles turned to full-blown menacing laughter.
"You think I've lost?! No, no, no, no, no! My dear Akaba, it's you who has lost! You came here, completely ignorant of the world you were stepping into, thinking that this world would bend to your whims, and that you could use this world's inhabitants to fight the Fusion Dimension, but this world has secrets. Oh yes, secrets that I am well aware of! And you never know when those secrets may or may not come in handy…"
Mokuba's eyes widened. "Yliaster…!"
"That's right, Kaiba. I'm well aware of the legends of the Inti-bearers, Quilla-bearers, the Chavín, and Yliaster, but I don't care about any of that anymore! Would you really expect me to?! This world went to Hell the moment you all interfered in it, so I'll bury you here, and leave this world in the dust!"
"You can't take down all of us!" Sylvio shouted.
"I won't be doing anything… Sergey!" Rogét called, head facing the ceiling with a smile. Tim jumped back as a large piece of the ceiling came down, a large man standing atop it as he landed with a thud, his feet sinking into the ground.
"N-no way! That's…" Mokuba trailed. He was about as tall as Tim, and built quite similarly too. He'd a vacant yet steely-eyed expression on his tattoo-covered face, Criminal Marks over every part of his body I could see. He wore a tri-colored riding suit, but I couldn't even really describe it. He just looked really weird. Of course, it didn't at all take away from his imposing physical presence.
"Who's that?" Zuzu asked.
"This is Sergey Volkov, a former criminal who also goes by the name 'Duelist Crusher', and the last person you'll ever see!" Rogét announced.
"Dumb name…" Tim said bluntly, unimpressed, Sergey standing as still as a statue, having not moved from where he'd landed. "But I can see it…" he muttered, sizing Sergey up before turning to Mokuba. "He was the one that killed the High Council…"
Mokuba's eyes widened while Rogét's piqued. "Y-you're kidding!"
"Well, well, well… I wasn't sure if you'd even seen what I'd done." Rogét kept his eyes on Mokuba. "Yes, I ordered for Sergey to have the High Council killed. I'd been waiting for the right opportunity for some time, but with everything else going on I'd decided now was as good a time as any."
Mokuba stood with his mouth agape, shaking his head in shock and disgust. "What the Hell is wrong with you?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Rogét's eyes narrowed, not at all taken aback by Mokuba's outburst. "You can't be serious… is my hatred of you and them really that much of a surprise to you? After all the times you've tried to undermine me, usurp my power-"
"We gave you that power-"
"You treated me like a fool! Like I knew nothing, but all this time, it was you who didn't know anything. You had no idea I was from Dimension F-610!" Rogét brought his hands out to his sides, almost beckoning us. "Why do you think I let you take the boat back? Drawing your Guard away, lulling you into a false sense of security. I knew the Obelisk Force was coming, it was only a matter of time, so I had Sector Security lure out your Guard while I sent Sergey in to take care of the Council."
Mokuba clenched his hands into fists, pushing out breath after breath of air. "So what happened to the rest of them?" Mokuba asked softly.
Rogét shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't care. Carded by Obelisk Force I'd assume."
Mokuba exhaled slowly. "How could you…? All of this… you were working with them all this time…"
"You really think I would work with Obelisk Force? Work with Duel Academy?" Rogét shook his head. "No, I had plans, Mr. Kaiba. Plans for this City and plans to defeat Duel Academy and The Chancellor myself." Rogét continued to smile, turning to Yuya. "Unfortunately, thanks to you, my plans came somewhat awry. I'd hoped you and Jack would face each other in the tournament finals, and that way I would get a proper introduction with the Crimson Dragon. After all, legend stated that the Crimson Dragon would appear when those who've either Marks of Light or Marks of Shadow do battle." Rogét sighed. "Unfortunately, you lost, but thankfully Jack still Summoned his dragon in his Duel against you, and I was at least able to confirm its existence with my own eyes." Rogét had been facing Tim and I as he'd finished speaking.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Yuya asked.
"Well in the overall scheme of this world, quite a lot, but none of you gave any thought to that before coming here, did you? Still…" Rogét's eyes moved from Yuya to me. "I'd wager that Mark-bearers exist in your Dimension too, do they not?"
"W-w-we call them Signers…" I whispered.
"Simply fascinating. The information I have accrued here will prove particularly useful when I return to Dimension F-610 and persuade The Chancellor to invade Dimension D-521."
I flinched, recalling having heard Slade refer to my Dimension by that name. "So what?" Declan asked. "You're going to destroy this Dimension and flee?"
"No, I'm going to survive, unlike all of you!" Rogét smirked. "There is a force that exists here, more powerful than The Chancellor could and will ever know! I didn't want to do this, but God does not favor losers!" Rogét looked away only for a moment, before his eyes returned to focus on Yuya. "And to think, all I needed was one Inti-bearer or one Quilla-bearer, enough to tip the scales."
"What are you talking about?" Yuya asked, Rogét's smile widening.
"You mean you don't know? One of the souls you now possess inside you belonged to a boy from this Dimension who wielded a Mark of the Crimson Dragon, the soul of Quetzalcoatl. Every five thousand years, a battle between the Inti-bearers, led by Quetzalcoatl – the Crimson Dragon, and the Quilla-bearers, led by Xolotl – the King of the Underworld, takes place. The bearers of these Marks possess incredible abilities and can only be slain by another Mark-bearer, and those that the Quilla-bearers defeat, those with darkness in their hearts, would too become Quilla-bearers." Rogét seemed particularly focused on Yuya as he spoke. "But you didn't defeat young Furei, did you? No… you absorbed him…" Rogét said softly.
Yuya took a step back and I turned to him, noticing that everyone, except for Tim and Sergey, seemed to be looking at the young boy. "I-I-I…" Yuya stammered.
"Don't deny it, Sakaki. I saw it all with my own eyes. The search for Mr. Furei's body was simply a formality that needed to be carried out. Every single human possesses bestial instincts. Yours just happen to be especially powerful. You can try to deny it all you want, but the entirety of Neo Domino City saw the darkness in your heart, and who you really are!"
"Yuya…" Zuzu muttered.
"So," Rogét continued, "as you can imagine, having one of either on side would have been incredibly beneficial to me, but-"
"But you could get neither." Declan cut him off. "So, you decided to cut your losses, take Celina, and run back to Duel Academy with your tail between your legs!"
"I might not have any Mark-bearers, but I have the next best thing! Sergey, kill them all, starting with those two!" Rogét motioned to Tim and I. "As much as I'd like to leave you to perish along with the City, I need to see you die with my own eyes!"
"You've prattled on long enough; I'm done listenin' to this crap!" Tim snapped, charging forward and planting his right foot in Sergey's chest, throwing the man back against the wall, before Sergey dropped to the ground, motionless, the redhead turning back to Rogét.
"S-Sergey…!" Rogét gasped, eyes fixed on his lackey's body, which suddenly sprang back to life as he grabbed Tim by the shoulder and threw him into the wall.
"Tim!" I shouted.
Sergey planted his foot on Tim's arm, breaking his Duel Disk and pushing him through the wall before Tim used his free hand to bat him away, Sergey staggering back as Tim got to his feet.
"What the Hell are you?!" Tim breathed heavily.
Rogét laughed. "That's right, Sergey! Get up and destroy them all!" Rogét then turned to Tim. "Sergey's no mere mortal, Ihansha. He was a former criminal, beaten and tortured in The Facility. At the eve of his death, I saved him, fitted him with cybernetic equipment and hard light support."
"Yeah?" Tim asked, "Well… that's stupid! You're stupid!" he retorted.
"No! You're stupid! All of you are stupid! You should never have come here! You ruined your own customs, your own legacy by allowing these wretched outlanders to come, and I've had it! Sergey! Kill them right now!"
"Understood…" Sergey muttered, cracking his neck as he walked toward Tim with a smile.
"Alright…" Tim sighed, moving his shoulders back as he tensed his hands once more. "You're a cyborg, are ya? Let's see how you do with this…!" Tim disappeared in a flash and Sergey's body convulsed several times over before the hulking giant dropped to his knees, Tim reappearing a few moments later.
"T-T-T-Tim, a-are you okay?" I asked. Tim nodded but he didn't turn to me, keeping his distance from the group and sticking close to Sergey.
"There. Enjoy bein' a paraplegic." Tim said firmly. "I just hit every single pressure point in your body. Even those new ones that only hippies know about. Now-" Tim suddenly stopped as Sergey's knees started to shake and he lifted himself back onto his feet. "You have got to be kidding me!" Tim seethed. "Fine. Fine! Let's see you survive this!" Tim slammed his hands together, fingers splayed out as a light shot out from the palms of his hands.
"Sergey!" Rogét shouted, his voice drenched with concern as the man was engulfed in light, but when the light faded, Sergey was still standing, his form as prominent as it ever was, his yellow Criminal Marks glowing an eerily familiar purple, and the scleras of his eyes a heartless black.
"You cannot kill me, mortal." He spoke.
"Alright…!" Tim breathed. "This isn't workin'…! What do I gotta do…?!"
"Nothing. Just accept your fate…" Sergey said, looking down at his right arm. "Xolotl is whispering to me…" he muttered. "I can hear him through my Mark. He wants me to claim you…"
"Your Mark?" Declan asked, Sergey's arm starting to glow purple.
"No…! N-n-n-n-no way!" I stammered, purple light radiating from Sergey's form, the towering man's clothing changing, almost burning away to reveal an outfit of black, his shirt and pants clinging tightly to his body, and a hooded robe which covered his eyes only for a moment became draped over him. But what really got me was the Mark on his arm. It was purple, like the other Dark Signer Marks I'd seen, but the image was of none of the seven geoglyphs I could recall.
"S-Sergey, you're…" Rogét shivered, Sergey's eyes widening, the tall man's face contorting, the Criminal Marks on his face and body having turned a deep purple.
I swallowed audibly. "Tim, get out of here." I told him.
Tim finally looked back at me. "What? But things are just startin' to get interestin'…" Tim's eyes widened and he turned back to Sergey, the man in black charging toward us and punching Tim square in his chin. Tim took a step back before getting kicked in the chest, skidding across the floor. Tim grunted, getting to his feet. "Cheap shot, punk."
"He…" Sergey heaved, his head suddenly jerking to me. "He wants me to take you into the shadows first!" Sergey shouted, purple fire appearing behind him, cutting through the wall as it quickly spread around and trailed out behind me. I turned behind me to find that Sergey and I were surrounded by the fire, just as Luna and I had been in our Duel against Devack. Sergey and I were cut off from everyone else, Tim and the others standing on one side of the flames, Rogét and Celina on the other.
"What is this?" Declan asked.
Mokuba swallowed. "A Shadow Duel."
"You think a little purple fire'll scare me? Purple's the least threatenin' color for fire!" Tim started to walk toward us.
"T-Tim, no! Stop!" I warned him. "This isn't ordinary fire! If y-y-you try to walk through it, y-your soul'll be ripped from your body."
"My soul…?" Tim stopped, placing a hand atop the scar on his chest. "What about you?" He asked.
"I'll be fine~!" I told him, my voice wavering. "But you all need to get out of here! Find some place safe!"
"No way! I ain't leavin' you!" Tim protested.
"There's nothing you can do! There's nothing any of you can do! Once he's finished with me, he'll come for you guys. Y-you don't even need the boat to get back, it was for me~! It was all just for me! You can go with them! They've got cards they can use to travel between Dimensions! The only reason we needed the boat was because I didn't know where I was from, but that doesn't matter anymore…!" I sighed. "I've dealt with guys like this before. I'll… I'll be okay…!"
"Tyler…" Tim refused to move, and it was the same with Yuya, Zuzu and the others, though I assumed their reason for staying was to ensure Celina's safety. Rogét wasn't moving either, after all, and he could. He had the boat on his side of the flames. He could run off with Celina at any moment, I thought.
"W-w-w-well if you're going to stay… I can't stop you~" my voice cracked once more and I turned back to Tim and the others, themselves barely visible through the flames. "But stick close to Yuya. If he does have Yugo's soul inside him, then he might now carry his Mark. Which means if anything happens during this Duel, you'll be protected…" I sighed heavily, turning back to Sergey. "So, you're a Dark Signer then? A Quilla-bearer or whatever it was Rogét said?" I asked, even though the answer was obvious.
Sergey didn't answer me, instead twisting his face into a smile as he activated his Duel Disk.
"Sergey, what are you-" Rogét was cut off as the giant man roared.
"Duel!"
[Tyler: 4000 LP]
[Sergey: 4000 LP]
My heart jumped into my throat, and I drew five cards from my Deck as my starting hand, activating my Duel Disk. "From my hand, I Normal Summon Chocolate Magician Girl!" the young aqua-haired Spellcaster appeared in front of me, wand raised [ATK: 1600]. "Next, I Set two cards face-down, and activate Chocolate Magician Girl's effect: discarding Lemon Magician Girl from my hand to draw a card." Chocolate Magician Girl raised her wand into the air as I slid Lemon Magician Girl into the Graveyard, managing to draw Magicians' Defense. "Finally, I'll Set one more card face-down and end my turn." I told him, Setting my new Trap alongside my previously Set Dimension Guardian and Dimension Reflector.
Sergey drew, his movements rigid and robotic. "I activate Pot of Desires. By Banishing ten cards from my Deck, I can draw two cards." Sergey removed the top ten cards from his Duel Disk before drawing two more. "I now Set a Monster, along with two other cards in my backrow, and end my turn."
I drew. "I Set o-o-o-o-o-one card face-down and Set a Monster in Defense Position." I said shakily, Setting Magician's Robe and Mirror Force face-down before entering my Battle Phase. "Now, I attack your Set Monster with Chocolate Magician Girl!" I shouted. My Monster raised its wand, aqua light zapping at Sergey's Monster, revealing itself to be Spirit Reaper [DEF: 200].
"Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed by battle." Sergey snickered.
"I know that." I told him. "I end my turn." I said, Sergey drawing.
"I'll Set one more Monster in Defense Position and end my turn."
Celina groaned and Rogét shushed her, keeping his eyes on the Duel.
I drew, opting to keep the Spellbinding Circle that I'd drawn in my hand, as I didn't want to overextend too much. Sergey was playing defensively and having cards like Spirit Reaper in his Deck meant that he was obviously stalling, waiting for something else to come along. An Earthbound Immortal, more than likely, which meant I had to make sure he couldn't get enough Tributes or activate a Field Spell. He already had one Monster, but if I could just keep it at one, I'd have a chance.
"I enter my Battle Phase and attack the Monster you just Set with Chocolate Magician Girl!" once again, my Chocolate Magician Girl poised her wand toward Sergey's Set Monster, and just like last time, my Chocolate Magician Girl's attack had no effect. Sergey's Set Monster was revealed, one that caused my heart to skip a beat [Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper: DEF: 300]. "N-no way…"
"Once per turn, my Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper can't be destroyed either."
"I… I…"
"My turn!" Sergey shouted, drawing. "I activate the Spell Card Twin Twisters, discarding Earthbound Prisoner Stone Sweeper to destroy two of your face-downs!" two tornadoes came forth, sweeping my Mirror Force and Dimension Reflector into the Graveyard. "Next, I activate the Field Spell known as Mausoleum of the Emperor!" My eyes widened as the purple flames intensified, two stone pillars coming up from the ground surrounding the metal one. Sergey clenched his hand into a fist. "Now… all the pieces are in place… I Tribute my Spirit Reaper and Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper!"
"What?!" I shouted. I assumed he was going to use his Life Points as Tributes instead, but evidently that wasn't the case. The flames grew even more fierce, and the sides of the building began to crumble, opening up to the murky sky where a disembodied heart hovered in the air, leaking black sludge as purple lights trickled up from all over the City, flowing into it.
Above that, blue flames made themselves known in the sky, lines and patches running along and forming into the shape of an animal. It looked like a dog with two tails.
"What's happening?" Zuzu asked.
"He's absorbing the souls of everyone in Neo Domino City." I told her, turning back to see Yuya's arm glowing, a transparent red sphere appearing around himself and the group.
"Well, on the bright side, that probably gets rid o' most of the Fusion Dimension's forces, right?" Tim shrugged.
"Xolotl!" Sergey yelled. "I call forth your servant from the Underworld and allow him to feast on the souls of the living! Break free from your seal and rise, Earthbound Immortal Allqu!"
The disembodied heart in the sky began to beat, slowly at first, but much more rapid as time went on, until purple light erupted from the heart, getting blasted down onto the Earth, the ground giving way to a titanic black dog with white lines running all over its body. An Earthbound Immortal I'd never seen before [ATK: 3000].
"That's an Earthbound Immortal…?" Rogét asked breathlessly. "It's magnificent…"
"My Earthbound Immortal Allqu possesses the ability to attack your Life Points directly. Go, Allqu!" Sergey shouted, the dog's white eyes staring down into my soul as its head reared closer. I stepped back as far as I could, but I was pinned by the fire.
"I play my Trap Card, Magicians' Defense!" I shouted, revealing my Trap as Chocolate Magician Girl came to my aid. "As long as I control a Spellcaster, any damage I take is halved…!" I explained, the jaws of the dog appearing overhead, biting down into me.
[Tyler: 2500 LP]
I could feel it. I could feel its teeth digging into my skin, piercing my body, grinding my bones. I screamed. I must have. It hurt too much to not do anything. After what felt like an eternity of agony, Sergey's Monster let me go, removing its teeth from my now sore-infested, scabby body, my warm blood running onto the cold ground as I collapsed.
"Tyler, holy shit! Are you alright?!" I heard Tim call out to me, but I couldn't respond.
"I'll Set one card and end my turn."
I continued to lie there on the ground, afraid and yet unable to draw my eyes away from the terrifying dog. I could feel blood running down my head. Chocolate Magician Girl turned to me and took one of my hands in hers. My eyes focused on her, but she seemed so far away from me. I could see her lips move. She was speaking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. She pulled me into a seated position, kneeling down to meet me at eye level.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice finally registering.
I nodded, even though I didn't feel okay, and Chocolate Magician Girl helped me to my feet. "Can I use you… to help me stand…?" I asked weakly and Chocolate Magician Girl nodded quickly.
"Of course."
"Th-th-thank you~" I groaned. "My… my turn to draw…" I panted, drawing, barely even able to keep a grip on the card I drew. "I activate… Chocolate Magician Girl's effect, discarding Dark Magician from my hand to draw a card-"
"I don't think so! I reveal my Trap Card: Solemn Strike! By paying fifteen-hundred Life Points, I can negate the effect of your Magician Girl and destroy her!"
[Sergey: 2500 LP]
My eyes widened as a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Chocolate Magician Girl, destroying her and knocking me back to the ground, my cards flying from my hand.
"This is bad…" Mokuba muttered.
"No~!" I grunted and groaned, crawling over to retrieve my cards. I had no idea what to do. The only other Monster I had out was Magician's Robe, which was face-down, which meant that the effect of Magicians' Defense wouldn't apply, so if I was attacked directly by Allqu again, that would be it for me. I assumed that like the other Earthbound Immortals, Allqu was unaffected by Spell and Trap Cards, so my Spellbinding Circle wouldn't work anyway. Nevertheless, it was all I could do. "I Set one card face-down… and end my turn…" I said shakily.
"I don't think so! I activate the Quick-Play Spell Cosmic Cyclone! By paying one thousand Life Points, I'll Banish the card you just Set!"
[Sergey: 1500 LP]
My Spellbinding Circle rose up before it got sucked into a vortex. Sergey licked his lips before smirking, his fang-filled smile matching that of his dog's as he drew. "Rogét told me about the hatred you have in your heart for your brother."
I gasped, using my vest to wipe away some of the blood on my forehead. "Wh-what…?" I whispered.
"How you want nothing more than to see him dead." Sergey licked his lips. "I can help you with that. Once I've killed you, you'll become a Quilla-bearer like me."
I edged back. I'd remembered Devack saying the same thing, that if he'd defeated Luna and me in our Duel against him, we would have become Dark Signers. I wondered what that would have meant for us. Would we have been forced to fight against, say, Yusei and Leo just as that Greiger guy had been made to fight Crow?
"Yes, yes! You're magnificent, Sergey!" Rogét praised. "Y-you can build my army of Quilla-bearers for me, and then no one will be able to stop me! Not Yliaster, not The Chancellor! No one! Do it, Sergey! Finish him!" I heard Rogét shout.
Sergey shook his head. "Not yet."
"What?!" Rogét snapped. "I order you to-"
"Shut up!" Sergey roared, the markings on his face glowing purple. "You have no idea the power I possess, mortal! Did you really think it was you who saved me from death? I was already saved… by the Earthbound Immortals!" Sergey set his cards down onto the ground and reached up to the left side of his face where his glowing red eye was, clutching at the skin around it. "This body… is not yours!" Sergey tore at his face, ripping the red eye from its socket, along with a mess of wires, blood, and skin.
"I've lost control…" Rogét muttered.
Sergey panted like a dog in heat, discarding the blood-drenched cybernetics to the floor, turning back to the long-nosed man. "You never had it to begin with… honestly, did you really think you'd be able to gather an army of Mark-bearers, and control them?! You're nothing…" Sergey looked back at me, his empty eye socket making my blood run cold. "Boy… I'm not going to kill you yet. After all, I can kill you at any moment with Allqu, and when I do, I want to see the light leave your eyes and for darkness to take its place there! Allqu, attack his Defense Position Monster!"
My Magician's Robe was revealed [DEF: 2000] and Sergey snickered as Magician's Robe was destroyed, Earthbound Immortal Allqu biting down and eviscerating my Monster. I was thrown back from the attack, my eyes widening as I saw my Life Points drop.
[Tyler: 1500 LP]
"What the Hell…?"
Sergey smirked. "My Earthbound Immortal Allqu has an effect, where if he attacks a Monster in Defense Position, you take double piercing damage. But I knew from watching your Duels that you run a Spellcaster Deck, and that Magicians' Defense would kick in and save you."
"W-what do you mean… watching m-m-m-my Duels…?"
"Sergey, enough!" Rogét snapped.
"All I need to do is ask Allqu to devour your soul, and you will disappear from this world, Rogét!" Sergey said simply, Rogét becoming pale as Sergey turned back to me. "Yes… I was made to watch your Duels, both those in the tournament, and others that you played in during your time here. Your Duel against Sector Security, your brother, I'm well aware of the hatred in your heart. Rogét wanted to use you and your friend as tools to further his own desires, just as he thought he could use me, but you have your own. You want nothing more than to make your brother pay."
I started to shake, and I wasn't sure if it was from fear or anger. "I want to go home."
"So you can kill your brother. You don't have to hide your darkness from me, or try and push the anger away. Use it. Let it fuel you, consume you, and when you die, let Xolotl into your heart. Then you can become a Quilla-bearer, and this world, no, the multiverse will be at our feet!"
"Go to Hell!" I barked. "I might hate Joel. I might hate a lot of people. But there's more to life than hate. I have someone I love, and I won't, I won't, be turning my back on her again!"
"That's right!" Tim agreed. "An old friend once told me that love is the most powerful magic that exists!"
"Then I'll show you the power of the shadows and drag you to Hell. I activate the Continuous Spell Card – Field Barrier!" Sergey laughed as a translucent green bubble appeared around the two of us, further cutting me off from Tim and the others. "With this, my Mausoleum of the Emperor can't be destroyed, which means there's no way for you to defeat my Earthbound Immortal!"
I stopped breathing for half a second, my eyes shifting to Sergey's Earthbound Immortal Allqu, whose form existed outside the confines of Field Barrier.
He was right.
The cards I had in this Deck, I had no out, no way to get that Field Spell off the field. I only had one Mystical Space Typhoon, and no other Spell or Trap removal.
There was almost no point in fighting, but I knew I had to do something. I drew my card, knowing it would be my last as Apple Magician Girl's form appeared beside me, her card in my hand. "Tyler, Summon me." She said quickly.
I turned to her quickly and shook my head. "N-no, I can't… not you… I'll just cause you pain… all I ever do is cause pain… I want it to stop…"
"No, Tyler, don't," she said breathily, "look at me." Apple Magician Girl moved so that we were facing each other. "Don't think like that…" she whispered, "please… you're stronger than this, I know it… you can't give in…!" Apple Magician Girl moved away from me slightly, breathing heavily as she turned to face Earthbound Immortal Allqu. "Trust me… I have a plan… Normal Summon me… and then activate Dimension Guardian… if you let me protect you, I promise, you'll be alright…"
"Alright… I trust you~" I breathed, my voice breaking, facing Sergey. "I Summon Apple Magician Girl…!" I shakily placed her card on my Duel Disk as her form became real, gliding out in front of me to protect me from Allqu [ATK: 1200]. "And next… I-I reveal my face-down card, Dimension Guardian…" a large stone sculpture appeared in front of Apple Magician Girl, the sculpture's feminine form holding the top of a sa in her hands. "W-w-w-w-with this, Apple Magician Girl can't be destroyed by battle or by card effects."
My body was jerking with every frantic breath I took, sucking in air and pushing it out as I had to face the fact that I was out of options. I needed a Monster to defend my Life Points, but having Apple Magician Girl out on the field would just cause her pain too. And it didn't matter what battle position I put her in, as Sergey's Earthbound Immortal could just circumvent her and attack me directly anyway.
It didn't matter what I did.
I'd lost.
I was going to die.
It was a wonder I was able to stand with my body shaking as violently as it was. All I wanted was to see Luna and the others again. To apologize for what I'd done, what I'd put them through, and to try… just to try and make it up to them. And now… now I'd never get that chance.
I started to cry, and I hated myself. A grown fucking man crying as he was about to die.
"There it is…" Sergey licked his lips, his singular eye staring into my soul. "The fear… the beautiful fear…"
I continued to shiver, Apple Magician Girl's voice barely able to cut through the dread. "You'll be alright… Just trust me…" My Spirit friend continued to smile, but her voice was shaky.
Eventually, I had nothing left to do, except say "I end my turn…"
"And as my turn begins, so does your new life as a Quilla-bearer!" Sergey shouted, drawing. "Earthbound Immortal Allqu! Kill them!"
I didn't run. I didn't try to escape. Aside from tensing my body and preparing for the worst, I didn't even fight it. Apple Magician Girl put up a protective bubble around her and me as Earthbound Immortal Allqu bared its teeth at us, snarling before its head darted toward us, twisting and contorting as it opened its maw, biting down on the two of us.
Despite Apple Magician Girl's best efforts, her protection was immediately pierced as I felt the dog's fangs stabbing into my body once again, this time losing sound, sight and touch as I was surrounded by darkness, feeling warm blood turn cold as my entire body ached.
[Tyler: 0 LP]
It was like someone's hands were clamped over my ears, muddled sound just barely reaching me. I moaned involuntarily as I felt the fangs of Sergey's beast suddenly remove themselves from my body, Allqu's rancid breath seeping into the sores as I was released. I felt my legs start to give and I dropped to my knees, Sergey laughing maniacally. "Beautiful! Your death is beautiful!" I heard him cry.
I could feel my heart withering, poison coursing through my body as I started to lose feeling in the tips of my fingers and toes. I was powerless, unable to do anything but submit myself to my fate, purple fire rushing towards me.
I wanted to believe that I had changed, that I'd become a better person. Maybe even a good person. That I had the strength to overcome adversity. That I could do what Yusei and the others had done, but all I'd done was prove how weak I was.
Maybe it was meant to be. Me becoming a Dark Signer.
I closed my eyes, resigning myself to the impending pain, before I felt myself get forced aside. I grunted, opening my eyes as I gasped, Apple Magician Girl standing where I had stood, the Spellcaster having shoved me out of the way, surviving on the field through the power of my Dimension Guardian Trap Card.
And I couldn't get back to her. No, she'd used her magic to trap me in another apple-shaped bubble, leaving me unable to do anything except incessantly pound on the bubble's surface. "No! No!" I yelled.
Apple Magician Girl turned to me, purple flames clinging to her body. "I couldn't save the other Tyler…" she cringed, "but… I can… I can save you…!"
"No, you can't!" I shouted to her, but Apple Magician Girl smiled and shook her head, tears running down her face.
"Please… don't let the darkness into your heart…" she said solemnly, her voice hollow and broken.
And with that, the fires consumed her completely; the card on my Duel Disk bursting into purple flames before dying down alongside the fire that Apple Magician Girl had pushed me out of.
I put my hand on my Duel Disk, feeling the space where I'd placed Apple Magician Girl's card.
Empty.
She was gone.
Gone forever.
Apple Magician Girl's bubble disappeared, the last remnant of her fading away as tears continued to run from my eyes. The fires had completely vanished, and Sergey stood across from me, him and his Earthbound Immortal continuing to stare me down.
"How are you still standing?!" Sergey snapped. "Like that, you should be…"
All I'd ever done was let people down. Everyone who ever put their faith in me, I ended up pushing them away, or getting them killed. Apple Magician Girl had done nothing by help and support me ever since we found each other, and she asked for nothing in return, only wanting to not see me end up like her Tyler had here. And in the end, she gave her life for me. She gave me a second chance at life so I could love.
She gave me… her life…
[Tyler: 1200 LP]
I had to fight.
I had to.
I put my hand to my Deck and drew, revealing the card to my opponent – Palladium Oracle Mahad – before Special Summoning him to my side of the field due to his effect [ATK: 2500].
"This cannot be…!" Sergey muttered breathlessly.
Mahad held his scepter tightly in his hands, a giant seal of yellow light appearing underneath himself and Earthbound Immortal Allqu, before leaping into the air [Palladium Oracle Mahad: ATK: 5000].
Rays of light came up from the ground and from Mahad's staff, eviscerating Sergey's Earthbound Immortal.
[Sergey: 0 LP]
Sergey screamed, and I watched him become engulfed in the purple fire that spewed from his own Earthbound Immortal, his flesh being burned from his body as he stood across from me, becoming nothing more than a skeletal black husk.
"I'll drag you to Hell with me…!" his distorted voice wailed, before he crumbled to dust right before my eyes.
I breathed heavily, turning to focus on Rogét, stumbling a little bit from the effects of the Shadow Duel.
"Sergey… no…" Rogét whimpered.
"It's over, Rogét." Declan said calmly.
"To Hell it is!" he snapped, slamming his hand down onto the control panel of the pillar as the construct started to spark with golden light.
The room started to shake, and I stumbled forward, my legs giving way as I collapsed onto the cold floor, the effects and events of the Shadow Duel having finally taken their toll on my body.
"Tyler!" Tim called out to me, before everything went dark, and silent.
I was alone in quietude, weightlessness, blankness, an otherwise complete absence of sensation. I couldn't tell if my eyes were closed, or if they were wide open and all that filtered through them was darkness.
But there was something there. I could feel something.
Someone.
Their hold, though barely reaching me through the depths of my unconsciousness, was gentle, comforting, but most of all, familiar.
It took me several more moments to affirm that my eyes were closed, and I willed myself to open them, eyelids flickering open, the light from the warm sun blocked by the shadow cast from the large blue dragon, her form lithe and slender, her beautiful amber eyes gazing down deeply into mine.
"Ancient Fairy Dragon…?" I mumbled.
She looked down at me, smiling as she held me gently in her hands. "Welcome home, Tyler."