"My turn." Raiden is impossible to read as always. Nothing but anger now. I'm scared, but I won't admit that to him. I just focus on quelling the fire inside me. My powers run rampant inside me. Flowing like a river. I feel the electricity in every single nerve. My skin tingles with its heat. "I summon Tristan, Knight of the Underworld(ATK:1800)." The appearance of the monster causes a small shockwave in the room. Raiden's aura is becoming overwhelming. My eyes ache just looking at him.
"I activate the Trap Card Karma Cut. By discarding a card from my hand, I can remove one of your face-up monsters from play. I choose Tristan, Knight of the Underworld." I discard the monster Fabled Oltro from my hand. Raiden scoffs.
"I set a card and end my turn." I would say that Raiden looks furious, but that would be an understatement. Mentally, I tell Kaoru to wait outside the building. This duel could end very badly.
"My turn. I draw." Dragged Down into the Grave, that'll work. "I activate the Spell Card Dragged Down in the Grave from my hand. We both take a look at each other's hands and choose one card to discard, then we each get to draw a card." Raiden shows me his hand. Three monsters. I know Spirit Reaper has an effect that'll prevent it from being destroyed in battle, so I choose to discard that one. I only have one card in my hand so Raiden has no choice. I draw another card, De-Synchro. I remember that Raiden's Synchro Monsters are really powerful so I'll need this. "Fabled Ashenveil attacks you directly." I try to restrain my powers. It doesn't work. Raiden's cries of pain make me flinch. His life points now stand at 1900. "I end my turn."
Raiden stands back up. There's a gash straight down his chest from where Ashenveil attacked him. Now, I know that I've made a mistake. I stare at my hands. Why can I suddenly not control my powers? Why is this happening?
"Why did you have to do this? What are you gaining from leaving?" Raiden shouts at me. I can feel tears burning in my eyes. The smell of blood is so thick in the air, I almost choke.
"Freedom." It's simple. I want to live my life without fear.
"Have you forgotten what we wanted to do? Have you forgotten what this City has done to you?"
"Of course not but now-"
"Now what?" He interrupts me. "This City is not going to change because of some bridge and you know that."
"It's not going to change now. But if we try our best, we can live like everyone else. Me, you, Shinji, Reika, everyone." Raiden scoffs.
"Three months ago, you would have been singing a very different tune. My turn." The last three months have changed me. For better or worse, I'm a changed person. Raiden's face only portrays his anger. I'm starting to fear for my life. "Mezuki's monster effect activates from the graveyard. I can remove it from play to Special Summon a Zombie-Type monster from my grave. I choose Spirit Reaper(DEF:200)." So much for my efforts to get rid of it. "I set a monster and a card. I end my turn." His anger is calm and dry, that's what scares me most.
"My turn. I draw." Raigeki Break, good card. I can use that to destroy Spirit Reaper. "Ashenveil attacks your set card." It's destroyed. "I set two cards and end my turn."
"My turn. I set a monster and end my turn." I think I've backed him into a corner. I don't think winning shouldn't be too hard. Key word, shouldn't.
"My turn. I draw." The Fabled Ganashia. "Ashenveil attacks your set card. Ashenveil's monster effect activates. I discard one card to increase his attack points by 600(ATK:1600-2200)." The monster is destroyed. Wait, I should have discarded Ganashia for Raigeki Break, wow I'm stupid. "I end my turn."
"My turn." He draws and scowls at the card. "I end my turn." Ooh, must have been a bad draw.
"Right, my turn. I draw." Twin Twister. This card is too useful to discard for Raigeki Break. "I set one card and end my turn." I can't do anything else right now, since Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed in battle and since it's in defense position, I can't deal damage.
"Do you remember why do what we do?" Raiden calls out to me. He's probably trying to guilt me some more.
"So we can make the City a better place for everyone."
"Yeah! That bridge isn't going to make a difference. So we need to change the City ourselves and get revenge on the higher-ups for everything they've done to us."
"Wait revenge? Raiden, we can't do that. It's just going to create a cycle of hatred that I don't want any part of." I know you can't do that. I've done it and look what happened to me. I thought if I got revenge on Yusei, everything would get better. But no, I made things worse for everyone. If I just waited until I talked to Yusei before jumping to conclusions, none of that would have ever happened. I'm not- no, I can't let that happen again.
"Oh what? Has that goody-two-shoes Yusei gotten to your head?" Before I can say anything, he continues. "My turn." He looks at his hand and frowns. A bad draw. "I end my turn." He glares at me as he waits for me to start my turn. My hands start to shake more violently. I try taking deep breaths to calm myself down but it doesn't work. He keeps staring me down like he wants nothing more than to see my innards spread on the walls.
"My turn. I draw." I just want this to be over now. Guarded Treasure. Great, it's almost useless to me because I need five cards in my hand to activate but this card is the only one in my hand right now. "I activate the Trap Card Raigeki Break. I discard one card from my hand to destroy one card on the field. I choose Spirit Reaper." I can see Raiden grit his teeth. "Now Fabled Ashenveil attacks you directly."
I try to make it so that Raiden isn't hurt in the attack. No such luck. In an effort to shield himself, he gets a gash on his right arm. The force of the attack slams him against the wall. The electricity hurts as it pulses through my body. My legs almost give out. Raiden lands on one knee. He stumbles in an attempt to stand up. His eyes are burning with their glow. Oh no. He's going to lose control of his powers. This isn't good. This is really bad. I've only seen it happen once, and I never wanted to see it again, now I'm about to.
"Right, you wanted to play that way. Fine." I can almost feel the venom spewing from his lips. His eyes are glowing a harsh violet. I'm taken aback. The violet is achingly familiar. My right arm almost burns from the memory. "Let's just say you leave. Who will you run to? You'll never see Shinji again. He's only friends with you because you're both here. Yusei doesn't care about you. You know that. Your family won't accept because they think of you as a freak, a monster. You have nowhere to go. You're better off just going off and dying in a ditch! Besides, that's what this City wants! You're a witch and a Satellite, they don't care about you and they never will!"
"You're wrong." Surprise is all over Raiden's face. "There are people out there who care about me. They'd never want to see me die, not again." Yusei's face flashes into my mind. "They love me and accept me for who I am. That's all I can ask for." I take a deep breath. "I can't say the same for you. You never really cared for me! You just manipulated and used me! I'm through with you!" Raiden takes a second to compose himself.
"My turn." He completely ignores me. If anything, his eyes have only gotten more intense. "I summon the Immortal Ruler(ATK:1800). Then, I activate Call of the Haunted which allows me to Special Summon a monster from my grave. I choose Uni-Zombie(ATK:1300). Uni-Zombie's monster effect activates. I discard one card to increase a monster's level by 1, and I choose Immortal Ruler(LV:4-5). Level 3 Uni-Zombie tunes Level 5 Immortal Ruler." From here, it looks like Raiden's entire eyeball is glowing violet. "From the darkness comes the ultimate end. Arise from the depths of hell to lay waste to all! Synchro Summon! Appear, Dark End Dragon(ATK:2400)!" The appearance of said dragon nearly knocks me off my feet. This is bad for me. "Dark End Dragon's monster effect activates. I permanently lower Dark End's attack and defense points by 500 to send one monster you control to the grave(ATK:2400-1900)." Ashenveil is finally sent to the graveyard. "Now, Dark End Dragon attacks you directly! Dark Absolute!"
Dark End fires some sort of dark energy right at me. I try to shield myself with my arms. It isn't much good. The force of the attack sends me straight through the wall behind me. I can feel my consciousness wavering. Is this what's actually going to kill me? I see red, will I finally greet death like I'm supposed to? Ready to greet death on a pile of rubble, not exactly what I imagined. Though, a lot of blood was what I expected, my world ending in fire rather than ice. No. A voice inside me yells. That's right. I can't die here. I'm needed. People care about me. The wall wasn't solid concrete, but that doesn't stop the pain. I try to move but my back is aching and my hands slip on something wet. It hurts so much that I wonder if it's been properly hurt. I open my eyes to find a gash, just like Raiden's, going straight down my torso. I start hyperventilating in a panic. I'm losing a lot of blood. Within a few seconds, a lot of my front is drenched in blood. I try to stand up, and fail. Leaning on my arms, I look around. The cracks in the walls have become more pronounced. There's even some holes in the solid concrete wall behind Raiden. This building is going to fall. That thought goes through my head. I make another attempt at standing up, this time I manage to stumble onto my feet.
"Raiden! It's not safe. We have to get out now!" My voice is hoarse. I start coughing, holding my arm up to my mouth. I start panicking when I feel that my arm is now wet. Okay, I need to end this duel now. I'm coughing up blood, this is not good. I start walking backwards over the rubble. I'm holding my head in my hands. My head won't stop throbbing.
"No! We're not leaving until we finish this duel!" Raiden screams back at me. I need to end this duel this turn. I have De-Synchro, that'll get rid of Dark End Dragon. I just need to draw a monster with more than 300 attack points.
"My turn." Obedience Schooled, this is it. "I activate the Spell Card Obedience Schooled from my hand. When I have no monsters, this card allows me to Special Summon three Level 2-or-lower Beast-Type Effect monsters from my deck with different names. However, their effects are negated, and they are destroyed during my End Phase. Finally, I can only Special Summon Beast-Type monsters for the rest of the turn." It's hard to talk. My throat is dry and everything tastes metallic. "I Special Summon The Fabled Cait Sith(DEF:600), The Fabled Nozoochee(DEF:600) and The Fabled Cerburrel(DEF:400). Next, I activate De-Synchro. With this card, I can return one Synchro Monster on the field and return it to its owner's Extra Deck, and I choose Dark End Dragon." I start to limp further backwards. I can tell that Raiden's gritting his teeth. My head is filled with thoughts of Raiden. The first time we met, the first we fought, the first time we kissed, the first time he hurt me, the first time I stayed over at his. Every good memory is linked to two bad ones. "Now, Level 2 Cerburrel tunes Level 2 Nozoochee." My lungs are on fire. My powers almost feel tangible, it flows around me like a river. Synchro summoning now will protect me if things go bottom up. "Behold the thundering gallop which shakes the heavens. Show your face and prophesize the end of all! Synchro Summon! Appear now, The Fabled Kudabbi(ATK:2200)!" My inability to contain my powers has started to tire me. It's becoming hard to stay conscious, I suppose the blood loss doesn't help either. "The Fabled Kudabbi attacks you directly! Charge Attack!" I turn back and try to run. The building has started to crumble. Raiden's life points have dropped to 0. I've won. I try to focus on moving as fast as I can. My limp slows me down. I can't rely on walls. My eyes start to give out. I have to rely on memory. I nearly fall down the stairs a few times trying to get down. I curse as pain shoots up my leg with every step. I start coughing up more blood. My head feels woozy. I've lost a lot of blood. My thoughts have been reduced to glimpses of Raiden. Every bad memory flashes through my head. I say forget about him and just stay here. The words he said before I left for the Satellite ring in my head. The stairs crumble as I finish walking down them, judging by the sound. I don't feel Raiden's aura, so I assume he climbed out the window. My legs give out on me as I pass the doorway. I smack my head off the ground. Everything goes red as I lose consciousness.
ACT I CHANGE END