Disclaimer: I do not own YGO 5Ds.
A/N: Please read this first.
It has occurred to me that in addition to sexual content (which I have arduously avoided for a reason I'll reveal eventually), a story might also have a higher rating for its description of violence/bloodshed, so I'm debating changing this story to rated M. There's one sentence in this chapter that I'm not entirely comfortable calling 'rated T'.
Things do get a little dark by my standards, which might be a lot less strict than your own.
You have been warned.
Also, the title of this chapter should be
What Actually Happens When You Try to Fight Somebody Reasonably Skilled At Wielding Giant Monsters While You Yourself Do Not Have Any Giant Monsters With Which to Fight
Subtitle: Not as fun as it sounds when they want to kill you
But that wouldn't fit in the space they gave me.
The Old Reactor, now the headquarters of the infamous Dark Signers, stood at the centre of the land it eviscerated 17 years ago. Zero Reverse had left the building largely intact, but destroyed everything around it with a vengeance. There were neither human activity nor animals or even vegetation, a zone of complete flatness amongst which the tower stood, a monument to human hubris, or as I like to think of it, a giant middle finger from Fate to the human race.
The sun was just setting, its light entirely overshadowed by light from the duel monsters. Not duel arenas, duel monsters. And their much less impressive human owners.
Akiza stood in midair supported by vines from the giant plant that destroyed my ceiling a couple of weeks ago, Rose Tentacles (lv6, 2200/1200), a monster that, just like its namesake, was essentially a rose bush, except being three stories tall and able to move its vines (body parts?) for lethal attacks.
Divine was dressed impeccably in a dark green sweater vest over a black shirt, not a hair out of place despite Akiza's best efforts, and hovering effortlessly (as I later discovered, held in place by his duel monsters, Psychic Snail (lv4, 1900/1200).
Psychic Snail represented the most literal interpretation of the term 'monster'. It had the head of a squid and the upper body of a man, all of which emerges from the shell of a snail, as though it was a cheap imitation of Greek and Roman mythologies, which was already very lazy in imagining monsters simply by merging two or more existing animals together.
Artistic and aesthetic criticism aside, Psychic Snail stood just a little shorter than Rose Tentacles and spewed orange toxic sludge from both its mouth and the antennae on its head. Though a little weaker than Rose Tentacles by attack alone, it had the upper hand thanks to the stronger support from its owner.
"Akiza, you have to trust me," Sayer was saying, his eyes earnest with the desire to win her back to his side, "You belong with us and only with us. I can understand that you're young and you can't control your urge to run blindly into the unknown. I'll forgive your for that. Come back to us, and everything will be exactly the same as before."
"Please just go Sayer!" Akiza, rather than the Black Witch, pleaded, "There're people who love me here, I don't need you and I don't want to work for Arcadia anymore. I don't want to hurt you, but I won't go with you either. Please, just leave!"
"Just leave? Did you forget how I took you in from the streets, molded you, turned you into the Black Witch that you are now." Sayer's words quickly turned ugly, "They only want you for your powers. And you have gotten so weak in the past couple of weeks, where would you be when you're useless and mortal? You have nobody in this world, nobody except me!"
Akiza had weakened, but more importantly, she had been conditioned to fear him, to run from his attacks rather than fight for herself. That project seems to be a complete success.
"I don't need these powers filled with hatred, I have my friends now," Akiza said to her once-mentor, sincere in her comments (which I shall generously label as naïve), panting with over-exertion. "And I can finally stop being Black Witch and just be me!"
"You are the Black Witch. That's who you are and that's who you'll always be." Sayer cooed soothingly, "Now come home, come back to me. Embrace your real self and your full potential."
Beside the all-powerful Momentum, beside the two psychic duelists and their giant monsters engaged in hardly-intense battle and almost friendly chatter, I found my team. Standing, sitting, lying down like on the otherwise lifeless landscape, surrounded by dull brownish scorched earth as far as the eye can see. Where there were seven people before, now I only count five.
Roman had chosen to stop a little further away, getting off his duel runner and sitting on the ground his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms supporting his weight from the back. He looked so relaxed all he was missing was popcorns and a large coke. But I didn't have time to deal with him now.
Chaos skidded to a stop also, temporarily engulfing us in a dust cloud.
Felice was sitting next to her duel runner, breathing heavily. A gash from her forehead was still dripping onto her white hair, now tied into a ponytail for convenience. Cyril and Galen laid on the ground beside her, semi-conscious with bandage wrapped around their head and abdomen respectively. Kalin was busy fixing his own runner, though I'm not entirely optimistic about his efforts, mostly because I'm pretty sure the engine was missing. Zigzix was curled up in the corner, sobbing quietly to himself.
"What happened?" I asked with a grimace, pretty sure I didn't want the answer.
"We got in but we couldn't even touch the Momentum," Felice gave me an ugly look, "It's covered by a layer of, a bright white goo that eroded everything it touched."
"It's the Dark Energy Roman speaks of, sourced from the Dark King," Kalin explained softly, "It assimilates everything it touches until there is nothing but Darkness left. I didn't think Roman would use its powers to protect the Old Reactor."
"So that's a 'no' on the Momentum," I concluded, a little discouraged. I did overlook Roman Goodwin for the most parts and focused on characters (to be honest) who had had more screen time. But in this world, lack of screen time doesn't at all reduce the threat the leader of the Dark Signer poses, there was a reason why he was chosen by both the Light and the Dark.
"But that's not my question, what happened?" I gestured vaguely to our surrounding, with monsters, explosions and lights (both from aforementioned monsters). And naturally, no sign of the Sector.
"He attacked Akiza before we could get out," Felice leaned wearily against her duel runner, "Trapped Vincent and Ara inside."
And therein lies in importance of fire escapes. That building probably violated a lot of zoning codes before Zero Reverse.
I strained my eyes and could vaguely see Vincent and Ara, just inside the Old Reactor entrance, blocked in by Sayer's monsters. Not that Sayer needed the hostages, he clearly had the upper hand in his fight with Akiza. Even from here, it was evident Sayer was just toying with them like a cat would a mouse before killing its captive for sport. I could hear Felice's teeth grinding.
"Come with me," The white-haired teen told Chaos, her eyes trained on the Old Reactor, "The Psychic Snail that Sayer has is bullet-proof and reacts faster than we do. But I don't think it can move. So if only one of us gets past it, we may be able to get them out."
"I'll go around Akiza and you go behind Sayer," Chaos assessed the situation quickly, presenting himself as the decoy to go in front of Sayer while Felice would sneak behind him.
Let me back up a little. Divine and Akiza stood (hovered) facing each other with their giant monsters in front of them. The Old Reactor was slightly behind Divine, to his left and Akiza's right. While we were standing across the battle field from it, to Divine's right and Akiza's left.
The reason I'm saying this is to explain why, at the time, it didn't seem like a crazy plan that we would physically outrun a giant mystical monster with untold powers and get people out of the Old Reactor. With any luck, Divine wouldn't notice us at all.
Felice struggled onto her duel runner with a grunt, shoving me aside, she raced off without another word. Chaos followed.
Sayer turned, catching the action from the corner of his eye.
"I challenge you to a duel!" Before Sayer could direct his attention to the two people who just left, I stepped up, shouting over the noise from both duel monsters, which was already covering the roaring of the engines. "If I win, you get out of the Satellite!"
Standing on the ground, I must have looked like an ant compared to the man controlling mythical beasts.
"You are joking." Came the greasy pretentious voice from the redhead, "I am Divine. I shall be the most powerful human in this world and I can take your lives any time I please. Why should I subject myself to a duel with you?"
That's... That's...That's so reasonable! Of course you can't expect somebody to give up their giant magical monsters and agree to the terms you stipulated in a children's card game. Oh god why did I think he'd agree? What's happening to me? I'm being assimilated! I'm becoming one of them!
Then again, things are so much more difficult when you can't resolve them using children's card games. I couldn't help wondering whether it would have worked if Yusei challenged him?
"And if you're the distraction, let's see what you're trying to hide." Divine turned away from me, focusing on Chaos instead.
Chaos was almost masterful in his control of his duel runner. He turned right sharply, passing almost close enough to touch Psychic Snail before making a quick dash for Akiza's Rose Tentacles, hiding himself under its unreliable protection. Psychic Snail opened its mouth and sent a stream of venom his way, hitting only the ground. Immediately, the entire layer of ground its venom touched disappeared, leaving only a pungent stench in the air.
Chaos was putting on the show of his life time. If there hadn't been so much at stake, I would have been entertained.
Divine watched, amused, safe in the knowledge that without thorough preparations well ahead of time, both him and his monster were untouchable for mortals.
I realized too late that the duel monsters are no longer limited by their master's control.
Psychic Snail's antennae twitched. Having much keener sense of hearing and smell, it noticed Felice's movements and alerted its owner.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Divine clicked his tongue, "Trying to sneak past me? That just won't do. Psychic Snail, Corrupting Toxic Strike!"
Psychic Snail spewed a torrent of orange venom in Felice's way. It looked like an oddly-shaped water gun, shaving several inches off the soil every time its venom missed the target. As its head turned to follow Felice, its attacks getting closer as she neared the Old Reactor.
So far at least, Magic still has a significant advantage over mortal technology. I racked my brain, finding that there was nothing I could do.
"Out of my way!" Felice made a mad dash for the Old Reactor. Ara opened the door and darted inside. Vincent stayed near the entrance.
So far, she had dodged all of Psychic Snail's attacks. There was one place she couldn't escape though. If she were to enter the Old Reactor like planned, she had to do so through the only entrance, and it's far too late to turn back.
Chaos had come out of his hiding place, trying and failing to attract the monster's attention.
The moment Sayer noticed Felice, she was doomed.
Ara stayed in the shadows, safe from the attack, watching as Felice leaned forward and lowered herself as much as possible on her duel runner to minimize the area of impact when Psychic Snail's attack would inevitably hit her.
A fool's errand from start to finish.
Felice closed her eyes as she entered the Old Satellite at the same time the attack did.
Vincent did the only thing he could. He jumped across the entrance, placing himself behind Felice as he pushed them both down to the ground on the other side of the entrance.
Felice's duel runner crashed into the far end of the wall, as did most of Psychic Snail's venom, but not before some splashed onto Vincent's back. He had been smart enough to cover himself in all the fabric he could find in the Dark Signer's residence. But this being the 'Dark Signer's' residence, he couldn't find much. All of it, as well as the clothes he had worn, were instantaneously dissolved by the venom.
Nonetheless, that's probably the only reason he wasn't dead right now, for better or for worse.
Ara made a face. If Vincent had asked her beforehand, she would have told him to skip the extra layers of protection so he didn't end up prolonging his own misery.
Felice crawled out from under Vincent as though in a trance. With her eyes staring directly ahead of her, she turned her head to look at her duel runner. It bore the blunt of Psychic Snail's attack and is now more rust than metal. She turned to look vacantly at Ara.
Vincent laid pronated on the ground. The skin on his back was gone, as was an increasing amount of muscle. His tissue melted away layer by layer, replaced by only the flat blackness of necrosis. There was very little blood, as though the attack alone had drained all life out of him that he now had none to spare.
"Why did you do it?" Ara found herself inexplicably jealous. In all her time, first in the Satellite then faking her way into Arcadia (for their high-calorie meal plans), she's never seen anything like this, let along being subject to such protection. He's a lost cause anyways, might as well satiate her curiosity before he dies.
"Don't be silly," Vincent grinned. Highly corrosive toxins immediately kill all nerves in the area, so he's not actually in very much pain, "It was me or her, what was I supposed to do?"
Vincent's voice was like a trigger that jolted Felice's brain back online.
She reached out, then immediately pulled back at Vincent's injuries as though she had been burnt.
"I'm going to kill him!" Felice screamed. "I'm going to fucking kill him!"
"No, no you're not," Vincent hissed, losing muscular support, his breaths were becoming labored. "You're going to go inside, and you're not going to come out until Sayer leaves. Then you're going to take Cyril and Teddy, leave the Satellite and never come back."
Felice shook uncontrollably, unable to agree to or reject the request.
"We'll get you to Domino," She said instead, "We'll get you to Domino and they'll treat you there."
And she was partly right. These injuries, however severe, was not fatal in Domino City, whose hospitals have an alarming amount of experience treating physical injuries.
But this isn't Domino City. Ara shook her head. Yuki had focused most of their efforts on preventative medicine, which she insisted was 'the most effective and most cost-effective' way to improve healthcare, especially given Satellite's lack of medical equipment and personnel.
So, right now, they could only watch Vincent die.
She decided against saying that. They were positioned inside the Old Reactor in such a way that Psychic Snail's attacks can't reach them, so for now, Felice had the luxury of irrationality.
Ara watched Felice crouched down and pull Vincent's arm over her shoulders, then barely managing to stand up under the weight. Vincent's lower body dangled powerlessly. The toxin had burnt through part of his spine so that his lower body stayed connected to the rest of him more through flesh than bone.
It's stupid of course, there's no way he'll survive long enough to get to Domino City, Felice was just making his last few hours more miserable.
Ara grabbed Vincent's other arm and together, they struggled deeper into the Old Reactor
"She lived? But that won't last for long," Sayer laughed derisively. "Let's see, I don't need this lump of slime anymore, I summon Psychic Jumper (lv2, tuner, 100/1500) and I tune my level 2 Psychic Jumper with my level 4 Psychic Snail to synchro summon, Psychic Nightmare (lv6, 2400/2100) !"
Psychic Nightmare was roughly dragon-shaped, in the same way that Stardust Dragon was 'dragon-shaped', with arms and legs that looked more human than lizard. It was blue overall, with energy surrounding it that even I could see.
I couldn't help but remember Black Rose Dragon could take this monster.
Rose Tentacles retracted its vines and surrounded Akiza like a cocoon, whether by instinct or by order, the move indicated its owner's intents very clearly.
"We have to go!" Kalin grabbed my arm. Grabbing hold of Zigzix with the other, he abandoned his runner and pulled me away from the battlefield.
"I can't," I shook his arm off, "Take Zigzix with you, give him to Yusei, Nervin will tell you why if you get out this alive."
"Don't be stupid, you're no good here." Kalin said.
"If I leave right now, I won't be good anywhere." I answered.
Kalin rolled his eyes and plopped down on the ground beside me.
"Psychic Nightmare," Sayer laughed, "Why don't you get those rats out of their hole. One at a time."
It all happened so quickly I am surprised I noticed anything at all. But I must have.
There was a loud snap, like popping of a champagne bottle, or prying apart pieces of a Lego.
Then his body caught my eye.
Unlike Psychic Snail, Psychic Nightmare had the power to move things with its mind.
Vincent's body floated out from the Old Satellite and was tossed into the air. Psychic Nightmare swept at it with its tail. His upper body bent unnaturally backwards from the chest up, so that it almost paralleled the rest of his body again.
Vincent's blood made an odd brownish trail in the dirt, like some lost language I can't understand, then quickly disappeared, seeping into the soil.
There was an overwhelming pressure and heaviness around my stomach. I bent down with my hands resting on my knees, retching until tears streamed down my cheeks. I tasted a bitterness in my mouth. Of course, nothing actually came up. Satellite rations are designed to be immediately absorbed so that nothing goes to waste.
"This is all your fault, Akiza," Sayer said victoriously, "None of these people had to die if you just came with me when I asked you so nicely." His Black Rose would be his and his alone, as soon as this Satellite ordeal is over.
Akiza remained shielded in the cocoon created by her Rose Tentacles, seemingly safe from the terrors of the world.
Ara shuddered as she accidentally looked at the bloody corpse. No, body, she reminded herself, not a corpse yet. Vincent's body landed in a contorted V, so that the ends of his hair, which normally reached just past his shoulder, almost touched the back of his ankles. Somehow, he's still holding on, his temporary half-life only made things worse.
"I'm going to kill him." Felice said with an eerie calmness, a promise to herself rather than talking to an audience. Her short nails dug into her palms, blood dripping down her hand and into the soil, disappearing as quickly as Vincent's did. "I almost managed it before, I can do it again."
"You mean you succeeded when battling the Black Witch," Ara corrected. "Psychic monsters have special powers physical attacks can't penetrate. Psychic Nightmare for example, has an ability called "Psychic Shield" that deflects all physical attacks. You won't be able to break its barrier."
"What else am I supposed to do?" Felice asked desperately.
That's a very good question, Ara gingerly took off her burnt sneakers, wincing delicately as her bare feet touched the ground. But a better question would be, what is Sayer planning to do with them?
If she knew Sayer and she did, better than she would have liked to, he was going to make an example out of them, using their lives as a warning to all who dared to befriend defectors from the Arcadia Movement. It would also have the added benefit of completely breaking the Black Witch.
While Ara had no sympathies for the Black Witch, she also didn't plan on using her life to further Sayer's plans. Plus, it would be a shame that somebody Vincent tried so hard to protect dead anyways.
She didn't like the only solution she could see, but there wasn't another way our. It's not like any of them, inside or outside this building, would survive this f Divine had his way. Not having any superpowers, there was only one thing she could do to defeat him.
"Nothing, there's nothing you can do. Nobody can get close to Sayer unless he lets them, and he wouldn't let you through," Ara's sigh was almost inaudible. "But he would let me pass."
She made several strategic cuts on her blouse and jeans, pulling her breasts up to reveal more cleavage. She almost smiled at Felice's horrified expression, a hint of envy cropping up again. Felice hadn't seen half the horrors of the Satellite.
"Give me two grenades," Ara requested. Felice handed them to her mutely, understanding but not quite wanting to acknowledge what Ara was about to do.
"Nicely done, my beast," Sayer's voice travelled from the outside, "Now let's get the next one."
"That's my cue," Ara smiled, "Do get out of the Satellite after this, it's no place for kids like you."
Psychic Nightmare dragged Ara out next.
"Divine! Help me!" Ara called for help before the monster could attack.
"So we meet again, my pet. I bet you regret deserting me now, don't you?" Sayer's eyes ogled her hungrily.
Ara floated out standing in midair, her hands clasped in front of her. The blue jeans she wore had a large slit along the left side, from the middle of her thigh to the middle of her calf. The ends of her blouse was tattered, revealing a flash of skin every time she struggled in vain against her invisible bonds. The top button on her collar was clasped, but two buttons just below that seemed to have burst open.
Even though this is much less skin than even Greiger shows on a regular basis, there's an allure of the rare and forbidden fruit, an angel fallen captive to the darkness. Ara knew that Sayer could see she was projecting this image on purpose, she also knew it would only help her case.
"Forgive me?" Ara smiled coyly, darting out a pink tongue to lick her finger, then running her index finger from her lips downwards, "I'll make it up to you." Sayer's ego wouldn't let him forgive her, but his vanity would compel him to gloat first.
Zigzix drooled, obviously forgetting the predicament we were in. Kalin snorted in disgust.
Personally, I don't blame her. We can never be sure what we'll do in a time of life-and-death until the time comes. And who's to say that her choice was wrong?
Sayer waved, his monster floated Ara close enough for her to be within his reach. And for him to be within hers. Ara put on her most charming smile, leaned forward and pulled the pin in her pocket.
Psychic Nightmare suddenly roared, instinctively sensing danger as it tried to drag Ara backwards again.
I saw only a flash of light from the explosion.
Sayer screamed. Psychic Nightmare had saved his life, but the explosion had taken his right arm nonetheless, sending a mist of red into the air. The pain had been enough to knock him out, his monster caught him in midair, but without orders, stalled in place.
A wave of dark energy swept over the field, enveloping first Ara then Vincent in its embrace. Raising their bodies from the dust into the air until they floated as high as the roof of the Old Reactor.
I stared dumbfounded. It took me a second to realize what was happening. As they neared death, they were being converted into Dark Signers.
A/N: If anybody in the entire show is going to reject a duel because they don't want a duel ruining their chances of victory (unlike Rex Goodwin, Z-One and all three Aporias), it's Divine. And I had to have at least one case where somebody turns down a duel that would otherwise save the protagonists, but are entirely unnecessary for the villain. :D
Repeat after me, this is a happy story, this is a happy story, this is a happy story. Maybe if I say it enough times, people will believe me. XD Still, if nobody's crying after this chapter, which I don't think they are, I'm not doing this right, might rework it later.
To be fair, I tried several drafts of this chapter, the version where nobody died was truly depressing. So, you know, Dark Signers.
Btw, does anybody know how to write a good meta-analysis?